At least one person



was killed and several others were injured, one of them seriously, when a bus ferrying Odia migrant workers from Gujarat met with an accident in Odisha's Ganjam district on Saturday night, police said.

The accident took place when the bus, transporting over 55 passengers including women and children, dashed against a roadside guard wall while negotiating a curve in Durgaprasad area, Bhanjanagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer S S Mishra said.

DIG of Police (Southern Range), Satyabrat Bhoi confirmed the death of one person and serious injuries to another in the accident that took place on a hilly road along the border of Ganjam and Kandhamal districts.

Around 40 others sustained minor injuries in the accident, he said.

Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said the bus was carrying migrant Odias stranded in Gujarats Surat due to the nationwide lockdown.

They were returning to Bhanjanagar and other places in Ganjam district, he said.

The minister said seven buses coming from Surat were moving in a convoy and one of the vehicles met with the accident.

Fire services, police personnel and local volunteers launched a rescue operation, the SDPO said, adding that the injured persons were rushed to hospitals.

Kandhamal district Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh said arrangements are being made to send the rescued passengers to different quarantine centres in Ganjam district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Every week, Express-News Taste writer Paul Stephen cooks several recipes for his job  often creating his own in the process. Cooking with Paul chronicles what he learned each week from that process. Enjoy!

So quick fact: Mexican food isnt meant to be enjoyed alone.

Why make this (obvious) proclamation, you might ask? Well, I spent the past week cooking up a slew of recipes for a Cinco de Mayo party at home for this weeks Taste centerpiece, and Ive learned a thing or two along the way.

For starters, I made flautas, or what a lot of restaurants like to call taquitos, from scratch for the first time on Tuesday.

It was painfully easy to do, but left me longing for company to with whom share the spoils of my labor. My recipe made eight flautas, and even with an aggressive appetite  which I definitely have  there were leftovers that just werent designed for reheating. My puppies got all kinds of chickeny treats before bed that night.

Looking for recipes? See what recipes were creating and cooking here. Bookmark the page!

Same goes for our take on chipotle- and lime-marinated skirt steak street tacos. My recipe was designed to make six tacos, and could easily be doubled. I mean, Im good for two, maybe three, but six? Thats madness for a single diner, regardless of hunger.

All of this cookery brings me back to why I love this city as much as I do. Yall are a remarkable species of humanity thats welcomed me and my East Coast heart and recipes with open arms. And theres no place Id rather call home, COVID-19 or otherwise.

On ExpressNews.com: How single people in S.A. are coping during the coronavirus pandemic

(Note from editor Emily Spicer: Im Mexican, and I have been struck with similar feelings during my stay-at-home sojourn. I make caldito de pollo, say, but I make enough for 10. Calabacita? Donde esta el army? I dont know how else to do it.

The sharing of food is how we show affection, and its like that in most strong food cultures. But this is the culture I know best, and it just feels wrong to have enchiladas or tacos alone. I look around for the other people.

I think we take our Mexican food, and the soulful comfort it gives us, for granted here in S.A. The bowl of chips and salsa is meant to be shared. Queso, meant to be shared. That sizzling platter of fajitas and the stacks of tortillas, these are all dishes have been popularized as food for fellowship, grub for a gathering. And while I crave the flavors now, eating them without the company of others makes me feel lonely in a way that eating, say, a burger or a salad just doesnt.)

That being said, Im happy to be cooking from home for myself this year. The coronavirus outbreak has been particularly hard on single people, but thats given us a chance to create and learn new tricks in the kitchen. Heres to possibilities, post-COVID-19.

Recipe: Chipotle- and Lime-Marinated Skirt Steak Street Tacos

Recipe: Chicken Flautas

Recipe: Loaded Queso Flameado Quesadilla

Recipe: Queso con Rajas (Cheese Dip with Poblano Pepper Strips)

Recipe: Esquites (Mexican Street Corn in a Cup)

Recipe: Classic Margarita cocktail

Recipe: Muddled Strawberry Margarita cocktail

Recipe: El Picador cocktail

Recipe: St-Rita cocktail

Paul Stephen is a food and drink reporter and restaurant critic in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Paul, become a subscriber. pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen
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Despite a restraining order, a Dallas salon owner continues to keep her beauty business open, cheered on at times by armed demonstrators who congregate outside her doors.

A strip club in Houston briefly reopened at 12 a.m Friday but shut down after police threatened arrests.

And officials in several Texas counties have publicly declined to enforce the emergency order enacted by Gov. Greg Abbott to restrict businesses in the name of slowing down the spread of COVID-19.

They were among those testing the strength of Abbotts order Friday, the first day after Abbott lifted his monthlong stay-home order and allowed most Texas businesses to reopen, with conditions.

The governor has said that the emergency order  which call for salons, bars, and massage parlors to stay closed for the time being  will be enforced by local law enforcement and state regulatory agencies. But so far, the protests have mostly met with warnings.

Now Playing: A judge ordered a Dallas salon to shut down immediately after the owner reopened in defiance of county and state restrictions. Shelley Luther said she's planning to open again Wednesday anyway. Video: Fox4

IN PLAIN SIGHT: Defiant Houston strip club owner closes doors after police threaten arrest

Shelley Luther, owner of Salon a la Mode in Dallas, which opened last week and stayed open, says it will take a lot more than that to close her shop.

I will never shut down just to prove the point: Theres nothing that the government can do to take away God-given rights, she said Friday.

Some Republican local leaders, state lawmakers and business owners have expressed similar views.

Former congressional candidate Chris Putnam was planning a Honkytonk Crawl for Freedom Friday night at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Lets be clear. You are breaking no actual laws supporting these businesses this Friday, he wrote in a Facebook post. Rather you are doing precisely what our Founding Fathers (who are turning over in their graves right now) would want and expect you to do.

Strip club gets a warning

Abbott on Friday enacted phase one of his plan for reopening the economy, allowing retail businesses, restaurants, movie theaters and malls across the state to reopen at no more than 25 percent capacity. A second phase, tentatively planned for May 18, would increase that capacity to 50 percent and allow other businesses, like bars, beauty salons and gyms, to reopen.

But after the first day, it was clear that there are no officials snooping around counting diners or looking for violations.

In Harris County, for example, no local law enforcement agency has said it plans to conduct patrols or otherwise check on businesses for compliance.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, the city of Houston had received 50 complaints to its 311 call center. The Houston Fire Department had responded to 32 complaints in the 24 hours leading up to 7 a.m. Friday and cited one business  the strip club that had tried to open at midnight but closed after the police threatened to arrest the owner. He received a warning but said he would open again Friday night.

PROSECUTING POWER: How will restrictions be enforced when businesses reopen in Houston Friday? A trust system

Regulatory agencies also had relatively little action to report. State Rep. Mike Lang, R-Granbury, a member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus who has opposed stay-at-home restrictions, said in an advisory letter Wednesday that he asked the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation how it was enforcing Abbotts order. The agency replied that it cannot cite businesses and is instead forwarding complaints to local law enforcement.

At this time, our laws and rules do not speak to enforcement solely based on a violation of the governors order, Lang quoted the agency as saying.

At the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which regulates liquor license holders, spokesman Chris Porter told Hearst Newspapers this week that the agencys efforts will be mainly educational at first with no warnings or penalties issued. Repeated violations after warnings could result in additional action, he said.

They cant stop all of us

Hood County Attorney Matt Mills on Wednesday called Abbotts orders unjust and unconstitutional and said he would not prosecute anyone for violating them, according to the Hood County News.

It appeared the same was going to occur in Montgomery County until the day the order took effect Friday. County Judge Mark Keough earlier this week had said that the governors plan was vague. Abbott responded quickly and amiably, conceding that he could have been more specific and calling the judge a good guy trying to do the right thing on Fox 26, a Houston TV station.

I actually went back and looked at the order, and I can understand why hes saying that it needs clarification, and so we will provide that clarification, Abbott said. I can now see why the judge views the language as being ambiguous, and we will clear up that ambiguity.

Late Thursday, the Texas Attorney Generals Office issued guidance making it clear that all businesses deemed nonessential in the governors order are to remained closed. That seemed to appease Keough, who backed down from his original comments, but stressed that he still wants to see the salons, barber shops and other businesses up and running as soon as possible. Keough asked for local legislative leaders support.

I have worked hard and will continue to work hard to get these businesses open as fast as we can; I believe it is essential for us as a county and the future of the state of Texas, Keough said in a video statement Friday morning. Weve got to get back rolling our businesses as safely as possible and make sure we protect those who are most vulnerable. Thats my plan.

WALK BACK: Montgomery County judge says nonessential businesses still closed per AG

Some, however, including Salon a la Mode owner Luther, dont think they need to wait. She said shes been encouraged by conversations shes had with Abbotts office and other state officials about allowing salons to open sooner. In the meantime, she has no plans to change what shes doing.

Several Republican state lawmakers have supported her cause, including State Rep. James White, R-Hillister who took to social media Wednesday with exasperation.

Respectfully, ENOUGH!!! You are the only one that can STOP this!!! ENOUGH!!! White wrote. Where is the science about two people, a hair stylist and his/her customer, being any worse than 25% people in a store and why 25%! Please have this stopped!

On top of sanitation standards required under her license, Luther said her stylists are wearing masks, and shes sterilized the store and created a makeshift waiting room outdoors with chairs six feet apart.

When people ask, How can we help you? I say open your business, Luther said. Thats the kind of help Im asking for: just open your business. They cant stop all of us.

Dylan McGuinness contributed to this report.
Constitutional governance: Clarity required View(s):

If the Opposition is right in what it says, then the first of the unconstitutional acts by the Government is now in motion, i.e. the Vote on Account that allowed state funds to be utilised lapsed on April 30 (last Thursday). There is no provision in law for the Government to draw more funds from the public purse without Parliamentary approval.

The Opposition has asked for the recall of Parliament to rectify this anomaly, but the Government remains steadfast in refusing to do so. The Government argues that the Constitution provides for the President to draw monies in a political vacuum that prevails today with delayed elections. Not always is the Opposition right, not always is the Government right.

The President has shown no interest in either recalling the Parliament he dissolved on March 2 or in seeking an opinion from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of all of this. The former Speaker is in no mood to create a constitutional crisis by summoning the old Parliament, and advisedly so. In this backdrop it is the Prime Minister who has now invited the Members of the old Parliament for a meeting tomorrow (May 4). Not all want to attend. Already, his party colleagues have set the groundwork for this meeting by pooh-poohing the need to recall Parliament.

The Election Commission is passing the ball around hoping someone will seek an opinion from the Supreme Court and the Opposition is vacillating without taking the matter to court. The Supreme Court itself is in lockdown mode and probably waiting for a party to come before it as it does not have suo moto jurisdiction to intervene on its own.

That the Government will be toppled with a no-confidence motion is far-fetched. The former Government voluntarily ceded office once the Presidential election was over, but unless the Government is edgy that reconvening Parliament may open the door for fresh nominations and thereby squander the advantage of having caught the Opposition flat-footed in March. However, what if what the Government is doing is in fact unconstitutional? A non-political Head of State might well have done what the Constitution provides for him to do to resolve a knotty question of constitutional law, i.e. consult the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately, political issues have surfaced when the entire focus of the nation ought to be on overcoming a virus that is not abating and which has thrown the countrys economy topsy-turvy.

Fears that the country is being run for too long without a Parliament and Courts  i.e. the Legislature and the Judiciary  and only by the Executive under an undeclared state of emergency with the military, are not unfounded. There is a certain shadow over the democratic process and these are not matters that can be adjudicated over TV talk shows or via media statements.

It seems that someone needs to go before the Supreme Court very soon and get an authoritative determination either way and settle this unsettling constitutional quagmire.

Probe on origin of the Covid virus

There is a growing call worldwide for a thorough investigation into the origin of COVID-19. And why not?

It is a virus that has turned the whole world on its head. It has caused tens of thousands of deaths, infected millions and ruined the livelihood of several millions. And still, nobody can say with certainty how it all began.

What is an established fact so far is that the virus emerged from Wuhan in Chinas Hubei Province. But China was quick to spread some early disinformation that the virus may have been introduced by the United States and thereby triggered a slanging match between the two countries. This debate over whether the virus really emerged from the disgusting meat markets of Wuhan or was man-made has only helped create a fog blurring the real picture.

The US President, partly because he wants to deflect attention from his own mishandling of the crisis at home was quick to label the virus the China virus. A Washington Post article says the man shaping the US Presidents hardline on China is a onetime journalist who faced intimidation while reporting from China. Now the deputy national security adviser at the White House, his view is that Chinas handling of the virus has been catastrophic and the whole world is the collateral damage of Chinas internal governance problems.

The US tried to get the G-7 nations to sign a statement with the phrase Wuhan virus, which those countries refused to do saying it was racist. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is under fire though for bending to Chinese pressure and naming the virus  COVID-19.

Now with the US withdrawing funds from the WHO, China has stepped in with a fat cheque to the UN agency. As the big power politics plays out on the world stage over the virus, the WHO has probably lost the moral right to hold any such investigation contemplated.

The Chinese are touchy, very touchy, over any call for an investigation of this nature maintaining that their response to the crisis has always been open, transparent and responsible, and that they have been supportive of professional visits and exchanges between their experts and international scientists. One would think they should welcome an investigation if they feel it will help clear the country of worldwide condemnation.

Recently, Chinas ambassador in Canberra threatened Australia with cuts in the import of wines and beef and suggested Chinese students may not want to enrol in Australian universities in the future if Australia wished to back the US call for an investigation. Beijing has clearly instructed its embassies around the world to be proactive in challenging anti-Chinese rhetoric based on COVID-19 casting all diplomatic norms aside. Such is its sensitivity to what it sees as unfounded charges. The China stance is that the international investigation, if there is any, should have a solid basis; they query why it is only targeted at China without any medical professional evidence but accusations from politicians.

It all depends, however, on what an independent international inquiry is. Sri Lanka has faced, and faces, so-called independent international witch-hunts and knows only too well how utterly partisan they can be. Nor can such an investigation be like the Nuremberg trials after World War II to apportion blame and sentence culprits to the hangman for crimes against humanity.

Many countries hard done by the outbreak of COVID-19 still feel this may not be the time for an investigation as the focus remains on the expeditious eradication of the deadly virus. Given Sri Lankas own dependence on China, it would not want to damage its relations with Beijings all powerful Communist Party. In the scheme of things Lankas voice on the international stage would anyway be negligible.

And yet, at some stage soon, the world will have to know what happened and how it happened. And how COVID-19 knocked the world to the floor in such quick time and is likely to keep it there for a long time more.
Second home owners who avoid paying tax by declaring their property as holiday accommodation without letting it out are eligible for millions in Government coronavirus grants meant to support struggling small businesses.

Fears were first raised after more than 30million was provided to holiday properties in Yorkshire through the scheme, which provides 10,000 grants to companies receiving small business rates relief during the pandemic.

Second home owners can receive the cash if they register their properties as self-catering accommodation and let it for at least 140 days per year. This allows it to be valued for business rates, but with no requirement for any letting to occur.

Second home owners can receive the cash if they register their properties as self-catering accommodation and let it for at least 140 days per year (pictured, Runswick Bay in Yorkshire)

Rishi Sunak launched a consultation to close what the Government called a 'loophole' costing local authorities millions in late 2018.

The consultation warned that 'the Government is concerned that owners of properties that are not genuine businesses may reduce their tax liability by declaring that a property is available for let, but making little or no realistic effort to let it out'.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) is offering small businesses struggling with the pandemic 10,000 cash grants

It proposed a change in the rules in line with Wales, where a property must be let for 70 days per year to qualify. So far, no legislative changes have been made.

Experts are now saying, as a result, that 55,000 properties across the UK which have been flipped from residential to commercial use stand to qualify for the 10,000 grants introduced by the Chancellor as panic swept the nation.

Real estate adviser Altus Group has warned these properties are eligible for 550million in state funding provided to keep the economy on life support.

Altus Group, which based its figures on analysis of Valuation Office Agency statistics, told The Yorkshire Post there is no available data on how many second holiday homes are being genuinely let.

Robert Hayton, head of UK business rates at Altus Group, thundered: 'It cannot be right that second home owners, who make them available to rent for as little as 20 weeks a year, are set for cash grants, while many businesses who share space or those with business rates inclusive rents, are set to miss out.'

A UK Government spokesperson said: 'Property owners will only be eligible for grants if they are paying business rates and their property is available to let commercially for at least 140 days in the year. These strict criteria will ensure that Government funding is directed to those who genuinely need it.'

Fierce calls for the Government to close the 'loophole' have been echoed in light of the revelation that holiday home owners claimed 50million in Cornwall.

Five thousand lets in the county have claimed 10,000 each from the fund, which was set up to help minor firms survive the coronavirus lockdown.

Cornwall councillor Cornelius Olivier branded the holiday home owners 'greedy' and called for the government to close the loophole letting them mask as small firms.

Experts are saying that 55,000 properties across the UK which have been flipped from residential to commercial use stand to qualify for the 10,000 grants (pictured, Dartmouth)

The Post reported that more than 15million worth of support has been provided to holiday homes in Scarborough Council area, 5million has been provided in York, 3.8million in Richmondshire, and more than 2.4million in Harrogate.

Leeds Council has provided 430,000 to 43 holiday lets in its area as part of 118million given to local businesses so far.

A spokesperson said: 'It is an incredibly stressful time for small businesses and we are glad that the council has been able to move quickly to begin paying out grants.'

The criticisms have been made at a critical time, as economic activity has slowed to a catastrophic all-time low since the 'stay at home' order on March 23.

The Government was advised to pursue a lockdown policy after scientists from Imperial College presented statistical models which warned that half a million people in the UK could die with the coronavirus if no action was taken.

Concerns are rising, though, of the severity of the economic damage which has followed the lockdown. Economists have estimated that shutting down a huge part of the UK economy is costing the country around 2.4billion per day.

The Government revealed that 4million workers have already been furloughed, while British Airways said 12,000 staff would be made redundant.

A Bank of England official recently warned that Britain could be facing the most severe economic contraction in three centuries.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Huntsville will welcome about 1,400 employees back to work on May 11 in a setting dramatically different than what they left in March.

The sprawling plant, which produces about 630,000 engines a year, has been shut down since March 19 while the company reimagined manufacturing in the COVID-19 era.

And what employees will find upon their return is that virtually nothing is the same: Entering the plant is different, working processes on the assembly line are different, meetings with team leaders are different, taking breaks is different, eating lunch is different.

"The challenge is we're having to break everyone's habits," said David Finch, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama. "We've been very deliberate in the way that we've set up to force people, in a nice way, to follow the rules and to start breaking the habits."

Toyota officials opened the plant earlier this week for Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison Mayor Paul Finley to see first-hand the new coronavirus precautions that have been put in place. What they saw were markers on the floor throughout the plant placed six feet apart, a reconfigured dining room now at a fraction of capacity, plexiglass virtually everywhere and clear vinyl curtains to separate employees working in close proximity on assembly lines.

Plexiglass dividers have been installed on dining tables at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Huntsville while chairs have been removed as part of social distancing protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For a manufacturing facility designed to run as efficiently as possible with hundreds of employees in a business demanding hundreds of thousands of engines each year, the pandemic has forced the company to conceive of new ways of doing basically everything.

So when employees return to work, it will almost be like the first day of school.

"The first day and a half, we will actually be training, recalibrating our people," Finch said. "It's going to be a huge mind shift change for them. The first day, we don't focus on volume. In fact, the first month our ramp up is quite gradual so it gives us time to work with our team members because that really is going to be a big change for them."

It will begin before even entering the building. Tents have been set up outside the plant entrances for employees to line up for temperature checks before each shift. The queues, of course, are marked off six feet at a time to maintain social distancing.

Inside the plant, informal team meetings that typically took place in paths amid the assembly lines are now carefully orchestrated events with spots marked on the floor where each employee should stand to make sure each are at least six feet away from each other.

Capacity in the dining room has essentially been cut in half with designated places to sit and marked places not to sit. Employees eating at the same table will now be separated by plexiglass and plexiglass dividers have been installed between each of a row of microwaves.

And while Toyota in Huntsville has produced 7,500 face shields for area hospitals, face shields will also be given to employees to wear during their shifts.

The changes are so different, Finch acknowledged, that you can read a description and see pictures and it still doesn't completely convey how different it is.

"It's actually very difficult to note," he said. "There's a saying, seeing is believing. You can take a picture and show a picture. But until you actually see it in real life, it's very difficult."

David Finch, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Huntsville, said employees will have to break old habits when they return May 11 to a workplace transformed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

These changes, of course, are not unique to Toyota.

"This isn't just manufacturing," Battle said. "This will carry over to the retail industry and the restaurant industry and the hospitality industry. All of the things that they have thought about here are universal."

Finley noted that Toyota has offered to share what it has developed with any interested business.

"What they have done proactively should minimize any spike," he said.

The finished coronavirus-era product went through several versions before officials were satisfied, Finch said. It's a process integral at Toyota known as kaizen  a Japanese word for continuous improvement.

Having worked with my team here and seen what the kaizen team have done in a short space of time, theyre very clever people, Finch said. They have that mind to make kaizens, to adapt things. They are fully in tune with that type of thing. I was confident whatever challenge we put in front of them, they would come up with a solution.




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(Photo : POOL on Reuters) COVID-19 Cure Update: US FDA OKs Injected Drug Remdesivir to be Given to Patients (Photo : Handout on Reuters ) COVID-19 Cure Update: US FDA OKs Injected Drug Remdesivir to be Given to Patients

The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has finally approved a potential Coronavirus drug that may cure the disease in a faster possible way. The experimental antiviral drug produced by biotech firm Gilead Sciences called Remdesivir is one of the most talked-about COVID-19 cures in the U.S. Will it be the official Coronavirus cure we've all been waiting for?

US FDA finally says YES to Remdesivir drug to cure COVID-19 patients!

On Friday, May 1, the Federal agency announced that the drug remdesivir can now be used to all the positive Coronavirus patients.

The FDA issues an official call of 'emergency authorization' with the said drug after the medicine passes all the initial tests needed for it to certify as a cure for the pandemic disease.

Unexplained by the agency, only patients that are "hospitalized with severe diseases" are the priority patients that will be given with remdesivir.

Interestingly, the FDA admits that the agency only has limited information about the drug's safety or effectiveness. However, the clinical trials that it went through showed a massive and faster recovery time with all the positive patients--concluding that patients can use the drug to cure the virus somehow.

What is 'remdesivir' drug?

If you've been checking all the articles pointing to coronavirus cure, you might have bumped in with the medical cure called 'remdesivir.'

Remdesivir was a drug originally used to treat the Ebola disease. Sadly, the Gilead product does not show any progress with curing this disease. When scientists found out that this medicine can be a potential human coronaviruses cure, Gilead Sciences immediately submitted it to the FDA to be clinically tested by the government.

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had done clinical trials with its effectivity and found out that out of the 1,000 patients that undergo testing, most of them showed a 31 percent faster recovery time when the drug was injected inside their bodies.

Former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson clarified that this medicine could not be purchased over the counter in any pharmacy. Remdesivir can only be authorized to be given to patients with severe diseases, and hospital staffs are the only authorized people to inject the cure to the infected patients.

"There'll be selected patients that will be eligible for it [remdesivir]. I think its great news though, I think it is going to be a huge difference," said him.

Patients that only have low blood oxygen levels, need oxygen therapy, or need breathing support like a ventilator is said to be the priority patients to be given with the drug.

When will the drug be distributed in hospitals?

For now, Gilead Sciences stated that they are doing the best they can to distribute the drug to all hospitals that needed it quickly.

"We will continue to work with partners across the globe to increase our supply of remdesivir while advancing our ongoing clinical trials to supplement our understanding of the drug's profile," Daniel O'Day, CEO of Gilead Sciences, said in an emailed statement. "We are working to meet the needs of patients, their families, and healthcare workers around the world with the greatest sense of urgency and responsibility."

ALSO READ: Coronavirus Update: New COVID-19 Antibiotic, WLBU2, Has Been Developed That Could Fight Lung Infections

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The legendary artist Mario Miranda, born on this day in 1926 set out to bring his imagination and world view out for everyone through his notable characters in both human form - the secretary Miss Fonseca, the minister Bundaldass, and Bollywood star Rajani Nimbupani - and animal form - the canines, their families and more. As observant as he was to the life around him, be it his life in then-Bombay, now-Mumbai, or his home in Goa which he epitomised in various ways over the years through stellar work. It is then wrong to merely name him a cartoonist, he was an artist who spoke through his characters and his paintings or simplistic sketches of Bom Jesus Church (The Basilica of Bom Jesus) in Old Goa or a church at night which might remind art-lovers of Van Goghs Starry Night (the Parisian cafe view and a Kyoto temple scene are a few other popular ones).

So what made Mario Miranda different from anyone else in his time? Was it the way he saw the world as it passed by in front of his eyes? Or was it the fairly relatable characters he created for posterity to enjoy and probably critique for being too sexualised? One of his most popular characters, Miss Fonseca, is an animated creation of the woman in office a few years ago. Now I understand this might not entirely be agreeable to all of my readers here, but allow me to explain before we begin a battle of words... Miss Fonseca is a modern woman who is probably looked at differently because shes a woman rubbing shoulders with men in her workplace. For the sake of comparison, even though neither deserves either, Miss Fonseca is an Indianised version of Peggy Olson in Mad Men - and both of them work in the advertising industry amidst creative men. If anything, Mirandas work is best remembered for his female characters, both Miss Fonseca and Miss Rajani Nimbupaani, whom Amul too had used in their creative on the artists demise in 2011. May 2, 2016s Google Doodle by cartoonist Aaron Renier was a tribute to Mario Mirandas exemplary work. The doodle depicted a busy town with monochromic people and colourful umbrellas. This year at the Goa Carnival in February (was able to witness and walk along the Mapusa edition in North Goa), I also noticed some his characters making their way to the procession and it was purely nostalgic.

I also spoke with poet and media maven Pritish Nandy about Mario Miranda as the duo shared a deep friendship for a long time. Mario Miranda was one of my closest friends, he was in my opinion, one of the finest cartoonists that India has ever produced. His drawing skills were incredible and if you see his exhibitions around various cities of the world, particularly in Goa, you will realise what a magical environment he can create through his art. I do not see Mario purely as a cartoonist and he never wanted to be known as one, he always wanted to be known as an artist.

His journals with illustrations are in the private collection of Habiba (Mario Mirandas wife, and an artist herself) and she lent me some to read that I loved. They were written in another language (Portuguese) that I didnt know and whatever I didnt understand I checked with him (Mario). I used his work wherever it was possible as he was not just a cartoonist but also one of the greatest artists of our time. Curious to know if Nandy too had a favourite Mario Miranda character, he said he liked them all.

For me, though, not that there can ever be a comparison, its usually the tourist playing the guitar whom I connect with the most - he truly explains Susegad without the usage of any words. Susegad is exactly that. You feel it and the music he is strumming on the guitar while singing a song as he enjoys the slight shade of the palm tree on a breezy Goan afternoon is the reason why one can say how a picture, in this case, a piece of art speaks a thousand words.

His professional life:

Miranda worked as a cartoonist in newspapers such as the now-defunct Current, followed by the Illustrated Weekly of India magazine, Midday and later, Economic Times. The Afternoon Dispatch and Courier have also produced some of his best work on Mumbai where he lived and worked before moving back to Goa.

In the 1990s, Rushi Yazdegardi, owner of South Mumbais iconic Cafe Mondegar, had asked Miranda to draw murals on two walls of his eatery - one depicting Life in Mumbai and the other dedicated to Atmosphere in the Cafe that portrays characters enjoying their meal at the cafe.

Mario was bestowed with several honours including the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and a lifetime achievement award from the All India Cartoonists Association. He also received a posthumous Padma Vibhushan in 2012, a few months after his passing in 2011 at the age of 85.

Mr Nandy also threw light on some of his works being auctioned by Saffron Art which fetched some pretty amazing figures, something Mario wouldnt have imagined during his lifetime.

Speaking about Mirandas life in Goa, that he resumed after having to leave from Bombay which he loved and missed even after shifting, he says, He had the most beautiful house in Goa, he was Portuguese royalty and had his coat of arms and he had some of the most charming dogs that Ive seen. When he was in Bombay, he had a pet turtle and a bird. He was an animal-lover and thats something we have in common. Id also brought Mario on the board as one of the co-founders when we started People For Animals, which is run by Maneka Gandhi.

The next Mario Miranda?

With the world staying home in quarantine, the celebrated deceased cartoonists sons Raul and Rishaad Miranda and Gerard da Cunha, curator of the Mario Gallery have organised an online art competition to help people make the most of the confinement and tinker with their creative skills in isolation while they search for the next Mario Miranda of Goa. The contest wrapped up on April 30 and the winners are set to be announced on May 2.

Books:

The Mario Gallery and Museum published Mirandas 1949 diaries, which depict his student life as a 22-year-old in Bombay (now Mumbai). Over the years, Miranda published several books of his cartoons which include titles namely Laugh it Off, Goa with Love, and Germany in Wintertime, among others.

His illustrations have also made it to books written by eminent authors like Dom Moraes (A Journey to Goa), Manohar Malgaonkar (Inside Goa), Mario Cabral e Sas (Legends of Goa), and Uma Anand (Dul-Dul, The Magic Clay Horse, The Adventures of Pilla the Pup, and Lumbdoom, The Long-tailed Langoor).

His signature style in art:

From satire to tongue-in-cheek humour at the workplace (a not-so-close cousin of Dilbert?), to city life in Mumbai and jostling in the crowd, to the busy streets and villages of Goa, his most popular work came with a signature style, like the Mario Miranda stamp.

At one end were the oft-buxom women with black hair in a blunt cut, wearing dresses or sarees. Then there were the village belles dressed in vibrant floral skirts or polka dots and the traditionally-clad fisherwomen in a Goan marketplace. Suave gentlemen in tuxedos shared canvas with some of these female characters.

Mirandas work was quite a social commentary of his time and he stressed on that part enough. He wouldnt consider his work to be a political commentary of any kind. On what would be his 94th birthday, heres a homage to one of the best-known artists of this country who keeps vintage Bombay and Goa alive in the hearts of several people, wherever they are geographically-placed.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saumya Sharma Saumya Sharma enjoys writing, reading and watching short and long-form content across the vast expanse of the world, in all forms - print, web, 70mm and more. A soul traveller by choice, she sometimes finds herself well-blended amongst Mango people, thinking about life as we know it. She has been in the digital content and social media marketing space for the past seven years and counting. She is fond of dogs, haikus, limericks and poetry. ...view detail
ONE of developer Johnny Ronan's companies has urged the Court of Appeal (CoA) to overturn last year's High Court decision rejecting the firm's position over building height guidelines.

The dispute centres on whether Dublin City Council was wrong in its interpretation of guidelines on maximum heights for a new office and residential scheme in the Dublin docklands.

The site is in the North Lotts/Grand Canal area which is designated as a strategic development zone (SDZ).

Spencer Place Development Company (SPDC), of which Mr Ronan is a director, had sought to build up to 13 storeys in that SDZ area.

But the city council said the SDZ only permits ten storeys and any increase would have to be on the basis of the SDZ scheme being revised - approval for that is awaited from An Bord Pleanala.

SPDC argued in the High Court the council could already permit the increased height under the Urban Development and Building Heights guidelines issued by the Minister for Housing in 2018. It challenged the council's legal interpretation of the interaction between the guidelines and statutory planning schemes adopted for SDZs.

A year ago the High Court rejected SPDC's arguments.

SPDC lodged an appeal which took place by remote hearing before a three-judge CoA yesterday.

The court reserved its decision.
Supporters of Lebanon Catholic School on Saturday made plenty of noise.

Students, families, teachers and alumni descended onto the school grounds and lined Chestnut Street in front of the school. They maintained social distancing in their vehicles and many participants wore masks.

While it looked like a celebration, it was anything but.

Car horns blared in protest. Many arrived armed with signs reading Save our school and LC Strong. A sign attached to a passing box truck read, Save Catholic Education! Contact Your Priest."

The gathering was designed to send a message to the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg.

Just days earlier, the diocese announced the schools permanent closure, citing continued financial stress and decreasing enrollment as key factors in the decision. Along with Lebanon Catholic, the diocese also closed Holy Family Consolidated Catholic School in Berwick.

Students, alumni, families and teachers lined Chestnut Street in front of Lebanon Catholic School on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Photo by Sue Gleiter |sgleiter@pennlive.com

Since news broke, those with ties to the school have expressed their disappointment. The school has operated for 161 years and many say the closing is an end of a legacy.

Lebanon Catholic, a K-12 school, currently has just over 300 students and more than 40 staff members.

Its a good education. Its a good place to come to school," said Randy Altland of South Lebanon, who attended the rally with his son, Darius, 8. Its a fabulous place. The teachers are great. I just cant say enough about it.

The news was a blow to his son, who cried when he learned the school is closing.

It was heartbreaking because of the crisis going on and the fear everybody has and to put more fear into everybody, Altland added.

High school junior Jacob Martino said his dream of graduating from Lebanon Catholic has been dashed. He said the school is like family.

This is the last hope. This is the last thing we can do. Otherwise, its just giving up," Martino said.

Officials with the diocese said both schools are slated for closure at the end of this school year. The schools have been facing enrollment and financial challenges for years and their continued operation is no longer sustainable by the area parishes, a press release said.

Making the choice to close a Catholic school is one of the most difficult decisions for a bishop. Although many members of the Berwick and Lebanon communities worked heroically to reverse the financial situations of the schools, the downward trend has continued for years and has reached a point that is no longer sustainable by the parishes without impacting many other ministry programs. It is with a very heavy heart that I grant permission for these closures, said Bishop Ronald Gainer in the statement.

The 15-county Harrisburg Diocese in February filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing an unsustainable financial situation caused by ongoing clergy sex abuse lawsuits.

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Mr Muntaka Chasant, an entrepreneur in respiratory protection devices, expressed worry that flaunting cloth masks in front of drivers and passengers for sale in traffic could lead to the contamination of the masks.

Street hawkers displaying their cloth masks ostentatiously in the faces of drivers and other commuters who touch them to select which design they prefer is an area we have to look at quickly, Mr Chasant told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Saturday.

Cloth masks may help to block the larger droplets from the wearer in case they have the virus, but it is absolutely important wearers understand that they get minimal protection compared with certified filtering face pieces such as N95, KN95, and P2, which use electrically charged fibers to filter out particles down to 0.3 microns.

Mr Chasant, the Chief Executive Officer of AirMask and Textiles Company, an anti-pollution mask company in Accra, explained that the N95 respirator, for instance, was airtight and when worn correctly, enables the wearer to breathe through the snug mask without leaks on the sides.

He expressed worry that cloth mask wearers may be having a false sense of security, thinking they had the same level of protection as wearing of certified respirators.

Homemade masks fit loosely, and usually use filtering layers that are not scientifically tested to filter out tiny particles that are of concern to the wearer.

Some people seem to position the masks to sit right below their noses, which expose them to infection, especially the coronavirus.

Mr Chasant is also an air pollution awareness campaigner, known for his campaign on the health effects of air pollution in low income areas such as Agbogbloshie and Jamestown in Accra.

He said respiratory protection was based on science and it was time to educate mask wearers on the 'dos and don'ts' in order not to put themselves in harm's way.

Aside the benefit respirators provide during this COVID-19 pandemic, we should be happy that wearers may also see reduced exposure to particulate pollutants from car exhaust, road dust, open burning of residential trash, and soot from the use of biomass-fueled cookstoves indoors, he said.

Mr Chasant urged people with lung function problems to seek medical advice before wearing any kind of respiratory protection device.

Meanwhile he has urged the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to ensure that street beggars stopped touching vehicles in traffic and getting too close to drivers and passengers because nobody knows what infection they may be carrying.

You find panhandlers in a lot of traffic stops in Accra, and it is frightening at this point in time to still see children and adults darting from car to car, touching car windows and getting too close to drivers.

They move between hundreds if not thousands of cars each day begging for money. They are at risk themselves, and also expose commuters to infection and disease. It's a difficult situation but the City of Accra must endeavour to do something about it, Mr Chasant said.

---GNA
President Donald Trump on Friday revised the estimate of US fatalities from Covid-19 to hopefully less than 100,000, just days after he said he feared it could go up to 60,000 and then to 70,000. His first estimate based on projections by his coronavirus task force was up to 200,000.

As of Saturday morning, US toll stood at 65,068, with 1,947 new fatalities in the last 24 hours and the number of confirmed cases had climbed to 1.1 million, with 34,037 new reported infections.

The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), whose projections are widely cited by public health officials and experts including member of the presidents task force on the coronavirus, has estimated 72,433 fatalities based on current levels of mitigation efforts.

The American president has tried to get ahead of the pandemic, which he had once dismissed as something that will disappear like a miracle. Trump has also used these statements to claim credit for himself and his administration for acting in time and aggressively enough to have prevented many more death, even though US remains the nation which has recorded the highest death toll due to coronavirus, followed by Italy which is the second-hardest hit country.

Through our aggressive response and the remarkable commitment and bravery of American people, we have saved thousands and thousands of lives, the president told reporters Friday before heading out to Camp David, the presidential retreat in adjoining Maryland state.

He added: People were thinking in terms of 1.5 million lives lost to 2.2 without the mitigation. And hopefully, were going to come in below that 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number nevertheless.

The estimate of 1.5 million to 2.2 million came from the White House task force on the coronavirus and was based on assumptions that the government did nothing to combat the outbreak. With all mitigation efforts fully in force, the task force had projected 120,000 to 200,000 deaths.

To keep a tight control on its narrative on the handling of the outbreak, the White House has blocked Anthony Fauci, a top government epidemiologist and member of the coronavirus task force, from testifying before a congressional committee. It has said making key officials fighting the outbreak appear at hearings will be counterproductive at this point.

But all projections have been significantly lowered with the enforcement of mitigation efforts such as stay-at-home orders and social-distancing guidelines.

With continued drop in new cases, hospitalization and intubation, many states have started easing these restrictions. Texas became Friday the largest state to roll back some of the curbs. Stores, restaurants, movie theaters, malls, museums and libraries were allowed to reopen with limited occupancy to ensure social-distancing.

Other states such as California and Michigan, which have been hit hard by the epidemic, are being more careful and have tightened restrictions. Beaches and some public parks have been closed in California indefinitely and Michigan has extended the lockdown to May 15 despite mounting protests.

The situation in New York, the epicenter of the American epidemic with more than 24,000 fatalities, continues to improve but the scale of the devastation in the state and New York City, where close to 18,400 people have died thus far, has continued to unfold.

A New York city nursing home on Friday reported the death of 98 inmates from Covid-19 over a period of time. Its absolutely horrifying, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said. Its inestimable loss, and its just impossible to imagine so many people lost in one place. Earlier in the week 100 bodies were found decomposing in two unrefrigerated trucks outside a funeral home in the city.
Ariel Ball and Ross Weinstein held fast to their original wedding date, and were married April 25 in Stuyvesant Cove Park along the East River in Manhattan. Mark Stokely, a Universal Life minister and a friend of the couple, rode his bicycle from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to officiate.

April 25 ended up being the perfect day, said Ms. Ball, with temperatures reaching 65 degrees. The sun was shining and we were surrounded by our immediate family.

With a laugh Ms. Ball said that April 25 was also considered a good date for just about anything  a nod toward a line in the movie Miss Congeniality, when a character asked to describe her idea of a perfect date (romantic), instead came up with April 25, because its not too hot, not too cold.

They originally expected around 200 guests  more than 50 from the grooms side alone were expected to fly in from Mexico  for the celebration at Liberty Warehouse, an events space in Brooklyn, before they had to change their plans because of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Natural News) A Michigan man and his father have both died from what the media says were complications associated with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), and a remaining family member is blaming the health care system for these deaths.

Gary Fowler, 56, reportedly tried to go to the emergency rooms of three different metro Detroit hospitals when his breathing problems first began. But all three of them turned him away, leaving Fowler to suffer at home which is where he later died.

Keith Gambrell, 33, was like a son to Fowler  or rather, Fowler treated Gambrell like one. The two were very close, which is presumably why Gambrell approached the media after Fowlers death to let the world know that the medical system failed Fowler.

Rather than help Fowler during his time of need, the local medical system basically told him to scram. Consequently, he bore through the breathing troubles he was having until he could breathe no more, dying upright in his bedroom chair while his wife dozed off next to him.

Fowler reportedly scrawled out a note in the moments leading up to his death that stated, Heart beat irregular  oxygen level low. This is how surviving family members and medical personnel knew what he was dealing with in the moments leading up to his passing.

My dad passed at home, and no one tried to help him, Gambrell told the Detroit Free Press. He asked for help, and they sent him away. They turned him away.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about the five stages of grief that are associated with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19):

Gary Fowlers dad died in the hospital after being put on a ventilator

Fowlers immediately family was the first to notice his deceased body, and Gambrell says his little brother called him in agony, screaming about how his father would not wake up. Gambrell rushed across town to Fowlers home, and by that time police and emergency medical workers had already arrived.

Gambrell gave his final goodbyes to Fowlers lifeless body before contacting the media to explain what had happened. Not only was Fowler not given a test for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), but he was refused admittance to any of the local care facilities that may have been able to save his life.

I just felt so bad because he was begging for his life, and medical professionals did nothing for him, Gambrell says.

Gary Fowlers own father David also died from complications associated with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) right around the same time as his son, though he was admitted to the local Henry Ford Hospital before passing. Fowler Sr. tested positive for the novel virus and was immediately put on a ventilator, and not long after he died.

We just thought he had the flu, Gambrell told the media, noting that the following week is when Fowler Jr. developed a cough that was getting worse and worse by the hour.

When Fowler Jr. started to develop a cough and fever, along with shortness of breath  all potential signs of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19)  he says he asked medical staff at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Point for help, as well as a test, explaining to them that his father had tested positive for the novel virus. But they refused.

He tells them, My father has the coronavirus. I would like to get a test because I am showing symptoms. I am coughing,' Gambrell recalls. He had a fever of 101. He had shortness of breath. He was showing all the signs. They tell him, Sir, more than likely the fever is from bronchitis. And they told him to go home.

As it turns out, other Fowler family members also developed symptoms and were similarly turned away and denied tests.

More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is available at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

HeraldMailMedia.com

NaturalNews.com
STEPANAKERT, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan visited Artsakh between May 1-2 as part of the military cooperation and combined action plan of the two countries.

Accompanied by Artsakhs Defense Minister Jalal Harutyunyan, Tonoyan visited a number of active duty military bases in the northern and central directions, toured various barracks and rear units and met with the troops, the Artsakh Defense Ministry said in a news release.

The main discussion points focused on the improvement of the service and social-household conditions of the servicemen, as well as combat and morale readiness, effective application of arsenal and military equipment, modernization and logistical issues.

Tonoyan praised the current level of military cooperation between Armenia and Artsakh.

The priority directions of future actions as part of the cooperation were adjusted.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that no one in the state can be evicted for non-payment of rent through June.

In his daily coronavirus response press briefing, the governor said: "A landlord cannot evict a person for non payment of rent ... that is a law in place through June."

Mr Cuomo made the statement during his presentation a day after protesters called for the governor to address the needs of New Yorkers who are hurting financially from the economic impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

The governor also revealed the latest data on Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths, as well as further results from the statewide antibody testing program.

"We are in uncharted waters. But that doesnt mean we are sailing blind. We are constantly looking at the data to chart our course," he said.

On 1 May, New York state recorded 831 Covid-19 hospitalisations, a decrease from several days where that figure had remained flat at around 900.

The number of deaths stood at 299, up ten on the day before.

Hospitals in New York will now gather specific demographic data from patients to build on the picture forming of how and where the virus is spreading. The governor said that details such as the community in which they live, occupation, mode of transportation and other information would be collected in the coming days.

Statewide testing for antibodies continues, with the sample size growing to 15,000 people. The latest survey results show that 12.3 per cent of the population is positive for Covid-19 antibodies, with that figure as high as 19.9 per cent in New York City. Respectively, those percentages correspond to 2.4 million people and just under 1.7 million residents of the five boroughs.

The governor gave details two initiatives regarding preventing the spread of infections. Expanding on the news that New York City's subway would be ending 24-hour service in order to provide time to clean the trains, the governor described the labour-intensive process of workers in hazmat suits misting disinfectant on every surface with the cars.

New York state will also donate 7 million more cloth masks to nursing homes and poorer communities.

The state will also distribute $25m to food banks across the region.
What progressives really want is a level playing field

Jay Ambrose ( Eagle , April 29) claims that progressives misrepresent the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. He sites studies showing the gap would be less if taxes paid, and government services received, were considered. True, but a large gap still would remain and the gap steadily is getting larger.

Data on income and wealth for various segments of the U.S. population for various time periods are widely available, complicating any analysis. There is no doubt, however, that the gap between rich and poor in both wealth and income has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. Progressives see this as a problem, conservatives dont.

Ambrose says that Joe, for example, who comes up with a life-expanding innovation should benefit from doing so. Furthermore, he says, Joe will then start a business and hire Tom, which drives the economy. Firstly, businesses do not drive the economy, customers do. Unless someone buys Joes product, he wont hire Tom.
New Delhi, May 2 : Senior advocate Harish Salve, speaking on the Kulbhushan Jadhav matter, said that a point has come in the case where India would have to decide whether to go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for further consequential directions.

Responding to a query on the current status of the Jadhav matter, as it has been a while since the ICJ verdict and also nothing has been heard so far, Salve said that India has been in touch with Pakistan through various channels.

"I think we have reached a point where we may have to decide whether to go to ICJ for further consequential directions. Because Pakistan has not moved ahead," said Salve.

He was speaking at the Adhivakta Parishad's Dattopant Thengadi Lecture Series on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and his experience at the ICJ. The lecture was live-streamed.

Pakistan had alleged that Jadhav was a senior Indian intelligence officer who entered the country illegally to carry out acts of sabotage at the time of his arrest. He has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court on terrorism charges.

Salve insisted that Pakistan has a serious problem on its hands, as other than the confession, it has nothing. Detailing on Pakistan's non-cooperation, Salve said that till date, Pakistan has refused to share the FIR, the chargesheet and also the judgment of the military court.

Also, the confession does not disclose any particular offence, he added.

He also cited the limitations in fighting the case at the ICJ. Salve said the dispute had to be brought under the Vienna Convention, as it should fall under the ICJ's treaty jurisdiction. Salve said that breach of basic human rights by Pakistan was not available as a ground for a dispute between India and Pakistan. "That is the limitation we were stuck with," added Salve.

He said that Pakistan has raised a very interesting defence that Jadhav is a spy, and the Vienna Convention does not apply to spies. "India has pressed for either his release or for a procedure consistent with the due process to be put in place," said Salve.

Salve insisted that they managed to persuade the ICJ that the interpretation of the Vienna Convention must be imbued with the principles of human rights and the general value system.

Citing the global stature of India, Salve said, "Today India's stature in the global community is such that, within a matter of two weeks we managed to get a hearing in the ICJ for putting in place provisional measures." In July 2019, the ICJ ordered Pakistan not to execute Jadhav and asked it to reconsider the death sentence awarded to him by a military court.
Twenty Shramik Special trains were scheduled to run on Saturday ferrying stranded migrants to Jharkhand, UP, Bihar from the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and the five southern states; Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Out of the 20 scheduled special trains, the Indian Railways said only 10 special trains could run on Saturday.

The trains scheduled to run on Saturday from the Western Railway zone, Southern Railway, South Western Railway and Central Railway zone were due to ferry at least 20,000 passengers, senior officials said.

Trains are being planned at the request from the states. 10 trains ran today following all the standard protocols, Railway Protection Force DG Arun Kumar said.

As per information received, various zonal Railways have run around 10 Shramik Special trains today on the demand of various state governments, Railway Ministry said.

Amid demands by states and recognition of the logistical challenges involved in transporting millions of people back to their home states, the Centre on Friday decided to allow special trains  called Shramik Specials  to enable stranded migrants to return home. Five such trains operated on Friday.

According to officials, railways are unlikely to run trains originating from containment zones like Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. There are no trains planned for now but we are running in nearby places like in Maharashtra trains are being run at other destinations like Bhiwandi and Vasai in Mumbai. Trains will only run to these places when the demand from the state government comes, the official added.

The Railways also announced it will charge for tickets for operating special trains for stranded migrant workers amid coronavirus lockdown. The fare includes the price of regular sleeper class tickets plus superfast charges of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20 adding that state governments will coordinate and can pay on passengers behalf.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday tweeted saying the government should roll back the fare on special trains adding that it was an injustice to our labourers who are returning home.

The ministry of railways had also clarified that the special trains were planned only for those identified and registered by state governments. No one under any circumstance should come to Railway Stations looking for trains. We will not issue any tickets to any individual or entertain any request from any group or individual. We will allow only those passengers to board whom state government officials bring to the railway stations, the ministry said.

The railway ministry has said that trains would operate from point-to-point on the request of the concerned state governments. Senior officials would be appointed as nodal officers. It clarified, The passengers have to be screened by the sending states and only those found asymptomatic will be allowed to travel.

It would also be the responsibility of the sending governments to bring such individuals to the designated stations in sanitized buses, following social distancing norms. All passengers will have to mandatorily wear masks; while meals and drinking water are to be provided, according to the ministry, by the sending government.
On October 29, 1975, Gerald Ford, then the president of the United States, gave a speech in which he said would he not support legislation that would have provided a federal bailout to New York City, which was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The next morning, The New York Daily News summed up his statement with a memorable front-page headline that has lodged itself in the history books: FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD.

Its now 45 years later, and New York still cant find much love from Washington politicians, not even from one who was born and used to live here. One of them, of course, is Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who recently floated the idea that states like New York, financially strapped by the coronavirus, should be allowed to enter into bankruptcy, a suggestion that immediately brought a fiery rebuke from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. At his daily press conference he called the idea really dumb and then pointed out that McConnells own state, Kentucky, gets more money from the federal government than it pays in taxes each year, and that the reverse was true for New York. Mitch McConnell is a taker, not a giver. New Yorkers are givers, Senator McConnell. Youre a taker, Cuomo said. Just give me my money back, Senator.

The other, more galling, is Donald Trump, who was raised in Queens, made his (questionable) fortune in Manhattan and who recently moved his permanent residency to the low-tax state of Florida. The president, who has publicly feuded off and on with Governor Cuomo throughout the coronavirus crisis, recently tweeted his support of McConnells stance, saying: Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states?

Republican politicians always long to snuff out the burning ember that is New York City, but they never can. If theres anything we can learn from history, its that New York is a city that can be down but never out. (After all, it never did enter bankruptcy in 1975, and came roaring back to financial health over the next decade.)

Story continues

But New York is again in her hour of need, as the Empire State Building continues to remind us, flashing red like some kind of metaphor for the city it occupies. On CNN two weeks ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the virus outbreak and ensuing shutdown was costing the city billions of dollars in revenue. This is what the pause is costing us so far, at least in terms of dollars and cents.

Then there is the cost of lives, the unimaginable human toll this pandemic is imposing on this city. As of Saturday morning, the city has attributed more than 13,000 deaths to COVID-19.

So, the Broadway shows, the movie theaters and the museums, the restaurants and the stores, and the incredible street life are all shuttered for now. Many of the things that make New York, New York are gone for nowincluding the people. Many of my fellow citizens have fled to the surrounding suburbs or to Maine, Vermont, or Long Island. My Instagram is a sea of New Yorkers braving off-season beach houses, shopping at farm stands, and walking in the woods. Many of them thought they were going for a few weeks; those weeks have ticked on and on. And the emptiness is palpable: It feels like August, but many multiples more than that. The streets are largely car-less, the occasional ambulance drives down Park Avenue, its sirens on an intermittent beep because theres nothing for them to wail against. Sidewalks are largely empty except for a smattering of masked pedestrians walking dogs or delivering something. Almost everyone wears masks because weve been told to, which feels both safe and terrifying.

But there are small signs that the city may be slowly re-emerging: The Starbucks near me just opened for online ordering; a few bodegas have reopened, as have a smattering of bakeries, dry cleaners, and even hardware stores. A couple of liquor stores that stayed open in the early days of the lockdown, and then shut their doors, have once again opened, selling cases of wine and bottles of vodka and gin to customers who wait patiently on the sidewalk to collect their orders. There a few more cars on the streets, more trucks making deliveries. New York is quietly percolating under the surface, like a seedling waiting for spring.

Hospitals no longer have lines snaking around the block. I no longer turn on my television to find terrified nurses and doctors weeping openly. (Though the stories of the patients they have witnessed dying, unable to say goodbye to loved ones because of social distancing, are still as heartbreaking as in the early days of the pandemic.) I no longer see my local hospital on the nightly news. The USNS Comfort, brought in to house up to 1,000 patients, received only 20 because of bureaucratic snafus; it is now gone. The temporary hospital at the Javits Center is emptying out. The feeling here is that things are getting a little better, with Cuomo saying at his briefing on Friday that while another 289 people had died the day before, it was the first time the states one-day death toll fell below 300 since March 30.

Coronavirus outbreak, New York, USA - 05 Apr 2020 Shutterstock

Throughout the pandemic, some parts of New York have stayed pretty much the same. Central Park is still open: wet from the April rain, it is a mossy paradise even better than Frederick Law Olmsted could have dreamed of in his wildest imagination. It is green and filled with flowers, its carved sculptures peak out under the foliage like reminders from another time. Central Park, where I continue to walk every day, social distancing with a friend, was almost built for this uncertain time. Olmsted operated on the principle that, If a city is cramped, crowded, and rectilinear, its park should be composed of sinuous thoroughfares and a variable topography that includes large, open spaces. Central Park is the calm, bucolic paradise perfect for escaping a pandemic.

I am glad I stayed with New York in her hour of need, self-isolating with my family on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I am glad not to be in some suburb wondering whats happening back at home. I no longer fight with myself about my decision to stay. Life isnt going to go back to February 2020, at least not right away. New York City has a long road back to normal. Even after this virus is controlled, even after the virus is eradicated, even then the city is going to need to dig itself out of a mountain of debt and repair the scars left by the thousands of deaths.

Its impossible to know what New Yorks recovery will look like, but I do know we will come back from this, just like we did from Hurricane Sandy and 9/11. New York maybe down, but it is never out. And as for Trump? Florida is welcome to him. As Governor Cuomo tweeted soon after the president moved his residency, Good riddance. Its not like @realDonaldTrump paid taxes here anyway. Hes all yours, Florida.

Originally Appeared on Vogue
The despicable moment a man spits blood into the eye of a police officer has been caught on camera.

UK man Temisan Oritsejafor, 41, assaulted West Midlands Police officer Annie Napier after his arrest on April 18.

In the body camera vision released by police, the man can be seen struggling with officers as hes handcuffed following a disorder at an apartment block in Coventry before turning around and spitting blood into the eye of the female officer.

A visibly shaken PC Annie Napier (left) after she is spit in the eye. Pictured right is the man who is gearing up to spit in her face. Source: West Midlands Police

After a further struggle, Oritsejafor is taken away and the camera falls on a visibly shaken Police Constable (PC) Napier, with the other officers asking if shes alright.

She wipes her face and says: Im just worried about that corona(virus).

A police statement says Oritsejafor is facing a significant jail term for the despicable act after he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault on an emergency worker and a further charge of assault. He will be sentenced on a later date.

The statement said PC Napier suffered no ill-effects from the incident and is back at work.

"As frontline officers, we know that we put ourselves in potential danger, but we now face the added risk of COVID-19 infection which then also puts our families at risk, PC Napier said.

"Its a shock when someone spits in your face and very unpleasant, so Im pleased the force and the courts take these assaults so seriously."

Superintendent Jenny Skryme added it was vulgar and unacceptable to spit at anybody, but even more so a key worker who is putting themselves at risk to keep people safe and catch criminals.

Temisan Oritsejafor was already on bail for assaulting another officer just weeks earlier. Source: West Midlands Police

"Our officers are bravely and repeatedly on the frontline despite the understandable safety concerns across the country. This type of assault on our staff is deplorable and shouldnt, and wont be, tolerated, she said.

Oritsejafor was already on bail for assaulting another officer just weeks earlier.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a televised announcement at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on March 26, 2020. (Jhonn Zerpa/Venezuelan Presidency/AFP via Getty Images)

Venezuelas Maduro Looted 9 Tons of Gold Bars, Shipped Them to Iran, Pompeo Says

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the leaders of Venezuelas socialist regime of stealing nine tons of gold from the countrys reserve and shipping the bars to longtime ally Iran.

Pompeo said in a tweet on May 2 that thugs from the regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro had looted nine tons of gold bars and sent it to the Iranian regime, adding that by doing so, Venezuelas leaders were partnering with the worlds leading state sponsor of terror.

Maduros thugs looted nine tons of gold bars and sent it to the Iranian regime. The worlds leading thieves are partnering with the worlds leading state sponsor of terror. The greatest victims are the Venezuelan and Iranian people. pic.twitter.com/EP7iP6FVJx  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 2, 2020

The gold, worth some $500 million, was payment to Iran for supporting Venezuelas ailing gasoline refineries, according to a Bloomberg report.

Iranian jets reportedly flew in parts, technicians, and gasoline additives to fix a major refinery in Venezuela, and left with the gold bars.

Elliott Abrams, the envoy who leads U.S. efforts to topple Venezuelas leftist leader, said that Iran has been sending more and more planes to the South American nation, according to AFP.

Our guess is that they are being paid in gold, he said at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank, AFP reported.

Those planes that are coming in from Iran that are bringing things for the oil industry are returning with the payments for those things: gold.

The United States, which is backing an attempt by opposition leader Juan Guaido to force Maduro to step down and to call new elections, has warned bankers and traders not to deal in Venezuelan gold.

The raid on its gold reserves leaves Venezuela with hard-currency assets of just $6.3 billion, a 30-year low, according to Bloomberg.

Gold has been a critical part of Venezuelas foreign reserves for years, ever since Maduros predecessor Hugo Chavez converted much of the countrys hard assets, in particular U.S. dollars, into the yellow metal.

In 2011, Chavez brought into Venezuela some $11 billion worth of gold bars from storage in other countries. As the country plunged deeper into an economic crisis, driven by socialist policies and falling prices of oil, a key export and source of revenue, Venezuela sought to sell some of its gold to fund imports and avoid defaulting on foreign debt.

Between late 2019 and early 2020, Maduro ordered the removal of some six tons of gold from the central bank vaults to raise more hard currency for his cash-strapped regime.

Maduro continues to cling to power despite U.S. sanctions and efforts to depose him.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has discreetly ordered coronavirus antibody tests be administered in grocery stores.

The tests are being organized at an undisclosed amount of supermarkets in New York state,' New York Post reports.

Several Fine Fare supermarkets in Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs have participated, with each administering more than 200 antibody tests a day in stores.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (pictured) ordered coronavirus tests to be administered in some New York supermarkets, New York Post reports

Several Fine Fare supermarkets in New York City have reportedly participated in the program

Rudy Fuertes, president of Fteley Food Corp, said the tests have been done quietly with no official announcement from governors office.

'They dont tell anyone they are doing that  otherwise wed have lines through the kazoo,' said Fuertes, who company operates 10 Fine Fare stores in the city.

Fuertes tested positive for COVID-19, but had not symptoms.

Antibody tests were first introduced in April at hospitals for medical workers, first repsonders and patients.

They then expanded into local urgent-care clinics and began testing at local urgent care clinics this weekend.

More than 5,000 drugstores have also been given the 'OK' to move forward with tests.

More than 20 percent of residents tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in a study launched by officials, which, if accurate, means as many as 1.7million people have been infected in the city.

The mortality rate is between 0.6 and 0.8 percent, far greater than the 0.1 percent mortality rate of the flu.

Pictured: Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (center) wears a protective mask while shopping in a Fairway supermarket during the coronavirus pandemic on Friday

Meanwhile, the New York Department of Health has zeroed in on testing random samples of local shoppers and grocers.

As an essential business, grocery stores and retailers like Walmart remained open throughout the outbreak.

A number of employees at different supermarkets have died of COVID-19 and employees have complained of unsanitary work conditions.

Health workers have placed tables inside local supermarkets and administered tests that prick take blood from five fingers.

Results can be shared through email or a phone call.

New York Post reports other supermarkets in New York state have involved, but a health official declined to name those stores.

'The governor has talked about testing as one of the keys to reopening the state,' they said.

'The supermarkets are the random testing piece.'

Fuerte thinks around 30 percent of his staffers were diagnosed with COVID-19 after nearly 100 percent of his store managers tested positive.

Two of his Fine Fare supermarkets were testing sites last week and an antibody testing site was set up at Key Food Supermarket in Brooklyn.

'The tests are bringing hope to our community,' said Fuertes.

State officials said they've tested about 8,000 residents over the past two weeks. 3,000 random samples from the general population were also taken.

Pictured: A patient has her temperature taken before being tested for coronavirus at the Pro Health Urgent Care coronavirus testing site in New York

In addition to shoppers, grocers begun reporting coronavirus infections and localized outbreak among store staff.

The Washington Post reports that thousands at grocery store staffers nationwide continue to work as 1,132,500 Americans were infected with COVID-19 and 65,724 died.

Those numbers include grocery store employees who have complained of not having protective gear - like face masks and gloves - during shifts. Dozens have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Experts said the influx of employee infections and deaths could likely affect grocers' ability to both maintain and add new staff.

Several grocers are incentivizing potential workers with promises of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and an extra $2 an hour.

But finding people willing to step onto the frontlines of the pandemic for minimum wage salaries might not be enough to close the deal, said supermarket analyst Phil Lempert.

He said: 'One of the biggest mistakes supermarkets made early on was not allowing employees to wear masks and gloves the way they wanted to. 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."'

Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, has announced at least five employees have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic occurred.

In response, Walmart overhauled cleaning efforts with a 'third-party safety and environmental compliance assessment as well as a health department inspection.'

This included decontamination of the front entrance, carts, registers, bathrooms and food areas.

Pictured: Cashier Baby San wears a face shield and gloves as she scans items at grocery store Super Cao Nguyen, in Oklahoma City, due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus.

Some stores have aded plexiglass sneeze guards to cash registers to keep employees safe during the pandemic

Additionally, Walmart has addressed the coronavirus crisis by placing social distancing markers around stores and installing plexiglass barriers at checkout aisles.

Walmart also said they've limited the amount of customers allowed inside stores at one time and started checking employees' temperatures at the beginning of each shift.

Walk-in coronavirus antibody testing is launched at urgent care clinics across New York prompting residents to line up outside for hours

This week, long lines formed outside City MD locations as eager New Yorkers took advantage of new walk-in COVID-19 nasal swab and antibody tests.

Social media users warned that they were not able to social distance in the waiting rooms

Long lines formed outside of CityMD locations across New York City as eager city residents waited for an antibody test to see if they had had coronavirus or not. The company announced Tuesday it was opening up walk-in antibody testing from Tuesday onward

City MD, which has more than 120 urgent cares centers in New York, New Jersey and Washington state, revealed the increased testing in a press release Monday before rolling out the new antibody testing on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 swab test is available to those experiencing active symptoms such as a fever and persistent cough. It is also available to healthcare workers, first responders and people who believe they have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19 in the past 14 days.

It will take three to five days for results to be delivered and patients are warned to self-quarantine during this period.

The company is also offering antibody testing with high accuracy, it said in its press release, to see if a patient had previously contracted coronavirus.

These test results will also be delivered within three to five days and is available to people who previously had COVID-19 symptoms; those who received a positive test result for COVID-19 and have now recovered after 14 days; and people who believe they have come into contact with somebody who had the virus.

The nasal swab test is available to those who are insured. Those who are uninsured or self-pay will be charged for the cost of the CityMD visit as well as lab fees.

The antibody test is said to be covered by most insurance companies but costs $55 for the City MDs lab partner if not.

The news was welcomed on social media where several users posted their experience of waiting through long lines on the first day of testing Tuesday.

Just got an email from CityMD saying they can now offer covid tests to anyone that needs one and i just got emotional, Twitter account Astrology by Mecca wrote.

Gov. Cuomo on Tuesday revealed his 12-step plan to reopening state which includes keeping hospital capacity beneath 70 percent and seeing solid two-week declines in coronavirus cases in the areas he will restart, but said it would take a 'miracle' for New York City to reach the requirements in the next few weeks.

Cuomo's lockdown officially ends on May 15 but he said on Monday he would extend it for some regions of the state where the data suggests there is still a problem.

The first step of the plan is to ensure that the region being reopened has seen declining coronavirus cases for 14 days.

New York City is a long way front that benchmark.

Cuomo is adopting the White House's recommendation that for every 1,000 people, 30 coronavirus tests are required. The state is currently carrying out some 20,000 diagnostic tests every day but he previously said he hoped to increase that number to 40,000 a day.

Many showed long lines forming in front of the CityMD locations for testing

What will be crucial, he said, is ensuring the tests are easily accessible and are well advertised.

Symptomatic people and front line workers will be prioritized, he said.

'We have to have the testing regiment in place and prioritize symptomatic people and front line and essential workers.

'They do have a higher rate of infection because they're putting themselves in harm's way so we want to make sure we have the testing.

'Do we have the right number of sites? Testing won't work if it's too hard to get. The advertising is very important. It has to be available but people need to know it's available. They have to know what the symptoms are.

'This is about people understanding it and buying into it. This is not government orders. People get it. They know the facts and they do it because we have communicated successfully the circumstance and the facts.

'You need that testing and need it to trace the contacts otherwise you see that infection rate increase,' he said.

Last week, Cuomo announced that Mike Bloomberg was launching a tracing program that would work to identify everyone who every infected person in New York has come into contact with to try to weed out other as yet undetected cases.

The recruiting effort for that program is underway. People with experience in healthcare are being asked to apply for jobs which Mayor Bill de Blasio said will pay between $50,000 and $65,000.

Throughout the reopening plan, healthcare workers and other essential workers who Cuomo said had risked their own lives out of a sense of pride and duty to serve the public, would be put first.

They include not only doctors and nurses but transit workers and grocery store workers, cops and firefighters, all of whom have not stayed home.

He said it had been one of his biggest fears at the onslaught of the pandemic that they would refuse to show up to do their jobs but that they all had.

They will get first access to testing and will be protected with the equipment they need to do their jobs, he said.
Michigan is getting closer to a pair of COVID-19 testing benchmarks set out by state and international leaders.

For the first time, Michigan is reporting more than 10,000 tests done in a single day. There were 10,452 tests done on Wednesday, April 29  the most recent day testing numbers are available for. Of those tests, 11.6 percent of them were positive.

Michigan officials have set a goal of doing 15,000 tests per day in order to know how prevalent the coronavirus is in the population. The World Health Organization recommends ramping up testing until less than 10 percent of tests come back positive.

As testing increases, daily confirmed cases and deaths maintain even. Michigan reported 977 new confirmed cases and 77 new deaths on Friday, May 1.

In total, Michigan has 42,356 confirmed cases and 3,866 COVID-19 deaths.

State officials encourage people to look at rolling averages for new cases instead of the daily numbers, which can have peaks and valleys for a variety of reasons.

Michigan has averaged 816 new cases and 112 new deaths each day in the past week. In the week prior, it averaged 945 new cases and 123 new deaths per day.

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Michigan has 3,288 ICU beds, and 2,197 were filled as of Thursday by a variety of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. It equates to 67 percent of the states ICU beds being in use, on average.

The state is releasing recovery data once per week. So far, 8,342 people have recovered from the virus in the state  meaning they tested positive for COVID-19 at some point, theyre still alive and its been at least 30 days since symptoms began.

Of Michigan's 83 counties, 79 have at least one confirmed case, as Baraga County is the latest to join the list. There are 58 counties with at least one COVID-19 death.

Counties outside metro Detroit are seeing the largest increases in new cases, although Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties remain the three hardest-hit areas.

The three counties still account for 70.1 percent of the total confirmed cases and 80.1 percent of the states deaths from the virus, while only having 39 percent of the states residents.

In Detroit alone, there were 9,162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,040 deaths. The disproportionate number of cases in the metro Detroit area is a result of multiple factors, including the large population, more aggressive testing in those counties, proximity to a major airport and community spread of coronavirus, experts say.

The virus is heavily affecting African Americans. About 32 percent of cases and 41 percent of deaths in Michigan are for African Americans, while they make up 14 percent of the states population.

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Here's a look at the Michigan counties with the most confirmed cases:

1. Wayne County: 16,970 cases (1,802 deaths)

2. Oakland County: 7,423 cases (705 deaths)

3. Macomb County: 5,623 cases (614 deaths)

T4. Genesee County: 1,600 cases (192 deaths)

T4. Kent County: 1,600 cases (36 deaths)

6. Washtenaw County: 1,091 cases (66 deaths)

7. Saginaw County: 684 cases (63 deaths)

8. Ingham County: 483 cases (12 deaths)

9. Kalamazoo County: 405 cases (18 deaths)

10. Jackson County: 381 cases (22 deaths)

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For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here.

COVID-19 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

Friday, May 1: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Day of angry protests, political maneuvers sets stage for likely legal battle in Michigan

Groups call on Michigan to waive the damn rent during coronavirus outbreak

Michigan prisoners call coronavirus exposure cruel and unusual punishment in lawsuit

Michigans closure of bars, gyms, casinos extended to May 28
Around 890 employees at a Tyson Foods pork-processing plant in Logansport, Indiana, have tested positive for COVID-19, a report from NBC News finds.

The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that the Logansport plant had previously suspended operations for a single day, on April 20, for deep cleaning and sanitizing.

But after reopening, it quickly closed again, with officials saying it would stay shuttered until all 2,200 workers were tested for the coronavirus and the company deemed the facility safe for workers.

Hli Yang, a spokeswoman for Tyson, declined to confirm the number who have tested positive for the virus to NBC News.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday compelling companies like Tyson to reopen the shuttered plants amid growing fears of breaks in the food supply chain and shortages of household staples chicken, pork and beef.

Tyson increases bonuses for frontline workers

Along with this, Tyson Foods announced it is increasing bonuses and short-term disability coverage due to coronavirus. While other companies are increasing hourly rates, Tyson is using a bonus method to increase frontline employee salaries.

The company is now offering $120 million in thank you bonuses for 116,000 U.S. frontline workers and truckers. This increase in bonuses is up from the $60 million announced in early April. The company is moving up the first $500 bonus payment to early May. The second $500 bonus will be paid in July.

Team members who cannot come to work due to illness or child care will continue to qualify; however, bonus eligibility will depend on attendance.

We understand that everyone, including our team members, is anxious during this challenging time, said Liz Croston, a spokeswoman for Tyson. We believe information is the best tool for fighting the virus and so, were working to keep our team members informed and are also encouraging them to tell us what theyre experiencing, so we support them in the best possible way.

Story continues

Get me out of here!: Americans flee crowded cities amid COVID-19

Food spending: Here's how to save money and still eat well

Tyson Foods is also increasing short-term disability coverage to 90% of regular pay until June 30 for team members who are unable to work due to illness. All company information is translated into several languages.

We relaxed our attendance policy in March to encourage workers to stay at home when theyre sick, Croston said. Weve also been educating team members on COVID-19, including the importance of following CDC guidelines away from work.

Contributing: Josh Rivera, USA TODAY

A car passes in front of a Tyson Foods Inc., sign at Tyson headquarters in Springdale, Ark.

This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: Tyson increases bonuses for workers, as report finds 890 with COVID-19
Lenovos Chrome OS-based IdeaPad Duet captured a lot of interest when it was first unveiled in early January. It has very similar form and functionality to Googles much more expensive Pixel Slate, but it is priced a lot more attractively  just US$299 including keyboard. If youve been waiting to get your hands on it, the wait will soon be over as it is looks set to ship by May 11.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer (AUS/NZL based) - Details here

Lenovos eagerly awaited IdeaPad Duet is set to ship as soon as May 11 with the device now live on Best Buys website in the US. The device was first unveiled in early January and promises to offer a similar form factor and functionality to Googles much more expensive Pixel Slate. While the Pixel Slate starts at US$599 just for the device, the IdeaPad Duet costs just US$299 and includes a keyboard accessory.

Naturally, to keep the IdeaPad Duet priced so sharply, Lenovo has delivered a device that is significantly less powerful than the Pixel Slate, but it still should prove sufficient for getting things done on Googles relatively lightweight browser-based operating system. Instead of Intel-based processors, Lenovo has fitted the Duet with a MediaTek Helio P60T octa-core mated to a somewhat meager 4 GB of RAM  expecting more at the price point is probably asking too much.

After all, Lenovo hasnt skimped on storage with 128 GB on board as standard. The Duets 10.1-inch IPS display is also decent with a high-resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels while the battery is also sizeable rated at 7,180 mAh. The included detachable keyboard features a full trackpad, although you can expect it to be around 90 percent of full-size. It will also be reasonably widely available at launch with Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan and Canada joining the US in the first wave.
Captain Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday asked the Health Department to ramp up the RT-PCR Covid testing facilities in the state to 6000 a day by the May 15, instead of the targeted 5,800 a day by May end, while directing it to conduct its own tests on all returnees instead of going by the tests done in other states.

Pointing to the large number of returnees had now tested positive, the Chief Minister said it was clear that Punjab could not rely on the tests conducted on its people stranded in other places by those respective states.

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Punjab Chief Minister Captain AmarinderReferring to the fact that several staffers at the Nanded gurdwara itself had now tested positive, the Chief Minister said with this the Akali claim, that there were no positive cases in Nanded and the pilgrims had got infected on the way back or on reaching Punjab, had been trashed. He once again asked the Opposition to stop indulging in petty politicking over such a grave issue.

This was a crucial time in the states fight against Covid, the Chief Minister said during a VC meeting with the Council of Ministers, which took a series of decisions to scale up the state governments Corona battle. Directing the Health Department to come out with a plan to advance its schedule for increasing the testing capacity, the Chief Minister stressed the need to be prepared for the worst.

Captain Amarinder said he had already asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the central government to scale up the testing capacity to 20000 a day, to cope with the influx of migrants and others expected to return to the state over the next few weeks in the wake of the new directives of the Government of India. The rapid testing would also need to be scaled exponentially, to at least 2 lakh, once it resumes, the Chief Secretary said.

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CoronavirusThe Chief Minister said he had also asked Baba Farid University Vice Chancellor to explore the feasibility of setting up a testing facility in Jalandhar, for which the government was ready to sanction an immediate grant of Rs 1 crore.

The Chief Ministers directions on augmenting the testing facilities came two days after he ordered strict quarantining of those returning to Punjab from other states, and in the wake of test reports of 292 people returning from Maharashtra showing positive. In response to a suggestion by some of the Ministers, the Chief Minister agreed to examine their proposal for home quarantine of the returnees in coordination with the village Sarpanches and Panchayats.

Captain Amarinder told the Cabinet that he had deputed individual officers to coordinate with each state for facilitating the return of Punjabis.

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Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu assured the Chief Minister that all pending testing reports would be cleared in the next day or two, to ensure that there is no delay in identifying and addressing positive cases. He said arrangements for increasing testing by roping in a private lab had also been finalized and 2000 samples from across the state had been sent to them today.

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Cabinet approves parole extension

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In view of the unprecedented situation prevailing in the state, the Cabinet approved extension of parole period beyond 16 weeks during epidemics and disasters, for those sentenced to 7 years or less. The Cabinet okayed suitable amendments to The Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners Act 1962, in accordance with the Supreme Court suggestion on longer paroles in the current extreme circumstances.

Outsourced appointments cleared for GMCs

To further ramp up the states testing facility and medical preparedness in the Covid battle, the Council of Ministers cleared various appointments, on outsourcing basis, for critical posts at the Government Medical Colleges in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot. The appointments, already approved by the Finance Department for six months, will enable the government medical colleges to appoint vital staff in the viral testing laboratories, isolation wards etc, to enable 24X7 functioning, said an official spokesperson.

The Committee headed by Dr Raj Bahadur will decide and finalize the appointments for the posts of Specialist Doctors, Nurses, Ward Attendants, Technicians, Lab Attendants, apart from Directors and other.

The Cabinet was informed that from the initial 3 testing facilities, the number of such centres in Punjab had gone up to 7, with the Dr Lal Path Labs also now allowed to conduct tests beginning today. The lab collected 2000 samples on the first day, from across the state.

To further increase the testing capacity in the State, a proposal has been sent to GOI to set up 4 new labs in the District Hospitals at Barnala, Roopnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur. Additionally, a proposal to procure 15 TruNaat machines has been moved. State is also considering to start CBNaat testing in Patiala and Faridkot.

Cabinet Minister Vijay Inder Singla suggested allowing non-NABL labs to conduct Covid tests, pointing out that the state had 12 such labs, equipped with similar machines as needed for testing, and the ICMR had also allowed these labs to be used after due inspection.

Ex-facto approval for 4300 GoGs

In another decision, the Cabinet accorded ex-post facto approval to the appointment of 4300

Guardians of Governance (GOGS). The GoGs, part of the Chief Ministers flagship scheme to gainfully employ ex-servicemen, have emerged as a powerful tool for the state government in the battle against Covid.

Transfer of teachers from border areas

The Cabinet also agreed to amend the transfer policy of the School Education Department to allow teachers seeking transfer after 18 months of posting in the border areas, instead of the earlier 3 years, once new recruitments are completed. It also gave ex-facto approval to the exclusion of principal and headmasters from the transfer policy.
Mikel Williamson has been named the new Chief Executive Officer of Happy State Bank, the company announced in a news release on Thursday.

Williams is the first new CEO for the company in 30 years. It was announced last week during the Happy Bancshares, Inc. shareholders meeting by Chairman J. Pat Hickman.
A Council Bluffs police officer shot an Omaha man who stole a gas can from a gas station and shot at the officer Saturday morning, according to authorities.

Council Bluffs police said the officer arrived at the Buckys gas station at 3434 Nebraska Ave. at 8 a.m. and was told by a Buckys employee that a man stole a gas can from the business.

The officer confronted Jimmy J. Carr, 34, at the front of the gas station, and the man pulled out a gun and fired toward the officer, police said. The officer returned fire, shooting the man, authorities said.

Carr was struck in the left hip area and was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment of an injury that was not thought to be life-threatening, authorities said.

The officer was not hit, and no one else was injured. Carr was arrested later.

Police said the officers name will be released later.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Council Bluffs Police Department criminal investigations division at 712-328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.
At least 171 frontline NHS workers have died in the coronavirus pandemic, latest figures reveal.

They include at least 27 doctors and around 100 nurse and healthcare supporters, according to Nursing Notes, a website devoted to the welfare of medical staff.

Among them is Furqan Ali Siddiqui, 50, a plastic surgeon at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The father of six, who arrived from Pakistan only two months ago, fell ill within weeks of starting his job.

Figures from Nursing Notes reveal that at least 171 frontline NHS workers have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: Two nurses stand under an umbrella outside Southend Hospital observing a minute's silence for key workers who have died, April 28

The Association of Pakistani Physicians said: He is another NHS hero who had travelled thousands of miles to work for the NHS and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Anuj Kumar, 44, a healthcare worker at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, has also died, leaving a wife, Sandhya, and two sons, aged 12 and three.

Father-of-two Adekunle Enitan, 55, an intensive care nurse at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, died in the unit where he worked.

And a nurse of 40 years has died just as she was making plans to retire. Philomina Cherian, 63, died on April 30 at Oxfords John Radcliffe Hospital where she worked.
Looking to revive the coronavirus-hit economy of the state, the Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday decided to launch a programme guaranteeing at least 120 days' employment to the those living in urban areas.

The cabinet decided to launch the Mukhya Mantri Shahari Rojgar Guarantee Yojna, under which 120 days' assured employment will be provided to people living in urban areas, an official spokesperson said.

If required, adequate training will be given to them for their skill upgrade, the cabinet decided in its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday.

A presentation was also made regarding probable steps for the economic revival and reforms to be initiated after lockdown.

The spokesperson said thousands of residents of Himachal Pradesh had returned to their native places from other states due to the coronavirus crisis.

They have vast experience and expertise in various fields. They will be identified and trained accordingly to provide them employment and self-employment avenues, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: A day after legendary actor Rishi Kapoor's shocking demise, actress and wife Neetu Kapoor penned an emotional and heart-melting farewell note to him reading ' end of our story'. She posted it along with a brimming and happy picture of the Kapoor senior who loved drink.

Neetu Kapoor's post on Instagram saw a number of comments by celebrities and well-wishers. Most of them condoling Rishi Kapoor's demise and giving her a reassurance that there's was a beautiful and timeless love story.

Rishi Kapoor died at Mumbai's Sir HN Reliance Foundation hospital on Thursday, 8:45 am. He was battling Leukemia for the past two years and underwent treatment for it in New York for a year.

He is survived by wife and actress Neetu Kapoor, children Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and actor Ranbir Kapoor. The actor, who was always vocal about issues on Twitter, had first disclosed about his illness on the micro-blogging site.

All through his tough times, Neetu Kapoor stood like a rock behind him. The two cemented a great bond of love and affection - giving picture-perfect relationship goals to fans and followers. Rishi and Neetu Kapoor worked in several movies like Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Khel Khel Mein, Rafoo Chakkar, Do Dooni Chaar amongst various others together.

Their on-screen chemistry turned into the real-life romance and the two got married on January 22, 1980.

Theirs is indeed an eternal love story!
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have been marching to the beat of their own drummer since the beginning. It all started with their highly unusual wedding celebration and continued right up until the moment they bid their roles as senior royals goodbye. Recent rumors of a tell-all book in the works should come as a shock to no one.

The potential book is being compared to Princess Dianas bombshell collaboration with Andrew Morton, Diana: Her True Story. But there is one major difference between Dianas decision and that of Harry and Meghan.

While Diana had left the royal family for good and cared nothing for their stodgy traditions anymore, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are trying not to sever ties completely. Yet in the meantime, theyre breaking the cardinal rule of being royal.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

Queen Elizabeth takes the motto never complain, never explain to heart

The origins of never complain, never explain extend back to the 1800s and have been used by Her Majesty for her entire tenure as queen. Its frankly impressive how personable and well-liked Queen Elizabeth is, yet no one knows precisely how she feels about most divisive political issues.

The queen hosts foreign presidents and dignitaries from both sides of the political spectrum and treats them all equally. She very rarely comments on public scandals and she doesnt defend herself against critics. In short, she takes the road of silence over getting defensive time and time again.

Queen Elizabeth | Victoria Jones  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have much in common with Princess Diana

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been doing an awful lot of complaining, like when they publicly voiced their disgust with unfair treatment by the press during their royal tour in South Africa. They took the matter further when they filed suits to sue the worst offenders.

That is not how Queen Elizabeth deals with negative attention though. There has been a long tradition in the British royal family of riding criticism out and keeping your head down and taking the long view, royal biographer Penny Junor told People. Crises come and go, and people get criticized  often for five minutes by the media, who then move on.

One royal who didnt follow this unwritten rule? Prince Harrys mother, Diana.

A tell-all book could be the end of Prince Harrys good relationship with his family

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Harry and Meghan came to an agreement with the queen that theyd reevaluate their new positions one year after their departure from senior royal roles. But if they really do publish a tell-all book in 2020, that relationship could be damaged beyond repair.

The queen was allegedly furious with Diana after her book was released. No matter what Harry and Meghans book says, even if it takes a neutral stance, it will still be a one-sided account of what happened and will almost definitely portray the royal family in a negative light.

A book is taking the opposite approach of the royal protocol to never complain, never explain and once Prince Harry and Meghan allow their words to be published, theres no going back.
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Ryan Stevenson will release his new studio album, Wildest Dreams, on June 5th. Pre-order Wildest Dreams today with the newly released title track, the current Top 25 Billboard radio hit, "Amadeo (Still My God)" and "When We Fall Apart." The new studio project was almost entirely produced by Micah Kuiper and Bryan Folwer for Man Cub Music House along with production from Jordan Sapp and Tyrus Morgan.

"Over the last couple of years, I feel like I've been learning to rest more, and not worry so much about what may or may not happen in the future," shares Ryan Stevenson about the idea behind the new album. "In the beginning, I tended to operate out of a posture to 'obtain' success; then over time, I morphed into a posture of trying to 'maintain' success. Trying to micromanage and 'maintain' success is exhausting and is a thief of joy and peace. This last season has been an eye opener; in the way of realizing how good God is all the time. The title of this new record is so appropriate, because I truly feel like at every turn, God continues to blow my mind and come through in ways that I never thought were possible. His goodness and blessing, even in the midst of my chaos, is so humbling. My wife and I reflect regularly on our journey, and where the Lord has brought us on this journey. It really is better than our wildest dreams."



Wildest Dreams is a collection of songs that will inspire the listener to move to a place of trust and dependence on God. In addition to honoring his mother on the album ("When We Fall Apart"), Stevenson also wrote a song for his dad, "With Your Life," where he wanted him to know that he now realizes how much his dad loved him as he reflects on his own life with two boys. There is also an impactful a song, "Through It All," that touches on secrets and how debilitating the shame and pressure of our sin can be if not brought into light. He also brings his fun-upbeat melodies to the project with the nostalgic song, "My 90s."

Stevenson kicked off his year with the release of the new radio single, "Amadeo (Still My God)," which is currently a Top 25 Billboard Christian radio song with airplay on more than 73 AC stations including the K-LOVE network, SiriusXM's "The Message" and the Way-FM network. In just 2 months the song has already amassed over 3.5 million streams across AmazonMusic, AppleMusic, Pandora, Spotify & YouTube. There is also a new Amadeo 5-day devotional available on the YouVersion Bible app written by Stevenson.

During this unprecedented season with limited travel, Stevenson will be doing a live online "Amadeo Radio Tour" with virtual performances across the country beginning today with K-LOVE Radio. The schedule and links for the performances listed below.

May 1 - K-LOVE

May 7 - Grand Rapids, MI - WCSG

May 12 - Georgia, North & South Carolina - HisRadio

May 14 - Columbus, OH - WCVO

May 19 - New Orleans, LA - WBSN

May 21 - Winston Salem, NC - WBFJ

Stevenson will also release his first book, "Eye of the Storm: Experiencing God When You Can't See Him," this summer. "Ryan is deeply committed to the honesty of the journey," says Paul Young, author of "The Shack." "I am honored to be a witness to his courage and determination and his wholehearted pursuit of authentic truth-telling and creative craft." The book will release July 7 through Harvest House and is available for pre-order now. "Ryan's story is captivating and unique-nothing short of miraculous!" says Bart Millard of MercyMe. "I loved reading about his journey and seeing the Lord's hand on his life. This is a beautifully compelling story, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for him."

Tags : Ryan Stevenson ryan stevenson wildest dreams ryan stevenson news
Mumbai, May 2 : While Amitabh Bachchan is heartbroken after the demise of colleague and good friend Rishi Kapoor, he feels his "Piku" co-star Irrfan Khan's death is 'more tragic'. The veteran actor took to social media to explain why he feels this way.

On Saturday morning, Amitabh Bachchan shared a couple of photographs with Irrfan from the sets of their 2015 film "Piku" and also a throwback black and white still with Rishi Kapoor.

He captioned: "The death of an elder celebrity vs death of a younger .. the grief of the latter more intense than that of the former .. why ..? The younger more tragic. Why the loss of the young seems more tragic than that of the older .. Because you lament the loss of opportunity in the latter .. unrealised possibilities..." Commenting on the 77-year-old actor's post on Instagram, Bhumi Pednekar expressed that she still cannot believe the two deaths which happened back to back this week.

Bhumi shared: "It's still so hard to believe and understand what happened in the last week." The actress shared a heartbroken emoji along with her comment.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
My favorite Army green pants were so frayed and fragile, I almost threw them out in February. Now Im wearing them every day, watching the holes get bigger. Theres a gaping hole revealing my upper thigh, two on both knees, and another brewing on my butt, but who cares? The soft faded fabric is comforting, like the lentil soup I made last night. My comically puffy cone hat keeps my head warm in my cold house and my mind calmer, in a placebo sort of way.

A few weeks ago, Bryr was having a sale so I purchased a pair of clogs. I have yet to take them out of the box. Why bother? Ive got my fancy indoor slippers, which are as fuzzy-white as sheep. I also have a pair of outdoor slippers for venturing into the backyard, on a walk or a drive-by for bagels. I change my slippers to delineate the day, like the corona version of Mister Rogers routine. And a bra? Pshaw. (As one friend put it, I havent worn underwire since March 5.)

Not everyone, though, is using quarantine to take Bay Area fashion to new lows.

The other day, I came back from a run and my husband was in the kitchen making coffee wearing a full-on button-down and slacks. I was, like: What are you doing? Where are you going? To the dining room, he replied.

Alysha Cassis-Shaw, 45, Grand Lake, Oakland

Its been all leggings. Workout leggings. Pajama leggings. Camo leggings. Floral leggings. For Zoom calls, Ill do comfy on the bottom, party on top. I wore sequins the other day. For my birthday, I decided to put on everything I wouldve worn to my party. I was like my own paper doll. Now that were in week five or six of this, its getting insane. Ive started doing midday costume changes into tea dresses, lawn dresses. Its gotten very Downton Abbey. As the owner of a vintage clothing store, fashion obviously matters to me. I know there are more important things. But you have to do what makes you feel good. This makes me feel good. I could dress up, or I could drink more. I choose to dress up.

Evan Henderlong, 27, Inner Sunset, S.F.

Every morning I wake up at 7:45 a.m., take a shower and do my hair. Its a whole thing. I add mousse, comb it into shape. Its your basic white-guy light-comb-to-the-side style. While it sets, I put on my beard oil. Then lightly blow-dry and put in pomade. Every week, Ill do a hair and scalp treatment. And every day, I put on jeans  I dont let myself wear athleisure between the hours of 9 and 5. Wearing normal clothing gives me a sense of normalcy. I always wear socks. Socks make a big difference.

Holly Rhodes, 45, Potrero Hill, S.F.

With all the mask-wearing happening, I find myself applying way more eye makeup than I usually do. Pre-corona, liquid eyeliner was exclusively for date night. Now Im applying it daily with extra mascara. But I miss my nails. For five years, Ive gone to Mia, at Sparkle Nails. She is a true artist. Check her out on Instagram (@superflynails). Before quarantine, my nails were long, gelled and bright yellow with polka dots. Now, nothing. I feel like Im missing a part of myself. I actually asked Mia if shed hand-paint a set of Lee Press-Ons to send me. Its all fine. This moment is a reset of everything across my life  my dumb, amazing nail habit included.

Andre Singleton, 34, Lake Merritt, Oakland

As a cancer survivor, I was already living in a world of illness and death. Im immuno-compromised so I need to be extra careful. I live in a co-op of artists and activists, so Im usually in my room, in my birthday suit. I dont like wearing clothes usually  unless its my kimono. What do you call it when youre the best man for the bride? (Is there no word for that? Welcome to my world.) My friend gave all the bridesmaids matching kimonos. The wedding was in 2015 and I havent stopped wearing mine. I love things that are lived in. Its soft and silky and falls in all the right places. I spend so much time alone  putting on my kimono feels like an embrace. Im going to wear it till it falls apart. I wont live forever. This kimono will outlive me; theres something special about that.

Nino Padova, 46, Millbrae

Ive gone from three outfits a day to two. Pre-pandemic it was work clothes (basic business casual: slacks, button-down), then Id come home and change into my prejays (after-work casual: old jeans, sweats  looser, shabbier, more forgiving). And then peejays (jammy pants and old concert T-shirts bursting at the seams). Now its all prejays and peejays. Its sad. I bought a $2,000 Italian suit (dont tell my wife!) for a May wedding thats been canceled. Its sitting in my closet, untouched. Ill wear it to my first real happy hour.

Michael Lieberman, South Park, S.F.

Im a trial lawyer in a wifebeater and old jeans. Im still going to my office. Its OK, theres no one else there other than my paralegal, and he wears Birkenstocks and has been dressing up as different characters for Zoom meetings  poker player, Russian fur trader. The only thing I put on for Zoom court hearings is a shirt and tie. Its like Im a late-night talk-show host. I hate suits and ties more than life. How ridiculous to have to wear a scrap of fabric around your neck.

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.

Wanda Wong, 72, Twin Peaks, S.F.

I havent worn real pants in two months. We were on the first leg of the Princess cruise to Mexico and self-quarantined before shelter in place became a thing. Ive been living in fleece and sweat pants. I guess in the old days we called it loungewear. No makeup. No hair coloring. Im letting my white roots grow in. My friend Connie and I decided to call ourselves the skunk sisters. Ill come out of this mess aged 20 years.

Aaron Caramanis, 48, SoMa, S.F.

All Ive been wearing is anything with an elastic waist. Its kind of depressing. Each week when the one day comes that I actually get dressed so I can grocery shop becomes a struggle to fit into my normal clothes. I try not to feel bad about it because I know Im not alone in this, but still  its a bummer. COVID bods are the new dad bods.

Linda Green, 33, Inner Sunset, S.F.

I wear an ankle-length nightgown most of the day unless I have to go outside or on Zoom. I have two, actually, that I bought from Goodwill a couple of years ago and bleached, for hygiene purposes. One has lavender stripes, the other is plaid ribbons. They remind me of my grandma, and being in a gothic horror novel, and make me feel like Kate Bush all at once. I am writing a 19th century screenplay and adore Austen/Bronte literature so I feel very romantic when I wear them. Maybe I should wear my nightgown on Zoom goddamn it  I do have a current obsession with frilly collars, so maybe people would just think these are cool Pierrot-style tops. Only thing is, theyre flannel. I hope to find one in lighter cotton if it warms up.

Rachel Levin is a freelance writer. Email culture@sfchronicle.com

George McCalman is an artist and creative director in S.F. His Observed column appears in The Chronicle. Email: culture@sfchronicle.com
A few days ago, some media reports stated that Rashami Desai and Arhaan Khan met and got closer because of Ex-Bigg Boss contestants, Yuvika Chaudhary and Prince Narula. Apparently, Rashami and Arhaan met during the couple's wedding and their love story began from there. However, it was being said that after Yuvika and Prince got to know about Arhaans distasteful antics against Rashami, they broke all ties with him.

And now, in interaction with SpotBoyE, Yuvika has revealed the whole truth regarding her and Princes friendship with Arhaan. She said, "He happened to be there at our wedding on an invitation that had gone to him as a colleague. In weddings, don't we all call several guests? So, it was like that. I don't know why people think that Arhaan is our friend. Friends are people who're close to you, Arhaan neither was nor is close to Prince and me."

On being quizzed about Arhaans distasteful comments about ex Rashami Desai, the replied, "We are going by what we see and read. It is sad whatever Arhaan's doing to Rashami. The expose on his personal life in BB 13 also came as a shock to us. Wrong is wrong. I cannot respect the wrong. Respect can be given if one commands so."

For the unversed, Rashami-Arhaans tumultuous courtship sadly ended with major revelations being unearthed on Bigg Boss 13. This was followed by Rashami Desai's bank statements being leaked, which showed a transaction of Rs 15 lakh in Arhaan's name. While Rashami said she isn't aware of who leaked the pictures, Arhaan said that it was a curated plan to malign him.

Also, recently, during a live session, Rashami was irked with the wrong reports and had even said that she made a mistake by falling in love with the wrong person. She added that she is a strong person and will work even harder to get back the hard-earned money that she lost.

ALSO READ: Arhaan Khan Says His Phone Was Secured With Rashami Desais Thumbprint Because She Was Insecure
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Linkedin Andriko Otang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2, 2020 10:11 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd577d8b 3 Opinion factory-worker,COVID-19,pandemic,unemployment,garment-workers,textile,social-distancing,labor-rights Free

During the COVID-19 crisis, garment workers are feeling deeply anxious. First, the work environment in the garment industry does not allow for social distancing, making workers highly vulnerable to the virus. Second, their job security depends on the companys endurance and resilience to the pandemic. Third, they have lost basic income in the wake of massive layoffs.



As of April 20, more than 2 million workers from 116,370 companies have been furloughed with unpaid leave or laid off as a result of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the Manpower Ministry data has not been disaggregated by industry sector.



In the Sukabumi regency of West Java alone, one of the centers of the textile and apparel industry, more than 6,500 workers from nine garment factories had been furloughed or laid off as of April 14.



Decreasing buyer demand has caused more uncertainty regarding the industrys global supply chain. Although some international buyers and brands have committed to pay for orders that have been produced or are being produced, many brands have cancelled orders without payment guarantees, which have disproportionately burdened suppliers. To avoid lawsuits, many brands have invoked force majeure clauses, even though their contracts do not mention a pandemic as a reason to forgo their bills. This is very detrimental to suppliers. Indonesia is ranked among the top ten largest textile-producing countries.



The latest study of the Asia Floor Wage research group, The emperor has no clothes, reports that in supplier and producer countries in the global garment supply chain such as India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, brands and retailers are demanding a 30 percent discount. This is both unfair and irrational because under normal circumstances, brands and retailers gain the most profit in the garment supply chain. Profits have never really been shared proportionally with suppliers or workers in producing countries.



In addition, as the researchers add, current sales should not be used as an excuse to renegotiate the price of goods that will be shipped now or in the near future, given the uncertainty of consumer demand. This uncertainty significantly affects the finances of small and medium companies operating with thin profit margins and with low working capital.

______

Under normal circumstances, brands and retailers gain the most profit in the garment supply chain.

______



Several Indonesian suppliers, as stated by the Indonesian Textile Association (API), have sought to negotiate and urge brands and retailers to respect purchase contracts and obligations to pay for goods that have been produced or are in production. This is important for supplier companies so that they can maintain cash flow and pay obligations, especially to workers. If not, more layoffs or furloughs will be inevitable among supplier companies.



The API has requested that the government design a special package for the industry that includes financial support to overcome its hardships, from cuts in corporate income tax, reliefs in bank credit payments and electricity tariff incentives for industry, to suspension of premiums that employers must pay to the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).



The government has announced various economic policy packages for businesses and workers to alleviate the impacts of the pandemic. They have adopted a number of the requests. In addition, for workers, the preemployment card program provides access to online training. However, amid mass layoffs, what is needed is alternative income. The incentives for members of the program are only Rp 600,000 (US$40.63) per month, compared to their higher previous income and expenses for family needs.



Therefore, the government should consider reallocating the Rp 5.6 trillion from the training budget to direct cash assistance  especially in the month of Ramadan, when basic commodities generally experience price increases.



In the textile and apparel industry, the liability for protecting workers can be carried with joint responsibilities shared by companies, the government and brand holders. Sharing the contribution to ensure universal basic income for workers is one strategy to cushion the impact of COVID-19.



Some companies in Indonesia even pay workers below the minimum wage, leading to resistance from workers and trade unions. We are all in the same boat now, so we should bear this burden together to protect marginal groups, including factory floor workers. The workers wages can be subsidized by the government and brand holders.



For example, supplier companies could contribute 50 percent of workers wages, the government provides 20 percent subsidies and brand holders could contribute the remaining 30 percent. For this purpose, the government needs to provide support and, where necessary, facilitate the negotiation process involving suppliers and brand holders.



Another need is to provide social security contribution payments to four BPJS Ketenaga-kerjaan programs: work accident insurance, life insurance, old age insurance and pension insurance.



The total contribution should be 10.74 percent of wages, of which 7.74 percent is the responsibility of the company and 3 percent is borne by workers from their salary. For this purpose, the government can use the investment profit of the social security funds of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. In 2019, the public institution managed to achieve an investment return of Rp 29.2 trillion, an increase of 6.9 percent year on year.



The 2011 law on the Social Security Organizing Agency states that the social security funds are used entirely for program development and for the maximum benefit of participants. Thus, in a critical pandemic situation, the government can utilize the returns of BP Jamsostek. Providing subsidies to companies and workers by waiving their contributions to BP Jamsostek over the next few months would ease the burden of businesses and workers during these uncertain times.

***

Executive director, Trade Union Rights Center

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A judge in Cleveland released two more federal detainees from the Geauga County Jail, overruling objections from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and saying their medical conditions left them vulnerable to serious illness from the coronavirus.

Jonas Nsongi Mbonga and Elvira Pascalenco were freed on electronic monitoring following a ruling Thursday by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster. Their releases were part of a larger effort undertaken by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio to reduce the risk of immigrants contracting and spreading the virus while in ICE custody.

Mbonga, 30, and Pascalenco, 51, are the seventh and eighth detainees to be released in Ohio following the ACLUs filing of two lawsuits.

Honestly, these are just two really wonderful people that are finally getting out, ACLU attorney Elizabeth Bonham told cleveland.com on Saturday. She added that their releases were contingent on staying at their homes for two weeks to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mbonga, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo because of political violence, has been in various detention centers since he surrendered at a U.S. point of entry in Laredo, Texas in July 2018, seeking asylum. His lawyers said he suffers from latent tuberculosis.

He said in a statement Saturday that is grateful to be free for the first time in 21 months. The statement was released by attorney Brian Hoffman, who agreed to have Mbonga stay at his house outside of Wooster upon his release.

Now that I have been released I finally feel peace, said Mbonga, who speaks several languages, but is not fluent in English. God has blessed me with many people who are helping me here in the U.S. and my trust in them has finally paid off.

Pascalenco, a citizen of Moldova, came to the U.S. in 2007 and is fighting the U.S. governments attempts to deport her. The government said ICE started looking into her because the European law enforcement agency Interpol issued a wanted person notice for her. She has been in jail since January.

Her attorneys said she suffers from asthma and other ailments. Bonham said she is now at the home she shares with her son in Lyndhurst.

The ACLUs efforts have been a sort of piecemeal approach that highlighted a larger concern that the organization and others have emphasized in recent weeks: that inmates in jails and prisons are more vulnerable to the virus because they live in close quarters and often lack access to adequate health care. ICE has faced criticism for not taking precautions to protect detainees from the virus, though the agency has said it was working to do so and also reviewing cases to see who can be released on bond.

ICE contracts with four counties in Ohio to house people with pending Immigration Court cases. As of Friday, seven inmates at a jail in Morrow County, about 50 miles north of Columbus, have tested positive for the virus. An ICE employee working at the Butler County Jail outside of Cincinnati also tested positive.

However, mass testing in several Ohio prisons has shown that the virus quickly spreads in lockups. In the Marion County Correctional Institution, 1,999 had the virus as of Saturday, and nine prisoners had died. At the Pickaway prison in Orient, 1,456 inmates had it and 21 had died.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin in Cleveland also ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons to identify and move or release at-risk inmates from Federal Correctional Institution Elkton, where seven inmates have died. The prisons bureau, which identified more than 800 inmates eligible for release under Gwins criteria, is appealing the order.

Gwins ruling in the Elkton case was in response to another ACLU lawsuit. The Ohio organizations legal tactic against ICE, in contrast, was not to seek mass releases of detainees, but rather identify certain ones with pre-existing conditions that leave them vulnerable from the coronavirus.

The ACLU represented 13 ICE detainees in two lawsuits. Polster declined to release four of them but ordered freedom for three, including Mbonga and Pascalenco. He overrode concerns from ICE that any of them would abscond.

Separately, ICE agreed to release two other detainees. In a separate ruling, U.S. District Judge Sarah Morrison in Columbus ordered the release of three other immigrants from jails in Seneca and Butler counties.

It was not immediately clear, though, whether any of the immigrants would have to return to jail. Morrison has a hearing set for May 11, and Polster will hear arguments in August as to whether the threat from the virus in jails has abated.

On Saturday, Hoffman said Mbonga is getting used to freedom after spending many months behind bars. He said they went for a walk in the woods on Friday and plan to eat barbecue on Saturday.

Hoffman, who practices immigration law, noted that many asylum seekers spend years in jail not for a criminal case, but rather because they couldnt convince a judge that they were not a flight risk.

Hes in good spirits, but adapting to a whole new world, Hoffman said of Mbonga.

This story was updated to clarify that the two detainees released Thursday are required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Read more:

Saying some ICE lockups are in the eye of a storm, Ohio judge orders release of detainees due to coronavirus

Feds appeal judges order to move at-risk inmates out of Ohio federal prison ravaged by deadly coronavirus outbreak

ACLU sues ICE to release detainees from Morrow, Butler county jails due to coronavirus

Federal judge orders Elkton prison officials to clear out vulnerable inmates because of coronavirus

ICE agrees to release two more at-risk detainees from Ohio jails due to coronavirus pandemic

Federal judge in Cleveland orders release of man in ICE custody over coronavirus concerns

ACLU sues ICE, wants high-risk detainees in Ohio jails released over coronavirus concerns

Ohio counties earn millions on ICEs hunt for undocumented immigrants
The victim was arguing with someone who pulled out a weapon, and shot him in the chest. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition where he was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
Lili Reinhart wore a CDC-recommended COVID-19 surgical mask and protective gloves while house-hunting with her real estate agent in Los Angeles on Friday.

In addition to searching for a new quarantine haven, the 23-year-old Riverdale star stopped by a storage unit to pick up some clothes with her blonde tresses slicked back in a chic top knot.

While running her errands, she sported a graphic white t-shirt, pink slides and a pair of distressed Daisy Dukes, which showcased her toned legs.

Lili Reinhart wore a CDC-recommended COVID-19 surgical mask and protective gloves, while house-hunting with her real estate agent in Los Angeles on Friday

The Ohio-born beauty appeared in high spirits, as she continued her search for her dream house in the City of Angels.

In October, following her appearance in the hit film Hustlers, she told Architectural Digest, 'I really want to live in L.A. That is the goal. Thats where I want to settle down and buy a house.'

Ahead of the global pandemic, she called Vancouver her 'home base,' as that's the location her Archie comicsinspired show shoots for ten months of the year.

'I really want to live in L.A. That is the goal. Thats where I want to settle down and buy a house,' she told Architectural Digest in October, before adding she wants her future pad to include a balcony, bathtub and a big closet

Staying busy: Ahead of the global pandemic, she called Vancouver her 'home base,' as the city is where she shoots her Archie comicsinspired show for ten months of the year

The Swimming Lessons admitted due to her temporary housing situation, she hasn't put many personal touches on her apartment or worked to make it 'homey' yet.

The voracious reader, however, fills her place with books and revealed she has a custom piece of art from an Instagram user, who has more than 93,000 followers.

'Her name is Kyra Kendall and her username is @kendallkyra. She does really cool portraits and I have one of those framed. I also have a Jughead Funko Pop doll on my shelf,' she said, before reflecting on her future interior design style.

'I do have a piece of art that a girl I met on Instagram made for me. She is really talented. Her name is Kyra Kendall and her username is @kendallkyra,' Reinhart said of the personal art and trinkets she keeps at home

'My mom is really good at decorating, so I feel like she will help me a lot. I kind of want the aesthetic of Anthropologie,' she told the magazine.

As for her must-haves, she wants a balcony, bathtub and a big closet.

Reinhart is currently quarantining with her pup Milo, who she adopted in February.

She and her Riverdale co-star Cole Sprouse recently clapped back at Twitter trolls, who accused the Suite Life of Zack & Cody alum of cheating on her with his pal Kaia Gerber.

On-again, off again: The 23-year-old Riverdale beauty, who sparked breakup rumors after deleting a number of snaps with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Cole Sprouse, also made her voice heard on Instagram; pictured in 2019

DInner for two: Later on Friday, Lili shared selfies having dinner with her pup Milo, just weeks after he recovered from a dog attack
Economy in deep freeze: An empty Grafton Street in Dublin during the Covid-19 lockdown. Photo: Douglas O'Connor

A quarter of Irish businesses have stopped trading as a result of the pandemic lockdown, according a survey by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

However, it appears that the vast majority believe they will survive despite taking a hit to their earnings and laying off staff.

With the Government looking at how to ease the harsh lockdown, attention is turning to whether businesses will reopen.

The economy is set for its largest hit since the 1930s and is expected to shrink by more than 10pc this year, with almost a quarter of the workforce set to lose their jobs as two years of economic gains are wiped out.

The CSO survey was published yesterday and 790 companies out of 3,000 who were sent the online questionnaire responded. It was taken in the week of April 20.

It said accommodation and food services, where nine out of 10 of the businesses surveyed said they had shut down, and construction, with a closure rate of over 70pc, were the worst-hit sectors.

"The results show that of the enterprises that responded to the business impact of Covid-19 survey, 23.3pc had ceased trading temporarily during the period March 15 to April 19, 0.6pc had ceased trading permanently, and 76pc continued to trade," CSO statistician Colin Hanley said in a statement.

Although some companies reported "significant" losses in sales, the CSO survey indicated many businesses believed they would be in a position to reopen when the lockdown starts to ease.

More than half of companies said turnover for the five weeks from March 16, when the lockdown came into force, to April 19 "was significantly lower than normal", while just over 16pc reported turnover was "slightly lower than normal" to the CSO.

As of April 19, just over one in 20 of the companies said "they were not confident that they had the financial resources to continue operating", while one in five said they did not know whether the business had the financial resources to continue operating throughout the crisis.

Nonetheless, the survey did indicate many companies, especially larger ones, would be in a position to reopen.

Confidence

One sign of business confidence is where a company has put in place measures to maintain links between companies and their workers, and the CSO survey showed that 47pc had taken up Revenue's temporary wage subsidy scheme.

According to the most recent figures, the number of workers on the wage subsidy scheme has risen recently and hit 427,000 this week.

Still, the survey showed many businesses were not in a position to retain their employees and that over a third of those surveyed had let staff go, while another third said hours had been cut.

Industries and their lobby groups are pressing the Government to come up with support packages, especially in the hard-hit hospitality sector where there have been calls for the abolition of VAT.

There has been forgiveness of rents during the lockdown, but those businesses that do survive have been racking up many of their fixed costs like insurance and rent while not having revenue to pay those bills.

That means they would be heavily indebted and many could collapse rather than being in a position to take on workers.

The Government is still looking at various measures, including loans and grants.
Job Title: HDU Nurses (30 Job Opportunities)

Organisation:

AMI Uganda

Duty Station:

Uganda

About US:

AMI provides medical

services to international aid organizations, humanitarian concerns, the private

sector and government agencies in a wide range of remote and challenging

environments. We have a large presence in North, East and West Africa as well

as the Middle East. The services we provide range from primary and emergency

care, aeromedical evacuation and crisis response to medical supply chain

management, procurement, and hospital staffing and management. We have a

well-compensated opportunity for HDU nurse interested in delivering care in a

region of pressing need and boundless opportunity.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

 Deliver professional health services

including provision of Critical Care Nursing Services which adhere to the

facilities policies and procedures.

 Ensure operational readiness of Critical Care

Nursing Services, equipment, instruments, and personal equipment.

 Assist with sterilization and maintenance of

surgical instruments/equipment and stores.

 Orient other nurses with the layout of the

Critical Care department and provide guidance on the duties activated in an

emergency.

 Train and work in a designated role within

the facilitys trauma system, which is based on Advanced Trauma Life Support

(ATLS).

 Ensure those highest standards of clinical

governance in the provision of Critical Care Nursing Services.

 Attend or present training and briefing

sessions when and as directed.

 Operate within the context of the facilitys

Mass Casualty Incident Plan in the designated role, or in other roles as

directed by the Project Manager or designee.

 The Nurse must comply with the Companys and

Clients policies and procedures and Code of Conduct at all times.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

 The ideal applicant must hold a Diploma of

Nursing, or equivalent.

 At least three years experience as a

Critical/Intensive Care Nurse

 Current unrestricted registration as a Registered

Nurse within Home Country

 Postgraduate qualification in Critical/Intensive

Care Nursing

 Demonstrate sufficient recent clinical

experience in the last 12 months commensurate with the role.

 Current Advanced Life Support (ACLS), Basic

Life Support (BLS) accredited through the AHA or equivalent and PHTLS/ITLS.

 A valid Home Country License must be

maintained at all times o Must be able to speak and understand the English

Language.

How to Apply:

All Interested and

qualified applicants should send their

resume/CV with required documents to careers email careers@ami.health and write

in the subject: COVID19 Kenya_ HDU nurse

Note: This

position is Contingent Upon Contract Award

AMI covers visa

costs, flights, and accommodation.

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline
Eight doctors of Patna Medical



College and Hospital (PMCH) were on Saturday suspended for creating disturbances and refusing to work in the COVID-19 isolation ward of the states premier hospital.

The eight doctors, who are PG students of Radiology department, have been suspended for creating din and refusing to work in isolation ward meant for COVID-19 patients, PMCH Superintendent, Dr Bimal Kumar Karak, told PTI.

They have been punished under Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 for refusing to do duty and misbehaving with some senior doctors, the Superintendent said, adding he has taken the requisite consent from the College Principal Dr Vidyapati Choudhary.

The decision to suspend them has been conveyed to the departments Principal Secretary, Sanjay Kumar, he added.

These medicos allegedly manhandled Dr M P Singh, head of the Medicine department, Dr APN Jha and other doctors when told by the Superintendent to approach Singh for any relaxation in duty, Karak said.

Considering the gravity of the fight against COVID-19, states health department had on March 13 cancelled all types of leaves- except study and maternity leave of medical officers including those appointed on contract, nurses, paramedical staff and fourth grade employees in order to contain the spread of coronavirus besides taking preventive measures and monitoring of the situation.

A total of 476 coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Bihar so far, out of whom four have died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DEAR ABBY: For some reason, my father hates my fiance to the point where, when I stayed with my fiance for one day, Dad wouldn't allow me to come home. Dad said many nasty things after eventually letting me back home, but among the more hurtful ones were that he hoped my fiance would abuse me, and that I shouldn't be allowed to get married. He doesn't remember saying them, but I remember them well.

Only my immediate family and my fiance's family know the specifics, and whenever I say I would rather have my brother walk me down the aisle, my relatives are all in disbelief. Dad has come to terms with my engagement to my fiance, but he treats him differently compared to my older sister's boyfriend. Am I really in the wrong for not wanting him to escort me? -- MISUNDERSTOOD BRIDE-TO-BE

DEAR MISUNDERSTOOD: Does your father have a substance abuse problem? An anger management problem? Under the circumstances, it is understandable that you would prefer someone else walk you down the aisle.

Your fiance must be a saint to want to enter a marriage with a built-in in-law problem like your dad. My advice is to do what is best for the two of you, including considering an elopement.

** ** **

DEAR ABBY: I'm a girl in my teens. My best friend moved away, and I miss her so much. It feels like the world has turned against me, and I am depressed.

I don't like to text her, and I don't think she would let me call her every single day, although I haven't asked. I'm afraid we're not going to be friends anymore, and I feel so distant from my other friends. I made a new friend this year, but it isn't the same.

What should I do, Abby? Do I talk to her about it? Or should I stop being her friend? -- MISSING MY BEST FRIEND

DEAR MISSING: It is painful when life separates people. As you pointed out, friendships, unlike Lego blocks, are not interchangeable. Do not suddenly stop communicating with your friend. You should absolutely talk to her and tell her how you are feeling because she may be feeling the same way.

With more time, you will get past this. You will meet more people and establish new relationships. But in the meantime, try to stay busy, which will help you feel less isolated.

** ** **

DEAR ABBY: I am an 84-year-old divorced alum from a local college, who has developed feelings for a 59-year-old widowed alum from a local university. She works at my former college and visited me a month ago asking for a donation to the college. Since then, she has shown extreme appreciation of my gift, via letter, emails and phone calls.

I'm curious as to how much her feelings of appreciation are for her success as a fundraiser, or if the attraction could be mutual. Do you think the age difference is too much for me to pursue a meaningful relationship with her? I would appreciate your opinion. Thank you. -- UNKNOWN FEELINGS IN VIRGINIA

DEAR UNKNOWN FEELINGS: Depending upon the condition you are in physically and financially, the age difference may not be an insurmountable problem. At 59, she is old enough to decide whether it's a deal-breaker. Invite her out. See if she accepts. If she hits you up for another donation, you will know where you stand.

** ** **

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

** ** **

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

COPYRIGHT 2020 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106; 816-581-7500
Alex Segbefia has described as 'unfortunate' President Akufo-Addo's announcement of the construction of some district hospitals while updating Ghanaians on COVID-19.



"I think that it was an unfortunate statement to make at the time because I dont think that is the platform to use to make such an announcement. This is an international platform, lots of people listen across the world as to what our President is going to say with regards to COVID-19. Hospitals that are going to be built in a years time are not the issue currently. We want to know what steps you are taking to deal with COVID-19, and so to use that platform to make a political statement is unfortunate," he opined.



The Former Minister for Health further indicated in an interview on Neat FM's 'Me Man Nti' programme that there was no need for the President to reiterate the construction of the 88 district hospitals because it was already in the manifesto of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).



"He didnt say anything that was not in the manifesto of the NPP . . . its already in the manifesto so what was the point of saying it now?" he queried.



Meanwhile, he believes it is not feasible to construct 88 district hospitals acroos the country in a year.



"We all want hospitals but to do it in a year, it will be right to say that based on the historical facts on how we build our hospitals in this country, it will not be possible to build 94 hospitals in one year. For him to give such timeline smacks of politics," he added.



Listen to him in the video below







President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced plans to construct 88 new district hospitals and six new regional hospitals within a year.In his eighth address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic, he indicated that there are 88 districts in our country without district hospitals; we have six new regions without regional hospitals; we do not have five infectious disease control centres dotted across the country, and we do not have enough testing and isolation centres for diseases like COVD-19. We must do something urgently about thisWhile this move has been highly commended due to the infrastructure deficit in the health sector, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) thinks it is an attempt to solicit for votes from Ghanaians and secure a second term for the Akufo-Addo-led administration.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 17:27:44|Editor: huaxia

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Passengers wait at a bus station with signs of social distancing on the ground in Kigali, Rwanda, May 4, 2020. Rwanda partially lifted a lockdown against the COVID-19 on May 4. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

KIGALI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan Health Minister Daniel Ngamije on Friday said a countrywide health survey shows that there is no community transmission in Rwanda, which was the basis of a recent decision to partially lift the lockdown imposed since March 21.

Over 4,500 people, including those who had sought medical attention with COVID-19-like symptoms, in over 30 percent of Rwanda's health centers as well as essential services providers -- such as market vendors, bankers and employees in telecommunication companies who continued to work during the lockdown in the capital Kigali -- were tested during the survey, and they all tested negative for COVID-19, Ngamije told a television news program.

Rwanda early on Friday announced looser measures against COVID-19 starting on May 4, while the number of new confirmed cases is increasing. On Friday the country reported six new cases, bringing its total to 249.

Analysis shows that Rwanda will be able to contain the epidemic with the new measures.

The landlocked country has been seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases among cross-border truck drivers in its daily COVID-19 update since April 24.

Vedaste Ndahindwa, an epidemiologist and lecturer at the School of Public Health at the University of Rwanda, told Xinhua that Rwanda is at the stage of "sporadic transmission" with some imported cases, whereby authorities are able to identify the chain of transmission.

It would face a major challenge if "community transmission" occurs, whereby the chain of transmission is unknown, according to the expert.

However, "we know where new COVID-19 infections are coming from, especially cross-border truck drivers, and they are easily traceable. We are in a good position to handle the cause of new cases without spreading into the population," Ngamije said.

Rwanda also has the capability to conduct mass testing on all those who have shown COVID-19 symptoms as well as contacts of the confirmed cases, he said.

Preventive measures against COVID-19, such as social distancing, hygiene practices and the use of masks, are adequate, he said, adding the public has been following these measures.

Leon Mutesa, a health expert and professor of human genetics at the University of Rwanda, told Xinhua on Friday that although the government has decided to relax the ban, it has "strategically" maintained the closure of schools, borders, recreational facilities, bars, large gatherings and places of worship which can easily lead to the spread of COVID-19.

These, together with the mandatory requirement of wearing face masks in public places, frequent hand washing, and suspension of transport between different provinces and Kigali, are key to contain the spread of COVID-19, and "will consequently flatten the curve," Mutesa said.

"The government will contain the spread of COVID-19 if the above stringent measures remain and people adhere to them better than they have when they were under the total lockdown," he said. Enditem
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Linkedin (Reuters) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  Sat, May 2, 2020 19:35 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58c574 2 SE Asia Malaysia,COVID-19,social-distancing Free

Malaysian authorities on Saturday defended plans to ease coronavirus lockdown measures next week even as the number of new infections jumped to a two-week high.

Most businesses will reopen on Monday after a six-week shutdown ordered to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools, cinemas and nightclubs will remain closed, along with the country's borders, and mass gatherings will still be banned.

The decision has sparked criticism, including from members of the ruling coalition, that restrictions were being eased too soon.

The number of new infections with the novel coronavirus rose by 105 on Saturday, the highest daily increase since April 16. The number of known infections totalled 6,176 while fatalities stood at 103.

Security minister Ismail Sabri said Malaysia was not being hasty in relaxing the curbs, stressing that businesses reopening on Monday will have to implement hygiene and social distancing measures.

Last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin extended the coronavirus control measures to May 12, but said more sectors would be allowed to resume operations.

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose political party UMNO is part of the ruling coalition, said the easing announced by Muhyiddin was "huge and sudden" and that there was no rush to reopen the economy, local media reported.

A Change.org petition to stop the measures from being partially lifted had garnered over 250,000 signatures on Saturday.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Official Opposition are crying foul after the Liberal government appointed someone to lead the province's post-COVID-19 recovery  without competition.

In 2015, Paul Mills was one of five people selected by Dwight Ball to advise him as he transitioned into the premier's job, and Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie suggested Mills's Liberal ties are what landed him the job.

"Mr. Mills has a long and well-known history as a friend of the local party," he said. "I hope this is not the Ball government going back to its bad old ways of hiring Liberal friends."

Business owners, advocacy groups and organizations have been pushing for weeks for the province to come up with a post-COVID-19 plan, and on Wednesday the premier announced the government had hired someone to lead it.

Mills has already started working on a framework for economic and business recovery and is someone who Ball said was the "obvious" choice for the job

An access to information request filed by the CBC showed Mills was also hired by the Liberals in 2017 as senior advisor on the federal government's supercluster program.

The annual salary for that job was $234,000, though Mills's contract was for a little over three months, running June 12, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2017.

Despite the three political parties working together during the coronavirus pandemic, no mention of the hiring was made to Crosbie.

"Mr Mills, it seems, is the Liberal government's plan to have a plan to emerge out of the economic shutdown and to rebuild our economy. This is important," he said.

"[Ball] didn't see fit to share that with the committee that he, from time to time, said is working very well together in a collaborative fashion."

During Wednesday's daily COVID-19 update, Ball defended the hiring.

"Mr. Mills has considerable experience within Newfoundland and Labrador for many decades," the premier told reporters.

Story continues

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Ball cited Mills's job as the former vice-president of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, his work with Memorial University, and the oil and gas industry.

"He'll be working with the key departments within government and there'll be engagement through those departments with our business community and associations."

There was no competition for the job, which pays $150,000 per year  although Mills's contract, as it stands now, runs April 21 until Sept.30.

"This is something that he's done before and all that information can be publicly released, of course," said Ball.

"Right now we needed to make sure that we had someone in place with the experience to work and who was well-known within our province."

Construction and trades call from task force

Before Wednesday's daily COVID-19 update, Trades NL and the Construction Labour Relations Association sent out a press release pleading for the province to create a task force.

CLRA president Terry French said COVID-19 has been devastating for his members.

"It's having a significant impact," he said.

"We saw large construction companies with large numbers of men and women working for them down to the low single digits."

Glenn Payette/CBC

French is pleased to see someone in charge of helping the province out of the COVID-19-created financial mess and his group is willing to offer up any help but doesn't want to see a big form of bureaucracy.

"This is not about a competition as to the best way forward," he said

"This is just about 'let's get it done,' and obviously we'd like to be a part of it because we believe we have something to contribute."

French said Newfoundland and Labrador's construction industry is an economic stimulator that could get people back to work quickly.

"This is simply about whatever is the best easiest way forward to get the economy moving again and getting our contractors doing work," said French.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Press Release

May 1, 2020 On De Lima THE Senate cannot use two different standards on the issue of allowing detained senators to attend virtual sessions, or sessions via teleconferencing, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Friday. Sotto said the Senate cannot allow Sen. Leila de Lima to participate in virtual sessions since such was disallowed during the 16th Congress of the Senate. Sotto recalled that at the time, the majority bloc thumbed down his request to allow Sen. Bong Revilla and former Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada to participate in regular sessions through any social media platform. I got this same response from the leadership then. As the saying goes, the sauce for the goose is also the sauce for the gander," Sotto added. Sotto was the minority leader at the time. The three senators back then were detained at the PNP custodial center. The majority bloc's decision, Sotto recalled, was backed by a legal opinion from the Department of Justice, which was then headed by De Lima. "If they (De Lima and her allies) allowed it (attend sessions via video conference) before, then we can allow it now. But they did not, so we cannot and we will not allow it now," Sotto said. The Senate chief used the same argument that was employed by the Senate majority and the DOJ when he made his request: the PNP prohibition against the use of communication gadgets by persons who are in detention. "Being under the custody of the PNP gives them jurisdiction over Sen. De Lima, including what is available for her to use for communication. In her case, she is not allowed a mobile phone, much less access an Internet connection. So how will she join the session?" Sotto asked. Sotto stressed that the "Senate is not inclined to violate any rules of the PNP." "So, quit saying that it is petty politics," he told De Lima. Aside from these, the Senate President supported the statement of Sen. Migz Zubiri that no less than the Supreme Court has already ruled that elected or appointed officials cannot hold office while on detention as a consequence of their arrest and detention. The SC has said that allowing detained elected officials to continue to hold office is a violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause. The SC issued the ruling in the cases of former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos and of former Sen. Antonio Trillanes III. The same ruling was issued by the high court on the People vs Maceda case. Sotto said De Lima can elevate her request to the Supreme Court and vowed that the Senate will abide with the court's decision.
A policeman on the motorcycle is thwarted by the MIM corporator (left).

Hyderabad: After a video of MIM corporator Murtaza Ali allegedly assaulting and obstructing a police constable spread on social media, police booked a case against him on Friday.

A police team had gone to a mosque after they got information about a gathering there. The corporator and his followers reached the spot and started confronting the police personnel.

In the video, the corporator can be seen threatening the constables that he would lodge a complaint against them with senior police officers for not allowing people to offer prayers during Ramzan.

Assistant commissioner of police, Santoshnagar, S.V.N. Shivaram Sharma said, We have booked a case against Murtaza Ali for assaulting a police officer and obstructing him from discharging his duties. Further enquiry is underway.

A police team had gone to a mosque in the area after they got information about a gathering there.
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Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds have named their newborn son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas, partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they said had saved the British leader's life as he battled COVID-19 complications.

Symonds announced the name on Saturday on Instagram beside a picture of her and the boy - who already has thick hair resembling the blond thatch of his father.

Symonds, 32, said Wilfred, who was born on Wednesday, was named after Johnson's grandfather while Lawrie came from her grandfather.

Nicholas, Symonds said, was a nod to Nick Price and Nick Hart - two doctors who the couple have praised for saving Johnson's life at St Thomas' hospital last month.

"I couldn't be happier," Symonds said, adding her thanks to the maternity staff of University College London Hospital. "My heart is full."

Johnson, 55, returned to work on Monday after recuperating from COVID-19, which had left him gravely ill in intensive care at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. He thanked the doctors at St Thomas' hospital whom, he said, had "saved my life, no question".

Symonds, a former public relations executive, also had symptoms of the virus but recovered more swiftly. She had said in February that the baby was due in early summer.

Johnson, who was present at the birth, will take a short period of paternity leave later in the year.

BABY IN DOWNING STREET

Symonds and Johnson have been living together in Downing Street since he became prime minister in July. They announced in February they were expecting their first child and that they were engaged to be married.

Once dubbed "Bonking Boris" by Britain's tabloid media, Johnson has had a complicated private life.

He was once sacked from the Conservative Party's policy team while in opposition for lying about an extra-marital affair. He has been divorced twice and refuses to say how many children he has fathered.

In 2013, when Johnson was mayor of London, appeal court judges ruled that the public had the right to know he had an extra-marital affair with a woman who gave birth to his daughter.

Johnson's previous marriage was to Marina Wheeler, a lawyer. They had four children together but announced in September 2018 that they had separated. They divorced earlier this year.

Few British leaders have had babies while in office.

David Cameron's wife, Samantha, gave birth to their daughter, Florence, in 2010 and Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, gave birth to their son, Leo, in 2006.

Before that, Frances, the wife of John Russell, a 19th-Century Whig and Liberal politician, gave birth to two children in 1848 and 1849 while he was in office.
"During this unprecedented time, it was important for us to provide our students the ability to continue the yearbook signing tradition, now in a virtual environment," Mark Goshgarian, Balfour GM of Publishing, said.

Balfour, the premier provider of school yearbooks and achievement products, announces a partnership with Tribute, giving students a way to collect meaningful messages that would normally be written in their yearbook. Tribute, a video gifting website that makes it easy to create a collaborative video montages, is working exclusively with Balfour to provide free Tributes to students nationwide.

As Balfour continues to provide our school communities the industrys leading technology solutions, we are excited about our exclusive partnership with Tribute, Mark Goshgarian, General Manager of Publishing and Digital Assets, said. During this unprecedented time, it was important for us to provide our students the ability to continue the yearbook signing tradition, now in a virtual environment.

Through this program, students can create a virtual signing page to share with their friends, classmates, teachers and even family. Users can request tribute messages in two ways: by entering a list of email addresses or by sharing their signing page to a social media account.

Balfour is offering Tributes DIY package, normally $25, for free using the code Balfour2020. If a user wishes to upgrade to one of Tributes other packages, a $25 discount will be applied. The DIY package gives users unlimited video messages that can be quickly assembled into a video montage using the companys free video editing software with no previous editing skills needed. Should students wish to enlist the help of a video professional, Tribute offers a Concierge option.

When the opportunity presented itself to support Balfour in saving this storied tradition of the yearbook signing for students around the country, we immediately knew it was a fit, Andrew Horn, Tribute Founder and CEO, said. We're excited to watch as thousands of amazing stories stream in from all parts of America and look forward to seeing how technology can support students and families to connect in the times of social distancing.

Tributes solution not only ensures those meaningful messages continue to be captured, it elevates the yearbook signing experience to meet students where they already are.

With classrooms transforming into virtual meeting rooms and with students inclination to use apps like Snapchat and TikTok to record video messages, Tribute ties into that demand perfectly, Goshgarian said. While we know the handwritten messages are the most meaningful, a video montage really captures the reality of this year perfectly.

As schools continue to work through the impact of COVID-19, Balfour was first to market with innovative solutions for virtual grad fairs and commencement, coupled with the industrys first and largest virtual journalism festival where more than 3,500 attendees joined to jumpstart their 2021 student publications.

To claim a free Tribute, go to http://www.tribute.co/balfour to sign up.

ABOUT BALFOUR: For more than a century, Balfour, a division of The Iconic Group, has celebrated the most meaningful moments in students' lives with products like class rings, yearbooks, letter jackets, graduation regalia and commencement photography. Balfour reaches students and schools across the country and abroad through a variety of sales channels including in-school, online and retail distribution. With investments in digital technology, Balfour is innovating tradition with new offerings such as Encore, the industry's first full-feature HTML5 software for yearbook creation and THRIVE, a new school and student enrichment program aimed at positively affecting campus culture. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.balfour.com.
Chinese mainland reports 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:16, May 01, 2020

BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Friday that it received reports of 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Chinese mainland Thursday, of which six were imported.

The other six new cases were domestically transmitted, including five in Heilongjiang Province and one in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the National Health Commission said in a daily report.

Three suspected cases imported from abroad, all in Shanghai, were reported.

No deaths were reported Thursday on the mainland, according to the commission.

Altogether 32 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery Thursday, while the number of severe cases dropped by three to 38.

As of Thursday, the overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 82,874, including 599 patients who were still being treated and 77,642 people who had been discharged after recovery, the commission said.

Altogether 4,633 people had died of the disease, it said.

By Thursday, the mainland had reported a total of 1,670 imported cases. Of the cases, 1,165 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 505 were being treated with seven in severe conditions. No deaths from the imported cases had been reported.

The commission said that nine people, including seven from abroad, were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

According to the commission, 7,761 close contacts were still under medical observation after 882 people were discharged from medical observation on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, 25 new asymptomatic cases were reported on the mainland. Six asymptomatic cases were re-categorized as confirmed cases, and 36 people, 11 of whom were from abroad, were discharged from medical observation, according to the commission.

The commission said 981 asymptomatic cases, including 115 from abroad, were still under medical observation.

By Thursday, 1,037 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 45 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 429 in Taiwan including six deaths.

A total of 846 patients in Hong Kong, 35 in Macao and 322 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospitals after recovery.

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A Delhi court on Saturday denied bail to suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain in a case related to communal violence that took place during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in northeast Delhi in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Tyagita Singh rejected Hussain's bail plea on the grounds that the investigation is at an initial stage at present and his custody was required for it.

Hussain had stated in his bail plea, filed through advocate Javed Ali, that the main accused in the case, Gulfam, was already in police custody, and Hussain was not named in the FIR as an accused.

The plea claimed Hussain has been wrongly dragged into the matter which appeared to be a result of a well-thought-out plan of his political rivals to falsely implicate him.

The applications seeking police custody and judicial custody by the prosecution have not shown entirely what Hussain was investigated for or why his further custody was required, the plea said.

Hussain has been booked on charges of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy in the case.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Ajay Goswami.

Goswami had said that while he was going to his uncle's house on February 25, he saw a mob pelting stones. When he started running towards his uncle's house, something, supposedly like a bullet, forcefully hit him on his right hip, the FIR stated.

Goswami alleged that the people standing nearby informed him that Gulfam and Tanvir, also an accused in the case, were engaged in indiscriminate firing of bullets.

He also claimed in the FIR that he heard people saying that several persons were firing bullets, throwing petrol bombs and pelting stones from the house of Hussain.

Hussain has also been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a separate case related to the February riots in northeast Delhi. He has also been arrested in the murder case of IB staffer Ankit Sharma.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

Logan Dubin is good with computers. The 14-year-old speeds ahead when asked to use them to complete assignments. He finds it easy to teach himself with online content as his guide. He breezily navigates the internet and educational platforms his school uses. But he doesnt like it.

I just dont like doing work on an online platform, said Logan, an eighth grader at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona. Its better to have a teacher guiding you.

Logan is part of a generation of digital natives who were raised on screens. Many schools embrace technology in the classroom as a route to these students hearts.

Logans feelings about online learning are common. Surveys and interviews find that many students prefer learning directly from teachers and get tired of looking at screens.

Before school closures during the coronavirus pandemic forced districts nationwide to consider online learning, Logans school embraced the idea of spending at least part of every day on a computer last year.

What reopened schools will look like:Scheduled days home, more online learning, lots of hand-washing

Emily Carrasco, an eighth grade science teacher at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, has used laptops in class for years. She said her schools adoption of the Summit Learning Program hasnt changed the amount of time students spend online.

The school uses a platform called Summit Learning as part of an initiative to tailor academic and social-emotional support to students' needs. Teachers achieve that personalized approach on a schoolwide scale by using online learning materials created by Summit and following its model of making time for mentoring and independent learning during the school day.

Personalized learning is one of the most popular goals in schools. Its also one of the more controversial, as the computer programs can stoke anxieties about student data being hacked, sold or otherwise abused. The computers themselves bring concerns about the negative effects of screens on childrens learning and brain development.

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Students at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, spend a portion of their school day working on laptops. Summit Learnings personalized learning program is a key part of the schools improvement efforts.

Although computers are the heart of Summits model, theyre designed to play a supporting role in teaching kids, not take center stage. The Hechinger Report spent a year exploring the elements of the Summit model, the extensive training process for schools that are new to the program and the twists and turns of implementation. That academic content is neatly packaged online in the Summit Learning Platform, but thats not what eases the transition to remote learning for schools. Summits greatest strengths lie offline.

A network of charter schools in California and Washington developed the Summit Learning Program for their students almost a decade ago; the model got a boost in 2014 from Facebook engineers after Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, visited a Summit middle school. Free help from the engineers beefed up the platform and spurred Summit Learnings move into more schools around the country.

Since 2016, when the couple launched an LLC to coordinate much of their charitable giving, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has committed $142.1 million in grant support for the Summit Learning Program. Nearly 400 schools use it across 40 states. (The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is one of many funders of The Hechinger Report.)

The online platform includes a project-based curriculum for science, social studies, math and English language arts for students in grades 4-12, along with additional content in those subjects that students can tackle at their own pace. It has teaching tips and resources, progress-tracking capabilities and guides for mentoring.

Fears about data privacy and screen time, along with concerns about Silicon Valleys conflicting interests as it pushes into public schools, have hurt Summits reputation. There have been highly publicized problems in some districts that adopted the program.

'Historic academic regression': Why home-schooling is so hard amid school closures

A spinoff organization, TLP Education, separated from the charter school network that developed the Summit Learning Program last year and shifted its focus to helping partner schools and districts use the model. This commitment ensures Summit wont offer a quick-fix for schools turning to remote instruction because of the coronavirus, but more schools adopt the program every year.

According to TLP Education leaders, 82% of schools using the program last year continued with it this year, and about 50 schools joined their ranks, primarily from districts expanding the model. Because Summit requires schools to spend almost a year preparing to adopt its model, the coronavirus is not likely to cause a surge in the number of Summit schools next fall.

In dozens of interviews, Summit leaders, education researchers and the people who teach and learn in schools that use Summit agreed that the platform offers a systematic way to achieve the otherwise complicated, messy objective of personalizing learning. Observations in classrooms and at Summits summer training, which was previously closed to the media, suggest a nuanced picture of a program that can be used poorly but can also transform teaching and learning for the better  and not just because of computers.

Students in a seventh grade science class at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, set their laptops aside to focus on a project in which they have to draw the geologic changes to a single site in comic form.

United behind Summit Learning

At Rhodes Junior High, where Logan goes to school, students in Allison McIntoshs seventh grade science classroom were three weeks into a project. They had to draw a comic book story of a geologic sites past, present and future based on the conditions that build up or chip away at mountains, carve valleys and dry out lakes. Many students had their laptops open but ignored them, looking at McIntosh while she spoke and at sample comic books she placed at their tables.

How many boxes does it take for a character to move, for something to happen? McIntosh asked, prompting students to draw lessons from the comic books in front of them. How do they draw that something is happening?

Rhodes serves a predominantly low-income population of about 900 kids outside Phoenix. The schools most recent rating from the Arizona Department of Education is an F because of below-average student growth and achievement.

Two years ago, Principal Patricia Christie lost almost half of her staff  some she invited to leave and others took advantage of an invitation to switch to a different school if they didnt want to go all-in on personalized learning. The school is perhaps uncommonly united in support of Summit and the broader educational philosophy on which it is based. The parent community at Rhodes is not particularly involved, Christie said, and there hasnt been the pushback to Summit or online learning that other communities faced.

In Cheshire, Connecticut  a higher-income community with more active parents  the school district scrapped Summit in 2017 because parents didnt want so much of their childrens educational data to be tracked by an outside company, particularly one backed by Zuckerberg, who critics worry is supporting Summit as another massive data collection engine, like Facebook.

Want to take back your online privacy? 7 easy steps to stop Facebook and others from spying on you

Summit Learning does share student data with 20 different service providers who help facilitate the platforms capabilities. Facebook has not been one of them since 2017, but the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has full access to the Summit Learning platforms content and traffic data. On its website, Summit Learning emphasizes that it will never sell student data or seek to make money from the people using the platform.

In Cheshire, parents bemoaned the quality of content in Summit and the time their kids spent on computers. At Rhodes, Christie doesnt hear complaints like that. Since 2017, Summit has revised its middle and high school curriculum, and teachers said its high-quality.

McIntosh, the science teacher, said she loves having a complete curriculum to work from. She used to spend a lot of time creating her own materials. Now, she finds she has extra time to meet individual kids needs.

Im not spending as much time on the ground level, McIntosh said. Im getting directly into interventions, targeted materials, resources, lesson plans, pedagogical skills that are tailored toward the kids I have sitting right in front of me.

I need help: In 6 home classrooms, families try to keep coronavirus learning alive

Hilary Witts, the director of Summit at Aspen Valley Prep Academy Charter School in Fresno, California, said her schools state test scores jumped by the end of the first year with Summit, in large part because the program helped teachers identify gaps in student understanding and offered targeted support to help them catch up.

By the third year, the school surpassed the state average and nearly doubled the districts percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on eighth grade reading and seventh grade math.

At Wellington High School in Kansas, administrators expected Summit to boost, in particular, sophomore performance on state reading tests. Stephanie Smith, the assistant principal, said the curriculums interdisciplinary focus and emphasis on argumentative writing, textual analysis and inquiry seemed like it would have to have an impact.

After one year, student performance improved, and for the first time in more than a decade, sophomores from Wellington performed above the state average, Smith said.

We were absolutely elated to see the data on that, Smith said.

Students at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, spend a portion of their day working on laptops, but they generally have notebooks and paper nearby.

A mindset shift

Though one of the biggest criticisms of Summit is that it turns teaching over to computers, many educators who use it said theyre doing more intensive teaching than ever. When Angela Pipinich, a math teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Idaho Falls, talks about Summits impact, she doesnt even mention computers. She said her classroom is much more student-led.

I think a huge misconception is that Summit Learning is a computer program, she said. Its a mindset shift.

Summits math curriculum is designed to occur almost entirely off-screen, according to Andrew Goldin, executive director of TLP Education. Its science, English and social studies curricula are project-based, so students are meant to spend a significant chunk of time collaborating.

Teachers like the way Summits model prioritizes stress management and relationship skills, independence and students belief in their ability to learn.

The model suggests students receive 10 minutes per week of one-on-one time with a mentor. Teachers said the time leads to better relationships with their students. Administrators said it changes the feel of schools. And students love it. Even those who said they dont like learning on computers through Summit dont write off the program entirely because of this component.

Schools and coronavirus: Parents fear for their children's mental health amid coronavirus pandemic

Those mentoring relationships have been a lifeline for Rhodes since the school closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus. Students found their mentors to be obvious points of contact online or by phone; because of those connections, school leaders have a better understanding of students needs.

Despite the emphasis on the off-screen elements of Summits model, computers hold the content that drives instruction, and they provide a place for student-teacher communication.

Students take quizzes and tests through the platform, submit assignments online and track their progress in each course. They set academic goals and prepare for meetings with their mentors through the platform.

For nearly half of Rhodes students, that was put on hold when the district closed March 16. It wasnt until mid-April that the school hosted its first device pickup event, giving students a chance to check out computers they normally use in class. Christie estimated that about 20% of her students didnt have devices by the end of April, when the district began asking schools to prepare 90 minutes of activities per week for kids in English, math, science and social studies.

Half of US lacks broadband access: Coronavirus for kids without internet means quarantined worksheets, learning in parking lots

Some students picked up where they left off in the Summit Learning Platform; many others made limited progress under the new educational reality, though Christie maintained that using Summit and having more flexible, personalized learning processes in place gave the school a leg up.

When schools are open, the Summit model calls for one class period per day of self-directed learning time. Students work through readings and instructional videos from the web at their own pace, taking assessments as they prove they are keeping up with the material.

Students have to pass quizzes and tests with a score of at least 80% or retake them. Teachers decide how many times a student can retake an assessment before intervention is needed. When students struggle to pass the quizzes more than twice, teachers pull them for small-group workshops to supplement the online instruction.

When screen time is productive, researchers tend to agree that it is not, in itself, bad, at least for older kids. Thats Summit's argument.

All screen time is not the same. Theres nuance, TLPs Goldin said. They are using their computers to collaborate, word process, research  those are skills for the 21st century. Screens are going to be a part of our lives going forward.

Screen time: Yes, your kids are on screens in these trying times. No, you're not a terrible parent

Teachers find other downsides to Summit. Amethyst Hinton Sainz, an English teacher for students with very limited English fluency at Rhodes, has had a hard time helping her students work through Summits text-heavy curriculum.

Although Summit provides translation tools and built-in ideas for making the projects and assignments manageable for kids learning English, Hinton Sainz has spent a good chunk of this year, her first with Summit, revising the curriculum to make it accessible for her students. For those least fluent in English, Hinton Sainz sometimes has to scrap the projects entirely.

Teachers in other schools found the shift to project-based learning to be a massive, unwanted change from traditional instruction. Its messy and loud, and teachers have to relinquish some of their time at the front of the room. It can take greater expertise to help kids work productively in groups.

In Providence, Rhode Island, a report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University chronicled a dysfunctional school system that has been taken over by the state. A handful of schools in Providence used Summit, but they incorporated the program differently  some teachers stuck to the curriculum, and others used only the self-directed learning content to offer remedial education for students. Some teachers abandoned direct instruction entirely, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers.

Even when Summit is implemented as designed, kids still dislike parts of it.

Kids who are used to easy As under the more traditional model can be particularly hard to convert. They face an unfamiliar struggle if hands-on projects demand more active work than listening to lectures and memorizing facts, or if their teachers funnel texts to them that are more challenging than those they would have studied in a whole-class reading.

In math class, students at Rhodes Junior High in Mesa, Arizona, work on laptops but also solve word problems in groups using a white board.

Thin research base

Personalized learning has become such a popular goal in schools because it is basically a catch-all for some of the most lauded educational ideas of the past century: letting students progress at their own pace; giving them opportunities to learn through in-depth projects; supporting strong adult-child relationships; using data to inform teaching; and developing students understanding that, with enough time and effort, they can learn anything.

For a program so steeped in research and so scripted that teachers could teach an entire course without having to come up with a single original idea, it leads to frustratingly varied experiences from one school to the next. That, too, is by design.

Though schools sign a partnership agreement committing to implement all three core elements of the Summit model  projects, self-directed learning and mentoring  teachers and schools ultimately do what they want.

Donna Stone, founder and executive director of New England Basecamp, which has supported 10 schools in Providence using Summit (and almost 30 elsewhere), said daily activities are gift-wrapped for teachers. She has seen major differences, mostly based on school conditions such as teacher turnover, staff support and technology access.

Convinced by the logic behind personalized learning, Zuckerberg donated nearly $26 million in 2018 and $43 million in 2019 to Summit Public Schools and TLP Education through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Although there is a strong research base behind the elements that make up personalized learning, the research into comprehensive models such as Summits is extremely thin. Summit resisted attempts to study whether its model improves learning outcomes and the school experience for the more than 84,000 students who use the program.

Goldin said individual schools track their own data, which cumulatively represents tons of evidence, case by case, of successes that schools are seeing. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, as its biggest funder, is watching for more rigorous research.

Coronavirus-related school closures offered fresh examples of Summits potential. Summit was not intended to work as a remote learning solution, but schools that most deeply embraced the model in their buildings found it surprisingly transferable.

Advice for teaching at home: How to home-school during coronavirus quarantine

Nicki Chase, whose daughter is a junior at Classical Academy High School Personalized Learning Campus in Escondido, California, was amazed by the smooth transition.

Chase said her daughter has capitalized on the self-directed learning skills she practiced through Summit for years. Even without direct instruction from teachers, she knew how to start a lesson on her own, take a diagnostic assessment to get a sense of her strengths and weaknesses, click through the learning materials to learn more about the topic, take notes along the way, reach out to peers as a first stop for help and communicate with a teacher through the platform when necessary, Chase said.

Chases home has internet access and enough computers to go around, so her daughter has been able to join videoconference sessions with teachers and classmates when theyre offered. Her daughters mentor has checked in multiple times to make sure she is on track.

Im not worried theres going to be a gap in her learning, Chase said. Its really amazing as a parent to get to know that that part is covered.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus online school: Facebook Mark Zuckerberg's Summit Learning
Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is poised to become as famous as his parents, although he probably doesnt know it yet. Seventh in line for the throne, the adorable infant is already showing signs of becoming a high-octane toddler who is sure to keep his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on their toes. A few days ago, a family friend revealed that the royal tots doting mom, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, describes her firstborn as a bundle of energy who prefers playtime to sleep.

Prince Harrys had three nannies so far

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor | Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage

Since making his royal debut, at least three nannies have been hired by Meghan and Prince Harry to look after their lively youngster. None of their identities have been made public, as the royals seek to maintain some semblance of privacy in their new Los Angeles home.

Hello! magazine did reveal, however, that the first nanny was relieved of her position, and the second nanny to be hired worked only at night. The third nanny traveled with the Sussexes to tend to Archie when he made his first royal tour to Africa last September.

The duke and duchess may avail themselves of nanny services  its a royal tradition, after all  but they are hands-on parents who are madly in love with their little one. In fact, they enjoy being Archies mom and dad so much, they are seriously thinking about creating a pint-sized playmate for him to grow up with.

Glowing praise from the prince

Meghan and Prince Harry, who stepped down from their royal duties at the end of March, are typically tight-lipped about their firstborn. But, once in a while, they do make an official announcement to keep fans of the royal family apprised.

Shortly after witnessing his wife give birth, the prince exclaimed: Im so incredibly proud of my wife. And as every father and parent would say, your baby is absolutely amazing. But this little thing is absolutely to-die-for so Im absolutely over the moon.

When Archie was five months old, his mum made the long-anticipated announcement that the queens eighth great-grandchild was starting to grow red hair and eyebrows like his father. The revelation came at the Well Child Awards in London during a conversation with royal insider Angela Sunderland and her 11-year old daughter, Milly, according to Allure magazine.

What do we know about Baby Archie?

At the Endeavor Fund Awards in London in March, a stylishly dressed Meghan told attendee Claire Spencer that then ten-month-old Archie is into everything. The infant was not in attendance at the gala event, having been left in the care of a nanny in Vancouver, Canada. The whirlwind trip also saw Meghan deliver an inspiring Womens Day speech during a surprise visit to an East London girls school before the duke and duchess jetted home to reunite with their vivacious young son in California.

The same unnamed source who revealed Meghans summation of her son as a bundle of energy also says that the duchess lights up when she speaks of Archie while simultaneously suggesting that the ten-month-old heir to the throne needs a little buddy that isnt the dogs.

Whether or not a new Sussex is on the way remains to be seen. In the meantime, Prince Charles grandson amuses himself with mini-instruments upon which he loves to bang, says his mom, who adds that she finds it especially amusing when Prince Harry plays harmonica for a giggling Archie, according to UK Express.

On May 6, Meghan and Prince Harry are expected to release an authorized portrait of their toddler. It is unclear where the image will be released to the world, however, as the prince and his wife no longer active their Sussex Royal account on Instagram, explains Hello! Magazine.
Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules.

The Mail on Sunday understands the plans  likely to be introduced later this month if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall  will mean people can exercise several times each day and drive to the countryside and other outdoor spaces for walks and picnics.

However, they will only be allowed to do so with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups.

The change, which will end the sight of police officers moving on solitary sunbathers in parks, follows new scientific advice to ministers that the risk of transmitting the disease outside is substantially lower than indoors.

Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules. Pictured: people enjoying a picnic at Daisy Hill Forest park, Brisbane, Australia, on May 2

But people will still be barred from areas such as playgrounds and beaches where crowds congregate and the two-metre rule becomes harder to observe.

The softening of restrictions will be accompanied by the stricter enforcement of breaches of the remaining rules, with fines rising from the current 60 to more than 3,000 for repeat offenders.

Boris Johnsons review of the lockdown on Thursday is not expected to lead to any more substantial changes until next month when public transport is likely to return to normal levels and non-food retailers, factories, warehouses and more construction sites will be encouraged to open.

Offices are expected to instruct most of their staff to continue working from home, while pubs and restaurants are likely to remain closed for weeks or even months longer.

In other developments:

The UK death toll rose by 621 to 28,131, but the Government said it had again reached its target of 100,000 daily tests;

Headteachers are being asked about how to phase in a return to school, starting with about 20 per cent of pupils attending from June;

Donations to the Mail Force campaign to deliver safety equipment to NHS and care home staff passed 5 million;

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced a 76 million package to help charities tackle domestic abuse, help vulnerable children and fight modern slavery;

Care homes warned of a deepening crisis and said the true death toll inside them may never be known;

The Government accused the BBC of bias in some of its Covid-19 coverage;

A new intelligence dossier circulated among Western governments accused Beijing of lying about the origins of the virus and persecuting whistleblowers;

Universities have been targeted by Russian and Iranian hackers hunting secrets about coronavirus treatment research;

A survey for this newspaper found lockdown had made couples less likely to split up;

Global deaths were approaching 250,000  including more than 65,000 in the US  as many European countries made the first tentative steps out of lockdown.

Asked about relaxing restrictions on outdoor activities in Britain, a senior government source said: Thanks to the huge efforts of the British public we are past the peak of the virus without the NHS having been overwhelmed.

Now we can start to look at which elements of the social distancing rules can be adjusted while keeping the rate of transmission down, so we are looking at how to lift everyones spirits by allowing the public to get into the great outdoors.

While relaxing some measures, Ministers plan to come down hard on hotspots where infection rates rise. Fines for breaching coronavirus rules are expected to be increased to 100 and keep on double for any repeat offence up to a maximum 3,200 for serial offenders, who could also face arrest.

People will only be allowed to do exercise and go on picnics with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups. Pictured: London on Friday

The source added: The vast majority of people have followed the rules, but in the next phase of our fight it will be even more critical that a small minority of rule-breakers do not put the rest of us at risk. That is why we will give the police tougher powers.

The Government is also expected to issue formal guidance next week advising that face masks should be worn to work.

People yesterday flocked to newly reopened DIY stores and rubbish tips  although dumps in Greater Manchester are to use number plate recognition to limit the number of visits. Orderly queues formed at branches of Homebase, which opened 164 stores, as well as B&Q and Wickes. Costa Coffee drive-throughs were also busy.
The Punjab government on Saturday decided to test all those returning from outside, saying it can't rely on the medical examination conducted by other states in the wake of a surge in the infection count.

It also decided to ramp up coronavirus testing, with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directing to increase the capacity to 6,000 tests a day by mid-May.

The states' coronavirus tally rose substantially in the past a few days due to a large number of Sikh pilgrims evacuated from Maharashtra's Nanded testing positive for the virus.

So far, 292 pilgrims have been found infected with the virus, a government statement said.

On Saturday, the state's coronavirus count soared to 772 with 187 new cases, of which 142 were pilgrims from the state.

The government is also facing a flak from the Opposition for the mismanagement of the evacuation process, under which over 3,500 Sikh pilgrims have returned to Punjab.

Pointing out the infection cases among the pilgrims, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a video conference with state ministers said it was clear that Punjab can't "rely on the tests conducted on its people by other states".

He said the state will have to conduct its own tests rather than going by the tests done by other states.

He directed the Health Department to increase the testing capacity to 6,000 tests a day by May 15, instead of the earlier target of 5,800 tests a day by May-end.

In response to a suggestion by some ministers, the CM agreed to examine their proposal for home quarantine of the returnees in coordination with village sarpanches and panchayats.

Referring to the fact that several staffers at the Nanded gurdwara have also tested positive for the infection, the CM said with this the Shiromani Akali Dal's claim that there was no infection case there has been trashed.

He once again asked the Opposition not to indulge in petty politicking over the issue.

This was a crucial time in the state's fight against COVID-19, the CM said.

Directing the Health Department to come out with a plan to advance its schedule for increasing the testing capacity, the CM stressed the need to be prepared for the worst.

Singh said he had already asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the Centre to scale up the testing capacity to 20,000 a day to cope with the influx of migrants and others expected to return to the state over the next few weeks in the wake of the new directives of the Government of India.

The CM said he has also asked the Baba Farid University vice chancellor to explore the feasibility of setting up a testing facility in Jalandhar, for which the government was ready to sanction an immediate grant of Rs 1 crore.

The CM told the cabinet that he had deputed officers to coordinate with each state for facilitating the return of Punjabis.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu assured the CM that all pending testing reports will be cleared in a day or two to ensure that there is no delay in identifying and addressing positive cases.

He said arrangements for increasing testing by roping in a private lab have also been finalised and 2,000 samples from across the state were sent to them on Saturday.

A proposal has been sent to the Centre to set up four new labs in Barnala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur.

The cabinet also approved a proposal for the extension of parole beyond 16 weeks during epidemics and disasters for those sentenced to seven years or less.

The cabinet approved suitable amendments to the Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners Act, 1962 in accordance with the Supreme Court suggestion on longer parole in the current circumstances, the government release said.

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

The Grim Reaper has come to Floridas newly reopened beaches, and hes not happy.

The Spectre of Death  otherwise known, in this instance, as Walton County attorney Daniel Uhlfelder  roamed the beaches of Walton County Friday to bring attention to the potential dangers of reopening Floridas beaches while COVID-19 cases continue to turn up around the state.

I love our beautiful beaches. I want people to go back to work. I know that we as a state are heavily dependent on tourism, Uhlfelder told Yahoo just after a jaunt around the beach. But our government, and specifically our governor, does not have its priorities in the right place.

His story rocketed around Twitter  we should end the euphemism went viral, right?  when he appeared on a local newscast Friday afternoon speaking directly to the camera and then looming behind the local correspondent like ... well, like the Angel of Death:

Forget all the complaining Ive done about Florida. This was worth it. pic.twitter.com/HnfbuqnpBX  Kalhan (@KalhanR) May 1, 2020

Uhlfelder wandered the beaches in a specially made linen suit  the one he bought from Wal-Mart was far too hot in the Florida sun  and drew a range of reactions, from laughter to disbelief to hostility.

Some people were not very friendly, Uhlfelder says, but Ive got thick skin. Im a trial attorney.

Uhlfelder is a second-generation Floridian, born in Tallahassee, with a law degree from the University of Florida and a practice in Walton County. Shortly after the pandemic broke out, Uhlfelder sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, demanding that the governor close Floridas beaches. The suit was dismissed when a judge ruled that his court did not have sufficient standing to overrule the governor, but Uhlfelder plans to appeal.

In the meantime, though, hes settled on the Grim Reaper role. I wanted to do the right thing, he says. Its taken off more than I imagined. He says hes received calls and tweets from all over the world thanking him.

Story continues

Im doing this because nobody else is doing anything, he says. Florida is the third-largest state, with the largest population of susceptible individuals. Our governor has blood on his hands ... its a travesty.

Uhlfelder has plans to travel the state, and along the way hes raising money to contribute to Democrats running for Congress. As of Friday, his Grim Reaper Tour is hitting the road:

Many of you have asked if I am willing to travel around Florida wearing Grim Reaper attire to the beaches and other areas of the state opening up prematurely. The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state. Please retweet and spread the word. pic.twitter.com/UO7QKg161n  Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) April 22, 2020

I dont know how long Ill keep doing this, he says, but Im not giving up. Its a matter of life and death.

_____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee or contact him with tips and story ideas at jay.busbee@yahoo.com.

More from Yahoo Sports:
A pandemic coinciding in a presidential election year is shining a spotlight on our national election processes - attention that will influence the nature of elections both this year and in the future.

As the first coronavirus bill was debated in Congress, President Donald Trump criticized support for election reform, claiming, If youd ever agreed to it, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again. But his analysis is incorrect. Election data indicates mail-in voting favors neither major party. And as an increasing number of election officials see this for themselves this year, expansion of mail-in voting is likely in the post-pandemic landscape.

Wisconsins April primary raised an eerie specter of future elections as Republican and Democratic officials fought over voting procedures while voters and poll workers risked their health out of civic responsibility. At first glance, Wisconsin seems like evidence for the presidents conclusion. The mail-in ballots overwhelmingly supported a liberal candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, leading to an unexpected defeat of the conservative incumbent.

But that election was an exception to the rule because while Republican leaders trumpeted the coronavirus is no threat refrain being disseminated by conservative news media, state Democratic leaders focused on educating voters about requesting and completing a mail-in ballot. By the time of the primary, both Republicans and Democrats feared exposure to the virus. But only Democrats had a safe way to participate.

Historically, mail-in voting has not been a partisan issue. Oregons first-in-the-nation implementation of vote-by-mail was handled by Republican secretaries of the state. The states with the highest percentage of mail-in ballots include Utah, Arizona and Montanaall red states. Conversely, Connecticut and New York, both blue states, are among those with the lowest levels of mail-in ballots. As both red and blue states have adopted policies expanding access to voting by either mail-in voting, early voting or easier access to absentee voting, voters of all stripes have participated in increasing numbers  because access to voting is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue.

Increased access to voting is a 21st century phenomenon. Nationwide, the numbers of individuals who voted early, submitted absentee ballots and voted by mail all doubled between 2004 and 2016. For 16 states, those types of voting accounted for more than half of ballots. And states that have adopted vote-by-mail systems have increased turnout by an average of 5 percent.

This is a trend the coronavirus will accelerate with effects long after the 2020 elections. The logistics involved in adopting a universal vote-by-mail system are too complex for states to implement before November. But to avoid the fate of Wisconsin Republicans, states will respond to voters health concerns by adapting their current election system.

At a minimum, they will increase access to absentee ballots by accepting the threat of COVID-19 as a justification for an absentee ballot. While such adaptations will necessarily be temporary, in the long run they will pave the way to a permanent expansion as more elected officials see that access to voting is not a partisan issue.

Tess Marchant-Shapiro, Ph.D., is an associate professor of political science at Southern Connecticut State University
Hubei province is lowering its level of response to the novel coronavirus outbreak from the highest level on Saturday, but while this measure is taken by China's hardest-hit area, authorities across the nation were urged to remain vigilant against the disease after loopholes were found in epidemic prevention and control in Heilongjiang province.



In a release on Friday, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, China's Cabinet, called for better control of hospital infections, stronger nucleic acid testing capabilities and more attention to the risk of imported infections nationwide.

Since April, cluster infections caused by imported cases have resurged in the cities of Harbin and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang. The infections also affected several hospitals, infecting dozens of people including medical staff.

In April, 131 domestically transmitted infections were reported on the Chinese mainland, of which more than 60 percent resulted from cluster infections in Heilongjiang, Mi Feng, a spokesman for the National Health Commission, said on Friday.

Of the six newly reported domestic cases on Thursday, five were in Heilongjiang and one in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, he said at a daily briefing.

The authorities in Harbin and Mudanjiang have failed to realize the risk of imported infections, and were lacking in their capability to curb the epidemic, according to the release.

The two cities also failed to implement the 14-day quarantine measure for people returning from overseas.

The resurgence of cluster infections has also exposed loopholes in infection control in hospitals, and a lack of capability in conducting nucleic acid tests in medical institutions in Harbin, it said.

All health authorities and medical institutions across the country are required to learn lessons from this.

All localities should improve management to detect, report, isolate and treat infections as early as possible, and provide support in policies, funds, human resources and materials to help medical institutions improve testing capacity and efficiency, the release said.

In a separate circular on Friday, the State Council also called for adopting strict measures to minimize possible infections in hospitals.

Hospitals should draft more detailed measures to curb infections. Fever clinicsthe first place to encounter possible COVID-19 patientsmust shoulder the responsibility of early reporting, early diagnosis and early quarantine, and transfer patients to designated hospitals in a timely manner, it said.

Meanwhile, Hubei, the nation's hardest-hit province, on Friday announced the lowering of its emergency response level from the highest to the second level from Saturday, after the province reported no new infections for 27 consecutive days.

A total of 82,874 infections had been reported on the Chinese mainland as of Thursday, with 4,633 deaths. Among them, Hubei province registered 68,128 infections and 4,512 deaths, according to the National Health Commission.

Yang Yunyan, vice-governor of Hubei, said on Friday that people were encouraged to avoid mass gatherings and indoor recreational facilities would remain closed.
This video, in the form of traditional water-ink painting, demonstrates the lives of ordinary working Chinese in 24 hours. It pays tribute to everyone, from medical staff, railway employees, sanitation workers and farmers, to teachers, deliverymen, scientists, police, firefighters and bus drivers.

They work hard to make our daily lives smooth. They are all indispensable people in our lives.

Thanks to each of you who are working hard. Everyone has been playing an important role in the development of China's society.

May 1 marks International Labor's Day, and is also the start of a five-day holiday in China. Whatever you do and wherever you work, may you all have a happy Labor Day.

(Translated by Elaine Yue Lin and Ryan Yaoran Yu; subtitles by Zhang Luojia; story by Xu Zheqi)
The High Court has appointed joint provisional liquidators to a Dublin-based office supplies wholesaler, which employs over 40 people.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds yesterday appointed insolvency practitioners Luke Charleton and Colin Farquharson of EY as joint provisional liquidators to Spicers Ireland Ltd, which was based at the Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24.

The company is part of a UK-based group and had been operating in Ireland for over 30 years. However, the group had been experiencing difficulties and had been involved in a sales process, which was not successful.

As a result the group entered administration in the UK.

While the Irish company had been trading profitably, and was stable, it was heavily dependent on other companies in the group for important services, including IT.

Due to the UK administration, the provision of those support services to the Irish firm was withdrawn.

The company had also been experiencing difficulties arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had caused a dramatic fall in revenue.

All other options were considered, including entering examinership, but the Irish company said that, given the circumstances, it had no option other than seek an order winding up the company and the appointment of liquidators.

Spicers Ireland, which petitioned the High Court for the winding-up order, said the appointment of provisional liquidators would ensure an orderly winding up and was in the best interests of employees and creditors.

It would also ensure that the firm's assets are secured.

Ms Justice Reynolds said she was satisfied that the company was insolvent and she was prepared to appoint the joint provisional liquidators.
Most black congregants say faith has grown even as coronavirus ravages community, study shows

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Despite the shuttering of many churches across America and the disproportionate impact the new coronavirus pandemic has been having on the black community, a majority of adults affiliated with historically black churches say their faith has strengthened, a new study shows.

The study, a survey of a nationally representative panel of 11,022 randomly selected U.S. adults, was conducted by the Pew Research Center. Data in the study was collected from April 20 to April 26 and reflects responses from 10,139 members of the panel.

While 47% of survey respondents reported that their faith hadnt changed much and 26% said they werent religious to begin with, 24% of them said their faith had become stronger in the pandemic.

When the numbers were further broken down by religious tradition, a pattern of increased faith emerged in 56% of Protestants affiliated with historically black churches. This was the highest pattern of increased faith of all groups in the study. This group of believers was closely followed by evangelicals, 42% of whom reported that their faith had grown during the pandemic. Some 27% of Catholics reported increased faith while 22% of mainline Protestants said they experienced a surge in their faith as a result of the pandemic.

The study comes as a confluence of factors, including age, poorer health, and access to healthcare, has resulted in the black community being disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.

Reports of the deaths of dozens of pastors and members of predominantly black churches have not been uncommon during the pandemic. Just over a week ago, the Rev. Johnnie Green of Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem, New York, told The Christian Post that at his church alone, 13 members died in approximately 30 days and all but two of them died due to complications from the virus.

A recent report in The New York Times with preliminary data released by New York City showed how the coronavirus is killing black and Latino people at twice the rate that it is killing white people. Nationwide data also reflect a similar trend.

And churches and researchers have continued to press the White House to address the disparity.

We have gathered as pastors, as faith leaders around this country to simply state that last weeks headlines reminded all of us that racism is a public health issue," the Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, senior pastor of the 12,000-member Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, lamented during a recent press conference, discussing the impact of the virus on the black community.

"It has long been a matter of life and death. Sadly and immorally, we live in a country where skin color is hazardous to ones health and mortality is not determined by ones genetic code but instead by ones zip code.

As pastors who serve in communities that are most impacted by the coronavirus crisis we have come together to issue a moral appeal to the conscience of the nation in a state of emergency in the tradition of the biblical prophets who address nations in crises and prophets in this nation such as  Martin Luther King Jr and many others who fought to redeem the soul of America. We appeal to those in power on behalf of communities in pain and in grief. We appeal to you to channel treatment and resources to those areas in our body politic that have suffered the most from this national infection that has allowed this virus to spread disproportionately.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, recent reports by The Christian Post showed how many Americans were increasingly disengaging with their religion as churches grappled to respond. Blacks, as a racial group, meanwhile, maintained the highest percentage of members with absolutely certain belief in God at 83%; Asians showed the lowest at 44%. Among whites, the percentage was 61%, while Latinos stood at 59%.
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Project to preserve Black churches gets $20M donation; Mayfield church first to receive funds
Medical experts have assured Australian parents a coronavirus cluster at a New Zealand school that has so far infected 94 people is no reason to fear sending their children back to classrooms.

The cluster began at Marist College in Auckland, a Catholic girls' school, with a teacher who tested positive on March 22. The New Zealand Herald reported she had not been overseas or in contact with any returned traveller, and the origin of her infection is still unknown.

The 750-pupil Catholic girls' school in Auckland was the centre of New Zealand's second-largest coronavirus cluster. Credit:Ricky Wilson / Stuff

The 750-pupil school closed immediately, for what was initially expected to be three days. But on March 25 the entire country went into lockdown, and by the following day the Marist caseload - by then officially a cluster - had grown to 11 cases including the principal, six other staff members and four students, "mostly seniors" according to the Herald.

The chair of the school's board of trustees, Stephen Dallow, speculated that the "very small" staffroom may have been the main point of transmission, rather than the larger classrooms.
How COVID-19 protestors are unwitting victims of propaganda Protestors in KC // Photo by Jim Nimmo It began with TV shots of angry people all over the nation. It seemed all at once. From Philadelphia to California to Kansas City, protestors were angry. Very angry. From city to city, they demanded that businesses reopen. They said COVID-19 was a lie, an exaggeration.

One week later, this local alternative magazine offers a counterpoint and many links attempting to disprove local arguments that, ironically, mostly hinged on First Amendment rights . . . From the silly TKC perspective, the most interesting thing about this missive isn't the debate over protest but the "alternative" posture of the publication when, in fact, this argument mostly mimics what people have already seen on CNN:
The San Antonio area saw a hefty increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday, pushing the total number of people diagnosed with the virus to 1,477.

That includes 103 new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours  a number considerably higher than what has been reported in recent days.

But Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff noted that the surge was mostly a result of increased testing at the county jail, where an outbreak has been sweeping through the inmates and staff.

Out of those (103 new cases), 91 were at the jail, Wolff said. There were only 12 out in the community  12 is the lowest number since weve started. Thats a positive sign.

So far, 157 inmates have been diagnosed with the highly contagious virus. Some of them remained hospitalized Friday.

Ten inmates have recovered so far.

Wolff said most of the inmates testing positive arent showing symptoms but are being separated from the rest of the jail population in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.

No new deaths in the San Antonio area were reported Friday, so the local COVID-19 death toll remains at 48, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.

On ExpressNews.com: Some San Antonio restaurants dining rooms have reopened, bringing steady business

The number of people hospitalized locally with the deadly virus increased to 60. Among them, 42 were in intensive care units, while 21 were on ventilators to help them breathe.

The number of people who have recovered locally also continues to grow. As of Friday, 683 recoveries were reported  an increase of more than 100 in three days.

Across Texas, more than 29,000 people have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic. The states death toll stood at 816 as of noon Friday, while nearly 1,800 people are in Texas hospitals being treated for the virus.

More than 14,000 Texas patients have recovered from the illness so far.

Statewide, more than 350,000 people have been tested for the virus. The bulk of that testing has been done by private labs, while a small fraction has been handled by public labs.

Harris County, the home of Houston, continues to diagnose far more cases than any other Texas county. Nearly 6,400 people have tested positive there since the start of the pandemic, while 114 people have died.

In Comal County, three new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed Thursday, bringing the countys total to 58. Those patients live in New Braunfels, Bulverde and eastern Comal County. Of the three new patients, two of them are hospitalized, while the other is isolated at home.

On ExpressNews.com: With masks and Lysol, San Antonio retailers prepared for Fridays reopening

Most of Comal Countys patients have recovered from the virus, while 13 have active cases. The countys death toll stands at six.

Comal County is now offering COVID-19 antibody testing by appointment. That test determines if someone who is healthy had the COVID-19 virus in the past and now has antibodies that usually provide immunity from the disease.

County residents can make an appointment for antibody testing by calling 830-221-1150. The testing is offered through a partnership between the Comal County Office of Public Health and Clinical Pathology Laboratories.

CPL can use our facilities to do the testing, and in return, the county gets additional data about the spread of COVID-19 in our community, said Cheryl Fraser, Comal Countys director of public health.

Local physicians continue to operate a drive-through testing site in New Braunfels, where patients can be tested for active cases of the virus. Comal County residents can make an appointment for COVID-19 testing by calling 830-312-7980 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. If patients dont have a doctor, one will be assigned to follow up with them after their test.

In Guadalupe County, where Seguin is located, 81 people have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic. Among them, 52 have recovered, while 43 patients cases remain active. No deaths have been reported.

In Wilson County, the home of Floresville, 33 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus in recent weeks.

Most of those cases  23 in all  are connected to an outbreak at the Frank M. Tejeda Texas State Veterans Home, Floresville Mayor Cissy Gonzalez-Dippel said on her Facebook page Friday. Fourteen residents and nine staff members at the state veterans home have tested positive for COVID-19, she said. Three people have died.

On ExpressNews.com: Some San Antonio churches to welcome back worshippers this Sunday  with social distancing and protections

Across Wilson County, 14 people have recovered from the virus.

In Atascosa County, the home of Pleasanton and Jourdanton, 19 people have tested positive for the virus. Of those, 11 have recovered, seven are still sick and one has died.

In Medina County, 20 people have tested positive since the start of the pandemic. Most of those patients  13 people  have recovered. Five patients are still sick. Two people have died.

Medina County officials said a COVID-19 mobile testing site will be open by appointment only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Devine Fire Station No. 2 at 1419 County Road 5710. This testing is open only to patients showing symptoms of the virus, such as fever or chills, coughing, body aches, muscle or joint pain, shortness of breath, sore throat, headaches or a loss of taste or smell. Before getting tested, patients must register at TxCovidTest.org or by calling 512-883-2400.

In Bandera County, a COVID-19 mobile testing site will be available by appointment only Wednesday. The exact location hasnt been disclosed. Patients showing symptoms of the virus can make an appointment to be tested by calling 512-883-2400 or by visiting TxCovidTest.org beginning Monday.

So far, only six people have tested positive for the virus in Bandera County, state health officials said.

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
A new poll shows most Australians say they support the federal government's coronavirus contact tracing app, but only 16 per cent have downloaded it, leaving Prime Minister Scott Morrison less than halfway to his 40 per cent uptake goal.

As the government stepped up its call for Australians to download the app in order to prepare the country for relaxed social distancing laws, Australia's top coronavirus adviser at the World Health Organisation says she won't use it due to lingering privacy concerns.

UNSW epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws has decided not to download the government's COVIDSafe app. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

University of NSW epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws said she was yet to download the app over fears the data could be accessed by the United States government.

"Given my position as an epidemiologist I can see the great benefit of this app because it decreases the amount of time spent looking for contacts," said Professor McLaws, who is a member of the peak WHO coronavirus response panel.
Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in weeks amid mounting speculation over his health.

According to state media, the North Korean dictator cut the ribbon at the opening of a fertiliser factory in Sunchon at a ceremony with other senior officials.

These included his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.

Reports from state media said workers at the factory broke into thunderous cheers for Kim, who it said is guiding the nation in a struggle to build a self-reliant economy in the face of head wind by hostile forces.

It was Kims first public appearance since April 11, when he presided over a ruling Workers Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus and reappoint his sister as an alternate member of the powerful decision-making Political Bureau of the partys Central Committee.

Speculation about his health ramped up after he missed the April 15 birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the countrys most important holiday, for the first time since taking power in 2011.

The possibility of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of the secretive, nuclear-armed state that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the US mainland while diplomacy between Kim and US president Donald Trump has stalled.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump declined to comment on Kims reappearance but said he would have something to say about it at the appropriate time.

State media reported Kim was carrying out routine activities outside public view, such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa and expressing gratitude to workers building tourist facilities in the coastal town of Wonsan, where some speculated he was staying.

South Koreas government, which has a mixed record of tracking Pyongyangs ruling elite, repeatedly downplayed speculation that Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor...

Continue reading on HuffPost
Lockdown 3.0 and India coronavirus latest news: After issuing new guidelines regarding lockdown 3.0 on Friday, the Union Home Ministry sources clarified on Saturday that e-commerce services will be allowed only for essentials in the red zones. The sources also said that the liquor shops will be allowed to open orange and green zones, while the ones in the red zones will only be permitted to open if they are standalone or neighbourhood shops.

As many as 790 fresh coronavirus cases reported in Maharashtra on Saturday, taking tally to 12,296. Death toll touched 521 with 36 patients succumbing today, as per the statement issued by the state health department. Meanwhile, 121 coronavirus patients discharged after recovery today, taking number of recovered persons to 2,000, added health department.

Follow BusinessToday.in for live updates on coronavirus in India and world:

10:10 pm: Lokpal Member Justice AK Tripathi dies due to coronavirus

Lokpal member Justice AK Tripathi (retired) has died due to coronavirus infection, as per media reports. 62-year-old Justice Triathi had been admitted to AIIMS in Delhi on April 2.

9:00 pm: Aarogya Setu app not outsourced to any private operator, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations about data security issues with Aarogya Setu app, Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the app is not outsourced to any private operator. It is now being appreciated globally.

"Mr Gandhi really high time that you stop outsourcing your tweets to your cronies who do not understand India," he said.

"Aarogya Setu is a powerful companion which protects people. It has robust data security architecture. Those who indulged in surveillance all their lives, won't know how tech can be leveraged for good," he added.

Daily a new lie. Aarogya Setu is a powerful companion which protects people. It has a robust data security architecture. Those who indulged in surveillance all their lives, won't know how tech can be leveraged for good! https://t.co/t8ThXmddcS - Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) May 2, 2020

8:40 pm: 790 new cases reported in Maharashtra, death toll at 521

As many as 790 fresh coronavirus cases reported in Maharashtra on Saturday, taking tally to 12,296. Death toll touched 521 with 36 patients succumbing today, as per the statement issued by the state health department. Meanwhile, 121 coronavirus patients discharged after recovery today, taking number of recovered persons to 2,000, added health department.

8:20 pm: Coronavirus: UAE sends 7 metric tonnes of medical supplies to India

The UAE has sent seven metric tonnes of medical supplies to India to support its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gulf country's embassy in New Delhi said on Saturday.

The aid sent by plane will assist approximately 7,000 medical professionals as they work to combat the virus, the embassy said in a statement. "The UAE is committed to extending critical support to nations seeking to bolster their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," the UAE's Ambassador to India Ahmed Abdul Rahman AlBanna said.

8:10 pm: Mumbai's Dharavi records 38 new COVID-19 cases

38 new COVID-19 cases reported from Mumbai's Dharavi, taking the area's tally to 496 which include 18 deaths.

8:00 pm: Rahul Gandhi raises security, privacy concerns over ArogyaSetu app

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Arogya Setu mobile application is a "sophisticated surveillance system" outsourced to a private operator, raising serious data security and privacy concerns.

The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent. - Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 2, 2020

7:40 pm: Himachal Pradesh to increase relaxation in curfew to 5 hours from May 4

Himachal Pradesh government has decided to increase the relaxation in the curfew to five hours from Monday in the state: Himachal Pradesh Information & Public Relations Department. The decision was taken after the number of active COVID-19 cases decreased to two in the state. 33 patients have recovered from the disease, one died while 4 others migrated out of the state, says Himachal Pradesh Health Department.

7:20 pm: 333 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in Gujarat in last 24 hours

As many as 333 new COVID-19 positive cases reported in last 24 hours in Gujarat. Now, the total number of positive cases rises to 5054, including 896 cured/discharged patients and 262 deaths, says Gujarat Health Department.

7:00 pm: Indian Air Force to conduct flypast at Police War Memorial at 9 AM on Sunday

Ministry of Defence has said that the planned flypast of the aircraft of the Indian Air Force tomorrow is to salute the brave COVID-19 warriors who have been tirelessly and selflessly working during these unprecedented times of Coronavirus pandemic.

The list of hospitals includes AllMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Loknayak Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjang Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Max Saket, Rohini Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital&Army Hospital R&R.

Additionally, helicopters are planned to carry out petal drop over Police War Memorial at 0900 hours followed by Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to patients of COVID-19 between 1000 - 1030 hours, the ministry said.

6:50 pm: Active coronavirus cases decrease to 2 in Himachal

Total number of active COVID-19 cases has decreased to two in Himachal Pradesh. 33 patients have recovered from the disease, one died while 4 others migrated out of the state, says Himachal Pradesh Health Department.

6:40 pm: 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.

Click here to Enlarge

6:20 pm: Punjab govt extends parole period beyond 16 weeks for inmates serving 7 years or less

Punjab Cabinet has approved the extension of parole period beyond 16 weeks during epidemics and disasters, for those sentenced to 7 years or less. The Cabinet approved suitable amendments to The Punjab Good Conduct Prisoners Act 1962, said Punjab Public Relations Department.

6:00 pm: Visuals showing Delhi AIIMS doctors showering flower petals on police officials, showing their gratitude towards Delhi Police.

#WATCH Delhi: AIIMS (All India Institute Of Medical Sciences) doctors shower flower petals on police officials, to show their gratitude towards Delhi Police, amid #COVID19 lockdown. pic.twitter.com/ZU34egil2o - ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

5:50 pm:27 new positive cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir, tally rises to 666

27 new positive cases have been reported since last 24 hours; 25 from Kashmir division and 2 from Jammu division. Total positive cases in the Union Territory stand at 666 which includes 404 positive cases, according to a statement released by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

5:40 pm: 12 new cases reported in Karnataka in last 24 hours

As many as 12 new cases have been confirmed for COVID-19 in Karnataka from May 1, 5:00 PM to May 2, 5 PM. Three deaths have also been reported in last 24 hours. Total 601 positive cases have been confirmed in the state: Helath Department, Government of Karnataka.

5:30 pm: Two more test positive for COVID-19 in Kerala

Two more people have been tested positive for coronavirus in Wayanad and Kannur, taking the active number of cases to 96 in Kerala. A total of 80 hotspots have been identified in the state, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

5:20 pm: 38 COVID-19 positive cases in Indian Navy

The India Navy had 38 COVID-19 positive cases in Mumbai of which 12 have cured and have been discharged from hospital, said Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar.

At INS Angre in Mumbai, we've had a total of 38 COVID19 positive cases. Of these, 12 have already been discharged from hospital while 26 are undergoing treatment. There have been no positive case on any of our warships and submarines," Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar told ANI in an interaction.

5.00 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: 44 people in the same building test COVID-19 positive

44 people residing in the same building in Delhi's Kapashera have reportedly been tested COVID-19 positive. They were tested around 10 days ago. As per the government officials, the residents may have contracted the infection by a person who tested positive for novel coronavirus on April 18. Meanwhile, the local authorities have sealed and cordoned off the area and collected samples of around 175 people from the locality on April 20 and 21. The results came on Saturday and confirmed 44 of them to be COVID-19 positive.

4.54 pm: Coronavirus cases latest updates

7 migrant workers who returned from Maharashtra to Basti district in Uttar Pradesh (UP) tested COVID-19 positive on Saturday.

4.47 pm: Coronavirus in Uttarakhand

1 fresh COVID-19 case was reported in Dehradun on Saturday, taking the totally count of coronavirus positive cases in Uttarakhand to 59 now, says JC Pandey, Nodal Officer, State Health Directorate.

4.39 pm: Coronavirus latest updates: Special train leaves with 845 stranded people from Nashik for UP

The first special train to bring back stranded people especially migrant workers left from Nashik (Maharashtra) on Saturday morning for Uttar Pradesh. The trains left with 845 labourers and workers. Confirming the news, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said that they will reach Lucknow on Sunday.

4.27 pm: Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh

3 more people tested COVID-19 positive in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Saturday.

4.15 pm: Delhi coronavirus lockdown 3.0

List of districts in red, orange and green zones.

District Zone

South East Delhi Red Zone

Central Delhi Red Zone

North Delhi Red Zone

South Delhi Red Zone

North East Delhi Red Zone

West Delhi Red Zone

Shahdara Red Zone

East Delhi Red Zone

New Delhi Red Zone

North West Delhi Red Zone

South West Delhi Red Zone

4.00 pm: Gujarat lockdown extension: List of red, orange and green zones

District Zone

Ahmedabad Red Zone

Surat Red Zone

Vadodara Red Zone

Anand Red Zone

Banas Kantha Red Zone

Panchmahal Red Zone

Bhavnagar Red Zone

Gandhinagar Red Zone

Aravalli Red Zone

Rajkot Orange Zone

Bharuch Orange Zone

Botad Orange Zone

Narmada Orange Zone

Chhota Udaipu Orange Zone

Mahisagar Orange Zone

Mehsana Orange Zone

Patan Orange Zone

Kheda Orange Zone

Valsad Orange Zone

Dohad Orange Zone

Kachchh (Kutch) Orange Zone

Navsari Orange Zone

Gir Somnath Orange Zone

Dang Orange Zone

Sabarkantha Orange Zone

Tapi Orange Zone

Jamnagar Orange Zone

Surendranagar Orange Zone

Morbi Green Zone

Amreli Green Zone

Porbandar Green Zone

Junagadh Green Zone

Devbhumi Dwarka (Devbhoomi Dwarka) Green Zone

3.45 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus updates

Nagpur Municipal Corporation starts health check-up and registration of migrant labourers staying at shelter homes in the city as part of the procedure before they board special trains or buses for their home states.

Maharashtra: Nagpur Municipal Corporation starts health checkup and registration of migrant labourers staying at shelter homes in the city as part of the procedure before they board special trains or buses for their home states. #lockdownindia pic.twitter.com/54TLCf9Sfd - ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

3.30 pm: Lockdown in Punjab

Farmers in Moga are not able to sell their wheat harvest due to lack of gunny bags which is required for packaging and transporting it. Sandeep Hans, District Collector says,"Jute industries were closed due to #COVID19 lockdown causing this problem but it will be solved in couple of days".

Punjab: Farmers in Moga are not able to sell their wheat harvest due to lack of gunny bags which is required for packaging&transporting it. Sandeep Hans,DC says,"Jute industries were closed due to #COVID19 lockdown causing this problem but it will be solved in couple of days". pic.twitter.com/SFdFM3GbTA - ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

3.15 pm: Coronavirus lockdown extension. Home Ministry issues clarification regarding facilities allowed in orange zones

"In orange zones, in addition to the activities prohibited throughout the country, inter-district & intra-district plying of buses remains prohibited. Taxis & cab aggregators are permitted, with one driver & two passengers only," Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry added that, "in orange zones, inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed, only for permitted activities, with maximum two passengers, besides the driver, in four-wheelers."

In orange zones, in addition to the activities prohibited throughout the country, inter-district & intra-district plying of buses remains prohibited. Taxis & cab aggregators are permitted, with one driver & two passengers only: Ministry of Home Affairs. #Lockdownextention pic.twitter.com/hgReYdCYyZ - ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

3.00 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news: 54 new cases reported till 2 pm on Saturday

Rajasthan recorded 54 fresh novel coronavirus cases till 2 pm on Saturday. Out of these, 30 were reported from Jodhpur, 17 from Jaipur, 3 cases from Ajmer, 2 from Alwar and 1 each from Chittorgarh and Kota.

2.45 pm: Corona live updates: US announces relaxations to employers petitioning for H-1B visas

"In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it is adopting a measure to assist applicants and petitioners who are responding to requests for evidence (RFEs) and notices of intent to deny (NOIDs) dated between March 1 and May 1, 2020," a notice read.

2.30 pm: Coronavirus India updates: Armed forces plan to salute coronavirus warriors

In Trivandrum, the coast guard is illuminating their shops Saturday midnight and Sunday. Air Force helicopter will shower flower petals over 2 hospitals on Sunday at 10 am. Indian Air Force (IAF) has planned to drop flower petals over 2 hospitals in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar on Sunday between 9-10 am. Indian Navy at Porbandar Gujarat has planned illumination of ships from 7.30 pm to 11.59 pm on Saturday and Sunday. In Kolkata, a band performance is planned at Victoria memorial on Saturday and another one is planned on Sunday.

2.17 pm: Coronavirus lockdown live updates: Domestic, international commercial flights suspended till May 17

DGCA extends prohibition of domestic and international commercial flight operations till May 17.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issues circular to extend the prohibition of domestic & international commercial flight operations till May 17. pic.twitter.com/HzoYpU2kY7 - ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

2.05 pm: Lockdown in Greater Noida

Police in Greater Noida filed a case against 19 people for flouting lockdown rules by holding Roza Iftaar party on Saturday.

1.50 pm: Coronavirus cases worldwide

Cases in US jump to 1.13 million, death toll nears 66,000. Over 1 lakh have recovered so far.

1.45 pm: Lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir

The Army has set up a dedicated COVID-19 Health Centre in Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The facility opened up at the Old Air Field, Rangreth under the Chinar Corps. The centre will treat approximately 250 patients. (ANI reports)

1.30 pm: Maharashtra coronavirus cases:; 115 cops test positive in 24 hours

115 policemen in Maharashtra tested positive for novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours. All of them are quarantined and their contact tracing is being done. This is the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases in the Maharashtra police department. The total count of infected policemen in the state now stands at 342.

1.25 pm: Corona live updates: Half of India to be fully operational from May 4, says Prakash Javadekar

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday that the nationwide lockdown has "brought us success in containing Covid-19 pandemic. Now, in the third phase of the lockdown, practically half of the country will be fully operational from May 4."

1.16 pm: Coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh: 62 new cases in 24 hours

Andhra Pradesh reported 62 fresh COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 1,051 active cases, 441 recoveries and 33 deaths.

1.08 pm: Inside track on Home Ministry's guidelines for lockdowns 3.0

The Union Home Ministry sources clarified on Saturday that:-

E-commerce services will be allowed only for essentials in the red zones.

Liquor shops will be allowed to open orange and green zones, while the ones in the red zones will only be permitted to open if they are standalone or neighbourhood shops.

12.57 pm: Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh: 7 fresh cases reported in Basti district

7 labourers, who had come from Maharashtra via Jhansi in government buses to Basti in UP, have been tested COVID-19 positive.

12.48 pm: Coronavirus live updates

Government reconstitutes empowered groups for planning, ensuring implementation of COVID-19 activities.

Empowered groups under Disaster Management Act, 2005, reconstituted for planning and ensuring implementation of #Covid_19 activities#lockdownindia #IndiaFightsCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/NgH8y5kLYf - Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 2, 2020

12.37 pm: Delhi coronavirus cases: 223 more people tested positive on Friday

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday that "there are a total of 3,738 Covid-19 positive cases in Delhi, of which 223 cases were reported on Friday. 1,167 people have recovered so far. 49 people are under treatment in the ICU and five people are on ventilator

12.29 pm: Containment zones in Delhi: All 11 districts to stay in 'red zone' till May 17, says Satyendar Jain

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday that all 11 districts in the national capital will stay in 'red zone' category till May 17. He added that "a red zone is defined where there are more than 10 cases of Covid-19 in a district. Relief measures given by the Centre in red zones will be applicable here."

12.18 pm: Coronavirus latest updates: FDA permits emergency use of anti-viral vaccine to treat COVID-19 patients

The US food and drug regulatory body has permitted emergency use of Remdesivir, an anti-viral vaccine to treat novel coronavirus patients following some researches, comprising one led by an Indian American physician, discovery that the drug helped some patients recover faster. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have given emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the use of Remdesivir for treating COVID-19 patients. (PTI).

12.06 pm: Jharkhand coronavirus cases

Jharkhand health department said on Saturday that there a total of 113 COVID-19 positive cases and 2 deaths reported from the state so far.

11.59 am: Coronavirus map live updates: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to get 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.

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11.49 am: Lockdown in Maharashtra: Nanded gurudwara shut; 91 more Punjab pilgrims test COVID-19 positive

Hazur Sahib gurudwara in Maharashtra's Nanded was sealed on Friday, hours before Punjab reported 91 new COVID-19 cases of pilgrims who returned from the shrine. So far, 197 out of the 3,500 pilgrims, who were brought back from the Maharashtra gurudwara, have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection, according to Punjab authorities.

11.39 Punjab coronavirus cases

123 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in Punjab as of 8 am on May 2. The total count of confirmed coronavirus cases now stands at 480 with 90 recoveries and 19 deaths, according to Union Health Ministry.

11.29 am: Jammu and Kashmir coronavirus cases

25 fresh cases reported in J&K as of 8 am on Saturday. The total tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the union territory now stand at 639, with 247 recoveries and 8 deaths, according to Union Health Ministry.

11.18 am: Coronavirus in Bihar

45 fresh COVID-19 have been recorded in Bihar as of 8 am on Saturday. The total count of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the state now stands at 471, including 98 recoveries and 3 deaths, according to Union Health Ministry.

11.09 am: Coronavirus lockdown in Maharashtra: List of areas under red, orange and green zones

District Zone

Mumbai-Red Zone

Pune-Red Zone

Thane-Red Zone

Nashik-Red Zone

Palghar-Red Zone

Nagpur-Red Zone

Solapur-Red Zone

Yavatmal-Red Zone

Aurangabad-Red Zone

Satara-Red Zone

Dhule-Red Zone

Akola-Red Zone

Jalgaon-Red Zone

Mumbai Suburban-Red Zone

Raigad-Orange Zone

Ahmednagar-Orange Zone

Amravati-Orange Zone

Buldhana-Orange Zone

Nandurbar-Orange Zone

Kolhapur-Orange Zone

Hingoli-Orange Zone

Ratnagiri-Orange Zone

Jalna-Orange Zone

Nanded-Orange Zone

Chandrapur-Orange Zone

Parbhani-Orange Zone

Sangli-Orange Zone

Latur-Orange Zone

Bhandara-Orange Zone

Beed-Orange Zone

Osmanabad-Green Zone

Washim-Green Zone

Sindhudurg-Green Zone

Gondia-Green Zone

Gadchiroli-Green Zone

Wardha-Green Zone

10.58 am: Delhi coronavirus cases

54 Delhi Police personnel test COVID-19 positive in the national capital on Saturday.

10.48 am: Lockdown extension news

Additional restrictions announced across India: -

Public places

Wearing a face cover is mandatory in all public places

Marriage related gathering shall ensure social distancing with maximum of 50 guests

Funeral or last rites to be held with a maximum of 20 people while ensuring social distancing

All persons in charge of public places and transport shall ensure social distancing

Spitting in public places punishable by fine

Shops selling liquor, paan, gutka, etc to ensure the minimum two-metre distance between persons present at shops at all times

No gathering of 5 or more persons to be allowed

Consumption of liquor, paan, gutka, tobacco not permitted in public places

Workplaces

Wearing face cover is mandatory in workplaces

Arogya Setu app to be made compulsory for all employees

Intensive employee training ion good hygiene

All persons in charge of workplaces and transport shall ensure social distancing

Social distancing at workplaces to be ensured through adequate gaps between shifts, staggering the lunch breaks of staff, etc

Frequent sanitisation of workplaces, common areas

Large physical meetings to be avoided

Arrangements for transport facilities to be ensured with social distancing wherever personal/public transport is not feasible

Persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children below 10 years to stay at home

Provisions of thermal scanning, hand wash and sanitisers to be made available at all entry and exit points and common areas

A list of nearby dedicated Covid-19 hospitals/clinics to be made available. Quarantine areas to be marked so that any employee showing symptoms of coronavirus can be quarantined before being rushed to nearest health facility

10.37 am: What's closed in lockdown 3.0?

Besides zone-wise restrictions, the Centre has prohibited a limited number of activities across the country, irrespective of zones. These include: -

Travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road

Schools, colleges, institutions

Hospitality services, including hotels and restaurants

Places of large gatherings, such as cinema halls, malls, gym, sports complex, cultural, social and political and all kind of assemblies

Religious places/places of worship will also be closed for public

10.29 am: Lockdown live updates: Highlights

The Centre has allowed all goods traffic.

No state/UT shall halt the movement of cargo for cross land-border trade under treaties with neighbouring nations.

No separate pass needed for the movement of essential goods and services across the country during the lockdown period.

States/UTs, basis their assessment of the prevalent situation, may permit only select activities out of permitted activities, as they may deem necessary.

The Centre has permitted e-commerce websites to deliver non-essential items in orange and green zones.

All other activities, that are not particularly banned, will be allowed activities.

10.25 am: India lockdown 3.0 extension

What's allowed in green zones:

All activities are allowed in green zones except the limited number of activities that are prohibited across India, irrespective of the zone. However, buses can operate with up to 50 per cent seating capacity and bus depots can function with up to 50 per cent capacity.

10.16 am: Lockdown 3.0 extension

What's open in orange zones

In addition to the activities allowed in red zones, taxis and cab aggregators will be permitted with 1 driver and 1 passenger only.

Inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles will be allowed for permitted activities only. Four-wheeler vehicles will have a maximum two passengers besides the driver and pillion riding will be allowed on two-wheelers.

10.09 am: Lockdown 3.0: Govt extends countrywide curfew till May 17

What's open in red zones; see here

All industrial and construction activities in rural areas, including MNREGA works, food-processing units and brick-kilns are permitted; besides, in rural areas, without distinction to the nature of goods, all shops, except in shopping malls are allowed.

All agriculture activities, e.g., sowing, harvesting, procurement and marketing operations in the agricultural supply chain are allowed.

Manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates; production units, which require continuous process, and their supply chain; Jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing; and manufacturing of IT hardware and manufacturing units of packaging material will continue to be permitted.

All health services (including AYUSH) are to remain functional, including transport of medical personnel and patients through air ambulances.

Public utilities, e.g., utilities in power, water, sanitation, waste management, telecommunications and internet will remain open, and courier and postal services will be allowed to run.

Most of the commercial and private establishments have been permitted to operate in the Red Zones. These comprise and electronic media, IT and IT enabled services, data and call centres, cold storage and warehousing services, private security and facility management services, and services provided by self-employed persons, except for barbers etc.

All plantation activities are allowed, including their processing and marketing.

Animal husbandry activities are fully allowed, including inland and marine fisheries.

A large part of the financial sector remains open, which includes banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), insurance and capital market activities, and credit co-operative societies.

Operation of homes for children, senior citizens, destitute, women and widows etc.; and operation of Anganwadis is allowed.

9.58 am: India lockdown news: Train with stranded migrant workers reaches Bhopal and Nashik

A non-stop special train with over 300 stranded migrant workers from Nashik in Maharashtra reached Bhopal on Saturday morning. As district administration official said that the train reached Misrod Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhopal. (PTI)

9.49 am: Lucknow coronavirus cases

14 new COVID-19 cases reported at Lucknow's King George's Medical University (KGMU) on Saturday.

9.39 am: Coronavirus India live updates: 12 CRPF Jawans test COVID-19 positive

12 more CRPF personnel have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total tally of these Jawans to 122. They all belong to the 21st battalion of the paramilitary, based in Mayur Vihar Phase-3 area of Delhi. The area was completely sealed after 52 personnel were infected with novel coronavirus and 1 succumbed to the infection over the last few days.

9.29 am: Maharashtra containment zones: List of red, orange, green zones

Red zones:

Mumbai

Pune

Thane

Nashik

Palghar

Nagpur

Solapur

Yavatmal

Aurangabad

Satara

Dhule

Akola

Jalgaon

Mumbai Suburban

Orange zones:

Raigad

Ahmednagar

Amravati

Buldhana

Nandurbar

Kolhapur

Hingoli

Ratnagiri

Jalna

Nanded

Chandrapur

Parbhani

Sangli

Latur

Bhandara

Beed

Green zones:

Osmanabad

Washim

Sindhudurg

Gandia

Gadchiroli

Wardha

9.19 am: Maharashtra coronavirus news: State records biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases

Maharashtra recorded 1,008 fresh novel coronavirus cases in one day along with 26 deaths on Friday, the biggest single-day jump in the last 24 hours. The total count of COVID-19 cases in the state now stand at 11,506 and 485 deaths, as per the Union Health Ministry's latest update.

9.13 am: Coronavirus deaths in India

The country recorded 71 deaths in the last 24 hours taking the total count to 1,218, according to latest date by the Union Health Ministry.

8.57 am: Coronavirus jump in India in 24 hours

The country recorded 2,293 cases, 71 deaths in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra is the worst-hit with highest tally at 11,506 followed by Gujarat at 4,721 and Delhi with 2,738 COVID-19 cases

8.45 am: Total coroanvirus cases jump past 37,000, death toll cross 1,200

The total count of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India jumped to 37,336 on Saturday while the death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 1,218, according to latest update by the Union Health Minstry.

8.30 am: Coronavirus lockdown: GoM meeting on Saturday morning

The Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting will be held on Saturday morning. This will be 6th such meeting. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Ram Vilas Paswan, Piyush Goyal, Prakash Javadekar, etc will attend the meet.

8.15 am: Coronavirus map live updates: Check BusinessToday.In tracker to get 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

{mosimage}
When Thomas Schutz, of Saarbrucken, Germany, wanted to visit France, all he had to do was step outside his house.

In March, that changed. As the coronavirus pandemic swept across Europe, borders that had been open for decades reverted to their role as barriers overnight.

With France under a temporary coronavirus lockdown and officers patrolling the border, Schutz would now risk a hefty fine for crossing from his German hometown of Saarbrucken to the French commune of Schneck. His neighbours house, on the opposite side of a narrow road, became legally impossible for him to reach.

The border officers told me to essentially imagine a wall that cannot be crossed, Schutz said.

The nearby restaurant he owns, which depends on French guests for half of its revenue, faces an existential threat.

Travel restrictions have increased around the world amid the coronavirus pandemic. In Europe, the return to border controls carries harsh economic implications  and symbolic weight. It really hurts, not just economically but also because it touches upon the identity of us as Europeans, said Tanja Borzel, director of the Centre for European Integration at the Free University of Berlin.

More than 30 years after the Berlin Wall came down and 25 years after internal border controls began to be abolished across what is now known as the Schengen area, a generation has grown up moving between nations with the ease of crossing a street. But barriers have begun to creep back. Some European countries reinstated border measures in 2015 to keep migrants out. Now, with little warning, the coronavirus crisis has prompted governments across the continent to close borders that hardly still existed in the minds of those living near them.

After decades of free movement, Schutz said, a return to the divided Europe of his childhood would be so deeply sad.

The restrictions have temporarily separated families, friends and romantic partners. In the southern German border town of Konstanz, Swiss-German couples hugged and kissed across a border barrier they could no longer cross after it was closed in mid-March.

Its absurd, a German resident told a local paper at the time. She had not been able to see her partner living in Switzerland for 12 days.

To prevent physical contact across the border, officials in Konstanz have since erected two parallel fences. Married couples and international commuters are still allowed to pass.

Officials across Europe have defended the border restrictions as necessary measures to slow the spread of the virus. While at least one EU leader  Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban  has used the pandemic to advance previously held views on free movement, leaders on the opposite end of the spectrum have acknowledged the toll the new barriers have taken.

Longtime German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the walled-off East and was unable to freely travel to western Europe for much of her life, said that the restriction of civil liberties by her government was one of the most difficult decisions of her more than 14 years in office.

Until German reunification in 1990, the small Bavarian village of Bayerisch Eisenstein marked the frontier between democratic West Germany and Merkels home, the communist Eastern bloc. When the local border crossings opened in 1990, tens of thousands celebrated in the small border village, declaring it the new centre of a united Europe.

Especially the older residents here, said Bayerisch Eisensteins newly elected mayor, Michael Herzog, now feel reminded of the Cold War again.

The difference, he said, is that the current measures are temporary, and necessary, in his view, for public safety, however painful.

Border restrictions have disrupted regional economies across the EU, the worlds most closely integrated economic bloc. Nursing homes in western Europe rely heavily on migrant workers who are now unable or unwilling to travel. Many cross-border commuters have also been told to stay at home or must take long detours.

It remains unclear how effective border controls are at slowing the spread of the virus or when they are to be lifted. Germany has extended a worldwide travel warning until at least mid-June, indicating that some measures could remain in place for months. Ongoing border restrictions would threaten to shutter many of the 2.3 million tourism businesses in the EU, which employ more than 12 million people.

Among opponents of the restrictions in border regions, anger over what some residents describe as bizarre rules is mounting. Entrepreneur Hartmut Fey was threatened with a fine when he crossed from his German district of Lauterbach into France last month to walk to a bakery  the only one open in the region on Sundays.

He could easily have circumvented the barrier but wanted to make a point. There is a discrepancy, he said, between what governments decide and the reality of people living near borders.

He and a bakery employee now meet regularly on opposite sides of the border, with Fey using a fishing rod to pull baguettes into Germany from a safe distance.

Along the Polish-German and Polish-Czech borders, where Polish soldiers fired warning shots on Tuesday to stop a German from entering the country, hundreds defied social distancing rules in all three countries over the past week to rally against border restrictions.

The government in Warsaw agreed Thursday to a key demand among protesters, allowing Polish commuters working in certain neighbouring countries to return to Poland without having to spend 14 days in quarantine.

Meanwhile, officials in Saarland, a German state that borders France, condemned reports that Germans had insulted French citizens or pelted them with eggs after Frances east emerged as a coronavirus hotspot. Fears among some Germans that French commuters could spread the virus appeared to have triggered the xenophobic incidents.

Those responsible for this are sinning against the friendship between our peoples, said Anke Rehlinger, the states deputy first minister.

The rifts that have emerged over the last weeks may be difficult to heal, local officials fear.

When the coronavirus restrictions were implemented, the three dozen French residents of Leiding, a community that spans the France-Germany border, were separated from around 180 German neighbours in Leidingen. After decades of living as one neighbourhood, the police-enforced separation has changed the atmosphere, said Wolfgang Schmitt, the mayor on the German side.

A local official on the French referred to border guards as uniformed Germans, an oblique callback to dark memories from the Second World War.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Schmitt said, unfounded fears that French people were likelier to be infected with the virus provoked animosity between neighbours.

It was a big step backwards, said Schmitt.

To calm tensions, he used a rare moment when the border was unguarded to drive into the French part of town and deliver face masks.

It felt so good, he said.

The Washington Post
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24)  President Rodrigo Duterte is extending the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and "all other high risk" provinces in Luzon until May 15.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in a taped briefing that aired on Friday, said the following provinces are considered high-risk and will be placed under extended enhanced community quarantine: Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecijia, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Albay, and Catanduanes.

The initial enhanced community quarantine was due to end on April 30.

Roque added the inclusion of Benguet, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Zambales under enhanced lockdown are up for reevaluation by April 30. Meanwhile, the situation in Antique, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Cebu, Cebu City, Davao del Norte, and Davao City will be rechecked.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said authorities will re-evaluate the situation in these provinces, as the data they got from the Department of Health was as of two days ago. He said the case count from the local governments concerned showed better numbers, which may trigger a downgrade to general community quarantine which would lift strict stay-at-home rules.

Roque said all low-risk and moderate-risk areas will be under "general community quarantine" or GCQ until mid-May.

"If there is no deterioration, GCQ will be relaxed leading to normalization," the spokesperson said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said additional police and military troops will also be deployed to monitor checkpoints and points of convergence like public markets to ensure that social distancing rules are observed.

Duterte approved all the recommendations presented to him by the government's coronavirus task force on Thursday, Roque said.

Based on 2018 national data, Metro Manila contributes the largest share of the countrys economy at 36 percent, followed by the Calabarzon region with 17 percent, and Central Luzon just north of Manila with a 10 percent share of the national output of goods and services.

Dutertes decision on the fate of the six-week long quarantine in Luzon, home to 57 million people and large industries, came after a series of meetings with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

COVID-19 response chief implementor Carlito Galvez, Jr. said during a separate briefing that authorities factored in how fast the number of infections double in an area, as well as the capacity of hospitals to handle a possible surge in patients who may need critical care if restrictions are relaxed.

Department of Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said that intensive care units in Metro Manila hospitals are "near maximum level," thus the high risk assessment and the sustained ECQ. "We cannot build new hospitals or structures, but we will free up more space for COVID-19 patients," she said, noting that dedicated wards for the disease are being set up.

The task force, which provided the President with decision-making tools on whether to extend or relax strict stay-at-home rules, earlier recommended to classify Luzon into low, moderate and high-risk areas for infections. This came after a consensus emerged in an earlier meeting with health experts that the stringent quarantine does not have to cover the entire island group.

Using these categories, provinces and cities are then shaded green as low-risk areas, given few or no infections; yellow or orange for varying degrees under moderate risk  where they are either close to ending or are beyond outbreak mode; and red for high-risk areas where the virus easily spreads.

Dutertes announcement came days after the Health Department reported that the time it takes for COVID-19 cases to double has slowed down from three days in March to five days this week.

Health experts, including the World Health Organization, have warned that hastily lifting quarantine restrictions  which include the suspension of mass transportation and the imposition of stay-at-home orders  may lead to a second wave of infections, just like in Singapore, which initially arrested the spread of COVID-19, but later faced a resurgence of the viral disease.

This is the second extension of the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila. Duterte originally scheduled the Luzon-wide quarantine to last only until midnight of April 12, but eventually decided to extend it until April 30, and as of today, until May 15.

To date, the country has recorded 7,192 cases of COVID-19, including 762 recoveries and 477 fatalities. Galvez said the goal for the next weeks is to ramp up testing, with a bold goal to test all persons under investigation and persons under monitoring  which have since been reclassified as probable or suspected patients.
LEXINGTON  Authorities continue to investigate a weekend fire that claimed the lives of a mother, child and baby early Saturday.

Hillery R. Peters, 27, and Emerlyn G. Bennett, 3, were pronounced dead at the scene of the fire, a mobile home in the Westwinds Estates trailer park about three miles west of Lexington. Sawyer J. Bennett, 16 months, was pronounced dead at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington.

All died of carbon monoxide intoxication from inhaling smoke and soot from the fire, McLean County Coroner Kathy Yoder said, adding there was no evidence of a fight, infection, or non-fire-related injury. Toxicology results are pending.

No one else was injured.

The fire was reported shortly before 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Neighbor Stephen Ross said he "tried to put the fire out but it spread very quickly. It seemed to start on the front porch. ... I didn't know the family was inside."

Ross' own home, next door, was damaged by heat and smoke. He saved his dog, cat and four snakes, and said he'll live temporarily with his father.

Firefighters arrived quickly, said Captain Eric Heuer, the incident commander at the scene.

The front half of the trailer was fully involved and we had reports of people still inside, he said. We were well behind the fire but made quite an effort to get in. We had several crews from our department and others. We were able to remove the victims, but unfortunately, they died in the fire.

Counselors have been made available for first responders and for children who live nearby.

We held one session early Saturday (for first responders) and we will be having additional sessions, Heuer said. We are reaching out to the family as well and doing whatever we can to help them. Lexington is a small community and we all know each other and something like this, it hits close to home.

Neighbors were getting over the shock as they gathered near the site throughout the day.

I just moved in to the area not too long ago, said Sherry Nalley. I dont know anybody except my boyfriend, but you never expect something like this to happen no matter where you live. Its so sad.

Some placed toys and stuffed animals near the mobile home.

An old stuffed bear sitting in my home doesnt mean a lot to me, said Denise Jeakins. But the act of bringing it here and honoring those precious babies hits me hard.

Charlene Lybarger, now of Peoria, heard the news early Saturday. It caught her attention because she recognized the address: she used to live in the trailer.

OMG, that could have been us if we stayed there, she said.

Flames melted the front half of the mobile home and police tape surrounded the property at mid-morning as firefighters and natural gas investigators continued to look for what caused the fire. The fire also damaged a nearby car, but it was unclear to whom it belonged.

Lexington school officials said the older child was not a student, but the district offered counseling for children who live elsewhere in the mobile home park.

Fire departments from Lexington, Chenoa, Towanda, Hudson and Normal battled the fire. The cause is under investigation by the McLean County Coroners Office, state Fire Marshals Office, McLean County Sheriffs Department and MABAS 41 fire investigation team.

Contact Kevin Barlow at (309) 820-3238. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_barlow

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Economy Minister Diane Dodds during the daily media broadcast in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Stormont on Thursday.

The UK government should introduce a six-month holiday from air passenger duty to help ensure Northern Ireland's long-term air connectivity following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Economy Minister has said.

Diane Dodds spoke as the UK government and Stormont announced a 5.7m package to maintain air links to London as concerns grow about the province's future connectivity.

The Belfast route is provided by Aer Lingus while the Derry route is flown by Loganair. But both routes have been hit by falling passenger numbers since the pandemic stopped travel for business and for leisure.

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It comes as economist Andrew Webb of business advisory firm Grant Thornton said he was concerned in the long-term about Northern Ireland's attractiveness as a hub for airlines.

He said the future requirements for social distancing on aeroplanes will reduce their load factor and the profitability of certain routes, which could risk some routes from Northern Ireland being sacrificed by carriers.

Announcing the 5.7m package of support yesterday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "Maintaining air links between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is vital. We must ensure that critical workers can continue to fly over the Irish Sea, and today's investment in these lifeline services guarantees that."

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The department said the links to London from City of Derry Airport and Belfast were "lifeline" services. It said the London route from Belfast would have been at risk due to low passengers without financial assistance.

Loganair is to receive an increased subsidy for operating the Derry to London route. Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said she was "delighted" that the support had been agreed.

"Our airports have been badly affected by the dramatic drop in passenger numbers but, like me, they recognise the need to keep our islands connected," she said.

Diane Dodds said her officials had worked with colleagues from the infrastructure and finance departments on securing the support.

But she said further help was needed and that she had asked the UK government to introduce a six-month holiday from APD, which is levied at 26 per passenger.

"It has a particularly detrimental impact on Northern Ireland, due to our physical remoteness to mainland Great Britain."
India achieved a major milestone on Saturday of conducting one million RT-PCR tests so far to detect coronavirus, an official of the empowered committee that is tracking Indias Covid-19 response said.

Today, India crossed one million RT- PCR tests... a great achievement in this lockdown period, he said.

The milestone came on a day when the number of Covid-19 cases in the country climbed to 37,776 and casualties rose to 1,223. A total of 10,017 have recovered from the deadly infection.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has ramped up testing to more than 75,000 samples per day.

Now there are 419 labs testing for coronavirus in the country. There are 14 mentor institutions like AIIMS, PGI Chandigarh, CMC Vellore, JIPMER Puducherry, SGPIMS Lucknow, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, etc holding hands of these medical colleges/ labs/ hospitals in carrying out tests, the official said.

There are 15 institutions spread in the country working as depots for supplying testing kits/ material to these labs in the country.

He said sourcing material/ testing kits/ regents/ chemicals/ equipment is a herculean task and that the government has engaged Indian missions in foreign countries to source material.

A number of ICMR labs/ institutes testing/ evaluating these kits/ testing material.

Lots of Indian companies are coming up with their products to be used in testing, the official said.

The country has been importing testing kits from China and South Korea

Last month, the ICMR had asked states to put on hold for two days antibody testing for Covid-19 using rapid testing kits or RTKs citing huge variations in the results.
BRIDGEPORT  City firefighters quickly extinguished a fire in the walls on the porch of a Park Avenue residence Saturday afternoon.

Firefighters were dispatched to 1584 Park Ave. around 5:10 p.m. for a reported structure fire. The first arriving units reported smoke showing from the second floor.

This buildings still occupied, one firefighter on scene said. We gotta get people out.

Units on scene said the fire was in a wall on the second floor on the porch, going up to the third floor. Firefighters stretched a line to extinguished the flames.

Officials on scene clarified the address of the 2.5-story dwelling to be 1582/1584 Park Ave.

By 5:20 p.m., officials on scene said the bulk of the fire had been extinguished. Units are checking for possible extension or hot spots in other places.

A fire marshal was requested to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.
Expanding Medicaid in Alabama would be for the sake of community hospitals struggling to stop the budgetary bleeding from uncompensated emergency room care. Expanding Medicaid in Alabama would be for the sake of the fledging entrepreneur, who after paying their ever-growing expenses, can scarcely afford to write a hefty insurance premium check. Expanding Medicaid in Alabama would be for the sake of hard-working people like the sweet patient I treated during my time at Southeast Health (formerly Southeast Alabama Medical Center), who rejoiced when her kidneys completely ceased to function. She rejoiced aloud at this tragic news because as long as her kidneys functioned, even at a low level, no matter how sickly she became, she could not qualify for Medicaid. If she would have had access to affordable health coverage to manage her chronic condition, we could have saved her from dialysis  and significantly mitigated the cost now being borne by Alabama taxpayers. Preventative medicine not only saves lives, it saves incredible healthcare industry resources and drives down costs for us all.
One of Amitabh Bachchan's films titled Shoebite, directed by Shoojit Sircar has been stalled from releasing since 2010. Recently, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap tweeted to producers to release the film on OTT platforms.

Anurag tweeted, "Just thought of this great film I was shown on the edit machine @ShoojitSircar's "SHOEBITE" . Can in times like these @RonnieScrewvala @SrBachchan all of them not work together to release it somewhere online .. Please," (sic).

Just thought of this great film I was shown on the edit machine @ShoojitSircar s SHOEBITE . Can in times like these @RonnieScrewvala @SrBachchan all of them not work together to release it somewhere online .. Please ..  Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 2, 2020

A while back, Ayushmann Khurrana had revealed that he thought Shoebite has a chance of being India's entry to the Oscars and that someone should release it soon. Talking to Film Companion in an interview, he had said, "I have seen that film twice by the way in the edit and it is his best film till date. If it released, it is going to be India's entry to Oscars or something like that. It's so beautiful. I think somebody should request and release it right now. This is the time."

He added, "I have seen it twice before Vicky Donor by the way. Once alone and once with Tahira. I was so inspired and happy."

The film's release has been held because two studios have been battling over its copyright for a number of years. Shoojit had shared that the film's was based on an idea by Hollywood director M Night Shyamalan, who intended to make the same film in Hollywood but has not so far.

Shoojit had said that not releasing the film was like an insult to a great artist like Amitabh Bachchan because he had worked on it for two years.

ALSO READ: Amitabh Bachchan Reveals Why He Never Visited Rishi Kapoor In Hospital & It Will Make You Emotional!

ALSO READ: Amitabh Bachchan's Vintage Pic With Parents & Wife Jaya From Sholay Premiere Is A Priceless Moment!


Within this framework, 5,098 citizens are hospitalized, 671 of whom are in Intensive Care Units (ICU).

"It is in the difficult moments that we cannot quit, we cannot give up in these moments, it is now that we have to put all our efforts (in order to move forward)," he concluded.

El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situacion del Estado de Emergencia en el #Dia48 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagacion del COVID-19. En vivo: https://t.co/HzeliLXCXn https://t.co/QZlyWQCkb6
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China lied about the human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, made whistle-blowers disappear and refused to help nations develop a vaccine, a leaked intelligence dossier reveals.

The 15-page document drawn up by the Five Eyes security alliance brands Beijing's secrecy over the pandemic an 'assault on international transparency' and points to cover-up tactics deployed by the regime.

It claims that the Chinese government silenced its most vocal critics and scrubbed any online scepticism about its handling of the health emergency from the internet.

China has roundly come under fire for suppressing the scale of its early outbreak which did not afford other nations time to react before the disease hit their shores.

Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping administration in a memo obtained by the Australian Saturday Telegraph.

The smoking gun file claims to have found evidence the virus spawned in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, close to the wet market China says it came from, and unearths 'risky' research on bat-related diseases stretching back years.

It describes how Beijing was outwardly downplaying the outbreak on the world stage while secretly scrambling to bury all traces of the disease.

This involved 'destroying' laboratory samples, bleaching wet market stalls, censoring the growing evidence of 'silent carriers' of the virus and stonewalling sample requests from other countries.

The secrecy has fanned a clamour in Five Eyes nations for Western governments to come down hard on Beijing when the pandemic eventually passes.

Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline that 'at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China'.

In a damning portrayal of a mass cover-up, the bombshell report reveals:

Chinese researchers of bat-related viruses studied a sample which had a 96 per cent genetic match to Covid-19 as early as 2013;

Their 'risky' research found in 2015 that the disease was transmissible from bats to humans;

Information on asymptomatic carriers of the disease was 'kept silent' by the Chinese state;

Beijing started censoring search engines in December to stop any internet surfing relating to the virus;

The World Health Organisation followed China by denying evidence of human-to-human transmission until late January despite concerns raised by neighbouring countries';

The Five Eyes countries lashed out at China for criticising other countries' flight freezes while simultaneously locking down Hubei Province.

Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping (pictured) administration in a memo

A leaked 15-page dossier from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance claims China's secrecy over the pandemic is an 'assault on international transparency'. The files show the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (above)

How the Five Eyes alliances lets the English -speaking countries share intelligence The Five Eyes alliance is an intelligence-sharing pact among the leading English-speaking nations: US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is one of the most comprehensive pooling of security information in the world and traces its roots to the Second World War, although it was formally founded in 1946. Its cornerstone arrangement is ECHELON - a mammoth surveillance system operated by the US and used by the other members. Although the group have largely had shared interests - especially during the Cold War when the Soviet threat level spiked - the agreement has come under strain. Britain's decision to sub-contract Chinese telecommunications giant Huwaei to build part of the 5G network is a sticking point, with the US voicing concerns and hinting it could jeopardise intelligence sharing. Advertisement

The Five Eyes dossier paints an alarming image of increasingly authoritarian powers used by Beijing to hide its disease to the wider world.

One of the most critical aspects of the report is of China's lack of transparency over how the disease spreads.

The file points to a 'deadly denial of human-to-human transmission' in the early stages of the the outbreak in Wuhan.

Intelligence gathering reveals China had 'evidence of human-human transmission from early December,' but continued to deny it could spread this way until January 20.

The World Health Organisation regurgitated Beijing's claims despite officials in neighbouring Taiwan and Hong Kong raising concerns, the report says.

Evidence of asymptomatic cases, known as 'silent carriers', was also reportedly buried.

But while the Chinese regime were downplaying the threat of the virus on the world stage, it was secretly scrambling to vanish all traces of the epidemic, the intelligence memo claims.

On January 3, China's National Health Commission reportedly ordered virus samples be destroyed and issued a 'no-publication order' about the virus.

As part of a mass 'suppression and destruction of evidence', the state ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed in laboratories while wet market was bleached to extinguish remnants of the disease.

The report reveals China had started censoring news of the virus on search engines from December 31, deleting terms such as 'SARS variation, 'Wuhan Seafood market' and 'Wuhan Unknown Pneumonia.'

Anecdotal reports from the time also suggested Beijing's hand in hiding evidence of the then unknown disease from the web.

The document is also scathing of China's downplaying of the need for other countries to impose travel bans while Beijing officials were simultaneously quaranteeing Wuhan's 11 million citizens.

Underscoring the regime's hypocrisy, the paper says: 'Millions of people leave Wuhan after the outbreak and before Beijing locks down the city on January 23,' according to The Telegraph.

'Thousands fly overseas. Throughout February, Beijing presses the US, Italy, India, Australia, Southeast Asian neighbors and others not to protect themselves via travel restrictions, even as the PRC imposes severe restrictions at home.'

Dr. Shi Zhengli pictured in a lab in 2017. Her research into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses was cited a key concern by the intelligence, according to the dossier

Human rights groups believe Mr Fang Bin (right)  along with lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua (left)  are in extrajudicial detention centers

A Wuhan food market. Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab. Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph

Dossier suggests China's coronavirus cover up dates back to November 2015 November 9, 2015: Wuhan laboratory announces they have created a new virus from SARS-CoV. December 6, 2019: The first evidence of human-to-human transmission occurs when a wife contracts a pneumonia-like disease after her husband displayed similar symptoms after visiting the Wuhan wet market. December 27: Beijing announced a new coronavirus which had infected 180 people. December 31: Chinese state officials start monitoring the internet for searches of the unknown virus. January 1, 2020: A handful of Wuhan medics raising the alarm bell on the virus are arrested. January 3: China bans scaremongering about the new virus. January 10: Chinese official Wang Guangfa insists the outbreak is 'under control'. January 11: China reported its first coronavirus death. January 23: Wuhan was put into lockdown. January 30: The WHO branded the outbreak a global emergency. February 7: Dr Li Wenliang who spoke out about the virus died after contracting it. April: Wuhan revises up its cases as other countries wrestle the global pandemic.

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Doctors and scientists who tried to raise the alarm about the virus and China's handling of it have also vanished or been punished, according to the documents.

Huang Yan Ling, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and thought to be patient zero for the global pandemic, mysteriously disappeared and her biography was deleted from the lab's website.

The institute has denied she was so-called 'patient zero' and said she is alive but she has not been heard from since.

Other whistleblowers including businessman Fang Bin, lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua are reportedly being held in extrajudicial detention centers for speaking out about China's response to the pandemic.

The dossier shows some disagreement among the Five Eyes nations over whether the virus originated in the Wuhan lab or the wet market, the Telegraph reported.

It claims the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with several studies led by scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli being cited as concerns in the report.

The dossier outlines that Dr Zhengli and her team have conducted research in the lab into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses, with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19.

Donald Trump has been leading the Western backlash to China, while Downing Street yesterday said 'there are questions to be answered' of Covid-19's origins.

This week, Trump said he had seen evidence that coronavirus may have been created in the Chinese lab.

'Yes I have. Yes I have,' Trump said when asked if he had seen proof the virus originated in the institute.

He would not divulge what the evidence was that confirmed his suspicions.

In Britain, Number 10 would not be drawn on the specifics of Mr Trump's comments but reiterated its desire for an international probe into the start of the outbreak.

Asked if Boris Johnson agreed with Mr Trump, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: 'There are clearly questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of the virus, not least so we can ensure that we are better prepared for future global pandemics.

Conservative MP Bob Seely, who sits on the Commons foreign affairs select committee, told MailOnline: 'There is little doubt that China misled the world at a critical early phase of Covid-19.

'Its aggression and threats to others now  both to individuals and countries  is an attempt to hide that.

'It is really clear that we need a reappraisal of our relationship with China. We need to work with China now to solve Covid-19 for the good of our people and the world.

'But at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China, both in terms of dependency but also because of the many treaties and agreements and rules that China broke by keeping silent over the true nature of the coronavirus, despite the fact that it was in its early days.

'That breach of trust has come at the cost of tens of thousands of lives in Europe and throughout the world, and a devastating impact on our economy and the lives of people in Britain but also in other Five Eyes and other free states.'

However, Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab.

Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph.

The Telegraph reported that the Australian government trained and funded key scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as part of an ongoing partnership between the CSIRO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The team members worked in the CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory where they carried out research into deadly pathogens in live bats.

It was revealed in April that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had received a $3.7million grant from the US government, and had been carrying out research on bats.
Parliamentary elections 2020: A Point of View By Professor Savitri Goonesekere View(s): View(s):

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the lives of people in Sri Lanka and across the globe. The President and the Minister of Health have given leadership in responding to this grave public health crisis. Their policy and programming initiatives have been supported by dedicated medical professionals and health workers in the public health system. Sri Lanka initiated from the middle of March, an intensive programme of identifying Covid-19 cases, contact tracing, and isolation, considered the best response. Testing has been added as a major initiative in recent weeks. This is an impressive performance.

However, unfortunately, pressure has been building, to open up the country. This is related to the concern with holding the Parliamentary elections on a postponed date of June 20, 2020.

The sequence of events

The original date for Parliamentary elections was April 25, 2020, the date set by the Presidents Proclamation (issued by Gazette Notice of March 2, 2020), dissolving Parliament. Section 10 (1) (b) of the Elections Act (1981) places the responsibility on the President to set the date on which the poll is taken in every Proclamation dissolving Parliament. This provision restates the Presidents responsibility under Article 70 (5) (a) and (b) of the Constitution, to set a date for the Parliamentary election, which also must not be later than three months after the dissolution of Parliament. This is because the new Parliament must meet not later than three months after the dissolution of the former Parliament. The details of these Constitutional provisions will be discussed later.

Section 24 (1) (c) of the Elections Act indicates that when the Election Commission publishes a Gazette Notice specifying the date of the poll for the Parliamentary election, it must specify the date of the poll being the date specified (by the President) under Section 10, ie Section 10 (1) (b). According to these provisions it is the Presidents act of setting the date of the Parliamentary election by his Proclamation dissolving Parliament that enables the Commission to start making arrangements to conduct the poll. The Commissions responsibility in this regard arises only after the President has set the date under Section 10 (1) (b). The Presidents Proclamation dissolving Parliament, and the date set by him for the poll for Parliamentary elections are both clearly connected.

The Government introduced curfews and lockdowns in mid-March in response to the Covid 19 pandemic. When it appeared that elections could not be held on April 25, (the date set by the President in his Proclamation), the Election Commission surprisingly issued a Gazette Notice on March 21, stating that the poll could not be held on that date, and also that they would set a later date for the poll. This Gazette Notice of the Commission was in conflict with Section 10 (1) (b) and Section 24 (1) (c) of the Election Act referred to in the earlier paragraph. The Election Commission was therefore acting outside the powers given to them by the Elections Act in stating that it would set a later date for the poll. The Gazette notice was also in conflict with the Presidents responsibilities under the Constitution as outlined in Article 70(5) (a) and (b) cited above.

However, the Commission subsequently wrote to the President on March 31, seeking clarification on the date of the poll for the Parliamentary election. It had become clear that the poll could not be held on April 25, and therefore, the new Parliament would not be able to meet on May 14, within the three month period specified by Articles 70 (5) (a) and (b) of the Constitution, and in the Presidential Proclamation.

The Secretary to the President replied to this letter, stating that the responsibility for setting a new date was with the Elections Commission, and not the President. The letter referred to the Commissions responsibility to do so under Section 24 (3) of the Elections Act. It appears that it was in response to this letter from the Secretary to the President, that the Commission set the new date of the poll as June 20 by Gazette Notification No. 2172/3 of April 20. This Gazette Notification refers to Section 24(3) of the Elections Act, apparently accepting the interpretation of their powers given in the letter of the Secretary to the President.

It is useful in these circumstances to examine the provisions in the Constitution 1978 and the Elections Act 1981 that deal with this matter.

Elections Act 1981 and the postponement of a Parliamentary election

Despite the provisions referred to above on keeping to the date stated in the Presidents Proclamation dissolving Parliament, there are provisions in the Elections Act which relate to postponing a poll in the event of an emergency. Section 24 (3) referred to in the Commissions Gazette Notification of April 20, justifying the setting of a new date for the Parliamentary elections, says: where due to any emergency or unforeseen circumstances the poll for the election in any ELECTORAL DISTRICT cannot be taken on the date specified in the Commissions Gazette Notification (and conforming with the Presidents Proclamation), the Commission may by Gazette notification appoint another day for the taking of SUCH POLL (ie poll for that electoral district). Section 24 (3) clearly covers a case where the Commission cannot hold the poll on the date specified in the Presidents proclamation due to an emergency, such as a natural disaster or a breakdown of law and order, in an identified electoral district. This will be a special measure taken in respect of that district, in a situation where polls can be held in other districts on the specified date. This provision on a postponement of a poll in a particular Electoral District is connected to a general provision in Section 113 of the Act.

According to this Section 113, after the President has fixed the date of an election on dissolution of Parliament, he has a special power to order an election on another date by Gazette Notification in any electoral district where owing to any cause no election has been held in pursuance of his order. Section 113 refers again only to the change of a date in a particular electoral district. The section envisages that this is done in circumstances where the elections are held in other districts in conformity with his Proclamation dissolving Parliament.

Both these provisions (Section 24 (3) and Section 113), clearly contemplate a change in the polling date in a particular electoral district because of an emergency or unforeseen circumstances. The phrase electoral district cannot be interpreted as a reference to postponement of the entire poll in a Parliamentary election after dissolution of Parliament. Neither Section contemplates a situation where the polls for a Parliamentary election are held in all districts in the country at different times. Staggering elections in that way is not contemplated by the language of Section 24 (3) and Section 113 of the Elections Act.

Consequently:

1. The date for a Parliamentary election after dissolution has to be the date set in the Presidents Proclamation. It cannot be later than three months of the date of dissolution, as the new Parliament must be summoned by the President within three months of dissolution (Constitution Article 70 (5) (a) and (b) and Section 10 (1) (b) of the Elections Act). The Constitution and the Elections Act reinforce each other and cannot be delinked.

2. The Election Commission has no power under Section 24 (3) of the Elections Act to set the date of a Parliamentary election after the dissolution of Parliament.

3. Section 24(3) and Section 113 of the Elections Act on the postponement of an election in a particular electoral district in an emergency or unforeseen circumstances, do not cover the postponement of a Parliamentary election.

The Constitutional Provisions

Though the Elections Act does not contain provisions to cover postponement of a Parliamentary election across the country by the President after the dissolution of Parliament, or by the Elections Commission, in the event of an emergency, the Constitution of 1978 had already provided for such a situation.

As stated earlier, the Constitution has placed on the President the duty to fix a date of a Parliamentary election when Parliament is dissolved (Articles 70 (5) (a) and 70 (5) (b). Article 70 (5) (a) reads as follows: a proclamation dissolving Parliament (by the President) shall fix a date for the election of members of Parliament and summon the new Parliament on a date not later than three months after the date of such Proclamation. The obligation to conform to this procedure is placed clearly on the President by Article 70 (5) (b), which states Upon the dissolution of Parliament  the President shall forthwith by Proclamation fix a date or dates (for the election) and shall summon the new Parliament to meet on a date not later than three months after the date of the Proclamation. It must be therefore be noted that these Constitutional provisions which predated the Elections Act of 1981 set out the Presidents responsibilities, and it is this legal position that was reinforced in Section 10 (1) (b) and Section 24 (1) (c) of the Elections Act 1981.

Another Subsection of Article 70 of the Constitution provides for a situation where, an emergency may require the President to reconvene a dissolved Parliament. This may or may not also require a change of the date for the General Election and the summoning of the new Parliament. Article 70 (7) states that: If at any time after the dissolution of Parliament, the President is satisfied that an emergency has arisen of such a nature that an earlier meeting of Parliament is necessary, he may by Proclamation summon the Parliament that has been dissolved, to meet on a date not less than three days from the date of such Proclamation, and such Parliament shall stand dissolved upon the termination of the emergency, or the conclusion of the General Election which ever is earlier.

Therefore:

1. Article 70 (7) gives the President the discretion to change the date set for the General Election and the summoning of the new Parliament in his Proclamation on the dissolution of Parliament, only in the event of a grave national emergency.

2. When he exercises this power to act under Article 70 (7), then he must reconvene the dissolved Parliament.

3. When the emergency ends, unless a General Election can be held on the date specified in the original Proclamation, he must, by another Proclamation, set a new date for the General Election and the summoning of a new Parliament.

4. Only the President can change the date of the General Election and the date for summoning a new Parliament in the original Proclamation, and he can only do so by acting under Article 70 (7).

It is also evident that the concept of a General Election, the term in the Constitution, is quite different from the concept of postponement of the poll in any electoral district due to an emergency by the Commission under the Section 24 (3) of the Elections Act, or the President ordering the holding of an election in an electoral district under Section 113 of that Act.

It can be argued that it is because the President is empowered by the Constitution to use Article 70 (7) and re-summon a dissolved Parliament in the event of an emergency, that the Elections Act 1981 did not deal with the postponement of the whole General Election in the country, because of such emergency or unforeseen circumstances.

Conclusions

Both the Constitution and the Elections Act clearly place the responsibility for setting the date of the poll after dissolution of Parliament on the President and no one else. He must also conform to the Constitutional obligation to summon the new Parliament not later than three months after dissolution. If he wishes to go beyond the date set in his Proclamation dissolving Parliament, he must use Article 70 (7) to postpone the election.

It is only by re-summoning a dissolved Parliament because of an emergency under Article 70 (7), that the President becomes empowered to issue a new Proclamation setting a new date for the Parliamentary general election, which could not be held due to a national emergency. This Covid-19 pandemic seems to be an occasion for the exercise of the Presidents powers under Article 70 (7).

The exercise of Presidential powers under Article 70 (7) in an emergency, must be understood in the context of responsibilities of governance of two important institutions  ie Parliament and the President. Article 4 (a) and (b) of the Constitution clarify the balance of Presidential and Parliamentary rights and responsibilities of two institutions which reflect the sovereignty of the People. Article 33A in particular states that the President has an obligation to be responsible to Parliament for due exercise of his powers, duties and functions under the Constitution or any written law. This suggests that it is contrary to the concept of the sovereignty of the People exercised through the institutions of Parliament and the Executive Presidency that the President functions after the dissolution of Parliament for an indefinite time during an emergency as the sole executive authority in government. Article 70 on the dissolution of Parliament does not contemplate the President governing for an indefinite length of time without reference to Parliament.

The President also has a duty under the Constitution Article 33 (1) (d), on the advice of the Election Commission to ensure the creation of proper conditions for the conduct of free and fair elections. The Elections Commissions role is therefore not to take over the responsibilities of the President under the Elections Act, but to help him implement, rather than avoid, responsibilities under the Act and the Constitution.

The public interest

The re-summoning of the dissolved Parliament, to cover a period of national emergency like the Coronavirus pandemic, is in the public interest, as well as the Presidents interest. It promotes public confidence that he is adhering to the norms of constitutional and accountable governance in the exercise of his powers under Article 70 (7) in a national emergency like the Coronavirus pandemic.

When the President acts in conformity with Article 70 (7) in a situation where the Elections Act does not cover the current issue of holding postponed Parliamentary elections due to the pandemic, the public has a right to expect a reconvened Parliament to conduct itself with dignity and a sense of responsibility. The challenges of the pandemic demand an all-party consensus to help the nation to overcome the crisis. This is no time for the usual shouts and screams of confrontational politics or all too familiar conspiracy theories. Indeed some Commonwealth countries with Parliamentary systems of governance have witnessed the total co-operation of all parties across the spectrum in helping the government to respond to the pandemic. Perhaps this is a required response, in reimagining governance after the debilitating pandemic.

A reconvened Parliament will have a limited objective, and that is to support the President and the government to continue with an effective public health response, facilitating the allocation of necessary financial resources to do so. The dynamics of the coronavirus pandemic will require very limited sittings of Parliament, with a very limited number of Members of Parliament from both Government and the Opposition at Parliamentary sessions. It will be clear that routine sittings will not be possible, nor can there be a recommencement of the usual agendas and procedures. However, important issues of national concern can be brought before the Parliament at these sittings.

Picking up the lives of citizens and strengthening governance to address the grave economic and public health problems we face will require new approaches, and strengthening and not undermining democratic institutions.

(The writer is Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo)
"Minimizing distractions is a key to achieving one basic goal that every Muslim should have for Ramadan, which is the purification of the soul," Hasan said in an email. "One should take it as an opportunity to reconnect with the divine in themselves and reactivate the lost (productivity) in their lives."

Those who participate  Muslims who are traveling and sick are exempt  will eat early in the morning, around the time of the first prayer of the day: fajr. This meal is called suhoor, and is meant to sustain until the evening prayer, maghrib, when participants break their fast with a meal called iftar.

Ramadan falls on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, but the period of time changes from year to year; the Islamic calendar is lunar, so it is never a fixed date. As such, most Muslims started their Ramadan fast last week.

For Aqeel Fadhil, bilingual liaison with Lincoln Public Schools, the work that comes with maintaining the fast for 11-16 hours, depending on the sunlight in a given place, is significantly reduced during the pandemic.

Fadhil said working at home, as many are doing, is optimal while fasting.
Fake: Govt is not providing scholarship of Rs 4,000 for students of English medium schools

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: There is a message that states the government is providing scholarship for English medium students.

It says that the government is providing Rs 4,000 as scholarship for students studying in English medium schools to study at home digitally. There is also a link that has been provided to avail the scholarship.

Students from class 5 to 12 can apply. There is no caste barrier and students can apply through mobile up to May 25th 2020.

Fake News Buster

This is fake and the government has come up with no such scheme. Students are advised not to believe this message and also not click on the fraudulent link.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to deliberate on the issues and reforms required in education sector including National Education Policy(NEP). Special emphasis was given on the use of technology in the education sector and enhancing learning and adapting by the use of technology such as online classes, education portal and class-wise broadcast on dedicated education channels.

The focus was on bringing uniformity in education providing universal access to quality education, improving the quality of elementary education, through a new national curriculum framework that focuses on multi-linguistic, 21st-century skills, integration of sport and art, environmental issues.
NEW ORLEANS, May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Ra Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE: RMED).



On March 14, 2019, the Company disclosed 4Q2018 revenue significantly below projections due to sales personnel staffing issues and certain production limitations, assuring investors that the issues had been resolved. Then, on August 12, 2019, the Company disclosed inconsistencies in its manufacturing process, an increasing number of product calibration failures, and an internal investigation by its Audit Committee. On September 27, 2019, Ra disclosed that it had initiated a voluntary recall of its DABRA catheters due to a change in product labeling to reflect a two-month expiration, replacing its previous twelve-month shelf life expiration.

Then, on October 31, 2019, the Company disclosed a wide range of problems found by its investigation including frequent product calibration failures and even occasional overheating, posing risks to patients; that the product failures were the true cause of its negative financial performance rather than production limitations; improper marketing of its DABRA catheter for use in unapproved medical procedures; failure to properly document payments to physicians; and, the receipt of a Civil Investigative Demand by the U.S. Justice Department regarding whether it fraudulently obtained marketing clearance for DABRA or made improper kick-back payments to healthcare providers. On November 29, 2019, the Company disclosed that the DOJ inquiry had escalated to an open criminal investigation.

The Company has been sued in a securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information, violating federal securities laws, which remains ongoing.

KSFs investigation is focusing on whether Ra Medicals officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Ra Medicals shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Ra Medical shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-rmed/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

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North Korea's Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported Saturday, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead. State television showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what the North said was the opening of a fertiliser factory on Friday in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang. Rumours about Kim's health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar. His absence triggered a series of fevered rumours and unconfirmed reports over his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted they had no information to believe any of the conjecture was true. Seoul's unification ministry reacted to Saturday's report by saying "groundless" speculation about Kim had caused "unnecessary confusion", calling for more careful consideration in future. Kim's sudden death would have left Pyongyang facing an unplanned succession for the first time in its history and raised unanswered questions over who would succeed him and take over the North's nuclear arsenal. China, the North's key diplomatic ally and main provider of trade and aid, is keen to maintain stability in its neighbour and avoid the possibility of an influx of refugees. North Korea is "at the epicentre of an extremely tense security crisis", involving "a nuclear standoff where tens of millions of lives are at stake," Henri Feron, Senior Fellow at the US Center for International Policy, told AFP. "This raises legitimate concerns about the domestic and international instability that his death could cause." Footage showed Kim in his trademark black suit, waving to hundreds of workers who cheered his appearance and released balloons. He was flanked by senior officials -- including his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong -- and showed no outward signs of ill health. At one point Kim sat in front of a sign that described the event as a factory opening ceremony for May 1, 2020, but his appearance could not be independently verified. As with previous public appearances during the global coronavirus pandemic, Kim and his entourage were not wearing masks, unlike the crowd of workers at the ceremony. Analysts said Kim could not appear in public wearing a mask as it would make him appear vulnerable to the North Korean people. The North has insisted that it has not seen a single case of coronavirus, although experts say that is unlikely. Kim's repeated appearances without a mask had led some to speculate that he may have caught the virus. Reporting from inside the isolated North is notoriously difficult, especially on matters relating to its highly secretive leadership. - Rumours of ill health - The North Korean leader had not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers' Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported that he had inspected fighter jets. Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, had reported that Kim was undergoing treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month. Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim -- who is in his mid-30s -- had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue. CNN then reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery, quoting an anonymous US official. Officials in Seoul had consistently downplayed the reports and a presidential security advisor said that Kim was "alive and well" and staying in the eastern resort town of Wonsan. US President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Washington believed Kim to be alive and declined to immediately comment on Kim's apparent re-emergence. Trump and Kim have met three times, although talks on the North's nuclear capabilities have long been stalled with no sign of them resuming. Analysts say Kim is likely to make another public appearance in the coming days that will be reported by state media. But Pyongyang "probably won't explain Kim's recent absence given the secrecy around the leader's health and schedule," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul. Previous absences from the public eye on Kim's part have also prompted speculation about his health. Kim's father and predecessor had been dead for two days before anyone outside the innermost circles of North Korean leadership was aware. In 2014, Kim Jong Un 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. North Korea said the pictures showed leader Kim Jong Un visiting a fertiliser factory on May 1 North Korea said the picture taken on May 1, showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R) attending a ceremony in South Pyongan Province Rumours about Kim Jong Un's health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder Officials in Seoul had consistently downplayed the reports that the North's leader Kim Jong Un was undergoing treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month
Face coverings will be required for all travelers, visitors and staff at Mineta San Jose International Airport beginning Monday, officials said.

People can wear nonsurgical masks or fashion a cloth covering from a bandanna, T-shirt or scarf, as long as it covers their nose and mouth to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The requirement goes a step beyond guidance from Santa Clara County public health officials strongly urging, but not requiring, people to wear face coverings. Other Bay Area counties have implemented enforceable requirements.

Our top priority is protecting the health and safety of SJC employees and travelers, said John Aitken, the airports director of aviation. Requiring face coverings is the latest measure in our ongoing commitment to maintain a healthy, safe and clean environment now and when nonessential travel resumes in the future.

San Jose airports requirement follows similar ones from regional airports. San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport have begun enforcing mandatory face coverings.

Oakland airport officials said Friday the requirement is working well, with only a few instances of people not wearing face coverings.

People must also wash their hands frequently and physically distance at the San Jose airport. Staff will display signs reminding travelers of the face-covering mandate.

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.

Children younger than 6 or anyone whose medical provider has advised them not to wear a mask are exempt.

Many airlines, including Delta, Southwest, Alaska and United have announced they will require passengers to wear face coverings on flights starting soon.

Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show continue to bring positive vibes to the morning news programs fourth hour amidst the coronavirus crisis. The co-hosts have incorporated a segment entitled Hoda & Jenna Unscripted where they discuss aspects of their lives and take questions from viewers.

The Today with Hoda & Jenna stars recently shared their first professional experiences when a fan asked what job they landed after earning a college degree.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of the Today Show | Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Hoda Kotbs initial news gig

Hager first posed the viewer question to Kotb, where she revealed that her first job was in the south. I worked in this small television station, WXVT News Center 15 in Greenville, Mississippi, ok? Kotb said in her best southern drawl, according to Today.com.

Did you always know you wanted to do this? Hager asked.

I kind of did  but that job didnt come easy, Kotb explained. That job came after, like, 27  I counted  rejections, so that was the first guy that hired me.

Kotb previously shared her story of pounding the pavement looking for employment but coming up empty, until she happened upon the local news station.

You know, the whole God gives you a sign  I literally got lost in Mississippi because I was listening to James Taylor and sad and driving aimlessly, and I saw a physical sign that said, Greenville, Mississippi, Our eye is on you,  she shared, according to CNBC. It had like a CBS eye. News center 15, WXVT. I said, Im gonna go there and get rejected. 

Yet news director Stan Sandroni could tell Kotb was destined for greatness. I like what I see, he said after watching her tape and gave her a job.

The experience taught Kotb a lesson she holds onto even now. It just reminded me that you just need one person to love you, she said. You dont need everybody.

Jenna Bush Hager hit the campaign trail

Hager shared that she started as an educator but ended up hitting the road with her father, former President George W. Bush, when he was running for office.

I was a teacher. I taught third grade, the Today star recalled. I also worked for my dads campaign. I just toured around and talked about how much I loved him.

Hager revealed that a dream she had when she was a college senior prompted her to join the campaign and to recruit her twin sister Barbara as well.

I thought, hes done everything for Barbara and me, and we have to offer to help him, Hager explained. I called my sister and she said Absolutely. We werent speaking policy  we were just talking about the kind of dad he was. Even though Im not even that active in politics, I would never take those months back because I got to travel around the country and meet so many people and I got to be with him.

Kotb was clearly touched by Hagers comments. Ok, that s the perfect place to end this entire discussion, she said with a smile. I love that.

Former First Daughters didnt live in the White House

In a previous episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Hager revealed that people have can have misconceptions regarding a Commander in Chiefs children.

During her fathers presidential tenure, the Today co-host was at the University of Texas while her sister Barbara lived at Yale. We didnt live in the White House, Hager said. People will always be like, What was it like there? I was in college, so I lived in Austin.

The mom of three admitted that she wasnt sure of the impression she has on people, but always aims to be authentic. Its hard to tell what people think about me, but I think probably maybe that Im not a hard worker, Hager said. I try to fight against that a little.

Watch Today with Hoda & Jenna weekday mornings!
Philadelphia Police Resume Arrests for Non-Violent Crimes, Ending Controversial COVID-19 Policy

Authorities in Philadelphia said they will resume arresting suspects for non-violent crimes, halting a controversial emergency COVID-19 arrest policy after a spike in thefts and burglaries, according to multiple reports.

The Philadelphia Police Department said on Friday that it would end the controversial policy imposed in March to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, the novel coronavirus that emerged from China late last year. Under the temporary policy, now revoked, officers detained suspects in certain property crimes only long enough to take their fingerprints and identify them, before letting them go with the intention of filing charges later.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement Friday, as cited by CBS Philadelphia, that the policy was envisaged as a temporary measure that would be adjusted as conditions changed.

At the time of the change, the department was clear in that the list of offenses was subject to review and revision as conditions continued to evolve, Outlaw said, CBS reports. Predictably, conditions have, in fact, evolved in dynamic fashion. Accordingly, we have reviewed our current protocols and have made several adjustments.

The policy change is driven, in part, by an increase in retail thefts at small businesses and in burglaries committed by repeat offenders, the department said in a statement cited by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The modified arrest procedures will no longer be applied to the following specified offenses, according to Fox29: Burglary, Theft From Auto, Theft From Person, Stolen Auto, and Retail Theft.

Philadelphias policy of going soft on certain types of crime drew criticism from some residents and businesses, who argued it would lead to a rise in lawlessness. A group of 20 Philadelphia merchants told ABC6 recently that the policies have led to a rise in shoplifting, sometimes by mobs.

People are coming in the store, theyre loading their bag and theyre actually telling us the law, that theyre not gonna get locked up, merchant Sukhvir Thinb told ABC6.

Its a lawless city, its the Wild West. Thats whats happening here, said Vincent Emmanuel, treasurer of the Delaware Valley Franchise Owners Association, in remarks to ABC6.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby told the Inquirer that with crime likely to spike in summer months, our well-trained officers are committed to keeping this city safe, we understand the need to pivot and begin to aggressively fight crime that is impacting all neighborhoods.
World of work View(s):

Life will never be the same for anyone after the dust settles on the COVID-19 pandemic. It will never be the same too for the trio who had gathered outside the gate for their regular Thursday morning chat. It was all about haircuts, which are not an essential service; so the barber salons are closed. Life will never be the same for anyone after the dust settles on the COVID-19 pandemic. It will never be the same too for the trio who had gathered outside the gate for their regular Thursday morning chat. It was all about haircuts, which are not an essential service; so the barber salons are closed.

Mage putha game inna nendagen konde kappa gaththa (My son got his hair cut by his aunt in the village), laughed Kussi Amma Sera, adding; Eth eya konde kapapu vidiha gena sathutu-ne (He was not happy at the way it was cut). Her son had posted a picture of his haircut on his phone and sent it to his mother.

Ei apita barber salun arinna beri? Minisunge konde kapaganna avashya-yaine (Why cant they open barber salons? People need to cut their hair, which is important), noted Serapina.

Eka aththa thamai. Eth aendiri nithiya thiyanakota kohomada salun walata yanne? (Yes, but how can people go to the salons if there are curfews?), asked Mabel Rasthiyadu.

The conversation about haircuts sounded interesting since for the trio, it was a kind of essential service as people, particularly males, needed a haircut at least once a month. When the curfews are lifted island-wide, many males will make a beeline to their barber  most probably joining a long line outside!

Were haircuts going to be my topic today? Thankfully, the phone rang and it was Dosai Danny, my verti-clad friend from Trincomalee. I say  how are you? he asked. Hi Dosai, it has been a long time, I said, welcoming his call.

I was planning to talk to you about how life is swiftly changing due to the coronavirus crisis. We have had to forego many things that we normally accept as essential, he said. Yes everyone  whether rich or poor  is in the same boat because the curfew restricts the movement of everyone, I replied.

We then got into a deep conversation about how life and the world of work will change in the future. Here are some of the points that emerged in our discussion:

With schools being closed, the Education Department has introduced a facility where textbooks for Grades 1 to 13, can be downloaded in all three languages from the Internet. Schooling will change forever.

Banks are providing cash at your doorstep, being collected on your behalf by PickMe from ATMs and delivered to homes.

Webinars (online fora) and online discussions are likely to continue in future, reducing the number of public gatherings.

In companies, group meetings of senior management staff who are working from different locations may also be online, instead of gathering in Colombo or wherever the head office is.

The demand for online chat services and group conversations would trigger a new generation of online vendors.

In the near term, the question arises as to whether companies will want staff this year to forego their annual leave entitlements (to make up for lost time particularly in production and manufacturing units) now that everyone has been at home for more than a month. Workers are entitled to 14 days annual leave and seven days casual leave. Will that be taken away though it may not be possible as they are regulated holidays? Will companies get consent from workers to forego these holidays?

With more and more people using credit or debit cards for transactions, will there be a gradual shift to card transactions from cash?

People are compelled to cut their hair at home with curfews continuing.

More and more people may continue to work from home, particularly in non-manufacturing and production units or balance their workday, working both at home and office.

Even though curfews would be lifted island-wide including Colombo, social and physical distancing measures are likely to continue for another six months until the pandemic is completely eradicated and a vaccine enters the fray. This means that the usual meetings of associates and/or friends or family at a restaurant, cafe or hotel are unlikely in the short term.

Face-masks may have to be worn for many more months from now.

There will be more online sales from retail stores and others.

More goods and essential food will be purchased from vendors coming down the roads.

Medical consultants, which in many cases are online these days, might continue in the future and reduce the number going to hospitals.

Once the country is declared free for tourists, visitors will be wearing masks and armed with health certificates.

Meanwhile during an online discussion this week on social protection measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the Asian region in which ILO experts from the region took part, it was stated that the world of work in the short term would be badly affected.

Sara Elder, Head of the Regional Economic and Social Analysis Unit of the ILO Regional Office for Asia, said that consumption has dropped and consumer buying has vanished which was making it harder on production and manufacturing units.

Currently, there is no demand for goods, she said, adding that many factories are asking people to go on unpaid leave, enforcing pay-cuts and stopping overtime work (in the private sector many employees depend on overtime as their basic salary is low, very much like hotel workers who depend on the service charge). Millions of people in Asia and the Pacific consider their jobs at stake because of the crisis. Consumers dont want to spend their money; so its trouble for malls and shops selling non-essentials. The crisis will cause a severe decline in working hours and employment opportunities. Fewer working hours mean less pay, she added.

Across Asia, the pandemic has particularly hit apparel manufacturing and tourism and hospitality and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The ILO said that in Sri Lanka, in addition to domestic difficulties of enterprises, threats to job security, loss of income of daily-waged labourers, there is the imminent return of large numbers of low-skilled, low paid migrant workers, adding to the number out of work and out of income. The effects of the pandemic have exposed the lack of social protection for informal economy workers, the ILO has said.

It was time to wind up my column today focusing on life in the future and the world of work. Bringing in a cup of coffee (which I had requested instead of tea), Kussi Amma Sera also agrees that life will change, sometimes forever, for most people. Apita gedera konde kapanna weyi (We may have to cut our hair at home), she laughs.

Yes, many things will change this year. The Central Bank has said that Sri Lankas economy will decelerate this year, while international lending agencies project it would contract to a negative growth scenario.
Too Risky to Come Home, Crew of Clean US Warship in CCP Virus Limbo
Sure, it might be warm Wednesday, but what about the rest of the week?
(Newser)  A Florida news report took an unexpected turn Friday when the Grim Reaper appeared and took hold of the microphone, ABC7 reports. Actually, reporter Faith Graham handed him the mic during her report on re-opened beaches in Walton County. "I'm here today to try to make a point that ... I think it's premature that we open our beaches," said the Reaper, aka lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder. "I'm a huge proponent of public beaches, and I've been fighting for that for years, but I think the danger of bringing all the people here to our area and spreading the virus, I think it's going to prolong the recovery we have, and I think that we should take better measures." Uhlfelder said he planned to continue protesting at other county beaches with a film crew on hand.

story continues below

Some might know the Florida lawyer for his Twitter attacks on Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee over beach access in the state, WUWF reports. Uhlfelder is fighting to save a "customary use" ordinance that lets beachgoers use the dry-sand parts of private beach properties, while Huckabee, the owner of a Walton County beachfront home, is against the ordinance. The Northwest Florida Daily News reported last year that Huckabee filed a bar complaint against Uhlfelder, saying the lawyer had posted "humiliating and disparaging about me during the course of active litigation in which he represents an adverse party." As for Uhlfelder, who founded an anti-conservative PAC, he says the feud has boosted his Twitter following. Once sitting at 400, it now has over 134,000 followers. (Read more beaches stories.)
IOWA CITY  Iowas public universities collectively project taking at least a $193 million hit from coronavirus-related losses and expenses through the summer, and may see enrollment declines this fall.

As bleak as those projections Thursday were, they do not include the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Despite those monumental losses, the Iowa Board of Regents on Thursday proposed keeping tuition rates and fees flat for the coming fall, an aberration from its original plan for five years of increases.

The COVID-19 epidemic is unprecedented, according to the tuition proposal. It is important that our students, families and our institutions have as much financial predictability as possible. Therefore, it is recommended there be no increases in tuition rates or mandatory fees.

The presidents of the University of Iowa and Iowa State University told the board Thursday they expect COVID-19 losses and expenses to top $76 million and $89 million respectively. And both projected smaller freshman classes.

University of Northern Iowa leaders, saying its too soon to gauge fall enrollment, projected COVID-19 losses and expenses at $28 million.

With UI Health Care looking at about $70 million in losses and expenses to date, that brings the total financial blow to regents enterprises to at least $263 million, board President Michael Richards said Thursday.

We know it is significant, he said. We cannot focus on returning to business as usual. We must be proactive about the hurdles ahead, and redesign our universities to make them stronger.

That could include expanding opportunities for students enrolled at one regent university to take classes online from another regent university, Richards said.

We must look at whether administrative functions at all three universities can be consolidated, he said. We also need to consider whether to put a moratorium on new construction.

Change is hard, he said. It is necessary. We will adapt. We will adjust. We will continue to provide an affordable, accessible, high quality education for all of our students.

After hearing of the unprecedented challenges facing Iowas public universities and special schools, the board Thursday announced an advisory group of four regents tasked with reviewing administrative and academic collaborations and efficiencies.

The group  which will be broken into sub groups  will bring recommendations to the full board in November, Richards said.

Just minutes after Richards comments wrapped a special meeting to discuss the financial impact of COVID-19 on the campuses, the board called another special meeting for Monday to hold a first consideration of the proposed tuition and fees freeze for the 2020-21 academic year. Regents will not yet take a final vote.

The freeze would keep UI rates at $8,073 for resident undergraduates and $30,036 for non-resident undergraduates. ISU resident undergraduate rates would hold at $8,042 and its non-resident undergraduate rates at $23,230. And UNI  which held rates flat last fall  would keep its resident undergraduate tuition at $7,665 and non-resident undergraduate rates at $18,207.

The universities will maintain differential tuition rates for costlier programs  like those in engineering, medicine, business and law.

The frozen rates would all three public universities below the average cost to attend their respective peer institutions  with the UI and ISU at or near the bottom of their peer groups.

The need to keep costs low to maintain enrollment and support recruitment in these unprecedented times makes state aid and continued support from the Legislature paramount, UI President Bruce Harreld told the regents.

As Ive said many, many times, without strong, predictable financial commitments from our state, its extremely difficult for us to maintain the excellence that you and Iowans expect from us, he said. Its times like this that state support becomes even more vital in order for us to deliver our mission to the state.

The university, as the crisis developed, prioritized the safety of its community and took deliberate steps to protect students, faculty, and staff, as well as our surrounding community, Harreld told the board.

Our strategy of doing things right, not fast, is what allowed us in 60 days to cancel study abroad programs; repatriate students, faculty and staff; move completely to virtual instruction; shift to work-from-home status; close our residence hall system; mothball research; cancel elective health procedures; and stand up new supply chains for the university and the state, he said.

He said the campus will use that right, not fast strategy in gradually resuming daily campus activities.

But, in doing all that, the university has taken a major budgetary blow, amounting to over $76 million through August  excluding the hospital.

ISUs projection of an $89 million hit from March through August includes lost revenue and refunds  like for housing and dining contracts  and $1 million in new expenses.

It is important to note that the figures do not include our research enterprise, ISU President Wendy Wintersteen said. We continue to gather information about the financial impact of reduced research operations. In addition, we understand the circumstances of this crisis continue to change rapidly and will undoubtedly have additional financial implications, for which we must account.

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Brothers from Arklow have performed a rendition of an old classic in honour of their great-grandfather who will turn 100 in early August in Australia.

The Scott family had been due to travel to Australia in mid-July for a several family celebrations. However, the planned five-week trip is now in doubt due to the ongoing Covid-19 public health restrictions.

However, Finn (14), Tadhg (12) and ten-year-old Ned sang a version of 'The White Cliffs of Dover' which their proud dad David shared on social media.

Speaking to this paper, David Scott said, 'they enjoy singing and do it by themselves at this stage. We are meant to be going to Australia for my grandfather and their great-grandfather's birthday on August 3. They decided to pick a piece of music that would have been associated with the last major crisis that my grandfather and my late grandmother would have lived through.'

The boys chose 'The White Cliffs of Dover' and arranged the harmonies themselves in honour of their great-grandfather who served in the Royal Australian Air force during the Second World War.

David, who has been living in Arklow for 15 years, said social media is a 'way to keep in touch with my family in Queensland'.

The family had been planning to travel to Queensland in mid-July to join family for the 100th birthday celebrations and for the golden wedding anniversary of David's parents.

'Depending on their ages, the boys have only been over [to Australia] two or three times, but we keep in touch with family using Skype and social media'.

Tickets for the trip had already been purchased but it remains unclear if the family will be able to travel as intended.

'We are waiting in limbo to see what happens.'

Actor, director and teacher David said the family remain optimistic that they may yet be able to make it to Australia to visit family as planned.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on employers to put in place adequate measures to protect workers following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.

The TUC says workers like any other group of Ghanaians must be protected at their workplaces.

Speaking at this year's May Day celebration, the TUC Secretary-General, Dr Yaw Baah called for the provision of PPEs to workers in the line of duty.

Employers are required to provide personal protective equipment to their employees. They are also required to constitute safety committees to deal with all issues related to COVID-19 cases and to appoint focal persons to facilitate workers education on coronavirus. These focal persons will also have the responsibilities with liaising with health authorities in the event of an outbreak Coronavirus in the workplace.

The COVID-19 has necessitated extra protection for staff of various organizations due to the risks involved in undertaking their respective services.

Some businesses have asked some of their staff to work from home as part of efforts to limit the risk staff face in contracting the virus.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) celebration of the 2020 edition of the May Day celebration was held virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Stimulus packages for businesses

There have been diverse calls and views and the provision of stimulus packages for businesses.

The government has put in place a GHS600 million soft loan scheme with a two-year repayment plan for micro, small and medium scale businesses.

Persons who access these loans will have a one-year grace period before beginning repayment.

In addition, the Finance Minister announced a GHS1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme that will be funded from the Ghana Stabilisation Fund.

On the delivery of stimulus packages, the Head of the Economics Department at the University of Ghana, Prof. William Baah-Boateng argued that the global impact of the pandemic requires governments and businesses to be more innovative in their operations in order to gain greater outcomes during and after the pandemic.

Also, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), has been demanding that the government comes clean on how it intends to account for the stimulus packages that it is offering to distressed companies.

The AGI fears that the taxpayer risks losing hugely if beneficiaries are unable to account for their allocation.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ghana Employers Association on another hand have called on the government to extend its stimulus support to cover big businesses.

---citinewsroom
New Delhi, May 2 : Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters will be showering petals over most of the hospitals engaged in fighting the coronavirus across the country on Sunday morning.

"The helicopters are planned to carry out petal shower on Police War Memorial at 9 a.m. followed by Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to patients of COVID-19 between 10-10.30 a.m.," the Air Force said in statement.

In Delhi and the National Capital Region, the list of hospitals includes AIIMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Loknayak Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjang Hospital, Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Max Saket, Rohini Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital and Army Hospital Research and Referral.

There will be fly past over Delhi by a number of IAF aircraft.

"Fighter aircraft formations, comprising of the Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar will be flying over Rajpath, and will orbit over Delhi and will be visible to the residents of Delhi from their roof tops," the force said.

In addition, C-130 transport aircraft will follow a similar route as the fighters covering the entire Delhi and NCR region.

The aircraft will be flying at an approximate height of 500 meters to 1000 meters keeping safety in mind especially in respect of bird activity.

More than 600 tons of medical supplies and a large number of people have been airlifted including doctors, para-medics and equipment for setting up COVID testing labs.

"IAF personnel will continue to contribute towards fight against Corona. As a gratitude to all the Corona Warriors in India, IAF along with sister services is planning to salute these brave warriors of India in its own unique way," the IAF said.
A mentally-challenged



Bangladeshi has been pushed into India by people from the neighbouring country, triggering panic among residents of Dashamighat and neighbouring villages in South Tripura district in view of the coronavirus outbreak, police said on Saturday.

"The mentally-challenged person was handed over to the police in Sabroom early on Saturday. He has been sent to a quarantine facility and his samples will be tested for COVID- 19," Superintendent of Police Jal Singh Meena told PTI over the phone.

The man was pushed into India by a group of Bangladeshis with support from Border Guards Bangladesh in Ramgarh area in Chittagong division, a police officer said.

BSF officials handed him over to Tripura Police after two flag meetings between the border forces of the two countries ended inconclusively, he said.

Inspector General of BSF, Tripura Frontier, Solomon Meenz along with top BSF officials including DIG South Sector, Jameel Ahmed and spokesperson C L Belwa visited Dashamighat and adjacent villages on the banks of River Feni and spoke with the local residents, he said.

Septuagenarian Swapan Chowdhury of Dashamighat village first spotted the middle-aged Bangladeshi entering India by crossing the river on Friday afternoon and informed the BSF, the officer said.

"The BSF personnel asked the man to return but a group of Bangladeshis warned him of dire consequences if he came back," Chowdhury said.

District Magistrate Debapriya Bardhan said the identity of the man is yet to be ascertained.

A BSF spokesperson said there is a pattern of pushing mentally-challenged Bangladeshis into India through the unfenced portion of the border.

Tripura shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh, of which about 67 km is unfenced, he said.

At least 18 mentally-challenged persons from Bangladesh are being treated at Agartala's Modern Psychiatric Hospital.

Such persons are handed over to Bangladesh from time to time after their recovery, Dr Jyotirmoy Ghosh of the hospital said.

One such patient, Bithi Akhter, was handed over to her family in Bangladesh after being treated for eight years in Tripura, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
McDonald's will reopen 15 restaurants in the UK for takeaway and delivery from May 13.

The fast food business's 1,350 restaurants have been closed since the Government brought in lockdown measures in March due to concerns over staff and customer safety.

But following trials it will bring in a range of social distancing measures as it tries to gradually restart the business, boss Paul Pomroy told workers in an email.

McDonald's 1,350 restaurants have been closed since the Government brought in lockdown measures in March due to concerns over staff and customer safety

As well as providing protective gear and non-medical grade face masks, it will also take employees' temperatures with contactless thermometers when they arrive at work.

It will offer a limited menu and open between 11am and 10pm.

There will be floor markings inside branches telling customers where to stand, a technique used by some supermarkets, and will only accept contactless payments.

Pomroy did not say which 15 restaurants would be among the first wave of reopenings, but added: 'We will open at a pace that allows us to test, learn and listen to your feedback.'
Three special trains, carrying



1,200 migrant workers each, will on Saturday night leave for Uttar Pradesh and Odisha from Gujarat's Ahmedabad and Surat stations, a senior official said.

While two trains will leave from Ahmedabad to Agra, another will depart from Surat to Behrampur in Odisha, said Ashwani Kumar, secretary to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Several migrants from Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have already been granted permission to leave for their home states on buses, he said.

"A train from Surat will leave for Behrampur in Odisha, and two trains from Ahmedabad will leave for Agra on Saturday. Each train has a capacity of 1,200 passengers, and only those who have registered their names will be permitted to travel," he said.

Kumar said the state government has appointed eight IAS and IPS officers each as nodal officers to coordinate the movement of migrant workers with the governments of other states.

Persons who wish to return to their home states will have to call on helpline number 1077 and the district administration will get them registered, but passengers will have to buy their own tickets, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government on Saturday appointed additional chief secretary Vipul Mitra as the nodal officer for the movement of migrant workers, students, pilgrims, tourists, and others who wish to return to their home states by trains.

The state government has also made arrangements to bring back students, pilgrims, tourists and workers from Gujarat who remain stranded in other states, he said.

Such people can call on 079-23251900 to share their details to get travel passes for the purpose.

The Centre government has allowed movement of stranded labourers, tourists and students from one state to another on permission of local authorities amidst the nationwide coronavirus-enforced lockdown, which has been extended till May 17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Trump has been pushing a theory that the coronavirus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, pictured above on April 17, 2020.

Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had seen evidence that the coronavirus outbreak originated in a research lab in Wuhan, China, but is "not allowed to tell anyone" what it is.

A few hours later, The Washington Post published a report  citing intelligence officials and disease experts  that contradicted this claim.

The Post's sources said there's no evidence connecting the outbreak to the lab, and that the lab accident theory is possible but not likely.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had seen evidence that shows the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab, but US intelligence sources and disease experts seem to be contradicting this claim.

At Thursday's White House daily coronavirus press briefing, Trump said US authorities were looking into the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has previously conducted extensive research on coronaviruses that originate in bats.

When a reporter asked him if he had seen "anything that gives you a high degree of confidence" that the coronavirus originated in this lab, Trump said: "Yes I have," but added he's "not allowed to tell" anyone about the intelligence.

Trump speaks at a White House coronavirus press briefing on April 30, 2020.

Alex Brandon/AP

Hours later, The Washington Post published a report that told a very different story.

American disease researchers and intelligence officials who spoke to the newspaper said that while a lab accident is a possible scenario, there's no evidence pointing in that direction.

One intelligence official, who spoke to the newspaper under the condition of anonymity, said policymakers have been told in private briefings that China may have downplayed the outbreak in its early days, but there's no evidence that the virus was the result of an accidental transmission at a Wuhan lab.

"What we know is it's naturally occurring," a second anonymous intelligence official added. "We know that it came from Wuhan. There's been speculation: Did it come from a market? Did it come from a lab? We just don't know."

Story continues

Meanwhile, experts said while labs are not free from human error, a lab accident in this case is not the most likely of scenarios.

"It's far more likely that Mother Nature is just a step ahead of us and has created a novel pathogen, now able to move quite effectively from human to human," Jason Rao, a bio-security specialist and former senior policy adviser to President Barack Obama, told The Post.

Workers in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Hector Retamal, Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty

Maureen Miller, an epidemiologist at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, also told The Post she thinks the idea that the coronavirus originated in the Wuhan lab is an "absolute conspiracy theory."

Miller had previously worked with Shi Zhengli, who leads coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. US diplomats previously expressed concerns about lab safety at the institute.

"She is a rigorous scientist," Miller said of Shi. "She is very, very committed to preventing the kind of scenario that is happening right now."

Earlier this week Politico reported that the Trump administration had cut funding to a New York-based group researching bat-to-human virus transmissions after unfounded conspiracy theories linked it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Read the original article on Business Insider
On the day Iowa began easing restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Kim Reynolds said increased testing was largely the reason for a record number of new COVID-19 cases.

Health officials reported 739 new positive cases Friday, by far the most in a single day and bringing the state total to 7,884. Of the new cases, 516 were from four counties, including two that are dealing with outbreaks at meat processing plants.

Those counties are Black Hawk and Woodbury  both of which are seeing a surge of slaughterhouse cases  and the Des Moines area counties of Polk and Dallas.

Reynolds also reported an additional eight deaths, bringing the states total to 170. The additional eight deaths were reported in the following counties:

 Bremer County, one elderly adult (81 years and older)

 Linn County, two middle-age adults (41-60 years)

 Muscatine County, one older adult (61-80 years), one elderly adult (81 years and older)

 Polk County, two elderly adults (81 years and older)

 Scott County, one middle-age adult (41-60 years)

Because of the large number of tests weve conducted recently we do anticipate the overall numbers that well be reporting this weekend may be higher than usual, the governor said. So please keep in mind that a high volume of tests conducted this week were among essential workers in communities or facilities where virus activity is high.

Reynolds also lifted restrictions Friday on many businesses in 77 counties, most of which have none or few cases. More stringent rules remain in 22 counties, which include most of the states major cities.

The governor has also allowed churches to resume services, and she invited a member of the conservative Christian group The Family Leader to join her at the news conference via a video feed.

Greg Baker, vice president of church engagement, said the group considered safety when reopening houses of worship.

We went to work with churches across Iowa to make guidelines to ensure as churches look to reopen, they would do so wisely with not only the members interest in mind but also the community, Baker said.

After the news conference, the leader of the multi-denomination Interfaith Alliance criticized Reynolds for allowing The Family Leader spokesman to promote one religion at a government event.

Once again, Kim Reynolds misused her elected office to promote one religion  one narrow segment of that religion, at that, Connie Ryan, the alliances leader, said in a statement. The governor must represent all Iowans and must not promote one religion over all others.

Also Friday, former Gov. Chet Culver urged Reynolds to change her policies that are reopening the economy and supporting the quick restarting of meat processing plants where hundreds of workers have been sickened. Culver, a Democrat who served from 2007 to 2011, said in a letter to Reynolds that the Republican governors policies have created an appearance that the states most powerful business owners have exerted undue influence.

He urged Reynolds in the strongest possible terms to reconsider and realign her approach to give workers more protections.

Iowa receives over $71M in aid to help PK-12 schools mitigate effects of COVID-19

The Iowa Department of Education announced Friday that the state has received over $71.6 million in federal relief for PK-12 schools through a fund to address costs incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The amount is Iowas share of the more than $13.2 billion emergency relief provided in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund within the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act.

These funds will provide critical support for schools, especially as they develop plans for what a return to learning will look like in the fall, said Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. Schools can use this funding to address coronavirus-related challenges, including online learning support, professional development, educational technology, mental health services and services to support students with disabilities.

The application for school districts to apply for this funding will be available next week.

Of the $71.6 million, 90 percent will be available to school districts, which will use a portion of the funds to provide services to nonpublic schools in their areas. The remaining funds will be used for state-level educational efforts to address urgent issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survey shows hope for recovery even as economic indices drop

The latest survey of supply managers in a nine-state region of the Midwest and Plains shows that many are holding out hope for an economic rebound later this year, even though the coronavirus has knocked the region for a loop.

The Mid-American Business Conditions index plummeted in April to 35.1 from Marchs already-anemic 46.7, according to a survey report released Friday. Aprils index was the lowest since February 2009, during the Great Recession.

But the surveys confidence index suggested that business leaders have more hope for recovery over the next six months. The index soared to 45.5 in April, up from Marchs 14.5.

The federal stimulus plan, the Federal Reserve monetary incentive programs, and the rebound in U.S. stock markets boosted confidence from Marchs record lows, said Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey.

Still, other indices painted a grim picture. The April employment index bottomed out at 26.2  its lowest level since the survey began in 1993. The March employment index was an already-weak 34.7.

U.S. Labor Department data showed that only 164,040 workers in the nine-state region were unemployed and receiving unemployment insurance benefits, in mid-March, Goss said.

By the first week of April, 980,196 workers were receiving unemployment insurance benefits, Goss said.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Goss echoed comments he made last month, insisting that the recent survey results indicating a recession have not been solely caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The coronavirus had a less significant impact on the manufacturing sector than other areas of the economy more directly tied to the consumer, Goss said. This is a consumer-led recession with manufacturing lagging. As a result, I expect the manufacturing to worsen in next month.

Regional trade numbers were split in the April survey, the report said. The index for new export orders tumbled to 19.4, from Marchs 34.7, while the import index rose to 38.7, from 32.7 in March.

In three other measures of economic health, the index for new orders sank to 21.0, from Marchs 40.0, and the index for production or sales plunged to 23.3, from Marchs 37.8. The index gauging speed of deliveries of raw materials and supplies dipped slightly to 68.3, from Marchs 68.4, reflecting slower deliveries and/or shipping difficulties.

STAA banquet canceled

The Shelby-Tennant Alumni Association banquet scheduled for June 27 in Shelby, has been canceled due to the coronavirus quarantine. It has been rescheduled to take place on June 25, 2021, during Shelbys 150+1 Celebration, which has also been postponed this year and rescheduled for June 24-26, 2021.

Still no camping in county, state parks

In an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Pottawattamie Conservation parks continue to observe the following closures: All RV, tent and backcountry camping will remain closed through May 14. All public restrooms, visitor centers, offices, cabins, and playground facilities are closed through May 31. All on-site public programming through the end of May is canceled or postponed. Park green spaces currently remain open for public use and park hours are not altered at this time.

Iowas state parks and forests are open during the day, but playgrounds, cabins, visitor centers and museums all remain closed through May 14 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The areas of state parks that are still open include: roads and trails; lakes, rivers and streams including shorelines, boat ramps and access points; and open spaces such as grassy areas, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said. Additional updates will be announced as they become available.

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.

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 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.

 The Associated Press office in Omaha and Nonpareil Managing Editor Courtney Brummer-Clark contributed to this report.
London: Tata Steel has announced plans to help shape regional efforts in South Wales to decrease carbon emissions, aimed at creating the world's first net-zero industrial cluster.

As a leading member of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), the Indian steel major said on Friday that its plan could see Tata's integrated steelworks at Port Talbot in the region playing a major role as one of four possible anchor sites.

The first phase of SWIC's Roadmap and Deployment project received a significant boost thanks to grant funding of GBP 295,000 from UK Research and Innovation  a partnership of universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government  with more funding available for future stages.

"SWIC presents a key opportunity to support Wales' net zero ambitions by uniting the various decarbonisation programmes in South Wales into a single roadmap for the first time," said Chris Williams, Manager Energy Research at Tata Steel in Europe.

"By helping to develop an industrial strategy, which allows companies in Wales to grow while also reducing CO2 emissions, the plan will create new jobs and provide a sustainable industrial base for future generations," he said.

The announcement is one of a number of initiatives to help Tata Steel's European business achieve its ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Phase one of the project will create a plan for a series of local zero-carbon areas to lower emissions, create skilled jobs and enhance well-being across South Wales.

If SWIC projects proceed successfully, they will improve the UK's ability to locally manufacture steel products with low carbon emissions, helping to drive the low-carbon future of UK construction and other sectors such as defence, car manufacturing, packaging and even coin production.

The SWIC initiatives will also make a vital contribution to the economic resilience of the Welsh economy by bringing in new high-skilled jobs and ensuring operations are sustainable in the long term, Tata Steel said.

Key areas for SWIC in the first phase of the project include examining the infrastructure required for the development of the hydrogen economy, for large scale CO2 capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and transport.

Other partners in SWIC include Costain, CR Plus, RWE, Progressive Energy, University of South Wales, Celsa Manufacturing, Tarmac, Valero Energy, Progressive Energy, Capital Law, Flexible Process Consultants the Port of Milford Haven and Vale Europe.

Tata Steel is one of Europe's leading steel producers, with steelmaking in the Netherlands and the UK, and manufacturing plants across Europe.

The company supplies high-quality steel products across a wide range of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering.

It is currently said to be in talks with the UK government for support through the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday (May 2) and accused him of trying to usurp powers amid the coronavirus crisis. The Chief Minister asked him to desist from using official communications and logos on social media.

"Such words and such communications of such content, tenor and tone from a Governor to an elected CM are unprecedented in the annals of Indian constitutional and political history. Your words against me and my ministers and officers can be described as vituperative, intemperate, intimidating and abusive," Mamata said in her 13-page reply to Governor Dhankhar.

Accusing him of preaching and sermonising constitutional norms without practising it and violating it, Mamata said the Governor may not agree with her policies, but unfortunately, he has no other power than bringing it to her notice, as long as the government commands the confidence of the legislature.

"I beseech you to desist from intensifying your efforts to usurp powers, especially at the time of crisis.... You should desist from using official communications/logos for your continuous tweets on social media," she said.

The scathing attack from Mamata came after the Bengal Governor shot off two letters to the Chief Minister accusing her of hiding details regarding coronavirus cases in the state, and simultaneously asking her to cooperate with the Inter-Ministerial Central Team, which has visited the state to assess the situation.
The U.S. government spent $30 billion last month in stimulus payments last month to most healthcare providers that billed Medicare last year, part of the $2.3 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress to address the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic.

"That speed resulted in taxpayers' money flowing to some companies and people facing civil or criminal fraud investigations,". Reuters reports, citing "defense lawyers and others representing more than a dozen firms and people facing such inquiries."

"I have an enormous amount of frustration with the way the Trump administration is distributing these dollars, and examples like these magnify the consequences of the White House's efforts to limit transparency and stonewall oversight," Senate Finance Committee ranking member Senator Ron Wyden told Reuters.

Excerpt:

Reuters interviewed six defense lawyers and others representing more than a dozen healthcare providers facing civil or criminal inquiries who received the money, including a pain medicine doctor who recently settled a civil false claims case, and an operator of an assisted living facility who is planning to plead guilty to healthcare fraud. "The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing," said Joel Hirschhorn, an attorney who represents the pain medicine doctor and the operator of the assisted living facility. The lawyers who spoke to Reuters declined to identify their specific clients, citing confidentiality rules. The surprise deposit of funds has led attorneys to scramble to warn clients to be ready to return the money. "There is no such thing as a windfall from the government," said Sam J. Louis, a former prosecutor who is now a partner with the law firm Holland & Knight, whose law firm issued an alert to clients warning them of the potential of legal liability in taking the funds.

Read more:

Exclusive: U.S. coronavirus stimulus went to some healthcare providers facing criminal inquiries
On April 30, U.S President Donald Trump said that he has seen evidence suggesting that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. He also criticized the World Health Organization's connection to Beijing, comparing the organization to a public relations agency.

Trump accuses WHO of covering up Wuhan laboratory

President was speaking to numerous reporters about protecting the senior citizens of America when he was asked if he had any information about the outbreak and if there is evidence that it originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Trump said without further explanation that he does have evidence that the virus originated from Wuhan and that the WHO should be ashamed of themselves for acting like a public relations agency for China. A few weeks ago during one of his briefings, he speculated about whether China knew about the coronavirus sooner than what is reported and deliberately withheld information about the pandemic.

President Trump said that China is trying to be transparent, but the U.S government will still investigate to find out more. He added that the outbreak is a terrible thing that happened, whether China made a mistake or whether it started as a mistake and the country made another virus or if someone did it on purpose.

Intelligence officials confirmed on April 30 that an investigation has been ongoing into whether the pandemic was the result of an accident at the Wuhan lab, although there have been speculations that the virus originated at a wet market in the Wuhan.

Also Read: Trump Says Social Distancing Guidelines Will "Fade Out," Tells States to Take Charge

A statement from the office of acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell read that the entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus which originated in China. The statement also said that the Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the virus was not man-made nor genetically modified.

U.S officials have ruled out the possibility that the coronavirus was created by China was a bio-weapon. Some stated that the pathogen may have escaped from the lab amid China's efforts to identify and combat the virus either with greater capabilities or the same capabilities as the United States.

The blame game

Trump added in his briefing on April 30 that the world is suffering greatly while talking about China's response to the outbreak. He said that the virus could have been contained at the original location, and either China was not able to or they chose not to.

After he praised China's response, he started blaming Beijing in an attempt to divert scrutiny over his own administration's handling of the pandemic, according to some Democrats. America has issues with a shortage of test kits and sometimes contradictory statements between the members of his coronavirus task force and Trump.

The Democratic National Committee said in a statement that Trump is desperate to distract the voters by blaming Beijing and that he refuses to call out China on its coronavirus response and Americans are suffering the dire consequences of the outbreak.

Related Article: Trump Plans to Punish China for Coronavirus, China Says Trump Should Focus Fighting Virus

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Think of it as a role reversal.

What we do best in the hospitality industry is to feed people, said Cat Nguyen, who runs the Houston Sommelier Association and works as a sales rep for Republic National Distributing Co.

But when most of the service industry is suddenly out of work, the opportunity opens up to feed them. Thats where Houston Shift Meal comes in. The organization, founded by Nguyen and Jonathan Beitler, provides meals to unemployed hospitality workers.

The name comes from the free or discounted meals that restaurant employees often eat at work. Sometimes, employees gather for a family-style dinner to open or close a shift. The concept is the same  but on a much larger scale at Houston Shift Meals. It also serves a dual purpose.

Individuals and businesses can donate to partnering restaurants. For every $250 received, a restaurant can produce between 50 and 75 meals.

The nonprofit Texas Wine School also stepped up to help, making donations tax deductible.

This is twofold, Beitler said. Were providing meals for people who are out of work. They work paycheck to paycheck or tip to tip. Were also providing funds for restaurants to continue operating.

Beitler and Nguyen became friends during Hurricane Harvey, when they worked together in the Midtown Kitchen Collective to provide meals to thousands of Houstonians. In the aftermath of the hurricane, Beitler rescued residents of Braeswood and Meyerland from their homes by boat.

We took people to George R. Brown the whole day, Beitler said. We quickly realized this was much bigger than we expected.

Then he got a call from the convention center to help the individuals inside find food.

Nguyen, who lives downtown, went around the neighborhood on foot and by bicycle to report to others which streets were still navigable. Her next task was figuring out how to get food donated by restaurants such as Hugos in Montrose to the George R. Brown.

I knew which routes had been blocked off, she recalled. I ended up being the feet on the ground.

She gathered meals for delivery to the convention center. Before long, donations were piling in.

The former seafood restaurant Reef opened its kitchen so chefs could prepare food using donated ingredients. Then they moved to the kitchen at Search Homeless Services.

Chefs showed up early to prep ingredients, and the Midtown Kitchen Collective made 200,000 meals in about 10 days.

Beitler said the experience helped them understand how restaurants could help those in need. Now, the restaurants are the ones who need help. This is an opposite situation, Beitler said.

The knowledge gained during Harvey was not lost.

We retained that knowledge and were able to move forward, he said.In a time of crisis, you can say woe is me and wait for someone to do something  or you can take charge and make an impact.

Nguyens wheels started turning immediately after restaurants closed and employees were furloughed. It started out as a small idea, she said. We reached out on social media to supplier friends, saying do you have the money to back restaurants?

Nguyen needed partners. She asked restaurants, if they received a $250 sponsorship, would they be able to provide 50 to 75 shift meals?

By that weekend, we had a roster of 10 restaurants, she said.

The numbers grew. Nguyen created a spreadsheet, and the Texas Wine School offered to manage monetary donations. By the start of the next week, Houston Shift Meals was open, hosting one event per day. By the second week, there were two events a day.

On the fourth week, a second distribution center opened. By the fifth week, there were almost 30 restaurant partners and $60,000 in donations.

Because of the nature of the pandemic, restaurants use only their own staff and no volunteers. Sometimes restaurants distribute meals in their parking lots, letting cars form a line and piling packages in the back.

Houston Shift Meals also has regular distribution days in which multiple meals can be picked up at a time.

Organizers use Facebook to announce the free meals. Hospitality industry workers can register, but the events are first come, first served.

Beitler hopes that more donations will come so food can be one less thing to worry about for industry workers who have lost their jobs, whether temporarily or permanently. He wants them to know their community appreciates and supports them.

He often thinks about how busy Houstons restaurants and bars would be if it werent for the pandemic. Thats money they are losing, he said. This is a chance for you to give back to the community that serves you regularly.

While restaurants have been allowed to open to 25 percent capacity in recent days, they will not look the same after COVID-19.

Many of these small businesses will have to close, Beitler said. Those are livelihoods.

Nguyen said many restaurant and bar employees do not have a safety net. We always step in for one another, she said. But the problem now is that the entire hospitality industry needs help, and who is going to take care of them?

Many of those affected are the same employees who volunteered to help the city during the hurricane at the Houston Kitchen Collective.

These are the people who took care of you after Harvey, Nguyen said. Its time for you to take care of them.
Two more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Tripura on Saturday, less than two weeks after chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb declared the state coronavirus-free.

Deb wrote on his Facebook page: Alert! In Tripura two persons from Ambassa #BSF unit found #COVID-19 positive. Total #COVID-19 positive cases in Tripura stands at 4. (Two already discharged, so active hospital cases: 2)

Out of Tripuras eight districts, two  Gomati and North district  are in the orange zone. Ambassa is in Dhalai district, which was not in the orange zone.

A senior BSF official, who declined to be named, said a head constable was admitted to a hospital in Dhalai on March 25 with complaints of stomach ache. He was recently shifted to the GBP Hospital in Agartala after short spells in the sub-divisional and district hospitals.

During a check-up at GBP Hospital, the head constable and another constable, attached to him as an attendant, both tested positive for the virus on Saturday, the BSF official said.

The state had earlier recorded two Covid-19 cases and both recovered last month.

The first patient tested positive on April 6 after she came to Tripura from Assam. She was released from hospital on April 16. The second patient, a personnel of the Tripura State Rifles who travelled with the first patient on a train, tested positive on April 10. He was released from hospital on April 25.
He and his colleagues decorated the parking lot to make it a little more festive than the government-and-concrete vibe it usually has. A crew hung sprays of white silk flowers from exit and enter signs. They laced white taffeta ribbons through a line of orange traffic cones leading past the drive-through window. And they hung a big sign on a blue dumpster that sits just a few yards away from the window: Congrats! April 30, 2020.
Cats are not everyones favorite pets, because people think they do not care like dogs. However, one cat showing heartwarming motherly instincts might put all those conjectures to rest.

Photos of a cat and kitten taken in an Istanbul hospital have been going viral on the Internet. What is surprising about the incident is that the cat BROUGHT her kitten to the hospital herself, supposedly for it to be looked after by the doctors!

Twitter/ozcanmerveee

The images were shared on Twitter by Merve Ozcan and they show the mother cat bringing her sick kitten to the human hospital. The paramedics immediately circled around the cat and the kitten to tend to them.

The Turkish people are known for being kind and loving towards stray animals.

Bugun hastanenin acilindeydik, bir kedi agznda tasdg yavrusunu kosa kosa acile getirdi pic.twitter.com/lS7acpuWmg  Merve Ozcan (@ozcanmerveee) April 27, 2020





Today we were in the emergency room of the hospital when a cat rushed to bring her offspring in her mouth, Merve Ozcan, wrote on Twitter.

Twitter/ozcanmerveee

The Turkish media reported that the medics immediately checked the kitten for obvious health issues. The mother did not let the kitten out of her sight even once.

While the kitten was being taken care of the mother was offered milk and food by the medics to make her comfortable.

Both the cat and the kitten have been reported to be fine, but they were still taken to the vet just to make sure that they were in good health.

Cat or human, if their kids are in trouble, moms will do anything and everything to make sure they're okay.
Michael Santos, 28, thought he had the coronavirus in February, so he went to the emergency room to find out.

Santos never got a coronavirus test, but he did end up with a $1,689.21 bill. After Business Insider inquired about the bill, his insurer, Cigna, covered the cost.

Congress and the Trump administration announced moves to protect patients from big bills when they seek coronavirus testing and care, but there are loopholes.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Mike Santos, 28, got a $1,600 medical bill after he went to the emergency room to find out whether he had the coronavirus.

Courtesy of Mike Santos

Michael Santos said he'd never felt sicker in his life when he decided to go to the emergency department at Jefferson Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia.

Related Video: What Coronavirus Symptoms Look Like, Day by Day

Santos, 28, had severe back pains, weakness, and what he called a "raspy, phlegmy-sounding cough." He feared he had COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, when he started having difficulty breathing.

"It was probably the sickest I've ever been," Santos said of his illness in February. "I don't get sick very often. I've had the flu before but I don't remember it ever being this bad."

Weeks later, he would come to regret ever going to the hospital. The visit, on February 15, lasted no more than 45 minutes. He never got tested for coronavirus, and a few weeks later he received a $1,689.21 bill in the mail that he said he couldn't afford to pay.

Michael Santos was stunned to receive a bill in the mail for 1,689.21

Courtesy of Michael Santos

A $1,418 charge for a flu test

When Santos called Jefferson to ask about his bill, he said the hospital told him it couldn't do anything but put him on a payment plan, and to call his insurer. Santos called Cigna and was told to appeal the bill by sending a form through the mail.

When Business Insider asked about the charges while reporting this story, Cigna paid the bill.

Santos' story shows how the US is falling short on its goal to cover the costs of testing and care for people who have the coronavirus, or think they have it. The US government says it's requiring insurance companies to cover testing and treatment for COVID-19 patients or "presumptive" patients, but it's not clear exactly what that means.

Story continues

Because of the timeline of events, Santos didn't get the protections when he sought care in February. Other patients tested for the flu  or patients who can't get a coronavirus test  could face similar bills. It's possible for people to have both the coronavirus and the flu at the same time, studies show.

Cigna said its policy is to waive patient costs for COVID-19 treatment beginning Feb. 4 and for tests beginning March 3. For the policy to apply, providers need to use a billing code indicating that a person had the coronavirus or was exposed to it, Cigna said.

"During this time of heightened concern, Cigna's role is clear. We will do everything we can to help contain this virus, remove barriers to testing and treatment and give peace of mind to those we serve," David Cordani, Cigna's CEO, said in a statement to Business Insider. "This is another example of how, every day, we strive to stand by our customers through their life and health journeys."

A copy of the bills Santos got in the mail a few weeks after his visit shows Jefferson charged $1,310 for the emergency department visit and $1,418 for a flu test, which came back positive for influenza type B. The hospital also charged $410 for chest X-rays.

Cigna negotiated $1,712.23 off the bill but didn't make any payments toward it initially, leaving Santos to pay the remaining balance of $1,689.21. Santos said he would have gone to his primary care doctor, who also works at Jefferson, but the office wasn't open on weekends.

Santos got sick before the coronavirus lockdowns

Santos took the train from Philadelphia to Rhode Island and back in early February, the weekend before he got sick. The train had gone through New York, which would later become the epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

Santos began having flu-like symptoms two days after returning to Philadelphia. On Thursday, Feb. 13, he called out sick from his job at Citizens Bank. He stayed in bed for two days and became worried when he developed a bad cough and had trouble breathing.

He was hesitant to go to the hospital because he worried he might get a medical bill even of a couple hundred dollars. He'd drained much of his savings when he moved from Rhode Island to Philadelphia in November.

Michael Santos had recently traveled on the train through New York when he got sick.

Courtesy of Michael Santos

"I don't want her to pay it now that I see how expensive it is," Santos said in an interview last week. "I feel bad."

Policymakers tried to stop this from happening

High bills after an emergency room visit aren't unique to the coronavirus pandemic. A survey by the research institute NORC at the University of Chicago found that 57% of people report they've been surprised by a medical bill they had to pay that they thought would be covered by their health insurance.

But the coronavirus pandemic brought the issue back to the forefront as people lost their jobs and medical coverage. Congress passed two bills in March requiring insurers to pay for certain coronavirus treatments and tests without charging patients. Insurers are supposed to pay the tab even if a provider isn't in a patient's network.

On top of that, the Trump administration determined that hospitals who accept federal bailout money can't bill patients who have COVID-19  or are presumed to have the disease  any amount greater than what the patient would have otherwise been required to pay if the care had been given by a provider in their network.

Jefferson didn't respond to inquiries about how much the hospital received in federal stimulus money or when it started to have coronavirus tests available.

Jefferson's hospital is in Santos' insurance network, and he received the $1,689.21 bill because he hadn't yet met his insurance plan's deductible, according to a document from Cigna.

"While we can't discuss this specific case due to federal privacy laws, deductibles are applied based on the insurance plans patients purchase either on their own or through their employers," said Jessica Lopez, Jefferson spokeswoman.

The federal laws and regulations leave room for someone like Santos to face a big bill, said Jack Hoadley, research professor emeritus in the Health Policy Institute of Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy. While new protections were added, he said, they still come with gaps and loopholes.

Doctors sometimes order other tests to rule out other conditions, and while the regulations are supposed to extend to people who are "presumptive" COVID-19 patients, that can be hard to determine if they don't get a test.

"It's a very narrow set of protections specific to a patient who ends up with a coronavirus test ordered," Hoadley said.

Santos also sought care before Congress passed its legislation and before Cigna announced it would waive costs. Before Cigna handled the charges, he said he felt "punished" for trying to do the right thing.

"It was pretty well known at the time that this was a serious problem across the globe," he said.

A recent Gallup survey found that fear of high costs would prevent 9% of people who thought they had the coronavirus from seeking care.

When this happens, then people risk spreading the virus to others, Hoadley said.

"That's why we want to see these financial barriers eliminated, so people won't be afraid of going in," he said.

Business Insider is interested in your experience getting medical care during the coronavirus pandemic. If you are willing to share your story, please email senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard at KLeonard@businessinsider.com.

Business Insider
Need to know more about coronavirus in New York? Sign up for THE CITYs daily morning newsletter.

To help contain the spread of COVID-19, the city social service agency had plastered bluntly worded signs at the entrances of welfare offices across the five boroughs: In order to enter this building, you must wear a face-covering or a mask.

On Friday, the Human Resources Administration reversed course after a pair of clashes at a Bronx facility  ordering the signs to be taken down and declaring that clients who refuse to wear a mask would be allowed in.

The sudden flip seemingly clashes with Mayor Bill de Blasios repeated admonition that all New Yorkers entering grocery stores and pharmacies must wear a mask  and that owners have the right to keep them out if they dont. We will back them up a hundred percent, the mayor said Thursday.

On Sunday, a day after this story was published, de Blasio said he wasnt familiar with HRAs new policy, but didnt seem to agree with it.

I think its abundantly clear that people need to be wearing face coverings and particularly in an enclosed space, he said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomos executive order mandating that people must wear masks in public went into effect April 17. On Saturday, he announced that seven million cloth masks would be delivered to nursing homes, NYCHA residents and people in poorer communities.

On Friday Gregory Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, which represents HRA peace officers, questioned the logic of the citys new policy at welfare offices.

As New York City moves to enforce social distancing, the New York City HRA moves to disregard enforcing the wearing of face shields in their facilities, Floyd stated.

The change apparently stems from two incidents within the last 10 days at a Bronx welfare office where clients refused HRA workers instructions to cover their faces or accept free masks that were offered.

Both were ejected after HRA peace officers intervened. One was issued a summons after allegedly threatening to kill the officers.

Take Me to Rikers!

At around 8:30 a.m. Monday, client Jermaine Gaddy, 43, walked past the face-covering sign, written in English and Spanish, at the entrance to the Crotona Jobs Center and HRA office on Monterey Avenue, according to an internal HRA report obtained by THE CITY.

The report offered this account: Workers at the entrance offered Gaddy a free mask. He refused to take it and proceeded to the second-floor reception area. Workers there told him he had to wear a face covering or they could not help him.

He became irate, and HRA peace officers were summoned, the report reads. When he refused to leave the building, he was handcuffed.

Gaddy then became non-compliant, and made repeated verbal threat(s) to the officers, stating, When I see you Im going to beat the st out of you and then kill you.

According to the report, Gaddy was not arrested, but was instead issued a summons for trespassing, harassment and disorderly conduct. He refused to take the summons and hollered Take me to Rikers!

NYPD officers were summoned. When the cops arrived, Gaddy took his summons and departed with a return-to-court date of August, the report said. A call Friday to a number listed for Gaddy was not returned.

A second incident occurred late last week, when another client showed up to the same Crotona office and refused to wear any face covering. This time, the client was not issued a summons but was instead transported to a nearby hospital as a person in distress, according to a source familiar with what happened.

Remove the Sign

Early Friday morning, the call of a new open-door policy went out from Joseph A. Sitro Jr., chief of HRAs Office of Patrol Operations, to all HRA police borough commands across the city.

Effective immediately and prior to tomorrows opening at the client-facing locations, please remove the sign telling clients that they must wear a face-covering or mask, the memo states.

Peace officers should continue to offer masks to clients who enter the locations but should not bar further access to the building if they refuse to accept or wear a mask or face covering.

The memo notes that officers should keep enforcing social distancing rules  and that a clients refusal to comply would still justify ejection from the premises.

Sitro said the instruction to remove the no mask signs was per an unspecified state directive.

Cuomos press secretary, Richard Azzopardi, said the state did not issue any directives to the city in this regard, although the governor does require that all essential workers be provided with face-coverings.

But, he noted: While our directive didnt contain a penalty associated with non-compliance, they are free to exclude if they choose, provided they make sure that they still have a means to provide government services to those who need them.

Really Clear Rules

HRAs reversal appears to undermine de Blasios statements  including on Sunday, when he said in response to a question by THE CITY: If you do go into (a city social services) office, you need to be wearing a face covering.

He sounded in sync with his sometime nemesis, Cuomo, who was asked Friday how he felt about requiring shoppers to don face coverings inside supermarkets.

I would deny admission to a person who is not wearing a mask, the governor responded.

Arianna Fishman, a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services, which oversees HRA, did not directly respond to THE CITYs questions about why the agency changed its policy and waived the mask requirement at its offices.

Instead, she noted that the number of clients showing up to offices has dropped off significantly since the pandemic arrived. She said that DSS has created new ways clients can resolve issues with their benefits on-line without an office visit.

As an essential agency responsible for providing essential services, we remain committed to serving New Yorkers in need no matter what, Fishman said, offering face-coverings and mask options to clients seeking our assistance in this crisis and distributing (personal protective equipment) to frontline staff as they perform their essential duties during these extraordinary times.

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Delhi govt to get Rs 10,000 cr revenue from bidding of liquor shops under new excise policy

Delhis liquor shops reopen from today under new excise policy| Check timings, costs and other details here

Liquor stores allowed to open in green zones with social distancing norms

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: The Centre has said that it would allow opening of liquor and paan shops in the green zones during the third phase of the lockdown.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had extended the lockdown by another two weeks and also issued a fresh set of guidelines. Liquor companies have said that they expect a large number of their standalone shops to open, but not in malls and markets. Strict social distancing norms would, however, have to be followed.

In states such as Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka, companies have started production of alcohol. The companies that are looking to start business are Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Allied Blenders and Distillers, Brown-Forman, Moham Meakin, Radico Kahitan and Bacardi.

Lockdown 3.0: What remains open, what is shut

The states have been pushing the Centre hard to allow the sale of liquor during the lockdown as it generates an immense amount of revenue.

The guidelines said, shops selling liquor, paan, gutka, tobacco etc. will ensure minimum six feet distance from each other, and also ensure that not more than 5 persons are present at one time at the shop.

The consumption of liquor, paan, gutka and tobacco are however not allowed in public places. Spitting in public places shall be punishable with fine, the guidelines also state.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian IRNA news agency has presented its guideline of operations in the coronavirus conditions. IRNA provided its report to ARMENPRESS, featuring the specificities of their activities amid the pandemic. Below is the full report as provided by IRNA.

A Report on IRNA & COVID19 Epidemic

Since late February, when the transmission of COVID19 to Iran was confirmed, IRNA took a number of special measures to raise public awareness and to provide people with the latest news and accurate information about the disease.

The big challenge about Coronavirus outbreak was that people didn't have any experience of facing such a major pandemic. Furthermore, there was no pattern whatsoever for the media to handle it; therefore, IRNA developed an innovative approach to the problem.

The innovative approach was meant to support two objectives:

To raise public awareness To provide people with necessary information

Responsibility Assignment

Five departments in IRNA control and facilitate the whole process of news production: domestic, international, provincial, research and multimedia news departments. The following table shows, in brief, what IRNA did and how responsibilities were assigned to different departments.

No. Measure Responsible dep. 1 Initiation and coordination of My Role in Fighting Coronavirus campaign in Iranian social networks All news departments 2 Addition of a separate section to IRNA Persian website about the latest news on COVID19 All news departments 3 Special coverage of the latest news, findings and developments about Coronavirus in other countries International news department 4 Establishment of a special desk for fact-checking the rumors that go around social media about Coronavirus Research department 5 Brining the business, social & cultural consequences of the epidemic into focus, like in lifestyle, sports, arts, growth of online business, etc. All news departments 6 Conducting local and national polls about coronavirus epidemic Research department 7 Daily production of educational and informative videos about Coronavirus and issues concerning the epidemic Multimedia department 8 Daily production of infographics & motion-graphics about coronavirus and issue concerning the epidemic Multimedia department 9 Bringing into focus the issues relating to COVID19 in distant areas, like among the nomads in some mountainous regions Provincial news department 10 Presenting a correct image of the developments in Iran by delivering the most important domestic news about COVID19 on the 9 non-Persian IRNA websites International news department

Multimedia Reports

Because photos and short videos play a dominant role in the flow of information through social media, IRNA created many videos addressing the following subjects:

Instructions by WHO and Iranian Ministry of Health Inspiring videos to encourage people to joint campaigns against coronavirus Introduction of the activities by government and private organizations as well as NGOs to control the virus epidemic Demonstration of how cultural and social activities are influenced by the epidemic Introduction of the latest findings about Coronavirus

The agency also encouraged its photographers to devote an extra effort in order to produce photo reports addressing the epidemic and its entailing events and developments.

However, infographics has the upper hand when it comes to presenting a large amount of information in a brief and eye-catching manner. That's why IRNA created a lot of infographics about the epidemic.

Infographics: Business Hours during the Infographics: How to Refuel a Vehicle during

Social Distancing Period Coronavirus Epidemic?

(Demonstration of time limits (recommendations on how to use

for businesses and the list of and discard single-use gloves,

businesses that will be closed) debit cards, etc. at gas stations)

An IRNA photohgrapher took photos of popular monuments and landmarks in the historical city of Nishabur before and after the COVID19 outbreak to encourage people to stay home

Public Relations

The body temperature of an IRNA staff is being monitored

In order to form a closer bond and build trust between the organization and its audience, IRNA let them know how it protected its own staff at work. A number of reports were posted on IRNA Public Relations web page about how the agency enacted special regulations to face the epidemic. The regulations, among other, included the following ones:
China said it firmly opposes any participation by Taiwan in the United Nations as it responded to a tweet by the US mission to the international body for the island to become involved.

The US isnt in any position to speak for Taiwan, is interfering in Chinas internal affairs and hurts the feelings of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, Chinas mission to the UN said in a statement on its website on Friday. It also criticized the timing of the US comments as the world tries to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The US mission said barring Taiwan from the UN was an affront to the international bodys founding principles promoting human freedom and providing a forum welcoming diverse views.

US President Donald Trump is escalating efforts to blame China for the Covid-19 pandemic and is exploring ways to hold Beijing accountable. He and his aides have sharpened their criticism of China, hinting at possible retaliation through tariffs. On Monday, a top US health official spoke with his Taiwan counterpart on giving the island a bigger role in the virus fight.

The Chinese Mission hereby expresses strong indignation and firm opposition, it said in the statement. The government of the Peoples Republic China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, it said.
Swedens chief epidemiologist has admitted he is not convinced his countrys strategy of dealing with coronavirus without introducing a strict lockdown is the right decision.

The Swedish government has been an outlier in Europe by keeping most restaurants, bars and schools open during the Covid-19 pandemic, while neighbouring countries have implemented strict measures to restrict movement and social contact.

In an interview with the newspaper Aftonbladet, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said health officials were constantly reviewing evidence on the effectiveness of the strategy.

I'm not convinced at all. We are constantly thinking about this What can we do better and what else can we add on? Mr Tegnell said.

I think the most important thing all the time is to try to do it as well as you can, with the knowledge we have and the tools you have in place. And to be humble all the time because you may have to change.

The country has primarily relied on voluntary measures to fight Covid-19, with Swedes asked to keep distance from each other, work from home where possible and avoid travel.

Stefan Lofven, the Swedish prime minister, said last week he was confident that the overall strategy was working, despite some scientists accusing the government of running a dangerous experiment on peoples lives.

One reason that we have chosen this strategy, and where we have supported the agencies, is that all measures have to be sustainable over time, he said.

Swedens outbreak has so far killed 2,669 people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, which puts the countrys death toll at a much higher number compared to neighbouring countries Norway and Finland, where strict measures have been introduced.

However, Sweden has seen a much lower number of deaths than France, Spain, Italy and the UK, where lockdowns have been used.

Although it is not clear why the countrys death rate is lower, it has been suggested that the country has avoided a higher number of deaths because its population is more spread out, with more than half of homes being single-person households, according to 2016 figures from the EU.

The voluntary measures may have also been more effective due to high levels of trust in government among the Swedish population  with 72 per cent trusting their government, compared to an EU average of 40 per cent.

Swedens strategy has focussed on slowing the spread of Covid-19 enough to allow the healthcare system to cope, while keeping society and the economy functioning as much as possible.

It is a plan that has received cautious backing from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in recent days.

If we are to reach a 'new normal', in many ways Sweden represents a future model, Mike Ryan, the WHOs top emergencies expert, said on Wednesday.

What it has done differently is that it really, really has trusted its own communities to implement that physical distancing.

Additional reporting by Reuters
On May 4 each year, since 2005, a non-profit in the United States (US) called United Poultry Concerns celebrates International Respect for Chickens Day. It spreads the message that we need to rethink how we treat all food animals, especially chickens, since poultry is the most consumed meat in the world.

The rest of the world needs to join them in celebrating May 4 as International Chicken Day.

Astonishingly, 60 billion chickens are reared for meat globally each year. India produces about three billion, in an industry valued at close to $20 billion. The broiler and layer industry that perfected itself in the US has spread globally, and so have all its practices, both good and bad. In India, it has created economies of scale, given livelihoods to thousands of farmers, and become an important source of protein.

But animal rights activists have long tried to sensitise people that chickens are arguably the most abused animals on the planet. Broilers and layers undergo a lot of suffering so that humans can get low-cost protein. They also save other forms of wildlife from being trapped and slaughtered for food.

From the moment they are born, these birds spend all their lives in total confinement. Broiler chickens are born in large incubators with hundreds of others; crammed into small, often filthy spaces. They are fed and drugged to become very large very quickly. They can become crippled under their own weight; they can get heart attacks and have organ failure. Many die because their baby-sized hearts cannot keep up with their adult-sized bodies. Sometimes, they, especially the layer hens, cant even move; sometimes, their bodies grow outside and around their tightly packed wire cages.

Broiler babies are slaughtered at around 42 days, though their natural lifespan can be 10-15 years. When they are ready to be killed, there is more agony waiting for them. They are roughly handled in small crates on the way to the slaughterhouse. Sometimes, they are immersed alive in hot water to remove their feathers. Sometimes, when there is no market for them, as during this pandemic, they are just buried alive in mass trenches.

Yet, there is enough evidence to show that chickens are inquisitive, intelligent and highly social animals. Mother hens spend a lot of time teaching young ones and vocalising to them. Some studies have shown they could feel empathy and also jealousy. In experiments, they have shown they can count, and can even recognise human faces. Certainly, they feel fear and pain.

Maybe it is time to rethink how chickens are bred, treated and eaten, too. There is a whole new generation of people who care about where their food comes from, and how it is grown. More people are turning vegetarian. There is also an increasing demand world over, and now in India, for humane meat, for free-range chickens and organic eggs.

The recent pandemic has reminded us once again, this time with deadly urgency, about the threat of zoonotic disease that spread from the animal world to the human. People deserve to know more about the connection between the industrial processes at poultry farms and the spread of diseases.

We now know exactly how much our well-being is intertwined with that of animals and birds. Maybe it is time to honour the sacrifice that they, and chickens especially, make for us all, including vegetarians. Lets mark May 4 on our calendars, not just for the partial end of the lockdown, but for the end of misery for the animals we depend on for food.

Rohini Nilekani is chairperson, Arghyam

The views expressed are personal
The US missed chances to slow the spread of coronavirus, a senior health official has admitted.

In an article, Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said America "didn't recognise" the scale of the crisis when it was first unfolding.

Limited testing and a sluggish response in understanding how the virus was arriving into the US from Europe contributed to a rise in Covid-19 cases from late February, Dr Schuchat said.

The coronavirus was first reported late last year in China, the initial epicentre of the global pandemic, but the US has since become the hardest-hit nation.

Dr Schuchat said: We clearly didn't recognise the full importations that were happening.

The article, published by the CDC, looked back on the US response, recapping some of the major decisions and events of the last few months.

It suggested the nation's top public health agency missed opportunities to slow the spread.

US president Donald Trump has repeatedly celebrated a federal decision, announced on 31 January, to stop entry into the US of any foreign nationals who had travelled to China in the previous fortnight.

China had imposed its own travel restrictions earlier, and travel out of its outbreak areas did indeed drop dramatically.

But in her article, Dr Schuchat noted that nearly two million travellers arrived in the US from Italy and other European countries during February, with the government not blocking travel from there until mid-March.

She said: The extensive travel from Europe, once Europe was having outbreaks, really accelerated our importations and the rapid spread.

I think the timing of our travel alerts should have been earlier.

Dr Schuchat said she felt there was an evolving public understanding of the worsening coronavirus situation, as well as a change in what kind of measures  including stay-at-home orders  people were willing to accept.

She said: I think that people's willingness to accept the mitigation is unfortunately greater once they see the harm the virus can do.

There will be debates about should we have started much sooner, or did we go too far too fast.

Dr Schuchat's article still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, said Dr Howard Markel, a public health historian at the University of Michigan.

He said it omits detail of what kind of proposals were made, and perhaps ignored, during the critical period before US cases began to take off in late February.

He said: I want to know ... the conversations, the memos, the presidential edicts.

Because I still believe this did not need to be as bad as it turned out.

Additional reporting by AP
Californias attempts to discourage gun ownership hit a bump Thursday. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez granted a preliminary injunction that stopped the state from enforcing its background checks on ammunition purchases. The initiative, which was spearheaded by Gavin Newsom when he was the lieutenant governor, passed in 2016 with 63 percent of the vote.

The background checks have failed miserably, succeeding only in preventing law-abiding citizens from buying ammunition. Between July 2019 and January 2020, 101,047 non-prohibited Californians were prevented from buying bullets. By contrast, just 188 prohibited people were denied. That means that for every prohibited person whose purchase was rejected, 537 law-abiding citizens were denied.

This high ratio is not too surprising, since few criminals are dumb enough to try to go through a background check. As Judge Benitez noted, Criminals, tyrants, and terrorists dont do background checks. Instead, many of these criminals buy their guns and ammunition from drug dealers. Weve had no more success in stopping the illegal gun trade than in stopping the illegal drug trade.

Denials typically result from such things as the buyers current address differing from the address when they last bought a gun. Even law-enforcement officers, such as Sutter County deputy sheriff Zachary Berg, are being denied because their personal information doesnt match the state database records.

The small number of prohibited people who have been stopped is undoubtedly even smaller than the 188 cases the state claims. California provides no evidence that any of these prohibited individuals were actually convicted for breaking the law by trying to buy this ammunition. In the federal background check system for gun purchases, only about one out of every 3,000 denials actually leads to a conviction. Thats because the vast majority of prohibited purchases were the result of mistaken identification. The government confused the identities of law-abiding citizens with those who were prohibited.

Story continues

The costs of the checks and the legal hassles of getting around them are primarily harming poorer Californians. These are the very people who are the most likely victims of violent crime and who stand to benefit the most from being able to protect themselves.

This judgment mirrors the views of academic researchers. A 2019 survey of 120 criminologists, economists, and public-health researchers who had published peer-reviewed, empirical research on firearms revealed a high degree of skepticism that background checks on either ammunition or guns would reduce crime. Respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of each policy on a scale of 1 to 10. A rating of 1 indicated not effective at all, and 10 indicated extreme effectiveness. For ammunition background checks, the survey result was a mere 3.48.

By contrast, reducing the cost of background checks and licensing fees earned a significantly higher effectiveness score of 5.1.

California hasnt provided the court with any evidence that these types of background checks stop criminals from getting ammunition.

Californias neighbor Mexico has gone much further than even California in its restrictions, and the crime rates dont bear out the benefits of background checks on ammunition. The entire country has only one gun store  a military-run establishment in Mexico City. That store is the only place that one can legally buy ammunition, and background checks are required. Mexicos current murder rates are six times higher than those of the U.S., and twice what they were when the restrictions started in 1972.

The [background check] experiment has been tried. The casualties have been counted. Californias new ammunition background check law misfires and the Second Amendment rights of California citizens have been gravely injured, Judge Benitez wrote in his decision. Well said, your honor.

More from National Review
Iko Uwais in 'The Raid'. (Credit: Momentum)

Gareth Evans has revealed the ambitious plans he had for The Raid 3, which wouldve taken the action into the jungles of Indonesia.

Evans went into detail on his proposed sequel in a podcast interview with Empire, looking back at the original 2011 movie The Raid.

Read more: Joe Carnahan discusses politically-minded Raid remake

The 2014 sequel, The Raid 2, expanded the canvas to encompass the sprawling chaos of the Jakarta underworld and pitted leading actor Iko Uwais against dozens of foes.

Evans said Uwais character Rama wouldve only appeared in the opening scene of The Raid 3, which would instead have focused on a Japanese gang that appeared in the previous film.

A double-cross wouldve sent the gang boss into hiding in the jungles of West Java, pursued by an elite team of assassins.

Gareth Evans at the 'Apostle' premiere at Fantastic Fest at the Alamo Drafthouse on September 21, 2018. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Netflix)

He added: The idea is this Japanese kill squad thats used to the streets of Tokyo suddenly have to deal with the terrain of a jungle-hunt  a bit like Predator in a way.

Evans said hes sure the film would have pissed off an awful lot of people and wouldve gone back to the tight running time of the first movie, rather than the epic scope of the sequel.

Read more: Evans criticises lazy Hollywood action

The director said his work on future projects, including Netflix horror Apostle, delayed The Raid 3 for so long that interest waned  both from audiences and the filmmaker himself.

My interests had moved on to other projects, Evans said.

He added: You work with other people, you meet other people and want to work with them again, you want to try different things, you find a story that suddenly captures your attention and that's the thing you want to do next.

Things get offered to you that are hard to pass up on.

'The Raid 2'. (Credit: eOne)

Since The Raid 2 and Apostle, Evans has moved on to the Sky crime series Gangs of London, on which he serves as co-creator, writer and director.

Read more: Evans breaks down the violence of Gangs of London

The nine-part series follows the violent power struggles between different criminal factions in modern day Britain.

The show features an ensemble cast led by Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole, with Colm Meaney and David Bradley among the supporting players.
The Ashaiman District Court, presided over by Mr Charles Boateng, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the founder of Heavens Life Global Church, Bishop Eric Borngreat Aboagye, for flouting the ban on social gathering in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19.



Bishop Borngreat Aboagye was said to have organised a church service attended by over 50 people at Lebanon School Junction at Ashaiman last Wednesday. He escaped and fled from the church premises on sighting a joint police and taskforce team from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (AshMA) who were moving in to enforce the law.



Members of the taskforce, however, managed to arrest some of the congregants who were handed over to the police who arraigned them before the Ashaiman District Court last Thursday.



Prayer service



Police Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Akwasi Ahenkorah Afrifa, informed the court that on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at about 1:30 p.m, a joint police and taskforce team from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, had information that there was a prayer service in a church around Lebanon School Junction at Ashaiman.



The police gathered from the information that about 50 members of the church had gathered to pray contrary to the ban on all religious, social and public gatherings which has been in force since March 15, as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.



Arrest

ASP Ahenkorah Afrifa said following the information, the taskforce rushed to the church to apprehend the culprits.



However, the head pastor of the church, Bishop Aboagye, on seeing the members of the task force approaching, abandoned his pulpit and took to his heels. The congregants also attempted to escape after seeing their leader dash out, but 22 of them, including seven males and 15 females, including a juvenile were arrested.



The culprits were sent to the Tsuibleo Police Station where they were charged and placed before the Ashaiman District Court. The court granted bail in the sum of GH10,000 with two sureties to each of the adult accused persons.



The juvenile was granted bail of the same amount but with a surety .



The court ordered the suspects to report to the police on Tuesday to be re-arraigned because the area district court lacked jurisdiction to handle the matter.







Source: Graphic Online









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Extinction Rebellion wants activists to stage rent strikes, halt tax payments and take out bank loans they never intend to repay in protest at an economic system they claim is fuelling a climate catastrophe.

Internal documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday set out plans for a Money Rebellion involving acts of financial sabotage to directly challenge the fundamental principles that govern our national and global economies.

Despite dire warnings that the coronavirus pandemic has plunged Britain into its worst recession for 300 years, the dossier details how the group  also known as XR  wants to launch a rent strike later this month.

It seeks to legitimise the protest by arguing that our economic system is causing cancer in our planet. It adds: We will resist irresponsible lenders. Some of us will legally dispute debts, others will refuse to pay debts.

With Extinction Rebellion, the climate change activist group, currently unable to take to the streets to demonstrate in a traditional fashion under the coronavirus lockdown and social distancing measures, they are having to find new methods of protest

Barclays Bank is named as a top target, with supporters encouraged to take out a personal loan or a credit card and publicly declare that they will not repay the debt. HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds are also listed.

Activists are warned that in addition to being sued in the civil courts, they could face prosecution under the Fraud Act, but XR says the risk is outweighed by the damage caused to banks balance sheets and share prices. Organisers hope the protests will mobilise broader popular support, saying: Any negative publicity could have the same desired effect as any financial consequence of the rebellion.

The detailed documents suggest that while the pandemic has forced XR to ditch its campaign of street protests, the movement wants to exploit the crisis.

A woman is removed by a police officer from the extinction rebellion protests in London that occurred in April, 2019

Without pressure from activists, we wont see the increasingly necessary shift to a green economy, the dossier says. Just as we have lost our usual means of rebelling, a new opportunity has opened up for us in a time when it is vital that we act.

It then outlines a desire to launch direct actions against the organisations acting in support of the cancer-causing system (banks, accounting firms, investment bodies, regulatory bodies, legal firms and so on).

XR hopes at least 5,000 supporters will refuse to pay their rent, adding: Council tenants and private tenants alike can participate in the strike on such a scale that it forces a society-wide conversation about our misguided economy.

According to the documents, it will be followed by a tax strike involving 10,000 people who will sign a conditional commitment to withhold 100 of income tax.

Social distance protesting: Extinction Rebellion protesters in Munich, Germany sit apart from one another to adhere to social distancing measures

Such a move will, it adds, present a dilemma to HMRC about whether to pursue 10,000 claims for 100.

Other possible protests include a utilities strike, where activists refuse to pay their bills unless suppliers promise to switch to 100 per cent renewable energy, and plans for supporters to withhold VAT, student debt or mortgage payments.

XR said: Covid-19 is making it evidently clear that our economic system is not set up to support the people who keep it going. The proposals laid out in these documents are being considered because we want to avert further chaos down the line.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-01 21:03:50|Editor: huaxia

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Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid Region, speaks at the closing ceremony of a field hospital built to treat COVID-19 patients in Madrid, Spain, May 1, 2020. Madrid's field hospital, which was set up at the capital's IFEMA exhibition center at the end of March to take in COVID-19 patients, was officially closed on Friday after treating some 4,000 COVID-19 patients. (Madrid Region Government/Handout via Xinhua)

MADRID, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Madrid's field hospital, which was set up at the capital's IFEMA exhibition center at the end of March to take in COVID-19 patients, was officially closed on Friday after attending around 4,000 people.

The continued fall in the number of new cases, with just 52 confirmed in the Madrid region on Friday, means that the hospital, with a capacity to care for over 3,000 patients, has been able to close its doors two weeks earlier than previously expected.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the President of the Madrid Region, attended the closing ceremony, where she was met by health workers who chanting "public health, public health." The last batch of patients were able to leave the facility on Friday morning.

IFEMA Director Eduardo Lopez Puertas told regional TV station TeleMadrid that the pavilions where the hospital had been established would remain "exactly the same" for the coming month.

"We will maintain the beds and the equipment throughout in May in case there is a new rise in cases," said Puertas.

Over 8,200 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in Madrid region.
Judge Morris wrote that in issuing the leases, the Trump administrations failure to provide the legally required environmental analyses largely relates to the absence of analysis rather than to a flawed analysis. In other words, the Court does not fault B.L.M. for providing a faulty analysis of cumulative impacts or impacts to groundwater, it largely faults B.L.M. for failing to provide any analysis.

Judge Morris sent the case back to the Bureau of Land Management and ordered the agency to perform the legally required environmental analyses before reissuing the leases.

Derrick Henry, a spokesman for the bureau, wrote in an email: With all due respect, we disagree with the Courts conclusion, and the B.L.M. stands by its analysis in following the letter of the law to issue oil and gas leases in Montana. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this dispute and despite the attempts of radical, special interest groups, the Department and the B.L.M. will continue to work toward ensuring Americas energy independence while preserving a healthy environment.

Efforts by President Trump to deliver on his campaign promises to help the oil, gas and coal industries and roll back President Barack Obamas signature environmental policies have repeatedly been blocked by the courts. Many have been denied for reasons similar to those given by Judge Morris in Fridays decision: The administration did not follow correct legal protocol in justifying its actions.

In particular, Judge Morris followed other federal judges and cited the failure of the Trump administration to follow the provisions of the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA. It requires the federal government to perform analyses of both the immediate local environmental impact of drilling and infrastructure projects and broader, cumulative effects of increased fossil fuel pollution on the planet.
02.05.2020 LISTEN

On this occasion of the celebration of workers' day, I congratulate all of us hardworking media men and women of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana. Kindly extend the heartfelt appreciation and commendation to all your respective members of staff.

The past year has been very challenging and a difficult one, particularly the first quarter of 2020, but we have not reneged on our responsibilities of disseminating information of all kinds to our various stakeholders.

We have been exceptional in our reportage on Covid-19 and related matters and the executives are of the view that u deserve exceptional commendation for your resolve to support the national agenda of reducing the rate of infection in Ghana. Congratulations to all of us for our efforts in keeping up the fight despite the challenges.

It is the prayer of the executives that, going forward, things improve particularly for our industry so that, we stand on our feet to be counted among the hardworking workers of Ghana. The leadership of PRINPAG appreciates u and says Ayekoo to all of us.

From Andrew Edwin Arthur,

PRINPAG President,

On behalf of the Executives.
ALBANY, N.Y.  On March 29, as New York and other states began ordering nursing homes to admit medically stable residents infected with the coronavirus, national trade groups warned it could unnecessarily cost more lives.

The health directives put frail and older adults who reside in nursing homes at risk and would "result in more people going to the hospital and more deaths, the American Health Care Association and affiliates said at the time.

A month later, it appears government officials should have heeded the dire call to pursue different pandemic emergency plans.

The deadly virus has spread like wildfire through many nursing homes across the Northeast, and state officials are scrambling to better protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The death toll is devastating, according to interviews with nursing home officials, patients' families, health care advocates, government officials and from an examination of state records by the USA TODAY Network Atlantic Group, a consortium of 37 Gannett-owned daily newspapers across the Northeast.

At least 3,043 people have died inside New York nursing homes due to COVID-19 complications, or about 17% of the states 18,015 deaths as of Wednesday.

In Pennsylvania, about 65% of coronavirus deaths were nursing home residents, and New Jersey had 3,200 residents of long-term care homes die due to complications from the virus, about 40% of the statewide total.

About 58% of the deaths in Delaware lived in nursing homes, and 46% of the fatalities in Maryland were at nursing homes, prompting Gov. Larry Hogan to order residents and staff members at nursing homes to be tested for coronavirus.

'Patients are dropping like flies: 16,000 dead from COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes

Coronavirus at work: Safety inspectors reviewing scores of employee hospitalizations, deaths

Meanwhile, advocates and residents relatives have criticized state and federal officials, as well as some nursing homes, for failing to address the crisis as deaths mounted.

Story continues

To have a mandate that nursing homes accept COVID-19 patients has put many people in grave danger, said Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition in New York.

We know facilities have a lot of infection-control problems, we know that facilities have low staff, so what do you think was going to happen when the staff were further strained in caring for these patients?

Kathleen Cole holds a portrait of her mother Dolores McGoldrick at Hurley Reformed Church on April 29, 2020. McGoldrick succumbed to COVID-19 at Northern Dutchess Hospital on April 17.

Amid the pushback, New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker on Wednesday issued an advisory warning nursing homes they could face fines or lose their license if they didnt properly isolate COVID-19-infected residents, citing state health law.

The letter noted nursing homes incapable of isolating contagious residents should transfer them to other medical facilities and stop admitting additional residents.

New Jerseys Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli took a similar step on April 13, clarifying how the states nursing homes could deny admitting infected patients.

People just can't go back until the spread in the nursing homes slows down and until they can take care of their residents appropriately, Persichilli said the day the revised guidelines were distributed.

More: NY withheld nursing home COVID-19 details for weeks. Thousands died. Here's how secrecy impacted lives

More: Infections in long-term care facilities may impact return to normal

A grieving daughters COVID-19 nursing home story

Dolores McGoldrick, died April 17 after contracting COVID-19 at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York.

Yet the efforts have come too late for some family members, many of whom complained of being kept in the dark about risks at nursing homes since visitors were banned in March to combat the virus.

One is Kathleen Cole, who said her 89-year-old mother, Dolores McGoldrick, died April 17 after contracting COVID-19 at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York.

McGoldrick, a former teacher, was infected shortly after a fellow nursing home resident was re-admitted from a hospital in late March, Cole said.

The nursing home staff said the other resident didnt have COVID-19 when readmitted but didnt provide many other details about the case, she added.

Cole, who is a nurse, cast blame for her mothers death on the entire nursing home system. It spanned from Ferncliffs inability to contain the virus to state officials refusal to release many details about infections and deaths at the facility and others.

The whole thing has just been handled awfully ... by everybody in regard to nursing homes, she said. Its like a slaughterhouse at these places.

More: Nursing homes throughout Northeast become Achilles' heel as thousands die from coronavirus

When will it end?: Coronavirus may last 2 years, study warns. And its second wave could be worse.

Cole recounted calling nursing home staff about her mother and being told repeatedly that she was stable since testing positive on April 2. But at one point, several phone calls went unanswered, which Cole chalked up to understaffing over the holiday weekend in mid-April.

Cole said she only learned of the true situation after her mother was transferred to a local hospitals emergency room on April 14.

My mothers hands were blue  it wasnt like a dusky shade blue, her nail beds were blue, her feet were blue, she was ice cold, Cole said, recalling the scene at the hospital.

She never opened her eyes for anybody to speak with, and she was just in a horrible, horrible state, she said. I know that didnt occur over the course of several hours; that was something that was accumulating over time.

More: As coronavirus spreads in Delaware nursing homes, families wonder if they will be able to say goodbye

Cole has countless unanswered questions, including how her mother contracted the virus. She was in a private room, and staff said there was an isolation unit set up for COVID-19-positive residents, suggesting lapses in containment efforts, Cole said.

I just felt that she wasnt being evaluated appropriately and that actions should have been taken sooner and maybe my mother would have made it through, she said.

Jon Goldberg, a spokesman for Ferncliff, which had reported six deaths as of Thursday, declined to discuss a specific resident's case, citing health privacy laws.

In general, Goldberg disputed that staffing shortages existed. He noted the facility was providing sufficient protective gear and COVID-19 testing for its residents and staff despite supply challenges caused by state and federal issues.

In an email, Goldberg wrote that Ferncliff "has no higher priority than the health and lives of our residents and care members.

"We will continue to do everything in our power to protect, care and advocate for them, and to communicate truthfully and candidly with the people who love them and the communities we serve," he added.

More: Coronavirus in NY: Over 2,400 COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes, assisted living homes. See by county

What states are doing about COVID-19 in nursing homes

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joined by Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling, tours the Northwell Health Core Lab in New Hyde Park before delivering his daily COVID-19 Coronavirus briefing on April 19, 2020.

Central to the nursing home crisis was the early focus on preventing coronavirus patients from overwhelming hospitals.

Massive convention centers and college buildings were converted into temporary hospitals in New York and New Jersey as infections mounted, and hospitals in other states braced to handle surges in COVID-19 patients.

On March 31, the New Jersey Department of Health told the states long-term care facilities that they could not deny admission or readmission based on a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19.

The state needed to make room in its hospitals for the growing number of COVID-19 cases and turned to nursing homes to take over the care of some patients.

At the time, Persichilli said there were restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the virus, such as placing asymptomatic residents on their own wings or floors.

"What we were encountering was that a resident would go to the hospital, be treated, recover, and [(the nursing home) would not accept the resident back," Persichilli said at the time.

"Part of the directive is that this is that resident's home. We keep forgetting that. They should be accepted back with the appropriate precautions," she added.

More: Delaware nursing homes, hit hard by coronavirus, face an uncertain future

At the time, there were fewer than 1,000 known cases in long-term care facilities, which includes nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other care homes.

Not even two weeks later, the number of cases had climbed to more than 5,200, prompting the state to provide additional guidance.

Judy Persichilli, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health answers questions during the New Jersey Governor's daily press briefing at the War Memorial in Trenton on April 25, 2020, regarding updates on the coronavirus.

Persichilli on April 13 clarified that the state allowed for readmission of suspected COVID-19 patients only if they could be placed in isolation.

The order required nursing homes to separate residents in groups and designate staff for each, preventing employees from moving between patients who could spread the virus.

The separate groups are residents who have tested positive for or show symptoms of COVID-19; residents who might have been exposed to the virus; and residents who are not ill and have not been exposed.

On Wednesday, New Yorks health commissioner outlined similar guidelines for separating nursing home residents and staff. The advisory also reinforced prior measures taken to protect nursing homes, such as banning visitors and requiring temperature checks of staff.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said the coronavirus has proven an efficient predator that preys upon nursing home staff and residents, despite the precautions. He has also urged some nursing homes to reach out to the Health Department to help relocate patients.

If a nursing home has a patient that they cant handle, COVID, or whatever the reason, they must refer that patient out of that facility, he said during a press briefing Monday.

But state Assemblyman Ron Kim, D-Queens, on Wednesday asserted the virus has exposed the poor state of many nursing homes after decades of government funding cuts and harmful regulatory changes.

These tragedies in nursing homes are not accidents, theyre the outcome of bad policy decisions, he said during a press briefing to announce new legislation seeking to improve care and transparency at nursing homes.

Gov. Tom Wolf gives an update on Pennsylvania's efforts to mitigate the effects of the new coronavirus.

In Pennsylvania, 461  one-quarter of the state's roughly 1,900 long-term care centers  had at least one COVID-19 case, according to state health data.

Pennsylvania is among the states where health officials are allowing licensed long-term care facilities to continue admitting new patients, including those discharged from hospitals but unable to go home and to readmit current patients after hospital stays.

This may include stable patients who have had the COVID-19 virus, according to a copy of March 18 guidelines the state department of health issued.

The reasoning for allowing readmissions, according to the guidance, was to alleviate the increasing burden in the acute care settings.

State health officials also directed long-term care centers to employ normal discharge-to-home criteria to assist in long-term care bed availability.

Pennsylvania Health Department spokesman Nate Wardle said the department is aware of the significance of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities and is working to assist them as individuals are discharged from hospitals.

More: NJ nursing home crisis deepens as coronavirus death toll mounts among residents, staff

What nursing homes say about COVID-19 crisis

Charles Hutton, 95, a resident of Tappan Zee Manor, an assistant living facility in Nyack, N.Y., looks out the window of his room ib April 7, 2020. The facility has not permitted residents to have visitors for the past three weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nursing home leaders contend state and federal officials have failed to provide adequate resources and guidance during the pandemic.

From insufficient coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment shortages, they said the dereliction of duty helped ignite and fuel the outbreak in nursing homes.

Frankly, I think weve been neglected, and were still neglected, said Dr. Elaine Healy, vice president of the New York Medical Directors Association.

When the focus started being put on us through the efforts of the press, the response has been to sort of look at us in a negative way, she said, citing New York authorities launching investigations into COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes.

This is really a series of forest fires burning in different facilities that we didnt start, she added.

Strikingly, Italian officials issued similar orders for nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients on March 8, a move under investigation by authorities for contributing to potentially preventable deaths, according to the Associated Press.

Despite push back on state decisions to send infected patients into nursing homes, some administrators say there was no other option.

Our facilities were ultimately the release valve for overwhelmed hospitals, said Jordan Strohl, the administrator at The Actors Fund Home in Englewood in Bergen County, the epicenter of the outbreak in New Jersey.

When we heard from them how bad it was and how bad things were there, I felt like it was our obligation to step up and do the right thing, he added.

The U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Comfort makes its way past the Statue of Liberty as it sails into New York City March 30, 2020, to aid in the city's battle with the coronavirus. The ship will provide 1000 hospital beds to make room in city hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

Strohl converted half of the 25-bed sub-acute care building to care for COVID-19 cases, hiring a contractor to install airlocks to prevent contamination. He offered hazard pay and incentives to keep his staff on the job and had nurses volunteering to work with residents on the COVID-19 wing, he said.

Strohl said The Actors Fund Home was likely better prepared than some other nursing homes in the state, and still, residents relatives were concerned about the states order to admit patients with known cases.

One person suggested flying sick residents out to the USNS Comfort, the U.S. Navy hospital ship docked in New York Harbor at the time, he said. But that was outside of Strohls authority, so he did what he could.

I tried to write back to every single person, he said. I said, 'I understand your concern, but I will tell you this is the best way to take care of them.'"

Nurse practitioner Lisa Kaplewicz at the Tarrytown Hall Care Center in Westchester Couty said an issue for residents is when they have to leave the nursing to go a medical appointment.

"That's a concern because they have the exposure to other people in the community that might potentially be asymptomatic carriers, so we have to presume that there's been an exposure," she said.

"We have to isolate these residents within our facility to prevent transmission to the other residents that are here."

Staff members from Tarrytown Hall Care Center, who are on the frontlines caring for the most vulnerable population, outside the nursing home in Tarrytown April 16, 2020. Nurse practitioner Lisa Kaplewicz, right, spoke about some of the challenges they face when a resident goes out to a medical appointment. "That's a concern because they have the exposure to other people in the community that might potentially be asymptomatic carriers, so we have to presume that there's been an exposure. We have to isolate these residents within our facility to prevent transmission to the other residents that are here," said Kaplewicz.

Some nursing homes in New Jersey also adjusted to care only for COVID-19 patients, according to Theresa Edelstein, senior vice president of the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Nursing homes that care for COVID-19 patients are playing a very important role in preserving access to care, she said.

Not every COVID patient discharged from the hospital can go directly home. For those who need additional skilled nursing care, our nursing homes have been there.

Some experts have called on New York to pursue COVID-19 only facilities for infected nursing home residents, such as those in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

More: Coronavirus: Dozens of NY nursing homes have clusters of COVID-19 deaths. See the data here.

Cuomo this week said some hospitals are designated as COVID-19 only, but the state has not released any details on them.

And others want the state to at least test everyone in every nursing facility for coronavirus. Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley said it will look to test all residents at its 13 homes.

"We have seen the ravaging toll COVID-19 has taken on nursing homes throughout our nation, and we are taking proactive steps to ensure we save lives," said Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, whose father recently died from the virus.

Mask safety: How to clean, reuse or hack a coronavirus mask

How nursing homes are testing, staffing during COVID-19 pandemic

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announces that all nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in the state must conduct universal coronavirus testing of all residents and staff, whether they have symptoms or not, during a news conference on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, in Annapolis, Md. Col. Eric Allely, the state surgeon of the Maryland National Guard, is standing behind the governor. Allely has been named a compliance officer to see that nursing homes comply with state law.

In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan enacted an executive order on Wednesday requiring universal testing of all residents and staff at Maryland nursing homes, regardless of whether they are symptomatic.

Nursing home outbreaks represent 19% of all total positive cases in Maryland and 46% of all deaths. There have been outbreaks or clusters of cases at 278 different facilities across the state, including 4,011 confirmed cases at 143 different Maryland nursing homes.

"Even when best practices and care is in place, this virus may still be transmitted by asymptomatic staff, meaning that every patient interaction comes with some risk," Hogan said at a press briefing.

Impacted facilities are also required to provide regular updates to their residents, resident representatives and staff regarding COVID-19 infections, a measure that New York officials required this month amid calls for improved transparency.

Under the executive order, any nursing home staff who test positive will be immediately discharged into isolation. It will also be mandatory for facilities to cooperate with strike teams deployed by the state.

More: Breaking down Maryland's coronavirus data on individual nursing homes, other facilities

The strike teams will be supplemented with newly-created "bridge teams," which will provide emergency clinical staffing to facilities in crisis.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers his daily press briefing on coronavirus alongside Health Commissioner Howard Zucker on April 30, 2020, at the state Capitol in Albany.

Meanwhile, New York on Wednesday revised guidelines preventing COVID-19 positive nursing home employees who are asymptomatic from returning to work for 14 days from the first positive test date.

Previously, the workers could return in seven days based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, according to a letter issued by the health commissioner.

Health experts asserted improved testing and clearer guidance on isolation will be key to limiting the death toll in nursing homes.

As the virus is spreading, it is very hard to know what the threshold for stopping admissions should be particularly if adequate COVID-19 testing is not available for residents and staff, said Summer Johnson McGee, the dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut.

But McGee believes if new admissions were stopped after the first positive case was identified, it may have given facilities better ability to contain its spread.

Many facilities are at 100% capacity, which means there were no beds to create isolation units, she said.

Nursing homes should be working to create excess beds to be able to isolate healthy patients in local hotels or surge capacity venues.

Jo Ciavaglia, a staff writer for the Bucks County Times in Pennsylvania, and Tania Savayan of the Journal News in Westchester County contributed to this report.

Follow David Robinson on Twitter: @DrobinsonLoHud

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Coronavirus in nursing homes: NY, NJ state order linked to many deaths
A federal judge has blocked a Tennessee citys zoning ordinance that banned certain abortions.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson issued an order Friday preliminarily blocking enforcement of the ordinance in Mt. Juliet. The ordinance would have prevented abortion provider carafem from performing surgical abortions at its office in the Tennessee community.

The citys regulations still allowed for medication abortions, up to about 10 weeks of pregnancy, but not surgical, which carafem was planning to offer, The Tennessean reported .

Not allowing surgical abortions would effectively bar a woman from receiving abortion services in Mt. Juliet if she was 11 or more weeks pregnant, meaning she would have to forego the abortion or travel to Nashville, Knoxville or Memphis to receive one.

The judge noted that his order isnt determinative of the issues raised in the lawsuit.

Andrew Beck, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, called the ruling a necessary rebuke to Mt. Juliet officials blatant anti-abortion agenda.

The ordinance was unconstitutional and medically unnecessary, serving only to obstruct Tennesseans right to access abortion care, Beck said in a statement.

A call to city hall seeking comment Saturday was not immediately returned.

In his ruling, Richardson said statements from members of the Board of Commissioners, which passed the ordinance, showed that the purpose of the zoning regulation was to place a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.

The officials played their hand  they made clear their position: that they were going to do whatever they could to prevent abortions within Mt. Juliet because, according to them (and, presumably, many of their constituents), abortion is morally wrong, the judge wrote.
Its now easier for couples to get marriage licenses and minors to get work papers in New Jersey during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday.

Murphy signed an executive order suspending the requirement for people to obtain those documents in person.

It takes effect Monday.

Our current public health emergency requires us to adjust our processes to protect public health and safety," the governor said in a statement after announcing the order at his daily press briefing in Trenton. Even in uncertain times, we must allow important milestones, like marriages or youth seeking their first job, to move forward in a safe, efficient manner.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Usually, a marriage or civil union must be solemnized in the physical presence of an officiant and two witnesses. But under the order, people may use videoconferencing to that.

It also suspends the 72-hour waiting period between the license application and issuance, extends the period that a license is valid from 30 to 90 days, and waives fees for a second license if the original has expired.

Meanwhile, minors who need to certify their working papers with a school official can now do so via videoconference. School districts are required to craft procedures, according to the order.

The order still allows in-person visits to obtain the documents, as long as social distancing is practiced to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. But the changes are in case offices are closed or there are no officials available in person.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million people, reported 2,651 new positive cases and 311 new related deaths Friday. That brings the statewide total to at least 121,190 cases, including at least 7,538 deaths, among the states 9 million residents. Only New York has more cases and deaths among U.S. states.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
Tired of her children crying out of hunger, a mother in Kenya boiled stones in utensils to reassure them that she was cooking food for them. The heartbreaking incident happened in Mombasa where Peninah Bahati Kitsao put water along with a few stones thinking that her children would sleep while waiting for the food. Spilling details of the tragedy, Kitsao reportedly said that it was only her youngest born who was crying and that her elder children had understood when she told them they had food no food.

#Kenya: a widow in #Mombasa lit her fire, put a saucepan on firestones, poured water and filled it with stones...then started cooking.



Peninah Bahati Kitsao hoped her hungry kids would fall asleep thinking food is getting ready. The kids were not fooled one bit. #COVID19KE pic.twitter.com/E2rddCsdd4  Rogers Atukunda (@rarrigz) May 1, 2020

Read: Virus Testing At Kenya Uganda Border Causes Jams

Worked as washerwomen

According to international media reports, Kitsao is an illiterate widow, who worked as a washerwoman. However, as coronavirus pandemic intensified, people started observing social distancing and her job became redundant. Later, her neighbour Prisca Momanvi, who saw the tragic scene of poverty, informed the media and also opened a bank account for her. As the story spread, more and more people came forward to help and she started receiving money.

Read: Kenyan Wildlife Keepers Spot A Rare Hybrid Of Zebra And Donkey

Kitsao, who lives in a two-bedroom house without any electricity or water while speaking to international media reports, said that receiving help from fellow Kenyans was nothing less a "miracle". She added that she couldnt believe that people could be so loving. She also revealed that since the incident, she had been receiving phone calls from across the nation from people who are asking how to help.

She boiled stones, Ivory.   frank (@SkizaMunesh) April 30, 2020

I tried sending something small to that lady from Mombasa who cooked stones for her kids. But it seems her M-Pesa balance is maxed out. Kenyans are amazing. pic.twitter.com/C3rj0RpEvF  frank (@SkizaMunesh) April 29, 2020

Touching situation  Moze Serugo (@Mozeserugo) May 1, 2020

Read: Kenya Bans Travel In And Out Of Nairobi To Fight Coronavirus

Read: Kenya: Kisumu Factory Makes Masks To Meet Virus Demand

Image credits: Twitter/rarrigz
African Americans across the country are dying from the new coronavirus at a much higher rate than whites. Experts have a lot of explanations, but they also say more data is needed. In Indianapolis, a new no-cost testing program aims to increase COVID-19 testing in African American communities.

Marion County, which covers metro Indianapolis, has set up a free community testing program to address health disparities in the area. It started April 30 in the Arlington Woods neighborhood, the countys biggest hot spot for COVID-19 cases.

Obviously this is a community and area that has health disparities. And so, so were here to serve the community, Virgil Madden of the countys public health department said as the testing got underway. More testing is important to get a clearer picture of the virus impact, he said.

In Marion County, Black residents make up about 30% of the population. And early data shows they are almost twice as likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus, compared to white residents.

Breanca Merritt, director at the Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, said, I was not really surprised about the numbers; weve seen similar trends in other major cities.

She said many factors explain this trend. A lot of the focus has been about initial health outcomes that put people at risk like obesity, diabetes, asthma  conditions that have higher rates in the Black community in particular.

But Merritt said there are systemic causes, too. People of color are more likely to have jobs in service industries like grocery stores or restaurants, where they risk exposure, she said. And they are likely to live in mostly segregated communities where neighbors could be exposed.

To really address these health disparities, Merritt said you need to look at broad policies. State Rep. Robin Shackleford, the director of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, agrees.

If you look back when we did our last budget, we flatlined a lot of health areas, Shackleford said. Or we  reduced the money that we were going to spend on a lot of these chronic illnesses and public health.

Shackleford said the caucus is concerned about how Indiana officials have handled the coronavirus. They knew we had these health disparities. They knew we had challenges among African Americans and that population.

She said that should have changed Indianas response to the virus. The caucus believes Blacks should have been considered a high-risk group and been part of early, targeted testing.

Now Marion County wants to acknowledge that issue. The county will be testing more residents with a focus on Black and brown communities.

Jeffrey Johnson, senior pastor of the century-old Eastern Star Church, said, We need equal testing, and equal remedy. And we cant have equal remedy if we dont have equal testing.

Eastern Star is a familiar and trusted institution among many African Americans in Indianapolis. So, it makes sense for the church to play host for community testing.

So, we are very, very excited that this community is not being overlooked. That testing will be available to them, Johnson said.

He said there are many barriers to getting tested, including lack of transportation, no insurance and even not having a doctor to give permission  something required at many testing sites.

Under the new program, tests are free and dont require a doctors note. Both drive-thru and walk up testing options are available  but appointments are required.

Shackleford hopes that as Indianapolis continues to test there will also be a clearer picture of the countys equity and health disparities. Next year is a budget year for the Indiana General Assembly, and she hopes policies that affect health disparities can be addressed. This story was produced by Side Effects Public Media, a news collaborative covering public health.
Tony Allen, the iconic Nigerian drummer widely credited as one of the creators of the Afrobeat genre and arguably best known for his work with Fela Kuti, has died, BBC News reports. Allens manager confirmed that he died in Paris earlier today (April 30) of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Allen was 79.

Allen started drumming when he was 18, playing in multiple bands before eventually meeting Fela Kuti in the 1960s. In an interview with The Wire, Allen discussed how he found his own style of playing and developed the Afrobeat sound while studying the work of his favorite drummers.

I was listening to a lot of jazz. I was listening to Blue Note records, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, listening to many of these drummers. Gene Krupa was the first onethough he was not playing the same style like them there, you know? But watching drummers playing in my country, I knew that something was wrong somewhere. Why is it that they dont use their hi-hats? Its there, its always there, but its closed, they dont use itwell, they used it, but that thing has a pedal, you know? I felt that this thing should be like riding a bicycleyou have good legs, you have pedals, you need to put [your feet] on both pedals to make you move.

Allens drumming helped define the sound of the many Fela Kuti & Africa 70 albums released across the 1970s, including Expensive Shit, Zombie, and Unknown Soldier. All the while, Allen was recording his own solo albums, beginning with 1975s Jealousy. Without Tony Allen there would be no Afrobeat, Fela Kuti famously said.

After political tension came to a boilFela Kuti declared independence from Nigeria and the Nigerian army burned Felas compound to the groundAllen decided to quit the band. What [Fela] was challenging, he was right, Allen told The Guardian. But it was too direct and thats why he got all this shit. There were too many arrests, too many bombardments. Youre a musicianwhy do you leave yourself to be beaten up all the time like that?

Story continues

In the mid-1980s, Allen moved to Paris. Allen told The Guardian that some of his first years in France were spent recovering from heroin addiction. He worked consistently as a session player in the 1990s, playing on records by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Amina, and Manu Dibango.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Allen became increasingly prolific. He performed and recorded with Damon Albarn in the Good, the Bad & the Queen; Allen and Albarn later formed an offshoot band called Rocket Juice & the Moon. Allen also appeared on recordings by Grace Jones, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sebastien Tellier, Air, Gonjasufi, and more. He was the drummer on Angelique Kidjos Grammy-winning 2019 album Celia, and his collaborative album with Hugh Masekela, Rejoice, was released earlier this year. His last solo album was 2017s The Source.

His autobiography Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat was released in 2013. In 2016, he told The Wire that he was still exploring as a percussionist. I never stop, he said. I never stop experimenting. I dont like repeating myself too much. I need to move forward.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
Former President Barack Obama's campaign strategist David Axelrod has said that when the campaign vetted Joe Biden as a vice presidential running mate, it found no evidence of prior sexual assault allegations.

'The comprehensive vet certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate,' Axelrod wrote in a CNN column published late on Friday.

'It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none,' he added.

In March, Biden's former Senate staffer Tara Reade came forward to allege that he had sexually assaulted her when she worked for him in 1993.

Former President Barack Obama's campaign manager David Axelrod has said that the campaign's vetting in 2008 found no sex assault claims against Joe Biden

Biden finally broke his silence about the allegation to deny it in an interview with Morning Joe on Friday. 'I'm saying unequivocally, it never, never happened,' he said

Reade is seen left in 1993, the year she claims Biden sexually assaulted her, and right in a more recent photo

On Friday, Biden finally broke his silence about the allegation to deny it.

'I'm saying unequivocally, it never, never happened,' the former vice president and senator said in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

In his column, Axelrod said that although he was not on the Obama campaign's vetting team, he was briefed on there work vetting Biden and any potential problems.

'Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else,' Axelrod wrote.

Meanwhile, critics in both parties are saying that Democrats and the media have brushed off the standard of 'believe all women' that they set in the hearings on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

'We set up a standard we can't live by. No one likes to discuss it but it's the reality,' said one Democratic strategist who requested anonymity told The Hill.

'It looks terrible for him and for the party. You can't say you believe women and then take it all back because it doesn't apply to you.'

Axelrod said that although he was not on the Obama campaign's vetting team, he was briefed on there work vetting Biden (seen with Axelrod in 2009) and any potential problems

Critics say that Democrats are treating Reade's allegations very differently than those that were leveled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (above) in confirmation hearings

President Donald Trump joined fellow Republicans in arguing Friday that Democrats aren't being consistent in their handling of Reade's allegations.

Trump's reelection campaign quickly released a digital ad featuring prominent Democrats, including Biden and Clinton, saying, 'Believe women' and similar sentiments.

'Ladies and gentleman, we just can't have it both ways,' White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said. 'We cannot decide which women were included in 'believe all women.''

Anita Hill, long critical of how Biden handled her accusations against Justice Clarence Thomas, issued a statement highlighting the complexities across the political spectrum.

Noting Reade, Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford, and Trump's many accusers, Hill called for an investigation of 'outstanding claims of sexual misconduct' against Trump and Biden, warning that otherwise 'the public is left to figure out the truth on its own.'

On Saturday, the New York Times joined the growing calls for a formal investigation of Reade's allegations.

'As is so often the case in such situations, it is all but impossible to be certain of the truth. But the stakes are too high to let the matter fester  or leave it to be investigated by and adjudicated in the media. Mr. Biden is seeking the nation's highest office,' a column by the Times' Editorial Board said.

In his MSNBC interview on Friday, Biden said he will ask the National Archives to determine whether there is any record of a complaint being filed, as Reade has claimed.

Later Friday, Biden asked the secretary of the Senate via letter to assist in the search, though he told MSNBC that the Archives was the only possible place a complaint would be. He said his Senate papers held under seal at the University of Delaware do not contain personnel records.

'The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993,' Biden said. 'But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint.'

Reade did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The Archives deflected inquiries to Capitol Hill, saying any complaint 'would have remained under the control of the Senate.'

A spokeswoman for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights said confidentiality rules bar the office from commenting on 'whether specific claims may or may not have been filed.'

Biden, in his TV interview, said 'there are so many inconsistencies' in Reade's various accounts. But he said he does not 'question her motive.' He said over his five decades in public life, none of his employees was asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

In light of his own history of sexual misconduct allegations, Trump is stepping delicately around the Biden controversy.

'Hes going to have to make his own decision,' Trump said in a podcast interview Friday with Dan Bongino.

'I'm not going to be telling him what to do.' The president added that it would be a 'great thing' if Biden had records that could 'dispose' of Reade's allegation.
Kosovo's President Names New Candidate For Prime Minister In Bid To Resolve Crisis

May 01, 2020

Kosovo's president has formally asked a top official of the second-biggest party in parliament to form a new government in a bid to resolve a political crisis in the country.

President Hashim Thaci on April 30 nominated Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to replace acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Hoti previously served as finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Thaci made the announcement after LDK leader Isa Mustafa gave assurances that the party has a majority of votes in parliament to form the new government. The LDK has formed a coalition with two smaller parties, giving it the required 61 votes in the 120-seat parliament.

Kurti's outgoing Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party says Thaci's decree is unconstitutional and filed a complaint at the Constitutional Court challenging it. The party claims that only it is entitled to form a new cabinet and that if it fails, the country should hold an early general election.

The Constitutional Court is unlikely to hold a meeting before May 4 because of the May 1 national holiday.

The LDK finished second with 28 seats in last year's election behind Kurti's leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje party, and the two parties formed an uneasy coalition.

Kurti's government collapsed in March after only 50 days in power, losing a no-confidence vote initiated by the LDK, amid disputes over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the removal of trade tariffs on Serbian goods.

Kurti has stayed on in a caretaker capacity. He wants to hold snap parliamentary elections once the pandemic is over.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-s-president-names- new-candidate-for-prime-minister-in-bid-to- resolve-crisis/30586855.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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A research firm says the number of bankruptcies in Japan triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has exceeded 100.

Teikoku Databank says 83 companies went bankrupt in April. It says this shows the dire consequences from stay-at-home restrictions imposed as part of the government's state of emergency declaration.

The total number of bankruptcies related to the virus outbreak since February stands at 114.

The outbreak affected various kinds of industries. Hard-hit businesses include hotels, bars, restaurants, and retailers such as women's apparel shops.

The research firm says financial support for cash-strapped companies is urgently needed as the number of bankruptcies is likely to increase.
Indias plan to fight Covid-19 triggered a political blame game on Saturday with the Congress asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the nation on a lockdown exit plan and the Centre calling the Opposition rudderless.

The Congress said the Union home ministrys order on the extension of the curbs on Friday left many queries unanswered.

The order for the lockdown 3.0 did not come with an address from the PM [Prime Minister], and neither did the [Union] home minister [Amit Shah] come forward to make an announcement. Not even a single officer of the government chose to make an appearance, said Congresss chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

He said the government should spell out the purpose, objective and strategy behind the lockdown, whether there will be more lockdowns and the strategy to deal with economic distress. What is the exit strategy, what is the PMs policy and what is the roadmap? Are there grants for the sowing of the next kharif crops, and what are the arrangements for ensuring livelihood and ration for over 400 million urban and rural poor. Is there a relief package for the 42.5 million MSMEs [Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises]? These are questions that need answers.

He said the Congress has proposed a financial exit plan and recommended the government to transfer 7,500 into Jan Dhan, PM Kisan Yojana accounts and those of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee labourers, senior citizen, widow, and physically handicapped pensioners. In addition, 10 kg of food grains, one kg pulses and half kg of sugar be given per person per family for sustenance. The government must also ensure free travel in sanitised trains for the stranded migrant workers, he said.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar dismissed criticism over the Centres efforts to check the pandemic, saying the government is more interested in saving lives and livelihoods than indulging in verbal duels.

As far as Opposition is concerned, I think they are rudderless. They have no agenda or issues, he told news agency ANI. They have not said a single good thing, nor given any good suggestions. Now they are blaming the government on points on which they earlier agreed. There is a complete bankruptcy of political opponents.

Javadekar was responding to Congress leaders allegations of corruption in acquiring coronavirus testing kits, discrimination in sending kits to states, and managing the issue of migrant workers.

(With agency inputs)
Man, dog pronounced dead after early morning explosion, structure fire near Harbor Springs

A man and a dog have both died as the result of an explosion and structure fire early Tuesday morning in West Traverse Township near Harbor Springs.
The Sea Hawks were playing their first game in three weeks, but were able to hold off the Panthers for the win.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 10:30:39|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese medical supplies are unloaded in Ljubljana, Slovenia, May 1, 2020. A cargo aircraft carrying about 12 tons of medical supplies donated by the Chinese government to Slovenia landed at the Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport here on Friday evening. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun)

LJUBLJAJA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A cargo aircraft carrying about 12 tons of medical supplies donated by the Chinese government to Slovenia landed at the Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport here on Friday evening.

Onboard the direct cargo flight are 30,000 N95 masks, 700,000 surgical masks, 20,000 protective overalls, 10,000 goggles and 30,000 gloves, all in boxes decorated with the national flags of China and Slovenia and the words "hearts are connected in the fight against the epidemic" in both languages.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Shunqing, who went to the airport with Slovenian Economic Development and Technology Ministry State Secretary Ales Cantarutti, said China will not forget the valuable aid it received from the Slovenian government and people during the most difficult period in its fight against COVID-19.

"Under the current situation in Slovenia where the epidemic situation is still relatively serious, the Chinese government and people will work with you to overcome the difficulties. This batch of materials carries the profound friendship of the Chinese people towards the Slovenian people," said Wang.

Cantarutti highly praised the mutually beneficial aid between the two countries and their cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

"The successful COVID-19 experience from China is very valuable," said Cantarutti, stressing the importance of international cooperation against the epidemic.

Slovenia confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 4. Its total cases have reached 1,434 cases with 93 deaths, and 58 persons are hospitalized due to the disease, according to the latest government data released on Friday.
PORTAGE, MI  Portage police and firefighters responded to a vehicle fire that partially blocked traffic on westbound Interstate 94.

The Portage Department of Public Safety responded before 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1, to westbound I-94 near Lovers Lane, where a vehicle was on fire. The incident blocked the right lane of travel, police said.

No injuries were reported, the department said in a Facebook post about the incident.

The department said the fire was extinguished and the scene should be cleared by about 4:30 p.m.
India decided on Friday to extend the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for another two weeks, but announced a range of relaxations. The move came on the day the country saw its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases with 2,364 fresh infections. Earlier, the home ministry allowed trains to ferry migrants, students and others stranded in different parts of the country to their home states, expanding the scope of an earlier order that initially permitted such travel by buses.

Graded easing of curbs over 2 weeks

With Indias extended 40-day lockdown drawing to an end on Sunday, the Union government has decided to extend the lockdown for another two weeks. But this has been accompanied with a range of relaxations, in varying degrees, across India.

Read More

India records 2,364 cases in a day, more than 1K in Maharashtra

India recorded the highest single-day spike in Covid-19 infections with 2,364 cases on Friday, the first time the country has reported more than 2,000 daily cases of the disease that first showed up in Kerala more than three months ago.

Read More

Special trains ferry stranded migrants home

Amid demands by states and a recognition of the logistical challenges involved in transporting millions of people back to their home states, the Centre on Friday decided to allow special trains  called Shramik Specials  to enable stranded migrants to return home.

Read More

130 districts identified as Covid hot spots home to nearly 400mn

The Centre on Friday listed 130 districts as hot spots of Covid 19, down from the previously designated 170 red zones, even as the number of green zones  areas that largely remain outside the spectre of the pathogen  decreased from 353 to 319, an announcement that came hours before the national lockdown was extended by two weeks, but with some relaxations.

Read More

Covid-19: What you need to know today

The ministry of healths latest zoning document  the country is divided into red, orange and green zones  shows that around a third of the countrys population (according to the last census) lives in the so-called red zones, the most affected by the pandemic -- and even in these, there has been a significant relaxation of lockdown restrictions.

Read More

In a first, auto firms post nil sales in April

Indian automakers have for the first time reported zero local sales in April as factories and dealerships across the country remained shut to comply with a stringent lockdown. For comparison, nearly 250,000 vehicles were sold in the domestic market in April 2019. Indian automakers count the dispatch of vehicles from factories to dealers as sales.

Read More

Does concept of open offices still make sense?

Covid-19 may have finally killed the concept of the open office. As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the globe in February, most workplaces around the country (and the world) began to implement rules among employees to avoid clusters, maintain physical distance, wear masks, sanitise hands. and avoid biometric entry. Many put in place strict deep cleaning protocols. And finally, all suddenly discovered the merits of WFH (work from home).

Read More

Lit up warships, fly-pasts to honour Covid-19 warriors

Indias chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday said that the armed forces will show their gratitude to the countrys Covid-19 warriors on May 3 by performing a raft of activities including fly-pasts, flashing warship lights, and displays by Indian Army bands.

Read More

After curbs lift, air journeys in India may become quicker

When flying starts post lockdown, flying times may come down significantly with passenger airlines set to get access to defence airspace. Senior aviation officials have confirmed to Hindustan Times that Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with Department of Military affairs allowed the use of this hitherto segregated airspace.

Read More

SC yet to frame post-lockdown plans, decide on summer break

Indias apex court, the Supreme Court of India hasnt put in place an exit plan for return to normalcy as the government relaxes lockdown restrictions, prompting comparisons with the Delhi High Court, which has created a committee to come up with a plan on this and also asked all district, sessions, and family courts to do so in anticipation of a flurry of filings post-lockdown.

Read More

Focus has been on containment, situation is constantly improving:Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said his state is now on the right track in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic even as his government has drawn flak for mismanaging the situation.

Read More

Will follow ICMR norms to audit deaths: West Bengal

The West Bengal government has divested an expert committee of doctors of its primary duty -- to audit deaths among Covid-19 patients and figuring out whether they had succumbed to the virus or due to co-morbidities.The Opposition had alleged that the committee had been formed to suppress the number of Covid-19 deaths.

Read More

Trump blames lab in Wuhan lab for coronavirus outbreak

US President Donald Trump has claimed to have seen evidence to substantiate the unproven theory that the coronavirus originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, despite the conclusion by American intelligence agencies that the pathogen was not man-made or genetically modified.

Read More

Tempering the tampering rule

In a 21-Test career spread across 10 years, England left-arm seamer John Lever could never relive the high of his stellar maiden series against India. He kicked that off with a 10-wicket haul on debut in Delhi in 1976-77. Levers menacing swing was one of the reasons England quickly went 2-0 up in the series, but his soaring stock crashed abruptly in the third Test in Chennai.

Read More

Mobility to recreational and retail places drops by 86%

India saw an 86% drop in people visiting retail and recreational places, while those visiting parks, transit stations, and grocery and pharmacy units dropped by more than 50% each during the national lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to the latest community mobility data released by Google.

Read More
Candidates begin to file nominating petitions as election year kicks off

Two local petitions have already been filed for local seats up for election in 2022.
China on May 1 said that it firmly opposes any participation by Taiwan in the United Nations after the US mission to the UN shared a series of tweets in support of the island state to be included in the global body. The US mission wrote that the UN was founded to serve as a venue for all voices, a forum that welcomes a diversity of views and perspectives and promotes human freedom. Barring Taiwan from setting foot on UN grounds is an affront not just to the proud Taiwanese people, but to UN principles."

Join us to #TweetforTaiwan's inclusion at the upcoming World Health Assembly so #Taiwan can bring its incredible expertise to the fight against #Covid19. The world needs Taiwan in this fight! Tell @WHO that it is time for Taiwan to be heard.  IO Bureau @ State (@State_IO) May 1, 2020

Is it too much to ask that Taiwan be permitted to share their expertise, their commitment, with the rest of the world? Will the world succumb to the PRC's pressure and intimidation? It's time to be heard, and time to #TweetforTaiwan #TaiwanModel  IO Bureau @ State (@State_IO) May 1, 2020

We all know Taiwan has long been committed to global health and boasts one of the finest health and research networks in the world, and that Taiwan promotes scientific cooperation and transparency on threats to #health. #TweetforTaiwan #TaiwanModel  IO Bureau @ State (@State_IO) May 1, 2020

Read: US Provokes China Amid 'Chinese Virus' Spat; Sails Warship Through Taiwan Strait

Responding to the tweets, the Chinese mission to the UN said on its website, "This is a serious violation of Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly, the three joint communiques between China and the United States and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely interferes with China's internal affairs and deeply hurts the feelings of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. The Chinese Mission hereby expresses strong indignation and firm opposition."

Read: Taiwan Blames Trolls From China For Issuing Fake Apology To WHO Chief

"There is only one China in the world. The Government of the People's Republic China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The one-China principle enjoys popular support and meets the call of the times, and represents the consensus of the international community. Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly has restored the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China at the UN and affirmed the one-China principle at the Organization, which has been strictly observed across the UN system and widely respected by the UN Member States," its added further.

Read: Taiwan Announces $35 Bn COVID-19 Stimulus Package, Says Will Donate 10 Mn Masks

China-Taiwan tension

The self-governing island republic considers itself as sovereign while China claims the province as Beijings territory under its one-China policy. The issue of Taiwans participation in international organisations like the United Nations has become more prominent especially after US President Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act into law on March 26. The TAIPEI Act, authored by US Senators Cory Gardner and Chris Coons, aimed at strengthening Taiwans standing around the world.

Read: China Calls Advocacy For Taiwans Participation In WHO Violation Of one-China Policy

(Image Credit: AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the ban on assault weapons on Friday morning following Canada's worst mass shooting: Global News

Canada is banning assault weapons following the countrys worst-ever mass-shooting last month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Friday morning: Effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country.

These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only  to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.

Over the course of 12 hours beginning on 18 April, 22 people were killed by Gabriel Wortman, who posed as a police officer. Nine died in house fires he set, and 13 were shot.

Wortman died in a shoot-out with police.

More follows...
HELENA  A task force appointed by Gov. Steve Bullock to make recommendations for how the state should spend $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding presented its guidance Friday, starting with immediate grants for "safety net" services such as food banks and homeless shelters along with rent and mortgage assistance for individuals and nonprofits.

The 20-member Coronavirus Relief Fund Advisory Council did not make specific monetary recommendations but outlined spending priorities to aid individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations, said council chairman Larry Simkins with The Washington Cos.

The advisory council recommended prioritizing funding based on those who are affected the most, those who did not receive funding elsewhere and deploying the funding quickly through existing channels such as economic development agencies, lending institutions or state programs, the report said.

Bullock did not say when he would announce his spending decisions.

"I'll be consulting these recommendations as well as my budget staff and other state and local agencies as we get some of the money out both thoughtfully and to address some immediate needs," Bullock said.

On Wednesday Bullock set aside $5 million for grants to local health departments and other agencies to boost contact tracing and help businesses create plans to safely reopen. He earlier created a fund for rent and mortgage assistance after landlords pushed back on a directive that prohibited evictions and late payment fees while people were under stay-at-home directives.

The council also recommended offering direct grants to businesses and nonprofits, with priority given to those that have been subject to statewide closure. They also recommended grants for nonprofits that have been hurt by the pandemic or whose mission is to serve people affected by the pandemic.

As the economic recovery continues, the council recommended the state offer forgivable or low- to zero-interest loans or state-backed lines of credit to businesses.

The council's tourism subcommittee recommended deploying funds in the coming weeks and months as businesses that rely on tourism are able to reopen, with priority being given to those that have been closed or did not receive other federal coronavirus relief funding.

The council and Bullock both said some money would be held back for unforeseen effects of the pandemic. The current guidelines require the money be spent by Dec. 31 or be returned to the federal government.

Montana's restaurants, bars, breweries and casinos will be allowed to reopen Monday, with reduced capacity and social distancing requirements. They must close by 11:30 p.m.

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 illness, including pneumonia, and death. The vast majority of people recover.

In other coronavirus-related developments:

 Montana reported no new cases of COVID-19 among 289 tests run by the state lab on Thursday. Montana has 453 cases, with just eight new cases reported since last Friday. One of those eight involved a Montana resident who contracted the virus out of state and had not returned to Montana.

 The Blackfeet Tribe announced a tribal member died of COVID-19 on Thursday, but said that person was not on the reservation when they died. Tribal officials did not say where the person died.
Epstein Had Extensive Ties With Harvard University

Sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had extensive ties with Harvard University, which admitted him as a Visiting Fellow and later gave him his own office, according to a review conducted by Harvard attorneys and an outside law firm.

Epstein was awarded the title of Visiting Fellow, which goes to independent researchers, in 2005 despite the fact he lacked the academic qualifications Visiting Fellows typically possess and his application proposed a course of study Epstein was unqualified to pursue, according to the review (pdf).

Dr. Stephen Kosslyn, the chair of the Psychology Department at the time, recommended Epsteins admission. Epstein donated $200,000 to support Kosslyns work between 1998 and 2002.

Epstein told the university in his application that he wanted to study the reasons behind group behavior, such as social prosthetic systems, and their relationship to a changing environment, using a term invented by Kosslyn.

That is, other people can act as prosthetics insofar as they augment our cognitive abilities and help us to regulate our emotionsand thereby essentially serve as extensions of ourselves. I wish to understand how the brain both allows such relationships to develop and how those relationships in turn take advantage of key properties of the brain, Epstein wrote.

Jeffrey Epstein appears in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 30, 2008. (Uma Sanghvi/Palm Beach Post via AP)

Epstein paid tuition and fees to become a Visiting Fellow but did very little to pursue his course of study, according to the review. He was readmitted for a second year after saying in an application he wished to find a derivation of power (Why does everybody want it?) in an ecological social system but withdrew following his arrest in 2006.

Epstein was accused of molesting dozens of underage girls that year. He ended up pleading guilty to one count of soliciting minors for prostitution in 2008.

Kosslyn admitted to the attorneys conducting the review that Epstein wasnt qualified to conduct the research outlined in the application. Epsteins educational background, lacking a college degree, was highly unusual for a Visiting Fellow.

Kosslyn in his recommendation for Epstein called the financier extraordinarily intelligent, broadly read, and very curious.

Jeffrey has been a spectacular success in business, and it is clear why: Hes not just intelligent and well-informed, hes creative, deep, extraordinarily analytic, and capable of working extremely hard, he added.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 22, 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Had His Own Office

Epsteins involvement with Harvard didnt stop with his criminal conviction.

The sex offender was given an office with his own telephone line in Harvards Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED), which he helped establish in 2003 with a $6.5 million donation. He also received a keycard and passcode access to the programs offices.

Epstein is believed to have visited Harvard offices dozens of times between 2010 and 2018 after being released from jail.

Epstein was routinely accompanied on these visits by young women, described as being in their 20s, who acted as his assistants, the review states. According to prosecutors, many women who spent time with Epstein were underage.

Epstein would give Martin Andreas Nowak, a professor of biology and mathematics, the name of professors he wanted to meet with. Either Epstein or Nowak would invite the academics to meet with Epstein at the PED offices.

The meetings usually took place on weekends.

Taken as a whole, the documents suggest that Epstein viewed the PED offices as available for his use whenever he wished to gather academics together to hear scholars talk about subjects Epstein found interesting, lawyers wrote in the review.

Nowak, who lawyers said took no steps to conceal Epsteins activities, was placed on paid administrative leave on May 1 after the review was published. Officials are probing whether Nowak violated university rules.

The visits came to an end only after a number of PED researchers objected to the situation.

Not only Epstein, but his assistants received cards and keypad codes that let them access PED buildings whenever they wanted. When Harvard tightened security in 2017 by installing a different card reader system, several cards designated for temporary visitors were mailed to an assistant of Epstein.

Nowaks chief administrative officer (CAO) informed the professor of the arrangement, calling it easier because Epstein would have to go get photo [sic] taken if he instead was given different, more specific type of card.

Epsteins permanent possession of a visitor keycard; his knowledge of the passcode to the PED offices; and his possession of a key to an individual Harvard office all gave him unlimited access to PED. It appears that this circumvented rules designed to limit access to Harvard space to individuals with legitimate reasons to be there, the review stated.

In effect, Professor Nowak and his CAO permitted Epstein to use PEDs offices as his own whenever he came to campus. Moreover, they did so without due regard for Harvards security rules.

A protest group called Hot Mess hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein in front of the federal courthouse in New York City on July 8, 2019. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Gifts, Links

Harvard accepted four gifts after Epsteins arrest but no further donations were accepted after his conviction, under a decision by President Drew Faust. Several faculty members, including Nowak, tried to convince Faust to revise the order.

Epstein bypassed the order by getting others to donate to the university. Those donations included $7.5 million to support the work of Nowak. Leon Black, who donated millions with his wife or through their foundation, told lawyers he was introduced to the professor through Epstein.

Nowak also allowed links to the websites of Epsteins foundations on PEDs website at the request of Epsteins publicist. A full page featuring Epstein was also published on PEDs website. It was removed in 2014 after complaints from a sexual assault survivors group.

Epstein also regularly received communications from Harvards development offices, including an invitation to attend the start of the universitys Capital Campaign in 2013.

The review of Epsteins ties with Harvard was conducted by Diane Lopez, the universitys general counsel, Ara Gershengorn, a Harvard attorney, and Martin Murphy of Foley Hoag LLP.

They recommended to Harvard President Lawrence Bacow that Harvard develop clearer procedures for reviewing potentially controversial donations, revise its procedures for appointing Visiting Fellows, and consider whether any further actions should be taken based on Epsteins unfettered access to PED.

Bacow said in a letter to the Harvard community that hes instructed members of his team to begin implementing the recommendations as soon as possible.

The report issued today describes principled decision-making but also reveals institutional and individual shortcomings that must be addressednot only for the sake of the University but also in recognition of the courageous individuals who sought to bring Epstein to justice, he concluded.
The way the Chinese community has responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 has exerted a positive influence on local citizens, Matteo Biffoni, mayor of central-northern Italian city Prato, has told Xinhua.

Recalling that at the beginning of the outbreak, many Italians thought the novel coronavirus was a distant issue, Biffoni said the fact that the Chinese community took the virus very seriously at the very early stage "had a positive impact on our citizens and therefore we were better prepared when the storm arrived here."

Now almost three months later, there has not been a single Chinese infection reported in Prato, about one eighth of whose total population is ethnic Chinese, according to data on the city's government website. The city is below the regional and national average in coronavirus infections.

"In January, the Chinese community closed their shops and factories ... Everybody started using masks. A food delivery service was put in place and the Chinese started going out less and less," Biffoni said.

"When the virus arrived in Europe ... Italians understood that the Chinese took all these measures because it was a very dangerous infection," he said.

"The Italians recognized a strong sense of responsibility from the Chinese community. It means that this Asian community showed strong attachment to our city. Also at the political level, everybody appreciated the attitude of the Chinese during this crisis," the mayor said.

Prato has received lots of personal protective equipment, including masks and hand sanitizers, from China, he said. "Some are still coming while the flux will continue also in the future."

Weathering the pandemic together is a valuable experience. "This will mark the relationship between our communities, which I imagine will be even closer," he said.

Prato, the capital of Prato Province, is a historically multicultural city.

A globalized world must not only focus on the interests of a few people, but on the interests of everybody, the mayor said.

Biffoni urged deeper global cooperation, noting that other than diplomatic ties, communication among people is also very important. "This is increasingly necessary because the message that has come to us is that we risk being fragile if we don't intervene (act) together."
The five missing crew members of a Canadian navy helicopter that crashed during a NATO operation this week into the Mediterranean Sea are presumed dead, officials said Friday. The search and rescue mission undertaken on Wednesday has now officially been transformed into a recovery effort, the Canadian defense ministry said in a statement. So far, the body of one crew member from the Cyclone Sikorsky CH-148 helicopter, Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, has been recovered and identified. "The missing five members who were aboard the aircraft are now officially considered missing and presumed deceased," the statement said. "Additional remains have been discovered during the search, but cannot be identified at this time." The accident took place Wednesday -- the helicopter was headed back to the warship HMCS Fredericton after a training mission when contact was lost. NATO ships and aircraft took part in the search and rescue mission, supported by Greece, Italy, Turkey and the United States. "NATO allies will be continuing recovery efforts at the scene as HMCS Fredericton departs for port in Italy," the Canadian ministry said, adding that the warship would arrive in Italy on Saturday. Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said the helicopter's cockpit voice and flight data recorders had been recovered and would be analyzed in Canada. The cause of the crash is so far "unknown," he said. The Canadian frigate and submarine-hunting helicopter had been deployed since January 20 on NATO's Operation Reassurance, aimed at deterring Russia intervention in eastern and central Europe.
Photo: Xinhua

The exacerbating COVID-19 pandemic is taking lives around the world. However, some US politicians, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are "cooperating" with right-wing media outlets such as the Fox News to cover their incapability of pandemic response and shift blames to others.

They spread the rumor that the virus was manmade and escaped the Wuhan Institute of Virology, saying China covered up pandemic information. They even accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of delaying virus response.

It is reported that according to a Republican strategy memo, the party now sees attacking China as an opportunity to buoy their chances in the 2020 election. However, such political manipulation exactly revealed their vicious intentions.

The origin of the novel coronavirus is a serious and scientific issue that calls for meticulous and professional investigation from scientists. The "patient zero" of the 1918 influenza pandemic that originated in the US is still not found today despite over a hundred years of searching.

So how can the US politicians and right-wing media be so certain about the source of COVID-19?

As a matter of fact, their theory that the virus was manmade and leaked has encountered immediate and unanimous opposition from the science world, including American medical experts.

Authoritative academic journals such as The Lancet and Nature Medicine published articles underlining the natural origin of the virus, and a medical expert remarked that focusing on the origin of the virus rather than saving the people, is nothing different from murder. Those who attempt to only gain political benefits from disasters will only live in infamy.

Conspiracies can't exist under sunshine. US independent news site The Grayzone published an article revealing how conservative journalists cooperated with the US government, as well as the making and spread of their conspiracy theories.

Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University pointed out the lab leak theory is driven by politics and not science-based. Virologist Jason Kindrachuk from the Canadian University of Manitoba also said on Forbes that the escape theory lacks scientific supporting.

Shifting the blames to China isn't all that the American politicians have done, and now they are passing the buck to the WHO. Rather than having a look back on their disastrous response to the pandemic, they attributed the spread of the virus in the US to the so-called delayed informing from China and the UN health body.

It's been recognized that China has always kept its information open and transparent, and the country has reported to the WHO and relevant US organizations on Jan. 3. Besides, the WHO also released information to the world at the first opportunity, without any delay.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou all reported their first infection on Jan. 20, and that of the US came only one day after. However, the virus developed in totally different ways in the two countries.

A joint letter was recently submitted to the White House by over 1,000 medical associations, charity organizations, pharmaceutical companies and experts around the world, saying the WHO and the Chinese government have always maintained close cooperation to make sure that they report public health data to the international society as early as possible.

China shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus at the first opportunity, which laid a basic foundation for accelerating vaccine development.

Editor-in-chief of The Lancet Richard Horton told the truth. The inaction that followed the WHO's emergency declaration, he said, was down to member states and not to China, adding that the world should be grateful to the country for its warnings and containment efforts.

The US is currently the most hit-hard region in the world where the response failures of the government have sparked strong dissatisfaction of the society. However, some US politicians, attempting to diver the blames, resorted to "red herring" though the situation is clear enough for all. They bragged their so-called achievements to the US citizens while spreading rumors to the world.

The 57-page strategy document distributed by the Senate Republican campaign arm focused on one thing - to pass the buck to China.

Global scientists are concerned, as the rampant virus is new to this world and it takes time before vaccines are developed and people can finally get rid of its impacts on lives and health. Only mutual assistance can help the world get through the hard time, and only cooperation and solidarity can enable the world to better cope with challenges.

"While American leaders play the blame game, more lives are being endangered," said Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times. It is far more productive for the US and its allies to focus on saving lives and working together with China to find an effective vaccine, the newspaper added.

One of the most famous sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln is about deception: You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. But his words did not stop those American politicians from believing they can fool the world.

China deserves respect for its efforts and contribution, as it launched an all-out war against the virus, conducted unprecedented lockdown of cities, and tried to treat the patients at all cost. This is obvious to all and will never be changed by political manipulation.

"This time the US must learn from others. Global cooperation and the sharing of best practices is our best hope to get out of this crisis alive and intact," said Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University.

To react to disasters with hatred and stigmatization will not only do nothing to help the US overcome the difficulties, but also place a shadow over the world. In fact, the spiking number of COVID-19 deaths is a result of the inaction and blame game.

The US politicians shall understand that the ignorance of people's lives is inhumane and that seeking temporary relief regardless of the consequences will finally lead to bad results. The blame game, not matter how disguised, is self-deception. They should place such practices with concrete pandemic response actions, as well as stop speculation and take more responsibilities. Besides, they should also halt instigation and admit their wrong doings. Only by this can they save lives and end the tragedy.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
WILLIAMSPORT  A natural gas company has pleaded no contest to two charges related to the discharge of approximately 63,000 gallons of treated brine water from a natural gas well pad in Lycoming County in 2017.

County Judge Marc F. Lovecchio on Friday accepted terms of the plea agreement and ordered Inflection Energy to pay a total of $55,000.

It included $15,000 in fines with $10,000 going to the Department of Environmental Protections clean water fund and $5,000 to the Fish and Boat Commissions fish fund.

The remaining $40,000 is a contribution to be shared equally by the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Loyalsock Creek Watershed.

Inflection, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, last year paid a $170,500 civil penalty levied by the DEP in the same matter.

As part of a remediation effort, Inflection removed and disposed of more than 3,600 cubic yards of impacted soil and monitored groundwater and private water sources.

The criminal charges of pollution of waterways and a Clean Streams Act violation brought by the attorney generals office are the same as those to which Double D Construction and Excavating of Montoursville pleaded no contest last month.

Double D, which was not cited by DEP, was fined $7,500, with $2,500 going to the Fish Fund and $5,000 to the Clean Water Fund. The company also must make a $5,000 contribution to the Trout Unlimited chapter.

Double D was responsible for monitoring the transfer of treated brine water from a million-gallon tank to a smaller one so it could be trucked from the well pad in Eldred Twp. north of Warrensville.

The same worker fell asleep in a truck for about 30 minutes early on Nov. 12, 2017, and for 45 minutes the following morning while a 21,000-gallon tank overflowed.

Some of the fluids went into an unnamed tributary of Loyalsock Creek.

Inflection was accused of not reporting the first spill that was smaller than the second one.

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Gov. Tom Wolfs announcement on Friday that more than a third of Pennsylvania counties can begin reopening on May 8 was welcome news to some state lawmakers, but not all of them.

Those who represent areas with low coronavirus case counts that remain under stay-at-home orders were left disappointed. Some said they were confused as to why their counties remained in the red phase of the governors color-coded reopening plan.

Wolf said during a televised news conference that the counties were selected based on having a low per-capita case count as well as their ability to perform contact tracing and testing along with other factors.

But that explanation didnt cut it with Perry County Republican Rep. Mark Keller.

He said as word spread that Perry County was to remain closed, he began receiving calls from business people and individuals angry their county was not in the mix of those moving into the yellow phase of the governors reopening plan.

Perry County in southcentral Pennsylvania has had 32 positive cases of the virus and one death. Northumberland and Snyder counties, just north of Perry County, had 95 cases and 33 cases with one death, respectively.

I cannot provide you with an explanation on the rationale," Keller said. The governors executive actions are rarely explained, nor justified to the Legislature. I strongly urge the governor and his administration to reconsider and re-open more of the lesser affected counties.

On Friday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,208 new coronavirus cases, raising the statewide total to 46,971. To date, 2,354 Pennsylvanians have died due to COVID-19.

Other lawmakers sound off

Republican Sen. Camera Bartolotta was disappointed. She represents counties in the southwest - Beaver, Greene, and Washington - that werent included on the list to partially reopen. Those counties have a low number of cases per capita, adding to the frustration.

I think it is absolutely ridiculous we are not leaving this up to our county elected officials to decide these things for the good and welfare of their county," she said.

They know what their numbers are accurately and where those numbers come from," Bartolotta continued. "Say, for example, Beaver County [with 426 COVID-19 cases and 67 deaths] almost all those instances came from one nursing home. That does not depict the entire scenario of that county as a whole. We have to take those things into considerations and I think county commissioners have the ability to do that more than anyone.

Wolf has rejected leaving it up to counties to make the call on reopening. He said he thought that the reopening the state was a decision that needed to be left to state officials and expressed concern that it could result in counties being reopened that werent ready to do so.

Asked if she thinks her counties will be included in the next round, she said, Who knows?"

"We have been standing on stumps and screaming for a common sense approach to this whole thing from day one. There are business out there right now that have been shut down for eight weeks that never should have been included. The waiver process is a joke. No accountability. No transparency. No rhyme. No reason. So I see no rhyme nor reason going forward, Bartolotta said.

Wolf said Friday some southwestern counties - and some southcentral counties - are viewed as possible candidates for reopening.

Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, a York County Republican, also expressed frustration that the people and businesses she represents remain under stay-at-home orders.

We have seen many industries on the other side of the Mason-Dixon line continue to operate, and soon other parts of the state will be out of the stay-at home order as well," Phillips-Hill said. Meanwhile, the governors home county continues to be shut down. York Countians have been beyond patient during this pandemic. Protecting public health and our economic health are not mutually exclusive goals.

She said many businesses could reopen if given similar considerations as the state-owned liquor stores, which have been allowed to offer curbside pickup of pre-ordered wine and spirits.

Counties that are permitted to partially reopen still are required to practice social distancing, have gatherings of no more than 25 people, wear masks among other mitigation requirements and limitations.

Joining the throng encouraging the governor to take another look at his list of counties being given the yellow light are Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, and Sen. Judy Ward, R- Blair County.

Both had some counties in their senatorial districts reopen but not all of them.

I have no explanation why he didnt include our area," Ward said. "Our numbers of COVID-19 are low and our hospitals are well equipped. I am beyond frustrated and disappointed that all these employers and workers will continue to suffer.

The governor needs to answer concerns about how the reopening is taking place and apply the reopening standards consistently, said Corman.

In fact, the Senate intends to make the Wolf Administration do just that. Its local government and health and human services committees are convening a joint hearing at 10 a.m. Monday to examine the governors reopening plan. The hearing can be viewed live at pasenategop.com.

Seeing signs of progress

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa of Allegheny County, was among those who took a more positive view of the reopening plan.

Moving from red to yellow in many counties in the northcentral and northwest regions of our state is an exciting step, but I would ask residents to still take as much precaution as possible, Costa said.

He credited the governor and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine for the work they put into the plan and their recommendations along with those from the CDC are designed to keep everyone healthy. Economic recovery will be a long road, and we need to stay healthy for it to work.

The plan calls includes having robust testing available for anyone with symptoms and target populations such as those at high risk, health care personnel, and first responders. It also relies on having a contact-tracing infrastructure that can quickly identify a cluster of outbreaks to issue any necessary isolation and quarantine orders.

House Republican spokesman Mike Straub said expanded testing has been a key focus of his caucus agenda. House Republicans view it as an important step to giving people confidence to go back to work, school and places of worship without fear of contracting the virus.

We appreciate the governor developing a plan for more testing, especially for those at the highest risk of contracting the virus and we ask that he immediately submit an appropriations request so we can work with the federally provided CARES funding to cover the costs, Straub said.

Meanwhile, Gordon Denlinger, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business Pennsylvania, which represents 13,000 small businesses in the state, expressed relief that some businesses will be able to reopen following certain health protocols.

Small business owners say they want their customers and employees to be safe and will do what it takes. We hope their communities come out to support them," he said in a statement.

Being shuttered for a month and a half, and having to lay off employees has been very difficult for small business owners. Many are cash-strapped, quite a few didnt get loans, and some worried they may not survive. Now, businesses, at least in these areas and in limited ways, can bring employees back and lead the states economic recovery. We look forward to other areas of Pennsylvania following suit.

Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, also was happy that more businesses will soon open especially in light of Pennsylvanias unemployment rate. More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians have filed claims for jobless benefits.

We need to move as quickly as we can but also with the appropriate amount of safety to make sure were getting business back," he said. Since the [liquor stores are] allowed to do curbside sales, in our view we should make that more open to other businesses as well. Were working with the administration on how we could get more business back safely and working with businesses to understand what the guidelines are and give them the resources they need to begin opening up as soon as possible.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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Teachers of a government school in a nondescript village of Rajasthans Nagaur district have set a precedent amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown by educating stranded and quarantined migrant workers.

Nineteen workers from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthans Baran district, staying in the Government Senior Higher Secondary School, Dodiyana in Nagaur have benefitted from daily classes during the quarantine and they can now read and write their names as well numbers from 0 to 10.

Following imposition of the country-wide lockdown, the workers had undertaken long march to their homes, but they were stopped by the authorities and quarantined in the school, school teacher Sushil Kumar told PTI.

We thought of giving akshar gyan to them during their quarantine. Except a few, all workers learnt to read and write their names and counting from zero to ten and have now become able to at least search, dial and save numbers in their mobile phones, added Kumar.

The quarantined workers had become a trifle anxious and agitated to go back to their homes at the earliest, so we decided to encourage them to put their idle time to constructive use and learn a life-time skill, he said.

It was not the sole case of migrant workers putting their quarantine period to constructive use. Earlier a group of 74 migrant workers, stopped midway their long march to their villages in Madhya Pradesh and quarantined in a school building in Kotputli near Jaipur, mended, plastered and painted the building walls to express their gratitude for being taken good care of during quarantine.

Dodiyana school teacher Kumar, who played an active role in imparting akshar gyan to workers in his school, said those having their homes in Madhya Pradesh have been sent after the government allowed their transportation.

Those hailing from Rajasthan too will soon be sent to their homes, he added.

Manoj, 18, one of the stranded workers and a class 8 pass-out, said, I did not know how to write names of my relatives in English. But the school teachers taught it to me. They used to take classes everyday. They also helped us learn a bit of mathematics, besides making others at least learn read and write their names. Manoj returned to his home in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh on April 29 along with his family members.

The school administration said the workers were relatives with their home on border districts Baran in Rajasthan and Guna in Madhya Pradesh.

They had come to Meghadand village of Merta city to harvest crops and worked for 15 days before the nationwide lockdown was imposed.

Entire Rajasthan is under lockdown since March 22. About 61 people have died of COVID-19 in the state, while a total of 2,642 people have been taken ill due to the pandemic disease.
 Flash

Africa-China long-standing relations will remain intact because it was based on mutual respect and understanding in the wake of the COVID-19 despite many challenges arising from the pandemic, experts said.

Experts asserted that trade and other agreements between the two parts are bound to continue regardless of the challenges.

"There is nothing new. Pandemics or differences will come and go, but the Africa-China relations will remain, because they are built on sound principles and understanding," said Professor Owen Sichone, a Zambian social scientist.

Sichone said that "diplomacy is a self-correcting mechanism and that is why countries invest in it and that Africa and China have done well in that regard."

"Trade between Africa and China will continue; so will the scientific and cultural exchanges between the two, because they are part of their relations," explained Sichone, who is also immediate past director at Copperbelt University Dag Hammarskjold Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Sichone was also quick to call on the international community to ensure that they invest in strengthening public health systems and prioritize human health, adding that ways of preventing or lessening the impact of disease outbreaks particularly contagious ones are there in the public domain.

"There is no mystery here; it is just that someone was caught unaware," Sichone asserted.

Dawit Yirga, Director General of Asia and Oceania Affairs at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said that "the support mobilized by the Chinese government and the private sector, including the Jack Ma Foundation, to assist the COVID-19 response efforts in Africa is very much appreciated."

"Africa and China are all weather friends and the Sino-Africa strategic partnership has shown vitality and strength in this time of unprecedented challenges," said Yirga.

"We are indeed very grateful to China for its support and solidarity at this difficult moment in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," said Yirga.

"Solidarity is indeed the bedrock of this (Africa-China) partnership and when the corona pandemic outbreak happened in China, Africa stood firmly in solidarity with China," he added.

Yirga, expressing appreciation to the "leadership and commitment of the people and government of China in successfully containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic," also stressed that "as COVID-19 spreads to across the globe,including in Africa, China is supporting the African continent."

Noting China's "commendable willingness" in sharing its successful experience by deploying medical teams in Ethiopian and other African countries, Yirga also expressed his confidence that the "Sino-Africa strategic partnership, which has passed the test of time, will once again prove its resilience."

"China bears in mind that at the difficult moment in its fight to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak, the AU and countries of Africa have rendered China support, and clearly opposed any attempt to politicize the epidemic and tagging the virus, which fully demonstrated the brotherly ties between China and Africa, who have shared weal and woe, and the high level of bilateral strategic cooperation," said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier.

"Covid-19 is a global threat, affecting each and every inhabitant of planet earth, with zero regard for ethnicity, social status, wealth or any other of the various strata which have been contrived, over centuries, to set us apart from each other. Misguided assumptions with regard to the origin and the consequent attribution of blame take us nowhere, render a difficult situation even more challenging and impact negatively on relations between and amongst brotherly nations and peoples," said Sibusiso Moyo, Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, also commended the solidarity demonstrated to Africa by the Chinese government as well as Chinese companies and civil societies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is a very good example for all over the world that feel panic and blame is not the answer. The answer is organizations, countries, institutions, and governments bringing their resources together to team up to provide these kinds of medical supplies and medical equipment for the protection of the people. So, China's move is a very good example," said Gebremariam.
Were staying home to save lives, to flatten the curve and learning to live the life science fiction writers predicted when they said the climate would be too toxic for us to survive. We also live with hope because we are watching about caped crusaders on telly that are heroes.

When then American President Barack Obama walked out to the microphones for a late-night broadcast and announced that a secret operation had killed Osama Bin Laden on May 2, the news created a new kind of hero: Seal Team Six. The film 'Zero Dark Thirty' was just the beginning for our collective imaginations. It was fascinating to see how persistence pays when youre trying to locate your enemy thats gone into hiding.

In a scene from the movie, you will see how the figures covered in burqa reveal themselves to be armed and dangerous. There is a very long Netflix show that goes undercover to see how the people who join ISIS live. The show is called 'Gharabeeb Saud', loosely translated as Black Crows. There are 20 episodes for you to watch. Three women join the terrorist organisation for very different reasons and come to one conclusion. ISIS may promise a heaven of delights to the fighters, but their lives on Earth are hellish. I grit my teeth at the exaggerations, but horrors in the camps are so real, you cannot but be affected by it. As a woman, it shocked me to hear a woman being forcibly separated from her sons because her duty of birthing is over and that women cannot bring up sons!

Black Crows is meant to make you aware of a world beyond sanitised movies that we watch. If the Daesh uses the media to create propaganda, then Black Crows is as scary a reply as any. When you hear tales about recruitment and see how graphic things get, you want the young lads to run away, the surgeon to escape, the women to be saved

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

How do these young men and women get radicalised though? Theres a tale of Layla M, a Moroccan teenager in Amsterdam who runs away from persecution with her boyfriend and discovers that there are prejudices amid the extremists as well.

Theres a film on Amazon Prime Video though that manages to share a similar story of journalists who get Daesh riled up. That is a story of courage one should watch. Its called 'City Of Ghosts' and it shows us how ordinary lads become heroes putting their lives in danger

Young women running away to join the terrorists and wanting to come back are stories that make headlines. But when someone is asking for help because theyve realised it was a mistake, what do you do? Swedens Caliphate is a gripping show and I had to remind myself to breathe because ever so often the fate of Pervin was on the edge of a gun

We have heroes amongst us and I hope there are no more shows where women end up crying when things are taken from them. I stumbled upon the Vietnamese action film 'Furie' because I was looking for Liam Neesons 'Taken', and boy, did I suddenly become energised. Furie is about a mother whose child is kidnapped. The film starts off with great action and we are then thrown into such cool fight sequences, we have to press rewind and watch the action again. My sense of dread after watching the terrorists in Black Crows began to dissipate after watching 'Furie' on Netflix.

'Furie' reminded me of another gem many of us have missed because its easier to find male heroes with machine guns or certain skills that could finish off the enemies. 'Maria' is one such gem. For a dead woman you look pretty good the villain says, and I watched the rest of the film with glee.

Osama may be dead, but terrorism is like a hundred-headed Hydra, a head appearing every time one is cut off. Paul Greengrass, the filmmaker made such a realistic film about Norways worst terror attack that you will be shaken at the inhumanity of it all. '22 July' captures the panic so well.

When we are raging inside about an enemy that can only be fought by staying indoors, by covering your face and by social distancing, it would do well to remind you of wars in real life and stories of great courage you will hear from all corners of the world. Stories of fights that you know are hard fought and sometimes lost. Stories of bravehearts that face death squarely in the face. For those heroes, there is this award-winning animation film that is a must-watch: 'The Breadwinner'.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati  an online writers forum, hosts Mumbais oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication.
Trump says virus may have originated in China lab, threatens tariffs

Iran Press TV

Friday, 01 May 2020 12:16 AM

US President Donald Trump has threatened China with new tariffs amid the coronavirus outbreak he blames Beijing for.

Trump said Thursday his ongoing trade deal negotiations with the Asian country were now of secondary importance to the virus pandemic as his administration crafted retaliatory measures over the outbreak.

"We signed a trade deal where they're supposed to buy, and they've been buying a lot, actually. But that now becomes secondary to what took place with the virus," Trump told reporters. "The virus situation is just not acceptable."

Currently, a range of options were being discussed against China, Reuters cited two US officials as saying, noting that they cautioned that efforts were in the early stages.

According to one official, Trump's top national security team or the president have not yet been informed of the recommendations.

"There is a discussion as to how hard to hit China and how to calibrate it properly," one of the sources said.

Trump also told reporters that he was confident the coronavirus might have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but refused to describe the evidence.

When asked if he had seen evidence that gave him a "high degree of confidence" the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, he said, "Yes, yes I have."

He, however, declined to give specifics, saying, "I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that."

"There's a lot of theories," he said, "but we have people looking at it very, very strongly. Scientific people, intelligence people and others."

The Chinese institute has dismissed the allegations and other US officials have played down their likelihood.

His remarks come as the US intelligence community concluded Thursday that the novel coronavirus originated in China but was not man-made or engineered.

"The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to US policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement.

According to The New York Times, senior figures in the Trump administration have put pressure on US intelligence agencies to provide evidence to substantiate claims that the virus outbreak originated in state-run laboratories in China.

Meanwhile, most experts believe the virus originated in a market selling wildlife in Wuhan and was transmitted from animals to people.

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The Duke of Cambridge phoned Boris Johnson and chatted with the Prime Minister over the phone days after the politician welcomed his newborn son.

Prince William, 37, called Mr Johnson, 55, on Friday afternoon, with their phone meeting recorded as an official event in the Court Circular.

The call came days after Mr Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds, 32, welcomed their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson at NHS's University College Hospital in central London on Wednesday morning.

Boris is known to have fathered five children, with Wilfred being his first son since welcoming a daughter Stephanie 11 years ago, while Prince William has three children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2.

Father-of-three Prince William, 37, phoned Boris Johnson on Friday afternoon, days after the Prime Minister welcomed newborn son Wilfred (pictured, Prince William with Kate Middleton, 38, and their children, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2)

The Court Circular, a daily list of the official engagements conducted by the Queen and her family, recorded their telephone calls to the hospitals as events yesterday.

It said: 'The Duke of Cambridge this afternoon held a Meeting with the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP (Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury) via telephone.'

Prince William's phonecall is known to have followed a message to the couple from the Queen.

Her Majesty is also known to have sent a private message of good wishes to congratulate the couple on the birth of their son, Buckingham Palace said.

The Prime Minister spoke with the Duke of Cambridge over the phone during a meeting on Friday afternoon, days after he welcomed his newborn son (pictured returning to 10 Downing Street from hospital after the birth of his son)

Earlier this month, the Duke tweeted a personal message to the Prime Minister and Carrie as Mr Johnson battled coronavirus in hospital.

Posting on his official Twitter account, and signing it off with his initial 'W', he wrote: 'Our thoughts are with the Prime Minister and his family, who like so many in the UK and around the world are affected by coronavirus. We wish him a speedy recovery at this difficult time. W.'

Earlier today, Carrie revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son as Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the proud parents shared the first photograph of their baby boy with the world.

In a post shared on Ms Symonds' Instagram, the first-time mother was seen tightly cradling her son, who sported a full head of hair not dissimilar to that of his father, as she boasted: 'My heart is full.'

It comes as Carrie revealed the pair have named their baby Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, and shared the first snap of the newborn

A heart-warming caption revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with Lawrie a reference to Ms Symond's grandfather and Nicholas a tribute to the two doctors that 'saved Boris' life'.

The caption read: 'Introducing Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas born on 29.04.20 at 9am. Wilfred after Boris' grandfather Lawrie after my grandfather Nicholas after Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart - the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month.

'Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH that looked after us so well. I couldn't be happier. My heart is full.'

The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the Number 10 spokesman confirmed earlier this week.
Congratulations to all of our 2020 honorees, said Joseph F. Coniglio, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurigs Dallas office. This well-deserved award represents their hard work and dedication to their practices and serves as a testament to Greenberg Traurigs commitment to Dallas.

Six attorneys in the Dallas office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP have been selected to D Magazine Best Lawyers in Dallas list. The list honors the top lawyers in Dallas, as chosen by their peers.

The Greenberg Traurig attorneys selected are:



Todd Basile, Intellectual Property & Technology

Jordan Cowman, Labor & Employment

David Klaudt, Criminal Defense: White Collar

Robert Long, Securities Litigation & Enforcement

Peter Wahby, Business and Commercial Litigation

Labry Welty, Tax - General

Congratulations to all of our 2020 honorees, said Joseph F. Coniglio, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurigs Dallas office. This well-deserved award represents their hard work and dedication to their practices and serves as a testament to Greenberg Traurigs commitment to Dallas.

To compile the annual list, D Magazine reviewed nominations from active members of the Texas Bar across all practice areas. Participating attorneys were asked, Which Dallas lawyers, of those whose work you have witnessed firsthand, would you rank among the current best? Finalists were then selected by an independent panel of lawyers and D Magazine editorial staff.

For a complete listing of attorneys named to this years Best Lawyers in Dallas, visit http://www.dmagazine.com.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP  Texas: Texas is important to Greenberg Traurig, LLP and part of its history. With more than 130 Texas lawyers in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Greenberg Traurig, LLP has deep roots in the Texas business, legal, and governmental communities. Greenberg Traurig Texas works with clients to address their interdisciplinary legal needs across the state utilizing the firms global platform. The Texas attorneys are experienced in industries key to the states future, including: aviation, chemicals, construction, education, energy and natural resources, financial institutions, health care, hedge funds, hospitality, infrastructure, insurance, media, medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, real estate, retail, sports, technology and software, telecommunications, transportation, and video games and esports.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has approximately 2200 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity, and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.
The sales tax on basic necessities for millions of girls and womenthe so-called tampon taxis the latest battlefront in the gender wars.

The big picture: The products are sold tax-free in many states, but 30 exclude menstrual products from those lists. There girls and women pay sales tax on pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and other women's hygiene products.

In Indiana, for example, sales tax on those items brings in almost $5 million annually, according to Period Equity, a group advocating to remove the tax.

State lawmakers who favor taxing the products often argue that states rely on the revenue, and one Tennessee legislator expressed concern that women would buy up supplies if they were tax-exempt.

But, but, but: Ten states in recent years  Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington and California  have succeeded in passing legislation that exempts tampons, pads, and in some states, menstrual cups as well.

Some legislatures have gone so far as to make menstrual products free in public facilities.

New York City since 2016 has provided menstrual products without charge in public facilities, including schools, jails, and shelters, and two years later New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded the program to public schools statewide.

A proposal in the Los Angeles City Council would make menstrual products free in public restrooms, per the Los Angeles Times.

Of note: The CARES Act  passed last month to offer aid during the coronavirus pandemic  has permanently made women's hygiene products, including tampons, pads and cups eligible for reimbursement from for those with flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts.

What they're saying:

"In order to have a fully equitable and participatory society, we must have laws and policies that ensure menstrual products are safe and affordable for everyone who needs them. The ability to access these items affects a persons freedom to work, study, stay healthy, and engage in the world with basic dignity. And if anyones access is compromised, whether, by poverty or stigma or lack of education and resources, it is in our societal interest to ensure those needs are met."

 author Jennifer Weiss-Wolf in "Periods Gone Public"

Go deeper:
At least 16,500 people visited Tablighi Jamaats headquarters in Nizamuddin around the time it emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot between March 13 and 24, according to a Delhi police report that an officer said has been compiled after the biggest exercise the force has ever undertaken.

The mid-level police officer, who did not wish to be named, said the exercise involved contact tracing using cell phone data and physical verification of those who had been to the markaz (headquarters).

The police have estimated the number of visitors in the report, which has been submitted to the state and central governments, based on active cell phones inside the six-storey headquarters.

Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage

A Delhi government official, who did not wish to be named, said around 1,000 people from outside Delhi had come for the gathering. Over the last four weeks, police have checked call details and the locations of all the 16,500 people and found that they had come in close contact with around 15,000. While some stayed at the markaz, others left and visited different places of Delhi. These 15,000 persons were contacted over the phone and interviewed in person.

All the units of the police force were used in this exercise. For example, the traffic police were engaged in analysing those who had come in contact with these 16,500. Another team then contacted all those vulnerable people from the second group. Some units of the armed police, which is responsible for transporting prisoners from jails to courts, also took part in the exercise... Even the security unit was brought to help in contact tracing, the officer said.

The teams then informed the health department about the suspected cases and people were accordingly advised to self-isolate, quarantine or were hospitalised.

Another police officer, who was part of the contact tracing exercise, said they analysed data of cell phones in the area in the weeks before the curbs for social distancing were put in place.

The data showed a massive jump after March 13. The markaz had a massive gathering for their congregation, the second police officer said.

Police are probing the case against the Jamaat functionaries under stringent sections that include those related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The Jamaat has maintained that people from outside were stuck because of the lockdown first announced by the Delhi government on March 24 and later due to the nationwide curbs ordered from March 25.

Between March 29 and 31, police and the health department evacuated around 2,300 people from the markaz. Also, in the first week of April, police found around 200 Jamaat members at different mosques across the city, who had left the headquarters before the evacuation began.

The markaz has been the biggest source of Covid-19 infections in Delhi. Of the 3,515 Covid-19 cases in Delhi, at least 1,080 (30.72%) have been linked to it, according to union health ministry data.

Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and six other functionaries of the group have been named in a First Information Report for organising a religious gathering at the markaz despite restrictions on such congregations to check the Covid-19 spread.

The gathering was held even as the Delhi government banned all religious events on March 13. Gatherings were restricted to 200 people on March 16 before a four-person limit was put on March 21 on them.

The data will also be used as evidence against Saad and the other accused of allegedly having defied the orders.

The markaz has been linked to infections in at least 17 states and Union territories, according to Union health ministry data.

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YEREVAN.  Under the conditions of restrictions due to the novel coronavirus, the implementation of each flight involves a multi-layered procedure of actions. Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (RA MFA) of the, told Armenpress about this.

"The Yerevan-Erbil-Yerevan special flight was carried out on April 24, transporting 21 RA citizens wishing to return to Armenia from Iraq, as well as transporting 133 Iraqi citizens to Erbil," she added, in particular. On April 27 (), 18 RA citizens were transported on a bus from Warsaw to Minsk, from where they returned to Armenia on board a Minsk-Yerevan flight.

On April 28, the Kyiv-Yerevan-Kyiv charter flight was operated, with RA 120 citizens and 25 Ukrainian citizens with the right of entry to the RA returned to Armenia.

The return of our citizens has also taken place from Syria. On April 29 (), the safe transfer of RA citizens to Damascus was organized, after which they flew from Damascus to Yerevan, together with three other citizens.

I would like to specially emphasize that all our citizens who returned to Armenia as a result of the above-mentioned measures are in a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Srinagar: In the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, 2 soldiers have been martyr due to the firing done by Pakistan. On Friday, Pakistan opened fire in Uri sector of Baramulla district without any provocation. Indian soldiers gave a befitting reply to this action of Pakistan, but four soldiers were injured in Pak firing.

Fishermen facing problems due to corona in Himachal Pradesh

The injured soldiers were immediately admitted to the nearby Military Hospital, although two soldiers died during treatment late Friday. These soldiers have been identified, one of them is Havildar Gokarn Singh and the other Nayak Shankar SP. Earlier, 4 people were injured in firing by Pakistan. Police say that there is a fear of people due to the firing by Pakistan in civilian areas.

122 CRPFJawaans infected with coronavirus

Villages like Charunda, Batgran, Hathlanga, Mothal, Sahura, Silikot, Balakot, Nambala and Garkot came under fire in the firing by Pakistan. The impact of the firing from Pakistan was seen till the city of Uri and the shrapnel and shell were seen till the SDM office. Uri's SDM Riyaz Ahmad Malik has also confirmed the injured in the shootout. He said that the condition of three people is critical and they have been admitted to the government hospital.

Corona cases exceeded 37 thousand in the country, 9951 patients recovered
276 Vietnamese from Canada arrive at Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province on May 1, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Binh Minh.

A Vietnam Airlines flight carrying 276 Vietnamese citizens from Canada landed Friday at the Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province.

A representative of the Van Don Airport in the northern province said that 276 Vietnamese people, including students under 18, the elders, people in difficult circumstances, people undergoing medical treatment, tourists or employees whose visas had expired in Canada, were supported by diplomatic agencies to return to Vietnam.

Before boarding, passengers had their temperatures checked, were interviewed on their health status and required to wear masks throughout the journey.

Van Don Airport is still receiving international flights from pandemic zones with special safety measures. All immigration, customs and containment procedures are conducted outside the station to ensure safety for the airports general operations. After completion of procedures, passengers are taken to quarantine centers and their health monitored for 14 days.

This is the 39th flight that the Van Don Airport has received after it was assigned by the government as one of the few airports in the country that can receive flights from pandemic areas, after it suspended international flights on March 25. The airport will begin operating commercial flights from May 4 onwards.

Canada is the third largest Covid-19 hotspot in the Americas, after the U.S. and Brazil. The country has over 53,000 infections and recorded more than 3,000 deaths.

Since mid-April, Vietnam has worked with many countries like the U.K., Italy and Japan to organize flights to bring Vietnamese citizens home after the suspension of commercial flights as a safety and containment measure.

Starting March 22, Vietnam suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers. Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners having diplomatic and official passports, and certain business managers, experts and high-skilled workers are allowed to enter the country at this time, and all entrants will be quarantined for 14 days.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry confirmed no fresh coronavirus case as of Saturday morning, keeping Vietnams Covid-19 count at 270 since last Friday. Of the 51 active cases, 12 are relapsed patients.
"I'm going to get involved and see what is going on there because I don't want to destroy somebody for having a bad day," Trump said.

Asked last week about the investigation last week, Esper did not rule out reinstating Crozier and the Navy has repeatedly said nothing is off the table and that no final decisions have been made with regard to the investigation.

The Navy's top admiral told reporters earlier this month that he is "taking no options off the table" as he reviewed the investigation and that he was under no pressure from Pentagon or administration officials to drive toward a particular outcome.

"I am taking no options off the table as I review that investigation I think that that's my responsibility to approach it in a way with due diligence to make sure it's completely fair and unbiased as I can possibly make it," Gilday told a small group of reporters on a conference call.

Gilday also said that he has not spoken to Crozier and that he is under no pressure in terms of the investigation.

"I'm under no pressure from anybody in terms of my pace or in terms of any kind of influence, nobody has talked to me about that investigation -- you're the first people that I'm talking to about the investigation outside of my office," Gilday said.

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Cancer patients with COVID-19 are much more likely to die due to novel coronavirus infection than those without the malignant disease, according to a study led by an Indian-origin researcher who says the findings may help protect this vulnerable section of the global population.

The study, published in the journal Cancer Discovery, is the largest so far to assess outcomes for patients with cancer who have also been infected with COVID-19, according to the researchers.

"Our findings emphasise the need to prevent cancer patients from contracting COVID-19 and -- if they do -- to identify and closely monitor these individuals for dangerous symptoms," said Vikas Mehta, a co-lead author of the study from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the US.

"We hope that our findings can inform states and communities that have not yet been so severely struck by this pandemic about the unique vulnerability cancer patients face," Mehta added.

In the study, the scientists assessed 218 cancer patients who tested positive for COVID-19 from March 18 to April 8 at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, US -- one of the worst hit regions by the pandemic in the country.

They found that a total of 61 cancer patients died from COVID-19 -- a dramatically high case-fatality rate of 28 per cent.

In comparison, they said, the mortality rate for COVID-19 in the US is 5.8 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"A key element is that mortality appears to be more closely related to frailty, age, and co-morbidities than to active therapy for cancer," said co-senior author Balazs Halmos from Einstein College of Medicine.

"Our data suggest that we should not stop lifesaving cancer therapies, but rather develop strategies to minimise potential COVID-19 exposures and re-evaluate therapies for our most vulnerable cancer populations," explained Amit Verma, co-senior author of the study.

According to the researchers, the time period during which these patients were treated was earlier in the epidemic when testing was almost exclusively done in sicker, symptomatic patients who required hospitalization.

They said this may partially explain the high fatality rate within the study's cancer population.

However, even when compared to mortality rates in non-cancer patients at Montefiore and across New York City during the same time period, the study noted that cancer patients demonstrated a significantly higher risk of dying from COVID-19.

As a group, COVID-19 patients with hematologic (blood) cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, had the highest mortality rate of 37 per cent (20 of 54 patients), the scientists said.

And for patients with solid malignancies, they said the mortality rate was 25 per cent (41 of 164).

The researchers reported some striking differences among specific solid cancers in the study.

They said the mortality rate for patients with lung cancer was 55 per cent, and for those with colorectal cancer, it was 38 per cent, compared with mortality rates of 14 per cent for breast cancer, and 20 per cent for prostate cancer.

According to the study, certain underlying conditions such as older age, hypertension, heart disease, and chronic lung disease were significantly associated with increased mortality among cancer patients with COVID-19.

More than half of those with cancer who died due to COVID-19 (37 out of 61 patients) had been in places with a higher risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus, such as nursing homes, hospitals, or emergency departments within the 30 days before being diagnosed with the highly contagious disease.

The scientists said this period was before widespread social distancing had been implemented.

Citing the limitations of the study, the researchers said they could not fully account for all of the patients' pre-existing health conditions prior to COVID-19 infection.

Differential treatments paradigms for COVID-19 infection were also not controlled for in the study, the scientists said.

"We also acknowledge that the mortality rate is highly dependent on the breadth of testing, and therefore understand that more widespread detection of viral infection would likely alter the results," they wrote in the study.

The researchers believe that further studies assessing a larger population of cancer patients with more rigorous control for other factors may help validate the findings.

"These data suggest the need for proactive strategies to reduce likelihood of infection and improve early identification in this vulnerable patient population," they concluded in the study.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
He was William Mann, director of the National Zoo, and he planned to spend no more than a day in New York before boarding the first of several ships that would take him across the Atlantic, into the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal, into the Red Sea and down the east coast of Africa to Tanganyika, present-day Tanzania.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Strict quarantine rules will remain in Albay province and Zamboanga City as approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Disease, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said Saturday.

Ano told CNN Philippines the task force, of which he is a key member, has received a number of request from local governments for an extension of the enhanced community quarantine or ECQ in their areas, but only that of Albay and Zamboanga were approved.

The others will have to implement general enhanced community quarantine, he said.

Other local governments that requested for an extended ECQ are:

-La Union

-Lanao del Norte

-Isabela including Santiago City

-Butuan

-Camarines Sur.

The IATF recommendation for Albay and Zamboanga will need President Rodrigo Dutertes approval.

Ano said the task forces recommendation was based on the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases and insufficient capacity in their local healthcare system to handle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mahihirapan silang i-contain kaya kailangan ng EQQ.

[TRANSLATION: They will have a hard time containing the disease so the ECQ is needed.]

Zamboanga confirmed 19 new infections on Friday, bringing the total number of cases across the city to 30.

Albay has the most number of confirmed cases in Bicol, with 34. To date, there are 43 COVID-19 infections in the region.

Meanwhile, the more relaxed general community quarantine applies to most of the country.

The ECQ remains in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon except Aurora province, the provinces of Pangasinan, Benguet including Baguio City, Iloilo, Cebu including Cebu City, Bacolod City, and Davao City until May 15.
"[The union was] was becalmed," said an observer, one of many who refused to be quoted on the record due to sensitivities in the sector. "They didn't have to go to the barricades or rattle the cages ... because they were pretty comfortable with what they were seeing come out of it." So the federation put its campaign energy into federal funding, which hit a dead end with the re-election of the Coalition in May. But there was increasing restlessness among members who felt it was not paying enough attention to mounting workloads and administrative burdens. Enter Gavrielatos in late January, a languages-teacher-turned union boss, who has has been a player in all the biggest industrial disputes in Australian education over the past 30 years. He was among 80,000 who rallied in the Domain against education reforms in the late 1980s. He shouted through a megaphone during salary disputes in the 1990s. He was the union's man on the ground during the Mount Druitt "class we failed" saga. And he led the Australian Education Union's Gonski negotiations. After five years working for a global federation of teachers' unions battling privatisation, he felt it was time to return to his old federation. "I never really left," he says.

Gavrielatos acknowledges some members felt the union focused too much on funding. "That is regrettable," he says. "The improvement of student learning conditions and teacher working conditions, both of which are inextricably linked, is dependent on fair funding for our schools." Working conditions are now the priority; Gavrielatos' first move was to launch an independent review of changing teacher workload  the same tactic he and fellow union bosses used 20 years ago, when the Vinson inquiry led to months of uncomfortable headlines for the then-Labor government. But along came COVID-19, and the federation was inundated with concerns from anxious teachers. They wanted to see the union fighting for them. Angelo Gavrielatos as Australian Education Union president in 2008. Credit:Andy Zakeli Berejiklian's decision to ask parents to keep children home in March headed off a fight over closing schools during the first weeks of the outbreak. But bringing them back has been a different story. The state and federal governments want students at school, and not just for education and welfare reasons; schools are key to economic recovery.

But teachers are worried about their health, in a workplace where social distance from students is difficult. Some don't trust NSW Health advice that children are not big transmitters of the virus. Many are also irritated by the rhetoric from the federal government on the importance of school for disadvantaged students. Loading But the stakes have never been this high. If the federation was to back the demands of worried teachers resisting a return to school  and there are also many teachers who don't feel that way  it would come up against not only federal and state governments, but also parents who believe their kids need school. It would be an unwinnable battle and perhaps an unwise one, given schools' importance to national recovery. No union wants job losses in any sector. "Every moving part of the economy and society and community are coming into play on this issue," says an education insider.

Publicly, at least, the federation has never opposed a return to school. In fact, they proposed their own transition model of beginning with kindergarten and year 12. But Gavrielatos has been vocal about safety concerns, and has given voice to the confusion of many of his members about why NSW is opening schools when Victoria is keeping them shut, and why social distancing applies outside the school gates but not inside them (which health authorities say relates to the fact that children are not considered significant transmitters, and adults can keep a safe distance from each other). "They have to be seen to be active and fighting for [members] on some front," said the insider. "They have picked the better battle for themselves." Some point out that other professions in harm's way  aged care and childcare workers, nurses, police, prison guards, and retail staff  have not made such a fuss. "This is not teacher exceptionalism," Gavrielatos says. "The school working environment has no parallel to any other office environment. These critiques are made by people who are practising social distancing in offices or working from home." Gavrielatos has also condemned the government's refusal to heed federation advice on how the return to school should be managed, arguing it put public HSC students at a disadvantage because private schools were bringing year 12 back faster. Most public schools are also bringing year 12 back, as well as other students.

"They're cranky they're not being listened to," says Piccoli. "They're not asking for 5 per cent pay rises, they're asking for the opinions of people in schools to heard when the government plans for schools to come back." If the federation wanted an extra skirmish on top of all that, the government gave it one. Under fierce attack from broadcaster Alan Jones, who was accusing the Premier of letting unions decide policy, Berejiklian snapped back: "The union's position would be to have the children remaining online indefinitely and we don't think that's viable." On the same day, Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the proposal to bring year 12 back first was a "suggestion from those who have forgotten that we must value the education of every child equally". 'It's personally insulting, let alone professionally insulting, when politicians think they can lecture us on disadvantage and inequity.' Angelo Gavrielatos Gavrielatos exploded. "For me, that was the low point [of the past month]," he said. "The Premier reverted to type, and flipped the switch to teacher bashing. To have politicians lecturing us, questioning us, about our commitment to every child, was a low. I consider it a studied insult." A few days later, Gavrielatos enlisted commentator Jane Caro to rally celebrities to post video tributes to teachers on Twitter, with the hashtag TeachersRock. Many parents jumped on board, and teachers were deeply appreciative.
Native bees that boost food crops are in decline but changing fire management policies could help them.

Most flowering plant farms employ honeybees, a non-native species originally imported from Europe and managed by beekeepers. However, research shows that farms surrounded by natural bee habitat have higher crop yields.

UC Riverside entomologist Lauren Ponisio explains that native bees are increasingly important to food growers. They pollinate crops on the fringes of a farm and could potentially also be used for agricultural purposes.

"The non-native honeybees currently used for crops are having problems, and we're in trouble if native bees can't replace or supplement them on our farms," Ponisio said. "Relying on one species of bee to pollinate all our crops is unsustainable."

Ponisio led a study to be published this month in the journal Ecology and Evolution that examined environmental factors affecting the health of native bees. There are thousands of bee species that live in the wild, many of which are found in California.

Ponisio found that these native bees are better able to survive harsh climate events, like drought, in areas where naturally occurring fires are allowed to burn.

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Small fires consume dry brush that would otherwise fuel megafires, like 2018's deadly Camp Fire, which occur with increasing frequency in California. In addition to eliminating fuel for megafires, smaller mixed-severity burns also trigger positive changes in the environment. They remove unhealthy and dead trees, allow sunlight to reach a forest floor, and create a better environment for native plants and their pollinators to thrive.

To compare bees from areas where fires are allowed to burn with bees from areas where they aren't, Ponisio and her team headed to Yosemite National Park. Near park buildings and tourist hotspots, fires are fought immediately. In other areas of the park, like the Illilouette Basin, fires are allowed to burn naturally as they have for centuries.

The team sampled bees in 2013 and 2014, a two-year period of severe drought in California. In 2014, there was no summer rainfall, there was little snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and flowers were not blooming.

A majority of the 164 bee and 71 flowering plant species Ponisio sampled during the study period declined. However, where natural fires had created a diversity of habitats, bees were able to find alternative flower species to visit, and therefore their populations did not decline as much as when the same species were in areas without a diversity of natural fires. There was only a single species of bee that not only survived but increased as a result of the drought -- the European honeybee.

"The honeybee is a hyper generalist," said Ponisio. "There's not a plant they won't try out, which is why they're great for agriculture, and are so successful when they invade wild ecosystems."

Boosting native plants would provide ample food resources both for native and the non-native European honeybees that spread into wild environments. This way, all of them could feed and not compete for pollen resources. One of the best and most immediate ways to encourage this scenario would be to reconsider fire management policies.

"Smokey the Bear was wrong," Ponisio said. "We actually don't need to prevent forest fires when they are not endangering people."
: Florida Dairy Provides Milk at Discounted Price to Help Feed Families in Need
Vanessa Bryant Sends Emotional B-Day Message to Daughter Gigi

Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Laker legend Kobe Bryant, posted an emotional tribute today on what would have been her daughter Gigis 14th birthday.

Happy 14th birthday to my sweet baby girl, Gianna, Vanessa Bryant wrote on her Instagram account. Mommy loves you more than I can ever show you. You are part of MY SOUL forever.

I miss you so much everyday. I wish I could wake up and have you here with me. I miss your smile, your hugs and your giggles.

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I miss EVERYTHING about YOU, Gigi. I LOVE YOU so much!!!!!!

Kobe and Gigi Bryant were among nine people killed in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas.

In a follow-up post, Vanessa Bryant asked supporters to wear red in honor of her daughter, who loved to wear a red bow in all of her school pictures.

Red means love and life, she wrote. To commemorate Gigis birthday today, please consider wearing red, caption an act of kindness or show how you will play Gigis way since she always gave everything, she did her all and led with kindness. Please use the hashtag #PlayGigisWay.


Tirupati Balaji temple in Andhra Pradesh, country's richest Hindu temple of Lord Venkateshwara, has reportedly ousted 1,300 contractual workers amid the coronavirus outbreak. The workers, who were engaged in shrine's sanitation and hospitality work, were asked not to come for duties from May 1, citing the suspension of work due to the nationwide lockdown.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) board, the trust that manages the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, did not renew the contract, which expired on April 30. YV Subba Reddy, the chairman of the temple's trust, said that the firm supplying the manpower was intimated that their services were discontinued. He, however, assured to look into the issue on humanitarian grounds.

"The contract entered into by the TTD with the manpower agency which supplied workers ended on April 30. Normally, fresh tenders would have been called by now for awarding of the contract to the agency which bids the lowest amount for manpower supply. Because of the lockdown, the TTD trust board could not meet and finalise the tender," TTD official spokesman T Ravi told Hindustan Times.

"Everything was done as per the rules. Moreover, there is no work for these workers now, because of the lockdown, all guest houses are closed," Ravi said.

In view of the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, the TTD board has imposed a total suspension of darshan for pilgrims in Tirumala temple since March 20. Apart from main temple, 50 sub-temples under the administration of TTD have also been closed.

The board had announced the temple's closure till May 3, following the extension of the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. The temple's trust is yet to take a call on extension of closure of the shrine as the Centre announced the third phase of the lockdown, beginning May 4.

This is the first time in 128 years that the temple has been closed for pilgrims. The temple with a 2000-year-old history only closed for religious rituals and solar moon eclipses but never for a temporary period.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: A special Aeroflot flight with 271 Russian nationals, who were stranded in India due to coronavirus lockdown, departed for Moscow on Saturday.

"Today, a special Aeroflot flight departed from IGI Airport in New Delhi with Russian nationals on board. 271 Russians flew home by a special flight en route Delhi -- Saint-Petersburg -- Moscow with the assistance of the Embassy of Russia in India," read a statement.



CLICK HERE FOR COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES

Russia has evacuated its citizens stuck in India since the imposition of lockdown. After regular international passenger flights were suspended on March 22, as many as 2,282 people left India with the Embassy's assistance.

Out of 2,282 people, 1,065 of them departed from Delhi and 1,217 from Goa. As many as 3,609 compatriots remain stranded in India and are awaiting further special flights.

India is under lockdown till May 17 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Prime Minister had on March 24 announced the lockdown, which was later extended twice from April 14 to May 3 and from May 3 to May 17.

Amid the lockdown, all airlines have suspended their domestic and international operations.
By Trend

The current period for us is a time when we must increase spending and help vulnerable citizens and entrepreneurs, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev during a videoconference with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti, Trend reports.

Mr. President, thank you and senior representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for this meeting. This is evidence that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a close and reliable partner of Azerbaijan. Therefore, you have come up with such an initiative in difficult times. This will allow us the opportunity to review the ongoing projects, discuss upcoming work and outline plans for further cooperation. Regarding the question on the virus, we began to take measures based on the real situation from the very beginning, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state pointed out that it was very important for us to assess the situation correctly and set up an effective team to deal with this crisis.

This virus came to Azerbaijan from outside, we took appropriate steps to prevent it and closed the borders on the basis of an agreement and joint decision with neighboring states. I believe that we made that decision in a timely manner and earlier than similar decisions were taken by other countries. As a result, we gained some time. We see that time is the most important factor in the fight against this virus, because the health system of no country is capable of treating such a large number of infected people. Therefore, our main goals were to gain time, prepare the healthcare system, mobilize specialists and doctors, and build management correctly. Then we started witnessing the spread of the virus in the country and began to apply restrictive measures in March. We are in constant contact with the World Health Organization, and these contacts are ongoing. We asked the World Health Organization to send specialists to the country to evaluate the situation. They did that and then made a statement that Azerbaijan was taking the necessary measures. They also provided certain recommendations. Later, the World Health Organization issued a statement citing Azerbaijan as an example in the fight against coronavirus, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state noted that the decision to introduce restrictive measures was not an easy one.

We understood perfectly well that it would create inconveniences for people, a major blow would be dealt to our economic development despite the fact that this year's indicators were quite reassuring. But we had two options. The first option is to protect the life and health of our people and the second is to prioritize the saving of the economy. Therefore, we chose the protection of people's lives from the very beginning. This is the goal of all our work, and we fully mobilized our efforts in this direction. We conducted more than 120,000 tests and are in one of the leading places for their number per capita. We have set up additional laboratories, which are currently 18. Patients infected with coronavirus are being treated in 22 public hospitals, including the recently commissioned modern hospital with 575 beds. Currently, about 2,000 of our citizens are in quarantine, and this figure is decreasing. These are the people who came from abroad and those who were in contact with them. They have been placed in four- and five-star hotels and have the conditions that meet high standards, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The result of the restrictive measures being occasionally tightened was positive, and we have been observing positive dynamics for two weeks now, i.e. more people are recovering than become infected. The relatively low mortality rate suggests that the work is being done right. We started to relax restrictive measures yesterday. As for the impact on our economy, it will be negative, of course. At the beginning of the year, we had positive prospects. If you look at the first quarter of the year, growth was still at 1 percent, growth in the non-oil sector was 3 percent and in the non-energy sector 23 percent, noted the head of state.

The head of state pointed out that a large package of support for the areas of the private sector worst affected by coronavirus has been provided.

The state has paid a large share of the salaries of 600,000 citizens and micro businesses working in the service and other sectors. Along with this, money was paid to 600,000 low-income, unemployed and unofficially employed citizens in accordance with the minimum criterion. Of course, this is a huge expense for us. If we also consider tax benefits, this figure exceeds 3.5 billion manats, or 2 billion dollars, today. This is a large burden for our budget, because the sharp drop in the oil price will have an adverse impact on our foreign exchange reserves. However, the current period for us is a time when we must increase spending and help vulnerable citizens and entrepreneurs. At the same time, we have doubled the number of paid public jobs this year, said President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state noted that minimum wages are paid here as well, and these are jobs usually related to the public sector.

This year the number of such jobs will be 90,000. We have also increased the number of citizens receiving social assistance. Each such family receives 222 manats every month, and their number has reached 80,000. Along with this, self-employment opportunities have been created for 12,000 people  there is also growth of 70 percent here. So this is the information about the economic and social package presented to our citizens working in areas that have been adversely affected and also have lost their jobs, said President Ilham Aliyev.
TRENTON  No curfew violation!

Two people were wounded by gunfire Friday night when someone shot up the 1400 block of West State Street, just as the capital city was about to go on lockdown for the night, authorities confirmed.

The men were shot in the leg and shoulder, respectively, four minutes before the 8 p.m. curfew, near Sanhican Drive, Trenton Police Lt. Jason Kmiec said.

Three houses and several parked vehicles were also struck in the barrage of bullets.

One of the victim was transported to the hospital by private means. The second victim was found on Laclede Avenue.

The extent of the victims injuries were unclear, the police spokesman said, but one of the victims was uncooperative with officers.

Sources said as many as 35 shots were fired on the block, and people as far as a mile away reported hearing the gunfire.

It was at least the 11th shooting since April 5, as the date for Mayor Reed Gusciora to lift the 8 p.m. curfew in the city came and passed.

Lifting the curfew any time soon appears to be out of the question because of the continued violence, the mayor said in an interview Friday night.

Yeah, the curfew is continuing, he said by phone. Theres still going to be violence. We cant solve neighborhood gang problems overnight.

Gusciora said the city will re-evaluate whether to lift the curfew in a couple weeks.

He may consider easing restrictions gradually, in one-hour increments, he said. But a lot of it depends on the violence on the streets.

I dont think for the foreseeable future its going to be lifted past 10 p.m., he said.

Cops have issued more than 150 tickets since the curfew, which extends to all businesses and residents in the capital city, has been in place.

Gusciora has faced criticism for imposing the curfew from one city legislator but justified in under a mob action law on Trentons books.

The mayor and Trenton Police have touted drastic reductions in crime since the curfew went into effect.

City police director Sheilah Coley inaccurately claimed triple-digit declines in crime, but The Trentonians analysis showed that crime was down 41 percent for the period between April 6 and April 27.

Crime was down about 51 percent for the hours after 8 p.m. Violent crime has dipped about 46 percent, but there has still been a seemingly endless loop of gunplay.

Trenton has had five murders, two of them in broad daylight, since Gov. Phil Murphy put New Jersey on a stay-at-home order. Three people were gunned down April 5, in a bloody Palm Sunday.

Cops caught one of the alleged killers, Quasim Hallett. He is charged with the execution-style slaying of Quamierah Massey, 24.
For migrants who have left African countries for Libya, life was already a struggle before the coronavirus pandemic, and now lockdown measures are leaving many without work.

For migrants who have left African countries for Libya, life was already a struggle before the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, lockdown measures are leaving many without work.

Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Abdelwahed reports from Tripoli.
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Caracas, May 2 : At least 46 people were killed and several others wounded during a riot at a prison in Venezuela, an official said.

The riots broke out on Friday when some inmates attempted an escape from the Los Llanos prison in Guanare, around 500 km southeast of the capital Caracas.

The official told Efe news thatthe death toll could increase, as the condition of some of the wounded was "extremely serious".

The prison's director, Carlos Toro, was among the wounded after he was stabbed in the back and behind his head during the clashes in which the inmates used firearms and sharp weapons apart from tossing a grenade.

The investigation into the incident was still going on eight hours later, a public prosecutor told Efe news, without providing further details.

Escarlet Gonzalez, a lieutenant of the Bolivarian National Guard - a paramilitary force - present at the scene, was hit by shrapnel from the grenade lobbed by one of the prisoners involved in the mutiny.

The incident comes at a time when Venezuela has been put under quarantine and social distancing to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The South American country has so far reported more than 300 cases and 10 deaths due to the disease.
Across Alabama, more than 900 residents and workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities have tested positive for coronavirus and 100 have died, but state officials wont say exactly where those cases have occurred.

Right now, families are at the mercy of the facility to know whether the facility is affected by the virus or not, said Tommy James, an attorney who has family members in nursing homes in Alabama. At least 20 other states are releasing the information, why arent we?

Family members and advocates, like James, have begun asking for that data as more states move to publish the number of cases in each facility.

Departments of health in South and North Carolina both released lists of affected assisted living and nursing homes this week, joining other Southern states like Georgia and Louisiana that already made that information available.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 36 states make some information available about deaths and infections from COVID-19. That includes Alabama, which releases the total number of cases among residents and staff around the state. But about 20 of those states now list either the number of cases and/or the number of deaths in each facility.

The Alabama Department of Public Health cited privacy concerns as a reason not to report cases by facility. A spokesman for the Jefferson County Department of Health also said that agency does not release that information to protect patient privacy.

All nursing homes in the United States are required to report positive cases to departments of health, which send staff members to investigate.

Virginia Moore-Bell, the ombudsman for long-term care in Alabama, advocates for residents in nursing homes. She said staff are required to tell families if someone living or working at the home has tested positive for coronavirus, but do not have to say how many cases have been reported.

I do think its important for facilities to notify families that there are cases, Moore-Bell said. I dont think the exact number of cases is as important.

Families can ask whether someone at a nursing home has tested positive and what steps staff members are taking to contain the virus. A new rule announced April 19 by federal officials will require nursing homes to disclose the number of cases to families and report them to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but its unclear when it will take effect.

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) understands that [The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] will be reporting Long Term Care data in the near future, said ADPH spokeswoman Arrol Sheehan. In continuing to follow ADPH investigative policy regarding notifiable diseases, we will await CMS providing this information.

Many family members have reached out to Al.com to say they first heard about coronavirus from news reports. Thats not acceptable, said Lori Smetanka, executive director of Consumer Voice, an advocacy group that represents nursing home residents.

There have been many facilities that are doing a good job communicating with family and residents about coronavirus, Smetanka said. But we have also had a number of family members say they learned about positive cases from reporters, and that should never happen.

Consumer Voice is calling for all states to publicize the number of coronavirus cases by facility. Smetanka said patients are entitled to privacy, but facilities are not. Advocates are not seeking the names of staff or residents who have tested positive, just the numbers, she said.

Its a way communities can really get a sense of the spread and to devote resources to where they are most needed, Smetanka said.

Residents and staff members of long-term care facilities now account for about 13 percent of the cases in Alabama. Statistics show that 77 percent of the deaths from COVID-19 have occurred among Alabamians age 65 and older. The 100 deaths in long-term care facilities represent more than a third of Alabamas 279 total deaths as of May 1.

Large outbreaks have been reported at nursing homes in Mobile, Hoover and Alexander City, and dozens more facilities have reported handfuls of cases. Other nursing homes have been more tight-lipped. A facility in Marion County that lost at least one resident and one nurse to the virus has not disclosed how many were infected.

From the start of the crisis, nursing homes begged for more resources to fight the virus. They struggled to get tests and protective equipment that were in short supply. They also complained about long waits for test results that left them unsure of which residents and staff had been infected.

Earlier this week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered universal testing of all residents and staff in the states nursing homes, regardless of whether they showed any symptoms of COVID-19. Members of the Alabama National Guard have been deployed to help sanitize and train staff at some hard-hit nursing homes.

Nursing home residents have been among the hardest hit by the virus. Families have not been allowed to visit since mid-March. Thats left many concerned about conditions inside the buildings.

I think that transparency is critical to public health and the health and wellbeing of the residents and staff, James said. Whats the big secret here?
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A Ghanaian energy icon, Mr Mahama Kappiah has been appointed the Permanent Representative Ambassador of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the United-Nations, in New York, USA, a statement from the Regional entity says.



The release, copied to the Ghana News Agency said his appointment takes effect from May 1st, 2020.



He was the Executive Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE).



Mr. Kappiah in his position as Executive Director created and led ECREEE from inception in 2010 to become a full-fledged institution whose annual budget currently exceeds USD 15 million, from a modest USD 2 million, and this led to its replication in other regions of the world as a model for sustainable energy development.



The release said as Executive Director, he cultivated key partnerships to optimise fund mobilisation and sustained national and international partnerships to make its programmes and services a reference for African energy initiatives.



It said Mr Kappiah influenced policies and implemented major energy projects supported by governments and private sector investments and actively participated in the creation of the West African Power Pool (WAPP).



The release also created the Regional Electricity Regulation Authority (ERERA) and regularly facilitated high-level collaborations with executive decision makers, policy makers and government officials.



He received the African Energy Leader of the Year Award for outstanding performance and innovation in the energy industry, and the Green Future Leadership Award for leading positive social change in 2017 for his exemplary contributions to the renewable and energy efficiency sector.



The release said Mr Kappiah is a board member for key international renewable energy organisations, including the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), the Clean Energy Solutions Centre, and member of the Africa-Europe High-Level Platform for Sustainable Energy Investments (SEI Platform).



It said he would be succeeded by Mr. Bah Saho who would act as the Executive Director of ECREEE.



The release said Mr. Saho comes to the position with a wealth of experience spanning a period of over 25 years in the energy sector.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Nick Cordero has been in the hospital for a month, fighting for his life as he struggles with the coronavirus.

On Friday, the same day he marked one month in the hospital, his wife also revealed he successfully had a tracheostomy, that will go on to help ween him from mechanical ventilation.

Amanda Kloots was elated to share the update as she took to her Instagram stories to share news with fans and supporters.

One month: On Friday, the same day he marked one month in the hospital, his wife Amanda Kloots revealed he successfully had a tracheostomy, that will go on to help ween him from mechanical ventilation

'He is on the trach,' she shouted with a big smile on her face. 'They did it! And he's okay and he's free of the ventilator, thank God.'

Adding this was a step they had hoped to make for the Broadway star, for weeks. Saying: 'We have been trying to do this for Nick for so many weeks now, and it just kept getting stalled and pushed back because of his health.'

'And now, he was finally healthy enough today to get the trach and the ventilator is out,' she said. 'His face is clear of all of those tubes.'

The tracheostomy procedure, or trach, cuts a hole in his neck at his trachea, to change the location of tubes for ventilation from his nose and mouth directly to his airway.

Improving: The tracheostomy procedure, or trach, cuts a hole in his neck at his trachea, to change the location of tubes for ventilation from his nose and mouth directly to his airway

Long haul: Adding this was a step they had hoped to make for the Broadway star, for weeks. Saying: 'We have been trying to do this for Nick for so many weeks now, and it just kept getting stalled and pushed back because of his health'

'This is just amazing news guys because we really needed this to happen to get him off that ventilator, this is a lot more comfortable for Nick,' Amanda said as she spoke to the camera.

Adding: 'I think he'll be feeling better, even subconsciously feeling better. I think this is a great sign for some good recovery days ahead and for him to be able to wake up and have that pressure relieved from his throat. Trach is in, woohoo.'

The news came after Amanda took the couple's son Elvis to the beach that she said was 'much needed.'

Earlier in the day, Amanda wrote: 'It's May 1. Nick was induced and put on a ventilator in the ICU on April 1. New month, same goal! YOU CAN DO IT BABY! Also, our neighbors are awesome. #wakeupnick.'

Fun in the sun: The news came after Amanda took the couple's son Elvis to the beach that she said was 'much needed'

Beach day: Amanda shared photos from her day at the beach with Elvis as they took a break from hospitals

It came as he was set to undergo a tracheostomy, to put a breathing tube directly into his throat and remove him from the ventilator.

The surgery was planned for Friday afternoon, with Amanda asking followers to pray for Nick and explaining: 'that will hopefully make everything more comfortable for him and get all of that stuff off of his face.'

The fitness instructor also shared a photograph of a banner posted by the couple's neighbors in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, which read 'Wake Up Nick'.

The hashtag is one popularized by Amanda, with multiple friends and fans posting to social media as they dance daily in honor of the Broadway star, who remains in intensive care.

Positive thoughts: Earlier in the day Amanda took to Instagram to motivate Nick saying 'you can do it baby' as she marks one month since he was first admitted to hospital with coronavirus

'You can do it baby!' Amanda shared a banner posted by the couple's Laurel Canyon neighbors

Those getting involved include his former castmates from Rock Of Ages, who came together to perform in his honor on Thursday.

Wrote Amanda: 'Rock of Ages cast singing for Nick. Nick's incredible cast just sent me this video on a day where I really needed to hear 'Don't stop believing!' Thank you so much Rock Of Ages cast for this awesome song and tribute to Nick. He loves you guys so much!'

Her post comes after Amanda revealed on Thursday that Nick's condition has taken a turn for the worse as he continues to battle COVID-19.

'Wake Up Nick!' The hashtag is one popularized by Amanda, with multiple friends and fans posting to social media as they dance daily in honor of the Broadway star

Thinking of him: Those getting involved include his former castmates from Rock Of Ages, who came together to perform in his honor on Thursday

Support: Amanda shared video footage of Nick's castmates

Talking on Instagram Stories, Amanda said her 41-year-old husband has 'holes in his lungs' to the point that doctors said he 'looks like's been a smoker for 50 years'.

The dire assessment comes just after Amanda spoke to Gayle King about the last time she saw Nick in person: when she dropped him off at the hospital for what they both believed would be a brief examination.

'I didn't even give him a kiss or a hug,' Amanda told the CBS This Morning host on Thursday.

Gayle King interview: Amanda Kloots has revealed that Nick Cordero's condition has taken a turn for the worse as the Broadway star continues to battle COVID-19

'We drove to the emergency room and we dropped him off, and this is one of the saddest parts, we thought I would see him in two hours,' said Kloots of the day in late March.

She said she planned to take the couple's ten-month-old son Elvis for a walk before returning to pick up her husband.

However after an hour of waiting, Nick rang and told her, 'Amanda, they have admitted me, I'm now in a bed with oxygen.'

'I was getting a little worried at this point,' the 38-year-old admitted, adding, 'Nick has never been hospitalized. He has no pre-existing conditions.'

Assessment: The fitness instructor said her 41-year-old husband has 'holes in his lungs' to the point that doctors said he 'looks like's been a smoker for 50 years'

Broadway star @iamNickCordero has been hospitalized since late March and on a ventilator because of complications from COVID-19.@GayleKing spoke with Cordero's wife @AmandaKloots for her first in-depth interview about her husband.



Ahead on @CBSThisMorning. pic.twitter.com/yBZLzY00Mx  CBS News (@CBSNews) April 30, 2020

#day29: Wednesday marked the 29th day since Amanda had seen the Rock Of Ages star - as commemorated by an Instagram photo of the couple in happier times

So sad: In another video, posted by Amanda on Wednesday, she spoke about her 'daily visit' to Nick's hospital - which must take place 'from afar' due to social distancing measures

'The only time I have ever been in a hospital was to give birth to my son so we're kind of new to the hospital,' continued the mother-of-one.

'So anytime I hear you're admitted, I get a little nervous.'

In another video, posted by Amanda on Wednesday, she spoke about her 'daily visit' to Nick's hospital - which must take place 'from afar' due to social distancing measures.

'I just finished my daily visit to go stand outside [Cedars Sinai Hospital] and play Nick's song, and sing and pray and talk to him from afar.'

Family: Nick, Amanda and son Elvis in a throwback photo of the family

'Everyday': Amanda also shared an image of her spot from which she prays for Nick's well being each day

In her Thursday update, Kloots said that 'due to COVID, Nick's lungs are severely damaged'.

'There are holes in his lungs where obviously you don't want holes to be.'

'This was found because his oxygen count went down,' explained Amanda.

Previously, Amanda revealed that Nick's blood pressure dropped after the actor got an infection in his lungs that 'went into his blood', meaning he 'went into a little bit of septic shock'.

Septic shock is a severe and potentially fatal condition that occurs when sepsis leads to life-threatening low blood pressure - for which Nick is now on blood pressure medication.

Disclosure: Amanda also revealed Nick had been a part of the Remdesivir clinical trial in her Instagram Stories.

Amanda said Nick's doctors 'went in and completely cleaned out his lungs'.

As well as the blood pressure medication, the Bullets Over Broadway star is on 'really strong' antibiotics.

'This kinda came out of nowhere,' said the mother-of-one, adding that her husband 'is throwing us for some loops that's for sure'.

Amanda also revealed Nick had been a part of the Remdesivir clinical trial in her Instagram Stories.

Remdesivir is an antiviral medication originally developed to treat the Ebola virus, which is reportedly showing 'some promise' in treating COVID-19, according to USA Today.

Over a video of a news report discussing the drug, Amanda wrote, 'Remdesivir clinical trail. Nick was a part of this trial. We will never know if he got the drug or was in the placebo group.'

Hamilton, Canada native Cordero, whose right leg was amputated amid the health battle, is set to be placed back on a regimen of blood pressure medication to deal with the fever

Medics initially believed the Bullets Over Broadway star had been dealing with pneumonia, Kloots said in an April 1 post.

The performer tested negative for coronavirus, then tested positive in a later test.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma and put on a ventilator, and later had to be put on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which saved his life - but also caused the blood issues that led to his leg amputation.

Because of the blood clots, doctors had to amputate Nick's leg on April 18.
When Commonpoint Queens started its census outreach efforts earlier this year, the social services group would sometimes get 300 people to fill out the government survey in a single day.

Now, with much of the nation shut down by the coronavirus, they're lucky to get 50 to watch a webinar.

"I want to be positive and say that we are getting through to the community," said Fadia Mohama, the group's census director. But when her group members are in the community doing things like delivering food to the needy and bring up the census, "a lot of people that we've talked to have said that now is not a good time because their family member is sick or they have just lost their job," she said.

The organization is trying new ways to engage the community, connecting with food banks and health care centers to pass out flyers, recruiting health care experts to talk in their webinars, even getting DJs to give it shoutouts during online performances  all alongside efforts to send mass texts to registered voters.

But Mohama said it's hard to get people who are struggling with social distancing measures and making ends meet to care about the census. And Census Bureau data show that the response rate for households in Queens, New York, one of the most diverse counties in the nation, is below the city, state and national levels, at about 44 percent versus 45 percent for New York City, 50 percent for the state and 56 percent for the country as a whole.

Community groups across the U.S. are facing a daunting challenge as they try to inform historically hard-to-count minority communities why the census is important. Population data, they say, are used to distribute federal money  currently about $675 billion a year  to states and communities for schools, hospitals and roads, as well as Medicaid, welfare, school lunches, food stamps, college grant money for low-income students and dozens of other programs for those in need.

Story continues

Census data are also used to determine how many seats in Congress a state receives, and they inform how congressional and state legislative districts are drawn. Businesses use the information to find good places to open up shop.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

But as the pandemic puts the census count on hold for months while states wait to come out of lockdown, advocates warn that their outreach efforts are coming up short  increasing the odds that the communities that need federal help the most won't get their fair share in the coming decade.

"If you don't respond to the census, you don't exist in the eyes of the government," said Chuck Park, civic participation manager at the MinKwon Center for Community Action, which serves the Asian community in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, home to one of New York City's largest Chinatowns. "If you don't exist, then you don't need resources that you have a right to or political representation for your community."

Image: Outbreak of the coronavirus in Seattle (Brian Snyder / Reuters file)

States like New York, California and Texas have the greatest risk of undercounts because of their large populations of hard-to-count communities, researchers at the Urban Institute found. Those communities, which include minority populations, tend to have lower average incomes and larger numbers of renters, new and undocumented immigrants and children under age 5. In 2010, the census undercounted African American and Hispanic populations by 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, the Census Bureau estimates  putting resources in those communities at risk.

Meanwhile, black and Latino populations also have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

"It's more important than ever to understand where these communities are and who lives in these communities and let them know that if we are susceptible to something like COVID, we need to understand where these communities are so that we can help these communities through federal interventions," like health care programs for low-income communities that receive funds based on census data, said John Thompson, a career Census Bureau employee who became its director under President Barack Obama.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

Responding to the risk of an undercount because of the pandemic, the Census Bureau has shifted its timetable to complete this year's count, extending the response deadline from the end of July to the end of October. The agency halted field operations in mid-March and won't restart until June 1. Meanwhile, knocking on doors to survey those who haven't responded by mail or phone or online won't begin until mid-August.

It's also asking Congress to delay the deadline for state population counts used in congressional apportionment from the end of the year to next April and the deadline for the data used for state redistricting from next March to next July, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the Oversight and Reform Committee. And to explain why responses are important even during a pandemic, the agency plans to target television ads at the local level, Thompson said.

Still, advocacy groups typically try to reach community members before the census takers come knocking so residents understand why their participation is vital to their neighborhoods and to tamp down any confusion and fear of government officials. That seems almost impossible now with just weeks to go before federal field operations phase back in, the groups say.

And the omnipresent threat of the coronavirus will only worsen the response rate in communities that already distrust the government, the advocates say.

Park, of the MinKwon Center for Community Action, said the Trump administration's policies to curtail immigration have contributed to the unease.

"In the current situation, there's a hostile administration  federal administration  which is actively trying to scare immigrant populations especially, making these communities extremely unlikely to respond," he said.

For some African Americans, for whom skepticism of government runs deep, it may be hard to accept that census officials are trying to help, said Marcella Tillett of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

"For many black families and many black communities throughout the history of this country, someone who works for the government knocking at your door was never good news," Tillett said. "That was never something that was going to result in you being better taken care of, having more representation, having more schools."

That's one reason advocates believe in-person interaction is key.

Whitney Tucker, research director for the North Carolina child advocacy group NC Child, said that without doing the kinds of things activists normally would to reach residents, like setting up booths at farmers markets and working with child care centers to hand out pamphlets, an undercount is all but guaranteed.

"I think the pandemic is severely going to depress the count," Tucker said. "And I hate to say that, because we've been working on this for over a year."

Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant and former staff director of the House census oversight subcommittee, said the count will be even more difficult with lower-income people losing their jobs and being forced out of their homes because of the coronavirus.

"Those who have been hit the worst economically by this health crisis are those with lower-wage jobs, and they may face greater economic dislocation," she said.

While the Census Bureau does try to hire canvassers locally to help counter any distrust, Park still hopes his organization can turn the numbers around before the census field workers start knocking on doors.

It plans to start canvassing door to door as soon as the stay-at-home order lifts. And while it might still be limited by some social distancing measures, that face-to-face contact from trusted organizations  even if from 6 feet away  is important, Park said.

"It creates a sense of fear when people see strangers walking around buildings, like with federal badges, knocking on doors, even though they have good intentions," Park said. "We don't want to create negative vibes around the census."
On April 18, Indore authorities announced rigorous screening of all the residents of the city. By that time, Indore had witnessed a steep rise in coronavirus positive cases and an attack on health workers who were carrying out the screening process in parts of the city and spreading awareness.

It was announced that all residents of the city, numbering close to 2.6 million, will be screened for symptoms of coronavirus over the next one week, as Madhya Pradesh stepped up efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the worst affected city in the state.

After close to two weeks of the announcement, it was reported that the screening process has still not been done in many parts of the city.

Indiatimes spoke to an employee who has been in Indore, his hometown, since the beginning of the lockdown.

BCCL

Narrating his experience, Shreyansh Jain, told, "On April 18, it was announced that all the residents of Indore, one of the worst coronavirus hit cities in the country will be screened. But 12 days later, it doesn't seem to happen in many places and the places where the screening happened were a little different from the global standard.

"I have been living in Indore since the lockdown took place and the local authorities seem to be very strict about the whole not getting out of our homes thing. I live in Vijay Nagar, which is essentially part of the new Indore. The sanitization is being done every 3-4 days by the local authorities which is appreciable."

Surveillance through drones is being done to make sure people are under complete lockdown."

Many on social media, especially those who returned from abroad and had to undergo screening, complained that there is no Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place and a lack of planning.

Agencies

Jain said that many places in Indore are yet untouched by the screening process.

He explains that when health workers arrived at his place, it seemed that the process was confined to a rudimentary task.

"Screening seemed to be highly mismanaged. At my place when they came, I was asked about the people living in the house, their names, if any one of them is experiencing a cold or fever. And that's it!! When the screening was announced it was expected that they would be carrying a temperature gun to check the temperature at least. But, that was all."

Not just substandard screening, limited testing is another concern for the people. Public health officials have justified limited testing by saying there is no evidence of "community transmission" in India. Community transmission occurs when individuals catch the infection from a source that cannot be traced.

There are a total of 1,545 coronavirus positive cases in Indore, while the total death toll now stands at 74.
The UK on Saturday announced 621 more deaths in the coronavirus outbreak, taking the overall cumulative toll to 28,131, just behind Europes worst-hit country Italy.

The government said that 182,260 people had tested positive for Covid-19, up 4,806 on Friday. But hospital admissions had fallen, it added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said the country had past the peak of the virus, as he comes under mounting pressure to ease lockdown restrictions imposed in late March.

A review is expected this Thursday and Johnson said the government would outline a plan to lift social distancing measures that would keep transmissions rates down.

The very strong advice today is that moment has not yet come, housing minister Robert Jenrick told a daily briefing on the governments response to the outbreak.

In the meantime, the public should remain at home except to shop for essential groceries, medicine or to exercise, he added.

The government aims to keep transmission rates down by a wider testing regime, and also through contact tracing of people who have been in proximity with someone infected.

Just under 106,000 tests were carried on Friday, Jenrick said.

Britain was initially criticised for its light-touch approach to the growing pandemic but introduced stricter measures after scientists warned of mass casualties.

The countrys overall death toll jumped mid-week after a change in reporting, by including deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

That saw numbers surge past Spain and France. It is now just behind Italy, which as of 1530 GMT on Saturday had 28,236 deaths, according to an AFP tally of official sources.

The United States remains the worst-affected, with 65,173 deaths.
The homeless hero who bravely confronted the Bourke Street terrorist has vowed to turn his life around after threatening to kill a woman.

Michael Rogers, known as 'Trolley Man', spent almost five months locked up in jail for a string of crimes, including handling stolen goods, theft and making threats to kill.

Rogers, who will be sentenced later in the month, said he would not ruin his chance at redemption while being granted bail on Friday, The Herald Sun reported.

'You have given me a chance and I will make sure I do not stuff it up,' he told the court.

Michael Rogers, known as 'Trolley Man', spent almost five months locked up in jail for a string of crimes including handling stolen goods, theft and making threats to kill

Rogers shot to fame when he valiantly attempted to use a trolley to ram Hassan Khalif Shire Ali after he stabbed three people in Melbourne's CBD on November 9 2018, killing cafe worker Sisto Malaspina, 74.

After the attack, it emerged the have-a-go-hero had a colorful past and a criminal history.

According to The Herald Sun, the court was told Rogers verbally abused and threatened the manager of Wellington Square Shopping Centre in Wallan in August 2019.

He screamed through the phone: 'That's it, I'm going to come and kill your f***ing family.'

Rogers rang the woman an additional six times over a 10 minute period before his arrest.

He was also charged over at break-in at an apartment car park and at an optometrist, where he pinched a phone.

Rogers shot to fame when he valiantly attempted to use a trolley to ram Hassan Khalif Shire Ali after he stabbed a cafe worker in Melbourne's CBD on November 9 2018

Rogers is pictured leaving the Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 27, 2018

Magistrate Hayley Bate said Rogers made a 'significant difference' to the community during his brave attempts to thwart the terrorist on Bourke Street in 2018.

But she told the court his threats to this female victim must have been 'terrifying'.

'The threats to kill were relentless and would have been extremely disturbing,' she said.

The court was told it was the first time he had been charged with that type of offence, despite a significant criminal history.

Rogers had a disadvantaged upbringing and was institutionalised from a young age, defence lawyer Zoran Petrich said.

Magistrate Bate said she was satisfied Rogers spent enough time behind bars and he could be an effective member of society under a community correction order.

He has been granted bail while waiting for the community correction order assessment.

Rogers will be sentenced on May 25.
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A British holidaymaker was forced to make an epic 1,700-mile road trip across India to get home after becoming stranded during the coronavirus lockdown.

Corinne Henderson, 30, was nearing the end of a three-week trip to visit her friends family in a remote hilltop village when the Indian government ordered a total shutdown on March 25.

After Ms Henderson had endured more than four weeks in a house with no running water, the Foreign Office masterminded an astonishing five-day rescue mission to get her back home to Bristol.

Corinne Henderson, 30, had to make a 1,700 mile journey from the remote village she was in to New Delhi to catch a flight home to the U.K.

Normally my holidays are to Cornwall or Italy so this was something quite new, Ms Henderson told The Mail on Sunday last night.

I am blown away that the Foreign Office came to pick me up from this remote village, as far off the map as you can get really. And I am incredibly grateful to the Indian authorities and all the people who went above and beyond to help me.

Ms Henderson spent more than 60 hours being driven across bumpy terrain, mountain dirt tracks and pothole-strewn motorways from Nongman village in Manipur, north-east India, to the capital New Delhi.

She swapped cars twice, as five local drivers took turns at the wheel on a trip which crossed seven states and covered the equivalent distance of driving from London to Moscow.

The convoy, which was granted a police escort, stopped for a few hours rest at deserted hotels each night before setting off again at dawn. Ms Henderson said: The drivers spoke hardly any English so I spent most of the time looking out of the window.

It was amazing to watch how much the landscape changed.

I saw lots of monkeys and peacocks and we crossed over the River Ganges at one point. I saw a lot more of India than most people ever will, even though it was just from the road.

A low point came when the car suffered two punctures late one night and still 300 miles away from the next hotel. Ms Henderson said: We were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark, but fortunately the drivers managed to get us going again.

REMOTE: Corinne Henderson in Nongman village

Eventually, they made it to the capital where Ms Henderson boarded a flight to London on Thursday. She was then driven the final 105 miles back to her home city. Despite her ordeal, she said she had no regrets and is already making plans to revisit the village next year, adding: I made lots of friends there and I miss it a lot.

It has been a unique and wonderful experience. My friends have been shocked about what happened to me. My life has been so dramatic for the last few weeks, especially when you compare it to peoples lives in lockdown Britain.

She added: Friends have been sending me pictures of their cats and bread they have made and Ive been on this epic adventure.

A map showing Ms Henderson's 1,700 mile journey across northern India to get to New Delhi

Once she arrived in New Delhi, she flew back to Heathrow, and then drove 105 miles home to Bristol

Despite being relieved to finally be home, Ms Henderson has been unable to visit her parents.

Im in quarantine for the next 14 days which is a bit of an anti-climax, but at least I can catch up on sleep now. I want to give my mum a big hug  she has been worried sick.

An estimated 300,000 British holidaymakers were stranded overseas when the Covid-19 outbreak erupted, sparking the biggest peacetime repatriation in British history.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab unveiled a 75 million rescue plan to fly Britons home in March, but last week Ministers said 57,500 were still stranded.

Flights arranged by the Government have flown 19,000 British nationals home so far, and a further 1.3 million Britons are said to have made their own way back since the outbreak began.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: Tens of thousands of British nationals on short-term visits overseas are seeking to return home in the near term.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday asked officials to firm up a plan to provide employment to nearly 20 lakh people in the state after studying the Centre's advisory on lockdown and the permitted economic activities amid it.

He also asked them to compile all details including names, addresses, mobile numbers and work competencies of labourers returning to the state to facilitate their employment.

"A work plan should be made to provide employment to 15-20 lakh people. During COVID-19 pandemic, the state government has paid salaries to 16 lakh state government employees and 12 lakh retired employees," he said, while chairing a meeting of senior state government officials at his residence.

Adityanath also directed officials to study the Centre's advisory pertaining to the lockdown, and, restart economic activities accordingly.

"Even during the lockdown, it is necessary to search possibilities. Industrial activities should be conducted while following all anti-infection measures," he said.

The chief minister observed that sugar mills have been allowed to operate and no case of Covid-19 infection has been reported from that sector.

Similarly, no such case has been reported from brick kilns, he pointed out.

"In the same way, all industries should operate. A detailed work plan should be prepared to give a new dimension to investment in the state," Adityanath said in a statement, issued by the UP government.

He also directed that health check up of labourers who came back to UP should be mandatorily conducted.

"The respective state governments should be informed that they should prepare a list of labourers from UP staying there, conduct their health check up, and facilitate their departure. Health check-ups of labourers who come back to UP should be mandatorily conducted. Infra-red thermometer should be made available so that the health check-up of labourers can be done," he said.

The health workers should screen the labourers coming back to the state, and those who are healthy should be sent to home quarantine for 14 days, he said.

Those who are not well, should be given treatment. An officer-in-charge for these activities should be nominated in every district, he added.

Effective policing should be done so as to ensure that any illegal inter-state or inter-district transportation is not allowed, the chief minister said.

To register a decisive victory over Covid-19, it is necessary to break the infection chain, he said.

Seeking identification of Covid-19 and non- Covid-19 hospitals in every district should, he said, "It should be ensured that Covid-19 patients are given treatment at the designated hospitals only." The prevention and precaution can stop the spread of infection, he pointed out.

Adityanath said doorstep delivery should be improved, and quarantine centres should be increased in the state.

Community kitchens should also observe social distancing, while cooking food.

"Arrangements should be made to ensure that one employee of the Revenue Department remains available at every quarantine centre," he said.

He also said social distancing should be strictly adhered to in the mandis, which should be regularly sanitised.

Members of women self-help groups should be engaged in making masks, pickles, murabba and papad, he added.

"If any 'nirashrit' (destitute) person dies, the government will bear the expenses of his last rites," he said in the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Iranian government spokesman, Ali Rabiei, said the parties signed the nuclear deal would oppose US plans to extend the arms embargo against Tehran.

According to him, the US intention to extend the arms embargo against Iran once again shows that Washington is ignoring international agreements.

"We believe and are convinced that the member countries of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the permanent members of the Security Council will oppose the US desire to evade the rules and laws," he stressed.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The union representing most City of Santa Fe employees has filed a complaint against the city, alleging city officials committed unfair labor practices before deciding to furlough more than 1,000 employees.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 18 filed the complaint with the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board on April 23, nearly a week before the Santa Fe City Council narrowly approved furloughing 1,048 employees for either four or 16 hours.

The plan is part of the citys attempt to address a sudden drop in funds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, although many criticized the furlough plan for largely impacting low-wage workers.

City officials first notified the union April 15 that furloughs were being considered, at which point negotiations were set to begin.

Turns out, they didnt seem to have much interest in bargaining, said Stephen Curtice, an attorney representing the union.

The complaint states city officials first proposed 40-hour furloughs for employees working in shuttered departments, such as libraries and parking. The city then verbally proposed 8-hour furloughs, which the union did not accept because not enough details were provided.

City Manager Jarel LaPan Hill then issued a notice of furloughs to the union April 19, which included the 4- and 16-hour furloughs.

Curtice said the figures were never formally proposed by either side before Hill issued the notice and that they never received specific information about which employees would be furloughed or the economic status of the citys funds, both of which they previously requested.

He said the citys failure to provide relevant information during the bargaining process constitutes a violation.

They werent giving us the information we needed to evaluate their proposal, he said. We cant bargain effectively unless they tell us that stuff.

The next morning, the union met with city officials to discuss the proposal and provided a counter offer later that afternoon. However, hours earlier, Mayor Alan Webber called a news reporter to disclose details of the plan, the complaint states.

At that point negotiations broke down. Curtice said Webber was giving more information to the press than to the union.

The whole purpose was to keep us in line so he could control the message, said Chris Armijo, council representative organizer for AFSCME.

Webber told the City Council Wednesday that the furlough plan followed both the law and established labor agreements.

At that same meeting, City Attorney Erin McSherry said certain aspects of the agreement could not be met during negotiations, such as notifying employees of furloughs 28 days in advance.

If the Labor Relations Board rules in the unions favor, the city could be on the hook for all back pay lost during the furloughs, Curtice said.

City Spokesperson Lilia Chacon said Friday that the city sees no benefit in commenting on pending litigation.

AFSCME Council 18 says city failed to provide information during bargaining
New Delhi: The armed forces have made elaborate arrangements to conduct aerial fly-pasts, light up ships at sea and shower flower petals on several hospitals across the country on Sunday to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff and other front-line workers engaged in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday announced that the three services will carry out a series of activities to thank the "Corona Warriors".

The thanks-giving activities will start with laying of wreaths at the police memorial in Delhi and in several other cities on Sunday morning to honour the police personnel deployed in enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, officials said.

It will be followed by fly-pasts by fighter and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, covering a sizeable number of cities and towns across the country between 10 AM and 11 AM, officials said.

"These aircraft will cover major towns starting from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch. Helicopters from the IAF and Indian Navy will fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients and shower petals as a tribute to the corona warriors," Army Spokesperson Col Aman Anand said.

He said some of the aircraft will be flown as low as 500 metres so that people can witness the fly-pasts from the safety of their homes.

"The aerial salute to Corona Warriors will be planned over Delhi between 1000-1030 hrs. Fighter aircraft formations, comprising of Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29 and Jaguar will be flying over Rajpath and will orbit over Delhi will be visible to the residents from rooftops," said Ministry of Defence.

"Additionally, helicopters are planned to carry out petal drop over Police War Memorial at 0900 hours followed by Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to patients of Covid-19 between 1000 - 1030 hours. The list of hospitals includes AllMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Loknayak Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjang Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Max Saket, Rohini Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital&Army Hospital R&R," the Ministry further said.

Military bands will play "patriotic tunes" outside various civil hospitals treating coronavirus patients to express gratitude to doctors, nurses and paramedics, he said.

"46 ICG ships will carry out illumination, fire green flares and sound ships siren at 25 locations covering the coastline of 7,516 km, tomorrow. About 10 helicopters will also shower flower petals on Covid-19 hospitals at five locations," said Indian Coast Guard (ICG) officials.

Separately, Indian Navy helicopters would shower petals on hospitals treating coronavirus patients at Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Vizag between 10 AM and 10:30 AM.

Navy officials said the Western Naval Command will illuminate five naval ships from 7:30 PM to 11:59 PM off Gateway of India in Mumbai.

They would display banners like "India Salutes Corona Warriors" and will sound the siren of the ships and fire flares at 7:30 PM at anchorage. Additionally, the Naval air stations at Goa would organise a human chain on the runway to honour the 'corona warriors'.

The Eastern Naval Command will illuminate two ships at anchorage from 7:30 pm to midnight at Visakhapatnam coast.

Anand said Indian Coast Guard ships will be seen at 24 places including in Porbandar, Okha, Ratnagiri, Dahanu, Murud, Goa, New Mangalaore, Kavarati, Karaikal, Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Nizamapatanam, Puducherry, Kakinada, Paradip, Sagar Island, Port Blair, Diglipur, Mayabundur, Hut bay and Campbel Bay.

"The nation stood together and showed resilience in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On behalf of armed forces, we want to thank all the corona warriors -- doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police, home guards, delivery boys and media," Gen Rawat said on Friday.

So far, the coronavirus has infected 37,336 people in India while it claimed lives of 1,218 people, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Gen Rawat's announcement about the special activities came shortly before the Union Home Ministry said the the current spell of the lockdown will be extended by another two weeks from Monday.

The lockdown came into force on March 25 and was to end on April 14. It was first extended till May 3.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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A 5.5-magnitude earthquake has hit near southern Puerto Rico, jolting many people from their beds and causing damage across the island.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at a shallow depth of 2.5 miles (4km) near the city of Ponce and the towns of Guanica and Guayanilla on Saturday.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

These towns had already seen hundreds of homes destroyed, with one fatality and millions of dollars in damage by an earthquake in early January.

Two homeless people sit on an old couch while waiting for a free coronavirus disease rapid test under an overpass in San Juan, Puerto Rico / AFP via Getty Images

The latest quake struck as Puerto Ricans are ordered to remain home as part of a two-month lockdown to help curb coronavirus cases.

Reports of damage were still trickling on Saturday with at least one second-story balcony crashing in the southern city of Ponce, spokeswoman Ines Rivera said.

Meanwhile, cracks in homes were reported in Guayanilla.

"Everything shook really hard," spokesman Danny Hernandez said.

Meanwhile, in Guanica, Mayor Santos Seda said that no major damage has been reported so far, but he noted that between five to 10 people remain in a shelter since the 6.4-magnitude quake that hit in January.

"Thank God everyone is OK," he said. "The infrastructure is already weak."

Several aftershocks hit Puerto Rico's southern region, including a 4.6-magnitude one.

The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /60 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian 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 Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA

Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Rico's Seismic Network, said that while it's understandable many people are afraid and surprised by the most recent earthquake, it's not unusual given the seismic activity that began in the region in late December.

"In the long run, it's decreasing, but you can have peaks," he said, adding that he expects strong aftershocks to continue.

Govenor Wanda Vazquez tweeted that rescue crews were fanning out across the area and that she would shortly be travelling there to meet with those affected in person.

"If your infrastructure is damaged, you must leave with your face mask on and your emergency backpack," she said as she urged people to remain calm.

But nerves are already frayed in many parts of the island as Puerto Rico continues to recover from Hurricane Maria, a string of strong earthquakes and the coronavirus.

Silvestre Alicea, a 67-year-old man who moved back to Puerto Rico from New York upon retiring, lost his home in January's earthquake and is still living with his sister in Guanica.

"This is unreal," he said, adding that some neighbours have left the area to stay with relatives elsewhere and that many, including a security guard who worked all night, are now sitting nervously in their balconies.

"He hasn't slept." Mr Alicea, however, said he decided to knock down a couple of breadfruits from a nearby tree as the aftershocks continue: "I'm taking it easy. There's nothing else you can do."
Washington

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden Friday emphatically denied allegations from a former Senate staffer that he sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, declaring flatly that "this never happened."

Biden's first public remarks on the accusation by a former employee, Tara Reade, come at a critical moment for the presumptive Democratic nominee as he tries to relieve mounting pressure after weeks of leaving denials to his campaign.

"I'm saying unequivocally, it never, never happened," the former vice president and senator said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Biden said he will ask the National Archives to determine whether there is any record of a complaint being filed, as Reade has claimed. Later Friday, Biden asked the secretary of the Senate via letter to assist in the search, though he told MSNBC that the Archives was the only possible place a complaint would be. He said his Senate papers held under seal at the University of Delaware do not contain personnel records.

"The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993," Biden said. "But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint."

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

Reade did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The Archives deflected inquiries to Capitol Hill, saying any complaint "would have remained under the control of the Senate." A spokeswoman for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights said confidentiality rules bar the office from commenting on "whether specific claims may or may not have been filed."
Further gloom descended on airline stocks after Ryanair said it could cut up to 3,000 jobs.

The Irish budget carrier will kick off a restructuring programme in a bid to survive the coronavirus crisis that could also include staff taking unpaid leave, slashing salaries by 20 per cent and temporarily closing bases at certain airports.

The cuts at Ryanair  which had 17,500 staff last year  come just days after a shock announcement that British Airways-owner IAG would cut 12,000 roles at the UK flag carrier.

Job cuts: Ryanair's restructuring programme could include staff taking unpaid leave, slashing salaries by 20 per cent and temporarily closing bases at certain airports

Ryanairs outspoken boss Michael OLeary also took aim at the 26billion bailout European countries are offering their airlines, which he believes flouts competition rules.

The airline expects to operate less than 1 per cent of its usual flying schedule between April and June, and estimates it might only rise to 50 per cent between July and September, the usual summer holiday peak when airlines rake in most of their cash.

Ryanairs figures echoed those of Heathrow, which yesterday said passenger numbers using the airport plunged by 97 per cent in April.

Stock Watch - Genedrive Investors cheered as Genedrive completed its pilot batch of coronavirus testing kits, which it has developed with partner Cytiva. Having cleared the final manufacturing hurdle, Genedrive is hoping the test will get approval from EU regulators  known as CE marking  in around three weeks time. The test that Manchester-based Genedrive is making would deliver a quick result without needing to be sent to a lab. Shares surged 24.3 per cent, or 26.5p, to 135.5p.

More than anything, the painful but decisive moves by BA and Ryanair to axe jobs have dashed optimism that there will be a quick rebound for the industry once lockdown restrictions start being lifted.

Ryanair believes it will take until 2022 for demand to get back to 2019 levels.

The increasingly bleak outlook for the sector knocked 6.4 per cent, or 66 cents, off Ryanair shares, taking them to 9.66 by the close.

And the effect was contagious with Easyjet dropping 5.8 per cent, or 35.2p, to 568p and Jet2-owner Dart Group losing 5.3 per cent, or 34p, to 609.5p.

IAG fell 3.1 per cent, or 6.9p, to 215p, despite clinching 965million in help for from the Spanish government for Iberia and Vueling.

Londons two main indexes were also in the red.

The FTSE 100 fell 2.34pc, or 138.15 points, to 5763.06 and the FTSE 250 dropped 1.86 per cent, or 306.12 points, to 16148.34.

The Footsie was dragged lower by a toxic cocktail of bad news, which included data showing that the UK manufacturing sector had fallen to the lowest level on record, and President Trump threatening China with more tariffs because of the pandemic.

It was also knocked by another sharp fall in Shell shares (down 6.7 per cent, or 86.4p, closing at 1200p) after the oil and gas supermajor shocked savers and the City alike when it cut its dividend by two-thirds on Thursday.

It triggered a wave of downgrades by brokers yesterday, with HSBC, Berenberg and Panmure Gordon all lowering their ratings on its stock.

Analysts didnt take kindly to bakery chain Greggs shares after it ditched a plan to reopen 20 stores in Newcastle next week, saying it was worried it would attract big crowds.

Shares fell 6.4 per cent, or 118p, to 1714p after Peel Hunt brokers downgraded the baker to sell, saying it was not a good sign for when lockdown eases.

Queuing at a 2 metres distance outside the store, Peel Hunt added, is going to lose its novelty very quickly for even the biggest sausage roll addict.

Shares in AIM-listed Avacta, however, spiked after it struck a collaboration agreement with American group Adeptrix to develop a coronavirus test.

Chief executive Alastair Smith said the consensus view globally was that hundreds of millions of Covid-19 tests are going to be required per month for a long period, and that the disease will be endemic after the initial pandemic has passed.

Shares in he pharma firm climbed 14.1 per cent, or 13.5p, to 109p.
Twenty people tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease at the Langar Sahib gurdwara in Nanded on Saturday.

Confirming the development, Nanded superintendent of police Vijay Kumar told Hindustan Times that 97 samples had been collected, of which 20 karsewaks (volunteers) had tested positive for the disease, while 25 tested negative. The results of 41 samples are awaited.

Nanded civil surgeon Dr Neelkanth Bhosikar said the 20 persons who had tested positive on Saturday were residents of Maharastra.

When asked whether they had taken swab samples of pilgrims from Punjab who stayed at Hazoor Sahib and Langar Sahib gurdwaras Dr Bhosikar said they had conducted a checkup but had not taken swab samples of the pilgrims.

The Takht Hazur Sahib Sachkhand Gurdwara and Gurdwara Langar Sahib in Nanded in Maharashtra were sealed on Friday after a batch of pilgrims who left from there to Punjab were found infected. In Punjab, around 296 pilgrims, who were brought back from Shri Hazur Sahib in Nanded (Maharashtra) over the last few days, have tested positive of viral infection so far.
Eminem's recent home intruder tried to break into one of the rapper's old homes last year.

Matthew David Hughes, the man who was arrested for breaking into Eminem's Detroit home last month, was arrested in June 2019 for trespassing on two Michigan properties while on the prowl for the Stan rapper, according to TMZ.

The first home he hit was not Eminem's but the second was a property previously owned by the rapper - birth name Marshall Mathers.

Repeat offender: Eminem's recent home intruder tried to break into one of the rapper's old homes in June 2019. Eminem is seen in January above

Hughes, 26, started his hunt for the Godzilla rapper in Rochester Hills, Michigan around 2AM. He woke the homeowner by throwing rocks through the window but then fled by the time the cops arrived.

The homeowner said he later returned to the home and knocked on the window to say he was 'looking for his brother Marshall.'

The officers returned but by that point Hughes had headed to a home in Oakland Township which Eminem did previously own, according to the reports obtained by TMZ.

After getting past security fencing and a gated entrance, Hughes was found ambling about the property around 4:30AM looking for the rapper, ringing doorbells and asking for his whereabouts.

The homeowner informed Hughes that Mathers no longer lived there and told him to leave because he was trespassing. Though he headed off, Hughes was later found hiding under a bed on the second floor of the property's guardhouse by authorities.

Hughes was booked for breaking and entering, as well as malicious destruction of property for breaking the window at the first home.

Hot spot: The first home he hit was not Eminem's but the second was a property previously owned by the rapper - birth name Marshall Mathers, above

Booked: Hughes was booked for breaking and entering, as well as malicious destruction of property for breaking the window at the first home. He is seen in his 2020 mug shot above

For his crimes Hughes was sentenced to 90 days in jail. He had fines totaling nearly $1400k and was issued an arrest warrant after failing to pay up.

Now Hughes is in hot water after coming face to face with Eminem while breaking into his Detroit home last month.

TMZ report that the break-in happened earlier this month at around 4am at the 47-year-old rapper's house which is situated inside a secured gated-community.

Law enforcement sources tell the outlet that the suspect, believed to be 26-year-old Matthew David Hughes, managed to break into the property by smashing a kitchen window with a paving stone before climbing into the house.

Face-off: The rapper (pictured above in 2018) confronted a home intruder at his house in Detroit earlier this month, after the man slipped past the rapper's security

Per the report, an alarm system was activated during the break-in, but it was not heard by Eminem's security who were 'figuratively asleep', at the front of the house.

Fortunately, the rapper - who has a net worth of $210 million - was awoken by the alarm, and got up to investigate - allegedly finding Hughes in his living room. After shouting for his security, the intruder was restrained.

Police were called to the home and Hughes was reportedly taken into custody.

It has been claimed that Hughes was arrested on first-degree home invasion and malicious destruction of a building, which are both felonies.

Stan culture: Eminem (pictured above in 2014) is well-known for his 2000 track 'Stan' which tells the story of an over zealous fan who becomes a stalker, named Stanley 'Stan' Mitchell.

Hughes is currently being held on a $50k bond at the Macomb County Jail, according to TMZ. He did not attempt to steal anything from the home, instead he was said to have wanted to meet the rapper face-to-face.

Eminem - real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III - is well-known for his 2000 track 'Stan' which tells the story of an over zealous fan who becomes a stalker, named Stanley 'Stan' Mitchell.

The influential song is where the term 'stan culture' comes from, describing dedicated fans of famous stars, who refer to themselves as 'stans.'

The song is a cautionary tale to fans about taking everything your idol says literally.

Home invasion: The entrance to one of two homes in Detroit that Eminem has lived in

In the lyrics, Eminem reveals how the character Stan starts writing him several letters, over three verses, where he becomes more obsessive and angrier when he doesn't get a reply from the star.

Eminem offloaded one of his two Detroit-area mansions in 2017, when he listed his Rochester Hills home for $1.99 million, selling it for less than half what he allegedly paid for it for reasons unknown.

The rap star has a daughter Hailie, 24, from his relationship with ex Kim Mathers, 45.. Hailie recently graduated from college where studied psychology at Michigan State University.

Eminem also has two adopted daughters Alaina Marie Mathers, whose mother is Kim's late twin sistert, and Whitney Scott Mathers, Kim's daughter with a former partner.
Two men were shot late Friday night in Eastons West Ward after a dispute outside a party, city police Lt. Matthew Gerould reports.

No one was in custody, Gerould added just about 4:15 a.m. Saturday, but the suspects were described as a 5-foot, 9-inch tall male with a thin build and a 6-foot tall male with a thin build and wearing a hat. It is believed one of them shot both people, Gerould said.

One of the victims is 36 and the other 40 and both were taken to the hospital, Gerould said. One suffered minor wounds while the other was severely wounded and is in critical condition, Gerould said. The victims were together when they were shot and are associated with each other, Gerould said.

The first call came in at 11:23 p.m., according to a Northampton County emergency dispatch shift supervisor. South Ninth Street was taped off between Ferry and Spruce streets and police were focused on a side-entrance apartment on the west side of South Ninth at Ferry.

Due to a large crowd and the possibility the gunman was still inside the apartment, officers from Palmer Township and Wilson Borough responded to assist Easton police, Gerould said. Officers entered the apartment but didnt find the gunman, Gerould added. Several small children were in the apartment, Gerould said.

Most people involved or nearby have been uncooperative with police, Gerould said.

Evidence of the shooting was recovered, but Gerould wouldnt be specific as to what it was.

A witness said several people were detained by police. An adult was cited with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct and a juvenile was cited with underage drinking, Gerould said.

Pennsylvania Constable and neighborhood activist Lance Wheeler, who lives nearby, said he was in bed when he heard three gunshots, a pause and two more shots. At first he thought it was a truck going by, but quickly realized it was gunfire, he said. Then he heard screams and soon after sirens in the distance.

Neighbors told him two people were shot.

There had been a birthday party much of the day at the apartment house, he said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call city detectives at 610-250-6639 or the departments anonymous tip line at 610-250-6635.

Freelance photographer Tim Wynkoop contributed to this report.

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.
Joanne Murphy works on her 'bad hair day' mural in the window of Ciaran Nevin's salon

Those bad hair days are set to continue.

There is no prospect of the country's 30,000 hairdressers and barbers returning to work until July - and how long and how grey will the nation's hair be by then?

The worry now is that the continued shuttering of hair salons and barber shops until phase four of the five three-week phases will spark an underground black market.

There were warnings last night of the spectre of mobile hairdressers moving indiscriminately in and out of people's homes and causing cross-contamination.

"Black market hairdressing runs much higher risks of spreading Covid-19 into households as it is not in a controlled environment," said Ciaran Nevin, who has a hair salon in Terenure and another in the Merrion Hotel.

He invited Terenure artist Joanne Murphy to paint a bad hair day mural on the window of his closed salon, saying: "Hang on in there, we'll be back."

However, last night's announcement means it could be at least July 20 before professional salons can open their doors again.

"We feel that if we do not get our industry to re-open, and as travel restrictions on movement are lifted, we fear the black market in hairdressing will start to take hold," said Mr Nevin.

Devastated

Dylan Bradshaw, who has a salon on Dublin's South William Street, said he was "devastated" by the news.

"What they have done is they have given the black market a massive shot in the arm," he said.

"These guys are going to be revered as heroes coming into people's homes because people are desperate to have their hair done.

"Covid-19 isn't going anywhere, we have to learn to live with it and protect ourselves in the workplace, and our clients, and trade in a safe environment rather than people going to somebody's home and doing it with a mask and cross- contaminating venues."

Italy and Spain, the worst-hit countries in Europe in terms of death tolls, will have their hair salons open for business on June 1.
(Newser)  California's battle over the coronavirus lockdown heated up Friday as thousands of protesters hit Huntington Beach and Gov. Gavin Newsom promised "meaningful" changes, CNBC reports. Newsom said the state's shelter-in-place order would change in "days, not weeks," adding that California will "get back on its economic feet": "If we can hold the line and continue to do good work and just avoid the temptation to get back and congregate with people in ways where we can see an increase in the spread, well get there much sooner than many people perhaps think," he said. For more:



'My freedom': Huntington Beach saw nearly 3,000 protesters in what the Orange County Register calls a "tightly packed crowd" that waved signs like "My freedom is essential," "All jobs are essential," and "Newsom is not essential." Huntington Beach police Chief Robert Handy said that "anytime you get a crowd of that size it's concerning, especially during a pandemic."

story continues below

'Tyrants and dictators' : "I served in the Army and fought tyrants and dictators overseas, and this has gone too far," a Huntington Beach protester tells the LA Times. "I didn't do that to come back here and live under a tyrant in my own country." Many parents walked with their children on the closed beach, with one telling the Times that "this should be a family experience and show that we're normal people."

: "I served in the Army and fought tyrants and dictators overseas, and this has gone too far," a Huntington Beach protester tells the LA Times. "I didn't do that to come back here and live under a tyrant in my own country." Many parents walked with their children on the closed beach, with one telling the Times that "this should be a family experience and show that we're normal people." 'Traitors!' : Hundreds of protestersmany sporting Trump 2020 gear, but few in masksgathered at the shuttered California State Capitol building in Sacramento. Some held signs doubting the existence of the coronavirus or boosting anti-vaccine conspiracies, per the Guardian. Others faced off against lines of riot cops, shouting, "Traitors!"

: Hundreds of protestersmany sporting Trump 2020 gear, but few in masksgathered at the shuttered California State Capitol building in Sacramento. Some held signs doubting the existence of the coronavirus or boosting anti-vaccine conspiracies, per the Guardian. Others faced off against lines of riot cops, shouting, "Traitors!" Quiet defiance : Two more California countiesSutter and Yubaare planning to defy the state's stay-at-home orders by letting some nonessential businesses reopen Monday, Politico reports. Modoc County, a small county in Northern California, was the first to rebuke the state order.

: Two more California countiesSutter and Yubaare planning to defy the state's stay-at-home orders by letting some nonessential businesses reopen Monday, Politico reports. Modoc County, a small county in Northern California, was the first to rebuke the state order. 'Nine people' : Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill appeared Friday on Fox News and criticized Newsom's order to close Orange County beaches: "Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom closed 43 miles of Orange County beaches, not because of data, but because of politics," he said. "In our local hospital, we have 475 beds. They have never treated more than 25 people at any given time, and yesterday they had nine people that they were treating, and only one percent of their ventilators were being used."

: Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill appeared Friday on Fox News and criticized Newsom's order to close Orange County beaches: "Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom closed 43 miles of Orange County beaches, not because of data, but because of politics," he said. "In our local hospital, we have 475 beds. They have never treated more than 25 people at any given time, and yesterday they had nine people that they were treating, and only one percent of their ventilators were being used." 'Basis of pressure': California has over 50,000 official coronavirus cases and nearly 2,100 deaths, but USA Today reports that hospitalizations have remained nearly flat for a few weeks. Newsom has thanked Californians for "flattening the curve" with social distancing, but says people should stay at home for the sake of at-risk populations like nursing homes. "It won't be on the basis of pressure, it won't be on the basis of what we want, but what we need to do," he said of altering the state order.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
The weather might be turning cold but Bachelor star Monique Morley is dialling up the heat over at Bondi Beach.

The brunette bombshell sizzled as she flaunted her sensational physique in a hot pink G-string bikini on Thursday.

The 26-year-old was seen frolicking in the water and having a surf in the rain at the iconic Sydney location.

Turning up the heat! The Bachelor star Monique Morley (pictured) flaunted her ample cleavage and sensational figure in a hot pink bikini at Bondi Beach on Thursday

Monique's scanty two-piece perfectly showed off her ample cleavage, washboard stomach and trim pins.

While she flaunted her pert derriere as she ran back into the ocean with a matching pink surfboard clad under her arm.

The lingerie designer appeared fresh-faced and makeup-free while she undertook some essential exercise.

That's peachy! The keen surfer flaunted her pert derriere as she ran back into the ocean with a matching pink board clad under her arm

Her luscious long brunette locks were worn loose and clung to her body as they became wet.

Bondi beach re-opened to the public on Monday after being closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

However, the beach is open 'for the sole purpose of exercising' only, including swimming and surfing.

Hot! The reality stars luscious long brunette locks were worn loose and clung to her body as they became wet

Meanwhile, Monique appears to have completely recovered for an injury that forced her into a wheelchair last month.

'I hurt a ligament in my foot running the other day and I fell down and rolled my other ankle,' she told her Instagram followers at the time.

Monique shared she'd gone grocery shopping this way and explained how tiring and difficult the experience was.

'I feel so sorry for people who have to have that struggle every single day... it's exhausting,' she continued.

The star rose to fame on Matt Agnew's season of The Bachelor last year but was kicked out of the mansion after calling him a 'dog c**t' behind his back.
May 1, 2020

Release

USTRANSCOM Awards Global Household Goods Contract

U.S. Transportation Command, on behalf of the Department of Defense, awarded American Roll On Roll Off Carrier Group, Inc., (ARC), Parsippany, New Jersey, a Fixed-Price with Economic Price Adjustments, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract in the amount of $7,211,331,984 in the procurement of the Global Household Goods Contract on April 30, 2020.

"DOD families are our North Star and the reason we are making this change to the Defense Personal Property Program," said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Lyons, commander, USTRANSCOM. "The contract was written by and for the Military Services, and addresses long-standing pain points DOD families have highlighted for years."

The GHC is one aspect of a broader DOD reform plan to improve the relocation process for DOD families and integrates functions currently performed by hundreds of commercial entities. It will improve access to, and management of, quality capacity to meet peak demand and enable the Department to affix the accountability and responsibility lacking in today's program. The government will continue to maintain ordering of services and an accountability program for contractor performance.

"To be clear," said Gen. Lyons, "the DOD will never relinquish responsibility for household goods shipments."

The DOD has outlined a deliberate transition approach to operations under this contract, and the contract award is simply the first step in this journey. USTRANSCOM and ARC will spend the next nine months integrating IT systems and processes, with the first move under the contract planned for February 2021; ARC will be postured to handle 100% of shipments in the continental U.S. during the 2021 'Peak Season.' Transition work will resume in October 2021, with ARC managing 100% of planned workload (domestic and international) in time for the 2022 Peak Season.

Once implemented, customers can expect improved communication throughout the moving process; professional movers delivering improved service standards 'at the curb;' clear accountability when things go wrong; and streamlined claims processes in the event of loss, damage, or inconvenience.

To accomplish the requirements of the contract, ARC has partnered with a group of principal subcontractors to carry out the moves and will ensure a minimum of 40% of the total acquisition value of the domestic work performed flows down to small businesses.

"Small businesses areand will remainthe backbone of this program," said Rick Marsh, director of the Defense Personal Property Program at USTRANSCOM. "If a company delivers a quality product in today's program, there is room for them in tomorrow's. Their capacity will remain critical as long as DOD moves personnel and their families around the globe."

"The DOD is the largest consumer of household goods servicesrestructuring our relationship with industry in this manner lets us raise the standard of service for DOD families. ARC brings tremendous capability to the table and they've built an impressive coalition of industry leaders to generate the quality capacity this program requires," said Marsh. "Once we've transitioned into the contract, DOD families will see improved customer service and more professional processes and interactions with the movers that serve them. ARC will also introduce some pretty powerful digital toolsthe kind of simple, modern tools we demand in every aspect of our personal lives, but that DOD cannot independently deliver to the moving process."

"Throughout my career, I've been disappointed with what the Defense Personal Property Program does to families," said Chief Master Sgt. Jason France, Command Senior Enlisted Leader for USTRANSCOM. "Today, I'm confident that the Defense Personal Property Program will deliver the care and service they deserve in the coming years."

While USTRANSCOM looks forward to delivering capabilities under the Global Household Goods Contract, the command remains focused on delivering a quality experience for customers moving under the current program. All shipments in 2020 will move under the existing program. DOD personnel can visit https://move.mil for more tools and information to help them prepare for their upcoming move.

This acquisition was openly competed and seven offers were received. After considering and discussing each competing proposal, USTRANSCOM selected ARC because their proposal provided the best service for the best value for Service members, DoD civilians, and their families.

USTRANSCOM exists as a warfighting combatant command to project and sustain military power at a time and place of the nation's choosing. Powered by dedicated men and women, we underwrite the lethality of the Joint Force, we advance American interests around the globe, and we provide our nation's leaders with strategic flexibility to select from multiple options, while creating multiple dilemmas for our adversaries.

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2172002/

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Jabin T Jacob

An idea seems to be going around that somehow, the COVID-19 pandemic is a turning point for the international order  that Pax Sinica will soon replace Pax Americana.

Such belief is premature to say the least, but it provides an occasion, nevertheless, to consider exactly what the world can expect under Chinese leadership.

Even before the pandemic, the rise of China had provided despots around the world with the confidence to seek centralisation of power and to retain power by whatever means possible. The pandemic now provides an opportunity for such leaders as well as others potentially, to fast-forward such agenda.

At least one commentator has declared that Creeping Authoritarianism Has Finally Prevailed citing the example of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who pushed a law through his countrys parliament suspending elections and giving him the authority to rule by decree indefinitely. In this sense, the damage to China's reputation from the pandemic is of little import.

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

Aiding the spread of the Chinese model of political and economic development is the use of technology as a tool of political consolidation by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Chinese enterprises are already involved in setting up biometric databases and surveillance technologies  often without proper local legal safeguards for civil and political rights  from Africa to Russia and from Iran to Latin America. Such surveillance is a threat to democratic institutions and allows for the cover-up of regime incompetence as well as for pre-emptively striking against dissenters and the organisation of civil opposition.

As far as foreign and security policies are concerned, it is unlikely that Chinas current behaviour will change. If anything, this could possibly worsen in a world order that Beijing leads. The record of Chinas behaviour as it has slowly increased its economic and military capacities in recent decades bears this out.

Consider, for instance, the Panchsheel Principles or the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, the promotion of which is a staple claim of Chinas ties with other countries. Among these are included such lofty ones as mutual respect for each others territorial integrity and sovereignty and mutual non-interference in each others internal affairs.

Beijings extensive propaganda campaign to cover up its role in the spread of the novel coronavirus across the globe has, however, unabashedly included frequent criticism of governments, media and other institutions in foreign countries.

For instance, a Chinese diplomat in an unsigned posting on his embassy website in Paris, alleged that employees at French nursing homes had abandoned their charges and left them to die. He said this specifically in the context of defending his governments actions in the wake of the outbreak attempting thus, to show his own country in a better light vis-a-vis Western ones.

In another egregious example, the Chinese consulate-general in Chicago in the United States sent an email to the head of the senate in Wisconsin to sponsor a Bill praising Chinas response to coronavirus. He was even helpfully provided with a draft resolution for reference. While both instances invited furious backlash, Chinese embassies and consulates seem impervious to the criticism and have repeated variations of these exercises elsewhere in the world.

So much for Chinas claim of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

More importantly, if even Chinese diplomats can engage in this sort of obnoxious or tone-deaf behaviour so widely at odds with their governments rhetoric, it suggests that China lacks the ability to carry everyone along in a world order that it seeks to lead.

Similarly, examples of Chinas lack of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other nations are by now well-known. However, it speaks to the Chinese focus on their self-interest above all else that they have continued even during the pandemic to press their unlawful territorial claims in the South China Sea. In April, a Chinese coastguard vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat off the Paracel Islands while another was deployed to the Scarborough Shoal claimed by the Philippines. A Chinese survey vessel also followed around another owned by Malaysias Petronas in waters claimed by both Vietnam and Malaysia.

Another case in point from mid-April is Chinas establishment of two new districts to administer disputed features in the South China Sea. This was followed a day later by Chinas Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Natural Resources announcing the standardisation of names for features in the South China Sea it claims. All of these efforts suggest that a world order China leads will not be based on respect for international law but on its own writ.

It should be clear by now that for China, global leadership is not going to be about replacing the United States at the top and then letting the world continue as it has under norms and principles set by the West. On the contrary, because the principal goal of the CPC is to maintain itself in power at home, it also sees democratic and open societies as posing threats to its survival. All Chinese foreign policy is, therefore, a means to promote regime survival.

This zero-sum worldview implies that China will want the world to be run according to its own rules and for other countries to take after its own image. Thus, it becomes necessary for Beijing to undermine both individual democracies as well as the liberal international order, or the aspiration for it that the US has at least seemed to promote since the end of the Cold War.

China seems to believe that it will over the next couple of decades have the economic and military capacity to pre-empt competition or opposition to its will and that this will itself lead to global order on its terms. However, such a world order is actually likely to be an unstable one based as it is on the principle of might is right. What a Chinese-led world order also promises is a descent into a dystopian future of political authoritarianism and technology-based surveillance in the name of global goods or a community of common destiny  terms left suitably vague or whose definition and articulation will be Chinas prerogative.
WASHINGTON>> President Donald Trump is exaggerating the availability of coronavirus tests in the U.S. as he urges governors to consider lifting stay-at-home orders and help get the economy moving again.

Over the weekend, he tweeted that the U.S. has tested more people than the major countries of the world combined. Thats nowhere close to reality. Together, just three major countries alone  Russia, Germany and Italy  have tested more people than the U.S. And on another measure, more than 30 countries have tested a larger share of the population than the U.S. has done.

His statements came after a week in which his unproven ideas for fighting COVID-19 such as injecting disinfectants into people triggered an outcry from health officials everywhere. Trump also gave weight through his bully pulpit to an unproved theory that heat and humidity might hasten the destruction of the coronavirus,

Following his clashes with scientific experts, the White House is now taking steps to shift the presidents public focus to efforts aimed at easing the economic devastation caused by the pandemic.

A look at the past weeks rhetoric, including those from his veterans affairs secretary:

TESTING

TRUMP: We have now Tested more than 5 Million People. That is more than any other country in the World, and even more than all major countries combined!  tweet Saturday.

THE FACTS: Actually, the U.S. has tested far fewer people than major countries combined and lags dozens of countries in testing its population proportionally. Governors around the nation have stressed their decisions about lifting stay-at-home orders rest in part on the availability of testing and understanding the scope of how much the respiratory disease has spread.

Together, just three major countries  Russia, Germany and Italy  have tested about 6.5 million people, compared with over 5 million in the U.S. And the United States is easily outdistanced when testing in other Group of Seven countries is added to the mix, as well as powers such as India. Moreover, the count does not include China, which has more than four times the population of the U.S. but has not published national testing numbers.

More than 30 other countries have tested a larger share of the population than has been done in the U.S., which was slow to make COVID-19 diagnoses available and still cant offer it to everyone who might be infected.

___

DISINFECTANT

TRUMP, on the virus: I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that  youre going to have to use medical doctors  but it sounds  it sounds interesting to me.  briefing Thursday.

THE FACTS: No.

The fact Trump would even flirt with the idea prompted a statement from Reckitt Benckiser, parent company of the maker of Lysol and Dettol, that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).

Clorox echoed that bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances.

The U.S. surgeon generals office moved to discourage people from thinking they can self-medicate from something in the house: PLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/medication to yourself or a loved one.

As the blowback unfolded, Trump said Friday he was being sarcastic the day before.

___

SUNLIGHT & HEAT

TRUMP, on an unproved theory that sunlight, heat and humidity can destroy the virus faster than inside the house: I hope people enjoy the sun. And if it has an impact, thats great.  And if heat is good, and if sunlight is good, thats a great thing as far as Im concerned.  briefing Thursday.

THE FACTS: Sunlight may be a disinfectant for the spirit and outdoor exercise is recommended in todays social isolation, but theres no proof it will make the pandemic go away. Without declaring that it would, Trump is again giving traction to a theory that could prompt people to let down their guard around others outside.

Wlliam Bryan, who leads the Homeland Security Departments science and technology directorate, told the briefing about incomplete, emerging results from research that suggest solar light, heat and humidity might be effective at neutralizing the virus. Past studies have not found good evidence of that.

Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organizations emergencies chief, said in March that its a false hope to say yes, it will just disappear in the summertime like influenza. Trump said early in the outbreak he expected it to end with the warmer weather of April.

___

ROUND 2

TRUMP, on the chances of the virus returning in the fall: If it does come back  its not going to come back  and Ive spoken to 10 different people, its not going to be like it was.  If we have embers of corona coupled with the flu, thats not going to be pleasant, but its not going to be what weve gone through in any way, shape or form.  You may not even have corona coming back, just so you understand.  briefing Wednesday.

THE FACTS: His public health officials refuted his statement on the spot that the coronavirus wont be coming back. As for his statement that it wont be as bad in a second round, thats more complicated.

There will be coronavirus in the fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, said at the briefing. I am convinced of that because of the degree of transmissibility that it has, the global nature.

Next fall and winter, were going to have two viruses circulating, and were going to have to distinguish between which is flu and which is the coronavirus, said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How bad that will be will be determined by a range of factors that cant be predicted with precision. Redfield said the situation may be more difficult than now because the coronavirus and the flu will be circulating at the same time, unlike during the bulk of the current pandemic. Or it may be less difficult if preparations and containment are better than now.

___

MALARIA DRUG

VA SECRETARY ROBERT WILKIE, asked whether its safe to encourage people to take hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment: Oh, I think so.  interview Wednesday on MSNBC.

THE FACTS: Thats not what the governments top health experts have said for weeks, nor what his own agency has suggested. A new alert Friday from the Food and Drug Administration further underscored why the drug cannot be considered generally safe in this pandemic and why it has not been approved by the FDA for treatment of COVID-19.

Last month, the FDA authorized the narrow emergency use of the malaria drugs for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who arent enrolled in ongoing clinical trials. But regulators said they are investigating life-threatening side effects reported to poison control centers and other health authorities.

In one such report, doctors at a New York hospital said that heart rhythm abnormalities developed in most of the 84 coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, a combination Trump has promoted as part of his persistent and inaccurate portrayal of the malaria drug as a game-changer.

The drug has long been used to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. A few, very small preliminary studies suggested it might help prevent the coronavirus from entering cells and possibly help patients clear the virus sooner.

Wilkie, as VA secretary, leads the nations largest health system. His agencys own health care arm has criticized premature assessments on the effectiveness of the drug for the coronavirus. In an unsigned response to an audit report last month examining whether the VA had adequate stocks of the drug, top VA health officials called it inaccurate and irresponsible to assume hydroxychloroquine would benefit veterans for COVID-19.

There are active investigations into these drugs and many others, as discussed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to the unsigned VA response to the agencys inspector general. Yet no conclusions have been made on their effectiveness. To insist that a 14 days supply of these drugs is appropriate or not appropriate displays this dangerous lack of expertise on COVID-19 and Pandemic response.

___

WILKIE, on a nationwide study finding that a malaria drug had no benefit for treating COVID-19 among veterans: 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. And I have to also say that the drug  we know the drug has been working on middle-age and younger veterans  working in stopping the progression of the disease.  MSNBC interview.

THE FACTS: He mischaracterized the studys finding.

Wilkie rejected a study that relies on his departments own hospital data and finds no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. His claim that it helps younger or middle-aged veterans with COVID-19 is also unsubstantiated.

Its true that the study, done by independent researchers at two universities with VA approval, was not a rigorous experiment. Yet with 368 patients, its the largest look so far at hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, based on VA hospital data.

Researchers analyzed medical records of male veterans hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infection at Veterans Health Administration medical centers who died or were discharged by April 11.

About 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11% of those getting routine care alone.

Even though people given the drug tended to be sicker than the comparison group, researchers statistically adjusted for that and still saw no benefit from the drug.

There is no other published evidence that the drug is safe or effective for younger veterans with COVID-19.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday strongly defended its "virtual courts system", saying the institutional requirement was to ensure the "administration of justice" does not crumble in the face of a pandemic.

The apex court, which is hearing only urgent matters through video link, backed its performance during the lockdown with data, and said it has heard matters on 22 days until May 1. It said that 116 benches assembled during the period, which included 73 benches for adjudicating review petitions.

The practice of holding court hearings through videoconferencing has been criticised by some quarters on the ground that the system does not adhere to the concept of "Open Courts".

Lawyers have complained that they are facing varied problems from sending a PDF file of their applications to convincing the judge of the urgency of the matter and address their arguments through video link.

According to the data, 538 matters were taken on board by the top court during this period, besides 297 connected matters.

In a 38-page note released on Saturday night, the apex court strongly defended its virtual courts and said, "There cannot be divergent views about the fact that justice cannot be spoon-fed. Justice delivery, even at the door-steps of the stakeholders, requires the stakeholders of the ecosystem to diligently discharge their role and duties, prescribed and required in the scheme of things."

"The advantages of the Virtual Court System, especially in terms of time, energy and money saved by the litigants and counsels in ensuring their presence before a court are innumerable and could be game-changers too," it said.

Referring to almost 23 countries like the USA, the UK and France, the SC said many nations have been using the virtual courts system but India has been ahead in terms of the output. "Information available on court and other judicial websites would indicate that in nations hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic like the USA, UK, EU, France, Italy, Germany, China, Canada, Australia, Singapore etc, judicial organs of the state carrying out administration of justice are mostly relying on virtual court methodologies and online case-management in place in their respective jurisdictions," it said.

The note said the UK Supreme Court decided 18 cases from February 5 to April 29 and the US SC 28 cases between February 24 and April 27. "The judiciary of the Indian Republic is known and acknowledged as one of the most robust and progressive judicial institutions around the world, supporting and serving a democratic order. The aforesaid data from across various judiciaries, would indicate that, crippled as they are by the lockdowns and social distancing norms in place to fight the spread of the COVID-19 infection, few have been able to manage what the Supreme Court of India has delivered, despite being in almost similar circumstances though with much less resources," it said.

It said that in times of a pandemic, it is necessary that the administration of justice must be done keeping in mind the health concerns of the community and the people at large. "Further, the challenge of a contagious pandemic, including evolving facts of benefits of social distancing in fighting the infection, were not before the said Bench for consideration when it was deliberating on requirements of an Open Court system and, in that view, it is also imperative for the current dispensation to take into consideration the necessity of social distancing norms and other public health concerns, while deliberating upon the way forward," the apex court said, adding that the virtual courts are the only option.

It said technology is just a tool and what is important is the institutional requirement to ensure that "administration of justice" does not crumble in the face of this unprecedented scenario. The top court drew comparison between the open court and virtual courts system and said that in both, only lawyers and litigants concerned are allowed in the court room.

"In view of the circumstances under the current pandemic, the virtual courts system cannot be said to be negating the principles of fairness that are sacrosanct to the administration of justice nor is it failing to adhere to requirements of an 'open court' system," it said.

It said media as representative of the public are allowed access and can watch the proceedings of all the matters being held before the virtual courts. During the lockdown, judgements have been delivered in total 325 cases, which include 268 connected matters, it said.

Apart from judgements, the top court has disposed of 138 review pleas, 92 writ petitions, 49 special leave petition (SLPs) and 58 such pleas where prayers were made for interim relief or mentioning matters.

The data also provided status of matters listed through videoconferencing before the Delhi High Court during the lockdown period. It said a total of 623 cases were taken up for hearing.
A) Push in global liquidity, the expectation of a bonanza stimulus in India, developments on the treatment, and supportive chart parameters are the main reasons for the momentum while economic fundamentals continue to be dim.

Optimism has also developed that the economy will open in a phase-wise manner, given the reduction in the rate of virus spread.

A) At the current level, we have a cautious view on the market, unless the global health environment improves with better treatment and vaccination in the future.

We term this as a bear rally, the sustainability of which is difficult in the short-term given rising cascading economy effect.

We are advising traders to capitalise on this rally and book gains in the near-term. Long-term investors can accumulate on dips.

A) Banking stocks are under the assistance of supportive measures by RBI & the government to support the economy. The highest concern is on SME, MSME, and continuity of business in the near to medium-term.

Even though a good amount of weak credit growth and higher provisions during Q1 and Q2 is factored in price, we remain cautious due to asset quality concern & downgrade in outlook.

Having said that private banks' premium valuations have beaten down, presenting an opportunity for long-term investors. Banks having exposure in the retail segment with a good branch presence, better loan mix, and comfortable balance sheets like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI will stand out.

In the auto sector, the stocks that have lower debt and a rich balance-sheet are expected to outperform in the auto segment, post-COVID-19.

The auto index has given a return of 30 percent in the last 1 month from its low due to the expectation that the governments stimulus package on the economy will benefit the industry & sales will improve in Q2.

However, improvement in demand and change in consumer spending might have a longer impact on the sector. Currently, the index is trading at 18x on a 1-year fwd basis which is 13 percent premium to its five-year historical average at 16x.

We have a cautious view in the short-term with a selective Buy rating on Maruti Suzuki, Escorts, and Minda Industries Ltd.

A) A large portion of Indian company results is likely to be released in the month of May with a negative bias. Possibility of opening the economy, the size & effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus to be announced will define the trend of the domestic market in the near-term.

While globally, the grim economic data, news regarding treatment, and vaccination are the watchlist.

A) Tech Mahindra posted weak results as profit fell by 29 percent on a YoY basis to Rs 803 cr. The EBIT margin is a big miss and came at 10 percent.

Telecom is a very important business mix for the company which has a positive outlook due to higher consumer spending in telecom & data.

We believe that the entire IT space will go through transformation post-COVID pandemic and with respect to Tech Mahindra, as most companies have delayed their 5G CAPEX that could impact the telecom revenue for the stock. We are downgrading forecast and outlook on the stock.

COVID-19 has impacted HUL in terms of demand and supply but comparing to other stocks and sectors the outlook has not deteriorated much.

On the demand side, already subdued rural demand could further impact by lower-income with the weaker sale of crops amid labor and supply chain issues.

But, monsoon will play a vital role in demand. As the economy improves, we expect V-shape recovery and have a HOLD rating.

The company plants are running at 70-75 percent of the capacity and is expected to be among the best performing stock in the near to medium term given the cautious trend of the market.

A) The medium to long term outlook of RIL has significantly improved on account of its plan to consolidate its key assets which will create value to shareholders through strategic development, equity infusion, and deleveraging of balance sheet.

The proposed right issue (Rs 53,000 crore) is a step in that direction. The total amount of proceeds is likely to be about Rs 1,04,000 crore (Rights, Facebook & BP), excluding transactions with Aramco & Financial investor.

Going ahead, there will be challenges in cyclical business that would be offset by digital & retail business. However, in the near term, weak oil prices are likely to impact its cash cow (refining and petro-chemicals business), dilution in equity, high leverage, and uncertainty in business post-COVID, which will impact the performance of the stock in the near to medium-term.

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.
Datia-udgwan : , May 3 (IANS) While Madhya Pradesh witnessed peaceful arrival of 343 migrant labourers from Nashik to Bhopal on Saturday morning there were violent scenes later in the day in the constituency of Health and home minister Narottam Mishra when the police tried to stop labourers coming from Uttar Pradesh.

There was a major traffic jam at the border post of the two states in Johariya village on Shivpuri-Jhansi highway when police stopped people from crossing the borders into Madhya Pradesh.

With no solution emerging for more than 12 hours the workers created a volatile situation on the highway by blocking traffic with boulders. With stranded vehicles forming long queues on both sides of the border there was a threat of violence.Collector of Datia Rohit Singh, SP Aman Singh Rathore and other officials reached the spot. Collector and SP of Jhansi also reached from UP side.

After long discussion between the officials of the two states, 10 vehicles were given passage from each state and traffic was eases on the highway. There were 4,000 workers in 300 vehicles, migrant laborers started arriving at Jhansi Border near Johariya village from around 10 pm on Friday night from places like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP etc.

These labourers arrived here from Jhansi by various means to reach Kanpur Dehat, Basti Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Orai, Jalaun, Moth etc. The number of these vehicles exceeded about 300. There were about 4,000 workers among them. After stopping them, when these people did not listen to them, they created a ruckus by creating a ruckus. Long line vehicles were installed up to about three km.

The Madhya Pradesh administration was firmly preventing free movement of people and vehicles due to reports of frequent movement of corona positive patients Jhansi. On Saturday, when the workers received information about the blockade, they were restive. The civil and police staff arrived and pacifiedA the workers. Arrangements were made to feed the workers. Later, after the talks with the UP administration, they were dispersed, said Datia collector Rohit Singh.
Chennai police has been making a good use of the technology during the coronavirus pandemic. After geo-tagging the locations of those in quarantine, they are now using robots for surveillance.

Twitter/ @pibchennai

Earlier the state's police had also taken to drones to ensure no person breaks the lockdown norms. Now, robots have been deployed in containment zones. This will help officials maintain social distancing as surveillance is underway.



The robot is fitted with a camera and can also interestingly interact with people staying in the area to spread awareness. Mylapore, one of the over 190 containment zones in the city, was where the first testing of this robot was conducted on Friday.

The police can operate this robot from outside the containment zone and can also communicate with the people through the robot, thus avoiding any infection to the police personnel as the cases of coronavirus among the forces have been increasing.

These robots are produced by a private company and Chennai police is also planning to deploy such robots in many areas within the containment zones in Chennai.

Twitter/ @pibchennai

Tamil Nadu has over 2,000 confirmed novel coronavirus cases. Chennai remains the worst-affected in the state with over 570 confirmed cases.



India crossed the grim milestone of 35,000 coronavirus cases as the states registered another record hike in patients. A staggering 1,993 new cases were recorded in last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus patients in India climbed to 35,043, according to ministry of health and family welfare.



The death toll from COVID-19 zoomed to 73 on Thursday, the highest reported so far in a single day. The deadly novel coronavirus claimed 1,147 lives in India.
Opposition lawmaker says the riot followed a ban on inmates family members bringing them food during visitation.

A prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.

Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary.

The countrys prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuelas information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot followed a ban on inmates family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons.

The visitation restrictions are part of the countrys effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

To date, Venezuela has confirmed 335 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths associated with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the pathogen.

A once-wealthy oil nation, Venezuela is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis. Street violence is common in the nation that has had nearly 5 million residents flee in recent years as public services crumble.

Venezuela has roughly 30 prisons and 500 jails that can hold an estimated 110,000 inmates. Human rights officials say the prisons are violent and badly overcrowded, with gangs that traffic weapons and drugs in control.

According to the human rights group Venezuelan Prison Observatory, the Guanare prison was built to hold 750 inmates but is jammed beyond capacity with 2,500 inmates.

A similar riot occurred a year ago in a nearby jail also in the state of Portuguese, where 29 inmates died at a police jail that housed several hundred detainees. Violence broke out when armed inmates objected to officers entering the jail.
Red Shores Racetrack & Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park will resume hosting live harness racing, but without on-track customers, on Thursday, June 4.

"The safety and well-being of Islanders is our top priority," said Red Shores in a release on Saturday (May 2). "In consultation with the PEI Harness Racing Industry Association, public health officials and other stakeholders, Red Shores has developed a detailed plan to support the return of live Standardbred horse racing on Prince Edward Island. This plan incorporates government and public health guidelines in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

No fans or spectators will be allowed on the Red Shores property during live racing events until further notice. Fans from across North America will be able to watch and wager from the safety of their homes through the Red Shores Race Day broadcast and online betting platforms such as HPIBet.com. Post time on June 4 will be 6:00 p.m. (AST)

Red Shores and the PEI Harness Racing Industry will be enforcing COVID-19 restrictions for all race participants, including physical distancing and the use of personal protective equipment. The full list of policies and procedures, including protocols for the industry to follow while preparing for and conducting live racing, will be made available at redshores.ca

Qualifying dates will be released soon.

(Red Shores)
An angry pilot has taken to the skies over Michigan to chart a flight path spelling out 'FU' - a crude message he says is directed at Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Ed Frederick, 45, spent an hour crafting the message in his Piper propeller plane Friday morning, after Whitmer extended statewide stay-at-home orders through May 28 in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Flight trackers shared a screengrab of the flight path, which also featured an arrow pointing directly to the Michigan Governor's Mansion, where Whitmer currently resides.

In Michigan there are at least 43,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 4,000 have died.

Scroll down for video

Ed Frederick, 45, has taken to the skies over Michigan to chart a flight path spelling out 'FU' - a crude message he says is directed at Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Whitmer has extended statewide stay-at-home orders through May 28 in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus

Frederick told the New York Post that he believes Whitmer is on a 'power trip' and that it is not necessary for lockdown orders to continue across the entire state.

'There are 82 counties in Michigan, but really only four need to be locked down,' Frederick stated.

He claimed that only areas surrounding Detroit should continue to remain on lock down, given that is where a majority of coronavirus cases are clustered.

Frederick theorizes that it would not play with Whitmer's Democratic base to only keep those areas on lockdown, while opening up the rest of the state.

'[Whitmer] says this is for the safety of Michigan, but I think it's for the safety of her keeping her votes, because the southeast is highly democratic,' he stated.

Frederick added that he owns a small business outside Grand Rapids and is disappointed that it will have to remain closed for another month.

On Thursday evening, Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order four another four weeks, despite armed protesters storming the State Capitol Building earlier in the day

Protesters tried to enter the Michigan House of Representatives chamber and were being kept out by the Michigan State Police during the American Patriot Rally organized by Michigan United for Liberty

On Thursday evening, Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order four another four weeks, despite armed protesters storming the State Capitol Building earlier in the day.

The order bans gyms, theaters, bars and casinos from opening, and also limits restaurants to carry-out and delivery orders only.

Restaurants and allow up to five people inside at a time to pick up orders, but only if they follow social distancing guidelines by staying six feet apart.

'Michigan now has more than 40,000 cases of COVID-19. The virus has killed more Michiganders than we lost during the Vietnam war. Extending this order is vital to the health and safety of every Michigander,' Whitmer said as the order was issued.

'If we work together and do our part, we can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.'

Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters - some carrying rifles - descended on the state capitol to oppose the shutdown, many of whom were waving pro-Trump banners after the President had earlier tweeted to 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN'. He posted similar tweets about Virginia and Minnesota.

Most of them appeared to be ignoring state social-distancing guidelines as they clustered together within six feet of each other. Few people wore masks.

But despite sharing the same sentiment as the protesters, Frederick does not agree with the fact they openly brandished their rifles.

'We have an open carry, but just because it's legal, doesn't mean you should do it, he stated.
Stroke researchers at the University of Cincinnati have released a new report recommending the proper protocol for delivering lifesaving treatment to stroke patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart and American Stroke associations, is timely as more data emerges that patients with COVID-19, even young, otherwise healthy patients, are experiencing strokes. The authors emphasize that diagnosis with COVID-19 should not prevent patients from receiving this time-sensitive treatment.

"Endovascular treatment for stroke involves the use of small catheters inserted from the groin or the arm into the blood vessels of the brain to remove a clot and restore blood flow to the brain," says Dr. Aaron Grossman, assistant professor in the department of neurology and rehabilitative medicine and a UC Health physician who is also the corresponding author on the report. "Opening a brain artery can reverse the effects of the stroke, and for some patients, leads to a quicker recovery time. In this current climate, the treatment presents challenges that doctors never previously needed to consider."

"We needed to find a process for treating patients using endovascular therapy in the COVID-19 era that would keep our staff safe while we cared for these patients as quickly as possible," says Dr. Matthew Smith, a neurocritical care fellow and UC Health physician who is the first author on the report.

Researchers reviewed published and real-time anecdotal experiences of providers caring for COVID-19 patients nationally and internationally. As the first patients with COVID-19 were arriving to UC's Comprehensive Stroke Center, members of every team who cared for these patients met via video to establish recommendations for care.

"We highlighted three populations of potential patients: patients with suspected COVID-19 who come into the emergency department; patients with COVID-19 who are already in the hospital and then develop stroke; and stroke patients without COVID-19 who are cared for at a hospital with constrained resources due to COVID-19, including access to [personal protective equipment], ventilators, ICU beds and staff, " Grossman explains. "Our proposed algorithm helped us decide recommended points of care. It considers the American Heart/American Stroke associations endovascular treatment guidelines, the safety of patients and staff, predictors of death in COVID-19 patients and the appropriate use of scarce resources."

The working group concluded that a COVID-19 diagnosis should not prevent doctors from using endovascular therapy to treat a patient's severe stroke.

"However, we have to use extreme caution when preparing the patient, to keep staff safe," Smith adds, "and during this time of extreme resource limitation, we have to be prepared to modify our current protocols to provide the best stroke care possible for all patients in the Tristate."

In publishing these recommendations, Grossman says the UC/UC Health Stroke Team researchers demonstrate how "adapting an existing and evolving workflow requires input, coordination and engagement across hospital units and disciplines and believe a multidisciplinary approach that is proactive rather than reactive will best serve patients with stroke during the COVID-19 pandemic."
As Manitoba moves to reopen and return to a new normal, there are mounting instances where advice and actions appear to contradict each other, leaving confusion about how residents should behave in the coming weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Manitoba moves to reopen and return to a new normal, there are mounting instances where advice and actions appear to contradict each other, leaving confusion about how residents should behave in the coming weeks.

Manitoba's COVID-19 cases total 279 Four new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Friday by the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin. The latest cases bring the total number of cases in the province to 279. The total number of related deaths remains unchanged at six. As of Friday morning, five individuals were in hospital but no patients were in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. click to read more Four new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Friday by the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin. The latest cases bring the total number of cases in the province to 279. The total number of related deaths remains unchanged at six. As of Friday morning, five individuals were in hospital but no patients were in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. There are 235 cases listed as recovered from the virus and 38 cases remain active. On Thursday, 689 lab tests were performed, bringing the provincial total to 25,402. Patients asked about race, ethnicity Public health nurses in Manitoba are now required to ask those who test positive for COVID-19 about their race, ethnicity and/or Indigenous identity. The Instructions for Surveillance form issued on April 30 says nurses are required to ask the question, but whether the patient responds is voluntary. Up until Friday, nurses only asked positive COVID-19 patients to identify if they are Indigenous. "These questions are important to our understanding of the impact of this virus on Manitobans from various backgrounds and will help us identify any disproportionate impact on specific populations or issues with access to services that may exist," Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said Friday, adding it could lead to more support for community organizations that play a role in the local COVID-19 response. Providing the information is voluntary, and will be handled and stored confidentially, Siragusa said. Care-home staff restricted to one facility Public-health orders restricting staff from working in more than one licensed personal care home took effect Friday. The single-site restriction is intended to provide additional protection against the introduction or spread of the virus within long-term care homes. All of Manitobas 127 licensed care homes have confirmed readiness, with staff in place, the nursing boss said. Online access to test results expanded Starting next week, a secure online portal will allow Manitobans who have tested negative for COVID-19 to more quickly access their test results. When people are tested, they will receive information about how to register and access the results. Users will need a Manitoba Health registration card. A toll-free number will be available early next week to provide results to those without a Manitoba health card or those without Internet access. Those who test positive will continue to be contacted promptly by public health officials.  with files from Carol Sanders Close

For example, the province announced Friday that campsite bookings would resume next week. Provincial parks will follow new cleaning protocols in bathrooms and shared spaces, but they can book to full capacity and trust that campers will only camp with other members of their households. Restrictions on gatherings remain capped at 10 people.

But previously, the province's public health officials had advised against people traveling to their cottages, which was an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to small communities and keep from overextending rural health-care services. On Friday, Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemard said the advice to avoid cottages was still largely in effect.

Manitobans can go camping, but are advised against going to their cottages. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"There was the advice given for non-essential travel, that it's not the time to be going up to cottages, and that's still, to a large part, what we're recommending, that if people don't feel that they need to travel, then it's still best to stay in the community. However, if they follow protocols, it is safe to do so, and to limit exposure in smaller communities, and to not be using their emergency services," she said.

Those who take advantage of the opportunity to book campsites would also be asked to self-monitor and not travel if they showed symptoms, Guillemard said, citing mental-health concerns as a key reason the province wanted people to be able to get out of their houses.

Wires are also getting crossed when it comes to advice on when and where it is appropriate (not to mention if it is appropriate) to visit friends and family.

On Monday, restaurant patios will be permitted to reopen subject to lower capacity restrictions than usual, and operators will be expected to disinfect all surfaces between customers. The limit on the number of people who can sit together remains capped at 10.

But the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin, said Friday he continued to advise against gathering with people outside of your family unit.

Restaurant patios can open, but brewery patios cannot, according to the province. Will restaurant washrooms be open? (Sasha Sefter / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"Really, that's not my advice, to go sit at a table of 10 people from different households. That's not public health's advice to do that. Certainly that's tough to write that in an order and have that enforced, but we're gradually opening things up and I think Manitobans get this."

But do they?

Retail stores and malls are permitted to open beginning Monday but on Friday, Roussin said garage sales shouldn't be held. The province isn't considering the reopening of schools, but they are reopening playgrounds and daycares.

What the distinctions are, and where the lines are drawn, is clear as mud.

"I would say every place, right now, is trying to be rational and failing in obvious ways," said Amir Attaran, a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. "This is going to be a crude, messy, imprecise and not always evidence-based (process) because very poor thinking has gone into this ahead of time. Our capacity for public health in this country is dismal, so you should expect a lot of seemingly arbitrary, evidentiary question marks over decisions that are being made."

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.

Nobody should be opening up while there are fundamental questions about the data of the epidemic, said Amir Attaran, a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

Attaran said it was "flagrant" that some of these decisions are being made out of the government's own self interest.

But these confusions open the door to a much bigger problem, Attaran said. As provinces announce their haphazard plans to open, he is primarily concerned that outsiders like himself cannot properly adjudicate what is and is not appropriate because not enough epidemiological information is being made public. He wants to see Canadian jurisdictions following the lead of countries such as Norway, which releases daily a full breakdown of the age and gender of those who have tested positive, as well as what the scientific assumptions are that government projections are based on. This information should be transparent and should be the scientific foundation for any government's response, he said.

The Manitoba government has been criticized for withholding available projections about how the disease is forecasted to impact the province. Premier Brian Pallister has dismissed calls for such projections to be made public, calling them a "conjectured guess."

"My concern is that no place  not Alberta, not Saskatchewan, not Manitoba, not Ontario  nobody should be opening up while there are fundamental questions about the data of the epidemic," said Attaran. "That data has to be transparent, the modelling has to be transparent, outsiders need to look at it in order for governments to be able to proceed with caution. The idea that governments, which failed entirely to prepare for this pandemic, have suddenly become masters at pandemic management and are opening up the country at the right, carefully considered time is laughable."

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik
New Delhi, May 2 : Traditionally considered in public perception as a corrupt, inefficient and high-handed institution, the Indian police have become phenomenally popular and trustworthy for Indians across the board during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing disruption and sense of fear it has triggered in India has led to a dramatic improvement in the public perception of the police as an institution, according to the latest results of IANS/CVoter tracking survey conducted across the country.

This could come as a surprise to many commentators who consider the police force to be the most disliked, mistrusted and denigrated institution in the country. This dramatic improvement in trust in the police is visible across all geographies, income and education levels as well as caste and ethnic identities.

At an all-India level, the latest tracking survey revealed that among 18 odd institutions that were tracked, the biggest positive jump in image has been registered by the Indian police. While in 2018, only about 29.9 per cent of the respondents had expressed a "lot of trust" in the police, during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, this figure has shot up to an overwhelming 70 per cent Indians expressing the same feeling.

Correspondingly, the number of Indians who displayed a lack of trust in the police has fallen dramatically in the same time period. In 2018, 28.4 per cent of the respondents said that they have "no trust at all" in the police as an institution. By 2020, with Covid-19 playing havoc, just 8.1 per cent of Indians said that they had "no trust at all" in the police. The nett trust factor for the police zoomed up from a measly 1.5 per cent to a massive 61.8 per cent at the national level.

Compelling human-interest stories and their narration in mainstream as well as social media have perhaps added to this changing perception of the police. A few examples will illustrate this point.

Tammana in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh was expecting a child and was worried. Her husband Anil was at work hundreds of kilometres away in Noida. Thanks to the lockdown, Anil could not travel to Bareilly. A desperate Tamanna made a video and tagged the SSP of Bareilly who forwarded it to his colleagues in Noida. An Additional DCP at Noida, Ranvijay Singh, took it up as a personal challenge and ensured that Anil reached Bareilly without any hiccups despite the travel ban. A healthy young boy was delivered and the grateful parents named him Mohhamed Ranvijay.

A video went viral showing a visibly emotional lonely senior citizen breaking down looking at a Chandigarh Police team surprising him with a cake to celebrate his birthday. Another viral video was of hilarious reactions of lockdown violators spoofed by Chennai Police into locking them in an ambulance with a fake Covid-19 patient as a punishment.

The Delhi Police's drive with Uday Foundation to distribute ration among the homeless has been among the countless positive stories circulated on social media. The outreach programme of the police took another level when none less than Superintendent of Police of faraway Umaria in Madhya Pradesh called on all senior citizens living alone in his area and personally ensured uninterrupted supply of essentials delivered to their doorsteps.

Similar heartwarming stories of police personnel going beyond their call of duty to help ordinary Indians have come from across the country.

This has resulted in a dramatic turnaround in the image for the police as an institution. Ten years ago, C-Voter conducted a similar survey that ranked various institutions which played a key role in governing and running India. The police force in India was ranked right at the bottom in terms of trustworthiness, with politicians just a rank above them.

This perception of the police hardly changed over the years till the latest round of survey. Frequent and disturbing reports of high-handed behaviour by the police, allegations of partisan behaviour, corruption and routine violations of human rights have played a big role in the ordinary Indian displaying a poor level of trust in the police all these years.

But the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have worked wonders as far the image of the police is concerned. The ranking of the police among 18 institutions surveyed in 2018 was very low. In 2020, it has improved almost miraculously to number four, just below the armed forces, Prime Minister and Made in India products. This can be seen in responses given by a diverse and wide cross section of Indians.

In 2018, 41.5 per cent of Indian females expressed "a lot of trust" in the police. By 2020, it had improved to 67.7 per cent.

In 2018, 31.9 per cent of rural Indians displayed a lot of trust in the police; that improved to 71.3 per cent by 2020. In 2018, 31.4 per cent of Indians belonging to lower income groups expressed a lot of trust in the police; that improved to 67.5 per cent in 2020.

The maximum change in nett perception is observed in the North Zone (net jump of 73.4 per cent) followed by South Zone (65.2 per cent). The positive change in West Zone was next (56.5 per cent) and the least change in perception was in East Zone (43.5 per cent). The only state with worrisome numbers in East Zone seems to be West Bengal where the police are taking a hit in public perception.

Some interesting trend is observed in age group analysis, where the change in trustworthiness of police goes up with the age. May be the mid-age and older generation can compare the contrast in image with a longer timeline of their memory than the younger Indians.

Is this sudden and dramatic turnaround in the public perception just a temporary phenomenon caused by the Covid-19 pandemic? Or is this a harbinger of a healthier relationship between Indian citizens and their police force? Social scientists would be eager to look for answers.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Honey bee colonies from across the UK are increasingly suffering from a viral disease, a new study has shown.

Publishing their findings in the journal Nature Communications, the team led by Professor Giles Budge of Newcastle University, UK, found that the number of honey bee colonies affected with chronic bee paralysis rose exponentially between 2007 and 2017.

Data collected from visits to over 24,000 beekeepers confirmed that while chronic bee paralysis was only recorded in Lincolnshire in 2007, a decade later it was present in 39 of 47 English and six of eight Welsh counties. The scientists also found that clusters of chronic bee paralysis, where disease cases are found close together, were becoming more frequent.

Chronic bee paralysis symptoms include abnormal trembling, an inability to fly, and the development of shiny, hairless abdomens. The disease is caused by a virus known as chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), and infected bees die within a week. This leads to piles of dead bees just outside honey bee hives and whole colonies are frequently lost to the disease.

Study lead, Professor Budge, from Newcastle University's School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, said: "Our analysis clearly confirms that chronic bee paralysis has been emerging across England and Wales since 2007 and that apiaries owned by professional beekeepers are at greater risk of the disease."

The study was completed in association with the Bee Farmers' Association, who represent professional beekeepers in the UK. Rob Nickless, the Chairman of the Bee Farmers' Association, said: "We are pleased to be part of this project and welcome these early results. This is the sort of research that brings practical benefits to the industry -- helping bee farmers at grassroots level to improve honey bee health and increase UK honey production."

Professor Budge said: "We do not yet know why colonies of bee farmers are at increased risk from this damaging disease, but many management practices are known to differ significantly between amateur and professional apiarists."

The study also investigated whether disease risk was associated with honey bee queen imports. Honey bee queens head up honey bee colonies and beekeepers use imported honey bee queens to replenish their stocks. The scientists used data from 130,000 honey bee imports from 25 countries to show for the first time that the disease was nearly twice as likely in apiaries owned by beekeepers who imported honey bees.

This work is being completed as a collaboration between Newcastle and St Andrews Universities, the Bee Farmers' Association and the National Bee Unit of the Animal and Plant Health Agency with funding from the BBSRC The researchers highlight the need for further studies focussing on different virus genotypes, which will be completed at the University of St Andrews.

Future work will concentrate on the susceptibility of different honey bee races and comparing the management practices of professional and amateur beekeepers to help discover the reasons behind the current disease emergence. This work will have the potential to reduce or mitigate the damage of this emerging disease to our most important managed pollinator.
From Twin Falls School District

Twin Falls is a supportive place to live no matter what is happening in the world. Over the past weeks, the Twin Falls School District has been the recipient of numerous donations to help support students and their families in these challenging economic times. We are immensely grateful for this support and we know that these donations will enable students to continue learning even while our school buildings are closed.

Over the past few years, 64 percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunches. This number is an indicator of the extent of poverty in our community. With many parents being laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19 it is fair to say that currently, more than 64 percent of our school district struggles with the basic necessities. When basic needs are a concern for families, parents are not able to provide the support children need and children are not able to dedicate themselves to learning.

To help bridge this gap, numerous community organizations have stepped up to provide for those in need. These generous organizations including, Clif Bar, Chobani, Anchor Bistro, Glanbia, Falls Brand, TitleOne, and the Bishops Storehouse of the LDS church. The care and dedication of these organizations to our community is inspiring and we cannot thank them enough for their donations.

While these donations have helped, there is still a need. The demand on our school-based food banks is higher than we have experienced in recent history and many of our food banks are nearing a point where they will no longer be able to distribute food boxes to the families in our community. If you are able to give and want to help support the families in our community, please reach out to our at-risk coordinator, Becky Jaynes at jaynesbe@tfsd.org.

Eva Craner Twin Falls

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Canada's top public health official struck an optimistic tone about the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, saying that efforts to flatten the curve are working as provinces across the country reported more positive figures.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians on the COVID-19 pandemic from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Canada's top public health official struck an optimistic tone about the COVID-19 pandemic on Saturday, saying that efforts to flatten the curve are working as provinces across the country reported more positive figures.

"By following public health recommendations, we have collectively brought down the rate of infection. We are flattening the curve," Dr. Theresa Tam said in a press release as federal officials and the prime minister took a break from their daily press conferences.

"While we can continue to be cautiously optimistic, it is important that everyone remains aware of our duty to protect one another, especially those who are most vulnerable, as we navigate the next few weeks."

The message came as New Brunswick reported they had no more active cases of COVID-19 on Saturday after two weeks without a new infection, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province could get through the pandemic faster than previously expected.

"We're seeing a gradual downward slope in the public domain, and the lower we get the more we can open up and get back to the new normal," Ford said.

"I don't know the exact time ... but if we keep going the way we're going, we're going to get out of this a lot sooner than we thought we might've been able to get out a couple of months ago."

At the provincial legislature, demonstrators gathered for a second Saturday in a row for an anti-lockdown protest. Ford blasted the protesters for disrespecting the Canadian flag by flying it upside down during the demonstration.

"I understand, people are hurting out there and people want to get back out there," Ford said. But he added that flying the flag upside down disrespects members of the armed forces who are overseas, as well as those helping in long-term care facilities in Ontario.

"What they're doing is putting their lives in jeopardy as far as I'm concerned with congregating side-by-side," he said.

Ford said he respected their right to protest but wondered whether it's fair that mothers with their children receive fines for being in parks while anti-lockdown protesters aren't fined.

Provinces across Canada are preparing to start relaxing lockdown rules in the coming week.

Businesses such as gardening centres and auto dealerships will be allowed to open in Ontario on Monday, while residents in Newfoundland and Labrador will be allowed to interact with one household other than their own.

Quebec has announced plans to gradually reopen daycares, elementary schools, retail businesses, construction and manufacturing during the month of May.

That province has seen most of its deaths in long-term care homes, and Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said the fight against COVID-19 is entirely different in those facilities  an argument Ontario's premier agreed with on Saturday.

"There's two different worlds right now we're fighting this virus, one in long-term care homes and one in the public domain," Ford said. "In the public domain, everyone has done an incredible job ... and that's the reason why we see the trend going down."

Ford's comments came as deaths continued to mount, with another 114 deaths in Quebec, 55 in Ontario and two in Nova Scotia.

Canada counted more than 56,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon and more than 3,500 deaths.

British Columbia's top medical official Dr. Bonnie Henry urged people to stay vigilant, asking anyone with symptoms to contact health officials and take measures to protect their family and community members.

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"It is far too easy to tip the scales against us and undo the hard work and sacrifice that everybody here in B.C. has made," she said Saturday as the province announced just 26 new cases.

"We cannot afford any missteps as we look to ease our restrictions in the coming days and weeks."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with his counterpart in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, to share information about fighting the pandemic while protecting the economy.

A readout of the call said the two leaders also spoke about the need to keep supply chains working throughout the global crisis, particularly in regards to medical supplies.

New Zealand has widely been seen as a success story in the effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2020.
In this photograph provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, cuts a tape during his visit to a fertilizer factory in South Pyongan, near Pyongyang, on May 1, 2020 - KCNA via KNS

Most ribbon cutting ceremonies are unremarkable affairs, the stuff of local newspaper photographs at most.

But this one was different. It involved North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong-un in his first reported appearance in 20 days, during which there has been intense speculation about his health and even whether he was still alive.

The newly released footage of Kim glad-handing at a North Korean fertilizer production plant north of Pyongyang on Friday would appear to have put an end to that.

He was even pictured standing in front of a banner reading May 1, to drive home the point, much in the way hostages are forced to hold up that days newspaper for the camera as proof of life.

The date is also written in the Latin alphabet, in case there were any doubts about which audience this 'proof ' is for (see picture below).

Kim made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of the fertilizer factory, state media said on Saturday - KCNA via KNS

The choice of backdrop may be another hidden message to the West. The fertilizer plant has been the subject of attention for years because of its potential dual-use in the process of uranium extraction from phosphoric acid, allowing North Korea to conceal its nuclear activities from the outside world.

According to state news agency KCNA, which released the images, Kim was accompanied by his younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.

Those attending the event "burst into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!' for the Supreme Leader," according to the state news agency.

Speculation about Kim's health began after he missed the birth anniversary of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, on April 15, when he usually pays a visit to the mausoleum where the nations founder lies in state.

South Korea's government has downplayed speculation that Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor health following surgery.

Others have speculated that a mark on Kims wrist could even indicate a recent cardiovascular procedure.

Robert E Kelly, Professor of Political Science at Pusan National University, in South Korea, said: The kind of speculation weve seen in the last few weeks is going to continue until we see him live somewhere.

But he added later: We cant know, of course; its North Korea. But I do think hes ok at the moment. The evidence is fairly convincing.
RTHK: Spain lifts tough lockdown regime

Spaniards were allowed out of their homes to exercise and walk freely after 48 days of confinement on Saturday as some European nations began cautiously easing virus lockdowns while others like Russia faced a spike in new infections.

As governments across the globe balance lifting restrictions to restart economies against the risk of new infections, US authorities brought some hope by approving an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patients.

The measure was the latest step in a global push to find viable treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown, hammered the world economy and caused more than 3.3 million confirmed infections.

The virus has killed nearly 239,000 people since it emerged in China late last year.

With signs the pandemic in their hardest-hit nations is slowing, European countries and some parts of the US have begun to lift restrictions and to try to inject life into economies battered by weeks of closure.

In Madrid and Barcelona, Spaniards took to the streets to exercise and walk freely as the government eased seven weeks of strict lockdown in a country with one of the highest number of fatalities at nearly 25,000.

"After so many weeks in confinement, I badly wanted to go out, run, see the world," said financial advisor Marcos Abeytua in Madrid's Chueca district who got up a 7am to enjoy some time outside. "Yesterday, I was like a child on Christmas Eve."

In the city's Retiro park, many residents were out to running, sometimes in groups, as a policeman used a loudspeaker to urge them to keep out of deserted avenue and on the pavement.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez however said masks would be obligatory on public transport from Monday.

Spain, Germany, Austria and Scandinavian nations are all slowly easing lockdowns as the virus cases slow though they will keep in place social distancing measures, demand the use of masks or increase testing to try to track infections.

France on Saturday decided it would extend a health emergency, in place since March 24, by two months until July 24, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced after a cabinet meeting.

Italy is preparing to ease restrictions in coming days while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent time in intensive care with the virus, said Britain had past the peak of its outbreak.

Ireland extended its lockdown by two weeks to May 18, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying the nation will reopen "in a slow, phased, staged way" after that.

In Russia, though, authorities reported the largest increase in coronavirus cases with the new infections rising by nearly 10,000 in a single day.

In Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, around 2 percent of the population is infected by Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, officials said.

"The threat is apparently on the rise," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, said on his blog earlier on Saturday. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-05-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
When Mitchell College in New London closed last month in the face of a booming COVID-19 pandemic, Lisa Cushing was serving dinner to students. By the weekend, the campus was empty, and Cushing, a night supervisor, is now temporarily furloughed.

They call it lack of work, she said. It sucks. Its terrible. Its nonproductive. I understand why, but Im not being productive at all.

Stuck at home, Cushing has applied for other jobs within Chartwells Higher Ed, the food service Mitchell outsources its dining to. Chartwells officials said in a statement that theyre providing all the support they can, including helping employees retain health care and unemployment benefits.

Cushing doesnt receive health care benefits through Chartwells and hasnt yet gotten anything from unemployment, she said. With no other income in the house, shes careful with food and money, even switching car insurance companies when her previous one demanded she pay her premium despite her situation, she said.

She hopes to return to work next month or, at the very least, for the fall semester.

I was everybodys mom, Cushing said. This was going to be the year that all the kids that started when I started were going to graduate.

I dont think anyone is any different. Everybodys suffering in some way, one way or the other. Everybody has to do their part. Stay at home and see what happens, she said.

For others, staying at home isnt an option. While Southern Connecticut State Universitys students, faculty and staff are working online, Robert Sheeley and his custodial team are still on campus in New Haven. For Sheeley, SCSUs associate vice president for capital budgeting and facilities operations, the world never came to a standstill, nor did it stop for other essential workers across the states colleges.

We have to work, Sheeley said. Thats just what we have to do. Were putting our people in harms way, as the saying goes, but were giving them every possible protective gear that we can.

My staff has the same fears as everybody else, he said. Theyre worried about getting it, theyre worried about transmitting it to their families, but they still are there, and theyre still doing their jobs.

The masks Sheeley ordered for his staff months ago were diverted to hospitals - rightfully so, he noted. Supplies were running low just last week, but Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator Lisa Kortfelt made and brought in 65 masks.

SCSU facilities staff are now armed with masks, gloves and disinfectant wipes. Sheeley has also created a schedule with rotating shifts to lessen the risk of exposure.

I think people have developed a greater understanding and appreciation of what our staff faces and what our staff does. Were in the trenches, and we always are, he said.

The same goes for other essential support staff at institutions like the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Quinnipiac University in Hamden and Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, where no faculty and staff have been laid off or furloughed, according to university spokespeople.

The University of Hartford in West Hartford, on the other hand, gave employees the option to voluntarily take temporary furloughs while maintaining their benefits.

Mitchell also has campus safety, maintenance and custodial staff still on site, while universities that employ third-party contractors, like Sacred Heart in Fairfield, have seen these workers put on furlough.

Dining workers at all of these campuses have been furloughed, according to statements from food services Chartwells and Sodexo, as well as university spokespeople.

Overall now, its quiet out and about, CCSU Building Supervisor Richard Karas said. Now its just a professor needs a book because they didnt know they were going to be gone this long. So Ill run in their office [and get it].

Karas is one of approximately 20 employees working day-to-day at CCSU, spokeswoman Janice Palmer said. The campus has converted its dorms to aid in the pandemic.

You dont feel insecure at all coming here because theres so few people on campus, Karas explained, saying he only goes into dorms if a student calls asking for an important item they left behind, like an inhaler or a passport.

Still, Karas is strongly pushing social distancing among his staff, keeping himself electronically attached to them.

I dont wanna be the one to pass it (COVID-19) to everybody, if God forbid I get it, he said.

Sheeley is advocating social distancing as well for as long as working in a pandemic continues as the new normal.

Were going on as if this is going to go on a while, Sheeley said.

When asked if there is a timeline for when all of their support staff would return to campus, all the aforementioned universities and colleges said there is no definitive timeline, but that they hope one will come soon. Most are looking to Gov. Ned Lamonts executive orders and instructions as guidance.

I have heard probably seven different timelines, Sheeley said, laughing.

He added that he doesnt want the campus to reopen too soon and cause a resurgence in cases.

I have no idea whats going to happen in the fall, and I don't think anybody does right now, he said. We're going to proceed cautiously so that we can, to the best of our ability, guarantee safety for everyone.

Cushing said she is really hoping she will be able to go back to work soon.

I'm hoping that this stuff kind of blows over, she said.

Kristina Vakhman is a student at Central Connecticut State University.
Open source

Japan plans to ship the anti-flu drug Avigan to 43 countries after its holiday period ends next Wednesday. The drug is seen as a potential treatment for people infected with the coronavirus. This is reported by NHK.

Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu said on Friday that nearly 80 countries have requested free supplies of Avigan, which was developed by a Japanese company.

He said the first batches will be delivered to the 43 countries through a UN organization. Recipient countries will then send clinical trial data to Japan.

Motegi said taming the pandemic will require the development of effective remedies in the short term. He said there are hopes that Avigan will serve as an early-stage treatment for the coronavirus.

Motegi added that Japan will press ahead with public-private partnerships and international cooperation in the search for curative drugs.
Jarosaw Grzesiak, Managing Partner of Greenberg Traurig, LLP in Poland, represented pro bono Zygmunt Solorz, the founder and major shareholder of Grupa Polsat, in the negotiation and purchase of 200 thousand genetic tests to be used for diagnosing coronavirus across all Ministry of Health laboratories in Poland. The tests were purchased for PLN 16 million.

The purchase also included eight diagnostic devices  thermal cyclers and automatic extraction systems, genetic tests and all the disposable materials necessary for conducting 200 thousand tests.

The tests will be provided to Polish citizens and donated to the Polish Ministry of Health for the purpose of testing, identifying and isolating the infected. These actions are said to be a key factor in fighting the coronavirus epidemic in Poland.

I am extremely happy to help such a noble cause. The Greenberg Traurig COVID-19 Pro Bono Program was established to support unique initiatives such as this one. We are helping in something we truly believe in  I fully agree with Mr. Solorz that in order to limit the spread of the virus, we need as many tests as possible. This will help all of us to quickly and safely return to normality, said Jarosaw Grzesiak, Managing Partner of the Greenberg Traurig Warsaw Office.

In March 2020, the Warsaw office of Greenberg Traurig launched the GT COVID-19 Pro Bono Program for micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

Within the scope of the program, Greenberg Traurig Warsaw lawyers will help entrepreneurs to implement the legal aspects of the tax- and labor- related components of the crisis shield. The team will also analyze and  if necessary  renegotiate agreements with which entrepreneurs would not able to comply due to the outbreak.

As part of the program, Greenberg Traurig is also assisting entrepreneurs in the Lawyers to Readers initiative launched by Gazeta Wyborza, a leading Polish daily newspaper.

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 2200 attorneys serving clients from 41 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak sp.k. was named the 2019 and 2018 Most Innovative Law Firm of the Year Award for Poland by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the 2017 Law Firm of the Year in Poland by Chambers and Partners. The Warsaw office of Greenberg Traurig, LLP provides legal services to clients in Central Europe and beyond and consists of approximately 100 lawyers. Team members are regularly recognized as leaders in numerous practice areas. Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, IFLR1000 and EMEA Legal 500 consistently rank them among the top tiers the areas of Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets, Real Estate, Private Equity, Tax, Banking and Finance, Project Finance, Energy, Dispute Resolution and TMT.

For additional information, please visit http://www.gtlaw.com.
Last week, a 35-year-old woman from north-east Delhis Janta Mazdoor Colony started frantically calling the ASHA (accredited social health activist) when her labour pains started. When she couldnt through to any worker, she went to the maternity clinic where her antenatal check-up had been done, but that was closed for the day when she got there.

She was told to go to Kasturba hospital, about 6km away. She did not know how to get there and she was already in a lot of pain. So, she decided to call a midwife home. She gave birth to a baby boy, who died soon after, said Sulekha Singh, a health activist, who helped the woman take her baby to Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalay afterwards.

Pregnant women, especially those about to give birth, are the worst hit by the ongoing lockdown as well as overwhelmed health care systems. With health care workers in several hospitals testing positive for the Covid-19, many women are no longer able to visit the hospitals that provided them antenatal care. While some are forced to travel to far-off hospitals, and brave the risk of a coronavirus infection, others have no option but to birth at home.

Three days ago, a woman from Jahangirpuri did not know where to go when she thought she was having labour pains because the hospital she used to go to  Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital  was closed after 75 health care workers tested positive for Covid-19.

The police helped her reach Deep Chand Bandhu hospital where she was told there was still time for her to go into labour and was asked to go home. Doctors from Deep Chand Bandhu hospital asked her to go to Ambedkar hospital for the delivery, which is closer to her place. But, we had not taken her there earlier as the gynaecology department was closed a day ago because someone had tested positive for Covid-19. The situation keeps changing daily and we have no idea where to take the women, Singh said.

One of the citys biggest maternity centre -- Kasturba hospital near Jama Masjid  does not allow in patients from containment zones with fever, cough or sore throat.

There are several containment areas around the hospital, but if anyone from these areas comes to us with even a mild fever or sore throat, we do not admit them because they are likely to have Covid-19. We refer them to Covid-19 hospitals, a doctor from the hospital, on condition of anonymity, said.

This problem was highlighted when a 25-year-old woman from Nizamuddin Basti  which was declared a containment area after 2,300 Tablighi Jamaat members were evacuated from the Markaz complex -- was turned away from Safdarjung. She was referred to Lok Nayak hospital, which denied her admission because she was not Covid-19 positive. She visited at least six hospitals and maternity clinics in the span of 48 hours before finally giving birth outside All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

This case was referred to in a public interest litigation by an organisation called SAMA in the Delhi high court. Responding to the plea, the Delhi high court had ordered, The Union of India and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall work in tandem to make sure that no barriers are faced by pregnant ladies and their family members residing in hot spots during the lockdown.

The busiest gynaecology department in Delhi, at Safdarjung hospital, which sees about 110 deliveries a day, is now creating a separate space for Covid-19 positive deliveries in the super specialty block where it houses other people with Covid-19.

For now, our labour rooms have been divided into non-Covid and suspected Covid. But, yes, women have been facing problems since the lockdown. Many smaller nursing homes and maternity hospitals are not functioning now. Also, earlier, the bigger hospitals used to accommodate more than one patient on each bed. That is not possible now, because we have to follow social distancing norms, a doctor from Safdarjung hospitals gynaecology department said.

That is the reason why doctors at Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital in Khichripur say that there has been a surge in the number of maternity cases at the hospital ever since the lockdown, especially in the last two weeks.

We usually used to get 20-odd maternity cases daily. But now we are getting about 30-40 cases daily. We have got some maternity cases that were earlier undergoing routine checkups at big hospitals, a senior doctor, on condition of anonymity, said.

However, all this flies in the face of Delhi government orders. It has directed all clinics, hospitals and nursing homes, including private ones, to remain open for the treatment of non-Covid patients. The hospitals have been threatened with cancellation of licence if not complying with the order.

Hospitals have been asked not to refuse treatment to anyone and ensure pregnancy deliveries, haemodialysis, blood transfusion, chemotherapy, treatment of chronic as well as communicable diseases, such as TB and leprosy.

With inputs from Risha Chitlangia

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Federal funds are now available to help pay for hotels and motels to isolate homeless who have COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone with the virus.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday, May 1 that Federal Emergency Management funds are now available to pay for housing alternatives for homeless who may need to quarantine.

FEMA will reimburse up to 75 percent of eligible costs for providing housing at hotels, motels or other facilities.

Related: Michigan tops 10,000 daily tests for first time, 77 new deaths reported

Individuals who are homeless always face health risks, but the risk is so much greater because of COVID-19  for them and for their communities, Michigan Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon said. These hotel units can reduce infection rates and save lives.

Gordon issued a public health order that made Michigan eligible for the funding.

The funds can be used in the following instances for homeless people:

Those who test positive for COVID-19 and need to be isolated but do not require hospitalization, including those discharged from hospitals

Those who have been exposed to COVID-19 and are identified by a health care professional as needing quarantine but do not need hospitalization

Those needing individual sheltering as a precautionary measure because they belong to a high-risk group, such as people over age 65 or with certain underlying health conditions

COVID-19 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

Friday, May 1: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Day of angry protests, political maneuvers sets stage for likely legal battle in Michigan

Groups call on Michigan to waive the damn rent during coronavirus outbreak

Michigan prisoners call coronavirus exposure cruel and unusual punishment in lawsuit

Michigans closure of bars, gyms, casinos extended to May 28
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took another step toward reactivating Michigans economy by signing an order Friday for construction businesses, real estate activity and other outdoor jobs to resume May 7 as the coronavirus crisis continues into May.

The move came a day after hundreds of protesters gathered at the state Capitol, urging lawmakers not to extend a state of emergency.

Many were upset over the governors stay-at-home order that has left people off work for weeks.

The legislature took no action with hopes the emergency declaration would expire at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, but Whitmer issued executive ordersd to extend it through May 28 and she defended those orders in a Friday news conference.

Were not in a political crisis, where we should just negotiate and find some common ground here, Whitmer said. "Were in a public health crisis. Were in the midst of a global pandemic.

Below is a look at the most recent developments related to the crisis.

Michigan tops 10,000 daily tests for first time, 77 new deaths reported

For the first time, Michigan is reporting more than 10,000 tests done in a single day. There were 10,452 tests done on Wednesday, April 29  the most recent day testing numbers are available for. Of those tests, 11.6 percent of them were positive.

Michigan officials have set a goal of doing 15,000 tests per day in order to know how prevalent the coronavirus is in the population. The World Health Organization recommends ramping up testing until less than 10 percent of tests come back positive.

As testing increases, daily confirmed cases and deaths maintain even. Michigan reported 977 new confirmed cases and 77 new deaths on Friday, May 1.

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Whitmer signs order allowing construction, real estate and outdoor work to resume May 7 in Michigan

Gov Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Friday that will allow for construction businesses, real estate activity and other outdoor jobs to resume on May 7.

Whitmer says the order is part of a phased plan to reengage the Michigan economy but one that will also require businesses to step up and ensure the safety of their workers. In the construction industry, businesses will be required to follow state guidelines on maintaining a safe work zone

Michigans closure of bars, gyms, casinos extended to May 28

Many of Michigans businesses closed in March to limit the spread of the coronavirus will remain closed through most of the month of May.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order late Thursday, April 30, to extend the temporary ban on dine-in services and the closure of places of public accommodation like bars, coffeehouses, theaters, indoor and outdoor performance venues, libraries, museums, fitness centers, casinos and salons.

Whitmer defends decision to continue coronavirus state of emergency, calls Capitol protest disturbing

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended her legal right to continue Michigans state of emergency Friday, calling the decision by the legislature not to extend it a political maneuver and the protests that erupted in the Capitol over the issue disturbing.

Referencing swastikas, Confederate flags and the firearms some of the protesters carried, Whitmer said the protests - during which participants stood shoulder-to-shoulder both inside and outside the Capitol, disregarding social distancing guidelines - dont represent the majority of Michigan residents.

Whitmer said during a news briefing she understands the frustration over the ongoing stay-at-home order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. But she rejected the notion that reopening the economy should be driven by politics, polling, protests or anything other than the latest data and determination from public health experts.

Michigan liquor sales increased in March, despite bar closures

Despite bar closures and the elimination of 2020 March Madness and St. Patricks Day events due to the coronavirus pandemic, Michigan turned in above average liquor sales for the month of March.

The state reported $123.8 million in gross liquor sales in March 2020. That marks a $14.7-million increase from the $109.1 million from March 2019, according to the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

MLCC Chair Pat Gagliardi credits much of the increase to the uncertainty people felt in the early days of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers first stay-at-home executive order, which was put in place to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Michigan prisoners call coronavirus exposure cruel and unusual punishment in lawsuit

Inmates from various Michigan prisons have filed a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections, in hopes of forcing the department to increase precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus among inmates.

The complaint was filed Wednesday, April 29, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. It claims MDOC is violating the Eighth Amendment, subjecting inmates to cruel and unusual punishment by not taking necessary pandemic precautions.

Gov. Whitmer now has her own bobblehead, along with Drs. Fauci, Birx, available for pre-sale

A Governor Gretchen Whitmer bobblehead is now a thing, along with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Doctor Antony Fauci and Doctor Deborah Birx. They are now available for pre-order from the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum with a portion of the proceeds going to the Protect The Heroes fund.

The bobbleheads are available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museums online store for $25 each plus $8 shipping. They will ship this July. The photo of Whitmers bobblehead is an artist rendition while the photos of Drs. Fauci and Birx are what their bobbleheads actually look like.

Michigan toddler, who spiked 107 fever, finally COVID-19 free after nightmare month

A Michigan toddler, who spiked a 107.1 fever while battling COVID-19, is finally virus free. His mother, also fighting coronavirus for much of the month of April, has tested negative, too.

Amanda May and Ryan Schreiber of Farmington Hills want the world to know this virus can hit healthy kids hard and their 22-month-old son Luke is a prime example. They say he had no health issues before the virus hit him on March 31 when he registered a fever of 107.1.

How Michigans May 5 election will look amid the coronavirus pandemic

In an effort to minimize COVID-19 exposure by poll workers and voters, the Secretary of State mailed absentee ballot applications to 740,000 registered voters in 33 counties which have ballot questions May 5. Nearly 213,000 voters filled out the applications and were mailed ballots. The usually sluggish May 5 election is now expected to have above average voter turnout.

With less than a week until the election, nearly 12 percent, or 86,355 eligible voters, have cast absentee ballots in 72 school districts or municipalities voting May 5, mostly on school millages or bonds

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
He welcomed his first child with fiance Lucy Mecklenburgh in March.

And Ryan Thomas warmed his followers' hearts on Saturday as he took to Instagram to share a sweet family snap ahead of their daily walk in the sunshine.

The former Coronation Street star, 35, posted the sweet snap with Lucy, 28, their baby son Roman, eight weeks, and his own daughter Scarlett, 11, as they headed out for their daily stroll.

Cute: Ryan Thomas, 35, took to Instagram to share a sweet snap with fiance Lucy Mecklenburgh, 28, their son Roman, eight weeks, and his daughter Scarlett, 11, on Saturday

In the snap, Lucy held her baby son close to her chest in a leopard print carrier as she and Ryan prepared to their daily walk.

The couple were joined by Ryan's older daughter Scarlett for the outing as they prepared for their outing during lockdown.

Ryan captioned the post: 'Love it when I've got all my squad together.'

Sweet: Lucy held their baby son in a leopard print carrier as they headed out for their daily walk in the sunshine

Lucy and Ryan revealed they had welcomed baby Roman Ravello in an Instagram post on March 12.

The fitness guru announced her pregnancy in August, after fiance Ryan proposed during a trip to Italy's Amalfi Coast in June.

The couple met on Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls in early 2017.

They brushed off split rumours in December 2018 after Lucy was pictured looking cosy with a man in a Dubai nightclub, believed to be her friend and business associate Adam Rossiter.

Ryan is already dad to Scarlett with his ex Tina O'Brien.

Proud parents: Lucy and Ryan revealed they had welcomed baby Roman Ravello in an Instagram post on March 12

It comes after Lucy's fiance Ryan spoke of his struggles of raising Roman without his family amid the coronavirus lockdown.

In a candid post, the soap star admitted he was 'full of fear and loneliness' as he self-isolates with fiancee Lucy.

The actor, who shared his message alongside a sweet picture of himself kissing his baby, also offered to provide new parents with baby supplies during the global crisis.

The former Coronation Street star and Lucy have taken isolation extremely seriously ever since the nation was plunged into lockdown.
Business owners push back on lengthy post-covid reopening plan

Commissioners Bill Lapsley and Rebecca McCall co-chair a committee of business owners advising the county on how to reopen for business.

In their third meeting on reopening the county for business post-coronavirus, business owners pushed back on a phased plan they said was too rigid and time-consuming.

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners appointed the Post-Covid 19 Task Force last month to advise the elected board on guidelines for safely reopening the countys economy when the current statewide stay-at-home rules are eased or lifted. When the committee wrapped up its third meeting on Wednesday, little had been settled and the boundaries of its advisory power was in question.

Co-chaired by commissioners Bill Lapsley and Rebecca McCall, the 21-member panel reacted to some of the guidelines proposed in a four-phase reopening plan. Several business owners urged the commissioners to move as aggressively as possible to permit businesses to reopen. The proposed four-phase timeline, they said, will take too long.

When they first formed the committee, commissioners really werent looking for this group to get involved in the timing, Lapsley said. We emphasized that we wanted the focus to be on guidelines that should be followed when either our governor opens up the business community or if and when the county commissioners get the opportunity to reopen the community. So we really didnt want to get with you folks in a debate over the timing. Thats an issue the commissioners have to deal with with the governor.

But during the hour and 20-minute meeting, Lapsley and McCall listened as business owners from a cross-section of sectors  services, shops, dining, lodging  implored them to accelerate the reopening timeline as much as they could.

Thats an issue and thats something that I think the commissioners want to know, Lapsley said at the close of the meeting. He urged the business owners to make their feelings known about the timing of reopening and whether phasing should be collapsed into a shorter time frame. Let commissioners know if you have strong feelings about this timing," he said. "You dont want four phases, youd rather have two.

How does screening work?

Caroline Gunther, owner of Wag! A Unique Pet Boutique on Main Street, said the proposed reopening plan was too rigid.

My first thought is this phase plan seems much more restrictive than the states to start with and I was surprised to see it because I did not think that was the direction we were going in the first place, she said. Employees screened daily and wear face masks. I know these are suggestions. What do you mean by screening daily? A questionnaire, a test, do you mean temperature taking?

The screening recommendation, she added, is burdensome without necessarily being effective.

These are employees, Gunther said. What good does it do asking it of them when you have members of the public at large walking in every day?

Smartrak manager Chris Hytek described the drive-thru screening station the Fletcher plant created. Screeners ask employees whether theyve had cold or flu symptoms in last 14 days, whether theyve tested positive for Covid-19 or had contact with or cared for someone with Covid-19 and whether they had run a fever in the last 24 hours. The plant also takes the workers temperature. If its under 100.4 they can enter.

Its worked for us and its not too oppressive, he said.

Jennifer Hensley, a chiropractor, said herd immunity is a better public health solution than continuing a broad lockdown.

I assume a lot of people suspect that a lot more of the population has had or has been exposed to the virus than tests have shown. If this virus were to cycle back around next flu season, in my opinion I would feel better about Henderson County having 50-60 percent immunized or exposure than 10 percent. The goal of the initial slowdown or flatten the curve was never to stop people from getting this virus. The goal was to not overwhelm our health care and our hospitals. The healthy people  we actually want them to be exposed to the virus because heathy people getting the virus then getting well are how we as a whole in public health develop immune system and strengthening measures that we didnt have two months ago.

Salons make coronavirus adjustments

I do have some concerns with the social distancing and limiting to 10, Hair Gallery owner Martha Huggins said. Most business owners, we are all going to go back doing business differently. I think we are all very much aware business cannot start out being like it was before.

In her shop on White Street, she is putting up plexiglass between stylists chairs. The salon and spa are separated.

I am really glad to hear that we are going to be given discretion on the guidelines and letting each owner decide how to best run their own business, she said. If the county gets control from the government, please put us in phase 1. The salon had added aggressive sanitation techniques even before we stopped business, Huggins said, and will do more when it reopens.

The shop will sanitize between every appointment, keep hand sanitizer at each chair, have clients wait outside in their cars. All employees will wear masks and gloves. I think we are one business that is well prepared to go back at the first possible time, she said.

McCall said: Quite frankly, Id like to be in phase 2 the day we open.

Restaurants disadvantaged

Mike Wiemers, owner of Surf 'n' Brew and Salty Landing, said the guidelines are too rigid for restaurants.

In phase 1, were still only open for takeout, yet were allowing people inside retail shops, he said. Im not sure why we dont have exteriors open right now as long as theyre spread apart.

A requirement that customers always make reservations at least one hour in advance is unworkable, he said, because I dont do reservations. He suggested that be changed to ask customers to call the restaurant when youre there.

Restaurants that are still open have seen business plunge by 75-85 percent, he said.

Drive-thru chains and places set up for delivery are doing better. Ive heard some of the pizza delivery places, their sales are up as much as 50 percent, he said.

Beth Carden, executive director of the Tourism Development Authority, thanked the panel for drafting guidelines that can help businesses reopen. Many of the businesses represented on the advisory committee are tourism-related, she said. We have a tremendous need for a solution to this quicker rather than later, she said. Were just getting ready to go into our summer season, which is very important for everyone.

If the county is too cautious  taking small steps in a series of phases tourism may not recover.

Were getting tremendous requests for information from people that are wanting to travel to Hendersonville from around the country. It is certainly a pickup demand that were going to see and I believe our economy is going to kick back really quick when we start to open up.

Cooper ignores county's request for flexibility

John Mitchell, the countys director of business and community development, told the business owners that the staff had compiled recommended guidelines for reopening by industry.

These are all guidelines that have been suggested by the group, he said. They could be tweaked in the coming days.

I think at this point we want to give everybody the opportunity over next 3-4 days to go through these and point out changes, Lapsley said. This whole exercise could be for naught. The governor is in control of the situation. Until we hear otherwise, everything were doing here is a draft. Its a document were trying to have ready should the governor give the county any flexibility We want to say to the community, weve already studied this, were ready to go, this is what we want to do.

Wiemers asked whether Gov. Cooper had responded to the countys letter seeking the authority to guide the reopening of business and industry.

No, were not heard a word from him, Lapsley said. Apparently, theres been about four or five county commissions who have sent letters to the governor, none of whom have gotten a response. At the moment, weve had no correspondence.

Commissioners may adopt a resolution  thought to carry more weight than the April 14 letter  on Monday night.

My feeling, yes, Monday night we will pass a resolution, Lapsley said, emphasizing that he is one of five voters. McCall said she, too, supports a resolution.

Personal Protective Equipment

Mitchell said the county is working with the Chamber of Commerce and Partnership for Economic Development to locally source personal protection equipment and offer a clearinghouse of suppliers on its website.

We anticipate theres going to be a lot of questions about how one would secure personal protection equipment, he said. Weve been working with partners to identify industries that will be making PPE. Weve had some success and some false starts but there are local industries which are making different kinds of personal protection equipment.

Mark Williams, executive director of AgHC, the farm advocacy agency, praised Manual Woodworkers partnership with agriculture. The company is one of the cut-and-sew plants that pivoted to make PPE.

We have ordered through Manual Woodworkers these masks and well be handing them out to our farmworkers, he said.

The county will update its website with links from the chamber and the economic development agency to businesses that are making personal protection equipment. The county website will also contain links to videos of the Post-Covid panels past meetings and recommended guidelines for reopening by industry and links to the guidelines from the White House and state websites.
Hougland insists Democrats are ill-prepared for the looming battle over information and attention, which is bound to play an outsize role in November. He cites as an example Trumps suggestion last week that injecting bleach or other household disinfectants could be a treatment for the novel coronavirus  a moment that appeared unequivocally damaging to the president but was less clear-cut as it unfolded on social media. Although the episode was associated with a spike in Twitter engagement about Trump, especially in swing states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, according to Houglands analysis, four of the top six tweets about Trump and disinfectant came from accounts partial to the president, boosting the notion that he had not really suggested the bogus cure.
JACKSON, MI  Jackson County has 18 new cases of the novel coronavirus, but no new deaths, Friday, officials said.

State numbers, released at 3 p.m. May 1, have Jackson County at 382 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.

The Jackson County Health Department had a glitch in its system Friday which delayed its daily report that normally goes up by noon. The glitch wasnt resolved by the time the state released its numbers Friday.

Daily numbers from the county include how many cases are assigned by gender and age in the county. Of the confirmed cases, 34 are patients at Henry Ford Allegiance Health and an additional patient has a pending test result for COVID-19.

The hospital has released 100 patients who were successfully treated for the virus, officials said in a release Friday.

Its almost like youre drowning, COVID-19 survivor says

In challenging times like these, we must recognize these life-affirming victories, HFAH President/CEO Paula Autry said in the release. We are elated when any patient recovers, but the level of threat COVID-19 poses to the patient and to our community makes each victory that much more satisfying when the battle is won.

The first patient with COVID-19 was admitted March 16, per the release. Wendy Boersma, vice president and chief nursing officer at HFAH, said it has been a non-stop effort to take care of each patient since.

He was just a very kind and sincere man. Family mourns popular Jackson referee who died from COVID-19

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our front-line employees and those working behind-the-scenes to keep operations running smoothly, she said in the release. There is no question their collective effort has saved an incredible number of lives.

Jackson Crossing reopens for curbside pick-up orders

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Positive COVID-19 results from the prisons in Jackson County are not included in the states numbers for the county.

The death toll from COVID-19 remains at nine for Parnall Correctional Facility. No more inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at Parnall Correctional Facility, leaving the total at 170 confirmed cases, 35 negative tests and seven results pending, per MDOC.

Jackson Outback Steakhouse reduces employees hours, gives relief pay

Of the inmates who tested positive, 69 have recovered and been moved to a step-down unit where the prisoners arent in contact with others, according to MDOC. It has been 30 days since 25 of those inmates started having symptoms of COVID-19. They are considered recovered by MDOC.

There are 73 Parnall employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, according to MDOC.

The G. Robert Cotton Facility has 330 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 864 negative results with two results pending. No deaths have occurred due to COVID-19, per MDOC. There are 17 employees with the virus. One inmate has been moved to the step-down unit.

Michigans closure of bars, gyms, casinos extended to May 28

There are 31 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus at the Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center, with 31 negative tests and three pending results. Six inmates have been moved to the step-down unit, one is considered recovered by MDOC and four inmates have died from COVID-19, per MDOC. Twenty-two employees have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Michigan toddler, who spiked 107 fever, finally COVID-19 free after nightmare month

There are 32 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Duane Waters Health Center with 34 negative cases and one result pending. Two inmate deaths have occurred, but no employees have tested positive for coronavirus, according to MDOC. One inmate has moved to the step-down unit.

Michigan has 42,356 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,866 deaths caused by the disease as of 3 p.m. Friday, May 1.

Friday, May 1: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
The Maharashtra government said on



Saturday that in the cities with police commissionerates, a concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) will have the power to allow inter-state or inter-district journey.

But the movement of people will not be allowed between the areas under Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and other parts of the state during lockdown, it said.

"However, permission has been granted (particularly to migrant workers) to travel outside Maharashtra from these two authority regions," an official statement said.

For permission to travel, one can apply to the nearby police station, submitting required information and a medical certificate, it said.

The application will be forwarded to the concerned DCP and decision will be taken after scrutiny of the application and "considering the spread of COVID-19", it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As some states move to reopen after weeks of shutdowns, infectious disease experts say the prevention of future coronavirus outbreaks will depend on scaling up testing and identifying asymptomatic carriers.

Now, eight Labrador retrievers - and their powerful noses - have been enlisted to help. The dogs are the first trainees in a University of Pennsylvania research project to determine whether canines can detect an odor associated with the virus that causes covid-19. If so, they might eventually be used in a sort of "canine surveillance" corps, the university said - offering a noninvasive, four-legged method to screen people in airports, businesses or hospitals.

It would not be surprising if the dogs prove adept at detecting SARS-CoV-2. In addition to drugs, explosives and contraband food items, dogs are able to sniff out malaria, cancers and even a bacterium ravaging Florida's citrus groves. And research has found that viruses have specific odors, said Cynthia M. Otto, director of the Working Dog Center at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine.

"We don't know that this will be the odor of the virus, per se, or the response to the virus, or a combination," said Otto, who is leading the project. "But the dogs don't care what the odor is. ... What they learn is that there's something different about this sample than there is about that sample."

The Good Newsletter: A weekly dose of inspiring San Antonio stories, delivered to your inbox

A similar effort is underway at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where researchers previously demonstrated that dogs could identify malaria infections in humans. In a statement, James Logan, head of the school's disease control department, called canines a "new diagnostic tool [that] could revolutionize our response to covid-19."

On Tuesday, Logan said his research team expects to begin collecting covid-19 samples "within a matter of weeks" and working with the charity Medical Detection Dogs to train canines soon after. The goal is to initially deploy six dogs to airports in the United Kingdom, he said.

"Each individual dog can screen up to 250 people per hour," Logan said in an email. "We are simultaneously working on a model to scale it up so it can be deployed in other countries at ports of entry, including airports."

The Working Dog Center typically trains dogs, which live with foster families, at its facility in Philadelphia, but the pandemic is forcing it to adjust. To minimize social contact, the project is instead working with Labs at a K-9 training firm in Maryland, Tactical Directional Canine, Otto said.

Miss M., Poncho and six other chocolate, yellow and black Labs began the first stage of training - learning to identify an odor for a food reward - this month, she said. Next, the dogs will train using urine and saliva samples collected from patients who tested positive and negative at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The following step is trickier, Otto said: learning to detect the virus in a human.

"That's going to be the next proof of concept: Can we train them to identify it when a person has it and that person's moving? Or even standing still?" Otto said.

Exactly how covid-19 detection dogs might be put to use in the United States would depend on demands, Otto said, though no one's talking about stationing a dog in every hospital or testing site.

COVID-19 Tracker: Interactive maps track coronavirus cases in San Antonio, Texas counties and the U.S.

If the need is lots of tests, then Penn chemists and physicists might be able to use what they learn from the dogs to create an electronic "nose," or sensor. The goal of the Working Dog Center's research on ovarian cancer-detection dogs, for example, is to produce "an electronic test where thousands and thousands of samples could be screened in a short period," Otto said.

Other settings, such as fields where the center has trained dogs to detect the eggs of invasive spotted lantern flies, call for actual canines that can quickly roam and sniff, she said.

"The exciting area is the sort of convergence with what dogs are currently doing with TSA and screening for explosives," she said. "If we can do a similar approach for screening humans, then there will be a large interest" in using dogs to help flag people for testing, she added.

One potential complication: Explosives detection dogs are already in short supply.

"We don't have enough detection dogs. And if now, all of a sudden, everyone wants a covid detection dog? It's going to be challenge to figure out where are the priorities," Otto said. "But there's a lot of opportunity."
'Our preparation is based on ICMR projections, whatever preparations we have to make.'

'If they project around 70,000 is the maximum number of hospital cases by mid-May or May 30, we are preparing accordingly -- how many people will need hospitalisation.'

Photograph: Ashish Narsale/ Rediff.com IMAGE: The COVID-19 portable full body disinfection chamber at the entrance to Mumbai's largest COVID-19 facility, the Seven Hills hospital, Andheri East, north west Mumbai.

April 2020 was one of the busiest months for the Indian Administtraive Services officers who runs the megapolis of Mumbai.

Ever since the coronavirus crept into the city limits, perhaps some time in late February, IAS officers posted in Mumbai have had their work cut out for them.

The municipal commissioner and his team -- four additional municipal commissioners, many senior IAS officers on deputation, assisted by several deputy municipal commissioners and assistant commissioners, as well as the entire Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai -- has been working, ceaselessly, since March to protect the city from a further influx of the virus, control the spread of COVID-19 across the city and have the facilities to deal with the present expanding caseload of the virus-afflicted.

If that wasn't more than enough, the bigger task for these officers has been to prepare over-populated Mumbai for a post-lockdown scenario, when COVID-19 numbers might rise further, higher than they already have.

As of May 1, they stand at 7,812 cases and 295 deaths and it is the worst-affected city in the country.

That preparation has involved grappling with Mumbai's urban infrastructure to make sure, within the quickest possible time, there are enough beds, medical workforce, hospital ancillary staff and ambulances to cope with any possible surge in coronavirus cases.

Those numbers -- a target of 7,000 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, over 3,000 more doctors and nurses, 40,000 corona care centre slots, ventilators, scores of ambulances -- have been ramped up as per Indian Council of Medical Research projections.

Dr Ramaswami Nallamuthu, 46, a 2004 IAS batch Maharashtra-cadre officer and native of Tamil Nadu, with a post-graduate veterinary degree, who has worked in Satara, Buldhana, Pune, Mumbai and Chiplun and was earlier municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai, was appointed CEO of the Maharashtra Maritime Board last year.

But like most of the city and state's IAS officers, his role has been temporarily refashioned and he has been posted back to the BMC to help with the unfolding, tricky pandemic crisis.

Dr Ramaswami's long days are now all about huge feats of coordination.

With no time to think or ponder the gravity of the situation, he says quietly.

A lot of work happens on the telephone and via Zoom calls and conferences.

After this interview to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com he had a Zoom meeting scheduled for 10.30 am.

His main responsibilities, currently, include administering the city's largest COVID-19 facility, the Seven Hills hospital, Andheri East, north west Mumbai, and working to strengthen and extend the city's medical manpower.

IMAGE: Medical staff at a slum area in Worli, central Mumbai, to test residents for coronavirus. Photograph: ANI Photo

As an administrator, and somebody who has been the municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai, how completely different are the challenges of working with COVID-19 for you?

What have been the biggest challenges?

It is unprecedented.

Not only for me. For anybody who is in administration. Or the medical field.

It is unprecedented and unpredictable.

It is a new path to travel on.

It's all learning, continuous learning. Learning from others. Learning from our own experience.

It is really challenging.

IMAGE: Dr Ramaswami Nallamuthu IMAGE: Dr Ramaswami Nallamuthu

Has it been one of the most difficult challenges you have faced in your career?

Yes, definitely. Definitely.

For whoever is dealing with COVID-19 -- it's a very difficult task, whether at the state level, or government of India level, or maybe local level.

At whatever level for anybody handling these issues -- they are really challenging ones.

The challenge is in infrastructure, manpower and unpredictability.

And so many other things.

And the constantly evolving situation? That would be probably one of the biggest parts of the challenge. Is that correct?

Yes, of course. Of course.

You were transferred back to the BMC since your office at Maharashtra Maritime Board is closed post the lockdown. And one of your tasks is to help expand the city's medical manpower?

This is my deputation. I am still continuing in Maharashtra Maritime Board (eventually).

But for the last one month, since March 30th onwards, I'm working in the BMC.

I am fully devoting my time for this only, because this is more challenging.

My task is mainly for upgradation and maintenance of the Seven Hills hospital, then training of manpower and partly coordinating with the plasma therapy project.

These are the three main tasks.

Apart from that, there are other coordination issues. Many other issues that come up in the process of handling these things -- coordination with various agencies -- there are multiple tasks. These are the main issues.

IMAGE: A medic collects a swab from a lady resident in a containment zone at Kurla, north Mumbai. Photograph: PTI Photo

You are working to expand the city's medical manpower. How are you going about it? How are you finding the people?

Basically, what we have done, so far, is to train the existing manpower.

So those who are in medical colleges, those who are in nursing colleges, those who are students and from other medical schemes.

They are all oriented (now) in handling COVID.

We formed a committee of the four deans of our medical colleges (Mumbai's municipal colleges: The Topiwala National Medical College, the Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital And Medical College and the state government-run Grant Medical College) before preparing a syllabus for training these people -- doctors, nurses, and other staff.

We have trained more than 3,000 people so far.

This includes fourth year and fifth year MBBS students, interns, second year and third year nursing students. We have five nursing colleges under the BMC.

And other than that, the CPS doctors (College of Physicians and Surgeons at Parel, central Mumbai, that offers a variety of diplomas and fellowships), those who are doing a PG diploma and resident doctors also.

For example, we are using second year, third year nursing students; then almost 600 MBBS students, interns.

Almost 1,709 are resident doctors. Many of them are working. Now these forces are being used for many purposes.

If needed, we will train more people also, maybe dental students, dentists, other doctors from other streams, BAMS (bachelors of ayurvedic medicine and surgery), homeopathy and others also.

We are keeping that option also open; depending on need then we will train them too.

That would mean you have expanded Mumbai's medical manpower by about 3,000 people or so recently?

May not be that (exact) number.

May not (term it) expansion. Partly it is expansion.

Orientation is also important.

When you handle these kinds of (COVID-19) cases, self-protection is more important, right?

So, you cannot go and get yourself infected in a hospital.

This syllabi covers all these things and especially ICU management, now (working in) an ICU is the main thing in treating COVID-19 patients.

All these aspects are well covered, with latest updates from ICMR (the Indian Council of Medical Research) and other Internet courses also, and hands-on training for handling ventilators.

How long does the training take?

It is one full day, for everyone, morning to evening, run from our BMC Borivali (north west Mumbai) training institute.

Other resident doctors were trained in their respective medical colleges, where they have all the facilities.

It is a continuous process -- now, so far, we have covered more than 3,000 people.

IMAGE: Doctors and medical staff in Kumbharwada, Dharavi. Photograph: Arun Patil

How responsive are these students?

Are there high levels of anxiety, as well, about having to handle COVID-19 patients?

No.

Mostly their trainers -- the deans and professors -- are from the medical colleges. So, they (the students) have that confidence in them.

Whatever natural anxiety, a normal person will have, will always be there.

PPE and other protective measures are there.

I think this (the risk) is part of the profession and, and everybody is up to the challenge.

People are eager to come forward and help.

Like it is their duty?

Yes, yes, definitely, definitely.

IMAGE: The Seven Hills hospital has a 522-bed capacity, of which 20 of them are ICU beds. Photograph: Kind courtesy Reliance Foundation

And as an administrator, because I understand Mumbai has a very high number of asymptomatic cases.

So as an administrator, how does that impact your job?

From your point of view, as an IAS officer, how does that change things?

Does that mean you have to look at expanding more manpower?

See, our preparation is based on the ICMR projections, whatever preparations we have to make.

For example, if they project around 70,000 is the maximum number of hospital cases by mid-May or May 30, we are preparing accordingly -- how many people will need hospitalisation, and accordingly the expansion plan is prepared by honorable MC Sir (Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi), in consultation with the task force.

My major role is in Seven Hills, where we want to expand it to at least 1,300 beds.

Right now, we are updating 600 beds and in two to three days it will go up to 800.

We are expanding everything simultaneously.

Now we (Seven Hills) are handling the highest number of cases in Mumbai.

Are you also advising other hospitals, who are trying to expand bed capacity?

I believe Nair hospital is also trying to expand their capacity (to 1,600 beds)?

Yes.

I am there on the committee for Nair also.

Manisha Madam (Manisha Mhaiskar, former additional municipal commissioner health during Mumbai's H1N1 and malaria outbreaks, deputed to be protocol officer to oversee detection and isolation of COVID-19 cases) looks after that.

I too intervene, once in a while, if they ask for (help).

The dean is the same, Dr (Mohan) Joshi, for Seven Hills and Nair also. Nair is mainly looked after by Manisha Ma'am.

Since you had so much experience expanding Seven Hills, I thought maybe they would be consulting you for bed expansions elsewhere in Mumbai.

It's all exchange of ideas. We all work as a team. We learn from each other.

What are some of the shortages that the city can still face ahead and that you may be already planning for at Seven Hills? PPE, test kits, throat swabs and gloves etc?

(Shortages) were all in the initial stages.

Now, there is no issue of (shortage of) PPE or anything, because they are all in sufficient quantities.

In fact, all the drivers also are being given.

Ambulances have been expanded, that also I used to coordinate. We added more buses to transport non-symptomatic cases.

We are adding more. Our MC Sir had roped in Uber for transporting patients.

So many things happening simultaneously.

I think that there are no more shortages of PPE and other basic things, that are being offered to everyone who needs them, as per protocol.

I don't think any such shortages exist.

The only thing is that the beds we need expand.

That is happening simultaneously -- with GT hospital (Gokuldas Tejpal hospital), St George's (both in south Mumbai) have already been earmarked for more beds.

IMAGE: BEST mini buses converted into ambulances. Photograph: Sahil Salvi

I saw pictures of those BEST mini buses that have been converted into ambulances.

You were also working on that project?

I coordinated with that. Actually, BEST MD Bagde Sir (Dr Surendra Kumar Bagde, managing director, BEST) is doing that.

When the work was allotted to various additional commissioners, then CSM Sir (Maharashtra Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta) gave me this project of adding 50 more ambulances.

Accordingly, we have taken 15 buses from the MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) and 15 from BEST and remaining from the BEST are in the process. They are fully converted into ambulances by professional ambulance manufacturers with Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs worth of equipment also.

We need multiple types of vehicles. When we move people from slum areas to, for example, COVID-19 care centres, we need seated buses. When we shift patients, we need a proper ambulance.

MC Sir had roped in Uber also, where they could take especially non-COVID patients if they go for dialysis or for other things.

It's all a multi-pronged approach that is being done at the MCGM level. Control rooms are now handling all these kinds of ambulance issues.

At Seven Hills, whenever the lockdown does lift, what are some of the challenges that you think you will face as a as an administrator at Seven Hills?

See, there will be an exit policy.

I don't think in Mumbai, it will happen in a day.

That policy will be applicable to Seven Hills also.

In any case, in Seven Hills we are handling COVID-19 positive cases only.

Ours is a complete, total, COVID-19 facility.

We are already taking (steps), so there is nothing more to add.

IMAGE: Inside the BEST mini buses converted into ambulances. Photograph: Sahil Salvi

Apart from expanding medical manpower, the number of doctors and nurses, what about the need to expand ancillary staff, like technicians etc?

Yes.

That is also being done.

You are handling that?

Yes.

Especially for Seven Hills I am handling that.

We have trained a lot of dialysis technicians.

Because they are putting a lot of a dialysis patients over there.

We are planning to put at least 30 machines.

Already 20 are working there.

We need a lot of technicians and we have taken them on, on contract basis.

Even doctors and nurses, we are recruiting.

Housekeeping services also we are taking on in large numbers.

Mostly they are outsourced.

We have to simultaneously augment everything.

Not only doctors and nurses.

All our paramedics and technicians.

We keep expanding simultaneously.

You are working on the augmentation of ancillary staff mainly for Seven Hills.

Not for other hospitals?

That the BMC level administration is doing.

There are other additional commissioners who look after that.

Dialysis unit expansion, I coordinate.

Seven Hills is the largest facility.

That is why I put maximum energy in that.

In the plasma therapy project, what is your role exactly?

I coordinate with all these teams.

Dr Om Shrivastav (Jaslok and Kasturba Gandhi hospital), Dr Jayanthi Shastri (Nair hospital).

Sorting out issues.

For example, licenses from the Food and Drug Administration.

Various agencies.

Blood banks.

I am kind of coordinating.

Photograph: Ashish Narsale/ Rediff.com IMAGE: The Seven Hills hospital in Andheri east, north west Mumbai.

How long are your days?

What time do you begin and what time do you end?

Are they very stressful?

(Pauses) It generally depends.

All the days are not the same.

Sometimes it starts at 8, 8.30 am.

Phone calls start.

Zoom calls will be there.

Throughout the day I make at least 50 to 60 phone calls minimum, whether incoming or outgoing.

Continuous process.

And multiple issues.

I continue doing, no issues.

As the chief administrator in charge of Seven Hills what is it right now -- like today or tomorrow -- the biggest challenge you are facing at the hospital?

It is basically the speed with which we are expanding.

The kind of management we need.

In fact, we have put in a management agency also, consultants also.

They are working as a team.

The major challenge is the physical infrastructure (at the hospital) -- some incomplete work or some old work that needs to be repaired or negative pressure ventilation (used in treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome) that has to be created.

All these things have to be done, in this critical situation, wherein the patients are already present -- it is an operating hospital.

Many issues. Labour issues.

From bringing people from outside.

From Navi Mumbai or Thane.

And you have to coordinate with all these people.

There are so many operational issues.

But as a team people are working really well and I am sure that we will be able to reach our target and serve the people.

You mentioned that you are going into video conference, so are you regularly asked for advice from others working at the MCGM.All of you are pooling your experiences and knowledge?

MC sir organises Zoom calls. Where on (different) issue participation will be there.

It is sharing of knowledge, completely.

I take Zoom calls for Seven Hills almost every day with my team.

In this situation, which you have been dealing with since March 30, has there been any moving or human experience that you encountered?

It is fluctuating.

Sometimes it is very, very satisfying.

Overwhelming.

(Choosing his words slowly) sometimes if we see some cases, for example the death of one BMC employee, then it keeps your mood down also.

It fluctuates.

It is a new situation to handle all these kinds of things.

But we don't have too much time to think (adds with a soft, bemused laugh).
Klari Cannard already had a lot on her mind before she lost her job as a paratransit dispatcher in Portland last month.

Cannards mother died Feb. 26. Days after spending time with her in the hospital, Cannard and her 2-year-old son, James, developed symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

She used up valuable vacation time before going on unpaid leave. She worried about their health and was told they could not be tested for the virus. She and, her husband, Alex were forced to push back a scheduled appointment with a developmental pediatric specialist to delve into her sons concerning speech delays.

Life was on hold.

As of Friday, Cannard and several hundred workers at TriMets Lift paratransit service have now lost their health insurance. First Transit, the Cincinnati-based subsidiary of First Group, a multi-national transportation company based in Scotland, temporarily laid off Cannard and an estimated 297 other workers last month.

Now theyve terminated health coverage for those workers, according to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, which represents the Lift operators and dispatchers like Cannard as well as some 2,500 TriMet employees.

More than one in six Oregonians have lost their jobs so far during the pandemic. Add the hundreds of dispatchers and drivers who make a living helping some of the regions most vulnerable residents  the elderly and those who are physically or mentally disabled  get around, to those grim statistics.

In a layoff notice provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive, the companys general manager stressed that workers would be called back when possible and that COVID-19 led to the furloughs and medical care cuts. Please be assured that the temporary layoff is not an action due to dissatisfaction with your work performance, the letter states.

Lift ridership, which typically averages 3,800 rides per day, has plummeted during the COVID-19 crisis. TriMet officials said last month that ridership had declined more than 80%. Many of those riders arent going out to the store, medical appointments or to church, due to health concerns during the pandemic.

From the unions perspective, the COVID-19 crisis has laid bare what they already believed to be true: TriMet and its contractor, First Transit, were shirking their duties and leaving these already overlooked and ignored workers in the lurch.

First Transit employees who operate the Lift service already felt, in many cases, like they were invisible people driving around invisible clients.

Theres a lot of anger because were not in-house, Cannard said of the union workforce at First Transit being outside TriMets payrolls. Were treated like second class citizens, she said. We deal with the most vulnerable population so were in the position of transmitting it to the most vulnerable people.

Its really scary, she added.

TriMet and First Transit pointed the finger at the other, in response to questions for this story.

Any operational changes First Transit has made, including any changes in the status of their employees, will need to be addressed by First Transit, TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said in an email.

Jay Brock, First Transits spokesman, did not respond to calls or emails with specific questions for this story. Due to decreased demand during this unprecedented time, TriMet has had to make the difficult decision to reduce/eliminate services, Brock said in an email. As a result, First Transit is not receiving full payment and we are therefore unable to pay all our employees, leaving employees to file for unemployment or seek employment elsewhere.

Union representative and First Transit employees say thats emblematic of the relationship.

Alex, James and Klari Cannard pictured in 2020. Klari Cannard works for First Transit, the TriMet contractor that operates the paratransit service.

These folks that do these jobs, they really care about them, said Jon Hunt, the unions vice president. Theyre caregivers and professional drivers. Theyre the most vulnerable and were not doing anything.

Cannard said shes been unable to receive unemployment benefits yet, despite filing her claim a month ago. She and her husband are trying to defer mortgage payments on their St. Johns home. Shes holding out hope she could afford COBRA, the federal emergency medical benefits for unemployed or underemployed workers, if she gets the unemployment benefits or they can defer mortgage payments.

Cannard said shes in relatively good shape compared to many of her friends and colleagues.

A lot of our people, their whole family is dependent on this insurance, she said, and they lost it all.

The union has pushed for TriMet to dedicate some of the $185 million in federal stimulus dollars, which were included in the coronavirus relief bill approved by Congress in March, to help workers like Cannard keep their insurance.

Its very obvious that they can [use federal money], said Hunt, the union vice president. Theyve just chosen not to.

On April 24, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Springfield Democrat who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, cowrote a letter with his committees Republican ranking member colleague urging transit agencies to be flexible with how they distribute the $25 billion included in the stimulus fund.

We also believe this applies to the frontline employees of smaller public transit agencies that may not typically receive federal funds, DeFazio and U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Miss., wrote, and private companies who contract with public transit agencies to provide public transit service.

Altstadt said that First Group has received stimulus money, but those payments appear to be for its operations in the United Kingdom and some $326 million from Congress to help its Greyhound bus service in the U.S.

Brock, the First Transit spokesman, did not answer any questions for this story, including regarding a stimulus.

Altstadt said the money TriMet is receiving from the federal government wont be enough to cover the financial impact from COVID-19.

Ridership has been decimated, and public transit could face a stigma if and when the economy reopens, with people afraid to ride due to risks of exposure to the virus. Payroll taxes charged to employers, the principal source of TriMets revenue, is also likely to be significantly strained, but those total effects arent yet known.

Altstadt said that it is not a prudent use of taxpayer money from the federal bill to bailout a private company like First Transit. First Transit should look to its parent company for help during this time, she said, alluding to the Aberdeen, Scotland-based First Group. First Group is a multi-national, multi-billion dollar publicly traded corporation and has much more resources than TriMet does. It would be inappropriate for TriMet to use public resources to fund wages or benefits for the employees of a private company that has the financial resources that First Group has.

In the meantime, Cannard said she would return to work immediately if called upon.

But shes still feeling ill, and hasnt been tested for COVID-19, and shes worried about her son and putting off his medical consultation for an undetermined period of time. Its really scary to be without health insurance, sleep deprived, she said, and dealing with him, she said.

Plus, shes worried if she goes back about exposing the drivers to the virus without knowing it, and them, in turn exposing the vulnerable riders.

Its a scary place to be, she said.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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The steady drop in the positive test proportion of COVID-19  the percentage of those tested who are infected  is one of the main reasons Manitoba is starting to open the economy Monday. But there are other indicators public-health officials are monitoring that they still refuse to make public.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The steady drop in the positive test proportion of COVID-19  the percentage of those tested who are infected  is one of the main reasons Manitoba is starting to open the economy Monday. But there are other indicators public-health officials are monitoring that they still refuse to make public.

The positive test proportion fell to 1.09 per cent Friday, well below the peak of 1.56 per cent on April 5. It has dropped every week since. Its also far lower than the national average of about seven per cent.

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief public health officer, said its one of the most important metrics his office tracks when monitoring the spread of the disease.

Of 3,061 tests performed over the past seven days, only 16 people tested positive, for a PTP of 0.52 per cent. Since those tested are at higher risk of having the disease (because theyre symptomatic), its a strong indication the spread of the virus is under control in Manitoba.

Its not the only indicator the province looks at when deciding when to start reopening the economy. But its a big one. The fact hospitalization numbers have remained extremely low (theyve been below 10 for three weeks) is also an important indication Manitoba doesn't have significant community spread. If it did, intensive-care units would be filling up quickly. There have only been two or three ICU patients with COVID-19 most days over the past few weeks, and none since Tuesday.

However, government monitors a much broader set of data when deciding when to ease restrictions further or reinstate controls. And theyre still not making that information public.

Dr. Brent Roussin has been asked repeatedly what factors specifically go into making decisions and he continues to provide vague responses.

Roussin has been asked repeatedly what factors specifically go into making those decisions and he continues to provide vague responses.

For example, one of the metrics public-health officials monitor is the rolling seven-day average of people testing positive who cant be linked to travel or a known case. Roussin said there has been an average of nine people in that category over the past seven days. But what he refuses to say is what that average would have to be to loosen restrictions further.

We know the decision-making process around loosening restrictions or bringing back controls is not an exact science. Whatever metrics they are monitoring are interdependent and have to be considered as a whole. At some point a judgment call has to be made. However, the public doesnt know what all those metrics are, nor what the acceptable range is for each. It wasnt until Roussin was asked by reporters Friday about the seven-day average data that he released some details about it. What else are they monitoring and why isnt it being shared with the public?

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.

At the very least the province should post all the data its monitoring and update it daily so the public can see what Roussin sees. They should also post what the acceptable range is for each indicator to better inform Manitobans.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES At the very least the province should post all the data its monitoring and update it daily so the public can see what Dr. Brent Roussin sees.

Reporting daily cases and hospitalization numbers is fine. But it doesnt give the public any idea how the province plans to move forward. That will become increasingly important as businesses and organizations make decisions about when, or if, to reopen (or whether to operate in the future, at all).

Government has taken drastic action to limit the spread of a deadly and mysterious disease. Theyve forced the closure of businesses, schools, daycares and not-for-profits. It was the right decision. But many have paid a big price for that. People have lost their jobs or had their incomes reduced. Some could lose their homes. We could be headed for the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The least government could do is be completely open and frank with the public about how it plans to reopen the economy, or when it might become necessary to reinstate controls. Vague statements about how officials are monitoring various indicators wont cut it. The public deserves clear, concrete information.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
Chandigarh, May 2 : In a major crackdown, Haryana Police on Saturday said it seized 5,200 boxes of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 3 crore in Sonepat district when the consignment was being smuggled in trucks during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Three people have been arrested by a team of Special Task Force on a tip-off, a spokesperson for the police said.

Initial investigations said the liquor was being illegally transported from Dera Bassi in Punjab for supply to Delhi.
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She became a stay-at-home mom, and he stopped doing any housework and parenting because "that's what stay-at-home mothers do, all the house and kid stuff."
(Eds: Incorporating related stories of CRPF, BSF; Updating with more inputs)

Cases of coronavirus infection spiked in paramilitary forces CRPF and BSF with the two reporting 136 and 17 cases respectively on Saturday.

While 135 CRPF personnel who tested positive belong to the 31st battalion of the paramilitary based in Mayur Vihar area of the national capital, one jawan is from the 246th battalion of the force, also in Delhi, according to officials.

The sprawling premises of the 31st battalion have been completely sealed after coronavirus infection cases started building up in this unit and a 55 year-old sub-Inspector succumbed to the disease early this week.

A total of 480 samples were taken from the unit, out of which 458 results have come and 22 are awaited. "A total of 135 troopers of this battalion have tested positive for the virus till now," a senior official said.

A mobile coronavirus testing lab has been stationed on the premises of the battalion to ensure quick collection of samples.

Separately, 80 personnel of the 246th battalion of the CRPF were quarantined after a constable tested positive for COVID-19.

This unit was deployed for rendering assistance in law and order duties to the Delhi Police.

Two other companies of the Central Reserve Police Force, the country's largest paramilitary, are quarantined in the national capital as part of precautionary measures after exposure to coronavirus suffering people.

The Border Security Force (BSF), that guards sensitive Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, also said that a total of 17 personnel in Delhi and Tripura have been detected with the disease over the last few days.

A BSF spokesperson said seven troops who were assisting Delhi Police in Chandni Mahal and Jama Masjid areas over the past few week have tested positive.

They are part of the 126th and 178th battalions of the force.

The troops have been admitted to an isolation facility of the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) Referral hospital located in Greater Noida near here.

Eight personnel, admitted at a force hospital in R K Puram, also contracted the virus and their tests were confirmed over the last few days, the spokesperson said. Two more personnel have contracted the disease in Tripura, he said.

These forces, also called the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), function under the command of the Union Home Ministry.
The North Korean state media has claimed that Kim Jong Un attended a public event on Friday in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong. The report is expected to somewhat reduce recent global speculation on his health and whereabouts. In the first public appearance in over two weeks, North Korea's Supreme leader celebrated the completion of a fertiliser factory near Pyongyang, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. The global news agency Reuters reported a descriptive report in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper sharing several photos of Kim wearing black and smiling. The pictures also showed thousands of workers, many masked, standing in lines at the event.

If reports are anything to go by, it was the first public appearance of Kim since April 11, when he chaired a party meeting to discuss coronavirus outbreak and reappoint his sister as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the party's Central Committee. The conjectures over his health surged after Kim missed the birthday celebration of his late grandfather Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Last month, a South Korean source told Reuters that their intelligence was that Kim was alive and would likely make an appearance soon. Reuters had also reported that China recently dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, had also recently reported that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on April 12.

Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Lockdown in red zones! Liquor sale in standalone shops allowed; cases-37,336

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: Donald Trump hints at imposing new tariff on China for mishandling virus outbreak
Gaye Nailah Johns, left, and her associate Wajeehah Rashed, right, have been feeding people for 20 years from their food bank at Masjidullah mosque in West Oak Lane. Read more

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims believe they will get extra blessings for doing good deeds. With this years holiday happening in the midst of a pandemic, there is no shortage of opportunities for Gaye Nailah Johns.

The 63-year-old retired social worker has started packing bags of food for a few of her homebound neighbors in Philadelphia, putting groceries in the trunk of her car so they can pick up the food while minimizing contact.

Last weekend, she drove across town to deliver food to a day-care provider and mother of five who lost her job when the coronavirus hit.

May Allah bless you, Johns told the woman, whose face was wet with tears as her daughter collected the groceries out of Johns trunk.

Were all trying to get through this, Johns said. Were all trying to help each other. Everybody needs help.

Addressing hunger in the city has been Johns mission for two decades as director of the Sadaqah food program  the Arabic word means charity  at the Masjidullah mosque in West Oak Lane. Philadelphia has one of the largest Muslim populations in the country, particularly of black Muslims. Nationally, one in five Muslims is black. An estimated 30,000 Muslims live in the city, which is home to more than 60 mosques.

Before the pandemic, the citywide program served 130 clients, mostly seniors, delivering groceries at the end of the month and offering pickup service two days a week. Now, Johns said, drop-offs to vulnerable seniors must be socially distanced and the lines for pickup at the mosque have grown.

Were feeding seniors and anybody else who needs a bag  a lot of young people, people who lost their jobs, Im seeing them in the lines, she said. Were just thinking of creative ways to help people.

Johns said her worship experience has changed in some big ways, too. Her daily routine of prayers, fasting, and reading the Quran has remained largely the same, but there are other rituals of community that she misses.

Muslims are very affectionate, she explained. We hug each other. Theres none of that. Cant touch you. How sad is that? I cant go to the masjid and pray with a whole bunch of people. Everything is virtual now.

She misses meeting with her Muslim sister circle on weekends over meals and conversations. The meal after the breaking of the fast  normally with fellow believers at the mosque after the sunset prayer  now happens at home.

Most Muslims get really excited about Ramadan, because its a time of reflection, to ask, Do I need to be a better human being to society? Prayers consist of praying for whatever the needs are of humanity and yourself.

For now, Johns continues to adjust a familiar and cherished time of year to a new normal.

What I do is remember that people still have a need, and think about how I can figure out how to meet their need, she said. Everyone still has to eat.
The United States has by far the worlds largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths.

The US government was slow to understand how fast coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which accelerated outbreaks across the country, said Dr Anne Schuchat, the number-two official at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The World Health Organization has reiterated that the coronavirus is believed to be natural in origin, responding to a claim by US President Donald Trump that he had seen evidence that indicated the virus emerged from a virology institute in Wuhan, China.

Worldwide, the number of confirmed infections stands above 3.35 million, with nearly 239,000 deaths and approximately 1.05 million recoveries.

The coronavirus is ravaging Brazils poor, tightly-packed neighbourhoods where the disease is harder to control. There were 92,200 cases in Brazil with 6,412 deaths reported.

Here are the latest updates:

Saturday, May 2

20:48 GMT  New Yorks Andrew Cuomo warns against reopening states

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has pushed back against what he called premature demands to reopen the state, saying he knows people were struggling without jobs but more understanding of the coronavirus was needed.

Cuomo said he needed much more information on what the pandemic is doing in his hardest-hit state before he loosens restrictions.

Read more here

19:22 GMT  United States death toll passes 65,000

As several US states start reopening their economies over the weekend, the number of known infections in the US has climbed to more than 1.1 million, including 65,645 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Overall in the United States, there were 34,000 new cases reported on Friday, the highest daily total since April 24.

More than 164,000 people have recovered from the virus. The US has conducted 6.5 million tests so far.

18:40 GMT  Yemen reports three new cases

Yemen has reported three new coronavirus cases, two in Aden and one in Taiz province, the national emergency coronavirus committee said, raising the number of diagnosed infections in the war-town country to 10 with two deaths.

The United Nations says it fears the new coronavirus could be spreading undetected among an acutely malnourished population with inadequate testing capabilities.

Read more here

18:35 GMT  France COVID-19 death toll approaches 25,000

The number of people who have died from coronavirus infections in France rose by 166 to 24,760, while hospitalisations for the disease and people in ICU units continued to decline, the French health ministry said.

18:10 GMT  France to extend coronavirus emergency for two months

France will extend a health emergency imposed to fight the new coronavirus pandemic for another two months until July 24, Minister of Health Olivier Veran has said.

We are going to have to perform a long-distance run, Veran said,, adding he was aware that the French people had already been asked for colossal efforts in the fight against the virus.

Read more here

18:02 GMT  Saudi to take strict, painful measures to deal with coronavirus impact

Saudi Arabia will take strict and painful measures to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV.

We must reduce budget expenditures sharply, Jadaan said in comments published ahead of the interviews broadcast. No details of possible measures were given.

The worlds largest oil exporter is suffering from historically low oil prices.

Jadaan noted the country had introduced stimulus measures aimed at preserving jobs in the private sector and safeguarding the provision of basic services.

17:20 GMT  Italys daily coronavirus death toll jumps

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy jumped by 474, against 269 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, posting the largest daily toll of fatalities since April 21.

The steep increase in deaths followed a long, gradual declining trend and was due largely to Lombardy, the countrys worst affected region, where there were 329 deaths in the last 24 hours compared with just 88 the day before.

The daily tally of new infections was broadly stable for a third day running at 1,900 against 1,965 on Friday.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 now stands at 28,710, the agency said, the second highest in the world after that of the United States.

There were 1,539 people in intensive care on Saturday, slightly down from 1,578 on Friday and maintaining a long-running decline. Of those originally infected, 79,914 were declared recovered against 78,249 a day earlier.

17:00 GMT  Russia reports almost 10,000 new coronavirus cases

Russia reported 9,623 new coronavirus cases  its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic  bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow.

The death toll nationwide rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russias coronavirus crisis response centre said.

Concern was growing in Moscow that hospitals might become overwhelmed after recording the new one-day high of infections, a 20 percent increase over Fridays count, which itself was a new daily record.

Read more here

16:20 GMT  Turkey lifts exports limits for medical equipment

The Turkish trade ministry lifted export restrictions and a requirement to obtain advance permission for private companies to export medical equipment needed in treating COVID-19.

The decision, published in the Official Gazette, rescinded restrictions on exporting ventilators, intubation tubes and ICU monitors, among other equipment.

The trade ministry lifted restrictions on the export of ethanol, cologne, disinfectants and hydrogen peroxide.

Turkey also announced a military plane delivered medical supplies, including locally produced ventilators, to Somalia. Ankara has so far shipped needed supplies to at least 55 countries, including to the United States.

Turkey, a country of 83 million, has more than 122,00 cases and more than 3,200 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

15:21 GMT  UK COVID-19 death toll rises, shadowing Italy

The United Kingdoms COVID-19 death toll rose 621 to 28,131 as of May 1, just short of Italy which has had the deadliest novel coronavirus outbreak among European countries.

Sadly of those tested positive for coronavirus 28,131 have now died, housing minister Robert Jenrick told reporters at a Downing Street briefing. Thats an increase of 621 fatalities since yesterday.

Italy reported a death toll of 28,236 on May 1.

14:45 GMT  Spain makes masks mandatory

Spain will make masks mandatory on public transport from Monday to prevent a new wave of coronavirus infections, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

The Madrid government, which had until now highly recommended the use of masks, will distribute six million across the country from Monday and supply another seven million to local authorities.

Read more here

14:14 GMT  Prisoners take guards hostage in Brazils coronavirus-hit Manaus

Inmates at a prison in Manaus, a Brazilian city deep in the Amazon that has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, have taken seven prison guards hostage, the local prison authority told Reuters news agency.

The reason for the rebellion at the Puraquequara Penitentiary was not immediately clear, but local television stations cited a video allegedly recorded by an unidentified inmate, who complained of sweltering heat and a lack of electricity in the prison.

The rebellion comes as the coronavirus outbreak has overwhelmed public services in Manaus, with authorities burying victims in mass graves and warning residents of a shortage soon of coffins.

13:46 GMT  Englands COVID-19 hospitals death toll rises

The death toll from COVID-19 in English hospitals rose 370 to 20,853, the health service said.

Of the 370 who died, 25 had no underlying health condition, the National Health Service said.

The United Kingdoms death toll is due to be published later.

12:33 GMT  Dutch coronavirus cases pass 40,000

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the Netherlands has increased by 445 to 40,236, Dutch health authorities said.

The National Institute for Public Health reported 94 new deaths, taking total COVID-19 fatalities to 4,987.





11:30 GMT  Spain eases strict lockdown conditions

All Spaniards were allowed to go for walks or play sport after 48 days of home confinement to combat the coronavirus in one of the worst-hit countries.

Spains nearly 47 million people have since March 14 lived under one of the strictest virus lockdowns in the world, with adults authorised to leave home only to buy food, medicine or walk the dog.

10:19 GMT  Spains coronavirus death toll tops 25,000

Spains coronavirus death toll hit 25,100 after 276 people died overnight, the health ministry said.

Total cases rose to 216,582 from 215,216 on Friday.





09:35 GMT  Nearly 10,000 inmates freed as virus hits Philippine jails

Nearly 10,000 prison inmates have been released in the Philippines as the country races to halt coronavirus infections in its overcrowded jails, a Supreme Court official said.

The move follows a directive to lower courts to release those awaiting trial in prison because they could not afford bail, Associate Supreme Court Justice Mario Victor Leonen told reporters.

The court is very much aware of the congested situation in our prisons, Leonen told reporters as he announced the release of 9,731 inmates.

Read more here.

09:10 GMT  Indonesia reports 292 new cases, 31 deaths

Indonesia recorded 292 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections to 10,843, said health ministry official, Achmad Yurianto.

Yurianto also reported 31 new deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 831. The number of people who have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, rose by 74 to 1,665, he said.

The country has tested more than 79,800 people for the virus, he said.

Construction workers are building the makeshift Pertamina hospital for coronavirus in Jakarta [Anton Raharjo/Anadolu]

09:05 GMT  Malaysia reports 105 new coronavirus cases

Malaysia reported 105 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 6,176.

The number of deaths remained at 103.

09:01 GMT  Russias daily case tally hits new high

Russia reported 9,623 new cases of the coronavirus, its highest daily rise, bringing the total to 124,054.

The nationwide death toll rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russias coronavirus crisis response centre said, after revising the previous days tally.





08:58 GMT  Philippines says coronavirus cases nearing 9,000

The Philippines said it has recorded 156 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 24 more deaths, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 8,928 and the fatalities to 603.

It also said that 40 more individuals had recovered from infections, bringing the recoveries to 1,124.

08:52 GMT  More than 40,000 cases confirmed across Africa

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 40,000 across Africa, including nearly 1,700 deaths and more than 13,000 recoveries, accoding to Africa CDC.

At least 53 African nations have confirmed the new coronavirus infections.

08:31 GMT  Singapore confirms 447 new cases

Singapores health ministry confirmed 447 new coronavirus infections, the smallest daily rise in two weeks, taking the city-states tally of cases to 17,548 with 16 virus-related deaths.

Most of the new cases are among migrant workers living in dormitories, the ministry said.





07:25 GMT  India extends lockdown for two more weeks

The Indian government said the worlds biggest coronavirus lockdown will be extended for two weeks beyond May 4, but with some easing of restrictions.

The home ministry said in a statement that in view of significant gains in the COVID-19 situation, areas with few or no cases would see considerable relaxations.

The stringent restrictions have been credited with keeping confirmed cases of coronavirus to about 37,000 cases, with 1,223 deaths.

07:13 GMT  Two percent of Moscow residents have coronavirus: Mayor

About two percent of Moscow residents  or more than 250,000 people  have the coronavirus, the mayor of the Russian capital said, citing test results.

Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog that Moscow has significantly ramped up testing capacity over the past few weeks, adding the city has managed to contain the spread of the infection due to the enforcement of stay-at-home rules and other measures.

But he reiterated that the city was not yet past the peak of the outbreak, saying the threat is apparently on the rise.

07:05 GMT

Hello, this is Tamila Varshalomidze in Doha, taking over the live updates from my colleague Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur.





05:45 GMT  Australia reports coronavirus cases at meat factory

A small cluster has emerged at a meat factory in the Australian state of Victoria, health officials said on Saturday, as parts of the country started easing physical distancing restrictions after suppressing the infection rate to below 1 percent.

Three of the cases in Victoria were related to a meat-processing facility, said its health minister. A total of eight employees have tested positive.

In Australias most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) two out of five new cases were recorded at the Newmarch aged care facility in Sydney, where about 60 people have been infected, and 13 have died.

Local clusters of COVID-19 and cruise ship infections have accounted for a large percentage of Australias nearly 6,800 cases and 93 deaths.

05:30 GMT  Thailand reports six new coronavirus cases, no new deaths

Thailand reported six new coronavirus cases and no new deaths on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,966, according to Reuters news agency.

Three of the new cases were found on the southern resort island of Phuket, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman of the governments Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration.

While more than half of Thailands nearly 3,000 cases were concentrated in Bangkok, Phuket has the highest rate of infection per population, Taweesin said. Since Thailand first detected the virus in January, 54 patients have died, 2,732 have recovered, and 180 are still hospitalised, according to official figures.

04:51 GMT  NASA, SpaceX urge spectators to skip launch

NASA and SpaceX have urged spectators to stay home for the first home launch of astronauts in nearly a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Top officials warned the public against travelling to the US state of Florida for the May 27 launch of two NASA astronauts on board a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station, the Associated Press news agency reported.

It will be the first launch of astronauts from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in nine years  the last space shuttle flight was in 2011. It also will be the first attempt by a private company to fly astronauts into orbit.

04:13 GMT  Singapore to ease restrictions starting on May 12

Singapore announced on Saturday that it will ease some restrictions in the country, allowing some businesses to operate starting May 12, according to Reuters news agency.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that as the number of cases in the broader community drop, more restrictions will be lifted in the weeks to come.

The government also said it will allow some students to return to school beginning on May 19.

03:35 GMT  Malaysia: Raid of migrants carried out to contain coronavirus

Police officers wearing protective suits pick up a migrant worker from an apartment under enhanced lockdown in Kuala Lumpur on Friday [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]

Malaysian authorities rounded up undocumented migrants as part of efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, the countrys police chief said.

Over 700 migrants were taken into custody, including young children and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, during Fridays raid in a downtown area where thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers live, rights groups had said.

We cannot allow them to move freely as it will be difficult for us to track them down if they leave identified locations, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador told state news agency Bernama.

Those detained would be placed at a single location for monitoring until the movement curbs are lifted, he said, according to state news agency Bernama.

02:55 GMT  Germanys coronavirus death toll hits 6,575

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rose by 945 to 161,703, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.

The death toll rose by 94 to 6,575.

02:15 GMT  IMF approves $643m in pandemic aid for Ecuador

The International Monetary Fund has approved a request from Ecuador for emergency financing to fight the coronavirus pandemic, granting a $643m loan, the Andean countrys economy ministry has announced.

Ecuador has been among the hardest-hit countries in Latin America, with 24,675 confirmed cases and 883 deaths, plus a further 1,357 deaths that were likely caused by the coronavirus.

This financing will allow us to have the necessary liquidity to support the reactivation of the economy, and protect jobs, the ministry said in a statement.

01:40 GMT  Japan to review sumo tournament schedule

The Japan Sumo Association has announced it will reconsider its schedule for the summer grand tournament starting on May 24 if the government extends the state of emergency, Japans NHK news reported.

The nationwide measures are currently due to expire on Wednesday, May 6.

The opening of the event had already been postponed for two weeks to May 24.

Organisers are also considering holding the tournament without spectators, or cancelling it, the report said.

01:20 GMT  South Korea reports single-digit infections for fourth day

South Korea reported six more cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the nations total infections to 10,780, according to Yonhap news agency.

It marked the fourth day in a row for the new daily infections to stay in the single digits.

The nations death toll from the virus rose by two to 250, while 9,123 people have recovered, up 51 from a day earlier.

At least 9,123 of the 10,780 infected people recovered from the coronavirus in South Korea as of Saturday [Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]

01:12 GMT  US coronavirus stimulus went to some healthcare providers facing criminal inquiries

An investigation conducted by the Reuters news agency has revealed that taxpayer money has gone to some companies and people facing civil or criminal fraud investigations in the US.

The disclosures prompted outrage among some congressional Democrats, who say they highlight the problems with how stimulus funds have been distributed.

The funds came from the $2.3 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress to blunt the economic toll of the pandemic, which has killed more than 64,000 Americans and thrown at least 30 million people out of work.

00:05 GMT  US emergency approval broadens use of COVID-19 drug remdesivir

Gilead Science Incs antiviral drug remdesivir was granted emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19, clearing the way for broader use of the drug around the US.

During a meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel ODay called the move an important first step and said the company was donating 1.5 million vials of the drug to help patients.

The donation is expected to be enough for at least 140,000 patients, depending on the number of days they need to be treated.

Gilead said on Wednesday that the drug, which is given intravenously, had helped improve outcomes for patients with COVID-19 and provided data suggesting it worked better when given earlier in the course of infection.

Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a national viral genomics consortium to better sequence the transmission of COVID-19.

______________________________________________________________

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Shereena Qazi in Doha, Qatar. You can find all the key developments from yesterday, May 1, here.
Amy Walsh, David Kenny and Rachel Breen from Boherbue Comprehensive are flying the Rebel flag in the 2020 Irish Angus Schools Competition.

An enterprising trio of pupils from Boherbue Comprehensive School are set to 'beef up' their CVs after taking charge of their own mini-herd of Irish Angus calves under the auspices of a prestigious national competition.

The team of Amy Walsh, David Kenny and Rachel Breen are among five teams to be selected as finalists in the 2020 Certified Irish Angus Schools competition.

Hundreds of teams from schools across the country vying to take part in the competition were tasked with putting together a detailed project on an aspect of the farming and food chain.

The Boherbue team project, which explored the docility of the Irish Angus breed, impressed the panel of agri-food industry professionals, who selected them to participate in this year's competition.

In September the five winning teams will take charge of five Irish Angus calves, which they will rear for 18 months before the animals are sent to slaughter.

In addition, each team will complete a research project linked to the senior-cycle Agricultural Science curriculum, which focuses on a particular aspect of farming and beef production.

The individual project themes, which will focus on issues such as mental health and well-being among farmers; the viability of Dairy Cross Angus beef production; the importance of Irish agriculture; and the role of production planning, will be announced when the groups receive their calves.

In addition to keeping the money they make from selling the calves to processors at the end of the project, each of the teams will also receive a grant of 2,000 toward the cost of their further education.

The competition is aimed at giving participating students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life settings and encouraging second-level students to gain a greater understanding of the care and attention needed to produce and market top-quality beef.

The practical experience they gain through participating in the initiative will also be of substantial benefit to the students in their agricultural science and business studies and could play a pivotal role in their third-level choices.

Boherbue Comprehensive teacher Lorraine Heelan said the team underwent an exhaustive selection process to reach the final five.

"Over the past six months they went through the video entry round, an interview and the semi-final at Croke against 35 other teams. Along the way they impressed judges with their excellent communications skills, enthusiasm and work ethic," said Lorraine.

The team also promoted the Irish Angus brand and breed to fellow students through events such as their 'Beef Masterchef' competition and the wider community by visiting national schools, farms and marts to spread their message.

The team also launched a social media campaign #rebelangus and halter-trained a rare red Angus calf and compared the progress of this to a Hereford calf.

"They have got on great so far and have their eyes on the big prize in two-years' time," said Lorraine.

All three members of the Boherbue team come from agricultural backgrounds, something that inspired them to enter the competition in the first place.

"We all have a love for farming and animals, and because we all come from a farming background, we all knew what we were talking about," said David.

Amy said the trio have put a huge amount of work into the competition and thoroughly enjoyed promoting Angus to farms and consumers.

"I also gained a lot of confidence as we had to go up and speak to mart managers, interviewees and the general public. It means the world to get where we are today. We are really excited and can't wait to get back promoting Angus," she said.

Rachel said they learn a huge among through visiting marts and local farms, giving them a greater understanding of the "vitally important" role farming plays in local communities.

"The competition has taken over a lot of school and personal time, but the outcome, five calves of our own to rear, is definitely worth it," she said.
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Linkedin Robin Millard (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland  Sat, May 2, 2020 12:08 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd57db9e 2 Science & Tech WHO,World-Health-Organization,teenagers,social-media,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,myth,TikTok,Snapchat Free

The World Health Organization said Friday it was working with social media companies in a bid to quash misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic -- including on more light-hearted apps popular with teenagers.

The WHO said it had started working with TikTok and Snapchat since the pandemic broke out in a bid to reach out to teen and younger social messaging app users.

"We're battling misinformation every day," said Andy Pattison, the UN health agency's digital solutions manager.

On social media, "false stories outperform the truth on every single subject" in how far and how quickly they spread, he told a virtual press briefing.

The WHO is therefore attempting to combat falsehoods with science-based messages through the most commonly-used social media apps, he said.

Aleksandra Kuzmanovic, the WHO's social media manager, said the organization had also established a presence on TikTok and Snapchat during the COVID-19 pandemic, because most of its followers on previous platforms were in the 25 to 35 age bracket.

"On TikTok and Snapchat, we are now reaching audiences that are much younger," she said.

"It was important for us to communicate with teenagers how they can protect themselves.

"We are a science-based organisation that has serious information and TikTok is a platform that is perceived as funny -- people share funny videos and information."

Kuzmanovic said the challenge was how to put across serious, educational information on TikTok.

"With their help, we adjusted some of our video products to be suitable to the platform," she said.

Read also: YouTube to curb amount of 5G-linked coronavirus conspiracy theory videos recommended to us

Google, YouTube filtering

The WHO has its own dedicated COVID-19 "Myth busters" page, directly debunking popular rumors about the virus, which has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide and infected over 3.2 million.

Pattison said the WHO was working on chatbot features with WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger and Apple Business Chat, but hoped to open channels on up to 30 such apps to take into account the most popular ones in in various countries, such as Line in Japan.

"It's really important that we reach millions of people directly in their own language," he said.

Pattison said that the WHO was partnering with YouTube to try to remove harmful misinformation and eliminate scientifically baseless rumors, in a two-way relationship.

YouTube gives the WHO insights into trending COVID-19 rumors and the UN agency tells them which are harmless and which might be dangerous.

Pattison said Google was working with the WHO so that searches for COVID-19 produced news from credible outlets and local in-country health information.

"They've been very good at finding the right balance," he said.
N eighbours have described their shock after a boy suffered "possibly life-changing" injuries after being shot in east London.

Police attended an address in Kerry Drive, Upminster after reports of a shooting on Friday night.

The boy, 11, was taken to hospital along with his father, in his 40s, who suffered cuts to the head after the attack, which took place around 9.30pm. It is not known if the cuts were related to the shooting.

The boy's condition is not thought to be life-threatening, police said.

A police scene in Kerry Drive, Upminster, East London / PA

And neighbours said they had never seen anything like the attack in the area.

Local resident Josh Collins, 18, said he knew the adult victim and was taken aback by the "very unexpected" attack.

He told the PA news agency: "Hes always been a nice geezer, never done no harm to no-one. Hes just your average bloke".

An 82-year-old neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she felt "so sad" about the attack.

She added: "Ive lived here 32 years and Ive never heard of anything like this before."

A police forensic officer at the scene (PA ) / PA Media

Sharon, another local resident, said: Its not the sort of area that this goes on. This is a really, really quiet lovely area. I know all my neighbours up and down on this road...

"People come here for a quiet life," she added.

Officers have not arrested anyone in connection with the attack.

A police helicopter helped look for suspects but with no success at this stage.

A forensic police van in Kerry Drive, Upminster, in east London, after a boy, 11, was shot and a man in his 40s was cut. (PA) / PA Media

On Saturday morning police officers were putting up tape close to the address in Upminster, where the boy and man were found injured.

Police were checking if people were local residents before allowing them under the cordon running across the top of Kerry Drive and on Limerick Gardens.

Police at the scene in Kerry Drive, Upminster / PA

Uniformed officers stood by a single police car parked across the middle of Limerick Gardens.

Forensic police officers were seen to arrive at the scene on Saturday morning.

Anyone with any information related to the shooting is asked to call police on 101 quoting ref 7285/01may or to contact Crimestoppers to remain anonymous.
A way to save the USPS

Regarding Save the post office, (A16, April 24): I think the USPS needs to move from moving letters into the current reality. My suggestion is for the USPS to become a national internet service provider. In many places this would bring the internet to rural people and in cities it would introduce competition that does not exist.

USPS would build or lease fiber optic cable to service people and businesses. I expect the incumbent internet service providors will scream loudly but FedEx and UPS compete with USPS and flourish.

USPS would then phase out letters but continue delivering packages. If some senders still want to send letters and bills, USPS can send them in a digital format.

Rick Ankrum, Kingwood

Mask order

Regarding Tuesday letters, (A11, April 28): Tuesdays batch of letters to the editor sounded a common theme with the writers all saying they couldnt understand the backlash from their fellow citizens over Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgos famous face mask order. But in fact they do understand  its the criminal penalties that went with it. Of course, theres the irony of governments initial pronouncements that masks dont work back when average folks could still buy masks that actually prevented some of the viruses from passing through them juxtaposed with the new pronouncements that wearing face coverings that dont stop viruses is mandatory subject to criminal penalties. So we all agree its a good idea to wear a face covering in public even if it doesnt stop the flow of viruses and the only good it does is to catch a cough or sneeze. I think we can also agree that Hidalgo got a bit carried away with her power by imposing criminal penalties. Now that were in agreement we can move on.

Greg Groh, Porter

Texas is not New York

Regarding America shouldnt play by N.Y. rules, (A11, April 28): Finally a bit of common sense and thoughtfulness from the pages of the Houston Chronicle regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, and from a New York Times op-ed columnist no less. Bret Stephens writes well in expressing what I believe has been an ill-conceived overreaction to the pandemic. Every day I slog through this paper shaking my head at the constant negativity, rampant speculation with little to no basis in facts, feeble attempts at impugning the president and Republicans, and incessant doom and gloom. After a month of data it appears clear that the death rate, and indeed even the severity of symptoms, of those not at high risk is minimal. Lets protect those that require it, but for the rest it is beyond time to get on with the business of life.

Raymond Ruiz, Manvel




LEGENDARY Radio 3 disk jockey Peter Johns will have a private funeral in the UK, as health concerns due to Covid-19 have meant that it is considered too risky to repatriate his body back to his native Zimbabwe.





Johns (60) passed away last week at a hospital in the UK. He had suffered three strokes while afflicted by a heart complication. The radio personality, popularly known as PJ Your DJ or The Radio Driver to the legions of listeners that tuned into his shows like Hitsville and Monday Mellow Madness before the turn of the new millennium, reportedly had a heart attack in 2019 and never fully recovered.





In a statement, the Peter Johns family said concerns about Covid-19 had put paid to any plans to give Johns a send-off in his country of birth. His burial would follow burial regulations set by British government.





We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the heartfelt tributes and outpouring of sympathy in this difficult time, the family said in the statement. We have tuned into every show, cried, laughed and felt proud of what he achieved, we understand that PJ meant a lot to many worldwide and we will do all we can to celebrate his legacy.





It was our wish to return PJ home but sadly this will not be possible due to the risks associated with travelling while we are in the centre of a global epidemic. He will be laid to rest in the UK at a private funeral attended by under 10 close family members in accordance with Government guidelines.





The Johns family urged fans to celebrate the disk jockey through digital platforms. On Saturday Star FM, Power FM and ZiFM combined forces for the Tribute Multicast, a first in Zimbabwe radio broadcast. More tribute broadcasts are set to follow.





The family noted they were still looking forward to tribute and submissions about the man who left an indelible mark on the Zimbabwean broadcast and club scenes, while a memorial website was also on the cards.




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Market Scenario

Global Collaborative Robotics Market is expected to reach US$ 8 Billion by 2026 at a CAGR of about 9.5% during a forecast period.

The report segments Global collaborative robotics market by payload capacity, vertical, application and region. Based on type, the collaborative robotics market is classified into Up to 5kg, Up to 10 kg, Above 10 kg. Vertical segment is further divided into Automotive, Electronics, Metal & machining, Plastics & polymer, Food & agriculture.

Application

Report includes in-depth analysis and market forecasting of the applications include assembly, pick & place, machine tending, quality testing, packaging & palletizing.

Region

By region collaborative robotics market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America.

Request for Report Sample: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/10975

Evolving capabilities of edge computing, easier to program, reducing implementation time are the key factors to boost the collaborative robotics market. Collaborative robots are progressing in capability, simultaneously available in cheaper range and widely available in the array of applications. Collaborative robotics provides solution over the safety working environment will turns to increase demand for industrial automation.

Global Collaborative Robotics Market

Based on the payload capacity, Up to 5 kg is expected to lead in the collaborative robotics market. Up to 5 kg collaborative robot are easy to deployment, affordability, high adaptability and offers plug and play characteristics, which helps to meet the demand of small and medium scale enterprises.

By vertical, automotive industry is estimated the largest share of the collaborative robots market in forecast year. Collaborative robots are cast-off to perform expanded assembly tasks across the automotive industry. These collaborative robots are also recycled to perform other critical tasks in the automotive production industries for the array of applications such as, quality inspection, line pick and place, packaging and palletizing, material handling and machine tending, while proposing safe working environment.

In terms of region, Europe hold the largest market share in the collaborative robotics market followed by North America. Rapid growth of the Collaborative robotics in Europe is driven by strong government support to encourage factory automation solutions. Many key players in Europe region have independently established humanrobot collaboration and protection guidelines are driving the growth in collaborative robotics market in this region.

Key profiled and analysed in the Global Collaborative Robotics Market

ABB,KUKA AGFANUC Corporation ,Robert Bosch GmbH ,Universal robots ,Rethink robotics ,MRK-System GmbH ,Precise automation ,Energrid Technology Corporation, F& p robotics AGMABI AG, Techman ROBOT for quanta storage, Franka , Emika GmbH, AUBO robotics Inc.,YASKAWA Electric Corporation,Comau S.P.A

Scope of the Global Collaborative Robotics Market:

Request for Report Discount: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/10975

Global Collaborative Robotics Market, by Payload capacity

 Up to 5kg

 Up to 10 kg

 Above 10 kg

Global Collaborative Robotics Market, by Vertical

 Automotive

 Electronics

 Metal & machining

 Plastics & polymer

 Food & agriculture

Global Collaborative Robotics Market, by Application

 Assembly

 Pick & place

 Machine tending

 Quality testing

 Packaging & Palletizing

Global Collaborative Robotics Market, by Region

 North America

 Europe

 Asia-Pacific

 Latin America

 Middle East Africa

Key players in Global Collaborative Robotics Market

 ABB Inc.

 KUKA AG

 FANUC Corporation

 Robert Bosch GmbH

 Universal robots

 Rethink robotics

 MRK-System GmbH

 Precise automation

 Energrid Technology Corporation

 F& p robotics AG

 MABI AG

 Techman ROBOT for quanta storage

 Franka

 Emika GmbH

 AUBO robotics Inc.

 YASKAWA Electric Corporation

 Comau S.P.A

 KAWADA robotics corp.

 Epson robots

 Locus robotics

 Omron

 Robotiq

More Info of Impact Covid19@ link: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/10975
Every day, hundreds more lives are lost to Covid-19. Social media is awash with data and graphs, our death rate plotted against that of other nations.

And the graphs all seem to point to the same grim conclusion: that the UK is one of worst affected countries, with our death toll approaching a chilling 30,000.

In contrast, Germany has suffered fewer than 7,000 deaths. And in Sweden, where citizens are free to visit restaurants and friends, there have been ten times fewer deaths than we've seen here.

South Korea and Australia also appear to have successfully side-stepped catastrophic rates.

A man wears a face mask reading 'corona dictatorship' yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany, at a protest against restrictions put in place to combat coronavirus

Many are quick to point the finger at the Government, accusing Ministers of dragging their feet. But while it may seem logical to jump to such conclusions, experts argue that comparing our trajectory to that of other countries is meaningless.

'It's like comparing apples and pears,' says Dr Jason Oke, from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University.

The truth is, we can't trust the numbers.

The Government removed China from country-comparison data last week, amid concerns that the actual death toll from the epicentre of the outbreak may be significantly higher than the 4,600 reported.

Although it is unlikely that our European neighbours are deliberately distorting their figures, they are slow to update their totals  and many may have missed cases in the early days of the outbreak.

There are questions at a senior Government level over Germany's death rate, which has remained remarkably low. In contrast, Belgium, which borders Germany, appears to have one of the highest death rates in the world, proportionate to its population.

There is currently no internationally recognised format for recording deaths. It is not always clear if a patient died of coronavirus, or from something else while being infected with it.

'The death rates are a minefield,' says Dr John Lee, a retired NHS pathologist. 'It's the same disease and yet you've got rates varying by about 300-fold between nations. That's likely mainly due to systematic differences in management, health services, recording and testing, and even different strains.'

A graph shows how the UK's coronavirus death rates compares to other countries in Europe

In countries where there is rigorous testing, such as Germany, only confirmed cases are counted in the death toll. German Covid deaths are also only included if doctors are certain the virus caused the patient's death.

In Belgium, all coronavirus deaths outside hospitals, such as at home and care homes, are included in daily figures, as well as suspected cases. How many of these are being counted in Italy and Spain isn't so clear.

Until recently, our count only included deaths among hospital patients who tested positive. Separate data from the Office for National Statistics includes deaths at home, in care homes and in hospices  and shows the death rate, up to April 17, may be 39 per cent higher than NHS England figures.

The ONS data is, according to experts, among the most robust in the world, which may be affecting how it appears against other countries. But even it cannot tell us with any certainty how we're faring.

'At the moment, on death certificates, we're writing down whether patients had Covid,' says Dr Oke. 'It won't necessarily be the actual cause of death, so we may be over-recording. We, and other countries, may be missing cases too.

'And how other people are doing it, we just don't know. It's never as simple as looking at another country's data and saying, 'They're doing better, we did it wrong.' '

Germany may have averted a large number of deaths by locking down a week earlier than most nations, but the number of people living in small areas, the age and health of citizens, and even cultural differences can also affect totals.

Many are quick to point the finger at the Government, accusing Ministers such as Boris Johnson, pictured, of dragging their feet. But while it may seem logical to jump to such conclusions, experts argue that comparing our trajectory to that of other countries is meaningless.

Sweden, where the death rate remains relatively low without a lockdown, is geographically the third-largest country in the EU. But it has one of the smallest populations at 10 million, many of whom live alone. In contrast, British cities are among the most densely populated in Europe.

Meanwhile, badly affected Italy has a high number of intergenerational households and the oldest population in Europe.

National tallies mask regional discrepancies, too.

In Lombardy, which includes Milan and is the worst-hit area of Italy, the death rate is 1,178 per million. In Lazio, which includes the capital Rome, it's 57.

London's death rate is 417 per million, while in the far less populous South West it's 116.

The best approach, according to Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a risk expert from Cambridge University, is to look at excess deaths. This means the number of extra deaths, compared to what might normally be expected in a certain period of time.

Analysis by the Financial Times shows Italy's excess deaths are 90 per cent above average, Belgium's are 60 per cent and Spain's are 51 per cent, with England and Wales on 37 per cent.

But major cities have a huge effect on these figures.

In London alone, 96 per cent more people have died during this period than in an average year, compared with 161 per cent in Madrid.

Prof Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, says: 'It looks as if certain areas are disproportionately affected, like dense areas and cities. But to say some countries have more and some less is not helpful.'

The true picture may not be known for some time. 'Perhaps we've had all of our infections now,' Dr Oke says.

'Other countries like Germany might have initially contained it but might see it creeping up on them later. When we get to the end, in six months or more, might countries' death rates start to look much closer together?'

For now, we have to wait and see. As Prof Spiegelhalter says: 'Ask me in December.'
Friday, May 1, 2020 at 8:20PM

by Claudio Alves

Throughout the history of the Academy Awards, many a winner conquered their statue not because they were the best of the year, but because they had a grand filmography in need of golden recognition. Career Oscars are a bittersweet sort of honor, though. On one hand, it feels just to see living legends rewarded with Hollywood's most coveted trophy. On the other, the win sometimes comes from such a minor work it doesn't feel representative of the artist's true genius. In terms of acting prizes, Paul Newman is one of the most flagrant cases of a winner that was rewarded for his career rather than the merits of one performance. By the time he won a competitive Oscar, he had been nominated seven times already and had even won the first of two Honorary prizes. He might have agreed with those judgments, considering he wasnt even present to receive the statuette.

At least, that's what most people seem to believe about the great star's Best Actor trophy for 1986's The Color of Money

The sequel to 1961's The Hustler is an easily negligible footnote on most of its maker's histories. Despite being shot with awesome brio by Michael Ballhaus and sharply cut by Thelma Schoonmaker, this is one of Martin Scorsese's most modest efforts. It brings together Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, two generations of Hollywood stardom, with little fanfare or self-importance. While one may appreciate the snazzy virtuosity of masters of cinema lending their craft to a small affair, some of the people involved seem to be working on autopilot. Unfortunately, Newman's one of those unfortunate individuals.

Reprising the role of Fast Eddie Felson, a pool player of mythic skill and hustling ambition, the actor plays up a sense of effortless cool peppered with hints of a curmudgeon's frustration at the arrogance of youth. Very seldom does Newman dig into the psychology of Eddie and it seems as if Scorsese is happy to let him coast. Only occasionally, when confronted with screen partners such as Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio or Forest Whitaker does he come alive. It's then that we get glimpses of what could have been a performance on par with his nervy work on the '61 movie, suggesting the self-aware passions of an addict in love with the grift.

Those few morsels of inspiration don't make for a satisfying win. In the same year, Bob Hoskins rose above all the other Best Actor nominees for his work in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa, and then there are the great performances that weren't even nominated like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly and Erland Josephson in The Sacrifice. That said, when would a Newman victory have felt deserved? We already mentioned his first go-around as Fast Eddie, but allow us to present five other nominated masterworks worthy of the Academy Award in the actor's filmography.



CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958)

This film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play removes a lot of what makes the original text interesting, defanging it in the process. It's a bit of a mess, with 50s conservative values tensely battling with a story of complicated sexual dynamics. Fortunately, the cast is extraordinary and manages to bring to the forefront some of the hard edges that were sanded off for the big screen. Newman, in particular, invokes his character's psyche with bullying intensity. He is an inchoate miasma of loss and betrayal curdled into all-consuming contempt for others and himself. Lost in alcoholic self-loathing, this is a wreck of a man that still pulses with sexual energy, making the screen sizzle with his smolder.

Newman would have certainly been a more interesting winner than David Niven for a near-supporting turn in Separate Tables.



HUD (1963)

Paul Newman was an actor whose presence was always characterized by movie star charisma and a magnetic sex appeal. In Martin Ritt's Hud, the actor puts these aspects of his persona on full display but twists them into something malevolent. The titular Hud is a destructive force of aggressive masculinity, but both the other characters and the audience seem preternaturally drawn to him. Maybe it's the fact there seems to be a hidden core of decency hiding within his vileness, one that the man chooses to ignore, preferring to give himself to his animal urges and their cruel permutations. If ever a movie star better weaponized their screen presence, I haven't yet watched their movies.

One wouldn't want to take away Sidney Poitier's historic win for Lilies of the Field, but Newman is the Best Actor of 1963. Poitier would have been a better winner in '67, for instance, when he was bizarrely snubbed for his work in the Best Picture-winning In the Heat of the Night.

COOL HAND LUKE (1967)

Speaking of the '67 Best Actor race, Newman, once again, proves to be the best option among the Academy's nominees.

Directed by Stuart Rosenberg from a screenplay based on Donn Pearce's novel, Cool Hand Luke is a strangely beguiling convolution of Christ-like parable and a portrait of mid-century virility. Holding it all together, Newman once again makes good use of the particularities of his star persona, calibrating them according to the demands of a complicated role that must be human and symbol at the same time. His most impressive scenes, however, are ones where the actor simplifies the complexity of the screenplay, finding something achingly real in its prison life episodes, be it the silence of a son looking on his dying mother or the physical struggle of devouring 50 eggs in an hour.



THE VERDICT (1982)

After not receiving one single nomination throughout the 70s, Paul Newman returned to the Academy's favor with two back-to-back nominations in '81 and '82. We're here to discuss the latter one for Sidney Lumet's The Verdict, a disciplined character study in the shape of a procedural. Of all his directors, Lumet was probably Newman's most challenging collaborator, prompting the actor to go deeper than he initially planned. The result is a formidable bit of acting, full of details that add a sense of reality to every scene. The most impactful moment comes near the end, when Newman's character, an alcoholic lawyer, must give his final statements in court. This sort of scene has been done to death, but Lumet's version defines its platonic ideal, choreographing the camera in sync with his actor's steady rhythms and letting Newman dominate the screen as an orator that seems to be trying to convince himself as much as he is persuading the jury.

1982 featured a tight Best Actor race and it's certain many would choose to give the Oscar to Dustin Hoffman and his Tootsie or Ben Kingsley's Gandhi. That said, I can't help but prefer Newman's work.



NOBODY'S FOOL (1994)

By 1994, Paul Newman was already an Oscar winner, so the need to reward him was no longer pressing on the Academy's voters. That's partly why Tom Hanks won his second consecutive Oscar for Forrest Gump, while the veteran actor was left hanging.

Still, out of the Academy's vaguely uninspired selection of Best Actor contenders, Newman shines as the best in the bunch, only challenged by Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption. Nobody's Fool features one the actor's most relaxed works, so beautifully underplayed as to look effortless, like he's merely being in front of the camera instead of performing another man's life. However, a lot is going on for those who care to examine his craft, from the delicate tonal balance the script demands of its cast to the way Newman illustrates his character's past without ever having to spell it out with expository dialogue. It's graceful work, glorious in its apparent simplicity and affecting emotional registers.

It's safe to say that The Color of Money is Paul Newman's least impressive nominated performance. When we further consider his work in The Long Hot Summer, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and Slap Shot among other unnominated works, we can see that he did win for the wrong movie. Do you agree with this conclusion or would you have still awarded Newman in 1986 and only 1986 like AMPAS did?

You can stream The Hustler on Direct TV and HBO NOW, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Fubo, Hud is available on Hulu and Amazon Prime, Cool Hand Luke on Direct TV and Nobody's Fool is on Amazon Prime. Those movies, as well as the other titles mentioned in this piece, are all available to rent or buy from Amazon, iTunes, and other services.
Students concerned about climate change take part in a Boston rally on Sept. 20, 2019. (Matt Stone / Associated Press)

To the editor: I am sick of reading propositions put forth by older people for students to rally to fix a world set on a collision course by their elders. ("Take a coronavirus break, college students, and use it to save the world," Opinion, April 27)

While I appreciate his sentiment, Joseph J. Ellis fails to account for the fact that many college students will have interest accruing on loans that they took out if they take a year off to mobilize a movement.

Ellis is an emeritus professor; it is not surprising to me that someone so ensconced in the ivory tower has little idea of the realities that my generation and those younger than me face.

The abundant generosity, courage and intelligence of young people are not enough to fix the world. We young folks need more than calls to rally from older generations. We need material support in the form of loan forgiveness and other progressive policies now more than ever if we are expected to clean up the mess that was left for us.

David Nasca, Chicago

..

To the editor: I like Ellis' suggestion for college students to take a semester off to turn out the vote in November. And let's include high school seniors too.

The last year of high school is legendary for its inefficiency. To many, it's a waste of time.

Let's turn that time into something productive, an opportunity for students to get out into the world with a mission. Then have them reconnoiter for the spring semester to write and share their experiences before they graduate.

David Comden, Ventura

..

To the editor: Ellis' is an inspired idea that is coming at just the right time. Here's hoping and trusting that the author's confidence in the existence of a benevolent, highly contagious activism virus will be nudged into life in some of the young people who read this piece.

The future of our country and the world may be in their hands. Yes, this is their time, and this would be the best use of it.

Gertrude Barden, Porter Ranch
East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III's office has taken two death penalty cases to trial during his 11-year tenure. The man accused of killing a Baton Rouge police officer and another man last weekend could become the third.

The day after Ronnie Kato allegedly killed his girlfriend's stepfather and Lt. Glenn Hutto in separate shootings April 26, Moore swiftly announced he plans to pursue the death penalty against the 36-year-old man.

+2 How deadly attack on Baton Rouge police unfolded against backdrop of domestic violence The man accused of shooting two Baton Rouge police officers Sunday afternoon, killing one, had threatened violence against law enforcement in 

Moore acknowledged, however, that the plan could change after he speaks with the victims' families.

The district attorney also noted on April 27 that his office "rarely seeks the death penalty" -- a statement borne out by the facts -- and only does so "in the most serious of cases."

Moore said Friday that deciding whether to pursue the death penalty in a particular case is never a cookie-cutter decision.

"When we determine that a case legally qualifies as a capital case, we weigh many factors to determine whether justice requires that we pursue a capital sentence," he said.

Moore said critical factors are "whether the facts of the murder are heinous, and the proof of guilt is overwhelming."

"The decision to seek the death penalty is never one that is easy to make or one that we are happy to do, but in certain cases it is the only right thing to do, especially with the agreement of the victims' family," he explained.

"The wishes of the victims families are always important to us, but ultimately it falls on our office to make the decision to pursue death," he said.

If Kato's case remains a death penalty case, it would mark only the third such prosecution by Moore's office since he took office in January 2009 as East Baton Rouge's chief prosecutor.

In 2010, a St. Louis man, Dacarius Holliday, was convicted of first-degree murder and condemned to die in the 2007 beating death of his Baton Rouge girlfriend's 2-year-old son. The Louisiana Supreme Court reaffirmed his conviction and sentence last month, and he remains on death row at Angola.

+3 In 2007 killing of 2-year-old Baton Rouge boy, condemned man's conviction, sentence reaffirmed A St. Louis mans conviction and death sentence in the fatal 2007 beating of his Baton Rouge girlfriends 2-year-old son have been reaffirmed 

The second death penalty prosecution by Moore's office came five years later in 2015, when Lee Turner Jr. was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in the 2011 slaying of two CarQuest Auto Parts employees at the company's Airline Highway store near Siegen Lane.

The state Supreme Court in late 2018 affirmed Turner's convictions. But it threw out his death sentence because the trial judge issued a ruling during jury selection that prevented the defense from inquiring into prospective jurors' ability to fairly consider voting for a life term in a case involving a double murder committed during an armed robbery.

Turner, who is no longer on death row, has not been resentenced.

+2 Man's death sentence in 2011 CarQuest double murder thrown out; convictions affirmed A Baton Rouge man's death sentence in the 2011 slaying of two CarQuest Auto Parts employees at the company's Airline Highway store near Siegen

In Kato's case, Moore has said seeking the death penalty "is what justice would demand" because of the "egregious" facts of the case.

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Detectives believe Kato fatally shot his girlfriend's 58-year-old stepfather, Curtis Richardson, on North Pamela Drive off North Sherwood Forest Drive the morning of April 26, then shot two Baton Rouge police officers looking for him at a home on Conrad Drive off Winbourne Avenue and North Foster Drive that afternoon.

Hutto was shot and killed, and Cpl. Derrick Maglone was seriously wounded and remains hospitalized.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Louisiana has executed 28 condemned inmates.

But executions in the state have been on hold since 2014 when the late U.S. District Judge James Brady, of Baton Rouge, temporarily stayed them as a result of a lawsuit challenging Louisiana's lethal injection protocols. Chief U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick extended Brady's order indefinitely after his death.

The state's last execution was a decade ago, in January 2010. Gerald Bordelon waived his appeal and was put to death for kidnapping, molesting and strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Courtney LeBlanc, in 2002. He led police to her body in a wooded area by the Amite River in Livingston Parish. Bordelon was a convicted sex offender at the time of the killing.

Prior to Bordelon's execution, the last execution in the state was in 2002 when Leslie Dale Martin was put to death for the 1991 rape and killing of Christine Burgin, a 19-year-old McNeese State University student. Her body was found in a shed near Iowa, in Calcasieu Parish.

It's been two decades since a condemned East Baton Rouge Parish killer was put to death. Feltus Taylor Jr., executed in June 2000, was sentenced to death for fatally shooting a Cajun's Fabulous Fried Chicken cook, Donna Ponsano, at the Florida Boulevard store during a 1991 armed robbery. Taylor was a former employee. He also shot store manager Keith Clark in the head, but he survived.

Moore said he is aware of the time, effort and money that death penalty cases cost his office and the stress it places on his staff.

"Additionally the length of time that it takes, not only to get to a trial date but to exhaust appeals, is around 20 years," he said. "All of these factors are known and considered but do not drive the decision as to whether the facts surrounding the murder justify asking a jury to consider the appropriate punishment, life or death."

Moore said the uncertainty of the future of the death penalty is always discussed with victims' families, as is the duration of appeals in death penalty cases.

"Often time these facts weigh in on their views on how they wish that we proceed. Generally these are not decisions that can be made early on in the process and sometimes views may change," he said.

Moore said it's not uncommon for survivors of murder victims to "never see the end of the quest for justice as the lengthy and cumbersome appeals process outlives them."

Last year, Moore's office announced it would not pursue the death penalty against three Ethel men in their 20s accused in the March 2019 killing of 73-year-old Frances Jane Schultz, who was tied up with duct tape and shot in the head multiple times during a burglary of the Zachary home she and her husband shared.

Art Schultz, 77, told prosecutors he wants to see his wife's killers brought to justice before his life ends. So the three men, brothers Adrian and Courtland Curtis, and Donevan Brown, were indicted on second-degree murder and aggravated burglary charges. They had been booked on first-degree murder charges that could have carried a death sentence. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory term of life in prison.

Moore has said he and Art Schultz agree that a death sentence would be an appropriate punishment if a conviction is obtained, but Schultz understands a capital murder prosecution is a very lengthy process.

Moore called Art Schultz request merciful and said it was one he chose to honor.
The exterior of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC.

Eager to bolster the healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government last month sped $30 billion in stimulus payments to most healthcare providers that billed Medicare last year.

That speed resulted in taxpayers' money flowing to some companies and people facing civil or criminal fraud investigations, according to defense lawyers and others representing more than a dozen firms and people facing such inquiries.

The disclosures about such payments have prompted outrage among some congressional Democrats, who say they highlight the problems with how stimulus funds have been distributed.

"I have an enormous amount of frustration with the way the Trump administration is distributing these dollars, and examples like these magnify the consequences of the White House's efforts to limit transparency and stonewall oversight," Senator Ron Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, told Reuters.

Henry Connelly, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, added: "It is alarming to see the Trump administration giving precious taxpayer dollars to unscrupulous entities while so many hospitals and health care workers on the frontlines of the battle against coronavirus are desperate for resources."

The Department of Health and Human Services, which sent the payments, told Reuters it transmitted funds to all medical providers who submitted billings in 2019 to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for elderly and disabled Americans, unless they had already been excluded from participating.

It declined to respond to the criticism from Wyden and Pelosi's office and did not respond to specific questions from Reuters about the payments.

Katherine Harris, a spokeswoman for the HHS Office of the Inspector General, said her office oversees the program but declined to comment on the specific distribution of funding.

"While we cannot comment specifically on any work other than what has been publicly announced, I can tell you that we regularly perform reviews of the department's administration of programs, including the distribution of funding," Harris said.

Reuters was unable to independently determine what portion of the stimulus payments went to entities and individuals involved in civil and criminal actions with Medicare.

In an email to funding recipients seen by Reuters, HHS asked providers to sign a lengthy attestation that stipulates they have been or will be treating patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

If providers do not respond within 30 days, HHS said it will assume they have accepted the government's terms and conditions. It said in a statement it "has mechanisms in place to recoup funds and address fraudulent activity."
Amid a raging controversy over mismatch in the states data of Covid-19 infections, the West Bengal government on Saturday changed the format of its daily bulletin.

The day also saw chief minister Mamata Banerjee sending a 13-page letter to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in response to his letters, accusing him of dreaming of a dyarchy in the state.

Referring to the data discrepancy, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar took to social media on Saturday to ask the state government to maintain transparency. Give up Covid-19 data cover up operation @MamataOfficial and share it transparently, Dhankhar tweeted.

Banerjee, in her letter, listed a series of phrases from the two letters that the governor wrote her, and said, Such words and such communications of such content, tenor and tone from a Governor to an elected CM are unprecedented in the annals of Indian constitutional and political history. Dhankhar was quick to respond on Twitter. There are no sane takers for this unseemly scenario. I have held enough close to my chest -- looks like revealing is becoming unavoidable. Reply will be sent as her letter has content to which I cannot subscribe as it eclipses essence of Constitution, he tweeted.

The controversy over data mismatch was triggered by state health secretary Vivek Kumars letter to union health secretary Preeti Sudan on April 30, putting the total number of persons testing positive for Covid-19 in the state at 931. However, the figure given by the state during press briefings and in bulletins added up to 816.

Even as the discrepancy snowballed into a raging political controversy by evening, the government skipped the press briefing altogether. Bulletins for May 1 and May 2 were published together at about 9 pm on Saturday. The state reported 127 new cases, 15 deaths and 60 recoveries. Neither chief secretary Rajiva Sinha nor health secretary Vivek Kumar responded to HTs calls.

Meanwhile, in Murshidabad, alleged irregularities in disbursement of free ration from a government authorized fair price ration shop in the Salar area led to ransacking and arson in the morning. Hundreds of villagers at Punisha village in Salar as ransacked the home of Halim Sheikh, the ration dealer, and set furniture on fire. They alleged that they were getting lesser rice than their share. Senior officers from the district administration assured the villagers that action would be taken against Sheikh.

In a similar incident, villagers staged a dharna outside the local ration dealers home at Jashoitala village of Murshidabad

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A balaclava-clad man who kidnapped, hog-tied and bashed an elderly gun shop owner before stealing 100 firearms from a secure vault has been sentenced to seven years in jail.

Serdar Baycan, 23, admitted to the elaborate heist on September 4, 2019, after he was arrested in a dramatic early morning raid by police about a week later.

The firearms haul, worth $206,000, was discovered in his Forrestdale storage unit after a major police operation was launched to stop the guns entering the black market.

During his sentencing in the Perth District Court on Friday, it was revealed Baycan and his alleged co-offender, Mustafa Altinok, stalked 81-year-old Barry & Sons Firearms owner Barry Lathwell for days in the lead up to executing their brazen plan.
Former senator representing Kaduna central, Senator Shehu Sani has expressed that mass illiteracy and ignorance is worsening the COVID-19 crisis in Kano state.

Since it recorded its index COVID-19 case in April, Kano has been hit by a wave of strange deaths.

Also Read: Lifting Lockdown On Monday Not Good For Nigerians  Shehu Sani

The state had recorded the highest number of cases on Thursday and Friday, bringing the total figure to 311 cases

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Reacting to this development, the former lawmaker accused the political and religious leaders in the state of being responsible for the health crisis by undermining medical realities with myths and superstitions.

He went further to express that mass illiteracy in the State serves as a catalyst for the problem.

Mass illiteracy and ignorance in Kano fertilizes, catalyzes and aggravates the COVID-19 situation in the state.
This was after a 27-year-old Zimra male employee tested positive to Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Bulawayo on 29 April prompting Zimra to close its Bulawayo offices and send 52 of its workers who might have been exposed to the virus for testing and mandatory self-isolation. It has since emerged that one of the 52 workers from the Bulawayo office disregarded self-isolation regulations and travelled to Gweru where her family is based. She has since been traced and put under isolation with her family in the Midlands town while officials are waiting for her results.
(Bloomberg) -- Whatever the state of Kim Jong Uns health, he has already put North Korea in its strongest position to resist U.S. pressure in decades.

Eight years after Kim filled the power vacuum left by the death of his reclusive father, Kim Jong Il, North Korea is more secure and less isolated. The 36-year-old supreme leader has achieved two key marks of legitimacy long sought by his predecessors: a nuclear arsenal that can credibly deter an American attack and a personal relationship with the U.S. president, including three face-to-face meetings with Donald Trump.

While North Korea is still among the worlds most impoverished nations, living standards are rising for the ruling elite in Pyongyang. Kim has shown he can endure crushing economic sanctions, illustrated by a United Nations report published Tuesday accusing the regime of widespread evasion. Moreover, the Kim dynasty holds a renewed pledge of strategic support from its ultimate guarantor, China.

The country has pole-vaulted in their nuclear-destruction potential and missile-delivery capabilities compared to capabilities under grandfather or father Kim, said Soo Kim, a Rand Corp. policy analyst who specializes in Korean peninsula issues. The specter of a North Korean nuclear attack breeds enough unease in the international community to lean more towards accommodation than confrontation.

Thats why many longtime observers of North Korea say the current uncertainty surrounding Kim Jong Un is less consequential than past succession scares. Speculation has been swirling about Kims health since he dropped out of state media last week, failing for the first time to attend events to celebrate the April 15 birthday of his late grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

U.S. officials said they were told Kim was in critical condition after cardiovascular surgery, while South Korea said he was conducting normal activities in a rural part of the country. Trump told reporters that he thought that a separate CNN report earlier this week, which said that Kim was in grave condition, was incorrect, adding: Im hearing they used old documents.

Story continues

No matter what, North Korea leaders have strong incentives to preserve the regime and Kims strategy of seeking sanctions relief from the U.S. by building a more dangerous nuclear arsenal. Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, who has traveled to Pyongyang four times, indicated that the dispute between the two countries would persist if a successor such as Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, took power.

The challenge remains the same, the goal remains unchanged, Pompeo said Wednesday on Fox News. Whoever is leading North Korea, we want them to give up their nuclear program.

The U.S. retains control over trade restrictions that held North Koreas economic growth to 1.8% last year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, following its biggest slump in decades in 2018. Although the regime has found ways around the restrictions, including cyber-heists and high-seas oil transfers, North Korea cant tolerate the embargo forever.

Trump Handshake

People that say Kim doesnt have to worry about sanctions are likely viewing the situation too optimistically, because North Korea is now under sanctions like never before, said Kim Keun-sik, a Far Eastern studies professor at Kyungnam University who has advised South Koreas foreign ministry. The more it cries self-reliance or rehabilitation, the more trouble you know theyre in.

Still, North Korea has given up little since Kims unprecedented handshake with Trump almost two years ago in Singapore. Besides halting launches of missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland and demolishing some testing facilities, Kim has signed only a vaguely worded pledge to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

At the same time, the summits have raised North Koreas profile to a level once unimaginable for a country sometimes called the Hermit Kingdom. After staying in North Korea for his first six years in power, Kim went on nine overseas trips between March 2018 and July 2019, events that saw him speaking live on foreign television and interacting with Western reporters.

The trips have helped legitimize North Koreas government, despite continued complaints about human rights abuses and sanctions violations. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had put off a meeting with Kim for five years, quickly invited the North Korean leader to Beijing ahead of the Singapore summit. Russias Vladimir Putin similarly feted Kim last year after his talks with the U.S. president broke down.

Strategic Apathy

China and Russia -- both veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council -- now regularly advocate for easing sanctions on North Korea amid their own disputes with the U.S. Trump himself continues to offer some of Washingtons most generous support for Kim, offering aid to help the country fight the coronavirus outbreak in a letter to the North Korean leader last month.

Meanwhile, the U.S. president has shrugged off a record-breaking string of ballistic missile launches by Kim that have demonstrated increasing capabilities to strike all of South Korea, including U.S. bases there. Ankit Panda, an adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientistss Defense Posture Project, has described Trumps policy as strategic apathy, a play on the Obama administration approach sometimes called strategic patience.

When Kim arrived at the helm, North Korea had demonstrated the beginnings of viability as a nuclear power. By 2018, Kim claimed to have completed a deterrent, Panda said. Now, that cause continues, but with qualitative refinement and quantitative expansion.

(Updates with Trump comments in sixth paragraph.)

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The reaction in Westman was mixed to the gun ban announced by the federal government on Friday, with people coming out both for and against the ban.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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CP A restricted gun licence holder holds a AR-15. The federal government has outlawed a wide range of rifles with the aim of making Canada safer, saying the guns were designed for the battlefield, not hunting or sport shooting. (The Canadian Press)

The reaction in Westman was mixed to the gun ban announced by the federal government on Friday, with people coming out both for and against the ban.

Effective immediately, approximately 1,500 types of firearms can no longer be sold, bought, imported or used, with a buy-back program for current owners in the works. Banned firearms include the M16, AR-15, SG-550 rifles and their variants as well as models of grenade and rocket launchers, mortars and their variants.

Exceptions are being made in the ban for Indigenous owners of these firearms, citing concerns about their constitutional right to hunt potentially being violated.

"The announcement today does nothing to make anybody safer in Canada," Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire told the Sun via phone. The federal government "has done nothing to stop the smuggling of illegal guns across the border."

He said his party would have addressed the issue of smuggling through the Canadian Border Services Agency had they been elected in last years election.

"In Toronto in 2018, 70 per cent of crimes that were committed in Toronto with guns there were done with guns smuggled into the country," he said. "Theyre going after law-abiding gun owners and sport shooters, farmers wanting to protect their livestock and that sort of thing."

Maguire was concerned that the ban was done via an order-in-council rather than going through Parliament and being subject to debate.

While Maguire offered his respects to the families of those killed during the recent shooting in Nova Scotia cited as part of the reasoning for the ban, he said the shooter acquired his guns illegally and didnt possess a licence, meaning the new rules wouldnt have affected him.

Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa Conservative MP Dan Mazier declined to comment, saying he needed more time to process the news.

Though he doesnt own any guns prohibited by Fridays ban, Brandon Gun Club member Rob Lamont said the new rules would only hurt law-abiding gun owners.

"If the government is using what happened in Nova Scotia to bring in new gun laws, as I understand it the man didnt have a firearms licence and wasnt allowed to own firearms," he said. "The firearms he got came from the States from the most part ... if the government is bringing in regulations and they cant enforce the regulations they have now, whats it going to achieve other than taking firearms out of the hands of the people who are abiding by the law currently?"

Voicing her support of the ban was Brandon Womens Resource Centre director of counselling and advocacy Kim Iwasiuk.

"I am very pleased to hear that this has come in," Iwasiuk said. "I heard an interview of one of the survivors of the (Ecole) Polytechnique massacre 30 years ago this morning and she ... said its been 30 years shes been waiting for this to happen, and I echo that as well."

The model of gun used in the 1989 shooting, the Ruger Mini-14, as well as its derivatives were included in the ban. While Iwasiuk supports the ban, she feels it took too long to come to fruition.

"I think that we have had many situations where peoples lives could have been preserved but for the lack of a gun registry and being able to purchase assault rifles," she said. "I dont think anybody needs an assault rifle, and when were looking at domestic violence we are seeing an increase in women being murdered and harmed due to weapons and the weapon of choice often is a gun."

Iwasiuk had a response to the argument that bans such as these only hurt law-abiding gun owners.

"I dont think that we can pick and choose, and domestic violence can happen at any time," she said. "There are many predictors of family violence, and thats not something thats asked when people are registering their guns. We have no way to know, really, what is going to happen with that gun. I dont doubt that most folks that have guns or weapons are law-abiding citizens, but we also know that guns fall into hands that shouldnt. I think a right-across ban, especially on assault rifles, is whats needed."

Iwasiuk added that when police are responding to a domestic violence call, they dont know what theyre walking into. She said the statistics on when police go into a situation like that when guns are involved are "shocking" when it comes to officers or family members getting shot.

"For the folks that are law-abiding, thats wonderful, but they dont need assault rifles either," she said. "Were not talking their rights away to carry firearms, its certain guns that need to be banned."

Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand also spoke in favour of the ban. He said he was pleased the government recognized Indigenous rights in their announcement.

"I will not support and never will support the need for military-grade guns," he said. "There is no purpose and no need for them. You dont hunt an animal like that."

Wolverine Supplies co-owner Matthew Hipwell told the Sun his Virden-based business has already had to remove hundreds of guns from their physical and online storefronts. More than just firearms, Hipwell said that the business now likely wont be able to sell accessories they have in stock for guns that are now prohibited to own.

"This is absolutely going to affect my business in a hard way, and it is going to do absolutely nothing to make Canadian streets safer," Hipwell said. "These firearms are purchased by law-abiding Canadians who have the required licences, who have undergone the training, who adhere to the storage and transportation requirements, who are vetted daily by the RCMP through (the Canadian Police Information Centre) to make sure they havent gone to the wrong side of the law.

"This element of society is more vetted than any other consumer than Im aware of, and here we have the federal government deeming that this will make our world a safer place."

Hipwell said a more effective way to deter crime would be to address the root causes of those crimes, such as cracking down on illegal gun smuggling and assisting with mental-health issues, socio-economic problems and addiction.

If they are able to participate in the planned buy-back program promised by the federal government, Hipwell said they will try to recoup some of the costs for guns they cant sell. However, he said he didnt think it made sense to use taxpayer dollars to pay for the program. He said hes already been in contact with local members of Parliament about the ban.

The business might be able to export some of their now-illegal stock back to manufactures in other countries, but Hipwell said that many countries wont allow guns to re-enter their borders. He also expressed worry that owners faced with worthless guns might sell them to the black market out of desperation.

When called for comment, an employee answering the phone at Jo-Brook Outdoors in Brandon said the company would not be speaking on the matter.

 cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from Drew May, Michele LeTourneau and the Canadian Press

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
The first special train bringing migrant workers back to Uttar Pradesh from outside the state will arrive here on Sunday and talks are on with officials of many states to ensure their return, said an official.

The first special train with 845 migrant workers from Maharashtra has started from Nashik on Friday and it will arrive in the state capital via Jhansi and Kanpur on Sunday, said Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi.

On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's directives, talks are going on with officials of Maharashtra and Gujarat for running more special trains on Sunday, he said.

Awasthi, however, reiterated that the condition for bringing migrant workers back is that respective states provide lists with details of stranded workers along with a certificate that the workers boarding the trains have been properly screened and are healthy.

The chief minister, who has asked to stop all kinds of illegal inter-district and inter-state movements, has directed to enlist details of names, addresses, mobile numbers and job skills of workers returning to the state.

Awasthi said almost three-fourth positive cases have been reported from the 433 hotspots identified in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fayaz Wani By

SRINAGAR: Two soldiers, who we injured after shelling by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baramullah district, died on Saturday. Defence spokesman Rajesh Kalia said three army men were injured in the mortar shelling in Rampur sector of Uri on Friday.



The deceased were identified as Havaldar Gokaran Singh and Naik Shankar S P Coy. Four civilians, including a four-year-old boy, were injured on Friday when Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation.

Militants killed in Pulwama Two militants were killed in a six-hour long encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of south Kashmir during a cordon and search operation at Hydergund, Dangerpora area. As the encounter was going on, local youth attempted to march towards the encounter site to save the militants.

However, on being intercepted by security personnel, youth pelted stones on them, sources said. They said security men fired tear smoke shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the stone pelters.

While the Pulwama encounter ended, another gunfight erupted between militants and security forces in Chanjmulla area of Handwara in border district of Kupwara.

The search operation in the Chanjmulla area turned into an encounter after holed-up militants fired on troops. Meanwhile, two army men sustained bullet injuries in an accidental fire inside an army camp in Karnah sector of Kupwara district, sources said.
Nurses rallied in San Francisco at UCSFs Parnassus campus Friday  International Workers Day  as part of a national effort to protest hospital policies that force health workers to reuse masks when working with COVID-19, which they say raises their risk of infection.

Around the Bay Area, nurses at five other hospitals, including Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health campuses, joined the May Day protests.

And demonstrators from a variety of professions staged other protests against working conditions and pay, with the largest protests in San Francisco and Oakland. They climbed into cars and trucks, and mounted bikes and other vehicles to form caravans  and paraded their way up and down streets, sometimes surrounding government buildings and businesses.

Some workers at an Amazon warehouse in Richmond planned to walk out Friday morning. A Facebook organizing page said they had support from workers from Instacart, FedEx, Uber, Shipt, Lyft, UPS and more. They demanded starting salaries of $26 an hour, full medical benefits after 30 days, better training and safer conditions for drivers.

For nurses and other health workers, they said, the workplace issues were a matter of life and death.

Nurse Jamille Cabacungan took a break from treating coronavirus patients, and joined 11 other nurses protesting at UCSF. She uses N95 masks, those with the highest level of protection against infection. Before the pandemic, she threw the masks away after each use. Now, with the masks in short supply around the world, Cabacungan gets one mask a day and stores it in a paper bag between uses with different patients. She said its difficult to not touch the potentially contaminated outside of the mask, like UCSF instructed, to avoid exposure.

Eric Risberg / Associated Press

As we do our part in this pandemic, we need access to higher standards of personal protective equipment, Cabacungan said into a microphone on the hospitals front lawn as a caravan of cars honking in solidarity streamed by. We should not be taking a chance on health care workers when we are needed the most during this time. ... We are sounding this alarm because solutions must be done. Our lives depend on it.

The pandemic has triggered global supply shortages for personal protective gear, especially N95 masks, and frontline workers fear reusing masks raises their risk of exposure.

As of Friday, 5,617 health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 across California and 31 have died, according to the state Public Health Department. County health departments and local unions said they knew of no deaths from the coronavirus among Bay Area health care workers.

At UCSF, 56 employees have tested positive, spokeswoman Kristen Bole said, adding that contact tracing indicates 13 of the cases were transmitted from patients. Most of the workers, 44, have recovered and returned to work, she said.

As with most hospitals, Bole said that UCSF is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for mask use, which allow workers to reuse masks when treating COVID-19 patients if supplies are scarce. The guidance includes instructions for how to take on and off a mask that may be contaminated. UCSFs policy says workers can wear the same mask for more than a day unless its visibly soiled.

UCSF has enough personal protective equipment for the next several weeks, even if coronavirus cases surge, said Sheila Antrum, senior vice president and chief operating officer of UCSF Health. The hospital even has enough of some supplies to offer extras to dozens of hospitals in need, she added.

The exception is N95 masks, of which UCSF Health uses on average 1,873 a day, Bole said.

Eric Risberg / Associated Press

The supply remains uncertain across the country, Antrum said. She said the hospital has enough N95s if nurses reuse them  to which they object. If workers believe they need more masks, a committee reviews that decision, she said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

I feel comfortable as chief operating officer and interim chief nursing officer that they are doing the right things to keep staff safe, said Antrum, standing, masked, in a hospital lobby.

UCSF had 16 COVID-19 patients in the hospital Friday, and is starting to reschedule delayed surgeries, Antrum said, adding that administrators want to ensure there are enough masks available for high-exposure procedures.

Since infectious disease experts believe the coronavirus is largely transmitted through respiratory droplets, UCSF has opened up isolation units with air-pressure rooms for COVID-19 patients in its Parnassus, Mount Zion and Mission Bay hospitals, Bole said. Containing these patients limits exposure for workers and conserves personal protective equipment, she said.

But some workers worry thats not enough protection when people without symptoms may have the coronavirus.

Nurse Ashley Vernon, one of the protesters at UCSF Parnassus, works in various units of the hospital. Unless she is doing a high-risk procedure like intubating a patient, she wears a surgical mask, which offers less protection than the N95.

Nurses are proud to work the front lines, but we just want to be safe, Vernon said.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Michael Cabanatuan, Carolyn Said and Roland Li contributed to this report.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
Somali Health Ministry on Monday confirmed 44 new cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of those who have tested positive to 480, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Fawziya Abikar, the health minister of Somalia, said three patients succumbed to the virus, bringing the total number of fatalities to 26.

The minister said those who have tested positive from the samples tested in the last 24 hours include 35 males and nine females.

According to Abikar, four more people recovered from the COVID-19, bringing the total number of recovery cases to 14.

The latest cases came as humanitarian agencies said Monday they have reprioritized and reprogrammed activities in recent weeks to try and avert large-scale community transmission of COVID-19 through enhanced risk communication, surveillance, rapid response and testing in the country.

The Horn of Africa nation has instituted measures to contain the possible spread of COVID-19, including closing schools, banning large gatherings and suspending international and domestic passenger flights.
There is a stench about our politics that nobody should be happy about. During the last presidential election proceedings, then candidate Trump was lambasted with accusations surrounding allegations of sexual improprieties.

Fast forward to the Kavanauh confirmation hearing and the medias bludgeoning of the man who would be Supreme Court justice. The media and the left jumped on the band wagon of the Me Too movement in an attempt to derail the nomination of Kavanaugh.

Now we have a similar situation with Joe Biden and yet for the most part the media is silent while the political left completely discounts the victims account and continues to support good old Joe.

I have no idea of the credibility of the alleged victims of either Kavanaugh or Biden but I do know the political left hasnt treated the situations the same.

It stands to reason that when one's political agenda dictates the support or lack of, it is purely partisan and ultimately wrong.

The very ones opposing Kavanaugh (Pelosi, those seeking vice presidential nominations) are completely supportive of Joe Biden even though the situations a very similar.

Consistency or lack there of is disgustingly obvious. It would seem that political agenda takes precedence over common sense and consistency.

Hypocrisy abounds and I guess were supposed to just ignore it and move along as if theres nothing to see here.

Mike Cox

* * *

Many claim to have moral standards or beliefs but their own actions dont conform with their claims. This whole pandemic that is the weaponization of accusations of sexual harassment is disgusting. It is purely political. The evidence is clear if you have a D after your name you get very different treatment than those with an R.

One after another of the opportunists and media types lined up before the cameras to profess their absolute belief in Christine Blasey-Ford during the Kavanaugh hearings. Was it coincidental that many of the same professed their absolute belief in the unseemly stories told repeatedly by Michael Avenatti? Was it coincidental many of the same believed everything the World Health Organization has told about China and COVID-19?

Theres a common thread here and it is greater than hypocrisy. When does hypocrisy morph into fraud? We should ask that question of every politician running for national office. Who do they believe and why?

Mike Cox, I believe you. What you said is true, hypocrisy abounds. And in some cases it goes much farther.

Ralph Miller

* * *

The once respected and powerful Democratic party is self imploding at the speed of light. My family was Kennedy era Democrats and stayed the course for generations. We were very proud of their once promising direction.

However, something went terribly wrong with the Democrats as they absolutely dont believe in equal judgment as in the case with Joe Biden and the sexual allegations against him. He should come under the very scrutiny that Mr. Kavanaugh came under by being forced to defend himself in public hearings on national TV. The Democrats constantly are on witch hunts and doing absolutely zero for the American people. The elected Democrats in Congress and the Senate have slid so far to the left with socialist enthusiasm, cover up their internal crime, accuse the innocent, scorn the constitution, all while neglecting the American people for their quest to control all power.

Biden has been accused of sexual assault and should be tried, Clinton destroyed classified documents and should be tried, The FBI has lied over and over again destroying innocent people's lives and all involved should be tried, to name a few. Let's correct the double standard the Democrats support, they should step up to the plate and take their turn at defending themselves just as Trump, Kavanaugh, Flynn and others had to do.

The shining light in all of this is that the Democrats are assuring Trump a gigantic landslide victory in November by their hate speech and never-ending witch hunt as many respectable Democrats have had enough of their party and are flipping to the Republican side. Many of these are personal friends and respected individuals Ive known for years. Interestingly, if this is happening within my circle of friends then I can only imagine how the switch is spreading across our nation.

My suggestion to the Democrats is to find true statesmen / women to replace your old and new guard. Nance Pelosi is the face of the Democrats and what a disgusting face she is just in the fact of her tearing up the Sate of the Union speech by President Trump for the world to she her hate and contempt.

I am very thankful I changed to the Republican party many years ago and hope and pray many other decent and good Democrats will eventually see the light and do the dame.

By the way, is it true Nancy held up stimulus funding until she got $25 million attached at the end of the stimulus package to go to the Kennedy Center where her daughter may be a director? If Im wrong in any of the above please show me where and correct me with facts. I promise I have an open mind and will not be offended.

I for one would welcome true statesmen/women in the Democratic party with dignity and good morals in this country again for checks and balances. However I bleed Republican as long as the Republicans they stay the current course.

God bless Trump and praying for Democrats to see the light,

Michael Mansfield


The police quantum and truck caught fire moments after the collision. (Courtesy pic)

MANZINI  A trip to the office ended tragically for 11 police officers. The officers, who were on their way to various duty stations, were involved in a tragic car accident with a truck on Thursday afternoon.



The accident, which also claimed the truck drivers life, occurred between New Village and Ngwane Park along the Mhlaleni-Nhlangano Yithabantu Highway.

The law enforcers, under the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) based in Ngonini, were travelling in a Toyota Quantum mini-bus (kombi) enroute to their duty stations, when it collided with the truck.



In fact, there were 15 officers in the kombi and four of them were rescued.

Immediately after the collision, both vehicles burst into flames. The flames, enveloped the kombi and burnt 11 officers who were tra-pped inside it while also claiming the life of the truck drivers.



According to eyewitnesses, the truck was travelling from the Mhlaleni direction towards Ngwane Park while the kombi ferrying the police officers was moving in the opposite direction.

The vehicles collided a few metres from a gentle-curve which has a number of danger-posing potholes.



According to those who witnessed the accident, the impact of the collision resulted in the vehicles bursting into flames. It is suspected that a fuel tank of one of the vehicles could have exploded though this is still under investigation.

In fact, the truck which was transporting gravel to Nhlambeni, literally crushed almost the entire kombi as it landed on its roof following the collision.



Trapped



From a distance, it looked like the truck had crushed half of the kombi.

As a result, most of the passengers in the police kombi, including the truck driver, were trapped inside their vehicles.

However, four police officers were rescued before the vehicles were engulfed in flames.



These officers were quickly rushed to the Raleigh Fitkins Memorial (RFM) Hospital.

At the scene, fire brigades had a tough time trying to put out the raging fire.

Motorists and passers-by stood at a distance watching, while others recorded the unfolding incident with their mobile phones. Some of the pictures and videos were later shared on social media.



An eyewitness, Sabelo Masuku, claimed that the truck was driving at high speed down the New Village slope.

Masuku said the truck overtook his car along the stretch leading to a sharp corner.

He missed two vehicles. And the truck was driving in a zigzag manner. Moments after turning the gentle corner which leads to Ngwane Park, it sharply swerved to the right onto the oncoming kombi. This was followed by a loud bang, he narrated.



Confused



The moment the vehicles collided, Masuku said he was left in a confused state of mind.

I was scared to jump out of my car. In fact, I feared for the unknown. My whole body was shaking. While still in shock, I saw the vehicles burst into flames, he said.



Masuku, who was visibly shaken, said he could not do anything to save the officers.

Senior police officer, Danka Fakudze, who was found at the scene, described the accident as horrific.

Giving an account of what could have caused the accident, Fakudze said they suspect that the truck had developed some mechanical faults, which resulted in the driver failing to control it.



The person who called me said he was driving in the front of the truck. He saw it on the rear view mirror of his car and noticed that it had lost control. While trying to get away from the speeding truck  he met the kombi along the way. The next thing, he heard a loud bang. However, he did not stop, he explained while inspecting the scene.

He opined that his source could have been afraid to witness the horrific accident.



Dead



Acting Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed that 12 people were certified dead on the spot by a medical practitioner, while four escaped with injuries.

RFM Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Mbuso Sihlongonyane was seen busy at the scene.



Asked about the extent of injuries, Mnguni said even though they were still to get a full report, the four officers were in a stable condition.



Mnguni, who was also at the scene, explained that they were still investigating the cause of the accident.

The assistant police spokesperson also confirmed that the officers were heading to what she termed vital installations around Mbabane.



Some of the posts include Cabinet, Parliament and some embassies.

This was the second shift of the day.

They would have started their shift at 2pm until 10pm. They were going to relieve a shift which started at 6am, she explained.

She then passed condolences to the families, friends and relatives of the deceased.
Im quite certain that this is going to go in waves, she added. It wont be a tsunami that comes across America all at once and then retreats all at once. It will be micro-waves that shoot up in Des Moines and then in New Orleans and then in Houston and so on, and its going to affect how people think about all kinds of things.

Theyll re-evaluate the importance of travel. Theyll reassess their use of mass transit. Theyll revisit the need for face-to-face business meetings. Theyll reappraise having their kids go to college out of state.

So, I asked, is back to normal, a phrase that so many people cling to, a fantasy?

This is history right in front of us, Garrett said. Did we go back to normal after 9/11? No. We created a whole new normal. We securitized the United States. We turned into an antiterror state. And it affected everything. We couldnt go into a building without showing ID and walking through a metal detector, and couldnt get on airplanes the same way ever again. Thats whats going to happen with this.

Not the metal detectors, but a seismic shift in what we expect, in what we endure, in how we adapt.

Maybe in political engagement, too, Garrett said.

If America enters the next wave of coronavirus infections with the wealthy having gotten somehow wealthier off this pandemic by hedging, by shorting, by doing all the nasty things that they do, and we come out of our rabbit holes and realize, Oh, my God, its not just that everyone I love is unemployed or underemployed and cant make their maintenance or their mortgage payments or their rent payments, but now all of a sudden those jerks that were flying around in private helicopters are now flying on private personal jets and they own an island that they go to and they dont care whether or not our streets are safe, then I think we could have massive political disruption.

Just as we come out of our holes and see what 25 percent unemployment looks like, she said, we may also see what collective rage looks like.
By now, it is unlikely that anyone hasnt heard of social distancing. Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus earlier this year, a full-court press of public initiatives have been enacted to curb its spread  with the need to physically distance ourselves from one another as the chief aim.

Though not without great economic and other costs, these policies have largely been met with civic solidarity.

Meanwhile, in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus in criminal justice systems, many jurisdictions, including Travis County, have been releasing hundreds of felony jail inmates on their own recognizance (mainly pretrial detainees who havent been convicted of a crime but who often remain in jail prior to trial). In a bid to secure public safety, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order last month halting personal recognizance bonds for those charged with, or previously convicted of, violent crimes (although lawsuits challenging his order are working their way through the courts).

To be sure, imposing social distancing in correctional facilities that, as a matter of course, keep hundreds of people in close proximity is a challenge. It does make sense to release certain eligible detainees when safe to do so. But hard experience has already shown why progressive blanket-release policies cannot rest upon good intentions alone.

In Utah, one inmate who was released amid coronavirus fears was rearrested for allegedly breaking into a home and threatening the owner at knifepoint. He had multiple prior felony convictions, including burglary and assault. Similarly, another inmate released in Kentucky was rearrested on murder charges. New York  a state already failing with regard to pretrial reform  released eight sex offenders from lockup, three of whom were deemed at the highest risk for reoffense.

Make no mistake, public safety should always be the No. 1 priority of every criminal justice reform policy. In our current situation, theres an obvious tension between governments immediate duty to reduce the spread of a deadly pathogen and its traditional duty to provide for the communitys security. However, large releases of jail inmates without apparent due consideration of their risk profiles  especially those with a history of relatively serious felony charges  foolishly privileges the former at the expense of the latter. Beyond being reckless in the near term, this could poison the well against much-needed reforms to pretrial justice across Texas moving forward.

According to state jail data, pretrial populations now account for roughly three-quarters of Texas jail populations. In normal times, such large populations have borne enormous financial costs and weighed heavily upon due process rights. Most bail decisions statewide amount to little more than a shake of a Magic 8-Ball and fail to adequately account for risk. Texas jails have been and remain debtors prisons.

Those concerns are now compounded with a deadly contagion loose.

Fortunately, it isnt necessary to reinvent the wheel or resort to haphazard policymaking. Appropriately balancing our health and safety requires cities and counties to base any release decisions on risk, preferably with validated risk-assessment tools.

These tools which provide simple and objective risk calculations based on an individuals criminal history  have been shown here in Texas to effectively distinguish between those who can be safely released and those who ought to remain detained. If there is to be any basis for safely reducing jail populations, this approach ought to be it.

Texas judges and magistrates are clamoring for such tools, and state lawmakers have already filed bills to provide them; we should redouble our efforts to pass them into law. We may have a shared interest in detaining people prior to trial only when we must, but that doesnt obviate the need for prudence. Blanket inmate releases dont fit that bill.

Doug Deason is president of the Deason Foundation and Deason Capital Services, and a co-founder of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at Southern Methodist University.
At least ten soldiers and officers were killed or wounded in a blast that hit a military vehicle. In response, the army killed two jihadis. Egypts Catholic Church stands in "full solidarity" with the government against such evil terrorism".

Cairo (AsiaNews)  Egypts Catholic Church, through her blessed Patriarch Ibrahim Ishaq Sedrak, condemned Thursdays terrorist attack against the army in North Sinai. The latter was claimed overnight by the Islamic State group. At least 10 military personnel were either killed or wounded; two jihadi attackers were killed in the armys counterattack.

In a statement, the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Egypt, referred to the "martyrdom and wounding" of eight soldiers, a non-commissioned officer and an officer. Expressing full solidarity" with the government against such evil terrorism, it offers the Catholic Churchs "sincerest condolences to the families of the martyrs" who died in active duty". For the Council, This action breaks all religious and human laws, values and rules.

In last Thursdays incident, an explosive device detonated under an armoured vehicle in the town of Bir al-Abd, North Sinai governorate. An officer died, a non-commissioned officer and eight soldiers were wounded.

In retaliation, the army went after Islamic State cells thought to be in a farming area not far from the site of the attack. Two jihadists were killed in the ensuing gun battle. A machine gun, mobile phones, and ammunition were seized.

For years, northern Sinai has been the scene of a low-intensity war carried out by extremist Islamist groups. The overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and the rise of the Islamic State group in 2014 saw the fighting escalate.

Christians were also caught up in the violence. Several were killed in targeted attacks against individuals and groups.

In February 2018, Egyptian security forces, military and police launched a massive offensive against armed groups and jihadists in the North Sinai area; in just over two years, more than 840 terrorist suspects and more than 60 military personnel were killed.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet wants students back in classrooms full-time as soon as possible, warning that homeschooling has significantly affected the state's productivity.

Preliminary NSW Treasury estimates show a 12.5 per cent fall in the amount of labour available in the economy due to parents being unable to work while their children are learning from home.

Home-schooling has become the norm for households across the country, affecting labour productivity. Credit:Tanya Macheda

"When you look at every area which is going to drive economic and productivity growth, getting kids back in school is top of the list," Mr Perrottet said.

"It is not just the productivity of the parents, it is the future productivity of the kids.
SEE ALSO: Toyota News Archive 1994-2020

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You searched for Toyota. Here are your results.

About Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan, and is currently the world's largest automaker. According to the 2008 Fortune Global 500, toyota is the fifth largest company in the world by revenue.

In 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product Type A engine and in 1936 its first passenger car the Toyota AA. The company was eventually founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Toyota currently owns and operates Lexus and Scion brands and has a majority shareholding stake in Daihatsu Motors, and minority shareholdings in Fuji Heavy Industries, Isuzu Motors, and Yamaha Motors. The company includes 522 subsidiaries.

Toyota is headquartered in Aichi, Nagoya and in Tokyo. In addition to manufacturing automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its division Toyota Financial Services and also creates robots. Toyota Industries and Finance divisions form the bulk of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world.

In 1933, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works created a new division devoted to the production of automobiles under the direction of the founder's son, Kiichiro Toyoda. Kiichiro Toyoda had traveled to Europe and the United States in 1929 to investigate automobile production and had begun researching gasoline-powered engines in 1930. Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was encouraged to develop automobile production by the Japanese government, which needed domestic vehicle production partly due to the worldwide money shortage and partly due to the war with China. In 1934, the division produced its first Type A Engine, which was used in the first Model A1 passenger car in May 1935 and the G1 truck in August 1935. Production of the Model AA passenger car started in 1936. Early vehicles bear a striking resemblance to the Dodge Power Wagon and Chevrolet, with some parts actually interchanging with their American originals.

Although the Toyota Group is best known today for its cars, it is still in the textile business and still makes automatic looms, which are now computerized, and electric sewing machines which are available worldwide.

During the Pacific War (World War II) the company was dedicated to truck production for the Imperial Japanese Army. Because of severe shortages in Japan, military trucks were kept as simple as possible. For example, the trucks had only one headlight on the center of the hood. The war ended shortly before a scheduled Allied bombing run on the Toyota factories in Aichi.

After the war, commercial passenger car production started in 1947 with the model SA. In 1950, a separate sales company, Toyota Motor Sales Co., was established (which lasted until July 1982). In April 1956, the Toyopet dealer chain was established. The following year, the Crown became the first Japanese car to be exported to the United States and Toyota's American and Brazilian divisions, Toyota Motor Sales Inc. and Toyota do Brasil S.A., were also established.

Toyota began to expand in the 1960s with a new research and development facility, a presence in Thailand was established, the 10 millionth model was produced, a Deming Prize and partnerships with Hino Motors and Daihatsu were also established. The first Toyota built outside Japan was in April 1963, at Port Melbourne in Australia. By the end of the decade, Toyota had established a worldwide presence, as the company had exported its one-millionth unit.

With high gas prices and a weak US economy in the summer of 2008, Toyota reported a double-digit decline in sales for the month of June, similar to figures reported by the Detroit Big Three. For Toyota, these were attributed mainly to slow sales of its Tundra pickup, as well as shortages of its fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Prius, Corolla and Yaris. In response, the company has announced plans to idle its truck plants, while shifting production at other facilities to manufacture in-demand vehicles.
A research assessment reported to have been compiled by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance of western states has stated that the Chinese government deliberately hid or destroyed evidence about the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

The document charts how Beijing denied at first that the disease could be transmitted between humans; silenced or disappeared medics who tried to warn of the outbreak; blocked access by international organisations to Wuhan, where it originated; and refused to provide live samples to international scientists trying to find a vaccine.

The Five Eyes intelligence network  comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand  has been sharing information on Covid-19, but there is no specific joint operation on the issue. US intelligence agencies are carrying out an investigation at the order of Donald Trump, who has demanded that China pays compensation for its alleged negligence in allowing the pandemic to spread around the world.

The document, obtained by The Daily Telegraph newspaper in Australia, reportedly charts a timeline of subterfuge by China and how it censored news about the outbreak. It says that despite evidence in early December of human-to-human transmission, Beijing did not confirm this key fact until 20 January.

However, there is little in the document that is not already in the public domain and there is nothing to conclusively support Mr Trumps claim that the disease originated in a scientific laboratory. It confirms that the Australian government believes that a wet market in Wuhan was the likely origin of the virus.

British security officials have said they are yet to see proof that Covid-19 resulted from scientific experiments.

Media reports in the US have claimed that the Trump administration has been pushing Washingtons intelligence agencies to say that the virus originated in a laboratory. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in Washington issued an unusual public announcement on Thursday that it was carrying out an investigation into Chinas role in the pandemic.

The Daily Telegraph report confirmed that key figures at the Wuhan Institute of Virology previously worked or trained in Australian government laboratories where they conducted research on pathogens in live bats as part of an ongoing partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. According to the document, the teams work at the Wuhan laboratory involved discovering samples of coronavirus within a cave in Yunnan province and synthesising a bat-derived coronavirus that could not be cured.
Photograph: Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

Californias governor, Gavin Newsom, promised meaningful adjustments to stay-at-home orders in the coming days as thousands of protesters gathered across the state in defiance of the lockdown.

Demonstrations took place from the capital of Sacramento to San Francisco and San Diego, while large crowds turned out in Orange countys Huntington Beach, a recent flashpoint after Newsom ordered beaches there to close.

Newsom said that the state was getting very close to making changes that would affect how businesses, including restaurants, could operate, and urged residents to be patient. He said the announcement of the changes would come in days, not weeks.

Related: Michigan: Trump says Whitmer should 'make a deal' with protesters

Nearly 3,000 people protested in Huntington Beach on Friday, the citys police chief told the OC Register. The Huntington Beach protest followed the closure of beaches in Orange county after a weekend when tens of thousands of people hit the sands south of Los Angeles county, which had been closed for weeks. Newsom scolded local residents for defying the spirit of the stay-at-home order, and responded by ordering all beaches in the county to temporarily close.

A crowd of protesters calling to reopen businesses and beaches in Huntington Beach, California. Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

I served in the army and fought tyrants and dictators overseas and this has gone too far, one protester told the Los Angeles Times. I didnt do that to come back here and live under a tyrant in my own country.

Many of the Huntington Beach protesters brought their children along with them, the Los Angeles Times reported, with one protester saying he had come with his wife and three young children because it was important to show that the protesters are normal people.

In Sacramento, the states capital, a packed crowd of protesters faced off with lines of riot cops in a tense and chaotic protest on Friday afternoon.

Traitors! the protesters screamed at police, according to a livestream of the protest produced by reporters from the Sacramento Bee.

Story continues

Some protesters held signs promoting anti-vaccine conspiracies or questioning whether the coronavirus is real, while others protested the closure of businesses during the pandemic, arguing that all jobs are essential. Almost none of the protesters were wearing masks, according to reporters and photographers at the scene.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) had announced that it would be barring protests at the capitol because of a lack of social distancing by participants at a previous rally, but protesters gathered on the steps of the building regardless, chanting Whose house? Our house!

The CHP repeatedly ordered the protesters to disperse, the Sacramento Bee reported, and by 3pm, a line of law enforcement in full riot gear had slowly pushed protesters back from the capitol steps towards the street.

A surfer taking part in the protest in Huntington Beach. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Other protests were smaller: only about 150 people rallied in San Francisco, and hundreds in San Diego, according to local news reports.

The rallies across California against Newsoms stay-at-home orders came as a rural county in northern California became the first to defy statewide orders by allowing nonessential businesses to reopen and diners to eat in restaurants. Modoc county, in the states far north-east, near Oregon, had no Covid-19 cases, a local official told the Associated Press.

In his Friday news conference, Newsom said he empathized with the protesters frustration and concern and deeply understandable anxiety about the economy and the fate and future of their families, and said that the state was trying to work closely to respond to the concerns of more rural areas of the state.

Were paying attention to you, Newsom said, speaking to the states rural residents. We recognize the economic pain.

But the availability of testing for coronavirus had also lagged in rural areas, Newsom said later, highlighting the dangers of reopening the economy too quickly.

Asked about his response to protesters calling him a tyrant and a fascist, Newsom simply urged Californians to take care of yourself.

Wear a face covering, he said. Do justice to physical distancing. You dont want to contract this disease.

People who showed no symptoms could still spread the virus, Newsom warned the protesters. Protect yourself. Protect your family. Protect your kids, your parents.

Protesters from ReOpen California demonstrate outside the State Capitol in Sacramento. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA

The governor passed on responsibility to local law enforcement officials for dealing with the fraught question of whether protesters who were violating social distancing guidelines should be arrested. He said he could not possibly monitor and respond to every protest happening across the state.

I have confidence in local law enforcement, incredible confidence, Newsom said.

In Sacramento, where many protesters were flouting social distancing guidelines, at least one person had been arrested, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Newsom defended his announcement that changes in shelter-in-place would come in many days, rather than weeks, and said that the move was motivated by the data, not just by the political resistance bubbling up across the state.

More than 2,000 people have died of coronavirus in California so far, including 91 people in the previous day, but the number of patients in intensive care units stayed flat, and the total number of hospitalizations had fallen slightly, both signs of progress justifying a move towards some changes in the emergency order, Newsom said.

But, We can screw all that up and set all that back by making bad decisions, Newsom said, adding that these positive signed are only possible because people have done an incredible job in their physical distancing, he said.

Thousands of people congregating together, not practicing social distancing or physical distancing, could undermine the current progress in preventing the spread of the virus, the governor said. If we can avoid that, we can get to the other side with modifications a lot quicker.

Agencies contributed reporting
N. Korea state media: Kim appears in public

SEOUL, South Korea  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media said Saturday, ending an absence that had triggered rumors that he may be seriously ill.

The Norths official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim attended the ceremony Friday in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is unable to rule.

Archdiocese in La. files for bankruptcy

NEW ORLEANS  The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans announced Friday that it is seeking federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid growing legal costs related to sexual abuse by priests.

The filing for reorganization could free the archdiocese from the threat of creditors lawsuits while it reorganizes its finances. The New Orleans archdiocese is the latest of more than 20 dioceses nationwide to take such action.
Native American tribes are being starved of federal aid more than a month after the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law even as COVID-19 infection rates on tribal lands across the United States are continuing to rise. On a per capita basis the outbreak among the Navajo Nation across the US Southwest is almost as severe those of New York and New Jersey.

The CARES Act, the largest stimulus package in American history with about $2.5 trillion set for allocation, will act as a slush fund for the countrys corporate and financial aristocracy to continue to loot the working class to prop up Wall Street. As the World Socialist Web Site has noted, the wolves guarding the hen house will oversee a vast transfer of wealth to the ruling class, eclipsing that of the 2008 bailout.

Of the $2.5 trillion, tribal governments around the country were allocated $8 billion in direct emergency relief funds. Tribal governments have sued the US Treasury Department over the inclusion of corporations under the definition of Indian Tribe in the CARES act, worrying that corporations will receive disproportionate aid. The corporations in question are Alaska Native corporations, which own most of the native land in Alaska, controlling employment, land management and building, including the building of health facilities.

This week, a US district judge ruled in favor of federally recognized tribes and against Alaska Native corporations, but the Treasury Department has not begun to disburse payments to tribes and, according to the Huffington Post, has refused to comment on the delay.

Reflecting the political infighting wracking the US ruling class, House Democrats on Wednesday issued a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt requesting a distribution of the funds, citing the negative impact that every day of delay has on Tribes. The $8 billion which the tribes are seeking to get disbursedwhich will be monopolized by a narrow wealthy elite layer of tribal leadersis a pittance compared to the trillions doled out to Wall Street, and the weeks of delay have cost untold lives.

In fact, the conditions of deep impoverishment and a lack of critical infrastructure imposed on Native Americans by the federal government have contributed to some of the worst coronavirus infection rates in the country. Native American tribes continue to face a crisis of overcrowded hospitals, with entire families infected with COVID-19.

The Navajo Nation, which covers 17.5 million acres of territory across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, tops 2,141 cases of COVID-19 and 71 deaths as of May 1, according to the Navajo Times. These cases likely under-represent the true number of cases throughout Navajo Nation, as just over 12,000 tests have been administered to a population of over 300,000 spread over an area the size of West Virginia.

COVID-19 infection rates on Navajo Nation are among the highest in the Southwest. In Arizona, while Phoenixs Maricopa county has 93.4 cases per 100,000 people, counties on Navajo land have cases as high as 655 per 100,000 people. In New Mexico, where Santa Fe County has 67.2 cases per 100,000, McKinley County, a population center for Navajo and Zuni Pueblo peoples, has 1409 cases per 100,000 people.

Meanwhile in Utah, as multimillion-dollar F-35 jets flew over the state on Wednesday ostensibly to honor health care workers, Salt Lake County reached 217.5 cases per 100,000 people, and the rural San Juan county, bordering Monument Valley, reached 301 cases per 100,000 people.

As states in the Southwest continue to reopen state and national parks, many of which sit on tribal land, tourism will again bring new cases to already overwhelmed rural areas.

Writing for the New England Journal of Medicine, Heather Kovich, a medical professional working on the Navajo Nation in northwest New Mexico, characterized the situation in tribal hospitals as a deepening crisis: A month ago, our first cases alarmed us; a week ago, our hospital was at surge level three: a series of tarps separated our Covid ward from the rest of the hospital. Now we are at level five: the whole hospital is essentially the Covid ward. At level six, we may expand to a school gymnasium.

The pandemic, which spreads mainly among families under the same roof, has decimated generations of Native Americans who live in high-density housing with multiple generations under the same roof. Kovich explained:

The virus landed in the middle of the reservation and exploded outward, from a remote region with an emergency department but no hospital. Many patients were transferred 100 miles east to our facility, but others were sent equally far in the opposite direction. Some were transported south to Albuquerque or Phoenix. Over the ensuing weeks, these families have had sick and dead members spread along an 800-mile circuit. Family members who are healthy enough are trying to coordinate hospital discharges, home oxygen delivery, transport of bodies, and memorials, all while grieving the loss of multiple relatives, young and old. The impact of this collective trauma is hard to grasp.

The Navajo Nation, and Native American tribes across the country, have the highest rates of poverty and malnutrition in the US, leading to an endemic health crisis that has left these communities vulnerable to pandemics like coronavirus. This federally enforced generational poverty is the result of US imperialisms centuries long mission to exterminate and then assimilate Native Americans.

The coronavirus pandemicand the malign negligence of the ruling classare global phenomena, decimating vulnerable Native American communities across North America and indigenous populations around the world.

Last week, the Oglala Sioux Tribe president issued a letter petitioning South Dakotas governor, who proposed that 70 percent of South Dakotas population would be infected, to impose a stay-at-home order and suspend construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to tribal lands.

In Canada, the Gull Bay First Nation in northwest Ontario is attempting to fight an outbreak of coronavirus after six people tested positive with COVID-19. That countrys territory of Nunavut, which is majority Inuit, recorded its first case of the disease Thursday in the remote community of Pond Inlet.

In Perus Amazon, indigenous tribes have accused the government of ethnocide by inaction in a formal complaint to the United Nations. In Brazil last month, a 15-year-old boy from the remote Yanomami tribe died of COVID-19; he had no known contact with a coronavirus carrier, indicating the possibility of community spread.
Finance Minister, Tengku Dato Sri Zafrul Aziz, has proposed that Malaysian banks consider waiving the accrued interest on deferred instalments during the 6-month moratorium.

Stating on his Facebook page, Tengku Dato Sri Zafrul mentioned that there is a possibility that it can be done, and especially so after taking the publics view into account. According to Tengku Dato Sri Zafrul, the issue of interest accrual during the moratorium lies under Bank Negara Malaysias purview via the Bank Negara Act 2009. However, he stated that the Ministry of Finance has approached both BNM as well as the local banks to facilitate discussions and make the right decision that meets the needs of the rakyat.

After reports from RinggitPlus and several dailies about the possibility of interest accrual on hire purchase loans and fixed-rate Islamic financing, there was a major outcry from Malaysians who were previously led to believe that both these instruments would not accrue interest during the moratorium.

In a previous comment, Tengku Dato Sri Zafrul suggested that the confusion arose from a misunderstanding in the FAQ posed by BNM, and encouraged both BNM and banks to improve communications to their customers.

(Source: Tengku Zafrul (Facebook))

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A rare case of a 73-year-old man with multiple co-morbid conditions testing negative for Covid-19 after 22 days in the hospital occurred in Pune on Friday.

The miraculous recovery of the patient occurred at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital where more than 58 of the total 92 Covid-19 patients have died as of April 30.

Admitted to the hospital on April 9, the man suffered from a number of serious ailments including chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, pneumonia, severe anaemia and respiratory failure.

A resident of Laxminagar, Yerawada, he is continuing his treatment in the hospital as he requires dialysis. He has now been shifted to the non-covid-19 ICU (intensive care unit).

The hospital in a press note said the patient was initially admitted for high blood pressure and kidney ailments and later tested positive for Covid-19 infection. After being admitted to the hospital, he was detected with respiratory failure, severe anaemia and kidney failure and was being treated for the same in the ICU ward.

He was also given seven units of blood during the treatment process as the kidney failure had led to an increase in creatinine in the blood of the patient.

The patient had to undergo haemodialysis 10 times during the course of the treatment and later it was found that he also suffered from chronic kidney disease.

Due to the respiratory failure, he was being supplied with oxygen through the ventilator.

The patent tested positive for Covid-19 infection on April 10 and eventually on April 25 and 26, he tested negative for the virus after which he was declared free of the disease.
A 51-year-old sub-inspector (S-I) of the Sashastra Seema Bals (SSB) 20 battalion deployed at Bairgania on the Indo-Nepal border in Bihars Sitamarhi district allegedly committed suicide on Saturday morning by shooting himself with his service revolver inside the barracks.

The cause of the suicide is not yet known, as no note was recovered from the deceased, the police said.

Initial investigation suggests that the S-I committed suicide. However, the reason behind the suicide is not yet known. The post-mortem examination was conducted at the Sadar Hospital and the body has been handed over to the SSB. Weve recorded the statement of his family members and colleagues. A case has been lodged at Bairgania police station. Further investigation is underway, said Anil Kumar, superintendent of police (SP), Sitamarhi.

SSBs assistant commandant Anurag said that the department would also investigate the reason behind his death.

The incident occurred at around 6.30am on Saturday, and the S-I was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the police said.

The family members of the S-I, a resident of Uttar Pradeshs Ghaziabad district, have been informed of his death, the police added.

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Two men were booked on Friday for violating various lockdown restrictions by organising a mass feast in a village near here on the 12th day of their mother's death as per the Hindu religion customs, said police.

Besides the two sons of the deceased women, the police also booked the caterer and the tent service provider, they said.

Police said Kango ka Navora village resident Hanski Devi had died 12 days ago.

Accordingly, her two sons Punaram and Laduram had organised mass feats, in which a large number of villagers had been invited, they said.

On getting the information, police and the SDM rushed to the spot, and dispersed the people.

We have seized all the material and have registered a case against two sons, besides the caterer and the tent service provider, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several parts of north India, including Delhi-NCR, will receive light to moderate rainfall from 3-6 May, while some areas may see hailstorm owing to a western disturbance, IMD officials said on Saturday

New Delhi: Several parts of north India, including Delhi-NCR, will receive light to moderate rainfall from May 3-6, while some areas may see hailstorm owing to a western disturbance, MeT officials said on Saturday.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the Regional Meteorological Centre of the India Meteorological Department, said under the influence of an active western disturbance, the north Indian plains and the hills will start receiving light to moderate rain from Sunday.

"The WD's effect will continue till May 6-7. Punjab, Haryana, Delhi-NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, north Rajasthan, west Uttar Pradesh will get rains during this period," Srivastava said.

He said some parts may also receive hailstorm.

A western disturbance is a cyclonic storm that originates in the Mediterranean and travels all the way traversing central Asia. When it comes in contact with the Himalayas, it brings rains to the plains and snow and rain to the hills. It is usually a winter season phenomenon.

During the four days, the temperature is also expected to come down. In Delhi, where the mercury is slowly soaring, the temperature is likely to be around 35 degrees Celsius during this time. PTI PR SMN
Russia-led forces opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, sniper and small arms.

Russia's hybrid military forces on May 1 mounted 24 attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action.

Read alsoUkraine's Rada calls on international community to strengthen sanctions against Russia, sever military relations

"The Russian Federation's armed groups violated the ceasefire 24 times on May 1. Three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded as a result of enemy shelling," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 08:00 Kyiv time on May 2.

Russia-led forces opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, as well as sniper and small arms.

Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the villages of Bohdanivka, Vodiane, Taramchuk, Kamianka, Starohnativka, Hnutove, Lebedynske, Nevelske, Krymske, Pivdenne, Myronivske, Novotoshkivske, Khutir Vilny, and Travneve.

In response to enemy provocations, units of the Joint Forces returned fire, using common weapons.

"Since Saturday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions nine times, mostly in the "Pivnich" [North] tactical grouping's zone," the update said.

One Ukrainian soldier was wounded as a result of enemy shelling on Saturday. Losses among enemy forces are being verified.
All prisoners in Michigans Upper Peninsula will be tested for the coronavirus in the coming week with help from the states National Guard.

The Michigan Department of Corrections will begin mass testing Monday, May 4, at Baraga Correctional Facility and then continue east across the U.P. with the goal of testing one facility each day, according to a news release issued Saturday by MDOC.

The Michigan National Guard will assist state officials by sending 15 three-person teams to complete the testing of 7,500 prisoners in the U.P. There will be medical specialists in each team to handle sample collection, according to the release.

We are very grateful for the support from the National Guard in this effort to continue our testing of prisoners across the state, MDOC Director Heidi Washington said in a prepared statement. Their assistance will allow us to accelerate our plans for testing our population, which will help us keep our staff, prisoners and the public safe.

All prisoners will be tested at Alger Correctional Facility, Baraga Correctional Facility, Marquette Branch Prison, Newberry Correctional Facility, Chippewa Correctional Facility and Kinross Correctional Facility.

MDOC Spokesperson Chris Gautz said officials plan to complete mass testing of the U.P. prison facilities by Saturday, May 9.

Out of 83 tests that have already been conducted at the six U.P. prison facilities, two inmates have tested positive, according to data posted to the MDOC website May 1.

A total of 3,770 prisoners have been tested statewide as of May 1, with 1,698 confirmed positive results.

Forty-one Michigan prisoners have died with COVID-19 as of May 1, MDOC officials reported.

State corrections officials have already begun mass testing at downstate prisons with the goal of testing one facility per week, Gautz said.

Officials completed testing of the Lakeland Correctional Facility last week, where results showed that over half of all prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19. Out of 1,419 tests conducted, 789 came back positive, according to MDOC data reported May 1.

Prison officials also began conducting antibody tests at Lakeland Correctional Facility last week to see how many inmates have had the virus and recovered. Gautz said the state plans to report those numbers once data becomes available.

The state began mass testing at the Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson during the week of April 27, where initial results on the MDOC website show about a third of tests have come back positive. Out of 1,321 completed tests, 402 prisoners tested positive, MDOC reported.

COVID-19 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.

More on MLive:

Michigan prisoners call coronavirus exposure cruel and unusual punishment in lawsuit

Coronavirus a death sentence in Michigan prisons, inmate says

Michigan prisoner dies from coronavirus weeks away from parole after being locked up 44 years
ENERGY entrepreneur Eddie O'Connor and his management team are willing to sell 100pc of Mainstream Renewable Power, with any such deal expected to see it valued at more than 1bn.

Mr O'Connor - a former Bord na Mona chief executive - owns 55pc of Mainstream, with management and other investors owning the remainder.

The company has begun a sales process that is initially designed to sound out interest for the sale of a stake in the Dublin-based business.

But financial advisor Rothschild has told potential bidders that Mainstream's owners could be willing to consider an outright 100pc sale of the company.

Industry publication SparkSpread, which first reported this week that Mainstream could be sold off, said that the company could be valued at more than 1bn based on the previous price of its shares.

A full sale of the business would also mark the second mega-deal by Mr O'Connor of a renewable power company within 20 years.

In 2008, he sold Airtricity, which he founded and was backed by NTR, to SSE and Eon for a 1.1bn equity value. That made Mr O'Connor about 50m richer.

"The size of the equity stake that the group is looking to sell is fluid, and will depend on investor appetite," said the teaser document sent by Rothschild to potential investors this week in relation to Mainstream.

"However, the sell-side advisor has indicated that the stake would be a controlling interest which could go up to 100pc," it added.

Mainstream employs 270 people and has offices in 13 countries. In 2018, the group generated revenue of 632.2m and a net profit of 487.5m.

Last year, Mainstream bought out its two minority partners - Barclays and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation - using proceeds from the more than 500m (570m) sale of its 450MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind project, SparkSpread noted. Barclays and Marubeni owned a combined 25pc of the business.

Mainstream had previously confirmed that it planned to raise capital, but not that it would consider an outright sale of the business.

In March, Mainstream CEO Andy Kinsella told the 'Sunday Independent' that the wind and solar energy firm had already held talks with funds interested in taking an equity stake in the company.

Mainstream, founded in 2008 by Mr O'Connor, has also been involved in raising $700m to fund the second phase of a 1.3 gigawatt wind and solar energy project in Chile. It's also active on projects in Egypt, Senegal and South Africa.
Along with the mammoth task of keeping about 135 crore population inside their homes, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are also exposed to the virus on a daily basis, as there have been cases reported from various states.

Ever since the lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 March, 2020, to curb the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the state and central forces have been given the task of enforcing strict lockdown measures.

The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), which has the mammoth task of keeping around 135 crore inside their homes, are exposed to the virus on a daily basis.

CAPF duties include guarding containment zones, enforcing lockdown measures, and ensuring people stay in quarantine, and handling thousands of migrants trying to get home hitting streets.

Firstpost spoke to officials from three Central forces actively involved in helping sanitize areas, distribute food packets, and keeping law and order.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is a Central Armed Police Force in India, which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, with its headquarters in Delhi.

A CISF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Firstpost that officers are working around the clock due to the rising cases in the country. Some of the work carried out by CISF personnel includes distributing ration in villages, sanitising public spaces and buildings with local civic authorities.

"Other offices and departments might have reduced their staff, but we can't afford to do so. Whether its providing security at various ports, industries like hydrocarbons, thermal power stations, steel industries, and so on, all of them are dependent on us to safeguard them," he said.

He also noted that the special fire wing of the CISF has been instrumental in carrying out sanitisation work in various districts in public spaces and various buildings. "Our special fire department wing is highly specialised and is trained for industrial fire outbreaks, but with the threat of blazes reducing with more than half industries cutting down on work, they have teamed up with local civic bodies to help them sanitise areas, especially red zones and hotspot areas of various districts."

The CISF is in charge of security at all commercial airports. "Our officers are exposed as these cargo flights come from international countries." the official told Firstpost.

So far two CISF personnel have tested positive in Delhi  one staffer was posted at Delhi airport while the other was working under Delhi Metros Quick Response Team (QRT).

Recently, 9 of 12 CISF personal working in Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) recovered from the virus.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

The country's largest paramilitary force, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), is another major branch of the central armed forces.

One of the main functions of the CRPF is to help state administration maintain law and order. A CRPF official told Firstpost that the paramilitary forces aren't just maintaining law and order in Delhi but are also setting up isolation wards for COVID-19 patients in the National Capital.

"With the rising number of attacks on the medical staff, ensuring their safety is now a major concern. We work in co-ordination with district authorities to provide them with security. We recently also donated one lakh masks to AIIMS Delhi." the official said.

"We are meant to help state administration by sharing their workload. The Centre has adopted some villages and areas in which we take the task of distributing food, ration, masks, sanitisers. In some parts, due to a shortage of masks, we have also set up stations and made medical masks for the people." the official added.

As of 1 May, the number of COVID-19 cases in the battalion has crossed 60.

Border Security Force (BSF)

The Border Security Force is the force deployed at the border areas of India. But with the lockdown in place and most countries having shut down their borders, there have been no major activities such as infiltration of terrorists, human trafficking, or drug smuggling along Indias borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Even though border with Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Pakistan are all closed, the BSF is maintaining its vigil, an official told Firstpost.

In Delhi itself, the BSF has deployed 10 battalions. "We are running a couple of isolation wards and hospitals in Delhi and Bangalore. We are helping state administrations all over the country. Whether it is contact tracing, providing security to medics, distributing food packets or medicines, we are the second line of defense, the backup plan, the first being the state police in civic areas." he noted.

It is clear that the governments, whether state or Central, depend heavily on these forces to carry out duties and ensure that the lockdown is being followed. Keeping that in mind, it becomes even more important for the government to oversee that these forces are protected well, considering if the virus hits the forces, it will handicap the government's efforts in tackling the global pandemic.

So far, the situation hasn't gotten out of hand yet, but in states which have been heavily affected by the outbreak  Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh  the situation might turn bad.

Given below are some figures reported from certain states where police tested positive for COVID-19.

Maharashtra

Rising infections among on-duty personnel have become a cause of concern for Maharashtra. Just earlier this week, the state government reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in state police crossed 100, reports Indian Express. The Mumbai Police has already lost three policemen to the infection.

Mumbai commissioner of police Param Bir Singh also ordered all personnel above the age of 55 to stay home until the countrywide lockdown imposed to combat the coronavirus ends. The order was issued after three police personnel died due to Covid-19 this month. All three policemen were over 50 years of age.

As per a report in NDTV, 107 policemen in the state have tested positive for COVID-19, of which seven of them have recovered.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh with over 2,600 cases, is reeling under the pandemic.

Thirty-four personnel, including some officers, have tested coronavirus positive in Bhopal so far, a top official told PTI.

"With a policeman in our cyber cell testing coronavirus positive this morning, 34 of our personnel, including officers, have been infected so far," Bhopal additional director general of police, Upendra Jain, told PTI. Around 30 of their family have also contracted the infection, he added.

In order to curb the spread of the virus and to keep their family members safe, around 2,100 personnel in the city are not going home after duty.

Delhi

With six personnel from a Delhi-based battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, the total number of infected troops in this unit now stands at 52, reported PTI.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said that in the past 48 hours, five jawans have tested positive for COVID-19 in Delhi. Two of them were on law and order duty in Delhi with police.

According to Hindustan Times, with four cases being reported on Thursday, the total number of Delhi Police personnel infected with the virus rose to 36.

Uttar Pradesh

The Uttar Pradesh Police has seen 28 cops test positive. Director-General of Police Hitesh Chandra Awasthi told PTI, "Till Thursday, 28 policemen have been found coronavirus positive in different districts of the state.

The police have also ordered over 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment and asked those over 55 with a history of poor health to stay off the front line duty.

Asked about the number of personnel under quarantine, Awasthi said: "This number continues to change, but we are doing whatever is possible for saving our forces from the virus."

A 'police corona helpline' has been set up at the DGP headquarters in Lucknow for guidance and counselling for personnel.

Gujarat

A woman Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) attached to the Ahmedabad city crime branch had tested coronavirus positive last week, reported PTI. So far, 46 police personnel in the city have tested positive for the infection.

Around 200 police were also put under home quarantine as a precautionary measure. "Eleven of them have recovered and got discharged," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Control Room, Vijay Patel.

In addition to that, 130 CRPF personnel have been quarantined after their colleague, a Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawan, tested positive for coronavirus in Ahmedabad.

The RAF jawan was asymptomatic and went for coronavirus testing on his own accord, officials said. The battalion is based in Ahmedabad.

It is clear that the Central Armed Police Forces form the backbone of the government lockdown. Without their support, carrying out a one- and-a-half month lockdown (and counting) in a country of this size and population would be an almost impossible task.

With inputs from agencies
NEW HAVEN  The consensus among legal experts and advocates is not whether pressure on the countrys immigrants, particularly the undocumented, will increase throughout 2020, only the degree of that pressure.

It will be heavily affected by the run-up to the presidential election, in combination with court decisions, particularly the ruling of the Supreme Court in June on whether DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is legal.

The program, enacted in 2012, has allowed young undocumented people, brought here as minors, to receive a temporary work permit and protection from deportation for two-year periods.

A total of 1.2 million DACA-eligible residents live in the U.S., although only about 703,890 are enrolled in the program.

The consequences of losing DACA would include a blow to the economy as 89 percent of the recipients are employed or in school, according to a survey by the Center for American Progress.

The CATO Institute, a libertarian think tank, has estimated that the federal government could lose $60 billion should DACA recipients be deported and U.S. economic growth could shrink by $280 billion.

It would diminish access to higher education, and, in some states, the ability to get a drivers license, although not in Connecticut.

As for those essential services, 43,500 work in health fields, 14,500 in manufacturing, 21,100 in transportation and 76,000 in restaurants, according to one analysis.

An initiative of former President Barack Obama, it has survived numerous legal tests, but this ruling will be its most consequential.

Megan Fountain, of Unidad Latina en Accion, said the anxiety the DACA ruling is adding to the financial and health threats experienced by others in the undocumented community, who have either been laid-off because of shutdown orders tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, or they are working front-line essential jobs that put their health in jeopardy.

Without legal status, they dont qualify for extended benefits being offered by the federal government as millions lose jobs in stay-at- home orders aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus that has killed 61,472 people in the United States and infected 1.06 million. In Connecticut, 26,767 people are infected and at least 2,169 have died.

Immigrants labor is essential, but their lives are disposable, Fountain said.

Fountain said when Unidad first surveyed 112 local New Haven immigrant families, 60 percent were living paycheck to paycheck.

On the most recent survey, they found that more than half have been laid-off or are sick with COVID-19, losing all sources of income. Unidad plans to start issuing cash awards directly to the families from the money it received from funders, such as the Community Foundation for of Greater New Haven and United Way.

Unidad is one of the nonprofits, along with state senators and House members, urging Gov. Ned Lamont to put together a $20 million relief fund for undocumented immigrants to help them with rent payments and other essentials. Based on a model adopted in California, the state would look to partner with the private sector for another $10 million.

We cant sit back and wait for Washington to act. The state of Connecticut can prioritize the health and safety of everyone, she said. They plan to ask that Husky healthcare coverage be extended to undocumented immigrants.

Michael Wishnie, who runs the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at the Yale Law School, said when criticism mounts, such as over his handling of the pandemic, to change the subject, Trump regularly announces some punitive policy aimed at immigrants.

If the high court throws out DACA, Wishnie hopes Congress doesnt agree to a weakened DACA and Temporary Protective Status legislation in exchange for funds for a border wall and harsh new immigration measures.

Between now and November, we are likely to see an escalation of dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric and even more executive orders and policies aimed at making life more difficult for immigrants, said Kica Matos, director of the Center on Immigration and Justice at the Vera Institute, and a longtime local advocate for undocumented immigrants.

/ Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

Matos said that in the last 30 days, the Trump administration has closed the U.S.-Mexico border; suspended hearings for asylum seekers in Mexico; and froze issuance of gGreen Ccards for 60 days. Meanwhile, ICE continues to carry out deportations all over the country, despite the pandemic.

University of Connecticut law professor Jon Bauer said ICE knows its detention policies affect public health and it is releasing more immigrants than it used to, but that could reverse once the health threat eases.

Mark Krikorian, executive director at Center for Immigration Studies, said his prediction is that the Supreme Court will throw out DACA. It is laughable it has gotten this far, he said.

The center, a conservative group, which advocates for tighter controls on immigration, said he expects there would be a wind down of the program over the next six months, but he doesnt see Congress taking it up again until after January.

Krikorian said it would make sense to give current DACA recipients green cards, but he would want that balanced with fewer green cards for others and DACA parents disqualified for any amnesty.

Wishnie and the law clinic just won a victory at the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts when 48 undocumented immigrants were released from the Bristol County House of Correction where ICE sends detainees, including from Connecticut, and not all of them were high-risk as defined by the CDC, which is a first.

Bauer said the detentions dropped from a high of 55,654 in July 2019 to 38,058 in March 2020.

Bauer would not predict whose side the Supreme Court will support in the DACA case, except that it will be 5 to 4.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

In just over six months however, the trajectory of immigration policy could change, given the outcome of the presidential race between Trump and the presumed Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden.

If there were a new president, Wishnie said there is an enormous amount that could be changed immediately because so much was instituted by executive action or regulation.

This would include the travel ban; DACA; border policies; the public charge rules that would deny status to those who use federal benefits; rules for Immigration and Custom Enforcement.

Finally adopting comprehensive immigration reform, last attempted in 1996, would depend on the will of the Congress, Wishnie said.

Matos has her own vision for the future of immigration policies.

... here is something that we should keep in mind: public opinion poll shows strong support for immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship for the undocumented. With a new administration, we expect they will prioritize legislation to make this a reality, she said.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577
Premier Doug Ford yesterday took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus newly announced ban on military-grade assault weapons during the provinces daily pandemic media briefing.

The estimated $600-million cost of Ottawas program would be better spent stopping smugglers at the border and cracking down on gun-wielding gangs that are terrorizing innocent people, the premier said Saturday in response to a question from a reporter.

On Friday, the Trudeau government outlawed a wide range of assault-style rifles, saying the guns were designed for the battlefield, not for hunting or sport shooting.

He has also promised a buyback program for all legally purchased rifles that would fall under the new ban, with owners offered fair market prices for their guns.

But in a Friday briefing, federal civil servants told reporters in a technical briefing that gun owners who already possess the kind of weapons that were used in the Nova Scotia massacre in April, will be allowed to keep them even after the ban takes effect  a fact that wasnt mentioned by Trudeau or his ministers.

Gun owners will have two years to decide whether to have their weapons bought back or to have them grandfathered under a still-unspecified program, reporters were told.

I cant help but think that money could be put to much better use, hunting down the violent criminals and stopping illegal guns at our borders. Im ready to work with our federal government and to partner up with them to stop the guns coming in from across the border, said the Ford, who has refrained from criticizing the Trudeau government throughout the COVID-19 lockdown.

Fords comments echo those made by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who has said the gun ban will criminalize law-abiding Canadians.

Lets strengthen the sentences rather than giving these nasty criminals, the gang bangers, a slap on the wrist, Ford said. You think the violence is going to go down in Toronto? I dont believe its going to go down in Toronto based on taking legal guns off gun owners.

For the second week in a row, the premier also lashed out at protesters at Queens Park for endangering lives by gathering together and disrespecting the country by flying a Canadian flag upside down.

The protesters, who last week Ford called a bunch of yahoos, want the province to open up businesses and ease the rampant unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 economic lockdown.

Ford said he understands people are hurting but flying an upside down flag disrespects Canadian military men and women overseas, including those lost in the crash of a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter off the coast of Greece last week and, others working in Ontarios long-term care homes that have been devastated by the virus.

They have the nerve to fly our Canadian flag upside down and disrespect the men and women of our Canadian Armed Forces, and disrespect the people of Canada who have all been united through this (pandemic) challenge, he said of the protesters.

As a few businesses prepare to open up on Monday, Ford said he wants to see infection rates decline consistently for a couple of weeks before he loosens more restrictions on the economy.

Despite the ongoing battle to fight the virus in Ontarios long-term care homes, there are signs that infections are slowing in the broader public domain, said the premier. But Ford said he couldnt provide a precise timeline for more openings.

The lower we get, the more we can open up and get back to the new normal, and get people back working, getting people out and about, he said.

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The Mizoram Congress has lodged a complaint with the state Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), an autonomous body, alleging that there were irregularities in the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) sets and other safety gears.

The Congress also alleged the sets of the coveralls were "substandard" and "not fit for use", and the materials were not bought from the approved suppliers.

State Health and Family Welfare Board vice chairman and ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) legislator Dr Z R Thiamsanga denied the allegation and said "no public money was wasted in the procurement and none of the PPEs were rejected".

The state government had spent "Rs 99 lakh for purchasing a batch of 10,900 PPEs and other medical equipment weighing 1,979 kg", Congress leader Lalhriatpuia claimed.

"The consignment was supplied here on March 27 from New Delhi through a cargo flight, and it was a wasteful expenditure as the products were faulty and not fit for use," he said, adding that the party has requested the Anti Corruption Bureau to probe into the matter.

The Congress alleged that the government had also spent Rs 16.2 lakh from state disaster management and rehabilitation department for arranging the cargo flight.

Any procurement, which had not been made through the state Purchase Advisory Board, was a "gross violation of law", the party leader said.

Thiamsanga said the "departmental procedure such as taking quotation before placing the order could not be followed due to scarcity of PPEs in the country".

"We had to act quickly as one COVID-19 case was detected that time, and the state needed PPEs urgently for the safety of our medical staff," he said.

However, all the other consignments, received after March 27, were procured through proper channel, Thiamsanga said.

He said the government led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga had worked hard to manage a cargo flight for supplying of the consignment.

Thiamsanga, who also heads the medical operational team on COVID-19, said that the opposition party must have been misinformed about the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
From left to right: Dotty Weston-Murphy, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven; Lesley Mills, Griswold Home Care; Sharon Cappetta, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Griswold Home Care of New Haven and Middlesex County announced that it will donate $35,000 to local nonprofits as a matching sponsor of the 11th annual online giving event, The Great Give, taking place May 5-6. The funds raised will be used to support nonprofits facing a lack of funding, resources, and volunteers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Created in 2010 by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, The Great Give is a 36-hour online fundraiser that raises money for nonprofits serving Greater New Haven. As a matching sponsor of this years event, Griswold Home Care has committed to matching $35,000 in donations to 12 senior-focused organizations that meet the needs of the communitys elderly residents, including:



Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut

Christian Community Action

Davenport Residence

Gaylord Hospital

Griffin Hospital

Guilford Interfaith Ministries

HomeHaven

Mary Wade Home

Milford Council on Aging

Orchard House

Partnerships Center for Adult Day Care

The Connecticut Hospice

During such uncertain times, its more important than ever to lend a hand to local nonprofits serving the growing number of people in need  especially seniors, said Lesley Mills, director of Griswold Home Care of New Haven and Middlesex County. We are proud to participate in this inspirational event and give back to the organizations helping our neighbors live happy, healthy lives at home.

For more than 25 years, Griswold Home Care has provided a wide variety of non-medical home care services to residents throughout New Haven and Middlesex counties, including personal care, homemaking, and companionship. The home care company has earned recognition from several renowned organizations, including the New Haven Chamber of Commerces annual Small Business Award and a nomination to represent Connecticut during the national Small Business Associations 2016 Small Business Awards from former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

To participate in and learn more about The Great Give, please visit https://www.thegreatgive.org/.

To learn more about Griswold Home Care, please call (203) 745-2126 or visit https://www.griswoldhomecare.com/new-haven-middlesex-new-london/.

About Griswold Home Care

With 200 locations in 30 states, Griswold Home Care is one of the countrys top home care companies. Griswold provides non-medical personal care services at home allowing adults to maintain quality of life despite advanced age or onset of illness. For more information, visit http://www.griswoldhomecare.com or call 215.402.0200.
We have been working hard to get answers to your questions about the coronavirus, and our photographer Len Wood has been all around the Centra
A Minnesota weatherman has been fired from his local news station after he shared a Facebook post from a local rabbi that slammed anti-lockdown protesters as 'Nazi sympathizers'.

On Friday NBC affiliate KARE-TV announced they dismissed staff meteorologist Sven Sundgaard saying he violated their ethics and policies, but they didn't cite a specific incident.

His firing comes after he shared a controversial Facebook post by Rabbi Michael Adam Latz that described anti-lockdown demonstrators as 'white nationalist Nazi sympathizer gun fetishist miscreants', and sparked outrage online.

'Due to continued violations of KARE11s news ethics and other policies, we have made the decision to part ways with Sven Sundgaard,' the station shared on Facebook on Friday.

Minnesota weatherman Sven Sundgaard, 39, was fired after he shared a controversial Facebook post that called protesters 'Nazi sympathizers'

On Friday NBC affiliate KARE-TV announced they dismissed staff meteorologist Sven Sundgaard saying he violated their ethics and policies

On April 19 he shared a Facebook post by Rabbi Michael Adam Latz calling protesters 'white nationalist Nazi sympathizer gun fetishist miscreants'. He later deleted that controversial post, but screenshots were taken

KARE-TVs announcement has racked up over 5,300 comments with some followers blasting the network for dropping their anchor for simply expressing political views while others supported the dismissal.

'I am on the side of science and Sven. Due to the poor ethics of KARE 11, I have decided to part ways with KARE 11,' one former viewer commented on the announcement post.

'I understand why it was done - every network has standards on-air talent are expected to abide by. However, Sven was part of the reason I watched Kare11, so I'll just choose another network for my news,' another added.

'Wow, kudos to you KARE11. I was shocked when I heard that a media figure would say what he said...Whether we agree with what Sven said or not, he has some responsibility to be neutral in public statements. I'm proud of you, KARE11,' another commenter added, in support of the station.

'Im going to have no comment, other than what was publicly posted,' John Remes, KARE president and general manager said to the Pioneer Press.

Sundgaard, who has worked as a meteorologist for the station since 2006, has not commented on the firing.

In the controversial post, shared on April 19, Latz pointed out that 81 percent of Americans support the governors Stay At Home directives designed to stop the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the public to 'pay attention to armed extremists', while bashing them as gun-toting white nationalists.

The anchor and his boyfriend Robert McEachren have been very vocal on their politics and in light of the pandemic have been hosting live online events to discuss such topics. Pictured delivering the news from home

Sundgaard has a long history with KARE, where the St. Paul report interned in 2002 while pursuing his meteorology degree at St. Cloud State University, before he formally joined in 2006

Facebook users were divided over KARE-TV's firing of Sundgaard

Some Facebook users are sharing this image and the hashtag #StandWithSven to support him following his firing while calling for a boycott of the station

Sundgaard deleted the post following the controversy but screenshots were taken.

Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis had criticized the weatherman in a Twitter post on Thursday saying, 'Todays forecast: mostly sunny with a chance of idiocy. Weatherman @Svensundgaard does this. #COVID-19 models are about as accurate as his forecasts. @Kare11 should fire him!'

The anchor and his boyfriend Robert McEachren have been very vocal on their politics and in light of the pandemic have been hosting live online events to discuss such topics.

Sundgaard has a long history with KARE, where the St. Paul report interned in 2002 while pursuing his meteorology degree at St. Cloud State University, before he formally joined in 2006.

Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis had criticized the weatherman in a Twitter post on Thursday saying, 'Todays forecast: mostly sunny with a chance of idiocy. Weatherman @Svensundgaard does this. #COVID-19 models are about as accurate as his forecasts. @Kare11 should fire him!'

In St. Paul, Minnesota hundreds of protesters waving American flags and Trump 2020 banners gathered outside of Gov. Tim Walz' official residents at the governor's mansion on Friday April 17 to protest his stay-at-home order

Protests have against lockdown orders have unfolded across the country and Minnesota is no exception. A registered nurse pictured being taunted by protesters outside the governor's mansion during a protest in St. Paul, Minnesota on Saturday April 25

A man cheers and celebrates wearing a Trump hat during a 'Liberate Minnesota' protest in St. Paul on Friday April 17

Protesters pictured holding signs that say 'Our Constitutional Rights are Essential' , 'Freedom and Faith over Fear', and 'God gave us an immune system for a reason'

Raucous rallies have emerged across the country - including in Minnesota - to protest stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 that has infected more than a million people across the country.

Demonstrations have taken place outside the governors mansion in St. Paul over the past two weekends, where protesters wave Trump 2020 banners and American flags and signs that say 'Freedom and faith over fear'.

President Donald Trump tweeted his support for dissenters on April 17 saying, 'Liberate Minnesota'.

In Minnesota there are over 5,000 COVID-19 infections and 371 deaths so far.
The first photo: Karl and Jasmine have welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Harper May.

Karl Stefanovic and wife Jasmine have welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Harper May Stefanovic.

The Today host confirmed his happy news on Saturday morning, revealing Jasmine, 36, gave birth in Sydney on Friday.

"I am in awe. Harper is absolutely perfect," Stefanovic said in a statement to Nine. "Harper and Jasmine are doing well and dad had a great nights sleep."

The Sydney Morning Herald understands the new 2.9-kilogram addition arrived via a planned Caesarean section at North Shore Private Hospital with the 45-year-old Stefanovic by his wife's side in the delivery suite.
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Olivia Culpo's recent trip to paradise was allegedly jeopardized over her plane attire. The former Miss USA was preparing to board an American Airlines flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on Thursday, with her boyfriend and sister, Aurora Culpo. But once the group got to the gate, Olivia alleges she was made to "cover up" in order to be let on the plane.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The police arrested two men in the Dutch Quarter area on Wednesday, 29 April 2020, about 10.00 pm in connection with the street party that had taken place in that area on Monday, 27 April 2020.

These two men with the initials J.A. and J.A. are suspected of being part of the group who organized and participated in the Jump-Up that had taken place in the Dutch Quarter. After being arrested the suspects were taken to the Philipsburg police station and incarcerated pending further investigation.

Statements were later taken from both suspects by the personnel of the detective department. The suspects were made to pay a hefty fine for their actions and were released.

The Sint Maarten Police Force KPSM has taken this investigation very seriously and will not stop until all offenders that can be identified are prosecuted. Those who took part in these illicit street parties should be aware that police will be making more arrests in this case in the very near future.

KPSM Press Release.
In April, the VDH started including probable COVID-19 cases and probable deaths in the states overall tally. Probable cases are people who are symptomatic with a known exposure to COVID-19, but have not been confirmed with a positive test.

The VDH said 157,957 COVID-19 tests have been conducted on Virginians, and there have been 3,211 hospitalizations.

In the Richmond area, there are 2,554 cases: 1,067 in Henrico County, 787 in Chesterfield County, 530 in Richmond and 170 in Hanover County.

Also, the region has 169 deaths attributed to the virus: 109 in Henrico, 26 in Chesterfield, 18 in Richmond and 16 in Hanover.

Fairfax County, the states most populous locality with more than 1.1 million people, has the most cases with 5,892 and 239 deaths.

There are coronavirus cases in 130 of Virginias 133 cities and counties. Only Bath, Bland and Dickenson counties dont have cases.

The VDH said there are 268 outbreaks in the state, 157 in long-term care facilities. These facilities also account for 489 of the states 827 deaths attributed to the virus.

The data broke down statewide cases by age group:
A Houston police officer was killed and another critically injured after their helicopter crashed early Saturday morning as they were responding to a report of bodies in a bayou, the citys police chief said.

The helicopter narrowly missed an apartment building, crashing around 2 a.m. in the complex between a pool house and a palm tree.

Had they crashed into the building itself, it wouldve been without a doubt fatal for residents of the complex, said the chief, Art Acevedo, at a news conference.

The pilot clearly maneuvered the helicopter so that it would not hit any residences, he said.

The complex, Biscayne Apartments, is part of a group of community apartment buildings that advertise affordable housing for families and people seeking a quiet and peaceful lifestyle.
The largest indoor mall in Alabama set a reopening date now that retail stores can operate in the state.

The Riverchase Galleria in Hoover announced its doors will open next Tuesday, May 5. Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday relaxed some of the restrictions that closed retail stores not deemed essential.

Outdoor malls like The Summit welcomed customers to retail stores after the stay-at-home orders were lifted at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Galleria, however, remained closed after the reopening was allowed.

Under the new order from the state, retail businesses can open but only at 50 percent capacity. In-restaurant dining is still not permitted by the new order from the state.
They have also managed to continue moving people out of the shelter and into permanent housing. Adams says Safoschnik and DeHart are exceptions because their situation is unique. They are moving into a senior housing complex that has to be cautious about bringing in new residents. It is also located in Bristol, Va., which means they need to find a moving company that is willing to make the over five-hour drive to transport the furniture the organization plans to give the men for their new homes.
Nearly 900 workers of Tyson Food Plants located in Logansport, Indiana test positive for COVID-19, according to a recently published article.



Workers Test Positive For COVID-19

Tyson Food meat-processing plant in Logansport, Indiana, is just one of its production sites across the country that voluntarily halted operations in an attempt to control the spread of the virus. Roughly 40 percent of its workers in Indiana tested positive for the virus.

Serenity Alter, Cass County Health Department's administrator, confirmed that 890 employees of the plant are positive for the virus, and hundreds of other employees are still to be screened and monitored for possible infection.

Tyson Food is the country's largest meat supplier. In the Indiana plant alone, they have around 2,200 employees. Meanwhile, to sustain the food chain in the country amid the global pandemic, the county officials have been working with the Tyson Food on how to open its plant strategically.

Hli Yang, a spokeswoman for the company, first declined to give the number of infected persons. She told a news outlet, "Since this is an ever-changing situation, we are not disclosing the number of confirmed cases associated with a plant."



Plans to Reopen the Tyson Food Plant in Indiana

Yang said that they would resume their operation in Logansport, Indiana, next week with limited production. The decision was made after the plant tour was done with local health and government officials, a union representative, and medical professionals.

Tyson Foods released a joint statement with the city, county health department, and local health officials that says, "While the facility was idled, we added more workstation barriers, installed more hand sanitizer dispensers, and did additional deep cleaning and sanitation. We're also now screening employees for additional symptoms and designating monitors to help enforce social distancing while following the CDC and OSHA's guidance for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers."

Yang also added: "We've worked closely with Cass County officials, Cass County health department officials, the mayor of Logansport and the local union chapter on a reopening plan that we all believe will be safe for team members. During the plant tour, we showed them the additional protective measures implemented, including more work station barriers, additional hand sanitizer dispensers, barriers in common areas to promote social distancing, and more."

Moreover, the chairman of Tyson Foods already warned that if they stop their operation, the U.S. food supply chain is breaking. He said that millions of pounds of meat would disappear from the supply chain if meat plants are closed even in a short time.



Virus Transmission from Meat to Humans

Meat consumers were alarmed following the report that almost 40 percent of the largest meat-processing in the country tested positive for the virus. They are afraid to catch the virus from the meat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Departement of Agriculture, and the World Health Organization said that food is not known to be a route of virus transmission.

Benjamin Chapman, a professor and food safety specialist at North Carolina State University, also said: "We don't have any evidence that food or food packaging is a source for getting sick."

However, he also stressed out that there are still lots of things that experts do not know about the behavior of the new virus, most especially when it comes to its mode of transmission. He also added: "Our understanding about the spread of the disease, and the risk food poses could change as more information becomes available."



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Linkedin Andriko Otang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2 2020

During the COVID-19 crisis, garment workers are feeling deeply anxious. First, the work environment in the garment industry does not allow for social distancing, making workers highly vulnerable to the virus. Second, their job security depends on the companys endurance and resilience to the pandemic. Third, they have lost basic income in the wake of massive layoffs.



As of April 20, more than 2 million workers from 116,370 companies have been furloughed with unpaid leave or laid off as a result of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the Manpower Ministry data has not been disaggregated by industry sector.



In the Sukabumi regency of West Java alone, one of the centers of the textile and apparel industry, more than 6,500 workers from nine garment factories had been furloughed or laid off as of April 14.



Decreasing buyer demand has caused more uncertainty regarding the industrys global supply chain. Although some international buyers and brands have committed to pay for orders that have been produced or are being produced, many brands have cancelled orders without payment guarantees, which have disproportionately burdened suppliers. To avoid lawsuits, many brands have invoked force majeure clauses, even though their contracts do not mention a pandemic as a reason to forgo their bills. This is very detrimental to suppliers. Indonesia is ranked among the top ten largest textile-producing countries.



The latest study of the Asia Floor Wage research group, The emperor has no clothes, reports that in supplier and producer countries in the global garment supply chain such as India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, brands and retailers are demanding a 30 percent discount. This is both unfair and irrational because under normal circumstances, brands and retailers gain the most profit in the garment supply chain. Profits have never really been shared proportionally with suppliers or workers in producing countries.



In addition, as the researchers add, current sales should not be used as an excuse to renegotiate the price of goods that will be shipped now or in the near future, given the uncertainty of consumer demand. This uncertainty significantly affects the finances of small and medium companies operating with thin profit margins and with low working capital.

______

Under normal circumstances, brands and retailers gain the most profit in the garment supply chain.

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As a young lad, Jose Custodio knew his love for numbers would provide an outlet to dream big.

Growing up on the Pacific beach coastline in the district of Pimentel, Peru, near the city of Chiclayo in the northern part of the country, Custodio took advantage of his mathematical wizardry to assist his mother, who ran a restaurant.

The town is known for its beachfront cevicherias, which gave the family immediate access to fish straight from the sea, while Custodio kept busy helping with the books, solidifying the work values passed down through his parents.

He always loved his numbers, his son, Eddie, said. He dreamed about numbers. He was so dedicated and took his responsibilities seriously.

Custodio, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1974 and eventually opened his own tax-preparing business in Plainfield, died April 19 at the age of 75 from complications of COVID-19 after a 10-day bout with the coronavirus.

It is not clear how the father of three became infected, but it was not difficult to figure out Custodio could have gotten sick anywhere while running errands for his business, La Feria Services, which he adored and branded as his baby as many of his clients and community members could attest.

Everyone had access to him no matter if it was at 6 a.m. or at midnight, Custodios son, Carlos, said. No matter what country you were from or what situation you were in, he would listen to you like an extended member of the family.

Custodio was enamored with the daily routine in conducting the day-to-day operations of the family-owned company but, most of all, enjoyed building relationships, his son added. His motto was los clientes son primeros, los clientes son segundos y los clientes son terceros (clients are first, second and third).

Custodios daughter was a regular at the agency, assisting her father with the business, but neighborhood folks and clients did not refer to her by her name.

"Instead of calling me Isela, they would call me "la hija de Don Jose (Mr. Jose's daughter)," she said.

The Custodio family, with one of the first Latino-owned businesses in Plainfield, in 1984 began selling jewelry, music and video cassette recordings, among other items, before the business added tax preparations and other services. They made their mark on the citys immigrant entrepreneurship scene, as more Latino-influenced commerce began to develop.

Custodio was not afraid to take risks either, opening up a nightclub in downtown Plainfield, the citys first, to showcase his love for salsa music and give local residents a chance to stay close to home for a cocktail and some dancing instead of venturing into Manhattan, Newark or Elizabeth, sites of larger Latino clubs.

His opinions, suggestions and recommendations to his clients were mostly from his personal and prior experiences from having a variety of businesses, good or bad, Isela Custodio said. As a business person, he grew alongside the Latino community.

Jose Custodio, 75, a Peruvian-American entrepreneur who opened one of Plainfield's first Latino-owned businesses, died from the coronavirus.

Dedicating so much of his life to La Feria Services, Custodio refused to let the growing pandemic scare him off, thinking about clients needs ahead of his own safety, even after being designated a potential high-risk patient because he had suffered a mild stroke in 2011. It left him with a slight imbalance when he walked, but Custodio downplayed any effects and kept on with his business.

We told him to be careful, Eddie Custodio said. Who knows how he caught it? He was always out and about at the post office, running around doing stuff for work.

At first, Custodio began developing bothersome coughs that concerned family members, but he brushed them off and tried to fight off the sickness. Eventually, Custodio started to lose his appetite before being enveloped with periodic fevers.

Finally, about a week after starting out with those coughs, Custodio had trouble breathing and authorities were called. Custodio was whisked away in an ambulance as his family helplessly watched.

It was an emotional rollercoaster for us, with some good days and some bad, Eddie Custodio said. This virus ruins your body, and I wouldnt wish this experience on my worst enemy."

When doctors notified the Custodio family that the 75-year-old Peruvian-American had very little chances of surviving, they decided to take him off of life support.

Isela Custodio was the sole family member to see her father at the hospital before he died, but she could not caress or hug her father, instead looking at him through a glass door.

He looked like he always did when I would find him sleeping on his couch from watching TV, Isela said. I took a photographic shot in my head to remember that moment.

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Nestor F. Sebastian may be reached at nsebastian@njadvancemedia.com.
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.

The essays that appear in Modern Love dont typically reflect the current news cycle. As the journalists who manage the column, we view Modern Love (along with its 100-word version, Tiny Love Stories) as counterprogramming  the kind of story readers turn to when they need a break from the news. As the coronavirus bore down on the United States, we didnt expect that to change much. We even talked about how providing a distraction from the news might be more important than ever.

We were wrong.

Like many, we didnt grasp how long the coronavirus crisis would last and how dramatically it would demand the worlds attention. (We were more concerned with giving our office plants extra water, not realizing that we would be gone for months, not weeks.) An early clue of the coming coronavirus dominance was how quickly our submissions shifted from a trickle of stories about the virus in early March to a flood by months end, with 78 of them even sharing the same title: Love in the Time of Coronavirus.

The inbox for Tiny Love Stories changed, too. We experienced a surge in submissions to both features that went way beyond our already strained capacity to read them all. Normally our process is first come first served, which means were reading essays that were submitted months earlier. But we began turning first to what had come in recently, because so much of what had come before the pandemic read like tales of yesteryear, a world where dating and romance involved strange behaviors like hugging, kissing and even sex.
It wasn't the send-off that renowned Belfast actress Roma Tomelty would have received in normal times.

But not even the coronavirus crisis could stop the friends and family of the theatrical titan - including her acclaimed actress sister Frances - from paying their respects from right around the world and marking her passing with a sustained round of applause.

Using the technological wizardry of Zoom, the Tomeltys staged a 'virtual' funeral for Roma yesterday outside their north Belfast home.

Due to government restrictions on numbers attending funerals here, only a small group of friends from the arts scene were able to join Roma's husband Colin Carnegie and their daughters Rachael, Ruth and Hannah for the briefest of 'services' which I was invited to watch on Zoom.

Roma's priest Father Martin Graham from St Peter's Cathedral said prayers in the street as her coffin sat on a trestle.

It was all in stark contrast to the funeral that Roma's beloved playwright father Joe, the head of one of Belfast's most famous theatrical dynasties, received in a packed St Peter's in June 1995.

Fr Graham revealed that Roma had recently come up with an idea to mark Palm Sunday in the Cathedral by parading a donkey up the aisle, to symbolise the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

The Covid-19 lockdown stymied Roma's plan but Fr Graham said: "Please God when we get to next Palm Sunday there will be a donkey coming up the aisle to say thanks to Roma."

Fr Graham said Roma had now left behind her earthly scripts to return to the word of the Lord. And he prayed for Roma's friends and family including her sister Frances Tomelty who held a lit candle as she watched the funeral on her mobile phone.

After the prayers actor Mark Claney who was a close friend of Roma's read the Dylan Thomas poem "And Death Shall Have no Dominion."

Its end was the cue for Roma's husband and daughters to inch forward to say their own farewells before walking behind the hearse for a short distance.

Other mourners kept their distance and Roma's daughter Hannah later said it was a 'strange way' for people to say goodbye to her mother.

But she pledged that the family will give Roma a 'proper' farewell when it's safe to do so.

She thanked people who offered their support to the Tomeltys and added that one of the most difficult parts of the day for the family had been the inability to hug the mourners.
Georgia state health officials on Friday said there have been 1,165 people in the state who have died from the coronavirus, 33 more since Thursday.

The confirmed cases are now at 27,491 up by 1,232 in the last 24 hours.

Hospitalizations are at 5,307, up 117 since Thursday.

Whitfield County now has 111 cases, up 8 from Thursday, and remains at four deaths.



Walker County is reporting 60 cases and no deaths. Dade County has 16 cases, up two, and remains at one death.

Catoosa County has two more, at 49, and Chattooga County remains with 16 cases and two deaths.

Bartow County south of Chattanooga at Cartersville now has 323 cases, 10 more than Thursday. They had one more death from the virus, for a total of 31.

Floyd County (Rome) has one more case for a total of 145, and remains at 11 deaths.

Gordon County (Calhoun) has 113 cases, 21 more than Thursday, but no more deaths, for a total of 12.

The cases remain centered around the Atlanta area, with Fulton County with 2,889. There have been 122 coronavirus deaths in Fulton County. Cobb County has 1,676 cases and 94 deaths. There are now 2,071 cases in Dekalb County (Decatur) with 49 deaths. Gwinnett County has increased to 1,844 cases and 58 deaths.

Dougherty County (Albany) now has 1,530 cases and 123 deaths.
Tennessee coronavirus deaths are up five since Friday, rising to 209, according to state figures. Cases went up from 11,891 to 12,661 as more prison inmates and staff test positive.

Officials said 1,125 people have been hospitalized in the state from coronavirus - up 12 from Friday.

Hamilton County reported 12 more coronavirus cases and is up to 175. The county still has 13 deaths. Seven of the cases are from an Orange Grove Center group home.

Health Department officials said, "The Health Department is working with Orange Grove Center and is aware of seven COVID-19 cases at the facility. Five cases are in residents living in the same group home and two staff members have tested positive. The Health Department is working closely with Orange Grove officials who have been fully cooperative. Appropriate contact tracing, isolation and quarantine measures have been implemented."

Orange Grove Center CEO Tera Roberts said, "We have had some positive cases of coronavirus in one of our homes. If you have a family member affected, we have already been talking with you last night and today. When you consider we operate 64 group homes, we have been tremendously blessed to have no cases until now. While we dreaded anyone getting sick, we have worked diligently to prepare and the staff have done a great job implementing our plans. I will continue to keep you updated and welcome any questions you have."

Bledsoe County has 596 cases. There have been no deaths in the county from the virus. Almost all the cases are from the correctional facility at Pikeville.

Bradley County has 52 cases with one death.

Rhea County has five cases and no deaths.

Marion County is at 29 cases. It has recorded one death.

Sequatchie County still has five cases. Grundy County remains at 28 cases with one death. Meigs County has nine cases. Franklin County has 36 cases with one death.

McMinn County is now at 97 cases. Life Care Center of Athens has had an outbreak of the coronavirus with two patients dying.

Monroe County is at 22 and it has one coronavirus death. Polk County is up to 11 cases.

Sumner County (Gallatin) is up to 640 cases and has had 38 deaths.

Shelby County has increased to 2,672 cases and deaths increased to 55.

There are now 419 cases in Williamson County and it has nine coronavirus deaths.

Knox County, with five deaths, is at 263 cases.

Metro Nashville is listed at 2,773 cases and 28 deaths, the state reported.
A group calling itself Friends of Alhaji Binga has presented the large quantity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Our Lady of Rocio Clinic and Nutrition Center in Walewale in the West Mamprusi Municipality to support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The presentation was done in honour of Mr Ahmed Issahaku popularly called Alhaji Binga who is the Technical Advisor to the Vice President for his enormous contribution towards youth development in the area.

The items presented include 300 pieces of gloves, 10 gowns, one overall, a pair of theater shoes, 60 bottles of hand sanitizers, two gallons of methylated spirit, and two gallons of bleach. The rest are 150 pieces of a surgical mask, 20 respirator masks and a veronica bucket.

Presenting the items in Walewale on Friday, the leader of the group, Mr. James Atiga said they recognizes the efforts of the facility in health care delivery in the municipality and deemed it necessary to support the center as part of their Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR).

the association is doing this donation to let the Technical Advisor to the Vice President, Mr. Ahmed Issahaku popularly called Alhaji Binga to know that the youth of Mamprugu and Ghana recognizes his efforts through the office of the vice president in getting them opportunities such as jobs, scholarships, and goodness he noted.

He admonished management of the facility to put the items into good use for the benefit of the entire society, pledging that as an association which is championing the development of mamprugu, they will continue to support the health facility in diverse ways to enable it function effectively.

Mr Atiga also used the occasion to advise the general public to commit themselves in the fight against the dreadful pandemic that is causing havoc across the world, stressing that lets continue to practice the safety precautions by regularly washing our hands with soap under running water, use sanitizer and put on nose masks.

On her part, the Reverend sister in charge of the center thanked the group for the kind gesture and called on other benevolent organizations and well-meaning individuals to emulate the group and come to their aid.

The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Walewale Constituency, Alhaji Jacob Pantaki who graced the occasion also commended the group for the kind gesture and pledged his maximum support to them.

Present at the occasion were Mr Mohammed Tuferu, a representative of Alhaji Binga, Alhaji Sualihu, a former constituency treasurer, Mba Mo-ari, Nuhu Abdul Razak, Mahami Adam among other members.
By late April 1945, the German army was in retreat and, after nearly six long years of war, the Allies were finally poised to defeat Adolf Hitler. For many British servicemen, particularly those who had served for all or most of the Second World War, thoughts inevitably turned to surviving the last battles and returning safely to their loved ones.

Yet for one man, Guardsman Edward Charlton of the Irish Guards, his finest hour was yet to come. For just days before Hitler's suicide and, later, Germany's surrender, he would display such outstanding bravery that he would be awarded the final Victoria Cross (VC) of the war in Europe.

His decoration was all the more remarkable because it relied heavily on the testimony of enemy soldiers who, once they were taken prisoner, told how they witnessed Charlton's last stand. Writing now, just days before the 75th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, I feel privileged to be able to tell the story of this soldier's valour.

Guardsman Edward Charlton of the Irish Guards. On 21 April 1945 Guardsman Charlton was a co-driver of one tank of a troop that was supporting an infantry platoon

With Allied forces advancing through Germany itself from the Rhine to the Elbe, XXX Corps had reached the outskirts of the ancient city of Bremen by April 20. The commanders were keen to prevent enemy reinforcements reaching Bremen from Hamburg to the north-east and, with this in mind, the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards  part of the Guards Armoured Division  were ordered to block their route.

One troop from No1 Squadron, 2nd Battalion, advanced northwest from the town of Elsdorf to the village of Wistedt, two miles from a nearby autobahn, but they withdrew at dusk even though there was no sign of an enemy force in the area. The next morning, April 21, No1 Squadron and a platoon of infantry returned to Wistedt to reoccupy the village.

Among the advancing party, as the drizzle fell, was Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton. Born in Rowlands Gill, near Gateshead, Co Durham, on June 15, 1920, he had worked in a Manchester abattoir after leaving school at 14 and was encouraged to join the Royal Army Service Corps, whose roles included supplying food for the Army, when war broke out in September 1939.

Instead, however, he volunteered for the Irish Guards. Still only 19, he wanted to see frontline action and hoped to join the police after the war, knowing that the Manchester and Salford forces employed only former Guardsmen. He was called up the following year and mobilised on September 19, 1940. After training at Caterham in Surrey, Charlton, the middle of three brothers, joined the 2nd (Armoured) Battalion, Irish Guards, in 1942.

Known as both 'Eddie' and 'Ed', he became friends with Guardsman James Mendes, who said later that 'Ed's regiment was the biggest thing in his life'. Charlton penned several letters home, including one in 1942 in which he seemed disappointed not to have seen frontline action.

'Why we have been kept back so long I don't know, but our day is coming,' he wrote. Several months after D-Day, he moved with his battalion through Belgium and Holland, writing home to tell his family how grateful the locals had been to be rid of the German occupation and detailing their terrible deprivations during this time.

British soldiers of the 2nd Armored Division launching an offensive through the village of Westphalia, near Stadtlohn, during the Second World War

In early 1945, he wrote to his parents saying: 'Don't worry, Mum. I don't take any more risks than I have to so I will come through this lot with flying colours.' As the British forces advanced into Germany, Charlton joined No1 Squadron and was the co-driver of a Sherman tank.

He found himself on the outskirts of Wistedt at first light on April 21, 1945, as a driver in one of four tanks rolling into the outskirts of the village, some with men riding on the back of the vehicles. Soon, in the best traditions of the British Army, they stopped to set about 'brewing up' using their Tommy cookers, or portable stoves.

However, before they could enjoy their hot tea, the men were ambushed by a large enemy force. As Lieutenant (later Captain) Barry Quinan stood in the middle of the road looking through binoculars to see what lay ahead, an armour-piercing shell passed so close to his head that it blew his black beret off before hitting a house behind him.

Then, in the words of one eyewitness, 'all hell was let loose', with most of the fire coming from the right flank. Shells, mortars and machinegun fire rained down on the soldiers: a young corporal was the first to die, hit by a German SP (self-propelled) gun so that he fell back down into his tank.

Guardsman Edward Charlton of the Irish Guards, was awarded a posthumous VC,it was the last Victoria Cross of the European side of the war

Eyewitnesses saw Charlton and his co-driver race from their own Sherman after it had been hit and take shelter between two houses. With three of the four tanks knocked out and with the Irish Guards almost entirely surrounded and short of ammunition, the order was given to retreat.

Several soldiers were unable to pull out in time and were eventually forced to surrender. It later emerged, however, that, with his party in danger of being overrun, Charlton, aged 24, had decided that attack was the best form of defence against a large force from the 15th Panzer Grenadier Regiment supported by six SP guns.

His citation for his VC takes up the story: 'Whereupon, entirely on his own initiative, Guardsman Charlton decided to counterattack the enemy. Quickly recovering the Browning [machine gun] from his damaged tank, he advanced up the road in full view of the enemy, firing the Browning from the hip.

'Such was the boldness of his attack and the intensity of his fire that he halted the leading enemy company, inflicting heavy casualties on them. 'This effort at the same time brought much-needed relief to his own infantry. 'For ten minutes Guardsman Charlton fired in this manner, until wounded in the left arm.

'Immediately, despite intense enemy fire, he mounted his machine gun on a nearby fence, which he used to support his injured left arm. He stood firing thus for a further ten minutes until he was then again hit in the left arm, which fell away shattered and useless.

'Although twice wounded and suffering from loss of blood, Guardsman Charlton again lifted his machine gun on to the fence, now having only one arm with which to fire and reload. Nevertheless, he still continued to inflict casualties on the enemy, until finally he was hit for the third time and collapsed. He died later of his wounds in enemy hands.

'The heroism and determination of this Guardsman in his selfimposed task were beyond all praise. Even his German captors were amazed at his valour. 'Guardsman Charlton's courageous and self-sacrificing action not only inflicted extremely heavy casualties on the enemy and retrieved his comrades from a desperate situation, but also enabled the position to be speedily recaptured.'

Those who survived the ambush and returned unscathed did not know exactly who among those missing had been killed and who had been taken prisoner. In the hope that he was still alive and in the knowledge that he had shown great bravery, Charlton was initially recommended for the Military Medal (MM).

However, by May 10, 1945, two days after VE Day, the recommendation was marked 'unsuccessful'. This was because it had emerged that Charlton was dead and that the MM could not be awarded posthumously.

Fortunately, a far more vivid and accurate account of Charlton's astonishing gallantry started to emerge, first from Sergeant Jim Connolly, who had been captured by the Germans on April 21 but later released after the German surrender. Connolly had not personally seen all of Charlton's last stand but he had been told by a senior German officer about his courage.

Connolly set about informing senior officers of the precise details and they were able to confirm them with German prisoners who had observed the counterattack at first hand.Those who bore witness to Charlton's bravery included Lieutenant Hans-Jurgen von Bulow, the company commander who was awarded an Iron Cross First Class for leading the successful attack at Wistedt.

Connolly said later that had it not been for Charlton's courageous efforts in holding up the German advance, he did not think there would have been any Allied survivors from the ambush.

In fact, after many soldiers on both sides were interviewed, Charlton's VC was announced in the final wartime Honours List published on May 2, 1946. It is extremely rare but not unprecedented for the testimonials of enemy servicemen to play a part in the award of a VC.

In fact, the decoration to Flying Officer Lloyd Trigg for bravery in the air on August 11, 1943, is the only VC to be announced solely on evidence given by the enemy. Trigg, of the Royal New Zealand Air Force but serving with 200 Squadron, RAF, was decorated posthumously after two German officers testified how he had attacked their surfaced U-boat at a range of just 50ft in his Liberator bomber, despite having been hit previously by anti-aircraft fire.

Former comrades of Charlton were overjoyed by the news of his VC, announced more than a year after the action. Sergeant Hugh Gallagher, who had been wounded and taken prisoner during the April 21 ambush, wrote to Charlton's parents saying: 'I am writing this letter to you in reference to your son Eddie.

Today I am one of the happiest men in England after I had seen in the paper of his reward, the VC. It was only through his gallantry that saved my life that I am able to write to you. The work he did that day is indescribable, he saved quite a lot of our lives though badly wounded.'

Gallagher also revealed that Charlton, badly injured and by then a prisoner of war, had said farewell to his fellow PoW with the words 'Up the Micks', an affectionate reference to his Irish comrades. Charlton died from his wounds just hours later.

Shortly before the June 8, 1946 Victory Day Parade in London, Guardsman James Mendes wrote an emotional tribute to his best friend: 'There is a man who will march with me on the Victory Day Parade, a man who you will not see. 'Ed was my pal. Funny that an Englishman should have to win the VC for an Irish regiment, but that's the way it is.

Yet after five years in the Irish Guards Ed was more Irish than English, in fact, more Irish than many of us. 'He had the blarney all right, and a temper with the physique to make it dangerous. But he had a heart of gold. He was a man, the way real men are and should be.

He liked his beer and his fun. He lived the British way and died the British way. 'That was Ed who goes down in the ruddy annals of British history for one of the greatest bits of heroism in this war To me, Ed still lives. He will march with us through London. You won't see him, but he'll be there.'

Charlton's posthumous VC was presented to his parents, Albert and Edith, at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on October 29, 1946. He was originally buried by the Germans near Elsdorf but he was reinterred and his grave is now situated at the Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Germany.

The inscription on Charlton's gravestone reads: 'Greater love hath no man that he lay down his life for others.' In 1956, Charlton's parents gifted his medal group, including his VC, to the Irish Guards and it remains on display at their regimental headquarters at Wellington Barracks in Central London.

There is no doubt in my mind that Charlton's VC action was not just the final one before VE Day but that it represents one of the finest wartime actions in the decoration's long and rich history. Days before VE Day, this is the right time to remember and to honour one of 'the bravest of the brave'.

Lord Ashcroft KCMG, PC is a businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For information about his work, including his six books on bravery, visit lordashcroft.com.

Follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft.
By Trend

An online meeting was held between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development (Minister for European Neighborhood and the Americas) Wendy Morton, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend on May 1.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mammadyarov congratulated Morton on her new appointment.

The parties discussed a number of issues included in the agenda of bilateral cooperation relations.

Touching upon the current global situation, the sides exchanged views on the measures taken by both countries within the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and on the issues of mutual support.

Mammadyarov also answered Mortons questions regarding the current stage of negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Morton stated that the UKs position on the conflict is clear and once again emphasized that the UK supports Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Then the parties exchanged the views on other issues of mutual interest and, in particular, discussed energy projects.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Pharmacity chain reports $11.5 million in net loss in 2019

Pharmacity has just reported on the use of capital which was mobilised through bonds in 2019. The chain has already spent 80 per cent, equivalent to VND121 billion ($5.2 million) of the total VND150 billion ($6.5 million) mobilised by bonds for opening new stores and their working capital.

Last year, Pharmacity reported VND265 billion ($11.5 million) in net losses, which aligns with the plan set forth. The revenue of the company is not revealed in the report, however, a representative of the chain said in early 2020 that revenue in 2019 rose by 129 per cent on-year to around VND487 billion ($21.2 million).

In parallel with extending its network, Pharmacity has been repeatedly mobilising capital. In early-2020, the chain raised VND730 billion ($31.8 million) in a Series C funding round, the biggest funding ever in the firm's history.

Particularly in 2020, Pharmacity plans to open 350 new stores and hit the target of 1,000 stores across the nation by the end of November 2021, while its revenue is expected to increase by 230 per cent.

Chris Blank, founder and CEO of Pharmacity, said that the company's inventories were not enough to cover market demand, which obstructed expansion plans. This issue Pharmacity overcame by entering into a collaboration with DH Logistic Property Vietnam Co., Ltd., a logistics facility developed by Japan's Daiwa House Group, to launch a delivery hub in Loc An Industrial Zone (Dong Nai province).

This facility allows Pharmacity to open one new store each day from this April onwards.
Union Human Resource Development minster on Saturday released an alternative academic calendar for secondary school students. The calendar is developed by NCERT and has been designed for an effective week- wise planning for each subject. The alternative calendar has to be followed by the teachers, students and parents to cover the syllabus during the lockdown.

The alternative calendar will help in keeping the students busy and at the same time maintain continuity of their learning during the lockdown period.

Schools, Colleges and Universities have been closed. Students are confined to their homes, and so are teachers and parents. Teacher educators, teachers and parents need to find ways to deal with this unprecedented situation arising out of the lockdown in order to engage students meaningfully through educational activities at home. While we are putting in all efforts to flatten the epidemic curve, learning can continue at home too, and the learning curve of children must continue to move upwards. How should this be done? The first thought would perhaps be homework or home assignments. However, the concept of homework is that of a task done individually; moreover, it carries with it the pressure of completion rather than that of joyful learning. Further, as educationists, we prefer not to recommend homework over a long duration for very young children. We have to therefore seek alternative methods, reads the guidelines given in the calendar for parents, teachers and students.

Informing about the release of alternative calendar for the Secondary school students on Saturday, HRD minister tweeted on the microblogging site Twitter, My dear Secondary School students, I am releasing Alternative Academic Calender today, for your benefit. During the lockdown period, you can use this calender for week-wise planning, with reference to theme/chapter taken from syllabus or textbook. http://ncert.nic.in/aac.html

My dear Secondary School students, I am releasing Alternative Academic Calender today, for your benefit.

During the lockdown period, you can use this calender for week-wise planning, with reference to theme/chapter taken from syllabus or textbook. https://t.co/LsOyxrApSx pic.twitter.com/y4ivsQGzYZ  Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) May 2, 2020

The minister also asked students and teachers to adopt the calendar and learn at home, through mobile, SMS, television, radio or social media.

Earlier, on April 16, the minister had launched an alternative calendar for the primary students. The alternative academic calendar can be accessed from the official website of NCERT. Alternatively, you can click here to get the calendars

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To support the efforts of the government towards cushioning the effects of the coronavirus pandemic situation on the less privilege in Kebbi State especially during the fasting period, Power oil, the Nigerias beloved healthy vegetable cooking oil has donated 200 cartons of product (sachet) to Medicaid Cancer Foundation in its quests towards addressing hunger and malnutrition rate in the state.

This partnership was confirmed during the donation exercise which took place at the state house, Kebbi State, when the first Lady Kebbi state, Dr. Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, alongside other officials of Medicaid Cancer Foundation received the Power oil team. The 200 cartons of Power oil sachets were deposited at the food bank specially set up to feed the citizens during the pandemic which has equally coincided with the month of Ramadan.

Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF) was established to support the less privileged in the state especially cancer patients and their caregivers who are one of the most vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, wife of the Governor of Kebbi State is the Founder/CEO of the Foundation.

Recently, there has been measles outbreak in some Local Government Areas in Kebbi State as a result of lack of nutrition, also leaving Kebbi State in dire need of corporate support, the foundation confirmed.

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According to Ms. Prerna Pathre, Brand Manager- Power Oil, in a statement which established the brands support to Medicaid Cancer Foundation in stocking up the Covid -19 food bank, set up to tackle the rate of hunger and malnutrition in the state through the distribution of food items to the less privileged, Muslim faithfuls observing the Ramadan fast and cancer patients amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The company described the gesture as part of its commitment to the health and well-being of the people especially during the challenging period of COVID-19 which also reinforces its purpose of contributing towards addressing the rate of Malnutrition in northern Nigeria.

It is our belief that our humble contribution will support the overall effort in combating the rate of hunger in Kebbi State while cushioning the effect of the pandemic as we continue to hope life returns to normalcy as soon as possible Prerna said.

While receiving the products, Dr. Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, Wife of the Governor, Kebbi state alongside Honourable Jafar Muhammed, Commissioner for Health, Kebbi state commended Power Oil for its benevolence in donating products to support the foundation and efforts of the Kebbi State government, especially at this critical stage when corporate supports are needed to reach as many Nigerians as possible in tackling this issue of national concern.
This morning Joe Biden, the former vice president and now the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, strongly denied charges that he had sexually assaulted a Senate staffer in the 1990s.

The charges have been levied by Tara Reade, who worked briefly as a staff assistant for Biden when he was a senator from Delaware. In April, Reade told the New York Times that in 1993 Biden pinned her to a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing, and penetrated her with his fingers. The Biden campaign has strenuously denied that the incident ever happened or was reported by Reade at the time. Today marked the first time Biden has ever addressed the charge directly, doing so in an essay published on the Medium website and then during a contentious, 18-minute live interview on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

In the essay, Biden wrote: I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago. They arent true. This never happened. The former vice president then added: While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward, they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny. Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.

Biden said he was inviting those journalists to investigate Reades claims, saying that there is only one place a complaint of this kind could bethe National Archives. He added, I am requesting that the Secretary of the Senate ask the Archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there.

Story continues

He deflected the suggestion made by some of his critics that he should also open up to scrutiny his personal papers from his time as a senator, which have been donated to the University of Delaware, saying they do not contain personnel files. He added: It is the practice of senators to establish a library of personal papers that document their public record: speeches, policy proposals, positions taken, and the writing of bills.

Bidens appearance on Morning Joe, which was highly promoted the day before, came less than an hour after the Medium post was published. And it took a curious turn when Biden was interviewed remotely from his home in Delaware. The two male cohosts, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist, went off-camera, leaving the questioning to Mika Brzezinski. (The two men returned later to quiz Biden about the 2020 campaign against Donald Trump and how he would be responding to the pandemic if he were president.)

Brzezinski got right to the point, after saying, Its just going to be you and me, and opened the interview by asking: Did you sexually assault Tara Reade?

Biden looked directly into the camera and said, No, it is not true. Im saying unequivocally it never, never happened. It didnt.

Brzezinski also pressed Biden on statements he had made during the 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh, when decades-old allegations against him by Christine Blasey Ford surfaced. Brzezinski reminded him that he had said at the time, For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, youve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what shes talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not its been made worse or better over time.

The Morning Joe cohost then turned to the allegation by Reade and its believability. Is the essence of what she is saying real? Brzezinski said of Tara Reade. Why do you think shes doing this?

Im not going to question her motiveIm not going to get into that at all, Biden replied. I dont know why these shes saying this. I dont know why after 27 years all of a sudden this gets raised. I dont understand it. But Im not going to go in and question her motive. Im not going to attack her. She has a right to say whatever she wants to say. But I have a right to say look at the facts, check it out. Find out if what any of what she says is true.

Brzezinski pressed again. As it pertained to Dr. Ford, high-level Democrats said she should be believed, that they believed it happened, she said. You said, if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real. Why? Why? Why is it real for Dr. Ford but not for Tara Reade?

Biden argued that his position then and his stance now were not inconsistent. She has a right to say what she wants to say, but I have a right to say look at the facts.

Im not suggesting she had no right to come forward, Biden added. Any woman, they should come forward, they should be heard. And then it should be investigated. And if theres anything that is consistent with whats being said, and she makes the case or the case is made, then it should be believed. But only the truth matters.

As Brzezinski continued to press, Biden replied, I dont know what else I can say to you.

Then, in a long, contentious, and at times highly confusing exchange, Brzezinski repeatedly asked why Biden wouldnt allow a search for any documents related to Reade at the University of Delaware in that cache of personal papers. He responded several times, Theyre not there, repeating his assertion on Medium that no personnel files were housed at the university. I dont understand the point youre trying to make, the former vice president finally said, clearly looking exasperated.

After the interview was over (and Scarborough and Geist returned to pick up the questioning about the pandemic), reaction on social media was mixed. Mika, youre conducting one of the worst interviews Ive ever watched, said one critic, while others called it disgraceful and foolish.

But other members of the media quickly came to Brzezinskis defense. Watch as Mika actually gets Joe Biden flustered on whether he will call for a search of University of Delaware records on Tara Reade, tweeted Scott Whitlock, a contributor to National Review. This is the kind of interview journalists could have been doing for the last 36 days but failed to.

Not sure you can fault Mikas questioning, tweeted Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of The Dispatch and a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Those werent softballs. Sure, Id like some more granular follow-ups, but that was a grilling.

Jennifer Palmieri, the communication director for Hillary Clintons 2016 and a frequent contributor to MSNBC, also praised Brzezinski. Friends, I dont get this badgering I see of @morningmika for harping or being too hard on @JoeBiden, Palmieri tweeted. I love and respect @JoeBiden, but he needed to answer every single question she put to him. It would be a disservice to all involved if she had not done so. Hats off to her.

And shortly after the interview ended, Brzezinski, who along with Scarborough (her longtime cohost and now husband) has been an enthusiastic supporter of Biden in his coming race against Trump, took to Twitter to sum up the experience. The interview with @JoeBiden was difficult, having known and greatly respected him for decades. (I still do.) The notion that all women are to be believed, which dominated the Kavanaugh hearings, was revisited. Should it be? Were Democrats wrong then or now?

Originally Appeared on Vogue
Dont think that President Trump has lost his capacity to create distractions in the rush to blunt the coronavirus pandemic. As Washington dickers over the next stimulus package aimed at states seeking aid and the number of infections reaches 1 million and growing, the president is tossing out a political hand grenade that plays to his base.

Trump is pressing for a trade-off: If states want billions in aid, they may need to make sanctuary-city adjustments. The all-important specifics are missing. The notion may yet be yanked back by a mercurial leader who flips out ideas like cards in a deck.

His new spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, kept the threat alive Friday in her first White House briefing. Asked if the president was ready to withhold funds from communities with laws to protect undocumented immigrants, she called it a negotiation item that the president will bring up.

It shouldnt surprise anyone that the White House is pulling out its political playbook that points away from Trumps shortcomings in confronting the outbreak and warms up a divisive issue as his November re-election looms. With his polling numbers down, the president is looking to change the landscape.

The implications are significant since sanctuary laws are in place in 11 Democratic states including the most populous, California, and two others hardest hit by the pandemic, New York and New Jersey. Cities in other states have their own protection laws that rule out cooperating on immigrant roundups.

Trumps playing with fire, once again. Hes called the infecting agent the Chinese virus and cut off money for the World Health Organization to shift blame and stir up anti-foreign feelings. Hes pushing intelligence services to come up with more evidence to cast blame on Chinese authorities, a diversion as the death and infection toll rises on his watch.

Now hes resurrecting his domestic crusade to hunt down and deport more than 10 million long-standing immigrants here without legal documentation. In his remarks this week, he once again said, A lot of bad things are happening with sanctuary cities. Its a rerun of claims about a crime wave generated by migrants, and McEnany accentuated that point Friday.

The president is in a powerful position. His party controls the needed Senate votes for state bailout money. The courts have given him wide leeway on immigration rules, though sanctuary laws remain in place.

Its important to note that some of those sanctuary policies  such as assuring that immigration status is not a factor in testing or treatment  advance the fight against the coronavirus. The presidents threat serves neither the economy nor public health.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2, 2020 16:37 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd587b51 4 National COVID-19,learning-from-home,belajar-dari-rumah,Sanggau,West-Kalimantan,border-areas,life-without-internet Free

Elementary school teachers in Sanggau regency, West Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo that borders Malaysia, are using state radio broadcasts by RRI to reach students in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have various geographic conditions here in Sanggau. Not all areas have internet, Titis Kartikawati, a teacher, said in a video conference on National Education Day on May 2. She said many areas had blank spots, a term used to describe places that dont have access to internet.

Schools nationwide have been closed since March 15, and students have been instructed to learn from home to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Students who live in areas where the internet is readily accessible learn from their teachers through virtual meetings or recorded videos. In addition, the Education and Culture Ministry has cooperated with state broadcasting company TVRI to offer television lessons. But those without internet, electricity or TV require an alternative.

Titis school is using radio instead. The school is cooperating with national radio broadcaster RRI to provide an hour-long educational program for which the teachers provide the content.

From Monday to Friday, we take turns. The teachers give all the material [through the broadcast], she said, as quoted by Antara news agency. She said all the students were able to access the radio broadcasts and teachers were able to spend less money because they did not have to buy additional internet data to cover internet uploads.

She said the students parents were from low-income families working in agriculture and would find it difficult to purchase internet data.

Hamid Muhammad, acting director general of early childhood, elementary and middle education, said teachers had to be creative when dealing with internet or electricity limitations.

We have to think about children who do not have internet, electricity or television. Several areas use community radio. This is the moment when teachers have to innovate, he said in a press conference on Saturday.
Hundreds of NHS coronavirus patients will be given the blood of virus survivors as part of a new treatment being trialled at London's Guy's and St Thomas' hospital.

The hope from the trial, which has now started, is that antibodies in recovered patients' blood can bolster the struggling immune system of infected people.

The treatment - used for around a century for other infections - works using the liquid part of the blood, known as convalescent plasma.

This antibody-rich plasma is injected into critically unwell COVID-19 patients who are struggling to produce their own antibodies, with hopes it can help clear the virus.

Last week, NHS Blood and Transplant began collecting blood from survivors - including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who fell ill with the virus in March.

There is currently enough plasma to treat 143 patients and transfusions will begin in weeks, according to hospital bosses.

If effective, the treatment would be scaled-up nationally to provide up to 10,000 units per week, enough for 5,000 patients.

Hundreds of NHS coronavirus patients will be given the blood of virus survivors as part of a new treatment being trialled at London's Guy's and St Thomas' hospital. Health Secretary Matt Hancock posted the image on Twitter as he donated last Saturday

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) photos show former patients making the donation in a process known as plasmapheresis. Pictured: Laura Martin at Tooting Blood Donor Centre, south west London on Monday

Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London said it has enough plasma donations to treat 143 patients - but if the trial is effective this will be scaled up nationally

More than 6,500 people have registered their interest to take part in the trial in London.

Donating takes around 45 minutes and medics filter the blood through a machine to remove the plasma, in a process known as plasmapheresis.

Donors must have tested positive for the illness either at home or in hospital, but should now be three to four weeks into their recovery, ideally 29 days.

The promising therapy, which was first used a century ago in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, has been used already in China and the US.

What happens during plasmapheresis Plasma exchange is carried out by a specially trained nurse. A person's vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, pulse and oxygen levels) are checked before, during and after the exchange and any changes will be recorded. During the procedure, a patient is monitored for any side effects and the appropriate treatment is administered if needed. An Optia machine automatically takes the blood, spins it, collects the plasma into a bag and returns fresh plasma or albumin to the person, along with their blood cells. The patient is asked to remain on a bed throughout the procedure and to stay fairly still. This is to ensure a smooth flow of blood being removed from the veins and replacement fluid being returned. But the person should be able to sit up on the bed to read, eat or drink while they are connected to the exchange machine. Once the main part of the exchange is complete, the remaining fluids are returned and the person is disconnected from the machine. Source: NHS Advertisement

When someone contracts coronavirus, their immune system produces antibodies which attack the virus.

The antibodies build up over a month and are stored in the plasma, ready to be released if the virus enters their body again.

There is no cure for the killer coronavirus and thousands of patients worldwide are involved in trials of promising medicines.

A key advantage to the blood based therapy is that its available immediately and relies only drawing blood from a former patient.

It is also significantly cheaper than developing a new drug, which costs millions to take through trials and regulation before mass production.

Infusing patients with blood plasma has also been used to tackle SARS and MERS, two similar coronaviruses, as well as the deadly infection Ebola.

Plasma makes up around 55 per cent of all blood volume and provides the liquid for red and white blood cells to be carried around the body in.

By injecting this into patients it can provide their bodies with a vital dose of crucial substances called antibodies.

Antibodies can only be created by people who have already been infected and learnt how to fight off an infection, such as SARS-CoV-2.

It may be the best hope for COVID-19 patients while scientists work to develop new, specific treatments for the disease.

The first donations of the plasma in the UK have been collected and transfusions will begin in 'the coming weeks', Guy's and St Thomas' Biomedical Research Centre said.

The treatment - used for around a century for other infections - works using the liquid part of the blood, known as convalescent plasma. The yellowy liquid is removed from former patients' blood. Pictured, Dr Zhou Min shows his plasma after donating in Wuhan, China

The process uses a machine similar to those used in regular blood platelet donation to collect the sample. Pictured: Rebecca Mascarenhas donating her plasma in Tooting last week

Left: Recovered coronavirus patient Douglas James making his donation in Tooting. Right: Plasma that has been extracted

The hospital says if the trials prove the treatment to be effective, NHS Blood and Transplant will begin a national programme to deliver up to 10,000 units of convalescent plasma per week to the NHS, enough to treat 5,000 patients each week.

The trial is co-led by Dr Manu Shankar-Hari, a consultant in intensive care medicine at the hospital, along with experts from NHS Blood and Transplant and the University of Cambridge.

Dr Shankar-Hari said: 'As a new disease, there are no proven drugs to treat critically ill patients with COVID-19. Providing critically ill patients with plasma from patients who have recovered could improve their chances of recovery.'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'This global pandemic is the biggest public health emergency this generation has faced and we are doing absolutely everything we can to beat it.

'The UK has world-leading life sciences and research sectors and I have every hope this treatment will be a major milestone in our fight against this disease.

'Hundreds of people are participating in national trials already for potential treatments and the scaling up of convalescent plasma collection means thousands could potentially benefit from it in the future.'



Previous research has suggested that antibodies drawn from the blood of COVID-19 survivors improves the symptoms of patients severely ill with the disease.

Scientists in China who carried out the preliminary study said no serious adverse reactions were observed after convalescent plasma transfusion.

Ten patients received a 200ml dose of plasma, and researchers said all clinical symptoms, which also included fever and cough, subsided within three days.
Its Thursday morning, and were at the North Shore University Hospital, just across the border from Queens on Long Island. Im Sheri Fink. Im a correspondent at The New York Times, and Ive been reporting on the coronavirus pandemic. Hello. Hello. This is a tiny little office in the intensive care unit. I just want you to tell us a little bit about her. And whats happening in this office right now is that a doctor and a social worker, Dr. Eric Gottesman and social worker Elisa Vicari, theyre connecting on a conference call with the family of a patient. Her name is Carmen Evelia Toro. She is the beloved matriarch of a family that stretches across South America and North America. They dont have a lot of hope for her to recover from this very severe lung damage that she suffered from the coronavirus. And they want to talk with the family about what to do next. And its not like her lungs have collapsed. Theyre just very stiff, kind of like an old sponge that wont work anymore. We are trying right now a last-ditch effort to give her some high-dose steroids to see if we can get her lungs any less stiff. If they dont work, theres nothing else really that we can do to help her. Because of the coronavirus and the risk of contagion, family members arent being allowed in the intensive care unit. And so Elisa Vicari is going into Ms. Toros room and then shes connecting with Ms. Toros family so that they can actually see their loved one. And theyre wondering if maybe this is goodbye because they dont know how long shell live. Ms. Toros family is scattered across the U.S. and in Colombia. With the pandemic, theres no way that they can fly to come together and they want to be there for her. The only local family member of Ms. Toro is her granddaughter, Marcela Rendon. Its Friday evening and she and her husband are at the kitchen table, and they have Ms. Toros well-worn Bible next to them. The whole family is connected on the Zoom app. Theyre reading Scripture. Theyre singing. Theyre praying. Ms. Toro is still receiving the steroids, and the family doesnt know yet whether or not they have worked. Its Sunday morning, and Marcela and her husband are in the parking lot of the North Shore University Hospital. Unfortunately, news came in that the steroids had not had an effect. The doctors, the medical team are going to remove the ventilator that has been supporting Ms. Toros life. She doesnt want her to suffer. Thats her concern. No, no, shes not going to  so shes not going to suffer, and we already gave her some medications already before we take the tube out to make her comfortable. Is everybody on Zoom already? Yes. It is the first time that shes going to get to see her grandma. She dropped her off four weeks ago, and that was the last that she got to see her. Shes there to be with her grandmother. Shes the one who has to take on this responsibility to be the person at the bedside. And as shes walking into the room, theres a part of her that knows the likely outcome, and theres a part of her that has a deep faith that somehow it wont happen.
Authorities in Florida said a 2-year-old girl who was reported missing in the late afternoon on May 1 was found dead in a lake near her home.

Officials with the Tampa Police Department launched a massive search for Lori Thermidor after she was reported missing by her father.

Thermidor was last seen at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday near her home on Redwood Point Drive in Tampa, Florida, police said.

Later that day, around 8:30 p.m., Tampa police found the girls body in a lake near her home. The girl appeared to have drowned after wandering away from home into the wooded area.

Sadly, the child was found in the lake deceased, police wrote on Facebook, adding a picture of the girl.

Thermidors father told responding officers he realized his daughter went missing within minutes and went out to look for the girl, but couldnt find her. He then informed police his daughter went missing.

Dozens of people in the neighborhood volunteered in the massive search to help authorities locate the missing girl, with police using two bloodhounds and an air service, WFTS reported. A team of divers was sent to the lake near the girls home.

Drownings

Drowning is the leading cause of death for young children, according to the National Safety Councilmostly due to falling into a pool or being left in a bath tub.

Most parents think water safety is first and foremost on their minds whenever they are enjoying summer activities with their young kids. But when the unthinkable happens, caregivers often say, I only looked away for a second,' The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission stated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that everyone should know the basics of swimming (floating, moving through the water) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

A four-sided isolation fence with gates is necessary if children are present.

This can help keep children away from the area when they arent supposed to be swimming. Pool fences should completely separate the house and play area from the pool, according to the CDC.

When kids are in or near water (including bathtubs), closely supervise them at all times. Because drowning happens quickly and quietly, adults watching kids in or near water should avoid distracting activities like playing cards, reading books, talking on the phone, and using alcohol or drugs, it added.
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses previously unable to access an emergency coronavirus government grant scheme could benefit from a new pot of money unveiled by the Government on Saturday.

Two weeks ago The Independent highlighted a major flaw in the 12bn Small Business Grant Fund scheme which meant small firms who did not claim business rates relief  because they paid rates via their landlord, or because they rented shared office space  were unable to get the often badly-needed financial support.

Colin Stracey, who runs a sailing school in Essex called Premier Sailing, rents a small office space in a marina but the companys business rates are all handled by the landlord.

In apparent recognition of the injustice of that situation, the Government has now topped up the fund by 617m.

The Government said in a press release that it would ask local authorities in England to prioritise giving money to business in shared spaces, market traders and bed and breakfast operators.

However, it added that local authorities would be given some discretion on which businesses to fund based on local economic need.

The initial scheme, which is being administered by local authorities, was initially only available to small firms which directly claim small business rate relief or reduced rates, available to companies with a rateable value of below 15,000.

The retail estate adviser Altus estimates there are 1.16 million micro businesses in the UK with between 1 to 9 employees.

But there are only around 720,000 properties liable for business rates relief or reduced rates.

That meant almost half a million small firms were excluded from the scheme.

Robert Hayton, head of UK business rates at the real estate adviser Altus Group, welcomed the additional pot of money.

The Government had to act decisively and quickly to help with the liquidity of small business and the business rates system offered a simple mechanism for that, he said.

However, that simplicity created some anomalies leaving certain types of business behind which this additional grant funding will now address.

Mr Stracey of Premier Sailing also said he hoped the scheme would benefit his own business.

We are encouraged by this announcement and hopeful that this grant will be available to us. It would help pay the mooring fees for the three vessels that are sitting idle, the office rent and support staffing costs as we fall outside of all existing schemes, he said.

Yet one small business owner, Kevin Cunliffe of Smart Fleet Media in Warrington, which pays business rates via its rent, still expressed doubt he would be covered by the new money given the size of the new pot.

It works out at around 1.8m per local authority. As we are not one of the categories of company mentioned Id be surprised if we get anything, he said.

Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce welcomed the reform of the scheme but warned many small companies were fast running out of cash.

Clarity and speed are of the essence. Many of the companies that have been unable to use existing support schemes are already on borrowed time  and will need these grants paid out swiftly if they are to survive, he said.

As of 27 April local authorities had distributed around 7.5bn out of the initial 12bn grants pot to small firms, benefiting 614,000 businesses.
U.S., and British Ships Conduct Anti-submarine Exercise Above Arctic Circle

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200501-05

Release Date: 5/1/2020 1:52:00 PM

From U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

NORWEGIAN SEA (NNS) -- U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) conducted a bilateral naval anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise with the U.K., above the Arctic Circle, May 1, 2020.

Four ships from two nations, a U.S. submarine, and a U.S. P8-A worked together, in the Norwegian Sea, to conduct training in the challenging conditions in the Arctic.

For the exercise, Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and USS Porter (DDG 78), and fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6), were joined by the Royal Navy's HMS Kent (F 78). Additionally, a U.S. submarine, as well as a P8-A Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft from Patrol Squadron (VP) 4 supported the training. This exercise reinforces the combined training that the nations received last month while participating in the U.K's Submarine Command Course (SMCC).

"For more than 70 years, 6th Fleet has operated forces across the region in support of maritime security and stability. Our regional alliances remain strong because of our regular operations and exercises with partner navies, and we welcome this opportunity to work collaboratively at sea, while enhancing our understanding of Arctic operations," said Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet.

The multinational antisubmarine exercise in the High North, made up of approximately 1,200 Sailors from the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy, is the latest in a series of U.S. ships operating above the Arctic Circle. In 2018, elements of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group and the USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group operated above the Arctic Circle in support of NATO exercise Trident Juncture. In 2019, the forward deployed destroyer USS Donald Cook and a SAG from U.S 2nd Fleet led by USS Normandy (CG 60) and USS Farragut (DDG 99) also operated separately above the Arctic Circle.

"We are working with our partners to enhance our combined capabilities as we conduct maritime security operations and training in the Arctic region," said Franchetti. "Our ships must be prepared to operate across all mission sets, even in the most unforgiving environments. This is especially critical in the Arctic, where the austere weather environment demands constant vigilance and practice."

The United States is an Arctic nation and has enduring security interests in the Arctic Region. We work with our Arctic and European partners to ensure an open Arctic by continuing freedom of navigation and overflight through the region, as well conducting land, air, and sea operations required for deterrence, presence, and Arctic security.

C6F forces deploy throughout the European and African theater and continue to operate above the Arctic Circle to support a secure and stable region, working cooperatively with other nations to address shared challenges. The two U.S. destroyers, based in Rota, Spain, support NATO's integrated air missile defense architecture. These forward deployed naval forces-Europe ships have the flexibility to operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain.

"One of the best attributes of our surface force is that we can aggregate at will, transitioning seamlessly from independent ships to coordinated operations," said Capt. Joseph A. Gagliano, Commander, Task Force 65, commander, Destroyer Squadron 60. "Our interoperability with our allies is so good that we can deploy multinational naval forces with minimal notice. That's the real power of NATO."

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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Businesses are bracing for an economic downturn this year. In a data comparison done by a news network, they found that in contrast to the same period last year, the economy this year shrank by 2.4% in the first quarter.

According to analysts from Citibanamaex, Mexico's economy has contracted by 6.7% since the World Health Organization announced that the coronavirus has turned into a pandemic. They believed this contraction was deeper than that of the Tequila Crisis in the 1990s.



Loans for Small and Family-Run Businesses

Director of the Mexican Social Security Institute Zoe Robledo said that 40,255 loans are transferred to small business owners to support their employees financially. These amounted to 25,000 pesos each.

Robledo said on Wednesday that the IMSS would distribute over 642,000 loans to businesses who have made commitments to paying in full salaries of the employees in their workforce. Currently, more than 97,000 loan applications have been approved by the institute.

On Wednesday as a separate announcement, Economy Minister Graciela Marquez said that her department had approved 577,916 loans reserved for family businesses that were forced to close due to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

In order to become classified as a family business, the workforce must be comprised of members of the owner's family. Family-run businesses in urban cities will expect a distribution of 1 million loans from the Economy Ministry.

Marquez said that the loans would be transferred to the bank accounts of the respective businesses as soon as May 4. The loans are worth 25 pesos each. In addition, these are repayable in three years following the rate of the Bank of Mexico.



Check these out!



SMEs Affected by Both Coronavirus and Federal Austerity Measures

An estimated19,440 businesses provide goods and services to the Mexica government, and over 17,000 of these are small and medium-sized businesses. They are greatly affected by the new bill proposed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

He aimed to save the national budget by cutting off spending by 75%, which was supposed to be directed towards financially supporting general services that are operated by micro to medium-sized enterprises.

The economic downturn expected at the end of 2020 may be enough to put their businesses down, and the austerity measures brought by are far from helpful.

In a report by La Jornada, a researcher at the National Autonomous University Violeta Rodriguez del Villar said that the Lopez Obrador administration should "diversify" their monetary aid to bolster healthcare and boost the economy at the same time.

Both the Inter-American Development Bank and the Mexican Business Council made announcements about their collaboration on the development of a program that will provide loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

James Salazar, an analyst at CI Banco, said that Lopez Obrador's austerity measures would not be enough to save businesses, especially since Mexico's economy was expected to contract by the end of the year.

He added that support measures must be more concentrated, "considering there are sectors that are badly [affected]."
Mr. Kims latest absence came at a particularly sensitive time. Since his diplomacy with President Trump stalled last year, Mr. Kim has dragged the North deeper into isolation, declaring that it was prepared for a prolonged standoff with Washington over its nuclear weapons program.

But his plan to build a self-supporting economy in the face of international sanctions has been ambushed by the coronavirus, which forced North Korea to shut its borders. On Saturday, the state news agency said the fertilizer plant opened by Mr. Kim represented a great victory against the mean sanctions and pressure from hostile forces amid the global catastrophe caused by the malicious virus.

North Korea insists that it has had no Covid-19 cases, but outside experts fear it could be hiding a significant outbreak. Harry J. Kazianis, senior director of Korean studies at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, said the likeliest explanation for Mr. Kims absence was that he was taking steps to ensure his health or may have been impacted in some way personally by the virus. 

One of the biggest lessons from recent weeks is that the world is largely unprepared for instability in North Korea, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

Outside analysts fear that if Mr. Kim suddenly died, the countrys dozens of nuclear devices  as well as chemical and biological weapons, conventional arms and a 1.2 million-strong military  would be at the center of a messy, cutthroat contest for power.

The combination of loose nukes and political conflict is a nightmare scenario for the world, said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, who dealt with North Korea as a National Security Council director at the White House and an assistant secretary of state for Asia. Political turmoil could lead a faction or a commander to brandish or  God forbid  launch a nuclear-armed missile. 
Australia could use one of two very different strategies to take the country out of lockdown as part of its road to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, leading researchers have revealed.

An expert taskforce of more than 100 researchers from Australia's top universities have presented the federal government with a 'Roadmap to Recovery' to find the best exit plan for COVID-19.

The plan outlines two different approaches for recovery: elimination or controlled adaptation - both of which have their own pros and cons.

Under the elimination method, the goal is to eradicate locally-transmitted cases of coronavirus by keeping people in lockdown and conducting more extensive testing.

Australia could take the 'elimination' approach in its road to recovery which would involve eradicated locally transmitted cases and more testing. Pictured: Medical staff performing tests at drive-through clinic in Melbourne

Under the suppression method, baselines restrictions could gradually be lifted, but strict social distancing measures will remain in place. Pictured: Queenslanders get their first taste of freedom on Saturday after the state eased Covid-19 lockdown measures

ELIMINATION VS SUPPRESSION: Elimination Strategy: Continuation of the lock-down further than mid-May in certain jurisdictions, likely by another 30 days while waiting for cases from local sources to fall to zero and remain at that level for a few weeks

More extensive testing and contract tracing

Advantage of this approach is there are likely to be fewer infections, hospitalisations and deaths

It is likely to create a higher psychological sense of safety allowing for more vigorous economic recovery Controlled Adaptation: (Suppression) Gradual relaxation of restrictions and adaptive relaxation of social distancing as early as mid-May

Minimal level of ongoing infections that can be managed within the health system

There is a risk infection could spike and lead to surges, requiring the re-imposition of strict social distancing measures as has occurred in Singapore

The difficulty of predicting how confident the public will feel when restrictions are lifted may impact the resumption of economic and social life. Source: Group of Eight Australia Advertisement

The plan would mean Australians would likely have to remain indoors for another 30 days - or until the end of May or mid-June - until the number of new cases falls to zero and remain at that level for a couple of weeks.

'[The] advantage of this approach is there are likely to be fewer infections, hospitalisations and deaths', the report states.

'It is likely to create a higher psychological sense of safety allowing for more vigorous economic recovery.'

The strategy would also mean travelling between states could be banned for a longer period of time, or until the virus is completely eliminated.

Under the controlled adaptation option, however, also known as the 'suppression' method, restrictions would be gradually relaxed, but Australians would have to practice social distancing in everyday life in order to keep infection rates low.

The Bavarian bar at Manly Wharf is seen closed on March 25 (pictured) due to the coronavirus lockdown, but ministers hinted restrictions may soon be lifted

Regardless of which approach authorities choose to take, Australians must be prepared to practice social distancing for the foreseeable future, or until a vaccine is developed

Under the elimination strategy, Australians would have to remain in lockdown until the number of new coronavirus cases falls to zero and remain at that level for a couple of weeks

Researchers suggest restrictions could be eased from mid-May under this strategy, however, there is a risk infections could begin to spike again because of it.

'The difficulty of predicting how confident the public will feel when restrictions are lifted may impact the resumption of economic and social life,' the report states.

International travel bans, however, are expected to remain in place for at least the next six months under either method, as experts say shutting the borders is Australia's best defence in keeping the virus out.

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 report also notes that, regardless of the approach, there will always be a chance of catching the virus until a vaccine is developed.

'Both strategies would need to stay in place to keep Australia safe until there is a vaccine and/or effective treatments.

'However, should progress towards a vaccine be slower than expected we will have to revisit current strategies.

'It is important to note that our response to COVID-19 is not "set and forget" but is to continually refine the response by the trajectory of COVID-19 in Australia, and our increased knowledge of the virus.'

Scott Morrison said federal and state leaders are scheduled to meet twice next week to discuss lifting some social and economic restrictions.

Mr Morrison told Australians on Friday the first step back to the pub would be downloading the COVIDSafe app.

'If that isn't an incentive for Australians to download COVIDSafe on a Friday, I don't know what is,' he told reporters in Canberra.

He said 11 of the 15 conditions for easing restrictions has been met.

'Of those that remain outstanding, there was one that Australians can do something about, and that is downloading the COVIDSafe app,' Mr Morrison said.

'This is a critical issue for national cabinet when it comes to making decisions next Friday about how restrictions can be eased.'

Mr Morrison said restarting the economy was as important as stopping the spread of the virus.

'Australians have earned an early mark through the work that they have done,' he said.

Australians have been told download the CovidSafe app if they wish to return to normal life soon

There have been 6765 people diagnosed with the disease in Australia with 1000 cases still active.

The death toll is 93, with the latest victim at Sydney nursing home Newmarch House where 13 people have lost their lives.

Infection rates have plummeted with fewer than 20 cases a day being consistently recorded nationally.

Mr Morrison said it was now time to flatten the curve on unemployment and business closures.

'We need to restart our economy, we need to restart our society. We can't keep Australia under the doona, we need to move ahead,' he said.

Expanded testing capacity, boosting tracing through the app and preparing the health system for surges in infections are paving the way for relaxed restrictions.

States have begun gradually easing rules, with Queenslanders able to shop for non-essential items, have picnics and visit national parks from Saturday.
As the state prepared to reopen more this weekend, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady met with members of the Spring-Klein Chamber of Commerce April 28 on Zoom to talk with them about how Congress has been handling the pandemic.

Brady, the highest ranking Republican on the House Ways & Means Committee, said he thought Congress had responded well putting together three bipartisan bills in three weeks, addressing more money for Medicaid, more money helping people who were laid off or had to stay home because they were sick, and also a third package dealing with tax incentive payments and deferring payroll taxes to get more money in peoples pocketbooks.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: LSC-Tomball library hosting workshops for local businesses through partnership with Google

We knew our top priority had to be to push cash into business hands, small and large, to try to keep those workers on your payroll and help you ride this out so when we did reopen it would be easier to rebound, Brady said.

Economic activity will resurface in the coming weeks due to states like Texas cautiously reopening, Brady said. In the meantime, programs like the Payroll Protection Program have been helping create cash flow for small businesses; providing loans that are forgivable as long as 75% of the loan is used for workers, and the rest on rent, utilities and interest payments.

Small businesses ran through that loan money fast, Brady said, with Texas businesses getting more than 134,000 loans totaling $28 billion dollars.

The Small Business Administration told us they did more loans in 14 days than they have in 14 years, Brady said.

SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES: Chambers offering resources to help northwest Houston businesses

Another $310 billion has been added to the program, Brady said, and applications opened earlier this week. Brady said the SBA processed 100,000 loans on the first day they reopened and is hopeful Congress can replenish the fund again should it run out.

As for when the country can reopen safely, Brady didnt give an exact time frame, but said if the country doesnt reopen the economy safely while flattening the curve, it could extend the recession from months into years.

Brady said he was optimistic schools will be able to reopen in the fall as the country learns more about the virus.

I think thats gonna be crucial to normalcy for the economy and others, Brady said. I also think between now and then, as the businesses reopen an as we learn more about the virus, I think were going to get dramatically better at flattening that curve.

One chamber member, Rebecca Ramsey, asked Brady if he thought things would go back to normal, or if there would have to be a new normal that continues social distancing moving forward. Brady said he didnt think so for the long-term, but that social distancing would continue for the mid-term.

My guess is well keep all the social distancing measures in place until weve really driven that curve down, but you cant wait to reopen until there are no cases, Brady said. I think most businesses and organizations are already rethinking how they reopen safely but also long-term what changes theyll be making in how they operate as businesses.

Brady said he thought the country would be better off economically by August or September, while some industries like energy may take longer to recover.

Because were learning more each day, were getting stronger each day, Brady said.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
Long Son Petrochemical Complex received $1.386 billion added capital

SCG was approved to pump an additional $1.386 billion into Long Son Petrochemical Complex, increasing the total investment capital to $5.1 billion.

The project, which was previously known as Southern Petrochemical Complex, has changed investors numerous times, going from PetroVietnam to Vinachem, Vina SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd., and then to Thai Plastic and Chemicals Pcl.

As of June 2018, this complex became a 100 per cent invested company of SCG Group from Thailand, which completed the purchase of a 29 per cent stake from PetroVietnam to increase its holding in the complex from 71 per cent.

The construction of the complex was kicked off in early 2018, however, as of now, the construction is behind the initial schedule. The authorities urged the investor to accelerate construction works.

Last year, SCG proposed adjusting the investment capital for the project and committed to taking the complex into operation in late 2022. The authorities approved the proposal after clarifying the source of the added capital.

The capital adjustment of Long Son Petrochemical helped increase capital inflows from foreign investors to existing projects in Vietnam in the first four months by 45.6 per cent to $3.07 billion. This turned around the declining trend observed throughout the first three months.

The petrochemical complex is located in Long Son commune of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, 100 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City. This integrated petrochemical complex will have a total olefin production capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per year. In addition, the project will create more than 20,000 jobs during construction, including more than 1,000 skilled positions, and is expected to contribute around $60 million per year to the annual budget.

The complex is designed to produce various petrochemical products, including essential plastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and other products in excess of two million tonnes per year, enabling it to substitute imported polyolefin products. Non-petrochemical supporting infrastructure, such as a deep sea port and other facilities, are also included.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Back in March, with Americans just a week into quarantine, Fox News host Laura Ingraham envisioned a way that the economy could reopen. Her plan relied on lots of masks.

Going back to most jobs after 15 days will require new protocols until this virus burns outeveryone within 6 feet of others MUST wear masks, Ingraham tweeted.

As part of her pro-mask campaign, Ingraham tweeted instructions for Do It Yourself (DIY) masks, even urging her followers to make homemade masks out of their sheets.

Literally you can make these with cotton sheets, Ingraham wrote. Again, we can be resourceful when necessary!

A month later, Ingraham has done a 180, becoming one of the right-wing medias most outspoken mask-haters. Shes tweeted that widespread mask wearing would make everyone like Antifa, the left-wing antifascist activists reviled on Fox. On Wednesday, she suggested on her show that widespread mask usage is some sort of plot to scare people.

The masks, theyre kind of a constant reminder, Ingraham said. You see the mask and you think youre not safe, you are not back to normal  not even close.

Such a conversion may seem peculiar on the surface. Who, after all, has an actual problem with face masks, especially in the midst of a pandemic. But Ingrahams conversion reflects something deeper about the nature of our current politics, in which social safety measures themselves can become emblems of partisan leanings. Once the potential tools of liberation from stay-at-home orders, Trump supporters now see masks as a hated carryover from those same orders.

Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, the recent recipient of a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump, was an early mask paranoiac. On April 20, he promoted the idea, later picked up by Ingraham, that masks are totems of control.

It is clear that the mask is a symbol of fear, and when you see various people suggesting that we may now have masks as part of our public lives for the rest of our lives? Limbaugh said. Uh, why?

Story continues

For some conservatives, refusing to wear a mask has become just the latest way to thumb their noses at social distancing mandates. Talk radio host Dennis Prager said in a video that he refused to don oneand compared himself to Rosa Parks or dissident Germans in the Nazi era for his defiance.

Anti-mask feelings in the GOP comes from the top, with Vice President Mike Pence flouting a Mayo Clinic rule this week mandating mask usage in a visit there. In early April, Trump said he was choosing not to wear a mask even as his health officials advised people to do so. (Trumps personal preferences, however, havent stopped his campaign from a reported plan to sell Trump-branded masks).

But the mask backlash has also spread to the party's rank-and-file at the anti-stay-at-home protests popping up across the country. After a Houston judge issued an order requiring mask usage in public, protesters rallied with signs bearing messages like Dont Mask the Truth and Just Say No, illustrated with the crossed-out image of a mask.

After a protest in Lansing, Michigan, on Thursday where armed protesters tried to force their way into the legislative chambers, organizer Jason Howland defended protesters who refused to wear masks, identifying mask usage as one of the issues they were rallying against.

If Im gonna protest somebody, and I do it by the rules that theyre laying down on me, Im going to look pretty stupid by the end of the day, Howland told The Daily Beast.

The coronavirus has sparked an explosion in conspiracy theories, from claims that Bill Gates is cooking up a dangerous vaccine to allegations that 5G towers are causing the virus. With masks, however, there doesnt appear to be a larger conspiracy theory driving the opposition. Instead, much of it appears to be based on the same desire to buck public health mandates that has driven people to rally with each other while standing much closer than the medically-advised distance of six feet.

Masks have become a hot topic in state-specific Reopen Facebook groups, some of which have hundreds of thousands of members. Trump supporters fume about being kicked out of grocery stores for not wearing masks and vow to boycott businesses that require masks in the future. In the Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine Facebook group, one poster compared the anti-mask campaign to feminists burning their bras.

Time to burn the masks and gloves!!!! the Facebook user wrote.

Some of the broader anti-mask backlash has been caused by confusion over the CDCs evolution on the matter. After initially saying only Covid-19 patients and healthcare workers needed masks, the agency reversed itself in April, advising universal mask usage. The guidance had some skeptics in the medical community, with some health officials worrying that it would give people a false sense of security and potentially lead others to touch their faces with more frequencyboth of which could lead to more coronavirus spread. But Trumps health team defended the mask policy on grounds that asymptomatic people infected with coronavirus were unknowingly spreading the disease and would be less likely to do so with a face covering.

Vivienne Reign, the organizer of a set of reopen protests in California on Friday, said her group We Have Rights advised attendees only to follow the CDC guidelines  rather than spelling out a mask requirement. Reign cited the CDC reversal as a driving force behind confusion over the masks.

Its really hard to keep up with what they want you to do, Reign said.

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China has fed lies to all the nations about coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, intentionally suppressed useful information thus hampering the efforts in developing a vaccine, claimed a spy dossier on Saturday.

This deliberate attempt of China sabotaging the chance at saving millions brings it under the radar of all the nations. The dossier, a 15-page document, builds up a case against China for its handling of the deadly pandemic, according to media website, The Sun.

The dossier, from the Five Eyes intelligence agencies of the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, stated that China's secrecy surrounding the virus led to an "assault on international transparency", reported The Sun.

The spy dossier highlights that China had denied that the virus could spread between humans during the outbreak's early stages.

Agreeing to this, on January 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) had tweeted, "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."

The country then delayed by two weeks in conforming that human-human transmission takes place in the spread of the virus, according to the spy dossier, thus giving ample time in letting the virus to spread across nations.

The doctors in China who spoke out about the virus were either silenced or made to disappear. A lab in China's Wuhan had been studying deadly bat-derived coronaviruses and China deliberately destroyed the evidence of the virus in its laboratories. It also refused to send samples to scientists across the globe working on a vaccine to counter the virus.

The dossier details that China has began censoring news of the deadly virus from December 31, reported The Sun. According to the document, the country deleted terms--"SARS variation," "Wuhan Seafood market" and "Wuhan Unknown Pneumonia", from search engines.

It also discusses how China imposed travel bans on its own people but told other countries restrictions on movement were not necessary, reported The Sun.

"Millions of people leave Wuhan after the outbreak and before Beijing locks down the city on January 23. Throughout February, Beijing presses the US, Italy, India, Australia, Southeast Asian neighbours and others not to protect themselves via travel restrictions, even as China imposes severe restrictions at home," The Sun eported quoting the dossier.
The post-Office work of Ricky Gervais seems to divide fans along bitterly partisan lines. The Office (co-written with Stephen Merchant) was a masterwork, no question, a kind of drab symphony of English awkwardness that made you love a banal, talentless, egotistical middle manager and made you cry, too, from time to time. When Ricky made The Office he was 40-odd, and had been knocking around in bands and on obscure radio shows for years. Suddenly, he was a star, and the big question was, what would he do next?

He did Extras, which I rather liked, set in the eternally eclipsed world of TV and film extras doomed to flutter hopefully in the orbit of actual stars. He did Life's Too Short, an observational comedy that didn't really work; followed by Derek, a rather touching comedy about a naive animal lover who still lives with his mother; and he made a couple of very decent high-concept films -The Invention of Lying, and Cemetery Junction. And, of course, he became the disruptor in chief of Hollywood smugness as recurring host of the Golden Globes.

In all his work is a dark streak underlying misanthropy, and never more so than in After Life, season one of which led to angry disagreements. In it, Ricky played Tony Johnson, a features editor of a local newspaper who vows to take revenge on the entire world when his beloved wife dies of cancer. He goes around saying terrible things to innocent passers-by, even throwing the 'C' word at an unfortunate kid, but his efforts to spread unhappiness are constantly thwarted by the decency of ordinary people.

Season two sees him still grappling with grief and facing impending unemployment but at least contemplating becoming a better person. It's dark stuff, for sure, and not everyone likes it. When I interviewed Stephen Merchant a few months back, he told me that Ricky never really cared about being successful or becoming famous. In other words, he does what he wants: you like it or you don't, but either way there's only one of him.

Films of the week

Maze

Tonight, RTE 1, 9.30pm

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor heads the cast of Stephen Burke's gritty drama based on the 1983 Maze breakout, when 38 IRA men escaped from the high-security prison.

Split

Sunday, RTE2, 9pm

When three high school girls are abducted and imprisoned in a basement, they soon realise they're dealing with an unhinged maniac with many conflicting personalities. James McAvoy stars.

Kong: Skull Island

Monday, RTE1, 9.30pm

Hugely entertaining action romp set in the 1970s, when an expedition of scientists and US soldiers find terror on an uncharted island full of fearsome, outsized animals. With Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston.

Captain Marvel

Tuesday, Sky Action, 10pm

When an alien being with frightening superpowers falls to Earth in the 1990s, she gets the worrying feeling she's been here before. Brie Larson (below) heads the cast of this witty Marvel caper.

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Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Wednesday, Sky Premiere, 9pm

Baroque comic thriller set in Hollywood in the late 1960s and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a hack TV actor who's living next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate when something strange happens.

Jackie

Friday, RTE2, 9.45pm

Pablo Larrain's impressionistic period drama follows JFK's traumatised widow Jackie through the aftermath of his killing. With Natalie Portman.

Documentaries

Education

Creative Kids

Sunday, RTE1, 6.30pm

Art in school

Documentary following the roll-out of Creative Schools, a pilot project that aims to encourage art in schools across the country.

Reality

Becoming Irish

Monday, RTE1, 7pm

A long process

The story of three hopeful immigrants originally from Iraq, England and Venezuela as they go through the process of becoming Irish citizens.

Lifestyle

Hollywood Eats Japan

Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

Noodles in Hiroshima

A survivor of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima gives Paul a compelling cookery lesson, and in Kyoto the baker discovers a taste for tofu.

TV picks

Natural history

Primates

Sunday, BBC1, 8.15pm

Life lessons

The secret lives of apes and monkeys, including an Amazonian spider monkey that shows rookies how to hang by their tails over water and grab plants.

Drama

The A Word

Tuesday, BBC1, 9pm

Push and pull

As the family drama returns for a third season, little Joe is struggling to come to terms with his parents divorce as hes ferried between two houses.

Food

Cook-in with Mark Moriarty

Wednesday, RTE1, 8.30pm

Lockdown dishes

In this new series, the chef advises on how you can make tasty meals from whatever you have in your presses.
From travelogues to films and even webcams, Neil Simpson reveals how you can still explore the world from your own home during the lockdown.

Gentle strolls along wide sandy beaches await if you check in to Seaside Hotel, the Danish television drama thats described as Downton Abbey-by-the-sea.

The lavish production is set in a remote hotel during the 1920s, and theres intrigue amid the sand dunes as rich guests from Copenhagen arrive for summer breaks that dont all go to plan. Sunny settings on the sometimes wild North Sea coast are a delight from the start, and the whole first series is available free on Channel 4s catch-up service All 4.

Holiday: Guests unwind on the beach in Seaside Hotel, a Danish drama set in the 1920s

Denmarks other big gift to the world is Lego, and while its theme parks are currently closed, its staff still want to entertain. Click on the Activities link at legoland.co.uk for weekly mini-build challenges led by model-makers (last weeks video set out how to create a simple penguin).

Travel-lovers can also create plenty of world landmarks using Lego. The newest release is a 740-brick model of the Dubai skyline, including the stunning Burj Khalifa skyscraper. Or take a real challenge with the 1,767-piece Empire State Building.

While children build with bricks, adults can build a bespoke holiday brochure with Titan Travel. The company is planning some 200 tours in 2021, and while its traditional brochures are popular, it has a paper-saving option where you pick your favourite destinations or tour types.

These are then packaged into a personal brochure thats emailed to you. Titan says top early bird choices for 2021 include a 17-day escorted tour along Americas Route 66 and the ten-day Majesty Of Morocco tour which includes Fez, Casablanca, the Atlas Mountains and the Roman city of Volubilis.

Marrakech, where Titans tour ends, is set to be the home of the World Storytelling Cafe, an almost-finished celebration of the ancient tradition from the team behind marrakech-riad.co.uk and some of the citys most beautiful hotels.

The cafes building work is on hold amid the coronavirus crisis, but 60 storytellers from around the world are online at worldstorytellingcafe.com. Drift away hearing tales of distant peoples and places.

You can start building a bespoke holiday brochure with Titan Travel. The company is planning some 200 tours in 2021, including a 17-day escorted tour along Americas Route 66

Back at home, dozens of holiday secrets are revealed in the latest edition of Cool Camping Britain, published this week. Researchers have tracked down 80 new sites among old favourites. Unexpected gems include an off-grid Eden just five miles from the M25 and a tiny site amid a wildflower meadow in Wales. Support your local bookshop by ordering the 16.95 guide there, or get it from coolcamping.com.

Wherever you hope to camp, tour or trek, be ready for (almost) anything with the latest kit from specialist clothing brand Craghoppers. The Manchester-based company tests its range in deserts and mountains around the world.

It features innovative shorts, shirts, trousers and more that block out UV light and include anti-insect properties that stay strong through dozens of washes. Or keep warm while feeling good in one of the firms fleeces that are made from recycled water bottles.
Some Texans think its too soon for the state to safely reopen for business  and others think weve languished under stay-at-home orders long enough.

The debate over Gov. Greg Abbotts decision to loosen restrictions on commerce across the state despite a very real coronavirus threat will continue, even though his executive order took effect Friday.

Whatever the wisdom of Abbotts move, the Houstonians who were allowed to reopen their stores and restaurants for the first time in seven weeks were cautiously optimistic Friday  their spirits brightened by the fine spring weather, perhaps, as well as the sliver of normalcy that goes along with being back at work.

Were really trying to be very safe, said Michele Granit, the owner of Village Frame Gallery in West University, adding that her own parents are in their 80s, and among the Texans at risk if they contract the novel coronavirus.

She had hand sanitizer bottles set up around the store, she said early Friday, and a stash of disposable face masks for anyone who might try to enter the store without one. She said customers who had come in that morning had brought their own facial coverings.

Everybody seems to be happy, said Granit, whose small dog Pearl, a mainstay at the shop, welcomed visitors. Its a beautiful day  and everyone seems to be happy to see someone whos not a family member.

In nearby Rice Village, Three Dog Bakery remained open during the shutdown. But its owner, Sarah Saber, said that business had been sharply down nonetheless, thanks to the collapse in foot traffic.

She had tried to make dinner reservations at one of the restaurants in the neighborhood to celebrate, and was delighted to find that all of the places she checked were booked.

Their business is our business! Saber said.

Im excited about Texas opening today, she continued, and Im hoping that we can show the rest of the country it can be done.

Were all hoping that. And, as it stands, hoping is what it is. Public health experts have qualms about Abbotts decision to reopen Texas just yet, even in phases. The state continues to lag in terms of testing per capita, and the rate of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths hasnt been declining for the past two weeks (as federal officials would like to see before reopening businesses).

In fact, on Thursday, the day before the governors new order took effect, Texas saw 50 deaths from COVID-19. That was the highest single-day total since the beginning of the pandemic, and brought the statewide death toll to nearly 800.

Local leaders in Harris County, as well as the states other major urban centers, are therefore urging us to keep our guard up as we begin to venture out  to limit our extracurricular activities, for example, and to wear facial coverings even though Abbotts order nullifies local orders issued just days earlier that had required them.

Talk about sending mixed messages.

The small business owners who opened their doors are confident that customers who take such precautions will be safe as they shop.

Its been terrible, said Kim Etheridge, the owner of Emerson Sloan, a party supplies store in Rice Village.

I know that they had to shut everything down because they didnt know how to deal with this, she continued, but a store like mine never had mobs of people in it to begin with.

Restaurant owners face a harder choice, given both the nature of their businesses and the capacity restrictions  a maximum of 25 percent for now  which will remain in effect for phase one of Abbotts Open Texas plan. Most have been relying on carryout service only in recent weeks.

Tony Luhrman, the owner of El Topo in Rice Village, stayed open during the shutdown for takeout, and looked for ways to innovate: In addition to coming up with a new kids meal, hes about to launch a wine club, pairing natural wines with handmade pantry items such as satsuma kosho and cactus salt.

We were able to keep all of our staff employed, which has been the most important part to me personally, said Luhrman.

El Topo is still gearing up to resume dinner service, though. It takes a lot of time and staff to switch gears for dinner service, Luhrman explained, and to do so would increase the risk of viral exposure from patrons, which hes reluctant to do given the states lag in testing residents for COVID-19.

JC Woods, the owner of Anvil Cards in West University, said that he was missing his kids, who he had left at home that morning for the first time since Harris Countys shutdown began in mid-March. But he was glad to be back at work. The past few weeks, he said, were not great for his business.

One, youre scared to go out, but two, youre scared about your paycheck  and were not food, were not electric, he said.

It was nothing like Harvey, Woods continued. Harvey was busy, people were out, we were helping each other, we were going downtown and delivering stuff. It was different. This is more hunker-down-and-isolate.

It still is, of course. And there will be consequences for all of us, as a result, even if the coronavirus can be contained from this point out. State Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Friday that sales tax receipts were down 9 percent last month compared to April 2019  another sign that lawmakers who convene in 2021 will face some tough decisions about the state budget.

If youre among the Houstonians whove been able to weather the pandemic well thus far, you can help support locally owned small businesses get through this difficult stretch  and you should while adhering to safety precautions. As Saber observed, their business is our business.

erica.grieder@chron.com
Wexford County Council has vowed to use all resources available to prevent an influx of visitors or any kind of parties or gatherings over the upcoming May bank holiday weekend. The council will be liaising with gardai and are set to use all resources from community wardens to surveillance drones to ensure that people are adhering to the strict guidelines laid down by the Department of Health.

While there were mixed reports of how many visitors actually arrived into the model county for the Easter bank holiday, Chairman of Wexford County Council Michael Sheehan is adamant that Wexford did see an influx.

'We can't have a repeat of what we had on the Easter bank holiday,' he said. 'A lot of people came down before the regulations kicked in. In fairness, I know a lot of caravan parks closed and remain closed, but not those with private access. I saw the crowds in Wellingtonbridge myself. They weren't just down here for a change of scenery, they were here to party.'

While the announcement that the council will be using drone technology to monitor caravan parks, holiday homes and beauty spots was welcomed by most, some people did express some reservations about this level of observation.

'We have, since Easter been carrying out this monitoring along the coastline,' said David Minogue of Wexford County Council. 'I'm delighted to be able to say that we have found very high levels of compliance and very little evidence of travel restriction breaches in these areas to date. We hope that will continue, particularly as we face into the May Bank Holiday weekend, but certainly our evidence would suggest that there is very strong compliance.'

'This is technology we've deployed before in relation to littering,' Cllr Sheehan added. 'The way I'd envisage it working is that the drones will be used to monitor beauty spots and caravan parks. If there's a sneaky entrance onto a beach and there's a group down there, the drone will pick them up and the operators will get in touch with the authorities who'll get down there and tell them to high-tail it home.'

'What we can't afford to see are barbecues happening on beaches or people gathering in the woods to have a few drinks, things that we're already starting to see. It defeats the entire purpose of what we've done already. We have to continue to adhere to these guidelines. The weather has been really stunning since this began, which brings its own challenges, but we've got to keep going. I know people are tired and I know complacency and fatigue can creep in, but we need to try even harder if we're going to remain one of the least affected counties.'

In terms of visitors, Cllr Sheehan says that ever measure to stop them arriving for the weekend will be taken.

'These people will be welcomed with open arms when all this is over, but not yet,' he said. 'We're doing all we can to make sure we protect our county and our community and we'd ask for people from outside the county not to put us at risk. We've been working assiduously to make sure cases of Covid-19 remain at a minimum and the county of Wexford and all our agencies have really stepped up to the mark. We need people within the county to observe the rules and we need people from outside to stay away for just a little longer.'
Some gun enthusiasts in Alberta say the federal government's immediate ban on 1,500 makes and models of military grade "assault-style" weapons will do nothing to eliminate future mass shootings, reduce gun crime or make Canada safer.

"It is a sad day for democracy," said Joe Breslawski, past president of the non-profit Alberta Provincial Rifle Association.

Licensed gun owners will not be allowed to use, sell, import or even transport the prohibited weapons.

"As of today, the market for assault weapons is closed," federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Friday after the ban was announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "Enough is enough. Banning these firearms will save lives."

Gun enthusiasts in Alberta, however, view the Liberal ban as a "knee-jerk reaction" to one of Canada's deadliest mass killings. Two weeks ago, a single gunman, posing as an RCMP officer, attacked a community in rural Nova Scotia. Twenty-two people died.

Breslawski, like many gun owners, said the ban targets licensed gun owners rather than criminals who often get their guns illegally from the United States. He said that all but one gun carried by the Nova Scotia suspect had been illegally smuggled into Canada.

"This individual obviously was not stable, and when lawless people are lawless, it doesn't matter what kind of laws we put in place," Breslawski said, adding that much of the gun violence in Canada involves gangs, drugs and handguns in Toronto, where Blair was once police chief.

Herb Betschart of the Swiss Rifle Club in Calgary said he believes the Trudeau Liberals have used the Nova Scotia tragedy to impose a ban to score "Brownie points" with voters.

"He knows there is an election coming up, and he is appealing to a certain voter demographic," Betschart said.

Both Betschart and Breslawski said the majority of long-gun owners are members of target shooting clubs and shoot competitively at ranges. Betschart said the ban will not only affect a major industry in Canada but also the clubs.

Story continues

Alberta considering own chief firearms officer

On Friday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer issued a joint statement that said the ban will do little to target criminals.

Instead, the federal government is spending "vast sums of money to criminalize law-abiding citizens," Kenney said, referring to a buyback program Trudeau promised for all legally purchased rifles that falls under the new ban. "That money would be far better used to pursue the smugglers and drug gangs that plague our society."

Schweitzer said "violent criminals who use guns are often released with surprisingly soft sentences," and he called on the federal government to bring back mandatory sentences for "criminals who flagrantly endanger Canadians with their use of illegal guns."

Kenney said his government, in response to the federal ban, is "actively considering appointing its own provincial chief firearms officer to replace the one appointed by Ottawa."

Ban long overdue

Jan Reimer, executive director of the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, said the ban is long overdue, as it comes more than 30 years after the mass shooting at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal.

Reimer said those people who say the ban will do nothing to eliminate mass shootings and increase public safety "should talk to the survivors of the Montreal massacre. These are assault rifles. They are for rapidly killing people.

"The two biggest mass murderers in [Canadian] history really were conducted with assault weapons. So [the ban] is not a timely move; it's an about-time move."

Among the banned weapons are the M16, M4, AR-10 and AR-15 rifles that were used in mass shootings at Sandy Hook, New Zealand, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. There are an estimated 83,572 of them in Canada.

Also on the banned list is the Ruger Mini-14, a common gun in Canada. It was used in the Ecole Polytechnique shooting. There are an estimated 16,859 of them in Canada.

The M14 rifle, used in the 2014 Moncton, N.B., murder of three RCMP officers and wounding of two others, is also expected to be banned. There are an estimated 5,229 of those in Canada.
For students, Cafe du Soleil in the Lower Haight was their library. For neighborhood families, it was the place big and welcoming enough to host their Christmas parties and potlucks. For the local moms group, it was a respite on Wednesday evenings where their tykes could wriggle and giggle to a live band.

For Julie Rogers, it was the only business her husband, Charlie, a gregarious Irishman with Alzheimers, could visit without her. The staff of the cafe at Waller and Fillmore streets knew him like family and kept an eye on him.

He loves a little corner table, and so they would reserve the corner table for him, Rogers said. They are so sweet  the minute they see him coming in, they have the Guinness ready.

Neighborhood residents sometimes still talk about the cafe in the present tense because they cant quite believe its shuttered for good.

Small, charming businesses like Cafe du Soleil are a big part of the reason its worth putting up with all the frustrations of San Francisco life. The city may seem large, but its really a collection of quirky little villages  from Bernal Heights to North Beach to, yes, the Lower Haight  with beloved cafes, bookstores and boutiques. Chain store strip malls? Not here.

But when we can finally emerge from our strange, sheltered reality, many of these treasured businesses wont re-emerge with us.

Running a small business in San Francisco was already a mind-bending proposition long on bureaucracy and too often short on profits. Even in our previously booming economy, the insane permitting process, high taxes and fees, regular fines like for not cleaning vandals graffiti quickly enough, and quality-of-life problems made running a small business a crapshoot. Already, many of our commercial corridors had more empty spaces than a first-graders gap-toothed smile.

And its about to get a lot worse.

Mustapha Hakkou, who opened Cafe du Soleil 15 years ago, closed it permanently last month after a rent dispute with his landlord, Irene Cheung. His lease was due to expire, and he and Cheung couldnt reach an agreement to extend it.

Jeff Chiu / Associated Press

Hakkou was already paying $9,260 a month, which he said became untenable after the city ordered restaurants shut in March. He wanted a rent break. Cheung said her mortgage, property taxes and insurance premiums remained fixed despite the coronavirus pandemic so she couldnt give him a long-term break, but was willing to let him defer payments.

Hakkou didnt think hed ever be able to pay back the deferred rent since any reopening would probably have to include cutting the number of customers allowed in half so people can stay socially distanced. Negotiations broke down, and Hakkou cleared out in early April, devastating the neighbors who loved his cafe.

I had customers crying when I left  crying! Hakkou said. The neighborhood is the biggest loser in this. Now they have an empty space to add to all the other empty spaces in San Francisco. And now our city is going to look like Detroit.

For many small businesses that were operating on a knifes edge even when San Franciscos economy was thriving, the virus and shutdown are too much to bear.

Little Artistas, which operated kids art studios in Noe Valley and Glen Park, has closed for good. Same with Pause Wine Bar in Hayes Valley. And Mestiza, a Filipino-Mexican restaurant in the South of Market district. And Hillside Supper Club in Bernal Heights. And Locanda in the Mission.

Thep Phanom, a longtime Thai restaurant in the Lower Haight, sold off all its furniture and stock, and its phone is now disconnected.

The Plant Cafe, Naked Fish and Bistro Aix in the Marina all closed.

St. Francis Fountain, the citys oldest ice cream parlor, has probably served its last scoop. The Mission District mainstay, founded during the Spanish flu in 1918, is unlikely to weather the coronavirus shutdown, owner Peter Hood told the Small Business Commission in an email Thursday.

He said the city made it extremely difficult to survive even in good economic times.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle 2019

It may say Died in a pandemic on our tombstone, but the truth is, being a small business in San Francisco, we were already dead, he wrote. Cue the band on the Titanic.

The closures will be devastating for a city already projected to lose up to $1.7 billion in revenue in the next two years and with 1 in 6 residents expected to be unemployed. Ted Egan, the citys economist, said small businesses  which he defined as those with up to $30 million in annual gross receipts  paid a combined $272 million in 2018, the most recent data available, in gross receipts taxes, payroll taxes and business registration fees. That was 34% of the total paid.

Last year, there were about 90,000 businesses registered in the city that employed fewer than 100 people. Together, they employed more than 350,000 people. Or they did until the virus and shutdown.

People grossly underestimate how important small businesses are, said Sharky Laguana, president of the citys Small Business Commission. His small business, a van rental company called Bandago, is likely to shutter because nobodys renting vans during a pandemic.

Small business was in crisis before the coronavirus, he said. I dont know if were going to survive.

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.

Some small business owners are trying to hold on, applying for small business loans and grants from the city, state and federal government. Many are waiting to see whether they receive any help in the second round of the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Others are trying to survive by offering takeout, selling merchandise online or running GoFundMe drives. A group of merchants is circulating a petition asking that they be allowed to provide curbside purchases and pickups like takeout restaurants can, which makes perfect sense.

But several business owners have given up, not confident enough in what the business landscape in San Francisco will look like next month, let alone next year. Even if they can defer rent and other bills, they dont know how theyll ever catch up.

Manny Yekutiel, who sits on the citys Small Business Commission, said he expects to hear about more permanent closures in the next few weeks.

Some people whove been making it work for one month, two months are saying, I cant pay rent for another month or two months. I just cant do it, he said.

Fans of Mannys, the civic engagement space founded by Yekutiel in the Mission, will be relieved hes working on a hush-hush plan to make it work without bringing in crowds so people can social-distance. But he thinks many small businesses that rely on packing people in  yoga studios, dance studios, bars, restaurants, movie theaters and live music venues  will not survive.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

He hopes the expected rash of closings finally prompts City Hall to make it easier to open and operate a small business. Hed like a dedicated desk in the building and planning departments just for small businesses to get permits. And for neighbors to lose the ability to delay a business opening if it meets all the citys rules and regulations.

The whole process needs to be cheaper, simpler and quicker, he rightly pointed out.

After all, it can take months or even years to open a business in San Francisco. And for places like Cafe du Soleil, it can take just weeks to fold.

Hakkou, the former cafe owner, said hes looking for a new space, but it wont be the same. It would offer counter service only with no seating, meaning it wont be a neighborhood gathering place.

My business was worth $300,000, and its gone. I have zero, he said. Were going to be dropping like dominoes. Its going to be a ghost town in San Francisco.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf
Punjab on Saturday registered the steepest surge in Covid-19 patients till date with 187 more people, including 142 pilgrims returning from Nanded in Maharashtra, testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total count of infected persons in the state to 772.

The tally of corona-infected persons in the state has been surging aggressively ever since over 3,500 pilgrims from Hazur Sahib Gurdwara at Nanded early this week.

Out of 187 new coronavirus-positive cases, reported on Saturday, 142 had returned from Nanded, a health official said.

Out of total 772 confirmed cases in the state, Nanded-returned pilgrims coronavirus-positive pilgrims accounted for 44 per cent of total Covid-19 tally.

A total of 105 persons were tested positive for infection on Friday with 91 of them having returned from Nanded. Another 105 were tested positive for infection in the state on Thursday.

Among fresh cases on Saturday, 53 were reported from Amritsar, followed by 31 from Hoshiarpur, 22 from Moga, 21 each from Patiala and Ludhiana, 15 from Jalandhar, nine from Ferozepur, six from Fatehgarh Sahib, three from Muktsar, two from Mohali and one each from Gurdaspur, Sangrur, Kapurthala and Rupnagar.

The state government has already ordered a 21-day quarantine for people coming from outside.

All 22 districts of the state now have COVID-19 cases.

Amritsar now has topped the COVID-19 tally in the state with 143 coronavirus cases, followed by 119 in Jalandhar, 94 in Ludhiana, 93 in Mohali, 89 in Patiala, 42 in Hoshiarpur, 28 in Moga, 27 in Ferozepur, 25 in Pathankot, 23 in SBS Nagar, 14 in Tarn Taran, 13 each in Mansa and Kapurthala, 12 in Fatehgarh Sahib, seven in Muktsar, six each in Faridkot and Sangrur, five each in Rupnagar and Gurdaspur, four in Fazilka and two each in Barnala and Bathinda, reveals the government's bulletin on Covid situation in the state.

Of total cases, 20 have died while 112 patients have fully cured of the infection, as per the bulletin, which said wo patients are critical and are on ventilator support.

A total of 24,868 samples have been taken so far in the state, of which, 19,316 are negative and reports of 4,780 are still awaited.

There are 640 active cases in the state, as per the bulletin.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In its latest move to pressurize Tehran with sanctions, Trump administration on May 1 blacklisted a mining company owned by a dual citizen of Iraq and Iran. According to reports, Amir Dianat and his Taif Mining Services LLC are the latest entities to be placed on the Trump administration's blacklist. The US Treasury has accused Dianat and his company of being a front partner of Iran's Quds Force and Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), adding that they generate funds and smuggle weapons from Iran to Yemen, where Tehran is reportedly backing the rebel Houthi group.

Read: US Contemplating Retaliatory Measures Against China For Poor Handling Of COVID Outbreak

"Dianat, an associate of IRGC-QF officials Behnam Shahriyari and Rostam Ghasemi, has supported IRGC-QF smuggling operations for several years, including efforts aimed at the shipment of weapons including missiles. The IRGC-QF has relied on Dianat to secure entry for vessels carrying IRGC-QF shipments and has used his business connections to facilitate logistics requirements. Dianat has been directly involved in IRGC-QF efforts to smuggle shipments from Iran to Yemen," US Treasury said in its official statement.

Read: Libya's GNA Declines To Suspend Fighting During Ramzan, Says It Doesn't Trust Haftar

"The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people. The United States remains committed to working with financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and international partners to facilitate humanitarian trade and assistance to the Iranian people," said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin in the statement.

Read: Syria Needs Ceasefire To Effectively Combat COVID-19 Crisis: UN Envoy

Sanctions

The US Department of the Treasury has ordered that all property and interests in property of Dianat that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). In March 2020, the OFAC designated 20 Iran and Iraq-based front companies, senior officials, and business associates that provided support to or acted for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF, which included transferring lethal aid to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq.

Read: Kim Jong Un's Sudden Disappearance Brings Spotlight To North Korea

(Image Credit: AP)


Membership of all governing boards, councils, government agencies, parastatals and commissions must be drastically reduced if the proposed implementation of the Steve Oronsaye panels report on the restructuring of the federal service is to be effective, the Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ) has said.

Last week, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said the government had commenced the implementation of the recommendations of the report as part of its strategy to raise money to finance the huge deficit in the 2020 budget.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy has worsened the situation in the Nigerian economy, with crude oil prices crashing to the lowest level in almost two decades.

The resultant dwindling revenue flows to the government coffers necessitated the drastic review of the 2020 Budget fundamentals and a 30 per cent cut in the overall approved appropriation by over N1.5 trillion.

The plan to exhume and implement the recommendations of the Oronsaye Panel Report, the Minster said, was part of efforts to explore internal sources to raise alternatives funding for the over N2 trillion deficit in the Budget.

CENSOJ noted that a situation where each governing board, council of government agencies, parastatals and commissions had more than seven members was not helpful in cuttimg down cost of governance.

The member of these governing boards, council of government agencies, parastatals and commissions should not be more than seven. Besides, the composition should be based strictly on merit and competence.

Also, a single seven-member board should be appointed to serve and oversee all the River Basin Development Authorities in the country as against the current practice of one board per River Basin Development Authority, the Lead Director of CENSOJ, Eze Onyekpere, said in Abuja on Saturday.

Apart from asking the river basin authorities to account for the tens of hectares of land placed at their disposal, Mr Onyekpere said they should also be made to become revenue generating agencies rather than mere cost centres to guzzle large appropriations.

Rejected cornerstone

At the inauguration of the Oronsaye Committee in 2006, its terms of reference included, among others, to examine the enabling Acts and mandates of all the federal agencies, parastatals and commissions determine areas of overlap or duplication of functions.

The committee was also asked to make appropriate recommendations to either restructure, merge or scrap overlaps, duplications or redundancies, to help government prune down the cost of governance.

Mr Onyekpere said beyond reducing the cost of governance, Nigeria also needs to improve productivity through the restructuring exercise.

Recommendations

Consequently, he called on the federal government to halt the proliferation and duplication of research institutes and agencies through mergers and also establish the National Research Development Fund to grant all research institutes competitive research funding.

On the convergence of functions, CENSOJ said the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) should be merged with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA) with the Nigerian Communication Satellite Ltd (NigComSat);.

Other agencies the Centre wants merged included the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN); the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Federal Competitions & Consumer Protection Commission and the Department of Weights and Measures.

Also, the Centre wants the government to merge Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council; and the Nigerian Export Processing Zone and the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority.

Considering the secular/multi religious nature of the Nigerian society, Mr Onyekpere said the government should immediately scrap the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission and the National Hajj Commission.

Religion is a private affair of citizens which should not be funded by the State, he said.

On petroleum industry reforms, Mr Onyekpere said while the petroleum and gas sector reforms should be pursued through the passage of a progressive Petroleum Industry Bill, the legislative process on this Bill should be expedited.

He stressed the need for staff and management audit in all tertiary institutions, including teaching hospitals considering the administrative staff far outnumber the core staff of these institutions.

Others

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The Centre urged the government to cut the size of the federal cabinet below 15 through the amendment of the Constitution, as well as limit the number of assistants and advisers to the President.

Again, the government should ensure that all Bills pending before the National Assembly seeking to set up new agencies should be reviewed for duplicity or overlap of functions and an evaluation of the cost of implementation.

The Oronsaye Presidential Committee on reform of government agencies had recommended the reduction of statutory agencies of government from 263 to 161.

During its assignment, the committee also discovered there were a total of 541 government parastatals, commissions and agencies (statutory and non-statutory) in the country.
London, along with the rest of Britain, has been officially locked down since March 23, with all nonessential businesses shuttered, schools closed and public life halted. But like the public transportation of so many other cities, Londons buses and subways are still up and running, shuttling workers to and from the hospitals, grocery stores and other essential workplaces.

Last week, new protective measures were rolled out citywide requiring passengers to enter and exit buses at the middle or back doors where possible and to sit in those sections, well away from the drivers. Passengers dont have to pay, for now, to avoid coming close to drivers.

But unions representing bus drivers, as well as the families of the victims, say the measures do not go far enough.

Unite the Union, which represents bus drivers and some other transport workers in London, recently issued a statement demanding that more be done, urging the city to provide personal protective equipment like sanitizing wipes, masks and gloves for all drivers, and urged the city to make face coverings compulsory for people using public transportation.

Image Mervyn Mally Kennedy, 67, from Croydon in South London.

The measures were too late for Mervyn Mally Kennedy, 67, from Croydon in South London, who had driven a city bus for 16 years. When he reached retirement age two years ago, he decided to keep working, his daughter Penny Palmer said, as he was healthy and felt up to the job.

Ms. Palmer, a nurse, said her father wasnt initially concerned about contracting the virus himself, though he did worry for his three daughters who work in the health sector. Little guidance was given to transportation workers, she said, describing it as a forgotten sector.
Baloch journalist Sajid Hussain who fled from Pakistan to Sweden has been found dead on May 1. He had gone missing from the city of Uppsala since March 2 after which a formal case was filed with the Swedish police on March 3.

According to the press freedom charity Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Hussain was last seen boarding a train in Stockholm on his way to the city of Uppsala on March 2. The RSF said quoting police that Hussain was to collect the keys to a new flat but he did not get off the train in Uppsala. The charity asserted it was possible that he had been abducted "at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency".

As per media reports, his family and friends said he was in the process of bringing his wife and two children to join him in Sweden and had been due to start a post-graduate degree at the University of Uppsala.

READ | Report Gives Pakistan Failing Grade On Human Rights

READ | Imran Khan In Covid Scare Again As Pakistan Speaker Tests Positive; Met PM On April 24

Hussain's controversial work exposing Pakistan authorities

Prior to seeking refuge in Sweden, Hussain was editor-in-chief of an online news website. He had documented the gross human rights violations by Pakistan in the strife-torn region of Balochistan and had been reporting about the forced disappearances of Balochis by the Pakistani Military. Owing to his reports against the Pakistani violations, the police had raided his house and interrogated his family on numerous occasions. He had also received death threats.

He left Pakistan in 2012 and had been living as a refugee in Sweden since 2017, according to a release by Balochistan Times. Prior to Sweden, he had lived in United Arab Emirates, Oman and Uganda.

READ | Pakistan Min Fawad Chaudhry Gutted As Imran Khan Aide And Sindh Guv Tests Covid Positive

READ | Imran Khan Admits Balochistan Lacks Facilities, Funds To Battle Coronavirus Pandemic

Hussain's wife, Shehnaz raised apprehensions that before fleeing for Sweden, her husband had sensed he was being followed. Also while writing about the forced disappearances, he was said to have exposed a drug kingpin in Pakistan.

"Then some people broke into his house in Quetta when he was out investigating a story. They took away his laptop and other papers too. After that he left Pakistan in September 2012 and never came back," Shehnaz had been quoted as saying in the report.

Pakistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, who are regularly harassed and killed. According to the 2019 RSF press freedom index, Pakistan ranked 142 out of 180 countries.
The first batch of migrant workers, who arrived in Jharkhands Ranchi from Lingampalli in Telangana on board the special train around midnight on Friday, were greeted with roses and packets of food before being sent for their forward journey to their home districts.

Ch Rakesh, South Central Railways chief spokesperson, had said a one-off special train was run on the request of the Telangana government.

Later on Friday, the Union home ministry allowed interstate movement of labourers, students, pilgrims and others stuck across the country by special trains, widening the scope of a previous order that said such transportation can happen only by buses.

The Indian Railways said it decided to run Shramik Special trains to move stranded migrants following demands of the state governments to run special trains. The railways said the Shramik Special trains were meant for nominated people identified by state governments.

The other special trains to run on Friday were from Aluva in Kerala to Bhubaneswar, Nasik to Lucknow, Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia. These trains were scheduled to run non-stop and cover the distance to the destinations in 12 to 24 hours.

The special train from Telangana reached at Hatia railway station, a satellite station of Jharkhand capital of Ranchi, where all arrangements for their arrival and departure for the forward journey in buses were made.

Arrangement of roses and food packets was done so that they can feel at ease. It was placed at the temporary kiosks at the station for the administration and health workers who handed it over to the workers besides conducting their thermal scanning, a Ranchi district official said.

Most of the 1200 stranded workers who arrived belong to Palamu and Garhwa districts, around 200 kilometres northwest of the state capital.

These workers boarded the buses outside Hatia station after registering their details with the waiting administration officials.

The data has been shared with the respective district administration who would transport these workers to their natives and do the needful of their medical examination and putting them quarantine, an official said.
Authorities on Saturday said that as many as 130 Pakistanis have returned back from Afghanistan via Torkham Border

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2020 ) :Authorities on Saturday said that as many as 130 Pakistanis have returned back from Afghanistan via Torkham Border.

An official told APP that they have been quarantined for specific period in different areas of district Khyber.

The tests of coronavirus of these people would be conducted, in case of negative, they would be allowed to go homes.

In case of positive tests, they would be shifted to isolation centres and high dependency units for treatment.
New Delhi, May 2 : A Delhi court on Saturday refused bail to suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain in a case of attempt to murder pertaining to violence in northeast Delhi in February.

District and Sessions Judge Tyagita Singh dismissed his bail application on the ground that police investigation in the case was still at an initial stage.

During the hearing, Tahir's counsel Javed Ali pleaded before the court that his client was innocent but had been falsely implicated in the case.

Communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi in February after violence between groups supporting the changed citizenship law and those opposed it had spiraled out of control, leaving 53 people dead.

Hussain and two others, Gulfam and Tanvir, were arrested for attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy. The councillor has six other FIRs registered against him and is currently in judicial custody.

Hussain had said in his bail plea: "The applicant is neither directly nor indirectly involved in the case. The FIR merely mentions that certain acts of violence were taking place from the house of the applicant at the time when the complainant got injured, rather than the applicant himself firing the shots." He pleaded for bail on the grounds that no seizure of any firearm, bullets, or even empty cartridges were made from him by the police.

The bail plea asserted that police 'did not have a single piece of evidence" to prove Hussain's role in the crime. "The applicant is an innocent person who has been falsely implicated in the case." Hussain said he was willing to "cooperate with the police to unearth the conspiracy and bring to book the real preparators of the crime", not tamper with evidence, or interfere with investigation, or abscond.

"The accused has never been implicated in any other case as he does not have any criminal antecedents, except this one," Hussain submitted in the bail application.

Delhi Police had recently booked him under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in a case related to communal violence in the area. Two Jamia Millia Islamia students and former JNU student Umar Khalid have also been named in the same FIR.
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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. 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
The 292 coronavirus patients that were said to have been reinfected were given false-positive results, according to South Korean officials. Over the past month, South Korea has seen people cleared of the virus testing positive again.

Fears were immediately raised after speculations of recovered cases being reinfected due to social interactions or that the virus had laid dormant before reactivating again. There are also suspicions that a person's immunity is short-lived after fighting off the virus. This could mean that if humans had no immunity of the virus, easing lockdowns would have been pointless because no-one would be protected from being infected again.

Faulty test kits

A senior South Korean official has stated that the sudden increase of reinfected people was due to a testing fault, and not because of a short-lived immunity in patients. The infectious disease expert revealed that dead-virus fragments can remain in the human body for months. The lingering fragments may cause a positive result, even though the patient is sick or infectious anymore.

The health authorities in South Korea have said that they recorded no new cases of coronavirus infections in the country. It was a first for South Korea, which avoided going into lockdown since its outbreak in February.

However, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were four new imported cases. The total death toll in South Korea is 247. Although the country may look like it has everything under control, they are facing a new problem, and it is reinfections.

Also Read: 'COVID Toes' and Other Peculiar Skin Conditions May Be Symptoms of Coronavirus

The epidemiologists in Seoul tried to track down the cause of the trend that is worrying about the pubic. There were 51 patients in Daegu on April 6 who tested positive again, and 40 more cases in Seoul who they thought recovered from the disease tested positive again on April 10.

On April 27, it was reported that at least 222 people were in the reinfected category. The director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or KCDC, Jeong Eun-kyeong, stated in a briefing that the virus may have instead been reactivated. That means that the patient never completely fought the virus off because of a deficient immune response.

A Spatio-temporal epidemiologist at Seoul National University told Al Jazeera News that scientists dismissed the idea that it was due to a fault in testing. He said that few researchers think that this is a case of reinfection or an issue of accuracy in test kits and many are looking at this more as a virus reactivation.

There were about 20% of those known to have gotten sick of the virus again are in their 20s. Those who are in their 50s are making up the second-largest group. According to Dr. Roh Kyung-ho from the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital, instead of an error in test kits, he believes it is an issue that may be from a difference in the immune system function between individuals.

However, a clinical expert panel on April 29 concluded that recovered coronavirus patients who tested positive for the virus again did not show any signs of reactivation or reinfection, but rather, it showed false positives. Oh Myoung-don from The Central Clinical Committee for Emerging Disease Control, said that he and his colleagues do not see a reason to believe that the cases were reactivation or reinfections.

PCR testing limit

The head of The Central Clinical Committee for Emerging Disease Control said that the false positives on the patients were because of the technical limits of PCR testing. PCR testing is labeled as the gold standard because of its high accuracy levels but there are varying levels of sensitivity.

The panel noted that viral fragments of COVID-19 infection may exist in epithelial cells even after the virus is inactivated. The said cells can live up to three months and RNA virus in the cell can be detected with PCR testing one to two months after the elimination of the cell. Since the PCR tests can't distinguish whether the virus is alive or dead, it can lead to false positives.

Related Article: Asthma Drug May Help Dial Back Severe Effects of COVID-19

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: As a large number of state



citizens, currently stranded in various other states and also abroad, are expected to return home in the coming days, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday directed authorities to prepare quarantine facilities with at least one lakh beds.

The Chief Minister held a high-level review meeting here and discussed the measures to be taken following easing of restrictions on movement of migrant workers and other stranded people.

The meeting also discussed the latest guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on easing of lockdown restrictions with different zonal classification.

Deputy Chief Minister (Health) A K K Srinivas, Agriculture Minister K Kanna Babu, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney and other top officials attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister, a release from the CMO said, suggested that the village secretariats in each district be taken as a unit and converted into a quarantine facility with 10-15 beds.

He wanted the Panchayat Raj Department and Anganwadis to oversee the quarantine facilities in villages.

The Chief Minister also directed that 500 State Road Transport Corporation buses be modified into cargo carriers to move essential commodities.

Freezer facilities could be provided in the buses to the extent possible to transport dairy products, eggs, vegetables and fruits.

He asked the officials to identify COVID-19 containment zones as per the MHA guidelines and follow all protocols.

Jagan said movement of people in the containment zones should be strictly restricted.

The Standard Operating Protocol should be followed at all shops, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Director of Akira Farms, a multipurpose farm entity in the Sekyere South District of the Ashanti Region, Madam Hilda Arku, has expressed gratitude to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, for the huge investments made in the agricultural sector.



Madam Arku who has received massive support from Government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the areas of supply of inputs and farming equipment, says the interventions from the Ministry have contributed tremendously to the development of her farming business.



She made these remarks when the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, paid a working visit to her farm last Thursday.



"I doubt how I would have been able to cultivate all these thousands of acres of lands without support in the form of types of machinery, I am most grateful to the government and to you Minister for the support," she noted.



Located at Adidwan near Mampong, Akira Farms is currently leading in the cultivation of mango, cashew, maize, soybean, and sweet potato.



The farm also runs an out-grower scheme, employing hundreds of youth to cultivate thousands of acres of land through a buy-back arrangement.



She, however, said she owes much of her success in the agribusiness to the huge support through the interventions rolled out by the Government under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.



"Last year, I received improved seeds and fertilizers from the Ministry through the District Agric Office; however, the most important support came in the area of mechanization," she emphasized.



Commenting on the visit by the Minister, she lauded the commitment exhibited by Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto since his inception as the Minister for the sector, stressing "I have never seen someone so passionate about the development of farmers and the agric sector like you".



"For the first time, I have seen a Minister taking the trouble to visit us; this is very encouraging to us honourable Minister," Madam Arku said.



The Minister, on his part, commended the Executive Director of Akira Farms for the wonderful work she is doing.



Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto said the government of Nana Akufo-Addo was committed to its agenda of transforming the economy of this country through agriculture, stressing that he was very elated to see women take charge of the agricultural revolution in Ghana.



The Minister was on a six-day working visit to four regions in the forest zones to interact with farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The town clerks are asking the Select Board to consider reducing hours for this year's town election, postponed to June 23.

Williamstown Encouraging Voters to Obtain Mail-In Ballots

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Select Board on Monday discussed the possibility of cutting back on polling hours for the annual town election that already has been postponed to June in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And town officials strongly advised voters to take advantage of the mail-in voting already under way.

Town Clerks Mary Kennedy and Nicole Pedercini addressed the board at its twice-monthly virtual meeting to talk about the adjustments being made for the now June 23 election day.

Kennedy said the town has arranged to install plastic shields at the polling station at Williamstown Elementary School to protect poll workers. And the town is in the process of procuring facemasks for its workers.

But one concern is finding workers willing to staff the election if the novel coronavirus still is a threat.

Normally, the town runs two shifts of 12 workers apiece over the course of election days, which traditionally run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Kennedy, who is set to retire in May, and Pedercini, Kennedy's successor, said they are concerned about whether they will be able to get commitments from 24 workers.

"If we can reduce the hours for the actual day of the election, we won't need as many poll workers," Pedercini said. "We're seeing a lot of towns where people have started asking and checking in with their workers for a May election, and one person said 60 percent [of the regular workers] said, 'No.' I think more and more people are going to be saying no.

"A lot of the poll workers are retired, so they're an older age group. I can understand their fear. If we reduced the hours, we would only need, hopefully, one shift."

The clerks told the board that they can wait until one of their May meetings to decide whether to cut the polling hours on June 23. By then, the town hopes to have a better read on voters' adoption of the mail-in ballot option.

If the mail-in "turnout" is on a pace to match the typical turnout for a town election, then it is more likely that the hours could be cut back without affecting total turnout.

This year, there is one contested race on the town election ballot, for a five-year seat on the Planning Board between incumbent Alex Carlisle and newcomer Peter Beck. That is the same number of contested races as last year when 953 voters went to the polls. In 2018, when there were two contested races on the ballot, 702 voters cast ballots, Kennedy said.

"The more people who take advantage sooner rather than later by voting, the better," Town Manager Jason Hoch said. "Nothing would make me happier than to have us having our conversation about setting hours and have 700 ballots that have gone out and come back. I'd love to be planning for fewer than 200 on-site votes that day."

Mail-in voting usually only is allowed for absentee ballots, and a voter is asked to affirm that he or she will not be in town on election day. This year, the commonwealth has opened up mail-in balloting for all voters in local and state elections in light of the pandemic.

Voters must submit an application with their signature requesting a mail-in ballot. In Williamstown, the applications are available in boxes outside Town Hall and the Harper Center senior center on Church Street and on the town's website . The signatures are key on the applications  which can be returned by mail, dropped off or emailed to Pedercini, because the clerk needs to verify that the ballots are going to the voter in question.

As for the in-person balloting  which towns still are required to have  the clerks are not sure what hours they plan to suggest to the Select Board for consideration.

"We are required to be open at noon time, and it has to be at least four hours," Pedercini said.

Hoch told the board that while the town has been unable to obtain the face masks it needs for the June 23 election yet, there is nearly two months to go, and he expects the supply chain to look different by then.

"By that time, hopefully the rest of us will be supplied with masks to go about our daily lives," Hoch said.

Kennedy said she will be watching what happens at other local elections in May to see whether voters are following state recommendations on social distancing and personal protective equipment.

She said that one town clerk had asked the attorney general whether towns could require voters to wear masks, and it is still an open question in the commonwealth.

In other business on Monday night, Hoch told the board he continues to be pleasantly surprised with the number of taxpayers who have paid the property tax bills due May 1.

As for the rest of the town's revenues, he said it still is unknown how much of a hit they will take from the COVID-19 crisis, but he remains hopeful that the town's fiscal 2021 budget can withstand the shortfalls.

"We know we're losing significant money with the meals tax, the lodging tax, the cannabis tax," Hoch said.

"One thing that works in our favor is we tend to set our budgeted revenues in those areas very conservatively. You've heard me say that in previous years  you budget a low number so you can survive an economic downturn. I'm not sure I budgeted for this kind of downturn, but the reality is we may perform a lot closer to budget than normal."

Hoch said the most noticeable impacts to the budget may be a reduction in capital outlays, which had been up a little this year in the original budget and a decrease in the amount of money that ends up going to free cash over the course of FY21 because the town will be using higher percentage of the revenue it does take in.

He also said Monday that the town has been waiting for weather conditions to allow the repaving of Spring Street, which requires dry days and temperatures above 40 degrees at 7 a.m.

"We are hoping Wednesday this week is the day," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 19:26:58|Editor: huaxia

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THE HAGUE, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A giant panda cub was born on Friday in the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen in the Dutch province of Utrecht, the zoo announced on Saturday.

Both the mother, Wu Wen, and the cub are doing well and currently staying in the maternity den, according to the zoo.

The cub's gender is still unknown. The keepers will be able to identify the cub's gender after a few months and then the little giant panda will get a name.

"I couldn't be happier with the birth of this panda cub," Marcel Boekhoorn, the owner of Ouwehands Zoo, said in a press release. "This is the positive news that everyone was expecting. I would like to congratulate the panda keeper team. This cub was born and conceived naturally thanks to their patience and expertise."

Giant panda is an endangered species that is only found in China. An international breeding program was established to protect this species and the Ouwehands Zoo is part of the program.

Male giant panda Xing Ya and female Wu Wen arrived at Ouwehands Zoo on April 12, 2017. According to the arrangement with China, the cub can stay in the Netherlands for four years. After that, it will move to China. Just like its parents, the giant panda cub is owned by China. Enditem
New Delhi, May 2 : E-commerce players on Saturday said they are gearing up for serving millions of Indians users from May 4 as there has been an uptick in searches mainly for apparel, household products and personal grooming items in the past 24 hours.

Although the government has allowed the sale of only essential products in the red zone through e-commerce platforms, non-essential products are allowed in green and orange zones, starting May 4, subject to specific approval from the respective state governments.

The relaxation comes as a major relief for the e-commerce players.

Flipkart said that as a marketplace e-commerce player, it is its responsibility to enable sellers and the MSME community to bounce back and facilitate economic activity.

"We are working with lakhs of sellers and MSMEs across India and helping them prepare their businesses and workforce to make products available for consumers in this time of need," a company spokesperson told IANS.

"Our seller support team is providing constant online counsel and support to sellers on our platform to help them resume operations over the next couple of days complying with the government directives," the company added.

The Centre on Friday announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown for two more weeks from May 4, with certain relaxations to regions categorised as orange and green zones.

Snapdeal said that traffic to its platform has been growing steadily since the MHA announcement easing lockdown restrictions, including on e-commerce.

"The users are thronging the platform looking to place orders for a wide variety of products for which they have been waiting for a long time. Apparel and household products topped the list for searches and orders placed," said a company spokesperson.

Although there is no categorical statement regarding allowing of non-essential sales by e-commerce players, the MHA order mentioned that all activities are permitted in green zones except buses, metro rail services, educational institutions and other non-essential places which could lead to mass congregation of people, including, malls, and cinema halls.

An Amazon spokesperson said on Friday that it welcomes the government's decision to allow ecommerce in Orange and Green Zones to serve people safely with products that they need and have not been able to access due to the lockdown.

"Millions of small and medium businesses and traders will now be able to jumpstart their businesses and livelihoods across their workforce," said the company spokesperson.
Where did he come from, the inspector general? Whats his name? No, whats his name? Whats his name? Trump responded on April 6, when asked about the report, which he said was politically biased. He then attacked Grimm on Twitter, writing, 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.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.

I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable, Reade said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.

Reade said she described her issues with Biden but the main word I used  and I know I didnt use sexual harassment  I used uncomfortable. And I remember retaliation.

Reade described the report after the AP discovered additional transcripts and notes from its interviews with Reade last year in which she says she chickened out after going to the Senate personnel office. The AP interviewed Reade in 2019 after she accused Biden of uncomfortable and inappropriate touching. She did not raise allegations of sexual assault against Biden until this year, around the time he became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The existence of the Senate report has become a key element of the accusations against Biden, which he has flatly denied. Reade says she doesnt have a copy of the report, and Biden said Friday that he is not aware that any complaint against him exists. He asked the Senate and the National Archives to search their records to try to locate a complaint from Reade.

But Reade is suggesting that even if the report surfaces, it would not corroborate her assault allegations because she chose not to detail them at the time.

According to a transcript of her 2019 interview with the AP, Reade said: They have this counseling office or something, and I think I walked in there once, but then I chickened out. She made a similar statement in a second interview with AP that same day, according to written notes from the interview.

On Friday, Reade said she was referring to having chickened out by not filing full harassment or assault allegations against Biden. In multiple interviews with the AP on Friday, Reade insisted she filed an intake form at the Senate personnel office, which included her contact information, the office she worked for and some broad details of her issues with Biden.

On Saturday, Reade told the AP there may have been a box to check on the form noting a sexual harassment complaint, but she couldn't remember and wouldn't know for sure until she saw the form. Reade also said she canceled a planned television interview with Fox News Sunday because of security concerns.

Reade was one of eight women who came forward last year with allegations that Biden made them feel uncomfortable with inappropriate displays of affection. Biden acknowledged the complaints and promised to be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future.

During one of the April 2019 interviews with the AP, she said Biden rubbed her shoulders and neck and played with her hair. She said she was asked by an aide in Bidens Senate office to dress more conservatively and told dont be so sexy.

She said of Biden: I wasnt scared of him, that he was going to take me in a room or anything. It wasnt that kind of vibe.

The AP reviewed notes of its 2019 interviews with Reade after she came forward in March with allegations of sexual assault against Biden. But reporters discovered an additional transcript and notes from those interviews on Friday.

A recording of one of the interviews was deleted before Reade emerged in 2020 with new allegations against Biden, in keeping with the reporters standard practice for disposing of old interviews. A portion of that interview was also recorded on video, but not the part in which she spoke of having chickened out.

The AP declined to publish details of the 2019 interviews at the time because reporters were unable to corroborate her allegations, and aspects of her story contradicted other reporting.

In recent weeks, Reade told the AP and other news organizations that Biden sexually assaulted her, pushing her against a wall in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in 1993, groping her and penetrating her with his fingers. She says she was fired from Bidens office after filing a complaint with the Senate alleging harassment.

The accusation has roiled Bidens presidential campaign, sparking anxiety among Democrats. Republicans have accused Biden backers of hypocrisy, arguing that they have been quick to believe women who have accused President Donald Trump and other conservatives of assault. Trump has faced multiple accusations of assault and harassment, all of which he denies.

Reade says she was reluctant to share details of the assault during her initial conversations with reporters over a year ago because she was scared of backlash, and was still coming to terms with what happened to her.

Two of Reades associates said publicly this past week that Reade had conversations with them that they said corroborated aspects of her allegation. One, a former neighbor, said Reade told her about the alleged assault a few years after Reade said it happened. The other, a former coworker, said Reade told her she had been sexually harassed by her boss during her previous job in Washington.

The AP has also spoken to two additional people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their families' privacy, who said Reade had told them about aspects of her allegations against Biden years ago.

One friend, who knew Reade in 1993, said Reade told them about the alleged assault when it happened. The second friend met Reade more than a decade after the alleged incident and confirmed that Reade had a conversation with the friend in 2007 or 2008 about experiencing sexual harassment from Biden while working in his Senate office.

___

Thompson reported from Nevada City, California.

__

EDITOR'S NOTE  The headline of this story was changed for clarity and to incorporate a direct quote from Reade.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.
Three Melbourne men have been identified as the victims of Friday's horrific Burnley tunnel explosion, as authorities strive to reopen the busy city thoroughfare.

Police say the victims are a 51-year-old Essendon man, who was driving a Toyota van; a 37-year-old Sandringham man, driving a Holden ute and a 34-year-old Sunbury man, driving a Mazda sedan.

The three men, all sole occupants of their vehicles, died in a fiery eight-vehicle pileup sparked by a broken down truck deep within the tunnel just before 10am (AEDT) Friday.

The names of the victims have been withheld pending formal forensic identification.

A massive fireball erupted, forcing 400 people to flee the cross-city tunnel, leaving 200 cars stranded and causing traffic gridlock.
Mumbai: One of the accused arrested in a mob leaching case in Palghar, and was ket at the Wada police station has been found to be infected with coronavirus COVID-19. The accused was first admitted in an isolation ward of Palghar rural hospital and is being shifted to a prisoner ward at JJ Hospital.

Although it is not confirmed, the accused is believed to have contracted the infection as almost 20-30 accused were lodged in a single cell at the prison.

On May 1, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Maharashtra Police arrested five more persons in connection with the lynching of sadhus in Palghar. With this, the total number of persons arrested in the case has reached 101 while a hunt is underway to nab a few others.

In another development, the Supreme Court on Friday (May 1) directed the Maharashtra government to submit a status report on the investigation in the Palghar lynching incident. The plea alleged that the incident was a failure on the part of the police as a mob had gathered in the area in violation of the lockdown rules. Refusing stay on the investigation, the apex court asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the plea to the standing counsel for Maharashtra.

The incident took place at Gadchinchle village on April 16 when the two monks were heading towards Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral. A mob of villagers stopped them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were thieves, even as a few police personnel had reached the spot.

Some of the accused later fled into the dense forest around the village. According to an official, the police used drones to hunt them.
The number of people tested for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India crossed a million on Saturday, up from 38,914 on April 1, which takes the number of tests to almost 770 per million of the population. And the number of recoveries crossed 10,000.

On Friday, India tested 74,507 samples, of which around 85% of the tests were done at government labs using the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), which is the only diagnostic test for Covid-19 approved by the World Health Organization.

We have made a quantum jump in testing. We plan to ramp it up further to move towards a situation where we can test everyone who needs it. The number of labs doing Covid-19 tests has gone up, with 406 labs -- of which 105 are private ones -- now testing for Covid-19 across states, said C K Mishra, secretary, environment, and co-chair of the PMs high-level committee on preparedness for a medical emergency.

The health ministry expects testing to cross 100,000 tests a day next week, up from 5,580 a day on April 1.

Positivity remains low except for the 20 cities, which are still a cause of concern as the Covid-19 curve doesnt appear to be flattening there. The strategy for the future will be ramping up surveillance in these cities so we test every case of influenza-like illness to inform the containment response, said a health ministry official who asked not to be named

RT-PCR is used for qualitative detection of genetic material called nucleic acid (RNA) from Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and is the most accurate diagnostic test for infection, while other tests, such as rapid antibody tests, are surveillance tools that cannot test for current infection.

Among the 304 government labs, 254 use Real-Time RT PCR systems, 42 use TrueNat machines, and use Gene-Xpert cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) for Covid-19. Truenat is a small battery-operated machine that can run 32 to 48 samples and produces results in one hour, while CBNAAT machines are widely available in low-resource rural settings, where it is used to test for tuberculosis.

India has added two more high throughput systems that are capable of running 1,100-1,200 tests in one shift to the existing two in Noida and Bhubhaneshwar. Labs in Noida and Bhubaneshwar already have high-throughput systems, another one has been added to Bangalore, and a new one has arrived, which will be installed in National Centres of Disease Control in Delhi to increase testing capacity further, said Mishra.

India has testing kits in stock for another 11-12 days, and the threat of interrupted supply of RNA extraction kits from China is being addressed by domestic suppliers, who now provide 70,000-80,000 kits a day. With local suppliers coming into play, shortages are no longer an overwhelming concern, said the health ministry official.

The health ministry has taken steps to address the pendency issue, where labs were taking several days to send back results.

An examination of national showed Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi being identified as the states with the highest pendency. In Delhi, the National Institute of Biologicals in Noida was identified as a bottleneck, with the labs capacity to test 1,000-1,100 samples a day being stretched because of the arrival of samples from both Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. It resulted in around 9,000 results being pending, of which close to 5,000 were from Delhi.

We asked Delhi to withdraw its samples and send them to private labs for testing, and now the problem is sorted. Delayed data entry in some states is still a challenge, but we are working on that, said the health ministry official, who is part of the team coordinating with states.

Public health experts hope more people with symptoms will come forward to get tested following the health ministry order that now allows for home quarantine of mild cases.

People are not stupid, no one wants to die. We have to empower them to protect themselves. Japan now asks people with fever and cough to stay home quarantined and get tested only if the symptoms worsen or dont go away a week later, said Mishra.

According to HTs dashboard, the number of infections were 39,911 on Saturday night, with 1,319 deaths and 10,758 recoveries.

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The printing office for the Plumas National, which preceded Feather Publishing, in Quincy, Calif., pictured during a snowy winter in the late 1800s. (Plumas County Museum)

Eight days after the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in rural Plumas County, something happened that sent shock waves through the small health department trying to keep people updated during the pandemic.

The publisher of all four of the Northern California county's newspapers stopped the presses.

The Plumas County Public Health Agency had relied on them to provide residents with information about COVID-19.

"It's been difficult trying to provide information about the pandemic ... Unfortunately, not having a newspaper makes a difference," said Lori Beatly, a spokeswoman for the health agency.

In this region where winter can be brutal, the papers published by family-owned Feather Publishing did more than deliver the news  they literally kept people warm. Sold in bundles, they crackled aflame in wood-burning stoves.

"You get people upset about the content, and you get the people who worry about how they're going to start their fires," said Debra Moore, managing editor of the Plumas County newspapers. "It's a big, big deal. We've had people come in to stock up in case we don't start printing again."

Based in the Gold Rush town of Quincy, Feather Publishing stopped printing its Plumas County papers, as well as the only two newspapers in Lassen County, in early April. Like many other news organizations, it has been battered by staggering losses in advertising with businesses closed.

Now, there is one editor working in each county, updating their websites about COVID-19.

"We're primarily the only game in town; that just made the decision that much more difficult," said publisher Mike Taborski, who runs the business with his wife, Keri, whose parents ran it before them. "It was extremely painful, both for the impact it was going to have on the community, to shutter their only means of getting local, reliable news, and the impact it was going to have on our family of employees."

Story continues

Lassen and Plumas counties in Northern California (Matt Stiles / Los Angeles Times)

The loss of a newspaper in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak has been especially painful in a mountainous region with a population that is generally older, more geographically isolated and has less access to reliable cellphone service and the internet than urban locales.

In Plumas County, 28% of residents are 65 or older  double the state average. Senior citizens face the greatest risk of contracting the virus.

After the Feather River Bulletin, the Indian Valley Record, the Portola Reporter and the Chester Progressive stopped printing, the health agency sent postcards to every county resident detailing COVID-19 symptoms and stay-at-home orders.

"It was very expensive and time-consuming," Beatly said.

Some people who would otherwise read the weekly newspapers now call the county's coronavirus phone line every few days for updates.

Perhaps the saving grace has been that the virus has spread more slowly in the vast, sparsely populated northern reaches of California. As of Thursday, Plumas County had four confirmed cases of COVID-19. Lassen County had none.

Main Street in Susanville, Calif., the seat of Lassen County. Both of the newspapers for the county have ceased print publication because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Officials from a growing number of rural Northern California towns and counties have called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to let them reopen their economies. When a Quincy barber opened this week, one of the first customers was Plumas County Supervisor Jeff Engel, who posed for a photo in an American flag barbershop cape while a masked man trimmed his hair.

With some 75 employees, Feather Publishing is one of Plumas County's largest employers. The publisher laid off all but two.

Feather Publishing's Lassen County Times and Westwood Pine Press were the only two newspapers in Lassen County. Sam Williams, their managing editor, is now the only person on the payroll there.

Williams has been with the company for 21 years. His wife, head of the graphics department, had been there for 31 before being laid off.

"We're hoping we will return when all this craziness is over, but there's no guarantee," Williams said. "You've got a six-newspaper chain. That's a big ship to push back in the water."

Over the last 15 years, the U.S. lost one in four newspapers  some 2,100  as the internet became a primary source of information, said Penny Muse Abernathy, a University of North Carolina professor who studies news deserts.

The communities that lost newspapers, many of them rural, had a disproportionately high poverty rate and never fully recovered from the 2008 recession, she said.

"The tragic part about that is these are the very communities that need the kind of information that a local newspaper provides," Abernathy said. "If you lose your local newspaper, and you're in a small or mid-sized community, nobody's showing up at the local school board meeting. Nobody is covering local team sports. Nobody is covering everyday life."

With no newspapers in Plumas and Lassen counties, all of the counties' legal advertisements  the legally mandated notices of public hearings and other government business  now are sent to the nearest publication, the Mountain Messenger in neighboring Sierra County, said owner Carl Butz.

The Messenger, for which Mark Twain once wrote, is the state's oldest weekly newspaper. It has been printed on the Feather Publishing press in Quincy for the last four decades.

Butz bought the Messenger in January, saving it from closure. After the Los Angeles Times wrote in December about the newspaper's probable closure because of previous editor-publisher Don Russell's struggle to sell it before retiring, subscriptions increased 20%, Butz said. He now mails copies to people in 36 states.

The Feather River Bulletin in Plumas County, a dutiful chronicler of the times when logging and gold mining reigned, has been around in some form since 1866. It never missed a week of publication before last month.

Felix Grundy Hail, owner and publisher of what was then the Plumas National-Bulletin, in the early 1900s. In 1913, Hail shot his attorney on Main Street in Quincy. His son took over the paper and ran it for years afterward. (Plumas County Museum)

One former publisher, Felix Grundy Hail, was convicted of manslaughter after shooting an attorney on Main Street in Quincy in 1913. Hail, whose wife was on the school board, had bickered with the attorney over the proposed location of a new high school and the attorney's rejection from the local Masonic Lodge. After the shooting, Hail's son took over the newspaper.

Mike and Keri Taborski, both 68, have worked for the papers since 1974. When the Taborskis were in high school, they hung around the press room, back when Keri's parents were the publishers.

Taborski said that while the paper had lost employees through attrition in recent years, he was proud of never having to do layoffs. Stopping the presses, he said, was a gut punch.

"Us being at the helm and having to be the ones to make that decision was awfully hard," he said.

Some 86% of Feather Publishing's income came from local advertising, he said. Those ads evaporated during the pandemic.

"I am the eternal optimist. Always have been about our industry," Taborski said. "Always felt community newspapers would be alive and well for many decades to come. This completely caught me by surprise but opened my eyes to how fragile we are."

It's hard, he said, coming to an empty newsroom every day. Sometimes, laid-off employees pop in to use the internet and "look at their desk."

Managing editor Debra Moore, who now runs plumasnews.com alone, took her first job at the paper in 1993, covering lighthearted news and earning the nickname "Fluff" from a crime reporter. Her license plate reads LUV NEWS.

A few weeks ago, she assigned a reporter to pore through century-old newspapers to research how the 1918 Spanish flu affected Plumas County.

The fact that there will be no physical archive of this pandemic has hit her hard.

After the papers stopped, the phones rang nonstop. Callers wept.
Rio Rancho Public Schools will open Joe Harris Elementary in the fall, even with a tightening budget, the board of education decided Thursday night.

During a live-streamed meeting, board members voted unanimously to open the new school even though it will add to expenses when district officials are expecting budget cuts from the state.

You look at the pros and cons, and it does seem to be important that we move forward, Superintendent Sue Cleveland said after the vote. And I think the community will be very appreciative of that, and we will find a way to make it work.

Chief Operations Officer Mike Baker said opening the new Shining Stars Preschool would be a wash financially because its replacing an old school. With Joe Harris adding a school to alleviate over-crowding, he said it would mean another $1.4 million in personnel expenses.

The district had already set aside enough money to cover one-time opening expenses such as supplies, Baker said. Plus, RRPS would still have utility and other costs for the building, even with it closed.

Building the school cost $30 million. The district had been working toward it for years, and voters supported bond issues to pay for construction.

Although state officials say theyre not considering taking school districts cash reserves to balance the budget, it could happen, Baker and Cleveland warned, causing RRPS to lose the money it set aside to open the elementary.

In addition, if the school didnt open this year, Cleveland said, it would probably sit vacant for two years, because state officials expect finances in the 2021-22 fiscal year to be even worse than in the upcoming year. She said it would be vulnerable to vandalism then.

Also, Baker said opening Harris Elementary would allow for better social-distancing among elementary students across the district, which might be required this fall.

Cleveland said incremental budget cuts would have to be made across the district to pay for the Harris Elementary opening. Spreading out the reductions would decrease the impact on any one school or department.

Without such budget cuts, Cleveland said, RRPS wouldnt have opened half of its schools.

Every school is impacted when you open a new school, Cleveland said. Thats how its generally been historically.

Nonetheless, she didnt expect irreparable harm from budget cuts to pay for staff at Harris.

Cleveland said the district could open the new school to students outside the immediate area, and increased enrollment would bring in more money.

It is a challenge, where we are right now, and no one could have predicted where we are right now, with the pandemic, Cleveland said.

Cleveland said she hoped opening the school would become a catalyst for good things in the community and local economy.

Board President Amanda Galbraith said she was worried about the budget and the possibility of having to layoff teachers, but she thought opening Harris Elementary was the right thing to do.

In other business, Baker discussed how he planned to adjust the district budget. Because no one knows how big of a reduction schools will face, he and his staff prepared for 5-, 10-, 15- and 25 percent cuts.

He said the state would likely forgo all or most of the 4 percent pay increases the legislature approved. Then, with up to 15 percent cuts, RRPS could balance the budget by using cash reserves saved for such a situation, not filling most positions left open by attrition and not adding new positions despite growth.

If cuts surpassed 15 percent, Baker said, there would be little choice but to reduce hours or lay off people.

He expects legislators to determine the budget in one or two special sessions. Federal appropriations for schools could help the situation.
A mall in Oklahoma has reopened for the first time since it closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus outbreak, but with several restrictions to prevent the spread of the deadly illness.

Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City reopened Friday to customers wearing face masks, bathrooms with every other sink taped off and restaurants with capacity reduced down to about a third.

The mall manager says about 45 stores out of Penn Square's 150 stores were open as of Friday afternoon.

Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has reopened for the first time since it closed in mid-March because of the coronavirus outbreak, but with several restrictions to prevent the spread of the deadly illness

The mall reopened Friday to customers in face masks

Every other bathroom sink at the mall as taped off

Restaurant capacity at the mall was reduced down to about a third to ensure social distancing

The mall manager says about 45 stores out of Penn Square's 150 stores were open as of Friday afternoon. A Sunglass Hut at the mall was among the stores that remained shuttered

A worker at a screen protector kiosk is pictured at Penn Square Mall as the mall reopened Friday

'It's just increasing each day and sometimes by the hour. We're not requiring the stores to open,' says manager Jeff Runnels, KFOR reports.

'I think it's just going to continue to grow.'

As the mall and other businesses across the state reopened to the public, there were 3,748 confirmed cases in Oklahoma of the coronavirus and 230 deaths.

Across the US there have been 1,131,876 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 65,708 deaths.

Oklahoma on its first day back in business last week allowed barbershops, hair and nail salons, pet groomers and spas to reopen.

Other businesses are now being allowed to reopen a week later, including restaurants and movie theaters.

Gov. Kevin Stitt's plan is to allow businesses to reopen as long as they practice social distancing.

Employees and customers must wear masks if they are within six feet of each other.

At Penn Square, customers were asked to follow signage that helped them maintain proper social distancing. Some signs were pasted to the floor to direct foot traffic safely.

At Penn Square, customers were asked to follow signage that maintained social distancing

Customers are pictured entering Penn Square Mall when it reopened

Arrows on the floor at Penn Square also helped keep people properly distanced

A couple is seen walking in the Penn Square mall after its reopening Friday

People social distance themselves while riding the escalator at the mall

A mall security guard wearing a mask patrols the mall on a Segway

Some customers chose not to wear face masks as they strolled through the mall

Despite the restrictions, customers appeared unfazed by the new normal.

They walked past mall security guards on patrol on Segways wearing face masks.

Some of the customers chose to stroll the mall without covering their faces.

Among the areas off limits is the children's play area.

The mall's manager, Jeff Runnels, says he's confident the new guidelines will be effective.

'As long as they just follow the social distancing and hygiene recommendations, I think we'll be fine,' he said. 'For us, this is going to go on, what we're doing, for the foreseeable future.'
Chetana Belagere By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The cash-strapped Karnataka government seems to be desperate to raise revenue. Workers who have been waiting for more than a month now to return to their hometowns have to pay a whopping 120 per cent more than the regular fare. For instance, if a family of four has to travel to Bidar, then they have to pay an amount of Rs 7,936 to take a KSRTC bus to travel. But this is not all. They have to also ensure that they get another 26 passengers travelling to Bidar with them and all of them will have to then divide the amount among themselves and hire a bus to their hometown.

All that we are asking them is to ensure they are a group of 30 and have to divide Rs 39 per km (one way) for both ways and hire a bus to reach their hometown, said BT Prabhakar Reddy, Bengaluru Divisional Controller of KSRTC. However, several labourers who were waiting for days together to get back home were disappointed and sought help from the Chief Ministers Office.

Sharanappa, who did not have even Rs 500 with him but has to take his family of 12 to Yadgiri said, I have to pay Rs 16,932 to go back to my village. How will I raise so much money? If we had money or work then why would we want to go back? Please help us. Meanwhile, public health activists who have been working for the rights of migrant labourers also expressed unhappiness on how the government has been treating the migrants since the beginning of the lockdown. Dr Silvia Karpagam, Public health said, The way the government is acting is really cruel.

They imposed the lockdown without any arrangements for these people. Labourers were at least leading a dignified life with whatever little income they had. Now, they are being treated like beggars. What kind of system is this? You take away from them every possible way to reach their homes and then fleece them like this? However, Prabhakar Reddy said that government had provided free of cost travel for almost 25 buses till Thursday. Only from Friday we have asked them to bear the charges. There were many common people who tried to misuse the free service and travel as labourers. Hence, we had to take some measures. The department also has to bear the charges and needs money, he said.
Two men were arrested on Saturday for allegedly manhandling an assistant sub-inspector of police posted on curfew duty here, officials said.

The bike-borne men allegedly manhandled the ASI when police intercepted them at a check post, Superintendent of Police Jagjeet Singh Walia said.

The SP said the accused were identified as Charanjit Singh, resident of China Bidhi Chand village and Arshdeep Singh, resident of Narli village. They were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thanks so much for following along today, it's a pleasure to continue bringing all these different stories and developments to you via the blog.

Before I go tonight here is a look at some of the major stories from today:

Tehan withdraws attack on Victorian Premier over school stance

Elimination of COVID-19 possible in Victoria if lockdown endures

Six more cases linked to coronavirus cluster at meatworks

Melbourne in a post-pandemic world: how the virus could transform the city

Warning on gambling industry's 'self-serving' push to lift lockdown

Racing chiefs prepared for clash with AFL grand final

'This could be the making of us': Warriors finally land in Australia

It's been a busy day and we will have another blog up and going early tomorrow morning as we continue to cover all the happenings in this story.

I wish you all a lovely evening and thanks again for your support.

Good night!
Islamic terror group confiscating Christians' properties in Syria, watchdog reports

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A Syrian Islamic rebel group has been confiscating Christian-owned properties in Idlib, according to a new report released by a Syrian human rights watchdog.

Christians in Idlib province face the injustice of jihadist organizations and violations by Islamic factions, in terms of applying Islamic Sharia law to members of different religious communities, an April 25 report released by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reads.

The group warns that Islamic factions in the war-torn province in northwestern Syria are clamping down on Christians and imposing Jizya, a hefty tax imposed on non-Muslims.

SOHR warns that the imposition of Jizya, which was imposed by the Islamic State during its reign of terror in Iraq and Syria, is an attempt by Islamic groups to force Christians to leave their homes to regime-controlled areas.

According to SOHR, Idlib has been administered by different Islamic factions ranging from Al-Fateh Army to Salvation Government, the civilian wing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). HTS is a Sunni militant group that formed in 2017 as a merger of militant factions including Al-Nusra Front.

HTS has clamped down on the Christians of Idlib city, pursuing the landlords and occupants of their properties, the report states. The office of Christians properties of HTS, which considers as spoils, has notified tenants to check with the administrative offices, to renew the contracts and set new terms, including raising the rents of houses and shops.

According to SOHR, the factions have informed the tenants that the office has the right to rent, acquire and dispose of property at any time.

Civilians within the Christian community in Idlib who have fled from their homes are barred from appointing someone to change a ruling made by the Sharia courts regarding their property, according to the watchdog.

Similarly for the civilians of the Christian community in western countryside of Idlib, in the city of Jisr al-Shughour and the villages and towns of Yaaqubiya, Al-Qunaya, Al-Jadida, Al-Ghassania and Halauz, where HTS and the office of the spoils, are disposing of properties in order to support the fighters families, the report concludes. The issue of the property of Christian families remains under the control of radical groups of Tahrir Al-Sham Organization despite their attempts to change their policies to exploit the Syrian peoples revolution.

This week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report. In the report, the commission called on the U.S. State Department to label Syria as a country of particular concern, the agencys worst designation when it comes to the issue of religious freedom.

The CPC designation carries with it the potential for crippling sanctions for countries that systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

Additionally, USCIRF recommended in the report that HTS be designated by the State Department as an Entity of Particular Concern, a designation given to non-state actors.

USCIRF contends that HTS persisted in religious repression, including the assault and stoning of an Armenian woman in July.

According to USCRIF, HTS is engaged in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act.

The State Department already recognizes HTS subsidiary Al Nusra Front as an EPC and as a designated foreign terrorist organization. USCIRF stresses, however, that the EPC designation should not be limited only to al-Nusra Front.

Syria is ranked on the 11th on the Open Doors USA 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted.

According to Open Doors, the yearslong Syrian civil war has left the country in turmoil and Christians have not been spared from suffering as they are caught in the crossfire between government and rebel forces.

Additionally, Christians are at risk if forces antagonistic to Christianity rule their home regions, an Open Doors fact sheet explains. In areas controlled by radical Islamic groups, most historic churches have been either demolished or used as Islamic centers. Public expressions of Christian faith in these regions are prohibited and church buildings or monasteries cannot be repaired or restored irrespective of whether the damage was collateral or intentional.
About 10:30 p.m., a vehicle struck a man in the southbound lanes of I-94 near 115th and fled the scene. The driver of a second vehicle saw the accident and attempted to veer left to avoid striking the pedestrian, but crashed into a concrete wall and also hit the pedestrian, state police said.
The first saliva-based test, already being offered in parts of New Jersey, detects genetic material from the virus, just as the existing tests do, but it avoids a long swab that reaches disturbingly far up a persons nose. For the saliva-based test, health care workers do not need to wear and discard precious gowns and masks. And early evidence suggests it is just as sensitive, if not more so, than the swabs.
North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public since 12 April. He even failed to appear at Day of the Sun celebrations on 15 April, when Pyongyang commemorates the Stalinist state's legendary founder, Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-song. Speculation about the supreme leader's whereabouts is rife, but can we get a hint from the North Korean media?

Pyongyang watchers are scrutinising the North Korean state-controlled press for answers on the possible whereabouts of Kim, but clues are hard to find.

The Korean Central News Agency and the website of the Rodong Sinmun (Labour News), published in Korean, Chinese and English, stopped giving information on the activities of Kim Jong-un three weeks ago.

The column containing Rodong Sinmun's most prominent news item, the "Supreme Leader's Activities" is frozen on 12 April with the announcement that the "Political Bureau of the Central Committee (CC), Workers Party of Korea (WPK) Meets under the Guidance of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un."

On the same day, Kim inspected a "Pursuit Assault Plane Group". Both articles carry pictures of the leader.

After that: no more pictures, no more appearances.

The most important date of North Korea's calendar, the Day of the Sun (15 April), birthday of Kim Il-song, the President for Life who founded the nation in 1948, thus came and went  without his grandson Kim Jong-un being present at the festivities and parades.

The world started speculating. Hong Kong Satellite TV, claiming dependable sources in the north, said Kim had died,Japanese weekly Shukan Gendai claimed the North Korean dictator was in a vegetative state after complications following heart surgery.

Meanwhile, North Korea-watching website 38North reported that a train was spotted on three different occasions  the last one on 29 April - at the private station of Kim Jong-un's compound in the city of Wonsan, but no indications were given regarding the whereabouts of Kim himself.

Chatting with Assad

The Pyonyang press then started to multiply indications that Kim was still around.

On 26 April the KCNA reported that the Supreme Leader expressed gratitude to the construction workers in Samjiyon City at the border with China, where Kim wants to expand the family holiday resort.

A day later, both KCNA and Rodong Shinmun reported that the Supreme Leader had received a reply from President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria, who thanked Kim for his good wishes sent on the occasion of Syrian independence day, 17 April. None of these reports included pictures.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to confirm that the North Korean leader is alive, saying he wished Kim Jong-un well after days of speculation over the dictator's whereabouts.

Not too distant future

Asked if he had new information about Kim's health, Trump said "yes, I do have a very good idea, but I can't talk about it now. I just wish him well.

"I hope he's fine," Trump continued, speaking at a White House press conference. "I do know how he's doing, relatively speaking."

Trump said the media would "probably be hearing in the not-too-distant future" about Kim.

But a North Korean defector claims he is 99 percent sure that Kim Jong-un is dead, saying that Pyongyang could announce the news this weekend.

Ji Seong-ho, who was elected as a member of the South Korean parliament last April, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that he had been informed that Kim died last weekend after cardiovascular surgery.
In New York, the number of patients coming to the ER with COVID-19 symptoms has dropped and there is hope that the worst is behind us. As we look to the future, many of my colleagues on the frontline are eager to know if they have antibodies. Our institution, New York Presbyterian Hospital, has offered antibody tests, also known as serologic tests, to all staff that have recovered from suspected or confirmed COVID-19. In the early days of an infection, the immune response is still being developed and antibodies may not be detectable, so only staff who have been symptom-free for at least 14 days are eligible to be tested.

We are using a qualitative test that gives a yes-no result for the presence of antibodies. The alternative, a quantitative test, can determine the amount of antibody in a sample, also referred to as a titer, which is useful information once researchers determine what is needed for immunity, but a qualitative result gives us the information we need within about a week.

The test is not infallible. It is around 92 percent sensitive, meaning 92 percent of people who were infected with COVID-19 and have antibodies will test positive. It has 87 percent specificity, which means that about 87 percent who do not have the antibody will test negative

Sorting samples for a new COVID-19 antibody test developed by Abbott Laboratories. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Here are two examples of how testing has played out among my colleagues:

Confirmed COVID-19 infection and a negative antibody test: A 28-year-old physicians assistant I work alongside developed a runny nose, cough and body aches in late March. Her COVID-19 PCR test  the nasal-swab test, which directly detects the presence of the virus  was positive. And yet, after four symptom-free weeks, her antibody test is negative, leading her to wonder: I definitely had it. How does this make any sense?

The doctor who gave her the results shared that hes seen many patients with the same odd story: either the test was wrong (in other people this may occur if the test was done too early) or she failed to develop protective immunity.

Story continues

The FDA has approved four antibody tests through Emergency Use Authorizations, and, given the scope of the pandemic, nearly 100 unapproved tests that meet certain criteria are also available.

There is considerable variation across antibody tests in how accurately they can confirm exposure to SARS CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A few tests have failed to identify up to a third of previously infected patients.

We are still in the early rollout of serologic testing, and resolving technical issues requires trial and error. Over time it is fair to expect that the accuracy of antibody tests will improve.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Suspected COVID-19 infection and a positive antibody test: A 44-year-old colleague shares a different story. He returned from a medical mission in sub-Saharan Africa with fevers, a dry cough and muscle aches several weeks before the first confirmed case in New York, which was on March 1. His influenza test came back negative and he decided to self-quarantine, despite eye rolls from his family. On Thursday, his antibody test was positive. His reaction: I knew it!

Another doctor shrugs: He could have caught it in the ER weeks later when we were overrun with COVID-19 patients and never developed symptoms. But in either case, he now has antibodies, and the possibility he is protected against reinfection is great news.

While preliminary data is promising, infection does not guarantee immunity. In people with a healthy immune system, viral infections trigger the production of multiple different antibodies  some may protect against reinfection, others wont. We do not yet understand which antibodies, if any, will prevent COVID-19 reinfection. Furthermore, if true immunity develops, it is unclear how long it will last. In other human coronavirus infections, protection ranges from around one to three years.

On an individual level, there is much to be learned, and public health experts have cautioned against using the results of serologic testing to make decisions about staffing and the need for personal protective equipment. Despite the challenges, antibody testing is valuable for understanding what proportion of the population has been infected, which can guide policy decisions at the population level.

Ashita Batavia, MD, MSc, (Instagram: @ashita_batavia) is a board-certified infectious diseases specialist and public health expert at Lawrence Hospital NYPH-Columbia.

_____

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:
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 19:01:46|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections increased on Saturday by four cases to 733 while death toll went up by one to 25, the National News Agency reported.

Lebanon has started reducing general mobilization measures with some shops having opened their doors since two days ago while others will open later according to the schedule adopted by the government.

However, the Health Ministry urged people to continue adopting precautionary measures in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading. Enditem
The service technicians at Serra Hyundai are eager to help drivers keep the interior of their vehicle clean.

With current events, many people are being more careful when it comes to cleanliness and the items they handle. One item that gets handled a lot is the vehicle that people drive on an almost daily basis. The frequent handling allows for a lot of dirt and germs to build up.

To keep drivers safe and healthy, Serra Hyundai offers cleaning and sanitation services at its in-house service center. The highly-skilled service technicians will do a thorough job of cleaning the interior of the vehicle and will pay special attention to the hard-to-clean areas.

While cleaning, the service technicians can perform a vehicle inspection to ensure optimal performance and dependability.

In addition to its in-house service center, Serra Hyundai provides a high-quality shopping experience for drivers looking for a new vehicle. New models that are regularly available include the Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Venue, Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade. A variety of financing options are available, including traditional purchasing and leasing.

Drivers interested in having their current Hyundai vehicle cleaned or are interested in shopping for a new model are encouraged to contact Serra Hyundai through its website at http://www.serrahyundai.com or by phone at 205-304-0228. Serra Hyundai is located at 1503 Gadsden Highway in Trussville.
For more than a year, Conrad Wallace had been sleeping in a van, at the beach or on Los Angeles's notorious Skid Row, where he was badly injured in a stabbing last year.

But since April 25, Wallace, 59, and his son, Calvin, 21, have been bunking at the two-star art-deco Cadillac Hotel in the city's Venice Beach neighborhood.

"We don't care if we eat every day. What was our No. 1 priority?" Wallace said, turning to his son during a video interview. "We already got it. A place to stay."

The coronavirus pandemic has done what years of bond measures, housing referendums, community meetings and campaign promises failed to: provide housing quickly for some of the tens of thousands of homeless in the country's second-largest metropolis.

Since the virus began its spread in California, state and community officials have rushed to find shelter for a population at high risk both for catching the disease and spreading it. Gov. Gavin Newsom launched an initiative called Project Roomkey, which was designed to quickly lease 15,000 hotel rooms for the homeless statewide.

Los Angeles officials turned two dozen parks and other city facilities into shelters for some of the area's estimated 58,000 homeless people. As of Wednesday, the region also had 1,350 of them sleeping in more than 20 hotels, with capacity for hundreds more.

Statewide, more than 12,600 of the authorized hotel rooms have been leased and 1,200 recreational vehicles delivered to communities for use as temporary shelters. Newsom has banned evictions based on nonpayment of rent.

"If there was a silver lining to this entire crisis, it's this emergency response," said Heidi Marston, interim executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a joint city-county agency. "They always say, 'Never waste a good crisis.'"

Emily Uyeda Kantrim, associate director of the nonprofit Safe Parking LA, which finds spaces for homeless people with vehicles to sleep in, said she's seen a change in attitude over the past month. She was shocked at how quickly officials responded. They traded text messages with her over the weekend to find two of her clients -- a mother and her son with breathing issues -- a hotel in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood.

Newsom has said Federal Emergency Management Agency funding will cover 75% of the cost of the leased rooms, including money for laundry, security, cleaning and food. The California legislature allocated $150 million in emergency funds for additional support, though city and county sources are also being tapped.

"Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided," said Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive officer of St. Joseph's Center, a homeless services center that administers the program at the hotel where the Wallaces are staying. "There's a caterer that brings food, and nurses take temperatures during the food service."

Los Angeles County, with over 10 million people, is to some degree the epicenter of the nation's homeless crisis. A report last year from the White House showed the region accounting for the largest share of the 553,000 homeless people across the country.

Of course, the 2,200 Los Angeles County hotel rooms leased so far fulfill just a fraction of the need. Even before the pandemic, 130 people a day were moving into some form of housing, but 150 were losing their shelter, according to Amber Sheikh Ginsberg, who runs a City Council district's working group on homelessness.

Encampments lie below highways, in parks and sometimes on busy boulevards, where the people set up lawn chairs and even potted plants.

Voters in the city passed a $1.2 billion bond measure and related sales tax in 2016 and 2017 to fund housing for the homeless. After many delays, the first 62-unit project opened in January.

Local officials face challenges including federal court orders that prevent them from kicking the homeless off the streets, soaring rent and housing prices, and neighbors who don't want shelters nearby.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, facing withering criticism for his handling of the issue, formed a war room this year to address the crisis. Nearly every candidate in the March 3 city election addressed the crisis in mailings to residents.

Even now, Skid Row hasn't been emptied. It's still bustling with people, and many aren't wearing masks or facial coverings.

Since Project Roomkey was announced, some cities have sought to block the leasing of hotels, and last week a housing-advocacy group sued in federal court to halt such actions.

"Elected officials are more willing to step into some of those fights if there are entities saying, no we don't want this," Marston, the housing official, said. "They're really backing us up and saying this is the right thing to do."

Even if the homeless don't stay in these hotels past the pandemic, the present situation gives counselors an opportunity to work with them, according to Uyeda Kantrim, the housing advocate.

"This is the best time to converse with people and figure out what's next, because it's as stable as they've been," she said. "It's an amazing undertaking and there will be bottlenecks, but no one that we've referred has been denied. There is money. And no one's saying no."

Marston said it's important that the city build on its initial success to find ways to help the many thousands still outside.

"We really didn't have the interest of the business community and the hotel community in the way we do now," she said. "This is an opportunity for them to bring their staff back to work and pay them and make money and keep the lights on."

For Wallace, the program has been a lifesaver. He had worked security at the Staples Center arena but has had trouble finding employment due to diabetes, high blood pressure and the need to care for his son, who suffers from severe asthma.

Fast-food restaurants turned the pair away and buses wouldn't let him ride because he didn't have a mask, he said.

"I didn't think it'd take this long, finding a place to stay," Wallace said, wearing a Kobe Bryant shirt and sitting on a couch in his hotel room with his son. "When they put us in here, it was wonderful."
The star linebacker for the Denver Broncos, Von Miller, has announced via Twitter he has tested negative for the deadly virus.

"Got my results back. I'm 'negative' for Covid-19," Miller tweeted Thursday. Miller contracted the virus on April 16.

Miller has told the Broncos website about his experience: "It's super serious," Miller said. " I try to keep my body in tip-top shape. I try to be Superman. I try to make things happen. I try to stay up on my health. I know if I can get it, then I know that anybody can get it. I want people to really take it seriously.

"I was shocked," Miller said. "Ive been here in Denver for about four weeks now. Ive probably left the house four times. With all those four times, I never got out of the car."

Miller begs people to take it seriously

His first symptoms were a simple cough - which is common with the Coronavirus. He was then tested and self-isolated in his home.

Miller has urged everyone via a video statement on Twitter to "stay safe, stay inside, practice social distancing and take this thing serious because it is definitely for real."

Embed from Getty Images

The Broncos drafted Miller in 2011, since then he has made the Pro Bowl eight times and has 106 sacks in his career.
The government has issued more information on how key workers - including farmers and farm workers - can book Covid-19 tests for themselves.

The government only recently extended its coronavirus testing programme to include farmers and other agricultural workers.

The move, designed to speed the return of people in quarantine back to work, was welcomed by farming unions and industry groups.

There has been a call for increased testing within the agricultural industry since the start of Covid-19 restrictions.

Now new information has now been released. For farmers and agricultural workers in England and Scotland, an online testing portal enables individuals to book a test themselves.

Alternatively, employers can refer staff using an employer portal. Accounts for this portal can be requested by emailing portalservicedesk@dhsc.gov.uk.

In Northern Ireland, it is not currently possible for key workers to book a test using a digital portal.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it would continue to run on the manual sharefile upload process for test appointments at regional test sites there.

Home test kits will be available via the self-referral portal, but only for the time being. Key workers with further queries have been told to contact opshub@dhsc.gov.uk.

DHSC are not managing the testing process for Wales. Companies have been urged to get in touch with the Local Resilience Forum.

It comes as the Prime Minister said on Thursday (30 April) that the UK is past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak.

Boris Johnson, who said it is too early to lift restrictions, pledged to reveal a 'road map' out of the national lockdown next week.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has not approved any drug or vaccine for the treatment of COVID-19.

The Director General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, said in a statement on Saturday that NAFDAC had not granted approval for any vaccine for the treatment and cure of COVID-19.

To put the record straight, no drugs or vaccines have been given approval in the country for cure of COVID-19, Mrs Adeyeye, a professor, said.

While the medical researchers globally, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the World Health Organisation (WHO), are working tirelessly on the discovery of vaccines and drugs to cure COVID-19, the agency urges the public to desist from making unsubstantial claims.

NAFDAC is the only authority in the country to grant approval to such drugs and vaccines.

READ ALSO:

The NAFDAC boss statement came as the US Food and Drug Administration announced the emergency use of the experimental drug remdesivir on hospitalised coronavirus patients.

Last week, the World Health Organisation warned against the use of a herbal cure for coronavirus after Madagascars president launched a plant-based tonic named Covid-Organics.

Mrs Adeyeye said that NAFDAC would continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to safeguard the health of Nigerians and that in the event of any approved drug or vaccine for the cure of COVID-19, the agency would not hesitate to inform the public.

Mrs Adeyeye, however, advised Nigerians to comply strictly with measures issued by NCDC to prevent the spread of COVID-19, adding that these include the use of face covering masks, social distancing, washing of hands and use of alcohol based sanitisers.

(NAN)
Like many Americans, I awake each morning to news broadcasts and commentaries about the novel coronavirus, now-labeled COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the day and over the course of each week, update alerts, televised information briefings, and online town hall meetings are now part of the landscape. And each evening, newscasters and late-night talk show hosts recap the carnage.

Across the globe the numbers are staggering, with over 3 million infected by the virus and more than 200,000 fatalities. In the United States, with over a million people testing positive for COVID-19, the number of fatalities in the last week of April exceeded the 58,220 deaths recorded as U.S. casualties of the Vietnam War.

Dubbed Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War in the 1980 Canadian documentary, the first death was recorded on June 8, 1956. The last two deaths were two U.S. Marines killed in Vietnam on April 29, 1975, one day before the evacuation of the U.S. embassy and the fall of Saigon.

National Public Radio recently reported the first COVID-19 U.S. death occurred Feb. 6. It took less than 90 days to match the number of deaths incurred during nearly 20 years of war in Vietnam.

I grew up in the 1960s with Vietnam very much in the forefront of national attention coinciding with the Civil Rights Movement. I remember watching national broadcast anchor Walter Cronkite on the evening news provide casualty numbers of wounded and killed in action, and each Sunday in church hearing prayers offered on behalf of members of our community serving in Vietnam. And Americans were anxiously waiting for the next announcement of the draft and its sequence numbers  wondering who would be called up next.

What I do not recall is the Hong Kong flu/1968 pandemic, with the H3N2 strain that killed 1 million people worldwide and caused an estimated 100,000 deaths in the United States over two flu seasons from 1968 to 1970. Like our current COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of victims were over 65 years old. I do remember from 1968 the shock of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the assassinations of two national leaders (Rev. Dr. Martin L. King Jr, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy), and the widespread civil unrest that ensued.

In my teenage years, I was unaware of local community actions to address the challenges we now face across the nation. Perhaps it was just family taking care of family, and neighbors taking care of neighbors with little reliance on or expectation of assistance from the federal government. Our nation was in turmoil and challenged to meet the needs of diverse states and cities.

As during the Vietnam War, lower socioeconomic classes in the United States are now at higher risk, more susceptible to exposure, and have a higher fatality rate due to underlying conditions.

Locally in Carlisle we are fortunate to have several organizations that have come together during this pandemic to care for each other. It is more than caring for the least among us. Many of our community members experience ill health (physical and mental), food insecurity, joblessness, lack of affordable housing and homelessness, domestic abuse, and financial distress now accentuated during this pandemic.

I have grown to detest the phrase the new normal as it leads to the inference that we want to go back to the old ways. What this pandemic should teach us is that the old normal is not acceptable and we should/must create a community and nation that cares equally for all members.

During our Rotary Club of Carlisle-Sunrise meeting this week, I learned of the efforts of the United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County. It has established the Carlisle Area Emergency Response Fund (COVID-19) to help our community nonprofits mitigate the challenges faced by so many of our community members and to complement government social services.

Please visit  https://uwcarlisle.org/dollars-making-a-difference/  to see the on-going good work in our community and to find ways that you can contribute.

Retired Army Col. Charles D. Allen is a professor of leadership and cultural studies at the Army War College.
By Guy Faulconbridge and Costas Pitas

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom's COVID-19 death toll rose 621 to 28,131 as of May 1, just short of Italy which has so far had the world's second most deadly outbreak of the disease after the United States.

As Britain shadows Italy for the grim status of being the worst hit country in Europe, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing criticism from opposition parties who say his government stumbled in the early stages of the outbreak.

Housing minister Robert Jenrick gave the latest UK figures at a Downing Street briefing on Saturday.

The United States has had 64,740 deaths, followed by Italy with 28,710 and the United Kingdom on 28,131 and then Spain on 25,100, according to a Reuters tally.

Italy, which has a population of 60 million, said its death toll rose 474 as of Saturday. The United Kingdom has a population of about 67 million.

Johnson, 55, initially resisted introducing a lockdown to restrict economic and public activity, but changed course when projections showed a quarter of a million people could die.

Johnson himself battled COVID-19 last month, spending three days in intensive care. He returned to work on Monday, telling the nation that people around the world were looking at the United Kingdom's "apparent success".

TESTS FOR EASING LOCKDOWN

He has said the country is over the peak but that it is still to early to relax the lockdown he imposed on March 23 because there could be a second peak that he fears might overwhelm hospitals.

The $3.0 trillion British economy, the world's fifth largest, is stalling and Johnson is due next week to present a possible way to get the country back to work without triggering a second spike in cases.

He has set five tests that must be met before he can lift the lockdown - with a reduction in the daily death toll and prevention of a second deadly peak among the key ones.

Government scientists say that while the daily death tolls show a downward trend they expect them to plateau for a while.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Costas Pitas)
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: The parents of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl on Saturday filed an appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Sindh High Court verdict that overturned convictions of four men in their son's kidnapping and murder case.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.

On April 2, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench overturned the death sentence of British-born 46-year-old al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in the abduction and murder of Pearl in 2002.

He has been in jail for the past 18 years. The court also acquitted his three aides - Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil- serving life sentences in the case. The bench announced the verdict on the appeals filed by the four convicts 18 years ago.

Two criminal petitions have been filed by renowned lawyer Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the parents - Ruth Pearl and Judie Pearl - against the acquittal and release of the four accused, the Express Tribune reported on Saturday.

"The decision by the Sindh High Court to free the men in the murder of Daniel Pearl is a complete miscarriage of justice. It is a defining case for the Pakistani state and its judicial system, involving freedom of the press, the sanctity of every life, freedom from terror and the manifestation of a welcoming and safe Pakistan to the world. Rarely has any court case embodied and risked such fundamental values," the lawyer said.

ALSO READ| Coronavirus scare: Pakistani terrorists moved to their residence from jail to maintain social distance

According to the petition, the Sindh High Court has failed to note that this was a brutal murder as a result of international terrorism and the principle of the standard of proof, as well as the benefit of doubt in cases of international terrorism, has to be applied keeping in the context that the nature and type of evidence available in such terrorism cases cannot be equated with cases involving non-terrorism crimes.

"Therefore, it is obvious and apparent that the impugned judgment is clearly erroneous because it is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of law and misreading of the entire record of Special Case No. 26 of 2002," the petition stated, and added that the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside.

The petition stated that the court further erred in failing to take into consideration that Sheikh has a history of involvement in international terrorism. The petition further states that keeping in mind the arguments, the judgment is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of the law and on a misreading and selective reading of the entire record of the case.

Siddiqi further added in the petition submitted that the provincial high court's judgment, has itself held that the present case is a "very sensitive case where a foreign journalist was murdered in the most brutal circumstances that would have spread terror amongst other foreigners in Pakistan and the journalist community as a whole".

"Therefore, in light of its own finding and the strong incriminating evidence establishing the case for kidnapping for ransom of the deceased person, Sindh High Court has erred in giving the aforementioned findings," said the petition.

Two days after the Sindh High Court overturned Sheikh's conviction on April 2, the Sindh government invoked the Maintenance of Public Order to keep the convicts in jail.

Pearl's murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814.

He was serving prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country. The Sindh government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court decision on April 22, and on April 28 asked for an early hearing. "The matter is of great urgency, therefore, the application for the suspension of April 2 Sindh High Court judgement be heard as early as possible," it said in its application.
A man has been arrested after protesters in London took part in a group hug outside Met Police's headquarters in defiance of the coronavirus lockdown.

The crowd outside New Scotland Yard, close to the Houses of Parliament, were seen hugging each other as others held signs reading: "My body, my choice."

Another at the protest in central London on Saturday afternoon held a sign saying: "No more lockdown."

Around 20 people appeared to be in the crowd, which included young children.

Police told the protesters to go home before arresting a man who did not comply.

Gatherings of any sort are banned under the UK's rules to slow the spread of coronavirus which were rolled out on March 23.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "A small number of protesters gathered near New Scotland Yard earlier today.

Officers engaged with the protesters, encouraged them to go home and the group subsequently dispersed. One man arrested."

The UK has been on coronavirus lockdown for around six weeks, after Boris Johnson ordered Brits to stay at home except for essential work, food shopping, exercise and medical trips.

The Prime Minister may announce an end to the lockdown for some businesses, like factories, shops and office-based companies, on May 26, the Sun has reported.

But this plan is only the "best hope", and could change if the current slowdown in coronavirus cases picks back up again.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma will set out detailed instructions next week on how businesses in different sectors should end the lockdown.

A man is held by police officers during a protest against the Covid-19 lockdown / PA

Despite the protest, the majority of Brits are worried about lockdown being lifted after more than a month of being told to stay home to save lives, a survey revealed.

The study, by Ipsos Mori, found that more than 60 per cent of Brits would be uncomfortable doing regular activities like going to bars or restaurants.

The London gathering came after hundreds of people protested against US lockdown rules in California and Michigan despite a rising death rate.

A man is carried away by police officers during a protest against the Covid-19 lockdown outside New Scotland Yard / PA

People packed out the streets in the city south of Los Angeles, defying an order to close all of Orange County's beaches which was issued after "concerning" images emerged of large crowds of beachgoers.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, one protester, Andrew Norman, said: "I served in the Army and fought tyrants and dictators overseas and this has gone too far.

"I didnt do that to come back here and live under a tyrant in my own country."

Protesters hold signs and wave flags in a demonstration on May Day / AP

California's hospitalisation appears to be improving, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.

But he condemned the protests, saying: "We can screw all that up. We can set all that back by making bad decisions," he said. "All of that works because people have done an incredible job in their physical distancing."
Darigha Nazarbaeva, the daughter of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, has been dismissed from her post as speaker of the upper house of parliament.

The move, which removes Nazarbaeva from a position that put her second in line to the head of state, was announced on May 2 by the office of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, her father's hand-picked successor.

Toqaev "terminated the powers" of Nazarbaeva, his office said in a statement.

She also loses her seat in parliament.

Toqaev thanked Nazarbaeva for her "active and fruitful work as chair of the Senate" on Twitter on May 2.

Nazarbaeva had served as speaker of parliament since March 20, 2019, the same day her father stepped down as president.

Nazarbaev, 79, is widely seen as the country's top decision-maker despite leaving the presidency he held for nearly three decades.

He continues to lead the ruling Nur-Otan party and holds a lifetime post as chairman of the Security Council.

Immediately following Nazarbaev's resignation, Toqaev proposed renaming the country's capital to Nur-Sultan in his predecessor's honor.

Nazarbaeva was nominated to be parliament speaker by Toqaev, who himself served in the position under Nazarbaev.

Nazarbaeva's arrival to parliament in 2016 on her father's appointment was widely seen as a move to groom a possible successor.
An average of five calls per hour were fielded at the city Health Departments Poison Control Center in the 30 hours after President Donald Trump suggested officials were researching the possibility of injecting disinfectant to kill coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a published report.

Following the the April 23 press conference when Trump made the comments, 151 cases were handled from 6 p.m. that evening to midnight on April 24, reports the New York Daily News.

The calls reportedly included at least 39 involving possible ingestion of bleach or disinfectants, and other cases concerning unspecified types of household cleaners. No deaths were reported in connection with the calls.

During the same time period last year, 13 cases were handled at poison control. For 72 hours prior to Trumps press conference-- between midnight on April 19 and midnight April 22  the Poison Control Center received 154 calls.

Poisoning from cleaning and disinfectants had already been up nationwide all year as the coronavirus outbreak -- which requires intensive cleaning and sanitizing to decrease spread -- ramped up, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Although NPDS data do not provide information showing a definite link between [disinfectant] exposures and COVID-19 cleaning efforts, there appears to be a clear temporal association with increased use of these products, the CDC report says.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

NYC HEALTH COMMISSIONER ISSUES WARNING

Trump faced criticism from health experts and both Republican and Democratic governors after suggesting experts were researching whether disinfectant could be injected into the body to kill coronavirus (COVID-19).

His comments came after listening to Bill Bryan, the undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, detail research on sunlight and disinfectants ability to destroy the coronavirus, NBC news reported.

I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs," Trump said. So itd be interesting to check that."

Should you inject bleach to fight COVID-19?



No.



Heres @NYCHealthCommr Barbot with more. pic.twitter.com/kdgz7EC4pE  NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) April 24, 2020

Following the presidents press conference, Oxiris Barbot, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health, posted a video on Twitter discouraging New Yorkers from injecting disinfectants.

A day after the press conference, Trump said he was being sarcastic when he made the comments, according to multiple reports.

The presidents comments apparently also made an impact in other parts of the U.S.

On April 26, Govs. Larry Hogan of Maryland (R) and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan (D) told NBC News their states saw a surge in phone calls to emergency hotlines inquiring about the validity of the presidents comments.
by Kim Sang-wook

Some agencies had reported him ill or dying. Yesterday he inaugurated a fertiliser factory amid the usual enthusiasm of the technical staff.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un yesterday attended the opening of a fertiliser factory in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang, North Koreas state agency, KCNA, reported today, thus breaking the silence over Kims fate and health.

The pictures of the event show a smiling Kim, in Maoist outfit, cutting a red ribbon at the inauguration ceremony. All the participants broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!' extending the greatest glory to the Supreme Leader, KCNA writes.

Next to Kim was his sister Kim Yo-jong, seen by many as the Supreme Leaders designated successor in case of death.

Yesterday's was Kim Jong-uns first public outing since 11 April. His absence from the birthday celebrations of his grandfather Kim Il-sung had fuelled speculation about his health. A South Korean news agency, and later CNN, had even reported that he was seriously ill, almost dying.

US President Donald Trump refused to comment about Kim's health; but a group of Chinese doctors and diplomats did travel to Pyongyang to provide "advice".

North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, with news under tight state control. The leaders health is treated as top security, given the fear of real or imaginary coups.
Tom Cruise is not just an A-list celebrity, he is also known as a member of the infamous Church of Scientology. Despite the negative reaction from the public because of his involvement in the "cult," that did not stop Cruise from recruiting fellow celebrities to join him.

Glenn Powell and Miles Teller were allegedly pitched on Scientology by Cruise while they were filming "Top Gun: Maverick," according to the Globe. The outlet claimed that Cruise had been barraging the actors with Scientology teachings behind the scenes. A source stated that the actors like Tom and they love working with him but he comes off as too overbearing especially when it comes to the topic of Scientology.

Does Cruise pressure celebrities?

Cruise has worked on dozens of movies over the years, yet none of his co-stars talked about the actor pressuring them into joining Scientology. Cruise is not the only one who is accused of recruiting celebrities. In 2019, Cruise's ex-wife Katie Holmes is said to be afraid of her step-daughter Bella, because she might try to recruit her daughter Suri to Scientology, according to Woman's Day Australia.

A source told the outlet that Bella helped raise Suri and they adored each other. Katie knows that Suri will never forget the bond that she shared with her half-sister, so she is concerned that Bella and Tom might make the most of that connection now that Suri is older.

Also Read: Gigi Hadid Expecting First Child with Boyfriend Zayn Malik

Cruise and Suri had been estranged from each other for years, and there is no evidence that Suri is close to Bella. Holmes' spokesperson talked to Gossip Cop and said that rumors about Bella recruiting Suri to Scientology is not true.

The tabloid NW reported that Tom Cruise was begging Demi Moore to be his Scientology bride. The source of the NW tabloid claimed that Moore and Cruise had been going on secret dates, but their dates included lectures about Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Even the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was not safe from the rumor. NW also claimed that earlier this year, Tom Cruise tried to recruit Markle for Scientology. The pair are said to have met through Oprah. The tabloid also stated that Markle was interested in Scientology. However, a source close to Meghan Markle talked to Gossip Cop and stated that none of the rumors about the Duchess is true.

What is Scientology?

Scientology is a set of religious beliefs created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Scientologists believe that people are immortal alien beings, called thetans, who have forgotten their true nature and are trapped on earth in human form. The scripture of Scientology extols the benefits of good PR, and they recruit celebrities for PR power as they believe it will get a lot of people interested.

Tom Cruise was introduced to the Church of Scientology through his first wife, Mimi Rogers, who was a Scientologist at the time. Cruise drifted away from Scientology while married to Nicole Kidman, but after their divorce, the church worked to get him back.

Many claims that Scientology is a dangerous cult. The church uses manipulation and drastic measures to control their members, a lot of them were never heard from again. Brainwashing, mind control, isolation, emotional and mental abuse are just some of the accusations that the church is doing to its members.



Related Article: Legendary Star Irrfan Khan Dead: Bollywood Mourns, Admires Love Story With Wife Sutapa

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By James Oliphant, Steve Holland and Saundra Amrhein TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Before the coronavirus pandemic, Desi Marinov considered herself 'apolitical.' The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, flight attendant didn't even bother to vote in the 2016 presidential election

By James Oliphant, Steve Holland and Saundra Amrhein

TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Before the coronavirus pandemic, Desi Marinov considered herself "apolitical." The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, flight attendant didn't even bother to vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Losing her job due to lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus and then waiting weeks for unemployment benefits has changed all that. Now she is determined to make sure President Donald Trump is not re-elected in November.

I will go and vote and will convince as many people as I can  that this is the wrong type of leadership, she said.

Marinov, 42, is the kind of voter that keeps the Trump campaign up at night. Of all the battleground states he won in 2016, Florida is the biggest prize with 29 Electoral College votes.

Trump had been considered the favorite to win Florida again over the prospective Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, despite edging out Hillary Clinton there by just 1.2%.

But two months into the biggest crisis of his presidency, the Republican has received mixed reviews for his response. Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis, a staunch Trump ally, meanwhile, has been criticized for being slow to close beaches and blamed for a faulty unemployment compensation system that locked hundreds of thousands out of benefits.

Recent polls now show Biden neck-and neck or slightly ahead of Trump in Florida as well as nationally. Trumps internal polling shows the same, according to a Republican source close to his re-election campaign.

One in five Floridians are aged 65 and older, the age group most vulnerable to the coronavirus, compared with one in six nationally, according to U.S. census data from 2019.

Its much more competitive than it was. He doesnt have the edge with seniors that he had before, the source said, asking not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "Florida... is in play."

According to a Reuters/Ipsos national opinion poll from mid-April, only about a third of Americans 55 and older think the country is headed in the right direction, down 6 percentage points from a similar poll in February.

Their preference in November's election showed a small improvement for Biden, who drew 44% support from older Americans, about the same amount as Trump, who had 45%, according to the poll.

Biden's strength with independent voters such as Marinov also appears to be growing, albeit marginally. He had a 4% lead among self-identified independents in April, compared to his 2% advantage in February.

Trump has been frustrated by the recent polls, at one point sharply questioning his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, over the numbers, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said he did not believe his lock on the state was in jeopardy.

I dont think so," Trump said, but added, "Look, I havent been looking at polls for a while.

GRAPHIC: Calendar of each states Democratic nominating contest and its allocated delegates - https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION-CALENDAR/0100B31F26V/index.html)

RE-OPENING FLORIDA

Of the major battleground states in the general election - also including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona - DeSantis has been the most aggressive about re-starting his state's economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism and services.

About one million of Florida's estimated 10 million-strong workforce lost jobs during the pandemic. State government data as of Thursday shows that about half of them have not been able to claim benefits after its automated compensation system crashed.

Were on the path to economic suicide, said Ford OConnell, a former Republican congressional candidate in Florida who regularly consults with the Trump re-election campaign on strategy. The sooner DeSantis is able to return Florida to a sense of safety, the better Trump is.

Florida plans to partially reopen on Monday, despite concerns among public health experts including on Trumps team about the possibility of a spike in new cases should states ease social distancing measures too quickly.

"That might not go over well either," the Republican source close to the campaign said.

Russell Green, 61, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is one of those who worries he and others will be at risk if the state opens too quickly. He believes Trump failed to take the spread of the virus seriously.

An independent who voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, the Naples resident plans to vote for Biden this time.

Economists say that with summer generally the slowest season for Florida's industries, any economic rebound from a successful re-opening may not be apparent by November.

Trump's allies say even a small uptick will benefit Trump's re-election odds.

Three months after this, people are going to say (DeSantis) handled it right and the president handled it right, said Brian Ballard, a top Florida lobbyist and Republican power-broker.

(GRAPHIC: Delegate tracker and results - https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION-DELEGATE-TRACKER/0100B5DR3JT/index.html)

A NEW OPENING

Sensing a possible opening in the state but with all in-person campaigning stopped due to the pandemic, Biden and his allies are doing what they can to reach voters in Florida.

This week, he gave an interview to local media in Miami, criticizing Trump's handling of the pandemic, and local Democrats such as U.S. Representative Val Demings of Orlando, who is considered a possible vice-presidential pick, have been arguing his case for the presidency.

Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA plans to spend at least $13 million airing ads in Florida between now and Election Day, said Daniela Martins, the groups Florida outreach director.

But Biden will need to raise much more money to stay visible in the state, which has several expensive media markets, analysts say. By the end of March, Biden trailed Trump in cash on hand by more than $180 million.

Mary Jane Lukas, 45, of Gainesville, Florida, an independent voter who supported a third-party candidate in 2016, remains unconvinced. She said she was leaning toward Trump, largely because she thinks Biden has kept too low a profile during the crisis.

I dont want to vote for (Trump)," Lukas said, "but I feel like I have to."

(GRAPHIC: Where the candidates stand on key issues - https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION-POLICIES/0100B5C33D8/index.html)

(Reporting by James Oliphant and Steve Holland in Washington and Saundra Amrhein in Tampa, Editing by Soyoung Kim and Sonya Hepinstall)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
(L) Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) speaks to The Epoch Times in an interview in March 2019. (Video screenshot/The Epoch Times) (R) Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks during a news briefing after a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 22, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Lawmakers Investigate NIH Over Chinese Espionage Aimed at US Medical Research

Two members of Congress have demanded an explanation from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over possible Chinese intellectual property theft at U.S.-funded medical research institutions.

Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) have launched an investigation into the NIHs handling of cases of scientists who were recipients of U.S. grants but failed to disclose their ties to the Chinese communist regime.

In a letter (pdf) sent on April 30 to Director of the NIH Francis Collins, obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon, the congressmen demanded Collins explain the procedures for taking disciplinary action against researchers that may have received grants but failed to disclose their ties to a foreign government.

Director of the NIHs extramural research program Michael Lauer revealed to Science Magazine that the Chinese Communist Party had infiltrated the NIH grant program to obtain information about proposed U.S. grants. Based on this information, Chinese institutions set up shadow-labs in China that mirrored U.S. labs in order to replicate the stolen NIH-funded research. Lauer did not provide more details about these practices, but mentioned the Thousand Talents Program (TTP) in the context of Chinas intellectual property theft.

In August 2018, the NIH launched investigations into 250 NIH researchers with suspicious foreign ties, the letter stated, referencing Lauers interview.

Scientist Christopher Kistler checks on experiments in AMBR250 bio-reactors in a laboratory at the Merck company facilities in Kenilworth, N.J., on Dec. 18, 2014. (Mel Evans/AP Photo)

One way to identify scientists with ties to the Chinese regime was to check if they list their dual affiliation when publishing scientific papers, and scrutinizing those who list their Chinese affiliation first, Lauer said.

The NIH investigation uncovered five cases of researchers sending confidential information to China at just one research center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas.

One scientist sent confidential research data to China in exchange for $75,000 and a one-year appointment under Chinas TTP. Another scientist from the same institution offered to smuggle research materials to China, (if I can figure out how to get a dozen of frozen DNA onto an airplane), the letter says.

Both congressmen said that the best way to counter the Chinese Communist Partys espionage is to remove wrongdoers, and commended the NIH for their investigations.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs launched a bipartisan investigation into Chinas talent recruitment plans and found that since the late 1990s China began recruiting U.S.-based scientists and researchers and incentivizing them to transfer U.S. taxpayer-funded intellectual property to China for Chinas own economic and military gain  while federal agencies have done little to stop it.

The subcommittee produced a report on threats to U.S. research enterprises posed by the Thousand Talents Plan. The report said that the response of the FBI and other federal agencies to this threat was slow and the FBI started reacting to it only in mid-2018, according to a statement.

The report also provided case studies of individuals who maintained undisclosed ties to institutions directed by the Chinese Communist Party. Among them were two scientists, one working for a U.S. medical school, the second for a U.S. medical research institution, both of whom received NIH funding. But they did not disclose that they were also professors at Chinese universities and both received grants from the National Science Foundation of China.

The report includes seven such cases, all of which involve a researcher failing to disclose a financial or contractual relationship with the Chinese government, lawmakers said in the letter. But none of the case studies resulted in immediate, decisive disciplinary actions by NIH.

The NIH identified more than 130 individuals who were suspected of not disclosing foreign funding, and determined that administrative action was needed for 66 of them. But in most cases, the NIH took no action, the letter said.
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The ex-boyfriend of a 33-year-old woman found shot to death Thursday afternoon was arrested in the killing Friday in North Carolina, according to the Houston Police Department.

Darlene Solis, 33, was found shot inside an apartment around 11 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of West Little York Road. She died at the scene, according to police.
Pioneers of whodunit By Yomal Senerath-Yapa This week on lockdown reading we look at some pioneering writers of the whodunit who set the tone for the later golden age. All these books are available free online. View(s): View(s):

Wilkie Collins (1814-1889)

You dont know the detective novel intimately till you have read The Moonstone or The Woman in White. They give you a chilly feel of how the mystery genre evolved- from the crucial point when the Dickensian yarn begins to sproutsuch sensational elements as a fabled Hindu diamond, a classic country house theft,or a mysterious lady in white.

They are both big rambling Victorian novels that later inspired Sherlock Holmes. But despite their size, they keep a pace that can easily outdo the generally corpulent gentleman of those times. The two other sensational novels by Collins to cherish are No Name and Armadale. After these four books, Collins began to slump because he tried to mix in a lot of social commentary. (The poet Swinburne said: What brought good Wilkies genius nigh perdition? / Some demon whisperedWilkie! Have a mission.)

All available on freeclassicebooks.com

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Father Brown mysteries enter this list because few today read him. It was this little Roman Catholic priest invented by Chesterton who probably began the craze for oddball detectives- triggering egg-shaped Poirot and the sharp-eyed Miss Marple. There is a touch of the sinister and the grotesque in the stories- but the plots are unbeatable and the whole thing is more literary than Sherlock Holmes or any of the silver haired ladies like Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers.

Father Brown, unlike Sherlock Holmes, was intuitive in his approach rather than deductive- on the premise that a man who does next to nothing but hear mens real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil. The 53 Father Brown short stories are rich feasts for the senses- and they are among the most literarily elevated whodunits ever.

Read on gutenberg.org and archive.org

Gaston Leroux (1868-1927)

Leroux invented the French Sherlock Holmes Joseph Rouletabille- suave, very young (18 in the first novel), cool-headed, unfazeable, nonchalant.

His Mystery of the Yellow Room was a classic locked room mystery while inThe Secret of the Nightthe cocky intrepid young thing is employed by no less than Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to save the life of one of his generals.

Both books available on gutenberg.org

Baroness Emmuska Orczy(1865-1947)

The author best known for The Scarlet Pimpernel wrote three collections of short stories featuring three very unusual detectives.

The Old Man in the Corner features an unnamed armchair detective- who examines and solves crimes in the corner of a genteel London tea room while conversing with a lady journalist. The elegant dried prune of a man looks into a murder in the London underground, the death of a lady doctor and murders in Bohemian quarters among others- relying on newspaper accounts.

Lady Molly of Scotland Yard features in twelve mysteries she gets to solve because she recognized domestic clues foreign to male experience.

Skin O My tooth, also titled Patrick Mulligan, features a very homely looking lawyer who works hard to get his clients off- solving the cases himself. These include The Murder in Saltashe Woods, The Case of the Polish Prince and The Duffield Peerage Case.

Read all three books on gutenebrg.net.au
A FIFO worker who stabbed seven strangers with a large kitchen knife was a father-of-one who had been in an altercation with his boss just hours before his violent rampage.

Ashley Fildes, 34, was shot dead by police after wreaking havoc at South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on Friday - bringing a year-long downward spiral to an end.

Fildes had been suffering from a 'deep depression' and his marriage had fallen apart, a relative told The West Australian.

The AAA Asphalt worker had an altercation with his supervisor on the morning of the attack.

Following the dispute, a colleague drove Fildes from the work site and dropped him at the Lodge Motel where he had been staying. It was there that the father-of-one grabbed the long knife and began his violent attack.

Ashley Fildes, 34, was gunned down by police after stabbing seven shopper at South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on Friday

He chased motel staff and other guests with the knife before stabbing his first victim.

He then moved to the McDonald's car park at the shopping centre where he stabbed a man in a car, before continuing through the mall and to Kmart.

Dramatic footage showed Fildes, who was dressed in hi-vis workwear, pacing through the centre brandishing the large kitchen knife.

The attack ended when Fildes was shot dead by police.

Major crime detectives have begun investigating the rampage in which seven people were stabbed, including a woman pushing her child in a pram.

They will seek to determine if Fildes experienced a psychotic episode. They are also waiting on a toxicology report to see if illicit drugs were a factor.

Fildes, who is the father of a young girl, was on his first week of a new FIFO swing.

His marriage had broken down in recent years and he suffered from depression.

A relative told the publication Fildes was a 'beautiful, beautiful soul' and the violent rampage was out-of-character.

The violent rampage began at the Lodge Motel, where he was staying, before moving to the shopping centre

Esther Brooks (pictured) shared shocking pictures of her wound with Daily Mail Australia, after being stabbed in the back by a crazed stranger

'He's just not that kind of person. He's just mellow and lovely. I know he had a lot of trauma in his life. The last few years have been really tough for him, but he's not a violent person,' she said.

'There is just no way on this earth that Ashley could do something like this. He doesn't hurt people  he helps people.

'He was deeply depressed but never ever in my wildest dreams would I ever think he would hurt another human being.'

His parents declined to comment when approached by the publication on Saturday.

Friends and family visited his parents' home throughout the day.

One victim, a 39-year-old man, suffered serious wounds and has been airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital where he will undergo surgery on Saturday evening.

The 34-year-old, wearing high-vis workwear, can be seen pacing through the South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on Friday brandishing a large kitchen knife

Pilbara district superintendent Kim Massam declined to comment on any potential motive for the attack or whether the offender had a history of drug use or mental health issues.

He said social media videos, as well as footage captured on CCTV and on police body-worn cameras, would form a key part of the investigation.

Up to 60 witnesses could be interviewed.

'Those statements will be detailed,' Supt Massam said.

'They are there on behalf of our investigation for the coroner. The coroner will expect a thorough and intrusive investigation is undertaken in relation to the matter.

'I think we'll have a significant contingent of police officers and support staff in Hedland for the majority of this coming week.'

Two men and three women, aged 19 to 37, were treated at Hedland Health Campus but have since been discharged.

Another man aged 20 did not require medical treatment.

David Derschow (pictured, right) said his girlfriend Esther Brooks (left) were stabbed by the knifeman on Friday morning at a Western Australian shopping centre

Police say he stabbed a man at a motel and another who was in a car at the local McDonald's before entering the South Hedland Square shopping centre and attacking a further five people.

Two officers attempted to subdue him and fired a Taser before he lunged at them with a 'very large' knife.

An officer fired several shots and the man died at the scene.

One of the victims was Esther Brooks, who was slashed in the back while the man fled police.

In an exclusive interview, Ms Brooks shared shocking photos of her bloodied T-shirt, and told Daily Mail Australia: 'I'm sore - but I'm OK. I live to tell the story.'

Her stunned boyfriend David Derschow said Ms Brooks had just gone on a coffee run when she was attacked by the crazed man.

The stabbing rampage took place in South Hedland in northern Western Australia (pictured)

'She was just getting iced coffees,' he said on Friday night.

Mr Derschow said he heard screaming coming from the shopping centre and walked up to find carnage.

'She didn't know him,' he said, adding he had no idea why his girlfriend had been brutally attacked.

Ms Brooks was in such a state of shock she didn't even realise she'd been injured in the melee. 'When he stabbed me, he was running from police.'

Mr Derschow said: 'She's good now, she didn't know she was stabbed until she asked if she was stabbed.

'A Good Samaritan, within minutes of walking out, offered to take us to the emergency room.'

He later told friends in a chilling Facebook post: 'Esther got stabbed!'

Ms Brooks is in a stable condition and has had her injury stitched up.

The South Hedland Square shopping centre reopened on Saturday, as did licensed premises which had closed as a mark of respect.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said there was no indication the man was politically or ideologically motivated.

Homicide detectives have flown to South Hedland and their investigation will be overseen by the professional standards division.

A WA Police Union team has also been deployed to assist the two officers.
An experimental anti-viral drug has been granted emergency authorisation in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used in treating patients with the coronavirus.

The decision came after a recent clinical trial showed that remdesivir improved the outcomes for those with severe Covid-19.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US released data indicating that the drug reduced the duration of hospitalisation stays by 31 per cent compared with a placebo treatment. However, the drug was not found to significantly improve chances of survival.

Remdesivir was created by biopharmaceutical company Gilead Science, which said it will donate 1.5 million vials of the drug to help patients in hospitals in the US cities hardest hit by the coronavirus. The donation is expected to be enough for at least 140,000 patients, depending on the number of days they need to be treated.

The company said that because of a limited supply, priority will be given to hospitals with intensive care units and other hospitals that the government deems to be most in need.

The FDAs commissioner, Stephen Hahn, said during a meeting at the White House with the US president, Donald Trump: Its the first authorised therapy for Covid-19, so were really proud to be a part of it.

Remdesivir was originally developed to treat Ebola. It blocks some viruses, including the new coronavirus, from duplicating themselves and overwhelming the hosts immune system.

Denise Hinton, the FDAs chief scientist, said in the authorisation letter that there is no adequate, approved and available alternative to the emergency use of remdesivir for the treatment of Covid-19.

However, emergency authorisations are not equivalent to full FDA approval, and experts have warned that the drug should not be considered a magic bullet in treating Covid-19.

Dr Penny Ward, visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at Kings College London, said: Emergency approval is a mechanism by which the FDA approves medicines, devices or diagnostics which may have shown some usefulness in assisting the management of a national emergency.

It does not mean that the product is approved for general use but restricts use to a defined circumstance. In this instance, the EUA [emergency use authorisation] for remdesivir restricts use of the product for patients with proven Sars-CoV-2 and very low oxygen saturation.

Virologist Dr Stephen Griffin, from the University of Leeds, told the research journal Nature: There is a lot of focus on remdesivir because its potentially the best shot we have.

It may not be the wonder drug that everyones looking for, but if you can stop some patients from becoming critically ill, thats good enough.

Dr Ward added: There remains uncertainty about the best time of use and patients likely to benefit most from this treatment, but given that severely ill patients are the most likely to die and that there are no other treatments available, the FDAs decision to permit use for these patients is reasonable.

Dr Gillies OBryan-Tear, chair of policy and communications at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said: The FDA has taken a pragmatic decision that, on the balance of evidence, remdesivir is active against this lethal virus, and in the absence of other effective antiviral treatments, and given the widespread healthcare and economic turmoil around the world caused by Covid-19, the right thing to do was to approve its immediate use.

Its hard to disagree with this decision, and the hope is that the European Medicines Agency, UK MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] and other regulatory authorities worldwide will quickly follow suit. Otherwise, non-US patients may be at a disadvantage.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday, Mr Trump praised the drug and said it was a very promising situation.

Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Show all 13 1 /13 Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Cheryll Mack, 46, a registered nurse in the emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift outside the hospital where she works. "The Covid-19 spread has affected a lot of livelihood, a lot of people's lives. It has created a crisis, death in general. So I would like to ask not one single person, but all people worldwide, to converge and join the platform that this is something that nobody can fight individually," said Mack. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Dr Laura Bontempo, 50, an emergency medicine doctor wears her personal protective equipment she uses when she sees patients, while posing for a photograph after a nine-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moments have actually been separating families from patients, there is a no-visitor policy now and taking people away from their loved ones is very challenging," Bontempo said. "I'm used to treating sick patients. I treat sick patients all the time. It's very different knowing that the patient you are treating, is actually a risk to you as well. That's the main difference here. No one who works in hospitals is afraid of treating sick people. Just want to keep staff safe and the patients safe at the same time." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Ernest Capadngan, 29, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment unit poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment during the shift was just seeing Covid patients die helpless and without their family members beside them," Capadngan said. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Martine Bell, 41, a nurse practitioner in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a six-hour shift outside the hospital where she works. "The hardest thing in all of this, has been taking care of fellow healthcare providers. It really hits home and it's really scary when you see someone that could be you coming in and now you're taking care of them. It's also hitting home that once healthcare providers start getting sick, who is going to be taking care of the public," Bell said. "It's very stressful, everyone is on edge. We don't know who's coming in next, or how sick they're going to be, or if we are going to get a whole bunch of people or if we're not going to get no one. It's a really stressful and just a completely unusual time for all of us." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Kaitlyn Martiniano, 25, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment poses for a photograph after a 12.5-hour shift, outside the hospital. "We have a lot of patients and they are pretty sick right now but we have not yet been hit as hard as New York or Seattle, so I feel like we are very lucky with that so far. Every day you have to just be optimistic." Said Martiniano. "I think the reason that we are not being hit as hard right now is because so many things are closed, and because so many people are staying at home." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Tracey Wilson, 53, a nurse practitioner in an intensive care unit (ICU), poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "I had a patient fall out of bed today and I had to call his wife and tell her and she couldn't come see him, even though she pleaded and begged to come see him," Wilson said. "There is a lot of unknowns and with that unknown is a lot of anxiety and stress that we're not used to dealing with." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Meghan Sheehan, 27, a nurse practitioner in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "I think the hardest moment has been the fear that lives within all of us. There is a lot of unknown right now. We fear what's going to happen tomorrow, how the emergency department will look next week when we come in. We have fears about our own colleagues, whether they will fall ill. We also fear that we could be asymptomatic carriers and bring this virus home to our families and our loved ones. There has been a lot of fear over our supplies and whether we'll run out. And then obviously there is the fear that we will see patients and not be able to do everything we normally can to help save patients' lives," Sheehan said. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Kimberly Bowers, 44, a nurse practitioner in an ICU, poses for a photograph after a 13-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment was a young woman who died and her family wasn't able to be here with her," Bowers said. "I think right now, it's just frustrating and scary just not knowing what comes next." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Tiffany Fare, 25, a registered nurse who works at a biocontainment unit poses for a photograph after a 13-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works. "One of the hardest moments was having to see a family member of a Covid patient, say goodbye over an iPad, rooms away. That was a tough one, I can't imagine how hard it would be to be saying goodbye, you can't see your loved one and then they're gone," Fare said. "My team has been really great to me. We've worked really well together and we've really come together in this crisis. We don't really know each other, we all come from different units within the same hospital, so for us to come together and work so well as a team, it's been a journey but I think that's what is giving me hope." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Dr Kyle Fischer, 35, an emergency medicine doctor, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift, outside the hospital where he works. "Since it's a new virus, we don't have any experience with it. For most diseases I am used to seeing it and taking care of it and this, I don't have any starting place. I know what I'm hearing from New York, I've read all of the papers it seems like, but no one knows what the correct answers are, so there's a huge amount of uncertainty and people are really, really sick. So it's hard to second guess whether or not you are doing the right thing when you think you are but you never quite know," said Fischer. Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Julia Trainor, 23, a registered nurse at a surgical ICU, poses for a photograph after a 14-hour shift, outside the hospital. "The hardest moment was having to put a breathing tube in my patient who could no longer breathe for herself and after the breathing tube went in, we called her family and the husband, of course, couldn't visit her because of visitor restrictions at the hospital. So I had to put him on the phone and hold the phone to her ear, as he told her that he loved her so much and then I had to wipe away her tears as she was crying," said Trainor. "I'm used to seeing very sick patients and I'm used to patients dying but nothing quite like this. In the flip of a switch, without the support, they're completely isolated. They're very sick. Some of them recover and some of them don't. But the hardest part, I would think, is them having to go through this feeling like they are alone." Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Lisa Mehring, 45, a registered nurse who works in a biocontainment unit with Covid-19 patients, poses for a photograph after a 12.5-hour shift, outside the hospital where she works in Maryland. "Seeing these new moms have babies has been the hardest moment along with having do their pumping for the new moms and them not being able to be with their newborn children, it's hard to think of the family that they are missing," Mehring said. Photos Reuters Inside US hospital: A day fighting the coronavirus Jacqueline Hamil, 30, a registered nurse in an emergency department, poses for a photograph after a 12-hour shift outside the hospital. "The hardest moment of my shift today, I was in charge, and we had a really sick patient that was in a really, really small room and usually, when we have sick crashing patients, we can have a ton of resources and a ton of staff go in and help with the nurse and the doctors that are taking care of that patient. But due to the patient being ruled out for the coronavirus, we could only have five or six people in the room at a time and putting on all the gowns and gloves and masks and face shields to protect us in case the patient does have coronavirus, it takes a while, so the nurse that was in there, ended up being in the room for you know 6, 7 hours with minimal breaks and it was hard being in charge and knowing that she was stuck in the room and really nothing I could do to help her," Hamil said. Reuters

Daniel ODay, chief executive of Gilead Sciences, said: We will be working very closely to get [remdesivir] to patients, working with FEMA, working with other parts of the government to make sure that we get that to the patients in need as quickly as possible because there are patients out there that can benefit from this medicine today that are hospitalised.

We dont want any time to waste for that.

The US has the most cases and fatalities in the world at more than 1 million and at least 63,200 respectively, with much of the country in lockdown in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

Additional reporting by agencies
Two COVID-19 patients succumbed to



the infection at Indore in Madhya Pradesh, taking the toll in the district to 74, a senior official said on Saturday.

Indore, one of the worst hit districts in the country, has been reeling under the coronavirus outbreak for the last one month.

The deceased COVID-19 patients include two women in their 50s, one of whom suffered from anaemia, while the other had co-morbid conditions of high blood pressure and diabetes, chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Praveen Jadia said.

At least 32 fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported in the district in the last 24 hours, taking the count to 1,545, of which 250 patients have recovered from the infection, he said.

The latest data has revealed that the death rate of COVID-19 patients in the district as on Saturday morning was 4.79 per cent, which is a sharp decline from the last 23 days.

The administration has imposed curfew in the urban limits of the district since March 25, after the first case of coronavirus was detected here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NORTH HAVEN  On the second anniversary of a standoff and explosion on Quinnipiac Avenue, town police Saturday thanked SWAT team members and community residents for their response to the incident.

Two years ago today, members of the South Central Regional SWAT Team, which is comprised of officers from North Haven, East Haven, North Branford, Branford, Guilford, and Madison, responded to a home on Quinnipiac Avenue in North Haven to arrest a suspect involved in a domestic violence incident. While attempting to locate the suspect, a large explosion occurred injuring officers assigned to the team, police said on Facebook. We would like to take a moment to thank the members of the South Central Regional SWAT team for their efforts that day, as well as all the other agencies who came to assist that evening. We also would like to thank our community for the outpouring of support in the days that followed.
Minneapolis: The growing COVID-19 pandemic could last up to two years, with a potential second wave in the northern autumn, according to renowned University of Minnesota epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and a team of researchers.

The exact path the disease will take is unclear, but with no vaccine and a global population that had no immunity to the new coronavirus, COVID-19 could follow patterns seen in previous pandemics.

A man gets tested for COVD-19 in a drive-through setting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Credit:Star Tribune/AP

That means that governments will need to continually adjust their pandemic responses to waves of infections, which could have several peaks, rather than a distinct period of illnesses that burns out in a matter of months.

"We are learning how to die with this virus and we have to learn how to live with it," said Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the university and a frequent infections disease expert guest on national cable news.
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
The Congress party on Saturday launched a fresh tirade against the Central Vista project after it emerged that it received two key clearances in the last few days despite suggestions to shelve the costly project in view of the economic challenges presented by coronavirus pandemic outbreak.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to halt the project for now, along with the proposed mega central secretariats in 17 state capitals, calling it a criminal waste of public money in the times of coronavirus pandemic.

Urging PM to shelve the wasteful Central Vista project & proposed mega Central secretariats at 17 state capitals. Spending over Rs 25,000 crore on grand buildings at a time of unprecedented national crisis will be a criminal waste of public money, a tweet by Sharma said.

The Central Vista project includes a new parliament building that alone is estimated to cost in excess of Rs 900 crores. It also involves makeover of the three km stretch housing government offices between the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the India Gate.

The opposition parties have sought the scrapping of the project citing the economic burden placed by the coronavirus outbreak.

In the past few days, the project, however, received two key approvals, including from the environment ministrys expert appraisal committee and the Central Vista committee, taking it a step closer to reality.

Several external experts on the Central Vista committee had requested for a deferment in the meeting to grant approval to the project, however, the government went ahead citing its importance and the time-scale for its implementation as reasons.

Raising his objection, Sharma said India needed to commit resources to building of hospitals right now.

We face severe resource crunch and accepting World Bank and ADB loans. India needs hospitals and commit the resources there, he advised.

Another senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the two clearances for the project when a second fiscal relief package to mitigate the hardships faced by several sectors of economy and individuals was yet to be announced. The lockdown has been extended for a second time and a new parliament building has been approved, but there is still no sign of a second financial package to support industries. Does the BJP Govt care at all?

The Congress party has opposed the Central Vista project from the very beginning and has repeatedly questioned the rationale for revamping the iconic structures dating back to the British rule.

We have a direct question, whose stamp will this project bear? Whose legacy does this project want to establish? Whose identity is being sought to be immortalized by this?, a tweet from Congress twitter handle attributed to AM Singhvi said.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19

The Central Vista committee, in the minutes of its meeting held on April 23, explained its decision to go ahead with the deliberations. Keeping in view the importance of the project in the nations interest and time scale for its implementation, the meeting was held as per issued meeting notice.

SC is hearing two petitions filed by citizens questioning the manner in which the public hearing was conducted to facilitate the project and challenging the legal validity of the land-use change process. The land use of the 9.5-acre plot has been changed from recreational to Parliament by the Delhi Development Authority in March.

ALSO READ: Key hurdles cleared for new Parliament building, Oppn fumes
Officials under investigation over allegations of spying on journalists, politicians, judges and other army officers.

Colombias defence ministry has ousted 11 military officials and forced the resignation of a general in connection with an ongoing probe into allegations the army spied on journalists, politicians, magistrates and other members of the military.

The ministry did not name any of the people dismissed or the general who resigned on Friday.

The countrys attorney general opened the investigation in January after local news magazine Semana published the allegations.

There have been repeated hacking scandals involving the military in recent years, including accusations that officials spied on negotiators at talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, which eventually led to a 2016 peace accord.

Defence Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said the decision to relieve the officials of their duties was made based on the allegations.

Today 11 officials will be removed from their posts and retired from active service, also a brigadier general has asked to be voluntarily removed from active service, Trujillo said at a news conference.

The investigations are continuing, Trujillo said.

On Friday, Semana followed up with more details, including the names of some of the alleged victims. It said the accounts of more than 130 people, including journalists for both foreign and domestic media, had been hacked and information about their contacts, families and addresses collected.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The Pope to donate 100,000 to help migrants on border of Belarus and Poland

Fourth vaccine against COVID-19 is not enough for Omicron

World is on verge of country defaults

French Foreign Ministry considers unacceptable Azerbaijan statements about Pecresse

US to return two valuable artifacts over 4,000 years old to Iraq

Germany may consider halting Nord Stream 2 if Russia attacks Ukraine

Israel successfully completes test of anti-ballistic missile system

Plane landing in Sochi struck by lightning

Putin and Aliyev discuss Ukraine situation

Greek PM Mitsotakis threatens Turkey with sanctions

Handelsblatt: US and EU abandon idea of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT international payment system

Artsakh President meets representatives of non-governmental organizations

Avalanche kills person in Iran

Erdogan says he is pleased with decline in volatility of lira

NEWS.am daily digest: 18.01.22

Turkey and Azerbaijan to start laying gas pipeline to supply Nakhichevan

UK begins to supply Ukraine with anti-tank weapons

Armenian PM holds meeting on Armenia's Transformation Strategy until 2050

Nagorno-Karabakh: Remains of another Armenian soldier found in Jrakan region

Tehran to not accept any border change in South Caucasus

Dollar holding relatively steady in Armenia

Armenia special representative: Future process depends on Turkeys constructiveness degree

Erdogan: Gas from Mediterranean to Europe can only be pumped through Turkey

Iranian Consul General discusses customs cooperation in Nakhijevan

Inecobank brings Apple Pay to customers

Parliament vice-speaker says he is familiar with Armenia proposals on border demarcation commission work

US Secretary of State to visit Kyiv

Russia, Iran and China to hold joint naval drills

OSCE Chairmanship on Aliyev statement: We reiterate our full support to Minsk Group Co-Chairs

Artsakh NSS denies rumors about penetration of Azerbaijanis into Karabakh villages

Indonesian parliament approves bill to relocate capital

Armenia PM to Bulgaria colleague: Our interstate relations are marked by continuous development of cooperation

Armenian President meets Abu Dhabi Crown Prince

Azerbaijan to ban foreigners from visiting Nagorno-Karabakh occupied part

European Parliament new speaker elected

Armenian National Interests Fund participates in Abu Dhabi Sustainable Development Week summit

North Korea fires missiles for fourth time this year

ECHR recognizes violation of Armenian PM's rights after 2008 elections

Turkey reveals plans to produce combat aircraft

Karabakh official: Azerbaijan presidents impudent behavior is due to OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs silence

Azerbaijan special services force Artsakh resident to intelligence work

Copper price is stable

Minister of State: OSCE MG Co-Chairs must accept exercise of Karabakh people's right to self-determination

Armenia President, UAE Minister of State discuss possibilities of cooperation in science and technology

Investigation into criminal case of several Armenia soldiers returned from Azerbaijan captivity is over

Canada sends detachment of special forces to Ukraine

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan, former deputy PM now MP Gevorgyan case trial resumes

2 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Armenia family has 10th child

Converse Bank brings Apple Pay to customers

Gold is getting weaker

Lacote: French institute to operate in Armenia (PHOTOS)

Ardshinbank Brings Apple Pay to Customers

Armenia President in UAE, meets with Emirati environment minister

Armenia legislature approves changes to several laws

Differences in data on coronavirus deaths in Armenia are corrected

360 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Norway to begin Breivik early release hearing

Economy minister to head Armenia side of commission on economic cooperation with Kazakhstan

Mexico crime photojournalist killed

Newspaper: Criminal case against Armenia archbishop dropped

Newspaper: Opposition Armenia Bloc in parliament to toughen its tactics

Scientists discover large breeding colony of icefish in southern Antarctica

China creates low-gravity artificial moon

Tehran welcomes normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations

Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers discuss regional issues

UN Secretary-General: Vaccinate whole world to end pandemic

Giant asteroid to fly past our planet

Armenian President meets with Executive Director of Mubadala Investment Company

UAE counting on Turkey

Indonesia to move capital by 2024

Passenger traffic at Armenian airports decreased by 30%

Armenian Investigative Committee: Six soldiers captured in November arrested

Turkish government to discuss Rubinyan-Kilic meeting results

German FM threatens Russia in case of aggression against Ukraine

Armenian MFA senior staff meets with ambassadors to European countries

Turkish court acquits German journalist Mesale Tolu

Turkish UAV intercepted over Greek island

Protest in front of Armenian Health Ministry

France introduces vaccine passes

Bitcoin begins to lose out competitors

Exchange rates in Armenia

Safari browser caught leaking user data

Xi Jinping: Confrontation between major powers can have disastrous consequences

Lukashevich: Russia concerned that OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs may not be able to visit Nagorno-Karabakh

Court obligates Armenia ruling force MP to prove ex-President Sargsyan lost more than $100M in casinos

Ex-ruling party official: Armenia authorities may renounce Genocide, Karabakh

Armenian PM's party decides to provide free textbooks to non-state schools

Times: Johnson prepares cadre purge to save his own skin

Pecresse accuses French government of inaction after Aliyev's statements on her Karabakh visit

Armenia President attends Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week forum opening

Armenia legislature ruling majority member: It is possible for us to have neighborly relations with Azerbaijan

President approves Artsakh government decisions on provision of financial assistance

Armenia parliament opposition faction leader on canceling US visit: We must fulfill our international duties

Fire in Abu Dhabi kills three people

ANIF Anti-Crisis Fund to invest in Armenia cargo transportation

Azerbaijan to soon open bus routes to Artsakhs occupied Shushi

Armenia ruling force MP, businessman: Turks will be able to use our medical services in Gyumri, Yerevan

Erdogan wants to save Turkish economy with oil production in the Black Sea

Copper rises in price
In a podcast interview on Friday, President Trump told Joe Biden to "fight" Tara Reade's accusations of sexual assault and yet recognized that Reade's narrative was "compelling."

The president gave his opinion on the Dan Bongino Show, stating that he too is a victim of "false nonsense accusations" as he talks just hours after the presumed Democratic presidential candidate held a press conference denying Reade's allegations of assault in 1993.

The president talked about his history of being a "famous guy" with women and stressed that he understands false accusations. Trump spoke about identifying Tara Reade and the reports of her mother as "credible" to showing sympathy for Biden - carving distinctions with the allegations on himself and those against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

After launching his campaign a year ago, a few other women have accused Biden of improper and unnecessary contact.

Tara Reade's Allegations Against Joe Biden

Recently, Reade submitted a lawsuit with Washington, D.C. authorities stating she was sexually assaulted by Biden while serving in the Senate.

The sexual assault claim against Biden has fallen forward in interviews with various news outlets in recent weeks.

Reade reported in a news outlet that she was told to send a duffel bag to the then-Delaware senator in 1993 while she was serving as an assistant in his Senate office. Reade stated that in a hallway somewhere within the Capitol Hill compound that Biden held "had [her] up against the wall; he used his knee to spread open [her] legs," then "put his fingers inside [her]."

"It never, never happened," Biden said, refuting the claim on Friday.

Biden had this to say in a statement: "While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward, they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny."

Check these out!

Donald Trump's Advice on the Issue

Several women have accused Trump himself of sexual harassment. He has consistently refuted those accusations as well.

Trump said in an interview: "I've been falsely accused by people that I've never even seen, I've never even seen many of these people. And some of these people, I met them - zero interest, OK? Like zero."

"I guess in a way; you could say I'm sticking up for him. But the mother was very compelling certainly, and the girlfriend or the friends were very compelling. And certainly far more compelling than anything they had with respect to Brett Kavanaugh," he continued.

Trump stepped in after the refusal by Biden became the first public comment by any Democrat on the issue. "I would just say to Joe Biden, 'Just go out and fight it,'" Trump stated to former Secret Service agent turned radio host Dan Bongino.
Analysts believe that Vietnams seafood industry will face difficulties until the end of June.

In the last two years, Japan, the US, South Korea and China have been the four major export markets for Vietnam. In January 2020, the four markets made up 54.9 percent of Vietnams total seafood export value.





The turnover of seafood exports to Japan accounted for 18.02 percent of total export turnover, down by 28.16 percent compared with the same period last year. The figures were 17.6 percent and 26.3 percent, respectively, for the US, 10.27 percent and 31.53 percent for South Korea, and 8.94 percent and 43.48 percent for China.



According to VASEPs (Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers) secretary general Truong Dinh Hoe, the seafood industry, like other business fields, has been seriously affected by Covid-19, and the impact will last until at least June 2020.

A VASEP survey found that only 30-50 percent of orders are still delivered as initially negotiated. Meanwhile, importers have asked to delay 20-40 percent of deliveries and 20-30 percent of orders have been canceled.

A VASEP survey found that only 30-50 percent of orders are still delivered as initially negotiated. Meanwhile, importers have asked to delay 20-40 percent of deliveries and 20-30 percent of orders have been canceled.



This is because many governments have closed their border gates because of Covid-19. Since importers cannot sell products, they dont want to import more.



Also according to VASEP, the markets which have the highest proportions of clients canceling orders or postponing deliveries are the EU, South Korea and China.



As for the EU market, most shrimp orders have been canceled or postponed. Meanwhile, the orders for catfish bear less impacts because of lower selling prices.



A representative of Vinh Hoan JSC said the companys catfish consignments are still shipped to the US and EU by sea. The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) reported that the export turnover to the EU market decreased by 4.56 percent in the first two months of the year to $5.15 billion.



Any more opportunities for Vietnams seafood?



Analysts believe that Vietnams seafood industry still have opportunities to boost exports, especially when the epidemic begins declining in some markets. Orders restarted from China in March.



Some catfish exporters predict that 50 percent of exports to China may recover in April and the figure may rise to 100 percent by June.



The FTAs between Vietnam and other countries are also a great advantage. The EU market is expected to recover well especially when EVFTA takes effect. Under the agreement, Vietnams catfish products to the market will be taxed zero percent.



In the US, consumption is believed to be higher this year than 2019 because inventories are running out. Meanwhile, the white-meat fish processing factories in China have had to close because of the epidemic, leading to a decrease in Chinese Pollock exports to the US. This will provide great advantages to Vietnams catfish.

Thanh Lich

VN seafood exporters floundering due to COVID-19 A survey by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) found that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was hitting seafood companies hard, especially since the beginning of March.
Mayor Linda Tyer has been providing COVID-19 updates related to Pittsfield each Friday on Pittsfield Community Television.

Mayor Tyer Urges Continued Cautions, Updates on Mask Policy

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Mayor Linda Tyer asked residents to continue their adherence to social distancing and announced new mandates for food establishments.

During her weekly address Friday on Pittsfield Community Television, she commended Pittsfielders for staying home and being mindful of restrictions and practices aimed at snuffing out COVID-19.

"Our community response has worked. Pittsfield has indeed slowed the spread of the virus and the data continues to show a very promising trend," she said. "I know that each of you have made big adjustments to your daily life and we all want to resume a sense of normalcy but we all must continue to be vigilant."

So far, the city has seen 135 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and five deaths, including one reported Friday. However, 102 people have recovered and 1,551 tests have been administered.

Tyer said the city will align with the state's recent decision to continue the stay-at-home order until May 18 and until then non-essential businesses will remain closed along with public buildings.

"While there may be a few minor unique elements to Pittsfield, we will align the city's reopening with the states forthcoming recommendation," she said.

Existing staffing schedules will remain also in place and board and commissions will remain inactive unless meeting remotely.

Tyer said one change that will be officially put into action Friday by the local Department of Public Health will be new restrictions for food establishments, such as grocery stores, still operating. Employees now must wear protective masks and acknowledge capacity and social distancing regulations.

"This is no longer a set of recommendations; this is an order with enforcement provision and penalties," she said.

She said sites will first receive a warning. A second violation will come with a $50 fine, a third with a $100 fine, and all violations after that will come with a $300 fine.

Grocers were advised two weeks ago about the recommendations issued by the state and asked to submit plans for compliance to the city's Department of Public Health. On Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker also issued an executive order mandating the wearing of masks in areas where people cannot properly social distance, such as stores and transit vehicles.

Also the city will not accept special event permit applications until May 15 and only for events to take place after July 1.

Tyer said the Department of Public Health has expanded its criteria for entry into the state isolation and recovery sites. They are no longer only limited to the homeless but also to those with mild symptoms and those who may live with large groups of people or vulnerable individuals where there is a higher risk of contagion.

She said there is a site in Pittsfield and those with questions can call 617-367-5150.

Also the department is expanding testing for those who live and work in congregate living facilities. She said there was a positive case at Melbourne Place and since then employees and residents have been tested. No others tested positive.

Other announcements: There is a dropbox available in the back of City Hall to submit documents and correspondence. The farmers market will remain virtual until July. Residents may get a call from the state's community tracing collaborative (calls will have a prefix of 833857 or read MA COVID Team). The governor is asking residents to respond to the tracing team. The Department of Public Works plans to flush hydrants next week.

Tyer signed off by wishing everyone well and thanking all helping to flatten the curve.

"Thank you again for doing your part Pittsfielders. I am so very proud of your resolve, your fortitude, and your sheer grit," she said. "Each day brings us a little closer to a time where we can all be together again."
Thiruvananthapuram, May 2 : Kerala Chief secretary Tom Jose on Saturday said it might take about a month to send back all the migrant labourers who are in the state presently.

"Yesterday night the first train left, today there are more trains and tomorrow even more. It might take a month and about 300 to 400 trains to send back all the migrant workers who are here," said Jose.

On Friday night around 10.30 p.m. the first train with 1148 migrant labourers left from Aluva to Bhubaneswar.

On Saturday as things stand, a train will leave from here to Jharkhand around 2 p.m.

The train is expected to take 1150 passengers and would also be a non-stop one.

Each passenger has to pay a base fare of Rs 875.

Two more trains are also at the moment listed to move out of Ernakulam district. One to Bhubaneswar and another one to Patna.

Since the lockdown began in March, according to the State Labour department, there are 20,826 camps across Kerala where 3,61,190 migrant labourers are put up.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell has welcomed the introduction of funding that will tackle illegal dumping during the COVID-19 crisis.

Some 1 million in funding will be ring fenced and will go towards the installation of CCTV in dumping hotspots as well as the removal of waste.

Deputy Farrell said: 'Sadly, we have seen an increase in illegal-dumping activity over the past number of weeks. This comes at a time when national resources are under significant pressure in the fight against COVID-19.'

He added: 'The actions by some individuals to choose now as a time to dump waste illegally is very regrettable and must not be tolerated.

'I am therefore pleased that the Department has taken proactive measures and made available funding to tackle this situation and prevent it from becoming worse.'

Deputy Farrell said: 'It is vitally important that during this crisis we do not, as a society, let slip the standards of our communities and continue to show respect for our neighbours and environment in which we live.'

Deputy Farrell added: 'Many people in our communities take time out of their daily routines to participate in community clean up events and tidy towns groups. This funding will ensure the authorities have the means necessary to tackle this problem efficiently and effectively, while ensuring that the community's hard work is not undone.'
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced 95 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2,169.

The GHS said 88 per cent of the confirmed cases have no clear travel history, adding that the country has recorded 229 recoveries, with 18 deaths.

Despite having lifted a partial lockdown, Ghana has extended the closure of all entry points till the end of this month to further curb the spread of the pandemic.

The countrys ban on public gatherings is still effective, while face masks in public places remain mandatory. (Xinhua/NAN)
China Updates Disputed Sea Maps to Get Back at Vietnam

By Ralph Jennings May 01, 2020

China has renamed scores of islets and underwater landforms in the South China Sea, a move some analysts say is intended to push back against Vietnamese naval incursions in the disputed waterway.

Two Chinese government ministries have renamed 25 islets and 55 submerged features in the South China Sea that stretches from Hong Kong to Borneo, the country's Civil Affairs Ministry said on its website April 19.

This act, though it doesn't automatically give China more legal sovereignty than five other Asian governments with claims to the resource-rich sea, helps repel Vietnam after a string of upsets that culminated in February, analysts believe.

That month, 311 Vietnamese vessels "intruded" into internal waters, territorial seas, and exclusive economic zones of three southern Chinese provinces, a Peking University monitoring service said. China was trying then to control the world's first coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province and reported recovery in March.

"The Chinese have perceived the Vietnamese exploiting their vulnerability and the inability to react to them during COVID-19, so now that the Chinese are back online there's a sense that 'we need to punish Vietnam for this,'" said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center, a research center in Washington.

China renamed the features for the first time since 1983 to "further standardize the use of geographical names," the Civil Affairs Ministry said. Chinese-language names were established in the 1940s after World War II to replace English-language ones that appear on international maps.

The new names, all in Chinese, reflect topographic changes due to rising sea levels and exploration for undersea oil and natural gas, said Huang Chung-ting, an assistant research fellow with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei. The names cover the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos, both claimed all or in part by Vietnam.

Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan contest Chinese claims to the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea as well, but they openly challenge China less often than Vietnam does.

China has taken a military and technological lead over the others in the past decade to back its claims to about 90% of the waterway. Its expansion has prompted condemnations from Washington, sparked periodic incidents at sea and generated years of searching for a diplomatic solution.

A Year of Multiple Standoffs, Few Solutions in South China Sea Dispute

China pushed its weight in a disputed sea this year, but Vietnam and the Philippines pushed back

Vietnam and China became locked in a vessel standoff last year near a Vietnamese drilling tract. In 2014, boats from the two sides rammed each other over the placement of a Chinese oil rig. Vietnam, as chair of the 10-nation regional bloc Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and as the current rotational president of the U.N. Security Council, has a platform this year to bring up China's maritime expansion, Huang said.

"Even without this matter, they would definitely use the chair position's special rights of discussion to give themselves a better channel to speak out on the South China Sea," he said. "With this matter now, I believe Vietnam will take some actions to strike back."

The renamed features are especially close to Vietnam, he added.

Vietnam might go as far as the world arbitration court against China, Sun said. Arbitral rulings aren't binding  China ignored a 2016 ruling against the legal basis for its maritime claims. But a new court case would be "politically significant" and could erode relations between Communist parties that have patched over other disputes, Sun said.

China's renaming of the atolls, seamounts and ridges would add pressure on Vietnam following passage of a Chinese survey vessel through Vietnamese-claimed waters in mid-April, analysts believe.

China cites historical usage records to back its maritime claims. Its leaders "desperately need a win" diplomatically to boost morale among Chinese after the disease outbreak, Sun said.

Renaming islets boosts China's position in any negotiations with the 10-member Southeast Asian bloc, Huang said. That action shores up China's evidence of civilian exercise in the disputed sea, which could have "legal impact" later if other claimants fail to protest, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines.

"It's all part of that grand plan of theirs to exercise civilian authority, civilian administration over all parts of the South China Sea that they claim," Batongbacal said. "It's like they're trying to build up the evidence. They look like little things. They may be ineffectual in a real sense, but it can have legal impact in the future."

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The Punjab government is scrambling to test and isolate 4,012 people who returned from the Hazur Sahib gurudwara in Nanded town after 504 pilgrims tested positive for Covid-19, prompting authorities in Maharashtra to seal one of Sikhisms holiest shrines.

On Saturday, people who returned from the Nanded gurudwara made up roughly 52% of Punjabs 955 Covid-19 cases. The spike in cases has now sparked a blame-game between the two governments even as the Sikh community appealed to not politicize the issue.

The pilgrims were stuck in Nanded since March 25, when the ongoing nationwide lockdown was clamped. On April 23, the pilgrims left the gurudwara in buses provided by the gurudwara management and private vehicles. At least 600 of them entered Punjab on April 26, and were sent to home quarantine after thermal screening.

The next day, three residents of Tarn Taran district tested positive for the virus, prompting the government to order that all pilgrims from Nanded be tested. Of the 4,012 samples, 2,800 samples have been tested and the rest are pending.

In Nanded, 20 gurudwaras staffers have tested positive for Covid-19 and the authorities have sealed both the kitchen and the shrine. District health officer Balaji Shinde said the staffers were involved in the langar and helping the pilgrims at the shrine. So far 20 people have tested positive. Test results of another 40 odd staffers are awaited. We have created a containment area there and started massive contact tracing as per procedure, he added.

An official from the district collectors office said on condition of anonymity that two bus drivers and an attendant who drove the pilgrims to Punjab have also tested positive for the virus. We have traced close contacts of the confirmed cases and put them under isolation at health facilities, the official said.

The string of cases triggered a political fight between the ruling Congress and the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal. Both parties, which were earlier jostling for credit for helping bring back the pilgrims, now blame each other for the rapidly spreading disease.

The Punjab government blamed its Maharashtra counterpart.

The Maharashtra government did not clarify properly if these pilgrims were tested or not. They kept telling us since Nanded is a green zone, pilgrims are safe and tests have been performed on them, Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said.

Nanded has seen 26 cases and two deaths, of which 20 are related to gurudwara.

A senior Punjab government functionary said on condition of anonymity that the state government did not follow the standard operating procedure in bringing back the pilgrims and relied on information provided by the gurudwara management.

Authorities in Maharashtra dismissed the allegations. We carried regular check-ups for all the pilgrims; none showed any symptoms such as cold, fever, etc. The coronavirus test was not done on them. They could have contracted the disease on the way to Punjab, Shinde said.

The gurudwara management echoed this stand and said none of the 4,000 pilgrims exhibited any symptoms of Covid-19 in Nanded.

Some of the pilgrims contracted the disease on the way. They would have got off during the journey for meals or other breaks. We are all feeling bad that such a thing has happened and Nanded is now seen as a hot spot. Our only appeal is politics should be played over the incident, said Ravinder Singh Bungai, secretary of the gurudwara board.
People wanting to leave Phuket must now obtain Fit to Travel notice

PHUKET: People wanting to leave the island to return to their home provinces must now obtain a Fit to Travel document, the Phuket Governor has announced.

Saturday 2 May 2020, 01:04PM

The letter from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior. Image: PR Dept

A notice announcing the new requirement to obatin a Fit to Travel permit. Image: PR Dept

Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana explained this morning (May 2) that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior had issued a formal letter ordering the provincial government to make sure all people leaving Phuket were issued a document confirming that they had been screened for the virus by a health official or been in self-quarantine in Phuket for at least 14 days.

Other requirements notified by Interior Ministers office included Phuket officials notifying the destination provinces which people were returning home, providing those travelling a document to prove they are permitted to return home and list the provinces through which they must travel in order to return home, and maintain a list of all people approved to travel home and maintain a record of when they left the province.

All of these provisions were already accounted for in the Phuket provincial governments initial project launched on Thursday, which has already seen more than 40,000 people register to return to their home provinces.

The news follows the Phuket Check Point in Tha Chatchai being overwhelmed by people wanting to leave Phuket yesterday, forcing officials to close the bridge heading off-island within hours of it being re-opened.

People arriving at the Phuket Check Point are now to show officers their Fit To Travel document to prove they had been approved to leave the island.

This will speed up the process of officers granting permission for people to cross the bridge, said the announcement last night.

The document is freely available at a special website set up at: https://www.phuket.go.th/FIT-to-Travel

People who have already registered to leave the island may obtain their Fit to Travel by entering their 13-digit government ID card number.

The Fit to Travel document is also available at the district or local administration organisation (municipality or OrBorTor) where the person registered.

People who have been issued a Fit to Travel document are to wait for further instructions informing them of when they will be allowed to leave the island, the announcement said plainly.

When leaving the island, they are to present the document to officials at the Phuket Check Point.

Those who have yet to register can still do so online at through the website https://www.phuket.go.th/FIT-to-Travel

The direct link to the page to register is here: https://phuket.depa.cloud/inform.php

Alternatively, people can now register and receive their Fit to Travel document (once approved) at the following locations:

Mueang District Office Wichit Municipality Kathu District Office Kathu Municipality Thalang District Office Srisoonthon Municipality

To register people must provide personal information, their destination and vehicle details.

People can register today (May 2) from midday to 8:30pm and from tomorrow (Sunday) through to next Friday (May 8) from 8:30am to 4:30pm, said the announcement last night.

People must wait for approval before presenting themselves at the Phuket Check Point to leave the island, it added.

People who register will be later advised of their travel details, the announcement explained.

Under the initial plan, officials were to allow 5,000 to leave Phuket each day, with 2,500 allowed to leave from 5am to midday in the morning session and 2,500 people allowed to leave from midday to 8pm in the afternoon/evening session.

People wanting to leave the island were urged to register as soon as possible.

Foreigners are allowed to register to leave the island. However, without a Thai ID card, it is presumed they must present themselves in person at one of the six government offices listed above in order to be issued a Fit to Travel.

When people arrive at their destinations, they are required to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.
All offenders and staff within New Jerseys juvenile system will be tested for the coronavirus, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Friday.

We have to do everything possible here because this is such a special responsibility for us, Grewal told NJ Advance Media. Theyre young people, and theyre in our care.

The move makes New Jersey the first state to test every juvenile offender, according to Grewal, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and a spokesman for the Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit thats tracking cases nationwide.

The states Juvenile Justice Commission has already tested about 140 of the 282 young men and women it oversees, Grewal said, after nasal swabs arrived over the weekend. Saliva tests from Rutgers University would soon be given to the almost 700 employees, he said, and additional kits would eventually be used to test residents again.

The update came a day after Gov. Phil Murphy said mass testing for all corrections officers and inmates in the adult prison system should begin next week.

Were thrilled that they made a decision to test, Retha Onitiri, a statewide coordinator for the Social Justice Institute, said about the juvenile system. Were just concerned about the underlying health concerns.

While fewer young people have died in New Jersey than other age groups, a study previously found that adolescents in justice systems nationwide tended to have more health problems, which could increase their risk.

The institute previously asked the state to release all youth with asthma, diabetes or other chronic illnesses.

Eleven residents were set free early by the courts after the commission flagged them for possible release, Grewal said, but he added that it was difficult to release more because reforms over the past decade had already whittled the overall population down to more serious offenders. (The commissions 2011 population was more than double what it is today.)

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

New Jerseys first juvenile offender tested positive almost two weeks ago. At least 20 residents have tested positive since, according to the agencys public statistics. All live at the New Jersey Training School in Middlesex, also known as Jamesburg, the commissions largest facility.

Jamesburg also has 14 staff with COVID-19.

An additional 18 employees at the Juvenile Medium Security Facility, in Bordentown, and throughout residential community homes have tested positive. The Female Secure Care and Intake Facility, also in Bordentown, has no reported cases.

None have died, officials said.

About 30 residents and 33 staff remain quarantined, a Grewal spokeswoman said, either because they tested positive or had possibly been exposed. Quarantined Jamesburg residents had their own rooms with private bathrooms, Grewal said.

Starting in March, the commission made several changes to head off an outbreak, including suspending visits. Residents were continuing their education remotely, Grewal said, and the commission had distributed individual DVD players and video games. Phone calls were also increased, he said, and court fines suspended.

In juvenile systems nationwide, 196 youth and 332 staff had tested positive as of Friday, according to the Sentencing Project.

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Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.
THE novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) has established itself as the most devastating worldwide pandemic in living history. Wuhan province, Italy and New York City have been deemed worldwide epicenters of the current pandemic.

As a Limerick native working as a doctor in Manhattan and Queens-based hospitals it has become all too clear that the plague of coronavirus has selected out the poorest and sickest members of these New York neighborhoods. Queens, NY represents the borough with the highest death toll throughout the entire US; as of April 21 2020, approximately one in 600 Queens inhabitants have died from Covid-19, the severe viral pneumonia caused by the virus.

Dr David Power originally from the Ennis Road in Limerick city is working in two New York City hospitals in the midst of the US coronavirus pandemic. Here he gives his perspective on why Covid-19 has hit the US (specifically NYC) so hard compared to Ireland

Comparing Queens and Dublin from afar, I am relieved to see the relatively successful response in Ireland from both a governmental and community aspect to flatten the curve.

Although Queens has slightly less than double the population of Dublin, its positive case rate is five times higher. (Dublin population: 1.38 million, cases: 7821; Queens population: 2.273 million, cases: 41,520).

Why has Queens been affected so significantly compared to Ireland? I believe that population demographics, baseline medical conditions and access to care may be some of the key reasons.

Queens has been deemed the borough of immigrants. More than one-third of the entire New York City foreign-born population are estimated to reside within its neighbourhoods. Immigrants now represent almost half the population there, in addition to half of its workforce. With that, Queens notably also contains over 5,000 Irish immigrants and over 100,000 people of Irish ancestry, the highest throughout all five New York City boroughs. While emergency departments throughout the US provide care to all patients regardless of their race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, disparities in medical care access and GP care have been repeatedly described for ethnic minorities in addition to low socioeconomic status and immigrant populations. Such health care disparities may be significant contributors to the high case fatality rates in Queens compared like Dublin.

First of all, Queens is densely populated, with 7,879 people per square kilometer. Given that proximity to other people is a key factor in spreading the virus, compared to Dublin's 4,588 people per square kilometer we have significantly lower rates of crowding. Additionally, Queens contains two very large international airports, John F Kennedy International and LaGuardia. These are some of the busiest international transportation hubs throughout the US. Add to that that the majority of airport and transportation workers (including taxi drivers, bus drivers and ride-shap app drivers  Uberetc) live within Queens, this further increases the risk of transmitting the virus from visiting travelers to the people who live there. Finally, Queens congested subway system may further increase the risk of person-to-person transmission.

Another important factor is that Queens contains either the highest, or second highest categories of essential workers, including 33% of cleaners, 27% of warehouse and post workers, 24% of all shopping and pharmacy employees, and 20% of food workers. With this, additional issues such as poverty, housing overcrowding and English illiteracy are high in Queens. People unable or reluctant to stop working for fear of lost wages are at an increased risk for spreading coronavirus within their homes due to cramped living conditions. With high levels of poverty in Queens, Ireland's relatively stronger social welfare system and smaller population may make it more feasible to support these vulnerable populations allowing them to shelter-in-place at home.

From a population perspective, it is reassuring to see the people of Ireland taking social distancing seriously. Having previously worked in Cork University Hospital (Ireland's largest teaching hospital) it is clear that we do not have the ability to handle huge volumes of intensive care unit patients. Ireland has an average of 5-6 ICU beds per 100,000 people, although this capacity has been temporarily increased in preparation for the pandemic. In contrast, the United States has almost 35 per 100,000 people and have made similar increases in ICU bed availability.

If Irelands outbreak were on a similar relative scale to New Yorks, the HSEs ICU capacity would be rapidly overwhelmed. Given that Ireland cannot fight fire with fire, we have had to focus efforts on different tactics  with an enormous focus on social distancing, physical isolation, the shuttering of non-essential businesses and stopping large scale sporting/recreational events. These actions have come relatively swiftly compared to the US response and the Irish people, for the most part, appear to have accepted these initiatives with open arms and should be commended for their community responsiveness.

Finally, while working in hospitals throughout New York City, it has become clear that the people of NYC are, on average, sicker than those in Ireland. Chronic diseases are higher, while access to medications and GP care is more difficult in NY compared to Ireland. Research to date has indicated that older age, males, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and heart disease are important risk factors associated with worse coronavirus outcomes. New York City, and Queens in particular, has higher rates of these conditions. Add to that the difficulty that many of the foreign born population have in purchasing medications and accessing GP care, and it becomes clear the reasoning for why more of these chronic diseases exist in NY.

On average, people in Ireland live longer, have lower infant mortality, pay substantially less for hospitalizations and GP care and have overall better health. A 2018 Irish survey reported that 84% of Irish note being in good or very good health. In comparison a similar survey throughout NYC revealed that only 60% of NYC inhabitants reported being in good or very good health.

Sicker patients are likely at higher risk of developing pneumonia from coronavirus. Interestingly, while Queens has more GPs per capita than Ireland, (eg one GP per 1,500 people in Queens, one GP per 2,000 people in Ireland) it would seem that its inhabitants have poorer controlled chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. This may reflect the cost of medications prescribed by ones GP, or a fear of accessing care given lack of insurance and inability to pay.

The HSE may feel unwieldy and overly politicized at times. However, as a system it is something that we should be very proud of as Irish citizens. Access to free, open access healthcare is a commodity not available to those in many other countries. The coronavirus pandemic has also revealed the value of deep social welfare nets in ensuring our population remains safe, healthy, housed and cared for.

The vast governmental and community efforts in social distancing and physical isolation have also been taken up with huge fortitude and the Irish people are to be commended for their unprecedented effort.

Dr David Power is a former student of Ardscoil Ris in Limerick city. He worked in Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick, and left Ireland for further training in New York in 2017.
Academia has not been immune to the economic strains presented by the coronavirus pandemic and the corresponding response. Local colleges and universities have reduced costs through layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and hiring freezes.

At Neumann University in Aston, 31 full-time employees were either laid off or accepted furloughs last month as top university administration have taken a 10 percent salary cut. They are not alone.

Top Widener University personnel have also taken pay reductions and a hiring freeze has been instituted at the Chester campus through June 30, 2021. All travel and conference funds have likewise been frozen through that time period.

At Swarthmore College, the situation is being thoroughly analyzed through a Financial Study Group which was convened specific to evaluate how and if coronavirus and the guidelines are impacting the colleges financial viability, with recommendations anticipated later this month.

Villanova University in Radnor is also assessing the situation to determine if any changes will need to be made, although none have been done so yet.

Since March, all schools in Pennsylvania have been closed under order of Gov. Tom Wolf to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Classes that continue do so through digital platforms.

In the middle of last month, Neumann furloughed 23 employees and laid off eight others.

The coronavirus pandemic has presented an economic challenge for the university and precipitated some furloughs and layoffs in mid-April, Neumann University spokesman Stephen Bell said. We spoke with each individual and encouraged them to take full advantage of financial relief offered in the CARES Act, particularly the enhanced unemployment benefits. We will continue to follow up and offer them support through our Human Resources Office. It is our hope that many of these employees will be able to return in the future.

Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, those whose positions have been eliminated due to virus-related causes are eligible for a Pandemic Unemployment Compensation of $600 a week. This amount is above and additional to regular unemployment benefits, which many impacted employees may also receive.

Neuman University President Dr. Chris Domes said the furloughs are the most painful decision I have had to make in my career, as he added he remains optimistic about many employees being able to return and eager to continue planning for the fall.

He himself as well as Neumanns vice presidents have also taken a 10 percent cut in salary while freezing tuition for the 2020-21 academic year. Bell explained that new and returning students in undergraduate, graduate and degree completion programs will have their tuition rates remain at fall 2019 levels.

We have frozen tuition for the fall to do our part in providing a measure of financial relief to the families who have been adversely affected financially by the global pandemic, Domes said. We trust that this decision offers our families some predictability as they plan budgets for the rest of the year.

Widener University has not had to institute any layoffs, although President Dr. Julie E. Wollman announced the hiring freeze that started March 30 and extends through the upcoming fiscal year, ending June 30, 2021.

On April 20, Wollman announced that all travel and conference funds also would be frozen through June 30 of next year.

She herself elected to take a 10 percent pay cut starting July 1, the same time that the universitys highest-level administrators will take a 5 percent pay reduction.

At Swarthmore College, officials have maintained status quo for now.

We committed early in the semester to continue paying all of our employees their full base pay, including non-benefits-eligible employees, through May 31, even for those for whom work was not available because of the campus closure, Andy Hirsch, vice president for communications, said. In addition, we implemented a temporary leave policy that allows staff to take paid time off of work for a number of different circumstances related to COVID-19 without having time deducted from their accrued sick or vacation time.

Hirsch explained that earlier in April, Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith constituted a Financial Study Group to analyze the various ways in which the health care crisis is affecting the colleges budget.

That group is expected to make a series of recommendations later in May on how to navigate those challenges, he said. Those recommendations may have implications for a variety of areas, including staffing levels during the summer and perhaps beyond. But its too early to know that yet.

Hirsch said engaged communication with the internal Swarthmore College continues to be a part of the process to lessen any impacts. As weve communicated to our staff members, while we cannot yet answer all of the questions individuals might have, we are committed to continuing to address this situation in ways that mitigate the effect on our students, faculty and staff to the greatest extent possible, he added.

Jonathan Gust, Villanova Universitys executive director of media relations, said no personnel actions have been taken related to the pandemic although university officials continue to monitor the situation.

He noted that Villanova did reimburse and credit students for prorated room and board for the spring semester after students had to vacate the living facilities on this campus, and at other campuses at other colleges and universities across the country, in line with efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Also, recently, Villanova announced that all courses for the summer semester will be taught online and that on-campus conferences and campus this summer are cancelled.
Not finding solitude uncomfortable at all, Sobhita Dhulipala is finding the lockdown a wonderful opportunity especially for all creative people to introspect and reflect upon their skills, choices and stimulus.

While the only thing shes yearning for, is to be by an airy seaside and with her parents, shes using this quarantime for personal growth as well. Social media, she says, fortunately doesnt take up more than 30 minutes in my day (Ive timed it on my phone so as to not over-indulge).

Yet, it is social media which raked up a squabble over pictures that the actor claimed were part of a self-styled and self-timed photoshoot for a magazine. There were counter claims as pictures of a man clicking her photographs began floating on the Internet, leading Dhulipala to issue a statement about standing by her stance.

Its the pleasure of impulsiveness, she explains, which drew her to the idea of representing parts of who I am in my daily routines through my own means. Its empowering and quite frankly, fun. Ive come to enjoy creative direction, adds the Made In Heaven and Bard of Blood actor, who found it amusing how urgently many jumped at the chance to bring another person down.

She adds, It reveals their feelings of inadequacy. Its alright I guess, when one has a clear conscious and a centered mind, no current is too strong to shake them. Its chill.

Ask her what she meant when she wrote this is also a moment for me to learn something deeper, she elaborates, The simple truth that Im privileged to be able to lead a life rich with peaks and troughs.

Truth, in her opinion, is absolute. She adds, Meme pages manipulating it by using only one part of the narrative so as to sensationalise it, is silly. Im lucky to have learnt not to sweat the small stuff, there are bigger issues out there that need actual discussion!

Is she going to be twice more conscious about what she puts up on social media now? Hell no, exclaims the actor, who was shooting a Telugu-Hindi bilingual film when the news of the lockdown came about.

Unlike a lot of others, the 27-year-old isnt looking at this gap as a void to fill things in but as an opportunity to reflect upon who we are in the grander scheme of things.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said microbiologists and other manpower have been made available to Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) and testing for Covid-19 samples would begin there from Saturday.

Giving their consent to carry out Covid-19 testing, the premier research institutes had recently requested the government for microbiologists and other manpower for the job.

Reviewing the lockdown situation at a meeting here on Friday, Yogi also gave directives for pool testing and said world-class quality test kits for coronavirus should be considered to expedite testing work in the state.

The chief minister directed sending of additional administrative officers and dedicated medical teams to Agra and Kanpur Nagar and said protecting medical teams from infection was a must to defeat the virus. He said police was working in the forefront in the battle against coronavirus and arrangements for their training should be made to protect them. He said PPE kits and N-95 masks etc should also be given to them for protection. He said master trainers should be appointed to carry out training work and added that patients should be admitted to L-1, L-2 and L-3 Covid hospitals after making an assessment of their condition.

Yogi said emergency health services should be started in all districts and list of government and private doctors for consultation should be published in newspapers. He said masks and gloves should be provided to UPSRTC drivers bringing migrant labourers back to UP. He said the state government was committed to bringing back migrant labourers/workers and steps have been taken for their return to the state in a phased manner.

The chie minister said about 4 lakh migrant labourers/workers have returned from Delhi while 12,000 have been brought back from Haryana. He said the state government would ensure that migrants from other states, too, returned safely. He said steps should be taken to bring back migrant labourers/workers from one state at a time and name and contact numbers of all those returning must be recorded. He said all those returning should be tested and mandatorily be put in quarantine. He said adequate arrangements for quarantine centres and community kitchens should be made for the labourers.

Yogi said Uttar Pradeshs border with other states should remain sealed and no entry should be allowed from there. He said the chief ministers help line should connect with village pradhans and corporators to ensure that no one returned without giving proper information as such people may be possible corona carriers.

He said digital banking should be promoted to avoid crowding in banks and added that RuPay card should be encouraged for digital transactions.
This picture, released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting the completed Suchon phosphate fertilizer factory in South Pyongan Province: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image

President Trump has said he is glad Kim Jong-un is back in public life and doing well, after the North Korean leader made his first public appearance in 20 days, according to the countrys state media.

I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well! the president tweeted on Saturday evening and included a link to apparent new photographs of Kim Jong-un cutting the tape at a ceremony marking the completion of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertiliser Factory in North Korea.

Mr Trump is spending a working weekend with close aides at the presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland, but managed to find time on Saturday to send a flurry of tweets covering subjects from his poll numbers to Congress, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Michael Flynn.

The absence of Kim Jong-un over the last three weeks triggered rumours he had died or was in a coma following failed heart surgery.

I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well! https://t.co/mIWVeRMnOJ  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2020

However, the official Korean Central News Agency said Kim attended a ceremony on Friday to mark the completion of the fertiliser factory near the capital, Pyongyang.

He apparently attended with senior officials including his sister and putative successor Kim Yo-jong. Photographs released by the North Korean government appeared to confirm this.

Speculation about Kims health began after he missed the birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung on 15 April.

It was the first time he was not present for the important holiday in North Korea since taking power in 2011.

Over the next two weeks, state media reported that Kim was carrying out routine activities such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa.

He had not made a public appearance since presiding over a ruling Workers Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus on 11 April.

Story continues

President Donald Trump talks to journalists on the South Lawn while departing the White House for Camp David on 1 May, 2020 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On that day, he reappointed his sister as an alternate member of the decision-making political bureau of the partys central committee.

The following day, the government issued an undated picture of Mr Kim inspecting an air defence unit.

Last week Reuters reported that China had sent a team of medical experts to North Korea. However it was unclear what, if anything, was wrong with the North Korean leader.

On Monday, Donald Trump said he had a good idea how Mr Kim was doing and hoped he was fine  without elaborating on what he knew.

And earlier this week a South Korean minister said the North Korean leaders unexplained absence could be due to him being afraid of contracting coronavirus. North Korea has reported that it has zero cases of Covid-19.

In 2014, Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks and then reappeared with a cane. South Koreas spy agency said he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

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One day after demonstrators, some armed with assault rifles, entered the state Capitol in Lansing to demand that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer lift her COVID-19 stay-at-home executive order, President Donald Trump tweeted his endorsement of the right-wing protesters.

Intentionally recalling his support for the very fine people involved in the neo-Nazi rampage in Charlottesville, Virginia in August of 2017, Trump tweeted: The Governor of Michigan should give a little and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.

A protester carries his rifle at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, April 30, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Paul Sancya]

The several hundred protesters, including many from outside the state, came to Lansing on Thursday for what organizers called the American Patriot Rally. At 1:00 pm, police began scanning demonstrators with temperature devices while permitting them, guns and all, to enter the Capitol chanting, Lock her up! and Heil Whitmer!

Once inside the Capitol, the demonstratorswho defied the states social distancing and face covering regulationsattempted to force their way onto the Michigan House floor but were blocked by legislative sergeants-at-arms and state police. As some moved onto the gallery above the House floor, the main body of protesters remained in the stairwell and outside the entrance to the House chamber, chanting Let us in!

In addition to carrying automatic long arms, some protesters wore pro-Trump paraphernalia and others reportedly displayed swastikas, waved Confederate flags and brandished nooses. A group of armed individuals, who identified themselves as the Michigan Liberty Militia, said they were a security detail for protesters and lined up with their hands on their weapons outside the governors office.

Posting a photograph showing armed men patrolling the gallery, Michigan Senator Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat, tweeted: Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today.

As with the protest organized in Lansing on April 17 and numerous other demonstrations in states around the country, the protest on Thursday was coordinated by the Republican Party establishment. Trumps urging of Whitmer to make a deal with the protesters is part of the nationwide campaign being coordinated by the White House to end social distancing during the pandemic and force the working class back to work.

For weeks now, Wall Street and the corporate media have been pushing the lie that the pandemic is essentially over, and everyone needs to get back on the job. The danger of this premature return to work is evident in Michigan, where the number of confirmed cases climbed by nearly 1,000 on Friday, reaching a total of 42,356, and the death toll rose to 3,866, with no sign of a flattening of the curve.

Thursdays demonstration was timed to coincide with the midnight expiration of Governor Whitmers March 23 state of emergency declaration, which shut down businesses and ordered the public to stay at home. According to Michigan law, an extension of an emergency declaration beyond 28 days requires legislative approval.

With the protesters in the Capitol, the Republican-controlled House voted to refuse to extend the declaration. However, Governor Whitmer issued a series of executive orders anyway, including an extension of the COVID-19 state of emergency to May 28.

While the demonstration was ostensibly organized by a nonprofit group called Michigan United for Liberty, the website of the organization provides very little information about its purpose and goals. A check of the registration information for the domain name associated with the organization shows that it was created on April 9. A Twitter account for the organization was also created in April 2020.

A central purpose of Michigan United for Liberty is to serve as plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against Whitmer in a Michigan court on April 22 challenging the authority of the governor to issue executive orders. This case, which has yet to be decided, is one of several lawsuits filed primarily on behalf of Republican-backed plaintiffs aimed at forcing an end to the state of emergency and a return to work.

In addition to voting against the extension of Whitmers stay-home, stay-safe declaration, the Michigan House voted in favor of giving Republican Speaker Lee Chatfield the authority to file a lawsuit over the governors handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Chatfield said of the vote, We have three branches of governmentthe executive, the legislative and the judicial. They all have their role, even in a pandemic, and this may be one where we get the third branch of government involved.

Chatfields comments and the earlier lawsuits against Whitmer bring into sharp relief the intervention of Attorney General William Barr in the conflict over the emergency shutdown of states by governors across the country. Barr issued a memorandum on Monday stating that he was directing Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Eric Dreiband and the US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matthew Schneider, to take action if a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections.

The selection of Schneider to lead the effortwhich brings the authority of law enforcement agencies including the FBI as well as the federal courts into the back-to-work campaignis an indication that Michigan is the focal point of a high-level offensive by the ruling elite to force workers back on the job regardless of widespread concerns voiced by public health and medical experts about the safety of doing so and ongoing strikes and protests by workers against unsafe conditions in factories and workplaces.

This political and legal campaign is required because the political establishment is well aware of the opposition that exists within the working class to ending social distancing and self-isolation, under conditions where the pandemic continues to spread throughout the population.

Poll after poll has shown that the American public by a more than a two-to-one margin does not support a rapid return to work, even if it means further economic disruption. An exhaustive nationwide poll of all 50 states conducted by Harvard, Northeastern University and Rutgers published on Thursday showed that 68 percent of Michiganders said they thought their state government was reacting about right to the crisis, while 24 percent said they thought it was overreacting.

These expressions of opposition to the back-to-work campaign have been downplayed in the corporate media, while the demonstration in Lansing, which mobilized only a few hundred people, has been widely reported and presented as an expression of widespread popular sentiment in favor of a rapid reopening of the economy. The same is true of a dozen or more similar, and generally small, right-wing demonstrations in other states across the country, primarily those with Democratic governors.

This disproportionate coverage is very consciously timed to coincide with the intensification of the demands by the White House, Wall Street and the super-rich to reopen the economy. This false narrative of a popular drumbeat to get back to work is supported by both the Democrats and Republicans, although there are tactical differences between them as to the pace of the lifting of social-distancing measures.

Although the constituency for far-right and fascist groups remains very small, it would be a dangerous mistake to underestimate the danger of a growth of fascism in America. Groups of extreme right-wing and armed militiamen patrolling the halls of the state Capitol building is a warning to the working class. These groups have the backing of substantial sections of the US ruling class, political establishment and state apparatus, which are encouraging their development to be thrown against an insurgent working class. They are being groomed as strikebreakers and attack dogs for the ruling elite.

The protests in Michigan are backed by organizations linked to Betsy DeVos, the billionaire education secretary in the Trump administration. In other states, right-wing billionaires including the Koch brothers and the Coors family are giving financial support to right-wing groups organizing back-to-work demonstrations.

At the same time, these forces are seeking to exploit the very real fears and frustrations of mainly middle-class layers, such as small business owners, who are being ruined by the response of the financial oligarchy to the pandemic. The Democratic Party, which fully backs the handover of unlimited public funds to the corporations and banks, offers nothing to desperate middle-class layers.

To the extent that the working class is blocked by the trade unions, the Democratic Party and their pseudo-left allies from offering an independent policy to fight the pandemic and defend the living standards and democratic rights of workers and other social layers being sacrificed to the drive of the corporate elite to increase its wealth, the ruined middle class can be drawn behind the far-right and turned against the workers.

This underscores the need to build an independent movement of the working class in opposition to both parties of big business to fight the pandemic and the capitalist system that blocks any effective mobilization of science and resources internationally to contain it and limit its ravages. On the basis of a socialist program, the working class can and will win the support of significant sections of the middle class looking for a way out of the catastrophe created by capitalism.
MBABANE  Some people who were set to benefit from food cooked by a good Samaritan, Khulekani Msweli, were left starving after police arrested him.



After the incident, Msweli wrote an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Masuku seeking his intervention.

He was writing to him in his capacity as head of a department that looks into the welfare of the vulnerable and also as head of the National Disaster Task Agency inclined in COVID-19 effects.



Msweli claimed that he had gone to purchase foodstuffs in order to prepare meals and dish these out to residents of Vuvulane who are living in poverty.

He said he was fined E60 by the police who further turned him back despite that he had explained the purpose of his trip and offered to give them all the evidence.



Msweli said the police insisted on a letter from the local inkhundla, which unfortunately was closed.

He said this incident made him conclude that government truly did not care about the poor.



It is unfortunate that Im writing such a long letter that is an awareness reflection of an incident that occurred to me today (April 30, 2020), causing me to cry, be traumatised and filled with pain that I have never felt before.



Bought



He said he went to Tshaneni because it was the nearest place where they could buy food.

With all due respect to all COVID-19 regulations, at approximately 9:45am, I was critically compelled to drive (alone), with my face mask and sanitiser nearby to buy food for the poverty-stricken children of Vuvulane, as it was meant to be cooked and distributed today, through the Vuvulane OVC Outreach Foundation.



He said he came across a road- block where the police took his temperature with a reading of 36.4C.

Msweli said they asked him where he was coming from and where he was going and he explained that he was from Vuvulane going to Boxer supermarket to buy food for vulnerable children.



The police officer requested to see a letter, from indvuna, granting me permission, to travel to the grocery store and I told him that I do not have the aforementioned letter because our Mhlume Inkhundla was closed, thus no one was there to write out letters.



Dragged



He said when the policeman walked away, he continued to Tshaneni where just upon arrival, a police car with three policemen came towards his car.



One of the policemen dragged me out of the car and commanded me to get into the police car. That particular policeman happened to be the policeman that had taken my temperature at the nearby roadblock. He said that I had defied his orders, which he claims were that he had told me to return to Vuvulane and not proceed to Tshaneni, which of course he had not said such to me.



He further said he was ushered into the police car by one of the other policemen while the officer who accused him drove his (Msweli) car ahead of the police car to Tshaneni Police Station.



Desperation



Throughout that ordeal, I was consistently trying to explain to them that my shop visit was out of desperation to feed children that are at the brink of survival, but none of my pleas were adhered to. The other policeman, who was said to be their superior, said they must just go and lock me up.



He said he broke down and pleaded with them to have mercy on those who depended on the food that he was going to buy.

To them, I was just as good as a criminal and deserved to be locked away for caring for others. The accusing policeman eventually fined me E60. I paid on the spot using money which was donated and meant to buy food for the neediest members of my community.



He said the government cannot claim to be saving lives yet children might die of hunger not COVID-19.

To criminalise, harass and humiliate those that are stepping in, where government is surely failing, is beyond belief. Is the Government of Eswatini on a mission to kill all poor people?

Your Excellency, as much as I fought back until I eventually bought all the food that was needed, the fact remains that the Government of Eswatini, through its police unit, has stolen an impoverished childs E60, which was meant to buy their food. That E60 was meant to buy food that equates to at least two meals but two children were denied those meals.



Just like most affluent members of our society, I could have easily turned a blind eye to the extreme hunger that the children of Vuvulane are facing and blissfully isolated myself within the luxurious oasis of my gated home, and not face the police trauma, but the humanity within me said no.



Arrested



The irony of it all is that particular decision nearly got me arrested, which would have been the first arrest of my life, because I simply cared enough for the poor.



Msweli attached a short video clip of a Vuvulane resident who is on a wheelchair and living with two grandchildren, whom he had gone to notify that cooked food would be brought to her and her grandchildren.



The open letter attracted comments from people who sympathised with him and called for the police to sometimes be reasonable and use their discretion to assess specific situations.



Deputy Police Information and Communication Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni said the police were all out to enforce the COVID-19 regulations.

People are welcome to report their grievances at the nearest police station, she said.
BAY CITY, MI  A Bay City man was arrested on drunken-driving charges after he was accused of driving his SUV into the Saginaw River.

Its the third time in little more than a month hes been arrested on such charges.

About 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, police responded to the Cass Avenue Boat Launch after someone called to report a vehicle in the river. Officers arrived to find a half-submerged 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer 15 to 20 feet into the river, said Bay City Public Safety Capt. Nathan Webster.

The SUV was unoccupied when police arrived and its driver was nowhere to be found.

A few minutes later, police received a call from someone at SkipperBuds, located about a half-mile from the boat launch at 1809 Water St. The caller reported that there was an unwanted and seemingly inebriated person on the premises, Webster said.

Police went to SkipperBuds and encountered the trespasser. The lower half of his body was wet and police determined he was the registered owner of the waterlogged SUV, Webster said.

The 52-year-old man submitted to a preliminary Breathalyzer test, which yielded a result of 0.25, Webster said. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol level hits 0.08; a person is considered super drunk when that level reaches 0.17.

Police arrested the man on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. It was the third time hed been arrested on such a charge since March 29, Webster said.

The mans name is being withheld as hes not yet appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on any of his recent charges.

The SUV has since been towed out of the river, Webster added.
As businesses remain closed and people move to online shopping for many items, sales tax revenue is expected to decrease in coming months.

For school districts, this could mean a decrease in the revenue used to fund construction projects for their schools.

For Jacksonville School District 117, sales tax revenue will go to cover a $2.3 million bond payment that was used to renovate Jacksonville Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School and South Jacksonville Elementary School.

Superintendent Steve Ptacek said the district has received a large portion of funds from the sales tax to cover a majority of the bond payment should sales tax revenue decline sharply.

Its too early to tell how things will happen, Ptacek said. Our payment is $2.3 million and we are hoping to get $2.4 million. With businesses being shut down, we will face some loss, but it isnt our largest concern right now.

Jacksonville is projected to receive $2.4 million in sales tax revenue. As of April, the district has received more than $2.2 million for Fiscal Year 2020.

Ptacek said if sales tax revenue falls short, the district will be able to cover any deficit for the bond payment through its general fund.

Well take a loss, but thats why we keep a high fund balance, Ptacek said.

In Waverly, Superintendent Dustin Day said the district already has been seeing a decrease in sales but, because of how funds are paid, these decreases are from sales a few months ago.

Waverly School District has been averaging $17,500 a month in revenue, but only saw $13,800 in March.

We are expecting that to continue to decline, Day said. Im very concerned that once things settle down, some businesses may not recover.

Funds from the districts sales tax revenue have gone toward building projects, but the district does not have any bond payments.

Day said the district has more than $100,000 in an account that could be used for emergency projects, but said the district hasnt bonded for any large projects.

Ptacek said he is hopeful that the decreases in Jacksonville will only be temporary.

I hope that locally there would be a rebound in sales, Ptacek said. It could be of concern if it continues into the future, but we are more worried about how the pandemic will impact the states funding for next year.

Ptacek said there are concerns that funding for schools could be cut next school year because the state is expected to lose $8 billion in revenue this year.

There are talks of large cuts next year, he said.
At the forefront of a field known as "neurocriminology," Adrian Raine of the University of Pennsylvania has long studied the interplay between biology and environment when it comes to antisocial and criminal behavior. With strong physiological evidence that disruption to the emotion-regulating parts of the brain can manifest in violent outbursts, impulsive decision-making and other behavioral traits associated with crime, much of Raine's research involves looking at biological interventions that can potentially ward off these behavioral outcomes.

A new study by Raine now suggests that omega-3, a fatty acid commonly found in fish oil, may have long-term neurodevelopmental effects that ultimately reduce antisocial and aggressive behavior problems in children.

He is a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine.

Along with Raine, the study featured Jill Portnoy a graduate student in the Department of Criminology, and Jianghong Liu, an associate professor in the Penn School of Nursing. They collaborated with Tashneem Mahoomed of Mauritius' Joint Child Health Project and Joseph Hibbeln of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

It was published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

When Raine was a graduate student, he, his advisor and colleagues conducted a longitudinal study of children in the small island nation of Mauritius. The researchers tracked the development of children who had participated in an enrichment program as 3-year-olds and also the development of children who had not participated. This enrichment program had additional cognitive stimulation, physical exercise and nutritional enrichment. At 11 years, the participants showed a marked improvement in brain function as measured by EEG, as compared to the non participants. At 23, they showed a 34 percent reduction in criminal behavior.

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Raine and his colleagues were interested in teasing apart the mechanisms behind this improvement. Other studies suggested the nutritional component was worth a closer look.

"We saw children who had poor nutritional status at age 3 were more antisocial and aggressive at 8, 11 and 17," Raine said. "That made us look back at the intervention and see what stood out about the nutritional component. Part of the enrichment was that the children receiving an extra two and a half portions of fish a week."

Other research at the time was beginning to show that omega-3 is critical to brain development and function.

"Omega-3 regulates neurotransmitters, enhances the life of a neuron and increases dendritic branching, but our bodies do not produce it. We can only get it from the environment," Raine said.

Research on the neuroanatomy of violent criminals suggested this might be a place to intervene. Other brain-imaging researchers have shown that omega-3 supplementation increases the function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region Raine found to have higher rates of damage or dysfunction in criminal offenders.

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Raine's new study featured a randomized controlled trial where children would receive regular omega-3 supplements in the form of a juice drink. One hundred children, aged 8 to 16, would each receive a drink containing a gram of omega-3 once a day for six months, matched with 100 children who received the same drink without the supplement. The children and parents in both groups took a series of personality assessments and questionnaires at the start.

After six months, the researchers administered a simple blood test to see if the children in the experimental group had higher levels of omega-3 than those in the controls. They also had both parents and children take the personality assessments. Six months after that, the researchers had parents and children take the assessment again to see if there were any lasting effects from the supplements.

The assessments had parents rate their children on "externalizing" aggressive and antisocial behavior, such as getting into fights or lying, as well as "internalizing" behavior, such as depression, anxiety and withdrawal. Children were also asked to rate themselves on these traits.

While the children's self-reports remained flat for both groups, the average rate of antisocial and aggressive behavior as described by the parents dropped in both groups by the six-month point. Critically, however, those rates returned to the baseline for the control group but remained lowered in the experimental group, at the 12-month point.

"Compared to the baseline at zero months," Raine said, "both groups show improvement in both the externalizing and internalizing behavior problems after six months. That's the placebo effect.

"But what was particularly interesting was what was happening at 12 months. The control group returned to the baseline while the omega-3 group continued to go down. In the end, we saw a 42 percent reduction in scores on externalizing behavior and 62 percent reduction in internalizing behavior."

At both the six- and 12-month check-ins, parents also answered questionnaires about their own behavioral traits. Surprisingly, parents also showed an improvement in their antisocial and aggressive behavior. This could be explained by the parents taking some of their child's supplement, or simply because of a positive response to their child's own behavioral improvement.

The researchers caution that this is still preliminary work in uncovering the role nutrition plays in the link between brain development and antisocial behavior. The changes seen in the one-year period of the experiment may not last, and the results may not be generalizable outside the unique context of Mauritius.

Beyond these caveats, however, there is reason to further examine omega-3's role as a potential early intervention for antisocial behavior.

"As a protective factor for reducing behavior problems in children," Liu said, "nutrition is a promising option; it is relatively inexpensive and can be easy to manage."

Follow-up studies will include longer-term surveillance of children's behavioral traits and will investigate why their self-reports did not match the parental reports.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Lindy Ferguson estimates her Moon Dancing Farm has seen a 25, maybe 30% increase in demand over the past month.

Moon Dancing, based in West Burlington between Sherburne and Cooperstown, raises chemical-free chickens, pigs and cows on its 150-acre farm. Its most popular item, a monthly mix, includes beef, chicken and pork. Workers ship packages, meet customers at a central location or invite them to pick up orders at the farm.

Ferguson said Moon Dancing is trying to keep up with ever-escalating demand over the past month. She attributes the rising interest to the onset of the coronavirus.

Thats what her customers are telling her.

Theyre afraid to go out of the house, they dont want to go shopping and when they do go shopping nothings available, she said. Theyre afraid of all the news about the slaughterhouses out west, the big ones, having all this COVID-19. Theyre afraid of that. They like the small producers and you cannot get the quality and the care that you get from a small producer.

Ferguson described a phenomenon that appears to be sweeping Central New York. Farmers who sell directly to the public through CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are seeing what one described as a slight uptick to what others described as a more robust demand in business.

Some CSAs have struggled over the years to build or keep a significant client base  or in CSA parlance, sell significant shares. CSA farmers cite competition from a greater array of organic vegetables at supermarkets and the ease of one-stop shopping at those places. To appeal to more masses, some farmers have altered the way they do business, providing for more customizing by clients who prefer to dictate what appears in their CSA baskets.

CSA, for the uninitiated, works something like this: Customers pay for boxes of fresh food either in advance of the growing season or in weekly or monthly increments. They can pick up their food at various locations determined by the farmer or can visit the farm itself. Some CSA-like entrepreneurs are collecting products from various farms and delivering customized boxes to customers doorsteps.

CSA farmers these days are counting customers and reporting a rise in recent interest.

We are probably gonna sell out in the next week or two, said Maryellen Sheehan of Hartwood Farm in Chittenango. Were probably about a month ahead of sales compared to a normal year. I think its anxiety about going to stores. A mix between anxiety going to stores and people wanting to support local businesses.

Its hard to say because Im still signing up. Im not full yet, said Wendy Burkhart-Spiegel, whose Common Thread CSA is based in Madison. Ive heard some CSAs on Long Island are already full. That hasnt happened yet but I do have a lot of names I dont recognize. Id say probably five or six new members per week who never had a share with us before are signing up. And thats not normal, to have so many new people.

Maryellen Sheehan of Hartwood Farm in Fenner displays her veggies at the Fayetteville Farmers Market.

Sheehan and her husband, Matt, usually sell produce at the Cazenovia Farmers Market. But Madison County shut down that market at the end of winter (it will reopen next month), prompting the Sheehans to brace for market changes and institute policies that adhere to new social distancing rules.

For their CSA customers, the couple would transport vegetables to destinations in Fayetteville, Manlius, Liverpool and Syracuses Westcott neighborhood. Sometimes, those locations would be inside a homeowners garage, where customers would mill about, selecting their produce and putting them into boxes.

Were going to try as much as we can to be outside more underneath a tent and as a person walks up, one of us will check them off a list. In the past we did not staff these distribution sites. And now were going to have to staff it, Matt Sheehan said. Were gonna have the produce in a single-use plastic bag they take with them. Outside the garage, theres going to be a table and as people approach, we will put a share on the table. Theyre all going to be pre-selected and ready to go.

The Sheehans, too, will implement for the first-time an online shopping process, whereby customers can select exactly the kinds of vegetables they want to purchase. Maryellen Sheehan said that component could offset the potential drag on business of a potentially less-robust farmers market, where people might fear closer quarters for shopping.

Burkhart-Spiegel, who runs the family farm with her husband Asher, said Common Thread has shifted to a model that allows for more customization for delivered CSA shares. They made the decision to buy software so that customers can tailor their vegetables to their preferences. Customers click through items online to be included in their boxes.

We didnt do it until it became necessary when we werent able to get the shares, she said. It was very successful last year. People really liked it and we felt good even though it was more work that there was less waste and people were going to eat all the vegetables they wanted. A lot of farmers are starting to work in these programs. I think thats the way CSA is really improving.

A rainbow spans the Stones Throw Farm in Nedrow on May 30, 2017, in this shot taken by farm co-owner is Megan Luton.SYR

Brian Luton, who operates Stones Throw Farm in Nedrow with his wife Megan, said that while his CSA is more traditional, in that customers drive to the farm to pick up shares, Stones Throw is now permitting those customers to pick and choose certain vegetables (demand is a factor). He calls that segment of his CSA market-style. Luton said his business has experienced a slight uptick in interest over the past few weeks.

CSA farmers, too, wonder about repeat customers who did not sign up this season. Some habitually sign up late, but others? Have they been laid off jobs? Are they less secure financially? Some CSAs are relaxing payment policies or sizes of shares to accommodate financially-stressed families.

Everybody believes people are eating at home more. Restaurants remain closed, though some are offering takeout. Food seems readily available after the initial hoarding shock, though there have been national news reports about food chain disruptions. The Trump administration has ordered meatpacking plants to continue working to maintain the supply of proteins, despite reports of sizeable outbreaks of the coronavirus at large meat processing plants.

At Moon Dancing, Lindy Ferguson hears the fears of consumers who worry meat prices will spike or that meat itself will become unavailable. The family has operated its business for more than 35 years and has offered online shopping since 2012.

Right now, the Fergusons are awaiting a new chicken crop and are attempting to stay ahead of the new demand.

Its definitely hit us unexpectedly, she said. We are scrambling to catch up. Slowly but surely were getting there.

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Donna Ditota is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? Reach her at dditota@syracuse.com.
By PTI

CHENNAI: Following the Centre's fresh guidelines on COVID-19 lockdown, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday eased restrictions in non-containment areas and allowed resumption of construction activity, road works, opening of SEZs ,among others, from May 4.

The cabinet gave its nod to the extension of the lockdown till May 17 and issued new guidelines to be followed during the third phase.

While ruling out any relaxation in rules in the coronavirus containment zones, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said it permitted certain activities in the non-containment zones. They include: Resumption of construction activity, road works, opening of SEZs, export units with minimum of 20 employees or 25 per cent of staff strength.

The new guidelines said that IT or ITES firms can function with minimum of 20 employees or 10 per cent staff strength. Also, grocery shops selling essential commodities can function between 6 am and 5 pm and restaurants (only for takeaways) between 6 am and 9 pm.

ALSO READ| Madurai civic body distributes tricolor transit passes to more than 3 lakh local residents

The functioning of saloons or beauty parlours is prohibited while service providers such as plumbers, electricians, AC mechanics and tailors can work. These come with a rider - all these activities are permitted in areas outside the containment zones.

Regarding non-containment zones in rest of Tamil Nadu, in the zones falling under municipal corporations and municipalities, the Cabinet has permitted re-opening of all factories including textile mills with 50 per cent of staff strength (minimum of 20 employees).

In town panchayats with over 15,000 population, the textile mills can function with 50 per cent staff strength after obtaining clearance from the district Collectors. SEZ, EOU, industrial estates / clusters in rural and urban areas can work with 50 per cent staff strength. No permission has been granted to textile mills located in industrial estates ofurban areas.

Collectors have been authorised to decide on re-opening of export units in urban areas with 50 per cent staff strength and units of designing and production of samples for exporting garment and leather products with 30 per cent staff strength.

The Cabinet permitted re-opening of hardware manufacturing firms with 50 per cent staff strength besides spinning mills in rural areas with an equal staff strength.

ALSO READ| COVID-19 impact: With spas, hotels shut in Chennai, Mizo and those from other states keen to return home

Shops, selling materials for infrastructure industry and repair shops for mobile phones and computers, can be kept open from 9 am to 5 pm. The first phase lockdown in India was from March 25 to April 14. The second phase commenced on April 15 and would end tomorrow. The third phase lockdown is from May 4 to 17.

Chennai is among the Red Zones owing to the high number of COVID-19 cases and tight restrictions are in place. Chennai has 1,081 cases (till Friday) and the state accounts for about 198 containment zones and 5 clusters have also been identified in the city.
Hundreds of fish were found floating dead in River Phalguni at Dadelu in Nadthikallu, near Venoor, triggering an alarm that water had been poisoned.

As the fish had died, the entire area reeked of a nauseating smell.

Hundreds of cattle drink water from the water body to quench their thirst. The residents fear spread of diseases from the rotting fish. They said animals and birds that drink from the river will die if the water is poisoned.

The villagers, who were angry over the incident, said that the miscreants behind the poisoning of the river should be punished.

The incident came to light when dead fish started to float on the river bank, a day ago. Police must initiate action against all those who are responsible, villagers urged.

Zilla Panchayat member Dharanendra Kumar said, Poisoning of water body is an unpardonable offence. The issue should be considered seriously by the police, Forest and Revenue department officials.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-03 02:17:08|Editor: huaxia

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SAN FRANCISCO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Californian voters are deeply divided about the COVID-19 pandemic, with supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump more worried about the economy and less concerned about the virus spread, according to a research by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS).

The research published on Friday was based on an online poll of 8,800 registered California voters conducted by IGS from April 16 to 20, in conjunction with the California Institute of Health Equity and Action.

The poll found that voters are deeply polarized over the president's performance in office. Almost 55 percent of Californian voters strongly disapproved, while 20 percent strongly approved. Overall, just a quarter of the voters were closer to the middle in their assessments.

Such extreme disagreement carries over to assessments of core strategies and goals of the pandemic response, and even to scientific credibility, said the study.

Just 24 percent of strong Trump supporters were very concerned about spreading the virus to others. Nearly half of them expressed little or no concern. Among strong Trump opponents, 58 percent were very concerned about passing the virus to others, and only 13 percent were not concerned. Overall, 48 percent of California voters were very concerned they might spread the virus to others, according to the study.

Over 57 percent of strong Trump supporters said that staying at home was extremely effective in checking the spread of infection, while more than 90 percent of strong Trump opponents favored staying at home.

Among Trump supporters, 77.6 percent were most worried about the economic damage of keeping the stay-at-home policy in place too long, while 22.3 percent were more concerned with the health effects of ending the policy too soon. Among Trump opponents, 91.2 percent said health should be the higher priority.

More than 73 percent of Trump partisans expressed some or complete trust in scientists, versus 98.6 percent among those opposed to the president. Trump supporters held far less trust in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

"It is striking the way that polarized political attitudes even affect everyday behaviors," said IGS co-director Cristina Mora, noting that the facts denoted just how powerfully politics can shape the understanding of health and safety.

"The sharp differences between Trump supporters and opponents suggest that the fight over reopening the economy could end up just reinforcing the polarized battle lines that have characterized the past decade," IGS co-director Eric Schickler said.

The poll also found approximate agreement on several strategies for controlling the spread of the virus. For example, almost everyone surveyed concurred that hand-washing is an important way to prevent infection. The two sides were largely aligned on wearing masks and gloves. On the 6-foot guidance for social distancing, 97.9 percent of Trump opponents called it somewhat or extremely effective, compared to 88.6 percent of Trump supporters.

The Berkeley IGS said the poll had a margin of error of three percentage points. Enditem
Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 2 (ANI): Visakhapatnam city reported its first COVID-19 death when a 62-year-old man from Chengalarao Peta who was admitted with chronic kidney ailment at the King George Hospital (KGH), passed away.



The man passed away as soon as he was asmitted to the hospital but doctors later conducted COVID-19 test of the deceased man and discovered that he was positive for COVID-19.

Chief of the Andhra Medical College (AMC) Sudhakar said, "A 62-year-old man was addmited to KGH with Kidney disease. He passed away during the treatment. His body was handed over to the family members but when we identified that he was found COVID-19 positive, our teams rushed to the deceased house and conducted the last rites as per the protocol."

He further stated that the deceased man was admitted to the hospital with severe chronic kidney disease. After his death, he was found positive for COVID-19 but cause of the death is yet to be known.

"At least 20 members of hospital staff have been sent for quarantine, who treated him and came in his contact," he added.

Visakhapatnam has reported 27 COVID-19 positive cases including one death so far, while 20 patients were discharged till now.

Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam Collector has ordered Health and police departments to conduct search operation to locate the contact persons of the two new cases in the city, according to a press release issued by collector's office.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh has reported 1463 COVID-19 positive cases so far. (ANI)


Turbulence is rarely off the in-flight menu for Northern Ireland's three airports - and now Covid-19, the worst crisis for the industry in many years, has hit hard.

Funding of 5.7m for City of Derry Airport and Belfast City Airport keeps both of them open for now, serving the critical Belfast to London and Londonderry to London routes.

But it only addresses a fraction of the difficulties facing Belfast City, which lost 14 routes from the collapse of regional airline Flybe.

Three of those were quickly backfilled only for Covid-19 to put paid to all flights from Belfast City apart from links to London.

Since the Covid-19 crisis it has also lost British Airways after the UK carrier withdrew its Heathrow link for the time being, though it is being served by sister airline Aer Lingus. The airlines have also acted quickly to cut costs, with 12,000 jobs to be cut at British Airways and 3,000 roles expected to go at Ryanair.

Covid-19 has also resulted in the loss of all passenger flights from Belfast International, though its boss Graham Keddie said he was hopeful that it too will receive a government bailout in due course.

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Belfast City Airport had 2.51 million passengers during 2018, City of Derry Airport had 185,843 and the International Airport had 6.27m.

The International has suffered past problems with getting passengers through security, as well as the loss of a link with North America in November 2018.

City of Derry Airport is heavily subsidised by its owner Derry City and Strabane District Council and has struggled with falling passenger numbers.

Economist Andrew Webb of business advisers Grant Thornton said he believed long-term damage has been inflicted on our air connectivity by Covid-19.

This week speculation about the future of flying predicted four-hour waits for boarding to enable health checks to be carried out - and more expensive tickets to make up for social distancing measures which may mean only 50% of seats can be occupied.

Mr Webb said: "A lot is going to depend on how we behave as consumers. Will there be a reticence to go through four hours of waiting and then sitting on a plane worrying about picking up Covid-19? It will probably take an absolute age to recover that air connectivity. I can't see how we can just turn back on immediately that desire to travel.

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"A lack of confidence may lead to a lack of demand and a scaling back of routes as carriers react."

Economy Minister Diane Dodds said the three airports had an essential role to play "not only during this crisis, but also when we emerge from it", and repeated a call for a holiday from APD to help aviation weather the crisis.

EasyJet, the main carrier from Belfast International, said there was no certainty of a date for restarting commercial flights as it would depend on national travel restrictions and customer demand. But it said it was working to ensure it could meet requirements for crew training and any extra health and safety measures.

Gareth Hetherington, economist and director of the Ulster University economic policy centre said the industry was facing turmoil. "We need to prepare ourselves to pay more for air travel," he warned.

Mr Keddie welcomed the support announced yesterday but with a caveat.

"It's fantastic they've done this but I would ask, when our carriers restart will they get the same support?" he said.

Explaining he is engaged in talks with the airport's airlines, he said: "I'm relatively confident they'll all come back but it depends on how long it takes. That time scale is a moveable feast."

Domestic routes would return before overseas routes - but the ball was also in the public's court, he said.

He added: "Confidence will be a big thing. Are people going stir-crazy at the minute, and will they want to travel when this is over? It's a big question. I think the Government will have to get rid of APD to help us and stimulate that process of coming back."

Belfast City chief executive Brian Ambrose said it wasn't possible to gauge how soon activity would return to 2019 levels.

"With regards to new routes and backfilling the Flybe network, we have continued detailed conversations with potential airline partners and expect to make some positive announcements as we emerge from the Covid-19 outbreak in the weeks and months ahead," he added.

And City of Derry Airport said its search for other funding options to secure its future continued.
Rarely has the Indian State been put to test as it is being now. The scale of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing 54-day lockdown  albeit with relaxations that were announced on Friday for the period after May 3  has been a test for the resilience, integrity, efficiency, decision-making processes and capabilities of the Indian State.

After 40 days of the lockdown, and over 35,000 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), how has the State fared? Here are the strengths.

One, the Indian States coercive arms are extraordinarily strong and efficient. Locking down an entire nation  of Indias population, size, complexity, diversity  was no easy task. But the fact that all the security arms of the State came together, from the Centre to the states, and enforced this lockdown is a testament to the fact that when the State wishes to implement something, on a large scale, curtailing the liberty of citizens for any purpose (in this case for the noble objective of preserving public health), it can do so.

In many cases, the enforcement has been overzealous, leading to the harassment of citizens who work in essential services. In other cases, there have been instances where the enforcement could have been more humane, taking into account the needs of more vulnerable segments. But the big picture that has emerged from the lockdown is this. If there is a clear directive from the Centre, and if the states are on board with it, then the police force can deliver.

This brings us to the second interrelated strength. The lockdown could not have been as successful without the cooperation and support of citizens. People themselves were apprehensive of Covid-19 and feared its spread. And, therefore, they complied with the directive  even when it so severely hurt their livelihoods. But this became possible because of the ability of the State to communicate its message well. In this case, credit has to be given to Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, a communicator par excellence.

The PM has spoken to the people regularly on the pandemic  he addressed the nation four times, and devoted two of his monthly radio addresses to the issue. He did not underplay the scale of the challenge; he told citizens that dealing with this was a difficult challenge for India, with its resources; he used everyday phrases which are easily understandable  such as do gaz ki doori (keeping a distance of two yards), jaan hai to jahaan hai (if there is life, there is a world)  to both convey the precautions that needed to be taken and the importance of saving lives. All of this ensured that the danger posed by the pandemic, and the steps which could minimise its spread, percolated down to the ground, in the remotest of corners.

The third strength of the State was in its decisiveness. Decision-making is difficult in a democracy, which has to contend with multiple interests and voices. Power is often fragmented. But the government remained alert. Despite its weaknesses (low testing in the initial stages, denial of community transmission, the slow pace at which it provided personal protective equipment for health workers), the State acted decisively, took a route that it knew would have high economic costs, and stayed the course  largely allowing scientific inputs and data to drive decision-making.

And the final strength of the State was reflected in the functioning of its federal structure. It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which India managed this crisis as a unitary, centralised polity. The fact that there are state governments in place  many of them led by able chief ministers  who have their ear to the ground, who can deploy local administrative machinery quickly, and who can cater to hyper localised requirements has been a big asset in this battle.

But if coercion, communication, decisiveness, and federalism have helped, this crisis has also exposed weaknesses of the Indian State.

The first is the major gap between policy and implementation. The fact that the ministry of home affairs had to send repeated reminders to the state governments and Union territories to allow trucks is just one example of how the lower levels of the bureaucracy have just not been trained enough in the art of nuanced policy implementation. The fact that at many places, local police force used excessive force to crack down on the movement of people is yet another example of its tendency to go overboard. It can use a sledgehammer and enforce blanket orders. But it struggles when it has to make careful distinctions.

This challenge will become particularly acute in the next two weeks  in the backdrop of the Centres complex, graded plan for the end of the lockdown. For the local district authorities, and more crucially, the local policeman manning the crossings, to distinguish between what is allowed and what is prohibited and enable activity accordingly will be a major challenge.

The second, more crucial, gap is in the way the Indian State deals with its poorest citizens. Yes, there is now a semblance of a welfare architecture in place. And schemes such as the Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, and Direct Benefits Transfer helped in the more efficient delivery of financial benefits in these times. But the plight of the migrant workers  and the governments inexplicable delay in addressing their concerns and finally allowing their movement  will rank as a dark chapter in the history of the Indian State. The lockdown will have huge economic costs for all segments, but particularly for the poor  who will suffer a loss of livelihoods.

The third related gap in the Indian States record is economic management. Growth had slowed down even before the pandemic. But the lockdown has dealt a blow to all economic sectors; crippled supply chains; curtailed demand; sharpened unemployment; made businesses unviable; brought the entire micro, small and medium enterprises sector to a grinding halt; and made leading businesses  which are at the centre of innovation, contribute to the tax kitty and employ thousands of workers  rethink their entire operational plans. It was the governments job to anticipate this  and provide measures to help. The fact that there has not yet been any fiscal stimulus package speaks poorly of the Indian State and makes it comes across as both insensitive and irresponsible.

It is time to build on the strengths and remedy the weaknesses.

letters@hindustantimes.com

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Pennsylvania State Police are continuing a yearly tradition of recognizing troopers who died in the line of duty  but this year, in a social distancing-approved way.

The agency posted a video tribute to social media on Saturday that features a reading of the names of 98 state troopers who died on the job. Commissioner Col. Robert Evanchick also gives remarks and footage from previous ceremonies is shown.

An in-person ceremony is usually held on May 2 in Harrisburg, but the coronavirus made it impossible this year.

PSP Memorial Day 2020 Although COVID-19 mitigation efforts prevented us from gathering in person, we collectively paused on Saturday, May 2 to recognize the 115th anniversary of the Department and to honor the 98 Pennsylvania State Police members who have lost their lives in service to the Commonwealth. The Media Unit created this video as a tribute to those who laid down their lives rather than swerve from the path of duty. It is also available to the public on the Department website (https://psp.pa.gov) and Department YouTube . Posted by Pennsylvania State Police Academy on Friday, May 1, 2020

Gov. Tom Wolf has also proclaimed May 2 as Pennsylvania State Police Day.

Although circumstances outside our control prevent us from gathering together, the importance of today remains paramount, Evanchick said in a news release. It is a reminder that throughout the years, our personnel have responded to trying times by overcoming all challenges they encounter. I am confident that together, we will help Pennsylvania overcome the current public health crisis.

The ceremony can be watched through the state polices Facebook page.

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I remember being in a South African light armored car, known as a Ratel, in a terrifying point blank battle with a Cuban tank. Fortunately, the trees were so dense it could not traverse its turret gun.





by Eric S. Margolis





Thirty years ago this week began the largest and longest series of battles in southern Africa and a key event in the Cold War.





I was there with both mechanized and artillery units of the South African Defense Forces (SADF) and guerrillas of their Angolan ally, the UNITA forces of Gen. Jonas Savimbi.





The writer with Gen. Jonas

Much of the action took place in the vast scrublands and dense bush of eastern Angola, a region so remote and uncharted that its former Portuguese colonial rulers rightly called it, the land at the end of the earth. Great herds of majestic elephants roamed the area.





Savimbi was the most interesting African leader I had met. A brawny, charismatic man sporting a Che Guevara style black beret, he had graduated from Moscows Lumumba University, and then founded UNITA, the Movement for the Total Union of Angola. He was southern Africas most able leader. Closely aided by small contingents of tough South African troops, their black Buffalo Battalion allies, and a lot of discreet aid flown in from the top secret CIA base at Kamina, the Congo.





Opposing Savimbi was the Communist-led MPLA movement which was armed, financed and led by Angolan Communists taking orders from Moscow and East Berlin. Fidel Castro sent 50,000 well-trained Cuban troops to spearhead MPLAs advance onto UNITAs bush HQ at Jamba. I spent days at Jamba with Savimbi who was highly intelligent and a self-professed democrat.





We endured hair-raising, bone-jarring rides across the bush in Toyota Land Cruisers to attack Communist positions. Locals called it, bundu (bush) bashing. We were choked by thick dust and lashed by wicked thorns.





Heavily armed Angolan and Cuban units, with modern T-54/55 and T-62 tanks tried to fight their way across the Lomba River to attack Jamba. There, Moscows forces were stopped by UNITA and teams of South African commandos using new anti-tank missiles and US Stinger missiles.





I remember being in a South African light armored car, known as a Ratel, in a terrifying point blank battle with a Cuban tank. Fortunately, the trees were so dense it could not traverse its turret gun.





Overhead, Cuban and East German piloted MiGs tangled in dogfights with small numbers of South African French-built Mirage fighters. I drank Cape wine at Pietermaritzburg Air Base with the SADF pilots who had just scored MiG kills.





The Cuito Cuanavale/Mavinga battles lasted for over thirteen months. South Africas nimble forces managed to thwart Soviet plans to occupy Southwest Africa (today Namibia) then move into South Africa and seize its vast riches of metals and rare earths. The Soviet-backed forces halted their offensive and retreated north.





But the United States and Britain also had a change of heart about Africa after a great public clamor over apartheid and slowly ended their support of the whiterun republic. Angola remained in Communist hands, as did the new state of Namibia.





Moscow and Washington called a truce over southern Africa, though Fidel Castro hailed himself as its liberator.





South Africas white National Party allowed Nelson Mandelas ANC to assume power, ending the long era of white rule. South Africa, which once produced 25% of Africas economic output, including even nuclear weapons, went into a long, irreversible slide into endemic corruption, growing crime, tribalism and repressive government  a truly sad legacy for the great liberator, Nelson Mandela.





My old friend Gen Savimbi continued to lead his Ovimbundu people and UNITA against the ruling Marxist regime in Luanda until the US government determined that Angolas growing oil resources were worth more than old ally Savimbi.





I have on impeccable source that in 2002 the US hired a top-notch Israeli hit team to ambush and kill Savimbi. UNITA disbanded and the US got Angolas oil. As the British say, there are no permanent friends in politics, only permanent interests.




By PTI

COLOMBO:) Sri Lanka's decision to hold the parliamentary elections on June 20 was left in balance on Saturday as a special meeting of political parties to firm up the date ended inconclusive, party representatives said.

Sri Lanka in mid-April postponed the parliamentary elections by nearly two months to June 20 due to the coronavirus outbreak that has killed seven people and infected 690 others in the island nation. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 2 dissolved Parliament, six months ahead of schedule and called a snap election on April 25.

The independent election commission had called the meeting with party representatives in view of the ongoing lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "There was no final decision. We pointed out the difficulties faced by the public, their thoughts are not on the election," Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, said.

ALSO READ| Sri Lanka extends COVID-19 lockdown in risk zones till May 11

"People are not ready for the election, health will be their main concern right now," Dayasiri Jayasekera, another political leader from the Freedom Party, said.

The Election Commission having set the date said they would be directed by the health authorities in making the decision on the date of the poll. The government allies took the position despite the pandemic the democratic rights of the people must also ensured.

The current lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic is set to be end on May 11. The election was called six months ahead of the schedule. The Opposition claims the March 2 dismissal order of Parliament has already rendered unconstitutional as the new Parliament could not be convened now before the three-month constitutional requirement.

The Opposition demand to reconvene the dismissed Parliament was rejected by President Rajapaksa on Friday. If Rajapaksa were to reconvene the dismissed Parliament, the Opposition pledged support to tackle COVID-19 thereby preventing a constitutional clash as the new Parliament cannot be met by June 2.
Seven migrant workers in Uttar Pradeshs Basti, who came back from Maharashtra recently, have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), reports said on Saturday.

Bastis district magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan said the seven labourers had travelled from Maharashtra via Jhansi in government buses to Basti, according to news agency ANI.

Reports also said the labourers have now been shifted to a local hospital after being quarantined at a college after their return earlier this week.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were stranded across the country after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide shutdown on March 25 to check the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Many of these daily wage labourers were left without jobs and were seen travelling on foot to their homes as buses and trains were stopped from operating.

Uttar Pradesh was one of the first states to send buses to bring back migrants.

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has also issued fresh guidelines for interstate movement to allow stranded migrant labourers, tourists and students to return to their homes.

However, the movement of migrants, tourists and students will be restricted to non-containment zones, MHA said on April 29.

Uttar Pradesh has 2,328 Covid-19 cases, including 654 people who have been cured, discharged and 42 deaths.
They were 30 seconds of my life that must have aged me about ten years. My toddler had tried to climb the stairs and as she tumbled down the last couple of steps on her bottom, there was a thud and a cry. A normal part of learning to get about for a child of 20 months.

I picked her up and dried her tears, but then the most unimaginable and unexpected thing happened: as Ivy tried to draw breath for her next wail, she passed out cold. Her head lolled back and she went floppy in my arms.

I called her name, tried in vain to get her to respond and shouted for help. I can still hear the blood-curdling, pit-of-the-stomach sound of a woman screaming My baby! My baby! which it later occurred to me must have been my own voice.

I ran up the stairs cradling her and locked eyes with my husband  Ive never seen him look so scared. We both thought our beautiful daughter must be dead.

Yet within moments she had come back around and was hugging my husbands neck, panting  an Easter Monday miracle.

We rushed her to the A&E at Kings College Hospital, by which time I was sobbing uncontrollably with sheer relief that she would now get medical attention.

Kate Mansey with son Ted, 5 and daughter Ivy, 18 months

I must have seemed deranged because by now, my little girl was toddling up to the nurses to show them her dolly, her temperature was fine and the consultant said perhaps it was just one of those things that happens to infants from time to time.

They gave us lunch, kept us for three hours of observation and sent us home.

It was only the next day when Ivy developed a temperature and a cough that I wished I had asked them to test her for Covid-19.

For weeks beforehand my son, too, had been experiencing symptoms of the virus that I wouldnt describe as mild. And when, last week, NHS leaders issued an urgent nationwide alert to doctors, warning of a more severe coronavirus-related syndrome in children, I began to wonder: could this have been it?

I know that other families have seen their children go down with unexpected and sometimes frightening symptoms in the past few weeks before bouncing back. Are children more seriously at risk than we have  so far  been told?

The alert about the new syndrome came from doctors in London and elsewhere in the UK who had noticed a sudden spike in children admitted to intensive care with rashes, convulsions, cardiac inflammation and stomach pain.

The suggestion is that in very rare cases, Covid-19 might cause a childs immune system to overreact as it battles to fight off the virus. This can lead to a general inflammation of blood vessels similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare condition that usually affects under-fives. It can cause damage to internal organs.

Given what wed experienced, I began to investigate. At first, the statistics were encouraging. Children seemed largely untouched by the virus. Save for some tragic cases  last month a five-year-old became the UKs youngest victim  the NHS guidance shows that children, if they do get coronavirus, seem to experience very mild symptoms.

The chances that Ivy had been in danger seemed small.

Children have so far accounted for only between one per cent and five per cent of diagnosed Covid-19 cases worldwide. Mostly they show milder signs of the disease, and deaths among the under-tens are rare. Great Ormond Street experts say about half of children have a fever, 40 per cent have a cough and fewer than ten per cent have gastrointestinal symptoms.

But then came last weeks news that children could not only catch the virus, but that in some rare cases, the consequences are severe. For these children, the immune system, which remains immature right up to adolescence, can become its own worst enemy.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), told me that UK medics were the first to spot the alarming  yet rare  phenomenon and have since discussed their findings with Italian and Spanish doctors who realise with hindsight that they, too, have seen such cases.

We rushed her to the A&E at Kings College Hospital, by which time I was sobbing uncontrollably with sheer relief that she would now get medical attention

Weve seen this in adults, too, though not this exact phenomenon, said Prof Viner. The link to Covid-19 isnt yet proven but we think its very likely. However, its important to realise that this is not a new mutation of the bug or something were worried is going to escalate. Its an incredibly rare subset, and we know how to treat it.

He added: These findings are testimony to the way our doctors and researchers work together. Its just what were good at.

There have been 20 cases in the UK, according to the RCPCH, but with no one sign or symptom.

Dr Mike Linney, paediatrician and registrar at the RCPCH, said: All of these children were extremely unwell, with features suggestive of sepsis such as a persistently high temperature coupled with rapid breathing, cold hands and feet and sleepiness.

The other symptoms varied greatly in the different cases.

It all rings a worrying bell for me. Not long before my daughters fainting spell, my five-year-old son suddenly fell ill. Ted woke in the night saying he was not vewwy well. He had started coughing the day before so, with coronavirus on my mind, I checked his temperature. It was normal, so I wondered whether he was just having a bad dream. Unusually clingy, he grabbed my arm and said: Mummy, dont leave me.

Within 20 minutes his temperature rocketed to 40C and his little body (why do children always seem to look so much smaller when theyre poorly?) was shaking violently. He was still clinging on to me as I mouthed over his shoulder to my husband: Oh God, this must be it.

Ted vomited several times  the bathroom, his room, our room. Yet within 24 hours he seemed almost back to his usual self. Almost. But heres the strangest thing: nearly two weeks later, he still wasnt well and spiralled down again. This time, his fever lasted seven days and nights and his cough had returned with a vengeance.

He complained of a sharp, persistent pain in his armpit and one in his tummy. He had diarrhoea, barely ate and would fall asleep sitting up in chairs. His breathing was laboured and I would go into his room every hour through the night to check on him.

I made a couple of frantic calls to the GP surgery and had a phone call with a doctor and then, a few days later, a video call with another. Was I missing something? Tonsillitis? Appendicitis? Something that could be treated, I hoped.

Their view was that this was coronavirus, and they said that if his breathing got worse I should call back or, if I was really worried, go to hospital.

The boomerang nature of it shocked me but after a week of being so ill  far worse than last years chicken pox or his infant case of hand, foot and mouth disease  the colour gradually returned to his cheeks.

Then, within days of the children being ill, I had the cough, too. There followed a week in bed for me with chest pains and a terrifying sensation that felt like drowning despite being on dry land.

Did we all have coronavirus? None of us was tested, but Id put money on it.

Certainly, we need to know more about how this virus affects children and, in order for us to successfully emerge from lockdown, how they transmit it.

My two are now completely better, thank goodness. But the biggest worry is that other parents will be lulled into a false sense of security and believe, like I did, that coronavirus is not a big deal for children. The fear is that some wont seek help when it is needed.

As any good doctor will tell you, parents know their child best. You know what a bit under the weather looks like and that its a world away from desperately poorly.

We must remember, too, that there are doctors there to help. As the dedicated team at Kings College Hospital said to me: Were open for business as usual.
Heres our updated list of local spots offering pickup and delivery, plus some highlights featuring new openings, options and special events. First, some highlights:

 Factory Tamal is back open for pickup and delivery at 34 Ludlow Street, 9am  7:30pm: 917-691-5524 (their E. 4th location is still closed).

 La Contenta is preparing for a virtual Cinco De Mayo, AND they are offering a Mezcal Starter Kit, available for pickup at their West Village location (their LES location is still closed).

 169 Bar is now open for cocktails and Cajun snack food pickup at their Drive Through window: 2pm  8pm daily.

 The Pickle Guys are back open, Saturday  Thursday, 10am  5pm, Fridays, 10am  4pm. You can order pickup or delivery at their website: https://www.pickleguys.com/.

 The chefs at Contra and Wildair have created a new rustic menu under a new name, Contrair, with items that travel better for pickup and delivery. Find out more here: https://www.contrair.net/

 La Flaca is now open for takeout, with limited hours, touting frozen margaritas to go: Takeaway Margaritas and CocktailsLimited Menu AvailableCall ahead available, Friday- Tuesday at 2pm: (646) 692-9259. AND weve heard from Randalls Barbecue, that they are helping La Flaca put together an extra tasty menu for Cinco De Mayo.

 Sauce Pizzaria is offering frozen pizzas for delivery, 4pm  10pm daily:(917) 675 7240.

 Speaking of pizza, Partybus Bakeshop offers fresh pizza on a regular (pre-order) basis, along with sourdough kits, fresh baked bread, AND just in time for warm weather, iced coffee for pickup. COVID-19 HOURS: Thursday 11-5 Saturday 11-5 Sunday 12-6

 Did you know Michali Bakery makes delicious quiche? (not to mention sweet and savory pastries): Mondays  Closed, Tuesday  Sunday 8am-7pm

 El Castillo De Jagua is re-opening their Rivington location (113 Rivington) for pickup and delivery, Monday  Saturday, 9am  6pm: (212) 982-6412.

 Attaboy, a favorite cocktail hideout, is now offering signature cocktails, Tuesdays and Fridays 2pm-8pm, noting, Available for pick up and delivery to most neighborhoods. ($100 minimum for delivery) Order through email attaboy134@gmail.com, Or Venmo @Attaboy-CocktailBar, All cocktails $14 with block ice, garnish & chips. 20+ cocktails at $12 per.

 The new natural wine bar, Skin Contact, which had just barely opened on Orchard Street before everything was shut down, has reopened and is offering pick up and delivery, 1pm-6pm Wednesday through Sunday.

EV Grieve has an excellent list for the East Village (above Houston Street), here. The Chinatown Partnership has a directory of Chinatown restaurants/shops doing takeout & delivery here.

Updated list of places currently open for takeout and delivery on the Lower East Side:

 169 Bar is offering food and drinks for delivery and pickup.

 Arancini Bros., the Italian rice ball specialist, is offering delivery (using GrubHub, UberEats, Postmates, etc) as well as pickup at The Essex Market, 7 days/week. They write: This includes hot and ready to eat Arancini as well as fresh frozen To-Go packages that are heated at home in oven or toaster oven, etc.

 Cervos is offering take home kits made up of food provisions, wines, spirits and batched cocktails, by pre-order only, available for Saturday pick-up. Order on their website here.

 Char Sue is offering special menus (a whole roast duck dinner!) for takeout and delivery. You can text your order: (646) 801-5438 Pre-order before 5pm for 15% off. Delivery fee waved for all orders over $20.

 Cheeky Sandwiches is open for takeout and delivery, but its a good idea before you head over or call 646 504-8132.

 Cheese Grille is open for takeout and delivery.

 Cocoron is offering fresh and frozen soba from their Kenmare Street location. More info here.

 Diller NYC is open for deliver and takeout.

 Dimes restaurant is closed, but the market is open, and the deli next door is open for takeout and delivery.

 Dudleys takeout window and delivery services are still available, with free delivery. If ordering online, use lower east side at checkout for 10% off.

 East Houston Wine and Liquor is open and offering pickup and delivery 7 days a week. They have an app that makes delivery a snap and are offering free delivery in Manhattan and Williamsburg: (212) 432-6322.

 (UPDATED) Eastwood is open for delivery and takeout: Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday) 5pm-10pm. Delivery and takeout through Grubhub or call Eastwood at: (212) 233-0124. Beer, cider and wine also available for delivery and take out. Visit @eastwood221 for more updates including how to help support their staff.

 Economy Candy is offering online delivery only with special candycare packs to keep things going.

 El Castillo de Jagua II (521 Grand St.) has been closed but is now back to offering takeout and delivery: (212) 995-0244, 11a  7p, Mon.  Sat. NOTE  The Rivington location is not currently open.

 Empanada Mama is offering pickup and delivery. Save 20% if you order directly, online here :https://www.empmamanyc.com/.

 (UPDATED) The Essex Market will remain open for the time being, but is scaling back hours. It is now open from 8am  7pm, Monday  Saturday, and 10am  6pm on Sunday. Starting on Monday, March 30th, the hours will be 8am  6pm, Monday  Saturday, and 10am  6pm on Sunday.

They write: The market is reserving the hours of 8am  9am on Monday  Saturday for patrons 65 and older, expecting mothers, and those with increased risk of illness to shop in the marketIf you do not fit into one of those criteria, we ask that you be respectful and avoid visiting us during this short window so that at-risk members of the community can safely purchase the items they need.

A few vendors have decided to close temporarily, but all three grocers are operational and quite a few merchants offer delivery and takeout. The restaurants at the Market Line are closed but Ends Meat, the butcher downstairs, is offering distance pickups. Call ahead and they will facilitate pickup: (929) 306-6014. And Peoples Wine Shop (cellar level at the Market Line) from the Contra/Wildair team, is also offering pickup: (212) 202-2550.

 Flowers Cafe on Essex Street is open daily for pickup and delivery.

 Forgtmenot is open for takeout and delivery:(646) 707-3195  looks like theyve got a nice grocery set up, as well.

 Ginger and Lemongrass, the Rivington Street Vietnamese spot, is open for takeout and delivery. Call (646) 876-1237 to place your order.

 Golden Diner is open for takeout and delivery: Via Instagram, they write: Pandemic or not, we all still need to eat good right? Its a shit time for everyone now but more so for restaurants, the industry is tough enough with razor thin margins. Support your local spots that are still hanging on by a thread by ordering in and giving them a boost of morale. It also spares you the awkward conversation with your partner 3 days into their experimental cooking that they aint no iron chef so win-win. (You can also show support and give them some cashflow by buying gift cards  *shameless plug* ours is linked in bio ) We heard your demands and are now rolling out an all day menu so you can get wings & quesadillas for breakfast, matzoh balls & breakfast burritos at night. Also selling alcohol by bottles at no up-charge for yall so lets get weird.

 The Granddaddy Cafe is open for takeout with limited hours: 8am  4pm.

 Hwa Yuan is offering a 20% discount on takeout and delivery starting March 17 until further notice. Order on Doordash or call: (212) 966-6002.

 Iggys Keltic Lounge is offering drinks and snacks To Go only, at their takeout window with limited hours.

 Ivan Ramen (@ramenjunkie) writes: Ivan Ramen and Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop are open for delivery! Please order Ivan Ramen if youre in the mood for ramen. If youre not cooking than please order food from anyone but order. We (independent restaurants) will make it somehow but we need your support! Hey New York, we can do this! Help us keep our employees working! Lots of love from Ivan Ramen!

 Izzies Cheesesteaks (47 Clinton St.) is open for delivery and pickup: (646) 850-8636 They offer 15% off on orders made directly through their app.

 Joey Bats Cafe on Allen Street is offering pickup and delivery.

 Kabisera Cafe, the Filipino-inspired cafe on Allen St. is open for pickup and delivery.

 Katz Deli is offering delivery and takeout: (212) 254-2246 (also via Seamless, Ubereats, Caviar, Doordash, Postmates, and delivery.com), and still shipping nationally: katzsdelicatessen.com/shipping.html

 Kings Co. Imperial writes: Delivery and pick-up are available from both our Williamsburg and LES locations from 4:30pm  10:30pm daily. Stay tuned for new lunch and just add ice cocktail options coming soon. LES Delivery options: Caviar, Doordash, Postmates, Seamless Check their updates here: @kingscoimperial.

 Kossars is open for takeout and delivery from 7am  3pm, every day: (212) 473-4810.

 Le French Diner is posting a daily menu, available for pick-up, on Instagram. They write: Hi neighbors, heres tonights menu. Call (212) 777-1577 to place your order and it will be ready for pick-up within 20min. Well be serving every day from 5pm to 9pm and we will hopefully be able to deliver starting next week. Youre welcome! $15 off every bottle of wine, $6 beer.

 Melt Bakery is offering pickup and delivery. They note: We are still open normal hours for takeout, and delivery on GrubHub, Postmates, UberEATS, and DoorDash! Weve got piles of sams ready to go, and have never needed your support like we do now. If you need ice cream, we got you!

 Michaeli Bakery is open and offering takeout and delivery: (646) 360-2284. They continue to offer delicious, fresh-out-of-the-oven pastries, savory and sweet. They have daily discounts on fresh pastries, as well.

 Mughlai Grill, Indian cuisine at 6 Clinton St., is open for takeout and delivery everyday from 1pm  9pm: (212) 533-2828

 Nakamura is open 12pm  9pm Friday  Sunday and 5pm  9pm Mon.  Thurs. They are offering takeout and delivery: (212) 614-1810 or order on Postmates.

 North Dumpling is selling frozen dumplings from its storefront at 27 Essex St.

 Partybus Bakeshop remains open  and they are baking fresh bread!  with the following hours for pickup/delivery: Thursdays 11a -5p, Saturdays 11a  5pm and Sundays 12p  6p. They have breads, pies, cookies, pizzas, pizza crust! and sandwiches.

Petees Pies is open for takeout and delivery from 4-10 pm and theyre also offering groceries.

 Petisco Vegano is offering takeout and delivery: (212) 387-0366.

Rabbit House, the little Japanese restaurant on Essex Street is offering delivery and pickup.

 Rawsome Treats is available for pick-up or delivery by calling (646) 767-0373 or via their website from 12pm to 7pm Tuesday thru Sunday. They are also available on the Grubhub & Postmates platforms.

 Remedy Diner is offering pick-up and delivery from 8am  midnight: (212) 677-5110

 Russ & Daughters locations are closed but they are offering a variety of delivery, pick-up, and shipping options. For pick-up at 179 E. Houston, call at least 2 hours in advance: 212-475-4880. For courier, call at least 24hrs in advance: 212-475-48801. More info here.

 Saigon Social has been offering new menu options on a daily basis on their instagram feed here. They write: We hope everyone is well. [Heres] our menu for today! 11am-8pm. Were also still offering discounted/free meals for those in need. Call us at 646.609.3202 or email info@saigonsocialnyc.com. Theyve also been delivering a ton of food to health care workers and essential workers on the front lines.

 Sakamai is offering takeout and delivery. More details here.

 Saluggis is offering takeout and delivery, plus carryout specials, like a large red pizza and a bottle of wine or a 6-pack for $35: 636-896-1163.

 Souvlaki GR is offering contactless delivery, every day, 11am  10pm: (212) 777-0116 and https://www.souvlakigr.com/.

 Spaghetti Incident is open from 5pm  10pm for takeout and delivery is available on Grubhub, Seamless, Postmates, Caviar, Ubereats or calling the restaurant directly: (646) 896-1446.

 Sticky Rice is offering takeout and delivery  not to mention happy hour drinks to go  lychee martinis for everyone!

 Subject LES is offering cocktails to go, and daily specials, at their takeout window: Tuesday-Friday 5pm-9 pm. Sat/Sun 2pm -9 pm., noting, Feel free to text Brian at (402) 417-5815 for anything Monday or from 9-11 pm every other day.

 Sugar Sweet Sunshine Cafe is open. They write: We have modified hours at both locations. We have a full coffee bar, no seating, offer in-store pick-up, curbside pickup, deliveries through several platforms and Apple Pay. Still taking orders for birthday cakesJust trying to keep this shop sailing.

Taco Mix if open for takeout and delivery.

 Taqueria Diana is offering pickup and delivery at 69 Clinton St., (646) 707-3826

 Thailicious is still open for takeout and delivery: (646) 882-0343

 Tinys Giant Sandwich Shop is open for takeout and offering delivery via Seamless and Grubhub from 10am  6pm: (212) 228-4949.

 Top Hops Beer Shop is open for takeout and delivery at their Essex Market location. Email takeaway-deliveries@tophops.com or call (917) 261-2561 during Essex Market hours, or order directly online at www.tophops.com. Delivery hours: 2pm  7pm. They write: We are very much open for take away and delivery with some incredible beers! We actually have cans of Other Half in stock right now which is nothing short of amazing.

 Two Bridges Diner is open for pick up and delivery, seven days a week, offering a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu (including the former Cup & Saucer menu!) plus daily specials: (212) 925-2963 or (212) 925-2973.

 VinVero Wines & Spirits writes: For the safety and health of our reduced staff and our customers, we are revising our operating hours effective immediately. TuesdayFriday from 2:008:00pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12:008:00pm, moving forward we will be closed on MondayOrders can be placed online for pickup at our storefront during business hours. Placed online for local delivery with a 6 bottle minimum. Place your order and then call the store to schedule your delivery, WednesdaySaturday from 2:008:00pm. If youd rather give us a call at (646) 822-2867. Take care of yourself and each other.

 Wayla, the Thai restaurant on Forsyth, recently opened back up to offer takeout and delivery. You can find available items and order online here.

 Williamsburg Pizza on Broome and Allen is open for pickup and delivery. Calling them directly works quite well: (212) 226-4455.

 Yonah Schimmel is delivering/shipping through Goldbelly  not offering takeout at this time.

 Zafis Luncheonette is open for takeout and delivery: (212) 533-2415.

 Zyara Mediterranean (not just falafal!) is offering curbside pickup and delivery: 57 Clinton St., (646) 894-1401 or (646) 559-4250 find updates here.

The Lo-Down is updating this list as things develop.

Please let us know if there are additions and/or corrections to be made at: tips@thelodownny.com or tag us on Instagram @lodownny.
By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale to the Philippines of one of two attack helicopter variants, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday in an official notification to the U.S. Congress.

The potential deal for either six AH-1Z attack helicopters made by Textron's Bell Helicopter unit for an estimated cost of $450 million, or AH-64E Apache attack helicopters made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin for an estimated cost of $1.5 billion.

Both sales include spares packages, related equipment and munitions such as AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

The State Department said that the Philippines is considering either the AH-1Z or the AH-64E to modernize its attack helicopter capabilities. (Reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Actor Karisma Kapoor shared an intimate family picture of late actor Rishi Kapoor. The picture is from a family vacation in Kashmir in 1988.

Sharing the picture on her Instagram Stories, Karisma simply wrote Kashmir 1988. In the picture, we can see Rishi, Neetu Kapoor, Karisma standing next to her aunt with Ranbir Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Riddhima Kapoor Sahni standing in front. On the day of Rishis death, she had shared a picture of herself as a toddler clinging to her late grandfather Raj Kapoor while Rishi looked at them with a smile.

Karisma Kapoor shared a picture from her personal family album.

On April 30, Rishi died in a Mumbai hospital. He was 67 and had been suffering from leukaemia for almost two years. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan tweeted on Thursday, Rishi Kapoor gone.Just passed away I am destroyed. He had returned to India last September after undergoing treatment in the United States for almost a year. He was hospitalized twice in February.

Also read: Anushka Sharma birthday: Did you know Aditya Chopra told her she was not the most good-looking before signing her?

Among those who mourned his death were Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that Rishi was a powerhouse of talent. I will always recall our interactions, even on social media. He was passionate about films and Indias progress, he tweeted.

His father Raj Kapoor and grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor were doyens of Bollywood. He received the National Film Award for his debut role as a child artist in his fathers 1970 film Mera Naam Joker and had acted in more than 90 films.

(With inputs from AP)

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Mamata Banerjee upset after not being allowed to speak during PMs meet

Mamata writes to Bengal governor, accuses him of using 'unprecedented' language

India

oi-Deepika S

Kolkata, May 02: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday and accused him of trying to usurp powers amid the coronavirus crisis.

"Such words and such communications of such content, tenor and tone from a Governor to an elected CM are unprecedented in the annals of Indian constitutional and political history. Your words against me and my ministers and officers can be described as vituperative, intemperate, intimidating and abusive," Mamata said in her 13-page reply to Governor Dhankhar.

Mamata said the Governor may not agree with her policies, but unfortunately, he has no other power than bringing it to her notice, as long as the government commands the confidence of the legislature.

"I list my favourite ones, verbatim taken from you: ... like loose cannons in public domain; driven by external script; theatrics and politicking, law unto oneself... bravado mode of collision... but respected Governor, preaching without practice and sermonising while violating, does not behove you or your office," she added.

Dhankar had accused Banerjee of trying to cover up "monumental failures". He attacked the Chief Minister over what he called diversionary tactics and appeasement politics.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 2, 2020, 20:21 [IST]
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Epidemic in Georgia is contained, top Georgian health expert says - GeorgianJournal
The controversy over the mask was a rare miscue for a vice president who has stuck to the script and drawn praise both from Democrats who prefer working with him over the president and from Republicans who privately wish he were the one in the Oval Office. In the good-cop-bad-cop tandem, Mr. Pence takes the calls from the governors seeking help and even calls them unbidden to ask what else he can do.

This has been a real defining moment for him, said Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican and chairman of the National Governors Association who has been at odds with the president over the response to the coronavirus but like other governors has turned to Mr. Pence to work through problems. In all honesty, I think he has risen to the occasion. I think hes done an amazing job.

At the same time, Mr. Pence has been an enabler, never contradicting the presidents many falsehoods and advancing some of his own about the administrations handling of the crisis. His nonstop praise for the presidents leadership and decisive action risks sounding unctuous. And he has not been able to keep Mr. Trump fully committed to policies recommended by public health experts to curb a virus that has already killed more than 65,000 people in the United States.

Behind the scenes, whatever he is saying, if it is different from what he is saying in front of the cameras, is not working at all, said Kathleen Sebelius, a former secretary of health and human services under President Barack Obama. And in front of the cameras, he is playing a role as a sidekick to a president who is delivering, at the very best, very mixed messages to the public which could put them at risk.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 1)  Petron Corporation will soon be selling farmers' produce in some of its stations to help boost food accessibility in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, San Miguel Corporation said its fuel refinery arm has started identifying key stations in Metro Manila to sell fruits and vegetables from local farmers under the Department of Agriculture's Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita rolling market program.

Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita is part of the department's Ahon Lahat, Pagkaing Sapat Kontra sa COVID-19 (ALPAS COVID-19) initiative, which aims to ensure unhampered food supply during the quarantine period.

The program will help farmers in the countryside having difficulty selling their fresh harvest and sustain their livelihood due to the health crisis, SMC president and COO Ramon S. Ang said.

"At the same time, were also making available fresh fruits and vegetables to people in Metro Manila to complement the products we offer," he added.

Ang said it would be utilizing Petrons 370 strategically located gas stations in Metro Manila, adding that making essential food products available there would reduce the public's need "to commute or travel far and line up for hours in markets.

30 of the oil refinery's stations currently host reefer vans selling frozen poultry products, fresh and processed meats, and ready-to-eat goods, which have been deployed by SMC throughout Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, customers availing of the diversified conglomerate's online ordering system may also pick up their orders through six Petron Treats, the oil company's convenience stores in the metro.

SMC also confirmed that Petron, along with fellow subsidiary SMC Infrastructure, had donated 85,000 more liters of fuel for the government's Libreng Sakay programs, which provide free transportation for frontliners and medical workers reporting to hospitals within Metro Manila.

40,000 liters were given to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)'s free shuttle program, while the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) parallel program received the other 45,000 liters.

"All in all, the company has given a total of 170,000 liters, worth P5.8 million, for the shuttle services," added SMC.

Metro Manila, Central Luzon (except for Aurora), and Calabarzon, along with Benguet, including Baguio City, Iloilo (including Iloilo City), Cebu (including Cebu City), Bacolod City, and Davao City have been placed under enhanced community quarantine until May 15. All other provinces are under the more relaxed general community quarantine until mid-May.

READ: Govt finalizes rules for areas under enhanced, general community quarantine
02.05.2020 LISTEN

When a rich country like ours is being managed by political comedians incapable of finding alternative ways of solving problems, then we must all be worried especially when all that they are good at is creating filthy- scathing scandals of corruption just to satisfy their insatiable orgies for wealth and to them, it doesn't matter if everyone perishes.

How can building 94 hospitals be justified as an immediate intervention to tackle a ravaging pandemic that's killing people instantly... how..how? How can a President develop the courage to make such a pronouncement as if he was addressing a bunch of undecided naive people.

Building hospitals is a great idea that everybody will welcome but we are faced with crises, a pandemic that is wiping humans ... building a hospital for the future cannot be an intervention for a situation such as the one we have at hand

Lifting the lockdown is another low point ... the poverty of intellect, the poverty of logic, and reason in govt's decision to lift the lockdown is shocking! Now Ghana is flagging over 2000 cases of COVID19. The economic and social sciences premised as the basis for the lifting were risible. None of them makes sense considering the fact that we did not meet any of the six criteria a lockdown country must meet before lifting according to WHO.

Again govt's social intervention policies rolled out were disastrous, reminiscent of a govt that lacks strategic thinkers ... which serious government shares cooked food as a social intervention in a crisis period such as this?

Before the lockdown, no thinking went into it; we locked down because people were shouting Mr. President lockdown, Mr. President lockdown...and our President followed suit without any plan in sight... no wonder we couldn't sustain the lockdown beyond 3 weeks for just 4 areas despite all the noises Bawumia and his likes of economic liars had earlier said about the economy being robust, solid, etc...

A Government that cannot provide common PPE'S which are basic things required to tackle the pandemic for even hospital but for the benevolence of Jack Ma and his Alibaba group, only God knows what would have happened to us ...

The whole concept of governance has dramatically turned into a theatre display... with too many comic characters playing comic-oriented roles while their fanatics watch in ecstasy and masturbate. ....until we begin to enlist reasonable men to oversee the affairs of this country by walking away from the excesses of partisan madness... our economic emancipation will continue to remain a dream impossible to achieve.

Very often we hear from the corrupt media, singing choruses of praise for the President, and the question is.... for what? A media that is supposed to subject politicians and Power wielders to critical scrutiny has become bootlickers and unrepentant sycophants...while we look up for a firestorm of eviscerating media, we only see a bunch of jokers and greedy men dressed in fine coats pretending to be overly intelligent, but the truth, they are not .. some are noise boxes empty and hollow while others are political guns for a hire ... just for the right price!

Verily verily I say unto you, there's no redemptive alternative aside change,.I'm Ivan and I'm no cynic... antiquity is my area of specialty!! Time to wise up !!

Ivan Kyei Innocent/[email protected]
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has voiced his concern over the governments Aarogya Setu app. The senior Congress leader has accused the app of being a sophisticated surveillance system, questioning its credentials on data security and raising privacy-related concerns.



The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent.

 Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 2, 2020

The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns, Gandhi tweeted.

Minister of Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, quickly tweeted to give it back to Former President of Congress by clarifying that the app was not outsourced to any private operator.

He tweeted saying: Aarogya Setu is now being appreciated globally. The App is NOT outsourced to any private operator. Mr. Gandhi really high time that you stop outsourcing your tweets to your cronies who do not understand India.

Rahul Gandhi's comments come after the Centre made it mandatory for all government and private sector employees to download the Aarogya Setu app. The rule is also applicable to people living in COVID-19 containment zones.

Also Read: How to use the Aarogya Setu app and what are its features?

Aarogya Setu has been under the radar over privacy concerns, despite the NITI Aayog assuring top-class privacy protocols.

The COVID-19 contact tracing and information dissemination app has already crossed 7.5 crore downloads and could soon be a default app on smartphones
Lincoln and Lancaster County will stretch out coronavirus restrictions on businesses five days longer than previously planned, city and state officials said Wednesday.

Beginning May 11, Lincoln will have loosened restrictions, similar to those that will begin Monday in the Omaha metro area and 59 Nebraska counties. Previously, those restrictions were to be lifted in Lincoln on May 6.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the plans for Lancaster County and easing of restrictions in two other health districts that cover nine counties during his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Lancaster County has been under a directed health measure since March 25, when gatherings of more than 10 people were banned and certain businesses were forced to close and restaurants directed to offer take-out or delivery only.

The looser restrictions will include the reopening of barbershops and salons  provided staff and patrons use masks  and allowing restaurants to serve dine-in customers at 50% of capacity.

As she considered the next steps for Lincoln, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the prospects of easing restrictions May 6 concerned her after the discovery that 23 Lancaster County residents who have COVID-19 work at the Smithfield meatpacking plant in Crete, where testing has ramped up in the last week.

Also Wednesday, Lincoln hospital officials said they believe the viral disease has begun to surge locally.

Wednesday marked the largest single-day increase in positive COVID-19 cases in Lancaster County, with 32 reported, bringing the total to 193 cases, including one earlier death.

More cases, while concerning, were expected as testing capacity has increased locally, Gaylor Baird said.

"We reserve the right to reconsider the relaxation of measures if the status of our community demands that we do so," she said during the city's daily briefing.

Ricketts and Gaylor Baird spoke Tuesday about the timing of changes to restrictions here, and the mayor described it as a positive conversation.

Last week, the governor announced relaxed restrictions for areas including Omaha. He said those moves were made after consulting with experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

There is no timeline for scaling back restrictions in 24 counties covered by health districts that include hard-hit areas such as Grand Island, Lexington, Crete, Madison, Dakota City and Hastings.

The governor said he believes hospital systems in Lincoln and other areas of the state where restrictions are set to be relaxed have enough capacity to adequately treat coronavirus patients.

"We have not even come close to overwhelming our health care system," Ricketts said, adding that hospital capacity gives him and his team confidence to make these changes.

On Wednesday, Lincoln's hospitals cared for 39 coronavirus patients, including nine from Lancaster County, interim Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Director Pat Lopez said.

Health department officials Tuesday said they believe Lancaster County has enough capacity to weather a surge in cases and can tap into a network of 7,000 medical professionals here if there were a wave of hospitalizations.

Testing at the two drive-thru clinics met capacity for the first time Tuesday, and Wednesday, CHI Health and Bryan Health officials were able to double their testing capacity to 300 tests per day, the mayor said.

Robust testing capacity, along with having adequate public health staffing to trace cases of the virus, mark key components of the local public health plan for relaxing restrictions in the pandemic.

Lopez said Wednesday she believes the local health department, which will gain extra help from Lincoln Public Schools nurses, can also handle the investigative demands of contact tracing that lie ahead.

But her staff wants input from businesses whose operations were directly affected by the current directed health measure on draft reopening guidelines they've written for restaurants, hair and nail salons, barbershops, and massage and tattoo parlors. Feedback on the guidelines, found at Lincoln.ne.gov, keyword "guidance," is due Friday.

These guidelines and restrictions include more detailed requirements and suggestions for how businesses could operate if reopened, but they generally align with requirements Omaha will undertake next week.

Once allowed to return to restaurants, diners will need to maintain 6 feet of separation between different parties, and no more than six people will be allowed to eat in a group.

Places of worship can resume in-person services statewide after Monday, but with similar social distancing requirements.

And Lincoln's two major hospital systems  Bryan Health and CHI Health  plan to resume elective surgeries Monday under rules previously set out by Ricketts.

Places that remain closed are schools, bars, movie theaters and nursing homes to visitors.

All of the non-pharmaceutical measures directed at slowing the transmission of the coronavirus have clearly worked well, Gaylor Baird said, adding that residents and businesses have bought the Lincoln community valuable time in the fight.

"It is a balancing act that we're trying to really get right," she said.

Photos: The scene in Lincoln

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or rjohnson@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSRileyJohnson.
The Reserve Bank of India on Saturday cancelled the licence of CKP Co-operative Bank, with effect from the close of business on April 30, 2020. On liquidation, depositors are entitled to repayment of their deposits up to Rs 5 lakh only from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) as per usual terms and conditions, the RBI said in a press release.

"The financial position of the bank is highly adverse and unsustainable. There is no concrete revival plan or proposal for merger with another bank. Credible commitment towards revival from the management is not visible," the RBI said.

The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Pune, Maharashtra, has been asked to issue an order for winding up the affairs of the Mumbai-based CKP Co-operative Bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank, it said.

Following the cancellation of its licence, the bank is prohibited accepting deposits and repayment of deposits with immediate effect.

Also Read: Coronavirus: RBI Governor praises banks for near normal operations in lockdown, reviews economic situation

"With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, as per the DICGC Act, 1961 will be set in motion," the RBI said.

The central bank cancelled the licence of the bank as the bank did not meet the requirement of minimum capital and reserves, capital adequacy, earning prospects and also stipulated minimum regulatory capital requirement of 9 per cent.

Also Read: Banks to remain closed for 13 days in May; here's full list of holidays

"The bank is not in a position to pay its present and future depositors, thereby not complying with Section 22(3) (a) read with Section 56 of the Act," it added.

The RBI said that the affairs of the bank were also conducted in a manner detrimental to the public interest and interest of the depositors. "The bank has not been complying with provisions of Section 22 (3)(b) and (c) of the Act," it added.

According to the RBI, the bank's efforts for revival "have been far from adequate though it has been given ample time and opportunity and dispensations". "No merger proposal has been received in respect of the bank. Thus, in all likelihood, public interest would be adversely affected if the bank were allowed to carry on its business any further," the RBI said.

Established in 1915, CKP Co-operative Bank is one of the oldest urban co-operative bank in Mumbai. The bank has head office at Matunga and has 8 branches spread across Mumbai and Thane Districts. As of November 2019, CKP Co-operative Bank's had a deposit base of Rs 485.56 crore, while loan book stood at Rs 161.17 crore. The bank's net worth, the total value of its assets less the total of all liabilities, was minus Rs 239.18 crore.

In September last year, the Reserve Bank of India had imposed restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank not to do any business for six months after it found major irregularities, which included financial irregularities, complete failure of internal control and systems, and wrongdoing and under-reporting of its lending exposure.
Former television newscaster Tom Brokaw called the generation that survived the Great Depression and World War II, The Greatest Generation.

Those of us from that generation were witnesses to, or even participants in, the bloody wars of Korea, Vietnam and of the ongoing wars in the Middle East. As this bit of history passes before our eyes we have moved into those peaceful days of rest and retirement perhaps looking back on the years behind us with nostalgia.

Native American journalist Chuck Trimble wrote about those Golden Years with a bit of that nostalgia and with a bit of apprehension surrounding the infirmities that often accompany those years.

Some of us discover that aha moment of old age in surprising ways. For me and my wife it happened one day at the zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We had gone there on a business trip when we received an invitation to a happening at the zoo, a happening that also included an outdoor picnic. We got our food, spread a blanket on the grass, and sat down to enjoy our lunch. And then, aha it was time to leave and we discovered that trying to get back on our feet from the picnic blanket was not an easy chore. The ability to bounce back up was suddenly gone. And so we accepted this small indignity and set about trying to make the rest of the day, and the rest of our lives, tolerable and gentle.

My wife didnt quite make the cutoff to the Greatest Generation, but instead ended up as a Boomer. But that didnt stop her from joining me as a respected elder. It seems that social security is now in trouble because so many thousands of Boomers have now become retirees.

And so like many other members of the Greatest Generation and of the Baby Boomers, we are quietly living out the last days of our lives enjoying simple things like watching a beautiful sunset over the Western Black Hills, or sitting on our deck with a glass of good wine and listening to the music of the 40s, 50s and 60s, once again hearing the songs of our youth, or watching an old Bogart and Bacall movie in black and white on the television. And this is the way all of us from these back to back generations wished to enjoy our remaining time on this earth.

Never, in our worst nightmare, did we expect a deadly virus to come along, a coronavirus that is particularly lethal to members of the Greatest and Boomer generations. We expected to live out our final days in peace and not in fear.

There has been nothing like this since the flu epidemic of 1918 that claimed the life of my wifes grandfather and the twin brother of my grandfather.

We can no longer go to a relaxing concert out of fear nor can we go to the grocery store without wearing a mask and surgical gloves. All of the things we once took for granted have been taken away from us. There is particular fear on many Indian reservations because the ancestors of the people living there were decimated by the pandemics of small pox and other diseases to which the Native people had no immunity.

Perhaps those Golden Years Chuck Trimble wrote about will never be the same and the things we looked forward to will be lost and gone forever. If so it brings about an abrupt change to our Golden Years and to the things that were to be a part and parcel of our final days. It is an evil way for Mother Nature to close out our final chapter. But then again, those of the Greatest Generation and of the Baby Boomers have always been optimists.

Contact Tim Giago at najournalist1@gmail.com

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Bahrain yesterday strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Egypt which targeted an Egyptian military armoured vehicle in the south of the city of Bir al-Abd in the North Sinai Governorate. In a statement, Bahrains foreign ministry extended deepest condolences and sympathy to the martyred servicemens families and wished the injured in the cowardly terrorist attack quick recovery.

The Kingdom affirmed solidarity with Egypt against all forms of terrorism and in all its efforts to maintain security and stability in the region. The statement further reiterated Bahrains firm stance against violence, extremism and terrorism, uring regional and international concerted efforts to eradicate the scourge of terror that threatens the entire world.

Bomb attack

Ten Egyptian army members including an officer were killed or wounded when a bomb exploded in an armoured vehicle south, an Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement. He did not specify how many had been killed in the attack, which not immediately claimed by any group.

Militants loyal to Islamic State are active in the strategic border region. Egypt has been fighting Islamist insurgents who have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since the ousting of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

Militants have also carried out attacks elsewhere in the country. An Egyptian policeman and seven suspected militants were killed on April 14 in an exchange of gunfire after the ministry of interior received information about potential Easter attacks against Coptic Christians, the ministry said, adding that three other policemen had also been wounded.

The military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in 2018, focusing on the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.
By Trend

An online meeting was held between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development (Minister for European Neighborhood and the Americas) Wendy Morton, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend on May 1.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mammadyarov congratulated Morton on her new appointment.

The parties discussed a number of issues included in the agenda of bilateral cooperation relations.

Touching upon the current global situation, the sides exchanged views on the measures taken by both countries within the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and on the issues of mutual support.

Mammadyarov also answered Mortons questions regarding the current stage of negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Morton stated that the UKs position on the conflict is clear and once again emphasized that the UK supports Azerbaijans sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Then the parties exchanged the views on other issues of mutual interest and, in particular, discussed energy projects.
 Entrants agree that the Released Parties: (a) are not responsible for technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to lost, disconnected, interrupted, or unavailable network, server, or other connections, late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail, or for any failed telephone or computer hardware or software, or for any failed, delayed, misdirected, corrupted, or garbled transmissions or errors of any kind, whether human, mechanical, or electronic, or for Entries that for any reason are not received by Sponsor by the deadline stated above; (b) are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing, typographical or other errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or in the printing of this offer, administration of this Contest, or in the announcement of the prizes; (c) are not responsible for any injury or damage to any computer, modem or other electrical device as a result of participation in this Contest or downloading of any software or materials; (d) are not responsible for unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Contest; (e) are not responsible for any printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error that may occur in the administration of the Contest, the acceptance of Entries, the selection of winners, the prizes or otherwise in any Contest-related materials; (f) are not responsible for any unauthorized third party use of any Entry; (g) are not responsible for the inability to select winners because of postal failure, equipment failure, or data storage failure; and (h) are released from any and all alleged, existing, or future actions, claims, and/or liabilities of whatever nature including, but not limited to, personal injury, bodily injury (including, without limitation, wrongful death and disability), property damage, and expense (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys fees) and loss or damage of any other kind, arising in whole or in part directly or indirectly, from participating in the Contest (in whole or in part), the use (including modification, adaptation, and reproduction) of the Entry (including the Essay) during or after the Contest, and the delivery, acceptance, possession, redemption, use, misuse, loss, or misdirection of any prize or any part thereof.
A 28-year-old man was hit in the calf and drove himself and the 29-year-old man who was hit in the left foot to Advocate Trinity Hospital, police said. They were both in fair condition.
Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas are Instagram official!

The couple didn't shy away from showing their affection on social media as de Armas celebrated her 32nd birthday with the actor on a desert getaway.

"Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and love! Cheers to another great year. ," de Armas wrote in the caption. "Gracias a todos por los mensajes de cumpleanos y el amor. Un brindis por otro ano maravilloso."

The actress shared a series of photos on her Instagram page depicting her celebrating alongside Affleck, 47. The two smile at the camera as they hug each other, while in another photo, the two embrace as they stare at a sunset.

Other photos show the two enjoying a chocolate cake with the words, "Happy Birthday Ana," written on it, alongside candles that read "32" as well as birthday balloons and de Armas smiling as she wears a silver glitter crown that reads "Happy Birthday."

The couple, who met last year while filming the thriller Deep Water, were first spotted together on vacation in de Armas hometown of Havana, Cuba, followed by a stop in Costa Rica where they were photographed taking a romantic stroll on the beach.

Since their return from that trip, Affleck and de Armas have been seen on almost daily walks around Afflecks neighborhood in Los Angeles.

RELATED: Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas: Everything We Know About the Couple Who Had an Instant Connection

"They seem to have a great time together," a source said of Affleck and de Armas. "They order delivery food and groceries and only leave the house for walks around the neighborhood with their dogs. Ben looks incredibly happy. They are flirty and goofy. Ana always has a huge smile around him."

Story continues

A source previously told PEOPLE the duo had an "instant connection" while filming Deep Water this past winter.

"They had great chemistry right from the start," the source said of Affleck and de Armas, who play a couple in the movie from Fatal Attraction director Adrian Lyne.

"Ben always seemed very relaxed and happy around Ana, but at the time there were no signs of romance. He was very focused on making a fantastic movie."
There have been calls for the Skellig Star Direct Provision Centre to be closed immediately amid concerns that up to 23 cases of Covid-19 are now confirmed at the centre.

The calls come following a silent protest outside the centre on Sunday morning over concerns about the health and safety of those living in the centre and of the wider community. The Covid-19 outbreak has caused huge public-health concerns in the community as up to 23 cases are believed to now be confirmed at the centre, including both residents and staff members. and even a seven-year-old child.

There have also been calls for an inquiry into how 98 asylum seekers were moved from Dublin to Cahersiveen during the pandemic, along with calls for the centre to be closed as it is not possible to self-isolate in the boutique hotel, with residents forced to share common areas.

Cllr Norma Moriarty has been in contact with the HSE and the Department of Justice amid much public upset over the lack of information given to the community.

"This is not fit for purpose. Even if the COVID-19 cases were not at the centre, the conditions mean it could easily spread again," Cllr Moriarty said.

Sinn Fein TD Pa Daly also visited the centre last week and said that the hotel was not fit for housing asylum seekers and called for its closure.

Local representatives have also called for an inquiry. Locals in the town marched outside the hotel in a silent protest on Sunday morning, organised to raise awareness of the conditions at the centre and to highlight the concerns of the local community: for themselves, and for the residents forced to live in what they claim are unsuitable conditions in a cramped 56-bedroom hotel.

In a statement to the media, the protest organisers were critical of the Department of Justice and the HSE who both involved in setting up the centre and looking after the residents living there.

"We the community of Cahersiveen feel anxious that no formal communication or reassurance is being provided by the HSE to our community. We sympathise with the residents at the Direct Provision Centre, whom we know are also anxious and fear for their health and safety of not only themselves, but that of their children.

"We the people of Cahersiveen hold the Department of Justice and the HSE accountable for not only threatening the health and well-being of our community, but that of the Asylum Seekers community."

This week, Cahersiveen Chamber and Business alliance have also threatened to close all shops amid concerns that many asylum seekers continue to leave the centre despite the outbreak.

Last week the public health team said that all those who have not come into contact with a confirmed case are subject to the same restrictions as the general public in this regard. This has now changed and The Kerryman understands that residents have been informed they must self-isolate for the required 14 days under public guidelines. Confusion reigns over the communication and management of this information and the restrictions.

The local community feel that all those in the centre should be self-isolating given the close environment in which they live, and given that the number of cases has increased.

Around 98 asylum seekers including men, women and children, were moved to the centre in mid-March, and last week the first four cases of COVID-19 in the centre came to light.

It also emerged that the residents may have come from Dublin hotels where there were COVID-19 concerns, though this has not been clarified.

Further testing took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, and now it is understood that there are up to 23 confirmed cases at the time of print.

These numbers have not been confirmed by any government department.

"Both the Department of Justice and Equality and the HSE are committed to protecting the identity and medical confidentiality of residents, as required by law.

"For this reason, neither the Department nor the HSE will give specific information about individuals or locations. The health authorities will only comment on cases or outbreaks of any illness (Covid-19 or otherwise) if there is a public health reason to do so," they said.

In a statement they said that the established procedure across all centres where a person is suspected of having the virus or is confirmed as having the virus is that, where advised by public health officials, they are moved to a dedicated off- site self-isolation facility.

It is understood that at least 14 people have been now moved from the centre, including 10 last Saturday evening on buses. More it is believed were moved yesterday amid much upset among residents. This leaves approximately 79 in the 56-bedroom hotel.
London: Britain will want to analyse the origins of the coronavirus "in detail," a UK cabinet minister has said.

Australia is pushing for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus. Any probe would also examine China's cover-up and whether it and the World Health Organisation could have stopped it from leaving Wuhan, where the outbreak began.

China has reacted angrily to the idea and threatened a trade boycott of Australia.

Speaking at the government's coronavirus briefing, Communities Minister Robert Jenrick said that time for an inquiry was not now, citing the need to import precious medical and protective wear for nurses and doctors from China.
There was no stopping Kate Middleton from doing her royal duties, even on her wedding anniversary.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge marked their ninth wedding anniversary on April 29. The couple got married on the same day in 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Their wedding was attended by 1,900 guests, with Kate's younger sister Pippa Middleton serving as her bridesmaid and Prince Harry being Prince William's best man.

The two royals celebrated their anniversary at Anmer Hall in Norfolk, where they have been on lockdown due to the pandemic together with their three kids (Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis).

On their ninth wedding anniversary, Kensington Palace even shared a throwback photo of the Cambridges during the royal wedding through.

"Nine years ago today - thank you for all your lovely messages on The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding anniversary!" the caption of the post read.

The Devoted Duchess

Instead of spending the anniversary with her family though, Duchess Kate devoted her day by doing charity work remotely.

A Court Circular mentioned that the 38-year-old royal participated in a roundtable discussion through a video-conference. She met with respective organizations that support pregnant women and new mothers, as cited in Hello!

Recently, the future king and queen of England have stepped up and has been the face of the royal family during the coronavirus pandemic response.

Prince William and Kate have been extremely busy upholding their charities and supporting National Health Service (NHS) workers amid the fight against the health crisis.

Prince William and Kate Takes the Lead

Despite the increasing pressure from the public and the monarchy after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle backed out from their roles as senior royals, the Cambridges remain the symbol of stability in these unprecedented times.

Last month, the 37-year-old William virtually opened the second NHS Nightingale Hospital in Birmingham. It is the government's response to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the U.K.

"The building you are standing in is yet another example of how people across the country have risen to this unprecedented challenge," he mentioned in a video message.

Moreover, the royal couple proved that they are worthy of their role by reaching out to the public and using their platform to address the crisis.

Through a video call, Prince William and Kate personally thanked the teachers and staff at Casterton Primary Academy in Burnley, England for keeping the children of essential workers and frontliners safe during this unprecedented time.

"Really, really well done to all of you. I know it's not easy circumstances, but it's fantastic," Duchess Kate mentioned as she praised the educators for a job well done.

One of Kate's royal patronages is the charity Place2Be. It is currently supporting the ongoing education program at Casterton Primary.

With their urgent response, the Queen was impressed on how Kate and William handled all affairs in this difficult situation.

"The wonderful thing about Kate and William is that they remain focused and calm even during their most challenging times. She couldn't be prouder. She takes pride in being on top of everything but recognizes that it's time to hand off some responsibility," a royal source told Us Weekly.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, the US has committed over USD 775 million in emergency health, humanitarian and economic assistance that will help over 120 countries, including India, in fighting the pandemic, the State Department has said, as the deadly disease claimed over 230,000 lives and infected over 3.3 million people.

According to a fact sheet released by the US State Department on Friday, the over USD 775 million assistance is specifically aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and NGOs to fight the pandemic.

This funding, provided by Congress, will save lives by improving public health education, protecting healthcare facilities, and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, it said.

India has received USD 5.9 million in health assistance to hinder the spread of the disease by providing care for the affected, disseminating essential public health messages to communities and strengthen case-finding and surveillance, it said.

This builds on a foundation of nearly USD 2.8 billion in total assistance to India over the last 20 years, which includes more than USD 1.4 billion for health.

In South Asia, Afghanistan (USD18 million), Pakistan (USD15 million) and Bangladesh (USD12.3 million), have received more in Covid-19 health assistance from the US, it said.

Americas Covid-19 assistance to-date includes nearly USD 200 million in emergency health assistance from USAIDs Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks and Global Health Programs account.

These funds prioritised interventions to mitigate and prepare communities in developing countries affected and at a risk of Covid-19.

It has provided nearly USD 300 million in humanitarian assistance from USAIDs International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account.

These funds prioritise populations affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis, particularly displaced people, because of their heightened vulnerability, the elevated risk of severe outbreaks in camps and informal settlements and anticipated disproportionate mortality in these populations.

It has provided more than USD 150 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF). These funds will promote American foreign policy interests by supporting shorter-term mitigation efforts and addressing second-order impacts from the pandemic in the long term, across a variety of sectors.

More than USD 130 million in humanitarian assistance from the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, provided through the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. These funds will help international organisations and NGO partners address challenges posed by the pandemic in refugee, IDP, and hosting communities as well as other migrants and other vulnerable people in both global and local humanitarian responses.

This new assistance is in addition to the over USD 100 billion in global health funding and nearly USD 70 billion in overseas humanitarian assistance provided by the US in the last decade alone.
Dr Yaw Baah, TUC, Secretary-General, said an ongoing research by the Labour Research and Policy Institute of TUC, shows the devastating effects of the COVID-19 health crisis on jobs and livelihoods in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

He cited the example of a company which exports drinks and had lost tons of its raw materials including mangoes, pineapple, pawpaw because it could not export due to border closures around the world.

All casual and contract workers have been laid off. The company has also stopped all overtime work. As a result, workers' incomes have reduced drastically. The company is struggling to pay workers, pay social security, pay taxes and repay bank loans, Dr Baah stated on Friday, in his virtual address to workers to commemorate the 2020 May Celebration.

The annual May Day Celebration, which is globally recognized as a day of solidarity with workers, used to be marked in Ghana with national and regional parades, however, this year's event, had to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The event on the theme: COVID -19 in Ghana: Impact on Employment and Working Conditions, which was attended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was organised by the TUC in collaboration with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).

Dr Baah said in another instance a company in the fishing subsector in Tema, in order to comply with social distancing rules, the company has reduced the number of workers per shift per day.

He said this same company reported that business slowed down considerably during the partial lockdown because customers were not allowed entry into Tema to transact business; adding that almost all workers in the company were asked to stay home without pay.

Dr Baah again cited that a paint manufacturing company which exports its products to countries in the West African sub-region had to shut down its plant and all employees were sent home because almost all these countries have closed their borders.

He said shops in Accra and Kumasi have suffered a very drastic reduction in sales because of the restriction on movement of persons for three weeks.

Those that are still operating find it difficult to pay salaries, social security and taxes. One company complained about its inability to provide PPEs for its staff because of huge loss of revenue, Dr Baah said.

He said a real estate company sent home all its employees with 50 per cent salary.

He said in the hotels and tourism sector; the effects has been more devastating; declaring that hundreds of workers have lost their jobs.

The few who are lucky to keep their jobs have suffered pay cuts because of reduction in hours or days of work, he said.

Dr Baah mentioned that in the aviation sector, due to the closure of the airport all airlines had stopped operations.

He said companies that were providing aviation services and employing hundreds of workers have had to either shut down completely or keep skeleton staff to handle emergency aviation services.

He said in the informal economy workers including farmers, traders, barbers, shoe shine boys, hairdressers, and hawkers have lost their livelihoods; adding that obviously, these enterprises need help.

He said the TUC agrees with the recommendations submitted by Ghana Employers Association's to the Minister for Finance; calling on Government to quickly develop and implement a comprehensive Economic Response Strategic to deal with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This, he said, would require stabilisation and stimulus packages for businesses and households to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the economy, adding that the GH600 million announced by government was a good start, but more support was needed for businesses.

On his part, Professor Amin Alhassan, Director-General, GBC, said: We do not want this day to be remembered as the May Day celebration that was cancelled because of COVID-19. We want it to be remembered as the day when the National May Celebration event was moved into GBC studios for Ghanaians across the country to stay home and celebrate with us.

---GNA
In a major encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara, the Indian Army has trapped a group of terrorists in a couple of houses and a fierce gunbattle in on.

The Indian Army has been conducting a massive search operation in the jungles and villages of Handwara in Kupwara district for the last few days after a large group of terrorists were spotted. On May 2 afternoon, the troops surrounded a couple of houses in the area after intelligence reports of the terrorists hiding inside.

This is a developing story. More details awaited.

Earlier in the day on May 2, another encounter took place in Kupwara district. A fresh encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Handwara area itself. Officials said that after several hours of siege in the area, the contact with terrorists has been established. The IGP Kashmir said that the exchange of fire went on at the gunfight site.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police also informed that a gunfight broke out in the Chanjmullah village, taking to micro-blogging site Twitter. "Encounter has started at Chanjmullah area of Handwara. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow," the J&K Police tweeted.

Local residents at Dangerpora in Jammu and Kashmir resorted to pelting stones at security forces after two terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the area on May 2 afternoon. According to reports, few more terrorists could be hiding in the area and locals began pelting stones at the forces so as to give safe passage to them.

Two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dangerpora area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district today. The operation, which was launched on specific information, turned into a gunfight when the hiding terrorists opened fire on the joint search parties of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army's 55 Rashtriya Rifles and 182 Battalion, 183 Battalion of CRPF.

Unknown terrorists also lobbed a grenade targetting security forces in Tahab area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. According to sources, the terrorists attempted to target a team of police and CRPF deployed at the Tahab Chowk. However, the grenade they hurled missed its target and exploded on the roadside. "The security personnel fired some aerial gunshots. However there was no immediate report of any causality on either side," sources added. A police officer also confirmed the attack and said that a hunt has been launched to nab the attackers.
Lockdown 3.0 will begin in India, May 4 onwards, after it was extended for the second time till May 17.

However, people do not seem as bummed about this extension as the previous ones, because this comes with much needed relaxations for green and orange zones. For many Indians it is like their prayers have been answered as the government will allow reopening of liquor and paan shops in green range zones.

Liquor stores & paan shops will be allowed to function in green zones while ensuring minimum six feet distance (2 gaz ki doori) from each other & ensuring that not more 5 persons are present at one time at the shop: MHA on the extension of #lockdown for two weeks from May 4  ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2020

Liquor stores & paan shops will be allowed to function in green zones while ensuring minimum six feet distance (2 gaz ki doori) from each other & ensuring that not more 5 persons are present at one time at the shop, reads the statement issued by MHA on Friday. However according to some reports, liquor shops will be allowed to open in both orange and green zones.

As soon as this news was announced, people took to social media to express their joy and some to make fun of people in Delhi - because there are mostly red zones in the national capital.

Here are some of the choicest reactions to the reopening of the alcohol shops:

Govt: Liquor now available in green zone



People searching their zone : #Lockdown3 pic.twitter.com/7YbKdHgNUc  Humor Being  (@followTheGupta) May 1, 2020

Liquor Shop can be opened in #lockdown3 pic.twitter.com/ihQYto87ND  Simranjeet Kaur (@sarabjeet_123) May 1, 2020

#Lockdown3 #Lockdownextention



Liquor n paan stores will open in green zone



Le drinkers and smokers : pic.twitter.com/DOmYUB0pIj  Raiyu (@raiya_rza) May 1, 2020

Liquor shop owners in Green zone :- pic.twitter.com/O2OGpx84LK  Surendra (@Arrre_bhai) May 2, 2020

Delhiites with zero Green Zone be like: pic.twitter.com/kkawGQZv9a  Madhur (@ThePlacardGuy) May 1, 2020

Ministry of Home Affairs allowed Paan shops & #Liquorshops to be open in #Lockdown3

Meanwhile Paan waala & #Liquorshops :- pic.twitter.com/KO8H86keR5  Haris Pathan (@HarisPathan8) May 1, 2020

Needless to mention, the shop owners would have to be extra careful to make sure that customers maintain social distancing and do not overcrowd.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 17:01:43|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese health official on Saturday urged people to wear masks correctly and avoid travel during peak hours over coronavirus concerns in the May Day holiday.

Travelers are encouraged to reserve visiting slots in advance, and pay attention to their temperatures, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, at a press conference in Beijing.

Some tourist attractions have seen large crowds of tourists not wearing masks Friday, the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, Mi said.

China recorded more than 23 million domestic tourist trips Friday, with the domestic tourism revenue reaching over 9.7 billion yuan (about 1.38 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

This year's May Day holiday runs from May 1 to 5. Enditem
Kerry English at a pub in Dublin, Ireland, after taking in a theater performance with his wife, Olga Garay-English. (Olga Garay-English)

Actors peeking from the stage wings could reliably spot Kerry English: dapper older gentleman, kind, interested smile, platinum white hair and matching goatee. His reassuring presence was never a surprise; only his absence was.

English, a respected pediatrician who took a special interest in caring for at-risk children, was as much a part of the Los Angeles theater scene as the actors, directors, stagehands and designers, those who knew him said.

He was the ultimate theater fan, a cultural omnivore who sometimes took in more than five shows in a week. He was a devoted audience member who became a reliable board member at theaters including Rogue Machine, Cornerstone Theater Company, Ojai Playwrights Conference and 24th Street Theater.

English died Tuesday of complications from ALS. He was 74. The news spread quickly among L.A. theater lovers and practitioners. Tributes flooded message boards and social media, and stories were shared via email and over the phone.

The death of someone so intimately connected to the local arts community felt all the more tragic at a time when coronavirus has torn that community asunder, leaving those accustomed to uniting in the name of creation alone in their homes to grieve.

It would have a tremendous sting no matter what, said John Perrin Flynn, artistic director of Rogue Machine. But it has more of a sting right now, when were all facing an uncertain future.

English, who was the longtime director of the pediatric division at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital in L.A., represented a steady love for the art form, said those who knew him. He was discerning, he knew what made a show good and when it needed work, but he was never quick to criticize, instead choosing to focus on the positive.

It was just so thrilling to meet a human being whose idea of a good time was to just go see many, many plays, said Boston Court Pasadena's artistic director, Jessica Kubzansky, adding that she saw English at practically every show she attended, from the smallest 40-seat house to productions at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown L.A. or South Coast Repertory in Orange County. As theater professionals we run into each other all the time, but to run into a professional audience member is a particular joy.

Story continues

Englishs wife, Olga Garay-English, said Kerrys love of theater could be traced back to the early 1970s when he saw Cyrano de Bergerac starring Richard Chamberlain at the Ahmanson Theatre. There were three curtain calls and the house exploded with enthusiasm.

The experience, she said, awakened Kerry to the power of theater to illuminate the world.

Garay-English served for nearly seven years as executive director of the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs, and the pair were perfectly matched in their love for  and involvement with  the arts, she said.

They were married in 2011 by then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in front of the fountain at the Music Center, with a reception upstairs at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Kerry English on his wedding day in 2011 at the Music Center. (Anna Mae Lam)

English loved every aspect of theater, including postshow talk-backs, workshops and table reads. He loved speaking with the actors, and he relished getting to know the stagehands, Garay-English said. He had a particular fondness for Greek theater, and his wife said she regrets that in their many international trips to see theater, they never found their way to Greece.

Garay-English said she remembered times when her husband would see up to three shows in a day  a 2 p.m., a 5 p.m. and an 8 p.m. And if they attended a festival, it wasnt unusual for him to be in the audience of more than a dozen shows in a week.

He was as fully engaged in the last one as he was in the first one, she said.

Robert Egan, artistic director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference, said he first came to know English in the 1980s when Egan was recruited as the producing artistic director for the Taper, tasked with reviving the legacy of new-play development that had been the hallmark of the place.

Egan was overseeing 16 new-play events at various locales across the city, and at every single one of them hed spot a guy with a goatee and elegant silver hair who had this intense gaze, like he really wanted to interact.

That man was English, and he would later become a great friend to Egan, who loved him for always squeezing the human soulful essence out of a theatrical experience.

This is why Egan and others think that English, a doctor with expertise in trauma (he testified as a sexual-abuse expert during the McMartin preschool trial in the 1980s), found such a deep connection to theater.

I think he really loved how theater revealed human behavior, and what human beings are capable of, said Bill Rauch, former artistic director for Cornerstone as well as Oregon Shakespeare Festival and currently artistic director for the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, being built in the World Trade Center. Whether it was his medical practice or his theatergoing, Kerry had a love of people and believed each individual human story had value.

It wasnt just the final production that fascinated English, Rauch said. Every aspect of the work, down to the most minute detail of creating a show, held sway.

Veralyn Jones, an actress and co-associate producer for Lower Depth Theatre, said English always came across as much more than just a fan.

He wasnt just someone who showed up at your shows, he was someone who invested in you as an artist, she recalled.

Jones remembers a time when she was scheduled to do a reading of Medea at Antaeus Theatre Company, and English wrote to her early in the day to let her know that he was on a plane but that he would race to the theater as soon as he landed.

The theater represented community to English. He came to know everyone. He became a dear friend to Jones and a grandfather-like figure to Jones now-21-year-old daughter. When she was little, hed take her to shows with his own grandkids, hoping to pass along a love of the art to the next generation, Jones said.

When English became sick with ALS, the theater community soon became aware of the diagnosis and of the perils of a disease that is still without a cure.

English was beautifully Brechtian, beautifully Chekhovian  both in the same person about his illness, Egan said.

Before his death, plans were in the works to honor English while he was alive. A performance was going to take place at Rogue Machine, Flynn said, and it would have featured scenes from plays that held special meaning for English.

Coronavirus put those plans on hold, and now the show will no longer happen with English in the audience, as he had always been.

We were looking forward to doing that when at last we could gather again, Flynn said. And well still probably try to do something, but it wont be the same.
The Assam government will open its borders with other states in the northeast from Sunday as part of efforts to facilitate the return of residents stranded in other parts of the country.

The move follows the state governments exercise to transport people stranded within Assam by allowing inter-district movement. Since April 25, nearly 100,000 people have travelled in their own vehicles or buses to reach their homes and workplaces.

From Sunday, anyone from Assam who is at present in other northeastern states [except Sikkim] can return to the state. The states borders are open for them. They dont have to register or seek permission to return, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.

People can use their own vehicles to enter Assam. They will be screened at the borders of their home districts and placed in home or institutional quarantine.

For those who dont have own means of transport, we will send buses to pick them up within a few days. A notifications in this regard will be issued soon, Sarma said.

Assam has also launched the helpline no 7428159966 to help the return of residents of the state stranded in other parts of the country.

Those interested should give a missed call on the number. A link will be sent to them within 48 hours, which they will have to fill and send back. They will be intimated about details of their return by our teams, Sarma said.

Nearly 600,000 stranded workers from Assam who had earlier made a similar missed call to receive Rs 2,000 as financial aid will not need to call again. A link will be automatically sent to their numbers.

Those who can arrange their own vehicles to return have been asked by the state government to send an email to assamtransportrelief@gmail.com to get a return pass.

There are nearly 20 lakh residents of the state who are outside at present. Those who dont need to return now can delay their travel by a few months. We wont put any restriction on anyone wanting to return, but bringing back so many people is a tough task and can take several weeks, Sarma said.

The state government will continue providing Rs 2,000 a month as aid to workers from the state stranded outside. Till Saturday, 255,000 stranded people had been provided this aid.

The government is setting up five quarantine facilities at Kokrajhar, Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat and Silchar for people returning to Assam. Hotels are being included as quarantine facilities for those who dont want to stay at state-run facilities and want to avail of paid quarantine.

Sarma said the governments move to fly back 852 patients from Assam undergoing treatment outside the state hit a roadblock after two cancer patients in Mumbai tested positive for Covid-19.

The government plans to tie-up with private laboratories to boost testing for those returning to Assam.

Assam has recorded 42 Covid-19 cases. One patient has died, 32 have recovered and nine are being treated. Nearly 11,000 tests were conducted till Saturday.

In an interaction with a small group of journalists, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said his government will decide on Sunday how it will implement regulations in the red, orange and green zones.

Unlike the Union home ministrys guidelines allowing the movement of people and economic activities between 7 am and 7 pm, Assam is considering permitting these activities between 6 am and 6 pm.
A sweetshop owner was arrested for assaulting a 75-year-old man following a tiff over a pair of monkeys held captive by the former.

The accused, Bittu, 54, is a resident of Star City Colony.

The victim, Des Raj, told the police that Bittu had illegally captured two monkeys that used to bite people passing by their house.

On Saturday, when he confronted Bittu to release the monkeys in the wild to avoid further attacks, Bittu and his sons Nitin, 28, and Vikas, 25, pelted him with stones, causing him head injuries.

ASI Jora Singh of Tibba police, who is investigating the case, said they had arrested Bittu, who revealed that they had brought the monkeys home on a sorcerers advice to get rich.

The ASI said they had notified the wildlife department for further action.

A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused, and his two sons, who have not been arrested yet.
ANN ARBOR, MI  An activist group called A2 After Bernie held a caravan rally and demonstrations Friday to support grocery store and U.S. Postal Service workers during the coronavirus outbreak.

Organizers said the effort coincided with actions being taken in communities across the country in solidarity with workers from Whole Foods and Target who are organizing for safer working conditions, hazard pay, sick leave and health care.

In other words, for working conditions commensurate with the risks they take every day, said event organizer Linda Wan. We feel like a disproportionate share went to huge corporations, and we feel that much more needs to be done on behalf of people in terms of health care, in terms of wages, in terms of protection for ordinary people.

A car caravan was held at the Whole Foods store on Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor and at the USPS office on Liberty Street. Ralliers drove a loop around the parking lot and honked their horns before continuing to the Target on Ann Arbor Saline Road, the post office on Stadium Boulevard and the post office on Liberty.

Wan said the gatherings were designed to be small to respect social distancing guidelines. May 1 is International Workers Day, and Wan said the group feels there needs to be more done for grocery store and postal workers

This is just something that landed on top of us and its nobodys fault, and so we need to be taking care of each other, Wan said.

Wan said there are plans for similar events on the first of every month for as long as necessary.

Whole Foods has said all store workers in the U.S. and Canada are receiving an additional $2 per hour on top of their regular hourly rate, as well as double their regular hourly pay for overtime.

Targets announced last month that front-line workers will receive an extra $2 per hour until May 30.

The Company will also continue to extend access to free, safe and reliable back-up care for team members, and a 30-day paid leave for team members who are 65 or older, pregnant or who have underlying medical conditions as defined by the CDC, through the end of May, Target announced April 23.

USPS has updated its policies to allow liberal use of leave and to give employees the ability to stay home whenever they feel sick or need to provide dependent care. Non-career employees will also be given 80 hours of paid leave.

All three employees have said they are reinforcing social distancing rules, updating sanitation measures and requiring employees and patrons wear masks.

COVID-19 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.

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The Glendora police arrested and released this week, a man identified as Dijon Landrum from Monterey Park, for reportedly stealing cars, as well as other property thrice in the same day, and blamed the new zero-bail policy of California for their failure to keep the culprit behind bars.

Early last month, the California Judicial Council developed a new policy setting bail at zero for the majority of the misdemeanor, not to mention the low-level offenses, to retain the population in jail, lower during the COVID-19 crisis.

Consequently, the Glendora authorities say, they failed to keep a suspect for car theft under custody, and ended up "arresting him thrice in a 12-hour span for separate thefts." The final one, they said, resulted in car hunting.

Arrested Three Times

The first time the man got arrested was Wednesday morning, after the officers responded to a report of a man attempting to break into vehicles on South Grand Avenue, reportedly at around 8:28 am.

By the time the police got there, allegedly, the man, 24 years old, was driving off using a stolen automobile. Relatively, the officers said they were able to arrest the suspect arrested the suspect, adding, the man had stolen property as well, and drugs with him.

In addition, the Glendora police apprehended Landrum but said they failed to keep him behind bars due to the zero-bail policy of CA. Consequently, the said suspect was issued a citation and eventually got released.

Just an hour after Landrum's release, the authorities received a call about a man who was walking around a neighborhood near Pennsylvania and Bennett, carrying a box while he walked through front yards.

When the police showed up, they discovered Landrum in the said neighborhood with the stolen items with him. For the second time, a citation was issued to him and he eventually got released.

Later in the evening, at exactly 8:49 p.m., the police were again called, this time, about a vehicle that had reportedly been stolen from a parking lot located in the "1300 block of South Grand Avenue."

Through the CHP and the Sheriff's Department's help, the authorities were able to track down the vehicle headed for westbound, exactly on the 10 Freeway in La Puente.

The police hunted the driver and eventually, they caught him in Pasadena. For the third time, Landrum got arrested for possession of a theft automobile, and escaping officers. And once again, he got released after he was issued a citation.

Zero-Bail Policy

The zero-bail policy established as the prisons and jails in California cope with the COVID-19 outbreaks among the population of the inmates. Specifically, in places such as the Terminal Island federal facility located in San Pedro, five inmate fatalities, and hundreds of cases among the staff and prisoners have been recorded and reported.

Meanwhile, George Gascon, the former San Francisco District Attorney said, COVID-19 has forced the justice system to confront a "not-so-novel question," one that greatly defined the reform movement of criminal justice even before the pandemic: Does keeping a large number of inmates under custody on small-time felonies pose a higher risk to everyone then allowing them to go out?

This virus, Gacon added, "does not care if you are a defendant, prosecutor, or a victim." Guilty or innocent, the ex-district attorney continued, COVID-19 "can kill you."

Check these out!
Coronavirus testing kits that deliver results in just one hour will be rolled out in an effort to provide rapid treatment for patients who are at the most risk from the virus.

Previously testing for COVID-19 would require two to three days before the results would be returned by the laboratory.

The new ultra-rapid testing kits use a technology known as polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, and have already been used in small numbers in rural areas where an outbreak was identified.

The kits will now be expanded out to 29 testing laboratories across New South Wales as the state makes preparations to battle a possible second wave of the outbreak.

NSW Health will roll out the new high-speed testing kits at 29 laboratories in May

Previously testing for COVID-19 would require two to three days before the results would be returned by the laboratory

'The faster we can isolate higher risk patients and quarantine their contacts, the less likely they can unknowingly spread it to others,' New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard said.

'On average, test results are being processed in less than 48 hours from the far corners of this vast state which is an achievement in itself, given the issues with flights and logistics.'

'Now we will have even more vital hours up our sleeve, which will allow us to speed up our tracing efforts to map and isolate known contacts of cases.'

NSW has among the highest testing rates in Australia and the world. Mass testing is critical to identifying cases and implementing measures to slow COVID-19.

The new, rapid PCR testing kits are presently in use in NSW Health Pathology laboratories in Broken Hill, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Coffs Harbour and Tamworth and 29 more labs across the State will commence rapid testing from next week.

NSW Health Pathology has thoroughly tested and evaluated the TGA-approved COVID-19 testing kit from the US and has secured a regular supply to meet demand.

Mr Hazzard said the technology used for the rapid COVID-19 testing kit is already in use for the testing of influenza and other respiratory viruses by NSW Health Pathology.

'These kits are in high demand globally but NSW Health Pathology is working with clinicians to ensure our most high risk patients reap the benefits,' Mr Hazzard said.

NSW Health Pathology can perform more than 8,000 tests per day within its specialist laboratories, which continues to exceed current demand.

NSW Health Pathology has thoroughly tested and evaluated the TGA-approved COVID-19 testing kit from the US and has secured a regular supply to meet demand

NSW already has among the highest testing rates in Australia and the world




Interswitch Staff Donate Salaries to Support the Fight

In the wake of the novel Coronavirus pandemic, a lot of our realities have changed. New emotions have been evoked in us daily, amidst the disturbing depiction of the disease with all the disruption, death and fear it leaves in its wake. Gradually we have imbibed new ways of interacting and new hygiene routines, among other things. However, one important outcome of the disease the world over, is a renewed sense of value, especially in relation to fellow humans.

Across the globe we have witnessed how good spirited individuals and organisations have donated to various governments at local, national and international levels, to support the fight against COVID-19. These donations have ranged from cash donations, to the provision of much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE), medical supplies, logistical resources, infrastructure, and so on. We have also witnessed retired medical practitioners taking the risk to return to work to fill up the manpower gap. The outpouring of love is unprecedentedwell, the impact of the pandemic is also unprecedented!

In Nigeria, the private sector intervention efforts started with the Coalition Against COVID (CACOVID), an initiative that was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The coalition has helped set up isolation centres, renovated hospitals, sourced and provided medical supplies, fed indigent homes and inspired more people to make their honest contributions.

On the corporate side, one corporation that has indeed been inspired and risen to the occasion is the Interswitch Group, along with its employees. The over 800 employees of the pan-African integrated payment and digital commerce company, agreed to sacrifice 10% of their monthly salaries for 3 months, as their own contribution to the on-going efforts to fight the scourge.

What we had seen prior to this was privileged individuals and corporates making donations, and of course that is to be expected. What we however did not see coming was the employees of an organization deciding to voluntarily give up a percentage of their remunerations, to help others through these trying times. No, that is unusual. But that was what staff of Interswitch Group did.

The staff of Interswitch together raised N75 million, and then the organization and the board complemented that with their own contributions, bringing the total sum to N305 million. This huge sum will be deployed to support the COVID relief efforts of 23 state governments across the country. Part of the money is also being used to provide relief food items to indigent members of the Interswitch immediate community. Yet and another part will be set aside to support health workers on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic.

In a press release announcing this financial intervention, the Interswitch Group stated that its employees agreed to make this unusual gesture because they had the inspiration to make a difference in the fight against the pandemic. And what a difference they are making! They have pooled together their little amounts of money to build a substantial mass of funds that is being deployed to make significant impacts in the lives of many. While no individual donation might have amounted to millions, their collective donations amounted to quite puddle, and then attracted further donations from the board and the company, bringing the total amount to over N300 million.

In the bid make a difference, the Interswitch employees have redefined how we could all contribute to support the efforts to curb the virus. They have shown how every amount of money is significant towards the fight against the disease. They have demonstrated that everyone can contribute, not only the billionaires. The have made it crystal clear that every intervention worth its salt requires sacrifices, and for them, it is 10% of their monthly earnings for three months!

Mitchell Elegbe, the Group Managing Director/Founder of Interswitch said that the efforts by the company and its employees was consistent with the companys mission of enabling the prosperity of individuals and communities across Africa. With such sacrifice, the staff of Interswitch are indeed ensuring that the pandemic is checked, as well as safeguarding enabling environments and interactions that will bring about inclusive prosperity across the continent.

In a time where people are unsure of their future, careful about their spending and saving every extra kobo, these heroes are forfeiting part of their earnings to take care of their fellow citizens, providing support for their government and leaving an indelible mark in the sands of times.

So, as Nigerian workers take the center stage once again, and we celebrate them and their contributions to the economy, let us reflect on the sacrifices of this incredible workforce. While this years celebrations will understandably be devoid of the usual pomp and pageantry, short on the usual speeches and demands from the trade unions, let us lift our glasses to these extraordinary workers of Interswitch, who are not making demands of their government or employers today, but instead are actively providing support.

Let us give it up to these heroes who will not be negotiating with their employers for pay rise, but will rather be voluntarily taking pay cuts, to help the indigent among us.

It is indeed a new lesson in giving which we hope will be imbibed, and further promoted, by many others, even as we all join forces to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
HOUSTON (AP)  A Houston police helicopter crashed early Saturday, killing one of the two officers on board and critically injuring the other, officials said.

A pilot and tactical flight officer were aboard a police helicopter when it crashed at an apartment complex around 2 a.m. They were flown to a hospital where the tactical flight officer died, police Chief Art Acevedo said hours after the crash during a news conference where he was joined by the city's mayor, Sylvester Turner.

The department later tweeted that the officer who died was Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox. He is survived by a wife and two young children, who were at the hospital along with his parents and in-laws, Acevedo said at the news conference.

Jason will be missed but we will carry him in our hearts and in our memories. We will forge ahead as a department & as an Air Unit, because Jason would demand it of us. When knocked down, this man always got back up, the chief said in a statement accompanying the release of Knoxs name.

The pilot, identified in a department tweet as Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier, was very banged up, but police were hopeful he would survive, Acevedo said, noting that investigators still didnt know what caused the crash.

There were no injuries to anyone on the ground at the apartment complex, a masked Acevedo told reporters.

The helicopter was supposed to assist with a search for bodies in a nearby bayou, which was prompted by a tip that the police chief characterized as "probably a bogus call  we don't know."

The officers were trapped in "mangled" wreckage before being cut out by city firefighters who worked for about an hour, Acevedo said, praising the fire department as "phenomenal."

Acevedo identified two silver linings at the first news conference: While the wreckage was "pretty significant," it didn't catch fire, and the helicopter avoided striking occupied apartment buildings. It did clip the Biscayne at Cityview complex's clubhouse, he said.

The police department is shutting down flights until it has a chance to reassess in the coming days, and will be relying on the Texas Department of Public Safety and Harris County Sheriff's Office for flight support in the interim.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration will investigate, Acevedo said, while the police department conducts a parallel homicide investigation.

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Washington: A day after armed demonstrators entered Michigan's state parliament, US President Donald Trump urged the state's governor to cut a deal with anti-lockdown protesters, describing them as "very good people".

Hundreds of protesters, some of them carrying rifles, gathered in Lansing, the Michigan state capitol, on Thursday (Friday AEST) to demand an end to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's coronavirus stay-at-home order.

An armed protester wearing a mask stands at the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing, Michigan. Credit:Bloomberg

"The governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire," Trump said on Twitter on Friday (Saturday AEST).

"These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."
The department of health has said it is readying its own business case for medical expansion in Northern Ireland but gave no assurances that a medical school will be based in Derry.

Long-running plans for a medical school at Ulster Universitys Magee campus have been plagued with set-backs.

The revised timeline was for enrolment to commence in 2021.

The Derry News asked the department whether it expects the medical school to be approved and for medical students to enrol at Magee next year.

In response, a Department of Health spokesperson said: The establishment of a Graduate Entry Medical School is one of the priorities of the restored Executive in New Decade, New Approach.

The Department of Health has been clear that there are two separate business case processes in relation to the development of a Graduate Entry Medical School.

The first process, which has been under way since 2017, has involved significant assistance from departmental officials on the development of Ulster Universitys own business case.

Ulster University has been grateful for this assistance, which has ensured that their business case meets the standards within government financial guidance.

He added: The second process is the development of the Department of Healths own business case which will outline the need to be addressed by any expansion of medical education.

That business case will be formally submitted to the Minister very shortly. It will be appreciated that the departments immediate and overriding priority has been the local response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Department of Health must ensure that any proposal represents value for money for health and social care. It is for the Executive to collectively decide on the best approach for Northern Ireland as a whole.

There was renewed optimism in January of this year when a deal was agreed by Northern Irelands political parties to restore devolved government three years after it collapsed.

The New Decade, New Approach document contains firm commitments to a Magee Medical School from both the British and Irish governments.

It states: The Executive will expand university provision at Magee in line with commitments made by the previous Executive, including through the establishment of a Graduate Entry Medical School.

Furthermore, under the section outlining the UK governments financial and economic commitments to Northern Ireland it says: Capital and resource funding for the Medical School in Derry

subject to the Northern Ireland Executives approval of the project.

While the Irish government adds that it is willing in principle to contribute to capital investment to support expanded provision at Ulster University Magee Campus, alongside the commitment made as part of this agreement by the UK Government.

COMMITMENTS

The commitment referred to above by the previous Executive was for 10,000 full-time students at Magee.

In 2019/20 there were 3,456 full-time students enrolled at Magee  4,237 overall.

Five years previous, 2014/15, there were 3,883 full-time enrolments  5,098 overall.

Shortly after the New Approach document was published it emerged that the exact financial package on the table was unknown.

When revealed it was described as woefully inadequate by Sinn Fein finance minister Conor Murphy.

At the end of January, the Department for the Economy (DfE) said it was committed to delivering expansion of Ulster Universitys Belfast campus and would provide UU with a 126m bailout to complete the build.

In February, DfE was asked what funding the UK and Irish Governments have committed towards realising 10,000 undergraduate places at the Magee campus.

DUP economy minister Diane Dodds said: No funding has, as yet, been formally committed by the UK or Irish Governments towards increasing undergraduate places at the Magee Campus as outlined in New Decade, New Approach.

The Department of Finance remains in discussions with Her Majestys Treasury (HMT) on the UK Government financial package associated with the priorities in New Decade, New Approach.

For the past month all government departments have understandably been focused on their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department of Finance and the Economy were both asked for comment but did not provide any at the time of publishing.
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South Korea-style contact tracing will be launched on the Isle of Wight next week - as Tory MPs demand ministers 'get on with it' amid a row over 'fixing' the coronavirus testing target.

Crucial tracking systems will be piloted for 140,000 residents amid frantic efforts to find ways of controlling the deadly outbreak that do not cripple the economy.

People will be bombarded with messages urging them to download an NHS app that collects data on who has been in close proximity.

Together with wide-scale testing, it means that officials will be able to trace anyone who might have been exposed.

The island has been chosen for a pilot scheme as it has relatively controllable transport links, and a large enough population to provide lessons for scaling up to the rest of the country.

The move comes after senior Tories urged the government to draw a line under wrangling about Matt Hancock's high-profile testing target and focus on the tracking systems.

Ventnor on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, where a contact tracing scheme is expected to be launched next week

The Government will launch a widespread contact tracing scheme to track down people who have been in touch with infected patients

HOW WILL THE NHS CONTACT-TRACING APP WORK? The NHS app on a phone will use bluetooth to monitor what other users have been in close proximity. Users install the app on their smartphones. The app logs every time the device comes into close proximity of another app user's phone. Users exhibiting coronavirus symptoms self-report on the app. The app tells these users to self-isolate, along with their household. It also notifies any other users logged as having recently come into contact with them/ These users also isolate, along with their households, and so on. Advertisement

The Health Secretary declared at the Downing Street press briefing last night that the 100,000-a-day mark had been hit, after a huge increase from barely 10,000 a day at the beginning of April.

But he faced claims the figures had been fiddled after it emerged around 40,000 of the 123,000 tests had been posted out to homes and hospitals in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday - and not actually processed.

Boris Johnson and other ministers had previously been stating that the government figures covered the number of tests 'carried out' per day.

The coordinator of the government's testing drive, Prof John Newton, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the target had been met 'whichever way you count it' - although he did not give figures for how many tests had been completed in the 24 hours.

'It's a big number however you count it. All the tests are only counted once, and you can count tests when they go out, or when they come back in,' Prof Newton said.

Mr Hancock said more community testing and contact tracing will allow the Government 'to reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all'.

The PM is due to set out a 'road map' for the next phase of lockdown on Thursday, although there seems little prospect of a significant loosening any time this month.

Westminster has been working hard with local officials to put the pilot scheme in place. The Isle of Wight has confirmed just over 100 cases of coronavirus, and 25 deaths so far.

It is connected to the mainland by ferry and hovercraft services from Lymington, Southampton and Portsmouth, which would be easy to regulate.

The island off the south coast of England is already being used for a pilot scheme involving drones flying hospital supplies across the Solent.

Around eight out of 10 islanders need to join the effort in order for the system to be effective, according to The Times. If successful it will be available across the UK two-three weeks later.

A small army of contact tracers will support the app by arranging tests and track down those who have been near an infected person

The government hopes 18,000 will be recruited and trained by mid-May, and the numbers will be expanded further if necessary.

There are still questions over how much personal data the app will collect, with suggestions it will not access detailed location information.

Ministers are being urged to speed up progress to full 'contact tracing' after testing capacity was expanded. Pictured is a testing centre in Twickenham yesterday

At the Downing Street briefing last night, Mr Hancock said the more community testing and contact tracing will allow the Government 'to reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all'

Instead it will use bluetooth to interact with other devices that have the app running, to record who has been in close proximity.

'There are some ministers who are completely gung ho and think we gather every bit of data we can,' a Whitehall figure told the Times.

'But it has spooked others who say if people think the government is spying on them it will affect uptake.'

Mr Hancock told the briefing last night: 'In recent weeks we've had to impinge on historic liberties to protect our NHS and our loved ones and yet our goal must be freedom.

'Freedom from the virus, yes, and we will not lift measures until it is safe to do so.

'But also we care about the restoration of social freedom and economic freedom too - each citizen's right to do as they please.'

But he said that, for now, people must stay at home while the number of cases of coronavirus is driven down further.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Friday announced that lockdown in the (Covid-19) red zones like Mumbai, Pune region, Nagpur and Aurangabad, where the number of positive cases is on the rise will not be lifted even after May 3.

In addition to this, even the migrant workers, who are stuck in the containment zones of these cities will not be allowed to move to their respective states. According to the list of Union health Ministry, there are 14 districts in red zones in Maharashtra.



Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab said that the government has given the facility to the migrant workers (stuck in green and orange zones) to go to their respective states.

Parab said, The workers will have to make a group of 1,000 people and prepare a list mentioning each travellers name, village, district and the state (destination address) and mobile number along with their Aadhar card number. In addition to this, the migrants will also have to provide a doctors certificate stating that he/she does not have any symptoms. The list needs to be submitted to the local police station.



The transport minister said that the list will be sent to the concerned states and once the respective states send an NOC (no objection certificate) to Maharashtra, the government will make arrangements for their travel.



We are planning to start special trains for the same. As per the requirement, the trains will be arranged, he added. The government is also mulling to start buses for them. The red zone districts include Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Palghar, Nagpur, Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Satara, Dhule, Akola, Jalgaon, Mumbai suburban.



Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that the coronavirus-induced lockdown restrictions will be lifted in the state in a zone-wise manner after May 3 and the rules will be relaxed cautiously. In a live webcast, he said the relaxation of rules will not be carried out in haste. The chief minister added that efforts are being made to phase out restrictions in the orange zone and green zone excluding infected areas in the orange zone.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday decided to allow manufacturing of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and beer in the state with immediate effect, subject to the conditions imposed by the Central government.

An order to this effect was issued by Commissioner of Distilleries and Breweries of Andhra Pradesh government D Vasudeva Reddy.

The liquor and beer manufacturers situated in the rural areas and that are outside the limits of municipal corporations and municipalities have been allowed to function. The orders would be applicable to all the liquor and beer manufacturers located in green, orange and red zones subject to guidelines. There are 21 big and small breweries and distilleries in the state.

The state government has decided to follow the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the further extension on lockdown and the subsequent relaxations it had given in the green and orange zones.

There are five districts in AP which are in red zone: Krishna, Guntur, Chittoor, Nellore and Kurnool and seven districts in green zone: Anantapur, Kadapa, Prakasam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Srikalulam, while Vizianagaram is the only district which is in the green zone.

At a review meeting on Saturday, chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered the officials to identify the containment zones and prepare a procedure to be followed besides issuing Standard Operating Procedure at the permitted shops to avoid public gatherings and maintain social distance.

Meanwhile, the industries department is also gearing up to allow more industries to resume their operations outside the red zones. At present, more than 120 industries, including over 30 industrial units in Sri City Special Economic Zone and another 25 industries in Visakhapatnam industrial area, are operating.

After Monday, more than 50 per cent of the industrial activity is likely to resume, an industry department official said.

An official notification said all the industrial units have been asked to see that the premises must be disinfected, special transportation facilities be arranged for workers without depending on public transport and vehicles must be run only with 30 to 40 per cent passenger capacity.

All vehicles and machinery must be disinfected, thermal scanning for workers entering or exiting is mandatory and provision of hand wash and sanitisers must be made at all entry and exit points. The workplaces must have a gap of one hour between shifts and staggering of lunch breaks to ensure social distancing.

Large gatherings are to be discouraged and strict ban on consumption of gutka, tobacco etc and spitting is strictly prohibited. There should be a complete ban on non-essential visitors at the work sites.

Meanwhile, the Telangana cabinet will meet on May 5 to discuss the Centres decision to extend lockdown till May 17 and relaxations announced in various zones. Any decision of the state government will be known only after the cabinet meeting, a CMO spokesman said.

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The future of nearly 30 rough sleepers housed in a five-star Perth hotel remains uncertain, with the state government yet to make a decision on the next stage of the pilot program.

As the four-week trial period of the Hotels with Heart initiative comes to an end, Community Services Minister Simone McGurk has failed to confirm whether it will be scaled up.

Noelene has been sleeping in the streets of Perth for six years. Credit:Daniel Spriggs

Instead, Ms McGurk said the government was "monitoring the outcomes closely" and would use the "evidence gathered" to inform future decisions on the needs of rough sleepers.

In March, Ms McGurk announced 20 homeless people would be moved to the Pan Pacific Hotel in the CBD as part of the government-funded pilot program to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
FSIS ISSUES PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT FOR CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP PRODUCTS DUE TO MISBRANDING AND AN UNDECLARED ALLERGEN











WASHINGTON, May 2, 2020  The U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert because RCK Foods, a Kenosha, Wis. establishment, sold 34,200 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken noodle soup products that were misbranded because they include ingredient labels meant for a different product. The product contains egg, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product label. A recall was not requested because it is believed that the affected products are no longer available for consumers to purchase.







The RTE chicken noodle soup items were produced on March 11, 2020. The following product is subject to the public health alert:











The products subject to the public health alert bear establishment number P-33997 inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to Kroger retail locations nationwide.







The problem was discovered by a retail store associate who found that an incorrect back label for potato soup was on the chicken noodle soup container and, therefore, did not list egg as an ingredient on the product label.







There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.







FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products should be aware that they contain egg as an ingredient. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.







Members of the media with questions about the public health alert can contact Kristal Howard with Kroger, at 713-299-6383. Consumers with questions about the public health alert can contact Kroger Customer Connect, at 1-800-576-4377.







Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.




Large crowds of protesters gathered in Huntington Beach in Southern California to protest Governor Gavin Newsoms stay-at-home order and the closure of the beaches to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Governor Newsom ordered state and local beaches closed in Orange County on Friday morning after last weekends scenes of crowds flocking to the sand and surf in defiance of Californias lockdown rules.

Police estimate that between 2,500 and 3,000 people gathered near the popular pier in Huntington Beach on Friday to protest the decision, chanting, holding signs and waving flags  some in support of President Donald Trump.

Aerial footage shows a densely packed crowd with little-to-no adherence to social distancing rules advised by health authorities. Other photos show few people wearing masks. Officers on horseback contained the crowds to keep any traffic flowing.

The governor called the beach closures a temporary pause and said that they may reopen very soon provided officials can get some framework and guidelines to get this right.

In response, the city council of Huntington Beach has voted to mount a legal challenge against Governor Newsom, and the city of Dana Point is pursuing a temporary restraining order against both the governor and the state.

Orange County officials blamed misleading photographs for influencing the governors actions, arguing that a telephoto lens made the beaches look more crowded than they were.

Huntington Beach argues that the city invested considerable effort and expense to facilitate social distancing guidelines at beaches.

Mayor Lyn Semeta feels that constitutionally the governor has overreached and described the governors decision as jarring, adding: This is Surf City. Our identity is very much tied up in our beaches.

She continued: Given that Orange County has among the lowest per-capita Covid-19 death rates in California, the action by the state prioritises politics over data, in direct contradiction of the Governor's stated goal to allow science and facts to guide our response to this horrible global pandemic.

On Friday, Governor Newsom continued to urge people to stay home, reminding Californians that the only thing that is assured to advance the spread of the virus is thousands of people congregating together, not practicing social distancing or physical distancing.

He added that restrictions may be easing soon: If we have the kind of weekend that I hope and expect we will, where we dont see those huge crowds descend, then were going to be in a position as early as Monday or Tuesday to make some announcements.

To date, California has 50,442 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and has recorded 2,073 deaths. Orange County accounts for 2,537 cases and 50 deaths, with the number of new cases per day spiking to a high of 163 on 1 May, from a previous peak of 118 on 25 April.
FlexiGroup Limited (ASX:FXL) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 16% in the last week. But that can't change the reality that over the longer term (five years), the returns have been really quite dismal. In fact, the share price has declined rather badly, down some 74% in that time. So is the recent increase sufficient to restore confidence in the stock? Not yet. But it could be that the fall was overdone.

See our latest analysis for FlexiGroup

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Looking back five years, both FlexiGroup's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 4.5% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 24% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market was previously too optimistic about the stock. The low P/E ratio of 5.38 further reflects this reticence.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

ASX:FXL Past and Future Earnings May 2nd 2020

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. That said, we think earnings and revenue growth trends are even more important factors to consider. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of FlexiGroup's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of FlexiGroup, it has a TSR of -67% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

Story continues

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 9.5% in the twelve months, FlexiGroup shareholders did even worse, losing 36% (even including dividends) . Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 20% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand FlexiGroup better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that FlexiGroup is showing 4 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is potentially serious...

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on AU exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Giving birth in the middle of a pandemic is a bizarre experience for any woman.

But things took an even stranger turn for one new mother when the Duchess of Cambridge appeared on a screen at her bedside for a cheery post-natal chat.

Kate gushed her congratulations to Rebecca Attwood and took great interest in how the birth had gone during a morale-boosting 'virtual' return visit to the NHS maternity unit where she previously spent two days on a work placement.

Kate (right) gushed her congratulations to Rebecca Attwood and John Gill (left) and took great interest in how the birth had gone

'Hello! Very nice to meet you,' said Kate from her Anmer Hall home in Norfolk. 'This is definitely a first, I think! Huge congratulations.'

After being told that Rebecca's son Max had arrived at 10pm the previous night, she exclaimed: 'My goodness, you must be exhausted.'

Rebecca, from Raynes Park in South-West London, said: 'Having a surprise conversation with the Duchess of Cambridge after two hours' sleep was particularly surreal.

'The Duchess asked us about having a baby at such an unusual time, and our experience on the maternity ward was that all the midwives made it as normal as possible  apart from the masks!'

After being told that Rebecca's son Max (left) had arrived at 10pm the previous night, Kate (right) exclaimed: 'My goodness, you must be exhausted'

To demonstrate the conditions they are now working under, lead midwife Sam Frewin appeared on the video call wearing a mask and plastic apron. 'I'm smiling, can you tell?' she joked.

Taking a closer look, Kate laughed: 'With your eyes, I can.'

Footage of the call to Kingston Hospital, South-West London, where the Duchess worked last November, has been released to highlight mental health issues that can affect new mothers.

Kate asked the midwives: 'What are the main concerns that mothers and potential mothers feel?'

Jo Doumouchtsi, a mental health midwife, told her there had been an increase in referrals for anxiety and extra worries about catching Covid-19 while in hospital.

Footage of the call to Kingston Hospital, South-West London, where the Duchess worked last November, has been released to highlight mental health issues that can affect new mothers. Pictured top to bottom, left to right: Jessica Read, Deputy Chief Midwifery Officer for England, Julia McGinley, Head of Parent Support, Netmums (an inclusive online parenting community), Katie Massie-Taylor, Co-founder of Mush (an online community and app for mums), Dr Edward Morris, President, The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG), Dr Alain Gregoire, Chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, Dr Cheryll Adams CBE, Executive Director, Institute of Health Visiting

'There are women that have no mental health history that are becoming incredibly anxious because of the situation currently,' she said.

The Duchess asked midwives Jennifer Tshibamba and Devica Ireson: 'How are you and your families? Are you managing? Are you OK?'

Jennifer, who works in the antenatal and newborn screening team, replied: 'The workload is the same but I think women are surprised our services are still available.

'We're saying, 'we're still open, we're still here so do come in and we can support you.' '

In a podcast about motherhood earlier this year, the Duchess spoke with candour about her own struggles following childbirth, saying: 'The challenge is when you're then sent home with your newborn baby, particularly as a first-time mother, you're like, 'Oh my goodness, am I OK to do this?' '

Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week begins tomorrow to highlight the fact one in ten mothers experience problems during pregnancy or in the first year after birth.

Seven in ten women who suffer are thought to hide or underplay the severity of the issue.

The Duke of Cambridge, a trained helicopter pilot, has given permission for the London Air Ambulance to use a private lawn at Kensington Palace for refuelling during the coronavirus crisis, saving 45-mile round trips to the nearest fuelling base in Watford.

Princess Charlotte is following a very familiar Royal pattern

by Jo Macfarlane for the Mail On Sunday

Princess Charlotte hasn't just inherited a sense of public service from her mother and her late grandmother  she's taken their timeless fashion sense too.

After the Duchess of Cambridge yesterday released another picture of her daughter delivering food parcels, more thoughtful in tone than those showing her trademark cheeky grin the previous day, Royal-watchers couldn't help but notice that her black-and-white Zara dress was following a firm family tradition.

For both Charlotte's mother and Princess Diana made quite an impression in similar houndstooth designs.

SO SWEET: Princess Charlotte looking pensive in the fifth birthday snap taken by her mother

Kate, 38, took the new, beautifully lit photograph to mark Charlotte's fifth birthday, snapping away as they delivered home-made pasta to vulnerable households near the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

The picture was posted on the Royal Family's Instagram page with the message: 'Thank you for all your lovely messages on Princess Charlotte's fifth birthday!'

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Charlotte's cousin Archie will celebrate his first birthday on Wednesday, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Los Angeles.

Left: Diana in 1987. Right: Kate in her black-and-white houndstooth in 2015, and Diana in 1987

The date signals another poignant milestone  the point at which Archie will have spent more time outside the UK than in it.

The Queen has not seen her youngest great-grandchild in person this year, which has reportedly left her 'very sad'.

It is understood Meghan and Harry will release a new portrait of their son to mark the occasion.
People across metro Atlanta went on roofs and patios, to parks and even cemeteries, or stopped on the side of a usually busy interstate to watch a military flyover Saturday afternoon.

The Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels flew to honour first responders and medical teams.

They passed over downtown and midtown, where major hospitals are located, and were loudly cheered.

People outside at historic Oakland Cemetery generally adhered to social distancing guidelines but few wore masks.

Some carried lawn chairs and beverages while others pushed strollers, while many tried to capture the moment with phones or cameras.

Georgia has already allowed businesses like hair and nail salons, restaurants and gyms to open with social distancing restrictions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EDWARDSVILLE  Operating permits for restaurants and related businesses may be extended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A three-month extension on the normal one-year permit, as well as the accompanying fee, was discussed at Fridays meeting of the Madison County Boards Health Department Committee.

Those businesses are being adversely affected, said Committee Chairman Ray Wesley, R-Godfrey, who suggested the delay after Madison County Health Department Director Toni Corona discussed the issue.

I think from a county standpoint Id like to see us do something for them to give them some relief, Wesley said.

Corona suggested a one-time revision to the countys ordinances to extend 2020 permits to 15 months from 12.

It kind of kicks the can down the road a little bit, she said. Permits are still required.

She said a change to the ordinance was probably the best way to accomplish the extension without violating county rules. Corona said she would discuss the issue with the States Attorneys Office and do some further research before bringing it back to the committee next month.

Corona also noted that, as of Thursday, there were 334 confirmed cases and 21 deaths in Madison County. She also talked about the COVID-19 Dashboard on the departments website and Facebook page that provides more information and breaks down the data.

She said there has been a request to note how many tests have been given. That is difficult for the county to know, she said, because the information goes to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The county does not have access to private testing data while IDPH does, she said.

It would be a misrepresentation for us to put that out there, Corona said. It needs to come from a bigger database.

She noted the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, which operates testing sites in Granite City and other Metro East locations, has opened a drive-through testing facility at 230 Old St. Louis Road, Wood River.

Im really happy about that, Corona said. Weve increased testing and thats something weve needed.

Expanded testing, she said, will likely result in more cases.

It is not over; its not done yet, she said, adding it is difficult to know how close the county is to the virus peak. People are just getting tired of hearing about it.

Corona said residents should not get overly excited in any dramatic one-day drop in the number of positive cases. She noted that on Monday there was only one new case.

Most of the labs have to shut down one day a week to recalibrate their equipment, and in our area that is Sunday, she said.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 07:42:03|Editor: huaxia

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Photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Kim Jong Un (3rd R), top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attending the completion ceremony of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory on May 1, 2020. (KCNA/Handout via Xinhua)

PYONGYANG, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a phosphatic fertilizer factory on Friday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Saturday.

"All the participants broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!', extending the greatest glory to the Supreme Leader who has brought about a new change" in the development of fertilizer industry, the report said.

A completion ceremony of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, which has been built as the production base of fertilizer, was splendidly held on May Day, the international holiday of the working people of the whole world, the report said.

During the ceremony, Kim looked around at several places, including raw material processing process, yellow phosphorus production process, ammonium phosphatic fertilizer production process, and packing process.

"Now it has become possible for the agricultural workers to concentrate all their efforts on attaining the grain goal set forth by the party with assurances," KCNA quoted him as saying with satisfaction.

Kim was joined by his sister Kim Yo Jong as well as other senior officials, including Pak Pong Ju, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, it added.

Pak Pong Ju made an inauguration speech, saying the completion of the factory becomes a great auspicious event which has brought great delight to all the agricultural workers and other people of the country.

This was the DPRK top leader's first public appearance in state media in more than 20 days. Enditem
UPPER THUMB  Here are some things to bring you up to speed as you begin your Friday:

Sanilac County reports another coronavirus death

Sanilac County's coronavirus death toll reached five Friday when the state released updated numbers. Sanilac, Huron and Tuscola counties all reported additional confirmed cases.

Tuscola County wants to help with concerns

The Tuscola County Health Department has a hotline devoted to addressing the coronavirus, and Tuscola Behavioral Health Services also recently started a hotline to discuss concerns.

Legislators, governor at odds over executive actions

Members of the Legislature continued to battle with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Friday, several saying Whitmer has maneuvered to attempt to keep the legislature out of decisions. On the local side, State Rep. Phil Green and Sen. Dan Lauwers opposed the actions of the governor.

Tribune takes closer look at Michigan Sugar Festival cancellation

A day after it was announced that the Michigan Sugar Festival was canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus, the Tribune spoke with organizers to learn more about the factors that led to the decision to cancel.

Coronavirus cases across the U.S.

Here is a look of where coronavirus cases are being reported across the country.

Have questions about coronavirus?

Need a question answered about coronavirus? Fill out the form below and we will try to get the answer in a future article.
Buying PPE online is 'like the Wild West', according to a care service director whose company paid 60,000 for non-existent stock.

Care agencies across the UK have been turning to online suppliers due to a lack of protective equipment for their staff.

However, AMG Nursing and Care Services, which employs 1,500 carers, were scammed when they put in a desperate order for 100,000 masks.

A home care agency in Borehamwood receives their supply of PPE on May 1. Many other care agencies have turned to online suppliers as they cannot get PPE from usual suppliers

The company has been unable to source PPE from its usual supplier as it is out of stock, meaning they have had no option but to look online, according to managers.

'We're in a situation where we don't know who we're dealing with,' operations director Rachel Simpson told the BBC.

AMG Nursing and Care Services were scammed when they put ordered 100,000 masks. Operations director Rachel Simpson said they had to pay upfront but the order never arrived.

She said: 'We've put in an order for 100,000 masks at 60,000.

'We had to pay upfront, as we are required to do with all suppliers at the moment, and the stock never came.'

Yesterday Wilf Williams, Kent and Medway NHS Covid-19 strategic commander, appealed to buyers to avoid 'bogus online offers' which would cause them to 'fall foul of poor quality kit and outright scams'.

Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed there was 'blatant profiteering' going on in the PPE supply market, with prices rising more than eightfold in some cases.

Coveralls that were listed for 2 in January by one company now coasted 16.50, he claimed.

He also said the trust had 'been inundated with offers of PPE both from this country and abroad' at exploitative prices.

Mr Hulme added: 'I probably get between 10 and 15 emails a day offering me all sorts of PPE that I know isn't available

'There's no amount of supply chain issues that could demand that sort of increase and this for me was blatant profiteering.

'It's completely unacceptable.'

Private companies are at a disadvantage when it comes to sourcing PPE as they have to buy it on the free market, instead of being able to purchase it through the NHS supply chain.

Last month care home bosses accused the government of a 'shambolic' response to the sector's coronavirus crisis, with insiders claiming they were only receiving 'paltry' deliveries of essential PPE.

PPE purchases for care homes and providers became VAT-free yesterday until 31 July.
A 62-year-old coronavirus positive woman from Ambala City, with underlying health conditions, died on Saturday, bringing the death count to five in Haryana, a health official said.

The woman died at PGIMER, Chandigarh, where she was admitted to last Friday with kidney and liver ailments, Ambala Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Kuldeep Singh said.

She tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, Singh said.

The CMO said the Ambala health department was informed about her death by PGIMER authorities.

Ambala's health authorities sealed off the entire Rattangarh area, from where the woman belonged to. Around 70 samples of the residents of the locality and the relatives of the woman were sent to PGIMER Chandigarh for testing after her report came out positive. All the samples were found negative, he added.

The woman's death was second from Ambala district and fifth coronavirus-related fatality in the state. Haryana recorded its first COVID-19-related death around a month ago when a 67-year-old man from Ambala, who also had underlying health conditions, died at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actor Mithila Palkar, who worked with late actor Irrfan Khan in Kaarwaan, has shared a video in which she paid tribute to the actor who died earlier this week. Sharing the video on Instagram, Mithila addressed her note to Irrfans character in the film and wrote, Hey Shaukat, This #SingSongSaturday is dedicated to you. Im struggling with the singing and strumming as usual but I tried to learn this just so I could bother you with my Binaca Geetmala, one last time. Khush rehna, jahaan bhi ho. Khuda haafiz Love. Tanya. #KarwaanForever.

Also read: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bipasha Basu share hard-hitting video on how we are living amid The Great Realisation

While Mithila played a young girl in the film that also starred Dulquer Salman, Irrfan essayed the role of an elder man, who turned cabbie for her on a long journey.The film released in 2018.

Talking about her experience, Mithila had told Hindustan Times in an interview, Also, working with my two co-stars was fabulous. I was the youngest on the set, and would observe everything like a wide-eyed child. It was like Disneyland! Shooting for the film was an enriching experience. They (Irrfan and Dulquer) made my job easy.

About Irrfan being diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumour, Mithila had added, It was heartbreaking, but you have to face things. Hes very brave about it. Theres a lot of love and respect for him. My prayers are with him.

Irrfan died in a Mumbai hospital after being admitted for colon infection. Responding to the sad demise of the actor, Mithila had posted a picture with him and written on Instagram, Happy times, happier memories! Rest in peace, Sir. They dont make gems like you anymore.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
They came by the hundreds to show the Cross Man their gratitude and love, and not just from the Chicago area but from across the nation, which should not have been a surprise considering the thousands of miles Zanis has covered in the last two decades erecting his handmade crosses at the sites of mass shootings in this country.
Multiple award-winning American rapper Meek Mill has stated that he will be coming straight to Ghana as soon as the deadly coronavirus is out of the way.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

It is unclear why the talented rapper is eager to come to Ghana but it is possible he wants to come for the 'Beyond the Return' celebrations which would have been massive this year if not for COVID-19.

READ ALSO: 5 top Ghanaian musicians Kennedy Agyapong listens to

In a Twitter post sighted by YEN.com.gh, the 'Ima Boss' hitmaker said he will be coming to Ghana as soon as COVID-19 is over.

I wanna go get o Ghana and ride when this over!, he tweeted.

READ ALSO: Bola Ray speaks after KOD, Jon Germain resign; denies giving Funny Face a fresh car

Meanwhile, Meek Mill had earlier revealed his plans of buying a mansion in Africa.

READ ALSO: Kalybos speaks after Funny Face dared him, Lilwin and Bismark The Joke

The rapper made the disclosure on his Twitter page on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, but failed to mention the African country he intends to buy the mansion.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong says there are some Ghanaian artistes that he enjoys listening to a lot.

READ ALSO: I miss my daughters - Funny Face says amid reports of wife leaving with twins

According to the Ghanaian business mogul, anytime he hears a song from these artistes, he gets excited.

He added that he likes listening to Ghanaian music and also foreign ones.

In an interview on YFM and monitored by YEN.com.gh, Kennedy Agyapong listed his top five musicians he loves to listen to in no particular order.

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh
Bengaluru, May 2 : As part of easing the lockdown restrictions, liquor shops would be allowed to reopen across Karnataka, including in red zones but not in the hotspots, state Excise Minister H. Nagesh said on Saturday.

"Liquor shops or their retail outlets are allowed to reopen from May 4 across the state, including in red zones like Bengaluru and Mysuru, except the hotspots listed by the state health care department," Nagesh told reporters here.

Containment areas have been earmarked in red zones like Bengaluru where Covid-19 positive cases have been more than 15 in the last 14 days.

"The licensed shops will remain open for business from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and should not allow more than five customers inside it at a time to maintain physical/social distancing," Nagesh asserted.

Admitting that the state lost about Rs 3,000 crore in excise duty during the lockdown period since March 25, Ganesh hoped the state government would be able to make-up for the loss as liquor sale was banned and shops, bars, pubs, restaurants and inns remained shut as per the guidelines.

"While liquor will not be sold in the hotspots, people are also banned from taking drinks or drinking them in the containment zones in the red zones," Nagesh pointed out.

Liquor shops have already been allowed to reopen in the green zones across the state where no virus case was reported over the last 28 days.

"Drunken driving and liquor induced brawls or violence are not allowed," the minster added.
IWC Schaffhausen has become the first luxury watch brand to meet the new 2019 Code of Practices (COP) standard set by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). By attaining this certification, the Swiss manufacturer reaffirms its commitment to the responsible sourcing of precious materials and a new benchmark of sustainability for the industry.



Since it was founded in 2005, the RJC has provided a clear Code of Practices (COP) for members within the watch and jewellery sector, from mining to retail, to ensure ethical, social and environmental responsibility. IWC first joined the leading global standards organisation in 2012, gaining the 2013 COP certification in both 2014 and 2017.

IWC Schaffhausen  IWC Schaffhausen

Last year, the RJC unveiled a revised version of their COP standard, which included stronger provisions for responsible business practices, activities and supply chain management. As soon as these revised standards came into force, IWC, due for recertification and eligible to choose either Code, asked to be recertified to the new 2019 COP standard. Opening the business to be verified by independent third-party auditors, the company was judged to be compliant with all applicable laws and regulations. The audit also recognised IWCs adoption of good practices beyond what is legally required, including in sourcing, employer responsibility, customer interactions and our investment in our local communities.



IWC is honoured to become the first Swiss luxury watch brand to receive this more stringent level of certification, explained IWCs CMO and Sustainability Committee Chair Franziska Gsell. Being a member of the RJC allows us to examine every aspect of our business through their well-respected lens to ensure we are meeting the rising ethical demands of our consumers and employees. Our product is designed to last for generations, and becomes truly sustainable when it is made responsibly.



The RJC also offers a voluntary Chain of Custody (CoC) standard that defines an approach for companies to handle and trade gold, silver and platinum group metals in a way that is fully traceable and responsibly sourced. IWC is now working with its carefully selected suppliers to become one of the first Swiss watch brands to attain this CoC certification of specific gold components.



We believe that being COP certified accurately illustrates our dedicated efforts to securing a responsible supply chain, Franziska Gsell added. As we continue to conduct our business in this socially and environmentally sustainable manner, our next aim is to lead the way in Swiss watch manufacturing by being audited for CoC certification to reflect further the very great care we take in sourcing our materials.



We would like to congratulate IWC on achieving re-certification for our 2019 Code of Practices standardy, said Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council. They have been a long-term supporter of the RJC and have shown strong commitment towards implementing and promoting responsible business practices in their supply chain. In this era of trust and resilience, now more than ever there is a need for more companies like IWC to inspire, take action and commit towards a journey of purpose and continuous improvement.
By The Associated Press May. 01, 2020 | 06:04 PM | FRANKFORT

Kentuckians choosing to vote by absentee mail-in balloting in next month's primary won't have to pay for postage.The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the State Board of Elections adopted the free postage at a special meeting Friday.Every voter will get a postcard inviting them to vote by this method, and a secure online portal will soon be in place for requesting an absentee ballot. Once they receive and complete their absentee ballot, voters may return it free through the mail, or drop their ballot at a secure county-government location. County clerks' offices will provide more information in June.The board also said county clerks will be able to hire temporary help to manage the election during the coronavirus pandemic.Chairman of the Election Board, Ben Chandler stated, "These regulations represent a bipartisan effort to guarantee that citizens of the Commonwealth are able to participate in a fair election while maintaining the social-distancing standards we need in order to slow the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable in our state, including poll workers and other voters."The State Board of Elections is asking voters to make this election safe by voting absentee by mail. They also ask that voters be patient and allow County Clerks and their staff time to build these systems and processes up in the coming weeks.Voters are also advised that in-person voting by appointment will be available beginning June 8 through 6:00 PM on Election Day, June 23, 2020, however, voters are strongly urged to apply for and vote by absentee mail ballotThe boards emergency regulations follow Gov. Andy Beshears executive order last week that calls on all voters to use absentee voting by mail if they can in the June 23 primary election.

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The coronavirus outbreak across the globe has now infected over 34.5 lakh people with claiming more than 2.42 lakh lives.

According to the Wordometers' coronavirus data at 11:15 PM IST, around 34,51,000 people have been tested COVID-19 positive across 212 countries and territories while close to 2,43,000 people have succumbed to the virus.

There were around 52,920 confirmed cases in the world in the last 24 hours while more than 3,545 people lost their lives due to the fatal virus.

The United States (US) with 11,42,700 cases has been the worst-hit country in the world. The US in the last 24 hours reported more than 11,000 COVID-19 positive cases.

The US is followed by Spain where over 2,45,550 people have contracted the coronavirus. Spain on Saturday recorded over 2,500 new cases. Although, joggers, cyclists, and surfers across Spain emerged from their homes, with adults allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks as the government began easing tough COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

With 1,900 new confirmed cases on Saturday, Italy on the third spot has now witnessed close to 2,10,000 COVID-19 cases.

The United Kingdom which has been the worst-hit country in the world from the past few days saw close to 5,000 cases in a day. The number of COVID-19 patients in the UK now stands at 1,82,200. Meanwhile, the UK PM Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds who were recently blessed with a newborn son, named him Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas, partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they said had saved the British leader`s life as he battled COVID-19 last month.

France on the fifth spot has 1,67,300 coronavirus positive cases. Travellers to France, including French citizens returning home, will face a compulsory two-week quarantine and possible isolation when they arrive in the country to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Germany on the sixth spot has registered over 1,64,400 infections.

Turkey between Friday 11 PM and Saturday 11 PM reported more than 1,900 cases. The total count in the country now has jumped to 1,24,370.

Russia, which saw the second most number of COVID-19 cases in the world after the US in the last 24 hours, recorded close to 10,000 cases. The country's COVID-19 count has increased to 1,24,000 with most of the cases being reported in the capital, Moscow.

Iran (96,440 cases), Brazil (92,630), China (82,870), and Canada (56,550) are the other worst-hit nations in the world.

Most COVID-19 deaths in the world:

The US remained top on this list as it saw 868 new COVID-19 deaths in a day. The number of COVID-19 deaths in the US now stands at 66,620.

Italy being the second-worst affected nation, on Saturday recorded 474 deaths. Italy's death count now stands at 28,710.

621 new deaths took UK's death toll to 28,130.

The UK is followed by Spain where the COVID-19 deaths breached the 25,000-mark on Saturday. Spain's death count now stands at 25,100.

France on the fifth spot has more than 24,500 coronavirus deaths in the country.
Little did Emilia Memory know what was to come when she placed a yellow house on the edge of an iceberg.

How her final year of secondary school would turn out. That her resulting artwork would end up being shown by Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art. And that the piece would be shown virtually, as the world was plunged into a new unknown - brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Emilia Memory photographed it in a way that brought the theme of the unknown forward, provoking fear and loneliness.

Ms Memory became one of 33 Queensland senior high school recipients of the annual Creative Generation Excellence Awards in visual art.

The Lourdes Hill College graduate said she had no intention of her artwork going anywhere until her teacher nominated the piece.
A nurse checks on a patient who has recovered from COVID-19 as he donates plasma at a hospital in Manila. (Maria Tan / AFP/Getty Images)

After decades of exporting its nurses to other countries, the Philippines is now pressuring them to stay home to fight the coronavirus.

The country, which is experiencing the second-most deadly outbreak of the disease in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, has barred health workers with new contracts from overseas jobs and launched an emergency hiring program to shore up a medical system that was failing even before the pandemic began.

The changes mark one more twist in the complex history of Philippine nurses, whose professional origins date back to American colonial rule more than a century ago when they were trained to care for U.S. soldiers.

Often tapped to fill shortages in other nations, Philippine nurses are the backbone of many healthcare facilities across the world and disproportionately planted on the front lines against COVID-19. In California, nearly one-fifth of registered nurses are ethnic Filipinos in a state where less than 4% of the population is Filipino.

"If our nurses were to come back from overseas, the healthcare systems of those countries would collapse," said Ted Herbosa, former Philippine Health Department undersecretary and an advisor to the nation's COVID-19 task force.

Lorena Rolando was about to leave for a nursing job in Germany until travel restrictions closed international borders. Now she finds herself bemused and exploited at her country's sudden outpouring of recognition for front-line health workers and patriotic appeals for them to stay home.

It feels like a slap in the face," said Rolando, whose first nursing job in Manila a decade ago paid her $7 per 12-hour shift. "If this pandemic didnt happen, they wouldnt appreciate nurses and the work we do. They just see us as someone who washes the patient's" behind, she said.

A makeshift nurses station at a COVID-19 isolation facility set up in a parking lot in Quezon City, Philippines. (Ezra Acayan / Getty Images)

Nurses were once criticized for leaving the Philippines. But in the 1970s the country began promoting the export of caregivers and other Philippine workers whose remittances lifted the economy. Those who went abroad were portrayed as national heroes. Today, money sent home by Philippine workers accounts for 10% of the nation's gross domestic product, roughly equal to the role exports play in the U.S. economy.

Story continues

The pandemic threatens that economic model. Philippine domestic workers can't reach employers in places like Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, and the lull in maritime transportation, particularly cruise ships, threatens the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Philippine seafarers.

Nurses, on the other hand, are being told jobs await them at home. But a tradition of exploitation marked by grueling work hours and little to no pay has left many skeptical of answering the call.

Safety concerns are high given the dearth of protective gear. At least 21 doctors and six nurses have died of the virus in the Philippines. President Rodrigo Duterte angered the medical community when he said in March health workers were "lucky to die" in service of their country. Critics say the veneration of workers is designed to justify their sacrifice and obscure the government's failings.

Filipino nurses have long been treated as products for export  produced and marketed to wealthier countries looking to buy cheaper labor for their own understaffed hospitals," said Yasmin Ortiga, a sociologist at Singapore Management University and an expert on Philippine nurses. "The pandemic changes the dynamic in that now. ... But in the end, the nurses are still treated like commodities to use, and not as people who deserve proper compensation and support.

The government initially sought volunteers to plug the shortage of health workers with a $10 daily stipend. That was met with public outrage, resulting in the introduction of the emergency hiring program that offers potential full-time employment, hazard pay and a lump sum of about $20,000 in case of death.

It is unclear if the country will find enough takers, especially among nurses furious about being barred from taking positions waiting for them in other countries. At least 1,700 applications have been received in the last two weeks, according to the health department, which is seeking 15,700 workers to staff its COVID-19 facilities.

Medical workers in a makeshift nurses station for treating COVID-19 patients in Manila. (Ezra Acayan / Getty Images)

Nurse advocates say applicants are wary because the poor conditions and low wages that drive thousands of nurses to seek work overseas persist. Nurses are still waiting for the salary increase set by the Supreme Court in October that would triple wages in public hospitals to at least $600 a month.

The irony of preventing health workers from going overseas is that the country of 108 million should have an ample pool of candidates to draw from  despite reports of a nursing shortage. The Philippines is living with the legacy of a nursing boom that peaked in 2005 when there were about 370 nursing schools that took in about 400,000 students annually.

The glut created a market for labor in which hospitals preyed on graduates who needed work experience  often as much as two years  to qualify for jobs overseas. In practices that have since been banned, hospitals established volunteer positions with no pay and work for a fee schemes packaged as in-hospital training programs that came with price tags as large as $300.

A nationwide survey in 2016 conducted by the advocacy group Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates found two-thirds of its 750 members had paid a fee to work or worked for free. Respondents said that the experience left them feeling a sense of degradation.

Only one-fifth of the 475,000 nursing graduates from 2012 to 2016 found employment abroad, government statistics show. Many of those left behind looked at the prospects at Philippine hospitals and decided to seek jobs as call center agents, flight attendants and hotel workers instead.

Jean Seno's decade as a nurse has mostly been a series of contractual jobs that meant she would be employed for only a few months at a time, with low wages and long hours. She started her career in her hometown of Cotabato in the southern Philippines as a trainee with no pay. Feeling hopeless about work conditions ever improving, she recently sought employment overseas.

I think I have served my country long enough. Its time to think of myself, said Seno, 30, who eventually accrued enough continuous experience to receive an offer to work at a hospital in Britain.

She said she'll leave as soon as travel restrictions are lifted.

Hospitals badly need experienced nurses like Seno, but the countrys decentralized health system gives local authorities discretionary powers to direct funds toward more politically beneficial expenditures.

Rather than spend on increasing salaries of health workers, local officials would rather spend on roads and infrastructure  the tangible things that voters can see and remember, Herbosa said.

A nurse inserts a needle into a plasma donor's arm in Manila. (Maria Tan / AFP/Getty Images)

That's resulted in dire underfunding and scant medical resources in a country where 7 in 10 people die each year without ever seeing a health professional. Private hospitals are just as chronically understaffed and pay nurses even less than public institutions. Collectively, the ratio of nurses to patients in the Philippines of between 1-to-50 and 1-to-80 falls far below the Department of Health Standards prescribed ratio of 1-to-12.

"The Philippines has a worse nurse-to-patient ratio than countries like the U.S., U.K. and Canada  the same countries they're exporting nursing professionals to," said Catherine Choy, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley and author of "Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History."

That fact is not lost on some Philippine nurses.

Jhong dela Cruz left the Philippines five years ago to take up a nursing job at a hospital in Washington, D.C. The 26-year-old said he feels more fulfilled in the U.S. because doctors treat nurses as equals.

Still, he follows reports of the outbreak in the Philippines, where 60 million people remain under lockdown on Luzon, the island that encompasses the sprawling capital of Manila. He fears for the safety of his medical counterparts and can't suppress his guilt for being so far away.

The other day, I administered eye drops to someone else's mom, measured the blood sugar of someone elses dad," he said. "In my heart of hearts, I want to do this for my own people. I want to be the one to take care of my family if they get sick. The salary and the job security of choosing to work here comes with its own pain.

Times staff writer Pierson reported from Singapore and special correspondent Santos from Manila.
While the Nigerian government has been shuffling various strategies to curtail a catastrophic outcome from the coronavirus pandemic, it has failed to chart a clear role for the Primary Health Care (PHC) level of the health system, health experts have said.

Despite President Muhammadu Buharis approval of a gradual easing of lockdown measures in the capital, Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states from Monday, Nigerias COVID-19 ordeal is still unfolding and its eventual casualties remain unknown.

The number of infections has been increasing exponentially  from one case in Lagos on February 27 to more than 2,000 as of Saturday morning, after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported 238 new cases on Friday night, the nations highest daily tally.

The federal governments plan relies heavily on ramping up its daily testing and tracing of contacts, expanding the capacity of isolation and treatment centres with sustained training and protection of frontline health workers.

Though these measures have proven critical, the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale (PACaH@Scale) in a statement on Thursday said the PHC facilities have been under-emphasised and relegated to the background in the scheme of things.

It said the current approach highlights how much the primary healthcare system has been neglected even though it is considered the first line of defense during pandemic outbreaks by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

This can be largely attributed to the multiple challenges with Nigerias PHC system but PACaH@Scale, a leading health advocacy group believes Primary Health systems still have an important role to play.

While infectious disease control requires highly specialised interventions with facilities removed from communities there is still an important role for PHCs in infectious disease prevention, the statement said.

Primary Health Care centres in Nigeria, even if equipped poorly, are the hub for healthcare in the community and well positioned as the primary point of care under the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) National Policy. The fight against Covid  19 should not be one which trades off PHCs against a specialised and central command system of service delivery.

Four point agenda

Below is a four-point agenda on how the PHC system can help in the fight against COVID-19, according to PACaH@Scale and a coalition of other 24 Civil Society organisations on public health:

1. The Government of Nigeria and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in particular, should pivot and leverage PHCs as centres for community-based trainings and sensitisation engagements on hand washing and behavior change communication on social distancing for local communities, especially in rural geographies.

Under the PHCUOR National Policy, the PHC health system has already been entrusted key social and behavioral change communication roles in areas of nutrition, polio and routine immunisation as well as prevention of diarrhea and pneumonia of infants and children. In regions with limited access to the internet where videos of hand-washing can be demonstrated, PHC staff are well placed to demonstrate proper handwashing and social distancing protocols.

READ ALSO:

2. Across Nigerias 36 states and in the FCT, PHCs are struggling to respond to the demands of the National and State Primary Health Development Agencies to continue providing services. Experiences from the Ebola outbreak in West and Central Africa provide the evidence base for not disrupting PHC services during an epidemic outbreak and no doubt underpin the expectation of the National and State PHCDAs.

The enlightenment campaign of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to reassure all Nigerians that PHC services will continue must be seen in this light. PHCs struggling to provide services for a mass clientele during this hot season or routine immunization services are in dire need of clear guidelines of how to remain active while not inadvertently spreading COVID-19.

As the hot season approaches many states are coordinating Meningitis vaccinations programs within the PHC system; routine immunization has not stopped; women are giving birth; and research is being conducted in states with where new Vaccine-Derived Polio Virus type 2 (cVDPV2), cases have emerged. While PHCs are providing on-going public health services a strategic opportunity is being missed to incorporate COVID-19 protocols in their on-going services. Therefore, if PHC services are to remain undisrupted, critical questions must be asked about whether state governments have provided enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to staff and whether they have received updates in hand-washing protocols?

3. Nigerian civil society community have been grumbling their under-presentation in National and State governments COVID-19 situation rooms and coordination points. They ask  where are the Market Women Associations? Where are the health professional associations? Where is the Guild of Nigerian Actors? Where are representatives of Nigerias numerous religious and traditional leaders councils in these coordinating agencies and situational rooms? Maybe if they sat in situation rooms our Imams and Pastors would not continue to curate their flock for religious worship and our Actors and Actresses will realize the seriousness of COVID-19 and lend their voice to the campaign. While we agree that Infectious Disease health professionals must take the lead in testing and treatment; and that Epidemiologist are vanguards for contact tracing, there is also an important role for civil society groups to mobilize communities for behavioral change to prevent the spread of the virus.

The PHC level provides an effective opportunity to engage civil society groups, including traditional and faith leaders and their communities of faith at the local level. Traditional/Religious leaders served as gatekeepers, key influencers, and guiding voices to most Nigerian communities. PHC centres can and should be positioned to serve as the NPHCDA/SPHCDA and the NCDC agents for interfacing with the Traditional/Religious leaders with regularity to support the process of community engagement, contact tracing, and subsequently, referrals and reporting back to the NCDC.

Despite their well-known limitations, one critical success factor of PHC centres all over Nigeria is that they have well-established lines of coordination with community-based associations, traditional and faith leaders on issues related to disease outbreaks, to complaints of poor service, to social welfare for indigent patients. This asset can and must be pivoted and leveraged in the fight against COVID-19.

4. The governments initiative to recruit 774,000 new sanitation officers in the fight against COVID-9 is commendable and has great potential for readdressing falling sanitation and hygiene standards in our over-crowded and infrastructure overburdened urban, peri-urban and rural centres across Nigeria. For hand-washing to be effective in the fight against COVID-19 there must be water; for water to be utilisable; it must be clean; for the 774,000 new sanitation officers to fulfill their role; they must be anchored within a PHC system. Within the PHC system their knowledge and skills will be stepped-down and reinforced. Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health are all interlinked and should not be separated in the fight against COVID- 19.
- Face masks look like are here to stay and with no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, Kenya made it mandatory for people to these protective gear in public

- Many people are embracing the directive, using whatever they have to make creative face masks

- Although these look like beautiful creations, they may not all keep you safe from COVID-19

The government of Kenya imposed several precautionary measures to stop there spread of COVID-19 within the country immediately it recorded its first case on March 13, 2020.

Among them was the closure of all learning institutions, observing social distance, self quarantine for people who were arriving from outside the country, working from home and washing hands.

READ ALSO: Tanzania parliament suspended after second MP dies

Backed by creativity and skills, Kenyans started coming up with inventions that substituted the face masks. Photo: Mike Sonko.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Nairobi hairdressers invent new spiky style resembling coronavirus to create awareness

When it became apparent the virus was no longer being imported into the country by people jetting in from foreign lands, the government imposed more measures including wearing masks.

The government later announced Kenyans who took lightly the requirement of wearing masks as one of the precautions against the spread of coronavirus would be arrested and prosecuted.

Users of public or private transport ...shall wear proper masks that must cover the mouth and nose, Kagwe said in a Kenya Gazette Supplement No 41.

READ ALSO: Madagascar using own medicine to treat COVID-19, has no recorded death

A person who commits an offence under these rules shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding KSh 20,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months," he added.

For many Kenyans living on less than a dollar in a day, this was a tall order and they had to find ways of coming up with equivalents of the hospital masks to avoid being arrested.

Backed by creativity and skills, they started coming up with inventions that substituted the face masks but at the same time keep the virus as bay.

READ ALSO: 125k birthdays cards: War veteran who raised billions for COVID-19 pandemic celebrates 100th birthday in style

Here are some of the creative face masks Kenyans came up with in order to play their role in the fight against the spread of the virus.

1: Reusable cloth masks

Textile factories and tailors scrambled to produce tens of millions of masks. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

Textile factories and tailors scrambled to produce tens of millions of masks after the government made it mandatory to wear one while in public places.

This makes more economic sense for Kenyans who cannot afford to buy single-use ones.

READ ALSO: Baboon Josephine: Elgeyo Marakwet man abandoned by wife, children after adopting ape

2: Kitchen paper towels

Grace Wanjiru was making sure that children in her neighbourhood had facemask to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Photo: Mike Sonko

Source: Facebook

Grace Wanjiru was making sure that children in her neighbourhood had facemask to prevent the spread of coronavirus

The 10-year-old girl improvised the facemasks by using kitchen towel and rubber bands she had bought using money she had been saving

3: Women's bra cups

Women decided to turn old bras into masks that were easily affordable and readily available. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

With the online space littered with many ways of turning various previously unthought-of items into facemasks, one that stood out is that of using an old bra

Women decided to turn old bras into masks that were easily affordable and readily available given that a majority of them could not afford the masks sold in chemists.

READ ALSO: Animal trainer uses dogs to cheer up frontline workers fighting COVID-19

4: Female underwear

Murang'a residents wore women underwear cut out to look like face masks costing a paltry KSh.20. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

A section of Muranga residents were reduced into wearing some rather unorthodox masks after they were duped by unscrupulous traders.

The residents wore women underwear cut out to look like face masks costing a paltry KSh.20

The residents said they realized they were wearing panties long after they had bought the masks.

5: Cabbage leaf

Harrison Chege, a 60-year-old resident of Kibera slums is a man out to do whatever it takes not to lose the battle to Coronavirus.

Despite not being able to afford food as well as spending money on buying facemasks for his family and children, he opted to use waste cabbage leaves.

He collects the waste cabbage leaves from market places and groceries after they have been disposed of.

READ ALSO: Nairobi man forced to raise twins alone after wife dies during delivery

6: Handkerchiefs

A disabled man from Bungoma County offered to make and distribute masks for free to residents, with an aim of preventing the spread of coronavirus.

David Juma who is an electronic repairer and a tailor in the village said he decided to make and distribute masks for free as a way of thanking them for promoting his business.

Juma also says that he decided to do so after he spotted a woman covering his face using a handkerchief instead of a face mask.

7: Cutouts from plastic bottles

The image painted a stark reality of how poor Kenyans were struggling to keep the risk of COVID-19 at bay.

Source: Twitter

The family of a woman and her children were pictured wearing plastic bottle improvised masks at the Likoni Ferry Crossing channel

The image painted a stark reality of how poor Kenyans were struggling to keep the risk of COVID-19 at bay.

In an apparent gesture that demonstrates awareness about the existence of the deadly virus the woman improvised plastic water bottles to design masks for her daughter and herself.

READ ALSO: Nairobi woman narrates how Ghanaian lover conned, left her homeless

8: Sanitary pads

Thomas Kiringe made his masks using the sanitary pad lining which he says is very effective in keeping the virus at bay. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

A youthful doctor from Embu embarked on making face masks using sanitary pads.

Thomas Kiringe, a doctor at Imara Medi Plus plaza in Embu made his masks using the sanitary pad lining which he says is very effective in keeping the virus at bay.

He said that based on his research and his medical background he settled for the pads liner whose filter- similar to the one in an N95 mask- is essential in keeping microbes away.

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
Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in 20 days amid speculation about his health.

The North Korean leader cut the ribbon at the opening of a fertiliser factory in Sunchon at a ceremony with other senior officials.

These included his sister Kim Yo Jong, who many analysts predict would take over if her brother is suddenly unable to rule.

State media said workers at the factory broke into thunderous cheers for Mr Kim, who it said is guiding the nation in a struggle to build a self-reliant economy in the face of head wind by hostile forces.

It was Mr Kims first public appearance since April 11, when he presided over a ruling Workers Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus and reappoint his sister as an alternate member of the powerful decision-making Political Bureau of the partys Central Committee.

Speculation about his health ramped up after he missed the April 15 birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the countrys most important holiday, for the first time since taking power in 2011.

The possibility of high-level instability raised troubling questions about the future of the secretive, nuclear-armed state that has been steadily building an arsenal meant to threaten the US mainland while diplomacy between Mr Kim and US President Donald Trump has stalled.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Trump declined to comment about Mr Kims reappearance but said he would have something to say about it at the appropriate time.

Mr Kim made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of the fertiliser factory (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)

State media reported Mr Kim was carrying out routine activities outside public view, such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa and expressing gratitude to workers building tourist facilities in the coastal town of Wonsan, where some speculated he was staying.

South Koreas government, which has a mixed record of tracking Pyongyangs ruling elite, repeatedly downplayed speculation that Mr Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor health following surgery.

It was not immediately clear what caused Kims absence in recent weeks.

In 2014, Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks and then reappeared with a cane. South Koreas spy agency said he had a cyst removed from his ankle.
The energy sector, already reeling from a collapse in demand and prices, faces steeper losses ahead as the full impact of business shutdowns and social distancing are felt over the next few months, the nation's biggest oil companies said Friday.

Even as Texas joined 15 other states in starting to reopen its economy Friday, oil and gas companies said they expect demand for petroleum to power cars, trucks and planes will rebound slowly from the unprecedented plunge in energy consumption related to the coronavirus pandemic. For Houston, home to scores of energy companies and tens of thousands energy workers, that could mean more deeper spending cuts, more layoffs and another difficult climb from an oil bust.

It will take time for businesses to recover and for consumer confidence to return, Darren Woods, chief executive of Irving-based Exxon Mobil, a major employer Houston, told analysts in a conference call Friday. Its going to be a very challenging summer and a sloppy market.

Global demand for oil  at 100 million barrels per day before the novel coronavirus hit  has plunged 25 percent as consumers around the world hunkered down at home to slow the virus spread, leaving cars parked in driveways and planes sitting on tarmacs. U.S. gasoline demand has plummeted by more than 40 percent from a year ago, while inventories are 10 percent above the average for this time of year, the Energy Department said Wednesday. U.S. refineries are operating at 70 percent of their capacity.

The sharp decline in demand has exacerbated the global oil glut, so much so that producers are having trouble finding places to store it. The price of oil has plunged 70 percent since the start of the year, with the impact spreading broadly across the oil and gas industry, hitting producers, refiners and oil field services companies.

U.S. benchmark crude settled Friday at $19.78, well below the $50 and $60 per barrel needed for most U.S. producers to turn a profit.

The U.S. oil industry, even the global oil industry, cant work at $15 crude, Dane Gregoris, senior vice president with Calgary-based RS Energy said. I dont think its going to be $15 forever, but the real question is can you make it to the other side? The supermajors can, but what shape will they come out?

Exxon, Chevron and the Houston refiner Phillips 66 on Friday reported wildly divergent earnings during the first quarter, which ended March 31, shortly after oil prices began to collapse and states started imposing stay-at-home orders. The quarter, hit only at the end by the twin shocks, masked the full extent of the pain wrought by the coronavirus.

Exxon Mobil said it lost $610 million in the first quarter, its first quarterly loss since the company was formed by the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999. Phillips 66, the Houston refining and pipeline company, reported a first-quarter loss of $2.5 billion, compared with a $204 million profit it reported a year ago.

On Thursday, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said it lost $1.7 billion in the first quarter, compared with a $1.8 billion profit a year ago.

Some of the losses could be attributed to billions of dollars in write-downs of the value of businesses in the face of lower prices for crude oil and petroleum products.

Chevron reported earnings of $3.6 billion, a nearly 40 percent jump from the $2.6 billion profit a year ago, but still struck a somber note. The company warned investors to expect depressed financial results in future quarters as long as oil prices remain low.

Im an optimist. I believe that the world will return to some post-coronavirus form of normal, Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth told analysts Friday. That means economic activity, growth and travel. But the pace and pattern at which we re-emerge is open to a wide range of views and I dont think anybody can predict that.

Energy companies revised their financial outlook and announced additional cuts to their 2020 capital spending budgets used to fund oil exploration and production. Chevron on Friday said it will cut an additional $2 billion, leaving its capital budget at $14 billion.

Concho Resources, a Midland, Texas-based driller, said it would cut its capital spending 40 percent to $1.6 billion.

Nearly 30,000 pink slips

With oil companies tightening their belts, drilling rig operators are getting pink slips in shale plays across the United States. Some 43 energy companies have disclosed nearly 30,000 so far this year, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of company filings and state employment notices. The vast majority of publicly announced layoffs are from the oil field services sector.

Tulsa, Okla.-based drilling rig operator Helmerich & Payne on Friday said it decommissioned 37 rigs and laid off 2,800 people across the United States during the first three months of the year.

Helmerich & Payne has 262 rigs remaining in U.S. oil fields but the companys chief financial officer Mark Smith said he expects to end the third quarter with fewer than 70 rigs in operation.

The frac sand industry is one of the hardest hit in the oilfield service sector. Sand is used in vast quantities in hyrdraulic fracturing, which blasts a high-pressure slurry of sand, water and chemicals into wells to free oil and gas from shale rock.

Houston frac sand company U.S. Silica posted a $72.6 million loss in the first quarter, nearly four times larger than the $19.3 million loss one year earlier. The company has idled seven sand mines and reduced capacity at six more over the past year, resulting in a 75 percent reduction of the company's production capacity, New York investment advisory firm Evercore reported.

U.S. Silica laid off 105 people in Midland last month but the company is not alone. Black Mountain Sand, Covia, Signal Peak Silica and Capital Proppants laid off another 451 people over the past three weeks as they either shut down or scaled back operations in Texas and Oklahoma.

Pipeline companies with available crude oil storage appear to be doing the best in this market environment. Houston pipeline and export terminal operator Enterprise Products Partners recorded a $1.4 billion profit in the first quarter - the highest profit in the companys 52-year history.

Over the past two months, Enterprise has been switching ethane, propane and butane tanks over to hold crude oil as customers seek to store oil until prices return higher. And with some of the last remaining crude oil storage in the United States, Enterprise is expected to collect some handsome fees.

We think our storage is worth its weight in gold, Teague said.

Energy companies said they will wait to see strong and stable demand in oil markets before ramping up production and refining.

Bob Herman, Phillips 66s executive vice president of refining told analysts: The last thing we or anybody else wants to do is start a unit up and then shut it down a week later or a couple of weeks later.

paul.takahashi@chron.com

sergio.chapa@chron.com

lynn.sixel@chron.com
We have all heard of the smartphone and any day now, most of us will have one. Not far behind: the smart home. Writing in the latest issue ...
A journalist who had worked for some of China's most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed.

The sentence handed down on Chen Jieren is one of the harshest moves yet against free speech by China's government under President Xi Jinping, who has muzzled the press and ordered Chinese media outlets to serve the ruling Communist Party's interests.

It comes as China faces international scrutiny over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including questions over whether authorities covered up crucial information that could have prevented it spreading globally.

Chen, a former journalist with Communist mouthpiece People's Daily, was convicted Thursday of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble, extortion, illegal business operations and bribery," a court in central Hunan province said in a statement posted online.

The charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" is a catch-all that Chinese authorities sometimes use against people who criticise the regime.

The court statement said Chen had posted "false" and "negative" information online "to hype relevant cases under the guise of providing legal advice."

It said Chen was part of an "evil force" along with his ex-wife and three other people that illegally accrued 7.3 million yuan ($1 million) from their activities.

The Chinese Human Rights Defenders watchdog said Chen was convicted "apparently to punish him for his political speech on WeChat and other social media platforms", calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

It said Chen had been sacked from state media outlets including the China Youth Daily, Beijing Daily, and People's Daily.

Since then he had published online commentaries and investigative reports on social media.

The group accused Chinese authorities of denying Chen a fair trial.

Story continues

- Silencing critics -

China has faced criticism after authorities in the coronavirus origin city of Wuhan reprimanded whistle-blowers who sought to raise an early alarm about the virus, prompting accusations that the cover-up may have fuelled the pandemic.

Authorities also clamped down on Chinese citizen-journalists reporting on the pandemic's effects.

China in February expelled 13 US journalists with the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal who were among foreign outlets reporting extensively on the coronavirus in China.

Beijing said the move was in retaliation for new restrictions on the number of Chinese nationals who can work for its state-run propaganda outlets on US soil.

But the expulsions have prompted alarm, with media organisations and the three newspapers warning that the action imperils "access to critical information" about the pandemic.

Chinese freedom of expression has always been tightly controlled by the Communist Party but that grip has become suffocating under Xi.

A Chinese court last year sentenced "cyber-dissident" Huang Qi, whose website reported on sensitive topics including human rights, to 12 years in prison for leaking state secrets.

Space for independent discussion has shrunk further this year as Xi's government has sought to deflect blame for the virus, which scientists believe emerged from a wild animal market in Wuhan.

Ren Zhiqiang, an outspoken Chinese Communist Party critic and millionaire property tycoon, was detained after he penned an essay fiercely critical of Xi's response to the outbreak.

Three Beijing-based internet activists also have disappeared and are believed to be held by police for archiving censored coronavirus news stories online, a relative of one of the activists said this week.
Sound sleep can be hard to come by in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, but its vital to good health and a strong immune system.

The right bedding, mattresses and accessories help to create a peaceful environment that sets the stage for more restful nights. Here are a few options to consider.

Bear Mattress

If youre tossing and turning, maybe its time for a new mattress. Bear Mattresses are made of environmentally friendly materials, including multi-layered memory foam engineered to disperse body heat and provide enough support to keep pressure off your hips, back and shoulders in any sleep position. Celliant covers harness body heat to promote a better nights sleep and help you wake up with more energy. The company recommends using a platform bed, adjustable base or Bear Foundation instead of a traditional coil box spring with a Bear Mattress. You can also put it on a hard, flat surface like the floor.

Cost: $500/twin$900/California king; the company is currently offering 20 percent off + two free pillows. CODE: Hello20.

Brooklinen Classic Hardcore Bundle in Window Pane

Enjoy hotel-level luxury at home with Brooklinens 270-thread-count, 100 percent cotton percale sheets. Perfect as we head into spring and summer, these crisp, cool sheets are designed to keep sleepers from getting overheated. The Hardcore Bundle includes flat and fitted sheets, two pillowcases, and a matching duvet cover. Comes in multiple colors, patterns and sizes.

Cost: From $189. Brooklinen is having a 20 percent off sitewide sale to celebrate the companys birthday; CODE: BDAY.

Frontgate Rumi Velvet Quilt in Deep Teal

If you love the luxe look, this velvety soft bedcover brings elegance to the bedroom. Its thick enough to snuggle under without feeling hot or heavy. Flip over the textured top and youll find a smooth 200-thread-count sateen back. The quilt is machine washable and comes in blush, deep teal, indigo, dove gray and ivory. Available in queen and king sizes.

Cost: $224.25$261.75 (originally $299$349)

Helix Sleep Mattress in a box

Helix Sleep prides itself on mattresses customized to every preference and body type, including a model for big and tall sleepers. You can either pick from a list of mattress options on the companys website or take an online quiz about yourself and your sleep habits, and Helix Sleep will come up with a mattress customized to your needs. They can even craft mattresses for couples with two different sides to suit each sleepers preference.

Cost: $600/twin$1,249 for the most popular model, the Midnight (pictured); the company is currently offering $100 off any mattress + 2 free pillows. CODE: TOPRANK100

Herzig 650-thread-count cotton sheet set from Wayfair in Baby Blue

The sateen weave in these 650-thread-count 100% cotton sheets gives them a subtle shimmer, and the fitted sheet has a deep pocket that fits oversized mattresses up to 18 thick. With 19 solid colors to choose from through Wayfair, youre sure to find one that suits your decor. Includes flat and fitted sheets, and two pillowcases.

Cost: $57.99/twin$106.99/California king (Prices are slightly higher for certain colors.)

Homesick Candles in Miami and Beach Cottage fragrances

Even with travel plans on hold, you can dream about a vacation with a little aromatic help from Homesick Candles, scented to evoke favorite places and memories, whether yours involves a Beach Cottage or Grandmas Kitchen. You can also choose a fragrance that promises to call to mind a favorite faraway country, city, or state, from the mountain spruce of Alaska to the maple and apple synonymous with Vermont.

Cost: $29.95/13.75-oz. candle

Parachute Home Down Alternative Side Sleeper Pillows

Say goodbye to stiff necks and punching your pillow to fluff it up. One of Parachute Homes bestselling items, this medium-density pillow offers just the right balance between support and plushness for those who sleep on their sides. It features a 3.5-inch gusset to take the strain off your neck and shoulders, hypoallergenic microfiber fill and a sateen cotton shell cover.

Cost: $89 standard; $99 king

Snowe Down Alternative Comforter, available in lightweight and all-season versions

Fans liken it to sleeping wrapped up in a cloud. This bestseller from Snowe is feather-light but still warm and fluffy, just like real down, but made of hypoallergenic, machine-washable microfiber with a 330-count cotton sateen cover. Available in queen and king sizes in a breathable lightweight version as well as a slightly weightier all-season version that packs 40 percent more fill.

Cost: $150$200 + 10 percent off your first order

Swanwick Sleep's Classic Night Swannies blue-light-blocking glasses, shown in tortoiseshell; also available in black

Created by Australian brothers James and Tristan Swanwick to solve their own battle with sleepless nights, Swannies by Swanwick Sleep are blue-light-blocking glasses that you wear in the hours before bedtime. Devotees swear that the orange-tinted specs help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and wake up feeling more refreshed. Also available with prescription lenses.

Cost: from $74 for Classic Night Swannies, the companys bestselling model
By IANS

PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony of a phosphatic fertiliser factory on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

"All the participants broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!' extending the greatest glory to the Supreme Leader who has brought about a new change" in the development of the fertiliser industry, Xinhua reported citing the KCNA.

Kim was joined by his sister Kim Yo Jong as well as other senior officials, it added.

A completion ceremony of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, which has been built as the production base of fertilizer, was splendidly held on May Day, the international holiday of the working people of the whole world, the report said.

This was the top leader's first public appearance in state media in more than 20 days.
A woman passes by a TV screen showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his sister Kim Yo Jong during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul on May 2, 2020. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Photos of Kim Jong Un Purport to Show North Korean Leader Alive

North Korea has released photos purporting to show the countrys leader Kim Jong Un in his first public appearance in weeks, apparently disconfirming rumors of his death.

The images, released on May 1 by North Korean state media, come amid swirling rumors that the North Korean dictator may be dead after a conspicuous public absence since April 11. The images and associated reports have not been independently verified by Western media.

The photos show what North Korean state media reported is Kim, his sister Kim Yo Jong, and various officials, at a ceremony at a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, near the capital, Pyongyang, on Friday.

Many analysts predict that if Kim is indisposed or deceased, his sister would assume leadership of North Korea.

State media showed videos and photos of Kim wearing a black Mao suit and constantly smiling, walking around facilities, applauding, cutting a huge red ribbon with a scissor handed to him by his sister, and smoking inside and outside of buildings while talking with other officials.

What appeared to be thousands of workers, many of them masked, stood in lines at the massive complex, roaring in celebration and releasing balloons into the air.

A sign installed on a stage where Kim sat with other senior officials read: Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory; Completion Ceremony; May 1, 2020.

Over the past month, there has been frequent speculation about Kims health after he missed the April 15 commemorative event for his grandfather, North Koreas founder Kim Il Sung. Kim had attended every one of those annual celebrations since he took power in 2011.

Over the weekend, reports about Kims demise were published in several Asian news outlets. South Korean officials denied the claims, saying that he is alive and well, and hes still in control of the communist country.

Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States has not seen any reports about Kims whereabouts.

We havent seen him. We dont have any information to report today, were watching it closely, Pompeo said on Wednesday, according to a State Department transcript.

President Donald Trump on Friday declined to comment on a reporters question at the White House about the alleged resurfacing of the North Korean dictator.

Trump took questions as he was preparing to leave the White House for Camp David on May 1, at which point a reporter asked the president: The North Korean leader just surfaced at a fertilizer plant in North Korea. Do you know about this? Anything you can tell us about him?

Trump replied: Id rather not comment on it yetKim Jong Un. Well have something to say about it at the appropriate time.

The reporter then asked, Can you at least confirm that hes alive? but Trump declined to respond and instead went on to take another question, which was about whether he would advise the President of Brazil to support social distancing measures amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, the novel coronavirus that emerged in China last year and that causes COVID-19, has surged in Brazil. A Johns Hopkins tally on Saturday showed 6,412 deaths from the disease and 92,202 infections.

Brazil has been hit very hard, Trump said, adding, But you have a president thats doing a very good job.

Pompeo said earlier that the White House is monitoring the situation more intensively in North Korea, noting that COVID-19 will pose a problem for the country despite it not having reported any cases of the disease.

There is a real risk that there will be a famine, a food shortage, inside of North Korea too, he added.

Jack Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Saturday said it sold zero units in the domestic market last month as its production and sales network remained closed due to nationwide lockdown.

The company's domestic sales last month stood at nil as all four production facilities suspended operations from March 22 till now following lockdown guidelines issued by the government, HMSI said in a statement.

The two-wheeler major, however, exported 2,630 two-wheelers during the period, it added.

"Since suspending operations in this unprecedented crisis, Honda is taking strong measures for business continuity, safeguarding health & wellbeing of Staff, families & communities at large," HMSIDirector Sales & Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said.

During lockdown the company continues skilling-up workforce and dealer staff with various e-learning modules, he added.

"Preparations are on to resume operations after receiving respective approvals from the government while re-aligning with supply-chain constraints and evolving market sentiments," Guleria said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE BIBLE contains greater messages for church leaders. And such messages must boldly be preached and taught in love to encourage, instruct, comfort, edify and keep ministers faithful to God and the church. Such messages must also be preached and taught for believers to have adequate knowledge about their leaders and to enable them make informed choices and decisions.

There is no doubt that some pastors resent corrections. Should this be the case? Are church leaders above corrections? We know that, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

It is clear from the scriptural verse above that ministers of the gospel are not above being instructed in righteousness even though they themselves preach and teach other believers. This is because a minister can be tempted to sin or stray from the sound knowledge of Christ. And in such situations, it is required that they return to our God when they are instructed to know the truth in love.

As many pastors as Jesus Christ loves, He rebukes and chastens to make them zealous and repent. King David repented when the prophet Nathan rebuked him for committing adultery and murder. However, the apostle Paul stated boldly that any church leader who would persist in wrongdoing should be exposed to serve as a deterrent to others (1 Timothy 5:20).

Paul wrote again to Timothy reminding him that, If anydoes not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing (1Timothy 6:3).

You see, when we carefully consider the attitudes of most pastors today, you agree and attest to the fact that many have been overtaken in pride, a sin which causes the downfall and destruction of kings, princes, prophets and priests. Indeed, many have been led astray to forsake the right way of the Lord, adopt titles, positions and introduce doctrines and practices which have no basis in Scripture. These things are being done out of the influence of the spirit of pride.

Therefore, any pastor who teaches the Disciples of Christ placed under his care to clap or strike their hands in prayer is proud because he does not humbly follow the Lord. If Christ and the foundational apostles never clapped their hands while offering prayers to God the Father, but lifted their hands in prayer, we Disciples of Christ today have no reason to do anything contrary unless we are proud.

Any pastor who plants a church and mounts its signboards with his photos to advertise himself as if he is the owner of the church is proud. It is scripturally incorrect and administratively improper for a pastor, a mortal man and servant, to build a church around his name. The church belongs to Christ so it must be built around and in the name of Christ Jesus as it is written, And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 3:17).

Any pastor who refuses to read the books or listen to the teachings of other pastors is proud. Any pastor who makes his congregants kneel or bow to him is proud. Any pastor who puts on biblically unapproved priestly garments to distinguish himself from his congregants is proud. Any pastor who sits in a meeting exclusively to be recognized and revered is proud. Any pastor who preaches about money more than Christ Jesus is proud and straying.

Moreover, any pastor who does not decrease and make Christ increase is proud. Any pastor who takes interest always in officiating weddings, but asks his associates or assistants to see to the baptism of believers is proud in the sight of God. Any pastor who is concerned about the beauty of a church building far more than the beauty of a believer's soul is proud and straying from the sound knowledge of Christ.

Any pastor who imitates something he sees another pastor doing without seeking the will of God concerning it is proud and demonstrating a poor relationship with God. Also, any pastor who does not regularly teach and introduce Christ Jesus as the Owner of the church he oversees is proud. Any pastor who does not study to show himself approved unto God so that he can rightly divide the Word of truth is proud.

Any pastor who pays money to be ordained in order to be placed in a ministry office and receive honourific titles is proud. Any minister who pays money to be consecrated a bishop, or apostle thinking that the office of a bishop or apostle is superior to the office of a teacher, evangelist or prophet is proud and ignorant.

Finally, any pastor who personally lobbies to be introduced and recognized at public functions is proud. Any pastor who flaunts his cars and mansions in the media to boost his self-esteem is proud. Any pastor who cleverly puts in place some systems to command respect is proud. Any pastor who cannot stand correction and competition, or appreciate the promotion of his associates is proud.

By James Quansah

[email protected]
One of the persons arrested in



connection with the Palghar lynching case, who was lodged in a police lock-up, has tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Saturday.

Police have so far arrested 115 persons, including nine minors, in connection with the lynching of three men, including two seers, at Gadchinchale village in Palghar last month.

The accused tested positive for the infection on Friday night, the official said.

"He was kept in a police lock-up at Wada in the district along with 20 others. After testing positive, he was admitted to a government hospital in Palghar," district civil surgeon Dr Kanchan Wanere said.

"Twenty others kept in lock-up with him have been quarantined along with around 23 police personnel, who came had come in contact with him," she said.

The health department is now trying to find out how he contracted the infection, Wanere said.

According to sources, on April 18, a test was conducted on all the accused arrested in the case till then to know whether they were infected. However, all of them had tested negative at that time.

The second test was conducted on Friday and the result came at night, in which the accused was found COVID-19 positive, the sources said.

The accused had been presented before a local court on April 30 along with other accused, they said, adding that his family members will be quarantined now.

The state police's Crime Investigation Department (CID) had on Friday arrested five more persons in connection with the incident of lynching, which took the number of accused held to 115.

The incident took place on April 16 when the two seers were heading towards Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral. A mob of villagers stopped them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were thieves, even as a few police personnel had reached the spot.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress and former wife of Power Star Pawan Kalyan, Renu Desai has been making it to the headlines these days. Recently, there have been several speculations about her re entry in Tollywood.

Well, in a latest interview with a leading television channel, Renu Desai revealed the same and expressed her willingness to work in the industry. She said she is looking forward to her comeback and is even ready to play mother to top actors like Mahesh Babu and Prabhas. Surprisingly, the actress turned director is younger than the stars. She added that she has no qualms in playing their mother, as far as her role has an importance in the movie. Well, we will have to wait and watch if filmmakers rope her in to essay the mother of any big star in the near future or not.

"If the Character is good,

I'm Ready to play mother role to Mahesh Garu" : Renu Desai in a Interview



Superstar @urstrulyMahesh#Maheshbabu pic.twitter.com/mgYbfe5kXg  Mahesh Babu Fans (@onlymaheshfans) May 2, 2020

On a related note, the actress stepped into Tollywood with the film Badri, alongside Pawan Kalyan and Amisha Patel. Recently, on the 20th anniversary of the romantic-drama, Renu took to her social media handle to share some unseen photos from the film. Well, the post received mixed response from the netizens, with some pouring love, while the others lashing out at her. Apparently, the pictures were of Pawan Kalyan and the actress at different locations of the shoot. Responding to the hate comments, she wrote, "Badri is special to me as it was my debut movie and it's been 20 years which is why it is more special to me. Why so much hatred towards others? The world is facing a crisis for now because of the virus and it is better to stay positive and healthy during this time. Also, anger is not good for the heath."

Renu Desai who has moved to Pune, turned producer with 2013 Marathi movie Mangalashtak and director venture with the 2014 film Ishq Wala Love (Marathi), which she also produced.

Pawan Kalyan To Lock Horns With Chiranjeevi At The Box Office?
Emergency planning, virus control measures to be included in school syllabus Present school syllabus poor in practical skills and knowledge View(s): View(s):

Emergency and pandemic planning, virus transmission, prevention and control measures are some areas which will be included in post pandemic study material, the newly appointed National Institute of Education (NIE) Director General Dr Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne said.

Dr Nawaratne told the Education Times, once schools are re-opened material will be distributed on safety and hygiene measures and will be included in school syllabuses next year.

There will be content on how to practice good hygiene on a daily basis from good hand washing techniques to cough and sneeze etiquette. These guidelines will be included in health and social sciences syllabuses, the Director General said.

Dr Nawaratne, who is the former Higher Education Ministry Secretary, said the NIE is in the process of developing a National Education Development Plan. Discussions are presently being carried out via zoom video calls, with relevant stake holders.

The NIE was not included in the Presidential Task Force on Sri Lankas Education Affairs, and I have asked the President to include the institution as it plays a vital role in preparing curriculum, teacher development and providing advice to the Education Minister on developing policies.

Our education system is not producing human capital the labour market demands. There is a need to include more practical skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, enhanced communication, positive attitudes and self confidence. The present syllabus is poor in practical skills and knowledge, Dr Nawaratne said. (NF)
(Photo : KCNA/via REUTERS) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the completion of a fertiliser plant, together with his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, in a region north of the capital, Pyongyang, in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 2, 2020.

North Korean President Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days, ending a scarcity that sparked global speculation approximately his health.

Al Jazeera cited a North Korean report, saying Kim attended a completion rite of a fertilizer factory in North Korea with other senior officials - including his sister, Kim Yo Jong.

The government-run daily published confirmation and North Korean state-run media Korean Central News Agency posted a photo, confirming Kim's attendance at the ceremony.

The photo had been published in North Korean paper Rodung Sinmun, the reliable paper of the Workers' Party, as well as the South Korean news website Yonhap.

The authenticity of the photos, posted on the website of the authentic Rodong Sinmun newspaper, couldn't be verified.

Kim was seen in pictures smiling and speaking to aides at the ribbon-slicing ceremony and also touring the plant.

Kim was seen cutting the ribbon at the ceremony. Reports said attendees "burst into thunderous cheers of 'Hurrah for the Supreme Leader who is commanding the all-people general march for accomplishing the great cause of prosperity."

As with preceding public appearances at some stage in the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Kim and his entourage were not carrying masks, not like the group of employees at the rite.

North Korea has insisted it has not recorded a single case of coronavirus, although specialists say that it is unlikely.

ALSO READ: North Korea Has Coronavirus on Three Regions Says Report; Residents Remain Skeptical

Analysts stated Kim couldn't appear in public carrying a mask as it'd make him look prone to the North Korean people.

Rumors about Kim Jong Un's health swirled after he ignored the April 15 birthday celebration for his late grandfather Kim Il Sung, the country's most important holiday, for the first time since he took power in 2011.

No 'unusual' sites

Seoul's unification ministry reacted to Saturday's document by way of saying "groundless" speculation about Kim had precipitated "useless confusion," calling for more careful consideration in the future.

South Korea's government, which has a mixed document of monitoring Pyongyang's ruling elite, downplayed speculation that Kim was in poor health following his surgery.

ALSO READ: North Korean Man 'Shot Dead' After Being Suspected With Coronavirus

South Korea said it detected no unusual symptoms in North Korea or any emergency reaction by the country's ruling party, military, and cabinet. The South said Kim was still handling kingdom affairs but staying at a general vicinity outside Pyongyang.

It was not clear what triggered Kim's absence in the past weeks. In 2014, Kim vanished from the general public eye for almost six weeks and then reappeared with a cane. South Korea's spy organization said Kim had a cyst removed from his ankle.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Seoul's Ewha University, told Al Jazeera Pyongyang "probably won't explain Kim's recent absence given the secrecy around the leader's health and schedule."

China, North Korea's key diplomatic best friend and a leading issuer of trade and aid, is eager to maintain stability in its neighbor and keep away from the possibility of an influx of refugees.

North Korea is "at the epicenter of an extremely tense security crisis," involving "a nuclear standoff," Henri Feron, Senior Fellow at the US Center for International Policy, told AFP news agency. He added tens of millions of lives are at stake.

ALSO READ: [MISSILES FIRED AGAIN] North Korea Launches Two Projectiles: Third This Month

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Myra Walker was employed at Bobs Discount Furniture in Bridgewater until March 22. Thats when the staff at her store was furloughed because of the coronavirus shutdown.

The Piscataway woman tried to file for unemployment benefits.

When she went to create an account on the Labor Departments website, she saw an account had already been created.

I thought this was an error and maybe I entered my Social Security number incorrectly so I tried again, said Walker, 42. I received the same error. Then I got a message that said to try again on the next business day, and that's what I have been doing ever since that day.

Walker said she tried to call unemployment but wasnt able to get through to anyone.

After the first week of extreme frustration, she said, she saw an option to check claim status. So she entered her information and an account popped up.

This person filed a claim on Feb. 9, 2020 and received a payment from my unemployment benefits on Feb. 15, 2020 of $464, she said. In order to view this information, I had to enter my Social Security number and date of birth, which means this person has my information.

Thats when she remembered something that happened at her job before the shutdown.

When she went to work on Feb. 19, her manager pulled her aside and asked if she was planning to resign. No, she told the manager.

My store manager then stated that the human resources department sent over unemployment claim information under my name, Walker said. I then reiterated that I had not filed for unemployment and I had not planned on resigning.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

The next day, a human resources representative came to the store and asked if Walker had filed for unemployment. Walker said no.

I then asked how someone would be able to file a claim under my Social Security number and get away with it, she said. She assured me that there would be an investigation and most likely there was an error made in the office.

Walker said the rep told her that sometimes there is human error and someone may have accidentally put in the wrong employee number. She would look into it and let Walker know.

Walker didnt think much of it. She was out sick (not coronavirus-related) for the first two weeks of March, she said, so she never followed up with human resources.

When she returned to work, it wasnt for long because the state shut down non-essential businesses.

GETTING IT FIXED

When Walker saw the unemployment account already created in her name, she realized this was not just a simple error by her human resources department.

She said it was pretty clear this was fraud.

She said shes tried to call unemployment 10 to 20 times a day, hoping to get into the queue to speak to a representative. Shes tried to reset the password but cant because the email address on the account does not belong to her. And she said she cant change the banking information on file unless she speaks to a representative.

I don't understand how this person was able to collect and nothing is being done to them, instead I'm the one suffering and cannot collect what is rightfully mine. she said. I thank goodness I am single and do not have any children to take care of because I can't imagine the added stress I would be under.

Walker said she had one last check coming from her job at Bobs and then she got her stimulus check, but the little savings she had is now gone. Her siblings have made sure she has groceries and theyve paid Walkers rent, but I cant expect them to do it again as they have their own families and obligations, she said.

At this point, I have begun searching for anyone hiring during this time and am willing to put my health at risk in order to make sure I can continue to eat, she said.

After Walker reached out to NJ Advance Media, we asked the Department of Labor to investigate.

Within hours, Walker got a phone call but she couldnt answer the phone because she was taking a timed assessment test for a job she recently applied for.

The message did state that the matter is being investigated and someone will be reaching out to me soon for more information, she said. I hope the person who committed this fraud receives the full punishment for their crime and that the state updates its antiquated systems to properly accommodate its citizens.

The Department of Labor said it takes fraud very seriously.

Its website cautions customers about schemes perpetuated, particularly during difficult times like a pandemic, a spokeswoman said. We are in constant contact with the Office of the Attorney General and U.S. Department of Labor to monitor possible or suspected fraud."

If you think youre the victim of a fraud, you can report it to the attorney generals anti-fraud task force.

Thanks to the Labor Department for taking such quick action for Walker.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at bamboozled@njadvancemedia.com.
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,223 and the number of cases climbed to 37,776 in the country on Saturday, registering an increase of 71 deaths and a record jump of 2,411 cases in 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 26,565, while 10,017 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

"Thus, around 26.52 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

The total number of cases includes 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 71 deaths were reported since Friday evening -- 26 from Maharashtra, 22 from Gujarat, eight from Madhya Pradesh, four from Rajasthan, three from Karnataka, two each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Of the 1,223 deaths, Maharashtra accounts for the maximum with 485 fatalities, followed by Gujarat (236), Madhya Pradesh (145),Rajasthan (62),Delhi (61), Uttar Pradesh (43) and West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at 33 each.

The death toll reached 28 in Tamil Nadu,26 in Telangana, while Karantaka has reported 25 fatalities due to the disease.

Punjab has registered 20 COVID-19 deaths, Jammu and Kashmir eight, Kerala and Haryana have reported four deaths each, and Jharkhand and Bihar have recorded three COVID-19 deaths each.

Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Assam have reported a fatality each, according to the ministry data.

According to the health ministry data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 11,506, followed by Gujarat (4,721), Delhi (3,738),Madhya Pradesh (2,719), Rajasthan (2,666), Tamil Nadu (2,526) and Uttar Pradesh (2,455).

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to1,525in Andhra Pradesh and 1,057 in Telangana.

It has risen to 795 in West Bengal, 772 in Punjab, 639 in Jammu and Kashmir, 598 in Karnataka, 498inKerala and 471in Bihar.

Haryana has reported 360 coronavirus cases, while Odisha has 154cases. A total of 111people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 88 in Chandigarh.

Uttarakhand has reported 58 cases, Assam and Chhattisgarh have 43 cases each, while Himachal Pradesh has registered 40 cases so far.

Thirty-three COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while Ladakh has recorded 22cases of the infection.

Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, Puducherry eight while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

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, adding, "179 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing."



Statewise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time. Winston Churchill

Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Inscription on the Liberty Bell
Ghana's Parliament has adjourned sittings after a series of emergency meetings held in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The adjournment is expected to give members of the house the opportunity to rest.

Mr. Oquaye who announced the adjournment said the house will tentatively resume sittings on May 19.

The House went on suspension on Saturday, April 4, 2020 but resumed sittings on Friday, April 17th, 2020. Anger over suspension instead of adjournment

Last month, the Speaker of Parliament, Mike Oquaye angered members of the Minority side in Parliament for suspending instead of indefinitely adjourning sittings. Some Minority MPs threatened legal action over the decision.

Ordinarily, to end a meeting, the Speaker would adjourn the House indefinitely and under such circumstances, a recall of the House would require a 14-day notice.

But Parliament also cited Standing Order 6 which gives the Speaker room to make provisions as he deems fit when there is no explicit direction.

It further insisted that the indefinite suspension of the House by the Speaker does not amount to discontinuing the session without dissolving it.

Indeed the Speaker of Parliament is not vested with the power to prorogue Parliament as per Article 113(1) of the Constitution and if any Speaker did that, it will be null and void. In Parliament, the maxim is that Members agree to disagree and arguments in the House could sometimes be not only vociferous but also forceful.

---citinewsroom
Democrat presidential frontrunner Joe Biden has denied he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, addressing the allegation publicly for the first time under increasing pressure from his party to speak about it.

"I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago," Mr Biden said in a written statement released by his campaign. "They aren't true. This never happened."

The statement was released shortly before Mr Biden was to appear on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe'.

Mr Biden also called on the National Archives to release any record of a complaint the woman says she filed.

"If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there," he said.

He attempted to show solidarity with the #MeToo movement even as he firmly repudiated the accusations from former Senate aide Tara Reade, who claims he reached under her skirt and penetrated her 27 years ago.

"While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated.

"One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny," he said in his statement.

Mr Biden also attacked President Donald Trump, saying "we have lived long enough with a president who doesn't think he is accountable to anyone, and takes responsibility for nothing. That's not me.

"I believe being accountable means having the difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable. People need to hear the truth."

Mr Biden's campaign had previously denied the allegations by Ms Reade, who worked in Mr Biden's Senate office for nine months ending in 1993.

But for weeks, the former vice president had been silent about her accusation. This week, demands from within his party to address it grew louder, and with each public appearance came scrutiny that began to eclipse the ideas and themes he was trying to promote.

Democratic and Republican leaders also came under intensifying calls to weigh in, triggering an explosive and often partisan debate. For many Democrats, the allegation was an uncomfortable topic that forced them to try to reconcile their support for Mr Biden with advocacy for many women who come forward with claims of sexual assault against powerful men. For some top Republicans, it was occasion to accuse Democrats of a double standard.

Mr Trump, Mr Biden's expected general election opponent, said on Thursday that Mr Biden "should respond" to the accusation, which Mr Trump said he "didn't know anything about".

The president suggested that Ms Reade's account could be a "false accusation", a topic he said he knew well. More than 20 women have accused the president of sexual misconduct over the years, prompting a series of denials.

Mr Trump said Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was "falsely charged" during his nomination hearings of sexually assaulting a woman when they were both teenagers in high school and said that what Mr Kavanaugh endured was a "disgrace to the country".

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has accused Democrats of abandoning the criticism and scepticism they applied to Mr Kavanaugh when it comes to Mr Biden.

"I think what most Americans would like is sort of a symmetrical evaluation of these allegations rather than what we have seen at least so far," Mr McConnell said on Fox News Radio this week.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that she had "a great comfort level" with how Mr Biden had addressed the allegation - at that point he had not spoken about it - and called him "a person of great integrity".

In 2019, several women said Mr Biden had been overly affectionate in a way that made them uncomfortable in previous interactions. ( Washington Post)
A political party opposing compulsory vaccinations and fluoride in water has overcome objections from the nation's highest health offices to win a name change with the Australian Electoral Commission.

The Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party will now be known as the Informed Medical Options Party, a change medical experts warned was an attempt to conceal the party's true agenda and appear more mainstream.

The AEC has approved an application from the Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party to change its name to the Informed Medical Options Party. Credit:AAP

Despite formal objections from the Australian Medical Association and federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, the AEC found the name change met the requirements of the Electoral Act.

AMA Victoria president Julian Rait said the AEC decision was disappointing and maintained the name could mislead voters.
From the investigation of his family's connection to shady online operations to the recession of the nation's economy and to the criticism of poor leadership at the time a pandemic shakes the country, Bolsonaro seems to be losing his grip on a tight rein.

Brazil is turning into a hotspot for the coronavirus, and earlier this week, Brazil's deaths exceeded that of China's reported toll. Nonetheless, Bolsonaro continues to downplay the pandemic and refuses to implement mitigation measures for healthcare systems and the failing economy.

"He's delusional if he thinks he's unaffected by the Constitution," Senator Randolfe Rodrigues said. He added that he hoped Bolsonaro would realize he was not above the law.

Impeachment Gaining Traction in Congress

As of yet, lawmakers have submitted 29 impeachment petitions against the president. After Bolsonaro fired the federal police chief, on top of other officials, Justice Minister Sergio Moro resigned.

In a text sent to the New York Times, Moro said he initially joined the government to fight against corruption. He said he gave up when he realized he would not be able to do it in that area.

Recently, Moro claimed that Bolsonaro was trying to cover up his tracks through the obstruction of justice by assigning a close official to supervise the agency doing an investigation on his supporters running an underground operation, which includes one of Bolsonaro's sons.

Demands for Bolsonaro's resignation and impeachment are moving ahead in Congress.

While the Bolsonaro administration is being thrown under fire, current Vice President Hamilton Mourao has been speculated to run for office.

After Bolsonaro fired the health minister last month because of the latter's encouragement for the nation to take mitigation measures against the pandemic, Mourao told reporters that everything was under control. He added, "We just don't know whose."

Check these out!

Bolsonaro's Support Base

Recently, the pandemic and the departure of many government officials have both cost the Bolsonaro administration a lot of former supporters. A survey conducted by Datafolha earlier this week has shown that 33 percent of the respondents still support him.

Bolsonaro's support base is made up primarily of members of the Evangelical Christians, who have supported him throughout his campaign and presidency.

The leader of the megachurch, Silas Malafaia, said in an interview that, "All the leaders of Evangelical churches in Brazil continue supporting him in the same way."

He added that the only way the president lost their support as if he was participating in corruption. Bolsonaro strengthened this support by periodically talking about his stances on abortion and through false claims about the World Health Organization.

Bolsonaro's campaign and presidency have been significantly boosted by well-organized propaganda and online movements that have been running underground. These reach the public via social media platforms and messaging apps.

After a thorough investigation by the federal police and congressional committee, the operations of these online communities were found to be spearheaded by managers of political shills. Among the suspects are two of the president's children, Eduardo and Carlos Bolsonaro.

Further probing is required before the police can arrive at any conclusions. Until then, the suspects are closely monitored.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on



Saturday defended the Union government's decision to set up the International Financial Services Centres Authority in Gandhinagar, saying it was the only functional IFSC as of now.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Congress chief and state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat had alleged that the decision to set up IFSC headquarters in Gujarat was taken to "reduce Mumbai's stature" as the country's financial capital.

"Some people have selective memory when they want to blame everything on the Narendra Modi government," Fadnavis, a former Maharashtra chief minister, tweeted.

A high powered committee of the Central government submitted a report in February 2007, recommending creation of IFSC, he said.

"Neither the government of Maharashtra submitted any official proposal, nor did the Centre consider it.

"The headquarters is announced at Gandhinagar because it is the only functional IFSC. Those who are beating the chest now were in power from 2007 to 2014 and did nothing for Mumbai IFSC," he said, targeting the Congress and NCP.

"That void was captured by then Gujarat CMNarendra Modi," he said.

"Mumbai had a natural IFSC eco-system and it can still become an IFSC if Maharashtra govt desires," Fadnavis added.

Modi had announced at the 2007 Vibrant Gujarat Summit that GIFT City Ahmedabad would be developed as an IFSC and appointed ECADI for its planning and by 2012 plans were ready and work had started, he said.

In 2015, the Government of India enacted a law to govern IFSC and immediately GIFT City proposal was submitted and Mumbai's proposal was submitted eventually, he said.

GIFT City was in advanced stage so it got approval and Mumbai BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) proposal faced technical problem for want of 50 hectares ofcontiguous land, said Fadnavis who was chief minister between 2014-2019.

The Maharashtra government resent the proposal and while planning Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project, the Centre planned the (proposed) BKC station in such a way that an IFSC building can stand over it, he said.

As GIFT City in Gujarat had already started functioning, then Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government was mulling if there could be two IFSCs, he said.

The Maharashtra government sent a report on how they can coexist and it is still under consideration, Fadnavis claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three Seneca County adultst have been arrested and charged with a hate crime after vandalizing South Seneca Junior/Senior High School, according to the Seneca County Sheriffs Office.

They were identified as Michael Wilkins, 19, of Willard, Tangalean Kio, 18, of Ovid, and Jonathan Siccardi, 18, of Interlaken, deputies said.

They were charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, which was upgraded to a felony and deemed a hate crime, and making graffiti, a misdemeanor.

Deputies also arrested two adolescent offenders who have been accused of helping vandalize the posters. Adolescent offenders are 16 or 17 years old and have been charged with a felony.

On April 29, deputies were dispatched to the school after receiving numerous calls that posters had been vandalized, deputies aid.

The extent of the vandalism included derogatory and hateful comments directed to individual members of the graduating senior class, the sheriffs office said in a statement.

Deputies believe the vandalism was done in the early morning of April 29th.

The three adults were released and issued appearance tickets. They are scheduled to be arraigned on May 18th.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.
State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Friday reported an 11 per cent decline in production to 40.38 million tonnes in April. The company had posted a total production of 45.30 million tonnes (MT) in the corresponding month of the previous financial year, CIL said in a filing to the BSE.

Of the 40.38 MT produced last month, CIL arm Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) produced the highest 11.53 MT, followed by South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) 9.30 MT and Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) 8.73 MT, among others. Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output, is eying 710 million tonnes output in the ongoing financial year.

India records sharpest jump of 2,293 coronavirus cases in 24 hours; total cases cross 37,000-mark

Coronavirus India Live Updates: 2,293 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, biggest jump after lockdown extension
Forty-four Austrian enterprises are waiting for 802 Ukrainian season workers, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Vadym Prystaiko said.

"At this stage, several governments have already addressed to us with the expectation that organized planned groups of Ukrainians are awaited...For example, yesterday I spoke with the Austrian foreign minister, the matter concerns exactly 802 persons of our employees who are waiting by 44 companies that we have got a list of. The same thing with Israel, we look forward to talking with our Finnish colleagues on Monday. This work is being organized", Prystaiko said at a briefing on Friday.

The deputy PM noted that negotiations with Finland on a large number of Ukrainian workers were underway.

"We are talking about the employment of thousands of people. We are talking about several hundred flights that our airlines will have to carry out," he stated.

The talks with Poland, Czech Republic and Germany are on the agenda.

In addition, Prystaiko noted that at least in the early stages, Ukrainians' departure for work abroad will be organized in the format of charter flights, and according to the Deputy Prime Minister, airlines, in particular Ukraines International Airlines (UIA), are ready to connect to this process.
Dallas, TX, May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickeys Barbecue Pit is unveiling a new lineup of southern comfort barbecue and slow-smoked deals just in time for National Barbecue Month in May.

The 79-year-old barbecue concept is featuring six new sandwiches and offering endless sauce-abilities on all its fan-favorite classics. The new sandwiches include:

Dickeys Texas Hot Sandwich is loaded with Texas-style brisket and topped with Texas hot barbecue sauce and jalapenos in between a warm brioche bun.

is loaded with Texas-style brisket and topped with Texas hot barbecue sauce and jalapenos in between a warm brioche bun. Guests can order the Carolina Style Pulled Pork Sandwich for a sweet and tangy twist on a barbecue staple that includes Dickeys famous hickory-smoked pulled pork topped with Carolina Barbecue Sauce and coleslaw on a warm brioche bun.

for a sweet and tangy twist on a barbecue staple that includes Dickeys famous hickory-smoked pulled pork topped with Carolina Barbecue Sauce and coleslaw on a warm brioche bun. The new Barbecue Ranch Bird Sandwich from Dickeys combines authentic, pit-smoked chicken breast with peppery ranch, melty cheese, onion rings, pickle slices and sweet barbecue sauce on a warm brioche bun.

from Dickeys combines authentic, pit-smoked chicken breast with peppery ranch, melty cheese, onion rings, pickle slices and sweet barbecue sauce on a warm brioche bun. Dickeys Kickin Buffalo Chicken Sandwich is a spicy, crunchy and savory combination that includes sliced slow-smoked chicken, buffalo sauce, coleslaw, jalapeno slices and melty cheese.

is a spicy, crunchy and savory combination that includes sliced slow-smoked chicken, buffalo sauce, coleslaw, jalapeno slices and melty cheese. Cheese fans can enjoy Dickeys new Brisket Double Cheese Sandwich stacked with a heaping of chopped brisket, American cheese and mac n cheese on a warm, toasty brioche bun.

stacked with a heaping of chopped brisket, American cheese and mac n cheese on a warm, toasty brioche bun. Pick-up Dickeys Wild Westerner for a sandwich loaded with hickory-smoked pulled pork, Texas hot sauce, spicy cheddar kielbasa sausage, cheese, onion rings, pickles and jalapenos all on a toasty westerner bun.

In addition, starting this month, Dickeys is giving guests more to look forward to on Mondays with a trio of deals, including a $3 Classic Sandwich, a $6 Westerner Sandwich and a $9 Westerner Plate.

We want to invite guests to try new barbecue experiences with us and explore endless combinations all month long, said Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickeys Barbecue Restaurants, Inc.

Dickeys is also celebrating moms all month long with its Best Motherly Advice contest. Fans can share the best advise they received from their mom on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for a chance to win free barbecue for a year.

Learn more about franchising with Dickeys Barbecue Pit by visiting classic.dickeys.com/franchise or call (866) 340-6188. Find your nearest Dickeys Barbecue Pit location by visiting dickeys.com/locations.

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 two international locations in the UAE and operates over 500 locations in 44 states. In 2016, Dickeys won first place on Fast Casuals Top 100 Movers and Shakers list and was named a Top 500 Franchise by Entrepreneur in 2018. Dickey's Barbecue Pit has also been recognized by Fox News, Franchise Times, The Wall Street Journal, QSR Magazine, Forbes Magazine and Nations Restaurant News. For more information, visit www.dickeys.com.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

Trend:

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan Serzhan Abdykarimov has been invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, where Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov met with him, Trend reports.

During the meeting, Khalafov expressed serious concern about the death of one person and the injury of two as a result of using weapons during the detention of Azerbaijani citizens Ibrahimov, Nuriyev, Ahmadov and Novruzov, by the Coast Guard of the Border Service of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea on April 30, 2020, and presented to the ambassador the corresponding note of the ministry.

Khalafov pointed out that the use of firearms resulting in human casualties does not correspond to the mechanism of joint cooperation between border services, and the spirit of friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries.

At the same time, in accordance with the principles of relations between the two allied countries and strategic partners, the deputy minister asked the Kazakh side to thoroughly and objectively investigate the incident, the death and wound of Azerbaijani citizens and to inform the Azerbaijani side about the results of the investigation. Azerbaijani side has appealed in connection with the early delivery of the body of the Azerbaijani citizen who died during the incident.

Ambassador Abdykarimov, in turn, expressed regret that the incident led to human casualties and extended condolences to the relatives of the deceased. He expressed hope for the speedy recovery of the wounded. The diplomat also noted that he will bring to the attention of his country the note and serious concern of Azerbaijan about what had happened.

It was noted that the Kazakh Embassy in Azerbaijan will provide the necessary assistance for the speedy return of the body of the Azerbaijani citizen to the homeland.
China has sent a team of scientists and surveyors to Mount Everest to measure the worlds tallest peak amid ongoing ban on climbing because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new measurement of the mountain could resolve the question whether Mount Everest lost some of its height in the magnitude 8.1 earthquake in 2015 that ravaged Nepal.

The project was made public last week on the same day as telecom giant Huawei and China Mobile, the worlds largest mobile operator, announced that they had installed 5G antennas at the mountains advance base camp at a height of 6,500 metres and at the lower base camp, at 5300 metres and at 5800 metres to help the survey.

A China Mobile technician told state media that the new network is fast enough for climbers and scientists to have 4K and VR live streaming on the mountain.

The most-accepted elevation of the mountain, which straddles Nepal and China, is 8848 metres or 20,029 feet confirmed after an Indian expedition in 1955.

Beijing and Kathmandu have differed on whether to include the mountains snow-capped peak as part of its altitude with the latter favouring it.

The new expedition is expected to update the state of the mountain, which is

known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in China and in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

The official news agency Xinhua said earlier this week that a 53-member team from the ministry of national resources (MNR) is conducting preliminary scientific work since early March and survey work on the mountain is due to begin this month.

The measurement team, consisting of members from the MNR and the national mountaineering team, has arrived at the base camp of the peak for training on mountain climbing and surveying skills in the high-altitude region, making preparation for the measurement planned in May, the Xinhua report added.

Besides MNR, the mission is being organised by the foreign ministry, the General Administration of Sport and the TAR government.

Li Guopeng, the MNR team leader, said the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and homegrown surveying equipment will be applied to the measurement.

The team will use aerial gravity measurement to improve the accuracy, and the three-dimensional technology will provide a visual demonstration of the natural resources of Qomolangma, Li said, adding that the measurement team will climb to the summit to obtain reliable data.

According to Beijing, the mountain is recognised as a symbol of the friendship between Nepal and China.

According to a joint statement signed between the two countries last October after President Xi Jinpings visit, the two sides will promote cooperation in different fields, including addressing climate change and protecting the environment, and jointly announce the height of Mount Qomolangma and conduct scientific researches.

Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, Chinese surveyors have conducted six rounds of scaled measurement and scientific research on Mount Qomolangma and released the height of the peak twice in 1975 and 2005, which was 8,848.13 meters and 8,844.43 meters respectively.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a release that the campaign was part of a "comprehensive effort to reduce youth smoking." In November, the City Council passed an ordinance to make Chicago the first large city in the country to tax e-cigarette liquid. The city has banned the sale of flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of schools. Morita said the mayor has looked to create a "tobacco-free generation."
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?

The young people of Montana are the future of the state. Investment in them is the best way to ensure this future is bright. Many jobs require at least two years of higher education/work skill training and providing opportunities in-state increases the likelihood that young people will stay and work in Montana. Because of this, the state should support at least half the cost of higher education for local students.

2. Do you think the state of Montana should increase state funding for affordable housing? Why or why not?

HD85 is composed of small towns and rural areas, where this question is often overlooked. However, affordable housing is an issue of importance throughout the state. It is best addressed by building additional low-cost housing in urban areas, where jobs are concentrated. Existing subsidies for such housing should be continued and expanded to smaller towns when affordable housing becomes an issue, especially as these become bedroom towns for urban centers, forcing up housing costs for vulnerable locals; creative financing should be encouraged.

3. What, in your view, is the largest issue with management of Montanas public lands? What should be done about it?

The most important priority for public land management is balancing the competing interests of recreation, production (timber and grazing, most notably), and wildlife and wilderness values (including game, non-game species, and especially endangered species). The best way to accomplish this balancing act is to recognize the value of all of these interests and to pursue a collaborative, science-based process to choose among alternatives. We should work to preserve open land for the benefit of all; water quality, recreation opportunities, agriculture, and responsible resource extraction compatible with these values are essential economic contributions of open and public lands.

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However, groups of tourists are not allowed to exceed ten people and must abide by measures of epidemic prevention and social distancing regulations.

Along with other tourist destinations in Thanh Hoa province, Lam Kinh Historical Site, located in Tho Xuan district, temporarily stopped receiving visitors since mid-March to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

After over a month, the destination is now ready to welcome tourists again.

Likewise, many accommodations and restaurants in Sam Son beach in Sam Son city have been preparing necessary conditions to welcome guests when the social distancing regulations were eased.

According to Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Sam Son city Bui Quoc Dat, the city is urgently completing tourism management plans to welcome tourists back after the social distancing period.

Similarly, two famous tourist attractions in the southern province of An Giang  Sam Mountain and Cam Mountain National Tourism Sites  have also opened their doors to tourists.

According to Tran Quoc Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Chau Doc City Peoples Committee, tourists can now visit Sam Mountain Tourism Site from 9am on April 28. Earlier, the site had to close its doors since March 25 and would re-open when the epidemic is under control.

Meanwhile, Cam Mountain Tourism Site in Tinh Bien district will re-open its doors on April 29 after one month of closure, as revealed by the provincial Trade and Investment Promotion Centre.

However, tourists entering the site must strictly follow regulations on COVID-19 prevention like wearing masks, washing hands with soap or disinfectant solution and keeping a distance of at least two metres from others.

Earlier this week, many tourism destinations in other provinces also re-opened to receive tourists ahead of the upcoming national holiday that falls on April 30, reunification day and May 1, International Labour Day. The lists of opening attractions include the national heritage site Ghenh Da Dia (The Cliff of Stone Plates) in Phu Yen province, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh province, My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam province, Da Lat Night Market in Lam Dong province, together with beaches in Da Nang, Binh Dinh and Kien Giang. However, only domestic tourists and expatriates in Vietnam will be allowed in most sites.

On the other hand, the relics and tourism sites in Hanoi have not re-opened yet but are preparing to welcome tourists back soon, like the Temple of Literature, Hoa Lo Prison and Thang Long Imperial Citadel.
AMARILLO  In-person meter reading, which had been temporarily on hold for residential customers since April 14 to address coronavirus concerns, will resume May 4 for Xcel Energys Texas customers and May 18 for New Mexico customers.

To allow meter readers and field crews to do their critical work, and for everyones safety, Xcel Energy is requesting that members of the public not approach them in the field. This helps maintain social distance to keep everyone healthy. Xcel Energy will notify customers that they will be reading residential meters in the area via outbound calls.
FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok testifies at the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Joint Hearing on, Oversight of FBI and DOJ Actions Surrounding the 2016 Election" in Washington on July 12, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Strzok Made Major Edits to Lost Draft of Flynn-Questioning Report, Texts Indicate

News Analysis

Peter Strzok, former FBI head of counterintelligence operations, significantly changed an early draft of the official FBI report from its questioning of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, newly released text messages indicate.

The FBI hasnt yet shown the early draft to Flynn. An eye witness said the draft included exculpatory information, which was removed in the final version, Flynns lawyer, Sidney Powell, previously said.

Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, to one count of lying to FBI agents during a Jan. 24, 2017, interview.

Agents are supposed to memorialize their interviews in an FD-302 form within five days, but the earliest 302 draft Flynn was provided was dated Feb. 10, 2017.

The new text messages suggest that an earlier version of the draft existed, either produced on Feb. 10 or earlier.

Lisa you didnt see it before my edits that went into what I sent you, Strzok texted after 10 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2017, to Lisa Page, his mistress and then-special counsel to FBIs then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Strzok said he was trying to not completely rewrite the document so as to save [redacted] voice.

According to Powell, Strzok and Page were editing the Flynn 302 and Strzok was referring to the supervisory special agent (SSA) who co-conducted the interview with him. The Epoch Times and other media have identified the agent as Joe Pientka.

FBI agent Peter Strzok during testimony before Congress in Washington on July 12, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Powell said in an April 30 statement that the texts show that there in fact exists an original 302 document created by SSA.

The FBI had no comment when asked to confirm or deny whether the texts pertained to the Flynn 302.

The failure to produce the draft 302 equals a violation of the courts Brady order, Powell said, which requires the government to hand over evidence helpful to the defense.

Powell said: As repugnant as this conduct is on its face, the travel of this vital document establishes continuouslyand until this daythe original FBI agents, the prosecutors, and FBI managements determination to withhold exculpatory evidence required under Brady, among other violations of Gen. Flynns civil rights. They withheld it not only to try to convict an innocent man, but to hide their own crimes.

In an Oct. 24, 2019, court filing (pdf), Powell rejected the suggestion that the 302 draft was missing, saying neither the bureau nor its digital document system loses the most important of its reports that is supposed to support the federal felony of the Presidents National Security Adviser.

On Jan. 16, Powell disclosed that she has a witness who could attest to what was in the original draft.

Ive now found a witness who says the original 302 did in fact say that Flynn was honest with the agents and did not lie, she told Larry OConnor on his WMAL radio show. So for somebody to delete that from the 302 is just beyond outrageous.

She told The Epoch Times the witness saw the document.

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumps former national security adviser, leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington on June 24, 2019. (Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

The new text messages are among a number of documents recently handed over to Flynn as a result of an ongoing review of his case by Jeffrey Jensen, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, who was directed in January to perform the review by Attorney General William Barr.

The documents revealed that an FBI official involved in the decision to interview Flynn had questioned whether the bureau was trying to catch Flynn in a lie rather than get to the truth through their questioning.

Also released were emails revealing that Page and another person had discussed beforehand the need to warn Flynn that lying to a federal officer is a crime. Flynn didnt receive that warning during the interview.

The documents also show that on Jan. 4, 2017, the FBIs Washington field office drafted a document outlining a closure of its investigation into Flynn. In the afternoon that day, Strzok urgently reached out to agents handling the Flynn case, telling them not to close it. Its not clear on what grounds he wanted to keep the investigation open.

In January, Flynn asked District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who is handling the case, to allow him to withdraw his original guilty plea, saying he only entered it because his former lawyers hadnt represented him effectively at the time.

Powell has stated for months that the case should be dismissed over government misconduct.

In December 2019, Sullivan denied Powells request for a list of additional documents and for dismissal of the case.

New information, however, has turned up in the case since then.

Trump wrote on Twitter on March 15 that he was strongly considering a pardon for Flynn, given the evidence.

Update: The article was updated to include a response from the FBI.
China has published a short animation titled 'Once Upon a Virus' mocking the U.S. response to the new coronavirus using Lego-like figures to represent the two countries.

Washington and Beijing are locked in a war of words over the origins of the disease, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has grown into a global pandemic.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was confident the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but declined to describe the evidence.

In the animation posted online by China's official Xinhua news agency, red curtains open to reveal a stage featuring Lego-like figures in the form of a terracotta warrior wearing a face mask and the Statue of Liberty.

In the animation posted online by China's official Xinhua news agency, red curtains open to reveal a stage featuring Lego-like figures in the form of a terracotta warrior wearing a face mask and the Statue of Liberty. 'We discovered a new virus,' says the warrior. 'So what?' replies the Statue of Liberty. 'It's only a flu'

'We discovered a new virus,' says the warrior.

'So what?' replies the Statue of Liberty. 'It's only a flu.'

As the warrior issues warnings about the virus and counts off the grim milestones in China's outbreak, the Statue of Liberty replies dismissively with echoes of Trump's press conferences in which he played down the severity of the illness.

As the warrior issues warnings about the virus and counts off the grim milestones in China's outbreak, the Statue of Liberty replies dismissively with echoes of Trump's press conferences in which he played down the severity of the illness

'Are you listening to yourselves?' asks the warrior as the statue begins to turn red with fever and gets hooked up to an intravenous drip.

'We are always correct, even though we contradict ourselves,' the statue replies.

'That's what I love about you Americans, your consistency,' says the warrior.

'Are you listening to yourselves?' asks the warrior as the statue begins to turn red with fever and gets hooked up to an intravenous drip

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was confident the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but declined to describe the evidence

The United States and other countries have accused China of misleading the world about the severity of the outbreak, and there are growing calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the virus.

In an interview with Reuters, Trump said he believes China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is proof that Beijing 'will do anything they can' to make him lose his re-election bid in November.
The French government said on Saturday it will extend a health emergency imposed to fight the new coronavirus by two months, allowing it to keep stringent anti-virus measures in place even after a partial lifting of the country's lockdown. As part of the planned measures anybody entering France, foreign or French, will have to remain confined for two weeks, Health Minister Olivier Veran told a news conference. This would typically concern "French people who travelled abroad and who want to come home", he said. He did not say whether there would be any distinction made between travellers according to country of provenance. Anyone arriving from abroad and infected with the virus would be obliged by law to be quarantined, he said. Those developing symptoms while in isolation would also need to go into quarantine. Details of the measures are expected in the coming days. - 'Learning to live with the virus' - Infected people already in France will, however, not be forced to accept isolation and treatment, as "we trust French people's sense of responsibility", Veran said. Once approved by lawmakers, the emergency period will last until July 24, Veran said. The government has announced the gradual lifting of some lockdown measures from May 11, including the re-opening of primary schools. Veran said, however, that to lift the health emergency, which began on March 24, at the same time would be premature and carry the risk of a resurgence of the outbreak. "We are going to have to perform a long-distance run," Veran said, adding he was aware that the French people had already been asked for "colossal efforts" in the fight against the virus. "We are going to have to live with the virus for a while," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said after a cabinet meeting decided on the extension. "Learning to live with the virus, that's what's at stake in the coming months." The new proposals also cover an "information system" for those have the virus and their entourage that would operate for up to a year. The bill will go before the Senate on Monday and the National Assembly most probably the day after, said government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye. It is expected to become law by the end of the week. On May 11, people in France will be allowed to leave their homes without the current obligation to carry a written justification for the movements. They will have to wear protection masks when using public transport. Many shops will also reopen and remote-working staff will be able to return to offices as France battles the economic impact of the coronavirus that has already pushed the country into recession. In the latest example of the financial costs involved, the chairman of the national rail operator SNCF said Saturday that his company had already lost two billion euros ($2.2 billion) during the crisis, and would probably apply for state aid and cut staff numbers. Meanwhile, the number of daily deaths in France from the coronavirus fell to 166, the health ministry said Saturday, the lowest number in more than five weeks. This takes the total number of reported COVID-19 deaths in France since March 1 to 24,760, the fourth highest in Europe. burs/jh/har/spm It's not over 'Learning to live with the virus'
Activists hold trays with fish during a protest over China's confiscation of the catch of Filipino fishermen, in front of the Chinese Consular Office in Manila, June 11, 2018.

China is vowing strict enforcement of its annual summer fishing ban in parts of the contested South China Sea. The ban began Friday and is likely to be opposed by other claimant nations.

The three-and-a-half-month ban, aimed at conserving fish stocks, extends into an area of the South China Sea up to the 12th parallel. That means China demands foreign fishing vessels not participate in any activities in and around the Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal  parts of the South China Sea that Vietnam and the Philippines also claim.

In past years, both Vietnam and the Philippines have rejected Chinas right to enforce a fishing ban over the area. Last year, the Philippines did not comment on the ban directly, in a departure from the norm.

China has not arrested any fishermen from either country in the past for violating its unilaterally declared ban. It has arrested Chinese fishing vessels that have violated it, though. This year, the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs have announced a campaign to more strictly enforce the ban -- increasing the pace of maritime patrols and promising a crackdown on illegal activities.

The coast guard authority will strictly enforce the ban according to relevant laws and regulations, cracking down on crimes and unlawful acts, to safeguard the rights and interests of marine fisheries and protect the marine ecological environment, state-run Xinhua news agency said Friday.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and the CCG, the annual fishing ban outlaws any fishing within Chinas jurisdiction _ a phrasing intended to apply to both foreign and Chinese vessels.

The ban comes as Chinas National Peoples Congress is drafting a revision to the countrys law governing the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), Chinas paramount police and paramilitary force. Under the proposed revision, the PAP has expanded duties for maritime law enforcement, protecting Chinas rights to its sea territories, and maritime intelligence. The PAP is no longer responsible for disaster response functions like fire-fighting under the revision, too.

The PAP was previously reshuffled and put under Chinas Central Military Commission alongside armed forces like the Peoples Liberation Army Navy and Peoples Liberation Army Air Force in 2017, and the CCG was placed under the Peoples Armed Police in 2018. The revision will likely codify these organizational changes for the first time.

China says it enacts the fishing ban annually to preserve fishing stocks in its territorial waters, a sustainability practice. Nonetheless, China is one of the worst sources of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing in the region, according to the 2019 IUU Fishing Index. China is also not a member of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, the main intergovernmental organization in Southeast Asia devoted to fisheries protection and sustainable development. Both Vietnam and the Philippines are members.

The fishing ban will run from May 1 to Aug 16.

It follows the recent Chinese announcement of two new administrative districts that it says will oversee a vast swath of the South China Sea, including areas claimed by other nations.

On Thursday, the Philippines strongly protested the move, calling it a violation of Philippine sovereignty.
Sometimes most people of Goodwill, regardless of color, wonder how rugged and durable Africans survived all the impediments and odds they face daily. Even in their own Continent, not to talk about Diaspora. Yet, Africans disrespect one another more than other natural biological animals. Compare that to how people that have faced adversity in their history love and support one another.

Telling the Youths they have to work twice as hard as their cohorts sounds so strange to them, they wonder if their parents are serious. It becomes incredible if told they may suffer the same consequences in their own countries where leaders and politicians that look like them are stooges for outside powers, just for selfish greed. History is becoming more difficult to teach at home since some schools no longer offer it.

Natural human reaction to a hostile environment is flight or fight back. We cannot remain in a stage of preparedness all the time without wear and tear on our Defense Mechanism. This state leads to hypertension, shortness of breath, asthma, emphysema, fear of starving leading to craving for food or obesity, diabetes leading to downward spiral into opportunistic infections. Therefore, when we claim we do not have control or there is nothing we can do about pre-existing conditions, of course there are!

It is not by accident or coincidence that Africa and Diaspora Africans always catch the worst end of the shaft. Being Predisposed is a systemic act that shields others before they are hit with most of the diseases and Economic hardships afflicting Blacks. COVID-19, Devaluations and Structural Adjustment are examples of the same waves hitting minorities at home or in Diaspora.

We are not supposed to express Environmental Justice or the injustices perpetrated for fear of being labelled. Africans and minorities outside our continent and countries where they are not in power are always predisposed to Economic hardships and live closer to environmental dumps. When the majority sneeze, minorities catch pneumonia. It is always explained as being predisposed.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have their carrot and stick methods of bringing developing countries in line with the Economic Order favored by their Sponsors. Money or credit extended to them is to trade with Sponsors according to prices dictated, not by negotiation. The money must be used to clear existing loans, interest and penalties. If they are dictating the price and currencies of trade, it is an advantageous relationship at the expense of the weaker partners to make their markets more liberal or open only to their finished goods and services.

African countries cannot sleep with their eyes closed. No matter how many trained economists foreigners train and hire. Foreign Investors Portfolios countries will continue to devour Africa unless we learn how to arm ourselves with poison pills. Stop borrowing and trading in foreign currencies and establish African wide common currency. Whoever wants to trade in Africa must raise the demand for African currency to make it stronger.

The world's greatest debtor only trades in its own currency. It cannot not default because it can print its own money if other countries stopped buying its Treasuries or bonds. Default is only tactical and no country can do anything about it if a nuclear power defaulted. When Zambia defaulted, the Chinese took over a part of the Country. The Japanese billionaire Hideki Yokoi once bought the Empire State Building in New York only to sell it back at a discount. Who can take over any part of the USA?

Then comes Debt Trap Diplomacy by Odious Loans by China: Tanzania recently rejected Chinese loans as India did. It makes you wonder about the mentality of those that negotiated the loans in the first place. It was negotiated by the previous Administration as a loan agreement with Chinese investors to build Tanzania Port on condition that the Chinese would get it for 30 years and 99 years uninterrupted lease.

India and Bangladesh had also rejected Chinese loans. When it was revealed in the Delhi High Court that the Indian government had agreed to pay $3.9 million for Covid-19 kits that had been imported from China at a cost of $1.6 million, with the difference going to Indian intermediaries. Even Bangladesh, learning from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives debt trap, decided to construct its biggest infrastructure project from its own finances.

Indeed, the main source of foreign income for a couple of African countries, Oil, is going to dry up because the price of international oil in the market entered negative territory. Anyone that can add the depressed price of oil and the economic impact of COVID-19 in Africa knows that Nigeria will face a challenge it had not lived up to in the past.

Look at Senegal, a country that meets the crisis of the day, COVID-19 head-on with one US dollar mask and $50.00 ventilator. Yet African countries are not "rushing" to patronize Senegal or learning, replicating and improving their success as a world class solution. We know if this was an American or European made, corrupt politicians all over Africa could have bombarded them for imported products by inflated contacts.
Kolkata, May 2 : A bereaved wife who was coming from New Delhi with the dead body of her husband was stranded for over six hours at the Bengal-Jharkhand border on Saturday.

Kalpana Boyal, a resident of East Midnapore's Haldia, was coming with the dead body of her husband Manas Kumar Boyal from the national capital in an ambulance. She was stopped at the Bengal-Jharkhand border as the police personnel of Asansol-Durgapur Commissionerate did not allow her to enter the state.

Sources said Manas Kumar Boyal died of brain tumour at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday and the deceased's wife had all the valid medical documents and the necessary 'movement pass' of the ambulance that was carrying the corpse. They started with the body from New Delhi on Friday itself.

"In the medical document it is clearly written that Manas Kumar Boyal had negative for SARS Covid-19. I have been requesting them to allow me to go home with the body. I am feeling so helpless," said Kalpana Boyal while crying profusely right on the Durgapur expressway.

Finally, officials from the State secretariat Nabanno intervened into the matter and instructed the district police to allow the bereaved to head for her Haldia home, police said.

"We have already allowed the ambulance to head out for Haldia with the body," Asansol-Durgapur police commissioner Sukesh Jain told IANS.
The number of African entrepreneurs is rising within the minute despite having to beat all the odds and challenges faced in the continent. Dalikhaya Zihlangu has shown his skills as a business person as well as a leader by overcoming all these challenge by becoming one of the top entrepreneurs in South Africa. Here is all about him.

Image: facebook.com, @Kobus Gordon

Source: Facebook

Who is Dalikhaya Zihlangu? He is a top entrepreneur in South Africa, having served in some of the most successful organizations and firms within the country. He is also the founder of several prosperous establishments, becoming one of the richest black men in South Africa. Zihlangus primary expertise lies in mining, mining legislation, deal structuring, corporate governance, as well as charing of boards and board committees.

Dalikhaya Zilangu Biography

Dalikhaya, popularly known as Rain, attended Maseleni Senior Primary School in Maseleni Village at the Ntsetshe administrative center nearDutywa. Later, he joined the University of Witwatersrand, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, becoming the second black engineer in South Africa. He also has a Managers Government Certificate from the Angle Corporation graduate training programme, and he went to the University of South Africa, where he qualified with a Postgraduate Diploma.

READ ALSO: Danny Jordaan bio: age, family, rape, SAFA president, profile, net worth, latest news

Career

After school, Dalikhaya went to work at the Vaal Reefs Gold Mining Company as a developer and shift boss. In 1995, the magnate went to work for Impala Platinum, where he worked as a mines supervisor, shift boss, operations manager, and mine manager for seven years.

How he made his fortune

The South African Tycoon, through his impeccable work ethic, has been in several positions of power in some of the most esteemed companies in South Africa.

Alexkor

Image: facebook.com, @richtersveld.gemeenskap

Source: Facebook

For three years, between 2002 and 2005, Zihlangu served as the CEO of Alexor, a diamond mining entity. The South African government owns the company through the Minister of Public Enterprises, who is the shareholder representative. His job was to see the overall sustainability of Alexkor, manage the employees at the head offices, and provide business leadership and diamond and coal mining strategies. He was also in charge of ensuring effective stakeholder management across the organization, improving the financial position of the organization and monitoring the land and marine mining progress.

READ ALSO: Here are the 10 richest people in South Africa

PetroSA

From 2006 to 2012, the South African mogul worked as an independent non-executive director of the South African National Oil and Gas Company, PetroSA. He was also in the business performance monitoring committee of the company.

Eyabantu Capital Consortium

Dalikhaya is one of the founders and the current Chief Executive Officers of the Eyabantu Capital Consortium, which is part of the Property/Casualty Insurance Carriers industry, and its headquarters are located in Gauteng, South Africa. Through his outstanding leadership skills, the company makes an average of $2.09 million yearly. For more information, visit their website to get Dalikhaya Zihlangu contact details.

Image: facebook.com, @EyabantuSA

Source: Facebook

The SA Tycoon was also the executive director of the new incubator mining and resource company, Intabanane Mining. Since November 2006, he has been serving as a Non-Executive Director at Exxaro Resources Ltd. He is the current Independent Non-executive Director at the Sentula Mining Limited, a position he has been in from July 2010, and he also holds the same title at the Unicorn Capital partners.

Net worth

Due to his expertise in the mining sector, leadership prowess, and hard work, Dalikhaya Zihlangu net worth stands at around R533 million, making him among the wealthiest black South African millionaires. This success is also owed to Dalikhaya Zihlangu wife, who has supported him throughout his career.

Dalikhaya Zihlangu is an inspiration to all entrepreneurs in Africa, and through him, we learn that a lot can be achieved through hard work and consistency.

READ ALSO:

Thuli Madonsela biography: age, children, husband, wedding, education, qualifications, books, awards, quotes and contact details

Ranjeni Munusamy biography: age, scandal, articles, Zuma, pictures, EFF, and latest news

Johanna Mukoki age, biography, green juice, husband, children, and contact details

Source: Briefly News
90 Day Fiance couple Big Ed and Rose have taken fans of the show for quite a ride. Big Ed has had to face down plenty of criticism from fans for his behavior during his time on the show. The 54-year-old, despite trying to win over the 23-year-old Filipina, has instead insulted her several times on the show. Additionally, hes exhibited a lack of tact when it comes to her familys poverty. Eds behavior, coupled with Roses irritated facial expressions, have fans wondering whether these two manage to make it work. [Warning: possible spoilers ahead.]

Big Ed asked Rose to shave her legs, gifts her mouthwash

Big Ed has not been very tactful in his efforts to win over his 90 Day Fiance love. In fact, he seems more concerned with his own happiness than making Rose feel comfortable. This was made apparent when Big Ed decided to tell Rose she should shave her legs.

After an uncomfortable night together with Rose, Ed decided to drop the bomb. He told Rose, Um, dont be mad at me, but um, I noticed your legs were kind of like mine, they were hairy. Would you shave your legs?

Its worth noting that this is the first time Ed has met Rose in person, and hes already trying to tell her what to do with her body. Later down the line, Ed insulted Rose with a gift. After handing her revealing clothing and a teddy bear, Ed decided the next move was mouthwash and a toothbrush.

He told Rose, I got you a couple more things. This is going to be less romantic. So, this is mouthwash. And I got you a cute toothbrush because your breath is not pretty.

Rose, enraged, informed him that she has a stomach ulcer that can cause bad breath, and that she brushes her teeth every day. She stormed off while calling Ed ugly.

Big Ed seemed shocked by Roses home

Big Ed also exhibited insensitivity when he visited Roses family home. Rose and her family live in relative poverty in the Philippines, but were still gracious enough to welcome Ed into their home and serve him a big meal.

Despite this, Ed badmouthed the state of their home within earshot of Rose and her family several times. The windows, doors, and roofing left something to be desired for Ed, and he was quick to point it out.

Its all open up above, and they dont really have a front door, its just kind of a curtain of paper CD covers. Its all concrete with sheets hanging, covering, I guess to make it more homey. I expected it to be pretty bad, but this is really bad, he told cameras.

Ed went on to question Rose about vermin and insects getting into the house. Later, he admitted he doesnt want to stay in her home overnight, and would rather stay in a hotel instead.

Are the 90 Day Fiance stars still together?

Big Ed of 90 Day Fiance |thisisbiged via Instagram

Now, it seems as if Big Ed and Rose are split up. The two 90 Day Fiance stars do not post photos of each other on Instagram, or any similar activity that might suggest theyre still together.

In fact, Rose went live on Instagram to call Ed out for his behavior. 90 Day Fiance blogger John Yates captured the live and posted it to his account. In the video, Rose asks Ed, How dare you? To make me embarrassed in front of millions of people. Please people dont believe him. He doesnt really care about me, he just wants to be famous which is why hes doping that.

Rose went on to claim that Ed lies frequently about the gifts he gave her, and about caring for her. It would seem safe to say that the two are not together any more. Additionally, it seems as though Rose may be with a new person altogether, further cementing that the two have split up since their time on the show.
Two weeks ago, dozens of COVID-19 patients filled the beds at UAB hospital as infections in Alabama spiked. The sickest patients were placed in Dr. Steve Stiglers medical intensive care unit, where most of them remained hooked up to ventilators as they fought for their lives.

At the time Stigler, the mild-mannered director of the MICU and a Birmingham native, spent long shifts garbed head-to-toe in protective gear, caring for critically ill patients and comforting family members by phone who were desperate for news. When he wasnt on the ICU floor he could be found in his office, looking at ways to improve care and planning how his team could best meet healthcare scenarios that would have been unthinkable two months earlier.

AL.com spoke with Stigler two weeks ago, just after the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital reached what would be its peak of 63 in-house COVID patients. He spoke with AL.com again this week, as the numbers have slowly declined to an average of about 35-40 patients.

Stigler, coming off a series of night shifts in the MICU, spoke about how things have changed. where critical care stands now, and whether Alabama is winning the battle against the coronavirus.

The days are still busy and high-stakes, he said this week, but now you can catch your breath a little bit.

Measures worked

Early on, the thing that kept Stigler up at night was worry that his doctors and nurses would get sick, he said.

I was really nervous about the unknown of things, he said. It was hard to sleep. You wanted your people to be safe, and wanted patients to get better, and there were just so many unknowns.

The unknowns are still there, but theyve begun to change. State leaders and healthcare experts now weigh economic realities against potential public health risks. As Alabama prepares to take its first steps out of shutdown, it looks as though the infection control measures of the past months have paid off.

Stigler is quick to point out that hes not an epidemiologist. But from where he stands, the statewide shutdown of many parts of daily life and the social distancing measures have worked.

The things that were done by local and state leaders have been effective, he said, and what people have done individually to reduce their contact have been effective at helping slow the spread of COVID-19.

Dr. William Stigler wears a face mask and shield while working in UAB Hospital, where he is director of the medical intensive care unit.

Supplies and new drugs

The nationwide shortage of protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, was a concern several weeks ago, and still is.

Stigler thinks the shortage is likely to continue for months, due to disruptions in the supply chain. But, he said, hospitals have learned workarounds, including ways to sanitize masks and other measures that help prolong the life of the supplies they do have.

Despite headlines about new drugs and other coronavirus treatments, the way Stigler and the ICU staff treat patients hasnt changed much since March, he said.

Our focus is to provide care based on the evidence we have, and what research supports, and not get too caught up in the potential therapies that dont have a whole lot of support behind them, he said.

He hasnt seen anything yet in published studies that caused him to drastically reevaluate patient care.

Our focus is providing good, evidence-based care along with standards we all agree to, he said, and then participating in clinical studies when we can.

UAB has participated in significant clinical trials, including a National Institute of Health study published this week that showed the drug remdesivir can speed recovery from advanced stages of COVID-19. The drug was developed through research centered at UAB.

Plateaus and normal patients

In recent days, Stigler has seen more of the kinds of patients hed see in the ICU in normal times.

In a weird way, he said, its sort of reassuring seeing the normal work we do alongside the work weve been doing with COVID patients.

But caring for the sickest of the sick in the ICU means that outcomes often arent what they wanted .

We work in a field where, despite our best efforts, we can have 15 or 20% of people we take care of may not make it out of the hospital in some months, he said.

We all take our patients home with us, he said, meaning both mentally and emotionally. I want my patients to do well, the ones I have now, and the ones well get in the future.

But nearly two months in, hospital staff are starting to see more patients who have spent weeks in the hospital finally getting to go home.

Its really encouraging, he said, when someones been through a lot, to see them fight through that and start to get better.

And staff morale has ticked up as well.

Theres a greater sense of optimism, he said. To be at a point where were not seeing as many new cases and were also having patients get better and leave the ICU, that breeds a sense that weve worked hard, and weve worked well.

Whats next

These days its been easier for Stigler, who is married and has three children, to put his phone down when hes at home and spend time with his family.

Stiglers grandfather was a Birmingham physician and his father died young of cancer; Stigler cant remember a time when he didnt want to be a doctor, too. In medical school at UAB and later in Boston, he felt a pull toward emergency medicine and treating severe respiratory diseases. Hes been on faculty at UAB since 2012.

No ones ever been all that interested in the job I do, he joked about friends and acquaintances, but as of a few weeks ago, I suddenly had an interesting medical specialty.

As state leaders begin to slowly lift restrictions in different areas of public life, Stigler said he spends much of his non-clinic days planning for the future. Many experts, including those at UAB, have expressed concern about a possible second surge of coronavirus patients in the fall.

Were now at a point where a lot of what were talking about (is) what does normal look like in the next two months or six months, trying to prepare for that, he said.

But any time youve been through something like this, I think it makes you feel more confident that whatever comes next, well be able to handle.
Turkey Delays S-400 Deployment Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

Sputnik News

Tim Korso. Sputnik International

11:12 GMT 01.05.2020

The country was planning to make the newly acquired air defence systems operational in April despite numerous protests from the US, which had been pressuring Ankara to ditch the systems for good.

In April, Turkey was unable to deploy the S-400 air defence systems it obtained from Russia last year, as planned due to the ongoing pandemic, but will ultimately do so at a later date, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin stated during an online conference with members of the Atlantic Council.

"There has been a delay because of the coronavirus but it will move forward as planned", the spokesman said.

Ibrahim Kalin also recalled that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said on multiple occasions his country was still interested in buying American Patriot systems.

Washington did not react to those statements, but vehemently opposed Turkey's decision to buy the Russian air defences and then strongly advised it against deploying them in April, repeatedly threatening the country with sanctions. The US claims that S-400s are incompatible with the NATO defence grid despite previously not opposing Greece purchasing its predecessor, the S-300.

The White House also claimed that S-400s could expose sensitive information on modern F-35 jets to Moscow, despite both Russia and Turkey denying this possibility. Regardless of that, Washington decided to violate its end of the agreement with Turkey on F-35 supplies and froze the delivery of the jets, despite Ankara paying for both the aircraft's development and acquisition.

Despite the pressure from Washington, Turkey refused to ditch the deal with Russia on S-400s. Turkish President Erdogan noted that before opting for S-400s Turkey sought to buy Patriots from the US, but the latter refused to sell them at the time, thus forcing Ankara to seek alternatives.

A Sputnik

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NASA has selected three U.S. companies to design and develop human landing systems for the agency's Artemis program, one of which will land the first woman and next man on the surface of the moon by 2024.

The three companies are Blue Origin of Kent, Washington; Dynetics of Huntsville, Alabama; and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, according to a release of the agency on Thursday night.

The human landing system awards are firm-fixed price, milestone-based contracts, and the total combined value for all awarded contracts is 967 million U.S. dollars for the 10-month base period, the release said.

"With these contract awards, America is moving forward with the final step needed to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024, including the incredible moment when we will see the first woman set foot on the lunar surface," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"This is the first time since the Apollo era that NASA has direct funding for a human landing system, and now we have companies on contract to do the work for the Artemis program," he said.

NASA's commercial partners will refine their lander concepts through the contract base period ending in February 2021. During that time, the agency will evaluate which of the contractors will perform initial demonstration missions.

NASA will later select firms for development and maturation of sustainable lander systems followed by sustainable demonstration missions. NASA intends to procure transportation to the lunar surface as commercial space transportation services after these demonstrations are complete, according to the release.

Charged with returning to the moon in the next four years, NASA's Artemis program will reveal new knowledge about the moon, Earth, and the origins in the solar system.

The human landing system is a vital part of NASA's deep space exploration plans, along with the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, and Gateway.
Telangana has urged the Centre to come to the rescue of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the information technology (IT) sector to prevent layoffs due to the outbreak of coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown.

It has sought a series of measures to ensure enough cash flow to the SMEs to avoid layoffs.

Telangana information technology minister KT Rama Rao has written to Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, suggesting a series of measures to help the SMEs in the IT sector.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

The state minister wrote that it is for the Centre to come to the rescue of SMEs in the IT sector. Pointing out that Hyderabad has six lakh employees in the IT sector, Rama Rao said they were affected either directly or indirectly by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the small companies are likely to be hit hard, he called for giving them certain exemptions.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, demanded that the borrowing capacity of SMEs should be raised by 50 per cent, so that they can pay salaries to their employees on time for the next three to four months and thus avoid layoffs.

He said the loans should be interest free for three to four months and at least 12 months should be given to the companies to repay these loans.

He also suggested that the Centre should immediately pay Income Tax (I-T) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds to the SMEs. If the refund amount is Rs 25 lakh, it should be released fully. If the amount is above Rs 25 lakh, at least 50 per cent of the amount should be released immediately.

Also read| Covid-19: What you need to know today

KTR said that due to the uncertainty with regard to some GST exemptions announced by the Centre, several companies fully paid their taxes. He demanded that the Centre should immediately release the amount towards the refund. He suggested that a help-desk be set up in IT department of the Centre to help such companies.

Pointing out that the deadline to get the direct benefits by the SEZs ended on March 31, 2020, the minister demanded that the same be extended by a year.

He called for a standard health code with special guidelines for IT parks and SEZs and said that it should be made compulsory like fire safety norms.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

Noting that the density of employees in various companies was more than the office space, he suggested that each employee be allocated 100 to 125 feet space in view of the social distancing norms to check the spread of Covid-19.

Hyderabad, a key IT hub of the country, registered Rs 109 lakh crore exports during 2018-19. According to the 2018-19 figures, it has 1,500 companies employing 5,43,033 people.
Actor Irrfan Khan was remembered by director Asif Kapadia in a moving tribute written for the Guardian. Kapadia gave Irrfan his first lead role, in the 2001 drama The Warrior. The actor died on Wednesday, two years after announcing that he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour.

Kapadia wrote that he first met Irrfan 21 years ago in a cheap beach hotel in Mumbai. The director was casting for his new film, but no one interested in doing a movie without songs or romance or much dialogue, filmed far away in Rajasthan and the Himalayas.

Also read: Mira Nair remembers final meeting with Irrfan Khan in London: He flirted with the waitress

The director recalled telling his friend when he first laid eyes on Irrfan that the actor looks like someone whos killed a lot of people, but feels really bad about it. He continued, Irrfan walked in the room and in that moment I knew he was right. He had this incredible presence and beautiful face and unusual puffy eyes. He loved world cinema, got the tone and references and liked the challenge of telling a story without words.

Kapadia said that before being cast in The Warrior, Irrfan was considering giving up acting. He hadnt been offered a role that allowed him to demonstrate his great gift, which was to say so much with just a glance.

Even though the movie was killed by producer Harvey Weinstein, Kapadia lamented, it opened doors for the both of them in Hollywood. He continued, We both got noticed and he went on to make movies with Danny Boyle, Michael Winterbottom, Wes Anderson and Ang Lee. I worked with David Fincher recently and asked him how hed come across me. He said: Oh, my best friend came over with a DVD and told me I had to watch it. That turned out to be Brad Pitt, and the DVD was Senna. I think Pitt had been told to watch it by Irrfan, when they worked together on A Mighty Heart.

Also read: We abused your uninvited guests: Irrfan Khans Angrezi Medium director Homi Adajania pens emotional tribute

Kapadia said that they often met when Irrfan was undergoing treatment for his condition in London. Kapadia said, When he was having treatment here Id visit him in hospital and wed head to the local park or cafe, or hed come to our home. He talked about his illness in a way Ive never before heard anyone discuss cancer. He was extremely inquisitive and wanted to understand exactly what was going on.

The filmmaker concluded, Its like losing a brother. He used to ring me up at 2am and Id be worried something bad had happened. Oh no, hed say, I just missed you and wanted to chat.

Several of Irrfans old directors, including Mira Nair, Colin Trevorrow, Danny Boyle, Homi Adajania and Nikkhil Advani have written about his death this week.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
U.S. seeking to help Taiwan regain WHO observer status: report

ROC Central News Agency

05/01/2020 03:52 PM

Washington, April 30 (CNA) The United States is reportedly seeking the support of key allies to restore Taiwan's observer status at the World Health Organization (WHO) amid an intensified confrontation with China at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic as the U.S. 2020 presidential election approaches.

Citing diplomatic sources and WHO internal meeting notes, a U.S. magazine reported Wednesday that the U.S. is seeking to solicit the backing of like-minded countries to restore Taiwan's status as an observer at the global health organization to curb the spread of the coronavirus as part of its gambit in a confrontation against China.

According to Foreign Policy magazine, the U.S. and Japan are asking countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, France and Germany to co-sign a draft letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, requesting that he invite the Taiwanese delegation to the World Health Assembly -- the WHO's decision-making body -- which is expected to meet virtually in mid-May.

"There is considerable support in Washington and other foreign capitals for Taiwan -- a country of 24 million that has responded effectively to the pandemic -- to participate in WHO discussions," according to Washington, D.C.-based Foreign Policy.

In the article titled "WHO Becomes Battleground as Trump Chooses Pandemic Confrontation over Cooperation," it pointed out that some countries are concerned that such a move might trigger retaliation from China.

"But some of Washington's key allies fear Chinese reprisals if they promote Taiwan's case, and critics suspect the White House initiative is part of a broader diplomatic campaign to keep the world focused on the failings of China and the WHO to distract attention from its own shortcomings," the report said.

In an effort to meet this end, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on April 14 that he was halting U.S. funding to the WHO, accusing the group of failing to execute its "basic duty" in its response to the threat.

The move follows weeks of escalating attacks by Trump on the organization as he has sought to deflect scrutiny of his own administration's slow response to the outbreak.

On April 29, the U.S. distributed a proposal to "immediately initiate an independent expert evaluation, in consultation with member states, to review lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19," according to the magazine, which has reviewed the confidential proposal.

At the same time, Trump's administration has boosted public health cooperation with Taiwan as part of its campaign against China, it said.

In a rare nod toward Taiwan, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar spoke to his Taiwanese counterpart Chen Shih-chung () in a 30-minute telephone call on April 27 about fighting the coronavirus outbreak, in an attempt to give Taiwan more exposure in the global fight against the virus.

They also discussed U.S. support for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO in a Cabinet-level contact between the two governments, according to a summary of the meeting released by Taiwan's foreign ministry.

(By Flor Wang and Chiang Chin-yeh)

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 09:44:01|Editor: huaxia

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KAMPALA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday urged employers not to lay off their workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the situation would soon normalize.

In a televised address to commemorate International Labor Day, Museveni urged business enterprises not to copy decisions made by European companies to lay off their workers amid the negative impact of COVID-19.

"This business of laying off workers is not a good idea. Things are going to improve tomorrow. So why do you lay them off?" Museveni said.

Museveni said if employers cannot afford to pay the salaries of their employees during this pandemic, they should send them on leave and recall them when the situation normalizes. Enditem
Seoul: Contradicting reports over his deteriorating health, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made his `first public appearance` after 20 days of absence.

Yonhap news agency reported that the state media on Saturday showed the North Korean leader, who was last seen on April 11, making his first public appearance in 20 days.

The outlet citing state media reported Kim attended a ceremony marking the completion of a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, South Phyongan Province. The images from the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim attending a ceremony at the fertiliser factory on Friday in Sunchon.

The pictures showed Kim Jong Un along with other senior officials including his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong.

South Korean officials had repeatedly disputed reports of his poor health saying they have detected no unusual signs from North Korea.

The report of Kim`s illness started doing rounds following his absence at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on the birthday of late state founder and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, earlier this month.
Writing about trouble in a retirement village has got Papamoas Denis Edwards into the national spotlight during a national emergency.

But why stop there? Denis doubled down and launched himself further into an epic boredom busting battle.

The effort paid off, as not only has one of his short stories reached the top ten of a nationwide lockdown competition, but another story has taken out the ultimate top prize.

Does writing a short story make a long time pass quickly? Maybe. Retired literary giants and writing enthusiasts from 80 retirement villages all over New Zealand came out in force during the Alert Level 4 lockdown, with a mammoth 172 entries from behind locked fences and gates.

I figured I had retired, when Susan, my wife, saw the Retirement Village Association short story competition, says Denis.

Prizes up for grabs in the Generus Living-sponsored competition were bottles of Central Otago vineyard Nevis Bluff Pinor Noir and Pinot Gris. And to give the competition another level of prestige, the judge was Joan McKenzie, well-known in the book world for her work at Whitcoulls and as the person who makes the Joans Picks among the books in the stores.

Denis has a solid career of writing behind him, having written ten published books and six produced plays, won two playwriting awards, had another six plays on major shortlists in New Zealand, and one script published in the United States. In between there have been appearances on major shortlists for feature and short film scriptwriting, with a short stint writing in the early years of Shortland Street.

It was an easy decision to pull out the trusty typewriter, with three broad topics to choose from  Alls well that ends well, An Unexpected Turn and Trouble in the Village.

I thought I would see if I had any rubber left on the writing tyres, so I did two stories, says Denis.

His entry Bowling towards Alls Well that might end Well won the top prize, and his Booking a spot of trouble in the village won a spot in the top ten.

Born in Wellington, Denis has travelled extensively, lived in Auckland for forty years and in the Mount and Papamoa for the past six years. He and Susan now live at the upmarket Pacific Coast Village in Papamoa Beach.

His first job out of school was with New Zealand Police, as a cadet and a constable in Wellington, including being on duty the night the Interisland ferry, the Wahine sank in Wellington harbour. That got him a night helping sort property and time in a packed mortuary.

After returning from overseas, he worked for nine and a half years in the Auckland ambulance service, most of it in South Auckland. During that period, he taught himself journalism.

I figured journalists didnt have to go out at three in the morning, in the rain, and get injured people out of upside-down cars, says Denis.

Fifteen years as one of Aucklands busiest freelance journalists and writing for almost every magazine and newspaper in the country resulted in winning awards at the then-Qantas Press Awards, for both columns and feature writing. He went on assignment to the United States, Malaysia and Australia.

The journalism took Denis into writing books. He has had ten of them published, four from Penguin, five books for children, one of which Killer Moves, from Scholastic, was recognized at the NZ Post Childrens Book Awards. One privately commissioned book looked at the life and times of the suburb of Mount Eden  where he lived for twenty years.

Despite the impressive resume and awards, he was still surprised to learn he had taken out the retirement village competition.

It was a delightful shock when I was told one of them had won and the other was on the ten-story shortlist. Its been a huge buzz.

We are delighted with the fantastic response to the competition, says a Retirement Village Association spokesperson. We thought we might have got 40 or so stories, but instead received 172 entries from 80 villages and Judge Joan said it was very hard to choose even the top ten.

Now that Denis has stretched his writing wings, perhaps hell come further out of retirement and knock out some more literary tales, screenplays, books and plays. Theres still some more writing rubber on those tyres for sure.
The Donald Trump administration announced today that it will provide $1.7 million in humanitarian aid to support COVID-19 response efforts and other vulnerable populations.

But that aid accounts for less than 1% of the roughly $1.3 billion in funding that Yemen will need to battle the looming coronavirus crisis, according to an estimate provided to Al-Monitor from the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. The budget shortfall comes after the Trump administration has slashed the lions share of Yemeni aid and suspended all cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) throughout the world.

Yemen needs support now  literally, right now, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande, told Al-Monitor. There are shortages of absolutely everything thats needed to treat the people who are likely to become ill. There arent enough swabs, tests, reagents, hospital beds, ICU beds, ventilators oxygen or protective equipment. The situation is desperate.

Grande warned Monday that the WHO likely will have to suspend  or at least significantly scale back  at least 80% of its operations in Yemen by today, largely because of the US funding cut. Acting USAID Administrator John Basra said last week that the United States is looking for alternatives to the WHO to implement Yemen aid programs.

However, the Trump administration also ended the vast majority of aid to the Houthi-controlled north, where most of the Yemeni population lives. The State Department cited the Houthis often onerous restrictions on humanitarian nongovernmental organizations and aid workers operating on the ground to justify cutting some $73 million in humanitarian aid to northern Yemen in the midst of a global pandemic.

Congress has also appropriated $400 million in Yemeni stabilization aid for this fiscal year  money the Trump administration has yet to allocate.

What do they think this $1.7 million is going to cover? asked Aisha Jumaan, an epidemiologist and the president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction foundation. The $1.7 million, Im not sure what it gets them to be honest. If we just look at the needs for the testing, we need $69 million [and] $761 million for protective equipment, very basic things.

Yemen has seven recorded coronavirus cases so far, including two deaths. But that number is likely higher given Yemens current lack of testing capacity, its crumbling health care infrastructure and the fact that Yemeni authorities are likely underreporting the true extent of infections. Famine, cholera, and a particularly severe swine flu outbreak have rendered millions of Yemenis immunocompromised, putting them at heightened risk of dying from the coronavirus.

The donor agencies are expecting that Yemen will have about 86% of the population infected, said Jumaan. Thats 13 million people, which means were going to have 60,394 deaths, and then were going to have [more than 400,000] hospitalizations.

Even humanitarian NGOs that had lambasted Houthi aid restrictions have panned the Trump administration for ending nearly all aid to northern Yemen. And Grande noted earlier this week that the Houthis have made concessions by scaling back some of the restrictions. The Houthi concessions include scrapping their proposed 2% tax on foreign aid and allowing biometric scanning to monitor potential fraud.

This administration is not negotiating in good faith, said Jumaan. That is definitely my assessment of this, and their policy is my way or the highway. They put aid conditions that make the other side less likely to say yes.

She noted that the Houthis are often skeptical of things like biometric data and often restrict access to aid workers out of fear that their adversaries may use them to gather intelligence, such as targeting logistics for Saudi-led airstrikes. The New York Times reported in 2017 that the Pentagon inked a clandestine deal with an American company contracting for UNICEF and the Red Cross to smuggle arms into Yemen.

Given the Houthi concessions, some anti-war activists are accusing the Trump administration of using the aid to pressure the Iran-backed rebels into ending the war against the US-supported Saudi coalition.

Its the same logic of sanctions where you try to make the people under enemy rule scream in the hopes that it will create unrest, said Erik Sperling, the executive director of Just Foreign Policy. Theyve never figured out any sanctions yet that cut half the food to the people of the country. This is on another level. Funding cuts have also forced the World Food Program to scale back its operations and provide aid to Yemeni families every other month instead of every month.

Correction: May 2, 2020. The number of hospitalizations projected by the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction foundation is 400,000, rather than 4 million.
Want to land one of today's record-low mortgage rates? Follow these 4 tips

You've seen the headlines: With the economy in a COVID-19 tailspin, mortgage rates have been falling and falling, to depths never seen before. Rates last week dropped to the latest in a series of new all-time lows.

But if you're a homeowner who wants to refinance or a homebuyer who's ready to make a purchase, you can't assume that a mortgage lender will always give you one of today's historically low rates.

In some cities, different lenders can offer rates that vary by close to one full percentage point, a recent LendingTree study found.

In other words, Lender X might want to give you a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.25%. But you might discover that Lender Y will offer you the same type of loan at just 3.30%.

Last week's national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage was an all-time low 3.23%, according to mortgage company Freddie Mac, which has been tracking rates since 1971.

A separate survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association also found rates at record lows.

How do you land a mortgage rate that's close to record territory  or even lower? Industry experts offer these four tips.

1. It really pays to shop around

Don't stop your mortgage search at Lender X  because there might very well be a Lender Y out there with a much more attractive rate.

If you look, you can find 30-year mortgages today as low as the neighborhood of 3%, says Alan Rosenbaum, founder and CEO of the New York-based mortgage lender GuardHill Financial Corp.

Homebuyers who say yes to the very first mortgage offer they get will end up paying an average of around $37,500 more in total interest over the run of a 30-year loan than buyers who gather rates from multiple lenders, the LendingTree study found.

In cities including San Francisco and Boston, the lifetime interest savings when you shop around can exceed $50,000.

"It pays to do your research," says Tendayi Kapfidze, LendingTree's chief economist.

2. You'll need a healthy credit score

Story continues

TierneyMJ / Shutterstock

"To get a low rate, the borrower will need to have excellent credit," says Richard Pisnoy, a principal with Silver Fin Capital, a mortgage broker in Great Neck, New York.

This is even truer now than it used to be. Banks have been tightening their lending standards, because they don't want to be left with defaults resulting from the current economic crisis.

For example, JPMorgan Chase is requiring new mortgage applicants to have a minimum credit score of 700  in the middle of the "good" range  and make at least a 20% down payment. Wells Fargo has raised its credit score requirement to 680.

Consumers may not like the new rules, "but they speak to the uncertainty of the times and the difficulty for these organizations to gauge borrowers ability to repay at a time when millions of people are suddenly out of work," says Matthew Speakman, an economist with Zillow.

The best mortgage rates have traditionally gone to borrowers with credit scores in the "exceptional" (800 to 850) or "very good (740 to 799) ranges. If you're not sure what your credit score is, you can take a peek at it for free.

3. It helps if you're refinancing

People in the industry say it's more challenging right now to get a low rate on a so-called purchase loan  to buy a home  than if you're a homeowner who's refinancing.

"In general, we see that it's typically easier to refinance than it is to purchase, given that the borrower has already been underwritten," says Grant Moon, CEO of Home Captain Realty.

"The lender has payments and historical propensity-to-pay information that makes it an easier proposition," Moon says.

An exception is if you're doing a cash-out refinance. Freddie Mac and sibling Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored entities that buy or back most U.S. mortgages, have grown wary of cash-out refis as many of those borrowers have sought to delay their payments during the pandemic, says Pisnoy.

"This is causing higher risk on these types of loans, and lenders are adjusting the rates up because of it," he says.

4. Be ready to move quickly

Jacob Lund / Shutterstock

Mortgage rates are unpredictable, and the amazingly low ones can be available for just a hot minute.

"Even though rates are low, they still move every day," warns Pisnoy. So if you come across a rate that would give you an impressively low monthly payment, try to lock it before it's gone.

But if you lose out on a dreamy rate, experts say it's a mistake to sit around and wait for mortgage rates to go down again. They can go higher just as easily as they can go lower.

So, the advice is similar to what dithering investors are told when they're tempted to wait based on what stocks might or might not do: Don't time the market.

If you're a homebuyer and find the perfect house  maybe through one of the virtual tours that have become popular in the coronavirus era  comparison-shop for your mortgage and try to settle on one quickly. Don't miss out on a great home or a great loan.
Mumbai: The Central Railway has appealed to people not to come to railway stations, saying only those passengers who have been permitted to travel by the state government would be allowed to board trains.

An appeal issued by the CPRO, Central Railway on Friday said, I request all of you to please clarify to the public that the special trains are being planned for nominated people, identified and registered by state governments. No one under any circumstance should come to Railway station looking for trains.

We will not issue any tickets to any individual or entertain any request from any group or individual. We will allow only those passengers to board whom state govt officials will bring to Railway Stations. The state government is the final authority to decide that who will travel in our trains, the statement said.

It may be recalled that the Central Railway (CR) would be running two special Shramik Express trains from Nashik to Lucknow and Bhopal after the Union government said that stranded migrant labourers would be allowed to return to their home states.

In order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (May 1) extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks. As per the latest notification, the third phase of lockdown will be enforced until May 17.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as lockdown 2.0 was coming to end on May 3.

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Union Home Ministry issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Friday to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued fresh guidelines, under which, all the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the MHA, will be prohibited.

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.

Notably, 733 districts in the country have been divided into Red, Orange, and Green Zones after witnessing the rising cases of coronavirus. Of these, 130 districts are in the Red Zone, 284 districts are in the Orange Zone, while 319 districts are in the Green Zone.

Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days.

Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback.

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone.
Sana Shakil By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The number of COVID-19 cases in CRPF rose to 135 on Saturday, all from the Delhi based 31st battalion which has also witnessed a COVID-19 death, officials said on Saturday.

Government sources said that the union Home Ministry has taken note of the matter and has asked the forces chief AP Maheshwari to explain the circumstances due to which the spread of the infection could not be contained.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) became 169 on Saturday with the Border Security Force (BSF) also recording 14 new cases12 from Delhi and two from Tripura.

Besides the coronavirus cases from the 31st battalion, CRPF has two other cases-- one from the 194th battalion (Delhi) and the other from Ahmedabad wherein a personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF), the specialised unit of CRPF, has been found COVID-19 positive.

BSF has 17 COVID-19 cases in total whereas CISF has six, ITBP has five and SSB has four cases of coronavirus.

All of ITBP and SSB coronavirus cases are from Delhi. In CISF, three cases are from Delhi, two troopers were found infected in Mumbai and one was found COVID-19 positive in Kolkata. There were some other cases of coronavirus in the forces too which have been cured.

55-year-old sub-inspector Mohammad Ikram Hussain of the CRPFs 31st battalion had succumbed to the disease on April 28 and the headquarters of the battalion based in Mayur Vihar phase-3 area of the national capital was thereafter sealed.

This was the first COVID-19 death in CAPFs, comprising the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Assam Assam Rifles.

Following Hussains case, a total of 480 CRPF troopers of his unit were tested for the infection out of which 458 results are out and 22 are still awaited. The only relief for the force is that most of the infected troopers are asymptomatic and are likely to get cured soon, officials said.

Four companies of the 1000-strength battalion were deployed outside and not stationed in Delhi when the infection is believed to have broken out in the headquarters, according to sources. Each battalion has seven companies comprising nearly 150 troopers in each company.

The infected troopers have been admitted to an isolation facility of the Delhi government at Mandoli and other personnel of the unit have been quarantined.

According to officials, the primary source of the Covid-19 infection in this unit could be a constable, a nursing assistant, who joined this battalion after finishing his leave period at his home in the national capital region (NCR).

This trooper is posted in another CRPF battalion deployed in Kupwara of Jammu-Kashmir and it is not clear as to how he contracted the infection. His family members had also tested negative for the respiratory disease, officials said.

The rising number of COVID-19 cases in the Central Reserve Police Force, the countrys largest paramilitary force, has become a serious concern for the security grid.

At the centre of the controversy are two directives sent by the Deputy Director Medical.

While the governments protocol prescribes mandatory quarantine of 14 days for anyone suspected to have the infection, an April order of the medical wing of the force said a five-day quarantine is needed in such cases.

A second directive was sent by the medical wing of the paramilitary force on April 17, with the quarantine period changed back to 14 days, sources added.




Australia's coronavirus tracing app could be interfering with diabetes-monitoring apps - but health authorities say it must be downloaded before we can return to the pub.

More than four-million Australians have downloaded the COVIDSafe app, which has been hailed as the nation's ticket out of strict lockdown restrictions.

But some users have reported a glitch with the app after experiencing connection problems with their continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) apps.

The Australian Government COVIDSafe app hopes to slow the spread of coronavirus by using Bluetooth connections to trace who infected people came into close contact with.

Australia's coronavirus tracing app could be interfering with diabetes-monitoring apps. Pictured: A woman uses her mobile phone while walking at Bondi Beach

More than four-million Australians have downloaded the COVIDSafe app (pictured), which has been hailed as the nation's ticket out of strict lockdown restrictions

Diabetes Australia said there was 'no need to panic' when flagging the connectivity issues in a post to Facebook on Wednesday.

'We have received reports from a number of people with diabetes who have downloaded the COVIDSafe app to their smartphone that they have experienced connection problems with their continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) apps,' the post said.

'We have advised the Department of Health that there may be an issue.'

Diabetes Australia encouraged those who use an app for CGM and have downloaded COVIDSafe to 'closely monitor' if there are connectivity issues.

'If you are worried, you should temporarily uninstall the COVIDSafe app from your phone,' the post read.

'If you have experienced any issues since downloading the COVIDSafe app, please let us know.'

Diabetes Australia said there was 'no need to panic' when flagging the connectivity issues in a post to Facebook on Wednesday

Pictured: A woman in a face mask uses her mobile phone while walking across the Princes Bridge in Melbourne

Diabetes Australia said they would provide additional updates when they receive further information.

Federal and state leaders agreed to bring forward a decision on relaxing coronavirus restrictions after the latest National Cabinet meeting on Friday.

They will decide on relaxing some social and economic clamps on Friday, May 8 - a week earlier than expected.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said restarting the economy was as important as stopping the spread of the virus.

'Australians have earned an early mark through the work that they have done,' he said.

Expanded testing capacity, boosting tracing through the COVIDSafe app and preparing the health system for surges in infections are paving the way for relaxed restrictions.

The Federal Government has warned that millions more Australians need to download the app - which was launched on Sunday April 26 - to ease baseline national restrictions

National Cabinet is confident those conditions have largely been met, allowing leaders to move faster on changing the rules.

More than four-million people have downloaded and registered for the contact tracing app, which was launched on Sunday, April 26.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy urged more to sign up, with the number of people on board not enough to make the scheme effective.

'We need the app uptake to be higher before we can say that the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle of contact tracing is there,' he said.

Mr Morrison said getting back to the pub would be rely on people signing up for the app.

Federal and state leaders agreed to bring forward a decision on relaxing coronavirus restrictions after the latest National Cabinet meeting on Friday. Pictured: A woman uses her phone in Melbourne during the coronavirus pandemic

'Now if that isn't an incentive for Australians to download COVIDSafe on a Friday, I don't know what is,' he said.

But the COVIDSafe app's tracing capability is not yet operational.

The information gathered by the app cannot yet be passed onto state and territory health officials as it is in the process of being finalised.

'The rules on privacy are being finalised, along with final IT testing,' a Department of Health spokesman said in a statement to the ABC.

'The system will be operational next week ahead of the decision on possible easing of restrictions.'

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd believes it is 'realistic' to expect millions more to sign up before the National Cabinet sits next Friday to consider lifting restrictions.

But he conceded that app is not yet live and won't up and running until next week, and health officials can not use the data but will be able to trace back from the time when someone downloaded the app.
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty ImagesThe Rage Against the Machine reunion tour has officially been postponed to 2021.

After originally just delaying the spring leg of the upcoming trek, all dates on the rap-metal band's comeback run have now been pushed back. The tour, which marks Rage's return to the stage after going on hiatus in 2011, will now begin June 3, 2021 in El Paso, Texas.

"Rage Against the Machine will commence our tour at such a time when we are confident it will be safe for our fans," reads a statement from the band.

Tickets purchased for the originally scheduled shows will be honored at the new dates. You may also receive a refund at point of purchase.

"We sincerely hope that each one of you and your families and friends stay safe and well and that music is bringing you solace and inspiration," Rage says. "We look forward to seeing you."

For more info, visit RATM.com.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Vietnamese citizens believe that corruption in the public sector was most decreasing in nine years in 2019. Photo by Shutterstock/Atstock Productions.

Vietnamese agree with an annual survey that said corruption in public administration had decreased the most in nine years in 2019.

The Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI 2019) released this week showed that last year there had been the strongest improvement in the Control of Corruption in the Public Sector indicator since 2011.

PAPI has been providing data on six key indicators of government performance, the other five being Participation at Local Levels, Transparency in Local Decision Making, Vertical Accountability Towards Citizens, Public Administrative Procedures, and Public Service Delivery.

In 2018 the index added two new indicators, Environmental Governance and E-Governance.

For the 2019 index, 14,138 citizens randomly selected from all 63 provinces and cities in the country were interviewed.

The rate of respondents saying corruption had decreased was five percentage points more than in 2018.

Improvements were seen in all aspects that make up the corruption indicator: limits on public sector corruption, limits on corruption in public services, equity in employment, and willingness to fight corruption.

The progress made in Control of Corruption in the Public Sector matches well-documented reform efforts under a high-profile anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by Party chief and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

Initiated in 2017, it has netted several high-profile government officials, top military officers and businessmen, who have been arrested and jailed for crimes ranging from graft to money laundering.

According to official figures, 427 corruption cases were investigated and 200 went to court in 2018. In the first nine months of 2019 there were 435 cases and 279 trials.

Stringent punishment for corrupt high-ranking officials will act as a deterrent, Trong said at a meeting last year. The crackdown would continue and no one would be spared, he warned.

The 2019 PAPI report reflects the clear impact of this anti-corruption campaign on perceptions of grand and petty corruption.

While the anti-corruption drive is changing perceptions, there is continued evidence of a significant decline in petty corruption as experienced by citizens at district level public hospitals or when applying for land use right certificates.

While control of corruption scores has improved, a substantial number of respondents (20-45 percent) continue to perceive corruption as being prevalent in the public sector.

This suggests that more efforts are needed to address this problem.

Poverty still a concern

According to the 2019 PAPI report, a collaboration between the Center for Community Support and Development Studies, the Center for Research and Training of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Real-Time Analytics, a HCMC-based research consulting and technology development firm, and the United Nations Development Program, before Vietnam was affected by Covid-19, poverty, economy and the environment were the top concerns among the public.

Poverty/hunger has topped the list of most important issues facing Vietnam every year and 2019 was no exception, with nearly a quarter of respondents saying it was their main concern.

It was followed by economic growth (11 percent), environment (8.85 percent) and jobs/employment (6.36 percent).

These concerns are likely to be amplified in the coming months with large sections being hit hard by the pandemic.

The PAPI results indicate that people without social insurance consider poverty a pressing issue. They seem to be mainly concerned about the lack of certainty they will have sufficient resources for the future. But the unprecedented $2.6 billion social protection package approved by the National Assembly and expected to benefit over 10 percent of the population affected by Covid-19 should help address some of these concerns.

Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said: "The nationally representative findings on top citizen greatest concerns, including poverty and job loss, and evaluation of recent reform priorities regarding control of corruption and e-governance, provide valuable insights for policy makers as Vietnam enters the recovery phase of Covid-19."

The state of the environment remains a significant public concern, suggesting it has become a mainstream issue among the public and underlining the importance of a public policy response to poor air and water quality.

Nguyen Huu Dung, vice president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, said, "The analysis and assessment of public administration and governance performance at the provincial level from a public perspective is a very important channel of information which not only reflects public perception and expectations at the grassroots level but also serves as an indication of provincial public administration and governance performance helping policy makers introduce timely policy adjustments and improvements to respond to actual circumstances."
"People do not change, they are merely revealed." Anne Enright

As these state lockdowns are arbitrarily extended at the whims of certain Democrat governors, we are all discovering previously unknown personality traits of our friends, neighbors, and local politicians that we might never have learned of had it not been for this particular flu.

Most cities these days have online neighborhood sites where people post relevant facts or questions close to home: coyote sightings, lost pets, furniture for sale, etc. But now? Whew! Things have changed. Now we are seeing something else: the stark reality of how our local friends and neighbors think and operate.

Most of us don't bother to wonder to which political party the people who walk by our homes, or whom we see in our markets, libraries, or schools, belong. But based on what's seen in these neighborhood bulletin boards and discussion groups, many are revealing their inner police-state tendencies. Day after day, these neighborhood sites are chock-full of complaints about "people walking without masks" or exercising in a park too close to others. These online complainants rage against all the inconsiderate people who are not "following the rules." They get responses like "Call the police." One might think they were all brought up in Ceausescu's Romania, where even children were taught to report their own parents' verbal deviations from the party line.

New Jersey is using drones with loudspeakers to harass people deemed too close to one another from the air above them. As Dennis Prager wrote the other day, this is a dress rehearsal for a police state. And millions of Americans are taking it lying down!

This is why seeing those SoCal beachgoers fighting Gov. Gavin Newsom's orders to close the beaches is such a relief. All Americans need to remember how and why this country came into being. It was not to be treated like subjects of minor dictators. We should all remember that these governor-ordered rules do not, cannot have the force of law. It seems that too few Americans have a clue about the constitutional rights they have long taken for granted: speech, assembly, religion. Suddenly, they are giving them up without a fight.

Probably in all states, we can see people alone in their cars wearing a mask! What are they thinking? That the virus can somehow breach their closed windows if they drive by an infected person? So cheers to all those Southern Californians who have ignored Newsom's ridiculous politically motivated beach closures. If Newsom had being paying attention, he would know by now that being outdoors in the sunlight is the best disinfectant.

President Trump is a genius for leaving these things to the governors. He clearly knew full well that the dumbest among them would overreach. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan has become a national joke, but she is still doubling down. Her citizens can row in a canoe but not be in a motorboat! Other Democrat governors are imposing restrictions on their citizens' essential freedoms that have no basis in the science they all claim to be using to validate these impediments on our daily lives. New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of the outbreak there has been the worst by far. New York was tragically unprepared, and Cuomo's every step to address the crisis was disastrous. New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio has been a disaster as well. Both of them were encouraging New Yorkers to "go about their lives" until late in February. Everything that went right in New York was thanks to President Trump. But they both began blaming Trump for their own failures. Cuomo is largely responsible for the huge numbers of deaths in the nursing homes; it was on his watch that the state ordered these homes for the vulnerable to accept COVID-19-positive patients. He also cut the subway runs in half, making them twice as crowded. His judgment has been so poor that he will never be a viable presidential candidate. Never.

Heather Mac Donald wrote the must-read piece of the week, "The paranoid style in COVID-19 America," in which she tells of early-morning cyclists and runners in New York's Central Park who are whizzing by masked! How on Earth have so many freedom-loving Americans become so terrified of a politically charged virus that they are not even questioning the sudden repeal of their basic rights? Mac Donald references Japan, which did not shutter its economy but employed a guideline: avoid the three Cs  confined places, crowded places, and close contact. Japan, a nation of 126.5 million, with a very large proportion of elderly people, has had only 360 deaths.

It should be clear to all Americans by now that this lockdown, perhaps initially understandable, given the outrageous numbers of the first models used by Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, has been a colossal mistake. Once it became clear that those models were fallacious, everyone should have relaxed. Our hospitals have not been overrun except briefly in NY and even there all the beds and ventilators Cuomo claimed he needed were not necessary. No one has died for lack of a ventilator. Hydroxychloroquine works and now it seems Remdesivir can do the same, speeding up recovery from the disease. There are numerous vaccine trials already underway. It is a bad flu, but all things considered, the worst is over. The deaths have significantly been among the elderly with one or more co-morbidities, which does not make them any less tragic, but we are all on borrowed time from the moment we are born, far more dangerous are the pandemics and epidemics which target the young and healthy as some do.

From Heather Mac Donald's article:

"The average death rate from coronavirus in New York City is 128 per 100,000. In New York State, it is 71 per 100,000. To put those numbers in perspective, the national death rate for all causes was 723.6 per 100,000 in 2018; for heart disease it was 163.6 per 100,000. New York's coronavirus death rates bear no resemblance to the country at large, despite New York governor Andrew Cuomo's recent pronouncement that 'an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere'. California's coronavirus death rate is four deaths per 100,000; Pennsylvania's, 13 deaths per 100,000; Utah's, one death per 100,000; Washington State's, nine deaths per 100,000; Wisconsin's, four deaths per 100,000; Georgia's, which we are supposed to believe is about to unleash a mortal plague upon the country, eight deaths per 100,000; Texas's, two deaths per 100,000; and Florida's, four deaths per 100,000, despite its elderly population. An MSNBC pundit gleefully predicted several weeks ago that Missouri would succumb because it had not halted its economy soon enough. Its virus death rate stands at four deaths per 100,000."

The impact of the virus varies vastly throughout the country which is why Trump wisely left ending the lockdown to the governors. For three and a half years the left has called Trump a Hitler, a Mussolini, a dictator and of course he is nothing of the kind. Now they are apoplectic that he has refused to dictate an extended national shutdown when it is clear that is not necessary. He is reminding people what federalism actually is and why it is an integral part of our Constitution. He is abiding by it to the eternal frustration of the totalitarian left that believes that if one person suffers, everyone must suffer.

Our nation has been thoroughly enervated by this cult of "safetyism," the silly notion that we can and should all be safe at all times, both physically and mentally. This is what our kids are being taught in universities. Our ancestors are spinning in their graves. All those angry snitches raging against every person not sufficiently cowed by this flu are rather pathetic. They self-righteously report their neighbors, want to see them punished while they are only punishing themselves and exposing themselves as the authoritarian scaredy-cats they are. It is probably safe to assume that most of these watchdog informants, these cowards and snitches, are Democrats and most of those showing up at SoCal beaches are Republicans. It is also likely that many of those locked-down Democrats in Michigan, New Jersey, Maine California and elsewhere will be Republicans by November. Even nominal Democrats don't want to be under house arrest for any extended period of time for no reason.

"The secret to happiness is freedom And the secret to freedom is courage." --Thucydides

Image credit: Public Domain Pictures, public domain.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe told us last month: "We need to remember that once the virus is satisfactorily contained, all those factors that have made Australia such a successful and prosperous country will still be there."

Maybe. What about migration? More than half the nation's population growth since 2005 has come from overseas migration. High levels of immigration, especially skilled migration, helped sustain Australias 28 years of uninterrupted economic growth.

Illustration: Matt Davidson Credit:

But COVID-19 has closed our international borders. Temporary migrants are going home. No new migrants are coming for the foreseeable future. Borders are likely to stay closed well after all other restrictions ease. When we re-open the borders  in six, 12, or 24 months  migrants will not return immediately.

While Australia's high level of migration played a key role in our economic prosperity, in recent years the shape and size of our intake has hurt many Australian workers, contributing to unemployment, underemployment and low wage growth.
Gov. Kate Brown granted Oregonians permission to return to hospitals, medical clinics and dental offices Friday for elective procedures such as knee surgeries, fertility treatments and dental cleanings, despite concerns that doing so could worsen the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In doing so, Brown joined at least 22 governors in other states -- including Utah, Texas and Georgia -- who have disregarded recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue to postpone outpatient medical and dental visits that arent urgent or who never delayed the visits in the first place.

Notably, the governors of California and Washington have maintained tighter restrictions on elective medical procedures and have not yet allowed elective dental procedures to resume. Theyve also seen much higher numbers of COVID-19 cases in their states.

A spokeswoman for Browns office, Liz Merah, acknowledged that Brown is aware of the CDCs advice and said only that Browns medical advisory panel and the Oregon Health Authority reviewed that advice but the health authority developed its own guidance for the state.

Brown said medical and dental offices arent required to restart elective procedures, but she acknowledged the toll of the past five weeks as many Oregonians put off necessary health care, and the health care industry suffered huge financial losses.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said that medical and dental providers can restart nonessential care if they met certain thresholds, such as 14 days of a downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases. Its unclear if Oregon is in a two-week downward trend.

The conflicting advice from various government officials has left dental offices, in particular, in a tough spot as they each struggle with how best to protect their employees and their patients in an environment where the virus can be sent into the air in microscopic droplets of saliva, due to the nature of many dental procedures.

Corvallis dentist Jonathan Smart heard Browns announcement last week that Oregon was ready to allow nonurgent visits again and that she was very excited to schedule a dental cleaning appointment.

The governor says its safe, and the CDC is saying something else, Smart said. So who do you listen to? Im choosing the CDC.

Smart said he has no concrete date set to reopen for business as he watches the pandemic unfold and makes preparations to restart. When his office does reopen, he will ensure all his staff are professionally fitted with N95 masks, he said.

I think like Anthony Fauci: The virus will dictate, Smart said, referring to the federal governments top infectious disease expert.

Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration places the dental profession in its very high exposure risk category of occupations that are most likely to expose their workers to COVID-19. Likewise, the U.S. Department of Labor ranked dental hygienists as most at risk out of all professions -- slightly edging out even dentists, nurses and doctors.

In addition to the CDC, the American Dental Hygienists Association also has urged governors to hold off because of concerns over the virus in aerosolized form.

On its website, the CDC explains in detail how dental procedures create such a risk.

The practice of dentistry involves the use of rotary dental and surgical instruments such as handpieces or ultrasonic scalers and air-water syringes, the CDC said. These instruments create a visible spray that contains large particle droplets of water, saliva, blood, microorganisms, and other debris. ...The spray also might contain certain aerosols.

Also according to the CDC: The virus has been shown to survive in aerosols for hours and on some surfaces for days. There are also indications that patients may be able to spread the virus while pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic.

A study published in the journal Nature Medicine found that people were most infectious just before they started showing symptoms.

The hygienists association is asking governors who do allow dental offices to reopen for routine visits to at the very least supply the highest quality personal protective gear (PPE), such as N95 masks and face shields.

Browns office has said state-acquired PPE should make its way to dentists, but the ultimate decision of where PPE goes is up to Oregon counties, which distribute the state shipments they receive. Smart, the Corvallis dentist, said his office received 30 N95 masks from Benton County, and thats enough to last maybe one month if staff wear their masks for a full day, set them aside for a week, then wear them again.

While some dental professionals think their offices can reopen for routine business safely as they rely on new, strict infection control procedures and even HEPA air filtration systems to try to remove the virus from the air, others are more cautious. One hygienist told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she worries there wont be enough PPE to allow staff to change between each patient.

Brush and floss, floss, floss, said the hygienist, who asked not to be named out of fear of retaliation from her employer. Id wait to see the hygienist for that non-emergency prophylaxis if I were you.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
An Iranian news agency on Saturday denied Arab social media reports claiming Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the Guards' Aerospace Force, had was in an Israeli strike in Syria on Friday.

"Nothing has happened to General Hajizadeh", the Young Journalists Club (YCJ), close to Iran's security and military forces on Saturday morning quoted an "informed source in the Guards" Aerospace Force as saying. However, the news agency and its "informed source" did not say that the Iranian commander was not in Syria or make any further comments regarding his whereabouts.

On Friday some Arabic-language social media users claimed that General Hajizadeh was killed in an Israeli airstrike while visiting a Qods (Quds) Force training site in the east of the Syrian city of Homs.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday reported that the explosion in Homs was caused by an Israeli airstrike and confirmed that the attack was aimed at Iranian targets and pro-Iran militias operating in the area.

The tweet claims Brigadier General Hajizadeh was killed by an airstrike during his visit to a training site for the Qods Force outside Homs, Syria on Friday.

According to a Reuters, Syrian state media said a series of blasts had occurred at an ammunition depot in the east of Homs while reporting on a separate attack conducted by Israeli helicopters during which several rockets were fired from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

After Syria announced last Monday it had intercepted airstrikes by Israel near the capital Damascus, Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli media that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.

"We have moved from blocking Irans entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop, Bennett said in a statement.

"We will not allow more strategic threats to grow just across our borders without taking action, We will continue to take the fight to the enemys territory," Bennett said.

With reporting from Reuters and AFP
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Wrexham Glyndwr University staff honoured by Welsh Academy

This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 2nd, 2020

A Wrexham Glyndwr University academic and its Chair of the Board of Governors are among the new entrants to the Learned Society of Wales Fellowship.

Professor Peter Excell, Professor Emeritus of Communications in the Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology, and Maxine Penlington OBE join 41 other new Fellows, all of whom share a link with Wales, its universities or intellectual life and are drawn from all specialisms.

Both Fellows have spoken about how honoured they have been to join more than 40 others across Wales who will be admitted to the Society next month.

The Societys President, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, said of the new intake: I am delighted to see the election of 43 new Fellows, showing again the talent connected with Wales, which will reinforce the work of the Society, recognising excellence, promoting research and putting our expertise at the disposal of the nation.

In addition the Society has admitted two new Honorary Fellows, Physicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell  who is also an Honorary Fellow of Wrexham Glyndwr University -and historian Professor Margaret Macmillan.

Sir Emyr said: The election of two such acclaimed Honorary Fellows brings further distinction to the LSW.

The Fellows from Wrexham Glyndwr University have both spoken about how honoured they feel to be admitted to the Societys fellowship

Wrexham Glyndwr University Chair of Governors, Maxine Penlington OBE, said: I am deeply honoured and enormously grateful to have been elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.

Although the award is made on the basis of my contribution to leadership in the field of higher education across my professional career, it means so much to me personally that my professional life has culminated in the opportunity to lead the Board of Governors at Wrexham Glyndwr University and to support the Universitys role in the provision of transformational educational opportunities to the people of my home region of North East Wales.

To have had my contribution recognised in my native land, alongside that of my distinguished academic colleague, Professor Excell, means more than I can express in words.

And Professor Excell  whose Fellowship follows the recent award of a Higher Doctorate from Chester University in March  added: Election as a Fellow is an immense honour, but, as with my recent award of a higher doctorate, I have to thank the wonderful teams that I have worked with over the years.

My belief is that this honour will enhance the reputation of Wrexham Glyndwr University and of the teams I have worked with there.

I also hope this award will encourage some other senior members of the university to apply for Fellowship.

Election to the Fellowship is public recognition of excellence and takes place following a rigorous examination of each nominees achievements in their relevant field.

The Societys Fellowship now numbers 562. Their combined expertise allows the Society to strengthen its contribution to Welsh public life, through its contributions to government policy development, public lectures and seminars and its expanding Wales Studies programme.

The new Fellows will be formally admitted at the Societys AGM which will be held, remotely this year due to the Covid-19 restrictions, on May 20.
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarize themselves with SpaceXs Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will transport them to the International Space Station as part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

The coronavirus pandemic threw a pretty big curveball at the planners of SpaceX's first crewed mission.

That flight, known as Demo-2, is scheduled to launch on May 27 , sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule .

The liftoff will be a huge moment for SpaceX , NASA and the nation, marking the return of orbital human spaceflight to U.S. soil for the first time since the space shuttle fleet retired in 2011. (Suborbital human spaceflight is already back; Virgin Galactic has flown two piloted test missions to suborbital space in the past 18 months.)

Related: How SpaceX's Crew Dragon space capsule works (infographic)

Demo-2 will also be the first orbital crewed flight of a new American spacecraft since 1981, when the space shuttle debuted. So, preparations for the coming mission were always going to be intense and meticulous. But the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus has added another layer of complexity, for both NASA and SpaceX.

"We knew it was going to be tough getting ready for launch, but then in this new environment we had to take even more precautions," Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said during a Demo-2 news conference on Friday (May 1). "Because it's really about not only Bob and Doug's safety, but it's also about the safety of the crew aboard the International Space Station ."

NASA already quarantines ISS-bound astronauts shortly before liftoff as standard operating procedure, to reduce the chance that the newcomers will infect their fellow crewmembers with a nasty bug. But the agency ramped up its health and safety procedures considerably in response to the coronavirus threat, Lueders and other NASA officials said.

For example, the agency has minimized contact with Behnken and Hurley for weeks now, said Steve Stich, deputy manager of the Commercial Crew Program.

"They only come to certain training events where they really need to be present," Stich said in a different news conference on Friday. "A lot of training events are done virtually, and then the number of people at a particular training event is dramatically minimized."

The people who do come into contact with the two astronauts wear masks and gloves and "are screened from a health perspective," Stich added.

Extra precautions will be taken on launch day as well with all of the teams supporting the mission, he said. For example, NASA has rearranged the layout of control rooms at the launch site, the agency's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, to ensure that workers there will be able to maintain 6 feet (1.8 meters) of distance from each other.

Those workers will have masks and easy access to hand sanitizer, Stich added. And the various rooms are being kept meticulously clean and sanitized.

The NASA teams also incorporate these precautions into their launch-simulation exercises. One such exercise occurred in mid-April and another will be conducted on Monday (May 4), Stich said.

"So far, it's worked well, and we don't really see any impacts on how we're going to operate on launch day, or rendezvous day, or any other part of the flight," he said.

Related: SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo-1 test flight in pictures

SpaceX has been similarly conscientious, said Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer. For example, when Behnken and Hurley visit SpaceX headquarters in Southern California for training, the company ensures that only "essential personnel" come near the two astronauts, Shotwell said. Those essential personnel wear masks and gloves, and the training facility is cleaned twice daily, she added.

"I think we're really doing a great job to ensure that we are not impacting the safety or the health of the astronauts' lives," Shotwell said Friday, during the same briefing that Lueders participated in.

SpaceX is taking similar measures to protect its own employees, she added. More than half of the company's engineering staff is currently working from home, and the ones who still come into the office have protective gear, Shotwell said. (The federal government regards the aerospace industry as a "critical infrastructure sector," so SpaceX is exempt from California Gov. Gavin Newsom's work-from-home executive order.)

Space shuttle launches always drew crowds to Florida's Space Coast, and Demo-2 would likely have been an especially well-attended event. But the pandemic has nixed a big in-person launch party; NASA is telling people to stay at home and watch the mission on their computer screens.

That's a bummer for many of us, especially Behnken and Hurley.

"It certainly is a disappointing aspect of all this pandemic, is the fact that we won't have the luxury of our family and friends being there at Kennedy to watch the launch," Hurley said in yet another Demo-2 news conference on Friday. "But obviously it's the right thing to do in the current environment."

The two astronauts have been pretty isolated for a while already. But they'll enter mandatory pre-flight quarantine on May 16 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, agency officials said. They'll travel to the Space Coast aboard a NASA jet about a week before liftoff, remaining in quarantine all the while.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who did not participate in Friday's news conferences, has expressed strong opinions via Twitter about the coronavirus pandemic and the nation's response to it. For example, Musk has said that panic about the virus' spread could end up being worse than the pandemic itself. And, over the past few days, the billionaire entrepreneur has posted numerous tweets objecting to stay-at-home orders .
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has allowed special trains to run to move the migrant workers, students, tourists, labourers and other people stranded in various places due to the nationwide lockdown. On Friday, the first 'Shramik Special' train reached Hatia in Jharkhand from Telangana. The train carried 1,200 passengers after the Railways Ministry accepted the request of the state government to facilitate the return of migrants. The other five trains are: Nashik to Lucknow (9:30 pm), Aluva to Bhubaneswar (6 pm), Nashik to Bhopal (8 pm), Jaipur to Patna (10 pm) and Kota to Hatia (9 pm). Railways Ministry said that these trains will run in a point-to-point manner at the request of the concerned state governments and according to the standard protocol. To ensure coordination and smooth running of these trains, Railways and state governments will appoint nodal officers.

Ministry of Home Affairs allows the movement of migrant workers, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places, by special trains. pic.twitter.com/cYFRCvTBLj a ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2020

The passengers traveling in these trains will be checked for coronavirus and only those without symptoms will be allowed to travel. Each passenger is expected to keep his or her mouth covered. The state governments arranging for the commute of these passengers will provide them with food and drinking water. They will be screened both at the station of departure and on arrival. The passengers will be allowed to travel further only if they don't have any coronavirus symptoms. If any passenger shows any symptoms, he or she will be quarantined. The fare will include fare for sleeper mail express trains, superfast charge of Rs 30 and additional charge of Rs 20. The ticket price includes complimentary meals, drinking water for long-distance trains.

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 Live Updates: 223 new cases in Delhi in 24 hours; Maharashtra on edge with tally at 11,506

Also read: Coronavirus update: Special train carrying migrants from Nashik reaches Bhopal
A crowd gathered at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City on May 2, as demonstrators demanded coronavirus restrictions be lifted and area businesses be allowed to reopened.

This video shows the protesters in vehicles honking horns, many with signs and American flags. Some protesters were gathering signatures for a petition calling for the removal of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.

Nevadas statewide stay-at-home order was due to stay in place until May 15, according to local reports. Credit: @TYformyfreedom via Storyful
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend

Sixty-five people have died from with the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours in Iran , said Kiyanush Jahanpur, spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Trend reports citing Ministry.

According to Jahanpur, 802 people have infected with the coronavirus over the past day.

Jahanpur added that the condition of 2,787 people is serious and critical.

So far, more than 484,000 tests have been conducted in Iran for the diagnosis of coronavirus.

Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 96,400 people have been infected 6,156 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 77,300 have reportedly recovered from the disease.

The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.

The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
Tiff Macklem  Biographical Notes

Backgrounder

Tiff Macklem is the Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, a role he assumed in July 2014. During his leadership at Rotman, Mr. Macklem has been a frequent speaker on the global financial system, risk management and public policy. He has also chaired the Global Risk Institute, and the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance.

Tiff Macklem is the Dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, a role he assumed in July 2014. During his leadership at Rotman, Mr. Macklem has been a frequent speaker on the global financial system, risk management and public policy. He has also chaired the Global Risk Institute, and the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance.

Prior to joining Rotman, Mr. Macklem served as Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada from July 2010 until May 2014. In this capacity, he was the Bank's Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank. Mr. Macklems duties included acting for the Governor, overseeing strategic planning and coordinating the Banks operations, sharing responsibility for the conduct of monetary policy as a member of the Banks Governing Council, and participating in fulfilling the Bank's responsibilities for promoting financial stability. He was the first Chair of the Financial Stability Boards Standing Committee for Standards Implementation from 2009 to 2013, and represented the Bank of Canada at the FSB. Previously, Mr. Macklem was Associate Deputy Minister at the Department of Finance from 2007 to 2010, serving as Canada's representative at the G7, G20 and Financial Stability Board.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Mr. Macklem graduated from Queen's University in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in economics, and completed a masters degree and a PhD in economics from the University of Western Ontario. In 1984, he joined the Bank of Canada in the Department of Monetary and Financial Analysis for one year. He returned to the Bank in 1989 following the completion of his PhD. Mr. Macklem occupied increasingly senior positions in the Research Department (now Canadian Economic Analysis) until his appointment as Chief in January 2000. He was appointed Advisor to the Governor in August 2003. In 2003-4, he was seconded to the Department of Finance, returning to the Bank as a Deputy Governor in December 2004.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Cherkasy city authorities should bear responsibility for a decision to ease quarantine before a term fixed by state.

"Personal 'red-hot' greetings from the president, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine, I want to convey to the mayor of Cherkasy who together with the city council lost the calendar and were going to mitigate quarantine measures earlier than May 11. This is an attempt to earn political ratings at the cost of life and health of city residents. And this will have corresponding legal consequences," he said in a video address to the Ukrainians on Friday.

Zelensky warned all representatives of the local authorities who "confused the words decentralization and autonomy: "Do not engage in amateur activities that threaten the safety of people."
The Detroit Big Three automakers have now set May 18 as the restart date for their North American operations even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues unabated. Michigan, the center of auto production in the US, is among the states hardest hit by the virus, with about 1,000 new cases being reported daily and over 100 daily deaths.

Japanese-based Toyota is now planning to restart North American operations on May 11 as is Honda. Nissan and German-based Volkswagen have not set firm restart dates but will likely follow the lead of the other major automakers.

The drive to restart production is not based on medical science, but naked concern over profits and stock valuation. Investors are clamoring to get assembly lines moving again in order to pump out profits off the backs of workers.

Gate at Jefferson Assembly with barriers for social distancing

More than two dozen workers at the Big Three have been confirmed dead from COVID-19, including 15 from Fiat Chrysler, whose operations are centered in Detroit, which has been hard hit by the virus.

In preparation for reopening US factories the US government has launched a campaign to also reopen auto parts plants in Mexico that supply critical components for North American assembly operations. Many plants have been closed due to wildcat strikes as workers face a mounting death toll from the virus.

In connection with this, three hundred US CEOs have sent a letter to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador saying they were deeply concerned over the closure of Mexican factories.

These actions are in sharp contrast to the mood among workers, who are making it clear that their first concern is the health and well-being of themselves, their families and coworkers, not managements bottom line. In conversations with the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter workers expressed their opposition to a premature return to work.

Brandon, a young Detroit area auto parts worker, said, I work for a supplier for Honda and other companies. Before the shutdowns, there were no cleaning supplies, wipes or even hot water in the plant and the lunchrooms were filthy. You cant stay six feet apart. Sometimes there are three or four people working in a cage at a workstation.

These plants are death traps. To send us back into the plants is criminally negligent, even homicidal. We need rank-and-file safety committees because the unions are wholly owned subsidiaries of the companies, which only look out for the union executives.

UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower: Ive said many times, well start tomorrow

While mouthing pious declarations over their concern for workers health and safety, the auto companies have proposed only cosmetic gestures that will do nothing of substance to protect workers forced back into the factories. The United Auto Workers (UAW) has made it clear that it endorses this charade and will not oppose an early restart of production.

This was demonstrated by the recent statement of UAW Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower at the Fiat Chrysler Toledo North assembly complex who said, We still have some work to do but as Ive said many times, well start tomorrow. Its not that we dont want to go back. Our members want to go back but they want to make sure they feel safe.

Autoworkers disputed the notion that social distancing could be maintained in the crowded environment of an auto plant.

Plant being prepped for return to work

Richard, a worker at the FCA Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit, said, We should stay out. Its not possible to do our job in a factory and stay six feet apart, with the timeframe we have to push out cars. The whole production system would have to be completely changed for safe distancing and we would have to have testing and PPE [personal protective equipment].

At Warren Truck, theyve set up an entry line and a tent, which will probably be used to take temperatures. But those are only small, cosmetic steps. You can be carrying the virus without having a temperature.

The only way to prevent the spread is to be in the safety of your own home. We should not go back until the plants are 100 percent sterile and we have a safe environment.

A recent interview published in the New York Times with Ford officials made it clear the auto companies do not plan to enforce even the most basic safety provisions, including mass COVID-19 testing or the use of regulation N95 face masks.

According to the Times, Fords human resources chief Kiersten Robinson said the automaker will not have a reliable and scalable testing solution for COVID-19 for several weeks if not months and the company was forming a task force to see how it can move faster to achieve that.

Gary Johnson, head of Ford manufacturing, told the Times, the company was not planning to provide workers with N95 respiratory masks, which are designed to filter 95 percent of airborne particles, as the regular face masks and shields were good enough. Slowing the speed of production lines in plants would be too complex, he added. Some union leaders have suggested lines could be slowed to allow for greater physical separation between workers.

In comments to Automotive News, Mark Fields, former Ford CEO, noted the contradiction between the demand by workers for a safe environment and the practicalities of intense production. We have to convince people that it is safe to come back to work. Industry has to implement widespread testing to do that.

What I mean is temperature testing when you come into the plants. I think COVID testing is very impractical, if you test every employee. Because if that is the case, shift change would take, instead of 15 minutes, probably five hours. But there is going to have to be some level of testing protocol.

Marty, a young worker at Fords Dearborn Assembly Plant, said, The companies look at this like the percentages of business they have lost, not the human lives being lost. They are boosting illusions that temperature checks and plexiglass on lunchroom tables will protect us. But there is still no universal testing, which is the only way to know who has it and prevent it from spreading.

Theyve got $6 trillion to pump into Wall Street, while people are lining up for miles at food banks and meatpacking workers have no masks and are being told pull their hairnets down over their faces. They call the nurses and doctors heroes but dont give them PPE. Then they want to reopen the economy so the hospitals will be overwhelmed again, forcing health care workers to decide who is going to get a ventilator and who is going to die.

Workers also stressed the need to develop structures independent from the UAW and management to take measures which will protect their health during the pandemic.

Anita, a Detroit area FCA Mopar parts worker, said, Theyre already taking volunteers to work in the parts plant. But I believe in the health and safety of my family. Ever since they implemented the World Class Manufacturing plan the union and management have joint health and safety committees. If you complain to the union rep about something dangerous, theyll tell you, I have to check with my management counter-part. Both management and the union are working together against us.

Marty, the Ford worker, added, Its the beginning of the month and people are being forced to make choices about paying rent or paying for other necessities. The priorities of the capitalists are against ours. They are willing to kill us for their profits. Workers have to connect up in different industries and around the world to fight this.

At the Jeep plant in Toledo, the Fiat Chrysler workers confronted the UAW official who was telling them to get back to their workstations. But they decided not to touch any of the vehicles coming down the assembly line. If the workers hadnt shut down the industry, the death toll could have been even worse. But they stepped up, sacrificed and united, showing our strength.

Our needs are different from the union and the companies. Thats why we need rank-and-file safety committees to take up the fight for our needs. Workers have to fight for power so we can restructure society for our needs.
On Friday, just one day after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was hospitalized for COVID-19, the minister for construction, housing and communal services, Vladimir Yakushev, and his deputy, Dmitry Volkov, tested positive for COVID. Yakushev was hospitalized, and his post will be filled by Nikita Stasishin.

Mishustins hospitalization sent political shockwaves through the government, which still refuses to either publish details about his health or the politicians that he had been in contact with in recent weeks. Mishustin temporarily resigned the same day. Both he and President Vladimir Putin nominated Andrey Belousov as acting prime minister.

Only in January, Mishustin was installed as prime minister, replacing Dmitry Medvedev, in a surprise reshuffle of the Russian government. The previous government had become extremely unpopular in particular after raising of the retirement age against the opposition of 90 percent of the population. He was praised as a technocrat who, unlike Medvedev, would be able to better oversee an escalated assault on the living standards of the working class.

According to the liberal outlet Meduza, it is unclear whether Mishustin will return as prime minister if and when he recovers. Putin reportedly signed an executive order naming Belousov as acting prime minister even though this would not have been legally necessary as Mishustin went on sick leave. A presidential executive order de facto signifies the dismissal of the head of government. The order was titled, On the prime ministers performance duties, lacking the word temporary.

In another sign of frictions within the government, on Thursday, the head of the press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, invited the right-wing US-backed opposition leader Alexei Navalny to a public debate, an unprecedented move for a high-ranking state official. She withdrew the invitation hours before the scheduled debate on Friday took place.

Underlying the sharp political crisis of the Kremlin is the enormous escalation of class tensions internationally and in Russia amid the pandemic. According to a March poll by VTsIOM, the confidence rating for Vladimir Putin has plunged to 28.3 percent, the lowest rating recorded since 2006 when such polling started. Another poll showed that 48 percent of the population disapprove of the governments handling of the crisis, with only 46 percent supporting it.

In recent weeks, infections and deaths have skyrocketed under conditions where the government has tried to push for a reopening of the economy in several regions.

There are now 114,431 confirmed cases, placing Russia ahead of China, Brazil and Iran, and among the seven countries worldwide with the highest numbers of infections. The official figure is that 1,169 people have died of COVID-19. However, these numbers, horrific as they, are but a pale reflection of reality. Testing remains limited and faulty. There have been several reports about people with comorbidities who died after having been infected with COVID. However, the comorbidity, not COVID, was indicated as the cause of death.

As a result of decades of massive cuts to health care in the wake of the destruction of the Soviet Union and the restoration of capitalism, hospitals have emerged as the main hotspots for infections. A state official recently acknowledged that out of 285 hotspots that the government is trying to contain, 64 percent are in hospitals. According to CNN, at least 23 wards were shut down nationwide for quarantine in April.

Many hospitals are completely dilapidated, with unhygienic conditions prevailing and often a lack of even basic things like running water. As is the case in most countries, health care workers are forced to work without basic personal protective equipment (PPE) and have a hard time getting tested. Many health care workers also report having to work even though they were sick.

One nurse at the Vreden Institute in St. Petersburg told CNN, All my friends there are sick  80 percent of my colleagues. [Nurses] are sick but still have to be there and change IVs for the patients. Three weeks ago, the Institute had gone into lockdown after about 500 patients and medical personnel had tested positive. A health care worker on YouTube issued a cry for help stating, I'm coughing, my chest hurts but there is no one to look at it ... there is no treatment and no medicine. No one came to check on us, how we feel, what is the plan for us ... when will this end?"

Recent weeks have seen growing working class protests in opposition to the governments handling of the crisis as internationally. Russian doctors and nurses started protesting and walking out off their jobs in late March. This week, thousands of workers at the Gazprom oil and gas condensate Chayanda field in the Yakutia region in Siberia have staged a major protest against atrocious working conditions, and the lack of testing and medical care as the virus has spread among workers. The Chayanda field feeds into the Sila Sibiri (Power of Siberia) pipeline, which delivers gas to China.

From at least Wednesday to Friday, workers also blocked a road. While the numbers in media reports have differed, thousands of the 10,500 workers employed on the field may have joined the protests. YouTube videos of the protests were watched by hundreds of thousands of people, and thousands have left comments supporting the workers. The governor of Yakutia has since acknowledged that over 1,000 workers may have been infected on the field. The official number of COVID cases in the region is just 183. So far 50 of the workers have been hospitalized.

In addition to the Chayanda field, six other major oil and gas fields operated by Gazprom and other companies have recorded COVID 19 infections. The protests at Gazprom are of particular significance as the company, Russias largest, accounts for about a fifth of state revenues.

The nations economy has been severely hit by the historic collapse of oil prices. The Russian state budget relies for about half of its revenues on oil and gas exports. The government officially expects a decline of GDP by 5 percent and an increase in homelessness from officially 2.5 million at the moment to 8 million. However, the actual economic collapse will likely be much more severe, as the global economy is entering a recession. In a recent poll, two-thirds of companies indicated that they were planning cuts and layoffs.

Already, thousands of workers are effectively working without getting paid. A recent report by Li fe.ru entitled Siberian slavery shed light on the situation of 2,400 miners in Polysaev in the Kemerovo region in southern Siberia.

Polysaev is a mono-town, that is, a city where almost the entire social and economic infrastructure depends upon one or two companies. After a devastating decline following the dissolution of the USSR, there are still 300 such mono-towns in Russia, and they remain home to a substantial portion of the industrial working class. The Polysaev miners have not received pay in three months and are all in debt. One miner told the newspaper, A manager with whom the workers had met tested positive for COVID-19. The entire management was sent into quarantine. Now there is basically no management at the company. Everything is unclear. They said they would fire 2,300 people if they cannot sell the mine.

Layoffs of thousands of workers at chemical and other companies were announced in other regions as well. These layoffs will hit an already severely impoverished working class population. In the past five years, Russian real incomes have continuously declined and the number of those counting officially as extremely poor has risen to about 20 million, out of a population of 140 million. Meanwhile, the combined wealth of the 10 richest Russians in 2019 amounted to $178.5 billion.
MOGADISHU, Somalia 01 May 2020  Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) wishes all Somali journalists a Happy International Workers Day.

SJS salutes and firmly stands with the working journalists facing extreme conditions due to COVID-19 pandemic and the limited resources enabling them to work from home, the poor pay, and abuses from security forces during their coverage of Covid-19.

On this occasion, the Secretary-General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), Abdalle Ahmed Mumin urges all journalists to adhere to the health guidelines from health authorities including self-distancing, washing hands regularly and wearing face-masks during assignments.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, Somali journalists, like other frontline professions, are under pressure. While the journalists job is to inform the public and staying at home is not an option, it is worrying that almost all Somali journalists do not have health insurance. We demand fair pay and adequate protection, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary-General of SJS said, We express our solidarity with our employed and freelance member journalists who are facing delayed payments and salary cuts in a time when the journalists are the most needed to keep the public informed about the outbreak.

SJS calls for the employers and media owners to provide the necessary support including the provision of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)- to their employees so that media professionals can carry out their duties in a very timely and safe manner.

We also call for the authorities of the Somali Federal Government and its member states to cease threats and attacks against journalists covering Covid-19.

Once again on this International Workers Day, SJS salutes the brave journalists working on the frontline battling Covid-19.
Thady with his parents, Angela and Michael, brother Mikey Joe, and grandmother, Eva and sister Noreen before his diagnosis.

A pain in his back was the first thing that alerted 23-year-old Timothy (Thady) O'Sullivan that something was wrong.

Weeks later his life was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with cancer.

This was just days before his birthday and on December 16, his 23rd birthday, the Castlemaine student began treatment at Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Since then Thady has been battling the aggressive cancer and he is hoping that he can fight off the disease.

"At first they thought it was lymphoma and then it came in as T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL), which is more serious than first anticipated. There are around 60 types of lymphoma and some more are more treatable than others," explained Thady.

Thady, who studied agricultural science at IT Tralee, had just moved to Kosice in Slovakia to study and fulfil his life-long dream of becoming a vet, when he first became ill.

For a number of weeks, his ordeal consisted of just a pain in his back and vomiting.

Thady was then admitted to hospital with Acute Renal Failure in Slovakia, but he had no idea what caused this serious condition.

He returned to Ireland to his family, and a few days later he got the shocking diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoblastic lymphoma, which is a rare form of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"I just never thought it would be cancer. It was not a great prognosis when they told me first. They started me on treatment to see how I would react, and if I didn't react it would have been a different story, but I was lucky."

Since then, Thady has been bravely battling cancer amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, and the situation was made even worse without any family visits during this time. However, he has been able to come home for some weeks during the five-month hospital stay, which has kept his spirits up.

Next on the agenda for the Castlemaine man is a bone-marrow transplant. He will move to St James's Hospital in Dublin for the transplant and further treatment, which will include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel...I had a few scary months. December was a bad month," he said.

However, despite the battle behind and ahead of him, he is remaining positive and is very grateful to the community, who have come out to support him as he battles the deadly disease.

The cost of treatment is high and will include the cost of living in Dublin for some time as he battles the disease. With this in mind, his friends and the local community have joined forces to help raise funds for Thady.

A number of fundraising pages have been set up to help raise the funds, including one by the Milltown-Castlemaine GAA club, as well as by friends.

"I want to say a big thank you for everyone's support and everyone involved including family, friends and the wider community."

Thady is the son of Angela and Michael O'Sullivan from Rusheen in Castlemaine. He has a sister and brother, Noreen and Mikey Joe. He lost his uncle, He attended St Joseph's' National School in Castlemaine and later Milltown Presentation Secondary School. His primary school teacher, Brendan Dennehy, is involved in fundraising for the family, and he is urging everyone to donate.

The GoFundMe page is a way for the locality to help out a much-loved member of the community.

In just three days, almost 20,000 has already been raised in one of the fundraising pages for Thady. It had been hoped to hold events to raise the funds but COVID-19 halted those plans. Instead, Milltown-Castlemaine GAA club raised more than 5,400 though fundraising online. Friend Robert McCarthy raised more than 3,200 for him through 'Top it for Thadi', which saw him shave his head without the aid of a barber for Thady.

Thady has spent more than five months in hospital now, but he is hoping that in the future he will be back farming and will resume his studies to become a vet.

Mr Dennehy is urging everyone to help Thady in any way and said the amount raised in three days is testament to the community spirit. The Go Fund Me Page can be found at the Thady O'Sullivan Cancer Fund.
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that the state is currently fighting the battle against coronavirus (COVID-19) ...





The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has claimed that the state is currently fighting the battle against coronavirus (COVID-19) without any tangible material support from the Federal Government.





The governor said that the states fate is now in the hands of the people of Rivers as coronavirus continues to spread across the country.





Wike disclosed this in a series of tweets on his official Twitter page on Friday.





We are virtually fighting this COVID-19 battle without any tangible material support from the Federal Government, Wike tweeted.

We are wondering as most of you may also be, that up till now the NCDC has not established any testing center in the State, despite our position, huge socio-economic and demographic mix and high transmission threat hanging over us as a result.





Was this deliberate? If not so, why and what was the justification for this dangerous neglect, which is limiting our capacity to expand testing for coronavirus in the State.





We shall, therefore, continue to take every necessary measure to control and possibly end the transmission of COVID-19 in Rivers State despite the enormous challenges and lack of substantial support from the Federal Government.





Its for the very reason that we have taken our fate in our own hands with the establishment of the Border security task force, which has been mandated to provide and ensure a water-tight situation in all our.





Rivers has recorded thirteen confirmed cases of COVID-19, two deaths, and two discharged as of today (Friday).




Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed mostly cloudy skies and a few snow showers after midnight. Low 1F. SE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 30%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed mostly cloudy skies and a few snow showers after midnight. Low 1F. SE winds at 5 to 10 mph, increasing to 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 30%. Higher wind gusts possible.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 13:00 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd57f2ff 2 Business jeff-bezos,Amazon,monopoly,US,congress Free

A US congressional panel on Friday called on Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to testify about allegations the online giant used sensitive data from third-party sellers on its platform to develop competing products.

In a letter to Bezos, the House Judiciary Committee said the claim, if true, would contradict sworn testimony by Amazon's general counsel last year.

"We expect you, as chief executive Officer of Amazon, to testify before the committee," read the letter signed by its chairman Jerry Nadler, a Democratic congressman from New York, and others.

"Although we expect that you will testify on a voluntary basis, we reserve the right to resort to compulsory process if necessary," said the committee, which said it had additional questions for Bezos about e-commerce competition.

The Judiciary Committee specifically cited a Wall Street Journal report from April 23, based on interviews with former and current employees as well as internal company documents, which claimed Amazon used sensitive information from private sellers for its own competitive advantage.

"If the reporting in the Wall Street Journal article is accurate, then statements Amazon made to the committee about the company's business practices appear to be misleading, and possibly criminally false or perjurious," the panel wrote.

While testifying before a subcommittee last year, Amazon general counsel Nate Sutton said the company did not use seller data to compete with them, the letter noted.

"As we told the Wall Street Journal and explained in our testimony, we strictly prohibit employees from using non-public, seller-specific data to determine which private label products to launch," an Amazon spokesman said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"While we don't believe these claims made in the Journal story are accurate, we take these allegations very seriously and have launched an internal investigation."

The request for Bezos to testify came as Amazon shares skidded in the wake of the company cautioning that second quarter earnings would be wiped out by expenses related to COVID-19 as it works to keep up with surging demand at a time when many brick-and-mortar stores are closed.
An eerie silence has already descended on Jaipur city with the long absence of people from the streets due to the extended lockdown to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. Only the shrill sirens of ambulances passing through empty streets break the gloomy silence at times. There is a hush in burial grounds and cremation centres alike. More so if the bereaved are walking around in puffed PPE (personal protection equipment) kits.

Mera hi bachcha hai (It is my child), mumbles a frail Abdul, standing beside the mortuary official and ambulance driver, both in PPE suits, near the body of his 20-day-old son. The infant is perhaps the youngest Covid-19 victim in the world.

Suhaan, says Abdul speaking just one word which is the name of his child lying wrapped in protective medical covers no bigger than a small white bundle. The prayers are read with the body still in the ambulance and driven into the cemetery as a precaution against the coronavirus infection.

The bereaved father only slides the hood and shield covering his face to have one last glimpse at the bundle enclosing his child. His face is flushed with sweat caused by the suffocating PPE suit or it could be his tears.

With the rigorous cremation protocol for Covid-19 victims, it is hard for the bereaved to choose between grief and fear.

We know of a 45-day-old Covid-19 positive case from Jamnagar and one from the US, but this child was just 20 days old, informs Dr. Ashok Gupta, Superintendent of JK Lone childrens hospital where Suhaan was being treated for sepsis, according to his symptoms.

Ruling out an infection from the mother (intrauterine infection), since no one in Abduls family is Covid-19 positive yet, Dr. Gupta suggested the baby may have been exposed to someone who was perhaps asymptomatic.

Since the family came from Chandpole, an area under curfew due to a high number of Covid-19 positive cases, he decided to test the newborn for the virus too. But the child passed away within a day of being brought to the hospital, before the report emerged positive.

Please write all this...perhaps it can save someones newborn from coronavirus, pleads Abdul as he drinks water beneath a tap at the cemetery, somehow managing to keep his hands clad in gloves and cautiously away from his face.

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Kiwifruit companies which have claimed the Government wage subsidy are under fire from some in their own industry for taking the money during a bumper season.

The industry is expecting a record harvest and exports doubled in March compared to last year.

Deemed an essential service, workers were able to continue picking fruit and packhouses continued to operate during the level four lockdown.

Most kiwifruit businesses have not claimed the wage subsidy, but according to the Ministry of Social Development website, at least three have, collecting more than $2m between them on behalf of employees.

The $585-a-week subsidy is paid to employers who expect a 30 per cent drop in revenue, so they can keep on their workers over a 12-week period. So far more than $10b has been paid out, while at least $17.5m is being repaid by more than 1200 companies.

In the kiwifruit sector, Riverlock Packhouse was paid $666,352 for 96 workers, Baygold $939,000 for 134 workers and Apata $478,000 for 68 workers.

Riverlock and Baygold say their revenue declined by more than 30 per cent, while Apata says it was overpaid by mistake and has been trying to pay the money back.

After Stuff asked questions, Riverlock said it would pay the money back.

Michael Franks, chief executive of Seeka, a large grower and post-harvest operator, says the amounts paid were obscene and harmed the reputation of the industry.

While there was no question that costs had risen because of Covid-19 social distancing requirements, for many companies revenue would be up this season because of bigger volumes.

There will be a profit impact, but thats not what the scheme is for, Michael says.

The scheme is to keep people in work, so if your business was suffering a loss of revenue as a result of Covid-19 you could carry the workers through until you got back into business again. Thats not the circumstance in our industry - we just dont have enough workers, weve got so much business.

Tony de Farias, chairman of the Eastern Bay of Plenty company Opac, says he did not consider his business was eligible for the subsidy.

Were all suffering from the perspective that we cant run our operations to capacity... but were going to end up in the final analysis packing the same amount of fruit so the revenue is not going to be affected.

James Trevelyan, managing director of Trevelyans packhouse and coolstore, says his company had accepted a subsidy for vulnerable workers who were unable to continue working, and topped that up, but it was never in our vocab to claim for lost revenue.

He says the social distancing requirements initially caused problems, but that was quickly solved with the implementation of screens and other measures and capacity was soon back to normal.

The crop is up, theres more volume to harvest, so how... . .we could be down in revenue Im not sure.

Mike Ryan, business manager for Riverlock, says revenue was down more than 30 per cent due to reduced capacity because of social distancing requirements, so the company had claimed the wage subsidy.

But Riverlocks managing director, Doug Brown, who is also chairman of New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated (NZKGI), said after Stuff began asking questions the company had reviewed its eligibility for the subsidy.

"While Riverlock met the specified criteria at the time of the initial application, circumstances have now changed," he says.

"As a responsible employer acting in good faith, the wage subsidy will now be repaida process that is now under way."

Baygolds chief executive, Carl Simmons, says half of the companys business was in orchard construction and new orchard projects, which was deemed non-essential and shut down during level four lockdown.

Prior to applying for the wage subsidy the company took advice from Deloitte and MSD also did an assessment before releasing the money.

Carl says some construction and new orchard staff, but not all, were able to be redeployed to pick kiwifruit and the subsidy had been used to pay staff unable to work.

However, we believe that the full Baygold team will be back to work within the 12-week period. Therefore, a repayment of unused subsidy funds is anticipated and we are in discussions with MSD on how that should be processed, he says.

He says they had engaged Deloitte to undertake an audit of their use of the subsidy and will be inviting MSD to review how we are using the subsidy to ensure we are doing the right thing.

Stuart Weston, managing director of Apata, says his company received $478,000 in error. It believed it was entitled to about $67,000 to cover the wages of Recognised Seasonal Employer workers who were forced into isolation when they arrived in the country and couldnt work.

The day they paid it, we went back to them and said youve paid us too much money, how can we send it back to you? We have now sent four emails and multiple phone calls but to no avail.

The moment they tell us how they want it paid, well give it back to them.

Stuart says overall revenue had not dropped by more than 30 per cent.

Were certainly going to take a hit, but sos everybody else so were not complaining.

An MSD spokesman says there had been a recent spike in employers asking to make refunds so there had been a delay in getting back to some of them.

"We are working through their requests as quickly as we can."

NZKGI chief executive Nikki Johnson says most kiwifruit companies that had sought Government help were looking to cover the wages of those deemed vulnerable workers, because of their age or health.

Overall it had been a good season.

Export-wise things are tracking well. Its looking pretty positive at the moment.

-Stuff/Tony Wall


Dr. Jan Pol of The Incredible Dr. Pol took the time this week to chat about life at his clinic in rural Michigan and the strangeness, at nearly eighty years of age, in being a celebrity.

Dr. Jan and Diane Pol of The Incredible Dr. Pol Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The animal doctor takes it all in stride and knows that, for him, its all about the animals.

Find out how the docs been doing and what hes been enjoying in his free time.

The doctor was asked recently about a dog with coronavirus (COVID-19)

In March 2020, reports surfaced of a Pomeranian in Hong Kong having been diagnosed with coronavirus, and ultimately dying. Unfortunately, the dogs owner would not allow an autopsy, and so further investigation was impossible.

The Michigan veterinarian discussed his view and what could have caused the canine to develop the disease and if it can easily be transmitted to dogs.

With the Pomeranian in China, we will not know the whole story there, Dr. Pol said. That dog was tested for Corona particles and its blood was not tested. I think that a Pomeranian is a lapdog and if his owner was sick and he was coughing so those particles would be all over the dog, could be tested as positive.

Dr. Pol chatted with Animal Radio

The Nat Geo Wild personality spoke recently to the Animal Radio podcast, opening up about being a vet and a celebrity.

Asked whether he prefers working with small or large animals, the vet shared that I guess because I was born and raised on a dairy farm, I do like the bovine/equine part of it. But I do like the small animals because it allows us to do so much more.

He explained that working with small animals allows him and his staff to do testing, diagnostics, and surgeries.

The small animals they have more diseases, he explained. The horse can be a pet, but we have a lot of Amish here, and for them, the horse is a tool. And for the farmer the cow is a source of income.

The Netherlands-born vet discussed his favorite hobbies (surprised to hear he doesnt just vet most of the time?) saying, If I have a day off or anything, we do landscaping around the house and I like to do it myself, because my wife knows what she wants and how she wants it. So I do exactly what she says. I like to work outside. I like to work the landscaping, I like to work with my hands in the shop, making things.

The conversation turned to Dr. Pols celebrity status. Asked by the hosts of the Animal Radio show his feelings about seeing his image in a comic book, for instance, the doc answered, Its amazing. I never thought anything like this would happen. When Charles came to me and said, We should make a reality show about you, I said, Yeah, who wants to watch me? 

Dr. Pols clinic is limiting their services lately

To be extra careful, the veterinarian has been drawing back on services offered to protect his staff, and clients, during the pandemic.

The doctor is asking clients to contact his clinic only for emergency situations, posting on Instagram that Pol Veterinary Services will remain open to serve clients with scheduled appointments and emergencies. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking that any non-essential visits please be postponed. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Read more: The Incredible Dr. Pol: The Most Unusual Case The Veterinarian Has Seen
Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Henderson regrets not wearing his face mask at last Fridays Town Hall rally in Redmond, where he addressed protesters angry with the governors stay-at-home order.

Henderson acknowledged its a bad look for someone who supports the order, which is in place to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Oregon. He said he has tried to be diligent about wearing a mask around the office and in public.

Hendersons wife, Therese, is a home health care worker who works with patients more susceptible to COVID-19. She made him the mask and let (him) hear about it after the rally, he said.

It was not good leadership, Henderson told The Bulletin. My main message was to get across to people that I care and support their concerns with regard to their economic survival. I did feel uncomfortable not wearing a mask ... I really feel they should be mandatory when you go out.

Still, Henderson did not regret attending the rally, which was organized by conservative Redmond activist BJ Soper.

I just think its important that we be at those events in some role, Henderson said.

Gov. Kate Brown has been vocal about the need for social distancing and protective masks in Oregon, but a spokesman for her office did not provide comment on Hendersons actions.

The town hall was part of a wave of anti-lockdown protests around the country by activists who would end social distancing and reopen the economy. It was the second such event organized by Soper, founder of the Central Oregon Constitutional Guard militia.

A third rally is planned for Friday evening at the same location  the green in front of Redmond City Hall. This will be more of a farmers market-type gathering, with people selling homemade items, Soper told The Bulletin.

Were going to keep doing this until something gets done, Soper said.

Officers with Redmond Police Department will be on hand, though likely not in uniform, and will aim for a low-key presence, Redmond Mayor George Endicott said at a press conference Thursday.

More than 200 people attended the first rally on April 17. Few wore face masks or stayed 6 feet from others.

They met again the next week. Soper said the crowd was comparable in size. He said a petition circulated at the event received 228 signatures in an hour and 15 minutes. For the second rally, Soper invited all elected leaders in the area, and Henderson was the only one who attended.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, Henderson spoke for several minutes.

I think its really good what you all are doing, in the sense youre getting out and trying to speak out about the crisis weve been going through and how its been handled, he said. I dont know how seriously we should all take it. Its hard to know. There are places where its kind of gone crazy, I guess, with the amount of deaths and illness that people have had. I do think that you live in a great county because in our county, weve had 70 cases. Weve had no deaths. We had nobody at the hospital today.

Henderson told The Bulletin he decided to attend after watching a video of the first rally. As a longtime small-business owner himself, he wanted to tell affected people about services offered by the county government.

I try to be thoughtful about it, but this has never been done before, he said of the novel coronavirus response.

The state unemployment department this week began accepting claims for unemployment benefits through the federal CARES Act to independent contractors.

After Henderson spoke, Soper retook the microphone. He made several erroneous statements.

Im sure everyone heard about the mother in Idaho who got arrested while her children played in the park, he told the crowd.

The woman in question, Sara Walton Brady, of Meridian, Idaho, in fact had joined fellow reopen activists in removing caution tape at a closed playground and allegedly refused police orders to leave.

She later issued a public apology to police.

Soper also told the crowd a local business had been fined $2,500 by Oregon OSHA for allowing two employees to eat lunch together in the back of a truck.

OSHA has been entrapping and fining businesses locally, offering a handshake, and the people who accept those handshakes, they get a fine, Soper said.

The anecdote is false, according to Aaron Corvin, spokesman for Oregon OSHA. At the time of the event, no business in Oregon had been issued a coronavirus-related citation, though the agency has warned against scammers posing as OSHA inspectors.

This sounds like pure rumor, Corvin said Wednesday. Heres where were at: We have a couple dozen COVID19-related inspections that are in process. It appears some of them will result in citations. And we are working through the administrative process for issuing citations in several instances.
A New Jersey woman was charged with making terroristic threats and other charges after she allegedly intentionally coughed on healthcare workers and attacked a nurse while claiming to be positive for the coronavirus.

Alana B. Hall, 24, of Wenonah, faces charges of making terroristic threats in an emergency, aggravated assault and disorderly conduct stemming from an incident at Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, announced in a joint statement Friday.

Hall was charged on April 26 after police said she purposefully coughed on staff at the medical center. Hall allegedly claimed to be positive for COVID-19.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Police said Hall then scratched and struck a nurse technician while spitting on her. Hall also allegedly fought with other healthcare workers.

No additional information about the incident was immediately available.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ.
Somali journalists accuse the government of cracking down on press freedom, with beatings, detentions, and threats of prosecution. Mohamed Sheikh Nor takes a look at what it's like to be a reporter in Somalia in this report for World Press Freedom Day from Mogadishu.
Help India!

By TCN News

IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin has been issued a show cause notice by the Karnataka government for a tweet in favor of Tablighi Jamaat members.

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The tweet read More than 300 Tablighi heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about it? Godi Media? They will not show you the works of humanity done by these heroes.

Mohsin is serving as secretary in the Backward Classes Welfare Department and has currently been given five days to respond to the notice. However, this isnt the first time he has landed in trouble with the BJP government. In 2019, during Lok Sabha elections, he was barred from election duties by the Election Commission for alleged checking of Prime Minister Modis helicopter during his campaign in Odisha where the IAS was posted as general observer.

Although the original tweet about Jamaat by Mohsin is deleted, he has been active in criticizing the Central government, often tweeting and retweeting articles having critical views of BJPs measures. More recently on Monday, he had expressed his disregard of Centres decision to revoke the permission granted to e-commerce companies for commencing business activities, in a retweet.

The same day Mohsin had made another retweet questioning the Madhya Pradesh chief ministers insistence on implementing the Bhilwara model to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state, and not the Gujarat model.
Nirupama Viswanathan and Omjasvin MD By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: COVID-19 cases in Chennai have breached the 1,000-mark. Of them, a whopping 511 cases  over half the number  were reported in the last four days. This is in sharp contrast with the rest of the State, where cases have been dwindling over the last two weeks. What is working against Chennai? Also, why has there been a meteoric rise despite the lockdown being in force since March 24?

Leaky lockdown

Virologist T Jacob John suspects this is because the lockdown was not implemented or followed in the true spirit. The government need not defend the numbers during a naturally occurring disease, says John. However, now that there is a lockdown in place and all persons stepping outside have been asked to wear a mask, if at all there is an increase in transmission it must be minimal.

John says the problem is that only the government is fighting the virus. The public are mere spectators. We have failed in informing the public on what the problem is, and how they can participate in containing it. One reason for the sporadic increase, John feels, is because people are not wearing masks though they are supposed to do so.

An interesting observation is that the alarming rise in numbers happened right after the intensified four-day lockdown period ended. The Saturday before the intensified lockdown, thousands thronged marketplaces, shops, and eateries to stock up on essentials fearing the worst. The footfall at Koyambedu Wholesale Market, which soon became a COVID-19 hotspot, was extremely high.

The test match

Epidemiologist G Kuganatham says the best way to control an epidemic outbreak is by ramping up testing, with a focus on the critically ill. Another reason for Chennai alone witnessing such high numbers is the population density. This adds to the crowds and movement witnessed at places such as Koyambedu Market, says Kuganatham.

Corporation Commissioner G Prakash also attributes it to population density. When an average of 24,000 people are supposed to live within a square kilometre, in Chennai we have 50,000 people living in the same area. This reasoning is backed by data. Highly congested neighbourhoods of North Chennai have witnessed far more cases that the posh, well-developed East or South.

Three zones of Tondiarpet, Royapuram, and Tiru-Vi-Ka Nagar alone account for over half the total number of cases (53.64 per cent). As on Friday, Tiru Vi Ka Nagar (210) had overtaken Royapuram (199). Tondiarpet, the neighbouring area, is much behind with 77 cases. So far 19 frontline corporation workers have been infected. They were all, ironically, engaged in disinfecting the city.

Prakash says monitoring has been enhanced in critical zones, such as Ayanavaram, Pulianthope, and the three mentioned above. We would also remove containment measures taken in areas where no new cases have been recorded over the last 28 days. The city now has 231 containment areas, as opposed to 202 on Tuesday. Experts, however, say officials have to move past containment and accept the reality of community transmission.

The transmission realisation

I believe that we are now past the containment stage, and have gone into community transmission, says Jayaprakash Muliyil, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the National Institute of Epidemiology. He says contacts of positive patients need not be subjected to the same level of treatment. Its time to switch gears.

The contacts, even if they are positive, can be isolated at their own homes. They may be advised to come to hospitals only if they develop symptoms. He suggests separate categories for patients with and without symptoms. It is this lack of categorisation that is making the numbers seem high, says Muliyil.

Putting them in the same category may have made sense in the containment stage. But now, I believe, we are well past that and gone into community transmission. The focus, he says, must be on those with symptoms so that the mortality rates can be controlled. Doctors and practitioners agree with Muliyils observations.

The permanent solution

Its true that without the lockdown, the numbers could have gone much higher. However, its important to remember that lockdown is a temporary solution, primarily to prevent acute overcrowding in hospitals, says doctor Ram Gopalakrishnan, who treats infectious diseases at Apollo Hospitals.Going forward, the focus must be on protecting the vulnerable and the elderly, who may continue to remain in a state of semi-lockdown. The rest of us can move about while following cough hygiene, wearing masks, and maintaining the 2-metre distance rule, says Gopalakrishnan.
TASHKENT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2020) Around 60 people have been hospitalized as a result of a dam breach in the Sirdaryo Region of Uzbekistan, the national Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday, when one of the dams of the Sardoba Reservoir breached after heavy rain and strong wind, leaving several settlements, agricultural areas and roads flooded.

"At the moment, the information about people injured by the flood has been received: 56 have been hospitalized with various injuries," the ministry wrote in its Telegram-channel.

More than 17,000 people have undergone medical examinations.

About 70,000 people, who live near the Sardoba Reservoir, have been evacuated to special facilities in the Sirdaryo and Jizzax regions.

The Sardoba Reservoir was constructed in 2017 and contains 922 million cubic meters (over 243 billion gallons) of water.

A dam breach is a rare yet extremely dangerous accident, which may potentially result in many victims. One of the most famous incidents happened on December 2, 1959, when the Malpasset Dam on the Reyran River in southern France collapsed, leaving 423 people dead. Another deadly incident occurred in 1961 in the then Soviet city of Kiev, where a dam failure resulted in a heavy mudslide that killed from 146 to 1,500 people.
WASHINGTON - The White House is blocking Anthony Fauci from testifying before a House subcommittee investigating the coronavirus outbreak and response, arguing that it would be "counterproductive" for him to appear next week while in the midst of participating in the government's responses to the pandemic.

The White House issued a statement about Fauci's testimony shortly after The Washington Post published a story Friday afternoon quoting a spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee, who said the White House was refusing to allow Fauci to appear at a subcommittee hearing next week.

"While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to covid-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings," said White House spokesman Judd Deere. "We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time."

In fact, Fauci is expected to appear at a Senate hearing related to testing the following week, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

"It's not muzzling, it's not blocking, it's simply trying to ensure we're able to balance the need for oversight, the legitimate need for oversight, with their responsibilities to handle Covid-19 work at their respective agencies and departments," said the official, who noted that health risks entailed in moving around in public places were also a factor.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a prominent face in the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus as a lead scientist in the coronavirus task force.

He has walked a fine line in delivering scientific information to the public that at times has contradicted President Donald Trump's statements. Trump at one point retweeted a Twitter post that called for Fauci to be fired, but he later denied he was considering firing him. Fauci has urged extreme caution as some cities and states move to reopen businesses, warning that doing so imprudently could lead to a resurgence of the coronavirus.

When Trump began holding daily briefings about the pandemic, Fauci was a frequent presence, answering numerous questions and offering medical expertise. As time went on, though, Fauci appeared at fewer and fewer of the briefings. His more cautious approach had often clashed with Trump's eagerness to reopen states and businesses as quickly as possible.

A spokeswoman for Fauci did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The House Appropriations subcommittee will instead hear from Thomas Frieden, who led the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration, said committee spokesman Evan Hollander. The panel could potentially seek to hear from other witnesses as well.

Although the House will not be in session next week, lawmakers decided to schedule an in-person hearing for Wednesday before the House Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services, education and related agencies, chaired by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. Lawmakers who choose to attend can do so despite the House being out of session.

The House and Senate have been essentially closed since late March, except for lawmakers periodically returning to the Capitol to approve massive spending bills that have totaled nearly $3 trillion so far. There has been little congressional oversight of all the spending or the White House's actions, even as initiatives such as the small-business Paycheck Protection Program have run into trouble, with large businesses tapping loans designed for smaller companies.

Weeks have passed without any public hearings, which lawmakers have traditionally used to question administration officials about policies or spending plans.

Democrats are eager to return to conducting oversight of the massive spending and the administration's response, and multiple House committees are likely to seek testimony from administration officials in coming weeks.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

Trend:

Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov held a working meeting with the command staff of the Azerbaijan Army at the Central Command Post on May 2, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Defense.

First, memory of national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev and martyrs who died for the independence and territorial integrity of the country were honored with a minute of silence.

"A massive spread of coronavirus infection in our country was prevented thanks to the timely and effective instructions of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev," Hasanov emphasized.

As a result of preventive measures taken, no cases of coronavirus infection were recorded among military and civilian personnel of the Azerbaijan Army, he stressed.

Hasanov brought the attention of the army leadership on the fact that recently, due to the enhanced enemy provocative actions, the possibility of renewed hostilities has increased dramatically.

The minister gave specific instructions to strengthen all types of reconnaissance at the front line and in the depths of the enemys defense, to clarify plans for combat readiness, to provide comprehensive support to troops, and to check the readiness of military personnel to conduct intensive classes, training, and exercises.

Hasanov demanded that commanders of all levels must be ready to suppress various provocations, decisively prevent the enemy from activating in all directions of the front, as well as be prepared for the conduct of hostilities.

The minister also instructed to hold high-level celebrations dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Victory over fascism and the 97th anniversary of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev.

At the end of the meeting, Hasanov gave relevant instructions on transferring weapons, military and specialized equipment to the summer operation mode, switching military personnel to the summer uniform, strengthening medical control over the health status of servicemen, and ensuring their safety.
Nine personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) deployed for law and order duties in the national capital have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Saturday.

They said the troops were deployed as part of an assistance deployment to Delhi Police in the Jamia and Jama Masjid areas over the past few weeks.

A total of nine personnel of the border guarding force have been detected with the novel coronavirus in Delhi, they said.

The troops have been admitted to an isolation facility of the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) Referral hospital located in Greater Noida near here.

Separately, two troops of the force have been found infected with the disease in Tripura.

The BSF is primarily tasked with guarding Indian borders 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.)
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House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. | Photo: Carolina Journal

The N.C. General Assembly has tough decisions to make, and little time to make them.That's the message lawmakers voiced Monday, April 27, during a handful of presentations about policy priorities. As the legislature gavels in Tuesday for its short session, Raleigh's legislative complex will fall under intense scrutiny as people watch their representatives and senators try to repair the state's economy amid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.There's no time to waste, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said Monday during an online presentation hosted by the John Locke Foundation. The state is anticipating a $2.5-$3 billion shortfall next year due to delayed federal and state tax filing deadlines - and those numbers could be even worse when the state finalizes its projections in July.But people are hurting now, Moore said, and lawmakers must act quickly to patch the economy with money doled out under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. North Carolina is getting $6 billion in federal relief. Some of that money goes directly to cities hit hardest by the pandemic. But roughly $3.5 billion must be appropriated by the legislature by the end of the year, Moore said. Otherwise, the federal government will claw back the money. A handful of special House committees put together a plan to spend $1.7 billion on COVID-19-relief efforts.Moore said.The House, Senate, and Gov. Roy Cooper - who reached a budget stalemate last year over harsh disagreements about Medicaid expansion - must try to agree on a spending plan for money from the CARES Act.Cooper, who revealed his own $1.4-billion spending plan last week, wants to put $418 million toward expenses that aren't legally allowed - or even included in guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department, said Joe Coletti , senior fellow for fiscal and tax policy at JLF. Cooper's proposal recommendsCongress should revise its guidance on how to spend the money, Coletti said. Under existing rules, North Carolina must put all the money toward new costs linked to COVID-19.In an April 13 letter to Congress , JLF President Amy Oliver Cooke - along with heads of 27 other conservative state think tanks - asked the federal government to allow states and localities flexibility in using money from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to "offset lost tax and fee revenue that would otherwise have paid for ordinary operating expenses between March 1 and Dec. 30, or ... provide one-time tax relief to individuals and businesses to revive the local economy."But Moore sees the situation differently.Money from the CARES Act isn't meant to fill long-term gaps in the state's budget as people wait until July 15 to pay taxes, Moore said. Its purpose is immediate relief for those in need.Moore said.There are plenty of places to spend the money, lawmakers say.Public schools, the University of North Carolina System, and the N.C. Community College System need more resources as they continue summer classes online, Moore said. Health care, too, is slumping as already struggling rural hospitals are barred from performing elective surgeries - the bread and butter of their industry, Moore said.Lawmakers will consider spending for Medicaid, which may be expanded to include coronavirus testing and treatment for the uninsured.The legislature must waive interest on this year's deferred income taxes and find ways to restart businesses - especially those that prop up the tourism industry in North Carolina, said Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson, during a Monday webinar presented by the NC Chamber. Edwards was joined by Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, Rep. Michael Wray, D-Gaston, and Rep. Pat McElraft, R-Cartaret.Gov. Roy Cooper's statewide stay-at-home order was too costly for restaurants, breweries, and hotels, especially those in tourist areas such as Asheville, said Edwards, who owns seven McDonald's franchises in Haywood, Henderson, and Transylvania counties. Small towns and tourist industries from the mountains to the beaches are reeling.the lawmaker said of Cooper's order to stay home and shutter a slew of businesses,Some Republicans want to make it harder for the governor to shut down businesses statewide during emergencies.Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, says he plans to file a constitutional amendment forcing the governor to get legislative approval before declaring a long-term state of emergency in North Carolina. The legislation would require the governor to get majority approval from the Council of State before declaring a state of emergency. If Kidwell's bill passes, the constitutional amendment would go before voters in November.Other top priorities include regulatory reforms to help people adapt in a world of social distancing and isolation. For example, the legislature will consider a grace period for people with expiring drivers' licenses or permits, Moore said, since nobody should be standing in long lines at the Division of Motor Vehicles.Unemployment insurance is another point of scrutiny. Since March 15, 733,917 people filed claims with the N.C. Division of Employment Security, the division's website says . Just 288,565 of those people have been paid. North Carolina should've been better prepared to help people when the state shut businesses down, Newton said. The criticism isn't a knock on the commerce department's Assistant Secretary for Employment Security Lockhart Taylor , or on the division itself, Newton said. DES was simply underprepared to handle the volume of claims wrought by the pandemic.While the legislature gathers Tuesday to discuss these issues, and more, things around the General Assembly complex will look a little different. Only lawmakers, staffers, and credential media members will be allowed in the building. The House will stream live video. Bills will be filed electronically. Committees will be held virtually, as members remain sequestered in their offices.One theme prevails.Moore said. Responsibly. Carefully.Quickly.
By April Joyner

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Options investors are preparing for more volatility ahead despite last month's sharp rebound in U.S. stocks, reflecting doubts that markets will be quick to return to their former highs in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Market turbulence has plunged alongside stocks' climb since late March, with the Cboe Volatility Index, known as "Wall Street's fear gauge," last at 37.19 on Friday after peaking above 80 in mid-March. The S&P 500 rose 12.7% in April, its biggest monthly percentage gain since 1987, and has climbed more than 27% from its March 23 closing low.

In another bullish sign, the front end of the S&P 500 volatility term structure, which plots volatility expectations over time, is no longer inverted, suggesting that worries over a near-term stock reversal are subsiding.

But while the lightning-quick rebound has taken the S&P to within 16% of its all-time high, some investors are betting market gyrations may return in coming months as the economic consequences of the coronavirus become more apparent. Those wagers run counter to the expectations of more bullish market participants, who believe stocks are unlikely to revisit their March lows.

"There's more systemic risk being priced, which would be more consistent with concerns over an economic recession," said Benjamin Bowler, global head of equity derivatives research at Bank of America.

Expectations of more volatility to come are partially reflected in the VIX, which is still comparatively high - the index stood at less than half its current level in late February, before worries over the coronavirus's spread outside of China shattered a months-long period of relative market calm.

And medium- and long-term VIX futures have risen over the past month, indicating that investors expect markets to remain volatile despite April's dramatic rally.

Such longer-term volatility would be consistent with past global crises, when markets were hit with multiple waves of selling over many months, investors said.

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"To us, it doesn't feel like a true risk-on-type environment," said Matt Thompson, managing partner at options firm Thompson Capital Management.

Possible triggers for such turbulence run the gamut from a resurgence in cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, signs that the U.S. economy has taken a worse-than-expected hit from shutdowns across the country, or political risk tied to the U.S. presidential election later this year.

Investors are also continuing to hoard put options, used for downside protection, despite the market rally. Over the past few weeks, skew, a measure of demand for puts versus calls, which are used for upside positioning, has risen on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500.

Volatility markets are behaving similarly to past global economic shocks, such as the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 and the Greek debt crisis of 2011, Thompson said. The S&P 500 took about 10 months to return to its 2011 highs after the Greek debt crisis and more than five years to mark fresh record highs after the global financial crisis.

"Going back to the financial crisis, a VIX of 20 or 30 was relatively normal," said Jon Cherry, head of options at Northern Trust Capital Markets. "That's the neighborhood we live in today." (Reporting by April Joyner; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Jonathan Oatis)
Chandigarh, May 2 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday asked the state Health Department to ramp up the RT-PCR COVID testing facilities to 6,000 a day by May 15, instead of the targeted 5,800 a day by May-end.

He directed it to conduct its own tests on all returnees to the state instead of going by the tests done in other states.

Pointing to the large number of returnees had now tested positive, the Chief Minister said it was clear that Punjab could not rely on the tests conducted on its people stranded in other places by those respective states.

Referring to the fact that several staffers at the Nanded gurdwara itself had now tested positive, the Chief Minister said with this the Akali claim, that there were no positive cases in Nanded and the pilgrims had got infected on the way back or on reaching Punjab, had been trashed.

He once again asked the Opposition to stop indulging in petty politicking over such a grave issue.

This was a crucial time in the state's fight against COVID, the Chief Minister said during a virtual meeting with the Council of Ministers, which took a series of decisions to scale up the state government's coronavirus battle.

Directing the Health Department to come out with a plan to advance its schedule for increasing the testing capacity, the Chief Minister stressed the need to be prepared for the worst.

Amarinder Singh said he had already asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the Central government to scale up the testing capacity to 20,000 a day, to cope with the influx of migrants and others expected to return to the state over the next few weeks in the wake of the new directives of the government of India.

The rapid testing would also need to be scaled exponentially, to at least two lakh, once it resumes, the Chief Secretary said.

The Chief Minister said he had also asked the Baba Farid University Vice-Chancellor to explore the feasibility of setting up a testing facility in Jalandhar, for which the government was ready to sanction an immediate grant of Rs 1 crore.

The Chief Minister's directions on augmenting the testing facilities came two days after he ordered strict quarantining of those returning to Punjab from other states, and in the wake of test reports of 292 people returning from Maharashtra showing positive.

In response to a suggestion by some of the ministers, the Chief Minister agreed to examine their proposal for home quarantine of the returnees in coordination with sarpanches and panchayats.

Amarinder Singh told the Cabinet that he had deputed individual officers to coordinate with each state for facilitating the return of Punjabis.

Health Minister Balbir Sidhu assured the Chief Minister that all pending testing reports would be cleared in the next day or two, to ensure that there is no delay in identifying and addressing positive cases.

He said arrangements for increasing testing by roping in a private lab had also been finalized and 2,000 samples from across the state had been sent to them on Saturday.
FILE PHOTO: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday said it may shut down the U.S. operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies, citing national security risks.

The FCC issued so-called show cause orders to China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks Corp and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC, directing them to explain why it should not start the process of revoking authorizations enabling their U.S. operations.

The FCC's action represents the latest sign of President Donald Trump's administration taking a hard line toward China.

"We simply cannot take a risk and hope for the best when it comes to the security of our networks," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement.

The FCC granted its approvals to the firms more than a decade ago. Since then, it said, "the national security and law enforcement risks linked to the Chinese government's activities have grown significantly."

The agency's show cause orders referred to the "sophistication and resulting damage of the Chinese government's involvement in computer intrusions and attacks against the United States," but did not elaborate.

The U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies this month called on the FCC to revoke China Telecom's ability to operate in the United States.

In May 2019, the FCC voted unanimously to deny another state-owned Chinese telecommunications company, China Mobile Ltd, the right to provide services in the United States, citing risks that the Chinese government could use the approval to conduct espionage against the U.S. government.

China Telecom Americas is the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company. A spokesman for China Telecom said on Friday the company "has been operating in good standing in the United States for nearly 20 years. We look forward, in the coming weeks, to sharing information with the FCC that speaks to our role as a responsible telecom company."

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The other companies named in the show cause orders did not respond to requests for comment.

Pacific Networks resells international voice and data to U.S. operators on a wholesale basis and ComNet provides international termination service, global SIM card service and international calling card service and interexchange service, the FCC said.

Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican and ally of Trump, praised the review and said the firms' "operation in the United States will continue to pose a threat to our critical networks as long as it continues."

China's telecommunications networks and companies have come under heightened scrutiny by U.S. agencies. The FCC this month agreed to allow Alphabet Inc unit Google to use part of an U.S.-Asia undersea telecommunications cable but not a part that connected with Hong Kong.

Google agreed to operate only a portion of the 8,000-mile (12,875-km) Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan. Google and Facebook Inc helped pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link but U.S. regulators have blocked its use.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Tom Brown and Will Dunham)
Q: Last Tuesday was Israels Independence Day. Why do you love Israel?  E from Encino, Calif.

A: I love the whole damn place! However, there are stories that are forever embedded in my memories of certain people and places in Israel.

Let me begin by explaining what Israel means to Jews and to Christians. Father Tom Hartman also loved Israel. Together we created Project Understanding, which brought Jewish and Catholic teenagers to Israel to hopefully plant the seeds for new God Squads to grow in the future. The Catholic kids explained what the Christian holy places in Israel meant to them and the Jewish kids explained to the Catholic kids what the Jewish places in Israel meant to them.

The trips were terrific and what the kids learned we should all learn. There are sacred places on this earth and Israel, particularly Jerusalem, is one of them. Religions are not just about sacred time  the cycle of the holidays and prayer. Religion is also about sacred space. For Hindus the Ganges river is a sacred place. For aborigines in Australia Uluru (Ayers Rock) is sacred. The Kaaba Stone in Mecca is a sacred place for Muslims. Every religion and every culture share the common belief that, although every inch of planet earth is a sacred creation of God, some places are filled to overflowing with sacredness.

Jerusalem is one of those places for Jews and Christians. My teacher Rabbi Nelson Glueck once told me that there is a legend that Jerusalem is the axis mundi, the navel of the universe, the place from which the world was created. That is the best way to explain a sacred place. It is a place that creates all the other places on earth. The Hebrew word for Israel as a sacred place is not Israel, it is tzion  Zion. Zion for me is the place where heaven and earth kiss. I cannot say it any other way.

In addition to the ancient Zion, the contemporary State of Israel is also special for me.

Two stories:

There is a place near Jerusalem where new immigrants to Israel begin their process of learning Hebrew and adjusting to their new lives in the Jewish state. I visited that place some years ago and saw a kindergarten class filled with new Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia. They are called Beta Yisrael or Falasha Jews and they have followed their own interpretation of Judaism since the time of King Solomon 3,000 years ago. With great courage and effort, Israel had rescued the entire starving and beleaguered Beta Yisrael community from Ethiopia during the time of their civil war and given them a safe new home in the State of Israel. I must say that it is always amazing to me to see Africans speaking Hebrew and reciting Jewish prayers, but it is obviously not amazing to them. That day I met a little boy named Moshe (his new Israeli name). Moshe was drawing in crayon a picture of a dog. In Moshes picture, the dog was smiling a big smile, which was cute and quite funny. I asked Moshe why the dog was smiling. He looked up at me with big eyes and his own smile and said, The dog is smiling because I dont have to eat him.

There is a kibbutz (a collectivist farm) near the Sea of Galilee where there was another kindergarten that was visited by members of my synagogue. One of the visitors brought a large bag of many crayon boxes for the children. He presented the crayons to the teacher who told him to dump out all the crayon boxes on the big table where the children were sitting. He did that and immediately the children opened up all the boxes and piled up all the crayons in the middle of the table so that they could share all the crayons together. I know that if a class of kids anywhere else was presented with such a gift each child would probably write his or her name on a box of crayons to make it their own. Not that many Israelis live on kibbutzim but the ones that do come out different than those of us raised in more individualistic and often selfish cultures. I think they come out better.

So when I am asked, dear E, why I love Israel there are many reasons but it comes down to this: I love Israel/Zion because it is a place where a little Jewish boy from the heart of Africa does not have to eat his dog, and I also love Israel because it is a place where they make the best crayon-sharers in the world.

Happy birthday, Israel!

Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman.
About 250 protesters showed up at the Governors Mansion on Saturday demanding Louisiana immediately drop the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus and allow the unfettered reopening of businesses and churches.

Another 25 vehicles or so, honking their horns in support, circled past the mansion as politicians and preachers revved up the crowd standing under cloudless skies and in 90-degree temperatures.

John Bel Edwards: Louisiana making gains in coronavirus fight, but still has 'work to do' Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday that, while coronavirus concerns in the Baton Rouge area, the Northshore and a few others are the latest con

No masks, no gloves and no social distancing were in evidence among the overwhelmingly white crowd, many of whom wore pro-President Donald Trump paraphernalia; shook homemade signs with slogans such as I trust God with my immune system; and waved American flags alongside yellow Gadsden Dont Tread on Me flags that have been adopted by the tea party movement.

The protest was put together in the five days since Edwards extended his stay-at-home directives Monday, said state Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, who organized the effort on social media and by contacting churches and other groups.

Edwards said public health officials, after looking at the data, felt that May 1 was too premature to begin rolling out the first of a three-phase reopening. He extended the stay-at-home order to May 15.

Can't see tweet below? Click here.

About 250 people have gathered in front of La Govs Mansion as a couple dozen cars drive past to demand immediate reopening of state after shutdown to restrict spread of coronavirus. #lagov pic.twitter.com/TxVmr3mvY9  Mark Ballard (@MarkBallardCnb) May 2, 2020

After about a dozen speeches, protesters helped themselves to pastalaya provided by Baton Rouges Life Tabernacle Church, whose pastor, Tony Spell, is under house arrest for holding services for a congregation in excess of the gathering limits laid out in Edwards directives.

Edwards was at the mansion during the protest but had no comment, according to his press office. But he has said repeatedly that in a state of 4.6 million people, not everyone was going to agree with his decisions.

+2 Long lines after governor warns of coronavirus resurgence in Acadiana Parish officials in Acadiana are continuing to encourage limited retail business openings, even after Gov. John Bel Edwards highlighted troubl

The numbers were far bigger Saturday than any previous Louisiana protest. But the turnout paled in comparison to the hundreds who converged Thursday and Friday at State Capitols in Illinois and Michigan. In California, hundreds gathered at Huntington Beach near Los Angeles after Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Orange County beaches closed.

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

All three states, as well as Louisiana, have Democratic governors.

Officials are weighing how fast to reopen movie theaters, gyms and other businesses, the closures of which have led to Depression-era unemployment rates, while maintaining efforts to keep the spread of the coronavirus under some control. But in many states, balancing public health and economic problems has become partisan.

John Bel Edwards responds to petition to cancel emergency order: 'Silly is not the right word' Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday blasted a movement by some GOP state lawmakers to cancel his emergency declaration on the new coronavirus in

The governor has completely shredded the Constitution, McCormick told the crowd.

Traitor, yelled out one protester.

Several women milled through the crowd asking for signatures on a petition demanding the state allow businesses to operate freely.

Protester Richard May, of Walker, held an American flag and said he wants the state to reopen on Monday. If we continue on this course, were headed for a shipwreck, May said.

Rookie state Rep. Chuck Owen, R-Rosepine, said his Vernon Parish home on the Texas border had only 16 confirmed cases and two deaths, with no COVID-19 patients in the hospital right now. He argued that some parishes, like his, could reopen and get businesses up and going again, while other parishes that are hot spots for the virus could continue sheltering in place.

Theres going to be a lot of sacrifice in areas where we dont need to make sacrifices, said Rep. Raymond J. Crews, R-Bossier City.

Five state representatives spoke at the protest. Their speeches included exhortations that protesters call their state legislators and demand they sign a resolution that would terminate Edwards emergency health declaration, which is tied to executive orders that closed many businesses and ended the school year, among other things. The resolution needs 53 votes to pass.

Edwards has argued that terminating the order would halt federal disaster aid and could jeopardize other federal money, including the $1.8 billion Louisiana will receive from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act to reimburse coronavirus-related expenses.
By William Schwartz | Published on 2020/05/01

On May 1st news reports revealed that much of the filming for "The World of the Married" takes place in the American village in Pyeongtaek commonly known as Humphrey's Landing. This, in spite of the fact that in continuity the action is explicitly stated as taking place in the city of Gosan. This confirms what many had already suspected, as such distinctive housing in South Korea is rare and typically only appears near American military bases.

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The reason why such housing exists was originally to provide American military service members with accomodations similar to what they could expect in the United States. Though drawbacks in troop numbers over the years have rendered such domiciles less important in recent years, they are distinctive enough as to make developers loathe to tear them down. This is particularly true as such residences are typically in undesirable locations and only particularly practical for soldiers.

Real estate offices have long tried to sell Humphrey's Village houses through traditional advertising. They typically run at about a million dollars purchase price per unit. According to relevant real estate agents "The World of the Married" has provoked a noteworthy spike in requests for information about Humphrey's Landing, reporting twenty to thirty calls a day with as many as ten teams conducting tours of the complex for interested purchasers on weekends.

Written by William Schwartz

___________

"The World of the Married" is directed by Mo Wan-il, written by Joo Hyeon-I, and features Kim Hee-ae, Park Hae-joon, Han So-hee, Park Sun-young, Kim Young-min, Chae Gook-hee. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2020/03/27~Now airing, Fri, Sat 23:00 on jTBC.
After 30 days with no new cases, Davanagere began to ease curbs - until it all broke loose

Davanagere in Karnataka enjoyed green status for a month with no new corona cases being reported.

Hubballi: The mood has swung from relief to depression in Davangere, Karnataka in a matter of 30 days. The once-green district has now turned into a red zone with eight Covid-19 cases reported there this week after a lull of a month.

Things began to go awry earlier this week, and on Friday, the district recorded its first Covid-19 death, adding to Karnatakas total of 23.

This was a 69-year old man who had a cardiac arrest after he was admitted in the district hospital complaining of a serious breathing problem. His son, three daughters-in-law, and a one-year-old grandson all tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

The medical superintendent of the District Hospital, Dr Nagaraj said the deceased person had been undergoing treatment for high blood pressure and diabetes before he tested positive for coronavirus. He had been put on a ventilator on Wednesday.

Davanagere now has eight coronanvirus positives after three patients were discharged after recovery.

Things had been going well for more than 30 day with no new cases. Three corona cases, including the daughter of former Union minister G M Siddeshwar had recovered. People relieved a sigh of relief and the government began to ease some restrictions. But they are all back again.

Among the new positives are a 35-year-old nurse serving at the urban health centre in Davangere. She even attended upon a pregnant woman who delivered a baby on April 23.

Deputy commissioner Mahantesh Bilagi said that 20 persons who had a primary contact with the nurse have been identified and quarantined. He said health and police officials are now widening the search to secondary contacts.

"There is a possibility that the son of the virus-infected nurse visited the corona hotspot districts Vijayapur and Bagalkot. We are also looking at the travel history of the woman and her family members. We have sealed her entire locality of Basha Nagar and Jali Nagar, Bilagi said.

Sources said the administration is finding it difficult to trace the travel history of virus-infected persons due to lack of cooperation from them.
Scrubs actor Sam Lloyd has died at age 56.

The show's creator Bill Lawrence confirmed the news on Friday via Twitter, saying: "Thinking a lot about Sam Lloyd today. (Ted). Truly such a kind, sweet guy. He will be missed by so many."

Known for playing lawyer Ted Buckland in 95 episodes of the show, Lloyd - who is the nephew of Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd - had been battling an inoperable brain tumor since last year.

RIP: Scrubs actor Sam Lloyd - pictured above in 2006 - has died at age 56.

Scrubs producer Tom Hobert and his wife previously launched GoFundMe to help with his health struggles.

Star of the show Zach Braff also lead tributes on Friday, saying: "Rest In Peace to one of the funniest actors I've ever had the joy of working with. Sam Lloyd made me crack up and break character every single time we did a scene together."

Braff added: "He could not have been a kinder man. I will forever cherish the time I had with you, Sammy."

Paying tribute Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence shared the sad news on Friday

RIP: Zach Bradff also took to Twitter to pay his respects

Friends: The pair worked together on 95 episodes of the hit show

Lloyd was diagnosed with inoperable cancer in January 2019, only weeks after he and his wife Vanessa had welcomed their first child, Weston.

The actor had begun to have headaches which he first put down to caring for his newborn. But after losing 10lbs and with the headaches persisting, he decided to go to a doctor and get a CT scan.

The scan revealed a mass on his brain and within a day was taken in to have brain surgery.

Unfortunately the tumor was too intertwined so the surgeons couldnt remove it.

Remembering: Pictured above is Lloyd attending the Scrubs: The Farewell Tour held at the Paley Center on December 13, 2007 in Beverly Hills California

Lloyd and his wife were then informed that the cancer in his brain had metastasized from his lungs. Further scans showed the cancer was also in his liver, spine, and jaw.

His GoFundMe page raised over $150,000 towards the actor's medical bills.

Hoberts said on the fundraiser: "In the face of this devastating news, Sam and Vanessa have been incredibly strong and positive. Humor and laughter, which have been a huge part of Sam's life, will undoubtedly help him with what lies ahead.

"Just hours after being diagnosed, Sam was cheering on his beloved New England Patriots in his hospital room. When the nurse asked him to 'cheer quieter,' Sam politely nodded. When the nurse left the room, Sam turned to Vanessa and his friends and said, 'What are they gonna do? Kill me?'"

Joy: The actor was also an accomplished singer, and played with his acapella band The Blanks

Aside from acting, Lloyd was an accomplished singer with the acappella group The Blanks. His co-star Braff proudly shared a video of the band on his Twitter page on Friday following the news of his death.

He crossed paths a few times with his famous uncle, actor Christopher Lloyd, both guesting on Malcolm in the Middle and The West Wing.

Lloyd also enjoyed parts on Cougar Town, Desperate Housewives, and the character Ricky on Seinfeld.

He is survived by his wife Vanessa and their son Weston.
A letter sent out by Delhi government asked all medical directors to provide a written explanation on how the health workers contracted the disease despite wearing protective gear, maintaining safe distancing and taking all precautions. Ruchika Chitravanshi reports.

The Delhi government has issued a circular that would require all doctors, nurses and paramedics in non-Covid hospitals, who have caught the COVID-19 infection or become a close contact of an infected person, to provide a written explanation of how they landed in such a situation.

A letter sent out by Padmini Singla, health and family welfare secretary, Delhi government, asked all medical directors to provide a written explanation on how the health workers contracted the disease despite wearing protective gear, maintaining safe distancing and taking all precautions.

The Delhi government said that medical directors are 'indiscriminately' sending such health staff for quarantine to hotels and their homes for a period of 14 days.

'This practise is causing an unnecessary shortage of doctors and staff in hospitals...It seems it is happening because either hospitals are not following the standard operating procedures or such persons are not following the guidelines prescribed for health workers,' Singla said in her letter.

Many hospitals are grappling with the shortage of personal protective equipment and are rationing their use.

Such gear is mostly being used by doctors dealing with suspected COVID-19 cases.

Several doctors, who have been found to be infected, were not dealing with COVID-19 patients.

An eight-month pregnant nurse at the emergency ward of a Delhi hospital said she was coming in contact with suspicious patients but all facilities of testing and precautions were being given only to doctors and not to nursing staff.

"I stood for two hours to get myself tested but I was pushed out...I could not get tested," she said.

In the letter, Singla also asked all the medical directors to constitute a team of doctors to 'ascertain whether a contact fulfils the governments guidelines to be declared as the contact of a positive patient'.
The government has admitted that "a small number" of the home coronavirus tests sent out do not have the right information to be processed.

On Friday the government announced it had met its target of 100,000 daily tests - though there was criticism that the figure included home testing kits and tests carried out at satellite centres that haven't yet been returned.

Now it appears that some of these home testing kits are useless.

Several key workers who were posted tests have been in touch with Sky News to say theirs have no return label. They have therefore been instructed to throw the COVID-19 test away.

The home tests are supposed to work by a person rubbing a cotton swab in their mouth, then inside their nostrils, putting both samples back in tubes and a sealed bag, then sending the package back.

Tom Howell, a teacher in Leeds, said the instructions on his test explained not to take it until a return delivery slot was booked - he guessed to prevent the quality of sample deteriorating.

But he was unable to book the courier without a tracking code on a prepaid label, which wasn't included.

After calling the helpline to see if he could print one at home, he was told to bin the test and wait for another to arrive - in around a week's time.

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A labourer, who did not want to be named, said he was told there had been a "technical issue" when he called to query the missing return details for two tests for him and his partner.

"The problem is, there was no mark to reorder and there are no more available," he added.

"We still don't know if we have it [coronavirus] or not. It's important I know if I'll be driving around the country, otherwise I'll have to do self-isolation again."

Another key worker in Lancashire, who also did not want to be named, encountered the same problem.

When she phoned the manufacturers, Randox, she said she was told she could drop it off at a council collection point, but the closest one was in Ireland.

Story continues

Anisa from London, who also received no returns information, told Sky News she was holding on to her test.

"I feel like it's such a waste to throw it away," she said.

And Lindsay Southern from north Yorkshire wrote on Twitter she was told to re-apply for a new test in two weeks. "No response at all to email raising concern," she added.

A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said they were aware of a "small number" of home test kits posted "without a return label".

"We are urgently seeking to resolve this so anyone affected can either be provided with a new label or order a replacement kit online, which won't be counted in the daily figures," they added.

During Saturday's daily news conference, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said that 1,129,907 coronavirus tests had been carried out in the UK, including 105,937 on Friday.

Next week Kay Burley will be hosting a live Q&A with Health Secretary Matt Hancock. You can put your questions to Mr Hancock about the coronavirus and its impact on your life live on Sky News.

Email us your questions - or you can record a video clip of your question on your phone - and send it to AskTheHealthSecretary@sky.uk
The province has now expanded its investigations of positive COVID-19 cases to include a persons race, ethnicity or Indigenous identity.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Shared Health's chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa is seen during a recent health briefing. (Winnipeg Free Press)

The province has now expanded its investigations of positive COVID-19 cases to include a persons race, ethnicity or Indigenous identity.

"These questions are important to our understanding of the impact of this virus on Manitobans from various backgrounds and will help us (in) identifying the disproportionate impact on specific populations or issues with access to services which may exist," Lanette Siragusa, Shared Healths chief nursing officer, said during Fridays health briefing.

The information will also allow health officials to improve their ability to support community organizations that play a role in the local response to the virus, Siragusa said, noting patients are under no obligation to answer the questions.

"The response to these questions is totally voluntary, but we do encourage you to share this information as its important for us as we monitor this virus, she said.

"The information will be collected and stored securely and treated in the same confidential manner as all other health-care information."

While British Columbia isnt currently tracking information on the race or ethnicity of COVID-19 patients, it does gather data on whether patients self-identify as Indigenous for all communicable diseases, including COVID-19, the CBC reported earlier this month.

"We know that theres a number of conditions that can disproportionately affect people based on different things such as income or ethnicity," said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitobas chief public health officer.

"And so we want to ensure were collecting this data to be able to understand whether theres a disproportionate effect based on ethnicity with COVID," Roussin said.

Sharing the information is voluntary, he said, "but think its a real good step to be able to start collecting information to be able to show if there are any disproportionate effects."

Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand said Friday he has no issue with the province collecting the data.

But, he said, the province needs to share that information with the Metis community.

"Im not opposed to collecting (the data) if a Metis citizen has it (the virus), but if theyre not going to tell me, I dont know what value it will be for our people," he said.

"If the province wants to gather data and information about my people, at least give us the courtesy (of) that and share it with us so we can help out and prevent any deaths or any serious infections occurring pandemic-wise."

Siragusa said health officials have consulted First Nations and reached an agreement on collecting the data.

Meanwhile, one health-care worker in Prairie Mountain Health has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week, Siragusa reported Friday.

There have been 25 non-travel-related COVID-19 cases involving health-care workers in Manitoba since the pandemic began. Nineteen have recovered.

The 25 cases involve 10 nurses, four medical staff and 11 workers from various allied health and support areas.

An additional eight cases involving health-care workers are connected to travel. All developed symptoms while self-isolating prior to their return to work, health officials said.

In total, 601 health-care workers and first responders were tested between April 22-27.

Four new cases of COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the total number of lab-confirmed positive and probable positive cases in Manitoba to 279.

There are now a total of 17 confirmed cases of the virus in Prairie Mountain Health, up two from Thursdays numbers.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com, with a file from Michele LeTourneau
Hyderabad, May 2 : The political slugfest between Telangana's ruling TRS and opposition BJP over the Covid-19 situation in the state continued on Saturday with the BJP's state unit chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleging that the state government misled the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) currently visiting the state.

Unhappy with the Central team for appreciating Telangana government's efforts to contain Covid-19, Kumar dashed off a letter to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, alleging that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government misled the team with regard to the facilities offered to Covid-19 patients. He urged the Secretary to send another team for a visit.

Kumar, also an MP from Karimnagar, said that he was surprised that the team expressed satisfaction over the way the state government was implementing the Covid-19 treatment protocol.

The BJP leader alleged that the government failed to go for full-fledged testing. He said it was not even tracking secondary sources and contacts.

Kumar wrote that the BJP received complaints about the inadequate facilities at the Gandhi Hospital, where Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment. He alleged that the hygiene in the hospital is far below the mandate and the bathrooms are inadequate and not maintained properly.

He claimed that the hospital declared a patient negative first and positive a few days later, resulting in his death.

The BJP leader sent the letter a day after state Health Minister Eatala Rajender slammed him for making baseless allegations and trying to communalise the issue. The minister had trained guns on the BJP, seeking an explanation as to why it permitted the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi which was attended by international delegates.

Rajender had targeted Kumar for not trusting even the Central team sent by his own party government.

Meanwhile, IMCT continued its visit to Hyderabad for the eighth day on Saturday to assess the Covid-19 situation and make necessary suggestions to the state.

The five-member team visited the ESI Hospital to see the preparedness to deal with the Covid-19 cases.

It later visited the Food Corporation of India (FCI) warehouse in the city to know about the rice stock position.
NASA photo of the eruption of Klyuchevsky volcano on 30 September, 1994, the volcano's largest explosion in 40 years. The large

Background:

Kliuchevskoi is Kamchatka's highest and most active volcano. Since its origin about 6000 years ago, the beautifully symmetrical, 4835-m-high basaltic stratovolcano has produced frequent moderate-volume explosive and effusive eruptions without major periods of inactivity. Kliuchevskoi rises above a saddle NE of sharp-peaked Kamen volcano and lies SE of the broad Ushkovsky massif. More than 100 flank eruptions have occurred at Kliuchevskoi during the past roughly 3000 years, with most lateral craters and cones occurring along radial fissures between the unconfined NE-to-SE flanks of the conical volcano between 500 m and 3600 m elevation. The morphology of its 700-m-wide summit crater has been frequently modified by historical eruptions, which have been recorded since the late-17th century. Historical eruptions have originated primarily from the summit crater, but have also included numerous major explosive and effusive eruptions from flank craters.

---

Source: Klyuchevsky information by the GVP (Smithsonian Institution)
NEW YORK - The days upon ruthless days of battling covid-19 are such a blur that Joseph Lieber can't remember the exact date the military showed up at his hospital offering to help.

Lieber, director of medicine at Elmhurst Hospital Center, a public medical facility in western Queens that was among the city's hardest hit, said he maybe he got a phone call on a Saturday night that the Army wanted to send over a team - because he remembers he was working. Actually, he has worked every day for the past two months. He also hasn't seen his three grandchildren, who live near him, since the city lockdown.

"You see, that was during our peak, peak, peak, peak," he said. "We were in a bad way, let me tell you." At one point, he described the situation - illness and daily death tolls beyond anything he'd seen working through every New York crisis in 36 years on the job - as "Dante's Inferno."

"I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "This really feels like it's the 11th plague."

What few others know, though, is that the overwhelming of the hospital system came not just from incoming sick people, equipment shortages and deaths, but from what Lieber calls "an output problem." That is, the bureaucratic entanglements of transferring or discharging recovering covid-19 patients, particularly the homeless, the mentally ill or undocumented day laborers living six to a room, heading back into the situations that made them vulnerable.

Even as this city seems to have escaped the gravest predictions, fear and uncertainty remain. There is a severe lack of testing to ensure people will be safe once more if the economy reopens. If a second wave of infection hits, and no lessons have been learned about the imperative of getting less-sick patients out of hospitals and into other types of care, Lieber predicts, the overload could prove deadly again.

That's where the military was supposed to come in.

The USNS Comfort, the Navy hospital ship that arrived in Manhattan with great fanfare on March 30 departed Thursday, having treated 182 patients and run several rescue missions during its stay. A day later, a military field hospital here, built inside the Javits convention center, discharged the last of eight remaining patients, from a peak of 453 in mid-April. In all, about 1,100 people were treated there.

The 680 military medical personnel remaining in the city will embed or stay embedded in local and state hospitals to help alleviate gaps in staffing - and to provide psychiatric care for health workers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has asked for a hold on dismantling Javits in case it is needed for a resurgence of cases.

Of the city's 42,400 hospitalizations, the military handled 3 percent.

However those numbers look compared to expectations, for doctors on the ground like Lieber, the mission was a success. Elmhurst is relatively small for being the only Level 1 trauma center in its area, with 550 beds to serve a catchment area of 1.7 million people in the largest and second-most populous borough in the city - and the most diverse county in the country. At the peak, Lieber said, they had twice as many patients as beds, and had to admit 100 patients into the emergency room because the intensive care unit was too full to take them, even after Lieber's staff turned four other areas of the hospital into ICUs. In a bad flu season, for example, 35 people might get admitted to the ER.

In the end, Javits took 56 of those patients and the Comfort took 12, small numbers on paper, but they led to a morale boost for the staff, Lieber said, because for the first time they could feel breathing room and an end in sight. "It was exciting," said Lauren Clifford, social work supervisor and a discharge planner at Elmhurst, "because every time someone is stable enough to leave, that opens up the bed for someone who will die if they're not in the hospital."

The Army, Navy, and Air Force sent over nurses, doctors and pharmacists to fill in for the many members of Elmhurt's staff who were out sick.

"They helped us tremendously," he said. "For us, Javits was a rescue."

- - -

Lt. Col. Guy Travis Clifton remembers the exact moment he stepped into Elmhurst. It was the morning of April 6. "And it was so jarring," he said, "They were so overwhelmed. It reminded me of a scene from a mass casualty in Afghanistan. There were just patients everywhere. You couldn't take more patients in there if you wanted to. It was really disturbing, actually, and they were doing a heroic job."

So many patients and so many deaths, in fact, that the day Clifton first came, a few dead bodies had to be stored temporarily in showers, as has happened in cities across the country. The hospital had gotten two refrigerated trucks from the city medical examiner's office to supplement the lack of space in the morgue but, Lieber said, "sometimes even they'd get too full."

Clifton had been deployed three times to Afghanistan. Now chief of general surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center, he'd left his wife and three young sons in San Antonio and was on site as Javits and the Comfort came under fire from New York hospital directors frustrated about how few patients either field hospital was taking on.

They'd at first tried to screen only for patients without covid-19. But those patients never came. Javits had only 11 admitted over the course of a week before Cuomo asked for it to become a facility for covid-19 patients only.

"It was a little disheartening, when they were like, 'Oh, Javits has been open for 24 hours and they're not full,' " said Clifton of the negative newspaper articles that came out.

The main problem seemed to be with an incredibly rigid set of 49 criteria the military had devised for admitting the right type of patient for these two facilities - each with the limitations of not being actual hospitals.

Even once they started accepting covid-19 patients, Javits and the Comfort still used a modified version of that list of 49 criteria. Patients were still coming in at a trickle.

"I was very skeptical of how tight the criteria were," Lieber said. Finding people whose condition met all 49 requirements was near impossible.

That's when the military command decided the system wasn't working and, instead of waiting on the hospitals, the Army needed to go to them.

- - -

"What I liked about him was once he came here he was willing to work with us," Lieber said of Clifton. "You could sit down and schmooze and say, 'Could you help me with this one?' He wasn't like, 'These are the rules. I follow the rules.' "

As much bad press as the military was getting, Lieber had faith. He's a big military history buff, "and what the military is very good at is logistics," he said. "The best commanders understand how to move troops and supplies. So I was confident that we were going to get patients out because they know how to move things."

They make a funny pair. Clifton is 40 years old, tall and Army-muscular, with a crew cut and an impeccable camouflage uniform. Lieber is 62, can be found in a rumpled polo shirt or a lab coat, in front of a towering wall of snacks and tchotchkes at his desk, and has a New York accent so thick you could butter bread with it. Both, though, are taking time away from their families to help with urgent needs.

"He's a gentleman. He really wants to help," Lieber said of Clifton.

"He's the kind of doctor I aspire to be," Clifton said of Lieber, "just a really down-to-earth guy whose focus is on taking care of patients and teaching.

Clifton and his team approached that first visit to Elmhurst almost like a pitch meeting - explaining what Javits could do for them. When he talked about the lack of an X-ray or a pharmacy at Javits, "it kind of helped them understand why those restrictions were in place," he said, "because I think it made intuitive sense."

Likewise, Lieber said, it was good for the military to see how bad things were - in person: "I think that made them realize, 'We've got to start moving faster and maybe the criteria can be cut.' "

The hospital gave Clifton access to medical records, and they quickly figured out they had to streamline the patient transfer process. Initially, the hospital would dial in to a call center and talk to a nurse who then connected them with a doctor at either Javits or the Comfort, who would consult with a hospital doctor before ordering an ambulance. Or, Clifton said, "I could just do it all myself."

That first day he moved 19 patients. Some days he'd move 25.

He also threw out most of that criteria list. "You can almost simplify it down to: They can't have other active medical problems that are life threatening," he said - like a heart attack.

Beyond the medical criteria, too, were the intangibles. The covid-19 crisis hadn't made the long-term crises of the neighborhood disappear.

Elmhurst was hit hard, Clifford, the social worker, explained, because its patient population is largely uninsured and undocumented day laborers from China, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador - delivery men, construction workers - living six to a room, even sharing beds sometimes. They have to go to work or they won't get paid, and they can't socially isolate at home. "So if one person gets sick," she said. "The whole household gets sick."

People here were more likely to be distrusting of the system. "A lot of people came in in very late stages of the disease and died in the ER," Lieber said. Moving them to a government-run hospital that had been built three weeks earlier was terrifying to them. But to the government's credit, Clifford said, no one at a temporary hospital asked about insurance or documentation. "I was really shocked that it never came up," she said, "because with our patient population that's always the first question. This is the only time I've ever experienced that in nine years of discharge planning here."

Rooms at Javits had no privacy and the bathrooms were in trailers across a cavernous hall. Clifton had to screen for not only covid-19 patients who were too weak to stand on their own but also the disabled, people who were withdrawing from drugs and alcohol, and anyone with an uncontrolled mental health issue, since there was no on-site psychiatrist. Some schizophrenics would do fine, Lieber explained, "but if a patient is actively hearing voices and getting homicidal commands, that may not be the best place for them."

More than once, a seemingly controlled mental health issue turned out to be out of control when on site and the patient had to be sent right back. "We expected that," Clifton said.

As of Friday, he was looking forward to a long weekend run along the Hudson. Then he'd likely have a two week quarantine in Texas and finally see his family. "I feel like we did a good thing," he said. "Was it perfect? Probably not. But on a whole I think we helped and it felt meaningful."'

He and Lieber were planning to reach out to wish each other well.

The Elmhurst ER is back to normal capacity. The crisis phase is over, but covid-19 treatment isn't and Lieber still wakes up for work most days at 3 a.m.

In another life, Lieber said, he hoped everyone would act weeks earlier, the city, the state, the nation. "It wasn't till the s--- hit the fan, pardon my language, that things started to move," he said.

He said he hoped in their next mission, the military might "do a little bit of reconnaissance on the front lines a few days earlier," so they could plan for the types of patients the hospitals needed to transfer rather than waiting until the temporary facility was built and spending two weeks making adjustments.

Like so many experts, he's anticipating a second wave but is "cautiously optimistic" that the hiccups of the system won't be so jarring next time around.

"I'm numb and drained but glad that it worked. We learned from this," he said. "The most important thing is, don't let it happen again."
ALBANY  Kevin Campbell was another young man from a poor neighborhood arrested for selling drugs.

Crack cocaine, specifically. Police and prosecutors say he twice sold relatively small amounts of the drug to a criminal informant.

Campbell didnt stick around for his trial. In fact, Campbell says his attorney at the time even suggested he'd be wise not to show up, given the sentence he was facing.

(Don't forget that detail. It's going to come up again before this column is over.)

Campbell made a bad decision, obviously. But perhaps an understandable one, given the circumstances.

I don't blame him for fleeing, especially at a time when people charged with drug crimes were going away for such long sentences.says Jasper Mills, who is Campbells current attorney.

Despite his absence from the courtroom, or perhaps partly because of it, Campbell was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison on two Class B felony drug charges. (Technically, two sentences of five to 15 years.)

Thats a draconian punishment, especially since Campbell had no prior criminal record. But such were the drug laws in those days  responses to a crack epidemic that had ravaged inner-city neighborhoods.

In any event, Campbell left New York and eventually landed in California, where he took the name Robin Williams and attempted to forget about the conviction back in New York.

I'm not a bad person, and I'm not involved in drugs or anything like that, said Campbell, who has six children, ages 10 to 26. I don't drink. I don't go out. I stay home and take care of my kids. Thats all I do.

But in 2016, Campbell was convicted of felony false imprisonment following a domestic dispute with a former girlfriend and given a short prison sentence and five years of probation. Last year, he was charged with a minor probation violation.

And that, oddly enough, led authorities to figure out that Robin Williams was actually Kevin Campbell. He was returned to New York and has spent the last eight months at Albany County Jail.

End of story? No, because Campbell's attorney is trying to get his sentence reduced.

Heres the thing: Our attitudes toward drugs and related crimes have changed significantly since Campbell was first sentenced. Our laws have also changed  and for the better, I'd say.

The old Rockefeller drug laws were inhumane and out of scale of proportion to the crimes. By mandating severe prison sentences, they did more harm than good, for neighborhoods and families alike, putting too many people in jail for too long.

The injustice of those laws fueled an upstart campaign waged by an upstart candidate for Albany County district attorney back in 2004. That was David Soares, of course, who won a stunning victory. New York's drug laws were subsequently overhauled, twice.

That's why Campbell's attorney  and members of his family  are asking for a new sentence.

I've asked the DAs office to be reasonable, to be humane, Mills said.

Under today's laws, a person in Campbell's position might be sentenced to probation only, depending on the circumstances. The punishment certainly would be lighter than what Campbell is serving. (The maximum punishment for a Class B drug charge is nine years.)

But when Mills asked the court to amend the sentence, Soares's office opposed the motion and Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin  the same judge who sentenced Campbell in 1997  agreed.

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

In court filings, Soares concedes the old drugs laws were the subject of intense criticism." But he says Campbell shouldn't benefit from more lenient laws, because he fled and has been convicted of another crime.

The stance seems inconsistent with Soares' long-standing opposition to the Rockefeller laws, but I'll concede this isn't a simple case. Campbell, now 46, is no longer that young man without a criminal record. He spent more than two decades on the lam and has been convicted of a second felony.

Though his family insists he's a devoted and kind father, I'm not going to suggest he's Mother Teresa. Clearly, Campbell has made significant mistakes and deserves punishment.

Still, the sentence he received is absurd. Can we agree on that?

I mean, compare it to the sentence given to Joseph Sanchez, who was given three to nine years after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing another man outside an Albany bar.

Nine years, maximum, for a killing, versus 10 years, minimum, for selling drugs. That isn't just.

But hold on. This story may not be over.

Remember how I told you, 28 paragraphs ago, that Campbell's original attorney allegedly suggested he not show up?

Well, a Soares spokesperson on Friday told me the claim, which is backed by an affidavit from Campbell's mother, is new evidence in Campbell's favor and would lead the DA to support a new sentence for Campbell if and when he appeals Breslin's recent decision.

So stayed tuned. Campbell may yet receive a punishment that befits his crime.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Local jurisdictions can always be stricter than what we have said, Holcomb said. This has been the case, not just once, in the state of Indiana. Well seek to 100% of the time work with those local officials.
Commuters will be given refunds for rail and commuter services they have paid for but are not using.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has spent weeks working on solutions to refund those who have paid for tickets but are not using them due to the lockdown.

The refunds will apply to those who have bought tickets for Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Bus Eireann, Iarnrod Eireann and Luas.

Commuters who are to continue working with their current employer will be offered free travel for a number of months.

The number of months of free travel will be equivalent to the length of time they have been unable to use their ticket as a result of travel restrictions.

At the point when the customer returns to work, or on expiry of their ticket, they will make arrangements with their employer, the NTA says.

They will be offered a choice as to whether the months-in-lieu are to take effect immediately, or whether they want to use them at a later date, the transport regulator says.

This could amount to a saving of 350 for someone not commuting for three months who pays 1,400 for their annual ticket.

Someone travelling from Athlone to Dublin pays 4,960 for an annual TaxSaver ticket. If this person is not commuting for three months the saving could be 1,240.

For holders of TaxSaver tickets who will not be continuing in their current employment, a refund will be offered to cover the remaining period of ticket validity, from the time restrictions were put in place, the NTA says.

Where the customer wishes to receive a refund rather than a replacement ticket, it is still open to them to make a request via their employer under existing terms and conditions.

Transport Minister Shane Ross welcomed the refunds for commuters.

Meanwhile, more motor insurers have announced refunds.

FBD Insurance has said that a 35 One4all gift card will be issued to all customers who hold an FBD standard private car, commercial van or Jeep policy as of March 31.

Zurich motor customers are to get a 40 refund, expected to be in the form of One4All gift cards. The firm will contact customers from the end of May.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on May 1 gave a robust defence of WHOss timely" action on the COVID-19 pandemic and said that it had declared it an international health emergency at end of January. Recently, WHO had also released a comprehensive timeline of the organisations response to the pandemic. He also expressed "grave concerns about the potential impact" of the disease if it spread to countries with "weaker health systems".

Read: WHO To Convene 'emergency' Meeting On Covid; Embattled Chief Dr Tedros Lays Out Agenda

Speaking at a virtual news briefing, the WHO chief said, "The January 30 declaration was made in enough time for the rest of the world to respond because at that stage, there were only 82 cases of infection and no deaths outside China." He added that WHO had used days before declaring it as a global health emergency to as time to visit China to learn more about the virus and also to make a groundbreaking deal" with China to send in investigators.

WHO faces criticism

The US had accused the WHO is mishandling the pandemic and conspiring with China to conceal information. When asked about the US-WHO relations, Tedros reportedly clarified that both were in "constant contact" and were working together. WHO, in recent times, has been threatened by the "worrying spread" of COVID-19 in Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Nothern Nigeria. On the other hand, many countries are now moving towards easing lockdowns. Speaking about reduced restrictions, Mark Ryan, WHO s head of emergencies reportedly said that it was important for those nations to constantly look for a jump in infection and be proper to reimpose stringent measures.

Read: Hazur Sahib Pilgrims Who Returned To Amritsar Test COVID-19 Positive

The COVID-19 pandemic

WHO had declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a Pandemic on March 11. At present, there are around 3,402,211 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection across the globe and the disease has led to the death of around 239,625 people. In a ray of hope, around 1,084,187 people are also reported to have recovered. Leading the number of worldwide cases of novel coronavirus COVID-19 infection, the United States has become the new epicentre of the pandemic surpassing China, Italy, and Iran.

Read: White House: China Shut Lab Of Shanghai Professor Who Revealed Genetic Code Of COVID-19

Read: Why AMC Not Showing Universal Movies And Who Else Has Abandoned The Studio?
House lawmakers investigating the market dominance of Big Tech are asking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify to address possible misleading statements by the company on its competition practices.

In a letter to Bezos on Friday, leaders of the House Judiciary Committee from both parties are holding out the threat of a subpoena if he doesn't agree voluntarily to appear.

Amazon used sensitive information about sellers on its marketplace, their products and transactions to develop its own competing products, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

An Amazon executive denied such a practice in statements at a committee hearing last July, saying the company has a formal policy against it.

If the news report is accurate, Amazon's statements to the committee appear to be misleading, and possibly criminally false" or constituting perjury, said the letter to Bezos signed by the committee's chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and others.

Although we expect that you will testify on a voluntary basis, we reserve the right to resort to compulsory process if necessary." Amazon spokesmen had no immediate comment.

The Judiciary antitrust subcommittee led by Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., has been conducting a sweeping investigation of Big Tech companies and their impact on competition and consumers, focusing on Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission also are pursuing antitrust probes of the four companies, and state attorneys general from both parties have undertaken investigations of Google and Facebook.

Amazon has drawn unwanted exposure on several fronts in the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the e-commerce giant and Bezos.

He has accused Amazon of destroying the US Postal Service by swamping it with packages to deliver, at below-market rates charged by the postal service that are deepening its financial woes.

USPS is receiving a 10 billion loan under the government's pandemic rescue package.

Trump has called The Washington Post newspaper, owned by Bezos, fake news."

The Post has published critical reports about Trump and his business dealings.

Amazon has sued the government over the Pentagon awarding a USD 10 billion cloud computing contract to rival Microsoft, alleging that Trump's frequently expressed animus toward the company and Bezos caused the Pentagon to unfairly award the contract.

And on Wednesday, the Trump administration's trade office for the first time added five of Amazon's overseas operations to its list of notorious markets" where pirated goods are sold.

Amazon dismissed the move as part of the administration's personal vendetta" against it.
Following an extensive programme of testing and tracing, including through voluntary data collection via an App, Iceland has suppressed the spread of the new virus, reporting just 99 active cases on the last day of April.

In total, Iceland has seen 1,798 COVID-19 cases and ten deaths.

Iceland's success is partly testament to its tiny population: it has a population of just 360,000. But it also reflects decisive action by authorities, who used a rigorous policy of testing and tracing to find and isolate infected people, even when they had no symptoms.

Over six weeks, Iceland managed to test almost 50,000 people, more than 13 percent of the population, the biggest chunk of any country in the world.

That has helped Iceland weather the pandemic without resorting to the near-total social and economic shutdowns enforced in many other European countries.

This was implemented despite the fact that the country's chief epidemiologist Thorolfur Gudnason initially, in March, said that Iceland simply aimed to "slow down" infections and attain herd immunity as a by-product, according to local media.

Alongside the testing, civil defense authorities set up a contact tracing team, and a mobile phone tracing app was up and running a few weeks later.

One third of the population have installed the app to date, a fact the contact tracing team attributes to a careful consideration of privacy-related issues.

Starting on Monday, gatherings of up to 50 will be permitted, high schools and colleges can resume classes and all businesses except bars, gyms and swimming pools can reopen.

"The app will be important now after 4 May when we will reduce the gathering ban and the restrictions so we are prepared that the pandemic might rise again a little," said Aevar Palmi Palmason, head of the contact tracing team.

The entire country, however, must self-isolate from the rest of the world for the time being. Everyone arriving from abroad faces a 14-day quarantine, and so for now, Reykjavik's beauty remains a privilege for the few.

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 16:14:51|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A total of eleven paramilitary tribal fighters were killed on Saturday in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Salahudin province in north of Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

The attack took place before dawn when IS militants attacked an outpost of manned by the Sunni tribal fighters, who are part of the government-backed Hashd Shaabi brigades, in Dijlah area, some 150 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.

The attack occurred while the paramilitary fighters were preparing Suhoor, which is a meal Muslims used to eat before the daylight fasting time during the current holy month of Ramadan, al-Bazi said.

Reinforcement troops arrived to the scene and launched an operation to hunt down the attackers who fled the scene to surrounding desert and rugged areas, al-Bazi added.

Despite repeated military operations against the IS remnants, IS militants are still hiding in deserts, rugged areas as well as in Himreen mountain range which extends in the three provinces of Diyala, Salahudin and Kirkuk. They are capable of carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

Earlier, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement that a total of 135 IS militants have been killed in Iraq during the period from Jan. 1 to April 15, during 1,060 anti-IS operations by the Iraqi security forces.

It said that up to 88 security members and 82 civilians were also killed by the IS militants during the same period. Enditem
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar



and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi expressed profound grief on Saturday over the death of Lokpal member Justice (retired) Ajay Kumar Tripathi.

Tripathi, who tested positive for COVID-19, died after suffering a cardiac arrest at the AIIMS Trauma Centre in New Delhi.

In his condolence messages, Kumar said the death of Tripathi has caused an irreparable loss to the field of the judiciary.

Modi said that he has lost a close friend. He remembered his association with Tripathi since the infamous fodder scam days.

There was rarely any cultural functions in the city which he would not attend despite being the judge, Modi said.

Tripathi (62) was the former Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. He was a judge of the Patna High Court before being elevated as chief justice.

He was one of the four judicial members of the anti- corruption ombudsman, Lokpal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Technavio has been monitoring the outdoor apparel market and it is poised to grow by USD 3.90 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200501005038/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Outdoor Apparel Market 2020-2024 (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. adidas AG, ASICS Corp., Columbia Sportswear Co., G-III Apparel Group Ltd., Hanesbrands Inc., Newell Brands Inc., Outdoor Research, Patagonia Inc., Under Armour Inc., and VF Corp, 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.

Awareness among people about fitness and healthy lifestyles has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Outdoor Apparel Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Outdoor Apparel Market is segmented as below:

Distribution Channel Offline Online

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40137

Outdoor Apparel Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our outdoor apparel market report covers the following areas:

Outdoor Apparel Market Size

Outdoor Apparel Market Trends

Outdoor Apparel Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies rise in number of private-label brands as one of the prime reasons driving the outdoor apparel market growth during the next few years.

Outdoor Apparel Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the outdoor apparel market, including some of the vendors such as adidas AG, ASICS Corp., Columbia Sportswear Co., G-III Apparel Group Ltd., Hanesbrands Inc., Newell Brands Inc., Outdoor Research, Patagonia Inc., Under Armour Inc., and VF Corp. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the outdoor apparel market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Outdoor Apparel Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist outdoor apparel market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the outdoor apparel market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the outdoor apparel market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of outdoor apparel 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

Value chain analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market outlook

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Market segmentation by distribution channel

Comparison by distribution channel

Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by distribution channel

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Growing tourism industry

Adoption of omni-channel retailing

Rise in number of private-label brands

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

adidas AG

ASICS Corp.

Columbia Sportswear Co.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd.

Hanesbrands Inc.

Newell Brands, Inc.

Outdoor Research

Patagonia Inc.

Under Armour Inc.

VF Corp.

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200501005038/en/

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Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

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Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
Following a disturbance in a Bristol County immigration detention center on Friday night, activists and the sheriffs office tell two different stories.

The incident happened after about 10 detainees of the B wing in the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center reported to medical personnel that they felt multiple symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to a statement from the office of Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson.

The detainees refused to go to the medical unit for testing, the sheriffs office said.

Hodgson said the detainees refused to get tested for COVID-19 and rushed violently at Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson and corrections officers, barricaded themselves inside the facility, ripped washing machines and pipes off the wall, broke windows and trashed the entire unit.

However, organizers from the Fang Collective wrote in a statement that the detainees in the B wing were assaulted and pepper-sprayed.

People in Unit B were told they were going to be tested for COVID-19, and were instructed to pack their bags, leading them to believe that they would be thrown in solitary confinement, a form of torture, the Fang Collective wrote. In the past, when people in Bristol County ICE detention have been sick, they have been told they were being taken to a medical unit, but instead have been taken to solitary confinement and refused any medical care.

The detainees did not want to move for testing out of fear of transmission of the virus, the Fang Collective wrote, and requested to be tested in their own unit.

That request led to a violent assault by correctional officers, including the use of pepper spray, the group wrote.

Corrections officers, special response team members and the K-9 unit got into the facility and were attacked by detainees, the statement from Hodgon says.

No Bristol County personnel were injured during the incident. Three detainees were taken to the hospital, one for symptoms of a panic attack, one for a pre-existing medical condition and one for another medical incident after being removed from the ICE wing. All three are expected to be fine, the sheriffs office said.

This all started because a group of 10 detainees each reported having at least two symptoms of COVID-19, Hodgson said. The health care professionals told them they had to be tested in the medical unit because of the reported symptoms ... the detainees refused to comply, became combatant and ultimately put the lives of themselves and many Bristol County officers at risk with their reckless actions.

Hodgson called the damage to the B Wing extensive.

Detainees have been moved to single cells in the special housing unit, pending disciplinary action, COVID-19 testing and criminal charges, the sheriffs office said.

Amid the pandemic, a federal judge has ordered some detainees of the unit to be released. Other detainees have been voluntarily released by ICE.

Related Content:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:

Second batch of humanitarian aid from Chinese business magnate Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma arrived in Kazakhstan to help the country battle coronavirus pandemic, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The humanitarian aid including 50,016 units of test equipment and 30 lung ventilators arrived in Kazakhstans Almaty on May 1, 2020.

The humanitarian cargo was received by Kazakhstans SK-Pharmacy company to further distribute it across the country.

On Apr. 10, 2020, Jack Ma sent the first batch of medical protective equipment to Kazakhstan.

The ministry then said that cargo from Jack Ma and Alibaba funds arrived in Kazakhstans Almaty city from Chinas Shijiazhuang city. The 4.5-ton cargo included 500,000 medical masks, 5,000 protective suits, 50,000 medical gloves, and non-contact thermometers.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan has reached 3,671. The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020.

---

Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh
The Voice UK finalists have joined forces to record a charity single to raise money for NHS workers during the COVID-19 crisis.

Finalist Brooke Scullion told MailOnline they decided to show their appreciation for the National Health Service by recording a cover of Stevie Wonder's As.

Brooke added she and the other finalists still don't know when the live shows will resume after they were postponed just days before the UK was placed in lockdown.

Inspiring: The Voice UK finalists have joined forces to record a charity single to raise money for NHS workers during the COVID-19 crisis

In the video, the stars recorded their parts of the song over Zoom before they were combined to create the moving video.

Band Belle Noir rounded up the finalists to sing a rendition of the Stevie Wonder classic, and asked fans to donate to a Just Giving page to raise funds for the NHS.

Speaking ahead of the single's release Brooke said: 'Whilst we're all eager to get back on The Voice stage for the Semi Finals, this is a great way for us to all come together from our own homes and show our support for NHS workers and all the amazing work they're doing, they're true heroes!'

Sweet: The video shows this year's stars performing a rendition of Stevie Wonder's As to raise funds for National Health Service workers during the coronavirus crisis

ITV are yet to reveal a return date for The Voice live shows, after the series was originally due to end of 4 April.

Brooke said she is in constant contact with the production team about when filming can resume.

She said: 'They said 'we aim to be doing the semi-final in summer.'' But who knows? It could be Christmas but think of the Christmas hits, you could be singing!'

Stellar: Finalist Brooke Scullion also told MailOnline it's still unclear when filming for the live shows will resume

Just days before UK was placed on lockdown in March, ITV was forced to postpone The Voice live semi-final and final until sometime later this year.

An ITV representative confirmed to MailOnline: 'We are in a developing and dynamic situation so were complying with the guidance from Public Health England and the World Health Organisation to make sure we keep everyone as safe and secure as possible.

'We have taken the difficult decision to postpone The Voice UK Semi-Final and Final until later this year.

'We will continue to monitor the situation and announce a new date for these shows, which were due on air on the 28th March and 4th April, in due course.'
Wearing a face masks and latex gloves, worker Angelina Martinez greets customers as they enter The Emporium with retail stores reopened in Douglas County when restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the new coronavirus were rolled back Friday, May 1, 2020, in Castle Rock, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Romance as a genre receives more than its fair share of mockery for, among other things, its overwrought olfactory descriptions. But one Twitter user has spent the past couple of years lovingly chronicling those very descriptions through the Male Scent Catalogue, which documents how authors describe male love interests and their odors:

He smelled of spice and the musky, masculine scent that was uniquely his. Star Champion by Susan Grant  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) March 24, 2020

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The scent of him coated her tongue until she licked at him, taking the salt/ice/man scent inside. Caressed By Ice by @NaliniSingh  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) July 18, 2019

He smelled like the Orion Nebula looked (beautiful) Motion by @ReidRomance  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) May 13, 2019

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Allison Breed, who runs the account, quit her job at the end of last year to spend 2020 traveling with her husband, only for the coronavirus to change their plans. Now Breed is filling the time in lockdown by reading at her home in Portland, Oregon, finding more fodder for the catalog in the process. Slate spoke to her about the Male Scent Catalogue and what it has taught her about the role of smell in romance. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Slate: You created this account in July 2018. What made you start keeping track of the male scents you read?

Allison Breed: That was the year I started recording everything that I read. I thought itd be fun to pick out some things to keep track of in romance novels. I was highlighting female smells, male smells, tastes, the names for, like, a womans sex. But it was the male scents that stuck out to me.

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Back up. When you say names for a womans sex, are you telling me you have a list of vaginal euphemisms somewhere?

I used to! I got rid of them because I had too many lists going. But I have them all highlighted. If I go back through the books that I read, I could find them. That year, 2018, I read, like, 420 books. That was when depression and a really boring job had their hold, and I was reading more than a book a day. I was reading a lot of good books as well as a lot of bad books, and the bad books always had the best ones. A lot of pleasure buttons and happy buttons. How is that sexy or appealing?

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Why did you ultimately settle on smells for the Twitter account? And why male smells, in particular?

I was noticing what seemed like more variety in the way that women smelled until I started to break it down into groups, and then I realized that women just smell either like sweet-smelling flowers or strawberries or baked goodssomething edible, something delectable, something decadent. That was boring to me. It is weird that so many protagonists know specific flowers. Im reading one right now in which the woman apparently smells like carnations. I cant for the life of me imagine what a carnation smells like. I can picture a carnation, but I cant smell it.

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Why do you think there are so many floral scents for women?

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I think for the same reason that so few men smell like flowers, right? They smell strong, or they smell like the woods. Its gendered. Theyre not going to smell like some delicate little thing that doesnt live long and is only there to be pretty. Men want to have substance. There are some crossovers. Women can smell like mint, and men smell like mint a lot. Citrus was a shared scent I noticed.

What smell trends have you noticed for men?

Woodsy, cedar, evergreen, pine. Spice and citrus seem to be mentioned togetheralthough I read one today that specifically differentiated between spice and citrus. Sandalwood is common. Smelling clean and fresh, like soapIrish Spring makes an appearance quite often. I know one author, Kate Clayborn, talks often about her love of Irish Spring.

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behind the romance writing: literally have to stop myself from making every one of my heroes smell like some version of this gd soap pic.twitter.com/kHfmbv4wmw  Kate Clayborn (@kateclayborn) October 24, 2018

And then, theres always the essence of  whatever the male leads name is. He always smells masculine or male. In doing this, I learned a little bit about scents, and I learned that there are head notes, heart notes, and base notes. Youll find that most scents are described in threes. So in A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole, he smells like steel, citrus, and the essence of Tavish. From Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn, he smells like a bonfire, the trees, and like him. In The Kiss Quotient, he smells like hotel soap, minty toothpaste, and himself. In Samantha Youngs War of Hearts, he smells like earth, spice, and incredibly male.

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Im seeing the pattern.

Its always in threes, its always those notes, and the base note is so often the man or some sort of essential notes of him. Class and career also affect the way a person smells. Working class tends to be clean and soapy and crisp. Billionaires tend to smell like expensive things, like leather and whiskey or some name-brand cologne. Athletes Ive noticed are musky or fresh, in a sexy way. Honorable mentions would be mint, bergamot. But mostly essence of man.

All she knew was the safety of his embrace, the heat of his mouth, and his scentsoap, aftershave, man. The Bride Test by @HHoangWrites  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) March 17, 2020

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What are some of your favorite male scents youve come across?

My favorites are the ones that dont necessarily describe a smell but evoke a feeling. He smells amazinglike a spicy, misty forest that I want to run through in a white silk nightgown, or this one guy who smelled oceany. Deep mysterious ocean with huge surges of waves. Oh, and one from Sally Thorne, this is one of my favorites: He smells like he always has: a blown-out birthday candle, sharp and smoky. Its that smell in your nostrils when closing your eyes and making an impossible wish, and your mouth is watering for something sweet.

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I inhaled the scent of his jacket. It was somehow soothing and stimulating at the same time. Like the color green. Like him. Green by Kayley Loring  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) February 13, 2019

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Tell me more about your methodology. Are you actively seeking out scents, or are you just coming across them as you read?

Just as I read. Ive slowed down a lot since 2018, but I average around 20 romance novels a month. Once I finish a book, I enter it into my spreadsheet, and I track the title, the author, the pages, the genre, the format I read it on, the date, and comments, so I can go back and reference it. I just recently added a line for the male scents. I do everything in Kindle, so if I see a male scent, Ill highlight it and mark it MSC, because I call it the Male Scent Catalogue. Ive tried to start highlighting other things again. For a funny name for a sex part, like his velvet-wrapped steel, Ill highlight that.

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Does every male scent that you come across go on the Twitter account, or is there a threshold the scent has to meet?

Lately Ive been more discerning. When I started, I did every scent, even in the books that I hated. Now Im trying not to pull from books I dislike, and Im focusing on actual descriptions of scents instead of just his scent was overpowering and I wanted to nuzzle into him forever. That happens a lot. I try to only tweet one scent from a book. I just pick my favorite. I try to get ones that dont mention the mans name. I think its more fun if its a random description without the character attached to it.

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Were pressed so close I can feel his breath on my lips. I smell the chocolate he had for dessert, and a piney hint of his deodorant. I try to hate it. The Unhoneymooners by @ChristinaLauren  Male Scent Catalogue (@RomanceSmells) May 17, 2019

Reading through them all, its almost as though theyre all describing one man of many smells.

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Thats what I want. It takes you out of it a little when you read the rooftop breeze carried Lukes fragrance. I dont care about Luke. Whos Luke?

I notice you tag a lot of the authors of these books. Is there any particular author who is especially good at describing smells?

It depends on the scene. Pippa Grant is someone who writes hilarious descriptions of smells. Some of them are really long. Heres one from The Hero and the Hacktivistoh, you need to know that she refers to the hero as the ass because he has a great ass. OK, so this is the heroines inner monologue:

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The Asswhich isnt a bad nickname, I swear, I like assessmells like he had street hot dogs for lunch, except somehow the smell on him makes me think of hot dogs that are made of ground bear meat if it was a bear he wrestled to death after it tried to eat his ice cream while he was camping, and hes secretly a chef who put the right seasonings in the bear dog to make it taste like some kind of exotic delicacy that causes orgasms when it hits your tongue. I cant exactly explain it. Lets just go with he smells good. Thats easier.

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Earlier in the book he had been described as smelling like starched tequila and danger. I love that.

Romance novels are sometimes mocked for exactly those kinds of overwrought descriptions. Where does the Male Scent Catalogue stand on that mockery?

I like to think that it celebrates it. Some of the descriptions are ridiculous, but it depends on the book that youre reading. I love when authors revel in it, like, Yes, we are romance, and yes, we do get made fun of for this, but Im going to live in it and its gonna be great. But when people from outside of romance make fun of it, a little part of me goes, Well, it was a really sweet moment in the book. We can laugh at it but still love it.

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Have you noticed male scents in books of other genres? How do they compare to romance?

Romance wins hands down. Every time. For a genre that describes however many men smell like the woods, there are a thousand different ways to describe smelling like the woods. I can joke about how everyone smells like sandalwood and strong, manly smells, but I dont ever read the exact description twice.

What does your husband think of all these male smells? Also, how does he smell?

He thinks its hilarious. And he asks me that a lot! Hell be like, What are the three notes youd use to describe me?

And????

I usually just say, Sorry, my nose is stuffed up. I cant smell right now.
While Richemont does not disclose sales by brand, the Swiss private bank Vontobel estimated Panerais 2019 revenues at 470 million Swiss francs ($487.6 million), which would include it in a listing of the countrys top 20 watch brands by sales.

The Luminor and its sister watch Radiomir (introduced in 1936) are now among the most recognizable wristwatch designs for their distinctive silhouettes and bold dials, and often are prized by collectors.

Any time you have a Panerai watch in an auction, it attracts the eye of collectors, said Remi Guillemin, a specialist in Christies Geneva watch department. The fact the Luminor has kept its identity through the years and the design has been well preserved helps a lot in terms of collectibility. Now, its seen as one of the great diving watches.

In 2015, Christies sold a LEgiziano model, one of about 100 watches that Panerai made for the Egyptian Navy in the late 1950s, for $149,000. Many collectors enjoy buying Panerai watches because of this history, Mr. Guillemin said.

In the luxury world, Mr. Pontroue said, were all working to have one highly recognizable watch. The top 10 watch brands all have one iconic model that their development relies on. An iconic product is a key asset, and its our responsibility to make ours bigger with new executions.

This year, Mr. Pontroues anniversary vision is to flood the Luminor line with about 30 versions of the watch, some in limited editions and some made in high-tech materials that the brand intends to trademark. New models are to feature cases made of Fibratech (a composite tested in the aerospace industry that is based on basalt fibers and said to be 60 percent lighter than steel) and Titanium DMLS (created by 3-D printing using a process called Direct Metal Laser Sintering that layers titanium powder). Mr. Pontroue said both substances would be appearing in a watch for the first time.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan has issued a statement on the issues of biological security of the country, Trend reports citing Kazinform.

Kazakhstan fully implements all its international obligations and rightfully maintains an impeccable reputation. Regular inspections of the IAEA and the OPCW are carried out, and voluntary CBMs reports are provided annually under the BTWC, Biosecurity issues are an integral part of the general national security system.

Unfortunately, there are natural hotbeds of dangerous infections for humans and animals in Kazakhstan, such as plague, tularemia, brucellosis and others. This makes it extremely important to develop production and research infrastructure to ensure the protection of health of population.

Back in 1948, the Central Asian Research Anti-Plague Institute was established in Kazakhstan. Now it is the National Scientific Center of Especially Dangerous Infections named after M.Aikimbayev (NSCEDI) in Almaty. Over the years, a national scientific school was created and unique researches are conducted. The construction of the Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) at the NSCEDI has become one of major instruments for strengthening biological security, national scientific and production potential. The CRL was created as part of the WMD Infrastructure Elimination Agreement between Kazakhstan and the United States.

Funding was provided through the US Department of Defense under the Nunn-Lugar Program, which made a significant contribution to strengthening the WMD nonproliferation regime in Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

The laboratory is a 4-storey building with biosafety level (BSL) 2 and 3. The CRL is fully owned by the Republic of Kazakhstan and is currently funded solely from the republican budget. The entire staff consists of domestic specialists. Any work carried out by the CRL is controlled by the ministries of health, education and science, agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its activity is focused on ensuring biological safety and security in Kazakhstan, carrying out fundamental and applied research.

We declare responsibly that no biological weapons development is underway in Kazakhstan, no research is conducted against any other states. The CRL significantly strengthened the scientific potential of Kazakhstan, increased the safety of research. The presence of such high-tech facilities reflects the level of development of the state and its ability to respond adequately to biological threats.

Now that the healthcare system of the Republic of Kazakhstan is focused on fighting COVID-19, CRL makes an important contribution to reducing the spread of the disease. The laboratory has developed domestic test systems to detect a new infection. Recognizing the cross-border nature of biological threats, Kazakhstan is open to international cooperation, including on the basis of the CRL.

We consistently support the adoption of a legally binding document on verification and monitoring of biological activities within the framework of the BTWC. In the context of globalization, when any biological threat can spread rapidly around the world, open and constructive interstate cooperation should become the norm of responsible behavior, the statement reads.
A local watchdog organization formed in the summer of 2019 is getting increased attention as of late because of the current climate of the island during the COVID-19 pandemic  which means there is an even greater need for transparency as the government deals with the unique emergency, said Vigilance Committee President and founding member Michelle Armenta.

The rights of the people of Guam have been trampled upon by these public officials who have asserted their alleged authority by shredding the Open Government Law and the Sunshine Reform Act; and thereby sabotaging not only the peoples right to know but one of the few ways in which the people are able to hold their government accountable, she said.

The main purpose of the committee  whose membership comprises a cross section of professions, community leaders and everyday citizens  is to push for openness and transparency by public and government officials, along with compliance with the Open Government Law and Sunshine Reform Act. Armenta said the people have a right to know the process of governmental decision-making and have open access to public records.

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She said a great number of their requests using the Freedom of Information Act have been thwarted or stonewalled. The group often has been given the runaround or presented with document dumps that dont meet the requirements of the requests.

While a couple of public officials have willingly complied to our Freedom of Information Act requests, the majority of public officials have taken us on a ride on the merry-go-round, Armenta stated. To those public officials who have willingly complied to any and all of our requests for information, we thank you!

The committee is nonpartisan and not backed by any political affiliate.

We have no interest in going after any particular group, person or agency. We are advocates for open government, transparency and good governance, she said.

In early April, when Department of Public Health and Social Services Director Linda Unpingco-DeNorcey declined to name certain health care settings in which medical workers tested positive for COVID-19, the Vigilance Committee demanded the department do so and DPHSS complied with the request on April 20. The request is an example of the importance that freedom of information can have for the general public, said Armenta.

Residents didnt know which clinics workers had tested positive, so obviously it is something that can affect their lives, Armenta said.

The group has also requested any type of documentation supporting the governors legal ability to suspend the Open Government Law. Allowing the government to act more quickly was a reason Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero gave for suspending certain portions of the law in March.

Weve been getting the runaround on that one. Janela Carrera (the governor's director of communications) provided us with nonresponsive documents  basically, the documents provided did not comply with my request, she said.

While COVID-19 pushed certain information requests to the top of the heap for the committee in terms of priority, Armenta said the group will continue their quest after the pandemic.

The people's right to know the process of governmental decision-making and to review public records to these determinations is key to holding public officials and government representatives accountable. We will continue to promote openness and transparency and require compliance with the Open Government Law and the Sunshine Reform Act by public officials and government representatives. This is not going to go away with COVID-19, she said.
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.
White House says it would be counterproductive for those involved in coronavirus response to testify before Congress.

Top United States health official Dr Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the response to the coronavirus pandemic by the administration of US President Donald Trump, the White House said on Friday, calling it counterproductive to have individuals involved in the response testify.

The White House issued an emailed statement after a spokesman for the Congressional committee holding the hearing said the committee had been informed by Trump administration officials that Fauci had been blocked from testifying.

While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement to Reuters news agency. We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.

Faucis testimony was being sought for a May 6 hearing by a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees health programmes, House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander said.

The Washington Post first reported that Fauci would not testify.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been one of the leading and most trusted medical experts helping to guide the US response to the highly contagious virus that has swept across the US.

Fauci, who is no stranger to testifying before Congress, has sometimes contradicted Trumps optimistic misstatements about the virus and how much it is under control after claiming more than 64,000 lives in the US.

Fauci has warned against relaxing social distancing rules that have helped slow the spread of the virus but caused a major hit to the economy. That has earned him criticism from some of Trumps most ardent supporters, and Trump himself has retweeted a supporter who called for Faucis firing.

Following speculation about Trumps intentions about the retweet, the president said he was not considering firing the scientist.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Cases of coronavirus infection spiked in paramilitary forces CRPF and BSF with the two reporting 136 and 17 cases respectively on Saturday.

While 135 CRPF personnel who tested positive belong to the 31st battalion of the paramilitary based in Mayur Vihar area of the national capital, one jawan is from the 246th battalion of the force, also in Delhi, according to officials.

The sprawling premises of the 31st battalion have been completely sealed after coronavirus infection cases started building up in this unit and a 55 year-old sub-Inspector succumbed to the disease early this week. A total of 480 samples were taken from the unit, out of which 458 results have come and 22 are awaited. "A total of 135 troopers of this battalion have tested positive for the virus till now," a senior official said.

ALSO READ| CRPF helps tribals in Maoist bastion of Abujmarh fight COVID-19

A mobile coronavirus testing lab has been stationed on the premises of the battalion to ensure quick collection of samples. Separately, 80 personnel of the 246th battalion of the CRPF were quarantined after a constable tested positive for COVID-19. This unit was deployed for rendering assistance in law and order duties to the Delhi Police.

Two other companies of the Central Reserve Police Force, the country's largest paramilitary, are quarantined in the national capital as part of precautionary measures after exposure to coronavirus suffering people.

The Border Security Force (BSF), that guards sensitive Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, also said that a total of 17 personnel in Delhi and Tripura have been detected with the disease over the last few days.

A BSF spokesperson said seven troops who were assisting Delhi Police in Chandni Mahal and Jama Masjid areas over the past few week have tested positive. They are part of the 126th and 178th battalions of the force.

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The troops have been admitted to an isolation facility of the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) Referral hospital located in Greater Noida near here. Eight personnel, admitted at a force hospital in RK Puram, also contracted the virus and their tests were confirmed over the last few days, the spokesperson said.

He said that two more personnel have contracted the disease in Tripur. These forces, also called the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), function under the command of the Union Home Ministry.
Health authorities confirmed 23 more Covid-19 cases in the district on Saturday, taking the tally to 122.

Among these patients, 67% patients (82) are Sikh pilgrims who returned from Nanded, Maharashtra.

Of the 23 patients confirmed on Saturday, eight are from other districts, including one from Haryana. As many as 17 are Nanded returnees.

76% CASES IN FOUR DAYS

Whats worrisome for the district authorities is that 76% cases have been reported in the four days between April 29 and May 2. While there were 29 cases on April 29, these climbed to 122 on May 2, with more Nanded pilgrims testing positive.

Deputy commissioner (DC) Pradeep Agrawal said there had been a major spike in the number of cases due to people returning from other states, including Nanded, Kota, Gwalior, etc.

PATIENTS RESIST ADMISSION IN CIVIL HOSPITAL

As many as 15 positive Nanded returnees lodged in the quarantine facility established at the Government Residential School for the Meritorious resisted when the administration staff started shifting them to the civil hospital on Saturday.

It took assurances by sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Amrinder Malhi of adequate facilities at the hospital for the patients to agree to be taken there.
As the coronavirus pandemic rages, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Friday called on the government to quickly develop and implement a holistic economic response strategy to deal with the impact of the pandemic.

The Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, speaking at the virtual celebration of the International Workers Day, also known as May Day, said such a strategy would require stabilisation and stimulus packages for businesses and households to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the economy.



Format



The virtual celebration, which was broadcast live on Ghana Television, was a specially arranged May Day event at which very few people were admitted in response to the public gathering ban and social distancing directive.



The theme for the event was: COVID-19 In Ghana: Impact On Employment and Working Conditions.



Impact



Across the world, economies have shrunk as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.



On March 30, 2020, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, delivered a statement to Parliament on the Economic Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Economy of Ghana, where he painted an unpleasant picture of the impact of the pandemic.



He said there was likely to be a significant slowdown in our GDP growth, significant shortfalls in petroleum revenues, shortfalls in import duties, shortfalls in other tax revenues, increased health expenditures and tighter financing conditions with consequences on the 2020 budget.



Already, the pandemic is causing tremendous negative impacts on businesses with cascading effects on workers.



Some workers have been asked to stay home without salaries while others have had their salaries cut because their employers are running at a loss.



Devastating effects



Dr Baah said an ongoing research by the Labour Research and Policy Institute of TUC pointed to a dire consequence for the country in the coming years, in view of the ravaging nature of the coronavirus.



Brothers and sisters, the disease has been with us just for about two months, but the devastation it has caused to our economy and social lives, it will take years to restore, he pointed out.



He mentioned that a company which exports drinks has lost tons of its raw materials including mangoes, pineapple, pawpaw because it cannot export due to border closures around the world. All casual and contract workers have been laid off. The company has also stopped all overtime work. As a result, workers incomes have reduced drastically. The company is struggling to pay workers, pay social security, pay taxes and repay bank loans.



Again, the TUC boss said a company in the fisheries subsector in Tema had reduced its staff strength on daily shift because of the compliance with the social distancing rules.



He said a real estate company had also asked its workers to go home with 50 per cent salary.



The story, he said, was no better in the hospitality industry, where the effects had been even more devastating with hundreds of workers losing their jobs.



The few who are lucky to keep their jobs have suffered pay cuts because of reduction in hours or days of work, he added.



Good start



Although Dr Baah said the GH600 million announced by the government as a stimulus was a good start, he added that more support was needed for businesses.



In order to avoid serious supply chain disruptions, government should identify and support local enterprises that produce raw materials that can feed local industries.



Government should arrange with commercial banks to ensure that businesses are allowed by banks to access credit facilities under more flexible conditions, Dr Baah said.



Dr Baah said the TUC believed that the strategy it was proposing to the government, combined with tax reliefs for workers, would help mitigate the economic impact of the health crisis, adding that the workers were ready to play their role as social partners in the economic recovery efforts.



Health workers



Dr Baah commended health workers at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus for the great work they were doing.



You are risking your lives every day to protect us. We thank you and wish you Gods blessings. The media, utility workers, security services, as well as research and scientific institutions (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, National Public Reference Laboratory) and other workers and institutions providing essential services are helping us to manage the crisis. We are heavily indebted to you. May God bless you!, he said.



He said as workers celebrated the day, they needed to remember the unsung heroes who led the struggle to free all from forced labour, long hours of work and slave wages.



Bold decisions



Dr Baah commended the government for the able manner in which it had handled the pandemic.



Since the first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Ghana, we have all been witnesses to the effort our government has made to protect us from this dangerous virus. The bold measures government has taken have included a ban on public gatherings, closure of schools and universities, closure of our borders and the imposition of restrictions on movements of persons in Accra and Kumasi, he said.



GBC commended



On behalf of the working people of Ghana, Dr Baah thanked the Director-General of GBC, Prof. Amin Alhassan, and his team for making the virtual celebration possible, and also thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for honouring the invitation to the programme.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Fifty-five residents of Mandaluyong were found positive with the coronavirus disease after the city tested over 500 suspected COVID-19 cases.

Out of 510 samples submitted to the Philippine Red Cross for testing, eleven percent were positive for COVID-19 while 89 percent, or 455 specimens, turned out negative, the city's official Facebook page reported.

Residents who tested positive will be monitored as "active cases" while those who had negative results will be included in the list of "cleared suspects."

As of Friday, the city has 409 confirmed cases, including 35 deaths and 72 recoveries, with 735 suspected cases. Authorities said they also conducted mass testing for 511 frontliners, including fire bureau personnel, jail employees, health workers and barangay staff members, from April 28 to May 1.
In an average year, in round figures, the United States of America loses about 2.8 million of its citizens to death by all causes. If we were to reach the 100,000 deaths projected for COVID-19 a little earlier this year, it would not amount to even 4% of this average annual figure. One hundred thousand deaths, more or less, is in line with the average annual variation in America's overall death toll. It would be no more than an unremarkable wiggle in the annual graph. The worst-case estimate I have heard, that of 2.2 million deaths if nothing whatsoever had been done, would have amounted to 0.67% of the current U.S. population. It would have been a noteworthy spike on the graph, but still not an existential threat to America. A calamity but not a catastrophe. You would think a country that absorbs without flinching about 600,000 deaths by heart disease, another 600,00 by cancer, and doesn't even count a further 600,000 deaths by abortion, year after monotonous year, would be less squeamish about the common cold's nastier new cousin. A very shaky sense of proportion is, unfortunately, an endemic human trait.

One should not become indifferent to the death of any individual. I'm certainly not saying that. After all, we die not as statistics, but as living, breathing persons. All lives do matter to someone, or at least they ought to. Neither is the idea of our hospitals being overrun with patients in one great surge a happy thought. However, we should not lose perspective. Human beings die every day  sometimes quietly in bed, sometimes in violence or unspeakable suffering. Like it or not, it happens to all of us. Acceptance of this lamentable fact of nature has a name: "maturity."

My grandparents lived through the Spanish Flu of 1918. It killed 675,000 people in the U.S.  almost exactly the same proportion of the population of that time as the 2.2-million worst-case estimate for COVID-19. It was an unhappy event in my grandparents' lives, I am sure, but they went on to swell the population of the world by five children nevertheless. Life asserts itself when we do not lose heart. I do not think my grandparents either asked for or received any grief counseling for the loss of family members or for the trauma of whatever passing trials they experienced. They lived in a different mental and emotional universe. Their life expectations did not include the utter absence of risk or pain. They were quite prepared to cope, for better or worse, with whatever life brought down the pike.

As I write this, I am sitting in a nearly empty second-story corporate office. It's my lunch hour. It is nearly dark. There are not enough people left in the building to justify turning on the lights. Just little islands of the blue glow of computer screens and gray-tinted windows make it possible to get around. I can cope. I am not overcome by emotional hardship, but I am dismayed by the passive or even enthusiastic acceptance people have that our economy needed the plug pulled and the switch smacked firmly off. I rebel at the thought. Two months ago, we were thriving, making money hand over fist. This was a good thing for everyone who worked here, from the CEO to the janitorial staff. A few weeks from now, I will be furloughed along with hundreds of others. We will wait as the state and federal governments cautiously turn the power back on and hope the great and ponderous engine of society manages to shrug back to life. I'm not particularly confident in the economic expertise of the social engineers at the controls. Many of them have a deep-seated dislike for economic activity other than windmill manufacture or the marijuana retail business. Many of the rest are so out of touch that they imagine that their food appears spontaneously on grocery store shelves. It says something about a nation's leaders when they not only quarantine the sick or the especially vulnerable, but effectively put most of the country under house arrest.

I do not blame Trump personally for going along with all of this. I think his enemies may have finally located his Achilles heel. Far from the heartless brute the leftist media has portrayed, Trump seems to care about people simply because they are people. Recall last year, when he called off a retaliatory air strike against Iran at the last possible moment because, he said, he didn't want to take the lives of 150-odd Iranian soldiers. Here, perhaps, he has done the same thing. He will insult and bluster and cajole  but he doesn't want any actual deaths on his hands. As he shuffles around the podium, the weight upon his shoulders is almost painfully apparent. Obama, on the other hand, happily checked the boxes on the daily drone strike list  and was unfazed by the suffering wrought by his policies. In 2016, we elected a man with a conscience, oddly enough. Who knew? We can hardly fault him for this most endearing of all weaknesses.

I do not know what will happen over the summer or beyond. Nobody does. No honest person could ever claim to. But I fear more for my liberty than my life. Like Patrick Henry, I would rather die than live under the crushing weight of anybody's boot. This isn't courage. It is nothing more than sheer hard-bitten realism. A virus can only kill me  but Big Brother's prying eye and heavy fist can make my life a misery to the end of my days. History has no shortage of examples.

Death is unavoidable. I must believe that totalitarianism, at least, is not.
China releases report on clustered COVID-19 cases in NE province

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:39, May 01, 2020

BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Friday released a report on the clustered COVID-19 cases in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province since April, urging medical institutions nationwide to draw lessons from them.

Clustered cases related to imported cases have occurred in Harbin and Mudanjiang, two cities in the province, since April, said the document made public by the National Health Commission.

The cases involved nosocomial infections in multiple hospitals, featuring a long duration and a large number of confirmed cases, it read, adding that they had a vile social impact and brought new pressure to consolidating the hard-won achievements in the country's epidemic prevention and control efforts.

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E-commerce platforms can resume the sale of non-essential goods, including smartphones, laptops and personal computers, even after the government extended the lockdown by another two weeks after May 4 amid the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

The Union ministry of home affairs issued guidelines for activities, which will be permitted and prohibited in varying degrees, across Indias red, orange and green zones to gradually allow businesses and individuals to resume their normal life.

However, there are some conditions which apply to the sale of smartphones and other such electronic goods online. The government hasnt clarified whether brick-and-mortar stores can also start selling phones as well as laptops in green zones.

The sale of non-essential items through e-commerce platforms will only be allowed in those areas which have no or fewer cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to the MHA guidelines.

So, they will be able to deliver non-essential items only in those areas that have been marked under orange and green zones.

However, they have not been allowed to resume sales and delivery of non-essential items in the red zones until further notice.

So if you are in Delhi and Mumbai and under a red zone, you wont be able to order any non-essential items.

The government had given a go-ahead to e-commerce platforms to resume full operations earlier as well. It had said it would ease the restrictions on e-commerce websites from April 20 but had revoked that order.
SALEM  Demonstrators flocked to the state Capitol on Saturday, the latest in a series of national protests demanding governors ease social distancing restrictions meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A few hundred folks gathered in front of the Oregon State Capitol, rain alternately pounding and drizzling as many attendees waved signs with slogans like Reopen Oregon," Open schools and no more masks. Other demonstrators waved the U.S. flags or Dont Tread on Me flags, while others waved banners reading Trump 2020.

Organizers of Oregons demonstration told The Oregonian/OregonLive they view the social distancing mandates issued by Gov. Kate Brown as government overreach. Since mid-March, Browns orders have shuttered many businesses, put some parks and campgrounds off limits and required public schools to adopt distance learning programs.

You cant just place citizens under house arrest and enforce those orders, event organizer Adam Ellifritt said.

Some of the rally-goers wore face masks but the vast majority did not.

The reserved parking lot in front of the building was packed for much of the three-hour event. A sizable crowd formed across the street between the Department of Education headquarters and state library building as country and hard rock music blasted from tents and horns blared from a non-stop parade of vehicles circling the block.

Nods to conspiracy theories and fringe websites peppered the crowd. One attendee held a sign accusing the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies of preparing a mass vaccination campaign."

Other folks wore shirts or waved signs signaling support for Q Anon, the far-right conspiracy theory that alleges government operatives are planning to overthrow President Donald Trump.

About an hour into the rally, many rain-soaked protest signs were practically illegible as they bled black and red ink. The Oregon rally was devoid of the scenes that went viral during similar protests across the country.

A group of healthcare workers stood atop the Capitol steps, holding signs that urged a phased plan to ease the states social distancing requirements. One woman, who declined to provide her name, said she wanted the state to ensure it can provide medical workers with personal protective equipment and also properly trace contacts of those who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The healthcare workers were largely ignored by demonstrators, who largely kept to the foot of the Capitol steps, but a few rally-goers harangued them.

Cheryl Greenlee of Salem said she attended Saturdays event to support of the message rally organizers had set forth: ease social distancing restrictions and allow businesses to reopen.

Shes retired and, until last month, volunteered to maintain the Riverfront Carousel just blocks from the Capitol. She said the governors orders have had a harsh impact on the citys senior citizens, who regularly visited the carousel.

For some of those people, its their only social contact, she said. Its time to be smart  and I really want us to do this smartly  and let businesses start reopening.

Annya Gostevskyh, 19, said she didnt understand why the governors order mandated healthy people, rather than those most at-risk, to shelter in place.

If you feel good and normal, you should be able to do as normal, she said.

The Salem resident runs an online CBD oil shop, Blessed Beyond Naturals, with her mother and said the social distancing orders havent affected her bottom line much.

Ellifritt told The Oregonian/OregonLive earlier in the week he hoped attendees would maintain a safe distance during the rally, but a crowd clustered closely in front of a white tent at the foot of the Capitol steps as a series of speakers took the mic.

Though event organizers insist the rally wasnt political, vehicles, signs and apparel largely expressed support for the president. One group set up a tent to collect signatures in an effort to recall Brown.

The Oregon arm of Women for Trump organized caravans, some originating from as far as Medford.

The first round of speeches largely echoed rallying points set out by Oregon Uniting For Liberty, the month-old organization behind the demonstration. Speakers claimed Gov. Kate Brown lacked the authority to issue orders she laid out in mid-March banning groups of 25 or more from gathering if they could not keep six feet apart at all times and, later, shuttering public schools across the state.

Joey Nations, an Oregon Department of Revenue policy analyst running for the Republican nomination to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, echoed racist rhetoric blaming the virus spread on the Chinese government.

Nations was once a fixture of right-wing rallies in Portland organized by Vancouver, Wash.-based Patriot Prayer.

Im sick and tired of communists ruining our state and ruining our country, he said, railing against the supermajority Democrats hold in both legislative chambers in Salem and the majority they hold in the U.S. House.

Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson also made an appearance, saying in a speech that Oregonians should be allowed to return to work. He lives in Vancouver.

Brown on Friday unveiled several new initiatives to ease restrictions designed to slow the spread of the virus, which include testing 10,000 asymptomatic volunteers for coronavirus, coordination between six hospital systems and allowing rural counties to reopen some businesses so long as they submit locally supported plans to the state.

Demonstrators railed against mandates that are by and large popular in Oregon.

DHM Research, a Portland-based firm, found that some 82% of Oregonians support Browns stay-home orders. That includes 95% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans.

Saturdays protest followed a smaller rally that drew dozens to the Capitol steps Friday, according to The Salem Reporter.

 Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano

Eder is The Oregonians education reporter. Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email ecampuzano@oregonian.com.

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Oregons education reporters are looking for parents who would like to speak with a journalist about the effects coronavirus is having on families across the state. Would you like to chat with one of us? Fill out this form.
A Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-800.

Sun Country Airlines

Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker is preparing for a return to 2019 travel levels as early as the end of 2021.

Instead of focusing on international routes, the carrier will strengthen its core business of domestic leisure routes.

Bricker believes Hawaii will be a tourist hotspot because of the advantages the state offers and how it has handled the pandemic.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The year 2020, essentially, is a wash for airlines as travel restrictions and a potential second-wave of coronavirus linger over the embattled industry, largely preventing bookings for the summer, fall, and winter.

What airline executives don't all agree on, however, is exactly when demand will return to the booming 2019 levels. The International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia, among others, stated in a letter to stock exchanges in London and Madrid that demand isn't expected to return for years and is preparing to reduce the number of jobs at British Airways by up to 12,000 to match.

A British Airways Boeing 747-400.

Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

One US airline, however, thinks domestic US travel will rebound quicker and as soon as late 2021 using the country's geography to its benefit. Jude Bricker, the chief executive officer at Sun Country Airlines, is already imaging ways of restructuring his airline's route network around what he predicts will be pent-up demand for travel to domestic leisure destinations.

"My expectation is to places like the west coast of Florida, which Minnesotans have gone to [for] generations, Phoenix, Southern California will recover more rapidly than our international leisure business," Bricker told Business Insider in an interview. The airline, which recently transitioned to low-cost operations, has a sizeable Central American and Caribbean route network and just began flying to Nassau, Bahamas in December.

"We're not expecting [2019 levels] to happen in 2021 but towards the back of the year, I think that there's certainly a chance that we could get back to that level," Bricker added.

Story continues

One destination in particular that Bricker is expecting to see a boom in travel to is Hawaii, where Sun Country has been flying from Minneapolis via Los Angeles since 2018. Since arriving in Honolulu two years ago, the airline has since added routes to the 50th state from Portland and San Francisco.

Part of Sun Country Airlines' Hawaiian and Central American route network.

Sun Country Airlines

"Hawaii will be the destination of choice," Bricker noted when asked if Hawaii will be of greater interest to the airline moving forward. "Hawaii ... is doing quite well with the COVID crisis so it'll be interesting to see how accepting they are of leisure customers from places elsewhere in the near term."

The islands are a popular destination for travelers on the West Coast, the closest region in the mainland US, especially as the market has seen increased competition from low-cost carriers including Sun Country and Southwest Airlines. Access from the East Coast on nonstop flights has traditionally been limited to the New York area, with United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines all offering direct flights from the tri-state area.

Hawaiian Airlines began flying between Honolulu and Boston in April 2019.

Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com

Hawaiian Airlines recently opened up its second route to the Northeast between Honolulu and Boston in 2019, which earned the title of the longest domestic route in the US. As the other side of the de facto Hawaiian flag carrier's route network is composed primarily of international routes, the airline may be inclined to launch more routes to cities deeper in the mainland if Bricker's prediction is accurate.

Hawaii, as well as other tropical island destinations that wear US flags such as Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Croix, offers travelers three advantages: short flights from the US mainland, no passport travel, and the protection of the US government. The domestic aspect is key as thousands of Americans were stuck overseas in foreign countries when international travel was restricted at the beginning of the pandemic.

Only around 600 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the entire state of 1.4 million which experienced less than 20 deaths from the virus.

A Hawaiian Airlines plane departing Hawaii.

Janis Apels/Shutterstock.com

Despite its advantages, Bricker doesn't expect Sun Country to expand further into the islands. Citing a likely rush from the other airlines, the former Allegiant Air executive speculated a possible retreat for his airline from Hawaii to focus on core mainland domestic leisure routes.

"We're largely a domestic carrier and I think domestic leisure is going to be what first comes back," Bricker said.

While Hawaii is a long way from Minneapolis, the airline has a history of flying interesting routes, especially with a small narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737. Before Bricker joined the airline, Sun Country operated a weekend-only service between Minneapolis and London, making a stop in Eastern Canada along the way.

For now, however, Sun Country will be focusing solely on the US.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Syria, Yemen slam Germany for complying with US, Israeli dictates to ban Hezbollah

Iran Press TV

Friday, 01 May 2020 8:59 AM

Syria and Yemen have slammed the German government's decision to designate Hezbollah a "terrorist organization", saying Berlin has complied with the dictates of Washington and Tel Aviv to ban the resistance movement.

"The Syrian Arab Republic condemns Berlin's blacklisting of Hezbollah with utmost vigor," a Syrian Foreign Ministry source told state news agency SANA on Thursday.

The source said the blacklisting was a "medal of honor" which effectively acknowledged Hezbollah's prominent role in countering Zionist and Western plots in the region.

The source said the move clearly demonstrated Germany's submission to "world Zionism" and the country's continued lack of sovereignty and independence ever since the end of World War II.

On Thursday, Germany designated Hezbollah as a "terrorist group" and ordered raids on various mosques and cultural sites allegedly linked to the resistance movement.

Police raided four mosque associations in Dortmund and Muenster in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Berlin, along with private homes of alleged Hezbollah members.

Israel and the United States had been pushing Berlin to ban the resistance movement which is credited with helping defeat the most violent Takfiri and other terrorist groups in Syria and driving out Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

The resistance movement's popularity for shattering Israel's myth of invincibility among the Arab public opinion has worried Israel and the West. Its military engagement in the Syria war has also turned it into a seasoned force, forcing many Western observers to describe Hezbollah as the most powerful Arab "army".

Last December, Germany's parliament approved a motion urging Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to ban all activities by Hezbollah on German soil.

It came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on a trip to Berlin last year that he hoped Germany would follow Britain in banning Hezbollah.

Britain introduced legislation in February of last year that classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

'Germany blindly following destructive US, Israeli plots'

Yemen's government and the country's popular Ansarullah resistance movement also condemned the measure as a sign of Berlin's submission to Washington and Tel Aviv.

"This unjust decision by Germany took place in compliance with US and Israeli dictates targeting the group," Yemen's Information Minister and Government spokesperson Dhaifallah al-Shami said, according to the Saba news agency.

Ansarullah's political bureau published a statement saying that "Germany's decision has fulfilled US and Israeli wishes in normalizing Zionism and opposing the free nations which seek to resist global tyranny and arrogance".

Ansarullah has been battling a five-year Saudi Yemen war, heavily supported by Western states such as Germany. The popular group reiterated its support for Hezbollah and urged Arab and Muslim countries to reject Berlin's decision.

Germany has long been known for its controversial support for terrorists and oppressive forces in the region, most recently facilitating terrorist presence in foreign-backed terrorism in Syria and Iraq.

It is responsible along with other European states for allowing extremists from across Europe to join Daesh in 2014 with the aim of toppling the Syrian government.

The German government has also been accused of helping the US assassinate Iran's top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani earlier this year.

Berlin has been a longtime backer of Israel, providing billions of dollars in aid enabling the occupation of Palestine in the name of reparations for Jewish persecution by the Nazi Germany.

Also during the 1980-1988 imposed war against Iran, Germany was among the countries providing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein with blueprints and material needed to build chemical weapons used indiscriminately against Iranian civilians and troops.

Germany has been a longtime safe haven and supporter of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) which has killed thousands of innocent Iranians.

On Thursday, Israel was effusive in its praise of Germany, with the regime's foreign minister Israel Katz hailing the blacklisting as a "very important decision".

"I call on other European countries as well as the European Union to do the same," Katz said in a statement.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed the decision. "All peace-loving countries should reject terrorist organizations and provide them with no direct or indirect assistance," he said.

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Before the pandemic closed nursing homes to almost all visitors, ombudsmen were in nursing homes frequently.



"Our bread and butter, what we do every day, is visit facilities, talk and meet with residents, get to know them, build trust and rapport with them, then gather information as to what their concerns are about, says Patricia Hunter, the LTC ombudsman for Washington state. With permission from the resident to act on a complaint, which can range from subpar food to claims of neglect and abuse, ombudsmen will investigate the issue and work to resolve it. Their services are free of charge and, if desired, confidential.

More than 1,000 paid staff and 6,000 certified volunteers form the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, which is funded by the federal Administration on Aging. Established in the 1970s under the Older Americans Act, the program is government-funded but works explicitly for long-term care residents. We don't have the trappings of big government agencies, says Hunter. We have independence, which is critical.

State offices varies in size, based on the number of facilities, and most are broken into regions, with a designated ombudsman for each. The most recent data on the national program shows they investigated just under 200,000 formal complaints in 2018. They provided information to an additional 400,000 people inquiring about long-term care.

In addressing complaints, we're always going to try low-level problem solving first, says Hunter. That might entail literally just a phone call or email, or it might involve getting everyone together  the resident, their family member, nursing staff, physical therapist, whoever needs to be involved  to implement a plan going forward that is going to support the resident and their needs.

If that doesn't work, or if a facility refuses to cooperate, or if a complaint is particularly egregious, ombudsmen can refer complaints to higher-level regulatory or enforcement agencies with permission from the resident. Ombudsmen lack enforcement power, but they can refer cases to the state's health department overseeing nursing home licensing, adult protective services, the police or the courts.

Problem-solving in a pandemic



The pandemic is making ombudsmen's jobs much harder. Like families, friends and representatives of senior care residents, they've been barred by the federal government from entering facilities in most cases, to protect residents and staff. Ombudsmen also want to protect themselves  most volunteers for the program are older, putting them at greater risk for COVID-19.

"It's a huge hurdle, says Miller. Generally, when you do any investigation, you're physically there getting eyes on the situation, looking at records, interviewing staff. Trying to solve the issue telephonically is much more difficult."

Nonetheless, complaints keep coming in and investigations continue.

In New York, for example, many families are struggling to reach facilities with questions about their COVID-19 response plans. So ombudsmen there are requiring facilities to fill out questionnaires asking how they're managing during the crisis, how they're interacting with residents, what activities they're providing, how they're managing meals, how they're managing with personal protective equipment, says state ombudsman Claudette Royal.

Ombudsmen relay the information back to families, sometimes arranging virtual follow-up meetings between families and facilities, Royal says.

In D.C., residents are calling in feeling scared or lonely, Miller says. So ombudsmen are conducting weekly telephone or FaceTime calls with residents, asking a series of questions about their care and facilities infection-control practices. They're also scheduling window visits with residents.

Washington's office is receiving complaints about facilities refusing to allow hospice services in, Hunter says. There's a potential violation of rights there, she says, so we're looking at all the legal options  and I'm not afraid to use them if I have to."

Advocating for systemic fixes

Beyond handling individual complaints, many ombudsmen advocate at local, state and national levels for systemic improvements to long-term care. Each state's priorities vary amid the pandemic, but many are advocating for more timely reporting from facilities on their confirmed COVID-19 cases.

"It's everyone's top question right now: What's the level of outbreak? Miller says. And the lack of transparency and public information about that is concerning.

AARP is pushing for states and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to require the names of facilities with confirmed cases to be made public daily.

"We believe that data shared on a daily basis, coupled with virtual visitation, will allow both ombudsmen and families to gain a better insight into what really are the circumstances within those facilities, says Elaine Ryan, AARP vice president for state advocacy and strategy integration.
The Enforcement Directorate has field a fresh charge sheet in a money laundering case linked to the alleged misuse of the 2016 demonetisation scheme, the agency said.

In the same charge sheet, the ED has also sought permission and moved a Patna court for confiscation of over Rs 8 crore worth assets, including a factory and an office premise. The assets belong to the accused involved in the case.

It said a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) has been filed against accused Rajan S Shah of V S Healthcare Mumbai and 11 others early this week before a special PMLA court in Patna, Bihar after some new facts came to light.

The ED case, filed under criminal provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), is against a Gaya-based businessman, Motilal, promoter ofMTI Cotton Mills Pvt Ltd, and others linked to him.

He has been chargesheeted by the agency earlier and is in judicial custody at present.

The businessman has been accused by the agency of being hand in glove with Bank of India (GB Road branch in Gaya district) for laundering illegal funds post the demonetisation declared by the central government on November 8, 2016.

The accused made illegal cash deposits worth Rs 44.79 crore in various bank accounts, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged.

"Some of these cash deposits were fraudulently transferred to the bank accounts of different entities without the knowledge or consent of the account holders," it said.

The state police had filed an FIR against the accused and others in December, 2016, which became the basis for the ED's PMLA case.

The ED alleged that during the demonetisation period, Motilal "illegally deposited the cash in 17 accounts held in his name, in the name of his firm, relatives and friends and five other accounts in the name of complainants Rajesh Kumar, Shashi Kumar, their firms and relatives".

"These cash amounts were handed over to him by Dhiraj Jain, a businessman of Gaya, and Delhi businessman Bimal Jain."



"On the direction of Dhiraj Jain and Pawan Jain, Motilal subsequently transferred the amount on the same day or the next day to the bank accounts of certain Delhi and Kolkata-based firms," it said.

It was found that Motilal had carried out these illegal transactions "with the connivance" of bank officials.

This cash is proceeds of crime under the PMLA and its transfer to other accounts represents the process of integration of the tainted money with the mainstream economy, the ED said.

The agency has sought the court's permission to confiscate assets like bank balance, fixed deposits, a factory and an office premise, which it had attached earlier and is valued at Rs 8.12 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The targets of a failed gambling probe last year by Harris County prosecutors sued District Attorney Kim Ogg this week, alleging malicious prosecution and false arrest.

The allegations are detailed in two lawsuits. One was filed by Post Oak Poker Club partners Daniel Kebort, William Heur III, Sergio D. Cabreba and Alan Chodrow. Stephen Farshid, a former employee of Prime Social Poker Club, brought the other.

Ogg declined to comment on the lawsuits, both of which were filed in state district court Thursday.

The district attorneys office charged nine employees of the west Houston poker rooms with felonies including engaging in organized criminal activity, gambling promotion and money laundering after police raided the clubs last May.

In July, Oggs office said in court papers prosecutors were dismissing the cases because of a potential conflict of interest due to [an] employee being called as a witness.

Ogg later confirmed that Amir Mireskandari, a large donor to her political campaigns whom she had hired as a financial crimes consultant, was one of several conflicts that led her to dismiss the case.

She gave the case files to the FBI; federal prosecutors have taken no public action on the case.

Both lawsuits also name Mireskandari and private investigator Tim Wilson as defendants. The Post Oak suit accuses the pair of conspiracy and fraud.

The suit claims Wilson solicited from the Post Oak partners $250,000 in order for he and Mireskandari to secure a poker club license from the city of Houston. The suit states the club owners later concluded the license was fictitious.

The city of Houston has no permit or licensing system for poker clubs.

The suit by Farshid, the former Prime Social employee, accuses Ogg and Mireskandari of malicious prosecution, false arrest, defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

Joseph Sandler, an attorney for Mireskandari, said the allegation lacks merit.

The suit is baseless and frivolous and we are confident the suit will be thrown out in short order, Sandler said in a statement.

Mireskandari told the Houston Chronicle last year he worked for Wilson on behalf of Prime Social. Wilson could not be reached for comment Friday.

The Post Oak suit also names Houston City Councilman Greg Travis as a defendant, accusing him of business disparagement, defamation and inflicting emotional distress for statements he made suggesting the club was operating outside the law. Travis dismissed the suit as an attention-grabbing stunt that would be thrown out of court.

This is a bull- lawsuit, he said.

Both suits, which were brought by Houston attorneys Eric Cassidy and Michael Wynne, seek unspecified damages and attorneys fees.

zach.despart@chron.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:31:34|Editor: huaxia

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YAOUNDE, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A separatist commander known simply as General Alhaji was among some insurgents who were killed on Friday in Bafut, a locality in Northwest, one of the two troubled Anglophone regions of Cameroon, the Cameroon army said Saturday.

The death of Alhaji was confirmed by Kingsley Ashu, a separatist leader, in a Facebook post.

He was killed after a week-long military offensive in the locality that also witnessed the seizure of war weapons and dismantling of several separatist camps, local authorities said.

Alhaji was commanding one of the "largest and fiercest" armed separatist groups known as "Seven Katta Bafut Defence forces" in the region, according to security reports.

He became "notorious" in 2018 after kidnapping over 80 school children and teachers and a driver of a secondary school in Bamenda, Cameroon Anglophone's largest city, security sources said, adding that his physical elimination could prove a major blow to the rebels in that region.

Since 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest to secede from the majority French-speaking nation and form a new country which they call "Ambazonia." Enditem
Value investors Tanvi Mehta, Ramaswamy Ranganathan and Sudarshan Rajan write about how Costco, a multi-billion dollar global retailer with membership-only warehouse club operations in eight countries, has been going from strength to strength by focusing on the wellbeing of its employees, by being obsessive about serving consumers at lower costs, operating on wafer thin net margins and not spending a dime on advertising.

What if we tell you that there is a company which pays its employees more than its competitors, not only that, it is the best paymaster in the retail industry, it has one of the most comprehensive health care packages for its employees and during times of distress, it has gone on to increase the wages in 2008-09 crisis.

What if we tell you that a meeting between Jeff Bezos and the CEO of the company we are talking above, motivated Jeff and he went on to drop prices and also launched Prime as a learning from the meeting eventually.

What if we tell you that the retailing powerhouse has membership renewal rate of 91% in the United States and 88% in Canada? What if we tell you that this company has relentless focus on costs, focus on employee development and doesnt spend a dime on advertising?

What if we tell you that the company has very low margins, only enough to cover up costs and is operating on wafer thin net margin of 2% to 2.4% and still the stock is a multi-bagger if invested in 1986?

What if we tell you the company has this as its code of ethics  Obey the Law, take care of our customers, take care of employees, respect our suppliers, and reward our shareholders.

What if we tell you that this company in 2009 wasnt happy with the prices Coca-Cola was offering, rather than stick customers with higher costs, it simply stopped carrying Coke products. Most would pass on that cost to consumers, forget taking on a brand like Coke. The obsession to serve consumers at lower costs has been deeply ingrained.

Whats the name of the company, you would ask.

Well, to divulge the name of the company, it would be a fitting tribute to relay what the greatest investor and vice-chairman of Berkshire has to say about this company. Asked about his favourite company outside of Berkshire, Munger literally interrupted the questioner and answered, Thats easy. Its Costco.

Its one of the most admirable capitalistic institutions in the world. And its CEO, Jim Sinegal, is one of the most admirable retailers to ever live on this planet, he gushed. I just cant say enough about my admiration for Costco. More of you should look at Costco. In fact, every time Donald Trump says something and you get discouraged, you should think about Costco.

He wasnt done and Munger has even gone to say Costco does more for civilisation than the Rockefeller foundation.

Now dwelling deeply into the financials of Costco:

The membership sales of Costco and the net income close to matches, signifying the obsession to pass on lower cost to consumers and pay its employees generously and deliver the goods to the shareholder by driving customer loyalty.

The shopping experience at Costco is imperishable. Costcos tasty $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo refillable is a marvel, the prices have remained same for over 3 decades. In fact, it has become a religious duty towards the consumer to serve them with fanatic obsession.

Nicholas sleep called Costco as a Perpetual Motion Machine, utilising a business model he termed Scaled Economics Shared. His 2002 investor letter articulated it brilliantly, The retail concept is as follows: customers pay an annual membership fee which provides entry to the stores for a year, and in exchange Costco operates an every-day-low-pricing strategy by marking up 14% on branded goods and 15% on private label with the result that prices are very, very low.

This is a very simple and honest consumer proposition in the sense that the membership fee buys the customers loyalty (and is almost all profit). and Costco in exchange sells goods while just covering operating costs.

In addition, by sticking to a standard mark up, savings achieved through purchasing or scale are returned to the customer in the form of lower prices, which in turn encourages growth and extends scale advantages. This is retails version of perpetual motion and has been widely adopted by Walmart among others.

Costco thrives on the tenet of Good People, Good Jobs, Good Pay, Good Careers, THEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN. Nothing could have been more true than this.

Costco was born to serve consumers with the same obsession Michael Jordan was born to play basketball. Low prices, combined with customer obsession and employees loyalty, forges a defining partnership.

In this era of Amazon and Jeffisim, Costco still gives you a reason to visit a physical store and shop for pleasurable experiences bringing exhilarating moments to consumers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:20:19|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Saturday condemned extreme radicals for their illegal activities including holding illegal assemblies, disrupting shops and throwing petrol bombs during the International Labor Day holiday.

A spokesperson of the office said in a statement that the extreme radicals' wanton acts from inciting violent activities to threatening to plant bombs in public places will put Hong Kong's future in peril.

Since last year, under the "burn with us" mentality, rioters besieged the HKSAR government headquarters and public agencies, trashed metro stations, banks and stores, beat up tourists and residents, assaulted police officers, produced bombs, and even made terrorist threats, trampling Hong Kong's rule of law and freedom and making residents live in scare, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson denounced opposition figures and radical forces who instigated another round of violence for their personal political interests in disregard of people's livelihood and the law, while the society has yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The spokesperson pointed out that a large number of young people were involved in the months-long violent acts, many of whom were under 18 years old. A suspect, 15, was arrested Friday night for throwing petrol bombs at police vehicles. The youngsters were led astray under the instigation of some politicians, who told them "life with criminal records will be more wonderful."

How can those politicians be so hardhearted to sacrifice the future of a whole generation for their own political gains, the spokesperson said.

A mature legal system and social stability and peace is the foundation of Hong Kong's success, which, however, is being seriously jeopardized by violence, the spokesperson said.

Global confidence in Hong Kong has been seriously dented as the credit ratings of Hong Kong were downgraded and Hong Kong lost the position which it had maintained for 25 years as the freest economy in the world. Hong Kong's GDP in 2019 posted the first negative growth in 10 years and the latest jobless rate hit a 10-year high. Hong Kong's consumer confidence index also slumped to the lowest notch since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Hong Kong's universities slipped significantly in global rankings, with the University of Hong Kong down from the 10th place to the 41st place.

Weighed on by violent activities, the transport, catering, retail sales and tourism sectors suffered the most. Many stores in core business areas including Mong Kok and Central were closed.

The violence under the "burn with us" mentality is the source of the hardship of Hong Kong residents and the closures of businesses, the spokesperson said.

Some opposition politicians hyped up the so-called "yellow economic circle" in a bid to obtain more seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo) election, the spokesperson said, noting that such acts created social rifts and disrupted market order.

The spokesperson also criticized the filibustering of some opposition lawmakers which paralyzed the LegCo and left many bills concerning people's livelihood unable to be dealt with in time, affecting the benefits of millions of taxpayers, workers and the disabled.

When voting on the second round 137.5-billion-Hong Kong dollar (about 17.7 billion U.S. dollars) anti-epidemic fund launched by the HKSAR government, none of the opposition members voted in favor and they even tried to delay the passage of the budget, which includes the widely-anticipated 10,000-Hong Kong dollar subsidy for all permanent residents, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said opposition politicians have used the "burn with us" tactic to extremes, paralyzing the LegCo, destroying the economy and inciting street violence, pushing Hong Kong to a bottomless abyss and ruining Hong Kong's hope.

The spokesperson noted that a survey showed more than 70 percent of Hong Kong residents opposed the "burn with us" mentality and more than 80 percent worried about the future as violence may resume after the epidemic subsides.

It is the mainstream public opinion in Hong Kong to restore order and push Hong Kong back on track, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the office firmly supports the HKSAR government and police in bringing criminals to justice and taking effective measures to safeguard the rule of law, order, public security in Hong Kong and national security.

The spokesperson called on all people who love Hong Kong to be united and say no to violence and the "burn with us" mentality, and not to allow Hong Kong's prosperity, built on generations of hard work, to be ruined. Enditem
WHO Adviser Asks US to Rethink Funding Suspension

By Salem Solomon May 01, 2020

A chief adviser to the World Health Organization's director-general said the recent decision by the United States to halt funding to the organization is "devastating" and that the U.S. should rethink the move.

Senait Fisseha is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan's medical school and a lawyer. She said the suspension would have a significant impact on the U.N. organization's ability to fight for global public health.

"Where we're going to feel the pinch the most is going to be around routine services like immunizations, lifesaving interventions that the WHO provides in collaboration with national governments," Senait told VOA via Skype. "So, this is not good news. Of course, the decision is not final."

Last year, U.S. funding made up about $450 million of the WHO's $6 billion budget. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration at statements by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus which appeared to excuse China from blame for the origination of the coronavirus and seemed to applaud their efforts to contain it.

On April 14, Trump ordered a 90-day halt to WHO funding for "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus." The acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, John Barsa, said that during the pause in funding, the U.S. will try to build relationships with other international health agencies.

"We're going with existing programs outside of the World Health Organization, and we're looking for different partners," he said during a press conference.

But Senait said the timing for such a move is disastrous. The WHO is providing global surveillance of the spread of the disease, coordinating the international response and giving advice and training to health practitioners.

"If anything, this is the time where U.S. leadership is enormously critical globally," Senait said. "And not only do we expect and we hope funding will be reinstated, but rather we want to see an increase in funding to fight this pandemic. We are all in this together."

The WHO has received criticism for early missteps in response to the virus. On Jan. 14, the organization tweeted that Chinese authorities had found no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. This proved to be false.

The WHO also waited until March 11 to declare coronavirus a global pandemic. By that time cases had been recorded in 110 countries.

But Senait said the WHO seeks to stay out of politics and maintain a relationship with all countries in order to have access to information. She pointed out that, early on, the WHO sent a team of international scientists to China to investigate the outbreak. Within two weeks of the first public reports of the virus, the WHO was able to share the sequenced gene of the virus which was used to create diagnostic tools and for research on a vaccine.

"Frankly, the world is able to do this only because WHO can coordinate this response," Senait said. "A lot of countries have a bilateral relationship. The United States has a relationship with China. But those bilateral relationships are fraught with a lot of politics. And what the WHO tries to do is stay away from politics and focus on global public health."

WHO Director-General Tedros has also been under fire for praising China's "transparency" in reporting about the virus at a time many believe Chinese officials were underreporting the extent of the outbreak.

Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written a letter accusing Tedros of supporting a Chinese "propaganda campaign" and demanding that Tedros release all correspondence between the WHO and Chinese officials.

But Senait, who is originally from Ethiopia and has worked with Tedros on public health issues for 20 years, said Tedros is a leader of the highest integrity. She pointed out that during his time as Ethiopia's health minister, he relentlessly worked to decrease maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS infections, malaria, tuberculosis, and mortality for children under five years old.

"He was highly focused. He was highly precise. He was fantastic at garnering partnerships and collaboration and support," she said.

However, Tedros was criticized for his role in responding to cholera outbreaks in Ethiopia during his time as health minister. For years, Ethiopian officials have reported the outbreaks as "acute watery diarrhea" in an apparent effort to downplay their severity.

Some critics see parallels between that response and the current one. "That episode bears a striking, chilling resemblance to the WHO's response to the coronavirus's appearance in China," wrote Jianli Yang, the president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, and Aaron Rhodes, the president of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe in an op-ed for the National Review.

Senait believes Tedros will weather the storm and is the right person to lead the global health body. "There are going to be critics. It doesn't mean that Dr. Tedros is a perfect person. The good thing about him is he has a growth mindset. He's always willing to learn and grow and improve. But the truth is some of the attacks that have been targeted at him during this time are heavily unfounded. They are very political," Senait said.

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Why do I bother? For six weeks now I have been saying that the Governments policy on Covid-19 is a mistake.

Most people do not agree with me, and many are angry with me for saying so.

Others, bafflingly, dont care about the greatest crisis I have seen in my lifetime, and regard the debate as a spectator sport.

Let me say it again: the coronavirus is not as dangerous as claimed. Other comparable epidemics have taken place with far less fuss, and we have survived them.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who returned to Downing Street this week after recovering from Covid-19, said the country needs to continue lockdown measures to avoid a second spike

The death rate is lower than the Government believed. It passed its peak in this country on April 8, well before the crazy measures introduced by the Government on March 23 could possibly have affected matters.

The actions we are taking against it are gravely out of proportion and will destroy the lives of thousands and the prosperity and health of millions. This is not life versus money. It is life versus life.

It has not been much fun fighting this. In fact, it has been exhausting and dispiriting.

I feel as if I am in a nightmare where I can see a terrible danger approaching but when I cry out in warning, nobody can hear me. Cant you see? I yell in the dream.

If you dont defend your most basic freedom, the one to go lawfully where you wish when you wish, then you will lose it for ever.

And that is not all you will lose. Look at the censorship of the internet, spreading like a great dark blot, the death of Parliament, the conversion of the police into a state militia?

A man in Oxford wears a face mask as he walks through the city, past many businesses that have shut shop amid the coronavirus pandemic

Arent you alarmed by the creation of a creepy cult of state-worship, celebrated every Thursday night  in a country where church services and normal public gatherings are banned?

When did you last hear an anti-government voice on the BBC, now little more than a servile state broadcaster?

And then can you not see the strangling of the prosperity on which everything we hold dear is based?

I mentioned the other day to a hard-working small business owner that a shop well known to me was down to ten per cent of its normal takings.

Lucky him! exclaimed the businessman, I have had no income at all for weeks, and I have no hope of any. But I am still having to pay my rent and power bills, and interest on my loans.

In the poorer districts of my hometown, scrawled notices are starting to appear telling tenants: If you cant pay your rent, you cant be evicted during Covid Lockdown.

I have no idea if this is true but I am sure that plenty of tenants are not paying and plenty of landlords are losing what they thought was guaranteed income. You dont care? You will.

In these and so many other cases, the normal flow of money in exchange for work, services and goods has just stopped.

A man tries to adhere to social distancing rules while showing his phone to KFC staff to pick up food from their restaurant in Leicester

Imagine if something similar were happening to your own body. You would be desperately sick and only urgent aid would save you from long-term damage. But where is that urgent aid?

The country is having a gigantic self-inflicted heart attack and stroke combined. Heaven knows what sort of trembling, weakened shadow of its former self it will be when this is over.

I think I can guarantee that it  and we  will need to take many doses of very bitter medicine for as far into the future as it is possible to see.

And yet no help comes. The absurd jocular Mr Bumble who we have chosen to be our national leader at this time has no sense of urgency at all.

As he stammers and brays, and does his Churchill impression, it is clear that he has no serious plan to bring this nonsense to an end.

Well, this is where it really starts to matter. We are about a fortnight from the moment when huge numbers of jobs will be in danger of permanent extinction.

The only choice will be to spend so much non-existent money that even the wild gamblers who have taken over HM Treasury are scared to do it.

But heres the problem for Mr Bumble. He did not just panic himself. He spread fear far and wide. More than half the population have been literally scared silly.

You meet them on pathways and pavements, flinching with real alarm at the approach of another human being as if bubonic plague were abroad. They genuinely fear to go back to normal life.

A Pret a Manger shop was closed after their first day of service since lockdown on May 2 as concerns spread that lockdown will take its toll on the economy

And Mr Bumble dare not take them on. For to do so he would have to admit that he had been wrong, and the great pyramid of fear on which his authority is based would crumble away.

He is like the Sorcerers Apprentice in the Disney film Fantasia, who casts a spell to summon an army of automatons to carry water for him, and is almost drowned because he cannot undo the incantation.

He cannot stop what he began. If someone else cannot stop it for him, it may destroy him.

So we face months of continuing idiocy, as the wealth of centuries is frittered away for nothing and we sink into a grim penury, made worse by the increasing lack of freedom and the insolence of authority.

Eventually there will be an accounting for this. It ought to be soon, and I hope it will be.

But if not, it will be important that protests such as mine were made and heard at the time.

Nobody will be able to say, when the much-needed inquiry eventually sits in judgment on these times and on those responsible, that criticism is just hindsight and that nobody pointed out at the time that a grave mistake was being made.

Blood bigots circulating nonsense

I have tried to get some sort of answer out of the Blood Transfusion Service, which  as I explained last week  has joined the general wave of bigoted prejudice against people who have celebrated their 70th birthdays.

It is, as so often with official bodies these days, like speaking to a computer. The ban on over-70s giving blood is for their protection and based on government advice, which they appear to have accepted without a seconds thought.

This infuriating assumption that arriving at 70 means instant, doddering senility is just as bad a prejudice as all the others we rightly ban. So why is it permitted?

Unmasked: The humiliating truth

Face masks have become a good symbol for our current era, gags which turn speech to mumbling and rob us of individuality. But are they any use?

Dr John Lee, a distinguished pathologist, says not really: When a person is infectious with a virus it is estimated that they may shed one hundred billion virus particles a day  that works out at about ten million per breath.

Face masks have become a good symbol for our current era, gags which turn speech to mumbling and rob us of individuality. But are they any use?

A mask wont stop you putting these particles into the air around you. In fact, with a damp mask youll be blowing aerosols and larger particles sideways, directly at your socially distanced colleagues.

Compulsory masks, if they happen, will just be another humiliation, along with the loss of freedom and income.

I suspect the thing to do, to mock this twaddle, will be to get hold of one of those mediaeval doctors plague masks like a huge birds beak, and go around in that, perhaps also swathed in a cloak and clanging a bell to warn of your approach.

Or perhaps I could dig out that old Red Army gas mask I (literally) picked up after a small skirmish in Vilnius in 1991.

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As a young girl, Natalie Cumming listened to her aunts harrowing accounts of surviving unimaginable horrors in brutal Nazi death camps  and how her most cherished possession became her only chance of survival

That violin means everything to me. My family survived only because of it

Pulling her thin top around her for warmth, Rosa Levinsky picked up her violin bow and started to play. Her fellow musicians did the same, filling the air with sweet melodies. But they werent performing to an appreciative audience in a concert hall. They were at Auschwitz, witnessing a scene of horror. Thousands of terrified, starving Jews were spilling from trains. Men were herded away and mothers separated from their children by guards with ferocious dogs. Through it all the orchestra played on. They were officially there to welcome the newcomers, but all knew their real purpose was to offer a false sense of security as the Nazis sent innocents to the gas chamber.

Rosa couldnt allow herself to think of this as she played that freezing winter morning in 1942. She, like the others in that rag-tag orchestra, was a Jew whod arrived at the notorious Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland on one of those packed trains. Shed survived so far only because she could play the violin like an angel. So she played on  for her life.

Rosa Levinsky was a violinist with the Berlin philharmonic in 1938

The deafening applause was beginning to fade as Rosa, then 28, made her way to her dressing room at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall on 9 November 1938. Two years previously, shed been playing for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London when she was head-hunted by their German equivalent and offered the prestigious position of second violinist.

Rosas family had been concerned about her going to Germany because the Nazis were in power, but thought that her British nationality would keep her safe. And indeed, until that night, it had. But that evening would become known as Kristallnacht  when Nazis ransacked synagogues, smashed up Jewish businesses and arrested countless Jews. Until then, Rosa had been happy in Berlin, although shed become increasingly concerned at the treatment of her people, who were forced to wear Star of David armbands to identify them in public. She had planned to return to her home in Leeds when her contract ended in December 1938.

But Kristallnacht ended such hopes. As she walked home soldiers, seeing the Star of David on her arm, came to push her into the gutter, says her niece Natalie Cumming, 82, whose book The Fiddle tells Rosas story. The Gestapo were already removing all the Jews from her block of flats. She was rooted to the spot in terror. An officer arrested her. She pleaded that she was British but to no avail, says Natalie. She was sobbing but clung to her violin because it was so precious to her. She didnt know how important it would be. In fact, that instrument, made in 1883 and given to Rosa by her father, would save her life.

Left: The infamous gates of Auschwitz, where Rosa was sent in 1940. Right: Rosa was selected for the camps orchestra, which was forced to play while families were sent to the gas chamber

Rosa hauled the violin on to the truck alongside other terrified detainees. They were packed like sardines with no water or food as they travelled to their unknown destination. Eventually they arrived at Mauthausen in Austria, a labour camp where they were forced to toil on the Stairs of Death  carrying huge blocks of granite up a steep hillside every day. Failure to salute guards or other trivial offences meant being forced to push a fellow prisoner to their death from the top of the stairs then waiting your turn.

Gradually the workers were starving to death, their feet and hands blistered, bodies broken. For Rosa, worse was to come. Hearing her playing the violin outside her hut one evening, one of the guards grabbed her and forced himself on her. Then he spat on Rosa and walked away, says her niece. She was bleeding and in great pain but there was nothing she could do.

She left Mauthausen in 1940 and after another hellish truck journey found herself at Auschwitz. A female SS guard spotted her violin  it was Irma Grese. Nicknamed the Hyena of Auschwitz, she was notorious for her cruelty to prisoners and enjoyed whipping them. Despite her reputation, she handed Rosa a lifeline, arranging for her to play in the camps orchestra which performed to the officers in the evenings and later at the sidings when the trains arrived. Not only did it mean a little extra food, Rosa was placed in a hut with a heater, mattresses and even a blanket  much needed when all she had were flimsy clothes, no coat and odd shoes.

But immediately she discovered the real role of Auschwitz. From the window of her hut she saw two bigger huts with huge queues of men, women and children being forced in, explains Natalie. Then Rosa saw a soldier climbing a ladder to an opening in the roof, carrying a large metal canister and wearing a face mask and long, protective gloves. He opened the tin and quickly threw the contents in, slamming the cover shut and rushing back down the ladder. There came the most agonising screams from the building. The Nazis Final Solution had begun  the systematic murder of Europes Jews.

But while Rosa was saved from the gas chamber, her life was still tough. One night she was given a bath and shaved before being taken to the camp chief Rudolf Hoss. The moment she entered the room, she saw a large bed and knew why she was there, says her niece. She was sickened, but it meant life.

One night came the sound of gunfire which carried on the next day. The Russians were near. The orchestra and hundreds of others were crammed on a train. For days they had no food or water and 27 of the 39 people in Rosas carriage died of starvation or suffocation on the journey. Their destination was the Belsen concentration camp in Northern Germany, where Rosas routine continued as it had in the previous camp  clearing dead bodies by day and by night playing for the officers, including Hoss and Grese, whod fled Auschwitz.

When spring blossomed in April 1945, the sound of bombs and gunfire could once more be heard. The orchestra sheltered in their hut, terrified. The door was thrust open and two soldiers in strange uniforms stood on the threshold, says Natalie. The soldiers were British. They were free. And Rosa was alive.

Left: Natalie wrote the history of her Aunt Rosas violin. Right: Rosas violin was passed on to her brother Israel (Natalies father), who performed with it for decades

Two years later, in the Easter of 1947 when Natalie was nine, she met her aunt for the first time. Rosa was staying with her mother in Leeds, having first been treated in a Hanover hospital and later in a sanatorium in Surrey. Somehow shed found the strength to testify against her captors at the Nuremberg trials. Wed never met before as shed already moved to Berlin when I was born, explains Natalie. I remember going to my grandmothers house in Leeds and Rosa was lying on the chaise longue. Her Auschwitz number was tattooed on her arm. My father told me shed been an absolute beauty, but now her hair was grey and she was very thin.

Rosa had contracted tuberculosis in the camps. I got to know her very well, recalls Natalie. She was a lovely lady with a sunny disposition and no self-pity. She liked to chat and found me a willing listener. Because she was dying, she said to me many times, The world must never forget. This must never happen again. Its why Natalie is sharing her aunts story today.

Rosa died in autumn 1947 aged just 37. It was at the funeral that my grandmother gave my father Rosas precious violin, says Natalie.

He played it until his death, aged 73, in 1985 when it passed to Natalie, who doesnt play. It stayed silent and fell into disrepair until she took it to BBCs The Repair Shop three years ago. Now faithfully restored, this most precious, life-saving violin has been donated by Natalie to The Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey where its played with pride by just two of their best pupils.

Natalie meets Repair Shop heroes (from left) restorer John Dilworth, presenter Jay Blades and violinist Christian Garrick

That violin means everything to me, says Natalie. Its the most important thing in my life. My family survived only because of it. The memory of it being played by my father will stay with me for ever.



The Fiddle by Natalie Cumming is published by Michael Terence; available from amazon.co.uk
With all of the economic struggles that people are already going through, they should not have to worry about getting the resources that they need and that they deserve, the governor said. The people of Maryland deserve better, and the buck stops with me. So I am going to make sure that they do and that we do whatever it takes to get this straight so that every single Marylander gets every single penny of financial assistance that they deserve.
There is no gambling like politics ..Benjamin Disraeli, former British Prime Minister. Well! It appears the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is certainly going to gamble in the December 7 general elections with their presidential candidate, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. Many NDC folks are banking their hope and fate on the choice of a running mate in the party quest to recapture power in the December general elections.

The presidential candidate of the largest opposition party, former President John Dramani Mahama will in the coming weeks if not months make pronouncements on who his running mate will be for the 2020 elections.

I think that the task of selecting a running mate will not be a herculean task for the former president particularly considering his huge political experience and especially when he has done it before. The task is not or will not about the personality even though some names have been bundled around in both social and gold coast media. The herculean task now which I think will probably influence the choice of a running mate will be about the unity and formidability of the NDC beyond 2020.

The fate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after 2020 general elections can be analysed on two frontiers. That is the victory and the defeat scenario, either way, may have serious implications for the future of the party. This is what many political analysts and even the NDC themselves have not averted their minds.

First, let's begin with the victory scenario. It is obvious that the victory of the NDC with its presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama may generate some interesting political scenarios in our infant democracy. Let's avert our minds to scenario number, should John Dramani Mahama wins the December 7, 2020, general elections, constitutionally will he be eligible to contest again in 2024? Remember he served as president from 2012 to 2016 (4years) and if he wins the 2020 elections he will serve for another four(4) years making it eight (8)years.

In this case, whoever is the vice president ( that is if the NDC wins ) he or she stands the chance of becoming the next presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. But will he or she might have marketed him or herself very well enough within four (4) years?

Will the NDC party go to congress for a popular acclamation of the vice president or they will open nominations for others to compete? Well! In the unlikely event that the vice-president did not get elected by congress and a different candidate becomes the flag bearer, how well he or she will be marketed to the rest of the electorate? Can the NDC win the 2024 elections with a new face as their presidential candidate?

Second, let's consider the defeat scenario. What will be the fate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC ) should they lose the December 2020 general elections again with John Dramani Mahama as flagbearer? Will John Mahama make another attempt again to lead the party as flagbearer for the 2024 elections?

Will the delegates trust him again and give him the mandate should he decides to contest? Or he will honourable and voluntarily step aside and allow others to lead.? Because our forefathers have a saying that not all decisions are made by the gods of our ancestors. The decision to boil or roast yam is purely the decision of man.

This certainly will be a huge hurdle the NDC must cross. What will be the role of John Dramani Mahama in the NDC if he decides to hang his political boost for life? .Especially considering the fact that he will be the second surviving former president the NDC will have produced.

Now, the defeat of the NDC in the December 2020 general elections may have dire consequences on the political fortunes of the vice-president candidate. Will she or she be able to convince delegates of the party to vote for him or her?

This is because the delegates may reject anything related to John Dramani Mahama. Well! If he or she is able to convince delegates of the party to vote for him or her and eventually becomes flagbearer, what will be his or her strategy and message for the entire electorates especially when those same electorates rejected his boss? (the defeated presidential candidate).

Choose a vice-presidential candidate who has the same pedigree as Dr. Mahamud Bawumia.This comment was allegedly made by Mr.Allotey Jacobs, former central regional chairman of the NDC. Well! If this comment is anything to go by, then the NDC has a lot of homework to do especially with regards to the choice of a running mate.

Many names have been bundled around as possible running mate including professor John Gatsi, Dean of the school of business at the university of cape coast, Professor Kwesi Botchey, and Dr. Asiamah, immediate past deputy governor of the bank Ghana. All these personalities are more than qualified to fill the position of veep for the NDC. It is a forgone conclusion that NPP ticket is Nana-Bawumia for 2020, this should inform the strategy the NDC should adopt in the selection of their running mate, but should the NDC select their running with the same economic pedigree like Dr.Bawumia?

Well! I beg to differ because the vice-president of his Excellency Dr.Mahamud Bawumia seems to have abandoned his economic credentials and has neglected his duties as the chairman of the economic management team. Well! it appears our vice president is now a digital vice president. Besides the vice president has become a subject of criticism within the last three years because of his inconsistency in his speeches and presentation especially on the economy.

In conclusion, whatever may be the case the choice of a running mate for the NDC going into the elections in December is very critical and crucial particularly for the future of the party. Perhaps whoever becomes the running mate may also use the opportunity to launch his or her own presidential ambition for 2024 especially when he or she is not sure of victory in the 2020 polls. Be it as it may, either way may generate interesting political meals for the consumption of political analysts and commentators in the country.

Azure Imoro Abdulai

Email: [email protected]
Image Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, released a report outlining hospital equipment shortages. Credit... U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

WASHINGTON  President Trump moved on Friday night to replace a top official at the Department of Health and Human Services who angered him with a report last month highlighting supply shortages and testing delays at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.

The White House waited until after business hours to announce the nomination of a new inspector general for the department who, if confirmed, would take over for Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general who was publicly assailed by the president at a news briefing three weeks ago.

The nomination was the latest effort by Mr. Trump against watchdog offices around his administration that have defied him. In recent weeks, he fired an inspector general involved in the inquiry that led to the presidents impeachment, nominated a White House aide to another key inspector general post overseeing virus relief spending and moved to block still another inspector general from taking over as chairman of a pandemic spending oversight panel.

Mr. Trump has sought to assert more authority over his administration and clear out officials deemed insufficiently loyal in the three months since his Senate impeachment trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress ended in acquittal largely along party lines. While inspectors general are appointed by the president, they are meant to be semiautonomous watchdogs ferreting out waste, fraud and corruption in executive agencies.
PARIS  President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that ending the national lockdown on May 11 would be only a first step for France to pull out of the coronavirus crisis, for which his handling faces mounting criticism.

Traditional Labor Day protests that usually draw thousands of demonstrators to the streets were canceled this year due to the virus outbreak that has killed over 24,500 people across France.

May 11 will not be the passage to normal life. There will be a recovery that will need to be organized, Macron said in a speech at the presidential palace after a meeting with horticulturists.

There will be several phases and May 11 will be one of them.

Unions organized online activities, asked people to bang pans and put out banners on balconies to mark labor day.

Police disbanded a small protest in central Paris.

It was in stark contrast to this time last year when tens of thousands of labor union and yellow vest protesters were on the streets across France demonstrating against Macrons policies.

The protests were marred when dozens of masked and hooded anarchists clashed with riot police.

Macron, in a message on his Twitter account, lauded the traditional parades and French workers, urging unity and solidarity during these tough times.

There is a strong desire to once again find the joyful, although sometimes bickering May 1, which makes our nation. My dear compatriots, we will find them, those happy May 1sts!

But highlighting the rocky path ahead, union officials and far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen were quick to underscore their concerns amid the crisis.

Even if today we are confined, our demands are not, Yves Veyrier, head of the Force Ouvriere union, told France Inter radio.

Le Pen pressed ahead with her partys annual May 1 tradition of honoring medieval heroine Joan of Arc by laying a wreath at the golden statue of the 15th-century warrior in central Paris, despite the lockdown.

Marine Le Pen, member of parliament and leader of French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party, delivers a speech during a debate on migration at the National Assembly in Paris, France, October 7, 2019. Photo: Reuters

Ive never said I had doubts about the confinement. I just said that complete confinement was the solution when we failed to prevent the epidemic, Le Pen, wearing a mask, told reporters.

A successful end to the lockdown is with tests for everybody, masks for everybody and Im against schools opening before September.

While trust in the government has fallen in recent polls, Le Pens repeated criticism of the government since the onset of the crisis appeared to have backfired.

In an Elabe poll for Les Echos, her rating fell three points to 23 percent in April.

Ending the lockdown

From May 11, schools will gradually reopen and businesses will be free to resume operations after the countrys 67 million population has been in confinement since mid-March.

The government has said it is prepared to slow or delay the unwinding of the lockdown if the virus infection rate spikes markedly higher, with administrative departments divided into red and green zones.

Northeastern France, including the Paris region, has been especially hard hit, while swathes of the west and south of the country have barely been impacted, raising a dilemma for the government over how to ease the lockdown ahead of the busy summer tourism season.

While indicators in terms of intensive care cases and hospitalizations have been on a downward trend for more than two weeks, there are still warning signs.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, said the diseases reproduction rate, known as the RO, had risen in France over recent days to between 0.6-0.7 on average from 0.5.

This is because of a progressive return to activity, he said.

The number is one of several indicators authorities are watching.

Public health experts say an R number of 1 or above would make it impossible to loosen lockdowns.

Opposition lawmakers and some experts have questioned the practicalities of schools reopening, broad use of public transport and tough measures that will continue to impact areas less affected by the virus.

Question marks have also been raised about the governments ability to reach its target of 700,000 COVID-19 tests by May 11, their implementation and the possible isolation of people who test positive for the illness.
The Meghalaya government



announced on Saturday several relaxations from May 4, including partially lifting the curfew.

Public and religious gatherings, however, will continue to remain prohibited to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 in the state, officials said



After a review meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters that curfew will be lifted in Shillong agglomeration with effect from May 4.

However, night curfew as prescribed by the Ministry of Home Affairs will be imposed from 7 pm to 7 am, he said.

Right now, we want to bring back normalcy as much as possible to the state. Therefore, we have given powers to the respective deputy commissioners to exercise their powers in this regard, he added.

Tynsong several relaxation, including the functioning of offices in the state secretariat and directorates.

Construction works in urban areas, including Mylliem block, besides opening of hardware shops, electrical shops and quarrying activities will now be allowed to resume, he said.

All officers are directed to report to their respective offices with immediate effect. However, as far as Group C and D staff are concerned, only 33 per cent is considered. We have asked the chief secretary to work out the modalities with HoDs to ensure compliance of this 33 percent attendance, he said.

All wine shops are also allowed to reopen from May 4.

Tynsong said that all such activities are allowed on condition that strict protocols, including social distancing norms, are followed in totality.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo signed a four-book deal with romance publisher Mills & Boon, she discovered a downside to the business: she was called in with other writers for an in-depth debate about, ahem intimate areas.

The reality star said: 'I had this meeting about what they were calling a willy. It was really serious.

'I'm looked after by two guys, so they're sitting there with us women, talking about whether we call it a c*** or a d***.

Georgia 'Toff' Toffolo who revealed how she's coping with lockdown on Instagram, pictured, had to have some awkward conversations with writers

The reality star said: 'I had this meeting about what they were calling a willy. It was really serious'

'I'm going, 'Can we not just call it a willy?' and they're like, 'No, that's not very sexy, Georgia.' I was crying because it was so funny.'

Her first novel will be published in October.

He caused a storm in 2018 when, as the soon-to-be-ex editor of Waitrose Food magazine, he joked about killing vegans.

Now William Sitwell has stuck his foot in it again.

The Masterchef critic took to Instagram to share a story about a Japanese mayor who said men should do the shopping during the quarantine because women are indecisive and 'take a long time'.

William added: 'Can we get this made law in the UK ASAP?'

I wonder what William's wife, Emily Lopes, would say about that?
Trump admin. says PPP money won't be going to Planned Parenthood, 'abortion industry'

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The Trump administration has ensured that funds from the new Paycheck Protection Program meant to help small businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis dont go to the abortion industry.

President Trump is committed to ensuring Paycheck Protection Program money is used for saving jobs at small businesses, not getting the government into the business of funding abortion, The Daily Signal quoted a senior administration official as saying. While not all Americans share President Trumps pro-life beliefs, there is broad bipartisan support for the idea that American taxpayers should not have to fund abortion.

The Daily Caller also quoted a senior official saying the same. Through the Paycheck Protection Program, President Trump is delivering vital relief to help small businesses keep employees on payroll. Its clear that the abortion industry shouldnt be able to qualify for those funds, which are desperately needed by small businesses.

At an event for small businesses at the White House earlier this week, the president praised the Small Business Administration for processing loans at a high pace in the second round of funding for the PPP. So far, weve processed an amazing 450,000 loans totaling over $50 billion, Trump recently said, according to Fox News. Demand is extraordinarily high and there are already twice as many users accessing the system as on any day under the first round.

Last month, Trump signed a bill into a law setting aside $310 billion as additional funding to the PPP to ensure that millions of Americans will stay on the payroll during this global health crisis. In the first round, the PPP program had reached its lending limit within two weeks after approving nearly $1.7 million loans worth $350 billion.

Our swift action supported or saved 30 million American jobs at least, Trump said at the event.

The source told the Signal that big enterprises such as Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion provider, are excluded from the SABs mission. The SB in SBA is for small business, so SBA has regulations called affiliation rules to define when small employers might be so closely affiliated with a parent organization that they should be considered one large employer.

The source explained, While each Planned Parenthood affiliate has fewer than 500 employees, nationwide it has over 16,000 employees. So when applying PPPs affiliation rules neutrally, its clear that Planned Parenthood is one large employer and not eligible for PPP money. The interim final rule made crystal clear that an organization with Planned Parenthoods corporate structure doesnt qualify.

The National Abortion Rights Action League has alleged in an ad that the president and Republicans are trying to limit abortion access by using the coronavirus outbreak, but Trump campaign maintains that the pandemic should not be used to promote abortion.

President Trump is the most pro-life president in American history, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told the Daily Caller earlier. Its disgusting, but not surprising, that the extreme abortion lobby would try to use a global health crisis to promote the killing of unborn children.
Cyprus has said it will not miss the upcoming tourist season. As of June 9, the island nation will reopen air communication, which was suspended due to quarantine restrictions in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, local media reported, citing the Ministry of Health of Cyprus.

On May 4, quarantine will begin to be eased in Cyprus, and on May 9, its ports will be reopened to receive cruise ships.

Cafes and restaurants will also reopen their doors, and their customers will be allowed to sit both inside and outside their halls.

During the same period, hotels will also reopen for tourists, but maintaining caution during the current pandemic.

And the first planes will be able to land in Cyprus on July 9.
The Novel Coronavirus outbreak has affected the entire nation as well as the world. Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the Government of India extended the lockdown for two more weeks, i.e. May 4 to 17. During these lockdown days, people get a chance to come closer to their family, whom they never give much time while working on a regular basis.

But on the other hand, there are true superheroes like police, doctors, nurses and other health workers, who are serving people even in this time. They are staying away from their families to cure people of COVID-19. However, people are not respecting their contribution and attacking them. Ever since the lockdown began, there are reports floating on the internet about people attacking medical staff for various reasons.

Completely disturbed with such information, Mahesh Babu has recently urged people to respect the true superheroes. The Telugu Superstar took to Twitter and wrote, "I stand in gratitude for all health workers who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe and secure in these trying times. We must come to understand that they're doing this to safeguard us."

I stand in gratitude for all health workers who are working selflessly and tirelessly to keep us safe and secure in these trying times. We must come to understand that they're doing this to safeguard us.  pic.twitter.com/QG5AlXrMMo  Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 2, 2020

"While it is hard to risk your own life, it is harder to leave behind people you love and be in a war zone. People who protect us need to be protected, let's respect and honour their sacrifices. The greatest gift we can give each other in these trying times is our love and empathy," the 44-year-old actor added.

While it is hard to risk your own life, it is harder to leave behind people you love and be in a war zone. People who protect us need to be protected, let's respect and honour their sacrifices. The greatest gift we can give each other in these trying times is our love and empathy  Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 2, 2020

Mahesh Babu concluded by saying, "I urge you all to be kind and courteous towards our medical workers... Our true superheroes. Huge respect."

I urge you all to be kind and courteous towards our medical workers... Our true superheroes. Huge respect. #StayHomeStaySafe #HumanitysHeroes #WeWillWin  Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) May 2, 2020

For those who are unversed, the Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance, which states, a person who will attack the healthcare workers will be punished for maximum 7 years of imprisonment and Rs 5 lakh fine. The crime will be considered as a non-bailable offence.

Also Read : Mahesh Babu Wants To Do A Love Story, Asks Parasuram For A New Script?

On a related note, India has so far reported 37,336 positive COVID-19 cases, in which 1223 died and 10,007 recovered.
Workers in protective suits are seen at a registration point for passengers at an airport in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province bordering Russia, following the spread of the CCP virus in the country, China, on April 11, 2020. (Huizhong Wu/Reuters)

Northern Chinese City Shuts Eateries Amid Second Wave of Virus Outbreak

As the second wave of the CCP virus outbreak hits northeast China, Harbin, a city of 10 million people, has been forced to shut down eateries that serve communal dishes.

Barbecue eateries, as well as those selling hot pot and stews, must suspend dine-in meals until further notice and in accordance with changes in the epidemic situation, said an emergency notice issued on May 1 by the citys epidemic prevention office.

Harbin is the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, Chinas northernmost province bordering Russia, which has become a hotspot for CCP virus infections in the past month.

A staff member (C) checking the body temperature of a woman before she enters a community in the border city of Suifenhe in Chinas northeastern Heilongjiang province on April 22, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

The Second Wave

In March, Harbin city authorities lifted lockdown measures and allowed social gatherings. At the time, Harbin, as was the case with the majority of Chinese cities, declared itself to be free of any new virus cases.

But in early April, the Heilongjiang authorities reported another wave of infections in several cities, with Harbin hit the hardest.

The authorities have imposed strict lockdown measures, banning entry to residential zones by non-locals and vehicles registered elsewhere.

Residents told The Epoch Times that the city had forced many into quarantine at home, without permission to go outside.

The Chinese regime blames many of the infections on citizens returning from Russia, and has deployed additional police, border guards, and the Peoples Armed Police paramilitary forces to the Russian border.

This comes as the Russian government has begun expatriating Chinese living in Russia and the Chinese regime refuses to allow them to return.

A staff member keeping watch at a checkpoint in the border city of Suifenhe, in Chinas northeastern Heilongjiang province on April 21, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Coverup

Leaked documents from Harbin show the number of virus patients there may be 200 times the official data.

Local officials have massively underreported cases of the CCP virus during the second wave of its local outbreak, according to internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times.

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.

Meanwhile, one major hospital in Harbin had stopped accepting new patients because of overcapacity and infections among medical staff, The Epoch Times reported on April 22. Some workers were being observed for symptoms at quarantine centers.

Nicole Hao and Reuters contributed to this report.

This article has been updated to clarify the type of restaurants that have shut down in Harbin.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Saturday emphasised that all 11 districts in the national capital will be in the 'red zone' till May 17.

"All 11 districts in Delhi will stay in the Red Zone till May 17. A red zone is defined where there are more than 10 cases of COVID-19 in a district. Relief measures given by Centre in red zones will be applicable here," Jain told ANI.

#WATCH All 11 districts in Delhi to stay in 'red zone' till May 17. A red zone is defined where there are more than 10 cases of #COVID19 in a district. Relief measures given by Centre in red zones will be applicable here: Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain pic.twitter.com/4KBmaPSXiv  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

The Union Health Ministry on Friday listed 130 districts across the country as red zones, ahead of the extension of the second phase of the nationwide lockdown from May 4.

Also, a total of 284 districts in the country have been classified as orange zones and 319 as green zones.

According to Jain, a total of 3,738 coronavirus positive cases were reported in the national capital till date and as many as 73 people recovered from the infection on Friday.

"A total of 3,738 cases have been reported in Delhi including 223 cases who tested positive yesterday. A total of 1,167 people... around 32 per cent of people have recovered," Jain said.

With 2,293 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number of cases in a single day, India's COVID-19 tally reached 37,336 on Saturday, including 1,218 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A Missouri mother lived through every parents worst nightmare when her 2-year-old daughter passed away. The brave mother now bears the pain of retelling her story in the hope that the loss of her child may save the lives of others.

Sierra Greenlees daughter, Arya, passed away on March 22, 2018, from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes, a condition that is not routinely tested for in preschool-aged children. After her daughters passing, Sierra made the brave decision to share her story of loss on social media in order to help raise awareness of the potentially deadly disease.

I have avoided this post for a while, the mom from Kansas posted on Facebook. I would like to share with you the worst night of my life. Not because I want your pity, but because I would like to inform you on an issue that is very important and no one really thinks about.

The early hours of March 22, 2018, were like any other, Sierra said. She finished work and headed to pick up her daughter from Aryas fathers house but arrived into a scene of panic: the babysitter was holding Arya, and the toddler wasnt breathing.

I ran her back inside and laid her down and started CPR on her little limp body, Sierra wrote. In my head I knew I needed to remain calm but I couldnt. Shortly thereafter, medics arrived and took over.

For the next hour while they tried desperately to bring me back my baby, I called my parents and her dad, Sierra wrote. I paced, I cried, I prayed. At times I felt like an outsider watching this awful event unfold.

The medics battled to revive Arya for an hour before the little girl and her mother were transported to hospital. It was there that Sierra received the devastating news that would change her world forever. The doctors told her that they did everything they could, but unfortunately, they were unable to revive her, and she did not survive.

[I]n that moment, Sierra recalled, I couldnt feel anything; it was like my heart had stopped, too. I was an empty shell. The shock was overwhelming.

Thirty minutes later, the explanation came. Aryas blood sugar had registered in the 500sthe normal range for a child of Aryas age is between 90 and 180 milligrams per deciliterand doctors believed she had been suffering from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes.

How could my baby have diabetes? Sierra asked, incredulous.

Arya had attended a wellness checkup only the week before, but the night that she passed away, she had slipped into a diabetic coma.

Sierra wrote that there were no signs of her daughter being a diabetic and that this disease does not run in either of her families.

[W]e had no idea, she wrote. Later I found out that diabetes is not something they test for in small children. They dont typically test until they are school-age and show signs.

I beg you to ask your childs doctor to test for [diabetes], Sierra said. I beg you to become aware of the signs and symptoms of childhood diabetes.

On March 1, 2019, Sierra reposted Aryas story on Facebook, saying that her daughters memory remained very close to her heart. I know most of you have read it but take a moment to share it again, Sierra wrote.

Last time it helped save the lives of 13 children. Lets make it more, she added.

According to Mayo Clinic, the signs and symptoms of juvenile Type 1 diabetes usually develop quickly. They may include increased thirst, frequent urination, intense hunger, weight loss, fatigue, irritability, or behavioral changes.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) reports that approximately 1.6 million Americans are living with Type 1 diabetes, of which 187,000 are children and adolescents. In addition, diabetes may be underreported as a cause of death; the ADA claims that only about 35 to 40 percent of deceased persons with diabetes had the condition listed anywhere on their death certificate.
Kim Jong-Un is alive, guys!

After weeks of speculation about his health and even rumours about his death, it turns out the dictator of North Korea is happy and healthy and back to work. People were already convinced that he's gone after news of him being hospitalized broke but apparently, it's not that easy to kill evil.

He made his first public appearance after weeks yesterday as he attended the opening of a fertilizer factory.

NEW: Kim Jong Un attended the opening of a fertilizer factory on May 1, in his first public appearance in weeks. - KCNA pic.twitter.com/k2c6t6nB40  Norbert Elekes (@NorbertElekes) May 2, 2020

Look at this picture once -

 Twitter

It's basically him saying 'abhi hum zinda hai', in full Feroz Khan from Welcome style.

 Base Industries Group

His reappearance seems like something straight out of a Hindi daily soap and it's like he basically pulled a Mihir Virani and just came back from the dead.

Or actually, it's also comparable to Jon Snow as well and I wouldn't be surprised if he has his own Melisandre who brought him back.

 HBO

There were so many jokes about how Kim Jong Un seems like the person to fake his own death to see how people would react and then take revenge on everyone who were even slightly happy about it. I hope we all stay safe.

Only kim jong un can decide when will kim jong un die!  Krunal Jain (@krunaljain2801) May 2, 2020

After this, I completely believe this.

What photoshop!

Oh no.

Homeboy was probably just going through a tough breakup. https://t.co/StOJKWOWbZ  Mr Gallivanter (@jose_themba) May 2, 2020

Fair enough.

He just went to eat panipuri in lockdown and now he is back. pic.twitter.com/gupus2SXwH    (@Bikaner_wala) May 2, 2020

The perfect reaction.

Stay safe, everyone.

Sir, these r the complete details of people who trolled you...#NorthKorea #KimJongUn pic.twitter.com/TrEan3wMEu  Ashish Dobariya (@Ashishpatel500) May 2, 2020

Definitely.

Everyone thought Kim Jong Un is dead, but he is not. He is the North Korean version of Mihir Virani.  Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 2, 2020

Oops.

Umm.

There are just so many parallels.

What is this edit?

Oh no!
It's been a pretty great week for China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings Limited (HKG:3669) shareholders, with its shares surging 11% to HK$7.86 in the week since its latest annual results. It looks like the results were a bit of a negative overall. While revenues of CN63b were in line with analyst predictions, statutory earnings were less than expected, missing estimates by 2.2% to hit CN0.80 per share. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings

SEHK:3669 Past and Future Earnings May 1st 2020

Following the latest results, China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings' 21 analysts are now forecasting revenues of CN67.5b in 2020. This would be a credible 7.6% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to expand 10% to CN0.88. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CN67.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN0.91 in 2020. The analysts seem to have become a little more negative on the business after the latest results, given the small dip in their earnings per share numbers for next year.

The consensus price target held steady at CN8.90, with the analysts seemingly voting that their lower forecast earnings are not expected to lead to a lower stock price in the foreseeable future. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. Currently, the most bullish analyst values China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings at CN15.46 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CN6.12. We would probably assign less value to the analyst forecasts in this situation, because such a wide range of estimates could imply that the future of this business is difficult to value accurately. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Story continues

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings' past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings' revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 7.6%, compared to a historical growth rate of 14% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 10% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while revenue growth is expected to slow down, the wider industry is also expected to grow faster than China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings.

The Bottom Line

The biggest concern is that the analysts reduced their earnings per share estimates, suggesting business headwinds could lay ahead for China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have forecasts for China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - China Yongda Automobiles Services Holdings has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

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.
As Philadelphias own public health department reported a high and rising number of deaths caused by the coronavirus, the state health departments count for the city remained stuck at a much lower number. Read more

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PennLive/Patriot-News. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

HARRISBURG  Philadelphias health department continues to report a drastically higher COVID-19 death toll than Pennsylvanias official number, one of the clearest examples of the state Health Departments challenges in compiling timely information about the virus.

For weeks, state officials have cited obstacles in reporting COVID-19 data. They have blamed counties for lags in providing information to the state, along with issues in data reconciliation  like delays caused by software upgrades, troublesome algorithms, and a wonky web of disjointed technologies.

Over the last week, as Philadelphias own Public Health Department reported a high and rising number of deaths caused by the coronavirus, the state Health Departments count for the city remained stuck at a much lower number.

About a third of the count in Wednesday's surge represented deaths of Philadelphia residents, bringing the states total toll for the city from 276 to 424 overnight.

[W]e are happy to see our numbers are coming together, James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said Wednesday. The discrepancies, Garrow said, had been definitely causing confusion.

The number from the state, 424, held steady on Thursday and Friday, then dropped by two on Saturday. Meanwhile, the citys own tally rose to 607, then 638 on Friday and 705 on Saturday.

In Pennsylvania, just six counties, including Philadelphia, have their own health departments. These counties perform their own COVID-19 case investigations and release counts on their own websites.

Some count discrepancies are inevitable, county and state officials said, due to reasonable lag times and issues with comparing and vetting the data.

Whats been less clear, though, is why Philadelphias self-reported number remains so much higher than the states total. The situation is an outlier compared with Pennsylvanias other county-run health departments.

In Montgomery County, the local count is lower than the states, though the discrepancy is not as severe as in Philadelphia. The other county departments  Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, and Erie  have shown numbers largely aligned with the state.

On Tuesday, the night before the most recent surge, Nate Wardle, a spokesperson for the state Health Department, told Spotlight PA that county health departments, coroners, hospitals, and other providers report deaths to the state.

And while we request the counties to provide us with their numbers they are not required to do so, he said. Because of that there may be a lag time between the county reporting its own numbers and subsequently sending them to the state to include in its data.

But Philadelphia is regularly sending the state data on its deaths.

Twice a week, they pass along whats called, in public health lingo, a line list (basically, an Excel spreadsheet) with death information to the state. The list encompasses all of the [COVID-19] deaths that we know of, Garrow said.

The onus is then on the state to take the information Philadelphia sends and reconcile it into PA-NEDSS, the system Pennsylvania uses to track disease surveillance.

When asked why the city is sending information only twice a week, not daily, Garrow said they had been working to find the right frequency, so as not to overwhelm the state Health Department. The state, Garrow said, is inputting the data into the system manually.

To their credit, theyre trying to get it right, Garrow added.

Wardle did not provide specifics on what the state does with Philadelphias line list. Instead, he offered a broad response about the state working with the citys department to get information.

At this time, we are receiving COVID-19 deaths from them and working to reconcile those deaths into the other data that we are working to reconcile, Wardle said.

Levine has spoken repeatedly about issues the state has faced while reconciling data from different sources.

On Wednesday, she said the days update included data matched from our Electronic Death [Registration] System over the past 10 days.

That system, referred to as EDRS, is managed by the state Health Departments Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries. The department denied Spotlight PAs request to speak to the director of the bureau.

Since March 6, Pennsylvania has required the states on-the-ground death reporters  physicians, coroners, and medical examiners  to use EDRS when certifying deaths attributed to the virus.

This requirement is important because, according to a state Health Department document, EDRS is the system the bureau uses to report daily COVID-19 death information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, PA-NEDSS is the sole system listed on the states official COVID-19 web page as the source of its coronavirus data.

Technical issues with the two systems have caused serious problems for the state.

In mid-April, when the states reporting of Philadelphias deaths started to lag behind those of the city, officials blamed delays on an upgrade to the EDRS software.

Wednesdays spike in the death count was attributed to issues with algorithms that automate the process of moving data from EDRS to PA-NEDSS.

When Spotlight PA asked to examine the code behind the algorithms, the department declined the request.

Despite the states efforts to reconcile COVID-19 death data, officials have decided to leave out a category that experts said is dangerous to ignore: probable deaths.

A probable death refers to one where a physician, medical examiner, or coroner certifies that theres clinical evidence of COVID-19, but no test was administered to confirm the presence of the virus.

The state added those deaths into their official count last week, only to rescind more than 200 of them two days later.

Pennsylvanias removal of probable deaths was a split from CDC guidance, first issued in early April. The guidance said it is a legitimate, accepted practice to report a COVID-19 death as probable if the death was likely to have been caused by the virus but a test could not be performed.

The state said it removed probable deaths, a category Levine said can be confusing for the public, because more investigation was needed. (Adding to the confusion is the fact that Pennsylvanias count does still include probable cases that become deaths  meaning individuals were reported officially to the state as likely to have the virus before they died.)

At times, there are things we need to review, and potentially revisit the way the data is being analyzed, Levine said last week of the situation. And this is one of those times.

In the days following, Spotlight PA repeatedly asked the department about its analysis and the decision to remove many deaths from the count. Wardle responded: In our attempt to do daily reporting we ran queries that had incorrect data.

He declined to specify what exactly about the data was determined to be incorrect.

100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA relies on funding from foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. If you value this reporting, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.
Even teleprompter could not take so many lies: Rahul's dig at PM Modis Davos speech

PM CARES Fund: No curb on use of PM's name, photo, image of flag, emblem, PMO tells HC

Proposal to change rules for central deputation of IAS officers affects states' administration: Mamata to PM

Use technology, enhance learning PM Modi advises education sector

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to deliberate on the issues and reforms required in education sector including National Education Policy(NEP).

Special emphasis was given on the use of technology in the education sector and enhancing learning and adapting by the use of technology such as online classes, education portal and class-wise broadcast on dedicated education channels.

The focus was on bringing uniformity in education providing universal access to quality education, improving the quality of elementary education, through a new national curriculum framework that focuses on multi-linguistic, 21st century skills, integration of sport and art, environmental issues etc.

Save cost, reduce flying time: PM Modi during meet with Civil Aviation Ministry

The use and promotion of technology in various modes for education at school and higher levels was discussed in detail - i.e. online mode, TV channels, radio, podcasts etc.

Reforming the higher education scenario by making Indian Education System at par with the highest global standards making education effective, inclusive, contemporary rooted in the Indian culture and ethos. Overall, the emphasis was given on early childhood care and education, foundational literacy and numeracy, adapting contemporary pedagogy, preserving the cultural and linguistic diversity of India with a special focus on early vocationalisation of education.

PM Modi chairs key review meet; Amit Shah, Goyal in attendance

It was decided to usher in education reforms to create a vibrant knowledge society by ensuring higher quality education to all thereby making India a 'Global knowledge Super Power'.

To achieve all these goals and to ensure efficient educational governance extensive use of technology including Artificial Intelligence will be promoted.
If you still have a pile of leaves that were raked to the curb last fall for city workers to pick up, better get busy bagging them.

The city wont resume mechanical leaf collection in select neighbourhoods until autumn, leaving residents whose leaves were not picked up due to snowstorms last November to fend for themselves.

Its one of the more contentious services provided by the city: workers rake leaves piled on boulevards into the curb, where a front-end loader scrapes them up and empties them into a dump truck.

The program applies to heavily-treed areas in Etobicoke and Scarborough, where the volume of leaves is exceptionally high. Some people who dont get the service are resentful about those who do.

The city typically schedules two passes on streets that qualify, usually from mid-November to mid-December. But the early part was cancelled after the Nov. 11 storm that dumped about 15 centimetres of snow on the GTA.

The collection schedule was revised, but a second big snowstorm later in November knocked it for another loop. By the time the snow melted, it was too late. The program was quietly cancelled for streets that had yet to be serviced.

With spring settled in, some people are still hoping city workers will appear. Among them was Thom Norris, who emailed me about a huge pile of leaves on the street in front of his house on Greenmount Court, near the Queensway and Royal York Road.

After his street was missed last fall, a monstrous pile of matted wet leaves extends well into the roadway, said Norris. While I appreciate that early snowfalls deterred some pickup, my frequent appeals to 311 went unheeded.

I tried putting out several garbage pails of the heavy mess every two weeks, but at age 86 I am exhausted by the prospect that I cannot manage the heavy lifting.

STATUS: We asked the city if a catch-up effort is planned, expecting that the answer would be no. So it was no surprise to get an email from Eric Holmes, a spokesperson for transportation services, confirming as much. Due to early snowfalls this past fall, mechanical leaf pickup in Etobicoke and Scarborough was delayed. Staff looked for opportunities to extend the service between snowfalls and thawing periods before mid-December. At this point, there are no plans for mechanical leaf collection to continue this spring. Since Norris is 86, I called him and offered to bag his leaves myself, but he said his neighbours would help him. Thank goodness for neighbours.
Tara Reade, a former Senate staffer who has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, told AP in an exclusive interview that she filed a "limited" report on Biden with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual harassment or assault.

Driving the news: Biden sent a letter to the Secretary of the Senate on Friday asking for a search of his records to try to locate a complaint that Reade allegedly made in 1993 about Biden.

Biden addressed the allegations for the first time on Friday, saying in an MSNBC interview and in a statement: "They arent true. This never happened."

the allegations for the first time on Friday, saying in an MSNBC interview and in a statement: "They arent true. This never happened." Reade has previously said she filed a written complaint with a "Senate personnel office" in 1993.

What she's saying: I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable, Reade told the AP on Friday. I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.

Reade told the AP: The main word I used  and I know I didnt use sexual harassment  I used uncomfortable. And I remember retaliation.

Flashback: The Washington Post's editorial board this week called on Biden to release the old Senate records stored at the University of Delaware.

Go deeper:
After just three years in business and in the first year of its eligibility, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth was rated the No. 1 investment advisory firm in Canada.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Melissa Tait / Winnipeg Free Press files Wellington-Altus founder Charlie Spiring.

After just three years in business and in the first year of its eligibility, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth was rated the No. 1 investment advisory firm in Canada.

The ranking, produced by the publication Investment Executive, surveys financial advisors at the 14 largest firms in the country including the Big Six banks investment firms.

Wellington-Altus score was the highest by far.

"Not all firms were equal," Investment Executive said. "The gap between the... ratings for the top- and lowest-rated firms was significantly wider than a year ago (at 2.7 in 2020 versus 1.9 in 2019), and it seems that a clearly communicated firm strategy can make or break a rating."

Wellington-Altus racked up an average score of 9.6. Only three others broke 9.0.

With a focus on technology and an aggressive acquisition strategy, the firm has grown to about 22 offices, 250 employees and $10 billion in assets under administration. The firm has been particularly successful attracting top producers from other firms across the country.

Founded by Charlie Spiring, the Winnipeg broker who founded and grew Wellington West capital and sold it to National Bank Financial in 2011, Wellington-Altus is on an even faster growth trajectory than Wellington West ever was.

"It took Wellington West 18 years to get to $10 billion," Spiring said. "This time we did it in three years and with a bear market."

But the COVID-induced market collapse in March has been followed by a significant spike in April.

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"I started in 1981 and it was an awful market that year," Spiring said. "I have been through several of them. I do my best work here."

And Spiring said the irony is that April has been the best month on the markets since 1987.

"Its never been easier to make money," he said. "No one seems to give a hoot about the bounce back weve had."

Advisors were asked how they rate their firm on more than two dozen categories and Wellington-Altus was the top ranking firm in just about every one.

"We run an enviable book and we are doing it in Winnipeg," Spiring said. "Everyone keeps telling me I have to do it in Toronto. How can we have the best back office, the best service, the best technologies and we are in a backwater called Winnipeg? Its a really great thing."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
As of May 1, 14 917 people were registered in Belarus with COVID-19 positive test results

Open source

The growth rate of new cases of coronavirus in Belarus is one of the highest in the WHO European Region; the organization calls for immediate action to strengthen measures of physical distance. Batyr Berdyklychev, the representative of the WHO in Belarus, stated this in an interview with TUT.BY.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Health, the country has seen a steady increase in the number of new cases of COVID-19 over the past 4.5 weeks. At the same time, the growth rate of new cases in Belarus is one of the highest in the WHO European Region, he said.

According to Berdyklychev, the development of the epidemic is largely dependent on the response being undertaken nationwide. The epidemic in Belarus has entered the phase of local transmission of infection among the population, which requires immediate action to strengthen measures of physical distance.

If the current situation persists, we will most likely be forced to observe a further increase in new cases, the WHO representative said.

According to him, even taking into account the possibilities of laboratory diagnostics of countries, Belarus has a rather high indicator in the number of cases per 1 million population.

Over the past day, the increase in new cases of coronavirus in this country amounted to 846 cases. This is somewhat less than in the previous days. On April 29, there were 973 new cases, on April 28 - 919.

As of May 1, Belarusian doctors registered 14,917 people with COVID-19 positive test results.

As we reported before, at least 23 people, including 13 disabled children, were infected with the coronavirus in the orphanage of the Belarusian city of Glusk.
(Newser)  North Carolina detectives say they know who's behind car thefts worth over $1 millionbut arresting them is another thing, the Charlotte Observer reports. Police are eyeing 19 young people in the thefts of 46 cars from dealerships in and around Winston-Salem starting in March, but the kids, aged 9 to 16, are walking away. "Detectives have sought, and thus far have been denied, secure custody orders from the Forsyth County Department of Juvenile Justice for the involved juveniles," the police say in a statement. Police didn't explain, but North Carolina public-safety officials have said they're trying to lower the number of young people in detention amid the pandemic and rely on electronic monitoring.

story continues below

Police nabbed the one adult suspect, 19-year-old Mekeal Binns, and charged him with violating probation, resisting arrest, and possession of a stolen vehicle; he's behind bars on a $20,000 bond, per CNN. But as it stands, the police are reduced to helping local dealerships protect themselves from future thieves. Seems the cars were taken on joyrides by juveniles bored with self-isolation, and 40 of the 46 vehicles have been recovered. Police say a few of the kids started it: "Their success in the early stages certainly exacerbated the problem," a police captain tells the Journal. "These other kids saw them with a new car, and they shared how they acquired it." The Drive calls it "Peter Pan meets Grand Theft Auto." (Read more car theft stories.)
Tehran, May 2 : Iran's envoy to the UNsaid the US' move for the extension of an arms embargo on Tehran lacked a legal standing and it will be turned down at the UN Security Council, state TV reported on Saturday.

The countries "will not accept to be a partner in the Americans' very ugly measure that runs against international law", Majid Takht-Ravanchi made the remarks on Friday after Washington drafted a resolution to indefinitely prolong the arms embargo on Iran.

"That the US wants to say it is a member of the JCPOA (the Iranian 2015 nuclear deal) and use the path of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (which has endorsed the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal) is similar to a joke," Takht-Ravanchi was quoted as saying.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that Washington was considering "every possibility" to renew the ban on selling conventional arms to Iran, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We're not going to let that happen," he said, adding that the US administration is urging the three European signatories to the JCPOA "to take action which is within their capacity today".

The US will urge the UN Security Council to extend JCPOA-endorsed arms embargo on Iran which ends in six months' time, he added.

Takht-Ravanchi said that by withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018, the US has violated both Resolution 2231 and its commitments stipulated under the JCPOA.

"What the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and some other US officials said ... have no legal standing in international law," the envoy added.
A non-stop train carrying around 1,100 stranded 'guest workers' from Kerala left for Hatiain Jharkhand on Saturday.

Four more trains are expected to leave with the workers from Tirur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam South and Alua stations later this evening for Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.

The train left the central station here at around 3.25 PM, railway sources said.

The passengers, including women, children and the elderly, are expected to reach Jharkandon Monday, the sources said.

This is the second train which left with the guest workers, a day after around 1,100 migrant workers from Aluva in Kochi left for Bhubaneswar in Odisha on Friday night.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There are all sorts of ways to thank the essential workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic: fundraisers, giving platforms, clapouts, and delivered food, for starters.

But one New Jersey resident is thanking these people a different waywith balloon art.

Eddie Lin, of Edison, has been creating balloon pieces for grocery store workers, postal mail carriers, and other essential workers as a token of appreciation for their work and dedication.

He created a balloon-grocery shopping cart for his close friends mother, a manager at a local supermarket to say thank you last week.

And he recently made a balloon mailman and mail truck replica, after a person reached out wanting to order a special gift for her dad, who is a mail carrier. (The mailman balloon was then donated to her as an appreciation gift. The truck will go to the Lin familys local postal service office.)

The Ausome team has been busy spreading thanks to all the amazing people who have been working everyday to keep the... Posted by Ausome Balloon Creator on Sunday, April 19, 2020

We want to continue thanking our essential workers! Thank you to the postal workers who are delivering through snow, sleet, and pandemic! Mail is important! US Postal Service Posted by Ausome Balloon Creator on Monday, April 27, 2020

Eddie, now 22, started creating balloon art when he was 10, his mom Jenny said. Officially diagnosed with autism at three years old, Eddiea visual learnerstarted watching tutorials on YouTube and making pieces.

But it wasnt until 2014 when Eddie began taking balloon art classes that his side hobby became a viable part-time job. The Lin family traveled to Taiwan to visit family, which is where his mom set up lessons with a professional balloon artist.

Around the same time, Jenny saw a change in Eddiewith the help of therapy, he was more flexible with the orders. Previously he would be persistent with the balloons, unwilling to make a color change or deviate from a design for potential customers. But now Eddie was willing to make those changes, opening up an opportunity.

Thats when I realized he is at a point in his journey hes able to adapt, Jenny said. In the past he would just make stuff to give (to) his doctors or therapist. People were amazed with his talent, but we didnt really make anything out of it.

As a result of the lessons, Eddies side business, Ausome Balloon Creator, took off. Although he creates the pieces, the business is a family affair. Eddies younger brother helps him with large events, like birthday parties and bat mitzvahs; his sister covers the marketing and social media aspect; his dad is the delivery man for large orders; and his mom is his main partner.

She runs the Facebook page and takes orders. When they took classes in Taiwan, Jenny translated for him.

The pair has even traveled for Lins balloon artistry. They attended a convention in Missouri, thanks to Steven Jones, a well-established person in the balloon industry. Jones, the owner of Balloon Designers, hosted the convention and extended an invitation and scholarship to Eddie.

He has been very kind and giving support and guidance to Eddie, Jenny said of Jones. He saw something on the internet and took an interest in him and were very thankful.

Jenny and Eddie went to the convention together in January 2019 and 2020. They have a system: she takes notes and he does the hands-on work. Then afterward, they practice together, doing what she called dry runs.

He calls me his balloon whisperer, Jenny said.

The balloon business is not Eddies full-time gighe also has a part-time job at a local library and volunteers at a school. But with the pandemic, both avenues have temporarily closed, allowing more time for the balloons.

More recently, Eddie also participated in One Million Bubbles of Hope, an initiative started by Jones, the balloon artist in Seattle. The projects intent is for members of the professional balloon industry to share their talents, reminding people of hope and kindness in light of COVID-19.

You might remember when we went LIVE for #OneMillionBubbles of joy. Today, were participating in One Million Bubbles of... Posted by Ausome Balloon Creator on Saturday, April 11, 2020

Jenny said she is in contact with a nearby childrens hospital to see if Eddie can create something for them. There are certain allergy concerns, but she's looking into the idea.

Balloons bring people happiness and joy, she said.

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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-03 01:03:06|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A more aggressive stand adopted by some top U.S. administration officials against China on economic, diplomatic and scientific issues at the heart of the relationship between the world's first and second largest economies may backfire, reported The New York Times on Saturday.

"Along with lost opportunities to fight the (COVID-19) pandemic, climate change and other transnational threats, U.S. efforts to punish China could backfire badly," Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor of government at Cornell University, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "Weakening sovereign immunity to sue China could boomerang back."

China controls a vast supply of the masks and protective gear needed by American hospitals. "And if China develops a vaccine first, it will wield a powerful card, one that will bolster its global standing and give it leverage over the health of hundreds of millions of Americans," it reported.

China is likely to emerge from the recession caused by the pandemic faster than other nations, said the paper. "The United States - still reeling from the virus, with more than 1 million infected and more than 64,000 dead - will probably rely on economic activity in Asia to help prop up its own economy."

The newspaper listed the executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump to stop the import of foreign equipment for power plants and transmission systems, the request by several agencies for the Federal Communication Commission to ban China Telecom Americas from domestic networks, as well as the support of some White House aides this week for Trump to issue another executive order to block a government pension fund from investing in Chinese companies, among others, as the recent actions or tendencies that have dampened the bilateral ties between China and the United States.

With COVID-19 lingering in the United States, "the Trump administration may feel cornered into taking enforcement actions against China, even on dubious grounds, to show how tough they are," explained Wendy Cutler, a vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. Enditem
When Ishmael finds himself compelled to share a blanket at the sold-out Spouter Inn, he declares, No man prefers to sleep two in a bed. But he settles in, waiting for his mysterious South Seas roommate who, hes informed, is peddling a shrunken head on the streets of New Bedford. Queequegs appearance terrifies Ishmael mute. But after things equilibrate, Ishmael reconsiders: For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal  a human being just as I am.  Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian.

In the morning Ishmael wakes to find Queequegs arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had been his wife. Now theres no panic. Eventually Queequeg rouses and, by signs and sounds, makes Ishmael understand that hell dress and leave. The truth is, these savages have an innate sense of delicacy, Ishmael editorializes. It is marvelous how essentially polite they are.  So much civility and consideration, while I was guilty of great rudeness. Reflecting on Queequegs tatted visage, he concludes: Savage though he was, and hideously marred about the face  at least to my taste  his countenance yet had a something in it which was by no means disagreeable. You cannot hide the soul.  Queequeg was George Washington cannibalistically developed.

Mates now for life, they find a ship, but Queequeg is barred; hes not Christian. Ishmael fast-talks: Queequeg, like all of us, and every mothers son and soul of us, belongs to the great and everlasting First Congregation of this whole worshiping world.  In that we all join hands. Impressed by Ishmaels impromptu sermon, the recruiter allows their marks; theyll board the Pequod, a ship Melville has named, he reminds us, for a famed tribe of Massachusetts natives, already extinct.

Nearly two centuries ago, Melville showed us how easy it is to welcome as our own the touches of others, their equivalent colors, customs and beliefs; their journeys, their transitions. And to remember those who, unwelcomed, suffered. How much could have been avoided, and embraced, had we heeded.

Melville feverishly scribbled a diagnosis, prognosis and prescription for the human condition. We are all Ishmael the ingenue and Starbuck the pragmatist and Ahab the maniac, stuck on a ship driven by winds we cannot predict, helmed by a mind not fully comprehensible, whose compulsions we dont control. The world is an elusive whale; we might choose coexistence or destruction. And though we do not decide the outcome, the hands on those oars are ours; each stroke invites consequences. And lest we overlook the obvious: The men went equipped to do harm in their quest for  oil. If we are all Ishmael and Starbuck and Ahab, caught in our collective addiction, the whales exemplify a counterculture, a way of living weightlessly, of not draining the world that floats them.

Its no coincidence that Leviathan, the sperm whale, is Melvilles chosen vehicle. No other candidate qualifies. Ahab could have chased a fire-breathing dragon. But to face real quotidian madness we must have at stake real blood and real will on both sides. Only this creature  the largest with teeth on the planet  comes to us as quickened flesh and immortal metaphor, tangling us with our own pursuits, profane, bleeding, sacred, free. Only Leviathan could do it. Could win.

So one wonders about those whove turned the book aside  as, in college, I did. How does one fare, having failed to be forewarned about our inner Ahabs or the risks of being led into complicity with madness, uncounseled on the wisdom of rejecting the obsessive quests that the worlds pulpits condone and its ports reward. Moby-Dick is only partly about madness; its equally about banality.

Herman Melvilles haunting inquiry  whether Leviathan can long endure so wide a chase, and so remorseless a havoc  returns to me again while every whale in every ocean returns to share our air in seas were warming and thickening with plastic. If ever the world is to be again flooded, like the Netherlands, to kill off its rats, Melville mused, then the eternal whale will still survive, and  spout his frothed defiance to the skies. But the warming that will erode the contours of Florida and New York, Houston, Hong Kong and Bangladesh will make life difficult for whales, too. They, and all beings, as the naturalist Henry Beston wrote, are caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth. Mesh by knotted mesh, its a net we have woven, perversely, by unweaving the web of life. Melville tried to warn us.
Contributed Photo

WESTPORT  Police said there is no threat to the public after a call about a possible explosive item on Friday brought first responders to a town condo complex.

Police and fire units responded to the Regents Park Condominium complex at 1400 Post Road East around 6 p.m. for a report of a possible explosive item found in a unit, according to Police Lt. Anthony Prezioso.
Thane district in Maharashtra



recorded 97 coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the count to 1,108, with Navi Mumbai accounting for 39 of the new cases, health officials said.

Two people died of the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of deceased to 31, they said.

"Among those who tested positive in Navi Mumbai are a doctor from Thane, a police personnel posted at Mumbai's JJ Hospital, a lab technician and five kin of a pharmacist who was detected with the infection earlier," an official said.

In Palghar, the COVID-19 count stood at 176, and the day also witnessed 56 people getting discharged after recovery in the Mira Bhayander civic area.

The COVID-19 count as on Saturday evening was TMC at 372, KDMC 181, Mira Bhayander 165, Navi Mumbai 289, Ulhasnagar nine, Bhiwandi 16, Ambernath 10, Badlapur 35, and Thane Rural 31.

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




Haiti - FLASH : Fire of a Haitian cargo ship off Long Island, 1 dead, 6 missing, 2 survivors





In the night from Thursday to Friday around 1:30 am, the Operations Center of the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) was alerted of a medical emergency concerning the MV Fish Farmer, a 24 m Haitian cargo with hull steel. Which was off Stella Maris, (Long Island, Bahamas archipelago) about 10 miles from the East Coast of Salt Pond.



The captain of the ship en route to Haiti from New Providence requested permission from the authorities to enter the territorial waters of the Bahamas. However, a little later, the captain of the ship informed that the woman on board who needed medical treatment had died and that there was a fire on board.



Local police officials assisted by residents using jet skis attempted to intervene but were unable to assist due to the intensity of the flames on the ship. In addition, rescue efforts were launched by the RBDF (aircraft) and the United States Coast Guard, which were hampered by the weather.



9 people were on board (6 Haitians and 2 Bahamians). Two Haitians (50 and 30) managed to reach the coast at Millers by swimming most of the night. According to the two survivors found by residents and the police, the boat had caught fire due to an explosion in the engine room... The survivors claimed that during the trip, a woman traveling on board and suffered from a illness unrelated to Covid-19, had worsened and died.



Despite these testimonies, health professionals carried out an initial on-site verification and noted that the men showed no sign of Covid-19.



The two survivors are currently in police custody in Simms (Long Island). However in accordance with the Covid-19 tests on the two men are currently being analyzed,



Six people still missing and search for possible survivors continues



TB/ HaitiLibre


















A 36-year-old Mumbai resident was arrested after seizure of 340 g of methamphetamine drug worth Rs 35 lakh from his car on Thursday, said an official.

Rohan Gawans, who lives in Mumbais Malad area, was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).The drug was found in his car parked in the compound of the residential society where he lives.

The DRI also raided a factory, Rohan Chemicals Private Limited, in the same area and seized raw material used to manufacture the drug. The factory is owned by Rohan and his family.

Gawans was produced before a court on Friday and sent to judicial custody till May 13.

Methamphetamine, commonly known as ice among drug users, is a recreational drug which is also less commonly used as a second line of treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and obesity.

Rohan was earlier arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in July 2017 from the Mumbai international airport based on a lookout notice, but came out on bail after spending 17 months in prison, said DRI officials.

DRI conducted the raid on Thursday after the agency received reliable inputs about the drug being concealed in a golden-coloured Toyata Innova vehicle parked at Marvel Arch Cooperative Housing Society near Mittal College in Malad (West). This is the society where Rohan Gawans lives.

Officials said that a search of the vehicle was conducted in the presence of Rohan Gawans, and the drug was found concealed neatly inside the spare tyre attached to the rear end of the vehicle.

A senior DRI official, requesting anonymity said, Investigations so far indicate that Rohan used to step out regularly to supply drugs to his regular clients during lockdown. He was taking advantage of the lockdown conditions while police officials were busy dealing with Covid-19. Also, he took it as an opportunity to earn more money as those who consumed it would not hesitate to pay him two to three times the regular price.

The countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus that first began on March 25., has been extended twice since then. It will now end on May 17. The latest announcement of extending the lockdown was made on Friday by the Centre.

In the 2017 case, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had also named his father Prabhakar Gawans for helping Rohan manufacture drugs in the factory. The NCB too had raided the factory in 2017 and found raw materials including 4-Methylpropiophenone and Potassium Dichromate used to manufacture the drug. We are investigating how the factory started operating again, said DRI officials.

DRI is now analysing Rohans phone calls and contact details to know about his associates and clients, and is also investigating his bank accounts and transactions. Gawans has been booked under relevant sections of Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act, said DRI officials.
Friday marks one year since Japan's Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne. He has taken part in a number of ceremonies related to his accession over the past 12 months.

The Emperor proclaimed his accession in an enthronement ceremony in October during which he pledged to fulfill his responsibility as the symbol of the State while turning his thoughts to the people and standing by them .

Over the past year, the Emperor, along with Empress Masako, visited three prefectures for annual events formerly attended by Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko.

Late last year, the Emperor and Empress also traveled to the northeastern prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima where they spoke to people affected by Typhoon Hagibis, the deadly storm that devastated parts of the country in October.

But the couple have drastically scaled back their activities this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. A planned visit to the United Kingdom has been postponed.

The Emperor has received briefings from experts in various fields about the effects of the outbreak on people's lives. He also met with the vice chair of the government's panel of infectious disease experts on April 10 to learn more about the situation.

The Emperor says he hopes people will work together to contain the virus and overcome the current predicament.
Updates from the coronavirus pandemic from May 2, 2020.

More than 3.4 million people have tested positive for the virus worldwide, with more than 240,000 deaths.

In some areas of the United States, social distancing restrictions began to ease. More than 65,000 Americans have died.

Both Russia and India, which extended its lockdown another two weeks, saw their highest single-day rise in cases.

For the latest live updates, click here.
(Photo : Photo by Stefan Stefancik on Unsplash) Scientists have detected radio signals coming from outer space.

Astronomers have detected a radio signal coming from the Milky Way. The signal obtained is called a fast radio burst, which lasts milliseconds, and comes from deep within outer space.

Because the radio signal was so brief, it was only identified after being recorded in the satellite data. Scientists are currently still trying to figure out where such signals came from.

This isn't the first time satellites have picked out radio signals from space. The first FRBs were identified over a decade ago. Theories of their sources include cataclysmic events, particularly when two neutron stars collide with each other or a collapsing black hole.

However, these assumptions were dismissed when another FRB was detected. According to scientists, a black hole can only collapse once, which suggests that the source could be something else.

An international group of scientists has come together over the years to solve the mystery of the FRBs. As the years went by, more instances of FRBs occurred. Earlier this year, a group of experts traced an FRB back to a strange V-shaped star-forming region in a vast spiral galaxy half a billion light-years away.

The latest detection was disclosed in The Astronomer's Telegram, saying that bright radio burst came from the active magnetar known as SGR 1935+2154. This is a type of neutron star, the collapsed core of a massive star that is thought to have a compelling magnetic field.

The information was gathered on Tuesday. Scientists will first need to study the burst and validate their findings. If proven correct, they say it would be the first FRB ever detected originating from our own galaxy.

So far, other researchers studying FRBs have welcomed the findings. Jason W. T. Hessels, a Senior Scientist at ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, described the discovery as a "breakthrough' for the field.

Read Also: Don't Miss! Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower To Light the Sky This Weekend

More To Investigate

Hessels said that the possibility of bursting magnetars being the source of some FRBs is vigorously being considered. However, he says that a key question still remains. Do all FRBs come from bursting magnetars, or do they come from a variety of varied origins?

Hessels also mentioned how it was interesting that an X-ray burst was detected at the same location. He says it helps in showing how the burst released much energy.

According to him, it helps scientists understand what actually happened to the neutron star and its magnetosphere.

Andrew Siemion, Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center and Principal Investigator of Breakthrough Listen, described the results as "very exciting." He said one of the crucial questions about FRBs is what is generating them. He said if the results are proven to be accurate, it would be "strong evidence" that some FRBs arise from magnetars.

Siemion said that the link between magnetars and FRB occurrence would still present some critical questions. Some of these would question why only certain magnetars produce FRBs, and what gives rise to the repetition seen in specific FRB sources. Another question left hanging is if there is a possibility of a second or third source of single-pulse FRBs independent of the magnetar model.

Providing answers to such questions will necessitate more observations, but knowing that sources like SGR 1935+2134 can produce bright radio pulses provides a supportive hint as to where scientists ought to be looking, he says.

Also Read: Lunar Meteorites For Sale: Fifth Largest Moon Rock Found on Earth Up For Grabs For $2.5 Million
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China's infamous 'bat woman' coronavirus scientist has denied reports circulating on social media that she attempted to defect from the Chinese regime.

Rumors had begun to spread across social media over the past 48 hours that Shi Zhengli had escaped from China, and brought hundreds of confidential documents to the U.S. embassy in Paris.

Shi, a renowned researcher of bat-derived coronaviruses, wrote on WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, on Saturday that she and her family had never fled the country and had no intention to do so.

This message was reposted by The Global Times, a paper published with approval from the Chinese Communist Party.

Shi said: 'Everything is all right for my family and me, dear friends!' She also posted nine photos of her recent life.

'No matter how difficult things are, it (defecting) shall never happen. We've done nothing wrong. With strong belief in science, we will see the day when the clouds disperse and the sun shines.'

Despite the The Global Times' ties to the ruling party, the story has now been republished by South China Morning Post, The Week, and International Business Times

Chinese researchers of bat-related viruses studied a sample which had a 96 per cent genetic match to Covid-19 as early as 2013;

Their 'risky' research found in 2015 that the disease was transmissible from bats to humans;

Information on asymptomatic carriers of the disease was 'kept silent' by the Chinese state;

Beijing started censoring search engines in December to stop any internet surfing relating to the virus;

The World Health Organisation followed China by denying evidence of human-to-human transmission until late January despite concerns raised by neighbouring countries';

The Five Eyes countries lashed out at China for criticising other countries' flight freezes while simultaneously locking down Hubei Province.

Chinese researcher Shi Zhengli from WIV, CAS, had isolated a SARS-like coronavirus from the Chinese horseshoe bat, a species widespread in China and southeast Asia

Shi is a renowned virologist, internationally known for her work with bat coronaviruses at her lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Rumors had previously claimed that Shi had been 'muzzled' by the government following the initial outbreak amidst the disappearance of other scientists working in Wuhan at the same time.

The spotlight has fallen on Shi amid concerns that the virus had originated from the Wuhan lab where she worked.

On February 2, Shi denied this saying: 'I promise with my life that the virus has nothing to do with the lab'.

The news comes as a new intelligence document shows China lied about the human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, made whistle-blowers disappear and refused to help nations develop a vaccine, a leaked intelligence dossier reveals.

The 15-page document drawn up by the Five Eyes security alliance brands Beijing's secrecy over the pandemic an 'assault on international transparency' and points to cover-up tactics deployed by the regime.

It claims that the Chinese government silenced its most vocal critics and scrubbed any online scepticism about its handling of the health emergency from the internet.

China has roundly come under fire for suppressing the scale of its early outbreak which did not afford other nations time to react before the disease hit their shores.

Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping administration in a memo obtained by the Australian Saturday Telegraph.

The smoking gun file claims to have found evidence the virus spawned in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, close to the wet market China says it came from, and unearths 'risky' research on bat-related diseases stretching back years.

It describes how Beijing was outwardly downplaying the outbreak on the world stage while secretly scrambling to bury all traces of the disease.

This involved 'destroying' laboratory samples, bleaching wet market stalls, censoring the growing evidence of 'silent carriers' of the virus and stonewalling sample requests from other countries.

The secrecy has fanned a clamour in Five Eyes nations for Western governments to come down hard on Beijing when the pandemic eventually passes.

Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline that 'at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China'.

In a damning portrayal of a mass cover-up, the bombshell report reveals:

Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping (pictured) administration in a memo

A leaked 15-page dossier from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance claims China's secrecy over the pandemic is an 'assault on international transparency'. The files show the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (above)

How the Five Eyes alliances lets the English -speaking countries share intelligence The Five Eyes alliance is an intelligence-sharing pact among the leading English-speaking nations: US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It is one of the most comprehensive pooling of security information in the world and traces its roots to the Second World War, although it was formally founded in 1946. Its cornerstone arrangement is ECHELON - a mammoth surveillance system operated by the US and used by the other members. Although the group have largely had shared interests - especially during the Cold War when the Soviet threat level spiked - the agreement has come under strain. Britain's decision to sub-contract Chinese telecommunications giant Huwaei to build part of the 5G network is a sticking point, with the US voicing concerns and hinting it could jeopardise intelligence sharing. Advertisement

The Five Eyes dossier paints an alarming image of increasingly authoritarian powers used by Beijing to hide its disease to the wider world.

One of the most critical aspects of the report is of China's lack of transparency over how the disease spreads.

The file points to a 'deadly denial of human-to-human transmission' in the early stages of the the outbreak in Wuhan.

Intelligence gathering reveals China had 'evidence of human-human transmission from early December,' but continued to deny it could spread this way until January 20.

The World Health Organisation regurgitated Beijing's claims despite officials in neighbouring Taiwan and Hong Kong raising concerns, the report says.

Evidence of asymptomatic cases, known as 'silent carriers', was also reportedly buried.

But while the Chinese regime were downplaying the threat of the virus on the world stage, it was secretly scrambling to vanish all traces of the epidemic, the intelligence memo claims.

On January 3, China's National Health Commission reportedly ordered virus samples be destroyed and issued a 'no-publication order' about the virus.

As part of a mass 'suppression and destruction of evidence', the state ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed in laboratories while wet market was bleached to extinguish remnants of the disease.

The report reveals China had started censoring news of the virus on search engines from December 31, deleting terms such as 'SARS variation, 'Wuhan Seafood market' and 'Wuhan Unknown Pneumonia.'

Anecdotal reports from the time also suggested Beijing's hand in hiding evidence of the then unknown disease from the web.

The document is also scathing of China's downplaying of the need for other countries to impose travel bans while Beijing officials were simultaneously quaranteeing Wuhan's 11 million citizens.

Underscoring the regime's hypocrisy, the paper says: 'Millions of people leave Wuhan after the outbreak and before Beijing locks down the city on January 23,' according to The Telegraph.

'Thousands fly overseas. Throughout February, Beijing presses the US, Italy, India, Australia, Southeast Asian neighbors and others not to protect themselves via travel restrictions, even as the PRC imposes severe restrictions at home.'

Dr. Shi Zhengli pictured in a lab in 2017. Her research into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses was cited a key concern by the intelligence, according to the dossier

Human rights groups believe Mr Fang Bin (right)  along with lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua (left)  are in extrajudicial detention centers

A Wuhan food market. Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab. Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph

Dossier suggests China's coronavirus cover up dates back to November 2015 November 9, 2015: Wuhan laboratory announces they have created a new virus from SARS-CoV. December 6, 2019: The first evidence of human-to-human transmission occurs when a wife contracts a pneumonia-like disease after her husband displayed similar symptoms after visiting the Wuhan wet market. December 27: Beijing announced a new coronavirus which had infected 180 people. December 31: Chinese state officials start monitoring the internet for searches of the unknown virus. January 1, 2020: A handful of Wuhan medics raising the alarm bell on the virus are arrested. January 3: China bans scaremongering about the new virus. January 10: Chinese official Wang Guangfa insists the outbreak is 'under control'. January 11: China reported its first coronavirus death. January 23: Wuhan was put into lockdown. January 30: The WHO branded the outbreak a global emergency. February 7: Dr Li Wenliang who spoke out about the virus died after contracting it. April: Wuhan revises up its cases as other countries wrestle the global pandemic.

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Doctors and scientists who tried to raise the alarm about the virus and China's handling of it have also vanished or been punished, according to the documents.

Huang Yan Ling, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and thought to be patient zero for the global pandemic, mysteriously disappeared and her biography was deleted from the lab's website.

The institute has denied she was so-called 'patient zero' and said she is alive but she has not been heard from since.

Other whistleblowers including businessman Fang Bin, lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua are reportedly being held in extrajudicial detention centers for speaking out about China's response to the pandemic.

The dossier shows some disagreement among the Five Eyes nations over whether the virus originated in the Wuhan lab or the wet market, the Telegraph reported.

It claims the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with several studies led by scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli being cited as concerns in the report.

The dossier outlines that Dr Zhengli and her team have conducted research in the lab into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses, with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19.

Donald Trump has been leading the Western backlash to China, while Downing Street yesterday said 'there are questions to be answered' of Covid-19's origins.

This week, Trump said he had seen evidence that coronavirus may have been created in the Chinese lab.

'Yes I have. Yes I have,' Trump said when asked if he had seen proof the virus originated in the institute.

He would not divulge what the evidence was that confirmed his suspicions.

In Britain, Number 10 would not be drawn on the specifics of Mr Trump's comments but reiterated its desire for an international probe into the start of the outbreak.

Asked if Boris Johnson agreed with Mr Trump, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: 'There are clearly questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of the virus, not least so we can ensure that we are better prepared for future global pandemics.

Conservative MP Bob Seely, who sits on the Commons foreign affairs select committee, told MailOnline: 'There is little doubt that China misled the world at a critical early phase of Covid-19.

'Its aggression and threats to others now  both to individuals and countries  is an attempt to hide that.

'It is really clear that we need a reappraisal of our relationship with China. We need to work with China now to solve Covid-19 for the good of our people and the world.

'But at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China, both in terms of dependency but also because of the many treaties and agreements and rules that China broke by keeping silent over the true nature of the coronavirus, despite the fact that it was in its early days.

'That breach of trust has come at the cost of tens of thousands of lives in Europe and throughout the world, and a devastating impact on our economy and the lives of people in Britain but also in other Five Eyes and other free states.'

However, Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab.

Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph.

The Telegraph reported that the Australian government trained and funded key scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as part of an ongoing partnership between the CSIRO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The team members worked in the CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory where they carried out research into deadly pathogens in live bats.

It was revealed in April that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had received a $3.7million grant from the US government, and had been carrying out research on bats.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 01, 2020 | 06:27 PM | SMITHLAND





The Livingston County School District has informed students and families that one of their employees has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.In a Friday Facebook post, the district said a transportation employee tested positive, but had not been involved in the food preparation or delivery process, and had not been in any contact with students.Noting that there may be uncertainties or concerns during this pandemic, officials assured everyone they are consulting with the local health department and taking any necessary safety precautions.Two new cases were confirmed Friday by the Livingston County Health Department, but it isn't known if this employee is one of those people. There have been six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Livingston County.Here is the complete statement:"One of our Livingston County School District transportation employees has tested positive for the Coronavirus. This employee has not been involved in any food deliveries or food preparation and has not been in contact with any students. As a district we understand that there are uncertainties, questions and fears during this time. We want to ensure our community that we continue to consult with the local health department and are taking the necessary safety precautions needed to continue to provide educational and nutritional services to our students and families."
The Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), ex-President John Dramani Mahama, has broken his silence on the selection of a candidate to partner him for the 2020 presidential election as he stages a comeback for the seat he lost in the 2016 polls.

His open talk on the NDC running mate saga comes on the heels of mounting pressure from 'undue delay' in presenting a candidate for consideration by the NDC Council of Elders chaired by the party's founder, former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.

Mr. Mahama was elected the NDC presidential candidate on February 23, 2019 after securing 213,487 votes, representing 95.23 per cent of the total valid votes cast, and his inability to name and outdoor a running mate seven months into the election has been the source of widespread speculation in the country.

He and the party are said to be sweating in selecting a suitable running mate for the NDC ticket, with hindsight bias of the 2016 electioneering campaign in which Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, then a running mate of candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, shredded the Mahama government with his economic acumen through his public lecture series that eventually handed Mr. Mahama with a massive defeat.

Critics complain that the long absence of Mahama's partner meant indecision and fear of the Bawumia factor.

Downplaying Concerns

However, the NDC flag bearer has sought to downplay the concerns of the public by using the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic which entered Ghana in late March, more than one year after the NDC delegates had endorsed him as flag bearer, as an excuse for not choosing a running mate.

He said in one of his usual social media interactions that the time is not ripe and ideal to name a running mate for the December 7 polls.

According to him, the country still remains at the crossroad battling the Covid-19 pandemic which makes it impossible for him to name a partner since the person cannot be outdoored.

Speaking during his second live Digital Conversation on Facebook last Thursday night, ex-President Mahama stated that he was 'clear' in his mind the person who would partner him for the presidential election, and gave a clue that it would be a man.

This takes away from the equation former Attorney General Marietta Brew Appiah Opong, former Education Minister, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, and or even Klottey Korle NDC MP, Dr. Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings, daughter of the founder of the party, who have been speculated to partner the NDC flag bearer.

In the midst of Covid-19, what is the use of naming a running mate when you can't outdoor the person and all that. But let me assure you I have a fair idea who will partner me and for the elections.

After the necessary consultation with the national executives and Council of Elders are done, we will do. I can assure you that he will make a significant contribution to the development of our nation, Mr. Mahama said in a response to a questioner who asked him about the running mate issue.

---Daily Guide
Cushing, Oklahoma: Pipeline Crossroads of the World. The emblematic slogan of the Cushing oil hub does not exaggerate. Cushing, a town of several thousand, has become a media star lately as the oil world scrambles to store its excess oil.

This media star, however, has a somber message for the world: tanks are close to filling up.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government was working on expanding available oil storage space by several hundred million barrels. He didnt provide many details, but some of this expanded capacity could be located at the Cushing hub.

First of all, though, why is Cushing so important?

Thats a simple enough question, unlike the one regarding the future of much of the oil produced in the United States. Cushing, Oklahoma, is the physical delivery spot for oil bought and sold in West Texas Intermediate futures contracts. In other words, if you buy WTI and want to take physical delivery, this is where the oil will be delivered.

The complex is truly impressive. With a maximum storage capacity of 90 million barrels across 15 storage terminals, Cushing is home to a network of as many as two dozen pipelines, with a combined inbound and outbound capacity of more than 6.5 million bpd.

Premium: The Oil Sector That Will Suffer The Most

Whats more, this capacity has been expanding. Last year, Bloomberg reported there were six new pipeline projects in Cushing in the planning stage, which would add 2 million bpd of outbound capacity to Cushings total by the end of next year. At the time, Genscapes director of oil market business development, Hillary Stevenson, told Bloomberg that not all of these would really get built, but some 750,000 bpd would. The more important news was that there were an additional 4.5 million barrels in additional capacity coming to Cushing.

Canada-based Keyera, a midstream player active both in Canada and the United States, began construction on a tank farm with a capacity of 4.5 million barrels in 2018, planning to complete the facilitythe Wildhorse terminalby the middle of this year. In a recent update, the company suggested that the terminal is on track to be completed on schedule. This additional capacity would certainly provide relief to oil producers struggling to find space for their oil.

It is an interesting turn of events. Just two years ago, some questioned the relevance of Cushing in a world where the United States was a growing exporter of crude oil. Cushing is far from Gulf Coast refineries. It is far from export terminals. Finally, it is far from the huge shale oil fields of Texas and New Mexico. With more oil flowing to the Gulf Coast for export, it was reasonable to expect Cushings importance as oil hub would diminish.

Today, Cushing is more relevant than ever as all eyes are on oil storage. Exports are down because oil demand has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. They will recover at some point, but this point is in the future. For now, what everyone needs is more storage, and with Cushing accounting for 13 percent of the U.S. total oil storage capacity, it has deserved its place in the spotlight. It is also filling up fast.

Reuters reported earlier this month that mid-April, Cushings occupancy rate was over 70 percent or 59.5 million barrels of crude. That would not be a worrying rate if oil was also flowing out of Cushing. However, it is not flowing out. It is only flowing in, and the hubs working capacity is 76 million barrels that, according to industry sources who spoke to Reuters, were all booked as of mid-April.

Things are not looking good. Heres how Wood Mackenzies chief analyst Simon Flowers put it: Cushing, Oklahoma, is a microcosm of the wider picture. Oil prices in Texas have incentivized producers to send crude to the Cushing hub; weak demand from refineries in the Mid-West and Gulf Coast have kept it there. Storage tanks are filling up rapidly  the three largest weekly builds on record were in consecutive weeks from late March.

Premium: Oil Storage Nears Its Limit

Analysts are now warning that Cushing will fill up in the next few weeks, and these warnings are keeping WTI pressured. Producers are shutting in wells, with North Dakota production alone already down by more than 250,000 bpd. Now, a further 300,000 bpd in production is expected to be cut, but it may come too late. Once Cushing reaches its limit, WTI will slump further unless the federal government builds emergency storage tanks in a matter of weeks.

Cushing is anything but irrelevant in this crisis. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve can hold up to 713 million barrels of crude, but it is already 89 percent full, with 635 million barrels. Another 22 million are coming after the federal government agreed to lease space to several oil companies, which have already sent 1.1 million barrels into that space.

Another way to add capacity would be repurposing frac tanks for oil storage, according to an energy equity analyst. Yet these tanks need to be rented for that repurposing, CNBCs Sam Meredith notes in a report on the topic, and rent has jumped, making this option a costly one.

Traders are already shying away from WTI contracts after many got burned with having to pay to get rid of their May ones because of the size of the gap between demand for oil and supply. Now they are simply too afraid to hold WTI futures. And unless they get some good news, namely that demand is picking up, they will continue shunning the contract that made Cushing the oil industry star that it is. On the plus side, this could probably stabilize WTI prices even at a low level.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Shaheed Al Hafed (Sahrawi refugee camps), 2 May 2020 (SPS) - A total of 154 tons of solidarity aid was delivered Friday by the Algerian Red Crescent (CRA) to the Sahrawi refugees on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.



The operation was chaired by Minister of Solidarity, Family and Womens Affairs Kawther Krikou, accompanied by CRAs head Saida Benhabiles.



The caravan set off from the headquarters of the province of Tindouf towards the warehouses of the Sahrawi Red Crescent (CRS).



The Algerian ministerial delegation was welcomed by Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali, before handing this aid over to Sahrawi Prime Minister Bouchraya Beyoun and CRSs head Yahia Bouhbini.

In a statement to the press, Krikou said that this solidarity gesture from Algeria to the Sahrawi people, which isnt the first, shows once again the Algerians spirit of solidarity towards their Sahrawi brothers, which is part of an ongoing aid program to this brotherly people, notably in this holy month of Ramadan coinciding this year with the Covid-19 pandemic.



Algerias solidarity with the Sahrawi people is not new, but emanates from an unchanging conviction through which the Algerians have shown their determination to continue their solidarity and cohesion with the Sahrawi brothers, said the minister.



The minister said this aid comprises basic foodstuffs, in addition to about 263,100 units of medical and pharmaceutical equipment of prevention from Covid-19, including masks, gloves, rapid test kits and disinfection products. (SPS)



062/SPS/APS




LAKEWOOD, CO, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company") today reported its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. The Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and may be viewed on the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Unless noted otherwise, all dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Highlights:

At March 31, 2020 , the Company had $26.0 million in cash and marketable securities plus $22.4 million of concentrate inventory, including 520,000 pounds of uranium valued on our balance sheet at $23.13 per pound and 1,675,000 pounds of vanadium valued on our balance sheet at $5.37 per pound, both in the form of immediately marketable product. As of May 1, 2020 , the spot price of uranium was $33.75 per pound and the mid-point spot price of vanadium was $6.88 per pound, which places a current market value on our concentrate inventories of approximately $29.1 million .

, the Company had in cash and marketable securities plus of concentrate inventory, including 520,000 pounds of uranium valued on our balance sheet at per pound and 1,675,000 pounds of vanadium valued on our balance sheet at per pound, both in the form of immediately marketable product. As of , the spot price of uranium was per pound and the mid-point spot price of vanadium was per pound, which places a current market value on our concentrate inventories of approximately . On February 20, 2020 , the Company strengthened its balance sheet by completing a bought-deal financing for net proceeds of $15.1 million and raised approximately $4.0 million on the Company's At the Market (" ATM ") program in the first quarter of 2020.

, the Company strengthened its balance sheet by completing a bought-deal financing for net proceeds of and raised approximately on the Company's At the Market (" ") program in the first quarter of 2020. Uranium production totaled approximately 5,900 pounds of U 3 O 8 for the quarter, as the Company wound down operations from existing wellfields at its Nichols Ranch project.

O for the quarter, as the Company wound down operations from existing wellfields at its Nichols Ranch project. The Company suspended vanadium production at the end of 2019 and has substantial quantities of dissolved vanadium remaining in the Company's tailings management system for future recovery as market conditions warrant.

No material uranium or vanadium sales were completed during the quarter, and the Company is strategically maintaining its uranium inventory for future sales in anticipation of higher uranium prices, potentially as a result of the creation of a new U.S. uranium reserve (as discussed below) or other U.S. government support, or due to generally improved uranium market fundamentals.

The Company had an operating loss of $7.8 million during Q1-2020.

during Q1-2020. On February 10, 2020 , the President announced a proposed FY-2021 budget (the " President's Budget "), which includes a request for $150 million per year for the next 10 years to create a U.S. uranium reserve. The Company views this news as being very positive for established U.S. uranium producers such as Energy Fuels.

, the President announced a proposed FY-2021 budget (the " "), which includes a request for per year for the next 10 years to create a U.S. uranium reserve. The Company views this news as being very positive for established U.S. uranium producers such as Energy Fuels. On April 23, 2020 , the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group (" NFWG ") released its "Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy Leadership" (the " Report "). In the report, the U.S. government commits to reviving and strengthening the U.S. uranium mining industry. The Report provides a number of policy recommendations, including direct government purchases, supporting Department of Commerce efforts to extend the Russian Suspension Agreement (" RSA ") to prevent dumping of Russian uranium in the U.S. (and "the consideration of further lowering the cap on Russian imports under future RSA terms"), enabling the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny imports of fabricated nuclear fuel from Russia ; and streamlining regulatory reform and land access for uranium.

, the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group (" ") released its "Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy Leadership" (the " "). In the report, the U.S. government commits to reviving and strengthening the U.S. uranium mining industry. The Report provides a number of policy recommendations, including direct government purchases, supporting Department of Commerce efforts to extend the Russian Suspension Agreement (" ") to prevent dumping of Russian uranium in the U.S. (and "the consideration of further lowering the cap on Russian imports under future RSA terms"), enabling the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny imports of fabricated nuclear fuel from ; and streamlining regulatory reform and land access for uranium. On April 13, 2020 , the Company announced its entry into the U.S. rare earth elements ("REE") market. The Company believes its fully licensed and constructed White Mesa Mill ("Mill"), which is the only uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, can play a key role in bringing the REE supply chain back to the U.S. Many REE ores (and other streams) contain recoverable quantities of uranium and thorium, and the Mill has a 40-year history of responsibly processing ores for uranium and other metals.

Mark S. Chalmers, Energy Fuels' President and CEO, stated:

"Energy Fuels continued to be the clear leader in the U.S. uranium space during Q1-2020. We received excellent news from the U.S. government in February when President Trump published his Budget for fiscal year 2021, which seeks appropriations totaling $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to create a new strategic U.S. uranium reserve. Then, on April 23, 2020, the long-awaited report of the Nuclear Fuel Working Group was released, which demonstrated the U.S. government's strong commitment to restoring U.S. nuclear energy leadership and reviving and strengthening the U.S. uranium mining industry. Energy Fuels has taken the leading role in obtaining the U.S. government's support for U.S. uranium miners, spending more time and money on this initiative than any other U.S. uranium miner. And, this makes sense, since we have been the largest U.S. uranium producer since 2017, our assets have produced 34% of all U.S. uranium since 2006, and we have more proven facilities, more permitted resources, and more production capacity than any other U.S. miner. We believe that Energy Fuels should be a major beneficiary of any U.S. government support for the industry. We look forward to working with the U.S. government to ensure their initiatives to support domestic uranium production are successful and taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

"If you have followed Energy Fuels' story for any length of time, you also know that we are entrepreneurial, and we are always seeking to leverage our assets and expertise toward other business opportunities related to our core uranium business, including vanadium production, alternate feed materials processing, and land cleanup work. We recently announced our proposed entry into the rare earth elements market, and we believe our White Mesa Mill, the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, can potentially be used to process certain REE ores and other streams. Over the past year, we have been approached by a number of REE companies and the U.S. government, inquiring about the capabilities of the White Mesa Mill. Many REE ore streams contain recoverable quantities of uranium, and, from health, safety, and environmental protection standpoints, they are very similar to the uranium ore streams the Mill has handled responsibly over the past 40 years. In addition, one of the main bottlenecks in U.S. REE production is the availability of a processing facility capable of handling the uranium and thorium, since permitting and constructing a new facility can take many years, be victim to major activist opposition, and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Because the Mill is already licensed and constructed, many of these hurdles have already been cleared. We believe the White Mesa Mill may be an ideal location to process rare earth elements, and are engaging certain consultants, including ANSTO, to help us evaluate the opportunity. Most importantly, if any company has REE ores or other streams they wish to process, Energy Fuels is 'open for business.'

"Another major way Energy Fuels is differentiated from our peers is in the strength of our balance sheet. We ended Q1-2020 with over $48.4 million of cash, marketable securities, and uranium and vanadium inventories. It should be further noted that both uranium and vanadium prices have improved significantly since the end of the quarter, thereby further increasing the value of our inventories. At the end of 2020, we anticipate having nearly 700,000 pounds of uranium in inventory, which we hope to be able to sell to the U.S. government, or into otherwise improving uranium markets, at prices much higher than those we see today. No other U.S. uranium miner has Energy Fuels' balance sheet or the leverage to improving prices of our inventories."

Selected Summary Financial Information:







$000, except per share data Three months

ended

March 31, 2020 Three months

ended

March 31, 2019 Results of Operations:



Total revenues $ 393 $ 1,670 Gross profit (loss) (685) (422) Net income (loss) attributable to the company (5,657) (12,127) Basic and diluted loss per share (0.05) (0.13)





$000's As at March 31,

2020 As at December 31,

2019 Financial Position:



Working capital $ 35,009 $ 20,534 Property, plant and equipment 25,395 26,203 Mineral properties 83,539 83,539 Total assets 184,928 175,720 Total long-term liabilities 21,561 22,475

Outlook

Overview

Operations and Sales Outlook Overview

In response to the President's FY-2021 Budget request and/or implementation of policy recommendations contained in the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group ("NFWG") report, the Company is evaluating activities aimed towards increasing uranium production at all or some of its production facilities, including the currently operating White Mesa Mill, the recently operating Nichols Ranch ISR Facility, and the Alta Mesa ISR Facility, La Sal Complex and Canyon Mine, which are all currently on standby, as market conditions may warrant. The Company may commence such activities prior to confirmation of Congressional appropriations or the definition of all implementation details, as market conditions may warrant, recognizing that there can be no guarantee that the required appropriations will be forthcoming or that the implementation details will be satisfactory, and that the outcome of this process is therefore uncertain. Alternatively, the Company may defer commencing any such activities until further clarification on implementation of the President's Budget is published and/or Congressional appropriations are obtained, or market conditions otherwise warrant. No decisions on any project-specific actions to be taken in response to the President's Budget have been made at this time.

Subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget, the Company plans to extract and/or recover limited amounts of uranium from its Nichols Ranch Project in 2020, which was placed on standby in the first quarter of 2020. In addition, during 2020 the Company expects to recover uranium at the White Mesa Mill from in-circuit uranium inventories extracted from the recent vanadium Pond Return campaign, and from Alternate Feed Materials. The vanadium Pond Return campaign conducted in 2019 was brought to a close in early 2020.

Subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget or improving market conditions, both ISR and conventional uranium recovery is expected to be maintained at reduced levels, as a result of current uranium market conditions.

The Company is also seeking new sources of revenue, including new sources of Alternate Feed Materials and new fee processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill that can be processed under existing market conditions (i.e., without reliance on current uranium sales prices), and is evaluating opportunities to potentially recover REEs at the White Mesa Mill. The Company will also continue its support of U.S. governmental activities to support the U.S. uranium mining industry and will evaluate additional acquisition and disposition opportunities that may arise.

Extraction and Recovery Activities Overview

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recovered approximately 5,900 pounds of U 3 O 8 , all of which were for the account of the Company. In the year ending December 31, 2020, the Company expects to recover a quantity of uranium within its previously published guidance of 125,000 to 175,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 . The Company also recovered approximately 67,000 pounds of high-purity vanadium pentoxide ("V 2 O 5 " or "black flake") during the three months ended March 31, 2020 from its vanadium Pond Return campaign, which was suspended during the quarter.

The Company has strategically opted not to enter into any uranium sales commitments for 2020. Therefore, subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget and general market conditions, all 2020 uranium production is expected to be added to existing inventories. All V 2 O 5 production is expected to be sold on the spot market if prices rise significantly above current levels, but otherwise maintained in inventory.

ISR Activities

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we extracted and recovered approximately 5,900 pounds of U 3 O 8 from the Nichols Ranch Project, which was placed on standby during the quarter.

As of March 31, 2020, the Nichols Ranch wellfields had nine header houses that had extracted uranium, which are now depleted. Subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget, until such time as improvement in uranium market conditions is observed or suitable sales contracts can be procured, the Company expects to defer development of further header houses at its Nichols Ranch Project. The Company currently holds 34 fully-permitted, undeveloped wellfields at Nichols Ranch, including four additional wellfields at the Nichols Ranch wellfields, 22 wellfields at the adjacent Jane Dough wellfields, and eight wellfields at the Hank Project, which is fully permitted to be constructed as a satellite facility to the Nichols Ranch Plant.

Subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget, the Company expects to continue to keep the Alta Mesa Project on standby until such time as improvements in uranium market conditions are observed or suitable sales contracts can be procured.

Conventional Activities

Conventional Extraction and Recovery Activities

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company produced approximately 67,000 pounds of high-purity V 2 O 5 from its Mill Pond Return program and no uranium. During 2020, the Company expects to recover approximately 120,000 to 170,000 pounds of U 3 O 8 at the White Mesa Mill from in-circuit uranium inventories extracted from the recent vanadium Pond Return campaign and from Alternate Feed Materials. In addition, there remains an estimated 1.5-3 million pounds of solubilized recoverable V 2 O 5 inventory remaining in the tailings management system awaiting future recovery as market conditions may warrant.

The White Mesa Mill has historically operated on a campaign basis whereby uranium and/or vanadium recovery is scheduled as mill feed, cash needs, contract requirements, and/or market conditions may warrant. The Company currently expects that planned uranium production from Alternate Feed Materials and receipt of uranium-bearing materials from mine cleanup activities will keep the Mill in operation through all or most of 2020. The Company is also actively pursuing opportunities to process new and additional Alternate Feed Material sources and new and additional low-grade ore from third parties in connection with various uranium clean-up requirements. Successful results from these activities would allow the Mill to extend the current campaign through 2020 and beyond. In addition, if improvements in uranium market conditions are observed, or conventional mines are ramped up in response to the President's Budget and/or recommendations of the NFWG, the Company would expect to be able to keep the Mill operating over a considerably longer period of time.

Conventional Standby, Permitting and Evaluation Activities

During the quarter ended March 31, 2020, standby and environmental compliance activities occurred at the Canyon Project. Subject to any actions the Company may take in response to the President's Budget, recommendations of the NFWG, and general market conditions, during 2020, the Company plans to continue carrying out engineering, metallurgical testing, procurement and construction management activities at its Canyon Project.

The Company is selectively advancing certain permits at its other major conventional uranium projects, such as the Roca Honda Project, a large, high-grade conventional project in New Mexico. The Company will also maintain required permits at the Company's conventional projects, including the Sheep Mountain Project and the Daneros Project. In addition, the Company will continue to evaluate the Bullfrog Property at its Henry Mountains Project. Expenditures for certain of these projects have been adjusted to coincide with expected dates of price recoveries based on the Company's forecasts. All of these projects serve as important pipeline assets for the Company's future conventional production capabilities, as market conditions warrant.

Sales

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company had no uranium sales. The Company currently has no uranium sales contracts and is therefore fully unhedged to future uranium price increases.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company did not sell any vanadium. The Company expects to sell finished vanadium product when justified into the metallurgical industry, as well as other markets that demand a higher purity product, including the aerospace, chemical, and potentially the vanadium battery industries. The Company plans to sell to a diverse group of customers in order to maximize revenues and profits. The vanadium produced in the recent Pond Return campaign was a high-purity vanadium product of 99.6%-99.7% V 2 O 5 . The Company believes there may be opportunities to sell certain quantities of this high-purity material at a premium to reported spot prices. The Company may also retain vanadium product in inventory for future sale, depending on vanadium spot prices and general market conditions.

The Company also continues to pursue new sources of revenue, including additional Alternate Feed Materials and other sources of feed for the White Mesa Mill, in addition to evaluating the potential to recover REEs at the Mill.

Continued Efforts to Minimize Costs

The Company will continue to seek ways to minimize the costs of maintaining its critical properties in a state of readiness for potential improvements in market conditions, and is evaluating whether additional cost-cutting measures may be warranted at this time as a result of recent declines in general market conditions.

About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading U.S.-based uranium mining company, supplying U 3 O 8 to major nuclear utilities. The Company also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, as market conditions warrant. Its corporate offices are in Lakewood, Colorado near Denver, and all of its assets and employees are in the United States. Energy Fuels holds three of America's key uranium production centers: the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery ("ISR") Project in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year, and has the ability to produce vanadium when market conditions warrant. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project is in operation and has a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U 3 O 8 per year. The Alta Mesa ISR Project is currently on standby. In addition to the above production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the U.S. and several uranium and uranium/vanadium mining projects on standby and in various stages of permitting and development. The primary trading market for Energy Fuels' common shares is the NYSE American under the trading symbol "UUUU," and the Company's common shares are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR." Energy Fuels' website is.

Cautionary Notes: This news release contains certain "Forward Looking Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities legislation, which may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: production and sales forecasts; costs of production; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to re-start or expand any of its existing projects to respond to any improvements in uranium market conditions or in response to the President's Budget; any expectations regarding vanadium opportunities, the Company's program for the recovery of vanadium from pond solutions, remaining dissolved vanadium in tailings facility solutions, future production opportunities, or the Company's ability to sell any of its vanadium product at a premium to spot prices or otherwise; the ability of the Company to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; expected timelines for the permitting and development of projects; the Company's expectations as to longer term fundamentals in the market and price projections; expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading uranium company in the United States; any expectation as to how the President's Budget will be implemented and the timing of implementation; any expectation with respect to timelines to production; any expectation that the Company may be able to sell its uranium and vanadium inventories at potentially higher prices in the future; any expectation that Congress will make the requested appropriations; any expectations as to the Company's ability to implement any additional cost-cutting measures; any expectation that the Company may have the opportunity to process uranium-bearing ores for the recovery of REEs, at all or on commercial terms; and any expectation that the Company will be able to recover REEs and/or uranium from such ores on a commercial basis. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans," "expects," "does not expect," "is expected," "is likely," "budgets," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," "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," "be achieved" or "have the potential to." All statements, other than statements of historical fact, herein are considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking 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 express or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with: production and sales forecasts; costs of production; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to re-start or expand any of its existing projects to respond to any improvements in uranium market conditions or in response to the President's Budget; any expectations regarding vanadium opportunities, the Company's program for the recovery of vanadium from pond solutions, remaining dissolved vanadium in tailings facility solutions, future production opportunities, or the Company's ability to sell any of its vanadium product at a premium to spot prices or otherwise; the ability of the Company to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; expected timelines for the permitting and development of projects; the Company's expectations as to longer term fundamentals in the market and price projections; expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading uranium company in the United States; any expectation as to how the President's Budget will be implemented and the timing of implementation; any expectation with respect to timelines to production; any expectation that the Company may be able to sell its uranium and vanadium inventories at potentially higher prices in the future; any expectation that Congress will make the requested appropriations; any expectations as to the Company's ability to implement any additional cost-cutting measures; any expectation that the Company may have the opportunity to process uranium-bearing ores for the recovery of REEs, at all or on commercial terms; any expectation that the Company will be able to recover REEs and/or uranium from such ores on a commercial basis; and the other factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available for review on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, 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. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law.

It should further be noted that the President's proposed budgeted activities are subject to appropriation by the Congress of the United States, and there can be no certainty of the outcome of this budget or the NFWG's recommendations. Therefore, the outcome of this process remains uncertain.

SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.

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http://www.energyfuels.com


Banswara: The district administration has extended curfew for 14 days in Ward 5 of Banswara city of Rajasthan, on which the local people opposed it. People came out of their homes and opposed this decision of this administration. However, during this time everyone followed social distancing.

115 policemen test positive for corona in 24 hour

On the information of this protest, Banswara DSP Anil Meena, Kotwali Police Officer Bhaiyalal Anjana, Tehsildar reached the spot and persuaded the people to calm down the matter. People said that the curfew was extended for 14 days here, no one is giving any reason for this and the food items are also ending here. There is also no cash. Therefore, this curfew should be lifted.

Body of Baloch journalist found in Sweden, used to criticize Pakistan government

On this, the police said that there is an infection of coronavirus and Banswara is still under the red zone. The first corona case has been found here, under which this curfew will be extended for 14 days and your food will be administered by the administration. Here is the matter of vegetables, fruits, grocery, so here we will drive more vehicles so that you do not have to face the problem. After this, the police sent everyone to their respective homes.

After all, why did CM Ashok Gehlot appear happy?
A woman squeezes through a barricade set up at a containment zone in Hyderabad on Friday, May 1, 2020. Doctors in the Telangana capital say the state government is allowing Covid-19 patients to slip through and mingle in open society. It's a great danger to the strategy to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, it said. (DC Photo)

Hyderabad: When the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) of officials visited Telangana earlier this week, the doctors and public health specialists they met had a startling point to make: The state government is under-testing and under-reporting Covid-19 cases. And it is not reporting Covid-19 deaths.

Simply put, the figures you see in the official bulletins are not the real picture at all.

Under the banner of Doctors for Seva, these doctors and publish health specialists told the IMCT that they are deeply concerned that Covid-19 patients are in effect mingling in the community.

If they are not identified and isolated soon, there could be an exponential increase in the number of cases and this would have wider implications for controlling the pandemic at the state, national, and international levels, they stated.

Doctors for Seva asked the IMCT to look into the gaps and rectify them. The doctors insisted they want to be part of the team fighting Covid-19 but they want the state government to be clear and transparent.

The government statistics raise a lot of concerns, especially when compared to other states. To add to this, there was an order by the Telangana health department on April 20 that samples must not be taken from the bodies of Covid-19 suspected deaths.

Doctors for Seva said in a joint statement: This is a risky strategy. It is a pandemic. It demands that government follow international guidelines which have been chalked out and (which) brought the situation in control in Europe, China and the USA. We have to follow protocols to safeguard our people. The decision of TS to not test is very disturbing and will backfire very badly.

Doctors for Seva cited the example of Suryapet where the second-highest number of cases in the state  83  was reported. But then, no testing has been carried out there since April 23. It has been more than a week now and doctors are worried that the numbers may have exploded. Without testing, there is no knowing how widespread Covid-19 is.

At the ground level, people suffering from bilateral pneumonia, chest scans showing abnormal conditions and patients in intensive care units of private hospitals are not being tested for Covid-19. The doctors say this is against the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Our concern is (that the) actual load is much higher and once lockdown is relaxed the number of missed patients could surge in the state, the Doctors for Seva statement said.

The joint statement was signed by Dr Santhosh Kraleti, public health specialist, Dr Vijayanand J., consultant paediatrician, Dr G. Veda Prakash, orthopaedic surgeon, Dr M. Srikanth, consultant paediatrician, Dr M. Rajender Reddy, consultant urologist, and Dr Karuna, consultant paediatrician.
Devaraj B Hirehalli By

Express News Service

TUMAKURU: With two new COVID19 cases and with reports of those who took part in the funeral of a 73-year-old COVID-19 victim (Patient Number 535) held without any precautions being awaited, Tumakuru is understandably worried. The district now faces the threat of slipping into the red zone - from the orange zone it currently is in.

On Saturday, the neighbors of the 73-year-old victim and his wife, herself a patient, tested positive.

The duo - a forty-year-old man and his 29-year-old wife - are now in isolation at a designated hospital. They were asymptomatic when they tested positive for COVID-19 and are now under treatment.

Their children, aged eight and six, have also been isolated.

ALSO READ | Coronavirus deaths in India might have passed 1,000, but low toll puzzles experts

It was on March 27 that a sixty-three-year-old from Sira, who had attended a Tablighi Jamat in Nizamuddin in New Delhi had died at a hospital here. The man's 13-year-old son, who had also contracted the virus, recovered at the Indira Gandhi hospital in Bengaluru.

After the district was free from active cases for almost a month, a fresh case surfaced when a cleric from Surat in Gujarat residing at a mosque here tested positive on April 24.

It was during the random collection of the samples of people from outside the state staying here that the case was discovered. But it was the death of Patient 535 on April 26 that triggered panic as not only his wife but also two of the neighbours contracted the virus as we reported earlier.

Meanwhile, due to a communication gap, as district in-charge minister J C Madhuswami himself admitted on Friday, the body of the deceased person (Patient 535) was handed over to relatives even before the test results arrived. So, his being COVID positive was discovered only three days after his 'normal' burial held without following the protocol.

The district health officer Dr Chandrika informed that the collection of samples of the primary contacts of the deceased and the other positive cases, as also of persons with a history of chronic diseases including asthma has begun in the two containment zones - the Poor House Colony and the KHB colony.

ALSO SEE:
Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday denied an allegation of sexual assault by a former Senate aide, Tara Reade, breaking a monthlong silence that had frustrated some Democratic activists as his presidential campaign navigated issues of gender that are vitally important to many members of his party.

Sounding emphatic and at times agitated in an interview on MSNBC, Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, tried to address concerns about Reades claim by saying that she had a right to be heard while also insisting that he had not assaulted her. No, it is not true, Biden said. Im saying unequivocally it never, never happened.

Believing women means taking the womans claim seriously, Biden said, adding, But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters. And in this case, the truth is, the claims are false.

Biden also called on the National Archives to release a complaint related to the allegation, if one existed. At the same time he continued to oppose requests to release his Senate papers, which, he said, do not contain personnel records.

The interview, as well as a statement Biden posted on Medium, amounted to his campaigns most concerted effort yet to contain any possible damage to his candidacy just as the Democrat had turned his attention to unifying the party against President Donald Trump. But Bidens lack of response for so long was the latest example of caution and tentativeness in the Biden camp, worrying some Democrats about the campaigns agility in a general election that is sure to be heated and highly personal.

The weeks of indecision about how to respond publicly to Reade highlighted, in part, the former vice presidents great reliance on female voters as a political base that he cannot afford to alienate and the determination of Democrats to champion a zero-tolerance standard for abuse of women. Biden, in arguing that victims should be heard while trying to defend himself, also showcased the differences between the pressures facing him and the president on matters of gender and sex.

Trump has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by more than a dozen women and in the 2016 election confronted the release of a recording in which he was heard in his own voice boasting about groping women. He has never sat for a sustained televised grilling to specifically address any of the sexual assault allegations against him.

The president has typically dismissed the allegations out of hand or responded combatively, often attacking or denigrating his accusers. Last year, for instance, when he was accused of assaulting a former columnist for Elle Magazine in the mid-1990s, he insisted he would never have done it because shes not my type.

Trump has usually received the vocal support of many members of his own party and the conservative media, and has effectively made disbelief of the extensive claims against him a political litmus test for Republicans, holding personal grudges and sometimes actively punishing those who spoke out against him in 2016.

Biden, meanwhile, has faced a single allegation of assault  Reades  that has flummoxed the former vice president and his campaign, unnerved Democrats about his electoral prospects and frustrated womens groups that have long seen Biden as an ally and have more recently found themselves struggling to address the claim against him.

At a news briefing Friday, the new White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, told reporters that the administration was pleased that the former vice president has decided to go on the record. Asked about the allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct against Trump, she said that the president has denied those claims and then blamed the news media for raising allegations that, she suggested, were asked and answered in the form of the vote of the American people.

Officials at the Republican National Committee jumped on Bidens remarks Friday, with questions surrounding the release of his Senate papers at the University of Delaware emerging as a new flashpoint. Reade has said that Biden assaulted her in 1993, when she worked in his office, pushing her up against a wall in a Senate building and penetrating her digitally. She said she filed a complaint with a congressional personnel office but does not have a copy; such paperwork has not been located. The complaint, she says, does not mention the assault.

Under repeated questioning from Mika Brzezinski of MSNBCs Morning Joe on Friday, Biden  at times flashing signs of annoyance  insisted that the papers at the university would not contain information relevant to the allegation, and he indicated that employment complaints are kept at the National Archives. Biden was also emphatic that a search of the archives would yield no complaint.

Im confident theres nothing, he said. Im not worried about it at all. If there is a complaint, thats where it would be; thats where it would be filed. And if its there, put it out. But Ive never seen it. No one has that Im aware of.

A Biden aide said the campaign had not done a search of the National Archives records. Though Biden repeatedly said Friday that any relevant document would be in those archives, his campaign released a letter late in the afternoon that it sent to the secretary of the Senate appearing to acknowledge a misunderstanding, saying that such records would have remained under the control of the Senate.

Biden went on to request a search for the alleged complaint and any other documents related to the allegation.

Last year, Reade and seven other women came forward to accuse Biden of kissing, hugging or touching them in public in ways that made them feel uncomfortable. She did not publicly mention the assault at the time and only came forward with the allegation in late March of this year. Several of Reades friends have said she told them about a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden. Nearly two dozen people who worked with Biden during the early 1990s, including many who worked with Reade, told The New York Times they had no recollection of sexual misconduct by Biden.

In 2017, Reade retweeted praise for Biden and his work combating sexual assault. In more recent months, her Twitter feed has featured support for Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she supported in the California primary. Reade says she has no political motives and does not want to be used by either party for partisan attacks.

Reade tried to get legal and public relations support from the Times Up Legal Defense Fund, an initiative established by prominent women in Hollywood to fight sexual harassment. The fund, which does not typically assist survivors without legal representation, provided Reade with a list of lawyers with expertise in such cases. Reade said none took her case then, and she remains without a lawyer.

On MSNBC on Friday, Biden said he had not reached out to Reade and that he was not aware of any other complaint that had been filed against him. He said he had never asked anybody to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

In his statement on Medium, Biden said that women who make allegations should be heard, not silenced, but their stories also warrant scrutiny. He went on to raise the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.

While Biden had remained quiet on the subject until Friday, a number of prominent Democrats had been pressed on the matter and sided with Biden, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, even as activists had become impatient, urging the former vice president increasingly loudly to address the matter directly.

Tina Tchen, president and chief executive of Times Up Now, an organization dedicated to combating workplace harassment, said Biden did what he had to do in his remarks by taking the allegations seriously while respecting Reades right to speak out.

It is the kind of thing we need all presidential candidates to do when these allegations come forward, she said. Obviously, that hasnt happened with the current president, and we need fuller transparency on any allegations he has faced as well.

The women who have made accusations against Trump have described a pattern of behavior that went far beyond the accusations against Biden. The president also directed illegal payments, including $130,000 to a pornographic film actress, Stormy Daniels, before the 2016 election to silence women about alleged affairs with Trump, according to federal prosecutors.

Tchen said the Biden campaign had contacted her organization as part of an outreach effort to multiple groups. She advised the campaign to take Reades allegation seriously, adding that voters may never definitively know whether the incident occurred.

A lot of times these cases dont resolve like that, she said. Youve got to look at the whole picture.

Some Republicans have sought to paint Democrats as hypocrites, suggesting that they are holding Reades allegation to a different standard compared with the one they used for accusations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 2018.

At one point Biden grew visibly frustrated when Brzezinski asked him about his past comments on sexual assault allegations, citing his remarks about Christine Blasey Fords assault accusation against Kavanaugh.

Are women to be believed, unless it pertains to you? Brzezinski asked.

Biden closed his eyes and audibly exhaled.

Look, women are to be believed, given the benefit of the doubt, if they come forward and say something that is, that they said happened to them; they should start off with the presumption they are telling the truth, he said. Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts. And the facts in this case do not exist  they never happened.

In his own statement, Biden sought to draw sharp distinctions with Trump.

We have lived long enough with a president who doesnt think he is accountable to anyone and takes responsibility for nothing, Biden wrote Friday. Thats not me. I believe being accountable means having the difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable. People need to hear the truth.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Salon and spa owners across America have been confronted with economic hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered thousands of businesses and led to a surge in unemployment.

Kelli Campbell is one of the thousands facing tough decisions and uncertainty of whats to come when the doors to her Louisville, Kentucky, salon and spa finally reopen.

Campbell, who owns Josephs Salon and Spa, was forced to close and furlough all 90 employees last month after Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear required all nonessential businesses to suspend operations (the state will allow salons and spas to reopen on May 25). For her, closing the business, which has been a part of the local community for nearly five decades, is like shutting out family.

HAIR SALONS, SPAS CRIPPLED IN CORONAVIRUS

People have come to me for things, years and years now, and for me to not be there for my employees  its a horrible feeling, she said.

Campbell bought the company from her father 25 years ago after he became ill and business started to sink. Since then, Campbell has tripled the size of the salon and hired more than 80 employees.

To save the business, Campbell said shes focusing most on becoming financially stable, which will prepare her to reopen and rehire. With a little help from hair care and beauty brand Aveda, a company that Josephs has partnered with for 30 years, Campbell believes she may be able to do just that.

I want to be somewhat financially solid, so we can hire our staff back, so we can have all the particular protective gear we need, so we can pay our rent, she said. Thats our primary goal right now, its very survival mode. I never thought Id be in that position.

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Campbell said shes already receiving tremendous support from Avedas multimillion-dollar program that helps salons and spas financially and with non-financial resources as they weather the headwinds caused by the outbreak. As part of its Aveda Cares program, the company is donating $600,000 to the Salon and Spa Relief Fund, a nonprofit, and encouraging customers and contributors to make donations to reach its $1.5 million goal.

Story continues

If we were so honored to get that grant, it would be a tremendous help, she said.

The Aveda Cares program also offers weekly owners forums to train salon owners on how to revamp their business. Josephs has already begun participating in the trainings, which Campbell said is helping her navigate through the pandemic, including providing e-commerce solutions.

Aveda has been a tremendous partner, Campbell said. Im so grateful to have them on my side because I can trust their navigation through this.

PAUL MITCHELL OFFERS SALON CORONAVIRUS AID WITH JUMP-START PROGRAM

The goal for the Aveda Cares program is to fully prepare salons and spas to successfully and confidently reopen, April Anslinger, Avedas senior vice president of North American operations, told FOX Business.

[Salons] all closed to protect us, so were trying to take care of them, she said. My goal is to make sure they feel prepared to reopen and that they have the resources to quickly rebuild their business.

The Aveda Cares program includes monetary contributions to Avedas loyalty program, an offer to salon partners to defer payments on outstanding balances, and product replenishment for salons. It has also increased salon commission to 40 percent from the beginning of April through the end of June via its Salon A-Commerce program and invested $2.6 million in free virtual education.

My job with creating Aveda Cares is that I want to provide as much relief as possible, so the day that door opens, they can use this money to either pay their utilities, pay their leases, Anslinger said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Aveda plans to begin providing businesses with reopening manuals, which Anslinger said brings business owners through every angle of reopening." She added that funding through the Salon and Spa relief fund should be administered in mid-May.

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Flight Centre has decided to stop charging cancellation fees to customers whose travel has been impacted by COVID-19.

Flight Centre will no longer charge cancellation fees. Credit:Christopher Pearce

The travel agent had been charging a $300 per person cancellation fee for bookings from before the outbreak, with some law firms and customers considering a class action against the practice.

But in a letter sent to customers on Saturday, Flight Centre backed down from that position. The new policy applies retrospectively to cancellation fees already paid.

The decision to waive [cancellation] fees will impact our business, nevertheless we have heard your feedback and we believe this step is the right one for the current economic conditions where stand downs and job losses are a daily occurrence for many Australians, Flight Centre Travel Group executive general manager Allisa OConnell wrote in the letter.
Having set itself the arbitrary target of 100,000 Covid-19 tests a day, the Government reached it with hours to spare.

What Britains fight against coronavirus has demonstrated is the monolithic approach of Public Health England at the outset of the crisis was a terrible error, which frustrated the medical research community and left Britains leading-edge life sciences companies and research universities out of the loop.

It is in the nature of these things that the scientists and pharma giants chose not to get involved in a shoot-out with government when lives and the health of the nation are at stake.

Laboratory technicians scan test tubes containing samples taken from people tested for the coronavirus at a new facility at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow

Only Nobel prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, who is chief executive of the disease research centre, the Francis Crick Institute, chose to lift his head above the parapet with some pointed criticism as the virus raged after lockdown.

Only then was engagement with the great research-based universities Cambridge and Oxford stepped up and did we start to hear more from GlaxoSmithKline and Astrazeneca, the UKs top pharma groups.

The delayed involvement seems extraordinary. AZ is in the midst of opening its 1billion open access medical research centre in Cambridge with huge resources and facilities.

GSK is the world leader in vaccines, has been deeply involved in work in previous global medical scares and creator of groundbreaking vaccines such as Shingrex for shingles and Cervarix for cervical cancer.

Once the resources of our life sciences were released, the firms moved into hyper-drive. AZ and GSK co-operated with Cambridge University labs to ramp up a testing initiative.

Astras chief executive Pascal Soriot revealed the company was collaborating with partners on developing a monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19 which could halt the disease in its tracks, providing a bridge towards a vaccine.

GSK spent 200million on an investment in Vir Biotechnology with the goal of speeding up work on a coronavirus antibody.

In a highly unusual move, chief executive Emma Walmsley signed an accord with rival in vaccine development Sanofi to come up not just with an inoculation programme, but the production capacity to make hundreds of millions of doses.

AZ also put its manufacturing expertise, science and testing capacity behind an early stage Oxford University vaccine contender.

Among the reasons that Germany has had so much better outcomes on testing and preserving life than the UK is that from the very start it involved Swiss pharma giant Roche, with big German facilities, in meeting the challenge.

In the last few days AZ and GSK have unveiled strong financial results for the first quarter in contrast to other suffering sectors of the economy.

The value of life sciences in this pandemic and beyond in the Brexit era has been there for everyone to see.

Indeed, the UKs other health and hygiene giants, notably Reckitt Benckiser, also have risen to the occasion, producing stonking results amid the detritus elsewhere.

The outcomes of the UKs fight against the pandemic might have been much more impressive had the power of university labs and our life sciences behemoths been fully utilised much earlier.

Hot air

Michael OLeary sounding off is such a familiar occurrence that there is a tendency to ignore him. When it comes to his criticism of EU responses to the grounding of airlines due to coronavirus, he does have a point.

His own carrier Ryanair is planning to cut 3,000 jobs and aircraft orders. BA is going for even deeper job cuts and pulling out of Gatwick.

And Richard Branson is finding it hard to get the finance he needs to keep Virgin Atlantic flying.

Yet EU flag carriers have reportedly received up to 26billion of state aid. Similarly, funds have been lavished on US airlines.

Britain staunchly believes in free markets. But simply rolling with the punches and allowing a robustly competitive industry to be destroyed should not happen irrespective of Bransons impenetrable tax arrangements.

Loan champ

Alison Rose has done an excellent job in making sure RBS small business customers are looked after in the age of Covid-19 with 1.6billion of government-backed loans.

First quarter RBS profits were hit by provisions of more than 800million bringing the total loan loss set aside by the five biggest banks to 6.9billion.

The going is tough but at least there is honesty about the headwinds.
Three more Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates have either been sacked or suspended from their jobs for Islamophobic social media posts days after the Indian ambassador cautioned citizens against posting inflammatory material online.

Chef Rawat Rohit, storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli and a cash custodian whose identity was withheld by his employer are the latest additions to a list of about 10 Indians who have faced action for their social media posts, Gulf News reported on Saturday.

On April 20, Indian ambassador Pavan Kapoor had warned Indian expatriates against such behaviour after the issue of Islamophobic social media posts, especially content showing Islam in a poor light in conjunction with the Covid-19 pandemic, was highlighted my people in several West Asian countries.

India and UAE share the value of non-discrimination on any grounds. Discrimination is against our moral fabric and the Rule of law. Indian nationals in the UAE should always remember this, Kapoor had tweeted, quoting another tweet from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that said Covid-19 doesnt see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking.

A spokesperson for Azadea Group, which operates a chain of Italian restaurants in Dubai, said chef Rawat Rohit had been suspended and is facing a disciplinary probe, according to Gulf News.

Sharjah-based Pneumics Automation suspended its storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli and withheld his salary. The matter is under investigation. We have a zero tolerance policy. Anyone found guilty of insulting or showing contempt for someones religion will have to bear the consequences, the firms owner said.

Dubai-based Transguard Group said it sacked an employee who posted anti-Islamic messages on his Facebook page using the name Vishal Thakur. The employee was handed over to authorities and is in the custody of Dubai Police, a Transguard spokesperson said.

The issue of inflammatory posts by Indian expatriates has been in the limelight since it was raised on several occasions by Princess Hend al-Qassimi, a member of the UAEs royal family.

Former Indian ambassador Navdeep Suri has also cautioned Indians about the UAEs hate speech laws and similar warnings have been issued by Indian missions in other Gulf Cooperation Council states.

UAEs anti-discrimination and anti-hate law prohibits all acts that stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form of expression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or via online media.

Last month, Sharjah-based businessman Sohan Roy had to apologise for a video depicting Islamic clerics leading blindfolded men in skull caps in an adaptation of his poem on religious bigotry, while three other Indians were fired for derogatory social media posts. A police complaint was filed against Sameer Bhandari, CEO of Future Vision Events & Weddings, after he told an Indian job-seeker to Go back to Pakistan in a text message.

In March, chef Trilok Singh was fired from a restaurant in Dubai for an online threat against a student in Delhi over her views on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
An emergency physician at Hamburg hospital assessed the effectiveness of certain drugs used to treat coronavirus in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.

According to him, drugs like chloroquine, remdisvir, anti-HIV drugs and steroids are used without any evidence of their effectiveness.

He emphasized that today there are many speculations about these drugs.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday declined to comment on the reported public appearance of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after a 20-day absence.



"I'd rather not comment on it yet -- Kim Jong-un," Trump told reporters at the White House before departing for Camp David. "We'll have something to say about it at the appropriate time."



On whether Kim is still alive, he said, "I don't want to talk about it."



But asked if he will be talking to Kim this weekend, he said, "l may."



Moments earlier, North Korea's state media announced the first public appearance of Kim since April 11 at a ceremony marking the completion of a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang.



During his absence from public view, news reports described Kim as being in "grave danger" after surgery or hiding out at a coastal resort to escape the coronavirus pandemic.



Trump said initially that he didn't know if the reports were true then later said he had a "very good idea" about Kim's status but couldn't talk about it.



Speculation about Kim's whereabouts and health began after he apparently skipped the April 15 commemoration of the birthday of his late grandfather, North Korea founder Kim Il-sung, which is an important holiday in the communist regime.



Trump and Kim have met three times in a bid to reach a deal on dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program in exchange for U.S. concessions.



Since their second summit in Vietnam in February 2019 ended without an agreement, negotiations between the two sides have stalled due to differences over how to match their steps.



Trump has still claimed to have a close personal relationship with Kim and insisted that had he not been elected president the U.S. would be at war with North Korea.



Before entering into summit diplomacy with the U.S. in 2018, North Korea tested nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles that posed a threat to the American mainland.(Yonhap)




When people behave selfishly, they turn to a reliable ally to keep their self-image intact: Their own memory, according to new research.

When asked to recall how generous they were in the past, selfish people tend to remember being more benevolent than they actually were, according to a series of experiments by psychologists at Yale University in the U.S. and economists at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

When people behave in ways that fall short of their personal standards, one way they maintain their moral self-image is by misremembering their ethical lapses, said Yales Dr. Molly Crockett, an assistant professor of psychology and senior author of the study.

Psychologists have long been interested in how people balance their self-interest with their desire to be viewed as moral, according to the researchers.

To justify self-serving behaviors to themselves and others, people engage in a process called motivated reasoning. For example, when leaving a bad tip, customers might convince themselves that their server didnt deserve any more, the researchers explained.

To find out more about this, a team of researchers, led by Crockett and Ryan Carlson, a Ph.D. student at Yale and first author of the study, wanted to explore whether peoples memories of their behaviors help them preserve their moral self-image, perhaps even negating the need to employ motivated reasoning.

Instead of convincing themselves their server didnt deserve a better tip, for example, a customer might misremember tipping more generously than they actually did, the researchers surmised.

In their first lab experiment, conducted at the University of Zurich with economists Drs. Michel Marechal and Ernst Fehr, the researchers presented subjects with a pot of money and asked them to decide how much to keep and how much to give to anonymous strangers.

Once the money was distributed, the subjects were asked a series of survey questions. They then were asked to recall how much they had given to the anonymous strangers. Crucially, participants received bonus money if they recalled their decisions accurately, the researchers reported.

Even with a financial incentive, the selfish subjects tended to recall giving more money than they actually did, according to the studys findings.

In another pair of experiments conducted in the lab and online, the researchers asked subjects what they thought was a fair distribution of money before asking them to divide the pot. The researchers discovered that only those people who had given less than what they personally deemed fair recalled being more generous than they actually were.

A final pair of online studies showed that subjects only misremembered their stinginess when they felt personally responsible for their decisions. When participants were explicitly instructed by the experimenters to give lower amounts  and so felt no responsibility for their actions  they remembered their giving behavior accurately, the study discovered.

Most people strive to behave ethically, but people sometimes fail to uphold their ideals, Carlson said. In such cases, the desire to preserve a moral self-image can be a powerful force and not only motivate us to rationalize our unethical actions, but also revise such actions in our memory.

Crockett cautioned that because the experiments were conducted in Switzerland and the USA, it is not yet clear whether the results will generalize across different cultures.

She also stressed that this tendency for faulty recall only applied to the selfish. The majority of people behaved generously toward their anonymous strangers, and remembered their behavior accurately.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Source: Yale University
Washington, May 2 : US President Donald Trump has called on the Governor of Michigan to talk to and make a deal with demonstrators who have been protesting against the state's coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

"The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire," the President tweeted on Friday.

"These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal." Hundreds of people, some even carrying firearms, gathered at the Michigan State Capitol in the city of Lansing on Thursday to protest against the state of emergency declaration, of which the legislature was debating an extension at the time due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus.

On-the-scene photos showed that the crowd stormed into the Capitol building, attempting to get onto the House floor as state police and House sergeants blocked them from stepping further.

The pursuit of the protest, organized by Michigan United for Liberty, is to reopen the state's economy.

The state's Republican-controlled legislature, voted on Thursday night not to extend the emergency declaration before it expired at midnight.

They also voted to bring a lawsuit to challenge Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer's authority and actions to fight the pandemic.

In response to the lawmakers' decision, Whitmer issued a new order stating that an emergency still exists, while declaring new 28-day states of emergency and disaster.

"Republican lawmakers are putting their heads in the sand and putting more lives and livelihoods at risk," the governor said in a statement following the legislature's vote, adding that "I'm not going to let that happen".

Asked about Trump's tweet on Friday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during her first press briefing at the West Wing that the American people have a constitutional right to protest but must protest within the bounds of the law.

The President "encourages everyone to protest lawfully and also to engage in our social distancing guidelines which we think all Americans should engage in", McEnany added.

One of the hardest-hit states in the country, Michigan reported 42,356 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, according to data compiled by the state government.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Two joint ventures were selected to construct the Nghi Son section of National Highway 45

As per the decision of (which authority), two joint ventures have been selected as contractors of the large-scale infrastructure project. The first is the joint venture of Cienco 4, Hoa Binh Construction Group, Thuan An Trading and Development Construction JSC,Newcity Group JSC, and 18 Transport Construction JSC. The other joint venture includes Licogi 16, Dien Phuc Co., Ltd., FECON JSC, 468 Construction and Consultancy Investment JSC, and FECON Infrastructure JSC.

The Nghi Son section of National Highway 45 is one of the eight sections of the Eastern Cluster of the North-South Expressway that will be constructed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

This section is 43 kilometres long, stretching from Nong Cong district to Tinh Gia district in Thanh Hoa province.

The project is designed to have four lanes with the total investment capital of VND6.33 trillion ($275.2 million), VND2.03 trillion ($88.26 million) of which will come from the state budget.

Previously, the Ministry of Transport selected five local investors to join the bidding for the construction of the Eastern Cluster of the North-South Expressway after four months of filtering dossiers in the preliminary round.

Two joint ventures were chosen to bid for the 50km Nghi Son-Dien Chau section: the joint venture of Hoa Hiep Co., Ltd., Cienco 4, Pink Mountain Investment Co., Ltd., Vietnam Construction JSC No.2 (the first joint venture) and the joint venture of Tan Nam Construction Co., Ltd., Vinaconex, and Thai Son Traffic Work Construction Corporation.

This component project has a total investment capital of VND8.38 trillion ($364.35 million), VND2.55 trillion ($110.87 million) of which comes from the state budget.

For the Dien Chau-Bai Vot section, three investors were selected: the first joint venture applying for the Nghi Son-Dien Chau section, the joint venture of Vinaconex, Tan Nam, and HCJ JSC, and another joint venture consisting of five local companies.

The construction of this component project is estimated to cost VND13.3 trillion ($578.26 million), VND8.07 trillion ($350.87 million) of which will be taken from the state budget.

The Eastern Cluster of the North-South Expressway is a priority national investment projects in 2017-2020 and includes 11 sub-projects with the total length of 654km running through 13 provinces and cities.

The prime minister asked to kick off the construction of these 11 sub-projects in August this year.
Former Air Force base in Gettysburg on market for $4.5 M

A former air force base near Gettysburg is up for sale. The base is listed as having 50 beds and 15 bathrooms on a 42-acre parcel of land.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on an Iranian-Iraqi businessman and his mining company, accusing him of involvement in efforts by Iran's elite Quds Force to generate revenue illegally and smuggle weapons abroad, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Amir Dianat has supported Quds Force smuggling operations for years, including efforts aimed at shipping weapons such as missiles and smuggling shipments from Iran to Yemen, the department said in a statement.

The sanctions freeze any U.S.-held assets of Dianat or his company Taif Mining Services, which the U.S. Treasury Department alleged was a front company for the Quds Force, and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

"The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

In addition to the blacklisting, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed criminal charges against Dianat and his business associate, Iranian Kamran Lajmiri, alleging they violated sanctions and money laundering laws.

A related complaint was also filed alleging that $12 million is subject to forfeiture as funds involved in the crimes and as assets of a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

The forfeiture action marks the largest ever seizure of Quds Force-related funds, it said.

The complaint alleges that Dianat and Lajmiri in 2019 conspired to purchase a petroleum tanker in a scheme involving the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company and the Quds Force, all blacklisted by the United States.

If convicted of the criminal charges, Dianat and Lajmiri would face a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.

"These defendants purchased a crude oil tanker valued at over $10 million by illegally using the U.S. financial system, defiantly violating U.S. sanctions," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in the statement.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have spiked since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and began reimposing sanctions that had been eased under the accord.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by David Gregorio and Tom Brown)
Forty-five years ago, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, the General Headquarters of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) and directly the Campaign Command, the Vietnamese army and people launched a general offensive and uprising in the spring of 1975, which commenced on March 4, with three strategic attacks: the Central Highlands Campaign, opening with a breakthrough battle in Buon Ma Thuot, to liberate the Central Highlands; the Hue-Da Nang Campaign; and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign to liberate Saigon-Gia Dinh. Particularly, in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign - a historic strategic campaign, with the lightning, reckless, surprising and sure-to-win power, the Vietnamese army and people clinched the resounding victory after more than four days of fighting. At 5am on April 30, 1975, Vietnamese soldiers launched a speedy attack on the last hideout of the Saigon administration. At 10.45am, a force of Army Corps No. 2 entered the Independence Palace. President of the puppet regime in Saigon Duong Van Minh and the entire enemy cabinet surrendered unconditionally. At 11.30 on the same day, the liberation flag was raised in front of the main building of the Independence Palace. With overwhelming political and military power, the Vietnamese army and people clinched the overall victory, ending the 21-year resistance war against the US invaders. The South was completely liberated, and the country was completely reunified.

The victorious ending of the General Offensive and Uprising in the spring of 1975 holds historical and epoch-making significance, opening a new era of reunification, independence, peace and the whole nation moving ahead on the path to socialism. Such a great achievement is the result of the will to unite the country and the desire for peace, representing Vietnamese bravery and intellect and demonstrating the creative application of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought to the conditions and circumstances of Vietnams revolution and revolutionary war. It also symbolises the power of great national unity and the spirit of international solidarity, marking the development of the tradition of fighting enemies to defend the country and the military art of the Vietnamese nation. The victory of the Vietnamese army and people in the resistance war against the US invaders for national salvation has been forever carved into the national history as a brilliant landmark and a symbol of revolutionary heroism and human ingenuity, while entering the world history as a great feat of the 20th century and an event of great international significance, and profound epoch-making significance.

Promoting the revolutionary tradition and spirit of the Great Spring Victory of 1975, in recent years, the whole Party, people and army have overcome all difficulties and challenges to go ahead with the cause of Doi Moi (Renewal) initiated and led by the Party, and have attained many great and historic achievements in terms of socio-economic and cultural aspects. The material and spiritual lives of the people have significantly improved; the political system and the great national unity bloc have been consolidated and strengthened; socio-political stability and national independence and sovereignty have been safeguarded; and security and defence potentials have grown much stronger. In addition, Vietnams foreign relations have been increasingly expanded, while the countrys prestige and position in the international arena has constantly improved. The aforementioned initial important victory demonstrates the power of solidarity, patriotic tradition and mutual affection of the Vietnamese nation, firmly consolidating the peoples belief in the leadership of the Party and State and affirming the superiority and good nature of Vietnams regime and political system.

In 2020 and the coming years, the situation in the world, the region and the East Sea will continue to see complicated developments. Hostile forces at home and abroad are stepping up sabotage activities against the Vietnamese revolution with many subtle and cunning tricks. Not to mention, the COVID-19 pandemic is currently proceeding in a complicated manner. Although Vietnam has basically kept the disease under control, with its efforts receiving high appreciation from the international community, the risk of disease outbreaks still exists, directly threatening and adversely affecting the socio-economy and peoples lives. Such a fact requires the entire Party, people and army to uphold revolutionary vigilance, promote internal strength, take advantage of opportunities, and overcome all difficulties and challenges to develop the country across various fields. Moreover, it is necessary to accelerate the cause of national renewal, construction and defence, and international integration, while fully grasping the situation and firmly defending national independence, territorial integrity, security, and sacred sovereignty over borders, seas and islands, avoiding being passive in any circumstances. In the immediate future, there is a strong need to unify awareness and actions and mobilise the engagement of both the political system and all people, as well as to uphold the discipline and responsibility of heads of ministries, sectors, localities and units; strictly implement epidemic prevention and control measures under the direction of the Politburo, the Party Central Committees Secretariat, the National Assembly, the Government and the Prime Minister; and continue developing production and business, resolving employment issues and ensuring social security.

Promoting the revolutionary heroism and the spirit of determined fighting towards the triumph of the Great Spring Victory of 1975, the whole Party, people and army will be active in effectively implementing pandemic prevention and control in tandem with developing production and fulfilling the socio-economic development, security, defence and foreign affairs tasks, step by step developing the country in a fast and sustainable manner, thus meeting the requirements of the cause of national industrialisation and modernisation and the construction and protection of the socialist Vietnam in the new period.
(Photo : REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji) People wear masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a department store in Seoul, South Korea April 30, 2020. (Photo : CDC) The floor plan of the 11th floor of the South Korean buidling. Blue colouring indicates the seating places of persons with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and demonstrates how the cluster was concentrated on one side of the office.

After the call center outbreak in South Korea, new research by the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) showed how easy it is to spread coronavirus in an office.

Nearly half (44%) of employees working on the identical floor tested positive for coronavirus in an unnamed call center in Seoul, South Korea, last month, according to the report.

Out of 811 workers, 97% got the virus - 94 of them sat on the 11th floor at the same time as 79 people were in the same section.





ALSO READ: COVID-19 Update: U.S. Scientists, Billionaires 'Secretly Pushing a Project' vs. Coronavirus





How the virus unfold on the 11th floor





An agent on the said call center in Seoul tested positive on March 8, according to Nikkei's report. The employee, however, was working on the 10th floor and never went to the 11th floor.

Officers closed the building the following day and ordered all employees to self-isolate for 14 days, as per South Korea's current protocol. All residents living on the 13th through the 18th floor were also requested to do home quarantine.

The skyscraper's first 11 floors are commercial real estate, and the rest are residential apartments. That means possible touch should take place within the elevator and the lobby.

All workers and residents, together with their households, had been tested. The authorities took a total of 1,143 swab samples that day.

However, only 97 came back positive with four presymptomatic patients. Around 34 patients, who are all family members of the employees, got the coronavirus, too.

But what took the KCDC's attention was that the most central group of confirmed cases was determined among people who sat close to one another. A total of 216 employees were working on the said floor, but only 94 workers fell ill, which means the virus's attack rate is 43.5 percent.





Contact duration the main facilitator in coronavirus transmission

The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a color-coded seating manual of employees working on the 11th floor.

The blue-colored desks in the diagram specify the workers who shriveled the virus. It revealed how offices' inherent structure quickly spread the virus further, particularly with long durations of the interplay between personnel.

The KCDC also emphasized how the length of interplay performed a critical position in spreading the virus further.

"Despite considerable interaction between employees on different floors of the building, the spread of COVID-19 was limited almost exclusively to the 11th floor," the institution notes. The duration of interaction was likely the main facilitator for further spreading, KCDC added.

How South Korea mitigated the decision center outbreak

Based on a report published by the South Korean government concerning the COVID-19 reaction strategy, the fulfillment in flattening the curve was because of mass testing, contact tracing, and using digital surveillance tools.

ALSO READ: COVID-19: Coronavirus Contract Tracing Apps Raise Concerns on Effectiveness, Legality Worldwide

During the call center outbreak in Seoul last month, a team assigned to alert people despatched a total of 16,000 messages to those who came near the building all through the outbreak period.

The initiative highlights how vital transparency is so that humans with capacity publicity can immediately get themselves tested.

The KCDC also emphasized the urgency of mass testing and how it helped mitigate the country by "disrupting transmission chains through isolation of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients."

"Public health officials should maintain active surveillance and epidemiological research in this quickly evolving landscape of COVID-19," the KCDC added.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Dennis was a steam engine, McCarron said. He arranged for the best photographers to go shoot the stories once he saw the rough copy ... he went into news meetings and he just argued the hell out of the series, so every installment was page 1, most of them above the fold. He just blew me away.
A prominent George Mason University professor is suing the school for sanctioning him following complaints from students regarding talk about his own sexual experiences.

Psychology professor Todd Kashdan kept his teaching position after being sanctioned by the school in 2019 but filed a lawsuit in September in which he claims that he was wrongly punished for frank sexual discussions with students.

According to court documents, Kashdan has readily admitted to the complaints made against him which included a time when he asked a graduate student about her pornography preferences, visited a strip club with students, spent time in a hot tub with students talking about his experience at a brothel, and described his sexual encounter with a woman who insisted that others watch the sex act.

The professor, who studies the link between happiness and human sexuality, is suing the school, however, maintaining that such talk was entirely appropriate for a teacher whose topics include human sexuality.

George Mason University professor Todd Kashdan claims he was unfairly sanctioned by the school after students complained regarding his discussions about his sexual experiences

An incident in which he described performing a public sex act with a woman, he said, was an example of exhibitionism and 'fit into Plaintiffs pedagogical approach of utilizing examples, stories, case studies, and interesting scientific research so that students better understand and remember what they are being taught,' Kashdan's lawyers said in the lawsuit.

The hot tub party, he added, should be viewed no differently than a swimming pool.

Kashdan remained teaching at the university, where he holds full tenure, but after multiple students complained, Kashdan said he was required to undergo sexual harassment training, denied a pay raise and restricted in his ability to supervise grad students.

In his lawsuit, Kashdan said those punishments hampered his teaching and inhibited his free speech.

According to the Washington Post, the teacher said that GMU and its officials had run a flawed investigation, displaying bias against men, and violated his rights to due process and freedom of speech.

George Mason University sanctioned Kashsan in February 2019 for a 'lack of appropriate professional behavior' and concluded that he violated rules against sexual or gender-based harassment.

Kashdan field a lawsuit in September in response but it was dismissed on April 23 by U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady.

O'Grady also rejected Kashdan's request to proceed anonymously, which forced Kashdan to identify himself publicly in his subsequent appeal.

Kashdan is appealing to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.

'I respectfully disagree with the Court's decision in my case and intend to file an appeal,' Kashdan wrote in a statement to The Washington Post issued through his attorney, Andrew Miltenberg.

He added: 'The reason I filed my lawsuit was to bring to light the significant flaws in George Mason's Title IX process. To this day, I have not seen the evidence gathered during the investigation.'

George State University, pictured, sanctioned the professor in February 2019 but he is now suing the university claiming that the sex talk was part of the topics covered in his teaching

O'Grady said Kashdan's free-speech rights do not prevent his employer from sanctioning him.

The judge also ruled that the sanctions imposed on Kashdan were not so severe as to require a remedy from the courts.

A university spokesman, Michael Sandler, said the dismissal 'confirms that the university handled this matter in accordance with the law.'

In court papers the school's lawyers argued Kashdan admitted to the misconduct for which he was sanctioned.

Kashdan 'admits that he ... shared stories with graduate students about his personal sexual experiences, asked a graduate student about her pornography preferences, visited a strip club with students, and spent time in a hot tub with students talking about his experience at a brothel,' the school's lawyers wrote.

'The outcome of the investigation cannot be "erroneous" when the Plaintiff admits that the key underlying factual findings are correct.'

Kashdan was named George Mason's Faculty of the Year winner in 2010, and his research on a variety of topics has received significant publicity.

George Mason University professor Todd Kashdan never lost his job but was forced to undergo sexual harassment training, denied a pay raise and restricted in his ability to supervise grad students. He said the punishments hampered his free speech and inhibited his teaching

Kashdan was named George Mason's Faculty of the Year winner in 2010, and his research on a variety of topics has received significant publicity. He is appealing the dismissal of his lawsuit

In 2017, he was featured in a variety of popular media after conducting a study of 152 undergraduates that found, perhaps unsurprisingly, a link between sexual activity and happiness.

Last year, Kashdan's Well-being Laboratory at George Mason received $1.1 million in funding from the libertarian Charles Koch Foundation to 'study ways to improve open-minded discourse in a polarized society,' the university said in a news release.

George Mason receives tens of millions of dollars annually from the foundation, more than any school in the U.S., and critics have alleged that money influences what is taught at the school.

Samantha Parsons, a former GMU student and a spokeswoman for UnKoch My Campus, said Kashdan's work fits into the Koch rubric in two significant ways.

First, she said 'well-being initiatives' like the one for which Kashdan has worked at GMU are a favorite project of the Koch machine. Often, these programs link well-being with economic freedom, she said, which fits into Koch's libertarian agenda.

Another favorite policy point for Koch is free speech and civic discourse, like the $1.1 million provided by the foundation to Kashdan's lab last year.

She said the Koch Foundation and other conservatives are primarily concerned about left-wing protesters who disrupt speeches from right-wing provocateurs.

The Koch free-speech movement, she said, 'is focused on punishing college students who stand up to hate speech,' Parsons said.
Executive Vice President of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Hironobu Kitagawa, who was once JETROs Chief Representative in VN, speaks about the countrys efforts to improve its international trade policies.

Executive Vice President of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Hironobu Kitagawa. VNA/VNS Photo

Executive Vice President of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Hironobu Kitagawa, who was once JETROs Chief Representative in Viet Nam, speaks to Vietnam News Agency about the countrys efforts to improve its international trade policies on the occasion of its 45th National Reunification Day (April 30)

What do you think about Viet Nam's socio-economic development achievements over the years, especially after the oi moi (Renewal) process?



Since the launch of the oi moi policy in 1986, the economy has drastically developed. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Viet Nams GDP jumped from US$5 billion in 1986 to $245 billion in 2018 - the highest rate in ASEAN. When compared to the approximately 2.5-fold growth by Japan's GDP in the same period, we can see how rapid Viet Nam's economy has developed.



One factor for the GDP growth is the success in drawing foreign companies to the country as well as expanding exports. Regarding exports, the amount in 1986 was less than one-tenth of that of Malaysia or Thailand. But in 2018, it increased to more than $240 billion, catching up with both countries.



The efforts the country made to improve its international trade policy by monitoring world trends have been highly praised by foreign companies. Specifically, these efforts include the enforcement of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement and the accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Viet Nam's efforts to prepare an investment environment open to a broad range of countries and regions, such as hosting the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative where Japanese companies and governmental organisations have discussions with the governments of both countries and the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) joined by Western companies, are also believed to have contributed to its high praise.



Do you have any recommendations for our leaders to promote sustainable development?



According to our survey on Business Conditions of Japanese Companies in Asia and Oceania in 2019, the business sentiment of Japanese companies in Viet Nam was the highest within ASEAN (63.9 per cent of respondents answered that they intended to expand).

Regarding the merits of the investment environment, the answers of "market scale and growth potential" and "political and social stability" ranked top, with the ratio of both increasing from the previous year. This can be interpreted as praise of the stability of Viet Nam's policy to open its economy to other countries and its governance system.

In the meantime, respondents were most concerned about "increased labour costs" (61.1 per cent), "unclear policy management by local government" (42.6 per cent) and "high employee turnover rate" (38.6 per cent), which were listed at the top of "the risks related to the investment environment".

While responses pointing out risks related to administrative procedures have gone down as a whole, when asked about these risks, respondents had numerous requests, such as over retractions of investment incentives and power shortages. Solving these concerns one by one will facilitate continued investment and expansion of projects.



Japan and Japanese companies have greatly contributed to Viet Nam's socio-economic development. How can we further strengthen this good relationship?



While foreign companies, including Japanese companies, have until now regarded Viet Nam as a site for production, the country has now grown beyond being merely this.



We need to be vividly aware of the potential of synergy born through combining the knowledge of Japan and Viet Nam. With the birth of unicorns such as VNG in the IT field, in particular, Viet Nam's potential may be higher than that of Japan. The exchange of youth, such as university students, and highly skilled human resources of both countries is also important to promote synergy.



In addition to that, one potential field where synergy has the potential to be born is in the agricultural, forestry and fishery industry, the largest in Viet Nam. Approximately 40 per cent (37.7 per cent) of the country's working population are engaged in the industry. However, as it accounts for a little under 20 per cent of GDP by industry, greater value must be added to it.  VNS
Delhi Minority Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan has been slapped with a case of sedition by the Special Cell of Delhi Police for a controversial social media post, while another plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking his removal.

An FIR was registered against Khan on April 30 under section 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth) after police received a complaint by a resident of Vasant Kunj.

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that Khan's post was "provocative", "deliberate" and seditious and intended to cause disharmony and create a rift in the society, police said, adding that the case is being investigated by the cyber cell.

The remarks were posted by Khan on Tuesday but deleted after sometime.

Later, Khan also sought an apology.

"I realise that my tweet was ill-timed and insensitive in view of our county facing a medical emergency and fighting an unseen enemy. I apologise to all whose sentiments were hurt," Khan said in a statement.

He said that his tweet on April 28, thanking Kuwait for taking note of the "persecution" of Indian Muslims, in the context of the northeast Delhi violence, has "pained" some people which was never his intention.

The BJP has demanded that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt Governor remove Khan from the post of Delhi Minorities chairman.

Delhi resident Manoranjan Kumar moved the high court seeking lodging of another FIR against Khan and also his removal from the post of chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission for his alleged "inflammatory" and "threatening" statements against the Hindu community.

Meanwhile, a group of civil society members expressed solidarity with Khan. They termed him as a leading Indian intellectual whose niche area is Islamic studies and Arab world and alleged media trial of Khan.

"A few politicians with ulterior motives and channel anchors known for spreading bigotry and Islamophobia have mischievously sought to misinterpret his statement and ridiculously label him as anti-Hindu and anti-India," said a statement of the group. The signatories included Swami Agnivesh, Arun Kumar, Zafar Jung, John Dayal, Kamal Faruqui, Annie Namala, Anil Chamadia and several others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 01:21:16|Editor: huaxia

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by Misbah Saba Malik

ISLAMABAD, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan is celebrating the Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. In the religious month, families and friends gather for lavish meals or "iftar" at the post-dusk time to break the fast, hours-long congregation prayers at night and affluent people also hold iftar for the poor and needy.

Apart from social and religious sides, Ramadan also has a strong economic effect as the economic activities during the month are at their peak as compared to the whole year. People especially women and kids throng to markets to shop for iftar dinners and the Eid festival which follows the 29 or 30-day fasting month.

This year, Ramadan is not the same for the Pakistanis. COVID-19 outbreak in the country has affected the rituals and celebrations of the month in the same way as it affected other social activities across the country.

Currently over 13,000 people have been tested positive of COVID-19 across the country, and the federal and provincial governments imposed a lockdown and asked for social distancing nationwide with an aim to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"I do not have time in normal office days to meet or dine with friends and relatives, so Ramadan iftar dinners are a good opportunity to meet and greet people," Shaukat Abbas, an Islamabad-based businessman told Xinhua.

"Every year in Ramadan I invite my relatives, friends and even business contacts to break fast together, and most of the Ramadan evenings remain occupied, as I am either host or guest of the iftar dinners. But this year I prefer staying at home, and not inviting anyone because of the disease (COVID-19) scare," the businessman said.

The virus has not only affected the individual life style of people, but also had its impact on society as a whole. Every year during the month, affluent people and philanthropists organize iftar for poor laborers working on daily wages in markets or factories. The charity act is part of social and religious responsibility in Pakistan.

Rauf Ijaz, a trader in Rawalpindi city, is among the people who used to arrange iftar and pre-dawn breakfast for laborers every year in Ramadan, but this year the situation is different.

"Every year, traders collaborate to jointly organize iftar for laborers working in markets with us, and the poor people, but this year, iftar arrangements are not allowed as a part of the precautionary measures taken by the government to stop the disease spread. Besides, there are not many laborers in the city as most of them went back to their villages due to short of work opportunities and money in the market," Ijaz told Xinhua.

Ijaz added that unlike the past, "the traders are also not so enthusiastic to contribute fund for the poor laborers as they themselves are facing financial crisis due to the lockdown that already exceeded a month."

The COVID-19 has impacted the economic activities in Ramadan too, with restaurants and retail sector being worst hit this year because of a ban on restaurants to arrange Iftar dinner, a major economic drive during the month, and all retailers related to lifestyle sectors are required to be closed.

Shaukat Ali, manager of a famous restaurant-chain in Islamabad, told Xinhua that this year the government stops dine in service and they are only allowed to operate in take-away and home delivery. Now the sales are less than 10 percent of the usual routine and 2 percent of normal Ramadan sale.

"People are not interested in Ramadan take away because of the disease outbreak, every coming day is worse than earlier for the people working in restaurant sector. We have 30 employees here, we did not lay off any fulltime employee yet, but daily wagers had to leave due to non-availability of work," Ali said.

"There used to be a crowd of customers during iftar every year, but now we receive very little orders for takeaway," the manager said, adding that "but if we open dine in service it will put the restaurant employees and visitors at risk too."

"We hope that there should be a policy for the restaurant sector to allow dining in of a limited number of customers, lest a large number of people will lose jobs," said the manager.

In a bid to provide direct financial assistance to the people losing jobs, in Ramadan and the following months, the government has extended outreach of its cash transfers to 12 million households from the existing five million, which were already getting financial support through different relief programs in the pre-COVID-19 time.

The country's Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced a 1.2 trillion-rupee-relief package (over 7.196 billion U.S. dollars) to support the poor and jobless and business sector. Under the government's scheme poor households have already started getting money by an easy registration process through mobile messages.

Khan also formed a "Corona Tiger Relief Force" of volunteers to reach the deserving families with ration and to facilitate daily wagers and laborers who are unable to register for the government's cash disbursement program.

In a conversation with Xinhua, Abid Hameed, a resident of Punjab province's Chakwal district, who lost his job as a barber in a renowned hotel in provincial capital of Lahore, said that he lost hope and all the resources when he became jobless as he is the only bread-winner of his five-member family.

"I had no choice, but to come back to my hometown rather than sitting idle in Lahore, but at the time of despair, the government provided me financial assistance of 12,000 rupees to help me continue my life cycle for the time being," Hameed said, adding that the money and some savings by his wife will help him survive.

Non-government organizations and philanthropists across the country are also extending their full support to help the poor keep the wolf away from the door during the holy month and the tough period. Enditem
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore is looking to pivot to a more aggressive coronavirus response strategy that involves mass testing for its population of 5.7 million people as cases in the city-state jumped more than ten-fold this month to cross 11,000.

The country hopes to be able to progressively reopen its economy in about a months time, with much more testings for the entire population and at the same time to take on additional safe distancing measures, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg TVs Haslinda Amin.

While Chan did not elaborate on the plan, it would mark further toughening in the stance of a country that until now has relied on methodical contact tracing and a more moderate testing policy. Already, Singapore is ramping up testing among its foreign workers, who make up the vast majority of its confirmed cases, though continued local transmission and rising unlinked cases remain a concern.

The trade ministry said it didnt have further comments beyond Chans interview.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this week that the country needs to scale up testing for Covid-19 substantially so that it can quickly detect any new cases that pop up. This we are progressively doing, not only by procuring test kits and equipment from other countries, but also by developing and manufacturing our own test kits, he said.

Read more: How Singapore Flipped From Virus Hero to Cautionary Tale

Testing Rate

Singapores early public rhetoric indicated a reluctance to test widely, with a focus on those with symptoms to avoid wasting tests. Kenneth Mak, the health ministrys director of medical services, said in early March that community testing for all people, irrespective of whether they have symptoms or not, will generate a lot of activity but have a low yield.

The city-state has already been testing at a very high rate compared to other countries, according to health experts. The health ministrys website says it had swabbed about 14,500 unique individuals per million as of April 20, with more than 80,000 unique people tested in total.

Story continues

The possible move comes as South Korea, which launched a massive testing campaign, managed to slow the growth of infection by early March. Due in part to its actions, the epidemic spiked quickly in the country but also ebbed rapidly. Hong Kong also widened its virus response beyond contact tracing to include community testing as it became apparent the coronavirus was different from 2003s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, where those infected fell seriously -- and obviously -- ill.

A pivot in Singapores strategy could come as it grapples with a surge in cases among low-wage migrant workers living in cramped dormitories, who have long been essential in the city-states service and construction sectors.

It reported a fourth straight day of virus cases going above 1,000 on Thursday, and confirmed cases now number more than 12,000. Almost 900 cases were reported Friday, with Singaporeans or permanent residents making up 13 cases.

While total cases are rising, infections in the local community have in fact dropped since so-called circuit breaker measures were installed more than two weeks ago. Those cases fell to an average of 25 per day in the past week, from an average of 34 cases per day in the week before, the health ministry said Thursday.

(Updates with confirmed cases on Friday in 10th paragraph.)

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If you wait for a cluster to develop, you are almost too late, said Dr. Jim OConnell, the president of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, who took part in the study. The lesson is that from the beginning of this epidemic, we should have been testing people in nursing homes, prisons and in shelters because that is where it is spreading asymptomatically, and it can be deadly before you know it.
Mumbai: While Amitabh Bachchan is heartbroken after the demise of a colleague and good friend Rishi Kapoor, he feels his "Piku" co-star Irrfan Khan's death is 'more tragic'. The veteran actor took to social media to explain why he feels this way.

On Saturday morning, Amitabh Bachchan shared a couple of photographs with Irrfan from the sets of their 2015 film "Piku" and also a throwback black and white still with Rishi Kapoor.

He captioned: "The death of an elder celebrity vs death of a younger .. the grief of the latter more intense than that of the former .. why ..? The younger more tragic. Why the loss of the young seems more tragic than that of the older .. Because you lament the loss of opportunity in the latter .. unrealised possibilities..."

T 3518 - The death of an elder celebrity vs death of a younger .. the grief of the latter more intense than that of the former .. why ..? Because you lament the loss of opportunity in the latter .. the

unrealised possibilities pic.twitter.com/IoaJxeYOiQ  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 2, 2020

Commenting on the 77-year-old actor's post on Instagram, Bhumi Pednekar expressed that she still cannot believe the two deaths which happened back to back this week.

Bhumi shared: "It's still so hard to believe and understand what happened in the last week." The actress shared a heartbroken emoji along with her comment.
It is useless and incorrect to blame China for the origin of the novel coronavirus, said Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the prominent British medical journal The Lancet in an interview with CCTV on Friday, noting that the world should work together with Chinese authorities to understand the virus.

Like everyone in the world, Horton witnessed how different countries have different ways to deal with the pandemic. Horton said he feels regret that the discussion of COVID-19 pandemic has been interpreted as a part of the geopolitical struggle of nations.

"We should be working together to face down this threat," said Horton, stressing that accusations thrown out by countries cannot solve the challenges of this pandemic.

Back to the end of January, the World Health Organization has already declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a "public health emergency of international concern." However, the chief editor said most Western countries did not use the time to take efficient measures to save lives.

"The U.S. has wasted the whole of February and early March," said Horton. "It is disappointing to see American politicians giving credence to conspiracy theories and promoting unproven treatments."

China's Experience

Horton confirmed the innovation of temporary hospitals as "one of the most important elements" in China's defeat of the COVID-19 pandemic. He explained that temporary hospitals not only protect other hospitals from being overwhelmed with sick patients, but also create the space for a wave of sick patients and effectively quarantine them within the hospitals.

"It was a very important element of your (China's) successful response," Horton told CCTV, "and again, an important lesson for other countries to learn from."

He also praised Chinese scientists and medical workers for their tremendous job in protecting Chinese citizens, saying it is unfair for international leaders to criticize China.
How Lashkar operatives planned on burning down the Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express

Why NIA arrested former Congress MLAs daughter-in-law in an Islamic State case

NIA seizes incriminating material in Kozhikode naxal case

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in two locations in Kozhikode, Kerala in connection with a naxal case.

Searches were conducted in the homes of two suspects, Vijith Vijayan and Abhilash, both associated with proscribed terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist) at Kozhikode. It was revealed that the duo was instrumental in recruiting Allan Shuaib and Thwaha, two other accused in the case. The two have been chargesheeted by the NIA.

NIA charges three in Kerala naxalite case

During the search, the NIA found several digital devices including 8 mobile phones, 7 SIM cards, 2 memory cards, 1 laptop, 7 pen drives, 1 voice recorded, 9 books and several documents supporting left wing extremism.

Further investigations are on and the suspects are being examined.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen



Patnaik on Saturday sought cooperation from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to ensure safe return of Odias stranded in the southern states due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Patnaik made the request during separate video conference with Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh B S Yediyurappa and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy respectively. Union Petroleum and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also took part in the discussions.

Pradhan agreed to coordinate between the states for smooth movement of the people stranded in the south Indian states to Odisha.

The chief minister also thanked both Yediyurappa and Reddy for looking after the Odia people stranded in their states.

Patnaik requested his Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh counterparts to facilitate smooth and safe journey of Odias who wish to return to Odisha, an official in CMO said.

Both Yediyurappa and Reddy pointed out that works in several sectors have already resumed in their respective states. Therefore, Odia people who desire to remain and work in their states can do so and those wishing to return to their home state will be provided with all help and cooperation, the two chief ministers promised.

During the discussions, Pradhan sought the cooperation of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh CMs for facilitating online registration of Odia people in Odisha governments portal before their return.

Several issues relating to health screening, registration and arrangements for the return journey of the Odia people were also discussed during the discussion.

A large number of people including migrant workers, students and professionals are stuck in different parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh unable to return to Odisha due to the lockdown.

Earlier, Patnaik had spoken to the chief ministers of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where a large number of Odia people are also stranded because of the lockdown imposed across the country to contain spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

Patnaiks talks with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh CMs have come after several migrant workers returned from Gujarat by specially arranged buses, while a group of students also came back to Odisha from Kota in Rajasthan. A special train carrying around 1200 people is also on its way to Odisha from Kerala, officials said



The Odias stranded across the country have to register their names with Aadhaar and mobile phone numbers in a portal launched by Odisha government. On their arrival in the state, the returnees will have to undergo mandatory quarantine in Odisha.

The state government has opened a large number of temporary medical camps and quarantine centres in all the 6,798 gram panchayats and over 100 urban local bodies to keep the returnees in quarantine before allowing them to go to their houses.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Were nominations valid? AGs advice sought View(s):

The Election Commission has sought an opinion from the Attorney General on the implications of the Government declaring special public holidays during the Parliamentary elections nomination period which ended on March 19.

Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya told a meeting of political party representatives yesterday that the EC was awaiting a response from the AGs Department.

This was after a political party representative raised issue about the declaration of holidays and whether it would apply to the validity of the nominations which have been accepted during public holidays.

Public Administration Minister Janka Bandara Tennakoon in a special gazette notification had declared three days  March 17, 18 and 19  as special public holidays to prevent the spread the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Since this type of incident has not occurred in the past, the Commission decided to seek the opinion from the Attorney Generals Department regarding this, a senior official of the Commission said.

The Parliamentary election Act of 1981 says  the period (hereinafter referred to as the nomination period) during which nomination papers shall be received by the returning officer during normal office hours at his office; 
Meanwhile, Punjab on Friday reported 105 new Covid-19 cases

Amritsar: As many as 137 people have been tested positive for Covid-19 after returning to Punjab from Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, said Punjab Medical Education and Research Minister OP Soni.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "55 more devotees tested positive today (Friday) evening. People should abide by the Government's advisory and follow all the preventive measures. They should stay inside their homes. They need not worry."

Meanwhile, Punjab on Friday reported 105 new Covid-19 cases, said the State Health Department. According to the health department, the total number of cases in the state now stands at 585 and the death toll is 20.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country is 35,365, including 25,148 active cases. So far, 9,064 patients have either been cured or discharged while 1,152 deaths have been reported, as per data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
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ALTON  Two Alton men suspected of shooting an unintended victim in the head on April 8 were charged Friday with aggravated battery and dozens of other serous crimes.

The victim, a college student, was rushed to a St. Louis hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

Charged were Russell B. Bausily, 30, of the 1100 block of Milton Road, and Devonta D. Cotton, 25, of the 800 block of Washington Avenue. Bail on each was set at $1 million.

They are charged with class X aggravated battery with a firearm for allegedly firing a shot that entered a home in the 200 block of Madison Avenue, hitting the St. Louis University student in the head.

Lead Assistant States Attorney Crystal Uhe said the woman was in bed doing school work when the bullet entered her home. She said the suspects were shooting at a passing car, but missed and hit the victim, who was home because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Uhe said evidence found at the scene of several recent shootings were examined at an Illinois State Police crime lab, which linked several alleged shootings and an armed robbery to the two suspects. She said there were also witnesses who gave information.

Uhe praised the Alton Police Department for tracking down the evidence during a time when movements were restricted because of Corona virus restrictions.

The victim in the Madison Avenue shooting is expected to survive, Alton Police Chief Jason Jake Simmons said April 8.

A car got shot up and one of the rounds penetrated a house where a college girl was doing a term paper in her room, Simmons said previously.

The bullet struck her in the back of the head, and she was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.

Because of evidence gathered at the scene and other evidence, Bausily is charged with armed robbery, being an armed habitual criminal and aggravated discharge of a firearm in an April 8 incident in which he is accused of taking money, a cell phone and car keys from two individuals by threatening the use of force.

The armed habitual criminal charge was filed because he was convicted in 2016 of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and mob action. He was accused of shooting at an occupied building in the 800 block of Gold Street in that April 8 incident.

He is also accused of aggravated discharge of a firearm for allegedly shooting at a car occupied by for people on April 5.

In a March 27 case, he was charged with being an armed habitual criminal and aggravated discharged of a firearm in that he allegedly fired at a home in the 700 block of Hoffman Street.

He was also accused of aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm and being an armed habitual criminal for allegedly shooting a man in the leg on March 25 in the area of Hellrung Park.

Cotton is also charged in the April 8 Gold Street shooting, the April 8 shooting on Madison Avenue and the March 27 shooting on Hoffman Street.

He was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon for after being convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by a street gang member in 2013.

Cotton is also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and aggravated discharge of a firearm for allegedly shooting a man in the leg on March 25. He allegedly took a shot at a passing vehicle in the area of Hellrung Park.
Mumbai: Expressing deep concern over the long-term economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, the Shiv Sena on Saturday (May 2) said that all political parties should stop playing communal politics in future and instead work towards bringing the economy back on track.

The party said the talks held between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently over the impact of the COVID-19 shows how grave the crisis is for the economy. It said time has now come to grow wiser.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held talks with economist Raghuram Rajan through digital medium. Rajan said that the government needs to spend Rs 65000 crore to help the poor facing hardships due to the coronavirus lockdown. He said the entire country will have to face the economic consequences of lockdown," the Sena said.

"Rajan said the government's present definition of the poor will change after lockdown. Middle class and upper middle class will also become poor and start demanding certificate of economic backwardness. Even a developed nation like the US is staring at a grave problem of unemployment.

"In the US, there is system of unemployment allowance, which India doesn't have. Rajan's observation is that 10 crore people in India will become jobless, which is a matter of concern," the party said.

Through their talks, one thing became clear that continuing lockdown for indefinte period will prove costly for the economy. The government will have to work beyond the set norms. Power and authority to take decisions cannot remain limited with only a couple of people, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

As far as Maharashtra is concerned, the 2019-20 revenue income is Rs 3.15 lakh crore, while the expenditure is Rs 3.35 lakh crore. But due to lockdown the revenue deficit will grow and it would become difficult to run the state, it added.

"The central government will have to take everyone along. It will have to take into account others' views and chart out the road ahead," it said.

"In India, all political parties should work towards bringing the economy back on track, instead of playing politics of India-Pakistan, religion and caste. The prime minister should take a lead and the entire country will stand behind him," it said.
Customers were urged to either take one of the shuttle buses, which were made available, or the Green Line. Nearby bus routes were also available, such as the #29, the CTA said.
The search to replace township President and General Manager Don Norrell continued Monday as six candidates for the job conducted virtual, online interviews with the townships board.

After the meeting, the candidates were whittled down to three finalists. The identities of the applicants who are vying for the job have not been released due to privacy reasons.

Norrell, who was scheduled to retire April 30, after more than 14 years as the townships chief administrative staffer, agreed to stay on the job another two months during a meeting in March due to the unexpected challenges that arose from the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. His last day of work is scheduled for June 30, however as part of his retirement from the township, he had agreed to remain as a paid, part-time consultant for another year to help his replacement with transitional duties.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Woodlands general manager Norrell delays retirement due to COVID-19 crisis

Township board Chairman Gordy Bunch confirmed on Friday that six different candidates were interviewed by all seven board members during a closed executive session that began at 8:30 a.m. on April 27 and continued for several hours. The six candidates were reduced to three finalists, he added.

Weve had a lot of good candidates we feel are qualified and are grateful to have such talented applicants be interested, Bunch said. The full Board of Directors are all interviewing the candidates. We met with the consultant (hired to find candidates) and we did background checks before COVID-19 hit.

Bunch said the timeline to hire Norrells replacement was mid-May, but the township will not rush the process because Norrell had agreed to remain on the township staff as a part-time, paid consultant until April 30, 2021. Norrell will still end his official contractual employment with the township on June 30 as planned, he added.

We know that we dont have to rush the decision. (Norrell) Has proven to us he wont leave us in a lurch, Bunch said, also expressing thanks to Norrell for his dedication. There are also logistical issues as to if (a final decision) can happen that quickly. Our preference would be in-person (interviews) and (that) will depend on restrictions in place at the time. Several (candidates) have visited the area or lived nearby and a few have not been here before. All are aware of our award-winning community.

The township hired Ralph Andersen & Associates, a Northern California-based consulting firm in late 2019 to help with the process of finding Norrells replacement. The firm, based in Roseville, a suburb of the state capital, Sacramento, has extensive experience in Texas, and has been heavily involved in dozens of higher-level governmental executive searches for cities across the nation over the past several years, including Austin, Denton, Richland Hills and Grapevine.

The firm specializes in wealthier communities, also working for numerous cities in Marin County north of San Francisco, Elk Grove, Calif.  the largest suburb in Sacramento  and one of the most toney suburbs in Ohio, the city of Upper Arlington, located miles from the Ohio State University campus and home of Woody Hayes and Jack Nicklaus.

The townships general manager and president leads the administrative staff and all township employees, working in tandem with a series of assistant general managers for community services, finance and other departments such as parks and recreation, environmental services and transit.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Woodlands Township president and general manager Norrell to retire in 2020

Norrell has been on the job since 2006 and assists the Board of Directors during meetings by sitting adjacent to the board chairman while being given legal advice from the township attorney, Robin Cross. Norrell, a veteran of decades of public governement sevice in Wisconsin and Texas has plans to retire and spend more time with his family.

jeff.forward@chron.com
CAIRO - Sudanese officials said Saturday they are working to criminalize the widespread practice of female genital mutilation after the transitional government approved a landmark draft law.

Under the proposed amendment to the criminal code, anyone found guilty of performing the procedure would be sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The law must still be ratified by a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the sovereign council, which assumed power after last years overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir.

Female genital mutilation is a deeply rooted practice in Sudan and other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, where it is traditionally seen as a way of curbing female sexual desire to reinforce conservative behaviour. The practice is carried out with special knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades. Anaesthetic and antiseptics are generally not used unless the procedure is carried out by doctors.

A 2014 report by the U.N. childrens agency estimated that 87% of Sudanese women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to the procedure. Most undergo an extreme form known as infibulation, which involves the removal and repositioning of the labia to narrow the vaginal opening.

The governments proposal is part of a set of sweeping amendments that would abolish the death penalty for people under the age of 18 and prevent pregnant women from being imprisoned for minor crimes.

In November, the transitional government overturned an al-Bashir-era moral policing law that criminalized revealing clothing for women and drinking alcohol. The move was hailed by rights groups as a step forward for womens rights.

Dalia al-Roubi, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, said the government hopes to convene a meeting with the sovereign council soon to ratify the law. Rajaa Nicola, a member of the sovereign council, said it has yet to be scheduled.

The proposed law has been brought forward by the countrys interim government, which includes four female ministers. If passed it would be an achievement for the technocratic leaders who are trying to steer Sudan toward democratic and economic reforms.

However, rights groups warn that the practice remains deeply entrenched in the conservative society and that enforcement could face obstacles. Female genital mutilation has survived in other countries that have criminalized it.

Its also unclear whether the countrys military leaders, who make up a majority of the sovereign council, will approve the law, which could spark a backlash by powerful Islamist groups that backed al-Bashir.

In the past decade, the provinces of al-Qadarif and South Kordofan outlawed the practice in a move that did not make its way to other provinces.

Its a great victory for Sudanese women, said Nahid Gabrellah, director of the Seema centre for womens rights, adding that more efforts were needed to raise awareness.

The U.N. childrens agency also welcomed the efforts to outlaw the practice.

This practice is not only a violation of every girl childs rights, it is harmful and has serious consequences for a girls physical and mental health, said Abdullah Fadil, the agencys representative in Sudan.
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By Hamid Shalizi, Abdul Qadir Sediqi and Rupam Jain

KABUL/MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Taliban have mounted more than 4,500 attacks in Afghanistan, marking a sharp escalation in violence, in the 45 days since signing a deal with the United States that paves the way for a U.S. troop drawdown, according to data seen by Reuters.

Two sets of data, one from a Western military source and one from an independent body, both show attacks by the hardline Islamist group up by more than 70 percent between March 1 and April 15 compared with the same period a year ago.

Separately, Afghan government data indicates that more than 900 Afghan local and national forces were killed during that same period, up from about 520 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Taliban casualties fell to 610 in the period, down from roughly 1,660 a year ago, as U.S. and Afghan forces have reduced the number of offensive attacks and air strikes following the U.S.-Taliban accord.

Senior Western, Afghan and independent officials tracking the ground situation say that the increase in attacks shows the insurgent group's wilful disregard of a pledge to reduce violence made as part of the accord signed in late February.

The violence in the war-damaged nation has coincided with the rapid spread of the coronavirus infection.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters that while the Taliban have adhered to a commitment in the Feb. 29 deal not to mount attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces or major cities, the militants' level of violence "is unacceptably high" and "not conducive to a diplomatic solution."

"We have continued to do defensive attacks to help defend our partners in the area and we will continue to do that," Hoffman added.

The four provinces that have reported the highest number of cases of the infection have also been the ones hit the most by Taliban violence in recent weeks, according to the two data sets and at least three senior Afghan and Western officials.

Story continues

As of May 1, Afghanistan has reported over 2,335 coronavirus cases and 68 deaths, but international observers believe numbers could be much higher, given the lack of testing.

"Taliban fighters are not hitting large government centres or cities, they are focusing on villages in Herat, Kabul, Kandahar and Balkh provinces that have reported the highest number of coronavirus cases," a senior Western security official said on condition of anonymity.

'A MATTER OF TIME'

Western security officials, diplomats and international observers said the Taliban's strategy to slowly erode government control of rural areas and then position themselves to besiege cities during the pandemic could derail the peace deal.

"They are slowly encircling all of Afghanistan's major cities," said Jonathan Schroden, an expert with the Center for Naval Analyses who has provided assessments on the security situation in Afghanistan to the U.S. military and Congress.

"So it's either a matter of time before they get a deal satisfactory to them or they put those major cities under siege."

Two Taliban spokesman said the group was not responsible for a majority of the attacks in recent weeks. They accused the United States of jeopardising the peace agreement by supporting Afghan security forces and not releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners as part of a prisoner swap stipulated under the accord.

The Taliban say the group's attacks between the start of March and April 15 fell 54.7% compared with a year ago to 537.

The group said its attacks were not "as intense" compared with the previous year and Afghan security forces members killed fell 54.2% to 935 while the number wounded fell 55.9% to 742.

The Defence Ministry said army troops were in "active defence mode" and using the air force to stop Taliban advances.

On Friday, clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan forces intensified in northern Balkh and southern Logar province as warring sides fought to control checkpoints. Dozens of Afghan security men and Taliban fighters were killed.

Last month, General Scott Miller, commander of U.S. forces and the NATO-led non-combat Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, travelled to Qatar amid the pandemic to meet Taliban political leaders.

Security officials said Miller issued a "stern warning" to stop operations against Afghan forces and adhere to pledges under the accord aimed at ending nearly two decades of war.

Some of the attacks included four cases in which Taliban fighters allegedly used insiders to poison food eaten by Afghan forces at checkpoints in the north. Those checkpoints were now manned by Taliban fighters, Western security officials said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he was aware of recent insider attacks in which several Afghan force members were fatally poisoned, but denied the group was responsible and said recent violence at checkpoints involved Afghan forces attacking civilians.

He added, however, that the Taliban did not deny using infiltrators or causing insider attacks as part of its war strategy.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Euan Rocha, William Maclean and Jonathan Oatis)
The positioning of the Global Second & Third Generation Biofuels Market vendors in FPNV Positioning Matrix are determined by Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) and placed into four quadrants (F: Forefront, P: Pathfinders, N: Niche, and V: Vital).

New York, April 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Second & Third Generation Biofuels Market - Premium Insight, Competitive News Feed Analysis, Company Usability Profiles, Market Sizing & Forecasts to 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05871444/?utm_source=GNW





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Our market forecasting is based on a market model derived from market connectivity, dynamics, and identified influential factors around which assumptions about the market are made. These assumptions are enlightened by fact-bases, put by primary and secondary research instruments, regressive analysis and an extensive connect with industry people. Market forecasting derived from in-depth understanding attained from future market spending patterns provides quantified insight to support your decision-making process. The interview is recorded, and the information gathered in put on the drawing board with the information collected through secondary research.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on sulfuric acid offered by the key players in the Global Second & Third Generation Biofuels Market

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4. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new products launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the Global Second & Third Generation Biofuels Market

5. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players in the Global Second & Third Generation Biofuels Market



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Islamic State militants killed at least 10 Iraqi militiamen in a coordinated assault overnight near the central city of Samarra, security officials said Saturday, adding to concerns the extremist group that once controlled large areas of the country is staging a comeback.

The military and the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias allied with the government, confirmed the attack in separate statements. It was the deadliest of a series of attacks in recent weeks that come as authorities are grappling with a worsening economic crisis and trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak.

Iraq declared victory over IS in December 2017 after a costly three-year campaign. At its height, the group controlled around a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria, which it governed in accordance with a harsh and violent interpretation of Islamic law.

In recent months, remnants of IS have exploited security gaps resulting from a territorial dispute between Iraq's central government and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north, as well as the withdrawal of U.S. forces in a planned drawdown.

Last week, a suicide bomber targeted an intelligence office in the northern city of Kirkuk, wounding at least three security forces in the first such attack in months.

The PMF said six of its fighters were killed by direct fire late Friday in the village of Mekeeshfa, south of Tikrit. Another three fighters were killed by a roadside bomb as reinforcements were called in. A 10th militiaman was shot dead in the nearby village of Tal al-Dahab.

The coordinated attack occurred around 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of the capital, Baghdad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tyson Foods plans to deploy on-site medical clinics after a breakout of COVID-19 at their Indiana processing plant infected nearly 900 employees. The country's largest meat producer also warned that America's food supply chain could be under distress.

On-Site Medical Clinics

Following the recent outbreak, the company announced that they plan to deploy medical clinics at selected plants and facilities. Matrix Medical Network will operate the clinics, and they will first be sent to Tyson Plants in Illinois, Iowa, and Washington.

Meanwhile, the schedule of medical clinics to be sent to other plants is yet to be determined according to the company's media release. Tyson Foods also gave an assurance that additional clinics will be sent to facilities as needed.

Hector Gonzalez, Tyson Foods' senior vice president of human resources, said: "Tyson is committed to implementing all possible measures to protect our team members. We want to reopen our previously idled facilities, but also want to instill confidence in our workers and reassure them that we care deeply about their individual health needs. Our partnership with Matrix Medical Network will allow us to take additional precautions to help keep our employees safe."

The on-site mobile medical clinic includes diagnostic testing for COVID-19, daily on-site screenings, on-site nurse practitioner care, and educational and support resources for employees. Moreover, the Matric Medical Network will be assisting the company in its environmental design to mitigate the virus.

Outbreak Could Disrupt the Food Supply Chain

Aside from its plant in Indiana, several other Tyson plants voluntarily shut down its operation due to COVID-19 concern. Some of these plants are located in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, and Washington, where many employees tested positive for the virus.

This situation does not only raise concern among its employees, but it has also raised concern in the nation's food supply. Tyson Foods Chairman John H. Tyson took a full-page ad in different news outlets to stress out the company's response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in its plants and facilities.

Further, he also asserted that the closures of the company's plants and facilities would not only affect its employees but as well as the food chain in the country. It can be remembered that Tyson warned last week, saying, "The food supply chain is breaking."

According to the financial analysts and business insiders, this phenomenon will be felt as early as next week. Consumers have to expect to see a lesser selection in the supermarket meat aisle.

900 Workers Test Positive for COVID-19

The Tyson Foods plant located in Indiana has around 2,200 employees, and nearly 900 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. This means that almost 40 percent of employees were infected. Following this, the company said that hundreds of their employees are now screened and monitored.

This led the company to temporarily shut down its operation to control the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, Tyson Foods has been working to strategically reopen its plant to sustain the food chain in the country.

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BURLINGTON  You dont quarantine the entire population, you quarantine just the people who need help! yelled a man from the backbed of a Dodge Ram pickup truck.

He was one of the first protesters to arrive at Echo Park on Saturday afternoon for the ReOpen Burlington Rally, which ended up gathering a crowd of about 130. Plenty more people waved flags or honked their car horns as they drove past on Milwaukee Avenue.

Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty disparaged the rally on Thursday, aligning herself with Gov. Tony Evers and the states health leaders. She said that the health and safety of all of our citizens is the paramount concern and that the ongoing threat of COVID-19 is still too great to allow life to go back to normal.

Police officers were on scene throughout the rally, which lasted more than 3 hours. The officers did not act to enforce social distancing or try to keep people off of playground equipment that had been ordered off-limits by the governor and mayor. The coronavirus can live for up to three days on hard surfaces, according to the National Institute of Health Services.

Adrianne Melby, a mother of five who organized ReOpen Burlington, thinks that the economic and mental health damages caused by Safer at Home are beginning to exceed the threat posed by COVID, which has killed at least 334 people in Wisconsin and has hospitalized more than 1,500, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

The death rate for the average person who contracts COVID-19 is about 3.4%, according to the World Health Organization, although estimates from other health organizations estimate that the death rate is closer to 2%. For older people, or those with pre-existing respiratory problems, the risk is far higher.

Melby and Madison Elmer, Melbys sister-in-law who helped organize the April 24 rally at the state Capitol that drew an estimated 1,500 protesters, pointed to the low death rate as evidence that Safer at Home has gone too far.

But they both distanced themselves from the partisan messages with which other rallies have been associated. More than 20 people came to Burlingtons rally wearing apparel in support of President Donald Trump and waved Trump flags. Several people present carried anti-abortion posters. Another man carried a 7-foot-tall sign that listed what he alleged were the results of socialism, including brain washing and drug addiction and STDs. Others wore anti-Evers T-shirts and called for the Democratic governor to be recalled.

We want to see Burlington reopen. Thats our main focus, Melby said. Our goal here is to keep it bipartisan. To keep it about small businesses and families.

Leave your political flags at home, said Elmer, who described herself as a pro-choice old-style Democrat who believes in socialized health care.

Ted Scheife, a 69-year-old Burlington resident, attended the rally while wearing a Milwaukee Brewers-themed mask to match his Brewers cap. He stood quietly, more than 6 feet away from everyone else, but wanted to show support.

Wearing a mask could be a good idea, but dont close everything up. Were going to live through this, he said.

Thats the message the organizers want to promote: that most people wont die, but many businesses could die if Safer at Home lasts without substantive tax-funded relief.

Kindly educate those who are against this ... make them empathize with you, said Elmer, who with her husband co-owns a company that services water wells.

Sherry Schultz was not at Saturdays rally, but said she does support it. Both she and her husband are older than 60, and their 31-year-old daughter has RETT Syndrome, which leaves her respiratory system compromised and has made her developmentally disabled. Shes like a 1-year-old, Schultz said.

Schultz and her daughter havent left their Burlington home in more than a month, and her husband has only gone out a couple times while wearing a mask and gloves to get groceries.

When Safer at Home started, Schultz supported it.

I kind of agree with how theyve locked everything down, she said. This isnt something were used to. Its not the same flu weve always had.

But now that we know sort of what were dealing with, I think the small businesses are ready to open. And I hope the only way they open is with 100% safety for everyone: masks, Xs on the floor 6 feet apart, distancing.

Schultz said that she and her family still wont be going out, but she thinks most everyone else should be able to.

That frame of mind aligns with the organizers of ReOpen Burlington.

If they dont feel comfortable, they dont need to shop at these businesses, Elmer said. The 98 percent who arent worried (about coronavirus), we want to live our life.

The organizers passed out lists with the phone numbers of the mayor and city aldermen, asking protesters to call them to voice their displeasure with businesses being closed.

Still, not everyone who spoke up at the rally agreed with that thinking.

Jon Phetteplace, 39, stood next to protesters with his own sign that said Get a job losers on one side and I know science is hard on the other. He said that he has five nurses in his family who all are asking people to follow the Safer at Home order.

Is their freedom worth more than death right now? Phetteplace asked, pointing at the ralliers. No.

Another young man, riding in the backseat of a car that drove past, yelled at the gathering: Hope you all get the virus! Six feet apart please! Protesters responded by yelling insults back as the car drove off.

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Three more Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates have been sacked or suspended from their jobs for Islamophobic social media posts days after the Indian ambassador to the Emirate Pavan Kapoor warned Indians there against putting out such posts on social media, a news report said on Saturday.

The three now join nearly half a dozen others who have similarly landed in trouble in recent weeks for their reported Islamophobic social media posts, the Gulf News said.

A spokesperson for Azadea Group that operates Eataly, a chain of high-end Italian restaurants in Dubai, confirmed that Rawat Rohit who was employed with them as a chef has been suspended and is facing a disciplinary probe, the report said.

In another incident, the Sharjah-based Pneumics Automation said they had suspended their storekeeper Sachin Kinnigoli until further notice. We have withheld his salary and told him not to come to work. The matter is under investigation. We have a zero tolerance policy. Anyone found guilty of insulting or showing contempt for someones religion will have to bear the consequences," the Gulf News report quoted the firms unnamed owner as saying. Similarly, Dubai-based Transguard Group said they have cracked down on an employee who had posted several anti-Islamic messages on his Facebook page under the name of Vishal Thakur. Following an internal investigation, the actual identify of this employee was verified and he was stripped of his security credentials, terminated from our employment and handed over to the relevant authorities as per company policy and UAE Cybercrime Law. As of this statement, he is in the custody of Dubai Police," a Transguard spokesperson said in a statement to Gulf News.

The latest sackings and suspensions come days after both the former and current Indian Ambassadors to the UAE cautioned their countrymen about the UAEs strict hate speech laws. Similar warnings were issued by missions in other GCC countries. On 20 April, Indian ambassador to the UAE, Pavan Kapoor in a Twitter post said that discrimination was against India's moral fabric" and warned citizens that India and the UAE valued non-discrimination. He also retweeted another post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that said covid-19 doesnt see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking."

The UAE outlaws all religious or racial discrimination under a legislation passed in 2015.

Former Indian ambassador Navdeep Suri had also cautioned Indians about the UAEs hate speech laws and similar warnings have been issued by Indian missions in other Gulf Cooperation Council states.

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Jennifer Weiners new book Big Summer (Atria, $28) has everything youd hope to find in a beach read: complicated female friendships, unhappy rich people, a hardworking heroine with an eye for fashion, and an Instagram-worthy setting for an over-the-top wedding on Cape Cod.

If only it came with its own wide-open beach, or maybe a force field to keep other beachgoers at a safe distance.

The best-selling author, who lives in Queen Village with her husband and two daughters, is, like most of us, not venturing far from home right now. She spoke with The Inquirer this week about releasing a beach book during a global pandemic, the real-life murder case that inspired one story line, and what she had to learn to understand her heroine Daphnes life as a plus-sized Instagram influencer.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

As some other book releases were being put off because of the coronavirus pandemic, you announced your publication date had moved up two weeks. How much of a say did you have in that decision?

I was actually the one driving the bus in that case, which is not always how it goes in the publishing world. When it became clear that there wasnt going to be a book tour, and that a lot of bookstores werent even going to be open, we had a conversation. The options were to postpone the publication, probably till summer 2021 because later in the summer still looked pretty uncertain, and its hard to sell a book called Big Summer in the fall.

So it was either push it into the future, stick with the original publication date, or go sooner. And I was advocating going sooner because of all the books that Ive ever written, Big Summer is one of the lighter and breezier ones. Its set at a beach and it has that kind of escapist summer read feeling. And I figured everybody could use a little bit of that right now.

Could a beach read be even more welcome at a time when lots of people may not be able to go to the beach?

I hope that Big Summer will give people some of the sense memories of being at a place that they love. I hope that the descriptions of the scenes and the food and the way it smells and the way things look, all of that, is maybe going to give people like a tiny bit of an imaginary vacation. I mean, listen, I was supposed to go on this trip to Alaska this summer, and thats not happening. So I am just as disappointed as everyone else whos had to cancel something they were really looking forward to.

One story line in Big Summer was inspired by the 2002 murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington, which was the focus of an ABC News report and podcast in 2017. You own a home on Cape Cod. Does that story still resonate on the Cape in the way a similar long-ago murder does in your book?

Yes. Because it was the only killing on the Outer Cape for a long, long time. And because it was an unsolved mystery for a long, long time. People still talk about it.

Because I spend a lot of time out there, because I grew up going there as a kid, that part of the world always interested me. And that case particularly interested me, because as Daphne says in the book, the term slut-shaming wasnt in the vernacular when Christa Worthingtons case was [first] in the news. But if it had been, I think that the way that that case was sort of tried in the media would have been Exhibit A for this is what it looks like to blame a victim for her own death.

You do a deep dive here into the nuts and bolts of Daphnes role as an Instagram influencer. What was that research like?

I didnt know anything about that world. I didnt get it at first  who are these young women, and why does anyone care what theyre doing or what theyre wearing? Famous for nothing is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, and I think, perhaps, more about women than men. The Kardashians were famous for nothing, like, what did they do to deserve their audience? Well, the truth is, they worked really hard to shape their life into a story that people cared about, which I think is what influencers have done.

I just kind of assumed like, OK, Anthropologie pays me to wear a dress and I take a picture of myself and I post the picture. And then I get money every time somebody buys the dress.

I had to have somebody walk me through it. What would happen would be Anthropologie would send you a link to their website, and youd have to choose something. But it could only be from the clothes that were on sale for this 10-day period. And then theyd send you the outfit and youd have to style it, and in such a way that it looked really great, but that people would only want to buy the thing that you were selling, and not the necklace or the boots, or the hair clip, or whatever.

And youd have to stage the picture, take the picture, edit the picture, crop the picture, filter it, put it up, and then you put in a code. And hopefully the people who saw it would use that code and then theyd go buy the dress, and then youd get like, a penny every time somebody bought it.

It is an absurd amount of work for most of the people who are influencers. And the people at the top of the food chain are making a ton of money. And I think that the vast, vast majority are working really hard for not a great return.

When Good in Bed was published in 2001, you were barely out of your 20s, writing about a 20-something journalist you had a lot in common with. Big Summers Daphne is also in her 20s  does it require more research to put yourself in her shoes than it did with Cannie Shapiro?

I think there are universals about being a woman at that point in her life, and I can remember a lot of how it felt. But there are definitely things that have changed. And one is the internet. That part did take a lot of research and a lot of spending time online and paying attention to Instagram, and how people were interacting and what they care about, and just how different it is being extremely online the way that this generation is.

Youre sharing your house with another writer [her husband, Bill Syken] and your two daughters. Hows your lockdown going?

I feel really lucky because my daughters are old enough to be sort of self-sustaining. I dont have little kids who need me all the time. In fact, I think that they both kind of wish I would leave them alone. We have plenty of food and nobodys sick. My mom is fine. My husbands parents are OK down in Florida.

I get frustrated and antsy when I see people who are not social distancing or not wearing their masks. I would say, honestly, that is the biggest thing that I am dealing with. I feel like all of my anxiety has taken the form of rage at people who I dont think are doing it right. I really have to be careful, because, well, I dont know everybodys story.
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A frequent comment I get from pastors and other church leaders often goes like this statement: If all our members who attend regularly or sporadically showed up at the same time, our worship center would be packed.

I get it. One of the more frustrating aspects of a pastors ministry is dealing with nominally committed church members. As we wait to return to our in-person worship services, lets start addressing this issue before the stay-at-home recommendations lift. Here are five thoughts:

1. We must address the reality of the 64% factor. Though our social media poll was not scientific, the large number of responses we received was indicative of the interest in the topic. We asked church leaders to provide us two numbers. The first was average weekly worship attendance before the pandemic. The second was the estimated attendance if everyone showed up at the same time. The results were astounding. The median increase in worship attendance would be 64% if everyone showed up at the same time. So, a 100-attendance church would have 164 present. A 500-attendance church would have 820 in attendance.

2. We must ask the question, Where have all the church members gone? In many of your churches, you can do this exercise by each family. In larger churches, you can do a representative sampling. Look at the families and individuals who attend with a frequency of twice a month or less. Assign a reason for their lack of commitment. Is it sports leagues? Is it travel? Is it sleeping in? Is it undetermined or other? While this exercise might not be the most encouraging thing you can do, it will help begin your strategy with a healthy dose of reality.

3. We must be prepared for the aftermath of social distancing. This issue will become particularly important if no vaccine is available for COVID-19 this year. Our worship services may have a much smaller capacity than before the pandemic. We may have to allow for more space between attendees. What are the implications for attendance at your church if this does become a reality?

4. We must be prepared for in-person attendance to return in waves after the stay-at-home recommendations are lifted. We anticipate that a number of church members, particularly older members, will not return immediately. So, it is very likely that some of your every Sunday members will not be in attendance for several weeks. They will be watching the news carefully to determine when it is safe for them to be in more public settings.

5. We must return to the post-COVID-19 world with a renewed attitude about the importance of the gathered church. I have heard this sentence countless times: The church is not a building; its the people. While that statement is biblically correct, it is often used incorrectly to minimize the importance of worship attendance. The church gathers so it can be the church scattered. Whether attendance takes place in a traditional worship center, a warehouse, a storefront, a home, or under a tree, it is still biblically important for the church to gather. We must stop apologizing for advocating the importance of committed and consistent church attendance.

What if all of our church members showed up at the same time? That is not only an important question to ask, it is an important strategy to begin.

Its time. Its time to stop accepting sporadic attendance as normal, and to expect our church members to be committed to gathering every single week.

Originally posted at thomrainer.com
The World Health Organisation, WHO, has countered US President, Donald Trump on the true origin of Coronavirus (COVID-19) WHO reit...





The World Health Organisation, WHO, has countered US President, Donald Trump on the true origin of Coronavirus (COVID-19)





WHO reiterated on Friday that the deadly virus was of natural origin after US Trump claimed he had seen evidence it originated in a Chinese lab.





Scientists are of the opinion that the dreaded virus came from animals to humans, emerging in Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, possibly from a market in Wuhan where exotic animals are sold for meat.





The US President while briefing White House press on Thursday, said that he had seen evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was actually the source of the pandemic.





However, WHO emergencies chief, Michael Ryan, who was asked about Trumps claim during a press briefing on Friday, stressed that the UN health agency had listened again and again to numerous scientists who have looked at the sequences of the virus.





We are assured that this virus is natural in origin, he said, reiterating a stance the UN agency has expressed previously.




A professor of mine at Princeton University once surveyed his classes and asked them how they would have responded to the unjust laws in Nazi Germany or the Jim Crow South. While history tells us that so few stood against these human rights violations, almost every student felt he would have volunteered to hide Jewish people in Nazi Germany or would have joined those marching for civil rights. I'd predict that most of these students would have also thought themselves one of the few to stand up for Japanese-Americans who were moved to internment camps during World War II.

Were these students all exceptional examples of independent thought and courage? Of course not. Rather, they exemplify two human realities: we have an amazing ability to overestimate our own courage and to believe we would think independently in the face of intense social pressure. If the vast majority were actually so wise and brave, so independent of mind and full of courage, how have there been so many human rights violations throughout history?

The reality is that most of us are not so independent-minded and courageous; rather, we are easily influenced by groupthink. Made famous by George Orwell in his novel 1984, groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational and dysfunctional decision-making outcome. The desire for cohesiveness produces a tendency to agree at all costs, minimizing conflicts and resulting in decisions made without critical evaluation. Groupthink occurs within government decision-making and also in smaller corporate settings. Successful organizations try to avoid it because it prevents a full analysis of difficult issues and results in poor decisions. Social media add a new power to groupthink as mob pressure to conform to popular social media hashtags and promotions further alienates critical thought.

Today, we have a public health crisis, and the group demands that people stay at home for public safety. While telling people to stay home and watch TV doesn't rise anywhere near the level of genocide or slavery, groupthink happens not just in cases of extreme human rights violations. Groupthink also happens when well intentioned people get swept up by a certain idea of how to solve a problem.

Today, the group demands we stay away from our friends and families and neighbors, that we stay away from our jobs and work and lives, that we stay away from our schools and leisure activities. The group says people must not attend church, eat at restaurants, or walk in local parks or on local beaches. The group demands that those who are good citizens report their friends and neighbors who are breaking the lockdowns to police. People who question or protest these new rules are dangerous. The group says we have no choice. This is a pandemic, after all. Opinions that don't align with the group must be silenced. People asking critical questions are dangerous, their points are dismissed, and their moral compass questioned. After all, those people don't care about health care workers or the elderly.

But the group has forgotten that policy intentions can often produce bad results. In economics, more generous unemployment insurance leads to longer spells of unemployment. Implicit government guarantees to financial institutions lead to more risk-taking. In health care, low-tar cigarettes lead to more lung cancer, and low-calorie snacks make people fatter. Well meaning policies or medical advice can often lead to behavior changes and a result inferior to no policy at all.

A well meaning policy intervention that makes a situation worse is often referred to as the "cobra effect." In the time of British rule of colonial India, the British government wanted to reduce the number of cobras in Delhi. The government offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially, the program seemed successful  until people started to breed cobras for income. Soon Delhi had more cobras than when it started the intervention program.

The Chinese experienced a similar well intentioned policy disaster in 1958. The Four Pests Campaign attempted to remove mosquitoes, rodents, flies, and sparrows responsible for the transmission of disease. The policy of eliminating these pests led to infestations of other pests that had previously served as prey for those that were wiped out and resulted in a massive loss of crops, causing the Great Chinese Famine, which killed an estimated 1545 million people  far more than the "Four Pests."

The expert models about COVID-19 have been wrong again and again. Initially estimating two million American deaths with social distancing measures in place, the IHME models have since been drastically revised twice to now estimate 60,000 American deaths. While COVID-19 is a serious virus that has already killed tens of thousands of Americans, data show that the overwhelming majority of people do not have a significant risk of dying from COVID-19. The recent Stanford antibody study estimates the fatality rate between 0.1 and 0.2 percent, 20 to 30 times lower than estimates that motivated lockdowns. The vast majority of these fatalities (99.2%) have an underlying illness. And based on a data analysis of the N.Y. area, young adults and children in normal health have almost no risk of any serious illness from COVID-19. Meanwhile, due to the COVID-19 response, many important preventative health care measures have been canceled, unemployment is soaring to Great Depression levels, and the Third World is at risk of massive famines  famines that, according to the U.N., could kill hundreds of millions of people.

When time passes and the hysteria recedes; when it becomes clear that fewer Americans died of COVID-19 than a variety of other addressable problems; and when an unprecedented number of Americans die deaths of despair, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 response, will this be our cobra-effect moment? And if it is, will we admit that we were swept up by the groupthink, pointing disapprovingly at dissenters? Or will we be like the students in my professor's class, still fooling ourselves into thinking we have the courage and independence of mind to stand up to a mob that we marched side by side with not so long ago?

It's not too late to break free and think about a different plan. Let's not be afraid of the dissenters. Let's not be afraid of the truth and where it might lead us.

Kellie J. Miller is a retired attorney, freelance writer, and mother of six children. She holds a B.A. in politics and a certificate in economics from Princeton University. She recently authored and illustrated two children's books.
LEMOYNE, Pa., May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors were shocked that Gov. Tom Wolf today announced the majority of the state is still closed for in-person real estate transactions.

Real estate services are being conducted safely in nearly every state across the country, yet Pennsylvanians are being denied the ability to purchase shelter. Bordering states have all adopted safe procedures to ensure that their citizens are able to work with real estate professionals to buy and sell property.

"Real estate is a life-sustaining business, despite what state officials have declared," said PAR President William Festa. "Professionals are safely assisting clients to buy and sell property in most other states, however, this limited reopening will continue to restrict Pennsylvanians' ability to purchase shelter where they want to live. For some consumers, they may be able to purchase or sell their home in one county, but be restricted in a bordering county. This approach simply doesn't make sense."

Two bi-partisan bills that would allow real estate services to reopen uniformly across the state have been introduced in the state House and Senate. House Bill 2412 (Polinchock, R-Bucks) was passed by the House this week and has moved to the Senate for consideration, while Senate Bill 1137 (Boscola, D-Lehigh) was introduced in the Senate this week. Both outline how real estate could be reopened, following CDC safety guidelines.

"The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors is not advocating for 'business as usual'," Festa said. "The association is developing procedures outlining how our 35,000 members could safely conduct business to protect consumers, their clients, as well as themselves."

Since Gov. Wolf shut businesses down, the association has continued to advocate for consumers and requested that real estate services be reclassified as life-sustaining, following the revised federal guidelines. Senate Bill 613, which passed the state General Assembly, would have required the state to follow the revised federal guidelines, however Gov. Wolf vetoed the bill.

"We've heard countless stories from consumers across the commonwealth, who are facing housing uncertainty and financial hardships because the state's shut down has severely curtailed the practice of real estate," Festa added. "We urge the governor to reconsider prohibiting Pennsylvanians from obtaining shelter."

SOURCE Pennsylvania Association of Realtors
A crucial meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was held on Saturday evening to decide the fate of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli amidst growing intra-party rift.

The secretariat meeting of the NCP at the Prime Minister's official residence Baluwatar was being watched closely as both the warring groups Oli faction and Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Madhav Kumar Nepal faction were expected to show their strength.

The meeting is taking place at a time when the growing intra-party disputes between the two rival factions are seeking to oust Prime Minister Oli both from the party and the government.

The Dahal-Nepal faction has demanded the resignation of Oli, alleging that his government has failed to perform up to the people's expectation.

Oli, bowing to pressure from former prime ministers Dahal - who is also known as Prachanda - and Nepal, recently withdrew two controversial bills aimed at consolidating his grip on the government and the party.

One of the bills was aimed at breaking a key Madhesi party to merge with the ruling NCP.

The Dahal-Nepal faction earlier sought to convene the party's standing committee meeting but Oli argued that he has already withdrawn the controversial ordinances and offered to mend the ways of the government.

Prime Minister Oli on Friday hit out at his political opponents for creating instability when the country was tackling the coronavirus outbreak.

Reports of conflict within the ruling NCP have surfaced in the local media, amidst China's efforts to patch up the differences.

Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi has been holding discussions with top NCP leaders, including former prime ministers, even as the political dispute intensified.

China, which has been investing heavily in Nepal in recent years, is said to be playing an active role in ensuring that infighting will not destabilise the communist government.

Hou met Prachanda and Nepal at their respective residences in Kathmandu on Friday morning and discussed different aspects of the close relation between the two countries.

Hou discussed the ongoing internal crisis in the ruling party, China's assistance to Nepal to fight COVID-19 and Nepal's support against the international politicisation of the coronavirus where a number of countries including the US are trying to hold Beijing accountable for the pandemic, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Chinese envoy earlier met Prachanda for about an hour. She also met Oli a couple of days ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The second economic stimulus package can be expected very soon, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V Subramanian said in an interview on Saturday, although he declined to put a time-frame or a magnitude to it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with home minister Amit Shah and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday in the context of a stimulus package and an official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that in a series of meetings on this theme the Prime Minister has, over the past few days reviewed trade, commerce, coal and mining, defence, aviation, power, agriculture, and the education sectors.

The PM chaired a meet on strengthening the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Chaired a meeting on strengthening our MSME sector, which plays a pivotal role in economic development, he tweeted. He discussed interventions in the financial sector and structural reforms needed to spur growth. At the meeting with the finance minister and other officials, he also discussed strategies and interventions to support MSMEs and farmers, enhance liquidity and strengthen credit flows. The PM discussed ways to ensure financial stability and measures taken to enable businesses to recover quickly.

Watch | Was the government blindsided on migrants: CEA answers | On The Record

Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage

The focus of the package, when it is announced, will be making the Indian economy self-reliant and turning the current crisis into an opportunity, a second person familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified.

The ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and the lockdown enforced to slow its progress have roiled the economy. On Friday, the government announced a graded exit from the lockdown over two weeks starting May 4. However, in so-called red zones, the most affected or most at-risk parts of the country, many of the restrictions will continue. The IMF has said India will grow by 1.9% this calendar year.

We have to keep in mind, this is not something that is specific to India, but a global pandemic. This is an extremely uncertain period, so any projection we make will have to be continually recalibrated as things evolve.IMF has said India will grow at 1.9% when the global economy is going to shrink at 3%... They put in several caveats as they should. Even with the Spanish Flu, there was a V-shaped growth after. With that in mind, overall, I would say between 1-2% of GDP is something I would think, Subramanian said.

Meanwhile, the government has already received specific proposals of policy reforms and fiscal incentives from various stakeholders and industries but a final decision will be taken after careful assessment of various sectors of the economy, the two officials cited above said. Industry has proposed a comprehensive stimulus package worth Rs 16 lakh crore, which includes welfare measures, policy reforms and fiscal concessions, to revive the economy. The government has come in for criticism over the delay in announcing a stimulus package.

Subramanian said that the delay was because of the governments desire to come up with a comprehensive one. Primarily, the work is on trying to make it very comprehensive. Not just in terms of the stimulus, but bringing in some reform measures as well. Policy-making is also about balancing different interests. Do recognise that during the period of the lockdown, economic activity has remained down.

The primary focus was containing the spread of the pandemic, and providing relief to the poor, the two officials said. Now, the next big agenda of the government is to bring the economy back on track.

A stimulus is expected sooner than later and it is a work in progress. But, it will neither be the first stimulus, nor the last. The government will provide relief to every sector in a caliberated manner so that the limited resource can be utilised most effectively. The immediate focus would be on rural economy, informal sector, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and those big industries that would have rippling impact on the three. Public money will be spent in a measured way so that maximum desired results for the entire economy are ensured, the first official said.

Subramanian, however, did not put a number to the possible package. However, he added that reports of a stimulus as much as 10% of the GDP in the US and 15% in the UK are exaggerated. Take the UK, which has a 350-billion pound guarantee programme. Now entire cost of that is not 350-billion pounds but a fraction of that  possibly 35 billion. So the number that is floating around of 15% of GDP, isnt accurate  actual number is 3.7% of GDP. Similarly, the US number is 6.7% of the GDP and not 10%. Thats something we have done carefully, weve looked at each of those numbers.

He also said that India cant compare itself to the US . 40-50% of the US population pays taxes while in contrast the number in India is less than 10%. We cannot cherry-pick some of these aspects, there are significant differences that you have to keep in mind, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:29:22|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Thailand is looking to promote job creations for villagers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country.

Government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat confirmed on Saturday Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed the permanent secretary of each ministry to look for ways and means to promote the creation of jobs for villagers to earn extra incomes.

Those jobs may be provided under locally- or provincially-based construction and development projects implemented by government agencies nationwide, according to the spokesperson.

In addition, the permanent secretaries are yet to look for other assistance measures for the affected villagers in all provinces in the wake of emergency rule and curfew, extended until the end of this month.

The planned job creations are part of the Prayut government's scheme to relieve the woes of farmers and other people affected by the pandemic and solve economic and social problems caused by it with the use of one trillion baht (about 30.95 billion U.S. dollars) in loans. Enditem
TV presenter Jules Hudson says he once lost 1,600 to a scammer on eBay. Hudson, 50, who has had to stop filming BBC One's Escape To The Country due to the lockdown, also reveals he collects military weapons for a hobby

From his 16th Century farmhouse in Herefordshire, he spoke via phone. His latest book, The Escape To The Country Handbook, is out now.

Appeal: Jules Hudson, who has called for more help for the self-employed, says 2012 was his best year financially because he had four TV programmes on air

What did your parents teach you about money?

To be prudent with it. My parents are careful with money and I have tried to follow their example and not take too many risks. My dad was an engineer and my mum ran a bed and breakfast. I'd say we were comfortably off.

They put me through boarding school, but we were by no means wealthy  we weren't the sort of family who went to Spain every Easter and skied every winter.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Yes I have, absolutely. When I first started out in TV in 1996, I was a runner  a general dogsbody. I think I got something like 120 a week. To keep my living expenses down, I lived on my dad's old wooden boat. In those days you could park a boat in St Katharine Docks in London for 50 a week.

I was in among all these super-duper yachts while living on Fray Bentos pies out of tins. I lived like that for more than two years. But it didn't feel like a great hardship. It felt like an adventure.

I was 26 by then and was quite used to roughing it because I had been in the Army. I came out because the regiment I was going to join after Sandhurst got chopped in some defence cuts.

A friend of mine, Dan Rivers  who is now an ITV news reporter  told me about the wonderful world of media. I thought it sounded really exciting. And that's how my career came about.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes. I can command quite good sums of money hosting corporate gigs. There have been occasions where I have earned a week's wages in an afternoon. They're good fun and I'd love to do more of them.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 2012. I was presenting Escape To The Country, Cash In The Attic and Britain's Empty Homes for BBC daytime  plus a series called Dig 1940. There were days when I was on TV three times on three different programmes.

I would rather not say exactly how much I earned but it was a low six-figure sum. I'm one of those people  and I get this from my parents  who is happier the longer and harder I'm working. Don't get me wrong, I love to switch off and relax  but I do also love going to work.

I think that's what makes this time so frustrating for so many people. It isn't just the lack of income, it's the fact that we are missing the people we work with and the intellectual challenge of what we do. I think, in general, work helps to define us.

What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

I've always loved Land Rovers so last year, when I thought I had enough money, I bought our son Jack his own 'mini' Land Rover for Christmas. It cost 2,500 from a company called Toylander.

He drives it every day to get firewood and terrorises our two labradors with it.

What is your biggest money mistake?

I once bought a quad bike for 1,600 on eBay thinking it was too good to be true  and it was. I was ripped off by a scammer in Spain. I transferred the money directly into his account and learnt a hard lesson. That bike never existed.

The best money decision you have made?

Buying my first house in Wales for 29,500 in 1997 when I was 27. It was in Llanddewi-Brefi, a small village in the countryside and dates back to about 1800.

It was a total wreck, I rebuilt it from scratch with the help of a redevelopment grant. I sold it eight years ago for 250,000. As well as being a brilliant financial investment, it helped me get my job on Escape To The Country.

The head of daytime BBC knew about it and suggested I would be the perfect person to get involved with the programme. So it laid the foundations not just of my love affair with property, but also my career.

Do you save into a pension?

No. I have never worked for anybody who's ever provided a contributory pension so I was never incentivised to do it. Plus, both my parents invested in pension schemes which went bust and they lost their money. Having grown up with that, I have always favoured bricks and mortar.

Do you invest directly in the stock market?

I have money invested in stocks and shares Isas, but I have opted for simple investment funds that track the stock market.

I'd love to be one of those people who could analyse the peaks and troughs of the stock market coming and make a fortune. Sadly, I'm not. My investments are probably on the floor right now. I daren't look.

Do you own any property?

Yes, my home on the Herefordshire border. It's a late 16th Century timber-framed farmhouse with five bedrooms. We bought it in 2012 for 600,000 and we have spent about 100,000 on it.

I would estimate it has gone up in value by at least 100,000 since 2012, but it's our forever home, so we're not too bothered if we spend a bit more on it than we think it is worth.

What is the one little luxury you treat yourself to?

Deactivated war weapons. I have a 1910 Maxim machine gun in my hallway and a whole collection of other British and American militaria, including a Sten gun.

I'm a keen military history buff and I add to my collection every couple of years. What I find interesting is the emotional story behind each weapon and the person who carried it  I wonder about what they were thinking, what they saw and witnessed.

The weapons are not worth a fortune, but they don't go down in value and as objects they are great talking points at dinner parties.

If you were Chancellor what is the first thing you would do?

I would do more to help people who are self-employed like me and work in the media. Everybody thinks that just because you're on TV, you're worth a fortune and you earn a huge amount. That's not the case. At the moment, my crew and everybody else is really struggling.

What is your number one financial priority?

To get rid of the mortgage and have enough money to feel secure. We are not there yet, sadly.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 5)  A 60-year-old Chinese woman has been confirmed as the countrys third case of the novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV, the Department of Health said Wednesday.

The Chinese national arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan, China via Hong Kong on January 20. She also went to Bohol, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said in a briefing.

Domingo said the patient initially tested negative for samples taken on January 24. This was confirmed both by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City and the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Australia, he said. However, authorities decided to test the samples that were obtained on January 23  which came out positive.

"The picture is that the patient was infected but was getting better and nagnegative na siya [she tested negative] on the 24th and a week later siya nadischarge [she was discharged]," explained Domingo.

He said the patient already returned to China on January 31 after it was confirmed that she tested negative for the virus.

When the woman arrived in the country, she was already feeling unwell, Domingo said. She stayed in her hotel room and was admitted to the hospital the next day. On the other hand, her companions did not feel experience any sickness, he added.

"Remember this, January 20, so medyo open pa wala pang ban ng [it was still open, there was no ban on] flights anywhere and we had very limited information on the nCoV and it was really tracking patients with fever so this patient had no fever when she was passing through our airport," the health official said.

Finding traces

Domingo said they will only conduct contact-tracing on the patient's flight from China going to the Philippines since she no longer had the infection during her trip back home.

Airline company Cebu Pacific said it has already reached out to the crew members of the flight the woman boarded going to Cebu.

"It looks like they are all okay but we will be verifying that," Cebu Pacific Spokesperson Charo Lagamon told CNN Philippines' Newsroom.

As for contacting the passengers, she said the company already left the lists, including that of passengers in the flights of the other two positive 2019-nCoV patients, to DOH and the Bureau of Quarantine.

DOH in Region 7 also said it has begun checking the staff of the hotel and hospital where the woman stayed.

DOH-7 Regional Director Jaime Bernadas said the woman and her four companions immediately took a ferry boat at Pier 1 in Cebu City after arriving at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. The boat traveled to Tagbilaran City, Bohol. DOH is also looking for the woman's fellow passengers on the boat, Bernadas said.

Delayed announcement

Domingo revealed that the DOH learned of the positive test results on Monday evening but he said they were unable to announce it to the public since they had to attend the Senate hearing the next day.

He said there are also some cases in China wherein patients eventually tested negative even after initially testing positive for 2019-nCoV.

"Mae-eliminate mo 'yung virus from your body as your immune system mounts 'yung [the] defense against it so unless it's completely eliminated from your body and it's negative that's when you can send the patient home," he explained.

The couple who arrived in the country two weeks ago from Wuhan  the Chinese city at the epicenter of the 2019-nCoV outbreak  are the Philippines' first two confirmed cases of infection with the new coronavirus.

Domingo said the first case, a 38-year-old Chinese woman, no longer has fever, cough and colds but recent tests showed she is still infected with 2019-nCoV.

"Wala na talaga siyang sakit [She was no longer sick] for the past week, no fever, no cough, no colds. However, the latest test that was done itong [this] last 48 hours was still positive pero [but] there were signs na 'yung [the] viral load niya bumababa [has gone down]," he said.

Domingo said they cannot allow her to return to China yet as long as she still has the virus.

The second case, a 44-year-old Chinese man, who along with his partner visited Dumaguete, Cebu and Manila, died from health complications Saturday making him the first 2019-nCoV fatality outside of mainland China.

The second death outside the worlds most populous country was recorded in Hong Kong, one of Chinas special administrative regions.

The global death toll from the 2019-nCoV was at 490 as of Wednesday morning, with more than 24,000 cases of infection recorded in at least 28 countries and territories, including mainland China, according to the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering that tracks coronavirus cases across the world.

The number of deaths from the 2019-nCov has overtaken that from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic in China in 2003, which left 349 dead, CNN reported.

But the new virus that in some cases can lead to fatal acute respiratory disease, has a lower mortality rate of about two percent compared to around 10 percent for SARS and 35 percent for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, health experts said.
An armed militia member waits inside the Michigan Senate chamber at the Capitol building during the "American Patriot Rally on Capitol Lawn" protest in Lansing, Mich., on April 30. Read more

Gun-carrying protesters have been a common sight at some demonstrations calling for coronavirus-related restrictions to be lifted. But an armed militias involvement in an angry protest in the Michigan statehouse Thursday marked an escalation that drew condemnation and shone a spotlight on the practice of bringing weapons to protest.

The "American Patriot Rally" started on the statehouse steps, where members of the Michigan Liberty Militia stood guard with weapons and tactical gear, their faces partially covered. They later moved inside the Capitol along with several hundred protesters, who demanded to be let onto the House floor, which is prohibited. Some protesters with guns  which are allowed in the statehouse  went to the Senate gallery, where a senator said some armed men shouted at her, and some senators wore bulletproof vests.

For some observers, the images of armed men in tactical gear at a state Capitol were an unsettling symbol of rising tensions in a nation grappling with crisis. Others saw evidence of racial bias in the way the protesters were treated by police.

For some politicians, there was fresh evidence of the risk of aligning with a movement with clear ties to far-right groups.

Prominent Michigan Republicans on Friday criticized the showing, with the GOP leader of the state Senate referring to some protesters as "a bunch of jackasses" who "used intimidation and the threat of physical harm to stir up fear and feed rancor."

President Donald Trump, who has been criticized in the past for condoning extremist views, called the protesters "very good people" and urged Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to "make a deal."

Michigan has been the epicenter of the political showdown over how to contain the spread of the deadly virus without decimating the economy. About a quarter of the state's workforce has filed for unemployment and nearly 4,000 people have died.

Rally organizer Ryan Kelley said the event was intended to pressure Republicans to reject Whitmer's plan to continue restrictions on work and travel. He called the protest a "huge win," noting the Republican-controlled Senate refused to extend Whitmer's coronavirus emergency declaration  though she said Friday her stay-at-home order remains in effect.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Kelley, a 38-year-old real estate broker, said he and other organizers are not part of a formal group but represent people who have been harmed by the stay-home order. He said he invited the Michigan Liberty Militia, which is listed as an anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to serve as "security." He suggested anyone who had a problem with their presence should read the Constitution and "live life without fear."

Gun-carrying protesters outside state capitols are a regular occurrence in many states, especially in Republican-leaning ones. But rarely do such protests converge at the same time around the country like they have during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Wisconsin, about a dozen men, several wearing camouflage, carried what appeared to be assault rifles and other long guns and stood around a makeshift guillotine at a protest attended by about 1,500 people. In Arizona, a group of men armed with rifles were among hundreds of protesters who demonstrated at the Capitol last month demanding Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lift his stay-home order. Many in the crowd also carried holstered pistols.

Gun groups have been involved in organizing several of these protests  which drew activists from a range of conservative causes. Gun rights advocates believe the restrictions on some businesses and closure of government offices are a threat to their right to own a gun, said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, a group that bills itself as the "no compromise" gun lobby.

Hammond said he routinely gets messages and emails from people around the country, complaining that authorities are making it impossible to exercise their Second Amendment rights. In some cases, that has meant orders closing gun shops or gun ranges or offices shutting down that process permits.

But Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a gun-control group, considers these protests organized by the ultra-right and not necessarily reflective of most gun owners.

While it's legal to openly carry firearms inside some state capitols, Watts called it "dangerous to normalize this. Armed intimidation has no place in our political debate." She said those carrying guns at protests are almost always white men, and are "a vocal minority of the country" that opposes the stay-at-home orders.

An overwhelming majority of Americans support stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the virus, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The visual of heavily armed protesters, mostly white men, occupying a government building to a measured response by law enforcement is a particularly jarring one for many African Americans.

It draws a stark contrast to the images that emerged from Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, when crowds of unarmed, mostly black men, women and children took to the streets in protest after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. Police shot tear gas to disperse the crowds, further inflaming the tensions between predominantly black community and law enforcement. It worsened when members of an armed militia group called the Oath Keepers arrived, some of them armed and sitting on rooftops. Jon Belmar, who was then St. Louis County's police chief, said at the time that the presence of the group, whose members wore camouflage, bulletproof vests and openly carried rifles and pistols, was "unnecessary and inflammatory."

"Systemically, blackness is treated like a more dangerous weapon than a white man's gun ever will, while whiteness is the greatest shield of safety," said Brittany Packnett, a prominent national activist who protested in Ferguson.

The Michigan demonstrators, she added, "are what happens when people of racial privilege confuse oppression with inconvenience. No one is treading on their rights. We're all just trying to live."

Trump, meanwhile, suggested it was Whitmer who should be moved to action.

"The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire," the president tweeted Friday. "These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."

Associated Press reporters David Eggert and Mike Householder in Lansing, Michigan, Lisa Marie Pane in Boise, Idaho, Aaron Morrison in New York, Jim Salter in St. Louis, and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines contributed to this report.
Tonight on 60 Minutes, Tom Steinfort on the cruise industry and Liz Hayes on Richard Wilkins coronavirus case.

Trading Blows

It was an almighty slap. A few days ago Australia was described as chewing gum on the boot of China that needed to be scraped off on a rock. The insult came from an influential Chinese newspaper editor who is backed by the ruling Communist Party. Australias crime? The Chinese think were troublemakers because the Morrison government is calling for an independent inquiry into the origins and spread of coronavirus. Its fair to say Canberras relationship with Beijing is currently fractured, but understanding why China is so defensive, not to mention petulant, can be difficult because the regime is so suspicious of the western media. However, in an exclusive and at times robust interview with Tara Brown, Professor Chen Hong, head of the Australian Studies Centre in Shanghai, argues the Chinese case.

Reporter: Tara Brown

Producer: Thea Dikeos

Seasick

Coronavirus Super Spreader is an unwanted label which is forever now attached to the cruise ship industry. In Australia, and all over the world, cruise liners have proven to be the perfect host for the disease. In confined spaces with lots of people partying, COVID-19 thrives. The companies which operate the ships say the wellbeing of their passengers is their priority, but on 60 Minutes, Tom Steinfort reveals how profits are the real captains of this industry.

Reporter: Tom Steinfort

Producer: Laura Sparkes

On the Right Track

At Channel Nine, Richard Wilkins high-profile job means he meets a lot of people. Six weeks ago he spent time with Hollywood royalty, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. He didnt know it then, but they seem to have given him more than a welcoming handshake and a great interview  he also got coronavirus. Wilkins was lucky. He didnt suffer symptoms, but when it was confirmed that he had the disease an incredible mission began, to track down all the people hed had close contact with and determine if they had been infected too. Medicos, social workers and even military people were tasked with stopping this potential spread of COVID-19. But this wasnt special treatment just for Wilkins. Liz Hayes reports that there are extraordinary operations like this for every coronavirus case in Australia.

Reporter: Liz Hayes

Producer: Garry McNab

The Cost of Living

With the total dominance of the coronavirus pandemic in our lives, many of us now characterise the way we live as the new normal. The truth is its not normal. Nothing like it. The disease itself, the social distancing, the massive job losses and the worlds blown-up economies are completely alien to us. Governments are throwing enormous amounts of money at the problem but its still impossible to accurately calculate the human cost of this catastrophe. And as Sarah Abo finds out, theres a priceless quality that also needs to be factored into the equation  our extraordinary resilience.

Reporter: Sarah Abo

Producers: Darren Ally, Natalie Clancy

Bianca

She swears like a trooper and has a lightning left and right hook that would make a prizefighter proud. Bianca Saez is a very lively 27-year-old woman. She is also Australias most recognisable sufferer of Tourette syndrome; in fact shes one of the worst cases in the world. Bianca lives with constant, uncontrollable tics combined with sudden outbursts of inappropriately colourful expletives. Tourette syndrome is, without question, an enormous burden, but the way shes getting on with her life is remarkable. For more than a decade Bianca has allowed 60 Minutes to tell her story publicly with the aim of increasing awareness about Tourettes. And now she has more inspiring news to share.

Reporter: Tara Brown

Producer: Naomi Shivaraman

At the early time of 8:10pm Sunday on Nine.
JOS, Nigeria, May 1, 2020 (Morning Star News)  Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian couple in Plateau state, Nigeria with machetes on Sunday (April 26), leaving the husband with serious injuries, sources said.

Yusuf Pam, 40, was recovering from deep cuts to his head at Nerat Hospital, Barkin Ladi, in Barkin Ladi County. He and his wife, Jumai Yusuf, were riding a motorcycle from Kuru to Kwi when the herdsmen ambushed them near Heipang after a rainfall at about 7 p.m., he told Morning Star News contact Dung Tabari, a resident of the area.

When the herdsmen stopped us, they had with them sticks, cutlasses, and rifles, Pam told Tabari from his hospital bed. We pleaded with them to allow us pass, but they wouldnt, as four among them mercilessly descended on us. They attacked us by cutting us with machetes. They cut me on my head several times, and these left me with deep cuts as I was bleeding.

A member along with his wife of a Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) congregation in Rachos village, in the Kwi area of Riyom County, Pam said the Fulani herdsmen were many.

The herdsmen ganged up on me and started an intense beating using sticks and cutlasses, Pam said.

Miraculously, his wife was able to escape with minor cuts and hands swollen from blows with sticks, he said. Jumai Yusuf said no one answered her cries for help.

They continued beating us and surrounded my husband, who cried out for help but to no avail, she said. I thought my husband was already dead. I escaped from the scene and ran towards our village and called out for rescue.

Her cries for help as she approached her community brought members rushing to the scene, where they found her husband in a pool of blood, she said.

He was already at a point between life and death, she said.

Villagers brought them to the hospital where they were treated.

Pam said his medical bills are especially burdensome as he has been living in a camp for displaced persons since a Fulani attack five years ago.

Im appealing for intervention, as I cannot pay the hospital bills, as all this while we have been living in an Internally Displaced Persons Camp since the attack on our community by the herdsmen in 2015, Pam said.

Most of the residents of Rachos village have been living in displaced persons camps since the herdsmen attacked in 2015, sources told Morning Star News.

Showing Love

Area resident Tabari said the herdsmen are attacking Christian communities without restraint by authorities.

We are deeply concerned and worried over the continued armed invasions by Fulani herders, who are perpetrating these attacks basically not only to reduce our numerical strength, but also to advance their uncivil course of land-grabbing, Tabari said.

Area Christians are a peace-loving people who not only preach peace but also have learned to live peacefully with the Fulani herdsmen, he said.

But its now a sad reality that while we show the herdsmen love by accommodating them, they are instead interested in forcefully driving us out our lands, Tabari said. In spite of these pressures on us, we will continue to show them love as taught us by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We will remain resolute as Christians, and nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ.

Joshua Dung Kwon, community leader of Kwi, told Morning Star News in a text message that Fulani herdsmen have attacked Christians over the years without provocation.

This Sundays incident where this couple were victims is to instill fear into us so that we will not be able to farm in this farming season, Kwon said. This will invariably cause economic hardship as ours are agrarian communities.

Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, national coordinator of the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria (ECCVN), called on authorities to end the herdsmen attacks.

We are pleading with the Plateau state government and other constituted authorities to as a matter of urgency swing into action so as to get the actors arrested and prosecute them, Mwantiri said. We call on the Nigerian government to stem the recurrence of the unwarranted activities of the marauders who appear to have resumed their unprovoked hostilities on unsuspecting Christians in Plateau state.

Detained for Speaking Out

Nigerian soldiers tasked with protecting against such attacks detained and mistreated a Christian for complaining about lack of security in Plateau state, the detainee said.

Moses Gata, a resident in an area of predominantly ethnic Irigwe encompassing Miango and Kwall districts in Bassa County, said military personnel from the Special Task Force (STF) on April 10 took him from his home to their base and manhandled him, putting him under tap water and ordering him to roll on the wet floor as they insulted him and his tribe.

Gata had complained to soldiers when he and relatives on April 8 visited the aftermath of a herdsmen attack the previous night on a farm in Ngeli village, Kwall District of Bassa County, that killed a pastor, two other men and a child, he said.

Gata said he was saddened to find the Division Police Officer (DPO) of Bassa County and an army officer trying to justify to villagers their inability to protect them.

I told them that security personnel are to blame for these incessant attacks on our people by the herdsmen, Gata told Morning Star News. The Divisional Police Officer admitted that my observation was right, but that the reason our plight has not attracted the attention of the government is because we dont have people in government to speak on our behalf.

Gata told them the attacks came about because of the withdrawal of soldiers from the area two days prior, and that furthermore the government had failed to establish programs to bring aid, rehabilitation and resettlement to cushion the effects of the attacks, he said. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are lacking in many areas, he added, leaving people without food or shelter.

After Gata cited the inability of the government and security agencies to protect Christians, the army captain threatened to find his house and arrest him, he said. Two days later, the afternoon of April 10, more than a dozen soldiers stormed into his village and arrested me, bundled me, threw me into their vehicle and returned to their base, he said.

At their base at MODACS Guest Inn, they put me under a running tap and asked me to roll on the wet floor, Gata told Morning Star News. I was manhandled and treated like a common criminal. They called me all sorts of names and insulted my people.

The army captain told him that after this experience, he would respect soldiers, Gata said. He added that the soldiers accused him of inciting people against them and the government.

I was held captive by the soldiers for more than one and half hours, he said. I was all wet and was forced to sit under the cold weather for more than an hour and a half, and that inflicted me with a serious fever at night that I had to receive treatment for.

Friends who followed the soldiers to see where they were taking him were also arrested and beaten, he said.

They were slapped, kicked and ill-treated by the soldiers outside the compound of their base, Gata said. It took the intervention of a legislator for me to be released by soldiers at 5:56 p.m.

No Protection, No Aid

Gata said he has spoken out on behalf of Christian communities because attacks have forced them into inhumane and catastrophic conditions, on top of the horrific loss of life.

Theres been incessant killings, rampaging, ransacking and dislodging of Irigwe communities by Fulani herdsmen, he said. The recent killings of alarming magnitude resumed when Operation Safe Heaven, the security task force in charge of security surveillance on the Plateau, withdrew soldiers in most of the villages in the land on March 23-24.

A day after the withdrawal, herdsmen attacked Kperie and Ngbrazongo villages, killing six people, he said. Herdsmen attacks on Ncha village on March 31 killed five people, burned several homes and left half the residents homeless, he said. On April 5, herdsmen killed 10 Christians at Hukke and Nkiedongwro villages, burning down several houses, destroying farmland and looting valuables, he said.

A leading member of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in the Miango area, former National Assembly Member Lumumba Dah Adeh, said in a press statement in April that herdsmen killed at least 40 people in the Irigwe chiefdom of Bassa County during the first three months of the year.

The people in the predominantly Christian areas were killed in 19 attacks on 15 communities, Adeh said.

The recent killings and destruction of property is a continuation of the spate of attacks on the peace-loving people of Irigwe chiefdom which started over the years, as some of the villages affected by the recent attacks like Rikwe Chongu, Ancha and Nkiedonwro have been attacked repeatedly, Adeh said. Apart from those that lost their lives and those wounded, the communities are still reeling in pains over the loss of valuable property which include 15 farms, 330 houses and other items valued at millions of naira like cars, food barns, water pumps, motorbikes, etc..

Federal agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency charged with helping people in such circumstances have been absent, he said.

While these killings have continued, the good people of Irigwe are constantly reminded that they are on their own and have no shoulders to lean on, because even as the attacks persisted, there has been no strong committed response or action from either the local, state or federal government to reassure and give the people a sense of belonging as citizens of Nigeria, Adeh said. The people cannot reconcile why at the height of these attacks and the consequent dispersal of the villagers, no intervention or support has been extended to them as done to other communities who had found themselves in similar situations.

On Jan. 30, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as infidels by Islamist militants in the countrys north and middle belt regions.

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?

Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.

Photo courtesy: McBarth Obeya/Pexels
How Buddhas Jewel Discourse rid plague terrors from Vaishali Inspiring Rathane Suthraya defines the three refuges of all Buddhists: Who the Buddha is, what the Dhamma is and who the Sangha really are View(s): View(s):

VESAK WEEKS SUNDAY PUNCH SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE TALISMAN OF PROTECTION

Some two thousand five hundred years ago in the far off plains of Northern India, the thrice accursed city of Vaishali is writhing in anguish, its people expending their last dying breaths on its wretched streets, their bodies ridden with the pockmarks of disease. From dilapidated houses come the wails of the sick and the dying, imploring with the last ounce of fast dwindling strength for heavens succor or for merciful release from a terrible, agonizing existence where hope never comes that comes to all.

This was not the first time disaster had invaded Vaishali, the ancient capital city of the Vajjian Confederacy ruled by the Licchavis. In fact, it is the third visitation of the spectre of death in a different guise.

When the grim reaper had first revealed its macabre countenance, it was in the gaunt form of a prolonged famine which took hold of the land and condemned the proud citizens of this once thriving city of Vaishali to hunger and death.

As starvation took its terrible toll, so did the corpses of the dead begin to pile up unattended on deserted streets. They were heaped in soulless by lanes, flung to be forgotten in dark alleyways, thrown to the wolves in arid nearby fields, dumped in stagnant ponds and left to float, the putrefying bodies oozing the stink of death.

The foul odour given off by the abandoned and rotting carcasses, partly eaten by vermin, partly by vultures, maggots and flies, attracted the unwelcome morbid attention of evil spirits who stalked the land at night in search of dead prey and gorged on decaying human carcasses with special relish.

Thus did the second wave, the second coming of calamity strike the land and invite the reaper to revisit Vaishali with his scythe. The influx of evil spirits attracted by the smell of the putrid corpses sent a wave of terror amongst the remaining citizenry. And now with the people brought tottering to the brink of annihilation, the spectre wears the mask of pestilence, to nudge them into the abyss.

Whilst Pestilence surveys its undisputed field of certain conquest and prepares remorseless to launch its invisible rampage on the besieged land; the people of this thrice accursed city, a people thrice stricken with never ending fear  first with the fear of Famines toll, second with the fear of Evil Spirits haunting their environs and terrifying the lives of all who dwell in it  is now gripped, for the third and conclusive time in this trilogy of fear, with the fear of deadly Pestilence brooding over their ghastly fate and poised on the threshold of unleashing the last onslaught on a damned populace, the gods themselves had forsaken.

The leaders of the community meet in council at that ungodly hour when only famine, ghouls and pestilence  each one silhouetted in the backdrop of death  stare them in the faces; and swiftly decide to seek the succor of the Buddha. They send a messenger bearing their collective imploration to the Enlightened One to make haste to the famine struck, ghoul infested, pestilence ridden Vaishali to save the citys remaining souls.

It is a journey of approximately 98 miles but having ridden fast and hard into the night, the messenger finally arrives at the great city of Rajagaha by morn where the Buddha is sojourning. It is here in Rajagaha, also known as Rajagrihar, the Royal Household, that the Buddha spends many months of the year meditating and preaching at Gridhra-kuta, the Hill of the Vultures, the park where he had delivered some of his most important of sermons, including, Atanatiya Suthraya and had, also, initiated King Bimbisara to follow the path the Buddhas trod.

It is to this verdant park, the messenger makes his way. But even before the message is handed, the Buddha divines its import. It is from Vaishali, and it contains the piercing wails of a people in pain beseeching him for release.

Vaishali, the land from which the powerful warrior clan of the Licchavis had risen to lay claim to the great Kathmandu valley, was not entirely unknown to the Buddha. Nay, he was quite familiar not only with its terrain and climate but his association with its people went a long way back.

After renouncing his fathers Kingdom of Kapilavastupura, and leaving behind him his tearing wife and new born son; after flinging to the Fates in disdain the princely pleasures of the royal palace; to lead a frugal lifestyle wrapped in the coarse cloth of the mendicant and embark on an unknown quest on an unknown path for an unknown treasure he knew not existed, it is to Vaishali he first came to receive initial spiritual guidance from sages Ramaputra Udraka and Alara Kalama.

After gaining Enlightenment, he had paid many visits to Vaishali. It had been at Vaishali, he had established the Order of Bhikkunis, initiating his maternal aunt and foster mother Maha Prajavati Gautami into the order as the first bhikkuni. In fact he had spent the last rainy season here and in time soon to come, he would leave his alms bowl with the people of Vaishali, before heading to Kusinagara to await Mahaparinirvana.

The Buddha rises from his seat and sets off in the northern direction of Vaishali. A large retinue of monks follow him. By his side is his attendant disciple, the Venerable Ananda. As they reach Vaishali a pall of gloom hangs over the city.

Soon the sky begins to rumble and the clouds surrender their trove of rain. A torrential downpour falls on the thirsty ground thus ending its long drawn drought that had first brought the famine to the land. In the roaring deluge, putrefying corpses dumped on the streets and alleyways are swept away. And the fetid city of Vaishali rises from the sudden outbreak of welcome rain with its squalor gone. With the atmosphere now purified, with the ground now thoroughly cleansed, with the air fit to breathe once more, the city now glistens with sparkling light.

The Buddha then sends for the Venerable Ananda. When the attendant disciple arrives, the Buddha bids him sit and advices him to listen attentively to what he is about to preach. Thereupon the Buddha delivers the Jewel Discourse to the Venerable Ananda. The last sermon he would deliver before his passing away. He then gives him specific instructions as to what must be done. He tells him to tour the entire city with the Licchavi citizens reciting the same Jewel Discourse he had just heard from the Masters lips. To recite the Jewel Discourse as a talisman of protection to the Vaishali people.

The Venerable Ananda immediately rises to the task the Buddha had charged him with; and he proceeds without delay to discharge his duty in the company of the Licchavi citizenry. Whilst touring every part of the city, reciting the stanzas in the Buddhas Jewel Discourse repeatedly for it to become a potent mantra of protection against evil forces at large, he simultaneously sprinkles sanctified water held in the Buddhas own alms bowl, disinfecting every street and every alley, every path and every passage, every nook and every cranny until at last the entire city is sterilized and cleansed.

Only when his repetitive recitation of the Buddhas Jewel Discourse together with his liberal sprinkling of sanctified water on the city streets and byways have exorcised the evil ghouls and banished them to whence they came; and the awesome power of the pernicious pestilence to bring death wholesale to plague the city of Vaishali had dramatically been quelled, does the monk, Venerable Ananda, with his task done, return with the Vaishali citizens to the citys main Public Hall where the Buddha, together with his disciples in attendance, await his arrival.

Then does the Vaishali citizenry, their minds purged of the fear of famine, purged of the fear of wandering ghouls, purged of the fear of death bearing viruses, free of the fear of inevitable death, free of fear itself, now calm of mind and robust in spirit, gather before the Buddha and await to hear firsthand what they had earlier heard Venerable Ananda repeatedly reciting whilst touring the city.

Then the Buddha begins to deliver the Jewel Discourse to the assembled gathering, their once nerve wracked minds now unpolluted receptacles to receive the Buddhas all-encompassing wisdom.

In the Jewel Discourse, after having first placated the evil spirits by the practice of Maithrie or Loving Compassion which constitutes one of the Four Sublime Truths as preached by the Master, the Buddha proceeds to define the three jewels of Buddhism, namely, the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sanga.

To describe the first jewel, the Buddha, he explains the qualities present in three verses, in 3, 12 and 13: Whatever treasure there be either here or in the world beyond, whatever precious jewel there be in the heavenly worlds, there is naught comparable to the Tathagata (the perfect One). This precious jewel is the Buddha.

To explain the quality of the Dhamma and what the Dhamma is, the Buddha describes it in two stanzas: Verses 4 and 5 where he says, That Cessation, that Detachment, that Deathlessness (Nibbana) supreme, the calm and collected Sakyan Sage (the Buddha) had realized. There is naught comparable to this (Nibbana) Dhamma, and verse 5 where he states The Supreme Buddha extolled a path of purity, the Noble Eightfold Path, calling it the path which unfailingly brings concentration. There is naught comparable to this concentration. This precious jewel is the Dhamma.

But when it comes to explaining the qualities of the third precious jewel of the Sangha and who the Sangha really are as opposed to the Bhikkus, he takes 7 verses to exactly describe it, In verses 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 14, he describes them as those who with steadfast mind and due effort have become arahants, and enjoy the peace of Nibbana, as those who have entered the deathless state.

The Jewel Discourse upholds the Three Jewels as follows: the Buddha as the unequalled Realized One; the Dhamma as Nirvana and the Eightfold Path of unsurpassed concentration leading to Nirvana.

And the Noble Community of Sanga as those who have:

n attained Nirvana (verses 7: te pattipatta amatam vigayha),

n realized the Four Noble Truths (verses 8-9: yo ariyasaccani avecca passati), and

n abandoned the first three fetters (verse 10: tayas su dhamma jahita bhavanti) that bind all to samsara which are self-illusion, doubt and mere belief in rights and rituals.

It makes clear the Sangha are the monks who have followed the path of the Buddha and thus become arahants and are worthy, along with the Buddha and the Dhamma as being a refuge to all Buddhists. Those monks belonging to the Order of Bhikkus do not fall into this exalted category as they are still not even on the path and become stream winners; but are still mere aspirants yet to step on the first rung sovan.

The last three verses of the Jewel Discourse, namely verses 15, 16 and 17 are held to be recited by the Sakka, the chief of the Gods.

The Buddhas Jewel Discourse or the Rathane Suthraya has remained one of the most important Suthrayas in the Sutta Pitakaya and has been an enormous influence on the collective conscience of the Sinhala mind. Its potency to offer protection against evil spirits and diseases has contributed to its top billing, only next to the Karaneeyamatta Suthraya.

No wonder then when the coronavirus invaded Lanka in March the first reaction of the Buddhists was reach for the Rathane Suthraya and recite its stanzas to ward off the plague in the same manner it was used to quell the plague that struck Vaishali some two thousand five hundred years ago.

With the pestilence still spreading, there has been no letup in the reciting of the Rathane Suthraya. Every day it is recited in hundreds of temples in the land by monks, it is aired relentless on radio and national television which also have special daily programs, with millions participating in it from their homes.

Today as Lanka commemorates the thrice blessed day of Vesak marking the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautama the Buddha on the 7th this week, the Sunday Punch presents the definitive English translation of the Rathane Suthraya by the scholar monk, the most Venerable Piyadassi Thera.

May All Beings Be Happy.

THE JEWEL DISCOURSE (The Rathane Suthraya) Translated into English from Pali by the Most Venerable Piyadassi Thera 1. Whatever beings (non-humans) are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, may they all have peace of mind, and may they listen attentively to these words: 2. O beings, listen closely. May you all radiate loving-kindness to those human beings who, by day and night, bring offerings to you (offer merit to you). Wherefore, protect them with diligence. 3. Whatever treasure there be either here or in the world beyond, whatever precious jewel there be in the heavenly worlds, there is nought comparable to the Tathagata (the perfect One). This precious jewel is the Buddha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 4. That Cessation, that Detachment, that Deathlessness (Nibbana) supreme, the calm and collected Sakyan Sage (the Buddha) had realized. There is nought comparable to this (Nibbana) Dhamma. This precious jewel is the Dhamma. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 5. The Supreme Buddha extolled a path of purity, the Noble Eightfold Path, calling it the path which unfailingly brings concentration. There is nought comparable to this concentration. This precious jewel is the Dhamma. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 6. The eight persons extolled by virtuous men constitute four pairs. They are the disciples of the Buddha and are worthy of offerings. Gifts given to them yield rich results. This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 7. With a steadfast mind, and applying themselves well in the dispensation of the Buddha Gotama, free from (defilements), they have attained to that which should be attained (arahantship) encountering the Deathless. They enjoy the Peace of Nibbana freely obtained. This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 8. As a post deep-planted in the earth stands unshaken by the winds from the four quarters, so, too, I declare is the righteous man who comprehends with wisdom the Noble Truths. This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 9. Those who realized the Noble Truths well taught by him who is profound in wisdom (the Buddha), even though they may be exceedingly heedless, they will not take an eighth existence (in the realm of sense spheres). This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 10. With his gaining of insight he abandons three states of mind, namely self-illusion, doubt, and indulgence in meaningless rites and rituals, should there be any. He is also fully freed from the four states of woe, and therefore, incapable of committing the six major wrongdoings. This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 11. Any evil action he may still do by deed, word or thought, he is incapable of concealing it; since it has been proclaimed that such concealing is impossible for one who has seen the Path (of Nibbana). This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 12. As the woodland groves though in the early heat of the summer month are crowned with blossoming flowers even so is the sublime Dhamma leading to the (calm) of Nibbana which is taught (by the Buddha) for the highest good. This precious jewel is the Buddha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 13. The Peerless Excellent one (the Buddha) the Knower (of Nibbana), the Giver (of Nibbana), the Bringer (of the Noble Path), taught the excellent Dhamma. This precious jewel is the Buddha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 14. Their past (kamma) is spent, their new (kamma) no more arises, their mind to future becoming is unattached. Their germ (of rebirth-consciousness) has died, they have no more desire for re-living. Those wise men fade out (of existence) as the flame of this lamp (which has just faded away). This precious jewel is the Sangha. By the solemn declaration of this truth may there be happiness. 15. Whatever beings (non-human) are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the Buddha, the Tathagata (the perfect One), honored by gods and men. May there be happiness. 16. Whatever beings are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the perfect Dhamma, honored by gods and men. May there be happiness. 17. Whatever beings are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the perfect Sangha, honored by gods and men. May there be happiness. Social mixing for 225 MPs at PMs Temple Trees meet? Lankas ruling outfit, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna has on many an occasion trotted out as one of its lame duck excuses against recalling Parliament by holding out that the meeting of 225 MPs at one cramped hall would be against the Governments anti-mingling policy and could pose a serious threat to the health of the nation if such a gathering led to a widespread outbreak of the coronavirus. True. But this argument put forward by many SLPP MPs has been rebutted by Opposition MPs who have counterargued that this only applies and is valid if all 225 representatives of the public were to show up in the chamber of the House. They have pointed out that, if the government reconvened Parliament, the presence of all 225 MPs in the chamber will not be necessary and just 20 MPs, nominated by each political party according to the present seats each party currently holds in the House, will suffice for Parliament to meet and thus avoid the impending constitutional crisis. The President, however, has firmly struck to his original stance of not recalling Parliament. President Rajapaksas Secretary P.B. Jayasundera in his reply to ex Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasas letter of 27 April signed by five other party leaders as well requesting the reconvening of Parliament, stated no situation had arisen that necessitates reconvening Parliament under Article 70 (7) of the Constitution. Be that as it may, former President and current Prime Minister of the caretaker cabinet, Mahinda Rajapaksa, deemed it fit to issue an invite to all ex 225 MPs to a meeting to be held tomorrow morn at his official residence Temple Trees. Whatever may be the purpose for all MPs to meet en mass in one cramped hall at Temple Trees, is it wise? Does it not go contrary to the Governments wise policy of social distancing and no mingling? Saturday mornings COVID toll is 690 and still rising. The Navy camp at Welisara has been placed under isolation because one naval ratings COVID infection spread to the rest of the confined camp. President Rajapaksas assurance to the Chinese ambassador this week that the coronavirus crisis is well under control in Lanka would sound hollow if a cluster attack was to break out to the community. The JVP announced on Friday that they will not be attending the PMs meeting on Monday and that they had already sent their regrets stating that, We do not see holding a meeting of all 225 MPs, at the Prime Ministers official residence, as a fruitful exercise. Its also a dangerous adventure, given the troubled times we live in. Just think. 225 men and women coming from all districts of the country for a meeting at one place with another 225 chauffeurs who will be driving them, also cramped in another adjacent hall which totals 450 people in the same compound which doubles up as the Prime Ministers official residence and office? Wonder what Dr. Anil Jasinghe and his efficient medical staff who have to tender to the mounting COVID victims, have to say on such mass scale social mixing? The Prime Minister should consider the following and decide whether the risk of the coronavirus spreading as a result of hosting 224 at his pad merely to have a chat about the current crisis is worth the money and effort. First, he should think of his own self. At the age of 74, he is in the high risk category and COVID, as it has shown in Britain with the Royal Familys Charles and its Prime Minister Boris, is no respecter of persons. Second, he should take note of the countrys health services. And consider, whether by hosting this mass event to ostensibly have talks with the 225 MPs on current COVID affair as a press release from his office stated on Friday, he is taking the unwarranted risk of placing the already strained medical services in further jeopardy and the lives of Lankas citizens at further risk by, ironically, meeting physically with 224 people to discuss how to control the epidemic? Third, if just one MPs driver or an MP tests positive for COVID after the event it might lead to the isolation of Temple Trees. It could also give rise to the need to place in quarantine all the 225 MPs, including the Prime Minister and his cabinet, if they do attend the meeting at the eleventh hour on Monday morn. In which case, even if President Rajapaksa entertained second thoughts and decided to recall Parliament to regularize many matters, it would be too late in the hour to do so. There would be no MPs left to attend.
Authorities are investigating a new coronavirus cluster at a meat processing plant in Victoria where eight people have tested positive.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed on Saturday there has been an outbreak at an unnamed facility which has been closed for cleaning and contact tracing.

Three staff members at the plant are among the seven new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria since Friday, bringing the state total to 1,371.

Ms Mikakos said one of the new cases is a returned traveller who is now in hotel quarantine while the others are in self isolation at home.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos confirmed on Saturday there is an outbreak at an unnamed meat processing facility which has been closed for cleaning and contact tracing

The meat processing plant was not named but Ms Mikakos said there were no concerns about food safety or risk to the broader community (stock image)

She declined to name the business or provide further details about its location, but stressed there were no concerns about food safety or risk to the broader community.

'I have no hesitation in naming a facility if I think that that is in the public interests,' Ms Mikakos told reporters, when pressed to provide further details about the business.

It comes after a coronavirus cluster was identified at the Hawthorn Grange aged care home in Melbourne's east, with four residents and one staff member infected.

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

One of Victoria's seven new coronavirus cases involves a returned traveller in quarantine at a hotel.

'The fact that we've had seven new cases overnight does demonstrate that the situation is still incredibly fragile,' Ms Mikakos said.

All but 71 patients who have contracted the virus in Victoria are recovered.

Of the total number of cases, 141 indicate community transmission. This means someone has been infected without going overseas or coming into contact with another confirmed case.

Twelve people remain in hospital with the virus, including seven in intensive care, and more than 129,000 Victorians have been tested.

The state's death toll from the virus remains at 18.

Restrictions on social gatherings and movement are beginning to ease across some states.

But Victoria is not expected to relax its measures to suppress the spread of coronavirus before a state of emergency expires on May 11.

It comes as police doled out 30 fines in the past 24 hours, including to seven people gathered for a birthday party and others busted for drug offences.

Earlier this week a coronavirus cluster was identified at the Hawthorn Grange aged care home in Melbourne's east, with four residents and one staff member infected




With the Centre allowing



movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students stranded due to the lockdown, the Odisha government has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for sending persons stuck in the state to their home states by road or rail.

In a letter to all district collectors and municipal commissioners, Additional chief secretary-cum special relief commissioner (SRC) P K Jena forwarded the SOP to ensure smooth return of about 60,000 "guest workers" to their respective states.

The Odisha government has described the stranded migrant workers as "guest workers".

The state government has appointed nodal officers for different states to ensure that the people from other states reach their native places safely.

The SOP said that the prior approval of the recipient state is a must before departure of any train/bus from any district/municipal corporation in Odisha. For road journey by means of bus/ vans, the transit pass will be provided by the authorities here.

The counterpart collectors/commissioners of municipal corporation/state co-ordinator in the recipient state should be informed with the details of passengers, destination (district and block) and their mobile numbers.

The SOP said that one of the passengers, having a smartphone, may be designated as the group co-ordinator, whose mobile number may be passed on to the recipient state's collector/municipal commissioner/co-ordinator.

The destination station/border check point of the recipient state for each train/ bus/ van will be decided by the recipient state government.

It said the returnees should be grouped block- wise/district-wise, while boarding the buses/ vans/ trains, as far as possible, for easier logistics.

As per the MHA guidelines, the passengers have to be screened for health status and only after proper assessment they should be cleared for travel



No person/group of persons should be allowed to travel without appropriate authorization from the state.

There are about 90,000 migrant workers stranded in Odisha. The state government has described them as "guest workers" and have lodged them in different temporary camps where food, medicines and other essential items are provided to them since the lockdown started.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Friday morning got off to a very special start for the families and neighbors of North Liberty School seniors, as Burke County Public Schools officials, including Superintendent Dr. Larry Putnam, surprised the students and their families by holding a graduation parade that passed by the students' houses.
Dear Annie: I am so tired of fake people on the internet. Every day we see countless stories about the latest gossip on certain celebrities and athletes. Is it necessary that we have to know about everything they say and do, who their latest "soulmate is, the expensive things they give their kids, who broke up with whom, where they ate out, how much money they have?

Their faces are constantly pushed in our faces (along with their other body parts). These "famous for being famous" women seem to have had a lot of cosmetic surgery. I think that sends a very negative picture of life to our children and teenagers. I know that a lot of people feel the same way that I do; just look at the comments section of any article about these types of people. Why does anyone care about these celebrities? -- Ordinary Real Person

Dear Real Person: Be the change you want to see in the media. When you click on a story and leave a comment (even if it's a negative one), you're effectively encouraging the publication of more stories of that ilk. Don't interact with content that you find frivolous or toxic.

Cosmetic surgery is on the rise in this country (Americans spent $16.5 billion on it in 2018 alone), and our celebrity- and image-obsessed culture is no doubt fueling that trend. But anger and judgment are not productive. Focus instead on modeling healthy self-esteem, especially for the young people in your life. Self-acceptance is contagious.

Dear Annie: I just read the response from the parents who seemed to be patting themselves on the back for how they handled their child who dropped out of school. I'll bet most of your readers, including "Been There, Done That" are unaware that, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 1 in 5 children who have learning or attention issues, including disabilities like dyslexia and dyscalculia, drop out of school. These disabilities affect reading, writing, math, organization, focus, listening comprehension, social skills, motor skills or some combination thereof.

If you have a disability that has gone undiagnosed, you are three times more likely to drop out of school. I would almost guarantee their child is one with a disability. Children with disabilities, diagnosed or not, can usually push through to high school. Eventually, they want the torture to stop.

Here is my recommendation for any parent in a similar position, who wants to really help their child:

--Start by requesting, in writing, a full and comprehensive neuropsychological testing including all academic areas.

--Hire a tutor with a background in learning disabilities.

--Find a therapist who specializes in adolescent behavior.

--Enroll your child in virtual school or private school.

Again, the story you printed was hardly uplifting or inspirational; instead, it was a sad commentary on why we have such an explosion of drops out and addicted young people in our country. It is a parent's job to figure out why a child would want to drop out of school, not let them. I hope parents will instead try the tactics outlined above. -- Dawn W.

Dear Dawn: I appreciate your thoughtful insights and regret not speaking to these points myself. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act helps ensure that students with disabilities are granted the accommodations they need, and coming up with an individualized education plan. Parents who wish to learn more can visit the Department of Education website (https://www2.ed.gov) and enter "FAPE" (short for "Free Access to Public Education") into the search bar.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2020 CREATORS.COM
Masks. Wipes. Hand sanitizer. Social distancing.

All of us are familiar with those staples of this novel coronavirus era.

But in a similarly protective vein, a Culpeper County business is preventing COVID-19s spread by modifying its usual practices.

White Horse Auto Wash, which opened locally last May, is now offering disinfectant services to prevent spreading the often-deadly virus, which has killed at least three Culpeper residents.

The company, which owns washes in Virginia and South Carolina, joins many U.S. businesses in changing the focus of its operations to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

It took us a while to identify the correct disinfectant that was on the CDC list for approved products to kill the coronavirus, White Horse CEO Bob Rust said in a statement. Knowing were doing our part during this crisis has really energized our team.

First, the company offered a CDC-recommended and EPA-certified disinfectant spray with all of its interior wash packages. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the chemical, EPA #70627-15, to fight against COVID-19, White Horse said.

After using the disinfectant spray, the company is also offering an ozone machine treatment that it said sanitizes a motor vehicles interior.

Meanwhile, White Horse emphasizes limiting the interaction between its customers and associates.

I am proud to be leading our team of associates as we continue to clean, sanitize and disinfect our customers vehicles (to prevent) the spread of COVID-19, said Tony Barney, general manager of the firms Culpeper facility. The Culpeper community is important to us at White Horse, and we look forward to continuing to provide our customers a much-needed service.

Richard Armour, general manager of the Charlottesville wash, said he appreciates the chance to help protect essential workers during the national emergency.

As of April 28, White Horse had disinfected more than 11,000 vehicles in Virginia and South Carolina.

The response from customers has been humbling, Rust said.

White Horses local fundraising efforts aim to build a close bond with the communities it serves, the company said.

Headquartered in Warrenton, White Horse has six Virginia locationsin Culpeper, Charlottesville, Warrenton and Woodbridge, with two new locations coming to Harrisonburg and Franconiaand two sites in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

To learn more, visit whitehorseautowash.com, call 540-316-6019 or see the companys Facebook page. The Culpeper wash is at 460 James Madison Highway.

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Algiers, 2 May 2020 (SPS) - The Algerian Red Crescent (CRA) sent on Thursday a cargo comprising 154 tonnes of food and more than 200,000 units of pharmaceutical products to the Sahrawi refugee camps.



From Boufarik air base, the solidarity operation has been supervised by Minister of National Solidarity, Family and Women Condition Kaouthar Kirikou, Chairwoman of the CRA Saida Benhabiles and Sahrawi ambassador Abdelkader Taleb Omar.



This initiative is part of the "many actions through which the Algerian people have constantly expressed their solidarity with the Saharawi people," and it is also "a strong message expressing our support for the just Saharawi cause and the right to self-determination," said the Minister of Solidarity.



The Sahrawi ambassador welcomed "this gesture of solidarity to the Sahrawi people from its brother people of Algeria," Taleb Omar said.



On behalf of the Sahrawi people, he also thanked the Algerian State, President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the National People's Army (ANP) and the whole Algerian people.



The ambassador also praised Algeria's "constant" solidarity with the Sahrawi cause, a country which has always constituted "a destination for the oppressed and the underprivileged."



Humanitarian aid sent to the camps consists of 154 tonnes of basic food items, sugar, semolina, oil and milk for children, in addition to 263,100 units of pharmaceutical products, such as masks, medical gloves, hydroalcoholic gels and detergents. (SPS)



062/SPS/APS
NASHVILLE - A federal judge has blocked a Tennessee citys zoning ordinance that banned certain abortions.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson issued an order Friday preliminarily blocking enforcement of the ordinance in Mt. Juliet. The ordinance would have prevented abortion provider carafem from performing surgical abortions at its office in the Tennessee community.

The citys regulations still allowed for medication abortions, up to about 10 weeks of pregnancy, but not surgical, which carafem was planning to offer, The Tennessean reported.

Not allowing surgical abortions would effectively bar a woman from receiving abortion services in Mt. Juliet if she was 11 or more weeks pregnant, meaning she would have to forego the abortion or travel to Nashville, Knoxville or Memphis to receive one.

The judge noted that his order isnt determinative of the issues raised in the lawsuit.

Andrew Beck, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, called the ruling a necessary rebuke to Mt. Juliet officials blatant anti-abortion agenda.

The ordinance was unconstitutional and medically unnecessary, serving only to obstruct Tennesseans right to access abortion care, Beck said in a statement.

A call to city hall seeking comment Saturday was not immediately returned.

In his ruling, Richardson said statements from members of the Board of Commissioners, which passed the ordinance, showed that the purpose of the zoning regulation was to place a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.

The officials played their hand  they made clear their position: that they were going to do whatever they could to prevent abortions within Mt. Juliet because, according to them (and, presumably, many of their constituents), abortion is morally wrong, the judge wrote.
Iran has angrily reacted to the designation of Tehran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah as a terrorist group in Germany, but the reaction has been limited regardless of the strongly worded statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani were not observed to react to the designation and the ban on the activities of Hezbollah in Germany on April 30.

In his statement, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi "strongly condemned the German governments decision as a measure serving the objectives of the U.S and the Zionist regime of Israel."

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's official website, "Mousavi vehemently condemned the German governments move to accuse the Lebanese Hezbollah of promoting armed struggle with terrorist means."

Mousavi said: The German governments decision has been made with a complete disrespect for the Lebanese government and nation, as Hezbollah is an official and legitimate part of that countrys government and parliament and has always been an influential political party in the arena of creating political stability in that country."

Meanwhile, the Iranian official threatened that the German government must be held accountable for the negative consequences of its decision on the fight against the true terrorist groups in the region.

This comes while Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a major political player, has been silent about the development in the face of international praise Berlin has received for banning Hezbollah's activities in Germany.

German Police closed a number of Hezbollah-linked centers in that country on Thursday. Iran called the measure "a strategic mistake," but the United States, Israel, the Persian Gulf littoral states as well as several other countries welcomed the move.

Previously, Germany had designated Hezbollah's military wing as terrorist but its political wing was free to be active in Germany. The Hezbollah-linked centers were known for fund raising for Hezbollah and anti-Israeli activities during occasions such as the Qods Day, the last Friday of the month of Ramadan.

German security officials estimate that as many as 1,050 people in Germany are part of Hezbollah's extremist wing.

The houses of a number of Hezbollah Sympathizers as well as a few mosques were also searched on Thursday. There is still no report on possible arrests.

Defending the ban on Hezbollah, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the organization has always tried to strike Israeli interests, adding that it does not recognize Israel, furthers terrorist acts and has been continuously reinforcing its rocket arsenal.

Maas said that Germany will use all the legal ways to confront Hezbollah's criminal and terrorist activities."

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised Germany for the ban on Hezbollah and urged other EU countries to follow suit. The U.S. ambassador to Berlin had also praised the German move on Thursday.

Pompeo said that preventing the terrorist organization's capability to plan terrorist attacks and raise money will also lead to a reduction in Iran's subversive acts. Pompeo charged that Hezbollah furthers Iran's evil objectives rather than defending Lebanon as it claims.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz opined that Germany's measure has made the world a safer place. Katz, a former Israeli ambassador in Germany, called on other countries to ban Hezbollah's activities on their soils.

Meanwhile, according to the official Saudi news agency, the Saudi Foreign Ministry has welcomed Berlin's measure and said that it will have positive regional and international implications.

Bahrain has also expressed support for Germany's measure to ban Hezbollah.

After the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Germany is the third European country to ban Hezbollah's military and political wings as terrorist groups. The EU designated the military wing of Hezbollah as terrorist in 2013 but spared its political wing.

In Latin America Argentina had previously designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and confiscated its assets. Paraguay also designated both the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian group HAMAS as terrorist; and Brazil has said it is planning a similar measure.
Chinese health authorities on Friday released a report on the clustered COVID-19 cases in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province since April, urging medical institutions nationwide to draw lessons from them.

Clustered infections related to imported cases have occurred in Harbin and Mudanjiang, two cities in the province, since April, said the document made public by the National Health Commission (NHC).

The cases involved nosocomial infections in multiple hospitals, featuring a long duration and a large number of confirmed cases, it read, adding that they had a vile social impact and brought new pressure to consolidating the hard-won achievements in the country's epidemic prevention and control efforts.

In Harbin, an 87-year-old patient was hospitalized on April 2 and was only confirmed to have contracted the virus on April 10. Dozens of close contacts, including medical workers, have been confirmed infected.

Mudanjiang City reported multiple COVID-19 cases, including medical workers, who had been in close contact with two previously confirmed cases reported on April 18.

The government attributed the occurrence of these clustered infections to underestimation of the epidemic situation, loopholes in pre-hospital prevention and control measures and a failure to carry out nucleic acid testing as required.

Medical institutions across the country were asked to fully understand the grave epidemic prevention and control situation, implement regularized epidemic containment measures, and improve their nucleic acid detection ability and prevention against nosocomial infections.

NHC figures show that 131 domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases had been reported on the Chinese mainland in April, and more than 60 percent of them were clustered infections in Heilongjiang.
It is still unclear how expensive the treatment may initially be for pet owners

Scientists think they may have discovered a way to prevent cat allergies with just a simple injection for our feline friends.

American company Indoor Biotechnologies have used a gene editing tool to eliminate the production of the protein in cats which causes some people to suffer allergic reactions.

The protein, called Fel d 1, is found in cats' salivary glands and skin and is spread when they groom themselves and shed their fur.

Indoor Biotechnologies says it has successfully deleted the gene that prompts the production of Fel d 1 in cells it has tested from 50 different cats.

A stock image of some kittens. Scientists think they may have discovered a way to prevent cat allergies with just a simple injection for our feline friends

If further trials are successful, the aim is to find a way to develop the treatment into a drug that can be given to cats via an injection, pill or cream.

The firm, which specialises in drugs for allergies, says it could be available to vets within the two to three years.

Martin Chapman, chief executive of Indoor Biotechnologies, said although it sounded 'like science fiction' it could in fact be a viable solution.

'We want people to be able to take cats to the vet, get an injection and then have that reduce or eliminate the Fel d 1 for good,' he told The Times.

However, it is not yet known whether eliminating the protein would be bad for a cat's health as scientists are still unsure what it is used for.

Some believe it may be a form of communication for mating while others think it could protect cats' skin from viral or bacterial infections.

Alena Pance, a scientist from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: 'Deleting Fel d 1 might be feasible without causing damage to the animals but this would have to be thoroughly tested.

'I don't think any cat lover would put their cat to harm for the sake of alleviating their allergy.'

If further trials are successful, the aim is to find a way to develop the treatment into a drug that can be given to cats via an injection, pill or cream. Stock Image of a cat

Indoor Biotechnologies are attempting to find out if removing the protein could damage cats by trying to delete the gene that produces it in fertilized eggs. They would then implant this into a female cat to see if the resulting kitten with the mutated gene developed any medical issues.

The company says if the solution is proven to work only one or two injections would likely to be needed before a cat becomes less likely to spark an allergic reaction.

However, it is still unclear how expensive the treatment may initially be for pet owners.

Nicole Brackett at Indoor Biotechnologies said: 'One of the main reasons cats are turned over to shelters is for allergy reasons so this would be a nice benefit for the cat as well.'
There's something for all tastes  from fried chicken to vegan katsu curry, cakes to tray bakes. Credit:iStock

If ever we needed inspiration in the kitchen, that time is now. Whether you want deliciously simple snack or a culinary challenge, we round up some top-shelf cookery writers only too keen to share their secrets.

From the Oven to the TableDiana Henry (Mitchell Beazley, $40)

Diana Henrys books are as much a pleasure to read as her food is to eat. Here she turns her expertise to tray bake meals, recipes that require nothing more than assembling ingredients in a baking dish. Time-poor (and lazy) cooks rejoice!
Amid the COVID-19 lockdown curbs,



the iconic 'Thrissur Pooram', known for the parade of richly caparisoned jumbos, performance of traditional music ensembles and a sea of cheering people, was held on Saturday in a low key manner with just a handful of people and inevitable rituals inside the Vadakkunnathan temple.

Billed as the mother of all temple festivals in Kerala, the annual pooram was normally held at the sprawling Thekkinkadu Maidan in Thrissur city.

The festival was a gathering of 'Pooram' and jumbo lovers around the globe who could be seen dancing to the rhythm of percussion instruments.

But, this year, the Thekkinkadu ground wore a deserted look as the Vadakkunnathan Lord Shiva temple cancelled the celebrations due the nationwide lockdown.

The state government and members of the two devaswom boards, which organises the festival, had held discussions and consulted the temple priests on April15 and "unanimously decided" to cancel the Pooram.

"After considering the unusual situation of pandemic we are facing, the state government and the devaswom Boards have unanimously decided to cancel the famous Thrissur Pooram (festival) and will conduct only the necessary rituals," state minister V S Sunilkumar said.

The rituals were conducted on Saturday, inside the Vadakkunnathan temple with the participation of around five people and devotees were not allowed inside.

All other events related to the Thrissur pooram, including the exhibition, mini-poorams also stood cancelled.

Musical maestro Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, whohas been leading this majestic orchestra for the last fourdecades, told the media that pooram was an "emotion close to the hearts of all Keralites."



"The cancellation of the Pooram is a loss to all the Keralaites across the world.The pooram was our pride.

It's an emotion that remains close to our heart. Now, we all wait for the next year's pooram," he said.

The pooram was earlier cancelled during many instances, including in 1948 when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and then during the Chinese war.

"Earlier it was also cancelled or held with minimum rituals when there was a difference of opinion over conducting bursting the fireworks and handling of the usual exhibition," Sunilkumar said earlier.

The two-centuries-old Thrissur Pooram had its origin in 1798, through a royal edict of the then Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Shakthan Thampuran, a powerful ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Cochin.

The edict entrusted two local temples -- Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady -- as the main sponsors of the festivities to be conducted in a competitive spirit.

Besides the main poorams by the two devaswoms, small poorams from nearby temples also participate in the festivities, which ends with the fireworks display.

However, pooram lovers and jumbo fans "celebrated" this year's pooram on social media platforms with many sharing photos and notes and their memories of the festival held in previous years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has said the distribution of relief packages in the state for the month of May, would be targeted at people who recharge their phones with less than N200 airtime a month.

Mr El-Rufai, who spoke Saturday on The Platform on Channels TV, said coronavirus-impact aid for the month would be worth N2 billion.

This fund, he said, was sourced from private donors and a 50 per cent pay cut imposed on top political appointees and senior civil servants in the state.

We have obtained data of the people in Kaduna State using their phone recharge purchase records, he said. So we believed that anybody that spends less than N200 per month on buying recharge cards on his phone is poor and will need this food for intervention.

He said those who may be too poor to have phones, community and religious leaders would be engaged to identify them.

Mr El-Rufai described the distribution of palliatives in April as abuse of trust by persons entrusted with the distribution. He said this will change in May.

We have (their) phone numbers. We have their addresses. We will just call you and deliver these food items to (their) houses, he said.

We know that this second round will be more targeted. We will get to those that are really poor from their phone records.

Containing COVID-19

Mr El-Rufai said to contain COVID-19, his government has insured the lives of frontline health workers in the state to the tune of N5 million per person coupled with disability insurance for those that get sick and cannot walk.

The governor noted that due to fall in earnings, the state deducted N500 million from the contingency fund of its 2020 budget to cushion the effects of the pandemic on residents.

The governor also expressed worry over the poor nature of the public health infrastructure. He said in two months, the state might have completed the building of a 139-bed space permanent infectious disease hospital, with the hope to complement the already existing 16-bed space.

Were building infectious diseases wards in each of our general hospitals in each of the 23 local governments, he said

Our strategy from day one was centered around what stage we need to protect the lives of the people of Kaduna state and then we decided that we will do whatever it would take to protect the lives of the Kaduna state people.

We would inconvenience people and apologise later, we would affect livelihood negatively but we would apologise later and try to rebuild those livelihoods, he said.

Kaduna State accounts for 35 of the total 2,170 COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. The state has imposed daily curfew.
A tiny British company could beat the worlds pharmaceutical giants in the race to defeat Covid-19 after developing a one-a-day pill that is as convenient as aspirin.

Thousands of scientists at the worlds drug giants are battling to find ways of combating coronavirus, but experts at BerGenBio, a British-Norwegian company with just 38 staff, believe they have found the key.

Their bemcentinib drug, originally developed for cancer, defends against coronavirus by stopping it from entering cells and preventing it switching off one of the bodys most important antiviral defence mechanisms.

BerGenBio, a British-Norwegian company with just 38 staff, believe they have found the key to combating the coronavirus

Bemcentinib has been fast-tracked to be tried on NHS hospital patients in Government-backed trials, one of only a dozen or so drugs to be picked.

Last night, BerGenBio chief executive Richard Godfrey told The Mail on Sunday that he was extremely optimistic the pill would save lives. I think theres an 80 per cent probability of it working and being of benefit to patients, he said.

When US drugs firm Gilead last week announced that tests of its antiviral treatment remdesivir helped patients recover four days earlier from the virus, stock markets in the US and Asia soared.

But the impact on death rates is less clear, with eight per cent of those given it dying, against 11 per cent of those who did not get the drug. The difference was not big enough for scientists to be sure it was having an effect.

But Mr Godfrey said of bemcentinib: Im expecting something bigger because its so different to anything else thats been tried. We are stopping the virus surviving.

When the drug was used in the laboratory on live SARS-Cov-2  the coronavirus that causes Covid-19  it showed some very big effects that dwarf what Ive seen from other drugs, said Mr Godfrey.

So Im extremely optimistic and think theres going to be something quite profound [in human trials].

The offices of BerGenBio in Oxford. The company employs just 38 staff, but has a chance of finding an effective Covid-19 treatment and beating a number of giant pharmaceutical companies to such a discovery

Two-thirds of BerGenBios staff are based in Oxford, with the rest in Bergen, Norway.

Mr Godfrey said the drug had been tested on 300 cancer patients, had a good safety record and was relatively easy to manufacture.

It works by stopping the virus from utilising a naturally occurring protein called AXL, which it uses to trick cells to allow it entry. The virus also uses the protein to cut production of interferon, the bodys own antiviral substance.

The drug should stop coronavirus hijacking AXL, making it harder for it to replicate and leaving it more vulnerable to the immune system.

The first of the 120 trial patients is due to be given the drug at Southampton General Hospital in the next few days. Results are expected at the end of June.

There is also growing hope that a rheumatoid arthritis drug could help save the lives of the very sickest patients.

Tocilizumab, made by Swiss giant Roche, works by calming down the immune systems of those who go into overdrive, which can cause lethal lung damage.

French doctors said early tests were promising and now an NHS study of tocilizumab is under way.
The UAE leadership has congratulated a team of doctors and researchers at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center (ADSCC) in developing a promising treatment for Covid-19 infections using stem cells.

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, thanked, on behalf of the people of the UAE, the team of doctors, researchers and support staff at ADSCC for their efforts in making this scientific breakthrough which, they said, will add to the global efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 and to ensure the health and safety of the people of the world, said a Wam news agency report.

They emphasised that people's health and safety are given top priority in the UAE's plans and strategies and that the country will continue to enhance its proactive measures and initiatives to ensure safety of its citizens, residents and visitors.

Their Highnesses also underlined the early precautionary and preventive measures taken by the UAE since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.

They praised the efforts of all sectors and entities and their staff for performing their duties at the highest possible level of efficiency, responsibility and professionalism in these critical times. They paid special tribute to the front-line heroes of healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, and paramedics.
Fitch and Standard & Poors both have India pegged at an investment grade rating that is one notch above a junk rating.

The Indian government is likely to cap its overall spending on coronavirus-related relief at around 4.5 trillion rupees or $60bn due to concerns that excess spending could trigger a sovereign rating downgrade, two senior government officials told Reuters news agency.

We have to be cautious as downgrades have started happening for some countries and rating agencies treat developed nations and emerging markets very differently, the first official told Reuters.

On Tuesday, Fitch warned that Indias sovereign rating could come under pressure if its fiscal outlook deteriorates further as the government tries to steer the country through the coronavirus crisis.

We have already done 0.8 percent of GDP [gross domestic product]; we might have space for another 1.5 percent to 2 percent GDP, said an official involved in preparing the package, referencing the 1.7 trillion-rupee outlay that the government announced in March and that was directed at helping the poor via cash transfers and food grain distribution.

The stimulus plans yet to be outlined are likely to be aimed at helping people who have lost their jobs, as well as both small and large companies, via tax holidays and other measures, said both officials. They did not wish to be named as the matter is still under discussion.

A spokesman for the finance ministry declined to comment.

Fitch and Standard & Poors both have India pegged at an investment grade rating that is one notch above a junk rating, while Moodys Investors Service is the only major rating agency that has Indias rating two notches above junk.

With a 40-day nationwide lockdown bringing the $2.9 trillion economy to a standstill, and the lockdown in many of Indias big cities likely to be extended, many economists expect the economy to stagnate, or even shrink this year, putting further pressure on government finances.

The second official said government revenues are in a tight position given very weak tax collections, and given the fact that a 2.1 trillion privatisation programme planned for this fiscal year now looks like it will be a non-starter.

The government has cut the salaries of lawmakers including the prime minister and the president, and withheld raises for government employees and pensioners, in a drive to save as much as it can to control fiscal slippage.

India has a fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent of GDP for the current year that runs through March 2021, which it is most likely to miss due to weak revenue collections.

In this economic situation, when revenues are falling, and the economy needs government support, the widening of the fiscal deficit is a foregone conclusion, the second official said.

Considering our higher fiscal deficit  there is limited scope for government to spend, the second official told Reuters.

India has reported over 35,000 cases and 1,147 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.
(Natural News) The World Health Organization (WHO) is facing a flurry of criticism for its response to the CCP virus pandemic, and much of the problem can be attributed to the growing influence the communist regime in China has on the organization.

(Article by Petr Svab republished from TheEpochTimes.com)

Critics mainly point out that the WHO was too slow to recommend travel restrictions and some other preventive measures, and also that the agency accepted information from China at face value, despite numerous red flags.

While China experts were sounding alarms about a coverup, the WHO continued to praise Chinas response and never warned the world that data coming from the regime was suspect.

WHO, an agency of the United Nations, has long been swayed by Beijings political preferences. Its current head, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is a former member of a Maoist group in Ethiopia.

As The Epoch Times previously documented, China has been increasing its power over U.N. institutions for years. Beijings clout has now gone so far, it undermines WHOs basic functions, such as providing timely and accurate information about the worlds health situation.

Case in point: the CCP virus.

Timeline

The CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan around November 2019, before spreading across China and the world.

As of April 14, there are some 2 million confirmed cases of the virus, which causes the disease COVID-19. Almost 130,000 deaths have since been attributed to the disease worldwide.

The WHO has said that Chinese authorities first informed it about the outbreak on Dec. 31, 2019. While that would have been a golden opportunity to mitigate the spread of the virus worldwide, the WHO conveyed none of its information to the world that day.

It appears that only one country had its ear close enough to the ground at that point to respond meaningfullyTaiwan.

By Dec. 31, the island nation off the coast of mainland China had already started monitoring travelers coming on flights from Wuhan. Taiwan authorities also told the WHO that day that Taiwanese doctors had learned from their mainland counterparts that health care workers had been falling ill with the mysterious new virus.

That was crucial information, since it indicated the virus was spreading from person to person. The WHO, however, ignored it, Taiwan officials later said.

It was to be expected of the WHO to ignore that warning. The CCP considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has pressed the U.N. to ignore Taiwans existence as an independent country.

Taiwan has been denied membership in the WHO, whose personnel are prohibited from using documents or even information from official Taiwan sources without prior special permission, according to a leaked 2010 WHO memo.

Such permission would involve coordination with the Permanent [UN] Mission of China in Geneva, the memo stated.

While Taiwan was getting its response to the virus underway, the situation in Wuhan was quickly deteriorating.

On Jan. 2, The Epoch Times reported on the efforts of the CCP to block information about the outbreak and the high levels of anxiety spreading throughout the city.

A Wuhan Health Commission directive prohibited all medical facilities in the city from publicizing medical information without permission, and online discussions about the outbreak were quickly censored. On Jan. 1, Wuhan police said that they had detained eight locals who had spread rumors about the outbreak.

As it turned out, at least some of the suppressed whistleblowers were doctors who had tried to warn colleagues about the new virus.

Panicked locals cleared Wuhan pharmacies of surgical masks and over-the-counter preventive Chinese medicines. China expert and physician Tang Jingyuan warned a government coverup might exacerbate the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the WHO remained silent.

By Jan. 3, the WHO was informed by Chinese authorities of 44 cases, 11 of them severe. That was likely the tip of the iceberg.

On Jan. 5, The Epoch Times reported, citing multiple experts, that the CCP had likely been covering up information about the virus, which was detrimental to controlling the outbreak.

That day, the WHO commented for the first time about the outbreak, disclosing that it had known about an outbreak of a pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan for five days and recommending that it should be handled prudently. But the agency didnt recommend any specific measures for travelers.

Instead, it did the opposite.

WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information currently available on this event, it said.

Five days later, the WHO addressed the outbreak again.

From the currently available information, preliminary investigation suggests that there is no significant human-to-human transmission, and no infections among health care workers have occurred, the agency stated, contradicting information that had been provided by Taiwan.

WHO does not recommend any specific health measures for travelers, WHO said. It instead released general information on how to deal with virus infections.

On Jan. 12, WHO said there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, slightly adjusting its language.

Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, WHO announced two days later, never expressing a shadow of a doubt about the Chinese communist regimes official statements.

At this time, Taiwan had already arranged for its own fact-finding team to travel to Wuhan.

They didnt let us see what they didnt want us to see, but our experts sensed the situation was not optimistic, Taiwanese government spokesperson Kolas Yotaka told NBC News.

Soon after the team returned, Taiwan initiated testing and reporting requirements for its hospitals.

Looking after itself, not listening to the WHO in this particular case, I think actually helped, said Dr. William Stanton, vice president of the National Yang-Ming University of Taiwan and a former U.S. ambassador to China, in a recent interview with The Epoch Times Jan Jekielek.

The WHO only managed to get its team to Wuhan for a brief field visit on Jan. 20.

On Jan. 17, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent personnel to screen travelers coming from Wuhan to three major U.S. airportsJFK, Los Angeles International, and San Francisco International, which were getting the highest traffic from the outbreaks epicenter. More airports were added to the list in subsequent weeks.

On Jan. 20, China confirmed human-to-human transmission.

On Jan. 23, the day the CCP put Wuhan on lockdown, the WHO announced that, despite some internal disagreements, it wouldnt declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

By then, cases had already started to crop up around the world, including in the United States.

Three days later, Taiwan banned flights from Wuhan and arranged special flights to return its people from the city.

On Jan. 28, while visiting China, the WHOs Tedros urged the countries of the world to remain calm and not to overreact, expressing confidence in the CCPs epidemic control, Chinese state-run media reported.

On Feb. 3, three days after President Donald Trump prohibited foreigners who had recently been in China from traveling to the United States, Tedros voiced opposition to travel bans, saying measures that would unnecessarily interfere with travel and trade werent needed.

In a March 20 tweet, Tedros repeated CCP propaganda, saying that for the first time, #China has reported no domestic #COVID19 cases yesterday. While for China experts, the news all but confirmed that the CCP numbers were fake, Tedros touted it as an amazing achievement, that gives us all reassurance that the #coronavirus can be beaten.

Statistical modeling, eyewitness accounts, and documents provided to The Epoch Times have shown that Chinese authorities concealed the true scale of the outbreak in Wuhan and other parts of China.

Tedros, however, repeatedly praised China for transparency in its response to the outbreaksomething experts and government officials around the world have emphasized as being the most lacking.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit established in the 1990s by the U.S. government, published on April 10 a detailed timeline of the CCPs coverup of the epidemic and of the WHOs culpability in it. The organization also announced it would be adding the global CCP virus deaths to the historical death toll of communism.

The WHO has abdicated its responsibility to the entire world population in order to carry water for the Chinese Communist regime, the foundations executive director, Marion Smith, said in a release.

A Personal Connection

While part of the CCPs influence over the WHO was coming from the U.N., another part of it was played by Tedros himself.

Tedros is a former Politburo member of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, a Maoist group that had waged a guerrilla war in the 1980s against the Soviet-backed Mengistu regime in Ethiopia.

The nearest you would put [Tigrays ideology] to would be North Korea today, according to Trevor Loudon, an expert on communist movements and front groups.

In the early 1990s, as the regime at the time lost financial support from the collapsing Soviet Union, a coalition of Tigray and other groups overthrew it and ruled the country until 2019.

While on the surface, the government embraced market reforms and democratic elections, ideologically it remained socialist, Loudon said, especially in terms of foreign policy.

They still keep up their foreign communist connections, he said in a telephone interview with The Epoch Times.

Tedros, a former health and later foreign minister of the African nation, naturally maintained strong ties with the CCP, embracing projects such as the Belt and Road initiative, which serves the CCP to expand its geostrategic influence.

Tedros scored the WHOs top post in 2017 with strong backing by the CCPs lobby, despite allegations that he had covered up three cholera outbreaks during his tenure as health minister.

Chinese diplomats had campaigned hard for the Ethiopian, using Beijings financial clout and opaque aid budget to build support for him among developing countries, Sunday Times columnist Rebecca Myers wrote at the time.

Tedros denied covering up the cholera outbreaks, saying it was just acute watery diarrhea.

He has proven adept at playing into Western sensitivity to accusations of oppression.

When an adviser to his British opponent for the WHO leadership brought up the cholera coverups, he accused him of having a colonial mindset.

When Taiwan called him out for ignoring its information about the CCP virus, Tedros accused Taiwan of racist attacks.

That accusation seems to have done little to deflect the criticism; a petition calling for Tedross resignation has garnered nearly a million signatures.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering cutting off its funding to the WHOthe United States is by far the largest benefactor of the organization, providing more than $110 million a year in regular funding, plus hundreds of millions more in voluntary contributions.

In Stantons view, the WHO, as currently constituted, should lose its funding.

I think we have to take a much harder line in terms of how the WHO has handled this virus, he said. Because its clearly been simply a mouthpiece, in my view, of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] government.

Read more at: TheEpochTimes.com
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:

 312,977 in New York state, including 24,198 deaths. 959,071 total tested.

 1,132,512 in U.S., including 66,368 deaths. 175,382 recovered. 6,816,347 total tested.

 3,426,711 worldwide, including 243,795 deaths. 1,093,046 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:

 Where to get tested for COVID-19.

 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.

Saturday's updates

9:04 p.m.: Second confirmed COVID-19 case in Van Rensselaer Manor

Rensselaer County officials say they have the second confirmed case among an employee of the county-run Van Rensselaer Manor nursing home. The case, which was confirmed on Saturday afternoon involves an employee who worked a shift that ended on April 29. The employee has not been back to work since April 29 and was subsequently tested. The nursing home had another confirmed case by an employee on April 23

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2 p.m.: Saratoga County: Don't be complacent

Saratoga Countys report did not indicate any new deaths. There are 358 confirmed cases, 10 in the hospital. The county  which offers a town-by-town breakdown of cases that in some places shows zero  said it is important to note that there may be a false sense of security when looking at these numbers, because the virus is widespread through the county, and the numbers are deceiving due to the lack of testing.

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12:55 p.m.: Schenectady, Rensselaer counties report deaths

A woman in her 90s is the 28th Schenectady County resident to die of COVID-19, the county said Saturday. Rensselaer County reported one new death, at the Diamond Hill adult care facility, Schaghticoke.

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11:30 a.m.: Albany County has 2 deaths

Two people died in Albany County, a man and woman in their 60s who had underlying health conditions, County Executive Dan McCoy said Saturday. A total of 46 have died.

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11 a.m.: Cuomo says new cases drop

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, in his daily briefing held Saturday in Queens, says cases overall in New York have dropped, as have hospitalizations, but deaths moved up in the past day. He released testing results that show 2.2 percent of Capital Region people tested showed positive for the coronavirus antibodies. The state average was about 12 percent.

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Friday: Known cases, hospitalizations, recoveries and deaths from COVID-19

Albany County: 1,151 cases, 33 hospitalized, 8 in ICU, 578 recovered, 44 deaths

Columbia County: 210 cases, 14 hospitalized, 6 in ICU, 94 recovered, 13 deaths

Fulton County: 75 cases, 3 deaths

Greene County: 155 cases, 51 active, 104 resolved, 7 hospitalized, 5 deaths

Montgomery County: 54 cases, 35 recovered, 2 under medical care, 1 death

Rensselaer County: 320 cases, 170 recovered, 6 hospitalized, 1 in ICU, 20 deaths

Saratoga County: 355 cases, 11 hospitalized, 393 recoveries from presumed and confirmed cases (as of April 29), 14 deaths

Schenectady County: 495 cases, 19 hospitalized (includes all hospitalizations in the county, regardless of patient's county of residence), 336 recoveries, 27 deaths

Schoharie County: 40 cases, 8 hospitalized, 35 recovered, 1 death

Warren County: 172 cases, 3 hospitalized, 103 recovered, 14 deaths

Washington County: 156 cases, 71 recovered, 6 deaths

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Friday: FDA allows emergency use of drug for coronavirus

U.S. regulators on Friday allowed emergency use of an experimental drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster.

It is the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19, which has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide.

The FDA said in a statement that Gilead Sciences intravenous drug would be specifically indicated for hospitalized patients with severe disease, such as those experiencing breathing problems requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilators.

President Donald Trump announced the news at the White House alongside Gilead CEO Daniel ODay and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.

The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug, remdesivir, shortened the time to recovery by 31%, or about four days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

 The Associated Press

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Friday: Two more Rensselaer County residents die

Two more Rensselaer County residents have died after contracting COVID-19, officials announced Friday.

One of the deaths was an 86-year-old resident of the hard-hit Diamond Hill nursing home in Schaghticoke. The other was a 39-year-old Nassau man.

To date, 20 residents of the county have died after becoming infected with the novel coronavirus. A dozen of them were residents of Diamond Hill, which has now had 25 residents and 12 employees test positive for the virus.

County Executive Steve McLaughlin wrote a letter to the state health commissioner on Friday asking for COVID-positive residents of the home to be moved to Samaritan Hospital in Troy.

We have got a major problem over at Diamond Hill and its a state-licensed facility, not a county-run facility, he said. We think that the only place that makes sense is the hospital because otherwise its just spreading and spreading.

Across the county, 320 residents have tested positive for the virus and 170 have recovered. Six residents were hospitalized as of Friday, with one in intensive care.

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Friday: Warren County assisted living facility resident dies

Warren County officials said Friday that another resident of the county has died from the novel coronavirus, bringing the county's known death toll from the virus to 14.

The person who died was a resident of an assisted living facility in the southern part of the county and succumbed to the virus while hospitalized, the county said.

Of the 14 deaths so far, seven have occurred within the walls of a nursing home, five have occurred at a hospital, one has occurred at an assisted living facility and one has occurred within a private residence.

Countywide, 172 residents have tested positive for the virus, up from 146 reported Thursday. Of those, 103 have recovered. Three residents were hospitalized with the virus on Friday.

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Friday: Schenectady County sees rise in positive cases, quarantines

The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus pandemic has jumped to 495 with 687 individuals under quarantine.

There are 19 people in the hospital, 257 in isolation, and 336 recoveries.

The virus has caused the death of 27 people.

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Friday: Troy teachers thank Samaritan Hospital staff

The Troy Teachers Association delivered free meals to Samaritan Hospital to say thanks for keeping the Troy community safe and healthy during the coronavirus pandemic. The teachers dropped off 25 pizzas, salads and paper products from The Eatery at Carols Place.

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Read more updates from Friday
As questions swirl around the health status of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the U.S. military contingency plan for the regime's collapse, Operations Plan 5029, is being reviewed with new urgency.

Little is known about the operational details of the OPLAN 5029, which are highly classified military secrets.

But in the event of a sudden, calamitous destabilization of the North Korean regime, it would fall to the current commander of USFK, four-star General Robert Bruce Abrams, to ensure that the North's nuclear missiles were not set off during an internal power struggle, or pilfered for the international black market.

On Friday, after Kim had not been seen publicly for 21 days, North Korean state media published photos (above) and video, which have not been otherwise verified, claiming to show the dictator at a recent function -- but rumors persist about his possible death

in the event of a sudden, calamitous destabilization of the North Korean regime, it would fall to the current commander of USFK, General Robert Bruce Abrams (above), to secure the nukes

The existence of OPLAN 5029 was first publicly acknowledged by the U.S. military in 1999.

'It would be unusual if we didn't have one,' General John H. Tilelli Jr, then commander of United States Forces Korea, said of the plan at the time.

OPLAN 5029 is meant to secure the border and North Korea's nuclear weapons if the government can't function or if control of those weapons becomes uncertain.

'The million-dollar question is: When do you invoke the OPLAN and what indicators do you rely on to do so? Because one country's `securing the country operation can look to the other nation like an `invasion plan. And then all hell can break loose,' said Vipin Narang, a North Korea nuclear specialist at MIT.

The biggest U.S. worry is North Korea's nuclear stockpile being used, stolen or sold.

'If the U.S. does not have plans to go in and secure and retrieve North Korean nukes - to the extent we know where they are - then we are not doing our job,' said Ralph Cossa, president emeritus of the Pacific Forum think tank in Hawaii.

'Beyond that, it makes little sense for the U.S and/or South Korea to get involved in internal North Korean power struggles.'

Satellite imagery from March 2019 shows the Sohae Launch Facility in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, one of the facilities used by the North for long-range rocket launches

Suspected nuclear site Sanumdong research center on the outskirts of Pyongyang, North Korea is seen in a February 2019 satellite image

Kim's alleged appearance on state media on Friday (above) was meant to quell rumors that the North Korean leader is dead or incapacitated

The danger of a U.S. misstep during a collapse would be huge. Among the potential problems would be coordinating with South Korea's military at a time when Chinese troops would also likely be operating in the North and funding immense military and humanitarian efforts.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said recently, when asked about Kims health, that Washington will continue to pursue complete denuclearization, 'regardless of what transpires inside of North Korea with respect to their leadership.'

North Koreas collapse has been predicted - wrongly- for decades.

Some said it would happen after fighting ended in the Korean War in 1953. Others thought it would be during a 1990s famine or when national founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994. And when the death of his son, Kim Jong Il, thrust a little-known 20-something into power in 2011, some felt the end was near.

It's no surprise then that recent rumors that leader Kim Jong Un is seriously ill have led to similar hand-wringing.

On Friday, after Kim had not been seen publicly for 21 days, North Korean state media published photos and video, which have not been otherwise verified, claiming to show the dictator at a recent function -- but rumors persist about his possible death.

South Korea believes Kim is alive and in control, and most analysts agree that even if he weren't, Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, would likely take control, possibly with the help of select officials.

Many experts say North Korea would weather the transition just as it has every other upheaval.

But what if it didn't?

Analysts believe if Kim were incapacitated, his powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong (with him above), would likely take control, possibly with the help of select officials

Aside from joint plans with the U.S. military, internal South Korean preparations for a North Korean collapse reportedly deal with how to shelter an influx of refugees and how to set up an emergency administrative headquarters in the North.

According to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables, then senior South Korean presidential adviser Kim Sung-hwan told a top U.S. diplomat in 2009 that South Koreas constitution states that North Korea is part of South Korean territory and that 'some scholars believe that if the North collapses, some type of `interim entity will have to be created to provide local governing and control travel of North Korean citizens.'

When asked recently about contingency plans, South Koreas Unification Ministry said it 'prepares for all possibilities.'

One big problem is that unlike China, South Korea cannot mobilize the large number of soldiers needed to stabilize North Korea.

'If the North Korean regime is on the brink of collapse, China will most likely send troops to its ally and establish a pro-Beijing regime in the country,' South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in a recent editorial. 'Seoul must do its best to minimize Chinas intervention in the North based on the solid alliance with' Washington.

China's contingency plan to prevent North Korean collapse

China is the North's main source of aid and diplomatic backing and considers political stability in its impoverished neighbor crucial to its own security.

North Korean soldiers patrol next to the border fence near the town of Sinuiju across from the Chinese border town of Dandong in a file photo

Although China has agreed to United Nations sanctions over the North's weapons programs, it's wary of anything that would collapse the economy or unseat the ruling party and potentially unleash conflict on its border and a flood of refugees crossing over.

China in recent years has reinforced its border defenses with the North.

However, many people living on the Chinese side of the border are ethnically Korean, increasing fears of instability or even territorial loss if the border was opened.

China's biggest concern, however, is thought to be the prospect of American and South Korean troops operating along its border, a worry that prompted China to enter the Korean War 70 years ago.

A change in leadership in North Korea, however, would be unlikely to bring about major changes to the relationship, said Lu Chao, a professor at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences in China.
This week I got a query from a writer in New York who asked me about a story I wrote nine years ago, in 2011, about a reunion with a college professor who made his students some hot chocolate. Are you kidding me, I write every day to curb my mental thirst and embrace my zest for life? The simple truth is I cannot remember what I wrote last week. The writer was enthralled by the story and wanted to accredit to the rightful author but as one who collects stories that very rarely include the authors name, I dutifully apologized and said that while I will always and forever include the source as often as I can, I can readily admit that long ago I discovered my favorite writer is, indeed, author unknown.

And so, the same is true with each weeks Saturday Funnies.

Throughout every week I receive funny emails from every imaginable source, and easily 95 percent of them include no origin. I try to be consistent in including a disclaimer, saying they were not written by me and gleaned from my weekly emails. I came up with the idea of The Saturday Funnies a couple of years ago and there has been an increasing amount of submissions for only the Lord knows why. I adore humor, and I hope The Saturday Funnies makes you laugh in the same way these do me.

I have no idea where The Professor and Hot Chocolate originated it, nor who wrote it, but it mattered to me in 2011, and I hope in this time of 30 million Americans out of jobs, the coronavirus still strong, and our tornado victims shattered, it will resonate with you. Onward and upward!

* * *

THE PROFESSOR, THE HOT CHOCOLATE & THE CUPS

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and, in some cases, even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups ... and then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, said the professor. The cup you have does not define, nor change, the quality of life you have.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate; man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

* * *

THE BEST AMERICAN COMEBACKS EVER

JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DE Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all U.S. military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded, "Does that include those who are buried here?" De Gaulle did not respond.

- - -

When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return."

- - -

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?" A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear-powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?"

- - -

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?" Without hesitating the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

- - -

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on. You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."  "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France!" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."

* * *

THE TALE OF TWO WINNERS

Bubba and Billy Bob were known for having quite a bit below the average smarts around Little Rock.

One day, in the Little Rock Walmart, they decided to get in on the weekly charity raffle. They each bought five tickets at a dollar a pop.

The following week, when the raffle was drawn, each had won a prize. Billy Bob won 1st place - a year's supply of gourmet spaghetti sauce and extra-long spaghetti.

Bubba won 6th prize - a toilet brush.

About a week or so had passed when the men met back at Walmart. Bubba asked Billy Bob how he liked his prize, to which Billy Bob replied, "Great! I love spaghetti!"

Billy Bob asked Bubba, "How 'bout you, how's the toilet brush?

"Not so good," replied Bubba, "I reckon I'm gonna switch back to paper."

* * *

MY BOY JOHNNY IS UP TO MISCHIEF AGAIN



Little Johnny was in class and the teacher announced that they were going to try something different to help everyone get to know each other a little better, and to help with their spelling. She explained, "I want you to stand up and give us the occupation of your father, spell it, and say one thing he would give us all if he was here today."

The first student raised her hand to volunteer. "Marcy," the teacher said. "You may go first."

Marcy replied, "My father is a banker. B-A-N-K-E-R, and if he were here today, he would give us all a shiny new penny."

The teacher said, "Very nice, Marcy, who wants to go next?"

Kevin stood up and announced, "My father is a baker. B-A-K-E-R and if he were here today, he would give us all a freshly-baked cookie."

"Very good," the teacher told Kevin.

Jeff was next, and he said, "My father is an accountant. A-K, no wait, A-C-K, no..."

Before he could attempt to spell it once more, the teacher cut him off and told him to sit back down and to think about it for a while. When he thought he knew how to spell it, he could stand back up and try again.

Little Johnny raised his hand in excitement, hoping to be acknowledged by the teacher.

The teacher called on little Johnny to go next.

Johnny said, "My dad is a bookie. B-O-O-K-I-E, and if he were here today, he would give us all 20:1 odds Jeff aint ever going to be able to spell "accountant."

* * *

HOW LITTLE JOHNNY FINALLY GOT CAUGHT

In class one day, Mr. Johnson pulled Johnny over to his desk after a test, and said, "Johnny I have a feeling that you have been cheating on your tests."

Johnny was astounded and asked Mr. Johnson to prove it. "Well," said Mr. Johnson, "I was looking over your test and the question was, 'Who was our first president?', and the little girl that sits next to you, Mary, put 'George Washington,' and so did you."

"So, everyone knows that he was the first president." said little Johnny with his little innocent eyes open large.

"Just wait a minute," said Mr. Johnson. "The next question was, 'Who freed the slaves?' Mary put Abraham Lincoln and so did you."

"Well, I read the history book last night and I remembered that," said Johnny.

"Wait, wait," said Mr. Johnson. "The next question was, 'Who was president during the Louisiana Purchase?'

Mary put 'I don't know,' and you put, 'Me neither'."

* * *

THIS WEEKS BEST VIDEOS



* -- What a delight it was to see one of my Top Five Favorite Videos is making the rounds on email again! And, On the Ninth Day, God Made a Dog has made me cry almost every time I watch it, since dogs have been such an integral part of my life since I was four years old. As a matter of fact, my first childhood chore was to change the water in the dogs bowl every day. Not long afterwards, a babysitter told me that was stupid, since water does not go stale, and I told my Dad she said it was stupid. Dad smiled, and said she was right, but the dogs dont know that  they watch you change their water because you love them  and each dog will become your best friend because they love you for it. Dad was right. Thus, I have changed a dogs water every day for all of my life. The video -- On the Ninth Day  is a take-off of the legendary Paul Harveys 1972 hit, And God Made a Farmer, which has also been watched by many millions. The narrator makes the video ever more precious. CLICK HERE.

* -- It was in 1972 when Paul Harvey, a once in a lifetime radio voice, created the classic, God Made A Farmer. CLICK HERE.

* -- One more  have your ever-seen Paul Harvey, who died in 2009, deliver his tribute to the The Policeman? Absolutely wonderful! CLICK HERE.
Humorless, intolerant leftist academics are a force to be reckoned with on many college campuses, and a new case at the University of North Texas (UNT) pushes the envelope.After earning his PhD in mathematics from Baylor University in spring 2019, Nathaniel Hiers found employment at UNT. He began teaching full-time as an adjunct faculty member in the fall semester-three sections of linear algebra and one of calculus. The mathematics department thought highly enough of Dr. Hiers that, in November, it notified him that he was invited to renew his contract for the coming semester. Hiers promptly emailed back to say he'd accept the school's offer.Trouble for Hiers began, however, on November 25. He was relaxing in the faculty lounge that afternoon, waiting for a colloquium to begin, and noticed a stack of fliers. They weren't identified as a university document and had been left anonymously. The subject of the fliers was "microaggressions" and the argument they made was that such speech, although unintentional, is harmful to some individuals' physical and psychological health. Therefore, faculty members were encouraged to avoid them.The flier gave a number of examples of microaggression such as saying,andThose expressions, according to the flier, are harmful because they support "the myth of meritocracy" and promote "color blindness." Another example of a microaggression listed wasThis idea that certain groups in the population are so sensitive to and easily harmed by such apparently benign utterances has been around for many years. Some academics believe it, while others find it to be just a weak and unproven assertion. Nathaniel Hiers is in the latter camp. In his opinion, talk about microaggressions merely promotes a culture of victimhood and suppresses constructive discussion.All that Hiers did after reading the flier was to write on the chalkboard,with an arrow pointing to the stack of them. He couldn't imagine the trouble his jest would cause him.On the afternoon of November 26, mathematics department chairman Ralf Schmidt sent an email to the entire department with a picture of Hiers' chalkboard note and the text,Hiers did go to Schmidt's office, where Schmidt made it clear that he objected to Hiers' mockery. He called his chalkboard message "stupid" and insisted that he apologize for having expressed his derogatory thoughts about microaggressions.When Hiers responded that he saw no reason to apologize, Schmidt asked if he'd be interested in further "diversity training" beyond that which UNT already requires for its faculty. Hiers replied that he was not interested since he was scheduled to take the mandatory "training" in a few days, which he did on December 1.What did not occur at that meeting was anything resembling a reasoned discussion about the merits of the microaggression concept. But while Schmidt was obviously angry that Hiers was a non-believer, he did not indicate that he intended to take further action.On December 2, Hiers came to campus to sign his contract for the coming semester. He was informed by William Cherry, the assistant departmental chairman, that the document was in professor Schmidt's office but that he was not in at that time. Later in the day, however, Hiers received an email from Cherry. It said that the department had terminated his employment and that he would not be teaching in the spring semester.Hiers then emailed Schmidt to ask why he had been fired. Schmidt replied that his decision to terminate his employmentHe went on to say that in his opinion, the statements in the microaggression flierthat Hiers' chalkboard message wasand that writing anonymous messages was troubling.Finally, Schmidt said that he decided to fire Hiers because he refused to recant his opposition to the microaggression idea. He summed up by declaring to Hiers,Nathaniel Hiers was hired by UNT for his expertise in mathematics and was about to be rehired, but, owing to nothing more than a jesting note on a chalkboard, the chairman decided that he must be fired. Evidently, professor Schmidt thinks that Hiers' personal views about microaggressions are so intolerable that he must be banished from the university. Disagreement with this leftist belief puts him out of conformity with the alleged values of the math department.You might expect something so utterly vindictive and authoritarian in one of the academic fields that have been taken over by "progressive" faculty, but to see this in mathematics is shocking.Professor Schmidt may want to be rid of Nathaniel Hiers, but in his anger, he seems to have forgotten about two things-university procedures and the Constitution.Hiers is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has litigated on behalf of many professors and students who have suffered at the hands of overbearing college officials. In its complaint in the case, ADF argues that numerous UNT faculty and administrators have violated Hiers' rights.For one thing, Schmidt and his fellow administrators completely ignored UNT's Misconduct Policy, which is designed to protect academic freedom and guarantee timely due process for anyone accused of misconduct. Universities cannot cast aside due process safeguards simply because a high-ranking professor has gotten into a rage at a subordinate's failure to agree with him and recant his apostasy.And for another, UNT is a public institution that must abide by the First Amendment. Freedom of speech means that public officials cannot retaliate against others over disagreements like the one between Schmidt and Hiers.The ADF attorney on the case, Michael Ross, puts the essence of the case this way He's right. Universities are supposed to be places for free inquiry and debate. UNT has instead behaved like the Spanish Inquisition.So far, the university has not responded to the complaint. ADF has demanded a jury trial and that is the last thing that UNT should want. A jury of twelve citizens of Denton, Texas is apt to side strongly with professor Hiers, much as did the Ohio jury that deliberated over the Oberlin College case and hit the school with heavy damages.If the university decides to defend the actions of Schmidt and its officials, it will rack up huge legal costs (its own and almost certainly those of the plaintiff) at a time when it has no money to spare.This case points to a need throughout academia-a crash course in the meaning of academic freedom for college officials. UNT ought to cancel its mandatory "diversity training" program and replace it with a training session on tolerance, free speech, and the rights of faculty members, even adjuncts.
The Indian Railways, through RRC Western Railway, Vadodora Division, Gujarat, has called for applications from eligible and interested candidates for filling 21 Staff Nurse (09), Lab. Supdt. (02), Radiographer (02), Contract Medical Practitioners CMPs - GDMO (08) posts through direct recruitment. The application process towards the same started on April 28, 2020 and closes on May 5, 2020.

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Staff Nurse and CMP Organisation Western Railway, Vadodara Division Educational Qualification 10+2 with Physics and Chemistry and Diploma in Radiographer X-Ray Technician/Radio Diagnosis Technology/Radiation Technology; GNM or B.Sc. (Nursing); B.Sc. with Bio-chemistry/Micro Biology/ Life Science/ B.SC with Chemistry & Biology/DMLT; MBBS Degree Experience As detailed in the advertisement Skills Required Desirable Job Location Vadodara, Gujarat Salary Scale In the range of Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 75,000 per month as per the designation Industry Railway Application Start Date April 28, 2020 Application End Date May 5, 2020

Age Criteria And Fees

Candidates interested in applying for Staff Nurse and CMP posts through Western Railway Recruitment 2020 must fall in the age group between 19 to 53 years of age, with relaxation (upper age limit) for reserved categories as specified in the notification.

For details regarding fee towards application processing, refer to the official notification given at the end of the article.

CPCB Recruitment 2020 For 48 Scientist, LDC, Assistant And DEO Posts, Apply From May 5 Onwards

Educational Criteria And Eligibility

Candidates applying for Staff Nurse and CMP posts through Western Railway Recruitment 2020 must have passed 10+2 with Physics and Chemistry and Diploma in Radiographer X-Ray Technician/Radio Diagnosis Technology/Radiation Technology; GNM or B.Sc. (Nursing); B.Sc. with Bio-chemistry/Micro Biology/ Life Science/ B.SC with Chemistry & Biology/DMLT; MBBS Degree from recognised Board/University/Institute with relevant years of work experience in the concerned domain as detailed in the notification.

Selection And Pay Scale

The selection of candidates to Staff Nurse and CMP posts through Western Railway Recruitment 2020 will be done through an Online Interview, WhatsApp, or Telephonically Interview.

Candidates selected as Staff Nurse and CMP posts through Western Railway Recruitment 2020 will be paid emolument in the range of Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 75,000 per month as per the designation.

NFL Recruitment 2020 For 52 Engineers, Managers And Senior Chemist. Apply Offline Before May 27

How To Apply

Candidates applying for Staff Nurse and CMP posts through Western Railway Recruitment 2020 fill the application form in a prescribed format attached with the advertisement, and e-mail the same along with relevant supporting documents at apomechbrc@gmail.com on or before May 5, 2020 by 6:00 pm.

To download application forms and read the detailed notifications about Western Railway Recruitment 2020 for Staff Nurse and CMP posts by visiting the following:

For Staff Nurse posts, click here

For CMP posts, click here
T his is the emotional moment NHS staff lined the corridors to applaud a 62-year-old coronavirus survivor as he left intensive care after five weeks.

Stephen Parker, a former member of the Parachute Regiment, left critical care at Poole Hospital this week to a round of applause from his care team.

More than 40 NHS staff united to pay tribute to the Mr Parker, who was left fighting for his life in intensive care for 35 days after contracting coronavirus.

A video shows his doctors, nurses and support teams lining the corridors of the critical care unit to clap and cheer him as he was moved to a normal ward to continue his recovery from Covid-19.

Mr Parker, who currently works as a security manager, said: "I can't thank all the staff in critical care enough for everything they have done for me.

"They are truly amazing. I am aware that Im staying in hospital but I feel Im progressing every day, everyone has been fantastic."

Eoin Scott, head of nursing and quality for surgery at Poole Hospital, said the entire team was delighted to be able to discharge Mr Parker after his coronavirus battle.

One minute silence to NHS heroes who lost lives to the Coronavirus 1 /25 One minute silence to NHS heroes who lost lives to the Coronavirus London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff stand outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Shoppers queue in the rain outside Costco in Thurrock during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 Sky News London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A staff member reacts outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Members of the public, NHS staff, and Police offices, some wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) of a face mask as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, pause for a minute's silence to honour UK key workers AFP via Getty Images A police officer observes a minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 outside 10 Downing Street, Reuters London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 Sky News London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Staff stand inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA National Shop Stewards Network protesters outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, during a minute's silence which was to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA

"Stephen has had a really tough battle against Covid-19 in intensive for the last five weeks and has made a remarkable recovery, given how critically ill he has been," he said.

"He is an amazing gentleman - and a remarkable survivor. One of his first questions when he began to get better was to ask for a cup of tea.

"We wish him well in his future recovery. His example has given all of us real hope and inspiration during what is an incredibly challenging time."

Some 66 patients who had coronavirus have now been discharged from Poole Hospital, the trust said.
A hairdresser wearing protective mask in Singapore. (PHOTO: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  Selected retail operations will be allowed to resume from 12 May, as part of Singapores easing of COVID-19 circuit breaker measures announced on Saturday (2 May).

The following activities can resume on-site operations, with added safe distancing measures provided by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Housing and Development Board (HDB), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA):

Hairdressers and barbers for basic haircut services only.

Retail laundry services.

Retail of pet food and supplies.

INFO: Enterprise Singapore

Online retail and delivery guidelines

All other non-essential retail operations will remain suspended. Online retail and delivery may continue, only if the business comply with the following guidelines:

Retail storefronts must not be open to customers. Such establishments must clearly indicate that the store is closed for business;

Retail premises may be accessed by staff when necessary to fulfil delivery of online orders;

Customers are not allowed to collect merchandise from retail stores. Fulfilment of online orders should be through delivery only (e.g. third party logistics providers, SingPost, POPStations);

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;

Collection and delivery are spaced out and contactless;

Delivery personnel must observe at least one-metre spacing at all times and do not cluster together.

Safe distancing measures at retail establishments

Retail establishments that are permitted to open must implement safe distancing measures and put in place a queue management system to minimise crowding within their premises.

They must implement contact tracing through the use of the SafeEntry app by 12 May to facilitate the efficient collection of visitor information. They should also ensure that all staff and customers have their masks on, and that there is at least a one-metre spacing between customers at all times.

Story continues

The establishments should use floor markers to clearly demarcate queue lines for customers at entrances, cashier counters, fitting rooms or where required. They should encourage the use of self-checkouts, cashless or contactless payment, to speed up the payment process and reduce cash-handling.

All malls, standalone stores and supermarkets must also conduct temperature screening for customers at entrances to detect customers with fever. In addition, supermarkets are encouraged to provide dedicated shopping hours for vulnerable groups, and remind customers to limit entry to one per family when shopping at their stores.

All retail establishments must also implement sanitation and hygiene measures listed by ESG on its website.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Related stories:

COVID-19: Singapore to ease some circuit breaker measures starting next week

COVID-19: Singapore confirms 447 new cases, 4 of them are Singaporeans/PRs

COVID-19: Graduating students to go back to schools in small groups from 19 May  Ong Ye Kung

COVID-19: Bubble tea shops, other less critical F&B businesses to close during circuit breaker period
P ub visits should be avoided when social distancing measures are eased, one of the UK's top medics has said.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference at Downing Street, England's deputy chief medical officer said that people will have to carefully consider how they travel to outdoor spaces as lockdown is slowly lifted.

Dr Jenny Harries said that while being outside - where the virus does not survive as long - is generally safer, people's actions and how they get to their destination will be important.

She acknowledged lots of people are keen to get back to the pub, but added that not going is the best way to reduce the risk of catching and spreading Covid-19.

She and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick were asked whether mass gatherings would likely be allowed to resume before pubs are permitted to reopen.

Mr Jenrick said the fact that the virus's rate of transmission is "significantly less" outdoors will be a factor to be considered in any easing of the lockdown.

Dr Jenny Harries speaks at Downing Street / via REUTERS

But he said adding in public transport makes it "a more complex picture".

Dr Harries said mixing with friends and others outside your household in a small environment like a pub would not be a good idea.

Empty streets in UK after pubs and restaurants close 1 /8 Empty streets in UK after pubs and restaurants close An empty Westfield Stratford City Getty Images The empty car park outside a cinema in Leicester, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs, restaurants, leisure centres and gyms across the country to close PA Westminster Bridge is quiet in London AFP via Getty Images A pedestrian walks past a closed pub in New Cross, south London PA Cyclists keep their distance in Richmond Park PA A sparse Odeon cinema in Leicester after the Government ordered leisure facilities to close PA

She explained: "If you go as a family unit and sit in one place and you've got the same exposure there that you would in your house at home, that's probably quite a safe environment.

"If you go with a whole load of friends that you haven't seen from before the coronavirus lockdown, sit in a pub in a very small environment, lean well over each other on the table and stay there for some hours face-to-face, that's really not a good thing to do."

She said another potentially high-risk activity is people travelling in cars with others outside their family unit.

Dr Harries added: "'Don't go to the pub on the way' is probably the one to reduce your risk, although I recognise that everybody is wanting to do that."

Earlier this week her colleague, fellow deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam also played down the prospect of an imminent return to outdoor activities, saying the virus would come back unless a "painstaking" approach was taken in easing the lockdown.
A woman who assaulted her husband in front of the police has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Co Down woman Donna Fitzpatrick had to be handcuffed after throwing a bottle at her partner, a court was told.

Newry Magistrates Court, sitting in Lisburn, heard officers had twice called at the Annalong home of 50-year-old Fitzpatrick after she contacted them numerous times on March 14.

She told them to f*** off several times, a prosecution lawyer told the court, adding that police were satisfied she was safe because her husband Martin was there.

At 7am that morning, police again attended her house on the Longstone Road but this time she became aggressive and threw a pint glass against the wall before grabbing a lamp and lunging at her husband.

Police restrained Mrs Fitzpatrick but she was soon on the attack again.

She calmed down but then threw a full, litre glass bottle at her husband, said the lawyer, adding that when cops handcuffed her, Fitzpatrick told them to f*** away off.

Although Mr Fitzpatrick refused to make a formal complaint or statement, his wife pleaded guilty to common assault and improper use of a telecommunication network.

The prosecution lawyer said Fitzpatrick is under a recent probation order for a similar offence.

Defence solicitor Keith Kyle said there was no doubt the multiple calls to police had been a nuisance and something that a public body in the current circumstances could best be doing without.

Imposing a four-month jail sentence but suspending it for two years, District Judge Nigel Broderick said he hoped it would give her extra encouragement not to reoffend because she needs to address the underlying causes.

He warned her, however, that if she fails to do that, or reoffends, she was likely to face a lengthy custodial sentence.
The police in Katsina State on Thursday said they arrested a 70-year-old man seen in viral video insulting President Muhammadu Buhari and the state governor, Aminu Masari.

The police spokesperson in Katsina, Gambo Isa, in a statement, identified the suspect as Lawan Izala.

He said he was arrested with two others who conspired and insulted President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Masari.

The police said Mr Izala, in confessional statement explained that he insulted the duo after he found that their cows were rustled and the shepherd killed by suspected armed bandits.

Im tormented with what happened in the village. While on my way back I met Bahajaje Abu (man who filmed the incident) asking me about the government, I told him that I withdrew my support because of what happened with my cows, I am now left with nothing, that is how I became emotional and started the insult, Mr Izala said in the confessional statement released by the police.

Mr Izala also said the video was shot three months ago but recently released on social media.

The other suspect, Bahajaje Abu, also reportedly confessed that he filmed the video while Mr Izala was insulting Messrs Buhari and Masari. He, however, said he did not post the video on Facebook.

I dont have the intention to disrespect the president and the governor. I filmed the video but I didnt post it on Facebook, maybe someone whom I shared the footage did that.

Controversial video

In the said video, Mr Izala in frustrated manner was heard insulting the two officials, while a voice in the background was encouraging him.

After the incident, Mr Izala was heard identifying himself by name. He dared the authorities to arrest him.

The police said a shop owner, located at Gafai quarters, Katsina metropolis, Hamza Abubakar, was also arrested by the police. He said the video was filmed at the front of his shop.

Why we arrested suspects

Insulting a political leader, including the president or a governor, is not a crime in Nigeria. However, authorities at state and federal levels have increasingly clamped down on perceived critics, and usually apply diverse laws to charge them with disrespecting the leaders.

Last year, Nigerians expressed shock after it became clear charges filed by the federal government against the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, for planning a protest contained an allegation he insulted Mr Buhari. Mr Sowore was later released on bail.

The police said the trio were arrested for conspiracy and intentional insult against the president and governor of Katsina State on social media.

The spokesperson, Mr Isa, said the police were jolted into action after seeing the viral video on social media showing one Lawal Izala, 70, of Gafai Quarters, Katsina town.

The policeman said, the suspect was contemptuously insulting President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Governor of Katsina, Aminu Masari.

The Commissioner of Police in Katsina, Sanusi Buba, ordered for investigation, which led to the arrest of the trio of Lawal Izala, 70, Bahajaje Abu, 30, and Hamza Abubakar, 27, all of Gafai Quarters, Katsina state, Mr Isah said.

The police added that the suspects confessed to the commission of the offences.

To this end, the command wishes to warn members of the general public that the police will not fold its arms and watch while disgruntled elements violate the sacred laws of the land.

Any person found taking undue advantage of the social media to insult others, contrary to the provisions of Cyber Crime Act, will face the wrath of the law, Mr Isah said.
A total of 84 Manipuris, stranded



in Assam's Guwahati, reached Imphal on Saturday in four buses sent by the Manipur government to bring them back, officials said.

They were stranded at the Manipur Bhavan in Guwahati, they said.

The returnees were screened at Mao Gate at Manipur's border with Nagaland and will be quarantined at a facility in Imphal West district and their samples will be tested for COVID-19, the officials said.

Health Minister L Jayantakumar Singh welcomed the stranded Manipuris in the state capital. "As per protocol, they will be quarantined for 14 days," he said.

Officials, however, said if all of them tested negative for the disease, the authorities concerned will decide if they can be home quarantined.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 18:02:03|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the COVID-19 outbreak still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the WHO's highest level of alarm.

The PHEIC was declared on Jan. 30 over the novel coronavirus outbreak, when there were only 82 COVID-19 cases outside China.

As of 2 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Friday, the WHO said it has received reports of 3,181,642 confirmed cases, including 224,301 deaths globally.

"HATS OFF TO YOU"

The WHO director-general has the responsibility to determine a PHEIC and the decision should be reviewed every three months, under the International Health Regulations.

"As we have done clearly from the beginning, we will continue to call on countries to implement a comprehensive package of measures to find, isolate, test and treat every case, and trace every contact," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference from here.

Following over three months of an arduous fight, Wuhan, the central Chinese city once hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospitals on April 26.

"That's very, very welcome news," Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said at the conference. "So congratulations on this achievement."

She appreciated the "tireless efforts" of the people in Wuhan.

"We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you've been able to do," she said.

The WHO also reiterated that the coronavirus is "natural in origin" at Friday's conference.

SUFFERING REMAINS

The COVID-19 pandemic continues taking tolls on lives and economies.

The Indian Health Ministry said Saturday that 1,971 additional positive cases and 66 new deaths had been reported since Friday evening, and Singapore reported 932 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 17,101.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 1.1 million as of 7:40 p.m. EDT (2340 GMT) Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally, and the death toll from the disease hit 64,789 nationwide.

Data shows economic activity in the manufacturing sectors in both the United States and the United Kingdom plunged to record lows.

The Institute for Supply Management reported on Friday that the U.S. Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell by 7.6 percentage points to 41.5 percent in April, the lowest since April 2009, amid mounting COVID-19 fallout and weak global energy markets.

The PMI for Britain's manufacturing sector dropped to 32.6 in April, according to data published by IHS MARKIT/CIPS, as output, new orders and employment all contracted at the fastest rates in nearly 30 years.

Any reading below 50 percent indicates the manufacturing sector is generally contracting.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board must allow distributors to send special wine and liquor orders directly to retailers instead of sending them to state stores for pickup, a court ruled Friday.

The PLCB cant ignore a 2016 state law that permits the direct shipping of wines and spirits not sold in state-run stores, the Commonwealth Court ruling said.

Retailers and restaurants have instead had to retrieve their orders, and pay a handling fee, at state stores that have been closed or operating on a limited basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judge Kevin Brobson ordered the liquor control board to comply in a reasonable timeframe. A spokesman said the agency was reviewing the ruling and had no immediate comment.

MFW Wine Co., a distributor, and the Bloomsday Cafe filed the emergency petition. The special orders represent a small but growing portion of state liquor sales.

Gov. Tom Wolf closed the state-run Fine Wine & Good Spirits shops on March 17 to help stem the coronavirus pandemic.

Select stores have reopened for curbside pickup for customers, the current total is 565 locations, but customers have faced an overwhelmed system, orders limited to up to six bottles per order, and credit cards as the only accepted form of payment.

A Montgomery County man previously made 214 calls over 30 minutes from two phones to break through, PennLive reported.
Srinagar, May 3 : The stand-off between the holed up terrorists and the security forces continued on Sunday in Kupwara district although the operation against holed up terrorists was started early on Saturday.

The operation was initially started in Rajwar area of Handwara tehsil by the security forces including the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the special operations group (SOG) of local police.

This followed information that two to three terrorists were hiding in one of the houses in Chanjimulla village, 15 km from Handwara town.

After surrounding the hideout and plugging all escape routes, the terrorists hiding in the house were challenged and subsequently engaged in sustained gunfire.

Sources said an army Colonel, a major and two other soldiers in addition to a sub-inspector and a constable of the SOG decided to challenge the holed up terrorists through room intervention braving great danger to their lives.

Last reports said there was a fierce exchange of gunfire between the intervening security personnel and the hiding terrorists.

"Since last one and a half hour there has been no exchange of firing at the encounter site.

"Para commandos of 9 Para regiment have been brought in to secure the security personnel and preparations are underway for the final assault," sources said.

Army and police have cautioned reporters not to speculate about the final outcome of the operation since it is still continuing.

Security forces have strongly dispelled speculative reports about the safety of the security personnel who chose to embark on room intervention of the house where the terrorists were holed up.

Reports now suggest the number of the holed up terrorists could be more than three.

"One dead body is lying outside the house where the terrorists are holed up, but its identification can only be made after the operation ends," a source said.
The Indian Air Forces plan to shower petals over two hospitals in Kolkata on Sunday as part of a military initiative to show gratitude to the countrys Covid-19 warriors has not been approved by the West Bengal government, IAF sources said.

The hospitals are the ID&BG hospital and the Eastern Command Hospital.

Tensions grew between the Centre and the West Bengal government after the former sent special teams to the state to take stock of the Covid-19 ground situation. The Centre is also worried about the low rate of testing for the coronavirus in Bengal.

The Indian Air Force helicopters are showering petals at hospitals across 23 locations in the country which include Delhi, Leh, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Mumbai, Jaipur, Dispur, Itanagar, Trivandrum and Chennai.

Apart from Delhi-NCR, the IAFs fighter jets will carry out fly-pasts over Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Patna and Lucknow. Also, transport aircraft will fly in formation over 10 cities including Delhi, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Making her debut at the first briefing by a White House press secretary in more than a year, newly-appointed Kayleigh McEnany vowed to never "lie" from the podium, and said that her mission is to deliver facts so that US President Donald Trump gets "fair and accurate" reporting.

Press Secretary McEnany, 32, was addressing the reporters in the James S Brady Press Briefing room in the White House on Friday.

"Its my mission to bring you the mindset of the President, deliver those facts so this President gets fair and accurate reporting, and the American people get fair and accurate information, she said.

I will never lie to you. You have my word on that, the White House Press Secretary said making her maiden appearance in the press briefing room.

This was the first conference by a White House press secretary in more than a year.

The press briefing is normally overcrowded by reporters during the inaugural conference by any new White House press secretary.

However, because of the social distancing measures adopted by the White House and the Secret Service amid the coronavirus pandemic, her first conference was attended by a little over a dozen correspondents, many of whom congratulated her on her debut.

A former CNN contributor and Harvard Law graduate, McEnany previously worked as a spokesperson of the Trump Campaign.

She is the 31st White House press secretary and fourth of the Trump Administration. The previous three being Sean Spicer, Sarah Sanders and Stephanie Grisham. McEnany joined the White House last month.

Republican leader Indian-American Nikki Haley, who was the former US Ambassador to the UN, congratulated her on her first great press briefing.

Congratulations Press Secretary on a great first press briefing! Haley tweeted.

McEnany told reporters that she will try to do White House press briefings regularly.

As to the timing of the briefings, we do plan to do them. I will announce timing of that forthcoming, but we do plan to continue these, she said.

During her maiden press conference, she responded to a wide range of questions, including domestic and international. She came with a binder in her hand, which apparently had Administration's talking points on all kinds of issues.

Responding to a question, she gave an inkling of her preparation.

I can tell you this: I'm around the President almost the entire day. I was just with him before I left to come out and speak with you guys. I think my staff can attest to the fact that they have a very hard time finding me because I'm normally with the President in the Oval Office. So I'm consistently with him absorbing his thinking, she said.

According to The New York Times, over all, Ms. McEnany's confident performance was less combative than those of one of her predecessors, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

She was smooth, calm and even a little combative in defending a range of presidential policies, programs and statements. In short, she was what Trump might have been hoping for when he picked the 32-year-old former CNN pundit and re-election campaign spokeswoman to be his chief press representative, The Washington Post reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"Aquaman" director James Wan will produce the film adaptation of sci-fi time-travel story "Hunting Season" with "John Wick" scribe Derek Kolstad as writer.

Author Frank M. Robinson had penned the story which was inpublished in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine in 1951.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Transformers" producer Don Murphy is also aboard the project.

Starlight and Star Plus are financing the movie.

The story is about a law officer who is sent back to the past where, deemed an enemy of the state and is facing execution, he must acclimate in order to survive.

The project is rumoured to be in the same vein as"1984", "Fahrenheit 451"and"The Running Man".

Wan will produce through his Atomic Monster banner along with Michael Clear. Murphy will produce alongside his Angry Films partner Susan Montford.

Peter Luo and Judson Scott are attached as executive producers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Singapore-based Igloo, formerly known as Axinan, has raised $8.2 million as the insurance-tech startup looks to broaden its foothold in half a dozen Southeast Asian markets and Australia.

InVent, a corporate venture capital arm of telecommunications firm Intouch Holdings, led Igloos extended Series A round, the startup told TechCrunch. Existing investors Openspace Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in Southeast Asia, and Linear Capital, a Shanghai-based early-stage venture capital firm focusing on tech-driven startups, participated in this round, which makes four-year-old Igloos to-date raise to $16 million. It raised about $1 million in its Seed financing round.

Igloo -- founded by Wei Zhu, who previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Grab -- works with e-commerce and travel firms such as Lazada, RedDoorz, and Shopee in Southeast Asia to offer their customers insurance products that provide protection on electronics and coverage on accidents and travel.

The startup, which also operates in Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, said more than 15 million users have benefitted from its insurance products to date, and in the last one year it has processed more than 50 million transactions.

Igloo, which rebranded from Axinan this month, said insurance products are proving especially useful to -- and popular among -- people during the coronavirus outbreak.

Wei Zhu told TechCrunch that the startup has seen a surge in transactions and customer acquisitions in the last 45 days. While some travel-related business have seen a dip, the larger e-commerce business continues to see a surge, he added.

With COVID-19 impacting every facet of personal life and business, digitization can help the world adjust to the new normal. This is especially apparent in insurance, where we can tap on digital channels for distribution and also for creating awareness, he said.

We see that digital insurance is on the rise in Southeast Asia, and we believe that Igloo, with our digital-first approach and expansion of our product portfolio into personal health, accident and other related products can help fill those gaps and address consumers needs for personal well-being, he added.

He said the digital insurance penetration remains low in Southeast Asia, and Igloo sees massive opportunity in the space. According to one estimate (PDF), Southeast Asias digital insurance market is currently valued at $2 billion and is expected to grow to $8 billion by 2025.

The startup, which competes with a handful of startups including Singapore Life and Saphron, will use the fresh capital to expand its business development and engineering teams and broaden its presence in the half-dozen markets. It is already engaging with telecom operators, banks, non-banking financial firms and travel agencies, it said.
The Indian Banks' Association on Saturday introduced new norms to withdraw money from banks amid coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown. The IBA has asked customers not to rush into banks as it wants customers to reduce their bank visits and do more work through electronic transactions.

In order to avoid crowds and follow social distancing, banks have assigned specific dates to withdraw money. This arrangement has been made based on the last number of the account numbers of bank customers.

As per this new norm, those bank customers having 0 and 1 as the last digits of their bank account numbers will be allowed to withdraw money on May 4. Similarly, those bank customers who have 2 and 3 as the last digits of their bank account numbers will be allowed to withdraw money on May 5; those with 4 and 5 can withdraw on May 6.

Bank customers having 6 and 7 as the last digits of their bank account numbers can withdraw on May 8; those with 8 and 9 can withdraw the amount on May 11.

However, this arrangement is applicable till May 11 after which the restrictions of account numbers and dates will get lifted and anyone can withdraw money on any day.

This has been done because in April, a large number of people formed a queue in front of the banks to withdraw money and social distancing could not be followed. The Indian Bank Association has also asked customers to withdraw money from any ATM as there will be no charge for it.

Apart from this, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Rs 500 is being deposited in the accounts of women. The banks have advised that the money is safe in the accounts urging customers not to make a rush to withdraw. The installment for April has been added to the women's account and the installment for May is under process.
Owner of U.S. Navy Husbanding Services Provider Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bribery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 1, 2020



The owner and Chief Executive Officer of a Republic of Koreabased company, DK Marine, that provided ship husbanding services to the U.S. Navy pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery conspiracy.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge David Bell of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's (NCIS) Far East Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Stanley A. Newell of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's (DCIS) Transnational Operations Field Office made the announcement.

Sung Yol "David" Kim, 49, a citizen of the Republic of Korea, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery before U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith of the Eastern District of Michigan. Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 17, 2020, before Judge Goldsmith.

Pursuant to his guilty plea, Kim admitted that between October 2013 and January 2014, Kim conspired with James Russell Driver III, a civilian U.S. Navy cargo ship captain, and another civilian U.S. Navy employee to have Kim and his company provide husbanding services for Driver's ship during a December 2013 port visit in Chinhae, Republic of Korea, in violation of appropriate U.S. Navy husbanding procedures. Driver also provided Kim with confidential and other proprietary, internal U.S. Navy information. In exchange, Kim paid bribes to Driver, including personal travel expenses for Driver and his family. Driver pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy in March 2019.

NCIS and DCIS investigated the case. Trial Attorney Jessee Alexander-Hoeppner of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Topic(s): Financial Fraud

Component(s):

Criminal Division

Criminal - Criminal Fraud Section

Press Release Number: 20-417

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INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Mayors Court in Independence and its corresponding Municipal Court in Garfield Heights are taking the virtual approach to continuing court proceedings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The City of Independence made the decision in mid-March to postpone cases until April 29. Clerk of Court Angie Zidanic said that Gov. Mike DeWine had already closed schools, recreation centers and many Bureau of Motor Vehicles registrars by that time.

These closures led court personnel to feel that the date in April would allow enough time for court to resume or for the court to determine an alternate method of hearing cases.

Determine an alternate method they did -- tele-hearings. These hearings are conducted via the video conferencing platform Zoom.

Zidanic said the mayor, prosecutor, defendant and attorney in each case are sent an email with the date and time of the hearing, along with a link and password to let them log in. This is done separately for each hearing.

According to the Independence mayors administrative update, there were over 70 cases that had to be rescheduled.

Not all were mandatory court appearances," Zidanic said. "However, all had to be notified of the change in court procedure in the event they wished to have a hearing. Some cases were paid online, and some were reviewed ahead of time by the prosecutor and discussed with the offender, eliminating the need for the hearing.

The types of cases handled via Zoom hearings have been mostly for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI). Zidanic said the Supreme Court of Ohio has allowed courts to waive in-person requirements for a party to appear. This falls under the administrative action passed by the Supreme Court on March 27.

Offenders who do not respond to a tele-hearing notice will receive a final notice with a new hearing date. Zidanic said that for the foreseeable future, the Mayors Court will continue to operate in this manner.

Garfield Heights Municipal Court offers E-Safe Surrender

Garfield Heights Municipal Court has jurisdiction over cases in Brecksville, Cuyahoga Heights, Garfield Heights, Independence, Maple Heights, Newburgh Heights, Valley View, Walton Hills and the Cleveland Metroparks.

Every spring, the court offers a safe surrender program, where those with warrants out for their arrest can safely surrender to the court and attempt to resolve their cases. Due to the social distancing guidelines put in place throughout the United States, in-person surrendering wasnt going to be possible.

Judge Deborah Nicastro had the idea to continue the program, but through phone calls and virtual trials.

According to Nicastro, no other court has completed the surrendering program in this way. It is now referred to as the E-Safe Surrender program and runs through July 30.

Any person with an outstanding arrest warrant with Garfield Heights Municipal Court or who has not been following their probation or payment plan can surrender themselves to the court. They can do this by emailing safe@ghmc.org, calling the court or mailing their information via the U.S. Postal Service.

According to the courts website, ghmc.org, a person must provide the court with their current mailing address, email address, phone number, text number, the last four digits of their Social Security number, date of birth and all known case numbers.

Nicastro said that at any given time, there are roughly 2,000 warrants pending. She hopes to try to reduce this number through the surrender program.

The warrant can be for any type of case, though Nicastro said the common cases are traffic and criminal. Once a person surrenders, the court will recall any warrants without an appearance or any payment. The court then sets up a telephone conference within 48 hours of the surrender in an attempt to resolve the issue without a court appearance.

During the conference, Nicastro said that if the person has already entered their plea and owes money, the court assesses their financial situation and may decide to reduce the cost or set up a payment plan. The court may also take into account the impact of COVID-19 on a defendants finances.

If someone has never been to court before, the court arraigns the person, determines if they need an attorney and makes an appointment for a telephone or video hearing using Zoom.

Nicastro said people tend to like the telephone hearings, and stated that she has had more people (come to) a telephone hearing than in person.

For those who need to complete their probation requirements, Nicastro said the court community service department is reopening on May 11 with projects that adhere to social distancing, such as picking up trash along the freeways.

The courts website states that one of the benefits to E-Safe Surrendering is that people will be cleared of their legal problems so that they are ready to go back to work following the end of the shelter-in-place orders.

Overall Nicastro said the program enables the defendant to start over.

Read more from the Parma Sun Post.




Haiti - PAHO / WHO : Donation of a second batch of IT equipment to the Director of West Health





In order to strengthen the operational capacity of several institutions of the first level of care, of District Health Units, Communal Health Units, Communal Health Offices and 3 Community Reference Hospitals of the West Department, in the management and transmission of data, the office of the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Haiti in collaboration with the Brazilian project, this week delivered a second batch of IT equipment to the Western Health Director, Dr Martial Beneche



This donation of IT equipment is part of the project to strengthen the West health department through health institutions, whose the objective is to support the institutions of the first level of care in the department.



This initiative is executed by the PAHO/WHO Health System and Services Program, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) office in Brazil and the GAVI Alliance.



These equipments include among others: laptops and desktops, multifunction printers and routers with prepaid internet plan for one year.



The institutions concerned are : the Community Reference Hospitals of Carrefour, Beudet and Bon Repos, the municipal health offices of Carrefour, Petion-ville, Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Kenscoff, Cornillon and Ganthier; the Communal Health Units of Matheux, Cul-de-Sac Frontiere and the District Health Units of Petit-Goave, Gonaviennes, and Anacaona.



The handing over of this equipment is part of PAHO's desire to support the Ministry of Public Health in the management and transmission of data.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















[May 01, 2020] Node Operators Commit to xx BetaNet

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With the xx network requiring only affordable consumer hardware, xx node operators are now committing to the impending xx BetaNet. Participating nodes will be rewarded with xx coins. Announced this Wednesday, the xx BetaNet hardware specifications dramatically reduce barriers to node participation. Consumer hardware can be used because of the revolutionary design of the xx software which runs a highly efficient mixnet, selection of block producer and block endorser teams and the xx consensus protocol. The xx BetaNet node process began with open publication of selection information. 600 nodes that met the publicly vetted criteria were announced in June of 2019. David Chaum, xx network founder commented, "Transparency in node selection is the ultimate bedrock of the xx network, injecting trust into the core of the patform."



Starting today, nodes are taking the first step in onboarding through a dedicated website at xx.network/betanetportal. This process is designed to brief nodes and to provide protection from legal risk associated with receiving xx coin rewards. Status updates and details are at xx.network/nodes. Coinbase-backed Tokensoft CEO, Mason Borda, observed that, "The xx team continues to push the boundaries when it comes to high integrity privacy and trust infrastructure. We're excited to bring first in-class regulatory and compliance services to the xx network."

"We've all really benefited from Tokensoft's involvement," explained Stephanie Vaughan Weichsel, xx network COO. "They're a true supporter of the Blockchain community and our partnership has helped to provide the xx network and xx nodes with the infrastructure to meet local and international compliance requirements." To ensure a smooth transition to BetaNet, the xx network launched a public AlphaNet in September 2019 which ran through April 2020. The xx messenger launched in November 2019 utilizing the public xx AlphaNet to test completely private communication between its users. Last month, xx network outlined the Road to BetaNet, announcing the July 2020 launch date and its partnership with Tokensoft. "Through community input, we have selected hardware specifications allowing the xx network to shine while creating an egalitarian node community," said Benjamin Wenger, Chief Engineer of the xx network. The xx network BetaNet will officially launch on July 1st with 150 initial nodes. About xx coin and network:

The xx coin is a high performance digital currency secured by the xx network. A store of value, the coin also supports decentralized messaging, payments, and dApps. The xx coin was designed to address the original Satoshi challenge for true P2P digital cash, growing public concern for user privacy and the emerging threat of quantum computing. Contact: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/node-operators-commit-to-xx-betanet-301051279.html SOURCE xx network

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American authorities approved an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patients, as more US states eased pandemic lockdowns despite another spike in deaths from the disease.

The approval is the latest step in a global push to find viable treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown, hammered the world economy, and infected more than 3.3 million people.

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug initially developed to treat Ebola, was given the green light on Friday after a major trial found that it boosted recovery in serious COVID-19 patients.

"It's really a very promising situation," President Donald Trump said on Friday at the White House, where he was joined by Daniel O'Day, CEO of Gilead Sciences, which developed Remdesivir.

Remdesivir incorporates itself into the virus's genome, short-circuiting its replication process.

The drug approval came as the US leaders struggled with growing pressure from citizens wearying of stay-at-home orders.

World toll of coronavirus infections and deaths as of May 1 at 1900 GMT. By (AFP)

With about 1.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases, nearly 65,000 of them fatal, the United States has the highest tolls of any country, and Trump is keen for a turnaround as the world's largest economy reels with tens of millions left jobless.

"Hopefully, we're going to come in below that 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number nevertheless," said Trump, after suggesting earlier in the week the country could expect 60,000 or 70,000 fatalities.

Texas became the largest US state yet to ease curbs, while anti-lockdown demonstrations were held in several states -- including California, where officials had re-closed beaches beginning Friday to avoid a repeat of last weekend when crowds flocked to the shoreline.

There were protests in 11 cities in California -- where more than 50,000 coronavirus cases have been reported -- with people chanting against the lockdown.

In Huntington Beach, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, several thousand people rallied to denounce Governor Gavin Newsom's beach shutdown order.

"It was the straw that broke the camel's back," protester Monica Beilhard fumed.

"It was uncalled for, unnecessary and people out here are making that known," she said. "And we're also very much saying enough is enough, we have the right to work... and it's time for the governor to allow the healthy to be able to get back to business."

'Slow, phased' reopening

Like the United States, governments around the world are struggling to balance the immense political and economic pressure to ease lockdowns with the need for public health measures against the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 236,000 people.

A bartender fist bumps a customer through a plastic barrier at the Picos restaurant in Houston as Texas began lifting stay-at-home orders on May 1. By Mark Felix (AFP)

Several European countries, including Austria, have begun to ease restrictions with authorities in some of the hardest-hit parts like Spain reporting signs that the pandemic there was slowing.

Britain announced that it had hit its target of conducting 100,000 coronavirus tests a day, a step toward eventually lifting lockdown rules in the UK -- which this week overtook Spain to record the world's third-highest death toll.

Ireland, however, extended its lockdown by two weeks to May 18, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying the nation will reopen "in a slow, phased, staged way" after that.

Meanwhile in South Asia, India announced that the lockdown on its 1.3 billion people -- the world's biggest -- would continue for two more weeks from May 4.

The virus restrictions also put a damper on May Day celebrations worldwide on Friday, with many labor unions delaying their rallies and some holding online events, while a determined few hit the streets in face masks in defiance of lockdown orders.

In Cuba's capital Havana, where around a million workers and their families take part in the annual May Day march, the image of Che Guevara gazed down on an eerily silent Revolution Square.

Sharp rhetoric

May Day carried extra significance this year because of the staggering number of people put out of work by the pandemic, with the global economy in a tailspin and facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

The Cuban government suspended May Day celebrations on the island, normally marked by the country's largest annual march, due to the coronavirus pandemic. By YAMIL LAGE (AFP)

Stock markets tumbled again on Friday after President Trump's unproven allegation that the virus may have come from a lab in Wuhan -- the central Chinese city where the disease first emerged late last year.

Beijing has rejected the accusation, and scientists believe the virus jumped from animals to humans.

The White House has accused Chinese authorities of mishandling the outbreak, "slow-walking" coronavirus data and putting US lives at risk.

The disease overwhelmed healthcare infrastructure when it hit the United States, putting immense pressure on doctors, nurses and emergency responders.

Some US medics relied on past experience in other countries to fight the virus.

David Callaway, a doctor and academic who has worked in the past on diseases in conflict-hit nations such as South Sudan and Iraq, said he found overseas epidemics easier to handle in some ways.

"Family and loved ones, you can put them in a box and you use them as a source of motivation and inspiration when things get rough, but you know they are safe," he told AFP.

"A pandemic at home, you know that your family and your loved ones are still at risk, their lives hang on the line."

burs-qan/amj
The Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has bemoaned the fact that bags of fertilizer meant for distribution to farmers in the Banda, Tain and Wenchi districts for the 2019 cropping season are still lying at the offices of the ministry in the Bono Region.

The minister expressed his disgust at a stakeholder meeting he held with the Bono Regional Coordinating Council during a two-day working visit to the region to assess the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country on farmers, especially the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.

Matters came to a head when Richard Donkor, the Regional Director, presenting his report to the minister and his technical team mentioned that farmers at Wenchi, Tain and Banda did not receive organic fertilizer (granular & compost) and inorganic fertilizer (NPK & UREA) for the 2019 cropping season because there were no agro-chemical dealers in the districts through whom the inputs could be distributed.

His explanation did not go down well with the minister and his team because Wenchi, which is considered one of maize farming zones in the country, did not receive fertilizer for the cropping season.

The minister did not mince words when he rebuked the director, saying, You could not sit in the comfort of your office and expect agro-chemical dealers to walk in and register with you.

He then ordered the regional director, saying, You must make efforts and go to the field and register them and report back to me within a week.

The minister, throughout the week, has been visiting Ahafo, Bono and Bono East regions starting from Tano North in the Ahafo Region where he inspected an ongoing poultry processing plant (slaughter house) being put up by a private investor, with a capacity to employ 5,000 direct workers and 1,000 indirect workers, including out-growers.

When completed, the factory will have the capacity to process 6,000 poultry meat per hour and 1.6m monthly according to the investor, Nana Kwame Anning, who briefed the minister on progress of work.

Dr. Akoto described the project as a good step and said it was going to help make Ghana self-sufficient in poultry production and also boost the 'Ghana Beyond Aid' agenda.

The government spends about $350m yearly to import poultry products into the country and we find this to be unacceptable. Government will partner you to make it a reality, he said and pledged the government's commitment to ensure such projects become successful.

Other ongoing private projects the minister inspected included Weddi Africa Tomato Processing and Agro Farms at Berekum West District  both under the One District, One Factory (IDIF) vision of the government.

Besides, the minister inspected a 10,000 metric ton warehouse being constructed under the IDIF and the One Warehouse initiative. He expressed satisfaction with progress of work, but was not happy people were encroaching on government lands at the site and ordered that walls being erected by churches be demolished.

Dr. Akoto also interacted with poultry farmers at Dormaa Ahenkro, describing the place as 'poultry capital of Ghana'.

He said the government was giving working capital to poultry farmers in the regions as a pilot project to produce broilers and asked them to also apply to get support.

The farmers laid before him some problems including high cost of inputs, low patronage of eggs due to Covid-19, lack of processing plant and the effect of H9 influenza.

He presented some personal protective equipment to the poultry farmers association in the region and asked the members to follow laid-down protocols against the Covid-19 to avoid contracting the disease.

---Daily Guide
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1

By Nargiz Ismayilova - Trend:

The introduction of alternative energy sources brings benefits to the economy and the Azerbaijani population, Jamil Melikov, deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, said in an interview with Trend.

While speaking about the benefits of creating the renewable energy power plants, Melikov stressed that these stations are built in such a way that energy is supplied to the end consumer without losses..

"At the same time, a consumer may sell surplus energy and purchase the missing volumes from the same energy system," deputy chairman added.

"Moreover, the population will receive better energy from these plants than from other sources," Melikov said.

As for the economic benefits of using alternative energy sources, Melikov said that in this situation, the country would save money in gas consumption, which could be exported at a higher price.

While speaking about investments, the deputy chairman stressed that foreign investments worth $400 million provide Azerbaijan with one billion kilowatt-hour energy production potential, while 240 million cubic meters of gas will be saved in the country.

"Knowing and expecting that a regulatory framework will be formed, investors are ready to implement their projects and invest in alternative energy in Azerbaijan," Melikov added. "Thus, Saudi Arabian ACWA Power company and UAEs Masdar company are implementing the projects to build a 240 megawatt wind power plant and a 200 megawatt solar power plant."

"A legislative and regulatory framework for the development of alternative energy is being prepared in Azerbaijan," deputy chairman added. "A bill on the use of alternative energy sources has been prepared."

"The conditions for holding auctions have also been prepared, through which the project executors and investors who are interested in implementing the projects in the field of alternative energy, will be selected," Melikov said.

"The conditions for signing an energy supply agreement have been prepared," Melikov said.

"This is a very important long-term document, according to which the tariff policy stipulated in it is maintained during the period of return of investments from 15 through 20 years, and the state undertakes to purchase energy which is generated by investing enterprises," Melikov said.

"Such aspects are important for demonstrating the guarantees that investors, making investments in the alternative energy market in Azerbaijan, will receive and boosting their confidence," deputy chairman said. "Therefore, it is necessary to prepare an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework to attract investors."

"Today there is a certain tariff policy for the wholesale sale of electricity by the producer to the Azerishig power distribution system in Azerbaijan," Melikov said. "Users of electricity during the construction of own power stations become, on one hand, consumers, and on the other hand, producers."

"Such entities, in accordance with the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers regulating relations in the electric power industry, are called active consumers," deputy chairman said. "The meters are installed for these users and a balance of consumed and produced energy is maintained between Azerishig and an independent consumer."

"A user may sell part of the received energy to the network," deputy chairman said. "At the same time, a user will receive 0.05 qepik (0.02 cents) per kWh at the wholesale tariffs. When using excess energy, a user will pay 0.07 qepik (0.04 cents) per kWh while an entrepreneur - 0.09 qepik (0.05 cents) per kWh."

----

Follow the author on Twitter:@IsmailovaNargis
VSIP Nghe An has lured in investors from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Sweden

The intergrated township and Industrial Park VSIP Nghe An is one of the seven service, urban, and industrial park projects of VSIP in Vietnam, which was issued its investment registration certificate in June 30, 2015.

Good land absorbs investors

These days, VSIP Nghe An in Hung Nguyen district is positively buzzing. Prior to 2015, the whole area of VSIP Nghe An, which is now a service, urban, and industrial zone, was nothing but fallow land dotted by paddy fields. For a long time, water shortages threatened rice crops, causing insurmountable difficulties for farmers.

The emergence of the ambitious VSIP Nghe An project promised to become the new industrial area with an innovative and pro-business environment for foreign investors. However, it is not easy to clear 750 hectares of land of residential properties, barns, and factories.

Tran Van Hien, party committee secretary of Hung Tay commune, Hung Nguyen district recalled the early days of VSIP Nghe An. Since the commencement, leaders of the industrial park directly showed the representative of people owning lands in the clearance area, around VSIP Binh Duong to showcase the social and economic values VSIP brings.

Many residents became suddenly aware of job opportunities once the new zone is born," he revealed, "and accepted the clearance. The peoples ambitions spurred developers to level the land, invest in infrastructure, and help attract other developers.

Thanks to the state's one-door policy, administrative procedures for investment, land lease, and business registration, among others, were all done in time, quickly and efficiently. Provincial leaders also made clear commitments and facilitated the company's efforts of persuading investors at VSIP.

After five years, VSIP Nghe An has gradually gained shape. According to a report of VSIP Nghe An, the IP has attracted $188 million from 23 companies, including 11 foreign-invested enterprises from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Sweden. It is anticipated that the area will provide employment to 22,000 employees. Until now, 21 companies have received investment registration certificates, while eight are operational and six companies are in the process of building factories.

Supporting workers and investors amid COVID-19

VSIP Nghe An has drawn in companies from a variety of sectors like textile and garment, electronics, and footwear. This allows thousands of residents to get a job right in their hometown instead of working far from home as many did in the past.

Tran Thi Minh, a resident of Hung Tay, Hung Nguyen who works at a textile company in the industrial zone said that since VSIP was opened, it brought many job opportunities and helped locals to leave their farming work behind. Especially, far fewer people have to look for jobs in big cities as they can find employment at the zone.

My average wage is VND6 million ($256) a month," she added, "and if I take a few shifts overtime, it will be even higher. Having a stable job close to home has improved my familys life. Because of COVID-19, we have been getting fewer working hours, but everything will return to normal when the pandemic is over.

Ho Van Hiep, vice president of Hung Nguyen districts Peoples Committee stated that VSIP Nghe An has enhanced provincial traffic infrastructure and modernised the urban landscape. In particular, the park has grown the provincial economy and provided social security by giving jobs for up to 1,500 local workers.

Le Ngoc Hoa, vice president of Nghe An Peoples Committee said that the province has attracted hundreds of foreign investors every year to discover investment opportunities. Many of them have made Nghe An their final choice for long-term development.

Located at the western entrance of Vinh city, VSIP Nghe An is closely linked to key infrastructure in the city, making transportation easy for residents and businesses. The zone has been investing in infrastructure development, which will facilitate businesses and attract more domestic and foreign investment.

With the authorities' motto of 'accompanying enterprises', Nghe An province continues improving its investment environment. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the province also promised to support the affected businesses in practical ways such as tax reduction and exemptions, as well as debt rescheduling. Businesses success is the provinces success, he stated.

Lots of recreation areas Choosing the theme of family as its main design orientation, the 2.6ha VSIP Nghe An recreation park has been designed by Malaysian and Singaporean advisors. The new park awaits residents and visitors with colourful vegetation, creating a welcoming green space filled with fresh air. Besides the green area, modern lighting system and a beautiful fountain, the park offers play space for children, an outdoor stage, and fitness equipment to be a pleasant recreational place for residents. The neighbourhood of VSIP Nghe An boasts an 8,000-square-metre building of shops and food courts. The two-story building housing 32 stores can meet residents' need for restaurants, cafe, shopping, and utilities. Houses which belong to VSIP Nghe An at the initial development stage will be built in the residential compound. This area will offer many benefits like 24/7 security, clubs, swimming pools, gyms, and community room.
Additional accessories available at Mathews Hyundai can make driving and living easier.

The vehicles in the Hyundai lineup come complete with a multitude of features to make life easier and more fun for drivers. However, many drivers still need additional items to get the most out of their chosen Hyundai vehicle.

Mathews Hyundai offers a huge selection of Hyundai-certified accessories that are specially made to fit the numerous vehicles in the brands lineup. Some of the most popular accessories include roof racks, floor mats, cargo liners, cargo nets, cargo organizers and ball hitches for trailering.

Drivers looking for a specific accessory for their Hyundai vehicle are also invited to inform Mathews Hyundai as to what they need, and the dealership will gladly special order the item.

After picking out accessories, the service technicians at Mathews Hyundai will help with installation.

In addition to their selection of Hyundai-certified accessories, Mathews Hyundai offers a large inventory of new Hyundai vehicles. Regularly available models include the Elantra and Sonata sedans, along with the Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade crossovers. A wide selection of high-quality used vehicles from imported and domestic brands is also available at Mathews Hyundai.

Drivers interested in accessorizing their Hyundai vehicle are invited to contact Mathews Hyundai by phone at 833-331-0082 or through its website at http://www.mathewseasthyundai.com. Mathews Hyundai is located at 1793 Marion Mount Gilead Road in Marion.
People demonstrating the Trump administration's coronavirus response leave fake body bags outside the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2020.

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The US federal government ordered more than 100,000 body bags in April to keep up with a surge of coronavirus deaths, according to documents obtained by NBC News.

While the orders were being placed, President Donald Trump was publicly estimating that only 60,000 Americans would die.

When the US death toll reached that number on Wednesday, the president quickly upped his estimates to 70,000 casualties.

But a new White House model this week said that number could actually reach 130,000 by early August.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As President Donald Trump publicly estimated that coronavirus deaths would top out at 60,0000, the federal government was planning for a much worse outcome  by buying more than 100,000 body bags.

This is according to internal administration documents and public records reported by NBC News on Friday.

The US surpassed 60,000 deaths on Wednesday  what was previously regarded as a "best-case scenario." Since then, Trump has revised his estimates of the US death toll to between 60,000 and 70,0000 deaths.

But a model released by the White House and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation this week showed that deaths could actually reach as high as 130,000 by early August.

Related: Why the Strategic National Stockpile Wasnt Prepared

Win McNamee/Getty Images

One of the biggest orders for "human remains pouches" was placed by the Department of Homeland Security on April 21, with a firm in Montebello, California called E.M. Oil Transport Inc.

The company's marketing manager, Mike Pryor, said the $5.1 million order has not been paid for or shipped to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) yet.

"I hope to God that they don't need my order and that they cancel it," Pryor told NBC News.

Trump has faced criticism for pushing states to reopen when the US is still grappling with coronavirus, and for downplaying the outbreak's impact.

Protesters staged a demonstration outside of his Washington, DC, hotel last week, laying fake body bags outside the building to illustrate how the administration's tackling of the crisis was costing lives.

The White House did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Business Insider
People are being urged to eat more steak and chips

Britons and Europeans are being urged to eat more steak, chips and cheese because of a food surplus caused by the closure of restaurants and bars.

Despite widespread panic-buying in supermarkets across the continent in March as people responded to the coronavirus crisis, food producers are now calling on customers to stock up again.

In Belgium, the trade association for the potato industry is calling on people to consume more of the nation's world famous French fries, as they remain unable to eat out due to the impact of COVID-19 .

Known as the real birthplace of finger food, Belgium's 5,000 frites stands are all closed.

"Traditionally, Belgians eat fries once a week, and it's always a festive moment," said Romain Cools, the secretary general of industry group Belgapom.

"Now, we are asking them to eat frozen fries twice a week at home."

The demand for frozen potatoes has taken a nosedive in the recent weeks, with the Belgian industry facing a possible loss of 125m (111m), if thousands of tonnes of surplus spuds go unsold this year, according to Mr Cools.

He added: "This is the first time in my 30-year career that I need to call on authorities for help."

In the UK, more expensive cuts of meats, normally used by restaurants, are also going unsold.

The British public are being encouraged to have more steak nights, with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board launching a 1.2m campaign to promote the idea.

In partnership with Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Wales' Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), the 12-week campaign aims to inspire consumers to "Make It" with beef.

It will be supported with "how to videos", cooking tips and influencer-driven content.

The industry groups said in a joint statement: "This is a unique joint effort by AHDB, QMS and HCC which we hope will drive an uptake in steak and roasting joint sales in the run up to barbecue season. It's a fantastic opportunity for everyone to get involved and create some amazing dishes in their own kitchens."

Story continues

Meanwhile, people in France are being encouraged to eat more cheese as sales of traditional cheeses have plummeted more than 60% during the pandemic.

Cheesemakers are struggling as the French have "shunned" pleasure foods, such as their cheese platter, in lockdown, according to the French dairy industry.

The crisis has sparked a campaign called #Fromagissons, a contraction of the words "Fromage" and "Agissons", which translates as "Let's act for cheese".

Space to store surplus food is also in short supply.

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The world's biggest cold storage supplier said its UK warehouses could soon run out of space due to the closure of firms that supply restaurants and mass caterers.

Mike McClendon, president of international operations for Lineage Logistics, said its 15 facilities in the UK are more than 90% full.

He said: "In three to five weeks you could see the overflowing of frozen and chilled volumes at our facilities.

"We have concerns right now that volumes need to continue to flow."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:21:30|Editor: huaxia

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New York remains the hardest-hit state.

NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 1,100,197 as of 7:40 p.m. (2340 GMT) Friday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the disease in the country hit 64,789.

A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) pushes a wheelchair into Kings County Hospital in New York, the United States, on April 28, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 308,314 cases and 24,039 deaths, followed by New Jersey with 121,190 cases and 7,538 deaths. Other states with over 50,000 cases include Massachusetts, Illinois, and California, according to the CSSE. 
SPRINGFIELD  The protracted Nathan Bills off-duty cop brawl investigation sparked yet another controversy this week, with five newly reinstated officers being yanked from street duty and their guns seized.

Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood confirmed FBI agents and an assistant state attorney general called a city attorney this week to say the department was breaking the law by allowing the officers to return to work with guns while still under indictment.

The after-hours fight outside the popular bar in East Forest Park has been under investigation since 2015. A group of off-duty officers allegedly clashed with four civilians in a nearby parking lot after one of the civilians reportedly whistled at one cops girlfriend inside.

Fourteen officers and two civilians were indicted in connection with the fight, plus an alleged cover-up within the police department. They all were suspended without pay after they were charged in 2018.

Clapprood announced on April 15 that she planned to reinstate five  the on-duty officers who responded to calls for the disturbances at the bar and allegedly participated in the cover-up  nearly five years to the day after the fight occurred.

Now is the time to bring some of the officers who were not involved in the original altercation, who are in need of work, back to the department pending the outcome of their criminal case, Clapprood said. She and Mayor Domenic Sarno cited the urgency of having working police officers during the coronavirus crisis.

The FBI and state Attorney General Maura Healeys office evidently disagreed.

Clapprood said she agreed to rescind or hold back five duty weapons from as many officers assigned to the detective bureau and the uniformed division. They had just returned to work April 19 after more than a year on suspension without pay.

Officers alleged to have been involved in the fight remain suspended without pay.

Im not risking more embarrassment to the city or these officers. These kids have already been dragged through the mud, Clapprood said Friday of officers Shavonne Lewis, Darren Nguyen, Derrick Gentry-Mitchell, James DAmour and John Wajdula. I have plenty of work for them to do inside without their guns.

The commissioner said that while she felt she was on solid footing reinstating the officers, she feared the risks of further legal problems with the attorney general and FBI.

I dont want anybody to get in any further trouble, Clapprood said. Thats all we need here. ... I guess they thought for more than a week and this is the best they could come up with.

She added that she has been grappling with a fluctuating workforce amid the coronavirus pandemic. Multiple officers have tested positive for COVID-19, and while many have recovered and returned to work, one recently was hospitalized and is on a ventilator.

Those who called City Solicitor Edward Pikula on Wednesday included Assistant Attorney General Stephen Carley, and FBI agents Joseph Brannan and Julia Cowley, Clapprood said. She characterized the call as a heads up warning that the city was breaking the law by reissuing the five officers their guns.

The trio reportedly cited a federal statute Pikula believes is subject to interpretation. One section of federal law appears to prohibit anyone facing a felony indictment from carrying a gun, while another appears to exempt city police officers.

The commissioner has asked for a legal review. On its face, section 922 together with the exemption for law enforcement officers is in section 925, it would appear that the statute is not applicable. However we will do a thorough review, Pikula said during an interview late Friday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for the FBI declined comment, citing the ongoing case.

Clapprood said part of her decision to reinstate the five officers included the financial and emotional toll the year-long suspension was taking on them, while the COVID-19 pandemic bumped an anticipated trial date of March 30 potentially to 2021.

One kid, it cost him his marriage. I had one who was a month away from losing his house. I had another pushing a smoothie cart down Main Street to make ends meet, she said.

Clapprood has weathered blowback from some members of the City Council and the Urban League of Greater Springfield since reinstating the five.

For the police commissioner to take this action, in our opinion, is short-sighted and an exercise in poor judgment, read a statement issued Thursday by Urban League president Henry Thomas III and board of directors chairman the Rev. W.C. Watson. The Urban League strongly urges the Commissioner to rescind her decision to reinstate the 5 suspended officers. Clapprood responded that she stood by her decision.

Since the indictments were handed up, cases against four defendants in the Nathan Bills case have been dismissed by a judge or the state attorney generals office. Two of the officers have since returned to work. Twelve defendants remain.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday extended a coronavirus state of emergency declaration through May 28, saying "common sense and all of the scientific data tells us we're not out of the woods yet."

The Republican-controlled state legislature did not approve her order to extend the declaration, which was set to expire on Friday. Whitmer continued the state of emergency by executive order, and GOP lawmakers are now planning on taking her to court over her exercise of state emergency powers, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Whitmer said in a statement that by "refusing to extend the emergency and disaster declaration, Republican lawmakers are putting their heads in the sand and putting more lives and livelihoods at risk."

There are now 41,379 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Michigan, with the death toll at 3,789. Conservative groups have complained that Whitmer's stay-at-home order is too strict, and on Thursday, dozens of demonstrators, some of them carrying rifles, entered Michigan's statehouse, calling on Whitmer to end the state of emergency. This was a "political rally," Whitmer said, and if participants become infected from COVID-19 because they didn't practicing social distancing, the stay-at-home order could last even longer.

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Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Saturday said a deal with Andhra Pradesh to build Bhavanapadu Port could not materialise as the state had requested for changes in the draft concession agreement.

APSEZ in January 2018 had won a contract to build a greenfield port in Andhra Pradesh.

Replying to a clarification sought by exchanges over media reports, the company said that it had only received a letter of intent to award (LOA) the project of building Bhavanapadu Port in Andhra Pradesh. But the deal could not materialise following state government's request for changes in the pact.

The company had complied with all the documentary requirements of LOA, APSEZ said in a filing to the BSE and added that subsequently, the government of Andhra Pradesh (GOAP) had requested for certain changes in the Draft Concession Agreement.

"We had communicated our inability to agree to the proposal of GOAP for the changes in the Draft Concession Agreement in August 2018 and June 2019, as the changes were materially hampering the viability of the project," it said.

In February 2020, APSEZ had requested Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board to sign the Concession Agreement without any changes in the Draft Concession Agreement, it added.

The company said it had made clear that in case if GOAP is not agreeable to the same the project should be closed "on the basis of mutual consent of the Parties".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MUMBAI: As per the classification done by the Union Health Ministry, Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit by the coronavirus COVID-19 cases, accounts for 14 Red zones, 16 Orange zones, and 6 Green zones.

Maharashtra still remains the worst affected cases among Indian states and UTs and the number of coronavirus positive cases has crossed the 10,000-mark with at least 485 deaths. The positive cases in Maharashtra have reached 11,506, including 1,879 discharged cases.

After Maharashtra, Gujarat has the highest number of COVID-19 cases (4,721). The state has reported 236 deaths, while 735 people have been discharged.

Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad have been designated as red zones by the Centre in the new classification. The classification is done on the basis of the number of COVID-19 cases in the districts.

A district will only be considered a green zone if it has reported no confirmed cases of COVID-19 or no new cases of infection in the last 21 days.

Here is a full list of Maharashtra's Red, Orange, Green zones:

Red Zone: Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, Palghar, Nagpur, Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Satara, Dhule, Akola, Jalgaon, Mumbai Suburban,

Orange Zone: Raigad, Ahmednagar, Amravati, Buldhana, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, Hingoli, Ratnagiri,

Jalna, Nanded, Chandrapur, Parbhani, Sangli, Latur, Bhandara, Beed

Green Zone: Osmanabad, Washim, Sindhudurg, Gandia, Gadchiroli and Wardha.

The Union Health Ministry on Friday split 733 districts across India into red, orange and green zones, pulling out all metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad into the 'no activity' or red zone.

According to the list, there are 130 red zones, 284 orange zones and 319 green zones in India. Besides, two hundred and seven districts have been marked as non-hotspot zones.

Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback.

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone. Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days.

Stringent restrictions will be enforced in red zone areas till the lockdown, which was extended till May 17, ends, said the Health Ministry. There will be partial easing in orange zones and liberal easing in green zones.

Here's the state-wise list of red, orange and green zones:

In order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (May 1) extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks. As per the latest notification, the third phase of lockdown will be enforced until May 17.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as lockdown 2.0 was coming to end on May 3.

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Union Home Ministry issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Friday to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued fresh guidelines, under which, all the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the MHA, will be prohibited.

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico hospitals say they face catastrophic financial challenges  a hit of $250 million in April alone  as they care for patients and face business restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a report delivered to state officials Friday, they asked for a share of the $1.3 billion in federal aid provided to New Mexico to help address COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus.

Jeff Dye, president and CEO of the New Mexico Hospital Association, said Friday that hospitals have been squeezed on all sides  increased costs, patients delaying routine care and public health orders restricting elective surgeries.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration lifted some of the restrictions Friday, allowing medical offices and surgical centers, for example, to gradually resume operations.

Hospitals appreciate the increased flexibility, Dye said, but that it will take some time before medical providers see the financial benefits.

Its going to be a slow process of reopening and gearing up again, Dye said, The expectation is not to be going full throttle right away.

In the meantime, hospitals  especially in rural areas  face incredible financial strain, according to the report by the New Mexico Hospital Association. They absorbed a catastrophic financial impact of $250 million in April alone, the report said, on top of $81 million from a week in late March.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, a Gallup Democrat and chairwoman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, said she is willing to consider earmarking some of the federal aid for hospitals. But the federal funding comes with restrictions, she said, and it may not be available for that purpose.

We dont want to see our hospitals suffering any more than we have to, Lundstrom said.

Elective surgery limits

The Hospital Association report  submitted to state and federal officials  outlines the financial status of medical providers amid the public health emergency.

Hospitals, the group said, face increasing costs to treat COVID-19 patients and to secure medical equipment.

At the same time, they have endured a 40% to 60% hit to revenue because of limits on what surgeries they can perform, among other factors. The surgery restrictions were intended to help conserve personal protective equipment needed to combat the coronavirus.

Other financial challenges are also hammering hospitals, the association said. New Mexicans are postponing primary care visits as they shelter in place, and unprecedented job losses have boosted the number of uninsured patients.

As people postpone routine health care, Dye said, it adds to the stress on emergency departments.

We are starting to see more cases come into the emergency room  and more severe cases come into the emergency room  related to people who delayed care for chronic conditions, he said.

The federal and state aid sent to hospitals so far is nowhere near enough to relieve the financial strain they face, the association said.

Gradual reopening

A new public health order issued Thursday allows medical offices, hospitals and surgical centers to gradually resume operations under guidelines issued by the state.

It doesnt outline a specific rule for, say, what kinds of surgeries will be allowed and prohibited. Instead, physicians and patients have some discretion in deciding how to proceed.

For surgeries, the guidelines say patients in severe pain or facing trouble with daily living activities should be a priority. The state also recommends clinics start with surgeries that dont require an overnight stay.

Outpatient surgery usually covers procedures such as hernia repairs, gallbladder removals and cataract surgeries.

The guidelines suggest postponing procedures that would require transfusions, medicine thats in short supply or admission to an intensive care unit.

Furthermore, the state recommends surgical centers operate at less than 50% capacity for the next two weeks, then review whether to ramp up further.

As part of the gradual reopening, medical facilities will have to send daily reports to the state on supplies of personal protective equipment.

Dye said hospitals appreciate the somewhat permissive language allowing for discretion.

Staff cuts, unpaid leave

Hospitals and health systems throughout the state have announced staff cuts and unpaid leave for employees amid the public health emergency. Hundreds of workers had been placed on leave through mid-April.

Just on Friday, Presbyterian Healthcare Services said it was laying off 35 employees.

Lujan Grisham last month had harsh words for hospital and health systems that have cut workers, slashed employee hours and made other reductions. They face financial challenges, she said, but Im really disappointed the hospitals in New Mexico behaved this way.

Earlier this week, she said more funding has been made available to health systems and that she hoped the relaxed restrictions would help.

The goal, Lujan Grisham said, has been to protect health care providers and ensure New Mexicans have a safe place to seek treatment.

We need folks to keep helping us, she said in a public briefing Thursday.

Human Services Secretary David Scrase said New Mexico has made progress building up its supply of protective equipment. He said he hoped doctors will continue to see patients over video or by phone but that some in-person visits and procedures are necessary.

Something that is elective in February, he said, can be a big emergency in May.

Republican legislators in the state House have urged the state to develop an action plan to help hospitals.

I am concerned that our hospital employees are being overlooked, despite being on the front lines of the crisis, Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, said in a written statement in April.

Lundstrom  whose Gallup district covers a virus hot spot  said Friday that she hopes the state can help hospitals.

My understanding is that theyve all jumped in as much as they can to help get this virus curbed, she said.
US Imposes Iran-Related Sanctions on Investment Company, Individual, Treasury Says

Sputnik News

14:19 GMT 01.05.2020(updated 15:20 GMT 01.05.2020)

On 26 April, The New York Times newspaper reported, citing sources in the US administration, that Washington plans to force either an extension of the arms embargo against Iran or re-impose harsher sanctions if the UN Security Council declines to extend the arms embargo.

The US has imposed Iran-related sanctions on Taif Mining Services in Oman and an individual named Amir Dianat, linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the US Treasury said on its website.

According to the website, Dianat, who is also known as Ameer Abdulazeez Jaafar Almthaje, is "involved in IRGC-QF efforts to generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad".

The Treasury also stated that Taif Mining Services is "owned, controlled, or directed by Dianat".

Moreover, the statement said the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia had filed criminal charges against Dianat and one of his business associates for allegedly violating sanctions and money laundering laws. The statement added that the US Attorney's Office is seeking to seize $12 million in forfeitures from Dianat.

"The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people. The United States remains committed to working with financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and international partners to facilitate humanitarian trade and assistance to the Iranian people", Steven Mnuchin said, as quoted by the US Treasury's website.

According to The New York Times, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been working on a plan to invoke a provision of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to claim that the US formally remains a participating nation in the accord, which it abandoned in 2018.

Since May 2018, Washington has re-introduced wide-ranging sanctions against Tehran, including sanctions on the oil production sector. The United States has vowed to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero and demanded that other countries stop any purchases from the country or risk being sanctioned.

In response, Tehran also discontinued its commitments.

The JCPOA was signed by Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union in 2015. According to the agreement, Iran was set to scale back its nuclear programme and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief.

A Sputnik

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'Cult mom' Lori Vallow asked her soon-to-be husband Chad Daybell to determine whether her two children had 'light or dark spirits' nearly a year before they went missing, a newly uncovered email reveals.

On October 30 2018, Daybell emailed Vallow in response to her request for 'family history documents'. He attached a rubric on light and dark spirits, and then graded her relatives accordingly.

Vallow, a Doomsday author, wrote in his message to Vallow: 'Current numbers on Earth at this time of each estate level. These totals represent the 'light' spirits. The 'dark' has equal parts.

He designated Vallow's 17-year-old Tylee as a '4.1 dark spirit', while her seven-year-old son Joshua 'JJ' was determined to be 'a light spirit, level 4.2.'

Daybell's email was sent less than 11 months before Tylee and JJ disappeared. Neither of the children have been seen since September 2019.

The bombshell email was uncovered and published by FOX 10 reporter Justin Lum.

'Cult mom' Lori Vallow asked her soon-to-be husband Chad Daybell to determine whether her two children had 'light or dark spirits' nearly a year before they went missing, a newly uncovered email reveals. Vallow is pictured left in court Friday. Daybell is pictured at right earlier this year

On October 30 2018, Daybell e-mailed Vallow in response to her request for 'family history documents'. He attached a rubric on light and dark spirits, and then graded her relatives accordingly. The e-mail was discovered and published by FOX 10 reporter Justin Lum

In the October 2018 e-mail, Daybell designated Vallow's seven-year-old son JJ (left) as 'a light spirit, level 4.2, while 17-year-old Tylee (right) was determined to be as a '4.1 dark spirit'. The children have not been seen since September 2019

Former friend, Julie Rowe, told FOX 10 Daybel has a 'gift' for identifying whether people have light or dark spirits.

'The thing is when you have some of these gifts, it gets real tricky because youre not living in one dimension, youre living in multiple dimensions, and Chad's had two near-death experiences, so his veil is kind of open,' she explained.

It's unclear how long Vallow and Daybell were communicating before he sent her the October 2018 email. At the time, both of them were married to other people.

Vallow and Daybell only tied the knot in November of last year - two months after Tylee and Joshua were last seen.

Vallow is currently being held in an Idaho prison after being charged with two felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. On Friday, a judge denied a request from Vallow to have her bond lowered from $1million to between $100,000 and $250,000.

Timeline of JJ and Tylee's disappearance October 30 2018: Chad Daybell e-mails Lori Vallow, determining that her son JJ is a 'light spirit', while her daughter Tylee is a 'dark spirit' July 11 2019: Lori Vallow's husband, Charles Vallow, is killed by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona August: Lori moves children JJ and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho September 23: The last time JJ was seen at his school in Idaho October 19: Chad Daybell's wife Tammy dies at their Idaho home October 25: A friend of Tylee receives a text from her phone November 5: Lori and Chad marry November 26: Out-of-state relatives ask Idaho police to perform a welfare check on JJ. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with relatives. Police also learn Tylee has not been seen since September, either November 27: Police execute a search warrant at Lori and Chad's home, discovering the couple have fled Idaho December 11: Tammy Daybell's body is exhumed from the Utah cemetery December 12: Lori's brother, Alex Cox, believed to have died in Arizona December 21: Police issue a press release about JJ and Tylee, revealing they believe their disappearance is linked to Tammy's death December 24: Lori and Chad issue a statement through an attorney saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to addressing 'allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor' December 30: Police accuse Lori and Chad of lying to investigators and say they believe the couple know where the kids are or what happened to them January 26 2020: Lori and Chad are seen for the first time in months as police serve two search warrants in Kaua'i January 30 Lori misses court deadline to produce the children to authorities February 20: Lori is arrested in Kauai Advertisement

Earlier this week, Vallow's niece has revealed that she never once saw her aunt's two children since moving next door to the family in Idaho and never questioned their whereabouts.

Melanie Pawlowski and her second husband, Ian, sat down with Dateline presenter Keith Morrison to talk about the twisted case, with the couple urging the public to reserve judgment.

Vallow, 42, faces charges of child neglect and desertion in connection to the disappearance of her daughter, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, and her seven-year-old son, Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, who have not been seen of heard from since September 2019.

Melani Pawlowski (left) said on Dateline she believes eventually, everything will be exposed about her aunt, Lori Vallow (right), who is jailed in Idaho in connection to the disappearance of her kids

Melani's husband, Ian Pawlowski (right), told Keith Morrison he is hopeful Vallow will present a valid reason for what had happened

'Eventually, everything will be exposed and then we'll know, but until then I can't make any judgement on things,' Melani said in a brief preview video promoting the full two-hour episode of NBC's Dateline airing at 9pm ET/8pm CT on Friday.

Ian Pawlowski added: 'We're waiting to see, you know, Lori's gonna have her day in court. She's gonna present her defense. And we are hoping there is some reason behind it.'

Both spouses expressed hope that 'the truth will be revealed' and that Vallow will have a 'story to tell' in court.

Tylee and JJ have not been seen since September

During the interview, Melanie also revealed that since moving next door to Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, last November, she never once saw either one of her children.

'Id ask Lori [where the kids were],' she recounted. 'I wasnt close with Tylee in her teenage years. She was very independent, so if Lori said she was with friends, I just believed her.'

The program also features an interview with Vallow's eldest son, Colby Ryan, who issued yet another plea for his mother to reveal the location of his siblings.

Ryan has repeatedly called for his mother to cooperate with police searching for the children.

'It hurts so much - and on top of that we have a million questions,' he told Morrison. 'You can't call your own mom, can't go to her house and see your siblings - you're just out in the cold.'

Ryan described attending the January 30 court hearing in Madison County, Idaho, where Vallow had been ordered to produce the children after police tracked her down in Hawaii.

Lori never turned up at the hearing, prompting her arrest three weeks later.

'We were so confused, like how do you not produce the kids?' Ryan said. 'That's the whole reason you're in jail right now.'

Ryan also described attending the January 30 court hearing in Madison County, Idaho, where Lori failed to produce her children, prompting her arrest weeks later. The son told Dateline: 'We were so confused, like how do you not produce the kids? That's the whole reason you're in jail right now.' Ryan is pictured outside the Madison County Court with his wife

Authorities began searching for JJ and Tylee in late November after Lori and her new husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell, fled their home in Idaho when police started to ask questions about the children.

When officers first went to Vallow's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona - which investigators say was a lie.

Officers returned the following day and found that Lori and Chad had fled from the home.

The couple were named persons of interest in the children's disappearance in mid-December.

Rexburg police have accused Vallow of repeatedly lying about where JJ and Tylee are and refusing to cooperate with investigators conducting a multi-state search.

They've said they 'strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger' and that Lori knows what happened to the kids.

Authorities tracked Lori and Chad down in the Kauai town of Princeville on January 25 and served the mother with a court order requiring her to physically produce the children to authorities in Idaho within five days.

After she failed to do so, Lori was arrested on charges of child abandonment and desertion on February 20.

She was later extradited back to Idaho, where she remains behind bars at Madison County Jail in lieu of $1million bond.

Lori married Chad Daybell on a Kauai beach on November 5 - weeks after her kids disappeared and days after Chad's previous wife Tammy died

The case captured nationwide attention with the revelations that police are also investigating four mysterious deaths linked to Lori and Chad, as well as family members' claims that the couple are members of a dangerous doomsday cult.

The first death is that of Lori's third husband, Joseph Ryan, who died of an apparent heart attack in 2018.

Last month, reports emerged that the FBI was looking into Ryan's death aged 59 as part of the search for Tylee, his daughter, and JJ.

The second death was that of Lori's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona on July 11.

Charles and Lori had gotten into an argument when the father came to pick up JJ at the mother's home in Chandler.

Lori's brother intervened and fatally shot Charles.

Police initially determined that he acted in self defense - but the case was reopened amid the multi-state search for JJ and Tylee, who had moved to Idaho, where Chad lived, with their mother in August.

The third mysterious death was Tammy Daybell - Chad's previous wife - who was found dead at the couple's home in Salem, Idaho, on October 19.

An obituary stated that Tammy passed away in her sleep and her cause of death was ruled as natural after Chad reportedly declined an autopsy.

Investigators reopened the case after learning that JJ and Tylee were missing, as their mother had married Chad just two weeks after Tammy died. They believe the two cases could be linked.

Tammy's body was exhumed on December 11 and the autopsy results have not yet been released.

The Idaho Attorney General's Office recently took over the investigation into Tammy's death, which names Lori and Chad as suspects.

On December 12, Lori's brother, Alex Cox, was found dead in Gilbert, Arizona.

The 51-year-old's death is now under investigation as police wait for an autopsy to determine the cause.

An additional untimely death close to Lori was unearthed this week: her older sister Stacey Lynne Cox Cope.

Stacey died aged 31 in 1998. The cause is unclear and there is no suggestion Lori was involved in her death.

Four people with links to Lori Vallow have suffered untimely deaths(top in court on March 6). Those deaths are: Lori's brother Alex Cox (left), her new husband Chad Daybell's previous wife Tammy Daybell (second left), her fourth husband Charles Vallow (center), her third husband Joseph Ryan (second right). Her sister Stacey Cox Cope (right) died in 1998. It's not clear what the cause of Cope's death was

Stacey's daughter, Melani Pawlowski, has emerged as one of the key figures in the case surrounding Lori, following reports that she joined her aunt's doomsday cult.

Melani's estranged husband, Brandon Boudreaux, accused her of attempting to kill him in a drive-by shooting last fall and claims that she knows where the missing children are but won't cooperate with authorities.

Melani has denied those claims, including in an interview with Dateline airing on Friday.

'Melani essentially appeared to want to present that all is fine,' Morrison told the East Idaho News of the interview. 'She acted like: "I don't know of any problems whatsoever. We were all just doing our own thing and anything that seemed suspicious was merely a coincidence."

'She's a sweet, very attractive young woman who looks at you with big eyes and says it's absolutely the truth. The viewers can look at it and see what they think.'

Morrison seeks to explain how Melani fits into the doomsday cult allegations surrounding Chad and Lori.

Previous reports claimed that Melani thought Brandon had been possessed by a demon, and that Lori and Chad had told her they thought JJ and Tylee were 'zombies'.

'There are all these people who surround Chad and Lori who appear to be part of this group,' Morrison said.

'When you hear people talk seriously about evil spirits inhabiting their spouses or members of their family, or people becoming zombies and needing to be eliminated, you're getting into some serious stuff.

'And those are the kinds of materials we have found ourselves dealing with over this period of time.'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Zamboanga City reported 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, hiking the infected toll in the city at 59.

The Zamboanga City local government received early tonight the lab tests, conducted by St. Lukes Medical Center, of the two jail personnel and 27 inmates of the citys reformatory center who tested positive of the virus.

The additional 29 infections in Zamboanga City are part of the batch of specimens sent to St. Lukes on April 27 and 30.

In an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines on Friday, Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco bared they partnered with private hospitals in the country for the medical care of COVID-19 patients in the city and for providing them testing capacity similar to Metro Manila.

The city government is now taking steps to address the COVID-19 outbreak in the reformatory center and to facilitate the transfer of the women dormitory to avoid contamination of older inmates and those with underlying medical conditions.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano said earlier today the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases approved the request of the Zamboanga City LGU to extend the enhanced community quarantine in the city, due to the spike in COVID-19 cases.

As of the latest tally by the Department of Health, the country now has confirmed 8,928 COVID-19 cases, along with 603 deaths and 1,124 recoveries.
STAMFORD  Telecommunications giant Charter Communications  which expanded customer access to its services during the coronavirus crisis, but also faces government scrutiny of its workplace practices  reported Friday a growing customer base and rising revenues and profits for the past quarter.

The total number of residential customers and business customers in the first quarter grew to 29.7 million, up about 4 percent year over year. The amount reflected an increase in internet connections, while video and voice phone business declined.

First-quarter revenues for the No. 70 company on last years Fortune 500 list increased nearly 5 percent year over year, to $11.7 billion. Profits reached about $396 million, compared with $253 million a year ago.

We know our role as a provider of communications services and the importance of keeping connectivity services fully functioning for both new and existing households and businesses, which enables social distancing including remote working, distant learning, telehealth services and family communications, Charter CEO and Chairman Tom Rutledge said on a call with investment analysts.

Charter shares closed Friday at about $510, up nearly 3 percent from their Thursday finish.

New programs

To help communities affected by the pandemic, Charter launched in March a Remote Education Offer, which provides free Spectrum-branded internet service for 60 days to households with students in the K-12 and/or college systems, as well as educators who do not already have Spectrum internet.

By the end of March, the company had added about 120,000 customers through the program. It expects to reach about 400,000 students, teachers and families by the end of this school year.

Charter is also participating in the Federal Communications Commissions Keep Americans Connected Pledge, which suspends disconnections and collection payments for residential customers and small and medium businesses financially hurt by the crisis.

At the end of last month, about 140,000 residential customers had requested protection from disconnection.

A month later, about 36,000 of those 140,000 customers outstanding balances were fully current. In total, nearly 50 percent have made partial or full payments since seeking protection from disconnection. At the same time, some 67,000 of the 140,000 now have past-due balances beyond the point of normal disconnection.

Charter is also offering a seasonal plan, with reduced rates, to small and medium businesses that have temporarily closed or reduced their own services.

In addition, the company has opened its WiFi hot spots to the public.

Employee complaints

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed last week that it had launched an inquiry into Charters coronavirus-related labor practices. A number of New York-based workers have filed complaints about what they saw as unnecessary requests for them to continue reporting to their offices amid the virus spread.

Charter has declined to comment on the probe.

At the Stamford headquarters where about 1,300 are based, employee concerns about workplace conditions have percolated since the confirmed cases in Connecticut were confirmed in early March.

On March 14, Rutledge informed the companys approximately 95,000 employees that they should keep reporting to work unless they were sick or caring for someone who was ill.

Five days later, Charter changed course when it announced it was giving all of its employees an additional three weeks of paid time off this year that could be used for any coronavirus-related purposes. At the same time, it said employees would be allowed to work remotely if they could demonstrate that they would be as effective as they were in the office.

While we continue to operate at nearly full capability, were taking the necessary precautions to promote the safety of our employees, Rutledge said on Fridays call.

A significant majority of office-based employees are now working remotely, according to Charter officials. They have declined to provide numbers on how many are working out of the office.

Some of the Charter staff who have contacted Hearst Connecticut Media in the past few weeks said that they were only partially satisfied with the new benefits and that they strongly disagreed with their employer keeping its offices open.

Among other changes, the company pledged April 6 to raise its minimum wage for all hourly workers from $15 per hour to $20 per hour during the next two years. A small percentage of hourly workers make minimum wage, according to the company.

Two weeks later, Charter announced it would not lay off or furlough any employees for at least the next two months.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
T wo teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a young NHS worker was stabbed to death in east London.

David Gomoh, 24, was attacked in Freemasons Road in Newham at around 10.25pm last Sunday, just seconds after leaving his home.

His family were already grieving from tragedy as his father recently died from a coronavirus-related illness. His funeral had been planned for Wednesday.

Mr Gomoh, a nurse like his mother, was a key worker tasked with keeping NHS staff supplied with essential equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, Met Police said two people have now been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the stabbing.

A 19-year-old man was arrested in Stratford on Friday afternoon and a 17-year-old boy was arrested at a residential address in Telford, Shropshire, on Saturday morning.

Freemason's Road in Newham where David was attacked / Google Maps

Both remain in custody, police said.

A post mortem examination held at East Ham Mortuary on Wednesday gave Mr Gomoh's cause of death as stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

Police are continuing to appeal for information about the attack on the Southbank University graduate.

Detective Inspector Tony Kirk of the Met Police's Specialist Crime Command said. Davids family are going through unimaginable torment. Within days his mother has seen the death of her husband and son; his sister has lost her father and brother. Both are now heartbroken.

David was a young man who had worked hard to put himself through university and, like his mother, worked hard for the community in the NHS."

He added: David and his mother, who have done so much to help the community, now need the public to come forward and tell us what they know.

"If you have any information, please think of this young man and the suffering of his family and call us.

"If you dont want to give your name, call Crimestoppers, but do make that call. Davids family deserve both answers and justice.
Editor:

To our fellow Community Members:

On behalf of the residents supported by the Glens Falls Housing Authority, I would like to thank our entire community for supporting its most vulnerable populations with generous acts of kindness during this COVID-19 pandemic.

We acknowledge Carleton Funeral Home, Dave Ures Collision Plus, M.B. Kilmer Funeral Home, Finch Paper LLC, Scott & Barbieri Family Funeral Homes, McCanns Pharmacy and Adirondack Compounding, Price Chopper/Market 32, Baker Funeral Home, Lehigh Cement and Greater Glens Falls Transit for their acts of kindness.

For those who provided essential goods like Springbrook Farm Distillery for the hand sanitizer, Irving Tissue for toilet paper, Fitzgerald Bros. Beverages for bottled water, Richard and Maria Tabares for cases of bread, peanut butter and soup to Thomas Poultry Farm for your eggs. To Alan Powers C.P.A for the boxes of meals, Ames Goldsmith for gallons of sanitizer, Ace Hardware for Easter hams, Walgreens for boxes of meals. To Wendy and Art Bacon for the boxes of toiletries and to the Glens Falls Fire Department for masks. Not to mention the many anonymous gestures of kindness that keep pouring in.

To June Gaulin for her all of her efforts to help in any way, to Meals on Wheels for prepared meals, to the Salvation Army for facilitating our own in-house food supply. We also acknowledge the staff of the Glens Falls Housing Authority for keeping our buildings sanitized and working long hours to ensure safe housing in our neighborhoods and buildings. And to our community, first responders, the doctors, nurses and EMS providers who we all too often take for granted, thank you for being our heroes!

Robert J. Landry

Executive Director

Glens Falls Housing Authority

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A new coronavirus test designed by US Military scientists may be able to identify virus carriers before they are infectious, according to an exclusive report by The Guardian.

Scientists reportedly hope that the blood-based test could detect the viruss presence as early as 24 hours after infection, four days earlier than current tests, meaning the carrier could possibly be isolated before they spread the disease.

The research has emerged from a project set up by the US militarys Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and while the test could significantly help control outbreaks of the disease, it must first be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

If given FDA approval, Dr Brad Ringeisen who is head of Darpas biological technologies office told the outlet that the test has the potential to be absolutely a gamechanger.

The concept fills a diagnostic gap worldwide, the head of Darpas biological technologies office, Mr Ringeisen told The Guardian.

The blood test hunts for an RNA molecule that emerges as an immune response to the virus, using the same polymerase chain reaction machines used for checking nasal swabs.

Because the immune response to infection develops immediately after infection, a Covid signature is expected to provide more sensitive Covid infection diagnosis earlier, Professor Stuart Sealfon, who leads the research team at Mount Sinai hospital in New York told the newspaper.

Its a simple tweak, said Dr Eric Van Gieson, who redirected his epigenetic characterization and observation programme to focus on Covid-19. The infrastructure is already there.

However, predictions that the test might be able to pick up carriers before they become infectious is as of yet only based on previous parallel research into other viruses.

Darpa warned that It won't be practically clear exactly how early the test can pick up the virus until the emergency approval is granted and they can begin to gather evidence.

The test is reported to be submitted for evaluation of emergency use approval (EUA) by the US Food FDA in the next week.

If EUA is granted, the test could reportedly start being utilised in the US later in May, but this approval is not guaranteed.

The research behind the development of the tests will eventually be made public, but until this point, many researchers were unwilling to comment further on the research.
New Delhi, May 2 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Darjeeling Raju Bisht has accused the Mamata Banerjee government of hiding the real figures of corona infected patients. He even went on to say that the police is secretly burning the bodies at night which is inciting anger among the people of the state.

The 34-year-old BJP MP told IANS that a few days ago the police were burning the corpse of a suspected corona patient in Alipurduar district at midnight. This led to anger among the people who then clashed with the police. The public set police cars afire and many policemen were injured in the incident.

Bisht said, "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has set up a committee of five doctors in Kolkata to hide the figures of COVID-19 patients. This committee decides who died from corona and who did not. If a person in Darjeeling, which is 600 km away from Kolkata, dies of corona, then how can the doctors in Kolkata decide whether he died of corona without even testing." The BJP MP said people of a certain community have been allowed to ease restrictions during the lockdown. The situation is worsening here as people are not following the lockdown. The people in the government are even threatening the media for showing the right news.

The BJP MP said though this is not the right time for accusations but the situation in West Bengal is so bad that if we don't tell the truth then it is like tolerating crime. The health system in the state has gone from bad to worse. Hospitals don't have infrastructure. The Centre has already given 30,000 PPE kits, 1.40 lakh masks and Rs 126 crore. 32.50 lakh hydrooxychloroquine tablets have also been provided to the state government. Despite all this, the state government is not fighting the COVID-19 pandemic properly.

He said, "Seeing the failure of the state government, I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on April 6 to send central teams for monitoring. After that, two teams reached Kolkata and North Bengal after which the tests have increased. The situation has improved after the monitoring by the teams which reached here from the Centre. An ICMR-certified corona testing lab at North Bengal Medical College has now opened through the efforts of the Union government." Alleging a scam in the distribution of ration, Bisht said the Central government had provided full rations for the month of April and half rations for the month of May but till now the ration allocated for April has not been distributed. The ruling party cadre is distributing the ration while the distribution should not be a political matter.

He charged that the BJP MPs have been kept under house arrest.

(Navneet Mishra can be reached at navneet.m@ians.in)
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Linkedin Saijel Kishan and Katia Dmitrieva (Bloomberg) New York, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 19:50 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58c9ee 2 News Hawaii,COVID-19,tourism,travel Free

Hawaiis beauty may also be its curse in the time of coronavirus.

The unique nature of the most remote US state turned it into a favored vacation spot, its economy heavily relying on tourism. Now the regions labor market is the hardest hit by the pandemic downturn: About one in three workers have filed for jobless claims since the crisis started.

Long after the shutdowns are lifted, discretionary incomes will have evaporated and people will likely remain reticent to fly long distance, making Hawaii slower to recover than the rest of the country.

In Maui, one of the most popular islands, Rick Nava experienced the fallout firsthand. In early March he got a call from a client canceling a booking for April that alone would have brought in $25,000 for his photography firm, MSI Maui. More cancellations rolled in for Nava, who takes pictures for company team-building meetings, award ceremonies and weddings. He was forced to lay off all 16 employees.

I thought that this may be the end of my business, said Nava, 61, who took over the company in 2007.

Tourism makes up one-fifth of Hawaiis gross domestic product, with more than 10 million visitors last year -- more than six times the size of the local population. Thats all but vanished now. In the week ended April 25, spending by visitors dropped 96 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the US Travel Association.

Hawaii is so tourism-dependent that it stands to reason it will be disproportionately affected by a recession that dampens consumer spending on vacations and public health concerns about travel, said Joseph Parilla, a fellow at the Brookings Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program.

Hawaiis distant location may help, to an extent, shield it from the pandemic thats ravaging some parts of the mainland. In Hawaii, the number of new cases has dwindled to five on April 30, compared with a peak of 31 on March 17, according to the states Department of Health. The state had 618 cases in total, and 16 deaths.

Even as Hawaiis cases fall, Governor David Ige extended the state-at-home order through the end of May and said visitors need to quarantine for 14 days.

Tourists will take a while to return. An International Air Transport Association survey found 40 percent of recent travelers anticipated waiting at least six months after the coronavirus is contained before flying again.

Thats particularly devastating for local businesses who rely on visitors, including Nui Mizel, whos been farming for 30 years in Maui with acres of papaya, avocados and pumpkin. In a typical week, shed be conducting farm tours, providing lunch from the food truck where her son cooks, and selling orchids and birds of paradise as bouquets and leis for weddings.

With most events canceled, and hotels, schools, and restaurants closed, the three wholesale companies that usually purchase Mizels fresh produce either havent renewed orders or have stopped operating. Business is down about 95 percent for her.

Im really afraid -- I cant sleep, Mizel, 67, said. Ive just been pacing back and forth thinking how were going to survive this. I put too much money into this.

Jobs on the tropical island heavily depend on small businesses like those run by Mizel and Mava: More than half of the total labor market is reliant on firms with fewer than 100 employees. The state has the highest share of small businesses at risk to job loss in the country, said Parilla from the Brookings Institution.

The Washington, D.C., research group ranked the Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina metropolitan area in West Maui as the second-most at risk economically in the US from the pandemic, with about 40 percent of jobs vulnerable. Its second only to Texas oil town Midland.

Other unique quirks of the islands also exacerbate the crisis, including slower internet speeds potentially delaying online applications for government aid, according to Pamela Tumpap, president of the Maui Chamber of Commerce. And the unemployment data may not even reflect the worst of the hit yet, since response rates for jobs surveys have been lower than usual, according to Phyllis Dayao, research and statistics officer for the state of Hawaii.

Federal relief has helped mitigate the impact. As of April 16, Hawaii firms got 11,553 loans approved under the main small-business rescue program, valued at $2.05 billion and ranking fourth in the country as a percentage of eligible payroll. But many of the smallest businesses were shut out before the fund was exhausted within two two weeks, and a new tranche of $320 billion that started April 27 could soon be depleted as well.

Michelle Estling, who manages a scuba diving business in Maui with her partner, was bracing for a busy spring-break season before lockdowns in March brought revenue to a halt.

One month on, shes spending hours on her computer researching different types of financing.

The money will help take away the stress, Estling, 53, said, adding that she has used her savings to cover costs such as insurance and boat permits.

Even if she is uncertain about when life in Hawaii will fully return back to normal, Estling remains upbeat about the future.

Things will come back eventually, she said. We aren't ready to retire.''
A request for waiver on income taxes amounting to GH288,644,003.34 submitted to the legislature by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to help cushion health workers in both public and private health facilities, who are on the frontline fighting the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been granted.



The House in a unanimous decision, gave the tax relief item on personal emoluments of health workers thumbs up, at a sitting on Friday, May 1, 2020.



It covers the months of April, 2020, May 2020, and June 2020 and additional allowances of 50% of their basic salary paid to frontline health personnel for the months of March 2020, April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020.



The tax component on the personal emoluments amounts to GH237,579,041.25 while that on the additional allowances amounts to GH51,064,962.09.



The Ministry of Health is yet to decide on whether or not to extend the tax incentive to casual/IGF workers of Government hospitals.



Assibey-Yeboahs presentation



The Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah, presenting the committees report to the plenary for consideration and adoption told Members that the proposed tax reliefs for the health workers were premised on the fact that the risk of COVID-19 infection to doctors, nurses and others on the frontlines has become very evident across the globe: Italy, UK, Spain, USA and other countries with some of these health workers contracting the coronavirus with many reported dead.



Health workers also face considerable mental stress. It is often forgotten that as humans, they fell the sorrow of loss when their patients succumb to the virus. They too have families, and will naturally be fearful that the virus might reach those they love most. These factors, together with the added pressure of work places a lot of strain on health workers who overcome their own fears to put themselves on the line daily to treat the sick and to combat the pandemic, he noted.



He told the House that the tax incentives are expected to encourage healthcare workers and other frontline personnel to continue to make sacrifices in caring for those infected with the virus, and in caring for the sick in general.



Background



As part of measures to support frontline personnel involved in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Ghana has decided that all health workers will not pay taxes on their emoluments for a three-month period commencing April 2020.



Ato Forsons contribution



The Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Casiel Ato Forson, contributing the discussion expressed dismay about the changes in the amount quoted as tax reliefs for the health workers.



He said at a point the Minister of Finance submitted to Parliament an amount of GH241million and therefore does not understand why the said amount has suddenly shot up to GH288.6million.



Dr. Twum-Nuamahs response



However, his fears were allayed by the Chairman of the Health Committee and MP for Berekum East, Dr. Kwabena Twum-Nuamah. He told the House that the sudden increase in the amount had to do with additional allowances covering a period of one month that will be paid to the frontline health workers.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









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People keep social distance amid concerns over the countrys coronavirus outbreak, during a protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz and government corruption, at Rabin square in Tel Aviv, Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Several thousand Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, demonstrating against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus new coalition deal with his chief rival a day before the countrys Supreme Court is to begin debating a series of legal challenges to the agreement.

Demonstrators gathered for the third consecutive weekend in Tel Avivs Rabin Square, standing more than two metres apart in organised rows to conform with social-distancing rules to protect against the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Netanyahu last month reached a power-sharing deal with his chief rival, Benny Gantz.

Protesters are upset that the deal leaves Mr Netanyahu in power as he prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

Shame! Shame! chanted the protesters.

One of the posters showed a picture of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz with the slogan: We Say No to a Corruption Government.

Expand Close A protester holds a poster of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Benny Gantz (Ariel Schalit/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A protester holds a poster of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Benny Gantz (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Under the deal, Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gantz agreed to share the premiership, with Mr Netanyahu serving as prime minister the first 18 months and Mr Gantz serving the next 18 months.

It also includes a clause to advance plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, including Israeli settlements, starting July 1.

Saturdays protest was organised by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the advocacy groups that has filed a legal challenge to the countrys Supreme Court.

Smaller protests were also taking place in other cities across Israel.

The groups are asking the high court to ban any indicted politician, including Mr Netanyahu, from being allowed to form a new government.

They also say that parts of the coalition deal are illegal.

If the court strikes down the coalition deal, Israel could be plunged into a fourth consecutive election in just over 12 months.
G ay and bisexual men have reportedly been told they cannot donate their plasma to coronavirus trials at a London hospital.

A potential treatment for Covid-19 using plasma from recovered patients is to be trialled by doctors at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital.

It is hoped the potential treatment, known as convalescent plasma, will help patients whose bodies are not producing sufficient antibodies to fight the virus.

But according to current Department of Health guidelines, any man who has had sex with another man within the past three months is excluded from donating their plasma.

A potential treatment for Covid-19 using plasma from recovered patients is to be trialled by doctors at Guy's and St Thomas' hospital / AFP via Getty Images

The guidelines state: "Men who have sex with men are at an increased risk of acquiring certain infections through sex", which could be passed on during a transfusion.

It comes as critical care manager Andy Roberts told ITV News that he was turned down for the plasma trial, after testing positive for Covid-19.

He told the broadcaster that at the end of a 20-minute phone call with an operator he was asked about his sexuality.

He was then told that he could not donate plasma due to being in a same-sex relationship.

Mr Roberts' partner Keith Ward also told the broadcaster he was "very angry", since they had been together for more than 30 years and did not know about the "outrageous" three month rule.

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

"It only goes to show that in the UK being gay is still thought as a form of contamination, so if youre straight and sleep with a different person every weekend its safer," he said.

The guidelines around donating blood are set by the Department of Health on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs.

They are implemented by the NHS Blood and Transplant service.

A spokesman for the service told the Standard: We will initially be using the current donor selection guidelines although we will keep this under review.

"The guidelines are there to protect the health of the donor and the recipient.

"Under the current guidelines, men must wait three months after having oral or anal sex with another man. We appreciate this deferral can feel disappointing if you want to save lives.

"Separately to the convalescent plasma trial, we are working with LGBT+ groups to explore whether we might be able to introduce a more individualised risk assessment for blood donation.
New Delhi, May 2 : Delhi Police has started a sedition case against Delhi Minority Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan for his provocative remarks on the social media.

An FIR was registered even as Khan apologised and removed the controversial post.

Delhi Police Special Cell registered the FIR on the complaint of a Vasant Kunj resident. The complaint came to the Lodhi Colony office of the special cell, after the assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Safdarjung Enclave forwarded it.

The investigation has been handed over to special cell inspector Praveen Kumar.

According to the FIR, the copy of which is with IANS, Khan has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code -- 124 A (sedition) and 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc,).

Khan on April 28 had posted controversial comments on his Facebook page. "Mind you, bigots, Indian Muslims have opted until now not to complain to the Arab and Muslim world about your hate campaigns and lynchings and riots. The day they are pushed to do that, bigots will face an avalanche," Khan had written on Facebook.

However, the Delhi Minorities Commission's chief on Friday had apologised for his controversial remark and had said that he never tried to tarnish the image of India. He also removed the controversial post from the social media.

Meanwhile, a pubic statement has been issued in solidarity with Zafarul Islam Khan by a group of NGOs and citizens which condemned the media trial targeting Khan.

The statement demanded legal action against those who are distorting Khan's Facebook post and spreading false propaganda against him.
India is aggressively stepping up engagement in its neighbourhood to counter China's renewed bid to expand its strategic footprint by taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis.

Follow latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

With China moving swiftly to help countries reeling under the pandemic as part of its "Health Silk Road" initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been busy working the phones.

New Delhi is said to be wary of China's new initiative, which it suspects to be an offshoot or extension of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)  Chinas ambitious but controversial connectivity programme that India refused to join.

On Friday, Modi rang up Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha, one of the several South and South-east Asia leaders the PM has spoken to in recent days.

On Thursday, he spoke to Myanmars state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and conveyed India's willingness to provide all possible support to Myanmar for mitigating the health and economic impact of the pandemic.

The Prime Minister called up Suu Kyi days after Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) sent a military medical team to Nay Pyi Daw to help the South-east Asian nation to deal with the pandemic. This was the second medical team Beijing sent to help Nay Pyi Daw to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak in Myanmar.

Also Read: Coronavirus: MHA issues orders to extend lockdown for 2 more weeks from May 4

China has sent its military medical teams to Laos and Pakistan as well.

New Delhi is also extending currency swap facility to its neighbours to help them mitigate the impact of the crisis on their economies, in addition to providing them with paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine tablets as well as protective gears for healthcare professionals, face masks and other medical equipment.

India recently activated a currency swap facility of $ 150 million for Maldives.

The Reserve Bank of India is also working with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to finalise a $ 400 million currency swap agreement for the neighbouring island nation. China already provided a preliminary $ 500 million concessional loan to Sri Lanka to help it cushion the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, Modi discussed the outbreak with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam, President Joco Widodo of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.

He has also separately called up leaders of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. He is also likely to speak to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Afghan President M Ashraf Ghani soon.
As the number of unemployed in Connecticut explodes in the coronavirus pandemic, the number losing their employer-based health care coverage is also rising sharply.

About 60 percent of state residents are covered by an employer-based plan in Connecticut, a state that has prided itself on a low rate of uninsured. But the pandemic has cost the state some 400,000 jobs  and the nation 30 million  and more job losses are expected.

Thats likely to result in a wave of newly uninsured people in Connecticut  one that could dwarf the spike in uninsured that occurred in the Great Recession. In the first year of that recession, 2008, the number of uninsured in the state increased by 22,000.

Although the state does not yet have any hard data on how many have lost coverage because of the pandemic, Health Management Associates, a consulting group, estimates 130,000 to 382,000 Connecticut workers could do so, depending on the full impact of the pandemic on the state in the coming weeks and months. HMA also projected that as many as 77,000 state residents could become uninsured.

Many whove lost their jobs can extend their employer-based health coverage due to a federal law called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, which gives jobless workers and their families the right to choose to continue their group health plan, normally for a period of 18 months.

But those who choose to use COBRA to extend their health benefits are likely to have to pay up to 102 percent of the cost to their plan, which could exceed more than $1,000 a month for family coverage. Congress is considering new subsidies to help workers opting for COBRA benefits. But approval of those subsidies is not assured, and the money appropriated may not be enough.

Vicki Veltri, executive director of the states Office of Health Strategy, said there may be better options for those who have lost their health care coverage.

The newly jobless may qualify for no-cost coverage under one of the states HUSKY programs. Or they may qualify for a heavily subsidized individual health insurance plan through Access Health CT, the states Affordable Care Act exchange.

There is no downside in going to the AccessHealth option, Veltri said.

After the coronavirus began to make its deadly way across the United States, Access Health CT established a special enrollment period - from March 19 to April 17. About 3,420 Connecticut residents who were uninsured at that point seized the opportunity to purchase a policy from Anthem or ConnectiCare through the marketplace.

Another 2,209 residents who had a health plan, but lost it  perhaps because they lost their jobs  also purchased coverage during the special enrollment period.

Access Health said another 1,060 people have enrolled in an individual plan on the exchange since then. Although the enrollment period has ended, the newly jobless can still purchase coverage through AccessHealth CT because the loss of a job is considered one of several qualifying events that allows a person to purchase a policy through the exchange at any time of the year.

Access Health also determines if an applicant is eligible for Medicaid, or HUSKY as its known in Connecticut.

David Dearborn, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Social Services, said he expects an increase in HUSKY enrollment, just as enrollment in the states food stamp program will be up significantly.

The extent of the Medicaid/HUSKY increase for April is undetermined at this point, but indications from application intake and enrollment activity at Access Health CT so far point to increased enrollment, Dearborn said.

Access Health said 63,076 state residents have applied for HUSKY coverage from Jan. 1 through April 30. Thats a 44 percent increase in applications over the same period in 2019.

Congress has allocated about $440 million in new funding for Connecticuts Medicaid program, in anticipation of increased enrollment.

Congress has also approved new laws that mandate free testing and treatment for COVID-19. On Wednesday, the Trump administration unveiled the specifics of a plan to support the health care system during the pandemic and with the aim of making sure uninsured patients will be covered by giving hospitals and doctors direct payments from the government.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said $20 billion will be doled out to health care facilities across the country and another $10 billion will be focused on rural health clinics and hospitals. Hot spots that have carried the brunt of the cases will get $10 billion in relief. New York, for example, the hardest-hit state in the country, will be allocated $4.4 billion.

But this money would only be available to health care providers for COVID-19 related treatment. And many hospitals say its not likely to cover all the costs of treating the newly uninsured.
The Maharashtra government said on Saturday that in the cities with police commissionerates, a concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) will have the power to allow inter-state or inter-district journey.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government said on Saturday that in the cities with police commissionerates, a concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) will have the power to allow inter-state or inter-district journey.

But the movement of people will not be allowed between the areas under Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and other parts of the state during lockdown, it said.

"However, permission has been granted (particularly to migrant workers) to travel outside Maharashtra from these two authority regions," an official statement said.

For permission to travel, one can apply to the nearby police station, submitting required information and a medical certificate, it said. The application will be forwarded to the concerned DCP and decision will be taken after scrutiny of the application and "considering the spread of COVID-19", it said.
Things are definitely going to change. From an operators perspective, the best thing we can do right now is just be flexible and as lean as possible until that day comes.

For nearly a month and a half, restaurants have served their customers from to-go containers, delivered food curbside or left orders on doorsteps in an effort to stay afloat due to the state-wide mandated shutdown of all essential businesses. While no expected date has been announced of when restaurants will be able to welcome customers to their dining rooms in New Jersey, restaurateurs are preparing for a much more restricted version of dining out. Mario Magriplis, owner and operator of successful Jersey Shore restaurants, Charleys Ocean Grill in Long Branch and Blue Swan Diner in Oakhurst details the affects the pandemic has had on both his restaurants.

Owning both a luxury waterfront dining establishment and a full-service diner has shown vastly different challenges for Magriplis during the restaurant shutdown. My philosophy is that every business in itself is different, said Magriplis. You need to adjust your strategy and your approach of each business according to what you have to work with. For Magriplis, this meant temporarily closing his seaside restaurant. Initially we tried to keep both restaurants open with take-out and delivery, currently only Blue Swan Diner is open, said Magriplis. Charleys is not sustainable for the take-out business. The diners convenient highway location and expansive menu enabled the proprietors to implement take-out, delivery, and grocery services for their customers.

The owners are taking advantage of any help they can get from the federal governments stimulus programs, already receiving financial aid from the Small Business Association which is paying Magriplis SBA7a mortgage payments for six months beginning in May in Long Branch. Its a great service and a great help giving us time to recoup and gives us the opportunity to stay alive, said Magriplis. Were making a lot of changes, said Magriplis. Were the kind of operators that are always looking forward to change no matter how successful a business might be. We know nothings forever.

One positive adjustment that frequent customers of the Blue Swan Diner are pleased to see is the availability of their homemade recipes for purchase. Homemade favorites such as dressings, sauces, gravy, coleslaw, marinara sauce, pancake batter, and the diners signature rice pudding and cheesecake have been added to the take-out menu allowing customers to recreate the full dining experience at home. These are a lot of house recipes that people love and frequent our business to eat all the time, said Magriplis. For now, were doing it mostly to keep things going, keep people employed, accommodate our customers and give them some of the things they miss as well.

While the lockdown has enabled restaurants to retool their concepts to better adhere to the new normal the industry will face in the future, Magriplis admits that no one knows what that new normal will look like. Things are definitely going to change, said Magriplis. From an operators perspective, the best thing we can do right now is just be flexible and as lean as possible until that day comes. Magriplis also urges all restaurateurs to stick together during this difficult time. We have to find a way to go forward and that might not be the way it was in the past, said Magriplis. Reach out to your neighbor that was once your competitor. We all need to help each other in any little way possible we can to get through this. As for his customers, the message is clear. We miss them, said Magriplis. That personal daily interaction is missing from all of us and I really hope we can get back there one day.

To view the full video interview, visit Bielat Santore & Companys website at http://www.123bsc.com, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/123BSC/, and Vimeo page https://vimeo.com/bielatsantore and stay tuned for the next Thursday Restaurant Rap interview.

About Bielat Santore & Company

Bielat Santore & Company is an established commercial real estate firm. The companys expertise lies chiefly within the restaurant and hospitality industry, specializing in the sale of restaurants and other food and beverage real estate businesses. Since 1978, the principals of Bielat Santore & Company, Barry Bielat and Richard Santore, have sold more restaurants and similar type properties in New Jersey than any other real estate company. Furthermore, the firm has secured in excess of $500,000,000 in financing to facilitate these transactions. Visit the companys website, http://www.123bsc.com for the latest in new listings, property searches, available land, market data, financing trends, RSS feeds, press releases and more.
White House coronavirus task force expert Dr. Anthony Fauci will testify before the Republican-led Senate Health Committee, after being blocked from testifying before a Democrat-led House committee.

A spokesperson for Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander told NBC News Friday that the White House will allow Fauci to testify at the hearing on May 12.

The revelation comes just hours after it was confirmed that the White House was blocking Fauci from testifying before the Democrat-led House Appropriations Committee on May 6, because it's 'counter-productive.'

BLOCKED: The White House is not allowing Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before Congress next week

'The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next week's Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response. We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying,' House Appropriations panel spokesman Evan Hollander said in a statement Friday afternoon

He didn't identify the official who blocked Fauci - who has only appeared at one coronavirus task force briefing this week - from appearing at the Wednesday hearing.

Although the House is out of session next week on the recommendation of the Capitol physician, its committees are seeking to resume oversight, including remotely.

White House spokesman Judd Deere confirmed in a statement that the White House opposed his appearance before the powerful subpanel panel, which provides spending for health and labor programs.

'While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings,' said Deere.

BUSY SCHEDULE: Dr. Anthony Fauci (L), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks next to Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx, during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards D-LA in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on April 29, 2020

Reporters have sometimes quizzed Fauci on controversial statements by President Trump about the virus

In this image from video, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 23, 2020. She chairs the panel that was denied Fauci's appearance

Fauci has sometimes contradicted the claims made by President Trump

Fauci has sometimes attended White House briefings that have gone on for up to two hours, even speaking to the nation about the virus through early morning television interviews. He has also appeared on podcasts and other platforms to communicate with people about the disease.

The clash comes as Trump called for a 'pause' on coronavirus relief, even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for a trillion dollar effort to aid states and cities.

'I think we want to take a little bit of a pause. But if we do that, we'll have to get something for it,' Trump said Thursday.

'We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time,' he said.

Fauci has warned about the risks of lifting social distancing guidelines. At press briefings, reporters frequently try to pose questions that get him to fact-check claims by President Trump  such a statement last week saying people should look at injection of disinfectants as a possible coronavirus cure.

While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings  White House spokesman Judd Deere

Trump appeared with Dr. Debbie Birx, who chairs the coronavirus task force on Friday, calling her a leading expert on AIDS.

Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, this week relayed new information about the drug remdesivir. He pointed to 'clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery' of hospitalized coronavirus patients.

Lawmakers are certain to try to grill him under oath about what he believes about the origins of the virus  Trump said Thursday it may have come from a lab in China despite what the Director of National Intelligence announced  as well as the administration's response.

More than 1 million Americans are infected with more than 60,000 deaths due to the coronavirus.

Appropriations Chair Rep. Nita Lowey of New York and subcommittee chair Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut issued a statement that said the nation deserved a 'clear-eyed view' of the way forward but stopped short of bashing the White House for the decision.

'Congress and the American public deserve a clear-eyed view of the path forward for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the short-term, that entails what our federal government is doing on surveillance, testing, contact tracing, quarantining, social distancing, and the production and distribution of personal protective equipment,' they said.

'Over the medium-term, we need to understand the viability of therapeutics and vaccines in development, their dissemination, and how the influenza season could affect the ongoing pandemic in the Fall. And over the long-term, we need ensure lasting investments in our public health infrastructure are made instead of reacting to public health crises when they arise. The people of this country deserve a federal government that is up-to-date, modernized, and prepared to protect lives,' they said.

They will instead hear from Dr. Tom Frieden, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration.
A man plays "Happy Birthday" on his trumpet during a drive-by parade to celebrate the 105th birthday of a World War II veterans in Lakewood on April 26. (Los Angeles Times)

It would be an understatement to say that the overall tone of letters written about the pandemic these last several weeks has been negative. People are upset  at President Trump, at the media for criticizing President Trump, over the sudden loss of access to public spaces, over the rampant sickness and lives lost.

You can't blame them.

But sprinkled amid the deluge of overwhelmingly sad and anxious letters are notes expressing hope and gratitude. These are not responses to any particular articles (so they tend not to get published) but rather positive letters sharing uplifting experiences or sentiments, unprompted by any pieces in the L.A. Times. Here is a selection of such letters that we've received these last few weeks.

Ann Pearce of Rancho Palos Verdes shares the story of a neighborhood observance:

We recently had the the most poignant thing happen on our little cul de sac.

Nearly a year ago, one couple's 21-year-old son committed suicide. His birthday was earlier this week, and his grown sister arranged a happy birthday drive-by. She'd let all the neighbors know by email to expect some honking, so we all went out when we heard the first peep.

There was a man with a guitar singing at the end of the street and perhaps 20 decorated cars full of friends and dogs circled on this awkward little street, singing out and waving greetings. The neighbors were out clapping. You couldn't stop crying with mixed feeling of happiness and sadness.

This experience, how we demonstrated caring for each other in a time of isolation, is one of the things I'll always remember about this neighborhood.

Sandra Oliver of San Gabriel was one of several readers to express gratitude for local journalism:

Thank you so much for continuing to publish the Los Angeles Times every day during this crisis.

I have subscribed to The Times for years, and just knowing I will have it every morning gives me a small sense of normality in the middle of this unprecedented upheaval. I salute everyone who works tirelessly on each section of the paper.

Story continues

You are all heroes during this extremely stressful situation. I cannot thank you enough.

La Jolla resident Ethel Sweed shares a tale of interfaith kindness:

My husband and I are a senior Jewish couple. Because he is a lung cancer survivor, we try to avoid shopping during the pandemic.

One day, the wife of the imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego called to offer volunteers to grocery shop for us. As founding members of the San Diego chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, my husband and I had worked with the Islamic Center to help combat Islamophobia.

Recently, Imam Taha Hassane made a large delivery to our front door, having shopped at Costco himself. His act of kindness will nourish our bodies as well as our souls.
Open source

On May 2, a picnic area may appear under the windows of the Office of the President of Ukraine. It will be arranged by the city's restaurateurs in protest against the ban on the operation of summer terraces due to the Covid-19 quarantine. Co-owner of the Tarantino family Dmytro Fedotenkov wrote this in the social network, Strana.ua wrote.

He explained that all the tables on the improvised summer terrace had already been booked, but nevertheless the organizers invited MP Mykola Tyshchenko, whose restaurant continued to host distinguished guests in spite of the quarantine, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Health. He said he would definitely keep a table for Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Tomorrow, as planned, we open a summer terrace of an experimental type. On the square in front of the Presidential Office. It's our application for a secular lunch is in the building of the Kyiv City State Administration. I hope that no surprises and difficulties will happen," Fedotenkov writes in social networks.

He explains that the event is supposed to be peaceful, and the menu is delicious.

Let me remind you that all the tables will be located at a distance of more than one and a half meters. The waiters work in masks and gloves, and the guests have the same dress code. Those who do not have masks will get them upon the entrance. We will lubricate our hands with an antiseptic. Theres no more than two people [per a table]. All tables have already been booked," the report said.

Also, additional tables may be assigned for the press.

I want to emphasize that summer terraces are already working in Europe, and more precisely in Cherkasy, and no one is initiating criminal cases because of this, and the business has the opportunity to restore its activities. I hope that the same story will happen soon with us, wrote the co-owner of the restaurant.

As we reported before, as of the morning of May 2, the number of Covid-19 infected with the coronavirus increased to 11,411.
The overburdened Louisiana Workforce Commission continues to make strides in making payments to all jobless workers who have filed claims, but many people laid off during the coronavirus pandemic still complain about not receiving what they deserve.

Some people are stating on the website that theyre being paid. But lots of people have gone four weeks without getting paid, said Wendy Manard, a New Orleans attorney who has created a Facebook page for jobless workers to share tips and other information. Its called the Louisiana Coronavirus Unemployment Legal Advice Group.

The flood of jobless workers filing claims and recertifying their claims every week has overwhelmed the agency  a scene repeated in state after state.

The Workforce Commission has added a server to increase capacity on its website and now has laid-off workers recertifying their claims on different days, depending on the last digit of their Social Security number, said Robert Wooley, a former state insurance commissioner and now the commissions assistant secretary for unemployment insurance.

He said the change eliminated the online bottleneck on Sundays, when most people previously tried to recertify.

It has worked so well online, Wooley said, that the agency is planning to implement a similar change for people who recertify over the phone.

The commission has also reduced the backlog of those who havent been paid their weekly federal benefit payments of $600 retroactively to the week that ended April 4, Wooley said. That backlog is now less than 1% of those who have filed claims, he said.

The agency paid a total of $302 million in federal and state dollars to laid-off workers this week compared to $311 million last week, said Wooley. The agency paid more last week, he believes, because it caught up on many past-due claims.

In all, the commission has paid 361,000 people since the coronavirus virtually shut down Louisianas economy in mid-March, he said.

The commission has reduced the backlog of jobless workers who have received neither the state payment of up to $247 per week nor the $600 weekly federal payment -- to less than 5% of those who have filed claims, Wooley added.

Were working right now to put something up on our website to allow people to upload documents into their file, which will speed the process, Wooley said.

One of those still waiting is Paris Dyson, a Hammond resident who worked for a local jeweler and hasnt received any benefits since she filed her claim on April 3.

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Its extremely frustrating, Dyson said. The system has failed me. Its almost like having a full-time job just to get someone on the phone who may or may not be able to help me.

One area the Workforce Commission has yet to address involves workers who were laid off last year and already exhausted the maximum of 26 weeks of benefits allowed under Louisiana law. Congress has allowed every state to pay an additional 13 weeks of benefits, but the commission has yet to retool its website to trigger them.

Its got some programming challenges, Wooley said. Weve been told that we could have something next week.

The agency is also facing numerous complaints that its rules are not clear.

One area that has generated complaints is the complexity for claims filed by self-employed workers  those who receive 1099 tax forms and are newly eligible for unemployment insurance.

The benefits for the self-employed are being paid by a system that was designed to pay salaried workers and not pay 1099 workers, Wooley said. Were having to fit a square peg into a round hole.

One issue that has confounded 1099 workers is whether they must note their gross weekly pay or their net pay after deductions during weekly recertifications. Wooley said they must note the gross pay, the same as W-2 tax form workers.

In another area of confusion, Wooley said laid-off workers who are still owed paid leave  which could be vacation pay, sick pay, severance pay or paid time off  remain ineligible for unemployment benefits under the federal Department of Labor guidelines until they exhaust those payments.

California, Ohio and other states are already beginning to empty their unemployment insurance trust funds. Each state chooses how much businesses must pay into the fund and how much unemployed workers can claim each week. Louisiana keeps down the tax rate paid by businesses by capping state benefits at $247 per week. Only Arizona and Mississippi pay less.

Before COVID-19, Louisianas trust fund had $1.05 billion; it now has $877 million.

At current rates, the state will run out of funds in about 15 weeks, said Jared Walczak, state policy director for The Tax Foundation, based in Washington, D.C. That puts Louisiana in about the middle of the pack among states, he added.
Photograph: Larry Marano/Rex/Shutterstock

The former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg spent almost a billion dollars to try to win the Democratic nomination but his audacious bid ended with victory only in tiny American Samoa.

Related: How Elizabeth Warren destroyed Mike Bloomberg's campaign in 60 seconds

That embarrassing defeat was held up by some critics as proof it is still hard to use spending power alone to win a US election. But Bloombergs enormous wealth and influence is still strong in the party via a growing network of groups, former associates and allies sprinkled across the Democratic party universe.

Even before Bloomberg dropped out of the presidential race in May the media mogul billionaire vowed he would work to defeat Donald Trump even if he didnt get the nomination.

Thats precisely what he is doing.

He was one of the biggest contributors to Democratic causes before he ran and he still is after, Abe Rakov, a veteran Democratic campaign manager, said of Bloomberg. There are a lot of organizations and programs across the country that would be in really bad shape if he decided to disengage after he ran.

The initial plan was to continue to fuel the massive field operation Bloombergs campaign built. The former mayor changed his mind and instead transferred $18m to the Democratic National Committee, the main organization charged with boosting the partys presidential nominee.

Its possible Bloomberg could move more money as well. The Bloomberg campaign also transferred leases for over a dozen of its field offices to the DNC, adding to the DNCs campaign spaces around the country.

Bloomberg himself is staying visible, working with the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, to launch a testing and tracing program. He spoke via video conference call during Cuomos press briefing on Thursday. The governor, currently one of the most prominent Democrats in the country, said in late April that Bloomberg was working with him.

A network of operatives and Bloomberg-connected political organizations is also active in Democratic presidential circles. Bill Knapp, a longtime Bloomberg adviser, recently joined Priorities USA, the Super Pac the Joe Biden campaign has signaled is its outside organization of choice for the general election.

Story continues

During Bloombergs campaign, he poured almost $67m into a new digital and technology firm called Hawkfish. Hawkfish has stayed active since Bloomberg dropped out. The firm is reportedly in talks to work for Bidens presidential campaign although nothing is finalized.

Hawkfish also got into negotiations to buy another Democratic analytics firm, Blue Labs Analytics, according to four Democrats with knowledge of those talks, but negotiations fell through. Hawkfish and Blue Labs still have ties.

In Washington Democratic analytics circles Hawkfish has become a hot topic as a firm trying to elbow its way into the group of top-tier data analytics firms.

The business discussions between Hawkfish and various campaigns and outlets within the Democratic campaign universe underscores how Bloomberg-connected operatives and groups continue to set down deep roots within the party.

Some former digital and data staffers for the Bloomberg campaign have talked with Biden campaign officials about joining the campaign, according to a Democratic strategist with knowledge of those talks.

The Biden campaign did not return a request for comment.

I think Mayor Bloomberg has made it very plain, through his actions and his investments, his commitment to defeating Donald Trump and helping to elect Democrats across the country, said the former Michigan congressman Mark Schauer, who supported Bloomberg during the mayors short-lived presidential campaign. I think those contributions are valuable, theyre significant, and theyll have an impact this November.

The end goal for Bloomberg, 78, is still somewhat murky.

The former mayor has repeatedly said he would use his considerable resources to oust Trump from office. But the rapid expansion of Bloomberg-connected groups and operatives around Washington also suggests Bloomberg intends to hold a seat at the table among the most influential Democratic party leaders, albeit one outside of elected office.
Around 1,000 migrant labourers,



mostly from northern parts of India, came on to the streets in Maharashtra's Chandrapur on Saturday to demand that arrangements be made for their return to the native places, police said.

The incident took place around 9.30 am at Ballarpur in the district, an official said.

"More than 1,000 labourers, mostly staying at a construction site in a government medical college, hit the streets and demanded that arrangement be made for their movement to their home states. They tried to block the highway and started walking towards the railway station," he said.

"The labourers want to go back to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some of them are from West Bengal. They said they have been facing hardships due to the lockdown as their source of income has stopped," the official said.

On being alerted, personnel from the Ramnagar Police Station rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control.

"The police staff told the labourers that proper procedure has to be followed if they want to return to their home states as special trains are being arranged. They were asked to fill the application forms to get a place in the special trains," he said.

The police provided food to them, he said that the labourers later returned to local residence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kansas City Health Department: As of May, 1 KCMO has recorded 573 positive COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths

Kansas City Stiffed

Kansas City didn't get a dime in federal stimulus money - but St. Louis got $35 million KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Show me the money! That's what leaders in Kansas City are saying after learning the city isn't getting a dime from Washington in stimulus money. But St. Louis, in comparison, is getting $35 million.

Heartland Hospital Cash

Hospitals in Kansas, Missouri to get at least $400 million FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) -- On Friday, U.S. Senators for Kansas and Missouri announced that $400 million or more in aid has been allocated for hospitals in each state. Missouri gets a $12.5 million more than Kansas. The money comes from the Department of Health and Human Services via the Provider Relief Fund that is part of the CARES Act.

Northland Pandemic Prep

Clay County adopts additional reopening restrictions Clay County will join many other- but not all - Missouri counties in beginning the economic-reopening process Monday. However, the county has announced some additional restrictions beyond those set forth this week by Gov. Mike Parson. The additional restrictions include limits on the number of people in retail establishments, gyms and restaurants.

Show-Me COVID Protection

PPE is a top priority for Missouri businesses preparing to open their doors to customers ST. PETERS, MO (KMOV.com) -- Missouri business owners are preparing to open their doors to customers as Missouri's stay-at-home order expires on May 4. But some say, their biggest concern is having enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for both staff and customers as the coronavirus outbreak remains a national crisis.

Chiefs Help For Hobos

Chiefs Hall of Famer donates COVID-19 antibody tests for homeless A Chiefs Hall of Famer is working to help the homeless during the pandemic. Nick Lowery, the Chiefs all-time leading scorer, does quite a bit of work through his foundation, Champions for the Homeless.

Getting Golden Ghetto Together

Johnson County clothing resellers prep as Kansas announces reopening plan With a plan now in place, businesses in Kansas are preparing plans to reopen. It's a shift in mindset for ownership at several Johnson County clothing resellers and other retailers, who are making plans to adjust before welcoming back customers.

Local Coronavirus Outbreak

Nearly 300 workers test positive at Missouri meat plant Nearly 300 workers at a northwestern Missouri pork processing plant have tested positive for the coronavirus, state health officials said Friday. The Triumph Foods plat in St. Joseph is the latest of several meat plants around the country to see huge spikes in confirmed cases of the virus.

Show-Me Food Chain Cash

Missouri senators set aside $20M for meat packing plants COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri senators are setting aside $20 million in expected federal aid for the state's struggling meatpacking plants. A Senate budget committee on Friday made the change to the state budget plan for the fiscal year that begins in July. Employees work close to each other at meatpacking plants, which can enable the spread of COVID-19.

Med Tech Review

FOX4 investigates: How effective are ventilators at treating patients with COVID-19? KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In the first horrific weeks of the coronavirus pandemic many of the very sick were hooked up to ventilator, unable to breathe on their own. It is a life-saving machine, but the more doctors learn about COVID-19, some have become reluctant to use them on patients with the virus.

Kansas City Coverage

Demand continues to rise for face masks and this Kansas City company can help KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- As local stay-at-home orders are relaxed more people will be back to work. This means some will be taking more precautions to protect themselves. Experts expect the demand for face masks to keep rising. At Expert Alterations, the owner and her team have been making masks for the last month.

Coronavirus Metro Stagger

Metro businesses' openings vary as stay-at-home orders come to an end The variation in rules and regulations can make it confusing for consumers, especially when you can drive a mile or two and find a whole new set of guidelines. We've also discovered many businesses are simply choosing to go their own way.

Reopen Kansas City Schedule

Finally, A Comprehensive, Absolutely Definitive Guide On Who's Opening When-Maybe. - In Kansas City If your head is about to explode with the ever-moving target of who's opening when, we've got some handy-dandy links for you to peruse. With various counties opening intermittently and/or on staggered dates, click on the link below for the latest updates from your respective municipality.

Tonight's update of numbers related to the virus that seem to be holding steady in the metro . . .After the jump we're sharing about a dozen news link regarding local impact of the coronavirus . . .Developing . . .
There are now 3.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 240,000 deaths globally. Over 1.06 million people have recovered from the infection so far.

There are now 3.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 240,000 deaths caused by it globally. Over 1.06 million people have recovered from the infection so far.

FDA grants emergency approval to Remdesivir for serious COVID-19 patients

The US FDA rushed to grant approval to use remdesivir for patients suffering from severe COVID-19. So far it was only available on compassionate grounds. This is a temporary arrangement; formal approval will come later, based on more extensive studies.

These developments followed after a study by NIH (National Institutes of Health) showed that those who were given remdesivir were discharged sooner; 11 days as opposed to 15 on placebo. There was a slight difference noted in mortality rates as well - 8% in the drug group and 11.6% in the placebo group.

The Philippines releases almost 10,000 prisoners after cases reported in facilities

Nine inmates and nine prison guards tested positive in a jail in Manila, while another prison in central Philippines reported over 200 infections and one death. Following pressure from Human Rights Watch, which accused the government of suppressing actual prison figures, the Supreme Court announced that it would release close to 10,000 prisoners in an effort to mitigate the spread of further infections. Prisons the world over are slowly becoming hotbeds for the pandemic.

At last count, the Philippines had reported close to 9,000 cases and over 600 deaths.

Singapore to start easing restrictions on May 12

The Singapore government announced that some businesses will be allowed to reopen after May 12. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong added that as the broader community reports fewer cases, more restrictions will be eased; most of Singapores new cases have been confirmed in dormitories where immigrant labour resides, many of them from India. The country reported 447 new cases in the last 24 hours, the smallest increase in two weeks.

Some students will be allowed to return to school on May 19.

Russia reports highest rise in daily cases, Moscow mayor says 2% of population infected

Russia reported 9,623 new cases in the last 24 hours, making it the highest rise in cases in a day. The country has now reported over 124,000 total cases.

Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said that 2% of Moscow is infected - that adds up to 250,000 people. These figures are not included in the official count but have been inferred after screening various populations within the city. The Russian leadership has warned that the peak is still ahead and there will be difficult days to come.

Medics, gravediggers in Somalia report surge in deaths

Frontline health workers and funeral homes have reported an unprecedented rise in deaths in the last few days, raising concerns that many COVID-19 deaths have gone uncounted.

Somalia has so far confirmed over 600 cases and 28 deaths. Health officials acknowledge that due to limited capacity, the cause of death is usually not defined, and burials take place soon after death as per Islamic tradition, and autopsies are rarely conducted. It is suspected that these excess deaths have been caused, at least in part, by COVID-19.

Malaysia detains undocumented migrants to stem the flow of the virus

Malaysian authorities have said that 586 undocumented migrants were arrested from Kuala Lampur following a raid. The authorities claim that this was done to prevent the spread of the virus from migrants moving across the country.

The UN has disapproved of the move and said that targeting vulnerable populations will only make them less likely to seek medical help and follow containment orders, endangering their own lives and contributing to the spread of the pandemic.

For more information, read our article on Immunity to COVID-19.

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.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 01, 2020 | 03:20 PM | WESTERN KENTUCKY





Comer praised local leaders, including Mayor Brandi Harless and Judge Executive Craig Clymer.







He said, "I do think everyone on the local, state, and federal level's hearts are in the right place. We're learning and trying to do our best. I just think what you've done here in Paducah has been a real success story."





Comer outlined three priorities congressional leaders have had in response to the pandemic.







The first priority has been frontline healthcare workers. He says they are desperately trying to ensure that there is enough money designated to PPE for healthcare workers. He hopes that moving forward more PPE will be made in the United States, calling it an opportunity for economic development.







The second priority has been unemployment. Comer says they are working to ensure that no displaced worker goes without a paycheck.







The third priority has been small businesses. They have designated more money to go toward businesses that are struggling due to the pandemic.





Comer encourages anyone with questions or concerns to contact his office, and he will do what he can to assist them.

Congressman James Comer joined Paducah and McCracken County leaders for an update on the COVID-19 response.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: After the Central government tweaked the criteria for classifying the districts according to the severity of coronavirus infection, 14 districts in the State have been moved from red to orange zone.

This was reflected in the health bulletin issued on Friday.

What are the criteria for new classification?

Green zone includes districts with zero confirmed cases, or no confirmed cases in the last 21 days. Red zone districts will be defined taking into account total number of active cases, doubling rate of confirmed cases and extend of testing and surveillance feedback. Orange zone includes districts that neither fall in green or red.

The classification gives power to district administrations to separately assess the situation in areas coming under municipal corporations and outside, and distribute the cases accordingly. If a red zone district has no positive case for 21 days outside a municipal corporation limits, then the area outside may be classified as orange. Similarly, if an orange zone district does not have a positive case for 21 days outside its municipal corporation limits, the area outside may be termed green.

If the parts of red or orange zone districts have even one case in the 21-day period, the status of the districts will be retained. Previously, the State used to classify a district as red if it had more than 15 cases or the doubling time was less than four days. Similarly, a district was considered orange zone if it had less than 15 cases or had no new cases in the past 14 days.A green zone district meant no new cases in the past 28 days.
A report from a group of experts at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is likely to last as long as two years. As people may be at their most infectious before they display any symptoms, controlling the outbreak is much more difficult, the report warned.

It is unlikely that the warning will cause politicians to further delay their plans to reopen economies, as the costs continue to mount from the shutdown. Authorities are focusing on finding a vaccine amid the move to ease lockdowns around the ...
Some 50.8 million people worldwide were forced from their homes by conflicts and natural disasters in 2019, living as internally displaced people (IDPs). This is the highest number ever recorded, 10 million more than in 2018, and is in addition to nearly 26 million refugees, also a record number.

Not having crossed any borders but living as de facto refugees in their own countries in informal settlements, emergency shelters and crowded camps, their plight is virtually ignored, attracting little global attention. These highly vulnerable people have limited or no access to healthcare, now making them highly susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the same time, the recession engulfing the entire world, which the corporate and financial elites everywhere are using to corral people back to work irrespective of the health risks, will be used as the pretext for reducing the already limited humanitarian aid for people they view as so much surplus labour.

The Norwegian Refugee Councils Internal Displacement Monitoring Centres (IDMC) Global Report on Internal Displacement highlights the extent and consequences of local wars and conflicts throughout the world. It omits to state that most of these conflicts have been stoked by the imperialist powers, while calling on the same international agencies and governments responsible for creating these disasters to address the issue. It cites approvingly United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres call for a decade of action on global equality and sustainable development.

The report states that by the end of 2019 conflict and violence in 61 countries (or nearly a third of the 193 UN member states) had internally displaced 45.7 million people, many of whom had fled their homes more than once.

Some 34.5 million, three-quarters of the 45.7 million displaced by conflict, were concentrated in just 10 predominantly poor or middle-income countries: Syria, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, Iraq and Ethiopia.

Of the new displacements, the majority were in the worlds poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa where conflicts in the Sahel, Somalia and South Sudan have caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

In 2019, sub-Saharan Africa was again the region most affected by displacement due to armed conflict, communal violence and jihadist attacks in countries where endemic poverty, government corruption, struggles over natural resourcesoften driven by international powers and their local proxiesand the effects of climate change exacerbate the risk of displacement. Some 19.2 million, or nearly 40 percent of the worlds total, were living in internal exile.

DRC is by far the worst affected country with 1.7 million new IDPs, making a total of 5.5 million. Torn apart over 25 years by wars in which 200 armed groups are fighting each other for control of the countrys vast mineral resources, it has seen the bloodiest war since World War II, with over 5 million dead, as well as its second largest Ebola outbreak and measles and cholera outbreaks that killed thousands of people. DRC saw heavy rains and flooding in 12 of its 26 provinces, displacing another 250,000 people. Around 15.9 million of its 87 million people were expected to need humanitarian aid in 2020.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country, saw 250,000 new displacements, making a total of 2.6 million. Home to vast oil and gas wealth, Nigeria is one of the most socially unequal countries on earth, with 10 individuals controlling a total net worth in excess of $26 billion while over 50 percent of the population subsist on less than $2.00 a day, according to the World Bank. More than 23 percent of Nigerians are unemployed.

It has faced years of conflicts and insurgencies, particularly in the northern part of the country against the Islamist group Boko Haram, and is overrun by criminal gangs engaging in kidnappings, extortion, and assassinations. Nearly half a million IDPs are living in camps without adequate shelter in the northeast.

The Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa, encompassing Burkino Faso, Mali and Niger saw a particularly sharp spike in violence and displacement, with nearly 1 million new IDPs, as unpopular governments, with the backing of France and Germany, fight off local militias.

The source of the escalating conflicts in the Sahel is the growing conflict between the major powers over control of resources, including gold and uranium. France, the former colonial power, and other European imperialist powers are seeking to defend their interests against the US, China, Russia and even India, all of which are trying to gain a foothold in Africa. France and Germany are also trying to prevent refugees from Africa from reaching the Mediterranean and Europe by sealing off the borders and setting up concentration camps.

Cameroons crisisit has nearly 1 million IDPs, as anglophone secessionists in the west have clashed with security forcesis one of the worlds most neglected.

The Middle East and North Africa accounted for more than a quarter (12.5 million) of all IDPs in 2019, mostly in Syria (6.5 million), Yemen (3.6 million) and Iraq (1.6 million), which have been subject to wars and conflicts launched by the US and/or its regional clients and proxies. Whether displaced in their own countries or elsewhere in the region, the large number of refugees from these and other wars, including Libyan and Palestinian refugees, have been living for a protracted period in terrible conditions. With conflict and violence ongoing, many face the risk of secondary displacement.

In Syria, clashes between pro-regime forces and US-backed ISIS militias in the east around Deir el-Zur and Turkey-backed Islamists in the northwest in Idlib province triggered 1.8 million new displacements.

In Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with US and UK backing, have been fighting the Houthi-led rebellion against the stooge government of now exiled Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, 400,000 became homeless in 2019, almost double the number in 2018. For many, it was not the first time, heightening their vulnerabilities. With 80 percent of the population in need of humanitarian assistance and 3.6 million living in internal displacement, Yemen is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. More than half of IDPs live in rented accommodation, while 35 percent live in informal settlements, tents or out in the open.

In Libya, the war between General Khalifa Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA), which is backed by the UAE, Egypt and Russia, and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord, which is backed by Turkey, for control over the capital Tripoli has escalated. What was a relatively low intensity conflict has morphed into a high intensity war involving sophisticated weaponry, guided missiles and drones and led to 215,000 new IDPs, with 451,000 people living in settlements at the end of 2019.

The West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza recorded 1,500 new displacements in 2019, bringing the total number of IDPs in Palestine to nearly 250,000. This was the result of house demolitions, forced evictions, the confiscation of property and acts of violence carried out by Israeli settlers and the military. The number of Palestinian homes demolished in East Jerusalem in 2019 was the highest in 15 years, while Palestinians living in Area C in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Hebron are at high risk of eviction.

A significant feature of the IDMCs report was the presentation for the first time of the numbers displaced by natural disasters. It estimated 5.1 million people in 96 countries were displaced as a result of natural disasters not only in 2019 but in previous years, many of which go unreported in the worlds press. Of the 5.1 million, 3.4 million were living in Afghanistan, India, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sudan, South Sudan, China, Iran, DRC and Nigeria.

In 2019, tropical storms and monsoons displaced millions in south and east Asia, with India, China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and China each recording at least 4 million displacements. Many were preemptively evacuated by their own governments and of these, most but not all, were subsequently able to return to their homes.
Police were patrolling the Orange Grove Market the last time Ross Warren shopped for fruit and vegetables in March, shortly before the farmers market in Lilyfield was shut down at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr Warren said there were long queues of shoppers waiting to enter the grounds of Orange Grove Public School that day - a far cry from the sparse crowd who braved windy conditions on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the popular farmers market.

Tony Ly, pictured with son Chet, said the "essence" of the Orange Grove Market in Lilyfield remained despite COVID-19 restrictions. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Mr Warren, from Denistone East, said he welcomed the return of the farmers market even though there were far less traders.

Youre not in the supermarket, theres quality produce and you get to interact with people, he said.
Dakota Johnson suffered an unfortunate mishap on Saturday after her vintage Mustang broke down while out out shopping with boyfriend Chris Martin's daughter Apple.

The Fifty Shades Of Grey star, 30, and the youngster, 15, were left temporarily stranded after picking up supplies at Vintage Grocers in Malibu, California.

The ladies were eventually rescued when a kindly passer-by offered his assistance, with the Coldplay frontman, 43, later arriving to help.

Break down: Dakota Johnson suffered an unfortunate mishap on Saturday after her vintage Mustang broke down while out out shopping with boyfriend Chris Martin's daughter Apple

Amid the coronavirus lockdown in the city, the actress headed out with her beau's daughter, whom he shares with ex Gwyneth Paltrow, and a pal to a local farmers market where they loaded up on fruit and veg.

However, the trip came to an unfortunate end as Dakota's retro black Ford Shelby GT350 stalled and broke down by the roadside.

Pictures show the ladies exciting the car and waiting on the pavement as they figured out their next move.

Oh no: The Fifty Shades Of Grey star, 30, and the youngster, 15, were left temporarily stranded after picking up supplies at Vintage Grocers in Malibu, California

Fortunately, a kindly passer-by stopped to offer their assistance and was seen advising Dakota on how to fix her problem.

Luckily for the star, the problem was resolved after what is said to be 20 minutes of being stranded, with things soon up and running again.

Amid the furore, Dakota's partner Chris was seen arriving, with the Yellow hitmaker then following the girls home in his own black Porshe SUV.

Outing: Amid the coronavirus lockdown in the city, the actress headed out with her beau's daughter and a pal to a local farmers market, where they loaded up on fruit and veg

Food stop: The ladies had headed out on Saturday to pick up some supplies as they took a break amid the lockdown

Disaster: However, the trip came to an unfortunate end as Dakota's retro black Ford Shelby GT350 stalled and broke down by the roadside

Despite her mishap, Dakota managed to look effortlessly chic, donning a summery white dress with chic sunglasses.

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Dakota for comment.

Dakota and Chris previously collaborated on a hand-washing video, posted by pal Olivia Wilde, who wrote: 'Dakota Johnson: Hand wash CHAMPION.'

She stood at her kitchen sink as the Coldplay frontman stood out of frame behind her, locking arms with her to make it look like his hands were hers.

Drama: Dakota climbed out of her car after it broke down on her

All grown up: Apple, 15, is Chris' daughter from his relationship with ex Gwyneth Paltrow

Waiting game: Pictures show the ladies exciting the car and waiting on the pavement as they figured out their next move

Good Samaritan: Fortunately, a kindly passer-by stopped to offer their assistance and was seen advising Dakota on how to fix her problem

Great help: Luckily for the star, the problem was resolved after what is said to be 20 minutes of being stranded, with things soon up and running again

The Suspiria star narrated Martin's every unpredictable movement: 'I like to scrub them really, really fast, but Im going to lower them because sometimes I hit myself in the face.'

Although the couple appears to be isolating at his Malibu home, Johnson showed off her own Hollywood Hills digs last month.

She and her three-bedroom 1947 house just off the Sunset Strip were featured on the cover of Architectural Digest.

Yay! The girls were not stranded for long and were soon on their way home

Back up: Amid the furore, Dakota's partner Chris was seen arriving, with the Yellow hitmaker then following the girls home in his own black Porshe SUV

Fashionista: Despite her mishap, Dakota managed to look effortlessly chic, donning a summery white dress with chic sunglasses
More than 800 workers from Uttar Pradesh who were stranded in Nashik in Maharashtra, boarded a special train for Lucknow on Saturday, UPs Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi

The first special train for Uttar Pradesh has started from Nashik (Maharashtra) today morning & around 845 labourers and workers have boarded the train. They will reach Lucknow tomorrow, Awasthi said according to ANI.

On Friday, the government allowed the railways to run special trains to ferry students, migrant workers stranded in various parts of the country due to nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus.

The decision to allow special trains came following the requests of several states to evacuate migrant workers. Earlier this week, the Union home ministry while relaxing the guidelines, allowed the evacuation of stranded people only by buses.

On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh government had said that it would launch a massive evacuation drive to bring back migrant workers from Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan in the next few days.

Awasthi had then said that chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed senior officers to prepare a plan to evacuate migrant workers from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan who have been stranded due to the lockdown.

Earlier this month, the UP government had evacuated over 10,000 students from Kota. It also evacuated thousands of workers from Delhi NCR in the first week of the lockdown towards the end of March.
A Mobile man was arrested Thursday night for trespassing at Walt Disney World in Florida as he tried to camp on an island inside the amusement park.

Deputies arrested Richard McGuire, 42 of Mobile, about 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening after he refused to leave Discovery Island, according to an arrest affidavit provided by the Orange County Florida Sheriffs Office.

McGuire told deputies he had entered the island to go camping on Monday or Tuesday and had planned on staying on the island for approximately one week. The arresting deputy reported that he explained to McGuire he was in a restricted area that is not open to the public.

McGuire told the deputy he was unaware of it and that it looked like a tropical paradise."

Deputies earlier in the day had been searching for a man spotted at the island by Disney personnel. Deputies searched for the man on foot, by boat and by using a sheriffs helicopter, according to the report. Orange County Marine deputies had been on Bay Lake making announcements via a public address system to tell the man to exit the island, the affidavit states.

Richard (McGuire) said that he did not see or hear them due to being asleep in one of the buildings on the island, the report states.

Disney World has been shuttered to visitors during the coronavirus crisis.

As McGuire was being arrested he said he was not feeling well and Reedy Creek Rescue responded to treat him.

After he was treated, McGuire was detained on a $500 bond. McGuire also was issued an additional trespass warning banning him from all Walt Disney World properties, according to the affidavit.

Discovery Island is a 11-acre island in the middle of Bay Lake inside the Walt Disney World amusement park. It had once been known as Treasure Island before being transformed in the mid 1970s as a wildlife park and renamed Discovery Island. The wildlife park was shut down about 20 years ago and has remained abandoned.
Kolkata, May 2 : Hundreds of angry villagers gathered in front of ration shops in West Bengal's Murshidabad district protesting irregularities in ration distribution system in the area on Saturday.

The incidents took place in Salar and Lalgola area as irate villagers vandalised the ration shop and the ration dealer's house in protest of irregularities in the public distribution system. The villagers alleged that they were not getting proper food grains and essential items that they were entitled to receive from the local ration shops.

"It is an unfortunate incident. We have already instructed the district magistrate and the local police superintendent to look into the matter. If the ration dealer is found guilty we will take strong against him. Already we have cancelled licenses of two ration dealers on Friday," state food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick said.

Earlier on Friday, similar incidents were reported at Narayanpur area of Kakdwip, Birbhum's Labhpur and Murshidabad's Jalangi area where villagers came in hoards and alleged that the ration dealers were not giving essential food grains as per the allotment guidelines set by the State food department.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised to give 5 kg of rice to each card holder at free of cost in the time of Covid-19 lockdown.

According to sources in Murshidabad, the villagers have alleged that they were getting poor quality food grains which were also less in the specified quantity.

"We have already show-caused all the ration dealers where there have been protests. We are looking into all possible aspects at the local level and the supervision is being done by the Block Development Officer (BDO) in those respective areas. We will take strong action if anyone is found guilty," the minister said.

He said there are over 21,000 ration dealers across Bengal and about 9.96 crore people of the state are getting direct benefits of the public distribution system in the time of Covid-19 crisis.

Hinting at political instigation by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders in the district, Mallick said: "Both the incidents in Murshidabad were particularly instigated by the local BJP and Congress leaders. I request all political parties not to engage in any political blame game in the current situation. We all are in crisis and poor people are the worst sufferers now," he added.

In a separate incident, the state BJP leaders also alleged that essential food grains were being siphoned off in a truck at Nadia's Habibppur locality. The truck, stuffed with rice grain that came to a local ration dealer, was being sent to a nearby Shri Krishna Rice Mill when angry villagers caught the truck red-handed. AThe villagers stopped the trust and staged an agitation outside the rice mill on Friday night. When asked Trinamool leaders refused to comment on the issue.

"We are not playing any politics at this juncture. People of Bengal, especially in the remote pockets, are hungry. They are not getting essential food grains. We are just trying to voice their concerns," said senior state BJP leader Joy Prakash Majumdar.
A 60-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of his apartment in Hyderabad on Saturday, fearing that he had contracted Covid-19, the police said.

The deceased was identified as Vasiraju Krishna Murthy, a retired private employee. He was from the Ramanthapur area under Uppal police station limits of Rachakonda commissionerate.

He had been suffering from asthma and gastritis for quite some time and his general health condition had not been good. For the last few days, he had been in depression, suspecting that he might be suffering from Covid-19, Uppal police inspector P Venkateshwarlu told Hindustan Times.

A couple of days ago, the man had complained of breathing problems and was taken to the government hospital at King Kothi.

The doctors said the man tested negative for Covid-19. They gave him medicines for asthma and also gastric pain.

On Saturday morning, too, Murthy complained of pain in the stomach and again suspected that he was suffering from Covid-19.

His family members told him that they would take him to Gandhi Hospital, the designated hospital for Covid-19, for check-up. But as they were getting ready to take him to the hospital, he rushed to the fourth floor and jumped off the balcony. He died on the spot, the inspector said.

Uppal police have registered a case of death under suspicious circumstances and shifted the body to Gandhi Hospital for post mortem.
The daughter of Kazakhstan's former president, once viewed as his heir-apparent, has been dismissed from her post as speaker of the country's senate.

Dariga Nazarbayeva was removed Saturday by an order from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev; she also lost her seat in the senate.

No reason was stated for the dismissal. Nazarbayeva became senate speaker in March 2019 on the same day that her father, Nursultan Nazarbayev, unexpectedly resigned.

Nazarbayev had led Kazakhstan since independence in 1991 and many expected that his daughter would succeed him. But Tokayev was named acting president and was elected to the presidency in June.

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

Chinese teams of medical experts have arrived in Djibouti and Cote d'Ivoire to help the countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teams are organized by the National Health Commission and selected by health commissions of Sichuan Province and Tianjin Municipality, respectively.

The latest two teams came after two teams of Chinese medical experts arrived in Ethiopia and Burkina Faso earlier in April. China has also activated its medical teams stationed there to help fight COVID-19.

There are nearly 1,000 Chinese medical personnel working in Africa long-term, according to China's National Health Commission. China has sent about 22,000 medical workers accumulatively to Africa during the past decades, and benefited about 220,000,000 local patients in total, according to Chinese Ambassador to Togo Chao Weidong.

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the African continent, the Chinese anti-pandemic medical experts dispatched by the Chinese government have greatly helped Africa in confronting the pandemic.

The Chinese anti-pandemic medical expert team to Ethiopia, which comprises 12 medical experts specializing in various public health sectors, arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on April 16 as part of China's continuing solidarity in assisting the East African country on the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have emphasized the ongoing "excellent and fruitful" collaboration with their Ethiopian counterparts as well as experts from the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in their joint fight against COVID-19 over the past two weeks period.

Li Nian, a medical doctor specialized in preventive medicine from West China Sichuan University, who is also the head of medical administration at the university, is one of the 12 highly-trained medical experts with first-hand experience in the fight against COVID-19 at home since the virus spread in part of China.

"We have visited the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), quarantine centers, isolation centers, Fangcang Hospital transformed by Millennium Hall, and COVID-19-designated hospitals; and we had detailed discussion with hospital administrators and frontline healthcare workers to share our experience for fighting against COVID-19 in China and to provide our supports and suggestions," Li told Xinhua on Saturday, as his team presently joined their Ethiopian counterparts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the East African country.

"The collaboration is excellent and fruitful," Li said, adding that "we highly respect expertise of experts from the Ethiopian government and the Africa CDC, and we have been impressed by their open attitude."

The 12-member Chinese anti-pandemic medical expert team includes medical experts specializing in various public health sectors including general surgery, epidemiology, respiratory, infectious diseases, critical care, clinical laboratory and integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

"We had meetings with officers and experts from the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Ethiopia Office to exchange experiences, academic opinions, comments and suggestions in detail," he added.

Li, along with the rest of the 12-member Chinese anti-pandemic experts' team, has been also providing onsite and telecommunication-based trainings including lectures and practical exercises.

"We have also donated some personal protective equipment for several hospitals," Li said, as he emphasized the constructive joint efforts and collaboration with the Ethiopian experts as health as from the Africa CDC -- specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member pan African bloc African Union (AU).

"We contributed our expertise and experience leant from our practice in China. Collaboration is essential for defeating COVID-19, the invisible enemy of human being. The collaboration between China and Africa including Ethiopia will be strengthened in the future," he added.

Noting that majority of the 12-member Chinese anti-epidemic medical experts' team deployed in Ethiopia are clinicians in profession, Li also stressed that "we shared our experiences in prevention, patient management, viral testing, infection control, protection of healthcare workers and so on with front-line healthcare workers."

The Ethiopian and Africa CDC professionals responded in a very positive way. As they are indeed experts in managing infectious diseases, they are willing to listen to our suggestions from practice.

Li, who emphasized that "collaboration is essential" in dealing with a public health threat in the magnitude of COVID-19, also stressed that "there are many rooms for strengthening the collaboration such as training, scientific research, infection control practices, among others."

Noting the geographic barrier between China and the African continent, the Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert also advised that "as China and Africa are far away in distance, I think that telecommunication-based methods may be one good way to put forward the collaborations."

Meanwhile, as the Chinese medical experts joined their Ethiopian counterparts in the fight against COVID-19, Ethiopians across different walks of lives have been also commending the move as a great demonstration of solidarity to deal with the COVID-19 response in Ethiopia.

"It is a precious gesture of brotherhood and togetherness demonstrated by the Chinese government in general and the 12 medical professionals in particular," Mahlet Dinku, a 27-years-old Ethiopian medical science student, told Xinhua recently.

Dinku also emphasized the "selfless deed and sacrifice exhibited by the Chinese anti-pandemic medical experts' team "to come all the way from China to Ethiopia to help us cope with the COVID-19 outbreak."

She further underscored the crucial timing of the latest Chinese assistance, as she underscored that "we sincerely welcomed them as they arrived here while we as a nation are bracing for practically the most difficult time of our recent history."

Ethiopian Ministers of Health, Lia Tadesse, had also recently emphasized the crucial role that the Chinese medical experts' team play in Ethiopia's efforts to contend the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The highly trained experts and professionals who have been active in COVID-19 response in China and with frontline experience came here along with support from the Chinese government," Tadesse told Xinhua.

"The global community should forge strong partnership if the world has to overcome the crisis," Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, who served as an economic advisor to the AU and the UNECA, told Xinhua recently.

Noting that both the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises have in recent weeks continued sending shipments of medical supplies to hard-hit countries across Africa, Costantinos said China has been "rallying for global coordination in managing the coronavirus outbreak."

The Africa CDC in its latest situation update disclosed the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Africa has reached 39,018 on Friday evening. Meanwhile, the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 1,640.
By Trend

Russia is interested in import of Azerbaijani products, Head of Azerbaijan's Trade Representative Office in Russia Ruslan Aliyev said, Trend reports with reference to the trade mission on May 1.

Russia is the main market for Azerbaijans non-oil export. Recently, the volume of export of Azerbaijani goods to Russia has been growing significantly, Aliyev noted.

In 2019, goods worth about $731.8 million were exported from Azerbaijan to Russia, which is 10 percent more compared to 2018. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Azerbaijans export to Russia increased by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. We see that the potential of Azerbaijans production capabilities and the needs of the Russian market are much higher," said the trade mission head.

The first online event with the participation of the Head of Azerbaijan's Trade Representative Office in Russia Ruslan Aliyev was held on April 30. The discussion was moderated by Editor-in-chief at Russian Business Guide Maria Suvorovskaya. The speakers included representatives of business and government of the two countries, as well as experts and analysts.

The participants discussed the impact of the pandemic on the cargo transportation of Azerbaijani products to Russia, and the logistical support for their delivery to the regional markets of Russia.

It is also planned to hold discussions on agriculture, digital technologies, medicine, pharmaceuticals, tourism, innovation, the financial sector and other segments of the economic interaction between Russia and Azerbaijan in the coming months.
Five weeks have passed since lockdown began and my addiction to restaurants shows no signs of loosening its grip. I am still captivated by the need to sit down with the adviser in the warm glow of a city centre bistro, sipping sidecars while going through the menu and the wine list.

I miss the gentle knockabout conversations of some of the servers and managers, people like Barry Fletcher in Muddler's Club, Saul McConnell in Noble, and Alain Kerloc'h in Ox. Paul in Deane's and the other Paul in James Street have that golden touch too, the confident welcome, the look-you-in-the-eye smile and the few words which build excitement and anticipation. Words like, "Dover sole just in", and "we have held over the last 1000g tomahawk in case you wanted to order it".

These, and many like them, are the pulsating heart of the hospitality business. No wonder Churchill said the best dinner companion was a good maitre d'.

Read More

I also miss seeing others who enjoy a restaurant lunch or dinner and whose faces have become familiar over the years. We all share that desire to sit down in a pleasantly lit and comfortable restaurant and have food and drink brought to us. Anyone who says food is just fuel can't possibly have spent any time in a restaurant. Food is the bond which helps tie us together.

We all know and argue about what makes a quality champ, a good ribeye, the best chowder. It's a subject we love, even if sometimes we aren't aware of just how captivated we are by it. Food is a distinctive topic and one on which most of us have opinions. Just look at how busy the social media platforms are with people showing us how to cook things.

And talking of cooking (I shudder at the thought), next week I aim to start looking at the new wonder of dinner kits as first seen created by Noble in Holywood. Hadski's in Belfast are now producing three-course dinners which just require you to finish and complete them in the house. This approach preserves texture and flavour and also allows the individual to claim a certain amount of ownership of chef Niall McKenna's talents. Dinner becomes a joint venture between you and some of the best chefs in the land.

Let's not rush into anything just yet, however. This week I have taken the easier option of arranging a collection of pizzas and ice cream respectively from Reggie's on University Road and Al Gelato on the Ormeau Road, for a family night in Italy.

The daughters had raved about Reggie's for some time. The field of artisan pizzerias is competitive. In Belfast alone you've got Pizza Boutique, Honest Pizza, Belfast Woodfired Pizza and a few more. In Derry/Londonderry, Nonna's is a knockout, by the way.

Reggie's Stonefired Pizzas stands out thanks to the quality of ingredients and the fact that they do the kind of salads which have been tried and tested by the great PizzaExpress chain. Caesar, Greek, goat's cheese salads are fresh, crunchy in the right places and with vinaigrettes which are well judged.

We didn't try the pasta dishes (they have all the classics including spaghetti carbonara and Bolognese, lasagne, penne arrabiatta etc) but if they're as good as their pizzas they may be worth a rattle. I say this only because it would never occur to me otherwise to order pasta dishes which frankly I can make at home despite my limited abilities.

A thin crispy base with a bit of burnt blistering here and there makes it for me. The tomato sauce and mozzarella are good quality and the anchovies and olives well balanced. Anyone who includes a Hawaiian on their menu is to be commended.

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Al Gelato ice creams continue to dominate the south Belfast scene during lockdown now that Ali McAuley is delivering. The dark chocolate sorbet and salted caramel and vanilla stand shoulder to shoulder with the best Italy's got. Seriously.

The bill

Reggie's Wood fired pizzas, 1 University Road, Belfast. Tel: 028 9543 3239

Sicilian pizza 10

Margherita 8

Margherita w/ham & mushrooms 10

Mediterranean 10

Al Gelato, 397A Ormeau Road, Belfast Tel: 028 9064 2075

Al Gelato dark chocolate 12oz 6

Al Gelato lemon sorbet 12oz 6

Total 50
A man wakes each morning to find that absolutely nothing has changed and that he's doomed to live the same day over and over until further notice. Sound familiar? If any film was custom made to suit the Covid-19 lockdown, it's Groundhog Day, which stars Bill Murray as an obnoxious TV weatherman forced to endure the exact same day in a small Pennsylvania town until he learns the error of his ways.

Meantime, he's driven mad by the numbing monotony of knowing exactly what's going to happen in a parallel universe where even love has no meaning, because progress made with the woman of his dreams (Andie MacDowell) is instantly forgotten.

In recent weeks, The New York Times and the Daily Telegraph in the UK have run remote watch-togethers of Groundhog Day that have only revealed what we all already knew - that the 1993 comedy is a little masterpiece, a perfectly pitched romcom that bears comparison with the very best 1930s and '40s screwball comedies.

And any film that manages to push its title into the popular lexicon must have something special going for it.

Its director, Harold Ramis, died in 2014, leaving behind a formidable body of comic work that included Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Analyze This, National Lampoon's Vacation and Stripes.

But Groundhog Day was far and away the best thing Ramis ever did and he knew it, living long enough to see it become as much a staple of the Christmas TV schedules as It's A Wonderful Life and Scrooge.

In fact, Groundhog Day is, in ways, a reimagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Murray's character Phil Connors the rogue in urgent need of a supernatural corrective. Instead of earnestly didactic ghosts, he gets the same day served up to him again and again, a mind-numbing treatment that turns out to be equally effective.

This startlingly original film began its long life in the mind of Danny Rubin. He is now an English lecturer at Harvard, but in 1990 was a budding screenwriter who moved from Chicago to Los Angeles to make his mark. His first script, Hear No Evil, would eventually be turned into a very bad film released to a chorus of boos in 1993. But while sitting in a cinema one afternoon, Rubin came up with the bright idea of a man who lives the same day over and over and, in the process, acquires wisdom.

Cannily, he decided to set his moral tale on February 2, date of a then little-known northeastern American holiday called Groundhog Day, in which a hefty rodent emerging from its burrow will predict a clear spring or six more weeks of winter, depending on whether it can see its shadow.

Rubin reckoned this might make the film a recurring seasonal favourite, but he cannot have known it would become so closely associated with Christmas.

Video of the Day

In early versions, the screenplay had a voiceover, a laborious explanation of the reasons for the time loop, even a corresponding time loop in which Andie MacDowell's character Rita would be trapped. But working with Ramis, Rubin honed the script into a tighter comedy that threw out any extraneous science and made a better vehicle for the deadpan sarcasm of Murray.

Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton had both turned down the role before Murray accepted it, and while it's possible to imagine both those fine screen actors playing Phil Connors, they would have done so in a very different film. Ramis had worked with Murray before on Caddyshack, Stripes and Ghostbusters, and knew how the brilliant but notoriously volatile comic actor liked to work.

Murray's Phil is a wonderfully loathsome, self-centred, petty man. He is condescending to his co-workers, refers to himself as "the talent", and arrives in the idyllic country town of Punxsutawney charged with contempt for the local "rubes". He's an egotistical weatherman at a Pittsburgh TV station and plans to cover the Groundhog ceremony as quickly as possible and leave. But a heavy snowstorm traps him in the guesthouse his producer Rita has booked him into. When he wakes the following morning and hears the exact same song on the radio, he realises it's Groundhog Day all over again.

One of the cleverest things about this film is that the supposed science of the whole thing is totally ignored, allowing the audience to just settle back and accept it. When he realises he's trapped in the same day, Phil goes through various stages of anger, denial, nihilism and acceptance. Wisdom will take a long time coming and, meanwhile, he uses his new-found immortality for low purposes: for instance, finding out as much as he can about local women so he can charm them into sleeping with him.

As time goes by, however, Phil realises that the only woman who really matters to him is the sweet and wholesome Rita. He uses all his oily tricks to try and seduce her, but time and again gets a slap in the face. Her constant rejections lead him to despair: he starts drinking constantly, smoking, overeating and tries suicide by every means possible. It never works and every morning he wakes to hear the tinny strains of Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe blaring out of his clock radio.

There's nothing else for it, Phil eventually realises he'll actually have to become a worthwhile person if he's to stand a chance of winning her heart and - perhaps - his freedom.

Phil's daily encounters around the town are beautifully orchestrated: he keeps running into an old homeless man he'll eventually try to save, catches a boy who always gets stuck up a high tree, sits in the town's diner mournfully watching everyone doing exactly the same thing. Most comically of all, he's accosted every morning by Ned Ryerson (brilliantly portrayed by Stephen Tobolowsky), a former classmate and chirpy insurance salesman whose desperation is palpable.

It's all very funny of course, but thanks to Murray's subtly grounded performance, there's more than a touch of despair beneath. When Phil lies in bed expressionless as Sonny and Cher start warbling away once again, he looks like a character in a Beckett play. How long did his ordeal last? Ramis reckoned about 10 years, others thought longer - long enough, at any rate, to become a quoter of French poetry and virtuoso jazz pianist.

Some commentators took all this very seriously. For Catholics, the film embodied the concept of purgatory, while Buddhists were especially keen on the film as it seemed to encompass their core tenets of rebirth and enlightenment. Whatever about all that, Groundhog Day is a truly great romcom, a charming, wise and very funny film.

It was made, though, in a fractious and unhappy atmosphere. Murray has fallen out with many colleagues over the years, but never more spectacularly than with Ramis. They had worked together before and were good friends, but on Groundhog Day, Murray was not in a good place: he was having personal difficulties apparently, and Ramis would later describe the star's behaviour on the set as "really just irrationally mean".

This culminated in a total breakdown in communication. Murray made significant and inspired script changes, but did so through Rubin and refused to talk to Ramis at all. After the film's release and despite its success, their friendship was broken: they hardly spoke for 20 years, and a reconciliation only came when Ramis was on his deathbed, at the instigation of Bill's brother Brian Doyle-Murray, who also appeared in Groundhog Day.

According to Ramis's daughter, Murray turned up to make amends bearing doughnuts and flanked by a police escort, and spent several hours with Ramis, who was by then hardly able to speak. His greatest film, though, speaks for itself, has stood the test of time splendidly and is a comedy for all the ages - especially this one.
Actor Salman Khan has donated money for specially-abled workers in the film industry, in addition to all the other donations that he has been making amid the lockdown that has stalled all businesses including showbiz amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A Mid Day report claimed that Salman has donated Rs 3000 for the members of All India Special Artists Association (AISAA). It quoted Pravin Rana, a vertically-challenged artiste, as saying, Nobody cares much for us, but Salman bhai stood by us during these trying times. We were surprised when we learnt that Rs 3,000 had been deposited into our accounts on Tuesday. No other actor has come forward to help us. He added about working with Salman in Bharat (2019), During the shoot too, he asked us to reach out to him when in need.

Also read: Naseeruddin Shah remembers Irrfan Khan, says he had a quiet menace and a unique enigma that was the envy of many less hard-working actors

AISAA is a wing of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE).

Another AISAA member Shameem Ahmed also told the tabloid, We dont get work on a daily basis. We are grateful to FWICE and Salman Khan for helping us with ration and financial help amid the lockdown. We have been told he will make a deposit next month, too.

Salman has also been donating to the needy who have lost their livelihood due to the nationwide lockdown. He has also supported some of the daily wage workers economically. Salman also provided ration facility to several migrant workers. Politician Baba Siddique on Friday took to Twitter to thank the actor for his contribution. Thank you @beingsalmankhan @tweetbeinghuman for your generous contribution towards the daily wage workers. You are always one step ahead of everybody when it comes to helping people and you have proved that yet again, Siddique tweeted. Siddique also shared a few pictures of a godown and trucks filled with food supplies.

Earlier, Salman had extended financial support for 25,000 daily wage workers of the film industry amid the Covid-19 lockdown.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
David Gomoh, 24, was stabbed to death (Picture: PA)

Police have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of the murder of a young NHS worker.

David Gomoh, 24, was stabbed to death in Newham, east London, on 26 April.

He was killed just days before the funeral of his father, who died of a coronavirus-related illness.

A 19-year-old man was arrested in Stratford, east London, on Friday, and another aged 17 was detained at an address in Telford, Shropshire, on Saturday morning.

Both remain in custody.

Police want to speak to anyone who remembers seeing this car (Picture: Police)

The attack took place in Freemasons Road, Newham, near Gomohs home at around 10.25pm.

The Metropolitan Police said he was on the phone to a female friend when he was attacked and had not been involved in an argument.

The Southbank University marketing graduate was a health service key worker, helping to keep NHS staff supplied with equipment.

His mother is a nurse.

Detective Inspector Tony Kirk said: Davids family are going through unimaginable torment.

Within days his mother has seen the death of her husband and son, his sister has lost her father and brother.

Both are heartbroken.

Crediting Gomohs hard work at university and in the NHS, Mr Kirk added: At this time we believe the only thing David did to be murdered was walk down the street.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

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Police believe those involved left the scene in a stolen silver Dodge Caliber that was abandoned at about 10.30pm in Lincoln Road, east London, after driving through the no entry sign from Cumberland Road.

This car had been stolen in Dagenham on 16 April and was on cloned plates when it was recovered.

It is distinctive as it has a temporary wheel on the front passenger side.

Police want to speak to anyone who was in the area or anyone who remembers seeing this car, whether before or after the attack.

In particular, anyone who has dash-cam footage, or CCTV of the area around where the car was dumped, should contact detectives.

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Lucknow, May 2 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the patience of a person is his greatest friend in the disaster. So follow the lockdown with patience, it will be beneficial for the country, he said.

On Friday, the Chief Minister was interacting with migrant workers through video-conferencing. These workers have returned to UP from other states. During the interaction, Adityanath congratulated them on Labour Day and said that when there is no cure for the disease, prevention becomes the only cure. The same is the case with Coronavirus. Many effective steps have been taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to control the spread of the virus, which has yielded positive results. So follow the lockdown with patience, he said.

The Chief Minister said that the country has been successful in preventing the spread of corona infection. He said that the biggest impact of the lockdown has been on the workers, labourers and daily wage earners, in view of which Modi announced the 'Prime Minister Poor Welfare Package' which will benefit the poor all across the country.

Adityanath said that the government is bringing back the migrant workers and those who are working in other states will be brought back in a phased manner. Under this, more than 4 lakh people have been brought so far from Delhi, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

Durjan Singh, a labourer from Jhansi, said, "we have received both aid and food grains. Thank you for helping us in such crisis situation".

Amar Kesh Sharma of Barabanki, who works as a mason, said, "we have been seeing till now that the police used to bring warrants to the village, but under your rule the police is bringing food and medicines, now the Ramrajya has come."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo has on the occasion of 2020 May Day Celebration, congratulated Ghanaian workers for their immense contribution in transforming Ghana.



In a Facebook post, Nana Addo said: This years May Day celebration unfortunately, is a muted one because of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which is affecting all the nations of the world.



As government and as social partners, it is our collective responsibility to chart our own course out of this pandemic onto a path of sustained growth, progress, and prosperity, portion of his statement read.



The President also called on all working people to unite and maintain discipline and self-discipline to fight against the corovirus pandemic.



The Trades Union Congress (TUC) of Ghana cancelled the 2020 edition of the May Day celebration parades and outdoor activities in compliance with the ban on public gatherings in the country as part of measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.



It urged all workers to stay at home on May Day and continue to comply with all the relevant safety and preventive protocols in the fight against Coronavirus.



Meanwhile, the celebration is being marked with a programme under the

Theme: COVID-19 in Ghana: Impact on Employment and Working Conditions.



The President is the Guest of Honour at the programme, which will be addressed by the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah.



More than 3.3 million people have been infected worldwide by the new Coronavirus since December 2019, when the virus was reported in Wuhan China. It has also killed more than 230,000.



Ghana has since Thursday, March 12 recorded 2,074 cases with 17 deaths. There have, however, been 212 recoveries.



COVID-19 has disrupted socio-economic activities, resulting in the collapse of businesses and the loss of millions of jobs worldwide.





Source: peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Reverend Richard Coles today invoked the Queen's 'we will meet again' message as he read out a touching tribute to his sister-in-law after her death from coronavirus.

The musician and ex-Strictly Come Dancing star emphasised the strength of love and the importance of social distancing as he spoke openly about the tragic death of Louise Coles, who was married to his brother Andy.

The former teacher and Conservative councillor at Peterborough City Council, 58, died in hospital on Wednesday after contracting Covid-19.

She had been receiving treatment for cancer after being diagnosed earlier this year, Reverend Coles told BBC Radio Four.

In a special piece for the Today programme he said: 'She (Louise) felt unwell over Christmas, a doggedly persistent winter cold she thought, but it was cancer.

Reverend Richard Coles today invoked the Queen's 'we will meet again' message as he read out a touching tribute to his sister-in-law Louise Coles after her death from coronavirus

Reverend Coles ended his touching tribute to sister-in-law Louise on Radio Four today with the words 'we'll meet again'. The Queen ended her address to the nation last month with the same quote, echoing the words of a Vera Lynn wartime song

'So aggressive was her treatment it left her unprotected. In spite of the most meticulous efforts to shield her from the virus, it breached her defences.'

He continued: 'Louise and Andy had planned how this would go. They knew once she was admitted they could not be together but they were inseparable having found in one another the unequalled compliment a lifetime search that viruses can't touch.

'Love is as strong as death and cannot be quenched.

In an emotional finish, which mirrored the Queen's address to the nation last month, he added: 'We'll meet again.'

Earlier in the piece, Reverend Coles had explained how Louise had retired from her role of head of sixth form at a school which she had taught French at for 17 years.

He said the mother-of-one had previously lived in Egypt and had returned to Britain and was, until recently, was volunteering for the Red Cross as an Arabic speaker helping Syrian Refugees to settle in the UK.

Reverend Coles referenced tributes from former pupils on Twitter, as well as from those she had helped during her volunteering.

During the piece, he also urged the public to continue to observe the government's social distancing rules.

He added: 'There is nothing more dangerous than complacency.'

Earlier this week, Reverend Coles posted a picture on social media of Louise with his late partner Reverend David Coles, who tragically passed away four months ago during an operation for internal bleeding as a result of an underlying health condition.

Reverend Coles had previously tweeted a picture of Louise with his partner David, who died in December

Louise was the wife of Reverand Cole's brother Andy, who replied to his tribute tweet earlier this week

He wrote: 'My lovely sister in law @lozaamandine died this afternoon with COVID19.

'She made lots of people very happy, not least @RevDavidColes , with whom she went on extravagant and unauthorised expeditions to her beloved North Africa. RIP, darling woman.'

Richard's older brother and Louise's husband, Andy, also a Conservative councillor for Fletton and Woodston, paid tribute on his own account.

He added in a statement posted to LinkedIn that Louise had just finished a course of radiotherapy for a brain tumour and he was shocked she had caught COVID-19 due to their careful isolating during the pandemic.

Sharing a photo of the two of them together, he tweeted: 'I am very sorry to have to report the death of my wife Louise this afternoon.

'She had been unwell for some time with cancer, but caught coronavirus even while shielding. Thankfully we had time to prepare, but this was too soon.'

He added in a statement posted to LinkedIn: 'I'm sorry to say my beloved wife Louise died yesterday in a coronavirus ward at Peterborough City Hospital.

'She has just completed a course of radiotherapy on a brain tumour and we were hoping to have more time together.

'But two days after admission with breathing problems she was gone. Thank you to the amazing NHS staff on ward B12 for doing all they could to treat her.

'We had been shielding so carefully it was a shock to learn that the virus had infected her - who knows how, but possibly during our last trip to hospital for radiotherapy. I'm still symptomless but imagine I'm going to be unwell soon.

'This virus is so easy to catch and it is so difficult to know when you get exposed. If you know of someone who has an underlying condition, please be aware that they are so vulnerable and make allowances.'

In December, Richard announced that his partner David had passed away aged 42 having been 'ill for a while'.

Richard, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, entered into a civil partnership with David after the Church of England allowed it in 2005

His death had been unexpected and he died from an operation for internal bleeding as a result of an underlying health condition. He never returned home after being rushed to hospital.

Richard, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, entered into a civil partnership with David after the Church of England allowed it in 2005 - but they were celibate.

The couple lived together with their dogs Daisy, Pongo, Audrey and Horatio in the vicarage of St Mary's in Finedon, Northamptonshire.

In his previous life Richard had been the instrumentalist half of the Eighties pop duo The Communards with Jimmy Sommerville, who had a Number One single Don't Leave Me This Way, and a number of other hits which made him millions.
HUNDREDS of face masks have been donated to care homes in Henley by a businessman and the towns Deputy Mayor.

David Rodger-Sharp, who runs the jewellers of the same name in Duke Street, has given 250 masks to the Chilterns Court Care Centre, off York Road.

Councillor David Eggleton has donated 150 masks each to the home and to the Thamesfield nursing home, off Wargrave Road, and Acacia Lodge, in Quebec Road, along with hand sanitiser and gloves.

Mr Rodger-Sharp has given another 50 masks to the food bank run by youth and community project Nomad, which is based at the d:two centre in Upper Market Place.

He says this should give peace of mind to the staff and those collecting or receiving food packages.

Mr Rodger-Sharp, who opened his shop about 18 months ago, said: Ive been welcomed into the community massively so this is really about giving something back. Its just a nice thing to do.

Im in the fortunate position of working with international clients, so Im able to source things globally and I know theres a huge shortage.

I imagine most of the people in the care home have children who must desperately worry about their parents. Also the fact they cant see them now because of self-isolation must be very tough.

It must be tough for the staff going to work, especially if youre relatively low paid and have the added stress of not having protective equipment.

Joanna Wojcicka, manager of Chilterns Court, said: We have got PPE but with the current situation were going through it.

Its very nice that people are thinking about us and the staff members and ensuring they and our residents are safe.

Last month, Mr Rodger-Sharp donated 100 face masks and 100 pairs of sterile gloves to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

He bought 300 masks in February, soon after Britains first cases of patients suffering from coronavirus were confirmed.

He usually uses the masks when piercing customers ears to help prevent the spread of germs.

Mr Rodger-Sharp said: When I donated masks to the Royal Berks I was talking to the nurses and they were telling stories about how they cant go home and hug their children.

Were hearing about the shortage of personal protective equipment all the time. There is obviously a problem and I dont think this is necessarily anything to do with the Government, but with supply and demand.

Theres a huge problem with demand globally and if I have an opportunity to buy them I will.

Im not buying and trying to resell them, I simply want to do a good deed. Mr Rodger-Sharp also gave 50 masks to Henley Town Council and another 100 to his customers before the Government ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses to contain the spread of covid-19.

Councillor Eggleton, who runs a house clearance business and usually uses masks for work, said: The opportunity came up to purchase a few more and when I got those I checked to see if the homes needed them and they were running short.

Whatever Ive had and been able to get hold of Ive been giving out to people on the frontline and at risk. Im supporting anybody that needs it because they are doing an amazing job.

He has also given masks to other key and frontline workers, such as postal and supermarket staff, and donated 100 masks to staff at Boots the chemist in Bell Street.

Both men offered the masks to Townlands Memorial Hospital in Henley but were told it had enough.

If you need masks or other protective equipment, call Cllr Eggleton on 07836 202508.
Technavio has been monitoring the organic honey market and it is poised to grow by USD 611.1 mn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 10% 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/20200501005058/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Organic Honey Market 2020-2024 (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. Comvita Ltd., Dutch Gold Honey, Langnese Honig GmbH Co., Little Bee Impex, Madhava Honey Ltd., Manuka Health New Zealand, Nature Nate's, Rowse Honey Ltd., Wedderspoon Organic Inc., and Y.S. Organic Bee Farms 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.

New product launches has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Organic Honey Market 2020-2024: Segmentation

Organic Honey Market is segmented as below:

Distribution Channel Offline Online

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR40098

Organic Honey Market 2020-2024: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our organic honey market report covers the following areas:

Organic Honey Market Size

Organic Honey Market Trends

Organic Honey Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies the increase in the import of natural honey as one of the prime reasons driving the organic honey market growth during the next few years.

Organic Honey Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the organic honey market, including some of the vendors such as Comvita Ltd., Dutch Gold Honey, Langnese Honig GmbH Co., Little Bee Impex, Madhava Honey Ltd., Manuka Health New Zealand, Nature Nate's, Rowse Honey Ltd., Wedderspoon Organic Inc., and Y.S. Organic Bee Farms. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the organic honey market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Organic Honey Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist organic honey market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the organic honey market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the organic honey market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of organic honey 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

Value chain

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2019

Market outlook

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Market segmentation by distribution channel

Comparison by distribution channel

Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by distribution channel

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Rising imports of natural honey

Increase in number of private label products

Growth in online retailing globally

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Comvita Ltd.

Dutch Gold Honey

Langnese Honig GmbH Co. KG

Little Bee Impex

Madhava Honey Ltd.

Manuka Health New Zealand

Nature Nate's

Rowse Honey Ltd.

Wedderspoon Organic, Inc.

Y.S. Organic Bee Farms

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:24:22|Editor: huaxia

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ACCRA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced 95 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,169 in the country.

GHS said 88 percent of the confirmed cases have no clear travel history, adding that the country has recorded 229 recoveries, with 18 deaths.

Despite having lifted a partial lockdown, Ghana has extended the closure of all entry points till the end of this month to further curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's ban on public gatherings is still effective, while face masks in public places remain mandatory. Enditem
AIB data has revealed the spending habits of Irish consumers since Covid-19 started to impact the country at the beginning of March.

The data has been compiled from over one million transactions between 8th March and 11th April and has been anonymised and aggregated.

On 12th March when schools closed and people were asked to work from home, grocery spend nationally was 60% higher compared with the previous Thursday as people rushed to buy necessities.

On Thursday 12th March when An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that schools would close and that people should work from home where possible, Irish consumers rushed to buy necessities as spending was 17% higher than a normal weekday, and 20% higher when compared with the previous Thursday.

Friday 13th March saw consumers spending 4% more than normal as panic buying seemed to subside quickly.

Every day after 13th March has seen a significant drop in spending, with St Patricks Day recording a 47% drop in average spending  the lowest of any day since the crisis started.

Over 65s have recorded the biggest drop in spending as they adhere to government advice, with spending down 27% among this age group.

Spending by those under 25 recorded a drop of 21%, while those between the ages of 35-44 recorded a drop of 13%, the smallest decline of any age group.

Dublin customers recorded the biggest drop in spending (21%), while the surrounding counties followed closely. Meath and Kildare both experienced a drop of 19% with Wicklow falling 18% below the usual levels. Donegal recorded the lowest drop in spending at just 12%.

Since a lot of stores were required to close as a result of Covid-19, Irish consumers have started to spend more online, with online clothing retailers performing strongly.

The biggest online spending increase on a single day was on Friday 10th April, Good Friday, when consumers spent 107% more than normal on clothing.

Cork (+139%), Louth (+137%) and Westmeath (+135%) recorded the highest increase in online clothing spend on this day, while spend on clothing from those in Dublin was 92% above normal.

This increase in clothing spend on this day was largely driven by under 25s as they spent 249% more than normal. Meanwhile, those over the age of 65 spent 37% more than usual buying clothes online on the same day.

In addition to being the busiest day for overall spending, 12th March was also the busiest day for grocery spend, with spend on this day alone 20% higher than the average spend during Christmas week 2019.

On average consumers spent 76 per grocery store transaction on this day, 60% higher than the previous Thursday, when the average transaction average was 48.

On average, consumers are now spending 30% more on groceries since Covid-19 started to impact Ireland. Those between the ages of 45 and 54 are spending 38% more than normal, more than any other age group.

Meanwhile, those between 25 and 34 are spending an average of 36% more. Over 65s have recorded the smallest increase in grocery spend, up 3.4% on normal levels.

This is consistent right across the country, with grocery spend up evenly across all counties. Spend is up 36% on Dublin consumers, while those in Donegal are spending 35% more on groceries.

However, spend in general is down overall.

Speaking about the data, Fergal Coburn, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer at AIB said: "The Covid-19 crisis has dramatically impacted the lives of Irish consumers and our data shows how consumers are responding to these changes in their spending habits.

"It also provides valuable insight for Irish businesses who are trying to adapt to this exceptionally challenging situation.

"The data also reflects the reality of the situation, with grocery stores being one of the remaining retail outlets open, seeing a 30% increase in the average transaction.

"It also reveals the biggest drop off in spending overall has been by those over 65 as they listen to the governments advice and stay indoors.

"These insights reflect behavioural changes as consumers switch to using their cards to pay for more goods and services.

"As Ireland most digitally enabled bank, AIB offers consumers a variety of solutions to support this, including a range of digital wallet options and Irelands number one banking app."
Valerie Riley, owner of LifeSquire, a company with 22 employees based in Oklahoma City, got $140,000 in loan funding through the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program. Valerie Riley

A forgivable loan program that re-opened for small businesses this week has proven much less chaotic than the initial round, according to some business owners who were successful in getting funding. "It was like night and day," said Valerie Riley, the owner of LifeSquire, based in Oklahoma City. Riley, whose assistant-services company has 22 employees, was shut out of the initial $349 billion of funding offered through the Paycheck Protection Program, created by the coronavirus relief law enacted in March.

She was stymied by weeks of delays and ill communication on the part of her accountant and the third-party loan preparation firm he had used  only to find out her application hadn't even been submitted to a bank for processing by the time the money ran out. "We had a horrible first-round experience," Riley said. Riley handled the application process herself in the second round and secured $140,000 within a day of applying at Watermark Bank, a local lender.

Judy Gatena, the CEO of REP Digital, based in Nashville, Tennessee, secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan in the second funding round. Pictured: Gatena (third from the right), REP Digital employees and clients from Raymond Corp. Judy Gatena

For business owners who've secured funding, the PPP has proven to be a financial lifeline to combat the economic contagion spreading across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. The Covid-19 health crisis has pushed states nationwide to shutter non-essential businesses and has reduced foot traffic to others amid stay-at-home orders. The program offers up to $10 million in low-interest loans to businesses with 500 or fewer employees. The loans may be forgiven given certain conditions, like using the bulk of funds toward payroll costs.

You can't imagine what the last six weeks have been like. You go from thinking, 'I have a future' to 'I don't have a future' to 'I have a future.'" Ivo Bottcher-Yu co-founder of U.S. Park Pass

In a sign of just how urgent business owners' needs are, the program's initial funding ran out within two weeks. It subsequently received an additional $310 billion infusion, for which applications opened Monday. "It was an emotional roller coaster," said Judy Gatena, CEO of REP Digital, a video-production company based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has six employees. Gatena received a loan through Studio Bank, a local lender, during the second round of funding after failing the first time through Bank of America. She declined to disclose the loan amount.

Ivo Bottcher-Yu, co-founder of U.S. Park Pass, based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Ivo Bottcher-Yu

No one knew exactly what was needed, he added. "We talked to our accountants," Bottcher-Yu said. "They didn't know." With the updated documentation, Chase submitted the business' second-round application on Monday to the Small Business Administration and the funds  less than $50,000  were in hand the following day, Bottcher-Yu said. "You can't imagine what the last six weeks have been like," he said. "You go from thinking, 'I have a future' to 'I don't have a future' to 'I have a future.'" Some business owners adopted strategies to increase the odds of success in the second round.

A common tactic saw entrepreneurs diversify applications among several lenders to increase their odds of success, according to Brooke Lively, president and founder of Cathedral Capital, which serves as a chief financial officer for small businesses. Jenny Bradley, owner of law firm Triangle Smart Divorce, based in Cary, North Carolina, applied with three lenders in the second round: Kabbage, Lendio and Fountainhead Commercial Capital, the lender with which she'd applied in the first round.

Jenny Bradley, owner of law firm Triangle Smart Divorce, based in Cary, North Carolina. Jenny Bradley
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Former top officials and staff members in Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaign announced Tuesday that they are launching a new super PAC, Future to Believe In, to direct resources to electing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Specifically, the new political action committee is aimed at winning young voters of all races, very liberal voters, blue collar progressives, and Latino voters to the Biden campaign.

Leading the effort is Jeff Weaver, who served as Sanders campaign manager in 2016 and as a top adviser in 2020. Other top Sanders officials involved in the endeavor include Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser for Latino outreach, Tim Tagaris, who oversaw digital strategy and fund-raising, and Shelli Jackson, a California strategist for the campaign.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden during Democratic primary debate in South Carolina [Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky]

The PAC is not officially associated with Sanders or his campaign. However, the indirect connection could hardly be more overt. The name of the PAC, Future to Believe In is a long-standing slogan of the Sanders campaign and is cribbed from the title of Sanders 2016 book Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In.

Official association with the PAC would be damaging to whatever remains of Sanders progressive image. For years one of Sanders major campaign talking points has been opposition to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations for candidates. But Sanders has been silent on the creation of the Future to Believe In PAC, declining to comment to the bourgeois press.

In an interview on Tuesday, Weaver said that Sanders is not supportive of super PACs and is not supportive of this super PAC. He added that Sanders would prefer we had not done it through a super PAC. In other words, Sanders is fine with pulling out all the stops for the Biden campaign, however he would prefer that the effort be carried out in a manner that does not so blatantly expose him and his campaign for the fraud that they are.

The formation of the super PAC is revealing, though not surprising. The move further confirms the analysis made by the World Socialist Web Site at the outset of the first Sanders presidential bid in 2015, that his campaign was aimed at channeling the leftward movement of workers and youth back behind the Democratic Party.

Sanders aides, who are for the most part long-time Democratic Party operatives, are now utilizing the Sanders machine to help fund the Biden campaign under the left cover of the Sanders campaign name.

For his part, Sanders has spent the three weeks since formally ending his campaign dragooning his supporters into voting for Biden. This included an interview with the Associated Press in which he slandered as irresponsible any of his supporters who did not themselves campaign for Biden.

To justify support for Biden, the Sanders campaign and the various organizations in its orbit have echoed the usual Democratic Party electoral platitudes: that one must vote for Biden because he is the lesser of two evils, and that Sanders role in supporting Biden is to push him to the left.

Explaining the move to form the PAC, Weaver said he felt it was the most efficient way for the Sanders movement to lock in some of the gains progressives have made by electing Biden and ousting President Trump. He went on to say that Sanders success in elevating progressive issues in the national conversation wont mean anything if we dont elect the candidates we have pushed, and continue to push, to be more progressive.

Since ending his campaign, however, Sanders has not issued a single demand to the Biden campaign and did not make a single criticism of him in his official endorsement. In fact, the two campaigns have recently come to a friendly agreement that will allow Sanders to keep hundreds of delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer. The friendly relationship is just the latest move aimed at promoting Democratic Party unity.

A memo released jointly by the campaigns underscores the amiable relationship. It states: Our campaigns are grateful for the unity and spirit of collaboration within the Democratic Party as we look to defeat Donald Trump and establish a government by and for the American people.

The illusion that Biden, and more fundamentally the Democratic Party as a whole, can be pressured to the left is belied by the facts. In virtually every election cycle, the end result of such arguments is the nomination of the most right-wing of the major contestants for the Democratic nomination. The 2020 election is no exception.

Biden, who repeatedly attacked Sanders during the primaries for his extreme position on health care, complaining that Sanders Medicare for All proposal would cost trillions of dollars, has given every indication that he intends to run a conservative campaign, and, if elected, head up a right-wing national unity administration.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden has declared his full support for the back to work drive, publishing an op-ed piece in the New York Times last month under the headline My Plan to Safely Reopen America. Along with the entire Democratic Party, including Sanders, he has backed the massive bailout of corporations and Wall Street, which far surpasses what was done in the 2008 crisis.

On foreign policy, his campaign recently ran a series of campaign advertisements attacking Trump for being too soft on China.

On Thursday, Bidens campaign announced the co-chairs of its vice presidential selection committee. All of those named are conventional establishment Democrats. There are no sops to the so-called progressive wing of the Democratic Party. The committee includes right-wing figures such as former Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Cynthia C. Hogan, a former White House and Senate counsel to Biden.

Biden has said he might announce cabinet positions prior to the election in November. Raising the possibility of a bipartisan cabinet, he told donors Wednesday that he would not place any limitation on if someone were a Republican, if theyre the best qualified person.

Such is the outcome of Sanders mythical political revolution.

The argument that the Democratic Party can be reformed ignores the history and class character of this partythe oldest existing capitalist party in the world. It ignores in particular the fact that the Democratic Partys policies of austerity and war, embodied in its 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, resulted in the election of Trump in first place.

During two full terms in office, Barack Obama, with none other than Joe Biden at his side, presided over unending war, a historic transfer of wealth to the ruling class, and the continued erosion of the living standards of the vast majority of the population. All this from a president who campaigned on the slogan of hope and change.

Many workers and youth are once again disgusted by the options presented to them in the 2020 electiona choice between Trump and Biden, or some other reactionary Democrat. Millions who had supported Sanders because they were looking for a radical change are disgusted with the role that he is playing, all the more so under conditions where the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the rot of capitalism and the unbridgeable chasm that separates the interests of the working classthe vast majority of the populationand those of the corporate-financial aristocracy.

It is critical that youth and workers draw the necessary conclusions from these experiences.

Sanders is not the spokesman of the political radicalization of workers and youth and the growing opposition to capitalism. His role is and has always been to contain this opposition within the framework of capitalist politics.

Not a single step forward can be taken in the struggle against capitalism and the fight to defend jobs, living standards and democratic rights without establishing the political independence of the working class from all the corporate-controlled parties.

This is the perspective for which the Socialist Equality Party and is candidates for president and vice presidentJoseph Kishore and Norissa Santa Cruz--are fighting in the 2020 elections. We call on all workers and young people to join this campaign and support this fight.

To support and get involved in the SEP election campaign, visit socialism2020.org.
Governor Andrew Cuomo may be America's most popular politician thanks to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic battering New York.

Cuomo's ratings have surged to 77 percent favorability among voters in hard-hit New York with 71 percent approving of his job in the state overall, according to a new Siena College poll released last week.

The 62-year-old Democrat's daily press conferences, micromanagement style, candor in expressing what he knows and doesn't know about the virus, and perhaps even his criticism of the Trump administration have led his approval ratings to soar and cemented his status as one of America's favorite politicians.

Those asked who they trusted more to make the right decision about when to open New York voted 78 percent in favor of Cuomo and just 16 percent in favor of Trump.

Before the virus, only one in three New Yorkers thought Cuomo was doing a good job in office. Now seven in 10 New Yorkers approve of his work at the helm.

Governor Andrew Cuomo may be America's most popular politician as his favorability rating surges to 77 percent and job approval rating to 71 percent thanks to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in hard-hit New York. Pictured above at the daily coronavirus press conference on Saturday

Cuomo's ratings today are his highest since February 2011. Cuomo had a 77 percent favorability rate among New Yorkers with 21 percent finding him unfavorable according to this Siena College Poll conducted April 19 to 23 among 803 voters

Cuomo's ratings today are his highest since February 2011.

Cuomo, who has served as the 56th governor of New York since 2011, has culled stunning bipartisan support in the poll with 90 percent of Democrats, a staggering 53 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of Independents viewing him favorable.

Its a major jump in the polls for Cuomo who suffered low job approval ratings as recently as February with just 36 percent favorability.

'Mired in middling poll numbers for the last two years, Cuomo is feeling the love from New Yorkers of all stripes in year three of his third term, and his first global pandemic, ' Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.

Greenberg noted this is Cuomo's first time being favorable with Republicans in more than six years.

The poll was conducted April 19-23 among 803 New York State registered voters.

Today New York continues to be the epicenter of the outbreak in the US with over 312,000 infections and over 18,900 fatalities.

While there are over one million COVID-19 cases are recorded in the country, the trend in New York shows that the number of new hospitalizations and infections is slowing.

Governor Andrew Cuomo observes disinfectant cleaning on subway cars and delivers daily briefing on the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic on Saturday May 2

Cuomo pictured in a mask visiting the Northwell Health Core Lab in New Hude Park, New York. Cuomo's ratings today are his highest since February 2011

Furthermore the poll found that 92 percent of New Yorkers approve of wearing facemasks in public and 87 percent support his New York State 'On Pause' Executive Order.

The poll also reported that half of New Yorkers know someone with coronavirus and one-third of New Yorkers know someone who has died from COVID-19.

Cuomos impressive turnaround has surpassed that of George W. Bush who prior to the 9/11 terror attacks on September 7-10, 2001 had a job approval rating of 51 percent but by September 21-22, 2001, his score soared to 90 percent, according to a Gallup poll.

When asked, Cuomo insists he isnt thinking about poll numbers and approval ratings as he tackles the virus.

Even President Donald Trump has noticed and has boasted that his administration's help has boosted Cuomo's numbers.

'So I mean, one of the things -- and I think (Cuomo would) admit this -- one of the reasons he's been successful, if I said, "No, we're not giving you four hospitals and we're not giving you four medical centers and we're not sending you a ship" then he's got to, and we didn't give them thousands of ventilators, by the way, and millions of masks, because we've sent them a lot of stuff...Well, one of the reasons he's successful is because we've helped make him successful,' the president said on Fox & Friends on Monday.
New Delhi, May 2 : In an unprecedented battle against the novel Coronavirus, India enters its third phase of Lockdown 3.0.

One needs to be able to sift the grain from the chaff in the volume of rhetoric and despair surrounding the current COVID-19 scenario, which has declared the market slow-moving or outright stagnant. STIMULUS 2020, a first of its kind webinar aimed to do just that while bringing together 70 industry experts who have dealt with similar cards before. The aim was to connect with strategists, business owners and executives in order to canvas possibilities and new ideas in media, luxury, lifestyle, leadership and other industries, organised by The Global Luxury Group, Crosshairs Communications (PR Partner) & WIN (Women Inspiring Network - Content Partner), IANSlife spoke to Stuti Jalan, an award-winning entrepreneur who is internationally recognised as an emerging woman leader and Founder Women Inspiring Network & Crosshairs Communication, for her take on how young entrepreneurs can navigate through these tough times.

Image Source: IANS News

Q. In a post COVID-19 era do you think startups will flourish or find it tougher than ever before? Jalan: COVID-19 has shown us the fury of nature when over-exploited. It has also shown us the resilience of the humankind when faced with extraordinary adversity. I recently founded WIN - Women Inspiring Network that is powering up women with information and builds networks and creates ecosystems for them thrive lead & create.

With the lockdown I witnessed & we ourselves started promoting clients digitally as the digital landscape is constantly emerging as one of the major communication platforms for all as our core business is PR & social media. In every adversity there is an opportunity and if we put our mind to it we can overcome it. Conceptualising this digital conference has inspired and motivated me in more ways than one. It made me look at our business differently.

It will help us all to think differently positively and ... enable us to relook at things, maybe how can we can all work differently. Post Covid will be a level playing field as all businesses world over impacted the key is to be positive, persevere and reset ourselves.

Q. Will start-ups and one or two-year old companies find it difficult to get back on their feet after this hiatus and slowdown, especially when competing with large organised businesses? Jalan: From our business point of view - The COVID-19 crisis has taught us that everything needs to be digitized, I also feel it is the time for brand building and strengthening bonds with brands. This is what people will remember. However, we should not exploit the situation and be ethical.

Undoubtedly the newly initiated start ups will find it hard to sustain in the market and for newcomers it will take both patience, perseverance and it can be perfect time to re-strategise and relook at how businesses were done. Start ups are known to create energies with a determination to be innovative. So, this is the time for everybody to think and redefine new ideas, revoke and develop the thought process by understanding the circumstances analytically. Disruption innovation is the key.

Q. Do you think more women will venture from their homes and look for careers after being faced with the reality of mortality. Many may want to now live life to the fullest? Jalan: Yes definitely. For instance Women Inspiring Network is a content platform dedicated to helping aspiring women leaders fulfill their potential. Our aim is to build content and communities to inform and inspire.

In quarantine women are promoting their talents on social media platforms and some very interesting skills at that; and am sure post lockdown they will be coming out of their homes in order to pursue their dreams. Just today on our platform we had a request someone wanted to do a talk for responsible gaming inIndia and first lady poker in India. She has been bestowed with presidents award for her contribution in the gaming sphere. The reason for the above example is I see more women going for unconventional professions.

I did read some study that women are doing Work from Home but r there is gender gap in household work - women's contribution is more on household chores. There has to be balance. I have been part of many women forums globally and many studies estimate that a higher participation of women in the workforce, raising the number of hours spent by them on the job, and including them in higher-productivity sectors will help spur such economic growth.

Q. Do you think leaders will focus on sustainability or will go back to their pre COVID-19 ways? Jalan: After witnessing the current situation it becomes important not only for the leaders but for everyone to take environment into consideration. Sustaining our resources by not exploiting them to an extent is need of the hour.

I am a certified scuba diver and have seen what has happened to oceans world over in recent years. With social media and awareness playing a role during the Covid 19 am sure majority of the people and not just leaders will pay heed now to climate change. Earlier there were talks but this time people have witnessed the impact and am sure we will see change.

One important thing is the business of going back to the basics. We talk about Climate Change and Global Warming but finally we've been forced to come back to basics. Having been forced, has resulted in birds being spotted in urban cities, we can see the stars, the Himalayas can be spotted from Punjab and in Delhi we can finally breathe.

Sustainability will have a larger role to play in the long run. The consumer becoming aware has led to a rise in conscious buying, which is why organic and sustainable products are gradually becoming the highlight of the day. Also re-used, pre-owned and rented items will also find a new segment of consumers and avenues being opened up is another trend in brands I forsee.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Neha Kirpal

Before doctoral scholar Preeti Das and entrepreneur Shefali Pandey met, Preeti had already been doing standup comedy for six years. She was annoyed that for every male problem there was a corresponding joke but womens problems didnt get the same attention. And, as someone who follows comedy in both the US and India, Shefali felt there were at least some female comedy voices in the West  even it was just women being women, bitching about their dates, their boyfriends  the funny women scene was really missing in India around 2017.

We wanted to just put our word out there and make people laugh on our topics  whether it was porn, masturbation, pregnancy, motherhood, sanitary napkins or mammograms, says Shefali. Thus, the comedy collective Mahila Manch was born in their hometown Ahmedabad.

They began by hosting a monthly event humourously titled The Period Show. For the first show, one of the guest speakers was a transwoman who joked about her experiences at security checks and how she got pulled into the mens lines all the time.

Since then, they have covered various controversial subjects such as LGBTQ, rape, #MeToo, female sexuality and body shaming, which often gets them into trouble. Similar things have been done before by several male comedians, but they dont get a similar backlash from well-meaning middle-aged uncles. But because we are women, we often get the comment about this being a family show, explains Shefali, 35, who lived in New York and Mumbai before she moved to Ahmedabad where she runs a digital agency.

One of the most memorable reactions they have got to their political and personal views was in January 2020 at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters in Kerala. Preeti and Shefali had gone along with fellow comedian, Wasim. While Wasim talked a lot about his Muslim identity in Ahmedabad, 39-year-old Preeti talked about being a journalist and being a Bengali in Ahmedabad, and Shefali talked about politics because her family is a big supporter of the current government, while she is not. The reaction they got from the audiences there was brilliant, they say. About 200 people attended their shows, comprising mostly authors and litterateurs who cheered almost everything they talked about  identity, gender, caste. Post the show, they were treated like stars, they laugh.

Shefali feels that women standup comedians in India like herself are pushing the boundaries and finally making their voices heard. When you see someone with an open mind getting on stage or the big screen and talking about things  owning their feelings, their bodies, their sexuality and their lives  it definitely encourages others, she says. Comedy used to be a boys club earlier, but the stereotype that women are not as funny as men is slowly changing. A woman had to be either fat or a mimic (think Tuntun!) to be a comedian. Thankfully, we no longer have to rely on our physicality or how we appear in order to be funny. We can also be comics because of our intellect, wit and ability to control minds with our words, she adds.

Shefali has a problem with the portrayal of empowered women in pop culture: their strength is described with labels such as activist, career woman or even bitchy. A girl or a woman should be seen as a whole, without having to be an Alpha type or a housewife, just like men are allowed to be themselves. There cant be just two or three stereotypes for women, she says.

Needless to say, the group finds its inspiration in laughter. Being on stage is power, with everyone focused on you. The 150 or 200 people in the audience are there to listen to you, she adds. Of the 10 times you get on stage, twice you bomb. But the eight times that the audience is with you, it is difficult to replicate. Its a high that pulls you back again and again, she says.

They admit they also go on stage to speak their truth. If I was telling my truth in any other way apart from comedy, I dont think I would get through to as many people as effectively. You get away with saying what you want to say while also making people laugh. In that sense, people are more receptive to what you have to say, and it stays with them longer, she explains. Further, the group is driven by the excitement to see what will work or not whenever they write something new.

The going is not always easy. Shefali recalls that once in a Karol Bagh street in Delhi, she was asked to get off the stage by a bouncer, because one of her jokes was a satire on the current government. Ive become more careful now, so I dont do political jokes when not close to home, she says. While there have been stray incidents of criticism and even harassment, they have not been heckled while on stage. By and large, people have been supportive at least in Ahmedabad, where most of the audience comprises their friends and friends of friends.

Finally, Mahila Manch believes that comedy makes one more open as a society in a way that merely speaking or writing ones opinion cannot. You start with a joke, do another joke, slip in a message somewhere in between, and again end with a joke, says Shefali of their tried-and-tested formula. The group also feels that comedy has a lot of scope for influencing minds. Several comedians are now calling truth to power through the medium of comedy  its charging up people and aligning them with the cause, she concludes.
England's deputy Chief Medical Officer has said that recovered coronavirus patients appear to have Covid-specific antibodies for months.

Dr Jenny Harries said a 'very large percentage of patients who have otherwise been pretty well do actually have a pretty good response'.

The senior Government medical adviser also said there were 'some signs' that younger children are potentially less likely to transmit coronavirus.

Speaking at the No10 coronavirus press conference tonight, Dr Harries said: 'I think we are also starting to see with some very small pieces of evidence now from people in this country who have had Covid-19 and who have tested positive.

Dr Jenny Harries (pictured) said a 'very large percentage of patients who have otherwise been pretty well do actually have a pretty good response' at the No10 press conference

England's deputy Chief Medical Officer made the announcement after the Department of Health and Social Care revealed another 621 Covid-associated deaths have been recorded

'We have looked for their antibodies, and a very large percentage of patients who have otherwise been pretty well do actually have a pretty good response.

'How long that is going to last and whether it is going to provide an antibody response say for one season or two-three year ahead, we don't know.'

Antibodies are produced by the immune system in response to infection, and when someone possesses them they have immunity to the virus.

She said signs of immunity could vary from patient to patient, but doctors would expect people to have some immunity about a week and a half after being ill.

Dr Harries explained: 'We know that some people will have different status.

'We would normally expect to see some sign of immunity about 10-12 days after an infection, and then a very consistent pattern about 28 days.'

Dr Harries has raised hopes of a vaccine (pictured, scientists are seen working at Cobra Biologics on a potential vaccine for Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus)

Could coronavirus death toll be more like 45,000? Statistician estimates real figure could be almost double Governments The number of people in Britain who have died because of Covid-19 so far could be as high as 45,000, a data expert has today warned. Statistician Jamie Jenkins says the figure reflects the difference in the number of people who have died since the pandemic began in Britain, compared to the average number of deaths during the same period over the last five years. Latest Government figures show that 27,510 people in Britain are known to have died from Covid-19. But the former head health analyst at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) says figures from the stats authority suggests 90 per cent of these 'excess deaths' could be related to Covid-19. Using this data, around 42,000 people in England and Wales and 3,000 in Scotland could have died in ways related to Covid-19 between the start of the pandemic and April 29, he says. Mr Jenkins, who has been posting daily chart updates on his Twitter account, said his analysis takes into other factors, including a lower number of road deaths due to the reduced traffic while the country is in lockdown. He says the difference in the excess death figures and the government's official Covid-19 death figures could be due explained by deaths in care homes and the community. Mr Jenkins said: 'Previously the figures included those who died in hospital who had a mention of Covid-19 on their death certificate. 'But if people were not being tested in care homes for example, and doctors were reluctant at first to mention it if they didn't know, those will not be marked in the figures.' Advertisement

Her comments come a day after the UK's testing coordinator said evidence from South Korea which suggested people were developing immunity from the novel coronavirus was 'encouraging'.

Almost 300 cases in South Korea emerged of people who had seemingly contracted Covid-19 a second time. But the country's Central Clinical Committee for Emerging Disease Control announced that the cases of allegedly reinfected people was due to a testing fault.

Professor John Newton told yesterday's daily briefing: 'It is obviously promising.

'I think people have said before in these briefings that it would be very surprising if there was no immunity after infection, but at the moment the science is still not precise about how much immunity you get and how long it lasts.'

Dr Harries also told the press conference today: 'What we do know for children is that if they get infected ... younger children probably tend to have less clinical disease, and if they have clinical disease - ie, they show some symptoms - they tend to progress less frequently to severe disease, so that's pretty good.

'The bit that is perhaps still in the unknown box at the moment, and some of our prevalence studies will really help us understand, is the transmission of disease. The quality of the evidence is quite difficult at the moment, so you shouldn't take this as the truth, but there are some signs... that potentially younger children are less susceptible to disease and potentially transmit it less.'

Dr Harries's comments came in response to a question on the impact of school closures during lockdown on parents and their children's education.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick also told the No10 press briefing today that the Government was not able to give a date to parents for the reopening of schools, which may be carried out in a phased manner.

This comes after an NHS chief warned that the Government should be wary about reopening schools too early as scientists do not fully understand the extent of transmission between children.

NHS England's national medical director Professor Stephen Powis said the 'science is still evolving' on how much children contribute toward virus spread, adding: 'We do need to be cautious as we think of reopening schools.'

Dr Harries said evidence in relation to older children was 'far less clear', with biological reasons possibly affecting how they handle disease.

She highlighted the importance of 'behaviours' and 'how children interact with communities' as also being important issues.

Dr Harries' intervention follows news from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that another 621 Covid-associated deaths have been recorded.

Officials also recorded another 4,806 cases, with more than 180,000 Britons having now been infected since the crisis hit the UK in February.

Daily surveillance figures released each day by DHSC are deaths across the UK where patients have tested positive for Covid-19. The deaths ordinarily do not account for deaths outside of hospitals, and are not officially registered.

All figures are provided daily to NHS England by individual hospitals. The data are only published once the confirmed families have been notified of the deaths.

Weekly figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are Covid-registered deaths across England and Wales. They include any place of death.

Data comprise deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate. They may include cases where doctors completing a death certificate diagnosed coronavirus in a patient based on relevant symptoms, but where no test occurred.

The figures include cases where a death certificate lists 'Coronavirus (Covid-19)' - either tested or suspected - as well as 'Influenza and Pneumonia'. Where both are present, Covid-19 is listed as the presumed or probable cause of death.

The number of people in Britain who have died with Covid-19 so far could be as high as 45,000, data expert Jamie Jenkins has warned using Office for National Statistics (ONS) data

The pandemic is killing twice as many Britons in deprived areas as it is in wealthy regions, a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday
Deepak Sathish By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: A 44-year-old man from Kavundampalayam in Coimbatore, who is suffering from blood cancer, tested positive for COVID-19 at the Madras Medical College (MMC) in Chennai.

The patient had been undergoing treatment for blood cancer for a couple of days in MMC, where he showed symptoms of the viral infection.

Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicines officials said the patient earlier underwent treatment at Coimbatore Medical Hospital (CMCH) for almost a week and wished to continue his therapy at Chennai. He obtained an e-vehicle pass from the district administration to travel to Chennai along with his wife.

Deputy Director of Health Services G Ramesh Kumar told The New Indian Express that they have isolated two of his children at Kavundampalayam, besides three patients and a few doctors and nurses at CMCH.

Ramesh said the patient did not show COVID-19 symptoms while he was undergoing treatment in CMCH. However, he said, they have already started the contact tracing process at Kavundampalayam in order to diagnose others with similar symptoms.

Meanwhile, people in Coimbatore were taking a breather as the district has recorded no COVID-19 cases for a week from April 25.

Presently, seven persons including six police personnel are undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Coimbatore.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  The Quezon City police on Saturday filed cases against 18 people accused of conducting a Labor Day protest in violation of quarantine measures.

Police said the suspects, led by members of Tulong Kabataan, a relief and rehabilitation network under the Kabataan partylist, held an "illegal protest rally" on Kalayaan Avenue corner Maparaan Street Friday afternoon.

"The group shouted on the street as they lined up while holding tarpaulins with their grievances printed on it," the Quezon City Police District said in a statement, stressing that the public should stay at home amid the enhanced community quarantine imposed in Metro Manila.

Mass gatherings are prohibited in the entire country to prevent further spread of COVID-19, which has infected 8,000, mostly in Metro Manila.

Tulong Kabataan is calling for the release of the suspects, composed of four volunteers running their community kitchen and 14 Quezon City residents, including university students.

The group said some residents and jeepney drivers sought assistance from the group "because they are being called by the barangay, accusing them of participating in Mayo Uno activities."

"Our volunteers went to the barangay hall where they were immediately escorted to Camp Karingal by four policemen in plain clothing," the group said.

The police filed cases against them for violations of the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act, and the Public Assembly Act of 1985.

Also on Labor Day, 10 feeding program volunteers were arrested in Marikina City for supposedly holding a protest. They were later released after Mayor Marcelino "Marcy" Tedoro ordered the police to do so, noting that arresting officers only "overreacted" and "misinterpreted" the placards they were holding which bore messages calling for mass testing.

According to the local Center for Trade Union and Human Rights, 76 people were arrested in separate incidents across the country on Labor Day, which was described by the Philippine National Police as "peaceful, orderly and uneventful," except for some "isolated developments."

"We call for the immediate release of the arrested relief volunteers and the junking of trumped-up and ridiculous charges leveled against those serving our people," former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said in a statement as spokesperson of the group CURE COVID.

Labor groups conducted online protests amid the ban on mass gatherings and a warning that rallyists will be nabbed for violating quarantine rules.

The PNP is implementing a zero-tolerance policy for quarantine violators, stressing that they will face immediate arrest, unlike in previous weeks when some were sent off with a warning. Local police have yet to release a report on the Marikina incident.


Gorleston church sets up community helpline Gorleston church sets up community helpline



St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston has launched a helpline to offer help to those in the community particularly affected by the lockdown.



Those phoning the freephone number can receive practical help, eg collecting groceries or prescriptions, or just have a friendly chat. They can also submit requests for prayer.



Rev Matthew Price, vicar of St Mary Magdalene, explains: Obviously, weve been doing a lot of work in respect of the foodbank, but this new community helpline service recognises that there is other - possibly lower level - support that is also needed.

Especially as the lockdown continues, we recognise that there may be many who are feeling increasingly isolated and we are offering this freephone number for small items of practical support, but also if people just want to call and have a friendly chat with someone. Were also offering that we will pray for anything - or anyone - who the person is particularly concerned about.

"Weve created a community helpline card which is being delivered to every household in the parish by a reputable delivery company so as not to breach CofE guidance about hand deliveries.



Factfile

Project title: St Mary Magdalene Community Helpline



Run by: St Mary Magdalene Church, Gorleston



Catchment area: Magdalen Estate, Gorleston and those areas within the parish that are outside of the estate (postcode NR31 7)

Address: St Mary Magdalene Vicarage, 41 Nuffield Crescent, Gorleston NR31 7LL



Contact details: 0800 246 5571 (freephone)



What you can offer other projects: Know-how regarding setting up a free-phone telephone number. Ongoing support to vulnerable people.



Prayer requests: Please pray for the recipients as they receive the cards through the door; and that those that could do with support do make use of the number.

Pray for wisdom for those answering the phoneline as they seek to discern the best way to support those who call.

Pray for volunteers from the church family who are fulfilling any requests for practical help that they would stay safe and well.

Pray for the impact of the card being delivered and the offer of support being made on the ongoing relationship between the church and the wider community.



website: www.stmmgorleston.org.uk

Tony Rothe, 01/05/2020
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Ghani and Abdullah participate in a family photo with Ghani and Abdullah at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland

By Hamid Shalizi and Abdul Qadir Sediqi

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah are close to resolving a standoff over last year's disputed presidential election that has threatened a U.S.-brokered peace process, both sides said on Saturday.

The feud culminated in both men declaring themselves president at parallel inauguration ceremonies in March.

A draft deal had been finalised that included proposals that Abdullah lead a high council for peace talks and have a half-share in government appointments, Fraidoon Khwazoon, a spokesman for Abdullah, said.

"In principle an agreement is reached but there are a few things that need to be finalised. We believe they are not big obstacles and will be solved," Khwazoon said.

The dispute has sparked fears among many, including the United States, that the split was undermining momentum in peace talks with Islamist Taliban insurgents.

Ghani's spokesman, Sediq Sediqi, had said on Twitter late on Friday that there had been progress in resolving the dispute.

"Progress has been made in the ongoing negotiations and discussions on important political issues and matters to resolve them politically," Sediqi said.

Both sides have been under international pressure to strike a deal. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Afghanistan in March for a one-day visit to try to broker an arrangement even as most travel was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have told both sides to firm up a deal this week. If not, then aid could be hit badly in this time," a senior Western diplomat said on Saturday.

Spokesmen for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and for Ghani declined to comment. A spokesman for Abdullah said donors had emphasised they should solve the issue but they had not been given a deadline to come to a resolution.

Pompeo had announced a $1 billion reduction in aid and threatened to slash the same amount next year to try to force Abdullah and Ghani to end their feud.

Story continues

After nearly 20 years of fighting the Taliban, the United States is looking for a way to extricate itself and to achieve peace between the U.S.-backed government and the militant group.

The United States and the Taliban signed a pact on Feb. 29 that was designed to pave the way for peace talks between the militant group and the Afghan government.

But formal talks have not started because of the political feud, as well as an escalation in violence by the Taliban since the deal was reached and disagreements over a prisoner swap.

(Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Hamid Shalizi and Rupam Jain; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by James Drummond and Nick Macfie)
Islamabad, May 2 : Casualties in militant attacks in Pakistan have slightly increased during the month of April, though the number of such assaults remained the same as compared to March, according to figures by an Islamabad-based think tank.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), militants appear to be trying to get back some territory in North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where most of these violent activities were recorded in April, Dawn news reported on Saturday.

The alarming situation in North Waziristan can be gauged from the fact that 90 per cent of casualties in violent incidents during the month of April took place in this district.

PICSS recorded a total of nine militant attacks during April in which 18 people died - 10 security personnel and eight militants - while six security forces personnel got injured.

Tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed the highest number of violent militant activities, where six out of total nine attacks took place.

Two militant attacks were reported in Balochistan and one in Sindh.

No militant activity was recorded in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan occupied Kashmir, and other parts of Pakistan, but an incident of kidnapping took place in Karachi, where a 39-year-old Chinese national was abducted, Dawn news reported citing the think tank as saying.

Meanwhile, Pakistani security forces carried out a total of 16 actions against militants in areas of Balochistan, Khyber PakhAtunkhwa, and Sindh.

Pakistani forces arrested 12 suspects involved in different terror and anti-state activities.
With commercial activities shut for nearly one and a half months and income going down due to the coronavirus lockdown, villages in the national capital have appealed to the Delhi government for relief from paying electricity bills.

Some village associations in letters to authorities, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have sought withdrawal of power bills of commercial establishments and announcement of additional subsidy for residential units in and around villages.

"Since lockdown, all commercial establishments are shut. Also, income from residential units has depleted as the government has asked owners to refrain from seeking rent from tenants," said Anil Gianchandani, the secretary of Delhi Gramin Samaj.

The Shahpur Jat Society in a letter to the chief minister said even though almost all commercial units in Delhi are shut, the electricity companies are sending provision bills to residents of Shahpur Jat, Munirka, Ber Sarai, Kishangarh, Mehrauli and others.

"How can the electricity companies be allowed to issue bills when there has not been any consumption of electricity for more than a month? It is a fact that these units have not been able to carry out any business and therefore they should not be compelled to pay any electricity charge for the lockdown period," read the letter.

"By this letter we seek complete withdrawal of electricity bills of commercial units for the lockdown period," said the Society.

Its executive member Aman Panwar said, "On one hand the government is asking us to not seek rent and on the other we are receiving power bills for commercial and residential units through SMS."



Surendra Shahpuria, the joint secretary of the Society, said most of the village inhabitants had agriculture as their primary source of livelihood, however, after mass land acquisition in Delhi in the 1960s and 1970s, a majority of villagers became dependent on rent as their primary source of income, which was adversely affected during the lockdown period.

"In view of the prevalent circumstances, we demand that for the residential units located in village areas (both urban and rural) of Delhi, the Delhi government should provide 50 per cent rebate on electricity bills during the lockdown period, over and above the current rebates/subsidy," he said.

Shahpur Jat Society has also demanded the power discoms to not issue bills during the lockdown period.

Gianchandani said his organisation Delhi Gramin Samaj too has written a letter to the chief minister, seeking relief to inhabitants of nearly 380 villages (mostly urbanised) in the national capital.

"We have demanded the government for withdrawal of commercial bills and 50 per cent rebate in billed amount for residential units during the lockdown period," he said.

These villages have rent as the primary source of "survival" that has been "severely impacted" during lockdown, he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Published on 2020/05/01

Five Reasons Why You Should Watch "When My Love Blooms" on Viu Episodes 1 and 2 of the newest romance drama are now available for Premium Users

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"When My Love Blooms", the newest romance drama by tvN, premiered last weekend and the ratings show it did not disappoint. Its first episode received an average rating of 5.4%, claiming the top spot in its time slot across cable channels.

Want to find out what South Koreans love about this drama? Here are 5 reasons why!

1. It's about a topic everyone can relate to---first love

The drama takes place both in the past and in the present, looking at the lives of Han Jae-hyeon and Yoon Ji-soo, two people who were each other's first loves in their younger years. In flashbacks, we see them as college students, Jae-hyeon as a law student and Ji-soo as a piano major, how these two people from very different backgrounds meet, and how they eventually fall in love.

Link: facebook.com/watch/?v=270852683954940

2. It gives the ~feels~ right away with its heart-wrenching storyline

In the present, Jae-hyeon and Ji-soo fatefully meet again later in their forties. With their reunion, it is shown how much their lives are now disconnected, with each dealing with their own demons. However, despite their distance, through their emotions and body language, viewers can easily see that they both long for what they had in the past.

Link: facebook.com/watch/?v=1323600794494343

3. The stellar acting from the main characters will make viewers laugh and cry.

Though few words are said, Yoo Ji-tae (who plays Jae-hyeon) and Lee Bo-young (who plays Ji-soo) are able to portray their characters and their emotions amazingly, leaving viewers close to tears at the end of each episode. Additionally, viewers are given light-hearted kilig-inducing moments when going back to the past, where Jinyoung (of GOT7, who plays the younger version of Jae-hyeon) and Jeon So-nee (who plays the younger version of Ji-soo) perfectly encapsulates what it feels like to fall in love for the first time.

Link: twitter.com/Viu_PH/status/1255074845034864640

4. It has kontrabidas viewers would love to hate.

A K-Drama is never complete without our love-to-hate characters, the kontrabidas. As viewers get a glimpse into the main leads' current lives, they are also introduced to the characters that make their lives miserable and stand in the way of their happiness. From the first episode, we see Jae-hyeon's wife, Jang Seo-kyeong, as a strong female figure who will fight for what she wants, and Jang San, his ruthless father-in-law.

(Left: Jang Seo-kyeong, portrayed by Park Si-yeon; Right: Jang San, portrayed by Moon Sung-geun)



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Things may have happened in the past but that does not mean all is lost. In "When My Love Blooms", the characters are given another chance to experience something beautiful together again when their lives get intertwined about 20 years after.

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"When My Love Blooms" is directed by Son Jeong-hyeon, written by Jeon Hee-young, and features Yoo Ji-tae, Lee Bo-young, Jeon So-nee, Jinyoung, Han Jee-won, Ko Woo-rim. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2020/04/25~Now airing, Sat, Sun 21:00 on tvN.
On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, journalists in Cambodia expressed concern that a new law authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus will be used by the government to restrict their ability to work.

The Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency was unanimously approved by Cambodias one-party legislature and signed into effect on Wednesday, despite warnings from rights groups and a United Nations expert that it could be used to unnecessarily increase already heavy restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

The law was enacted as New York-based Human Rights Watch slammed authorities for using the outbreak to legitimize arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters and government critics, noting that at least 30 people have been detained for spreading fake news and other offenses since the start of the pandemic.

Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service, Voice of Democracy editor in chief Min Pov said his reporters are already working under intense pressure because of the new legislation, which he said is worded vaguely and will allow authorities to target journalists by accusing them of violating national security or public order, and disseminating disinformation.

He said authorities recently alleged that his radio station had broadcast fake news following a story it ran about the coronavirus.

This hurt the journalists feelings because the integrity of his story is being questioned, Min Pov said. It also affects his reputation and personal safety.

Club of Cambodian Journalists president Pen Bona, who has worked for government-affiliated television station PNN, told RFA that reporters want to work freely, but will be forced to change how they approach stories if the government implements the law.

If we look at the title of the law, we can assume the law will be imposed during a crisis, he said. It will affect everyonefreedom will be restricted regardless of whether one is a journalist or a regular citizen.

Earlier this week, Ministry of Information spokesman Meas Sophorn vowed that the Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency will provide social stability during the crisis and would not be used to crack down on the media.

Cambodias press freedom is getting better each year, he said.

Cambodia was ranked 144th out of 180 countries in Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borderss (RSF) 2020 World Press Freedom Index, down from 143rd a year earlier.

Nop Vy, the founder of CambodJa, a group of independent journalists who monitor press freedom in the country, told RFA that reporters are being threatened with prosecution simply for doing their jobs during the outbreak, when they are needed to provide a balanced perspective for society.

The authorities are not fully cooperating with journalists, so the media cannot accurately report on what is taking place, nor can it act as a bridge between the people and the government, he said.

Recent arrest

Speaking with RFA on Friday, Ministry of Informations Meas Sophorn defended the arrest of Sovann Rithy, a journalist working for TVFB, who was detained on April 7 for reporting a recent speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen about the coronavirus and charged with incitement to cause chaos and harm social security under article 495 of the criminal code.

The reporter had accurately posted on Facebook a comment by Hun Sen earlier that day telling motorbike-taxi drivers who go bankrupt because of the coronavirus outbreak to sell your motorbikes for spending money  [because] the government does not have the ability to help.

Sovann Rithy did not respect the law or abide by a journalistic code of ethics, Meas Sophorn said, adding that his ministry had warned the reporter over his work in the past, but he did not listen, so his broadcast license was revoked.

He continued to breach the code of conduct, cause confusion, and incite the public, he said, adding that the reporter had quoted Hun Sen out of context.

Meas Sophorn suggested that media groups and nongovernmental organizations provide legal assistance to Sovann Rithy but said that his case is in the hands of the court, so only the court can decide his fate.

CambodJas Nop Vy told RFA, however, that Sovann Rithy had only repeated what Hun Sen said verbatim, and did not breach any journalistic code of conduct with his reporting.

What he did is protected under the freedom of the press, as long as he didnt embellish the statement, he said.

Shrinking press freedom

Sopheap Chak, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), told RFA that she has seen a serious decline in press freedom in Cambodia since Hun Sen launched a crackdown on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media ahead of the countrys July 2018 general election.

The crackdown saw RFA, English-language newspaper The Cambodia Daily, and around 30 radio stations shuttered, as well as a major reshuffle in the management of the Phnom Penh Post after the countrys last independent daily was sold to a Malaysian investor with ties to Hun Sen.

All these incidents seriously affected the space for press freedom, Sopheap Chak said.

We see that main actors [the media] who contributed to good governance have disappeared  It seems that members of the media and journalists who have been targeted are those who actively investigate social issues.

Sopheap Chak urged the government to drop all charges against reporters and use its resources to respond to the threat of the coronavirus, rather than as part of a campaign to punish.

Ministry of Information spokesman Meas Sophorn responded to Sopheap Chak comments by saying that the government respects the freedom of speech and the press, which is guaranteed by the constitution.

But what is the purpose of the freedom of speech if the intentions are bad, he questioned.

It doesnt mean you have the freedom to say whatever you want and abuse other people  You need to think about boundaries when you are using freedom of speech.

Improvements unlikely

Daniel Bastard, the head of RSFs Asia-Pacific desk, said declining protections for journalists in Cambodia keeps a kind of general environment where they know that anything that they say can be used against them in court or [they could] end up in jail  just because they post some information that the government doesnt like.

Cambodian journalists areif not scaredat least clearly intimidated by the government and this has the effect of promoting self-censorship within the profession, he said.

Bastard said that he doesnt expect any improvements in press freedom in Cambodia in the near future because the grip of the government and the ruling party on the media doesnt seem to be likely to change.

Within an environment of increasing restrictions, he advised reporters to focus on investigative journalism in partnership with NGOs to tackle issues with some very strong public interest.

Try to focus on investigation  long-term investigation, he said. I think thats the best way to combat either the phenomenon of fake news or the use of government [labeling as] fake news to censor journalistic work.

In the meantime, Bastard called on Cambodias parliament to amend clauses in the Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency that present what he called real threats to press freedom.

A trustworthy press is really important in a time of pandemic, so I think that is something the government and the ruling party should do.

Vital role

Brad Adams, New York-based Human Rights Watchs Asia director, agreed that the role of the press is vital in a health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.

People often say the most important time for accurate information is in a war, but I would say that this is even more important because every single person in the world has to make intelligent, informed decisions about how to behave, he said.

[In countries like Cambodia] people are not able to access the best information they can get to ensure their own personal safety and that of the people in their community. When the Cambodian government threatens people and arrests people for asking questions online or making public comments that are critical of the governments response, that actually harms public health.

Adams said he believes that the crackdown on the media and voices critical of the governments response to the outbreak was orchestrated by Hun Sen to protect himself and probably his crony friends from bad economic consequences.

Lets face it, Hun Sens interest in the economy has always been more about himself and his cronies making profits than about the welfare of the Cambodian people, he said.

The only thing a respectable, responsible leader would do during this time would be to focus on public health  [Instead], the lack of information meant that people continued to have contact with other people when it wasnt safe.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun and Sokry Sum. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 16:42:35|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's trade with Turkey reached 645.44 million U.S. dollars in value during the first three months of the current year, Financial Tribune daily reported on Saturday.

The figure registered a decrease of 70.03 percent compared with bilateral trade exchanges in the corresponding period of the previous year, said the report.

Iran exported 269.65-million-U.S. dollar worth of goods to Turkey in January, February and March, while the country imported 375.79 million U.S. dollars of goods from Turkey in the same period.

Iran was Turkey's 31st biggest trading partner during the period under review.

On April 23, Iran and Turkey called for maintaining bilateral trade relations with adherence to the health protocols pertaining to novel coronavirus pandemic.

Iran and Turkey are among the countries hard-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak. Enditem
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the US has committed over USD 775 million in emergency health, humanitarian and economic assistance that will help over 120 countries, including India, in fighting the pandemic, the State Department has said, as the deadly disease claimed over 230,000 lives and infected over 3.3 million people.

According to a fact sheet released by the US State Department on Friday, the over USD 775 million assistance is specifically aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and NGOs to fight the pandemic.

This funding, provided by Congress, will save lives by improving public health education, protecting healthcare facilities, and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, it said.

India has received USD 5.9 million in health assistance to hinder the spread of the disease by providing care for the affected, disseminating essential public health messages to communities and strengthen case-finding and surveillance, it said.

This builds on a foundation of nearly USD 2.8 billion in total assistance to India over the last 20 years, which includes more than USD 1.4 billion for health.

In South Asia, Afghanistan (USD18 million), Pakistan (USD15 million) and Bangladesh (USD12.3 million), have received more in COVID-19 health assistance from the US, it said.

America's COVID-19 assistance to-date includes nearly USD 200 million in emergency health assistance from USAID's Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks and Global Health Programs account.

These funds prioritised interventions to mitigate and prepare communities in developing countries affected and at a risk of COVID-19.

It has provided nearly USD 300 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID's International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account.

These funds prioritise populations affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis, particularly displaced people, because of their heightened vulnerability, the elevated risk of severe outbreaks in camps and informal settlements and anticipated disproportionate mortality in these populations.

It has provided more than USD 150 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF). These funds will promote American foreign policy interests by supporting shorter-term mitigation efforts and addressing second-order impacts from the pandemic in the long term, across a variety of sectors.

More than USD 130 million in humanitarian assistance from the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, provided through the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. These funds will help international organisations and NGO partners address challenges posed by the pandemic in refugee, IDP, and hosting communities as well as other migrants and other vulnerable people in both global and local humanitarian responses.

This new assistance is in addition to the over USD 100 billion in global health funding and nearly USD 70 billion in overseas humanitarian assistance provided by the US in the last decade alone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
N HS staff are breaking down on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus, a Labour MP and A&E doctor has warned.

Shadow mental health minister and A&E doctor Rosena Allin-Khan has written to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock to seek assurances that medics are getting the support they need.

She said their mental health must be made a priority now rather than when the crisis is over.

In the letter, Ms Allin-Khan said the fear of spreading the virus to patients and loved ones, a lack of PPE, an increased workload and witnessing more patients die were taking their toll.

Rosena Allin-Khan / Getty Images

Dr Allin-Khan asked Mr Hancock to outline what provisions are in place to support the mental health of frontline staff, and called on the Government to publish real-time data on suicide numbers.

One minute silence to NHS heroes who lost lives to the Coronavirus 1 /25 One minute silence to NHS heroes who lost lives to the Coronavirus London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff stand outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Shoppers queue in the rain outside Costco in Thurrock during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 Sky News London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A staff member reacts outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Members of the public, NHS staff, and Police offices, some wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) of a face mask as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, pause for a minute's silence to honour UK key workers AFP via Getty Images A police officer observes a minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 outside 10 Downing Street, Reuters London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA A minute silence in honour of key workers who have lost their lives due to COVID-19 Sky News London Ambulance Staff observe the minute silence today at their HQ in Waterloo Road Jeremy Selwyn Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Staff stand inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA National Shop Stewards Network protesters outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, during a minute's silence which was to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA

She said it was clear from conversations with colleagues and unions that there is a rise in suicides, self-harm and suicidal ideation among frontline NHS and care staff.

It is vital that in order to tackle this, there is real-time data to understand where particular pinch points may be and where resources need to be directed, she wrote.

Dr Allin-Khan also said the need for talking therapies is now more important than ever, but also urged the Government to ensure post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) support is in place once the acute stage is over.

She wrote: Increasingly, NHS staff are breaking down  I see it first-hand working shifts.

UK landmarks light up blue for NHS staff fighting coronavirus 1 /25 UK landmarks light up blue for NHS staff fighting coronavirus The Shard in London is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff fighting against coronavirus Tower Bridge in London is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to hardworking NHS staff PA Tower Bridge in London is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to hardworking NHS staff The London Eye is pictured lit blue in support of the NHS Reuters London's Piccadilly Circus saluting local heroes during Thursday's nationwide Clap for Carers NHS initiative to applaud NHS workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic PA Selfridges lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff fighting coronavirus on the frontline PA Fulwell Windmill in Sunderland is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff fighting coronavirus PA MediaCityUK in Manchester lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to hardworking NHS staff PA Northern Spire Bridge in Sunderland is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to hardworking NHS staff PA Belfast City Hall is lit up in support of the NHS Reuters The SSE Arena, Wembley, is seen with a lit up sign for the Clap For Our Carers campaign REUTERS Tawstock Court in Barnstaple lit up in blue PA Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol City FC is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks PA Wembley stadium is seen lit up blue REUTERS Wembley Arch in London is lit up in blue PA The Lowry lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff who are trying to battle coronavirus. PA The Tyne Bridge in Newcastle is lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff PA People applaud infront of big screen in Piccadilly Circus during the Clap For Our Carers campaign Reuters The Shard in London is lit up blue

From a fear of spreading the virus to patients and loved ones, a lack of PPE, an increased workload owing to the number of cases and staff absences, to being redeployed to ICUs and witnessing more patients die  staff are experiencing greater pressure, which is inevitably taking its toll on their mental health.

At this time of crisis, staff mental health must be a priority now. It simply cannot be an afterthought once the acute stage of the crisis is over.

Last month, the NHS launched a mental health hotline to offer support to hundreds of thousands of health workers on the frontline.

William and Kate discuss impact of pandemic on mental health for healthcare workers

Anyone needing help with the pressures they are facing will be able to call or text a free number staffed by more than 1,500 trained volunteers.

The volunteers, including from Hospice UK, the Samaritans and Shout, will listen to NHS staff - or those from social care - and give psychological support to those in need.

Prerana Issar, chief people officer for the NHS, said: "We need to do everything we can to support our incredible NHS people as they care for people through this global health emergency.

"That's why we have developed a range of support for all NHS staff, from one-to-one mental health support to a sympathetic voice to confide in."

Staff can text FRONTLINE to 85258 or call 0300 131 7000.
The White House on Friday said China "mishandled the situation" after the coronavirus outbreak in its Wuhan city, but refrained from giving a definitive answer on retaliatory measures against the Asian giant.

The deadly coronavirus that was first reported in China's Wuhan city in mid-November has so far killed more than 2,35,000 people globally, including 64,000 Americans, and has infected 3.3 million across the world.

Led by the United States, several countries, including Germany, Britain and Australian, are blaming China for the spread of coronavirus across the globe.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump had hinted at using tariff as a tool to punish China for mishandling the virus outbreak and the next day the markets went down.

The markets are down substantially today after the President yesterday suggested in the East Room that he might use tariffs to punish China over the coronavirus. Is there any serious consideration being given to putting new tariffs on China or was the President just spitballing yesterday? the new White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked during her maiden press conference.

"I won't get ahead of any announcements from the President, but I will echo the President's displeasure with China. It's no secret that China mishandled this situation," McEnany told reporters.

"Just a few examples for you; they did not share the genetic sequence until a professor in Shanghai did so on his own. The very next day China shut down his lab for quote rectification. They slow-walked information on human to human transmission alongside the World Health Organization and didn't let US investigators in at a very important time," she said.

"So, we take displeasure with China's actions, but I certainly won't get out of the president with those announcements. Again, when it comes to retaliatory measures, I will not get ahead of the president on that," McEnany asserted.

The White House Press Secretary said the US continues to have very limited and dubious data from China and the current assessments indicated that Trump's statement, that coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan, is consistent with what some analysts believe is the epicenter of where the virus began.

On Thursday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) had said in a statement that the Intelligence Community concurs with the wide scientific consensus that "the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified".

Responding to a question on the ODNI's statement, McEnany said Let me remind everyone intelligence is just an estimate essentially, and it's up to policymakers to decide what to do with that intelligence. In this case, the policymaker is the President of the United States and he will make a decision at the right time.

She alleged that there's no secret that China stopped US investigators from coming in.

It was of paramount importance that we got into China in an expedited fashion, and that didn't happen. With respect to the World Health Organization, they have some questions of their own to answer, the press secretary said.

She said the United States, as the president has emphasized, provides about USD 400 million to USD 500 million per year to the WHO compared to China at roughly USD 40 million a year, but yet "WHO appears to have a very clear China bias.

I mean, look at this timeline and it's really damning for the WHO when you just consider the fact that on December 31, you had Taiwanese officials warning about human to human transmission and the WHO did not make that public. On January 9 the WHO repeated China's claim that the virus 'does not transmit readily between people'. That was quite apparently false, McEnany said.

On January 14, the WHO again repeated China's talking points about no human to human transmission. They praised China's leadership on 22 January. On the 23rd, they said, and this is incredible, the pandemic didn't represent a public health emergency of international concern, she said.

And even on February 29, you had the WHO saying that when the coronavirus was spreading around the world, they chose to put, excuse me, political correctness first by opposing lifesaving travel restrictions."



"The travel restrictions this president put in place, the travel restrictions that Dr. Fauci praised as saving lives and you have the World Health Organization opposing a measure that saved American lives. That's unacceptable, especially at a time when the US was providing USD 400 to 500 million, the White House Press Secretary said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Throughout the day Friday, Amazon and other logistics workers were confronted with a barrage of headlines and news articles proclaiming a historic general strike was underway at Amazon.

In reality, hardly any workers participated in this stunt orchestrated by the Democratic Party and corporate media. This was not a real struggle led by the workers themselves; it was a ploy to disrupt and disorient the millions of workers who are yearning for a fighta real fightagainst the corporations, which are using the threat of hunger and destitution to force them to continue working under unsafe conditions where they face the prospect of contracting the deadly virus.

Corporate media headlines referred yesterday to a mega-strike, a historic mass strike and a sprawling protest against Amazon, Target, Whole Foods and Instacart, presenting this planned action as if it were a milestone in the history of the class struggle.

It is a curious fact that the same news outlets praising this general strike never report on genuine workers struggles and are presently demanding workers to go back to work, no matter the health risk, to boost corporate profit. At any rate, those journalists hoping to capture photos of mass pickets or groups of strikers returned from the warehouses yesterday empty-handed. Little more than a handful of workers participated in this Potemkin strike at various locations, and in many cases they were outnumbered by television crews.

In the eyes of Amazon workers, the pitiful result of this stunt will serve to discredit the swarm of "grassroots" organizations in the orbit of the Democratic Party, union front groups, pseudo-left tendencies, and other hangers-on that promoted it.

Each morning workers wake up to a new crop of these "alliances," "coalitions," "centers," and "networks," all promising "change," "justice," "progress," and "democracy." The strike organizers swooped abruptly into Amazon warehouses to proclaim that walkouts as an accomplished fact, with little (if any) input from workers themselves.

Amazon employs more than 750,000 workers worldwide. There was no mass meeting of any substantial fraction of these workers online to endorse a strike, discuss demands, or elect leaders. Amazon workers often first learned of their own supposed plans to walk out when they were confronted with postings online threatening them, "Don't cross the picket line!" Workers who did walk out, risking hunger and homelessness, were merely used as props for the press conferences.

Groups promoting the strike included the Athena Coalition, which includes various Democratic Party and union-aligned groups as Action Center for Race and the Economy, Center for Popular Democracy, Daily Kos, Demand Progress, Demos, Fight for the Future, Green America, Moving Forward Network, United for Respect, and Warehouse Worker Resource Center. It is significant that the seed funding for Athena Coalition took the form of millions of dollars from billionaire Democrat bankroller George Soros's Open Society.

Bernie Sanders also tweeted his support for the protest yesterday (now that he has completely capitulated to the right-wing, Amazon-funded Joe Biden), writing: Today is a day to understand that we are all in this together, and when millions of workers stand up in the fight for justice, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. #MayDay2020.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retweeted similar statements promoting the stunt. Also supporting the strike were Democratic Party-affiliated groups like the Democratic Socialists of America and Workers World. In general, the various activists and groups supporting the strike have not had any substantial role in the struggles of Amazon workers over the preceding years and have seldom if ever commented on conditions at Amazon before the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Socialist Web Site and the International Amazon Workers Voice were alone in warning that the so-called general strike on May 1 was a trap. The May 1 strike, we warned, is a trick aimed at blocking the growing opposition among retail, warehouse and gig workers over abysmal health and safety conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of Amazon workers told the WSWS they had no knowledge of a supposed strike and that no workers in their plants were participating, to their knowledge.

One Amazon worker in Spartanburg, South Carolina said he did not participate, adding, I dont know anyone organizing it. A second worker in Virginia said, Nobody walked out at my plant Maybe many Amazonians werent aware of the walkout.

A Texas Amazon worker said, I havent seen anyone participating to be honest. I think that if they wanted real change and improvements, it would have to be a world wide movement with the majority of workers participating. Also, a one day strike isnt going to do anything.

There is no shortage of willingness to fight among Amazon, Target, Whole Foods and Instacart workers, who confront a company and social system that is willing to sacrifice their lives to safeguard the profits of the billionaires.

But yesterdays stunt constituted an effort by the Democratic Party, the unions, and their hangers-on to disrupt and gain control of this growing movement of workers against the efforts by the corporations to force them to continue working during the pandemic under unsafe conditions.

The key to the struggle of Amazon workers is the formation of workplace committees. Workers must establish organizations that they control, which they can use to democratically discuss, plan and act in their own interests. This includes taking steps to safeguard their own lives and to take control of health and safety precautions in the workplace.

Workplace committees are also necessary for workers to defend themselves against the efforts of the Democratic Party and the unions to hijack and disrupt their struggles. At the same time, workers must provide build the necessary international lines of coordination that will allow them to act with the unity required to take on this huge multinational conglomerate.

This struggle can only advance to the extent that workers agree on the need to maintain political independence from Democratic Party politicians, trade union bureaucrats and opportunists on the make. It requires a struggle against the for-profit capitalist system that values corporate profit above their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
A new Democratic-aligned political action committee advised by retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, is planning to deploy technology originally developed to counter Islamic State propaganda in service of a domestic political goal - to combat online efforts to promote President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The group, Defeat Disinfo, will use artificial intelligence and network analysis to map discussion of the president's claims on social media. It will seek to intervene by identifying the most popular counter-narratives and boosting them through a network of more than 3.4 million influencers across the country - in some cases paying users with large followings to take sides against the president.

The initiative reflects fears within the Democratic Party that Trump's unwavering digital army may help sustain him through the pandemic, as it has through past controversies, even as the economy craters, tens of thousands have died, and Trump suffers in the polls.

"It's often said campaigns are a battle of ideas, but they're really a battle of narratives," said David Eichenbaum, a Democratic media consultant who is a senior adviser to the PAC. "Today those narratives spread quickly online."

The initiative is run by Curtis Hougland, whose received initial funding for the technology from DARPA, the Pentagon's research arm, as part of an effort to combat extremism overseas. He insists Democrats are ill-prepared for the looming battle over information and attention, which is bound to play an outsize role in November.

Hougland cites as an example Trump's suggestion last week that injecting bleach or other household disinfectants could be a treatment for the novel coronavirus - a moment that appeared unequivocally damaging to the president but was less clear-cut as it unfolded on social media. Although the episode was associated with a spike in Twitter engagement about Trump, especially in swing states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, according to Hougland's analysis, four of the top six tweets about Trump and disinfectant came from accounts partial to the president, boosting the notion that he had not really suggested the bogus cure.

Among them was a tweet from Ryan Fournier, national co-chair of Students for Trump, who wrote, "No, President Trump did not tell people to inject themselves with Clorox or Lysol. If you believe that, you're a moron."

Fournier said there's a grass-roots digital army prepared to defend the president when his back is against the wall.

"I see the people on Twitter," he said. "I see the Facebook groups. I see the posts across these networks. I see the websites people have created to support the president. It's tremendous amounts of stuff that I've never seen in a presidential election before."

Hougland agreed. Republicans, he said, "have greater volume frequency and quality of digital narrative."

Though he is advising the overtly political effort, McChrystal stopped short of endorsing Trump's opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, whom the former general once criticized as part of a dust-up that led to his resignation.

McChrystal said his interest in the PAC is about ensuring the accuracy of information leading up to the election, even if it involves chasing viral attention with emotional appeals and other tactics rewarded by online clicks.

"Everyone wishes the Pandora's box was closed and none of this existed, but it does," McChrystal said in an interview.

His ambivalence is shared by large parts of the Democratic Party, which recoiled at an effort, brought to light at the end of 2018, to use Russian-inspired tactics, including the creation of fake accounts, to sway the 2017 Senate election in Alabama.

Hougland's PAC shuns these methods. Yet it differs from more traditional Democratic-aligned PACs, such as Priorities USA and American Bridge 21st Century, in embracing the practice of paying influencers to convey their messaging. The approach raised eyebrows and prompted tech companies to clarify their rules when it was put into practice by Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign earlier this year.

"I have no trepidation about paying content creators in seeking out and amplifying the best narratives," Hougland said.

Stephanie Berger, a former national finance director for the Democratic National Committee, is raising funds for the initiative, which is an extension of Hougland's technology company, Main Street One. Andrew Tobias, a former DNC treasurer, was an earlier investor in the start-up.

Main Street One's leaders were previously involved in cultivating digital narratives in Eastern Europe to counter Russian propaganda and, more recently, have waded into American politics. The organization ran a campaign that paid influencers to boost Kentucky Democrats before the gubernatorial election last fall. A super PAC supporting Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey in his bid for the Democratic nomination paid Main Street One more than $500,000 for similar services last year.

Hougland said his aim is to maintain the "largest repository of content against Trump," and to be nimble in boosting organic material that is already performing well, such as videos produced by the Biden campaign.

The presumptive Democratic nominee, whose primary bid counted on the gulf between Twitter and real life, has sought to expand his digital prowess as campaigning has gone fully virtual. He anchors a new podcast, and his campaign is plugging virtual rallies with mantras like "#SoulSaturday" designed to compete with Trump's digital reach.

At the same time, Biden's aides are betting that the president's bully pulpit is just as likely to turn voters off as it is to win them over. Matt Hill, a campaign spokesman, pointed to recent moves by the president's team to "pull back his daily disinformation shows as his credibility continues to sink."

But Joe Trippi, a Democratic operative who helped manage the 2017 Senate campaign in Alabama, said the president is partially insulated from the fallout over his own remarks by a "media echo chamber that is very disciplined about just picking up whatever the misdirection of the day is and amplifying it." That protective armor makes it all the more critical for Democrats to turn up the volume on anti-Trump messaging, he said.

But Trippi wondered about the long-term consequences of adopting some of the online tactics favored by the right.

"Once someone does something that works, it's usually picked up by the other side," Trippi said. "You've got to fight it, but the question is, like negative ads, if it works, do you just get better and better at it? I don't think that'd be very helpful for our democracy."

Restraint could be a more effective approach, said Cindy Otis, a former CIA officer and disinformation researcher. She stressed the need to illustrate the real-world consequences of the president's words, for instance demonstrating that his comments about bleach were followed by a spike in calls to emergency hotlines.

Otherwise, she said, "it's most effective to counter false narratives with straight-up facts."
'We got so many calls after the attack.'

'Loved ones told us forget all this, nothing was more valuable than our lives.'

'But we said, 'No, this wasn't the way forward -- the people, society, the country needs us at this time.'

Dr Trupti Katdare and Dr Zakia Syed tell Archana Masih/Rediff.com their inspiring story.

IMAGE: Dr Trupti Katdare, left, with Dr Zakia Syed. All images: Kind courtesy Dr Zakia Syed and Dr Trupti Katdare

Dr Zakia Syed and Dr Trupti Katdare first met during their induction as young doctors nine years ago. The training for their appointments as doctors in the government-run public health centre in rural Madhya Pradesh lasted for a month, but they ended up with an everlasting friendship.

"We are besties till death," says Dr Trupti, chief medical officer at the public health centre in Shipra near Indore, as she refers to Dr Zakia, who is in-charge of the primary health centre in Kampel, 40 kms away.

IMAGE: Dr Trupti Katdare and Dr Zakia Syed with other doctors and team members at the Shipra primary health centre.

For the past six weeks, the two doctor friends have been working together at the frontline of the battle against COVID-19 in Indore. They have left their families and moved into a hotel to protect their loved ones from the infection. Dr Trupti is especially concerned about her in-laws who have diabetes and asthma.

When she wanted to wish her husband on his birthday on April 29, they went to her home and wished him from outside.

Dr Zakia last saw her husband and children aged 5 and 9 two weeks ago. She stood outside the gate of her home and had a cup of tea as her son and daughter kept asking her, 'Mama, when will you come home?'

IMAGE: Dr Zakia Syed with her daughter.

Every morning, the two friends accompanied by paramedics and government staff, set out, criss-crossing the lanes and by-lanes of a large area which falls under three police stations. They deal with positive cases, identify contacts, treat symptomatic cases, get samples collected, send high-risk individuals to quarantine centres and positive patients to a treatment facility.

They have identified 160 positive cases so far and screen around 200 people every day.

Last month, an incident they encountered became one of the triggers for a new law that will protect doctors from acts of violence.

IMAGE: Dr Zakia Syed and Dr Trupti Katdare.

Doctors Zakia and Trupti were attacked by a mob while talking to the mother of a man who later tested positive. They were told that the man was not home. He was apprehended by the police two days later.

"We asked for his mobile number and said he should not be moving around in the first place," remembers Dr Trupti.

This was the third consecutive day in that specific locality and they had never encountered any problem before.

IMAGE: The doctors with their team members.

"Suddenly there was a crowd screaming 'maro maro' running towards us. They started throwing stones. The sub divisional magistrate quickly brought the car in front of us to shield us from the stones. I almost fell. Dr Zakia said she will confront and explain to them. I told her the hostile crowd was in no mood to see reason and pulled her into car. As we drove, the mob was running behind us, hurling stones," remembers Dr Trupti, over the phone at the end of a 10-hour shift.

"It was very scary."

"We sustained some blunt injuries where the stones struck us. We were shocked. Shaken," adds Dr Zakia, the first one in her family to become a doctor, fulfilling the dream of her father who worked in the quality control department at the National Textile Corporation before it shut down. At one time, Indore was known for its three big textile mills.

The doctors filed an FIR. Thirteen people were arrested and the National Security Act was invoked against four. The news of the attack was quickly picked up by the media within hours.

IMAGE: Dr Trupti Katdare out in the field.

"Our worried husbands phoned us, we got so many calls. Loved ones told us forget all this, nothing was more valuable than our lives. But we said, 'No, this wasn't the way forward -- the people, society, the country needs us at this time," says Dr Zakia, who wakes up at 4 am and has oats or rusk with a cup of tea as a pre-dawn meal during Ramzan.

In the evening, she breaks her fast with Dr Trupti and Dr Piyush, the third doctor in their COVID-19 response team.

They make tea in the electric kettle in the room and sit down together over tea and dry snacks.

"We said we will not surrender and went back to the same gali the next day after the attack. It was our duty, we could not leave those people until we had screened them and provided treatment," says Dr Trupti, who attributes her commitment for public service to her father's zeal for social work.

"They apologised and told us 'Do not leave us. It will never happen again.' Now the scenario has completely changed, they cooperate fully and willingly come to be screened and quarantined."

"After the incident, if either of us had said we will not return, we may not have gone back. But we drew strength from each other and were both determined to finish what we had started," says Dr Trupti and credits the health department heads, the district administration, family and friends for boosting their morale.

They later discovered that the attack was instigated by rumours and negative messages on social media.

Dealing with a new virus that spreads fast, the two main challenges have been to convince people that though extremely contagious, the disease is not as serious as perceived.

"80% don't have any symptoms," says Dr Zakia. Since they work in an area with low socio-economic indices, the second challenge is making people follow social distancing and hygiene.

"Since many are uneducated, it takes time to convince them. Also, it is not easy to make people leave their home and go to a quarantine centre for 14 days," she explains.

IMAGE: The medical team conducts a survey for possible COVID-19 cases.

A few days ago, they had to screen a community of transgenders after one person tested positive. When the panic-stricken community refused to allow them entry, the doctors had to persuade them with tact, patience and kindness.

"We were able to convince them with our words and screened 50+. They were so happy with our services that they clapped, distributed sweets and sent us away with their blessings," says Dr Zakia, giving a glimpse into the phenomenal work public health officials have been doing around the country during this emergency.

The doctors set out every morning in a car assigned to their team. In the early days, they would go without drinking water for six hours at a stretch because they would be nervous about removing their masks in an area with several positive cases, but not anymore.

"We have been in the field since March 28 and have travelled quite far in this fight against COVID-19. We are deep into it. Now that we have gained some experience, we try to protect ourselves the best we can," says Dr Trupti.

IMAGE: The team at one of their consulting sessions.

They have established a protocol where they take a water break after four hours which is usually the time it takes to deal with screening, testing, contact tracing and shifting a suspected case to the hospital.

"In the summer, you sweat a lot inside the PPE kit. We try to cover the positive area in one stretch so that we can take the PPE off and eat lunch," explains Dr Trupti.

"We don't waste PPE because they are very precious. While screening other contacts, we use double masks, gloves and caps."

There is no fixed time for lunch which they mostly eat inside the car.

IMAGE: Dr Zakia and Dr Trupti.

Observing roza has caused no problem on the field, says Dr Zakia. Roza strengthens your will power, it detoxifies both your body and soul. I haven't felt weak and when you have your friend next to you, let me tell you, how can you feel weary?" she says with a ring in her voice that you can almost see her smile across the telephone line.

The doctors have planned a trip to Udaipur once the crisis is behind them.

They will continue their field duties throughout this month and are undaunted by the road ahead.

IMAGE: Dr Trupti in consultation with team members.

"Screening is crucial. It's good that positive cases are being identified because then you can isolate, treat and prevent it from spreading," points out Dr Trupti, who misses her primary healh centre and takes great pride that it has a 5-star ranking by UNICEF.

"I hope life returns to normal and I feel it will."

While they battle on in the trenches, their homes are being held together by their husbands who have learnt how to cook and clean in their absence.

IMAGE: Dr Trupti visits her husband on his birthday on April 29.

"Papa has become both mummy and papa now," says Dr Zakia.

"My husband keeps encouraging me. With the family by your side you can face any adverse situation," adds Dr Trupti.

The doctors have 24 quarantine centres in their containment area and have provided their numbers to those under quarantine should they need any assistance.

When a set of people were leaving at the end of 14 days of quarantine, negative reports in hand, their team received a standing ovation.

"It gave us goose-bumps," says Dr Trupti. "We've learnt never to give up. If soldiers can fight for the country, so can we."

"Some people told us we are soldiers too," says Dr Zakia, "In white uniforms."

SEE: COVID-19 warriors get a standing ovation

Production: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
Well, hello sailor getting into the VE Day spirit, London, 1945

This Friday marks 75 years since Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe and people took to the streets to rejoice with victory parades, parties and music. Theres never been a better time to reflect on what this generation endured and the lessons we can learn from it. Some of those who were there share their moving memories with Eimear OHagan

Hanging the bunting with mother all part of the VE (very exciting) Day fun, 1945

Who needs a posh frock when youve got a pinny? Street celebrations, Manchester

We were so poor but we made it a special day

There were long trestle tables, neighbours shared their food, tea and sugar and there was a huge bonfire in the communal area at the back of the row

Vernice Parkinson, 81, lives in North Manchester

I was just six and a half on VE Day and remember thinking how silly all the adults were behaving  I realise now they were tipsy! I had no memory of life before the war, so seeing people singing, dancing and being so happy was a new experience.

I spent the early years of the war living in the local workhouse. My mother had serious mental health problems and was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. My father was a factory worker, so my elder sisters were sent to live with an aunt and I went to the workhouse as a baby. Ironically, because there was so much poverty in the area I was from, I was better fed and cared for in the workhouse than many other children.

In 1942, I came home to live with my father and siblings in a small cottage in Radcliffe, near Manchester. It was in a long row of cottages, all with outside brick toilets, and although people had very little on VE Day, everyone went to so much effort to make it special.

There were long trestle tables, neighbours shared their food, tea and sugar and there was a huge bonfire in the communal area at the back of the row.

A lot of my friends fathers had been away fighting, and I remember one mother spent the day crying because her husband was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. For many it was such a happy day, but for others the war wasnt over yet.

I missed VE Day!

Later on in my life, my wife Betty, who passed away last year, would tell me about how she had been at Piccadilly Circus on VE Day

Mervyn Kersh, 95, lives in Barnet, North London

The day the war ended I was on a sealed train with lots of other soldiers, travelling from Germany to the UK, where I was to prepare to be part of the invasion of Japan, just as I had been on the beaches of Normandy.

We had no idea what had happened until the train stopped in Bruges on 9 May 1945. Wed had no contact with the outside world for 30 hours  even the windows on the train had been boarded up to protect us from German fire.

To hear about the VE Day celebrations the day before, I felt so glad the war had ended  and a bit cross Id missed the party, although a fuss was made of us by the local people who were still rejoicing.

I travelled on to London and heard all about the street parties, which sounded absolutely wonderful. Later on in my life, my wife Betty, who passed away last year, would tell me about how she had been at Piccadilly Circus on VE Day and of the happy Londoners and American soldiers all celebrating together.

I was evacuated from London when I was 14 and sent to Exeter, before joining the Army in 1943. I fought in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and Germany, but the Japanese must have heard I was coming and surrendered before I was sent out there! I left the Army in 1946 but have never forgotten that time in my life, and the friends I lost.

'I was part of the war effort at Bletchley Park and went straight to London to celebrate

I registered, decoded and translated enemy signals  in three different languages  before they were sent on to the Prime Minister or directly to the commanders in the field

Betty Webb MBE, 97, lives near Birmingham

I was working at Bletchley Park, in the Japanese department, on the day I found out that the war in Europe had ended.

I immediately went and caught a train from Milton Keynes to London, where I met a good friend who was part Jewish and had escaped from Germany during the war. We joined the crowds by the Thames and I remember that it was so packed that my feet barely touched the ground as I was swept forward by the throngs of revellers. There was so much laughter, singing, drinking and high jinks  it really was the most incredible atmosphere of joy and celebration.

I had arrived at Bletchley Park in 1941, having joined the Army when I was 18. Everything was so secretive; we had no idea what was going on in the next room. And it was absolutely forbidden to talk about our work outside our room. Women outnumbered men by around three to one, which made romance difficult!

I registered, decoded and translated enemy signals  in three different languages  before they were sent on to the Prime Minister or directly to the commanders in the field.

No one at my level had any idea of the contribution we were making to the war effort. We really didnt know the full story of the work going on there. It was only afterwards that I realised what Id been part of.

After VE Day, I was posted to Washington, to the Pentagon, to carry on my work there until the war ended in August 1945.

I sang for all my neighbours at our street party

A doctor had told my parents that I was so traumatised from the bombing of the area around our home, and spending nights in the dark, damp air raid shelter at the top of the street, that I needed to be taken away

Norma Powell, 85, lives in Holland-on-Sea, Essex

I was a very shy little girl but my mother insisted I do a turn during my roads VE Day street party. I stood on the makeshift stage that one of our neighbours had built and sang a song called Alice Blue Gown. Seventy-five years on, I can still remember every word.

Our street party in Chingford, Essex, was just as you would imagine  long tables covered in cloth, lots of tea, sandwiches and jelly for the children, and someone had wheeled out their piano from the house so there was music and dancing. I vividly remember there was a feeling that an enormous weight had been lifted from everyone.

My mother and I had left London and moved to Newquay in Cornwall, although I cant remember how far into the war it was when that happened. A doctor had told my parents that I was so traumatised from the bombing of the area around our home, and spending nights in the dark, damp air raid shelter at the top of the street, that I needed to be taken away.

My father stayed in London  he worked in insurance because his health wasnt good enough for him to enrol in the Army  while my mother and I lived in a lovely hotel in Newquay and I went to school there. My father would visit us, and shortly before the war ended we returned to London just in time to celebrate.

I was a boy soldier about to join the war

I was 17 and about to leave the Army Apprentices College near Reading to become a fully signed-up soldier

Fred Brunger, 92, is a Chelsea Pensioner and lives in London

When I found out that the war in Europe was over, I was a bit disappointed. I was 17 and about to leave the Army Apprentices College near Reading to become a fully signed-up soldier. But then I realised that wed finally be able to get nice things to eat again  a typical teenage-boy thought!

I heard the news while walking the seven miles from college to Reading with six of my friends, because we didnt have enough money for the bus. As we passed through villages on our way, people were coming out of their homes, embracing and cheering with happiness.

The college, where I enrolled when I was 15, was residential and out in the countryside, so most of the time I was very sheltered from the war. However, travelling home to see my family in Kent, I had to pass through London and see the devastation there. Every time it shocked me, seeing parts of the city completely flattened.

After college, I spent another year in training then was sent to India in 1946. I served for 25 years in total.

The pub was packed  it took an hour to get a pint

I wish my husband had been with me on VE Day. He was posted in Hong Kong, so I had to wait until the war in Japan finished for him to come hom

Kathleen Tozer, 96, lives in Torquay, Devon

I joined the ATS [Auxiliary Territorial Service] as a gunner in January 1941, when I was 17, and defended anti-aircraft bases until the end of the war. I was in Leeds on leave when the news came in that the Germans had surrendered. The announcement came over on the radio  we only had tiny radios in those days.

I went to the town hall  all the bands and drums were going and thousands of people were on the streets. It was very exciting  everyone was screaming, laughing and making merry. It was wonderful. I remember hearing people shouting, The wars over  no more killing, Its over, its over, We can go back home. We drank in a pub called the Three Legs of Man  it was so full it took an hour to get a pint.

I wish my husband had been with me on VE Day. He was posted in Hong Kong, so I had to wait until the war in Japan finished for him to come home.

At the same time as all the joy, I was nervous  I think most people were, wondering what was going to happen next. But we got over it. We had to push ourselves forward and look towards another day.

Our town was lit up after years of darkness

Someone in the park had a gun, which they fired in celebration  but I wasnt very impressed by that

Jimmy and Anna Walker, 92 and 90, live in Gattonside, Melrose, in the Scottish Borders

Jimmy: My overwhelming memory of VE Day is of light. As evening fell that day, it was the first time since the war had begun that car headlights were on, the curtains of peoples homes were open, and all through the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire  where Anna and I grew up  bonfires blazed as people celebrated in the streets. Looking back, it was very symbolic to see our hometown lit up after the darkness of years of war.

I was 17 on VE Day, just about to turn 18, when it would have been compulsory for me to join the Army. I still enrolled in June 1945, expecting to be sent to Japan, but they surrendered, ending the Second World War. Instead, in 1946, I was sent to Cairo for two years, before I left the Army.

Airdrie was on the flight path to the Clydebank shipyards, which were bombed. We had lots of air-raid warnings, and would have to run to the local shelters. I also volunteered to do fire-watching overnight at local buildings, which my friends and I thought was very exciting  especially as we were paid for it.

Anna: Jimmy and I met at school and we were courting on VE Day. I remember we took a walk through the town to a local park and sat chatting on a bench. Someone in the park had a gun, which they fired in celebration  but I wasnt very impressed by that.

Throughout the war, our school was divided into two groups and we attended on alternate days  in case it was bombed. I was a member of the Girls Training Corps and we raised funds for the troops and went on marches. Like Jimmy, I would have been called up had the war carried on, but VE Day meant I was able to train to become a teacher instead.

THE GREAT BRITISH STREET PARTY

by ALISON ROBERTS

Best table in the street: Neighbours in Bristol with their VE Day tea and sandwiches, 1945

The VE Day street parties were the biggest spontaneous national celebration Britain had ever seen. At sunrise on 8 May, many women were already creating feasts from almost-bare larders. Cakes were made with dried egg, milk, liquid paraffin from the medicine cabinet and homemade jam. Jellies were set in pots and sandwiches filled with dripping. Finally, the best china, which hadnt been used for years, was brought out.

This wasnt the first time the nation had hit the streets to celebrate, says social historian Chris Gittins, referring to the peace teas of 1919. The idea was to throw parties for children who had been orphaned by the First World War and the Spanish flu. It was encouraged by the government and often funded by the well-to-do.

Street parties also marked the silver jubilee of King George V in 1935, the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and, on 2 June 1953, the coronation of our Queen. Back then, most foods were still rationed, but households were given an extra pound of sugar and four ounces of margarine for the occasion. Home cooks pushed the boat out with fish-paste sandwiches and blancmange. Cups, saucers and mugs were printed with the Queens face, while coronation bunting came in 16-foot strings of 20 cotton Union Flags, with letters spelling out God Save The Queen.

Posher parties had crackers to pull made of red, white and blue crepe paper. Ladies made jaunty Union Flag fascinators; men wore custard tins covered with paper and given a cardboard brim like a soldiers helmet. Some streets held mock-coronations with well-rehearsed toddler maids of honour.

If the street parties of 1953 celebrated a new queen for a Britain beginning to shake off wartime privation, those held for her silver jubilee in 1977 were more about cheering up the nation. Strikes, IRA bombs and the Yorkshire Ripper dominated headlines, yet that summer we had the largest number of street parties ever, says Gittins  12,000 in all.

Since then, weve had street parties for the weddings of Charles and Diana in 1981, and William and Kate in 2011. One of the biggest turnouts  with almost 10,000 street parties across England and Wales  was for the Queens golden jubilee in 2012.

We always rise to the occasion, says Bruno Peek, who masterminded the lighting of 1,250 beacons across the country for the Queens 90th birthday in 2016. When it comes down to it, theres nothing better than a street party.

Bonfires, booze & hundreds of sarnies - Heres how these celebrities marked Victory in Europe

Miriam Margolyes

I handed plates of food to the bus crews who went down our road

I was four and my mother wanted to do something to mark the occasion. We lived on Banbury Road in Oxford so we made hundreds of tomato and cheese sandwiches and cake. We had a table on the street and I handed plates of food to the bus crews who went down our road. I knew it was VE Day and my mother wrote a song about it. She was crying with excitement. I wish we could do that this year but instead I shall make lots of Zoom calls until I can hand out sandwiches and party on the street again.

Captain Tom Moore

I expected to return to India but then the Germans surrendered

At 25, I was based in Bovington, Dorset, at the Armoured Fighting Vehicle School. I had been sent back from India to train tank drivers. I expected to return to India but then the Germans surrendered. Although the war was over, everything didnt stop overnight. There was no money for big celebrations but there was excitement after five years of terrible wartime. However, this feeling of jubilation was relatively muted as we still felt in the middle of things. It was low key but a poignant end to wartime. Captain Tom has famously raised over 28 million for the NHS: justgiving.com/tomswalkforthenhs

Johnny Ball

There was a searchlight reflecting its beam on the back of our house and gramophones or pianos had everybody dancing

I was just two weeks short of my seventh birthday, but I remember my gang of friends had packed several communal air-raid shelters with wood for our huge street bonfire. Everyone was outside and service people wandered from bonfire to bonfire with booze. There was a searchlight reflecting its beam on the back of our house and gramophones or pianos had everybody dancing. My mates and I were still sitting by the fire embers at 4am. Im sure when lockdown ends the euphoria will be very similar.

Esther Rantzen

I do remember the emotion of VE Day because Granny walked around with our radio as a speaker announced at deafening volume that the war was over

I can remember being about four and Granny pinning up blackout curtains and all of us practising hiding under the table wearing gas masks that looked like elephants trunks.

I dont remember being scared by any of this. My family made sure I was surrounded by love. But I do remember the emotion of VE Day because Granny walked around with our radio as a speaker announced at deafening volume that the war was over. I sensed my familys relief. I knew it was a very important day. And I have remembered that day all my life, and felt hugely grateful to those brave British pilots ever since.

William Roache

We were then sent to our classrooms where the form master gave us some pocket money and told us we were free to go wherever we wanted

On VE Day I was 13 years old and away at Rydal boarding school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. I remember how we were all called into the assembly hall and told that it was VE Day and that we would have a whole days holiday. We were then sent to our classrooms where the form master gave us some pocket money and told us we were free to go wherever we wanted. So I went to Llandudno with a friend. That was the best bit for me.

Anne Reid

On that morning Dick, who kept goats, was leaning over his gate, and as we passed he called out, TWARS OWER!

I was nine and staying at Howe Bank Farm cottage, Castleton, North Yorkshire. Each morning my Aunty Collins would walk up to the field to milk her cow. I carried the bucket.On that morning Dick, who kept goats, was leaning over his gate, and as we passed he called out, TWARS OWER!  the wars over. That night the villagers lit a bonfire on the hill.

SSAFA (The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) has been there for the armed forces community for more than 135 years. To help them support the men, women and families of the military, visit ssafa.org.uk/support-us
Millions across the globe are finding creative and not-so-creative ways to face the challenge of being hunkered down in homes, but there have been times when such periods of isolation and quarantine helped discover field-defining knowledge and create art.

For example, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, John Milton and Lord Byron used the time to add to their formidable body of work in science and literature. It was not called lockdown in their time, but they spent long spells in isolation, when medicine was not as developed as now.

The University of Cambridge, where they studied, delved into its archives to collate their activities during such periods of isolation centuries ago. It has also asked its alumni to send accounts of how they are spending time in the coronavirus pandemic.

Isaac Newton (Trinity College): Considered Trinitys most accomplished alumni, he was also a poster-child for productivity during a pandemic. Like many in Cambridge during the Great Plague of 1665-6, he retreated to the countryside to escape the disease-ridden city and spent two extended periods at his family home in rural Lincolnshire, Woolsthorpe Manor.

Newton thrived in isolation, and later described it as one of the most productive times in his life, finding the space to reflect on and develop his theories on optics, calculus, and the laws of motion and gravity. It was during this time that he conducted his famous prism experiment.

Probably to his parents displeasure, he bored a hole through his window shutters to produce a single, thin beam of light to pass through two prisms, proving for the first time that prisms did not create colours, but merely separated colours that were already there made up of a colour spectrum, the universitys researcher Alisha Matthewson-Grand wrote.

Indeed, Newton was so intellectually transformed by his period of isolation that later commentators have referred to his time away from Cambridge as his annus mirabilis, or his year of wonders.

Charles Darwin (Christs College): Darwins experience with isolation was not the result of a pandemic but his own chronic ill health. He suffered from a myriad of unexplained symptoms, including vertigo, vomiting, cramps, fatigue, anxiety and visual disturbances.

He noted in his autobiography of 1876 that few persons can have lived a more retired life than we (Darwin and his wife Emma) have done. Besides short visits to the houses of relations, and occasionally to the seaside or elsewhere, we have gone nowhere.

Darwin believed that periods of isolation and ill health helped his career. At home, he was free from the demands placed on other scientists (teaching, administrative work), and thus able to devote himself entirely to research; he wrote: Ill-health, though it has annihilated several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society and amusement.

Lord Byron (Trinity College): In 1811, Lord Byron was forced to quarantine in Malta after returning from a cholera-ravaged Greece. He was furious at the prospect of spending 40 days in lockdown, a measure he considered to be draconian and unnecessary.

While confined, he wrote Farewell to Malta, a satirical poem attacking the island for (among other things) its smoky towns and cloudy sky and its cursed street of stairs. He references his quarantine explicitly in the first verse Adieu, thou damnedst quarantine, / That gave me fever, and the spleen!.

John Milton (Christs College): The author of Paradise Lost and Aeropagitica spent some time away from Cambridge as a first year undergraduate in 1626, when the town was hit by bubonic plague. He was home in London when he wrote Elegia Prima, his first Latin elegy. The work is an early example of his aptitude for verse composition, as well as his impressive comedic flair.

A letter in verse form, the elegy was written for his closest friend Charles Diodati, and details how Milton was enjoying his unexpected period away from Cambridge while also anticipating his return to the reedy fens of the Cam and the hum of the noisy school.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday appealed to the citizens of the country to stay home and stay safe amid the Covid-19 pandemic and emphasized that isolation at home was the only way to beat the deadly infection.

Often called one of Indias favourite politicians for his wit and erudition, Tharoor joined the 100 Hours 100 Stars initiative started by Fever Network from his home in Thiruvananthapuram amid the lockdown. He elaborated how an instinct had made him stop his mother from travelling to her home in Kochi just before the lockdown was imposed in March. The Congress leader is spending some quality family time during the lockdown with his mother and sister in Kerala.

I have been very busy with my duties as a Member of Parliament throughout the fight against coronavirus. A number of my constituents reached out for help even before the lockdown was imposed. We received a number of appeals from people from Kerala who were stranded in other cities or countries, including fishermen and students. We have supplied test kits and protective medical gear to several frontline workers from my MPs fund, Tharoor said.

We had migrant workers too, who were itching to go back to their homes in Bihar and BengalI addressed them in Hindi and Bengali and asked them to stay where they were to stay safe and avoid infection, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

In an effort to show solidarity to those affected by Covid-19, the Fever Network is committed to uniting people against this fight with the global pandemic. Starting May 2, the Fever Network is launching 100 Hours 100 Stars  the biggest digital festival ever. Through this fest, the network is celebrating and lauding those frontline workers who risk their own lives to safeguard everyone elses.

The fest would be packed with performances, interviews and more global stars from their homes as they self-isolate during this health crisis. The campaign aims to gather funds which would then be given towards Covid-19 relief work.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 12:49:58|Editor: huaxia

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by Marcela Ganea

BUCHAREST, May 1 (Xinhua) -- While the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic brought an unprecedented impact on China's economic and social development, it has also revealed the country's resilience and will act as an opportunity to revitalize its economic sectors, a Romanian expert said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Liviu Muresan, the founder and executive president of the Bucharest-based think tank EURISC Foundation, praised China's unique strategy to contain the epidemic and its recent shift in focus from anti-epidemic to economic recovery.

"Under the current circumstances, China should not be afraid to deviate from the model of global factory," and should strengthen its leading position in research, development and innovation, said Muresan, whose think tank has conducted exchanges and cooperation for 25 years with Chinese research institutes in Beijing and Shanghai.

The expert emphasized the crucial importance of private research and development, saying "China should vigorously develop its private R&D economic sector, as it has the ability to mobilize human and financial resources much better than the public sector."

Education should also be the focus. For China, it is vital to have Chinese students well trained both in China and abroad, as well as to have even more foreign students come to China to study, according to Muresan.

However, he stressed that China should stand ready to respond to new global realities after the pandemic, "because we cannot be sure how countries will continue the regionalist and globalization trends."

He admitted that the Chinese economy will shrink and some countries will no longer be able or willing to consume Chinese products, but he knows China can turn bad luck into opportunity.

Many countries will still turn to China for business. Its role will not decrease, but will change according to the new developments, and China needs to understand its new role, he said. Enditem
KAMPALA  The Danish Government has donated a total of Six billion, four million and five hundred thousand Uganda Shillings (6,004,500,000/=) towards the fight against COVID-19 in Uganda.

Danish Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Nicolaj A. Hejberg Petersen said that the grant shall be administered through World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Offices in Uganda. WHO shall receive 10.000.000 DKK and UNFPA 4,500,000 DKK respectively.

Ambassador Nicolaj said that the two grants aim at supporting the Government of Ugandas efforts towards the emergency response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Uganda and ensuring that Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services are observed during and in the aftermath of COVID-19 in Uganda. Both grants shall be implemented in close partnership with the Ministry of Health and the local government officials in the respective districts.

Government of Denmark appreciates the strategic yet effective measures taken by the Government of Uganda in curbing and managing the COVID19 Pandemic and the donations extended to partners; WHO and UNFPA are meant to further support the Government of Ugandas agenda and to ensure that the good efforts are further strengthened, says Ambassador Nicolaj.

Since the announcement of COVID 19 as a global pandemic on 30 January 2020, WHO Country office in Uganda started working closely and in partnership with Ministry of Health (MOH) to minimise the spread of COVID-19 in Uganda and to manage the cases reported. Therefore, the funds extended to the World Health Organisation will facilitate the organisation in their close collaboration with the MoH Uganda, to mobilize and mount an effective emergency response to avert the spread of COVID-19. The grant to WHO is in response to the financing gaps identified in ensuring effective and timely implementation of appropriate response.

The grant to UNFPA aims at facilitating access to health services that has become more challenging, given the current measures introduced in response to COVID-19 pandemic. The limitations in transportation of patients and health care staff have hindered access to health services. Partners on the ground have reported instances of women giving birth on the way, others not accessing antenatal and other reproductive health services due the restricted transport measures. This grant, therefore, will enable UNFPA to further provide integrated quality Sexual and Reproductive Health services while also contributing to the prevention of COVID-19 transmission among health workers and the general population in the 10 target districts in West Nile and Northern Uganda. UNFPA will closely work with local governments and partners on the ground to implement this grant.

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When kidney transplants first came into practice in the 1950s, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) could finally picture freedom from the unrelenting routine of blood-cleansing dialysis treatments. Just over a half-century later, demand has completely outstripped supply. The critically ill languish for years on waiting lists, while doctors have little choice but to accept donations of damaged kidneys in a desperate attempt to save lives.

Transplant outcomes are so hard to predict that nephrologist Dr. Darren Yuen, of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, compares it to "spinning a roulette wheel". But recently published findings in JCI Insight are laying the groundwork to potentially revolutionize this dynamic - and empower physicians to eventually reset the gold standard in transplantation protocol.

The research is an integration of Yuen's clinical insights on kidney disease with the medical physics expertise of Ryerson University's Dr. Michael Kolios and Ph.D. candidate Eno Hysi, and their respective teams. Both Yuen and Kolios have labs at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Technology (iBEST), a unique collaboration between the hospital and university, bringing together experts from diverse and traditionally siloed research fields.

The team's new method is a world-first in applying photoacoustic (PA) imaging to visualize scarring in kidneys, also known as fibrosis, a common form of damage in donor kidneys. Their results produced clear images of kidney scarring just hours before surgery. During this window of opportunity, an accurate assessment could mean the difference between implanting an organ with decades-long durability - or one that quickly fails, sending a patient right back to dialysis and the years-long waitlist.

Accurate, non-invasive kidney screening

Needle biopsy - a painful procedure fraught with bleeding risk - is currently the only method to assess the amount of kidney scarring in prospective donors. But its reliability is hampered by potentially inaccurate estimates based on a tissue sample size of only 1% of the kidney.

The current research takes a quicker, non-invasive and more comprehensive route to quantify kidney damage, using PA imaging instead. The novel technology combines laser and ultrasound - a sequence that Hysi likens to lightning and thunder. "We shine light on kidney tissue, which creates a pressure wave that can be heard using an ultrasound probe."

The sound data is then run through a proprietary algorithm based on a technique called spectral unmixing.

Each kind of body tissue absorbs colored laser light in its own unique way. Collagen - one of the main components in kidney scarring - absorbs color in a manner that is distinct from other components in the kidney. Spectral unmixing teases out the differences. Maps generated by the technology show the amount and distribution of collagen, blood or other tissue - thus allowing physicians to 'see' the quality of donated kidneys.

"It wasn't at all obvious that it would work"

When Hysi first proposed using spectral unmixing to hone in on collagen, nothing in prior medical physics knowledge hinted that the application was even possible.

Typically, for the technique to work, you need to see large peaks and valleys in how components absorb light. But collagen is flat, so it wasn't at all obvious that it would work." Dr. Michael Kolios, Ryerson University

Hysi persisted with a counterintuitive approach. With so many other biological substances exhibiting peaks and valleys once spectral unmixing is applied, collagen might stand out conspicuously by virtue of its own flatness.

The problem became so intriguing that Hysi decided to explore this possibility in parallel with his own doctoral research on cancer monitoring. Two years later, the findings validated his hypothesis, and the proprietary algorithms are now being patented.

In less than two minutes, the new technique can generate a 2D image with enough detail to quantify total scarring in a kidney. Within 15 minutes, 3D imaging allows visualization not only of overall scarring, but also its varied distribution throughout the kidney.

Potential for significant, widespread impact

As the research moves into clinical trials at St. Michael's Hospital, Hysi and Yuen will assess how closely their predictions on kidney quality mirror actual outcomes in patients. If successful, their scoring method could have a significant impact on transplantation practice, and become the new gold standard in kidney assessment.

Healthcare systems could save the whopping $100,000 in direct, annual, per-patient costs to manage dialysis patients. But the greatest impact is in giving each patient the best possible kidney, keeping them off dialysis and giving them a new, durable lease on life.

Yuen sums up the two-year whirlwind of research: "I've never seen anything like this before. Clinicians and researchers working together, and discovering such great results in so short a time - it's just amazing."
Can I buy non-essentials on e-commerce sites: Here is what you should know

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: There have been queries on whether e-commerce sites can deliver non-essentials during the extended lockdown by another two weeks.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines for activities which will be permitted and prohibited across India's red, orange and green zones. The guidelines are largely aimed at gradually allowing businesses and individuals to resume their normal life.

Full list of what is allowed and not allowed during lockdown 3.0

The government has said that the sale of non-essential items through e-commerce platforms shall be allowed in those areas which have very few or no cases of coronavirus.

This means that non-essentials will be allowed only in the orange and green zones. The government however makes it clear that sale of non-essentials will not be allowed to resume in the red zones until further notice.

This means if you live in a city such as Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru, which have been classified as red zones, then you will not be allowed to buy non-essential items. The non-essential items could include things such as mobiles, laptops etc.

It may be recalled that the government had earlier said that it would ease restrictions on e-commerce websites from April 20 onwards. However that order was revoked.
Even as a teen and a young man, Prince Harry rebelled against some of the stuffy traditions of the British royal family. The prince often found himself splashed across tabloids and newspapers for one rebellious incident or another. Though many people assumed Harry was simply acting out in the years following his mothers untimely death, this may have been a way for him to seek normalcy.

In recent years, Harry has been open about his resentment of the media when it came to Princess Dianas death. As we understand now, the princess car was being chased through the streets of Paris, France when it crashed. Princess Diana died shortly thereafter.

After witnessing how the press hounded his mother, the Duke of Sussex was not going to stand for the same when it came to his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. In an unprecedented move, the pair announced they would be leaving their roles as senior working royals for a more private and peaceful life. Unfortunately, it doesnt appear that normalcy is on the horizon for Harry and Meghan.

Prince Harry thought living a normal life would come easy for him

Despite the apprehension from the British royal family, press, and experts, Prince Harry seemed intent on living a normal life. In the weeks following Megxit, he seemed wildly optimistic about it.

You forget, I was in the military for ten years so Im more normal than my family would like to believe, he explained during a leaked phone call. But certainly being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do. And seeing as everyone under the age of 35 or 36 seems to be carrying out an activists role, gives us the opportunity to try and make more of a difference without being criticized. Oh no, I think its much better.

However, the Sussexes shocking choice to move to LA might have put a wrench in Harrys plan to live away from the spotlight. Of course [Meghan and Harry] are besotted with each other, royal expert Camilla Tominey told ITV News. But thats not to say the love they have for each other and their child and their dream life in North America that theyre not going to face challenges. And that its not going to be difficult particularly for Prince Harry to leave everything that hes known. This is an institution he was born into, he knows nothing else.

Prince Harry may already regret Megxit

As he makes amends with his family amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the prince may regret moving so rashly when it came to Megxit, especially if life outside of the royal fold isnt very peaceful or welcoming. One insider suggests Harry is already having doubts. He cannot believe how his life has been turned upside down, a source told Daily Mail.

One royal expert believes that the Sussexes should have tried to stick it out. I think he will look back at that and regret that, royal author Robert Jobson told Hollywood Life. He has now been separated from his entire family in a degree of acrimony. He [has] none of his friends over there. Hes basically isolated and the things that he loved, the military side of things thats been taken away from him. Ive known, well enough, Harry since he was a little boy and he loved the military since he was a little boy I feel that hes gonna regret this has happened. It was a great role that [Meghan] got. She gave up on it too soon. The biggest role of her life and she gave up on that She could have asked for more help, a little more time, and it would have been given to her.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wont find normalcy post-Megxit

Though Hollywood is the duchess hometown, its still very much a celeb-filled town swirling with paparazzi and industry bigwigs. Its certainly not a town where the couple will be able to lay low, especially if they want to make a name for themselves outside of the royal family.

LA paparazzi dont play by the rules, they will follow them, they are considered fair game, a British photographer told Yahoo U.K. Meghan is an actress, they are in a weird limbo, they have protection and they are trying to make money. They are going to get photographed a lot more and there is not much they can do.

Many royal experts believe that Harry will need to become the exact thing he fears, a full-fledged celebrity. The couples future isnt certain, The Atlantics Caitlin Flanagan explained. They are hugely appealing and glamorous. Everyone in Hollywood is eager to host them. The first few years of this plan are going to be heady. But  as Harry has often said  as soon as Williams three children become old enough to emerge as individual figures, the klieg lights will immediately turn to them. He is in a rush to make his mark and seems to treat life as a race, too.
Aerial of the west side of Tralee, showing The WetlLands The Marine, Basin, Kerins ORahillys GAA grounds, Kerry Group Buildings, The Low Field, and most of Strand Road area. johnclearyphoto.com

KNOCKANURE: MASS - Mass from Moyvane at 10am on Sundays on Youtube.

BLESSED WELL

The blessed well in Knockanure was always visited in May, also many homes decorated their May Altar with wild flowers.

HOLY Communion

HOLY Communion for schools is postponed for time being.

BIKERS MASS

The annual Bikers Mass remembering all who died through motorbike accidents will not take place on June 13th as arranged, a new date will be announced.

GRAVEYARD COMMITTEE

The committee have been in touch with regards Ahavoher Cemetery. They require someone to cut the grass and keep the place tidy and will be reimbursed for their efforts. Please contact Pat on 068 49218.

EASTER HOLY WATER

Close on 600 bottles of Easter Holy Water have been taken from in front of the Presbytery and from Hollys. We have run out of empty bottles but please note the container of Easter Water will be in front of the Presbytery if you would like to fill your own bottle.

MOYVANE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION NOTICE

MDA hopes everyone is safe and well in these unprecedented times. A number of issues have arisen over the past few weeks: Some unauthorised felling and removal of both mature and young trees from the Wood Walk has taken place. Dumping of ashes is taking place in the Wood Walk at the Knockanure Road end. Littering is on the increase, as is dog fouling, throughout the walk and village.

TIDY TOWNS

The competition has been cancelled for first time in 62 years, we all can contribute to keeping places tidy and be prepared for next year's competition.

SWALLOWS

Swalllows have arrived and the cuckoo is singing, the Dawn Chorus is also at its best around 6am. Apple and blackthorn are flowering. Weather great for outdoor walks and work. BISHOP RAY has a reflection on Killarney Parish Newsletter.

COVID-19 HELPLINE

A special helpline which is free and confidential, is available in Kerry to help people accessing non-emergency and non-medical services. The COVID-19 Kerry Community Response Forum includes over a dozen agencies and organisations including Kerry County Council, Gardai, and GAA. This freephone number 1800 807 009 will be available 8am to 8pm seven days a week. A text line is also available, people can text SUPPORT followed by their NAME to 50555. The helpline, which is manned by trained volunteers, is focused primarily on ensuring that vulnerable members of the community or those living alone can access deliveries of essential items like groceries, medicine and fuel

late Canon Neville

The late Canon Neville who was interviewed while he was in Flurry's in Abbeyfeale for a haircut on the recent programme on RTE he died two days later. The diocese contacted the film makers and they have agreed to make the full interview available to the diocesan website.

SYMPATHY

To the Fitzgerald family, Kilmorna and the Shine family, Direen, Athea on the death of Nora Fitzgerald in Waterford. To Nora Fitzmaurice and family, Leitrim Middle and Mary Lyons and family, Derry, Listowel on the death of their nephew Ian Cahill, Galway and London who died in London recently.

DEATHS

The death has taken place of Con Carmody, Moyvane Village and the Hill, Gurtdromasillihy, on the 23rd April, 2020. Predeceased by his brothers Eddie and Michael, sisters Eileen, Sr. Hannah and Kay. Survived by his wife Catherine, brother John, sisters Elizabeth, Maria and Noreen, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grandnephews, and grandnieces.

DEATH has occurred of Peg O'Sullivan (nee Sheehan) of Bronx, New York, USA and Tarmons West, Moyvane, on 20th April, 2020. Predeceased by her husband Patrick, brothers Patrick, John and David and sisters Nora and Maureen. Peg is survived by her children Ann Marie (Hannah), Dennis, John and Norma, son-in-law David, daughters-in-law Patricia and Emer, grandchildren Seamus, Paul, April, Anne, Patrick, Alish, Clare, Kelly, Niall, Maeve, Tara, Aine, Shauna and Sharon, great-grandchildren Ruby, Liam, Anthony, Amber, Cole and Alisi, sisters Ann Finucane, Catherine Cioffi, brother Mike Sheehan and sisters-in-law Theresa, Marie, Sheila and Nora, her many nieces, nephews, great-grandnieces and nephews in Ireland and USA. Requiem mass for Peg was celebrated in St. Mary's Church Tarbert on Wednesday. Burial afterwards in adjoining cemetery.

DEATH has taken place of Matthew Kennelly, Pallas, Listowel, on the 18th April, 2020. Predeceased by his wife Nora Hudson,(a native of Kilbaha), son Neilus (Con) and grandson Fiontan. Survived by, his son Ned, daughters Mary, Siobhan and Anne, grandchildren, sisters Elaine and Mary, daughters-in-law Ann-Marie and Sinead, sons-in-law John, Joe and Ciaran, brother-in-law William, nephews and nieces. Matthew was laid to rest in Kilshenane Cemetery.

DEATH has taken place of Denis Fitzgerald, Glensharrold, Athea on 19th April 2020. Son of Tom and Breda, brother to John and Edward, sadly missed by his Aunts Carmel Flynn (Mayo), Ita Mullane (Knockdown) and Nuala O'Connell (Limerick), uncle P.J. Costello of Kilmoyley.

Anniversary of Venerable Nano Nagle(1718-1784), on 26th April. Foundress of the Presentation Sisters.

ANNIVERSARIES

Bridget Teresa Carroll, John J Buckley, Jim Fitzgerald, Mickey Walsh, Sheila Vaughan, Eddie Moloney, Jack Walsh, Sr. Mary Andrew O'Flaherty, Benny O'Connell, John Joe O'Connor, Fr. Pat Moore, Paddy Feury, John O'Connor, Hannah Sheehy, John Horgan, Jeremiah Christopher O'Carroll, Liza Mulvihill, David O'Brien, Sr. Perpetua O'Brien, Mass behind closed doors for week; Sat 25th at 7.30pm for Margaret, Patrick and Oliver Carmody, Cuss; Sun 26th at 10.00am on youtube for John Shanahan, Kilbaha; Mon 27th at 7.30pm for Jim Fitzgerald, Lower Aughrim; Tues 28th at 7.30pm for Margaret McNamee Larney Special Intention; Wed 29th at 7.30pm for Bridget O'Donoghue, Cork (Rec Dec); Thurs 30th at 7.30pm for Jerry and Ellen Enright, Lisaniskea; First Fri 1st May at 7.30pm for Denis O'Connor, Glin; Sat 2nd at 7.30pm for John O'Connor, Moyvane South and Sun 3rd at 10.00am on youtube for Tom O'Flaherty, The Village, and 11.00am mass is for Padraig McMahon, Lisaniskea.

KNOCKNAGOSHEL

Covid-19

Knocknagoshel GAA Club are willing to collect groceries, fuel or prescriptions for anyone that is self-isolating at this time. Please contact Dan on 087-6411397, John on 087-7176698 or Mike on 086-1929558.

Meals on Wheels

Knocknagoshel Meals on Wheels deliver to Knocknagoshel, Lyreacrompane, Duagh, Brosna, Cordal and parts of Castleisland on Monday to Saturday. Main Course is just 5 and a three-course meal is 7. Kids portions are now available. This group also provide a laundry service. Meals on Wheels can be contacted on 087-1269270 to order before 11am.

Kierans XL

Kierans XL shop is open each day. You can phone your order for collection or delivery. Please contact Kieran on 087-4354516 for more details.

Mass

Knocknagoshel Church remains closed. You can hear mass from Castleisland at 11.30am on Sunday on www.churchservices.tv/castleisland RTE News Now will broadcast mass at 10.30am every weekday.

LIXNAW

Split the Bucket

Congratulations to Ann McCarthy, the Post Office, Lixnaw, lucky winner of 124. Next week's draw will take place in Stack's Londis Shop, Lixnaw. Thanks to all our supporters.

VOLUNTEER DELIVERY SERVICE

Lixnaw GAA Club are extending their home delivery service for another three weeks in association with Foley's Gala Shop, Stack's Londis Shop, Walsh's Butchers, Fitzmaurice's Chemist, McCarthy's Post Office and Woodview Vets. This service is for people in the community that are unable to go out and about at the moment to get their necessities.

If you ring any of the listed businesses below, place your order, they will put it together, calculate what change you will need and we will deliver to your door on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. The shops will explain everything when you ring: Foley's Gala shop -066-7132116; Stack's Londis Shop -066-7132106; Walsh Butches 066-7132143; Fitzmaurices's Chemist 066-7132153; McCarthy's Post Office 066-7132151 or Woodview vets 068-40796.

Split the Bucket Draw will continue and we will use the Club's half of the proceeds to pay the fuel expenses of our volunteers, who are yet again giving their time to assist in this. We hope we will of some assistance.

MOUNTCOLLINS

CORONAVIRUS

As we continue our self isolation and social distancing there looks to be no end in sight to this pandemic. The daily report on the amount of people dying from the virus should bring it home to everybody that no one, young or old is immune. We have a number of people from the parish who are front line workers and they are appealing to everyone to abide by the rules. We should also compliment the home care teams and carers as well as the Gardai and all who continue the to keep the country safe at this time.

FACEBOOK PAGE

In the mist of all the doom and and gloom Mountcollins Parish Notes Facebook Page has brightened the lives of many people. The many photographs featured on the page have bought back many happy memories, created much discussion and rekindled long lost friendships.Anyone with old photographs who would like to share them can message the page of email them to, mountcollinsparishnotes@yahoo.com or contact John Lyons at 0684485 of Sean Lyons at 0863102783.

We would be delighted to publish them and any photographs handed in will be returned immediately.

LOOKING BACK

One of the first national newspaper to come to the parish in 1900 was the Cork Weekly Examiner. As there was no radio or television in those days the paper was eagerly looked forward to. It contained items on current affairs, poetry and stories of national and world news. the paper would pass from house to house and was very interesting.The first provincial paper was sold in Brosnan's shop at the Cross, Mountcollins. The Kerryman came in 1919 and featured a weekly notes input from Mountcollins.

They were written by Michael Kerins who was born in the parish in 1894. He was a prominent campaigner on social issues such as housing, roads and employment. He was a shoe maker by trade and later moved to Ballingarry. He died in 1973 and is buried in Mountcollins.The first pipe band in Mountcollins started in 1914.

There were thirty members in the band and they played at matched, parades and meetings. Some of the earlier members were, Pat Bill Phil O Connell, Paddy Fitzgerald, Jackie Jack Tom Lenihan, Tom Bill Phil O Connell, Patie Lane, David Daheen Lenihan, Danny O Sullivan, Tom Jack, Davy Lenihan, Jackie Bill Phil O Connell, Mike Quirke, Paddy D O Connor, Paddy Naughton, John J O Connell, Eamon Doherty, Tom Counihan, Larry Curtin, Connie Doherty.
The Federal Government has directed the release of about 17,500 metric tonnes of assorted grains from Yola National Food Reserve site for distribution as palliatives to Nigerians.

Haruna Sulaiman, Director, National Food and Strategic Reserve, said this while speaking with News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) in Yola on Saturday.

Mr Sulaiman said the gesture was part of federal governments palliatives to cushion the effect of COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

Mr Sulaiman, represented by Amusa Sulaiman, Manager, Yola Food Reserve site, said the department has many food reserve sites across the country.

Due to the COVID -19 lockdown, there is a Presidential Order for us to start releasing food from national food reserves.

READ ALSO:

The department has issued a standing order to every site to start re-bagging in preparedness for distribution to all states of the federation.

From Yola site, there is directive from government to immediately release about 17,500 tonnes, equivalent of 100 trucks of the assorted grains of sorghum and maize to Kano State Government, Mr Sulaiman said.

He said 28 trucks out of 100 had arrived in Kano on Thursday April 30, adding that the trucks were leaving Yola reserve site to Kano under the supervision of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Mr Sulaiman said that after Kano operation, the Yola site was expecting another directive to release the grains to other states of the federation.

(NAN)
LAKE CITY, FL -- The Lake City Medical Center and Suwannee ER are reacting to Governor Ron DeSantis' plan to partially reopen the state economy on Monday, May 4th. The hospital's doctors are reportedly in the process of rescheduling previous appointments for medical procedures that were cancelled due to the pandemic. The hospital's statement reads as follows:



"Physicians Actively Rescheduling Medical Procedures at Lake City Medical Center

~ Health care services expanding as patients in Columbia, Suwannee Counties and surrounding area now have ability to reschedule needed procedures, in addition to accessing emergency care through Lake City Medical Center and Suwannee ER ~

May 1, 2020  Upon Gov. Ron DeSantis issuing Executive Order 20-112, physicians are actively rescheduling medical procedures at HOSPITAL NAME. This action expands needed health care for area residents as patients, in consultation with their physicians can scheduled needed procedures, as well as access emergency and inpatient services that continue to be available to the community through Lake City Medical Center and Affiliated facilities.

'We remain diligent in our fight against COVID-19, and the health and safety of our patients, caregivers and communities is and will continue to be our top priority,' said Rick Naegler, CEO. 'As we continue to monitor the trajectory of this pandemic as well as state and federal policies, we have begun to thoughtfully re-introduce scheduled procedures and surgeries to ensure that those who have been waiting for important care have access to treatment. Our access to resources and our commitment to safety protocols has us uniquely prepared to reintroduce these services. Many people in our community have medical needs unrelated to COVID-19 that should not be ignored, including emergency care.'

Over the past few months, Lake City Medical Center has been and will continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), maintaining and often exceeding their guidance. The hospital is taking a four pillar approach for universal protection to help ensure the safety of our patients and colleagues:

 Infection Prevention: Continue to implement universal masking throughout the facility where all caregivers wear masks; follow the surgical algorithm for testing patients prior to surgery; continued heightened infection prevention policies, including the removal of high-touch items such as magazines, toys and vending machines.

 Access Control: Continue to screen all patients, visitors and staff before entering facilities; continue to limit and control entrances into the facility; maintain visitor restrictions

 Patient Flow: Continue to treat COVID-19 patients in isolated areas of the hospital separate from other patients in our care. Patients with scheduled procedures are assigned caregivers who are not caring for COVID-19 patients during their shift.

 Distancing: Social distancing practices will continue and protocols will be in place within hospital areas such as waiting rooms to ensure adherence to these practices.

'We are in continuous communication with state and local health departments, and those surgeons who have direct responsibility for their patients. We have established enhanced protections throughout our sites of care to create a safe environment for everyone who walks through our doors,' said Rick Naegler, CEO. 'We continue to follow Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommendations as they evolve, and our hospital will accommodate procedures that physicians determine to be appropriate within those recommendations.'"
- Bea Alonzo recently announced that fundraiser I Am Hope was able to raise Php 6 million within 30 days

- The said fund drive she initiated with movie producer Rina Navarro aims to help people who are at the forefront of the countrys battle against COVID-19

- Bea took to Instagram to express gratitude to those who donated and helped them to make their campaign successful

- On her post, the Kapamilya actress also left words that encourage everyone to remain hopeful amid the present situation

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Bea Alonzo took to social media to announce that fundraiser I Am Hope was able to raise Php 6 million within 30 days.

I Am Hope is her fundraiser initiative with movie producer Rina Navarro, which aims to help those who are at the forefront of the countrys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an Instagram post, Bea expressed gratitude to those who donated and helped them to make their campaign fruitful.

"Your generosity has made it possible for @iamhope_org to raise P6,036,000 Million covering the period of March 26 - April 26," the Kapamilya actress posted.

It is through donors like you that we are able to continue our mission of helping our frontliners, health workers and communities. Your donations helped the following Beneficiaries and impacted many lives through I am HOPE.

She also added, Together, WE CAN overcome this! Let us continue to fight, and be HOPEful that we will all wake up to a new, and better world.

Because of their initiative, Beas team has been actively donating food, medical gear, and essential items to COVID-19 frontliners.

Bea and her team also gained a lot of praises from the netizens because of their kind deed amid the health crisis:

Thank you and God bless you and your team, Beyyy.

Thank you @iamhope_org and @beaalonzo for the special things you do for others. This world is a better place because of you. May your tribe increase. STAY SAFE.

Fantastic effort and sacrifice, I Am Hope and Team Groups! You are all so blessed with LOVE in your hearts that you can give back the same Love to our mga kababayan. And to the donors who expressed their LOVE with their generosity, big or small, God bless you all, known and unknown, magnanimously!

God bless these kinds of people.

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In a previous report by KAMI, Bea's on-screen partner, John Lloyd Cruz, was spotted in Cebu, asking a barangay captain what help can he offer.

Bea Alonzo is a multi-awarded film and television actress in the Philippines. She is one of the most acclaimed or lauded artists when it comes to acting.

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 explain to you the symptoms of COVID-19 that everyone should be aware of amid the pandemic. Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Even as they are finding some positives in working remotely, leaders in the regions student newsrooms say theyre committed to resuming in-person operations once they return to their campuses.

When universities around the country moved the remainder of their semesters online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, student news organizations also transitioned their operations to exclusively digital production.

Annemarie LePard, who lives in Higganum, is a news reporter for the Hofstra Chronicle and radio station WHRU at Hofstra University on Long Island. She said the radio station has become more creative in its reporting, finding new ways to get sound.

Its so significantly better than what it was, LePard said. I hope we take that back with us and dont let it just be a moment.

The Yale Daily News has also continued reporting online since Yale University in New Haven announced it would move all classes after spring break online.

Its been really fantastic to see our writers take their roles as journalists so seriously through this important time  especially while they are all dealing with huge adjustments to their lives and the anxieties that this pandemic brings, Yale Daily News Editor-in-Chief Samantha Westfall said in an email.

Brendan OSullivan, editor-in-chief of the Quinnipiac Chronicle at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, said the transition to online was smooth because reporters were already regularly updating the website.

But it has been a challenge to get the same amount of content out during this time, OSullivan said.

Its difficult to reach out to people when were not on campus together, he said.

Vivian Martin, chairwoman of the journalism department at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, said student journalists are being challenged to find new ways to get stories.

Students are being encouraged to find a way, Martin said. Journalism is a really good model of creative problem solving.

Martin said the skills students are using to innovate their reporting now will become permanent parts of their reporting toolboxes.

There are going to be other crises well have to deal with, Martin said. This is going to be a skill set. These practices and tools get integrated together, and the ones who will prevail and do well are those who know when to use them.

The current situation has also shown student journalists that, although remote reporting is possible, there is no replacement for working together in a newsroom.

Every production night we have dozens of writers, staffers and editors all running around the [Yale Daily News] building, busy collaborating between desks, discussing journalistic decisions, laughing, learning from each other, Westfall said. A lot of that connection is lost while we are remote.

Even though the Quinnipiac Chronicle has been able to produce content without printing its weekly paper edition, OSullivan said staff wont permanently discontinue the print run.

Its another avenue, OSullivan said. Its what the Chronicle is. Its important to keep that tradition.

LePard said having a studio on campus lends WHRU an air of professionalism that is absent with exclusively remote reporting.

Its much different talking to a mic than your phone, LePard said.

Chris Roush, dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac, said while companies may ask journalists to cover more things remotely going forward, the newsroom is a space where journalists can work together and collaborate on a level that is not possible through remote reporting.

You can sit with your fellow journalists and talk through things, Roush said. Its the camaraderie when they have that physical space.

LePard said one of the things she misses most about working on campus is interacting with her fellow student journalists.

Everyone is like a family, LePard said. So well be really excited to see our family again and produce some extraordinary content and reflect on what happened and where do we move on from here.

Anna Aldrich is a student at the University of Connecticut.
I was almost convinced on the idea by the Western media ~~ that Kim was dead.and started building castles in the air about his sisters (Kim Yo-jong) ascension to power. I had a Thor: Ragnarok image in mind, as in the movie, the evil sister came back, Death Herself, looking to ascend to the throne of Asgard. Even if she had to kill everyone to do it

Therefore, I must lessen my dreams and just be content with looking forward to many more rockets being fired into the Sea of Japan again & and a continuation of lies by western media 

Welcome back Kim

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Soo-yoon = North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who was overwhelmed by the theory of death, resumed public activities in just 20 days and showed off his health. On the 2nd, Chosun Central Broadcasting reported that Chairman Kim attended the completion ceremony of the Suncheon Infertilizer Plant the day before Labor Day (vs. 5). The broadcast said, The completion ceremony of the Suncheon Infertilizer Factory, which stands out as the main fertilizer production base, was held on May 1, which is the international holiday of workers around the world. Our party, the Supreme Commander of the Peoples Republic of Korea, and comrade Kim Jong-un, the leading leader of the countrys armed forces, attended the completion ceremony. It is the first time since Chairman Kim presided over a political party meeting at the Central Office of the Workers Party in Pyongyang on the 11th of last month.

Oh how our dreams are smashed by them such as Kim Jong-un. How dare he play with my heart that way and cause the western media to print lies and more lies and left them with egg on their faces

Kim Jong-un do not play with my heart like that. ~~

WtR
The Minority has described as unacceptable and an illegality, the decisions of the National Identification Authority (NIA) and the Electoral Commission (EC) to go ahead with their registration exercises at a time the country is combating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.



It stated that the decision of the two state institutions to proceed with the Ghana Card and the voter registration exercises on the basis that they could provide personal protective equipment for their staff would expose Ghanaians to infections since they cannot afford same protective gears for the citizenry.



Besides, resuming such exercises would amount to encouraging the flouting of the Presidents directive on the ban on public gathering.



We understand that the NIA is going about their registration exercise while the citizens and other public institutions are respecting the Presidents directive on public gathering restrictions, it said.



Call to order

Delivering his closing statement at the first meeting of the fourth session of the seventh parliament, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, quizzed whether the two institutions are capable of providing PPE for registrants just as they have provided for their staff and whether the decision will not encourage the public to also flout the directives.



Therefore, I want to call the NIA to order that what they are doing cannot be better than the health of Ghanaians and generality of our population, he said.



The EC suspended its plans to compile a new voters register which was scheduled to begin on April 18, due to COVID-19. It said it was collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favourable date depending on the prevalence rate of the Novel Coronavirus.



It has also submitted to Parliament a Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) which, if passed, shall make the Ghana Card and the Ghanaian passport the only legal identification documents for registering people in the new biometric voters register.



Grave concerns

Raising concerns about the threat COVID-19 poses to the health and safety of Ghanaians as well as the economy, Mr Iddrisu questioned why there should be one set of rules for the NIA and different rules for judges and other public entities, saying that that raises a matter of grave concern.



He told the House that he had also heard the same comment from the EC that they would go ahead with the voter registration exercise since they could provide PPE for their staff.



It is not about the safety of your workers; it is about our collective and common safety as a people, he said.



He pointed out that it was regrettable that eight months into the presidential and parliamentary elections Ghana is debating what register or electoral role will be used for the purpose of the elections.



Our position on the matter has not changed. What we want is free, fair and credible elections conducted by the EC that must respect Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution.



Mr Speaker, it is very interesting that the birth certificate which gives birth to a passport and a birth certificate which gives birth to the Ghana Card itself is not a qualifying document for registration.



That is interesting. Only in Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos Ghana that (a) birth certificate is no longer a relevant document for the purpose of voter registration he said.



EC cannot go on with registration

In a reaction, the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, told the House that the EC could not conduct any voter registration presently since the constitutional instrument it submitted to Parliament had not matured.



So, no registration exercise could go on without the maturation of the constitutional instrument. It is as simple as that.



So, whoever is alleging that is doing so in complete ignorance; the EC cannot do that and they know what they are doing, he emphasised.

Source: Daily Graphic









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New Delhi: Mohini Ekadashi is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and happens to be one of the most significant Ekdashis celebrated as per Hindu calendar. It falls in Shukla Paksha during Vaisakha month in North India and Chitirai in South India. The date coincides with a day in the month of April or May according to the Gregorian calendar.

This year, it will be celebrated on May 3 while the Mohini Ekadashi Vrat will be on May 3 and May 4, 2020, respectively.

Mohini Ekadashi Parana:

May 4, Parana Time - 01:38 PM to 04:18 PM

On Parana Day Hari Vasara End Moment - 11:22 AM

Ekadashi Tithi Begins - 09:09 AM on May 03, 2020

Ekadashi Tithi Ends - 06:12 AM on May 04, 2020

Gauna Mohini Ekadashi on Monday, May 4, 2020

May 5, Parana Time for Gauna Ekadashi - 05:37 AM to 08:17 AM

On Parana Day Dwadashi would be over before Sunrise

Ekadashi Tithi Begins - 09:09 AM on May 03, 2020

Ekadashi Tithi Ends - 06:12 AM on May 04, 2020

(according to drikpanchang.com)

It is said that by observing fast (vrat) as per the rituals on Mohini Ekadashi, a devotee can achieve peace. The misdeeds during previous birth too get absolved by observing the vrat on this day and seeking forgiveness for the sins that have been committed.

Significance:

The significance of the Mohini Ekadashi has been mentioned in the Surya Purana and its importance was explained by Lord Krishna to help Yudhishthir understand its relevance.

By keeping a vrat on this day, a devotee can attain moksha (liberation) after getting freed of Maya (worldly pleasures). Besides this, one can get rid of sorrow and attain a state of peace, happiness and contentment.

Vrat Preparation (Vidhi):

The preparations for this vrat begin a day prior to the actual event. The devotee observing vrat must eat simple food without onion or garlic and must abstain from any physical intimacy. Then on the day of Ekadashi, the devotee must rise at Brahma Muhurta, take bath, wear fresh clothes (preferably yellow) and offer their prayers to Lord Vishnu.

The Mohini Vrat Katha must be read at least twice a day and later in the evening, and the devotee can do Bhajan Keertan dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Those who can remain awake all night can worship, chant mantras or even continue doing Bhajan Keertan. Remember the Lord and seek forgiveness and blessings.

On the following day, the devotee can break his/her fast after Parana (breaking the vrat), as Ekadashi Parana is performed after the sunrise on the next day of the vrat. It is also imperative to do Parana on the Dwadashi tithi unless the latter is getting over before sunrise, depending upon the timings.

Here's wishing our readers a very happy Mohini Ekadashi!
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By Umberto Bacchi

TBILISI, May 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A transgender woman set herself on fire in Georgia to highlight the plight of trans sex workers with no income during the coronavirus lockdown, LGBT+ groups said on Friday as they called for more state support.

The incident happened as several trans women staged a small demonstration in the capital, Tbilisi, on Thursday evening.

Local TV footage showed one of the women running down a street covered in flames before stripping off her burning jacket and being apprehended by police.

"I am a transgender woman and I'm setting myself ablaze because the Georgian state doesn't care about me," the woman was heard shouting in the video.

She was taken to a hospital suffering from burns but her conditions were not critical, local media reported.

"Police made quick response and ensured protection of citizen's health and lives (sic)," the interior ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding an investigation was underway.

Transgender people often rely on sex work to make a living in the socially conservative Caucasian nation, as discrimination and the lack of regulations on legal gender recognition make it difficult find regular jobs, according to LGBT+ groups.

Strict lockdown rules to curb the spread of the virus including a night curfew have deprived many of all income, leaving them unable to pay rent and homeless with many shunned by their families, according to rights group Tbilisi Pride.

"Most of them cannot go back to their homes and this creates a problem because where would you go if you do not have money and your landlord is kicking you out?" the group's director Giorgi Tabagari told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In March several LGBT+ organisations launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for food and accommodation for almost 40 people which raised about 15,000 lari ($4,700).

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But that has not been enough to cover all costs, said Mikheil Meparishvili, of LGBT+ group Equality Movement, which called on the government to subsidise rents and provide additional assistance to those in need.

"The state needs to see to the needs of trans people who are now left without housing, income, food and other basic necessities," the group said in a statement.

The Georgian government said it launched a package of social security measures in April which included a one-off payment of 300 lari to informal workers who can prove a loss of income and an additional 600 lari to families deemed socially vulnerable.

It did not specify whether trans sex workers were eligible.

"Every individual classified under any indicated eligible group ... will undoubtedly receive support," a spokesperson said in an emailed response.

($1 = 3.1877 laris) (Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
Who is your 11th friend? Last week it emerged Ministers are giving serious consideration to the creation of a bubble of ten family members and acquaintances who we will be allowed to associate with as part of the slow easing of lockdown.

So think about it for a moment. Not of the ten lucky souls who will make the cut. But the 11th. The cousin. The work colleague. That slightly awkward and detached member of your social circle. Think about the conversation where you tell them: Sorry, Id love to see you. But I have to stay in my bubble, think of the NHS and save lives.

This, apparently, is The New Normal. The landscape that awaits as we finally emerge, blinking, from the Covid darkness into the light.

We wont just have this binary easing up of measures, Dominic Raab told the nation in one of his final acts as stand-in Prime Minister. Well end up moving to a new normal. And we will need to make sure that we can proceed in a sure-footed way.

Ive spent some time trying to understand what The New Normal will actually look like. Some of it is simply random and irrational. Were looking at social distancing on public transport that will mean operating services at just 15 per cent of normal capacity, one Minister told me.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING: A scene from the movie 1984, based on George Orwells dystopian novel

Other proposals sound good on paper, but are impractical. Such as the idea of a 2m exclusion zone in workplaces.

And then there are the plans that have clearly been drawn up by someone who has fallen over and hit their head. Like the idea of a two-pint limit in pubs, with landlords inviting customers to depart after their quota has been reached.

There obviously has to be some caution over the more crackpot propositions. As one Minister explained: What you have to remember is that SAGE [the key scientific advisory group advising the Cabinet over the Covid-19 response] has over 100 people assigned to it. So it needs only one person to float a barking idea, and it gets traction.

But its clear that in their increasingly desperate search for a route out of the lockdown labyrinth, Ministers are giving serious consideration to some radical  and dangerous  schemes. One is the idea of some sort of continuing restriction on private social gatherings, along the lines of the ten friends proposal.

As one senior Conservative backbencher said: Remember those times when you used to meet someone, and go out for a few dates. Then youd reach the point where youd say to yourself, right, do I want to take this on to the next level? What were seriously looking at is the State stepping in and saying, sorry, but were now going to demand you make up your mind. Are you into her or not? 

Even more contentious is the idea of contact-tracing technology to prevent a second Covid-19 surge. This is where automated location tracking can identify who infected patients have been meeting with, and deliver texts telling them to get tested or self-isolate.

In principle the system is anonymised. But in practice it could be staggeringly intrusive. Imagine the conversations with your spouse when you receive a message saying you may have brought a deadly virus home. The speculation over who the plague-carrier may be. Or how it was you just happened to get yourself in such close proximity to them to become infected.

And there is a final system Ministers are contemplating to free us from our coronavirus prisons. Or some of us.

The idea of using an antibody test to divide the nation into The Clean  those who have had the virus and are no longer at risk of infection  and The Unclean  us modern-day lepers who are yet to exhibit symptoms but could potentially have the lethal virus lurking deep within our systems. Its not yet clear how this divide will be administered. There has been talk within Whitehall of doctors certificates. Or even wristbands. Fortunately, badges are viewed as a step too far.

But this is where we are this morning. As so often over the past couple of months, what once seemed reserved for the pages of science-fiction has become reality.

Dominic Raab told the nation in one of his final acts as stand-in Prime Minister: We wont just have this binary easing up of measures. Well end up moving to a new normal. And we will need to make sure that we can proceed in a sure-footed way'

The State dictating who we can and cannot meet in the privacy of our own home. Effectively eroding the concept of privacy completely with invasive tracking technology. And creating a new social hierarchy constructed by scientists in a lab. If we cannot identify some disturbing historic parallels within The New Normal, then we should.

Of course, none of this is being done with malign intent. Boris Johnson has not emerged from his near-death experience with a sudden desire to enslave Britain.

His sole motivation  and that of his Ministers and advisers  is to safeguard the nation. But again, in our desire to protect ourselves and everything we hold dear, we are in danger of destroying everything we hold dear.

At the moment the advocates of The New Normal point to the opinion polls. They cite evidence that 70 per cent of people support a continuation of stringent measures until the virus is defeated. But that leaves nearly one in three people with doubts. And if those doubts turn into active disobedience towards the coronavirus struggle, the entire strategy will collapse.

Whatever the second phase of the fight against Covid-19 is to be, it cannot simply be imposed.

Im told Boris will unveil only a limited lifting of the current lockdown restrictions. But there is only so much longer that these benign edits can be handed down.

Boris has said he intends to reach out to Sir Keir Starmer to help construct a political consensus for the way ahead

There is going to have to be a serious national discussion, along the lines advocated by Nicola Sturgeon, about what our New Normal actually looks like.

Boris has said he intends to reach out to Sir Keir Starmer to help construct a political consensus for the way ahead. But Starmer has no public mandate. Nor, for that matter, does Boris. The manifesto that secured his Election triumph was a buccaneering vision of post-Brexit liberty. Not a eulogy to Big Brother.

Because this is the real problem with our prospective New Normal. Not the newness, but the normality. Each and every one of us has been forced to embrace things they would have found unthinkable less than two months ago. But most of us have done so willingly, in the knowledge it was being done in the national interest, and in extremis.

What we are being asked to accept now is not the extreme. Or even the unusual. But a new status quo. A package of measures that we are told could be with us for months, or years, or even indefinitely.

So let us begin that national conversation about The New Normal. And let me start it with my own modest contribution.

My normal will not involve State-approved lists of people I can meet. Or State monitoring of when and where I meet them. Or a quiet acceptance of the division of my country into the pure and the plague-carrier.

The struggle against Covid-19 has  rightly  been described as a war. But this morning we need to stop, and we need to think. Or one day soon we will awake to find the new normal is a world in which we have lost and the virus has triumphed.
WASHINGTON  As lawmakers gathered in the well of the House in the early hours of March 14 to vote on a sweeping coronavirus relief bill, Representative Max Rose, Democrat of New York, felt that the pandemic that had already begun spreading through the ranks of Congress was about to upend life as he knew it.

Hundreds of miles away in New York, his wife Leigh Rose, unaware that votes had finished just before 1 a.m., was frantically calling him, and then his roommate, Representative Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, to let him know that his life was about to change in a much different way.

Buddy! Mr. Rose recalled Mr. Golden saying when he finally tracked Mr. Rose down. Youre having a kid.

The baby the Roses had long planned to adopt was about to be born, three weeks early. Now, the pair is navigating the first months of parenthood in the middle of a pandemic, figuring out how to secure formula and diapers in a shuttered city  all while Mr. Rose juggles trips back and forth from Washington to vote. In the middle of it all, the first-term congressman from Staten Island deployed for two weeks with the National Guard to assist with coronavirus relief.
A month ago a similar vote came close at the AGM of another Australian giant, Santos. The shareholder resolutions were supported by prominent proxy advisers  firms that advise institutional investors on how to vote at companies' annual meetings. "We believe the requested targets would provide an opportunity for the company to add additional rigour to its target-setting process to further assure investors that the company is prepared to meet the challenges of a decarbonising economy," proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis said in a report on the Santos resolution. The motions won the support of large institutional shareholders, notably in the superannuation sector. "This is a breakthrough moment for investor action on climate change in Australia," said Dan Gocher, climate and environment director at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which organised the resolutions.

Loading The company, he said, would remain in open conflict with the majority of its shareholders until it moved to set meaningful targets. This might be true, but the votes highlight more than that. They are more evidence that climate scientists and activists and the investors who align with them now view gas in the same light as they view coal: as a dangerous greenhouse emitter that has no place in the economy of a world determined to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As that message is being heeded in other parts of the world, Australian institutions are once again fighting a rearguard action in defence of fossil fuels.

Diversify or die Over recent months European oil and gas majors have made a series of startling announcements. On April 16 the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, Ben van Beurden, announced plans to eliminate net emissions from its own operations and the bulk of greenhouse gases from fuel it sells to customers - scope three emissions - by 2050. Santos' Moomba petroleum and natural gas plant in South Australia's Cooper Basin. Credit:Brendan Esposito Societys expectations have shifted quickly in the debate around climate change. Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions, he said in a statement. Shell plans to have net zero emissions in the scope one and two categories and reduce its scope three emissions by around 30 per cent by 2035 and 65 per cent by 2050 by increasing the amount of green energy it sells.

Its announcement follows similar declarations by Repsol, Total and BP, whose new boss Bernard Looney made climate change the single focus of his first public address in February. Loading We have got to change and change profoundly because the world is changing fast and so are societys expectations of us, he said, announcing the largest shake-up of the company in its 111-year history. Many observers are naturally sceptical about declarations from an industry with a history of greenwashing, but investment patterns suggest a revolution is underway. A recent analysis by business research outfit BloombergNEF found that of 480 green energy deals it tracked since 2010, seven oil and gas companies were behind 75 per cent of the deals closed, with 15 of them finalised over the past three years. Those seven firms were Shell, Total and BP, along with Chevron, Repsol, Equinor and Saudi Aramco.

These companies are transforming themselves from petrochemical companies into diversified energy companies via investments in solar, wind, biofuels, and hydrogen, as well as in related digital smart-energy technologies and energy storage, the analysis said. The contrast with the big Australians is stark. At one point on Thursday, Woodside's Goyder was asked if there were any plans to follow the diversification lead of the Europeans in order to reduce climate risk and provide long-term value for investors. One of the things we are pretty clear on as a board is that Woodside is a very good LNG company, a gas company, with some assets in oil, he began. We have got a strong balance sheet and we have got a capacity to look for new opportunities, but I wouldnt overestimate that in terms of changing what we do.

However as Zoe Whitton, the head of environmental, social and governance research at Citi, explains, investors are increasingly considering the fact that there actually isnt a future for an energy industry with the same type of profile it had in the past. Yes, the Europeans are transferring into industries with lower returns, but they are actually moving into industries where they are going to be able to make money, because the one that theyre in now just wont exist, she says. When you say, 'Why cant we stay here? ... Here is a burning platform. Investors views on gas are moving very quickly, says Whitton, as the argument for gas displacing coal in Asian nations is losing ground to the question why not switch to renewables?. It's a gas gas gas (war)

This year Australia overtook Qatar for the first time as the world's biggest exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), shipping 77.5 million tonnes in 2019 with an export value of $49 billion. Between 2009 and 2015, the oil and gas industry spent $273 billion on development projects in Australia, mostly in LNG. Woodside is planning to dramatically increase gas production in the years to come, as it edges closer to reaching a final decision on its $20.5 billion Browse project and $11 billion Scarborough project off the coast of WA. Woodside Petroleum's Pluto LNG plant in Western Australia. Credit:Woodside Petroleum This staggering expansion is enthusiastically backed by the federal government, which hopes it will play a central role in driving our recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Asked by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last month if the economic rebuilding necessitated by the crisis presented Australia with a chance to set even more ambitious emissions targets, Angus Taylor, who serves as both energy and emissions reductions minister, responded: I think the opening is that we're seeing low gas prices. I think that's the thing that has really changed.

Countries that have access to low gas prices are able to reduce their emissions faster. That is clear. That's been true in the UK. It's been true in the US energy system. The low gas prices provide an extraordinary opportunity to reduce emissions. And that's a good thing. And, you know, we need to make most of it." It was a response that infuriated climate activists on both economic and scientific grounds. Australia may not be taking up electric cars, but Europeans and Chinese are. Credit: Traditionally oil and gas prices were linked, in part because gas was once seen by the industry as an almost valueless byproduct of oil extraction. Today the price of both is at historic lows, in part due to a demand collapse linked to COVID-19 and in part due to a price war precipitated by oil giants Russia and Saudi Arabia, who flooded the pre-pandemic market in the hopes of driving down prices and crippling the American fracking industry, a move that some believe has worked. According to Bruce Robertson, a gas and LNG analyst with the climate advisory body Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the low prices - or at least associated instability - might linger long after the crisis due to the huge glut of product and the rapid electrification of the transport system. Even if Australians arent buying electric cars in large numbers yet, he notes, Chinese and Europeans are.

In his view it makes no sense to tie Australias economic future to gas. But the investments by companies like Woodside and Santos suggest they see a long-term future in gas. As one gas industry figure who asked not to be named told the Herald and Age this week: "Any project you are committing to now is a long-term investment, it won't pay back in a year or two. If you are investing now, you're locking into gas for several decades. So the question is: does it make sense that we are committing to new fossil fuel projects today?" Gas was adopted as a transition fuel to a low-carbon economy because it was understood to release between 15 and 50 per cent less greenhouse gases compared to coal, depending on how the two were captured and burnt. Loading But there is a growing - and increasingly overwhelming - body of evidence showing that during the production of oil and gas, small fugitive emissions of methane escape into the atmosphere. Because methane is about 30 times more potent in warming the planet than gases produced by coal, if more than around 3 per cent of the methane escapes, the product becomes more destructive than coal.

Fugitive emissions have been known about for some time, but it has been hard to pin down how much methane was escaping. But new satellite technology recently allowed Harvard University scientists to undertake a comprehensive study. They showed that in one of the worlds largest productive fields, America's Permian Basin, fugitive methane emissions were 3.7 per cent, about 60 per cent more than first estimated, and enough to render the fuel the basin produces worse for the atmosphere than coal. Robertson calls this the industrys Volkswagen moment, referring to the scandal in which the worlds largest car manufacturer was revealed to have falsified emissions from its diesel engines. He insists the industry has known for years how destructive LNG is to the climate but has been able to sidestep the growing concerns of scientists. Loading The publication of the Harvard study in the journal Science last month changes the debate, says Robertson. It is lamentable that in Australia we have an emissions reduction minister who is out there advocating for emissions increases, he says of Taylor's support for gas expansion.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has decided that there will be a further public consultation on the Bray to Dublin bus corridor later this year.

They hope to carry out the additional consultation in September, depending on HSE guidelines which may remain in place. Plans are available on busconnects.ie. The autumn round will be the third set of consultations on the project.

The group 'Save Shankill Village', having made submissions from the first stage, said some of the changes to the scheme are welcome, and that they NTA had made some effort to take some of their concerns into account. They said that the first draft had been ill-though-out.

In the current proposals, Shankill Main Street is now largely left untouched. Corbawn Lane, which would have been closed completely under the original plans, will now be open to one-way traffic under these proposals, with four lanes moved to three in some cases and some trees saved.

'In our view, however, the macro problem for Shankill remains. The NTA have not given thought to a do-minimum/do-nothing approach. They have not provided a viable alternative for Shankill and they have not provided the environmental and traffic data (yet) to prove that this level of work is actually needed.

'The issues as they stand are caused in Bray, not Shankill. There are still minimal time improvements to be gained from the huge, multi million Euro project costing massive disruption for the village and millions in tax payer's money. North and south of Main Street Shankill will still become a three and four lane highway for buses with multiple light stops and junctions through the Village.'

Residents south of the exit at Corbawn Lane are concerned that they will not be able to exit or access their estates in any reasonable time frame. The updated designs include a number of junction upgrades in Bray, including the lower and upper Dargle Road junctions with Castle Street and Dublin Road. It is proposed to replace the roundabout at the junction of the old Dublin Road and exit 5 on the M11 with a signalised junction. The Bray Core Bus Corridor (CBC) commences at the junction of Leeson Street Lower and St. Stephens Green. The CBC runs along Leeson Street Lower and Upper including the existing one-way system on Sussex Road.

It continues on Morehampton Road and Donnybrook Road through Donnybrook Village, and on to the Stillorgan Road. It intersects with the UCD to City Centre CBC at Nutley Lane and includes the Belfield Interchange at the entrance to University College Dublin (UCD). It continues south on Stillorgan/Bray Road as far as the Loughlinstown Roundabout.

The route then proceeds along the Dublin Road through Shankill and on to Bray. In order to reduce the impact on properties on the Dublin Road between Loughlinstown Roundabout and Stonebridge Road, online cycle facilities are no longer proposed and off-line cycle tracks will be pursued separately. A two-way cycle track has been added to link Corbawn Lane to the two schools on Stonebridge Road. The closure of Corbawn Lane has been revised to provide an exit only onto Shanganagh Road. A dedicated right-turn lane is proposed from Shanganagh Road onto Beechfield Manor.

The introduction of signal controlled priority removes the need for a bus lane through Shankill Main Street, The southbound bus lane from Quinn's Road junction to after Crinken Lane junction is removed and signal controlled priority is proposed to achieve bus priority and reduce the impact on properties and trees.

Between Quinn's Road and the Wilford junction it is proposed to relocate sections of footpath and cycle tracks behind the existing roadside tree line and therefore retain a tree lined vista.

Submissions can by made by email to cbc@busconnects.ie, or by post to Core Bus Corridor Project, National Transport Authority, Dun Sceine, Harcourt Lane, Dublin 2.
They stand by the side of state government ministers and experts delivering vital information about COVID-19 on a daily basis but on several occasions the West Australian interpreters have overshadowed the officials and arguably been far more entertaining.

From animatedly signing hecklers to car alarms and laughter, Access Plus WA Deaf interpreters Dianne Prior and Fiona Perry have become famous in their own right.

But it's their essential role of conveying information to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community they want to pay attention to.

With a combined professional career of more than 70 years, both Ms Prior and Ms Perry grew up with deaf parents and have made it their lifes work to ensure the one in six Australians in the deaf/hard-of-hearing community have access to the same timely, accurate and relevant information as the rest of the community.
Charlie Cox doesn't expect to play Daredevil again (Image by Netflix)

Charlie Cox believes that Daredevil will return to the screen in the future, but he doesnt expect to be asked back to reprise the superhero.

Cox portrayed Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer who fights crime at night, for three seasons and 39 episodes when it aired on Netflix, only for them to cancel the comic book adaptation when Disney announced they were starting their own streaming service.

During a recent conversation with ComicBook.com, Cox was quizzed about the future for Daredevil, and he responded with, "I think the likelihood is, I think you'll definitely see Daredevil again.

Read More: Netflix cancels Marvel show Daredevil

I just think the best bet for them, in the unlikely nature of being able to get all of us together again, it should be a whole new team, and, you know, start again.

Actor Charlie Cox visits Build Series to discuss his Broadway debut at "Betrayal" at Build Studio on November 07, 2019. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Cox then pointed out that plenty of other superheroes are rebooted every few years, so it shouldnt be a problem to do so with Daredevil. Why not? And, they do it with Spider-Man all the time. I keep consuming that stuff 'cause I love it."

The main reason why Cox believes it would be impossible for Daredevil to return is that the other actors involved in the series have now moved on, too.

"When you make a television show, it's so complicated, and people's schedules are so difficult, and contracts are so difficult... That's why when... you sign onto a TV show, you sign six years of your life away. [without those contracts] it becomes too complicated to try and get all these moving pieces."

Whoever replaces the actor will have big shoes to fill, as Coxs performance as Murdock and Daredevil was so widely praised, that the Irish actor is regarded as the definitive portrayal of the comic-book icon.
The Trump administration asked Israel to clarify the role of a Chinese-controlled company that bid on a $1.5 billion desalination plant, Israeli officials said.

Why it matters: The Trump administration sees China as its main adversary around the world. Israeli officials are concerned the bid could put Israel in the middle of the U.S.-China tensions.

Details: The project, called Sorek B, is expected to be the biggest desalination plant in the world and to produce 200 million cubic meters of water annually  a quarter of the water Israel uses annually. The company that wins the bid would build the plant and operate it for 25 year.

How it works: Hutchison Israel, which is controlled by the Chinese company Hutchison in Hong Kong, is among the entities that have reached the final stages of the bid process, and Israeli officials say it has a good chance of winning the tender.

Several Trump administration officials including the U.S. Ambassador David Friedman raised the issue with the Israeli Prime Ministers office and the Foreign Ministry, Israeli officials said.

Background: Six month ago the Israeli cabinet formed a government committee to monitor foreign investments in Israel, following intense pressure from the Trump administration to limit Chinese investments.

One of the questions the Trump administration raised was why the Hutchinson Israel bid for such a large project didnt go through the monitoring committee, Israeli officials said.

The Israelis told their U.S. counterparts that the bid was issued a year before the committee was formed and did not fall under its mandate.

The Trump administration is concerned because the project is near an Israeli military base that hosts U.S. troops and because of the size of the project, Israeli officials said.

What they're saying: "The Americans are speaking to us about this very politely but it is clear they would like us to review the Chinese participation in the [bid], Israeli officials said.

We are not going to comment on specific projects but, as with all of our allies and friends around the world, we remain engaged in dialogue with Israel about the best way to review potential foreign investment and economic activities with a view on their impact on national security, a U.S Embassy official said.:

The Israeli Prime Ministers office and Foreign Ministry refused to comment.

The White House and the National Security Council declined to comment.

Whats next: The Israeli ministry of finance is expected to announce the winner in the tender on May 24th. It is unclear whether the U.S. intervention could lead to a postponement.

Go deeper:

Editor's note: Updates with the White House and National Security Council declining to comment.
UAB is now offering antibody blood tests for the new coronavirus that can let patients know if they have been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, according to an announcement from UAB.

The tests will not replace the nasal swab tests to see who has the infection now. Instead they look for antibodies in blood samples to tell whether a patient may have already had and recovered from the virus, according to Dr. Jose Lima, director of the UAB Immunology Lab in the Department of Pathology.

We are very limited in the conclusions we can draw from these tests, Lima told the UAB Reporter. Thats the message we need to send.

When a person becomes infected with a virus, their immune system begins producing bodies called antibodies that identify and attach to the virus to prevent it from replicating. But those antibodies take time to develop after a person gets the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says the antibodies may not show up in blood samples until 1-3 weeks after infection.

Lima said his lab can process around 200 tests per hour, with an average turnaround time of about 24 hours.

Even if a person tests positive for the antibodies, that does not mean they are immune to the virus. Lima said we dont know yet whether someone who has the antibodies can get COVID a second time.

We cant say theyre even partially protected or if theyre going to have transient immunity, Lima said. At this point we can only say that we have some degree of confidence that whoever tested positive was infected with the SARS virus. Other than that I dont think we can infer much at this point."

If studies later show that people who have the antibodies are immune to the virus or more resistant to it than the general population, then knowing who has the antibodies could be valuable information as restrictions are eased.

Dr. Sonya Heath, an infectious disease researcher at UAB, said its possible that donated blood plasma from people with the antibodies could help COVID patients recover more quickly.

If we can better understand that, we might be able to say a patient thats recovered from COVID has really good antibodies, and they could be a plasma donor, and that could be used in treatment for another person, Heath said.

UAB began offering the tests on April 24.

There are several versions of the test on the market and UAB is using one manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. In addition, to Abbotts testing process, UAB said it checked the accuracy of the tests against known COVID patients and old blood samples collected before the virus reached the United States.

UAB said the tests found antibodies in all 73 known COVID patients who were tested at least 14 days after receiving their diagnosis. Out of 1000 older blood samples taken in 2019, which should be negative, the test returned only four positive results, probably the result of antibodies made to fight a similar virus.

Lima said those results were encouraging.

We feel confident this is a good test, Lima said. We shouldnt see many false positives or negatives, although they can occur. The bigger concern is there is no correlation with immunity as of right now. We cannot assume that once a patient has tested positive that that equates to immunity or protection.

For more information on UABs antibody tests, see the full announcement here.
May 02 : Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha who enjoys her presence on social media recently appealed people to donate PPE kits to the corona warriors. The Dabangg girl also stated that it is us who should step up and take care of people combating COVID-19.

Sinha took to social media to post a video of herself in which she is seen indicating the shortage of PPE supplies in hospitals.

Our corona warriors need our help guys. Hospitals are running very short of the PPE kits which are the Personal Protection Equipment for the doctors, nurses, and other medical officials. This is where we come in and go to this website to donate, PPE kits, the 32-year-old actor said.

We donate the masks, the shoe-covers, the gloves, and the cover on that they need to protect themselves while they are treating the patients with COVID-19. This is where we step up and take care of those who are taking care of us. Please donate be generous, she added.

Sinha shared the link of the website where people can visit and donate PPE kits to the corona warriors who are combating COVID-19.

Earlier in the day, Centre on said that the production capacity of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits has increased from around 3,300 per day in March end to 1.8 lakh per day in one month, and will soon be above two lakh per day.

Meanwhile on the work front, Sonakshi will be seen in Bhuj: The Pride of India. It is a war action film directed by Abhishek Dudhaiya. The film also features Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles.
A 17-year-old girl, allegedly abducted six days ago, was rescued on Saturday and her kidnapper arrested in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said here.

The minor, a resident of Thuroo village, was allegedly abducted by Masood Ul Hassan on April 26, a police official said.

He said a case was registered after the girl's father lodged a complaint at police station Arnas and an investigation launched.

Raids were carried out at different places and she was rescued from a house in the Gool area, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MONTREAL - A Quebec fashion designer has launched a limited edition of high-end designer masks inspired by the costumes of professional figure skaters he typically dresses.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A luxury facemask made by designer Mathieu Caron is shown in this undated handout photo. Caron who designed costumes for figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Shoma Uno, is selling luxury face masks made from the same material as the costumes the skaters have worn. All profits will go to the World Health Organization. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Mathieu Caron

MONTREAL - A Quebec fashion designer has launched a limited edition of high-end designer masks inspired by the costumes of professional figure skaters he typically dresses.

Mathieu Caron has been designing and manufacturing outfits for several years including the spectacular outfits worn by Canadian Olympic champ Tessa Virtue and world silver medallist Shoma Uno of Japan, among others.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that material is being used to create designer masks  with profits going to the World Health Organization.

"We took the same materials as the skaters' costumes, the same decorations, the same design, but we completely recreated the form to make masks," said Caron, a Longueuil, Que.-based skatewear, dancewear, gown and wedding dress designer.

"My primary goal was to make sure that the artistic side could come to help a little, raise funds to make a difference and at the same time make a collection item a little more glamorous than a ordinary mask."

The unique masks are not for all budgets  with the eight models costing between $150 and $300.

It hasn't stymied interest in the masks. Japanese customers snatched up the items inspired by Uno's costumes, which retailed for $200 to $250.

"I was surprised," Caron admitted. "In times of crisis like this, I honestly didn't think people had so much money to buy a mask."

Caron said at the beginning, the idea was to design a maximum of 15 masks for each skater, but in Japan, they sold 70.

In three hours, 245 masks were sold, giving birth to the hashtag #Shomask in Japan, with stocks of the three models flying off the shelves.

When the items were first made available, a few masks were ready to ship. But given the demand, Caron had to move quickly to fill orders.

The goal wasn't a big marketing campaign, Caron said.

"It was more an artistic contribution to do our part with some members of my team who also got involved in the decoration," Caron said. "But with everything we have sold, we will not be unemployed for the next few weeks."

The fabrics come from the same materials as the skaters' outfits and are very breathable material, with padding included to give them shape and structure.

The masks are made of cotton and polyester fibres.

"Now, is it something medical? Not at all," Caron said. "We would rather call it a fashion accessory, a collector's item."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2020.
Remdesivir, an antiviral drug designed to treat both hepatitis and a common respiratory virus, seemed fated to join thousands of other failed medications after proving useless against those diseases. The drug was consigned to the pharmaceutical scrap heap, all but forgotten by the scientists who once championed it. But on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval for remdesivir as a treatment for patients severely ill with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The story of remdesivirs rescue and transformation testifies to the powerful ...
A prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist has died after being critically injured in a gun attack in Pakistans western South Waziristan tribal district.

Sardar Arif Wazir, a senior leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and former parliamentary candidate, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in the capital, Islamabad, on early on May 2. He was critically injured in the city of Wana in a drive-by shooting a day earlier.

It is with a heavy heart that I report that our comrade Arif Wazir has succumbed to his injuries, lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, a top PTM leader, tweeted. Arif Wazirs father and brother were also killed by militants years ago, he added, alluding to the long history of Wazirs family being targeted by militants, many of whom used to operate as pro-government peace committees in Wana.

Arif was murdered by good terrorists, Dawar wrote. Our struggle against their masters will continue.

Global rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on the Pakistani authorities to carry out an independent and effective investigation into the attack on Arif Wazir. The suspected perpetrators must be held accountable, the organization said.

The attack follows Wazirs April 17 arrest for allegedly delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released from a prison in the nearby city of Dera Ismail Khan earlier this week.

Police in Wana said they are investigating the attack and are looking for a car the gunmen had used to target Wazir. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Wazirs family has been repeatedly targeted by since 2003. He was the 18th male member of his extended family to be killed by gunmen. In June 2018, his cousin, lawmaker Ali Wazir, was also attacked in Wana.

Authorities have so far failed to resolve any of the attacks or murders on Wazirs family or other leaders in South Waziristan. The region is part of predominantly Pashtun-populated former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Now merged into the northwestern province of Khyber Pahtunkhwa, tens of thousands of civilians were killed and millions were displaced in militant attacks and military operations since 2003. Activists estimate that more than 2,000 tribal leaders were killed in targeted assassination campaigns in the region.

In 2018, the PTM emerged as a nonviolent civil rights campaign to demand peace in former FATA and other Pashtun regions of Pakistan. With its leaderships sharp criticism of the Pakistani Armys alleged heavy-handedness, the group has attracted tens of thousands to its rallies across Pakistan.

The movements criticism of the army and holding it responsible for grave abuses such as illegal killings and forced disappearances have also attracted the wrath of the authorities.

Scores of PTM supporters have been killed in militant attacks or firing by the security forces. Most of its leaders, including Ali Wazir, Dawar, and Manzoor Pashteen, have been detained. They and others have been arbitrarily barred from traveling abroad or within Pakistan, according to rights groups.

As senior officials accused them of operating on foreign intelligence services behest, many PTM activists have faced sedition charges. Some are still facing court cases or have been imprisoned for alleged cybercrimes.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday raising tariffs on China is "certainly an option" as he considers ways to retaliate for the spread of the coronavirus out of Wuhan, China.

"A lot of things are happening with respect to China. We're not happy, obviously with what happened. This is a bad situation -- all over the world, 183 countries. But we'll be having a lot to say about that. It's certainly an option. It's certainly an option," Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Steve Holland)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the banking licence of CKP Co-operative Bank, to carry on banking business, as its financial position has become highly adverse and unsustainable, RBI said in a statement on Saturday. Accordingly, the RBI took the decision on April 28 which came into effect at the close of business hours on April 30.

"The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Pune, Maharashtra, has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the affairs of The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai and appoint a liquidator for the bank," read the statement.

"There is no concrete revival plan or proposal for a merger with another bank. Credible commitment towards revival from the management is not visible. The bank is not satisfying the requirement of minimum capital and reserves... and capital adequacy and earning prospects as stipulated in Section 22(3)(d) of the Act and also stipulated minimum regulatory capital requirement of 9 per cent."

According to RBI, the bank is not in a position to pay its present and future depositors. "The affairs of the bank were and are being conducted in a manner detrimental to the public interest and interest of the depositors and that the general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also public interest," the statement read.

"No useful purpose would be served by allowing the bank to continue. Rather, the public interest would be adversely affected if the bank is allowed to carry on its banking business any further. The bank is prohibited from conducting the business of banking which includes acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits," it added.

"With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, as per the DICGC Act, 1961 will be set in motion. On liquidation, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five lakh only) from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) as per usual terms and conditions," it further added.
Aviation is the only sector that enjoys a 50% cut in environmental protection tax - PHOTO: VNA

A number of ministries, departments and associations have proposed cutting several taxes including the natural resource tax, environmental protection tax, personal income tax, corporate income tax for small- and medium-sized enterprises, agricultural land-use tax for small and micro enterprises, agricultural land-use tax for households and farmers and value-added tax (VAT) for aviation fuel and fresh pork.

The Ministry of Finance rejected the proposal to reduce corporate income tax by 50% for small- and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives because it overlaps some policies that will soon be effective.

The ministry also disagreed with the proposal to reduce VAT by 50% for input materials as well as goods and services that have been severely affected by Covid-19 to reduce input costs for enterprises. It explained that the proposal had been rejected because VAT is paid by consumers, not enterprises.

Moreover, it rejected the proposal to reduce environmental protection tax by 50% for transport fuel, except aviation fuel, because fuel prices have already dropped sharply.

The proposal to reduce registration fees by 50% for locally manufactured or assembled automobiles until the end of this year was rejected because it violates international commitments to fair trade that Vietnam has signed.SGT
NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE T he other day I wrote about how the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is using its $75 million CARES Act appropriation. Its an inconsequential plan. Most arts organizations are eligible for a $50,000 lump sum, a figure I suspect is meant to reinforce its all 50 states mantra.

NEA supports the gamut of arts organizations, from museums to dance companies to schools, theaters, opera companies, and symphonies. Each has different structures, goals, and needs, and each is affected differently by the governments reckless, hubristic, never-been-done-before adventure. This demands a nuanced, targeted approach.

NEA has a superb folk-art division, which handles Native American, Pacific Islander, and local African-American art. It has a good musical-theater division, too. Its helping a medium stay alive and, boy, does it have problems, now that COVID-19 has empowered a legion of fearmongers and neurotics.

Technically, with that hoop skirt, Gertrude Lawrence was six feet away from Yul Brynner in The King and I, but where were their face masks, and, by the way, the New York Times says aerosolized droplets travel 27 feet, so lets put Siam under quarantine whenever those two crazies hit the dance floor. Lets get Javert on the case.

The campus crazies demanding safe spaces seem to have polluted the entire culture with fear and anxiety.

Today Ill write about the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is spending $50 million, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which got $75 million.

Government, by the way, has done jolly well during the Chinese coronavirus crisis. I wonder if a single federal employee will find himself, herself, or . . . what could it be . . . the non-binary themself among the unemployed, now more than 30 million. Declaring a health emergency, government at almost all levels, goaded by a giddy press, managed to get the entire citizenry supine and shaking in fear, confined under police surveillance.

Story continues

Im surprised at how many experts want to keep the apocalypse going. Theyre enjoying their TV and front-page place in the sun. Theyre indulging their inner Dr. Scrivello, the dentist in the musical Little Shop of Horrors. Hes the clever, dominant sado-psycho who promises his patients a long, slow root canal leading to an orgasm. But hes a professional, cries one of his subjects. Dr. Scrivello was bad news even before that alien carnivorous plant arrived.

Government employees arent exactly livin on Easy Street, the lofty address Miss Hannigan hopes in song to occupy in Annie. Theyre not suffering, though. My own personal opinion is that every federal employee should get a pay cut commensurate with the May unemployment rate, you know, in solidarity with the workers. A pay cut will focus minds on reopening a needlessly crashed economy.

The casualties of the COVID-19 fiasco arent only the dead whose nursing homes werent protected  thats about 20,000 people and a huge scandal. Who else? Those who cant get cancer treatments or melanoma screenings because theyre frightened of going to a hospital and, anyway, doctors offices are closed and our hospitals are going broke. I havent checked recently, and maybe Amazons working on it, but you cant get a colonoscopy online.

Young people. Theyve lost months of schooling and now have the joy of $3 trillion in new debt, money blown in a matter of weeks, not on education or the arts or infrastructure or better health care benefiting the young but on keeping healthy people locked up and unemployed. And the people canned first, who make the least and have less seniority, are mostly young. Child-abuse hotline calls are surging. Kids are missing checkups and vaccinations.

The median age of the COVID-19 dead is over 80. The fatality rate for healthy young people is near zero.

IMLS shows creativity, always. It supports libraries  and I think libraries are holy places  and museums. IMLS is the secret sauce in a broad mission to expand public access to intellectual and heritage content. I know it as a big booster of museum conservation, digitizing collections, and museum education focused on young people.

I have a soft spot for librarians, and not because Marian the Librarian sings Till There Was You. Ive been on library boards off and on for 40 years. The best librarians are teachers, scholars, mentors, and, from time to time, psychiatrists. They can be superb fundraisers because theyre sincere and have the callings of priests, which is probably why theyre often bad fundraisers  theyre not fakers or flatterers.

Casanova and the Seduction of Europe, an IMLS-supported exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas

In an unusual burst of government smarts, IMLS is using a big chunk of its $50 million to help museums and libraries reopen, because reopen they must. We cant stay in a cave until theres a COVID-19 vaccine. Theres no vaccine for TB, AIDS, SARS, Ebola, MERS, and a thousand other illnesses. We can hope for one, but what hubris to assume its around the corner. This is hard news for the lame brains who think science is a divinity or an ideology.

Its logical for museums and libraries to open first. There, people naturally space themselves apart. Guards in museums are already trained to tell people dont get too close to the art. Museums have advanced HVAC equipment. In libraries, people browse or read, both solitary activities.

That said, museums and libraries are communal spaces, too, and we need as many of those spaces to reopen as possible and soon. The fear people feel now needs to dissolve, and young people need to understand that risk is part of life. People visit for many reasons, but many go to feel engaged and part of a community, even if they dont talk to anyone. One of the consequences of this dreadful policy and cultural failure weve hastily but freely chosen is the epidemic of loneliness its sown.

I see it in my friends from church, mostly old, and the shut-ins I call in my little Vermont town. Quarantine  forced isolation  has left people moldering. This is cruel, and its dishonest. We cant, as a society, guarantee their virus-free safety. We need to assuage pointless fear by opening the spaces in which people feel comfortable and enriched.

IMLS is already working closely with applied scientists to develop hygiene protocols to keep staff and visitors safe. Not airy academics in love with theory and models, and not medical bureaucrats who are, themselves, susceptible to politics and power-seeking, but practical scientists and doctors. IMLS is also working with current grant recipients who need an infusion of money to keep their projects going.

A throttled economy and more than 30 million layoffs is going to hit and distort every facet of normal American life. IMLS funds lots of projects at small Native American and African American museums and archives. They are mostly struggling, have weak donor bases, and are bound to feel the effects of a downturn targeting low- and middle-income workers. IMLSs existing projects will stall if the people doing the work on the ground lose their jobs.

One Mount Vernon Street hall, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, renovation supported by NEH

NEH has already distributed about $30 million to the 55 state and territorial humanities councils for them to distribute as they wish. The money is distributed proportionately based on population. NEA, NEH, and IMLS are required by law to support their state-level counterparts, and this is a very good thing. The state agencies know local needs on a micro level. Whos doing high-quality work on a shoestring? What local arts venues cant raise private money because theyre in poor neighborhoods? Who is reliable? Surprise  artists and academics sometimes are flakes.

How will NEH evaluate applications? It gives general examples of things it will consider, projects it considers good ideas. My quibbles with some of them are philosophical. I think a lot of online instruction is a waste of time, and NEH is suggesting it will promote this. I dont think online instruction for young people is good instruction. Young people thrive in the classrooms give and take.

Young people master technology in infancy, but for many, online learning is a mirage. Poor kids often dont have connectivity. Poor families tend to move, and children often shuttle among caregivers. And why assume that poor households have access to home computers?

In any event, I wonder how efficient a focus on online access actually is. Schools are going to reopen in the fall. Online teaching wont be needed then, unless we close the world whenever COVID-19 kills someone, as it surely will, since its a nasty virus and, as we know from the musical Aladdin, genies dont go back in the bottle.

Many small humanities groups such as scholarly societies and private libraries have a big yearly fundraiser, and these small places rely on that money to carry them through the year. Obviously, they cant have their fundraisers now. The Safety Nazis wont have it. The NEH invites proposals for replacement cash to keep them going, and this makes sense.

The humanities is a huge arena. The NEH supports some great, new research in history, the classics, and literature and lots of good filmmaking projects, mostly scholarly documentaries but podcasts, too. Im impressed with the infrastructure grants its made, paying for projects sponsored by organizations that arent rich. It funded the lovely renovation of the historic house museum belonging to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the renovation of the Islamic galleries at the Cincinnati Art Museum. This year, it also funded good shows at the Norman Rockwell Museum and the Portland Art Museum in Maine.

None of these places are rich. NEH gives serious money, grants in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and these truly make big projects happen.

I looked through the recent round of NEH grants, announced in the beginning of April, before the crazy clique of big government, big journo, and the big bobblehead science establishment sent the economy to Sweeney Todd for a makeover. It gave some nice grants to small, decidedly unrich places, including the Harriet Beecher Stowe house in Hartford, the Childrens Museum in Indianapolis, the Amistad Center in New Orleans, and the Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.

There are hundreds of places like these that are now in deep financial doo-doo. Funding new programs for online learning or making podcasts and documentaries on COVID-19  NEHs guidelines suggest this, too  seems pretty puny and ineffective, jarringly so, given the financial problems that small organizations are facing. I think they need basic budget relief to stay alive.

Helping organizations prepare to reopen makes sense, too. Every venue where human contact occurs will need to spend new, unbudgeted hygiene money. If it was a lab in Wuhan that let the coronavirus escape, as American intelligence has recently suggested, it has created more than a health threat. Its put the entire country in a state of fear. Its exposed and enabled an army of masked, bubble-wrapped hypochondriacs and their Soviet-style manipulators. New standards need to be reasonable. Lets not turn our children into Felix Unger.

I went to a small high school, mostly working- and middle-class kids, where I had a classical education focusing on Latin, logic, math, Christian theology, and classical Greek and Roman literature. Perspective, the perils that hubris invites, the merits of courage, and the possibilities and limits of human endeavor come to mind as the key points drilled into my otherwise pretty empty teenaged head.

If NEH is going to fund anything new, a program like this aimed at young people would help buttress them against the assault on resilience and critical thinking that the current crisis presents.

Stephen Sondheim presents an award for Best Director during the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures award gala in New York in 2008.

Which brings me to Stephen Sondheims Frogs, a most unusual musical. Its a riff on Aristophanes comedy from 405 b.c. In Sondheims iteration, Dionysus, disturbed about the worlds fraught condition, descends to Hades to bring George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare back from the dead to advise humanity on what to do. Who of the two playwrights has the better advice? Its from 1974 and was first performed in New Haven, about as fraught a time and place as any, at least by American standards.

Its brilliant, and thank God that Shakespeare wins and not that desiccated, talky old socialist. Fear No More, the poem from Cymbeline, does the trick:

Fear no more the heat o the sun Nor the furious winters rages; Thou thy worldly task hath done Home art gone, and taen thy wages: Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust

Sondheim does toss in cowards die a thousand deaths, but the valiant die just one, courtesy of Julius Caesar. NEH could do worse than send the soundtrack to every American student. Lets stop treating COVID-19 as the biggest catastrophe in the modern era, and lets stop manufacturing a catastrophe where there isnt one.

More from National Review
The rains are about to set in and there is already fear and anxiety in residents of Frafraha after calls to get the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to fix a falling electricity pole went unanswered for the past 6 months.

Mr. Akwasi Addae-Boahene, a resident who has taken it upon himself to see the situation fixed, narrated that the pole which is located near the Jefkings Palace Hotel has been in that state for the past six months.

Speaking to Modernghana News, he said after contacting ECG personally via phone call to report the matter, the officers who responded to his phone calls assured him that field technicians would be dispatched to restore the falling pole.

He said, uptill now, the falling pole keeps yielding toward the ground day-by-day indicating that the situation is causing serious fear as the rainy season approaches.

According to him, several reports were sent to ECG through its App at the complaint section via email. He added that after several email correspondence, a respondent to his emails relayed the matter to the ECG branch at Dodowa, where an ECG personnel was sent to the scene to inspect the situation but left without returning.

Mr. Akwasi Addae-Boahene says he has been left with no other option than to run to the media in hopes of getting the further attention of the ECG to attend to the situation immediately to avert any calamity.

He is calling on the ECG to urgently fix the situation by the best means possible while noting that the worse could one day happen if nothing is done about the inclining electricity pole.

There are several houses that draw from that pole and am just worried that one day it will just fall down and create some emergency situation for us, he told Modernghana News.
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The Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, the flagship of the Cunard Line, has arrived to join two P&O vessels, the Aurora and the Ventura, off the south coast of England today.

The ship, which can hold more than 2,500 guests and more than 1,000 crew members, arrived in the bay off Weymouth and Portland this afternoon as the cruise ship remains in hibernation during the coronavirus pandemic.

It is one of three ships known as the Three Queens including Queen Victoria - now also docked off the coast of south England - and Queen Elizabeth - now docked north of the Philippines.

All three ships are no longer in service after Southampton-based cruise line Cunard, which is part of the Carnival group, cancelled its cruises on March 16.

Queen Mary 2 has been in the area for some time after arriving back off the coast of England last month but is occasionally seen moving around due to the weather forecast and for maritime operations, according to its owner.

RMS Queen Mary 2 transatlantic ocean liner, flagship of Cunard Line, arrives to join P&O ships Aurora and its sister ship Ventura in the bay off Weymouth and Portland today

Queen Mary 2 (pictured today) is one of three ships known as the Three Queens including Queen Victoria - now also docked off the coast of south England - and Queen Elizabeth - now docked north of the Philippines

Queen Mary 2 has been in the area for some time after arriving back off the coast of England last month but is occasionally seen moving around due to the weather forecast and for maritime operations, according to its owner

The vessel set off on its most recent cruise on January 10 this year. But it disembarked all of its passengers in Fremantle, Australia, after Cunard cancelled all its cruises.

Organisers told passengers they would have to leave the ship and fly home before the vessel sailed back to Southampton - even though no-one on board was diagnosed with the bug which has now killed more than 240,000 worldwide. It arrived back in England on April 17.

A British couple, from Bletchley Heath, Kent, were among those on the vessel when it set off from Southampton for Australia on January 10.

Dave and his wife Helen, who went on the cruise to celebrate their 70th birthdays, said they were 'were under a silent quarantine for a time' before it was revealed they would have to leave for home at Australia.

Dave said: 'Someone said they were offered a first class ticket home. We have heard someone else was offered a holiday in Australia.

'I don't want to fly. I don't like to fly that is why we take cruises. They brought us here by ship, they should take us back again.'

The couple were offered discounts on future cruises as compensation for the inconvenience.

The vessel set off on its most recent cruise on January 10 this year. But it disembarked all of its passengers in Fremantle, Australia, after Cunard cancelled all its cruises (it is pictured off the south coast of England alongside Aurora and its sister ship Ventura in the bay off Weymouth and Portland today)

The cruise ship, which can hold more than 2,500 guests and more than 1,000 crew members, arrived in the bay off Weymouth and Portland this afternoon

Queen Mary 2's sister ships, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, also struggled following the decision by Cunard to stop all cruises.

Queen Victoria sailed back to Southampton after an eight-hour stop in Port Everglades, Florida, on March 17. It arrived back in England on April 17.

But soon after arriving back it emerged it was dealing with an outbreak of coronavirus, and all nonessential crew members had been asked to remain in their cabins for at least two weeks.

ONE-FIFTH of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing 65 One-fifth of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing at least 65, according to research. Shocking new data reveals that cases of the deadly virus can be directly linked to at least 54 cruise ships, as they continued to travel the waters while the pandemic ravaged communities on land. All four of the world's largest cruise lines - Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises - were struck by outbreaks, as well as several smaller lines. At least 922 of those infected and 11 who died were crew members working on the ships. The stark findings, collated into a study by the Miami Herald using data from the CDC, cruise companies and passenger testiminies, show that the situation on board ships was far worse than official figures reveal. It also raises further questions over whether the decision to issue a no-sail order came too light from the lines and the CDC. As coronavirus cases and deaths increased worldwide, cruise ships fast became hotbeds for the killer disease and several ships were turned away by ports refusing to allow sick patients to disembark. The study shows that being stuck on board a cruise ship was one of the most dangerous places to be as the pandemic worsened. Advertisement

The Queen Elizabeth on the other hand remains moored off the coast of the Philippines. It is anchored in Manila Bay on the west coast of the country alongside other vessels from Princess Cruises and Cunard Line.

There are thousands of crew members who still remain on vessels around the world and there is currently a huge effort in getting the majority of them back to their home countries.

Among the cruise ships seen recently near the Philippines were Carnival Spirit, Majestic Princess, Pacific Dawn, Pacific Explorer, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, Sun Princess, Spectrum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas.

The Aurora and the Ventura, also docked off the south coast of England, had a similarly tough time during the coronavirus outbreak. Alongside the Britannia and the Queen Victoria - there are now between 800 and 1,000 crew on each of four vessels operated by Carnival brands moored in the port of Southampton.

A spokeswoman for Carnival told MailOnline today: 'We have three ships in Dover and five ships in our home port of Southampton.

'The ships do move off the berth though depending on the weather forecast (strong winds etc) or for occasional maritime operations.'

Despite the coronavirus lockdown and anchoring of cruise ships, the boss of Tui Cruises believes demand for cruises will bounce back to pre-coronavirus levels within as little as a year.

Wybcke Meier told The Telegraph that despite being forced to cancel dozens of cruises, she was confident the industry would bounce back.

'We are convinced that in the long-term the demand for premium and luxury cruises will not change,' she said. 'We will see the demand for cruises return to pre-crisis level within 12 to 18 months.'

It comes as it was revealed last month that one-fifth of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing at least 65, according to research.

Shocking new data revealed that cases of the deadly virus can be directly linked to at least 54 cruise ships, as they continued to travel the waters while the pandemic ravaged communities on land.

All four of the world's largest cruise lines - Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises - were struck by outbreaks, as well as several smaller lines.

At least 922 of those infected and 11 who died were crew members working on the ships.

Passengers stranded on board the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess off the coast of San Francisco in March. New research shows that one-fifth of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing at least 65

A worker in protective gear checks a passenger after she disembarked the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama in February

The stark findings, collated into a study by the Miami Herald using data from the CDC, cruise companies and passenger testiminies, show that the situation on board ships was far worse than official figures reveal.

It also raises further questions over whether the decision to issue a no-sail order came too light from the lines and the CDC.

As coronavirus cases and deaths increased worldwide, cruise ships fast became hotbeds for the killer disease and several ships were turned away by ports refusing to allow sick patients to disembark.

The study shows that being stuck on board a cruise ship was one of the most dangerous places to be as the pandemic worsened.

'Here's a situation where you have a global pandemic, and you're running a business where you essentially have self-contained environments where this disease can proliferate quickly,' Dr. Roderick King, CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation, told the Herald.

King accused the big cruise lines of 'closing your eyes' to the dangers as they continued to pursue voyages as the crisis ramped up.

'By closing your eyes to it, it's not only detrimental to your business model and ability to bounce back, but it has huge implications on the broader population,' he said.

The cruise industry has come under fire for its slow response amid the pandemic as it continued to send ships out to sea even after a series of outbreaks on board and repeated warnings from health experts that the high numbers of people in contained spaces on the ships can make them breeding grounds for the virus.

It was early February when the doomed Diamond Princess was ordered to stay at sea off the coast of Japan for two weeks after a deadly outbreak struck passengers and crew.

In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 712 people tested positive and 13 died after being on board the ship.

Passenger Steven Smith goes through a health screening after leaving the Grand Princess cruise ship in California on March 11. Shocking new data reveals that cases of the deadly virus can be directly linked to at least 54 cruise ships

Grand Princess passengers wait to leave the ship.All four of the world's largest cruise lines - Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises - were struck by outbreaks, as well as several smaller lines

But despite the warning signs, on March 7 it was still business as usual with companies citing extra cleaning measures were being taken and Vice President Mike Pence telling Americans it was 'safe for healthy Americans to travel.'

The next day - around a month after the Diamond Princess outbreak - the CDC issued guidelines that Americans do not travel on cruise ships.

Several ships still set sail after this time, with the Herald analysis showing that these risky moves led to another eight outbreaks on ships, including 309 cases and 3 deaths.

On March 11 - the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic - around 550,000 passengers were on cruises.

On March 13, more than 50 cruise lines finally announced they were suspending operations to and from US ports for 30 days and the CDC issued a no-sail order in US waters the following day.

Even then, cruise ships already at sea were still able to continue their voyages beyond this date.

It emerged last month that some companies had even deliberately downplayed the risks of coronavirus to customers in order to not have to issue refunds to worried passengers.

The Florida Attorney General launched an investigation in March into Norwegian Cruise Line after leaked emails revealed managers were giving sales staff phrases to tell customers dismissing the risk of contracting coronavirus on board ships to try to flog more holidays.

The emails, leaked to Miami New Times by a whistleblower, showed that staff in the Miami headquarters were being told to say phrases like: 'the only thing you need to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen,' and 'the coronavirus can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise'.

Rescue workers transport patients after they disembark the Zaandam and Rotterdam cruise ships at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Cruise ships fast became hotbeds for the killer disease and several ships were turned away by ports refusing to allow sick patients to disembark

Passengers and crew leave the Zandaam. Companies continue to downplay risks, with Carnival CEO Arnold Donald saying passengers 'are at far less risk in a cruise environment than other environments'

Even now the major companies have downplayed the risk on board their ships.

Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival, the world's largest cruise company where 17 percent of ships have been infected, said last week that 'very few' ships have been affected by coronavirus and said passengers 'are at far less risk in a cruise environment than other environments.'

'We have really high standards on cruise ships in dealing with any kind of health risk,' he said in an interview with CNBC on April 15.

'You don't go to many places where you have medical records, where there is temperature scanning, there's lots of deep cleaning going on often and all the time.'

Passengers on board the ships tell a different story.

One passenger who set sail on Carnival's Costa Luminosa cruise in Fort Lauderdale on March 5 said the company refused to give out refunds before the voyage despite the increased risks so he and his wife decided to go ahead with their holiday.

Emilio Hernandez told the Herald three days into the cruise a sick passenger had to leave the ship and be hospitalized in Puerto Rico with COVID-19.

In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 712 people tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama

A passenger waves as she walks with others on the deck of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February. Japan was widely criticised for its handling of the ship, with one disease expert saying the quarantine was 'completely inadequate' after viewing the conditions on board

The ship was then refused to dock in Antigua and people were kept on board the virus cluster, which resulted in four passengers and one crew member dying.

Hernandez, 51, and his wife Barbara, 46, both caught coronavirus and his wife was hospitalized before recovering.

'If the cruise ships don't learn now, how many more people are going to die?' Hernandez told the Herald.

'They need to be held accountable for what they've done to their passengers and their crews. They decided that taking their asset back to Italy was more important than my health and the health of all the passengers. That decision has cost people their lives.'

One of the fatalities was Tom Sheehan, 69, who also boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale on March 5 and died on March 30.

'If the ship had told everyone what was going on, my dad and stepmom would have gotten off in Puerto Rico and flown home,' his son Kevin Sheehan told the Herald. 'But they didn't tell them. So they stayed on the ship.'

Several crew members have also been killed after they were left with no choice but to keep turning up for work on the floating deathtraps.

Pujiyoko, 27, a Royal Caribbean housekeeper from Indonesia, became the youngest person in South Florida at the time to die from the virus on April 12.

Fears first mounted for cruise ship passengers and crew in February when in the worst cruise ship crisis so far, hundreds tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama.

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

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

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

At least 13 people have died after they were taken to hospital from the doomed vessel and 712 have tested positive.

Weeks later another Princess ship was struck by an outbreak, when two passengers and 19 crew members on the Grand Princess cruise ship tested positive for coronavirus in early March.

The ship docked in Oakland, California, on March 9 with 3,500 on board and people were repatriated and sent to army bases for quarantine.

At least 100 cases have been linked to the Grand Princess and at least two deaths.

In March, the Holland America Zaandam was stuck at sea after it set sail on March 7 and people began showing symptoms of coronavirus.

The ship was turned away by several ports in Latin America and Florida.

The Zandaam and its sister ship the Rotterdam - which had met the infected ship and taken healthy patients on board - were finally allowed to dock in Florida on April after Donald Trump waded into the matter.

Four people had died and more than 190 had flu-like symptoms by the time passengers and crew were allowed to disembark.

The CDC has since extended its halting of cruise voyages until late July.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 2,487, with 159 more people testing positive for the respiratory infection on Saturday, officials said.

Of the total cases, 1,746 are undergoing treatment and the rest have been cured of the disease, Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said. The state has so far reported 43 deaths, with one on Saturday.

Coronavirus cases have so far been reported in 64 of the 75 districts in the state. Six among these 64 districts have no active case at present, he said.

According to a government release, the only death reported in the state on Saturday was from Meerut.

Of the 159 instances of the respiratory infection reported on Saturday, Agra has the maximum at 39 cases, followed by Firozabad at 13 and Saharanpur at 10, it said.

Agra has also reported the maximum number of COVID-19 deaths at 14, followed by Moradabad with seven fatalities, Meerut six, Kanpur four, Firozabad two, and Amroha, Bareilly, Basti, Bulandshahr, Lucknow, Varanasi, Aligarh, Mathura, Shravasti and Ghaziabad one each, the release stated.

Of the total cases in the state so far, 1,129 are those who attended the Markaz event in Delhi's Nizamuddin area in March and their contacts.

With the government allowing movement of stranded migrant workers to their native states amid the lockdown, Prasad said an order with details about modalities of screening procedure was issued on Friday.

"All those returning (to Uttar Pradesh) will be first screened and those found healthy will be home-quarantined for 21 days. Those showing even minor symptoms will be stopped from proceeding homewards and would be subjected to detailed testing," he said.

"If these people test positive for COVID-19, they will be sent to isolation wards in hospitals. If not, they will be stopped for seven days and then screened again, Prasad said, adding, "If the results turn negative again, they will be placed in home-quarantine for 14 days.

Since a large number of migrants will be returning to the state, arrangements of community surveillance is being made. For this, 'gram nigrani samitis' and 'mohalla nigrani samitis' are being formed in rural and urban areas respectively, the officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian automakers have for the first time reported zero local sales in April as factories and dealerships across the country remained shut to comply with a stringent lockdown. For comparison, nearly 250,000 vehicles were sold in the domestic market in April 2019. Indian automakers count the dispatch of vehicles from factories to dealers as sales.

However, as ports resumed operations, some manufacturers managed to restart exports.

The countrys top carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and other top manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), Toyota Kirloskar Motor India Pvt. Ltd, MG Motor India Pvt. Ltd all reported zero local sales.

Maruti had zero sales in the domestic market in April 2020. This was because, in compliance with government orders, all production facilities were closed, the company said in a filing.

Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt. Ltd, which makes cars for Maruti Suzuki, had first stopped its second shift on March 23 for two days after a Gujarat government order. When the lockdown began on March 25, the closure was extended till April 14, only to further extend it until May 3.

Though domestic sales remained on pause, Maruti said it exported 632 units from the Mundra port once it reopened. RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, told Mint in a recent interview that a fiscal stimulus is required to rescue the industry.

Meanwhile, Indias second-largest carmaker, Hyundai, said it exported 1,341 units in April, even as domestic sales remained nil.

Gaurav Vangaal, country lead, light vehicle production forecasting at IHS Markit, said automakers will ramp up production up to 50% of capacity in May and June. This, however, will depend upon the suppliers coming out of the designated red zones. It will be interesting how original equipment makers cope with the existing BS-IV stock present in the dealership channels and the ramp up of BS-VI inventory after lockdown lifts, Vangaal said.

M&Ms April exports stood at 733 units. Veejay Nakra, chief executive officer, automotive unit, M&M, said the firm is closely working with component suppliers, vendors and dealer partners to restart the ecosystem. We are hopeful our dealerships will open soon and have stocks to cover the first few weeks of sale, said Nakra.

While Toyota Kirloskar too reported nil sales, Naveen Soni, senior vice-president, sales and services, said the revival will be slow.

Restoration will be gradual as the industry is faced with the challenges of weak consumer sentiment, rebuilding of disrupted supply chains that need factors of production to be restored, including return of workforce, he said.
In the weeks leading up to President Gerald Fords visit to Conroe, Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Dr. Walter Wally Wilkerson was looking forward to viewing the historic event from a special seat on the platform behind Ford.

The organizers of the event had relayed to Wilkerson that as the Republican Party Chairman, hed have a place on the platform along with the other dignitaries.

Thats wonderful, he replied.

But then a day or two before the speech, he got a call to tell him sorry, but Congressman Charlie Wilson decided he wanted to come at the last minute and he would be taking Wilkersons place on the platform.

Wilson was the Democratic US representative from East Texas with an infamous reputation and whos support of the Afghans became the subject of a non-fiction book and later the Tom Hanks movie Charlie Wilsons War.

Wilkerson instead was offered the chance to stand beside Fords limo during the speech and ride to the reception afterward with the president and Sen. John Tower.

He said Well that sounds even better.

When Wilkerson told his wife, Neddie Jane, the news she told him Well you need to decide what youre going to say.

They spent a day or so putting together his comments that hed discuss with the president.

He thought he had it memorized by the time the big day came.

When they played Hail to the Chief on April 28, 1976, Wilkerson couldnt believe he was hearing that tune in Conroe, Texas.

I couldnt really believe that I was seeing this take place in Conroe, in view of the circumstances of the two-party system in Texas at the time, Wilkerson said. This was a very special event, especially for Republicans at that time, when this was still a Democrat dominated county.

In fact, he quipped that people contacted him prior to the event asking him if they could get a chair at the speech. Wilkerson didnt realize he had so many Republican friends at the time.

When Fords speech was over in downtown Conroe, Wilkerson climbed into the jump seat of the limo facing Ford.

As he was preparing to make his memorized comments, his mind went blank.

I couldnt remember one word I was supposed to say, he said.

He instead made a comment about the weather holding out, as it was a misty day in Conroe.

Sen. Tower and the president carried on a conversation about the campaign as the limo drove from downtown Conroe to the new Holiday Inn on south I-45.

He met there with local leaders from both parties as well as other community leaders.

He was just like one of the people. He spoke to everyone and had multiple pictures made, Wilkerson said. He didnt seem like he was in a big hurry to go.

When the reception was over, Ford got back into his limo and traveled to Intercontinental Airport and then on to Waco.

I thought it was an experience of a lifetime, Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson has served as the Republican Party Chairman for Montgomery County since 1964. In October 2014, a 50th anniversary celebration took place honoring Wilkerson at the Lone Star Convention Center.
Fighting a supervirus with an automatic weapon View(s):

Identification of more than two hundred navymen attached to the Welisara navy camp as superspreaders of the coronavirus after being allowed to go to their villages on leave without first being tested, shows the fragility of that vicious us vs them dichotomy in no uncertain terms.

From heroes to pariahs

Abruptly, the dynamic of social interaction changed overnight. Instead of paens of praise with which the South fetes the tri-services, they began to be treated like untouchables. So much so that Sri Lankas Department of Government Information and the Ministry of Defence had to issue pleas not to discriminate service personnel as carriers of the virus. Regardless, navymen turned from heroes to pariahs in a twinkling of an eye as it were. In some areas, their family members were attacked by villagers fearing that they were harbouring the virus. In Anuradhapura and Kurunegala, residents imposed their own lockdowns with traders refusing to open up their shutters and lawyers refusing to go to court.

Indeed, the sheer absurdity of this begs the imagination. Is this behaviour a hallmark of less developed mindsets, despite gleeful cackling about Sri Lankas two thousand five hundred years of unbroken recorded history? In what scientific or commonsensical context is infection of the virus equalised to shameful, stigmatizing behaviour? Certainly some anchors on private electronic media stations appear to be infected with this inferior mindset as they stigmatized Muslims as virus carriers. This was while their stations carried out highly publicised charity campaigns, disregarding the fact that racism weighed far heavier to the bad in the scales than a few bags of rice or grains.

The poisonous propaganda became so great that that even otherwise sensible and rational Sri Lankans started grumbling about the population density of Muslim villages etc. But when low income households exist in clusters, these are inevitably densely populated, irrespective of whether they are Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim. This is amply illustrated by the other notable super spreader in the past ten days being the unfortunate pilgrim who, returning from a traditional Buddhist pilgrimage to Dambadiva, unknowingly infected others in her sprawling low income neighbourhod in Colombo 12, which then traveled as quickly as the snap of a finger to similar areas in the capital.

Responsibility lies in command structures

So are these all to be sitgmatized and rejected? And did it take members of the tri-services to be infected for the Department of Government Information to instruct the media not to demonise covid patients? The earlier directive of the Ministry of Health in this regard was ineffective as television stations just carried on regardless. But the question is very simple. Why reject unfortunate victims while failing to recognise that lack of proper health and quarantine procedures was the root cause for the spread? This column had long been making the obvious point that, arrivals at the Sri Lankan airport should have been quarantined and tested irrespective of country of origin of travel far earlier in March. In the absence thereof, maligning patients facing a frightening disease is adding insult to very palpable injury.

Similarly, the police and the tri-services should have been given proper protective equipment and should have been quarantined themselves in batches with stringent testing done. The weapons that they are given to carry may be of use in a war but cannot be a substitute for protective equipment to meet the threat of a supervirus. Most importantly, navymen should not have been allowed to return to their villages at a time when ordinary Sri Lankans were strictly barred from traveling inbetween districts.

This ban was quite properly for fear that non-risk areas would be infected. In the absence of enforcing that basic cautionary measure, hundreds of asymptomatic navymen took the virus back with them to their villages. So of what use was that one and a half month lockdown imposed on the country at great economic and human cost if minimum safety measures were not implemented? As such, it is not the tri-forces who should take the blame but their superiors in command. Let us be very clear on this point.

Need for a correction course

That responsibility cannot be shrugged away by patriotic songs played ad nauseam on media or by the Army Commander repeatedly prefacing the term heroic when referring to the tri-services. None of this matters if personnel ferrying quarantined persons to camps and to hospitals are not protected. The same goes for public health inspectors who have now warned that they will disengage with the public health process if they are not safeguarded.

Reportedly, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had advised Sri Lankas anti-virus strategy to proceed with course correction. Sober reflection is needed in regard to many questions. Undue militarisation of the process rather than allowing experienced public health officials to lead, prioritising of elections and politicisation of relief and welfare measures roundly condemned by election monitors are just some. Doctors had been calling since three weeks ago to increase the testing percentages so that asymptomatic carriers would be detected. Yet this increase in testing was seen and steeply so only after the Elections Commission determined that polls could not be held as scheduled. Merely a coincidence, some may say to the knowing winks of cynics.

On its part, the Opposition cannot simply scream of the Constitution, by the Constitution and for the Constitution (to horribly twist that epochal characterization of democracy by Abraham Lincoln) while resting on compromised yahapalanaya laurels. It is immeasurably rich to hear former Ministers pronouncing that they would have handled Sri Lankas covid-19 pandemic better. This is one year to the devastating Easter Sunday attacks by a few homegrown Islamist jihadists who inflicted colossal loss of lives. Much of this was enabled by a chronically dysfunctional President (Maithripala Sirisena) and Prime Minister (Ranil Wickremesinghe) who, along with their hangers-on were more intent on political power plays than the security of the country.

From tragedy to farce

So the Opposition cannot just issue anodyne advice on how best to tackle the pandemic. This seems to be a hard truth that Sajith Premadasa, leader of the infant National Unity Force (an offshoot of the United National Party), needs to learn. And the less said about copious letters fired off by the UNPs Ranil Wickremesinghe to global leaders on the covid-19 pandemic, the better. This exemplifies tragedy to farce of a particularly stupid kind. Certainly the Oppositions chronic inability to rise to the challenge and the crisis persists.

Yet it is superficial to argue that if the global pandemic had hit during those chaotic times, we would have been in a far worse off state. Comparing one political regime to its successor allows Sri Lankans to comfortingly believe that, despite indications to the contrary, we are somehow better off than what could have been. Thus, when the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe yahapalanaya alliance clearly veered off balance, it was parotted that if the Rajapaksas were in power, things would be worse. That thinking was desperately illusionary then as it is currently.

Now the danger is doubly so as a pandemic-frightened nation hopelessly struggles in an economic, socio-political and Rule of Law quagmire. In sum, speaking up and questioning authority has never been more important than in these turbulent times.
The Kano State government on Friday said preliminary investigations into the recent unexplained deaths recorded in the state showed many victims died from malaria and Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).

Many of the victims also had underlying medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, among others sicknesses, the official added.

Salihu Yakasai, spokesperson to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, said many of the victims could not get adequate medical attention before they passed on.

The state government, in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO), The Africa Centre for Disease Control, and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) are investigating the deaths to ascertain the causes, which many had linked to the ravaging COVID-19.

Mr Yakasai told German based radio, DW Hausa on Friday that patients with the underlying diseases died due to inadequate medical attention from the government owned and private health facilities in the state amidst fear of COVID-19 infection.

These are categories of people that need special attention which they are no longer having from the health personnel because of fear of coronavirus, Mr Yakasa said.

He also said most of the private hospitals were not working in the state because of the pandemic.

This might have added to the high rate of fatalities in the state, he explained. He said the state governor had summoned the owners of the hospitals and addressed the issue.

He also stated that four members of Kanos task force of COVID-19 tested positive for coronavirus. He, however, lamented how some persons were mocking the development which he said may negatively affect the fight against the disease in the state.

He said frontline medical personnel deserved commendation and support, not derision.

Missive to Kwankwaso

Meanwhile, the governors spokesperson urged a former governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to hand over the isolation centre he donated to the state to help fight the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Kwankwaso on April 20, in a statement signed by Ibrahim Adam, spokesperson to Abba Yusuf, former governorship candidate, announced the donation of a 60-bed isolation centre to Kano, located at Miller Road, Bompai.

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However, Mr Yakasai said the state government is yet to receive the donation.

Mr Yakasai said the state government only heard about the donation through social media, we only saw the pictures but we didnt see the inner and the equipment.

Mr Yakasai debunked media reports that Mr Ganduje, who has had running political battles with his predecessor, rejected the donation.

Were appealing to the former governor to tell us where and how are we going to receive the keys of the centre, we are ever ready to collect the donation. Were appealing for donation from everyone because this is not the time of achieving political scores, Mr Yakasai said.

Mr Kwankwaso has kept a rather low profile ever since leaving office especially in the aftermath of his failed presidential ambition. He has no spokesperson as his former aide, Binta Spikin, has defected to the ruling APC.

Kanos rising coronavirus infections

The result announced by NCDC) on Friday showed Kano leading the table for the second straight day ahead of Abuja and Lagos.

While Kano reported 92 new infections Abuja followed with 36 while Lagos fell to the third for the first time with 30 cases.

In all, Lagos remains the Nigerias epicentre of the disease with 1,006 cases, followed by Kano with 311 and Abuja with 214.
Normally, the Houston Methodist health care system does several special events during National Nurses Week with appreciative gestures coordinated each day, from free meals and gifts to messages of gratitude expressed by leadership.

National Nurses Week starts with National Nurses Day on May 6 and concludes on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale who is credited with founding modern nursing. The week-long celebration has been established as a recognized annual event for appreciating health care workers.

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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Methodist had to be strategic on how to observe National Nurses Week this year by putting an innovative spin on what they usually do to thank their nurses.

Ironically, this is the year of the nurse and so we were excited about this year, we really wanted to highlight Nurses Week, said Nicole Twine, vice president and chief nursing officer at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. Were going to celebrate every day this week starting Monday (May 4).

The World Health Organization named this year as the year of the nurse and the midwife because May 12, 2020, will be the 200th anniversary of Nightingales birthday.

HEALTHCARE HEROES: Houston nurses working through coronavirus pandemic

The Willowbrook hospital will kick off Nurses Week with a message from Twine and the CEO, thanking the nursing staff, expressing appreciation for the hard work they doespecially during these times.

In prior years, nursing staff would come to gather in one area of the hospital and the chaplain would pray and perform a blessing of the hands, a ritual honoring the hands with which nurses help heal patients. Because of social distancing, chaplains will instead make rounds to units throughout the day.

Our chaplains are actually going to go from floor to floor in a socially distant way, Twine said. Were still going to try to do some of that, just try to change it up a little bit.

Lunches and dinners will be provided throughout the week. The leadership team is used to serving day shift and night shift staff in a central location. Twine said this years meals will be individually bought and prepared for unit leaders to pick up.

ON THE FRONT LINES: Vintage photos of Houston nurses from the 1950s

We, the executive team, were signing thank you cards for all the meals that are being distributed to our nursing staff, so at least they get a written thank you note, Twine said.

Gestures of appreciation

On Friday, May 1, Happy Nurses Week banners were hung in the Willowbrook hospital parking garage, North Pavilion, South Pavilion, as well as Houston Methodists Spring and Cypress Emergency Care Centers.

The week of May 4 will be filled with displays of gratitude, including a Nurses Week video, daily meals provided by managers, gourmet popcorn, gifts and thank you cards.

The hospital normally ends Nurses Week with a gala, but this years has been postponed until fall.

Me being a nurse for almost 23 years in practice, its important because every staff member that works at a hospital, theyre a key to the health that we provide, Twine said. The nurses, theyre the front line. Theyre the ones that are at bedside with these patients for 12 hours or longer per day.

We really wanted to remind them and to show them how much we value them for what they bring to the organization. This is the one week that we can just honor you and thank you for all that you do.

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Heath Rushing, CEO of Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital said they plan to do a big, system-wide celebration to thank nurses for all their hard work during this time. For this years Nurses Week, Memorial Hermann Cypress will have several activities.

On May 6, the hospital will award its first ever Daisy Nurse Leader, an award that recognizes nurses for exceptional patient care. Employees can also look forward to thank you cupcakes.

A day later, theyll celebrate Certified Nurses Day and make rounds to deliver breakfast tacos to all employees. Each nursing unit will receive a cake to celebrate Florence Nightingales 200th birthday May 12. The hospital is also working with Cy-Fair ISD to decorate some of the windows in a superhero theme, Rushing said.

HCA Houston Healthcare Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs Sean Burnett said that every year Nurses Week provides an opportunity to thank nurses for their commitment to the care and improvement of human life.

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As we commemorate this important week during such a historic time, we feel especially proud to honor our nurses at all thirteen HCA Houston Healthcare facilities, Burnett said.

HCA has locations throughout the greater Houston area, including northwest Harris County locations in Spring, Tomball and Cypress.

Burnett said celebrations will vary by hospital, but the immeasurable gratitude they have for healthcare heroes will be strongly present at each.

We want our nurses to know how fortunate we feel to be surrounded by some of the most talented, strong and compassionate humans on earth Burnett said. We are humbled that our local communities have rallied around us to support our front-line staff.

Burnett added that as they prepare to celebrate Nurses Week, they invite everyone to share their well wishes and words of support with healthcare heroes by visiting the website at https://hcahoustonhealthcare.com/covid-19/gratitude.dot.

Outpour of support

Like other hospitals, Methodist Willowbrook has gotten a lot of community support through these times.

Weve received such an outpour of support, from thank you notes to meals, just all kids of generosity, Twine said. Not that we except it, but I think its nice when people are going about their day and they take time off to say a special thank you.

Twine said its not just about appreciating nurses in their organization, but all healthcare providers, because everybody is on the front lines right now. But she also wants nurses to know that shes grateful for all they do. For Twine, its important to make sure nurses feel valued and special, at work and in their community.

A lot of them do this just because its their calling and its the right thing to do, Twine said. Its our job to let them know that we appreciate them.

Nurses Week freebies

Businesses and restaurants have also taken part in the yearly celebration, offering freebies and discounts to health care workers.

Dunkin Donuts plans on offering a free coffee and doughnut to all health care workers on National Nurses Day, May 6. Krispy Kreme has been offering health care workers free dozens of original glazed doughnuts from March 30  National Doctors Day  and on every subsequent Monday through National Nurses Week, May 6-12. Health care workers may receive their free doughnuts by showing an ID badge. From May 6-12, healthcare workers can show their badge at Cinnabon and get a free Cinnabon MiniBon or a 4 count BonBites.

Starbucks is giving out a free tall brewed hot or iced coffee to first responders and front-line health care workers through the end of May. Checkers and Rallys are offering a free combo meal to healthcare workers as long as they wear their uniforms.

All Seasons Uniforms is offering a 20% discount on all scrub and lab coat lines from May 6-12th using the promo code NURSE20.

The Healthcare Collection from Adidas features their most supportive and cushioned shoes for health care professionals, who can enjoy a 40% off discount as a special thank you for their service when they verify their profession with ID.

BP is offering first responders and health care workers a single-use discount code for 50 cents off per gallon on a BP or Amoco fuel purchase. Qualifying professionals may obtain their code by visiting www.bp.com/en_us/united-states/home/products-and-services/our-rewards/supporting-our-local-heroes.html.

Amazon offers a selection of free Kindle books for nurses.

Its nice to know that people really appreciate the work that theyre doing, Twine said. I think its wonderful.

alvaro.montano@chron.com
Medics have deployed a robot in a Tunisias hospital caring for coronavirus victims to limit contact between staff and infected patients, in a first for the North African country.

The tall, single-limbed machine is mounted on wheels and is capable of taking pulses and checking temperatures and blood oxygen levels.

It enables nurses, doctors and patients relatives to make virtual bedside visits.

It allows a reduction in contact with the sick and therefore the risk of contaminating personnel, said Nawel Besbes Chaouch, a doctor leading the pulmonary department at the Abderrahmane Memmi hospital in Ariana, near the capital Tunis.



A screen mounted at the top of the robot enables audiovisual communication with patients, who in turn can see and recognise the faces of those caring for them  an impossibility when medics otherwise have to use full protective gear.

A website allows families to reserve a time slot for a virtual visit, where the robot is remote-controlled into the patients room to allow a video conversation.

The robot was designed and made in Tunisia, by Enova, a start-up based in Sousse.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre) visiting the completed Suchon phosphate fertilizer factory in South Pyongan Province, North Korea on May 1st. (Released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency)

Seoul: North Korea's Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported Saturday, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.

The North reported that Kim had attended the opening of a fertiliser factory and released pictures it said showed the leader cutting a ribbon at the ceremony on Friday in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang, although the appearance could not be verified.

Rumours about Kim's health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar.

His absence triggered a series of fevered rumours and unconfirmed reports over his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted they had no information to believe any of the conjecture was true.

His sudden death would have left Pyongyang facing an unplanned succession for the first time in its history and raised unanswered questions over who would succeed him and take over the North's nuclear arsenal.

The Korean Central news agency said that onlookers "broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!'" when Kim appeared.

The pictures released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim in his trademark black suit, smiling broadly as he looked around the factory.

He was flanked by senior officials -- including his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong -- and showed no outward signs of ill health.

As with previous pictures released by the North during the global coronavirus pandemic, Kim was not wearing a mask, unlike the hundreds of workers cheering for him and releasing balloons.

Analysts said Kim could not appear in public wearing a mask as it would make him appear vulnerable to the North Korean people.

The North has insisted that it has not seen a single case of coronavirus, although experts say it is unlikely.

Kim's repeated appearances without a mask had led some to speculate that he may have caught the virus.

Reporting from inside the isolated North is notoriously difficult, especially on matters relating to its leadership, which is among its most closely guarded secrets.

Rumours of ill health

The North Korean leader had not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers' Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported that he had inspected fighter jets.

Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, had reported that Kim was undergoing treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month.

Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim -- who is in his mid-30s -- had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

Soon afterwards, CNN reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery, quoting an anonymous US official.

Officials in Seoul had consistently downplayed the reports and a presidential security advisor said that Kim was "alive and well" and staying in the eastern resort town of Wonsan.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul said Kim's disappearance had highlighted that the world was "largely unprepared for instability in North Korea".

"Washington, Seoul and Tokyo need tighter coordination on contingency plans," he said.

Rachel Lee, a former US government North Korea analyst, told AFP that the past weeks had also shown the "insatiable appetite for news about the North Korean leadership".

She highlighted the "potential regional and international risks that come with Kim Jong Un's health" while lamenting the "poor analysis of North Korea that is based on impressions and speculation, not hard data".

US president Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Washington believed Kim to be alive and well and declined to immediately comment on Kim's apparent re-emergence.

Trump and Kim have met three times, although talks on the North's nuclear capabilities have long been stalled with no sign of them resuming.

Previous absences from the public eye on Kim's part have also prompted speculation about his health. The North is extremely secretive, especially about its leadership.

Kim's father and predecessor had been dead for two days before anyone outside the innermost circles of North Korean leadership was any the wiser.

In 2014, Kim Jong Un 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.
Sources from the Spanish Health Ministry on Saturday provided more details about the deescalation of coronavirus confinement measures, explaining that during Phase 1, which will begin on May 11 in provinces that meet the set requirements, up to 10 people will be able to meet either in the open air or in their homes, provided that they maintain an interpersonal distance of two meters. They will also be required to respect hygiene measures such as handwashing.

The use of cars during Phase 1 will also be subject to regulations. Vehicles will be permitted to be occupied by up to nine people, provided that they all live in the same home. If the occupants of a vehicle do not live together, a limit of one person in each row of seats will apply, and they will have to wear masks.

Under Phrase 3, citizens will be able to go to beaches provided they observe safety and distancing conditions

On public transport, passengers will have to try to observe the maximum interpersonal distance possible, and leave the row of seats behind the driver empty on buses.

During Phase 0 of the deescalation, which will begin on Monday, minor construction projects will be permitted, including the refurbishment of housing and commercial premises. Such work will have to be carried out in conditions that guarantee the safety of workers and residents, and they will not be permitted if there are people living in the said properties. Laborers will not be permitted to use the common areas of the building where the work is taking place.

Retail outlets of up to 400 square meters in size will have to offer timetables for the over-65s. These will coincide with the set time for walks for seniors, which from today run from 10am to 12pm, and 7pm to 8pm.

Purchases (not including food and other essential items) will have to be made within each persons municipality, although in smaller areas where a certain item is not available, trips to nearby areas will be permitted.

Establishments will also have to be cleaned twice a day, all uniforms will have to be washed after their use, bathrooms cannot be used unless it is essential, and fitting rooms will have to be cleaned after each use.

Employees will not be able to work if they have coronavirus symptoms nor if they are in quarantine after having been in contact with someone who has Covid-19.

Here is a summary of what is known so far about the four phases:

Phase 0. This will involve the opening of small chinks of economic activity. Citizens will be able to book appointments at establishments where individual attention is possible, such as at the hairdressers or to collect food to take away from a restaurant.

Phase 1. This will begin on May 11 for provinces that meet the requirements, and will allow for social activities such as meetings in the home or on the street for up to 10 people. Sidewalk cafes can also reopen, albeit at 50% of their usual capacity. The government had proposed 30% but representatives from the sector complained given the effect this would have on their revenues. Hotels and tourist accommodation can also reopen for guests living in the same province, but common areas will be shut. Places of worship will reopen, while activity will also restart in the food and fishing sectors. Open-air markets will be limited to 25% of their usual capacity, while religious celebrations will be limited to 30%.

Phase 2. This will begin on May 25 in the provinces that meet the requirements, and will see restaurants return to serving at tables inside their establishments once more, albeit with limited capacity. Journeys to second residences will be allowed, provided they are in the same province. Cinemas and theaters will reopen with a third of their capacity. Cultural activities will be permitted with fewer than 50 people seated, while open-air events will be able to hold fewer than 400 people seated. Schools will reopen to offer support to parents of children aged under six who cannot work from home, as well as for those students preparing their university entrance exams.

Phase 3. This will begin on June 8 in areas that meet the requisites, and will see a reduction of capacity restrictions in hostelry, but the public will have to remain separated. Restrictions on mobility in general will be relaxed, and retail outlets will be able to allow customers to enter up to 50% of usual capacity. Nightclubs and bars will be able to open with a maximum of a third of their usual capacity. Citizens will be able to go to beaches provided they observe safety and distancing conditions.

The markers for each change of phase will depend on:

The strategic capacity of Spains health system , including primary care, the situation in hospitals and the number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds available. The epidemiological situation, including testing, the infection rate and other indicators. The collective compliance with protection measures in the workplace, businesses and public transport. The evaluation of mobility and socioeconomic data.

English version by Simon Hunter.
So Energy Ghana Limited, an oil marketing company and a subsidiary of the Sahara Group, today presented twenty (20) units of oxygen filled cylinders to the Tema General Hospital as its contribution towards the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the Tema Metropolis.



The company will also refill the cylinders at no cost to the hospital for the next three (3) months to ensure sustained supply of oxygen over the period.



So Energys presentation to the hospital is based on the fact that the Tema Metropolis has been identified amongst others as a Covid 19 hotspot within the Greater Accra Region and the Tema General Hospital, being the major health facility in the metropolis, will need support to manage and treat Covid 19 cases effectively.



Mrs. Yvette Selormey, Managing Director of So Energy and Downstream Ghana, Tosin Etomi, the country manager and the various managers of the company presented the oxygen units to the hospital on behalf of the company and were received by Rev. Francis Ackah, the Health Administrator of the hospital.



Presenting the cylinders, Mrs. Selormey indicated that Corporate Social Responsibility is at the heart of the companys business objectives as an oil marketing company, and that unwavering commitment to promote good corporate culture and render the required support to its host communities was of utmost importance.



We also considered the critical and sensitive role that the hospital was playing, as a frontline health institution in the Tema Metropolis in the fight to manage and control the pandemic, she said.



Mrs. Selormey commended the Administration and staff of the hospital for their dedication to duty particularly during the era of the Covid 19 pandemic by providing lifesaving care and treatment often at great risk to themselves and their nuclear families.



She appealed to society to abide by the directives outlined by government and health professionals to help control the spread of the pandemic for a quick return to the social and economic wellbeing of the citizenry.



Receiving the oxygen units, Rev. Ackah thanked So Energy and the Sahara Group for the donation which he said will go a long way to support the hospitals effort to effectively treat Covid 19 patients particularly and more generally all other conditions which may require some form of Liquid Oxygen Therapy.









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Russian state television canceled the reruns of a program by one of its most famous directors after he criticized the head of the nations largest bank.

During his show that aired May 1 on Rossia-24, Nikita Mikhalkov, who has close ties to the Kremlin, slammed Sberbank Chief Executive Officer German Gref for not having bank branches in Crimea. The same program also accused American billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates of seeking to insert microchips into people.

The state channel canceled the traditional replays of his show on May 2 and May 3, causing Mikhalkov to accuse state TV of censorship in a video statement. Rossia-24 did not give a reason for the cancelations.

RIA Novosti, a state-run news agency, called the nearly 50-minute show a conspiracy extravaganza in which the topics of Gates supposed plans to microchip people, Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler, and the absence of Sberbank branches in Crimea were included.

Russian state television had previously aired programs containing baseless accusations that Gates was seeking to install microchips containing a coronavirus vaccine in people:

The author of the Telegram channel Katarsis said the reason the state withdrew the show is because of the bad light it sheds on Gref, who has led Sberbank for 13 years. Gref has been credited with revamping the once stodgy lender, turning it into a Russian leader in online and mobile banking.

No major Russian banks operate in Crimea, which the Kremlin forcibly annexed in 2014, due to the threat of U.S. sanctions.

The Katarsis author said Mikhalkov is a figure whom many Russians respect and pointed out that two officials he previously attacked -- Emergency Minister Vladimir Puchkov and Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky -- lost their posts.

Lets see how the fate of German Oskarovich [Gref] develops, the author said.
US Troop Reduction Plan on Track in Afghanistan

By Ayaz Gul May 01, 2020

The U.S. military said Friday its withdrawal from Afghanistan is continuing and that it expects troop levels to drop to 8,600 by mid-July under terms of a peace-building deal with the Taliban.

The "conditions-based" military withdrawal began within days after the signing of the landmark agreement with the Islamist insurgency on February 29, when the number of total American troops in the country stood at around 13,000.

The agreement also calls for the withdrawal of all American personnel from Afghanistan, along with coalition partners, by July 2021.

"We are not providing updates on current troop levels primarily due to operational security concerns associated with the drawdown," a U.S. military spokesman told VOA when asked for a reaction to media reports the number of service members had already fallen to fewer than 10,000.

"U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) continues to reduce force levels and expects to be at 8,600 U.S. troops within 135 days (mid-July) as stipulated by the U.S.-Taliban agreement," the spokesman noted in the statement.

The Islamist insurgent group is obliged under the accord to prevent terrorist groups from using Afghan soil for international terrorism and halt attacks on U.S.-led international forces.

Increase in Taliban attacks

Meanwhile, the Taliban has continued to wage deadly attacks against Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Officials told VOA an early Friday bomb and gun insurgent raid on a military base in southern Helmand province killed at least 10 soldiers.

A regional Afghan military spokesman confirmed the killing of a soldier in adjoining Kandahar province in a Taliban attack that also wounded three security personnel.

Insurgent attacks have escalated in Afghanistan as the annual spring fighting season arrives amid concerns the U.S. military drawdown is encouraging the Taliban to intensify its violent campaign against the Kabul government.

"USFOR-A remains committed to supporting our Afghan partners throughout the process and maintains the capabilities and authorities necessary to accomplish our train, advise and assist and counterterrorism objectives," said the U.S. military spokesman, apparently responding to the concerns.

Stalled Afghan peace talks

The U.S.-Taliban agreement binds the insurgents to engage in a political reconciliation dialogue with other Afghan groups, including the government in Kabul, to negotiate a permanent cease-fire and power-sharing arrangement in the post-war Afghanistan.

But the proposed intra-Afghan negotiations, which were supposed to begin on March 10, have stalled because of an extremely slow-moving prisoner swap between the Taliban and Afghan government, which was not part of the agreement.

The peace building deal called for the release of up to 5,000 insurgent prisoners from Afghan jails in exchange for 1,000 government personnel being held by the Taliban.

Around 550 Taliban inmates have so far been released while the insurgents have set free more than 100 prisoners. The Taliban has ruled out peace talks until all of the insurgent inmates are released.

Another obstacle in the way of implementation of the agreement is the lingering political crisis stemming from the disputed presidential election in Afghanistan.

Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani was officially declared the winner of the September 28 polls, but runner-up Abdullah Abdullah rejected the outcome, paralyzing governance in the turmoil-hit country.

The two rivals held competing inauguration ceremonies in March, ignoring U.S. calls for ending the dispute in favor of an "inclusive" government to help move the peace process with the Taliban to end decades of deadly hostilities in Afghanistan.

Abdullah, however, tweeted Friday his team has made progress in negotiations with the Ghani camp to resolve the political crisis, saying the two sides have "reached a tentative agreement on a range of principles."

He did not elaborate, saying details of the proposed agreement are still being finalized as soon as possible.

Looming COVID-19 threat

The slow progress in the U.S.-Taliban deal and the political crisis come amid the threat of the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen, while announcing the release of a fresh batch of dozens of government prisoners on Thursday, maintained it "is trying to speed up prisoners' release process in order to save lives of the prisoners from the risk of the coronavirus disease."

A U.S. government agency in a report submitted to the U.S. Congress this week has warned Afghanistan is likely facing a "health disaster" from COVID-19.

The warning from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, also known as SIGAR, comes as Afghan officials say the pandemic has killed 68 people and infected close to 2,400 others.

"Afghanistan's numerous and, in some cases, unique vulnerabilities - a weak health-care system, widespread malnutrition, porous borders, massive internal displacement, contiguity with Iran, and ongoing conflict - make it likely the country will confront a health disaster in the coming months," SIGAR said.

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White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds her first press conference at the White House on May 1, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Federal Aid to States May Hinge on Sanctuary City Reform, White House Says

The Trump administration may insist on sanctuary city reforms in discussions with states about the next round of COVID-19 relief funding, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said May 1.

Phase 4 is something we want to start negotiating on immediately and get to work on, McEnany said in her first appearance in her role, adding that funding shouldnt be an excuse for decades and decades of bad Democrat governance that have run these states into a financial predicament.

I dont want to get ahead of the negotiations, but I do want to emphasize [the president] has mentioned sanctuary cities, she said. It is something he would like to see in Phase 4.

McEnanys remarks at the press briefing echo earlier statements made by President Donald Trump, who on April 28 suggested that federal pandemic relief to states could hinge on their sanctuary city policies.

In remarks during a meeting that day with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump listed a few possible caveats to federal funding to help states fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

Wed have to talk about things like payroll tax cuts. Trump said. Wed have to talk about things like sanctuary cities, as an example.

Trump also said a distinction should be drawn between states with funding shortfalls due to the outbreak and those with poor fiscal management.

I think theres a big difference with a state that lost money because of COVID and a state thats been run very badly for 25 years. Theres a big difference, in my opinion, he said.

Trump said at a meeting with business leaders that he wanted to include sanctuary city adjustments when distributing federal aid.

The problem with the states is were not looking to recover 25 years of bad management and give them the money that they lost. Its unfair to other states, Trump said.

Now, if its COVID-related, I guess we could talk about it. But wed want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments, because we have so many people in sanctuary cities, which I dont even think are popular even by radical-left folks, because whats happening is people are being protected that shouldnt be protected, he said.

A lot of bad things are happening with sanctuary cities, Trump added, possibly referring to issues such as reports of city authorities refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities or providing services to illegal aliens.
More than 800 people watched the funeral service for Harrisburg School Board Member Gerald Welch on Saturday.

But just about three dozen close family members and friends sat in the wooden pews of his large church, St. Pauls Missionary Baptist, at 17th and Cumberland streets.

The rest of his large circle of family and friends stayed home and watched a live stream of his service provided over the internet by his church to comply with social distancing rules from the pandemic.

The limited gathering at 11 a.m. Saturday represented another cruel blow by COVID-19, the virus that took Welchs life, less than five months after he was sworn in as a member of the reformed school board.

Welch, 56, died at a hospital April 15, five days after getting a positive test result for COVID-19. Its unknown where he picked up the deadly virus, but as a master social worker, he was among the essential employees who continued working during the recent closures.

Always an advocate of education, he was pursuing his doctorate.

Welch was well-known in Harrisburg for his leadership, activism and community service. He made friends easily and maintained friendships in his former hometowns of Washington, D.C. and New York City and served as a mentor to people across the city and country.

In normal times, the church would have been packed. People could have hugged each other. Instead, the small group of mourners and church musicians wore masks, some wore gloves and they spaced themselves around the church. They took their repast meal in a to-go bag.

The coronavirus precautions, however, didnt dampen the liveliness of the service celebrating Gerald Welchs life. It was an uplifting event with songs of worship, a saxophone solo and his widow Donna at one point stepping up to the microphone to belt out To God be the Glory, bringing many to tears.

One of Gerald Welchs friends, Jerrie Harris, was among the first to speak at the service, and he recalled going on a cruise with Gerald and Donna in 2018 to renew their wedding vows.

I remember the smile on his face when he renewed his vows, Harris said. I feel the pain of not seeing his face again. But Ill see him again in heaven.

The love story between Gerald and Donna inspired everyone who met the couple. They met online while he still lived in NYC, dated by phone and he proposed to her on their first real date.

Donna is the best thing that ever happened to me, Gerald often said.

11 Gerald Welch

One of Geralds friends, Dan Hall, said Gerald Welch served as the officiant at his wedding and he hoped to have a marriage like Geralds.

What an impact he had on my life, Hall said. He helped me to be a better man.

School Board President Brian Carter said he will always remember Gerald as someone who was sophisticated, genuine and intelligent. Carter said he appreciated how Gerald pointed out problems but also listened to other points-of-view and offered solutions.

Gerald didnt cut corners, Carter said. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy.

Kia Hansard, who co-founded the community group CATCH, said Gerald Welch lived a life that mattered through his constant selfless actions. She said her comments were inspired by a poem entitled Live a Life that Matters:

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no more minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade awaySo what will matter?...What will matter is not your competence but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you know, but how many will feel a lasting loss when youre gone.Living a life that matters doesnt happen by accident. Its not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.

When you leave this place today, Hansard said, choose to live a life that matters!

Board Member Jayne Buchwach said she still vividly recalls first meeting Gerald a few years ago on the capital steps, where they both were protesting gun violence.

Since then, she said: Our destinies were locked.

She started seeing him at school board meetings, where they both stood up and asked pointed questions of the previous administration. Gerald was particularly concerned about the districts abysmal graduation rate.

At one particularly contentious school board meeting, Buchwach said, Gerald was getting the audience riled up with his incisive comments and the school board members at the time tried to get security to throw him out.

They tried to silence him, she said. It was a flashpoint. Then and there we decided change had to happen.

Thats when they both ran for school board seats and won.

They often met for morning coffee to strategize over ideas for the district. Gerald Welch wanted nothing more than to lift up the children in Harrisburg. If Buchwach came up with a plan, Welch immediately offered his support by saying: I got you Jayne.

Welchs legacy is his passion, and his commitment to justice and righteousness, Buchwach said.

I will continue to fight our fight, she said. I got you Gerald.

In addition to his wife, Gerald Welch leaves behind a sister, five children and 14 grandchildren.

READ: Pa. nursing homes say they need more help from state as deaths climb from COVID-19
Jane Baxter and Marnie Gregory, two young women heading for their thirties, have been inseparable friends since they were 11, having met on the first day of secondary school. They sat at adjoining desks and were almost glued together from then on.

They are, in the most comprehensive meaning of the term, 'besties', sharing every aspect of their experiences and emotions. Even when they go to different universities after school, they call, text and FaceTime each other every day, and share a flat in south London as they began to make their way in life.

Best pals they may be, but they couldn't be more different in looks, personality or approach to life. Marnie is elegantly tall, blonde and outgoing, a rising star in the blogging universe, where her cookery video posts have attracted thousands of followers and commercial interest. Jane, dark-haired, rather plain and desperately anxious, works in a pretty dead-end job, rising to be the head of a retailer's telephone complaints department. As Jane says, "she is light where I am dark".

But then, against all the odds, Jane meets the man of her dreams. She leaves Marnie's flat and moves in with Jonathan, her handsome cameraman lover. After a whirlwind romance, they get married and are blissfully happy until an out-of-control London taxi cab mows him down and kills him, narrowly missing her in the process.

Naturally, Jane is devastated, but there is even more personal tragedy looming. Her cold and disapproving mother, who had made it clear all through Jane's life that she much preferred her younger sister Emma, is descending into dementia in a care home. Emma, who has always been bulimic, is heading towards terminal anorexia. Jane leans on Marnie more and more.

But Marnie soon finds herself madly in love. Charles is wealthy, successful and utterly charming. But Jane loathes him, as she says herself "in an all-encompassing, burning, biblical way". She is convinced Charles just sees Marnie as the ultimate prize, a beautiful, sparkling final trophy in his collection. Charles seems to know what she feels about him, and cruelly teases her at every opportunity. When the gilded couple decide to marry, Marnie, seeking Jane's approval, says: "You think we are right for each other, don't you?" Jane bites her tongue and responds: "Yes, I do."

This first lie, on the surface seemingly inconsequential, is the first step in an escalating web of deceit that Jane constructs in an effort to maintain the close bond she has always enjoyed with her best friend for almost all her life. It is to have devastating consequences. If she hadn't told it, she admits: "Charles would still be alive."

As the lies multiply, a young, eager-to-make-her-mark local newspaper journalist starts stalking Jane, and, when she eventually publishes a sensationalist and speculative story, the two young women's bond seems to be strengthened. But astonishing news for Marnie once again threatens Jane's need for the singularity of Marnie's love for her, with potentially tragic consequences for both.

This gripping and very scary tale of obsessive love is a tour de force. The story unfolds as if Jane is addressing someone directly, having a lengthy conversation, with all the digressions and asides one would expect in direct speech. It is a clever plot device, because it never becomes clear whom Jane is talking too, and as her explanation of the course of the friendship is charted, it becomes clear that, whatever the denouement may be, it is going to be cataclysmic. Top marks to Elizabeth Kay for such a stunning debut.
Rebel Wilson is known for her quirky comedy.

But on Saturday, the actress certainly turned up the heat as she stripped down for a sultry photo shoot at home in Sydney, while in lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

She shared a series of Instagram photos of herself flaunting her curves in a light blue track pants and an unzipped hoodie.

Va va voom! Rebel Wilson (pictured) certainly turned up the heat as she stripped down for a sultry home photo shoot, which she posted to Instagram on Saturday

Her unzipped hoodie revealed her slimmed down figure and ample assets held in by a her black bra.

In the first image, she channeled her inner model as she posed sitting on top of her stylish white sofa.

For the second picture, the Pitch Perfect star stood in front of the camera with her leg turned out and a her curled blonde tresses cascading down her shoulders.

Flaunting it: The Pitch Perfect star stood in front of the camera with her leg turned out and a her curled blonde tresses cascading down her shoulders

She completed the images with a final photo of herself seductively crawling toward the camera.

The actress wrote in the caption: 'I call this series: At Home with Rebel.'

Fans praised her saucy collection of photos including one who called her a 'sultry siren.'

Rebel's personal trainer Jono Castanoacero applauded her at-home photo shoot and commented 'yes' along with several fire emojis.

She completed the images with a final photo of herself seductively crawling toward the camera. The actress wrote in the caption: 'I call this series: At Home with Rebel'

Earlier this year, the Isn't It Romantic star announced that she was going to make her health a priority.

'Okay so, for me 2020 is going to be called "The Year of Health",' the actress wrote in the caption of a post.

She added: 'So I put on the athleisure and went out for a walk, deliberately hydrating on the couch right now.

Getting active: Earlier this year, the Isn't It Romantic star announced that she was going to make her health a priority. 'Okay so, for me 2020 is going to be called "The Year of Health",' the actress wrote in the caption of a post

'And [I'm] trying to avoid the sugar and junk food, which is going to be hard after the holidays I've just had but I'm going to do it!'

'Who's with me in making some positive changes this year?' she concluded.

Rebel has been working hard at the gym with her trainer Jono and he recently shared her daily workout routine.

Working hard: Rebel has been working hard at the gym with her trainer Jono Castanoacero (pictured together). He recently shared her daily workout routine

Speaking to E!, Jono revealed that the 'results come through consistency', before explaining how he created a personalised program for the comedic actress.

During a typical week, Rebel works on high-intensity interval training, mobility, weights, resistance, technique and tempo, getting only one day a week for resting.

'Rebel and I are just focusing on enjoying training and getting the body moving,' he explained.
Vo Thi Phuong Mai, associate director and head of retail services at CBRE Vietnam claims COVID-19 has negatively impacted offline traffic but at the same time created many opportunities for growth for small- and medium-sized models such as convenience stores, pharmacies, and especially e-commerce.

E-commerce is the bright spot and is emerging as a lifeline helping physical stores during the outbreak. The omni-channel capability will be more resilient and may even outperform other channels, Mai said.

The slowdown in retail has accelerated e-commerce and online shopping which play an important role in sustaining many stores during the outbreak

In Vietnam, among the big names in the field of e-commerce, Tiki has grown at the fastest pace and has reached a record of 4,000 orders per minute, while SpeedL and Saigon Co.op have also reported exponential growth in online sales. Grab has also activated a new platform called "GrabMart" to serve customers' shopping needs while staying at home.

In the Asia-Pacific market, omni-channel and online retail performed well during the outbreak, from consumer products and cosmetics to luxury goods such as cars, or services such as sightseeing, museums, real estate tours offered online.

In the long term, the growth of e-commerce will be a solid foundation for any future development in the retail market.

Vo Thi Khanh Trang, head of research at the Ho Chi Minh City branch of Savills Vietnam, also agreed that COVID-19 has accelerated the switch to online shopping.

Online shopping will have a negative impact on brick-and-mortal stores in shopping centres as well as in shophouses. Some impacts may be longer-term, accelerating technology-driven changes in the ways we live, work, and shop, while other effects are likely to be only temporary. Rents will vary based on market conditions. Hence, developers and landlords will need to consider short-term support for tenants, Trang said.

In the first months of 2020, together with the impact of Decree No.100/2019/ ND-CP setting huge fines for drink driving from January 2020, COVID-19 has added to the hit to the F&B industry.

A recent survey by Savills Research found that the revenue of some restaurants dropped by 50 per cent in February compared to previous months.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a turning point forcing F&B owners to set new business directions and landlords to consider adjusting rental rates. Recently, many restaurant tenants, after looking through their financial statements, have decided to terminate when their lease contracts expired, while some who want to keep good locations have either closed temporarily or negotiated a reduction in rent with landlords.

At leased shophouses, many landlords have also begun to support tenants in rent, with some exempting a month of rent for restaurants or giving 30-50 per cent rent reductions for the next couple of months for convenience stores.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, sales in F&B, hotel services, and tourism services decreased by 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 and by 27.8 per cent on-year, respectively.
A day after Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat announced that the armed forces will show solidarity to the corona warriors on May 3, the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF), and the Indian Navy started the preparations on Saturday. The corona warriors include those who have been fighting the deadly pandemic in a bid to keep the citizens of India safe. They include the healthcare fraternity, hygiene and sanitation staff, medical staff, police personnel, and media personnel.

On May 3 (Sunday), the armed forces will be organising multiple events like flypast by fighter and transport aircraft of the IAF from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kutch in Gujarat. The helicopters from IAF and Navy will shower flower petals on the hospitals treating coronavirus COVID-19 patients.

WATCH: Indian Army, Navy, IAF, Coast Guards all set to salute corona warriors, show solidarity on May 3 pic.twitter.com/Prmn5NwIEM  Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) May 2, 2020

The Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will move ships in formations at sea at select locations while Army bands shall visit COVID-19 hospitals and play tunes outside the hospitals in an expression of gratitude to the corona warriors.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the Indian Coast Guard is preparing to illuminate their ships on Saturday and Sunday. At 10 am on Sunday, IAF helicopter will shower flower petals over two hospitals. In Gujarat, the South Western Air Command (SWAC) has planned two flower petal drop sorties over two hospitals in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar between 9 am to 10 am.

The Navy at Porbandar has planned illumination of ships from 7.30 pm to 11.59 pm on both days. In Kolkata, a band has been planned at Victoria memorial for both Saturday and Sunday. The Army Uttar Maharashtra and Gujrat (UMANG) Sub Area HQs Nagpur has planned wreath-laying at Police Memorial for Sunday morning, followed by presenting of sweets to doctors and healthcare staff at two locations--Govt Medical College and Indira Gandhi Medical College.

On Sunday morning, the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) will be visiting designated COVID-19 hospital at Visakhapatnam and felicitate the medical fraternity for their efforts. This will be followed by a naval helicopter from INS Dega showering flower petals on the hospital treating COVID-19 patients at Visakhapatnam. Two Indian Navy ships will also be illuminating at anchorage from 7.30 pm to midnight on Sunday at Visakhapatnam coast to pay homage to these COVID-19 warriors.

The band display on Saturday at Army Base Hospital will take place. The petal showering by the IAF at the Command Hospital and KGMU in Lucknow will be held on Sunday. A few other details are still being finalised.

The Eastern Air Command is also making full preparations to salute the COVID-19 warriors. A Sukhoi Su-30MKI flypast over Assam assembly will take place around 10.30 am. The showering of flower petals at COVID-19 hospitals in Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Kolkata (West Bengal) will be done at 10.30 am. In Kolkata, the shower will take place at the IDCBG hospital, a COVID-19 hospital, between 10 am to 11 am. The band display of the IAF will take place in Guwahati and the flypast is subject to weather conditions.

A programme will be held by the Navy at Mumbai and Goa saluting the corona warriors. Five Naval ships have been planned by Western Naval Command (WNC) for illumination from 7.30 pm to 11.59 pm off the Gateway of India, Mumbai. They would prominently display banners "India Salutes Corona Warriors". They will sound the ship's siren and fire a flare at 7.30 at anchorage.

Additionally, the Naval Air stations at Goa would display human chain messages, "India Salutes Corona Warriors", on the runway to honour the corona warriors. Aerial photography for the same would also be undertaken. However, social distancing norms will be ensured during the activity.

The Indian Navy aviation assets would undertake showering of petals by helicopters on COVID-19 hospitals--Mumbai's Kasturba Gandhi Hospital and INHS Asvini, Colaba. The activity is tentatively planned to be undertaken between 10 am-10.30 am.

On May 1, CDS General Rawat addressed a press conference where he was accompanied by Army Chief General MM Naravane, Chief of Navy Admiral Karambir Singh, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria to acknowledge the efforts of the corona warriors and vowed to continue the support of front-line warriors to them in the coming days.

He said the corona warriors risked and are still risking their lives every day to ensure that basic amenities such as electricity and water are delivered to everyone, that the streets are clean, that basic food items are available, that no patient is returned untreated, that law and order is maintained and that Indian citizens stranded abroad are brought back and cared for.

These warriors have ensured that India keeps on fighting this pandemic. We salute these warriors and their efforts and wish them the best of health. We are grateful for their sacrifice and their efforts in fighting COVID-19, knowing fully well the dangers that they face.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:00:26|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker transfers a suspected COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Mexico City, Mexico, April 23, 2020. (Photo by Alejandro Ayala/Xinhua)

The city of Rio de Janeiro opened on Friday its second field hospital to serve patients infected with COVID-19, as the pandemic has put a strain on the city's public hospital network.



MEXICO CITY, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Latin American governments are reporting an increase in confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19, with Peru registering record-high new infections in a 24-hour period.

Peru, so far in a 47-day state of emergency, has registered a record 3,483 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day, raising its total to 40,459, while the number of deaths rose to 1,124, the nation's health ministry reported on Friday.

In addition, the Peruvian government has sent Health Minister Victor Zamora and Defense Minister Walter Martos to the hardest-hit regions of Lambayeque and Loreto to mitigate the spread of the virus.

At least 510 cadets at a police school have been infected with COVID-19, according to Interior Minister Gaston Rodriguez, adding that a health team is currently monitoring officers who are displaying symptoms.

Rodriguez noted that his office and relevant authorities are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of this massive outbreak.

The Peruvian government has extended compulsory social isolation and a curfew until May 10 as part of measures to contain the epidemic.

In Mexico, health authorities announced that the country has registered as of Friday night a total of 20,739 positive COVID-19 cases, with 1,972 deaths.

In addition, according to Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico could see the peak on May 6.

"It is a prediction of what is going to happen and there is a probability that this will happen," said Lopez-Gatell, who heads Mexico's fight against the epidemic.

Lopez-Gatell noted that the scientific predictions are a result of coordinated work among the National Council for Science and Technology, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and other institutions.

In Ecuador, the Ministry of Public Health on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 26,336, with 1,063 deaths.

According to the ministry, currently, 20,988 patients are stable in home isolation, 337 are stable but have been hospitalized, and 149 have been hospitalized with a guarded prognosis.

Francisco Xavier Solorzano, vice minister of governance and health surveillance, said that "the good news is that we are seeing a decrease in the number of cases in recent days," and "the transmission speed has been reduced thanks to the measures that we have taken during these weeks."

The Chilean Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that the country currently has 17,008 infections, with 234 deaths.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Friday that the country has received a second batch of 117 mechanical ventilators, in addition to the 72 that arrived on April 25, which would strengthen the country's health system against COVID-19.

"This coronavirus pandemic has been a threat and has presented a gigantic challenge, but I want to say that we are preparing to be able to meet the needs of Chileans," said Pinera after reviewing the medical equipment.

According to the Chilean government, this shipment is part of a public-private cooperation to increase the amount of available equipment and medical supplies, and with this second shipment of machines, Chile will possess 1,710 mechanical ventilators.

The number of deaths in Brazil from COVID-19 rose to 6,329, with 91,589 confirmed cases, its health ministry reported on Friday.

The ministry said that in the last 24 hours, 428 new deaths as well as 6,209 new confirmed cases have been recorded.

Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil, continues to be most affected by the disease, with a total of 2,511 deaths and 30,374 confirmed cases, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 921 deaths and 10,166 confirmed cases.

The city of Rio de Janeiro opened on Friday its second field hospital to serve patients infected with COVID-19, as the pandemic has put a strain on the city's public hospital network.

It is the largest field hospital of the nine planned to be installed in the city, with facilities occupying 13,000 square meters at the Riocentro Convention Center, the largest convention center in Latin America.

The new field hospital has 500 hospital beds, including 100 in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 15 for the hemodialysis unit.

At the hospital's inauguration, the hospital director, cardiologist Valesca Marques, said, "We will do everything in our power, day and night, so that we can return patients to their families alive and well." 
The son of one of the victims of a notorious loyalist shooting has paid tribute to his mother following her death just two days after marking her 92nd birthday.

Helen Duffin passed away in the early hours of last Sunday morning at Arlington Nursing Home in south Belfast, where she had been a resident for seven years.

Her husband Jack was one of five people killed on February 5, 1992 when UFF terrorists opened fire on the Sean Graham bookmakers shop on Belfast's lower Ormeau Road.

Mrs Duffin was among the relatives of those killed who campaigned for an investigation into the mass shooting.

A native of Forkhill in south Armagh, Helen (nee Toal) moved to Belfast as a young woman to work as a nanny.

She married Jack in 1948 and together they had three sons - Martin, Paddy and Tommy - and lived at 92 Balfour Avenue from 1964.

Tommy (58) told the Belfast Telegraph that the current Covid-19 restrictions meant his mother's funeral could not be held at her home parish of St Malachy's Church.

"My mother was a very religious woman who regularly attended mass. After our father died she never showed her grief in front of us and always remained very strong," he said.

"Her strong faith helped her get through that time and her main concern throughout her whole life was always caring for the three of us and later on her grandchildren."

Mrs Duffin's funeral was held at the Chapel of Rest at PJ Brown Funeral Directors on the Oldpark Road followed by burial in the city cemetery.

"We hope to have a family mass in St Malachy's when this situation passes, but realistically we might have to wait until her first anniversary next year," Tommy added.

Predeceased by her son Martin in January 2013, Mrs Duffin is survived by sons Tommy and Paddy, 12 grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Virus risk at crowded worker lodgings bothers tea and garments sectors By Nadia Fazlulhaq View(s): View(s):

Despite the rapidly spreading coronavirus and the curfew, major export industries such as tea and apparel, have resumed work under health recommendations. But they fear virus outbreaks if employees are infected at their residences or temporary lodgings.

Plantations employees have begun work, from tea plucking to processing. There are about 580 tea factories in the country. The distance is maintained as much as possible especially at collection points and inside factories. Face masks is compulsory. Tea plucking is usually done keeping a distance. At the entrance of factories, hand washing facilities are available and the temperature of all employees is monitored, said Chaminda Wickremasinghe, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Factory Owners Association.

However, Roshan Rajadurai, spokesman of the Planters Association of Ceylon, said despite safety measures at factories, the massive inflow of people coming back to their homes from urban areas can pose a risk to estate employees.

Tea pluckers come to collection points in groups, we have discouraged it and asked them to maintain at least a 5 metre distance. Though face masks cannot be provided to all, some employees stitch their own masks. All basic health protocols are followed. Health authorities in these areas should make sure surrounding neighbourhoods are safe and continuous awareness programmes are conducted, he said adding that the estate sector population is about one million and an outbreak in the estate community can have a drastic impact on the industry.

Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union, joint secretary, Anton Marcus, told the Sunday Times, that apparel factories have begun work.

Handwashing facilities have been set up and temperature checks are done within factory premises. But there are no measures to ensure health and safety at temporary lodgings. Some of these premises accommodate 50 to 100 workers and have limited sanitation facilities.

Our association has pointed out this issue to the Minister of Labour, Commissioner of Labour as well as the Board of Investment at Presidential Task Force meetings. Some factories have only called for employees residing in nearby areas, but once garment workers start coming from distant places, they will stay in these overcrowded boarding houses, he said.

About 400,000 are directly employed in the garments sector.

All employers are advised to develop a COVID-19 preparedness plan; considering the occupational exposure level of employees, the individual risk factors and other recommended good practices. This will not only enable the prevention/ control of the spread of infection but will also prevent panic situations in the event of detecting a suspected case, Health Ministrys Directorate of Environmental health, Occupational health and Food safety, said in its guidelines.

The Department of Labour and Health Ministry have also set guidelines.

Anyone entering the workplace/factory premises should wash their hands with soap and water before entering. Wash basins should be located one metre apart (foot operated tap is the best for the wash basin). Alternatively hand rubbing with alcohol based hand rub (75% to 85% v/v alcohol) also can be adopted.

The temperature of all the staff should be checked at the time of entrance to the workplace and any person recording a temperature above 98.4 Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius should be sent back home.

One metre distance between workers should be maintained at all times (while working, meetings, canteens etc.)

All workers shall wear masks while on duty and once used to be discarded in closed bins.

The guidelines discourage workers from using workers mobile phones, pens as well as common telephones, fax machines, desks, or other work tools and equipment, whenever possible.

The guidelines suggest lunch breaks and tea breaks in batches to prevent crowding the canteen and restricting large gatherings.

Door knobs/handles should be cleaned and disinfected every three hours, while floors and machines must be cleaned with disinfectant twice a day, or after every shift in places where there are shift duties, the guidelines recommend.

Canteen supervisor tests positive: 21 factories closed Twenty one factories at the Boralugoda Investment Promotion Zone in Horana have been ordered to be closed by the Ingiriya Medical Officer of Health after an employee was diagnosed with Covid-19.He is being treated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital. The employee, who had contracted the virus, worked as a supervisor at a factorys canteen that serves more than 350 employees. All employees have been asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. They will also undergo Covid-19 tests. The employee is a relative of a Covid-19 patient reported from the Agalawatte area. A cook who shared a room with him in Boralugoda has been subjected to the Covid-19 test. A driver involved in staff transport has also been tested for Covid-19. The results are pending.
Humans have been encroaching the space of other species on planet Earth since time immemorial.

A sad realisation of this has now been portrayed in a study by Yale University that says that around 83,300 miles (~1.34 lakh km) of roads that cross through tiger habitat are decreasing the population and its prey by as much as 20 percent.

BandipurTigerreserve.in

Tiger, an endangered species throughout the planet, will not be escaping this fate anytime soon. As per the study, nations around the globe are further expected to build nearly 15,000 miles (~24,000 km) of new roads through tiger habitat by 2050.



The encroachment, in part, will be driven by major infrastructure projects such as Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, a new analysis published in the journal Science Advances narrates.

Identifying the danger

For the research, ecologists at the University of Michigan examined global road datasets as well as the forecasts for upcoming infrastructure around tigers 450,000-square-mile range in Asia. This was done in order to calculate the road density, distance to the nearest road, and population of the species in the regions.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

As per the study, 43 percent of breeding activity by tigers occurs within 3 miles of a road. That is also because around 57 percent of land in protected tiger habitats lies within 3 miles of a road.



An interesting insight shared in the research mentions how the areas without any formal wildlife protections had road densities 34 percent higher than protected areas. This means that conservation efforts are critical by law to save the habitat of tigers and hence their lives.

The current scenario

Only about 4,000 tigers exist in the wild today, and we need to protect every single one of them. Most of these are found in South Asia, a region with mounting development and population pressures. Building more roads, hence, seems a natural progression to these development efforts. The question that countries should now try to answer is, how to avoid that in places which are known tiger habitats.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

Neil Carter, an ecologist at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study says, Tiger habitats have declined by 40 percent since 2006, underscoring the importance of maintaining roadless areas and resisting road expansion in places where tigers still exist, before it is too late.



Source
The United States will provide nearly US$9.5 million in total assistance for Vietnams response to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Friday.

The assistance includes $5 million in Economic Support Funds, which will be utilized to bring much needed resources to bear immediately, including supporting private sector recovery by mitigating the financial impacts of the pandemic on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), addressing the non-financial impacts facing SMEs, and partnering with the Vietnamese government stakeholders to bolster the governments relief interventions.

It also includes $4.5 million in health assistance that was previously announced to help the Vietnamese government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for preparedness and response, community education and engagement, infection prevention for healthcare settings, public health screening at points of entry, and more.

Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $1.8 billion in total assistance for Vietnam, including more than $706 million for health, the State Department said in the statement

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. government has committed more than $775 million in emergency health, humanitarian, economic and development assistance specifically aimed at helping governments, international organizations, and NGOs fight the pandemic, it said.

This funding, provided by the U.S. Congress, will save lives by improving public health education, protecting healthcare facilities, and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, the agency said.

This new assistance is in addition to the more than $100 billion in global health funding and nearly $70 billion in overseas humanitarian assistance provided by the United States in the last decade.

Together, Americans have committed an estimated nearly $6.5 billion in government and non-government donations and assistance in the global COVID-19 response.

In March, the United States said it had earmarked $274 million in financial assistance to 64 countries, including nearly $3 million to Vietnam, to help them combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Remember Kareena Kapoor Khan setting the ramp ablaze in a stunning off-shoulder pink ensemble at a popular awards do in Dubai? Or those photos of her in lawn suits that broke the Internet? Pakistani designer Faraz Manan has established himself as one of the favourites of timeless Bollywood beauties like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Karisma Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Even Jacqueline Fernandez and Shraddha Kapoor have turned heads in his glamorous creations.

Kareena Kapoor Khan (right) in a heavily embellished choli paired with voluminous skirt and Jacqueline Fernandez (left) in an embroidered sari and a modern blouse with gold detailing designed by Faraz Manan

He has also become popular with Indian brides and guests at Indian weddings, the Al-Thani royal family of Qatar, and the families of Saudi Sheikhs. In his home country, Mahira Khan, amongst many others, carries his outfits with adaa, or elegance. But Kareena is Faraz Manans favourite, and India, he says, is his inspiration.

Indian musings

As a couturier from across the border, Faraz is excited by the sheer variety and volume of fabrics that are available in India. They provide so much inspiration; the amount of crafts and fabrics in the country is a designers delight, he gushes. There are beautiful cuts and traditions, and if there is one word to sum up Indian fabrics, its colour! No one does colour better than Indian designers.

His favourites are Lucknowi chikankari, Benarasi fabrics, Rajasthani gota work and even bandhani. Since his style leans towards modern fusion, he mostly uses zardozi, but Faraz wishes he could use all of Indias fabric crafts. I also love jamavar and kimkhaab (brocade). There is nothing more timeless than kimkhaab, he says wistfully. It is handwoven, has sheen and yet is controlled. For casual wear, I love mulmul (pure cotton).

PASTELS FOR EVERYONE Light skin: Stick to mid- range hues like blush pink and powder blue. Avoid white, bright yellow, orange, and nudes. Medium skin: Ivory and tea pink work wonders. Dusky skin: Rose gold, blush pink and red are beautiful. Dark skin: All pastels look perfect, except grey.

Faraz visits India every year, and the food interests him just as much as the fabrics. I am a big foodie and absolutely love the street food in Mumbai, he laughs. I love the chaat in Mumbai, and nihari and kebabs in Delhi. His best Delhi food memories are of kulchas and nihari from Dilli Nihari and from a place near Jama Masjid. I also love Haldirams chhole bhature! he chuckles.

Though Indias two big cities are always on his travel list, Faraz confesses to being mesmerised by Rajasthan. There is so much inspiration there, from the architecture, to the food, to the craftsmanship or jewels, he says.

A timeless muse

Mostly though, what Faraz loves about India is Kareena Kapoor Khan, the woman he calls his muse. Kareena and Karisma are like family, he says. I was friends with Karisma, who was my brand ambassador, and then it was a natural transition to Kareena. Its never been a business relationship between us. We like each others crafts, but because we are friends, its been a natural process, rather than a typical commercial Bollywood brand association.

Faraz Manan calls Kareena Kapoor Khan, his muse

It isnt just brand shoots and fashion shows. Faraz and Kareena have several common interests. We connect on family values, history and food, he says. Thats perhaps why she is my muse. But more than anything else, I think she truly represents the subcontinent. She is a modern working mother, and she and Saif (Ali Khan) are the kind of couple the entire region can look up to for the kind of philosophy they carry.

As a designer, Faraz views the subcontinent as one whole, rather than as composed of several countries. For instance, fashion in the north of India and Pakistan is similar, he points out. Our fashion is owned jointly by our history. The culture, traditions and craftsmanship belongs to the whole subcontinent.

There are some differences, he adds, such as the use of colour  generally, the style of Pakistani women is controlled and elegant, whereas Indian women are experimental and open to colour. Aesthetically the Indian side is more bold, bright and cheerful  but by and large, the overall aesthetic is the same.

Farazs creations are high on peaches, ivories and pastels, and are detailed with resham work and other embroideries

Designers and buyers from the subcontinent should see our work as from the same area, he says. For instance, we dont perceive fashion houses in Europe as French or Italian, we perceive them as European. In the same way, we should all perceive ourselves as subcontinental. I am great friends with Indian senior designers. They love my work, I love theirs, and we share a clientele whether its from India or Pakistan. So Im in a happy spot.

Given the political relations between India and Pakistan, his designs cannot be sold here at this time. But I am still happy to be where I am as of now, he says. I am contributing to the growth of fashion from the subcontinent.

Quintessential couturier

Farazs interest in designing comes from the way his parents groomed themselves  both his mother, an artist, and his father, an economist, have always paid attention to what they wear. This inspired his design aesthetic  contemporary takes on classic designs. I love fusion and working around anything that is classic, he says. This is my signature style. It could be a classic fusion of the east and West, old and new. A classic outfit can always be repeated. I have done red on red for the last three or four years, and emerald green with emerald green. Balance is an important part of his aesthetic. When I do colour, I like to let the colour speak for itself, rather than add on more gaudy bling. On pastels, I like to do gold and silver work, explains Faraz.

His collections always tell a story that blends together two different cultures, time zones or eras. His line Alhambra, for instance, is inspired by the palace in Spain, is a fusion of the east and the West.

The Fashion Guide For The Modern Bride Know your favourite colour and communicate your choices to a designer correctly. Less is more. Instead of 10, there should be two or three functions at best. Wear only one outfit per event and have fun in it. Avoid lots of jewellery on a heavy outfit. Too much ornamentation takes away from the brides personality. With a heavy outfit, just a pair of earrings can look really nice. Or, with a heavy choker, wear little solitaires or small earrings. Use soft make-up only. It enhances natural beauty.

Fusion really works, he says. Europeans are now wearing my bridals done in ivory and with resham work or other subcontinental embroidery techniques, says Faraz. They love this fusion. The subcontinents embroideries are the best in the world. It is our strength, and I am playing on that.

Farazs creations are high on peaches, ivories, powder blues, shades of dusty rose and onion pinks on flowy garments with fine details and ruffled sleeves or fringes.

When I do bling or heavier work, I do it on pastels because I believe it complements the skin, explains Faraz. The weather of the subcontinent and Dubai is hot most of the year, making pastels easier on the eye. You can highlight them with jewellery or tone them down. There is scope for a lot of play and wearability, whereas strong colours cant be worn often.

He anticipates no change in his signature style for the future, and in fact, hopes to strengthen his case for classic fusion Now lets see how things go forward, says Faraz.

From HT Brunch, May 3, 2020

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Millions of travellers owed refunds for cancelled flights face months of chaos amid a crisis in the airline industry.

Carriers and tour operators owe an estimated 7billion to holidaymakers whose trips have been ruined by the pandemic.

Under EU laws, customers should get their money back within seven days.

However, the number of cancelled trips means customers are waiting much longer as airlines struggle to deal with a colossal backlog of claims.

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary warned it will take up to six months for the airline to process 25million refunds as industry leaders fear crisis-hit airlines will be bankrupted (file image)

The sheer scale of the crisis was underlined yesterday as Ryanair boss Michael OLeary warned it will take up to six months for the airline to process 25million refunds. Industry leaders fear many crisis-hit airlines will be bankrupted.

To weather the storm, they have been urging passengers to accept vouchers towards a future flight.

However, the Competition and Markets Authority is concerned that many have been pressured into accepting them.

Last night EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou warned that customers who accept vouchers could end up losing their money.

Documents seen by the Daily Mail suggest EasyJet has saved at least 700million, partly by encouraging passengers to choose vouchers.

But Sir Stelios warned that the vouchers, which have little consumer protection, could be worthless by the end of the year due to the uncertainty facing the industry.

EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou warned that customers who accept vouchers could end up losing their money as they have little customer protection (file image)

The tycoon, whose family is EasyJets largest shareholder, is calling on the company to cancel a 4.5billion contract for 107 new Airbus planes.

He said: If you are a voucher holder hoping to use the voucher to fly on EasyJet in 2021, you must call on EasyJet to cancel the Airbus order.

EasyJet said customers can be absolutely confident to accept vouchers.

It follows complaints from consumer groups and MPs, who have accused airlines of using underhand tactics to avoid paying out.

Yesterday the Civil Aviation Authority warned airlines not to systematically deny refund rights and to pay out as soon as practically possible.

Ryanair boss Mr OLeary warned it will take many months to process 25million refunds for cancelled flights.

This came after reports that the Government turned to Morgan Stanley for advice on how to keep airlines in business. Pictured is Heathrow Airport deserted amid Covid-19 pandemic

He told Radio 4s Today programme: Were working through the March refunds, that will certainly take us two or three months, then we move to the April refunds, then the May refunds.

The May cancellations will take us four to six months at the moment to process. Customers with British Airways  which will no longer serve alcohol on flights to reduce interaction between passengers and crew  say they have been getting refunds relatively quickly.

However, they are being asked to call a customer service line which often plays an automated message before hanging up.

EasyJet is promising refunds within 28 days, but admits this could take longer.

Virgin Atlantic is automatically offering vouchers, but customers have to contact the airline if they want a refund paid within 90 days.

It came as reports emerged that the Government has turned to Morgan Stanley for advice on how to keep airlines in business.

The Wall Street bank was initially drafted in to handle a possible bailout of Virgin Atlantic, but has been awarded a broader mandate covering the entire sector.

Ryanair vows to refund 25million customers in six months: Michael O'Leary insists he will take 50% paycut from 3m salary as he slashes 3,000 jobs - while Heathrow sees 97% drop in passengers in last month

By Amie Gordon

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has today cut up to 3,000 jobs but vowed to refund 25 million out-of-pocket customers - as Heathrow sees a 97 per cent drop in travellers in the last month.

The airline said a stringent restructuring programme will begin in July, with some 3,000 pilot and cabin jobs under threat.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, under-fire Ryanair Chief executive Michael O'Leary said his stricken airline was facing a backlog of 25 million customer refunds.

O'Leary, whose 3million salary was slashed by 50 per cent for April and May, has agreed to extend the pay cut for the remainder of the financial year, to March 2021.

The CEO, who is worth an estimated 3.8 billion, vowed to give all passengers their money back, but warned it could take 'many months'.

The budget airline added that flights will remain grounded until 'at least July' and passenger numbers will not return to 2019 levels 'until summer 2022 at the earliest'.

Unpaid leave and pay could also be slashed by up to 20 per cent, as well as the closure of aircraft bases across Europe.

The airline industry is facing dire financial problems after passenger numbers plummeted due to travel restrictions imposed amid the ongoing pandemic.

The number of passengers travelling through Heathrow last month was down by around 97% compared with April 2019, the airport has announced.

The company also said it would operate less than 1 per cent of its scheduled flights to the end of June. Despite most flights being grounded the budget airline are still operating limited services out of Dublin, London, Manchester, Bristol, Cork and Glasgow.

This is part of a wider agreement with European governments to keep flight links open for emergency reasons.

Ryanair's fleet has been grounded since March and will remain so until 'at least July', confirmed CEO Michael O'Leary today

The airline announced the planned job cuts as it revealed it expects to operate under 1% of its schedule between April and June. Pictured, A Ryanair departures board in terminal one at Dublin airport today

Heathrow recorded an 18.3% year-on-year decline in demand to 14.6 million passengers between January and March, while earnings before tax and interest fell by 22.4% to 315 million.

It comes as the airport's chief executive John Holland-Kaye warned that introducing social distancing at airports is 'physically impossible'.

HEATHROW RECORDS 97% DROP IN PASSENGER NUMBERS IN APRIL The number of passengers travelling through Heathrow last month was down by around 97% compared with April 2019, the airport has announced. It expects passenger demand will 'remain weak' until governments around the world 'deem it safe to lift travel restrictions'. Heathrow recorded an 18.3% year-on-year decline in demand to 14.6 million passengers between January and March, while earnings before tax and interest fell by 22.4% to 315 million. The airport insisted its financial position is 'robust', with 3.2 billion in liquidity, which is 'sufficient to maintain the business at least over the next 12 months, even with no passengers'. It is calling for the UK to lead the way in developing a common international standard for safe air travel. Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said: 'Heathrow is proud to serve Britain by remaining open for repatriating UK citizens and critical supplies of PPE (personal protective equipment). 'When we have beaten this virus, we will need to get Britain flying again so that the economy can recover as fast as possible. 'That is why we are calling on the UK Government to take a lead in setting a common international standard for safe air travel.' Advertisement

He said a 'better solution' is needed to make air travel safe as he called for the UK to lead the way in developing a common international standard of measures which could include temperature checks for all passengers.

Yesterday it was revealed British Airways plans to cut the jobs of a quarter of its pilots, could abandon Gatwick Airport and cut the remaining flights at Heathrow.

Mr O'Leary told Radio 4 he was forced to compete 'with other airlines who are getting unfair help from other governments.'

He added: 'We are reducing staffing by about 15%, mostly pilots and cabin crew  that's the minimum we think we need to survive the next 12 months and the remaining pilots, cabin crew and members of our team will face pay cuts of up to 20%.

'The challenge for us is that while we believe well be back flying in July, most of the summer season has gone. We'll be flying at very low fares because we'll be competing with large airlines like Lufthansa, Air France and Alitalia who have either been nationalised or received 10 and 12 billions of state aid and will be able to engage in low cost selling for the next three-five years.

'The UK government has already said it won't be providing state aid. The challenge we face is in the continent of Europe where the French, Air France, Lufthansa who are subsidy junkies, are running around Europe hoovering up state aid on top of payroll support schemes.

'We support transparent non-discriminatory supports like the payroll support scheme.

'We ask the question though, why does Lufthansa need 12billion on top of that payroll support scheme when they're not even flying at the moment?'

He said Ryanair has been grounded for three months from April, May and June, and will carry less than 150,000 passengers over those three months when it expected to carry more than 40million.

He added: 'For the next three-five years we'll be facing unfair competition competing with legacy airlines in Europe who are receiving massive government help when we won't receive any.'

State Aid payments RyanAir boss Michael O'Leary claims are paid to rival airlines Company Subsidy Lufthansa Group 12.4 billion plus AF-KLM Group 10.1 billion plus TUI Group  1.8 billion plus Alitalia  1.7 billion plus SAS  0.8 billion plus Finnair  0.7 billion plus Norwegian  0.3 billion plus

CEO Michael O'Leary has agreed to extend this 50% pay cut for the remainder of the financial year to March 2021

He also hit back when asked about customers feeling 'cheated' because they are receiving vouchers instead of cash refunds.

He said: 'We will give you your money back, if you want a cash refund, you will receive one. In a normal month we will process 10,000 cash refunds but currently we're facing a backlog of 25million refunds. Which are not Ryanair's fault, it was caused by the government grounding Ryanair's fleet.

Heathrow boss warns social distancing in airports is 'physically impossible' Introducing social distancing at airports is 'physically impossible', the boss of Heathrow has warned. Chief executive John Holland-Kaye said a 'better solution' is needed to make air travel safe as he called for the UK to lead the way in developing a common international standard of measures which could include temperature checks for all passengers. He said: 'Social distancing does not work in any form of public transport let alone aviation. 'The constraint is not about how many people you can fit on a plane, it will be how many people you can get through an airport safely. 'If you've ever been on holiday from Gatwick, you cannot imagine going through there and socially distancing in the summer. 'It's just physically impossible to socially distance with any volume of passengers in an airport.' Advertisement

'Our staffing is reduced to 25% of normal levels because of social distancing.

'It will take us many months to process these refunds, but nobody will not get a cash refund.'

Ryanair said in a statement this morning: 'As a direct result of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis, the grounding of all flights from mid-March until at least July, and the distorted state aid landscape in Europe, Ryanair now expects the recovery of passenger demand and pricing (to 2019 levels) will take at least two years, until summer 2022 at the earliest.

'The Ryanair Airlines will shortly notify their trade unions about its restructuring and job loss programme, which will commence from July 2020.'

Mr O'Leary, worked as a financial adviser to the founder of the airline, Tony Ryan, before joining in 1988 as deputy chief executive. He became CEO in 1994 and has courted controversy with some of his views.

He once said: 'The best thing you can do with environmentalists is shoot them.'

Mr O'Leary also believes travel agents deserve the same treatment, saying once: 'Screw the travel agents.

'Take the f***ers out and shoot them. What have they done for passengers over the years?'

Coronavirus information at a Ryanair check in desk in terminal one at Dublin Airport

British Airways planes seen parked up on March 31 at Gatwick airport

He famously proposed coin-operated toilets on flights and dressed up as the pope to launch Ryanair's new route from Dublin to Rome.

Will air travel get more expensive? According to analysis by US-based Dollar Flight Club, we can expect lower airfare prices in the short term, before prices rise dramatically by 2025. Through to 2021, the flight deals service found there would be a 35 per cent decrease in prices on average, as airlines desperately attempt to draw customers back in. But over the next four years, prices would then rise by over a quarter above pre-crisis levels as demand outstrips a significantly reduced supply. The data indicates more severe drops and subsequent price hikes than were experienced either during 9/11 or from the financial crash. 'Passengers in smaller or short-haul markets can expect significant cuts in scheduled air service as airlines downsize operations,' read the report. 'This will make it significantly more expensive and harder for these passengers to travel. In these markets, we can expect train and bus travel to see significant growth.' The club found that over the next year, customers could get a roundtrip from Los Angeles to London for $329, or a roundtrip from New York to Amsterdam for $278. Advertisement

He once addressed Ryanair customers asking for their money back with: 'You're not getting a refund so f**k off. We don't want to hear your sob stories. What part of 'no refund' don't you understand?'

He married Anita Farrell in September 2003, and they have four children

This comes as British Airways plans to cut the jobs of a quarter of its pilots and could abandon Gatwick Airport altogether in a bid for post-coronavirus survival.

The news was revealed yesterday in a memo, written by the head of BA's Gatwick operation and seen by BBC News.

On Tuesday, owners IAG announced some 12,000 redundancies - after it furloughed more than half of its 45,000 workers.

Under the plan, BA would cut 1,130 captain and co-pilot jobs from its headcount of 4,346, the IAG-owned airline's head of flight operations told the BALPA union in the letter.

The letter, written on April 28, reads: 'In a short space of time the situation has significantly deteriorated.'

It adds that BA may yet be forced to suspend the few services still running from London Heathrow.

'There are no clear signs of improvement in air passenger demand,' it adds. Passenger numbers are expected to halve compared to 2019, with the likes of Flybe already going into administration before full lockdown measures were in place in Britain.

Early last month, Easyjet announced it was considering plans to keep middle seats empty on its planes when it restarts flights

In a letter written on April 28, British Airways CEO Alex Cruz said the airline was 'preparing for a new future'.

He wrote: 'Yesterday, British Airways flew just a handful of aircraft out of Heathrow. On a normal day we would fly more than 300.

'What we are facing as an airline, like so many other businesses up and down the country, is that there is no 'normal' any longer.'

His letter continued: 'There is no Government bailout standing by for BA and we cannot expect the taxpayer to offset salaries indefinitely.

How airlines bend the rules British Airways: The refund option has been removed from its website but the option to claim a voucher remains. The customer service line is frequently engaged or puts callers on hold for hours. Customers are being encouraged to apply for a voucher equal to the value of their flight but must pay more if it ends up being more expensive. BA says customers should call to rebook, refund or choose a voucher. Refunds can be requested up to 12 months after the original departure date. EasyJet: The refund option was taken off the website, but reinstated after customer complaints. The airline is trying to refund customers within 28 days, but admits it could take longer. A spokesman says: 'We assure customers these entitlements will be available long after their cancelled flight was due to fly.' Ryanair: Offered full reimbursement within 30 working days, then did a U-turn and is 'highly recommending' customers apply for a voucher instead. Says customers will be able to exchange vouchers for cash after a year. A spokesman says: 'Customers who choose a voucher but don't redeem it within 12 months may still apply for and obtain a refund. Customers who choose not to accept a free move or voucher will be refunded in due course, once this crisis is over.' Virgin Atlantic: Credit notes are being issued but can be rejected in favour of a full refund, with claims processed within 90 days. A spokesman says: 'The credit [equal to the value of the cancelled flight] can be used to rebook on alternative dates, allowing for a destination and name change, for travel until May 31, 2022. If the rebooked date is before November 30, 2020, we'll waive any fare difference.' Refunds will take longer than normal. Tui: Customers can choose a refund or credit note but can only apply for their money back once their refund credit has been received  up to four weeks after the departure date. A spokesman says requested refunds will take about four weeks. Jet2 is offering cash refunds but with delays because of an 'unprecedented' number of calls. Advertisement

'Any money we borrow now will only be short-term and will not address the longer-term challenges we will face.'

BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said: 'There has been no warning or consultation by Ryanair about the 3000 potential job losses and this is miserable news for pilots and staff who have taken pay cuts under the Government job retention scheme.

'Ryanair seems to have done a u-turn on its ability to weather the COVID storm.

'Aviation workers are now facing a tsunami of job losses. The U.K. Government has to stop daydreaming and keep to the promise made by the Chancellor on 17 March to help airlines or this industry, vital to the U.K. economy, will be devastated.'

Early last month, Easyjet announced it was considering plans to keep middle seats empty on its planes when it restarts flights.

Chief executive Johan Lundgren said it was one of the options being considered to keep social distancing measures in place once travel restrictions are lifted.

Easyjet's Mr Lundgren said: 'Our assumption is that load factors will not be back to normal early on, which means that we will have the opportunity for a middle-seat option but I'm talking about this as an initial phase and nobody knows for how long that phase will be.'

He added: 'We're also looking at various disinfection programmes on the aircraft.'

Easyjet's entire fleet of planes has been grounded since 30 March and the majority of its 9,000-strong UK-based workforce have been furloughed until the end of May. A small number of staff remain working in 'central functions.'

Michael O'Leary, the boss of rival airline Ryanair, has always slammed the idea of keeping middle seats free on his fleet once flights resume, branding the idea 'hopelessly ineffective.'

While Whizz Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it will be resuming flights from London Luton today.

The flights will service airports in Spain, Portugal, Israel, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania and Hungary.

The airline is promising low fares to stimulate demand, however, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office still advises against all foreign non-essential travel.

Passengers won't be able to get refunds if they wish to cancel their flight, even if they know they won't be let into the country they are flying to.

Meanwhile German airline Lufthansa has become the first European airline to introduce compulsory facemasks for passengers.

The measures will be put in place later this week and passengers will be required to bring their own facemask with them.

It comes after three of the largest four U.S. airlines said Thursday they will require passengers to wear facial coverings on U.S. flights, joining JetBlue Airways Corp in taking the step to address the spread of the coronavirus and convince reluctant passengers to resume flying.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc, along with the smaller Frontier Airlines, which is owned by private equity firm Indigo Partners LLC, announced they will require facial coverings next month.

Delta and United's new rules start May 4, while Frontier's start May 8 and American's requirements begin May 11. The policies exempt young children from wearing masks or other facial coverings.

Many U.S. airlines are also requiring pilots and flight attendants to use facial coverings while on board aircraft.

Delta said the airline will require face coverings 'starting in the check-in lobby' and at 'Delta Sky Clubs, boarding gate areas, jet bridges and on board the aircraft for the duration of the flight a except during meal service.'

Delta added their use 'is also strongly encouraged in high-traffic areas, including security lines and restrooms. People unable to keep a face covering in place, including children, are exempt.'

The high-rolling 3bn lifestyle of race horse-loving Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary behind budget airline famed for its no-frills service

Michael O'Leary, the outspoken boss of low-cost airline Ryanair, has been no stranger to controversy over the years and has an estimated fortune of 860million.

He was born on March 20, 1961, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, in Country Kildare, before studying business and economics at Trinity College, in Dublin.

Mr O'Leary trained as a tax accountant before working as a financial adviser to the founder of the airline, Tony Ryan, before joining in 1988 as deputy chief executive.

Mr O'Leary married Anita Farrell in September 2003 (pictured) and the couple have four children

He became CEO in 1994 and has courted controversy with some of his views.

Mr O'Leary once said: 'The best thing you can do with environmentalists is shoot them.'

Mr O'Leary also believes travel agents deserve the same treatment, saying once: 'Screw the travel agents.

'Take the f***ers out and shoot them. What have they done for passengers over the years?'

He famously proposed coin-operated toilets on flights and dressed up as the pope to launch Ryanair's new route from Dublin to Rome.

He once addressed Ryanair customers asking for their money back with: 'You're not getting a refund so f**k off. We don't want to hear your sob stories. What part of 'no refund' don't you understand?'

In his personal life he married Anita Farrell in September 2003, and the couple have four children.

They live in a Georgian mansion in Gigginstown House, near Delvin in County Westmeath.

The property is set in 100 acres of lush countryside and it was where Mr O'Leary married his wife, before whisking her off to their honeymoon in Mauritius.

He also owns a home in Dublin worth 16.5million and a 9million holiday home in Majorca.

Unlike many other wealthy individuals he is not known for spending money on life's luxuries such as fast cars or superyachts, but does have a love of horse-racing and is a seven-time champion owner.

Last year he made the announcement that he is to start winding down his Gigginstown Stud racing operation in Ireland.

O'Leary said: 'We wish to sincerely thank all our trainers and their teams for the enormous success we've enjoyed over the past decade, but as my children are growing into teenagers I am spending more and more of my time at their activities and I have less and less time for National Hunt racing, a situation that will continue for the foreseeable future.

'I hope that by running down our string over an extended four- or five-year period it will give our trainers ample time to replace our horses without disruption.'

Low cost airline Wizz Air will resume flights from Luton airport to Spain, Portugal and other destinations TODAY - even though some are to countries that won't let foreigners in

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air said it will be resuming flights from London Luton today.

The flights will service airports in Spain, Portugal, Israel, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania and Hungary.

The airline is promising low fares to stimulate demand, however, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office still advises against all foreign non-essential travel.

Passengers won't be able to get refunds if they wish to cancel their flight, even if they know they won't be let into the country they are flying to.

Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air said it will resume flights from London Luton airport this morning after implementing new Covid-19 guidelines for staff and passengers

The airline's chief executive Jozsef Varadi, pictured, said he hoped to have 70 per cent of services back between July and August

The airline is planning to resume services to locations such as Tenerife, Lisbon, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Israel

According to research produced by Bank of America, Wizz Air is currently sitting on massive cash reserves and could refund all passengers three times over.

Passengers on the resumed services will also be obliged to wear face masks and in-flight magazines will not be available.

Wizz Air's UK managing director Owain Jones said: 'As we restart selected Luton flights to provide an essential service to passengers who need to travel, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of our customers and crew.

'The protective measures that we are implementing will ensure the most sanitary conditions possible.

'We encourage our customers to watch our new video on how to stay safe when travelling, as well as for more details on our new health and safety measures.'

The airline is also preparing to resume flights to Italy - including the Covid-19 hotspot of Milan,

According to the company's chief executive Jozsef Varadi, the airline will run 10 per cent of its services during May and hopes to have 70 per cent of its jets in the air by August.

Mr Varadi told the Financial Times: 'While today looks like a huge concern, a life changing moment, in a year or two nobody remembers.'

He said: 'Whatever crisis we look back on in history, one conclusion you can certainly make is peoples' memories tend to be very short. While today looks like a huge concern, a life changing moment, in a year or two nobody remembers.'

A spokesperson for London Luton Airport told MailOnline: 'The safety of our passengers and staff is our number one priority and we continue to rigorously implement all Government guidance.

'This includes deep cleaning, the installation of sanitiser across the airport and floor markings to remind customers to maintain a safe distance, as well as segregating staff shift patterns where practical.

'Air links for both passengers and freight have been recognised as a key service and the Government has asked airports to remain open where possible, to ensure these services are not interrupted.

'The decision to operate individual flights is a matter for each airline and any passengers using these services will need to adhere to all restrictions imposed both in the UK and in the country of travel.'

However customers who have booked flights and holidays with various airlines are finding it incredibly difficult to secure cash refunds.

Tui, the UK's biggest tour operator, has extended the suspension of its holidays for the next six weeks.

The company said all trips would be cancelled up to and including June 11, and warned customers wanting cash refunds that its call centres are 'incredibly busy'.

It had previously suspended its operations up to May 14.

Tui also cancelled its Marella Cruises sailings up to the end of June, and postponed the launch of its river cruises until late November.

A total of nearly 900,000 people have had their holidays cancelled, a spokeswoman said.

The firm told affected customers that they will receive a refund credit for the full value of their holiday.

This can be used to book another trip taking place before the end of October 2021.

Package holiday customers will receive an additional credit worth up to 20 per cent of their booking.

Tui said customers who are 'unable to accept' a refund credit can apply for a cash refund, but warned that its call centre staff are 'incredibly busy' so waiting times are 'considerably longer than usual'.

Simon Cooper, founder and chief executive of rival travel agency On The Beach, told the PA news agency last week that failing to pay cash refunds is 'a bad idea for everyone concerned' as struggling companies will be forced to 'massively increase' their prices for next year's holidays to avoid bankruptcy.

UK laws state that full refunds should be given within 14 days for cancelled package holidays.

Consumer group Which? found that none of the UK's 10 biggest holiday companies or 10 most popular airlines are offering full refunds within the legal timeframe, and some are refusing to provide refunds altogether.

Many travel firms are suffering huge financial losses due to the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised against all but essential international travel since March 17.

Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said Tui 'must ensure it is making the refund process as straightforward as possible'.

He added: 'The travel industry is under unprecedented strain, and the lack of action from the Government on measures to support operators to process refunds is unacceptable.'
WINCHESTER  Scott County will not prosecute those who violate the states stay-at-home order, States Attorney Michael Hill said Friday.

Although Hill acknowledged he does not have the authority to allow businesses to reopen and was not suggesting people ignore common-sense guidelines on social distancing, he said he would not prosecute anyone charged with violating the order. According to Hill, states attorney are granted a great deal of discretion in making decisions on prosecution.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker first put the stay-at-home order in place in mid-March. It required non-essential businesses to shut down, prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people and limited the reasons people could leave their homes. The order later was extended through May 30.

Scott County is the only county in west-central Illinois to have reported no cases of COVID-19.

Hill said Scott County residents should view the stay-at-home orders as a series of instructions.

I want (Scott County residents) to look at the executive orders for what they are  as guidelines, Hill said.

A southern Illinois judge ruled this week that Pritzkers latest order could not be enforced, but that decision was limited. Another lawsuit has been filed by state Rep. John Cabello challenging the governors authority to extend an emergency proclamation beyond a 30-day period.

Other states attorneys also have said they would not enforce the order, including Woodford County States Attorney Greg Minger and White County States Attorney Denton Aud.

Hill said he believes there is a concern about whether closing businesses violates constitutional rights and whether the governors order infringes on the right of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The right to just compensation of eminent domain  the governments ability to take or damage private property for public use in exchange for compensation  is a major concern for Hill.

Closing a business could be interpreted as the government taking or damaging private property in the form of the labor of the business owner and their employees, Hill said.

The U.S. Department of Justices statement in support of Temple Baptist Churchs lawsuit in Greenville, Mississippi, which argued that the church members right to freedom of assembly and religion had been violated, was cited by Hill as an example of how constitutional rights should not be infringed on because of the pandemic.

Hill said his decision primarily was a legal one and he does not want to make a medical assessment as to the effectiveness of social-distancing measures. He considers the order to be too broad and doubts that actions not narrowly defined will stand up to legal review.

The state should use a scalpel over a saw, Hill said.

The governors office did not return a request for comment.
Health care workers at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, or UI Health, are now eligible to participate in a national registry of clinicians working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UI Health is part of the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is among the first institutions in the nation to participate in the Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes Registry.

The HERO Registry seeks to engage health care workers, understand their experiences and track their health outcomes related to the pandemic -; from COVID-19 infection to stress and burnout. Participant experiences and health outcomes will be tracked via surveys and opportunities, to participate in clinical trials.

As part of the registry, health care workers at UI Health also will have the opportunity to participate in future COVID-19 clinical trials, such as an upcoming study of hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness in preventing coronavirus infections in health care workers. This study, the first for the HERO Registry, will enroll approximately 15,000 health care workers from participating institutions in the clinical trial to see if hydroxychloroquine performs better than placebo at preventing COVID-19.

This is a great opportunity for our health care workers to share their experiences and the challenges they face as frontline care providers. We need to study what is happening among health care providers with the same dedication we study what is happening to patients. This information is vital to understanding what works and what doesn't work as we start thinking through the best ways to protect health care workers, emerge from this crisis and learn from it." UIC's Dr. Susan Bleasdale, associate professor of clinical medicine at the College of Medicine, medical director of infection prevention at UI Health and principal investigator of the HERO hydroxychloroquine study at UIC

Bleasdale said that documenting the experiences of health care providers in real-time during the COVID-19 pandemic can provide invaluable information to public health departments, hospitals and infectious disease experts on how to prepare for future outbreaks or a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hydroxychloroquine study is expected to begin enrolling health care workers through the HERO registry on May 4.

The HERO research program leverages PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, and is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
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Linkedin (Reuters) Washington, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 10:37 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd579789 2 World trump,COVID-19,White-House,Washington Free

US President Donald Trump, cooped up in the White House for weeks due to the coronavirus lockdown, flew to Camp David, Maryland, on Friday for a weekend away at the presidential retreat.

When his Marine One helicopter left the South Lawn, it was the first time Trump had left the White House grounds since March 28, when he visited Norfolk, Virginia, to see the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort set sail for New York harbor.

Trump told reporters as he left the White House that he would be practicing social distancing while at Camp David, and that he plans a working weekend that will include phone calls with foreign leaders.

He is to return to Washington on Sunday in time for a Fox News Channel "virtual town hall" event at the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump plans a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence has made a handful of trips out of Washington to check on coronavirus relief efforts.
NEW ORLEANS, May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into Zuora, Inc. (NYSE: ZUO).



Leading up to its April 2018 initial public offering (IPO) and thereafter, the Company repeatedly marketed its two flagship software products, Billing and RevPro, as a functional, integrated, and seamless financial management solution for online subscription order-to-cash services, emphasizing to investors the cross-selling value of the two products. Despite its prior representations, on May 30, 2019, the Company disclosed dismal 1Q2020 financial results and lowered guidance, due to execution headwinds, including challenges and delays with the integration of Billing and RevPro, and likewise, the Companys ability to effectively cross-sell between the two products.

The Company has been sued in a securities class action lawsuit for failing to disclose material information, violating federal securities laws. Recently, the court in that case denied the Companys motion to dismiss, allowing the case to move forward.

KSFs investigation is focusing on whether Zuoras officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to Zuoras shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws.

If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of Zuora shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-zuo/ to learn more.

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nations premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients  including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors  in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com .

Contact:
With 12 fresh cases detected in Jhajjar since late Friday night, the district has become Haryanas most affected district with 40 active cases in just six days since this Monday. It is followed by Gurugram which has 25 active cases and Sonepat which has 22.

Until a week ago, Jhajjar district administration was being praised for not letting the deadly virus enter their territory even though it shares the border with the national capital Delhi, which is one of the worst hit states in the country. But now Jhajjar has emerged as the new hotspot in the state.

33 out of 40 CASES LINKED TO DELHIS AZADPUR MANDI

As many as 33 out of the 40 coronavirus infected patients in Jhajjar district are vegetable sellers, who frequented Delhis Azadpur Mandi to bring vegetables. The remaining seven are-- four family members of a Delhi policeman, who hails from Jhajjars Saloda village, two nurses ( one working with Haryana government and another posted at a hospital in Delhi) and one man, who returned from Maharasthra.

Jhajjar civil surgeon Randeep Singh Punia said that 39 out of 40 coronavirus cases reported in the district have a Delhi connection while one is Bahadurgarh man who had returned from Maharasthra.

Out of the total, 39 patients are asymptomatic. Only the nurse from the Delhi hospital is showing the symptoms of the virus. We are, however, looking the 40 cases in six days as our success as we managed to detect all the patients and isolate them before it spread further, Punia said.

Punia further said that all the patients have been sent to isolation ward at PGIMS, Rohtak.

RANDOM SAMPLING HELPED IN DETECTING CASES: DC

Jhajjar deputy commissioner Jitender Singh also said that the detection of 40 cases since Monday is a positive sign for them because it helps them in breaking the chain of the virus. Jhajjar is the first district in Haryana to go for random sampling. We had started random sampling after the district did not report any positive case for over a month even after sharing the border with Delhi, which falls in the red zone. During random sampling, we focussed on vegetable sellers, visiting Delhis Azadpur Mandi, shopkeepers, milkmen and Haryana residents, who are working in Delhi and commuting daily. This helped us detecting 40 coronavirus cases in just six days, Jhajjar DC added.

He further said that they have taken samples of 2,420 persons till Saturday, of whom 41 tested positive, including a pharmacist, who is counted in Delhis tally. Reports of 370 persons are awaited, he added.

We have collected 1,277 samples, of which 31 have tested positive for the coronavirus. Now, we are focussing on the contacts of these infected patients.We have sealed the border areas and no one is allowed to enter the district territory without prior permission, Jhajjar DC Jitender Singh added.
I hate to do it, but I nominate that lovely Sicilian you are married to, said Bob Evans. She moved you to a Hobbit hole across from the picturesque windmill, and now shes raising a stink about you enjoying a liver sausage and raw onion sandwich. That goes way too far in my book.
Before the coronavirus hit California, a virulent piece of legislation was already robbing workers of their jobs. With the economy now in freefall and nearly three million unemployed, Gov. Gavin Newsom turns a deaf ear to a commonsense solution.

Last year, Gov. Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 5, by San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzalez. The measure is a declaration of war against independent contractors of all kinds and the first measure to limit Californians' ability to make a living.

The measure limits freelance writers, photographers, and videographers to 35 submissions per publication, per year. AB-5 has also taken work from independent contractors in many fields, including health care. The repressive measure is being challenged in the courts, but legislators have declined to suspend it. With a pandemic on the rise, the time had come to make a case with the governor.

"By prohibiting the use of independent contractor drivers, health care professionals, and workers in other critical areas, AB-5 is doing substantial, and avoidable, harm to the very people who now have the fewest resources and the worst alternatives available to them," said an open letter to Gov. Newsom by 151 economists and political scientists.

The signatories include Nobel laureate Vernon Smith of Chapman University, John Taylor of Stanford, Lee Ohanian of UCLA, and David Teece of U.C. Berkeley. AB-5, they contend, has pushed all the risks and all the costs of a vibrant gig economy onto lower- and middle-income individuals, those who would benefit most from flexibility to work around the restrictive policies.

While employers are not hiring, gig workers could shoulder the many tasks needed to flatten out the effects of the temporary emergency. To make this possible, the 151 economists and political scientists contend, AB-5 needs to be suspended.

At this writing, Newsom has yet to respond, but he has not hesitated to take drastic measures. Since March 4, the governor has signed 29 executive orders, including one to make local elections vote-by-mail only.

Also in March, legislators allowed Newson to spend more than $1 billion in the coronavirus emergency, with $500 million available immediately, and suspended public hearings and floor votes for a month. The governor, a San Francisco Democrat, took full advantage.

In an April 7 MSNBC appearance with Rachel Maddow, Newsom announced a deal for "upwards of 200 million masks on a monthly basis" from a manufacturer "here in the state of California." That turned out to be the Chinese firm BYD, with no history of making personal protective equipment (PPE), a record of faulty products, and ties to the Chinese military and Communist Party.

Los Angeles Democrat Holly Mitchell, chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee, fired off an official letter demanding details. At this writing, Newsom has yet to respond. The governor refuses his own party the details of a $1-billion deal that will provide jobs for Chinese workers and profits for a Chinese company.

In similar style, the governor declines the advice of leading economists to suspend AB-5, which robs independent Americans of their jobs and makes the pandemic worse. If embattled Californians thought the governor was ignoring the best interests of the workers, the state, and the nation, it would be hard to blame them.

Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Oakland, Calif.based Independent Institute.
Mr. President, maybe should you know that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, who never played any role, never contributed and was not known in the struggle of Niger Delta, such a person can only be interested in his personal pockets to the detriment of the region, National Coordinator, Niger Delta Integrity and Development Group (NDIDG), Comrade Ebiye Johnny, has said.

Comrade Johnny, in a press statement Saturday, said that Mr. Godswill Akpabio as a former Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) Governor of Akwa-Ibom State from 2011 to 2015, during which period the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was controlled by PDP-led Presidency.

"About same time, Godswill Akpabio was Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, an illegal forum made so powerful more than the Nigeria Governors Forum.

From 2011 to 2015, under the PDP-led Presidency, all PDP Governors in the nine states that made up of NDDC, virtually nominated appointees into the Board of NDDC", he revealed.

The immediate substantive Managing Director (MD) of NDDC, Nsima Ekere, from Akwa-Ibom was a political son of Godswill Akpabio, who later became Akpabio's annointed APC Governorship Candidate in 2019 Governorship election in Akwa-Ibom State.

While expressing sadness that the audit has crashed, Johnny hinted: "Mr. President, if Godswill Akpabio was able to mislead you to approve an illegality such as IMC, same Akpabio will also manipulate the forensic audit to protect or cover up whatever deals or transactions that may have been committed by persons he nominated into NDDC board between 2011-2015.

"And beyond, and also protect his PDP friends who are contractors to NDDC", he allegaed.
O pportunities were missed to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus in the United States, a health expert has said.

Limited testing and delayed travel alerts for areas outside China contributed to a rise in Covid-19 cases from late February, Dr Anne Schuchat of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

The first case of the coronavirus was reported late last year in Wuhan, China, the initial epicentre of the global pandemic, but the US has since become the hardest-hit nation.

Dr Schuchat said: We clearly didnt recognise the full importations that were happening.

The US has more 1.1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and the death toll stands at 65,603.

Despite the figures, many American states have been pushing to relax lockdown restrictions. California reopened beaches last weekend, with thousands of sunbathers flocking to them.

The CDC has published an article, authored by Dr Schuchat, that looked back on the US response, recapping some of the major decisions and events of the last few months.

It suggested the nations top public health agency missed opportunities to slow the spread of the virus.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly celebrated a federal decision, announced on January 31, to stop entry into the US of any foreign nationals who had travelled to China in the previous fortnight.

President Donald Trump speaks while meeting with industry executives during an event on "Opening Up America Again" at the White House / Getty Images

But in her article, Dr Schuchat noted that nearly two million travellers arrived in the US from Italy and other European countries during February, with the government not blocking travel from there until mid-March.

She said: The extensive travel from Europe, once Europe was having outbreaks, really accelerated our importations and the rapid spread.

I think the timing of our travel alerts should have been earlier.

Dr Schuchat said she felt there was an evolving public understanding of the worsening coronavirus situation, as well as a change in what kind of measures people were willing to accept.

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

She said: I think that peoples willingness to accept the mitigation is unfortunately greater once they see the harm the virus can do.

There will be debates about should we have started much sooner, or did we go too far too fast.

Dr Schuchats article still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, said Dr Howard Markel, a public health historian at the University of Michigan.

Trump: US will not renew social distancing

He said it omits detail of what kind of proposals were made, and perhaps ignored, during the critical period before US cases began to take off in late February.

He said: I want to know the conversations, the memos the presidential edicts.

Because I still believe this did not need to be as bad as it turned out.

Newport Beach in California saw 40,000 people cram onto its sands on April 25 / Getty Images

Earlier this week, Mr Trump said the high number of Covid-19 cases in the country is due to the country's testing being "sooo much better" than anywhere else in the world.

He defended his administration's efforts in a late night tweet.

"The only reason the U.S. has reported one million cases of CoronaVirus is that our Testing is sooo much better than any other country in the World (sic)," he said.

"Other countries are way behind us in Testing, and therefore show far fewer cases!"

China could have stopped coronavirus outbreak, says Trump

The president defended his administration's handling of the pandemic as he met with Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis last week and promised to help states safely begin reopening their economies.

Mr Trump insisted that the United States is doing enough testing to protect Americans reentering the workforce and said no amount of testing would ever be good enough for critics in the media.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently interacted with the students of NIT Rourkela who have developed an indigenous app called MyOrg360. The app allows students to video conference, chat and do presentations.

Minister Of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan got on a video conference with students of NIT Rourkela through their own developed application MyOrg360. A group of 15 graduates and current students from various streams of Engineering & Biotechnology came together to build this application which allows video conferencing, real time chat, presentations through their platform.

Speaking to the young technocrats, Minister Pradhan appreciated their initiative and said With such limited resources, all of you have achieved so much. The day is not far when you will surpass big names in the world of digital collaboration. Each member of the team (majority of whom, belong to Odisha ) spoke to the minister individually and shared his/ her experiences and challenges faced while developing this app.

The students were excited to have a cabinet minister using their platform and shared the various facilities the application would provide, once fully operation and released for public use.

Also Read: Govt clears roadblock to fast-track PMEGP projects; KVIC to ensure swift execution

Also Read: Coronavirus update: Total cases in India at 37,336, toll crosses 1200

I had a chance to connect with them on the trial version of the VC app, which has left me truly impressed with what these youngsters have achieved. I congratulate the entire team and wish them greater success in their endeavours of transforming the digital world. pic.twitter.com/EuO1fTHl8N  Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) April 30, 2020

The minister was equally pleased to meet the talented group and congratulated them in person, as well as, through his tweet on social media.

Also Read: Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: Liquor Shops, offices, industries, cabs, whats allowed in Red, Orange and Green zone

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Farmers resist call to wean off fertilisers and return to nature By Kasun Warakapitiya View(s): View(s):

Farmers are resisting calls from the Government to reduce their reliance on pesticides and fertilisers by using compost and cultivating local varieties of paddy, saying this was impractical.

They are complaining that their newly-sprouting crops are malnourished due to insufficient supplies of fertiliser, especially the free quota supplied by the government.

Mahinda Ranaweera, 46, who grows rice and vegetables in Minneriya, described how the farmers association in Minneriya met with disappointment when members went to the local agrarian centre to claim their supply of free fertiliser and seedstock.

Even though they issued fertiliser they cut down the amount, he said. They only gave us 10kg of fertiliser for paddy, 80kg of urea and 20kg of potassium per acre.

The farmers had to try to purchase the rest of the fertiliser they needed from shops but found that most shops were closed.

Farmer Nalin Priyantha Weerasinghe from Hingurangoda said the government had advised growers to use compost instead of fertiliser and to cultivate native varieties of paddy.

The government down free fertiliser and advised us to cultivate crops using compost in future but that is impractical as we need time to create compost, he said. Some farmers would have to create compost to feed 10-20 acres.

Mr. Weerasinghe said farmers were used to imported hybrid seedstock that was bred to be hardy while the local varieties were susceptible to disease.

He said farmers did not know enough about the local varieties and needed instruction from government about suitable cultivation methods.

All-Island Farmers Federation (AIFF) head Namal Karunaratne said farmers agreed with the call for carbon-free fertiliser and compost for crops but the governments move was impractical.

He also said while free fertiliser was coming through to paddy farmers, vegetable farmers had none and were having to buy their stocks, paying Rs. 1,200 for 50kg bag although the normal price was Rs.1,000.

He also accused some fertiliser merchants and companies of mixing and rebranding fertiliser varieties to make a profit.

The Registrar of Pesticides, Dr. J.A. Sumith, said pesticides were in short supply because the countries that supply fertiliser, primarily China, India and Indonesia, had halted production due to the coronavirus crisis. Up to 90 per cent of herbicides were imported.

Due to lack of imports the farmers only have 60 per cent of the pesticides required. Therefore in future the farmers have to move towards using natural resources and locally-manufactured pesticides, Dr. Sumith said.

He said shortages and closure of shops due to low stocks and curfew had caused a black market in pesticides.

He said he had instructed regional officers to take action against blackmarketeers and to increase supplies of government-issued fertiliser.

Agriculture Ministry Secretary Neel Bandara Hapuhinna said although there was a shortage the government was taking every measure to distribute fertiliser.

He admitted there had been delays in sending stocks to some areas and that others had received nothing yet, saying the curfew blocked the availability of labour to unload, load and distribute fertiliser imports.

He said the Agriculture Department was trying to distribute seeds, fertiliser and pesticides directly to farmers in an effort to circumvent blackmarketeers.
To cut to the chase of the Army Corps of Engineers report that envisions Charleston as once again a walled city, turn to the side-by-side maps on page 219. Its enough to make any good Charlestonians blood run cold.

Using simulations of what a 25-year storm event would mean for the peninsula in 2075, the maps show in scary detail what would happen if we build the sea wall and if we dont.

No sea wall: A massive hurricane swamps the peninsula, leaving behind a narrow high spine running from East Battery to the Neck Area. Everything else is water. Half the historic district, more than 100 historic structures and 43% of archaeology sites are flooded. Two police stations, two fire stations and eight health-care facilities also sit in water.

With the sea wall: The peninsula as we know it is saved.

Even as the coronavirus has, overnight, come to define our lives, the tides keep rising. Theres no vaccine for climate change. Charleston is a special place  we locals dont need those silly magazine rankings to tell us that  and the peninsula is the crown jewel. We need to do everything we can to save it.

The Army Corps proposal is an opportunity we cannot afford to easily dismiss. Start with this: The Corps is considering recommending Congress spend $1.1 billion in federal money because it estimates the project would create $94.4 million annually in benefits. The city  and ultimately the state and county, too  would have to come up with $600 million, a huge sum. But for every dollar we spend, the federal government would spend two.

Consider: In the past 30 years, the federal government has contributed a paltry $35 million of the $200 million Charleston has spent on flooding. Over the years, we have been strong on studying flooding, weak on raising money to fix it. The Army Corps offers our best chance to do something about it.

The public comment period  now extended to a total of 90 days (through June 19 and then another month in early 2021)  is critical to understanding how a sea wall fits into an overall plan to deal with climate change and how it fits into the fabric of our city. Among the questions to be asked: What would the 8-mile seawall and 4,000-foot breakwater off The Battery actually look like? How will we address the stormwater flooding a sea wall wont fix? How many jobs would the largest infrastructure project in the regions history create?

While the headline of the much-lauded Dutch Dialogues was about living with water, a sea wall for the peninsula is very much part of the plan. Dale Morris, an economist who led the Dutch Dialogues, called a sea wall around the entire peninsula needed and justified.

The sea wall must be multi-functional and beautiful, Morris said. He warned that the kind of concrete barrier construction the Army Corps has proposed is not so attractive. You shouldnt have buyers regret if all you have is I-Walls and T-Walls.

There is time to get this right, Morris said.

A sea wall is hardly a new idea. In 1911, just as the Low Battery was being completed, the state conveyed to the city the rights to extend the sea wall along the Ashley River from Tradd Street to Hampton Park. Now, more than a century later, the Army Corps is proposing to pay 65% to build that forgotten sea wall, raise the High Battery and much more work. None of that should be controversial.

If not this, then what?

Even with the Army Corps endorsement, Charleston remains a long shot for funding. The Corps has a backlog of 98 authorized projects and an annual construction budget of $2 billion. The city of Norfolk, Va., last year signed a deal with the Corps to seek funding for its own $1.8 billion sea wall project. As the nation decides what to save, New York, Boston and Miami will loom as essential cities.

Saving Charleston will require the city, the state and our congressional delegation to speak as one that Charleston  and its peninsula in particular  is absolutely essential for the region. Whats also essential is that we avoid the usual destructive tribal wars.

Charleston is a city of stories. Once upon a time, a group of patriots built Fort Sullivan of palmetto logs to defend the city against the British Navy. One day, Charlestonians may well tell a new story of how another generation of patriots saved the city 250 years later. Standing atop our beautiful sea wall, they will admire the harbor on one side and the steeples of St. Matthew's and Mother Emanuel on the other and know it was worth it.

Steve Bailey can be reached at sjbailey1060@yahoo.com. Follow on Twitter @sjbailey1060.
The article emphasised that with a population of 96 million on an area of just 331,700 square kilometres, Vietnam has recorded only 270 infections and zero fatalities.

Health workers of a hospital in Ninh Binh province present flowers to recovered COVID-19 patients (Source: VNA)



Immediately after the first cases were reported in the country in late January, the Government quickly established a national steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control and all schools were closed.

Advanced equipment, including ventilators, were provided to hospitals as quickly as possible, the best doctors were mobilised, and the number of hospital beds increased, it said.

Tourists from disease-hit areas were quarantined, while everyone had to wear a face mask when going out. Law enforcement agencies traced those who had possible contact with infected patients.

Vietnam also suspended international flights and restricted internal travel by temporarily suspending inter-provincial buses, the article noted.

It added that the quarantine period increased from 14 days to 20 days and even 40 days in some cases. The country applied social distancing measures after recording 60 infections on March 16th.

Police also arrested 150 people for spreading fake news relating to COVID-19 on the internet.

The rapid response and drastic measures helped slow down the spread of the coronavirus in Vietnam, the newspaper wrote.

It can be said, it went on, that Vietnam strangled COVID-19 right from its inception. The country has recorded no new cases for many days and loosened social distancing measures on April 23rd./.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in three weeks, state media reported on Saturday, after an unexplained absence fuelled questions about who would take over the nuclear-armed state in the event of his death. Pyongyang has never announced who would lead the country were Kim to be incapacitated, and with no details known about his young children, analysts say his sister and loyalists could form a regency until a successor is ready to take over. Such speculation intensified after Kim, believed to be about 36 years old, missed a key state anniversary ...
Completion of under-construction



projects in the areas outside the coronavirus containment zones within Pune city limits and the district has been allowed with certain conditions, officials said on Saturday.

However, these relaxations are not applicable in containment zones.

Pune district is classified as one of the 14 'Red' districts in the state.

"We are allowing under-construction works in non- affected areas in Pune district, including non-containment zones in the city," said district collector Naval Kishore Ram.

He said the permission was granted with certain pre-conditions.

"These conditions include arranging accommodation of labours and food at the construction sites. Thermal screening of labourers is also mandatory," the collector said.

Issuing an order, the collector stated that health screening of labourers should be done twice a week. Only those workers who are physically fit will be given permission to work, it stated.

All social distancing norms and hygiene measures have to be adhered to at these sites.

"The purpose of the order is to create an environment wherein labourers can get work and stay back instead of insisting on going back to their respective states or districts," the collector said.

Moreover, all pre-monsoon related works including flood protection, waterproofing, construction of retaining walls and backfilling etc have been allowed at the construction sites in the non-containment zones.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Karnataka government has issued a show-cause notice to IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin over his social media post about donating of plasma by Tablighi Jamaat members for treatment of COVID-19 patients

Bengaluru: Karnataka government has issued a show-cause notice to IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin over his social media post about donating of plasma by Tablighi Jamaat members for treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Mohsin is serving as Secretary of Karnataka Backward Classes Welfare Department.

In his tweet on 27 April, Mohammad Mohsin wrote, "More than 300 Tablighi heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about it? Godi Media? They will not show you the works of humanity done by these heroes."

"The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved," the show cause notice said.

The state government has sought a written explanation from the officer within five days for violating the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.

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It has also warned of action against the officer as per the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 if he fails to submit his reply before the deadline.
The World Health Organisation has praised China for handling the coronavirus pandemic and said that the countries need to learn from Wuhan on how the epicentre of the virus was bringing the society back to normal, a day after US President Donald Trump likened the global health body to a public relations agency for Beijing.

Trump on Thursday said the WHO should be "ashamed" of itself, as he compared the UN's health organ to a public relations agency for China amidst the coronavirus pandemic after it originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

The Trump administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on coronavirus, and has temporarily suspended the US' financial assistance to it.

Many countries, including Germany, Britain and Australia, are blaming China for the spread of coronavirus, that has killed over 2,35,000 people globally, including 64,000 Americans, and has infected 3.3 million.

Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: Here's a list of what will remain open and closed across India

Noting that there are zero COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, Maria van Kerkhove, the technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme at a virtual press briefing in Geneva, said, "that's very very welcome news to hear that there are no more severe cases, no more patients in Wuhan."

"So congratulations on this achievement," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying on Saturday.

"The world has learned from China and we need to continue to learn from Wuhan on how they are lifting those measures, how they are bringing society back to normal, or a new normal, in terms of how we're going to live with this virus going forward," she said.

Health officials in Wuhan, where the coronavirus emerged in December last year, said all COVID-19 cases were cleared from hospitals on Sunday.

The Hubei province and its capital Wuhan have not reported coronavirus cases for 28 consecutive days since April 4, the local health commission said on Saturday.

The central province also lowered its emergency level from highest to next level on Saturday.

The lowering of the emergency level shows a major breakthrough in Hubei's prevention and control against COVID-19, Vice-Governor of Hubei Yang Yunyan told the media on Friday.

The province, however, reported 647 asymptomatic cases, which are under medical observation. Hubei has so far reported 68,128 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,333 in Wuhan.

Amid criticism of under reporting of cases, Wuhan on April 17 revised its death toll by 50 per cent, taking the number of fatalities to 3,869.

The death toll in China stood at 4,633 as of Thursday, with 82,874 overall confirmed cases.

As one of the China-WHO joint experts, who visited China in February for a field study, van Kerkhove said, "China has worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control."

"I was there for two weeks and working directly with ministry officials, and officials from all different sectors, from hospitals, through communities, to really see what was put in place to bring those numbers down," she said.

Van Kerkhove said she appreciated the "tireless efforts" of the people in Wuhan -- "not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures."

"We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you've been able to do," she said.

She also asked people in Wuhan to "remain vigilant," in case new cases appear.
Mrs Mansa Nettey, the Chief Executive Officer of StandChart said the workers had, in the wake of the COVID-19, sacrificed to save the lives of patients.

"As Ghana has been engaged in an all-out fight against COVID-19 for the past several weeks, we have learnt one thing of our frontline workers; that they have a big heart for people, are caring, committed and giving," she said in a statement.

The statement added that the occasion of the 2020 May Day celebrations, unlike any other year, the world was faced with a global public health crisis.

It noted that the Day was being marked against the backdrop of a pandemic, which threatened the physical, psychological, social and economic wellbeing of Ghana and its workers.

However, at the fore of the fight against the virus are our frontline healthcare and essential workers who have fervently and remarkably served the nation so that we can have a strong chance at winning this battle.

As we mark Workers' Day 2020, we at StandChart wish to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to all healthcare workers in the public and private sectors for their sacrifice, zeal and commitment in the fight against this pandemic.

We acknowledge your efforts and that is why in keeping with our brand promise 'Here For Good,' we are taking action by donating Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline health workers in selected hospitals across the country.

"To all the essential workers including our valuable frontline banking staff, supermarket and shop attendants, food vendors and fuel station attendants we say well done. You've played a vital role in keeping the country running."

The statement also commended all workers in the security agencies who had helped maintain peace, order and security while managing and controlling the spread of the deadly virus.

It recognised workers who had continued performing their daily duties while working from home, saying; Your commitment to your work is the reason many businesses will continue thriving and meeting their obligations despite these trying times.

In solidarity with the citizenry, StandChart extended its warmest regards and compliments to all Ghanaian workers, whose toil and sweat continued to keep the wheels the economy moving.

COVID-19 has impacted all of us in profound ways. However, there is one thing that remains true for all Ghanaian workers, their resilience!

Ghanaian workers have proved to be descendants of the great men and women who, through their hard work decades ago, made and defended the good name of Ghana.

---GNA
Prince Harry and Megan, Duchess of Sussex made it very clear that they did not want to live the ordinary royal lifestyle anymore. And while they have done absolutely everything they can to prevent their son Archie from growing up in the same environment as Harry, they are not completely free from the restrictions of royal life. Though they are no longer working royals, there are still rules that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex must follow.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

What changed after Megxit?

A lot did change for Meghan and Harry after they stepped down. For one, the two no longer reside in the UK. They now live in LA. Harry also had to give up some of his roles in the military.

As agreed in this new arrangement, they understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments, a statement from Buckingham Palace read. They will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties.

With the queens blessing, the Sussexes will continue to maintain their private patronages and associations. While they can no longer formally represent the queen, the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty.

The two are also no longer allowed to use one of their titles.

The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family, the statement continued.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.

What rules do Meghan and Harry still have to follow?

Prince Harry and Meghan still have to follow certain guidelines now that they are not working royals.

Sources have said that the two still have branding guidelines to follow.

There will be strict instructions on branding, the source said. For example, no one wants to see the Sussexes name on a tub of margarine.

And in mentioning that the Sussexes must uphold the values of the queen, Buckingham Palace was most likely referring to the Nolan Principles, which are the ethical standards that need to be met by people in public office, according to Express.

There are seven principles including, selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

The guidelines state that those in office should act in the interest of the public, not allow themselves to be bribed, be impartial when making decisions, be transparent, and lead by example.

What can Meghan Markle and Prince Harry do now?

Though Meghan and Harry were breaking certain protocols before, there are some things they can now freely do that they used to get in trouble for. For instance, now they can hug and kiss their fans should they so choose. They can also sign autographs (Meghan did this in 2018, much to the chagrin of the media.) They can also get paid for appearances and Meghan can get back into acting if she wants. Shes already done voice-over work for Disney.

The pair can also pick and choose which events they want to attend and will no longer represent the queen while at said events so they can relax a little.
Humans seem to have cooled over the past 150 years. What does that mean for us now, asks Kim Tingley.

As public health officials struggle to contain the spread of the coronavirus, determining whether a person has a fever is now a high-stakes matter, and using temperature guns to screen people has become a visible strategy for detecting possible cases.

Any infectious disease  one of the cardinal signs of infection is raised body temperature, says Waleed Javaid, the director of infection prevention and control for the Mount Sinai Downtown Network, in New York.

But theres a catch: That means you know the body temperature before you raised it.

Body temperature varies considerably both among and within people, based on weight, height, physical activity, the weather, clothing.

Older people tend to be cooler than younger people.

A recent review suggests women might tend to be slightly warmer than men.

Temperature also fluctuates with the sleep-wake cycle.

Of course, public health officials cant know each persons usual thermal patterns, so their advice is based on population averages.

Yet those numbers arent consistent, either, and most refer to oral temperature, which is considered more accurate than an infrared scan of the forehead.

Before the current pandemic, hospitals would generally assess fever and act upon it differently in response to individual patients and diagnoses; schools have had various thresholds to determine when parents should keep their children home.

Perhaps the most well-known benchmark is 98.8F (37C), which many people, including physicians and public health agencies, consider to be a baseline.

All of us think back to our mothers taking our temperature and saying: Its 98.6. Youre going to school, says Dr Julie Parsonnet, an infectious-diseases specialist at Stanford University.

That number dates to 1851, when a German physician named Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich began taking what he purported were millions of temperature readings from 25,000 patients in Leipzig.

Their average, he announced, was the Celsius equivalent of 98.6F.

That figure, which he defined as normal, has persisted, despite numerous more recent studies that put the average closer to 97.88F or lower.

A 1992 study in JAMA suggested that the discrepancy could be explained by Wunderlichs primitive thermometer or other external variables.

But Parsonnet wondered if our average body temperature might have decreased.

Parsonnet and colleagues analysed the medical records of army veterans taken from 1862 until 1940 that contained 83,900 temperature readings.

They found that average body temperature steadily decreased by about 0.02 degrees Celsius per decade; veterans born more recently were cooler.

These data were compared with data collected between 1971 and 1975 and between 2007 and 2017.

Over all, a similar pattern emerged: The average temperature of men born between 1800 and 1997 decreased by about 0.03 degrees per birth decade. (Women born between 1890 and 1997 had a 0.029 per decade decrease but werent represented in the army data.)

The most likely reason for such a change, Parsonnet and co-authors argue in a study published in January in eLife, a journal of biology and medicine, is that improvements in living standards, sanitation and medical care have reduced the number of cases of untreated chronic illness, including tuberculosis, syphilis and periodontitis.

Fighting infection increases a persons basal metabolic rate  the amount of energy needed at rest per unit of time  and that raises his or her temperature.

A lower average temperature therefore suggests a lower average metabolic rate.

And a lower metabolic rate tends to correlate with a greater body mass, at least in animals.

So far, researchers can only speculate about possible connections between a lower average temperature and rising obesity rates in people.

Such a substantial change in average temperature over a fairly short period of history could have other, unforeseeable impacts.

Parsonnet points out that there are more microbial organisms in us than there are human cells, which creates a complex ecosystem.

And like a human-size version of climate change, were seeing probably a change in our ecosystem thats associated with this drop in temperature.

Yet were only beginning to understand all the ways temperature influences that ecosystem to help determine how we function.

Our body temperature is controlled by the hypothalamus, which acts as a thermostat, keeping the temperature of vital organs fairly constant. (Its this core temperature that a thermometer approximates.)

Temperature sensors in nerve endings, which produce the sensation of being hot or cold, prompt the hypothalamus to initiate adjustments like shivering to warm up or sweating to cool down.

At any given time, your skin might be 10 degrees cooler or warmer than your core.

And that difference  and thus how much energy the body has to expend to keep the core stable  seems to affect how the immune system functions.

For instance, in 2013 Elizabeth Repasky of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-authors reported in PNAS that raising the room temperature improved the ability of laboratory mice to fight off cancer after they got it.

Repasky and others are also experimenting with heating tumour cells to kill them or make them more susceptible to chemotherapy.

Already, certain abdominal cancers are treated with hot chemotherapy, in which the drug is heated to 103 degrees, which has been shown to increase how much of it is absorbed by cancer cells.

Separately, the heat from a fever may help fight infection, because, as Mark Dewhirst, an emeritus professor of radiation oncology at the Duke University School of Medicine, puts it: A lot of bacteria and other pathogens dont fare well at elevated temperatures.

A lower metabolic rate, and thus a lower temperature, has been linked to a longer life span in experimental settings with reduced calorie intake, when the body slows to conserve energy.

But Bruno Conti, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, and colleagues have also found that mice genetically engineered to have a body temperature a half-degree lower than average lived longer than ordinary mice, even if they ate as much as they wanted.

What other effects this has on an organism is unknown.

For instance, he says, a brain at a lower temperature might not function as well.

At the same time, other bodily systems might benefit from being cooler.

H Craig Heller, a biology professor at Stanford, and colleagues have shown that muscle fatigue is caused by heat, which they believe triggers a temperature-sensitive enzyme that acts as a safety valve, stopping the production of chemicals that power muscle contractions in order to prevent the tissue from burning up.

When Heller cools muscle during physical activity using special gloves that chill blood as it moves through the hands, the muscle just keeps on going.

He says: Ive had freshmen doing more than 800 push-ups.

Its unclear if or how the coronavirus might change the use of body temperature as a diagnostic tool.

In the near term, Javaid says, knowing your own average temperature and how it fluctuates might help clinicians diagnose and treat some illnesses more accurately.

He suggests taking it at set times for several weeks and giving that information to your doctor, if needed.

I think what well end up concluding is, just like people know their blood pressure, they also should know what is their temperature when they are normal, he says.

But, Parsonnet adds, as a rule, its also important to keep in mind that numbers limitations: If its normal and you feel sick, youre still sick.

New York Times Magazine
Maharashtra breached the 500 mark for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) deaths on Saturday after it recorded its highest single-day fatality figure of 36, taking the toll to 521. The state recorded 790 new cases  its third-highest 24-hour jump  taking the infection count to 12,296.

Of the deaths recorded on Saturday, Mumbai reported 27, three were in Pune city, two in Amravati city and one each in Vasai-Virar, Amravati district and Aurangabad city. Besides these, Mumbai also recoded the death of one person from West Bengal.

The mortality rate in the state stands at 4.23%, but the fatality count in the state has steadily increased with 198 deaths recorded since April 27 alone. The countrys mortality rate hovers around 3.25%.

Mumbai also crossed the 8,000 Covid-19 cases mark with 547 new infections. Its tally stands at 8,359. The city, which had crossed the 4,000 mark on April 23, doubled its count to 8,000 in nine days. As cases continue to mount in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, Malegaon, the state government, which issued guidelines for extension of lockdown on Saturday, imposed restrictions in most on these areas.

Maharashtra has 14 districts in the red zone, including Mumbai, Mumbai suburban, Thane, and Palghar districts, where the lockdown will be strictly implemented. Yavatmal, Satara, Dhule, Akola and Jalgaon are also in the red zone, but wo;; see fewer restrictions as against the hotpot areas in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) and Malegaon in Nashik district.

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Some workers will be allowed to refuse to return to work and continue collecting unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Greg Abott announced this week.

Abbott faced pressure from workers and labor activists to provide greater protections for workers returning to the workplace as the Texas economy gradually restarts.

Under previous rules, employees called by their employers to return to work would lose their unemployment benefits if they refuse.

Many workers, however, say they dont want to return to public workplaces as cases and deaths from the virus continue climbing in Texas.

Abbott said Thursday that the Texas Workforce Commission, which administers unemployment benefits, will allow some groups of people to choose not to return to work if their employers recall them.

People 65 years and older can choose to stay away from work and continue collecting unemployment benefits. So can anyone who is living in the same household as anyone 65 and older.

The guidance also says that if youre diagnosed with COVID-19, or if anyone if your household tests positive, you can continue collecting unemployment. The rules also exempt people who are in self-quarantine after coming in close contact with a COVID-19 patient.

Workers with children who cant find child care providers also can decline to return to work.

As the Lone Star State begins the process of safely and strategically opening the economy, our top priority is protecting the health and safety of all Texans  especially those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, Abbott said in a statement. This flexibility in the unemployment benefit process will help ensure that Texans with certain health and safety concerns will not be penalized for choosing not to return to work.

Worker advocates at the Texas AFL-CIO and the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities called on the governor earlier in the week to reform the states unemployment insurance system as the economic reopening begins unfolding.

Abbott met most of the groups requests, but left out protections for workers with compromised immune systems. The rules Aboott laid out also dont require employers to put certain protections in place for workers, such as requirements regarding personal protective equipment or sanitation.

We just need to make sure that if employers are going to reopen, they need to take proper precautions, said Jonathan Lewis, a policy analyst at CPPP who worked on the proposal sent to Abbott earlier in the week.

Workers who do not meet the TWCs new guidelines will be evaluated on an individual basis to determine if they have a credible fear of contracting the virus at work.

Ebony Coleman, a 31-year-old waitress, was furloughed from her job at Bourbon Street Seafood Kitchen last month.

After working as a server for much of the past decade, Coleman was preparing to graduate from Southwest School of Art this spring before the pandemic arrived.

The money she saved up for a planned post-graduation trip became her reserves to live off of until she began receiving unemployment benefits recently, three weeks after she was furloughed.

I remember a lot of people in the restaurant, they didnt really see it as that big of a deal, but I was kind of early freaking out about the novel coronavirus, Coleman said. I was very scared to go to work.

After she worked through the early days of the pandemic, she was furloughed the week of March 15.

Coleman said she hasnt yet been called back to work. Restaurants in Texas were allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity Friday.

Im honestly not open to going back at this time, Coleman said. Im kind of upset that the state of Texas decided to reopen so early. I was really hoping wed wait a couple of weeks and see how Georgia fares.

Gov. Brian Kemp initiated a controversial reopening of Georgias economy last week.

With thousands of workers across Texas likely to return to work in the coming days, Coleman said she hopes customers will re-enter this economy with a renewed appreciation for service workers.

If youre somebody thats better off and you have the luxury of being able to go out to eat three to five times per week  thats what youre used to  having that ripped away makes you realize maybe its OK to pay more for these things, so workers can earn a higher wage, Coleman said.

Through last week, the Texas Workforce Commission had processed nearly triple the unemployment claims so far this year as the agency processed in all of 2019.

Since mid-March, more than 1.55 million Texans have filed jobless claims. Between mid-March and mid-April, 85,000 workers in Bexar County have filed for unemployment.

That could prompt Congress to replenish funding for the expanded unemployment system, Lewis said.

The federal government under the CARES Act is paying unemployment recipients $600 per week, on top of whatever their state benefit is. The additional $600 weekly benefit expires at the end of July.

Its critical to think about the value of unemployment insurance as helping individuals and families, but also its a really important piece of getting the economy back going, Lewis said. If folks dont have money to spend, theres no point in opening businesses.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Sauk Countys Assistant Corporation Counsel James Witecha resigned at the beginning of April after being on administrative leave since January.

Witecha was placed on leave Jan. 18 via email by Corporation Counsel Daniel Olson. In his email to Witecha informing him of the leave, Olson stated that Witecha had overstepped his role as an attorney and was insubordinate.

His leave was pending the results of an investigation of his behavior, according to Olsons email.

Olsons claims came after Witecha asked the county board to include agenda items for its upcoming meeting regarding personnel complaints that involved Olson and the corporation counsels office.

Witecha said he was looking out for the best interest of Sauk County and had conferred with other legal counsel regarding the items prior to his recommendation.

I did what I had to do, what I was legally obligated to do and ethically obligated to do while I represent the county. The county is my client, Witecha said. I never took any action without approval from outside counsel or senior counsel from another county or without calling the state bar ethics hotline. When I sent the message out that precipitated my leave, that message had been discussed with the appropriate parties.

Witecha said he filed employment claims against Olson, and then board Chairman Peter Vedro, the day before he was placed on leave.

After being placed on leave, Witecha retained personal legal counsel in attempts to end any investigations and to be reinstated in his job. Witecha also spoke during public comment at an Executive and Legislative committee meeting in February, asking for the board to reinstate him.

Witecha has worked in the county since August 2019.

Witecha said he spent over $5,000 in legal fees while attempting to be reinstated and end investigations.

Frankly, I didnt think the resources were worth the effort anymore at this point, Witecha said. We were looking at piles of money and lots of time.

Witecha said it has been proven that he was on the right side of the law and ethics in his position with the county, after the Wisconsin Attorney General returned an investigation stating that the office would not be pursue criminal investigation or prosecution of those involved. The parties under investigation have not been named.

Vedro said the response from the Attorney Generals office should not be seen as validation, as he believes there were flaws in the investigation.

Failing to seek  as directed  abundant and available evidence in support of the referral allegations is merely a politically convenient response by the AGs office to kick the ball back from whence it came, Vedro said. The loss of two excellent Sauk County employees, pitted against each other by those covering up their past actions, is the regrettable price.

Witecha said he might be open to returning in the future, but still has concerns about the county.

It highlights that no employee in the county is really safe. Regardless of performance, ethics, being on the right side of the law, Witecha said.

Board Chairman Tim McCumber said this situation was difficult for Witecha, and he will be missed in the county.

I think Jim was put in a difficult situation, McCumber said.

Olson was placed on leave Jan. 28, pending the investigation of personnel complaints.

At an April 28 E&L committee meeting, McCumber said the personnel investigations have been completed and the board will likely hold a special meeting to determine Olsons position in the county.

Follow Nicole on Twitter @Nicole_Aimone

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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/02/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Mindy Shiben says Katie Conrad 's decision to go out for drinks with Mindy's ex Zach Justice was not a nice thing to do, as Katie broke "girl code" and had already known details about why Mindy's marriage to Zach ended prematurely.On 's tenth-season reunion show, Katie revealed she and Zach caught up with each other and went out for drinks shortly before the show premiered in January.Although Mindy and Zach ended their marriage weeks before "Decision Day" and Katie was no longer committed to her husband Derek Sherman , Mindy viewed the alleged date as a betrayal since she and Katie had become close friends."I will say that Katie did come to me and tell me about it. It still wasn't easy to hear and I don't think it was a very nice thing to do, but I don't know," Mindy told alums Jamie Otis and Doug Hehner during a recent episode of the couple's Hot Marriage Cool Parents podcast.Doug recalled how Zach pretended at the reunion he didn't remember how his outing with Katie came about."I love how [Zach] was just like, 'I don't know who initiated it,' and then Katie was like, 'No, you messaged me and asked me to get drinks.' It seemed like Zach told you and you were like, 'What the F?!' How were you aware of that? Did that come out from the other cast members?" Doug asked Mindy."So Katie messaged me. Actually, I got that message after the first episode premiered, so it was on New Year's Day. And that evening -- it was really late at night -- she felt bad about going out with him," Mindy recalled."She messaged me, and it was kind of upsetting. It was just breaking girl code for starters, but also, it's just like everyone's emotions were, you know, super high when the show starts premiering and everything."It was especially upsetting for Mindy because one of the main reasons she had dumped Zach was because he developed a secretive, inappropriate and disrespectful friendship behind Mindy's back with her close pal Lindsay, who attended the couple's wedding.Zach got caught in a series of lies about his conversations with Lindsay, including what they were about and how often they were had."Just to know someone you became close with, I think I was really sensitive to betrayal and everything at that point. So it wasn't easy for me to deal with [Katie and Zach]," Mindy said on the podcast.In fact, Mindy was furious when she found out and texted Zach "f-ck you."Jamie expressed shock over the fact Katie would still go out with Zach knowing he had betrayed Mindy through befriending Lindsay.Doug pointed out hadn't aired yet and so Katie didn't see the full extent of Zach's behavior, but Jamie argued Mindy and Katie were friends and so Katie had probably heard plenty of details."Didn't she know about everything you had just gone through with another friend and [Zach]?" Jamie asked."All of the girls knew the details," Mindy confirmed, also referring to Season 10 brides Meka Jones Jessica Studer , and Taylor Dunklin "I mean, [they heard it] from me. They hadn't seen it back yet [on the show] but they did know that I ended it early and they knew why," Mindy said.Mindy, however, claimed she was pleased Katie came clean about the "date" right away."For me, that's not something that I'm like really holding onto," Mindy concluded.Katie recently insisted on Instagram her outing with Zach was "not a date."Katie has also felt the need to defend herself against viewer backlash and Derek's allegations she had cheated on him twice with her ex-boyfriend during their marriage, once right after their honeymoon and then well after "Decision Day," on which Katie had decided to stay married to Derek.Although Mindy and Zach had a fairytale wedding day, their marriage started going downhill during their honeymoon in Panama, when Zach told his wife multiple times he wasn't attracted to her.Not only did Zach allegedly avoid spending time with Mindy off-camera, but he even refused to move into an apartment with her following their honeymoon. Mindy then lost all trust in Mindy when the Lindsay situation unfolded.Following Mindy's unsurprising decision to split from Zach, she threw herself a divorce party and gushed about how she had found an inner strength she never knew existed before.Jessica and Austin Hurd were the only pair out of 's five Season 10 couples to leave the reunion show still married.However, Mindy also revealed to Jamie and Doug she has begun dating "someone special" and she's happy.'s eleventh season is "coming soon," according to Lifetime, and will star five new couples based in New Orleans, LA.Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
Last month, I wrote about how organizations with a winning game plan base their marketing strategy on the promise of delivering superior value that their customers want in a unique and distinctive way. The most successful organizations use the current situation to refocus their marketing efforts on their customer. Regardless of the environment you are doing business in, this concept should always be first in your strategies as it is the customer who drives your business success.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Last month, I wrote about how organizations with a winning game plan base their marketing strategy on the promise of delivering superior value that their customers want in a unique and distinctive way. The most successful organizations use the current situation to refocus their marketing efforts on their customer. Regardless of the environment you are doing business in, this concept should always be first in your strategies as it is the customer who drives your business success.

An effective advertising message is based on superior marketing strategy. As business leaders and government officials have made decisions about the physical health and economic welfare of our city, province and country, many organizations are running advertising messages about their position during the pandemic. In my review of hundreds of ads, there is a central theme of "we are here for you" with the same slow voiceover and plodding tempo of sombre piano music and images. While this is a nice gesture at the beginning of the lockdown, it really provides limited value for customers or potential customers when we are approaching week eight and beyond. Therefore, the business strategy question becomes, "what is the right kind of advertising message that should be delivered now?"

It depends.

Companies with a winning game plan know that judgment is critical when creating their messages. The context of the current environment, your understanding of your customers situation, and most importantly the relevance of what you have to offer are the primary considerations as you craft your message. Injecting some personality can also help brighten the world for those who see the ads.

In a conversation with Peter George, CEO of McKim in Winnipeg, he noted he has helped clients through other crises during his advertising career. "A crisis like this is not the time to hide," he says. "Companies that are able to pivot their brand to be relevant during a crisis are almost always the winners when the crisis ends. So, we are urging all our clients to NOT put their brands into quarantine. Use your brand to assure customers youre there for them, that youll be there when theyre ready to reengage."

Georges comments are borne out by many studies that have shown that advertising during a crisis has resulted in greater revenue gains post-crisis compared to companies that did not advertise. McGraw-Hill Research studied 600 business-to-business companies in the U.S. between 1980 and 1985. The key finding was that the companies that continued to advertise during the 198182 recession achieved a 256 per cent growth by 1985, over their competitors that eliminated or decreased spending.

Additional work in 2008 by Jay Handelman, assistant professor of marketing at Queens School of Business, and the Nielsen Co., both concluded that customers do not go away during a tough economic situation. You need to focus on the long-term and do not cut your ad investments.

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Putting this research and perspective into action, I found several recent examples of how companies demonstrate their products and services for their customers, without mentioning COVID19. Michaels, the craft store, has TV commercials showing a range of activities and crafts that can be undertaken while people are isolated. You can order online for delivery or curb side pick-up.

Maple Leaf Foods has two 15-second ads that describe the all-natural ingredients of their Top Dog brand wieners. The main point is that Top Dog wieners are 100 per cent filler free. Maple Leaf knows that families search for food options and kids often like hot dogs. No mention of COVID-19, just clever and funny stories delivered in memorable ways to showcase the product advantage.

The turkey farmers of Canada launched a campaign in 2019 that also plays perfectly at this time. The focus is to try turkey more frequently rather than beef, pork and chicken. Clever and memorable, the ads offer another meal option while so many people are cooking at home more regularly. Again, no mention of COVID-19. The ads have a unique and direct message about the value and uses of the product.

Companies with a winning game plan know that advertising is a critical element to their long-term success. Deepening your customer insights will provide the guidance for successful ad messages as part of your marketing strategy. These companies are also not afraid to be a responsible leader by exercising care and compassion when crafting their messages. The right amount of connection to our shared circumstance can lift spirits, too.

Tims bits: It is reasonable, and often important, to advertise during a pandemic. When you have something of value for your customers, you should create a message of hope, connection and usefulness. Advertising in the short term should be very tactical for your product or service to encourage immediate usage. I understand that budgets and cash flow are important factors for companies. I also know that if you can keep your customers now, financial recovery will be faster and provide a long-term path to success.

Tim Kist, CMC, a certified management consultant by law, works with organizations to improve their overall performance by being customer-focused.
Insolvent: Retailer Laura Ashley had been experiencing financial difficulties even before the Covid-19 lockdown

There are hopes some of the jobs in the Irish arm of fashion retailer Laura Ashley can be saved following the acquisition of its UK parent, the High Court heard yesterday.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds confirmed the appointment of joint liquidators to Laura Ashley Ireland Ltd, which formed part of the Laura Ashley group and employed over 70 people in Ireland.

The liquidators are Ken Tyrell and Declan McDonald of PwC, who last month were appointed to act in a provisional capacity.

The Irish firm sought the appointment of liquidators arising out of its UK parent's decision to enter administration after the Covid-19 virus effectively ended a proposed sales process.

As a result the parent ceased providing the Irish company with any further financial support.

Without that support the Irish company, which had seen a decline in revenue in recent years, could not survive as it has a balance sheet deficit of over 563,000.

When the matter returned before the court yesterday Rossa Fanning SC said that while the Irish company was seeking to have the liquidators confirmed there was room for optimism.

Counsel said that in recent days that the Laura Ashley brand had been bought in administration by the US investment firm Gordon Brothers.

He said that the Gordon Brothers had engaged in a process of due diligence, with a view to streamlining the business in Ireland and in the UK.

That process may result in some of the Irish stores and some of the jobs being retained, counsel said.

Ms Justice Reynolds, noting the cautious optimism expressed to the court about jobs, confirmed the liquidator's appointment on the basis the company is clearly insolvent.

There were no objections to the application.

Previously, the court heard that in recent years both the UK parent and the Irish firm had been experiencing financial difficulties.

The Covid-19 outbreak has had a catastrophic impact on the entire group's financial position. In line with all other retailers, the five Irish stores closed in late March.

The Irish company has liabilities of 3.3m, 80pc of which was owed to other companies within the group.

Other creditors of the Irish company include Revenue, trade creditors and landlords.
Ebonyi state Governor, Chief David Umahi who confirmed this in a statewide broadcast said that the patient is a 25 year old Man by name Mr. Emeka Nwite who hails from Odoke in Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state.

The Governor said that Mr. Emeka resides at Santana Area in Lagos and sells telephone accessories at Ojo in Lagos.

The patient was said to have boarded a vehicle from Lagos to Benin on Friday 24/4/2020 and on getting to Benin, he boarded another Vehicle to Asaba and thereafter from Asaba to Onitsha before getting to Ebonyi State.

Governor Umahi stated that the patient was heading to Ogbala Ishieke from Enugu before he was apprehended by the COVID 19 Task Force in Ebonyi LGA .

According to the Governor, He was sent for Laboratory Test and the result came out positive adding that all the 4-close contacts tested negative but are currently on strict Isolation.

He further stated that the patient has also been taken to the Isolation center where he is being quarantined adding that treatment has also commenced on him at the Centre.

The Governor further emphasized the need for the people to cover their faces with facemasks and double their efforts at border area.
Boris Johnson has revealed that doctors prepared to announce his death in case he lost his coronavirus battle, admitting he was 'a lucky man'.

The Prime Minister, 55, confirmed he was 'not in particularly brilliant shape' while battling the disease at St Thomas' Hospital in central London last month.

As his chances of survival balanced on a knife-edge, he said he was given 'litres and litres' of oxygen as medics fought to keep him alive in intensive care.

In his first interview since recovering from Covid-19 - and the birth of his son Wilfred - the PM recalled his frustration that he could not seem to shake the virus.

But Mr Johnson described how the sobering experience allowed him to see the 'fantastic' care offered by the NHS, his voice cracking as he reflected on the rollercoaster past few weeks.

'I realised it was getting pretty serious', he told the Sun on Sunday,

'And I remember saying to myself, ''How am I going to get out of this?'''

He added: 'To be honest, the doctors had all sorts of plans for what to do if things went badly wrong.

'I was not in particularly brilliant shape because the oxygen levels in my blood kept going down.

'But it was thanks to some wonderful, wonderful nursing that I made it. They really did it and they made a huge difference.'

Mr Johnson's personal rollercoaster month saw him bed-ridden with coronavirus before a dramatic recovery and return to work, and then rushing back to hospital as fiancee Carrie Symonds, 32, gave birth to his son.

Wilfred Johnson was unveiled to the world by his mother in a social media photo yesterday.

The Prime Minister, 55, (pictured) has said he was 'not in particularly brilliant shape' while battling the disease at St Thomas' Hospital in central London last month

Boris Johnson speaks from self isolation on April 3 just days before he was taken to hospital

Discussing his own desperate fight in intensive care, Mr Johnson told The Sun On Sunday: 'It was a tough old moment, I won't deny it. They had a strategy to deal with a 'death of Stalin'-type scenario.

'I was not in particularly brilliant shape and I was aware there were contingency plans in place.'

He added: 'The bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe.

'That was when it got a bit . . . they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally.'

When Mr Johnson tested positive for coronavirus in late March, he resolved to carry on leading the government's crisis response from his Number 11 flat in isolation.

But he now concedes he underestimated the physically draining virus which left him feeling 'pretty wasted' and 'groggy' during video conferences with ministers.

Even when his breathing worsened, he said, he still had to be 'forced' to go to hospital by doctors.

Mr Johnson is now celebrating the birth of Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson. with Ms Symonds, who was also earlier struck down with coronavirus.

St Thomas's Hospital where Prime Minister Boris Johnson was kept overnight

Nicholas is in tribute to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart 'the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month', according to Ms Symonds.

Dr Nicholas Price is a consultant in infectious diseases and general medicine, according to the Guys and St Thomas' NHS trust website, with further expertise in infection prevention and control.

Professor Nicholas Hart is the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service at the Guys and St Thomas' trust, and a professor of respiratory and critical care medicine at King's College London.

He has expertise in rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation with chronic respiratory failure, according to his profile.

The medics shared their 'warm congratulations' with the couple, and said in a statement: 'We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy's at St Thomas' and who ensure every patient receives the best care.

'We wish the new family every health and happiness.'

Boris Johnson looking at a get well soon card sent by children when he was ill with coronavirus

Carrie Symonds has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son is Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the beaming parents shared the first photograph of the baby boy on Instagram

The NHS in London said: 'We are proud of the tributes made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds to the dedicated staff in London's NHS.

'We wish the family all the best.'

Medics have previously spoken of Mr Johnson's coronavirus battle - including two of the nurses he singled out for praise after he was discharged.

Jenny McGee, 35, was mentioned alongside Luis Pitarma, 29, by the Prime Minister - and was revealed to have 'stood by his bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way.'

She and Mr Pitarma spoken out for the first time about their experiences of caring for the Prime Minister late last month.

Jenny McGee, who has worked for the National Health Service since 2010, told a New Zealand television station that she was unfazed by the task of caring for Mr Johnson, who received the same care as any other patient and 'absolutely needed to be there'.

It comes after wild conspiracy theories circulated online that the Prime Minister's intensive care stint had been somehow manufactured by spin doctors to divert attention from the Government's failings in its Covid-19 response.

Ms McGee told TVNZ, in an interview which aired on Thursday, her first public remarks since the episode: 'We take it very seriously who comes into intensive care. These patients who come into us. It's a very scary thing for them so we don't take it lightly. He absolutely needed to be there.

'We are constantly observing, we are constantly monitoring. I've worked in intensive care for ten years, I'm a sister, I've been in charge for five years. I've been in really stressful situations and I was not phased by this.'

Jenny McGee, 35, (pictured) who has worked for the National Health Service since 2010, was one of the two nurses singled out for praise by Mr Johnson after he left St Thomas' Hospital in central London

Nurse Luis Pitarma poses for a photo with his sister Sonia Pitarma in London. Mr Pitarma, who revealed he had been inspired by Florence Nightingale, said he was 'nervous' after being told he would be caring for the Prime Minister, but said his first conversation with his famous patient put him at ease

Mr Johnson's video message from inside no 10 after he was discharged from hospital. He singled out Ms McGee for praise during his message

Carrie's tribute to NHS heroes who 'saved Boris's life' Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped save the Prime Minister's life. The third name is a reference to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who Ms Symonds referred to as 'the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month'. Nicholas Price graduated from University of Birmingham's medical school in 1991. He has specialist training in infectious diseases, general medicine tuberculosis, tropical medicine and infection prevention and control. He was previously awarded a MRC Clinical Training Fellowship for research into tuberculosis at The Hammersmith Hospital. Dr Price became a consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' in 2005. In 2009, he was promoted to the Trust's Director of Infection and joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control. Nicholas Hart graduated from University of London's medical school in 1993. His area of expertise include weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic respiratory failure. He has been awarded nine Local Clinical Excellence Award points. Dr Hart became the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service, the largest rehabilitation and home ventilation service in the UK, in 2012. He is also a Professor at King's College London and Director of Research and Development Delivery at Guy's and St Thomas'. Source: NHS Advertisement

She added: 'All of out intensive care shifts are really tough for whatever reason. There was a lot of media interest about him being in hospital and, to be honest, that was the toughest.

'As a unit, he was just another patient we were trying to do our best for, so it was business as usual. It was just another day at the office.

Johnson, 55, was taken to Guys and St Thomas' hospital on April 5 after his symptoms for COVID-19 worsened and he was moved into intensive care the following day, remaining there until April 9.

On being discharged on April 12, Johnson said in a video message, 'the NHS saved my life, no question'. He named and thanked the nurses who had cared for him, including 'Jenny from New Zealand'.

Mr Pitarma, from west London but originally from Aveiro in Portugal, also spoke for the first time today. He said he had also been thanked by Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, adding: 'Apparently I'm a celebrity in Portugal now.'

Mr Pitarma, who has worked at St Thomas' for nearly four years, said: 'I was changing into scrubs before my night shift when the matron called me over and told me the Prime Minister was about to come to ICU. I had been chosen to look after him because they were confident I would cope with the situation well.

'I felt nervous at first - he was the Prime Minister. The responsibility I was going to hold in my hands was quite overwhelming. I didn't really know how to address him - should I call him Boris, Mr Johnson or Prime Minister? My matron reassured me and said to be myself like I am with any other patient.

'I asked how he would like to be addressed and he said to call him Boris. That made me feel less nervous because he took away any formality. He just wanted to be looked after like anyone else.'

Mr Pitarma added: 'I was by his side for the three nights he was in ICU. We had some conversations, including about where I was from. I told him how I'd dreamed about working at St Thomas' since my first day of training in Portugal in 2009, when I learned about Florence Nightingale and her connection to the hospital.'
Jessica Holdman is a business reporter for The Post & Courier covering Columbia. Prior to moving to South Carolina, she reported on business in North Dakota for The Bismarck Tribune and has previously written for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash.
The Delhi government on Saturday launched an exercise to open liquor shops in those areas where such activity is allowed according to the latest guidelines issued by the home ministry.

The excise department has directed four government-run agencies, which are responsible to sell liquor in the city, to identify such outlets which fulfil all conditions prescribed by the the Ministry of Home Affairs.

However, liquor shops will not be allowed in COVID-19 containment zones.

Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited and Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Wholesale Store have been given the rights to open liquor shops in public places, except in malls.

The agencies have been asked to provide the details immediately and also give an undertaking stating that liquor shops being allowed to open will fulfil all conditions prescribed by the MHA, according to the excise department.

There are around 450 liquor shops, except those in malls, in the national capital.

In the latest guidelines issued by the home ministry, sale of liquor, paan, tobacco will be allowed after ensuring minimum six-feet social distancing while no more than five people will be allowed inside a shop at a time.

These shops should not be located in markets and malls in urban areas.

In rural areas, all shops are permitted to remain open without any distinction of essential and non-essential.

However, consumption of liquor, paan, gutka, tobacco etc., is not allowed in public places during the lockdown.

On Saturday, the Centre decided to extend the ongoing lockdown by two weeks effective from May 4.

In an order, the Union home ministry said the decision was taken after a comprehensive review of the COVID-19 situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(CNN)  The White House is blocking Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the administration's coronavirus task force, from testifying on Capitol Hill next week, according to a spokesman from a key US House committee.

"The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next week's Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response. We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying," House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander said in a statement Friday.

White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere confirmed the decision.

"While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings," Deere said in a statement. "We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time."

This story has been updated to correct the last name of House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander in one reference.

This story was first published on CNN.com "White House blocks Fauci from testifying next week"
In New Zealand, a legal reform on cannabis was proposed. It will be voted on in a national referendum, along with the general elections and referendum on Euthanasia.

This reform promises to lead the international legalization movement by proposing a series of highly progressive issues.

In general terms, it will be very similar to the Canadian reform, although it will have an extremely protectionist tinge on native and more vulnerable communities.

Market shares would be reserved for micro-cultivators, businesses led by indigenous people would be prioritized and consumption areas would be enabled.

On the other hand, there will also be a limit to the amount of cannabis produced annually and the THC levels that the products may have.

New Zealand released recreational marijuana legislation that is set to be voted on in a nationwide referendum in September.

Local business leaders are calling the proposed legislation  the Cannabis Legalization and Control Bill  world-leading for provisions that would reserve market share for micro cultivators, prioritize indigenous-run business and allow for consumption lounges.

However, the bill would also ask the Cannabis Regulatory Authority to establish a yearly cap on the amount of cannabis available for sale in the licensed market.

And it would set potency limits through controls on the amount of THC permitted in cannabis products.

"We've long advocated for a binding referendum with legislation setting out a clear, evidence-based regulatory framework Chloe Swarbrick, a Green Party member of New Zealands Parliament, tweeted last year. That way, we avoid a Brexit-type situation figuring out what a 'yes' vote means after the fact, and cut grey moral panic from the debate.

For legislators, legalizing it is not just promoting the creation of a new industry that will boost the national economy, create jobs, and a huge tax collection. It is also about doing social justice, adapting the laws to the real customs of the place and cutting with the legislative hypocrisy.

Story continues

A substantial number of MPs have admitted to past illegal drug use, and they now preside over law that criminalises people who do the same. Im calling on all politicians to live up to their rhetoric and remove criminal sanctions for those who use drugs. @NZParliament #nzpol pic.twitter.com/8ZtFUSeTc6  Chloe Swarbrick (@_chloeswarbrick) November 7, 2018

There will be a clear choice for New Zealanders in the referendum, a Yes/No question based on the draft legislation that includes.

A minimum age of 20 to use and purchase recreational cannabis,

Regulations and commercial supply controls,

Limited home-growing options,

A public education programme,

Stakeholder engagement.

The bill regulates every aspect of cannabis, in the supply aspect it limits vertical integration, producers won't be able to be sell nor distribute directly to the consumer. When settling the annual amount of licensed cannabis allowed to grow, the total cap will be awarded among holders of cultivation licenses making emphasis on micro-growers.

Personal cultivation is allowed, a person may not grow more than two plants and the maximum allowed number of plants for a property is four.

Espanol: Referendum por la Legalizacion en Nueva Zelanda

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
South Africa: 13 more people die of COVID-19, cases climb to 5 951

The confirmed cases of COVID-19 have risen to 5 951, with 13 more recorded deaths as of Friday, 1 May.

The number of infections increased by 304 between Thursday and Friday, with the Western Cape having the highest number of infections.

According to the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the new recorded deaths occurred in the Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape , bringing the total number of deaths to 116 in the country.

As we have undertaken to only report fully verified deaths, we would like to indicate that there has been a delay in assessing and verifying some of those reports, Mkhize said.

According to Mkhize, the total number of tests conducted is sitting at 217 522.

Recoveries stand at 2 382, as of 29 April.

Mkhize expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and commended health workers, who are at the forefront of treating COVID-19 patients.

As the country eased to Level 4 lockdown, Mkhize has appealed for continued cooperation in helping to flatten the curve.

Breakdown of cases by province:

Western Cape  2 507

Gauteng  1 507

KwaZulu-Natal  1 006

Eastern Cape  691

Free State  118

Limpopo  34

North West  35

Mpumalanga  35

Northern Cape  18

- SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-05-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
President Donald Trump moved to replace a Health Department watchdog late Friday only three weeks after criticizing her for a fake report she authored that identified critical shortages of supplies in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, was publicly assailed by Trump after she released a report on April 6 which revealed that hundreds of medical centers around the country were struggling to obtain test kits, protective gear for staff members and ventilators.

On Friday night, the White House announced its new pick for the departments inspector general nominating Jason Weida to fill the role.

If confirmed, Weida will take over as department watchdog from Grimm and she will become the latest casualty as Trump looks to reassert his authority over the administration amid the current crisis.

Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, was publicly assailed by Trump after she released a report which revealed that hundreds of medical centers around the country were struggling to obtain test kits

President Trump announced on Friday that he had nominated Jason Weida as the health departments inspector general. Weida would take over from Christi Grimm who was acting in the role but had angered the president in April with a report about coronavirus supplies

Trump repeatedly attacked the independent inspector general after the release of her devastating report about hospitals running short of coronavirus tests and scouring auto-body shops and salons for makeshift medical gear.

He branded the report as fake and compared it to the Russia investigation while accusing Grimm of acting as a partisan because she served during the Obama administration.

Inspectors general are career officials who conduct non-partisan investigations to ferret out waste and fraud with the goal of making government function better.

Trump had elevated Grimm to her current post in January 2020. She took over the office in an acting capacity as the previous inspector general stepped down in May 2019.

Beyond her service during the Obama administration, Trump did not provide evidence that Grimm was a partisan. She began working in the inspector general office late in President Bill Clintons administration and served under President George W. Bush as well as Obama.

Jason Weida, pictured, has been nominated by Trump as inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services

Grimm may now be replaced by Weida who currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston and previously worked in the Department of Justices Office of Legal Policy.

Weidas nomination is being flagged as the latest effort by Trump against watchdog offices in his administration who he believes have defied him, as he seeks to replace them with others who are thought to be more loyal to the White House.

In April, Trump fired the inspector general for the Intelligence Community, Michael Atkinson, who shared information with Congress when a whistleblower complained about what he learned about Trump's call with the president of Ukraine.

He also nominated a White House aide to a key inspector general role overseeing virus relief spending and moved to block another inspector general from taking over as chairman of a pandemic spending oversight panel.

The move to clear out officials he is unhappy with has come in the three months since he was acquitted at a Senate impeachment trial of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The presidents quest has continued this week with Weidas nomination, despite the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed more than 65,700 Americans as of Friday night.

The report from Grimm that irked the President was released on April 6 and revealed how hospitals had to make it through massive equipment shortages  scouring auto-body shops, salons, and veterinary offices for life-saving gear.

It detailed the numerous ways hospitals were using makeshift and donated equipment to provide care for a crush of patients due to the coronavirus.

Among shortages identified by Grimm were intravenous therapy (IV) poles, medical gas, linens, toilet paper, and food, according to the report.

'To try to make existing supplies of PPE last, hospitals reported conserving and reusing single use/disposable PPE, including using or exploring ultra-violet (UV) sterilization of masks or bypassing some sanitation processes by having staff place surgical masks over N95 masks,' she wrote.

'Hospitals also reported turning to non-medical-grade PPE, such as construction masks or handmade masks and gowns, which they worried may put staff at risk.'

Trump tweeted his criticism of the report from Christi Grimm

The report from Grimm detailed the numerous ways hospitals were using makeshift and donated equipment to provide care for a crush of patients due to the coronavirus

Among those sources of gear outside the normal chain were beauty salons, auto-body shops, vets, paint stores, home supply stores, and online retailers.

Hospitals were implementing 'conservation strategies' like reusing protective gear or avoiding patient contacts that would burn through equipment.

According to the report, 'One hospital administrator noted that recommendations were not clear about whether cloth masks were good enough, stating, 'But if that's what we have, that's what we're going to have to use.' One hospital reported using 3D printing to manufacturer masks, while another hospital reported that its staff had made 500 face shields out of office supplies.'

The inspector general investigators interviewed hospital administrators March 23-27 as crush of coronavirus patients began to hit.

'Its just wrong,' the president said earlier in April when asked about Grimms report earlier in April.

'Did I hear the word inspector general? Really? Its wrong. And theyll talk to you about it. Its wrong.'

He compared the report, based on survey interviews with besieged hospital executives, to the 'dirty dossier,' which contained unverified claims about Trump's alleged conduct in a Moscow hotel room in 2014  and played a role in the Russia probe.

'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,' Trump tweeted. 'Another Fake Dossier!'

The coronavirus death toll in the United States reached more than 65,700 on Friday night with 1,131,876 confirmed cases.
By Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog said on Friday it would urgently ask the courts to clarify uncertainty over whether businesses can claim compensation for disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also told all insurers to assess whether they should be giving partial policy refunds during the pandemic. A national lockdown to fight the pandemic has forced many companies in the UK to temporarily suspend operations and furlough staff

By Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog said on Friday it would urgently ask the courts to clarify uncertainty over whether businesses can claim compensation for disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also told all insurers to assess whether they should be giving partial policy refunds during the pandemic.

A national lockdown to fight the pandemic has forced many companies in the UK to temporarily suspend operations and furlough staff.

"We have been clear that we believe in the majority of cases business interruption insurance was not purchased to, and is unlikely to, cover the current emergency," FCA interim chief executive Christopher Woolard said in a statement.

"However, there remain a number of policies where it is clear that the firm has an obligation to pay out."

The FCA said it had written to "a small number of firms" to ask if they were declining business interruption claims. It said it would seek a response by May 15 and then "consider which firms to ask to join the court process".

However, the FCA said the court action - which industry officials said was a first in insurance by the regulator and could save years of costly legal battles - would not determine how much could be payable under individual policies.

Lloyd's of London insurer Hiscox is among firms that have come under pressure from small businesses to pay out for business interruption, along with, AXA, QBE and Zurich.

QBE said it had received a letter from the FCA on Friday. AXA said it would work closely with the FCA, while Zurich said the FCA move would provide clarity for customers. Hiscox and RSA did not respond to requests for comment.

Broker Willis Towers Watson estimates UK insured losses for business interruption, together with event cancellation, could total up to $14 billion in relation to the pandemic, depending on policy wordings.

Business interruption policies can be worded in 100 or more different ways, industry sources say.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said it would "support any process that will provide clarity and certainty for the minority of customers who are disputing whether they should be covered".

The ABI said most policies did not cover pandemics and noted that the UK government had confirmed it would not seek to retrospectively change contracts.

Eight U.S. states have introduced legislation which would require insurers to pay claims, mainly to small businesses, despite exclusions.

Mel Stride, chair of the UK parliament's Treasury Committee, welcomed the FCA's move and urged insurers to pay businesses that should be paid, or risk damaging the sector's reputation.

Alistair Handyside, executive chair of The Professional Association of Self-Caterers, said many members believed they were covered and he would be sending a report to the FCA.

PREMIUM REFUNDS

In guidance that will come into effect in mid-May, the FCA suggested insurers could help struggling customers with premium payment holidays or the waiving of administration, cancellation and missed payment charges.

Insurers will also have six months to check whether their products still deliver the benefits promised, the FCA said.

For example, it said boiler cover insurers may not be able to offer the annual service included in many policies, while liability insurance may not currently be relevant to businesses such as hairdressers, bars and restaurants that are closed.

Insurers could refund some premiums or suspend monthly payments for a certain period of time, the FCA said.

Motor insurer Admiral last week said it would refund 110 million pounds to customers, following rebates made by top U.S. motor insurers.

Allianz-owned LV= said on Friday it would refund 30 million pounds ($38 million) to car and motorbike insurance customers in financial difficulties.

Hastings said it had made price reductions and was considering more, while Direct Line said it was being flexible with customers, including offering payment holidays for those in financial difficulties.

($1 = 0.7997 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Muvija M., editing by Kirsten Donovan and Susan Fenton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Investors looking for stocks in the Alternative Energy - Other sector might want to consider either Ameresco (AMRC) or Ormat Technologies (ORA). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Ameresco and Ormat Technologies are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that AMRC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ORA has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

AMRC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.07, while ORA has a forward P/E of 33.49. We also note that AMRC has a PEG ratio of 1.15. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ORA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.04.

Another notable valuation metric for AMRC is its P/B ratio of 1.99. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ORA has a P/B of 2.10.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AMRC's Value grade of A and ORA's Value grade of D.

AMRC stands above ORA thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that AMRC is the superior value option right now.



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PM Modi launches RBI Retail Direct, Integrated Ombudsman schemes: All you need to know

CIC dismisses appeal seeking disclosure of reports by SBI to Centre, RBI regarding electoral bonds

RBI Governor holds meeting with bank chiefs, discusses credit flow, stability

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, May 02: Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday held meeting with heads of major public and private sector lenders and reviewed the current economic situation in the country due to coronavirus outbreak.

The crucial meet comes a day after the government extended a 40-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The governor appreciated the efforts of banks in ensuring normal to near normal operations during the lockdown period.

In the meet, the RBI chief also discussed the credit flows to different sectors of the economy, including non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions, housing finance companies and mutual funds.

PM Modi meets Amit Shah, Sitharaman over 2nd economic stimulus package: Report

Post-lockdown credit flows including provisions on working capital, implementation of three months moratorium on repayment of loan installments, monitoring of overseas branches of bank in view of the slowdown in economies across the globe, stability of the financial sector were also part of the discussion.

The talks were held in two sessions via video conferencing, and were attended by the central bank's deputy governors and other senior officers.

The government on Friday announced that India will now be under lockdown till May 17 with a complete ban on air travel, trains and inter-state road transport for the general public while educational institutions, theatres, malls, hotels and bars remain shut.

The Centre has allowed two more activities in the orange zones. Taxis and cab aggregators are permitted, with one driver and two passengers only.

Inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed, only for permitted activities, with maximum two passengers, besides the driver, in four wheeler vehicles.

The Centre said that all other activities are allowed in the Orange Zones, without any restrictions.

However, States/ UTs based on their assessment and priorities, may choose to permit a lesser number of activities, the Centre also said.
Holding the Tablighi Jamaat responsible for the spread of COVID-19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that being infected with a virus is not a crime but to hide it is definitely a crime.

Speaking at a programme of a channel, Adityanath said, "The role of Tablighi Jamaat was most condemnable. To get a disease is not a crime but to hide a disease which is infectious is definitely a crime. And this crime has been done by those associated with the Tablighi Jamaat."



"In Uttar Pradesh and other places where the spread of the coronavirus has been seen, Tablighi Jamaat is behind it. Had they not hidden the disease and went about like its carriers, then perhaps we would have controlled the coronavirus outbreak to a large extend," he said.

The chief minister said action would be taken against them for the "crime that they have committed".

A Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi in March turned out to be a major source of COVID-19 cases, with those who attended the meet returned home in different parts of the country after being infected with the deadly virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thiruvananthapuram, May 2 : Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja on Saturday applauded the Covid-19 Control room for completing 100 days of services. "This started on January 24, and after 100 days, it has done a massive job in tackling the Covid-19. As many as 18 committees are working round the clock to ensure that everything is in place as the state battles the deadly virus," said Shailaja.

It's in this control room that all the data starting with the coronavirus positives and the suspects are collated. Based on the data, the requirement of PPE kits and medicines is decided. Another important job that it does is facilitate contact tracing, a very crucial aspect in containing the spread of the virus.

Operating from the office of the Directorate of health services in the state capital, there are a over 100 professionals, including doctors, health professionals and others, actively involved in tackling every aspect related to Covid-19.

"The first case in Kerala was reported in the country on January 30, but this control room opened on January 24th. Our strength lay in our experience as to how we handled the Nipah outbreak and the floods in 2018," said Shailaja.

"There are 18 different committees plus others at the district level. Each committee is headed by a nodal officer who coordinates everything. Every day there are review meetings which take stock of what happened the previous day and plans for the next day," said Shailaja.

The facts and figures arrived at in this control room are passed on to the media in a daily bulletin.

"The control room remains in touch with various hospitals every day," said Shailaja.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
But Australia has been far less generous to temporary migrant workers and international students than countries such as Britain, Ireland or New Zealand. Support is piecemeal and limited. Instead migrant workers have to run down savings, access superannuation if they can, sell their household goods or rely on charity. "How are we going to survive? I dont have an income," says Zarate, who wants to settle here permanently. He cant return to Colombia either. "Going back is almost impossible right now. The airports are closed and we cannot access our flights. The flights that are going are so expensive, we dont have the money." Since the crisis began, demand for emergency food has risen about 50 per cent to more than one million people a month, according to Foodbank Australia chief executive Brianna Casey, whose organisation distributes food to 2400 charities.

"Theres an unprecedented spike in demand for food relief," Casey said, with much of that new demand coming from temporary migrant workers and international students. "It is confronting," she said. "People have had such an economic shock ... they are really struggling at the moment and looking for the most basic of human needs, food and groceries." Some of that has been visible in the large queues for food outside charities. But much of the deprivation is invisible, hidden away as people are confined to their homes. Eva Su is also fast running out of money. The temporary migrant worker from Taiwan recently lost her job at Hotel Chadstone after a dramatic fall in guests due to the shutdown.

"I was crying at the hotel, I couldn't believe the whole thing was happening," she said. "It was a very beautiful five-star hotel, we were really happy to be part of the team." Now she is skimping on food and trying to find work in a shrunken labour market. "I dont have any income, Im spending all my savings here. I'm trying to negotiate with my landlord while my landlord doesn't give me any discount so I have to pay the whole rent."' Eva Su is one of many migrant workers now skimping on food and running out of money. Credit:Joe Armao Going home, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison counselled recently, is not possible. "They tell us to go home and theres no flights".

The global pandemic is both the worst health crisis since the Spanish Flu a century ago and the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Unemployment is soaring to barely imaginable levels here and overseas but if governments loosen restrictions too much, countless more people could die. Loading The federal governments approach has been to shut the borders to foreigners and to be tough with temporary migrants already here. It contrasts with some state governments, including South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, which have offered grants to struggling visa holders and international students.

Tasmania's Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein said they would "not turn our back on temporary visa holders in our state". On the weekend, federal frontbencher Alan Tudge reiterated the federal governments position. "Temp visa holders have always had expectations on them that they can look after themselves or return home, he said. We have helped them do this by giving them access to their super and providing visa flexibility." Even when federal assistance is available, little attention is drawn to it. When the Morrison government provided a $200 million boost to charities and other community organisations it was promoted as being for vulnerable Australians. But international workers and students are apparently also eligible - something the government did not emphasise.

It is an approach that has alarmed key industry figures, such as International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood. "This is playing out very badly in our major student source countries," he said, adding it was putting in jeopardy a $40 billion-a-year industry "while showing many of our neighbouring countries that we have little regard for the wellbeing of their young people". Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said that without urgent government assistance there would be a flood of people needing help. Credit:Simon Schluter Unions are also concerned. Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said they are now being regularly approached by temporary migrants for help and food. "These are people who are in this country and pay tax and contribute and set up their lives here. We cannot allow them to be abandoned."

He said the federal government needed to offer assistance quickly or there would be soon a "flood" of people needing help. "I dont think charities could handle an extra million people [in need]." Since the 1990s migration to Australia has changed significantly from largely permanent migration to vast numbers of temporary workers. Many are students but there are also hundreds of thousands on other types of temporary work visas. They have become vital to sectors such as hospitality, retail and horticulture and have been disproportionately exploited at work, according to reports by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Late last year, ombudsman Sandra Parker said 83 per cent of the Ombudsman's new litigation involves migrant workers, though they only make up 6 per cent of the Australian workforce.

As a result the Ombudsman promised a crackdown on temporary migrant exploitation, with Parker describing the levels of underpayment as "completely unacceptable". Loading Particularly exposed to this crisis are another group of 60,000 to 100,000 workers here without a valid visa. The pandemic has made their already vulnerable position more precarious. Amirah*, who cannot be identified due to her vulnerable visa status, is eight months pregnant and recently she and her husband were laid off by a farm in Victoria. The Malaysian couple have been in Australia for two years. "I cry every night thinking of how to pay rent and Im not thinking about the baby," she said through a translator.

"We are really struggling at the moment." Her landlord has been calling her up and abusing her after she complained about her financial problems and the rent she owes. "Dont give me rubbish, dont give me bullshit, pay the rent, she said she was told by the landlord. Amirah has been selling food she makes to buy food for herself but its not enough." Sanmati Verma, an immigration lawyer, is part of a new advocacy group, Undocumented Migrants Solidarity, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars for workers without visas. Verma said the public debate has focused on permanent residents and visa holders but missed the tens of thousands people working without legal visas.

"None of these discussions admit that theres a pool of people without legal status. "Moreover unlike the US and Europe theres kind of no administrative acceptance by the different levels of government that this is a category of people. "The irony of the situation for undocumented workers is that they work in sectors that are crucial during the crisis - in commercial cleaning, in horticulture." Verma has come into contact with undocumented workers who have been in Australia for 20 years. One Pacific Islander man in his 60s hadnt received medical care for 15 years and "self-evidently" had cataracts. Such people fear deportation if they go to a hospital, she said.

For many migrants - with visas or without - coming to Australia is part of a plan to stay permanently. Phil Groves, from Britain, worked until recently as a head barista in a Melbourne chain and had wanted to create a new life here with his Australian partner. He is on a bridging visa while applying for a partner visa that has already cost him $11,000. Now hes out of work after the chain he worked for cut staff from 170 to 40 people. The only workers kept on were locals as the employer could access the JobKeeper subsidy for them. "Im kind of stuck here. Because I can't leave I cant claim anything," he said. "In the UK anyone can access [the wage subsidy], it doesnt matter where youre from.

Phil Groves feels trapped in Australia. Credit:Justin McManus "Scott Morrison said stop being racist [towards Chinese-Australians] yet on the other hand he's saying migrants need to leave the country." Groves said he would love to speak to Morrison or Treasurer Josh Frydenberg directly. "Theyve abandoned migrants, I wish theyd take responsibility," he said. Groves is now unsure if he wants to stay permanently in Australia with his visa as much as four years from being approved. The couple now rely on his partners JobKeeper subsidy after her work in wedding videography collapsed. Rent now absorbs as much as 70 per cent of their combined income.

"Can I actually go home?" Groves asks. "I could go back to stay with my parents for a few months and claim money from the UK government and pay the rent." But that could affect his visa application. "Im trapped in this country." Pavlina Dhimitri from northern Italy has similar feelings of being trapped after losing her job as a casual childhood educator. Despite living in Australia for the last five years, Pavlina and her Italian husband cannot access any government payments as they are on temporary graduate visas. Her husband also recently lost his job in a cafe, taking them from two incomes to no income overnight as they struggle to support each other and their toddler.

Pavlina Dhimitri with her son Leo. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui "Im quite a shy person, I dont like to complain about stuff," she said. "Not working, not earning or having any income, the savings at a certain point will finish, that's how it is." When that happens she does not know what she will do. "I cannot go home now, I don't feel safe," she says of northern Italy. "I cannot bring my baby in a country where there is a 100 per cent lockdown." Eva Su is trying to keep her spirits up. Confined to her home, the only breaks she has are trips to the supermarket with her Australian boyfriend.

"We go to Woolworths, how romantic," she says with a gentle laugh. But at other times the cheer evaporates. Her family wants her to come home. She may try to return next month - if she can find a flight. If she manages to return to Taiwan she says her relationship ends too and that will be it for the "supermarket dates". Without the emotional support from her family she thinks her position would be devastating. "I can understand why other [temporary migrants] want to suicide. They have nowhere to go. For overseas workers we came here to experience how things are in Australia," she said. "The government, when we need help, gives us nothing. It will make people afraid to come to Australia in the future."
National carrier Vietnam Airlines on Friday declared the safe landing of a flight to repatriate 300 Vietnamese nationals stranded in Canada due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

On departure from Vietnam, the aircraft also carried Canadian nationals en route to their home country.

This is the first aircraft deployed by Vietnam Airlines to Toronto Pearson International Airport in the North American country after the suspense of international inbound flight under Vietnams COVID-19 prevention and control mandate from March 22.

Children under 18 years of age, senior citizens, persons with health issues and overseas students stranded in Canada made up the majority of passengers on this flight.

Representatives of the Embassy of Vietnam in Canada traveled to Toronto from Ottawa to support the Vietnamese citizens prior to their flight home.

After landing at Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh, all passengers and crew members underwent medical checkups and were placed in a collective quarantine camp.

According to Vietnam Airlines, the resources and expenses mobilized to organize the flights were way higher than usual.

The flight crew was made up of 30 people including eight pilots, 20 flight attendants, and two technicians to ensure decent rest time for all crew members during the 42-hour journey from Vietnam to Canada and back.

Earlier, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said related government agencies in co-operation with the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam and Vietnam Airlines were working to repatriate Canadians stranded in Vietnam.

On the Canadian Embassys verified Facebook page, the Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam expressed gratitude to Vietnamese officials and Vietnam Airlines for their effort to facilitate the flight and bring Canada nationals back home.

Canada has reported over 3,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the country, with total infections topping 51,000.

Vietnam's foreign ministry also divulged plans to continue commercial flights to evacuate Vietnamese expatriates should the situation arise regarding epidemic developments and demands of overseas citizens.

Vietnam has barred entry to all foreigners, including persons who hold visa exemption documents, starting March 22.

The Southeast Asian country has confirmed 270 cases to date, with 217 recoveries and no fatality.

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Some of this is inevitable: the result of hard-wired needs to bond with friends, flirt, judge, rank, rebel and separate into in-group and out-group peer hierarchies. But very little of it is absolutely necessary. Meanness, social drama and unhappiness arent  or dont have to be  all there is to life in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Middle school is a time when all sorts of new abilities kick in: new powers of observation, critical thinking, reason and reflection. Believe it or not, theres even a new capacity for empathy, and a strong sense of injustice.

Experts have known and have written about this for well over a century. And all these positives could come to the fore in the pause from normal life imposed on us by Covid-19. If, of course, we have the eyes to see the opportunity, and the will to encourage it. And those are big ifs.

Adults dont tend to much like kids of middle-school age. They roll their eyes at us and snarl. They watch us with a gaze newly awakened to all our hypocrisies and foibles. Their physical changes make us uncomfortable. They remind us of a phase of life that many of us remember as our most painful. Womens magazines have carried mothers vociferous complaints, particularly about their daughters, since the 1920s. Our popular media has depicted them as budding sex addicts since the early 1960s.

This combination of discomfort and outright dislike  mixed with a not-altogether-hidden dose of prurience  was built right into the foundations of the first junior high schools, which appeared around the country in the 1910s and 1920s, and were built with the express purpose both of protecting sensitive kids age 12 to 15 from older high schoolers and quarantining them away from younger children. (The opportunity for good, noted William H. Burnham, a turn-of-the century psychologist and education reformer, is only equaled by the possibility of evil.)

Adults fixation on all the forms that evil might take resulted over the following decades in schools obsessed with control, students who were bored and alienated, and teachers who, a 1959 study by a junior-high principal found, regarded their charges overwhelmingly with extreme resentment. It led to decades of bad press for sixth, seventh and eighth graders  rising to truly outlandish levels in the fears of a middle school oral sex epidemic in the late 1990s and early 2000s  and to a long-lasting cultural amnesia about the very real good qualities that researchers and the rare educators who love working with these kids have long celebrated. Overall, the story of junior high schoolers and middle schoolers in America offers up a perfect illustration of what social scientists call a self-fulfilling prophecy effect: Adults regarded the youngest teens and tweens with distrust and distaste, and the kids gave them their worst.
These images are making the rounds on social media. It was a good day to be in California if you are a sex criminal:

One of the many things I do not understand about the reaction to coronavirus is why governments are so solicitous of criminals. They apparently are a healthy subset of the population, since testing has repeatedly found that 95% or more of the inmates who test positive for COVID-19 never knew they had it.

On the other hand, it was a bad day in California for 93-year-olds sitting in beach chairs:

Cops heckled as they tell a 93-year-old couple theyre not allowed to SIT in CHAIRS on the beach. pic.twitter.com/qPAkrtNpYK  Amy (@MaybeAmes) April 28, 2020



I think that much of what we see today can be explained only by the fascist impulse that lurks in many of us, especially if we are liberal.

STEVE adds: As you may know, California is at the forefront of the move to abolish cash bail for criminals. Check out this Facebook note from the Glendora Police Department (Glendora is a suburban town east of Los Angeles):

On Wednesday, April 29th, at about 8:28 a.m., our officers responded to a call of a male who was attempting to break into a vehicle in the 1400 block of South Grand Ave. When we arrived, we contacted Dijon Landrum, M/24, from Monterey Park, as he was attempting to drive away in a stolen vehicle. (The vehicle had been stolen out of East Los Angeles.) In addition to driving a stolen vehicle, he had stolen property and narcotics with him. Landrum was arrested. Due to the California Zero-Bail Policy, he was issued a citation and released.
As a high-profile member of the British royal family, Kate Middleton regularly makes royal visits and takes part in public engagements. Away from her royal persona, the Duchess of Cambridge has a charming hidden personality trait.

The "wicked" trait of the duchess was exposed as she prepared for her wedding to Prince William back in 2011, claimed hairdresser Richard Ward.

She has become one of the most popular faces of the royal family since she and Prince William got hitched on April 29, 2011.

Recently, Middleton, along with Prince William, has engaged in numerous video calls for interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic in working to support the British public. A royal expert commented, "She's always been fantastic, but the way she's rallied during Britain's time of need has been something else."

Last 29th of April, it was the 9th wedding anniversary of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Alongside marking the date by sharing a photograph of a celebratory picture on the official @KensingtonRoyal Instagram page, it has been revealed that it was business as usual for Middleton.

Prince William and Middleton are senior working members of the royal family and are regularly seen in public representing the Crown. But away from official royal engagements, a source has divulged a side of the duchess' personality the world does not often see.

Middleton is widely known for the seriousness she possesses while taking on royal duties, including an increasing number of roles with the goal of helping senior members of the royal family represent the monarchy.

Also Read: Kate Middleton Has Reportedly Changed After Meghan Left

Hairdresser Richard Ward, who styled Middleton's hair for the wedding to William, disclosed in a recent interview that the duchess is also endowed with a rather "wicked" trait he chanced upon in the runup to the nuptials.

Ward reminisced, "It's quite dry, there's no airs and graces -- you can have a good joke with her."

Middleton has indeed begun to reveal more of her humorous side as she alludes to becoming more confident in her royal role.

Last April, she sparked laughter as she quipped Prince William to be responsible for "eating all the Easter eggs" in a joint appearance aimed to raise morale during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A royal expert said that the "natural, human element" of Kate Middleton is exhibited for all to see.

One Twitter user agreed with the sentiment, "HRH Catherine is very relatable as a mom. She seems to have many layers of depth in her personality. She is a very classy & regal Duchess."

While styling Middleton's hair for the evening celebrations of the big day, Ward lauded Prince William for his willingness to help his then-bride.

"I wanted to show Kate the back of her hair (getting ready at Clarence House for the evening party) and I was struggling to walk with this 500-year-old mirror, and he just said, 'Let me give you a hand,' and I said, 'No, no, honestly,' but he took one end and I've got the other and we're shuffling along with this mirror - he's great, he really is."

Related Article: Prince William, Kate Middleton Secretly Preparing to Take Over Monarchy

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Seventeen personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Delhi and Tripura have tested positive for coronavirus, a force spokesperson said on Saturday.

He said out of the total, seven troops who were deployed as part of an assistance deployment to Delhi Police in the Chandni Mahal and Jama Masjid areas over the past few weeks, have tested positive.

They are part of the 126th and 178th battalion of the force.

The troops have been admitted to an isolation facility of the CAPF (Central Armed Police Forces) Referral hospital located in Greater Noida near here.

Eight more personnel, admitted at a force hospital in R K Puram, also contracted the virus and their tests were confirmed over the last few days, the spokesperson said.

These include two personnel who are suffering from cancer and their attendants.

Two more personnel have contracted the disease in Tripura, he said.

The BSF is primarily tasked with guarding Indian borders 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.)
Hundreds of migrants from Surat in



Gujarat who are on their way to Uttar Pradesh were left stranded in transit despite necessary permissions, as Uttar Pradesh government is not allowing entry of their buses, Surat Police Commissioner RB Brahmbhatt said on Saturday.

He said that Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh governments are in talks to resolve the confusion caused by some "technical issues".

Brahmbhatt also said that some of the migrants are returning to Surat amidst the confusion.

"About 40-50 buses carrying migrants are on their way to Uttar Pradesh. They were provided passes from Surat. However, the buses were later stopped (due to the lack of permission from the UP government), leading to confusion," said Brahmbhatt.

He said talks are on between the two (Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat) governments to resolve some "technical issues".

"People are restless. Several buses are in transit in Madhya Pradesh, as Uttar Pradesh is not allowing them the entry," he said, adding that some buses had managed to enter Uttar Pradesh.

The Centre government recently allowed movement of stranded labourers, tourists and students from one state to another on permission of local authorities amidst the nationwide coronavirus-enforced lockdown, which has been extended till May 17.

Up to Friday evening, about 50,000 people had left for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha in about 4,000 vehicles including buses, cars, tempo, trucks etc.

Meanwhile, Surat Collector Dhaval Patel issued an order stating that no checkposts will issue offlline permits to vehicles leaving for other states.

"Migrant labourers will have to seek online permission only," he added.

Patel said no permits will be issued for vehicles carrying migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Delhi, Assam, and other North Eastern states.

Vehicles leaving for other states will have to register online at"http://www.digitalgujarat.gov.in

www. digitalgujarat.gov.infor an online permit.

"They will have to take a printout of the online permit as a valid pass for their vehicles," the collector said.

He also said that people leaving for other states will be screened at three check-posts by medical teams for any Coronavirus symptoms before being allowed to leave the district.

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued advertisements in Gujarati papers in which CM Yogi Adityanath has appealed to workers from his state living in Surat to keep patience.

"Efforts are being made to coordinate with all state governments to ensure that all workers and youths from Uttar Pradesh are safely transported back to their homes. We humbly appeal to you to keep your patience and stay wherever you are.

"Do not walk back home. The Uttar Pradesh government is making arrangement for your safe return in a phase-wise manner," reads the advertisements.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In just over a month the Front Line Appreciation Group, or FLAG, has raised nearly $1.9 million in donations.

What started as a concept by two women in New Jersey to support front line health care workers and local restaurants in Summit and Chatham during the coronavirus crisis, has grown to a national group with chapters in 27 states, 42 chapters in New Jersey alone and 109 total chapters as of Wednesday.

I did not think anything of this magnitude would come out of it, I just thought wed stick with our two towns and feed the (local) hospital, co-founder Gina McGuire of Madison told NJ Advance Media. I never thought it would snowball in to anything like launching FLAG in Hawaii. It blows my mind.

McGuire and co-founder Liz Bernich raised $25,000 in the first few days of the groups existence, after Bernich saw a post about the community in Huntingdon, N.Y. -- where Bernich grew up -- supporting their local hospital, and reached out through the Chatham Community Forum on Facebook to see if people in Chatham were interested in doing the same.

McGuire had a similar plan for Madison and the two teamed up, collecting donations through Venmo, and later adding PayPal and Zelle, to buy food from local restaurants to feed front line health care workers at Morristown Medical Center. The duo has now raised over $150,000.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

The FLAG website lists local chapters, has lists for donations and offers information on how to start a new chapter for towns looking to join.

More than 40 new chapters have formed in the past few weeks, as people have found ways to cater FLAGs mission to their own community needs, including Megan ODonnell, who launched the Hamilton chapter.

This is a win-win for both our front line heroes, who deserve and need good meals during their shifts, as well as our local restaurants, who have been significantly impacted by this pandemic, ODonnell said in a press release.

As of Tuesday, the Hamilton chapter had collected over $20,000 in donations and distributed more than 2,500 meals in just over four weeks. They have provided meals to three different hospitals and medical centers, as well as Mercer County COVID-19 testing locations, local pharmacies and police and fire stations.

The number of people we are able to help each day is 100 percent dependent upon how much we raise in donations, ODonnell said. "New Jersey is being impacted greatly and donating is an easy way everyone can help our front-line heroes from the safety of their homes.

Communities all over the state have rallied behind FLAG and have found creative ways to spread the word.

David Dedrick, a Somerville musician, hosted a virtual fundraising concert called Sing for Their Supper, to benefit FLAG on April 18, hosting the live feed on the Facebook page for FLAG of Somerville.

As of April 25, the Somerville chapter had donated more than $17,000 to local restaurants and still had more than $9,000 left to donate from its donation page.

Through all of this struggle, seeing the willingness to assist others and contribute to the community is such a heart-warming experience," Somerville chapter co-founder Shawn Temple said. The generosity people show every day makes this a wonderful place to work and live. I think being part of something and assisting others helps everyone involved during this difficult time.

FLAG raised over $100,000 in its first week of existence and has since ballooned to $1,894,245 as of Monday, with $1,093,714 paid to local restaurants and 150,952 meals delivered.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Evan Slavit may be reached at eslavit@njadvancemedia.com.
If she needs Wi-Fi, she moves instead to the apartments bathroom, sitting either on the ledge of the bathtub or on the stool her children use to brush their teeth.

Ive been doing this for a few weeks now, so Im always prepared and I carry snacks, she said. I have a mug of coffee, a bottle of water and lots of nuts and dried fruit in my backpack, whether Im going to the car or the shower. And I tell my kids goodbye, mommy is going to work, and my husband distracts them until I get set up.

Shower-stall offices and basement bunkers are a safeguard around personal space in this unprecedented time, said Dr. John Grohol, the founder of Psych Central, a mental health social network. They may seem extreme, but they also serve as a stand-in for aspects of our pre-Covid life.

When we go to work or school, it creates a boundary in relationships, he said. When youre thrown together in quarantine, you dont have that boundary anymore.

Previously forgotten corners and crannies of our homes are also getting new use, not just as home offices but also as refuges for me time and personal space.

Roy Movshovitz, 35, an operations manager for Google, had only recently started taking advantage of the gym at the tech giants Mountain View, Calif. headquarters when coronavirus took hold. Now quarantined at home in Belmont, Calif. with his wife, Tiffanie Wen, and their 2-year-old daughter, he didnt want to lose his fitness momentum.

So he set up a mini gym in what he calls an unused crawl space alongside some of the basement mechanicals, ordering a mat, barbells and gym bench online and replicating the moves his personal trainer taught him. The space is sloped with an uneven ceiling, and Mr. Movshovitz, who stands 6 feet tall, has to slouch in all but one corner. Ms. Wen has also made use of the space, heading in there on her own schedule to explore a newfound hobby for painting.
TDT | Manama

Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations Ambassador Jamal Fares Alrowaiei hailed the extraordinary efforts exerted by the UN to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which requires unprecedented international cooperation.

Alrowaiei hosted UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, in a video conference, in light of Bahrain chairing the UN Asia and the Pacific Group in April. Alrowaiei noted the secretary-generals plan to address the potentially devastating socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, in addition to launching the global push to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines, which shows that preserving human rights is the focus of COVID-19 response.

The UN secretary-general gave a speech in which he informed the members of the group about the global response to the epidemic and the role of the UN in alleviating the impact of this pandemic, especially with regards to efforts in Asia and the Pacific.

He noted that this epidemic is much more than a health crisis, as it affects societies and economies, which makes achieving the sustainable development goals more urgent.

Guterres also mentioned that landlocked developing countries and small-island developing states in Asia and the Pacific that are already facing challenges in trade, access to technology, infrastructure, or social services, are the most vulnerable.

He noted that a large proportion of the UNs sustainable development programs will be modified and expanded to suit the needs related to COVID-19, in close cooperation with countries, donors and partners.

The UN Secretary-General pointed out the adaptation of peacekeeping operations and special political missions to work under the new circumstances, calling on member states in this regard to maintain the security of UN personnel and facilities.

This ensures that borders and ports remain open to UN shipments and personnel. He also requested facilitating the movement of supplies and providing continuous access to medical facilities, stressing that sharing information, mobilizing resources, activating partnerships, and teamwork are vital factors in combatting this epidemic and repairing the negative consequences of its outbreak.
S Korea hints at denial of Trump's claim of deal to pay more for US troops

Iran Press TV

Friday, 01 May 2020 10:39 AM

South Korea has suggested its denial of a reported claim by US President Donald Trump that Seoul has agreed to pay "a lot more money" to maintain nearly 30,000 American troops on its soil, insisting that talks on the issue are still underway.

"The negotiation is still ongoing," said South Korea's presidential office on Thursday, adrressing the country's official Yonhap news agency, which further noted that the office refused to comment on Trump's remarks a day earlier as quoted in a report by Britain's state-funded news agency, Reuters.

"We can make a deal. They want to make a deal," Trump said during an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, referring to the negotiations to determine how to split the cost for maintaining about 28,500 US military service members stationed in South Korea.

"They've agreed to pay a lot of money. They're paying a lot more money than they did when I got here," added the US president.

However, an official with Seoul's presidential Blue House was quoted by Yonhap as saying: "We have nothing to announce yet in regard to the defense cost-sharing deal."

"The basic principle of a negotiation is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed," the report further quoted another "key official" at the Blue House as telling journalists on Thursday, adding: "Nothing has been agreed on yet."

It also cited the South Korean foreign ministry as reiterating that it is still negotiating with the American side and that an agreement has yet to be reached.

Trump also asserted last week that he had rejected Seoul's offer because he felt the long-time US ally  instrumental in protecting American interests in the region -- should pay more.

This is while an earlier press report further noted that South Korea had suggested a 13-percent increase from the 2019 share of $870 million for the stationing of the massive number of US Forces Korea (USFK).

Moreover, South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also underlined on Tuesday that the amount Trump had rejected was "the highest possible level for us," implying that the protracted impasse between the two countries were likely to continue.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 South Korean employees of USFK have been placed on unpaid leave since April 1 due to the absence of a new defense cost-sharing deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), to cover their salaries.

The issue prompted the commander of USFK forces in South Korea to express concern over it in early April, urging a prompt resolution of the lingering cost-sharing dispute between the two close allies that has led to the furloughing of Korean workers by the US.

"This is an unfortunate day for us, it's unthinkable, it's heartbreaking," said Commander General Robert Abrams in a video statement on April 1. "The partial furlough of (Korean national) employees is not what we envisioned or hoped would happen."

The previous SMA -- under which Seoul had agreed on an 8.2 percent increase -- expired at the end of 2019.

This is while American military presence in South Korea has stoked anti-US sentiments in the country.

American military personnel have on many occasions caused outrage by committing various crimes, including rape and assault. The US forces were put under curfew in July of last year after a drunken soldier attempted to steal a taxi and hit a Korean National Police officer in the process.

However, the Pentagon claims US troops are in South Korea to deter perceived threats from rival North Korea.

The development also comes amid persisting US efforts to expand its military presence in the pacific in an apparent bid to keep in check the rising economic and military assertiveness of China in and around its territorial waters.

Earlier this week, the Chinese military warned a US warship to leave after it illegally entered the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Senior Colonel Li Huamin, a spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, stated on Tuesday that the warship "entered the territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea without China's permission."

"The US move has severely violated the relevant international law and was a serious infringement of China's sovereignty," Li said, calling on US to stop military operations that are not conducive to regional security and peace and stability.

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.

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(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Remember Michael Flynn?

The man who holds the record for shortest tenure as national security adviser is back in the news. He pleaded guilty in 2018 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition in late 2016 and early 2017. Then, in January of this year, he vacated that plea. Now the Justice Department has released documents that, says his new defense counsel, show that Flynn was set up by the FBI.

The new revelations are interesting. An email exchange between former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and former agent Peter Strzok show a discussion about how agents interviewing Flynn should remind him that it is a crime to lie to the FBI. Eventually Page recommends that Strzok slip it in at some point in the conversation.

Other documents show the agents were unsure of the purpose of the interview, whether to catch the retired general in a lie or get him to admit to violating the 221-year-old Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from conducting foreign policy on behalf of the U.S. and has never resulted in a conviction. They show agents mulling whether the objective of the interview was to catch Flynn in a lie and possibly create the conditions under which he would be fired.

Handwritten notes show that at least one person in the bureau, probably general counsel James Baker, was worried that the White House would become furious with the bureau if it learned that Flynn was being interviewed in a criminal probe under false pretexts. Former FBI director James Comey acknowledged in 2018 that arranged to set up the interview with Flynn without going through White House counsel. This decision was something I probably wouldnt have done or maybe gotten away with, he later said, in a more organized administration.

The FBIs defenders have argued that none of this excuses Flynns lies to FBI agents. One lie, according to the plea, was telling agents he did not ask Russias ambassador to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia. Another was that he did not request to delay or reject a UN Security Council resolution supported by the U.S. during the transition to censure Israeli settlements.

Story continues

In court documents filed in January, Flynn now says he did not remember the details of his conversation at the time. Whats more, Comey himself has testified that the agents who interviewed Flynn in January 2017 did not believe he was deliberately misleading them. Flynn now says that he was unaware of this information when he agreed to the plea deal.

Now cast your mind back to late 2017, when that deal was signed. Many in Washington then believed that President Donald Trumps campaign had conspired with Russia, giving Flynns communications with the Russian ambassador a sinister cast. A year and half later, Muellers investigation ended without bringing any charges against any Americans in connection with Russias interference. Now, Flynns communications with the ambassador seem more benign: He was not undermining U.S. policy so much as asking Russia to avoid escalation.

There remains, of course, the issue of Flynns violation of foreign lobbying laws, which he admitted to but for which he was not charged. In August 2016, Flynns consulting firm entered a contract with a Dutch firm owned by a Turkish businessman on a project for the principal benefit of the Republic of Turkey. That contract expired in November 2016.

Flynns firm did register initially its contract through the Lobbying Disclosure Act, or LDA. Many lobbyists use the LDA as a way of avoiding the more onerous reporting requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.

More to the point, the FBI until 2017 barely enforced FARA violations. A 2016 Justice Department Inspector General report found only seven times when the U.S. brought criminal charges against FARA violators between 1965 and 2015. Most violators were either fined and/or asked to file retroactively as a foreign agent, which Flynn did in March 2017.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse, as they say, but at the same time justice demands that the law be applied fairly and consistently. Flynn was being squeezed for crimes that are rarely, if ever, enforced. He relented only under financial pressure and a promise that his son, who worked with him in his consulting group, would not be prosecuted.

Some members of the #Resistance have noted that the tactics exposed in these latest court filings are common in criminal investigations. Why should Flynn get better treatment than a suspected terrorist or drug dealer? After all, he led chants of Lock her up at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

A more honest question is whether Trumps opposition would tolerate these tactics if the shoe were on the other foot. If the FBI had plotted to catch National Security Adviser Susan Rice in a lie in order to create pressure for President Barack Obama to fire her, would Democrats have reveled in her misfortune as they have reveled in Flynns?

This is not the only case of FBI misbehavior to come to light recently. Last month the Justice Departments inspector general made clear the bureau had routinely withheld exculpatory information from the federal surveillance court. Deception and intimidation do not suddenly become less objectionable just because the subject of an investigation is a former member of the Trump administration.

(Corrects spelling of Peter Strzoks name in third paragraph.)

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to redefine the area of containment zones, from the existing 3 km to a lesser area, to enable industries in such zones also to start operation whenever permissible, said Navneet Sehgal, principal secretary, MSME, on Friday.

This move will help industries in containment zones in Noida, Greater Noida and rest of the state to start functioning, said Sehgal while speaking to industrialists during a webinar organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At present, in any area designated as hotspot due to a large number of Covid-19 cases, no activity is allowed in a radius of 3 km, which is also defined as containment zone.

Informing about the portal msmesathi, Sehgal said: It will be launched in the next two days. Here industrialists can report all issues which will be addressed.

Also present at the event, MSME minister Siddharth Nath Singh assured the industrialist all help from the state government.

New guidelines are likely come from the centre for industries to help restart production, said Singh.

He also stressed on retaining the existing workforce or else it would be difficult for industries to find replacements.

Industrialist DK Agarwal suggested actual charges for electricity and water consumption in industries instead of fixed charges for the next six months.

Industrialist Lalit Khaitan suggested resumption of production in liquor units as they contribute most to the state exchequer.

Businessman Mahesh Gupta stressed on reopening of service sector to enable sale of manufactured goods.

Sale of goods is equally important. If we manufacture goods and there is no sale then there is no point in starting industrial activity, said Gupta.

Businessman Gaurav Prakash took up the issue of converting lease land into free hold plots in industrial areas across the state.

ED Park, a representative from South Korea, suggested that the state government must set up a dedicated UP Chapter (or help desk) in Noida to help South Korean companies, who want to relocate from China, set up units in the region.
Due to the coronavirus, winners of the 2020 Tommy Tune Awards presented by Theatre Under The Stars were announced April 28 in a specially-created video on the Tommy Tune Awards Facebook page and the TUTS YouTube channel.

Tommy Tune Awards are presented in different categories, such as leading actress and costume design, for musicals produced by high school theater groups across greater Houston.

Theater ensembles from high schools in the Spring, Klein, Tomball and Cypress areas were well represented in this years nominations. Three northwest Houston area schools were among the ensembles who won awards.

The 2020 Tommy Tune Awards show was originally scheduled for April 28 at the Hobby Center but was canceled in light of COVID-19. This is the first time the event hasnt taken place at the Hobby Center since 2002.

Spring High School had 10 nominations and took home a pair of awards Tuesday evening including Best Scenic Design in Aida and Best Lighting Design for the same play. Before the event, Director of Theatre Marilyn Ocker said it was a little disappointing that they didnt get to experience the awards show in-person like they have in years past. But, she was grateful TUTS still found a way to recognize the students.

Knowing that it would be impossible to host the live event this year, we didnt want the participating students to lose out on yet another important milestone in their lives, said TUTS Artistic Director Dan Knechtges in an announcement on the TUTS website.

Klein Cain was tied for the most nominations alongside Friendswood and Stratford with 13 and won the award for Best Orchestra in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Director Matthew Robinson said prior to the event that as a three-year-old program, hearing news of the nominations took them by surprise. In their first two years, the ensemble had earned a total of six nominations.

Houston Christian High School had 11 nominations and won the award for Best Stage Crew & Technical Execution in Crazy For You. Theatre director Bobby Linhart said before the event that everyone in the company celebrated together in chat rooms, screaming and cheering when TUTS announced the nominations for the Tommy Tune Awards a few weeks ago.

The show must go on, so our team quickly moved towards creating a virtual experience, Knechtges said.

The online event started with students recapping their musical in 30 seconds; followed by an introduction from Taylor Louderman, Tony nominee for Broadways Mean Girls.

Im so excited that were doing a virtual show for the first time ever, said Louderman via the release. Its super sad that tonights ceremony had to be cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic that our world is facing, however its incredible that all of you can tune in via Facebook and YouTube.

The virtual event featured over 15 presenters and special guests including Kristin Chenoweth, who is a Tony Award-winner for Youre A Good Man Charlie Brown and Wicked, and portrayed April on the television show Glee; Audra McDonald, a six-time Tony Award-winner best known for her starring role in Ragtime; Rob McClure, of Mrs. Doubtfire the musical and Broadways Beetlejuice; Laura Osnes, of Rodgers & Hammersteins Cinderella, South Pacific, and Bonnie & Clyde; and Diane Paulus, the Tony Award-winning director of Jagged Little Pill, and Waitress.

In addition, TUTS awarded $44,350 in college scholarships to 14 students during the awards show, which were given to graduating seniors who plan to pursue a career in the arts.

With the help of some of Broadways biggest names, we provided Houstons young artists a really special evening, Knechtges said.

Find the complete list of all Houston area winners at https://www.tuts.com/blog/theatre-under-the-stars-announces-the-winners-of-the-2020-tommy-tune-awards-during-streaming-event.

alvaro.montano@chron.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 21:39:51|Editor: huaxia

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-Like the rest of the world, China is a victim of the pandemic, not an accomplice with the virus.

-There are neither rational nor legal grounds for U.S. politicians' accusations regarding China's response. It is only an absurd claim featuring typical U.S. bullying.

-In just over three months, the United States' death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic has exceeded that in the Vietnam War. It is the American people that suffer the most, and it is the U.S. politicians' tilted focus on their re-election, instead of their people, that led to the misery.





by Xinhua writers Ye Shuhong, Ma Qian, Zhang Xin

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The old saying, brazenly upheld by some Western politicians, that "a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth" is in itself untrue, because in the face of facts, a lie, no matter how many times it is repeated or how delicately it is fabricated, remains what it is.

So do the lies made by some U.S. politicians on China's role in the global fight against the novel coronavirus.

Panic persists among them as, in a little more than three months, the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 1 million and related deaths topped 60,000 in the United States, since the first confirmed case of the coronavirus was reported on Jan. 21 in the country.

It is their nonfeasance and dereliction of duty that ultimately incurred such an incessantly worsening predicament to the world's sole superpower.

Yet facing growing voices on their failure to contain the pandemic, those politicians, drawing upon great power politics, decided to distort reality and contemporary history by telling out-and-out lies and making up stories, in a bid to divert the blame onto China.

Photo taken on March 11, 2020 shows the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

As the COVID-19 situation continues to worsen in the United States, their smearing campaign against China has become even more unscrupulous. Calling China "the origin of the coronavirus" and blaming China for "hiding information," they are desperate to hold China accountable for the pandemic, and blackmail China to "compensate" for the losses caused by COVID-19.

Though it is widely acknowledged that the tracing of the virus' origin is a scientific issue and should be conducted by scientists and medical experts, some, with ulterior motives, tried their best to propagate a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus emanated from a research lab in Wuhan.

Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rejected the conspiracy theory earlier at the White House, saying that current evidence on the virus' origin is "totally consistent with a jump of a species from an animal to a human."

Anthony Fauci (front), director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), speaks during a press conference on the coronavirus at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, March 4, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Like the rest of the world, China is a victim of the pandemic, not an accomplice with the virus. By smearing China and instigating anti-China sentiment around the world, those politicians intend to frame China as an untrustworthy partner.

The accusation that China delayed information-sharing on COVID-19 to win the vaccine race for economic gains cannot hold water. As a matter of fact, China has been updating the United States on the coronavirus and its response since Jan. 3, which was recorded by international organizations and media outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times.

China has done what should be and needs to be done in the face of a pandemic. Moreover, the U.S. courts have no legitimate rights to judge China's domestic handling of COVID-19.

There are neither rational nor legal grounds for their accusations. It is only an absurd claim featuring typical U.S. bullying.

With more information unveiled, the timeline on how the pandemic has unfolded in the United States will be clarified step by step, which means the current U.S. administration's irresponsibility in handling the pandemic will be increasingly exposed to the public.

They should have done a much better job in dealing with the public crisis, but their entrenched arrogance, prejudice and ignorance only led to postponed and wrong decisions.

Photo taken on April 27, 2020 shows people posing for a photo with the face masks donated by China's Fujian Province in Oregon, the United States. (Xinhua)

At the early stage of the outbreak, what concerned Washington most was the performance of the U.S. stock market, instead of the virus' threat to human lives.

Despite timely warnings from China and the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. administration deliberately downplayed the severity of the pandemic and misinformed the public by repeatedly telling Americans to think of the coronavirus as the flu.

Since as early as January a dozen warnings about the coronavirus outbreak have been reported to the White House by its intelligence officials, according to The Washington Post, but U.S. President Donald Trump still said in late February that the virus would disappear "like a miracle."

Commenting on the sluggish decisions of the U.S. federal government at the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, The Lancet, a general medical journal, said in an editorial: "The degree to which the USA stalled in taking aggressive action to curtail the spread of COVID-19 is directly the product of an administration marked by consistently poor timing, intent on making decisions in favor of economic interests instead of those that are guided by science and to protect health."

The editorial, dated April 18, also described the U.S. government's hasty decision to reopen the economy as putting "dollars over deaths."

When the epidemic got worse, what the U.S. administration worried most was not the lack of anti-epidemic materials, but rather their election campaigns. From reporting the first confirmed case on Jan. 21 to declaring a national emergency on March 13, the country missed nearly two months to take prevention and control measures.

Even when the ravaging epidemic caused the market to plunge, the decision-makers did not concentrate on the COVID-19 battle, but instead started a "vote-defense battle" through shifting blame to China via stigmatization, politicization, and arbitrary labeling.

A recently-leaked GOP memo of 57 pages also stresses the strategy by advising Republican candidates to deal with voters' inquiries and fury by attacking China. Even American citizens feel ashamed by the brazen tactic of deflecting blame.

In just over three months, the United States' death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic has exceeded that in the Vietnam War. It is the American people that suffer the most, and it is the U.S. politicians' tilted focus on their re-election, instead of their people, that led to the misery.

"Caught amid the chaos are the American people grappling with the fear of a deadly and poorly understood virus, conflicting messaging around their protection and safety, fear of financial fallout, absence of a cohesive national strategy, and volatile, incompetent leadership," The Lancet said.

People wearing face masks wait in line to do shopping at a store during the coronavirus pandemic in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, April 14, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

In the face of the common tragedy of mankind, these politicians have wasted the precious time China bought the world with its painstaking fight against the virus, and dismissed the righteous international call for battling the virus in solidarity.

They are short of sympathy for the loss of lives and short of empathy to help each other in difficulties, but full of political calculations and paranoid Cold War mindsets.

Coining such labels as "China virus," they have carefully crafted the "U.S. narrative" to frame and defame China, in a bid to turn the war between humans and the coronavirus into a "new Cold War" to suppress China.

However, no lies can conceal the truth. In the tsunami-like epidemic, China was the first to report the outbreak and the first to issue a warning to the world. It mobilized its national resources immediately to confront the brunt of the virus, making huge sacrifices for the global anti-pandemic fight.

It notified the WHO of the epidemic, shared the gene sequence of the virus with other countries, and cooperated with the international community on epidemic prevention and control. The world, said The Lancet editor-in-chief Richard Horton, should be grateful to China for its warnings and containment efforts.

Meanwhile, China has offered assistance to more than 120 countries around the world, including the United States and Europe, and it has made substantial donations to the WHO. It has provided countries all over the world with various types of protective materials, including more than 20 billion masks and billions of sets of protective clothing and goggles.

Looking back at history, the human race grew and developed in their struggles against various diseases and disasters, and every major epidemic has left precious experience and lessons for human beings.

During this year's pandemic, China's early warning is worth remembering, China's experience is worth learning from, China's sacrifice is worthy of respect, and China's contribution is commendable.

Liars should never be allowed to reconstruct reality. Any stigmatization and defamation is disrespect for the millions of medical personnel who have fought on the frontlines, for the over 10 million people in Wuhan who lived for 76 days in lockdown, and for the 1.4 billion Chinese people who have strictly disciplined themselves to help curb the virus' spread.

At present, the pandemic is rampantly spreading, devouring lives and battering the economy. It has been evolving from a global public health crisis into a comprehensive crisis affecting the fields of politics, economy and social affairs. Only with combined efforts of all nations can the world defeat the common challenge.

All in all, history is always created by the brave, and nothing but unity and responsibility is the right theme of humanity's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. (Video reporters: Sui Lixi, Yu Guoqing; Video editor: Wei Yin.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Senate President Vicente Sotto III wants complete attendance of senators on Monday during the resumption of the Senate session.

Sotto said the physical presence of 23 other senators on Monday is required to pass a resolution allowing Senate sessions, hearings and meetings through teleconferencing.

Attendance via teleconferencing will only be allowed after the passage of a resolution allowing such, reminded Sotto.

The Senate President assured the public that he will be physically present in all Senate sessions until June 5, when the two legislative chambers will adjourn until the 4th Monday of July.

Kailangan kong maging physically present sa lahat ng session days, Monday to Wednesday, hanggang June 5 dahil may mga procedures sa session na hindi pwedeng gawin via teleconferencing. Kailangang may mag-preside from the Senate session hall, added Sotto. Being the Senate President, I have the responsibility to ensure that all sessions are conducted as mandated by the rules of the Senate and by the Constitution.

[Translation: I need to be physically present in all session days, Monday to Wednesday, until June 5, because there are session procedures that are not possible via teleconferencing. There is a need for someone to preside from the Senate session hall.]

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he will attend the Senate session on Monday, but insisted on passing a resolution via the teleconferencing of Senate sessions, hearings and meetings because there is no need for such legality.

Drilon is also worried about whether all senators will be able to attend on Monday, due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. One of their colleagues, Sen. Sonny Angara, tested positive for the virus for the second time on Saturday.

Ang isang problema diyan, kapag nag-roll call sa Lunes at walang quorum? Kapag kailangan ang physical presence at walang enough warm bodies sa session hall, paano mo ipapasa yung resolution? said Drilon.

[Translation: A problem is what if there is no quorum on Monday? How could you pass the resolution if there are no enough warm bodies in the session hall?]

Drilon added the House of Representatives convened via teleconferencing without passing such resolution. He emphasized there are no legal hurdles in holding such electronic way of meetings, sessions, and hearings in the Senate.

May kapangyarihan ang Senado to set the rules of procedures. Iyan ay nasa Saligang Batas at hindi pwedeng kwestyunin ng Korte Suprema. Mayroon ng precedent diyan, yung special session na ipinatawag ng Pangulong Duterte kung saan doon sa HoR, nagkaroon ng session through teleconferencing, said Drilon.

[Translation: The Senate has the power to set the rules of procedures. That is enshrined in the Constitution and cannot be questioned in the Supreme Court. It also has a precedent, which is a special session called by President (Rodrigo) Duterte to the HoR to have a session through teleconferencing.]

Sotto emphasized senators who plan to work from home and participate through teleconferencing need to inform the Senate Secretary or any member of the secretariat for attendance purposes.

Senators who will be on teleconference can sponsor committee reports, participate during the interpellation and period of committee and individual amendments, and cast their votes.

The Senate President reminds that any senator who wishes to deliver a privilege speech should be physically present at the Senate session hall.

Sotto also announced that members of the Senate Secretariat who have primary functions during sessions and employees of the Senate technical and public information bureaus and security office are required to report to work at the Senate.

He assured the senators, their staff, and all employees who will report for work at the Senate will go through health protocols to ensure the health and safety of everyone.
Two Alberta Health Ministry laptops were stolen from the legislature building in Edmonton one evening last month, officials say.

As part of their investigation into the theft, authorities searched some reporters offices in the building, which has raised privacy concerns, says the president of the legislature press gallery.

The incident occurred sometime between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. on April 21 and was reported to police the following morning, Edmonton police spokesperson Scott Pattison told the Star Friday in an email.

Pattison said police were told a man accessed the legislature after hours and stole two encrypted laptops from Health Ministry offices located on the fourth floor.

No arrests have been made.

The stolen laptops were encrypted according to government standards and cannot be accessed without the laptop owners password credentials, Stephen Bull, corporate chief information officer for the province, said in a statement.

With the use (of) hard disk encryption, these laptops are essentially useless to whomever had stolen them, he said.

Due to the device encryption, there is no risk of a privacy breach.

Bull said his office was working with the legislatures sheriffs, who are among those responsible for security and protection of the building, to investigate and that video footage is being reviewed.

Jason van Rassel, a spokesperson for Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, confirmed in a statement that sheriffs reviewed CCTV footage and searched the building for any potentially stolen goods.

He wasnt able to say what parts of the building were searched.

However, Catherine Griwkowsky, president of the Alberta legislature press gallery, said it included the area containing the offices of journalists who cover the legislature. She said office space is set aside for legislature reporters; media outlets do not pay the government for use of that space. One of the offices is assigned to the Toronto Star.

The day after the break-in, sheriffs showed up in the press gallery offices located just below ground level, and were examining the windows, Griwkowsky said, adding she did not witness this herself and was made aware of it by other members of the press gallery.

Later that evening, uniformed and plainclothes Edmonton police officers arrived and a search was conducted of some reporters offices, she said.

My understanding is that they actually  the sheriffs  unlocked some of the journalists offices and that it was fairly cursory; they werent rifling through filing cabinets or what have you.

They didnt produce any warrants and no permission was sought beforehand, she said. And when the investigators left, one of the offices was left unsecured.

Griwkowsky said the executive of the press gallery has requested a meeting with Nathan Cooper, speaker of the legislative assembly, to discuss jurisdiction and who gave authorities permission to search the premises.

Obviously its very concerning because while they were looking for stolen property and werent rifling through our files, one of the pillars of democracy is freedom of the press, which, to me, means the right to criticize government. Journalists do often have investigative documents locked away in their offices, she said.

I personally believe ... there is a real expectation of privacy in a locked office.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Tyler Shandro referred inquiries to the authorities.

An email to Coopers office was not immediately returned.

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By Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) - Just a few weeks ago, Marzia Sikandar served burgers and rice from her solar-powered mobile cart in Kabul, but now, wearing a protective suit, she distributes masks and offers free soap and water in the Afghan capital to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Her converted carbon-neutral rickshaw is one of around 40 owned by social enterprise Banu's Kitchen which had until recently employed women to sell food and support their families in Afghanistan's conservative society, but has now been transformed into mobile sanitising stations in a country where many are without running water or easy access to health services.

"Of course I'm so worried about this virus, especially when I'm outside and when I get back home, I'm afraid that the virus will spread to my children, though I take precautions. But I'm delighted that I can help my compatriots and the country," said Sikandar, 45, who distributes up to 70 masks a day.

Afghanistan's total number of coronavirus cases was at more than 1,200 on Friday with 40 deaths, and officials and experts have cautioned the number could rise far higher given limited testing and the country's weak health infrastructure.

At one stop in the locked-down capital, Sikandar's fellow disinfection worker was on hand to help space out people who had queued up to get their hands washed, while her husband, Mohammad Anwar, sanitised a policeman's rifle and hosed down nearby cars with disinfectant.

They are among roughly 80 women and men thrust to the forefront of fighting COVID-19 after the government provided the funds to Banu's Kitchen to convert the food carts into these mobile disinfectant vehicles.

"Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, and most of the population cannot afford the sanitising product, which have higher prices," said Farhad Wajdi, who founded Banu's Kitchen in 2018.

"Our mission is to reach these underprivileged families, these impaired families who cannot afford to buy sanitising products."

Story continues

But he hopes that eventually things will return to normal and Banu's Kitchen's female workers can return to selling food.

"We hope to see the end of the coronavirus, so we can convert these disinfecting carts back to the Zero-Carbon food carts.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Tata Steel has announced plans to help shape regional efforts in South Wales to decrease carbon emissions, aimed at creating the world's first net-zero industrial cluster.

As a leading member of the South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC), the Indian steel major said on Friday that its plan could see Tata's integrated steelworks at Port Talbot in the region playing a major role as one of four possible anchor sites.

The first phase of SWIC's Roadmap and Deployment project received a significant boost thanks to grant funding of GBP 295,000 from UK Research and Innovation -- a partnership of universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government -- with more funding available for future stages.

"SWIC presents a key opportunity to support Wales' net zero ambitions by uniting the various decarbonisation programmes in South Wales into a single roadmap for the first time," said Chris Williams, Manager Energy Research at Tata Steel in Europe.

"By helping to develop an industrial strategy, which allows companies in Wales to grow while also reducing CO2 emissions, the plan will create new jobs and provide a sustainable industrial base for future generations," he said.

The announcement is one of a number of initiatives to help Tata Steel's European business achieve its ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Phase one of the project will create a plan for a series of local zero-carbon areas to lower emissions, create skilled jobs and enhance well-being across South Wales.

If SWIC projects proceed successfully, they will improve the UK's ability to locally manufacture steel products with low carbon emissions, helping to drive the low-carbon future of UK construction and other sectors such as defence, car manufacturing, packaging and even coin production.

The SWIC initiatives will also make a vital contribution to the economic resilience of the Welsh economy by bringing in new high-skilled jobs and ensuring operations are sustainable in the long term, Tata Steel said.

Key areas for SWIC in the first phase of the project include examining the infrastructure required for the development of the hydrogen economy, for large scale CO2 capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and transport.

Other partners in SWIC include Costain, CR Plus, RWE, Progressive Energy, University of South Wales, Celsa Manufacturing, Tarmac, Valero Energy, Progressive Energy, Capital Law, Flexible Process Consultants the Port of Milford Haven and Vale Europe.

Tata Steel is one of Europe's leading steel producers, with steelmaking in the Netherlands and the UK, and manufacturing plants across Europe.

The company supplies high-quality steel products across a wide range of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering.

It is currently said to be in talks with the UK government for support through the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi, May 2 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said that it has arrested an absconding property manager from West Bengal's Hooghly in connection with a case of arms seizure from Maoists in Jharkhand.

An NIA spokesperson said that Manoj Chaudhary, who allegedly acted as a property manager of Mast group in Jharkhand, was arrested from Hooghly on Friday morning. Incriminating documents showing transactions in immovable properties were seized from his possession, the spokesman said.

The accused -- absconding for over three years -- was later sent in agency custody for five days by a Special NIA court in Ranchi.

The NIA had registered the case against Maoists in May 2018 after a huge cache of arms and ammunition were seized from Giridih in March that year.

The police had arrested 15 suspected Maoists, including CPI-Maoist SAC member Sunil Manjhi.

The NIA had later taken over the probe from police. The NIA later seized more arms and ammunition from Lugu Pahadi area of Bokaro.

The official said that investigation revealed that Chaudhary was an active member of banned terror outfit Communist Party of India (Maoist) and he was instrumental in the investment of proceeds of terrorism like extortion or levy money collected by senior Maoists cadres in real estate.

"He was in contact with senior CPI (Maoist) cadres since 2008 and channeling their ill-gotten wealth into acquisition of immovable properties at prime locations in Giridih district of Jharkhand," he said.

The NIA had filed two charge sheets against 17 accused, including absconding Chaudhary on August 31, 2018 and January 8, 2019.
New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi on Saturday (May 2, 2020) held a meeting to deliberate on the issues and reforms required in the Agriculture sector. Special emphasis was given on reforms in agriculture marketing, management of marketable surplus, access of farmers to institutional credit, and freeing agriculture sector of various restrictions with appropriate backing of the statute.

The focus was on making strategic interventions in the existing marketing eco-system and bringing appropriate reforms in the context of rapid agricultural development. Concessional credit flow to strengthen agriculture infrastructure, special Kisan Credit Card saturation drive for PM-Kisan beneficiaries, and facilitating inter and intra-state trade of agriculture produce to ensure the fairest return to farmers were some of the important areas covered. Developing e-NAM into a platform of platforms to enable e-commerce was one of the important topics of discussion.

The discussion also emanated on the possibilities of the uniform statutory framework in the country to facilitate new ways for farming which will infuse capital and technology in the agrarian economy. The pros and cons of biotechnological developments in crops or enhancement of productivity and reduction in input costs was also deliberated. The challenges of model land leasing act and how to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers were discussed in detail. It was also deliberated how it is pertinent to make the Essential Commodities Act compatible with present times so that large scale private investment in post-production agriculture infrastructure is incentivized and also has a positive effect on commodity derivative markets.

Developing Brand India, the creation of commodity-specific Boards/ Councils and promotion of Agri-Clusters/Contract Farming are some of the interventions that were deliberated to boost Agriculture commodity export.

The use of technology in the agriculture sector is of paramount importance as it has the potential to unlock the entire value chain for the benefit of our farmers. PM emphasised on the dissemination of technology until the last mile and making our farmers more competitive in the global value chain.

Had a meeting to review aspects relating to agriculture reform. Our priority areas are reforms in agriculture marketing, management of marketable surplus, access of farmers to institutional credit and freeing agriculture sector of various restrictions. https://t.co/bSRYn4bWPy  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 2, 2020

It was decided to further strengthen the role of FPOs to bring vibrancy in the agrarian economy, transparency in agriculture trade, and enable maximum benefits to the farmers.

The overall emphasis was on revisiting the existing laws governing the market for better price realization and freedom of choice to the farmers.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  The Department of Interior and Local Government announced on Saturday they will add five million families in the governments cash subsidy program for those affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said they are still awaiting for the guidelines from the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the formal implementation of the cash aid distribution to the additional five million families.

Malaya also clarified the additional five million families are apart from the 18 million families who are qualified as beneficiaries of the social amelioration program, which grants 5,000 to 8,000 for each family belonging to the vulnerable sector.

He added that local government units now have additional funds to prioritize the families who are left out by the COVID-19 emergency aid program because of the 30.824 billion Bayanihan Grant, the national funds realigned by the Department of Budget and Management from the Department of Public Works and Highways budget on infrastructure projects.

Provincial governments in the country were also given additional funds by the DILG through the 6.197 billion Bayanihan Grant to Provinces, which is equivalent to half a month of the Internal Revenue Allotment share of 81 provinces nationwide for the current fiscal year.

In the meantime, nananawagan kami sa mga local government units na iprioritize itong mga left out families doon sa food packs na kanilang ipinapamahagi, said Malaya in the Laging Handa press briefing earlier.

[Translation: In the meantime, we are appealing to the local government units to prioritize the left out families in the food packs they are distributing.]

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte approved the distribution of COVID-19 cash aid to the additional five million families in the country.

Roque also apologized to qualified beneficiaries who did not receive their COVID-19 cash aid and eligible families who were left out in the cash subsidy program.

Itoy isang pamamaraan din para humingi ng pasensya sa mga di nakatanggap dahil hanggang ngayon po nadedelay ang release ng first tranche, said Roque.

[Translation: This is also a way to apologize to the recipients because the release of the first tranche has been delayed until now.]

The DSWD has started to post the list of social amelioration program beneficiaries on the website of their field offices. The Cordillera Administrative Region and Region 7 field offices have already posted online the initial list of beneficiaries in their regions.

Malaya noted that 11 million out of the 18 million families have received their emergency subsidy from the government as of yesterday.

Hinihikayat po ng DILG ang lahat ng ating local government units na seryosohin po natin ito, tuluy-tuloy na po natin itong ipamigay. Wala na pong ibibigay na extension si Secretary Eduardo Ano at si (DSWD) Secretary Ronnie Bautista. You are given up to May 7 to finish the distribution, he reminded.

[Translation: The DILG is encouraging all our local government units to take this seriously and continue to distribute the cash aid. Secretary Eduardo Ano and (DSWD) Secretary Ronnie Bautista will not give extension to the distribution. You are given up to May 7 to finish the distribution.]

Malaya warned LGU officials who divide the cash aid to distribute to other families, with reports reaching the agency that some barangay captains are splitting up cash subsidies in order to distribute smaller amounts of cash to more families.

Pwede po silang masuspende at makulong pa kung ginawa talaga yan, stressed Malaya.

[Translation: They can be suspended or jailed if they really did that.]

The Interior Undersecretary encouraged citizens to report the illegal cash distribution acts of barangay officials to the departments local and regional offices.

The DSWD also has its Grievance Redress System, managed by their Central Office-Operations Center, to report cash aid concerns such as unqualified families who received subsidy. The public can text 0947-482-2864, 0916-247-1194, 0918-912-2813, and 0932-933-3251 or send an e-mail to atsapgrievances@dswd.gov.ph for their grievances.
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI - Their little boys month-long nightmare is finally almost over. A Michigan toddler, who spiked a 107.1 fever while battling COVID-19, is finally virus free. His mother, also fighting coronavirus for much of the month of April, has tested negative, too. But they still arent 100 percent.

Amanda May and Ryan Schreiber of Farmington Hills want the world to know this virus can hit healthy kids hard and their 22-month-old son Luke is a prime example. They say he had no health issues before the virus hit him on March 31 when he registered a fever of 107.1.

He had no pre-existing conditions, Amanda May Schreiber told MLive. His liver and kidneys were fully functional after they tested them at the hospital. There was nothing other than a virus his body was fighting. For people to believe this only affects vulnerable people, I mean, every single person should be vigilant.

Amanda May says Lukes temperature is finally almost normal after he had been fighting a fever of about 101 to 102 nearly every single day since returning from the hospital about a month ago.

His naps are back to normal and hes finally sleeping about 12 hours a night, what he was before the virus. His temperature has been under 100 since last weekend."

While trying to take care of Luke and her 4-month old, Amanda may, who is a triathlete, says breathing and fatigue have been the biggest issues for her. She said while just sitting and laying around, it felt like she was huffing and puffing, like she was going up and down stairs.

My pulse oximetry is back up to 98. It had been as low as 82. It was terrifying. I still had a fever earlier this week and I still have tightness in my chest. I walked mostly last week before I started running this week. I cant run at full-pace yet. Im mostly just jogging.

Amanda May and Luke Schreiber of Farmington Hills, Michigan, tested COVID-19 free after fighting the virus for nearly a month. (Selfie by Amanda May Schreiber)

Ryan says its been very tough watching his wife and kids battle the virus. He dealt with some chest tightness and kept working full-time from home.

I would classify the last month as a month of exhausting vigilance, Ryan Schreiber told MLive. Youre having to constantly deal with sickness in the household. I was also trying to manage updates for friends and family and make sure that we were all taken care of while trying to work from home. In the end, were really lucky compared to some other people, but it has been overwhelming at points.

The Schreibers say it upsets them to see protests like the one in Lansing yesterday against the governors emergency declaration.

If people think that their quarantine is bad, try doing it with two sick kids and youre sick yourself," said Amanda May. Theres kids at these protests. It made me cry seeing it. Walking into the hospital pediatric ward changes your view. They are no longer numbers. Theyre kids.

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While some people expecting stimulus checks from the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package to come through are still waiting, another group not expecting checks at all have been cashing in.

That group?

The deceased.

You read that right. According to a Yahoo report, dead people are getting stimulus checks.

If a person filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 and has since passed away the checks have likely come are on the way, according to Yahoo.

How did that happen?

"The Social Security administration has a master file of all deaths in the United States, but if the IRS had taken the time to cross-reference that date, it would have delayed checks for everyone for weeks," Nicole Kaeding, vice president of policy promotion at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, told TODAY by phone.

So, should you keep the money?

According to Yahoos story, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department told CNBC the department plans to issue guidance on this shortly.

But, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuhcin told The Wall Street Journal that heirs should be returning that money.

So, dont go cashing those checks just yet, although the article says its unclear how the IRS might reclaim the money.

Heres some good news, too. If you receive extra money in your name, the article says its yours to keep. That, the story said, is considered a clerical error, and the money is yours to keep.
Joe Pantoliano was rushed to a Connecticut hospital Friday after he was hit by a car while out for a walk.

The Sopranos star was out with his family in their neighborhood when a Porsche skidded across the road and struck him.

He suffered a gash to his head and injuries to his left leg and shoulder after he was thrown a few feet backward by the car into a wooden fence.

Car accident: Joe Pantoliano was rushed to a Connecticut hospital Friday after he was hit by a car while out for a walk

According to TMZ, EMTs quickly arrived to the scene, and Pantoliano, 68, was given a CT scan.

Wife Nancy Sheppard said that she expects The Matrix actor to pull through and make a full recovery.

She also revealed the Porsche was t-boned by another car, and both drivers remained at the scene as police investigated.

The Memento star took to Instagram with a video from shortly before the incident, as he showed a rainbow over their country view.

Full recovery: He suffered a gash to his head and injuries to his left leg and shoulder after he was thrown a few feet backward by a Porsche into a wooden fence, but is expected to pull through

Bright side: The Memento star took to Instagram with a video from shortly before the incident, as he showed a rainbow over their country view

Family man: He said before showing his family walking ahead of him: 'Look at that rainbow! How do you like that beauty? And all my little rainbows ahead of me'

He said before showing his family walking ahead of him: 'Look at that rainbow! How do you like that beauty? And all my little rainbows ahead of me.'

Pantoliano joined his Goonies co-stars earlier this week for a virtual reunion, with special appearances from Steven Spielberg and Cyndi Lauper.

He and Robert Davi, who was also present for the event, played the villainous Fratelli brothers in the iconic 1985 film.

Their co-stars Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton and Kerri Green also appeared.

Hosted by Josh Gad for his new series Reunite Apart, it raised money for the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's COVID-19 Response Fund.
Adair Turner, the economist who became chairman of the City regulator days after Lehman Brothers collapsed, wrote a book based on his ringside seat when the 2008 banking crisis went nuclear.

Just over a decade later, the man once tipped to run the Bank of England is writing a script he believes will speed up our recovery from the current crisis.

He says the world is facing a 'very nasty shock' to the economy that will be 'just as bad'  if not worse than 2008. One obvious difference, he says, is that this time the contagion has delivered a harder blow to the Chinese economy, which bounced back rapidly from the 2008 slump.

Focus: Lord Turner says crisis must not be a setback to 'green transition'

Digging out the latest growth forecast from the World Economic Outlook, Lord Turner says its forecast of 3 per cent global economic contraction this year 'could be a bit optimistic'.

'We do not yet know how badly the pandemic will spread in the developing world,' he adds. So what is his masterplan to rejuvenate the world economy this time around? Believe it or not, green energy.

The City veteran, who was head of the CBI in the late 1990s, is now chairman of the Energy Transitions Commission, a major international think tank.

He reveals that in the coming days, the global coalition  whose members include Shell, BP and Heathrow  will send a policy paper to governments in China, Europe and the UK that will set out how to use the recovery from coronavirus to 'speed progress' towards net-zero carbon emissions across sectors from aviation and shipping to chemicals and cement.

With the oil price at record lows, Lord Turner concedes that fossil fuels 'are suddenly going to look cheap' as travel resumes  potentially making a switch to cleaner energy less attractive.

But he is adamant that investment in green fuel would create jobs and give Britain's post-coronavirus economy a much-needed boost. For instance, a jobs cull in North Sea oil could be offset by transferring workers with marine engineering skills to building bases for offshore windfarms, he says.

'North-west Europe is blessed with huge amounts of offshore wind potential, and both the UK and the rest of Europe should be planning for massive offshore wind developments in the North Sea that can give us green electricity at a low price,' he says. 'It's a huge strategic opportunity.'

The good news is that Lord Turner doesn't expect a downturn on the scale of the 1929-1933 Great Depression because governments worldwide are willing to increase the size of their national debts.

Last week, the Office for Budget Responsibility increased its costing of the Government's coronavirus policy to 103 billion.

'We have to be willing to accept fiscal deficits on the scale of 2009,' says Lord Turner, who believes in exceptional circumstances central banks should directly fund government debt in a form of so-called helicopter money.

The phrase was coined by renowned US economist Milton Friedman, who suggested scattering dollar bills from a helicopter for people to pick up and spend during economic depressions.

'There would be a clarity of assuring people that there is no limit on the money available,' Lord Turner says. 'Governments can't stop it [the downturn] being a very nasty shock, but they can stop it sliding into a global Great Depression.'

In the UK, Lord Turner expects to see the shoots of a 'cautious and controlled' economic recovery in three weeks' time  providing the rate of Covid-19 infections and deaths keeps coming down.

But the 'conundrum' about getting Britain moving again, he says, is that the most job intensive sectors, such as bars and restaurants, will be the most difficult to open up again because of the health risks.

'For the last 20 years we have been able to rely on the employment-making machine of face-to-face services, but that has been shut down,' he says.

'The hit to tactile employment will last several years, so we need to do anything we can to stimulate new jobs in new areas. We may have a period of time where the highly automated parts of the economy will lead growth. For six months following the end of lockdown, there will be a new normal when the economy will start to recover, but it won't recover to previous levels.'

Turner, a crossbench peer known as 'Red Adair' during his time running the CBI business trade body due to his Left-leaning views, raised eyebrows in the City when he remarked in 2009 that parts of banking are 'socially useless'.

Today, firms in big fossil fuel guzzling industries such as aviation have supplanted banks as the pantomime villains of corporate Britain.

Lord Turner is calling on the Government to speed up airlines' drive to net-zero carbon emissions by supporting an emerging market for sustainable jet fuel through 'a careful balance of price incentives and regulation'.

Like officials in Brussels, Lord Turner believes a 'kerosene tax' could encourage airlines to switch to green fuel. Another possibility is introducing regulation for a fuel duty mandate to make airlines run, for example, 10 per cent of their fleet on sustainable fuel by 2030.

Meanwhile, any airline that receives state support to survive the crisis should be given 'more stretching' climate change goals.

When pressed on whether the Government should bail out struggling companies, rather than letting some firms fail, it's the first time his smooth theorising is rattled.

'I'm not getting into the specifics of individual companies,' he says testily. 'But any company that receives a bailout should have green targets attached.'
They swapped a two-bed flat in Essex for a derelict chateau in France, which they transformed into a glorious family home.

Now Dick and Angel Strawbridge are offering fans of Channel 4's Escape to the Chateau a chance to stay at their beautifully renovated home as part of a new competition.

They are asking participants to share what new skills they've learnt during the coronavirus lockdown.

It comes ahead of the beloved couple's new television series Make, Do & Mend, which sees them help families with DIY dilemmas.

Win a chance to stay at Dick and Angel Strawbridge's chateau in France

During the TV series Escape to the Chateau, we have seen Dick & Angel undertake various DIY tasks, from installing bathrooms to creating memorable harlequin wallpaper made from offcuts found in the attic.

They are now looking to help others - and in the spirit of lockdown, the couple are only using what the families have to hand.

The competition is focused on wellbeing and how people have overcome a challenge or achieved something creative and inspiring during lockdown.

Dick and Angel swapped their two-bed flat in Essex for this chateau

The couple have a new series called Make, Do & Mend (transmission dates to be announced)

We saw Angel create her harlequin design during the earlier series of Escape to the Chateau

The harlequin design was first used on wallpaper but transferred to curtain fabric and cushions

Angel explained: 'It may be that you've finally mastered your sun salutations by practicing yoga in your living room, or you've dug out your paints and easel to get creative with all the extra time at home.

'Maybe you've even challenged yourself to get through those DIY projects you've been meaning to start, that have niggled you for years.'

Dick and Angel have undertaken various DIY tasks during their show, Escape to the Chateau

The competition prize is a 'magical night at Dick and Angle's fairytale home', which includes an overnight stay for two people in the chateau's honeymoon suite, and a special dinner cooked and hosted by Dick and Angel.

Dick said: 'We all know the importance of having a project that excites us, it's good for the soul and gives us something to look forward to.

'At this strange time that we find ourselves in, we're focusing on enjoying family life, looking after ourselves and letting our creativity flow - and having a project, or two, on the go keeps the grey cells active.

'We hope people at home will feel inspired to have a go at entering and we can't wait to see all their fabulous ideas and achievements.'

You can enter the competition here with a deadline of 28 August 2020. The winner will then be announced in October.
90 Day Fiance star Big Ed just got ghosted. The 54-year-old American flew to the Philippines to woo Rose, a 23-year-old he met online. However, it seems as though Ed arrived with a few preconceptions, a few secrets, and a narrow mind. Since hes set down in Manila, the reality star has twice told Rose what to do with her body, as well as marveled at her poverty openly in front of her own parents. The last straw for Rose seems to be that Big Ed has been lying to her this whole time about his intention when it comes to children.

Big Ed was keeping secrets

When Big Ed first debuted on his season of 90 Day Fiance, the reality star admitted both to producers and his friend that hes been lying to Rose from the get-go.

Rose already has one son, Prince, and has told Ed that shed like to have another child in the future, possibly a daughter. Ed, meanwhile, already has an adult daughter older than Rose, and has no interest in having additional children.

However, he neglected to tell this to Rose. At all. Instead, he told his friend, Well, she already wants another child, she wants a girl. And I havent told her this, I dont want to tell her this, but I want to get nipped.

He told producers, Theres another thing and that is I dont want any more kids. I want to get a vasectomy but I dont want to tell her.

Im already going to take on a four-year-old kid, but to take on another child on top of that, its just overwhelming, added Ed. Im at a place in my life where Ive raised my daughter. Shes 29 and Im 54. Other than Prince, Im not ready to have more kids.

Eds friend warned him that not telling Rose seemed unfair, but Ed brushed it off.

Big Ed insulted Rose over her breath, tells her to shave legs

To make matters worse, Big Ed has tried to tell Rose how to manage her body twice since hes arrived in the Philippines.

The first time happened following an uncomfortable evening spent together in a hotel room. Big Ed gave Rose a perfunctory foot massage before asking to give her a kiss, something she clearly was not thrilled with. She asked him to kiss her on the cheek or forehead.

Later, Big Ed turned to Rose in bed and said, Um, dont be mad at me, but um, I noticed your legs were kind of like mine, they were hairy. Would you shave your legs?

During another stint in a hotel room, Big Ed decided to gift Rose mouthwash and a toothbrush. He told her, I got you a couple more things. This is going to be less romantic. So, this is mouthwash. And I got you a cute toothbrush because your breath is not pretty.

Before storming off and calling Ed ugly, Rose explained to him that she brushes her teeth every day. She informed him that a chronic stomach ulcer was causing her bad breath.

90 Day Fiance star wakes up to Rose gone

Big Ed of 90 Day Fiance | thisisbiged via Instagram

It seems as if the final straw was Eds lie by omission about wanting a vasectomy. Ed decided to finally admit his plans to Rose, and the next morning, she had left.

Last night, I finally revealed to Rose that I want to have a vasectomy and I dont want any more kids. And when I woke up this morning, she was gone, he told producers. Shes not answering my texts, and shes not answering my phone calls.

Ed added, Im really worried. She didnt leave a message with the front desk. I looked all around the hotel. But shes nowhere to be seen. I dont know where she is. Im really confused and Im sad.
Allegations made by US, UK politicians against arrest of protestors 'ground-less': HKSAR

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/1 20:51:18

Allegations made by the US, the UK and European Parliament against the Hong Kong police 's arrest of illegal protest organizers and participants were groundless and seriously interfered in Hong Kong affairs, spokesperson of the HKSAR government said Friday. The spokesperson expressed strong opposition over some politicians making such irresponsible and deplorable remarks.

The HKSAR government would never agree with foreign officials or politi-cians on their comments on the recent arrests and prosecutions of some or-ganizations and persons who participated in the illegal assembly in Hong Kong. It is ridiculous to say that the arrests will affect Hong Kong 's freedom and violate the Basic Law, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson continued that the HKSAR government felt extremely dis-gusted by requests made by individual foreign politicians to withdraw the charges against the arrested.

If the SAR government accepts such requests, it will be regarded as surren-dering to these unreasonable demands, which is a violation of fairness and professionalism and also deviates from the spirit of the rule of law.

Reports said the HK police arrested 15 activists on April 18 who participated in an illegal assembly in the city last year.

As the House Committee of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong failed to elect a chairman after 15 meetings in the past six months, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and the Liaison Office of the Chinese Central Gov-ernment on April 13 condemned the act of some opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong for paralyzing the city's legislature, leaving many bills hanging in the air.

The two offices, under Article 12 of the Basic Law, have the power and re-sponsibility to ensure that the HKSAR implements the Basic Law and "one country, two systems."

Therefore, it is reasonable for the two offices to express concerns over the affairs in the Legislative Council.

Anyone who claims the rightful remarks made by the two offices as an inter-vention to HKSAR affairs only shows their ignorance over the constitutional order of the SAR and the relationship between the SAR and the central gov-ernment, the spokesperson noted on Friday.

On Thursday, the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong also condemned the latest unwarranted remarks by US politi-cians. It urged them to stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs immediately.

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(Newser)  Weighing the risks, the Senate will reopen on Monday as the coronavirus crisis rages and the House stays shuttered, an approach that leaves Congress as divided as the nation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells decision to convene 100 senators at the Capitol during a pandemic gives President Trump the imagery he wants of America getting back to work, despite health worries and a lack of testing, the AP reports. Yet, the Washington region remains under stay-at-home orders as a virus hot spot. And in an extraordinary rebuff, McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Saturday that they would "respectfully decline" Trump's offer that Congress use the instant virus test system that screens visitors to the White House.

story continues below

McConnell and Pelosi said such resources should be redirected to the front lines "where they can do the most good." But gathering senators for the first time since March risks lawmakers as well the cooks, cleaners, police officers, and other workers who keep the lights on at the Capitol complex. For Senate Republicans, returning to session is an attempt to set the terms of debate as Democrats push for another pricey coronavirus relief bill. Frustrated after Pelosi boosted Democratic priorities in earlier aid packages, an unprecedented $3 trillion in emergency spending, they are resisting more. Republicans are counting on the country's reopening and an economic rebound as their best hope to limit a new round of big spending on virus aid.

(Read more Capitol Hill stories.)
Amid the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to work together with Thailand government to face the challenges posed by the pandemic. PM Modi held talks with his good friend and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on May 2 over various issues related to the global health crisis. Both countries have been impacted by the drastic spread of COVID-19 disease and as of May 2, India has 26,106 active cases with 1,223 casualties. Meanwhile, Thailand has reportedly confirmed total 2,966 cases of coronavirus infections with 54 fatalities.

Discussed issues related to COVID-19 pandemic with good friend @prayutofficial. As neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural links, India and Thailand will work together to deal with the multifarious challenges posed by this present crisis.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 2, 2020

Read - PM Modi Bats For Labour Workforce, Says 'sector Can Power Indias Growth'

The talks with his Thai counterpart came after PM Modi held meetings related to key issues including education, aviation and power sector. India has been under lockdown since March 25 and the Central government announced an extension until May 17. India has also colour coded the districts in red, orange and green zones based on the severity of the COVID-19 spread. These zones allotted by the Centre would also facilitate phase-lifting of the restrictions.

Chaired a meeting in which we had in-depth discussions relating to the education sector. We are working towards educational reforms that would make India a global knowledge superpower. https://t.co/B7dbMXBan3  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 1, 2020

Read - PM Modi Chairs Key Meetings With Education, Aviation & Power Sector Ahead Of Lockdown 3.0

Global death toll of COVID-19

After originating from Chinas wet markets, the Coronavirus has now claimed 239,604 lives worldwide as of May 2. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 212 countries and has infected at least 3,401,231 people. Out of the total infections, 1,081,689 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

Read - PM Modi Welcomes CDS General Bipin Rawat's Grand May 3 Plan To Thank COVID Warriors

Read - Ex-CM Shankersinh Vaghela Warns PM Modi Of Economic Crisis Post COVID-19; Lists His Issues
A policeman died and four



other security personnel suffered minor injuries when their van overturned in Ramgarh district while they were escorting a bus carrying migrant workers from Hatia to Chatra in the wee hours of Saturday, police said.

Ramgarh Superintendent of Police, Prabhat Kumar, told PTI that another escort van was immediately provided as the bus continued its onward journey.

The accident occurred on NH-33 under Ramgarh town police station, killing one policeman, who was identified as Dinesh Kumar, on the spot, he said.

He added the injured policemen were given first aid at the Sadar hospital before being discharged.

The police van was escorting the bus carrying migrant labourers after they reached Hatia railway station, on outskirts of Ranchi, by a special train from Telangana late Friday night.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Electric Picnic could still technically take place in Laois but the new Covid-19 exit roadmap appears to further diminish the chance of it happening in Stradbally this year

A number of factors will play a part in determining its fate.

Firstly, the event needs a licence. Festival Republic applied to Laois County Council for a licence in April.

However, this is subject to a five week public consultation process which was delayed by the lockdown. The extension of restrictions to May 18 means such a public consultation would not be complete until mid June at the earliest.

It is not clear if the consultation process can even begin on May 18 as only limited types of work and public interaction can commence on that date.

The HSE and Gardai are among those who must be consulted by the council before reaching a licence decision.

Anoother legal requirement is a drinks licence. A district court judge in Portlaoise would be the person to permit alcohol sales. Gardai would be consulted as part of this application.

The Government's roadmap to ease restrictions will also influence the outcome.

The Stradbally event would be subject to Covid-19 measures set out in the new lockdown exit roadmap.

The first and subsequent four phases of the roadmap to ease restrictions will take at least three weeks each to implement and monitor.

While the Government has set provisional dates on starting date for each phase, the timing of phases two to five will all depend on the virus and how we manage it.

Restrictions can be reimposed if it flares up. The exit roadmap could be paused or reset in such a scenario.

Another factor not in its favour is that bigger public gatherings will not be allowed until phase five of the roadmap. Even then measures must be taken to guard against further infections.

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said we could reach phase five by August 10. However, he has also suggested that big events like the All-Ireland Finals could take place but behind closed doors.

All of this does not bode well for EP2020.

The Picnic is scheduled to take place over the first weekend of Septmber. Acts have been booked and tickets have sold out.

A previous announcement by Government said mass gatherings can take place from September.

A crowd of 70,000 is due to attend this year.
WHAT'S NEXT?: An Afghan man wearing a protective face mask walks past a wall painted with photo of Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the leader of the Taliban delegation, in Kabul, Afghanistan April 13, 2020. Mohammad Ismail/Reuters
An early Friday morning blaze severely damaged a popular Manchester Township bar and eatery.

Officers responded to an interior motion burglar alarm at 7:22 a.m. at Albas Pub, located in the Ridgeway section of town on County Road 547, and when they got there, they found smoke billowing from the roof and eaves of the building, according to a release from the Manchester Township Police.

Firefighters from Manchester, Ridgeway, Whiting, Lakehurst, Pleasant Plains, and Toms River Volunteer Fire Departments and Joint Base Fire Department responded and spent the next few hours extinguishing the fire, authorities said.

Albas sustained heavy fire, smoke, and water damage, but luckily, nobody was inside the building when the blaze started and no injuries were reported, according to police and a Facebook post from the bar, which had been open for takeout and delivery during the coronavirus pandemic.

The cause and origin of the fire was under investigation by Manchester Township Police, Ocean County Prosecutors Office and the Ocean County Fire Marshals Office.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 01:21:27|Editor: huaxia

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"As an older person myself, with responsibility for an even older mother, I am deeply concerned about the pandemic on a personal level, and about its effects on our communities and societies."



UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that older people, like everyone else in the world, have the same rights to life and health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"No person, young or old, is expendable. Older people have the same rights to life and health as everyone else," the UN chief said at the virtual launch of a policy brief on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older persons.

Noting that the pandemic is causing "untold fear and suffering" for older people across the world, Guterres said the fatality rate for older people is higher overall, and for those over 80, it is five times the global average.

An old man with a mask is seen outside his store at a road during the nationwide lockdown in Kolkata, India, March 31, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

"Beyond its immediate health impact, the pandemic is putting older people at greater risk of poverty, discrimination and isolation. It is likely to have a particularly devastating impact on older people in developing countries," said the secretary-general.

"As an older person myself, with responsibility for an even older mother, I am deeply concerned about the pandemic on a personal level, and about its effects on our communities and societies," he said.

"Our response to COVID-19 must respect the rights and dignity of older people," the UN chief added.

A woman wearing mask is seen in Jerusalem's Old City amid coronavirus epidemic on March 27, 2020. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

The secretary-general also called on the international community not to treat older people as "invisible or powerless."

"To get through this pandemic together, we need a surge in global and national solidarity and the contributions of all members of society, including older people," said the UN chief.

"As we look to recover better, we will need ambition and vision to build more inclusive, sustainable and age-friendly societies that are fit for the future," he said. 
It is not only how other countries have managed coronavirus that will determine future travel plans (Travel wings clipped until next year, April 26). By giving a credit voucher and not a refund, airlines are squeezing those who had booked and paid to travel this year. The benefit is all for the airline. These time-limited coupons have other conditions and, in the shrunken economy that awaits on the other side of the coronavirus hiatus, many travellers will not be able to afford a postponed overseas trip or will be physically unable to travel and so will lose what they paid for but did not receive. Payments made for future travel is not the airlines' money  these funds are held in trust  and should be returned to customers when the currently scheduled travel does not take place. Maurice Critchley, Kenthurst Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: Exercise some common sense There are plenty of articles about how Australians are highly supportive of the government's safety measures and also warning about complacency, for example the excessive use of the Bay Run by people exercising (''Alarm bells resound over close encounters of the herd kind'', April 26).

Everywhere I see people using caution  physical distancing, hand-washing, restrictions of numbers in shops and work sites. No one is complaining, everyone is doing it. However the public will complain when they perceive double standards and hypocrisy, and they will start to ignore the government. There are fewer people in the Bay Run photo published than I pass on the footpath every time I have to go to the supermarket in Lane Cove. Fewer people than on the construction sites that are so essential to our economy. Fewer than I saw doing 'essential' shopping at Bunnings this week. Everyone knows we have done a great job lowering the number of community virus cases, and everyone is still willing to follow the rules, but no-one can see why exercising with social distancing is not acceptable, but shopping with social distancing is. The government needs to bring us on the journey, not clamp down with a heavy hand. Giles Parker, Riverview New terms for schools, teachers

In the investigation into COVID cases linked with NSW schools researchers found ''an extraordinarily low rate of transmissions in schools" ('Schools declared safe zones'', April 26). Why is that extraordinary? Schools have largely been closed for many weeks. Back in 1919, at the time of the Spanish flu, our schools were closed for a whole term (and there was no online teaching then). Most children are resilient and can cope with missing a term of school  in fact they, like us all, are now getting another sort of education in this crisis. If schools are to re-open on May 11, it would make sense to start by allowing only year 12 students, children from disadvantaged situations and children of parents working in essential services to attend. Ruth Holmes, Crows Nest It has always amused me as a teacher that as soon as we take a stand we are accused of not caring about the children we teach and being union focused in the way we operate in schools. The fact that our Prime Minister has gone down this track to get his point across is even more concerning. The current debate regarding full or partial return to school is highlighting the wide-ranging concerns at all levels of the argument. My understanding of WorkCover rules is that the workplace needs to be safe  at all costs. Schools are important in the community return to normality. One thing this crisis has shown us is that human interaction is vital in the education process. Ensuring safety for all employees and providing personal protective equipment will ensure all teachers feel safe as they return to full-time, face-to-face teaching as soon as possible. Robert Mulas, Corlette Private schools are businesses Before any private school refunds fees to parents, it should refund its government funding first (Private schools give fee rebates to parents asking for COVID-19 relief, April 26). Taxes owed, which are the equivalent of public funds, take precedence over all other claims against private businesses. Private schools are private businesses. Or will the Liberal government yet again display their hypocrisy by showing that they only care about private schools? David McMaster, Mosman Lette the sun shine in
Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama, lawyer Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, has described as a mere speculation reports that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is struggling to select a Running Mate for the 2020 general elections.



According to him, John Dramani Mahama has already settled on the person who will be his Running Mate for this year's general elections.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe indicated that "it (selecting a running mate) was the easiest decision for former President John Dramani Mahama to choose his running mate. It is not true at all that we are struggling to come out with our running mate. He has already chosen someone for the 2020 general elections."



Explaining why he cannot disclose the identity of the person, Lawyer Edudzi Tamakloe said it is not for him to announce the name of the person that his boss [John Mahama] has chosen for that enviable position.



 . . but it is not for me to announce the name of the person the former President Mahama has chosen for that position. I have my limitations to the things I can say in public and things that I have to wait for the right person to announce to the public," he clearly stated.



If the former President mentions his running mate to the public, people will know that he has chosen the best, Ghanaians and especially the NPP will know that we have the men unlike what we are seeing in the NPP, he chided.



He, however, intimated that the main concern of the opposition NDC is to assist the Akufo-Addo government to win the COOVID-19 fight as the country is at war, even though the sitting President is taking undue advantage of the global pandemic to launch his re-election.



In any case, as we speak today, the country is at the war front and as far as the NDC is concerned, we are in agreement with the President to work together to fight the new coronavirus pandemic, he indicated.



I Know My Running Mate - Mahama



Leader of the largest opposition NDC, Thursday night told Ghanaians that the world is in the midst of a pandemic and that makes it difficult to get on the radar and outdoor his running mate.



In the second edition of his Live digital conversation, Mr Mahama said: "I have a firm idea who I want my running mate to be and well name him at the appropriate time.



He added that his team is within the schedule to put out the name of who hell be working closely in the Flagstaff House as his Vice President should he get the nod in the upcoming elections.



Mr Mahama in recent times has been asked who will share his ticket in this years polls.



But he puts it more bluntly in response to speculations that hes most likely to be sweating in the selection of a candidate to partner him, saying hes on track and not behind time.



Mr Mahama has however indicated that the search is over and after consultations with the National Executive Committee and the Council of Elders hell name his running mate shortly.





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The serviceman was rushed to a hospital and provided with medical assistance.

Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters (JFO HQ) has said one Ukrainian soldier has sustained a shrapnel wound, as Russia's hybrid military forces dropped a grenade launcher fragmentation round, using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), on JF positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.

Read alsoUkraine reports 15 enemy attacks in Donbas on April 30

"Today, on May 2, the Russian-occupying forces once again fired at our defenders near the village of Hnutove. The enemy dropped a VOG-17 fragmentation round from an unmanned aerial vehicle on Joint Forces positions," the JFO HQ wrote on Facebook on May 2.

As a result of a grenade rupture, a soldier received a shrapnel wound. He was rushed to a hospital and provided with medical assistance.

"Such insidious actions of the enemy did not go unpunished. The invaders received an adequate response from the Ukrainian defenders. Losses among enemy forces are being verified," the report said.
The Holiday Guru is always on call to answer your questions.

This week coronavirus-related queries include British Airways' rebooking policy, claiming money back on travel insurance and rights surrounding a 'non-refundable' deposit on a holiday lodge in Scotland.

Q. We have paid for a trip to Kenya in July, booking hotels and British Airways flights separately. The hotel says we can go in 2021 instead. Can we change flights?

Karen Grace, via email.

A reader asks the Holiday Guru for advice on how to postpone their BA flights to Kenya

A. BA is offering customers online vouchers for flights before July 31. You may then rebook up to 355 days in advance for up to two years. For a refund, wait until your flight is cancelled, then call 0800 727 800.

Q. Is it legal for a travel firm to say in its terms and conditions that it will not abide by the Package Travel Regulations during a force majeure?

Andy Brockhurst, via email.

A. The Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) still legally apply, says the consumer group Which? So refunds should be made within 14 days of a cancellation.

Q. I cannot get a refund for my cancelled Ryanair flight. Any advice?

Tracey Snell, via email.

A. Ryanair says customers will be refunded once this crisis is over, despite EU law stating customers are entitled to refunds within seven days. Either wait, or accept a voucher (if you use Ryanair often).

Q. I paid a 100 non-refundable deposit on a holiday lodge in Scotland. Can I now get this back?

Lorraine Hastie, via email.

The Holiday Guru helps another reader with a query about a 'non-refundable' deposit on a holiday lodge in Scotland

A. Yes. The Consumer Contracts Regulations (2013) say you are due a refund within 14 days.

Q. What about my travel insurance  can I get money back?

Barbara Unsworth, via email.

A. Yes you should be able to get a refund, provided the insurance was bought before travel restrictions came into effect.

WERE HERE TO HELP

If you need advice, the Holiday Guru is here to answer your questions. Please send questions to holidayplanner@dailymail.co.uk  and include your contact details.
Desperate businesses battling to survive the Covid-19 crisis were given a glimmer of hope yesterday as the City watchdog vowed to take insurance companies to court.

Insurers have come under fire for refusing to pay out claims to companies which have been devastated by the lockdown.

In an unprecedented move, the Financial Conduct Authority said it plans to resolve this as quickly as possible  by putting some of the insurance policies in front of a judge.

Court threat: Insurers have come under fire for refusing to pay out claims to companies which have been devastated by the lockdown

Christopher Woolard, interim chief executive of the FCA, said the decisive action is appropriate given the severity of the potential consequences for customers.

Most business interruption policies only cover more common hazards which can put a firm out of action, such as fire and flooding.

But some specifically promise to cover disruption caused by infectious disease or pandemics.

Despite this, insurance companies are wriggling out of paying claims, in some cases arguing that Covid-19 is not covered as it is a new disease, or that the impact of the Government lockdown is not included in the policy.

Lloyds of London insurer Hiscox, FTSE 100 giant RSA, French firm Axa and Australias QBE are among the firms under fire.

Their refusal to pay up has left many businesses on the brink, particularly when many have also been unable to secure Government-backed emergency loans from their bank.

The FCA said it intends to present a judge with a sample of the most frequently used policy wordings from a range of different insurers which are giving rise to uncertainty.

Insurance companies are already facing class-action lawsuits from furious businesses.

More than 300 firms have joined the Hiscox Action Group, while hospitality firms, including restaurants, bars and nightclubs, have been invited to join the Hospitality Insurance Action Group which was launched on Wednesday.

Both operations are being run by law firm Mishcon de Reya.

Lawyers have seized on Hiscox policy documents which promise to cover the inability to use the insured premises due to restrictions imposed by a public authority that was caused by an occurrence of a human infection or human contagion disease, an outbreak of which must be notified to the local authority.

Hiscox has rejected claims, telling firms the cover only applies when there is an incident within a one mile radius of the insured building.

It has also told firms suffering during the lockdown that these types of events are simply too large and too systemic for private insurers to underwrite.

Huw Evans, director general of the Association of British Insurers, said: We support any process that will provide clarity and certainty for the minority of customers who are disputing whether they should be covered.
Shaheed El Hafed, 2 May 2020 (SPS) - Sahrawi President Brahim Ghali affirmed Friday that Algerias continued solidarity with the Sahrawi people confirms its efforts to defend the peoples right to existence, freedom and independence.



Algeria has always sought to ban violence in its circle, setting itself up as a model of loyalty and generosity, as witnessed by its positions of unchanging principles in all circumstances, President Ghali told the press, while welcoming the Algerian delegation of solidarity, led by Minister of National Solidarity, Family and Womens Affairs Kaoutar Krikou, accompanied by head of the Algerian Red Crescent (CRA) Saida Benhabiles.



On this occasion, Sahrawi President affirmed that it is a source of pride for the Sahrawi people to have the camps of pride and dignity on the Algerian soil which expressed from the beginning its support to this people.



This exceptional day of solidarity comes to place the two peoples in the same camp for the same objectives, confirmed by the rooted strong relations, principles and common destiny, added Secretary General of the Polisario Front, pointing out that this is the conviction of all the Sahrawi people in the camps of pride and dignity.



He welcomed the efforts made by the Algerian people and government to support the oppressed peoples, notably in period of crisis, extending his thanks to the officials who supervised the delivery of this aid to their Sahrawi brothers. (SPS)



062/SPS/APS
Posted on May 1, 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.

The coronavirus pandemic reached the grim milestone of more than 1 million people in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 by late April, as some states slowly began easing rules on businesses and stay-at-home restrictions.

But as protests against state restrictions on businesses increase, a misleading social media post falsely claims some big-box stores  which have been allowed to stay open throughout the pandemic  have reported no cases of the disease among their employees. It questions why smaller businesses are still not allowed to open.

The content of the post, which has been shared widely on Facebook, is wrong on several points.

First, it claims that even with hundreds of thousands of employees, interacting with thousands of customers, at Walmart, Amazon, Kroger (misspelled Kroeger in the post), Target, and Costco (misspelled Cosco in the post), these companies have not had any reported cases in the news.

This is false. There have been news reports about infections and deaths from COVID-19 at stores in these chains throughout the U.S.

Two employees at a Walmart in Chicago died from the disease, according to an April 6 article in the Washington Post. A Walmart in Colorado had eight employees with confirmed cases, including two who died, when it was closed by local authorities on April 24, Bloomberg reported. Four employees at a Walmart in North Las Vegas tested positive, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on April 8.

Video: 23 workers test positive for COVID-19 at Walmart in Massachusetts

Amazon announced on April 14 that one of its employees had died from the disease, Forbes reported. And at least 74 Amazon warehouses had reported infected workers by mid-April, the Washington Post reported.

Employees at Target stores in Illinois and Michigan have tested positive for coronavirus, according to local news outlets.

A Costco employee in Texas died from COVID-19, Fox Business reported on April 10, and two employees at Costco stores in Henderson, Nevada, tested positive, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on March 31.

The viral post also claims that none of these companies have closed stores because of COVID-19  but that is also false. As noted above, a Walmart in Colorado was forced to close by local authorities after multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19. Amazon also shut down a warehouse indefinitely in Kentucky after three workers tested positive in March.

The post then claims that despite the purported lack of closures at the large retail chains, all of a sudden all the meat packing plants are closing and small business are still not allowed to open. None of this makes any sense at all

This characterization is not accurate, either.

Of the nations 2,700 slaughterhouses, 13 meatpacking and food processing plants ceased operations over the past two months after employees tested positive for COVID-19. Some of these closures were temporary to clean facilities and test employees. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on April 28 designating meat processing plants critical infrastructure in order to reopen or keep the facilities operating.

In addition, as some states gradually lift restrictions implemented to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, they have permitted some small businesses to reopen. Its also worth noting that essential small businesses like local grocery stores, hardware stores and daycare centers have been permitted to remain open even during stay-at-home orders.

Editors note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.




To determine Trumps highest and lowest approval ratings by state, Stacker mined data from The State of the Nation: A 50-state COVID-19 Survey and The COVID Tracking Project.

This article was first published on Stacker
Clint Eastwood in the cat-and-mouse thriller In the Line of Fire (Sunday, ITV4, 10pm)

Wednesday: Sunshine on Leith (2013) Film4, 4.50p.m.

Davy (George MacKay) and best mate Ally (Kevin Guthrie) return home to Leith after a roadside explosive kills one of their band of brothers during a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Ally falls into the arms of his girlfriend Liz (Freya Mavor), who is Davy's sister, while Davy kindles romance with Liz's best friend, Yvonne (Antonia Thomas).

Ally buys a ring, intending to go down on bended knee at the forthcoming 25th anniversary party of Davy and Liz's parents, Rab (Peter Mullan) and Jean (Jane Horrocks), but a dark secret threatens to tear the family apart.

Adapted from Stephen Greenhorn's critically acclaimed 2007 stage musical, Sunshine on Leith is an unabashedly feel-good tale of friendship and loyalty that draws inspiration from the songbook of Charlie and Craig Reid, aka The Proclaimers.

Thursday

Lincoln (2012) Film4, 9 p.m.

January 1865. Two months have passed since the re-election of Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis): the American Civil War rages on for a fourth year and the president's thoughts turn to the highly contentious slavery bill.

Secretary of State William H Seward (David Strathairn) counsels against the motion, but Lincoln is adamant the Bill must be passed before the end of the war. Meanwhile the president contends with the mood swings of his emotionally fragile wife (Sally Field).

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln artfully tears a page from history to immortalise the efforts of the 16th president of the United States to abolish slavery during a period of deep division.

Oscar winner Day-Lewis leads the terrific ensemble cast in style, internalising his statesman's maelstrom of emotions.

Friday

The Full Monty (1997) BBC1, 10.45p.m.

Two unemployed Sheffield steelworkers (Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy) fear they've been cast on the scrap heap, until they come up with an idea to raise some cash - stripping. They cast around for other unlikely exotic dancers to join their troupe, but even once they're up to full strength, six packs and dancing ability are in short supply.

So how can they compete with polished groups like the Chippendales? By offering something different - full frontal nudity. There's a reason this modest British film became a surprise international smash. It's a funny, charming and heart-warming comedy that will have you cheering the unlikely strippers on.

Saturday

Monsters vs Aliens (2009) BBC1, 2.15p.m.

A green, glowing meteorite lands on Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) causing her to grow to an impressive 49ft 11in tall. Susan is herded to a secure military facility where she meets fellow captives including brilliant inventor Dr Cockroach PhD (Hugh Laurie), half-ape half-fish The Missing Link (Will Arnett), indestructible gelatinous mass BOB (Seth Rogen) and a 350-foot-long grub called Insectosaurus.

When megalomaniac alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) plots to destroy mankind, President Hathaway (Stephen Colbert) issues an executive order to free the monsters and set them upon the invader from another planet.

Monsters vs Aliens is a blast from its eye-popping start to uproarious finish, peppered with cute visual gags.

Sunday

In the Line of Fire (1993) ITV4, 10p.m.

Secret service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood) is still haunted by his failure to save JFK. Thirty years later, a CIA-trained assassin (John Malkovich) torments Frank, telling him he's going to kill the US President, and wants the ageing agent to try and foil his plan. Everyone thinks Frank is losing the plot - until disaster looks set to strike in Dallas.

Eastwood and Malkovich are at their acting best in this edge-of-your-seat cat-and-mouse thriller from director Wolfgang Petersen.

Taking a break from being behind the camera (his previous venture was the massively successful Unforgiven), this is certainly one of Clint's most exciting projects and the man who usually plays mean and moody characters delivers a rare degree of warmth to his role.
Industries would get a major fillip from May 4 with most state governments deciding to do away with the condition that an industry owner will be booked if a worker tests positive for Covid-19 and permitting to transport goods, said officials in multiple states.

According to government estimates, not more than 5% of the industries started operations after April 20, when they were allowed to operate for the first time since the lockdown started on March 24.

Factory owners cited tough Covid-19 conditions for not opening factories.

The two conditions of concern for them were booking of factory owners for Covid-19 cases in their factories and mandatory in-situ boarding facilities for workers. Some factory owners have also complained of trucks carrying good being stopped on highways by the police.

On Thursday, the Union home ministry issued a guideline exempting permits for all transport vehicles, which factory owners see as a major relief from harassment on roads. As per the guideline, police cannot check these vehicles during the lockdown.

State government officials said on Friday the new industry guidelines to be issued in the next two days would see major relaxation in the norms for green and orange zones.

In green and orange zones, the industries would be almost back to normal, said a government official.

The officials, however, said industries could be allowed in red zones with tough conditions but not in the containment zones.

Uttar Pradeshs industrial development minister, Satish Mahana, said industry owners have been told that no first information report (FIR) will be lodged against them in case an employee tests positive for coronavirus. We have also proposed to some more relaxations for the industry, Mahana said.

A Rajasthan government official said they have told industry owners to scan workers and no punitive action will be taken against them, if a worker tests positive. We have told factory owners to maintain an everyday health record of workers, the official, who was not willing to be named, said.

A government official in Maharashtra said they have assured industry owners that they will not need any permission from the district collectors to operate, including for vehicles to bring workers and transportation of goods. Only 5% of total industries creating employment for 130,000 workers have started operations.

The states principal secretary (industries) Venugopal Reddy said, The government is trying to maximise the re-opening of industries and reduce the hurdles. The spread in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune Metropolitan Region has been very high which has caused major problems in the industrial sector.

Just 1.5% of the 252,000 industries resumed operations in Punjab, the most industrialised state in northern India.

As there are issues related to supply chain, demand and working capital due to the nationwide lockdown, it is not as though everyone is getting back to work, Vini Mahajan, additional chief secretary (ACS), industries and commerce, said.

She said since this is a calibrated sort of opening up, one of the issues flagged by the industry owner is that cottage and tiny units located in urban areas should also be allowed to resume.

In Himachal Pradesh, where the industries are mostly on the borders of Punjab and Haryana, factory owners want the government to allow inter-state travel of workers.

This is just shifting of the virtual borders and solve the dual purpose of making manpower available to the industry as well as containing the spread of Covid-19 in Himachal, Shailesh Pathak, chairperson of Confederation of Indian Industrys Himachal Pradesh chapter, said.

The state government would take all necessary steps for smooth movement of workforce besides strengthening the supply chain of raw material and furnished goods from the industries, said chief minister Jairam Thakur.

Pankaj Kumar, national president, Indian Industries Association, said if the government is able to address major concerns of the industry then from coming Monday (May 4) onwards there would be a resumption of some industrial activity.

Most states have withdrawn the FIR clause in the guideline. But the availability of workers, who are not returning, will remain, said he said.

The industry owners are seeking no penalty for delay in completing the projects, waiving fixed energy charges and minimum charges for lockdown period and relaxation in norms for paying provident fund and other benefits to workers.

However, many states such as West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha are waiting for the central government guidelines to give a fillip to factories to resume operations.

We are waiting for detailed guidelines from the Union government on relaxations after May 3, an official of the West Bengal government, who was not willing to be named, said.

Once that happens, he said, the state will give more relaxation to industries. Only about half of 5452 applications in the state has got permission to run factories and only 25 of the 100 major jute mills have been allowed to run with 15% of workers.

(With inputs from state bureaus)

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Due the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of global events are being postponed. Among the events expected to be postponed is Expo 2020 Dubai. Following its meeting yesterday, the Federal Council has confirmed Switzerlands participation in this major event, which is now expected to be held in 2021.

In light of this, the council has instructed Presence Switzerland at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to continue preparations for the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai with a new budgetary framework.

The Executive Committee of the Bureau International des Expositions requested at its meeting on April 21 that member states postpone Expo for a year. The proposal is expected to be adopted before the end of May.

Manuel Salchi, commissioner general of the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, said: I am happy to announce that Switzerland confirmed its presence at the Expo 2020 Dubai in 2021 and joins the consensus in favour of the postponement in solidarity with the organizer and all participants. We herewith reaffirm our strong commitment to the success of Expo 2020 Dubai.

In spite of these postponements, which also entail additional costs for Switzerland, the Federal Council views such large-scale events as an opportunity to position Switzerland and promote its economy, particularly during the post-Covid-19 phase. The council has therefore approved the additional related costs. - TradeArabia News Service
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry continue to bring disgrace to the royal family after they chose to disrespect Queen Elizabeth II.

Meghan and Prince Harry pushed through Megxit last March 31, and they are currently staying in Los Angeles with their 11-month-old son Archie.

Although they are trying to keep a low profile for now amid the coronavirus pandemic, they still chose to ignore Queen Elizabeth II's command to stop using their Sussex Royal website starting Spring 2020.

The website remains active one month after their departure despite Her Majesty's ban and their previous statement that they would no longer use their Sussex Royal name.

"While the Duke and Duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word royal, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation, when it is announced this spring, will not be named Sussex Royal Foundation," a spokesperson of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in February.

The representative added that the trademark applications that were submitted as part of protective measures for theSussex brand had been cancelled.

Up until now, however, the Sussex Royal website flashes the same message that the couple would no longer use the world "royal" in any of their endeavors -- be it in the U.K. or any territory outside the reign of the monarchy.

Aside from the website, their Instagram account with over 11 million followers is still up. Nonetheless, they posted their last update on it at the end of March, just before they officially became non-working royals.

A line from their final post on the account reads: "As we all find the part we are to play in this global shift and changing of habits, we are focusing this new chapter to understand how we can best contribute. While you may not see us here, the work continues."

Prince Harry, Meghan Slammed For New Venture

Last month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex unveiled the name of their next venture "Archewell" after it was leaked by the media.

"Like you, our focus is on supporting efforts to tackle the global COVID-19 pandemic but faced with this information coming to light, we felt compelled to share the story of how this came to be," the Sussex couple told the Telegraph.

Once again, they mentioned Sussex Royal on their statement before explaining where the word "Archewell" came from.

Because of what could be considered as blatant disobedience towards Queen Elizabeth II, a lot of royal watchers called them out and refused to support their new project. The fact that they also released the news amid the ongoing health crisis led to more criticisms.

As part of the upcoming official launch of their new non-profit organization, express.co.uk conducted a poll in April wherein they asked whether the people care about Meghan and Harry's new plan.

One royal watcher commented: "This pair become increasingly irrelevant as each day passes."

"Don't care at all. Can we stop now? Can we forget about them and just ignore them? Please?" another one wrote.

It is still unclear whether the royal couple will succeed in their future plans, but only Prince Harry and Meghan can make their new lives either better or worse.
The Head of the Food and Drug Administration of Iran said he has no doubts about the second and even third waves of the coronavirus hitting the country later this year, Tasnim news agency reports.

In comments on Saturday, Mohammadreza Shanesaz said the second and third wave of COVID-19 are inevitable and will take place undoubtedly.

He said while worries about another peak in spring have been allayed considering the good preventive measures across the country, there are serious concerns about a new wave of the coronavirus in autumn.

The best approach to containing the viral disease is still observing personal hygiene and complying with social distancing regulations, he added.

Shanesaz further pointed to the difficult and laborious process of making a vaccine for COVID-19 considering the complicated nature of the virus, saying Iran is among the top countries conducting research in this field.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the Health Ministry and the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology to focus efforts on the development of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

On Saturday, the Health Ministry spokesperson said 80 percent of the coronavirus positive cases in the country have fully recovered from the infectious disease and left the hospital.
Move comes a day after Centre divided districts into red, orange and green zones.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has allowed the reopening of certain shops selling non-essential commodities outside the Covid-19 hotspots in rural areas of the state during the lockdown period.

Shops selling construction material, bricks, cement, sand, iron bars, hardware and mobile repairing shops located outside coronavirus hotspots in rural areas will be allowed to do business while strictly adhering to the norms of social distancing and other guidelines issued by the Centre, Chief Secretary RK Tiwari said.

The chief secretary Friday evening issued directions to all the divisional commissioners, district magistrates, DIGs, senior superintendents of police, superintendents of police and the police commissioners of Lucknow and Gautam Buddh Nagar in this regard.

The centre had announced on Friday that a "limited" lockdown which includes suspension of air, train and inter-state road travel will continue to remain in force for two more weeks from May 4 across the country, but some activities would be allowed after classifications of districts into 'Red', 'Orange' and 'Green' zones based on Covid-19 risk profiling.
Bengaluru, May 2 : A Karnataka IAS officer, Mohammed Mohsin, has been ordered to explain in writing about a tweet he shot off, praising Tabligi Jamaat participants and detracting a section of the media, an official said on Saturday.

"The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note seriously by the government given the serious nature of Covid issue and the sensitivities involved," said G. Shyama Holla, Under Secretary, Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms to Mohsin.

Holla issued the order in the name of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Thursday.

According to Holla, Mohsin tweeted on Monday saying, "More than 300 Tablighi heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about #Godi Media? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes." In the same order, the state government has also informed Mohsin, currently secretary of Backward Classes Welfare Department, that it also took note of his tweet.

"You are therefore directed to show cause in writing within five days from today (Thursday) as to why this should not be construed as violation of Rule 7 of All India Service (Conduct) Rules, 1968," said Holla.

He also demanded why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him according to the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969.

In the event of Mohsin not replying in writing, Holla said it will be presumed that he does not have a defence to offer for his tweet and action will be taken against him as mandated by the rules.

Earlier, Mohsin was embroiled in another controversy during the parliamentary elections when he ordered to check Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chopper as an election observer.
Passengers get off a Monday American Airlines flight airplane after they landed at Los Angeles International Airport. Airlines are going to start requiring passengers wear masks. Read more

Take a flight, wear a mask.

All major U.S. airlines have joined JetBlue in requiring passengers to wear face coverings, and most are also mandating that flight attendants and other employees wear masks while working to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

JetBlue, United and Delta will begin the rule May 4. Southwest, Alaska and American are requiring masks starting May 11.

Most of the airlines that have announced the mask rules have cited the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions findings that the use of cloth masks or face coverings slows the spread of the virus, which causes COVID-19.

At American Airlines, requiring a face covering is one more way we can protect those on our aircraft, said Kurt Stache, senior vice president of customer experience.

The nations largest flight attendants union, representing more than 50,000 members on 20 airlines, has been pushing carriers to make masks mandatory for passengers and crew members, as well as other employees who deal directly with the public.

Were happy to see airlines taking action to require masks or face coverings for passengers, crew and other front-line employees, said Sara Nelson, president of the Assn. of Flight Attendants.

For passengers who forget to bring a mask to the airport, United, American, Southwest and Delta said it will make face masks available free.

Several airlines, including Alaska, American, Delta and Spirit, are also keeping the middle seats in the cabin empty.

Since mid-March, demand for air travel in the U.S. has fallen 96%, leaving domestic flights carrying an average of only 15 to 20 passengers, according to Airlines for America, the trade group for the countrys carriers.

The decline has struck a severe financial blow to the nations airlines that were enjoying record or near-record profits only a few months ago.

American Airlines reported this week losing $2.2 billion in the first three months of the year, with United reporting a $1.7 billion drop in revenue and Delta reporting a loss of $534 million in the same period. To continue to operate, most of the major carriers have applied for and received grants and loans from federal CARES Act or have raised capital through loans or other credit mechanisms.

Airlines that accept CARES Act funding are required to continue to provide minimum service to the same destinations as before the crisis, but already several airlines have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for exemptions to that rule.

The airlines taking federal money also agreed not make involuntary furloughs or reduce hourly pay. United is reducing the number of hours employees work each week, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg, which said full-time weekly schedules will shrink to 30 hours from 40, starting May 24.

Delta and JetBlue also plan to reduce worker schedules. Workers unions contend that the reduction in hours violates the CARES act rules.

There are signs that passenger demand is inching up. The Transportation Security Administration reported that the number of passengers screened at U.S. airports last week was only about 5% or 6% of the same totals a year ago, but the daily totals are increasing  from about 111,000 on Tuesday, up to about 120,000 on Wednesday and nearly 155,000 on Thursday.
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Conflicting advice from rival health officials to shell-shocked politicians, shortages of pandemic supplies, and a sluggish start are largely to blame for Ontarios failings on COVID-19 testing, the Star has determined.

Three weeks after a frustrated Premier Doug Ford vowed to process as many as 19,000 tests daily by the end of April, the province is struggling to achieve anywhere close to that amount in a patchwork system of public, hospital and commercial labs.

Targets have been all over the map.

On March 30, associate Ontario medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said 19,000 could be reached by mid-April, a level repeated by others. That goal was then adjusted to 14,000 by this past Wednesday when just 11,554 were done.

While the government touted a sudden surge in testing that saw 16,532 conducted Thursday  leading Ford to say Friday that now we just have to continue moving forward on that  no one is willing to predict when 19,000 will be achieved.

Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer for health, said 19,000 tests daily is not necessary the top end in Ontario, but thats the target we are going for right now.

This even as Ford prepares to start reopening businesses amid experts concerns there is not enough testing to properly track an invisible and deadly virus that can be spread by people with no symptoms.

Even the number of 19,000 tests per day is entirely incompatible with the premiers wish to open up the province safely. Its a recipe for disaster if he does that, said University of Ottawa epidemiologist Amir Attaran, who is calling for 100,000 tests daily.

It has been said by every serious scientist that it is of considerable importance to have testing capacity prior to considering an opening and it remains a problem, he said.

There can simply be no excuse for this.

Attaran noted that Germany, a nation of 83 million, can test 900,000 people a week  triple the entire number of tests Ontario has performed since the first COVID-19 case came to the province in January.

Ontario has improved and, among the larger provinces, is now second to Alberta and ahead of British Columbia and Quebec in daily tests per 100,000 in population.

But only about 2 per cent of Ontarios 14.5-million people have actually been tested and Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, has said the country needs to triple the amount of tests being done.

New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath said the slow progress undermines public confidence that the countrys most populous province is on the right track.

Its not entirely clear why Ontario has failed to ramp up testing to promised levels, because the premiers story keeps changing, said Horwath, noting the cumulative shortfalls mean at least 100,000 tests been forgone.

Some days hes blamed a global supply shortage for reagent. Other days he told us we have everything we need. Much of this is a discussion for the inquiry that must follow the pandemic, but ultimately the buck stops with Ford, she said.

The provincial measurements have also been changed from people tested to swabs tested, muddying the picture given that more than one swab can be performed on each person.

Ford himself lost patience April 8, sounding off during his daily news conference at Queens Park.

What is  absolutely unacceptable are the numbers of testing that were doing. I may not understand health, but what people understand around this province, and what I understand, are numbers, he fumed as just 3,000 tests were being processed each day.

In ordering an immediate ramp-up, the premier appeared to fire a rocket at Williams and other public health officials.

There had been resistance to testing larger numbers due to reported random shortages of nasal swabs and chemical reagents, with a backlog in early March leaving people waiting as long as two weeks for results, blocking an up-to-date picture of the virus as critical decisions were being made.

In particular, public health officials had resisted widespread testing in nursing homes, where COVID-19 eventually caught fire and is now responsible for a 25 per cent increase in hospital admissions in the last two weeks and three-quarters of COVID-19 deaths in the province. That testing is now finally being done.

Williams, who is independent of political interference, shrugged off Fords criticism that day.

I didnt see it as taking (us) to the woodshed, myself, he told reporters later.

We were working on it and when the premier joined our command (table)  to make some comments and ask some questions, it was right along the line of what we were doing. Its nice when youre exactly on the same direction as the premier.

This week  with fewer than 13,000 tests being completed most days  Ford insisted the testing was close enough to the target, but conceded we want to continue to expand these tests to the absolute maximum.

As Im being held accountable, were all going to be held accountable. And the health team as well.

Ford has confided to associates that he was surprised at the differing advice offered by health experts, and by what he has privately called a rats nest of medical politics in a complex system divided into silos.

Asked this week why the targets of 14,000 and 19,000 have not been met, Williams said more tests in nursing homes (where 25 per cent of residents had been tested as of Wednesday), child care centres, other congregate settings and in assessment centres will help.

That will continue to push the numbers higher, he said, stressing that testing must be ramped up carefully so that the lab system does not get swamped again, clouding the picture at a crucial time.

I think well get there. I hope we dont push it over the top but were going to do our best to utilize that capacity as best as possible.

Yaffe said officials are considering serology tests, in which blood samples reveal whether a person has COVID-19 antibodies.

If we could find a good serology test, that would be the best way, I think, to look at how many people have been exposed to this infection, she said, noting more people without symptoms should be tested with deep nasal swabs providing they consent to the procedure some find uncomfortable and call brain ticklers.

We need to start looking at that in addition to the targeted testing were doing.

There has not always been unanimity at high levels on the best paths to follow, one insider told the Star.

Youre around a table with some very smart people and some very big egos, so naturally there are going to be some passionate disagreements on the (public health) strategy, said a senior Progressive Conservative privy to the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

Another high-ranking Conservative official, who is growing impatient with the pace of progress at Queens Park, said, Dr. David Williams is running the government.

Theres nothing wrong with taking the advice of public health officials, but at a certain point political leaders have to make decisions, said the Tory insider, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

A third Conservative stressed the testing woes arent Dougs fault, but have been exacerbated by conflicting medical advice from rival factions in the health sector.

The models were wrong and as a result a lot of the actions taken have been off. Its a global issue  not just here  but we have been slow on long-term care (homes), where most of the deaths are happening, said the third Tory, pointing to modelling projections that predicted far more infections than have transpired while still failing to detect the tragic trend in nursing homes.

Fords political opponents are far less charitable.

Its unacceptable that testing is as low as it has been, and we need to ramp up quickly if we have any hope of safely reopening the economy in the coming weeks, said Horwath.

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca also warned more testing needs to be done, along with better procurement of critical supplies, which did not appear to become a priority until too late.

Why we arent we fully utilizing our community labs potential testing capacity? This is not a time for partisanship, but it is simply not good enough for the premier to have expressed impatience and then pass the buck to others, Del Duca said.

Weve heard from doctors and public health experts that the government began receiving warnings in January. Its unclear what, if anything, they did with that information.

As the Star has reported, Ontario was caught short when it became apparent COVID-19 was headed this way and posed a serious threat.

Recognizing the problem, Dr. Vanessa Allen, chief microbiologist at Public Health Ontario, took it upon herself to reach out to hospital and private labs for help in processing a pending backlog that would last until early April.

Without that foresight, and the purchase of new processing machines, Ontario would be even further behind.

The testing system expanded by Allen now involves public health labs across the province.

It is a remarkable achievement, this network that has been built, said Travis Kann, director of communications for Health Minister Christine Elliott. These things take years to build but this has been done in weeks.

In a statement to the Star, Allen said procurement of swabs and reagent remains a key part of the effort in competition with jurisdictions around the world to ensure that testing continues.

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, opened February 9, 2020 and was suspended by MoMAs closure March 30 due to COVID-19. An online version of the exhibition opened April 30 and can be seen here: Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures.

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.Dorothea Lange

With more than 30 million people having filed for unemployment in the US in the six weeks since the outbreak of the coronavirus, images of thousands standing in line wearing masks or lining up in their cars at food banks in cities from New York to Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and San Antonio, Texas are often compared to the photographs of Dorothea Lange (18951965).

Even those unfamiliar with Lange by name may recognize Migrant Mother (1936), a photograph of the anxious yet forbearing face of a farm woman with her children, which continues to be the emblematic image of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression of the 1930s.

Dorothea Lange. Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California. March 1936. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

By coincidence, the first major exhibition of Langes work at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 50 years opened in February, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, eventually forcing the museum to shut down in March, along with the rest of public institutions and businesses in New York City. Although more limited than the actual exhibition, the online presentation allows one to appreciate Langes extraordinary, yet often overlooked, achievement.

In addition to her main body of work documenting the plight of farm workers in the 1930s, the online exhibition includes examples of her early portraits, street photography, and photographs taken on trips to the Middle East and Indonesia toward the end of her life. It also displays American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion (1939), which pairs Langes photographs with direct quotes of the subjects themselves as she had always intended.

And it includes her extraordinary photographs exposing the brutal incarceration of 117,000 innocent Japanese American men, women and children in internment camps after the US entry into World War IIphotos that were censored by the Wartime Civil Control Agency until after the war. Lange herself was denied access to her own negatives until the 1960s, shortly before her death.

Japanese-American children pledging allegiance to American flag at the Weill public school, San Francisco, 1942

Lange took her photos from 193539 working as part of a team assembled by economist and agrarian reformer, Paul Taylor (soon-to-be Langes second husband) for the Farm Security Agency (FSA) under the US Department of Agriculture. This partially explains why she was not better known, at least in her lifetime. Her photos were rarely published outside of reports, and even when they were, they were often not attributed to her by name. Even Langes negatives remained US government property.

Part of President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, the FSAs purpose was not to employ artists to create art, like the Works Progress Administrations arts program. Rather, it was charged with documenting conditions of migrant farm workers and advocating for camps to house the million refugees collectively called Okies who had flooded into central California not just from Oklahoma, but from across the Great Plains and Southwest states to escape the environmental disaster known as the Dust Bowl.

Coming on the heels of the Depression, set off by the 1929 collapse of the stock market, the Dust Bowl was caused by the worst series of droughts, heat waves and windstorms in US history. Ecologically disastrous farming methods had plowed up the prairie grasslands that had once sustained the bison culture of Native American tribes for generations, rendering the region particularly vulnerable. It is estimated that one quarter of Oklahoma's topsoil alone was blown away in the windstorms, putting from 50 to 90 percent of the population on public relief.

Dorothea Lange, Resettlement Administration photographer, sitting atop a Ford Model 40 in California. In her lap is a Graflex 45 Series D camera.

Lange, along with Taylor and other photographers for the FSA, traveled hundreds of miles for months at a time to photograph the camps of destitute farm workers, who had packed up their families and whatever belongings they could strap onto their cars and headed out onto the highways searching for work. Drawn to California by the big growers whose advertisements promised thousands of jobs at good pay, but who only hired a fraction of the new arrivals for a pittance, farm workers were pitted against one another by farm agents, and violence frequently erupted in the camps.

At first glance, the 40-year-old Lange was an unlikely candidate for the assignment. Charismatic and enterprising, she had run an upscale portrait studio in San Francisco in the 1920s by which she largely supported herself, two sons and her husband, the artist Maynard Dixon, well-known for his pastel-hued Western landscapes. Langes clients included societys elite from Nob Hill, as well as the cultural bohemia of which she was a member, turning her studio into an art salon where artists mingled with patrons. She was close friends with like-minded free-spirited photographers; Imogen Cunningham remained a life-long friend. Photographers Consuelo Kanaga, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and others were part of her wide circle.

Langes shift from studio work to documentary photography was spurred by the vast social upheaval of the Depression, which threw Dixon and herself, like millions of others, out of much of their commissioned work. Like many of her generation of left-leaning artists and intellectuals, she sought to address economic inequality and social injustice through activism and the lens of her camera. She described how one day she was looking out the window of her studio and saw men waiting in line for food. She grabbed her big, heavy Graflex and captured the remarkable White Angel Bread Line, San Francisco (1933).

White Angel Bread Line, San Francisco. 1933. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Much is communicated in a few seemingly random details, the mix of fedoras and caps of the men turned away indicates that the working and middle class alike were going hungry. The mass of the mens backs contrasts with the single man facing toward the viewer, his battered and stained hat pulled down over his eyes while the composition, emphasized by the diagonal barrier, focuses on his clasped hands and tin cup.

This combination of carefully observed detail and effective composition to convey meaning through what at first seem to be artless shots would become a primary characteristic of Langes photography. It can be seen in Migrant Mother, the woman she encountered in a pea-pickers encampment in Nipomo, California, which at first appears to be a photo just of the womans weathered, anxious face till one notices the three children tucked around her as though part of her body. This adds a sense of vulnerability, as well as underscoring the need for her fortitude.

In Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona (1940), the well-worn lines on the mans hand, held facing the viewer across his mouth, speak for him louder than any words. And in Tractored Out, Childress County, Texas (June 1938), the curve of the regularly plowed furrows, leading up to and around an abandoned shack set low against a desolate horizon, point to the fate of the tenant farmers who once lived there.

Dorothea Lange. Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona. November 1940. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Langes talent for portrait photography, in particular her ability to establish a rapport with her sitters in order to suggest something of an individuals character, sets her work apart from similar photography of the time. The faces of Walker Evans subjects seem cold and inscrutable by comparison, while those of her close contemporary Margaret Bourke-White, whose photographs of industry, workers and peasants, including those taken in the Soviet Union, were more obvious and propagandistic than Langes.

However, the strong aesthetic quality of her work did not translate into a reputation for Lange as an artist. Photography was still only emerging from being considered merely a craft or trade, a distinction that Lange to some degree maintained by emphasizing the documentary aspect of her work.

Dorothea Lange. Tractored Out, Childress County, Texas. 1938. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Pioneering photographers, such as Gaspard-Felix Tournachon (18201910), who went by the name Nadar, had photographed a wide range of public figures, from politicians to artists and intellectuals: French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, poet Charles Baudelaire, artist Eugene Delacroix, actress Sarah Bernhardt and others. Photographic portraits offered greater verisimilitude but were not considered art in the same way as a painted portrait. Victorian photographers commonly used soft focus, backdrops and costumes, as well as hand-coloring, to make photograph portraits more artistic.

Alfred Stieglitz (18641946)coincidentally, like Lange, a native of Hoboken, New Jersey and also of German, but in his case also Jewish, descentplayed a leading role in establishing photography as an art in its own right, coeval with, not merely imitative of painting. His important gallery, 291 Fifth Avenue, brought the influence of European modern art to America, exhibiting the photographs of Edward Steichen, as well as paintings by Mexican painter Marius de Zayas and other modernists. In 1915, Stieglitz met and exhibited the photographs of Paul Strand, one of the founders of the left-wing Photo League that advocated the use of photography to advance social causes.

Lange saw Strands work at 291 in the 1920s, and admired his photographs of people in the streets, often captured unawares by using a camera with a false lens so he appeared to be taking a photo in a different direction. In her own work, Lange would further develop photographys potential to communicate social reality in terms that were at once individual and concrete, as well as broadly representative. She described her assignment for the FSA as going out to see what is really there, what does it look like, what does it feel like? What actually is the human condition?

Beyond the strength of individual images, the exhibition, aptly titled Words & Pictures, emphasizes what Lange herself intended, which was for the pictures to be seen together with the captions, which were drawn from field notes, folk songs and frequently the words of the subjects themselves. This integrated concept is most clearly presented in the book American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion, which is part of the exhibition. Predating Walker Evans and James Agees Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by two years, Taylor and Langes photo book appeared inauspiciously just as World War II broke out in 1939. The book did not gain much attention and has largely remained out of print since.

Compared to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, which includes just a handful of photos by Evans, who also worked for the FSA, at the beginning of a long, more subjective narrative by Agee, American Exodus stands out for its objectivity and authenticity.

The frontispiece of American Exodus reads in part: Burned out, blowed out, eat out, tractored out. ... Yessir were starved stalled and stranded. ...When you gits down to your last bean your backbone and your navel shake dice to see which gits it ... we live most anywhere in general where theres work ... taint hardly fair. They holler that we aint citizens but their fruit would rot if we didnt come. ... I dont see why we cant be citizens because we move around with the fruit tryin to make a livin. A human being has a right to stand like a tree has a right to stand.

Lange was also notable for her attention to class and racial social relationships. American Exodus reflects the diversity of migrant workers, not just white Okies, but African American, Mexican and Filipino as well. Though it was not publicly revealed till 1978, Florence Owens Thompson, whose face in Migrant Mother became the face of the Okies, was in fact of Cherokee descent. Lange also included evidence of Jim Crow segregation in her photographs for which she was censured by her government superiors repeatedly.

On a separate assignment for the FSA, Lange toured the South where, instead of the uprooted Okies, she documented a social hierarchy still largely influenced by its Antebellum slave days. In Plantation Overseer and His Field Hands, Mississippi Delta (June 1936which appeared in 12 Million Black Voices: A Folk History of the United States [1941]), written by Richard Wright, with photos by Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn and Walker Evans, as well as seven by Lange, one can see Taylor on the far left almost out of the frame. Working as a team, Taylor spoke to people, while Lange took photographs. In this instance, the resulting image emphasizes the girth of the self-important white overseer, his foot up on his cars fender and his hand on his knee looking across at Taylor, while behind him his four black workers look directly at the viewer, their expressions a combination of wariness, weariness and wry humor.

The Mochida family awaiting internment, Haywood, California 1942

Langes photographs of the victimization of Japanese Americans unjustly detained under Roosevelts executive order following the attack on Pearl Harborwhich served as casus belli for the United States entry into World War Twoare particularly searing and relevant. Nothing she had witnessed during the Depression prepared her for this monstrous attack on democratic rights. What was horrifying was to do this thing completely on the basis of what blood may be coursing through a persons veins, nothing else. Nothing to do with your affiliations or friendships or associations. Just blood, Lange later said.

Even as the limited social reform policy of the New Deal was discontinued after the war, as the Cold War commenced and many liberal progressives, including Paul Taylor, moved to the right, Lange continued to use her photography to document social injustice in a moving and evocative way: from a trial in the Alameda County courthouse to her Death of a Valley photographs of Berryessa Valley in Napa County, which was intentionally flooded to serve California agribusiness ruthless drive for water.

During the postwar period, Lange resisted the idea that she document just poverty, a focus she considered simplistic and shallow ... she thought rather that our decade of unprecedented prosperity has many faces, there are many forms of privation within prosperity. The time had come, she said, to photograph affluencewhose other face is poverty (quoted in Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits, Linda Gordon, 2009).

Langes exceptional eye (and ear) for observing the words and pictures that communicated something of the essential truth of the period in which she lived has left an invaluable record of her timesone that is more than ever relevant to our own.
There are two distinct categories of virus.

Organic, microscopic living ones that have existed since the earliest stages of life on Earth billions of years ago, and digital computer-based ones that have only become widespread in the past 20 to 30 years.

Both organic and digital viruses can potentially cause huge harm and disruption but it is certainly the former which is proving a much bigger problem for humanity at the moment.

The reason why the second category is also now a great danger is our reliance on the technology humans have created.

Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers, on top of 100,000 it hired last month

The products and services provided by the big tech firms are deeply embedded in the lives of individuals and the business practices of companies.

While being a risk factor for nations and the world, this reliance has meant the big tech companies are very well positioned to ride out economic downturns like the lockdown-induced one we are in the midst of now.

The things they supply can be used wherever you find yourself as long as you can connect to the internet, meaning they do not rely on people having to venture out of their homes to specific locations. If anything, the lockdown has made us more reliant on them rather than less.

Sean Markowicz, a strategist at Schroders explains: 'Microsoft has reported a surge in usage of its cloud computing service Azure, as millions of people work from home.'

'Amazon is hiring an additional 75,000 workers, on top of the 100,000 it hired last month, to cope with increased demand for its online delivery service.'

'The number of video calls and messaging on Facebook has exploded, while a record number of gaming apps were downloaded in China on Apple's app store. YouTube Kids, owned by Google, was the most streamed app in the first quarter of 2020 according to a report by Apptopia and Braze, following the closure of most nurseries and schools,' he continued.

Amazon and Microsoft have seen double digit returns over the year to date

'Unsurprisingly, the FAMAG stocks  Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Google  have significantly outperformed broader market indices as a result of stay-at-home orders,' Markowicz said.

'The more common FAANG acronym includes Netflix but not Microsoft. We use an alternative grouping because Microsoft is the most valuable public US company  the total value of its shares makes it seven times larger than Netflix.'

Markowicz also pointed out that these companies have accrued vast piles of cash over the years which leaves them more than capable of riding out even a severe recession.

Is the Fomo rally the real deal or will shares dive again? Its been called the Fomo rally, as shares picked themselves up off the floor after a diabolical March and bear markets turned bullish. The FTSE 100 bounced 23 per cent with theUK in lockdown. In the US, April was even more astonishing  the S&P 500 had its best month since 1987. So, whats going on? Is this the stock market signalling the start of a coronavirus recovery, or have investors merely been piling in driven by Fomo  the fear of missing out? On this podcast, we look at the rally, whats driving it and the history of false dawns in stock market crashes. Press play above or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at Apple Podcasts, Acast, Spotify and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page.

Microsoft, Google and Apple are all sitting on over $100bn in cash

So buying tech shares is a complete no-brainer right? Not necessarily.

A global recession does have implications for them and you could make the argument all the good news and resilience is already priced in.

The fact is, that if people around the world have less money to spend overall as is the case in a recession, tech firms will feel that in their earnings to some degree over time.

As well as direct to customer sales potentiality slowing, the likes of Google and Facebook can also take a hit from the inevitable advertising drop-off that comes with a recession. Whether these things will be enough to seriously hurt the share price is questionable though.

Microsoft has reported a surge in usage of its cloud computing service Azure

The real major risk area for big tech stocks is governments intervening to break them up or restrict their market power in other ways. This is something which is growing increasingly likely.

There is also always a possibility of them being hit with huge fines if deemed to have behaved in anti-competitive or reckless ways by regulators.

'Over the past 18 months, the FAMAGs have already faced a barrage of criticism over their anticompetitive behaviour,' noted Markowicz. 'The bigger tech becomes, the more likely they will become more heavily regulated. History is replete with such examples. At some point, this could have serious implications for their growth prospects.

'With a number of governments turning to tech companies to help manage the virus outbreak, one possibility is that the major digital platforms could become regulated like public utilities given their increasing size and influence.'

'In the past, governments did not hesitate to regulate services that were deemed essential public goods such as railways and energy suppliers. New regulations could be imposed that limit how these firms monetise data and which markets they can participate in.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 21:04:47|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, May 2 (Xinhua) -- With the recent report of a teacher falsifying historical facts and giving incorrect information to pupils, the problem of history education in Hong Kong schools rings alarm bells once again.

A teacher of a primary school in Hong Kong was recently found deliberately lecturing a class during an online lesson that the Opium War, a war of aggression by Britain against China in 1840, was started as a British attempt to ban opium in China.

In fact, the 1840 Opium War was started by Britain after its smuggling of opium into China was obstructed because of the anti-opium campaign launched by the government of the Qing Dynasty. China, very weak at that time, was defeated by the British aggressors and forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which forced China to cede Hong Kong Island to the British.

The Hong Kong school's history "education" is not only a blatant distortion of history, but also extremely irresponsible for Hong Kong's future.

History education in some Hong Kong schools is notorious for continued deviations and distortions of facts. On the Opium War, for example, remarks whitewashing Western aggression emerged repeatedly among educators.

The problematic history education can be traced back to the remnants of colonial historical views and the intervention of extreme political thoughts that made some teachers ignore the basic principles of learning and teaching, openly twist truth and facts in class, and publicly endorse Western crimes without any due respect to the motherland and the nation.

More seriously, the distorted history education leaves an immeasurable negative impact on the young generations of Hong Kong.

National education has long been absent in Hong Kong, and the subject of Chinese history was once abolished as a compulsory course in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, various so-called "liberal studies" even deliberately mislead many students and leave schools unguarded against the toxic and extreme ideas of so-called "Hong Kong independence."

It is conceivable that young people immersed in such a deformed context will have difficulty correctly understanding history, not to mention national consciousness.

During the months-long unrest in Hong Kong last year, which was triggered by now-withdrawn ordinance amendments concerning the transfer of fugitives, the wide participation of young people in violent and criminal activities was stunning. About 40 percent of the nearly 8,000 people arrested for offenses related to the unrest from June 2019 to February this year were students.

School education can hardly absolve itself from the high proportion of students involved in law-breaking activities. With classrooms increasingly politicized, a large number of young students have been led astray, which is a great loss not only to the students themselves but also to the future of the entire Hong Kong society.

Actions must be taken to reverse the situation. The school involved has apologized and promised rectification, and the Education Bureau of the HKSAR government is also investigating the incident.

It is never too late to do the right thing. Relevant departments in Hong Kong should take heed, and thoroughly overhaul the current history education, so as to ensure that knowledge is passed on to students without being distorted, and patriotism is promoted among Hong Kong's next generation with concrete steps. Enditem
The dawn of a lockdown Vesak By Sandun Jayawardana Prelates stress the importance of adhering to strict health sector guidelines; tell devotees to make use of technology to take sil at home and listen to sermons View(s): View(s):

With the COVID-19 outbreak yet to be contained, this years Vesak celebrations will be notable for the absence of many things that one normally associates with the most important day on the Buddhist calendar. Given the current situation, the focus will be firmly on celebrating Vesak at home.

The strict health sector guidelines and social distancing measures currently in place means large gatherings of any kind cannot take place this Vesak. On Friday (1), the Health and Indigenous Medical Services Ministry issued a set of guidelines to temples and the general public outlining how Vesak should be marked this year.

As per the guidelines, temples are advised to encourage the public to follow religious programmes from home. The ministry noted that temples should avoid organising programmes such as alms givings, meditation programmes, dansals, pandals, processions and other events that draw large crowds and make social distancing difficult.

Chanting of pirith and Dhamma sermons can be broadcast using loudspeakers, the ministry added.

People meanwhile, are advised to conduct religious observances from home. They are further advised not to organise Vesak zones, dansals and pandals. They are, however, encouraged to put up Vesak lanterns and other decorations at home, and to conduct Pahan Pooja.

The Government has also revised its plans regarding the National Vesak Festival due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said Bandula Harishchandra, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Cultural and Religious Affairs. Accordingly, this years Vesak theme will be Arogya Parama Labha, Santhutti Paramam Dhanan (Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth).

The Government has declared a National Vesak Week from May 4 and the emphasis will be celebrating Vesak at home, Mr Harishchandra explained. We are requesting Buddhists to hoist the Buddhist flag in their homes. Those who are allowed to travel can also put up the Buddhist flag on their vehicles. Arrangements have also been made to use electronic media and the internet to broadcast religious programmes so that people can take part in them from their homes.

The celebrations will be centred on the Olaboduwa Rajamaha Viharaya in Horana. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will preside over a programme at Temple Trees on May 6 in his capacity as Minister of Buddhasasana where four new stamps will be issued to mark Vesak. One of the stamps will feature a historic wall painting from the temple. Mr Rajapaksa will also present a Pooja Bhoomi Sannasa (Deed of Gift) to the temple. The ceremony will be attended by the Mahanayaka Theras of the four chapters or their representatives.

On Vesak Poya Day (7), religious programmes will take place throughout the day at the Olaboduwa Rajamaha Viharaya. All these will be broadcast over State television and radio channels as well as over the internet and through social media networks such as Facebook. Those wishing to observe sil can do so from their homes and arrangements have been made to facilitate this via electronic media.

An all-night pirith chanting ceremony will also take place on Vesak Poya Day at the temple and will continue until the following day. The pirith chanting is done to invoke blessings on the country and the world at this difficult time. Only a limited number of persons will attend in order to ensure social distancing. But it too will be broadcast via the media so devotees can take part from their homes, the Secretary stressed.

Meanwhile, leading Buddhist monks called on people to adhere to health and social distancing guidelines and to direct their focus on marking Vesak with their families at home.

Chief Incumbent of the Bellanwila Rajamaha Viharaya, Ven. Dr. Bellanwila Dhammaratana Thera said the main advise he will give devotees is to avoid organising any religious programmes that bring large groups of people together, and to practice social distancing.

Vesak is a time of great celebration. Temples throughout the country become filled with devotees on this day. This is a cause of joy. Yet, this is a very difficult time and that is why we are asking Buddhists to take part in religious observances from their homes. They should meditate and use this opportunity as a time to reflect on the Dhamma and improve their inner qualities, the Thera said.

He further pointed out that technology has advanced to such an extent that devotees need not go to the temple to observe sil. They can also use this opportunity to ensure that the entire family takes part in religious observances. Normally, only one or two members of the family would go to the temple on Poya Day to observe sil. This year, the whole family can get together at home to do this.

These views were echoed by Chief Incumbent of the Kelaniya Rajamaha Viharaya, Ven. Prof. Kollupitiya Mahinda Sangarakkitha Nayaka Thera. Vesak is a time of great celebration. The same is true this year as well. The difference is how we approach it. We have to put limits on what we do. We cannot do things such as going to the temple to observe sil and listen to Dhamma sermons. Neither can we go and see pandals and colourful Vesak decorations. But we can still mark the event in other ways. People can observe sil at home, listen to sermons and discuss them, and they can put up Vesak decorations at home, he pointed out.

The Buddha has asked his followers not to do anything that is harmful to themselves, others or to both themselves and to others, Ven. Prof. Sangarakkitha Thera observed. We should never resort to something that is harmful to us or to others in society. That is why the guidelines aimed at minimising the spread of the disease must be followed. We can all be content in marking Vesak meaningfully at home, he emphasized.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:10:00|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait on Saturday reported 242 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths, bringing the total infections to 4,619 and the death toll to 33, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The new cases included three Kuwaiti citizens who returned from Britain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the statement said, adding that 232 new cases had contact with infected patients.

The cause of the infections for the other seven is still under investigation, it noted.

Currently, 2,883 patients are receiving treatment, including 69 in ICU, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah announced the recovery of 101 patients from the coronavirus, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 1,703.

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 in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. Enditem
The Central Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has seized more than 1,285 unregistered assorted products in some parts of the Central Region.



The unregistered products were seized from herbal facilities, lorry stations, information centres and markets in Abura Asebu Kwamankese, Assin South, Assin Central, Gomoa West, Gomoa Central and Agona West.



The markets were Agona Swedru, Mankessim, Agona West and Assin Fosu Markets.



Mr John Odai-Tettey, the Regional Head of the Authority, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after the exercise, said the items were seized after dawn swoops between Monday, April 27 to Thursday, 29.



He explained that the products were not registered by the FDA and were not supposed to be sold in the market.



The products were largely herbal concoctions that had no labels on them to indicate the kind of ingredients used in their preparation and had no directions detailing the right usage.



He said, the move formed part of a sustained effort by the FDA to clamp down on dealers of unwholesome products to safeguard the lives of consumers.



The FDA will continue to protect public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, food, biological products, cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and conduct clinical tests.



We will continue to regulate, check, monitor and seize all unregistered, fake and substandard medicines and medical devices supplied to hospitals, pharmacies and all unauthorised places throughout the country, he said.



We will continually ensure that only wholesome products are registered, inspected and licensed while surveillance and clinical trial activities are carried out in conformity with the applicable national and international standards to meet customer satisfaction.

Source: GNA









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Brian Ibe is taken into court at Naas, where he faced a charge of assault causing harm to Peter Kennedy

A 19-year-old man was refused bail yesterday after he was charged in connection with a serious assault and burglary that left a man fighting for his life.

There was a large garda presence at the Co Kildare court sitting, and Brian Ibe, of no fixed abode but whose address was given as Moore Park, Newbridge, remained handcuffed and was flanked by six Public Order Unit gardai during the hearing.

He is charged with entering an address at Moore Park as a trespasser and committing an arrestable offence and assault causing harm to Peter Kennedy (65) on Tuesday.

Detective Sergeant Ciaran Bruce gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution of Mr Ibe at Newbridge Garda Station on Thursday night.

Det Sgt Bruce told Naas District Court that at around 9pm on Tuesday, Mr Ibe allegedly entered the Moore Park property after smashing a window and went upstairs, which led to the injured party fleeing into a bedroom occupied by the "accused's mother", who was staying in Mr Kennedy's home.

Also present during the incident was Mr Ibe's six-year-old niece, according to the witness.

Fractures

Mr Kennedy was attacked with "what appears to be a knife and/or some form of sharpened glass" during the course of the alleged assault.

He suffered multiple fractures to his head, a broken jaw and cuts to his neck in the incident, which allegedly forced Mr Ibe's mother to flee the house with the child.

The court heard that a motive has not been established and the weapon used in the att- ack has not yet been recovered.

Det Sgt Bruce told the court tht Mr Ibe's mother has identified her son and gardai have recovered CCTV evidence as part of the case.

The witness agreed with Judge Desmond Zaidan when he was asked if there was a substantial risk that the alleged victim could die.

The judge also pointed out that the incident could potentially attract more serious charges, including attempted murder.

Inspector Paul Reilly said the Director of Public Prosecutions will "be asked to consider more serious charges".

The court heard that Mr Ibe was arrested at a homeless shelter in Dublin 12 the day after the assault.

Defending solicitor Tim Kennelly pointed out that the case against the defendant is an allegation and his client does not accept his mother made a statement about the incident to gardai.

Mr Kennelly argued there was no evidence of garda concerns Mr Ibe would interfere with witnesses if granted bail and said he had no previous convictions or addiction issues.

Responding to evidence from Det Sgt Bruce about an alleged violent incident in Newbridge Garda Station after his client's arrest, which is the subject of a separate investigation, Mr Kennelly argued that his "poor behaviour" in the station could be explained because he felt he was being held against his will.

The judge said he was satisfied that the objections to bail were sustainable and he described the alleged offences as "very serious".

He remanded the defendant in custody until next Thursday, when he will appear at Naas District Court via video link.
Virgin Galactics spaceship VSS Unity touched down on a runway in the New Mexico desert Friday, marking its first glide flight from Spaceport America as the company moves toward commercial operations.

The company announced the flight on social media and shared photos of the craft on the runway and members of the crew stationed far apart around the special carrier plane that ferries the smaller spaceship to high altitude.

After years of development and testing at Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California, Virgin Galactic is close to starting actual operations at its futuristic terminal and hangar in southern New Mexico. The company has not set a date for the first commercial flights.

Under Virgin Galactics spaceflight system, the VSS Unity passenger rocket is flown on the underbelly of a mothership to about 45,000 feet, at which point it detaches from the carrier plane and fires up its rockets to shoot into space.

Fridays test was a glider flight, where the Unity detaches from the mothership without igniting its motors to instead glide back down to Earth. As testing continues at the Spaceport, the Unity will move from glider flights to rocket-powered ones, although its unclear how soon that may happen.

A small number of test flights are needed before Virgin Galactic can take paying customers on the supersonic thrill rides to the lower reaches of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the Earth below. The suborbital flights will reach an altitude of at least 50 miles before the spaceship glides to a landing.

The company considers Fridays flight a major achievement that has been in the works since the spaceship and carrier plane relocated to New Mexico in February. The flight provided the first opportunity to test all the components required to fly the carrier aircraft and spaceship in glide configuration from their new home base. Officials will now be reviewing data gathered during the exercise so they can prepare for the next test flight.

More than 600 customers from around the world have put down firm deposits for flights, and Virgin Galactic has received about 8,000 online reservations of interest since the successful test flight into space in December 2018. Company officials expect that interest to surpass the companys capacity for flights for the next few years.

The initial seats were sold at $250,000 apiece. Those who want to register interest online are paying a fully refundable deposit of $1,000.

Virgin Galactic said Friday that stringent operational protocols were in place during the glide flight at Spaceport America to ensure safety amid the coronavirus outbreak. The protocols included the use of masks, changes to the work areas and procedures to enforce social distancing.

Many employees have been working remotely during the pandemic, and Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses said in a recent blog post that the team has been busy with relief efforts. Theyve donated meals, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to communities and hospitals in New Mexico and California.

The company also has made donations of more than $60,000 in New Mexico and is working on developing oxygen hoods that could potentially help COVID-19 patients.

Virgin Galactic went public on the New York Stock Exchange last fall. Company officials are preparing to release their first quarter results Tuesday.

Journal writer Kevin Robinson-Avila contributed to this report.
Mental Health Awareness Month has begun; L.A. County Officials Announce Virtual Mental Health Resources Available during Coronavirus Pandemic

Friday, May 1. The Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center released new information surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak. The public officials announced their initiative to cope with COVID-19 Quarantine. They are announcing the WE RISE program is now completely virtual and available during the pandemic. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County Director of Public Health, provided the most recent data behind the ethnicity relationship and fatal outcome of COVID-19. She also shared the latest news surrounding the positive cases in L.A. There is raising concern for those that are on the wrong side of the digital divide, who do not have access to the virtual world. There is much anticipation on what County Officials have in store for closing the technological gap in the post pandemic era.

Ferrer shared the latest updates on the COVID-19 virus. Ferrer shared that as of Friday, May 1, there were 62 additional deaths, 46 of these individuals were between the ages of 65 and over, 39 of them with underlining health conditions. Seven people who died were between the ages of 41-65, with preexisting health concerns. One person younger than 41 with no underlining health issues, also passed away. This brings the total COVID-19 related deaths in the L.A. County to 1,172.

Ferrer disclosed as of May 1, There are 1,065 new COVID-19 reports. In summary, there is a total amount of 24,215 coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles region. 92% of fatal cases have underlining health conditions, Ferrer stated, As a reminder, if you have underlining health conditions, this includes asthma, COPD, cancer, or other conditions that can affect your immune system, please do your best to stay at home. For the 1,069 fatal cases where race and ethnicity were identified; 13% were African American, 19% were Asian, 38% were LatinX, 29% were white, and 1% were identified as another ethnicity.

Chairwoman of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, Kathryn Barger stated, The mental health challenges, by far is something we need to talk about, and educate people about resources that are available. May is recognized as the Mental Health Awareness Month, L.A. County wanted to make mental health resources available to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic. WE RISE is a Community capacity, building celebration of healing mental health and wellbeing powered by creative expression and connectedness. In the third year of this program, it has been adjusted to be completely virtual. This will include performances from original artists, celebrities, and interactive workshops.

In addition to the adjustments made in the WE RISE program, there is free access to Headspace Plus. This is a gold-standard virtual guide to meditation and mindfulness, Los Angeles County residents can access a free subscription. These are great tools available to the Angelenos that have access to the internet and technological devices. However, there are L.A. residents that fall through the cracks of getting the help they need; they cannot afford internet access or have the devices needed to take advantage of the resources provided by the county. Curiosity surrounds what L.A. Public officials have in store to remedy that issue in the Post Pandemic Era.

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[May 02, 2020] Specialty Graphics Hires 1DA for Their BigCommerce Migration Services

PHILADELPHIA, May 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Specialty Graphics is a signage and graphic business that has been working in the industry for over two decades. As the eCommerce side of their business has continued to grow, they needed an eCommerce platform that could handle a more robust suite of features. They have chosen to move from their custom-built site to a site hosted on the BigCommerce platform. To make sure the change goes smoothly, they've hired 1Digital? Agency for their industry-leading BigCommerce migration services . There are many reasons a business might migrate platforms, but this process is usually the result of an eCommerce business expanding beyond the limits of its current platform's capabilities. Every business has different needs, and it can be difficult to find the perfect foundation to really build an eCommerce business. Moving to a platform like BigCommerce gives enterprise businesses the foundation they need to expand while also providing easy access to secure applications and features to facilitate that expansion. Despite the obvious benefits for a growing business, moving an eCommerce store can be difficult. Every business is different and every migration comes with its own unique set of challenges. Maintaining domain authority requires the creation of redirects along with the migration of importnt information including product categories, reviews, customer lists, and more. 1Digital? will also be offering search console support to ensure that any small issues that occur as a result of the migration will be resolved quickly so Specialty Graphics can continue supporting their customers without issue.



In addition to all of these BigCommerce migration services, 1Digital? was also hired to complete custom work for Specialty Graphics' new BigCommerce store. These additional services include custom product page features such as custom color options and bulk pricing to make their site more business-to-business friendly. There will also be some custom application integrations so the site will be able to work seamlessly with the tools that the team at Specialty Graphics are already working with. 1Digital? Agency is a Philadelphia-based eCommerce agency offering design, development, marketing, and support services to eCommerce businesses. The 1Digital? team has worked with businesses on every major eCommerce platform and they are an Elite BigCommerce Partner. After having performed dozens of migrations for businesses looking to move their stores to BigCommerce, 1Digital?has gained a reputation for providing world-class BigCommerce support.

If your business is considering migrating to BigCommerce and you need someone to offer BigCommerce migration services, 1Digital?Agency is the perfect choice to manage your migration. When you hire 1Digital, you are gaining the collective experience of the entire team to help your business grow and meet your eCommerce goals. Feel free to call 215-809-1567, visit their website at www.1DigitalAgency.com, or send an email to [email protected] to learn more information about 1Digital's services. Media Contact:

1Digital Agency

Dan Kogan

Phone: 215-809-1567

Email: [email protected] Related Links Bigcommerce Designers Shopify Plus Expert View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/specialty-graphics-hires-1da-for-their-bigcommerce-migration-services-301051252.html SOURCE 1Digital Agency

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USNS Comfort Returns to Norfolk Prepared for Future Tasking

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200501-04

Release Date: 5/1/2020 1:14:00 PM

From Commander, Second Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) will return to Naval Station Norfolk May 2 after supporting the Department of Defense response efforts to New York and New Jersey during the coronavirus outbreak.

Upon arrival at Naval Station Norfolk, Comfort will return to a "Ready 5" status to remain ready for future tasking for COVID-19 operations in support of FEMA.

Comfort spent 31 days at Pier 90 in New York City, providing relief to a healthcare system stressed by the surge of COVID-19 patients.

The ship, which arrived in New York City March 30, was originally tasked with providing care to non-COVID patients, bringing the first aboard on April 1. It quickly became apparent that in order to be of help to the city, Comfort needed to treat all patients, regardless of their COVID status. On April 6, the ship began accepting COVID-positive patients following a thorough assessment of the existing design of the ship. Military Sealift Command civil service mariners physically separated the hospital from the rest of the ship by cordoning off doors and ladder wells on the main deck, reconfiguring the ship to admit and treat all patients.

During the transit from New York City to Norfolk, VA all personnel involved in the mission aboard USNS Comfort will be tested for COVID-19, and will execute a 14-day restriction of movement (ROM) following completion of the mission. The purpose of the ROM is to separate personnel who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, but are not yet symptomatic, from personnel who have not been exposed. As part of this ROM they will be isolated by either remaining on the USNS Comfort, in their own homes, or in other lodging accommodations where their movement will be restricted to their immediate area. Personnel will also be tested for COVID-19 a second time at the end of their 14-day ROM period.

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Just like in most other issues. Domestic or internationally. The Nigerian Government have always reacted very late. And sometimes whenever the response came. Its almost like we are on a different planet from the rest of the world. Thus, leaving those on the frontline at the mercy of hope.

Saving the Lamentations for another day. Once the dust of COVID 19 finally settles. Nigerians will be dumbfounded by the extent of financial damage that has been done through this process of actively doing nothing. That is what happens when you are doing the wrong thing. Otherwise. For a Government that rode to power on the back of majority of the population living below poverty. Since 2015. How long does it take to ask everyone that is 18years and above to open a single bank account and obtain a BVN. Using the National ID Card and voters card which everyone is expected to have. How long?

Its such a shame to see the disorganized, disrespectful distribution of palliative when Government is supposed to reach every eligible individual with a single button command. Given the political exigencies in the Country. Analog data collection and implementation has discredited and undermine past Government policies, except there is immediate reorganization, this will not be an exception.

Leaving behind certain matter for another day. Government need to immediately take the right decisions and make the right pronouncement some of which include the following.

1. Mandatory use of face mask in any public place were there is more than two people throughout the Country.

2. Establish mobile courts to immediately prosecute any offenders.

3. Every Nigerian that is 18years and above should open a functional bank account.

4. Every Individual coming into the Country must be tested for COVID 19. Within the shortest time possible. Which they should pay for before they are allowed to enter the Country.

5. Set up a committee of professionals and relevant agencies to run a trial of all claims for COVID 19 in the Country, as well as COVID 19 herbal medicine from Madagascar for immediate use by all infected persons instead of waiting for WHO while the pandemic continue to spread like wildfire.

6. Close down all Almajari schools and end all forms of street hawking by children under the age of 15.

Given all that we know about the virus. All this should have been implemented within the first two weeks. You dont go to war without thinking of a possible way out. Continue Lockdown will not solve the problem. Its better late than never. Perhaps when my book POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA (Post COVID 19 Nigeria) is published, we should have answers to the development question in Nigeria. Hope someone is listening!

[email protected]


The Emir of Rano, Dr Tafida Abubakar Ila ll, one of the four emirs of the newly created emirates in Kano State, was rushed to hospital on Friday.

A source at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) who with spoke to Daily Trust said Dr Ila ll was brought in critical condition early on Friday.

He said the emir was referred to the Nassarawa Specialist Hospital for further medical attention.

Read Also: Mass Deaths: I Wont Let You Down, Buhari Tells Kano Residents

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The vehicle conveying the emir to Nassarawa hospital just left the premises of AKTH, the condition of the emir was critical at the time they departed AKTH, he said.

It is unknown if the Emir has COVID-19 but Kano state has experienced a surge of confirmed cases and has become the second most hit at state by the pandemic in the country.
The UN Security Council's failure to act in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic is a "shame" its acting president said Friday, lamenting "stumbling blocks" preventing the body from fulfilling its responsibilities.

Except for a virtual meeting on April 9, the Security Council has remained silent on the biggest global crisis since World War II, struggling to find a united response since the once-in-a-century pandemic began killing tens of thousands of people and shutting down economies across the world.

Estonian ambassador Sven Jurgenson, who holds the revolving presidency for the month of May, did not point fingers at any countries in particular.

But when asked about the status of a stalled draft resolution which would facilitate the fight against the virus with greater international cooperation and ceasefires in conflicts around the world, he made his frustration clear.

"My hope would be that it would have been voted for three weeks ago," he said.

"It's really a shame that we have not been able to fulfill our responsibility," Jurgenson said.

He added that he hoped the resolution, drafted by France and Tunisia and which has been under discussion for weeks, would be passed "now," suggesting a vote could come next week.

"But there are stumbling blocks, the situation is blocked at the moment," he warned, adding that "talks are continuing and they are continuing on high level."

He would not identify those responsible for the stalemate.

Diplomatic sources have said the draft is being blocked by the United States and China, both permanent members of the Council, because of a reference to the World Health Organization in the text.

China insists on the mention but the United States is refusing, sources told AFP earlier this week.

The draft resolution aims to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, and to support a call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a cessation of hostilities in some 20 conflict zones, including places such as Afghanistan and Yemen.

At a press conference on Thursday, the UN chief lamented the lack of global leadership in the face of the pandemic, including at the United Nations.

"We know that the relation between the major powers in the world today is very dysfunctional, and that makes it difficult for the Security Council" to act, he said.
Before Eily Collins was laid to rest yesterday afternoon, the 10 mourners at the 93-year-olds funeral were reminded that she was a hard-working mother with a quick wit who had enjoyed a great life.

Sadly, it was a life sadly ended by Covid-19, making her the tenth and latest person to die at Clonakilty Community Hospital since April 1.

The numbers are shocking and her family is the latest left devastated by what has happened at the hospital.

But one of her three daughters says people need to realise while hers and other families are distraught, so too are the staff who cared for her mother and the other residents who died.

They were in tears at the end when my other died, mother-of-three Colette OSullivan, said.

It was like they had lost a member of their own family. How can anybody go home happy at the end of a shift when they are crying at work?

The staff are just devastated about what has happened. Heartbroken isnt the word for it, and it can be too easy to forget this really hits them hard.

Despite what happened to her mother, she is adamant: I wouldnt have wanted my mother to have been anywhere else.

And she added: While anybody might want to blame everybody and anybody in a situation like this, this is unprecedented.

It has never happened before and it is so contagious. I dont think it is anybodys fault. It is just unfortunate and it is the nature of the monster that is there.

Ms OSullivan described her mother as one of a kind and said the last year at the hospital was probably one of the happiest years of her life.

Diagnosed with Alzheimers a few months after her 90th birthday, the family took the decision to admit her to Clonakilty Community Hospital just under two years ago.

When we made the decision, we were so upset and thought this is going to be desperate, Mrs OSullivan said.

But she went in there and she loved being in there. The staff were devoted to her and they remained devoted to her right up to the very end.

Her mother was admitted to the hospitals Saoirse Unit, which is where people with dementia are cared for.

One of the hospitals smaller units, it houses 16 residents.

The family initially had reservations because there were six beds in a dormitory-style setting.

We thought Mam is really going to be upset with this sharing rooms because she always lived on her own, she said.

The funny thing was she actually loved it. She received absolutely the best care anybody could ever get.

That is where she ended up and yes, that is where she died. She went peacefully and that was down to the nurses and the doctors, so we could never be more than grateful for that.

We have been very lucky: my mother had a very good life and she had a very good end.

We couldnt look after her and the nurses and carers became her family and they looked after her just as good as what we would have done.

"An example of their care was when our mother was going to leave the home to attend a family wedding about eight months ago.

"The staff fussed over her and made sure she looked great for the day.

"One staff member even went shopping for a hair fastener for her on their day off and brought it in the next day.

"That is not someone doing their duty.

"That is someone going above and beyond."

The family of the late Eily Collins leaving the church after Requiem Mass. Picture Dan Linehan

When the family got the call from staff to tell them their mother was Covid-19 positive, it was the call they had all dreaded getting.

She didnt really know that she had Covid-19, but heres the thing - she wasnt sick, Mrs OSullivan said.

She had a slight temperature on the morning of Sunday, April 12 and cold-like symptoms.

She was tested and while she waited for the results, she was placed in isolation.

When the first two weeks were over, her mother - who was diagnosed as positive - was perfect but on Wednesday, April 22, she suffered a blood clot. It happened just two days before Irish researchers published a paper revealing they had discovered a factor in Irish patients admitted to hospital with severe Covid-19 is blood clots.

A study led by clinician scientists at Royal College of Surgeons Ireland University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin found abnormal blood clotting contributes to death in some Irish Covid-19 patients. The study, carried out by the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology, RCSI and St Jamess Hospital, Dublin, has only just been published in the current edition of the British Journal of Haematology.

They also found those with higher levels of blood clotting activity had a significantly worse prognosis and were more likely to require ICU admission.

Emerging evidence also shows the abnormal blood-clotting problem in Covid-19 results in a significantly increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

In order to see their mother in her final days, each of the three sisters were allowed in to Eily Collins but only one at a time and only dressed head to toe in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including a water-proof hazmat suit, gloves and a face visor.

Mrs OSullivan was with her in the hospital when she died at 9pm on Wednesday evening.

I went in at 7pm and the nurses were just lovely, so welcoming and they let me sit with her with the result that I was there when she died, which means an awful lot to a family.

Reflecting back, Mrs OSullivan said: My mother was 93 and she never had a sick day in her life, how can you complain about that? She was so happy there

She has nothing but praise for the staff.

They are just so amazing, she said. "I heard them talking to all the patients on the ward. They go up and they talk to them in a really bright voice as if there is nothing to worry about and theyre joking and laughing with them. They knew she was dying, they knew very early on but they never changed.

Fr Sibi Joseph Arackal, of the Clonakilty parish, officiated at the 45-minute 12pm requiem mass in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Timoleague.

It is unusual to see a church service at funerals these days due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and many of the churches around the country are closed to them.

Or, as is often the case, families are only being offered grave side blessings either due to the restrictions or to a shortage of priests.

Funeral director John Michael Foley, who has been offering church services throughout the Covid-19 crisis led Mrs Collins hearse through Timoleague village after yesterdays mass.

About 100 local residents, unable to attend due to Covid-19 restrictions on mass gatherings, lined the route standing respectfully two metres apart from their neighbours.

There is a perception that there are no longer requiem masses at funerals, Mr Foley said later. However, in consultation with the clergy this can be arranged. Masses are similar to before the crisis but with restrictions in the numbers in attendance to a maximum of 10. Families have said the Mass is more personal as a result."
Netflixs new teen drama, Outer Banks, tells the story of a group of North Carolina teens who find themselves in the middle of an adventurous mystery. The show is centered around the ringleader of the crew, John B. He is played by actor Chase Stokes, and if youre curious to know more about him, read on.

Chase Stokes in Outer Banks | Curtis Baker/Netflix

Who is Outer Banks star Chase Stokes and what else has he been in?

Stokes is not a newcomer to TV, but Outer Banks would probably be considered his breakout role. The 27-year old actor previously starred in shows like Daytime Divas, The First, and Tell Me Your Secrets. In season 1, episode 6 of Stranger Things, he had a minor role as a Hawkins High School student named Reed.

Growing up in Florida, between Coco Beach and Orlando, Stokes told Nylon that he was already used to living a beach life before starring on the new Netflix series.

I was kind of a rebel in my early high school years, wed go down to the beach and break into the surf shop pool, use fake IDs at the Hilton and get whatever beers we could, dig holes in the beach and use our surfboards as roofs, and sit under there, he said. You know, be underage drinking some beers. John B and myself definitely have some similarities and that lifestyle.

What is Outer Banks about?

In Outer Banks, Stokes plays John B, a North Carolina teen whose mother left him when he was a child, and whose father is presumed to have died at sea. He has a tight-knit group of friends called the Pogues, and they spend their time hanging out on the beaches of the Outer Banks.

When a hurricane kills the power for the summer season, it sets off a chain of illicit events that force the friends to make life-altering decisions, the Netflix synopsis for the series reads. The search for their ringleaders missing father, forbidden romances, a high-stakes treasure hunt, and the escalating conflict between the Pogues and their rivals turn their summer into one filled with mystery and adventure theyll never forget.

Stokes is the lead actor and the narrator

In the Netflix series, Stokes doesnt just play the lead as John B, he also narrates the story. When talking to Nylon, the actor discussed the challenges of taking on such a demanding role.

It was a lot, Stokes explained. I was a little aware when we started, but truthfully, I dont think there was ever a way to prepare for the load that I took on. Im big on challenges throughout life, so this one for me was sort of like another box to check off crazy daunting tasks that I wanted to not just do, but do justice to.

The actor also said that he feels the YA genre can often feel artificial, so he put forth more effort to make the story feel real. I just wanted to make sure that when Im narrating or driving a boat or getting thrown off of a boat or getting shot at, that it came to life in the dialogue and in the relationships and the action sequences, Stokes added.



Season 1 of Outer Banks is currently streaming on Netflix.
Former member representing Kogi west senatorial district in the upper chambers of the national assembly, Dino Melaye has sent a strong message to Nigerian leaders at all levels.

The former senator in his message stated that leaders dont create followers rather, they create leaders.

Read Also: I Gave Out Sanitizers To People Owing Me Money To Prevent Stories That Touch  Melaye

The controversial ex-lawmaker made this known via a tweet he sent out on his official Twitter handle on Saturday, 2nd May.

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He wrote: Nigerian Leaders at all levels listen. Leaders dont create followers they create more leaders.
New Delhi, May 2 : Airline major SpiceJet on Saturday said that it has operated its maiden freighter flight carrying around 17 tons of critical medical essentials from Mumbai to Bahrain.

Accordingly, the airline deployed its Boeing 737 freighter aircraft for the assignment which departed for Bahrain late Friday night.

SpiceJet has ferried over 5,100 tons of cargo within and outside India since the lockdown began on more than 710 flights of which 256 were international cargo flights.

The airline has operated special cargo flights to and from Guangzhou, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok, Colombo, Dubai, Kabul, Myanmar, Sharjah, Male, Kuala Lumpur, Ukraine and a host of other places.
Citywide, Lower Haight

UCSF student Olivia Park speaks through a megaphone outside London Breed's home in the Lower Haight | Photos/Video: Matthew Gerring



On Thursday evening, eight people laid down in the street in front of Mayor London Breeds house in the Lower Haight.

Surrounded by dozens of protesters  including healthcare workers, clergy, unhoused people and their advocates  the "die-in" aimed to pressure the mayor into moving the citys unhoused people into vacant hotel rooms.

Its not uncommon  even during a pandemic  for doctors to be completely heartbroken, devastated, and at a loss of what to do when we have to discharge people who are unhoused back onto the streets after being hospitalized, said UCSF medical student Olivia Park, who participated in the protest.

That should never happen, and definitely should not happen in the richest country in the world.

Protestors blocking the street outside Mayor Breed's apartment in the Lower Haight



The protesters blocked the street outside of Mayor Breed's home for about an hour before SFPD officers arrived and asked protesters to move onto the sidewalk.

The protest comes after a weeks-long battle between Mayor Breed and advocates for unhoused San Franciscans.

Since the beginning of the shelter-in-place order in March, five members of the Board of Supervisors have urged Breed to move unhoused people out of congregant settings and off of the street into vacant hotel rooms.

The city only agreed to do so for those who were already diagnosed with COVID-19. As a result, the virus spread to more than 100 people at SoMa's MSC South, the city's single largest congregate shelter.

The Board of Supervisors has passed unanimous legislation requiring the city to acquire 8,250 hotel rooms, including 7,000 for the use of unhoused San Franciscans. But last Friday, Mayor Breed published a Medium post declaring that she would not sign it, arguing that there was no way to do so safely in the time period set by the Supervisors.

I recognize the passion and advocacy behind the legislation, but our urgent actions must be paired with reality," she wrote.

8 people lie on the ground as protesters hold signs toward Mayor Breed's windows.

According to data released by the city, the emergency shelter program now has 1,068 occupied hotel rooms, 895 of which are occupied by unhoused people who are either COVID-19 positive, vulnerable to COVID-19, or recovering from the disease. That group represents about 11% of San Francisco's estimated population of 8,011 unhoused people.

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Less than half of the 2,100 hotel rooms marked by the city as ready to be used are currently occupied. The city currently has 763 unused rooms dedicated to front-line workers, and 658 unused rooms dedicated to unhoused people diagnosed with, vulnerable to, or recovering from COVID-19.

Another 358 hotel rooms are also set to come online soon, but it's unclear how many will be allotted to each group.

The city has moved at an inexplicably slow pace to move homeless people into hotels, said District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, in comments during Tuesdays vote by the Board of Supervisors to approve safe sleeping sites for unhoused people in schools and parking lots.

There's also no timetable on when the "safe sleeping sites" will be made available, and how many people they'll be able to serve.

Our first choice remains moving unhoused people into vacant apartments or hotel rooms where they dont need to share facilities at all, Preston said. But hours matter, and we need to minimize all risk to the best of our ability.
Several hospitals in the United States continue to use malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients, a media report said.

Medical publication, MDedge on Friday reported that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the malaria drug, is currently the first-line therapy and Tocilizumab the second-line medication for people hospitalized with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 infection in the Yale New Haven Health System, which operates hospitals across Connecticut.

Hydroxychloroquine is first-line at Yale because in-vitro data shows potent inhibition of the virus and possible clinical benefit, which is about as good as evidence gets at the moment, Indian American cardiologist Nihar Desai told the medical publication.

"It's cheap, it's been used for decades, and people are relatively comfortable with it," he added.

"We are trying to do the best we can. One hopes we never have to go through anything like this (coronavirus pandemic) again," Desai told MDedge.

His home institution, Yale New Haven Hospital, is almost half full with COVID-19 patients, at more than 400, the report said.

On Friday, US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of investigational anti-viral Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID 19 patients.

HCQ was the first drug to receive EAU from FDA for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

US President Donald Trump has been an advocate of use of HCQ, which has reportedly cured patients in New York and several other place.

Reports indicate that the malaria drug has been effective during the initial phases of a person being infected by coronavirus but poses a danger to those having heart ailments.

At the request of Trump, India had exported 50 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the United States.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  An urgent stimulus package should be granted by the government to the business community to help it deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the top officer of the Management Association of the Philippines said on Saturday.

"'Yung Bayanihan Act, basically, is a social amelioration package. What [has] to be put in place is a stimulus package for the business sector. Although part of the Bayanihan Act is also for business, I think there should be a separate stimulus package for the business sector," MAP President Atty. Francis Lim said in a televised briefing.

[Translation: The Bayanihan Act is basically a social amelioration package. What has to be put in place is a stimulus package for the business sector. Although part of the Bayanihan Act is also for business, I think there should be a separate stimulus package for the business sector.]

Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda and Marikina 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo are working hand in hand for the passage of the stimulus package bill, according to Lim.

"Kailangan natin ng stimulus package para maengganyo ang business community to reactivate [their companies], because we know for a fact that [they are] part and parcel of the economy," he said.

[Translation: We need a stimulus package to encourage the business community to reactivate their companies, because as we know, they are part and parcel of the economy.]

Lim said the bill was "very balanced," catering to both the critically and non-critically impacted businesses. He added that it has incentives or subsidies which are applicable to all businesses, big or small.

But he noted that the priority of the measure are the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), or those engaged in industry, agri-business, and other services.

"What we will need is about 370 billion. [....] Ang malaking tanong: Saan kukunin 'yan? Kaya kami, sa MAP, ang proposal namin, alam natin du'n sa General Appropriations Act, may pera na naka-reserve para sa government o sa mga infrastructure projects; so malaking pera 'yan," Lim said. "So ang sinasabi namin, bakit hindi ilipat itong projects na ito from being government-funded projects to [public-private partnership (PPP)] projects [....] to finance this stimulus package, and at the same time, create economic activity for the part of the private sector."

[Translation: What we will need is about 370 billion. The big question is: Where do we get that amount of money? We know that there are government funds reserved for infrastructure projects in the General Appropriations Act. So in MAP, our proposal is to convert the government-funded projects into public-private partnership (PPP) projects to finance this stimulus package, and at the same time, create economic activity for the part of the private sector.]

The government can "free up" or repurpose its funds for infrastructure projects under the Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOT) or PPP Law, Lim pointed out.

MAP said it has also put forward suggestions for banking centers and some private industries, among others.

"These proposals, together with the proposals of other organizations, are now pending in the Committee of Economic Affairs. Hopefully, these will be taken into account by the congressmen who will deliberate on the stimulus package [bill]," Lim said.

On April 14, the House of Representatives Defeat COVID-19 Committee (DCC) Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Economic Stimulus Package approved the consolidation of proposals for an urgent stimulus package, in an effort to jumpstart the country's economy amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The Sub-Committee on Economic Stimulus and Response Package is co-headed by representatives Joey Salceda and Stella Luz Quimbo, and Ways and Means Committee Chair, Representative Sharon Garin.
OTTAWA  Canada is banning the sale of military-grade assault weapons in the aftermath of the countrys deadliest mass shooting two weeks ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.

These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time, Trudeau said at a daily media briefing in Ottawa.

There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.

Trudeau has previously said a ban was in the works even before the most recent mass shooting almost two weeks ago, in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, where a gunman armed with weapons that included an assault rifle killed 22 people.

A source told Reuters on Thursday that the ban would be announced soon and would include several variations of assault-style weapons.

When he announced the measure, Trudeau also cited the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, where a man killed 14 women and himself due to radical anti-feminist sentiments.

Families and friends of gun violence victims deserve more than thoughts and prayers, Trudeau said.

The ban  which includes buying, selling, transporting, importing or using the designated weapons  will become effective immediately by changing government regulations, Trudeau said.

Current owners of the weapons have two years to dispose of them, and Trudeau said the government will later bring in legislation to provide fair compensation.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives with government ministers to a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada May 1, 2020. Photo: Reuters

Trudeaus Liberal party campaigned in Octobers federal election on a promise to bring in stricter gun control.

Although the debate around guns is less heated in Canada than in the United States, many indigenous communities use guns as part of traditional hunting practices.

Trudeau acknowledged this, but said that you dont need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.

Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party and the official opposition, slammed the ban as ineffective and said it punished law-abiding citizens.

The vast majority of gun crimes are committed with illegally obtained firearms, Scheer said in a statement.

Nothing the Trudeau Liberals announced today addresses this problem.

Canadian pollster Angus Reid released a survey on Friday which found that 78 percent of Canadians support a ban on military-grade assault weapons.
Mumbai, May 2 : The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the banking licence of CKP Co-operative Bank, as its financial position has become unsustainable.

Accordingly, the RBI took the decision on April 28 which came into effect at the close of business hours on Thursday.

"The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Pune, Maharashtra, has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the affairs of The CKP Co- operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai and appoint a liquidator for the bank," RBI said in a statement on Saturday.

As per the statement, the financial position of the bank is "highly adverse and unsustainable".

"There is no concrete revival plan or proposal for merger with another bank. Credible commitment towards revival from the management is not visible," the statement said.

"The bank is not satisfying the requirement of minimum capital and reserves... and capital adequacy and earning prospects as stipulated in Section 22(3)(d) of the Act and also stipulated minimum regulatory capital requirement of 9 per cent." According to RBI, the bank is not in a position to pay its present and future depositors.

"The affairs of the bank were and are being conducted in a manner detrimental to the public interest and interest of the depositors and that the general character of the management of the bank is prejudicial to the interest of depositors as also public interest," the statement said.

"The bank's efforts for revival have been far from adequate though the bank has been given ample time and opportunity and dispensations. No merger proposal has been received in respect of the bank. Thus, in all lik elihood, public interest would be adversely affected if the bank were allowed to carry on its business any further."
Shimla, May 2 : Farmers in tiny hamlets spread over Himalayan peaks of the picturesque Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh are counting on their peas to see them amid lockdown and market uncertainty.

And, these are no ordinary peas, but the traditional black ones they till last year grew in small quantity just for their own consumption.

This time, fearing the continuation of nationwide lockdown with a possible 'bounce' in the numbers of coronavirus cases time and again, they are giving preference the black peas -- a pulse -- to the highly remunerative green ones that otherwise sell like hot potatoes at a premium in the northern plains.

During winter snow, the locals -- residing at an altitude between 3,000 metre and 4,000 metre that receives negligible rainfall in short summer -- relish the green peas, potatoes, barley and wheat on soil that is dry and lacks organic matter.

These traditional cash crops are grown in summer and cultivated in August-September. The farming is based on snow-fed 'kul' irrigation system -- channels to carry water from glacier to the fields.

"This season we have decided not to go for the optimum sowing of the green peas amid fears of lockdown that is getting extended time and again," grower Cheering Dorje of Hikkam village told IANS over phone.

He said many farmers in the area are mainly sowing barley, potatoes and wheat, besides black peas owing to market uncertainty over the demand of the green peas in Chandigarh and Delhi at the time of its harvesting in September.

"If we are not able to market our produce in the neighbouring states, at least we can market them within the state. Since the traditional black peas have longer shelf life, we are giving them preference than the perishable cash crop green peas," another farmer Tenzin Negi added.

The black peas are consumed as a pulse similar to kidney beans and its shelf life lasts up to two years.

The Spiti Valley, the paradise that straddles both India and Tibet, comprising over two dozen small, scattered villages, remains cut off owing to heavy snow accumulation for at least six months in the year.

It reopens once snow starts thawing after mid-April.

State Agriculture Department's Block Technology Manager Sujata Negi, who is based in Kaza, the headquarter town some 320 km from the state capital Shimla, told IANS over phone the farmers are prominently going for the cultivation of the black peas owing to his high shelf life.

She said nearly 1,500 farmer families adopt zero-budget natural farming, a chemical-free method.

They go for multi-cropping by growing radish, spinach and cauliflower too in the total cultivation area of 1,230 hectares.

"These days the local farmers are racing against time in sowing their lone crop in small window of time by adhering to social distancing norms too," she added.

The total area under the main cash crop green pea in Spiti is 647 hectares, whereas it is 457 hectares barley and 31 hectares under wheat.

Cultivation of exotic vegetables in poly-houses are also coming up.

The entire Spiti Valley is populated mainly by tribals. The climatic conditions of the district are harsh as much of the land forms part of a cold desert where the mercury drops below minus 20 degrees Celsius during winter.

The Buddhist-dominated area attracts globe trotters not only for nature-based activities but also to ancient monasteries like Tabo and Dhankar.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
A roundup of new guidance and stories from NYT Parenting.

As noted earlier this week, I do not enjoy generating fun for my children. So I was very pleased to read our piece from Michaeleen Doucleff, an NPR correspondent who has spent years reporting on how different cultures around the world raise cooperative and generous children. In these cultures, you find a striking commonality: Mothers and fathers do not feel the need to constantly entertain and play with children, Michaeleen wrote. Instead parents give children an opportunity that many American kids do not have  to participate in adult work. How do we get our American children to behave this way? She has suggestions.

Also this week, Emily Oster, the economist and author of the best sellers Expecting Better and Crib Sheet, wrote a piece for us explaining that only children are not doomed. Despite negative stereotypes about onlies, they may in fact have an edge. Prenatal care may be very different after this pandemic subsides, and Emily Goligoski outlines what it might look like. The number of parents who give their kids CBD-infused products has gone up in recent years. Is it safe to give your children CBD, and does it even work for them? Nicola Jones gets the answers to your questions.

For those of you who are pregnant and working right now, its important to know your rights to accommodations or leave. I asked the experts for guidance.

Are you a grandparent providing more child care during coronavirus? We want to hear from you. Drop us a line here.
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Carrie Symonds and Boris Johnson have named their son Wilfred, the new mum revealed today, as the proud parents shared the first photograph of their newborn with the world.

The couple revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with the first name a tribute to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal, and Lawrie a reference to Ms Symonds' grandfather.

In a heart-warming Instagram post revealed the boy's name, Ms Symonds' revealed that the middle name Nicholas was a tribute to two NHS doctors 'that saved Boris' life last month' following his battle with coronavirus.

Accompanying the caption was a photograph in which the first-time mother was seen tightly cradling her son, who sported an extraordinary full head of hair not dissimilar to that of his father.

The 32-year-old fiancee of Mr Johnson, who boasted 'my heart is full' in the caption, also revealed for the first time that Wilfred had been born at the maternity wing of the NHS's University College Hospital in central London.

The caption read: 'Introducing Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas born on 29.04.20 at 9am. Wilfred after Boris' grandfather Lawrie after my grandfather Nicholas after Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart - the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month.

'Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH that looked after us so well. I couldn't be happier. My heart is full.'

It was also revealed today that Boris Johnson received a congratulatory phone call from the Duke of Cambridge on Friday afternoon, with a record of their conversation recorded as an official event in the Court Circular.

Ms Symonds gave birth in London on Wednesday morning with the Prime Minister at her side, days after he himself had been released from medical care following a lengthy battle with coronavirus.

Carrie Symonds has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son is Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the beaming parents shared the first photograph of the baby boy on Instagram

A heart-warming caption revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with Lawrie a reference to Ms Symond's grandfather and Nicholas a tribute to the two doctors that 'saved Boris' life'

Carrie Symonds (pictured on March 9) has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son as Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the proud parents shared the first photograph of their baby boy with the world

The couple revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with the first name a tribute to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal (pictured)

Boris Johnson's grandfather, Wilfred, is pictured standing with his wife Irene, his eldest son Peter (left), his eldest daughter Hilary (right), his youngest daughter Gillian (kneeling) and his son Stanley (Boris' own father)

Among the first to send their wellwishes following today's announcement were Dr Nick Price and Prof Nick Hart, who said they were 'honoured and humbled' to serve as the inspiration for the newborn's middle name Nicholas.

They said in a statement: 'Our warm congratulations go to the Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds on the happy arrival of their beautiful son Wilfred.

'We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy's at St Thomas' and who ensure every patient receives the best care.

'We wish the new family every health and happiness.'

There was also a message of congraulations from the University College Hospital, where Wilfred was born.

UCLH chief executive Professor Marcel Levi said: 'Congratulations to Carrie Symonds and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the birth of their son. We wish them every happiness at this special time.

'I would like to thank the teams who cared for Carrie and her baby. They are an incredibly skilled, dedicated and compassionate group of professionals who put patients at the heart of everything they do.

'I am very proud of them and all our staff at UCLH who are working extremely hard in very difficult circumstances at the moment.'

Downing Street said the Prime Minister, who is back leading the country in its fight against the Covid-19 crisis, would plough on with his duties and take a 'short period' of paternity leave later in the year.

The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the Number 10 spokesman confirmed earlier this week.

The couple got engaged while holidaying on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique over the new year and announced they would marry and were having a baby on February 29, days after the PM's divorce from Marina Wheeler was confirmed.

The birth came after an extraordinary month for the couple, who were self-isolating separately, first because of Carrie's pregnancy and then when Boris fell ill.

Osman Wilfred Kemal: Boris's half-Turkish grandfather who gave his family the name Johnson Osman Wilfred Kemal, Boris's grandfather, who later changed his name to Wilfred Johnson The baby's first name is a tribute to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal. Mr Kemal was the father of Stanley Johnson, whose former wife Charlotte gave birth to Boris in 1964. It is through Wilfred Kemal, who changed the family name to Johnson, that Boris gets his Turkish heritage. Johnson had been his maternal grandmother's maiden name. Mr Kemal's own father, Ali Kemal, was an interior minister of the Ottoman Empire. He was lynched and stoned to death by a mob during the 1922 Turkish War of Independence. Both his son and daughter moved to southern England, where Osman would drop his first name in favour of his second name, Wilfred. Wilfred Johnson later married Irene Williams, who according to an episode of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? was the constant subject of jokes from the family due to her grandiose claims of an aristocratic French background. On the show, it was revealed through Wilfred's birth certificate that his mother had died during childbirth. Advertisement

Mr Johnson then spent a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, and Miss Symonds was also briefly bedridden with symptoms of Covid-19, but made a full recovery.

They were only reunited last week at Chequers before she went into labour.

It is also just over two weeks since the PM was discharged from intensive care where he had been battling coronavirus. Miss Symonds also suffered symptoms of the disease.

Miss Symonds has been back living with Mr Johnson at Number 11 Downing Street as the Prime Minister leads the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

She had previously been self-isolating in Camberwell, South London, with the couple's dog Dilyn, after suffering from symptoms of coronavirus.

The 32-year-old former government adviser then joined Mr Johnson at the PM's country home of Chequers in Buckinghamshire while he recovered from the virus.

Mr Johnson returned to work on Monday after being photographed back at Downing Street on Sunday evening.

If it was a full-term pregnancy of 40 weeks, conception would have taken place last July, around the time Mr Johnson took over from Theresa May as prime minister.

Boris already has four children with second wife Marina, Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20. He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, 11, after an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre with a sixth child from another affair also rumoured.

The acrimonious split with Marina has caused tension between Mr Johnson and his children, who he asked to meet in person in February to tell them he was engaged to Carrie and they were having a baby.

But not all of his children reportedly turned up for their father's announcement and are said to be 'furious' because they believe Carrie and Boris got together after an affair.

Lara reportedly branded her father a 'selfish b******' after his split with her mother.

Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds announced in late February that they were expecting a baby in 'early summer', and that they had become engaged at the end of last year.

Carrie and Boris first met in 2012 when he was Mayor of London and she worked for the Tory party.

Mr Johnson, like his newborn son, was born with a full head of hair. Wilfred was born just over two weeks after Mr Johnson was discharged from intensive care

While Mr Johnson, already a father of five, and Miss Symonds will no doubt want to put their own stamp on parenting as a Prime Minister, there are certainly lessons that can be learned from their predecessors. Pictured, the couple outside Downing Street in December 2019

There were whispers of a close relationship in 2018 after they were seen speaking flirtatiously outside a Tory party ball. Later that year Boris was thrown out by his wife Marina and said in a statement they were divorcing and had 'separated some time ago'.

Six months later their relationship was confirmed after they were seen holidaying together in Italy.

Carrie's tribute to NHS heroes who 'saved Boris's life' Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped save the Prime Minister's life. The third name is a reference to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who Ms Symonds referred to as 'the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month'. Nicholas Price graduated from University of Birmingham's medical school in 1991. He has specialist training in infectious diseases, general medicine tuberculosis, tropical medicine and infection prevention and control. He was previously awarded a MRC Clinical Training Fellowship for research into tuberculosis at The Hammersmith Hospital. Dr Price became a consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' in 2005. In 2009, he was promoted to the Trust's Director of Infection and joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control. Nicholas Hart graduated from University of London's medical school in 1993. His area of expertise include weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic respiratory failure. He has been awarded nine Local Clinical Excellence Award points. Dr Hart became the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service, the largest rehabilitation and home ventilation service in the UK, in 2012. He is also a Professor at King's College London and Director of Research and Development Delivery at Guy's and St Thomas'. Source: NHS Advertisement

When Mr Johnson and former Tory Party head of press Miss Symonds fell in love, many were sceptical that it could last.

The cynics appeared to have been proved right when they were overheard having a spectacular domestic spat in their London house early in their relationship that saw the police called.

Their well-publicised plate-smashing row was recorded by neighbours who claimed she yelled 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat' in Camberwell, south London last year.

But they have proved the doubters wrong. Despite not being married, they negotiated tricky moments like visiting the Queen at Balmoral as an unmarried couple, with great dignity.

Miss Symonds proved a great asset to Mr Johnson in the election campaign. She curbed her love of the limelight and made sure he was the centre of attention.

Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister she became pregnant. Mr Johnson was heavily criticised soon into his premiership when many parts of Britain were badly flooded and he failed to visit them.

At the time he was staying with Miss Symonds at the Foreign Secretary's official residence, Chevening in Kent, while repairs were being carried out at Chequers.

Mr Johnson fell in love with Chequers in his days as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May's government.

But Mr Johnson's political rivals lined up to brand the engagement announcement a distraction ploy as Britain suffered severe floods.

The birth of their first child comes after a rollercoaster month where Boris almost died from coronavirus and his fiancee also started showing symptoms.

On March 27 - the day Boris tested positive for coronavirus - Carrie shared a photograph of herself self-isolating with their dog Dilyn at the 1.3million Camberwell house she bought with Mr Johnson last year.

On April 5, Mr Johnson, 55, was rushed into ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in central London with breathing difficulties and his partner was not allowed to be by his side because of her pregnancy and a blanket ban on visitors.

They have been together since he was discharged.

Carrie was brought up by her mother Josephine, who is now 71, in East Sheen, South-West London and attended the private 20,000-a-year Godolphin & Latymer School.

Her father Matthew, a founder of the Independent newspaper, lived in a large property not far away in Twickenham with his wife, Alison, with whom he has three children.

Matthew had an affair with Josephine, who was a lawyer on the paper  and Carrie is the product of that affair, born in 1988.
Thousands of officers in riot gear were deployed in Hong Kong on May 1 as pro-democracy activists planned to set up 50 street booths and organize flash mobs.

The events were planned as an alternative to a main May Day rally for which police denied permission due to COVID-19 concerns.

This footage, broadcast live by local reporting group SocREC, shows police along a cordoned-off section of street in the Mong Kok area.

Local media reported that 3,000 riot police, equipped with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons, were prepared to disperse crowds.

Activists were reportedly encouraged to join flash mobs in Causeway Bay, Sai Ying Pun, Tai Po and Kwun Tong, and a singing protest was planned for New Town Plaza in Sha Tin. Credit: SocREC via Storyful
World Health Organization recently praised China for its handling of Coronavirus crisis and said that other nations should learn from Wuhan on how it was bringing back life to normal despite being the epicentre of the pandemic. This comes just a day after US President Donald Trump accused WHO of acting like a PR agency for China. Meanwhile, the deadly COVID-19 has now infected 3,402,211 across the world.

Read: Lawmakers: Donald Trump's Funding Freeze For WHO Hits Venezuela

Maria van Kerkhove, the technical lead for WHO's Health Emergencies Programmes, speaking at a virtual press briefing, sadi: "That's very very welcome news to hear that there are no more severe cases, no more patients in Wuhan. So congratulations on this achievement. The world has learned from China and we need to continue to learn from Wuhan on how they are lifting those measures, how they are bringing society back to normal, or a new normal, in terms of how we''re going to live with this virus going forward."

'Tireless efforts'

She further said that China had worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control. Kerkhove was one of the China-WHO joint experts who visited China in February.

Describing her experience in China, she added that she was there for two weeks and was working directly with ministry officials as well as officials from all different sectors, from hospitals, through communities to really see what was put in place to bring those numbers down.

Appreciating the "tireless efforts" of the residents of Wuhan and said "not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures. We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you've been able to do".

Read: WHO 'keen' To Investigate Origin Of Coronavirus On Invitation From China

On April 30, US President Donald Trump reportedly said the World Health Organization should be "ashamed of" itself, as it likened it to a public relations agency for China. The Trump administration has launched a probe into the role of the WHO on Coronavirus and has temporarily suspended the US' financial assistance to it.

"I think that the World Health Organization should be ashamed of themselves because they are like the public relations agency for China," Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House.

Read: Covid Originated From China's Wuhan Lab, Hints Trump Who Is 'not Allowed' To Say More

Read: 'WHO Should Be Ashamed Of Itself, It's Like China's PR Agency': Trump Launches Wild Attack


Los Angeles: After recovering from COVID-19, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks has shared photographs of himself donating plasma on social media.

The 63-year-old actor donated his plasma last week after he and wife Rita Wilson recovered from COVID-19 and were deemed to be carrying antibodies that could be beneficial to researchers looking to beat the virus, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Hanks shared a picture of a huge bag containing a pale yellow liquid, along with the caption: "Here's last week's bag of plasma. Such a bag!"

"After the paperwork, it's as easy as taking a nap. Thanks @arimoin and UCLA. Hanx," he continued in the caption.

The couple's blood will be used by medical researchers who are developing a vaccine for coronavirus after they won their battle with the illness. In early March, the couple had tested positive for Covid-19 while in Australia. They returned home to Los Angeles at the end of March after recovering.

Wilson and Hanks were among the first celebrities to reveal their positive diagnosis last month, while they were in Australia. Hanks was filming an untitled Elvis Presley film in the country. The couple is now back in Los Angeles and on the way to recovery.

In an interview on The National Defense Radio Show, the 63-year-old actor detailed his and his wife's struggle with respiratory illness.

"Rita went through a tougher time than I did," he said of their recovery in Australia, adding: "She had a much higher fever and she had some other symptoms. She lost her sense of taste and smell. She got absolutely no joy from food for a better part of three weeks."

He continued: "She was so nauseous, she had to crawl on the floor from the bed to the facilities. It lasted a while."

Hanks "had some body aches and was very fatigued", and shared how he struggled to find the energy to do simple exercises. He and Wilson were placed in "lockdown for three days" in a local hospital.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall and tribal and state officials are pushing back on federal plans to hold virtual meetings over future oil and gas development in the northwest region of New Mexico that includes Chaco Canyon.

They are also calling for a 120-day extension of the public comment period about the recently published Farmington Mancos-Gallup Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement. The 90-day public comment period expires May 28.

Northwestern New Mexico is one of the regions of the country hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Udall called a plan released Thursday by Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William Perry Pendley to hold virtual meetings about the plans appalling.

Talk about out of touch, the senator said.

Udall said the Navajo Nation and pueblos who have cultural ties to the Chaco area have some of the lowest rates of broadband internet in the state.

The four virtual meetings are set to be held between May 14 and 18, according to a release by BLM.

Hosting these virtual meetings will reduce our carbon footprint, decrease the cost to the federal government and to private citizens who must travel to far away locations, and increase by orders of magnitude those able to participate in the meeting itself, Pendley said in the release.

But Udall said many of the people in the area arent going to be able to jump on non-existent broadband internet in the area to participate.

And archaeologist Paul Reed, a Chaco scholar with Archaeology Southwest, said the video platform BLM and the Bureau of Indian Affairs planned to use had limitations on the number of participants and would place limits on questions asked about the plans. He also questioned whether the virtual meetings met National Environmental Policy Act requirements.

With oil prices as low as they are now, now would not seem to be the right time to rush a plan into place, Reed said.

Udall said the comment period needed to be extended to allow the tribes, pueblos and other communities in the area addressed by the plan to devote their resources to stop the spread of the virus.

Santa Clara Pueblo Gov. J. Michael Chavarria, the chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, said people in the region need significant time to pore over documents and give significant feedback. But he said that could not be done while pueblo, tribal, state and local governments were dealing with outbreaks of the coronavirus.

The Navajo Nation would only be able to give inadequate consultation with it under lockdown because of COVID-19 outbreaks, Council Delegate Daniel Tso said.

New Mexicos congressional delegation sent a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on March 20 requesting the 120-day extension. The All Pueblo Council of Governors and the state also sent letters asking for the extension.

Udall, Chavarria and New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Secretary Sarah Propst said they have not heard from the Interior Department about their requests.

Members of the congressional delegation have sponsored legislation that would ban future oil, gas and mineral development within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park on federal land. It would not apply to tribal or private land.

The BLM and BIA are considering several alternatives to resolve land use issues and resource management challenges, the BLM release said. Expanding oil and gas development is among the options.

The management plan amendment and environmental impact study involves more than 4 million acres of land, including about 675,400 acres of Navajo Trust surface, 1,316,200 acres of BLM-managed land and 210,100 acres of individual Indian allotments across 17 Navajo Nation chapters.
New Delhi: One of the most important and biggest temple festivals in Kerala, Thrissur Pooram witnesses a huge flow of devotees taking part in the Pooram festivities. However, this year, due to the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, the festivity has been cancelled to avoid any further spread of the virus.

The nationwide lockdown has been extended till May 17, 2020.

This year Thrissur Pooram festivity is scheduled for May 3. It is a 36 hours long festivity where a large number of devotees and spectators gather to witness the temple festival. However, this year it is not happening.

According to Malayalam Calendar, Pooram is the day when the moon rises with the Pooram star in the month of Medam. On this day, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran named elephant opens the gates of the Vadakkunnathan temple in Kerala and the rituals begin. A huge procession of tuskers decorated beautifully remains the highlight of the traditional Hindu festival in the state.

Legend and Significance:

The Maharaja of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran, also known as Raja Rama Varma is associated with the celebration of Thrissur Pooram festival. Much before the grand celebrations at Thrissur temple, the largest temple festival in Kerala was mainly a one-day festival held at Aarattupuzha known as Arattupuzha Pooram.

However, many believe that once it so happened that due to incessant rains, the participating temples of the city of Thrissur were late for the Arattupuzha Pooram and eventually denied access to the Pooram procession. The temples which were denied entry informed about the incident to their Maharaja who in turn started the grand Thrissur Pooram festival.

It is said that the Maharaja unified as many as 10 temples in and around Vadakkunnathan Temple and organised the celebration of Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. Sakthan Thampuran invited adjoining temples with their deities to Thrissur to pay obeisance to Lord Vadakkunnathan (Lord Shiva) the presiding deity of the Vadakkunnathan Temple.

The festivities begin early morning and continue the next day as well. Devotees visit the temple and seek the blessings of the Lord.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 02:34:44|Editor: huaxia

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A woman participates in a protest in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 1, 2020. Turkish police on Friday detained at least 38 people who intended to stage several unauthorized marches to central Istanbul to mark the International Workers' Day, local media reported. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Friday detained at least 38 people who intended to stage several unauthorized marches to central Istanbul to mark the International Workers' Day, local media reported.

Gathering in at least three separate districts, several groups attempted to march towards the iconic Taksim Square despite the curfew declared against the COVID-19 pandemic, the state-run Anadolu agency said.

Police intervened and apprehended at least 38 people, including some members and a leader of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions, according to the report.

Those who have been detained were later released, Anadolu said, citing a statement of the Istanbul Governorship.

Meanwhile, various trade unions, with permission from the governor's office, left wreaths in Taksim Square by following the social distancing rule to curb the possible spread of the coronavirus, press reports also noted.

The square has a symbolic meaning for the trade unions and leftist groups, as 34 workers were killed during May Day celebrations in 1977 in shots fired from a nearby building.
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

- Green light for experimental drug -

US authorities approve an experimental drug for emergency use on patients, in the latest step in the global push to find viable treatments and a vaccine.

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug initially developed to treat Ebola, is given the green light after a major trial finds it boosted recovery in serious COVID-19 patients.

- Blood pressure not a factor -

In reassuring news for millions of people, three major studies say commonly used blood pressure medicines do not heighten susceptibility to infection, or increase the risk of becoming seriously ill with the disease.

- WHO: virus 'natural in origin' -

The World Health Organization reiterates that the virus was of natural origin after claims from US President Donald Trump he had seen evidence it originated in a Chinese lab.

- 241,682 deaths -

241,682 people have died worldwide since the epidemic surfaced in China in December, according to an AFP tally at 1900 GMT Saturday based on official sources.

In all, 3,398,390 cases have now been reported in 195 countries and territories.

In the United States, which has the highest toll, 65,645 people have died. Italy is the second hardest-hit country, with 28,710 dead, followed by the United Kingdom with 28,131, Spain 25,100 and France 24,760.

- France's 'long-distance run' -

France will extend a health emergency imposed on March 24 for another two months until July 24, its health minister announces.

"We are going to have to perform a long-distance run," says Olivier Veran.

The chairman of the national rail operator SNCF says his company has already lost two billion euros ($2.2 billion) during the crisis, and will likely apply for state aid and cut staff numbers.

- Spaniards go outside -

Spain's nearly 47 million people, under strict lockdown since March 14, are allowed outside for walks or sport.

Many restrictions remain however. In towns of more than 5,000 inhabitants, children and the elderly cannot leave home at the same times.

- Ecuador on edge -

The International Monetary Fund approves a $643 million emergency loan for Ecuador, hard hit by the pandemic and low oil prices.

- Nearly all home -

The repatriation of Europeans who found themselves outside the EU when borders closed as part of national lockdowns is almost complete, says the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.

- India readies for star-studded concert -

Rock legend Mick Jagger and Hollywood's Will Smith will be among dozens of international and Bollywood stars taking part in a four-hour concert Sunday to raise funds for the battle against the virus in India, where the number of cases is surging.

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The oldest universities in Australia  Sydney and Melbourne  were established to provide an education to any person who aspired to one. Once they were founded, on principles of equality and civic duty, the colonies no longer needed to send their brightest back to England to learn how to lead.

William Wentworth, who helped set up the University of Sydney in 1851, hoped the institution would allow "children of every class to become great and useful in the destinies of this country".

Australia's oldest universities were set up on principles of equality and civic duty. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Fast forward 169 years and today's children have suddenly seen their road to greatness become so much more difficult. They have had their schooling interrupted, their pathways to university thrown into doubt and their social development curtailed by isolation. They will inherit a massive national debt by the end of the COVID-19 crisis which will take them years to pay off. And we now face having to add to that debt to help those very universities they want to attend, after funding from international students fell significantly as a result of the pandemic.

Universities perform a critical public service role through research and education; we benefit as a society from their discoveries and from their graduates. They must survive. But with international students now barred from entering Australia, their financial health is at risk, particularly if the ban stretches into next year.
The world is in dire need of responsible words, says HRH the Prime Minister

The world is in dire need of responsible words, says HRH the Prime Minister

TDT | Manama

Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa yesterday expressed full confidence in the true potential of Bahraini media saying, the Press under the current circumstances has a big responsibility to fulfil.

The world is in dire need of responsible words that creates hope and reassures peace in the soul, said HRH the PM stressing the need to support frontline health workers including doctors and nurses in overcoming the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Prime Minister was speaking on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, which falls on this Sunday. This years slogan is The press without fear or favouritism. Bahrain, the PM said, salutes the men of the press, media and writers and reaffirms the importance of preserving everything that guarantees freedom and openness.

The pandemic has created a new reality and an experience that will have a profound impact on the future of human knowledge and lifestyles, said the Premier adding that the Bahrain media is playing a pioneering role in raising awareness and supporting the health sector.

This reflects the value and noble mission of journalism. The traditional press, His Highness said, despite the challenges it faces, inspired all of the social media platforms that had managed to create an advanced reality while penetrating national borders.

However, amidst the crowded social media platforms, we look forward to the value of the media that contributes to building a knowledge society. Prime Minister affirmed that the press in Bahrain continues to stand on the front line, and with its honest words and unbiased information contributes to raising public opinion.

His Highness expressed pride in Bahrains journalistic and media cadres, which managed, over decades, to lay the foundations for authentic Bahraini identity and national unity.

HRH the Premier further affirmed the confidence of the Bahraini community in the potential of the Bahraini media in responding quickly and constructively to all issues concerning the country and the citizen.

The prime minister expressed his appreciation of the outstanding contribution of the Bahraini Journalists Association and its efforts to enhance the position of the press and preserve the rights of journalists to achieve further creativity.

The Prime Minister praised the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the noble humanitarian message that it works to achieve to enhance understanding and rapprochement.
A few states have cautiously eased restrictions, opening retails stores and hair salons. More states will reopen their businesses in the coming weeks. Many state officials are feeling the strain the pandemics lockdown has placed on their economies and are looking to the federal government for funds in another stimulus package. VOAs Elizabeth Lee reports from Los Angeles. VOA Khmer's Soksreinith Ten narrates.
: As many as 167 Bangladeshi



nationals stranded here during the ongoing lockdown left for Dhaka by a chartered flight on Saturday, officials here said.

The US Bangla flight, arranged following consultations between authorities of both India and Bangladesh, departed in the afternoon, they said adding the passengers included women and children.

Recently, about 3,000 people belonging to various countries, including the US, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had left for their respective coutries in similar chartered aircraft from here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Saturday said its Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

The honour is in recognition of Speth's advocacy for UK research and development and his commitment to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education, JLR said in a statement.

With the recognition, Speth joins a global league of exceptional scientists who have been selected by the Royal Society for their outstanding contributions to scientific understanding, it added.

Their ranks include six Nobel laureates, as well as internationally recognised leaders in industry and science policy.

"While election to the Fellowship is a recognition of exceptional individual contributions to the sciences, it is also a network of expertise that can be drawn on to address issues of societal, and global significance," Royal Society President Venki Ramakrishnan said.

Active since 1660, the Royal Society is a fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

The British firm operates its own academy in partnership with a number of universities, schools, colleges and other providers.

The JLR academy increases student engagement in STEM and promotes career opportunities.

Since its launch, Jaguar Land Rover's schools programme has engaged with over4.7 million young people globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ALBANY  The Capital Region recorded six more deaths from the novel coronavirus on Friday, including three among residents of long-term care facilities.

Albany County experienced three new deaths overnight Friday  two men in their 70s, including one who was a resident of the county-run Shaker Place nursing home in Colonie, and a woman in her 80s.

The county saw a notable jump in the number of residents testing positive for COVID-19 in recent days. As of Friday, the number of known cases to date had climbed to 1,151, with 578 of them since recovered.

A large portion of the new cases this week were a result of aggressive testing at nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the county, said County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen. Testing in those facilities is finding more asymptomatic cases, often at a higher rate than expected, she said.

"We know these agencies are doing their best but we know again that this is a highly contagious disease," she said.

Shaker Place has had 46 residents and 25 employees test positive for the virus at this point. Other large outbreaks in the county have been detected at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center and Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing in Guilderland, and Teresian House and Hudson Park Rehabilitation and Nursing in Albany.

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Rensselaer County had another death at the Diamond Hill nursing home in Schaghticoke on Friday. That, along with the Thursday night death of Troy Police Sgt. Randall French, brought the county's known death toll from the virus to 20.

On Friday, County Executive Steve McLaughlin wrote a letter to state health commissioner Howard Zucker requesting that all residents of the Diamond Hill facility with a known case of COVID-19 be transferred to a hospital "or other appropriate medical facility."

Twelve of the facility's residents have died from the disease so far, and a total of 25 residents and 12 staff have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"We believe the situation at Diamond Hill is continuing to worsen," he wrote. "We are asking the state, which supervises adult care facilities like Diamond Hill, to step in and get these residents to a safer place. We have gotten many, many calls about Diamond Hill since the outbreak started. The county first contacted the state several weeks ago. Our concern has only grown since then."

Warren County officials also reported a death connected to a long-term care facility on Friday.

The person who died was a resident of an assisted living facility in the southern part of the county and succumbed to the virus while hospitalized, the county said. It did not offer other details.

Of the county's 14 deaths to date, seven have occurred within the walls of a nursing home, five have occurred at a hospital, one has occurred at an assisted living facility and one has occurred within a private residence.

Also on Friday, Albany County officials invited U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to their daily Facebook Live briefing. She appeared via a Zoom call to discuss the federal government's efforts to fight the virus and provide aid for people affected by it. One item the Democrats are still pursuing is financial aid to local governments, including Albany County, which is facing up to a $30 million reduction in its 2020 sales tax revenue.

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

"We are working very hard to make sure that's in the next package," she said.

Gillibrand also brought up other proposals, including universal sick days and paid leave. She pointed out that some grocery store workers, considered essential during the pandemic, don't have guaranteed sick days.

Gillibrand also proposed the creation of a new federal service agency, modeled on AmeriCorps. The idea, dubbed Health Force, would recruit up to one million Americans to help healthcare workers perform tasks like coronavirus testing and contact tracing, she said.

"I think this could change the trajectory of this disease," she said.

Capital Region cases and deaths

As of Friday, 3,183 residents in the 11-county Capital District had tested positive for COVID-19 since the global pandemic began. Nearly 150 have died.

Below are the known cases, hospitalizations, recoveries and deaths from COVID-19 broken down by county:

Albany  1,151 cases, 33 hospitalized, 8 in ICU, 578 recovered, 44 deaths

Columbia  210 cases, 14 hospitalized, 6 in ICU, 94 recovered, 13 deaths

Fulton  75 cases, 3 deaths

Greene  155 cases, 51 active, 104 resolved, 7 hospitalized, 5 deaths

Montgomery  54 cases, 35 recovered, 2 under medical care, 1 death

Rensselaer  320 cases, 170 recovered, 6 hospitalized, 1 in ICU, 20 deaths

Saratoga  355 cases, 11 hospitalized, 393* recoveries, 14 deaths

Schenectady  495 cases, 19** hospitalized, 336 recoveries, 27 deaths

Schoharie  40 cases, 8 hospitalized, 35 recovered, 1 death

Warren  172 cases, 3 hospitalized, 103 recovered, 14 deaths

Washington  156 cases, 71 recovered, 6 deaths

*as of April 29, includes recoveries from presumed and confirmed COVID-19

**includes all hospitalizations in county, regardless of patients county of residence
An American lawyer has started travelling to beaches in Florida dressed as the Grim Reaper to protest against their reopening.

Daniel Uhlfelder, an attorney who lives in Walton County, Florida, began touring his home state on Friday with his black robe and scythe to warn people to stay at home.

He believes that beaches have reopened too soon and that they pose a health risk during the pandemic.

In a tweet on Friday, Mr Uhlfelder said: Today I began touring Florida as the Grim Reaper to remind Floridians of the importance that we stay home and protect one another. This is just the beginning.

It comes after thousands of people rushed to the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, last month when the mayor announced an easing of restrictions.

Mr Uhlfelder visited beaches in Walton County which have opened ahead of Floridas planned reopening on 4 May, when restaurants and retail spaces will be allowed to reopen at 25 per cent capacity.

The attorney told CNN that the beaches he saw on Friday were very crowded.

"I know how beautiful and attractive our beaches are. But if we don't take measures to control things, this virus is going to get really, really out of control," he added.

As part of his campaign, the lawyer also hopes to raise $20,000 for Democrats running for Congress.

Elsewhere, police in the UK are trying to locate a person in Norwich who has been seen walking around dressed as a plague doctor.

Norfolk Police said they wanted to speak to the individual and give them words of advice about how wearing the costume in public might affect people in the local area.

In 17th century Europe, a plague doctor who treated patients would wear a black gown and a beaked mask.
A man charged with assault has been further remanded in custody following last weeks sitting of Longford District Court.

Martin Nevin, 15 Canal Drive, Prospect Woods, Longford, was due to appear before Harristown District Court last Friday after being denied bail by Judge Seamus Hughes.

The incident in question took place on December 15, 2019, at approximately 12.45pm when the accused and three others allegedly attacked another man.

Mr Nevin had previously been refused District Court bail and went to the High Court, where he was again refused bail, the court heard.

Solicitor for the defence, John Quinn, said that he was applying for bail as the three co-accused have been granted bail, while Mr Nevin has not.

Outlining the facts, Gda Shane OConnor explained that the accused and three co-accused were driving on the Athlone Road when they saw Bernie McDonagh and blocked his car with theirs.

They allegedly got out of the car and chased Bernie McDonagh on foot up St Michaels Road, Gda OConnor explained, adding that there is CCTV footage of fairly good quality that shows the four people running after the injured party, and coming back the same way shortly afterwards.

You told me all this the last day. He wasnt that badly assaulted, said Judge Hughes.

They drew blood, said Gda OConnor.

You can draw blood with a pin prick. Were there weapons? asked Judge Hughes.

There was a shovel and a machete, Gda OConnor confirmed.

Mr Quinn, on behalf of his client asked Gda OConnor to confirm that the other three accused had been given bail, which he did.

Why is he being treated differently? asked Judge Hughes.

Because of his previous convictions, said Sgt Paddy McGirl on behalf of the State.

On February 15, 2018, he received a three year prison sentence for two section 3 assaults and intimidation of a witness.

Sgt McGirl explained that the accused was let out on temporary release only a few days previous.

He also has previous convictions for violent disorder, section 3 assault, section 2 assault and possession of weapons.

Thats a huge list of previous convictions, Judge Hughes noted.

The book of evidence will take some time. If bail were fixed with strict conditions, he would comply, said Mr Quinn on behalf of his client.

He didnt comply the last time. Within two days of his temporary release he did this. Hes been refused bail from the High Court, said Judge Hughes.

But hes paid a partial penalty for what hes done because his temporary release was taken from him, said Mr Quinn.

At this point, Mr Nevin stood up and said that he had never broken bail in this court.

You have broken bail. Temporary Release is like bail, Judge Hughes shot back.

I havent done anything wrong, Mr Nevin protested.

I made the right decision the first day when you talked down to me and the High Court backed me up, said Judge Hughes.

I didnt beat this man, I stopped him from getting bet. I never touched him, said Mr Nevin.

You dont have to be involved in touching him. You were involved in being part of a group organising this, Judge Hughes pointed out.

If the co-accused, who probably did inflict the injuries, are on bail, then he should be too, Mr Quinn insisted.

Are the co-accused complying with bail? Judge Hughes asked Sgt McGirl, who replied yes.

There you go. Theyre complying with Bail, Judge Hughes told Mr Quinn.

With that, he remanded Mr Nevin in custody to April 24 in Harristown District Court for preparation of the book of evidence.
Home minister Amit Shah on Saturday welcomed the decision of the armed forces to plan a series of events to thank doctors, paramedics and policemen engaged in the countrys fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The minister underlined that the nation stands united in thanking the frontline health workers.

I am sure this decision of Armed forces will greatly boost the morale and confidence of our doctors, healthworkers, sanitisation staff, security and media personnel. We as a nation stand united to thank our Corona warriors in these testing times, tweeted Shah.

The Indian armed forces will conduct fly-pasts, light up ships at sea, display military bands and shower flower petals on hospitals on Sunday in a grand display of gratitude to lakhs of corona warriors like doctors, paramedics and police personnel.

The announcement was made by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat at a press conference on Friday in presence of Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh, Army Chief Gen M M Naravane and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

The nation stood together and showed resilience in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On behalf of the armed forces, we want to thank all the corona warriors -- doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police, home guards, delivery boys and media, Gen Rawat said.

Amit Shah praised the forces for their decision to thank the health workers.

Who else can understand the importance of keeping our motherland safe than our Armed forces. Kudos to the CDS and our Armed forces for their decision to thank the Corona Warriors, who are working relentlessly to keep our nation safe against the menace of COVID-19, siad Shah in another tweet.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, Prime Minister Modi said India has waged a strong fight against Covid-19 due to courageous frontline warriors who have cared and cured many.

They are spectacular. India applauds them and their families, he said.

Indias armed forces have always kept the nation safe. Even in times of disasters, they are out there helping people, the PM said.

Now, our forces are, in a unique way, saying a big thank you to our frontline COVID-19 warriors for their endeavour towards making India COVID-19 free, he said.

The decision to go for the thanks-giving activities was taken at a meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the three service chiefs.

In the press conference, Gen Rawat also asserted that no operational task has been affected or will be affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, is backing Peter Meijer in the Republican primary for Michigans 3rd Congressional District.

Meijer, a U.S. Army veteran whose family founded the Meijer retail chain, is one of five Republican candidates who have filed to run in the August Republican primary for the West Michigan district.

McCarthy, R-California, said in a statement that Meijer's life has been defined by his service to America and his community.

Whether serving in the United States Army in Iraq, as a conflict analyst in Afghanistan, leading veteran disaster response teams, or as an advocate for his fellow veterans, Peter Meijer has always stepped up to serve, McCarthy said.

Peter brings a dynamic skill set to the table which will help us not only fight for the conservative principles we share, but turn them into law. He will make a great Representative for West Michigan, and I am proud to support his campaign."

Meijer said hes proud to have received McCarthys support.

Since I launched my campaign last July, we have been focused on how best to serve West Michigan, Meijer said in a statement. Leader McCarthys support helps drive our mission forward and brings us one giant step closer to victory.

Meijer and state Rep. Lynn Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township, are regarded as the two front-runners in the Republican primary race. The other three candidates are: former Sand Lake Village President Tom Norton; Lyons Village Trustee Joe Farrington; and Battle Creek attorney Emily Rafi.

In response to the McCarthy endorsement, Afendoulis spokesperson Peter Towey issued a statement criticizing Meijer.

With all due respect to the leader, Peter Meijer helped found a group that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to elect nine democrats who voted to make Nancy Pelosi Speaker and impeach President Trump, Towey said.

We think this makes him unqualified to represent West Michigan, and the voters of the 3rd Congressional District will determine who their next representative is, not the DC establishment.

Towey was referring to With Honor, a nonpartisan group dedicated to electing military veterans to public office. Meijer has supported the groups political action committee, the With Honor Fund, whose mission is to elect Democratic, Republican and independent veterans to Congress.

In response, Meijer said: "I wasn't fazed by Iranian rocket attacks when I was a soldier in Iraq. I'm not fazed now by baseless attacks from my opponent on how I've worked to help elect conservative war heroes like Dan Crenshaw, Mike Waltz, and Brian Mast. I know what it truly means to serve and I look forward to continuing my service to our country and our community."

Meijer has outraised other Republican candidates in the 3rd Congressional District primary race. However, a significant portion of his fundraising has come from loans he made to his own campaign.

He had brought in $1.1 million as of March 31, campaign finance reports show. Of that, $325,000 was from funds he loaned his campaign.

In addition to McCarthy, Meijer has been endorsed by prominent members of the West Michigan business community, including the DeVos family.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Meijer went on to work in the business and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, from April 2018 to January 2019, he worked as an analyst at Olympia Development of Michigan.

Read more:

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Whitmer issues orders extending state of emergency without support of legislature

Trump tweets support of Michigan coronavirus protesters, urges Whitmer to make a deal
Jovo Marjanovic / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty Images

Robots can outthink humans, but can they understand what it is to be human?



Scientists are moving robots along on that continuum by developing robotic skin that helps them gain the sense of touch. Researchers from Munich to Japan to Boston are currently looking into how to give robots tactile sensation and in some cases, feel pain. The rush to create this technology is in response to the rise in automation. Currently there are about 3 million industrial robots in the world. By 2030, Oxford Economics estimates that robots will displace 20 million human workers worldwide. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for industrial robots is estimated at 9.4% through 2023, according to Allied Market Research. Expanding a robot's ability to feel ushers in more practical applications. A sensing robot can discern the texture of a surface and the amount of force on contact. Some robots can also detect temperature changes. While those sound-like esoteric senses, Elisabeth Smela, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, points to a more salient example. "It could be useful to back up and feel somebody touching," she said. Without such awareness, a human worker might become biased against their robot coworker. Awareness is just one facet of being human that scientists are trying to bring to robots. While some traits  like a sense of morality  seem to be off limits, other traits such as compassion and humor appear to be fair game.

Creating skin for robots

For some, the key to improving robots is to have them experience the world as much like humans as possible. For instance, creating skin for robots is the goal of various researchers around the world. Last year researchers introduced artificial skin developed by the Technical University of Munich. The artificial skin, made up of hexagon-shaped silicone cells about 1 in. in diameter, can detect contact, acceleration, proximity and temperature. Skin is the human body's largest organ, and it is full of nerve endings that provide us with instant reports of temperature, pressure and pain. John Yiannis Aloimonos, a professor with the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science, said such artificial skin "enables robots to perceive their surroundings in much greater detail and with more sensitivity. This not only helps them to move safely. It also makes them safer when operating near people and gives them the ability to anticipate and actively avoid accidents." Researchers say skin is important because a robot needs to discern the unspoken communication that goes on among humans. Mastering such nonverbal communications would be a quantum leap for robots. It can also be combined with other 'robotic senses,' such as sight or hearing.

[Artificial skin] enables robots to perceive their surroundings in much greater detail and with more sensitivity. This not only helps them to move safely. It also makes them safer when operating near people and gives them the ability to anticipate and actively avoid accidents. John Yiannis Aloimonos professor with the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science

Developing the senses is seen as the key to adding functionality to robots. "We use tactile feedback to get more information about our surroundings, and to adjust our actions by receiving continuous input about what we're touching and interacting with," said Daniela Rus, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who serves as director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She said her goal is to "take a first step towards being able to enable robots to have some of the same sorts of capabilities."



John Dolan, principal systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, said the talk of robot skin shows is the field of soft robotics, which tries to replicate the human body's musculature, force and torque. Humans take for granted such "force-sensing," which is the ability to distinguish a punch from a pat on the back.

The benefits of sensing skin

There are tangible benefits to having robots with sensing skin. For instance, a sensing skin could tell a robot to immediately shut down when it comes in contact with a human. That's helpful since humans aren't allowed in the same space as many industrial robots. But there are also challenges to putting skin on robots in terms of cost and mechanics. "If you want to cover the entire robot, then there are a lot of pieces that need to be wired and a lot of data coming from that," Smela said. Leif Jentof, co-founder of RightHand Robotics, added that robot skin is very expensive and that will mean creators will likely ``concentrate on areas that are needed for specific tasks." Robot skin will not be a uniform solution for every application or industry, especially when a human might be better able to perform a task at a lower cost. Brian Gerkey, the CEO of Open Robotics, said human worker on an assembly line could feel if someone bumped into him, but a robot would not, unless it was programmed to do so.

Gordon Cheng develops artificial skin in order to provide robots with tactile feedback Astrid Eckert | Technical University of Munich

Scientists have experimented with using living flesh to give robots more of a human feel. Otherwise, they tend to use manmade substances such as rubber. "I know that human or animal skin is the gold standard for these kinds of efforts and it's basically magic," said Gerkey. "As far as I know, we're nowhere close to matching that technology." Professor Jong-Oh Park, vice chair of the research committee of the International Federation of Robotics, said flesh is very complicated and re-engineering it eludes us right now. "As well known, living tissue is basically programmed or designed in DNA in every living cell in nanometer scale," he said.



Softer robots use in society
Mr Prosper Pi-Bansah, Municipal Chief Executive for Ho, Friday said Government was working around the clock for workers to enjoy their contributions to national development, saying, "there are better days ahead for workers."



He said the decision by Government to absorb water and electricity bills to cushion the citizenry in the wake of COVID-19 signalled Government's commitment to the welfare of workers.



Mr Pi-Bansah said this in a "Workers' Day" message through the Ghana News Agency.



He said more was being done behind the scenes for the Ghanaian worker and called for support for Government.



The MCE asked workers to recommit themselves to the service of the nation, work harder and meet targets to grow the local economy.



He said the Ho Municipal Assembly was working towards creating an enabling environment to grow local businesses to create jobs.



Mr Godwin Edudzi Effah, Keta Municipal Chief Executive, also said there were plans to make workers in the Municipality happy after COVID-19.



He said the Assembly had recognised the contributions of workers, especially those in the informal sector to the local economy and said: "they will reap their sacrifices after God has taken this COVID-19 away."



Mr Effah said the Assembly was establishing a special fish market and also working on a fish landing site to attract fishing vessels and reposition Keta as 'home of fish.'



He said plans were also afoot to engage other players in the informal sector on ways to grow the local economy and create jobs.



The MCE congratulated workers in the Municipality and urged them to work with the Assembly to attract the needed support and investments for mutual benefit.







Source: GNA









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New Delhi: Two more Delhi Police personnel who were part of a Crime Branch team probing the Tablighi Jamaat case tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Friday (May 1). The two policemen were sent to quarantine centres, they said.

Earlier, a Delhi Police constable of the Crime Branch who visited the Nizamuddin headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat in south Delhi had tested positive for coronavirus.

The constable had visited the Markaz building in connection with the probe into the religious congregation held there last month where many people were reported to have contracted the infection.

On March 31, the Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, on a complaint by the SHO of Nizamuddin for holding a religious congregation here allegedly in violation of the lockdown orders and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

After two policemen, who were on lockdown enforcement duty in northeast Delhi, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, Special Commissioner of Police (operations) Muktesh Chander wrote a letter to Special CP (armed forces) Robin Hibu informing him about the development.

"They were residing at barrack number 5 of the Khajoori Khas police station. In the same barrack, the staff of commissioner of police reserve was also residing. It is important that they are also tested for COVID-19 and are quarantined immediately. Similar precaution need to be taken for all CP reserve staff at other locations too," the letter said.

More than 21 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus so far.
'Cult mom' Lori Vallow's request to have her bond lowered from $1million to to between $100,000 and $250,000 was denied by an Idaho judge.

Vallow, who was wearing a face mask along with her jail uniform, had appeared in the mostly empty Idaho courtroom Friday while her lawyer argued for the lowered bond.

As part of his argument, Vallow's defense attorney, Mark Means, asked the judge to consider a more 'reasonable' bond amount than the current $1million, given the coronavirus-induced economic situation, according to East Idaho News.

Vallow's bond had previously been lowered from $5million after her February arrest to $1million.

Means had filed a motion seeking a bond reduction last month, claiming that he did not have adequate opportunity to confidentially communicate in jail with his client.

At the start of the hearing, Means asked the presiding judge to strike from the record 18 pages of affidavits filed by Madison County Deputy Prosecutor Rob Wood on Thursday opposing his bond reduction motion, arguing that Wood had a month to respond but chose to do it less than 24 hours before the hearing.

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Lori Vallow is pictured wearing a face mask during Friday's bond reduction hearing in Idaho

Defense attorney Mark Means (left) and prosecutor Rob Wood (right) clashed over Wood's last-minute filing of documents opposing to the lawyer's bond reduction motion

The judge denied Vallow's request to have her bond lowered after the two-hour hearing

Wood pushed back, saying he did not have a legal obligation to file his response containing new case law and accusations well in advance, and the judge ultimately sided with the prosecution, declining to strike the affidavits from the record.

Means' bond reduction request hinged on his claim that officials at the Madison County Detention Center had on multiple occasions secretly recorded his confidential phone conversations with Vallow, after assuring him that the recording device was off.

Means told the judge that he was later told by Wood that his call was accidentally taped, only to learn from the affidavits filed by the prosecution the day before that there were multiple recordings of his conversations with Vallow, which he said included 'sensitive' details concerning her case.

He also claimed that the phone calls were shared with other parties before being deleted.

Vallow's children, Joshua Vallow (in green) and Tylee Ryan (in grey) have been missing since fall 2019, after she moved to Idaho

After the more than two hours of arguments offered by Means and the prosecutor, Magistrate Judge Michelle Mallard denied the lowered bond request by stating there wasn't enough evidence to support Means' motion.

'I cannot find any good cause to reduce the bond further than it already has,' Mallard said according to the newspaper. 'I would advise Mr. Means consult with local defense attorneys who Im sure have come up with alternatives during this time about ways to surmount any virus problems at the jail in regards to communicating with clients.'

Mallard, according to Idaho Press, also said that she had 'heard nothing to indicate to me that Ms. Daybell is being treated differently than anyone else... In this case, I really dont see an impact on Ms. Daybells Constitutional rights with the jail process,'

The hearing comes as Vallow's niece has revealed that she never once saw her aunt's two children since moving next door to the family in Idaho and never questioned their whereabouts.

Melanie Pawlowski and her second husband, Ian, sat down with Dateline presenter Keith Morrison to talk about the twisted case, with the couple urging the public to reserve judgment.

Vallow, 42, faces charges of child neglect and desertion in connection to the disappearance of her daughter, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, and her seven-year-old son, Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, who have not been seen of heard from since September 2019.

Melani Pawlowski (left) said on Dateline she believes eventually, everything will be exposed about her aunt, Lori Vallow (right), who is jailed in Idaho in connection to the disappearance of her kids

Melani's husband, Ian Pawlowski (right), told Keith Morrison he is hopeful Vallow will present a valid reason for what had happened

'Eventually, everything will be exposed and then we'll know, but until then I can't make any judgement on things,' Melani said in a brief preview video promoting the full two-hour episode of NBC's Dateline airing at 9pm ET/8pm CT on Friday.

Ian Pawlowski added: 'We're waiting to see, you know, Lori's gonna have her day in court. She's gonna present her defense. And we are hoping there is some reason behind it.'

Both spouses expressed hope that 'the truth will be revealed' and that Vallow will have a 'story to tell' in court.

During the interview, Melanie also revealed that since moving next door to Vallow in Rexburg, Idaho, last November, she never once saw either one of her children.

Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, and Tylee Ryan, 17, were last seen in Idaho in September in Rexburg, Idaho, and authorities are still searching for them

'Id ask Lori [where the kids were],' she recounted. 'I wasnt close with Tylee in her teenage years. She was very independent, so if Lori said she was with friends, I just believed her.'

The program also features an interview with Vallow's eldest son, Colby Ryan, who issued yet another plea for his mother to reveal the location of his siblings.

Colby Ryan (left) pleaded with his mother Lori to reveal the truth about her missing children during an interview with NBC's Dateline airing on Friday

Ryan has repeatedly called for his mother to cooperate with police searching for the children.

'It hurts so much - and on top of that we have a million questions,' he told Morrison. 'You can't call your own mom, can't go to her house and see your siblings - you're just out in the cold.'

Ryan described attending the January 30 court hearing in Madison County, Idaho, where Vallow had been ordered to produce the children after police tracked her down in Hawaii.

Lori never turned up at the hearing, prompting her arrest three weeks later.

'We were so confused, like how do you not produce the kids?' Ryan said. 'That's the whole reason you're in jail right now.'

Ryan also described attending the January 30 court hearing in Madison County, Idaho, where Lori failed to produce her children, prompting her arrest weeks later. The son told Dateline: 'We were so confused, like how do you not produce the kids? That's the whole reason you're in jail right now.' Ryan is pictured outside the Madison County Court with his wife

Authorities began searching for JJ and Tylee in late November after Lori and her new husband, doomsday author Chad Daybell, fled their home in Idaho when police started to ask questions about the children.

When officers first went to Vallow's home in Idaho on November 26, she told them that JJ was visiting relatives in Arizona - which investigators say was a lie.

Officers returned the following day and found that Lori and Chad had fled from the home.

The couple were named persons of interest in the children's disappearance in mid-December.

Rexburg police have accused Vallow of repeatedly lying about where JJ and Tylee are and refusing to cooperate with investigators conducting a multi-state search.

They've said they 'strongly believe that Joshua and Tylee's lives are in danger' and that Lori knows what happened to the kids.

Authorities tracked Lori and Chad down in the Kauai town of Princeville on January 25 and served the mother with a court order requiring her to physically produce the children to authorities in Idaho within five days.

After she failed to do so, Lori was arrested on charges of child abandonment and desertion on February 20.

She was later extradited back to Idaho, where she remains behind bars at Madison County Jail in lieu of $1million bond.

Lori married Chad Daybell on a Kauai beach on November 5 - weeks after her kids disappeared and days after Chad's previous wife Tammy died

The case captured nationwide attention with the revelations that police are also investigating four mysterious deaths linked to Lori and Chad, as well as family members' claims that the couple are members of a dangerous doomsday cult.

Timeline of JJ and Tylee's disappearance July 11: Lori Vallow's husband, Charles Vallow, is killed by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona August: Lori moves children JJ and Tylee to Rexburg, Idaho September 23: The last time JJ was seen at his school in Idaho October 19: Chad Daybell's wife Tammy dies at their Idaho home October 25: A friend of Tylee receives a text from her phone November 5: Lori and Chad marry November 26: Out-of-state relatives ask Idaho police to perform a welfare check on JJ. Lori and Chad claim he is in Arizona with relatives. Police also learn Tylee has not been seen since September, either November 27: Police execute a search warrant at Lori and Chad's home, discovering the couple have fled Idaho December 11: Tammy Daybell's body is exhumed from the Utah cemetery December 12: Lori's brother, Alex Cox, believed to have died in Arizona December 21: Police issue a press release about JJ and Tylee, revealing they believe their disappearance is linked to Tammy's death December 24: Lori and Chad issue a statement through an attorney saying they love their son and daughter and look forward to addressing 'allegations once they have moved beyond speculation and rumor' December 30: Police accuse Lori and Chad of lying to investigators and say they believe the couple know where the kids are or what happened to them January 26: Lori and Chad are seen for the first time in months as police serve two search warrants in Kaua'i January 30 Lori misses court deadline to produce the children to authorities February 20: Lori is arrested in Kauai Advertisement

The first death is that of Lori's third husband, Joseph Ryan, who died of an apparent heart attack in 2018.

Last month, reports emerged that the FBI was looking into Ryan's death aged 59 as part of the search for Tylee, his daughter, and JJ.

The second death was that of Lori's fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot dead by her brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona on July 11.

Charles and Lori had gotten into an argument when the father came to pick up JJ at the mother's home in Chandler.

Lori's brother intervened and fatally shot Charles.

Police initially determined that he acted in self defense - but the case was reopened amid the multi-state search for JJ and Tylee, who had moved to Idaho, where Chad lived, with their mother in August.

The third mysterious death was Tammy Daybell - Chad's previous wife - who was found dead at the couple's home in Salem, Idaho, on October 19.

An obituary stated that Tammy passed away in her sleep and her cause of death was ruled as natural after Chad reportedly declined an autopsy.

Investigators reopened the case after learning that JJ and Tylee were missing, as their mother had married Chad just two weeks after Tammy died. They believe the two cases could be linked.

Tammy's body was exhumed on December 11 and the autopsy results have not yet been released.

The Idaho Attorney General's Office recently took over the investigation into Tammy's death, which names Lori and Chad as suspects.

On December 12, Lori's brother, Alex Cox, was found dead in Gilbert, Arizona.

The 51-year-old's death is now under investigation as police wait for an autopsy to determine the cause.

An additional untimely death close to Lori was unearthed this week: her older sister Stacey Lynne Cox Cope.

Stacey died aged 31 in 1998. The cause is unclear and there is no suggestion Lori was involved in her death.

Four people with links to Lori Vallow have suffered untimely deaths(top in court on March 6). Those deaths are: Lori's brother Alex Cox (left), her new husband Chad Daybell's previous wife Tammy Daybell (second left), her fourth husband Charles Vallow (center), her third husband Joseph Ryan (second right). Her sister Stacey Cox Cope (right) died in 1998. It's not clear what the cause of Cope's death was

Stacey's daughter, Melani Pawlowski, has emerged as one of the key figures in the case surrounding Lori, following reports that she joined her aunt's doomsday cult.

Melani's estranged husband, Brandon Boudreaux, accused her of attempting to kill him in a drive-by shooting last fall and claims that she knows where the missing children are but won't cooperate with authorities.

Melani has denied those claims, including in an interview with Dateline airing on Friday.

'Melani essentially appeared to want to present that all is fine,' Morrison told the East Idaho News of the interview. 'She acted like: "I don't know of any problems whatsoever. We were all just doing our own thing and anything that seemed suspicious was merely a coincidence."

'She's a sweet, very attractive young woman who looks at you with big eyes and says it's absolutely the truth. The viewers can look at it and see what they think.'

Morrison seeks to explain how Melani fits into the doomsday cult allegations surrounding Chad and Lori.

Previous reports claimed that Melani thought Brandon had been possessed by a demon, and that Lori and Chad had told her they thought JJ and Tylee were 'zombies'.

'There are all these people who surround Chad and Lori who appear to be part of this group,' Morrison said.

'When you hear people talk seriously about evil spirits inhabiting their spouses or members of their family, or people becoming zombies and needing to be eliminated, you're getting into some serious stuff.

'And those are the kinds of materials we have found ourselves dealing with over this period of time.'
Rachel Riley stepped out for a refreshing stroll with her daughter amid her on going legal battle in libel claim against one of Jeremy Corbyn's aides.

The Countdown host, 34, looked in good spirits as she partook her daily exercise session under lockdown with her little girl Maven Aria.

Rachel cradled her little one in a leopard print baby carrier, while holding her phone with her other hand and watching something on her screen.

Out and about: Rachel Riley stepped out for a refreshing stroll with her daughter amid her on going legal battle in libel claim against one of Jeremy Corbyn's aides

Rachel oozed spring chic during her outing in a pretty pink coat and floral dress, while accessorising with a pair of rounded sunglasses.

Maven, four months, was adorably wrapped up in a fluffy hooded jacket with sweet bear ears, and a frilly floral hat.

Rachel welcomed her first child on December 15 with husband Pasha Kovalev, two weeks after her due date.

Rachel's outing comes amid her legal battle with Corbyn's aide.

Stepping out: The Countdown host, 34, looked in good spirits as she partook her daily exercise session under lockdown with her little girl Maven Aria

A High Court judge ruled that the comments posted online by Laura Murray, head of complaints for the Labour party, against the TV star showed a 'defamatory tendency'.

Mr Justice Nicklin also said the description of Riley was defamatory within common law.

The legal action followed a Twitter row between Rachel, and Murray, after former Labour leader Corbyn had an egg thrown at him outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, London on March 4 last year.

Murray said a post retweeted by Riley compared Corbyn to a Nazi and inferred he deserved to be attacked.

Sweet: Rachel cradled her little one in a leopard print baby carrier, while holding her phone with her other hand and watching something on her screen

In a tweet that has since been removed, Murray wrote: 'Today Jeremy Corbyn went to his local mosque for visit my mosque day, and was attacked by a Brexiteer.

'Rachel Riley tweets that Corbyn deserves to be violently attacked because he is a Nazi.

'This woman is as dangerous as she is stupid. Nobody should engage with her. Ever.'

In response, Riley launched legal action against Murray.

Legal papers lodged at the High Court alleged that the TV star's reputation has been 'seriously damaged' and she has been caused 'substantial anxiety, humiliation, upset and distress' because of Murray's tweet.

Pretty: Rachel oozed spring chic during her outing in a pretty pink coat and floral dress, while accessorising with a pair of rounded sunglasses

Losing the opening round of their legal battle means Murray now potentially faces having to prove that Riley would support violent action against Corbyn to defend the 50,000 libel case.

Riley launched her legal action a year ago as the anti-Semitism row raged within the Labour Party.

The dispute originally began hours after a protester threw an egg at Corbyn outside the mosque last year.

Riley, who is Jewish, took to Twitter, having used the social media platform to attack the then-Labour leader over anti-Semitism within his party

She re-tweeted a comment made by left wing commentator Owen Jones two months earlier when a neo-Nazi had an egg thrown at him.

The columnist for the Guardian newspaper wrote at the time: 'I think sound life advice is, if you don't want eggs thrown at you, don't be a Nazi. Seems fair to me.

Cosy: Maven, four months, was adorably wrapped up in a fluffy hooded jacket with sweet bear ears, and a frilly floral hat

Riley re-tweeted the comment as a reference to Corbyn being hit by an egg and described it as 'good advice'.

Murray, daughter of trade union leader Andrew Murray, used her own Twitter account to mount what Riley's lawyer said was an 'appalling distortion of the truth'.

In his preliminary ruling, Mr Justice Nicklin rejected legal submissions from Murray's lawyers that her tweet was a stating an opinion and not defamatory.

He said the tweet posted by Murray represented a 'statement of fact.'

Family: Rachel was joined by her mother-in-law Galina Kovaleva on the walk

The judge said in an assessment of the 'natural and ordinary meaning of the tweet' Murray's claim that anti-Corbyn campaigner Riley was 'as dangerous as she is stupid' and that 'Nobody should engage with her. Ever' was indeed opinion - but it was also 'defamatory at common law'.

In his written judgement, Mr Justice Nicklin broke down the Murray tweet sentence by sentence to show what he said was defamatory and what in his opinion was a statement of fact.

He said the allegation that Riley was a dangerous and stupid person who people should not engage with was defamatory as was the claim by Murray that Riley had said Corbyn deserved to be violently attacked.

The judge rejected the submission by Murrays QC Anthony Hudson that she was simply stating an opinion when she said Riley had called for Corbyn to be violently attacked.

He also ruled that the tweet by Riley did not have to be taken in context with any other material and pointed out the exchange took place over less than six hours.

In the submission he added: Twitter is perhaps one of the most inhospitable terrains for any argument based on the context in which any particular Tweet appeared in a reader's timeline.
After Amazon notified members of its affiliate program that it would be cutting their rates earlier this month, the founders of Income School posted a YouTube video titled "Amazon DECIMATES Affiliate Commissions on April 21, 2020."

"I'm trying to imagine what was happening at Amazon headquarters when they were like, boy, let's see, there's a worldwide pandemic, a recession looming around the world and publishers' paychecks are getting slashed from lower ads and everything else happening in this crazy world right now," co-founder Jim Harmer says into the camera.

"And so this is the time when the world and publishers are really hurting, the publishers that built Amazon's affiliate program and really built the site to what it is today... It's right at this moment that Amazon decided, let's slash everybody's paychecks 50%, while Amazon itself is skyrocketing. It's ridiculous."

Harmer and Income School co-founder Ricky Kesler are some of the hundreds of thousands of members of Amazon's affiliate program. The program pays online publishers, YouTube creators and other online businesses a percentage of sales for products they recommend and link to on Amazon. It's also been important for large online publishers like BuzzFeed, The New York Times and Vox Media that publish buying guides that drive people to make purchases on Amazon.

But last month, Amazon rolled out steep rate cuts to its affiliate program, putting those business models at risk. Those rate cuts meant publishers now make a 1% commission rate for grocery products instead of 5%, or 3% of furniture and home improvement product sales instead of 8%, for example.

Those changes mean less income for creators who are part of Amazon's program, some of whom told CNBC they were upset the news of the cuts came around the same time as Amazon's stock reached new all-time highs and a market cap over $1 trillion thanks to increased demand for online shopping during the coronavirus lockdown.

Others said the changes are a stark reminder that diversification of revenue streams for content creators is crucial, so as not to be dependent on the whims of tech giants and their policies. And some were thinking about giving other affiliate programs more attention. More than 18,200 people have signed a Change.org petition called "Amazon Affiliates Want Their Rates Back."

Amazon declined to comment on feedback from members of its affiliate program about its timing. A company spokesperson last month declined to comment on whether the decision was a result of the pandemic, and said Amazon regularly evaluates its program offerings to ensure it's competing with the broader industry and that such rate evaluations are a standard industry practice.

Though the changes went into effect in April, members won't see the impact immediately. Payments are made monthly, and fees paid out for April, for example, aren't made until late June.

The changes have prompted some affiliate marketers to think beyond Amazon: Videos on YouTube quickly popped up featuring alternative programs, like those from Target, Walmart or B&H Photo Video.

Income School's founders told CNBC many of those alternative affiliate programs don't have the same robust catalog of products as an Amazon. For example, whereas a boating site can list its picks of oil filters on Amazon, the options might not be available on different sites.

Doug Cunnington, an affiliate marketer and YouTuber, said he would be considering other affiliate programs, like eBay's, since Amazon's cuts will result in a "pretty big impact" for himself and his business. Cunnington started making affiliate sites in areas like outdoor and home appliances, back in 2013. Then in 2015 he began doing it full-time. He estimates about 50% of his income from the last few years has come from Amazon affiliate program. He also sells a course teaching people how to use the program.

"It's definitely a double whammy for me," Cunnington said. He said he's trying to view this as an opportunity to branch out. Aside from trying new affiliate programs, he said he'll likely lean more heavily in teaching about other skills, like YouTube, email marketing or podcasting.

"A lot of folks are devastated," Cunnington said. But he said as long as sites have traffic, they'll figure out a way forward. "If someone has a website and they have traffic, they will figure out how to monetize. If you have traffic, you have an asset."

Erin Nogueira, a content creator for YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, has been doing affiliate marketing for products like beauty and fashion for more than two years. She said she's found the real money doesn't come from the social media company themselves, but the affiliate commissions.

"Their stock is at an all-time high," she said. "They have no reason to take money out of our pocket, and they're already making so much."

She said it isn't unlike Instagram or YouTube's changed algorithms and their effects on creators. In the past, social networks have tweaked their algorithms that determine what shows up in a user's news feed, which has caused declines in views and web traffic. Nogueira said she'll have to work five times as hard to generate the income she once did after promoting products on Amazon.

Sean Cannell, the Las Vegas-based founder of Think Media, said his first affiliate check from Amazon was just over $2. Now, he estimates his company makes $30,000 in profit from Amazon each month. He frequently posts about which cameras and equipment to buy for those interested in making YouTube videos.

He said Think Media is part of more than 30 affiliate programs, but that Amazon is the most lucrative. He said Think is fortunate in that it has multiple revenue streams, from affiliate marketing to YouTube to products and educational programs. Cannell said he now expects his revenue from Amazon affiliate to fall by as much as 20%.

But for those who might rely on Amazon's affiliate program more, he said this is a wake-up call for those who use this as a side hustle or who were leaning on this as a means of quitting a full-time job. For others, "it's kind of like your business is being destroyed overnight."

A co-founder of a lifestyle publication (who requested anonymity because of ongoing legal conversations having to do with affiliate partnerships) said this will impact on online publishers, but that the extent of the impact will depend on the types of products the business normally highlights  with areas like sporting equipment, for instance, seeing less of an impact than categories like furniture.

"I don't think this is a wake-up call for companies as much as it is a reckoning," they said. "Any business that's relied exclusively on Amazon's affiliate program for revenue has feared this day would come. Now we're going to see which leaders have effectively prepped for the moment with backup plans."

They said Amazon's "generic and arguably cold messaging" didn't try to tie the rate decrease to any reason or event, which they said left people likely frustrated especially amid all the uncertainty during the pandemic. They said they believed Amazon's leadership framing the move around concerns would appear tone-deaf.



"I personally appreciate that Amazon didn't attempt to justify the decision as a wartime reaction to the COVID-19 crisis," they said. "I'm sure that pandemic factors had at least some influence on the timing of Amazon's move. It's speculation, but perhaps the company is aiming to reduce customer flow in hopes of getting a better handle on the surge in online shopping right now."
In his speech, Long shared Vietnams experience in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the leadership role of the entire political system, and the Governments drastic direction with a strategy proactive prevention - early detection - quarantine and treatment.

Vietnam has well controlled the pandemic thanks to the participation of authorities at all levels and mobilisation of all resources on the spot, he said.

Long spoke highly of the US's cooperation with and support to ASEAN member states through the sharing of information, disease response strategies, research on vaccine and medicine for COVID-19 patient treatment, and building a regional disease control model.

Participants updated information about the disease, and measures and activities the countries have been implementing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also proposed medical cooperation plans in general and coordination in the fight against the pandemic in particular.


Thiruvananthapuram, May 2 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, here on Saturday, said he received a call from his Odia counterpart Naveen Patnaik and discussed migrant labourers.

"He called to thank Kerala for making arrangements for sending Odias, working here, in a special train on Friday. I told him Kerala would welcome back those who had left and they needn't have any doubts about it," said Vijayan after the daily Covid-19 review meeting.

Stating that more trains will leave Kerala carrying migrants, he said, "Those states will have to make arrangements to receive and isolate them. Once those arrangements are made, trains will carry them back." During the evening, second train left Thiruvananthapuram for Jharkhand with 1,125 passengers. "All norms, including social distancing, were taken care of," said City Police Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyaya.

Each passenger had to pay the base fare, and they were given food packets and health certificate, he added.

Non-stop trains to Dhanbad, Bhubaneswar and Patna are also lined up for the day from Ernakulam, Tirur, Aluva and Kozhikode.
Officials in Myanmars strife-ridden Rakhine state have ordered local humanitarian relief groups to stop building makeshift camps for people displaced by armed conflict in Rathedaung town as the annual monsoon season approaches, a local lawmaker said Friday.

More than 160,000 civilians have been displaced by the 16-month conflict between Myanmar forces and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine state, according to a tally by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress, a local relief group.

The internally displaced persons (IDPs) must rely on humanitarian assistance from civil society organizations amid a dearth of relief supplies from the state government.

The order signed by Colonel Min Than, Rakhine states border affairs and security minister, requires organizations providing relief services to first obtain permission from the state government.

Khin Saw Wai, a lawmaker from Rathedaung township, told RFA that the state government issued the directive Wednesday because humanitarian groups are building shelters without getting official permission.

We learned about the situation only when the directive came out, she said. We stopped all construction of temporary shelters. We have other vacant plots in town to relocate to if the groups are not allowed to build at their current locations.

We are negotiating to see if we can relocate these facilities, she added. We are now doing our best to get the construction work done to provide shelter for the IDPs before the monsoon hits.

In January, the Rakhine state government issued a directive saying that humanitarian aid groups had to obtain state permission before erecting camps or shelters for IDPs in northern Rakhine state.

The more than 800 displaced civilians currently in Rathedaung town have sought shelter in Buddhist monastery compounds and in the homes of friends and relatives.

Local NGOs and lawmakers are trying to help them move into the temporary shelters before the onset of the rainy season around mid-May.

Construction halfway done

Khaing Kaung San from the Sittwe-based Wun Lark Foundation, which is assisting the IDPs, disagreed with the move to ban the construction of temporary shelter in Rathedaung town.

The government should have announced designated areas for IDPs in the first place and made them known to local and township-level administrations and civil society groups instead of ordering them to stop construction that is halfway done, he said.

Rakhine officials also should have met with local humanitarian groups working on IDP issues before issuing the directive to determine the best locations and building standards for the shelters, he said.

The state government has set up seven IDP camps in Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Mrauk-U, Minbya, and Buthidaung townships since June 2019 at a total cost of about 5 billion kyats (U.S. $3.5 million) allocated by the central government for the temporary accommodations.

The government-erected camps in Rathedaung town, however, remain unfinished, Khin Saw Wai said.

Tun Kyaw Zan, director of the Yay Phi Kan IDP camp, objected to the new directive, saying that those who live there are dependent upon food provided by NGOs.

We are not fine with the governments arrangements, he said. We hope there will be enough supplies for the IDPs because this shelter was built by the state government.

But in reality there are so many inadequacies here, and its not good enough for us, so we have to request donations from civil society organizations, he said. We are surviving on their charity.

The government provided the camp with 62 bags of rice and payments of 500 kyats (U.S. $0.35) per person 20 days ago, but nothing more since then, he added.

Tun Kyaw Zan said camp officials must turn away many other IDPs, because the camp can accommodate only 1,000 people.

RFA could not reach Win Myint, Rakhine states municipal affairs minister, to comment on the effect of the new directive on the half-built IDP shelters.

Blame game

Presidents Office spokesman Zaw Htay on Friday took issue with statements made by the outgoing United Nations human rights envoy on Myanmar two days earlier.

Yanghee Lee, the U.N.s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar called for an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by the government army against Rakhine civilians.

Zaw Htay partially acknowledged that some civilians may have been killed as collateral damage when government soldiers conducted on-the-ground counter-insurgency operations against AA.

But he blamed the AA for a shooting incident in late April that killed a local World Health Organization employee who was transporting coronavirus test samples from Rakhine to Myanmars commercial capital Yangon for processing.

First of all, the WHO employee was killed by the AA. It is obvious, he said at a news conference. But we are investigating further because an international organization staff was killed.

President Win Myint has called for an investigative committee to probe the deadly shooting.

Zaw Htay also said that AA troops have ambushed vehicles transporting food for civilians and shooting at residents while government military troops respond to AA attacks.

AA soldiers attack the military using civilians as cover, he said. They also impersonate civilians and launch attacks. AA troops are intentionally provoking us to harm local civilians. When the military troops try to suppress their activities, they unintentionally harm civilians.

AAs spokesman Khine Thukha said Zaw Htays comments were incorrect.

He is completely wrong, he said.

The Myanmar military is using U.N. employees and local civilians to distort stories about AA as part of its propaganda, he said.

It is horrible that they are doing this at the expense of U.N. staff to make up false reports about AA, he added. This is an outright instance of war crimes.

Reported by RFA Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The finance minister is ready to present a second financial package. The Centre has ruled out a mega stimulus and will rely on targeted, incremental packages. Industry is clamouring for a bailout, the liquidity upheaval in capital markets is nowhere close to being sorted out, and all budgetary forecasts now stand irrelevant, reports Arup Roychoudhury.

On Friday, Tarun Bajaj took charge as the economic affairs secretary, replacing Atanu Chakraborty, who retired on Thursday.

The appointment, part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle, comes at a crucial time, as the Centre and states look for an exit plan from the nationwide lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Bajaj and his department will play a crucial role in formulating an economic revival roadmap. Hence, his appointment could prove to be the most crucial.

Bajaj, who was additional secretary in the Prime Ministers Office, is a 1988 batch Haryana cadre officer.

Born in 1962, he has two-and-a-half years left till his superannuation. Bajaj is a veteran of the finance ministry, which has been his only stint in the Centre apart from the PMO.

Between March 2006 and May 2011, he was in the department of financial services, first as a director and then as a joint secretary. He has been in PMO since late April 2014, where he was considered a protege of sorts of former principal secretary Nripendra Mishra.

Bajaj is an alumnus of Delhi Universitys Shri Ram College of Commerce, London School of Economics and Political Science, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Those who have worked with Bajaj describe him as soft-spoken, unassuming and someone with sharp powers of observation, but someone who doesnt like the limelight.

He is known as a quick decision-maker. But all his decisions will be well thought through. In conversations, he will listen to everyones ideas, take in all inputs, before taking a decision, said an official.

Bajaj will be the second of the five serving secretaries in the finance ministry, who have worked in Prime Minister Modis PMO. Expenditure Secretary TV Somanathan, too, had a stint in the PMO

Bajajs appointment is slightly surprising. If bureaucratic gossip is to be believed, Somanathan was brought in to take over as EA secretary.

Nevertheless, these posts show how crucial North Block is to the PM, headed as it is by one of his most trusted ministers, Nirmala Sitharaman.

There are many challenges that Bajaj will face. Sitharaman is ready to present a second financial package. The Centre has ruled out a mega stimulus and will rely on targeted, incremental packages.

Industry is clamouring for a bailout, the liquidity upheaval in capital markets is nowhere close to being sorted out, and all budgetary forecasts now stand irrelevant.

Under Bajaj, the DEA, which also includes the budget division, will have to bring out new projections for budgetary and fiscal targets for 2020-21.

He will also have to work on reviving the economy after the lockdown ends, and on attracting investment from companies looking to move out of China.

There is also the question of resources, whether the government will have to borrow more than budgeted and whether the Reserve Bank of India will have to monetise some of that deficit.
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Linkedin Amber Milne (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Sat, May 2, 2020 16:01 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58756e 2 Environment climate,climate-change,climate-crisis,Britain,extinction,Emma-Thompson,environment,Jack-Cooper-Stimpson Free

Britain has not done enough to address climate change in the year since it became the first country to declare an emergency, say the makers of a new short film starring Emma Thompson being released on Friday to mark the anniversary.

Extinction is a fictionalized account of last year's Extinction Rebellion protests in Britain that features Thompson - who herself took part in the demonstrations - as an activist.

Director and co-writer Jack Cooper Stimpson said he hoped the film's online release on Friday would act as a reminder that there is still much to be done.

"I'm so aware that the world is a complicated place right now, we've had Brexit we've had pandemics and god knows what else so it's not been easy," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"But nonetheless, nothing has happened and it's been really hard to witness."

Britain's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Britain's declaration on May 1, 2019 came after a high-profile visit by the campaigner Greta Thunberg and 11 days of protests that the Extinction Rebellion group cast as the biggest act of civil disobedience in recent British history.

Read also: Celebrities back call for climate action in Extinction Rebellion video

Another wave of protests followed in October.

"It is great that parliament declared a climate emergency last year, but unfortunately not much has been done to tackle the issue since," said producer Henry Rouquairol.

"Hopefully, this film in whatever small way can reignite the debate again."

The film's producers said they kept their carbon footprint low by limiting transport to essential trips, using public transport and sourcing sustainable catering and costumes.

Shot during the protests, the film's release comes as climate activists seek to do more online, restricted by coronavirus lockdowns.

Thompson said she hoped it would highlight the frustration of protesting for change.

"I hope this film makes protest seem as useful and as maddening as it is," she said in a statement.
UN Chief: 'Tragedy' That World Lacks Coordinated Approach Against COVID-19

By VOA News May 01, 2020

The United Nations Secretary-General said in an interview with the BBC that it is a "tragedy" that the world's leaders have not been able "to come together to face COVID-19 in an articulated coordinated way."

Antonio Guterres said, "Each country went with its own policy, different countries with different perspectives, different strategies and this has allowed the virus to spread."

The U.N. chief said "It's obvious we lack leadership" in the fight against the virus. He urged the world's "key countries . . . to come together and to have a common strategy and then to bring with them the whole of the international community."

The U.N. estimates that 8% of the world's population, about 500 million people, could be forced into poverty by year's end because of the devastation brought by the virus.

The global tally of coronavirus cases continues to creep upwards.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Friday there are more than 3.2 million confirmed cases worldwide with more than 233,000 deaths.

The United States leads the world in the number of reported cases and deaths. Hopkins says the U.S. has over a million COVID-19 cases - approximately a third of the world's total. More than 63,000 people have died in the U.S. from the virus.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that Britain is past the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and the number of new infections is on a downward slope.

In his first major address after recovering from COVID-19, Johnson said he would announce a plan next week on how the country's economy and lifestyle are to move forward after the pandemic that has killed close to 27,000 people in Britain and infected about 172,500.

Johnson is optimistic about a coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University scientists and the British drug company AstraZeneca. If the vaccine proves to be effective, it could become widely available worldwide this fall.

Many European countries have already begun gradually reopening or have plans to do so in the coming days. The economy in the eurozone  European countries that use the common euro currency  shrank a record 3.8% in the first quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced Thursday he had tested positive for the coronavirus. State television showed his video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mishustin will be replaced by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov while he is in self-isolation.

Russia has more than 106,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 1,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. The country's economy has been hit by huge losses in oil revenue resulting from the global oil glut caused by worldwide shutdowns.

Russia's Tass news agency quoted Putin on Thursday as saying the country's economic recovery plan must consider a new reality.

"We know the world is changing. The crisis relating to the coronavirus pandemic has influence on the key markets, on the system of cooperative ties. Companies, including Russian ones, are looking for and quickly implementing fundamentally new business models," Putin said.

The U.S. government also is looking for ways to restart its economy, which suffered a 4.8% loss in the first quarter, with more than 30 million unemployment claims filed in the past six weeks.

The Trump administration is not planning to extend federal coronavirus restrictions that expired Thursday, focusing instead on its efforts to work with states on plans to reopen the country.

U.S. governors have been deciding when and at what pace to relax restrictions on nonessential businesses and group gatherings and end stay-at-home orders in their states. Some states have already begun phasing out those restrictions, even though the pandemic remains rampant.

Discussions about relaxing lockdown orders are also taking place in Asia. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday his government is consulting experts about whether to extend a state of emergency that is set to expire May 6.

Japan has about 14,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and Abe said the situation remains "severe."

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the Security Council that there are 44 confirmed cases and four deaths in Syria, a country he said cannot be expected "to cope with a crisis that is challenging even the wealthiest nations."

In Yemen, health officials reported the country's first two coronavirus deaths, as well as a cluster of new cases in the southern port city of Aden that has been a focal point in a five-year civil war.

The World Bank said developing countries would be hardest hit, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half of the continent's job losses have occurred.

It also said the economic downturn in South Asia would likely be the region's worst in 40 years.

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The numbers have exploded after the state began rolling out a new testing protocol that is attempting to test all residents and staff of homes without known cases, and test all staff at homes with cases. The state says it wants to catch the virus early in places without known cases to limit a virus spread, which is difficult to contain once it infiltrates a facility.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Senator Sonny Angara said he has tested positive for the coronavirus disease again, nearly one month after recovering from the viral illness.

"[While] preparing to donate my blood plasma for a second time, my doctors after the results of the initial antibody test taken before donating had me take another swab test, which registered positive," he said in a Facebook post.

Angara said his doctors suspect there are still "remnants of the virus" in his body. He had taken the swab test while preparing to donate blood.

"My wife Tootsy has tested negative, which could be proof of what my doctors are positing that I am probably no longer infectious and that this latest positive result is probably picking up remnants of the virus," he added.

The senator had earlier offered blood plasma to help infected patients fight the disease.

Health Department spokesperson Ma. Rosario Vergeire agreed with Angara's doctors about his test results.

"The RT-PCR is not recommended by our experts as a measure of cure, as the virus may still be apparent in the body of COVID-positive cases, even long after they have recovered, such as the case of Sen. Sonny Angara. But it doesn't mean that he is still infectious," Vergeire said in a message, referring to the swab test.

Angara said he will undergo self-quarantine again, though he is not feeling ill. He said he will join Senate hearings through teleconferencing once it is allowed.

Meanwhile, his co-senator Koko Pimentel said he has already tested negative for COVID-19, a month after he was diagnosed with the infection.

Pimentel said he had retaken a swab test on April 13 and received the results ten days later.

He now considers himself "covid free" and a "recovered person" given that it has been a long time since his first confirmatory swab test on March 20. But, he also advised to wait for the Health Department to confirm it.

"That has been 44 days already. That's already three 14-day cycles!" the senator added. "Since I am still alive, the sense [is] that the virus has already run its course."

However, Pimentel said he will still listen to medical advice on whether or not he will join the resumption of the Senate session on Monday, which Senate President Tito Sotto required everyone to attend.

The senator earlier faced backlash for potentially exposing hospital staff to the coronavirus after breaking stay-at-home protocols. Pimentel visited the Makati Medical Center on March 24 to accompany his pregnant wife, even though he was a suspected carrier then and had tested for COVID-19 four days before. He said he only learned he was positive for the disease while in the hospital.

Pimentel has since apologized to hospital management who nevertheless released a statement criticizing the senator for endangering the health of their employees.

The National Bureau of Investigation said it has started a probe into Pimentel's possible quarantine breach. Legal experts had said that criminal, administrative and civil charges may be filed against Pimentel over his alleged breach of quarantine protocols.
In his press conference on Thursday, US President Trump stepped up his propaganda war and threats against China blaming it for the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that has cost the lives of more than 230,000 people internationally.

Trump repeated the unsubstantiated allegation, circulated initially in far-right circles, that the coronavirus was not the result of animal to human transfer, but rather was produced in a Wuhan virology laboratory and either escaped, or was deliberately released.

The US president claimed to have seen evidence to prove the virus spread from the Wuhan laboratory, but he repeatedly dismissed requests to provide details, saying: Im not allowed to tell you that.

Daniel ODay, CEO of Gillead Sciences Inc., left, and Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, right, during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, May 1, 2020, in Washington

In the face of the overwhelming opinion of virologists that COVID-19 did not emerge from a laboratory, the Trump administration has been pressing US intelligence agencies to concoct evidence to support the conspiracy theory.

Tellingly, just prior to Trumps press conference, acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Richard Grenell issued a statement saying that the Intelligence Community concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified. When asked about the statement, Trump appeared to be ignorant of it.

Yesterday, when asked about Trumps allegation, World Health Organisation (WHO) emergencies chief Michael Ryan stressed that his UN agency had listened again and again to numerous scientists who have looked at the sequences of the virus. We are assured that this virus is natural in origin, he said.

Trump also blasted China for not having done more to prevent the spread of the virus, even suggesting that they chose to allow the pandemic. He absurdly declared COVID-19 could have been contained relatively easily and China could have contained it. They were either unable to, or they chose not to and the world has suffered greatly, he stated.

Whatever the initial delays of its leadership, there is a clear record that China responded quickly and effectively to a virus whose deadly character and infectiousness were for them initially unknown, and promptly informed the world through the WHO. By contrast, the Trump administration dismissed what for it were known dangers and took no action for weeks resulting in a rapidly escalating death toll in the US which is now over 63,000.

This campaign of gross distortions and outright lies is not only a crude attempt to deflect attention from the Trump administrations criminal negligence as it faces mounting opposition in the working class for its push for a return to work under unsafe conditions.

It is also part and parcel of the escalating economic warfare and military build-up against China, regarded in Washington as the chief threat to US global dominance, that began under President Obama and has escalated under Trump.

The establishment media in the US have swung in behind Trump amplifying his falsifications and anti-China propaganda. The Washington Post published an opinion piece last month giving credence to the conspiracy theory of the extreme right about the Wuhan laboratory. On Thursday, its editorial attempted to transform Chinas counter offensive against Trumps lies into Chinese bullying to avoid accountability.

The Democrats, far from being at all critical of the anti-China campaign, have been attacking Trump from the right for being too accommodating to Beijing. Joseph Biden, the Democratic presidential front-runner, has run a series of attack ads, condemning Trump for not pressing China to allow in US health officials and not blocking travelers from China soon enough.

In one ad, Biden declares that Trump left America exposed and vulnerable to the pandemic. He ignored the warnings of health experts and intelligence agencies and put his trust in Chinas leaders instead.

Trump, however, is preparing to ramp up the attacks on China, from words to punitive actions. The Washington Post reported that a group of Trump officials are beginning to examine proposals for sanctions against China and demands that it pay financial compensation for its handling of the pandemic.

At his press conference on Thursday, Trump declared that the trade deal with China signed earlier this year to prevent a descent into full-blown trade war now becomes secondary to what took place with the virus. The virus situation is just not acceptable.

According to the Washington Post, among the retaliatory proposals under discussion in the White House is the cancellation of some of the massive US debt with China. Such a step would not only hit China, but a repudiation of debt by the worlds largest economy would severely undermine confidence in the already highly-vulnerable, international financial system.

Trumps top economic adviser Larry Kudlow was quick to scotch the suggestion lest it further panic the markets. The full faith and credit of U.S. debt obligations is sacrosanct. Period. Full stop, he told Reuters.

Kudlow did not rule out other forms of retaliation, however. Referring to China, he told CNBC: They have a lot to answer for, theyre going to be held accountable. How, what, when and why is up to the president.

The increasingly vitriolic US attacks on China demonstrate that far from easing geo-political tensions and encouraging international cooperation, the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and fueled the toxic international relations that are leading to economic war and military conflict between major powers.

The US has for a quarter century sought to stem its historic decline through aggressive, neo-colonial wars in the key strategic areas in the Middle East and Central Asia. The Obama administration targeted China diplomatically, economically and militarily in what was known as the pivot to Asiameasures that have only escalated under Trump.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only further exposed the vulnerability and decay of American imperialism, heightening fears in Washington that China could emerge from the crisis in a stronger position. Even as the US health system is starved of the necessary funds to fight the virus, Congress is foreshadowing providing tens of billions of extra funding specifically to prepare for war on China.

At the same time, the US Navy has ramped up its provocations against China in the South China Sea, sending warships into areas claimed by Malaysia, Vietnam and China on the spurious pretext of defending freedom of navigation. Such reckless steps in this highly tense situation threaten either by accident or design to trigger a military confrontation that would rapidly spin out of control.
The courts will sort this out, but it seems to us that its too early to surrender. The reason these isolation measures were put into place was to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Did anybody really think wed finish the job in 30 days?

We understand the desire to get back to normal, particularly in places where it doesn't look like there are a lot of cases. Most of the state's cases are in Chicago and the surrounding counties. But this virus knows now borders and there are counties in some parts of Illinois, including Warren County just south of here, where the per capita infection rates rival some of the counties around Chicago.

It seems illogical to us that people believe this infection can be contained to the Chicago area. It clearly cannot. Or that we should let our guard down after just 30 days.

We have said from the beginning that we are taking part in these isolation strategies to save people, many of them elderly who have sacrificed for others over the years. Its too bad others are giving up on them so quickly.

Thumbs Down ... to out-of-state owners of mobile home parks who are gouging their tenants  and to the politicians who refuse to rein them in.
In a community centre in Berlin's Spandau district, two large rooms are filled with the clunk and whirr of sewing machines, rolls of colourful fabric strewn across the tables. About a dozen migrants from countries including Iran and Afghanistan are busy making face masks to donate to the community -- and their work is in high demand, with a queue stretching down the stairs and out the front door. Germany has made masks compulsory on public transport and in many shops as part of measures to control the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed almost 6,000 lives and led to sweeping restrictions on public life. But according to project coordinator Afsaneh Afraze-Ketabi, the crisis has had an unexpected upside for many migrants living in Germany. Engaging in volunteer work is helping them to strengthen their ties with the community, improve their language skills and build confidence, said the 36-year-old from Iran. "Many people have been given the courage to show their skills, to show their faces... and strengthen their self-confidence." Germany has seen a large uptick in the number of people coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, with more than a million arriving between 2015 and 2016 alone. The influx became a thorny political issue and fuelled the rise of the controversial far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, now Germany's largest opposition party. - Cooking, shopping - Thomas Noppen, whose charity Go Volunteer runs a website that matches refugees with volunteering opportunities, is keen to show that new arrivals can make a positive contribution. "Many participants see it as a cultural given to do charity," he said. Since April 2018, around 500 migrants have applied for volunteer work through the Engagierte Newcomer (Engaged Newcomers) website. A new section dedicated to the current crisis -- Newcomer Gegen Corona (Newcomers against Corona) -- is due to launch this week. "We receive lots of feedback from refugees that their main motivation is 'giving back' to the host community," Noppen said. This is true for Jamila Ahmadi, 45, from Afghanistan, who has been sewing up to 50 masks a day for the Spandau project. "Everyone has to do something to help if they can," she said through her own white and gold mask. "Germany is helping us, and now we want and have to help the people." Across the city, in Oberschoeneweide, Abdulrahim Al Khattab has been helping to run a COVID-19 neighbourhood volunteering project. The 31-year-old from Syria and two of his friends have set up a Facebook group and put up notes in the hallways of their buildings asking if anyone needs help with their grocery shopping, medicines or other errands. Before they came to Germany five years ago, Al Khattab and his friends volunteered in Syria, helping to provide food, clothes, medicine and new homes for people displaced by the civil war. "This experience taught us a lot," he said. "In this difficult situation, we think of (the German) people just as we thought of our people." Meanwhile, in Berlin's central Schoeneberg district, a huge pan full of lamb steaks is sizzling in the kitchen of Malakeh Jazmati's empty restaurant. With her doors closed to customers, the 32-year-old from Syria has decided instead to cook free lunches for supermarket workers -- who she sees as the unsung heroes of the pandemic. "I know they live in a very hard situation and they work under pressure, so I want to give them something back," she said. Jazmati came to Germany in 2015 and opened her restaurant two years ago. She will add rice and aubergine to the lamb to make one of her signature dishes, known as Makloubeh. "In this time, volunteering is not something we want to do... or we don't want, it's something we should do," she said. "Everyone should do something in this time. We need to be together." 'Many people have been given the courage to show their skills, to show their faces... and strengthen their self-confidence,' project coordinator Afsaneh Afraze-Ketabi says Abdulrahim Al Khattab and two of his friends have set up a Facebook group and put up notes in the hallways of their buildings asking if anyone needs help with their grocery shopping, medicines or other errands Men and women refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Kurdistan are producing face covers by the hundreds in Berlin's western district of Spandau Syrian chef and restaurant owner Malakeh Jazmati prepares meals for workers at a nearby supermarket who she sees as unsung heroes of the pandemic
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Special air mission evacuates 85 Ukrainians, nine citizens of Belarus and Lebanon  Foreign ministry

A special air mission Kyiv-Riyadh-Beirut on April 30 brought 85 Ukrainians and nine citizens of Belarus back home, a foreign ministry's press service reported.

"Yesterday, another special air mission Kyiv-Riyadh-Beirut-Kyiv brought 85 Ukrainians back home. And also...nine citizens of Belarus," the statement said.

As noted, since there is no Belarusian embassy in Lebanon, Belarusian diplomats in Syria, where the nearest diplomatic mission is located, turned to their Ukrainian colleagues for help in evacuating Belarusian citizens.

"After many hours of negotiations with the authorities of various states, having obtained a number of special permits, the plane landed in Kyiv last night. The Ukrainians flied back," the diplomatic service noted.

According to the press service, on May 1 it was reported about a transit returning of Belarusian citizens to Belarus.
The body of the last-remaining South Korean teacher who went missing in a deadly avalanche in the Annapurna region in Nepal in January was discovered early Friday, Seoul's foreign ministry said, putting an end to the monthslong search for four Korean victims.

Nepalese authorities discovered the bodies of a South Korean woman and a Nepalese guide at about 11:45 a.m. near the accident site, and she was identified by the belongings she had on her when she was found, the ministry said.

She was among the four school teachers from South Korea, along with three Nepalese guides, who went missing on the famous trekking trail when a snowslide swept the area in the Himalayas in northwestern Nepal on Jan. 17.

South Korean and Nepalese officials have carried out search operations to find the missing trekkers, but bad weather conditions have hampered their efforts.

Last Saturday, the Nepalese authorities discovered the bodies of two of the four missing Koreans, and they found another body two days later.

The foreign ministry said it will work with the officials in Nepal to provide the families of the victims with all consular assistance necessary, including helping with funeral procedures.(Yonhap)
New Delhi:

The Delhi government on Saturday launched a spoken English and personality development online programme for class 10 and 12 students studying in its schools.

Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday made the announcement during his weekly session -- Parenting in the time of Corona. The programme was launched in collaboration with the British Council and MacMillan Education.

Under this initiative, students will be sent links via SMS from Monday. Almost 1,60,000 students of class 10 and 1,12,000 students of class 12 have appeared for their board exams are awaiting their results. We decided to launch spoken English and personality development classes (online) for them to make apt use of their free time at home. No child should feel inferior for not being able to communicate in it. Hindi is our language, and the mode of communication and teaching is in Hindi only, but we cannot overlook the importance and relevance of English today. To progress further at the national and international levels, our students should have good command over the language. And that is why we are starting the classes from Monday, Sisodia said.

Explaining the course design, the representatives of the British Council and Macmillan Education said, The course is divided into two parts. First is Everyday English where students will be taught the functional usage of English. The second part is personality development where students will be taught about peer pressure and made to learn basic skills like facing an interview. The students of class 10 and 12 will receive an SMS with a link every day. The link will take them to the assigned webpage for that day and then the child will be able to navigate to activities of the day.

Director of education Binay Bhushan said the initiative will give students an opportunity to make good use of their time amid the lockdown. The classes will go on in May and June and will help in adding to the confidence of the students, he said.

The Delhi government had last week launched an online Mathematics classes for class 9 and 10 students. As many as 120,000 students have attended these classes in the first week. It is important to understand that these online classes are not to be taken as parallel teaching. Our teachers should not think that. They have to start from scratch when the schools reopen and get under pressure. it is a part of the overall teaching, it should be complementing each other, Sisodia said.

Besides, the Delhi government is conducting online classes for class 12 students to minimise the academic loss amid the lockdown. As many as 1,50,000 students have registered for it. The DoE is sending daily activities for students of classes Nursery to 8.

The government had also launched happiness classes through YouTube and Facebook to ensure the emotional well-being of students.
(Courtesy Big Storm Brewing)

Back in January, L.J. Govoni started to hear the rumblings. He had a cousin who was teaching English in China, and word was starting to filter out that a new virus was starting to have a dramatic impact on day-to-day life.

Govoni, the president of Big Storm Brewing in Clearwater, Florida, then began hearing that the federal government might just start relaxing rules on the creation of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Putting those two strands together, he got on the phone with local and elected officials to see what Big Storm could do to help in what was clearly a growing crisis.

Fast forward to the end of March, right when panic-buying of toilet paper and hand sanitizer was at its peak. Store shelves were bare, with little hope for quick replenishment. At that point, breweries and distilleries began to realize they had a unique skillset that could address a pressing local and national need.

On a normal day, the tap room at Big Storm Brewing  just like those at craft breweries like Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Alabama; SanTan Brewing in Chandler, Arizona; and Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia  would be packed, aficionados and day drinkers alike enjoying beers with names like Trampoline Dream, Moon Juice, and Tropicalia.

But in these days of lockdown and fear, breweries and distilleries across the United States have pivoted away from beer and spirits, turning their alcohol acumen to blending hand sanitizer. The breweries share some common characteristics  theyre deeply connected to their local communities, theyre creative, and theyve got people on the payroll ready and willing to work  and theyve put all these to use. The switch may not be as dramatic as car manufacturers switching over to build planes and tanks during World War II, but in a national crisis, every bit of ingenuity helps.

We felt we had the ability to make hand sanitizer, because of our experience handling alcohol, which is a key ingredient in the product, says Robert Hall, CEO of Ole Smoky Moonshine in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and after closing our distilleries to visitors, we also had Ole Smoky employees that were available to assist with production.

Story continues

(Courtesy Ole Smoky Distillery)

On a broad scale, the processes necessary to brew beer and create hand sanitizer are roughly the same, with different elements such as hydrogen peroxide and glycerol blended into the alcohol at different points in the process. Some breweries started from scratch, sourcing out the necessary materials and firing up the production line with few of their usual concerns.

Flavor and taste is no consideration, says Govoni. Its all about efficiently extracting as much alcohol as possible. Hand sanitizers are 80 percent to 95 percent alcohol, far more than beer or spirits.

Others, including SanTan Spirits, recalled much of its unsold beer and blended it into sanitizer. SanTan keeps a strict sell-by policy on its beer, and as much of its IPA stock was nearing that 90-day sell-by date, the brewery recalled 16,000 gallons, to be blended into 400 gallons of SanTanitizer. The IPA base gives the sanitizer what the company called a pleasant tropical hop aroma.

(We cannot stress this enough  do not drink hand sanitizer, not even if it comes from a craft brewery. The federal government requires the addition of a denaturing agent to make the hand sanitizer bitter and unfit for drinking, no matter how good it smells.)

As the scope of the coronavirus crisis grew more clear, breweries across the country began picking up on the need for hand sanitizer, and on March 18, the federal government formally waved the green flag to allow breweries and distilleries to ramp up production. The Bureau of Alcohol and Tobaccos Tax and Trade Bureau waived taxes and permitting requirements for the production of hand sanitizer, and facilities all over the country began repurposing their operations to meet the vast need.

Within the industry, we saw a couple of distilleries start producing sanitizer and, when we saw a need for it in our community as well, we challenged ourselves to utilize our existing resources to begin offering it from the brewery, says Chris Herron, CEO of Creature Comforts in Athens. We were able to re-pivot to start making hand sanitizer in about three weeks.

SanTan's distillery is now being repurposed for hand sanitizer. (Courtesy SanTan Brewing)

It hasnt gone entirely smoothly. Maui Brewing ran afoul of county officials zealously prosecuting a no-gifts-with-alcohol regulation when it began giving away hand sanitizer. But for the most part, local governments have welcomed the unexpected influx of assistance.

Switching over manufacturing processes from brewing/distilling to hand sanitizer production takes anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, depending on the size of the operation. Sourcing materials and finding necessary packaging was a challenge, but ingenuity runs in the bloodstream of brewers and distillers.

Ole Smoky, for instance, repurposed the five-gallon pails that it receives filled with cherries  for their Moonshine Cherries, of course  into containers for large-scale distribution. The company sells personal quantities of hand sanitizer in 50ml glass mason jars once meant for moonshine. Big Storm used some old tap towers left over from its earliest days to fill multiple jugs at once.

Most of the first batches from breweries went to the places that needed it the most  first responders, hospitals and the like. Others provided sanitizer for their own employees and their families. With production now largely ahead of demand, many breweries are looking at ways to sell to the public; some are selling curbside, while others ship online orders.

The hospitality industry has been hit pretty hard, says Ethan Couch, co-founder and general manager of Yellowhammer Brewing. Now that weve got first responders taken care of, were reaching out to our former clients for beer and spirits and getting them sanitizer. Were all in the same boat right now.

As a side benefit, keeping the breweries in operation has allowed companies to keep their employees  almost always referred to as team members or even family  employed. Many of these are small operations, with less than 100 employees, and the ability to keep members of the family working and on the payroll cant be overstated.

We thought we could sell a couple hundred gallons a week, Big Storms Govoni says. Were up to thousands of gallons. Were keeping the team together as we come out the back side of this. I feel better about our business today than I did last year.

(Courtesy Yellowhammer Brewing)

_____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee or contact him with tips and story ideas at jay.busbee@yahoo.com.

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British Airways is heading for a legal battle with union officials over plans to make a quarter of its pilots redundant.

Balpa, which represents BA's 4,300 pilots, is understood to have asked lawyers to begin the legal process to apply for redress on behalf of the 1,100 pilots who are at risk of being let go.

The airline's parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), last week announced plans to cut up to 12,000 jobs at BA, including one in four pilots, as it scaled back its operations.

Legal fight: Pilots' union Balpa is threatening action against BA after the airline announced that as many as 1,100 could lose their 100,000-a-year jobs

However, Balpa argues that BA is in breach of its Covid-19 agreement, made on March 24, under which the airline committed to ensuring its pilots benefit from the Government furlough scheme to avoid compulsory redundancies.

BA pilots earn about 100,000 a year on average, rising to 200,000 for a senior captain, and have typically worked for the airline for 15 years.

BA aims to offer only statutory redundancy, claiming voluntary packages on enhanced terms would be too expensive.

In a letter to BA's director of flight operations, Allister Bridger, Balpa said: 'Instead of seeking to work constructively with Balpa to address the legitimate problems we face as a result of Covid-19, BA seems determined to try to exploit the current crisis at the expense of loyal employees.'

BA's brutal restructuring to survive the pandemic has also rattled major shareholders in IAG, which also owns Spain's national carrier Iberia, low-cost airlines Vueling and Level, and Irish national carrier Aer Lingus.

A source said that two of IAG's biggest institutional shareholders are concerned about the impact of the BA restructuring on IAG's revenues, as BA contributes around 60 per cent of the group's profits.

IAG's biggest shareholder is Qatar Airways, which increased its stake to 25.1 per cent in February, with Invesco and Aberdeen Standard Investments also in the top ten.

Last week, Labour MP Seema Malhotra wrote to BA chief executive Alex Cruz asking him to do 'everything possible' to avoid job losses.

'The scale of the cuts will have a detrimental impact on local jobs and the wider economy,' she said.
They called the secretary's failure to stop the practice "unconscionable."

'A home health aide who earns just under $13 per hour is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department has continued garnishing the wages of hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CARES Act, which was signed into law in late March, prohibits the Education Department from seizing the wages and tax refunds of student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.

But Elizabeth Barber of Rochester, New York, says the Trump administration has nonetheless continued to take 12 percent of her paychecks since the legislation passed garnishing $70 from her check as recently as last week. This is adding to the financial strain that forced her to default on $10,000 in federal loans in December. Barber's hours have also been reduced by 10 to 15 hours per week since the coronavirus pandemic began.

"I am so worried about how I will get through this," Barber said in a statement. "I have no money in the bank. I need every dollar I earn at work to survive each day, but my hours have been cut because of the virus. I don't understand why the government keeps taking my money away after it passed a law that says they will stop."

The lawsuit was filed late April 30, with the legal advocacy groups Student Defense representing Barber and about 285,000 other Americans whose wages have been garnished in the past six weeks.

The CARES Act gave relief to borrowers from wage garnishment until Sept. 30. But employers across the country, including Barber's, have not yet been formally advised by the Trump administration to stop withholding as much as 15 percent of employees' paychecks and sending the garnished wages to the government.

The Education Department claims the borrowers will be refunded the garnished wages if they were collected after March 13, but has offered no information about when they will see those refunds.

The lawsuit "captures a new low" in DeVos's leadership, tweeted Student Defense on May 1.

"Right now, low-wage workers hit hardest by the economic impact of the pandemic need their paychecks to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads," said Persis Yu, director of the NCLC's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. "By continuing to use its harsh collection tools during this public health and economic crisis, the Department of Education is placing the health, safety, and well-being of vulnerable student loan borrowers in peril."

Pull Quote "This lawsuit shines light on how she has been operating a student debt collection machine that is accountable to no one  and it must be stopped."

In a letter to DeVos sent on April 16, Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), demanded information about why the wage garnishment has persisted despite being illegal under the CARES Act. They called the secretary's failure to stop the practice "unconscionable."

"The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law," said Seth Frotman, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, which is supporting the lawsuit. "This lawsuit shines light on how she has been operating a student debt collection machine that is accountable to no one  and it must be stopped."

See also: Pocan questions DeVos about allowing guns in schools
Office of the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during an online briefing said that there is no threat to cooperation between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund, because MPs have unblocked the adoption of banking law. The briefing was broadcasted by 112 Ukraine TV channel.



Among other things, I want to thank the MPs of Ukraine, and especially the Servant of the People party, which yesterday unblocked the adoption of banking law. 16 000 edits will not scare us and will not disrupt important cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF, the president said.



He noted that the IMF will receive the necessary funds for the economy," despite the attempts of some political forces to prevent this process."



I think that everything has become completely clear to the people of Ukraine: the result is on the scoreboard. I also want to emphasize how important it is to warm up our economy and give it an impulse after quarantine, Zelensky added.



Related: Medvedchuk: The longer we tolerate IMFs colonial attitude, the worse



Amendments to the legislation on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) concerning the grounds for dismissal of the Bureas head may create a problem in the cooperation with Ukraine as European Truth reported earlier citing Head of IMF Mission Ron van Rooden.

Ron van Rooden sent a letter to deputies of the head of the Presidents Office Yulia Kovaliv and Andriy Smirnov. A source at the office confirmed the information about the letter on the condition of anonymity.

It is reported that the grounds for the letter are proposals on the amendments of the legislation, which will extend the grounds for the dismissal of the NABU head by inclusion the decision of the court about administrative corruption violation.
Restrictions on outdoor activity were loosened in Bay Area health orders announced on April 29. In San Francisco, for example, its fine under the latest orders, which take effect May 4, to take transit to go to a park, where the city previously asked people to limit recreation to places they could walk or bike to. But its still confusing to know where you can go outside and what you can do there.

The Bay Area has more than 20 agencies and districts that manage more than 150 recreation destinations. Each works with its own county health department to set guidelines independently of other counties, park districts and watersheds. That leads to a patchwork of rules that differ everywhere you go. Heres what you need to know about getting outdoors in Northern California.

Q: Where are the rules the most open?

A: Irrespective of the governors desires, Modoc County, in the remote northeast section of California, relaxed its stay-at-home orders. Modoc has no positive tests for coronavirus in a population of about 9,000 people that spans 4,200 square miles. The only thing not open in Modoc are Forest Service campgrounds, likely to open in mid-May.

Q: Where are the rules the tightest?

A: Yosemite National Park and many other national parks remain shut down to all visitor access because of the potential of clustering and violating the 6-foot rule for social distancing. In recent years with good-weather springs, such as this year, visitor numbers can top 5 million; in Yosemite Valley on any summer day, 20,000 people can crowd in five square miles.

Q: When will campgrounds open?

A: 1,500 campgrounds on 100 Forest Service districts at lakes, streams and trailheads in California, Oregon and Washington will start opening in mid-May through June, based on the county and location. Now is the time to dream and plan. At state and national parks, and other sites where where people may cluster, the dates will likely be delayed until June, or when county health departments clear the activity by site. Size of groups will likely be restricted per site.

Q: As parks open, will there be special rules?

A: Parks will likely phase in openings with special rules that will include restrictions on group size, parking and requirements to carry masks or other face coverings. Sonoma County parks opened in late April, for instance, with rules where visitors are required to walk or bike to parks, and when on trails or fishing from shore (at Spring Lake) are required to carry masks and put them on when encountering others.

Q: When on the trail, what do you do when you come across others?

A: Hike only with people you live with. All trail users should carry a face covering. Put it on when encountering others. When you meet others, mountain bikers give way to horses and hikers, and hikers give way to horses. The one exception is on a hill, where a hiker sailing downhill should always give way to a mountain biker going uphill, grinding it out at 2 mph.

Q: Why are some boat ramps open and others closed?

Correction An earlier version of this article did not specify when the latest health orders become effective. The Bay Area orders take effect May 4. See More Collapse

A: With different agencies and different rules, its been a piecemeal approach where the left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing. Boat ramps are open at marinas in Berkeley and Richmond. Yet other harbor districts shut down their boat ramps, including Oyster Point in South San Francisco, Coyote Point in San Mateo, Loch Lomond in San Rafael, and Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay. On the Petaluma River, the ramp in Petaluma is open, yet the ramp just downstream at Black Point is closed. The result: same river, different counties and different results.

In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, public boat ramps are closed and private boat ramps are open. It is likely boat ramp openings will be phased in through mid-June.

Q: What major recreation lakes have the least restrictions?

A: At giant Shasta Lake north of Redding, virtually everything is open  that is, other than Forest Service campgrounds, which likely will open after May 15. Sugarloaf Resort, for instance, sold out its cabin rentals in late April. The water temperature is 64 degrees, still cold for water sports, but will likely enter the low 70s by Memorial Day weekend. Others that are open are Lake Amador near Ione, Bullards Bar near Camptonville, Trinity north of Weaverville and Almanor at Chester. Others are likely to reopen soon.

Q: What destinations have the least restrictions?

A: State Wildlife Areas provide access to large areas where you can break free for fitness and nature, and stay safe. The best for this include Grizzly Island Wildlife Area near Suisun City, with a driving tour on a levee road that provides access to trailheads, and the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area with best access by kayak to a matrix of rivers and sloughs at high tides.

Q: Why do I have to stay home in San Mateo when my brother in Walnut Creek says he can go anywhere he wants?

A: In San Mateo County, trails reopened in 13 of 23 parks, but access is restricted to within 10 miles of a persons residence, regardless of whether you live in the county. The countys health department set these rules after rangers observed severe clustering (before the parks were shut down). In the East Bay, guidelines are set by East Bay Parks in concert with the health officers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties; closures have been ordered for parts of 25 of 73 East Bay parks.

Q: What major recreation lakes have the most restrictions?

A: Lake Tahoe, Clear, Berryessa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Don Pedro, New Melones, Folsom, Collins and Jenkinson are closed. Each is managed by a different agency. As a result, each will open according to its own unique set of parameters, in conjunction with the respective health officer for that county. Most are expected to open by Memorial Day weekend or shortly after.

Q: When will I be able to hike and camp in wilderness?

A: The U.S. Forest Service and national parks are not issuing wilderness permits at this time. That will likely change in early June, as trailheads open up, snow melts off and trails clear in the most remote high country wilderness areas, and county health officers give the all-clear. At high-density areas, including Yosemite, Whitney, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, and Desolation at Tahoe, where trailhead quotas are established and where there is a higher chance of clustering, there is no projection when trailheads might open and permits will be issued or honored this summer.

Q: Where is the most remote wilderness with the least chance of seeing others on the trail, even if you write about it?

A: The South Warner Wilderness in eastern Modoc County.

Q: Is RV camping considered safe?

A: Most county health officers are considering it safe to camp in self-contained RVs, trailers, fifth wheels and cab-over campers, where you can park, eat and sleep without breaking the 6-foot bubble with other campers. Some RV parks in the rural north state started opening on May 1. A good summer appears ahead. The one area to stay clear of is Highway 1, where parks and camps get packed, and closures could linger well into summer until county health officials give sites the thumbs up.

Q: When will party boats start fishing trips again?

A: The consensus for fishing operations based out of San Francisco Bay is that trips for salmon, striped bass, halibut or rockfish will start roughly when restaurants start reopening. A group of anglers at the back of a party boat is similar to a group of people in a restaurant.

Q: Can I go surfing at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz?

A: The temporary order that banned out-of-town visitors to Santa Cruz has been partially lifted. Beaches are again open, including at the famous break at Steamer, but only for surfing and similar activities. The county has closed all of its beaches from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in an effort to keep crowds from gathering on the sand and violating social distancing rules. Surfers, swimmer and other people engaged in water activities are allowed to cross the sand to the water but nobody is allowed to loiter or linger. Sitting and sunbathing arent allowed. See www.cityofsantacruz.com for more information.

Q: How will officials keep all the city people away from the coast?

A: A lack of recreation outlets at inland parks in the Bay Area on good weather weekends has caused many from cities to drive over to the coast and clog Highway 1 in Half Moon Bay, Pacifica, Stinson Beach and Point Reyes Station. Parking and vehicle access is banned at all state beaches, county beaches and at Point Reyes National Seashore. That squeezes visitors into small coastal towns. The best projection is that parking and access to beaches will be phased in over a series of stages, similar to how San Diego County opened its beaches.

Q: When will Bay Area lakes reopen?

A: Water districts, working with county health officers, closed San Pablo, Los Vaqueros, Del Valle, Lafayette and Loch Lomond reservoirs, among others, to all access. These closures came at the height of the spring fishing season, when anglers might cluster on shore. No reopening dates have been set. They may occur after water temperatures warm, trout stocks are done for the year and visitor use is projected to be light.

Q: When will the Eastern Sierra open to fishing?

A: The trout season was postponed in Inyo, Mono and Alpine counties, and parts of Sierra County, through May 31. It will likely be reopened after Memorial Day weekend, when the chance for large crowds and clustering is lessened.

Q: Will state parks be the last to reopen?

A: Yes, along with national parks where visitor use is high and groups tend to cluster. State parks report directly to the governor, who has kept tight wraps on access: All roads, parking, camping and picnic sites are closed at all 280 state parks and beaches. At the 50 state parks in the greater Bay Area, Bean Hollow, Butano, Portola Redwoods and San Gregorio State Beach in San Mateo County, and Castle Rock, Big Basin Redwoods and Santa Cruz Mission in Santa Cruz County are closed 100 percent.

Q: In rural areas, how do people react to out-of-towners?

A: It doesnt matter where you are from. Act like an idiot, you get treated like one. Keep a face mask handy, wear it when you leave your car and keep your distance, just like you would do no matter when you live. Rural people loathe fast city drivers lost in their self-absorbed bubbles.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @StienstraTom.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-03 00:37:52|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Another 621 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 28,131, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Saturday.

The figures include deaths in hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

Chairing Saturday's Downing Street briefing, Jenrick said 182,260 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Britain.

Meanwhile, 105,937 tests were carried out on Friday, Jenrick said. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Friday that the country has met the goal of 100,000 tests per day.

The communities secretary also announced a package of 76 million pounds (about 95 million U.S. dollars) to support "the most vulnerable" in society.

The fund would go to charities to address such issues as domestic abuse, vulnerable children and modern-day slavery, he said.

Jenny Harries, England's deputy chief medical officer, confirmed that "the pressure on the NHS (National Health Service) is now moving down" as the number of hospital admissions has been declining.

The number of people in hospitals has decreased by 13 percent in the last week, she said.

The daily death rate is "starting to come down very gradually, very slowly - it's very important we continue to practice social distancing," she said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that the country was "past the peak" of the COVID-19 outbreak and a "comprehensive" plan will be published next week on "how we can continue to suppress disease" while restarting the economy. Enditem
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Stressing the importance of not forgetting about the well-being of pets during a pandemic, some pet advocacy organizations have delivered thousands of pounds of pet food to the Wind River Reservation. And more is on the way.

A first shipment of food from the Animal Adoption Society and Humane Society of the United States was dropped off in Fort Washakie on Thursday, with another scheduled to follow early next week in Ethete. Another shipment should arrive in another month, totaling 22,000 pounds of food for pet cats and dogs on the reservation, which organizers of the effort say should be viewed as important parts of families during this public health crisis.

The food will be given out to families that may be struggling to afford food for their pet cats and dogs.

To not have to see a pet suffer during this time is important and to not have people feel like they need to surrender a pet because they dont have the money to pay for them right now is important, said Carrie Boynton, executive director of the Jackson-based Animal Adoption Center. The last thing you want is someone to have to give up a family member because they dont have the ability to feed them. I mean, that would be really tough in an already challenging time.

Boyntons Jackson-based Animal Adoption Center has hosted 21 clinics on the reservation and 56 across the Wyoming since 2009, with 3,300 animals being spayed or neutered on the reservation to help its overpopulation problem, according to a Thursday press release announcing the donation.

After realizing a planned spay and neuter clinic on the reservation would likely have to be canceled because of the coronavirus, Boynton said that she still wanted to help the pets somehow and consulted with a contact at the Humane Society of the United States. Within about 10 days the first shipment was delivered.

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the reservation hard, tribal leaders have said. With low oil prices and closed casinos  which not only help pay for tribal services but also employ hundreds of tribal citizens  tribes have had to lay off or furlough employees and limit services. The unemployment rate was already high among tribal citizens, with Eastern Shoshone Business Council Vice-Chair Karen Snyder saying in an April letter to the states Congressional delegation and federal government that it could now be as high as 90 percent for Eastern Shoshone members.

We are very grateful to have a partnership with HSUS during this time of need, David Meyers, Tribal Health Director of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, said in the press release. The support and well-being of family loved ones (extends) to our furry friends as well.

Though far from the only food-related relief effort underway for tribal members, it is the only one so far meant to help families with pets, Boynton said in a Friday interview. She said the food is being split up evenly between the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, adding that shes not sure how many families or pets would benefit from the help but that it could be in the hundreds.

Our hope with this was to be able to just complement the amazing things that other groups are doing with regard to human resources and make sure that we are able to serve the furry family members as well.

The Humane Society, which ordered the food, used a formula based on population, average household size, number of families living below poverty level and the average number of dogs and cats in a home to determine the size of the order, according to the press release.

The Humane Society is also sending pet food to reservations in Idaho and Montana.

The Humane Society of the United States quickly realized that the COVID-19 outbreak would be particularly difficult for members of our rural communities who were struggling before this crisis hit to access pet food, said Lisa Kauffman, Senior State Director for Idaho and Wyoming. Pets mean so much to their families, especially during times of isolation and fear, and the shipments of food we were able to provide enables us to keep people and their pets together during these difficult times.

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Michigan has the highest coronavirus fatality rate in the United States as deaths increased by 232 in the past 24 hours to 4,021.

The states death rate reached 9.3 percent on Saturday amid protests over lockdown measures after Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended her stay-at-home order through May 28.

Deaths from coronavirus in the U.S. have now exceeded 67,000 as Michigan, New York and New Jersey all reported more than 200 deaths in the past day.

The national number of infections climbed to 1,160,519 by Saturday evening after new daily infections spiked by 35,052 on Friday. This was the third highest number of new cases in a day in America since the start of the pandemic.

New daily deaths decreased to 1,872 on Friday, however, after three days where they had soared over 2,000.

The coronavirus fatality rate in the U.S. is 5.8 percent, as of Saturday evening.

Demonstrators take part in an 'American Patriot Rally' organized on Thursday in Michigan by United for Liberty on the steps of the State Capitol. Protestors are calling for an end to the lockdown in the state but it now has the country's highest coronavirus fatality rate at 9.3 percent

The highest number of new deaths in the past day was in New York, where 299 were reported, bringing the state's total to 18,909.

There are 312,977 cases in the state, more than 170,000 of which are in New York City.

The state's fatality rate is at 7.6 percent, almost two percent higher than the national rate.

New Jersey's fatality rate also soars above the national figures after recording 204 new deaths in the past 24 hours to bring the state's total to 7,742.

With a fatality rate of 6.3 percent, there are 123,717 cases in New Jersey in total.

The worst fatality rate is in Michigan, however, where anti-lockdown protesters continue to voice their anger at the extension of the state's shutdown order, arguing that only certain counties should be forced to remain staying at home.

After recording 232 new deaths in the past 24 hours, its fatality rate is 9.3 percent. That is 3.5 percent higher than the national coronavirus fatality rate.

On Thursday evening, Gov. Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order in Michigan for another four weeks, despite armed protesters storming the State Capitol Building earlier in the day.

The order bans gyms, theaters, bars and casinos from opening, and also limits restaurants to carry-out and delivery orders only.

Restaurants may allow up to five people inside at a time to pick up orders, but only if they follow social distancing guidelines by staying six feet apart.

'Michigan now has more than 40,000 cases of COVID-19. The virus has killed more Michiganders than we lost during the Vietnam war. Extending this order is vital to the health and safety of every Michigander,' Whitmer said as the order was issued.

'If we work together and do our part, we can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.'

Protesters try to enter the Michigan House of Representative chamber and are being kept out by the Michigan State Police after the American Patriot Rally on Thursday. They were calling for an end to the coronavirus shutdown in the state even has it continues to record hundreds of deaths a day and have the highest fatality rate in the United States

Protesters stormed the Michigan House of Representative chamber Thursday angered by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's mandatory closure to curtail the spread of coronavirus

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters - some carrying rifles - descended on the state capitol to oppose the shutdown, many of whom were waving pro-Trump banners after the President had earlier tweeted to 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN'. He posted similar tweets about Virginia and Minnesota.

Most of them appeared to be ignoring state social-distancing guidelines as they clustered together within six feet of each other. Few people wore masks.

Their actions were supported by President Trump on Friday, who told Gov. Whitmer to 'give a little' and called the protesters ''very good people but they are angry'.

California also saw protests on Friday despite remaining among the states with the country's highest number of cases.

The state's coronavirus fatality rate is at 4.1 percent but it recorded 88 new deaths in the past day. California has suffered 2,137 coronavirus deaths and has 52,296 cases.

Elsewhere, Massachusetts is extending its stay-at-home restrictions after the state recorded the fourth highest number of new deaths in the country in the past 24 hours.

Coming just below, Michigan, New York and New Jersey, the Bay State had 154 deaths, bringing its total to 3,716.

It has a fatality rate of 5.8 percent, on a par with the national rate. Massachusetts has 64,311 coronavirus cases in total.

Other state hotspots include Illinois, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Indiana. All but Illinois reported less than 100 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

Connecticut has the second highest fatality rate in the country, however, at 8.1 percent.

It has had 2,339 deaths and 28,764 cases.

The lowest fatality rate is in Utah where there have been 4,985 cases and 49 deaths. The death rate stands at 1 percent.
This article was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

WASHINGTON  In a bid to restore some access to Guantanamos isolated detainees, prosecutors in the trial over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are proposing weekly video meetings between the five defendants and their lawyers, which would require both sides to work around social distancing protocols mandated by the coronavirus.

Lawyers for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the lead defendant in the death penalty case, had asked the trial judge to let him speak with his lead lawyer, Gary D. Sowards, who is in self-quarantine in Manhattan. In making the request, they agreed that the conversation could be monitored.

In response, prosecutors proposed hourlong video conferences, a far more complicated and risky endeavor. That would require guards moving the defendants across the base to the courtroom to speak to their lawyers one by one through a secure video link to war court headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

To accomplish that, Mr. Sowards would need to obtain a waiver from the Defense Department to travel from New York City, a coronavirus hot zone, to the Pentagon. At 70, he is considered at higher risk for the illness and has been working from home under government guidelines.
US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that imposing an additional tariff on China for allegedly mishandling the coronavirus outbreak is certainly an option.

Trump was responding to a question about his remarks a day earlier in which he had indicated at imposing tariff on China as a punishment for the spread of coronavirus.

Its certainly an option. Its certainly an option, Trump said but did not give a timeline for this.

Were going to see what happens. A lot of things are happening with respect to China. Were not happy, obviously, with what happened. This is a bad situation all over the world, 182 countries. But well be having a lot to say about that, he said in response to a question.

In an interview to Buck Sexton of The Buck Sexton Show, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of being non transparent on the issue of coronavirus.

Theyve claimed that they have been transparent, but of course, at least as of a day or two ago, we still didnt actually have a sample of the virus. We were still working to try to understand what the scope of the risk was, he said.

Pompeo said China claimed it didnt know where the coronavirus came from, but those inside China, who tried to talk about the virus, were denied access.

They were told dont talk about that, stop it and discussions were banned early on, he added.

Thats not the way partners work, reliable partners work. Reliable partners share. They open up, especially when theres trouble. They go overboard to make sure everybody can understand how it came to be. Thats all weve asked for, the secretary of state said.

We hope that the Chinese Communist Party will see their way clear to allow the world to understand how the heck this virus got out of Wuhan, China, and spread all across the world, he said.

We need responsibility and accountability for this outbreak, Pompeo said.

He said it was really important to understand what happened in China during the virus outbreak to make sure something like this does not happen again.

There are multiple labs inside of China and our understanding of what takes place there is pretty limited, and there have been examples of leaks from those labs before, Pompeo said.

He said the coronavirus pandemic has been an expensive and costly calamity and the US needs to do its part but there is a responsibility on Chinese Communist Party to make sure something like this does not happen again. We have seen the narrative which is that this virus began and the Chinese Communist Party knew about it, didnt alert the world to it in a timely fashion, Pompeo said.

He further said the whole world world has a right to know what happened in China during the coronavirus outbreak.
Boris Johnsons most senior aide is facing fresh allegations he flouted lockdown rules by taking a sightseeing trip on Easter Sunday.

The prime minister is facing mounting calls to sack Dominic Cummings amid claims he made several trips to see his family in County Durham, while the country was being told to stay at home.

Ministers vociferously defended Mr Cummings after it emerged he had made the 260-mile journey, insisting he had obeyed the rules by staying in one place while there.

However, an eyewitness told The Observer and the Sunday Mirror he had seen Mr Cummings on 12 April, 30 miles from Durham in Barnard Castle.

Another eyewitness said they saw the prime ministers most trusted aide in Durham on 19 April, days after he had been photographed returning to Downing Street.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London PA UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services PA UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste' PA UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool Reuters UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London PA UK news in pictures 13 November 2021 Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was caught in a dispute between two states PA

Earlier, Downing Street had described the first trip as essential, saying Mr Cummings needed his familys help to care for his young son because his wife was sick with coronavirus and he feared he was next.

Cabinet ministers lined up to defend Mr Cummings, saying he had put his family first and accused critics of trying to politicise the issue.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, used the daily Downing Street press conference to suggest that Mr Cummings had not broken lockdown rules because he had stayed put upon arrival in Durham.

But Robin Lees, 70, a retired chemistry teacher, told the papers he had seen Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday.

Mr Lees compared him to Catherine Calderwood, Scotlands former chief medical officer, who stood down after visiting her second home twice during lockdown.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, calling for an inquiry into Mr Cummingss decision to travel from London to Durham.

They want the probe to include when the prime minister was made aware Mr Cummings had left the capital.

Senior Tories also expressed concern that Mr Cummings's behaviour could encourage others to flout the rules, jeopardising the governments plans to gradually lift the lockdown.

The Independent can reveal that senior MPs are set to question Mr Johnson over Mr Cummings later this week, as pressure grows on the prime minister to explain what he knew about the trip under lockdown.

Parliament is in recess until June, meaning Mr Johnson will not have to face MPs at Prime Ministers Questions.

But members of the Commons Liaison Committee, which is made up of the chairs of other select committees, said they expected Mr Johnson to be questioned about Mr Cummings when he makes his first appearance before them later this week.

Pete Wishart, an SNP MP who sits on the committee and is a member of the "quad" which organises its business, said: If nothing has changed and Dominic Cummings is still in post by Wednesday, it would be very surprising if this was an issue that was not raised.

Another member of the committee said: Im sure one of my colleagues will crowbar the Cummings question in.

In a statement defending Mr Cummings, Downing Street said his trip had been essential to ensure his young son was properly cared for. After an offer of help from his sister and nieces, he travelled to a house near to but separate from his extended family.

A spokesperson for No 10, said: "Yesterday [Friday] the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings. Today [Saturday] they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April. We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers."

There was confusion about the involvement of police, however. No 10 also said that at no stage was Mr Cummings or his family spoken to by the police.

On Saturday night Durham Police took the unusual step of confirming they had spoken to Mr Cummingss father.

Steve White, the police and crime commissioner for Durham Police, a former head of the Police Federation in England and Wales, said it was "most unwise" for Mr Cummings to have travelled when "known to be infected".

The SNP accused No 10 of a "cover up" after reports some in Downing Street knew Mr Cummings had made the 260-mile journey during lockdown.

Former Tory cabinet minister David Lidington, Theresa Mays de facto deputy prime minister, told Newsnight: "There's clearly serious questions that No 10 are going to have to address, not least because the readiness of members of the public to follow government guidance more generally is going to be affected by this sort of story."

Professor Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist whose modelling prompted the lockdown, quit as a government adviser for flouting the rules when he was visited at this home by his lover.

At the time Mr Hancock, the health secretary, said he was "speechless" and that he backed any police action against Mr Ferguson.

Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for Mr Cummings to quit over the allegations, while a spokesperson for Labour said: "The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings."

Asked by reporters on Saturday if he had considered his position, Mr Cummings said "obviously not".
The Reserve Bank of India on May 2 cancelled the licence of Mumbai-based The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd. The central bank in an order dated April 28, 2020 maintained that the financial position of the bank is highly adverse and unsustainable.

Adverse financial position was one of the multiple other reasons behind the cancellation. The bank, as per RBI's observation, also did not have any concrete revival plan or proposal for merger with another bank.

Clarifying about deposits of account holders the order said that depositors of the bank have been entitled to repayment up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakh only.

As per a statement released by the RBI, consequent to the cancellation of its licence, The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, is prohibited from conducting the business of banking which includes acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits as defined in Section 5 (b) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with immediate effect.

With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of The CKP Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, as per the DICGC Act, 1961 will be set in motion.

On liquidation, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of  5,00,000/- (Rupees five lakh only) from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) as per

usual terms and conditions.

You can read the complete order below:
Warships From US 6th Fleet, UK Practice Anti-Submarine Warfare in Arctic, Navy Says

Sputnik News

15:30 GMT 01.05.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US and UK navies joined forces for an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Arctic featuring a single submarine, P8-A surveillance aircraft, warships from both nations and 1,200 sailors, the US Navy reported in a press release on Friday.

"For the exercise, Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) and USS Porter (DDG 78), and fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6), were joined by the Royal Navy's HMS Kent (F 78). Additionally, a US submarine, as well as a P8-A Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft from Patrol Squadron (VP) 4 supported the training", the release said.

The exercise follows training that NATO allies received in April which participating in a Submarine Command Course hosted by the United Kingdom.

In March, the US Submarines Connecticut and Toledo began the three-week ICEX exercise with plans to transit the Arctic multiple times.

The prospect of the Arctic opening to commercial shipping due to a receding ice cap, as well as a scramble for resources such as oil and other mineral resources, has heightened efforts by nations such as the United States and Russia, which border the polar region, to expand military operations and scientific exploration.

 Sputnik

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The suits, shirts and ties remain on their hangers. Skirts, blouses and high heels have been left in the closet. With office workers at home during coronavirus lockdown, the dress code is noticeably more casual.

According to clothing brands and marketing studies, comfort has trumped chic since offices closed and home-working became de rigueur to curb the global outbreak.

Even central bankers, normally seen in pin-stripes and tailored three-piece suits, have let themselves go.

Sam Wood, a member of the Bank of Englands very serious monetary policy committee, said he had only worn a tie for a photo opportunity with the Times newspaper and an online parliamentary hearing.

Even then, he teamed it up with jeans.

- Socks and slippers -

Apparel consumption has quickly shifted in line with the new needs of home-bound consumers. Fashion is out, loungewear is in, economic research firm Bernstein noted.

In its first-quarter results released last week, British online clothing retail group Boohoo said chic tops to impress during video conferencing have been a hit -- as have jogging bottoms.

The fashion trend research firm Lyst has also seen a surge in demand for sweatshirts, sweatpants and shorts. US sportswear giant Nike was among the favoured brands.

German online retailer Zalando said slippers now topped the best-sellers in its shoes department, with sales of Adidas swimming pool slides -- and snazzy socks -- soaring.

High street chain stores though have seen sales slump because of the crisis and lockdown.

Next, for example, has had to close its stores and suspend online transactions while it adapted its warehouses to meet new social distancing guidelines.

As a result, its sales fell by 52 percent year-on-year, excluding promotions between the end of January and the end of April.

People do not buy a new outfit to stay at home, Next chief executive Simon Wolfson said last month.

But in a depressed environment, with city centres resembling ghost-towns, the boom in home furnishings has brought a crumb of comfort to hard-pressed retailers.

And marketing strategies are adapting to the spring 2020 wardrobe.

Pyjamas and comfies have never seen so much marketing airtime before, said Bernstein.

Zalando is also trying new techniques to rehabilitate fashion victims by launching an Instagram campaign -- #StyleDayFriday -- now that everyone is dressing down.

Other brands are getting in on the vogue for cocooning.

Zaras website is featuring top models at home, posing without makeup.

- Roots and beards -

As well as laying bare employees interior decor choices, videoconferencing is exposing lengthening beards, increasingly shaggy haircuts and exposed roots.

In the United States, Procter & Gamble has reported a sharp increase in sales in Laundry and Household Products division and a slight decline in its Beauty and Shaving lines.

At a recent conference with analysts, the multinationals managers admitted a lower frequency of shaving when working from home was a problem.

But as Constance Jourdain, a consultant with the Nielsen research firm, explained: Whats the point of shaving for a teleconference?

Why put on makeup every day when you cant go out anymore, except to queue outside a supermarket with a mask on your face?

An anxiety provoking climate equally doesnt appear conducive to wanting to look ones best.

But it doesnt stop there.

Nielsen has noticed a sharp drop in sales over the last six weeks in France, in make-up products, hairdressing products, masks and creams as well as... deodorants.

But there are still small signs that people have not let themselves go completely.

British department stores Waitrose and John Lewis have recorded a jump in sales of hair dyes and hair care products since the start of the countrys lockdown in March.

It could be the roots of recovery.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

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Lloyds will hand shares worth 200 to every member of staff this month to thank them for their efforts during the coronavirus crisis.

The bank has rewarded 65,000 staff for handling an unprecedented number of calls requesting mortgage payment holidays, rescue loans and overdrafts.

The bank's managers said they also recognised that customer-facing staff were under increasing pressure from irate members of the public who refused to socially distance themselves in branches.

A thank you: The bank has rewarded 65,000 staff for handling an unprecedented number of calls requesting mortgage payment holidays, rescue loans and overdrafts

Some staff members complained that members of the public had spat on them. The bank has ramped up a campaign to improve customer behaviour in response to cases of abuse.

Lloyds has also put all planned redundancies on hold and reassured staff they would still be entitled to bonuses paid this year for 2019. However, top executives  including chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio  have decided to forgo bonuses this year.

Now unions are also asking the bank to give an additional reward to branch staff in front-line roles.

Lloyds' profits in the first three months of this year were almost wiped out as it set aside nearly 1.5 billion to deal with an expected surge in bad loans. Profits came in at just 74 million for the period. RBS and Barclays have also made hefty provisions to prepare for the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Britain's biggest banks  including Lloyds, RBS, Barclays, HSBC, Santander and Standard Chartered  have now set aside 7.6 billion to deal with bad loans from business collapses.
Amritsar: As many as 137 people have been tested positive for Covid-19 after returning to Punjab from Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, said Punjab Medical Education and Research Minister OP Soni.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "55 more devotees tested positive today (Friday) evening. People should abide by the Government's advisory and follow all the preventive measures. They should stay inside their homes. They need not worry."

Meanwhile, Punjab on Friday reported 105 new Covid-19 cases, said the State Health Department. According to the health department, the total number of cases in the state now stands at 585 and the death toll is 20.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country is 35,365, including 25,148 active cases. So far, 9,064 patients have either been cured or discharged while 1,152 deaths have been reported, as per data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Discussion has resurfaced on the Agricultural Solidarity Fund after farmers across Egypt have been shouldering losses owing to bad weather

President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi approved a bill establishing Egypts Agricultural Solidarity Fund (ASF) in 2014, with the aim of supporting farmers in natural disasters, such as floods, storms, and the invasion of pests and diseases affecting the productivity of agricultural land.

However, six years later, the executive regulations of the law have not been issued, rendering it ineffective. Discussions about the ASF resurfaced in mid-March when farmers complained about the damage to their crops as a result of the Eye of the Dragon storm the nation endured for three consecutive days earlier in the month.

The General Federation of Agricultural Credit Associations said governorate authorities had distributed applications to farmers whose crops had been affected by the storm. However, no official statements have been made on compensating the farmers for their losses, leading the farmers to restart discussion about the ASF law that has been suspended for years.

Sayed Khalifa, head of the Agricultural Syndicate, said he hoped the executive regulations of the ASF law will be issued soon in order to set up a fund that can be used to compensate farmers in times of crisis.

The losses wheat farmers have sustained may lead them to abandon cultivating wheat next year.

Khalifa said there were already two funds overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture that could pay compensation to poultry and livestock producers if their birds and animals are hit by epidemics affecting production.

Under the 2014 law, the ASF is supposed to be composed of resources provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, allocations from the state budget, insurance premiums paid by those insured by the ASF, grants and donations accepted by the board of directors, returns on investments, and revenues from activities.

The law states that the board of directors of the ASF has the authority to determine insurance premiums and the maximum compensation payable, as long as this does not exceed 70 per cent of its balance in one fiscal year. The ASF draws up insurance contracts with farmers to provide protection against environmental risks and crop diseases. The farmers receive a lump sum when the term of the contract ends or compensation if crops are damaged.

Salah Abdel-Meguid, head of the National Committee for the Improvement of Wheat, said the law was an incentive for farmers to sell their crops to the government since it allows it to sign contracts with farmers before planting. Farmers are then obliged to supply their crops to the governmental bodies they have signed contracts with.

MP Tarek Hussein believes it is unlikely that the House of Representatives will discuss the agricultural solidarity law in its current session because the agenda is already packed due to the decrease in the number of parliamentary sittings and committee meetings owing to the coronavirus crisis and the adoption of preventive measures against the pandemic.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 30 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Washington: As I hopped into an Uber last week to head to Ronald Reagan Airport, just outside Washington DC, I felt a mixture of apprehension and disbelief.

I was flying to Albany, in south-west Georgia, to report on how locals there were responding to their governor's decision to allow most businesses in the state to re-open.

Unlike many countries, the US has not implemented any restrictions on domestic flights during the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 60,000 people here. State governments have not closed their borders - even to visitors from states where the virus has been spreading rampant. The only measures some states have taken is to require visitors from hotspots like New York or New Jersey to self-isolate for 14 days after arriving, though this is rarely enforced in a meaningful way.

No special coronavirus restrictions apply when flying in and out of Virginia's Ronald Reagan Airport. Credit:Bloomberg

When looking online, I was surprised to find that 10 or so flights were heading to Albany each day from Washington. Albany is a small and relatively obscure city that has suffered one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the US. Were these flights real, I wondered. Would I show up at the airport only to find my flights had been cancelled because of a lack of customers?
Rush Transcript: Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Announces Schools and College Facilities Statewide Will Remain Closed for the Rest of the Academic Year

May 1, 2020

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. Pleasure to be with you. Everybody knows Dr. Malatras, Dr. Zucker, Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor; Robert Muijca Budget Director, also a member of the MTA Board. Today is day 62, feels like just yesterday. Before we look at the numbers, I just want people to recall the context for these numbers and remember what we have accomplished. We were faced with a situation where the infection rate numbers were going straight up. That was only 30 days ago that we saw the number of cases and the number of cases going into the hospitals, the infection rate everything was going straight up.

That number would have just continued to go straight up and that's why all the projections, national projections, state projections, local projections turned out to be incorrect because they were all believing that that line was going to continue to keep going up. What happened is, New Yorkers, Americans, changed reality. Literally changed reality. They literally changed the path of the virus spread and reversed the spread. That's what the close down procedures did, that's what the masks have done, that's what the social distancing has done. New Yorkers and all across this country, you saw that number change from that up trajectory to the downward trajectory.

That shift in the trajectory reduced, by about 100,000, the number of New Yorkers who would have been hospitalized. One hundred thousand hospitalized. To be hospitalized you have to be seriously ill. A portion of those 100,000 would have passed away. So all this inconvenience, this turmoil, for what? To keep 100,000 people out of hospitals. That's for what. The 100,000 in the hospitals would have overwhelmed the hospital system, would have been chaotic. That's where Italy was and a number of those 100,000 would have died. So remember that context. Not just for the retrospective, but for the perspective.

Our past actions changed the path's trajectory. Our present actions will determine the future trajectory. It is that clear. It is cause and effect. You tell me what we do today, I will tell you the number of people sick tomorrow. So, everyday we get up, everyday everyone says, "Oh my gosh, I have to do this again." Yes, but what you do today is going to determine the number of sick tomorrow. New Yorkers have continued to do what they have to do. You see that number of hospitalizations dropping. That is all good news and that is a credit to the community and the social conscience and the responsibility of New Yorkers.

The question now is, as we're on the decline, how fast is the decline and how far is the decline? How low will the number actually wind up? Right now, we're at about 1,000 new cases per day, in the 900s: 954, 933, 970, 973. That's four days. The day before that it was 1,076. That looks like the number is flattening, is plateauing at about 900, 1000 cases. Three, four days, five days if you want to say between 900 and 1,100. That is still too high a number of new cases to have everyday. Not where we were, a lot better than where we were for sure, but 1,000 new cases every day is still a very high infection rate. It's still a burden on the hospital system.

We now want to take it to the next level. Let's drill down on those 1,000 new cases. Where are they coming from? Why is the infection rate continuing? Who's getting infected? Let's get more targeted in our response. We're fighting this statewide, but you have to wage the battle, wage the war on many fronts. It's a statewide battle. Now that we have it basically stabilized and on the decline, the enemy is on the run. The virus is reducing, let's get more refined, more targeted. I'm going to be speaking with the hospitals this afternoon and say that we want to get more specific information on those new cases that are coming in the door.

Where are they coming from? Who are they? To see if we can come up with a more specific target. If you look at the past few days where the cases have been coming from, this is a 3-day what they call rolling average, you see 17 percent from Manhattan. Much of it correlates to population but much of it also correlates with downstate New York. Seventeen percent Manhattan, 17 percent Kings, 12 percent Bronx, 11 percent Queens, but then 10 percent Nassau. Seven percent Westchester and Suffolk. So it's the downstate region and then upstate it's Erie County to give you snapshot of where the cases are coming from.

We need more specific information to have a specific battle plan. Literally where do the new cases come from? Are they essential workers? Are they people who are staying home and getting infected by a family member? Or are they essential workers who are still traveling and possibly getting infected at work? Where do they work? How do they commute? Is this a question of getting infected on public transportation? We just announced new subway, buses, Long Island Railroad, Metro North protocols. Where in the state are these people being transferred from a nursing home? What is their sex? What is their age? What is their previous health status? What are the demographics? Let's get more specific information from the hospitals to see if we can come up with the strategy more tailored to the reduction of these 1,000 cases per day. The number of deaths, 289, lower than it has been, but still tragic and terrible, and all the good numbers, the good news for me, every day this number just wipes that all away.

We have announced a statewide policy for our schools. We did it last March 18th. We said we were going to close schools all across the state, k-12 and higher education schools. We waived what was called the 180-day requirement, which is a state regulation that schools have to have 180 days of teaching. Schools then transferred to distance learning programs, meal delivery services, child care options for essential workers. That has actually worked out well, not perfectly, we had to do it in a rush, but there are lessons we can learn here that could change teaching going forward and teaching in these types of situations going forward - but it did work. Basically, it functioned well, and teachers did a phenomenal job stepping up to do this. It was a hardship on everyone, but we made the best of the situation. Colleges and universities were also moved to distance learning. Campuses were closed, unless a student really needed housing on the campus. Schools, obviously by definition, have higher density. They have transportation issues, kids getting on buses. We did not have the protection measures to put in place. You have 700 public school districts, 4,800 schools in this state, and then you have 1,800 private schools, 89 SUNY and CUNY campuses, and 100 private campuses for a total of 4.2 million students.

So, the decisions on the education system are obviously critically important. We must protect our children. Every parent, every citizen feels that. We must protect our students and educators. Given the circumstances we are in and the precautions that would have to be put in place to come up with a plan to reopen schools with all those new protocols: How do you operate a school that socially distances with masks, without gatherings, with a public transportation system that has a lower number of students on it? How would you get that plan up and running? We do not think it is possible to do that in a way that would keep our children, students, and educators safe. So, we are going to have the schools remain closed for the rest of the year. We are going to continue the distance learning programs. Schools have asked about summer school and whether we will have attendance in schools for summer schools. That decision will be made by the end of the month. Again, nobody can predict what the situation is going to be three weeks or four weeks from now, so we are trying to stage decisions at intervals that give us information, but also enough time for people to make preparations they need to make. So, any decisions on summer school will be made by the end of the month. In the meantime, meal programs will continue, the child care services for essential workers will continue. And then we want schools to start developing our plan to reopen, and the plan has to have protocols in place that incorporate everything that we are now doing in society and everything that we learned. We are going to be asking businesses to come up with plans that safeguard workers when they reopen. We need schools to come up with plans also that bring those precautions into the schoolroom. That is also for colleges and the state will approve those plans.

Related issue that we need to discuss and pay attention to, this COVID crisis has caused significant disruption and many unintended consequences, and ancillary issues that have developed, and one of them is when you have people who are put in this situation immediately with no notice, it has caused serious mental health issues. You have anxiety, depression, insomnia, loneliness, that feeling of isolation. We're seeing the use of drugs go up. We're seeing the use of alcohol consumption go up. This is a chronic problem. If you are feeling these issues, you are not alone. As a matter of fact, half of all Americans have said that their mental health has been negatively impacted. Don't underestimate the stress of the situation, and it happens on a lot of levels. Three out of four say that their sleep has been affected. You do not know where your next paycheck is coming from. You do not know if your job is going to exist. You are at work one day, the next day they say everything is closed, stay in the house. You are in that house, in a confined situation, or you're in an apartment and in a confined situation. You can't get out. It is difficult for emotional support, we have a hotline set up. People shouldn't be shy in any way or have any second thoughts about calling for help. It is a pervasive problem, and people should make a call and get the help if they need the help.

We also see, in line with what we're talking about, a dramatic increase in the incidence of domestic violence. There was a 15 percent increase in March. A 30 percent increase in April. That is - March is when this started, 15 percent. April, 30 percent. That is a frightening rate and level of increase. Again, New Yorkers in need, we have a domestic violence helpline - 844-997-2121. You can call, just discuss the issue. You don't have to give your identity, or say where you live, but people who need help should reach out. There is no shame in reaching out and saying, "I need help." This is a national epidemic. It is a statewide epidemic. Ask for help, and we are here to help.

We are especially concerned about these issues for frontline workers. I mean, just think about what the frontline workers are going through. Think about what the healthcare workers are going through. They're working extended hours. They're seeing a large number of people die. They're working in very frightening situations. They're worried about their own health. They're worried they get infected, they then have to go home, worry if they're infected and bringing that infection home. So, this is a terribly, stressful, difficult time, especially for the frontline workers, and we want them to know that we not only appreciate what they are doing, but we are there to support them, right? Saying thank you is nice. Acting in gratitude is even nicer. We have a special emotional support hotline for our essential workers. And we are also going to direct all insurers to waive any cost-sharing, co-pay deductibles for mental health services for essential workers, which means the mental health services will be free for frontline workers. And they will be at no cost. And too many families and people have said to me, "You know, I would go for services, but I do not want to pay the cost. I can't afford it. I don't want to take that money from my family." That's gone. There is no cost to get mental health services, so just wipe that reason away, and get the help that you need. It's even in the best interest of your family.

Last point, personal opinion, who said when life knocks you on your rear, learn, grow up, and get back up. Was it A.J. Parkinson? It was not A.J. Parkinson, it was me. Nobody ever said that, just me. "When life knocks you on your rear learn, grow, and get back up." This has been a very difficult, difficult situation for everyone, but when life knocks you on your rear, learn and grow, and we will collectively learn and grow. We are going to learn many difficult lessons from this situation. We are going to learn about public health threats that we never saw before, we never heard of, we never really anticipated, we never actualized. Everyone talked about global pandemics in that possibility, but you know what, until it happens people do not really get it. Our hospital system, and how that works, and how it works in an emergency. How tele-education works, how tele-medicine works. How you keep society functioning during an emergency. How you communicate to people the dangers of a situation without panicking people, because you still need essential workers to come out and do their job. You do not want to panic people where they say, "I'm not leaving the house." But you need to communicate the facts, so people act responsibly. How do you do that in a short period of time? What do you do about public transportation? Learned a whole lesson with the downstate public transportation system.

There will be a lot to learn from this, which we will learn, and we will be the better for. I believe that. That's part of life. In the meantime, we have to go day to day, and we try to make the best of a bad situation. You try to find that silver lining through the dark clouds. All of us try to do it in our own way. Everybody is struggling with it in their own way and that's all across the board. In many ways, this is the great equalizer. Doesn't matter who you are, where you are, this impacts your life, dramatically. But, personally, if you work at it, maybe you can find a little silver lining.

I am sitting there last night with my daughter Michaela, she's my baby, the baby's now 22. She says to me, "You know, dad, think about it, I've spent more time with you now then I will probably spend with you in the rest of my adult life." I said, "Wow, what does that mean?" She said, "Well, think about it. I have been with you for over a month. I won't be with you for another month for the rest of my adult life." Which is kind of jarring because I still think of her as my baby, but you know what? That is probably right, you know. She is 22. She is going to go off and do whatever she does, and then you see her at holidays for a few hours here. Maybe you steal a Saturday once in a while. It reminded me of the Harry Chapin song "The Cat's in The Cradle" which was a great old song, from a great man, great New Yorker too. But these are, with all the bizarreness, I have not been able to see my mother in two months, but I have my daughter probably for a longer period of time then I'll probably have for the rest of her adult life. That's probably true.

So, you try to find the silver lining. You try to stay positive. We stay socially distanced, but we stay spiritually connected. New Yorkers have been so supportive of each other. You can feel it. There is a spirit of community and mutuality. People are there to help one another. People understand that everybody is going through this, everybody is in stress. You look at the way people have complied with these rules, as annoying as they are, masks, six feet this. That is out of respect one for the other. I love the metaphor of the mask. The mask does not protect me. I wear the mask to protect you. What a beautiful sign of caring, of mutuality. I wear a mask to protect you. That's the spirit, even in this terrible time of difficulty. So, yes, you can be socially distanced, but you can be spiritually connected and closer in ways you've never been before. I believe that's where we are. Because we are New York tough, which means tough, smart, united, disciplined, and loving.

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A robber who kidnapped, bashed and hog-tied an 81-year-old gun shop owner during an elaborate heist has been jailed for seven years.

Serdar Baycan admitted to raiding Barry & Sons Firearms in Beckenham, Perth, where he stole 100 firearms, worth $206,000, on September 4, 2019.

The 23-year-old was arrested during a dramatic police raid almost a week later, where officers found the firearms in his Forrestdale storage unit.

During sentencing on Friday, the Perth District Court heard Baycan and his alleged co-offender Mustafa Altinok stalked gun shop owner Barry Lathwell in the days preceding their heist, WA Today reported.

Serdar Baycan admitted to raiding Barry & Sons Firearms in Beckenham, Perth, on September 4, 2019

The 23-year-old was arrested during a dramatic police raid almost a week later, where officers found the firearms

Baycan, who hired a van and changed its number plates, staged a rear-ending of Mr Lathwell's car as he left his gun shop at about 5.45pm.

Mr Lathwell was punched numerous times after the three men stopped in a laneway to exchange details over the car accident.

The 81-year-old's hands and feet were bound with cable ties and his head was covered with a cloth that was duct-taped to his face.

Mr Lathwell, who was also hit on the head with an object, was told he would be killed if he did not open his weapon vault.

The pair allegedly stole $6,000 worth of ammunition, 77 handguns and 23 long-arm firearms.

Baycan claimed he agreed to the robbery to repay a $6,000 drug debt and was high on methamphetamine at the time.

Baycan hired a van and changed its number plates during the elaborate heist

WA Police previously said the firearms were recovered before they could make their way to the black market.

Following the police raid, Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said: 'The recovery of the stolen firearms has been a high priority for WA Police Force.'

'It was only a matter of time before the firearms would have made it onto the black market and into the hands of people who could have caused great harm to the community.'

The police also praised Mr Lathwell for how he handled the situation.

'Lastly, it is important we don't forget the victim in this matter  an 81-year-old man who was going about his own lawful business,' Mr Blanch said at the time.

'Barry had done everything he could to secure his store, and has assisted WA Police Force throughout this investigation.'

During sentencing on Friday, the Perth District Court heard Baycan and his alleged co-offender Mustafa Altinok stalked gun shop owner Barry Lathwell in the days preceding their heist

Judge Felicity Davis referred to CCTV footage which showed Baycan buying cable ties and duct tape at Bunnings the day of the attack while rejecting the 23-year-old's attempts to minimise his part in the offending.

She found Baycan was remorseful for his actions and acknowledged he agreed to assist police with investigations following his arrest.

His co-accused fled to Turkey following the crime and Baycan agreed to testify against him.

Baycan, who was born in Turkey but raised in Australia, began to use drugs at 15 and reports show he has a low level of intelligence.

He was sentenced to seven years behind bars and will be eligible for parole in five years.
The Centre on Friday allowed the sale of liquor in standalone wine stores as well as the sale of paan/gutkha and other tobacco products across the country from May 4 except in Covid-19 containment zones.

The government has categorized all 733 districts across the country in three zones  red (hotspots), orange (having a limited number of Covid-19 cases) and green (no cases).

There are, however, strict social distancing norms in place. People going to such stores/shops will have to maintain at least six feet distance from each other and ensure that not more than five persons are present at a shop at any given time. Spitting in public places will be punishable.

Liquor and paan shops inside malls or marketplaces are not allowed to operate yet. Containment zones are those areas in red and orange zones that have been sealed due to a high number of Covid-19 infections. Only essential activities are permitted in these areas.

The government order on lockdown on Friday stated that any person violating the lockdown measures or directives could be prosecuted under the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The government had prohibited sale of liquor and paan/gutkha since March 24, when the first phase of lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Since then, several states including Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab had repeatedly urged the central government to lift the ban on sale of liquor citing depletion of state revenues. Liquor is one of the major contributors to states coffers.

The International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), which has Diageo India, Pernod Ricard, Beam Suntory, Bacardi and others as members, had asked the union consumer affairs ministry to allow shops to sell the alcoholic beverages for some hours during the day.

Another body, the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverages Companies (CIABC), had also asked the government to allow sale of liquor citing huge losses.

ISWAI chairman Amrit Kiran Singh told Hindustan Times, We have committed to the government that social distancing will be maintained at the liquor vends. As soon as the latest guidelines come into force, we will begin a programme called Safe Shield under which signs will be put outside all shops about social distancing, sanitisers would be placed, there will be contactless sales through trays kept at the counter.

Singh added that the second phase of Safe Shield is to use services of online delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato for delivery of bottles for which, he said, ISWAI is trying to convince the state governments.

This will release the load off the retail stores.

75% percent of Indias liquor market size is in retail while 25% is in bar sales, which stands prohibited. Last year, liquor sales brought in 2.84 lakh crore revenue to state governments, according to Singh.

Covid-19 is going to stay for some time so we have to institutionalize Safe Shield and home delivery measures into liquor retail sales. If we do this properly, 75% of revenue to states can come back, he added.

A senior home ministry official, who didnt want to be named, explained on Friday that the decision to reopen standalone liquor stores across all three zones has been taken as part of resuming economic activity which is directly linked to the revenues of the states. The state governments are free to decide where they want to open the liquor stores/paan shops.
The federal Department of Health is using Medicare data-matching to detect any suspicious activity at private hospitals during the ban on most types of elective surgery, after concerns were raised about surgeons doing procedures normally classed as non-urgent.

The Department wrote to private hospitals warning that it is "monitoring elective surgery activity using Medicare Benefits Schedule data and will investigate and refer if it appears that particular hospitals or surgeons are not complying with the [ban]."

The federal government has vowed to crack down on surgeons flouting bans on non-essential surgery. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

The department said it would refer any suspicious activity to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for investigation.

State-based health authorities are also monitoring private hospitals to ensure compliance.
- Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina launched the herbal tea, named COVID-Organics (CVO), on Monday, April 20, claiming the concoction cured COVID-19 patients

- The island country had registered 135 infections of the pandemic as of Saturday, May 2, with zero deaths and 97 recoveries

- The World Health Organisation (WHO), however, said there was no proof of a cure for the disease, warning against the widespread use of untested remedies

Update: WHO said Madagascar's herbal tonic is not a cure for COVID-19.

Madagascar has sent its locally made COVID-19 "herbal medicine" to 15 African countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

President Andry Rajoelina launched the herbal tea, named COVID-Organics (CVO), on Monday, April 20, claiming the concoction cured COVID-19 patients.

READ ALSO: 13kgs piece of moon that fell on earth up for sale at KSh 250M

Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina drinking the herbal tea. Photo: Andry Rajoelina.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: 13 Congolese rangers caring for gorillas which perfectly posed for selfie killed by rebels

On his Instagram page on Friday, May 1, Rajoelina said the "herbal medicine" would be availed to all coronavirus patients in all friendly countries across the African continent and the around the world.

"Madagascar and its African brothers are united in the response to the coronavirus. It is with honor that we send these CVO herbal teas to the 15 member countries of ECOWAS through Guinea Bissau,"

" Madagascar will make Tambavy CVO available to all coronavirus patients in all friendly countries in Africa, in the Indian Ocean and around the world.

Madagascar had registered 135 infections of the pandemic as of Saturday, May 2, with zero deaths.

Out of the total cases, 97 of them had recovered according to Worldometers, a real-time statistics website.

The herbal medicine developed by Malagasy Institute of Applied Research contains Artemisia- a plant on the Island used in the fight against malaria.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there was no proof of a cure for the disease, warning against the widespread use of untested remedies.

Madagascar's national medical academy (Anamem) also cast doubt on the efficacy of Rajoelina's touted coronavirus remedy.

Countries across the world are coming up with their own vaccines, already some researchers at Oxford University in the UK are developing one and plan to test it in Africa.

The United States (US) on the other hand, approved the use of Remdesivir drug saying a study showed it interfered with the replication of some viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the current pandemic.

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

A Poor Kenyan Has No Rights: Couple who lost a hand in a Chinese company and got fired Follow up

Source: TUKO.co.ke
New Zealand producer Baynk has been slowly releasing A Study in Movement, a four-part video series that looks at the relationship between music and dance. Four overlapping dancers interpret his recent singles including Down featuring Golden Vessel and Akurei, High and Kiss Me featuring Mood Talk. Part four is coming soon.

There's a curious trend that's popping up all over social media of people making their own sourdough bread from scratch. Crummies Sourdough School offers kits for sale, which include a sourdough starter, proofing basket and dough scraper alongside their basic sourdough recipe as seen on Instagram TV.

$25 (pick-up in Brunswick), Instagram @sourdough_for_crummies

Rhyme and reason: poet Maxine Beneba Clarke.

ART

Damien Shen explores the complexities of his cultural heritage in A Stone from Another Mountain. The black-and-white photographic tintypes combine imagery from China's dynasty periods with his Ngarrindjeri family portraits. Works can be viewed online or through the gallery window.
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By Jordan Rau and Anna Almendrala | California Healthline

When Jorge Newbery finally got through to his 95-year-old mother on a video call April 18, she could barely talk or move and her eyes couldn't focus.

It was the first time he had seen her since California nursing homes shut their doors to visitors a month earlier. Immediately after the video chat, Newbery called the front desk in a panic.

"I said, 'You gotta get her out, you gotta call 911,'" he recalled. "She's looking like she's about to die."

Newbery's mother, Jennifer, was living at the Rehabilitation Center of Santa Monica, one of 198 nursing homes in California where at least one patient had contracted the coronavirus as of April 28, public health records show. The outbreak at the Santa Monica center has been worse than most, with 12 employees and 24 patients infected, including nine fatalities, according to the Los Angeles County health department.

The rehabilitation center shares several other worrisome characteristics with many other homes beset by coronavirus infections: Historically, it has had lower-than-average staffing levels and a record of not always following basic staffing and infection control rules, a Kaiser Health News analysis shows.

Compared with homes reporting no patient infections, California facilities with one or more patients with a COVID-19 case had, on average, 25% fewer registered nurses per resident in the final three months of 2019, the last period for which the federal government has published data.

In addition, 91% of nursing homes reporting at least one case of the virus had a previous health violation for not following infection control rules, while 81% of homes without reported cases had such violations. Typical violations included nurses or aides not washing their hands or wearing protective clothing around potentially contagious patients.

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"With low RN staffing, it is not surprising that these facilities have had previous violations for infection control and poorer overall quality, as measured by having more deficiencies," said Charlene Harrington, a professor emerita of the School of Nursing at the University of California-San Francisco. "It is a classic situation that reaffirms what researchers have found previously, only the situation with the COVID-19 virus is far more serious than anything the nursing homes have experienced before."

In an email, Jeffrey Huang, the administrator of the Rehabilitation Center of Santa Monica, said "we respectfully and strongly disagree" that Medicare assessments of the home's quality predict or reflect the nursing home's efforts to protect residents from the coronavirus. The staff was "continuing to do everything possible for keeping our residents and staff safe in these uncertain times," Huang wrote. He declined to discuss Newbery, citing patient confidentiality.

Nursing homes have emerged as one of the places the coronavirus spreads most aggressively. In California, 4,711 nursing home residents had been infected and 663 had died by the end of April, about a third of all COVID-19-linked deaths that homes in the state have reported to authorities.

The KHN analysis is the first to compare Medicare's public quality measures for the 198 California nursing homes that registered coronavirus cases by late April with the 983 homes with no cases reported to either the state public health department or Los Angeles County, where a majority of homes with infections are located. KHN found that California homes with coronavirus cases averaged 2.8 stars on Medicare's five-star overall quality rating, while other homes averaged 3.5 stars.

On average, the homes that have had coronavirus cases had more complaints lodged against them and were fined 29% times more often. In addition, Medicare also calculated that their health violations of all types were 20% more serious. They also tended to be larger, averaging 105 patients versus 83 on the homes without virus cases.

The analysis found no substantial difference in the numbers of nurse aides or licensed practical nurses at the homes, but there were fewer registered nurses, who have the most medical training and supervise the other caregivers. On average, there was one registered nurse for every 39 residents at a California home without a patient coronavirus infection versus one RN for every 52 residents for homes with infections, KHN's analysis found.

Certainly, nursing homes with stellar quality ratings also have had coronavirus outbreaks. Nursing Home Compare, the federal government's consumer website, gave its top overall rating of five stars to Life Care of Kirkland, the Seattle-area nursing home that was the first reported to have a slew of infections. In California, 12 of the nursing homes with coronavirus infections had above-average ratings for both staffing levels and inspection results, although only three had no history of infection control citations.

The prevalence of coronavirus infections in lower-rated nursing homes could be explained by poorer care, but there might be other factors, said David Grabowski, a professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School. For instance, the lower-rated homes might be primarily located in low-income areas with high rates of coronavirus cases in those neighborhoods, he said.

"This suggests a very different set of policies if we want to protect nursing homes from further outbreaks," Grabowski said.

Representatives of nursing homes rated as below average on Nursing Home Compare say that the coronavirus has thrown everyone off guard and that registered nurse staffing levels are irrelevant to whether a patient is infected by the new virus.

"It's really hard to draw a straight line" from issues raised in previous years' inspections "to this pandemic that even the experts didn't see coming and were not prepared for," said Elizabeth Tyler, a spokesperson for Longwood Management Corp., which runs three nursing homes with coronavirus infections that were also poorly rated before the pandemic: Studio City Rehabilitation Center, Burbank Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center and Sunnyview Care Center.

Burbank and Sunnyview have a health inspection rating of one out of five stars, which is far below average, while Studio City has two stars. Tyler said that health inspection ratings are a "very, very complex system," taking into account hundreds of different factors, and she hesitated to make any connections between past reviews or staffing levels and the current outbreak.

Lakeview Terrace in Los Angeles, which has recorded three cases of COVID-19, has been on a list of 15,000 nursing homes around the nation that health inspectors are required to visit more frequently because of repeated violations of patient safety rules. It has an overall Medicare rating of one of five stars -- the lowest rating -- and almost six times the national average of health deficiencies.

In August 2019, inspectors faulted the home after they saw a nursing assistant deliver a breakfast tray into an isolation room without putting on personal protective equipment. They also discovered the home was not keeping logs to track signs and symptoms of possible infections.

DJ Weaver, an administrator for Lakeview Terrace, said that on the rare occasion that mistakes happen, the facility counsels and trains staff and makes systemic improvements to prevent future occurrences.

"Overall, we have done a good job not allowing cross-contamination of any infectious organisms, which is the real danger," Weaver said in an emailed statement.

Lakeview's cases came as a result of accepting a hospital patient who had undiagnosed COVID-19, Weaver said. His infection of two roommates couldn't have been prevented by the facility's policies designed to protect residents from the virus. Those include banning staff from working at multiple nursing homes and suspending group dining and activities.

"That kind of thing is really hard to foresee," Weaver said.

Jennifer Newbery entered the Rehabilitation Center of Santa Monica in April, 2019. Up until the day of the video conversation, Jorge Newbery said he and his four siblings had been told by staff that the nursing home had only three cases of COVID-19, and that everything was under control.

But after the home transferred Newbery to a local hospital, doctors told her family she tested positive for the coronavirus and had pneumonia, Newbery said.

When Newbery later called to thank the staffer for facilitating the video chat, he asked if the facility had seen any deaths.

The staffer said yes, Newbery recalled, and it floored him. "We absolutely had no idea," he said.

Newbery said his mom is getting better at UCLA Medical Center Santa Monica. After she's discharged, Jorge wants to take her to Chicago to live with him and his family.

Newbery said he had been unaware of Medicare's critical assessment of the Rehabilitation Center, which has two stars out of five overall on Nursing Home Compare, denoting below-average care. Inspection records show that during a visit in May 2019, health inspectors faulted it for failing to sanitize a blood pressure cuff before it was used on a second patient, and for allowing a urinary drainage bag attached to a catheter to be touching the floor. In August 2019, inspectors determined the home violated California's minimum staffing requirements because it lacked enough nurse assistants on 10 out of 24 days.

Huang, the administrator, noted Medicare gave the facility five stars, the best rating, in a quality category that assesses aspects such as the frequency of patient trips to the hospital or emergency room, and homes' self-reported assessments of how often residents improved during their stays. The regulators who issued the May 2019 deficiency found no evidence of harm to a resident, he said.

Michael Connors, an advocate with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said nursing homes with fewer staff members and poor compliance with infection control practices are ripe for the spread of the virus.

"No place could be more dangerous to live right now," Connors said. "It's these characteristics that make nursing homes ground zero for COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths."

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News (KHN), which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
Night Curfew in Maharashtra: Check guidelines, rules; what is allowed, what is not allowed

Maharashtra govt trying to frustrate probe against former minister Anil Deshmukh: CBI to SC

Maharashtra likely to see rise in COVID-19 hospitalisations by Jan-end or early Feb

Closure of schools in Maharashtra leads to boys working in fields

Open Enquiry: Ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh yet to appear before ACB

83 per cent COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra are asymptomatic

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, May 02: As much as 83 per cent of coronavirus patients in Maharashtra are asymptomatic, and 20 per cent of them have recovered, health minister Rajesh Tope said.

The mortality rate of the epidemic has come down to 3.5 per cent in the state, while the doubling rate of patients is more than the national average, he said in a press release here.

Fast, sensitive antibody blood test for Coronavirus developed

Of the 36 districts of Maharashtra, 14 are in red zone (signifying high rate of spread of infection), 16 in the orange and six in the green zone, he told reporters in Jalna.

In Mumbai, a special 2,000-beds facility has been created where senior citizens with comorbidities (existing health conditions) living in densely populated areas could be quarantined after screening, if needed, Tope said.

The state has 733 containment zones at present, he said.

The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra has risen to more than 10,000.
China pledges continuous support for Peru in COVID-19 fight: Xi

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:48, May 01, 2020

BEIJING, April 30 -- China firmly supports the Peruvian government and people in their fight against COVID-19 and will continue to offer support and help within its capability, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Peruvian counterpart, Martin Vizcarra, in a phone conversation on Thursday.

During the conversation, Xi said that, facing the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese side has always followed the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, and shared the epidemic-related information with countries as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) in a timely manner to advance international cooperation against the disease.

The Chinese side has provided emergency assistance to multiple countries and international organizations to the best of its ability, shared experience in epidemic prevention and control in various forms without reservation, and facilitated export channels for anti-epidemic supplies to help countries with their containment efforts, he said.

Xi also said that China supports joint international prevention and control efforts, supports the leading role of the WHO and other international organizations, and supports stronger international coordination over macroeconomic policies.

Currently, the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region including Peru, Xi said, noting that China firmly supports the Peruvian government and people in their fight against COVID-19 and will continue to offer support and help within its capability.

Xi said he believes that Peru will prevail over the epidemic at an early date under the leadership of President Vizcarra, adding that the friendship between the peoples of the two countries will be deepened in their joint fight against the epidemic.

Noting that China highly values the development of its relations with Peru, the Chinese president said China is willing to work together with the country to strengthen bilateral communications, promote innovation in bilateral cooperation, jointly build the Belt and Road and boost continous development of the China-Peru comprehensive strategic partnership so as to mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties next year with more tangible results.

Vizcarra, for his part, said Peru and China have enjoyed good relations, with their exchanges and cooperation in various fields developing steadily, adding that the investment of Chinese enterprises has promoted infrastructure construction and economic and social development in Peru.

Peru is willing to take the occasion of celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year as an opportunity to further bilateral ties, said the Peruvian president.

Noting that China has already brought the novel coronavirus epidemic under control, he said the country's organizational ability and useful experience are worth learning from, and thanked China for extending valuable support and assistance to Peru in fighting the epidemic.

Vizcarra said he fully agrees with Xi that the COVID-19 outbreak has laid bare the importance of building a community with a shared future for mankind, adding that the international community should strengthen solidarity and cooperation, uphold multilateralism and support the WHO in playing a leading role.

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Space X completed its final parachute test as the aerospace company and Nasa prepare to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27.

Space X, founded by Elon Musk, shared news of the successful test run Friday on Twitter as they gear up for the historic lift off of Demo-2, the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.

'27th and final test of Crew Dragons upgraded Mark 3 parachutes complete,' Space X wrote.

Space X announced that it passed the final parachute test ahead of the May 27 lift off

This Monday, March 30, 2020 photo made available by SpaceX shows NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley during a test at a SpaceX processing facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

'One step closer to flying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station and safely returning them back home to Earth.'

A photo of the test showed the Crew Dragon's parachutes fully functional as it safely floated to the ground.

Space enthusiasts are anticipating the launch as it is latest step is helping push the U.S. back to the front of human spaceflight.

It will be America's first manned spaceflight in nearly nine years.

NASA has been unable to fly astronauts since the Space Shuttle fleet was retired 2011, and have been forced to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets for rides to the International Space Station at $84million a seat.

This undated photo made available by SpaceX in February 2020 shows the Crew Dragon spacecraft undergoing acoustic testing in Florida

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley (right) will man the spacecraft as it travels to the International Space Station

Space officials also complete an investigation into an engine failure on the first stage of the Space X Falcon 9 rocket during a previous launch in March.

During that test, 60 of Space X's Starlink internet satellites were aboard, Space.com reports.

The misstep didn't interfere with the overall mission since the satellites reached orbit, but NASA and Space X conducted an investigation since the upcoming launch would also use a Falcon 9 rockte.

'We have reviewed the anomaly resolution of the Starlink launch and actually have cleared the engines on our vehicle for that failure,"said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Space X has developed Crew Dragon in contact with the Commercial Crew Program.

The crew will be transported into space in Crew Dragon (pictured)

Pictured: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a demo Crew Dragon spacecraft lifts off from pad 39A on an un-crewed test flight to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center

In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to create a spacecraft capable of flying humans to the space station.

The following years were bogged down by funding issues and technical problems that halted progress.

However, Space X's deal includes finishing the capsule and flying six operational crew missions to and from ISS.

Meanwhile, Boeing has had difficulty with its Starliner spacecraft, including arriving in the wrong orbit during a test flight and problems with deploying parachutes.

Its unclear when Boeing will need to send another Starliner to the space station without launching astronauts later this year

An investigation team is still looking into why the Starliner's automated timer was off by 11 hours during the December test flight.

NASA starts billionaire space race as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos compete in $967 million battle to develop a craft land astronauts on the moon in 2024

NASA's Artemis mission that is set to land the first woman and next man on the moon has just turned into a space race between billionaires.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX have been chosen to develop human landing systems for the mission set to launch in 2024.

Along with the two tech tycoons, NASA has also awarded Dynetics part of the 10 month contract that totals $967 million.

The firms are set to create lander concepts by 2021 and NASA will then pick one or more winners to begin building the spacecraft.

Scroll down for videos

NASA revealed the three US companies that will help take the first woman and next man to the moon by 2024. Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX will develop human landing systems for the space agency's Artemis program (pictured is artist concept of the Artemis mission)

Bringing humans back to the moon has been a dream of NASA for years, but with the Artemis mission just four years away, the agency is working tirelessly to make sure it becomes a reality.

The US has not had a human landing system since 1972, but the technologies are vital for the American space agency's deep space exploration plans.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a live feed of the announcement: 'It is important that the agency do this now, our country and in fact the whole world has been shaken by the coronavirus.'

'We need to give people hope and something dream about that will inspire the nation and the entire world.'

'With these contract awards, America is moving forward with the final step needed to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024, including the incredible moment when we will see the first woman set foot on the lunar surface.'

Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is developing the Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV). Blue Origin said its lunar lander, dubbed Blue Moon, will be able to carry all sorts of payloads to the surface and can hold 'multiple metric tons'

NASA awarded the Blue Origin team with $579 million, the Dynetics team with $253 million and SpaceX with $135 million.

Boeing, in partnership with Aerojet Rocketdyne, also bid on HLS but was not awarded with a study contract. The Boeing proposal included using an upgraded Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which Boeing is currently building for NASA.

Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is developing the Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV).

Jeff Bezos' (pictured) Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX have been chosen to develop human landing systems for the mission set to launch in 2024.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) has been chosen among the three to design a lunar lander that will take the first woman and next man to the moon

This is a three-stage lander that will launch on the firm's own New Glenn Rocket System and ULA Vulcan launch system.

Bezos revealed plans of 'going to the moon' in 2019, when he shared elaborate concept images of self-sustaining space habitats reminiscent of the film Interstellar, with lush greenery and futuristic homes within its walls.

Blue Origin said its lunar lander, dubbed Blue Moon, will be able to carry all sorts of payloads to the surface and can hold 'multiple metric tons.'

The craft will 'enable a sustained human presence on the moon,' the company said. And, according to the CEO, the company already has about six customers.

The lander builds upon technology the firm has been testing over the past few years in its New Shepard rocket, including propulsion and precision guidance, as well as the vertical landing system.

SpaceX has also joined the team and is set to design its Starship rocket, which it is currently developing and refining in Texas. SpaceX said a 'lunar optimized Starship' would bring crew from lunar orbit to the Moon's surface under NASA's Artemis program

The firm has quietly been developing Blue Moon for years.

SpaceX has also joined the team and is set to design its Starship rocket, which it is currently developing and refining in Texas.

SpaceX said a 'lunar optimized Starship' would bring crew from lunar orbit to the Moon's surface under NASA's Artemis program.

'A lunar optimized Starship can fly many times between the surface of the Moon and lunar orbit without flaps or heat shielding required for Earth return,' the company said.

However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Bridenstine have a history of bad blood, so it may be a surprise the firm was chosen as for this project.

During a conference in 2019, Bridenstine re-hashed Tweets criticizing SpaceX for failing to meet timelines for the development of its Crew Dragon spacecraft, saying they were meant as a warning to all of the space agency's contractors about setting realistic development schedules.

'I have been focused on returning to realism when it comes to costs and schedules,' said the NASA Administrator.

'So I was signaling - and I haven't done it just to SpaceX but to all of our contractors - that we need more realism built into the development timelines.'

But Musk has been working with NASA to develop the Crew Dragon capsule that will shuttle US astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA has also chosen Dynetics to design the human landing system, which will work the Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS)  a single structure providing the ascent and descent capabilities that will launch on the ULA Vulcan launch system.

The Alabama-based firm has excelled in designing a myriad of useful components for space, including satellites, propulsion systems, vehicles, satellites and more.

NASA has also chosen Dynetics to design the human landing system, which will work the Dynetics Human Landing System (DHLS)  a single structure providing the ascent and descent capabilities that will launch on the ULA Vulcan launch system

NASA's partners will refine their lander concepts during the 10 month contracts.

During that time, the agency will evaluate which of the contractors will perform initial demonstration missions and then choose the final designs to be develop for Artemis.

Lisa Watson-Morgan, HLS program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said: 'I am confident in NASA's partnership with these companies to help achieve the Artemis mission and develop the human landing system returning us to the Moon.'

'We have a history of proven lunar technical expertise and capabilities at Marshall and across NASA that will pave the way for our efforts to quickly and safely land humans on the Moon in 2024.
Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment a fly-in-fly-out worker is gunned down by police in a shopping centre after a violent stabbing rampage that left seven people injured.

The man, 34, wearing hi-vis workwear, can be seen on the video pacing through the South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on Friday brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Terrified shoppers and staff can be seen hiding behind counters in stores as police confront the man.

The stabbing rampage began in a nearby motel before the knifeman headed to the McDonald's car park where he stabbed one person.

He then caused chaos as he made his way into the mall through Kmart.

Esther Brooks (pictured) shared shocking pictures of her wound with Daily Mail Australia, after being stabbed in the back by a crazed stranger

Major crime detectives have begun investigating the South Hedland rampage in which seven people were stabbed, including a woman pushing her child in a pram.

The crisis ended when the attacker, a 34-year-old FIFO worker from Perth who was known to authorities, was shot dead by police.

One victim, a 39-year-old man, received serious wounds and has been airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital where he will undergo surgery on Saturday evening.

Pilbara district superintendent Kim Massam declined to comment on any potential motive for the attack or whether the offender had a history of drug use or mental health issues.

He said social media videos, as well as footage captured on CCTV and on police body-worn cameras, would form a key part of the investigation.

Up to 60 witnesses could be interviewed.

'Those statements will be detailed,' Supt Massam told reporters.

'They are there on behalf of our investigation for the coroner. The coroner will expect a thorough and intrusive investigation is undertaken in relation to the matter.

'I think we'll have a significant contingent of police officers and support staff in Hedland for the majority of this coming week.'

Two men and three women, aged 19 to 37, were treated at Hedland Health Campus but have since been discharged.

Another man aged 20 did not require medical treatment.

The man, 34, wearing high-vis workwear, can be seen wearing high-vis workwear and pacing through the South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on Friday brandishing a large kitchen knife

David Derschow (pictured, right) said his girlfriend Esther Brooks (left) had been stabbed by the knifeman on Friday morning at a Western Australian shopping centre

The attacker is yet to be identified but his family has been informed of his death.

Police say he stabbed a man at a motel and another who was in a car at the local McDonald's before entering the South Hedland Square shopping centre and attacking a further five people.

Two officers attempted to subdue him and fired a Taser before he lunged at them with a 'very large' knife.

An officer fired several shots and the man died at the scene.

One of the victims was Esther Brooks, who was slashed in the back while the man fled police

In an exclusive interview, Ms Brooks shared shocking photos of her bloodied T-shirt, and told Daily Mail Australia: 'I'm sore - but I'm OK. I live to tell the story.'

Her stunned boyfriend David Derschow said Ms Brooks had just gone on a coffee run when she was attacked by the crazed man.

The stabbing rampage took place in South Hedland in northern Western Australia (pictured)

'She was just getting iced coffees,' he said on Friday night.

Mr Derschow said he heard screaming coming from the shopping centre and walked up to find carnage.

'She didn't know him,' he said, adding he had no idea why his girlfriend had been brutally attacked.

Ms Brooks was in such a state of shock she didn't even realise she'd been injured in the melee. 'When he stabbed me, he was running from police.'

Mr Derschow said: 'She's good now, she didn't know she was stabbed until she asked if she was stabbed.

'A Good Samaritan, within minutes of walking out, offered to take us to the emergency room.'

He later told friends in a chilling Facebook post: 'Esther got stabbed!'

Ms Brooks is in a stable condition and has had her injury stitched up.

The South Hedland Square shopping centre reopened on Saturday, as did licensed premises which had closed as a mark of respect.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said there was no indication the man was politically or ideologically motivated.

Homicide detectives have flown to South Hedland and their investigation will be overseen by the professional standards division.

A WA Police Union team has also been deployed to assist the two officers.
Ferns publican, Tom Dunbar, who is a leading figure on the national Irish Vintners Federation (IVF), has warned that a lot of businesses will not reopen once the Covid-19 crisis is over unless the Government implements a lot of measures to support those within the hospitality sector.

'We did not realise it [the pandemic] would be this length and it seems to be getting worse,' he told this newspaper.

'At the end of the day people's health is more important but when we do open we will be looking for support from the Government,' said Mr Dunbar.

He said one of the things that will be sought will be a reduction in excise duty and commercial rates deferment.

However, with regard t that he said: 'You have to apply it to all small businesses.'

He said he spoke to one business owner whose premise is closed but commercial rates are still coming out of his account.

'That should not be happening now,' said Mr Dunbar.

Highlighting that 75 per cent of pubs have a turnover of less than 380,000 and that outside of Dublin that figure would be higher.

He said VAT will have to be reduced at least to 9 per cent for 'at least five years'.

'Maybe it should even be zero per cent for one year and then increased to 9 per cent just to get the industry back,' he said.

Referring to the supports that were given to banks Mr Dunbar said something similar will be needed for small businesses.

'Cheap credit should be available and speedily because at the moment you would almost have to sign for it in your own blood,' he said.

Mr Dunbar said that in Britain businesses get grants and suggested something like that should be done here too.

'We need a big boost,' he said.

'Insurance companies are saying they will not cover business being interrupted and they are saying we were only advised to close, not told to.'

He agreed, when it was put to him, that it appeared to be a case of being insured for everything but covered for nothing.

'It's a frightening situation because we are all walking into a different world,' he said.

'We will be opening our doors to a very different world.'

Mr Dunbar said the pub trade had experienced huge change within the last 15 years and pressure that those within the industry were facing has been compounded now by the pandemic.

Even if Government supports are in place the public's attitude might have changed considerably by the time pubs open their doors again.

'After this people could be afraid to risk going out for a long time even with a vaccine,' said Mr Dunbar.

'I think it will be a struggle [for the industry] one way or another and the tourist sector will also struggle,'

He commented that tourists from America and Britain will be less likely to travel and the same will be true for the Irish.

'I would imagine that tourism will be domestic,' he said.

While acknowledging that Bord Failte has done a lot for businesses operating within the hotel sector he said the organisation has done 'nothing for pubs'.

'It does good work but it's all for hotels and never for pubs,' he said.

Mr Dunbar then highlighted that when tourists think of Ireland and give reasons why they come here they talk about pubs: '90 per cent of visitors talk about the pubs and the social aspect of them; that's what attracts them in the first place.'

'Bord Failte has never tapped into that because it's always about hotels and restaurants,' he said.

'The reality is that when this [crisis] ends we will need a lot of help to survive,' he added.

Emphasising that the 'social fabric of rural Ireland is the pub' Mr Dunbar said that there is a danger that if supports aren't in place to ensure the survival of those operating within the sector the cultural and social attraction of the country will be greatly diminished.

He said the IVF will be working alongside members of the LVA [in Dublin] and the International Small Business Alliance 'to do the best we can' for all small businesses.

When asked where he sees the industry going in County Wexford, especially with regard to smaller pubs and businesses, Mr Dunbar said to do so would only be speculating at this stage and that would only add to the stress and pressure that people are already under.

He said some within the industry were hoping for possible opening measures by July but admitted that is very optimistic.

'We have adhered to the guidelines and we need to ensure the safety of our staff and customers but we will be looking for help from the Government to get us through this,' said Mr Dunbar.

'There are a lot of people affected by this and unfortunately there will be a lot of businesses might not open again and that's not just pubs but other small businesses as well. We will get through it but the Government has to help.'
Help Phuket Today providing assistance to poor and migrant families

PHUKET: The effects of the coronavirus have been felt far and wide with, at time of print, almost 3.5 million infections and 240,000 deaths globally.

charityCoronavirusCOVID-19health

By The Phuket News

Saturday 2 May 2020, 05:47PM

Many families are in desperate need of help. Photo: Help Phuket Today

Help Phuket Today is targeting the many that fall through the cracks of assistance provided by the government for various reasons. Photo: Help Phuket Today

With local tourism decimated and ensuing restrictions and lockdowns seriously hampering businesses across the island, thousands of families have lost 100% of their income and migrant workers remain in their camps facing starvation. Many fall through the cracks of the help provided by the government for various reasons.

Help Phuket Today is a grassroots charity started by local Thai and Expat volunteers helping desperately poor Thai and migrant families whose incomes and lives have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The charity provides weekly food packages to those most affected, relying on the kindness of residents of each subdistrict to locate and feed the families that are in dire need of their assistance, something particularly pertinent during the recent Tambon lockdown across the island.

Another aim is to empower volunteers in other subdistricts to find vulnerable families, and coordinate their own team to gather donations and distribute food.

The situation in Phuket is desperate for some families who, beacuse of the glocal pandemic, have had no income for the last month, commented Sara Al-Sayer, a volunteer and the charitys administrator.

Help Phuket today is a group of people, both Thai and expat, who are trying to give back to the island that has given them so much joy over the years, she added.

The money that they raise goes 100% towards helping poor families on the brink of starvation. The aim is to empower each subdistrict to help families within their area do the same  either by volunteering their time or by donating money or food.

It costs just B350 to feed one family for a whole week. That may be nothing to many of us, however it means survival to these families, Ms. Al-Sayer concluded.

Expanding on what Ms. Al-Sayer mentioned above, there are numerous ways you can help:

Donate Money:

The full 100% of your donation will go to helping the extremely vulnerable families who have confirmed that they desperately need food. With this money, Help Phuket Today buys the goods in bulk and makes up packs with the essentials needed by these families in order to survive. We also purchase nappies, sanitary pads for women, soap, laundry detergent or anything else that we deem essential to their survival.

The most recent campaign raised B157,500 in four days and additional donation drives are ongoing. Anyone interested in donating directly can contact: helpphukettoday@gmail.com

Alternatively bank transfers can be made to:

Kasikorn Bank

Swift: KASITHBK

AC: 399-2-88941-0

Name: Lakana Sukhsuchit & Jemmit Tammapichai

Bank Ref: Food for Poor Donation

Buy Food:

The standard food pack costs just B350 and consists of:

- 5KG bag of rice

- 1 bottle of oil

- 5 tins of sardines

- 30 eggs

- 1 small bottle of fish sauce

- 10 packets of noodles

However, the chairty also welcome other items such as cookies, sanitary napkins, nappies, baby milk, soap, masks and laundry detergent. These can be placed in the Food Banks at the following Villa Market locations:

- Villa Market in Boat Lagoon - The box/trolley will be on the left side of Villa as you walk in

- Villa Boat Avenue - The box/trolley will be just inside the entrance of the supermarket.

- Villa Chalong - The box/trolley will be between the two entrances to Villa

You can order directly online from Villa Market by writing donation in the comments box and select pickup. If you wish to donate your food to a specific part of the island, please add it to the comment field too.

PLEASE maintain a social distance while depositing your items your donations.

Logistical Help:

You can help with the packing and distribution of food in your subdistrict. You can also help by becoming a drop of point for food donations. If you wish to help with distribution, please follow the following guidelines:

The local Government has stated that it appreciates the efforts of all those helping people in need. However, it is important to ensure that we avoid spreading COVID-19 too. So please follow these Guidelines :-

1. The local Or Bor Tor or police MUST be informed in advance of any donation effort and give their approval. This allows the local administration to send police as needed to assist with social distancing and to ensure proper measures are being followed.

2. All surfaces, like tables, being used must be fully disinfected and cleaned. Everyone, including those in line, must wear masks. Gloves need to be used by those handing out food. Hand sanitizer must be provided and used prior to giving out food. Temperature checks were not specifically mentioned but are highly encouraged according to police.

3. Social distancing standards must be followed. There must be proper space, recomended at 2 meters, between people in line as well as staff giving food away. Only essential items should be given out, like food and water. Extras, alcohol, money, clothing, electronics, etc. should not be given out as it causes large gatherings.

4. The process must be encouraged to be quick and limit times of people gathering around the give away areas. There should be a high level of focus on getting people through the process as quickly as possible to limit time interacting or around other people.

Social Media

1. Photos on social media must clearly show that these Social Distancing guidelines are being followed. Avoid using any photos with people standing or handing out food in close proximity.

2. Do not show personal bank details. It is suggested to inform people that they can Private Message you to get further details on how to help. In order to help in this way, please contact Kath Cumming on + 66 650503464.

Identify Vulnerable Families:

There are so many families in Phuket who need help, often identified by looking for tin roofs in each neighbourhood. The tin roofs are often camps filled with the families of migrant workers. Once a family has been identified, you can contact Sara Al-Sayer +66 984093203 to add them to our distribution list. If you would like to help in this way, it is very important that you follow the following guidelines:

1. The local Or Bor Tor or police MUST be asked if it is ok to help in the camps.

2. Permission needs to be given by the camp owner for you to enter the camp. This is very important because if you do not have permission you could be arrested. You will find that they are keen for help and so will always grant permission.

3. Please make sure to ask the following questions:

i. Have they been able to access food?

ii. How many families are in the camp? (This information sometimes needs to be verified because they are not always honest).

iii. Have they got water and is their tank full?

iv. If there is no electricity do they have gas to cook with?

v. Are there babies, pregnant women or children in the camp with them?

4. Once this information has been established, explain that you will be back as soon as possible with food packages. This is when you would coordinate with Help Phuket Today directly, or with your local subdistrict if you can to buy the necessary food and deliver it to them.
The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders has registered their disapproval over the directive by Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo for GCNET to shut down operations.



According to an Executive Member of Freight Forwarders, Dr. Kweku Okyere Darko, it is not possible for UNI-PASS to take precedence over GCNET until the Ministry in charge of the sector addresses serious defects in the new port clearing system.



GCNET, UNI-PASS & Matters Arising



Confusion has rocked Ghana's ports as management of the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNET) and West Blue Consulting Limited, Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Chamber of Freight and Trade, Ghana Revenue Authority and other stakeholders in the trade facilitation process at the port, haggle over the introduction of the new Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) otherwise called UNI-PASS, and its associated challenges.



The UNI-PASS is a new port clearing system that processes documents and payments through one window aimed at easing the previous system where valuation, classification, risk management and payment were handled by different entities before one could clear his or her cargo from the port.



The new system will replace the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAARS) undertaken by West Blue and the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS), jointly operated by the Customs Division of the GRA and GCNet which has been operational for nearly 17 years.



Senior Minister, Osafo Maafo wrote a letter to GCNET to shut down activities effective 28th April, 2020 for the newly advanced single window system for trade, which is a public-private partnership between government and Ghana Link Network Services in collaboration with Customs Uni-Pass International Agency (CUPIA) of Korea, to function in the stead of GCNET.



Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Carlos Ahenkorah, also disclosed that the government will phase out GCNET by the end of May this year but in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's Morning Show 'Kokrokoo' on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, however, asked GCNET to currently work side by side with UNI-PASS.



Although UNI-PASS is readily used at the Takoradi port, there are reports of delays in the clearing system and this is said to have taken a negative toll on the process.



Stakeholders' Grievances



First of all, the Freight Forwarders are appealing to the Senior Minister to revoke his directive to GCNET to shut down with immediate effect.



Dr. Kweku Okyere Darko has asked the Senior Minister to allow GCNET to continue operations till all old documentation is cleared from their computing systems before UNIPASS can come into full force.



Speaking to host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' Thursday morning, the Freight Forwarder futher disagreed with the notion that GCNET can run parallel with UNI-PASS till the former becomes defunct.



He stated that the termination of GCNET contract will threaten activities of users of the platform who are importers, exporters, clearing agents, logistics companies.



Dr. Okyere Darko was concerned about importers who may be caught up in the seeming fray between the government and GCNET as they encounter delays in clearing their goods at the ports while rent charges and demurrage go up so far as they exceed their laytime.



He also pointed out to the government to address the underlying fundamentals regarding GCNET before it ceases to operate because players in the trade facilitation process need to undergo training to adapt to the new system.



"We are the students. We are the ones to use the system. We will be using the syllables that you've prepared. We have to be trained and then we also have to be registered onto the system. You have to enrol us before order to even start takes effect. All these things have not been accomplished yet," he said in a worrisome tone.



He added that running UNI-PASS without addressing the real operational issues will interrupt the paperless system at the port.



"If you give an order for GCNET and West Blue should shut down their systems when these fundamentals have not be installed, you are only creating serious problems for the nation . . . We don't know how UNI-PASS is situated".



Listen to Dr. Kweku Okyere Darko in an interaction with Kwami Sefa Kayi on 'kokrokoo'





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
Amy Poehler and her Parks And Recreation costars were on to something with their video chat reunion special.

The 48-year-old comedian and her friends raised a whopping $3 million so far for the food bank charity Feeding America.

In addition to those funds, the cast, NBCUniversal, State Farm Insurance and Subaru all agreed to chip in half a million dollars in matching funds.

For a good cause: Amy Poehler, 48, and her Parks And Recreation costars raised an impressive $3 million from their virtual reunion on Thursday, plus half a million in matching funds

As impressive as the donations are, they're likely to go even higher, as fans can donate to FeedingAmerica.org/ParksAndRec up through May 21.

Chris Pratt, who graduated from Parks And Rec to leading Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, took to Twitter to express his thanks on Friday.

'Thank you to everyone who has donated!' he wrote.

'Its not over. Lets get that number up! There are a lot of wonderful pay check to pay check folks struggling to feed their kids right now. Were making them stay home from work to protect our most vulnerable. Theyve earned our help.'

Doing his part: Chris Pratt took to Twitter on Friday to urge fans to continue donating through May 21 to Feeding America to help the 'wonderful pay check to pay check folks struggling to feed their kids right now'

Good cause: The cast of Parks and Recreation reunited virtually for a brand new episode on Thursday to help a worthy cause, Feeding America

Cast: The episode reunited all of the main cast members - Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Retta and Jim O'Heir - along with a slew of memorable guest stars

The episode reunited all of the main cast members  Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Retta and Jim O'Heir  along with a slew of memorable guest stars.

The special begins with Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd) speaking from his family's private fox hunting estate in Switzerland.

He says that his friend Leslie asked him to read a message, asking fans to give to Feeding America website.

The obtuse Bobby asks someone off camera if 'something is going on,' adding he hasn't been watching the news lately, when he looks at the person, aghast, and says, 'What?'

Bobby returns: The special begins with Bobby Newport (Paul Rudd) speaking from his family's private fox hunting estate in Switzerland

Website: He says that his friend Leslie asked him to read a message, asking fans to give to Feeding America website

It's revealed that the episode takes place in April 2020, as Leslie video conferences with Ben (Adam Scott), who says he has the most amazing idea.

He brings out his old Cones of Dunshire game, adding he wants to make a Cones of Dunshire claymation movie.

Leslie asks if he's put the caps back on all the cleaning supplies, as she leaves to call Ron, whose number is blocked.

Leslie: It's revealed that the episode takes place in April 2020, as Leslie video conferences with Ben (Adam Scott), who says he has the most amazing idea

Cones of Dunshire: He brings out his old Cones of Dunshire game, adding he wants to make a Cones of Dunshire claymation movie

He wants to talk 'far less,' adding he wants to chat once with a photo of the day's newspaper.

He adds he's been at his cabin hunting meat, so he doesn't have to go to the grocery store.

Leslie, who works for the Department of the Interior still, says she has shut down every national park in the country, while creating a slew of committees (and chairing all of them) but she is only getting two hours of sleep instead of her usual four.

Far less: He wants to talk 'far less,' adding he wants to chat once with a photo of the day's newspaper

Interior: Leslie, who works for the Department of the Interior still, says she has shut down every national park in the country, while creating a slew of committees (and chairing all of them) but she is only getting two hours of sleep instead of her usual four

Ron then calls April, instead of Garry like he was supposed to, as Andy is in another room. When Ron asks why he's in another room, he says he locked himself in a shed.

They call Chris and Ann, who are in separate rooms as well, as Chris reveals Ann has gone back to work as a nurse.

'I'm just helping with outpatient care. We have to do what we can.'

April: Ron then calls April, instead of Garry like he was supposed to, as Andy is in another room. When Ron asks why he's in another room, he says he locked himself in a shed

Chris and Ann: They call Chris and Ann, who are in separate rooms as well, as Chris reveals Ann has gone back to work as a nurse

Chris asks if he's just 'giving' his blood out to anyone, as Chris reveals he's a 'super healer,' one of three along with Megan Rapinoe and a panther at the Miami zoo

Leslie calls Ann, telling her that CHris has been a 'real trooper.'

Ann says they should really call Gary, but she doesn't want to, so they call Tom, who has supposed to be in Bali on his book tour.

Super healer: Chris asks if he's just 'giving' his blood out to anyone, as Chris reveals he's a 'super healer,' one of three along with Megan Rapinoe and a panther at the Miami zoo

Tom: Ann says they should really call Gary, but she doesn't want to, so they call Tom, who has supposed to be in Bali on his book tour

He says he's going through entrepreneurial ideas, like 'teeny tiny iPads for each finger' and lasagna that doubles for toilet paper.

Since time has no meaning, he wonders if a clock that just spins would be a good idea.

Tom is told he has to call Gary, but he just laughs and calls Donna instead, who says that every teacher deserves a new Mercedes, after seeing what her man Ron has been doing in quarantine.

Ideas: He says he's going through entrepreneurial ideas, like 'teeny tiny iPads for each finger' and lasagna that doubles for toilet paper

Tom and Donna: Tom is told he has to call Gary, but he just laughs and calls Donna instead, who says that every teacher deserves a new Mercedes, after seeing what her man Ron has been doing in quarantine

Donna asks who is next on the phone tree, and she calls Garry, who is still the mayor of Pawnee.

Garry inadvertantly puts a dog filter on his head, and he tries to change it and turns into a juggalo.

Leslie says they're doing a media blitz so she wants to include Pawnee, as Gerry has turned himself into a poo emoji, as he starts to get a bit emotional.

Mayor: Donna asks who is next on the phone tree, and she calls Garry, who is still the mayor of Pawnee

Filter: Garry inadvertantly puts a dog filter on his head, and he tries to change it and turns into a juggalo

Poo: Leslie says they're doing a media blitz so she wants to include Pawnee, as Gerry has turned himself into a poo emoji, as he starts to get a bit emotional

Joan Callamezo (Mo Collins) returns with her At Home with Joan show, as Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knoppe come on to talk about social distancing, but Joan tries to sing.

Leslie says people who are alone are susceptible to mental issues, as Joan claims to have an EGOT - revealing she has been banned from all four ceremonies.

Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) returns with a commercial for 'Miracle Cure' that will cure anything, as Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) returns with his show, Ya' Heard with Perd.

Ben reveals that he is polishing a script that may be the most ambitious claymation movie, but Leslie cuts him off.

Leslie also pleads for folks to donate their time, money and energy.

Joan returns: Joan Callamezo (Mo Collins) returns with her At Home with Joan show, as Ben Wyatt and Leslie Knoppe come on to talk about social distancing, but Joan tries to sing

No EGOT: Leslie says people who are alone are susceptible to mental issues, as Joan claims to have an EGOT - revealing she has been banned from all four ceremonies

Dennis and Perd: Dennis Feinstein (Jason Mantzoukas) returns with a commercial for 'Miracle Cure' that will cure anything, as Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson) returns with his show, Ya' Heard with Perd

A commercial for Dr. Jeremy Jamm (Jon Glaser) comes on, wearing a robe and sporting a weird mohawk, stating he's doing a home dental delivery, saying he will drop off equipment and then talk them through it on the phone.

Jean Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) returns with a commercial, stating he's flush with cash after he was hit by a Porsche, as he reveals his phone number (930) 1-RALPHIO.

He adds that he's also been banned from Cameo for doing his videos naked.

'Please call me I am very sad,' Ralphio says.

Dental delivery: A commercial for Dr. Jeremy Jamm (Jon Glaser) comes on, wearing a robe and sporting a weird mohawk, stating he's doing a home dental delivery, saying he will drop off equipment and then talk them through it on the phone

Flush: Jean Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) returns with a commercial, stating he's flush with cash after he was hit by a Porsche, as he reveals his phone number (930) 1-RALPHIO.

Banned: He adds that he's also been banned from Cameo for doing his videos naked

Lonely: Please call me I am very sad, Ralphio says

Andy comes on the show as his popular kids persona Johnny Karate, who tells kids to 'stay strong and be nice to your parents.'

Andy reveals he's never washed his hands in his entire life, with Leslie questioning that, as Andy says things will go back to normal adding it 'might never happen, but it will eventually.'

Perd ends the segment by saying he's going to look at 'funny photos of doggies.'

Stay strong: Andy comes on the show as his popular kids persona Johnny Karate, who tells kids to 'stay strong and be nice to your parents'

Normal: Andy reveals he's never washed his hands in his entire life, with Leslie questioning that, as Andy says things will go back to normal adding it 'might never happen, but it will eventually.

Leslie calls Ron again, as Ron reveals a 'forrest varmint' broke into the cabin, as he reveals his ex Tammy 2 (Megan Mullally) broke in, hopefully to join them in bed.

Ron calls April, saying he has an idea and he needs her help, as April starts playing drums.

Leslie calls Ben, and Ben says his screenplay makes no sense, and he needs to pay attention to his emotional sense.

Tammy 2: Leslie calls Ron again, as Ron reveals a 'forrest varmint' broke into the cabin, as he reveals his ex Tammy 2 (Megan Mullally) broke in, hopefully to join them in bed

Idea: Ron calls April, saying he has an idea and he needs her help, as April starts playing drums

Another call comes in and it's the whole cast, as Ron says Leslie needs something to lift her spirits, as Andy breaks into his song Bye Bye Lil Sebastian.

Ben is not a fan of the song, but everyone else chimes in and sings the song together, as some start getting emotional towards the end of the song.

Everyone else clicks off as Ron says he said she needed help, and he told them she needed help and they all dropped everything to help.

Cast: Another call comes in and it's the whole cast, as Ron says Leslie needs something to lift her spirits, as Andy breaks into his song Bye Bye Lil Sebastian

Ben: Ben is not a fan of the song, but everyone else chimes in and sings the song together, as some start getting emotional towards the end of the song

He said she should stop worrying about everyone else, and focus on herself, once in awhile.

Awkwardly, Garry comes back on with a weird filter, asking for help with his phone.

The cast then comes back as themselves, asking their fans to please donate to FeedingAmerica.org/ParksAndRec, as the special comes to a close.

It was previously announced that Subaru, State Farm and NBC will match all donations up to $500,000, with all proceeds going to Feeding America.

Filter: Awkwardly, Garry comes back on with a weird filter, asking for help with his phone

Cast: The cast then comes back as themselves, asking their fans to please donate to FeedingAmerica.org/ParksAndRec, as the special comes to a close
Ritwika Mitra By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Tribal Affairs should constitute a COVID-19 response team to coordinate with tribal departments in states to reach out to tribal people, said experts.

With migrant workers returning homes, states with high tribal population should closely work with civil society organisations to monitor their health concerns, they said.

Amid the lockdown, the first special train left Telangana for Jharkhand on Friday.

According to the Economic Survey 2016-17, the pattern of flow of migrants showed while the less affluent states saw more out-migration, the affluent states were the largest recipients of migrants. While Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka saw in-migration, states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh saw people migrating out, the survey said.

An expert committee report submitted in 2018 showed that tribal population bears a disproportionate burden of communicable disease like malaria, tuberculosis, skin infection, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, typhoid, viral fever and cholera.

There are over 15 tribal districts which have been included in the hotspot areas. New cases are being reported from other tribal areas. This poses serious health concerns for tribal communities in India. The lockdown has also led to financial distress in tribal areas as their livelihoods have been affected, said Tushar Dash, an independent researcher and expert on forest rights issues. Among the hotspots, some districts had large outbreaks.

The total number of tribal people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 were 25 across the country, said Deepak Khandekar, secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The number is small. In case, the situation worsens that COVID enters in tribal area, we are in readiness (of forming a response team). We have a plan that if the situation arises, then that would be our action at that point of time, said Khandekar.

The government should coordinate with civil society organisations in order to reach out to the tribal population in remote areas, said Odisha-based activist Y Giri Rao. The government needs to develop mechanisms and involve civil society organisations for COVID-19 affected state. There is a need to work closely with the local community to ensure that the entitlements reach them. The states with high tribal population should see more proactive efforts, said Rao.
STURTEVANT  A Caledonia man allegedly found slumped over his steering wheel is facing charges after drugs and drug paraphernalia were found on him and inside his vehicle.

Samuel A. Hetzel, 24, of the 3400 block of Newman Road, is charged with felony possession of narcotic drugs and misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle under the influence as a second offense, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint:

At about 11:48 p.m. Monday, Sturtevant Police Department officers were dispatched to the area near highways H and 11 for a report of a driver who was slumped over his steering wheel. The person who reported the incident was an off-duty officer who said he took the keys away from the driver.

The off-duty officer said that when he stopped, Hetzel was going in and out of consciousness and slumped over.

Mount Pleasant Police officers arrived on the scene to assist and Hetzel was asked to exit his vehicle. Officers patted him down and found 13 blue pills later determined to be oxycodone hydrochloride, an opioid painkiller. Hetzel said he took one of the pills before driving.

Inside Hetzels vehicle, officers found a brown glass pipe with residue on it, a black metal grinder, 0.5 grams of marijuana and a clear glass pipe with residue.

Hetzel passed field sobriety tests, but still seemed groggy and unsteady. His pupils were also dilated. He was arrested for operating while impaired and transported to the hospital for a blood draw.

As of Friday morning, Hetzel remained in custody on a $2,000 signature bond, online court records show. A status conference is scheduled June 25 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.

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The Queen and Prince Charles were among the first members of the royal family to share their best wishes with Princess Charlotte as the youngster celebrates her fifth birthday today.

Taking to Instagram today, the Queen's, 94, official account shared several snaps of Her Majesty alongside the little royal, including one alongside Prince Philip taken at Trooping the Colour in 2017

Meanwhile Prince Charles, 72, also shared his 'best wishes for a very happy birthday' with the five-year-old today, posting a portrait taken by Kate Middleton, 38, to mark the day.

To mark her birthday, Kensington Palace has released new pictures of Charlotte as she helped her parents deliver home-made pasta to vulnerable Norfolk residents isolated by coronavirus earlier this week.

The Queen, 94, and Prince Charles, 72, both sent their best wishes to Princess Charlotte as the little royal celebrates her fifth birthday today (pictured, the royal family's account shared several snaps of the little princess, including one of Prince Philip, the Queen, Kate and Princess Charlotte at Trooping the Colour in 2017)

The royal family's official account posted several snaps of the little royal online as they sent their best wishes

Posting on Instagram today, the Royal Family account shared a series of images to mark the big day, including a photograph of the little royal acting as a flower girl at Princess Eugenie's wedding.

Other images in the series included one of Princess Charlotte with her mother Kate, the Queen and Prince Philip, 98, during Trooping the Colour in 2017.

Another sees the Queen surrounded by her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, with Princess Charlotte taking centre stage on Her Majesty's lap.

The image is just one of a series of photographs that was shot by contributing photographer Leibovitz to mark the Queen's 90th birthday in April 2016.

Meanwhile Prince Charles shared the little royal's official birthday portrait as he wished her a 'very Happy Birthday'

Princes Charles' official Instagram page Clarence House wished the royal a 'very Happy Birthday' today

Meanwhile Prince Charles' account Clarence House posted just one image of the little royal, the commemorative image taken by the Duchess last week.

They wrote: 'Wishing Princess Charlotte a very Happy Birthday - five today!'

The daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who is currently isolating in Norfolk with her family, is likely to chat over the phone with her great-grandmother The Queen and other loved ones on her special day.

In spite of the extraordinary circumstances around her birthday this year, Kate Middleton and Prince William have reportedly planned a fun day for their daughter's birthday on their Anmer Hall home.

Among the images shared by the royal family was one of Princess Charlotte acting as a flower girl for Princess Eugenie's wedding in October 2018

A source told the Sun: 'The family has arranged a Zoom party for her, so she can speak to family and friends. Then, they have put together a full plan that will give her all the fun of a birthday  including cake and games  despite the extraordinary circumstances we are faced with.'

'Her great-grandmother will be joining the family call on the big day. As far as Charlotte is concerned, the important part is that her whole family are by her side to say: "Happy Birthday".'

New commemorative portraits were, as usual, taken by keen amateur snapper Kate, earlier this week in between home schooling sessions at Anmer Hall, the family's Norfolk home on the Queen's Sandringham estate.

The entire family helped out with a local initiative started by the monarch's staff, who have been preparing and delivering meals for pensioners and the vulnerable in the area during the lockdown.

To mark her birthday, Kensington Palace has released new pictures of Charlotte as she helped her parents deliver home-made pasta (left and right) to vulnerable Norfolk residents isolated by coronavirus earlier this week  a royal 'meals on Wills', you may say

After sharing four images of the little royal yesterday, the couple went on to thank fans for their well wishes and released a fifth picture today.

In the new snap, which was taken by Kate as part of the series, the little royal can be seen thoughtfully holding one of the parcels of pasta.

Around 1,000 meals were dispensed in the first week alone, and the scheme has been running for five weeks so far.

This time the Cambridges, all keen cooks, rustled up some home-made pasta which they separated into 12 large bags and tied up with raffia to add to the food parcels. Sources said all the children  even little Louis, two  were involved.

Kate and Prince William went on to release a fifth picture of Princess Charlotte on her birthday on their Instagram page, thanking fans for their good wishes

The following day, the family  Charlotte smartly dressed in a black and white checked dress with grey tights and black Mary Jane shoes  then helped to load bags of fresh produce into a van from the Sandringham Visitors' Centre ready for delivery.

Sources say William, Kate, Charlotte and George spent two and a half hours driving around the area delivering food to those in need.

The princess can even be seen in one picture proudly knocking on an elderly resident's door with her goodies, standing on a mat which reads 'Welcome Home, Wipe Your Feet'.
REXBURG  A judge on Friday refused to lower the $1 million bond for Lori Vallow Daybell, the mother of two missing Rexburg children, after a long hearing.

Mark Means, Daybells attorney, said bail should be reduced to between $100,000 to $250,000 because during the coronavirus pandemic he has been unable to communicate suitably with his client. Means also alleged that attorney-client privilege has been violated because conversations he had with Daybell were recorded at the Madison County Jail.

The prosecution said that nothing at the jail is recorded without proper warning, so if any conversation was recorded, then the parties knew that was the case.

If conversations between an attorney and client, without a warning that they are being recorded, are being recorded, then that would certainly be something that I would want to know about, Magistrate Judge Michelle Mallard said at the nearly 3-hour hearing. But I dont really have any evidence that is what is going on here.

Daybell has been in jail since being extradited from Hawaii in late February. She is charged with two counts of felony child abandonment, misdemeanor resisting and obstructing an officer, solicitation of a crime and contempt of court. The charges relate to the disappearance of her children, 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, who have not been seen since September.

A preliminary hearing in her case is set for July 9-10.

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Workers across the Portland area gathered on May Day for traditional protests outside retail warehouses and health care facilities  but also came out in car caravans to call on employers to provide more protections and support during the coronavirus pandemic.

This years International Workers Day marked a major departure from the usual marches and rallies of hundreds in Portland in recent years, some that have been peaceful while others erupted into violence and destruction.

A small group gathered for a car caravan in the parking lot beside the Whole Foods Market at Northeast 29th Avenue and Couch Street, hurrying to gather their signage and asking one another questions from afar and through masks.

Lyn Neeley of Portland May Day Coalition drives past a Whole Foods on May 1, 2020, during a May Day car caravan in Portland. The caravan was organized by the Portland May Day Coalition and demanded - among other things - personal protective equipment and hazard pay for essential workers and a moratorium on rent payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian/OregonLive

At the helm was Lyn Neeley, 69, one of the organizers of the caravan and part of the Portland May Day Coalition. She wore a purple and blue mask as she passed out signs and caravan maps to fellow demonstrators gathered in the parking lot and on the adjoining streets. She said the group was demanding better testing, hazard pay and more PPE for essential workers, but these are just some of our demands, she said. Propped up against her car were signs that read Open jails, detention center and borders, Cancel rent and mortgage payments, and People and PPE before $profit$.

She chatted with Daniel Shea, 71, president of the Portland chapter of Veterans for Peace. Frontline workers are not receiving the kind of PPE that they need. So were out here supporting that, he said in an interview. The primary things he came to support are the essential workers, like in our grocery stores. And calling for the PPE they need  and they should receive hazard pay for risking their lives to keep themselves in a job and to provide food.

Daniel Shea, president of the Portland chapter of Veterans for Peace, places a sign that reads "Fund PPE" in the window of his car on May 1, 2020, during a May Day car caravan in Portland. The caravan was organized by the Portland May Day Coalition and demanded - among other things - personal protective equipment and hazard pay for essential workers and a moratorium on rent payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian/OregonLive

After chatting with other demonstrators and reporters, Shea got into his car, placed a small hand written sign that read Fund PPE in his window, and joined the caravan as they circled around the block and into the Whole Foods Market parking lot.

The caravan did a couple of rounds through the parking lot before heading onto East Burnside, Neeley with her fist raised out the window.

Roy St. Warren of Red Rainbow PDX holds a sign asking for "free masks for all," on May 1, 2020, during a May Day car caravan in Portland. The caravan was organized by the Portland May Day Coalition and demanded - among other things - personal protective equipment and hazard pay for essential workers and a moratorium on rent payments amid the coronavirus pandemic.Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian/OregonLive

Another workers group, Portland Jobs with Justice, planned a live virtual rally on Facebook on Friday morning. Organizers hoped it would provide a time for people to mourn those who have died from COVID-19 and to support workers suffering financial pain during the pandemics economic fallout.

COVID-19 has slowed the U.S. economy. Government stimulus is keeping Big Business from tanking for now. But people who need it much more are being sacrificed, including immigrants and homeless people, Portland Jobs with Justice staff member Alyssa Pagan wrote in an email.

Even those of us lucky enough to be in housing and getting paid right now are not sure if we can maintain, she wrote.
WINCHESTER  Scott County will not prosecute those who violate the states stay-at-home order, States Attorney Michael Hill said Friday.

Located 50 miles north of Alton, Scott County is the only county in west-central Illinois to have reported no cases of COVID-19.

Although Hill acknowledged he does not have the authority to allow businesses to reopen and is not suggesting people ignore common-sense guidelines on social distancing, he said he will not prosecute anyone charged with violating the order. According to Hill, states attorney are granted a great deal of discretion in making decisions on prosecution.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker first put the stay-at-home order in place in mid-March requiring non-essential businesses to shut down, prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people and limiting the reasons people could leave their homes. The order later was extended through May 30.

I want (Scott County residents) to look at the executive orders for what they are  as guidelines, Hill said.

Other states attorneys also have said they would not enforce the order, including Woodford County States Attorney Greg Minger and White County States Attorney Denton Aud.

Hill said he believes there is a concern if closing businesses violates constitutional rights and whether the governors order infringes on the right of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The right to just compensation of eminent domain  the governments ability to take or damage private property for public use in exchange for compensation  is a major concern for Hill. Closing a business could be interpreted as the government taking or damaging private property in the form of the labor of the business owner and their employees, Hill said.

Hill said his decision primarily was a legal one and he does not want to make a medical assessment as to the effectiveness of social-distancing measures. He considers the order to be too broad, and he doubts that actions not narrowly defined will stand up to legal review.

The state should use a scalpel over a saw, Hill said.

The governors office did not return a request for comment.
Kelloggs (K) is selling a ton of cereal to a nation eating breakfast at home during the coronavirus pandemic. They are also apparently eating Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops for dinner, too, which means more sales for the cereal giant.

One thing I mentioned on the earnings call is that one of the highest growth occasions is cereal for dinner. And one of the things driving that is people are making a lot more food at home and they get tired after a while of cleaning up and they say let's have cereal for dinner. The clean up is economical and everybody in the family loves it, Kelloggs CEO Steven Cahillane explained to Yahoo Finance in an interview on Thursday.

Kelloggs reported first quarter sales came in at $3.41 billion compared to forecasts for $3.39 billion. Sales surged across Kelloggs power food brands such as Frosted Flakes, Eggo Waffles and Cheez-Its. Adjusted earnings of 99 cents a share outpaced projections of 95 cents a share. Kelloggs reiterated its outlook for full-year organic sales growth of 1% to 2% and for adjusted earnings per share to fall 3% to 4%.

Yahoo Finance spoke with Cahillane at length about the quarter, outlook and the future of his workforce. What follows is an edited and condensed version of the chat.

Brian Sozzi: What is it like managing through a situation such as this pandemic?

Steven Cahillane: This is an unprecedented time. And so the first thing that we did was we established, my leadership team which we call the executive committee here, each and every morning setting aside at least one hour to talk about the situation as it unfolds and what we need to do in the short term, medium term and long term to protect our people, to provide food to the marketplace, and to give back to our communities. So we said those are our three priorities everywhere around the world and nothing is more important than keeping our people safe.

We were very early out of the gates to all sorts of things that have become common practice. We immediately stopped travel. We stopped meetings. We social distanced. We closed offices. We established the safety protocols, beyond what we were already doing in our plants and factories.

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And I think that really put us in a great position because our plants have been operating 24/7 at the highest level of productivity ever with an incredibly engaged workforce with incredibly high morale and that came from sharing learnings all around the world and making sure that the the urgency of the moment was tackled at the highest level of the company.

It's a bit of the foxhole mentality. The team's probably closer than they've ever been even though we're seeing each other through a video screen. But everybody's engaged against those three priorities. I'm thinking about when the new normal comes out what that is going to be and how are we going to be a stronger company when that happens.

Sozzi: What does that new normal look like for your company? Do you need to redesign the workplace? Will working from home be extended?

Kellogg's CEO Steven Cahillane has been hard at work managing his global workforce during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cahillane: Thats a great question and a really important one that we're spending a lot of time talking about. We've got a very comprehensive plan around how we go back to work and what that looks like. What you've seen  what we've all seen  is you can actually run a company like ours with a remote worker base. It's absolutely stunning that we close a quarter with our whole back office working remotely.

The other thing that we learned though is not everybody wants to stay at home all the time. But I think what you'll find is, because we've proven that it can be done we have the opportunity to be a much more dynamic workforce where there is a balance between time spent working at home or remotely, and time spent working in the office being with colleagues. And so that's going to be important because I think the new normal will be one where social distancing is really important. And so making sure that you have the right density of employees in a workspace is going to be incredibly important. And the fact that people can work from home lends itself to the right variable to make that happen.

So that's the way we're thinking about it, what's the right balance, what's the right cadence and how we do that.

The other thing that we know is we are not going to be asking people or demanding that people return to work. Its going to be at a very deliberate cadence and based on what people want to do, based on their own comfort levels, based on the new capacity that we have in the office. The other thing I say is now school is not going back and all the different challenges that individuals face in this environment, we are very cognizant of that and so we want to maintain that flexibility and in a way that recognizes that people have other demands on their time and their attention that are really important requirements.

But, I'm very confident that two three years from now, the world's going to be different, and there will be lasting impacts of this. And I hope it's one of the positive things that comes out of an otherwise horrible situation.

Sozzi: Do you think some of these eating occasions such as eating cereal again in the morning sticks around post pandemic?

Cahillane: We know that people are eating more of our cereal. They're not only buying more of it they're eating an awful lot more of it. And we're using consumer research to understand exactly how we can capitalize on that. One thing I mentioned on the earnings call is that one of the highest growth occasions is cereal for dinner. And one of the things driving that is people are making a lot more food at home and they get tired after a while of cleaning up and they say let's have cereal for dinner. The clean up is economical and everybody in the family loves it.

And so a lot of these things are going to stick around. For how long and at what level is dependent on a lot of things, but also dependent on how we take advantage of making sure that we continue to communicate with our consumers in ways that are engaging, innovative and lend themselves to building that brand equity.

Same thing for our snacks business, which was growing very nicely and best served from people snacking more at home. And the one portion of our business where we've seen softness is the on the go occasion. People arent putting Rice Krispies Treats in the lunchbox because Johnny's not going off to school. An RX bar usually being consumed at the gym isn't being consumed because that on negotiation is on pause.

How that changes over time we'll have to wait and see as well.

Frosted Flakes sales have been hot amidst the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Sozzi: How does this current point in time change your longer term thinking on the company? Do you have fewer SKUs in the market?

Cahillane: I'd say the bias is probably in that direction because what we're finding is in this environment people are gravitating towards brands they love and that they trust, and that's certainly a lot of our portfolio. Some of the more insurgent brands have had a harder time. Now again, that'll be one of those questions. In the next year or so there's probably going to be less SKUs in grocery stores. But the magnitude of that we'll just have to wait and see.

But having the right marketing programs around our big power brands is something we were already focused on. And then we'll continue to focus on that.

Sozzi: What have you seen demand wise in oil-rich markets such as Nigeria? Oil prices have really plunged.

Cahillane: Nigeria is a big market for us. They got into the COVID-19 situation a little bit later. And so we're seeing access for consumers, a lot of the points of sale becoming more challenging. And so we're starting to see some demand issues around how consumers can shop. From an overall macroeconomic standpoint we haven't yet seen the real impact of lower oil prices. But with an oil dependent economy, there's going to be pressure on currency, on the overall state budgets and so we'll just have to stay close to that manager.

We've got a great business there. We got a partner that has been doing business in Nigeria for 40 years, and seeing this play out before he's got a playbook for recessionary environments and we sell a lot of staples there. We'll be able to manage our way through it. The Middle East, Russia, some Latin American countries, Brazil obviously we'll have to stay close to it because it's going to create a lot of recessionary pressure. That will double against what COVID-19 has done.

Sozzi: We are in a severe U.S. economic downturn as well. How has that impacted Kelloggs?

Cahillane: As I said on the earnings call, we know what happened in the last recession and others before it. I think [with this one] you just don't see a shock like this happen so quickly, whether it be GDP, unemployment, and so forth. And everybody's behavior is changing because of the pandemic and so what's happened for us obviously has been a surge in demand.

I think people's spending habits are going to change fairly dramatically. We're conscious we play an important role as a brand that people rely on and trust. Affordability is really important. Bringing innovation is really, really important because people don't want to hunker down and be miserable they want the brands that they love to bring a little bit of excitement. So we're going to overstate the role we play, but we want to be there for our consumers and we want them to trust our brands and we want them to understand the affordable nature of the meal solution that ready-to eat cereal is. That a MorningStar Farms and Eggo Waffle are.

And so that's how we're thinking about that.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Trade at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell has warned that weak firms will be wiped out in a 'Darwinian culling'  as forecasts show unemployment is set to rocket.

Sir Martin, the founder and former chief executive of the WPP media empire, predicted that only the strongest companies would pull through the Covid-19 pandemic in a survival-of-the-fittest fight that he compared to naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

'You feel it in the markets already. It's terrible, shocking, it's catatonic. A lot of companies will go down,' he said. 'This is a Darwinian culling.'

Prediction: Sir Martin Sorrell is the founder and former chief executive of the WPP media empire

With 50 years in advertising behind him, Sir Martin's comments are seen as a bellwether for consumer confidence and spending  and they come ahead of a major report from the Bank of England due out this week on how the economy is holding up in lockdown.

The Bank will detail its expectations for growth and unemployment in the UK on Thursday  the same day the Government releases its plans to exit lockdown.

The latest jobs data indicates up to five million people could become unemployed as a result of the pandemic, according to analysis handed to The Mail on Sunday by recruitment boss James Reed.

The owner of Reed.com, the largest recruitment website in Britain, forecast it would take three years for employment to recover to preCovid-19 levels. The number of new job listings on his site has halved from 181,000 to just 89,000 in April alone.

The figure was 275,000 this time last year. He said Reed's analysis of trends in the data suggest up to 15 per cent of the workforce could become unemployed as businesses struggle to bring back all the staff who have been furloughed.

He added: 'I don't see how businesses can bring back everyone. If your income is half what it was, or worse, how can you cover the costs you had before?

'These figures are a leading indicator of what things will look like, and that could suggest as many as five million unemployed. If you look at previous cycles, it could take at least three years to recover. That would be the highest rate of unemployment since the 1930s. It suggests a very different economy will emerge out of this, and coming out of furlough will be a big challenge.'

Howard Archer, chief economist at the EY Item Club, a forecaster that uses the Government's own figures, said: 'A number of policymakers have sounded cautious about whether the economy will bounce back quickly. They think there will be consumer caution even after the lockdown has eased, and that could cause the recovery not to be very sharp.

'Longer-term forecasts will give us an idea about how much permanent damage has been done to the economy in terms of how many businesses go under and what the unemployment rate will go up to.'

Company profit warnings hit a record 301 in the first three months of the year, with travel and leisure firms worst affected, according to accounting giant EY. There were just 313 for the whole of 2019. Alan Hudson, UK head of restructuring at EY, predicted a spike in insolvencies and said the crisis had 'exacerbated existing weaknesses'.

Sir Martin Sorrell said Britain was entrenched in a 'wartime' mode. He forecast a deep V-shaped recession, where the usual rules for companies spending their way out of a downturn no longer apply. March to June would be 'horrendous', he said, the next three months would be 'tough but better', and the final three months of the year would be 'a recovery'.

But he warned that many companies would not survive that long. 'A lot of companies will have gone to the wall by then,' he told client magazine Finito World in an interview shared with the MoS.

'In our industry, a lot of highly regarded production companies have gone.'

He also criticised Chancellor Rishi Sunak's rescue programmes for businesses, saying: 'They take time to implement. A lot of this stuff will be deployed where it is least needed  to large not small businesses.'

Sir Martin founded WPP in 1985 and grew it into a FTSE100 company, making him one of the most highly paid businessmen in Britain, with a 368 million fortune. He stepped down in 2018 amid allegations of misconduct and misuse of company funds  which he denies  and set up digital advertising firm S4 Capital.

On Thursday, S4 will publish a trading update for the first three months of the year, which will show the impact of lockdown from March.

WPP, now led by Mark Read, last week announced a 4.9 per cent fall in turnover for the first three months of the year.

Sir Martin said the crisis would hand even more power to online giants such as Google and Facebook, adding: 'Imagine the data that Amazon is buying on consumer buying patterns: it will give them a huge data advantage. The same will be true for Tencent, Alibaba and TikTok in the east.'
Man Fatally Shot Near Vermont Avenue

A man was fatally shot today in an unincorporated area near South Los Angeles.

The shooting occurred about 6:10 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 111th Street, near Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles limit, according to Deputy Erin Liu of the Sheriffs Information Bureau.

Information about a suspect was not released.

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Authorities encouraged anyone with information about the shooting tocall the sheriffs Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Those wishing to report anonymously can call 800-222-TIPS.


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Authorities say a man who shot at a deputy and FBI agent outside his home in southern Utah Thursday may be traveling in the Four Corners area.

Cecil Vijil Jr. is charged for assault on a federal officer and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. A second man, Gary Lee Jr., is also being investigated in connection with the crimes and believed to be with Vijil.

Both are considered armed and dangerous, a release from the FBI said.

According to a criminal complaint filed is U.S. District Court:

An FBI agent and deputy went to speak with Vijil at his home in Aneth, UT around 3:20 p.m.ut in connection to an earlier shooting at a convenience store in Mexican Hat.

When they arrived the FBI agent saw Vijil peek around the side of the home before reemerging with an AR-style rifle.

Vijil fired multiple rounds at the deputys vehicle as the agent and deputy took cover inside. When the deputy moved the vehicle to put distance between them. Vijil went to a nearby fence post and used it as a base for the rifle.

The FBI agent sensed she was in personal danger and believed she was about to be shot and the pair fled the area to report the incident.

Tips: Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Vijil or Lee should call 911, their local law enforcement agency, or the FBI at (801) 579-1400.
Tara Reade at an interview with The Associated Press in Nevada City, Calif., on April 4, 2019. Read more

WASHINGTON (AP)  Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, says she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.

"I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable," Reade said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. "I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault."

Reade said she described her issues with Biden but "the main word I used  and I know I didn't use sexual harassment  I used 'uncomfortable.' And I remember 'retaliation.'"

Reade described the report after the AP discovered additional transcripts and notes from its interviews with Reade last year in which she says she "chickened out" after going to the Senate personnel office. The AP interviewed Reade in 2019 after she accused Biden of uncomfortable and inappropriate touching. She did not raise allegations of sexual assault against Biden until this year, around the time he became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

The existence of the Senate report has become a key element of the accusations against Biden, which he has flatly denied. Reade says she doesn't have a copy of the report, and Biden said Friday that he is not aware that any complaint against him exists. He asked the Senate and the National Archives to search their records to try to locate a complaint from Reade.

But Reade is suggesting that even if the report surfaces, it would not corroborate her assault allegations because she chose not to detail them at the time.

According to a transcript of her 2019 interview with the AP, Reade said: "They have this counseling office or something, and I think I walked in there once, but then I chickened out." She made a similar statement in a second interview with AP that same day, according to written notes from the interview.

On Friday, Reade said she was referring to having "chickened out" by not filing full harassment or assault allegations against Biden. In multiple interviews with the AP on Friday, Reade insisted she filed an "intake form" at the Senate personnel office, which included her contact information, the office she worked for and some broad details of her issues with Biden.

Reade was one of eight women who came forward last year with allegations that Biden made them feel uncomfortable with inappropriate displays of affection. Biden acknowledged the complaints and promised to be "more mindful about respecting personal space in the future."

During one of the April 2019 interviews with the AP, she said Biden rubbed her shoulders and neck and played with her hair. She said she was asked by an aide in Biden's Senate office to dress more conservatively and told "don't be so sexy."

She said of Biden: "I wasn't scared of him, that he was going to take me in a room or anything. It wasn't that kind of vibe."

The AP reviewed notes of its 2019 interviews with Reade after she came forward in March with allegations of sexual assault against Biden. But reporters discovered an additional transcript and notes from those interviews on Friday.

A recording of one of the interviews was deleted before Reade emerged in 2020 with new allegations against Biden, in keeping with the reporter's standard practice for disposing of old interviews. A portion of that interview was also recorded on video, but not the part in which she spoke of having "chickened out."

The AP declined to publish details of the 2019 interviews at the time because reporters were unable to corroborate her allegations, and aspects of her story contradicted other reporting.

In recent weeks, Reade told the AP and other news organizations that Biden sexually assaulted her, pushing her against a wall in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in 1993, groping her and penetrating her with his fingers. She says she was fired from Biden's office after filing a complaint with the Senate alleging harassment.

The accusation has roiled Biden's presidential campaign, sparking anxiety among Democrats. Republicans have accused Biden backers of hypocrisy, arguing that they have been quick to believe women who have accused President Donald Trump and other conservatives of assault. Trump has faced multiple accusations of assault and harassment, all of which he denies.

Reade says she was reluctant to share details of the assault during her initial conversations with reporters over a year ago because she was scared of backlash, and was still coming to terms with what happened to her.

Two of Reade's associates said publicly this past week that Reade had conversations with them that they said corroborated aspects of her allegation. One, a former neighbor, said Reade told her about the alleged assault a few years after Reade said it happened. The other, a former coworker, said Reade told her she had been sexually harassed by her boss during her previous job in Washington.

The AP has also spoken to two additional people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their families' privacy, who said Reade had told them about aspects of her allegations against Biden years ago.

One friend, who knew Reade in 1993, said Reade told them about the alleged assault when it happened. The second friend met Reade more than a decade after the alleged incident and confirmed that Reade had a conversation with the friend in 2007 or 2008 about experiencing sexual harassment from Biden while working in his Senate office.

Thompson reported from Nevada City, California.
People may find some solidarity in their loneliness right now, with so many around the world obliged to stay home. But forced isolation has hit elderly populations especially hard. And the disparity may become even more pronounced as countries begin to send children back to school, and the young and healthy back to work, while debating whether to require or advise older, more vulnerable citizens to remain at home.
When shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Jeff Miller knew he wanted to do something to help people. He started a platform called Helping Hands, leaning on the skills he acquired over the last decade while building two-sided marketplaces. Miller was the founding CEO of the peer-to-peer car-sharing platform Wheelz (now Turo). He also led business development for Uber's self-driving vehicle business unit.

It was at Uber where he met Helping Hands' founding CTO Pedram Keyani, an engineer known for running the company's hackathons and who, prior to Uber, had built and run multi-disciplinary technical teams at Google and Facebook. Together, these two men figured out how to combine their entrepreneurial hustle and ability to move and build quickly with their experience building and operating at scale, to launch their nonprofit.

"The purpose of Helping Hands is to slow the spread of COVID-19 through tech-enabled community volunteerism. It connects those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19  seniors citizens, people with pre-existing medical conditions or weakened immune systems  with community volunteers who can safely deliver critical items (like food medicine, or household goods) and provide various forms of assistance (like dog-walking, mail pick-ups or conversations)," he explained to Jessica Abo. "By facilitating these connections, we can help protect neighbors from contracting severe illness and each other from an overwhelmed healthcare system."

Miller says it has been incredible to see how many people have reached out and expressed interest in joining his community. "In just a few weeks, the core Helping Hands team has grown to more than 100 volunteers. It is a true multi-disciplinary team from around the world. Were also seeing an outpouring of support from local communities. Individuals from across the country have signed up to volunteer, and community members with acute needs are getting them met through the platform. Weve heard from dozens of other nonprofit and for-profit businesses across the U.S. and around the world who are interested in partnering with Helping Hands to supercharge their existing community efforts."

Helping Hands is available throughout the U.S. and works everywhere, as long as there are people raising their hands asking for help, and volunteers signed up willing to lend a hand. "As an organization, Helping Hands is supporting not only individuals directly, but partnering with a range of community organizations  city and county governments, mutual-aid organizations, churches, food banks, community groups  to help meet the needs of their constituents. Through collaboration were able to amplify the impact of our efforts," Miller says.

Miller wants people to know if there is somebody in your life whether it be a parent, a relative, a friend, or a neighbor, who could use an extra hand right now, you can go to www.helpinghands.community and request help on their behalf. "If they live across the country, and youre not able to help them directly, Helping Hands can be an especially great tool for you to ensure theyre taken care of," he says.

Miller, who lives in San Francisco, has placed, and had multiple requests filled, for his immunocompromised mother who lives in Arizona. "If youre healthy and able, sign up to be a volunteer. There is no doubt that people in your local community could you an extra set of hands right now," he added.

Miller says if you are part of an organization that currently works with or serves populations who might be vulnerable to COVID-19, and you think their tech platform and tools could help, you can email them at partners@helpinghands.community.

Related:

How a Group of Entrepreneurs and Volunteers Is Trying to Slow the Spread of COVID-19

3 Things I Learned About Sales by Volunteering for a Presidential Campaign

How the 'Change Generation' Is Motivating Businesses to Commit to Sustainability



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) and non banking financial lenders (NBFCs) are gearing up to resume full operations in the safer areas after the government lifted various restrictions. These non-bank lenders have asked their branches to reach out to the customers in need of loans and boost credit to MSMEs, The Economic Times reported. The government has extended the nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus till May 17.

The report also stated that a few NBFCs with headquarters located in red zones including Mumbai, Pune and Delhi are also seeking permission on special grounds from authorities to allow critical administrative and back-end staff to restart work.

On April 17, the government had for the first time allowed non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), housing finance companies (HFCs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to operate with bare minimum staff after coronavirus lockdown began. The cooperative credit societies were also allowed to operate.The NBFCs and MFIs had asked the government to also allow them to operate similar to banks. In the first phase of lockdown, the government only allowed banks to operate.

Meanwhile, the government on Friday announced an extension of nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus crisis for two more weeks beyond May 3. The government also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green and Orange Zones. The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxation in the districts falling in the Green and Orange Zones, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: 2,293 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, biggest jump after lockdown extension

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: Donald Trump hints at imposing new tariff on China for mishandling virus outbreak
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is closely monitoring the Indian banks' operations abroad in view of the risks that can emerge in a post coronavirus world.

Global economies are staring at a recession and a massive stimulus has created a turmoil in the debt market increasing the possibility of defaults and mark to market losses.

The RBI's concerns are justified as banks did face issues post the global financial crisis in 2008. In fact, the ICICI Bank had faced challenging times because of its exposure of $ 80 million in the failed Lehman Brothers through its UK subsidiary. The investment was part of its treasury operation. The private sector bank, which had global ambitions, has now scaled down its international operations substantially in the last decade.

In a meeting with the banks' CEOs in Mumbai, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das took a review of the banks' overseas business and the risks that would emerge because of slowdown in the economies abroad.

The banks generally offer credit through their branches, subsidiaries and rep offices. The other business areas are forex and derivatives, trade finance etc. The RBI's concerns are any treasury investments and the possible market to market losses.

But the current balance sheet size of Indian banks' overseas business, in terms of assets, is less than 10 per cent at Rs 15.50 lakh crore as on March 2019. The credit book is at Rs 7.89 lakh crore, while deposits are Rs 5.26 lakh crore.

Surprisingly, it is not the State Bank of India, which has the highest branches, but Bank of Baroda which leads with 38 overseas branches followed by SBI, Bank of India and ICICI Bank. For Indian banks, the US and the UK are the big markets. Many Indian banks have run overseas operation for decades as there are opportunities in trade finance. In fact, the global ambitions of India's corporate sector also offers these banks an opportunity to offer various banking products.

About a couple of decades ago, the Indian banks were very keen to expand abroad. The SBI under its chairman A K Purwar actually acquired couple of small banks in smaller geographies. But post 2008, the banks realised the high risk in operating abroad as they needed management bandwidth to operate and compete with global banks.

There is the famous story of former finance minister P Chidambaram asking the then SBI chief O P Bhatt to explore a takeover bid on Citibank during the 2008-09 period when marquee bank's share price had plunged to just one dollar. Bhatt didn't show much interest because of the lack of bandwidth to manage a global bank.

Also read: Coronavirus: RBI Governor praises banks for near normal operations in lockdown, reviews economic situation

Also read: RBI cancels licence of CKP Co-operative Bank; depositors to get up to Rs 5 lakh
New Delhi: As people struggle to stay indoors during this lockdown, our TV celebrities have come up with a song to cheer them up. Salaam Hai Tumko is a tribute to all those Coronavirus warriors who are risking their lives to save ours. It has been composed by Sayam  Mohit, sung by Ankit Tiwari.

Talking about the song, producer Santosh Gupta says, It was my initiative to come up with a song involving celebrities. Unity of the actors in hours of crisis and keeping everyone motivated is the need of the hour, he says.

Ankit says, Awareness is important. If we spread the message through songs and videos, people will grasp it better. When I heard the tune of Salaam Hai, I loved it. Sayam called me and told me about it. I loved the concept. The biggest problem was that I didnt have a home studio where I could sing. I didnt know how to dub without it. I thought let me try to record on the phone. But it was not possible to match tempo and sing. Thankfully, I got to know that someone in my society has a home set up. I told him I want to dub, thankfully he had a set up where I could sing. I went there and dubbed the song. I sent my files and that is how this song was dubbed. The song is great.

Actors such as Rashami Desai, Vaishali Takker, Sezal Sharma, Gaurav Bajaj, Balraj Syal, Farnaaz Shetty, Shafaq Naaz, Ankita Khare, Aanchal Khurana shot from their homes for the number.

Talking about being part of the number, Rashami says, I am happy that I am part of the song. I must say that in such a difficult situation also we are trying to spread the right message to people. I know people have made so many such songs. Now celebrities are also trying to encourage people to stay at home, take care of their health and wait for better days to come. Hopefully once the lockdown will open, we will come back with another song!
By Michelle Conlin, Lisa Baertlein and Christopher Walljasper

(Reuters) - Its pitch black in El Paso, Texas, when the minivans and pickups start lining up at 4 a.m., snaking for more than a mile down the desert roadway leading to the citys largest food bank.

When rations are finally distributed five hours later, many boxes are filled with too many castoff beefsteak tomatoes but no pasta. Nor is there any rice, beans or other dry or canned goods.

We really have no dry goods, said Bonnie Escobar, chief development officer of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger.

Food banks nationwide are squeezed between short supplies and surging demand from needy families as the coronavirus pandemic has put more than 26 million Americans out of work. In New York City, the mayor appointed a food czar as lines of masked people form outside overstretched charities. More than a third of the citys food banks have closed for lack of supplies, donations or volunteers, who are harder to recruit because of infection fears, according to the New York Mission Society. In San Diego, a local food bank waits on a $1 million order it placed weeks ago. Chicago and Houston food banks say they are nearly out of staples.

Before the pandemic, 1 in 7 Americans relied on food banks, according to Feeding America, a national network of the charities. Now, demand has doubled or tripled at many organizations, U.S. food bank operators told Reuters.

And yet farmers are destroying produce, dumping milk and culling livestock because the pandemic has upended supply chains, making it impossible for many to get crops to market. Grocery stores struggle to stock shelves because suppliers cant adjust to the sudden shift of demand away from shuttered restaurants to retailers, which requires different packaging and distribution networks.

The U.S. likely has a surplus of food right now, said Keith Dailey, group vice president of corporate affairs at Kroger Co, the No. 1 U.S. supermarket operator. Its just hard to recover and redistribute.

Story continues

Before the pandemic, Feeding America member organizations received about a third of their food from grocery store programs that rescue fresh food and dry goods that are imperfect or close to expiration. Almost a quarter came from government programs that provide meat, cheese and other products. The rest came through donations from farmers and grocers and purchases by the food banks.

Now those supply lines are disrupted. Panic-buying of groceries stripped store inventories of often-donated surplus items, causing grocers to shift to cash donations for food banks. Surging demand from needy families, along with higher prices on some products, is busting food banks cash budgets - one Nebraska food bank, for instance, will spend up to $1 million on food in April compared to about $70,000 in a normal month.

This is not an anomaly across the region, said Angie Grote, a spokeswoman for Omahas Food Bank for the Heartland, which serves communities in 93 counties in Nebraska and Western Iowa.

Many farmers would rather donate food than destroy it, but overwhelmed charities do not have the labor or storage to handle such bulk donations. Neither can the government act fast enough to fill the gap left by disruptions of other sources and the sudden spike in hunger.

The Trump administration faces mounting pressure from trade groups such as the National Pork Producers Council and the National Potato Council to buy more surplus foods and redirect them to charities or schools that continue to provide meals to low-income families after halting classes. That could include, for instance, between $750 million and $1.3 billion worth of potatoes and derivative products that are trapped in the pipeline, the potato council said.

But U.S. Agriculture Department regulations can pose problems in redirecting food from restaurants to charities. The USDA has strict specifications on products that can be purchased for food banks, allowing only certain cuts of meat that are packaged in certain size boxes, said Dallas Hockman, vice president of industry relations for the National Pork Producers Council.

The pork trade group requested that the USDA ease such rules to speed the flow of food to needy families, Hockman said. It normally takes one to three months for the USDA to receive food after a company wins a government contract to provide it for distribution to charities.

Meanwhile, bulk packages of ham and bacon that would normally go to restaurants are sitting in cold storage.

"What we're saying is, for right now, go buy this stuff, get it out of the pipeline and get it to these food banks," Hockman said.

The agency did not directly answer questions from Reuters about the concerns that it moved too slowly to address the food bank crisis or suggestions that it relax regulations. The agency repeated a pledge it made in a news conference on April 17 to spend $3 billion in food purchases for its newly announced Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, with monthly $300 million purchases through February 2021. In a call with food distributors Thursday, USDA representatives said the new program could deliver food more quickly than usual and that it expected to begin deliveries to charities by mid-May.

FEAST, THEN FAMINE

Less than a year ago, food banks were overwhelmed by a glut of food from the USDA. The administrations Trade Mitigation program bought billions of dollars in food from U.S. growers who saw their export markets - especially China - cut off in the tariff war started by President Donald Trump in 2018.

The excess prompted the Greater Chicago Food Depository to build extra cold storage for milk and meat. Today, that storage has been emptied, and food banks are scrambling to buy increasingly scarce and expensive staples, such as canned fruit or peanut butter.

Some items are no longer available or require two-month waits for delivery, said Greg Trotter, a spokesman for the Chicago food bank. Food manufacturers have struggled to keep up with demand from grocery consumers, he said, and are therefore selling less food directly to food banks.

As supplies tighten, demand soars. The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank saw the number of people it fed jump from 350,000 to 600,000 in a month, said CEO James A. Floros. A similar demand spike hit Fresno's Central California Food Bank, in the heart of the state's Central Valley - which supplies a quarter of the nation's food, including tomatoes, vegetables, nuts, tree fruits and table grapes.

Restaurant closures were a double hit - putting furloughed workers in the food line and reducing donations from grocers whose shelves were picked clean.

The states food-service distributors have scrambled to empty warehouses of bulk products like 50-lb bags of carrots or 21-lb grape bunches that had been destined for restaurants, airlines or cruise ships. Many would donate them, but food banks cant handle the packages.

"We don't have the ability to unpack it and repack it in family size," said Kym Dildine, the Central California Food Banks chief administrative officer.

Neither do the charities have the storage, trucks, labor or processing facilities needed to accept and distribute large donations of produce from farmers. When one local farmer recently offered a million heads of lettuce, Dildine could only take a small portion.

Monica White, CEO of Food Share of Ventura County, said the organization has had similar difficulties accepting bulk produce.

Its like asking Tesla to start building gas cars, she said.

About 300 miles away, in Holtville, California, farmer Jack Vessey had to destroy a crop of fresh-cut romaine lettuce after failing to find a charity to take it.

TAKING ACTION

Jon Samson, an executive director at the American Trucking Association, has been frustrated with the juxtaposition of news images of long food-bank lines with those of farmers destroying food. Over Easter weekend he started pulling together a list of food-industry representatives he believed could get perishable foods to the needy.

The working group of about 80 members includes representatives of trade groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Restaurant Association, charities including Feeding America and distribution experts such as the American Logistics Aid Network, or ALAN.

ALAN has already coordinated an International Paper Co donation of about 45,000 empty boxes to Salvation Army food distribution centers in several states. Samson's group is considering other efforts including breaking down bulk food packages and freezing or canning goods from food factories.

We've got the product, we've got the truck and warehouse capacity, and we've got the consumer, Samson said. The problem is linking all of that together."

Food banks are scrambling to adjust, too. Operators in seven cities are borrowing refrigerated trailers from food-service distributor Sysco. In California, Ventura Countys food bank and local partners are bottling orange juice that would have been dumped.

The San Diego food bank ordered a $500,000 machine to repackage bulk supplies of staples like beans and rice into individual family packs.

Should COVID-19 come back later in the year, said Floros, well be ready for it.

(Reporting by Michelle Conlin, Lisa Baertlein and Christopher Walljasper; Additional reporting by Tom Polansek, Karl Plume and P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Brian Thevenot)
A leading Chinese virologist from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), whose mysterious disappearance sparked speculation about the deadly novel coronavirus emanating from the laboratory, has denied reports of her defection to West with the secrets about the COVID-19.

Shi Zhengli, known as the Bat Woman for her passionate research about bats and the viruses associated with them, refuted rumours of her defection on her Chinese social media WeChat account, the state-run media here reported on Saturday.

Denying "rumours" of "defecting to the West", Shi on her WeChat account wrote, "Everything is alright for my family and me, dear friends!" She also posted nine photos of her recent life, the Global Times reported.

In the post, Shi, reported to be the Director of the WIV, said, "No matter how difficult, it (defecting) shall never happen. We've done nothing wrong. With strong belief in science, we will see the day when the clouds disperse and the sun shines."



"Shi has been troubled by rumours for quite a long time. The recent rumour which has been circulating on overseas social media platforms said that 'Shi Zhengli director at #Wuhan Institute of Virology has defected with a treasure trove of intelligence to the US embassy in Paris," the report said but gave no details of her whereabouts.

Her social media postings reported by the official media here comes in the immediate backdrop of increasing focus on the WIV with allegations by US President Donald Trump as well as suspicions raised by several other world leaders that the COVID-19, which has caused massive death and devastation globally, may have originated from the lab.

There were also questions about her absence since December last year when the virus began spreading in Wuhan and then the rest of China and the world.

While some reports said, she was muzzled by the Chinese government after she unlocked the genome sequence of the coronavirus on January 2, others said she may have been defected to the West.

The Global Times report said it is not the first time that Shi responded to the rumours on her WeChat account.

On February 2, she said on her WeChat Moment that, "the 2019 novel coronavirus is a punishment by nature to humans' unsanitary lifestyles. I promise with my life that the virus has nothing to do with the lab," in a response to an article by Indian scientists implying the novel coronavirus possibly originated from the WIV, the report said.

China is resisting mounting pressure from the US and the leaders of many countries for an inquiry into the origin of the virus, which was initially stated to have emerged from a wet market in Wuhan selling live animals located close to WIV.

On April 29, state television CGTN reported that US scientists are working with their Chinese counterparts to investigate the origin of the coronavirus, a prime demand of Trump and several other countries.

The report said China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is facilitating the cooperation between Dr E N Lipkin, Director for Centre for Infection and Immunity of Columbia University, and Prof Lu Jinhai of Sun-Yat-Sen University of Guangzhou to conduct the probe.

The two are working together to determine whether the virus emerged elsewhere in China before Wuhan in December last year, the report said. But since then there is no official announcement on the probe.

Brushing aside calls for an inquiry, China on Monday said such a probe has no precedence or legal basis besides investigations into such pandemics in the past had not provided any conclusive results.

Besides Trump, who stepped up demand for an investigation into the origin of the virus and whether it escaped from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Britain, Australia and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for more transparency from Beijing on COVID-19 origins.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday played down the calls for the probe, saying the investigations in the past on such viruses achieved little.

The origin of the virus is a matter of science and should be studied by scientists and professionals. Such research and conclusive answers can only be drawn after getting mutually reinforcing evidence on epidemiological study and virology studies. It is a very complicated issue often it takes a lot of time and there is a degree of uncertainty," he said.

He said that "politicising" the issue of the origin of the virus goes against the spirit of science. "It disrupts international cooperation and mutual trust and will not help with global cooperation to fight the virus," Geng said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Men withdraw money from a ATM at a branch of Vietcombank in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham.

Commercial banks Q1 statements show a spike in debts overdue by 10-90 days as coronavirus impacts squeeze businesses cash flow.

At Vietcombank, the countrys biggest state-owned lender by market capitalization, the debt almost doubled from the beginning of the year, while it rose 65 percent at the Military Commercial Bank (MB), a mid-sized state-owned lender.

Some smaller private banks also reported higher increases in overdue debt. For instance, PGBank reported that its overdue debt more than tripled over the last three months, while Sacombank, a blue chip on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, said overdue debts rose 80 percent in this period.

Debt overdue by between 10 and 90 days, formally known as "debt requiring attention", are not classified as non-performing loans on banks books, but prevents them from recording accrued interest as income until it is paid, causing profits to fall.

The sudden surge in overdue debt also indicates many borrowers are unable to pay on time as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and these loans are one step closer to becoming bad debt, banks said.

Bad and doubtful debt has also risen at many banks, according the financial statements of major lenders like Vietcombank, VietinBank and ACB to small-sized banks like PGBank and Kienlongbank, according to financial statements.

Vietinbank, a major state-owned lender, saw its doubtful debt soar five-fold in the first three months from VND2.06 trillion ($87.76 million) to VND9.7 trillion ($413.23 million), which raised its internal non-performing-loan (NPL) ratio from 1.16 percent to 1.83 percent.

At the Military Commercial Bank, doubtful debt rose 90 percent, with bad debts rising 47 percent since the end of last year, bringing the state-owned banks internal NPL ratio from 1.16 percent to 1.62 percent. These two lenders saw the biggest NPL increases in the banking sector.

Although Vietcombank and ACB have NPL ratios below the industry average, they also reported rising bad and doubtful debt over the same period.

Rising NPL ratios force banks to set aside more cash as credit risk reserves, affecting their bottom line. In the first quarter, the Military Commercial Banks provision for credit risk surged nearly 120 percent, that of private TPBank rose 110 percent, and Vietcombank, nearly 40 percent.

Under current regulations, banks are allowed to retain the classification of debts and restructure those deemed affected by Covid-19.

According to a credit risk manager with a state-owned bank that did not wish to be named, restructuring or extending loans could save businesses in temporary difficulties for one or two terms.

"But for businesses with poor resilience and adaptability, debt extensions only serve to delay their deaths, as the market has basically changed compared to before the epidemic," he added.

The State Bank of Vietnam's latest report said Covid-19 is expected to affect the quality of VND2 quadrillion ($85.2 billion) worth of debt issued by Vietnamese banks, accounting for 23 percent of the banking systems outstanding debt.

This, along with rising bad debts across the whole banking sector by the end of this year, would put a strain on the performance of the sector and make it harder for weaker banks to recover, the central bank said.

Last year, the banking sectors internal NPL ratio, which excludes debts sold to state-owned debt collecting agency VAMC, was 1.89 percent, in line with the SBVs target of 2 percent.
MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  Muskegon County closed out the week with another steady increase in confirmed cases of the coronavirus, after health officials reported 13 new cases Saturday.

The number of positive cases now stands at 301 in Muskegon County, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The death toll remains at 17 with no new deaths reported Saturday.

Of all the tests conducted in Muskegon County, 14.7 percent of them have come back positive for the virus.

The peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Muskegon County is expected around mid-May, Muskegon County Public Health Officer Kathy Moore previously told MLive.

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Black residents make up about 38 percent of coronavirus cases in Muskegon County, according to data provided by the county health department.

Residents ages 50-59 have been impacted the most by COVID-19, making up about one-fourth of cases countywide. The number of cases among residents ages 20-29 has risen in recent weeks, currently making up about 18 percent of cases countywide.

Older residents have not been hit as hard as county health officials anticipated they would be. About 7 percent of coronavirus cases in Muskegon County are residents over the age of 80.

However, seniors make up the majority of deaths in the county, with about half of the 17 reported deaths being residents over the age of 80.

Fifty percent of all cases countywide are distributed equally among the cities of Muskegon and Muskegon Heights, according to the most recent data posted by county health officials.

Norton Shores has the third highest case count, with 16 percent of the countys cases.

Statewide, there were 851 new positive cases of COVID-19 reported Saturday, bringing the total to 43,207 in Michigan.

Total deaths surpassed 4,000 after health officials reported 154 new deaths with the virus, according to MDHHS.

In Kent County, health officials reported 97 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the countywide total to 1,697. The number of deaths remained 36.

Ottawa County reported seven new cases of the virus, raising the total to 261. One new death was reported, increasing the death tally to 12.

Oceana County cases jumped up by three, bringing the total to 14. There has been one death with COVID-19 in the county.

Newaygo County reported two new cases Saturday, where the total number now stands at 26. There have been no deaths countywide.

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

More on MLive:

Coronavirus cases maintain steady rise in Kent, Ottawa counties

Kalamazoo County sees another big jump in coronavirus cases, but no new deaths

Michigan coronavirus deaths now exceed 4,000

Coronavirus deaths increase by 7 in Saginaw, Genesee counties
Trump Claims Former National-Security Adviser Flynn 'Exonerated'

By RFE/RL May 01, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a fresh wave of criticism against U.S. law enforcement agents as lawyers for his former national-security adviser, Michael Flynn, disclosed internal FBI documents in their attempt to have Flynn's criminal conviction overturned.

Flynn was among the first individuals swept up in the U.S. investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump election campaign team in 2016.

He was fired by Trump in February 2017, having served as national-security adviser for only 24 days, after it emerged that he'd lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty on charges of lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

But Trump says the FBI documents disclosed by Flynn's lawyers have led him to believe that Flynn should be cleared in court.

If that doesn't happen, Trump suggested he could use his presidential powers to pardon Flynn.

"It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see," Trump told reporters in Washington on April 30. "I'm not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don't know that anybody would have to use that power. I think he's exonerated."

Trump has long said he is considering a presidential pardon for Flynn.

On April 29-30, Trump retweeted a series of supportive statements about Flynn and condemned the FBI's investigation of his former adviser.

"What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again," Trump tweeted.

Pence said on April 30 that he was now "inclined to believe" that the false statements Flynn had made to him were "unintentional."

Flynn's lawyers on April 30 accused the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department of misconduct during their investigation.

The lawyers cited newly unsealed documents that they claim show the FBI tried to "intentionally frame" Flynn during their investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

With reporting by The New York Times, Bloomberg Business News, Politico, AP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-claims -former-national-security-adviser- flynn-exonerated-/30587251.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Australia Labor Minister Warns About Potential for Second Virus Wave

While Australians may be looking forward to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, Labor says there are still concerns about a second wave of the virus in the community.

Australias handling of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, is at a critical stage as some states start to ease restrictions and the national cabinet prepares to consider lifting some broader measures next week.

While this will be a relief to many Australians after weeks of isolation, a federal opposition frontbencher believes people are equally concerned about a second wave of a virus that other countries thought they had under control.

I think everyone has really taken very seriously the experience of Singapore, which was, of course, lauded as a great example of how to manage the pandemic, and of course they have been struck by a very significant second wave, Labors Andrew Giles told ABC television on Saturday. And I think this is something that I am sure is on the minds of all the chief medical officers and everyone who sits around the national cabinet table.

He said it would be equally as distressing for Australians if any easing of restrictions had to be reversed.

COVID Safe App

More than 3.5 million Australians have registered for the COVID-Safe app, which uses Bluetooth connections to determine who infected people came into close contact with.

Certainly the national cabinet has made clear that we have that tracing capability, Liberal backbencher Trent Zimmerman told ABC television. Incredibly in just a week 3.5 million Australians have downloaded the app but we need to see several million more.

However, he said it is too early to say what restrictions might be lifted.

The national cabinet will meet on Tuesday and Friday next week.

Giles said it has been really striking how Australians have responded to the crisis.

Australias Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos agreed, saying the Trump administration is impressed with how his home country has handled the coronavirus.

I think they are impressed at the fact that we started to close borders early, the fact that we took early action on social distancing and lockdowns and all the rest of it, Sinodinos told Sky News. I think they feel that as a country we have got it together and I think its impressed them a lot.

Just under 6,800 virus cases have been reported across the country, with the death toll standing at 93extremely low by international standards.

Colin Brinsden and Matt Coughlan.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 02:16:38|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on March 29, 2020 shows the Red Sea Project site on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. The Red Sea Project, one of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious tourism projects, has recently identified the location of its overwater villas and hotels, the Red Sea Development Company said in a press release on May 1, 2020. (The Red Sea Development Company/Handout via Xinhua)

RIYADH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The Red Sea Project, one of Saudi Arabia's most ambitious tourism projects, has recently identified the location of its overwater villas and hotels, the Red Sea Development Company said in a press release on Friday.

The company, developer behind the luxury tourism project, revealed recently the positioning of its overwater assets, including villas, restaurants and hotel arrival points for two hyper-luxury hotels and one luxury hotel on Sheybarah South and Ummahat Al-Shaykh islands on the kingdom's west coast.

"The marking of locations for our overwater assets is another milestone for the project, and is indicative of the progress being made at the site," said John Pagano, CEO of the Red Sea Development Company.

"The identification of suitable locations will allow our hotels and other assets to coexist in harmony with their surroundings" without damage to coral reefs, Pagano added.

The Red Sea Project will open to its first guests at the end of 2022. The entire project is set to be completed by 2030 when 22 islands and six inland sites will be developed with a capacity of 8,000 hotel rooms.

The Red Sea Project is one of three giga-projects announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in 2017, in a bid to open new areas of economic activity in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030, the blueprint for diversifying Saudi economy.
With spring break in full swing, Sophia Basile was looking forward to returning to school and seeing her friends, but the coronavirus pandemic caused her university to close for the rest of the semester midway through break.

Now, seven weeks later, shes isolating in her dads house and taking online classes.

I look outside and what the situation has come down to is a tiny virus, that started all the way in Wuhan, is now over here and controlling everything we do, and it sucks, said Basile, a sophomore law student at Suffolk University in Boston.

I feel like my education is being stripped away from me.

College students are one of the large groups affected by stay-at-home orders put in effect to protect people from the coronavirus. Entangled Solutions, a California-based education consultancy, reports that 4,234 higher education institutions and 25.8 million college students have been impacted by the pandemic.

The first impacts Basile felt were on March 10, when the university announced it was moving to virtual learning for the remainder of the semester.

Basile had to move off campus until further notice. Her hopes for going back to school after spring break were crushed.

For us to go from being in school every day, going to work, having a social life, to being locked in our houses, living in fear, not knowing when we will be able to go outside again and seeing people with masks and gloves on is scary and takes a huge physical and mental toll, Basile said.

While she misses her former life, she believes learning from home may be for the better  at least for now.

I have a mother who is very high risk, and if she gets the virus, the chances of her surviving are slim to none, said Basile. So, if its between going back to campus and (having) the possibility Ill get the virus, and staying home and doing online classes with a lower risk, I would much rather stay at home and practice social distancing.

Still, Basile said she does not want the fall semester to be done online, even though she knows shell obsess about the cleanliness of her desk and the hygiene of her classmates on return to campus.

I want to be able to go to college and I want to be able to see my friends, but at the same time theres no way we can be reassured that every square inch of the school is disinfected or everyone is healthy, she said.

I feel like were never going to be able to go back to the way things were before.

Attending classes in the closet

Professors are also adjusting to virtual learning and planning for the future. Salvador Bondoc, chairman of Quinnipiacs occupational therapy program, said he and his colleagues are doing their best to give students the value theyd receive on site.

Normally, students in clinical programs work hands on with patients and professionals. Now, students use videotaped therapy sessions for simulated patient observation and use a Quinnipiac-designed virtual experience to accomplish other competencies.

Absent the clinical setting, Boldoc said students are able to practice exercises with their families. It can be a rewarding experience for the families to see what their children are studying, he said.

Boldoc said there has been mostly positive reception to online learning in the OT department, but he knows its difficult for students to adjust.

He said in families with little space in their house and a bunch of commotion, for example, some students are attending classes in their closets.

Its very inconvenient for some students, and theyre struggling with finding balance, Boldoc said.

Boldoc said being empathetic and understanding is important.

Its not just about teaching, right? said Boldoc. Its also about being student-centered and understanding what theyre going through and then helping them manage that. They have multiple lives, right? Not just academic lives, their social lives, and whats happening in their own home. So [we need to] be able to respond to their needs and be flexible.

While Boldoc and his colleagues are working their hardest to make online learning succeed, hes concerned about the volume of preparation that needs to be done for classes in the fall.

We start classes, I think, Aug. 24 in the fall, and contracts begin Aug. 11 or something like that, said Boldoc. Im not sure if two weeks would would be enough for us to turn things around as rapidly as we did (in the spring) on a high-quality, highly efficient level. And, of course, the clinical piece we can only simulate so much. How are we going to do that?

In an email sent to faculty and staff Tuesday, Quinnipiac President Judy Olian said our strong preference is to complete the full 2020-21 academic year on campus, although she acknowledged several issues need to be resolved first.

To that end, Olian announced four multidisciplinary planning groups that will examine short- and long-term options related to public health, academics and operations, from business as usual to worst-case scenarios.

Our goal is to return Quinnipiac to a focus on advancing the university of the future, with the benefit of lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis, Olian said.

Bryan Proctor is a student at Quinnipiac University.
Three more cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Hale County including the countys first confirmed case in an individual 20 years old or younger.

That individual is a female and the other two newly confirmed cases are men between the ages of 21 and 40 years old. All three are currently in isolation at home and the location of transmission is undetermined. These cases bring the countys case count up to 29 since the first case of coronavirus was reported in Hale County on March 24.

According to the daily snapshot report released by the City of Plainview Saturday morning, all three cases are Plainview residents. The total number of confirmed cases in Plainview as of 5 p.m. Friday was 19 with 12 reported recoveries.

Hale Center also had seven confirmed cases, two recoveries and two deaths. Edmonson had one confirmed case and one recovery. Petersburg had two confirmed cases and two deaths. No cases have been reported in Cotton Center and Abernathy.

The total number of people getting tested for COVID-19 continues to grow. According to the report, which reflects data reported to the Plainview/Hale County Health Department from across the county, 282 tests had been conducted within the county by Friday afternoon with 236 of those tests returning negative results. Twenty-nine test results were still pending.

Of the 29 confirmed cases, 10 cases have been detected in the 21-40 age group and the 41-60 age group, eight in the 61 years or older age group and one in the 20 years old or younger age group. Fifteen of these cases have been a result of local transmission, nine were transmitted outside the county and the location of transmission for five of the cases is undetermined. Investigations are underway to try to determine where those five individuals contracted the virus.

The latest numbers also show 16 of the confirmed cases have been in men and 13 in women.

Of the 10 cases that remain active, eight are in isolation at home and two are in a medical facility. Thirty people remain under monitoring.

The two individuals in a medical facility include a man between the ages of 41 and 60 years old and a woman who is 61 years old or older.

Recovered individuals include: three men and four women between 21 and 40 years old; two women and four men between 41 to 60 years old; two men 60 years or older.

As businesses slowly start the process of reopening, local government and health officials continue to encourage citizens to take precautions. Wash your hands and practice social distancing. Those experiencing what they believe are COVID-19 symptoms  shortness of breath, fever and coughing  are encouraged to call a doctor.

Residents are also encouraged to stay home and wear facial coverings when out in public. During an address to Hale Center residents earlier this week, Jack McCasland, environmental health inspector for the Health Department, mentioned the masks dont necessarily prevent you from catching the virus. They prevent you from spreading it. He noted that several people are asymptomatic and may not be aware they even have the virus.

Those interested in learning additional information can call the McCasland at the Health Department at (806)293-1359 or visit www.plainviewtx.org/COVID19. The citys COVID-19 resource page has links to the latest virus information, links to directions for how to make facial covers and other information.
Its a new month! May brings a fresh start for investors. After a flash market crash, the market has rallied about 28% in the last couple of months. However, there are still many depressed dividend stocks that deserve your attention.

Here are three top dividend stocks that you can consider buying in May. Theyre still cheap and offer a very nice income.

Top dividend stock: BNS stock

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) stock is a top dividend stock to buy in May. It has built its business around six core geographic regions: Canada, the U.S., and the Pacific Alliance countries: Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Colombia.

Over the long term, these exposures should give it a good mix of stability and growth. Interestingly, this year, both Canada and the U.S. are set to underperform the worlds GDP growth.

However, investors can depend on BNS stocks dividend. In the last 12 years, the banks payout ratio has never strayed far away from 50%. This gives the international bank a sufficient buffer to protect its dividend.

Even when the banks fiscal 2020 earnings are expected to fall marginally, its not going to be a threat to BNS stocks dividend safety.

At writing, the stock trades at just under $58 per share. This is about 8.5 times this years earnings and a discount of 27% from its normal valuation. Its a bargain and provides a juicy yield of 6.2%, which should appeal to value and income investors.

Another awesome top dividend stock

Brookfield Infrastructure (TSX:BIP.UN)(NYSE:BIP) is another awesome top dividend stock to own. Its a global infrastructure owner, operator, and investor.

This means BIP has tonnes of flexibility to invest in the best risk-adjusted infrastructure investments at another time. It can choose to invest in the geographies and sectors that most lack capital and get great deals from it.

Importantly, infrastructure assets tend to be long-life cash cows. Therefore, BIP generates substantial cash flow from its diversified portfolio across four key sectors: utilities, transport, energy, and data infrastructure.

Story continues

Since its inception in 2008, the quality dividend stock has roughly doubled the returns of the market and utility industry. I believe it will continue to outperform due to its top-notch management, operational expertise, and geography and diversity advantage.

The stock offers a decent yield of about 4.8%. Notably, it recently spun off the corporation version (ticker BIPC). However, currently, the BIPC shares are not as liquid as the limited partnership units. Therefore, TFSA/RRSP investors should consider buying the BIP version instead.

However, if you plan to buy the shares in a taxable account, consider the BIPC shares to get a tax advantage on the dividends.

A high-yield REIT to buy in May

Income investors should highly consider hard-hit H&R REIT (TSX:HR.UN) as a top dividend stock. About 67% of the diversified real estate investment trusts (REIT) rental income actually comes from resilient office, multi-residential, and industrial assets  not from retail assets.

Thus, a large portion of H&R REITs rental income is still intact. The bear has overdone it by dragging the stock down to about $10 per unit. The high-income stock is essentially half price and on sale!

The REIT offers a yield of 13.4% at writing, because the stock is down from the COVID-19 situation thats beyond managements control.

Receiving lower rental income, H&R REIT might cut the cash distribution by 30-50%. That would lead to an effective yield of 6.7-9.4% based on its quotation of $10.30 per unit at writing.

In the event of a dividend cut, I trust that management will restore the dividend to previous levels when the economy turns around.

Investors should focus on the effective yield of the stock, which would still be very high. As well, focus on the resilience of most of H&R REITs quality and diversified portfolio.

The post 3 Top Dividend Stocks to Buy in May 2020 appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Kay Ng owns shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Corp., Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, H&R REAL ESTATE INV TRUST, and The Bank of Nova Scotia. The Motley Fool recommends BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, BROOKFIELD INFRA PARTNERS LP UNITS, and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

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
A CHARITY based in Stratford has highlighted the pressures faced by frontline workers, with acute requests for its mental health support almost doubling.

Charity set up in the memory of Laura Hyde.

The Laura Hyde Foundation was set up by Liam Barnes in honour of his niece, a Royal Navy nurse in intensive care and A&E departments across the south-west.

Liam said: In 2016, aged just 27, Laura took her own life due to mental health issues. As a family, we wanted to ensure that no one else should suffer in the way that Laura did so established the Laura Hyde Foundation in 2018 in her memory and to deliver bespoke and relevant mental health support for our emergency services.

Shockingly, when I did my research at the outset, there was no single organisation who provided what we do.

Since the end of February, the charity has seen a 62 per cent rise in overall requests and an 88 per cent rise in what it classes as acute requests.

Mr Barnes added: We offer an immediate first line support for people who require it. If further work is needed, we may move this on to an affiliated and clinically-qualified partner.

The word unprecedented has been used a lot over the past weeks and whilst Covid-19 has brought change and different risks to our front line, the fact is that it is still business as usual for our frontline staff in exposing themselves to traumatic situations.

Mr Barnes, from Stratford, is chair of trustees and, like his two fellow trustees, juggles the work of the foundation with a day job, supported by a team of volunteers.

The foundation has three main aims:

Raise awareness of the mental health challenges facing those who work in the emergency and medical services;

Remove the stigma surrounding mental health within the sector and open up the conversation; and

Instigate improvement and changes to the mental health support systems in place.

He said: In light of Covid-19, we have many frontline staff reaching breaking point both physically and mentally. Its not just having to make difficult decisions that result in life or death, but anxiety relating to infecting themselves with the virus  but worse still, passing it on to their loved ones.

Many people have moved away from the family home to reduce the risk of this happening. Some have moved their family away from the family home. Some havent got these luxuries so have to try and enforce segregation within their home.

Think of the situation where your children are crying, yet you cannot hug them to make it better because of the fear of infection. This introduces huge psychological trauma and this is where mental health issues will manifest and grow.

The foundation has set up an NHS-backed helpline and text service for frontline staff.

Mr Barnes added: As a charity we have also supported and overseen the significant distribution of care packages using the donations of some very generous companies across our UK network  these are seen as morale-boosters. However, what it also does is give us a chance to get a number of our helpline posters and guidance out to hospitals who may have never seen it.

Mr Barnes said there was much more to be done  and Herald readers could play a part: The priority message for me to get across is that if you have family and friends working on the frontline emergency services, check in on them and be there for them, even when Covid-19 has passed.

If they are noticeably anxious, stressed or are in danger for their own mental health, dont hesitate to intervene and direct them to us or our resources. If you are in the unfortunate situation of having to visit a hospital, realise that there is a human on the other side and just be kind.

If there are emergency services readers who want to volunteer or be one of our charity champions, get in touch and we will give them all the support they need to bring change into their respective workplace.

To find out more, check out the website at https://laurahydefoundation.org or find the charity on social media.
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday (May 2, 2020) arrested an absconding accused Manoj Choudhary from Hooghly in West Bengal. Several incriminating documents including immovable properties related transactions have been seized from his possession.

The accused from the Giridih District in Jharkhand was produced before NIA Special Court in Ranchi and has been taken on police remand for five days.

The case pertains to the seizure of a huge cache of arms and ammunition at Akbakitand village in Giridih District leading to the arrest of 15 operatives of CPI (Maoists) including SAC member Sunil Manjhi. A case was registered at Dumri Police Station in Giridih District.

During further investigation, more numbers of arms and ammunition and a huge quantity of explosives were recovered from Lugu Pahad in Bokaro District.

Subsequently, NIA submitted two charge-sheets against a total of 17 accused persons including accused Manoj Chaudhary.

The investigation had revealed that Manoj has been an active member of the banned terrorist outfit CPI (Maoist) and he was instrumental in the investment of terrorism extortion and levy amount collected by senior Maoists cadres into real estate. He had been in contact with the senior CPI (Maoist) cadres since 2008 and had been channelizing their ill-gotten wealth into the acquisition of immovable properties at prime locations in Giridih district of Jharkhand.

He had been continuously evading arrest for more than 3 years.

Further investigation in the case continues.


Irrfan Khan, the supremely talented actor bid goodbye to this world on April 29, 2020. The entire Indian film industry has been mourning the death of the Angrezi Medium actor from the past few days. Along with the industry members, renowned author Paulo Coelho paid tribute to Irrfan Khan recently through a Twitter post.

Paulo Coelho took to his official page and remembered the talented actor by posting his picture, and paid tribute to him with a Bhagavad Gita quote. 'A star joins other stars in the sky. Thank you for everything, Irrfan Khan. "Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable." - Bhagavad Gita', wrote Coelho in his post.

A star joins other stars in the sky. Thank you for everything, Irrfan Khan



Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable.

 Bhagavad Gita pic.twitter.com/WKaOlgf4bi  Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) April 30, 2020

As per reports, the popular writer is an ardent fan of Irrfan Khan and has watched most of his popular films. Like all his fans around the world, Irrfan's death has deeply saddened Paulo Coelho, too.

Paulo Coelho is also a fan of another Bollywood actor, superstar Shah Rukh Khan. SRK also paid tribute to Irrfan Khan, saying, "My friend...inspiration & the greatest actor of our times. Allah bless your soul Irrfan bhai...will miss you as much as cherish the fact that you were part of our lives. "   ,        ,     " Love u".
The next day, King Gon requested Tae-eul to dress up like one of his guards and accompany him with his activities for the day. Tae-eul agreed and followed Captain Jo the whole time while she witnessed King Gon's routine and served the Kingdom of Corea.

King Gon advises Captain Jo to give Tae-eul the free time to go around Corea while he's going to be in another place for an event. Tae-eul went around Corea and visited places that reminded her of her family and friends. Captain Jo follows her tracks without her knowledge. Tae-eul took the train and went as far as Seoul looking for her parent's place.

The Republic of Korea

Lee Rim traced one lady that existed in the Kingdom of Corea. She is the spouse of a prominent businessman and a friend of the Prime Minister. In Korea, she lives a miserable life. Lee Rim persuades her to live a good life in another place and give her daughter a good future. In both worlds, Mrs. Park is pregnant and is soon to deliver. There is a hidden agenda for Lee Rim that he gives the lady a phone and advises her to wait for his call at the right time.

Shin Jae is patiently waiting for Tae-eul by checking his phone for any messages. One of his past times is to revisit his old home when his family was still rich and did not suffer bankruptcy.

The Kingdom of Corea

Tae-eul wishes to return to Busan but her money is not enough. She called the Royal guard hotline 17 times in her attempt to talk to King Gon. The information reached King Gon's private pilot and shared with him about a lady named Princess Diana who looks for him. The pilot mentioned that the lady is in Seoul station. King Gon advised the pilot to reverse back and land the helicopter in Seoul near Tae-Eul's location. He requested Captain Jo to monitor Tae-Eul's activity and expect his arrival.

At the center of Seoul, the helicopter landed in one of the big hotels. Captain Jo brought Tae-eul to the place and let her wait for a few minutes. The place guards secured the place which gave a surprise to Tae-eul's confused look. King Gon arrived and stepped out of the building walking towards Tae-eul. He got worried and asked her about her activities. Tae-eul shared with King Gon that she tries to locate her mother who left her at a young age. King Gon advises her to let him know so he can help. Captain Jo tried to signal King Gon but it was too late already.

Prime Minister Koo arrived to meet King Gon in his unexpected visit to Seoul. King Gon was not prepared to let Prime Minister Koo see Tae-eul. It was unprecedented and he wanted to protect Tae-eul and their relationship. The Prime Minister greeted Tae-eul and reached out to gesture a handshake with her.
WIA Future of Amateur Radio program Adrian VK4APM, Vice President of Australia's national amateur radio society WIA, reports on the "fantastic" response to the WIA Future of Amateur Radio program



WIA News says:



Howdy,

It's Aidan, VK4APM here, Vice President WIA.



Thank you to all who have participated in the WIA Future of Amateur Radio program. The response has been fantastic - but - like everything, there is always room for improvement.



One question that has been recently asked of me by a member of our community is "What is the point of having these polls ?".



My first thoughts when this question was posed was, at best, flippant, and at worst, plainly objectionable, so, having discarded these thoughts as quickly as they appeared I pondered a slightly deeper question.

"Why is it that someone would ask such a question ?"



In conversation with the person involved, and other members of the community, it became apparent that at the core of the matter was a lack of understanding about how the WIA and the ACMA operate.



One of the WIA's roles, and the one that is relevant to this discussion, is to represent our membership, and the broader community of Amateur operators both locally and globally.



The Wireless Institute of Australia is the only Australian representative organisation recognised by the International Amateur Radio Union, but it is not our global representation that I wish to discuss, it is our local representation.



The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have, for some time, been working through priorities that have been identified as part of the Five Year Spectrum Outlook or FYSO. This process touches many parts of radio communications regulation in Australia, including Amateur Radio.



Detail regarding the FYSO program, its calendar, and objectives can be found on the ACMA website. If you have a moment to read it, it provides valuable information on the future of radiocommunications regulation in Australia.

( https://acma.gov.au/five-year-spectrum-outlook )



ACMA is an "Evidence Based Regulator". As stated in their 2019 Performance Assessment, this means that they



 "Expand our evidence base to inform improvements and reforms"; and

 "Apply evidence and regulatory analysis to maintain a

fit-for-purpose" regulatory framework.



One of the techniques that is used by the ACMA (and used very successfully in the commercial environment) is that of public consultation papers.



The ACMA captures the public feedback from these papers and uses it ONE COMPONENT of the pool of evidence that informs their decisions.



There is one challenge with this, the consultation papers range in complexity from relatively simple documents to ones that are incredibly complicated. With far flung views on every issue.



Personally, I believe that we, as a community, make it incredibly difficult for the ACMA to make decisions because we don't present a consolidated perspective, and this is where the WIA Future of Amateur Radio program comes in.



The vision for the Future of Amateur Radio program is to:



 provide a mechanism for "translating" the (sometimes) complex consultation papers into a handful of salient points for consideration by our membership and the broader community; and



 provide a mechanism for collecting and consolidating the views of almost 15,000 stakeholders and presenting these views to the ACMA in a digestible form.



 ensure that the WIA's nominated representive's views are aligned with those of the membership and our broader community of operators.



This program is NOT about the WIA, nor is it about the ACMA.

The WIA is a facilitator, the ACMA a regulator..



Ultimately, this is all about you and your service.



To those who have subscribed and participated, on behalf of the Amateur community, thank you.



To those who have not subscribed to the Future of Amateur Radio program I would ask you to consider:



The more people that take part in these Polls the more views we, as a community, have in a consolidated form. The more views we have the stronger the evidence the WIA can provide to the ACMA (on your behalf).



The stronger evidence the ACMA have the more likely they are to make decisions that are consistent with what YOU want from YOUR service



If you do decide to take part, visit http://poll.wia.org.au/ and subscribe.



Poll #3 is just around the corner.



That's all from me,



73 VK4APM



Source WIA News

http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/display.php?file_id=wianews-2020-05-03
The mayor of an Oklahoma city amended an emergency declaration requiring customers to wear face masks while inside businesses after store employees were threatened with violence.

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce announced the change Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the declaration took effect.

In the short time beginning on May 1, 2020, that face coverings have been required for entry into stores/restaurants, store employees have been threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse," City Manager Norman McNickle said in a statement. "In addition, there has been one threat of violence using a firearm."

Image: Will Joyce (City of Stillwater Oklahoma)

Joyce said in a series of tweets that he expected some pushback on requiring face masks but did not think there would be physical confrontations with employees and threatening phone calls to City Hall.

"I hate that our businesses and their employees had to deal with abuse today, and I apologize for putting them in that position," the mayor wrote.

"I am not the kind of person who backs down from bullies, but I also will not send someone else to fight the battle for me," he added in a second tweet.

Joyce said face masks are still required for store employees and are now "strongly recommended" for customers.

"To the people who resort to threats and intimidation when asked to take a simple step to protect your community: shame on you. Our freedom as Americans comes with responsibilities, too," the mayor tweeted. "We must find common ground and work together to deal with the circumstances our society is facing. Whether or not we agree on the details, we have to find ways to cooperate in the task before us."

McNickle said that many of the people who objected to wearing the masks have "the mistaken belief the requirement is unconstitutional." He said it's upsetting that while people have the right to exercise their beliefs, they are also putting others at risk.

Story continues

The city manager pointed out that face masks and coverings are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state's health department to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"The wearing of face coverings is little inconvenience to protect both the wearer and anyone with whom they have contact," McNickle said, condemning those who threatened violence. "It is unfortunate and distressing that those who refuse and threaten violence are so self-absorbed as to not follow what is a simple show of respect and kindness to others.

He said businesses still have the right to require customers to wear a face mask or covering to enter.
On a television talk show Friday morning, Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic Partys 2020 presidential nomination, denied an allegation of sexual assault that has been leveled against him.

Tara Reade, a former Biden staffer, claims the incident occurred in 1993 when the former vice president was a Senator from Delaware. There were no witnesses, Reade never contacted the police and the statute of limitations has long since run out.

Biden told MSNBC interviewer Mika Brzezinski the allegation wasnt true, Im saying unequivocally that it never, never happened.

Pressure had mounted on Biden as the week went on to break his silence on the issue. It is unlikely, however, that his categorical denial will put the story to rest. On the one hand, the Republican Party and certain #MeToo elements will continue to pursue the issue for their own respective political ends.

Beyond that, however, the controversy has gained additional and significant traction due to nervousness within the Democratic Party and the American ruling elite generally about Bidens candidacy under conditions of an unprecedented social and economic crisis and the emergence of widespread popular opposition. Considerable skepticism exists about the ability of the 77-year-old Biden, who finds it difficult at times to respond coherently to reporters questions, to confront an explosion of working-class anger.

Reades persistence, the various forces fanning the controversy and Bidens silence on the issue until yesterday have played a role in keeping the issue alive. But, as noted, the critical factor is growing disquiet about the former vice presidents political fitness in the context of the pandemic crisis and the disappearance of millions of jobs.

While Politico headlined a lengthy recent comment, Tara Reade allegations rattle Bidens VP search, Jeff Bezoss Washington Post suddenly editorialized Thursday that Biden himself should address the Tara Reade allegations and release relevant records. The editorial called on Biden to allow a search of his papers donated to the University of Delaware, on condition they not be opened until after his retirement, for any complaint Reade might have made.

The Post also urged the candidate himself to be more forthcoming: Mr. Biden may have little to say besides what his campaign has already saidthat he did not do this, and that this is not something he ever would do. Yet the way to signal he takes Ms. Reades case seriously, and the cases of women like her seriously, is to go before the media and the public ready to listen and to reply. Bidens appearance on the talk show Friday morning was an attempt to satisfy that demand.

The fear of the ruling class about the storm to come remains a central issue. As the New York Times Thomas Friedman observed in a column last month, while most people are playing nice right now managing this virus, the wreckage, pain and anger it will leave behind will require megadoses of solidarity and healing from the top. As the present crisis abates, conflicts will break out, Friedman predicted, over who was saved by Washingtons trillions of dollars and who wasntthe societal stress is going to be enormous.

The Democratic hierarchy was preparing, although not without trepidation, to present a public display of unity behind Biden, a tried and trusted representative of the financial oligarchy. Replacing Donald Trump with Biden would not have any positive results for the mass of the population, but there are financial, political and foreign policy issues that divide the American ruling elite. The elements aligned with the Democrats are obliged under the present circumstances to determine whether Biden is a political asset or liability. Meanwhile, as the Hill reported Thursday, Hillary Clinton waits for the call. Clinton, the publication writes, continues to hover in the wings, ready to step forward should Joe Biden fail. Dont look now, but Joe is failing.

Of course, the filthiness of official American politics and the commitment of the media to appeal to the basest instincts and interests also play a role in the ongoing coverage of Reades allegations, which seem to lack much credibility.

Tellingly, the Biden-Reade issue dominated the American news media in recent days, as the body count climbed and the brutal demands that employees go back to unsafe, perhaps lethal conditions in plants and other workplaces became more insistent.

In part, the promotion of the Reade accusations is a deliberate effort to divert attention from the social and economic calamity. However, it is a fact of political life in America that while the deaths of 65,000 people and the collapse of jobs and incomes have not shaken the Democrats, who are as callous and removed from the crisis as Donald Trump, a sex scandal is another matter.

Reades allegations are treated seriously, not because of their intrinsic importance, but because of the social layers with whom they resonate, the upper middle class on which the Democrats rest and rely.

The Times, the Washington Post and other major media outlets ignored the claims for weeks, hoping they would disappear on their own. However, having fashioned and animated the Frankenstein monster of a sexual harassment witch hunt, they now discover it is not so easy to make their creation go away. This fiend too, like the original, can create desolation.

Prominent figures in the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Stacey Abrams and others, are presently standing by Biden and choosing to accept his claims of innocence. That support could evaporate overnight, or even more rapidly, if confidence in the former vice president deteriorates further.

The hypocrisy of the various #MeToo Democrats, who have applauded or even helped engineer the destruction of various powerful men since October 2017 on the basis of flimsy evidence, or none at all, is breathtaking.

Gillibrand, Democratic Senator from New York, who played a leading role in forcing then-Senator Al Franken (Democrat from Minnesota) to resign over trivial sexual misbehavior in early 2018, continues to back Biden on the grounds that the former vice president has devoted his life to supporting women and he has vehemently denied this allegation.

It takes gall for Gillibrandwho, along with Harris, Klobuchar and Abrams, has vice presidential ambitions of her ownand others to take special note of Bidens strenuous denials. As though declarations of innocence by the accused, vehement or otherwise, have carried the slightest weight during the neo-McCarthyite campaign of the last several years.

One is obliged to point out yet again how cynical and empty the #MeToo campaign and its slogans have proven to be. They were and remain principally means of channeling the indignation and discontent of the affluent petty bourgeois in a rightward direction. When it seemed expedient to destroy careers and lives on the basis of unsubstantiated, unproven and often anonymous charges, the media, the Democrats and their left hangers-on went ahead with their dirty work without batting an eye.

Believe women was the watchword. It seems pointless to recall how many times that slogan was trotted out by media and political figures in 2017, 2018 and 2019and with what nearly bottomless sanctimony!

It turns out that battle cry needs a slight adjustment.

During the confirmation hearings of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Gillibrand, for instance, tweeted, The fundamental question we must answer right now: Do we value women? Do we believe women? Do we give them the opportunity to tell their story? To be heard? Will we ensure they get the justice they deserve? We must fight to be a country that answers, Yes, every time.

Every time except this time, it seems. With remarkable sophistry, Gillibrand now says, So when we say believe women, its for this explicit intention of making sure theres space for all women to come forward to speak their truth, to be heard. And in this allegation, that is what Tara Reade has done. Hearing is not the same thing as believing.

Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia state legislator and right-wing racialist, has also qualified her 2018 comments about ensuring that survivors who wish to come forward can do so safely, and be believed. She recently told CNN, I believe that women deserve to be heard and I believe that they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources.

Gillibrand, Abrams and the others simply hope the public suffers from amnesia. Believe women meant just what it said: there was not much need, if any, for additional proof, an allegation of sexual misconduct was proof enoughespecially if the victim was accusing an influential male figure.

Along those lines, Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse bluntly urged in 2018, at the time of the Kavanaugh hearings, In other words, believe them [women] when they tell stories of assault and harassment. Victims lives are rarely made easier by levying accusations against powerful perpetrators, which means that if a woman has come forward, shes probably doing so at personal cost. So believe her.

Biden offered the same reasoning at the time. When a woman comes forward in the glaring lights of focus to make an allegation of sexual abuse, he said, youve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what shes talking about is real.

Actress Alyssa Milano, who popularized the slogan #MeToo in October 2017, is standing by Biden and has also discovered that Believe women is not sufficiently nuanced. In a column on Deadline (Living in the Gray as a Woman), Milano outlines her general world view. Living in a culture whose structures fundamentally thrive upon the objectification and oppression of women, the actress writes, has forced so many women to make impossible choices between working with the very people who oppress us in order to have a chance at gaining power or not working with them, and staying under their thick, hairy thumbs.

Nonetheless, because the world is gray. And as uncomfortable as that makes people, gray is where the real change happens, Milano is sticking with Biden, apparently thick, hairy thumbs and all. Although her endorsement is not exactly categorical: The allegations against Joe Biden concern me, deeply. Hes a man I know, respect, and admire, and who I cant picture doing any of the things of which hes accused. But Ive thought that before, and been wrong. And sexual assault is always wrong.

Columnist Jessica Valenti, #MeToo crusader and middle-class moralizer par excellence, wont give up so easily on believing women under any and all circumstances. In an April 30 column for Medium (The Importance of Believing WomenEven When Its Politically Inconvenient), Valenti, formerly of the Nation and the Guardian, contends that if Reade is smeared as a liar or opportunist by a movement that claims to believe women, what moral standing will we ever have again?

Without providing the slightest evidence Reade is telling the truth, Valenti goes on to argue that it is feminists responsibility to come to the aid of a woman who accuses a powerful man. We can listen to her story, believe her, and speak out about what Biden has donenot just to Reade, allegedly, but to the many women he has made feel uncomfortable or diminished over the years. Remarkably, Valenti too, however, concludes that Doing all of this doesnt mean we cant vote for Biden!

In any event, the accusations against Biden have left his #MeToo supporters twisting and turning.

For the working class, the crisis of the Democratic Party over a sexual misconduct allegation under the present disastrous circumstances should be further proof that this is a big-business party and resolute enemy of their interests and needs. A clean historical break with the Democrats and the turn toward socialism is on the order of the day.
More than 100 state parks in Washington will reopen to the public Tuesday, but many of the most popular park sites near the Oregon state line will stay closed.

Washington State Parks on Saturday released the list of park sites that will and wont open to the public Tuesday, as the state begins to reopen outdoor spaces closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency announced the partial reopening for most state parks last week, but did not initially indicate which parks would remain closed. That question has now been answered.

All Washington state park sites in the Columbia River Gorge will remain closed, including Beacon Rock, Columbia Hills, Maryhill, Spring Creek Hatchery, the Klickitat Trail and Dougs Beach.

All ocean beach parks will also remain closed, including Cape Disappointment and nearby Fort Columbia.

In the announcement, park officials said the sites will remain closed due to impacts on rural communities and the potential for crowding. Parks in the Columbia Gorge are especially prone to overcrowding, drawing throngs of day hikers from Portland and Vancouver.

Washington State Parks "is working with local communities, natural resource agencies and our partners in Oregon to determine the appropriate timing for reopening these areas, the agency said. No specific timeline has been identified for opening these park areas.

In all, 24 state park sites will stay closed as others across the state reopen for day-use recreation. Campgrounds remain closed until further notice.

A few state parks will reopen near the Oregon state line around Vancouver. Battle Ground Lake and Paradise Point state parks will open Tuesday, as will Reed Island, a Columbia River park with no facilities thats accessible only by boat.

The Washington parks department stressed that parks will be open for local use. Park sites might close back down if they become overcrowded or other COVID-19 related public safety concerns develop."

READ MORE: Why outdoor recreation in Oregon is effectively closed

It might be a frustrating turn of events for some Oregonians, who have not been able to visit Oregon state parks since March 22.

Chris Havel, spokesman for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, said parks will technically be ready to begin opening in mid to late-May, though no date has been set for that to happen. The plan is to begin by reopening some parks for day use, followed by camping later on.

All developed recreation areas managed by the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Washington remain closed as well, including all forestland in the Columbia River Gorge.

Michelle Mitchell, an assistant regional director for the U.S. Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest, said the agency is considering opening trailheads and day use areas in Washington, where its safe and feasible to do so.

We dont have a specific timeline yet, but are working diligently to match the pace of the State of Washington," Mitchell said.

The U.S. Forest Service has not announced any plans to reopen national forest lands in Oregon.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow, where the mayor threatened to cut the number of travel permits. The death toll nationwide rose to 1,222 after 57 people died in the last 24 hours, Russias coronavirus crisis response centre said, after revising the previous days tally. Russia has been in partial lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus, since the end of March. In Moscow, people who have not obtained a ...
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 03:30:07|Editor: huaxia

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LISBON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has called his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, praising the country's efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement from the website of the Portuguese Presidency on Friday.

Trump also offered "any help that was considered useful and necessary," said the statement.

Trump highlighted the participation of Portuguese researchers in scientific tests carried out in the United States to develop a drug against COVID-19, it said.

The Portugese president stressed the importance of "international cooperation to face common challenges" and the importance to learn the lessons taught in the fight against the pandemic, it noted, adding that the two also talked about issues of mutual interest, in particular of an economic nature, as well as the international situation.

This Saturday Portugal will end the state of emergency with relaxation of some isolation measures as well as the reactivation of the economy.

As of Friday, Portugal has reported 1,007 deaths and 25,351 cases of coronavirus infections, according to health authorities. Enditem
Speaking following the news that a member of the Irish Medical Council has resigned due to the handling of the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes, local TD and Sinn Fein spokesperson on Health Louise O'Reilly TD has said that the issues cited require urgent attention.

She said: 'I note with great concern the news that a member of the Irish Medical Council has submitted their resignation to the Minister for Health Simon Harris, citing his belief that the Department of Health have failed to adequately address the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes and other residential care settings.

'It has been noted previously that Nursing Homes Ireland introduced visitor restrictions for nursing homes on March 4, but were criticised by the Department of Health for moving too fast in this regard.

'It took a further ten days for the Department of Health to give their approval for such measures, and, in my view, this decision has proved to be a monumental and fatal error for many of our most vulnerable citizens.

'I believe it is important that there is an acknowledgement that this decision was the wrong one, and I think the Minister and the Department need to acknowledge this.

'Nursing Homes Ireland have also stated that they made numerous requests to the Minister for Health and his officials for a meeting in the early days of this crisis, but that this was not forthcoming until the end of March.'

She concluded: 'This is a point raised specifically in the resignation letter sent to the Minister, and this issue has also not been addressed up to now.'
Crises have a way of turning existing cracks in political and economic systems into fault lines. They bring to light what has been hiding beneath the surface. This is why the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, the most serious global health crisis in a century, has exposed the many pre-existing weaknesses of the US economy and laid bare the nations failure to judge the economy by what actually matters: How it works for working and middle-class Americans.

In a matter of weeks, the pandemic left 26 million Americans unemployed and food banks overwhelmed. As one in four workers in the country are not entitled to a single day of paid sick leave, COVID-19 also forced many Americans to choose between staying healthy and putting food on their tables. It brought to the surface the growing economic precarity of tens of millions of Americans which Wall Street, and many in Washington, have long been ignoring.

While some economists and politicians, such as Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs Executive Steven Mnuchin, claim that the American economy was doing just fine before the start of the pandemic, the truth is many Americans have been living on the verge of economic collapse long before COVID-19 reached the country. After the 2008 economic crash, Wall Street and big corporations rebounded quickly, but millions of Americans did not.

The likes of Mnuchin get away with claiming the US economy was doing brilliantly before the outbreak because they judge economic success merely by the success and profitability of big corporations and not the economic stability and wellbeing of ordinary Americans, such as small business owners, warehouse workers and delivery drivers.

If Mnuchin judged the health of the US economy by how well everyday people are coping, he would have seen that things were not so rosy on Main Street even before COVID-19.

Long before the US recorded its first coronavirus-related death on February 29:

Had our economy been judged by these measures rather than stock gains on Wall Street, our political leaders would have understood that our economic ecosystem was already on the verge of collapse long before the beginning of this pandemic.

The economic devastation the US is experiencing today is not solely caused by COVID-19. The long-ignored weaknesses of the economy have turned a public health crisis into an economic catastrophe.

Earlier this year, I ran for US Senate in Texas. I ran as an unabashed progressive and spoke about the economic realities that most politicians from both political parties ignore in this state. Everywhere I travelled, people of different backgrounds asked me over and over again why no one cares about their struggle. They told me that they feel like they are fighting for their economic survival alone, without any support from the people who are in positions of power.

Americans are not struggling with individual health or finance problems. They are in a collective struggle for economic survival in a country where the government refuses to take care of its own people. Today in the US, not only most of the wealth but also most of the political power is consolidated in the hands of a privileged few. Powerful players like the Koch Brothers and DeVos family are working to reset the rules and regulations that govern this economy to the detriment of everyday Americans.

For too long the suffering of the masses has been ignored by their elected representatives. But there is opportunity in crisis. COVID-19 can eventually pave the way for a system that puts the wellbeing of ordinary Americans above corporate profits.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the nation to confront the vulnerabilities of the economy. It made it impossible for anyone to ignore the depressing fact that nearly one-third of all American workers are part of the gig economy, and have no job security or benefits.

It made it impossible to ignore that the majority of Americans are only one pay cheque away from going broke. It made it impossible to deny that the policies that progressives have long been fighting for  universal healthcare, paid family and medical leave, guaranteed employment, cancelling student debt, guaranteed housing, and bailing out working families in economic recessions  would have made this crisis more manageable.

That is why we, progressive Americans, must seize this moment. We should not only support short-term fixes, like those outlined in the recent stimulus package, but also fight for more fundamental economic changes that would bring economic security and stability to the lives of working and middle-class families.

Our real task in the face of this unprecedented public health emergency is to build an economy and government that works for all of us. To start this transformation, we should first change the way we measure the strength of our economy. We need to understand that the strength of our economy, and our nation, is dependent not on the profitability of large corporations, but the financial stability of the rest of us  the American people.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Dr. Adams truly inspired our Protect To Respect PSA campaign. This is a definitive and personal call to action. This PSA campaign is done with purpose, inclusivity and a specific focus to define the personal reasons for people to wear their masks.

Recognizing the importance of Chicagos neighborhood minority-owned retailers to implement COVID-19 safety measures, FourStar Branding, a Chicago creative branding and marketing firm providing small businesses and nonprofits access to top blue chip services, created the Protect To Respect PSA campaign urging people to wear masks.

The firm partnered with the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, the Little Village Community Foundation, Food He.ro, 1871 and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. This partnership was possible by the support of the following four foundations: The Chicago Community Trust, The Coleman Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Robert R. McCormick Foundation. This was a collective support for a new partnership designed to improve the ecosystem of small businesses.

The Protect To Respect PSA campaign infuses a strong message and bold imagery to stress the importance to protect people and their loved ones by taking the most critical action during this pandemic: to always wear a mask while visiting stores, restaurants and doctors offices and other essential businesses.

FourStar Brandings President and Founder Patricia Aguilar explained that the PSA campaigns inspiration came from watching U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams give his expertise on how people can take precautions during COVID-19.

As I watched CNN along with millions of viewers as the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams spoke of the severity of the Coronavirus affecting our minority communities, I understood how important it is for all of us to protect ourselves and our loved ones, she said. Dr. Adams truly inspired our Protect To Respect PSA campaign. This is a definitive and personal call to action. This PSA campaign is done with purpose, inclusivity and a specific focus to define the personal reasons for people to wear their masks.

Little Village Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Blanca R. Soto is proud to be part of this special PSA campaign.

"Sometimes, wearing a face mask during COVID -19 is the best way to show our true selves, Soto said. Its saying to others: Who do you wear your mask for?

Aguilar explains that difficult situations call for people to be proactive. The collaboration for this PSA campaign provides such an example.

Challenging times make us come together and become stronger in the midst of the darkness, said Aguilar We are calling this an organic PSA campaign because it is fueled by the love each one of us has for each other.

To learn more about the PSA campaign, visit https://fourstarbranding.com/.

About FourStar Branding:

Created by Patricia Aguilar, FourStar Branding was inspired by the four stars in the City Flag of Chicago. According to the firm, the stars represent four key branding pillars: Ignite, Increase, Empower, and Promotetaking small business enterprise to the next level. Comprised of a team of native Chicagoans, we are small business owners who live, work and breathe the concept. To learn about FourStar Branding, visit https://fourstarbranding.com/.
Bhopal, May 2 : The first trainload of 347 migrant labourers arrived in the Madhya Pradesh capital from Nashik on Saturday. They were screened before reaching the city and no relatives were allowed to receive them.

The special train was stopped at Misrod 20 km from Bhopal, where they were tested and provided food, and then loaded into buses for their forward journeys to respective districts.

On Friday, thousands of similar migrant groups reached Jharkhand from Telangana and others left for Bhubaneswar from Kochi.

"The long wait for migrant labourers stranded in Nashik in Maharashtra is over. A total of 347 workers reached Bhopal this morning on board a special Bhopal-bound Shramik train which left Nasik at 9.30 p.m. on Friday. They are being sent to their homes in buses," Misrod SDOP Anil Tripathi told IANS.

PRO of Bhopal railway zone I.A. Siddiqui told IANS that these labourers are from 25 districts of Madhya Pradesh.

The labourers were kept in various shelters in Nasik after the lockdown to contain coronavirus came into effect.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had tweeted on Friday evening about the special train being run to bring back the stranded labourers.

"Labourers stranded in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Goa are like my brothers. They should not worry about anything. We will bring all of them back," Chouhan had tweeted.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Quietly last week, Nikki Haley became the most important new Republican voter registered in Charleston County.

The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador changed her voting address in advance of the May 9 cutoff date from her old home in Lexington County to her new residence on Kiawah Island.

Normally a change of address for a now-private citizen is no big deal. But Haley's reorienting to the Lowcountry puts her in the coastal 1st Congressional District.

That's where six weeks from now, on June 9, Republicans will pick a candidate to take on Democrat Joe Cunningham in the fall.

The GOP field includes state Rep. Nancy Mace, Mount Pleasant Town Councilwoman Kathy Landing, Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox and Bluffton community development leader Brad Mole.

The stakes are high: Republicans say reclaiming the seat, which runs from the Charleston region, Summerville and Berkeley County to Hilton Head Island, is one of their top national priorities this year, so any advantage Haley's high GOP approval marks can add toward picking a winner helps.

So as a rank-and-file Republican voter, who does Haley back?

Right now no one, at least not publicly.

"Ambassador Haley is not going to make an endorsement in the congressional primary," her spokeswoman, Chaney Denton, told Palmetto Politics. "However, she looks forward to supporting the Republican nominee in the general election in the fall."

The latter pronouncement is bad news for Cunningham, as Republicans will throw everything they can at the one-term incumbent who voted for Donald Trump's impeachment.

While Haley is outwardly neutral in the race, there are links being promoted. Landing, for instance, has included photographs of her standing with Haley as a part of her social media messaging.

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"What a great time with former Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, as the 2021 PGA TOUR held its official 'Tee Off' launch," Landing put on Facebook last year. "She and Michael were so gracious and kind, as we discussed a wide array of issues including the need to win back #SC1."

Reached Friday, Landing, who said she's met Haley on two occasions, spoke of her recent endorsement by former Sen. Jim DeMint, her support for Trump and efforts to "drain the swamp."

"If that turns out to be something that appeals to Ambassador Haley, that would be great," she said.

Mace said she's reached out to Republicans everywhere, including in the S.C. congressional delegation, but understands the theme of neutrality ahead of the primary.

"I'm excited she's a registered voter in the 1st Congressional District," Mace said of Haley.

College of Charleston political scientist Gibbs Knotts said prior to Trump's arrival, politicians staying out of other politicians' primaries was a recognized norm that allowed for party unity to take hold during the general election.

In Haley's case, though, he said anything she does around the 1st District means someone will be watching to see if she tips her hand.

"Obviously she is going to vote for someone," he said.

Gibbs has another theory, too: Haley's simple motivation in registering may have nothing to do with anybody else's run for office.

"For someone with future political ambitions, it would look bad not to register to vote," he said.
India reports dip in Covid infections with 2,38,018 new cases, positivity rate at 14.43%

Failure to vaccinate everyone will give rise to new variants, says UN chief

Faith vs safety in burials: COVID-19 remains in dead bodies for 9 days says Centre

Haryana: Tablighi Jamaat member donates plasma for COVID-19 patients twice

India

oi-Briti Roy Barman

Chandigarh (Haryana), May 02: Arshad Ahmed, a Tablighi Jamaat member from Amravati district of Maharashtra said on Saturday that he has donated plasma for treatment of COVID-19 patients twice.

Arshad Ahmed is quarantined at AIIMS dedicated COVID-19 centre in Jhajjar, Haryana and now tested negative for coronavirus.

Ahmed said, "I have donated plasma for treatment of COVID19 patients twice now. If I am needed to donate it 10 times, I will do so."

'Won't stop plasma therapy trial': Kejriwal after Centre's warning

The Jamaat member also said that the Muslim should offer Ramzan prayers at home and not to visit mosques during the lockdown.

"I'd like to say that everyone must follow govt guidelines. We must cooperate with the authorities. We will offer Ramzan prayers at home not visit mosques during the lockdown", added Ahmed.

He further said, "Doctors here conducted our checkup thrice a day....Everyone must follow govt guidelines. We all must cooperate with the authorities."

I have donated plasma for treatment of COVID19 patients twice now. If I am needed to donate it 10 times, I will do so: Arshad Ahmed, a Tablighi Jamaat member, who was quarantined at AIIMS dedicated COVID19 centre, Haryana. He has now tested negative for COVID19. https://t.co/LFNAqcVJyZ  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

On a related note, the Jamaat held a religious congregation at its New Delhi headquarters in early March, where thousands of people who took part included senior preachers from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia where COVID-19 had already spread.

After the congregation, participants left for various states, many of whom later developed symptoms of coronavirus.

Several political leaders and experts of the country are under the impression that Tablighi Jamaat was responsible for nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has revised a two-day-old guideline on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) prevention and control measures for tourism businesses, which included a controversial ban on tourists sharing information about the local epidemic situation.

VNAT chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh signed off the patch on Friday, May 1, two days after the guideline's initial release on April 29.

The guideline is intended to reinforce measures to ensure safety against COVID-19 for tourism businesses, tourist accommodation facilities, and tourism service providers.

The original guideline stated a no-go for tourists and tourism service users to post updates on social media about the epidemic situation of their service providers.

The ban gave rise to objection from the public with allegations of personal privacy intrusion and infringement upon the people's right to information.

The controversial regulation has been completely scrapped in the revised guideline.

In response to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper's request for comments regarding the amendment, chairman Khanh admitted there had been a slip in their process of drafting the initial document due to time restriction.

The amendment also brought changes to a section of the guideline that used to state that tour guides and tourism staff members may not share, update, post on social media and other means of communication about the epidemic-related situation of tourism facilities.

The revised guideline now bans the spreading of false and unverified news only.

Being one of the hardest-hit factors of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry in Vietnam is gradually reopening after the relaxing of social distancing rules from April 23.

This years successive four-day break, beginning Thursday, in celebration of the Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1) in Vietnam saw major sightseeing attractions like Phan Thiet and Da Lat crammed with visitors once again.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Good Morning America

The reality is far worse than even parents may realize, according to Danielle Christian, a high school guidance counselor in Paris, Texas. "If youre not currently working in the world of education, theres no way that you can understand what is going on in schools right now," Christian wrote in now-viral Facebook post. Christian, also the mom of a second-grade student, told "Good Morning America" she has worked in education for 13 years and has never seen anything like what teachers, administrators and students are going through now amid the pandemic -- from facing school closures over the past two years to learning loss, experiencing mental health struggles and needing absences due to quarantine and illness.
On the Frontline Against China, the US Coast Guard Is Taking on Missions the US Navy Can't Do

Competition with China has drawn more Pentagon resources to the Pacific, but the most visible U.S. military presence there...
Kylie Gough is reluctant to send her five-year-old daughter Mia back to school until the pandemic is over and is considering whether she will need to repeat kindergarten.

Shes not alone. The Sun-Herald has heard from dozens of parents pondering the prospect of having their child repeat a year if they fall too far behind academically and miss out on crucial socialisation as a result of the coronavirus-related school closures.

Kylie Gough will keep her daughter Mia home during the pandemic for health reasons, even if it means she repeats kindergarten. Credit:Janie Barrett

Most schools in NSW are using remote learning, with face-to-face teaching to resume in week three at public schools with children initially rostered to return one day a week.

"Im definitely not sending her back, knowing there are cases in NSW and Victoria of children with COVID-19," Ms Gough said.
New Delhi: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police is mulling to send another notice to Tablighi Jamat chief Maulana Saad, who has been booked under relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act and IPC for allegedly violating government orders with regard to the management of the Nizamuddin Markaz.

According to reports, the Crime Branch, who recently served fourth notice to Maulana Saad in connection with holding a religious congregation at the Markaz and the finding, is unsatisfied with answers filed by .

In the fourth notice, the investigative agency had sought for details about videos that were uploaded on Markaz's website delhimarkaz.com. However, the reply by the religious leader against the notice by the Crime Branch has been found to be unsatisfactory.

According to the Delhi police, the fourth notice has been sent after the religious leader did not respond to earlier notices posted by the department. As per reports, three sons of the Maulana Saad have also been interrogated by the Crime Branch in connection with the case.

The Crime Branch had also sought the coronavirus test report from a government-run lab of Tablighi Jamaat head. But according to the source, the reports have yet not been furnished before the agency. On the other hand, Saad's lawyer Advocate Fuzail Ayyubi had claimed on Friday (May 1) that his coronavirus test report, which is from a private lab, has been handed over to an Investigation Officer of the Crime Branch.

On Friday, the Crime Branch informed the Enforcement Directorate that transaction of crores of rupees has taken place between multiple bank accounts linked with Tablighi Jamaat and Gulf countries. The agency revealed that those involved in the transactions are associated with Nizamuddin Markaz and are close to Maulana Saad.
M. Kathwari has been the CEO of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE:ETH) since 1988. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.

Check out our latest analysis for Ethan Allen Interiors

How Does M. Kathwari's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. has a market capitalization of US$301m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$2.8m over the year to June 2019. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at US$1.2m. We examined companies with market caps from US$200m to US$800m, and discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$2.3m.

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 21% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 79% is other remuneration. According to our research, Ethan Allen Interiors has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the broader sector.

So M. Kathwari is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn't tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Ethan Allen Interiors has changed over time.

NYSE:ETH CEO Compensation May 2nd 2020

Is Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. Growing?

On average over the last three years, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. has shrunk earnings per share by 11% each year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is down 8.0% over last year.

Unfortunately, earnings per share have trended lower over the last three years. And the fact that revenue is down year on year arguably paints an ugly picture. It's hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings.

Story continues

Has Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. Been A Good Investment?

With a three year total loss of 55%, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. would certainly have some dissatisfied shareholders. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation.

In Summary...

Remuneration for M. Kathwari is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company .

After looking at EPS and total shareholder returns, it's certainly hard to argue the company has performed well, since both metrics are down. Suffice it to say, we don't think the CEO is underpaid! Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Ethan Allen Interiors 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.
More rough figures from Canalys. After reporting a 13% year-over-year drop for global smartphone shipments, the firm is back with even worse numbers for China. Shipments dropped 18% year-over-year for Q1 in the worlds largest smartphone market. And once again, the COVID-19 pandemic was to blame.

It tracks that China was hard hit for Q1, as it was the first to suffer from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The first known case dates back to mid-November, with its eventual spread having a major impact on both local buying habits and the global supply chain, much of which is headquartered in China. The 72.6 million shipments puts the number at its lowest point since 2013.

The figures could have been worse, of course. While an 18% is pretty massive for an industry that had struggled to grow well before the virus emerged, Canalys says the figures were saved from a further skid due to the smartphones current status as an essential product.

The smartphones status as an essential personal item has stopped the market falling further during the pandemic, Canalys VP Nicole says in a statement. The Q1 performance was also buoyed by Chinas well-established ecommerce channel for smartphone distribution, and the fact that most Chinese businesses were able to resume work rapidly after two weeks of nationwide travel restrictions. Unfortunately, the same conditions do not apply in any other major markets in the world.

Still, analysts are cautious about the markets ability to rebound in China, let alone the rest of the world, with a number of countries still very much in the throes of the pandemic.
Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor's ancestral home, dubbed as the 'Kapoor Haveli', here cannot be converted into a museum as promised by the Pakistan government due to financial constraints, sources said on Saturday.

In 2018, the Pakistan government decided to convert the 'Kapoor Haveli' in Qissa Khwani Bazar in Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province into a museum, heeding to a request by Rishi Kapoor who died this week at a hospital in Mumbai.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had assured Rishi Kapoor that the Pakistan government will convert the actor's house into a museum.

The sources in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Heritage Department told PTI that the department prepared a comprehensive plan under which the haveli's front would be preserved and its inner portion will be repaired and renovated. However, the plan did not go ahead due to lack of financial resources, they said.

Federal Minister Shaheryar Afridi had promised to give the status of museum to the 'Kapoor Haveli' soon after the present government of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf party came into power in July 2018.

However, the announcement to this effect could not be materialised despite a lapse of around two years.

The haveli is presently the property of a private person who made three/four attempts in the past to demolish the building but could not do it as FIRs were registered against him by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa heritage department.

The owner has now assured the government that he would not dismantle the building. However, due to frequent rains, hailstorms and earthquakes, the condition of the building has deteriorated from inside.

The 'Kapoor Haveli' was built by Basheswarnath Kapoor, the father of Bollywood icon Prithviraj Kapoor.

The Kapoor family, originally from Peshawar in Pakistan, migrated to India after the partition in 1947.

In 1990, Rishi Kapoor along with brother Randhir Kapoor visited their ancestral home where his grandfather, Prithviraj and his father Raj Kapoor, were born.

The of Rishi Kapoor's death sent a wave of sadness and grief among people in Peshawar. A lot of people visited the 'Kapoor Haveli' to express their grief and condolence over his demise.

"We had no relation with Rishi Kapoor, but had a liking for him because of watching him as a film hero from childhood and due to his connection with a place which is also a birth place of me, said Pervaiz Ahmad, a city dweller.

"Rishi's death has saddened me a lot, Pervaiz added.

"Perhaps the feeling expressed by Pervaiz portrays sentiments of all the dwellers of Peshawar over sad demise of Rishi, said Ibrahim Zia, a historian who wrote a book titled 'Peshawar ki Funkar' (Artists of Peshawar).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Portland Public Schools plans to furlough all employees one day a week for the rest of the school year, using a little-known provision of the special $600-a-week federal unemployment subsidy that Congress authorized through July, officials said Friday.

Unemployed workers in Oregon and many other states qualify for the full $600 a week if they lose as little as 10% of their pay due to coronavirus, not only if they completely lose their jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

So Oregons largest district has hatched a plan to have its employees work four days a week for the remainder of this school year, and it is banking on its unionized employees agreeing to the deal. Employees would lose 20% of their pay from the district but would have that more than backfilled by receiving 20% of the weekly state unemployment benefit to which they are entitled under the state Work Share program plus the full $600 weekly federal match.

That means a teacher earning $88,000  the top rung on the pay scale, where teachers who have masters degrees and at least 12 years of experience are positioned  would lose about $460 a week in district pay. But that teacher would qualify for $600 a week from the federal rescue package plus about $130 from the state unemployment system. So weekly gross pay could rise from about $2,290 to about $2,565  a raise of nearly 12% for doing less work.

Or at least that is the districts concept, and state and federal rules appear to permit that.

For workers who earn less than $88,000, the percentage raise would be even larger, as $600 would further dwarf the weekly cut in their pay from Portland Public Schools. Any worker earning less than about $265,000 a year would come out financially ahead.

The district plans to maintain employees benefits at current levels.

District spokeswoman Karen Werstein told The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday evening that the district plans to use the approach she outlined to save money for next school year, when the district expects to take a financial beating due to the cratered economy. Schools in Oregon rely heavily on state income taxes for funding, and those drop precipitously during even less-severe recessions.

The district has applied to the state Work Share program, she said, as one necessary step to bring the plan to fruition. It also has asked its unions, whose workers pay is protected under contract, to agree to the arrangement.

No other Oregon district has gone public with plans to adopt a similar arrangement.

In a message to its members Friday, the Portland Association of Teachers said its leaders are not against the plan but have insisted that its members get the opportunity to vote on the plan before it is put into effect.

In all of our discussions with PPS, we have made it clear that we understand that with the financial crisis caused by the pandemic, we all need to be creative in finding solutions, the message, signed by Portland Association of Teachers without naming specific names, said. Our goal is to protect as many PAT members as possible from possible layoffs next year and, by doing so, also protect workload for as many remaining professional educators as we can. To that end, we are not against the PPS plan.

Werstein said that district leaders believe that district resources saved now can better serve students when classes resume in 2020-21. The funds could help save jobs and instructional days, she said.

She said district officials want the furloughs to begin next week and noted they would have no negative financial impacts on employees. But she said only employees who arent represented by unions, such as principals and most high-ranking employees in central administration, will be immediately subject to the one-day-off-per-week mandate.

We have been in discussions with all of our labor partners and, pending their decisions, the reduced work week will include their membership, Werstein said.

District staff will present the reduced work week plan to the school board on Tuesday, she said.

Teachers and principals in Portland, like the rest across Oregon, have already had their work lives substantially upended by the sudden switch to distance learning when schools were ordered to close March 16. A day off per week would mean further upheaval.

We know this is a significant decision that is taking effect very soon. We do not take lightly any decision to adjust work schedules or compensation, Werstein said. Given the current and forecasted budgetary crisis PPS and other school districts are facing, temporarily reducing the work week by 20% allows us to maximize instructional days once we return in 2020-21.

Note: This story has been updated to reflect that teachers are paid for less than 52 weeks of work per year.

-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @ChalkUp; @OregonianPol

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
People are being urged to reach out and support women who are victims of domestic violence.

Gardai have reported a 20% increase in calls relating to domestic abuse compared to this time last year.

It is thought to be linked to victims being confined to their homes with their abusers during the lockdown.

The government says anyone at risk from domestic violence does not have to abide by the current travel restrictions.

Sharon O'Halloran, CEO of Safe Ireland, is urging people to help women who need it.

She says: "What I would say to community and family out there; reach out when she can't.

"Find out the information that you need that you may be able to offer her support.

"But if you are really really concerned-call the Guards."
European ambassadors warn Israel against annexing West Bank

Iran Press TV

Friday, 01 May 2020 3:26 PM

The ambassadors of 11 European countries have warned the Israeli regime that its planned annexation of the occupied West Bank is a "clear violation of international law" that would have "grave consequences" for the regime.

Envoys from the UK, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, and Finland as well as, notably, the European Union (EU) presented their formal objection to the plan on Thursday, a Channel 13 report said, according to the Times of Israel.

The protest by the European envoys came during a video conference with the Israeli foreign ministry's deputy for Europe Anna Azari.

"We are very concerned about the clause in the coalition agreement that paves the way for annexing parts of the West Bank. The annexation of any part of the West Bank constitutes a clear violation of international law," the ambassadors said.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, Benny Gantz, agreed to start plans for annexing parts of the occupied West Bank on July 1 as part of a deal setting up a future coalition cabinet.

Until then, elections after elections had left the respective parties of both Netanyahu and Gantz short of a solid parliamentary majority to choose a new prime minister, and no coalition talks had also failed.

"Such unilateral steps will harm efforts to renew the peace process and will have grave consequences for regional stability and for Israel's standing in the international arena," the European diplomats said.

Many world leaders, governments, and international organizations have warned Israel against the measure.

Israel was encouraged to annex settlements and other strategic territory in the occupied West Bank by United States President Donald Trump under a plan that he unveiled in January. The initiative also designated Jerusalem al-Quds as "Israel's undivided capital," among other privileges granted to Israel.

While the plan was supposed to be a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, no Palestinian official had been involved in preparing it, and all Palestinian factions rejected the plan soon after it was announced.

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Cherng Talay high-risk area lockdown leaves west coast road closed

PHUKET: The road joining Kamala with Cherng Talay on Phukets west coast will remain closed, villages on the border of the two popular subdistricts are under lockdown for fear of allowing the COVID-19 virus to spread.

COVID-19Coronavirushealthtransport

By The Phuket News

Saturday 2 May 2020, 07:23PM

The checkpoints in Cherng Talay will remain until health officials order otherwise. Photo: Cherng Talay OrBorTor



Sgt Sutthirak Chuthong of the Cherng Talay Police explained this afternoon (May 2) that the villages included Baan Bang Tao Nai, Baan Haad Surin and Baan Bang Tao Nok.

The three villages are within the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) area of responsibility  and all three have been ordered by provincial health officials to remain under lockdown to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the island.

The lockdown of the three areas means motorists are not permitted to travel along the main road through the affected areas to reach Kamala to the south, Sgt Sutthirak explained.

Checkpoints preventing people from entering the areas will remain until health officials order otherwise, Sgt Sutthirak said.

There are two checkpoints, one at either end of the main road entering the areas. One is at the intersection at the entrance to Surin Beach, which blocks traffic in both directions on Route 4030. Another checkpoint is located in front of Tesco Lotus Cherng Talay branch, he added.

If people want to go to other parts of Cherng Talay, please use Route 4025, better known as Srisoonthorn Rd. Sug Sutthirak said.

Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) Chief MaAnn Samran told The Phuket News that Moo 2, Moo 3 and Moo 5 Cherng Talay had been declared risk areas for COVID-19.

No people are allowed to enter or exit those areas except for in case of emergencies or for health officials or other officers to perform their duties, he said.

Several checkpoints have been set up to prevent people from entering or exiting the affected areas, Mr MaAnn explained.

A checkpoint has even been set up in front of the SuperCheap store on the border of Moo 2 and Moo 3 to prevent people in either village area from entering the other.

Other checkpoints have been set up near Bluesiam Beach Club and near Mandara Condominium, Mr MaAnn said.

Cherng Talay is a community with many people. Officers are working hard to contain the spread of COVID-19 from these areas," he added.

Additional reporting by Khunanya Wanchanwet.
A 73-year-old Angola man who had 156 children from 47 wives has died. Francisco Tchikuteny Sabalo, known as Pai Grande, or Big Dad, died last Tuesday (04-14-20) of prostate cancer, voanews.com reports.

His funeral drew a crowd of at least 1,000 people, the report states,  including most of his 156 surviving children and 250 grandchildren.

He was a complete human being who prized family and championed education, one speaker said during the service.

Tchikuteny was a Christian who belonged to the New Ecclesiastic Order of Angola. He was buried in a nearby cemetery newly dedicated to his family.



That family includes 42 current wives; another seven had left the family earlier.

Angola law prohibits polygamy, but it is widely practiced in the predominantly Christian country.

I will do anything to keep his children fed and OK, first wife Eva Domingos Bartolomeu told VOA.

According to his family, Tchikuteny fathered 281 children, but 125 died prior to his passing.

It was reported that the popular polygamist valued education and spent over a thousand dollars every year on school supplies.

Three of his daughters are currently studying medical sciences and two sons are studying computer science.

Tchikutenys extended family primarily relies on farming, raising domestic animals and proceeds from the family business.

He is survived by his wives, children, grandchildren and 67 great-grandchildren.

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Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has warned ward leaders handling the distribution of the palliative items against diversion.

Mr Zulum, gave the warning on Saturday in Maiduguri while distributing foodstuffs to the 15 wards of Maiduguri Metropolitan and Jere Local Government.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that hundreds of residents including women, children and physically challenged, gathered to receive food items which include rice, beans, maize, cooking oil.

Mr Zulum said the government would not take it lightly with any traditional ruler or political leader who uses his or her position to replace real beneficiaries with members of his family.

If you betray the trust bestowed upon you, God will not forgive you.

We want to ensure prudent distribution of these items targeted to reach the most vulnerable population that is why we chose to select 2,000 beneficiaries per ward, said Zulum.

The governor said that the beneficiaries must be drawn from poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable people affected by the impact of the lockdown.

According to him, the government could not reach all citizens in Maiduguri with the palliatives, but believe that the support would go along away to cushion the suffering of few, especially during the Ramadan and the lockdown period.

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He urged them to use the Ramadan Fast to pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and other calamities bedeviling the country.

The Chairperson of the State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA), Yabawa Kolo, told NAN in an interview that the committee would distribute the items in accordance with strict humanitarian principles.

Mrs Kolo said that so far, about 10,000 persons had benefited from the palliative in Gwange ward, adding that 15,000 beneficiaries would be reached in Bolori ward on Sunday.

Muhammad Isa, one of the beneficiaries, commended the government for the lockdown palliative which he described as a timely intervention

Mr Isa urged philanthropists, wealthy individuals in the society to support the less privileged persons in the society.

(NAN)
A father from Virginia, with impaired hearing, recently heaped praises on nurses as they made see-through face masks so that he would be able to read lips during the birth of his first child. According to an international media outlet, Will McKendree and his wife Jennifer were worried that the former would not be able to understand what was going to during the delivery as he relies on lip readings and other visual clues. However, a heartwarming gesture by the nurses at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital brought tears to Wills eyes.

As per reports, ahead of the birth of the couples daughter, the nurses at the hospital decided to create special masks that enabled Will to read lips during the delivery. While speaking to an international media outlet, the nurse manager, Reagan Boomer said that basic communication between staff and the patients is very important. The team of the nurses sewed the clear heavy-duty plastic panelling into regal face masks.

READ: UK: 72-year-old Breaks Three World Records, Becomes Oldest Solo Atlantic Rower

This first-time dad, who uses Cued Speech to communicate, was amazed by the kindness of a nurse at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital who worked overnight to sew face masks with clear mouth coverings to allow for lip reading. #SentaraHeroes #HealthcareHeroes #WereInThisTogether pic.twitter.com/hZxHaOcvn8  Sentara Healthcare (@sentarahealth) April 23, 2020

READ: New York Couple Gets Hitched Amid COVID-19 Lockdown, Online Wedding Party Joins In On Zoom

It was very emotional

Boomer said that the staff felt that opening up another avenue where Will could be part of the conversation was really important. When the new father was presented with the mask he was all teary-eyed and completely touched by the gesture. Will said that he started to cry as it was very emotional. He reportedly added that not many deaf people can have this type of experience with other thinking about us and our access to be able to communicate.

The new mother, Jennifer also expressed her gratitude and lauded the nurses for going above and beyond for them. While speaking to the media outlet, Jennifer said that the nurses' gesture was just really special to Will and for her as they out the time from their busy schedule to make the masks. She added that healthcare workers who are already risking their lives in this pandemic took a step further just for them was a really special feeling. She was touched that the nurses worked with them together as a team.

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Kazakhstan does not develop the biological weapons, and the activities of the Almaty Central Reference Laboratory are aimed at ensuring biological safety, including in the framework of the fight against coronavirus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan reports.

The relevant commentary was published by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry amid media reports that the republics authorities are developing biological weapons.
By IANS

SRINAGAR: Two of the three Indian soldiers who were injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, have died, the army said in a statement on Saturday.

"Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on Friday. Unfortunately, two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice," the statement added.

Friday's ceasefire violation came a day after a civilian was killed in Pakistani shelling in the Mankote sector of Poonch.

On Thursday, 16-year-old Gulfaraz was killed, while another 35-year-old civilian was injured.

There has been a spike in ceasefire violations by Pakistan at the LoC. Pakistan has been targeting defence positions and civilian areas at the LoC in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region.
China has named its upcoming Mars mission (pictured above) Tianwen-1, which means "questions to heaven," or "questioning the heavens. All Chinese interplanetary missions are expected to carry the Tianwen moniker going forward. Tianwen-1 consists of an orbiter and rover; among the rovers science instruments is a radar that could detect pockets of water beneath the surface, which may contain life. Learn more about the mission at planetary.org/tianwen-1.

NASA has selected Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX to design spacecraft that will land astronauts on the Moon as early as 2024. All 3 companies will spend the next 10 months working with NASA to develop their landers before the agency picks which designs will receive funding for further development. The 3 vehicle concepts are diverse in their landing approaches, and would all initially rely on NASAs Orion spacecraft to ferry astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit.

The European Space Agencys JUpiter ICy moons Explorer spacecraft, JUICE, has arrived in Germany for final assembly. JUICE will spend 2020 getting science instruments, electronics, and other equipment installed before it ships to the Netherlands for testing. The spacecraft will launch in May 2020 on a mission to study Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, all of which likely have subsurface water oceans.

NASA has named the small helicopter that will travel to Mars aboard its Perseverance rover Ingenuity. The name was suggested by an Alabama high school student. Perseverance launches in July and will arrive on Mars in February 2021. There, Perseverance will lower the helicopter to the surface and move 100 meters away. After engineers perform extensive system checks, Ingenuity will embark on a 30-day flight-test campaign to explore the rovers surroundings.

A Russian Progress cargo spacecraft loaded with almost 3 tons of food, fuel, and supplies docked to the International Space Station. The vehicle will stay attached for more than 7 months, until astronauts load it with trash and send it into Earths atmosphere for destructive reentry.
The armed forces have made elaborate arrangements to conduct aerial fly-pasts, light up ships at sea and shower flower petals on several hospitals across the country on Sunday to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff and other front-line workers engaged in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Friday announced that the three services will carry out a series of activities to thank the "corona warriors".

The thanks-giving activities will start with laying of wreaths at the police memorial in Delhi and in several other cities on Sunday morning to honour the police personnel deployed in enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, officials said.

It will be followed by fly-pasts by fighter and transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, covering a sizeable number of cities and towns across the country between 10 AM to 11 AM, officials said.

"These aircraft will cover major towns starting from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch. Helicopters from the IAF and Indian Navy will fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients and shower petals as a tribute to the corona warriors," Army Spokesperson Col Aman Anand said.

He said some of the aircraft will be flown as low as 500 metres so that people can witness the fly-pasts from the safety of their homes.

Military bands will play "patriotic tunes" outside various civil hospitals treating coronavirus patients to express gratitude to doctors, nurses and paramedics, he said.

Separately, Indian Navy helicopters would shower petals on hospitals treating coronavirus patients at Mumbai, Goa, Kochi and Vizag between 10 AM to 10:30 AM.

Navy officials said the Western Naval Command will illuminate five naval ships from 7:30 PM to 11:59 PM off Gateway of India in Mumbai.

They would display banners like "India Salutes Corona Warriors" and will sound the siren of the ships and fire flares at 7:30 PM at anchorage. Additionally, the Naval air stations at Goa would organise a human chain on the runway to honour the 'corona warriors'.

The Eastern Naval Command will illuminate two ships at anchorage from 7:30 pm to midnight at Visakhapatnam coast.

Anand said Indian Coast Guard ships will be seen at 24 places including in Porbandar, Okha, Ratnagiri, Dahanu, Murud, Goa, New Mangalaore, Kavarati, Karaikal, Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Nizamapatanam, Puducherry, Kakinada, Paradip, Sagar Island, Port Blair, Diglipur, Mayabundur, Hut bay and Campbel Bay.

"The nation stood together and showed resilience in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. On behalf of armed forces, we want to thank all the corona warriors -- doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, police, home guards, delivery boys and media," Gen Rawat said on Friday.

So far, the coronavirus has infected 37,336 people in India while it claimed lives of 1,218 people, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Gen Rawat's announcement about the special activities came shortly before the Union Home Ministry said the the current spell of the lockdown will be extended by another two weeks from Monday.

The lockdown came into force on March 25 and was to end on April 14. It was first extended till May 3.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vietnam handing over medical supplies to the US in mid-April

According to the US Department of State, the US aid package includes a previously announced $4.5 million in medical assistance for the Vietnamese government to prepare laboratory systems and activate case-finding and event-based surveillance.

Besides, the assistance will be spent for essential resources and immediate assistance to revive the private sector by minimising the financial impact of the pandemic on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), address the non-financial effects that these SMEs are facing, and co-operate with the Vietnamese government and stakeholders to bolster the governments relief interventions.

The fund will be used to support experts in their response to COVID-19, education, and community-based engagement to prevent the spread of the disease at entry points and public healthcare facilities.

Over the past 20 years, the US has provided Vietnam with more than $1.8 billion, including more than $706 million for health. Since COVID-19 broke out, the US government has pledged $775 million in medical emergency, humanitarian, economic, and developmental assistance to help governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations to beat the pandemic.

Previously, on April 16, the government and the people of Vietnam handed over medical supplies to the government and people of the US, while in a week earlier, 450,000 protective suits were sent to the US to help frontline healthcare professionals fight the global pandemic.
French LOpinion calls European countries to learn from small ones, like Georgia - GeorgianJournal
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Protesters caravanned through downtown Grand Rapids as part of a pro-immigration demonstration demanding better worker protection during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in Grand Rapids on Friday, May 1.

The protest began at Lincoln Park and caravanned through the downtown, following social distancing guidelines.

Movimiento Cosecha GR said many immigrants jobs are considered essential so they are working through the COVID-19 crisis, putting them at risk of the respiratory illness.

They say workers have not been provided adequate protection. Movimiento Cosecha GR, part of a nationwide movement, demands dignity and respect for immigrants including rights for undocumented or under-documented immigrants, including the right to obtain U.S. drivers licenses.

Read more:

Protesters to demand immigrant worker protection during coronavirus pandemic

Drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants wont be backed by West Michigan city

Immigrant rights protesters block streets in downtown Grand Rapids
What happened

Shares of integrated energy giant ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) fell as much as 5% within the first hour of trading today. That's a notable move for the company, which is highly diversified across the oil and natural gas sector and normally doesn't see the kind of big stock price swings to which smaller players in the industry are often prone. Making it even more interesting is the fact that oil prices were mixed in early trading, so not really a factor in the negative sentiment here. Indeed, it was all about earnings.

So what

Before the market opened, Exxon reported a loss of $0.14 a share, driven by a $0.67-per-share charge (writing down the value of assets because of low energy prices). Pulling out that one-time item, the company earned $0.53 per share. However, the bigger number here was likely cash flow, which came in at around $6.3 billion. The problem is that the energy giant pushed $7.1 billion out the door to fund its capital spending plans in the quarter. Add in $3.7 billion in dividends paid and it's easy to see that Exxon didn't even come close to covering its dividend with cash flow in the first quarter. It wasn't exactly expected to, but the size of the shortfall is sobering.

Exxon, however, remains committed to the dividend and has reduced its capital spending plans for the year. It entered 2020 with $33 billion of capital spending scheduled and is now down to roughly $23 billion. Pulling out the first quarter's spending, that suggests Exxon will invest, on average, around $5.3 each quarter from here on out. Since the rest of 2020 is likely to be hit even harder than the first quarter by the impact of COVID-19 economic shut downs, it's likely that Exxon will be leaning very hard on its balance sheet to get through this period without a dividend cut. So far it has already tapped the debt markets for $18 billion.

Now what

Investors are justifiably concerned that Exxon's dividend isn't sustainable, noting that the dividend is one of the biggest reasons to own the stock. As such, Wall Street, understandably, didn't take the earnings news very well. At this point management remains committed to the dividend, as it has through previous periods of low oil prices (the dividend has been increased annually for more than three decades). The global supply glut of oil caused by COVID-19, however, is different than anything the world has dealt with in modern times. Exxon, at this point, doesn't look quite as rock solid as it once did.
Western Australia has kick-started the local production of medical-grade face shields, as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state continues to plummet.

A plastic engineering firm in Malaga has been tasked with manufacturing up to 10,000 face shields for the state's health workers, as Australia moves away from its reliance on international supply lines.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook. Credit:Richard Wainwright/AAP

The new venture will be led by biomedical engineers from the Centre for Implant Technology and Retrieval Analysis at the East Metropolitan Health Service, who will also oversee production.

Announcing the news on Saturday afternoon, Health Minister Roger Cook said the venture was a testament to WA's resourcefulness and innovation and highlighted the importance of securing personal protection equipment for frontline workers.
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Bangli, Bali  Mon, May 4, 2020 11:43 624 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd5864ee 1 National Bangli,banjar-diisolasi,rapid-testing,COVID-19,lockdown Free

The Bali administration has made the decision to expand the area of lockdown from one of three hamlets in Abuan village, Bangli regency, to the entire village.

The decision was made after rapid tests indicated it was probable that hundreds of its residents were infected by the coronavirus. All the villagers are required to stay at home but will be provided meals three times a day.



The decision to isolate the whole village  home to 2,640 residents  was made on Friday after the authority put one of the villages hamlets, Serokadan, on lockdown on Thursday.

Read also: Bali hamlet put under lockdown after tests indicate over 400 people 'reactive' to virus

Earlier, the administration found eight of the village's residents contracted the virus through local transmission after reportedly coming into contact with a migrant worker who had just returned from abroad.



The Bali provincial COVID-19 task force took 1,200 blood samples from residents of the hamlet on Thursday, of which more than 400 returned "reactive" results after rapid testing. The team also took swab samples of 126 people, with all results coming back negative on Friday.

Sanglah Hospital Laboratory has taken swab samples from 126 residents whose rapid tests show they were reactive to the PCR [polymerase chain reaction] test. We already got the test results and all came back negative, said the task forces executive chairman, Dewa Made Indra.



The swab tests are being conducted in several phases due to the limited testing capacity of the laboratory. On Friday morning, we took another 183 swab samples for the PCR test. We are conducting the test in phases, Dewa Made Indra said.



On Friday, additional rapid testing was conducted on 669 residents, with only four people showing "reactive results.



As of Friday, Bali had 235 coronavirus cases with four fatalities. Eight of the total number of cases were foreigners.
Counties on the Oregon coast have begun planning  and in some cases taking -- small steps toward reopening vacation rentals, hotels and RV parks amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, for instance, Coos County lifted its ban on short-term vacation rentals, though officials asked operators not to promote tourism or encourage visitors for now.

Gov. Kate Brown has talked about Phase 1 of reopening Oregon businesses. Think of this as Phase .25, said Coos County Chair Melissa Cribbins.

We see this as a baby step toward reopening, she said.

Cribbins estimates the county is home to about 100 short-term rentals.

In neighboring Curry County, commissioners discussed lifting their ban on short-term lodging as early as Friday but then postponed the vote until next week after pushback from residents worried about public health.

Lincoln County commissioners and eight cities and towns in the county agreed last week to extend their ordinances restricting hotels and other short-term lodging establishments until the end of May, said board Chair Kaety Jacobson.

She said the countys ban has exceptions for essential workers and others, such as people who live in hotels. She said the county also has made exceptions for people in need of emergency lodging.

After hordes of spring break visitors descended on the coast in March, many communities enacted ordinances that severely limited hotels, motels and other forms of lodging hoping to discourage visitors who, they thought, could spread the virus and overwhelm their hospitals.

The coastal bans in general did not shut down lodging but instead restricted their operation to certain situations, like essential workers, people staying more than 30 days and victims of domestic violence.

But now with the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in coastal communities remaining low, county leaders are tiptoeing their way toward kickstarting their battered economies.

Jason Brandt, president and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, said parts of the state with few known cases should be allowed to open in a responsible way.

Based on the data and the cases I do think there is a path forward, he said, but we have to be careful to make sure people understand that this is not the time to be promoting leisure travel.

Its hard to know what practical effect reopening will have since many people are still staying home and many destinations remain closed.

The beaches are closed," Cribbins said. The dunes are closed. The parks are closed and the restaurants are closed.

Its a terrible time to go on vacation, she said.

Curry County has had four confirmed COVID-19 cases; none required hospitalization in the countys 16-bed medical center, local officials said.

In Coos County, all of the confirmed cases are tied to an outbreak at Shutter Creek Correctional Institution, a state prison where 19 inmates and two employees have tested positive for the virus.

Officials on the coast have sounded desperate when they talk about the need to reopen.

In an April 22 board meeting, Curry County Chair Chris Paasch said his county faces economic devastation. He predicted the county would lose a good percentage of our businesses.

He added that he worries in particular about how rural communities are being treated by the state and federal government as they respond to the crisis.

I am afraid rural Oregon, rural counties in this nation are being forgotten, he said as he encouraged state lawmakers to seek help from President Trump.

I know our president has made many statements that if you need something, you contact his people and he will make sure we get it, he said.

The meeting itself reflected the rift simmering across the state and the country over how to proceed amid the new world order.

For one, it was held in person at in a meeting room in the courthouse annex. About a dozen people were present, including three county commissioners, the county attorney, government administrators and the sheriff.

As for masks, some people wore them. Others did not.

Gov. Kate Brown has urged Oregonians to wear masks in public, saying they may not keep someone from contracting the virus but instead prevent others from getting sick.

Gold Beach city manager Jodi Fritts was among those who wore one at the session. At one point, she declined the commission chairs request to join another speaker at the podium to answer a question, worried she would breach social distance recommendations.

When Curry County Sheriff John Ward stood to address the commissioners, he didnt wear a mask.

Ward pressed commissioners to lift the ban on short-term lodging in unincorporated areas of the county as early as possible, pointing to the countys low rate of infection and the damage done to the local economy.

I think there is a time when you have to reopen because the cure is worse than the virus, he said.

In an interview this week, the sheriff said he doesnt wear a mask in public and neither do his deputies. We supply them, he said. Nobody wears them in my office.

He speculated that some people are in no hurry to open the county because theyre now collecting federal unemployment benefits.

They are getting paid more to do nothing, he said.

But Fritts said she opposes reopening short-term lodging because her coastal town of about 2,200 isnt ready for visitors.

She said Gold Beach has its own temporary ban on short-term lodging and plans to keep it for now.

She brought with her photographs of bare shelves at a local market and said shes worried that an influx of outsiders would make it hard for locals to buy the goods they need.

I would rather be ridiculed when this is over for overreacting than have to reconcile the fact that a decision I made led to the death of someone, she said. I couldnt live with that.

Meanwhile, just outside of Gold Beach, Kyle Ringer is anxiously awaiting word on when he can launch his season.

Ringer owns Tu Tu Tun Lodge, a resort on the Rogue River that draws an international clientele. He said he makes most of his money during a four- to five-month window that begins Memorial Day weekend.

He compared the business to a hibernating bear.

We live off those fat reserves to get us through the winter, he said.

But he said he also understands public health concerns around reopening.

There are a lot of people in our area who are averse to the risk. Some arent and some are. Its a very difficult thing.

From a business standpoint, I need to open, he said. From a citizen standpoint, I understand where people are coming from.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

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Dozens of protesters gathered together demanding the end of coronavirus lockdown laws only to be moved on by police after just an hour.

The 'St Kilda Rebellion' protested against the coronavirus lockdown on Acland Street in St Kilda, Melbourne on Friday afternoon.

No signs or posters were held and the group instead spent their time arguing and filming police officers who were telling them to move on in line with social-distancing rules.

The group was expecting a big turn out after promoting the event on Facebook but a witness said there was only 30 attendees at most.

The group that has just over 200 Facebook followers describes themself as an 'outlet for the growing discontent of passionate locals, who are sick and tired of being regulated by the nanny state'.

Around 30 protesters turned up at Acland Street in St Kilda on Friday, demanding an end for lockdown measures

Protesters filmed police who attended the demonstration on Friday afternoon and were told to leave

One protester is seen wearing a Guy Fawkes mask as other group members argue with police officers on Friday in St Kilda, Melbourne

Photos taken of the protest show demonstrators filming police on their phones while others are seen standing around and talking to each other.

The event was advertised to go from 3.30pm-11.30pm but Victoria police arrived around 4pm and the event was shut down shortly after.

In one video, an officer is seen telling a protestor they are unable to 'exercise their rights' in that area due to current COVID-19 restrictions.

The officer was met with laughter from the group with one man saying: 'So my rights don't matter?'.

'Have some honour and serve the people.'

Another officer confronted the group about social distancing rules only for one member to say they 'didn't have to worry about that'.

Around 15 officers were seen at the protest and a spokesperson for Victoria Police said no infringements were issued and most of the group dispersed after they arrived while others were moved on.

Around 15 police officers attended the event on Friday and a spokesperson said no infringements were given

The protesters were apart of a group called St Kilda Rebellion that had been promoting the demonstration on their Facebook page

Police are seen speaking to one of the anti-lockdown protesters. The group describes themself as an 'outlet for the growing discontent of passionate locals, who are sick and tired of being regulated by the nanny state'

The St Kilda Rebellion Facebook page was created at the start of April and includes messages claiming the pandemic is just hysteria.

'Quarantine is when you restrict movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people,' one post reads.

'If you are still isolating at home, then wake up and get out. This is not about a virus, it's about a control system based on fear. Break the spell!' another one said.

Since the announcement of the 'peaceful gathering' the group's Facebook page has been flooded with abuse calling for the site to be taken down.

'1.8 million cases, 100,000 deaths worldwide and counting and you people decide to pull this shit. There really are sick headed people in this world,' one wrote.

'These idiots are a pack of privileged little pronouns that should be treated like the gutter rats they are,' another wrote.

'It's going to be a very small and pathetic gathering of tin foil hatted conspiracy bogans!'

A woman in a face mask is seen walking past the protest in Acland Street, St Kilda on Friday afternoon. The protest was quickly shut down by police.

Police appeared to outnumber the protesters who claimed they were 'rebelling against the draconian laws' in the midst of coronavirus

Victoria Police said the group of protesters dispersed after being confronted by officers. No signs or placards were seen during the demonstration

'More numbers than I thought (maybe 30), although still a fizzer... because it was like a leaderless rally.' one witness tweeted.

'They were all so subdued that they could legitimately pretend to the cops that they're waiting for a tram at the Acland St stop. Way to defend my freedom, losers!'

The protest comes after a similar demonstration in West Gippsland on Anzac Day.

Around 75 protesters attended the event armed with signs reading 'what did our Anzacs die for?', 'locking up healthy people is tyranny' and 'give our jobs back'.

The demonstration was held on Anzac Day as many of the protesters had served or were related to people who'd served their countries but were unable to honour them due to social distancing measures.

Topher Field, an ex-serviceman leading the event, said the government's restrictions had taken freedom away from Australians.

'Who would have thought in our own free country we would have to risk fines to gather and honour Anzac Day,' he said in a live stream video of the protest.

'Our Anzacs fought against governments that took control of their people and yet today we see echoes of our history here at home,' he said.

'As we are bullied and threatened, berated and controlled into living lives of fear and withdrawing into our homes, stripped of our incomes and independence we are expected to beg the government for a hand out.'

Victoria Police said the organisers of the Anzac Day protest would be fined.

It's unclear if they were involved with the St Kilda Rebellion group.

Many filmed officers using their smartphones. The group said they were fighting against strict lockdown laws

Police speak to protesters from the St Kilda Rebellion group. A similar protest occurred in West Gippsland on Anzac Day with attendees demanding an end to lockdown
The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in a plea filed by a Mumbai resident opposing burial of people dying of COVID-19 in a graveyard near his residence.

Mumbai-resident Pradeep Ghandy has approached the apex court after his plea, made on the ground that burial of COVID-19 patients in the graveyard in Bandra West would spread infection in adjoining areas, was rejected by the Bombay High Court on April 27.

Ghandy's plea challenging the high court order will come up for hearing on May 4 before a bench of Justices R F Nariman and Indira Banerjee.

The Muslim body, while seeking intervention in the appeal filed by Ghandy, said that apprehension of burial of bodies of those infected with COVID-19 will risk the spread of such infection in the vicinity is unfounded and that at the outset there is no risk of spreading of the COVID-19 virus during such burial.

It is submitted that the burial of dead bodies is essential to the religion of Islam as well as in other religions such as Christianity. Such a right forms part of the right to practice one's religion under Article 25 of the Constitution of India, the plea said.

The Muslim body said that it is a common myth that persons who have died of a communicable disease should be cremated, but this is not true and cremation is a matter of cultural choice and available resources.

It has further been clarified that till date there is no evidence of persons having become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who died from COVID-19, the plea said.

The petition of Jamiat said that the entire grievance of the petitioner is based on the apprehension that burial of those persons who were infected with COVID-19 would risk the spread of such infection in the neighbouring areas, which includes the residence of the petitioner herein.

"It is submitted that such a fear is completely unfounded and unsupported by advisories issued by the Government of India as well as by the World Health Organization," it said.

The plea said that it is evident from the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as by the WHO, burial does not pose any additional risk of COVID-19 and all the precautions that have been prescribed are to prevent the contact of any bodily fluid of the dead person with those who are handling the body.

It is further relevant to note that even USA, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and the Middle Eastern nations are burying those persons who have died due to COVID 19 and no such increased risk of spread of COVID-19 virus has been highlighted by these nations due to the act of burying the dead bodies, the plea said.

The Muslim body said that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had on March 15 issued detailed guidelines regarding dead body management in the times of COVID-19 which categorically provide that the main driver of transmission of the said virus is through droplets and that there is unlikely to be an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling body.

It said that even the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an interim guidance dated March 24, dealing with the issue of burial of bodies of those patients who died due to COVID-19.

It has been clarified in the said interim guidance that except in cases of haemorrhagic fevers (such as Ebola, Marburg) and cholera, dead bodies are generally not infectious. Only the lungs of patients with pandemic influenza, if handled improperly during an autopsy, can be infectious. Otherwise, cadavers do not transmit disease, the plea said.

On April 27, the High Court had refused to grant relief on a plea challenging Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) permission to use cemetery in Bandra to bury bodies of COVID-19 victims.

The petition, filed by Gandhy and others, living near the Konkani Muslim Kabrastan in suburban Bandra, claimed that locals were afraid of community spread of the virus, if the burial is not done properly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fighter jets will perform a fly-past over Rajpath, Delhi and the national capital region (NCR), while helicopters will shower petals over several hospitals in the capital on Sunday morning, as part of an elaborate military plan to show gratitude to the countrys Covid-19 warriors, an Indian Air Force spokesperson said on Saturday.

The plan, announced by the chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday, involves several activities such as illuminating warships and band performances outside Covid-19 hospitals across the country.

The fighter jets featuring in the fly-past over Delhi-NCR, or what the IAF is calling an aerial salute, will include the Sukhoi-30s, MiG-29s and Jaguars. The fly-past is planned between 10 am and 10.30 am. The aircraft will be flying at a height of 500 to 1,000 metre and will be visible to the residents of Delhi from their rooftops, the spokesperson said.

The fly-past by the fighter jets will be followed by the C-130J special operations aircraft flying over Delhi-NCR in a formation.

The IAF spokesperson said helicopters will shower petals over the National Police Memorial and Delhi hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. These include the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital and the Army Hospital (Research and Referral).

Wreaths will be laid at the police memorial on the behalf of the three service chiefs.

Fighter jets and transport planes will carry out fly-pasts across the length and breadth of the country, from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch, as reported by Hindustan Times on Sunday.

The Indian Navy will illuminate its warships at anchorage from 7:30pm to midnight at Mumbai, Porbandar, Karwar, Vizag, Chennai, Kochi and Port Blair, a navy spokesperson said. He added that naval helicopters will shower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Mumbai and Goa.

Also, 46 Indian Coast Guard ships will be lit up at 25 locations along the countrys eastern and western seaboards, the defence ministry said. Ten coast guard helicopters will shower flower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Daman, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Port Blair.

The tributes to Covid-19 warriors will see army bands perform outside several hospitals and locations across the country including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, the Armys RR Hospital and the Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt, an army spokesperson said.

Dal Lake in Srinagar is also among the locations where the army bands will perform to honour Covid-19 warriors.

The armed forces have always stood as a wall against all threats to the country and every time our citizens have come out in large numbers and showered their blessings and appreciation towards us. This time, it is our turn to applaud the sacrifice of our Corona warriors, the army spokesperson said.

For Coronavirus Live Updates

The militarys plan to honour the frontline workers was finalised at a meeting chaired by the defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday. The meeting was attended by the national security adviser, the CDS and the three service chiefs.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
A Mile-Wide Asteroid With Its Own Moon to Pass by Earth This Weekend
Orange County beaches will remain closed after a California Superior Court judge rejected a request Friday to block Gov. Gavin Newsom's directive that beaches there must remain off-limits during the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge Nathan R. Scott set a hearing for May 11 to consider Huntington Beach's request for an injunction. Dana Point, a neighboring coastal city, joined in the suit, and nearby Newport Beach has also signaled support.

During the hearing, which was conducted via teleconference, Dana Point staff received a request from the state to participate in a call to develop a plan for reopening the beaches, according to a Dana Point council spokesperson.

"As a result of that call, a plan to reopen beaches has been developed and will be submitted to the state over the weekend," Dana Point officials said in a statement. "The city is hopeful the plan will satisfy the state, making further court action unnecessary."

A request to the governor's office for comment was not immediately returned.

Image: Protest To Reopen California Businesses, Beaches, And Parks Held In Huntington Beach (Apu Gomes / Getty Images)

Friday's decision came as hundreds of people in Huntington Beach flooded the streets to protest Newsom's order. People demanded that Newsom immediately reopen not just beach access but California's economy.

On Thursday, Newsom, a Democrat, issued a directive aimed at Orange County after photos emerged showing large weekend crowds in Huntington and Newport beaches. The governor was expected to close all beaches across the state, but instead singled out the conservative stronghold south of Los Angeles.

Hours later, Huntington Beach and Dana Point city councils held emergency meetings and voted to seek a temporary restraining order against the governor's mandate. Newport Beach also held meetings but did not formally join in the petition.

Officials argued that Newsom unfairly targeted Orange County and abused his power as governor, while Newsom said it was too soon for hundreds of people to gather.

Story continues

Image: Protest To Reopen California Businesses, Beaches, And Parks Held In Huntington Beach (Apu Gomes / Getty Images)

As of Friday, more than 51,000 Californians have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 2,200 have died, according to NBC News counts.

"As a beach community, the city of Dana Point feels a heightened sense of responsibility to preserve access to the coast for socially responsible recreation during this unprecedented time," a spokesperson for the city of Dana Point said in a statement. "We believe that the governor is acting without constitutional or statutory authority and is infringing on the rights of local governmental agencies to control their own beaches."
WASHINGTON - The White House and President Donald Trump's campaign are seeking to amplify an allegation of sexual assault against Joe Biden, hoping to tarnish the former vice president on an issue where the president's own record is checkered with accusers.

But the effort could be thwarted by Trump himself, who has taken a different tack from that of his own advisers by indicating that false allegations against powerful men are the bigger issue.

"All of a sudden you become a wealthy guy, you're a famous guy, then you become president. And people that you've never seen, that you've never heard of, make charges," Trump said Friday in an interview with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, adding that he was "sticking up" for Biden in a way. "I would just say to Joe Biden, 'Just go out and fight it.' "

Trump's comments stood in contrast to those of officials from the campaign and the White House, who flooded the airwaves Friday to criticize Biden over his response to a former Senate aide's sexual assault allegation, which Biden has denied. The president's remarks underscore the challenge Republicans will have in attacking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on an issue that dogged Trump's 2016 campaign and on which he remains vulnerable.

Before the president spoke, his allies tried to balance criticizing Biden on his handling of the allegation with deflecting renewed attention on the president's long list of alleged misconduct.

After Biden gave a vigorous denial of the allegation in a Friday-morning interview on MSNBC, Trump's campaign released a lengthy statement criticizing Biden for what it described as a lack of transparency and consistency - pushing a "double standard" argument on which Republicans have seized, and making no mention of Trump's accusers. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump's 2016 campaign managers and a White House counselor, addressed Biden's claims by trying to turn Democrats' "believe women" mantra against the former vice president.

Asked about the women who have accused Trump of misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to rape, Conway demurred.

"Let's not do that today," she told reporters at the White House. "Because you've at least covered that six ways to Sunday."

Conway said she wanted Tara Reade, the woman who has accused Biden of reaching under her skirt and penetrating her in 1993, to be interviewed.

Biden vigorously denied the accusation in a statement Friday, and he told MSNBC that there was no truth to it.

"I am saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn't," he said in the televised interview.

Biden called for the National Archives to release any record of a complaint filed by Reade but declined to call for his Senate papers held at the University of Delaware to be released. He said those papers would not contain personnel files.

While Trump's campaign and other Republican allies seized on Biden's refusal to release his Senate papers, Trump did not likewise accuse the former vice president of a coverup. He instead turned a question about Biden's record back to false allegations against prominent men.

"As far as records and all, I have no idea, he'd have to make up that decision," Trump told Bongino. "I can say that I've been accused. You probably have, too. As soon as you're famous, you get accused."

The president also described himself as a "total victim" of false accusations, making no mention of the broader problem of sexual misconduct by powerful men. The issue, well documented in recent years during the #MeToo movement, has long been viewed skeptically by Trump. The president has regularly brought up the case of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed in 2018 despite allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged after his nomination.

While Trump's allies have used Kavanaugh's experience to argue that Biden should be publicly grilled over Reade's allegation, Trump has instead said that Kavanaugh's case proves that men deserve more due process.

"It's his problem, but I like to get in front of it, and I just deny it," Trump said of Biden.

The incongruent messaging comes as some of Biden's defenders have in recent days resurfaced claims by Trump's accusers as Reade's allegation has entered the public domain.

At least 16 women have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct over the past several decades. Though Trump has denied all the allegations, they continue to haunt his administration and his campaign. At least two women have pending lawsuits against him.

Former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos sued the president for defamation in New York after accusing Trump of forcibly kissing and groping her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in December 2007. Last year, New York-based writer E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s, saying that Trump - then a well-known real estate developer - attacked her inside a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, an upscale Manhattan department store. In January, she requested that Trump submit a DNA sample to determine whether his genetic material is on the black coat dress she said she was wearing during the alleged assault. Trump called Carroll a liar and said she was not his type.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tried to dismiss accusations against Trump on Friday during her first news briefing. McEnany, a former spokeswoman for Trump's campaign, echoed the campaign message that Trump's victory in 2016 was proof that the American people believed the president's denials.

"The American people had their say in the matter when they elected President Trump as president," she said. "But, you know, leave it to the media to really take an issue about the former vice president and turn it on the president and bring up accusations from four years ago that were asked and answered in the form of the vote of the American people."

Her response underscores a challenge that Trump's allies face in trying to zero in on Biden while Trump's alleged conduct remains under scrutiny and while the president appears to be disinclined to go on the attack on this issue.

The president told Bongino that he thought Reade's claims were "credible," but he spent far more time criticizing what he described as false accusers than he did attacking Biden.

Trump campaign aides who called for Biden to release additional records were quickly met with criticism from critics who highlighted the president's lack of transparency.

Trump has refused to release his tax returns and has made his former employees and campaign aides sign nondisclosure agreements. His former personal lawyer Michael Cohen admitted to facilitating "hush money" payments to women who accused Trump of engaging in extramarital affairs with them.

"We can vet Biden without hearing from Trump on transparency, thank you very much," Amanda Carpenter, a former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote Friday on Twitter. Carpenter, a Trump critic who wrote a book titled "Gaslighting America," responded to a Trump campaign aide's claim of a Democratic coverup by writing "It's really hard for people to enforce standards they never cared about in the first place. Sit this one out."

Whether the president will continue to take a hands-off approach to the Reade allegation against Biden is unclear. Trump has long responded to his own political scandals by accusing his critics of similar conduct.

In 2016, after The Washington Post disclosed the existence of an "Access Hollywood" tape of Trump boasting of groping women, Trump held a news event with women who had accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct.

Now, Democrats are framing the 2020 election by juxtaposing Biden's call for transparency with Trump's list of unresolved misconduct accusations.

Lis Smith, who was a top strategist on Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign, said on Twitter that Biden's willingness to answer questions about sexual assault allegations shines a light on Trump's refusal to do so.

"If the GOP wants to make this an issue, they'll have to reckon with the fact that their President hasn't answered any tough qs about the scores of assault allegations against him," she wrote.
McDonald's will reopen 15 restaurants for delivery only after closing all 1,350 stores on March 23 due to the UK's coronavirus lockdown. (PA)

McDonalds has revealed it will reopen its first UK restaurants for delivery on May 13 after shutting sites due to the coronavirus lockdown - but breakfast will not be on offer.

After temporarily shutting all of its 1,270 UK restaurants on March 23 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, McDonalds will now be offering a limited menu when it reopens locations around the country.

The fast food chain will reopen 15 restaurants for delivery only, with the locations of these restaurants set to be announced next week.

The stores will also operate reduced hours, with restaurants open from 11pm to 10am, seven days a week.

The 15 McDonald's restaurants will serve a limited menu on UberEats and Just Eat and operate reduced opening hours. (PA)

Customers will be able to order via the UberEats and Just Eat Delivery apps, but a delivery charge will apply to all orders.

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The menu includes favourites such as Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, Milkshakes and Chicken Nuggets - but breakfast and other special items, such the Signature collection, are not on offer.

McDonalds fans vented their frustration at the news of no McMuffins on social media.

I just really miss McDonalds breakfast  jordan (@jordanlathan17) May 1, 2020

One Twitter user, Bef, blasted: mcdonalds reopening without breakfast is f***** pointless:/, while another pined: I just really miss McDonalds breakfast.

The fast food brand also announced it would instal perspex screens in all branches, while employees will be supplied with PPE and be subjected to temperature check before the start of each shift.

It follows the fast-food chain testing its operations behind closed doors over the last week in preparation to reopen sites.

McDonalds CEO for UK and Ireland, Paul Pomroy, said: "In March we took the decision to temporarily close our restaurants in the UK and Ireland for the safety of our employees and customers.

Story continues

"Recently, we began working through a potential and limited reopening and I wanted to share with you an update that we shared with our franchisees and 135,000 employees earlier today.

"As part of our reopening planning, we have been listening to you and our employees, and we have worked closely with UK and Irish governments and trade bodies to help ensure we do this responsibly.

The fast-food chain tested its operations behind closed doors over the last week in preparation to reopen sites. (PA)

"We have deliberately taken our time, we want to get this right."

Other fast food outlets have recently begun opening branches for takeaway and delivery, including KFC and Burger King and Five Guys.

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75 years of Russias victory: Revisiting barbarities during WWII By Somar Wijayadasa View(s): View(s):

The coronavirus pandemic compelled Russias President Vladimir Putin to postpone the nations celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II  the bloodiest and most destructive military conflict in the history of humanity.

The Russians call it the Great Patriotic War, and each May 9 they commemorate their victory over the Nazis with a massive military display that sees thousands of troops and tanks parade through Red Square as military jets fly over the capital.

It is the single most important event in Russian history that elicits such a strong feeling of pride and patriotic fervour.

A mainstay of the parade that intensely stirs the emotions of the Russians is the March of the Immortal Regiment in which millions of Russian civilians march carrying a portrait of a victim or survivor  mostly a family member.

Postponing the event, Putin said, On Victory Day, we honour the heroes who defended the country and the rest of the world and sacrificed their lives to protect others. He assured Russians still will mark the day, and every family will remember and honour its heroes.

The horrific consequences

of World War II

According to Wikipedia, An estimated total of 7085 million people around the world perished during the War  including about 20 million military personnel and 40 million civilians. Many of them died due to deliberate genocide, massacres, mass-bombings, disease, and starvation.

Some of the bloodiest WWII atrocities we can never forget are:

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941: It destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes, and killed 2,400 Americans, and injured thousands of others.

Later, after the Germans surrendered, and the Japanese were to surrender, the United States of America dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. It is estimated that more than 135,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and more than 50,000 in Nagasaki  and tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. To date, these remain the only use of nuclear weapons.

Adolf Hitlers Nazis, as part of a deliberate programme of extermination, systematically killed over 11 million people including 6 million Jews, 2.7 million ethnic Poles, and 4 million others who were deemed unworthy of life.

The mass-bombings of civilian areas all over Europe  including Dresden and Hamburg  caused the destruction of more than 160 cities and the death of more than 600,000 German civilians.

Russias deaths and destruction

Since my description of this war may not do justice, I wish to quote from the post-war Nuremberg Trials that chronicled the devastation sustained by the Soviet Union.

According to the testimony presented by General Roman Rudenko at the Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, the largest number of civilian deaths in a single city occurred during the Siege of Leningrad. Some 1.2 million Russians died.

The combined damage in Russia consisted of complete or partial destruction of 1,710 cities and towns, 70,000 villages, 98,000 collective farms, 2,508 churches, 31,850 factories, 40,000 miles of railroad, 4,100 railroad stations, 6,000 hospitals, 84,000 schools, 43,000 public libraries, and left 25 million homeless  as a direct result of the war.

Appalled by the extent of the carnage during a visit to Russia, Dwight Eisenhower, Commander in Europe during the war, wrote, When we flew into Russia, in 1945, I did not see a house standing between the western borders of the country and the area around Moscow.

Epic battles inside Russia

To comprehend why the Russians remember and revere the Great Patriotic War, we need to glance at some of the horrific but heroic battles against Nazi barbarity.

The Wars infamous Siege of Leningrad began in Sep 1941. It lasted 900 days, and cost the lives of more than 1,000,000 city residents. Its people had to endure starvation and cruelties that anyone in Western Europe or North America could hardly imagine.

Battle of Moscow,

Oct 1941  Jan 1942

Hitler sent a battalion of million German troops to Moscow with orders to raze the City of Moscow to the ground if it cannot be captured. The Red Army foiled Germans attempts and banished them out of Moscow  at a staggering cost of 1,000,000 Russian casualties.

Battle of Stalingrad,

Aug 1942  Feb 1943

This was the largest and bloodiest battle during the War with the military and civilian casualties running as high as two million.

Battle of Kursk (July  Sep 1943)

Recorded as the largest tank battle in history, involving some 2,000,000 troops, 6,000 tanks, and 4,000 aircraft, it marked the end of the German offensive capability on the Eastern Front. The Soviets lost more than 800,000 soldiers in this battle.

Altogether, in the former Soviet Union, more than 27 million people lost their lives  including 8.7 million military and 19 million civilians. It was the Soviet Union that bore the brunt of the fighting on the Eastern front.

There were no parallels to these battles anywhere on the Western Front. With death and destruction for four long years, it was the fortitude of the Red Army and other Soviet citizens that won World War II.

Saying that, The Red Army was the main engine of Nazisms destruction the British historian, Max Hastings wrote, It was the Western Allies extreme good fortune that the Russians, and not themselves, paid almost the entire butchers bill for [defeating Nazi Germany], accepting 95 percent of the military casualties of the three major powers of the Grand Alliance.

Fury and retribution

in the final battle

In early 1945, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered his two Marshals (Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev) to capture Berlin.

The Battle of Berlin  April to May 1945 was the final major decisive counter-attack by the Red Army. They forged their way through Eastern European nations liberating them from the Nazi occupation. It was a bloody battle as Hitler forced three quarters of a million German troops to fight a desperate final defense against the advancing Red Army.

According to history.com, wikipedia and other records, the Soviet army deployed more than 2,500,000 soldiers, 7,500 aircraft, and 6,250 tanks for the final onslaught against the Germans. It is estimated that around 80,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and another 280,000 were wounded in the Berlin attack.

On April 30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide. The Germans surrendered to the Russian Army and the Battle of Berlin ended on May 2, 1945. On May 9, 1945, Germans signed the declaration ending the war with Russia.

I asked a Russian friend with rank of Colonel (name withheld at his request), Why did your Red Army decide to liberate Eastern European countries, and take over Berlin? His response was: Fury and Retribution. We banished Germans after every battle inside Russia but they kept coming back, and killed our people and destroyed our country. We had to stop them forever.

Historical records show that Germany suffered 10 million deaths including 5.3 million military losses, mostly inside Russia, and during the final battles in Germany.

It is an irony that about seven decades prior to the War, Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of the 1870s, who unified Germany left his successors an important advice: Never Wage War on Russia. Hitler defied that advice.

It was thanks to Stalins leadership, and the bravery of the Red Army that defeated Nazi Germany  and saved Russia and the world from the Nazis. It is no surprise that since the glorious days of the former Soviet Union, Victory Day has been the nations most revered holiday, remembering the countrys enormous suffering and loss of life  and especially the heroes who saved their country during WWII.

Last year, addressing the military parade in Red Square, President Putin said, The Soviet Union faced the most powerful assaults by the Nazis, but there is no force, and there will be no force, that could conquer our people.

(The writer is an international lawyer, worked for IAEA and FAO; was delegate of UNESCO to the UN General Assembly; and representative of UNAIDS)
Remdesivir is the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19, which has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide.

United States regulators allowed emergency use of remdesivir, an experimental drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced the news at the White House alongside Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn, who said the drug would be available for patients hospitalised with COVID-19.

Remdesivir is the first drug shown to help fight COVID-19, which has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide.

The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that Gilead Sciences remdesivir shortened the time to recovery by 31 percent, or about four days on average, for hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

The study of 1,063 patients is the largest and strictest test of the drug, and included a comparison group that received just usual care so remdesivirs effects could be rigorously evaluated.

Those given the drug were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average versus 15 days for the comparison group. The drug also might be reducing deaths, although that is not certain from the partial results revealed so far.

The US National Institutes of Healths Dr Anthony Fauci said the drug would become a new standard of care for severely ill COVID-19 patients like those in this study. The drug has not been tested on people with milder illness, and currently is given through an IV in a hospital.

The FDA authorised the drug under its emergency powers to speed up the delivery of experimental drugs, tests and other medical products to patients during public health crises.

In normal times, the FDA requires substantial evidence of a drugs safety and effectiveness, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies, the agency can waive those standards, simply requiring that an experimental drugs potential benefits outweigh its risks.

Gilead has said it would donate 1.5 million vials of the drug and is ramping up production.

Early stage

No drugs are currently approved for treating the coronavirus, and remdesivir will still need formal approval.

The FDA can convert the drugs status to full approval if Gilead or other researchers provide additional data of remdesivirs safety and effectiveness.

This is a very, very early stage so you wouldnt expect to have any sort of full approval at this point, said Cathy Burgess, a lawyer specialising in FDA issues. But obviously they want to get this out to patients as quickly as possible.

The FDA previously gave emergency use authorisation to a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, after Trump repeatedly promoted it as a possible treatment for COVID-19. No large high-quality studies have shown the drug to work for that, however, and it has significant safety concerns.

The FDA warned doctors late last month against prescribing the drug outside of hospital or research settings, due to the risk of sometimes fatal heart side effects.

Two small studies published on Friday added to concerns about the malaria drug.

Wall Street analysts expressed doubts about remdesivirs potential to bring in profits for the drugmaker [File: Ulrich Perrey/Reuters]

On a conference call to discuss Gileads earnings, meanwhile, the company declined to answer questions about whether it plans to eventually profit from the COVID-19 treatment rather than just donate the medicine.

Wall Street analysts, however, expressed doubts about the treatments potential to bring in profits for the antiviral drugmaker.

At least three brokerages downgraded Gilead on Friday after its earnings report.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said Gileads management remained vague on their plans to recoup the production, distribution and trial costs for the treatment, citing a balance between access and sustainability.

Abrahams said this might disappoint some, and the unpredictability of the pandemic makes modelling its potential impact challenging.
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THE BOUT CONTINUES: One day after a Manitoba court judge approved the liquidation of Nygards retail properties, lawyers for Peter Nygard filed a motion to amend his racketeering complaint against Louis Bacon.

Nygard and Bacon own neighboring properties in Lyford Cay, an affluent enclave in the Bahamas. The titans initially crossed swords over a property dispute and have battled for decades in and out of court. Nygards legal problems include a complaint filed by 46 unidentified women alleging rape and sex trafficking.

In March, a group of companies owned by Nygard went into receivership and are under the control of the Richter Advisory Group. On Wednesday, Manitobas Court of Queens Bench approved the liquidation sale of assets and inventory belonging to Nygard at a date to be determined. The Nygard chain had 169 retail outposts and 1,450 employees at one time.

The companys business has dwindled over time, due partially to the allegations against its namesake. After the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies raided Nygards Times Square offices in Manhattan and his California home as part of the sexual assault investigation in February, Dillards announced it would no longer carry the moderate sportswear label. As of Friday, the retailer still had some Nygard clothing available online.

A Dillards spokeswoman did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Nygards motion to amend the racketeering case against Bacon was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The motion alleges that, through the nonprofit Sanctuary, Bacon and his brother Zack provided financial support to women who disparaged Nygard. It also claims that Zack Bacon, who works with his brother at Moore Capital Management, said in a recording provided to The New York Times that he intended to take advantage of the #MeToo movement to destroy Peter Nygard in the press and to start a class action lawsuit against him using the most aggressive lawyers in the world.

Story continues

Both Louis and Zack Bacon declined comment through a spokesman on Friday.

There are also numerous allegations that Bacon and others working on his behalf interfered with Nygards business relationships, including the opportunities to sell his fashion brands. Nygards latest filing alleges that Bacons wrongful conduct has resulted in the apparel magnates prospective and existing business relationships being tortiously harmed.

The 145-page motion to amend also cites environmentalist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is also a board member of Save The Bays, the nonprofit that has challenged Nygard about various disputes, for allegedly being aware for many years of Bacons desire to destroy and damage Nygard. Kennedy could not be reached immediately for comment Friday.

A spokesman for Nygard said, Peter Nygard looks forward to clearing his name by exposing the actions of Louis Bacon and his co-conspirators that have destroyed a much-celebrated fashion brand and resulted in more than 1,400 Nygard employees losing their livelihood.

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He was just the best, he really was.

This is how Melissa Castiglia describes her brother. Her only brother. The younger brother she lost after he contracted COVID-19.

Looking through a large basket packed full of sympathy cards, she was left wondering how she would write all of the thank-yous.

The vast outpouring has been comforting for the 32-year-old elementary school teacher. Settling into this new reality has been anything but.

The thing that was surprising was just how many people, how many lives hes touched, she said of her 30-year-old sibling, Dan Spano - one of more than 2,000 lives lost in Connecticut after hard-fought battles with the deadly virus.

This global pandemic has devastated families, communities, while striking fear into everything we knew to be normal, down to the very air we breathe.

As painfully overwhelming as it is now, it also opens the way for a different future.

What does the road ahead look like for Melissa, for us, for the country? How can we honor the many who died?

We need to be better, Melissa said.

For her right now, that means knowing how we can care for people who are gravely ill.

Whether it be through the plasma or medicine, these people, they suffered, whether or not we want to believe it or not, they suffered. They are hooked up to these ventilators and yes, they are sedated, but nobody deserves to be suffering like that, she said.

It means facing the heart of the coronavirus crisis. We just need to be better because everythings just so uncertain with it, she said, and we shouldnt be living in constant fear for the rest of our lives because were afraid to walk outside and breathe air.

For all of us, it means more vigilance. More being better. Never. Letting. This. Happen. Again.

At the moment, the crush of the crisis wields its power.

So many, many sympathy cards.

I was trying to sit there and count them yesterday and it was just insane. The basket is filled with cards, she said, speaking with me during her maternity leave as her 3-month-old went down for a nap.

The things that people say about him, it touches you, and its heartbreaking all in the same time because his life was cut so short.

Melissas daughter, Adrianna, will know her uncle by photographs. She wont grow up as his goddaughter. She wont see that smile always lighting up the room when Dan was around.

He was only 30 years old. A personal fitness trainer. The one his parents would joke was the good child, who never got into any trouble.

My brother was my best friend, she said. Hes my only sibling, so I am having a hard time with that. I love him with all of my heart.

If she had to pick one defining memory, it had to be that smile and sense of humor.

He was always joking and he always had these one-liners that he would say, said Melissa, who teaches in Stamford and lives in Ridgefield.

Thats what I am going to remember and miss the most.

No more knocks at the door to see her and his niece, as he would do so often shortly after she was born. No texts, no FaceTime. The last conversation, by text, will stay with her.

Following a doctors advice, she said, Dan was resting up at home in Norwalk after symptoms took hold. She urged him to keep moving, not to lie down too much for fear it wouldnt be good for his lungs. He sent what would be his final words to her.

Well, what should I do? he wrote.

The answer proved to be tragically complicated.

Dan would later find himself in Norwalk Hospital, placed on a ventilator, fighting for his life - all following the initial onset of a cough and fever. Even more shocking given Melissa saying he was healthy, with no known pre-existing conditions.

The family desperately tried to line up donated plasma. But a blood clot formed in his groin, his organs began to fail and, on April 11, Dan died.

Among its many horrors, COVID-19 robs families of a proper goodbye.

On what would turn out to be their last Zoom call with Dan, the screen faced the hospital room ceiling so as not to upset the family for what they might see, but to also help them remember him the way they wanted to. That smile.

We were basically in the beginning telling him to breathe and to keep fighting and at one point the doctor had called and basically said his body is shutting down and theres really not much more we can do, Melissa said.

After we spoke to the doctor, instead of telling him to keep fighting, we basically told him its OK, you tried your hardest, we love you, if you need to let go, let go, we dont want you to be in pain. We love you, were sorry.

We feel like he was by himself, we werent there.

Still, she believes Dan heard his loved ones. The doctor told them they were going to wean him off the drug treatments and give him only pain medications, she said, and before the doctor even went in there to give him the pain medications, he passed.

I truly dont believe in things like that, but just the fact that kind of happened, gave me a little bit  of comfort that maybe he did hear us.

Going forward I still feel like for myself, and I feel like a lot of people, are just going to be scared for a long time because theres just so many unknowns with this.

At Hearst Connecticut Media Group we are devoting todays editions, in our eight daily newspapers and websites, to further exploring some of those unknowns. To look at The Road Ahead: Life After COVID-19.

How do we learn from the lives lost? How can we build a better future - through innovation, preparedness - together? Will the crisis, can it, lead to a better world?

With almost 200 journalists across the state, we have teamed up with some of the foremost experts in key areas that matter most to you. You will find an abundance of stories and expert voices, including our own columnists and student journalists, writing on everything from education to the economy.

We are taking an in-depth look at the lessons learned, the innovation that could lie ahead and the obstacles in front of us. How do we avoid more loss and how do we further honor the lives of thousands in Connecticut, and so many more around the world, who lost theirs?

If one thing is clear, we have to move forward with care - together.

I feel like unfortunately until people have this really hit home they may not be taking it seriously, and they need to because here we have a 30-year-old man who was a fitness instructor who went to his physical and had his doctor tell him that he was super healthy, to have this and then die from it, it can literally happen to anybody, Melissa said, referencing recent protests calling on the state to reopen.

I dont want them to experience that, in terms of where I stand, as having a loved one pass away. But I also dont want to get sick myself. People need to realize that if its not you, it could be somebody you know.

No more sympathy cards.

Wendy Metcalfe is the vice president of content and editor-in-chief at Hearst Connecticut Media Group.
KAMPALA  The Ministry of Health has on Friday May 1 confirmed two new cases of coronavirus, taking Ugandas tally to 85 cumulative infections.

The Ministry of Health explained that the two infections were identified following the analysis of 2,953 samples taken from truck drivers and community.

The confirmed cases include a 35 year old Kenyan male truck driver who arrived to Uganda via Busia border post.

Our tracking system shows that he returned to Kenya, the ministry said in a statement on Twitter adding that other case is a Ugandan male from Masindi District.

The ministry said the Masindi man was identified during the rapid assessment survey that the Ministry is conducting to establish community transmission of COVID-19.

Out of the 2,454 samples tested, all 399 samples from the community tested negative for COVID-19

To-date, 27 truck drivers have tested positive for COVID-19; of these 17 truck drivers have returned to their respective countries while 10 are admitted at different hospitals in Uganda

A total of 15 active COVID-19 cases are admitted in hospital and in stable condition, the ministry said

In Africa, the coronavirus had infected at least 39,910 and killed over 1,640, according to Worldometers count on May 1.

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Friday, May 1 marked a new stage in the social crime being perpetrated against the American people, as President Trump allowed federal guidelines recommending sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic to expire. Dozens of state governments, with Washingtons blessing, have lifted lockdown orders, allowing stores, restaurants and even movie theaters to reopen, and ordering workers to go back to their jobs on pain of having their unemployment benefits cut off.

The loosening of restrictions is being justified with claims that the COVID-19 pandemic is waning and people can now begin to work, shop, dine out, travel and go to church as they once did, without undue risk. But that is not actually the expectation of the Trump administration. On the contrary, press inquiries have found that the federal government expects an enormous spike in the death toll and is making preparations accordingly.

A body lays on a stretcher next to a bicycle before being prepared for cremation at a funeral home in Manresa, Barcelona province, Spain, April 14, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Felipe Dana]

NBC News reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) last month placed orders for well over 100,000 new body bags to hold victims of COVID-19. The Department of Homeland Security, of which FEMA is part, placed a $5.1 million purchase order with a California company.

The report continues: Around the same time it wrote the contract for the body bags, FEMA opened up bidding to provide about 200 rented refrigerated trailers for locations around the country. The request for proposals specifies a preference for 53-foot trailers, which, at 3,600 cubic feet, are the largest in their class.

FEMA is not the only agency preparing for death on a scale that dwarfs what has already transpired in the past two months. The Veterans Administration, according to multiple reports and documents, paid a supply distributor nearly $300,000 for body bags to be delivered April 30, the last of eight contracts awarded to the same company totaling $12.1 million. Assuming the VA paid a price similar to FEMAs, $12.1 million would buy it nearly 240,000 bags. For the nine million patients seen by the VA in a typical year, that assumes a death rate of about 2.7 percent.

Even these staggering figures could turn out to be gross underestimates of the wave of death that is coming. The Center for Disease Research and Policy in Minnesota projected Thursday that COVID-19 would likely spread in a series of outbreaks over the next year, until 60 to 70 percent of the population is infected. This would drive the death toll into the millions.

NBC News added that an unnamed senior White House official had confirmed in an email that the Trump administration is taking into account the dangers associated with loosening stay-at-home restrictions. The likelihood of a greatly increased death toll was discussed at a meeting April 25 attended by FEMA Director Pete Gaynor; Brett Giroir, a retired admiral who is assistant secretary of health and human services for health; Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, vice director for logistics of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is the supply-chain lead for the coronavirus task force; and staff from the White House National Security Council.

The preponderance of military and security officials is itself an indication that the federal government regards the coronavirus pandemic not primarily as a health crisis, but as a threat to public order, in which the police and military could be called on to play the main role in suppressing public opposition as the lethal consequences of the back-to-work campaign demanded by corporate America become evident.

Of the 50 US states, some 23, with a combined population of about 115 million people, will have lifted most coronavirus restrictions by Monday. Another eight states, with a combined population of 53 million, have announced plans to follow suit by mid-May.

While this will leave 19 states with 161 million people still under some form of lockdown, the stay-at-home orders have many loopholeswitness Boeing calling 27,000 workers back to their jobs in the Seattle, Washington area despite state restrictions, and plans to reopen auto plants in Michigan.

Whatever protection the lockdowns provided is being steadily eroded as Democratic and Republican governors kowtow to the demands of giant corporationsbacked by fascistic displays like the armed right-wingers in the Michigan state Capitol Thursdaythat factories and other workplaces be reopened. The end of restrictions in 31 states will accelerate the penetration of the virus into rural areas only lightly touched so far, as well as providing a new source of infection for those parts of the country where the worst impact of the pandemic was thought to have passed.

Statements from both federal and state governments reveal the class character of the drive to reopen the economy and restart the engine of capitalismthe extraction of profit from the labor of workers.

After reporting Thursday another mammoth increase in claims for unemployment compensation3.84 million, bringing the six-week total to more than 30 millionthe US Department of Labor warned that when factories and workplaces reopen, workers must go back to work or be cut off benefits, regardless of health concerns.

Barring unusual circumstances, the agency said, a request that a furloughed employee return to his or her job very likely constitutes an offer of suitable employment that the employee must accept.

State governments were even blunter. The Texas Workforce Commission said that to be eligible for unemployment benefits, workers must be willing and able to work all the days and hours required for the type of work you are seeking.

Texas experienced its worst day of the pandemic, with 50 deaths and 1,000 new infections on April 30, the day before Governor Greg Abbotts order to reopen the state took effect. Abbott rescinded broader lockdowns set by local officials in Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, which currently have the bulk of Texas coronavirus cases.

In Missouri, Governor Mike Parsons said, When we open the state up, if youve got to go back to work, if your boss calls and says you have to go back to work, you have to go back to work.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said, If youre an employer and you offer to bring your employee back to work and they decide not to, thats a voluntary quit Therefore, they would not be eligible for the unemployment money. Meanwhile, in Sioux City, Iowa, which had only 158 cases of coronavirus as of April 23, the total jumped six-fold in a week, to 851, largely because of outbreaks among workers at local meatpacking plants.

The meatpacking industry provides some of the most horrific indications of what is to come as millions of workers now on layoff are forced back to work under threat of losing unemployment compensation and the ability to pay rent and feed their families.

At a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Wallula, Washington, the largest in that state, 15 percent of workers tested positive for coronavirus after one died. At another Tyson plant in Logansport, Indiana, the virus has infected 890 of 2,200 workers.

But on Monday, Trump ordered meatpacking plants that had closed to be reopened, while suggesting that the employers needed liability protections against likely claims by workers infected on the job. One columnist observed acidly, If you work in a meatpacking plant, by order of President Trump, you are officially considered less essential than the steak youre cutting up.

Through the back-to-work campaign, the capitalist ruling elite aims to impose the burden of the coronavirus pandemic, both economically and in terms of suffering and death, on the working class. It seeks the normalization of death, the acceptance that infection and mass death are simply part of lifeat least for working people. Hence the ongoing efforts to downplay or cover up the death toll, to create a manufactured popular movement against lockdowns, and to establish a legal basis for denying unemployment and other benefits so as to starve workers back to their jobs.

The Democrats and Republicans have only tactical differences over the methods to be employed, while they agree on the basic goal, because they are capitalist parties determined to defend the capitalist system. The working class can defend its social rights, including the right to life itself, only by a resolute break with the entire capitalist political structure and the building of a mass political movement for socialism.
A woman handing out packages of donated food to people in need at the Pan Y Cafe in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on April 14, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Massachusetts Governor Orders Residents to Wear Masks in Public

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday ordered all residents to wear masks in public.

Covering our faces when we cannot practice social distancing is an easy, critically important, and essential step that everyone can take to stop or slow the spread, Baker told reporters at a press conference.

Anyone over the age of 2 must don a mask or face covering in public places where maintaining proper social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are not possible, according to a statement from Bakers office.

The order (pdf) primarily applies to people entering businesses that werent forced to shut down under Bakers harsh stay-at-home order, which was recently extended to May 18.

Outdoor spaces, though, are also specified in the order.

Anti-shutdown protesters take part in a Liberate Massachusetts rally outside the home of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker in Swampscott on April 23, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

It also applies to people using Uber, other transportation services, or mass transit.

Anything that covers a persons nose and mouth counts as a covering, with a mask, scarf, and bandana listed as examples.

Baker asked people not to use medical-grade masks, saying they should be reserved for healthcare workers and first responders.

Young children under the age of 2 and persons with difficulty breathing, or those who are unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance, are exempt from the order.

People who decline to wear masks or coverings because of a medical condition wont be required to produce documents verifying the condition. But a business can block an individual from entering if that person refuses to wear a mask or covering.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker speaks during the National Clean Energy Summit 9.0 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 13, 2017. (Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for National Clean Energy Summit)

Baker cited guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which last month reversed its recommendations and said people should wear masks or coverings when in public places like grocery stores where so-called social distancing is difficult to maintain.

Massachusetts as of Friday had 64,311 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the third-highest number in the nation. The state does not release the number of people who have recovered from the disease, which is caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus from China.

The state is still seeing one of the highest number of daily cases in the country, with 2,106 new cases reported.

Of the 3,716 patients currently in hospitals, 947 patients are in intensive care units. The state has recorded 3,716 deaths linked to COVID-19.

Most of the hospitalizations and deaths are among the elderly or those with underlying health conditions like obesity and kidney disease.

The vast majority of people who get the CCP virus eventually recover without requiring hospital care. A significant portion experience no symptoms.

Symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, and aches and pains.
The Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN) on Saturday mourned the death of Tony Allen, a famous drummer and former musical director of late Fela Kuti band Africa 70.

Obi Casmir, President of PMAN, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, described the death of Allen as painful.

Its so unfortunate that we have lost another music legend during this period.

We are just getting over the death of Manu Dibango, who died in March and now Tony Allen.

We sincerely regret the demise of a pioneer Nigerian drummer, Tony Allen.

The death has hit us hard and in a painful way, Casmir, aka Voombastic Uncle P said.

NAN reports that Allen died in Paris on April 30 at the age of 79.

According to the PMAN boss, Allens drumming is the genres backbone, a music machine behind the drums.

READ ALSO:

He would be missed and always remembered.

In the 1960s and up till late 1970s, he was indeed a talent whose impact was significant during his time.

His key role in late Felas Afro beat was so powerful that when their collaboration ended, it took Fela four drummers to replace him in the band, Casmir told NAN.

While urging the family and the music industry to bear the irreparable loss, Voombastic Uncle P prayed that the soul of late Allen should rest in perfect peace.

NAN reports that the Lagos-born Allen recorded no fewer than 30 albums with late Fela Kuti Africa 70, who also died in 1997 at the age of 58 of AIDs related complications. (NAN)
Most of the Ukrainian citizens undergo treatment in Italy

164 Ukrainians are undergoing treatment for coronavirus infection abroad.

This was reported on the page "Coronavirus in the world - promptly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine" on Facebook.

It is noted that most Ukrainians undergo treatment in Italy. 121 citizens of Ukraine are treated there. In addition, Ukrainians are treated in Greece, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany and other countries.

In total, 45 Ukrainians recovered from coronavirus abroad.

Seven Ukrainian citizens abroad have died since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic.

As we reported before, over the past day in Russia, 7933 cases of infection with the coronavirus infection Covid-19 were recorded.

Also, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin has been infected with Covid-19. He said it himself, during the video conference between the Cabinet and President Vladimir Putin

Mishustin also told Putin that the government would keep on working as usual, and First Deputy Premier Andrei Belousov will be serving as the Acting Prime Minister, while Mishustin remains in self-isolation. The Russian leader approved Belousov's candidacy.
(Photo : Kai Wenzel on Unsplash) A Chronic Viral Disease Silently Kills Honey Bees Causing Weird "Greasy" Abdomens And Inability To Fly: Will It Attack Us Too? (Photo : Eric Ward on Unsplash) A Chronic Viral Disease Silently Kills Honey Bees Causing Weird "Greasy" Abdomens And Inability To Fly: Will It Attack Us Too?

Honey bees are being silently killed by a chronic viral disease as some have been observed to be unable to fly and have weird greasy abdomens, experts say.

According to a report from The Dailymail, a new study has revealed that honey bees in the UK are suffering from a deadly viral disease that is silently sweeping bee populations in Wales and England.

The honey bee colonies found by British scientists have been infected by a viral disease called "chronic bee paralysis virus" or CBPV which increased nearly 200-fold between 2007 and 2017.

Abnormal trembling, a disturbing loss of hair leading to odd shiny abdomens, and the inability to fly are being experienced by the honey bee colonies causing most of the insects to succumb to the virus.

The honey bees infected by CBPV die within a week leading to a pile of dead bees outside the beehives.

After being recorded in one country in 2007, new data has shown that more than 24,000 beekeepers reported that CBPV is present in their bee farms located in 45 counties in England and Wales.

The deadly virus which is believed to have spread by the queen bees imported from overseas can potentially threaten Britain's honey production.

Silent Killer? Honey bees are secretly being wiped out by a chronic viral disease

According to The Dailymail, researchers have reported that the disease cases caused by CBPV are becoming more frequent.

"Our analysis clearly confirms that chronic bee paralysis has been emerging across England and Wales since 2007 and that apiaries owned by professional beekeepers are at greater risk of the disease," said Giles Budge, a professor from Newcastle University's School of Natural Environment Sciences.

"We do not yet know why colonies of bee farmers are at increased risk from this damaging disease, but many management practices are known to differ significantly between amateur and professional apiarists," he further explained in the report.

The study revealed that the Western honey bee, also known as Apis Mellifera, is one of the pollinator species threatened by the viral disease. They are also vulnerable to parasites, land-use intensification, and chemical exposure putting the bees in a dangerous status.

It was explained in the report that CBPV is an RNA virus that increases the death rate of the honey bees, weakening the pollination of the insects and their honey production.

The viral disease is carried by the infected adult honey bees for up to six days before symptoms are identified. Since infected honey bees cannot be quickly confirmed by the beekeepers, the infected bees can infect other bees in the hive and even transmit the disease to other distant colonies.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Lufthansa and the German federal government are currently negotiating over state aid for the struggling airline. The sum of 9 billion is being discussed. Assistance for Lufthansa's subsidiaries in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium is also being discussed in Vienna, Bern and Brussels. According to press reports, the Swiss government has already committed to providing 4 billion in loan guarantees.

Lufthansa A388 airplane [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

The main issue in dispute is how much influence over the company the state will enjoy. The state could purchase the struggling company twice over for 9 billion, according to its current market value. If the German state participates in Lufthansa through the purchasing of shares it would enjoy significant influence over decision-making. By contrast, if it packages the assistance as loans, this would not be the case.

Lufthansa chief executive Karsten Spohr wants to limit state influence as much as possible. In an interview with the news magazine Die Z eit, he said, If the Federal Republic wants to have too much influence over operational business matters, it could perhaps force Austria, then Switzerland and Belgium, and Bavaria and Hesse to get involved. It would then be extremely hard to direct the company, he added. If Lufthansa wants to continue to be successful in the future, it must still be able to decide its fate in a corporate manner.

To avoid state intervention, Lufthansa is threatening to declare insolvency. Such a procedure would allow the current management to restructure the company at the expense of existing collective agreements and pension commitments, suppliers and creditors. At the beginning of the month, Lufthansa announced up to 18,000 job cuts. This number would be increased significantly with a declaration of insolvency.

The international air travel industry has come to a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus crisis. Instead of transporting 350,000 passengers per day, Lufthansa was carrying just 3,000 in early April, as Spohr stated in a video message to the company's 138,000 employees. The number of flights has been cut by 97 percent. The airline is losing 1 million per hour, even though most workers are receiving short-time work payments from the state. Spohr estimates that it will take several years for air travel to return to pre-crisis levels.

The situation is similar for Lufthansa's European competitors. British Airways plans to eliminate 12,000 jobs, almost one third of its 42,000 employees. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) plans to reduce its workforce by half and cut 5,000 full-time jobs. Norwegian Air expects that most of its fleet of planes will be grounded for at least 12 months. Air France will receive a 7 billion bailout, while KLM will get between 2 billion and 4 billion. Due to the fact that the governments in Paris and The Hague disagree over the details, the airlines, which have been merged since 2004, could separate.

The main issue in the scramble for state aid is ultimately who will emerge from the crisis strongest and secure market share from its competitors. Although almost all state-owned airlines are now privatised, the existence of a national airline still remains an advantage for each countrys ruling elite in global competition.

In this struggle, which is being waged at the expense of the working class, the trade unions are proving themselves to be loyal advocates of their own national interests. They are appealing for state aid, playing off workers and companies from one country against another, and are prepared to sacrifice the interests of union members for their company.

In Germany, this course is being pursued by the service trade union Verdi, whose member Christine Behle is deputy chairwoman of Lufthansas supervisory board, and the profession-based unions Cockpit Association and Organisation of United Cabin Crew (UFO).

A petition directed to the federal government, which was initiated by Verdi and Cockpit, and signed by numerous works councillors and staff representatives, states: If Germany as a centre of air travel is to have a future, the air travel industry needs state aid.

The petition links the demand for state aid with job guarantees for employees: We expect the securing of jobs and incomes with state aid for the air travel industry. State aid is: when it protects everyone. But this is empty rhetoric. Verdi in particular has repeatedly shown its readiness to support all attacks on its members, including most recently the shutting down of the Lufthansa subsidiary GermanWings earlier this month.

The UFO addressed a letter to Dear Federal Chancellor, dearest Mrs. Dr. Merkel. In it, the union strongly advocates for state aid, writing: The survival of the crane airline [Lufthansas corporate logo] depends to a large extent on whether and how the federal government is prepared to strengthen our wings.

Unlike Spohr, UFO is urging the state to intervene as a shareholder. The trade union says it expects the government to stand up for the interests of the workers, writing to Merkel, A rescue of Lufthansa that only serves to enforce long-demanded concessions on worker rights, social security and collective agreements cannot be in the interest of the government, and certainly not in your interest.

The union urgently appeals to the chancellor not to leave the social security of the workers during and after the pandemic to company management and the supervisory board alone, but to participate actively in Lufthansa. It pledges to help Lufthansa become profitable again in the future, writing: As a trade union, we will take our role in this very seriously and always keep an eye on business performance.

The fact that UFO is begging to the federal government for it to fulfil the interests of its members is a sign of its utter bankruptcy. Merkel and the governments she has led have ensured in Germany and throughout Europe that wages were cut, health services slashed to the bone, and the rich made richer. Their austerity programmes have ruined countries like Greece. They do not represent the interests of the workers, but of capital.

UFO attached its pleading letter to a detailed position paper on possible state aid in the air travel industry, which calls on the government to assume an active role, and describes the reconstruction of air travel as a chance for reform in transport infrastructure.

Among UFO's goals is climate change targets, and a new balance between air, rail and road travel and the reduction of traffic on unprofitable, short routes. All in all, this amounts to a plea to strengthen Germany and Lufthansa at the expense of its European competitors and their workforces.

The position paper states, The chance is on offer at the international level to strengthen Germany as a hub for air travel by supporting domestic carriers against competitors. In the long-term, Germany could be strengthened as a location for air traffic, trade and tourism.

The main reason for UFO's desire to end short-haul flights is because they are a loss-making business for Lufthansa and served by competitors at lower prices. Lufthansa makes its profits on mid-range and long-haul routes. Climate change is merely a useful pretext to this end.

The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are threatening hundreds of millions of workers around the world. The air travel industry in particular is being hit especially hard. But the deadly virus is not the cause of this crisis. It was recognised in time and could have been contained. But it struck a capitalist society whose ruling elite is only interested in rising stock markets and the plundering of all existing resources.

Airline workers can only defend themselves if they unite internationally and take up the struggle for a socialist programme. The billions in state aid now flowing into the accounts of the corporations and banks must be deployed to contain the pandemic and overcome its social consequences. The airlines must be expropriated and placed under workers control. The same applies to the banks, hedge funds and the wealth of the super-rich. Only in this way can all of the available resources be used to meet urgent social needs.
Shelagh Vintage Club are holding a fundraising event to raise money to provide, our local Frontline Hospital Group Workers in Co Louth, with essential PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic.

75 year old, Peter Rooney, along with other club members are partaking in a 24 hour endurance single tractor drive in a local field on a Ferguson T20.

The event will take place this Saturday May 2nd at 12pm.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions and for the safety of our members, all government guidelines will be strictly adhered too.

All funds will go directly to provide PPE for the Frontline Hospital Group Workers in Co Louth to help in some small way in protecting our heroes in our community.

Any donation no matter how small would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your support and Stay Safe!
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that schools and colleges across the state will remain closed for the rest of the academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a decision that will impact nearly 4.2 million students.

"It's critical that we protect our students from this virus, and given the current circumstances we are in, we do not think it is possible to put the necessary precautions in place that would allow us to re-open schools this academic year," Cuomo said at his daily briefing on Friday.

"All schools and colleges will continue to provide distance learning, meal delivery and child care services for the remainder of the school year, the governor said.

The academic session will go till June and schools re-open around September for the next session.

The New York state school system includes 700 public school districts, 4,800 schools, 1,800 private schools, 89 State University of New York and City University of New York campuses and 100 private campuses for a total of 4.2 million students.

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

Cuomo said in re-opening the schools and colleges, the authorities have to ensure that social distancing measures are practised and that the public transportation system that ferries students to and from their homes is safe for use.

"Given the circumstances we are in and the precautions that would have to be put in place to come up with a plan to reopen schools with all those new protocols: How do you operate a school that socially distances with masks, without gatherings, with a public transportation system that has a lower number of students on it? How would you get that plan up and running? We do not think it is possible to do that in a way that would keep our children, students, and educators safe. So, we are going to have the schools remain closed for the rest of the year, he said.

Cuomo is also directing all schools and colleges to create re-opening plans that re-imagine school facilities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These plans should consider how schools can monitor the spread of COVID-19, how to reinforce student safety, when and how to resume extracurricular activities, protocols for special student populations, steps to ensure students mental health, alternative academic calendars, among other considerations.

The schools will also be required to continue meal programs and child care services for essential workers. The state will make a decision about summer school programming by the end of May.

The governor confirmed 3,942 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing New York state's total number of confirmed cases to 3,08,314.

Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had earlier sparred over reopening of schools.

Last month, de Blasio had said the schools will remain closed for the reminder of the academic year but Cuomo had said the mayor did not get to decide when the schools would be opened.

Cuomo had said reopening schools, businesses and transportation had to be coordinated regionally because you can't restart the economy without fully restarting schools.

Am I, as I sit here, prepared to say what we'll be doing in June? No. I do not know what we will be doing in June. Nobody knows what we will be doing in June, Cuomo had said.

New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, has been seeing a decline in the number of daily hospitalisations, ICU admissions and fatalities.

Cuomo said another 289 people died in the state from the virus, the first time the state's one-day death toll fell below 300 since March 30.

The number of deaths, 289, is lower than it has been, but still tragic and terrible, he said.

New hospitalisations for the virus remained in the mid-900s for a fourth day, a plateau that Cuomo said he found troubling.

Right now, we're at about 1,000 new cases per day, in the 900s: 954, 933, 970, 973. That looks like the number is flattening, is plateauing at about 900, 1000 cases. That is still too high a number of new cases to have everyday. Not where we were, a lot better than where we were for sure, but 1,000 new cases every day is still a very high infection rate. It's still a burden on the hospital system, he said.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
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The number of people in Britain who have died because of Covid-19 so far could be as high as 45,000, a data expert has today warned.

Statistician Jamie Jenkins says the figure reflects the difference in the number of people who have died since the pandemic began in Britain, compared to the average number of deaths during the same period over the last five years.

Latest government figures show that 27,510 people in Britain are known to have died from Covid-19 - up by 739 on the day before.

But the former head health analyst at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) says figures from the UK's stats authority suggests around 90 per cent of these 'excess deaths' could be related to Covid-19.

Using this data, around 42,000 people in England and Wales and 3,000 in Scotland could have died in ways related to Covid-19 between the start of the pandemic and April 29, he says.

The number of people in Britain who have died because of Covid-19 so far could be as high as 45,000, data expert Jamie Jenkins has warned. Pictured: Mr Jenkins has been producing charts from the ONS statistics

The former head health analyst at the Office of National Statistics (ONS) says figures from the UK's stats authority show there have been around 45,000 excess deaths in Great Britain since the pandemic began, compared to the five year average for the same period. Pictured: Mr Jenkins has been producing charts from the ONS statistics

Jamie Jenkins said deaths in the community are estimated to be similar to deaths in hospitals. Pictured: Mr Jenkins has been producing charts from the ONS statistics

Jamie Jenkins compared the figures published by the Office for National Statistics with NHS England and Public Health Wales statistics to include community and excess deaths related to Covid-19 that haven't been recorded as such

Using the data, around 42,000 people in England and Wales and 3,000 in Scotland could have died in ways related to Covid-19 between the start of the pandemic and April 29, Mr Jenkins says. Pictured: A chart showing the government's death and infection figures

Mr Jenkins, who has been posting daily chart updates on his Twitter account, said his analysis takes into other factors, including a lower number of road deaths due to the reduced traffic while the country is in lockdown.

He says the difference in the excess death figures and the government's official Covid-19 death figures could be due explained by deaths in care homes and the community.

Initially government figures were solely those who died in hospital. But on Wednesday, the government added a further 4,000 deaths in care homes and the community.

Statistician Jamie Jenkins, a former head health analyst at the Office of National Statistics (ONS), believes Covid-19 deaths in Britain could be as high as 45,000

Mr Jenkins said: 'Previously the figures included those who died in hospital who had a mention of Covid-19 on their death certificate.

'But if people were not being tested in care homes for example, and doctors were reluctant at first to mention it if they didn't know, those will not be marked in the figures.

'Now the government is testing in care homes, the figures are likely to come more in line with the excess death figures.'

Mr Jenkins' analysis of the figures shows that on average there were 12,741 in the first week of the year over the last five years.

But figures were lower this year, at around 11,900 - something which Mr Jenkins says was down to a weaker strain of seasonal flu.

That trend continued until week 12 of the year, the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when this year's weekly deaths overtook the average.

The 2020 figure then continued to surge up until the last three weeks, where the number of weekly deaths was around 20,000 people - around double the five year average.

Mr Jenkins says the lower then average death rate at the start of the year, from the weaker form of seasonal flu, may have contributed to the higher death rate at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He said: 'We had a very bad flu season in 2015 and 2018 in the UK.

Government includes Covid-19 death figures from outside of hospitals for the first time since outbreak Public Health England (PHE) this week developed a new method of reporting daily COVID-19 deaths, to give a more complete number of those who have died from the virus. The Government's daily figure now include deaths that have occurred in all settings where there has been a positive COVID-19 test, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community in England. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales had already been reporting out of hospital deaths. PHE has since reported an additional 3,811 deaths since the start of the outbreak. Of these, around 70 per cent were outside hospital settings and around 30 per cent were in hospital. The additional hospital deaths have been identified through PHE's laboratory system. The total number of deaths reported by PHE is approximately 17 per cent higher than previous data showed. Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director at PHE, said: 'Every death from COVID-19 is a tragedy. Tracking the daily death count is vital to help us understand the impact of the disease. 'These more complete data will give us a fuller and more up to date picture of deaths in England and will inform the government's approach as we continue to protect the public.' Advertisement

'Going into 2020 it seems, on average, the mortality rate was much lower for flu than the five year average.

'There was around 14,000 fewer deaths this year compared to the five year average prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

'Many of those 14,000 who survived the weaker flu were probably people who would have bee susceptible to Covid-19.'

As reported previously reported by MailOnline, government figures were initially focused on those who died in hospital.

On Wednesday, the government added more than 3,800 deaths from those who had passed away from Covid-19 in care homes and the community

But the figures were at odds with ONS figures, which showed at least 4,996 deaths were recorded in care homes in the two weeks to 24 April.

It comes among a huge increase in testing across the UK.

Last night, Health Secretary Matt Hancock declared at a press briefing that there had been 122,000 tests in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, a huge increase from barely 10,000 at the beginning of April.

Mr Hancock said last night that the next phase of dealing with Covid-19 - which will include more community testing and contact tracing - will allow the Government 'to reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all'.

But it emerged around 40,000 of those tests counted had been posted out to homes and hospitals - and not actually processed.

The government's testing coordinator Prof John Newton this morning told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the target had been met 'whichever way you count it', but warned people 'not to get too hung up on the targets.'

Earlier this week Boris Johnson declared that Britain is 'past the peak' of coronavirus - but urged the public to 'keep going' with lockdown to avoid a fresh outbreak.

So far there have been more than 177,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, with the highest number of new cases coming on April 11, when there was 8719.
Around the world, governments are moving to correct an historical inequality that dates back to the birth of digital media platforms.

In April 2020 alone, Australia and France both announced plans to make sure Google and Facebook pay their fair share, instead of exploiting tax loopholes while making billions of dollars off the back of original content producers.

We, the undersigned publishers representing the vast majority of Canadian newspapers, call on Ottawa to follow the example of France and Australia.

The situation is urgent, with media companies suffering huge advertising revenue declines because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Other governments recognize the need for speedy intervention. Both France and Australia have set deadlines to have mandatory solutions in place by July. That means paying for copyrighted content and sharing the advertising dollars and data that flow from it.

We encourage the Federal Government to follow the advice of its own expert panel set up to review the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts, which recommended similar measures. The model exists. Th e need is clear. Lets apply those principles of fairness in Canada, and do it now.

Respectfully,

John Boynton

CEO, Torstar

Bob Cox

Publisher, Winnipeg Free Press

Phillip Crawley

Publisher and CEO, The Globe and Mail

James C. Irving

Vice President, BNI

Jonathon J.L. Kennedy

President and CEO, Glacier Media Group

Pierre-Elliott Levasseur

President, La Presse

Andrew MacLeod

CEO, Postmedia

Bryan Myles

CEO, Le Devoir

Rick OConnor

President and CEO, Black Press Media

Lyne Robitaille

President and Editor, Le Journal de Quebec

Lyne Robitaille

President and Editor, Le Journal de Montreal

Read more about:
Filing of cases in the Supreme Court will undergo a radical change with the introduction and operationalisation of e-filing, chairperson of the e-committee of Supreme Court, Justice DY Chandrachud said in a telephonic interview.

The work towards this is at an advanced stage and the system is expected to be rolled out soon, he added.

We have been working on the e-filing module for the past few months. I utilized the lockdown period to have our entire team of the registrar and almost eleven data programmers work continuously on it. The module is now being tested for its stability. We are at an advanced stage and will be commencing e-filing of all cases in the Supreme Court in the near future, justice Chandrachud said.

He added that the concerns of all stakeholders, especially lawyers, will be taken into account and their suggestions incorporated before the system is finally rolled out.

We are conversant of the need to ensure that we have the confidence of all segments of the Bar. We will not start any process until we have created that understanding at the bar and ensure that they understand what we are doing.

In order to ensure that the Bar is taken on board, the court might host a webinar for lawyers in coming days to unveil the module, understand their concerns and consider their suggestions.

Once that is done, the system will be put through an audit before it is finally rolled out, Chandrachud added.

So what are the immediate advantages of e-filing?

With the introduction of e-filing, people will be able to file cases in the Supreme Court 24x7 and it wont be restricted to working hours of the court. Curing of defects in the petitions will also be through electronic mode. It will make life much easier for litigants, lawyers, law clerks and of course for our registry staff also, he said.

The top court has also begun the process of digitization of pending cases. This did pose some challenges, Chandrachud said.

One of the technological issues faced was to ensure that the digitized files of pending cases are brought on the same platform as the fresh cases which will be filed using that platform. We have been able to streamline that. Development of e-payment gateway for payment of court fees also posed some challenges.

The Supreme Court , in 2017, launched the initiative of digitization and online filing but the project went into cold storage after the retirement of then Chief Justice of India, JS Khehar.

Perhaps it all happened very suddenly and was done without the system being stabilized. We cannot say overnight that we are going to have e-filing, or that everything is going to be digitized. We cannot dump that on litigants and lawyers. That is also why I have not kept a cut-off date (for launch) so as to obviate the problems which arose in the past. We will ensure that until lawyers get familiar with the system and their clerks are in a position to take over the system we will do the handholding at the Supreme Court. We are making it as user-friendly as possible, added Chandrachud

Some high courts have also taken up initiatives for digitizing their records of disposed of and pending cases.

Now that has to be coupled with e-filing so that both fresh cases, and disposed of and pending cases are brought on the same platform. But there should be a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the benefit of all high courts and the district judiciary.

The e-committee at the Supreme Court will soon constitute a panel of experts from the private sector and government agencies who will help draw up a standard operating procedure for digitization across the nation.

Once that is done, each high court can utilise that protocol and do that process of digitsation. Once e-filing starts in Supreme Court, it will catch up in a big way in high courts, said Chandrachud

The Supreme Courts first major tryst with technology happened on March 24 when the Covid-19 pandemic led to a national lockdown. Hearings since then have been happening through video conferencing but many issues have arisen regarding the same.

We were confronted with a situation almost overnight when lockdown was announced and we could not have court hearings. So instead of barring access to justice completely, we thought that the next best option was to have hearings through video conferencing, Chandrachud said.

One concern flagged by lawyers and media is regarding violation of open court hearing when it comes to video conferencing.

Justice Chandrachud agreed that open court hearing is one of the fundamental precepts of our system but said that crowd is regulated even in physical proceeding in open courts.

Open court proceedings are open from two perspectives  first, free access for reporting to media, and second, that access to court rooms should be available to the members of the public who have an interest in the proceedings. We cannot have, say 5,000 people coming into a court room because we have space constraints.

He said that the objective must be to ensure that the court does not detract from the fundamental principles of an open court.

That is not to say that anybody who wants a link to the hearing will be entitled to get it. Technology also has constraints. As long there is no bar on media on one hand and members of public who would want to hear the matter of public interest, I think the principle of open court room is going to be facilitated.

Justice Chandrachud was part of the Supreme Court bench which passed an order on April 6 legalising use of video conferencing to hear cases during Covid-19 lockdown.

We gave legal sanctity to video conferencing by an overarching judicial order which sort of covered all high courts in the country. But we left it to the discretion of every high court on various nuances because we did not want to handhold the high courts and foreclose their discretion in adopting technology which they felt was best suited to their purpose.

The e-committee of the Supreme Court has now finalised model rules on video conferencing.

These rules are being circulated to all high court chief justices for adoption so as to ensure uniformity in video conferencing but subject to such situational modifications as may be necessary from state to state, said Chandrachud

However, he added that video conferencing is not a replacement for physical hearings.

A court is a physical space. Video conferencing and technology in my opinion are an amazing supplement to the functioning of courts. It can be used to examine a witness who is abroad, medical experts who might have to travel to give evidence and for disposal of petty cases which do not require application of judicial mind. Delhi has set up a system for online payment of traffic challans which wipes out a lot of cases from the system.
When North Korea broke a three-week silence on leader Kim Jong Un's public activity on Saturday, it offered no clue where he has been during a period of intense global speculation about his health and whereabouts, or why he was hidden from the public for so long.

Instead, state media simply showed him surrounded by aides and appearing confident at a gleaming fertiliser factory that is believed by outside experts to be part of a secret nuclear-weapons programme.

While much remains a mystery about Kim's condition, the abrupt re-emergence of the relaxed and smiling leader was clear choreography of key messages from the secretive government: Kim is the supreme leader in full control of a drive to improve the impoverished country's food security and economy, amid tough international sanctions and the threat of the new coronavirus.

CENTRE OF WORLD NEWS

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper devoted three of its six pages on Saturday to touting Kim's leadership, crediting him for what it called prosperity and self-reliance.

Reuters could not verify the accuracy of official accounts or the authenticity of pictures from the event.

The sprawling complex is the result of Kim's vision to build a modern factory that will support agricultural production and make progress in automating its chemical industry, Pak Pong Ju, a party elder and a loyal aide to Kim, said at the ribbon-cutting where Kim reappeared.

North Korea is under sanctions over its nuclear-weapons and missile programmes, leaving the country chronically struggling with food shortages, aggravated by bad weather and mismanagement.

Kim's appearance at the Sunchon fertiliser plant, which official media said occurred on Friday, was an example of "field guidance" - a key part of Kim's public persona, where he presides over an event at a major industrial or social project, or at other times at military drills involving strategic weapons such as ballistic missiles or tactical warfare.

His second public visit this year to the site 50 km (30 miles) north of the capital Pyongyang included a sizeable audience of officials from the army, the ruling Workers' Party and the local community. Many wore face masks in an apparent precaution against the coronavirus.

"Agricultural production is a top priority, which has a direct impact on the lives of the people," Koh Yu-hwan, the president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a South Korean government think-tank, said.

Koh said Kim's sudden return was "a strategy to be in the centre of world news without resorting to nuclear or missile tests."

THE ENTOURAGE

The makeup of Kim's entourage featured familiar faces at such events, including two at the forefront of the North's years-long drive to improve economic conditions: former premier Pak Pong Ju, who is Kim's deputy at the State Affairs Commission, and Pak's successor as premier, Kim Jae Ryong.

The pair had accompanied Kim on his last major field guidance, the March groundbreaking of the General Hospital in Pyongyang.

To Kim Jong Un's immediate right on the podium was his sister, Kim Yo Jong, a vice director of the party's Central Committee and unofficially her brother's chief of staff.

SECRET PROJECT

The phosphate fertiliser factory in Sunchon, under construction since June 2017, has received much attention from North Korea's leaders, with multiple visits by Kim Jae Ryong and Pak.

International observers say the plant is part of the North's clandestine pursuit of uranium extraction for use in nuclear weapons, as the mineral can be a byproduct of making phosphate fertiliser.

There is strong evidence the factory is involved in uranium extraction, said a report this month by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, based in California, in line with Kim's policy of pursuing economic and military strength.

The North is motivated to use the plant because it is cost-effective and can easily conceal uranium enrichment, which Pyongyang has long sought to hide, the report said. Uranium enrichment offers an alternative to plutonium processing as a fuel for nuclear weapons.

Bridenstine urged the public to watch the launch online or on TV from home.

We dont want an outbreak, of COVID-19, he told reporters during a remote news conference.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell agreed its a shame more people wont be able to enjoy the launch from Florida. But she encouraged people to be there for the ride with us.

Well be together in spirit more so than in physical space, she said.

Local officials are still mulling whether to allow people on beaches, parks and roadways on launch day.

NASA and SpaceX already are limiting the number of employees near astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Anyone coming close must wear masks and gloves, and their temperatures are checked. The astronauts also are staying away from all but the most important training events.

Hurley said the two are disappointed their families and friends will have to miss the launch in person, but Obviously, its the right thing to do in the current environment. Both astronauts said they have already been in quarantine for weeks along with their wives and young sons, so those few family members can join them at Kennedy for the launch.

The pair will go into full quarantine two weeks before liftoff, first at Johnson Space Center in Houston and then at Kennedy.

In both the NASA and SpaceX flight control rooms, staff will be spaced at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart on launch day and throughout the mission, and plenty of hand sanitizer, masks and gloves will be available.
Hyderabad, May 2 : The Telangana government has permitted real estate developers in Greater Hyderabad to undertake construction activity by securing requisite material and engaging their workers.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar stated this during a tele-conference with top officials and project developers on Saturday.

The development came a day after Ministry of Home Affairs issued orders permitting 'in situ' construction in urban areas, including those falling in red zones.

Representatives of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) and Telangana Real Estate Developers' Association of India (TREDAI) along with senior officials attended the tele-conference.

The Chief Secretary assured the project developers of all necessary support for construction activity by the state administration.

He urged the builders to instil confidence among the workers particularly migrant workers through counseling and extending incentives, facilities and medical care. He said all efforts should be made to ensure that labourers feel comfortable.

On request of the builders, Somesh Kumar said the government will take steps to ensure smooth supply of steel, cement, sand and bricks.

Director General of Police (DGP) Mahender Reddy said that smooth movement of construction goods vehicles will be ensured through three police commissionerates.

Arvind Kumar,IAS, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries, Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar, Racahonkda Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat, Cyberabad Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar attended the tele-conference.
Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, takes his seat to speak at the Fortune's Most Powerful Women's Summit in Washington

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, posting a record quarterly net loss of nearly $50 billion (39.99 billion) on Saturday and saying performance is suffering in several major operating businesses.

Berkshire said most of its more than 90 businesses are facing "relatively minor to severe" negative effects from COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus and now punishing the global economy, with revenue slowing considerably in April even at businesses deemed "essential."

The BNSF railroad saw shipping volumes of consumer products and coal fall, while Geico set aside money for car insurance premiums it no longer expects to collect. Some businesses cut salaries and furloughed workers, and retailers such as See's Candies and the Nebraska Furniture Mart closed stores.

Buffett also allowed Berkshire's cash stake to rise to a record $137.3 billion from $128 billion at the end of 2019.

That reflected the 89-year-old billionaire's inability to make large, "elephant" size acquisitions for his Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, and caution in buying stocks.

Berkshire said it bought only a net $1.8 billion of stocks in the first quarter. It also said it repurchased $1.7 billion of its own stock, but that was less than in the prior quarter.

"Historically, Buffett has been so visible in times of crisis, and encouraged investors to take advantage of market selloffs, but if he doesn't see opportunities even in his own stock, what are we to think?" said Jim Shanahan, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co in St. Louis.

Still, Shanahan said Berkshire is "as well positioned as it can be," reflecting its diverse businesses and substantial liquidity and access to capital. He rates Berkshire "buy."

Berkshire released results before its annual meeting, where Buffett said Berkshire in April sold its "entire positions" in the four largest U.S. airlines: American <AAL.O>, Delta <DAL.N>, Southwest <LUV.N> and United <UAL.O>.

Story continues

Buffett said Berkshire "made a mistake" investing approximately $7 billion to $8 billion in the sector, which was changed "in a very major way" as the pandemic shut down most air travel, through no fault of the airlines.

The meeting was streamed on Yahoo Finance. It was held without the usual "Woodstock for Capitalists," a weekend of festivities that normally draws tens of thousands of people to Omaha, and which Buffett canceled because of the pandemic.

BERKSHIRE STOCK UNDERPERFORMS

Berkshire's first-quarter net loss was $49.75 billion, or $30,653 per Class A share, reflecting $54.52 billion of losses on stock and other investments. Net earnings were $21.66 billion, or $13,209 per share, a year earlier.

An accounting rule requires Berkshire to report unrealized stock losses and gains with net results, causing huge swings that Buffett considers meaningless.

Quarterly operating profit, which Buffett considers a better performance measure, rose 6% to $5.87 billion, or about $3,624 per Class A share, from $5.56 billion, or about $3,388 per share.

But year-earlier results reflected a charge for investments linked to what prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme at a solar company, which Berkshire did not know about.

Operating profit at Berkshire's businesses fell 3%, with declines at BNSF, utilities and energy units, and manufacturing, service and retailing operations such as Precision Castparts, which Berkshire bought for $32.1 billion in 2016.

Geico was able to post a 28% gain in pre-tax underwriting profit because people drove less, resulting in fewer claims for crashes. Still, the insurer, like others, is offering relief on premiums to policyholders.

Vice Chairman Charlie Munger told The Wall Street Journal last month that Berkshire might close a few small businesses.

Investors have been disappointed with Berkshire. Its stock price has fallen 19% in 2020, compared with a 12% drop in the Standard & Poor's 500 <.SPX>, despite Buffett's prediction that Berkshire would outperform in down markets.

The decline came after Berkshire's stock lagged the index by more than 20 percentage points in 2019, including dividends.

In the first quarter, many Berkshire stock investments fared worse than the S&P, including American Express <AXP.N>, Bank of America <BAC.N>, Wells Fargo <WFC.N> and the four airlines.

Falling stocks also caused a $1.39 billion pre-tax loss on derivatives contracts, where Berkshire is betting stock prices will rise over the long haul.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Megan Davies, Edmund Blair, Diane Craft and Cynthia Osterman)
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Agnostic Carl Sagan is typically credited with coining the phrase, Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence[1], which has sometimes been referred to as the Sagan Standard. Sagan may actually have been parroting a fellow scientist  Marcello Truzzi  who said "An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof[2], but nonetheless, the phrase has been pinned to the famous Cosmos TV series creator and has been used many times by atheists to challenge the truth claims put forward by Christians.

When it comes to belief in God, is extraordinary evidence truly needed? If it is, does such a thing exist for God? Lastly, if such a standard is necessary, then does it also apply to the atheist worldview if it makes extraordinary claims?

What is Extraordinary Evidence?

Before we get started, I want to make it clear that there is everything right with a person asking for reasons and evidence to back up a truth claim  any truth claim. Since consequences exist in every area of life for being wrong, its reasonable and rational to ask questions and request verification to validate claims made by others, especially those that directly impact our life. One of Christianitys best defenders  Francis Schaeffer  said, Every honest question must be given an honest answer. It is unbiblical for anyone to say, just believe.[3]

But, do we need extraordinary evidence to believe in God? Before we can answer, we have to know what the skeptic means when they say they want evidence that is extraordinary.

If the unbeliever equates extraordinary with something that is supernatural, the situation becomes untenable as the skeptic is usually asking for evidence to prove another supernatural event like Jesus resurrection. If they require another miracle to validate a prior miracle, then they immerse themselves in an infinite series of requests as the second miracle now needs a third and so on.

If, by extraordinary, the non-Christian means something that is scientifically provable via repeatable experimentation and such, then nothing from history or any singular occurrence can be embraced as being true, and few are willing to assume that much skepticism.

If extraordinary means more than the usual, then is it a matter of quantity (e.g. 100 people saw something vs. just 5) or probability (the mathematical odds being likely or remote), or authority (experts agreeing/disagreeing) or a combination of these and others?

If we use the last definition (more than usual), which is the only one truly feasible out of the three, then I would like you to consider that, where Christianity is concerned, the bases are well covered.

The High Probability that God Exists

The vast majority of the time, when someone says a claim is extraordinary, they are implying that a low probability exists of the statement being true. With God, I strongly believe that the proposition God Exists has a rather high probability of being correct, and therefore, extraordinary evidence is not needed.

Starting at ground zero, no matter how you section reality, you will always end up with something that owes its existence to something other than itself. This means every thinker who asks the question, Why do we have something rather than nothing at all? must go back to something that is the First Cause; something that is not contingent but is eternal. Unless a person believes in an infinite regress of causes (and few, if any do) or self-creation (an analytically false proposition) we must go back to something that has always existed, including those who try to redefine what nothing means as Stephen Hawking[4] and Lawrence Krauss[5] try to do.

This means that both the Christian and atheist embrace an eternal First Cause of our existence. But how do we go about solving the disagreement over what that eternal cause is?

Skeptics often propose an eternal universe or multi-verse as their first cause, however their claim has two problems. First, as Dr. Alexander Vilenkin demonstrated in his State of the Universe paper, which was presented at the 70th birthday celebration of Stephen Hawking that took place in January 2012, all the evidence we have says that the universe had a beginning.[6] Moreover, Vilenkins proof developed with Arvind Borde and Alan Guth, shows that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past space-time boundary. This includes any supposed multi-verse. Since our universe and any multi-verse have a beginning, they have a cause and are not eternal.

How can we understand what our first cause is like? One proven route is by recognizing that the nature of any particular thing can be ascertained by the effects it produces. Science confirms that an effect always resembles its cause in nature or essence (i.e. something cant give what it doesnt have; e.g. If I dont have love, I cant give love), so this acts as a strong guiding principle in helping determine the nature of any first cause.

As an example, when it comes to humanity, the question of how an impersonal, non-conscious, meaningless, purposeless, and amoral universe accidentally created personal, conscious, moral beings who are obsessed with meaning and purpose becomes a real problem for those wanting the universe to be our first cause. No appeal to any work in Abiogenesis can help. A natural-only universe simply hasnt the wherewithal to produce those observed effects.

Instead, it would seem highly probable and reasonable to conclude that any first cause represented by the effects we see is personal (defined as having intent), moral, timeless, changeless, immaterial, intelligent, and incredibly powerful. Sounds an awful lot like the God of the Bible, doesnt it?

So, the situation becomes rather ironic for the skeptic. They must explain why they consider the idea of an eternal universe, for which there is no evidence, completely acceptable, but the idea of an eternal Creator that has good philosophical and empirical evidence preposterous. In the end, it is atheism that actually possesses a low probability of being correct, and not Christianity. Thus, it would seem that if any worldview has a burden to supply extraordinary evidence to back up its claims as to why we and everything else are here, it is atheism.

Extraordinary Evidence for God

Beyond the proposal of a first-cause Creator being reasonable, what else exists when it comes to extraordinary evidence for God?

How about the Anthropic Principle  it demonstrates an anticipatory design in the universe and yields some compelling evidence. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross has calculated that the odds of all anthropic constants (120+ at last count) to be in place for any planet in the universe by luck alone to be one chance in ten with 138 zeros after it. This number becomes even more incredible when one realizes there are only 1070 atoms in the entire universe.[7]

While critics have tried to shoot holes in the fine-tuning argument, theyve failed pretty miserably leaving us with some pretty extraordinary evidence to support the claim of a cosmic Designer.

Next, because Ive been a database engineer and software executive for decades, Im constantly amazed at the enormous amounts of information (not data) that is contained within life. Even Richard Dawkins admits that the message found in just the cell nucleus of an amoeba has more information than all thirty volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica, with the entire amoeba itself having as much information in its DNA as 1,000 complete sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica.[8]

The important thing to understand is that the makeup of these entities is not random, but rather the information is highly organized, indicating an intelligent source. If an archaeologist can walk into a cave and ascertain from a few scratches on the wall that an intelligent source was there, it seems to me that with all the information surging through our bodies, we have some pretty extraordinary evidence for the claim of a supernatural Creator.

What about the Bible  is there anything there that speaks to a supernatural source?

While studying engineering, statistics, etc., in college, I was confronted with and blown away by the prophecies contained within the Bible. Prophecies such as the destruction of Tyre (Ezek. 26:1-16), the regathering of Israel in our lifetime after thousands of years of dispersion (Is. 11:11-12; 66:7-8), Daniels prophecies about the rise and fall of Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and specific leaders such as Alexander the Great and Antiochus Epiphanies (Dan. 7:1-8; Dan. 8, Dan. 11) are so specific and on the mark that the only way skeptics have tried to refute them is by saying they were written after the fact. However, good historical investigation proves their claims to be false.[9]

Moreover, the prophecies about the coming of Jesus are simply astonishing. Over 100 distinct prophecies about Christ hundreds of years before His birth were made, which all came true. Peter Stoner, in his book Science Speaks, calculates the odds of just eight prophecies being accidentally fulfilled in the life of one man to be 1017 or one hundred quadrillion.[10] Mathematicians point out that anything which exceeds 1050 power is the exact same thing as zero chance, and this probability is exceeded with 20 fulfilled prophecies (and remember, Jesus fulfilled over 100).

Concerning Bible prophecy, Blaise Pascal wrote: "I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatens unbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this; every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religion wherein prophecies are fulfilled; and that is what every one cannot do."[11] It seems to me we have some pretty extraordinary evidence to substantiate the supernatural nature of the Bible and the God behind that Bible.

I could continue, but you get the idea. I think Christianity has some pretty extraordinary evidence on its side.

Extraordinary Evidence for Atheism?

But, lets now stop for a moment and consider the skeptic and atheist worldview. Do they make claims that necessitate extraordinary evidence?

The atheist claims that a cause (with a beginning all its own) possessing none of the characteristics of its effects created all that we know via time + matter + chance. Thats a pretty extraordinary claim.

The atheist claims that Living objects . . . look designed, they look overwhelmingly as though theyre designed. Biology is the study of complicated things which give the impression of having been designed for a purpose[12] but are not designed, and that the information contained with all of us did not come from an intelligent source. Thats a pretty extraordinary claim.

The atheist claims that Jesus either never existed or all the historical accounts written about Him are inaccurate, exaggerated, and cannot be trusted. Given all the historical evidence refuting such a position, thats a pretty extraordinary claim.

If extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, then the atheist has some explaining to do. And that explaining needs to involve supplying the same extraordinary evidence that they require of Christians.

[1] Carl Sagan (writer/host) (December 14, 1980). "Encyclopaedia Galactica". Cosmos. episode 12. 01:24 minutes in. PBS.

[2] Marcello Truzzi (1978). "On the Extraordinary: An Attempt at Clarification". Zetetic Scholar 1 (1): 11.

[3] Francis Schaeffer, The God Who is There in Trilogy (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 189.

[4] http://www.amazon.com/The-Grand-Design-Stephen-Hawking/dp/055338466X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339001833&sr=8-1

[5] http://www.amazon.com/Universe-Nothing-There-Something-Rather/dp/145162445X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339001813&sr=8-1

[6] http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328474.400-why-physicists-cant-avoid-a-creation-event.html

[7] Hugh Ross, Why I Believe in the Miracle of Divine Creation in Why I am a Christian, Geisler & Hoffman, general editors (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006), 138-141.

[8] Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker, (W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), 17-18, 116.

[9] For more information on these prophecies and others, see Newmans compilation of evidence from Bible prophecy http://www.amazon.com/The-Evidence-prophecy-prediction- Christianity/dp/094478898X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338935170&sr=8-1

[10] http://www.sciencespeaks.net/ (Chapter: The Christ of Prophecy).

[11] http://www.bartleby.com/48/1/11.html

[12] Dawkins, 1.
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On Friday in Huntington Beach, demonstrators rallied against the coronavirus precautions, including the state-ordered closure of local beaches.

Sharon McNary covered the event for us and talked to our newsroom's All Things Considered host Nick Roman about what she saw.

Sharon started the conversation by noting it was the first time she'd attended a news event in person since early March. A veteran of fire coverage (and making homemade fabric masks), she wore one her N-95 masks to be, as she said "safe-ish."

Here's what she had to say:

Not happy with todays lack of physical distance. pic.twitter.com/TzE1aT7LtY  Sharon McNary (@KPCCsharon) May 2, 2020

Set the scene for us, what did you see and who was there?

This section of Huntington Beach, on Main Street near the pier, has been the site of several demonstrations by mostly conservative, overwhelmingly white crowds calling for the coronavirus precautions to be lifted.

Today was the largest of those, with more than a thousand demonstrators crowding together - so many, that police on horseback were stationed to keep them up on the curb on the beach side of the street. It was loud, only about half the people wore face covers, and there was little concern for keeping physical distance between people.

A man at a protest in Huntington Beach holds a sign reading "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Sharon McNary/LAist)

Was it an open-the-beach rally or an open-the-economy rally?

There was a good amount of pro-Trump rally and a lot of anti-Gov. Gavin Newsom signs, but mostly it was about lifting the stay at home orders

People there want to get back to work.

Demonstrators cross the street near the Huntington Beach pier May 1, 2020 (Sharon McNary/LAist)

But aren't people afraid of getting the coronavirus if restrictions are lifted?

The people I spoke to do not think they were taking a big risk. They were mainly upset about not being able to do normal things. Like Luke Czaplinski who told me:

"Well, we haven't been able to go out and hang out with friends. It seems like all of my neighbors don't want to hang out or anything like that."

But he's also annoyed at the media and at a medical establishment that is scaring people with these large numbers of COVID-19 deaths. He disputes that COVID-19 is the main reason they died.

"Well, because I believe that a lot of people had pre preexisting conditions," he said "that they would have died anyway. And this was a little bit a sprinkle of some kind of a sickness that maybe helped them die faster. But a lot of people that were going to die anyway ended up dying."

And I heard a lot of that sort of thing today. People are still comparing the deaths from COVID-19 with the death toll from a bad flu year. So some science denial going on here.

Luke Czaplinski and friend at the Huntington Beach demonstration against the closing of beaches in California. (Sharon McNary/LAist)

Were these just local people?

No. I talked to people who came long distances to be here. Like that fellow, Luke, brought his family from Corona in the I.E. And one woman I talked to came from Santa Clarita.

What kinds of things were they saying?

One woman -- I actually had to step away from her -- runs a local hair salon and she was insisting on handing out her business cards to people in the media so we would interview her about her shuttered business. And I told her I was not taking anything handed to me by anyone. I tried to get away from her, and in fact it was hard to keep distance, it was so crowded.

Were there at least some people annoyed at the beach being closed?

The beach is symbolic of a larger issue of personal freedom, government overreach, denial of science and media reports.

There were a good amount of locals there, many of them on their cruiser bikes, whose day off would usually revolve around going to the beach and hanging out, so I don't want to discount that. But forthe clear majority of people, the issue did not appear to be beach culture; it was very much a political demonstration aimed against the coronavirus shutdowns.

Crowds of people protest the decision to close beaches at Huntington Beach in Orange County. (Sharon McNary/LAist)

What happens next in this saga?

The beach cities that want to open up their beaches - Huntington, Newport and Dana Point - say they will pursue legal avenues to protect what they say is a violation of their constitutional right to keep their beaches open.

I'll be watching the coronavirus case counts in Orange County to see if there's any kind of a spike in the numbers after this exercise in not physically distancing.

Here's a look at cases and deaths so far in Orange County via the JSK Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University and the Big Local News group, in partnership with the Google News Initiative.

You can explore other counties, states and the U.S. on the whole at COVID-19 Case Mapper.
Lockdown's damaging impact on the UK economy has yet to be confirmed in hard numbers, but if you believe the experts, we're heading for a deep, short recession.

Economic activity in the three months to the end of June is expected to fall 35 per cent with nearly a third of the workforce furloughed.

With large (British Airways) and small businesses now beginning to lay off staff, unemployment is on the rise. Not a pretty picture for sure.

Closing down: It seems inevitable that more bank branches will be axed once the country comes out of lockdown

It's not all doom and gloom as our report opposite confirms  this country's entrepreneurial spirit remains as splendidly vibrant as ever.

Furthermore, much to the relief of this country's army of private investors, the stock market has bounced back strongly from its horrendous fall in late February and March  although Shell's decision last week to take a haircut to its dividend sent share prices spiralling downwards again.

With loads of 'bad' corporate and economic news in the offing, I would not be surprised if there are more sharp falls. Investors should remain cautious and focused on the long term  investing regularly and patiently via an Isa or a pension rather than dipping in and out of shares in the hope of capturing profits.

Certainly, the focus of the UK economy will shift irrevocably as a result of lockdown.

The high street will shrink as more business is done online and whatever you may think about their unwillingness to pay their fair share of UK taxes, the likes of Amazon aren't going away.

They will become more dominant than ever before (just writing those last eight words causes me to break out in a rash of goose bumps).

The trend towards greater online banking and less reliance on hard cash is also irrevocable. Indeed, lockdown has helped the banks in pursuing these dual goals.

According to cash machine network Link, cash withdrawals from ATMs are 60 per cent down as a result of lockdown.

More worryingly, research that Link has just completed indicates that some 44 per cent of consumers believe they will increasingly use digital and contactless payments in the months ahead in preference to cash.

It also seems inevitable that more bank branches will be axed once the country comes out of lockdown.

Although a majority of bank branches have remained open for business during lockdown, some have been temporarily shut while others have had their opening hours and days severely clipped.

Derek French, a longstanding campaigner for shared bank branches in every town up and down the country  outlets owned and run by all the mainstream banks  has been keeping a close eye on what the banks have been up to in recent weeks.

Everything he has seen or discovered through diligent research suggests that more branch closures are just around the corner. French, a former NatWest branch manager, says that Lloyds has 'temporarily' shut some 90 branches, a number in towns where they were the last bank of call. Barclays has followed suit, temporarily shutting some branches and severely restricting the opening days and hours of others.

By way of example, near where he lives in Hertfordshire, French says Barclays has shut for the time being its Leagrave and Bury Park (Luton) branches while curtailing the opening hours of its Harpenden branch more aggressively than rival banks in the town. Interestingly, he says that of the four big banks  the other two being NatWest and HSBC  Barclays and Lloyds are the most over-branched.

They have 950 and 850 high street outlets respectively, compared to the 600 that the other two each have.

French's reasonable conclusion from all this analysis is that Barclays and Lloyds are more likely than not to apply another haircut to their branch networks sooner rather than later.

Lockdown, he says, will have given them the perfect excuse to do so. Although the Government is keen to ensure that all communities have access to cash  whether it's through free-to-use cash machines, bank branches, the Post Office or cash back facilities  it won't stop the banks continuing to take an axe to their branches.
The Uttar Pradesh government has allowed the reopening of certain shops selling non-essential commodities outside the COVID-19 hotspots in rural areas of the state during the lockdown period.

Shops selling construction material, bricks, cement, sand, iron bars, hardware and mobile repairing shops located outside coronavirus hotspots in rural areas will be allowed to do business while strictly adhering to the norms of social distancing and other guidelines issued by the Centre, Chief Secretary R K Tiwari said.

The chief secretary Friday evening issued directions to all the divisional commissioners, district magistrates, DIGs, senior superintendents of police, superintendents of police and the police commissioners of Lucknow and Gautam Buddh Nagar in this regard.

The centre had announced on Friday that a "limited" lockdown which includes suspension of air, train and inter-state road travel will continue to remain in force for two more weeks from May 4 across the country, but some activities would be allowed after classifications of districts into 'Red', 'Orange' and 'Green' zones based on COVID-19 risk profiling.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25, which was later extended by two more weeks till March 3 to contain the virus spread.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
May 02 : The smartphone market had come to a brief halt for the past two months due to the COVID  19 worldwide lockdowns. This outbreak had affected the production and sales of gadgets all around the world. With the situation slowing making its way into a controlled level, smartphone companies will recommence the smartphone in the month of May 2020. This week, you may witness big names launch on Indian and International markets. This list will include iQOO 3, then the LG Velvet smartphone will launch on YouTube and Facebook. Also, other brands like OnePlus 8, Motorola Edge+, Redmi K30 Pro will be launched and branded as POCO F2 Pro, and last the Google Pixel 4a.

Google Pixel 4a

Image Source: IANS News Google Pixel 4.

Google Pixel 4a launch date is yet to be officially announced but a new report has claimed that the smartphone may go on sale in Germany from May 22. Read more

Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro

Image Source: IANS News Xiaomi's Pocophone F2

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is reportedly planning to rebrand and launch Redmi K30 Pro as POCO F2 Pro in India. Read more

Motorola Edge+

Image Source: IANS News Motorola edge+, edge smartphones launched, India pricing soon.

Motorala has said that its flagship smartphone Edge+ with powerhouse 5G performance, dynamic and immersive display and largest battery on any 5G phone in the market is coming to India soon. Read more

OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro

Image Source: IANS News OnePlus 8 launch.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus on Sunday revealed the prices of its new flagship OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus 8 devices for the India market. Read more

LG's Velvet

Image Source: IANS Display of LG's "FullVision" 6-inch QHD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 2880x1440 pixels takes up most of the space.

South Korean tech giant LGs has announced that its upcoming smartphone Velvet is all set to launch on May 7 through an online event. Read more

iQOO 3

Image Source: IANS iQOO brings its first 5G smartphone in India

Chinese behemoth BBK Group's smartphone brand iQOO on Friday announced the first price cut of its flagship smartphone iQOO 3 with 5G capabilities in India. The smartphone now starts from Rs 34,990 (base model) after a discount of Rs 4,000. Read more
Chain of Command I

Was the city administrator fired for resisting "backroom pressure"?

by James Leonard

From the May, 2020 issue

After city council voted seven-four to terminate the contract of city administrator Howard Lazarus in February, former councilmember Sally Hart Petersen excoriated the members who orchestrated the ouster:



"The decision to terminate our city administrator without cause undermines the long-term integrity and stability of the administrator's role," she said angrily. "It undermines morale of city employees, it is fiscally irresponsible, and it is an insult to all city residents who rely on our administrator's leadership authority and keen decision-making."



Mayor Christopher Taylor and his council allies voted against the firing, which triggered a $275,000 severance package. Taylor, Zach Ackerman, and Chip Smith say they got dozens of emails supporting their position. "The quintessential email is, 'Hey, I've lived here for fifty years. I've never ever contacted my counsel person. I'm really disappointed in this decision,'" says Smith.



Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, who voted for the termination, says he also got "about two dozen" emails from constituents--though he says the people he heard from were more upset about the severance pay and "the lack of transparency."



Ramlawi, Kathy Griswold, Jeff Hayner, and Elizabeth Nelson were elected in 2018 to seats previously held by members of what the Observer calls the "Activist Coalition," led by Taylor and his predecessor, John Hieftje. They joined veterans Anne Bannister, Jack Eaton, and Jane Lumm to flip control of council to what we call the "Back to Basics Caucus."



Ramlawi notes that the separation agreement requires confidentiality as well as mutual non-disparagement. Because the administrator serves at the pleasure of council, he adds, the reasons "don't matter." But in a February Ann Arbor News article, he described it as a response to Taylor's "ruling by veto."



The new majority can pass legislation with seven votes--but lack the eighth needed to override a mayoral veto. Last year, Taylor blocked their attempts to redirect money from a county millage, and to hold a public vote on switching to nonpartisan city elections.



Council voted unanimously to hire

...continued below...

A very disappointing article. It shed no new light that hadn't been covered by MLive or the Michigan Daily. A better article would have looked into details rather than re-quoting the mayor and council members.

He isn't the kind of military man I knew when I was in the military. He showed he "could not play well with others." The new council majority did not do anything underhanded, but things should change and especially philosophy of policy....when there is an election. He should have shown the new council members the respect they deserved. He had been interviewing at new jobs and needed to go. Let him go peacefully, I cant even believe this is being brought up again. We all wish him well in his new life. He isn't suited for politics or conforming to new authority, at supervising an HR director or a police chief. Like I said, not like any superiors I ever had in the military.

Thanks for comment, Beth. Tom, relatively few people see the Daily or even Mlive, and we'd been getting requests to explain what happened to both of those guys. Lazarus's attitude toward chains of command seemed to explain a lot about both cases - and we hadn't seen it reported elsewhere.

Ryan Stanton, who covers city government for the Ann Arbor News / Mlive.com, corrected our comment that "not that many" people read the publications. "I'm sorry, but that's just not true," Stanton wrote. "We have some of the highest readership among local news organizations in the county. On my personal stories alone, I had 1.3 million page views last month . . . It's true there are a lot of people who don't read the news and that's never going to change, but there also are a lot of people who do, which is how we're still in business."



We're sorry to have interrupted Stanton, on vacation no less, to make a correction he shouldn't have had to make. We were thinking of the limited print run of the Ann Arbor News (c. 20,000 Thursdays, c. 24,000 Sunday, per our City Guide). We are glad to know it's so widely read online.

Not to make too shameless a plug for my old college paper but the Daily gets 4.5 million page views a year. I assume that breaks down to about 350-400k a month though presumably it's weighted toward the school year.



To the larger point, I think that having stories of public concern covered from different angles in various publications is a good thing. Not everyone reads every media source so information that may be old news to some is new to others, and ongoing coverage tends to build on and add to what's already been reported.

Lazarus in 2016. But the Back to Basics group soon soured: when council voted on a proposed raise and bonus in 2018, Eaton, Lumm, and Sumi Kailasapathy opposed both. Last year, after the new majority took power, attorney and political operative Tom Wieder emailed Eaton about "working to get our 5th and 6th votes" to block another raise or bonus. Griswold joined Bannister, Eaton, and Lumm in voting against both. However, Ramlawi and Nelson gave the administrator a partial endorsement, supporting the bonus but not the raise."So much for firing Lazarus, or for the 2018 elections making any significant difference in how the city is run," Wieder emailed Bannister and six others whose names were redacted shortly afterward. (The emails were released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Luis Vazquez). Lumm replied that Lazarus "continues to inappropriately overstep his authority and demonstrate his disregard for council's authority ... to SET policy."In an email to a constituent, Lumm attributed the termination to a "change in policy direction on council after the 2018 election." Lazarus agrees council changed with a new majority--but says that he "complied with every resolution that council as a whole has adopted."The termination agreement included a mutual "non-disparagement" clause, and the former administrator observes it scrupulously. But Taylor contends that Lazarus "was terminated because of his refusal to submit to backroom pressure. It was an exercise in dominance, and he would not be dominated.""The core issue is chain of command," Taylor asserts with uncharacteristic intensity. "And they violated it. They talked to staff, and they demanded that he break the chain of command. They wanted him to do what they wanted to do without being able to pass a resolution to that effect."Howard is a military man [who] honors chain of command. Chain of command requires that staff report to the city administrator--not to city council as a whole or particular city councilmembers trying to influence the actions of staff members."Nelson declined to be interviewed about the termination. Ramlawi says what changed his mind was Lazarus applying for a job in Florida as Gainesville's city administrator last summer.In a surfeit of transparency, Gainesville posted Lazarus's application online--including his explanation for seeking work elsewhere. "The new members [of council] seek to chart new directions, often leading to conflict and terse public deliberations," he wrote. "The new majority also has expressed a different definition of the role of the City Administrator. The current climate has placed me in a difficult and vulnerable position."The firing proved just how vulnerable the administrator was. Lazarus says he learned it was in motion only a week before the vote when city attorney Stephen Postema "came in and told me that two of the council members [Eaton and Lumm] had approached him and said that they wanted to terminate the contract."How did they line up support without public discussion or violating the Open Meetings Act? It "wasn't a backroom cabal," Ramlawi says. "There were a lot of individual conversations that my colleagues had where the city administrator [was discussed], all independently of each other." But "we as a group didn't talk about it.""There was nothing particularly secretive going on," Nelson emails. "Only thing worth clarifying: this was not a big surprise, anyone who claims it was a surprise is not telling the truth.""It was a huge surprise," Taylor responds. "The presence of tension was not a surprise, but the firing was. [Lazarus] knew that it was possible. He didn't think it was probable.""The contract I have has some very specific [legal] terms as to what determines 'for cause,'" Lazarus says. "A lot of it deals with behavior. And none of those provisions were met."There are times where some [councilmembers] have expressed displeasure over certain issues, and I think that's their right to do that. But it's to be expected. But I've felt like I've always engaged in respectful exchanges with all the councilmembers."The firing left the city without an administrator just as the Covid-19 emergency hit. Finance chief Tom Crawford is filling the role on an interim basis, and the search for a replacement hasn't begun yet.[Originally published in May, 2020.]On April 25, 2020, Thomas M Stulberg wrote:On April 25, 2020, Beth Collins wrote:On April 25, 2020, John Hilton wrote:On April 26, 2020, John Hilton wrote:On May 17, 2020, Pete Mooney wrote:
TDT | Manama

Bahrain continues to aggressively expand its COVID-19 testing measures with the Kingdom as of yesterday testing a total of 134,082 citizens and residents, after detecting its first virus case in February this year.

With over 1500 recoveries, Bahrain also continues to remain as one of the least affected nations in the GCC as the strict measures imposed by Kingdom resulted in preventing an exponential surge in coronavirus infections.

The Ministry of Health, on its twitter handle, yesterday announced making 55 new recoveries from COVID-19 infection, bringing the total number of recovered people in the Kingdom to 1555.

The Health Ministry also registered 129 new active cases, yesterday, of which 104 are expatriate workers, and 25 are contacts of actives cases. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bahrain, as of yesterday, is 3169 and deaths eight.

The official toll is far lower than that in the neighbouring GCC countries where the total infections, excluding Bahrains, have surged past 56,000. The death toll is over 300. In its latest efforts, the Kingdom has converted several public transport buses into mobile testing centres, before extending the social-distancing measures into Ramadan.

These stringent actions have also contributed greatly in Bahrain flattening the curve, to bring down the infections to a minimum. The virus confirmed by the World Health Organisation as the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China has now spread to over 212 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances.

Cases worldwide

It has affected over 3,330,000 and claimed over 235,000 lives worldwide, with the only bright spot being the recovery of more than 1,053,000 people all over the world.

Even though, the nations worldwide have started easing the restrictions imposed and started moving in the direction of partial reopening, WHO has warned that the recovery from coronavirus might not protect a person from reinfection. Hopes are also on the rise with an experimental coronavirus drug remdesivir showing promising results in recent US trials.

Cases in GCC

In the past 24 hours, in the GCC, Saudi Arabia has reported more than 1,344 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of infections to above 24,000. The Health Ministry there announced 7 new deaths and 392 new recoveries yesterday.

Total deaths now at 169 and recoveries at 3,163. According to a report, the new cases were confirmed in Riyadh, Madinah, Makkah, Jubail, Jeddah, and Dammam.

Meanwhile, in UAE, Dubai has eased some of the restrictions even as the authorities there announced 557 new cases, taking the total number of cases in the country to 13,038.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced 114 new recoveries, taking the total number to 2,543. MoHAP also condoled the deaths of 6 patients. The death toll now stands at 111.

We have eased some restrictions and allowed people to move around in Dubai. At every stage, we assess the situation and based on the results, we take further steps. We are yet to overcome the danger stage, said LtGen Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police in a statement carried by Khaleej times.

He, however, said that complete re-opening of public places including beaches and malls depend on the adherence to the guidelines. In Oman, its Health Ministry reported 99 new cases, raising the total to 2,747, including 495 recoveries.

There was no fatality in the country over the past 24 hours, so the death toll remains at 11. In Kuwait, the total number of infections stands at 4,377 with the country reporting an additional 353 cases and 4 deaths yesterday.

Total deaths now at 30 and total recovered at 1,602. Qatar has confirmed 687 new cases of COVID-19, two deaths and 64 recoveries in the past 24 hours. The total number of cases diagnosed in the country is 14,096 with 1,436 recoveries and 12 deaths.
T wo brothers who preyed on women leaving bars and nightclubs before carrying out sexual assaults have been convicted.

Nazmul Ahmed, 26, and Selim Ahmed, 32, both of Cromer Street, Camden, were found guilty following separate trials at Wood Green Crown Court earlier this year.

On Friday, Nazmul Ahmed was sentenced at the same court to a total of 16 years in prison with an extended period of four years on license. He will be on the sex offenders register for life.

During sentencing, the judge referred to Nazmul Ahmed as a "predator" and a "ruthless and callous serial sex offender".

His brother Selim Ahmed will be sentenced at the same court on May 22.

Selim Ahmed will be sentenced for his part on May 22 / Met Police

Detective Inspector Louise Caveen, from the Metropolitan Police's central north safeguarding team, led the investigation.

She said: Nazmul and Selim Ahmed are predatory offenders who have deliberately targeted vulnerable women to sexually assault and defraud them.

Through a large scale and detailed investigation, my team were able to link the Ahmeds to this pattern of behaviour, which they continued to deny in the face of overwhelming evidence.

"Thankfully my team were able to prove their involvement beyond doubt. We continue to investigate whether they have committed other offences."

The court heard that on September 15, 2018, a woman in her 20s was out with friends when she was approached by men in a car in Russell Square.

She got into the vehicle and fell asleep, awaking to find herself alone with Nazmul Ahmed who was sexually assaulting her. She was then driven home and reported the assault to police who began an investigation.

On March 2 last year, a woman in her 20s woke up after a night out in Tottenham Court Road and found herself in a hotel room in Bedford Place.

She had no memory of the previous evening and was alone in the room. She found her phone and bank cards missing, and later discovered that money had been withdrawn from her account.

Enquiries revealed she had been raped by a man later identified as Nazmul Ahmed, who had also defrauded her of around 3,000 with the assistance of Dora Vavrova, his partner at the time.

The brothers were found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court in London earlier this year / PA

Less than a month later, on March 27, a woman in her 20s accepted a lift home from Nazmul Ahmed after leaving a bar in Shoreditch.

After getting into the front passenger seat, she fell asleep in the car and woke up to find him sexually assaulting her.

He later dropped her off at her home address, where she realised he had taken money from her bank account.

She reported the offences to police who arrested him the following day after identifying him through CCTV, bank enquiries and forensic results.

This also linked him to the earlier offence on Saturday, March 2 and later, to the first incident in September 2018.

Their enquiries later identified that his brother Selim Ahmed was responsible for a similar attack on January 27 last year.

A woman, aged in her 20s, was waiting for a bus on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch at around 12.25am when she was approached by Selim Ahmed in his car.

He told her he was a taxi driver and that he could take her home. A passenger in the car, Levi Croll, reassured her this was the case and so she got into the vehicle.

She was then driven around residential streets while Selim tried to obtain money from her bank account and sexually assaulted her when they briefly got out of the car.

Selim was arrested at his home on June 19 last year and later charged.

Nazmul Ahmed was found guilty of one count of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, one count of theft, one count of fraud and one count of money laundering at Wood Green Crown Court on February 13.

At the same trial, Dora Vavrova, 26, of Dundee, was found guilty of fraud by false representation and acquiring criminal property and on May 1 was sentenced to a community order with an unpaid work requirement of 140 hours.

On March 12, at the same court, Selim Ahmed was found guilty of one count of kidnap and one count of sexual assault. He had previously pleaded guilty to using a bank card stolen by his brother in the Bedford Place offence.

Levi Croll, 19, of Euston, London, was also found guilty of one count of kidnap. Both will be sentenced on May 22.

Det Insp Caveen said: I would like to thank the four women who gave evidence in these cases and I hope that the sentences passed will be of some comfort to them, as well as ensuring other members of the public are protected from the these men.

My officers are trained to give specialist support to victims of sexual offences and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of such behaviour to come forward and speak to us.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday his administration has discussed a possible visit from President Donald Trump in the near future.

That confirms what the president said earlier this week about his hope to visit the state. No possible date or location was given by DeWine at his Friday coronavirus briefing.

Weve had some conversations with the White House about some potential visit sites, but I cant talk any more about that, DeWine said. Thats got to come from the White House.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more information, but earlier this week, Trump said he was eager to start traveling the country again.

I think I am going to Arizona next week  and we look forward to that  and I am going to, I hope, Ohio very soon and we are going to start to move around and hopefully in the not too distant future we will have some massive rallies and people will be sitting next to each other, Trump said at a roundtable with business executives. I can't imagine a rally where you have every fourth seat full, every six seats are empty for every one that you have full. That wouldn't look too good.

DeWine said Friday he didnt know anything about a rally, though state guidelines limiting mass gatherings make a rally impractical.

Trumps choice of Arizona and Ohio as potential destinations carries political overtones. Both are considered possible battleground states in the November election, though both lean Republican. In 2016, Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points.

But his approval in the state has fallen and given a path for Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden to flip the state. A recent poll showed Biden with a slim lead over Trump by less than 1 percentage point.

Meanwhile, DeWine, also a Republican, has some of the highest approval ratings in the country of any governor. DeWine boasted a favorability rating of 75% in a poll from earlier this week, while Trumps was negative with 43% favorable and 48% unfavorable.

Though DeWine has deviated drastically from Trumps messaging over the course of the pandemic, the governor has never directly criticized the president and, at times, has gone out of his way to praise him.

A visit with DeWine, with all the media and expected praise from the governor that comes with it, could help rehabilitate Trumps diminished standing with voters in a key state he needs for re-election.

Read more cleveland.com politics coverage:

Mapping Ohios 18,743 coronavirus cases, updates and trends

Sen. Sherrod Brown wants child care bailout in next coronavirus bill

Read Ohio Gov. Mike DeWines new stay-at-home order

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A piece of Alamo Plaza history may soon be moved to the near East Side, next to the historic Hays Street Bridge, part of an epilogue in a seven-year legal battle between the city and community activists.

Under a proposal submitted to the citys Office of Historic Preservation, the 1976 bandstand will be moved to the new site site at 803 N. Cherry St. near the late 19th century bridge. The bandstand is a replica of one built in the historic plaza where German oompa bands would play in the late 1800s.

Relocation of the bandstand provides open space for moving the 1930 Alamo Cenotaph, a controversial plan to disassemble, clean, repair and reassemble the crumbling monument about 500 feet south to the approximate area where the bandstand has been for 44 years.

The city is seeking a permit from the Texas Historical Commission to move the Cenotaph, installed to honor the 1836 Alamo defenders. The commission may take up the matter in mid-June.

Councilman Roberto Trevino, chairman of the Alamo Management Committee, guiding the massive overhaul of the plaza, said the city Parks and Recreation Department chose the planned Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park by the Hays Street Bridge as the new home for the bandstand.

Trevino said the structure is in great shape and coveted by other resident groups near downtown.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo remains closed, but plaza makeover continues

I brought it up at several District 1 neighborhood meetings, and everybody wanted it. It is a wonderful structure, said Trevino, who supports the bandstands move to the new Dawson Park.

Its really great to see it repurposed that way, he said. I think its really going to complement the Hays Street Bridge beautifully, as another well crafted, well designed structure of a similar era.

Crews with Clark Construction disassembled the bandstand this week, carefully numbering and cataloging each piece, with plans to begin rebuilding it Monday at the new park site.

Designs for the park developed by landscape architects Dunaway Associates were on a consent agenda for Fridays teleconference meeting of the citys Historic and Design Review Commission and had been expected to pass easily.

But the parks department withdrew the presentation in order to provide the community more details about the plan, which also includes a skateboard park, restrooms, a playground and walkways. Sandy Jenkins, parks project manager, said the bandstand will be kept in storage until the plan gets HDRC approval.

Officials have met since the fall with residents of the historic Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association, skateboarders and a preservation group that saved the bridge and fought for the park.

Jenkins said another meeting, likely by teleconference, will be held to provide more details about tree plantings, historical interpretation and other design elements.

Some people in the community want to see a little more of the specifics, she said.

Nettie Hinton, a longtime Dignowity Hill resident and member of a group that sued the city in 2012 to have the 1.7-acre site used as a park, said she would love to see the bandstand in the neighborhood where she grew up.

I think its wonderful to have the bandstand there, Hinton said. I want that park to be an education site that tells the story of how the railroads were late getting to San Antonio.

The 1880s bridge, composed of two iron trusses that originally crossed the Nueces River west of Uvalde, was relocated to San Antonio in 1910 to carry cars and horse-drawn carriages.

By the 1980s, the bridge was deemed dangerous and targeted for demolition. But the community worked to save it and sought help from the city, which obtained a $2.89 million federal grant to rehabilitate it, with the Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group raising $189,000 and arranging in-kind donations as part of a local match.

The Dawson brothers, officials of beer distributor BudCo, donated land by the bridge in 2007 to the city. The city sold the land to Alamo Beer, which built a complex on the south side of the bridge. The beer company deeded the Cherry Street tract on the other side to developer Mitch Meyer, who sought to build a mixed apartment-retail complex.

In a case that went to the Texas Supreme Court, the restoration group prevailed. The city negotiated a deal to get the 1.7 acres back from Meyer in exchange for city-owned land near the Alamodome.

The Alamo project, meanwhile, is proving to be equally controversial. The proposal to move the Cenotaph is opposed by vocal activists and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Project officials say it is needed to return the north end of the plaza, part of the 1836 battle compound, into space for commemorations and as outdoor interpretive space to complement a planned Alamo museum and visitor center.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo burials to be exhumed to help save historic church

An 8-foot fence and traffic barrier has been placed around the construction zone in the south part of the plaza as the city-funded, $15 million first phase of the massive public-private Alamo project, which is expected to cost about $400 million, gets underway. That phase is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Even while working to help vulnerable residents with housing and rental assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trevino said he wants to ignite progress on a gargantuan effort to interpret the entire documented history of the mission and battle site.

Using top experts in planning, archaeology, restoration, architecture and interpretive design, he said the project could be the flagship of what that recovery could look likecelebrating who we are as a community, while providing incredible economic benefit.

I think one of the things we want to be very clear about is how much weve invested in that, how much we care about this project, adhering to the vision and guiding principles and giving us the best possible project for one of the most well recognized sites in all of Texas, if not the world, he said.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
RACINE  An appeal of the Racine Unified School District referendum recount was filed in Racine Circuit County Court at about 4 p.m. Friday.

The petitioners for the appeal  James Sewell, Dennis Montey and George Meyers from the organization Honest, Open and Transparent Government, and the regional Libertarian Party  petitioned for the recount as well. They are represented by Vincent Bobot and Michael Maistelman of Milwaukee. The defendants in the case are the Racine Unified School District Board of Canvassers.

The argument presented by petitioners was that the total number of votes cast in the election was significantly higher than votes cast on the referendum. The petitioners came to this conclusion because, they allege:

They were not permitted to examine ballots cast that purportedly did not cast a vote on the referendum, which was referred to as the undervote.

Hundreds of ballots were rejected and not counted by the Clerk and Board of Canvassers.

The rejected ballots are still contained in their original, sealed envelopes and have not been opened. Therefore those ballots contain votes that should have been counted in the School Referendum

The municipally (sic) created/designed an envelope at times which obscured the U.S. Postal Services postmark, which then cased the rejection of the ballot

The Board of Canvassers decision to accept some of the ballots and reject others was unreasonable and not consistent with Wisconsin Election law.

Challenging witness signatures

The petition also challenges the decision to not accept mail-in ballots where the witness did not provide an address. Some municipal clerks accepted those ballots if they were able to look up the witness address in the voter rolls and find that they resided with the voter.

The Board of Canvassers then rejected the Clerks decision to count the vote resulting in a drawdown, the petition read. The Board of Canvassers did not use reasonable efforts to verify the address of the witness. Thus, resulting in a drawdown and a vote not being counted. Further disenfranchising the voter.

But it was the petitioners who initially objected to counting the votes where there was no witness address listed.

The witnesses is to fill out their address, Meyers said on the first day of the recount, when making his objection to the Board of Canvassers. The law says it must be done so Im objecting to this vote being counted.

Because of that challenge, ONeill contacted an attorney with the Wisconsin Election Commission requesting guidance on the issue. On Monday, WEC sided with the petitioners, stating that ballots without witness addresses should not be counted, which resulted in the drawdowns.

The case has been assigned to Racine County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz. As of Friday, no appearances have been scheduled.

Why did the numbers change?

At the end of a six-day recount that concluded April 24, unofficial results showed the Racine Unified referendum passing by four votes, but official results from the Board of Canvassers the next day increased that margin to five votes.

The initial recount results showed the referendum passing with 16,715 votes in support and 16,711 votes in opposition. Official results from the Board of Canvassers showed 16,715 in favor and 16,710 against, with one fewer no vote than was initially tallied.

When the Board of Canvassers met on April 25 to review and finalize recount paperwork and to certify the results, they found one mistyped number, according to Racine Unified spokeswoman Stacy Tapp.

They confirmed with the tabulators notes and adjusted to reflect the accurate number, Tapp said in an email.

The discrepancy was made in tabulating Mount Pleasant voting wards 5,6,7 and 8.

Approval of the referendum, which was on the April 7 election ballot, allows the district to collect $1 billion in property taxes beyond its state-imposed revenue limit over the next 30 years.

That money is to fund construction of new buildings and renovation of others, as well as technology updates and new furnishings in the new and renovated structures.

The initial election results, announced April 13, showed the referendum passing by five votes with 16,748 in favor and 16,743 opposed. The recount, triggered by citizen petitions, began April 18 at Festival Hall.

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Caitlin Sievers Reporter Caitlin Sievers covers education in Racine County with a primary focus on Racine Unified School District. Before moving to the Racine area she worked at small papers in Indiana, Illinois and Nebraska. Follow Caitlin Sievers 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
Pashtun rights activist and political leader Sardar Arif Wazir has died of injuries sustained in a shooting attack in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal district.

The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a rights group that Wazir helped lead, confirmed to RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Wazir died in Islamabad on May 2.

Wazir was injured when the vehicle he was traveling in came under fire in the city of Wanna.

The attackers, who fired from another vehicle, have not been identified.

Police officials have confirmed that a search operation is under way to find the perpetrators of the attack, for which no group has claimed responsibility.

The rights watchdog Amnesty International on May 2 called on "the Pakistani authorities to carry out an independent and effective investigation."

The attack came after Pakistani police arrested Wazir on April 17 for delivering an "anti-Pakistan" speech during a recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released on bail this week.

Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistans lower house of parliament and prominent figure in the PTM, earlier accused state-sponsored militants of carrying out the attack.

The masters of the attackers should know that bullets, injuries, and prisons can't weaken our resolve, he wrote on Twitter.

There was no immediate response from the government.

The PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority, since 2018.

The group has attracted tens of thousands of people to public rallies to denounce the powerful Pakistani Army's heavy-handed operations against militants in tribal regions that have killed thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes since 2003.

The PTM has been calling for the removal of military checkpoints in tribal areas and an end to "enforced disappearances," in which suspects are detained by security forces without due process.

Pakistan's government rejects allegations that its security forces and intelligence agents are responsible for forced disappearances.

Since the movement was formed in January 2018, international rights groups say authorities have banned peaceful rallies organized by the PTM and some of its leading members have been arbitrarily detained and prevented from traveling within the country. Some members have also faced charges of sedition and cybercrimes.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said the authorities have made allegations of anti-state activities an expedient label for human rights defenders, particularly those associated with the PTM."


(Natural News) As most of America waits in lockdown for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis to end, Harvard Magazine is keeping busy criticizing parents for teaching their children at home, and is actually calling for a full-scale ban on homeschooling.

Thats right: The self-proclaimed champions of education on the left believe that children should not learn anything at all if they cant learn it at public school because homeschooling comes with risks, according to Harvard Magazines Erin ODonnell.

ODonnell cites the opinion of Elizabeth Bartholet, a Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty at Harvard and director of the Law Schools Child Advocacy Program, who believes that homeschooling violates childrens right to a meaningful education.

Bartholet further contends that children face potential child abuse if they are taught at home by their parents, and would be safer learning at public school. She also says that homeschooling may prevent children from contributing positively to a democratic society.

Based on these positions, Bartholet believes that homeschooling should be prohibited in the United States.

We have an essentially unregulated regime in the area of homeschooling, Bartholet is quoted as saying, noting that while all 50 states have laws requiring education, there are very few requirements that parents do anything when it comes to homeschooling.

Bartholet also does not like that many homeschooling parents do not have the level of education themselves that she believes they need in order to be qualified to teach their own children.

That means, effectively, that people can homeschool whove never gone to school themselves, who dont read or write themselves, she claims, presumptively assuming that most homeschooling parents are somehow illiterate.

Pompeo says parents have sacred authority over their own children

Bartholet also does not approve of the fact that many parents who choose to homeschool have a Christian perspective in mind. These extreme religious ideologues, as Bartholet calls them, are the types who question science and promote female subservience and white supremacy.

These extreme positions by Bartholet and Harvard prompted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to speak out in support of homeschooling. In a tweet, he stated that:

The risk to children is NOT from homeschooling. The risk is from radical leftist scholars seeking to impose THEIR values on OUR children.

Pompeo is certainly right on this point, seeing as how leftists like Bartholet have made it clear that they want to deny parents the right to educate their own children apart from government dictates.

Bartholet actually believes that the government has the right to educate children exclusively so that they become active, productive participants in the larger society. She also wants the government to educate children so that they grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other peoples viewpoints.

In other words, Bartholet wants all children in America to support things like the trans movement, as well as to presumably become trans themselves, as well as adopt an anything-goes attitude towards life that is accepting of all degrees of deviancy and wickedness as embraced and promoted by the left.

The issue is, do we think that parents should have 24/7, essentially authoritarian control over their children from ages zero to 18? Bartholet further asks. I think thats dangerous.

The irony, of course, is that Bartholet is calling on the government to have essentially authoritarian control over other peoples children from ages zero to 18, and does not in any way consider this to be dangerous. Chalk it up to differences in community, social, and democratic values, we suppose.

This ivory-tower screed attacking parents who choose to dedicate their lives to educating their own children, often at significant financial sacrifice, is a reminder that we must all work together to protect civilizations most successful institution: our families, Pompeo concluded in his response.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

HarvardMagazine.com

NaturalNews.com
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has shut down the reports of being seriously ill or possibly dead by making his first public appearance on Friday. He attended the opening of a fertiliser company.

After weeks of no-show, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance on Friday amid speculations around his health. Putting an end to speculations of being seriously ill or even possibly dead, Kim Jong Un attended the opening of a fertiliser company in Sunchon, near the capital Pyongyang.

Upon seeing Kim Jong Un at the event, all the people present at the event cheered for him. Addressing the assembly, Kim said that that his grandfather Kim II Sung and father Kim Jong II would have been really happy to hear that a modern phosphatic fertilizer factory is under works.

Kim Jong Un also took a tour of the facility, wherein he was briefed about the production processes by the staff. His sister, close advisor Kim Yo Jong and other senior officials accompanied Kim.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un makes first public appearance in 20 days: Yonhap News Agency (file pic) pic.twitter.com/hO84wePnXz  ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2020

Also Read: PM Modi wishes Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin early recovery from coronavirus, says India is with its close friend Russia in this fight

Also Read: Coronavirus: Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin tests positive

Prior to the event, Kim Jong Un was last seen on April 11 presiding over a Workers party politburo meeting. The speculations around his health grew after he missed 108th birthday of his grandfather and North Koreas founder Kim II Sung on April 15. Amid reports around who would be Kim Jong Uns successor, US President Donald Trump rubbished the reports of the leaders ill health and called it incorrect.

Also Read: Indias pharma capabilities will remain available for assisting world: PM Narendra promises Canadian counterpart

For all the latest World News, download NewsX App
Earlier this month, while B Manohar, a senior bureaucrat in the Telangana government was on his morning walk on the campus of Osmania University closer to his residence, he noticed carcasses of a few stray dogs along the walking path.

It was a pathetic scene. I realised that these canines are dying of starvation as no food was available to them due to the closure of university hostels and canteens on the account of the lockdown to avoid the spread of Covid-19, Manohar, managing director of Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation, said.

These dogs used to survive on the leftover food from the canteens and even university employees and students in the hostels used to provide them with food. Now, there is no such facility, resulting in their starvation, he pointed out.

From the very next day, Manohar and others who take a morning stroll at the campus started carrying leftover food from their homes to feed the dogs. Somehow, it has given me immense satisfaction, Manohar said.

Like Manohar, several animal lovers in Hyderabad have been taking care of street dogs that have been starving during the lockdown period.

For poor people and daily-wage workers who are suffering due to the lockdown, the government is supplying food one way or the other. Several NGOs are also working round-the-clock to supply food for them. But not many are bothered about street dogs which are not getting any food due to the closure of restaurants and hotels, R Vasantha, a scientist from Prof Jayashankar Agricultural University, Rajendra Nagar, said.

Vasantha, an animal lover associated with the Kindness Club at Attapur, has also been supplying food to nearly 250-300 dogs every day, along with her friends in the club, during the lockdown period.

Many people brought to my notice that scores of dogs and puppies are dying due to lack of food. So, we have been supplying nutritious feed to these dogs, she said.

The food for dogs is made of cooked rice mixed with milk, dog-food power, eggs and soya granules. Our volunteers carry the food in buckets and place it in earthen or cement bowls at around 8 pm and sometimes during the early hours of the day. We are happy to see these street dogs developing a lot of attachment to all of us, Vasantha said.

The dog lovers also visit far off places after duly taking permission from the police to supply food to the dogs in those areas.

We have three vehicles  two for carrying food to street dogs and another to provide medicines for dogs which have fallen sick during the lockdown period. We also collect dog feed from good Samaritans, including rice, soya, breads and biscuits, said Dattatreya Joshi, convenor of People for Animals, a voluntary organisation working on animal welfare.

He said, like humans, street dogs too have emotions. In situations like the present lockdown, they too are suffering and starving without food like the poor people. We cannot ignore their sufferings and let us do whatever we can to mitigate their hunger, Joshi said.

According to him, there are more than a lakh street dogs within GHMC limits. Since the NGOs cannot reach out to all parts of the city, he appeals to the people to take care of the needs of the dogs in their respective areas.

The Cyberabad police have also joined hands with these NGO activists in serving street dogs. According to the Society for Cyberabad Security Council, a joint initiative of the Cyberabad police with the IT industry, the police and NGO activists are feeding 1500 street dogs daily in one part of the city or the other. They also purchased 300 pots which are placed in different areas and filled with water for the street dogs.

Cyberabad police commissioner V C Sajjanar said dogs become aggressive due to the lack of water and food. We need to shower the same affection on beings who cannot speak. A total of 100 volunteers are working for the cause, he said.

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Science/Medicine

Map and charts showing the spread of the novel coronavirus Reuters (resilc)

Editorial: Nicotine and SARS-CoV-2: COVID-19 may be a disease of the nicotinic cholinergic system ScienceDirect (dd)

It will probably take longer than 12 to 18 months to get a vaccine. Slate. Should come as no surprise, but this is finally getting out into the MSM.

False Dawn Recovery Haunts Virus Survivors Who Fall Sick Again Bloomberg (JTM). Stories like this drive me crazy. Its as if they are setting out to make readers stupid. They push the idea of herd immunity and then point out it may not be attainable: Kentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious diseases at Japans Kobe University. Development of antibody inside the body is not necessarily development of immunity against this disease.

US germ warfare research leads to new early Covid-19 test Guardian. Resilc: The GILD ceo was on the today show this AM pumping his stock.

British Doctors Say Ventilators Purchased From China Could Kill Coronavirus Patients Newsweek (furzy)

This is a potential public health disaster: COVID-19 results from TestUtah.com are raising questions Salt Lake Tribune (Erik S)
Boeing has announced plans to cut 10 percent staff  more than 14,000 jobs  as the planemaker grapples with the impact of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) on the aerospace industry.

In a letter to employees, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said: "We have begun taking action to lower our number of employees by roughly 10% through a combination of voluntary layoffs (VLO), natural turnover and involuntary layoffs as necessary. That is 10% in total for the enterprise."

"The global pandemic has changed the way we live and work. It is changing our industry. We are facing utterly unexpected challenges. But across the world you are demonstrating the resilience, commitment and generosity to one another, our customers and our communities that Boeing people are known for. I deeply appreciate all that you do," Calhoun wrote to the employees.

"The pandemic is delivering a body blow to our business  affecting airline customer demand, production continuity and supply chain stability. The demand for commercial airline travel has fallen off a cliff, with US passenger volumes down more than 95% compared to last year. Globally, commercial airline revenue is expected to drop by $314 billion this year," he said.

As a result, airlines are delaying purchases for new jets, putting the brakes on delivery schedules and deferring elective maintenance. "Were also seeing a dramatic impact on our commercial services business, as grounded airline fleets decrease the demand for our offerings," he said.

"All of this puts near-term pressure on our cash flow. Were taking steps to keep liquidity flowing through our business and supply chain. Were reducing operating costs and discretionary spending, suspending dividend payments, extending our existing pause on stock buybacks, reducing or deferring R&D and capital expenditures, and accelerating some progress payment receipts with help from our defense customers. Our chairman and I are also foregoing our salaries for the year. And as you know, were exploring potential government funding options and advocating for access to credit for the entire aerospace manufacturing supply chain."

He said the aviation industry will take years to return to the levels of traffic that it saw just a few months ago. "We have to prepare for that. In todays first-quarter earnings disclosure, we will be announcing a number of steps were taking to meet that new reality. Specifically, we will have to reduce commercial airplane production rates:

* We expect to resume 737 MAX production at low rates in 2020, gradually increasing to 31 planes per month during 2021, with gradual increases to correspond to market demand;

* We plan to reduce the 787 production rate to 10 per month in 2020 and to 7 per month by 2022, continuing to evaluate the rate after that;

* We also plan to reduce the combined 777 / 777X production rate to 3 per month in 2021 and take a measured approach to the 777X rate ramp;

* The 767 and 747 production rates will remain unchanged.

"We have done a tremendous job of increasing our production rates and services offerings in recent years. But the sharp reduction in demand for our products and services over the next several years simply wont support the higher levels of output," said Calhoun.

"We have worked hard to maintain the stability of our workforce, avoiding layoffs even through the grounding of the 737 MAX. But these new reductions in our production rates and the continued impact of COVID-19 on our business will force us to reduce the size of our workforce. Im sorry that I have to deliver this news, but I wanted you to hear it from me first  and I recorded a video message so you could hear it from me directly.

"We have begun taking action to lower our number of employees by roughly 10% through a combination of voluntary layoffs (VLO), natural turnover and involuntary layoffs as necessary. That is 10% in total for the enterprise. Well have to make even deeper reductions in areas that are most exposed to the condition of our commercial customers  more than 15% across our commercial airplanes and services businesses, as well as our corporate functions," he said.

"At the same time, the ongoing stability of our defense, space and related services businesses will help us limit the overall depth of the cut. And in the end, because there are so many unpredictable drivers for this crisis, well have to monitor continuously whats happening in our markets, and we will make adjustments whenever needed to ensure were matching the size of our business to the changing demand in the market," he conitnued.

The VLO program provides eligible team members with an opportunity to depart the company with a pay and benefits package. The company will also provide support for those affected by involuntary layoffs, including severance pay, COBRA health care coverage and career transition services.

"We are also making changes to start restructuring from the top so were ready for the new market reality  shrinking the size of my team by consolidating roles, simplifying processes and focusing accountabilities," he said.

"Please know this: Our industry and our company will get through this. Air travel has always been resilient over the long term, and our portfolio of products, services and technology is well-positioned for the recovery that will come.

He said even as the company deals with this crisis, it is pushing forward with its 2020 priorities:

* The company is progressing toward the safe return to service of the 737 MAX in close coordination with the US Federal Aviation Administration and global regulators;

* It is making progress on its development programs, including the 777X, 737 MAX 10 and CST-100 Starliner;

* It is supporting its defense customers with progress across our future franchise programs, including MQ-25, T-7A Red Hawk, MH-139A Grey Wolf and our extra large unmanned undersea vehicle.

On Embraer deal, he said: "We announced Saturday that we have terminated the agreement we had to establish a strategic partnership between our two companies. We worked diligently for two years to finalise the transaction  one that would have included commercial and defense joint ventures. But ultimately we could not come to a resolution around critical unsatisfied conditions for the deal under our Master Transaction Agreement (MTA). It is deeply disappointing, but we had reached a point where continued negotiation was no longer helpful, so we exercised the rights set out in the MTA to terminate the agreement.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to concentrate on what is most important across Boeing. We will continue to invest in the future. We will continue to focus on our values, and to drive safety, quality, integrity and operational excellence in everything we do," Calhoun said. - TradeArabia News Service
Researchers at Nagoya University have discovered a neural circuit that drives physical responses to emotional stress. The circuit begins in deep brain areas, called the dorsal peduncular cortex and the dorsal tenia tecta (DP/DTT), that send stress signals to the hypothalamus, a small region in the brain that controls the body's vital functions. The findings were recently published in the journal Science.

Emotional stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, which leads to physical responses, such as a rise in blood pressure and body temperature, and a faster heart rate. Such responses are thought to be coping mechanisms in humans and many other mammals to boost physical performance in fight-or-flight situations. But nowadays, when most people rarely encounter such situations, these responses could perhaps have an adverse effect on their health. Excessive stress may cause symptoms such as psychogenic fever, a condition of abnormally high body temperature.

To develop strategies for treating stress-induced symptoms, the neural mechanism underlying physical responses to stress had first to be understood. To this end, a research team led by Professor Kazuhiro Nakamura and Designated Assistant Professor Naoya Kataoka, of the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, conducted a study in which tracers were injected into the brains of a group of rats and the rats were subjected to a stressful event (rat bullying by a dominant rat).

The tracers showed that specifically the DP/DTT brain areas were highly active when exposed to stress. To further examine the role these brain areas have in stress response, the researchers impaired the areas' connections to the hypothalamus and again exposed the rats to the same stress. Now the rats did not exhibit any stress-induced physical response, neither a rise in blood pressure nor body temperature, nor a faster heart rate.

This study demonstrates that the DP/DTT areas together are responsible for sending stress signals to the hypothalamus, and thus that blocking the DP/DTT-to-hypothalamus circuit can result in a reduction of stress symptoms in rats.

Professor Nakamura sums up the research result like this: "The DP/DTT are parts of the brain that are involved in processing emotion and stress. The DP/DTT-to-hypothalamus pathway we discovered, therefore, represents a brain mechanism for a 'mind-body connection,' which can be a potential target for treating stress-related disorders such as panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and psychogenic fever."

###

The paper, "A central master driver of psychosocial stress responses in the rat," was published in the journal Science on March 6, 2020 at DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz4639.

Authors:

Naoya Kataoka, Yuta Shima, Keisuke Nakajima, and Kazuhiro Nakamura

Department of Integrative Physiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine

About Nagoya University, Japan

Nagoya University has a history of about 150 years, with its roots in a temporary medical school and hospital established in 1871, and was formally instituted as the last Imperial University of Japan in 1939. Although modest in size compared to the largest universities in Japan, Nagoya University has been pursuing excellence since its founding. Six of the 18 Japanese Nobel Prize-winners since 2000 did all or part of their Nobel Prize-winning work at Nagoya University: four in Physics - Toshihide Maskawa and Makoto Kobayashi in 2008, and Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano in 2014; and two in Chemistry - Ryoji Noyori in 2001 and Osamu Shimomura in 2008. In mathematics, Shigefumi Mori did his Fields Medal-winning work at the University. A number of other important discoveries have also been made at the University, including the Okazaki DNA Fragments by Reiji and Tsuneko Okazaki in the 1960s; and depletion forces by Sho Asakura and Fumio Oosawa in 1954.
Jackie Scott (left) talks to a medical worker as she tries to get a coronavirus test in Camden on Wednesday. Scott, who said her mother had COVID-19 but has recovered, was not able to get tested at the site because she had no symptoms and did not have a referral from a doctor. Read more

The novel coronavirus, true to its name, continues to display properties that are surprising once discovered. The official data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on reported cases and deaths appeared to indicate that it is much more lethal than other viral infections (like the flu). In Pennsylvania we have had about 1,600 deaths out of 40,000 cases, or a death rate of 4% (slightly less than the overall national rate but above that in rural states).

However, new research using antibody tests that detect whether the test taker had an infection have consistently shown much higher rates of prevalence than indicated by identified cases. In New York the proportion showing positive antibodies was 14%, nearly 10 times the measured fraction with infections. Closer to home, a study of women who delivered in the University of Pennsylvania Health System found a rate of 8%, again much higher than the identified cases.

The antibody test itself, like almost everything else in the epidemic, is not all that accurate. Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm from the University of Minnesota appearing recently on Meet the Press argued that the rate of false positives (your test indicates disease you really didnt have) is at least 50% though the Penn testing is more accurate than this. Nevertheless, the main conclusion from this work seems clearthere are many more people who had coronavirus than had reported cases.

Television commentators on the epidemic, familiar with arithmetic, quickly made the obvious calculationif you divide the number of deaths by a much larger number, the death rate will fall a lot, probably below 1%, and potentially in the range of the flu or other pandemics. This discovery was presented as much-sought-after good news.

 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.

But is it? Probably not, and here is why. Think about two sets of people who truly have had coronavirus. Some were detected or reported, and the numbers across the US are accurate for them. Less certain but surely large is the number of unreported cases, people who either got better or died without knowing they had the virus. We do not know the number of deaths in this group from the virusthere must have been some but they would have been attributed to other causes, and are probably at a much lower rate per person with undiagnosed disease than the rate among those with diagnosed disease. The important conclusion is that there were all the deaths from coronavirus that we already knew about plus some number that we are just now discoveringand more deaths are surely worse for the country than fewer.

We want to know the true death rate both to plan public health and economic stimulus measures, and to forecast for ourselves how likely we are to die if we have not been diagnosed yet but are seeking to break out of home confinement. However, this new information tells us that there are more deaths, and a higher death rate among all Americans, diagnosed or not. More people have died from coronavirus than we thought, even if you do not yet have a diagnosis you could still die from it. Things are worse, and also more complicated.

There are some useful messages from the bad news. The existence of undiagnosed disease increases the benefit from efforts to diagnose it (especially if the disease is just as bad if you catch it from someone who showed no symptoms). People who feel super-healthy should not mix with others either because they might be carriers or they might die without knowing why. The most positive implication is that those with antibodies may be protected if they go back to the communitybut how much protection they have and for how long is still very much up in the air.

Finally, there is the ultimate bad news-good news storyif about 60% of people end up being infected (at least 40% more than have been infected so far), we will have herd immunity and the virus may die out for lack of victims. Still, the fact that the invisible enemy is even more invisible than we had thought is a strong argument for continued caution.

Mark V. Pauly is Bendheim Professor in the department of health care management, professor of health-care management, and professor of business economics and public policy at the Wharton School, and professor of economics in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the Inquirers Health Advisory Panel.
US military scientists are working on a new early detection test for Covid-19 that could help prevent infected people from spreading the virus.

The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) said the technology was developed as part of its ECHO programme  which was originally set up in 2018 to identify if troops had been exposed to chemical and biological weapons.

If successful, the new test would be passed from the US Defence Department to the Health Department for manufacturing at large scale, Darpa said in a statement.

Scientists involved in the project said they hoped it could diagnose the disease as early as 24 hours after exposure  around four days quicker than existing tests.

As many people do not develop symptoms until around five days after being infected, and some not at all, this would significantly reduce the time contagious carriers are potentially able to spread the virus.

We are all extremely excited, Dr Eric Van Gieson told the Guardian. We want to roll this test out as quickly as we can, but at the same time share with others who might want to implement in their own countries.

We have evidence that diagnosis happens in the first 24 hours for influenza and an adenovirus. We are still in the midst of proving that with Covid-19.

Darpa is hoping to put the test forward for emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Agency within a week. If granted it could be rolled out by the end of the month.

The agency said it was currently evaluating three different diagnostic technologies.

They include a PCR-based test at the University of Nebraska medical centre; an epigenetic assay with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the support of Qiagen, a research company based in Germany; and a test for early detection of human responses to SARS-COV-2 with the support of Fluidigm, a US manufacturer of research equipment.
Unions representing British Airways staff have attacked the airline for its 'gross insult' to the 12,000 employees 'it plans to send to the dole'.

BA announced plans to reduce its headcount by a quarter while its Spanish parent company signed a 900m loan with the Madrid government to save jobs at Iberia and Vueling.

BA is part of the International Airlines Group who have said they have no intention of seeking a similar bailout from the British government.

British Airways is seeking to lay off 12,000 members of staff in response to the Covid-19 lockdown despite its parent company International Airlines Group accepting a 900m loan to save jobs in Iberia and Vueling

Unison's Oliver Richardson, who represents aviation workers said: 'The fact that Iberian airlines is seeking support from the Spanish government should be welcomed and is a common sense approach to preserving jobs and services, following the immense damage the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to the aviation sector.

'What is concerning is that the parent company IAG is not seeking a similar solution for British Airways.

'This is another gross insult to the UK workforce that BA plans to send to the dole. We appeal to IAG to give our members the same support as they are giving to their Spanish employees.

'Rather than seeking to preserve jobs and workers terms and conditions and act for the good of the UK aviation sector, British Airways is guilty of an act of smash and grab opportunism.

'This is designed to boost its profits in the future and to try to force other operators out of the UK aviation sector.'

The British Airline Pilots Association has warned the industry is facing a 'tsunami of job losses'.

The Spanish government has announced a 900 million loan for Iberia and Vueling, who are both owned by British Airways' parent company International Airlines Group.

Brian Strutton, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association said: 'Before coronavirus the UK aviation industry was world leading. But now aviation workers are facing a Tsunami of job losses.

How coronavirus has affected airlines in the UK over the past month Flybe: Europe's largest regional airline collapsed on March 5 after months on the brink, triggering 2,400 job losses and left around 15,000 passengers stranded across the UK and Europe. Flybe's owners, a consortium including Virgin Atlantic, the Stobart Group and hedge fund firm Cyrus Capital, blamed coronavirus for hastening the ailing airline's collapse. Flybe operated up to 50 UK routes, accounting for 40 per cent of all domestic flights, and was used by 9.5million passengers a year. British Airways: The International Airlines Group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months, with boss Willie Walsh admitting there was 'no guarantee that many European airlines would survive'. The company has since said it wants to reduce the number of staff by 12,000. easyJet: The airline with 9,000 UK-based staff including 4,000 cabin crew grounded its entire fleet of 344 planes on March 30. The Luton-based carrier said parking all of its planes 'removes significant cost' as the aviation industry struggles to cope with a collapse in demand. Loganair: The Scottish regional airline said on March 30 that it expects to ask the Government for a bailout to cope with the impact of the pandemic. Loganair will go to the government despite being told by Finance Minister Rishi Sunak last week that airlines should exhaust all other options for funding, before asking for help. Jet2: The budget holiday airline has suspended all of its flights departing from Britain until April 30. A number of Jet2 flights turned around mid-air last month while travelling to Spain when a lockdown was announced in the country. Virgin Atlantic: The airline said on March 16 that it would have reduced its lights by 80 per cent by March 26, and this will go up to 85 per cent by April. It has also urged the Government to offer carriers emergency credit facilities worth up to 7.5billion. Ryanair: More than 90 per cent of the Irish-based airline's planes are now grounded, with the rest of the aircraft providing repatriation and rescue flights. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said his airline would be forced to shed 3,000 jobs while seeking pay reductions of up to 20 per cent by those who remain. Advertisement

'There is no more time for delay. The UK Government should follow the example set by others in Europe and around the world, recognise that aviation is vital to the UK economy and keep to the promise made by the Chancellor on 17 March to help airlines.

'Without swift action, UK aviation will fall behind our global competitors and it simply won't be there to aid recovery when the demand returns.

'Aviation will suffer, and so too will the industries that rely on aviation indirectly and our ability to trade on a global scale. That can only be bad for the UK economy.'

Mr Strutton said other governments were supporting their airline industries, which, according to Balpa will 'distort the global market place and leave the UK floundering.'

He said: 'The Government should step in to preserve the future of our national airline industry and work with unions and airlines to prevent the loss of the tens of thousands of jobs that are on the line.

'With full Brexit looming at the end of this year it would be a disaster.'

Union Unite described the IAG of having a 'two-faced approach' to its operation.

Oliver Richardson, who represents aviation workers said: 'The fact that Iberian airlines is seeking support from the Spanish government should be welcomed and is a common sense approach to preserving jobs and services, following the immense damage the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to the aviation sector.

'What is concerning is that the parent company IAG is not seeking a similar solution for British Airways.

'This is another gross insult to the UK workforce that BA plans to send to the dole. We appeal to IAG to give our members the same support as they are giving to their Spanish employees.

'Rather than seeking to preserve jobs and workers terms and conditions and act for the good of the UK aviation sector, British Airways is guilty of an act of smash and grab opportunism.

'This is designed to boost its profits in the future and to try to force other operators out of the UK aviation sector.'

IAG, which owns BA, has signed agreements for 900 million of loans backed by the Spanish government, but the money cannot be used to help its UK airline which is cutting up to 12,000 jobs.

IAG said the money can be used to help its Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are 'restrictions on the upstream of cash to the rest of the IAG companies', the firm added.

IAG has not requested a loan from the UK Government.

It announced this week that up to 12,000 jobs will be lost at BA, representing more than a quarter of the workforce.

On Thursday it emerged that the airline may not resume operations at Gatwick, the UK's second busiest airport.

In a letter to staff, BA chief executive Alex Cruz wrote: 'There is no Government bailout standing by for BA.'

The British government has turned to Morgan Stanley for advice on a package of measures to keep its airlines in business during the coronavirus crisis, after warnings that the industry might implode, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

British Airways has suggested it could pull out of Gatwick Airport, pictured, as part of its post Covid-19 cost cutting measures

The Wall Street investment bank, originally drafted in to handle a possible bailout of Virgin Atlantic, has been awarded a broader mandate to examine ways to support the entire airline sector in Britain, the sources said.

'The situation was more complicated than expected,' the second source said, adding that any bailout of Virgin Atlantic might prompt other airlines to request state aid.

Morgan Stanley's expanded role comes as British Airways-owner IAG began a sweeping restructuring and the boss of London Heathrow Airport's boss warned that Britain risks destroying its aviation sector by not propping up airlines as countries such as the United States and France have done.

Airlines around the world are struggling with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, with some such as Germany's Lufthansa seeking urgent state assistance as air travel has been brought to a virtual standstill, threatening thousands of jobs.

'We have been clear that we are prepared to enter discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support as a last resort,' a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of British airlines which have exhausted other funding measures to cope with the crisis.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while Treasury representatives were not immediately available to comment on the investment bank's appointment.

Global airline losses from the coronavirus pandemic are estimated at $314 billion, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates.

Virgin Atlantic, which is 51 per cent owned by billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group and 49 per cent by U.S. airline Delta, has warned it will only survive if it gets state aid, while its staff have taken a temporary wage reduction.

Johnson's government has so far been wary of bailing out travel companies and in March let regional carrier Flybe collapse, marking one of the first big corporate casualties of the coronavirus outbreak.

Morgan Stanley is working closely with Rothschild, which won a similar government mandate earlier this year to handle talks with airlines and other British companies bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, the sources said.

Any bailout of Virgin Atlantic would only come after all other possibilities, including a sale, had been fully explored, one of the sources said.

Unions have asked why IAG is cutting jobs at British Airways while leaving other airlines that form part of the group untouched

A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said it was exploring all available options to obtain additional external credit, adding it was working with Houlihan Lokey on private sector funding and ongoing discussions with stakeholders were 'constructive'.

Meanwhile, Branson and the Virgin Group were committed to the airline and were not looking to sell it, a representative for the group said on Friday.

But if no bailout is granted and Virgin Atlantic ends up collapsing, then the government will need to review the competitive landscape on transatlantic flights as British Airways would emerge as a winner, another source said.
After nearly 3,000 anti-lockdown protesters assembled on the boardwalk at Huntington Beach on Friday, April Love Geary slammed the demonstrators for their 'absurd' actions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

'I'm so embarrassed to be from Hunting Beach right now, because of all the f*cking protests going on Main Street,' she said in an expletive rant on her Instagram Story. 'Half of you old a**, privileged a** white people don't even go to the beach!'

Robin Thicke's 25-year-old fiancee, who boasts a mixed background of Mexican, Irish, Dutch and French, proceeded to shame reckless protesters, who ignored social distancing guidelines and failed to wear masks.

Enraged: After 2,500 and 3,000 anti-lockdown protesters assembled on the boardwalk at Huntington Beach on Friday, April Love Geary slammed the demonstrators for their 'absurd' actions amid the coronavirus pandemic

'It's the most white privilege bullsh*t to protest, because you can't go to the beach!' she scoffed.

Clearly incensed by the crowds resistance to California Governor Gavin Newsom's order to close the beaches, she reminded her followers that people of color get killed, shot and tasered for simply living their lives peacefully.

'There are black people because killed and shot for nothing,' the model said, before encouraging these groups to support legitimate causes, like Black Lives Matter.

'I'm so embarrassed to be from Hunting Beach right now because of all the fucking protests going on Main Street,' she said, before sharing an expletive rant on her Instagram Story

Her rage clearly festered, as she filmed additional Instagram Stories from her backyard and feigned no sympathy for organizers, as she told them to 'cry at home.'

After cooling off a bit, she filmed an additional statement acknowledging her privilege.

'I know my father is white, I'm engaged to a white man, I know my kids are white, I know I have white family members,' she said. 'But, I don't use my white privilege to protest not being able to go to the beach.'

Crowded: Her rage clearly festered, as she filmed additional Instagram Stories from her backyard and feigned no sympathy for organizers, a she told them to 'cry at home'; Protesters pictured on May 1 in Huntington Beach

She added: 'I use my privilege to speak for people who can't or are too afraid to speak.'

She also pointed out the closures are only temporary and necessary after 'disturbing' images showed thousands flocking to the sands last weekend.

Many who have been stuck inside for weeks criticized Newsom for policing the population and mocked him for trying to be an 'all-powerful' leader as police on horseback kept the crowds in line, ABC News reported.

Stay home: Gov. Newsom urged people to stay at home during his press conference Friday despite the criticism; while many (pictured) ignored his CDC-recommended advice

Gov. Newsom continued to urge people to stay at home during his press conference Friday despite the criticism, adding that the 'only thing that is assured to advance the spread of the virus is thousands of people congregating together, not practicing social distancing or physical distancing.'

'If we can avoid that, then we're going to get to the other side of this with modifications a lot quicker,' he said. 'And I just hope people will consider that.'

As of Friday afternoon, Orange County had 2,537 cases and 50 fatalities. The state has 51,776 confirmed infections and 2,113 people have died.
Two soldiers, who were critically injured in a ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) at Uri in north Kashmirs Baramulla district on Friday, died at an Army hospital on Saturday. Four civilians and three soldiers were injured in the indiscriminate firing of shells from across the LoC on Friday, the army said.

Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that the two soldiers, who were injured in a ceasefire violation in the Rampur sector on Friday, died on Saturday. Army salutes the sacrifice of the soldiers, he said.

The injured four civilians, including a four-year-old boy, are undergoing treatment in two hospitals in Uri and Baramulla.

Locals said no fresh shelling was reported in their area since Friday night. A couple of houses were also damaged, when shells and mortars landed close to the houses at Churunda village on the LoC in the Haji peer sector.

This is the second time in the last fortnight when Indian and Pakistani troopers exchanged fire on the LoC in the Uri sector amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Indian Army has been using heavy artillery to respond to Pakistans recent ceasefire violations.

In April, three civilians were killed in two villages in north Kashmirs Kupwara district, when shells fired from across the LoC landed close to an army camp in Panzgam.

In March, Indian and Pakistani troops had exchanged fire in the Uri sector in which one house was damaged. The mortar shells had landed in Mothal, Silikote, Hatlanga, and Churunda villages on the LoC.

Indian Army has blamed Pakistan for ceasefire violations in a bid to help militants infiltrate into Kashmir since the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Top army officials have warned that militants are waiting at various launch pads across the LoC to sneak into Kashmir.

Villagers living on the LoC have been demanding the construction of underground bunkers, where they could take refuge during shelling that has intensified in the past year.

Pakistan has violated the ceasefire around 1,400 times this year to date. While the corresponding figure for 2018 and 2019 was 1,629 and 3,168, respectively.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh last week had urged the top military commanders to ensure the countrys adversary is not allowed to exploit the ongoing healthcare emergency due to Covid-19.
YEREVAN.  Thirteen people have been arrested along the lines of the criminal case which the Investigative Committee of Armenia is investigating on the incidents that occurred in Gavar. This was reported to Armenian News-NEWS.am by the Committee's Information and Public Relations Department.

Fifteen people have been charged in this criminal cases, and for 13 of them the court has granted the motions to arrest them as a pretrial measure.

Another person was charged in the criminal case and a motion was filed with the court to also arrest him as a pretrial measure. A decision was also made to arrest another two people.

The investigation into this criminal case is still in progress.

A shootout took place in Gavar Tuesday between a group of people from this town and some residents of Noratus village. As a result, Zorik Paronikyan, an investigator, and a young resident of Noratus sustained fatal gunshot wounds. Four others were wounded, two of whom were taken to a Yerevan hospital and the other twoto Gavar hospital. But some hours after the incident, the relatives of the dead entered the Gavar hospitaldespite police presence there, broke windows and doors, and stabbed two of the aforesaid woundedto exact revengein the hospital room, as well as one other person.
The Pune police crime branch officials intercepted a vehicle carrying 25 boxes of imported alcohol, seized it and arrested two people who were inside the car.

The two have been identified as Mahesh Suresh Nalawade, 45, a resident of Manjri road, Hadapsar, and Navnath Devidas Dhanure, 31, a resident of Vitthalnagar in Hadapsar, according to the police.

The arrest was made along the Mahadevnagar-Manjri road in Hadapsar on Friday. As they were stopped, the two people allegedly tried to push officials of the crime branch.

The seized alcohol was found in a white coloured Maruti XL6. The two arrested men were caught driving the car registered in Pune in the name of Nalawades relative. The alcohol inside the car was worth Rs 58,113, while the car made up for the remaining part of the seizure worth Rs 12,58,713.

A local court remanded the two to police custody till Sunday.

The accused have been booked in a case under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code; Section 51(b) of Maharashtra Disaster Management Act, 2005; Section 11 of Maharashtra Covid-19 Regulations; Section 3 of Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, along with Section 65(a) and 65(e) of Maharashtra Prohibition Act.
01.05.2020 LISTEN

Mounia Lazali, is a professional designer and a painter based in Algeria. Like, others around the African continent, she is playing her part in helping contain the COVID-19 pandemic. With many countries facing face mask shortages, Ms. Lazali is sewing hundreds of them using colorful fabrics to donate to fellow Algerians. She spoke to Africa Renewals Franck Kuwonu about her initiative:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Mounia Lazali and my artists name is MYA. I am 43 years old and I live in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. I am a graduate of the Ecole superieure des Beaux-Arts (College of Fine Arts) in Algiers and the University of Language and Culture in Beijing, China. Im also a professional painter as well as a textile, furniture and graphic arts designer.

When did you start producing face masks?

I started making face masks on 18 March this year. I remember that day because immediately I made the first batch, I published a photo of myself wearing the colourful face masks on Facebook. I like to share all my creations instantly on social media networks because I find it an interesting way to interact with other people, raise awareness about something and to share creative content.

What drove you to making the face masks?

My whole life revolves around beauty and aesthetics. Personally, I did not want to wear the usual surgical mask at this time of confinement because it reminds me of difficult phase of my life where I was sick for a long time and had to wear one. So, I thought that the colourful textiles I use for my designs could help soften all this fear and pain around this pandemic.

I had gone to China for my studies a few months after the end of SARS. That allowed me to adapt quickly to the hygiene measures prescribed, including wearing face masks. I remember that masks were worn during periods of great pollution too so I was familiar with this kind of accessory and other personal protection measures against such diseases.

On the other hand, when COVID-19 broke out, I knew we were facing a shortage of masks in Algeria, as was the case elsewhere. Im good at sewing and I had a stock of fabrics I had brought from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, so I took the plunge!

How many masks do you produce per day?

I make more than 300 masks, some of which are distributed to friends, neighbours, local merchants, associations and medical staff. Others are sold for a small amount.

What materials do you use to make the masks?

I use African prints cotton and cotton waxed fabrics. They are also lined. To ensure that they are safe for use to make masks, the fabrics are first machine-washed at 60Celsius, ironed several times during the creation process, and disinfected one more time by the last ironing.

How do you distribute the masks?

People come to my house and ring the intercom to make an order. I then pack the masks in an envelope and put them at the entrance of the house with the customers names on it. When it is a small quantity, I leave them in the mailbox for people to collect. It is very important for me to respect the safety and social distancing measures required around COVID-19, especially because of my health history, but also for my customers coming to collect their masks.

What role are women in Algeria playing in the fight against COVID-19?

At the moment, women are helping to raise awareness of social networks. This is not to forget that we have women medics - doctors and nurses - who are on the frontline in this fight against COVID-19. They risk their lives for us every day.

What is your message to fellow Algerians at this time of COVID-19?

Let us maintain solidarity! Let us remain aware of the changes we are experiencing, because from now on nothing will ever be the same again. Let us be more respectful of nature, wildlife, and everything that makes up our ecosystem.

For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus
Four persons, a man and



his wife from Jharkhand, and the driver and helper of the truck on which they had hitched a ride, were killed when it crashed into another heavy vehicle coming from the opposite side on a highway near here, police said on Friday.

The incident happened on NH-31 in Naugachia police district in Bhagalpur in the early hours, and it left three others grievously injured.

The deceased have been identified as Gopal Pandey and his wife Usha Devi both residents of Ranchi and driver Gunjan and helper Sunil, who hailed from Nalanda district, Kharik police station SHO S N Chauhan said.

He said the Jharkhand couple were headed to Patna and after an arduous journey from Ranchi on a bicycle, because of the non-availability of vehicles due to the lockdown, they hitched a ride on the truck at Naugachia zero mile out of fatigue.

Ranchi is nearly 400 km from Naugachia.

Three others all workers at a factory in Katihar



who had reached the spot covering nearly 75 kilometers on footalso got a lift and they were looking forward to alight at Hajipur for their onward journey to their homes in Saran district, the officer said.

The driver of the truck that came from the other side apparently did not receive serious injuries as he managed to flee by the time local residents rushed to the spot upon hearing the sound of the collision, he said.

The injured passengers are being treated at the Naugachia Sadar Hospital, he said, adding that both the trucks have been seized and a search was on for the driver who escaped after the collision.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A car hop at Mel's Drive-in in West Hollywood, Calif., takes an order on April 16, 2020. (Tag Christof/The New York Times)

David Yaffe-Bellany

For decades, the fast-food drive-thru has been a greasy symbol of Americana, a roadside ritual for millions of travelers with a hankering for burgers and fries.

Now the drive-thru, with its brightly colored signage and ketchup-stained paper bags, has taken on a new importance in the age of social distancing.

Over the last month and a half, the coronavirus pandemic has forced small, independent restaurants to close and Michelin star chefs to experiment with takeout. But despite the chaos, the nations drive-thrus have continued to churn out orders, providing a financial reprieve for chains like McDonalds and Burger King even as fast-food workers have become increasingly concerned about the threat of infection.

While restaurant dining rooms sit empty, many people have started treating drive-thrus like grocery stores, making only occasional trips but placing larger orders. Popeyes has introduced family bundles to capitalize on the demand for bigger meals. Taco Bell is offering a promotion  free Doritos Locos Tacos on Tuesdays  that has increased traffic at some of its drive-thrus, overwhelming employees. And dine-in chains like Texas Roadhouse have converted empty parking lots into temporary drive-thru lanes.

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

For many restaurants, its an absolute savior, said Jonathan Maze, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

At many chains, including McDonalds, the drive-thru accounted for as much as 70% of revenue before the crisis, generating billions of dollars for the industry every month. During the pandemic, sales have mostly held steady. In March, drive-thrus generated $8.3 billion across the fast-food industry, an increase from $8 billion in sales over the same period in 2019, according to data from the NPD Group, a market research firm.

But while it has shielded fast-food companies from the worst economic effects of the pandemic, the drive-thru has become a dangerous place for some low-wage workers, who cook and serve food in cramped conditions, often without access to protective equipment. In a number of states, workers at McDonalds and other chains have staged walkouts and called for increased safety precautions.

Like other businesses that have remained open, drive-thrus are often tinged with fear. Some customers roll down their windows just far enough to stick out a pair of tongs. Others arrive armed with Lysol spray and plastic wrap.

Theyre just as scared of us as we are of them, said Jamila Allen, 23, who works at a Freddys in North Carolina. An effort by McDonalds locations in Los Angeles to lighten the mood of the workers with a calendar of ostensibly morale-boosting events like Crazy Sock Day was widely ridiculed as tone-deaf.

And despite repeated assurances from the major fast-food chains that gloves and face masks are on the way, anxious (and often maskless) employees working at drive-thrus struggle to maintain social distance, even with fewer workers on each shift.

Its impossible to keep 6 feet apart in the workplace and definitely impossible to stay that far away from customers, said Terrence Wise, 40, a shift manager at a McDonalds in Kansas City, Missouri. If youre taking a customers money and they cough or sneeze, youre on alert and on edge.

The Fight for $15 campaign, which works with fast-food employees to advocate a higher minimum wage, has identified dozens of McDonalds workers in at least 14 states who have tested positive for the coronavirus. David Tovar, a McDonalds spokesman, said the company has taken a range of steps to protect its workforce, including putting up barriers and allowing employees to use trays to slide cash and food back and forth. Customers can lift it off the tray themselves so theres no contact between the employee and the customer, Tovar said.

Of all its rivals in the fast-food and casual dining business, McDonalds was arguably in the best position to weather the pandemic. Over the last year, the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its drive-thrus, installing digital menu boards that prod customers to place larger, more expensive orders. At some locations, McDonalds has experimented with cameras that recognize license plate numbers, allowing the company to tailor a list of suggested purchases from a customers previous orders.

During the pandemic, McDonalds has made a handful of lower-tech adjustments, simplifying its menu to make lines move faster by cutting all-day breakfast and using only one type of lettuce. The less choices you have for your crew to make, the more efficient and fast they can be, Tovar said.

Taco Bell has also changed how it runs its drive-thrus. In the past, the company mostly filled relatively small orders. Now customers are buying much larger meals  enough food to put leftovers in the refrigerator, according to Mike Grams, the chains chief operating officer.

Theyre locked up in their house, and so when they come out, and they go to a drive-thru, they want to buy more, Grams said.

To accommodate those new ordering habits, the company has moved its drive-thru workers from the window to the now-vacant dine-in area, opening up space for cooks to assemble larger, more complicated orders in the kitchen.

But not every major chain has been able to come up with pandemic workarounds. Even before the coronavirus, chains like Ruby Tuesday and TGI Fridays, with large dining rooms designed for leisurely meals, had been struggling, closing locations as once-loyal patrons defected to faster, trendier options like Chipotle.

Without drive-thrus, these kinds of dine-in restaurants  many of which have taken on significant debt since the 2008 financial crisis  may struggle.

Well see some large dining chains go under, said Aaron Allen, a restaurant consultant. Itll finally be the death knell for them.

Over the next year, food critics and industry experts say, the closures of large dine-in chains, mom-and-pop restaurants and fine-dining establishments could transform the restaurant industry, creating a more uniform, less vibrant landscape. The pandemic has exposed the gulf between the haves and have-nots, accelerating the demise of beloved but cash-strapped restaurants as the major fast-food chains continue to bring in revenue. Historically, recessions have benefited chains like McDonalds and Burger King, which typically see higher sales when people are cutting back on spending.

Still, the pandemic has caused plenty of financial pain even for companies whose drive-thrus are humming. The chief executive of McDonalds, Chris Kempczinski, has taken a 50% pay cut. After reporting a decline in sales on Thursday, Kempczinski warned that the exact trajectory of our recovery is highly uncertain.

And individual franchisees may also struggle, especially in the short term. In April, the National Owners Association  an advocacy group that represents some McDonalds franchisees  clashed with the company over rent payments and other issues.

Overall, however, the corporate muscle of the big fast-food companies puts franchisees in an enviable position compared to most small businesses, especially independent restaurants. At Burger King and Popeyes, individual store owners have gotten help from corporate franchisee liquidity teams in applying for the loans under the governments small-business relief program.

A provision in that program also allowed big chains like Shake Shack to secure loans, even as smaller restaurants with less experience handling complicated paperwork missed out on funds.

After it was criticized by lawmakers and restaurateurs, Shake Shack returned the $10 million loan it had gotten through the program. One reason the chain needed that money in the first place: It does not have any drive-thrus. In the next few years, industry experts say, more dine-in chains like Texas Roadhouse may begin experimenting with the format, given how necessary it has been during the coronavirus shutdown.

Ultimately, the pandemic could provide a moment of redemption for drive-thrus, said Adam Chandler, the author of Drive-Thru Dreams, a history of fast food.

Since it emerged in the 1950s, the format has faced criticism from public health officials and urban beautification campaigns, prompting cities like Minneapolis to ban the construction of new drive-thrus.

These days, however, the experience of ordering a burger from behind the steering wheel feels more like a reasonable safety precaution than a cold transaction.

And to some, it also feels refreshingly normal.

It speaks to something that is extremely unremarkable, Chandler said. That you can do that at a time of enormous upheaval is meaningful. Its poignant in this really chaotic moment.

c.2020 The New York Times Company
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New Delhi: The central government has extended the lockdown till May 17 due to rising cases of corona virus. The lockdown, which was to end on May 3, will now continue till May 17. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also divided the corona cases in a total of 733 districts of the country into red, green and orange zones.

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Salons and barber shops were not allowed to reopen in any of the zones until now, but now MHA clarified on Saturday that in the third phase of the lockdown, which starts on May 4, barber shops and salons in the Orange and Green zones will be allowed to reopen.

MHA spokesman said there would be no ban on the sale of non-essential items by e-commerce companies in the Orange and Green Zones. The Home Ministry has placed 130 districts in the red zone. Institutions providing barber shops, salons and many other essential services and goods in the Green Zone districts will also be reopened from May 4.

File PhotoIn all zones, except for people over 65 years of age, sick people and pregnant women, children under 10 years of age will be able to go out for some urgent work or health reasons, people in all zones will be able to go out from 7 am to 7 pm. Unauthorized work is prohibited until 7 p.m.

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Medical and OPD facilities will remain open in all the three zones. But it will be important to follow social distance guidelines and wear a face mask.
US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that imposing an additional tariff on China for allegedly mishandling the coronavirus outbreak is "certainly an option". Trump was responding to a question about his remarks a day earlier in which he had indicated at imposing a tariff on China as a punishment for the spread of coronavirus.

"It's certainly an option. It's certainly an option," Trump said but did not give a timeline for this. We're going to see what happens. A lot of things are happening with respect to China. We're not happy, obviously, with what happened. This is a bad situation all over the world, 182 countries. But we'll be having a lot to say about that," he said in response to a question.

READ | Xi Jinping says China's battle against coronavirus major strategic achievement

Meanwhile, in an interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China of being non-transparent on the issue of coronavirus. Pompeo said China claimed it didn't know where the coronavirus came from, but those inside China, who tried to talk about the virus, were denied access. They were told "don't talk about that, stop it" and discussions were banned early on, he added.

READ | WHO 'keen' to investigate origin of coronavirus on invitation from China

Trump threatens China

Trump has repeatedly threatened China of consequences if it is found that China knowingly released the virus. Last week, he said that the US is doing "very serious" investigation against China, indicating his administration is looking at a lot more money as compensation from Beijing than euro 130 billion being sought by Germany. Germany is looking at things and we're looking at things and we're talking about a lot more money than Germany is talking about.

READ | US contemplating retaliatory measures against China for poor handling of COVID outbreak

Trump halts funding, WHO responds

Last week, Trump halted US funding to the UN body after alleging mismanaging the coronavirus crisis. Trump has blamed WHO's "very much sided" approach to China on coronavirus crisis, asserting that many people are unhappy with the global health agency and feel that "it's been very unfair". In an obvious reference to China, he said: "Everybody knows what's going on there."



Responding to the halt of funds, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said that they regret the decision made by Trump. He said that the US has been a 'longstanding & generous friend' and maintained that WHO 'works with all nations equally, and it does not 'discriminate'.

(with PTI inputs)

READ | China 'mishandled' coronavirus outbreak: White House
New Delhi: Bad news for people of other countries including Indians working in Oman. In times to come, foreigners will not be able to get jobs in government and public sector companies of the country. In this regard, the Finance Ministry of Oman has issued an order last week. In this order, it has been asked to start the process of taking Omani citizens instead of foreigners in government sector jobs. It means to say that now local citizens will take the place of foreigners in jobs.

Russia is preparing for great war amidst Corona crisis

However, the order issued by the government of Oman will not come into force with immediate effect. It may take at least one year for the government to take action on the ground. According to information received by WION, Oman's government companies will propose during the next year's budget how they will fill the place of foreigners with local citizens.

Corona attacks in China, patients found without symptoms

The government's omission policy is about 30 years old and the aim is to give jobs to the local public. While the government provides employment to the young population through the Sons of Soil policy. The question is now arising that how many Indians will be affected by this step of Omani government? According to one source, 'Most of the Indian workers are blue-collar (working in a certain industry) workers, who are working in the construction sector, where this rule will not be applicable.'

Forbidden City and Parks open o public in China amid corona scare
KAMPALA  Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng has on Saturday, May 2, commended the nusre who wheeled a patient to hospital for her selflessness.

On April 9, 2020, Doris Okudinia, an enrolled nurse at Ediofe Health Centre III wheeled a patient on a wheel chair for over 2kms, after an ambulance they had requested for failed to show up.

This was after President Museveni had announced a new set of measures like ban on public transport as mitigation measures to contain spread of Coronavirus in Uganda.

Aceng said Okudunia lived to the expectations by taking a patient in a wheelchair for 3kms.

You will get an award for being an exemplary health worker,  she said.

Acenge further commended all health workers for the work theyre doing in the health sector.

To all our health workers, you are beyond amazing. Without you, there is no life or health. I salute and respect you everyday, she said.

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South Africas National Treasury expects job losses, tax losses and a contracting economy due to the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown to halt its spread.

The finance minister will only present an adjustment budget, which accounts for the impact of the pandemic and economic relief measures, in June or July, according to Treasury and tax officials who briefed lawmakers on the potential impact of the virus on Thursday.

South Africas economy could contract by as much as 16.1% this year, depending on how long it takes to contain the coronavirus pandemic and for the economy to recover to the end of 2020, Treasury estimates showed.

We have to move quickly to get the economy back to normal, but also take into account that we have to contain the impact of the virus, Dondo Mogajane, the National Treasurys director-general, said.

Treasurys scenarios showed that more than 7 million jobs could be shed as a result of the virus and lockdown that has brought almost all economic activity to a standstill. Manufacturing, construction, trade, catering and accommodation, as well as financial and business services will be the worst-affected sectors.

The Treasury expected a substantial shortfall in revenue from the 1.43 trillion tax-collection estimate in the Feb. 26 budget. Thats due to weakness in the economy and virus-related tax relief measures, the Treasury said. While the forecasts still need to be updated, the tax take could fall by 32% or more, according to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

A ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products during the lockdown has already led to an under-recovery of more than 1.5 billion rand last month alone, said Edward Kieswetter, the commissioner of the South African Revenue Service.

The country is counting on accessing $5.07 billion from multilateral lenders and development banks including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and New Development Bank to help finance the governments stimulus package.

The tenor for some of these loans would be as long as 35 years, which includes a grace period and no conditionality post-disbursement, according to the Treasury. The cost of funding the loans is favorable relative to market pricing because they are not based on country-risk premium, the Treasury said.

The Treasurys presentation followed a credit rating downgrade by S&P Global Ratings, which took South Africas debt assessments to lowest levels yet. The downgrade is big blow to the country and underlined the need for structural reforms, Mboweni said.

Now read: New airline may be created from SAA
US State Dept. Says Russia and China Have No Reason to Vote Against Prolonging Iran Arms Embargo

Sputnik News

04:57 GMT 01.05.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Russia and China have no reason to vote against the prolongation of the arms embargo on Iran, US Special Representative for Iran, and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Brian Hook said.

"Russia and China have great equities in a peaceful and stable the Middle East, and Iran's sectarian violence and its export of weapons is the principal driver of instability in the Middle East today. And because they voted on it in the past, there's no reason why it can't be voted on again", Hook told reporters on late Thursday.

On Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Sputnik that the United Nations' arms embargo against Iran would expire in October and could not be extended beyond that date.

The news comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was reportedly planning to force an extension of an arms embargo against the Islamic Republic or re-impose harsher sanctions if the UN Security Council declines to extend the restrictions against Tehran.

A Sputnik

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Fifty-six people, including a three-year-old, from two clusters in Kapashera and Tughlakabad Extension have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in two days, according to the Delhi government.

Forty-one cases were reported from a double-storey building in southwest Delhis Kapashera. The other 15 cases were reported from across southeast districts Tughlakabad Extension area.

Until Saturday evening, Delhi reported 4,122 Covid-19 cases, of whom 64 had died.

The government and civic agencies have been at work in the areas over the last two weeks to contain the spread of the virus after the first cases were detected there. The respective areas were also declared containment zones when the positive cases came to light. As of Saturday, Delhi has 95 containment zones.

Residents of areas categorised as containment zones are not allowed to step out of their houses, and authorities deliver essential items to doorsteps. Entries and exits to and from these neighbourhood are restricted as well, and pickets are continuously guarded by police personnel.

The authorities allow only select vendors to supply groceries and other essentials to the neighbourhood with the help of local residents welfare associations.

The two, however, are not the first clusters to report multiple Covid-19 cases. On April 23, at least 46 people had tested positive for Covid-19 from two lanes of an already-notified containment zone in Jahangirpuri area of north district.

Kapashera

According to district administration officials, a woman living in a building in Theke Wali Gali near the deputy commissioners office in Kapashera tested positive for the disease on April 18.

Consequently, the district administration sealed the densely populated building, which houses around 200 people, and declared the lane a containment zone on April 19. The building has now been become a Covid-19 hot spot.

Southwest district magistrate Rahul Singh said that though the guidelines mandate sealing of an area when three cases have been reported, the district administration took the proactive decision to seal the building with only one case reported, to ensure the virus did not spread any further.

Kapashera is also home to thousands of migrant workers who work in different parts of the national capital and share small single rooms in the area, with other workers.

We conducted a survey and collected samples of 175 residents of the building on April 20 and April 22. Of these samples, sent to the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) laboratory in Noida, 67 returned on Friday evening, and 41 were positive. We expect the remaining test results to arrive in a couple of days, Singh said.

He said the test results were delayed due to the pendency of cases at the Noida laboratory. All the individuals who tested positive are asymptomatic, and fresh tests will be conducted to assess their present status, he added.

The 41 who tested positive are across age groups.

According to former councillor Anil Yadav, the building has entries in two lanes of the area.

The front of the plot houses a two-storey building, while the back has makeshift rooms. Yadav said there are 60-65 rooms in the building, including the makeshift ones.

Some of the buildings residents had returned to their hometowns before the lockdown.

Most of the residents of the building are daily wage labourers, factory workers and fruit or vegetable vendors. The building is densely populated, with as many as four or five people living in one room. Its good that the building was sealed on April 19, else the entire region could have been affected, he said.

He said vigilance and sanitisation drives have been stepped up in the area.

Tughlakabad Extension

As many as 15 residents of lanes 24 to 28, which were previously declared containment zones, of Tughlakabad Extension have tested positive for Covid-19. The tests were conducted on April 20 and the results returned on April 30 evening.

These tests were also sent to the NIB lab in Noida.

Government officials said, 40 more results from the area were pending.

Lanes 26 and 27 of Tughlakabad Extension were declared a containment zone on April 17, after three people tested positive.

On April 19, 35 more people tested positive from the same area, after which three more lanes  24, 25 and 28  were added to the containment zone.

District administration officials said that during a door-to-door survey in the area, some people displayed symptoms of the disease, after which 87 residents were tested.

Test reports of 47 people have arrived, of which 15 have tested positive, an official said.

Administration officials said they had ramped up surveillance in all the lanes, and that the area had been sealed completely.

Poonam Bhati, councillor, Tughlakabad Extension, said disinfection exercises have been stepped up in the area and regular screenings are being conducted.

She, however, said tests to should be conducted again since the initial reports had been delayed by more than a week.

More samples should be collected from the area. Report of another 40 samples are yet to come. There should be no delay, and reports should be released in stipulated timeframe of 36 to 48 hours for effective monitoring and treatment, she said.
States receiving migrant labourers from across India are gearing up for a massive challenge: a spurt in Covid-19 cases. And, some states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, have already unveiled unprecedented steps.

The Bihar government has made a 21-day quarantine mandatory for all workers and has cancelled the leave of all doctors and health workers. Odisha, which will test all workers for Covid-19 after a mandatory 14-day quarantine period, has instructed all community centres to remain open around the clock, and has decided to create 4,200 new isolation beds.

Like most other states, Uttar Pradesh has made a 14-day quarantine mandatory, after which each family will get food grains for 15 days. The state has created special isolation wards at district hospitals. Jharkhand will be providing cooked meals to workers during the 15-day quarantine period and free rations for their families.

On Friday, Indian railways ran special trains, called Shramik, to take migrant workers back to their villages. More trains took back workers from at least 10 states on Saturday. However, the return of migrant workers has created a fear of Covid-19 cases increasing.

At least seven migrant workers, who returned to Uttar Pradesh, have tested positive. In just one district of Bihar, 13 migrant workers have tested positive. In Odisha, 20 workers, who returned from Bengal, have tested positive.

Between April 25 and May 1, when many workers returned, Bihar reported 243 new cases, which is almost 50% of the 475 cases in the state. Officials said many of the new cases reported in the second phase of the lockdown were migrants, who somehow managed to reach Bihar, and spread infections to new areas.

Many of the new cases have been reported from districts, such as Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Purnea, which were previously free of Covid-19 cases. Madhubani district magistrate, Dr Nilesh Ramchandra Deor, said all the 13 positive cases are of migrants from Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow, while the origin of the earlier five cases was traced to a woman who came by car from Delhi.

The emerging trend of new cases shows the challenging phase for the state may have just begun with more and more people returning to their native places and we have to be prepared for it, said a senior official of the government, who was not willing to be named.

The state government has cancelled leaves of doctors, health officials and contractual employees in the health department till May 31. All medical facilities have been asked to remain prepared for the admissions of a large number of cases, an official said.

In Uttar Pradesh, seven daily wage workers, who returned from Maharashtra, tested positive for Covid-19. They have been put in government quarantine in Basti district. District magistrate, Ashutosh Niranjan, said that the workers had travelled in state-run buses from Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh was one of the first states to bring back stranded workers by buses.

The state government officials said about a million migrants, who are expected to return, will be kept at the district and panchayat quarantine centres. The officials also said that additional isolation beds have been created at the district level, should there be a spurt in cases. Special attention is being paid to workers coming back from Maharashtra, which has the highest number of cases in India, said a senior UP government official.

The state first Shramik train, carrying 847 migrants, will reach Lucknows Charbagh railway station on Sunday morning from Nashik. Divisional railway manager (DRM), Lucknow division, NR Sanjay Tripathi, said, We have also made arrangements at the station to strictly ensure social distancing. Once the migrant labourers go through the thermal scanning, the district wise segregation will be done and they will be taken to buses. We have arranged 65 buses for them, said Mukesh Meshram, divisional commissioner, Lucknow.

In Odisha, about 20 workers who returned from West Bengal, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past few days in Ganjam and other districts. More than half of the 149 Covid-19 cases in Odisha have travel history of hotspots in West Bengal, said Odisha chief secretary, Asit Tripathy. On Friday, two new cases were reported from Bolangir district with a travel history to Tamil Nadu.

About 325 workers from Surat in Gujarat, who hired seven buses to return, are in quarantine. Around 1,200 workers from Kerala, who reached Odisha on Saturday morning, have been sent to quarantine centres in their respective districts, the chief secretary said. Odisha has quarantined returned workers in 7000-odd temporary medical centres, with 2.6 lakh beds, in the grampanchayats.

Four buses carrying more than 120 workers left for West Bengal from Dumka district on Friday. These buses were supposed to bring over 100 Jharkhand workers from 24-Pargana South, Howrah, Kolkata and Malda.

The buses were stopped at Bengal border and the officials there said that they have not received any such order to allow buses of other states. So, the buses were asked to return, said Dumka deputy commissioner Rajeshwari B.

Dhanbad deputy commissioner (DC), Amit Kumar, said the state is in talks with officials of the West Bengal government but they are not allowing buses to enter border. So, we have decided to send out buses to other neighbouring states, excluding Bengal, to bring back our migrant workers, he said.
HARTFORD  One of the investigators for Trinity Health Of New Englands clinical trial involving the use of donor convalescent blood plasma in patients severely ill with COVID-19 said some recipients are showing early signs of improvement.

Some patients are showing early signs of improvement, said Dr. Danyal Ibrahim, who serves as regional chief quality officer for Trinity Health Of New England. The coming two weeks are key for the patients who have already received the plasma.

Ibrahim said 19 patients have been transfused to date and include patients from Massachusetts-based Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where Trinitys regional system is based here, as well as St. Marys in Waterbury and Johnson Memorial in Stafford Springs, all hospitals within the system whose multi-state parent organization is in Michigan.

He described all 19 patients as critically ill and on ventilators.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Trinity approval early in April to conduct its trial, initially with 15 patients and since expanded to 45, and the first patient was transfused with two units of plasma April 22.

The trial is investigating the safety and efficacy of administering blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to patients critically ill with the novel respiratory illness. The virus, SARS-CoV-2, emerged earlier this year out of China to become a pandemic through infected travelers. It can cause severe damage to lungs as well as other organs of the body in those that it infects.

The hope is that antibodies transfused from the donor plasma will help patients in the advanced stage of the respiratory illness safely recover. Complications of COVID-19 can be particularly severe in the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions and there is no approved medical treatment for it.

Ibrahim said the trial has some 65 approved plasma donors, 11 of whom have already donated, with many more in the lineup.

We are fortunate and are very pleased with the progress of the clinical trial so far with the donors and patients, Ibrahim said.

It is an enormous undertaking to identify and screen people to donate, obtain the plasma and get it to patients at different sites and work in collaboration with doctors across different sites. We have a hard-working team with a lot of talented people.

He added that health care providers, in the absence of any approved medical treatment for COVID-19, want to do anything possible to save a life and are advocates for convalescent plasma therapy, which could be lifesaving, to be considered for their patient and are working with families.

Dr. Latha Dulipsingh, who is director of the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology Center within Trinity Health Of New England as well as chair of the regional systems review board, and Ibrahim designed Trinitys clinical trial and are its investigators.

It is similar to investigational trials being conducted by other health care delivery systems in the country and the therapy showed potential with minimal side effects in a recent pilot study in China and has been used in other disease outbreaks for which there were no antiviral medications.

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Inventors in haste get help to lock in patent rights against theft By Shaadya Ismail Lankans ingenuity unbound to fight deadly virus View(s): View(s):

The Sri Lanka Inventors Commission has allocated more than Rs. 10 million to develop prototypes of some 45 inventions, with patents being filed for 27 products, many of which could be of critical importance in fighting COVID-19.

Innovations have been occurring at a great rate all over the island since late March, the head of the Commission, Professor Rangika Halwathura, said, but the lack of attention to patent rights was an issue of concern.

Most of the inventors have gone to various media platforms and published their product or innovation without patent rights. This will lead to Sri Lanka losing intellectual property rights on products that belong to the country, he said.

To prevent this loss, the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission has taken the initiative to collect all inventions via social media and from universities and evaluate them to judge their feasibility.

Most of these inventors are not engineers or doctors. We at the commission wish to lend a helping hand and work closely with the inventors, monitoring the inventions day and night once they are subjected to evaluation, he explained.

Due to the curfew, the National Intellectual Property Office is issuing patent rights for inventions online.

In the vanguard of the rush to assist the health sector fight the COVID-19 pandemic is Vega Innovations, a subsidiary of the CodeGen group of companies.

Vega has designed a disinfection chamber for people entering a building or premises, Director of Vega Innovations, Beshan Kulapala said.

He explained that unlike most disinfection chambers that use alcohol to disinfect bacteria, Vega opted to use ozonated water.

Before entering a building, a person will walk into one of these installed chambers and within a short span of 20 seconds is sprayed with ozonated water in a mist that wont completely soak the person, he explained.

Sixteen units had been built and the company was gearing to manufacture at least 10 to 15 chambers a day for public and private institutions. The product was initially tested by the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) to ascertain its efficacy.

Two chambers have already been installed at the Ministry of Health and the Maradana Police Station.

Vega has also, in 10 days, developed a low-cost scalable ventilator capable of supporting a COVID-19 patient. The ventilator, built under the supervision of Dr. Chandana Karunarathna, Consultant in Anesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine at the Ministry of Health, is awaiting ministry approval to enter production.

It is a known fact that this pandemic has put the lives of medical staff at great risk and these innovations can save a lot of lives and can be very cost-effective compared to using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), said Dr. Pubudu Peliarachchi, senior house officer of Ratnapura Hospital and one of many doctors who have taken pains to promote and assist innovations to fight the pandemic.

One innovation Dr. Peliarachchi has extended his support to is a robot built by Nimal Kumarasiri, a senior technical manager at Hirdaramani Industries Bangladesh.

Mr. Kumarasiri whose vacation in Sri Lanka has been forcibly prolonged by the lockdown, said he had thought of putting his skills to use during his stay here.

The idea was to minimise the need to use PPE and to reduce direct contact between the patient and doctors. I built a robot that could perform the basic needs of a patient such as serving food to patients and communicating with doctors when the need arises, he said.

Mr. Kumarasiri explained that the robot, which cost around Rs.100,000, could be directed by doctors using a remote control. An inbuilt camera could rotate and position itself to focus on parts of the patient, and a patient could communicate with a doctor through a microphone. Doctors could control all activities through a tablet.

The inventor is working on refinements such as an infrared thermometer attached to the robot that could monitor a patients temperature.

Director of Latex Lanka International, Sanjeewa Vijaya Sri Nawarathna and three colleagues have built a viral testing booth that allows health officials to collect samples from patients without having direct contact with them.

Mr. Nawarathna said use of the booth would obviate the need for doctors and nurses to wear PPEs, which were not cost-effective as they were limited to single use.

He explained that special gloves built into the booth inhibited the risk of infection from patients. The booth is lit inside and has a microphone and speaker to communicate with the patient. The door of the booth is completely sealed with silicon. The booth is built onto a wheeled chassis for easy movement inside the ward.

According to Mr. Nawarathna, 23 units have already been built and distributed to hospitals including those at Ratnapura, Negombo, Chilaw, Colombo, Karapitiya, Kurunegala, Gampaha and Kalubowila. Eighteen of these booths have been sponsored by private companies and individuals.

The first booth took us 36 hours to build and gradually we speeded up to be manufacturing four booths in three days. We are hoping to build them in a shorter time span to cater to the urgent needs of the hospitals island-wide, he said.

Mr. Nawarathna said the main challenge his team faced was to find the necessary raw materials and transport them while the curfew was on.

He said the booth had been inspired by equipment used in South Korea, adding, We just came across only a photograph and from there we developed the specifications to suit our needs.

Now, he added, inspired by the Sri Lankan innovation, a viral testing booth has been built in a hospital in Los Angeles.

The inventions keep coming: Chanaka Pathum Bandara, a graduate of the Agricultural Faculty at the University of Ruhuna, has built a foot-operated door lever that could help curtail the spreading of the disease.

This equipment was made using raw materials purchased from the local hardware store, and as of now four units have already been made, he said.

Sahan Ranasinghe, an electronic engineer in a private firm, has built a patient inspection chamber with remote monitoring that will helps doctors and nurses monitor patients in a ward from a separate room.

Mr. Ranasinghe said medical staff and patients could communicate using a microphone fitted to the chamber, with staff using monitors to view the patient.

The chamber could also help in the collection of samples from patients. Once a patient leaves a sample and exits from the chamber the unit could be disinfected before staff enter to collect the sample.

One unit has already been installed in a hospital in Kalutara and the second one is being made. If two people work on construction, it will take about two days to complete one unit, Mr. Ranasinghe said.

Young guns use science to fight pandemic Inventions to help fight the pandemic such as a robot to assist doctors attending patients, an air purifier, a ventilator and mobile phone software have been developed by students at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. Students of the engineering, medical and the information technology faculties worked under the guidance of a panel of professors to create the innovative machinery. They said the robot has the capability to serve eight patients at the same time in terms of food and medicine, thus reducing the number of times a doctor or a nurse would have to come in direct contact with the patient. The ventilator built by the young inventors cost about Rs. 1 million, much less than normal ventilators that cost about Rs. 4 million to build. The mobile app, named Curec, will enable a patient to share data and information with a doctor and this will help identify problems without loss of time. An inbuilt GPS can help authorities trace the last-known location of an infected patient so that health authorities can direct people who had come in contact with the patient to quarantine centres.
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Linkedin (Reuters) New York, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 20:08 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58d2d9 2 People Times-Square,New-York-City,Naked-Cowboy,coronavirus,COVID-19,united-states,Tourist,Robert-Burck Free

One of the enduring sights in New York City's Times Square is the Naked Cowboy, who - dressed only in underpants, boots and cowboy hat - charms the tourists that usually throng the area out of a few dollars with a wink and a song.

The street performer - real name Robert Burck - is still putting on a show, despite the coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions that mean the usually packed streets are far quieter than usual.

Now adding a stars-and-stripes face mask to his outfit, he flexes his biceps for passing cars and plays his guitar that is affixed with stickers for US President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.

His livelihood has been seriously curtailed, he said. Still, he sees this time as a character-building experience, despite the dearth of tip-giving tourists.

"I've never missed a day and I feel very fortunate to, just to have my routine, and my rituals," Burck told Reuters on Friday.

"My message is - get out everyday, do the most you can to keep up your passions and your instincts and the things you want to accomplish," he said.

Read also: Unmasked: Costume capers stir New York's Times Square

"These tough times actually build the character for the upcoming economy booming back and everything else."

The staunch Trump supporter says there is a benefit to the sparse streets - even more exposure than he already has.

"Basically with so few people, I'm able to capture the attention of every single one of them. So it's like there's less people but (it's great) just to be able to hit every single person and cheer them up and get them honking the horn," he said.

New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, with more than 13,000 deaths in the city alone.

On Friday, state Governor Andrew Cuomo reported that the COVID-19 daily death total for the day before was 289 - the lowest death toll since March 29. Hospitalizations also fell to their lowest level in more than a month.
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Linkedin (Reuters) Moscow, Russia  Sat, May 2, 2020 19:02 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58bbdb 2 Food Airlines,Russia,travel,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,Ural-Airlines Free

Ural Airlines has begun delivering in-flight meals to travel-deprived Russians who miss the thrill of a catering cart rolling down the aisle because of coronavirus lockdowns.

The airline, which is delivering its in-flight meals to customers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, said the initiative was meant to provide people with "the taste of travel without leaving your home".

"Everything is just like on the airplane except for the view," it wrote on its Instagram page on Thursday.

Russia has closed its borders to foreigners and grounded international flights, except those repatriating Russians or returning foreign nationals to their country of origin.

Many Russians have been confined to their homes for weeks, going out only to buy food or medicine, take out the trash or walk their dog.

However, food delivery services are still functioning and the residents of major cities have made extensive use of them to replenish their provisions.

Read also: Sanitizer included: Russian hotels promote self-isolation services

Ural Airlines' service offers the staples of airline meals - chicken, meat and fish - as well as orange, apple and tomato juice. The meal is served on a traditional airline tray.

In Moscow, a business class meal of chicken costs 1,250 rubles ($16.65), while an economy class meal costs 550 rubles ($7.33).

Airline seat occupancy rates fell 92 percent last month in Russia, the Russian Association of Air Transport Operators said this week.

On Friday Russia reported a record daily rise in confirmed coronavirus cases that pushed the national tally to 114,431. The country has recorded 1,169 deaths from the virus.

The spike in daily cases came a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus and was temporarily stepping down to recover.
First, the coronavirus took her job, and then breast cancer threatened to take her mother. In less than a month, Naomi Jaramillo's entire world changed.

The eyebrow stylist spent February traveling from New Mexico to New York for fashion week and then visiting Washington state to help open a brow bar outside Seattle. Shortly after returning to her native Las Cruces, the 31-year-old visited her brother and her sister in Austin, Texas.

Image: Beatriz Jaramillo, Naomi Jaramillo (Courtesy Naomi Jaramillo)

While Jaramillo was crisscrossing the Southwest, the coronavirus was shutting down states and infecting thousands of people. Businesses were being forced to close, including the brow bar where she worked.

The bad news didnt stop there. Her 57-year-old mother was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in March.

It was really hard to hear it, she said. My mom is my everything.

With Jaramillo out of work, life is now divided between taking care of her mother and figuring out how to pay her own bills. She is just one of 30 million Americans who have found themselves suddenly unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

National stay-at-home orders abruptly shut down entire segments of the economy. Gig and hospitality workers were especially hard hit as lifes little luxuries  like going to a restaurant or getting your eyebrows shaped  were deemed expendable amid the public health crisis.

Image: California unemployment (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP file)

Jaramillo hasnt worked since the end of February. With a degree in hospitality services, she decided to apply for jobs in Austin to be closer to her siblings. No one was hiring. She also applied to a job in Waco. Her interview was canceled.

I have this experience, I have this education, but Im still not able to find a job in New Mexico or Texas because of COVID, she said.

Hundreds of miles away in Fresno, Anthony Sean Vang, 32, spends most of his days navigating Californias unemployment website. Its a daunting task that takes up more hours than he can count.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Its like a job in and of itself, said Vang, who had been driving for Uber and Lyft until March 18.

Story continues

He enjoyed driving. It gave him flexibility and enough money to make his mortgage payment plus pay for health care. The latter is particularly important for Vang and his 26-year-old wife, who has an elevated white blood cell count and regularly sees an oncologist.

Vang suffers from asthma and other respiratory problems and uses a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, sleep machine. He intended to continue driving as the outbreak unfolded, but felt increasingly exposed when strangers got into his car. Some insisted on sitting in the front seat or not wearing a mask. It made him nervous.

Because both he and his wife are in high risk categories, Vang said he had no choice but to stop driving until the coronavirus threat lessened.

It just didnt seem worth it to jeopardize my life, he said.

The couple has some savings and a stimulus check to fall back on. But Vangs wife is a tutor and her income is not enough to float them much longer.

Vang first attempted to apply for unemployment on March 28, one day after President Donald Trump signed a $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus bill known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act. Like many gig workers in the Golden State, Vang received a letter from the California Employment Development Department saying he was entitled to zero dollars.

For years, California gig workers have existed in a legal limbo that left them without many benefits including unemployment. Labor activists have long argued that these workers should be reclassified as contractors, entitling them to unemployment insurance. The debate over how to handle freelance and self-employed workers became a sticking point during CARES Act negotiations and eventually gig workers were included in the package. However, they had to wait until this week to submit their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, applications.

Every week that goes by, theres another bill I have to pay, Vang said.

For nearly a month, he spent entire days glued to his computer and phone trying to get guidance on his unemployment claim and found that he wasn't alone.

Diane Letulier, 57, a bookkeeper who lives in Southern California, created a Facebook group to help other self-employed Californians navigate the state's PUA portal. She got the idea after seeing a similar group with more than 24,000 members dedicated to helping state residents apply for traditional unemployment benefits.

Letuliers work dried up when the coronavirus outbreak hit. Her clients canceled appointments and told her they couldnt pay invoices. With a mortgage and an adult daughter living at home, Letulier immediately looked into whether she was eligible to apply for unemployment. But like Vang, she is considered self-employed and had to wait until the state started processing PUA claims.

In the meantime, she learned every inch of the unemployment departments website. Using what she already knew about benefits from her bookkeeping experience, she spent her days helping other Californians navigate the confusing world of unemployment benefits.

Nothing was made clear, she said. There was a lot of contradictory information online.

On April 28, when the states pandemic assistance portal went live, she woke up at 2 a.m. to check the website. Nothing. She checked again at 5 a.m. and saw that claims could be processed. She filled out her application and alerted her Facebook group. Vang said he woke up around 5:30 a.m. to a notification from Letulier telling him to hurry up and jump online.

He did and his application went through, he said. Others werent so lucky.

According to new data from the Labor Department, California paid only 1 in 8 claims in March. Numbers are not yet available for the states PUA claims.

California Labor Secretary Julie Su told NBC News that the state is paying about $1 billion a day in unemployment insurance. It paid more in just four weeks more than it did in all of 2019, Su said.

California is far from the only state drowning in unemployment claims. In Michigan, jobless claims have increased by 2,200 percent since the COVID-19 outbreak and at the end of March, the states unemployment site was down for several hours.

Stephanie Chisnell, from the city of Burton, a suburb of Flint, said she was denied unemployment because she didnt earn enough in the last three quarters to qualify. She also did not receive a stimulus check because her parents claim her as a dependent. But at 34 years old, Chisnell has $170,000 in student debt after receiving three associate degrees. She is currently finishing a bachelor's degree in fine arts, she said.

Neither of her parents work and instead live on a fixed income through Social Security.

Before the pandemic, Chisnell had been applying to office jobs. She hoped to maybe work at a bank or as a cashier. Recently, the economy had started to turn around in Burton, which she said is home to a GM plant and not much else.

There is no work, she said. There are jobs around [Burton], but its like a dying cancer in the center.

Chisnell is now wondering whether she should leave the area with her boyfriend. They talk about moving somewhere that might be more expensive but would offer better employment opportunities.

Its a trade-off, she said. There is nothing in this area.

Still, Chisnell said she would rather remain unemployed than exposed to a virus that has no cure.

Im thankful for the restrictions, she said. I dont want this illness.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

In New Mexico, Jaramillo is also waiting out the pandemic. She calls this time a blessing in disguise because she is able to care for her mother. She does all the grocery shopping for her parents and takes her mom to chemotherapy appointments. Jaramillo receives unemployment benefits but gives the money to her siblings, who are also unemployed and have more expensive mortgages.

To get by, Jaramillo continues seeing longtime eyebrow clients despite New Mexicos stay-at-home order. She enters their homes wearing goggles, a mask and gloves and asks her clients to also protect themselves. When she gets home, Jaramillo showers and washes her clothes immediately. She lets them air dry to save money on utilities.

I can't be angry and I can't be bitter," she said. "There are so many people who are really suffering.

But, Jaramillo added, I cant live in fear. I refuse to live in it.
The parents of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl on Saturday filed an appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Sindh High Court verdict that overturned convictions of four men in their son's kidnapping and murder case.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.

On April 2, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench overturned the death sentence of British-born 46-year-old al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in the abduction and murder of Pearl in 2002. He has been in jail for the past 18 years.

The court also acquitted his three aides - Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil- serving life sentences in the case. The bench announced the verdict on the appeals filed by the four convicts 18 years ago.

Two criminal petitions have been filed by renowned lawyer Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the parents - Ruth Pearl and Judie Pearl - against the acquittal and release of the four accused, the Express Tribune reported on Saturday.

"The decision by the Sindh High Court to free the men in the murder of Daniel Pearl is a complete miscarriage of justice. It is a defining case for the Pakistani state and its judicial system, involving freedom of the press, the sanctity of every life, freedom from terror and the manifestation of a welcoming and safe Pakistan to the world. Rarely has any court case embodied and risked such fundamental values, the lawyer said.

According to the petition, the Sindh High Court has failed to note that this was a brutal murder as a result of international terrorism and the principle of the standard of proof, as well as the benefit of doubt in cases of international terrorism, has to be applied keeping in the context that the nature and type of evidence available in such terrorism cases cannot be equated with cases involving non-terrorism crimes.

"Therefore, it is obvious and apparent that the impugned judgment is clearly erroneous because it is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of law and misreading of the entire record of Special Case No.26 of 2002, the petition stated, and added that the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside.

The petition stated that the court further erred in failing to take into consideration that Sheikh has a history of involvement in international terrorism.

The petition further states that keeping in mind the arguments, the judgment is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of the law and on a misreading and selective reading of the entire record of the case.

Siddiqi further added in the petition submitted that the provincial high court's judgment, has itself held that the present case is a very sensitive case where a foreign journalist was murdered in the most brutal circumstances that would have spread terror amongst other foreigners in Pakistan and the journalist community as a whole.

"Therefore, in light of its own finding and the strong incriminating evidence establishing the case for kidnapping for ransom of the deceased person, Sindh High Court has erred in giving the aforementioned findings, said the petition.

Two days after the Sindh High Court overturned Sheikh's conviction on April 2, the Sindh government invoked the Maintenance of Public Order to keep the convicts in jail.

Pearl's murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. He was serving prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country.

The Sindh government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court decision on April 22, and on April 28 asked for an early hearing.

"The matter is of great urgency, therefore, the application for the suspension of April 2 Sindh High Court judgement be heard as early as possible," it said in its application.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Central team that is touring



north Bengal to assess the COVID-19 situation on Saturday visited Fulbari area in Jalpaiguri district on Indo-Bangladesh border, officials said.

The team, led by senior official Vineet Joshi, visited the zero point in Fulbari and its nearby areas.

"We are checking whether or not precautionary measures and social distancing norms are being properly followed," a member of the central team said.

The team members also visited various hospitals and quarantine centres in Jalpaiguri district.

Two Inter-Ministerial Central Teams are now visiting the state -- one for south Bengal including Kolkata and the other for north Bengal.

The team stationed in Kolkata, which is led by senior bureaucrat Apurba Chandra, stayed indoors on Saturday and went through the reports provided to them by the state government, an official said.

Both the teams are likely to continue with their visit for the next few days.

"We have not been told to complete our visit within a stipulated period. So, we will continue as long as we are not completely satisfied," another official of the central team said.

There has been a war of words between the West Bengal government and the Centre over the arrival of the two central teams in the state to assess the coronavirus situation.

The team, stationed in north Bengal, had visited the quarantine centre in Siliguri, the designated COVID-19 hospital there and parts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

The team in Kolkata had gone to a quarantine centre in Rajarhat, the M R Bangur Hospital which is treating COVID-19 patients and some other places in Kolkata and neighbouring Howrah district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. was making a quick trip on Wednesday to retrieve his glasses, which he had left at home earlier in the day, when he saw a scene that struck him.

Right at the corner of Cambridge Street and Saint Johns Road, Augustus saw a funeral happening at the cemetery, with just undertakers, a few family members and a casket.

At that moment, the image seemed to personify the heartbreak that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic.

That is like the saddest thing. Theres not the whole family there," Augustus recalled. The solemnity of it, the loneliness of it just hit me.

The wrenching scene came toward the end of April, a month in which COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has taken its toll on Worcester. In April, the city saw an average of 65 cases per day. The cases identified in April account for 94% of the citys total cases of the virus, according to figures released by Augustus at the citys daily press briefing on Thursday.

April started with the city still in its planning phase, trying to figure out how to respond to an invisible and highly contagious virus.

Worcester opened satellite shelters for the homeless population and prepared spaces that provided hundreds of more beds such as the DCU Center and Beaumont nursing home.

Even though we havent seen the overwhelming number of admissions, if we werent able to discharge patients from the hospital, that would cause us to fill up well past our capacity, CEO of Saint Vincent Hospital Carolyn Jackson said. Weve been really grateful for or partnership with the city of Worcester, with UMass, with Beaumont, and the state to be able to stand up some novel ways to be able to care for these patients.

Now, the city is in response mode, working on being more proactive as the state remains in a surge period. Through the month, Augustus has often repeated the same simile: Its like flying the plane and building it at the same time.

I think the biggest success is that the hospital systems havent been overwhelmed," Augustus said in an interview Wednesday, reflecting on the month. That was the number one goal, how to keep the hospital systems able to accept COVID and non-COVID patients who needed access to the emergency room or to hospital care. And were right at the peak of it now and it seems like were able to make sure people still have that access.

April saw the surge of coronavirus cases in Worcester spike, but steps taken during the month also prevented the citys hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. Some days brought 50 new cases. Other days, additional patient counts climbed into the hundreds.

Though the UMass Memorial Health Care system and Saint Vincent Hospital are seeing a high number of patients in intensive care units and on ventilators, the hospitals have been able to keep up with patient needs, officials have said. As of April 30, the two systems combined have seen 106 patients die from illness related to the virus.

The pandemic brought unprecedented measures to hospitals around the city and state. Saint Vincent Hospitals open campus with multiple entrances cease to exist. Theres now one entrance for staff, one entrance for visitors and one emergency department entrance.

Each person that enters the hospital follows a protocol that involves hand sanitizing, putting on a mask and finally getting their temperature checked. A person with a fever must go to the emergency department.

Theres an expression, necessity is the mother of invention, Jackson said. Ive never really used that expression before, but Ive used it so much during this COVID crisis because theres so many things that theres a different need for and people come up with some way to address that challenge.

Normally food service workers delivered meals to patients. The arrival of COVID-19 expanded that responsibility to nurses who already donned personal protection equipment. This prevented food service workers from having to gown up every time they delivered a meal.

At the beginning of April, personal protective equipment appeared in the hospital environment as an endangered species. By the end of the month, sufficient supplies had reached the citys hospitals.

Still, doctors, nurses and other providers werent accustomed to wearing masks for hours at a time.

The strings that secure masks behind health care providers ears often cause soreness. Solutions were found through futuristic 3-D printed plastic attachments or old school crocheting.

Its a time where everyone is banding together, Jackson said. Everyone is doing things a little bit differently and everyone is working really collaboratively in making sure the patients have the best possible outcome.

Some patients who entered the doors of Worcester hospitals did not walk out. The harsh reality of the virus struck Worcesters hospitals with more than 100 coronavirus related patient deaths through the month of April.

Innovation went beyond PPE or hospital protocols, but as the surge hit the hospitals the facilities found ways to keep morale high.

Facetiming with loved ones while sitting in a hospital bed is nothing new for patients, but as Saint Vincent Hospital began restricting visitors due to the virus, it offered iPads and other devices to allow for virtual visits.

When patients beat the virus, Saint Vincent Hospital celebrated with Code Strong ceremonies. Staff lined the hallways as a patient was ushered through the facility in a wheelchair. Applause, smiles and tears greet them as well as family members.

I get choked up talking about it, Jackson said. There are tears in everybodys eyes. Its so heartwarming. And the team that walks down the hall behind the wheelchair is so proud to be able to wheel that person out, it makes all the challenges were going through worth it.

At daily press briefings, Augustus, Worcester Mayor Joe Petty and Dr. Michael Hirsh, a UMass Memorial physician and the medical director of Worcesters public health department, have highlighted members of the community who have gone above and beyond, helping sick patients, senior citizens, members of the homeless population and more through the pandemic.

The selflessness of those people is what stood out to him the most during April, Augustus said.

Its amazing how people have put a lot of their own personal needs, in some cases their family needs, to the back burner while they step up because they were the only ones who could do it, he said. And they did it and all of their collective actions have made a demonstrable difference in helping protect people and keep people healthy.

Heres a look at how the coronavirus permeated through Worcester in April and the citys response to the pandemic.

WORCESTER, MA: April 1, 2020: Members of the Massachusetts National Guard erect a medical field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts for the expected influx of patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)BH

April 1 - National Guard begins unloading supplies at the DCU Center

As helicopters flew above the DCU Center, members of the national guard dressed in army fatigues unload FEMA trucks with supplies that convert the arena into the states first field hospital. In addition to supplies, Dr. Eric Dickson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of UMass Memorial Health Care, put a call out for medical students, nurses and other members of the public with medical experience to help staff the field hospitals.

A couple blocks away, the city announced 165 confirmed coronavirus cases in the city.

Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. gives an update on coronavirus on April 4, 2020.

April 2 - City announces 3 deaths at Jewish Healthcare Center

City officials announced the first deaths at the Jewish Healthcare Center.

Initially, the 3 deaths were accompanied by 16 positive cases. Two weeks later, officials announced the death toll had grown to 13 with 29 positive cases among residents and 24 among staff.

Construction at Polar Park continues at the future home of the Worcester Red Sox.

April 3 - Worcester suspends construction projects

Augustus announced all city-sponsored construction projects would be suspended until further notice in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. The decision came days after the manager stopped some projects, but deemed a few essential.

WORCESTER, MA: April 1, 2020: UMass Medical School Student Blake Foster puts together a cot as members of the Massachusetts National Guard erect a medical field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts for the expected influx of patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)BH

April 9 - Field hospital opens at the DCU Center

Worcester became the first community in the state to open a field hospital for coronavirus patients, health leaders and officials trying to prepare for a predicted surge in patients. With a capacity of 250 beds, the field hospital opened on April 9.

Through the month, the center has seen patients come in and out, as few as one or two patients there in its first days of operation and about 18 there at the end of the month.

During the month, the center also became a new location for members of the citys homeless population who tested positive for the virus. A shelter set up at Worcester Technical High School for that purpose had reached its maximum capacity of 25 individuals.

St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester

April 11 - Saint Vincent Hospital opens a third precautionary ICU

In preparation for the surge in cases, Saint Vincent Hospital transitioned its post-anesthesia care unit for non-coronavirus patients.

The hospital closed the ICU and transitioned it back to its original purpose on April 29.

Weve been able to get our hospital a little more back to normal, Jackson said.

Week of April 12 - Saint Vincent Hospital experienced 3 weeks of plateauing cases

Saint Vincent Hospital began to see an initial plateau of cases starting with the week of April 12. The following week cases increased in a second plateau. The final week of April again saw a plateauing of cases similar to what began in the middle of the month.

What we realized through these three plateaus that weve had is, we can handle it, Jackson said. The overall surge has not been as big as we anticipated, at least not here at Saint Vincents.

Worcester Mayor Joe Petty asks residents to look after one another during the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 13 and 16 - City orders employees, residents to wear face masks

Augustus on April 13 signed an order requiring employees of Worcester businesses that can operate during the pandemic to wear face masks or face coverings.

A few days later, the manager extended the order to include patrons visiting those businesses. The orders followed updated guidelines from the CDC, advising Americans to cover their faces when out in public to help prevent spread of the virus.

First responders across the state flashed their lights and sounded their sirens in support of health care providers combating the coronavirus.

April 15 - First responders host parade by hospitals to show support

Hundreds of police cruisers, fire trucks and tow trucks paraded by Worcesters health care facilities to show their support for the health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Vehicles from Worcester and surrounding towns sounded their sirens and flashed lights in appreciation.

Throughout the pandemic, local businesses have donated free meals to hospital workers to show their gratitude. Each siren in the parade or donated meal brings an extra boost to the staff thats worked countless hours since the start of the pandemic.

Weve been really fortunate to have so many donations from the community and thank you notes from the community, Jackson said. Its just been awesome. If we are having a tough day because of whats going on not only do we lean on each other but we lean on the community.

April 16 - 13 deaths counted at the Jewish Healthcare Center

Officials announced that 13 residents at the Jewish Healthcare Center had died from illness related to coronavirus. Three of those 13 deaths had been previously reported by the city.

The center is among several nursing homes and care facilities that saw outbreaks of the virus through April.

Drive-up coronavirus testing is available for some patients, like those who have traveled and people with compromised immune systems, has begun at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

April 21 - A surge in cases is visible at UMass Memorial

UMass Memorial Health Care CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said on Tuesday, April 21, that the system had seen a 30% increase in the number of ventilated patients since the prior Friday.

Cambridge was clearly the hotbed to start with and then you saw what happened in the Springfield market with the Soldiers Home, Dickson said, referring to the states first big outbreak of cases, connected to people who attended a conference for the Biogen company in February, as well as an outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home, which has led to the death of at least 70 residents.

Worcester didnt really have a spark the way Western and Eastern Massachusetts did. But it moved in, theres no keeping it out. It moved into us from those other two areas and now were peaking after them, he added.

April 22 - UMass Memorial reports success with first coronavirus plasma transfusion

UMass Memorial Medical Center issues a call for plasma donors from people who have recovered from the virus and the hospital announces a successful treatment of a critically ill patient suffering from the coronavirus.

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.

April 23 - A task force is being created to study disproportionate coronavirus rates

The city announces it will share data with UMass Memorial Health care and create a task force to study why some communities in Worcester have been hit harder by the virus. Officials said the citys Latino population has seen a higher instance of coronavirus cases. The goal is to identify data-driven solutions.

At least 23 employees of the Walmart store in Worcester have tested positive for coronavirus. Google Maps image.

April 29 - Outbreak leads city to shut down Walmart

After learning that 23 employees at Walmart had tested positive for the virus through the month, city officials issued a cease-and-desist order, shutting down the Tobias Boland Way store. Before Walmart can open again, all employees must be tested or retested. Testing is ongoing at the time of this writing.

The store has undergone a professional, deep clean, the city manager said Thursday.

April 30 - Saint Vincent Hospital celebrates its final Code Strong of April

The hospital conducted about 10 Code Strong celebrations in the month. Not every patient desires the moments. In other discharges, the celebration wouldnt be appropriate Jackson said.

At the start of the week, two patients who spent time in the ICU and on ventilators celebrated Code Strong ceremonies.

The reaction of their families and the patients and the staff, it was just truly amazing, Jackson said.

Eighteen patients that were on ventilators at Saint Vincent were able to continue recovery off the machines.

By the end of the month, Saint Vincent discharged 115 COVID-19 patients with the majority coming in April.

Looking forward

While its difficult to make predictions during a pandemic, Worcester health officials believe high numbers of coronavirus patients will remain in hospitals for another week or so.

Relief at some facilities appears to be in sight sooner rather than later.

Right now it does feel like were approaching the beginning of the downslope, Jackson said. I dont know if were there though. Every day is a new opportunity.

As the city enters its third month of battling the virus, the staff within the citys hospitals have only improved as they continue to learn about COVID-19, Jackson said.

Augustus and Hirsh have stressed the importance of contract tracing as new cases of coronavirus continue to be identified every day.

And while Augustus is leading the citys response to the pandemic, hes still trying to put together the city budget, interview candidates for open positions in city hall and continue other day-to-day operations of running New Englands second-largest city.

With all that, theres also a need for forward-thinking.

And then, try to start thinking about, alright, at some point when this winds down, how to we reopen things in a way that is responsible and appropriate for what wont be a no-risk situation but maybe a less-risk situation, Augustus said.

Toward the end of April, the manager has reiterated that he believes reopening Worcester will be a phased process. He said the city will have tough calls to make, and that he believes things wont go back to a true normal until there is a proven vaccine.

We are inextricably linked whether we like it or not, Augustus said. The world is small. Something that broke in a province in China six months ago has changed the life of almost every person on the planet. Think about how unbelievable that is.

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KYODO NEWS - May 3, 2020 - 06:04 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

A set of guidelines on how to restart economic activities amid the coronavirus epidemic for certain areas of the country will be made public next week around the time an extension of the current nationwide state of emergency will be decided, a Japanese minister said Saturday.

The guidelines will cover areas other than the 13 prefectures that have already been singled out by the government for stepped-up measures against the virus. The 13 are Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Gifu, Aichi and Kyoto.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he will make a final decision Monday on extension of the state of emergency by about a month, following recommendations by a government panel to keep the restrictions in place for a while.

The initial state of emergency was declared on Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures on April 7, after which it was expanded on April 16 to cover the rest of the country. The declaration has resulted in business suspensions, and the government has been pushing for a reduction in person-to-person contact and more teleworking.

Economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of issues related to the state of emergency, spoke about the guidelines during a Saturday teleconference with Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura.

In a press conference afterward, Nishimura said, "We have to do it for the long stretch," referring to efforts to curb the spread of the pneumonia-causing virus.

At the same time, he said reopening economic activities in stages is possible, if the new cases of coronavirus infections are few and there are no problems in the regional health care systems.

According to a draft obtained by Kyodo News on the government's basic policy on the virus, while the use of facilities in the 13 prefectures will remain in place, restrictions for the other areas with few infection cases will be eased based on the situation on the ground. It will likely lead some shops to resume operations.

The draft on the policy, which will be revised Monday, also says classes will resume in phases, taking into account the situation of infections in the regions.

Meanwhile, the government will continue asking the public to avoid closed spaces, crowded places and close contact with others, and ask people not to go out of their prefectures, according to the draft.

Nishimura also urged the various sectors to take the initiative to create their own guidelines based on the government's basic ones.

Also on Saturday, the Osaka prefectural government decided at a coronavirus countermeasures task force meeting that it will decide on whether requests for business suspensions and calls to refrain from going out could be eased, based on the number of virus infections in the prefecture as of May 15.

On Friday, Yoshimura said he intends to create his prefecture's own guidelines that could help businesses to restart.

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Pakistani Christian students will be forced to study Quran if gov.s plans move ahead

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The governor of Pakistans Punjab province has asked all provincial universities to recommend how the teaching of the Quran with translation could be made part of the syllabus, saying the Islamic holy book is a complete code of life and will help students win favor of Allah Almighty.

It will be compulsory for students to attend lectures on the Quran, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said at a news conference, saying that the Quran will also help them become good human beings, according to The New International.

The news conference was held to announce that the governor, who is the chancellor of universities, has constituted a seven-member committee of vice-chancellors to submit recommendations on how to make the Quran part of the syllabus.

The committee has been asked to submit final recommendations on May 22, according to a statement by CLAAS-UK, a Christian legal advocacy group.

It is sad that for minorities, especially Christians who are living in large numbers in Punjab, their religious and fundamental rights are totally ignored, Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS-UK, said. No alternative program has been announced for non-Muslim students of Punjab universities.

Saeed said forcing non-Muslim students to study the Quran against their will, and that of their parents, will have a negative impact.

It will promote bigotry and hatred against non-Muslims in Pakistani society, something which is already on the rise.

Saeed added that it was shameful that apparently none of the nine Christian lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly raised their voice against the move.

A controversial bill making the teaching of the Quran mandatory in all schools and colleges in the entire country was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate in 2017.

Balighur Rehman, the state minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, insisted at the time that the Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran Bill 2017 would only apply to Muslim students.

It will lead toward spreading goodness and auspiciousness and toward ending chaos and uncertainty, the bill claimed, stating that it would make the divine message understood, ensure the response of society, encourage peace and tranquility, promote the supreme human values of truth, honesty, integrity, character building, tolerance, understanding others point of view and way of life.

The bill states that students in first grade through fifth grade will learn to read the Arabic text of the Islamic holy book, while students in sixth grade through 12 grade will also learn to read the Arabic text with simple Urdu translation, Hindustan Times reported at the time.

Christians are often targeted both by Pakistans blasphemy laws meant to protect Islamic sensitivities and by hardliners who carry out violence and have killed scores of believers in the past several years.

Persecution watchdog Open Doors USA ranks Pakistan at No. 5 on its 2020 World Watch List of 50 countries where it's most difficult to be a Christian.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the US has committed over $775 million in emergency health, humanitarian and economic assistance that will help over 120 countries, including India, in fighting the pandemic, the State Department has said, as the deadly disease claimed over 230,000 lives and infected over 3.3 million people.

According to a fact sheet released by the US State Department on Friday, the over $775 million assistance is specifically aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and NGOs to fight the pandemic.

This funding, provided by Congress, will save lives by improving public health education, protecting healthcare facilities, and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, it said.

India has received $5.9 million in health assistance to hinder the spread of the disease by providing care for the affected, disseminating essential public health messages to communities and strengthen case-finding and surveillance, it said.

This builds on a foundation of nearly $2.8 billion in total assistance to India over the last 20 years, which includes more than $1.4 billion for health.

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 South Asia, Afghanistan ($18 million), Pakistan ($15 million) and Bangladesh ($12.3 million), have received more in COVID-19 health assistance from the US, it said.

America's COVID-19 assistance to-date includes nearly $200 million in emergency health assistance from USAID's Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious-Disease Outbreaks and Global Health Programs account.

These funds prioritised interventions to mitigate and prepare communities in developing countries affected and at a risk of COVID-19.

It has provided nearly $300 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID's International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account.

These funds prioritise populations affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis, particularly displaced people, because of their heightened vulnerability, the elevated risk of severe outbreaks in camps and informal settlements and anticipated disproportionate mortality in these populations.

It has provided more than $150 million from the Economic Support Fund (ESF). These funds will promote American foreign policy interests by supporting shorter-term mitigation efforts and addressing second-order impacts from the pandemic in the long term, across a variety of sectors.

More than $130 million in humanitarian assistance from the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account, provided through the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. These funds will help international organisations and NGO partners address challenges posed by the pandemic in refugee, IDP, and hosting communities as well as other migrants and other vulnerable people in both global and local humanitarian responses.

This new assistance is in addition to the over $100 billion in global health funding and nearly $70 billion in overseas humanitarian assistance provided by the US in the last decade alone.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
By The Associated Press May. 01, 2020 | 07:27 AM | WASHINGTON

Joe Biden denied a former Senate staffer's allegation of sexual assault on Friday, saying this never happened.

It's the presumptive Democratic nominee's first public comment on an accusation of sexual assault by his former Senate staffer, Tara Reade.

Im saying unequivocally, it never, never happened, Biden said in an interview on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

Biden said he will ask the National Archives to determine whether there is any record of such a complaint being filed.

The former staffer has said she filed a complaint back in 1993, Biden said. But she does not have a record of this alleged complaint. The papers from my Senate years that I donated to the University of Delaware do not contain personnel files.

Biden said, There is only one place a complaint of this kind could be  the National Archives. The National Archives is where the records are kept.

Republicans worried about President Donald Trump's increasingly precarious political standing are seizing on the allegation to portray Democrats as hypocrites who only defend women who allege wrongdoing against conservatives. They are digging in despite the fact that it could renew attention on the multiple sexual assault allegations lodged against Trump.

Democrats, meanwhile, are in an awkward position of vigorously validating women who come forward with their stories while defending the man who will be their standard-bearer in what many in the party consider the most important election of their lifetimes.

Some in the party have been urging Biden to mount a more forceful response to the allegation.

The campaign has issued statements, but he hasnt issued any statements in his own voice, said former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile. Its not helping, its just damaging  not only to the person who has come forward, but its also damaging the candidate.

Lis Smith, a top strategist on Pete Buttigiegs presidential campaign, also called on the Biden campaign to speak up.

These accusations have not been found to be credible, so its in the Biden campaigns interest to nip this in the bud directly and do it quickly, she said.

The November contest between Biden and Trump will be the first presidential race of the #MeToo era, which has led numerous women to come forward with allegations of sexual assault. Trump has been accused of assault and unwanted touching by numerous women, allegations he denies.

Women are a core constituency for Democrats, and Biden has a mixed history. While he wrote the Violence Against Women Act as a senator, he also came under heavy criticism for his handling of Anita Hill's Senate testimony in the 1990s. Just before he launched his 2020 campaign, several women accused him of unwanted touching, behavior for which he apologized.

Biden has pledged to pick a woman as a running mate, and the allegation has left those thought to be in contention in a tough spot.

Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia Democratic governor candidate, said, I believe Joe Biden, citing a New York Times investigation that she said exonerated him.

Women deserve to be heard," she said, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources.

That echoed talking points issued by the Biden campaign to surrogates last week that were obtained by The Associated Press. They pointed to investigations by The New York Times, The Washington Post and the AP that found no other allegation of sexual assault and no pattern of sexual misconduct.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also defended Biden. Speaking on CNN, she said she was satisfied with how he has responded," even as she acknowledged it's a matter that he has to deal with.

Some Democratic donors and fundraisers say the issue has not come up in calls with party financiers. Others worry that it could be used against Biden, much as Hillary Clintons private email server and the activities of the Clinton Foundation were wielded against her by Trump.

Some, most notably women, say they are paying close attention to the allegations, which gave them pause.

Alex Sink, a donor and former Democratic nominee for governor of Florida, said she was not happy to read about the allegations against Biden. While she still plans to vote for him, she worried his campaign was too quick to categorically deny Reade's story.

They put themselves immediately out on a limb by saying, It didnt happen, we categorically deny it, its not true, Sink said.

Some female Democratic operatives expressed concerns the allegation is particularly damaging because its an indictment of Bidens central campaign rationale: that he provides a moral counter to Trump and that the election is a battle for the soul of America.

The stakes could not be higher for defeating Donald Trump  but at the same time, I think we have to apply a consistent standard for how we treat allegations of sexual assault, and also be clear-eyed about how Donald Trump will use these allegations in the general election campaign, said Claire Sandberg, who worked as Bernie Sanders organizing director.

The silence from the Biden campaign has given Republicans an opening on an issue that was, in 2016, more fraught for the GOP, when Trump was asked to answer for the more than two dozen women who alleged varying levels of sexual assault and harassment. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News on Thursday that Biden will have to participate in releasing all the information related to the allegation, a stance he didn't take when Trump faced misconduct accusations.

The GOP argues Democrats aren't being consistent, pointing to aggressive questioning and coverage of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when he faced an allegation of sexual assault.

Speaking about the allegation for the first time on Thursday, Trump said Biden should respond before proceeding to criticize the treatment of Kavanaugh as an absolute disgrace to our country.

Steve Guest, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said the left, and their media allies, has one standard for Republicans and another standard for Democrats like Joe Biden.

The double standard, he said, is appalling.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Diane Rowe was expecting to be fined $100 or face possible jail time for keeping her pawn and gun shop open in Grants in defiance of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams public health orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Instead, she says she has been charged $5,000 a day by the state. And the fine shes facing now totals $60,000 over a 12-day period.

I did not expect this for standing up for my rights, she told the Journal.

Rowe said her business  Papas Pawn and Gun  had received a cease-and-desist order from the New Mexico State Police before Monday, when Grants Mayor Martin Hicks declared businesses deemed nonessential could open in defiance of Lujan Grisham.

She thought the order served as a warning and the next step would be the misdemeanor charge.

Rowe said six or seven State Police vehicles surrounded her business on North First Street on Monday. She said a couple of officers taped her ticket to the door of the business. State Police spokesman officer Ray Wilson said she received the cease-and-desist order on April 14, and a citation Monday to appear in court.

She said she found out from the state that the cease-and-desist order was serving as her misdemeanor charge, which moved her up to the next step of punishment.

Shes vowing to fight the charge  and is also keeping her business open.

Ive been contacted by a constitutional law attorney, she said. Im getting him the documents I received from the state.

Rowe said she has done her due diligence to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

All I want is the chance to prove it, she said. Thats what all of the businesses in Grants want, is to prove that we can do it just like the big box stores can, referring to Walmart, Walgreens and Smiths Food and Drug Store, which have remained open.

We are practicing social distancing, said Rowe, whose shop is lined with tape. I only allow two people in the store at a time. We dont allow children. We want them to be safe. We dont allow browsers.

Rowe believes her business is essential since it is also a gun shop, which she feels is protected under the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She said it serves local law enforcement officers.

Under Lujan Grishams orders Friday lifting some restrictions, its possible Rowe could operate her business by appointment  if she lived in another part of the state. Gun shops are allowed to be open by appointment only.

The relaxed business restrictions dont apply to McKinley, Cibola and San Juan counties. It also stipulates that those three counties remain under the tighter restrictions from the previous order because of the high COVID-19 numbers in the Four Corners region.

This is not right, Rowe said. Its just not right.
Pakistan on Friday reported 882 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of infections in the country to 17,699 with 408 deaths, the health ministry said. The Ministry of National Health Services said 23 deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 408. Punjab reported 6,340 cases, Sindh 6,675, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 2,799, Balochistan 1,136, Islamabad 343, Gilgit-Baltistan 340 and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir reported 66 cases, according to the latest data released by the ministry.

Among the high profile politicians tested positive for the deadly virus include Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, apart from Governor of Pakistan's southern Sindh province Imran Ismail, a very close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The health ministry said that so far 182,131 tests had been conducted, including 7,971 on April 30.

READ | Imran Khan in Covid scare again as Pakistan Speaker tests positive; met PM on April 24

"There were 3,706 patients admitted in 717 hospitals with COVID-19 facilities across the country. The rest of the patients were isolated at homes," according to the ministry.

Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza said that either the end of May or middle of June could be the peak period for coronavirus in the country. "But it can be different also as we are not sure and monitoring the situation closely, Mirza had told media on Thursday. The health ministry said that infection was taking toll on the health professionals, as 191 more healthcare providers had tested positive.

Earlier data shared on April 23 showed that 253 healthcare workers were infected, while the new figure showed that the number increased to 444, registering 75 per cent jump. Those infected include 216 doctors, 67 nurses and 161 other healthcare staff. So far 94 patients have recovered from the virus.

READ | Pakistan min Fawad Chaudhry gutted as Imran Khan aide and Sindh Guv tests Covid positive

Pak opposition leaders blame govt

Meanwhile, the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ruling Sindh province accused the federal government of Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for not providing funds on time to help the province tackle the pandemic. PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the federal government was sabotaging the Sindh's government efforts against the coronavirus.

"Day and night the Sindh chief minister is attacked. They are attacking the province with the most limited resources," he said at reporters during a press conference on Friday.

READ | Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tests negative for the novel Coronavirus

PTI leader Shahbaz Gill in a counter attack said the central government would not provide cash "because we don't know where that money goes." "We will not give you cash. You will transfer it to the accounts of others and use it for money laundering. Prime Minister Imran Khan will not you rob (the country)," Gill tweeted.

With the rise in cases, over 400 members of Tableeghi Jamaat infected with COVID-19 and quarantined at a centre here on Thursday broke open the building's main door to make a failed escape attempt. "On Thursday a good number of COVID-19 patients mostly from Tableeghi Jamaat members refused to stay (at the centre) and broke open the door in a bid to escape," said Dr Asad Aslam, a doctor and the one supervising the management of the Expo Centre Field Hospital. "A law and order situation occurred, however, police managed to control the situation and send all those trying to escape back to the centre," he added.

READ | Pakistan PM Imran Khan Finally Issues Direct Anti-Covid Appeal; Tells People 'stay Inside'
PATNA

From just 12 districts in the state with Covid-19 positive cases at the end of the first spell of lockdown to 30 of the 38 districts as the second spell nears its end has raised concerns for Bihar, which is bracing to receive train loads of its natives stranded across the country.

While the number of positive cases was just 66 on April 14 in the state, it reached 475 at 10 am on May 2, with 243 cases reported in seven days between April 25 and May 1.

The government has already deferred all leaves of doctors, health officials and contractual employees in the health department till May 31 in view of growing need for surveillance and screening.

What is worrying for the state is that many of the new cases reported in the second phase of lockdown are migrants, who somehow managed to reach Bihar and took the infection to newer areas unknowingly as they were largely asymptomatic and did not report.

North Bihar districts like Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Purnea remained free from Covid-19 infection until the last week of the second phase of the lockdown, but now they all have cases.

Madhubani, with 13 cases reported on Friday only, has now emerged as the hot spot in north Bihar.

Neighbouring Darbhanga has five cases while Sitamarhi has six. East and West Champaran have five cases each, while Seemanchal region has too reported cases - Purnea and Araria (1 each) and Katihar (2).

Madhubani district magistrate Dr Nilesh Ramchandra Deor, who is himself a doctor, said all the 13 positive cases detected in the district had been found to be migrants from Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow, while the origin of the earlier five cases was traced to a woman who came by car from Delhi.

Due to her, another woman, who also travelled in the car and two children, contracted infection, he said.

With Madhubani sharing borders with Nepal and inflow of migrants likely to increase, there are greater concerns for district, famous for exquisite Madhubani paintings and rich cultural heritage, and the surveillance, screening and quarantine facilities have been intensified.

There is lockdown in Nepal also till May 7. People are not coming from that side and if anyone tries to sneak through, it is immediately detected due to heightened surveillance. All outsiders have to spend the required time in the quarantine facilities. There was no positive case in Madhubani earlier, but as migrants have started returning cases have surfaced. The administration is on its toes. We have to remain vigilant, he added.

In Madhubani, five blocks, Jhanjharpur, Rajnagar, Jainagar, Kalyani and Radhika, have reported Covid-19 positive cases. Madhubani and its neighbouring Darbhanga have already been put under orange zone.

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As you might know, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:DBK) just kicked off its latest quarterly results with some very strong numbers. Results overall were solid, with revenues arriving 8.6% better than analyst forecasts at 6.2b. Higher revenues also resulted in substantially lower statutory losses which, at 0.01 per share, were 8.6% smaller than the analysts expected. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Deutsche Bank

XTRA:DBK Past and Future Earnings May 2nd 2020

Taking into account the latest results, Deutsche Bank's 16 analysts currently expect revenues in 2020 to be 21.6b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 64% to 1.00. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of 21.3b and losses of 0.96 per share in 2020. Overall it looks as though the analysts were a bit mixed on the latest consensus updates. Although sales forecasts held steady, the consensus also made a to its losses per share forecasts.

As a result, there was no major change to the consensus price target of 5.60, with the analysts implicitly confirming that the business looks to be performing in line with expectations, despite higher forecast losses. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Deutsche Bank at 8.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at 3.00. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Story continues

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would also point out that the forecast 1.5% revenue decline is better than the historical trend, which saw revenues shrink -8.6% annually over the past five years

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to note is the forecast of increased losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at Deutsche Bank. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have forecasts for Deutsche Bank going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here.

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Deutsche Bank you should know about.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
By Trend

A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the format of a Contact Group will be held May 4 on the initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is the NAM Chairman, said the Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, Trend reports.

The summit on the theme We are together against COVID-19 will be held in the format of a video conference, he said.

Hajiyev noted that strengthening international solidarity, mobilizing the efforts of states and international organizations in fighting against the coronavirus pandemic is important.

Members of the Non-Aligned Movement unanimously supported the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev, Hajiyev said.

Given that there are 129 member countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, the summit will be held on the principle of regional geographical representation in the format of the Contact Group, he added.

The leadership of the United Nations (UN), the African Union, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations will also take part at the summit, noted Hajiyev.

The 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was chaired by President Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan on October 25-26, 2019.

With the unanimous support and consent of member countries, Azerbaijan assumed the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019-2022.

The promotion of multilateral diplomacy, the strengthening of cooperation and solidarity among member countries were determined by President Ilham Aliyev as one of the priorities of the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement.

In accordance with the resolution of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) dated December 12, 2018, April 24 is celebrated as the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy. As a member of numerous international organizations, Azerbaijan actively supports multilateral diplomacy and multilateralism.

Extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council was held in the form of a video conference on April 10 on the initiative of Azerbaijans President, the chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking states Ilham Aliyev.

In order to support international efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Azerbaijan voluntarily made a $5 million financial donation to the WHOs coronavirus response fund.

We hope that the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in the format of the Contact Group will make an important contribution to mobilizing efforts, strengthening solidarity and multilaterialism of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement in the fight against coronavirus, said Hajiyev.
During this strange period in our lives, you have to appreciate the small wins.

And weather wise - Victorians are being promised a small reprieve from a bone-chilling cold blast that has gripped the south eastern corner of Australia.

If we can hunker down and see out the next few days of cold wind and showers, there is some sunshine in store mid-week, says Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Michael Halfpenny.

A huge dump of snow blankets Mount Buller on Friday. Credit:Justin McManus

"We've probably had the worst already. We've seen the coldest day recently yesterday and we're expecting a gradual easing of conditions from here on," he says.
Seeking assistance: People stand at the corner of Gordon and Pembroke streets, Port of Spain, yesterday in a line that extended around Keate Street and then down towards the Living Water Community on Frederick Street, where hampers were being distributed to the needy as part of a relief effort for those who have been affected by COVID-19. Photo: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK
As Manitoba moves to reopen and return to a new normal, there are mounting instances where advice and actions appear to contradict each other, leaving confusion about how residents should behave in the coming weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As Manitoba moves to reopen and return to a new normal, there are mounting instances where advice and actions appear to contradict each other, leaving confusion about how residents should behave in the coming weeks.

Manitoba's COVID-19 cases total 279 Four new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Friday by the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin. The latest cases bring the total number of cases in the province to 279. The total number of related deaths remains unchanged at six. As of Friday morning, five individuals were in hospital but no patients were in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. click to read more Four new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Friday by the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin. The latest cases bring the total number of cases in the province to 279. The total number of related deaths remains unchanged at six. As of Friday morning, five individuals were in hospital but no patients were in the intensive care unit with COVID-19. There are 235 cases listed as recovered from the virus and 38 cases remain active. On Thursday, 689 lab tests were performed, bringing the provincial total to 25,402. Patients asked about race, ethnicity Public health nurses in Manitoba are now required to ask those who test positive for COVID-19 about their race, ethnicity and/or Indigenous identity. The Instructions for Surveillance form issued on April 30 says nurses are required to ask the question, but whether the patient responds is voluntary. Up until Friday, nurses only asked positive COVID-19 patients to identify if they are Indigenous. "These questions are important to our understanding of the impact of this virus on Manitobans from various backgrounds and will help us identify any disproportionate impact on specific populations or issues with access to services that may exist," Shared Health chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa said Friday, adding it could lead to more support for community organizations that play a role in the local COVID-19 response. Providing the information is voluntary, and will be handled and stored confidentially, Siragusa said. Care-home staff restricted to one facility Public-health orders restricting staff from working in more than one licensed personal care home took effect Friday. The single-site restriction is intended to provide additional protection against the introduction or spread of the virus within long-term care homes. All of Manitobas 127 licensed care homes have confirmed readiness, with staff in place, the nursing boss said. Online access to test results expanded Starting next week, a secure online portal will allow Manitobans who have tested negative for COVID-19 to more quickly access their test results. When people are tested, they will receive information about how to register and access the results. Users will need a Manitoba Health registration card. A toll-free number will be available early next week to provide results to those without a Manitoba health card or those without Internet access. Those who test positive will continue to be contacted promptly by public health officials.  with files from Carol Sanders Close

For example, the province announced Friday that campsite bookings would resume next week. Provincial parks will follow new cleaning protocols in bathrooms and shared spaces, but they can book to full capacity and trust that campers will only camp with other members of their households. Restrictions on gatherings remain capped at 10 people.

But previously, the province's public health officials had advised against people traveling to their cottages, which was an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to small communities and keep from overextending rural health-care services. On Friday, Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemard said the advice to avoid cottages was still largely in effect.

Manitobans can go camping, but are advised against going to their cottages. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"There was the advice given for non-essential travel, that it's not the time to be going up to cottages, and that's still, to a large part, what we're recommending, that if people don't feel that they need to travel, then it's still best to stay in the community. However, if they follow protocols, it is safe to do so, and to limit exposure in smaller communities, and to not be using their emergency services," she said.

Those who take advantage of the opportunity to book campsites would also be asked to self-monitor and not travel if they showed symptoms, Guillemard said, citing mental-health concerns as a key reason the province wanted people to be able to get out of their houses.

Wires are also getting crossed when it comes to advice on when and where it is appropriate (not to mention if it is appropriate) to visit friends and family.

On Monday, restaurant patios will be permitted to reopen subject to lower capacity restrictions than usual, and operators will be expected to disinfect all surfaces between customers. The limit on the number of people who can sit together remains capped at 10.

But the province's chief public health officer, Brent Roussin, said Friday he continued to advise against gathering with people outside of your family unit.

Restaurant patios can open, but brewery patios cannot, according to the province. Will restaurant washrooms be open? (Sasha Sefter / Winnipeg Free Press files)

"Really, that's not my advice, to go sit at a table of 10 people from different households. That's not public health's advice to do that. Certainly that's tough to write that in an order and have that enforced, but we're gradually opening things up and I think Manitobans get this."

But do they?

Retail stores and malls are permitted to open beginning Monday but on Friday, Roussin said garage sales shouldn't be held. The province isn't considering the reopening of schools, but they are reopening playgrounds and daycares.

What the distinctions are, and where the lines are drawn, is clear as mud.

"I would say every place, right now, is trying to be rational and failing in obvious ways," said Amir Attaran, a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. "This is going to be a crude, messy, imprecise and not always evidence-based (process) because very poor thinking has gone into this ahead of time. Our capacity for public health in this country is dismal, so you should expect a lot of seemingly arbitrary, evidentiary question marks over decisions that are being made."

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Nobody should be opening up while there are fundamental questions about the data of the epidemic, said Amir Attaran, a professor at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

Attaran said it was "flagrant" that some of these decisions are being made out of the government's own self interest.

But these confusions open the door to a much bigger problem, Attaran said. As provinces announce their haphazard plans to open, he is primarily concerned that outsiders like himself cannot properly adjudicate what is and is not appropriate because not enough epidemiological information is being made public. He wants to see Canadian jurisdictions following the lead of countries such as Norway, which releases daily a full breakdown of the age and gender of those who have tested positive, as well as what the scientific assumptions are that government projections are based on. This information should be transparent and should be the scientific foundation for any government's response, he said.

The Manitoba government has been criticized for withholding available projections about how the disease is forecasted to impact the province. Premier Brian Pallister has dismissed calls for such projections to be made public, calling them a "conjectured guess."

"My concern is that no place  not Alberta, not Saskatchewan, not Manitoba, not Ontario  nobody should be opening up while there are fundamental questions about the data of the epidemic," said Attaran. "That data has to be transparent, the modelling has to be transparent, outsiders need to look at it in order for governments to be able to proceed with caution. The idea that governments, which failed entirely to prepare for this pandemic, have suddenly become masters at pandemic management and are opening up the country at the right, carefully considered time is laughable."

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik
Amaravati, May 2 : With the stage set for the return of migrant workers and people stranded in other states, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday, held discussions with his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik.

During a video conference on Saturday, the two Chief Ministers discussed the issue of shifting migrant workers from Andhra to Odisha and vice-versa. The two bordering states have extensive business and trade interaction between people of the two states. A large number of migrant workers from Odisha are employed in the agricultural and aquaculture sector of Andhra Pradesh. Many of them are employed in SMEs and construction projects as well.

The AP Chief Minister informed Naveen Patnaik that nearly 20,000 people from Odisha are staying in Andhra Pradesh, of whom 1,900 of them are currently lodged in relief camps. Stating that the persons in the relief camps have expressed interest to be sent back to Odisha, Jagan Mohan Reddy said: "All arrangements are being made for their transport to Odisha. The state government will make sure to provide better facilities for those opting to remain in AP." Naveen Patnaik thanked Jagan Mohan Reddy for his government's support to Odisha people stranded in AP and appreciated the efforts put up by the State in controlling the Covid-19.

During the course of the video conference with Naveen Patnaik, Jagan Mohan Reddy also raised the issue of the return of Andhra migrant workers, students, professionals, pilgrims, and tourists stuck in Odisha, due to the 40-day lockdown.

Union petroleum and steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan joined the video conference from Delhi and applauded the efforts in taking care of migrant workers in the state.
As authorities revealed the latest mass casualty event to strike an American nursing home amid the pandemic, advocates for the elderly decried an inadequate federal response to the crisis.

Nursing homes have been especially devastated by COVID-19. A nationwide review by ABC News found more than 10,000 long-term care residents have died of the virus in just the 28 states that responded to a request for figures. In some states, deaths in nursing homes account for as many as half of all coronavirus-related fatalities.

On Friday, officials acknowledged that the novel coronavirus had claimed the lives of 98 residents at a single New York City nursing home, a loss that Mayor Bill de Blasio called absolutely horrifying.

Critics have argued that the federal government has responded too slowly to the worsening situation in nursing homes, where elderly residents have been especially vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19 because they live in such close quarters.

The federal and states' response to COVID-19 has been an unquestionable disaster, said Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, a citizen's advocacy organization for nursing home residents. Many of these deaths were needless and completely avoidable.

PHOTO: Members of the Massachusetts National Guard are sprayed down before removing their hazmat suits after leaving Alliance Health at Marina Bay in Quincy, MA on April 9, 2020. They were deployed to Quincy to assist nursing homes with COVID-19 testing. (Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

(MORE: Coronavirus live updates: US intel believes China hid severity of epidemic while stockpiling supplies)

Last week, authorities reported that 70 residents had died as the virus quickly spread through the 543-bed Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in western New Jersey. That record death toll was eclipsed on Friday when the 705-bed Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan reported the deaths of 98 residents since the outbreak began to take hold in March.

According to a statement issued yesterday by the nursing home in New York, the facility had limited access to widespread testing to diagnose residents and experienced staff shortages  problems being reported by many facilities around the country.

Sadly, while we have always had daily health screenings of staff, this hampered our ability to identify those who were infected and asymptomatic, despite our efforts to swiftly separate anyone who presented symptoms.

Story continues

The owner of Andover issued statements to the media saying staffing there was solid, but that the home found itself on the front lines of this crisis.

Both facilities were overwhelmed so quickly, they reportedly experienced difficulty handling the number of bodies.

PHOTO: Residents are seen at the Avante at Ormond Beach nursing home, one of the 324 long term care facilities in Florida with known COVID-19 cases, on April 25, 2020 in Ormond Beach, Florida. (Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

(MORE: Coronavirus government response updates: FDA authorizes emergency use of remdesivir)

As nursing homes operators have issued increasingly urgent requests for supplies, Vice President Pence announced plans to protect nursing homes last week, telling governors the Trump administration was organizing the first federal shipments of gowns, gloves and masks directly to nursing homes, a departure from the earlier strategy which had relied on states to provide supplies to nursing home facilities.

We are literally contracting to ship direct what amounts to [protective equipment] packages to all 15,000-plus nursing homes in the country, Pence said on a call with governors earlier this week.

Governors have been trying to manage the crisis as well. Gov. Larry Hogan, a Maryland Republican who chairs the National Governors Association, held a press conference last week to say the state will continue to take aggressive actions to address the spread of COVID-19 in Maryland nursing homes, calling those steps critically important to our states recovery efforts.

Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told ABC News last week that she believes the federal response has been robust and focused on supporting state officials.

At the federal level, we are trying to support what state and local officials are doing by the end of the day, Verma said. The response is, as we've said many times, it's locally executed. It's state managed and federally supported.

PHOTO: Two emergency medical staff of a private ambulance company sanitize a hospital gurney after they dropped off a patient at the Cobble Hill Health Center April 20, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

(MORE: Fauci to testify before Senate after White House blocked him from appearing before Congress)

Pences announcement was greeted as good news by industry officials. But while some facilities in some hard-hit locations, including New York and New Jersey, expect those shipments to arrive next week, others are not scheduled to arrive until July.

According to documents sent by FEMA to some county Departments of Health and obtained by ABC News, the shipments will contain a seven-day supply of personal protective equipment, calculated based on the staffing size of the facility. Nursing homes will likely not be notified, the document said, in advance of the arrival of their shipment.

Bledsoe and other advocates said it was all too little too late for facilities in need.

Toby Edelman, a Senior Policy Attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, said the shipments of personal protective equipment are totally inadequate and very late in coming.

FEMA should have sent [equipment] to every nursing home after the first outbreak, Edelman said.

Carol Herman, president of the Foundation Aiding The Elderly, said she is very pleased about the shipment of supplies but said this should have been done months ago. So many elders had to suffer to make it happen.

And Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union, a labor union that represents many nursing home workers, said she has grave concerns about the numbers of workers dying, a figure that has not been tracked by states or the federal government.

If this administration does not start doing everything possible to expedite [protective equipment] to nursing homes and assisted living facilities so that frontline healthcare workers and residents are protected from the virus, Henry said, not only will more Americans tragically, needlessly die, we will prolong any real recovery from this pandemic.

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the US and Worldwide: coronavirus map

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.

Advocates demand stronger federal action as nursing homes engulfed by pandemic originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Tyler Blackburn and Michael Vlamis of Roswell, New Mexico | Robby Klein/Getty Images

Since Roswell, New Mexico premiered on The CW in 2019, and it has kept the audience guessing with sci-fi mysteries and soapy drama. Now, in its sophomore season, the show has doubled down on the intrigue. Heres a recap of where the characters stand and what to expect on Roswell, New Mexico Season 2 Episode 8, Say It Aint So.

[Spoiler warning: The following article contains details about Roswell, New Mexico Seasons 1 and 2]

Previously on Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell, New Mexico began as a show about three aliens who were desperate to keep their origin story a secret. Max, Isobel, and Michael crash-landed in their escape pods in 1947 and remained in hibernation for decades. When they awoke, they had no recollection of their extraterrestrial history. They began exhibiting strange abilities as children and made a pact to protect each other no matter the cost.

As adamant as they were to keep their true nature on the down-low, they let the extraterrestrial cat out of the bag when sheriffs deputy and alien hero Max saved the life of Liz, the human who captured his heart.

Related story: Before Roswell, New Mexico, and Greys Anatomy, Jeanine Mason Won A Reality Competition

To the dismay of the trio, the truth spread even further than they expected during season 1. Maxs ex-partner, Deputy Jenna Cameron, local doc and sheriffs son, Kyle Valenti, and veteran, Alex Manes were all in the loop. It wasnt until season 2 that Liz and Alexs BFF, Maria DeLuca learned the truth.

What went down at The Crash Down? Stream a new episode now: https://t.co/J6drcdoGja #RoswellNM pic.twitter.com/TFmGIVtueh  Roswell, New Mexico (@CWRoswellNM) April 28, 2020

To make matters even more complicated, the group discovered that a military officer and alien hunter named Master Sergeant Jesse Manes (thats Alexs dad, yall) has been on a lifelong mission to sniff out any spacemen amongst the townsfolk. Spoiler alert  unlike Max, Isobel, and Michael, Papa Manes does not come in peace.

In season 2 episode 4, What If God Was One Of Us?, Deputy Jenna confronts Master Sergeant Manes about the shady disappearance of her sister. Manes warns her that while searching for her sis, she could find trouble instead.

Jenna hightails it out of town in hot pursuit but stops when a downed deer blocks the road. She gets out of the car to investigate (big mistake) and is suddenly blinded by a brilliant light. That is the last the audience sees of Deputy Jenna, but three episodes later, Max mentions that her car was impounded and hes itching to investigate.

Next on Roswell, New Mexico

Roswell, New Mexico Season 2 Episode 8, Say It Aint So, will be centered around a missing person case. You guessed it. Max will try in this episode to track down his ex-partner.

What did you do to Jenna? Shes missing Max accuses Manes in the promo for the episode.

I told Jenna that what she was getting into was going to be dangerous, confesses Manes, Apparently she didnt listen.

Predictably, Max goes all Die Hard, based on the promo, which teases a sequence of him dodging sniper bullets. Will Max find Jenna, and if he does, will she be unharmed? Whether she has been abducted by aliens or detained by the government, there is a fair chance that poor Jenna could be traumatized if she doesnt escape in time.

In any case, her rescue could lead to more clues, help unravel more of the Roswell lore, and lay the foundation for one heck of a season-ending arc. Roswell, New Mexico airs on Mondays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

Read more: Roswell, New Mexico and The Vampire Diaries: Heres How They Are Connected
Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor's ancestral home, dubbed as the 'Kapoor Haveli', here cannot be converted into a museum as promised by the Pakistan government due to financial constraints, sources said on Saturday.

In 2018, the Pakistan government decided to convert the 'Kapoor Haveli' in Qissa Khwani Bazar in Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province into a museum, heeding to a request by Rishi Kapoor who died this week at a hospital in Mumbai.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had assured Rishi Kapoor that the Pakistan government will convert the actor's house into a museum.

The sources in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Heritage Department told PTI that the department prepared a comprehensive plan under which the haveli's front would be preserved and its inner portion will be repaired and renovated. However, the plan did not go ahead due to lack of financial resources, they said.

Federal Minister Shaheryar Afridi had promised to give the status of museum to the 'Kapoor Haveli' soon after the present government of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf party came into power in July 2018.

However, the announcement to this effect could not be materialised despite a lapse of around two years.

The haveli is presently the property of a private person who made three/four attempts in the past to demolish the building but could not do it as FIRs were registered against him by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa heritage department.

The owner has now assured the government that he would not dismantle the building. However, due to frequent rains, hailstorms and earthquakes, the condition of the building has deteriorated from inside.

The 'Kapoor Haveli' was built by Basheswarnath Kapoor, the father of Bollywood icon Prithviraj Kapoor.

The Kapoor family, originally from Peshawar in Pakistan, migrated to India after the partition in 1947.

In 1990, Rishi Kapoor along with brother Randhir Kapoor visited their ancestral home where his grandfather, Prithviraj and his father Raj Kapoor, were born.

The news of Rishi Kapoor's death sent a wave of sadness and grief among people in Peshawar. A lot of people visited the 'Kapoor Haveli' to express their grief and condolence over his demise.

"We had no relation with Rishi Kapoor, but had a liking for him because of watching him as a film hero from childhood and due to his connection with a place which is also a birth place of me, said Pervaiz Ahmad, a city dweller.

"Rishis death has saddened me a lot, Pervaiz added.

"Perhaps the feeling expressed by Pervaiz portrays sentiments of all the dwellers of Peshawar over sad demise of Rishi, said Ibrahim Zia, a historian who wrote a book titled 'Peshawar ki Funkar (Artists of Peshawar).
A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court seeking lodging of an FIR against the chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission for his alleged "inflammatory and threatening statements against the Hindu community.

The petition by Delhi resident Manoranjan Kumar has claimed that the commission's chairman, Zafarul-Islam Khan, on April 28 posted statements on his Facebook account wherein he allegedly referred to the Hindu community as 'Hindutva bigots'.

The plea, filed through advocate Siddharth Acharya, has also alleged that Khan in his statements threatened the Hindu community with dire consequences.

The petitioner also sought his removal from the post of chairman of the commission.

"...he (Khan) deliberately misused his position as the Chairperson of the Commission and his continuance in office is detrimental to the interests of minorities and the public interest," the petition has contended.

It also alleged that the statements were made by Khan with an intention to cause communal tensions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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May 2, 2020

To: President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez

President of the Republic of Cuba

Office of the President

Hidalgo Esq. 6

Plaza de La Revolucion, CP 10400

Sent via email

Dear President Diaz-Canel,

The Committee to Protect Journalists, Amnesty International, and Article 19 Mexico and Central America Office are writing to call for the immediate release of jailed journalist Roberto de Jesus Quinones Haces amid the sweeping COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists most recent annual survey conducted on December 1, 2019, there were at least 250 journalists behind bars around the world, including in Honduras, Venezuela, and Cuba. On March 30, CPJ published an open letter to world leaders urging the release of all journalists imprisoned for their work. The situation of Cuban journalist Roberto Quinones appears particularly dire, so we are reiterating that call to you on his behalf at this time of grave public health concern.

Roberto Quinones, a lawyer and contributor to the news website CubaNet, has been imprisoned in the Guantanamo Provincial Prison since September 11, 2019, where he is serving a year-long correctional labor sentence. A Guantanamo court sentenced Quinones in August 2019 after he refused to pay a fine for charges of resistance and disobedience stemming from his April 22, 2019, arrest while reporting on a trial.

In September 2019, Amnesty International named Quinones a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his freedom of expression, and called for his immediate and unconditional release. In November 2019, representatives of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, as well as the Special Rapporteurs for Freedom of Expression from the UN and IACHR, informed your government that the Working Group was investigating Quinones case as a potential case of arbitrary detention and violation of due process.

Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights guarantee the right to seek, receive and impart information freely, and include specific protections for journalists. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Cuba signed in 2008, provides for the right to hold opinions without interference and the right to freely seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, including on issues of public interest. We remind you that Cuba must guarantee these rights, which are particularly relevant to the current global context.

Cuba also has a duty to protect its population amid the COVID-19 pandemic without discrimination, including those deprived of their liberty. According to the World Health Organization, People deprived of their liberty, and those living or working in enclosed environments in their close proximity, are likely to be more vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease than the general population.

Imprisoned journalists have no control over their surroundings, cannot choose to isolate, and are often denied necessary medical care. In addition, some individuals appear to be at particular risk of severe illness or death linked to COVID-19, including older individuals and people with pre-existing medical conditions, according to the WHO.

Roberto Quinones is no exception. In letters published by CubaNet on October 1 and March 5, Quinones has described his conditions at the Guantanamo Provincial Prison, which include overcrowding, poor food and water quality, and lack of adequate medical attention. Quinones was reportedly subject to retaliation for publishing this information in the form of disciplinary measures, including denying access to phone calls and barring him from outdoor spaces in the prison.

Quinones has served more than half of his year-long sentence, during which time he has suffered from escalating health problems, including psoriasis that, according to CubaNet, has worsened in detention, and significant weight loss due to gastrointestinal complications, according to his wife. With detainees at increased risk from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cuban government must release Roberto Quinones.

Mr. President, no journalist should have to choose between silence or prison. On this World Press Freedom Day, we urge you to release Roberto Quinones, protect the free flow of information, and guarantee that all journalists in Cuba are able to perform their fundamental role in society, free of any reprisals.

Sincerely,

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Amnesty International

ARTICLE 19 Mexico & Central America Office
The UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development has launched a new initiative to provide Iftar meals to workers at the ministry's ongoing projects.

The initiative coincides with the Ministry's celebrations of the International Labour Day, which falls on May 1 of every yearm reported state news agency Wam.

Hana Al Soury, Director of Government Communications at the Ministry, said the celebration of the Labour Day comes as part of the Ministry's keenness to promote social responsibility culture among the different segments of the community, it added.
HALIFAXFormer Canadian Armed Forces officers say it appears a naval Cyclone helicopter struck the waters off Greece with sudden and massive force, and investigators may face challenges determining what caused the tragedy without recovering the aircraft.

The crash took the lives of six military personnel when it went down Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea as it was returning to the Halifax-based frigate, HMCS Fredericton.

The Canadian Forces members have been identified as Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald of New Glasgow, N.S.; Capt. Kevin Hagen of Nanaimo, B.C.; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin of Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke of Truro, N.S.; Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins of Guelph, Ont.; and Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, originally from Toronto.

Retired Colonel Larry McWha, the former commanding officer of 423 Squadron, which flies CH-148 choppers out of the helicopter base in Shearwater, N.S., says images from the area show the debris field of the crash is not large and the oil slick isnt widely spread out, suggesting a high-speed and violent crash that caused some portions to break off immediately.

He says its the ocean equivalent of an aircraft crash onto land that leaves a smoking, black hole at the point of impact.

Ken Hansen, a Halifax-based independent defence analyst and former naval officer, said the crash is puzzling, as sparse details released to date dont give any indicators the crew was aware of a potential problem.

He said sources at 12 Wing Shearwater, the downed helicopters home base, have told him that the crew was a star crew, top-notch people, and he says the chances of pilot error are very low.

In addition, Hansen said he was also told that the aircrafts maintenance had recently been completely redone before the deployment.

Its something that would have been done normally for an aircraft going out on a six-month deployment. It was in top condition, he said.

The Cyclone has a self-diagnostic maintenance system and Hansen said this can warn operators of issues long before they can be discovered through direct observation.

Like McWha, he said the known debris field indicates the Cyclone hit the water with great force.

That means a major event took place, something catastrophic, Hansen said.

McWha said from what he knows of the crash, it could prove crucial to recover as much of the helicopter as possible  a challenging task given the depth of the water in the area.

He notes the aircraft, except for a door and some small pieces, disappeared below the surface and has not been located.

He said he suspects it may have landed on a sloped ocean bottom and gravity may carry it into very deep waters.

McWha says while a flight data recorder and voice recordings may tell investigators some details, they often need portions of the aircraft to discover the causes  particularly if there was a mechanical failure  in order to examine the broken part.

For example, when a civilian counterpart of the CH-148 Cyclone crashed off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2009, resulting in 17 deaths, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board were able to find broken titanium studs to indicate the gearbox oil filter assembly had broken off.

Rear Admiral Craig Baines, the commander of the navys maritime command, told reporters on Friday that no conclusions can be drawn yet as the military flight investigators havent yet examined the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder or interviewed HMCS Fredericton crew.

Among the few details revealed, he estimated the crash occurred within two miles of the frigate, but he didnt indicate how close the helicopter was to ship or how many eye witnesses there were.

The twin-engine Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is the military variant of the commercially used Sikorsky S-92.

Hansen, a military analyst, said his sources have told him, the aircrew were absolutely thrilled to fly the thing, it was a huge success until this recent setback.

However, McWha notes that Canada is still awaiting the final delivery of 10 of the 28 Cyclones, which were already years behind schedule due to the federal government requiring changes prior to accepting the aircraft.

RELATED STORIES Federal Politics Crew members named in Canadian military helicopter crash off Greek coast

Thats because theyre still upgrading issues that had to be rectified, McWha said.

After scouring the seascape with its NATO allies, the Canadian Forces warship formally ended its search for survivors Friday.

The ship was to dock at an Italian port during the weekend.

Repatriation efforts are still being discussed with the families, as they are of course the priority, a Canadian Forces spokesperson said in an email.

As you can appreciate, the investigation team are busy with their very important work and it would be too soon to discuss details.

The commander of HMCS Fredericton is also mourning his team, helping the crew through this extremely difficult time, and of course managing the ongoing deployment efforts.

Baines has said Frederictons crew would remain in Italy for several days before returning to resume its role in the NATO mission.

 With files in Halifax from Keith Doucette

Read more about:
Germany has provided 3,000 coronavirus testing kits to Nepal to fight the pandemic.

This is part of the bilateral cooperation between Germany and Nepal to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, said a statement by the Embassy of Germany in Kathmandu.

The 3,000 PCR-test kits arrived in Nepal on Saturday through a French repatriation flight. These are part of a total of 20,000 COVID-19 testing kits ordered from Germany.

In the current state of the pandemic in Nepal, testing is crucial for slowing down the spread of the virus, health authorities said.

Reliable testing is also important for community peace. Knowing exactly who is infected and who is not, can ease tensions and apprehensions, said German Ambassador to Nepal Roland Schfer in the statement.

The Embassy in France in Kathmandu had made necessary arrangements to bring the cargo of PCR Test kits to Nepal as it chartered a flight to evacuate its citizens stranded in Kathmandu due to the nationwide lockdown enforced to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Nepal has so far reported 59 COVID-19 cases. Sixteen patients have recovered.

The Ministry of Health and Population is charting out plans to ease the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus in a bid to gradually restart the stalled economy.

The government enforced nationwide lockdown in Nepal on March 24 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Since then, almost all economic activities have come to a grinding halt, inflicting billions of rupees of losses on businesses and rendering many jobless.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It takes a huge amount of trust to be able to try and practice nonmonogamy in a functional way already, Glassburn said, and I think with everyone feeling a little more self-protected, there can be less of that trust extended to new partners. If someone doesnt have a long-standing relationship with one of their partners partners, I think that risk-aversion piece can be heightened.
Valerie Pecresse, a French presidential hopeful from the Republican party, who had the egregious audacity to illegally visit the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on December 22, 2021, is now allegedly "infuriated" at the French government's "deafening silence" at Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's remarks that she would not have been permitted to leave the country, had Baku been informed about her illegal trip.
He had no official Harvard affiliation, yet Jeffrey Epstein had his own office, key card and Harvard phone line. He would often swing by on weekends to host dinners with academics he wanted to meet.

According to a university report released on Friday, Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself in jail last year, visited Harvard more than 40 times after he was convicted of sex charges involving a minor in 2008.

The report documented more extensive ties than had been previously known between Epstein and the university, which was one of a number of powerful institutions that he used to help burnish his image.

In a letter to the Harvard community, the universitys president, Lawrence S. Bacow, said the university had donated $200,937 (U.S.) in unspent gifts from Epstein to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault.

Bacow said that a review had confirmed that the university accepted a total of $9.1 million from Epstein from 1998-2008 to support research and faculty activities. That is about $200,000 more than had been disclosed by Bacow in September after an initial review.

Bacow said that Harvard did not accept any gifts from Epstein after his conviction in Florida in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution from a minor and served 13 months in jail. The conviction was part of a widely criticized plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges.

Drew G. Faust, who was then the president of Harvard, had ruled in 2008 that the university should no longer accept gifts from him, the report said.

Yet Epstein maintained close ties to the university, according to the report.

From 2010-18, the report said, Epstein made more than 40 visits to the universitys Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which Epstein helped establish with a $6.5 million donation in 2003. Despite having no Harvard affiliation, Epstein had key-card access to the programs offices in Harvard Square and was given his own office space within the program until 2018, the report said. It was known as Jeffreys Office, the report said.

Epstein had cultivated a close relationship with the director of the program, Martin A. Nowak, a professor of math and biology, who permitted Epstein to have unrestricted access to Harvard offices, despite knowing he was a registered sex offender, the report said.

Nowak also allowed Epstein to create a page on the programs website that featured his photograph and links to his own website, the report said. The page was taken down after a group of sexual assault survivors complained in 2014, it said.

The report also accused Nowak of falsely informing a grant-making foundation that he had matching funds from one of Epsteins foundations, even though he had no such funds.

Claudine Gay, dean of the schools Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said Friday that she had placed Nowak on paid administrative leave pending a review of whether he had violated policies and standards of professional conduct.

Nowak did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.

The report made a number of recommendations  among them, that Harvard tighten its procedures to review potentially controversial gifts and revise its process for the appointment of visiting fellows. (Epstein was named a visiting fellow in 2005.)

The report issued today describes principled decision-making but also reveals institutional and individual shortcomings that must be addressed  not only for the sake of the university but also in recognition of the courageous individuals who sought to bring Epstein to justice, Bacow wrote.

Epstein, 66, was found hanging in his cell in August at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City. Federal prosecutors had charged him with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy.

He was accused of sexually assaulting young girls, including dozens as young as 14 whom he hired to perform nude massages on him. The abuse was said to have occurred at both his mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and his palatial waterfront home in Palm Beach, Florida, from 2002-05.

In January, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology acknowledged that it had accepted $850,000 from Epstein from 2002-17. Epstein also visited campus at least nine times from 2013-17, MIT said.

Harvards report was an attempt to reckon with its many ties to Epstein, including his admission as a visiting fellow in the psychology department in 2005, a post he was granted despite lacking the necessary qualifications.

The report found that Epstein had been recommended for the fellowship by the department chairman, Stephen Kosslyn, who had accepted $200,000 in donations from Epstein from 1998-2002.

The application process did not inquire about possible conflicts of interest, and Kosslyn did not disclose the donations in the paperwork submitted in support of Epsteins application, the report said.

Epstein paid the tuition and fees to be a visiting fellow and showed up for registration but did little to pursue his proposed course of study, the report said. Still, Epstein applied for the fellowship again in the 2006-07 academic year, and was accepted. He agreed to withdraw in 2006 after he was arrested, the report said.

Kosslyn, who left the university in 2011 and is now a professor emeritus at Harvard, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.
History will not forget the month of April 2020 in Borno state when mysterious tragedy of multiple deaths struck the state in even almost one with the death of notable personalities, including high profile personalities like the former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Late Alhaji Abba Kyari who hailed from Bama LGA of Borno state and his late father, a traditional title holder, the Galadima of Yazaram District of Dikwa Emirate.

The father of a three time Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and two time former State Govenror of Borno state, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff in person of Alhaji Modu Sheriff. He was the notable and renowned traditional title holder and business mogul, the Galadima of Dikwa. A high profile contractor and supplier with national and international repute who lost his life as a result of fire outbreak at his residence in Maiduguri.

Late Goni Modu Goni Kolo

Others include the Borno State first republic State Gobernor and political stalwart and examplary leader per excellent, late Alhaji Mohammed Goni Who was known for his leadership quality, transparency, accountability, honesty, simplicity and humility. He was as an elder statesman that transformed Borno state into a regional small London with basic infrastructures across the nooks and crannies of the state. The infrastructure he built have stood the test of time since early 80s to date.

The late 11th Shehu of Dikwa and first Emir of Bama, HRH, Alhaji Kyari Ibn Umar Ibn Ibrahim Al Amin El Kanemi was also a great loss to the state and the nation at large. A respected and dignified royal father who Distinguished himself in many spheres and stood behind his subjects thoughout the insurgency of Boko Haram when Bama town was taken over and declared caliphate of the Boko Haram Insurgents before the military reclaimed the town and it's environs.

Late Goni Habib of Abujan Talakawa

He was related to the former Chief of Staff to President Buhari and hailed from the same district. He formally recieved condolences for the former Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari at Ajiya house in Maiduguri throughout the mourning period as a first class Emir of Bama.

A member of the Borno State House of Assembly (BOSHA), representing Nganzia LGC State Constituency, late Alhaji Wakil Bukar also passed away after a brief illness at UMTH Maiduguri during the month of April 2020 . He was also a.notable politician and businessman.

Late Alhaji Sheriff Gudumbali

A renowned retired class teacher, headmaster and popular Principal of Government College Maiduguri who was known as a disciplinarian and transparent fellow , a mentor and master to many, Malam Ibrahim Daushe also died within the month of April 2020. He was said to have died after a brief illness. Some of his former students are Senators, House of Representatives members, LGC Chairman, State Commissiomers, Medical Doctors , Engineers, State Govenrors, Senior Military Officers, Directors, Chairmen of Boards and Parastatals among others.

Sheikh Mohammed Abdullahi of New GRA Maiduguri also died within the period after a protracted illness. He was known for his Islamic propagation prowess and teachings of Prophet Muhammadu (SAW) doctrines and injunctions.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to shield businesses from the impending lawsuit pandemic following the coronavirus outbreak.

Health care companies have asked Gov. Gavin Newsom for protection from coronavirus suits in California, while Democratic lawmakers have proposed making it easier for health workers, police and firefighters to win benefits.

But the first legal barrier facing victims of COVID-19, and their families, is showing that their employer  or their doctor, hospital or grocer  caused the illness.

That is very tricky in these cases, said Robert Rabin, a Stanford law professor whose specialty is torts, or suits for personal injuries.

Even under workers compensation, an employer-funded insurance system designed to protect employers from civil lawsuits and provide benefits to employees, you still need to show a causal link  the harm has to arise out of workplace activity, Rabin said. Youre exposed to other people, family, maybe friends, if you take the train to work, if you go shopping. You have to show its more likely than not that the infection began at work.

If you worked in a hospital or a nursing home where an outbreak occurred, its easier (to prove) than at a grocery store. But its still time-consuming, said Julius Young, an Oakland attorney who represents employees in compensation cases and blogs about the subject at workerscompzone.com.

As a shortcut, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, Californias largest workers compensation insurer with 11% of the market, has announced that it will approve benefits for employees classified as essential who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, without having to prove that they caught it at work. They include health care professionals, emergency response personnel, law enforcement and grocery workers.

State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, has introduced SB1159, which would provide compensation for workers who were employed to combat the coronavirus, unless their employer could prove the illness arose elsewhere. On the other side, health care trade associations, citing their need for resources during the emergency, asked Newsom on April 9 for an executive order granting immunity from lawsuits by patients except in cases of willful misconduct. The governor has not responded.

Cheryl Wallach, a plaintiffs lawyer in Los Angeles, said California has recognized workers compensation for exposure to airborne illnesses since at least 1942, when the state Supreme Court upheld benefits for a coffee salesman assigned to a San Joaquin Valley route where he inhaled spores that caused valley fever.

Nationally, McConnell, R-Ky., said funding for state and local governments, withheld from the most recent coronavirus relief legislation, would be included in the next bill only if it also protected businesses nationwide from negligence suits by victims.

The trial lawyers are sharpening their pencils to come after health care providers and businesses, McConnell told Fox News on Monday.

Such legislation would not be unprecedented; Stanfords Rabin cited the 2005 federal law that protects gun manufacturers from damage suits by victims of criminal gunfire. But he said any federal immunity law would probably apply only to future cases of the coronavirus and would not be retroactive, under court doctrines and constitutional guarantees.

And Young, the Oakland attorney, said a federal law would almost certainly be limited to damage suits by business customers and patients and would not apply to state-regulated workers compensation systems.

An employee seeking workers compensation is entitled to a state-funded medical examination by a physician who considers the patients health history, working conditions and other circumstances and determines whether it was more likely than not that the illness was contracted at work.

If so, the employee is compensated for a portion of lost wages, currently a maximum of $1,300 a week, for up to two years, and the costs of medical treatment. Young said employees unable to return to work can receive vouchers for $6,000 or $11,000, depending on their disability, and those who are permanently disabled can get lifetime benefits.

The compensation, however, does not include any amounts for pain and suffering or emotional distress, which are available only in damage suits. Employees can file such suits by alleging that their employer knowingly exposed them to the coronavirus  withholding masks, for example, when coworkers or customers were coughing  but the typical suit is a negligence claim by a business customer or other non-employee.

Negligence might be found, for example, in a barbershop where barbers were not provided gloves, or not provided enough gloves to change between customers, or a restaurant where a cook wasnt wearing protective gear, said Dorit Reiss, a law professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco.

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.

U.S. courts have long recognized negligence suits related to infections, Reiss said. She cited a ruling in 1884 by a federal court in New York allowing the owner of a boardinghouse to sue parents who neglected to tell the owner that their children had whooping cough, which infected an owners child and other residents. And in 1919, a New York court allowed a suit against the city of Rochester by a resident who came down with typhoid fever after the city dumped wastes into a river that supplied water to the area.

Theres also likely to be a lot of fighting over whos an employee or an independent contractor, said Catherine Fisk, a UC Berkeley law professor. While drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft are generally entitled to more benefits if classified as employees  an issue California voters will decide in November  drivers infected with coronavirus could pursue negligence claims if they are contractors, as the companies contend.

Companies with multiple employees afflicted by the disease might also be sued by members of the community for creating a public nuisance, a use of private property causing harm to others, said Michael Rubin, a plaintiffs lawyer in San Francisco. His firm was involved in a precedent-setting case in which paint companies agreed last year to pay $305 million to 10 California cities and counties for the cost of removing child-endangering lead paint from tens of thousands of older homes.

Overall, said Reiss, the costs of virus-related litigation will be so staggering that it might make sense to say this shouldnt go through the court system. Lets create a compensation system, have the government pay, no-fault, and businesses might be more likely to reopen.

Maybe so, said Fisk. But if a fund compensated victims and their survivors, for example, who became infected at a premature street parade, suppose you were tourists at Mardi Gras when you got it, as opposed to those who had to work there. Is someone getting drunk on Bourbon Street entitled to compensation?

Editor's note: This article was amended to correct the funding and scope of the state workers' compensation system, which is funded by employers and protects both employees and employers.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in a plea filed by a Mumbai resident opposing burial of people dying of COVID-19 in a graveyard near his residence.

Mumbai-resident Pradeep Ghandy has approached the apex court after his plea, made on the ground that burial of COVID-19 patients in the graveyard in Bandra West would spread infection in adjoining areas, was rejected by the Bombay High Court on April 27.

Ghandy's plea challenging the high court order will come up for hearing on May 4 before a bench of Justices RF Nariman and Indira Banerjee.

The Muslim body, while seeking intervention in the appeal filed by Ghandy, said that apprehension of burial of bodies of those infected with COVID-19 will risk the spread of such infection in the vicinity is unfounded and that at the outset there is no risk of spreading of the COVID-19 virus during such burial.

"It is submitted that the burial of dead bodies is essential to the religion of Islam as well as in other religions such as Christianity. Such a right forms part of the right to practice one's religion under Article 25 of the Constitution of India," the plea said.

ALSO READ| Fresh cases and 'normal' burial of a COVID-19 victim sends Tumakuru into a tizzy

The Muslim body said that it is a common myth that persons who have died of a communicable disease should be cremated, but this is not true and cremation is a matter of cultural choice and available resources. "It has further been clarified that till date there is no evidence of persons having become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who died from COVID-19," the plea said.

The petition of Jamiat said that the entire grievance of the petitioner is based on the apprehension that burial of those persons who were infected with COVID-19 would risk the spread of such infection in the neighbouring areas, which includes the residence of the petitioner herein. "It is submitted that such a fear is completely unfounded and unsupported by advisories issued by the Government of India as well as by the World Health Organization," it said.

The plea said that it is evident from the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as well as by the WHO, burial does not pose any additional risk of COVID-19 and all the precautions that have been prescribed are to prevent the contact of any bodily fluid of the dead person with those who are handling the body.

"It is further relevant to note that even USA, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada and the Middle Eastern nations are burying those persons who have died due to COVID 19 and no such increased risk of spread of COVID-19 virus has been highlighted by these nations due to the act of burying the dead bodies," the plea said.

The Muslim body said that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had on March 15 issued detailed guidelines regarding dead body management in the times of COVID-19 which categorically provide that the main driver of transmission of the said virus is through droplets and that there is unlikely to be an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling body.

It said that even the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an interim guidance dated March 24, dealing with the issue of burial of bodies of those patients who died due to COVID-19.

"It has been clarified in the said interim guidance that except in cases of haemorrhagic fevers (such as Ebola, Marburg) and cholera, dead bodies are generally not infectious. Only the lungs of patients with pandemic influenza, if handled improperly during an autopsy, can be infectious. Otherwise, cadavers do not transmit disease," the plea said.

On April 27, the High Court had refused to grant relief on a plea challenging Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) permission to use cemetery in Bandra to bury bodies of COVID-19 victims.

The petition, filed by Gandhy and others, living near the Konkani Muslim Kabrastan in suburban Bandra, claimed that locals were afraid of community spread of the virus, if the burial is not done properly.
Four days after an apparent triple murder-suicide in the North Side, officials have yet to release the names of two children and a woman killed in the incident.

Karina Kleberovna Sornoza Deitering, 37, who San Antonio police say killed her mother and two children and then killed herself, was identified by officials Wednesday. The four were found dead Monday in an apartment at the Sedona Ranch complex, 17655 Henderson Pass.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office has identified Deiterings mother, but they could not release her name Friday because her next of kin has not been notified.

The children, a 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, are still listed as having tentative identifications, the medical examiner's office said.

The father of the children, who had been trying to contact Deitering, his estranged wife, saw bodies when he looked through a window of the apartment at about 7:30 a.m. Monday, police said. Investigators did not know how long the bodies had been in the apartment before they were discovered.

SAPD Chief William McManus said Monday that Deitering killed her children and mother before shooting herself. Her estranged husband told investigators that Deitering had just lost custody of the children, and that she had no history of violence.

On Thursday, officials said a police report regarding the incident would not be released because it involved minors.

Investigators said they first try to identify bodies by fingerprints. If that does not work, then they must find other methods.

Deiterings cause and manner of death were still pending as of Friday.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. To read more from Jacob, become a subscriber. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Economists dont do well in social situations. If you ever want to see a metaphorical lead balloon, just tell someone you work as an economist and watch it drop.

The number of people lining up at Centrelink offices around the country shocked government officials. Credit:Getty Images

The views of a number of economists who have called into question the costs of avoiding thousands of deaths from COVID-19 have made the profession even less popular. Notwithstanding that more than 200 leading economists have signed a letter that supports the restrictions aimed at keeping the pandemic at bay.

As a health economist, Im aware that venturing into the space of how we can measure the costs and benefits of different courses of action in the current crisis is dangerous territory. If you missed Associate Professor Gigi Foster on ABC TV's Q&A last week, you would get an idea of why. Turns out when you put a value on someones life, they get a bit defensive.

However, avoiding the question of cost and benefits of our COVID-19 response risks ignoring the very important negative impacts on health and social and economic outcomes from the lockdown itself. The cure may not be worse than the disease, but its a pretty nasty medicine to swallow.
Peel police have located a 14-year-old girl who went missing in Brampton on Friday.

Police said the girl was last seen at about 4 p.m. on Friday at her home near McLaughlin Road and Wanless Drive in Brampton.

Investigators from the 22 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau found the girl in good health.

We appreciate the assistance of the public and media outlets for their assistance, said Peel police.

Update: May 4, 2020  This story has been changed from a previously published version to remove the 14-year-old girls name and photo.

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JACKSON  Teton County officials are looking for innovative ways to help trace the contacts of people who test positive for COVID-19.

At a special meeting Wednesday morning, the Teton County Board of County Commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding to negotiate a contract for the SafePaths cellphone app that can track users movements and alert them if they came into contact with someone infected with the coronavirus.

The technology has been used in areas such as Summit County, Utah, to give public health officials a leg up.

Its really a voluntary tool that we can use as a community to help us do better contact tracing, Teton County Director of Health Jodie Pond told the board.

Software engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created the app, which tracks users through their daily routines. If they are infected with the coronavirus and choose to share that information with their health department, the app sends a record of their movements to officials.

For people who arent coronavirus-positive, it will alert them if they come into contact with an infected person.

Its only close contacts, Pond told the board. If you pass someone in the pasta aisle at the grocery store, you wont get [an alert], but if you had a lunch meeting at Starbucks with them youll get one.

Besides alerting a person if they come into contact with the virus, the app can help them remember everywhere they went in the two weeks before they were diagnosed.

Contact tracing investigations involve interviews with sick patients to determine where they went and who they might have interacted with.

Many people may have trouble remembering every place they went in a two-week period, especially after social distancing orders are lifted and normal life resumes.

Should the county decide to go forward with the app, Teton Countys Health Department would keep data on people for only 30 days before deleting it from its server.

Wed only be using it for the purposes of figuring out who the contacts are or jogging their memory, Pond said.

Commissioners expressed concerns about privacy since the app would catalog all location data for a person.

Teton County Chief Deputy Attorney Keith Gingery told the board that the app wouldnt be any different than using one like Apple Maps or Google Maps, both of which also catalog location data.

Pond told the board that the data wouldnt be provided to the company, only to the county health department. She also said users could elect to remove locations like their home from their data.

Given that any contract with the nonprofit company would still need approval, the board unanimously signed off on the memorandum to start negotiating.

The county staff report indicates that the app would be free to users and to government officials for the first year.

According to SafePaths.MIT.edu, the applications development team is comprised of epidemiologists, engineers, data scientists, digital privacy evangelists, professors and researchers from institutions including Harvard, the Mayo Clinic and MIT.

Read more at CovidSafePaths.org.

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- Ellen Adarna recently addressed some questions about her ex-boyfriend on her social media account

- The celebrity mom revealed she was cheated on in her past relationship

- She also shared some words of wisdom to women in the said video

- Her latest online question and answer portion earned praises from netizens as well

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Actress and celebrity mom Ellen Adarna has recently been praised by the online community after holding an online question and answer portion on her social media account.

In her online Q&A, KAMI learned that Ellen revealed she was cheated on by her ex-boyfriend after being asked by a netizen.

Watch the video below:

In Kapamilya Online World's post, Ellen shared that she did not argue with the guy after finding out about his infidelity, "Yes day, Nagbakasyon siya, nahuli ko.

"So pag uwi niya sa bahay namin that time wala na mga gamit ko. Hindi ko siya inaway, wala akong tanong. I just left! Gwapa ko.

Ellen also shared pieces of advice for women in her online Q&A, "He's not worth chasing. I never chase. And you shouldn't be chasing also because you're a woman.

"The egg doesn't swim to the sperm, it doesn't work that way."

Ellen's Q&A portion garnered various reactions and comments from netizens on social media as well.

"Preach!"

"This should be all of us!"

"Yaass girl! Tama yan"

"I like her ever since. Sobrang totoo niya. Sobrang love ko yung personality niya! Buga kung buga si Ate girl!"

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

As reported earlier by KAMI, Ellen Adarna finally revealed to the public the current status of her heart. She said that she is in a long-distance relationship with a foreigner from Spain. The actress did not mention any names during the interview, but people speculated that the guy is Carlos Lemus.

Ellen Adarna is one of the most gorgeous showbiz personalities in the Philippines. She disclosed through a recent interview that she does not see herself coming back to the showbiz industry in the next 7 years.

POPULAR: Read more news about Ellen Adarna

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!

Being aware of the correct and relevant information is the first step towards solving any problem. Here we remind you of the major symptoms of the coronavirus disease. Be safe and stay informed! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel !

Source: KAMI.com.gh
In Grozny, a new infectious diseases block for 100 beds was opened at the Elizabeth Glinka Children's Republican Hospital. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, attended the opening ceremony of the medical facility.

Construction of the facility was started in 2019. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Kadyrov instructed to finish works and prepare the block for admission and placement of patients.
There has been a stark contrast in the number of visitors to famed tourist destinations across Vietnam during the first public holiday after social distancing rules had been relaxed, with some places becoming overcrowded and others remaining nearly empty of tourists.

Most attractions in Vietnam have been reopened for only over a week after a long closure in adherence to the prime minister's social distancing order to contain the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Enhanced social distancing measures, including closing tourist attractions and lodging facilities and banning inter-province commercial passenger transport and gatherings of more than two people in public spaces, were in place from April 1 to 15 in the entire nation and prolonged through April 22 in 28 provinces and cities.

Businesses have been gradually reopened and commercial transport resumed between provinces and cities in Vietnam following the relaxing of social distancing rules from April 23.

As most salaried workers in Vietnam are enjoying a four-day break, starting from Thursday, in celebration of the Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1), some holiday hotspots are visibly more popular than others this year, as observed by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper's reporters.

Particularly, visitors have thronged attractions in Da Lat City, the capital of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, with daily arrivals on Thursday and Friday estimated at 25,000.

By contrast, the UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary in the central province of Quang Nam have been much less crowded, with few to no tourists spotted on Thursday and Friday despite the sites having reopened.

People queue to buy entrance tickets to an attraction in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, May 1, 2020. Photo: Duc Tho / Tuoi Tre

A restaurant remains closed as few tourists visit Hoi An Ancient Town in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Duc Tai / Tuoi Tre

Like Da Lat, Phan Thiet City in the coastal south-central province of Binh Thuan has been welcoming swarms of visitors as people flocked to its beautiful beaches for the holiday.

Meanwhile, beaches along Vung Tau City in the southern province of Ba Ria  Vung Tau have been deserted as a ban on beachgoing remains effective in the popular beach city.

Visitors still traveled to the city  around 100 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City  in large numbers but were not allowed to take a swim in its beaches as per the ongoing beach closure.

Below are photos highlighting the stark contrast among tourist destinations in Vietnam captured by Tuoi Tre'sreporters on Thursday and Friday.

People walk past a signboard propagandizing COVID-19 prevention measures and the beach closure at a beachside park in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

An empty beach is captured in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

An almost empty street is captured in Hoi An Ancient Town, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Duc Tai / Tuoi Tre

A signboard propagandizing COVID-19 prevention measures and the beach closure is erected at a beachside square in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

Beachgoers swarm a beach in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam, May 1, 2020. Photo: Duc Trong / Tuoi Tre

A banner propagandizing the beach closure for COVID-19 prevention and control is placed on the embankment of an empty beach in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

A street performer is surrounded by swarms of people at a night market in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, May 1, 2020. Photo: Duc Tho / Tuoi Tre

Vehicles throng a street in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, April 30, 2020. Photo: Mai Vinh / Tuoi Tre

No tourist is spotted at My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam in this photo captured on April 30, 2020. Photo: Duc Tai / Tuoi Tre

A police officers guards an entrance to an empty beach in Vung Tau City, Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2020. Photo: Dong Ha / Tuoi Tre

No tourist is spotted at My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam in this photo captured on April 30, 2020. Photo: Duc Tai / Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Her son John Leake Jr., 40, brother of Nicky and Shanta, moved into his parents Congress Heights home about a year ago  and what a cutup he was, always with the jokes. The type of person, regardless of whether youre having a bad day, you can depend on him to make you laugh, Shanta said. He was our clown. I mean, you just couldnt help but be happy around him.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Hawaii American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (AWK), announced a leak of untreated wastewater into Kuapa Pond. The actual site of the leak is near the tip of Spinnaker Isle. The company said that the leak is relatively small, but it advised residents to avoid contact with the pond water until further notice. The company noted that it immediately reported the incident to the Department of Health and is keeping them informed as the work progresses. The discharge is from an 8-inch pipe, which transports about 5,000 gallons of wastewater per day. The cause of the leak has not yet been determined. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Photo credit: Anika Molnar/Netflix

From ELLE

Unorthodox nabbed eight Emmy nominations this year, including Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a limited series for Shira Haas' portrayal of Esther Shapiro, a young woman who escapes her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and flees to Berlin. In honor of the awards show this Sunday, we're republishing this May 2020 piece about the true story behind the Netflix series.



In the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox, audiences witness a transformation. The four-episode series follows the character Esther "Esty" Shapiro (played by Shira Haas), a young woman growing up in the Hasidic Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. An ultra-Orthodox sect of Judaism, the Satmar group was founded after World War II by Holocaust survivors who believed the Holocaust was punishment for assimilation. As a result, Satmar rules are strict, and those in the community are kept from all secular education and culture. On Unorthodox, Esty decides to leave the only life she's ever known after a year in an arranged marriage. She travels to the root of her family's suffering: Berlin, Germany.

Esty's story is based on a real one, recounted in Deborah Feldman's 2012 memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. However, the Netflix series only follows Feldmans book to a point. Everything that takes place in Williamsburg is inspired by her life, whereas Estys journey to Germany is entirely fictionalized.

In Making Unorthodox, the short documentary episode that shows how the series was created, Anna Winger, co-creator and executive producer, said, "It was very important to us to make changes in the present-day story from Deborah Feldmans real life, because she is a young woman, shes a public figure, shes a public intellectual, and we wanted Esthers Berlin life to be very different from real Deborahs Berlin life."

Where the stories intersect

Like Feldman, Esty's mother leaves when she is a child, and Esty is raised by her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. Feldman's mother left the community, came out as gay, and now lives in Brooklyn, while Estys mother in Unorthodox leaves the community to move to Berlin, where she also came out as a lesbian.

Story continues

Feldman entered into an arranged marriage at 17 and had a son when she was 19. Estys storyline follows a parallel path, with the character entering an arranged marriage and getting pregnant at 19.

Both Feldman and Esty were under enormous pressure to consummate the marriage; family members and the community at large all knew the intimate details of Estys life and her struggle with sex because of a condition called vaginismusthought to be a primarily psychological condition that makes sex very painful. Feldman told ABC News, "It was the most humiliating year of my life. [The in-laws and family elders] were talking about it day after day." She also told People in a 2012 interview, "After that, being so pressured to get pregnant and finally getting pregnant, it was just emotionally overwhelming, knowing that I was going to bring a child into the same life that I had livedthat was the hardest experience of my life but it was also the experience that pushed me out, so Im grateful for it."

When Esty first meets her husband-to-be, she tells him shes different from other girls, and he responds that its good to be different. Feldman told a similar story to the New York Post in 2012.

When I met him, I warned him. I said, I have my opinions, you might not be able to handle that. But he was famous for getting along with everyone. So he said, No, I can handle you. He wasnt ready to handle me at all! After we got married, and I had my books in the house, he didnt mention them. He tolerated them. But he would tell his mother everything.

She also spoke to the Post about the time she bought a section of the Talmud even though her community follows a rule that states women are not allowed to read the Hebrew text of the Talmud. In the series, Esty quotes the Talmud to her husband, who then tells her women are not allowed to read it.

Where the stories diverge

According to the Washington Post, Feldman's rejection of her community was more gradual than Esty's. She and her husband first moved to an Orthodox community in Rockland County, New York, and she started taking classes at Sarah Lawrence College. But after she got in a bad car accident, Feldman decided to leave for good. "I was convinced I was going to die," she told the New York Post. "And there was no way I was going to waste another minute of life." She told People, "The very next day, I sold my jewelry, I rented a car and I just left and it was that simple and I couldnt believe it after.

Feldman decided to get a divorce and told the Post in 2012 that she and her husband have joint custody of their son. She told ABC News in 2012 that her husband has changed a lot in regards to his religious viewshe's even started wearing jeans.

She traveled to Europe to research her family and her grandmothers life from before the war. Now, Feldman lives in Germany with her son. "As a metaphor, we wanted [Esty] to go directly to the source of that trauma and find herself," Winger told NPR. "Living in Germany has made me think about Jewishness, certainly about the Holocaust, about the legacy of violence, of trauma, in a way that I never thought about in America, ever."

Even with their differences, Feldman says she looks up to Esty. In an interview with the New York Times, she said her favorite scene was a fictional one. "The scene when Esty explodes in the bedroom with her husband, because its the most powerful," she said.

She finally says everything that has been going on in her head. She finally lets loose: Its like a volcano. To me, the series climaxes in this moment. I also felt jealous because I never had a moment like thatI had many small moments where I tried to express myself, and I tried to speak up for myself, but I love how she just lets it all out. It really touched me, and it made me wish I had been the same way. It made me admire her. I hope that other people will see that scene and want to be like her, too.

If you'd like to read more about Feldman, she wrote a second memoir titled Exodus, which details her journey after leaving the Satmar community.

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PECONIC, NY  Barbara and Teddy Szczotka have been married 61 years and were high school sweethearts. Together, they've raised their children, worked hard as farmers on the North Fork, and weathered many storms. But nothing compared to their most recent victory  both were diagnosed with the new coronavirus.

And both survived.

They were recently released from the hospital and are on the road to recovery.

According to Karen Szczotka, her mother, 79, and her father, who turned 81 last weekend, are very independent, living on their own in Peconic. They've faced daunting health issues; Barbara is a two-time breast cancer survivor and Teddy has a heart condition. In fact, she said, he was recovering from a recent stay in rehabilitation for another issue and had just returned home on April 2  but two weeks later, both her parents were diagnosed with COVID-19, she said.

Her father, Karen said, felt as though he had a cold; eventually, his fever spoked and he showed symptoms of respiratory distress, so he was taken to Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, where her sister Nancy Szczotka and sister-in-law Brenda Szczotka both work.

Although her mother also tested positive, she wasn't in respiratory distress and her oxygen levels and vitals were good, so she was told to go home, Karen said. "A week later her oxygen levels started to drop so she was taken to the ER by rescue," she said.

What followed were long days of fear and uncertainty, Karen said.

"It was terrifying. Dad was in ICU for awhile. It was touch and go, but he pulled through, the tough potato farmer that he is," she said.

Karen said she and her sister Nancy and brother Ted grew up on the North Fork; their family was the fourth generation in a long line of farmers at the Doroski potato farm.

Her parents, she said, were so sick that they don't even remember their first few days in the hospital. "Our mom's fever was spiking up to 103 degrees, and it's scary when you have parents that age, who are so sick. It's a terrifying thing."





Story continues

Their coronavirus journey was also riddled with insurance challenges, Karen said. But thanks to the help of elected officials including Rep. Lee Zeldin and New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo, those obstacles were scaled and roadblocks eased.





And finally, both of her parents were released from SBELIH, her mom first and then her father, just two days ago.

Currently, they are recovering at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing in Southampton, Karen said.

Her parents are in a "husband-and-wife room. So they're together," she said.

Barbara and Teddy, their daughter said, are grateful to have survived. "After realizing how sick they were, they were so happy. They've seen others who have gone through it, and their stories are so sad, and they say, 'We are so lucky that we made it.'"

Her father, Karen said, was first hospitalized on the night of Easter Sunday and was in ICU, in critical condition for days before he turned a corner.

Her father, she said, is a proverbial pillar of strength.

"We tease him. We call him 'the mayor.' He's such a local potato farmer," she said. "He knows everyone and everyone knows him. He's a big teddy bear."

When her mother was released from the hospital a few days before her husband, Karen said: "It was upsetting. They didn't want to leave each other."

Even at SBELIH, the couple had rooms right next to one another and when they started to recover, the staff let them eat lunch together. "It was touching," she said.

Teddy, who turned 81 last weekend while still hospitalized, and Barbara both attended Southold High School. After they were married, he served in the Army and was stationed in Tennessee; when Barbara found out she was pregnant with their first child, they moved back to the North Fork and began working on the family farm.

Szczotka





Teddy is also well known in the Southold community as a member of the fire department.

"You can't get any more local than they are," Karen said.

The past months, she said, have been difficult, with her father in a nursing home since December for another issue that was also closed to visitors after the pandemic began; he finally returned home in early April only to be diagnosed with COVID-19.

Courtesy Szczotka family.





"Our family has been hit hard with this," Karen said.

But she said her siblings all bonded and worked together to get through the darkest of days.

Today, although her parents can't have visitors in quarantine, the staff at the rehabilitation center facilitates family conference calls and give frequent updates.

Seeing them together, in the same room, Karen said, is heartwarming.

But witnessing them both so sick was devastating, she said. Her mother and father had different symptoms, she said; she never had pneumonia but her father did.

"It was really surreal. We are so blessed that they made it," Karen said. "From my lips to God's ears, they will have many, many more years together."

Facing the reality of two parents with coronavirus has been a life-altering experience that evoked new realizations, Karen said.

"We were always a very close family but this brought us all even closer. I learned that we work great as a team. We really are tenacious and obviously, we come from great stock," she said.

Courtesy Szczotka family.





And, Karen said: "Prayers really work. It's a miracle that they are both here."

She credits faith, as well as the love and kindness of the "North Fork strong" community, for the ability to find strength during such a difficult time.

Once her parents are released, she added, they will have to acclimate to the "new normal" that has evolved during the weeks that they were hospitalized.



And one thing is for sure, Karen said: "Once they are home, I will never take another thing for granted. Never put off going to visit your parents. You don't know how much longer anyone has got."

If a friend needs to talk and have a cup of coffee, Karen said: "Take 20 minutes and have that cup of coffee. Life is so fragile and you don't realize it until you see your parents hurting so much. You feel vulnerable and helpless but you have to be strong and happy for them, even though it's tearing you apart."

Her mother, before she left for the hospital, told her, "'Karen, you might lose both your parents from this.' And I said, 'No, I will not. You're going to fight this.'"

What she's learned, Karen said, is "you can't give up. You have to persevere and just keep focusing on the goal. We weren't going to take no for an answer. It's unacceptable."

On the day she found out that her parents were going to rehab, Karen said: "I cried the hardest I have in years. I got to witness that my prayers were answered. I just looked up and said, 'Thank you. Thank you.'"

Having to attend a memorial service Friday, Karen said: "You realize, 'This could have been my parents.' It really hit home for me."

Nancy, Karen's sister, wrote on Facebook about the joyful clap out the SBELIH staff gave their father as he was released: "Well, its been a long road but we will survive. Im so blessed to say that both of my parents survived COVID! SBELIH had a nice send off along with Southold Fire Department, with the caring staff along with the doctors."

Of the send-off, Karen added that she's watched the video a dozen times. "I cry every time I watch it," she said.

"My family cant thank you all enough," Nancy said.





This article originally appeared on the North Fork Patch
Treasury Designates IRGC-Qods Force Front Company and Owner

U.S. Department of the Treasury

May 1, 2020

WASHINGTONThe U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated dual Iranian and Iraqi national Amir Dianat, a longtime associate of senior officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Dianat, who is also known as Ameer Abdulazeez Jaafar Almthaje, is involved in IRGC-QF efforts to generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad. OFAC is also designating Taif Mining Services LLC, a company owned, controlled, or directed by Dianat. Concurrent with OFAC's action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed criminal charges against Dianat and one of his business associates for violations of sanctions and money laundering laws, and filed a related civil forfeiture action alleging that approximately $12 million is subject to forfeiture as funds involved in these crimes and as assets of a foreign terrorist organization.

"The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people," said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. "The United States remains committed to working with financial institutions, non-profit organizations, and international partners to facilitate humanitarian trade and assistance to the Iranian people."

Today's action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886, follows recent designations of key networks that support the IRGC-QF's destabilizing regional activity. In December 2019, OFAC designated an Iranian shipping network involved in smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen on behalf of the IRGC-QF. In March 2020, OFAC designated 20 Iran- and Iraq-based front companies, senior officials, and business associates that provided support to or acted for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF, which included transferring lethal aid to Iranian-backed terrorist militias in Iraq.

Dianat, an associate of IRGC-QF officials Behnam Shahriyari and Rostam Ghasemi, has supported IRGC-QF smuggling operations for several years, including efforts aimed at the shipment of weapons including missiles. The IRGC-QF has relied on Dianat to secure entry for vessels carrying IRGC-QF shipments and has used his business connections to facilitate logistics requirements. Dianat has been directly involved in IRGC-QF efforts to smuggle shipments from Iran to Yemen.

Dianat has been involved in developing additional illicit business opportunities to generate revenue for the IRGC-QF, and in 2019, leveraged Taif Mining Services LLC, a company under his control, to procure an oil tanker.

Amir Dianat is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the IRGC-QF.

Taif Mining Services LLC is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Amir Dianat.

Sanctions Implications

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all dealing by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interest in property of blocked or designated persons. In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons designated today may themselves be exposed to designation. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for individuals and entities designated in connection with Iran's support for international terrorism or any Iranian person on OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons could be subject to U.S. correspondent account or payable-through account sanctions.

Identifying information on the entities designated today.

####

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DeWitt, N.Y.  Retired Holy Cross Church Msgr. J. Robert Yeazel has been undergoing treatment for the past month for COVID-19, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

Yeazel, who lives at the Nottingham senior living center, has been receiving convalescent plasma from blood donations of those who have recovered from the virus, the Yeazel family said in letter to clergy and parishioners released by the diocese Friday.

The Yeazel family asked the diocese to spread the word that more plasma is needed, according to the letter.

The diocese said they have no further information on his condition.

Yeazel was raised in Syracuse, and graduated from Christian Brothers Academy and was ordained to the priesthood nearly 55 years ago. He retired in 2017.

The Yeazel Catholic Education Endowment Fund was set up in his name to support Catholic education in the elementary and high schools.

From 1980 to 1992, he was pastor at Immaculate Conception in Fayetteville, followed by eight years as vicar for priests for the diocese.

He then served at Holy Cross Church in DeWitt starting in 2000.

The Red Cross is seeking plasma donations.

Upstate University Hospital is participating in a national emergency plasma treatment program approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Researchers believe antibodies developed by people who have recovered from coronavirus can be given to an infected person to lessen symptoms and speed recovery.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

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
California must dramatically increase coronavirus testing to reopen the state, but one widely available resource remains untapped: pharmacies.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cleared the way last month for licensed pharmacists to order and administer coronavirus tests that have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Most states, including New York, Florida and Texas, have since allowed pharmacies to swab people and test them in hopes that it will help make testing more readily accessible. Ninety-one percent of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of one of the roughly 60,000 community pharmacies nationwide, according to industry groups.

But in California, pharmacies can administer only tests that are explicitly referenced in state regulations or are considered to be low-complexity, like a blood glucose test where a pharmacist analyzes a drop of blood taken with a finger prick. That means that the state would have to issue a waiver or the governor would have to sign an executive order to allow coronavirus testing in pharmacies, said Steven Chen, associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy.

It is baffling that this hasnt happened yet in California, Chen said. If we dont deploy pharmacies, we are not going to get the testing done that we need to get done.

Officials with Gov. Gavin Newsoms office and the California Department of Public Health did not respond to questions about why the state hasnt allowed pharmacies to do coronavirus testing.

Not much detail to give at this time, health department spokeswoman Ali Bay said in a statement. Can reiterate that California is committed to expanding access to COVID-19 testing for all Californians. ... We will continue to add COVID-19 testing capacity and look forward to learning more about how pharmacies could help support our goals.

Labs and hospitals across the country have faced critical shortages of protective gear, swabs and test kits that until recently have hampered efforts to test more people. Some pharmacy workers have also raised concerns over workplace safety and potential exposure to the virus.

California is performing about 25,780 tests per day on average with a goal of ultimately increasing that to at least 60,000 tests per day. The state is working with Verily and OptumServe to open 86 new community testing sites in testing deserts across the state. OptumServe is a Minnesota health services company; Verily is the life sciences division of Googles parent company, Alphabet.

Newsom has said expanded testing capacity is an essential part of his plan to gradually lift shelter-in-place orders that went into effect nearly six weeks ago.

Testing in California is currently being done by medical professionals in hospitals, clinics or test sites operating under the direction of local and state public health officials.

But organizations representing pharmacists and pharmacies  like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and independent pharmacies  have questioned why the state isnt taking advantage of their vast network of businesses that are already in some of these underserved communities and other areas. There are some 6,300 pharmacies throughout California that have long performed a range of blood and swab tests, including for cholesterol, flu and strep.

Part of the appeal of using pharmacies includes pairing testing with medical advice in community settings that keep people out of emergency rooms and hospitals where they are more likely to spread the virus, said Ken Thai, president of the California Pharmacists Association, which wrote a letter to the governor on April 23 asking him to remove barriers preventing pharmacies from offering tests.

There are more than 47,000 licensed pharmacists in California and 7,000 intern pharmacists who are currently in pharmacy school and working in pharmacies. Pharmacists usually complete a four-year doctorate program focused on medication and disease management, including training in immunizations, testing and doing primary care assessments like taking blood pressure and determining blood sugar levels. Some also complete residency or fellowship programs.

Pharmacists are already trained and know how to do these tests, Thai said. This isnt a new concept, this is something we have done for a long time. But for some reason we are waiting in the rafters while half the country has already implemented this.

Thai said one issue appears to be conflicting federal directives with Health and Human Services allowing for pharmacies to test, but the FDA classifying many of the diagnostic tests as high complexity tests that would normally need to be carried out in a certified laboratory.

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.

Will Waldron / Hearst Newspapers

Some pharmacy workers are also concerned about their safety, said Andrea Zinder, president of the Western States Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents pharmacists and pharmacy techs.

Having the right protective equipment and staffing are our biggest issues, Zinder said. If they are testing people there is no social distancing.

As of Friday, 28 states were allowing pharmacy-delivered coronavirus testing, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which has also pushed California to expand testing to pharmacies. In states that have allowed pharmacies to conduct testing, pharmacies have set up outside testing areas and drive-through sites. Similar to other pop-up sites, pharmacists and other volunteers have been outfitted in protective gear, including gloves, face shields, masks and gowns, officials with the association said.

At these sites, the pharmacies are collecting samples with swabs to send into labs for analysis, as well as performing rapid diagnostic tests. If treatments or a vaccine become available, these sites will also be able to provide those as well, they said.

We really feel that if we are going to scale testing to open our economies and California we are really going to have to reduce these barriers so pharmacists can play a role, said the associations CEO Steven Anderson.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Catherine Ho contributed to this report.

Cynthia Dizikes is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cdizikes
Costa Coffee is re-opening another 29 stores across the UK for deliveries and drive-throughs as all staff are given protective protective equipment (PPE).

Four branches re-opened in Manchester, Bristol, and Mansfield - two delivery only, two drive-through - on April 24, a month after the lockdown began.

However, 12 delivery only and 17 drive-through stores will re-open today in towns and cities including Croydon, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, and Newcastle.

Costa Coffee (pictured, a store in London) is re-opening another 29 stores across the UK for deliveries and drive-throughs as all staff are given protective protective equipment

Some Costa Coffee branches have been open inside hospitals to serve NHS staff through the lockdown. But the decision to run a total 33 stores across Britain indicates that Costa Coffee is one of many chains seeking to restart trading.

The UK Government pursued a lockdown after scientists produced models warning that half a million people could die with the coronavirus if no action was taken.

Costa Coffee CEO Jill McDonald (pictured)

There are concerns that the decision to shut down a huge portion of the UK economy has brought the country to the edge of an economic crisis more severe than the 1930s Great Depression.

Economists have estimated that the lockdown is costing Britain around 2.4billion per day, while a Bank of England official recently warned that Britain could be facing the worst economic contraction since 1920-21 - and possibly for three centuries.

Costa Coffee CEO Jill McDonald told the Daily Mirror: 'Last week we made the decision to reopen two Drive-Thru lanes and two stores for delivery only in line with the latest Government advice.

'The safety of our team members and customers is our number one priority and ahead of these stores re-opening, we put in place new social distancing guidelines, enhanced hygiene procedures and are providing teams with PPE.

'We have been really pleased with how well our stores teams have been able to adapt to our new ways working, allowing us to serve great coffee, as safely as possible.'

Ms McDonald continued: 'We have also received some great feedback from our customers and key workers taking advantage of enjoying a well-deserved coffee break whilst on essential journeys to and from work.

'We will be increasing the number of Drive-Thru lanes and stores open for delivery via Uber Eats from tomorrow (May 2).'

Which businesses are reopening stores? - Nando's has opened six restaurants for delivery only in London (Clink St, Camberwell, Canary Jubilee, Gloucester Road) and Manchester (Fallowfield, Printworks); - Burger King has opened eight restaurants for deliver only in Dundee, Aberdeen, Reading, Hillington, Southampton, Merto, and London; - Wagamama will reopen its kitchens to delivery food to customers' homes from Peckham and Hackney; - Five Guys has opened 20 of its 104 restaurants in Cambridge, Norwich, Colchester, and Chelmsford; - Timpsons will be opening stores, starting with those in supermarkets; - KFC chicken chain is opening 100 branches for delivery only; - Homebase has opened 20 of its stores as part of a trial. Advertisement

Costa Coffee is joining a number of famous chains which have chosen to reopen a select number of outlets - including Starbucks and McDonald's.

McDonald's said it will reopen 15 restaurants for delivery only on JustEat and UberEats, with the locations of restaurants being announced next week.

The fast food giant will not be serving breakfast and will return with a limited menu and shorter opening hours.

McDonald's will bring in perspex screens and floor markings, non-medical grade face masks for staff and social distancing measures for delivery drivers.

Pret A Manger recently announced plans to partially reopen as pressure grows for an exit plan from the lockdown ravaging the economy. Their shops will open near hospitals and GP surgeries for delivery and takeaway services only.

But Greggs has postponed reopening 20 stores over fears of overcrowding.

The takeaway bakery chain temporarily shut all of its 2,050 branches last month to protect customers and staff after the Government ordered all non-essential shops to close.
YEREVAN.  A search was conducted at the home and in the car of Ara Khachatryan, the new CEO of Ucom company of Armenia, and a number of documents and his work computer were confiscated from the car. Khachatryan's lawyer Aram Orbelyan told reporters about this.

"[But] the license plate of the car was different than the license plate of the car they searched," he added. "The search warrant was worded 'planning documents,' whereas the computer was confiscated and, unfortunately, all this is happening amid these discussions about Ucom, which, based on the information available at the moment, gives me grounds to believe that this is a process in connection with the current Ucom shareholders' dispute, or the management dispute, also taking into account the statement of the Prime Minister's spokesperson that it should be seized, confiscated, and paid to the state budget."

To note, on Tuesday, Gurgen Khachatryan, co-founder of the Galaxy Group of Companiesand the son of ex-Minister of Finance and State Revenue Committee former chairman Gagik Khachatryan, announced that senior officials in the country had demanded to sell Ucomwhich is also part of Galaxy, but he added that they will not give in to these pressures and Ucom will not be sold.

This statement was followed by a large-scale investigation by law enforcement agencies, which conducted searches at the residences and business offices of the Khachatryan family.

In addition, a new charge was brought against Gurgen Khachatryan, and a motion to arrest him was submitted to the court.
Ujwalla Ananda Tate stands in Lake Placid. Photo courtesy of Ujwalla Ananda Tate

Ujwalla Ananda Tate is dreaming of Mumbai. It is summer there now, hot and humid with sunshine for days on end.

It is home, and she hasnt seen it in over a year. Instead, she is thousands of miles away in Lake Placid, waiting for her countrys borders to open. The date continues to be pushed, while the world assesses what to do as the coronavirus pandemic plays out.

Her colleague, Aleksandar Andric, is also waiting to get home to Serbia.

Hes from a different country, and I am from a different country, but we are united, Tate said. We are united in the United States right now.

They are not alone.

Hundreds of international students, who come to work in New York through an internship program, have found themselves stuck in a foreign country, unable to work, unable to get home and relying on the kindness of new acquaintances and strangers for food and housing.

They are part of the J-1 student exchange program, an international partnership that allows students to conduct paid internships in other countries. Thousands come to the United States to gain work experience, sharpen their English and do some traveling, and the Adirondack Park is one of the hot spots. The students fill a much-needed seasonal gap in the workforce, especially for rural areas.

Art Lussi, president of the Lake Placid Vacation Corp., is housing about a dozen of them, including Tate and Andric, while he waits to see not only what the state and federal government will do, but what nearly a dozen other countries will do.

He and hundreds of Adirondack-region business managers who rely on international student workers are also waiting to see what will happen this summer. Students overseas are waiting, too. So much is uncertain while the state figures out its economic reopening plans, and while leaders all across the globe adapt to the pandemic.

Its a lot of unknowns this year, said Gary Thornquist, general manager of the Lake George RV Park. He typically hires eight international students for the summer. Ive been in this business over 40 years, and never seen anything near to what this is.

Stuck

The J-1 student exchange program is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which is under the U.S. Department of State. It is therefore separate from the Department of Immigration and its policies.

Schools work with private agencies that connect students to businesses, like Lussis Crowne Plaza Hotel or Thornquists RV park. In 2019, more than 1,300 students worked in Lake Placid, Old Forge, Lake George, Bolton Landing, Diamond Point, Keene Valley and Warrensburg. Lake George and Lake Placid saw the most international student workers, with 555 and 422, respectively, in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of State.

While its not clear how many are in the Adirondacks at this moment, a spokesperson with the Department of State said it is working to ensure that all foreign nationals currently in the United States have access to accurate and timely information to ensure they are able to return to their home countries, if they so choose. 

Under the federal governments Exchange Visitor Program website, regular updates are posted for schools, sponsors and travelers, including advisories and visa extension information.

Indias borders are currently closed until at least early May, though Tate has watched her home country push that date a couple of times already. She is anxious to get home to her parents. She arrived in the United States in February 2019, and it is the longest and farthest she has been away from home.

Her father has health complications, unrelated to the coronavirus, but as the sole breadwinner for the family, the 26-year-old worries about him.

My parents are waiting for me, and thats my priority since I came here, Tate said. Whatever I did, its all for them. Im right now fulfilling my dads dream.

The money that Tate is saving from her jobs is intended to help rebuild a home her parents own. The house is old and needs work. It doesnt have a bathroom. Shes hoping that rebuild can start and her father can see it finished.

For now, she is waiting in the Adirondacks, spending her days inside, getting out for the occasional walk. Her work ended on March 13, but Lussi allowed her and her colleagues to stay in their dormitories until they can get home.

Tate is also getting help from the Indian Consulate and the North American Association of Indian Students, a nonprofit organization. Both the association and Lussi make sure she has food.

I have never seen such a down-to-earth person ever in my entire international journey of my life, Tate said of Lussi. Everyone gives so much love and care. I dont know, I cant express it in my words.

Andric, too, is grateful to Lussi. He has also been in Lake Placid for about year, working with his girlfriend. They were supposed to leave for Germany on March 18 to visit relatives, then head back to Serbia.

Aleksandar Andric and Zorana Kvrzic stand in Lake Placid. Photo courtesy of Aleksandar Andric

On March 19, the Serbian border closed.

The government, however, is sending over planes to pick up Serbian citizens. Andric and his girlfriend are hoping to catch one of them soon. He said there were about 860 Serbian citizens in the United States waiting for a flight, though a few planes have already brought some of those people back home.

Were in kind of the best situation, Andric said about being in Lake Placid. My personal opinion, I think this is right now one of the safest places, I have to say, for this kind of situation. Not so many affected, and were not going out. Were just going for a walk around the lake and maybe for some small hiking and thats it.

Summer

Day-to-day the state and federal government make changes and updates to policies around the coronavirus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced plans for reopening the state regionally, and the North Country would likely lead based on its low hospitalization rate and transmission rate, so far.

But the governor is not keen on opening tourist attractions or allowing events that could create large gatherings of people, even in upstate New York, so businesses in the Adirondacks are left waiting.

If they are allowed to open, the question will be whether or not businesses can get enough staffing, and whether international students will be available.

The situation regarding COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly, said a Department of State spokesperson. The health, safety, and welfare of exchange participants, and of the Americans with whom they interact, remains the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) highest priority.

The bureau is strongly recommending that sponsors of these exchange programs postpone program start dates 60 days after March 12, the spokesperson added. That nearly coincides with New Yorks tentative ending of its shutdown, though again, that could always change.

Most businesses getting assistance from the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in the Adirondacks are waiting for the middle of May to make decisions.

Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce, said employers like The Sagamore in Bolton, Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center in Lake George, the Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George and Six Flags Great Escape Resort in Queensbury rely on international student workers.

Six Flags Great Escape Resort in Queensbury sits empty in late-April. The business is hoping to reopen in mid-May or soon after. Photo by Gwendolyn Craig

Six Flags, for example, has 1,500 employees but about 200 of them are international students, said a spokesperson. So far, the resort has temporarily suspended operations until mid-May, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Obviously these are very atypical conditions and once we reopen, we will take guidance form the U.S. Department of State, which oversees the program, a spokesperson added in an email about working with J-1 visa students. We will continue to closely monitor this evolving situation, and follow the most current guidance from federal, state, and local officials.

Thornquist said the agency he works with to hire international students has now pushed their earliest arrival to Lake George to June 15. Thornquist has already pushed his own opening date from May 8 to May 18.

James McKenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, said theres a lot of uncertainty, too, about whether people will be willing to travel even if everything opens back up this summer. The office is already doing projections on summer tourism, and is anticipating June will be, at best, 25% of last years visitation levels and July and August will be about 60%.

In Lake Placid, Lussi is still waiting to hear about summer workers, too. Typically he employs between 40 and 50 international students.

Tricky economics and policy

If international students can make it over here, local, state and federal officials, especially in the public health sector, are also assessing how to keep them and the public safe.

Ginelle Jones, public health director for Warren County, said theres currently no way for the health department to know who is in the county, and who is not, and no way to contact all international students.

Jones is working on meeting with the agencies that get students here and businesses to come up with some sort of uniform credentialing, including a notification protocol in case of an emergency. She is also looking to implement stricter immunization requirements, especially after a measles outbreak struck a couple of years ago. Many of the international students were not vaccinated against it, Jones said, and she had no way of contacting them all.

And what are the issues if international students cannot come over in the numbers needed to staff them this summer?

Considering the number of furloughs and layoffs during the pandemic, one might think the local workforce could fill the need. But Mintzer worries about whether thats practical.

Right now, if youve been furloughed or are on unemployment, now youve got an extra $600 a week until July 31, Mintzer said. You cant make that same amount of money working front-line positions necessary in our area.

Adrian Masters, chair of the Economics Department at the University at Albany, said theres always a trade-off when it comes to policies during times of crisis.

The way those policies are written, theyre focused mainly on getting money out to people, even if it means interfering with the usual market mechanism that would be channeling workers in, Masters said. Whenever theres a recession, these kinds of things happen.

Masters suggested college or high school students may be able to take the positions, if businesses are willing to take their chances on inexperienced workers. Typically, international students who work in the hospitality industry are looking to go into the business. Andric, for example, hopes to own his own restaurant someday.

He has friends in the exchange program, waiting to hear about this summer, too.

Theyre kind of still on hold, and they think its going to happen, but I dont think its going to happen, to be honest, Andric said. Its just, in this small town, coming every year, 300 students, its going to be a huge, bad impact if someone arrives and is carrying the virus.

For now, the waiting game continues.

Despite being stuck, Tate and Andric reflected fondly on their work experience in Lake Placid. Tate hopes to come back again, after she has checked on her parents in person.

These are really great people, Tate said of those helping her and the people she has worked with. These are the real heroes helping me right now.
There is a call on the Government to consult with older people before making decisions on the coronavirus restrictions.

Age Action has welcomed the move to allow over 70s who are cocooning outdoors to exercise from Tuesday.
How comedians in Burkina Faso are using humour to raise awareness around coronavirus.

Young people in Burkina Faso are turning to comedy to deal with mounting uncertainty.

With the country already struggling from years of violence, comedians are now using humour to address serious health issues like the global pandemic.

Al Jazeeras Nicolas Haque reports.
Earlier this week, Gov. Pritzker pushed back on Republican reluctance to provide relief to states. "We pay more in federal taxes in Illinois than we get back from the federal government. My Tribune colleague Eric Zorn dug in and found a series of studies that prove the point, including a January analysis by the State University of New Yorks Rockefeller Institute of Government showing, as Zorn writes, Illinois sent an average of $5.6 billion a year more to Washington than Washington sent back in such forms as grants to state and local governments, wages to federal workers, safety-net programs, contracts, and Social Security, veterans and Medicare benefits. Read his column from earlier this week here.
By PTI

BAGHPAT (UTTAR PRADESH): A jail inmate was killed and a few others were injured in a clash between two groups of prisoners lodged in Baghpat district jail on Saturday, police said.

The deceased Rishipal (42), a resident of Bassi village in Baghpat, was killed in the fight with a rival group led by Bablu Kashyap, who is undergoing life imprisonment, on Saturday afternoon, Baghpat Superintendent of Police Gopendra Yadav said.

District Magistrate Shakuntala Gautam said that a magisterial enquiry has been ordered following the incident. Rishipal had been in jail since November 21 last year due to a confrontation with locals in his native village, he added.

Some of his family members were also arrested in connection with the case. On Saturday morning, the trouble started when Bablu, shifted here 10 days ago from Meerut jail, was digging a pit in the compound. A verbal duel ensued between the two as Rishipal thought Bablu was hiding some inflammable material inside the pit.

The SP said that the jail staff managed to pacify both inmates and they returned to their barracks. Around 3 pm, Bablu along with five of his associates entered Rishipal's cell where he was sleeping. The group attacked Rishipal with a spoon sharpened like a knife and a pointed iron rod leaving him seriously injured.

The SP said that he was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to the injuries. Rishipal's brother-in-law Amit, who was also in jail, was seriously injured and admitted to the district hospital. A total of 12 inmates, including Rishipal's father, received minor injuries in the incident, he said.

In the past, the district jail was in news when notorious criminal Munna Bajrangi was killed inside the premises in 2018.
I hate that our businesses and their employees had to deal with abuse today, and I apologize for putting them in that position, Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce said in a statement. I am not the kind of person who backs down from bullies, but I also will not send someone else to fight the battle for me.
We are in week number six of the stay at home orders due to the coronavirus here in Michigan. A time in our life that will never be forgotten. The fact that we are having a few days of rainy weather doesnt do much to improve the mood. But oh how much more we appreciate those nice sunny days! We cannot control the weather so we accept what God sends and try to do our best!

April always reminds us of my husband Joes dear parents, who both passed away in this month. His mother Salome was only 54 years old and it has been 25 years now since she passed away. At the time, we only had one child, Elizabeth, who was a little over 10 months old. None of our children will know Grandma Eicher, but we cannot question Gods plan.

Joes father passed away 11 years ago at the age of 70. We lived in the same community for five years before his passing so our children were able to see him more often, although our two youngest were still three and four at the time so they really dont remember much about having a grandparent. My parents both had died before they were born.

I remember all my grandparents very well, so its sad when some never meet theirs. Again, God knows best even though we question why at times. Trust and have faith!

The boys have been hauling lots of manure into the fields and the barn is being kept extra clean, since we are still waiting for church services to be continued. We will host them here in our pole barn once they decide its safe to meet again because of the virus.

Sunday afternoon our family went for a walk. It was a nice sunny, warm day and very enjoyable to get out of the house for a while. My sisters Verena and Susan were sitting out on their patio so we stopped and chatted with them. The walk did wonders and refreshed us all! We played several board games after coming home.

Since news is scarce, I will answer more questions from readers. My editors copy them from the website and send them to me as I dont see them otherwise.

A reader asks about heating our homes with coal and if it causes problems health wise. We have a hopper-fed coal stove in our basement, which has vents in the floor where the heat comes up to heat the main floor and travels up our open staircase to heat the bedrooms upstairs as well. We have a vent installed to take the carbon monoxide out. We add coal twice a day and I never smell coal. The stove is very tight and doesnt let out any fumes. None of our family has respiratory problems, but when we burned wood it bothered a few of our children when they were younger, which is why we changed to coal.

Another reader asks what laundry disinfectant I use. I used to use Germ Clean, but I havent been able to get it anymore from Stanley, so now I use Lysol laundry sanitizer and it seems to do well.

A reader asked if we make our own cheese and butter. I did when we had a cow but since we sold her, I buy our cheese. I buy Colby cheese by the horn from our neighbors store. We love Colby cheese. We use a cheese slicer and slice it off the horn. We eat cheese with our sandwiches, with crackers, and with our meals.

Now I must get this column off to my editors.

My husband Joe and I made horseradish this week from our own horseradish plant. Joes Uncle Solomon gave us the horseradish root so we could try growing it ourselves. I will share Uncle Solomons recipe. It has become a favorite side dish to have with hard-boiled eggs in this household! Add additional salt and sugar to your own taste.

God bless you!

Lovinas Amish Kitchen is written by Lovina Eicher, Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife, and mother of eight. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply); or email LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org and your message will be passed on to her to read. She does not personally respond to emails.

Uncle Solomons Homemade Horseradish

1 (6- to 8-inch) piece horseradish root

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt

Clean and very finely chop the horseradish root. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small bowl, adding only enough horseradish to make it the thickness and spiciness you like. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
New Delhi, May 2 : In order to boost the morale of the entrepreneurs who have been suffering due to the lockdown, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has been talking to various stakeholders and telling them not to lose hope. Gadkari has been using social media and other means like video conferencing to reach out to people, entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

Gadkari is even reaching out to foreign students, seeking their suggestions on how to bring the battered economy back on track. He believes only dialogue can solve problems.

According to a top official of the MSME ministry, Gadkari makes a point in all meetings that there is a need to convert this crisis into an opportunity. "He tries to instil a sense of hope amidst all the gloom. It has positive impact on the stakeholders as it is coming from none other than a minister," the official said.

He held a talk 'Response to global pandemic, Roadmap for India' with students of Indian origin living in 43 countries including Britain, Canada, Singapore and Australia recently. During the talk he appealed to them to play an active part in the fight against the coronavirus and said that the youth have the ability to take the country forward. He asked them to work on innovative ideas in this direction. He also asked them to take advantage of the situation arising from the world's disillusionment with China.

During a recent meet with representatives of Assocham on reviving the MSME sector, Gadkari said that the Japanese government has recommended a special package for its industry to pull out of China and invest elsewhere. Gadkari termed it a big opportunity for India to take advantage of the situation. "There is a need to forge new partnership to establish joint ventures in India to attract global firms. We need to meet the global demand apart from meeting domestic demand as many companies now want to get out of China." Gadkari also emphasised on the need to lessen the burden of big cities such as Gurugram, Delhi and Mumbai as economic drivers. He said there is a need to create economic and industrial clusters outside the big cities to drive growth.

Gadkari said currently work on 22 expressways is going on at a fast pace. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is one of them where there is an opportunity of investment in IT Parks, Logistics and industrial units.

Gadkari has spoken to representatives of Ficci, Assocham, CREDAI and leaders of other business organisations since the lockdown came into force on March 24.

According to ministry officials, Gadkari has reached out to at least 10,000 industry leaders during the lockdown period and has discussed its economic fallout and how to revive the economy post lockdown.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Two security personnel, who were injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along Line of Control in Rampur sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Friday, have succumbed to their injuries.

The ceasefire violation took place at around 3:30 pm on Friday. Earlier on April 30, Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along LoC in Poonch district.

(ANI)

Also Read: Jammu-Kashmir: Encounter breaks out in Pulwama
Hong Kong, May 2 : Hong Kong faced a resurgence of anti-government protests in the wake of of an improving coronavirus situation, with a return to riot police pepper spraying demonstrators to disperse them in a shopping mall at the end of a largely peaceful Labour Day, it was reported on Saturday.

An expected return to larger protest chaos on the streets did not materialise on Friday, and officers who had fanned out across the city only had to contend with small groups and individuals to enforce a ban against public gatherings, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper said in a report.

However, protesters began to gather at the New Town Plaza at around 7 p.m .on Friday, singing "Glory to Hong Kong", the anthem of the anti-government movement.

Police initially pushed them away and cordoned off the area, but had to resort to pepper spray later to disperse the crowd after small confrontations with protesters.

The appeal for flash mobs came after police denied Aunions permission to stage their traditional Labour Day rallies, citing risks to public health.

As an alternative, the opposition Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) planned to set up more than 50 street booths around the city to promote Aworkers' rights.
Millions of people across Spain left their houses to exercise outdoors for the first time in 48 days since a lockdown was imposed in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the exception of essential workers and people unable to work from home, the vast majority of Spain's 47 million residents have been housebound since March 14, only allowed out to buy food or medicine, reports Efe news.

Children have been able to go out with a supervising adult since April 26 and are now be limited to a schedule between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Health Minister Salvador Illa outlined a strict schedule of allotted time slots in a bid to avoid overcrowding, which permits individual exercise or walks between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

People are permitted one walk a day. They can go with a member of their household but must not stray further than one kilometre from their house.

Individual sporting activities can be done within the municipal area.

Additionally, the over 70s and people who need to be accompanied on a walk by a family member of carer are allowed out between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The schedule only applies to towns and villages with a population over 5,000.

Towns and cities up and down the country have adapted public spaces, including extending crosswalks and adding markers to help people measure social distancing.

In Madrid many of the main streets were busy with people on walks, runs or bike rides on Saturday morning.

The new measure came as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government prepared to gradually dismantle what has been one of the world's strict lockdowns over a period of at least eight weeks to help reboot the Spanish economy.

Data released on Thursday showed Spain's GDP had dropped 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, a period that only takes into account two weeks of the lockdown in Spain.

Unlike countries such as the UK, France and Portugal, the Spanish government ruled out outdoor exercise when it declared a state of alarm.

It forced the cancellation of a number of sporting events.

So far, Spain has reported 24,824 deaths with 215,216 confirmed cases and 114,678 recoveries, according to figures released by the health ministry.
She spent most of that Saturday at a state park in northeast Ohio, doing research for her masters thesis, and she could still feel the chill when she reached campus early Sunday morning.

As a grad student, Lynne Hamilton had a key to McGilvrey Hall. She fired up the coffee in the Geography Department, then retreated to her office. She was typing her field notes when the hair at the back of her neck whispered that she wasnt alone.

Hamilton turned to find a 19-year-old standing in the doorway, holding an M-1 rifle, dressed for battle. Youre not supposed to be here, he said.

In the age of active-shooter drills, Hamilton would have rolled for cover. But on that May morning in 1970, fifty years ago, Hamilton only stared back at the Ohio National Guardsman  Im not supposed to be here?  until he spotted her Styrofoam cup.

Is that coffee? he asked. Can I have some hot coffee?

Driving back to Kent on Saturday in her VW Squareback, Hamilton had heard the radio reports of the campus riots, inspired by President Nixons announcement that he would bomb Cambodia. She knew the old wooden ROTC barracks had gone down in flames, and shed passed a small troop carrier on the walk to McGilvrey.

Yes, sir, Hamilton said.

She found another cup. The Army Guardsman  He was just a young boy  set down the M-1. He was more intent on warming his hands than anything else. He was from Ravenna, six miles east of the Kent State campus, he told her, and hed just returned from Vietnam. He could not regain his bearings.

Im confused, he quietly admitted. Who is my enemy?

Hamilton doesnt remember much else of their conversation. He left her alone in the building. She spent another hour transcribing her notes, then returned to the house she shared with friends.

Students dive for cover after the Ohio National Guard opens fire

And the next day, a warm and sunny Monday, two companies of the 1/145th Infantry and Troop G of the 2/107th Armored Calvary retreated up Blanket Hill and, at 12:24 p.m., turned and fired on the hundreds of students and protesters on the Commons.

At least 29 of the Guardsmen admitted shooting their weapons. Sgt. Lawrence Shafer willfully turned his rifle on freshman Joseph Lewis Jr., standing 70 feet away with an upraised middle finger, and shot him in the hip. (Lewis lost six pints of blood, but survived, reaching Oregon in 1972 and eventually working for the city of Scappoose.)

James Russell, 23, was 375 feet away and leaving the Commons when he was cut down by a Guardsman with a shotgun. (He was on a turkey shoot, Russell, who died in 2007, told me 25 years ago. He saw me running away and he just wanted to bag a student.)

No one ever stepped up to take responsibility for Allison Krause, William Schroeder, Jeffrey Miller and Sandra Scheuer, the four dead in Ohio.

Mapping out where students fell, wounded or dead, 50 years ago.

Listening to a neighbors police scanner in her front yard, Hamilton heard the first erroneous reports that shots had been fired and two students and two Guardsmen were dead. When the fire trucks screamed past the house, all she could think about was the disoriented soldier from Ravenna.

That weekend and the turmoil that followed was her significant emotional event, says Hamilton, who now lives in southwest Portland:

I was raised in a bigoted, right-wing, fundamentalist household in the rural South. I lived on a Florida orange grove, in a three-room cracker shack, until I was 12. I left home within a week of graduating high school.

By 1970, she had already severed ties with her parents politics. Kent State got me thinking. It woke me up. It changed my value system, Hamilton says. She was appalled not only by the shooting, but the martial law that followed. Helicopters cruised over the neighborhood at night with searchlights.

We actually did sanctuary, meeting in churches, Hamilton says. That was the only place we could meet to find out what was going on. It was like a scene from my history book on fascist Italy.

She found refuge in the wild for much of the 70s, working on scenic trails. After moving to Oregon, she reviewed environmental documents for the feds for 30 years. She converted to Judaism. Along the way, she spent 18 months with another Vietnam vet, learning enough about post-traumatic stress disorder to forgive the Ohio guardsmen who brought that pain and confusion to Kent State.

Fifty years ago.

Shes been restless since the university canceled its on-campus commemoration of that bitter day. Theres so much going on with the virus thing, I was afraid it would be pushed to the side and forgotten, Hamilton says.

In remembrance, she will light her yahrzeit candle Sunday night. Shell pray for the kid in the doorway and the chance he figured it out before he reached the crest of Blanket Hill:

Those kids werent his enemy.

-- Steve Duin

stephen.b.duin@gmail.com
Patna, May 2 : A 54-year-old COVID-19 patient died in East Champaran district, taking the total number of deaths due to coronavirus in Bihar to three, a health official said on Saturday.

The total number of positive cases in Bihar stands at 466.

Sanjay Kumar, Principal Health Secretary, said that the man was a cancer patient and was undergoing treatment. He returned from Mumbai on April 20. However, when his samples were tested he turned out to be coronavirus positive.

Later, he was admitted to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna, where he succumbed to the disease on Friday.

Earlier on March 21, the State's first COVID-19 patient, from Munger district, had died and his reports later confirmed he was suffering from the pandemic disease. Another 35-year old COVID-19 patient died on April 17 in Patna.

At least 30 out of 38 districts of Bihar are now affected by coronavirus.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday asked the Senate to find any documents tied to an allegation he sexually assaulted a former aide in 1993, after personally denying the accusation publicly for the first time.

Washington: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday asked the Senate to find any documents tied to an allegation he sexually assaulted a former aide in 1993, after personally denying the accusation publicly for the first time.

No, it is not true. Im saying unequivocally it never, never happened, Biden told MSNBC in an interview when asked about the accusation, which his campaign had also previously denied.

A California woman named Tara Reade, who worked as a staff assistant in Bidens Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, had accused Biden in media interviews of pinning her against a wall in 1993, reaching under her skirt and pushing his fingers inside her.

Biden, 77, who will be the Democratic nominee to face Republican President Donald Trump, 73, in the 3 November US election, had faced growing pressure from within and outside his party to directly address the accusation.

This is an open book. Theres nothing for me to hide, Biden said in the interview, conducted from his home in Delaware where he is self-isolating during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter, Biden asked the Secretary of the Senate, Julie Adams, to locate and make public records containing any complaint or other documents relating to Reades allegation, if they exist, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.

During the interview Biden said personal papers from his Senate years, which were donated to the University of Delaware and have yet to be made available to the public, do not contain any personnel files.

He said he was unaware of any complaint against him by Reade, and he had never asked anyone to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He said he would not question Reades motive and did not know why she had made the complaint.

In the past Biden has suggested that women making accusations of sexual assault should be given the benefit of the doubt, and on Friday he said he was not being hypocritical by rejecting Reades charges.

Women have a right to be heard and the press should rigorously investigate claims they make. Ill always uphold that principle, he said. But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters.

Reuters has not been able to independently confirm Reades accusation and also was unable to reach Reade or a representative for her comment.

We appreciate vice-president Biden finally addressing Tara Reades allegations, said Heather Drevna, the vice president of communications at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization. These allegations deserve a rigorous investigation.

Trump accusations

Trump has been accused in recent years by more than a dozen women of making unwanted sexual advances. In all instances, they claimed the purported misconduct occurred years before he entered politics. Trump has denied the accusations, accusing rival Democrats and the media of a smear campaign.

In an interview on Friday with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Trump said if the accusations were false, Biden should deny them.

Just go out and fight it, its one of those things, Trump said he would advise Biden. Ive been a total victim of this nonsense, false accusations.

Trumps re-election campaign accused Biden of exercising a double standard. In a dramatic shift, Biden now says believe women doesnt actually mean believe women, said campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine.

We do not know what, if anything, was done to Tara Reade, but there cannot be one set of rules for Joe Biden and another set for everyone else.

Several news outlets that have published Reades account, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, have interviewed a friend who said Reade told her about the alleged assault at the time. Another friend told the Times that Reade told her in 2008 about a previous traumatic incident involving Biden. Reades brother also confirmed parts of Reades account to The Intercept and the Post.

On Monday, the Business Insider news website published an interview with a former neighbor who said Reade told her in the mid-1990s that Biden had put his fingers inside her.

Reade, 56, told media interviewers she complained at the time about sexual harassment, though not sexual assault, to three of Bidens Senate aides. The Biden campaign released a statement from one, Marianne Baker, who said she never received any report of inappropriate behaviour in nearly 20 years of working for Biden.

The Post and Times interviewed the other two aides, both of whom told the newspapers they had no recollection of Reades complaint.

Reade was one of eight women who last year came forward to say Biden had hugged, kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable, though none accused him of sexual assault. Reade publicly accused him of the assault on a podcast in March.

Some prominent Democratic women had stepped forward to defend Biden, who was President Barack Obamas vice-president, and others had asked him to address the accusation.

It cant appear that shes being ignored just because its an inconvenient truth for certain people in the Democratic Party, said Nina Turner, who was national campaign co-chair for the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, who dropped out of the Democratic race and endorsed Biden.
An eight-year-old boy, admitted to the Institute of Child Health (ICH) here with respiratory distress, and a nurse at the facility have tested positive for Covid-19, sources at the hospital said on Friday.

At least 10 more nurses at the hospitals neo-natal unit and a ward boy are currently down with fever, the sources said. It is not known whether they are also infected with the coronavirus as their samples have not been collected yet.

Click here for full Covid-19 coverage

The boy, a resident of Karaya Road, was rushed to the hospital on Thursday morning after he complained of uneasiness and breathing problems. His samples were sent for examination shortly thereafter.

His father, when contacted by PTI, said the boy had been suffering from breathing problems since birth and had no recent travel history.

Ours is a small family of four and no one is ill. Its surprising and shocking that my son got infected, the father, a bank employee, said.

A senior official at the ICH said the boys parents were told to take him to MR Bangur hospital on Friday morning after he tested positive for the disease. His nose and throat swabs were sent to the Tata Medical Centre in Rajarhat for examination.

Click here for Covid-19 updates

The 34-year-old nurse, who was also found to have contracted the disease, is a resident of Jibantala in South 24 Parganas, ICH sources said.

The mother of a six-year-old has been working at the neo-natal unit of the ICH.

All 10 nurses, who are down with fever, are her colleagues at the unit, sources said.

A nurse at the facility, speaking on the condition of anonymity, complained that medical workers, who chose to stay back at the hospital amid the lockdown, were living in cramped quarters without proper protection.

At least 26 of us are putting up in a cramped room at the hospital. We have not been given any mask or protective gear. We dont know whats in store for us. We are quite scared, she said.

Nobody from the hospital administration was immediately available for comments.

Over 35 health workers, including doctors at the Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital, have been placed under quarantine after two of their colleagues tested positive for the disease, health department officials said.

Meanwhile, Alipurduar district reported its first Covid-19 case on Friday, as four people tested positive.

According to the districts Chief Medical Officer Puran Sharma, all the four patients had recently returned from Delhi, where they had gone for treatment.

Upon their return, they were sent to quarantine centres and their samples tested. We got the reports today and all four were confirmed to be positive. We have placed them and their family members under quarantine, the CMO said.

A woman in South 24 Parganas Canning also tested positive and was sent to M R Bangur Hospital in Kolkata for treatment. Her husband and children have been sent to a quarantine centre, a district health official said.

Earlier in the day, the West Bengal government wrote to the Centre, emphasising that there are four red zones in the state and not 10, as mentioned in the list presented during a video conference of the cabinet secretary with representatives of states.

Till Friday evening, the state reported a total of 744 Covid-19 cases, out of which 572 are active.

At least 105 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 have died in West Bengal -- 33 due to the disease and the rest because of comorbidities, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said on Thursday.
The spread of coronavirus, the social distancing policy and the freezing of the tourism industry all have patalyzed the F&B sector.

Golden Gate, the buffet and hot pot chain, has closed 34 restaurants because of revenue decreases.

Food chains close shops in social distancing





Ngo Minh Vu, the manager of Hachiban Ramen, said their workers have taken unpaid leave. Basta Hiro has informed workers about temporary unemployment.



According to Dcorp R-Keeper Vietnam, there are 540,000 eateries in Vietnam, including 430,000 small ones and 7,000 fast food shops, 22,000 coffee shops and bars and over 80,000 facilities belonging to large F&B chains.

The spread of coronavirus, the social distancing policy and the freezing of the tourism industry all have patalyzed the F&B sector.

Statista reported that the revenue of the Vietnams F&B market in 2019 reached $200 billion, up by 34.3 percent over 2018.



However, with Covid-19, the prospect of the F&B sector turns out to be unclear. As the government has applied social distancing policy, many shops have to close and wait.



Mai Truong Giang, the owner of Otoke Chicken and Chewy Junior brands, complained on his Facebook that he had to close restaurants after taking big losses.



Vo Duy Phu, business and marketing director of The Coffee House, noted that after two months of being hit by Covid-19, about 60 percent of F&B businesses decided to let things run their course.



However, many others have been struggling to exist. Hoang Quoc Khanh from Golden Gate said the business has launched G-Delivery, providing service at clients homes and lending cookers for free.



Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Pizza 4Ps was so popular that clients had to book tables several days in advance. However, as clients cannot come, the chain has to change its policy and deliver food.



According to Nielsen, Covid-19 has changed consumers habits. About 81 percent of polled people confirmed they refuse public gatherings and nearly half of Vietnamese have changed eating habits: they are restricting eating out, storing more food and shopping at online markets.



The changes offer great opportunities to businesses to promote their digital media strategy and make a stronger mark on the online market, according to Mohit Agrawal of Nielsen.



F&B chains will have to change their business models to exist. However, according to Nguyen Hoang Van, CEO of Cua Ngon Huong Vi Dat Mui Restaurant, this is also a great opportunity for businesses to reconsider their administrative model and find optimal solutions to exist.



Nguyen Ha Linh, CEO of Thai Koh Yam, is optimistic about the prospect, saying that now is the time for F&B chains to train workers, upgrade service quality, and lease retail premises that they could not find in the past.

Linh Ha
Indian Born Esteemed author Roshan Bhondekars short films about social change won several international awards

San Diego , Sat, 02 May 2020 NI Wire

After winning award at the International Film competition in San Diego (California) for recognition for Liberation/ Social Justice/Protest and also getting an official Selection in F5: FPP Financial Focus FilmFest, Florida - the United States for Audience Choice Award, Roshan Bhondekar's The Shoes bags another milestone.

The short film written and directed by Indian-born Spanish filmmaker Roshan Bhondekar has won special mentions award from the 'Global Shorts' Film Competition in Los Angeles on 26th April 2020. The Shoes is an exciting short film, which is based on Global social issues like child education and poverty. The story line, which talks about - A child is searching for happiness in her life, while looking at other children around the street, even the child have equal rights to wear clothes, eat food and have shelter, played key role by child actors from Spain - Alicia Cornide, Valentina Ortiz, Iria Gonzalez, Carla Bote, Adriana Segador, Produced by Sahra Ardah from Spain and Yogesh Bhondekar an Executive producer from India.

Talking about the same, Roshan Bhondekar shares, "We never thought that our small efforts towards film making while addressing social issues will give us international awards, as on today we have received 6 international awards for The Shoes alone. The special feeling when audiences from different parts of the world are appreciating our ideas, we will keep doing best for bringing the best talent and ideas on the screen. Honored to be participated along with powerful Hollywood projects. We have to dedicate this award to Mr. Rishi Kapoor and Mr.Irfan Khan for their remarkable contribution for Indian Cinema, as they have shown the way of quality film making.

Jeff Hudgins who chairs 'Global Shorts' Film Competition, had this to say about the latest winners, "Global Shorts is a Los Angeles-based international awards competition that recognizes short films with a runtime of 50 minutes or less. It is a sister competition of One-Reeler, an IMDb-recognized short film competition that accepts films 12 minutes or less. Each of our competitions have separate categories, judges, and Awards packages. Attracting filmmakers from all over the world, our competitions emphasize original, impactful storytelling  the same qualities film festivals and distributors look for. Past competition Winners have also won or been nominated for: BAFTAs, British Independent Film Awards, Cannes Film Festival Awards, Emmys, Genie Awards, Golden Globes, Saturn Awards. Some of the countries we have received Winning submissions from include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA".

The man behind the short film, Roshan Bhondekar hails from a small town named Tumsar from Maharashtra, India. From a 300 sqft house with 6 people to a plush apartment in Spain, Roshan Bhondekar's journey has been inspiring and how! Shot completely in Spain, The Shoes is a story based on a child's right to have a dignified and secure life. The short film throws light on the global child education and poverty and going by the current coronavirus pandemic, it is essential to take the right measures to cope up with poverty and lack of child education, especially girl child education.

Being the eldest son coming from poor family background, it was tough for Roshan and his family as they had to struggle for a two-time meal and that's what kicked the author to do something big. Roshan managed to secure admission to a polytechnic college and later bought his own house after completing his engineering and ever since then there was no looking back for him.

The author has also written books like The Frame: An Art of Optimism and Love - The Key to Optimism: Path Towards Happiness. Roshan didn't resist himself to the limited film industry and he has written & published a couple of recognized books in association with Notion press, he is known for non-fiction book 'Love-The Key to Optimism, noticed by John C. Maxwell - New York Times bestselling author and mentioned in book 'No Limits'. He is actively writing for international journals like Thrive Global, and Medium. Also, his another short film Hausla Aur Raste, too won prestigious awards during International film festivals, one during the Delhi Shorts International Film Festival as 'Special Festival Mention', in India and another one as 'Best 1st Time Filmmaker' Award during Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes.

Hausla Aur Raste is a story of a girl from a lower-middle-class farmer's family who's able to chase her dreams of clearing Civil Services Exam and becoming an IAS officer despite the odds and limited resources, written and directed by Indian-born Spanish filmmaker Roshan Bhondekar from small-town from Maharashtra, Tumsar in association with Envision Film Studio production house has captivated a wide audience nationally and internationally. The film was shot in the surrounding villages of Nagpur.

In 2018, Hausla Aur Raste stood out in Delhi Shorts International Film Festival in India and bagged the award. "The competition was tough. All entries were superb. Each short film showcases timely and interesting stories that make a huge impact to wide audiences. It also shows the actor's amazing talents and the skills of the production team, this Project officially selected in more than 8 film festivals" Roshan Bhondekar said. After getting the award in Delhi, Hausla Aur Raste won 'Best 1st Time Filmmaker' Award in Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes 2018, France and was nominated in the "Best Debut Filmmaker" category in the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival 2018. 'Being Best 1st Time Filmmaker for the award is a big blessing already, reaching the international scene was a huge recognition. We will remain dedicated to producing unique and quality films in the coming years', Bhondekar further added.

In winning a Best 1st time filmmaker, Roshan Bhondekar joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected award including the very talented Jensen Noen of 'The Perception' for his best feature film.

Alexander Haythen, who chairs Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes, had this to say about the latest winners, "Best 1st-time filmmaker is not an easy award to win. Talented filmmakers have made sensational film projects & entries were received from around the world from powerhouse companies. Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes helps to set the standard for art and passion. The judges were pleased with the exceptionally high quality of entries. The goal of The Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes is to help talented new filmmakers to achieve the recognition they deserve."

Roshan is a well known motivational speaker who got inspired by his parents who taught him to help others grow better. In addition, Roshan was also the Vice President of Hope India NGO back in 2017 where his prime responsibilities were to drive the initiatives for Skill Development, women empowerment, human rights, and education & literacy, etc. at the national level.
Iran arm's embargo can't be prolonged despite US efforts, Russia says

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Moscow, May 1, IRNA -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the UN embargo on conventional weapons sales to Iran, which expires in October 2020, can't be extended despite the US efforts.

The issue of sending weapons and ammunition to the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as arms exports from Iran, had been resolved during the approval of the Security Council Resolution 2231," Ryabkov said.

"For us, the case of the existing ban on arms deliveries to and from Iran was closed with the adoption of Resolution 2231. The embargo regime expires in October this year", Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated.

"The US would be better off ensuring the full and comprehensive implementation of the provisions of this resolution, and return to full compliance with the JCPOA", the Russian deputy foreign minister added.

He reiterated that all countries must comply with Resolution 2231 without any violations or deviations, adding, "The United States not only prevents other countries from the implementation of this resolution, but also threatens them with sanctions and various restrictive measures."

He went on to say that this behavior of the United States is another example of the policy of imposing pressure. "In recent years, US foreign policy instruments have been limited to sanctions, and there has been no readiness to negotiate and resolve issues behind the negotiating table."

Russia's deputy foreign minister further said that the United States is unfortunately not just taking selective action.

"We are clearly concerned about the signs of this kind of action by the United States," he added.

Ryabkov, meantime, said that the United States is not only preventing the implementation of this resolution by other countries but is also threatening them with sanctions and various restrictive measures.

UN Resolution 2231 adopted back in 2015 alongside the Iran nuclear deal, prohibited the sale of conventional weapons to the Islamic Republic until October 18, 2020 and separately the sale of missiles until 2023. However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated yesterday that Washington is trying to do anything in its power to extend the ban beyond October 2020.

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The Steelers quarterback is headed to the Hall of Fame. But he was unloved outside Pittsburgh for understandable reasons Ben Roethlisberger almost certainly played his final game in the NFL on Sunday. Photograph: Ed Zurga/AP Ben Roethlisberger is lucky that football legacies are not decided by finales. If Sunday night was indeed Big Bens last ever NFL game, as he has strongly hinted, it wasnt exactly a mic drop. In the 42-21 beatdown by the Chiefs, Roethlisberger struggled with rollouts, and l
Epidemiological data reviewed by Dr. Larry P. Tilley suggests populations with the highest measles-rubella vaccination rates often have the fewest deaths from COVID-19

ATLANTA, May 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Larry P. Tilley, co-investigator of the report MMR Vaccine Link to COVID-19: Fewer Deaths and Milder Cases from SARS-CoV-2 in Measles-Rubella Vaccinated Populations will work with World Organization to begin MMR titer testing of recovered novel coronavirus patients this week to determine if the link he has described between measles-rubella vaccines and COVID-19 can be confirmed.



Dr. Larry P. Tilley:World Organization Advisory Board Member

Data demonstrating the protective effect of MMR vaccines was shared by Tilley with the COVID-19 Research Team at the NIH on March 29, 2020. This protective effect was then corroborated two weeks later by neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge in England.

Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, regardless of how severe their case was, are encouraged to apply online to join World Organizations COVID-19 MMR Titer Study . As long as someone has tested positive they can apply to join the study, even if they were asymptomatic. Tests will be administered at Quest Diagnostics laboratories across the United States.

About Dr. Larry P. Tilley

Dr. Larry P. Tilley is a board-certified internist and medical consultant who currently assists over two dozen pharmaceutical companies in the development of new medications and protocols.

About World Organization

World Organization is a 501c3 nonprofit charity based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Contact

Dr. Larry P. Tilley, 505-570-2025, drlarrytilley@gmail.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6294e230-d5bb-4875-a646-35818c939a2e
Mizoram chief secretary



Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said on Saturday that all the people of the state are entitled to benefits and the government is working to provide assistance to those stranded in other parts of the country irrespective of their caste, tribe or religion.

The top official's comments come amid allegations that many people from the minority communities in the state such as the Chakmas stranded in other parts of the country were not receiving help from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF).

We have requested all residents of the state irrespective of caste, tribe and religion to report to the deputy resident commissioners (DRCs) of Mizoram Houses in the states where they are stranded," Chuaungo told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Reliefs to the stranded people are being provided through the resident commissioners and Mizo Welfare Associations in different parts of the country, he said.

All the residents of the Mizoram stranded in other parts of the country are entitled to benefits being provided by the state government, Chuaungo said.

The state government is also willing to provide assistance to Chakma NGOs that are guarding the inter-state and international borders, he added.

The Mizoram Chakma Alliance Against Discrimination (MCAAD) had alleged that while the state government allocated Rs 2.34 crore from the CMRF to various Mizo NGOs across the country to help those stranded from the state, no Chakma NGO was given any assistance.

The association urged chief minister Zoramthanga to provide relief to hundreds of Chakmas stranded in various parts of the country.

The Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) had on Thursday said that it will write to the chief minister to provide financial assistance to all the Chakma migrant workers stuck in different parts of the country.

The Mizoram government has provided assistance amounting to over Rs 1.58 crore to stranded people of the state through 43 Mizo Welfare Associations in various parts of the country.

It also assisted local or village-level task forces, NGOs, orphanage homes and rehabilitation centres through the CMRF.

The government also began bringing back of stranded people from Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura on April 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its two years since local barber Craig Colgan took a leap of faith in a bid to achieve a long-time fantasy.

A Dublin native living in Blackrock, he is the proprietor of Sailor Sharkeys Barbers on Castletown Road, having previously spent a decade working in a sales capacity at both The Dundalk Democrat and PayPal.

The transition wasnt exactly seamless, though a mixture of determination and hard work saw the dream of owning his own business come to fruition.

And, prior to the lockdown, Colgan was happy with where his outlet stood, content with both its growth and the success of his decision to go on a solo-run. Covid-19 has obviously provided a significant obstacle to the business growth, yet its owner isnt getting too bogged down. Rather, he envisages the stoppage as an opportunity.

Ive made worse investments, he quips. But I honestly dont see a negative in what Ive done.

My Dad runs his own business and has done for years, and it was something that I always wanted to do even though I never knew what industry I was going to start it in.

Even if it all failed Id still walk away with my head held high. The money Ive put in, if that goes, it goes. But I think the investment has been done right and although this is a setback, it gives me time to refocus on certain things and the direction I want the business to go.

For two years Ive been flat out trying to build a reputation, master a skill, build a business online and do social media, while cutting hair. When youre pushing youre getting more clients and cutting hair more at times where maybe you would like to be marketing.

Ive always had an underlying passion for barbering and hair. Id an interest and I enjoyed the experience of developing a deeper knowledge of the craft.

Of course it was a complete 180 turn in that Id a very secure job at PayPal, but I wasnt satisfied on a personal level with what I was doing. I could do the job, but I wasnt coming home saying I enjoyed that.

In life, taking leaps of faith isnt always a bad thing. Im happy to stand by my leap of faith as of now.

Since closing in mid-March, time has been spent giving the shop a makeover and developing some of the aforementioned aspects. Training and fitness exercise also helps to keep the mind active.

But, in terms of the nitty gritty, Colgan concedes the loss of revenue isnt sustainable beyond a certain juncture and reckons many businesses in Dundalk may struggle to open when the time comes.

Nonetheless, he feels safe within his own field, having been in contact with the Enterprise Ireland board, and has reserved praise for the governments handling of a very tricky situation.

Id be very happy with how the current government are handling the situation, he added. The support is there from local representatives and theyve acted very fast, which has been a significant comfort at such a precarious time.

One of the things about this business is that its recession proof. There will be businesses in this town that definitely will not open, industries that were already struggling because of the online market, hanging on by a threat almost. This will be the final nail in some businesses and its a very sad inevitability.

But I dont feel that way with the barbers shop. Im lucky in a way that Ive had two years to build a reputation and a customer base. The niche that I have is that Ive been in the sales game for 10 years so the service that I can provide is a really personable experience - Im good at that.

In a weird way, people arent always there for the haircut - they come in, young and old, to chat. Thats something that Ive built and I think thatll stand to me.

Im not fearful of not being busy when I reopen, its just when I reopen and what that will then entail.

I dont know the answer, sadly. Thats the waiting game and the strangeness of the situation for the industry. I would have thought that wed be one of the first ones back, but the more I think about it, Im not altogether sure.

Pubs will be one of the last to come back because of gatherings and numbers. Maybe barber shops will be as well.

Then theres only so long you can keep people away from normality. Id like to think we wouldnt be one of the last if proper procedures come into play, but, unfortunately, I dont have an answer of when or what they may be.

Branding is clearly very important to Colgan, who alludes specifically to the design of the shop which entails old photographs and cuttings of former heavyweight boxer, Dundalks Tom Sailor Sharkey.

Then there is the offering of a beer or coffee to any customer, while an Xbox console is available for use as well. He likes to offer the full package, right down to a warm towel for those whose beards he trims!

The goal is ultimately to build a shop to be successful and then to open another one. The goal is to grow the name.

Im not from Dundalk, but Im very proud to be associated with the name that Ive picked. So many people have come in to me with memorabilia regarding Sailor Sharkey and its a real brand - the whole shop is very incorporated with local history and I like that.

I suppose the online aspect of the business is certainly something that I want to build and if you go on to my website (www.sailorsharkeybarbers.ie). .. theres been a lot of money, time and effort spent on the site and its fully equipped with info on the shop, a thriving online store and an ability for customers to buy vouchers digitally - which is working well for the business.

Colgan, it seems, has razor-sharp instincts.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Unleashing American Energy event at the Department of Energy in Washington, on June 29, 2017. (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump Signs Order to Protect the US Electricity System: Energy Department

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1 that seeks to protect the U.S. electricity system from cyber and other attacks in a move that could eventually put barriers on some imports from China and Russia.

Trump declared in the order that the threat to the U.S. power system represents a national emergency, which allows the government to put in place measures such as the creation of a task force on procurement policies for energy infrastructure.

The order allows the energy secretary, in consultation with other officials, to prohibit acquisition, importation, transfer or installation of power equipment from an adversary that they determine poses a risk of sabotage to the U.S. power system.

The Department of Energy building is seen in Washington, on July 22, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images)

It is imperative the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said in a news release. The order will greatly diminish the ability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure, he said.

The order defines bulk power equipment as items used in substations, control rooms, or power plants, including nuclear reactors, capacitors, transformers, large generators and backup generators and other equipment.

The order does not mention countries, but the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment issued by thenU.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that China and Russia and other countries were using cyber techniques to spy on U.S. infrastructure.

In 2018, the Trump administration blamed the Russian government for a campaign of cyber attacks over at least two years that targeted the power grid including nuclear power and manufacturing facilities. It was the first time Washington publicly accused Moscow of hacking into American energy infrastructure.

The power system not only delivers electricity to homes and businesses, but supports the military and emergency systems.

The Energy Department said that government rules about buying equipment for the power grid often result in contracts being awarded to the lowest-cost bids, a vulnerability that can be exploited by those with malicious intent.

The order authorizes Brouillette to work with Trumps Cabinet and the energy industry on protecting the electricity system.

The task force will be chaired by the energy secretary, or someone designated by that official as well as the secretaries of defense, commerce and the director of national intelligence, among other officials.

By Timothy Gardner, Doina Chiacu and Nichola Groom
New Delhi, May 2 : In a bid to elevate craft and tell the makers stories, Indias official Craft Week will be reaching out digitally during the lockdown with its Global edition, 'Good Stories Untold - From your home.

New-Delhi based social venture Craft Village, a member organisation of World Craft Council - APR, is back with India's first and World's fifth official Craft Week, with a brand new digital avatar in partnership with British Council, India.

Scheduled from 1st May to 3rd May 2020, the three day live event will come as encouragement for millions of skilled crafts-people, brands, craft-entrepreneurs, patrons and craft seeking opportunities along with ways to engage creatively and professionally with India's iconic heritage. Focusing on 'Good Stories Untold - From your home', the worldwide digital preview strives towards 'One World, One Craft' that transcends boundaries and fear.

"COVID-19 is having an impact globally, far beyond the cultural sector-but our responsibility is to sustain the Craft sector as best as we can, so that Brands, Craftsmen, Designers, Organisations, Institutions, Craftpreneurs and Makers can continue to nourish the imagination of people across the world, both during the crisis and in the period of recovery. Taking a cue from this thought, our team at India Craft Week has curated this Global-Digital Preview which you can participate being at home" says Iti Tyagi Founder Craft Village & India Craft Week ICW 2020 will provide 'Creative Seekers' (Global & Urban Population, Craft lovers, Craft Patrons and the general public at large) an opportunity to participate in a range of activities, learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge and insights, buying craft products and taking a journey into folk, tribal and cultural performances. On the other hand, this initiative would help Artisans and the Craft Community in dire need to connect with potential consumers and revival of interest in Crafts. Participated by more than 70 brands, Artisans, artists, Experts & others, the 3-Days ICW-Digital Preview would be inaugurated by Shri Dinesh Patnaik, Director General, ICCR, Govt. of India and the thoughts Leaders in Craft & Culture from across the world would share their insights and experiences including Dr. Ghada H. Qaddumi, President, World Craft Council-APR, (Kuwait), Dr. Barbara Wickham OBE, Director, British Council, INDIA, Dr. Darlie Koshy, Former Director, NID, Deepikka Jindal, MD, Arttdinox, Manish Saksena, Lead Advisor, Aadyam Handwoven, Sundeep Kumar, CEO, Craft Beton, Dr. Kevin Murrey, Editor, Garland Magazine, Australia, Ms. Lisa Cahill, CEO & Director, Sydney Craft Week & Australia Design Center, Dr. Fatina Saiklay, Director, Co-Creando, Italy, Rahul Mishra, Fashion Designer, Anju Modi, Fashion Designer, Rina Dhaka, Fashion Designer, Dr. Jonathan Kennedy, Director Arts, British Council, INDIA, Jaya Jaitley, Craft Revivalist & Founder, Dastkari Haat Samiti amongst many others.

Praising the initiative, Jonathan Kennedy, Director Arts India, British Council says: "We are delighted to partner with the India Crafts Week, as part of our global commitment to craft and design. The Crafting Futures program supports the future of craft and livelihoods. In India, our program broadly aligns with the Indian government's agenda of supporting local artisans and giving them global exposure. During this hugely challenging and uncertain time of Covid-19 capacity development for resilience, improving economic opportunity for survival and improving livelihoods of Indian craftspeople - especially women - is more important than ever." In the midst of this dilemma, many in the craft sector are doing their best to connect together to meet this challenge by finding solutions to prevent this sector from a detrimental collapse.

"In my capacity as President of WCC-Asia Pacific Region and on behalf of the Board and all of the WCC-Asia Pacific Region members, we place a word of appreciation to all organizers and participants in this Digital Edition." says Dr. Ghada H. Qaddumi, President, World Craft Council-APR.

The craft of India and traditional Indian Craftsperson / artisans will be sharing international platform with prestigious brands like Dunhill, Bugatti, Purdey, Rolls Royce, Mont Blanc, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry amongst many others.
A Chetak helicopter of the Navy



would shower flower petals on the district government hospital on Sunday morning to honour coronavirus warriors for their relentless fight against the infection.

The Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi, in keeping with the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), would represent the Indian Armed Forces to express gratitude and appreciation to the entire nation for the perseverance and committed efforts of the virus warriors.

A number of activities has been planned by SNCto express solidarity and gratitude to the coronavirus warriors, including medical professionals, health workers, policemen, government staff and mediapersons, he said.

Senior officers from headquarters of Southern Naval Command would visit General Hospital, Ernakulam, and thank themedical fraternity,district collector, police officials, paramedics and healthcare workers for their efforts in maintaining Ernakulam as a 'Green Zone,' the defence spokesman said in a press release here.

"As part of the planned activities, Chetak helicopter of the Navy will shower flower petals on the district government hospital to honour the coronavirus warriors," the release said.

Different aircraft of Indian Navy including Dornier, Sea King, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Chetak would carry out a flypast over the city's iconic Marine Drive followed by a steam-past by seven Fast Interceptor Crafts (FIC) who are involved in coastal security of Kerala and Lakshadweept, along theMarine Drive, at slow speed with banners thanking the coronavirus warriors, the release said.

Later, four Indian Naval and Coast Guard ships would anchor in the centre of the channel opposite the Marine Drive and carry out a traditional illumination andfiring of green flares accompanied by sounding of siren to underline the Navys solidarity with the coronavirus warriors.

In addition, the Southern Naval Command (SNC) band would play some famous numbers on a warship berthed opposite the CSL and Venduruthy bridge, the iconic symbols of Kochi, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Romance in India died a little with the going of Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan. Female fans of the actors are left heartbroken.

Rishi stood for the aspirational romantic  every woman of that era wanted a boyfriend just like him. Handsome, emotional, matching dance steps with heroine, he was the ultimate suitor. He was also Bollywood royalty, spelling class, bank balance and holidays abroad. His wooing would always be flamboyant, aimed at reducing us to estrogen puddles. The One who will come rushing through the airport after our flight is announced to stop us from leaving the country. He mutates, in cinematic terms, into other lover boys, culminating in Imran Khan of Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. Full of sweet gestures, soulful eyes, and uncontrolled passion.

Irrfan came in from nowhere superimposing our cliched notions of love with some down to earth brooding. Suddenly we wanted that grounded guy, who would pause rather than make promises that we now know can never be kept by a mere man. He is the quintessential prodigal returning to catalogue his human failures; he will never brag, his idea of romance being to call us when he is dying in a hospital faraway just to say a quiet hi, like in Namesake.

To female moviegoers, these two represented two ends of the male arc. The man you covet and the man you end up with. There is also the small matter of both actors occupying the same mould briefly, with Rishi breaking away from the chocolate boy image and essaying serious opinionated roles towards the end. And there are moments one reminds us of the other; Rishi singing main shayar to nahi could well be an introverted Irrfan trying to reconcile himself to his loneliness and sudden attraction to a house-help. But by and large their time frames and appeal to the opposite sex remain polar opposites.

The Irrfan of Lunchbox was who the modern woman understood from her vantage view of long-running marriages, no rose-tinted glasses in sight. He came in unobtrusively, typically low profile, with all the gravitas of a good listener. He did not make you feel foolish or giddy, radiating instead the realness of meaningful connections. With him it was always one on one, even if you were sitting in an audience of two hundred watching him on screen.

Rishi called out to the Laila in you, the Juliet. He swept you off your feet. He was Prince Charming holding the shoe you left behind at the ball. He drove a magic carpet, his eyes never left yours for a second. You knew your mother would no longer call you a loser if you took him home.

Rishi would always be your first love, that crush you mooned over, whod take you away from drudgery and keep you in a palace. Irrfan is the man who asks you to split the cafe bill while dating and the house rent post-marriage. Rishi is who you fantasize about while quietly bringing up kids with Irrfan.

Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bangalore. Her books include The Girl Who Couldn't Love, Barefoot and Pregnant, Planet Polygamous, and the anthologies Why We Dont Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, Boo. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Asia Prize for her story A Dogs Death in 2003, she is the co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival.
Jack and Conor Galligan from Greystones were two of the Irish members of the crew of the SV Tenacious to land in Cork on Tuesday, April 7.

The twins and another Greystones crew members Charlie Kavanagh and Robbie Byrne had been on-board for a month and crossed the Atlantic, returning to a very changed home country.

Jack and Conor's parents Robert and Caroline said that they saw a message on the Greystones Sailing Club WhatsApp asking for crew to bring the ship from Antigua to Greece. The boys are competitive sailors in the Greystones club.

'They are in transition year in Temple Carrig Greystones and we felt that this could be a great thing to do during the term time,' said Caroline.

There were eight 16 year-olds and the rest of the crew were aged from their 20s to the oldest at 76.

'When they left Gatwick to board the plant to Anigua there were 18 Covid cases in Ireland,' said Caroline. 'We were still hugging everyone and not washing hands!'

The crew stayed two days in Antigua while stocking the boat. Once they set sail there was no more contact with home. The captain was informed of the coronavirus situation along the way and diverted from Greece to The Azores as Greece was closed.

Writing on the ship blog during the voyage, Conor said: 'This has been the most life changing, emotional, and eye-opening experience of my life thus far. I have never met such amazing people like the permanent crew, their dedication to their work and making every day better than the one previous is what in my opinion truly makes this vessel what it is today.'

In the Azores the boys had wifi and for the first time they saw how serious the situation was. They could not understand why everyone wore masks and they could not disembark.

The young people had been sailing since early March from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and had little or no knowledge of how life has changed in Ireland.

The voyage was made with the Jubilee Sailing Trust and all of the boys have experience in sailing. On the voyage, they got to develop their skills as part of a crew of 40. They met gale-force winds in the North Atlantic on the last leg of their journey home.

The captain diverted to Cork to drop off the Irish crew and then ended the voyage in Cardiff. The ship dropped anchor in Cobh and the Cork port authorities brought the crew into the pier two at a time. 'We are so grateful to Jubilee Sailing Trust and The Cork Port Authorities for helping to get them home safe,' said Caroline.

The boys were surprised to find press photographers in the port awaiting their arrival. Once home, their parents had to educate them as to the rules and regulations surrounding the public health emergency.

'They have told me stories of wonderful starry nights, sunrises and sunsets. Flying fish, dolphins,' said Caroline. 'I think the thing they best enjoyed though was the company of such mixed ages, they said that they now know that age does not make a difference and have made life long friends.'

Over the past 20 years, the Tenacious has taken countless people out to sea, regardless of their physical ability. The accessible features

In 20 years she has taken countless people out to sea, regardless of their physical ability. The accessible features of Tenacious, make every aspect of shipboard life available to all, from setting the sails, to going aloft and helming the ship.

The young people had been sailing since early March from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean and had little or no knowledge of how life has changed in Ireland.

The voyage was made with the Jubilee Sailing Trust and all of the boys have experience in sailing. On the voyage, they got to develop their skills as part of a crew of 40.

Along their voyage, they discovered that a scheduled host port in Greece was closed to visiting boats under strict measures against Covid-19.

Jubilee Sailing Trust decided to return to the UK via the Azores and Cork Harbour. There was no shore leave granted and the crew members were essentially cocooned from the pandemic. They met gale-force winds in the North Atlantic on the last leg of their journey home.

The Irish students who disembarked in Cork were surprised to find how strict the social distancing measures and other restrictions are in Ireland. The JST started in Southampton nearly 40 years ago, and have now branched out to Australia, New Zealand and USA. Our voyages travel all over the world, reaching spectacular destinations and providing some exhilarating sailing. People who are disabled and non-disabled and those who have sailed before or not all play a part in sailing the tall ships.
Eight people tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha's Jajpur district on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 157, officials said.

With 56 people cured of the disease and one death, the number of active cases in the state now stands at 100. Till Friday, a total of 36,593 samples were tested, they said



All the eight newly detected patients, which include two women, have a travel history to Kolkata in West Bengal, officials said, adding they were kept in a quarantine centre and had no symptoms of coronavirus.

Their samples were tested in view their travel history, the officials said.

With these new instances of the infection, the number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 47 in Jajpur district which has emerged as the new coronavirus hotspot of Odisha. Contact-tracing and follow-up action are being done, officials of the Information and Public Relations department said



Jajpur is in red zone and Katikata gram panchayat in the district has emerged as a new hotspot with 21 cases, said Health and Family Welfare Secretary N B Dhal.

Dhal said the surge in the COVID-19 cases in Katikata panchayat was due to blatant violation of quarantine guidelines by people.

"Unfortunately, the residents of the panchayat did not behave responsibly as expected in the fight against COVID-19. Every citizen is a fighter in this war against the deadly virus," he said.

He said residents of the panchayat, who were kept at a quarantine facility or advised home quarantine, did not follow the instructions of health officials and the district administration.

"They moved around freely and infected others. As a result, further increase in cases in the panchayat cannot be ruled out," Dhal said.

Of the total 157 cases in the state, Jajpur reported 48 cases followed by 47 in Bhubaneswar, Balasore at 20, Bhadrak at 19, Sundergarh at 10, Kendrapara, Bolangir and Kalahandi districts two each, while Koraput, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal and Puri have reported one case each.

On the state's preparedness against coronavirus, Dhal informed that though around 2.500 samples are presently being tested every day, efforts are on to increase the number by four to five fold in the coming days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its an honor to be able to support the hardworking healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of fighting this crisis.

Bill and Gregory Poulos, father son duo and co-founders of Profits Run, recently located and donated $2500 worth of KN95 protective masks to Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Brookdale is located in the vulnerable and underprivileged neighborhood in Brownsville. With the influx of coronavirus COVID-19 cases, the hospital has reportedly been critically low on necessary personal protection equipment (PPE).

In an interview with CNN, Brookdale hospital staffers said they were short on critical resources. At the end of March 2020, Brookdale had more than 100 patients test positive for COVID-19 and had 78 additional patients hospitalized as they awaited results. In the interview, Dr. Arabia Mollette said, "We need gowns, we need gloves, we need masks, we need more vents (ventilators).

Poulos said, Its an honor to be able to support the hardworking healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of fighting this crisis. I hope the masks can help keep these essential workers healthy and protected as they continue to do their best to protect New York. I hope that others who are in a financial position to contribute consider making a similar contribution. Dont hesitate to reach out if you want help organizing a donation.

New York continues to be the epicenter of COVID-19 in the US, with poorer neighborhoods disproportionately affected. At the time of writing, the United States has 1,128,117 confirmed cases, with New York City being home to nearly 304,372 cases alone.

The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center was founded in 1910. Today, the hospital covers a 10-acre campus and has buildings devoted to inpatient, ambulatory, long-term care, senior living, and emergency medicine. Its one of Brooklyn's largest voluntary nonprofit teaching hospitals and a regional tertiary care center. It provides 24-hour emergency services, numerous outpatient programs and long-term specialty care.

Poulos donated KN95 masks perform similarly to N95 masks. Although there are slight differences in their specifications, the CDC approved KN95 masks as a suitable alternative when N95s are not available. The Food and Drug Administration also announced that it will allow use of a more widely available mask that meets Chinese standards instead of American ones.

Bill Poulos co-founded Profits Run with his son, Greg Poulos. Bill Poulos is a financial educator, published author, and American investor. He is known for teachings on investment practices and philosophies. Profits Run is notable for its firm and consistent rules regarding risk management.

About Profits Run, Inc.

Bill Poulos co-founded Profits Run, Inc. with his son Greg Poulos in 2001. Profits Run Inc. is a financial publishing firm whose mission is to show people more simple and lower-risk ways to invest their money. Profits Run earned its name from a popular saying amongst traders, Cut your losses and let your profits run. Profits Run offers a multitude of products and programs, including Earnings Profit Alert, 20/30 Wealth Trader, Premium Income Alert, Automatic Income Engine, and Real Wealth Alert.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said a case "could be made" for easing lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland ahead of other UK regions.

However, he declined to say if he would support calls for an all-island approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Hancock was responding to a question from the Belfast Telegraph at yesterday's Downing Street briefing.

Health officials have previously said the virus's impact has been less severe here compared to GB.

Last week the First Minister, Arlene Foster, hinted that Northern Ireland may emerge from lockdown at a different pace than other parts of the UK.

While acknowledging that a case could be made for an earlier easing of restrictions here, Mr Hancock voiced caution, stressing that lessening the virus had been achieved on the back of a UK-wide effort.

"The thing is that across the UK the level of the virus has been different in different parts of the country," he said. "We saw it (earlier) that in London the level has been much higher than in other parts of the country.

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"But what's interesting is that the shape of the curve, the rise and then the fall in the virus that's just started, has been basically the same throughout the country.

"That means that moving together was the right approach at the start. I can see the case that could be made and of course we respect the devolution settlement.

"But ultimately if you look at the shape of the curve, getting R down (the rate at which the virus spreads) and getting the level of new cases right down, that's happened in the UK together."

Yesterday the Deputy First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, reiterated the need for an all-island approach to the coronavirus, calling it "common sense."

Public health expert Dr Gabriel Scally, who is from Belfast, has also called for an all-island strategy.

But questioned on the issue yesterday, Mr Hancock did not give a clear answer.

He said: "Of course the relationship with the Republic is important as well. We have good relations in terms of a political level but also at a medical level in conversations with the republic on the decisions that they take.

"But we have very intensive conversations within the UK about the timing of changes within the country."

Earlier, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister were asked about an all-Ireland dimension to any lockdown exit strategy.

Mrs Foster said: "I think I've always been clear that this is not a political issue. This an issue about saving lives. That's always been the modus operandi of the Executive, and certainly for me, in terms of the way forward."

Ms O'Neill added: "I think it's just common sense, what happens in Derry and Donegal, they're going to have knock on impact on each other."

The Taoiseach, meanwhile, set out a road map with five steps for how the Republic's society and economy can be reopened. The stages will be three weeks apart, starting on May 18.
With the coronavirus still on the loose, how do we start up our lives again? Now that Gov. Abbott has allowed Texas malls, restaurants and movie theaters to reopen, how do we decide whether any given outing is worth the risk  both to ourselves and to the people around us?

And when we do go out in public, or return to our workplaces, what do we need to do differently?

First, you have to decide whether leaving home is worth it.

Assess the risk

On Friday, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo stressed that the virus is still spreading in the Houston area, and urged Houston-area residents to continue staying home. If you dont need to go out, she said, please dont.

Jill Weatherhead, an infectious-disease specialist at Baylor College of Medicine, echoed Hidalgos concern. Even though some restrictions have been lifted, she said, our mentality needs to stay the same. Were not going back to normal.

So how do you decide whether to go out?

The risk-benefit analysis is different from outing to outing and from person to person, Weatherhead said.

To think about it, start first with the outing youre considering. How crucial is it to your life?

For instance, consider a walk in the park. For some people, that kind of outdoor exercise isnt that important. For others, its a lifeline, crucial to mental health.

MORE LISA GRAY: Hes 16 years sober. Its been a month since AA stopped meeting in person due to coronavirus.

Balance that benefit against the risk. Consider the particulars of the outing. Would you be walking along or with someone already in your household bubble? Or would you be walking with friends you havent seen in awhile? If youre walking with those friends, could you realistically stay six feet away from them?

How safe could you be at the park youre considering? Outdoors is generally good, but park crowding varies. Is there room on the paths to stay 6 feet away from other people? Could you go somewhere less crowded?

Then figure in the potential damage. How bad would it be if you caught the virus? Are you over 65? What underlying health conditions do you have?

Do you work in a job where, if youre an asymptomatic carrier, you might infect a large number of people? Or particularly vulnerable people?

Who else is in your house? asked Weatherhead. Who could get ill if it spread in your household?

How bad would that be? What are their risk factors?

Of course you wouldnt expose them on purpose. But if youre an asymptomatic carrier, you wont know youre doing it.

Then think about your larger community  anyone likely to be 6 feet or less from you either during the outing or in the next two weeks, or who might touch the same doorknobs you do and then touch their face.

(Obviously you wont know personal details about people such as the waiter serving you brunch, or the grocery-store clerk ringing up your purchase. But take a guess at how many people like that there are in your life, and who their circles may include.)

Finally, factor in the Houston areas essential workers. Even if you dont expect to see an ER doc, hospital nurse or EMT in the next two weeks, remember that every time a Houstonian is exposed to the coronavirus slightly raises their risk.

If you dont feel comfortable, Weatherhead said, stay home.

Take precautions

If the outing is worth the risk, take precautions. Weatherhead reviewed the drill we all should know already:

Absolutely dont go out in public if you have a fever or dont feel well.

Wear a face mask. Yes, you. Unless youre a child under age 2; someone who has shortness of breath or trouble breathing even when youre not wearing a mask; or if you are physically unable to remove the mask by yourself.

That face mask provides a little protection to you. But what its really good at is protecting other people from you, in case youre an asymptomatic carrier. Not wearing one is rude and puts the people around you in danger.

If you eat inside a restaurant, youll have to lower your mask. Be considerate of your servers: Your exhalations put them at risk.

Practice good hand hygiene. Wash your hands frequently, and do it that way weve all learned this year: For at least 20 seconds, two Happy Birthdays. When you cant wash your hands, slather on hand sanitizer.

Beware high-touch surfaces  doorknobs, gas pumps, handrails. Even after washing your hands, you may still need to touch the door handle to exit a public restroom. Having a bit of live virus on your hand wont in itself infect you, but (as weve all found) its hard not to touch your face. So have a plan: Use a paper towel to touch the handle, or apply disinfectant as soon as youre out.

Keep track

On Friday, Umair Shah, head of Harris County, urged that if you do leave home, keep a careful record of where you go and who youre around.

That way, if youre later diagnosed, contact tracers will have a head start finding and notifying everyone who needs to self-isolate.

It can feel grim, writing down the time you entered and left a restaurant, which quadrant you sat in, who you ate with, and which waiter served your brunch. But this is the world we live in now. And its up to us to make it work.

lisa.gray@chron.com
U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate a retired Army lieutenant general to become the nations ambassador to Ukraine, filling a critical position that has been vacant for nearly a year.

Keith Dayton, who currently serves as the senior U.S. defense adviser to Ukraine and as director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany, will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate.

Trump made the announcement late on May 1.

Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the decision to appoint Dayton, saying in a tweet on May 2 that he had met with the retired lieutenant general in his previous role as defense reform adviser.

The appointment comes amid a tough period for U.S.-Ukraine relations, which were shaken last year following reports that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate a political rival -- former Vice President Joe Biden -- during a July 2019 phone call and withheld military assistance to Kyiv.

The reports sparked an impeachment trial of Trump and resulted in the departure of several key U.S. officials handling Ukraine policy. Trump was found not guilty by the Senate.

The United States has not had an ambassador to Ukraine since Trump recalled Marie Yovanovitch in May 2019 after what she said was a targeted campaign to tarnish her image. Former Ukrainian Ambassador Bill Taylor later served six months as charge d' affaires while the Trump administration sought a replacement.

The 71-year old Dayton has worked in the former Soviet region before, serving as U.S. defense attache in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

John Herbst, a political analyst at the Atlantic Council and a former ambassador to Ukraine, told RFE/RL that Dayton is a good choice because he knows the issues facing Kyiv well.

Daytons top concerns will be the Russia-backed war in eastern Ukraine as well as Ukrainian reforms, Herbst said.

Washington has yet to nominate a replacement for Kurt Volker, the special envoy to Ukraine who stepped down in September after the House of Representatives announced the start of its impeachment inquiry.

The United States is the largest supporter of Ukraines military, having supplied the country with more than $1.6 billion in aid, including lethal weapons, over the past six years as it fights Russia-backed separatists in its eastern regions.

With reporting by Reuters and AP
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - A delegation of Congolese health experts will travel to Madagascar to procure large quantities of Covid-Organics, an artemisia-based drug, that has proved effective against the Coronavirus (COVID-19), state radio said here Saturday
Protesters gather in a demonstration in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 1, 2020. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Judge Denies Request to Block California Governors Order Closing Orange County Beaches

Two cities had voted to sue the state over Newsom's order

A judge on May 1 rejected a request to block California Gov. Gavin Newsoms order to temporarily close all beaches and parks in Orange County.

The cities of Huntington Beach and Dana Point are pursuing legal action against the state after Newsom on April 30 issued the order to close Orange Countys beaches, effective May 1.

The governor is acting without constitutional or statutory authority and is infringing on the cities right to control their own beaches, according to a document filed in Superior Court, the Los Angeles Times reported. Meanwhile, nearby Newport Beach expressed its support.

California Superior Court Judge Nathan R. Scotts decision not to block Newsoms order means that Orange County beaches will stay closed for now. The judge set a hearing for May 11 to give Huntington Beach an opportunity to make its case.

Its a difficult task. [Temporary restraining orders] are hard to get but it is the first step in the process, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said after the May 1 hearing, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Hundreds of people rallied in Huntington Beach to protest Newsoms order.

Protesters gather in a demonstration in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 1, 2020. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Protesters gather in a demonstration in Huntington Beach, Calif., on May 1, 2020. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Newsoms order is a jarring decision that significantly impacts residents, Huntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta said in a statement late on April 30.

Given that Orange County has among the lowest per-capita COVID-19 death rates in California, the action by the state prioritizes politics over data, in direct contradiction of the governors stated goal to allow science and facts to guide our response to this horrible global pandemic, she said.

Our experience locally had been that most people were being responsible and complying with social distancing requirements.

The Huntington Beach City Council in an emergency meeting had voted 52 on April 30 to direct the City Attorney to seek an injunction against Newsoms order. Meanwhile, about 30 miles south, Dana Point City Council voted 41 to seek a temporary restraining order against Newsom and the state of California over the shutdown order, according to Dana Point City Attorney Patrick Munoz.

The city will be seeking a temporary restraining order asking the court to enjoin [Newsoms] order until a full hearing on the merits of the matter can occur, Munoz told CNN.

At a press conference on April 30, Newsom described his order as a hard close in the Orange County area, noting that specific issues on some of those beaches [in Orange County] have raised alarm bells.

He had earlier reacted to images showing people at some Orange County beachesmost notably Newport Beachgathering in crowds over the last weekend.

The reality is we are just a few weeks away, not months away, from making measurable and meaningful changes to our stay-at-home order, the governor said at a press briefing on April 27, referring to his statewide mandate issued on March 19.

This virus doesnt take the weekends off. This virus doesnt go home because its a beautiful sunny day around our coasts.

There are about 2,537 people in Orange County who have been infected with the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, 50 of whom have died, according to the countys public health department.

The county has reported an increase in new cases in the past few days, with 133 new cases on April 30 and 163 new cases on May 1.
The parents of murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl have approached Pakistans Supreme Court to challenge the verdict by the Sindh High Court in April that overturned the death sentence for British-born mastermind Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been convicted in the case in 2002.

Two criminal petitions were filed by lawyer Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the parentsRuth Pearl and Judie Pearlagainst the acquittal and release of the four accused.

The decision by the Sindh High Court to free the men in the murder of Daniel Pearl is a complete miscarriage of justice. It is a defining case for the Pakistani state and its judicial system, involving freedom of the press, the sanctity of every life, freedom from terror and the manifestation of a welcoming and safe Pakistan to the world. Rarely has any court case embodied and risked such fundamental values, Siddiqi said.

Also Read: US concerns natural, will challenge acquittal of Daniel Pearl murder convicts: Qureshi

The petition states that the Sindh high court had failed to note that this was a brutal murder as a result of international terrorism and the principle of the standard of proof, as well as the benefit of doubt in cases of international terrorism, has to be applied keeping in the context that the nature and type of evidence available in such terrorism cases cannot be equated with cases involving non-terrorism crimes.

The petition further submitted that the high court also erred in failing to take into consideration that Ahmad Omar Sheikh had a history of involvement in international terrorism.

Also Read: Pakistan court overturns murder conviction in Daniel Pearl case

Pearl, who worked for the Wall Street Journal, went missing in Karachi in January 2002. A video showing his beheading was sent to the US consulate in Karachi almost a month later.

Sheikhs sentence was commuted to seven years and a fine was imposed on him. Three other accused - Adil Sheikh, Salman Saqib and Fahad Nasim - were also acquitted.

The provincial Sindh government then filed an appeal in the Supreme Court and pleaded for reinstating the sentences that had been given to the accused persons by the trial court.
Republicans hammered away at Pelosi after an April 14 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, when she tried to be funny for the CBS show. In front of two massive refrigerators, she showed how much chocolate ice cream she stored in her refrigerator  in a way GOP activists said backed up their critique of her as an out of touch wealthy liberal.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 21:30:20|Editor: huaxia

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-Zero COVID-19 infection has been reported in the Chinese community in Prato, one of Italy's largest Chinese communities.

-"The Chinese community immediately took the virus very seriously and this was the fortunate fact because this influenced also the Italians."

-In hindsight, shouldering responsibilities and maintaining communication, instead of stigmatization or blaming others, helped everyone, locals have said.





by Xinhua writers Federico Grandesso, Wang Zichen

PRATO, Italy, May 2 (Xinhua) -- As more than 207,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Italy, the Chinese community living in the Tuscan city of Prato have stood out with zero infections.

In February, when hundreds of ethic Chinese came back after spending the traditional Spring Festival in China, which was then badly hit by the novel coronavirus, they immediately took various protective measures for fear that they could inadvertently bring the virus back to their adopted home.

Overseas Chinese prepare masks before donating to local residents in Prato, Italy, March 28, 2020. (Xinhua)

They donned masks, closed businesses, sheltered at home, pulled children from schools, and even floated self-imposed collective isolation -- putting the returnees in dedicated hotel rooms -- to minimize their contact with local neighborhoods, in what was then considered an overreaction well ahead of the Italian national lockdown.

Almost three months later, a sense of vindication has dawned on the most densely-populated Chinese community in Europe, as tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese in Prato have so far emerged remarkably unscathed from the pandemic.

"Here, we didn't have any Chinese hospitalized or infected and this is the big standpoint, so in terms of comparison with the Italians, the Chinese scored zero," Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni told Xinhua.

Overall in Prato, "the infection and casualty numbers here compared to Italy and Tuscany are luckily below the average," Biffoni added.

RESPONDING SWIFTLY

As a satellite town of fashionable Florence with centuries of history in textiles, Prato began to attract Chinese people in the last two decades of the 20th century.

Now known as the "Little China" of Italy, Prato is home to the European nation's biggest single Chinese community.

Mia Lu, a 26-year-old student who moved to Italy from China at the end of 2016, used to travel between Florence, where she studied on weekdays, and her aunt's home in Prato, where she stayed on weekends.

Her regular commute became awkward in February when she put on a facial mask, a routine practice in China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that had not been advised in Europe until very recently.

In Florence, she would hear Italians whispering about her wearing a mask near the train station. She explained to a print shop owner at her university that she put it on to "protect both you and me," but only to be asked, "what's to be afraid of?"

To spare herself further embarrassment, Lu put on an additional scarf over her mask so that the latter would not be seen from outside. "It was hard to breathe," she told Xinhua.

Back in Prato, Lu was a part-time teacher in a Chinese-language school, where ladies working at the school canteen were wearing masks, hats, and rudimentary protective clothing to protect themselves from the virus.

She felt safer here, but not for long, as the school shut down after holding classes for only one week in February.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte later on March 4 announced a package of measures across the country, including school closures.

"The Chinese here immediately closed everything, those coming from China did the quarantine and I know people who did even two quarantines," Biffoni said.

A member of the Association of Chinese Young Entrepreneurs in Europe tried to vacate his hotel and dedicate it entirely to Chinese returnees who did not have access to self-isolation free of charge. The association even managed to raise 10,400 euros (11,538.28 U.S. dollars) to bankroll the initiative, its president Huang Qinhai told Xinhua.

The member, who does not want to be interviewed, wrote on social media that "Not that I'm rich, but I don't want the pandemic to spread," Huang recalled.

"The Chinese entrepreneurs were even suggesting some forms of collective isolation, so they thought also to hire some hotels to do that," Renzo Berti, head of the disease prevention department in the Tuscany region, told Xinhua.

"After that, the region Tuscany imagined a similar initiative but the regional project could not be implemented for various fears to create lazarets," Berti said.

"This idea, even if it was not finally implemented and accepted by the local authorities, showed that the Chinese community took the measure very seriously and foresaw the danger of the situation." Macro Wong, a city councilor, told Xinhua.



Huang Qinhai (2nd R), a representative of overseas Chinese in Prato, donates masks to staff members of golden cross association, a charity organization that provides ambulance service, in Prato, Italy, March 28, 2020. (Xinhua)





POSITIVE INFLUENCE

The behaviors of the ethnic Chinese, who make up around one eighth of Prato's population according to data on the city governmental website, stood out.

"The Chinese community immediately took the virus very seriously and this was the fortunate fact because this influenced also the Italians," Biffoni said.

"After having seen how the Chinese (reacted) here, I also was very concerned about the virus, and other Italians in my business circle were thinking I was a little bit exaggerating," Bettazzi Claudio, president of CNA Toscana Center, a trade body representing craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized enterprises, told Xinhua.

Aside from social distancing measures, the Chinese community also provided free medical supplies for local citizens. Members of the entrepreneur association headed by Huang stuffed masks into envelopes and inserted them into the mailboxes of the neighborhoods.

"It is normal that at the beginning of the virus spread, the Chinese community sent the masks and other medical devices to China. I was aware of that because we received a communication from them about that," Biffoni said.

"On the other side, the Chinese community brought here hundreds of thousands of masks, hand sanitizers, and other things. All these medical materials are still coming and the flux will continue also in the future," he added.

In hindsight, shouldering responsibilities and maintaining communication, instead of stigmatization or blaming others, helped everyone, locals have said.

"The Italians recognized a big sense of responsibility from the Chinese community which means that this Asian community showed a big attachment to our city. Also at the political level, everybody appreciated the attitude of the Chinese during this crisis," said Biffoni.

"Because of this crisis, everybody will appreciate this fact and it will be a new starting point in the future for good dialogue between communities," Francesco Marini, vice president of Confindustria Toscana Nord, a trade body, told Xinhua. Enditem (Video reporters: Zhao Yuchao, Han Chong, Wang Zichen and Federico Grandesso; Video editor: Peng Ying.)
Philadelphia Macaroni Co. receives durum wheat for ramen, elbows and other noodles at its plant in Minot, North Dakota Read more

They havent shut factories or laid off workers -- to the contrary, theyre extra busy -- but the coronavirus has left a deep mark at Philadelphia Macaroni Co., the family-owned Bella Vista-based business that doubled in size this week to 700 million pounds a year after buying rival A. Zeregas Sons of New York.

Oh my God, were going 24/7. Were putting up Help Wanted billboards out West," says Linda Schalles, special-projects director for the company, which employs more than 400 at offices on South 11th Street, and factories in Warminster and Harrisburg, Pa.; Minot, N.D.; Grand Forks, N.D.; and Spokane, Wash. "And weve been on it, with masks and washing, from the very beginning. This has to be a very clean business.

COVID-19 turned my world upside down, added executive chairman Luke Marano Jr., whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1914.

His equipment dealer in Italy had warned him to brace for a surge in sales as Americans were ordered to stay home. Our customers all got run over with demand," Marano said. People cleared out the grocery stores and that cleared out the warehouses. We were running at 80% [capacity], now were at 105% and starting to miss the normal pace.

Then he got the virus. I got fevers, I threw up for a day, and then I was fine," he said.

Then my father got it.

Luke Marano Sr. died at age 94 on April 21. The father of seven, grandfather of 15, and great-grandfather of 22 had pioneered the noodle O cut from penne, among many other innovations.

He was great," his son said. "He took me into the factory here when I was 7. He gave me a broom and made me sweep.

Luke Jr. later worked for Frito-Lay and Nabisco before his father invited him back. Time outside is now a requirement for family members who hope to advance. The factory he swept is now the companys offices.

Buying Zeregas makes Philadelphia Macaroni the nations largest privately owned pasta maker, according to chief executive Ed Irion.

Customers include General Mills, ConAgra Brands, Unilever, and Campbell Soup. Products include instant ramen and the macaroni in mac-and-cheese boxes, besides the familiar Italian dry and stuffed frozen varieties, sold under many brand names.

Food-service sales fell at the outset of the pandemic, as restaurants and colleges closed. But Marano said the jump in grocery purchases has more than made up the gap.

The two families had a virtual sit-down and conference call Friday morning to get better acquainted. We had 165 people, Schalles said. The senior people have known each other for decades. They were saying its great to finally be part of the same company. Their grandfathers knew each other. Its a very small and close community.

The combined business can diversify and compete against larger players, especially in food service, Marano said.

Philadelphia Macaronis Western factories, financed with help from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, which lends heavily to that states farmers, sit squarely in North Americas prime durum wheat growing country, home to the hard winter grain that makes what fans call the best semolina flour for pasta.

Zeregas, whose founder, Antoine Zerega, built the pioneering U.S. pasta factory in Brooklyn in 1848, includes plants in Fair Lawn, N.J., and Lees Summit, Mo., and will keep running them as a Philadelphia Macaroni subsidiary.

Ex-treasurer freed

Joining former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams among those released from U.S. prisons is Rob McCord, Pennsylvanias former state treasurer who went to prison for trying to extort a campaign donor and would-be pension investor.

A close friend of McCords said the one-time venture capitalist was released from the federal prison in Edgefield, S.C., to home confinement at a residence nearby under terms of the First Step Act, which eases terms for first-time, low-risk offenders ages 60 and older.

He would have been out by July anyway, two-thirds into his sentence.

McCord expects to be what prison people call off paper"  done probation  by March 2021. He has said he has no immediate plans to return to Pennsylvania.

Continuity roll-up

Business-continuity software maker Assurance Software Inc., of Audubon, has agreed to buy rival Avalution Consulting, of Cleveland, for an undisclosed price, the latest move in a consolidating industry.

Both firms had expanded through acquisitions last year. Assurances expansion is financed with help from investor Resurgens Technology Partners, of Atlanta.

Assurance employed 106 before the deal, almost half in the Philadelphia area. Chief executive Jon Ezrine didnt disclose the price.

Cloud profit

Philadelphias growing tech investment firm MissionOG has turned a profit from the $145 million sale of DivvyCloud, an Arlington, Va.-based cloud-computing services firm.

MissionOG invested something under $5 million for a stake of up to 20% in DivvyCloud in 2017 and 2019. The sale marks MissionOGs second successful cloud-computing exit, after the 2017 sale of Philadelphia-based Cloudamize to a company controlled by Blackstone Group, according to MissionOG managing partner George Krautzel.

An earlier version of this column gave an incorrect value for the annual production of the Philadephia Macaroni Co. since its combination with the Zerega company. It is 700 million pounds. The company doesnt publicly report its revenues in dollars.
The testing kits which could be a significant tool in COVID-19 fight

A Cork businessman with a base in Killarney has 'opened a conversation' about distributing a scientifically proven test to everybody in the country which would give a COVID-19 result within 15 minutes as a significant step towards declaring Ireland 'virus free'.

Pat Phelan - a tech-oriented entrepreneur who set up two start-ups before selling them and now is a partner in a chain of clinics with bases in Killarney, Cork, Limerick and Dublin - believes that the test, which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, could be acquired at a fraction of the cost of other measures being adapted to fight the spread of the illness.

The testing kits, which cost 10 each, are being used by Emirates Airlines on their passengers and crew.

Passengers are tested in the departure gate lounges before they board the plane.

The results are available within 10 to 15 minutes, and the test received its USFDA approval at the weekend.

The FDA had previously rejected more than 120 other tests purporting to give results as to whether or not someone was COVID-19 positive or not.

The entrepreneur made his case in a post on the internet journalism site, medium.com, at the weekend.

"I have been testing with these kits for a while now and whilst it's a non-clinical test, it is an absolute indication and gives you a positive or negative much like a pregnancy test from a very simple finger prick," he said.

"I'm not a doctor or anything like that, just an ordinary decent citizen, looking for practical ways to help get Ireland going again."

His proposal, which he wants to spark a public discussion, is to send one of these tests to every citizen in the country over the next two weeks.

"They take their own test, the result is then entered into the contact-tracing mobile App which is coming shortly.

"This means we could do this almost immediately and at relatively little cost.

"With the test we will be able to see where we really are in real time when combined with the contact tracing app being developed now," he said.

"This is doable within a couple of weeks."

Prominent TCD epidemiologist, Professor Luke O'Neill, said the proposal was well worth considering.

However, he moved to caution against viewing the test as a conclusive indicator that would bring about a lifting of the current restrictions.

He said other measures would also have to be used before restrictions could be lifted.

"As long as the test is robust and well validated, why not," he said.

The SISU clinics which are part-owned by Mr Phelan with two doctors are aimed at aesthetic therapies.
Tara Reid of American Pie and Sharknado fame has found herself getting mistaken for Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade.

Reid, 44, told the New York Post she had been on the business end of threats and trolling meant for Reade and wants the Internet to know: 'You've got the wrong Tara!'

Reade has accused presidential candidate Biden of pinning her to a wall and digitally penetrating her against her will in 1993, when he was in the Senate and she was one of his staff assistants - an allegation he denied on Morning Joe this Friday.

'You've got the wrong Tara!': Tara Reid of American Pie and Sharknado fame (pictured last August) has found herself getting mistaken for Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade

'Its so crazy. I looked at my Twitter and people were telling me: "Youre a wrong, bad person!" I was like: "Who did what to who? Youve lost your mind,"' said Reid.

'I was like, no way - its not me! Youve got the wrong Tara! Are people that stupid? I mean, cmon.Ive done a lot over the years, but not this.'

She explained: 'I dont know Joe Biden. I know about him but Im not into politics at all. What is going on? The wrong person to bring into politics is me.'

'I will continue to stand and speak up': Reade has accused presidential candidate Biden of pinning her to a wall and digitally penetrating her against her will in 1993, when she is pictured

More than a month after Reade made her allegation on The Katie Halper Show, Biden insisted on Morning Joe this week: 'This never happened.'

As the story got scant media attention early on, it was not until the middle of last month that Reid started receiving social media blowback intended for Reade.

Reid is now hunkering down at home in Hollywood amid the coronavirus pandemic and is looking forward to resuming her beauty regimen after lockdown.

Staunch denial: More than a month after Reade made her allegation on The Katie Halper Show , Biden insisted on Morning Joe this week: 'This never happened'

'When lockdown ends, the first thing Im gonna do? I need to get my roots done and get a mani-pedi!' declared Reid.

She currently has 16 upcoming projects on her IMDb page, including a drama currently in pre-production called Dr. Quarantine.

Her upcoming horror movie Mummy Dearest, which reunites her with her Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No star Lou Ferrigno, has already been completed.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 17:39:24|Editor: huaxia

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MEXICO CITY, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Latin American governments are reporting an increase in confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19, with Peru registering record-high new infections in a 24-hour period.

Peru, so far in a 47-day state of emergency, has registered a record 3,483 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day, raising its total to 40,459, while the number of deaths rose to 1,124, the nation's health ministry reported on Friday.

In addition, the Peruvian government has sent Health Minister Victor Zamora and Defense Minister Walter Martos to the hardest-hit regions of Lambayeque and Loreto to mitigate the spread of the virus.

At least 510 cadets at a police school have been infected with COVID-19, according to Interior Minister Gaston Rodriguez, adding that a health team is currently monitoring officers who are displaying symptoms.

Rodriguez noted that his office and relevant authorities are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of this massive outbreak.

The Peruvian government has extended compulsory social isolation and a curfew until May 10 as part of measures to contain the epidemic.

In Mexico, health authorities announced that the country has registered as of Friday night a total of 20,739 positive COVID-19 cases, with 1,972 deaths.

In addition, according to Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico could see the peak on May 6.

"It is a prediction of what is going to happen and there is a probability that this will happen," said Lopez-Gatell, who heads Mexico's fight against the epidemic.

Lopez-Gatell noted that the scientific predictions are a result of coordinated work among the National Council for Science and Technology, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and other institutions.

In Ecuador, the Ministry of Public Health on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen to 26,336, with 1,063 deaths.

According to the ministry, currently, 20,988 patients are stable in home isolation, 337 are stable but have been hospitalized, and 149 have been hospitalized with a guarded prognosis.

Francisco Xavier Solorzano, vice minister of governance and health surveillance, said that "the good news is that we are seeing a decrease in the number of cases in recent days," and "the transmission speed has been reduced thanks to the measures that we have taken during these weeks."

The Chilean Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that the country currently has 17,008 infections, with 234 deaths.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Friday that the country has received a second batch of 117 mechanical ventilators, in addition to the 72 that arrived on April 25, which would strengthen the country's health system against COVID-19.

"This coronavirus pandemic has been a threat and has presented a gigantic challenge, but I want to say that we are preparing to be able to meet the needs of Chileans," said Pinera after reviewing the medical equipment.

According to the Chilean government, this shipment is part of a public-private cooperation to increase the amount of available equipment and medical supplies, and with this second shipment of machines, Chile will possess 1,710 mechanical ventilators.

The number of deaths in Brazil from COVID-19 rose to 6,329, with 91,589 confirmed cases, its health ministry reported on Friday.

The ministry said that in the last 24 hours, 428 new deaths as well as 6,209 new confirmed cases have been recorded.

Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil, continues to be most affected by the disease, with a total of 2,511 deaths and 30,374 confirmed cases, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 921 deaths and 10,166 confirmed cases.

The city of Rio de Janeiro opened on Friday its second field hospital to serve patients infected with COVID-19, as the pandemic has put a strain on the city's public hospital network.

It is the largest field hospital of the nine planned to be installed in the city, with facilities occupying 13,000 square meters at the Riocentro Convention Center, the largest convention center in Latin America.

The new field hospital has 500 hospital beds, including 100 in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 15 for the hemodialysis unit.

At the hospital's inauguration, the hospital director, cardiologist Valesca Marques, said, "We will do everything in our power, day and night, so that we can return patients to their families alive and well." Enditem
A Cuban man who sought asylum in the U.S. opened fire with an AK-47 at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, spraying the front of the building with nearly three dozen rounds because he wanted to get them before they could get him, according to court papers.

Alexander Alazo, 42, of Aubrey, Texas, was taken into custody shortly after the shooting early Thursday morning in northwest Washington.

Rounds from the gunman pierced the bronze statue of Jose Marti, the Cuban writer and national hero, as well as the columns and facade of the building on a busy street in the Adams-Morgan section of the city.

There were several bullet holes in the glass around the door, which cause spider webs of cracks in the panes and scattered glass and wood from the door from along the marble floored interior of the entryway.

Cuban Ambassador Jose Cabaas said there were seven people inside the embassy, mainly security personnel, at the time of the shooting.

He noted that around 50 people would be there on a typical day and that rounds came close to where the receptionist sits and where foreign dignitaries and other visitors gather in the foyer.

If this had happened in the middle of the day there would have been carnage, Cabaas said Friday, as he showed the damage to journalists from The Associated Press.

Alazo, who told investigators he was born in Cuba and served in the Cuban Army, had moved to Mexico in 2003 before claiming political asylum in the U.S. a few years later.

He went back to Cuba in 2014 to preach at a church and began receiving threats from organized crime groups there, he told police.

Alazo, who had been living in his car and moving from state to state for several months, drove to Washington on Wednesday to target the Cuban Embassy because he wanted to get them before they got him, referring to the Cuban government, for the constant threats from the organized Cuban criminal organization, according to court papers.

Police believe Alazo had been sleeping at rest stops and in parking lots for at least nine months because he said he believed Cuban organized crime figures were after him and he wanted to protect his family.

Alazo told investigators that he had been treated at a psychiatric hospital and his wife, a nurse, had told him to seek treatment when he was hearing voices in his head, he said.

He was prescribed medication in March after a visit to a psychiatric facility but hasn't been completely compliant with his medication, court papers said.

He bought a Glock 19 handgun in Texas but traded it about a month ago for an AK-47 because he thought the rifle would give him better protection for his family, he told investigators.

He drove to Washington and when he arrived at the embassy around 2 a.m. Thursday morning, he began yelling and tried to light a Cuban flag on fire but wasn't successful, the documents said.

Alazo then grabbed an American flag and was continuing to shout that he was a Yankee before he grabbed the AK-47 from his car and opened fire toward the embassy, court papers said.

Investigators recovered 32 shell casings from the street where Alazo had been standing, officials said.

There were employees inside the embassy at the time, including the Chief of Mission, police said. No one was hurt.

When officers arrived, they found Alazo holding a Cuban flag which had writing on it and was doused in what they believe was an accelerant and yelling nonsensical statements, the court papers said.

Officers recovered the rifle, ammunition and after he was bought to a police station, they discovered a white powdery substance that was found in a small baggie found in the back of a patrol car that tested positive for cocaine, according to the court papers.

He was charged with a violent attack on a foreign official or premises, willfully damaging property of a foreign government and firearms charges.

Alazo remained in custody on Friday and the name of his attorney was not immediately known.

Cuba built the embassy in 1917. It closed in January 1961 as Cold War tensions between the two countries escalated and then re-opened as an interests section in 1977.

In July 2015, it became an embassy once again as the two countries restored relations under then President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro. It is on a busy street in Washington, between the embassies of Poland and Lithuania.

Cabaas, who was called to the scene in the middle of the night, praised the Washington D.C. police and Secret Service for their very professional response to the situation. But he said that U.S. cooperation has since slowed and American authorities had provided no information about the suspect.

The ambassador said he did not know the motive of the shooter but noted that opponents of the Cuban government have committed violence in the past.

It is important to remember that several groups and individuals have operated for many years and are still operating inside the U.S. territory with impunity, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hong Kong police tackled a crowd of 100 protesters with pepper spray last night after they gathered to sing and chant pro-democracy slogans in a shopping mall.

The group met at the New Town Plaza mall in Hong Kong's New Territories, where they sang the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong and chanted 'glory to Hong Kong, revolution of our times'.

It came despite social distancing restrictions in the city banning groups of more than four amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Police stopped and searched protesters before using pepper spray to disperse those who had gathered. Officers cordoned off the atrium to stop them returning.

The crowd (pictured) met at the New Town Plaza mall in Hong Kong's New Territories, where they sang the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong

The protest was one of several small ones that went ahead on the May 1 Labor Day holiday. Protesters also gathered near Kowloon's Mong Kok and Kwun Tong subway stations.

Organizers initially planned citywide protests but many were canceled and protesters were urged to eat at pro-democracy restaurants instead.

Friday's protests were the latest in a string of demonstrations at shopping malls over the past week.

Police stopped and searched protesters before demanding they leave. They used pepper spray to disperse those who had gathered before cordoning off the atrium to stop them returning

The protest was one of several small ones that went ahead on the May 1 Labor Day holiday despite rules that forbid public gatherings of more than four people

They follow the arrest of 15 pro-democracy activists and former lawmakers last Saturday.

The demonstrations are a continuation of a movement that began last June to protest an extradition bill that would have allowed detainees in Hong Kong to be transferred to mainland China.

Although the bill was later withdrawn, the demonstrations continued for months before a lull starting in January as the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

The crowd took out phones and cameras to capture the actions of the riot police inside the shopping mall

Riot police lined up dressed in full protective gear as well as disposable face masks as they tried to disperse the protest

Hong Kong has managed to dodge a major coronavirus outbreak  without resorting to a complete lockdown  by using a combination of targeted isolation and social distancing.

As of March 31, the region had only 715 confirmed cases of COVID-19  including 94 asymptomatic cases  and four deaths among the population of 7.5 million.

Experts from from Hong Kong found that, following the implementation of public health measures, the epidemic has remained steady rather than increasing.

A member of the press is received medical assistance after riot police has pepper sprayed the crowd

Organizers initially planned citywide gatherings but many were canceled. Police were prepared to tackle pockets of protests

A riot police officer stands next to a clothing brand store inside the shopping mall as protesters chanted and sang

Many countries  including China, the UK, the US and much of western Europe  have been forced to implement tight lockdowns to slow the spread of the disease.

In contrast, Hong Kong employed a mixture of border entry restrictions, the quarantining of known cases and contacts, together with some social distancing.

The researchers argue that these measures  which are less disruptive to the economy than a lockdown  might be similarly employed in other countries.

Hong Kong has managed to dodge a major coronavirus outbreak  without resorting to a complete lockdown

Riot police officers carry out a crowd dispersal operation inside the New Town Plaza shopping mall in Hong Kong

Protesters held up signs calling from Hong Kong Independence. Activists say they are fighting against the erosion of the 'one country, two systems' style of governance that guarantees broad freedoms for Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997

Police brandished pepper spray guns as they warned protesters to leave the shopping mall

The atrium of the shopping mall was closed and cordoned up after the crowd was successfully dispersed

Police hold up red tape as they clear the crowd inside the New Town Plaza shopping mall

Cleaners stood with a brush and plastic rubbish bag as they watch the protests from outside a clothing store

However, the fact that a variety of approaches were employed together means that it is not clear how much each measure contributed to controlling the spread.

'By quickly implementing public health measures, Hong Kong has demonstrated that COVID-19 transmission can be effectively contained without resorting to [a] highly disruptive complete lockdown,' said University of Hong Kong's Benjamin Cowling.

'Other governments can learn from the success of Hong Kong,' he added.

'If these measures and population responses can be sustained, while avoiding fatigue among the general population, they could substantially lessen the impact of a local COVID-19 epidemic.'

Riot police quickly intercepted the flashmobs, forcing them to disband as either unlawful assemblies or gatherings that breached the anti-virus measures

During brief rallies in malls last week, activists encouraged each other to keep 1.5 metres apart and stick to small groups of four

A protester shouts at the police inside the New Town Plaza shopping mall as others film him

During brief rallies in malls last week, activists encouraged each other to keep 1.5 metres apart and stick to small groups of four.

Riot police quickly intercepted the flashmobs, forcing them to disband as either unlawful assemblies or gatherings that breached the anti-virus measures.

'I think the government is using the anti-epidemic measures to suppress the people and the mass movement,' John Li, a 33-year-old finance worker, told AFP during a lunch break protest in a mall on Wednesday.

'I prefer to join rallies and marches that have received approval from the police, but if such chances are reduced to zero, I will play it by ear,' he added.

Small businesses are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn in a city where rents are among the highest in the world

A protester uses a megaphone during a protest inside New Town Plaza shopping mall exit during a protest in Hong Kong

Police gathered as they dispersed the crowds from inside the shopping center's foyer

Those who chose not to join mobs instead queued outside businesses that openly support the democracy movement yesterday, a show of support for 'yellow' restaurants and cafes reeling from the twin impact of the coronavirus crisis and months of demonstrations.

Small businesses are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn in a city where rents are among the highest in the world.

Long lines formed at many restaurants and cafes, snaking out onto streets thanks to an online campaign dubbed 'Hongkonger's 5.1 Golden Week' that called on people to visit yellow businesses over the long May Day weekend.

A protester leads the chants using a megaphone as others take photos and film everything that happens

Riot police officers stand in guard outside the New Town Plaza shopping mall to ensure others cannot join the protest

'This week is a great motivation for us to further strengthen the yellow economic circle. We need to keep resisting even though the crackdown is getting harder and harder,' said Miki Chan, 25, who works in the education sector.

Activists say they are fighting against the erosion of the 'one country, two systems' style of governance that guarantees broad freedoms for Hong Kong since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The central government rejects criticism that Beijing is encroaching on the city's much-cherished freedoms.

A security guard stands at one of the New Town Plaza shopping mall exits to stop others joining the group protesting inside

Many of the flash protests organizers had called for did not materialize on Friday, although riot police patrolled districts in large numbers.

The 'yellow' promotion comes at a time when mainland Chinese traditionally flock to the city, providing a boost to retailers. But most are staying at home due to travel restrictions adopted to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Hong Kong is gradually easing lockdown measures, with some civil servants returning to work from Monday.

A ban on gatherings of more than four people remains in place, but some flout the rules on public holidays and weekends. Restaurants are required to operate at half their capacity and set tables at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.

What is happening in Hong Kong? Hong Kong protesters are demanding democratic reforms and the complete withdraw of a law bill that would allow criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China to stand trial. Protesters are pictured waving their phones in a demonstration on August 28 Hong Kong has been rocked by a series of anti-government protests for more than five months. The demonstrations were initially sparked by a proposed law that would allow some criminal suspects to be sent to the mainland China to stand trial. Hong Kong is ruled under the 'one country, two system' policy and has different legal and governing systems to mainland China. The principle was agreed upon by China and the UK before the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. However, many residents in the semi-autonomous city feel that their freedoms are eroding due to the tight political grip of Beijing. The extradition bill was suspended indefinitely by the government in June, but the rallies have morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement that calls for government reforms and universal suffrage, among others. Protesters are also demanding an independent inquiry into what they view as excessive violence from the police during clashes. Mass rallies, sometimes attended by as many as two million people, have taken place every weekend since June 9. Protesters have targeted government buildings, Beijing's representative office in Hong Kong, shopping centres and international airport to express their demands. The demonstrations often start with a peaceful march or sit-in and end up in violent clashes between activists and police. A repeated pattern sees activists throwing items such as bricks and petrol bombs at the police and anti-riot officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. More than 5,000 people have been detained so far in connection to the unrest. Among them, nearly 40 per cent are students. Beijing has described the situation in Hong Kong the 'worst crisis' the city has seen since its handover in 1997. It has also called some activists 'rioters' and 'political terrorists'. The city's chief executive Carrie Lam on September 4 promised to formally withdraw the extradition bill, but the move failed to ease the chaos. She is yet to satisfy the protesters' other demands. On October 4, Lam invoked colonial-era emergency powers to ban protesters from wearing masks during rallies in a further bid to quell the unrest. The extradition bill was formally withdrawn by the city's government on October 23. Advertisement
Samsung Electronics Co. maintained the top spot in the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2020, data showed Friday, although it sold fewer devices as the new coronavirus pandemic weighed down sales around the globe.

The South Korean tech giant sold 58.3 million units of smartphones in the January-March period, taking up 21.2 percent of the global market, according to the data compiled by industry tracker Strategy Analytics.

The number of devices sold marked a whopping 19 percent drop from 71.8 million units posted a year earlier, the industry tracker added.

The combined sales of the global smartphone market reached 274 million units in the first quarter, plunging 17 percent on-year.

The lackluster performance came amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected at least 3.2 million around the globe.

"Demand for smartphones slammed to a halt in the quarter, as the COVID-19 virus scare shut down major economies like China and shoppers placed their spending plans on hold," Strategy Analytics said in its report.

"Despite a strong lineup of A, S and Note series models, Samsung was unable to escape the virus-led plunge in smartphone demand," it added.

China-based Huawei Technologies Co. followed with 48.5 million units sold in the first quarter, down 18 percent on-year. U.S. archrival Apple Inc. sold 39.2 million units in the first quarter, down 9 percent over the period.

Despite a slump in its smartphone shipments in the January-March period, Samsung, also the country's top chipmaker, still had better-than-expected first-quarter earnings from its mobile business division.

Its mobile business unit posted sales of 26 trillion won (US$21.3 billion), down 4.4 percent from a year earlier, but operating profit jumped 16.7 percent on-year to 2.65 trillion won.(Yonhap)
Landlord Waives Rent, Donates Food, and Sets Up Sick Bay for Tenants Amid Pandemic

The content is not available due to expiration.
IRVINE, Calif., May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total April sales of 10,940 vehicles, a decrease of 44.5 percent compared to April 2019. Year-to-date sales totaled 78,610 vehicles, a decrease of 13.2 percent. With 26 selling days in April, compared to 25 the year prior, the company posted a decrease of 46.6 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis.

CPO sales totaled 2,401 vehicles in April, a decrease of 53.8 percent compared to April 2019. Year-to-date CPO sales decreased 16.5 percent, with 19,052 vehicles sold.

Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported April sales of 1,920 vehicles, a decrease of 55.3 percent compared to April last year. Year-to-date sales decreased 27.6 percent, with 14,842 vehicles sold.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through approximately 620 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom.

Follow MNAO's social media channels through Twitter and Instagram at @MazdaUSA and Facebook at Facebook.com/MazdaUSA.

























Month-To-Date

Year-To-Date

























April April YOY % % MTD

April April YOY % % MTD



2020 2019 Change DSR

2020 2019 Change DSR























Mazda3 1,492 4,351 (65.7)% (67.0)%

9,610 19,566 (50.9)% (51.4)%

Mazda6 746 2,340 (68.1)% (69.3)%

5,252 9,261 (43.3)% (43.8)%

MX-5 Miata 552 782 (29.4)% (32.1)%

2,252 2,312 (2.6)% (3.6)%

CX-3 363 1,019 (64.4)% (65.7)%

2,915 4,272 (31.8)% (32.4)%

CX-30 1,483 0





9,847 0





CX-5 5,220 9,592 (45.6)% (47.7)%

40,431 47,088 (14.1)% (15.0)%

CX-9 1,084 1,618 (33.0)% (35.6)%

8,303 8,036 3.3% 2.3%













































CARS 2,790 7,473 (62.7)% (64.1)%

17,114 31,139 (45.0)% (45.6)%

TRUCKS 8,150 12,229 (33.4)% (35.9)%

61,496 59,396 3.5% 2.5%























TOTAL 10,940 19,702 (44.5)% (46.6)%

78,610 90,535 (13.2)% (14.0)%













































*Selling Days 26 25





102 101





























SOURCE Mazda North American Operations

Related Links

www.mazdausa.com


Jane Bradley

After 10 terrible days of chills, nausea, a fever of 103 and a headache of such intensity that her nose bled, Aleacia Jenkins knew she had been stricken with the coronavirus even before she tested positive.

So when a friend told her about an obscure California company that was asking for blood donations from people who have recovered from the virus to help researchers develop tests for antibodies, she didnt hesitate.

If my blood donation could help save someones life who is older or more vulnerable, said Jenkins, 42, of Shoreline, Washington, it would be crazy not to want to help do that.

But what she did not know at the time was that the company, Cantor BioConnect, was selling those donations to laboratories and test manufacturers at sometimes exorbitant prices: from $350 up to $40,000 for a rare sample from a single donor.

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

Cantor BioConnect said its prices were directly related to the high costs of its supply chain, which includes finding donors, testing the samples, safety costs and shipping logistics.

Around the world, scientists are racing to develop and mass-produce reliable antibody tests that public health experts say are a crucial element in ending the coronavirus lockdowns that are causing economic devastation. But that effort is being hamstrung, scientists say, by a shortage of the blood samples containing antibodies to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, that are needed to validate the tests.

Recognizing a rare opportunity, some companies are seeking to cash in on the shortages, soliciting blood donations and selling samples at rich markups in a practice that has been condemned by medical professionals as, at the very least, unethical.

While the trade is happening worldwide, there is a particular shortage in Britain, which has only a small number of positive COVID-19 blood samples, public health officials said, because it was slow to roll out testing.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

Traditionally, blood samples have been provided at low cost by Britains largely centralized public health system to labs and clinics. In contrast to the private market in the United States, the British system is not set up to distribute samples to a large network of labs and test manufacturers, leaving many of them now to fend for themselves.

Strict rules govern the collection and use of human samples in the country, banning the payment of donors (past a small expense fee) and prohibiting third parties from making a profit from blood samples sourced from the National Health Service.

But that has not stopped businesses from trying to make a profit by selling blood donated in other countries to Britain and elsewhere, which they can do legally.

Documents, emails and price lists obtained by The New York Times show that Cantor BioConnect is one of several companies throughout the world offering to sell COVID-19 blood samples to labs and test manufacturers at elevated prices. The higher the level of antibodies in the blood, the higher the price.

From March 31 to April 22, prices asked by Cantor BioConnect for its cheapest samples  always sold by the milliliter, the equivalent of less than one-quarter of a teaspoon  rose more than 40%, to $500 from $350. In addition to the $40,000 sample, the company also increased the amount of blood samples for sale for $3,000 and introduced new prices of $1,000 to $2,000 for other premium stock.

Ive never seen these prices before, said Dr. Joe Fitchett, medical director of Mologic, one of the British test manufacturers that was offered the blood samples. Its money being made from peoples suffering.

Stymied by the soaring prices, scientists in Britain say they have been forced to turn to personal connections and word-of-mouth to procure the blood donations they need.

Human tissue samples are critical for virologists, medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies trying to develop vaccines, cures, treatments and tests. The samples include things like organs and bones as well as blood.

Any drug or vaccine or test kit being developed needs to go through trials and tests and validations, and to do that you need to have positive samples, said Kelly Sapsford, who manages blood collections for Clinical Trials Laboratory Services, a private blood donation center in London. Theyre critical.

All of the companies mentioned in this article have denied any profiteering.

Cantor BioConnect was founded in 2016 in a San Diego suburb. Its creator, David Cantor, was following in the footsteps of his father in what was then a sleepy business. He said in a statement that he was proud to be playing a role in the scientific research that will eventually help neutralize this deadly virus.

Cantor was early to spot a gap in the market. On March 18 of this year, he posted on Facebook, As you know, the war against coronavirus is currently hampered by lack of testing availability.

He added, Ive been flooded with requests for this blood, and we need to find 50 patients willing to help the cause by donating some tubes of blood.

Cantor and his employees began contacting coronavirus patients on social media to solicit blood donations. In a since-removed online advertisement, they said they were working in conjunction with the White House COVID-19 Task Force and offered $100 for each donation.

Dozens of donations began to flood in from across the United States. Within days, he was shipping out vials of blood to customers across the world.

The greatest demand, Cantor said, came from U.S. labs and antibody test manufacturers. But the company also drew major demand from Japan and Europe, he said, including several middlemen in Britain.

Some of Cantor BioConnects blood samples are reasonably priced for the U.S. market, industry experts said. But many said that the premium inventory price of $3,000 per milliliter was far higher than normal. And they all described the companys price of $40,000 for a seroconversion panel of three blood donations from one patient as exorbitant.

The company said that its overall profit margin on the project was 30% to 40%, which it said was in line with industry norms. It said that the $40,000 price tag was for a single transaction of an extremely rare and valuable sample and that it did not track the profit margin of each individual sample sold.

Cantor outlined his costs per sample as the $100 donor fee, a maximum of $200 to ship the donation to his company and payment for a phlebotomist to collect the blood sample.

In response to further questions, he said in a statement that the process of collecting blood from COVID-19-positive donors was complex and extremely difficult and costly because of safety protocols and the small number of coronavirus cases known when he first started sourcing blood donations.

There are ways to do things well and safely, and then there are other ways to do them cheaply, he said, adding that the company had sold samples to one of the worlds largest test manufacturers, helping it to save lives.

In a final step, Cantor BioConnect relies on a web of middlemen, companies that find buyers for its products around the world. Cantor declined to name his customers or partners, but documents show that Advy Chemical, a major biotech manufacturer in Mumbai, is one of his middlemen.

The Indian company produces diagnostic kits and materials needed to develop tests for various diseases, which it then sells through its worldwide network of customers. It is certified by Germanys safety regulator and licensed by Indias Food and Drug Administration.

According to emails and price lists reviewed by the Times, in the space of a single day its price for the cheapest blood samples more than doubled, to $950 a milliliter from $350, while premium inventory increased to $5,000 from $3,000. The most expensive blood sample was $50,000, an increase of $10,000 over Cantor BioConnects.

Advy Chemical said in a statement that the company did not sell any blood samples itself but that it helped facilitate connections for products that other manufacturers might need. It said it had not yet sold any of the Cantor BioConnect samples.

Asked why it had inflated the prices so greatly if it was merely a facilitator, the company cited strict nondisclosure agreements and said it would not comment on business speculation and business specifics.

The company strongly denied increasing prices by the amounts shown in the emails and price lists.

Our only intention was to help bring more accurate tests and more quickly, it said in the statement. We had hoped this would help humanity, in a small way, in these trying times.

There is no doubt that market pressures are severe. In Britain, where the cost of a human sample is usually low, scientists and manufacturers were shocked to be quoted $925 for a blood sample by a Scottish company called Tissue Solutions  far higher than the maximum $50 that they said they would normally pay hospitals.

Tissue Solutions chief executive, Morag McFarlane, said the company was not making a profit from the samples, which would violate Englands ban on third parties profiting from NHS blood collections.

He said that its higher price was a result of hospital biobanks charging more to collect blood because of the complex nature of gathering potentially contagious COVID-19 samples.

Such explanations, whatever their validity, did not go far with Jenkins, the would-be blood donor. After being told by a reporter how much money was being made from blood donations solicited by Cantor BioConnect, she said she had decided that she wanted no part of it and would instead donate her blood to a nonprofit clinic in Seattle.

Anyone trying to take advantage of a pandemic, she said, I think thats really sad and wrong.

c.2020 The New York Times Company




PEOPLE who will get out of their homes without face masks will from tomorrow be arrested as part of a raft of measures meant to ensure that the country conforms to Covid-19 lockdown Level Two guidelines announced by President Mnangagwa on Friday.







President Mnangagwa announced that the country will extend the national lockdown which was meant to end at midnight today by a further 14 days but downgraded it to Level Two, which entails among other guidelines that all people must wear face masks of any type, even home-made cloth ones, in all public spaces and when they are outside of their homes.





President Mnangagwa also announced the reopening of industry and commerce provided that the companies ensure mandatory screening and testing and operate from 8am to 3pm. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana told Sunday News that wearing face masks in public was now law, after a Statutory Instrument was gazetted by the President yesterday.





On the monitoring of companies to ensure that they adhere to the 8am to 3pm operating hours, Mr Mangwana said the police would be in full force to ensure the adherence, revealing that companies will be heavily fined or lose their licences in the event they are caught on the wrong side of the law.





Mr Mangwana said while exemption letters were not policy, administratively authorities would require people to present evidence that they were part of the bracket of people that were required to go to work as per the provisions of the lockdown.





The exemption letters were not part of law as such but what will prevail is that the police will ask people just to produce proof of where they are going. For example, when people are going to a funeral, the police may ask for the proof, which is for administrative purposes but the policy will then be the number of people meant to attend a funeral. The police may ask people to prove that they work under the category of industry and commerce. People can then produce these exemption letters, in some cases, this can take the form of company identification documents, said Mr Mangwana.





He said what is important to highlight was that the informal sector remained closed hence those in the informal sector were not exempted from the lockdown. Writing on his twitter handle, Mr Mangwana added that restaurants and other eateries can sell food but people should not eat on the premises. They have to take away the food.





Speaking to our Harare Bureau, Mr Mangwana added: People have to understand that the virus is still with us. Nothing has happened to the virus. We need to continue taking caution and understand that the lockdown is still in force. However, the directive means that some businesses have to open but people have to be tested first. If they are found to be positive they will be quarantined, if they are not they will be allowed to work.





Asked which businesses will be allowed to open, Mr Mangwana said: For example, I asked the President specifically about the saloons, he said yes, they can operate but only if they are complying with all these requirements such as social distancing, testing, wearing masks and sanitisers. The hairdresser who is at work should have a mask. The client who wants to have his or her hair done should also have the mask.





So the message from the President is that if anyone wants to start operating, they have to put safety measures first. On tuckshops, it depends whether they are formal or informal. The President in his statement was clear on which informal sectors will be allowed to open.





In announcing the downgrading of the lockdown to Level Two, President Mnangagwa also said all workers are set to be screened and tested to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The President said schools, universities and colleges will remain closed and an announcement on their reopening would be made at an appropriate time after consultations.





Across the globe, individual countries decide to scale down the lockdown levels at any given time, based on prevailing conditions, health officials said. Lockdown Level Five entails drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus to save lives. At Level Four, some activity can be allowed to resume subject to extreme precautions required to limit community transmission and outbreaks. Level Three involves the easing of some restrictions, including on work and social activities, to address a high risk of transmission, while Level Two involves, among others, further easing of restrictions, but there is maintenance of physical distancing and restrictions on some leisure and social activities to prevent a resurgence of the virus and at Level One, most normal activity can resume, with precautions and health guidelines followed at all times.




A 6.0 magnitude quake struck off the Greek island of Crete on Saturday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the epicentre was about 55 kilometres south of the city of Ierapetra. It hit at 1251 GMT (15:51 pm).

"No victims or serious damage has been reported so far," a local police officer told AFP by telephone.

Greece is prone to earthquakes, with many occurring offshore.

The last deadly quake occurred in the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea in July 2017. The 6.7-magnitude quake killed two people.

The deadliest temblor in recent years struck the Athens region in 1999, killing 143 people.

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Small and medium scale garment exporters seek relief from financial blow View(s):

While the world economy is facing a major blow that no one has ever witnessed, Sri Lankas export sector is paying a heavy price during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The apparel sector, which accounts for a substantial portion of the countrys export income, has taken a massive blow due to the coronavirus situation which has brought the entire world to a halt. With companies continuing to suffer with heavy losses, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government have introduced several concessions.

However, the President of the Small and Medium Garments Exporters Association (SMGEA), Bandula Fernando, has said that their members are still not receiving any of the relief benefits agreed by the President and the government.

Speaking at a press conference held in Kottawa, Mr. Fernando said, The financial concessions given by the government has been very difficult for our members to obtain. That is mainly because all their assets have been mortgaged to the banks. Also, banks are granting this loan only for the payment of salaries during the months of April and May, which is clearly not enough to come out of this difficult situation. Some or our members are even struggling to pay the salaries for the month of March.

The President ordered that there should be no late charges for goods to be released from the harbour. Even the Chairman of the Ports Authority is following the Presidents directives. However, the officers in lower ranks are not ready to release our goods without an extra fee for the delays which are caused due to the curfew. Its highly unfair, he said.

The association has provided over 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly and exports about 30 per cent of the total garment production of the country. There are about 80 factories island-wide under our association, Mr. Fernando said, noting that the impact on the manufacturers registered under the association will directly affect the countrys economy.

Executive committee member of the association Ranjith Tissera said, We have lost many orders and some orders have been postponed. Foreign buyers have also suspended payments for goods exported by our members. This kind of a situation makes payment of salaries of employees of these factories for April and May a huge problem. With no money coming in, our members are also unable to pay back the capital loans they have already obtained. Our only expectation at this moment is to protect our valuable human resources.

Therefore, we are requesting the government to provide us with concessions and give us some sort of relief so that we can protect this industry which brings foreign exchange to the country. If we fail to act as soon as possible and dont do what is necessary to quickly restore the apparel industry, it will be a huge loss for the country, Mr. Tissera told reporters.
Following the relaxation of lockdown norms, the city police have started to visit food distribution points, community kitchens, relief camps and shelters to distribute registration forms to migrant workers, who are stranded owing to the lockdown, to enable them to travel back to their hometown.

The ministry of home affairs on Friday allowed inter-state road transport for migrant workers, pilgrims and students after which the Indian Railways announced special shramik trains for migrant workers.

Mumbai Police officials said that most migrant workers come from poor background and cant access the internet, which is why the top brass decided to reach out to them in person. According to a senior police officer, after the Bandra railway station chaos on April 14, after more than 1,000 labourers turned up on hearing rumours that train services would begin, they had identified the pockets where most stranded migrants and labourers live to provide them food and other essentials. The clusters are in Bandra and Wadala TT, along with the docks namely Sewri, Mazagaon, Reay Road, Cotton Green, Govandi, Mankhurd, Chembur, north Borivli and Kandivli.

Our men are distributing the form manually to reach out to maximum number of stranded migrant workers, pilgrims and students. Many migrants are given forms at the food distribution points, community kitchens and relief camps and shelters, said Vinoy Kumar Choubey, additional director general (law and order), Mumbai Police.

Public announcements are being made in slums to discourage migrant workers from rushing to police stations or railway stations with the forms. Only one member of a group is allowed to visit a police station with the required documents. The forms are handed out with the instruction that they must avoid applying for a single persons travel and instead form a group of 25 to 40 and apply together. They are also being told about the required documents such as health clearance certificate from a registered doctor, Aadhaar card details, etc., Choubey said. Separate teams under zonal DCPs, the nodal officers for the task, will segregate the forms and arrange for the transport in coordination with the Railways and state road transport department. Once we get forms of around 1,000 stranded migrants wishing to go to the same destination, we will approach the railways to arrange a train for the said destination.

However, despite the announcement, migrant workers thronged police stations such as Nirmal Nagar, Vanrai, Dharavi, Nagpada to submit forms. Police officers at these stations had difficulty in making the applicants maintain social distance and manage the crowd. However, the police could not provide the data on the number of applications they have received so far.

Migrants stranded in containment areas are not included in this set up, irrespective of their health conditions.
New Delhi, May 2 : After relaxations proposed for Orange and Green Zones, businesses need to be prepared to conduct safe operations. Employers can now get their employees screened for COVID-19 at Rs 350* to ensure utmost safety before asking them to join work. This shall ensure a safe workplace.

Healthians, India's largest at-home health test provider, which in recent times has been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 through numerous testing facilities has launched HPlus CorpShield for solving corporates' COVID-19 problem by offering a 3-dimensional service approach: Doorstep health screening of employees, awareness, monitoring and auditing the workspaces.

Healthians' business and life continuity services solution, HPlus CorpShield tackles the current problem by offering doorstep health screening of employees at Rs 350 and their housemates before they are called to work.

The screening will include temperature check, SPO2 check, physical symptom check which will classify employees as those who are fit to join, or doubtful or unfit. Awareness is aimed at providing useful information through webinars, SOPs, posters, and content for offices, while monitoring and auditing service includes weekly supervision of the sanitization process, PPE kits for employees complete with masks, gloves, etc.

Healthians has put together a team of WHO and UK certified pandemic and disease prevention experts and doctors to assure business leaders and allows them to focus on their core work and leave the safety of their employees to the experts.

Deepak Sahni, CEO & Founder, Healthians, said, "COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenge for every single business out there. Considering the threat that it poses, we should ensure a safe environment for our stakeholders as well as our economy before going back to the office. We, at Healthians, are pleased to offer HPlus CorpShield -- a 3-dimensional service approach to ensure COVID-19 free workspaces." The service is aimed at organising and making workplaces business-ready for the post lockdown phase through the implementation of SOPs and guidelines laid out by WHO and MOHFW. The services will be offered on a per-employee cost basis to organizations of size ranging from 50 to 5000 employees. Visit the link for more details: https://www.healthians.com/corpshield// Services Offered:

Doorstep health screening (at Rs 350) of employees and their home mates before they are called to work. The screening will include temperature check, SPO2 check, physical symptom check which will classify employees as those who are fit to join, or doubtful or unfit.

Awareness: Webinars, SOPs, posters and content for the office. 6 people certified from WHO, Government of India to set up the protocol. Creating isolation rooms, training HR etc.

Monitoring and auditing service: Supervision every week of the sanitisation process. Kits for employees with masks, gloves, guiding material etc.
Rep. Waters Statement on the Death of Willie Agee, the Honorary Mayor of Inglewood

LOS ANGELES  Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued a statement on the passing of Willie Agee, a beloved and highly engaged resident and advocate for the City of Inglewood who was affectionately known as the honorary Mayor of Inglewood and Mr. Inglewood:

I am deeply saddened by the passing of one of my dear friends and one of the most beloved members of our community, Willie Agee.

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Willie Agee was an extraordinary individual who loved the City of Inglewood, loved the people of Inglewood, and loved the elected officials who represent our community. Willie Agee attended Inglewood City Council meetings and community events like no other. He was a constant presence and voice at my community town hall meetings. Though we were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, over the course of many years we developed a close friendship. I will miss our regular meetings at restaurants throughout our community where we discussed a variety of important issues. He never hesitated to tell me about the initiatives that he was taking up on behalf of the City of Inglewood. I am so pleased to have been among his close family and friends as we celebrated his 90th birthday in October of last year. This was one of the many precious memories we shared throughout our decades-long friendship that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Willie Agee was a combat veteran of the Korean War and was always in attendance at many events of importance to veterans and members of the community on a variety of issues. For the past 26 years as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission  13 of which he spent as Chairman  Willie Agee never hesitated to make his voice heard on behalf of the needs of our community. His consistent involvement in important local matters and his tireless leadership in securing funding to renovate the playhouse at Ed Vincent Park led the city council to rename it The Willie Agee Playhouse in his honor.

I join our entire community in thanking Willie Agee for all of the time he dedicated throughout his life to the advancement of the City of Inglewood. It is because of his undying love and commitment to this community that we affectionately referred to him as the honorary Mayor of Inglewood. I offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends. Willie Agee is a local hero, and he will truly be missed.
Referring to the Islamic Republic's record of "abducting and killing Iranian refugees", Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has raised concern over the fate of twelve Iranian journalists and citizen-reporters currently living in Turkey.

In a report released on April 30, RSF called on the Turkish government and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work together to "ensure the security" of the group of journalists and "facilitate their stay in a safe country."

Presently, the Turkish Visa and Immigration Services (VIS) is primarily responsible for handling asylum cases in the country. Reporters Without Borders says VIS's performance was "seriously delayed" and "had a negative impact on the situation of asylum seekers."

RSF has also criticized the "negative impact" of President Donald Trump administration's immigration policies on some cases of Iranian asylum seekers, adding that threats by the Islamic Republic security and intelligence agencies through social media, as well as crises such as the coronavirus outbreak, have further complicated Iranian journalists' problems in Turkey.

"I have always been threatened by the Iranian regime in Turkey, the journalist, blogger, and satirical writer Sheragim Zand said in a recent email to RSF.

Threatened with arrest in Iran, Zand fled to Turkey in 2014 and applied for asylum, while continuing to work for various media outlets such as IranWire and Radio Farda, and often posting on social media.

After living "in the shadow of fear" for the past five and a half years, Zand says he has seen a recent increase in the Iranian regimes threats. "They are now threatening to find me and kill me," he says, with the result that he is "more and more afraid" to leave his home.

According to the RSF report, the fear and anxiety of Iranian refugees in Turkey have grown since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. Alireza Roshan, a poet, writer, and journalist with the Majzoban Noor website who fled to Turkey with his wife and son in March 2018, said the epidemic has made his future much more uncertain, especially as "the immigration services have stopped all processing and UNHCR is powerless."

UNHCR is the main avenue for Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey to find a safe haven and start a new life.

The RSF's report has also highlighted the case of two other Iranian journalists, Arash Sho'a-e Sharq and Massoud Molavi.

A news website editor, Sho'a-e Sharq, who fled Iran after being convicted of "spreading false news" and "publishing without permission," was abducted outside his home in Van, in eastern Turkey, on 5 February 2018 and resurfaced 25 days later in a prison in Iran.

One of his relatives told RSF, "He was detained outside his home by armed men who identified themselves as police officers" and was taken, handcuffed and blindfolded, to an underground car park with three cells, where he was held for the next three weeks.

One of the men who spoke Persian told him that the Turkish police had decided to protect him because he was threatened with being kidnapped by Iranians, the relative said, adding, at the same time, he was repeatedly interrogated about his journalistic activities and his family in Iran. He was finally told that he was in danger and that "either you cooperate and be transferred to Ankara, or you will be sent back to Iran."

He refused to cooperate, and the Turkish police ultimately handed him over to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the relative maintained.

RSF says, Iranian journalists in Turkey are also familiar with the murder of Masoud Molavi Vardanjani, the controversial editor of "The Black Box" website, who had worked for the IRGC before fleeing Iran and who had published allegations about corruption within the military elite and in among the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ali Khameneis family, including his son Mojtaba.

Molavi was gunned down on an Istanbul street in November 2019, a year after his arrival in Turkey. In an exclusive report, Reuters quoted two senior Turkish officials as saying the murder was instigated by two Iranian intelligence officers stationed in Irans consulate in Turkey.

At the same time, Washington also announced that the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence was directly involved in killing Molavi.

Iran is ranked 173rd out of 180 countries in RSFs 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Ranked at 154th, Turkey is also among the countries unsafe for journalists.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:13:42|Editor: huaxia

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A cafe and a grooming store reopened in Plano, on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas, the United States, on May 1, 2020. Texas starts gradually reopening of business on Friday. During the "first phase" of reopening, retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping malls are allowed to open, but the occupancy rate is capped at 25 percent. (Photo by Tian Dan/Xinhua)
Testing numbers have dropped to 106,000 a day after

The government's testing co-ordinator insisted people should not get 'hung up on targets' today as he argued the goal for 100,000 checks a day had been met.

Prof John Newton brushed off a row over whether the numbers had been cooked, stressing the big picture was capacity had risen sharply and there would always be disputes when 'politicians set targets'.

The Health Secretary declared at the Downing Street press briefing last night that there had been 122,000 tests in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, a huge increase from barely 10,000 at the beginning of April.

But it emerged around 40,000 of those counted had been posted out to homes and hospitals - and not actually processed.

The official numbers revealed this evening showed a sharp drop to 105,937 up to 9am today - albeit still above the target level.

Boris Johnson and other ministers have been stating that the government figures covered the number of tests 'carried out' per day. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said this evening that the tests had been 'carried out', despite the admission that many have not been.

The spat came as senior Tories urge the government to draw a line under wrangling about the target and focus on implementing a South Korea-style contact tracing system.

The coordinator of the government's testing drive, Prof John Newton (pictured in Downing Street yesterday), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the target had been met 'whichever way you count it' - although he did not give figures for how many tests had actually been completed in the 24 hours to 9am yesterday

Matt Hancock controversially claimed his target had been hit with 122,000 tests yesterday - but the figures unveiled tonight was down to 106,000

Statistics collated by the Our World in Data website shows that the UK trails below some countries for tests carried out per 1,000 people - although the figures are not collected in a standard way around the world

A medical worker takes a swab at a testing station at Chessington, Surrey, yesterday

Mr Hancock said last night that 18,000 contact tracers to track those who have been near an infected person will be in place by mid-May and the numbers will be expanded if necessary

Home testing kits 'as accurate as swabs taken by medics' Home testing kits for coronavirus are as accurate as swabs taken in drive-in centres, the Government's testing tsar has said, as he defended the way tests are counted. Professor John Newton said the Government's trials of home tests were 'very satisfactory' amid concern that results from the self-swab kits may not be as accurate. He told BBC Breakfast: 'We know that the testing rates are the same if people swab themselves as opposed to being swabbed, and we've also done some trials of posting them out and getting them back and they've all shown that it's just as good. 'No test is perfect: the positive tests are extremely reliable because you are detecting the genetic material. A negative test is a good guide but it's not an absolute guarantee that you are free of the virus so we just need to be aware of that. 'But it still helps a lot in making decisions, but you do need to take other factors into account if you have a negative test and that's one of the reasons why we sometimes repeat the test.' Advertisement

Prof Newton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the target had been met 'whichever way you count it' - although he did not give figures for how many tests had actually been completed in the 24 hours.

Prof Newton said: 'We don't want to get too hung up on the targets... what matters is we have got substantial capacity.'

He said: 'It's a big number however you count it. All the tests are only counted once, and you can count tests when they go out, or when they come back in. Whichever way you do it we still beat the target.'

Prof Newton also delivered what appeared to be a dig at Mr Hancock, saying that people should not get 'hung up' on targets.

'These are the sorts of discussions you get when politicians set targets. What we are focusing is on delivering what people need,' he said.

NHS Providers chief Chris Hopson told Sky News that there had been too much 'simple focus on a number for April 30' in government, saying it 'misses the point'.

'What you really need to be sure about is can everybody who needs a test actually get one?' he said.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said last night: 'Labour has repeatedly called for more testing, and increasing testing is an important milestone.

'But many would have expected the 100,000 promise to have been met by actually carrying out testing, not simply because 39,000 kits had been mailed out.

'The headline figure shouldn't count tests that hadn't been used, or indeed, might never be used as a completed test. '

The UK today announced another 621 deaths, taking the official toll to 28,131 - edging the country closer to becoming the second worst-hit nation in the world.

Mr Hancock said last night that the next phase of dealing with Covid-19 - which will include more community testing and contact tracing - will allow the Government 'to reassert, as much as is safely possible, the liberty of us all'.

South Korea-style contact tracing will be launched for 140,000 people on the Isle of Wight NEXT WEEK South Korea-style contact tracing will be launched on the Isle of Wight next week - as Tory MPs demand ministers 'get on with it' amid a row over 'fixing' the coronavirus testing target. Crucial tracking systems will be piloted for 140,000 residents amid frantic efforts to find ways of controlling the deadly outbreak that do not cripple the economy. People will be bombarded with messages urging them to download an NHS app that collects data on who has been in close proximity. Together with wide-scale testing, it means that officials will be able to trace anyone who might have been exposed. The island has been chosen for a pilot scheme as it has relatively controllable transport links, and a large enough population to provide lessons for scaling up to the rest of the country. Advertisement

Mr Hancock said 18,000 contact tracers to track those who have come into contact with an infected person will be in place by mid-May and the numbers will be expanded if necessary.

South Korea-style contact tracing will start on the Isle of Wight next week - as Tory MPs demand ministers 'get on with it' amid a row over 'fixing' the coronavirus testing target.

Crucial tracking systems will be piloted for 140,000 residents amid frantic efforts to find ways of controlling the deadly outbreak that do not cripple the economy.

People will be bombarded with messages urging them to download an NHS app that collects data on who has been in close proximity. Together with wide-scale testing, it means that officials will be able to trace anyone who might have been exposed.

Mr Hancock told reporters last night: 'In recent weeks we've had to impinge on historic liberties to protect our NHS and our loved ones and yet our goal must be freedom.

'Freedom from the virus, yes, and we will not lift measures until it is safe to do so.

'But also we care about the restoration of social freedom and economic freedom too - each citizen's right to do as they please.'

But he said that, for now, people must stay at home while the number of cases of coronavirus is driven down further.

Ventnor on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, where a contact tracing scheme is expected to be launched next week

But former Brexit Secretary David Davis urged Mr Hancock to abandon the focus on targets and 'get on with it'.

'They need to trace as many people as soon as possible,' he added. 'The more you find the more you are going to cut the R number. In my mind, there is no policy argument for not doing it.'

Mr Davis also voiced concerns that the government was too reliant on the NHS app, pointing out that similar software in Singapore had only been downloaded by 20 per cent of the population and they had instead relied on contact tracers on the ground.

NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis said officials will be studying whether stricter measures will or will not have to continue to apply to the elderly when the lockdown is eased.

'The over-70s can be absolutely fit and healthy, it's not the case that everybody over 70 has a chronic health condition or underlying disease,' he said.

'As we look forward... I think it's a perfectly reasonable question to say how would that work in age groups and age bands?

'Although we do know that complications and unfortunately deaths are more common in the elderly even without complications, I think that's for consideration and that's work that we will need to do as we move forward.'
YOU normally have to be 100 to get a letter from Aras an Uachtarain but Kenzie Ryan got one at the tender age of seven.

An Posts free postcards are designed to cheer up those cocooning so Kenzie decided to give President Michael D Higgins a boost. She and many of the pupils in Mary Queen of Ireland Girls National School in Caherdavin sent postcards over the past few weeks.

Kenzie, who is taught by Carmel McGrath in first class, wrote a very special postcard to President Higgins.

In her lovely handwriting she sent her good wishes to the president and his family. She wrote about the presidents dog Brod and told him about her rescue dog Benji. She also told him that she had two brothers Kai and Jake. Most importantly she kindly told the president the very important message to Stay home and stay safe. She addressed it to Michael D Higgins and sent it with An Posts free postal scheme, said Mr McGrath.

Little did Kenzie know that a few days later Irelands first citizen would write back. She got a reply from the Aras and a lovely picture of the presidents dogs Brod and Sioda. The presidents secretary passed on his gratitude and thanked Kenzie for her very well written postcard. The president expressed how he enjoys reading messages from young people.

The president wanted to let Kenzie know that his dogs Brod and Sioda are doing very well and managing to take some walks with himself and Sabina around the grounds of Aras an Uachtarain. His secretary passed on the presidents great appreciation for Kenzies thoughtfulness and sent his very best wishes to her family at this time.

Ms McGrath said this is truly, a great news story and Kenzie is to be highly praised for her thoughtfulness and kindness, thinking of others during these difficult times.

Maith Thu Kenzie! We are so proud of you. Thank you so much President Higgins too for giving Kenzie and us all a boost! Ar scath a cheile a mhaireann na daoine, said Ms McGrath.

Kenzies mum and dad, Tracey and Jason are very proud. Tracey said her daughter was delighted to get a reply.

It is pure cute. She wasn't expecting anyone to write back to her so she was delighted. And especially to get the picture of the dogs - that was her favourite part, said Tracey.
There has been a tenfold increase in the number of people attending Northern Irelands Covid-19 testing centres, the regional manager has said.

It follows the widening of those who can take the test by appointment at one of three centres across the region.

They receive the result within 48 hours.

A partnership involving Serco, Deloitte and the Public Health Agency has opened three centres in Belfast, Craigavon and Londonderry.

Expand Close A member of the testing staff hands over a Randox laboratories Covid-19 self test kit during a press event at the Belfast regional testing centre at the SSE Arena. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp A member of the testing staff hands over a Randox laboratories Covid-19 self test kit during a press event at the Belfast regional testing centre at the SSE Arena. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

According to the department, more than 5,000 samples had been taken at the three centres by May 1.

However, overall there had been a total of 28,425 laboratory tests carried out by the same date, which could include tests carried out at other venues, including hospitals.

Regional manager Chris Kelly said they have seen a significant uplift since testing was opened to all key workers.

Over the last week the numbers have increased tenfold from where we first started now that testing has been opened up to all key sectors and key workers who can go on to .gov site and register to get tested at one of the three sites in Northern Ireland, he said.

Its a self-testing site so everyone feels safe. What we have tried to do is understand that the people who are arriving there are probably a little bit nervous because they are going to get a self test, so weve tried to make sure the staff are able to reassure people and keep everyone nice and calm.

It supports people with businesses as well as key workers in getting back to work and making sure that when they get back to work they have their key staff in place, because they can come and get tested and get a result within 48 hours. Then they know whether they can go back to work or if they need to self isolate.

Expand Close A member of the testing staff carries a scealed bag containing 25 Randox laboratories Covid-19 self test kit during a press event at the Belfast regional testing centre at the SSE Arena. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp A member of the testing staff carries a scealed bag containing 25 Randox laboratories Covid-19 self test kit during a press event at the Belfast regional testing centre at the SSE Arena. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Mr Kelly is the manager of the Aurora Leisure Centre in Belfast, but volunteered his services to help in the pandemic.

He manages the three testing centres in Northern Ireland, which also include the City of Derry Rugby Club and Craigavon MoT centre.

Many of the staff volunteering have also come from Aurora.

All the staff at the Belfast centre have come from Aurora, they were staff that were to be furloughed and they then all volunteered to come over and work at the test centre because they thought they could contribute even in a small way in helping people, he said.

It has been a significant change of pace and learning different processes but working with people whether it be in the SSE car park or whether it be in a leisure centre, its about making people feel at ease, and thats what the staff have been really good at.

The number of deaths of patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 had risen to 376 on Saturday, an overnight increase of 11, recorded so far by the Department of Health.
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Assam Agriculture and Veterinary Minister Atul Bora confirmed the deaths of over 2,260 pigs in state's six districts due to suspected ASF, with authorities waiting for confirmatory reports from the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal.The Meghalaya government has already banned the transport of pigs from outside the state after the deaths of pigs in some districts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.Meghalaya's Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said that the state issued a notification on Monday to ban ferrying of pigs from other states."We have advised people to consume adequately cooked pork only (above 70 degrees celsius for at least 20 minutes)," the Deputy Chief Minister, who is incharge of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, told IANS over phone from Shillong.The Meghalaya Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department's Principal Secretary Shakil P. Ahamed said in a notification that all government and private pig farms and pig owners should take adequate and strict measures for hygiene and bio-security such as disinfection of farms/piggries and other equipment and restrict outsiders' entry to pig farms."Signs of high fever in pigs and any abnormal mortality should be brought to the notice of the authority concerned," said the notification.According to animal resource experts, pigs generally are affected by Classical Fever, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), besides the ASF.Tripura's Animal Resources Development Department Director and Additional Secretary Dilip Chakma told IANS that after ASF outbreak in six districts of Assam and nine districts of Arunachal Pradesh, his department has alerted all government and private pig firms and pig owners to take adequate measures to prevent the disease.According to the Meghalaya government notification, the unusual mortality of few thousands of pigs were reported from Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar and Jorhat districts of Assam and in West Kameng, Papum-pare, Lower Siang, Upper Siang, East Siang, Lohit, Lepa-Rada, Namsai, Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh.Assam's Minister Atul Bora said: "The pigs are dying of a foreign virus and we guess that it may have come from Tibet in China. Reports of pigs' deaths in Arunachal Pradesh were reported in the first week of April. Many villagers in the state threw the carcasses of dead pigs into a river which flows down to Assam, causing pig deaths in Dhemaji district which borders Arunachal Pradesh."According to the minister, over 2,260 pigs have died in Assam's six districts so far. "This foreign virus spreads very fast. The Assam government had on April 25 banned the procurement and sale of pigs and pork, shut all slaughterhouses and banned movement of people associated with piggeries from one place to another place," Bora said.He said that normally this is a period for swine flu in pigs in Assam. "We have vaccinated animals against Classical Swine Fever disease."According to 2019 census, the population of pigs in various Assam farms was 21 lakh.In Aizawl, Mizoram Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science Department officials said that the recent outbreak of PRRS disease in Mizoram has been contained.Fresh PRRS cases were reported in Mizoram in January and February after some pigs imported from neighbouring Myanmar were found infected. The ASF was first detected in Kenya in 1909, which spread across Europe and the America in the 1960s and 80s.Source: IANS
Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday (May 2) once again and asked her to regret her remarks that 'political parties are vultures waiting for dead bodies and journalists must behave. He also appealed all senior police and administrative officers to be fair in their duties and avoid any political affiliation.

"My message to senior police and administrative officers: Be fair, avoid any political affiliation or stance and deliver with your best foot forward. I am sure all concerned in the state govt will ensure that the needy get full benefit of free ration from Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. There should be no corruption, diversion, political interference or controlling this. Benefit should reach poor & not the coffers of black marketers. I appeal to CM to regret her comment on political parties are vultures waiting for dead bodies and journalists must behave," read the statement.

A day before, Governor Dhankar had accused Mamata of hiding details regarding coronavirus cases in the state and asked her to come out with actual figures. "West Bengal is the only state where the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) faced problems in carrying out their work. When the entire country is fighting against COVID-19 and the IMCT came to assess the situation, we should have received it with red carpet instead of opposing it. With IMCT coming to the state, the number of testing has increased. After their visit, there have been positive changes in the state," the Governor said.

He said that after the investigation by IMCT 'the death toll in the state suddenly jumped from 22 to 105'.

On May 1, the Trinamool Congress had criticised the BJP-led central government for extending the lockdown by two weeks from May 4

without giving an account of the prevailing coronavirus situation and failing to chalk out a roadmap for revival of the economy reeling under the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We have nothing to say about the extension of the lockdown for two more weeks as our party has already said that we would go by the Centre's decision on the lockdown," veteran TMC leader and MP Saugato Roy told PTI over the phone.

"But the Union government should come out clean on various issues including the exact reasons for extending the lockdown," he said. He wondered whether the Centre was serious to revive the economy and provide a financial package to states to combat adversity due to the pandemic.

The TMC and the BJP are locked in a war of words over visit of central teams to assess COVID-19 situation in West Bengal.

The Union government order, which announced the extension of the lockdown invoking the Disaster Management Act, said a limited number of activities will remain prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone. These prohibited activities include travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road.
NASA astronauts Robert "Bob" Behnken and Douglas "Doug" Hurley are excited and prepared to launch to space this month.

The veteran astronauts are scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle from NASA's Kennedy Space Center as part of the Demo-2 mission (DM-2) on May 27. This will be the first crewed launch from the U.S. since NASA's space shuttle program ended in 2011. If all goes according to plan, on May 28 the mission will reach the International Space Station, where it will dock and the astronauts will spend up to 3 months (the exact duration of their mission is yet to be determined.)

Today (May 1), Behnken, the joint operations commander for DM-2 and Hurley, the spacecraft commander for the mission, chatted with the media ahead of this historic launch and shared that they're both excited to take Crew Dragon on its inaugural crewed flight.

Related: How SpaceX's Crew Dragon space capsule works (infographic)

NASA astronauts Robert "Bob" Behnken and Douglas "Doug" Hurley chat with the media ahead of the May 27, 2020 flight on SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehicle. (Image credit: NASA)

"I'm really excited for this NASA and SpaceX mission to bring human spaceflight back to the Florida coast," Behnken said during the news conference. He went on to address the camera and say "hello to my son Theodore, hi Theo!" Behnken said that "on my first flight I didn't have a small child, I didn't have a son, so I'm really excited to share the mission with him."

"I'm just glad to be a part of this whole big program," Hurley said. Hurley and Behnken will launch from pad 39A at KSC, where they once took off aboard shuttles. "I think, in general," Hurley added, "it's well past time to be launching an American rocket from the Florida coast to the International Space Station and I am certainly honored to be a part of it."

This flight will be not only the first crewed launch from the U.S. in nearly a decade, it will also be the first crewed launch in NASA's Commercial Crew Program and a major development in commercial spaceflight and spaceflight history in general. But the astronauts demurred. "From the historical perspective, we'll let somebody else talk about that when we get back," Hurley said.

Hurley added that, while they are mission-focused, "I think Bob and I are very humbled to be in this position."

A pandemic launch

The DM-2 launch is taking place as a majority of the world is self-isolating to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel coronavirus.

This means that, while a historic crewed launch like this might be expected to draw enormous crowds during "normal times," NASA hopes that this launch does not. Recently, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that not only will Kennedy Space Center be closed, he is also urging people to stay home and watch the launch remotely and safely.

Hurley called the fact that the astronauts' family and friends will not be able to attend the launch "disappointing," but added that it's "obviously the right thing to do in the current environment ... we want everybody to be safe."

Hurley and Behnken both added that, while the quarantine they are living in will gradually become more restrictive as they near the launch date, they have been able to quarantine with their families for now.

Safety details

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule is unique in a number of ways, including the amount of automation it incorporates. However, the crew on this flight will be testing the craft's manual capabilities, which astronauts flying Crew Dragon capsules in the future will be able to access if they need to for safety reasons or to complete specific mission objectives.

"The Dragon spacecraft does have a lot of capabilities for us to intervene manually," Behnken told Space.com during the news conference. "We do have a series of manual capabilities that allow us to really protect ourselves if the automation was to have some sort of a problem with it."

Behnken added that Hurley "should have the opportunity a couple of times during the flight to manually fly the vehicle with those interfaces."

That testing is a crucial safety measure for future flights. "We specifically, as part of this test flight, designed in some time in the pre-flight phase as well as close to space station so we can test out actual manual flying capability of the vehicle and verify that it handles the way we expect it to," Hurley said. "It's a prudent part of our flight test, just like anything else, in case the eventuality happened for a future crew that needed to take over manually and fly the spacecraft."

Both Hurley and Behnken flew with NASA's space shuttle program. Although the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is very different from the shuttle, both astronauts are accustomed to flying a wide variety of vehicles.

Still, this will be Crew Dragon's first crewed flight so "statistics will tell you that's riskier," Hurley said. However, he added that not only are capsule designs generally safer than winged designs like Shuttle, "I am confident in both the SpaceX and NASA teams."

Even as the capsule and rocket have been put through countless hours of testing, the astronauts themselves have completed equivalent training regimens. While the astronauts have been working through simulations, they have also been collaborating intensely with both NASA and SpaceX to ensure that the design makes sense and is the safest and most effective in completing their mission to reach the space station.

One of the biggest safety differences between the shuttle and Crew Dragon, Hurley noted, was that Crew Dragon has abort capabilities all the way from the launch pad to orbit. This is unlike shuttle, "where there were what we called black zones," Hurley said about sections of the flight where no matter what you did, if things went really wrong "you were likely not going to survive an abort."
The inhabitants of Dic-Fiberesima, a remote riverine village in Rivers State, have cried out for government support as the community suffers from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown in the state.

On April 19, the governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, announced a lockdown in the state after the state recorded its first case of coronavirus.

While the lockdown has made things worse for residents of Dic-Fiberesima, an earlier tragedy also contributed to their situation.

In February, a few weeks before the lockdown was announced, fire razed several properties in the community situated in Okrika Local Government Area, rendering several people homeless and destitute.

Since the lockdown, members of the community have not been able to get to the mainland where they get fresh water and other basic supplies. The lockdown has also denied them access to customers from the mainland who buy fish and periwinkles, which are their main sources of income.

Before the governor shutdown market, each time I pick periwinkle from the forest, I take it to creek road market to sell, I make a least N1000 gain since I pick myself but since the shutdown, no market, no buyer. I only make N500 gain, said Ambah George, 50, a periwinkle seller who lost all her belongings to the fire.

Naomi Alphaus, a mother of four, complained that the task force set up by the government to enforce the lockdown was harassing traders. As a result, she has not been able to sell enough periwinkles to feed her children.

We sell in early morning market before the task force will resume work and start chasing us, she said.

some of the burnt houses

Pointing at a small cooking pot, Mrs Alphaus said: See that pot of periwinkle, it has spoilt. I bought the periwinkle N2,500 but the day to sell, on my way to the market, I was told that the taskforce is chasing traders.

Naomi Alphaus, a fire victim and also periwinkle seller at the busy Creek Road market. She can no longer do her business again.

Fidelis Ebenezer, a fisherman, also lamented his inability to sell his catch as a result of the lockdown.

I catch and sell at evenings at the New-market but since the lockdown, I cant sell again and this is what I use in feeding my family.

No buyers, before I see people buy the fish, the fish have gone bad and they will price it very low. But when there was no lockdown, I sell at the market and make gains. Now, when no one to buy, I dry and my family will cook it anyhow we want, Isaiah Williams, a community leader said.

Maxwell Monday, Fisherman, and also a fire victim.

Scarcity of Potable Water

Dic-Fiberesima is one of several rural communities in Nigeria that lack access to potable water. There is a borehole in the community, but it is damaged.

While the inability of the residents of the community to trade worries a lot of them, their main source of concern is their inability to get enough potable water.

The World Health Organisation recommends constant washing of hands as part of the preventive measures against coronavirus. However, the scarcity of freshwater in the area has made observing this recommendation nearly impossible.

Ground water used for drinking before the construction of borehole which many have fallen ill for consuming the water

A resident, Hannah Naphatali, 22, said she has not bathed for two days. She said she buys sachets of pure water to bathe her baby. She said getting water to cook has become difficult.

Wey water no dey, na wetin we go use wash our hands, said Bubaye Maxwell, another resident.

Ms Maxwell said residents use canoes to get fresh water from the mainland because of the damage to the only borehole in the area. According to her, a 20-litre keg of water cost N10 outside the community

For almost a week no water in the community, we were told our generator pumping the water has spoilt, she said.

Another resident, Happiness Tamunoiyuwona, a breast-feeding mother, lamented the impact of lack of potable water on her and her child.

Peace the periwinkle seller also a fire victim.

Today, the baby did not bath, she said. I used four sachet water, boil a bit and press my sons navel, while I took water from the river to bath. Since they said we should wash our hands, I wash my hands with the water from the river before breastfeeding so that I would not contract the coronavirus,

Residents are also worried that due the unavailability of a medical facility in the area, they may have nowhere to seek help in case of a disease outbreak caused by the poor sanitation in the community because of the scarcity of freshwater.

Community Tap provided by philanthropists has no water for more than a week

The nearest healthcare centre from Dic-Fiberesima is about 20 kilometres after getting to the mainland.

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No Palliative

Members of the community said since the lockdown they have not received the palliatives the federal government and the government of Rivers State promised the poorest Nigerians.

While the federal govenment has not commenced the distribution of its palliatives in Rivers, Governor Wike recently promised to set aside N2 billion to provide food for the poor in the state following the lockdown. Two committees were inaugurated, one was for buying agricultural produce from farmers while the other was tasked with sharing palliative to vulnerable communities in the state.

The committees were to work with all the local governments in the state.

However, residents of Dic-Fiberesima, said they have received no support.

Grace Dennis once suffered stomach bite and blindness as result to bad water before the construction of the borehole

Asime Kalio, the chairman of the Community Development Committee, said the only gift residents have received was from the Ijaw People Assembly Worldwide.

The chairman of Okrika Local Government Area, Philemon Kingolin, did not return several unanswered calls made to his mobile number neither did he reply messages sent to him via WhatsApp.

What should the government do

Sophia Sonime, the deputy Rivers State coordinator of Partners for Peace, a non-governmental organisation, said that for the palliative to be equitably distributed, the government should send an ad-hoc committee, which should include women and youth leaders to visit remote communities like Dic-Fiberesima in advance to determine the amount of food and support each community needs.

community chairman, Isiah Ikpo Williams, a fisherman making his fishing net but the lockdown has made life difficult to the extent his catch cannot be sold

The palliative committee should go first and identify the various families and map out a way on how to take these items to them, she said.

This report is sponsored by PagedInitiative as part of the Reporting Gender for Inclusive Reporting project in Partnership with Free Press Unlimited.
A recent survey reported that the majority of churches in America are recording higher attendance numbers for their online weekend services during the days of COVID-19 social distancing than they had for their regular gatherings.

The widespread use of internet-based technology, via platforms such as Facebook Live and Zoom, has allowed many churches to broadcast their sermons, and sometimes musical ministry, to a wider audience than would usually meet in their buildings on Sundays.

The relative ease of live streaming and video recording has given churches of all sizes the opportunity to reach out, quite effectively, into their own communities, and to a much broader viewership.

Plus, the wide usage of social media outlets, such as Facebook and Instagram, has given many people of all ages the chance to stay home on Sunday mornings, to sleep in, and still attend church services. In fact, some researchers are reporting that many Christians are watching more than one church service online each Sunday morning.

One result of the current pandemic situation may be larger church audiences, but less active participation. People are watching church services on the internet but are much less involved in key metrics than they were before. Financial giving is trending significantly down, and many ministries have also been suspended.

For example, although some churches are providing childrens and youth ministries online, there is less need for adult volunteers to serve in those capacities since there are no weekend programs scheduled. In most churches, this virtual ministry allows workers to simply stay home.

Ministry during Social Distancing

Pastors and other church leaders have risen to the occasion and have used initiative and creativity to reach out to their communities and to minister to their constituencies during the days of quarantine when most churches were not gathering in person. Clergy members are to be commended for their ingenuity and willingness to, in some cases, learn new technology in an attempt to reach the largest number of people each weekend.

The facts are in: Churches have launched new ways of connecting with people, and church members are enjoying their newly found Sunday schedules. The convenience of worshipping at home in front of a computer, tablet, or television has become what many are calling the new normal of church life.

That fact is causing many church leaders to think about the possible answers to a specific question, Will people come back to active, in-person church attendance following the COVID-19 crisis?

Ministry after Social Distancing

A specific answer to that question is probably quite uncertain now as pastors minister through the current realities of this pandemic. However, one national news organization reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is asking churches to start planning (now) for life after the coronavirus, when worshippers can be together again.

Its hard to tell what church ministry will look like after the current practice of social distancing. Anecdotal evidence seems to point both ways. There are some saying the new habit of watching church services at home will continue after the current stay-in-place orders are lifted. Others believe that Christians will miss the fellowship with other believers and will crave being with them in person.

Why People May Not Come Back to Church

Here are a few reasons why many people may not return to their routine of regular church attendance.

1. People enjoy worshipping at home. The relaxed atmosphere of being at home with their families may have a long-term appeal for many customary church attenders. It is not an exaggeration to say that the current stay-at-home philosophy may have allowed some to watch worship services in their pajamas. Some believe that a significant number of regular church members may want to continue this casual practice even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

2. People dont feel safe in public places anymore. The media has done a great job of convincing people to be afraid of public places with crowds of people. Residents have been told to wear face masks in public, to have at least six feet of distance between people, to use hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes regularly, and to wash their hands often. Younger generations are already struggling with anxiety and the current health crisis may make people quite leery about going to any public meetings in the near future.

3. People like the freedom to watch services on their own schedule. Another already common practice in the United States, even before this pandemic, was the practice of many to participate in other activities and functions on the weekends instead of making the commitment to regularly attend church services.

Although other activities are limited now as well, people seem to appreciate having more time available on weekends for other leisure pursuits. Having church services posted on websites and social media apps allows people to watch church services whenever it works in their personal and family schedules.

Why People Will Want to Come Back to Church

There are also some key reasons why believers and visitors may want to come back to church after the coronavirus restrictions are relaxed.

1. People will miss connections with other believers. The current isolation from other people is likely to cause some to crave interpersonal connections with others. The extended time of social distancing can permit loneliness to develop in some, so perhaps Christ-followers will desire to be present in church buildings once again to renew times of fellowship and interaction with other believers. This may be especially true with younger generations for whom strong connections with peers are very important.

2. People will respond positively to connections made during coronavirus situation. Many pastors and other church leaders have worked hard during the COVID-19 scare to communicate the gospel and the love of Christ to the largest number of people possible. Churches of all sizes have effectively utilized technology, especially social media platforms, to minister to church members and to reach out to unchurched people in their own communities.

Some churches also developed creative ways (such as food distribution to the needy and making grocery or medicine runs for shut-ins) to demonstrate their willingness to serve in their own neighborhoods. These methods, especially during a difficult time in this nations history, will undoubtedly yield some evangelistic results for the church. Recipients may indeed choose to visit those churches once the current shelter-in-place directives are relaxed.

3. People will have a greater sense of commitment due to living through a crisis. Some church leaders believe that the coronavirus epidemic may, in fact, be good for the church. Churches have had to figure out ways to fulfill their mission without the opportunity to gather in large assemblies. The emphasis upon a growing level of true community in small groups, in lieu of big gatherings, may continue to be a significant priority in the churchs future.

Plus, the current widespread use of technology to communicate Gods Word will likely go on when the pandemic ends. Perhaps a renewed spirit of dedication has also emerged which will carry over to a new reality for the church. Gods people have had to be innovative and resourceful during the pandemic, and conceivably that level of commitment may continue once churches are back in their buildings.

The Church Is Gods Work

No one knows exactly what the church will look like once the current practice of social distancing is over. Some are predicting difficult times ahead for churches. Others are saying the church will come back stronger than ever.

The important thing to remember is that the church is Gods idea and it is His work in the world today (Matthew 16:18). He is certainly able to take care of His church and help the church weather whatever circumstances life may throw at it.

Unsplash/Sandro

Mel Walker is the president of Vision For Youth, Inc., an international network of youth ministry, and he is currently in the process of raising financial support to serve with VFY on a full-time basis. Mel has been actively involved in various aspects of youth ministry for over 45 years. He is also an author, speaker, and consultant with churches. Mel has written 13 books on various subjects relating to youth ministry. More information about his speaking and writing ministry can be found at www.YouthMinistryQuestions.com. Mel & Peggy Walker are the parents of 3 adult childrenall of whom are in vocational ministry. You can follow him on Twitter: @vfyouth.
Broadway actor Nick Cordero is off the ventilator that had been helping him breathe during his battling the new coronavirus, and his health is improving, his wife said Friday.

The 41-year-old "Waitress" actor's wife, Amanda Kloots, said on Instagram he is now on a trach, which is amazing news.

This is a lot more comfortable for Nick, she said. And I hope that this is a great sign for some good recovery days ahead and for him to be able to wake up.

Last month, Cordero had to have his right leg amputated.

"It came down to a point where honestly it was life or leg, and we had to choose life,'' Kloots told TODAY. "I choose life."

Cordero, who also appeared on TV's "Blue Bloods" and in a Los Angeles production of the stage musical "Rock of Ages," was diagnosed with COVID-19 and is in intensive care at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Kloots revealed her husband was sick on April 1. In an Instagram post, she said he had been misdiagnosed with pneumonia instead of COVID-19. According to Buzzfeed, she said Cordero later tested positive for COVID-19 after two negative tests.

Beyond Yoga x Amanda Kloots Collaboration Launch Event (Noam Galai / Getty Images)

Throughout the ordeal, Kloots has been trying to stay positive with the help of her online community, regularly reposting videos of friends and fans singing and dancing while calling out or writing the message Wake up, Nick!

The two share a young son, Elvis.
With a career in television spanning over 50 years, Kerri-Anne Kennerley has been at the centre of numerous controversies.

The 66-year-old has been accused of sl*t-shaming her colleague, and once came to blows with Yumi Stynes after being branded a 'racist' in an ugly TV spat.

In an interview with The Courier Mail on Sunday, the Studio 10 panellist said she doesn't 'give a toss' what her critics think, and that political correctness has resulted in the death of the Aussie larrikin.

'I'm not going to change': Defiant Kerri-Anne Kennerley, 66, (pictured) told The Courier Mail on Sunday that she doesn't 'give a toss' what her critics think. Pictured in December

'I am who I am and I am not going to change for other people,' a defiant Kerri-Anne told the publication.

The journalist, who refrains from checking Facebook and Twitter, said the only opinions that matter are from her family and friends.

'Anybody else, people I don't know or don't have the same thought process, like most of those on Twitter, I don't give a toss,' she explained.

Adamant: Having been at the centre of controversies, Kerri-Anne said: 'I am who I am and I am not going to change for other people.' Pictured in September

Views: The TV stalwart said political correctness has made Australians fearful of having a laugh: 'I think there is a lot to be said for that because we have gone so woke these days that so many people are actually frightened to say what they think or have a joke, for God's sake'

Kerri-Anne added that she's concerned political correctness has made Australians fearful of having a laugh.

'I think there is a lot to be said for that because we have gone so woke these days that so many people are actually frightened to say what they think or have a joke, for God's sake,' she said.

In December, Kerri-Anne was accused of 'sl*t-shaming' her Studio 10 colleague Antoinette Lattouf.

Now-infamous: In December, Kerri-Anne was accused of 'sl*t-shaming' her Studio 10 colleague Antoinette Lattouf

Antoinette was seated next to the TV stalwart when Kerri-Anne made a quip about her chosen ensemble.

'Did you forget your pants today?' Kerri-Anne asked, referencing Antoinette's short white playsuit.

Although Antoinette laughed off the comment, their co-panellists appeared shocked by the remark.

Awkward: Antoinette (pictured) was seated next to the TV stalwart when Kerri-Anne made a quip about her chosen ensemble.

Fellow host Angela Bishop seemed determined to rectify the situation, with the 52-year-old telling Kerri-Anne: 'She looks unbelievable!'

But Kerri-Anne wasn't done yet, adding that Antoinette was 'going to be thirsty', a clear reference to an earlier discussion about the usage of the term in pop culture.

According to Urban Dictionary, 'thirsty' is another way of saying 'horny'.

Talking back: 'Did you forget your pants today?' referencing Antoinette's short white playsuit. Pictured (L-R), Natarsha Belling, Kerri-Anne, Antoinette Lattouf, Angela Bishop and Joe Hildebrand

Controversy: Many viewers, including commentator Clementine Ford, weren't prepared to let her comments slide, with some accusing Kerri-Anne of 'sl*t shaming her colleague'

Many viewers, including commentator Clementine Ford, weren't prepared to let her comments slide.

'Why is Kerri-Anne Kennerley sl*t shaming her colleague here on @Studio10au? @antoinette_news deserves an apology Kerri-Anne needs to finally be put in the bin where she belongs,' Clementine tweeted.

Meanwhile in February last year, Kerri-Anne came to verbal blows with Yumi Stynes on Studio 10 about people protesting to change the date of Australia Day.

Branded a racist: In February last year, Kerri-Anne came to verbal blows with Yumi Stynes (pictured) on Studio 10 about people protesting to change the date of Australia Day

Kerri-Anne dismissed 'Invasion Day' protesters, insinuating none of them had ever been to the Outback and were championing the plight of Indigenous Australians under false pretenses.

In an opinion piece for The Daily Telegraph, Kerri-Anne admitted that the delivery of her point could have been made smoother, but stressed she was only trying to highlight 'abuse here and now'.

And in October, Kerri-Anne launched a blistering rant at climate change protesters as a week of demonstrations paralysed the country.

The Studio 10 pundit said that protesters causing disruption should be used as speed bumps or starved in jail.

The panel was discussing the Queensland government's plan to allow tougher sentences for protesters breaking the law.

Kerri-Anne said she supported the move, adding: 'Personally, I would leave them all super glued to wherever they do it.'
Senior economist Nguyen Mai

Vietnam achieved its national reunification on April 30, 1975, fulfilling its strong aspirations, with the sacrifice of many generations of Vietnamese people.

Currently, the country is fighting another enemy  the global coronavirus pandemic, demonstrating its peoples brainpower, creativity, and discipline. This has become a role model for many nations to apply.

During its national construction and development, attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) has become a bright colour in the Vietnamese economic picture as it has been an important and stable impetus for the economy over the past three decades and more.

As of March 20, Vietnam had nearly 31,670 valid foreign-invested projects registered at $370.1 billion, of which 58.3 per cent, or $215.6 billion, has been disbursed. Some 19 out of 21 economic sectors have been home to FDI, with processing and manufacturing achieving $216.7 billion registered FDI (58.6 per cent of the economys total), property business $58.6 billion (15.8 per cent), and electricity production and distribution $27.7 billion (7.5 per cent).

As many as 136 nations and territories have been investing in Vietnam, including South Korea with $68.6 billion in registered capital (18.5 per cent), Japan $59.7 billion (16.1 per cent), followed by Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In 2018 and 2019, Vietnam was among the worlds list of top 20 largest FDI attractors.

All 63 cities and provinces have also attracted FDI, including Ho Chi Minh City with registered $47.5 billion (12.8 per cent), Hanoi $34.64 billion (9.4 per cent), and the southern province of Binh Duong $34.61 billion (9.3 per cent).

Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) have been providing jobs for 4.5 million direct local labourers and millions of indirect labourers. They hold 23-25 per cent of total national development investment capital, and create over 50 per cent of industrial production value, while helping the country develop a modern financial and banking system. They also hold 70 per cent of the nations total export turnover, and are responsible for 20 per cent of state budget and 20 per cent of GDP.

FIEs have helped Vietnam engage further in international integration since doi moi and the opening door policy were launched, contributing to supporting Vietnam to get out of international embargo, and recover its relations with many nations and international organisations. Moreover, FIEs have also helped Vietnam enhance its status and prestige in the region and the wider world.

However, FDI has also created burning issues about environmental protection, transfer pricing, tax evasion, low technology, labour dispute, goods origin, and even national security and defence. This would need improvements in state management capacity and sound policies to ensure the benefits of both Vietnam and investors.

Foreign direct investment makes up a fifth of Vietnams GDP, illustrating its position as an economic driver. Photo: Freepik.com

Recent performance

Over the past three months, coronavirus has had negative impacts on the Vietnamese economy, with first-quarter GDP growing only 3.82 per cent on-year, and attracted FDI reduced on-year.

From January to March 20, disbursed FDI hit $3.85 billion, equal to 93.4 of that in the same period last year. Newly-added and stake acquisition-based FDI touched $8.55 billion, tantamount to 79.1 per cent of that in the corresponding period last year.

However, thanks to the Bac Lieu liquefied natural gas plant registered at $4 billion, the total registered FDI in the period reached $5.5 billion for 758 new projects. Thus the remaining 757 projects were registered with $1.5 billion, meaning about $2 million for each project  equivalent to 50 per cent of the same period last year.

In the first quarter of this year, FIEs production and business suffered from different impacts as they are in different sectors. The sectors of garments and textiles, beer, fisheries, hotels, and leased offices have been hit harder than the sectors of electronics and computers, for example.

Production developments in January and February differed from those in March. Many enterprises faced difficulties in importing materials in the first two months due to the outbreak in China, which is Vietnams key supplier of materials of garments and textiles, footwear, and electronic components. Many enterprises stopped operation in mid-March.

However, since early March when Vietnam and China resumed their trade activities, the pandemic has attacked Europe and the US which are also major partners of Vietnam. This has forced many partners in these markets to reduce or cut orders from Vietnamese firms, making it hard for Vietnam to produce and export goods to Europe and the US.

For example, Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone in Ho Chi Minh City has 168 operational enterprises with 56,000 Vietnamese employees and 585 foreign employees. So far, 33 enterprises are hit by COVID-19, leaving almost 6,000 workers in temporary unemployment and 1,000 in permanent unemployment.

In the first quarter of this year, FIEs total export turnover, including crude oil exports, hit $40.4 billion, equal to 97.1 per cent of that in the same period last year, and occupying 70.8 per cent of the economys total export turnover.

FIEs total import turnover sat at $33.18 billion, down 0.8 per cent on-year, and accounting for 59 per cent of the countrys total import turnover.

It has been for the first time that FIEs export-import turnover has seen a drop after many years of consecutive increases. However, the economy still witnessed a trade surplus of $7.2 billion, though locally-invested enterprises saw a trade deficit of $4.4 billion.

A brighter future

It is now difficult to forecast the sabotage level of the pandemic on the global economy, including the Vietnamese economy.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have recently forecast that the global economic growth this year may be below zero, while Vietnam is expected to grow below 5 per cent.

However, some optimistic signals have been seen as China has begun to recover its economy, with many enterprises bouncing back. South Korea has also seen a reduction in new positive cases. This is contributing to a bright outlook for the sectors of aviation, tourism, and trade and investment between Vietnam and these nations.

Meanwhile, Vietnams fight against the pandemic is also witnessing positive development. The government and the State Bank of Vietnam have asked commercial banks and localities to deploy financial and fiscal packages to support enterprises and people. The packages are worth many billions of US dollars via direct loans and reductions and exemption of assorted taxes and fees, as well as simplified administrative procedures.

In addition, the business community has also been implementing activities for mutual support, with business associations instructing their member enterprises to conduct new production and business plans and strategies, in line with the governments post-pandemic plans, in which there will need a boost in innovation, renewal of growth model, with a stress laid on improving the quality and effectiveness of socio-economic development. This is aimed to translate the nations aspiration for prosperity into a reality.

In 2020, despite massive difficulties facing enterprises, IT and digital technology are strongly developing, with 5G to be deployed nationwide. Meanwhile, many enterprises are greatly interested in applying solutions related to the circular economy, and localities are reaping achievements in their shift to a digital economy, with many successful models about organic agricultural production.

This year is also the second one for the implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, while it is expected that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will take effect in July. These will create new opportunities for Vietnam to expand trade and investment ties with the wider world.

Regarding economic growth, the Ministry of Planning and Investment forecast that the economy may grow 5.32 per cent this year if the pandemic ends in the second quarter of the year.

However, some economic experts hold that if the governments policies are well implemented, and enterprises have good conditions to recover their performance, it is likely that the economy can grow 6.8-7 per cent this year.

Foreign investors are showing their big confidence in the Vietnamese economic outlook thanks to the countrys sturdy actions to help them out of difficulties and cope with the pandemic.

According to the Politburos resolution on attracting foreign investment, prioritising high-tech and clean sectors, it targets FDI of $30-40 billion a year in 2021-2025 and $40-50 billion a year in the 2026-2030 period, and disbursement rates of at least 66 and 75 per cent respectively.

Now is the time for the nation to boost its institution and simplify its administrative apparatus, and rev up innovation. This will determine the speed of economic recovery after the pandemic, and implement the target of attracting more high-quality FDI inflows.
Population location data showing changes in movements following the central government's state of emergency declaration was presented to a government expert panel on new coronavirus countermeasures in Tokyo on April 22.

"The number of people flowing into central Tokyo decreased by 80% on the weekend, a significant drop, but many people visited parks," Shigeru Omi, vice chair of the panel, said at a recent press conference, urging people to make more of an effort to avoid going out.

Human-to-human transmission of the virus can be slowed down by minimizing contact between people.

In the past, virus countermeasures have included border controls to stop people and goods from crossing borders, and quarantining of infected individuals in hospitals and dedicated facilities. This is the first attempt to reduce human contact nationwide; population location data from smartphones has proved to be an effective tool to understand how this can be achieved.

"Utilizing location information collected from smartphones is the best method. It might be the first time the technology has been used effectively as a measure against infectious disease," said Hokkaido University Prof. Hiroshi Nishiura, who specializes in theoretical epidemiology and is a member of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's task force on cluster infections.

The importance of technology that makes it possible to use cell phone location data to locate and assist victims in the event of a disaster has come into focus since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Technological advances have made it possible to map population movements by collecting and anonymizing large amounts of location data from smartphones.

"Location data could be used to avoid congested areas," said Kazuhisa Shibayama, president of Agoop Corp., a subsidiary of Softbank Corp.

Smartphone apps often use location information for such features as navigation. Anonymized data, which has personal information removed, from the devices of smartphone users who run apps based on Agoop technology is sent to the Tokyo-based tech company, if users have given their approval.

The technology makes it possible to calculate the number of people at a particular point at a particular time, based on app usage rates, among other factors.

Agoop analyzes population data as a disaster measure at 20,000 locations across the country, including major stations.

The government declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures on April 7, and, based on population location data provided by NTT Docomo, Agoop, among others, has been posting daily updates online.

On April 10, search engine Yahoo also began publishing its own congestion data analysis. Such data is used by the government expert panel in its discussions on coronavirus countermeasures.

"The technology has continued to improve since the Great East Japan Earthquake. It has finally become a means to save people's lives," Shibayama said.
Hyderabad: The Centre may have extended the lockdown to May 17, but Telangana will have its own thoughts about it. The present phase of the lockdown in Telangana will run to May 7. So Telangana will take its own decision whether or not to extend it. The cabinet will meet on May 5 to take that decision.

Sources close to the government disclosed that after the Centre extended the lockdown on Friday, chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao consulted senior officers and cabinet colleagues and decided to take the final call on May 5.

The states considerations are not just pandemic related but also economic. Daily revenue by way of tax collections has plunged to a fraction of the normal. So liquor sales in particular look appealing to the K Chandrashekhar Rao government.

The Centre announced relaxations in liquor sales when it decided to extend the lockdown to May 17, but sources said the Chandra Shekar Rao government may not jump at it to open up the booze vends.

The chief minister is of the opinion that the government should move cautiously in that direction as the lives of citizens are paramount.

The Union Home Ministry in its directive stipulated that sale of liquor, paan, gutkha and tobacco, will be allowed with shops selling them while ensuring the do gaz ki doori policy. Also, no more than five persons are to be present in the shop at any given time. That is a rare sight at liquor vends in Telangana.

Sources in the government revealed that a majority of senior officials and the top brass of the state police are not in favour of opening up.

Keeping these view opinions in view the chief minister feels more detailed deliberations on allowing exemptions must be held.
Colorado Politics senior political reporter

Joey Bunch is the senior correspondent and deputy managing editor of Colorado Politics. His 32-year career includes the last 16 in Colorado. He was part of the Denver Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 and he is a two-time finalist.
A 24-year-old woman from Howrah district who tested positive for Covid-19 on April 13 and gave birth to a son on April 20, has recovered and was discharged from the hospital on May 1.

She lost her father-in-law to Covid-19, the day she herself tested positive. Her brother in-law, who too, had tested positive, is still in hospital. The nursing staff and doctors named the child Armaan, which in Arabic, means hope.

At the time of discharge on Friday, all staff at the hospital gave the mother and the child a standing ovation and sang Ami Bhoy Korbo Na (I wont be scared), an iconic song composed by Rabindranath Tagore for them.

The mother and the child were kept in the same room, to help build the bond, but at a distance of six feet to prevent any infection from spreading to the child. At the time of breastfeeding, the nursing mother wore masks, sunglasses, gloves and her whole body was sanitized. She wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) whenever the baby was brought to her.

Doctors and nurses took extraordinary care of my child and me. I was very worried that breastfeeding could spread the infection to the child, but doctors and nurses kept assuring me, that all necessary care had been taken, said the woman. Thoughts of my children kept me strong, she added.

She was released after her test reports dated April 27 and 30 indicated negative. She has been told to remain in home quarantine for 14 days. State health department officials will monitor the familys health periodically.

Her husband, a 30-year-old, lost parts of both of his hands during an accident while working on a machine at an industrial unit in 2017. Her first child, a four-year-old son, has been in an institutional quarantine centre along with her husband, because the woman and her father-in-law tested positive.

It feels great to finally reunite with my family. In the hospital, the thought of my baby kept me strong, even though my father-in-laws death caused panic and worry. How the man who hardly stepped out of home, got infected by the virus, remains a mystery. I was keen to watch my newborn all day, but at the same time concerned about his well-being, she said after reaching home on Friday evening.

According to a doctor at the hospital, the expected date of her delivery was May 7, but labour pains set in suddenly on April 20. The child was delivered normally and has fared well since birth.

Subhashis Mitra, director of Sanjivani Hospital at Uluberia in Howrah district, says that the case of the Covid-19 positive expectant mother was carefully dealt with, given the unprecedented situation of a baby needing protection from its mothers disease.

Protecting the baby from the infection was a challenge, and a great deal of care was taken in this regard. Our message to the world is that we need to beat coronaphobia with corona-awareness, Mitra said.

Sanjivani is a private hospital that has been designated a Covid-19 hospital by the Bengal government, which is also bearing the expenses of the treatment of Covid-19 cases.
By Trend

Some 113 million manat ($66 million) have been accumulated in Azerbaijans Fund to Support Fight against Coronavirus, Ibrahim Mammadov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers, said.

Mammadov made the remark in Baku at the briefing of the Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reports on May 1.

The accumulated funds have not been spent yet, the spokesman said.

"A meeting of the Council for Public Control, which monitors the process of spending these funds, will be held next week, the spokesman said. So far, the funds allocated by the state are being spent in the fight against coronavirus. The Funds accumulations have not been used yet. One can find out the information about the purposes of using these funds on the www.koronavirusinfo.az website in terms of full transparency.

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 May 1)

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
- Ghana has made another great stride in her fight against COVID-19 by performing autopsies on deceased patients

- It is indicated that the remarkable feat at the Ga East District Hospital makes Ghana the 1st country in Africa to perform the exercise

- Health experts have been explaining that the autopsy could help Ghana develop a suitable treatment for the pandemic

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Ghana has reportedly become the first African country to perform a COVID-19 autopsy on bodies after two were carried out at the Ga-East hospital.

According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Myjoyonline.com, the two autopsies were carried out on Thursday, April 30, 2020.

The tests were undertaken on the bodies to unravel the mysteries surrounding the novel coronavirus in order to help improve the treatment of survivors in Ghana and beyond.

READ ALSO: I will marry a 3rd wife - Funny Face rages amid reports of wife leaving with twins

See video below:

The Director of Institutional Care Division at the Ghana Health Service Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea put together the team of pathologists from Ghana Health Service and the 37 Military Hospital, who conducted the one-hour 30 minutes autopsy at the Ga East District hospital.

Dr Kaba affirmed the prevalence of the procedure saying, life must be understood backwards but lived forward, for the best solutions to be proffered.

He further explained that the autopsy will certainly help to better understand the disease and associated co-morbidities to help provide the appropriate management.

READ ALSO: John Dumelo donates to all mosques at Ayawaso West for Ramadan amid COVID-19

Ghana's approach, efforts and procedures with which it is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic seem to be highly exemplary around the world.

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Ghana had become the first country in the world to boost her fight against the novel coronavirus with the use of drone technology which makes speeds up the testing.

Time.com reports that no other nation in the world has been able to deploy drones to help transport samples for testing, especially from remote areas, as everyone else depends on the use of traditional transportation methods.

According to Keller Rinaudo, the CEO of Zipline, the company that set up the 'matternet' of drones in Ghana, the US is expected to be the next in the use of the drones after Ghana.

Enjoy reading our stories? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

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Source: YEN.com.gh
Mumbai police has started manual distribution of registration forms to migrant workers, stranded in the city due to lockdown, to enable them to travel back to their homes.

The forms are being distributed in person at food distribution points, community kitchens, relief camps and shelters, said Mumbai police officials.

The forms are being distributed after the Indian Railways announced special Shramik trains for migrant workers, and the relaxation given by the Ministry of Home Affairs for inter-state road transport for migrant workers, pilgrims and students during the lockdown.

Mumbai police officials said that most migrant workers come from poor backgrounds and do not have access to the internet which limits their scope for applying online, following which the top brass of the city decided to hand over the forms to the migrants themselves.

A senior police officer said that the police already know where most of the migrants are living. After the Bandra incident (wherein over 1,000 migrants had turned up near Bandra railway station on April 14) cops had located those pockets in the city where most of the stranded migrants, laborers are living in clusters to provide them food and other essential items.

Bandra, Wadala TT, areas along with the docks like Sewri, Mazgaon, Reay Road, Cotton Green, Govandi, Mankhurd, Chembur, in North Borivali and Kandivali are the pockets where most of the stranded migrant labourers are residing.

To reach out to maximum stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, students our men at the police station level are distributing forms manually. Many migrants are given forms at the food distribution points, community kitchens and at the migrants relief camps and shelters, said Vinoy Kumar Choubey, additional director general (Law & Order), Mumbai police.

Public announcements are being made in the slums to discourage migrant workers from rushing to police stations or railway stations with the forms. Only one member of a group would be allowed to visit police stations with the required documents.

The stranded migrants are given forms with the instructions that they must avoid to apply for a single persons travel and instead form groups of 25 to 40, and apply together in groups. They are also being informed about the strict compliance of conditions such as health clearance certificate from a registered doctor, Aadhar card details, etc., Choubey said.

Separate teams under zonal DCPs, who are the nodal officers for this task, would segregate the collected forms and then in coordination with the Railways and state road transport department transport will be arranged, added Choubey.

Once we get forms of around 1,000 stranded migrants wishing to go to the same destination we would approach railways to arrange a train for the said destination, he said.

Migrants stranded in containment areas are not included in this set up, irrespective of their health conditions.

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Call it the sleeper hit of the season: there's been a surprising spike in earring sales thanks to COVID-19.

With no reason to get properly dressed, earrings have become a wonderful way to feel put together as we remain housebound. Often the forgotten cousin of the necklace, ring and watch, there's never been a better time to invest in a statement set.

The Duchess of Cambridge pairs statement earrings with an emerald metallic silk Falconetti dress by The Vampire's Wife in March, 2020. Credit:Getty

"We're finding it quite funny that we're selling a lot of earrings, even though [the customer] is at home in her slippers," says Bridget Veals, the general manager of womenswear at David Jones. "They just make you feel a little bit more dressed up and a little bit more normal. When you put your earrings in, you're off to work. It's a lift, and it makes people feel good."

Statement earrings are a quick way to dress up your working-from-home look when you're suddenly required on that urgent video call, says Sarah Gittoesa, creative director of jewellery brand Sarah & Sebastian. "No one will know about your tracksuit bottoms if they're distracted by your sculptural hoops!"
Eric Braeden is, by far, one of The Young and the Restless stars fans love most. The actor has played Victor Newman for nearly 30 years, and still going strong. After the death of longtime castmate, Kristoff St. John, Braeden, and others, felt the weight on set.

Kristoff St. John died in 2019

Young and The Restless cast: Sharon Case, Eileen Davidson, Lauralee Bell, Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott, Christian LeBlanc, Peter Bergman, Kristoff St. John, Greg Rikaart, and Amelia Heinle | Renard Garr/Getty Images

Beloved star of The Young and the Restless, Kristoff St. John, died Feb. 3, 2019, as a result of hypertrophic heart disease (an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle), according to an autopsy report obtained by USA Today. Alcohol was a contributor, but not listen as the official cause.

The disease makes it hard for blood to pump to the rest of the body, according to the Mayo Clinic, and often goes undiagnosed due to a lack of symptoms.

The actor spent almost 30 years playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime drama as a fan favorite. St. John left behind his fiance, Russian model Kseniya Olegovna Mikhaleva, and two daughters, Paris and Lola.

Police were called to St. Johns Woodland Hills, California home when friends checked on him and he was unresponsive. Hes reportedly struggled since the 2014 death of his son, Julius, who died by suicide.

St. John won two Daytime Emmy Awards and several NAACP Image Awards for his portrayal of the character, according to CBS. Y&R honored St. John with a special episode and storyline. One co-star hit particularly hard by the loss, is that of longtime Y&R star, Eric Braeden.

Braeden and Kristoff were close

One of St. Johns closest friends and costars, Braeden, previously told The Daily Beast the cast was really devastated over the loss of St. John. Braeden, who plays Victor Newman, was especially close to Kristoff.

We worked together for nearly 30 years. He was a wonderful actor, great to work with, bright and empathic, Braeden said. But he carried so many things in his heart and soul, especially after the terrible death of his son. I dont think he ever got over it, and I dont think he ever fully dealt with it. He tried to. Publicly he had a good demeanor and a good life. But I think the pain was deep: very, very deep. And I think it was too much to live with.

He continued: Kristoff was more than a nice guy. People loved him. He was a fundamentally nice man, and always there for people. He was just a man with soul. This will have a deep effect on all of us. The more you think about it, the sadder you become, the more you realize the effect he had on other people.

As far as the lasting effect the loss of St. Johns longtime character, fans are grieving right along with the cast and crew

He was such a vital, strong character, and obviously haunted by demons, Braeden added. But he was so full of humor and he was such a good man. In lonely moments when youre all by yourself, what goes through your head? Who knows?

In another interview with Soap Opera Digest, Braeden stated that the loss was deeply personal and profound because [St. John] was, One of the few people I trusted. One of the very few.

The reason for that trust is a private one, but Braeden alluded to the fact that it was something big.

Because he came to me at a time and told me something that no one else really talked about. He and Dougie Davidson [Paul] both. I appreciate them for doing it. Thats enough, he said.

Braeden is all for the changes in the shows direction

Changes in writers and management have created storylines inconsistent with Y&Rs usual brand. After rumblings of misconduct and potential lawsuits rocked the network, changes in regime, and some of the stars exits, Braeden said hes noticing that things are finally getting back to some kind of normal.

I see a change of music. For example, the memorial to Kristoff. It was Tony Morina and Josh Griffiths idea, he previously told Soap Opera Digest.

They treated that character with respect. And all of us with respect in that sense. You need to have respect for the show that you do. You cant come in from the outside and suddenly change direction in so many ways where people say, Wait a minute, thats not what weve been looking at.'

Fans noticed the changes  even when familiar sets disappear. Braeden said the former showrunners took away Victors office but its back now.

I say this is what belongs, what it should be. Enough said. The atmosphere is so much better. So wonderful. Tony Morina and Josh Griffith, I like both of them a lot. Its family, he said.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.

How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.
The Russian leader said the glorious victory was the outcome of the persistent and heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people for independence and freedom.

Russia is proud of having stood side-by-side with its Vietnamese friends during those hard times, he wrote.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov also sent greetings to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire more than 170 times from April 26 to May 2 and fired around 1200 shots from various caliber small arms at Artsakh servicemen, Artsakhs defense ministry said.

In addition to the abovementioned violations, the Azerbaijani military also fired eight 60mm mortar shells at Artsakh military positions in Martuni in between 15:00  17:25 on April 29.

The Artsakh military said they took countermeasures to suppress the adversary attack. It did not report casualties.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 13:08:41|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The east-based House of Representatives of Libya on Friday strongly condemned the deadly attack in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, which killed nine military men.

"The Committee of Foreign Affairs condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that targeted Egyptian soldiers in south of the city of Bir al-Abd in North Sinai," the east-based parliament said in a statement.

"The committee would like to take this opportunity to stress the solidarity of the House of Representative with the government and people of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and keenness for mutual cooperation to fight this dangerous phenomenon that threatens the stability and prosperity of our societies," the statement said.

On Thursday, an improvised explosive device was detonated in the northeastern North Sinai province, killing nine Egyptian military personnel.

Egypt has been fighting a wave of terrorist activities that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians since the ouster of its Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the later security crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group.

Most terrorist attacks in Egypt over the past few years were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State regional section. Enditem
Two special trains carrying over 2,300 migrant workers from Odisha and Uttar Pradesh who were stranded in Gujarat amid lockdown to contain coronavirus left on Saturday, officials said.

One of the 'Shramik special' trains with 1,127 passengers departed from Surat for Puri in Odisha around 5 pm. A second special train departed from Ahmedabad for Agra with 1,217 migrant workers on board around 5.30 pm.

"The trains were arranged following requests from the concerned states. The passengers were screened at the railway stations, and only those found asymptomatic were allowed to board.

"We will also ensure that the passengers maintain social distance during the travel," said Vipul Mittra, additional chief secretary, Labour and Employment department.

After flagging off the train for Agra from Sabarmati railway station here, Gujarat minister of state for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja said, "The train has the capacity to carry over 2,200 passengers, but it has been sent with 50 per cent occupancy."



Passengers will be provided food during the journey.

For the Surat to Puri journey, migrant workers had to pay Rs 710 for one-way ticket, official sources. It covers one time food, they added.

Earlier in the day, the Gujarat government appointed Mittra as the nodal officer to facilitate smooth movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons through special trains.

The move was also aimed at better coordination with Railways, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Divisional Railway Managers and other authorities.

Mittra said more trains would be run depending on the requirement and requests from other states.

He also said he was in constant touch with Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avneesh Awasthi of Uttar Pradesh and officials of other states.

"UP is receiving people back from all over, so we want this to be staggered and systematic," he said.

Earlier, secretary in the chief ministers office Ashwani Kumar had announced that three trains -- two for UP and one for Odisha -- will leave on Saturday.

Several migrants from Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have already been granted permission to leave for their home states by buses, he said.

Persons who wish to return to their home states will have to call on helpline number 1077 and the district administration will get them registered, but they will have to buy their own tickets, he said.

The state government has also made arrangements to bring back students, pilgrims, tourists and workers from Gujarat who remain stranded in other states, he said.

Such people can call on 079-23251900 to share their details to get travel passes.

The Union government has allowed the movement of stranded labourers, tourists and students from one state to another with permission of local authorities amidst the nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus which has been extended till May 17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A South Korean AH-64E Apache helicopter fires rockets during a live-fire demonstration for a media preview of the Defense Expo Korea 2018, at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, South Korea, Sept. 11, 2018.

The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale to the Philippines of military-helicopter packages ranging in price from U.S. $450 million to $1.5 billion, as the Southeast Asian ally looks to modernize its attack-helicopter fleet, officials in Washington said.

In Manila, the Philippine defense chief said he was aware of the announcement of the potential sale of U.S.-made Apache or Viper helicopters, but indicated that the Philippines was looking at other options for such military hardware because of the hefty price-tag.

It was being considered by the PAF [Philippine Air Force] but it is so expensive they opted instead to consider other attack helicopters, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told BenarNews via a text message late Friday.

He was referring to both helicopter packages included in the U.S. governments announcement, when asked to confirm the potential deal. He did not elaborate.

On Thursday, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the State Department had cleared the potential sale to Manila of six AH-1Z Viper helicopters or six AH-64E Apache helicopters with other equipment and parts. The Philippines was considering acquiring either of the packages but not both, DCSA said in a news release.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in South-East Asia, the agency said.

The proposed transaction will assist the Philippines in developing and maintaining strong self-defense, counterterrorism, and critical infrastructure protection capabilities, it said.

The Viper package carries a price-tag of $450 million and the Apache package would cost $1.5 billion. The Philippines 2020 defense budget, which the countrys senate approved last November, is 191.3 billion pesos (U.S. $3.7 billion), according to Janes 360.

Either of the helicopter packages, the DCSA said, would be sold to Manila under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, a form of security assistance authorized by the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. Eligible countries can buy military equipment with their own funds or with funds disbursed through U.S.-government assistance programs, according to information on the DCSAs website.

Through the program, Manila last year acquired eight ScanEagle aerial drones as part of a $47.9 million package of drones sold by Washington to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. At the time, officials in Manila and Kuala Lumpur said the drones would be used for aerial surveillance of local waterways, including the disputed South China Sea.

It was not immediately clear whether the helicopters in the potential sale would be used in the sea region, where the Philippines and China have contending territorial claims, or in the southern Philippines, where government forces are dealing with threats from Islamic State-linked militants.

Washington announced the possible sale of the helicopters amid relations with the Philippines that have been rocky lately.

Early this year, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to pull his country out of a bilateral defense pact with the United States. He was angry that the U.S. State Department had revoked an American visa for his former national police chief, who had led his administrations controversial and bloody war on illegal drugs.

On Friday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque declined to answer questions from BenarNews about the potential deal for the Apache or Viper helicopters.

Dutertes government, meanwhile, has not withdrawn its threat to cancel the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The pact allows for joint military exercises and other activities between the two longtime allies after the United States vacated two of its largest overseas military installations  the Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base, both located northwest of Manila  in the 1990s.

The VFA bore fruit in 2017 when Philippine troops received aerial intelligence from U.S. forces during their successful battle against Islamic State militants who had taken over the southern city of Marawi for five months.

Jason Gutierrez in Manila contributed to this report.
Outbreak of COVID-19 has forced countries around the world to reassess what it means to be an essential worker.

The outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has forced countries around the world to reassess what it means to be an essential worker.

Drivers who are delivering food are one group at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus.

Al Jazeeras Jessica Washington reports from Jakarta.
Soldiers take stock after special operation in Bafut Facebook

Dozens of armed separatist fighters are reported to have been killed in Bafut following a special operation carried out by elements of Cameroons Defense and Security Forces this week.

The commander of the special operation, Colonel Matiang Charles Alain and his no fewer than 300 elements drawn from other detachments of the military including the 501 Air Force Base and the Motorized Infantry Brigade, swept through Bafut for six days from the night of Saturday, April 25, 2020.

From Sop, Mankwi, to Manka Nikong through to Nsani and then Agyati and beyond, the defence forces neutralised scores of separatist fights including the notorious general Alhadji and general Peace Plant. Open sources suggest at least 53 separatists were killed in the operation. Separatist general Alhadji is known to have masterminded the kidnapping on November 5, 2018 of 79 students, the principal and three staff members from the Presbyterian Secondary School (PSS) Nkwen.

Operation Free Bafut also led to the recovery of the Saddle Hill Ranch, a luxury hotel resort that had been transformed into an operational base for armed separatist fighters grouped under the name Bafut Seven Katta Defense Force. Assorted weaponry was also recovered along with motorbikes, a Toyota Fortuner SUV and two horses.

At the Bamenda Airport Friday, the Commander of the 5th Joint Military Region, Brigadier General Nka Valere thanked Colonel Matiang and the soldiers who led the operation. With only one soldier wounded in the operation, Brigadier General Nka said it was a job well done. He went on to convey the gratitude of the President of the Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces, H.E. Paul Biya as well as that of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defense and the Army Chief of Staff for the soldiers exceptional professionalism.

In February, Brigadier General Nka Valere, Commander of the 5th Joint Military Region, and Brigadier General Ekongwese Divine Nnoko, Commander of the 5th Gendarmerie Region told the population of the North West Region that the Defense and Security Forces are in the Region for their protection and security.

Speaking Friday, the Generals said the operation to liberate Bafut from the activities of armed separatists is part of their mission to protect the population and secure their property.

General Nka regretted that the population have had to live under fear of reprisals from the terrorists and that the locals continue to suffer from harassment and extortion through kidnappings among other atrocious activities perpetuated by armed separatists.

Generals Nka and Ekongwese note that they took over command of the 5th region at a time Bafut had been declared a no-go-zone but the military is slowly clearing Bafut and will not stop until the whole of Bafut is returned to normalcy. The Saddle Hill Ranch will thus be requisitioned so troops can be stationed there to secure the area and the property.
One of the first Canadian infectious disease specialists to spot the COVID-19 crisis coming early this year says B.C.'s public health performance is the talk of Ontario.

Dr. Michael Gardam, chief of staff at Humber River Hospital in Toronto, is a veteran of respiratory outbreaks, notably the SARS outbreak in Ontario in 2003.

He says the steady drop in the number of deaths and hospital admissions in this province is good news  putting B.C. in a good place to loosen restrictions.

Gardam is confident that British Columbia has crested the peak of the initial wave of COVID-19 infections. Most new cases are now linked to known outbreaks and hospital admissions have decreased since early April.

3 weeks ahead of Ontario

"Not only have you plateaued but you are coming down the other side. You are probably three weeks ahead of Ontario and Quebec," Gardam said.

MIke McArthur/CBC

"That's all I ever hear about in Toronto, is B.C. When it comes to public health issues it's sadly always in a good way for B.C. [and] always in a bad way for Ontario," he said.

B.C. health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry signalled on Monday that the slowing transmission rate and increased testing were putting the province in a good position to start lifting restrictions.

"We are getting close to that time where we can start to open up," Henry said during her April 27 briefing.

But Gardam warns, as restrictions ease, it's important people aren't too aggressive with reopening businesses, parks and resuming large gatherings.

"We have not stopped this from spreading. Those potential cases are still there," he said.

Gardam says each province has a different situation, so unique approaches make sense.

But he said Canadians can expect health strategies to shift as businesses reopen, activities resume, and people are no longer isolated.

He said protecting vulnerable groups by testing and contact tracing has been effective in places like New Zealand and Australia.

Story continues

Gardam said Ontario has now tested more people per capita than B.C., and broader testing becomes more important as restrictions ease.

Ben Nelms/CBC

"We haven't done this in the history of the world, so nobody knows what the right answer is," said Gardam.

No regular flu

But he's angered by those who see COVID-19 as nothing more than an over-hyped flu.

"This is not a regular flu," said Gardam.

Gardam says people who believe that are "dead wrong" and "infuriating."

Gardam said COVID-19's mortality rate is "orders of magnitude" more than influenza, even factoring in all the asymptomatic cases of both the viral culprits.

Craig Chivers/CBC

He was one of the first to spot the danger after seeing an alert about an outbreak in China.

There's no official global system to scan social media to monitor potential disease outbreaks. But there are volunteer-run systems that post alerts. ProMED, run by the International Society of Infectious Diseases, is one watched by experts.

Gardam saw an alert in late December that described a "pneumonia of unknown etiology" in Wuhan, China.

'That's one hell of an infectious bat'

At first Gardam wasn't alarmed, but that changed as reports kept coming in. Despite assurances from the WHO that there was little initial evidence of human-to-human transmission, Gardam said his instincts kicked in.

"As cases kept coming, I thought this must have been one hell of an infectious bat," he said.

"It's like 'OK, is this going to have legs? Or is it going to stop?'"

He says it's never easy and often dangerous to be the first person who sees something like COVID-19 starting.

"We are never ready for it," he said.

He gives the example of the doctor in Wuhan  34-year-old Dr. Li Wenliang  who died after trying to alert people to the danger.

"He was trying to blow the whistle on something that people hadn't recognized yet."
Professor Joe OOSullivan, clinical director of oncology at the Cancer Centre at Belfast City Hospital, is launching his third music album. Picture: Cliff Donaldson

A top cancer specialist is hoping people will give a shot of love to hard-pressed charities with a new fundraising album.

Professor Joe OSullivans Instead of Many Shades of Blue album will raise money for the Friends of the Cancer Centre, one of the many medical charities whose funding has taken a hit during the crisis.

He said: This crisis is really affecting how charities raise money and normal fundraising events cant take place. I thought I could use my profile to give them a bit of publicity and at the same time, when you have recorded music, you kind of want to get it out there, let people hear it and move on to the next project.

Joe has been based in Belfast for over 16 years, working at the City Hospital and Queens University, but has also served at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

Originally from Wexford, he said his genre falls somewhere between Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Coldplay, U2, that kind of vibe.

I recorded this back in November and the plan had been to release it in March but with the Covid-19 restrictions coming in, it didnt look like the right time, said Joe.

Ive also been busy in the hospital but I think things are at a manageable level.

Lending him a hand with the vocals is his 16-year-old son Oisin, with the pair supported by a three-piece backing band.

While the albums release was delayed by the crisis, Joe and his team at the City Hospital are trying to carry on as best they can during the pandemic.

Weve had a mixture of things. One was making sure we had enough capacity and we would have space if me and my colleagues would work on the frontline and our ICU and surgeries were handed over, he said. The second part was keeping our cancer patients safe during the crisis because a lot of them are older and trying to minimise their time outside the house.

Weve tried to keep things as normal as possible but inevitably less and less treatment is being done.

But I would say we are gradually ramping back up now and I think its other health conditions which might be worst affected by this virus  (people with) heart disease, cancer, who have normally been attending for therapy and now they are kind of scared to do so.

We are not going to be normal for a while but at least we can get back to treating people better.

Joe explained that music can help with the often grim side of his job such as treating men with prostate cancer.

In oncology you can have quite tough days but Ive always found music to be a way to ease you through the difficulties in life, he said.

Instead of Many Shades of Blue is available on Spotify and Apple Music, and on CD from sharpemusic.com priced 12.
(Reuters) - India's March crude oil imports rose at the slowest pace this year, while refined product exports also rose but at a lower rate as some refineries cut back crude processing as the coronavirus outbreak crushed demand for fuel. Crude oil imports in March rose 1.8% to 19.52 million tonnes from a year earlier, having risen 9% in the previous month, according to data on the website of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) on Friday. Oil products imports rose more than 7% to 3.92 million tonnes year-on-year, which was the lowest year-on-year percentage rise since January 2019.

(Reuters) - India's March crude oil imports rose at the slowest pace this year, while refined product exports also rose but at a lower rate as some refineries cut back crude processing as the coronavirus outbreak crushed demand for fuel.

Crude oil imports in March rose 1.8% to 19.52 million tonnes from a year earlier, having risen 9% in the previous month, according to data on the website of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) on Friday.

Oil products imports rose more than 7% to 3.92 million tonnes year-on-year, which was the lowest year-on-year percentage rise since January 2019. Oil product exports rose 7.4% to 5.93 million tonnes, sharply down from a 21.4% rise in February.

Exports of diesel were also affected by the coronavirus crisis and rose only 11.7% in March, the lowest year-on-year increase since August. Petrol exports declined 5.2% in March as the virus hit economic activity and fuel demand for transportation globally.

Asia's third-biggest economy imports and exports refined fuels as it has surplus refining capacity.

Rystad Energy expects COVID-19 to remove nearly 4 million bpd of road diesel demand worldwide in the second quarter, and diesel demand in other sectors to drop by another 1.2 million bpd.

India on Friday extended its nationwide lockdown for another two weeks from May 4, but said it would allow "considerable relaxations" in lower-risk districts. The lockdown was put in place on March 24.

The country's crude processing in March fell 5.7% from a year earlier, the most since September, as the coronavirus crisis and travel restrictions to curb its spread dented fuel demand and forced refineries to cut output.

India's annual fuel demand in 2019/20 also grew at its lowest rate in more than two decades.

(Reporting by Nakul Iyer and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M. and Jane Merriman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Valkyrie: The Women Of The Viking World

Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir Bloomsbury Academic 20

Rating:

When we think of Vikings, we immediately conjure up a vision of hairy men in pointy helmets with nothing but pillage and slaughter on their mind. But what about the women?

Where were they and what were they doing while their menfolk set sail from Scandinavia to England, Ireland and even Russia in their longships? Far from simply sitting at home in a subservient huddle, Johanna Fridriksdottir suggests that some women and girls were busy leading their communities, running businesses and even, on occasions, donning armour and taking to the battlefield.

This isnt wishful thinking on Fridriksdottirs part. Shes a university professor and has conducted a fingertip search of a multitude of sources, including archaeological artefacts and epic poetry ranging from the 8th to the 11th Centuries.

Far from simply sitting at home in a subservient huddle, Johanna Fridriksdottir suggests that some women and girls were busy on occasions, donning armour and taking to the battlefield

Shes honest, too, about the fact that not all women had an easy, let alone heroic, time. Being born a girl into a poor family where there were already several daughters could mean you were exposed  a polite way of saying left outside to die.

It wasnt just a case of too many small mouths to feed, it was also because girls needed dowries if they were to marry at the age of 15, which meant a future financial burden hanging over the whole household.

Even if your family was rich enough to give you a dowry, it didnt mean you had the freedom to fall in love. Marriage was a business transaction between men, and teenage girls were routinely sent off to start new lives as wives in families they had never met before.

It wasnt all bad, though. A married woman was regarded as co-head of the household. Many Norse women were buried with scales and weights, suggesting that they traded with neighbours and at markets, and were responsible for ensuring everyone in their household, including the servants, was comfortably fed and clothed.

Whats more, a woman had as much right to a divorce as a man  all that was needed was five witnesses. Grounds included domestic violence, failure of a partner to maintain dependants, and abandonment of the marital bed.

There was, Fridriksdottir explains, no shame attached to divorce and no reason why either side should treat it as moral failure.

She also raises the intriguing possibility that the Vikings may have been more relaxed about gender than we tend to think. In 1878 archaeologists discovered a lavish warriors grave in Sweden in which the 35-year-old soldier had been buried surrounded by a rich array of swords, spears and arrowheads.

So imagine the excitement in 2017 when scientists discovered that DNA analysis of the warriors bones revealed that he was actually she. Currently scholars are busy debating whether this proves that Norse women regularly went into battle alongside the men or whether, in fact, we have stumbled upon a transgender Norse woman.

Fridriksdottir is too rigorous a scholar to leap to sensationalist conclusions but she brilliantly manages to make the Vikings feel far closer to us than ever before.

The Restaurant: A History Of Eating Out

William Sitwell Simon & Schuster 20

Rating:

As tales of saucepan-throwing, cocaine-snorting chefs attest, restaurants revel in drama and excitement. Running one requires culinary expertise, of course, but also creativity, business nous and people management skills  all geared to pleasing the customer and creating the ambience celebrated by Samuel Johnson: There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced, as by a good tavern or inn.

It takes a while for William Sitwells stimulating history of this global phenomenon to get going, since, apart from a colourful evocation of Pompeii, with its prototype pizzas, the early story is more about eating away than eating out.

Theres a travelogue about the North African explorer Ibn Battutas contacts with exotic cuisines, and an admiring account of the range of produce in the Ottoman Empire.

Always well-informed, never dull, William Sitwell summons a future of expensive concept menus marrying science with fanciful ingredients, as pioneered by Heston Blumenthal (above)

Such encounters were more about conventional hospitality than restaurant-style communality, a feature where Britains taverns pointed the way. Social habits didnt change much before coffees arrival from the Middle East in the 17th Century.

Coffee houses became so popular and politically volatile that Charles II tried to suppress them.

Star chefs began to surface in post-revolutionary France, where Marie-Antoine Careme, originally a patissier, invented the uniform of white jacket and tall white hat (toque).

Laying down rules for everything from service to sauces, his cookbooks created a fine art of gastronomy. Several French chefs subsequently brought their skills to Britain  among them Alexis Soyer, who created sumptuous dishes on revolutionary gas stoves at Londons Reform Club.

Always well-informed, never dull, Sitwell summons a future of expensive concept menus marrying science with fanciful ingredients, as pioneered by Heston Blumenthal.

But he suggests there will always be a place for a good, simple meal which, as food writer Nicholas Lander observed, represents the least expensive form of travel.

Andrew Lycett
We all need to be thinking about the long game, and having these parties when we need people to continue to stay at home is just silly. Whats it going to mean? Its going to mean we are never getting out of this," Lightfoot said. "Your actions are going to make a difference between whether or not we get out sooner or later, whether or not we have a summer or we do not. Its absolutely essential that we stay the course and people stay home.
Denpasar, Indonesia  The Indonesian resort island of Bali, which received half a million international tourists a month until visas on arrival were halted on March 20, is now the site of a medical mystery that has beguiled many: There are no visible signs of a widespread coronavirus pandemic here.

Days after new tourists were banned and when much of the world was locking down, tens of thousands of Balinese attended Hindu ceremonies marking the New Year.

Life in the Balinese capital, Denpasar, continues as normal as Al Jazeera witnessed last weekend in the citys bustling wet markets.

As of Saturday, there were only 235 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the island, including 121 recoveries and four deaths  figures that fly in the face of predictions by contagious disease experts cited in reports by Al Jazeera and other news sources, which warned Bali could emerge as a coronavirus hotspot in Indonesia.





Looking for answers

Balis apparent immunity to COVID-19 has generated much discussion on social media, representing a wide gamut of opinion that also reflects the islands spirituality and mysticism.

Others cite conspiracy theories that claim the pandemic is a hoax invented by overzealous governments and vaccination figureheads like Bill Gates.

Gede Wanasari, head priest of the Indonesia Hinduism Society, told Al Jazeera Bali was spared because of the good karma and prayers of the Balinese people.

He also points to Balinese cuisine, saying it contains a lot of herbs to increase human immunity  a theory supported by some studies and nutrition experts on the island.

Tourism in Bali has ground to a halt, but life in the capital Denpasar continues as normal including at the bustling markets [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera]

From a medical perspective, Dr Panji Hadisoemarto, an epidemiologist at Padjadjaran University in Java, has also been pondering Balis apparent immunity to COVID-19.

When COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, I thought Bali would be one of the first places to be hit hard because of all the Chinese tourists, he said.

I was wrong, and Im starting to question the assumptions behind these models because the rate of transmission is a lot lower than expected. But the real question is  is this real or just an artefact of under-reporting?

Indonesia has one of the worst COVID-19 testing rates in the world  only 374 for every million compared with 20,241 for every million in the United States and 24,600 in Singapore, according to coronavirus tallying site Worldometer. In Bali, an island of about four million people, only about 1,300 tests have been conducted so far.

No signs of health emergency

Indonesian President Joko Widodo previously admitted to holding back some information on COVID-19 to prevent the public from panicking, while Al Jazeera heard allegations from two independent sources that some health officials in Bali have botched the handling of test results.

And while data can be suppressed, large numbers of people becoming ill or dying on an island the size of Bali cannot.

A Balinese family enjoys a picnic in front of a temple in Batu Bolong Beach in Canggu before the coronavirus pandemic [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera]

When Al Jazeera visited Udayana University Hospital in Bali last weekend, there was no one outside the emergency ward.

At Sanglah Hospital, the largest on the island, nine people were waiting for attention  none of whom displayed outward symptoms (such as a dry cough) of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, gravediggers at the largest burial grounds on the island  Kampung Jawa Muslim Cemetery and Taman Mumbul Crematorium  said they had not been busier than usual since the pandemic began.

Misdiagnosis

Dr Hadisoemarto said there are two possible answers to the mystery.

Either there is no transmission in Bali, or the transmission is silent because people are getting infected but most of them are asymptomatic, he said, adding that either answer leads to more questions.

Does it have anything to do with genetics, the lifestyle in Bali or how the virus behaves in the tropics?





Dr Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist who has helped formulate Indonesias Ministry of Health pandemic management strategy for 20 years, also believes the real number of COVID-19 in Bali is much higher than the official tally.

He said the spread is going undetected because of a lack of testing and underreporting caused by cultural norms that encourage traditional healing at home.

He also theorised that many COVID-19 infections in Bali are being misdiagnosed as dengue fever  a disease spread by mosquitoes.

There is an extraordinarily high number of dengue cases in Bali right now  more than 2,100 cases  and I believe that is because testing for dengue is easier, cheaper and faster than testing for COVID-19.

Asymptomatic outbreak?

The theory is corroborated by a recent study in the peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet, which describes two patients in Singapore who received false-positive results for dengue and were later confirmed to have COVID-19.

Budiman said the unusually low COVID-19 mortality rate in Bali could be attributed to an asymptomatic outbreak.

A couple wash their hands at one of thousands of free hand-washing stations set up across Bali under a sign that says masks are compulsory at the wet market in the capital Denpasar [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera]

We know 80 percent of all cases around the world are asymptomatic because they are related to young adults. I believe thats taking place in Bali  most cases are asymptomatic because of the young demographic, he said.

Udayana University Professor Gusti Ngurah Mahardika, Balis most senior virologist, also believes the islands demographics are playing a factor.

If you look at the age structure in Bali, the median age is only 30. But if you compare it to America where 16 percent of the population is more than 70 years old and in Italy where its 20 percent, it provides a reasonable explanation as to the low number of reported cases and the low mortality rate in Bali.

The heat theory

Mahardika pointed out that the virus does not transmit as effectively in tropical climates like Balis.

I have published a paper that argues COVID-19 might be sensitive to heat and humidity as has been reported with MERS and SARS, he says.

Last week, President Jokowi shared the so-called heat theory with reporters.

All the beach areas in Bali have been closed to tourism to help contain the spread of the coronavirus [Ian Neubauer/Al Jazeera]

The higher the temperature, the higher the humidity and direct exposure to sunlight will further shorten the life span of the COVID-19 in the air and on non-porous surfaces. This is good news for Indonesia, the president said, basing his statement on emerging findings released by the US Department of Homeland Security.

But the heat theory fails to account for infection rates in Singapore, which has very similar meteorological conditions to Bali, but experienced a daily jump of more than 1,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases on April 20  despite having one of the worlds strictest lockdowns.

In the Brazilian city of Manaus, where meteorological and demographical conditions are also almost identical to those in Bali, Mayor Virgilio Neto described the situation as a horror movie, with bodies piling up in refrigerated trucks, mass graves being dug outside cemeteries and a healthcare system that has collapsed.





Mahardika, Balis foremost virologist, who was initially puzzled by events in Manaus, later commented the only variable left to consider are some Brazilian cultural norms and lifestyle involving closer physical contact among its people compared with the Balinese.

Mahardika qualifies his responses by saying it is all guesswork because of the limited testing.

There is no transparency of data in Indonesia, so all we can do is speculate. But one things for sure: Theres no miracle in Bali.

Dr Hadisoemarto concurs: The truth is no one can explain what is happening in Bali. Its very interesting, and someone needs to go there and do the research because it could help us come up with an answer to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.
A jail inmate was killed and a few others were injured in a clash between two groups of prisoners lodged in Baghpat district jail on Saturday, police said.

The deceased Rishipal (42), a resident of Bassi village in Baghpat, was killed in the fight with a rival group led by Bablu Kashyap, who is undergoing life imprisonment, on Saturday afternoon, Baghpat Superintendent of Police Gopendra Yadav said.

District Magistrate Shakuntala Gautam said a magisterial enquiry has been ordered following the incident.

Rishipal had been in jail since November 21 last year due to a confrontation with locals in his native village, he added. Some of his family members were also arrested in connection with the case.

On Saturday morning, the trouble started when Bablu, shifted here 10 days ago from Meerut jail, was digging a pit in the compound. A verbal duel ensued between the two as Rishipal thought Bablu was hiding some inflammable material inside the pit.

The jail staff managed to pacify both inmates and they returned to their barracks, the SP said.

Around 3 pm, Bablu along with five of his associates entered Rishipal's cell where he was sleeping. The group attacked Rishipal with a spoon sharpened like a knife and a pointed iron rod leaving him seriously injured.

He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to the injuries, the SP said.

Rishipal's brother-in-law Amit, who was also in jail, was seriously injured and admitted to the district hospital.

A total of 12 inmates, including Rishipal's father, received minor injuries in the incident, he said.

In the past, the district jail was in when notorious criminal Munna Bajrangi was killed inside the premises in 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On Friday it was announced that in Hungary large events of more than 500 people are banned by the government until 15 August. This was soon followed by a statement from the promoters of the Grand Prix that fans will not be welcome at the F1 weekend in 2020, whenever that will be. Both Hungary and FOM keep faith in a race at the Hungaroring.

For the government of Hungary, it is also very important that Formula 1 'just' travels this year, because it promotes the country and capital Budapest. If we can believe the BBC, the FOM is still planning to hold a Grand Prix in Hungary, despite the aforementioned measures. Employees of the FOM would already be in talks with the Hungarian government to come to a solution.

Formula 1 on 23 August?

The team boss of Tom Coronel thinks pretty sure that the Hungarian Grand Prix is planned for August 23rd, according to the Formula 1 cafe. Francois Verbist sent a message to the F1 analyst with the following text: "Formula 1 stole the date of the Hungaroring". Normally the WTCR (with Coronel active in an Audi) drives that weekend on the Hungarian asphalt, but the pinnacle motorsport seems to claim the circuit.

Possibly two Grands Prix will also be held in Hungary. In any case, the circuit is open for it, but from Formula 1 nothing has been confirmed yet about those plans.
ANN ARBOR, MI  They wanted to be heard, and took some risks Friday by taking part in a demonstration supporting workers and immigrants living illegally in the U.S.

Two undocumented immigrants who work at a restaurant and a printing company were among about 100 demonstrators who rallied on International Workers Day for better protections for essential workers in a drive-by protest in Ann Arbor. Honduras native Yamileth, 44, who did not want to share her last name out of fear of deportation, said in a translated interview she has gone above and beyond and worked overtime at a local restaurant kitchen job, which she lost after the state-ordered closures of non-essential services due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Protesters to demand immigrant worker protection during coronavirus pandemic

We do not have any support, and the only way for them to see what were going through is to remember who we are. Im tired of hiding, Yamileth said in an interview facilitated by a translator. Ive never called in sick. Ive always stayed overtime when needed  Im out of a job and not appreciated for my efforts or time.

I want to show everybody I have been part of why the economy has improved. Every undocumented immigrant pays taxes and theyre an important part of the economy."

Supporters called for financial help for immigrant workers and families who do not qualify for state or federal aid, including spouses who are citizens. The caravan was part of a nationwide rally by Movimiento Cosecha, an immigrant rights group that launched a national Undocumented Worker Fund for those affected by the pandemic.

Yamileth and Mexico native Zhara, 32, who also wanted her full name withheld out of fear of deportation, did not receive unemployment benefits or stimulus checks due to a lack of legal immigration status.

I feel the government doesnt see us, even though my children are American citizens, Zhara said. We are part of this economy  were essential workers.

Zhara is still employed at her printing company, where she took on double-shifts and said she began feeling sick after an employee tested positive for COVID-19. She tried to get tested at a local hospital and was turned away.

They said I needed a doctors order and didnt have the real symptoms, even though I felt really sick and there was somebody impacted in my workplace, Zhara said.

The two said they were not afraid to openly protest Friday.

I have been here for 17 years and the community has been afraid forever. Afraid to be deported, afraid to make a mistake. Yamileth said. I have rights to be respected as a human being.

Zharas two daughters constantly worry about their mother not returning home.

Were not here to take anything away from anybody," Zhara said. "Were here to give a better life for our kids just like every human being would do. It is difficult for us to be here as immigrants and being in danger of being deported ... I want to be treated like every human being. We should support each other regardless of our ethnicity, our social background, (and) our economical background, to make a better world.

Yamileth emphasized that immigrants are not delinquent," saying she pay her taxes while financially supporting her mother in Honduras.

We are the ones who lift up a city when a hurricane has come by building houses, picking up bricks  mowing your lawn, building your roof and cleaning your house. Yamileth said.

Ann Arbor Farmers Market to reopen May 9 for curbside pickup

Ann Arbor parking fees waived at garages and lots until stay-at-home order lifts

Plan to follow safety rules while shopping at Ann Arbor-area garden centers this weekend
coronavirus testing

Getty

Bill Gates said at a CNN town hall on Thursday night that US testing data was "bogus" because of testing inequality and slow turnaround.

"The United States does not prioritize who gets tested," he said. "And the United States does not make sure you get results in 24 hours."

The US is testing about 200,000 people a day for the coronavirus, but it can take several days before Americans are told whether they have tested positive or negative.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Bill Gates has called the US's coronavirus testing data "bogus" because of testing inequality and slow turnaround.

The 67-year-old billionaire philanthropist discussed the US coronavirus response on Thursday night during CNN's global town hall with the hosts Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

The US is now testing about 200,000 people a day. Experts from Harvard University have suggested that to fully "remobilize the economy," the US needs to be testing 20 million people a day by midsummer.

Gates said that while the US was conducting a greater number of tests each day than it did earlier in the crisis, the latest testing didn't accurately reflect the country's population, particularly those in low-income areas.

"The United States does not prioritize who gets tested," he said. "And the United States does not make sure you get results in 24 hours."

Testing in the US remains a long and complicated task, and it can take several days before people are told whether they have tested positive or negative for COVID-19.

"If you get your test results within 24 hours so you can act on it, then let's count it," he said, adding that people were most infectious within the first three to four days after infection and might continue to interact with others and spread the virus until they have definitive results.

"What's the point of the test?" he said. "That's your period of greatest infectiousness."

Story continues

Gates added that residents of low-income neighborhoods had lesser access to testing facilities and were not prioritized, despite indications that the virus has taken a disproportionate toll on marginalized communities.

"Our system fails to have the prioritization that would give us an accurate picture of what's going on," he said.

Gates has been warning about the risk of a pandemic for years, previously saying a global health crisis could wipe out 30 million people in less than a year. He told the Financial Times in April that COVID-19 was the "biggest event that people will experience in their entire lives" and that a viral outbreak similar to this one could happen "every 20 years or so."

His foundation, which has committed billions of dollars to the research of other infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, has already pledged over $250 million in response to COVID-19. According to the foundation, the funds are being used to help poor communities prepare for the virus and are helping accelerate the detection and containment of the virus.

Earlier this week, Gates said in an interview with the Financial Times that his charity was giving "total attention" to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Some sun in the morning with increasing clouds during the afternoon. High 46F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Overcast. Low 26F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
Ellen DeGeneres' reputation has been tainted after she has been criticized multiple times because of her diva personality.

The 62-year-old host was outed by her former staff in a viral Twitter thread, labeling her as "notoriously one of the meanest people alive."

Comedian and podcast host Kevin T. Porter encouraged his social media followers to post anecdotes about DeGeneres' rude behavior in exchange for donations to the Los Angeles Food Bank, to which he got over 2,000 responses.

America's Most Beloved Host No More!

In addition to the previous criticisms, the Emmy Award winner's former bodyguard spilled the tea and accused her of being "cold" and "demeaning."

In his interview with Fox News, Tom Majercak -- a senior manager of operations for Security Imagery Specialists (SIS) -- detailed his experience when he worked for the controversial host.

Majercak shared that he was assigned to cover for DeGeneres, her mom and her wife Portia de Rossi for the 86th Academy Awards (from the red carpet, Dolby Theatre down to post-ceremony Governor's Ball).

He mentioned that in his 10 years in the security service, he's no longer new to handling A-listers such as Ellen. However, his experience with the host was unique, in a bad way.

"I'm holding their hands and walking them through individuals and large groups of people. Ellen is the one person that I've been assigned to -- and I've been assigned to quite a few celebrities -- that has never taken the time to say hi to me," he recalled.

Majercak also added that during the big event, De Rossi was "very pleasant and carried on a conversation" while her partner gave her the cold shoulder.

"It started going negatively when she introduced me to Ellen and Ellen pretty much just gave me a side glance out of her eye and didn't even say 'hello,' or 'thank you for protecting my mother, my wife and me,'" Majercak furthered.

"It was very cold and it was very sly and it was actually kind of demeaning in the way that she treats people other than those who are in her circle."

The former security manager also revealed that the reason he outed the host was to speak the truth. He further claimed that DeGeneres plays this " enlightened and positive" persona on cam but acts very differently in person.

Nikkie Tutorials Regrets Being on "The Ellen Degeneres Show"

Aside from Majercak, Youtube sensation and beauty guru Nikkie de Jager or Nikkie Tutorials confessed that she regrets guesting in "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" after her awful experience with the host/comedian.

She confessed in a dutch publication &C Magazine that she encountered unequal treatment from DeGeneres during her appearance in the show.

Nikkie revealed that she was excited and "expected a Disney show" in her guesting. Instead, she got what she described as "Teletubbies after dark."

The Youtube star went on and mentioned that the award-winning host didn't even greet or acknowledge her backstage.
Relatives of the students coming



by a special train from Rajasthans Kota have been asked not to come to the railway station in Ranchi as the administration has arranged buses to drop them to their homes.

The guardians should stay at home and receive their children, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

All students will be ferried by the buses arranged by the district administration to their respective houses. There is no necessity for the relatives to come to the railway station under any circumstances, it said.

After around 1,200 migrant workers reached Hatia station from Telangana on Friday night, students from the state stranded in Kota are on the way to Ranchi and the train is expected to arrive in the evening, according to officials.

Meanwhile, the Kota-Dhanbad special train carrying another batch of students will leave Kota at 9 pm, railway sources in Dhanbad said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Around the world, governments are moving to correct an historical inequality that dates back to the birth of digital media platforms.

In April 2020 alone, Australia and France both announced plans to make sure Google and Facebook pay their fair share, instead of exploiting tax loopholes while making billions of dollars off the back of original content producers.

We, the undersigned publishers representing the vast majority of Canadian newspapers, call on Ottawa to follow the example of France and Australia.

The situation is urgent, with media companies suffering huge advertising revenue declines because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Other governments recognize the need for speedy intervention. Both France and Australia have set deadlines to have mandatory solutions in place by July. That means paying for copyrighted content and sharing the advertising dollars and data that flow from it.

We encourage the Federal Government to follow the advice of its own expert panel set up to review the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts, which recommended similar measures. The model exists. The need is clear. Lets apply those principles of fairness in Canada, and do it now.

Respectfully,

John Boynton

Publisher

Bob Cox

Publisher

Phillip Crawley



Publisher and CEO

James C. Irving

Vice President

Jonathon J.L. Kennedy

President and CEO

Pierre-Elliott Levasseur

President

Andrew MacLeod

CEO

Brian Myles

CEO

Rick OConnor

President and CEO

Lyne Robitaille

President and Editor

Lyne Robitaille

President and Editor

Read more about:
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India's tally of COVID-19 positive cases has reached 37,776, including 1,223 deaths, as per the Union Health Ministry's latest update.

Of these, 26,535 are active cases while 10,017 have been cured or discharged.

The data was updated at 6 pm on May 2 on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic 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

With 11,506 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state, followed by Gujarat (4,721) and Delhi (3,738).

Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences on May 2 announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the investigational antiviral remdesivir to treat COVID-19.

Remdesivir is authorised for the treatment of hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19 disease. The optimal duration of treatment is still being studied in ongoing clinical trials. Under the EUA, both 5-day and 10-day treatment durations are suggested, based on the severity of disease.

S. No. Name of State / UT Total Confirmed cases (Including 111 foreign Nationals) Cured/Discharged/ Migrated Death 1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 33 16 0 2 Andhra Pradesh 1,525 441 33 3 Arunachal Pradesh 1 1 0 4 Assam 43 32 1 5 Bihar 471 98 3 6 Chandigarh 88 17 0 7 Chhattisgarh 43 36 0 8 Delhi 3,738 1,167 61 9 Goa 7 7 0 10 Gujarat 4,721 735 236 11 Haryana 360 227 4 12 Himachal Pradesh 40 30 1 13 Jammu and Kashmir 639 247 8 14 Jharkhand 111 20 3 15 Karnataka 598 255 25 16 Kerala 498 392 4 17 Ladakh 22 17 0 18 Madhya Pradesh 2,719 524 145 19 Maharashtra 11,506 1,879 485 20 Manipur 2 2 0 21 Meghalaya 12 0 1 22 Mizoram 1 0 0 23 Odisha 154 55 1 24 Puducherry 8 5 0 25 Punjab 772 112 20 26 Rajasthan 2,666 1,116 62 27 Tamil Nadu 2,526 1,312 28 28 Telangana 1,057 441 26 29 Tripura 2 2 0 30 Uttarakhand 58 37 0 31 Uttar Pradesh 2,455 656 43 32 West Bengal 795 139 33 Total number of confirmed cases in India 37,776* 10,018 1,223 *105 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing *States wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation *Our figures are being reconciled with ICMR

The Oval office said that US President Donald Trump granted the authorisation on May 1.

Globally, there have been over 33.6 lakh confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 2.39 lakh people have died so far. The United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the UK are the most-affected countries.
New Delhi, May 2 : If liquor is what you have been waiting with bated breath, there's good news for you, even if you happen to be in a red zone like Delhi or Noida. Now alcohol will be allowed in all zones and so will be tobacco and pan, however, with certain riders. As the Centre extended the current lockdown by another couple of weeks on Friday, the Home Ministry gave this reprieve that set to cheer up many.

However, that privilege is not extended to those living in a containment zone for whom strict adherence to lockdown will remain a must.

For the rest, alcohol sale and purchase is being allowed but only through stand alone shops. Which essentially means one cannot buy or sell them through a shop that is either in a mall or in a shopping complex.

"Liquor stores and pan shops will be allowed to function in all zones while ensuring a minimum six feet distance from each other and ensuring that not more than five persons are present at one time at the shop," the MHA statement said.

In a nutshell, tobacco, alcohol and pan can be sold in all districts of India only barring the hotspots which are sealed by administration and where entry and exit are monitored.

This move seems to have come after continued pressure from the state governments who have been missing on a significant amount of state excise duty that remains essential for it to run other welfare schemes or give salaries to government employees.

In fact, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh wrote to the PM arguing for the same. Moreover, many through social media have been reaching out to key ministers in the government demanding liquor sale be allowed.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The former chief executive of Blue Bell Creameries was charged with conspiracy in connection with his repeated efforts to cover up what became a deadly outbreak of listeria in some of the companys products in 2015, federal prosecutors said on Friday.

In addition, the company pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of distributing adulterated ice cream products and agreed to pay a total of $19.4 million in fines, forfeitures and civil payments  the second-largest amount ever paid to resolve a food safety case, officials said. (Chipotle Mexican Grill last month agreed to pay a $25 million fine related to charges stemming from more than 1,100 cases of food-borne illnesses.)

Prosecutors charged that Blue Bell, which is based in Brenham, Texas, about 75 miles northwest of Houston, distributed ice cream products that were manufactured under unsanitary conditions and contaminated with listeria monocytogenes.

The illness caused by the bacteria can be life-threatening. Those at high risk include pregnant women, people 65 and older and those with compromised immune systems.
Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev on Saturday directed a senior officer to set up a 'Staff Welfare Cell' for regular interaction with COVID-19 positive government officials as well as their family members.

The chief secretary also appointed Delhi Jal Board CEO Nikhil Kumar as state nodal welfare officer to provide assistance to the patients, corporations and autonomous and local bodies.

According to a Delhi government order, the state nodal welfare officer has been asked to take necessary steps to set up a 24x7 helpline for such officials.

The chief secretary has directed Kumar to identify and earmark two dedicated hospitals and an exclusive testing laboratory for treatment and testing of suspected and COVID-19 infected Delhi government officials and their family members on cashless basis.

"All district magistrates are also directed to provide details of officers/officials found COVID-19 positive in their districts on daily basis to state nodal welfare officer for further action as mentioned," the chief secretary said in the order.

On Friday, Delhi recorded 223 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the tally to 3,738 with two more deaths being reported here.

The number of fatalities due to COVID-19 now stands at 61.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police have arrested two men on suspicion of murdering an NHS worker who was tragically stabbed two days before his father's funeral.

The Metropolitan Police arrested a 19-year-old man in Stratford on Friday afternoon after arresting a 17-year-old boy in Telford, Shropshire, on suspicion of murdering NHS worker David Gomoh.

David Gomoh, 24, was stabbed to death in Newham, east London, just two days before he was supposed to attend his father's funeral who had died of coronavirus.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old on suspician of murdering David Gomoh (pictured left). The NHS supply chain worker was stabbed to death In Newham, London, two days before he was supposed to attend the funeral of his father (pictured right) who had died of coronavirus

David's family has gone through 'unimaginable torment' after David and his father (pictured right) died. David leaves behind his mother (pictured left) and a sister

The family have gone through 'unimaginable pain' after David's father, Ken Gomoh, died of coronavirus only to be followed by David being stabbed 100 metres outside his house on April 26.

David staggered to his home with his stab wounds and shouted 'mum help me' before neighbours rushed to him and medics rushed him to hospital.

Pictured: the scene on Freemasons road in Newham, London, after launched an investigation into David's murder

David was a supply chain worker for the NHS at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and his mother is a labour ward matron at Newham University Hospital.

On April 29 Police released a photo of the stolen silver Dodge Caliber that was used by David's killers found abandoned minutes after the stabbing, half a mile away in Lincoln Road, Plaistow.

The car, which was stolen in Dagenham on April 16, had fake number plates and had previously been driven through a no entry sign from Cumberland Road.

David's killers stole a silver Dodge Caliber found abandoned minutes after the stabbing, half a mile away in Lincoln Road, Plaistow

Police believe he was murdered in murdered in a 'totally unprovoked attack'.

Detective Inspector Tony Kirk of the Met Police Specialist Crime Command said: 'David's family are going through unimaginable torment.

'Within days his mother has seen the death of her husband and son; his sister has lost her brother and father, both are now heartbroken.

'David was a young man who had worked hard to put himself through university and, like his mother, worked hard for the community in the NHS.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 18:30:27|Editor: huaxia

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by Yosley Carrero

HAVANA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Ana Perez for the first time in years did not go anywhere during May Day amid the country's efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 nationwide.

The 52-year-old English professor lives with her husband and sons in an apartment in Alamar district, on the outskirts of Cuba's capital Havana.

Perez, who along with her family usually participates in May Day parades at the Revolution Square, started her day by hanging the Cuban flag on her balcony as a symbol of national unity.

"The best way to support the government at the moment is by keeping social distancing. Better times shall come. We will certainly go back to the squares," she said.

Like Perez, following the motto "My house is my square," thousands of Cubans across the country celebrated the International Workers' Day from home in line with COVID-19 restrictions.

However, nearly 494,000 health professionals spent the day at hospitals and polyclinics across the country in the context of COVID-19.

"Duty calls. The best way to mark the International Workers' Day is hard work, not parties," Leinier Gonzalez, a doctor at an isolation center in Havana, told Xinhua by phone.

Meanwhile, the streets of the country were embellished with flags while state institutions' front doors showed banners with images of Cuban revolution heroes and martyrs.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel congratulated the country's workers, saying neither blockade or terrorist attacks will cow Cubans.

"We celebrate the International Workers' Day by saving lives and following the legacy of our Commander-in-chief Fidel Castro," he said on Twitter.

The Caribbean nation has nearly 4.4 million workers, 1.4 million of whom are working in the private sector.

Ulises Guillarte de Nascimento, secretary general of the country's workers trade union CTC, noted the importance of those people who are serving in sectors considered essential during the outbreak of COVID-19.

"May Day celebration is a symbol of endurance of peoples. We will beat the coronavirus," he said.

Massive gatherings on the occasion of the International Workers' Day are customary all over the country since the socialist revolution victory in 1959.

The May Day parade at Havana's Revolution Square annually gathers hundreds of thousands of Cuban nationals as well as social activists and trade union leaders from across the world. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 13:06:50|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Loans to China's property sector continued to grow at a slower pace in the first quarter as the country maintains strict home-purchase rules, central bank data has shown.

China's outstanding property loans were up 13.9 percent from a year earlier at 46.16 trillion yuan (about 6.59 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of March, according to a report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The growth rate was 0.9 percentage points lower than that at the end of last year.

Outstanding individual mortgage lending grew 15.9 percent year on year to 31.15 trillion yuan by the end of the first quarter, down 0.8 percentage points from the end of December.

The proportion of property loans continued to fall, while lending to small- and micro-sized enterprises and advanced manufacturing maintained steady growth, said Zou Lan, an official with the PBOC.

China's policymakers have vowed to ensure the stable and healthy development of the property market, repeatedly emphasizing that homes are for living in, not for speculative investment. Enditem
The tipster line has served its purpose as it allows the city to educate potential violators and reduce nonemergency calls to our 911 system, said Lane Mandle, chief of staff for city manager Michael Ortega.

Staff from across the city has engaged in educational outreach to ensure compliance and appreciates how hard the community is working to protect public safety, she said.

The story was similar in other jurisdictions.

In Pima County, Sheriff Mark Napier said his department has received a few complaints, but most have been found to not actually reflect a violation of the restrictions.

With those that might be a violation, our procedure is to educate about the potential violation and seek voluntary compliance, Napier wrote in an email. Due to great cooperation from the public, we have not yet faced any situations where this compliance was not obtained and enforcement action required.

Marana has not cited anyone for violations, but its police department, which is the only entity that can enforce the criminal violations, is actively patrolling the community, said Vic Hathaway, the towns spokeswoman.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:

The total number of coronavirus-infected people in Uzbekistan has reached 2,094, Trend reports on May 2 with reference to the Ministry of Health.

To date, 1 212 patients have fully recovered in the country, nine have died.

On April 30, Uzbekistan's Special Republican Commission for the preparation of a program of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country introduced new measures with the quarantine regime.

From 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM, and from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM local time the citizens of the country are allowed to go out without special permission for the purposes of going to and from work and purchase of medicines and necessities.

Citizens are also allowed to walk near their homes, observing a social distance (intermediate distance of two meters) and wearing face masks.

In addition, the heads of higher education and research institutions, as well as professors, are allowed to continue their scientific work and other activities.

Recently, quarantine in Uzbekistan was extended until May 10.

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 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
Two Thursdays ago, when the afternoon temperature in Winnipeg climbed to a pleasant 18 degrees, pedestrians and cyclists along Wellington Crescent near Lanark Street were greeted by a peculiar sight in a homeowners front yard: a two-metre-tall, topiary camel sporting a bright yellow surgical mask, surrounded by pots containing close to 4,000 flowers, every last one of which was free for the taking as per a sign that read, Help yourself to some spring.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Thursdays ago, when the afternoon temperature in Winnipeg climbed to a pleasant 18 degrees, pedestrians and cyclists along Wellington Crescent near Lanark Street were greeted by a peculiar sight in a homeowners front yard: a two-metre-tall, topiary camel sporting a bright yellow surgical mask, surrounded by pots containing close to 4,000 flowers, every last one of which was free for the taking as per a sign that read, "Help yourself to some spring."

Well get to the camel in a sec  thats the real star of todays story  but first, the flowers.

Dawn Stewart, who along with husband Paul, are the homeowners responsible for the bountiful bouquet and accompanying ungulate, works for a flower wholesaler that supplies local florist shops. Although florists have been allowed to remain open under the governments Public Health Act that closed non-essential businesses, there has been a glut of unsold product at Stewarts place of work lately, owing to the postponement or cancellation of celebratory events such as weddings, anniversary parties and birthday gatherings.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Paul Stewart: Flowers make people happy and so does a camel wearing silly costumes

Early last week Stewart struck a deal  a floral arrangement, if you will  with her bosses. If she and Paul did most of the heavy lifting, they were welcome to take home 3,700 stems earmarked for the trash heap. There they could distribute the mix of daisies, spider mums, mini carnations and lilies gratis to those who habitually pause in front of their two-story abode to take selfies with their moss-filled camel, which, since it came onto the scene three years ago, has appeared as the Easter bunny, a Winnipeg Jets booster and one of Santas reindeer.

"Flowers make most people happy and so does a camel wearing silly costumes," says Dawn, whose family used to own Ormistons Florists. "Together they are an awesome combination to make people smile (and) smiles are contagious, no matter how much social distancing we are practising."



In April 2017, Dawn took part in Art in Bloom, an exhibit held every second year at the Winnipeg Art Gallery that invites floral designers, professional and non-professional alike, to submit arrangements inspired by works of art in the WAGs permanent collection. One of the displays that year was a massive, living wall made out of moss that measured close to seven metres high and six metres across. When the four-day show was over and the wall was slated to be removed, Stewart felt it would be horrible for all that moss to go to waste. Figuring she could find a use for it one day, she commissioned Paul to help her bag and box the lot, which they transported home in their van.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Stewarts yard sign invites passersby to take a one of his 3,700 flower stems.

Paul, a retired school teacher, says his wife has been partial to camels ever since they spent a year living and working in Australia, where feral camels are as common a sight along highways as kangaroos. He wasnt surprised, in that case, when one night over dinner she proposed constructing a camel out of the mountain of moss resting in their backyard.

It took him about a month, using chicken wire and rebar for the interior frame, until he came up with a version resembling the dromedary of Dawns dreams. One problem: the finished product tipped the scales at close to 400 pounds, so he had to enlist his son and a few neighbours to help move Wednesday  a tag suggested by their daughter Zoe in honour of the day of the week commonly referred to as Hump Day  to the spot in the front yard theyd picked out for him. (Yes, Wednesday is a him. Yes, Wednesday has about 300 more followers on Instagram  http://wfp.to/3JF  than we ever will.)

As one might expect, it didnt take long for Wednesday to become a veritable roadside attraction. Soon, people were waving or honking their car horn whenever they went by. Others called out to the Stewarts if they were mowing the lawn or tending their flower beds, letting them know how much they enjoyed the camel, which in time, again at Zoes suggestion, began sporting getups appropriate to whatever holiday was approaching or what event, such as the Teddy Bears Picnic or Movember, was scheduled to take place in the city.

"One woman left a card in our mailbox, telling us that her six-year-old daughter was receiving cancer treatments three days a week, and that driving by our place to and from the hospital always put a smile on her face," Paul says. "Thats when we kind of told ourselves, I guess Wednesdays here to stay."

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Paul Stewart puts out 3,700 flower stems (free for passers-by to take home) by Wednesday the Camel.

Except that wasnt quite the case. In December 2018, while the Stewarts were away on vacation, somebody  a grinch, Dawn calls them  decided it would be amusing to knock the camel over and, while they were at it, destroy a few inflatable snowmen that were on the Stewarts front lawn. The damage was extensive. So much so that, when they returned home, Paul and Dawn were forced to drag a legless Wednesday to the backyard, tether what was left of the sculpture to a tree and decide whether it was worth the effort to put everything back together again.

Thats when a funny thing began to happen. The same as when people left notes thanking the couple for erecting the camel in the first place, many began depositing cards and letters between their doors, asking what they could do to help, after they read a curbside sign explaining what had occurred. A group of cyclists that regularly bikes down Wellington Crescent during their Sunday morning ride went so far as to drop off an envelope filled with cash, along with a letter stating they hoped the enclosed money would help cover any repair bills.

In November 2019, the week before the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Grey Cup title game, a new-and-improved Wednesday made its triumphant return, draped head to hoof in Bombers blue and gold.

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.

"There was definitely a sense of obligation involved to get him up and going again," Paul says, mentioning there is also a bit of self-imposed pressure when it comes to costume ideas. "People going by like to ask what hes going to be dressed as next so, yeah, were always thinking of what we can do to improve on the last one." (Our favourite? When Wednesday once appeared as Yoda in honour of Star Wars Day, which falls annually on May 4, as in "May the fourth be with you.")

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Paul Stewarts flower stems are free for passersby.

Last week wasnt the first time the Stewarts  and Wednesday  have offered flowers to passersby. But it was the first time the giveaway numbered in the thousands; an appropriate amount, Dawn feels, given whats going on in the world at the moment.

"Hundreds of people came by on foot, bikes, scooters, cars and trucks, many of whom told us they were taking the flowers to a friend or neighbour who couldnt get out," Dawn says, stressing most florist shops in the city remain open for business and offer curbside pickup and delivery for anybody wanting to treat a loved one to a bouquet.

Finally, well leave the last word to someone who, after helping themselves to some free flowers, returned later that afternoon to drop off an anonymous, sealed note that expressed the feelings of scores of others.

"Ive been meaning to thank you for months," the message began. "Ive enjoyed seeing your camel and its many costumes. Always brings a smile to my face. Giving out flowers was a lovely touch. Now lets pray for spring weather."

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca
One person has been killed and several others injured after a petrol tanker burst into flames in the Obalende area of Lagos State.

The tanker belonging to the NNPC was said to have tipped over before bursting into flames in front of the Oando filling station.

The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the development, said the 45,000-litre capacity tanker loaded with petrol caught fire after falling on its side in front of the filling station.

READ ALSO  BREAKING: Fire Guts NNPC Petrol Station In Lagos

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He said after the LASEMA got the distress call about the fire, officials from the agency were dispatched to the scene where they along with men of the Lagos State Fire Service and the Federal Fire Service fought and brought the fire under control.
There are people whose lives are devastated by debt, housing, employment, domestic, health and violence issues they cannot address within the legal system because of lack of money and resources.

The Utah Bar Foundation has released a report addressing the unmet legal needs of lower-income Utahns. The report, entitled The Justice Gap: Addressing the Unmet Legal Needs of Lower-Income Utahns, highlights the civil legal needs of the roughly 26% of Utahs population living at or below the 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.

The reports research will help stakeholders make better informed decisions on future policy making and the allocation of funding. The Utah Bar Foundation commissioned the report through research firm Utah Foundation.

The numbers are frightening, said Shawn Teigan, Utah Foundations Research Director. This kind of stress has an impact on every facet of a persons life.

The Utah Foundations random sample of 900 lower-income Utahns finds that 57% of households have at least one civil legal need, and 25% have three or more. Collection agency harassment and scams topped the list of legal needs for financial issues, and unpaid wages and unsafe working conditions were the main needs for employment concerns. Housing legal needs included shoddy living conditions and eviction threats.

The report also found a large segment of lower-income Utahns facing civil health legal needs, including being overcharged for services and unfair denial of coverage or treatment.

The report highlights that:



In the 62,000 debt collection cases filed, nearly 100% of petitioners (or those filing the case) have lawyers, compared to only 2% of respondents (or those whom owe the debt).

For the 14,000 eviction cases filed, 90% of landlords have lawyers compared with only 5% of tenants being evicted

Rural counties tend to have relatively low availability of legal representation available.

More lower-income Utahns try to solve their problems on their own because more than two-thirds of Utahs lower-income survey respondents indicated they could not afford a lawyer if they needed one.

Helping people recognize that they have a legal need and providing them with the resources on how to resolve the problem is the underlying purpose of the report, said attorney Lori W. Nelson, President of the Utah Bar Foundation and past-president of the Utah State Bar.

Available legal assistance for low-income Utahns is capable of handling about 45,000 cases, while the need is estimated at around 240,000 cases. Most low-income households, and indeed most Utahns in general, are not represented in debt collection and eviction cases. Two-thirds of low-income Utahns say they could not afford and attorney if they needed one.

This study was completed in the beginning of February 2020. Now with the COVID-19 pandemic, we anticipate even greater needs across the entire legal spectrum, said Utah Bar Foundation Executive Director Kim Paulding.

Thanks to the innovative ideas and partnerships being formed with Utahs legal aid providers, the Utah Courts and the Utah State Bars Access to Justice Commission, which is co-chaired by retired Justice Christine Durham and Amy Sorneson with Snell & Wilmer, the Utah Bar Foundation hopes that additional lower-income Utahns will find the available resources they need to assist with their legal problems.

Utah's court system has been keenly aware of the access to justice gap and has been actively working to innovate new ways where the public can get affordable legal help at a much lower prices than the traditional hourly rate, the Court said in a written statement. Utah Courts have invested a significant amount of time and resources in narrowing this gap.

Measures by the court to reduce the gap include the creation of Licensed Paralegal Practictioners, who serve as mid-level legal providers, proposed regulatory reforms that, if approved, will allow lawyers and non-lawyers to combine to provide innovartions in legal services, and one of the most robust self-help centers in the country. The self-help center is staffed by attorneys who can help self-represented individuals through the legal process.

There are people whose lives are devastated by debt, housing, employment, domestic, health and violence issues they cannot address within the legal system because of lack of money and resources, said Justice Durham. This report must be a call to action.

Individuals needing help with a legal problems can reach out to United Way of Salt Lakes 2-1-1 Information and Referral line or visit utahlegalhelp.org.

This report, along with an executive summary and two presentation videos can be found at our website at http://www.utahbarfoundation.org.

The Utah Bar Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 organization founded in 1963 that grants funding to legal aid agencies that provide legal services to low-income Utahns and to provide funding for law-related education. The Utah Bar Foundation is a totally separate organization from the Utah State Bar.
WASHINGTON - The Senate returns to Washington from an extended break Monday, putting at least one legislative chamber back into session as Congress struggles to reconcile its constitutional duties with the health risks to lawmakers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Business gets underway Monday evening with a vote to confirm a new inspector general for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission while Senate committees will move ahead on more of President Donald Trump's nominees, including a controversial pick for the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The House, meanwhile, will continue to keep its distance from the Capitol, with only one committee scheduled as of Friday to hold an official hearing. Instead, lawmakers and staff are largely working from home as they try to craft the next trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package and monitor the trillions more that have been spent.

Capitol Hill's split screen reflects the unique responsibilities of each chamber, the political imperatives of the opposing parties that control them and the differing personalities of their respective leaders, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch Connell, R-Ky.

"All across our nation, American workers in essential sectors are following expert advice and taking new precautions while they continue reporting for duty and performing irreplaceable work their country needs," McConnell said in a statement Friday, placing lawmakers in that essential category.

Pelosi, meanwhile, said the House could be effective from afar - even without new rules in place to allow for remote committee hearings and voting. She said she would heed the advice of the congressional attending physician, Brian Monahan - who, she said, had warned about the rising trajectory of the pandemic in the Washington area, which thousands of congressional employees call home.

"It's better to wait," she told reporters Thursday, invoking the physician's advice. "Now, what they advise the Senate, I don't know. But they are 100 [members], we're four times that. . . . I just know what our responsibility is in the House."

However, the debate over Congress's role amid the pandemic - and whether it can be fulfilled from afar - has not broken down neatly along party lines. Other organs of the government and the private sector have adapted to the new normal, prompting criticism from some lawmakers that they are abdicating their responsibilities and ceding authority to the executive branch.

Some liberal Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have called for the House to follow the Senate's lead, while some conservative Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., are calling for remote voting options to eliminate the need for in person legislating.

On Thursday, Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., became the first members of Congress to preside over an official "virtual hearing" - a meeting of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that convened three experts to discuss the necessity and feasibility of expanding remote operations across Capitol Hill.

"The message is that this can be done and it can be done successfully to enhance our ability to govern," Portman said Friday. "People are figuring it out and it's time for Congress to catch up."

Meanwhile, the House is at loggerheads over changing its own practices to allow for remote hearings and a proposal to allow for proxy voting, whereby a member could authorize a colleague to cast a vote on his or her behalf. Pelosi said Thursday she plans to move forward, but top Republicans have signaled firm opposition to that proposal and even to approving legislation in committee.

"People lend that power to their elected official, to their congresswoman or congressman, and they hold them accountable," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Thursday. "They don't lend their power to another member."

Republicans argue that if Trump and Senate Republicans can work in Washington, so can the House.

After a five-week hiatus, McConnell's decision to bring the Senate back is in part rooted in the chamber's unique constitutional power to confirm presidential appointees, and the powerful Kentuckian has made the installation of judicial nominees an especially high priority six months to an election that will decide control of the White House and Senate.

A Wednesday confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee will start the process on the Appeals Court nomination of Justin Walker, a Kentucky-born protege of McConnell's - a prospect that has infuriated many Democrats.

Walker, 37, was confirmed last October for a federal judgeship in Western Kentucky despite being deemed "not qualified" by the American Bar Association over his lack of legal experience.

"The idea of bringing the Senate back into business to do some more right-wing court packing is outrageous in this environment," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said Friday.

McConnell has repeatedly said his motto for the year is leave no vacancy behind.

Other Trump nominees are set to receive hearings this week, including White House lawyer Brian Miller, who is Trump's pick to serve as a special inspector general overseeing trillions in coronavirus rescue funding, and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, his choice for director of national intelligence. Confirmation hearings also are planned for nominees for Navy secretary, the Federal Election Commission and mid-level posts in the Department of Defense and Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The House, meanwhile, has no confirmation power, and it cannot unilaterally pass legislation. But it can use its oversight powers to shine a light on the administration, and many Democrats have urged Pelosi to do just that.

Three scheduled Senate hearing are set to delve into coronavirus-related topics, but they fall short for Democrats who have called on McConnell to summon top Trump administration officials to testify on the federal coronavirus response.

Adding to the Democratic ire was the White House's decision to block Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, from appearing at a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing health agencies. Senate Democrats have also called for testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Deborah Birx, leader of the White House coronavirus task force.

"The American people deserve to immediately hear from the administration's top public health and economic officials," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Friday, calling it "shameful" the hearings won't happen this week.

A senior administration official said Friday that Fauci and other officials would appear before Congress later in the month.

Besides the task of processing nominees, lawmakers are also keen to start work - and the necessary political posturing - on the next coronavirus rescue bill, one whose price tag could rival the $2 trillion Cares Act passed in March. Many Capitol veterans are convinced that the work of negotiating a bill of that size and intricacy will have to be done at least partly face-to-face.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said physical meetings would be "essential to our ability to come up and build consensus" on the next bill - which is already the subject of intense partisan disputes.

Hanging over the need to conduct oversight and process legislative business is the health concerns of not only lawmakers but the thousands who answer their phones, clean their offices and cook their food. Multiple cases of covid-19 have been confirmed among police officers and construction workers employed on the Capitol campus, and Pelosi and other Democrats have invoked the possibility of increased transmission as a reason to keep lawmakers away from the Washington region, which is under stay-at-home orders through at least May 15.

"We don't want to become vectors for this virus," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va. "We don't want to bring it home to our communities, to our families, to our staffs and to the traveling public. That could be disastrous."

One day after Monahan told Senate staffers that tests would only be available for those with covid-19 symptoms, the Trump administration said late Friday it was supplying the attending physician with three rapid testing machines and 1,000 tests. Hours later, Pelosi and McConnell issued a rare joint statement declining the tests, saying they should be for those on the front lines of the pandemic.

Monahan issued a seven-page memo Friday setting out procedures for maintaining health and safety on the Capitol campus. The use of face masks is encouraged as "a service to the community to decrease the risk of infection overall" but not mandated so long as Hill denizens "can maintain the six-foot separation guidelines."

Meanwhile, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee on Thursday issued its own guidance to committees conducting hearings this week, encouraging senators to bring no more than one staffer and to wear a face mask at all times - even when speaking, noting that a "covering will produce minimal reduction in sound when using a microphone."

Monahan's guidance did not mention safety steps to protect the hundreds of other custodial, cafeteria and other blue-collar workers who have largely been home since late March.

On Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., warned that those workers - many of whom, he noted, were minorities - would be putting themselves at risk: "We're going to be pulling people [into the Capitol] against the rules of the city," Booker said on a Thursday conference call organized by Senate Democrats.

The senators themselves are taking various precautions. At least one senator, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., plans to remain away from the Capitol this week for the safety of staff. A spokeswoman, Helen Hare, said Murray plans to return the following week, while her staff continues working remotely.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said his staff will continue working from home for the most part, with only one aide on campus at a time if necessary. Portman, like Romney, plans to wear a mask at the Capitol - and he is encouraging his fellow senators to follow his lead and consider holding remote hearings.

"We now know it can be done easily at your desk, and you don't therefore put anybody at risk, including the staff and the Capitol Police and others who have to be there during a normal hearing," he said. "So I think it's an opportunity."

- - -

The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
AMD partnered with Samsung in August 2019 where it would allow its RDNA architecture would power future Samsung devices, after announcing a multi-year strategic partnership in June 2019.

That new RDNA-powered design seems like it's on the right track, with new rumors from South Korean tech forum Clien which says the Radeon-powered chip "crushed" the Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU in GFXBench. There's quick a smack down from the AMD/Samsung chip versus the Adreno 650, check it out:

AMD/Samsung chip

Manhattan 3.1 test: 181FPS

Aztec Normal: 138FPS

Aztec High: 58FPS

Adreno 650

Manhattan 3.1 test: 123FPS

Aztec Normal: 53FPS

Aztec High: 20FPS

If these scores are real, then we're in for a gigantic surprise when Samsung releases its new phones. It could mean that a huge uptick in performance will come from Qualcomm's next-gen chips, with mobile graphics a big deal when it comes to next-gen gaming smartphones.
Caesar the No Drama Llama loves hugs  but for the most part, those are off the table for Oregons celebrity camelid.

Even llamas are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, Caesar and his owner, Larry McCool, are passing part of the time with walkabouts around the outside of area nursing homes.

This week, Caesar and McCool visited The Oaks at Sherwood Park care facility in Keizer, to wave hello to the residents and health care workers inside.

Were so excited to have Caesar here, said Sharon Alcaraz, activities director at The Oaks at Sherwood Park. The staff have been excited for days, and the residents have been excited as well. Its just amazing to be able to have something so special like that right now.

Alcaraz said group activities have stopped at The Oaks, so the visit from Caesar, even through glass, was a welcome distraction.

Its not every day a llama comes to a nursing home, she said.

McCool took the llama window-to-window around the single-story facility thats home to about 40 residents. Caesar got waves, smiles and a few air-blown kisses for his efforts. He was even permitted a few nibbles of the grass lawn.

Caesar usually makes appearances at festivals, fairs and other public events, and McCool said the llama seems to miss that human connection. Caesar, who can often be seen nuzzling McCools white beard, seemed thrown off, too, by his cloth mask.

In addition to offering care home walkabouts, Caesar is recording free virtual birthday greetings for fans from his farm in Jefferson, Oregon.

Want a llama to attend your next Zoom? He is also accepting invitations to join virtual meetings.

Llama 2 Meetings appearances are free for nonprofits and classrooms, and businesses can have Caesar drop by in exchange for making a donation in the llamas name to a local charity of their choice. Learn more on the No Drama Llama Facebook page.

-- Samantha Swindler; sswindler@oregonian.com; @editorswindler

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL --The Columbia County Board of County Commissioners has announced that county government offices will reopen on Monday, May 4th, according to the governor's reopening plan -- with some specific restrictions. Their statement reads as follows:



" Columbia County government offices will reopen with restrictions on Monday, May 4 to comply with Governor DeSantis 'Phase I: Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step. Plan for Floridas Recovery.'

'The Board of County Commissioners appreciates everyones patience and support during this crisis,' says Ben Scott, County Manager. 'Columbia County citizens health and safety are top priorities.'

Some specific restrictions include the following:

The Columbia County Annex Building front doors will remain locked; however, the side ADA accessible entrance will be open for access to the following offices: Board of County Commissioners, Property Appraiser, and Environmental Health. The Tax Collectors office will operate via drive-thru services and by appointment only.

Building and Zoning offices will remain closed until further notice but will continue to issue permits and conduct inspections as per current safety procedures.

The Columbia County Public Library will provide curbside service from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all three branches Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8. Beginning Monday, May 11, all library branches will resume normal operating hours with restrictions in place. Please call (386) 758-2101 with questions.

Columbia County Parks will reopen Monday, May 4, with continued social distancing guidelines which specifically limits groups to ten or less people. Community Centers will remain closed until further notice.

UF/IFAS Extension Columbia County will remained closed to the public. All in-person 4-H and youth programming has been suspended until August 1. The building will open to the public on a limited basis starting Friday, May 15. Contact information for the office will be available on the front door. Contact UF/IFAS at [email protected] or by calling (386) 752-5384.

Any questions regarding specific operations, please contact the respective office. All contact information can be found at www.columbiacountyfla.com.

The County will continue to monitor the progress of COVID-19 and will update the public on further action.

Please follow CDC guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 at www.cdc.gov.

Additional government entity updates listed below.

Tax Collector

Driver License Services and Concealed Weapon Services can be handled by appointment only beginning on May 4th; make your appointment at www.cctaxc.com. We cannot give Driving Skill Tests at this time. All other transactions will be through the Drive-Thru, 7:30 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday. Payments can be made by mail, online at www.cctaxc.com or through the White Drop Box in the parking lot in front of the building.

Tag/Title Questions: (386) 758-1077

Property Tax Questions: (386) 758-1080

Sheriff

Sheriffs Operations Center and Detention Facility remain open with controlled access. The Ft. White District 2 Office will reopen on Monday, May 11, with controlled access.

Supervisor of Elections

The main office will reopen Monday, May 4. Please contact the office at (386) 758-1026 with questions.

Clerk of Courts

Beginning Monday, May 4, the Clerk of Courts office will be issuing marriage licenses and passports by appointment only.

For more information please call (386) 754-7005.

Property Appraiser

The Columbia County Property Appraisers Office will open to the public beginning Monday, May 4. If you come to the Downtown Office, you must enter the building on the north side at the ADA accessible entrance. The Fort White Office will reopen on Wednesday, May 13.

If you have not filed for homestead or any other exemption due to COVID-19, please do so ASAP.

If you have filed for the Senior Citizen exemption and we have not verified your income, please give us a call for further instructions. The Tangible Personal Property deadline has been extended until Friday, May 15th.

Our office has taken the necessary steps to protect our employees and citizens. If you are still uncomfortable with coming to our office, please call us at (386) 758-1083, and we will make arrangements to assist you. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Columbia County Health Department

Office is open, please call (386) 758-1068 for an appointment.



Columbia County Environmental Health Department

Clients that need Environmental Health services can contact (386) 758-1058 (no appointment necessary). For water sample or septic tank permit drop offs, please come to the Environmental Health office and call for service.

The State Department of Health 24/7 COVID-19 Information Line is (866) 779-6121."
(Natural News) An outbreak of coronavirus at a Massachusetts nursing home for veterans has left almost 70 residents dead and others still fighting the disease. This sad development from the state-run Holyoke Soldiers Home is the deadliest known outbreak so far at an American long-term care facility.

An investigation by federal officials is now underway into whether the residents there were given proper medical care, and legal action is a possibility in this case.

So far, 68 residents who tested positive for COVID-19 have died there, while the coronavirus status of another resident who recently died at the facility is unknown. A further 82 residents have tested positive, along with 81 employees. According to the Boston Globe, new deaths are reported from the outbreak nearly every day.

The superintendent of the facility, Bennett Walsh, has been placed on administrative leave. Walsh said that officials knew the home was experiencing staffing shortages, and its a problem that the home had been dealing with for many years. One nurse who worked there said the issue was a major factor in the spread of the virus.

Tight staffing meant that workers were constantly being shuffled between units, passing germs around from area to area. One unit was even shut down for a time because of a lack of staff, with the veterans living there being moved into close quarters in a different area of the building.

The nurse, Joan Miller, told the AP that Veterans were on top of each other. She added that they didnt know which people had tested positive for the disease, and grouping them all together just made matters worse. Miller said she tested negative for the disease in early April but has not been given another test since then.

Now the situation is more contained  but thats only because there are so few veterans remaining at the facility as so many have died. The home, which had 230 residents at the end of March, now has just around 100. Before the outbreak, nearly a third of the residents there were aged 90 and above and needed care around the clock.

Some family members of residents have expressed frustration about a lack of communication. Unable to visit in person, their questions by phone often went unanswered.

Care home conditions under investigation

Experts say the death toll is the biggest seen at a long-term care facility in the U.S., and the case illustrates just how unprepared many of the countrys nursing home facilities are. An outside attorney is investigating the deaths, while Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has also launched an investigation to determine whether legal action is appropriate in this case. The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and Massachusetts U.S. Attorneys office are also looking into whether the rights of residents were violated by not providing them with proper medical care.

Its not known just how many people have died from COVID-19 in the nations nursing homes because the federal government only recently started requiring nursing homes to report the numbers of confirmed and presumed deaths as well as infections; those figures have yet to be published.

However, according to data compiled by the Associated Press from media reports and state health departments, nearly 14,000 people have died from nursing home and long-term care facility outbreaks in the U.S. They caution, however, that the real number is likely much higher as only half of states have been reporting deaths in nursing homes and not all of them are counting people who died without getting tested.

As states move toward resuming normal life, its essential that they keep this type of tragedy in mind and take measures to prevent future incidents like this from occurring.

Sources for this article include:

APNews.com

BostonGlobe.com
The central government is likely to announce a relief package for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have been affected due to the coronavirus lockdown, Union MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday. He said that the financial package is expected to be announced in due course.

"We have sent recommendations for a relief package to the Finance Minister and Prime Minister, and I hope it will be announced soon," Gadkari said while addressing a webinar in New Delhi today.

He urged Indian industries to have a positive attitude and asked them to adopt an integrated approach to overcome the crisis while ensuring the lives and livelihood of people.

Referring to the economic crisis across the world, Gadkari said that it is a golden opportunity for Indian industries and entrepreneurs to explore new businesses. He suggested that Indian Inc must adopt technological innovation and import substitution to attract investments from global businesses that look to exit China.

Interacting with members of the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in a webinar, the minister expressed confidence that 25 lakh MSMEs will be restructured by the end of the year.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Nitin Gadkari announces Rs 1 lakh crore fund for MSMEs

Last week, during an interaction with the representatives of Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM) on impact of COVID-19 on MSMEs, Gadkari had said that the government was working on a dedicated fund to address delayed payments of MSMEs.

"We have prepared a fund of Rs 1 lakh crore and government will pay for the insurance. We will fix a formula on how to coordinate between all 3 stakeholders - the one who has to receive money, the one who has to pay money, and bank," Gadkari had said. The fund will provide some relief to the MSME sector to tide over the negative impact of novel coronavirus-related disruption in their businesses and revenue losses. The corpus will be a mobile fund that will help increase liquidity in the market, he said.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Credit flow to MSMEs needs to grow 20% from 2% to address growing unemployment

MSMEs contribute to 29 per cent of GDP in the country and employ over 11 crore people.

On April 17, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did try to ease the liquidity crisis among MSMEs by announcing a targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) of Rs 50,000 crore to help small and medium-sized non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs).

By Chitranjan Kumar

Also Read: RBI cancels licence of CKP Co-operative Bank; depositors to get up to Rs 5 lakh
The prospect of a visit to the pub to watch a game of footy is seemingly edging ever closer as some states start to ease restrictions and the national cabinet prepares to consider lifting some broader curbs next week.

The Australian Border Force has given the go-ahead for players and staff from the New Zealand Warriors rugby league team to travel to Australia to take part in a proposed National Rugby League competition to start in late May.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the ABF commissioner had carefully considered the request from the NZ Warriors.

Following advice from the Chief Medical Officer, it was decided that the 36 foreign nationals do not pose a risk of serious harm to public health in Australia.

'New Zealand is a country which like Australia acted very quickly to close its borders,' Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told reporters on Saturday.

'It has been very successful like Australia in reducing community transmission.'

The Warriors have been granted permission to fly to Australia in time for the NRL season to resume (pictured: celebrating their win in 2019 against the Raiders)

Fans retire to a pub to watch motorsports after the Formula One Australian Grand Prix was cancelled in Melbourne on March 13, 2020

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also floated the prospect of pubs reopening if enough people download the coronavirus tracing app.

Dr Kidd said more than four million have now registered for the COVIDSafe app, which uses Bluetooth connections to determine who infected people came into close contact with.

He believes it is 'realistic' to expect millions more to sign up before the national cabinet sits next Friday to consider lifting restrictions.

But he conceded that app is not yet live and won't be up and running until next week.

He said health officials cannot use the data but will be able to trace back from the time when someone downloaded the app.

Australia Medical Association president Tony Bartone cautioned the NRL and other sporting codes against rushing to start or restart competitions until medical experts say it is safe to do so.

'Sport is a big part of the Australian way of life, and the absence of sporting events is obviously affecting many people,' Dr Bartone said in statement on Saturday.

'But we have to put the broader public health implications first.'

On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also floated the prospect of pubs reopening if enough people download the coronavirus tracing app

While the lifting of restrictions will be a relief to many Australians after weeks of isolation, a federal opposition frontbencher Andrew Giles believes people are equally concerned of a 'second wave' of a virus that other countries thought they had under control.

'I think everyone has really taken very seriously the experience of Singapore, which was of course lauded as a great example of how to manage the pandemic, and of course they have been struck by a very significant second wave,' Mr Giles told ABC television.

Just under 6,800 virus cases have been reported across the country, with the death toll standing at 93 - extremely low by international standards.

As Queensland eased some restrictions, state health officials have issued a public health alert after a Qantas flight passenger was diagnosed with COVID-19.

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

Anyone travelling on Qantas flight QF614 on April 22 has been urged to contact 13 HEALTH following the diagnosis overnight.

NSW has also eased some restrictions, but its health authorities are investigating possible breaches of infection control at a Sydney aged care facility at the centre of a coronavirus cluster.

Of the five new COVID-19 cases in the state over the last 24 hours, two were recorded at Anglicare Newmarch House.

There have been 61 cases and 13 deaths related to transmission at the western Sydney facility.

Meanwhile, a new coronavirus outbreak has been uncovered in a Melbourne meat processing facility, as authorities warn Victoria's progress in fighting the pandemic remains 'incredibly fragile'.

Seven new cases have been confirmed in Victoria.

Health Minister Jenny Mikako revealed eight staff at a meat processing facility had tested positive to COVID-19, including three overnight.
Aircraft operated by local carriers are parked at an airport. Vietjet proposed CAAV withdraw JPAs aviation business license and reallocate its flight operation rights to other local airlines  PHOTO: BAMBOO AIRWAYS

Nguyen Thanh Son, vice general director of Vietjet Aviation JSC (VJA), made this proposal in a letter sent to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) on April 24.

VJA claimed it has cooperated heavily with State management agencies amid the coronavirus pandemic and was allowed to operate six round-trip flights on the busiest domestic route linking HCMC with Hanoi, in addition to a limited number of flights on some other domestic routes.

However, local low-cost airline operator Vietjet observed that JPAs aircraft fleet has been grounded since April, and its licensed flights were operated by Vietnam Airlines aircraft.

JPA did not operate its assigned flights, causing a waste of commercial rights and affecting the travel plans of the local people. Meanwhile, the increase in the number of operational flights run by Vietnam Airlines was inappropriate, the Vietjet representative stressed.

Specifically, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, which holds a majority stake in JPA, was permitted to operate six domestic round-trip flights but has put up for sale air tickets for eight round-trip flights on the Hanoi-HCMC route for the last five days of the month.

Accordingly, Vietjet proposed CAAV discipline Vietnam Airlines for allegedly violating the administrations flight operation assignment as well as revoke the aviation business license of JPA.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines noted in a statement on April 16 that it has jointly operated code share flights with JPA for two years. This means passengers who bought Vietnam Airlines tickets may have traveled on flights operated by JPA.

Vietnam Airlines currently owns a 68.85% stake in JPA. The national flag carrier is negotiating with Qantas to raise its holdings in JPA to 98%.

JPA, after undergoing the restructuring process, will reportedly continue to be a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines and will operate flights, as assigned by the parent company. SGT
Sri Lanka's decision to hold the parliamentary elections on June 20 was left in balance on Saturday as a special meeting of political parties to firm up the date ended inconclusive, party representatives said.

Sri Lanka in mid-April postponed the parliamentary elections by nearly two months to June 20 due to the coronavirus outbreak that has killed seven people and infected 690 others in the island nation.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on March 2 dissolved Parliament, six months ahead of schedule and called a snap election on April 25.

The independent election commission had called the meeting with party representatives in view of the ongoing lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There was no final decision. We pointed out the difficulties faced by the public, their thoughts are not on the election," Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, said.

"People are not ready for the election, health will be their main concern right now," Dayasiri Jayasekera, another political leader from the Freedom Party, said.

The Election Commission having set the date said they would be directed by the health authorities in making the decision on the date of the poll.

The government allies took the position despite the pandemic the democratic rights of the people must also ensured.

The current lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic is set to be end on May 11.

The election was called six months ahead of the schedule.

The Opposition claims the March 2 dismissal order of Parliament has already rendered unconstitutional as the new Parliament could not be convened now before the three-month constitutional requirement.

The Opposition demand to reconvene the dismissed Parliament was rejected by President Rajapaksa on Friday.

If Rajapaksa were to reconvene the dismissed Parliament, the Opposition pledged support to tackle COVID-19 thereby preventing a constitutional clash as the new Parliament cannot be met by June 2.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that all citizens will be covered under the state government's health scheme, and Maharashtra will be the first state to provide free and cashless insurance protection to its people.

Speaking to reporters after a Maharashtra Day event in Jalna on Friday, Tope said 85 percent of the state's population was covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) at present and the cover will be extended to the remaining 15 percent.

A memorandum was signed to include government, semi-government employees and white ration cardholders in the scheme in a bid to prevent private hospitals from overcharging patients, he said.

"The government has signed an MoU with the General Insurance Public Sector Association (GIPSA) for treatment of COVID-19 patients at private hospitals in Pune and Mumbai," he said.

Similarly, different packages will be designed for all diseases, to standardise treatment fees at all hospitals, the minister said.

Earlier, 496 hospitals were covered in the scheme, but now over 1,000 hospitals will come under it, he said.

As per the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Act, the state government has capped the fees of COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals, the minister said.

Hospitals that don't have tie-ups with the GIPSA will also have to standardise their treatment fees, he added.
Five elderly nuns have died within the space of three weeks after coronavirus swept through their Wisconsin convent.

Sisters Mary Collins, 95, Marie Skender, 83, Mary Sherburne, 99, Annelda Holtkamp, 102, and Bernadette Kelter, 88, all resided at Our Lady of the Angels in Greenfield, Milwaukee - an assisted living facility for clergy suffering from memory loss.

Convent staff have been left devastated by the deaths, and say they are reflective of the incredible challenges that nursing homes and other aged care facilities face in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Lady of the Angels Convent suspended all communal activities and enforced social distancing protocols in early March - long before it was mandatory. They do not know how the virus spread the facility, and all five nuns only tested positive to COVID-19 posthumously.

In Wisconsin there are at least 7,661 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 335 deaths.

On April 6, Sister Mary Collins was the first nun at the convent to pass away - just three days after she developed a mild cough.

Five elderly nuns have died within the space of three weeks after coronavirus swept through their Wisconsin convent. Sister Mary Collins (left) passed away April 6, while Sister Marie Skender (right) died April 7

Our Lady of the Angels Convent suspended all communal activities and enforced social distancing protocols in early March - long before it was mandatory. They do not know how the virus spread the facility, and all five nuns only tested positive to COVID-19 posthumously

Vigilant staff had been testing residents for COVID-19, and tried to test Sister Collins. However, the elderly nun had dementia and was 'too combative' to tolerate the invasive process. A post-mortem revealed that she was suffering from the virus.

Then - in the space of just two days - two more nuns at Our Lady of the Angels suddenly passed away.

Sister Skender, 83, died April 7, while Sister Sherburne, 99, died April 9. Posthumous tests revealed they were both infected with COVID-19.

At the same time, the virus was spreading rapidly through Milwaukee.

Wisconsin has 6,854 cases of COVID-19, with nearly half of those clustered within Milwaukee County.

Sister Mary Sherburne (right) passed away April 9, while Sister Annelda Holtkamp, 102, died April 19

Our Lady of the Angels suffered further heartbreak on April 19, when Sister Holtkamp, 102, passed away. It was later confirmed that she, too, had coronavirus.

Sister Kelter, 88, became the fifth nun at the convent to die from COVID-19 on April 26.

She had previously tested negative for the virus earlier in the month.

Darren Rausch, the director and health officer for the Greenfield Health Department, told The New York Times that convent staff had been on constant contact with him throughout the pandemic.

He theorizes that doctors and nurses at the facility were presented with extra difficulties given the patients suffered from memory loss, and several had dementia.

'Its definitely very challenging. They cant always vocalize whats going on,' he stated.

An administrator from Our Lady of The Angels told The Times: 'We welcome prayers for the health and comfort of our residents and staff as we grieve the loss of our sisters'.
French bank Societe Generale expects to have to provision 3.5 billion euros to 5 billion euros ($3.88 billion-$5.55 billion) this year because of losses due to the coronavirus crisis, its chief executive said in an interview on Saturday.

Frederic Oudea also said he expected the bank's equity ratio to drop to between 11% and 11.5% percent, which would remain 200 to 250 basis points above minimum legal requirements, he said.

Shares in France's third biggest listed bank fell sharply on Thursday after it surprised investors with a quarterly loss, hiking provisions for bad loans and suffering a revenue wipeout at its equity trading division.

"It is by far the most serious crisis we have had to face," Oudea told Les Echos. But Oudea added that, unlike during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, banks had enough provisions to cope.

"During the previous crisis, banks were the problem. Today, they have a driving role to play and are taking part in the solution," he said.
An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Dangerpora area of the south Kashmir district in the early hours of Saturday following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said as the forces were conducting searches in the area, the hiding militants fired upon them.

The forces retaliated, ensuing an encounter, the official said.

The exchange of firing was going on and further details are awaited, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
LANSING, MI -- Gov Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Friday that will allow for construction businesses, real estate activity and other outdoor jobs to resume on May 7.

Whitmer says the order is part of a phased plan to reengage the Michigan economy but one that will also require businesses to step up and ensure the safety of their workers. In the construction industry, businesses will be required to follow state guidelines on maintaining a safe work zone. Those guidelines include:

Designating a site supervisor to enforce COVID-19 control strategies.

Conducting daily health screenings for workers.

Creating dedicated entry points, if possible, or issuing stickers or other indicators to assure that all workers are screened every day.

Identifying choke points and high-risk areas (like hallways, hoists and elevators, break areas, water stations, and buses) and controlling them to enable social distancing.

Ensuring sufficient hand-washing or hand-sanitizing stations at the worksite.

Im using every tool in my toolbox to protect Michiganders from the spread of this disease, Whitmer said. "And now as we phase in the re-engagement, our businesses will also need to use every tool at their disposal to protect their employees

The move was met with praise from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Michigan who said workers are ready to get back to work.

Governor Whitmers Executive Order today allowing commercial construction to begin on May 7 recognizes of the ability of Michigans contractors to do their job safely and protect the men and women who build our state and the general public, said Damian P. Hill, president of the AGC of Michigan in a press release. When you combine constructions built-in protections including distance between skilled trades, use of personal protective equipment and working outdoors with added protocols to address COVID-19, its all systems go for a return to work.

Hill cautioned there might be some issues with getting every job site ready to go on day one, but expects construction businesses will adapt to any issues that pop up.

You cant shutter projects for six weeks and expect to reach full capacity in a matter of a few days, Hill said. Added safety precautions, supply chains, mobilization and workforce issues will all present challengesbut this industry always adapts and gets the job done.

Along with real estate and construction, Whitmer said businesses that focus on manufacturing for the express purpose of producing items that help businesses that are modifying their workplaces to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

Examples include businesses that build new partitions, cubicles and other furniture that help people maintain social distancing and to follow safety guidelines.

Whitmer was clear during her press briefing Friday that while these industries will be allowed to reopen, it is not a return to normal for business and consumers in the state. Whitmer says she will continue to look at data around the state to shape plans to reopen various industries that have been closed by the state of emergency order.

These actions will continue to come in waves as we assess the data and consult with experts will not be making decisions based on an arbitrary timeline or political or legal pressure. Im not here to play games, Whitmer said. My number one priority as we work to reengage sectors of our economy is Michigans health and safety.

Ryan Maibach, President & CEO of Barton Malow and member of the Michigan Economic Recovery Council joined Whitmer during Fridays briefing and said hes confident construction workers across the state will follow the guidelines and return to work in a safe way.

We can and will do this safely in a partnership with our contractors, our construction managers or owners. We will rise to meet the challenge that COVID-19 brings to job sites, Maibach said. Make no mistake, we will protect the hard-working men and women of the construction trades, and we can return to work safely, so they can return home safely.

Earlier this week, Whitmer announced she was planning to sign the order Friday to give some industries a heads-up that they will be able to return to work on May 7, rather than signing the order and immediately allowing businesses to reopen. That decision was made after data showed COVID-19 cases had slowed down enough to allow for some sectors to reopen.

"The data shows that were ready to lift some of these restrictions while also encouraging Michiganders to continue doing their part under the governors Stay Home, Stay Safe order, said MDHHS Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun in a press release.

Although Whitmer elected to sign the order Friday, the order will not allow work to begin until May 7. That was done in part to allow for businesses to properly supply workers with personal protective equipment and to prepare proper protocols are in place for workers when they return.

Whitmer pointed out a separate executive order protects workers from retribution from employers when those workers decided they do not feel safe on the job site during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order opening up construction and other outdoor businesses comes a day after she extended the state of emergency and separately required bars, restaurants, casinos and other businesses to remain closed until May 28.

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

Judge rules Michigan stay-at-home order doesnt infringe on constitutional rights

Hearing on petition to recall Whitmer delayed after governors lawyer says notification was improper

Day of angry protests, political maneuvers sets stage for likely legal battle in Michigan
- President Rodrigo Duterte recently approved the 'general community quarantine' guidelines for the low-risk to moderate-risk areas in the country

- The newly-implemented general community quarantine took effect on May 1, Friday

- However, one netizen posted a province's current situation after the GCQ took effect

- His online post prompted netizens to air their concerns afterwards

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Low-risk and moderate-risk areas in the Philippines have recently been placed under a 'general community quarantine' which took effect on Friday, May 1.

Under the newly-implemented GCQ, the government has allowed more businesses, including malls and shopping centers, to operate.

Following this news, KAMI learned that one netizen recently shared photos of people allegedly swarming outside malls and other centers after the GCQ was implemented.

In his Facebook post, Alfred Calayo shared that the photos were taken in Roxas City, "Unang araw sa pagdeklara ng GCQ (General Community Quarantine) sa Roxas City, Capiz.

"May mga guidelines pa rin dapat sundin kahit nasa GCQ na. Ingat people."

In the photos, people could be seen waiting outside the mall without practicing social distancing.

His post, which garnered over a thousand shares on Facebook, prompted various netizens to air their concerns over the Philippines suffering from a second wave of coronavirus.

"Unang araw pa lang yan tas ganyan na."

"Grabe di man lang matakot sa second wave. Practice social distancing po."

"Mukhang ma-ECQ lang ulit kayo."

"Kung sa probinsya ganyan na, pano pa kaya sa Metro Manila kapag nag GCQ na?"

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As reported earlier by KAMI, doctors in Europe and the United States have reported an increase in cases of Kawasaki disease in children. Scientific experts said that there is a possibility that this phenomenon might be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, further studies need to be made to confirm the link between the coronavirus and Kawasaki disease.

POPULAR: Read more viral stories here

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Being aware of the correct and relevant information is the first step towards solving any problem. Here we remind you of the major symptoms of the coronavirus disease. Be safe and stay informed! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel !

Source: KAMI.com.gh
The Emir of Rano, Dr Tafida Abubakar Ila II, has passed away few hours after he was hospitalised over an undisclosed sickness.

According to reports, the monarch died at exactly 4:45 after doctors battled to save his life at Nasarawa Specialist Hospital.

Read Also: Kano Monarch Rushed To Hospital In Critical Condition

Rano emirate is one of the four newly created ones in Kano after series of war between the state government and the deposed emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido.

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Confirming the news of his death, Turakin Rano, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, revealed that the late emir was admitted at the hospital on Friday.

Burial arrangement is expected to be announced in the next coming hours.
VANCOUVER - Last year, more than 2,000 shoppers descended on a Toronto pop-up store, looking for deals at undergarment maker Knix's first warehouse sale. It was a success: the company sold out of most items during the three-day event and needed to double its staffing.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Knix founder and chief executive officer Joanna Griffiths poses in this undated handout photo. Last year, more than 2,000 shoppers descended on a Toronto pop up to find deals at undergarment maker Knix's first warehouse sale. The company sold out of most items during the three-day sale and had to replenish supplies and more than double staffing. Knix planned a bigger event for April this year at space four times larger, but mid-March scrapped that plan in favour of a virtual one as the COVID-19 pandemic created insurmountable challenges for an in-person event. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Knix

VANCOUVER - Last year, more than 2,000 shoppers descended on a Toronto pop-up store, looking for deals at undergarment maker Knix's first warehouse sale. It was a success: the company sold out of most items during the three-day event and needed to double its staffing.

Knix planned a bigger event for April 2020 at a space four times larger, but scrapped that plan in favour of a virtual sale as the COVID-19 pandemic created insurmountable challenges for an in-person event.

"That became clear when we went to remote work and closed our stores," said founder and chief executive officer Joanna Griffiths.

Some retailers known for annual warehouse or seasonal sample sales are shifting those events online amid the pandemic and finding the digital switch offers new benefits such as broader customer reach, lower overhead and more consumer insights.

For Knix, the virtual event outstripped last year's in-person sale.

About 3,000 customers waited for the Knix site to go live at 10 a.m. April 23, the company said.

It sold more items in the first 10 minutes of this year's sale than over the three-day event in March 2019, and in just over an hour its sales outdid all of Black Friday. In the first 30 minutes, it rung up $500,000 in sales.

The success was welcome after the scramble to quickly shift the event online.

The company hustled to build two new websites for the virtual sale  one for Canadian consumers and one for Americans. It worked with its fulfillment centre, which was originally going to transport garments to the warehouse sale, to move inventory into the online system instead.

One of the biggest challenges to navigate would be managing the assortment of items.

The company had to work to remove or hide products from the website quickly as they run out, said Griffiths, to avoid frustrating customers.

Customers also couldn't try items on before committing to a final sale, meaning no returns allowed. Knix planned to make staff available for online support to help shoppers select sizes.

Sizing items virtually was also an issue for Hilary MacMillan, a Toronto-based womenswear brand, at a digital sample earlier this month.

The fashion brand founded in 2013 holds several such in-person events each year and had one planned for the end of April, said Lindsay Ditkofsky, the company's vice-president of brand development.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted the label to shift the sale online. The label, which sells runway samples initially created to clothe models much taller than the average consumer, knew sizing could be problematic in the virtual space.

"There's always a challenge when it comes to how does something fit a body," said Ditkofsky, adding the company attempted to overcome that problem by providing detailed item descriptions and accurate size charts.

Knix realized the online process would be smoother for customers in some ways.

In 2019, eager customers lined up around an entire block of downtown Toronto. With a virtual sale, there's no waiting in line, Griffiths said.

Shoppers didn't have to navigate a large space filled with clothes either. All the products were laid out neatly online with about 20 staff available over live chat to answer questions.

This makes for an easier shopping experience, said Griffiths.

Hilary MacMillan saw some benefits to the business as well.

"Any time you do something digital, there's sort of a paper trail," said Ditkofsky.

Website analytics showed the company where visitors were located, how many were coming to the site for the first time and other metrics that a brick-and-mortar sale doesn't provide, she said.

It also allowed the company to reach more customers than just those near its Toronto studio space, which it uses for the sales and personal appointments.

"We reached a totally new level of customer that we haven't been able to touch before with this kind of event."

Griffiths has started suggesting to her industry peers that they should think about moving warehouse sales online as well, though she's yet to hear of another company planning a similar move.

Vancouver-based clothing retailer Aritzia Inc. holds an annual, multi-day warehouse sale in Vancouver. The company declined an interview request.

"At this point, no decisions have been made regarding our warehouse sale," wrote Anna Cordon, senior manager of public relations.

For Knix and Hilary MacMillan, the switch to a virtual warehouse sale may become permanent.

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Griffiths expects the company will hold next year's event online regardless of whether physical distancing restrictions are still in place.

"Now that we've done all this work and ... we think it's better for so many reasons, I think this will be a virtual, annual thing," she said.

The fashion label, on the other hand, wants to incorporate the digital component while continuing in-person events, said Ditkofsky.

Both women believe Canadian consumers, who are often criticized for lagging behind Americans in e-commerce, will become more comfortable shopping online during the pandemic, especially as more retailers move their stores online and finesse the digital experience.

"I think that Canadians are more comfortable shopping online than we give them credit for," said Griffiths.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2020.
Outlining an ambitious post-pandemic agenda for agricultural reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked his top ministers and bureaucrats to start working on a new set of reforms to cut down on archaic regulations, raise farm-gate prices, unify domestic markets as well as integrate the farm economy into global value chains.

These have been demands by key farmer groups as well as a range of economists and agricultural experts over the years.

The PM suggested these reforms at a high level review meeting on the agricultural sector, which was also attended by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minster Amit Shah, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and senior officials. The meeting was in a series of reviews the PM is undertaking on key sectors, in the backdrop of the national lockdown which has adversely affected the economy.

The PM sought further reforms in agricultural marketing, which is a reference to the mandi system that controls buying and selling of farm produce, among other issues. He said he was not averse to bringing appropriate new laws or changing old ones to firmly integrate farm markets across the country so that cultivators and traders can transact without restrictions. Essentially, he wanted one nation, one market, said a top official familiar with the deliberations of the meeting.

The PM also held a general discussion on genetically modified crops, a tricky subject given the widespread opposition to transgenics in the country. It was a discussion that evaluated the various advantages and disadvantages of transgenics. The PM wanted updates on options to raise productivity, while lowering farming costs, said the official quoted above. The PM stressed last-mile dissemination of technologies developed by agricultural research bodies.

The Covid pandemic has pressured farm incomes, upending the farm-to-fork supply chain, despite full exemptions to the farm sector. A nationwide curfew caught farmers by surprise on March 24. During its the initial days, labour shortage and empty wholesale markets led farmers to dump new harvest, especially perishables.

Although agriculture accounts for 16.5% of Indias gross domestic product (GDP), nearly half the population in the country depends on a farm-based income, underscoring the sectors importance for livelihoods.

The big focus on Saturday was on new ideas to intervene in the agriculture marketing system so as to make them freer, a second official said. Despite several model laws at the federal level  which serve as guidance for states  trade in agricultural commodities remains fettered by state-specific legislations, which prevent farmers from freely accessing food markets.

The discussions are a nod to a renewed farm agenda, which may, in all likelihood, see fresh legislations being moved in Parliament. The honourable prime minister wants integrated markets. One state should be agreeable with another state as far as agricultural policies go, the second official said.

The Indian agricultural market is fragmented. Each state has distinct regulations. Restrictions on where farmers can sell and to whom, as mandated by the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Acts, in various states, continue to thwart farm trade.

The second official said a new legal framework governing investment and technology in agrarian economy could be necessary and the PM acknowledged that.

The focus was on making strategic interventions in the existing marketing ecosystem and bringing appropriate reforms in the context of rapid agricultural development, an official statement said.

K. Mani, an economist with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said the first step for these ideas to be successful was to have an interstate council such as the one for the Goods and Services Tax.

Under a decades-old system, each state has scores of tight market zones to serve as exclusive buyer-seller platforms for an area. This system of mandis or markets is both a physical and at times fiscal barrier, preventing seamless transactions of goods.

The second official cited above said the prime minister wanted a massive scaling up of a federal e-commerce platform for farmers and traders, known as the Electronic National Agricultural Markets or the e-NAM app. The PMs push for the app came in the backdrop of agriculture minister Tomar saying, separately, that more than 166000 registered farmers across the country are now selling their produce by transacting from home and praticising social distancing, with nearly half of the countrys 1500 major farm-end commodity markets now going online. This is the first time wholesale food markets in large states, such as Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, have joined the digital supply chain.

Farmers on the e-NAM app can strike deals for their harvests remotely by first uploading pictures of their samples and then getting these samples scientifically checked for quality by remote assayers, without having to move entire truck loads to physical markets. The e-NAM platform now has a total of 785 markets online.

Saturdays review was preceded by recommendations earlier this year from a committee of secretaries tasked with reviewing the agriculture sector. It identified persistent trade barriers within the mandi system that continue to hurt producers.

The government could consider a single mandi tax for the country and removal of levies charged to traders and farmers when farm goods are sold from one state to another, known as interstate mandi tax, a third official said.

Making farm marketing reforms work is similar to opening FDI in manufacturing. Thats how big it is. Its after all about prices for producers, said S Mahendra Dev, director and vice-chancellor of the Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. Dev formerly headed the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the federal body that fixes minimum support prices.

Ushered in during the 1960s, most Agricultural Produce Market Committee Acts  each state has its own law  require farmers to only sell to licensed middlemen in notified markets, usually in the same area as the farmer, rather than directly to buyers elsewhere. These rules were meant to protect farmers from being forced into distress selling. But over time, they have spawned layers of intermediaries, spanning the farm-to-fork supply chain. This results in a large price spread or the fragmentation of profit shares due to the presence of many middlemen.

Saturdays meet also discussed possible model land tenancy laws. Outdated land tenancy laws in many states mean that tenant farmers dont get access to farm loans because they dont own land. Tenancy reforms can lead to more contract and organised farming without affecting adverse possession or ownership of land.

One reason why agriculture has suffered is that we have not liberated the sector like we have done for industry. Without compromising food security, you have to open up. The government cannot assume it knows everything. I think thats what the government has realised now, said Manoj Kumar Panda, the RBI chair professor at the Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi.

Bureaucrats suggested creation of commodity-specific administrative bodies and promotion of agriculture clusters as well as contract farming to boost exports.

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An off-duty New Jersey State Police trooper discovered human remains Friday afternoon while driving along I-287 in Middlesex County, authorities said.

The trooper made the find on the southbound side of the highway near Exit 8 in Piscatway at 3:24 p.m., New Jersey State Police Sgt. Jeff Flynn told NJ Advance Media.

No other information was released including whether or not foul play was expected.

The incident remained under investigation Friday evening, police said.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Every weekday, we deliver the news in under five minutes in podcast form. Listen to the podcast at this link or on your favorite app including iTunes, Spotify, Alexa and Google. Episodes are available every day on syracuse.com. Subscribe/Follow and rate the podcast via your favorite app.

syracuse.com Afternoon Flash Briefing | May 1, 2020

Here are the stories were discussing in todays podcast:

Gov. Cuomo closes NY schools for rest of academic year due to coronavirus

Protesters flood downtown Syracuse, demanding Cuomo reopen New York

Coronavirus in NY: New deaths below 300 for 1st time since March
Shake up in phone chips

HiSilicon, Huawei Technologies in-house chip design unit, has overtaken Qualcomm in terms of smartphone processor shipments in China, according to reporter Yujie Xue.

In the first quarter, HiSilicon shipped 22.21 million smartphone processors, according to Chinese research firm CINNO. Although HiSilicons shipments only increased slightly from the 22.17 million units in the first quarter of last year, it was the only major chip company that did not see a year-on-year decline in the quarter, CINNO said.

The Huawei subsidiarys market share surged to 43.9 per cent, from 36.5 per cent during the same period last year, and beat US chip company Qualcomm whose share declined from 37.8 per cent to 32.8 per cent. Taiwans Mediatek maintained its third-place position, but also saw its market share slide year on year from 14 per cent to 13.1 per cent.

HiSilicons gains come at a time when the Chinese smartphone industry is being battered by delayed product launches and dampened consumer sentiment linked to the coronavirus pandemic. CINNOs report showed that smartphone processor shipments in the country dropped by 44.5 per cent in the first three months of 2020, compared to the same period last year.

In May last year the Trump Administration added Huawei and its affiliates like HiSilicon to a trade blacklist, citing national security concerns.

In response, the Chinese company, which has denied the allegations, is ramping up ts own in-house capabilities. Over 90 per cent of Huawei phones in China now use HiSilicon processors, according to CINNO.

As so-called fabless semiconductor companies, HiSilicon and Qualcomm both rely on Taiwan foundry TSMC to fabricate their chips. This has given the US more leverage in its battle to subdue Huawei since the Taiwan company uses US manufacturing equipment in its wafer fabs.

Huawei in turn is shifting production of some HiSilicon-designed chips away from TSMC to Shanghai-based foundry SMIC. However, SMIC is far behind TSMC in its ability to fabricate the most advanced devices, so Huawei cannot cut its dependence on TSMC any time soon, even if it wanted to.

Story continues

A US$1 billion lifeline

Cash-strapped Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO has been given a lifeline after investors agreed to a total cash infusion of 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion), easing concerns about its continued operation, according to reporter Sarah Dai.

New York-listed NIO, which is also backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent, will now be able to reset operations after it cut thousands of jobs and shelved plans to construct its own car plant in Shanghai last year because of mounting losses.

The deal made with Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding, CMG-SDIC Capital and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment calls for NIO to inject its core businesses and assets in China into a new company called NIO China, the carmaker said in a statement on Wednesday.

Cleaners are seen next to NIOs self-driving electric concept car Eve displayed at the Auto Shanghai trade show in April of last year. Photo: Reuters

The deal comes after NIOs senior management raised concerns in a regulatory filing in March about the companys ability to remain operational in the next 12 months, while it awaited new financing. It posted losses of US$1.6 billion in 2019.

Raising funds has become more critical for NIO amid increased competition from US electric car giant Tesla, which has a manufacturing base in Shanghai, and the difficulties posed by the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinas electric vehicle industry has been hammered by a domestic economic slowdown, reduced government subsidies and the pandemic. First-quarter sales totalled 3.7 million vehicles, down 42 per cent from a year ago, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Under the funding deal, NIO will set up its new headquarters in Hefei, capital of eastern Anhui province. The companys new base is where its ES8 electric sport utility vehicle has been manufactured by state-owned partner JAC Motors since 2016.

Despite NIOs successful fundraising effort, other electric vehicle makers in China are still searching for momentum to overcome the challenges brought by the pandemic, which has upended sales and manufacturing in the worlds largest car market.

Start-up Byton has put hundreds of its team in the US on furlough, following lay-offs in China last year and planned pay cuts.

Mass exodus

Within an hour of Beijing relaxing quarantine requirements for some arrivals to the Chinese capital city, online travel websites were flooded with bookings, according to a story by Minghe Hu.

Thirty minutes after the announcement on Wednesday, bookings for outbound flights from Beijing on Qunar, one of the biggest online travel service providers in China, were 15 times higher than before the announcement. Searches for travel packages and hotel bookings on the platform also increased three-fold, according to a Qunar report.

On Alibaba Group Holdings Fliggy travel platform, bookings for flight and trains heading in and out of Beijing increased 500 per cent and 300 per cent respectively one hour after the announcement, compared to the same time the day before, according to a Fliggy report. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Bookings for flight and train tickets from Beijing for the Labour Day long weekend also increased 300 per cent and 160 per cent respectively overnight on Chinese group buying site Meituan Dianping on Wednesday, according to Meituan.

The surge in searches for travel in Beijing was because the lockdown measures in the city were the strictest in the country after work resumed, said Jiang Xinwei, a senior analyst with Analysys. Consumption among residents was suppressed [during the lockdowns], so there is now a rebound in bookings.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:27:35|Editor: huaxia

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File photo shows national flags of China (R) and the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

Facts have shown that China's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are not the cause of the explosive virus outbreak in the United States, said a commentary to be carried by the Sunday edition of the People's Daily.

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A commentary to be carried by the Sunday edition of the People's Daily slams some U.S. politicians for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic, stigmatizing China, and pursuing the so-called recrimination and retribution through frivolous litigations.

Such acts posed an open challenge to international rules and laws, said the commentary under the byline of Zhong Sheng.

The pandemic outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, also "a force majeure" in law, the article noted.

Facts have shown that China's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are not the cause of the explosive virus outbreak in the United States, said the article.

Being the first country to report the pandemic does not make China the origin of the novel coronavirus, the commentary underscored, highlighting that the origin of the virus, a serious scientific matter, should only be the subject of study for scientists and medical experts.

Li Peitao, a member of the medical team of Peking University Third Hospital supporting Hubei Province amid the coronavirus outbreak, kisses her daughter before attending a welcome ceremony in Beijing, April 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

"The couclusion should not be drawn on the basis of the lunatic imagination of some U.S. politicians," said the article.

Citing views of Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago, the article noted that talk of filing lawsuits against China is a political move by Republican leaders facing an election in November.

The commentary also raised the following questions:

The 1918 flu pandemic starting from the United States resulted in a huge humanitarian disaster across the world, has the United States been held accountable?

AIDS was first reported in the United States and then swept across the world, should the United States compensate 75 million HIV carriers and 35 million AIDS-related dead victims?

The 2008 financial turmoil triggered by Wall Street turned into a global financial crisis, and when will the United States repay the trillions of U.S. dollars lost globally?

People should have the right to ask why the CT images of patients in the outbreak of Electronic-Cigarette-Associated Acute Lipoid Pneumonia in August last year in the United States are so similar to those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What had happened in Fort Detrick in Maryland?

Patients without travel records to China died of COVID-19 in the United States as early as Feb. 6. What time on earth did the United States discover the novel coronavirus for the first time?

Certain U.S. politicians should not play dumb in the face of such questions. They must give answers to these questions, the article stressed. 
CARACASA prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.

Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary. The South American countrys prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.

The countrys prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuelas information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot came after a ban on inmates family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The visitation restrictions are part of the countrys effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

Such restrictions have prompted riots in prisons in several countries, including Italy. In Argentina, prisoners rioted last month demanding some inmates be freed due to fears of infection.

By Deisy Buitrago and Vivian Sequera
For Jamilah Shakir, the first week of Ramzan has been an adjustment. She typically spends every night of the month at the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam or another mosque nearby.

Now Ramzan has come, and mosques are closed to worshippers to prevent spread of the coronavirus. So Shakir and her family have had to improvise.

It feels a little weird, she says. Not praying in community has been very, very different.

For Muslims in the United States, there is no other time more centered around gathering in congregation than the holy month of Ramzan. In every corner of the country, believers attend community iftar meals to break the fast and then pack neatly into tight rows for nightly prayers at the mosque.

On weekends, especially, some may linger longer as they catch up, share in the pre-dawn suhoor meal and line up again for the fajr, dawn, prayers.

The mosque plays a more significant role in being also a community center for American Muslims, says Feryal Salem, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at American Islamic College. Because Muslims are a minority, they have to go the extra mile to create that unique communal experience that's unique to Ramzan.

But this year, Ramzan falls during a global pandemic. In the US, with the world's highest COVID-19 death toll, that means being forced to mark the month in different, more virtual and sometimes solitary ways.

As they re-imagine some of the spiritual and social rituals, many are relying on a mix of at-home worship and a myriad of online religious programming. Virtual iftar options have sprung up so the devout don't have to break their fast alone. But not all moments can be recreated on a screen.

There will be dishes not shared, prayers not lifted together, hugs not given. Hugs and congregational prayers are the two things Shakir misses the most. But she looks for the blessings. She lives in a close-knit community in South Atlanta with dozens of other Muslim families. She still plans to catch her neighbors at a distance on the days she and her sons might be grilling meat for iftar outside.

Although it's very different from how we normally gather, I'm still so grateful that Allah put us in this Islamic community during this time.

Around the country, Muslims are adapting to the unprecedented challenges. From a recent convert observing his first Ramzan to a respiratory therapist balancing her faith with a job on the frontline of the battle, The Associated Press follows a few of their journeys.

Ricardo Ramirez became a Muslim before a crowd of believers.

As soon as he uttered the shahada, the Islamic testimony of faith, the faithful broke into chants of Allahu Akbar. He was told that day that all of these brothers and sisters are your brothers and sisters. There were handshakes, pats on the back and hugs. So many hugs.

Since then, he says, the community has been there for him. But Ramirez is experiencing a milestone in his faith journey his first Ramzan as a Muslim as the virus disrupts worship and mosques close.

It's going to be really difficult, he said before Ramzan started. I do have a lot of questions, and there's a lot I want to observe and ask about. It was a conversation about Raman that sparked Ramirez's interest in Islam.

In 2017, he noticed a co-worker wouldn't eat during the day. She told him she was fasting. Something resonated.

I've never seen anybody speak about their religion the way she did, he says. Even with everything going on in the world negatively toward Muslims, she was still very excited to tell me. Born in Texas to parents of Mexican descent, Ramirez was baptized Catholic. But growing up, he experienced Catholicism as largely confined to culture and celebrations.

His mom was upset when he told her he was considering Islam. A lot of people seem to have that same conversation with their parents, he says.

Eventually, she came around. While on work trips to Saudi Arabia, she got him a prayer mat, a copy of the Quran, prayer beads and some dates. He has been saving the dates for breaking his fast during Ramzan.

The first day of the Islamic holy month left him feeling accomplished. But he also missed being around others observing it. Attending virtual iftars being able to share that moment with other people has helped.

And in the compulsory solitude, he's determined to find strength. The more I think about it, I think this is the path that Allah has set for me as a challenge ... to know that this religion is for me.

On the first day of Ramzan, respiratory therapist Jumana Azam slept through her alarm for suhoor. She had come home at 2 a.m. from an odd shift at the hospital. Still, when she woke up, she set her intention to fast, ignoring the doubts of whether she'd be able to keep it throughout the day.

Then she changed back into scrubs and left to start another shift in the ICU of Rush University Medical Center.

Just weeks ago, Azam's own mortality weighed heavy. She worried that while caring for dying patients, she could contract the new coronavirus herself and end up on the very ventilators she was operating nonstop.

I was upset and confused, and I didn't know if I was physically or mentally strong enough to be a frontliner, she says. At times, she says, her faith wavered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saturdays toll comes one day after Egypt reported on Friday 358 new positive coronavirus cases, the highest single-day toll

Egypt detected 298 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total to 6,193 confirmed cases nationwide, a statement by the health ministry said.

The ministry also reported nine new deaths, bringing the total deaths from the virus to 415.

The statement said that 62 Egyptians have been discharged, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,522 so far.

Health ministry spokesmen Khaled Megahed said in the statement that the number of people whose test results have turned from positive to negative, including the 1,522 recoveries, has now reached 1,970.

Egypt surpassed 1,000 coronavirus cases on 4 April, with infections continuing to rise despite lockdown restrictions imposed since March to stem the spread of the virus in the populous country. The first case of COVID-19 in Egypt was confirmed on 14 February, seven weeks prior to surpassing the milestone of 1,000 infections.

Saturdays toll comes one day after Egypt reported on Friday 358 new positive coronavirus cases, the highest single-day toll.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed told MBC Masr satellite channel on Friday that the recent rise in the number of coronavirus cases is still within expected levels, and that the cases detected on Friday were the result of more than 6,000 PCR tests.

Zayed attributed the recent increase in the number of cases to peoples behaviour outside curfew hours, especially during the two weeks that preceded Ramadan.

According to the minister, peoples visits to markets decreased by 40 percent after the crisis first started. However, during the two weeks preceding Ramadan, people frequented markets only 11 percent less than normal, which means that people were going out more.

She also emphasised that the situation in Egypt is still safe as long as the weeks numbers are not double those of the previous week.

According to the ministry's statistics, 27-30 percent of those killed by the virus die before reaching isolation hospitals, and 31 percent die within the first four days at the hospital.

The minister said people have to adapt to the presence of coronavirus until a vaccine is found. People can go out but they should maintain social distancing, the minister noted.

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Protesters against Michigan's coronavirus lockdown have rallied in the state capitol building. Hundreds of demonstrators, a few of them armed, gathered in Lansing and many did not wear masks or socially distance. Police checked their temperatures before some were allowed into the capitol, where lawmakers were debating.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on



Saturday filed a complaint with the Lokayukta, asking it to take cognizance of a statement by Goa Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar that 'all 40 MLAs in the state are corrupt'.

Goa AAP convener Elvis Gomes said in the complaint that the anti-corruption ombudsman body should launch an investigation under the Lokayukta Act and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Ajgaonkar's statement can not be dismissed lightly as being a cabinet minister, he is privy to various deeds and misdeeds of the administration, Gomes said.

"A complaint for registration of FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act has already been sent to the Superintendent of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau," the plea said.

An in-depth independent investigation should be ordered to weed out corruption in high places, Gomes added in the complaint.

While responding to allegations of corruption leveled against him by BJP MLA and Ports Minister Michael Lobo, Ajgaonkar alleged in a newspaper interview recently that all 40 members of the Goa Assembly were corrupt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Panaji, May 2 : Even as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in its fresh list of guidelines for orange and green zones, has allowed opening of liquor stores, alcohol retailers in Goa are anxious about a steep drop in sales as well as sceptical about availability of raw alcohol, for manufacture of various liquors and alcoholic drinks.

According to Dattaprasad Naik, president of the Goa Liquor Traders Association, sales may drop by as much as 70 per cent, due to the absence of tourism to begin with, as soon as liquor stores in the state open.

"Because of the absence of tourists, liquor stores, when they re-open, are expected to witness a 70 per cent drop in sales," Naik told IANS.

Last near more than seven million tourists visited Goa, which is around more than four times the state's resident population of 1.5 million.

Naik also said, that he anticipated a drop in the supply of raw alcohol, a key ingredient for manufacturing alcohol. Goa does not produce alcohol and most of it is imported from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

"If import of alcohol from these states is not available in adequate quantities, then the capacity of the distilleries in Goa to manufacture alcohol also reduces," Naik said.

Welcoming the MHA's relaxation of norms, which allows opening of liquor stores with strict social distancing norms, Naik said, that it was the first step towards normalising the liquor trade in the state. Both the districts in Goa have been declared as green zones by the central goverment. The state does not have a single active COVID-19 case.

"While the MHA guidelines have been announced, we are waiting for the state government to formally issue us directions to open our stores," Naik said.

One of the most popular tourism destinations in the country, Goa is well known for its liberal liquor regime, where alcohol is taxed less as compared to other states, especially its neighbours Karnataka and Maharashtra. There are more than 10,000 liquor retailers in the state, where the liquor industry contributes more than Rs 400 crore annually towards the state exchequer in form of taxes.
Three officers who opened fire on a man with a knife in Lincoln City in April were justified in their use of deadly force, the district attorney announced Friday.

The officersRobert Bomar, Molly Wehrley and Hayden Tolzmanwill not be charged with any crimes in the killing of David Xanatos, of Payette, Idaho, said Lincoln County District Attorney Jonathan Cable.

Every loss of life is tragic, Cable said in a statement. But in this instance, David Xanatos left the officers no choice.

On April 2 around 10 p.m, Tolzman saw Xanatos walking in some bushes near the Chinook Winds Casino, which was closed due to the coronavirus stay-home orders. Tolzman drove around to the administration building of the casino and confronted Xanatos, according to the district attorneys office. Xanatos said he was looking for cigarettes and refused to identify himself before leaving the area toward a nearby store.

A casino worker informed Tolzman that the facility had recently been broken into and the officer went after Xanatos to question him further.

More officers responded to the scene and found Xanatos in front of a Rite-Aid, where police confronted him again and noticed the handle of a knife sticking out of his waistband, according to Cable. Xanatos identified himself, and the officers learned he had previously been convicted of a felony. They began trying to negotiate with him to turn over the knife to inspect it and see if he, as a felon, was allowed to have it, Cable said.

Xanatos refused, and the officers talked to him for approximately 20 minutes before Xanatos took several steps toward Bomar, Cable said. One of the officers fired a less-lethal weapon at Xanatos to disable him, according to Cable, but it failed to do so.

Xanatos continued to advance on the officers, pulled the knife from his waistband and ran at Bomar. All three officers opened fire. and Xanatos was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The incident was investigated by the Oregon State Police, and all evidence was turned over to Cable earlier this week, he said.

I find that the actions of all three officers was justified under the circumstances, Cable said. No crimes were committed so this case will not go before the grand jury.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Labor has called for Australia's immigration program to be overhauled and curtailed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, saying Australian workers must "get a fair go and a first go at jobs", in comments that form common ground with some Coalition MPs.

Home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally, who is part of Labor's core leadership group, said the country had an unprecedented chance to shift the immigration program away from the "lazy" approach used by governments of all persuasions to boost the economy at the expense of local workers and community concerns.

Labor's immigration spokeswoman Kristina Keneally says Australia's post-pandemic immigration program must change. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In an opinion piece for The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age today, Senator Keneally writes: "The post-COVID-19 question we must ask now is this: when we restart our migration program, do we want migrants to return to Australia in the same numbers and in the same composition as before the crisis? Our answer should be no."

Meanwhile, members of the Coalition are also pushing for changes to the spread and composition of the migrant program, with one MP arguing the international student intake should be doubled.
Nationwide lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic has been extended for two more weeks with effect from May 4, the Ministry of Home Affairs said. Special trains and buses were announced for migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to the lockdown, that came into force from March 25. It's the responsibility of the respective state governments to ensure that people follow all social distancing norms. On arrival at the destination, the passengers will be received by the state government, which will make all arrangements for their screening and quarantine if necessary, Ministry of Home Affairs added. After that, crowds were seen in many places, seemingly unbothered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A police officer serving with Eaglenet Police Command, Bomadi, Delta State, has reportedly shot dead a soldier, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The Delta State police spokesperson, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, told PREMIUM TIMES the matter was being investigated.

The slain soldier, a lance corporal, was rushed to Our Lady Hospital, Bomadi, where he died from the assault, our sources said.

Soldier killed in suspected police attack

Those briefed on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES that the tragedy struck just after midnight on Thursday, after an altercation ensued between some policemen and soldiers, who were at a duty post at Setraco construction company, Bomadi.

A contact person on the companys website declined comment.

Another soldier who reportedly witnessed the scene told military authorities that two patrol vehicles of Eaglenet Special Police Squad had approached the soldiers at their duty post.

Tempers flared when the policemen flashed torch light at the soldiers, asking them to identify themselves, military sources said.

They reportedly did, but an argument broke out, and one of the policemen opened fire on the deceased soldier.

Our sources said as other soldiers on sentry duty approached the scene, the policemen abandoned their vehicles and fled, leaving behind some identity and ATM cards.

PREMIUM TIMES has withheld the name of the deceased soldier to allow military authorities brief his family member about the incident.

Army spokesperson, Sagir Musa, did not return requests for comment on the attack and if any arrest has been made.

On her part, Ms Onovwakpoyeya also gave minimal information. She told PREMIUM TIMES we are still investigating and that there are no updates yet.

Our heads have met to unravel the cause of the incident, she said, adding that both the army and police are working hard to root out crime and criminality in the state.
Amazon.com Inc. sold more groceries than ever before, but warned of steep losses ahead. Traffic surged on Facebook Inc. and Google sites, though advertising dried up. Apple Inc. made $11 billion in three months, yet, for the first time in over a decade, didnt give a forecast.

First-quarter results this week for Americas major technology firms came in better than feared. With the global economy in free-fall, the tech giants proved they remain essential services for millions of people and they have strong enough financial footing to weather the initial wave of the pandemic. But anyone looking to these companies for signs of immediate relief did not find it. Beyond the results was a clear indication that the second quarter will be bruising.

Apples unusual silence was a case in point. If the company with the best customers and supply cant figure out what will happen in the next two months, maybe nobody can, said Andrew Uerkwitz, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co.

Similarly, Amazon gave investors an extremely hazy picture of its future. Growth in the number of items sold on the e-commerce site jumped the most since 2012. The online retailer bulked up its grocery delivery by 60 per cent  a sign of surging demand as online ordering becomes a necessity for millions. FBN Securities Inc. called Amazon the ultimate stay-at-home stock.

Yet costs are piling up to deliver goods to the quarantined masses and test employees for the virus. The company cautioned it could lose $1.5 billion in the current quarter.

If youre a shareowner in Amazon, you may want to take a seat, chief executive officer Jeff Bezos said. The stay-at-home stock fell 7.6 per cent on Friday.

Before this week, big tech shares led a sharp stock-market rebound. Amazon had surged 44 per cent from mid-March. Facebook was up 23 per cent, while Google and Apple had risen 15 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively. But as the results rolled in, investors accustomed to clear guidance were left staring into a void.

Its worrisome, Mike Walkley, an analyst at Cannacord Genuity, said after Apples results late Thursday. Tech has been the saving grace with the hope that its the leader on the backside of the recovery.

Google parent Alphabet Inc., a company that never gives specific forecasts, mostly offered vague caution about what lies ahead. Usage soared as the pandemic spread. Searches for information about the coronavirus were four times as high as search activity during the Super Bowl, a peak traffic event. But the company does not show ads on virus search results. While there were some signs of more commercial searches returning in April, these werent durable trends yet, Ruth Porat, Googles chief financial officer, said.

Views on YouTube, Googles video arm, also shot up. More expensive brand ads on the site, however, slowed in March and that continued in April, the company said. The second quarter will be difficult, Porat warned.

Facebook, like Google, posted sales above expectations with both companies scooping up ad revenue before a sharp decline in marketing spending during March. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive officer, told Wall Street an extended economic fallout could dampen sales going forward. I worry that this could be worse than at least some people are predicting, he said. The company cut its 2020 spending plans by as much as $3 billion U.S.

Advertising swings with the economy. And Googles Porat suggested the companys main business could easily regain its footing once the economy normalizes. She didnt say when. It would be premature to comment on timing, given all the variables here, she said.

For the biggest tech companies, the short-term losses could be offset by an influx of online shoppers, web searchers, social-media posters and cloud-tapping remote workers. During the quarter, Facebook reported an astounding increase of 100 million daily users across all its apps.

Likewise, the pandemic has played well to techs strengths as the webs utility providers. Video-conferencing, telemedicine, virtual storefronts  few companies are better positioned to capitalize on these trends than the biggest in Silicon Valley and Seattle. Microsoft Corp. reported a standout quarter thanks to growth in cloud-computing, which is also aiding both Amazon and Google.

The companies are well insulated from an ongoing recession, too, with a total of more than $400 billion in cash among them.

For Amazon, heavy spending could make the stock even more attractive. On its earnings call, the company said it had invested over $600 million on COVID-19 related items, including personal protective equipment and testing for warehouse staff. The sum could rise to $4 billion in the second quarter.

Rather than turn off investors, the stats showed how far ahead Amazon is from rivals. As the pandemic continues, more people will order online and they will expect sterile packages, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a research note on Friday. Amazons investments are likely to be a differentiator that will make it more expensive to compete against, the analysts said, raising their share price target to $2,600.

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Former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has reacted to news that the World Health Organization is set to commence COVID-19 vaccine trial in Nigeria.

Recall that on Friday, the Officer in charge, WHO Nigeria and member of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr. Fiona Braka, made this known at the 24th joint national briefing of the committee.

Reacting to this news, Fani-Kayode expressed his sadness with development.

Also Read: Fani-Kayode To Ganduje: Did Christians Ask For Relaxation Of Lockdown During Easter?

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He wrote, @WHO are set to begin Covid 19 vaccine trials in our country. EVIL! Not only have our people been turned into Guinea pigs to test Gates killer vaccine but our leaders are also passing a law which will make the use of that evil vaccine compulsory. What a mess! I weep for Nigeria.
How Books and Buckets program in Long Beach aims to keep kids away from gang violence
Travel back with us in time if you will, to a magical place where coronavirus hadn't yet forced us all inside and being a doctor, actually seemed like a fun time. Also, "Beyblades" were a big thing. We're talking, of course, about 2005 during the height of Scrubs. Despite being a comedy, Scrubs is actually considered one of the more realistic shows when it comes to medicine. About a month ago, a clip from the Scrubs episode "My Cabbage" made the rounds on the internet and nailed how an infection spreads and the importance of social distancing and hand washing.

That's why I decided to re-watch the season 4 episode "My Quarantine" to see if there were any pearls of wisdom it could impart upon our quarantine. Were there signs of the upcoming Coronavirus that Scrubs could have been pointing out? Should we have known all along that the American medical system was ill-equipped to handle a pandemic?
Hamilton Bohannon, a drummer whose disco records propelled people onto dance floors in the 1970s and 80s, and then lived on as popular samples for major hip-hop artists, died on April 24 at his home in Atlanta. He was 78.

His daughter, April Bohannon Binion, said the cause had not been determined.

Mr. Bohannon began his career primarily backing Motown acts like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross and the Supremes before going off on his own.

Danceable rhythm was the defining characteristic of Mr. Bohannon's most successful compositions. He was an early devotee of the so-called four-on-the-floor rhythm, which became the backbone of disco and many later forms of dance music, especially house.
Government is working on a fund to support its 141 zoos and aquariums which have suffered a financial setback, but some say it will not be enough to cover their losses.

While many businesses have had to shut down, zoos have had to keep some staff to take care of the animals. And with no income from visitors, this case hit them hard.

The government of the United Kingdom is working on a fund to support its 141 zoos and aquariums which have suffered a financial setback as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

But as Al Jazeeras Charlie Angela reports, some say it will not be enough to cover their losses.
Protesters defied a ban on gatherings of more than 20 people to mark May Day.

Hundreds of protesters in Berlin defied a ban on public gatherings to mark May Day on Friday, exposing deep frustrations with social distancing rules in place in Germany since mid-March.

Police blocked roads around the square in Berlins Kreuzberg district, traditionally the centre of left-wing May Day protests that had turned violent in the past, to prevent more people from joining what a police spokeswoman said was an illegal gathering.

Leftist groups had called for the demonstration to denounce capitalism and urge more solidarity, especially with refugees seeking to reach Europe. They had urged participants to wear masks and stay at least 1.5 metres apart.

Saving lives is not a crime, read a giant red banner dangled from a window, in reference to the rescue ships saving refugees trying to reach Europe.

Germans have a constitutional right to protest, even amid the pandemic, as long as social-distancing rules are observed, the countrys Constitutional Court ruled last month.





Berlin police, with 5,000 officers deployed in the capital, stood calmly in the square where many of the mainly young protesters wore masks and many others drank beer, smoked or pushed their bikes.

It was a rare scene of normality after weeks in which most streets were deserted because of the lockdown.

Most of those gathered appeared to be keeping a safe distance from one another. Riot police watched from a distance as police helicopters circled overhead.

We have prevented the parade from growing bigger and are using loudspeakers to urge people to disperse, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the situation remained largely peaceful.

Several demonstrations approved by police had taken place earlier across the German capital. Police arrested six people after a group of youths attacked a camera crew of national broadcaster ZDF, the police spokeswoman said.

Germany has been slowly easing its way out of a six-week lockdown. Playgrounds, museums and churches will open from Monday along with the small shops that reopened this week.

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An overwhelming majority of Germans back the lockdown enforced by the countrys 16 states and backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite its heavy toll on the economy, which is expected to contract by a record of more than six percent this year.

Germany has handled the pandemic more successfully than the United States, Britain and Italy, partly thanks to widespread virus testing, a strong healthcare system and strict lockdown measures introduced in mid-March.
As two dozen counties inch toward normalcy next Friday and move into the yellow phase of Pennsylvanias reopening process, barber shops, nail and hair salons across the state will remain shuttered.

The decision to keep these businesses closed while many nonessential ones are slated to reopen has drawn criticism from personal care workers.

During a Saturday press briefing, however, Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said she doesnt believe these employees are being treated unfairly while they wait to get back to work.

She had explained the day before that salons or other personal-care services like massage therapy make it impossible to maintain social distancing.

We dont want to treat anyone unfairly, and dont feel theyre being treated unfairly, Levine said. However, we are dealing with a very contagious and very deadly virus.

The 24 counties reopening on May 8 are: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.

While face masks are successful at preventing the spread of germs for short periods of time, Levine said protective gear wouldnt necessarily keep the virus from passing between employees and their customers.

"Lets look at a scenario: If someone was asymptomatic, and they were the person working in the hair salon, they would see, you know, perhaps one person an hour, eight patients day, and be working five six days a week. They could expose a whole bunch of patients to COVID-19, and then those patients expose other patients, and thats how we get clusters and outbreaks.

So, even though there might not be that many customers in the salon, its impossible to practice the social distancing that were discussing when youre performing those functions, and so thats why they are going to remain closed until we get to a green zone time," Levine said on Friday.

In the yellow phase, bars and restaurants must continue to offer only curbside, takeout, or delivery orders, but places like retailers and pet groomers may be able to reopen.

Gov. Tom Wolf will discuss in detail this week which nonessential businesses can reopen as counties move into the yellow phase.

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The Union government on Friday decided to extend the nationwide lockdown for another two weeks. However, considerable relaxations have been given in districts falling in the green and orange zones. The government should now look for ways to revive economic activity.

Here is a summary of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day. Is it asking too much of the Congress to offer criticisms and realistic solutions that recognise the present realities, writes T N Ninan Read here India needed to get back to work in stages. But by not getting the country out of the induced coma of the ...
Entering the job market for the first time is never simple, and the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effects on the economy are not making it any easier for college seniors.

NBC reported on March 29 that this year could be the worst job market since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and some Connecticut students are already feeling the strain.

The class of 2020 and maybe beyond have gone from entering what could be described as the best job market in a very long time to the worst job market in a very long time almost overnight, said Kevin Lembo, Connecticut state comptroller.

Students who planned to move away from home and start a career are grounded by travel bans, fear and an unstable economy worldwide.

Im nervous Ill be stuck home for a while, said Janna Marnell, a graphic design major at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. My original plan was to move out post graduation and be on my own. Now I have to lean on my parents more than I would like to.

Kelvin Rutledge, director of career and professional development at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, said it is more likely that students will be delayed job offers, rather than denied them because of the virus.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, of organizations that were already searching, only 2 percent of organizations are rescinding the plans to actually hire, Rutledge said. Organizations are still moving forward across all industries, its just a matter of, Can our budget handle a start date of June 15 or can we handle an Aug. 15 start date?

For Catherine Martin, a senior at Quinnipiac University who hopes to pursue a career in game design, her career plans are in limbo. While she hasnt been rejected from a job, she also hasnt been offered anything.

All of my applications have been sent back not with rejection letters, but with recruitment has been suspended citing COVID-19, Martin said.

Lembo said it might not be as easy as delaying a start date because some industries may not recover.

Having hundreds of thousands of newly minted grads, hundreds of thousands, millions of people whose jobs who have not only gone away, but are not coming back  what do we do to face that? Lembo said.

James Lowe, assistant vice provost at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, said even in fields where there is high demand, some students might face obstacles. He pointed out that while nursing students are in high demand, there is a question if they will be able to complete board exams virtually.

Are they going to be able to sit for the boards or are nursing boards testing agencies going to provide virtual options? Lowe said. There are a lot of dynamics in terms of how this whole thing functions.

Lowe said that based on conversations he has had with some of Connecticuts employers, any delays students are having in finding a job do not mean long-term financial strife. Unlike during the 2007-2008 crisis, he said, employers plan to keep the talent pipelines open.

Once people are back out and back to work, this is not going to be a years-long kind of thing, Lowe said. Once people are able to go back to the workplace, theyre going to need employees to manage these companies and deliver on pent-up demand.

Lembo said relying on the private sector to continue hiring employees as they did prior to the pandemic might not be enough. He floated the idea of some New Deal-like programs to get people back to work while improving society.

More Information Six pieces of career advice for new graduates: "Learning how to virtually network and position themselves through LinkedIn and other connections - those are the people who are going to find the jobs." - Kathleen Lindenmayer, director of career success center at Western Connecticut State University "The biggest thing we are hearing from employers is that they want candidates to focus on what they can control. They can control having a really good resume and cover letter, they can control and make sure they have the technology to engage, but you can't control whether an organization can open up magically on June 15." - Kelvin Rutledge, director of career and professional development at Southern Connecticut State University "You don't have to wait until this is over. There are actions that students can take now in terms of connecting with a career adviser now in a virtual format, in terms of getting their resume out to employers who are still hiring." - James Lowe, assistant vice provost at the University of Connecticut At an interview, discuss "how did you respond to the impact of COVID-19? A student could have an opportunity in that story to talk about how they quickly adapted to remote learning or how they changed their plans to originally study language in one country and now they have a chance to tell a story about how they used their ability to be flexible, to pivot, to explain how they approached this unprecedented time in history." - Persephone Hall, Hale family senior director at the Hale Center for Career Development at Connecticut College "Students are not alone. They should feel the need to do a lot of self-reflection, a lot of documentation, look at all the accomplishments and achievements they have been allowed to do and I would definitely say to begin networking." - Scott Dranka, director of the career center at Springfield College "Research companies that you're interested in. Maybe even reach out to past employers or professors to get information from them. Even things like learning a second language would be a very positive thing to add to the resume. Volunteer, even virtually, for some kind of opportunity. There's lots and lots of things that students can be doing during this difficult time." - Deirdre Bennett, manager of employer development at Fairfield University See More Collapse

Something that would actually make work building infrastructure that not only puts people back to work but corrects and fixes a lot of the important areas that have been ignored for decades, Lembo said.

Molly Rabinovitz, a sociology major at Quinnipiac, said she is approaching the next phase of her life with unease. She pointed out that as a dependent of her parents, she missed out on the stimulus check from the Trump administration.

There is an insurmountable sense of fear of diving into the unknown, Rabinovitz said. Its a whole economic reset that is not looking great for new graduates. Some of us do not qualify for unemployment and also got screwed out of Trump's stimulus deal. So, what now?

Luckily for students, some colleges and universities across Connecticut are being innovative in hopes of keeping their students engaged in the job finding process.

Marcus Paca, assistant director of employer relations at University of New Haven, said the career development team is investing in online education programs, online seminars and a new podcast on market trends for this year and years to come.

Now is the time to think forward, and thinking forward has us in the mindset that we have to be prepared for the next potential pandemic, Paca said. The foundation we are building right now of a dual strategy of course planning and hoping for the best that we will be back on campus but at the same time we should also plan for the realization that this may be long term.

Regardless of when and how the pandemic ends, Lembo said Connecticut must not return to business as usual.

We need to lean in on the very question, What are we doing to help partner the reinvention of the economy for this new generation of workers and frankly the old generation of workers to make sure that it is retooled for today? Lembo said.

Emily DiSalvo is a student at Quinnipiac University.
BAGHDAD - Islamic State militants killed at least 10 Iraqi militiamen in a co-ordinated assault overnight near the central city of Samarra, security officials said Saturday. The attack added to concerns the extremist group that once controlled large areas of the country is staging a comeback.

The military and the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias allied with the government, confirmed the attack in separate statements. It was the deadliest of a series of attacks in recent weeks that come as authorities are grappling with a worsening economic crisis and trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak.

Iraq declared victory over IS in December 2017 after a costly three-year campaign. At its height, the group controlled around a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, which it governed in accordance with a harsh and violent interpretation of Islamic law.

In recent months, remnants of IS have exploited security gaps resulting from a territorial dispute between Iraqs central government and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north, as well as the withdrawal of U.S. forces in a planned drawdown.

Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Kadhimi, who is expected to present his proposed Cabinet to parliament next week for a vote, expressed his condolences to the families of the killed in a statement on Twitter.

Their blood will not go in vain, the statement said. Our security forces will continue to pursue terrorists until we clear our land of its abomination.

Last week a suicide bomber targeted an intelligence office in the northern city of Kirkuk, wounding at least three security forces in the first such attack in months.

The PMF said six of its fighters were killed by direct fire late Friday in the village of Mekeeshfa, south of Tikrit. Another three fighters were killed by a roadside bomb as reinforcements were called in. A 10th militiaman was shot dead in the nearby village of Tal al-Dahab.

The co-ordinated attack occurred around 60 miles (95 kilometres) north of the capital, Baghdad.
As many as 167 Bangladeshi nationals stranded here during the ongoing lockdown left for Dhaka by a chartered flight on Saturday, officials here said.



The US Bangla flight, arranged following consultations between authorities of both India and Bangladesh, departed in the afternoon, they said adding the passengers included women and children.



Recently, about 3,000 people belonging to various countries, including the US, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had left for their respective coutries in similar chartered aircraft from here.
In response to the national shortage of protective equipment, we wanted to be good stewards in our community and share supplies from our emergency reserve, said Nathanael Tarwasokono, president and CEO of Firstmark Credit Union.

On behalf of its employees and members, Firstmark Credit Union has donated critical supplies to support the medical community in San Antonio amid the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.

Firstmark was well prepared for the pandemic crisis with personal protective equipment (PPE) for their employees, including N95 masks. To help address the urgent need for supplies for frontline medical workers, Firstmark donated 500 N95 filtering facepiece respirators to The Childrens Hospital of San Antonio.

In response to the national shortage of protective equipment, we wanted to be good stewards in our community and share supplies from our emergency reserve, said Nathanael Tarwasokono, president and CEO of Firstmark Credit Union. We recognize that we have a profound responsibility to help our community.

The credit union has a strong relationship with the local childrens hospital. Tarwasokono currently serves on the foundations board, and Firstmark continues to raise funds to support children and families who are being cared for at the Childrens Hospital of San Antonio.

To learn more about Firstmarks commitment to the community and pandemic relief efforts, visit firstmarkcu.org.

About Firstmark Credit Union

Firstmark Credit Union has been helping people achieve financial success for more than 85 years. The Firstmark story began in 1932 at Fox Tech High School where ten teachers signed a charter to form the San Antonio Teachers Credit Union. Firstmark has grown the ten teachers original $475 investment to almost 100,000 members and over $1 billion in assets. Firstmark is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution focused on helping people to better their lives. For more information, visit http://firstmarkcu.org or call 210.342.8484.
The extent of the impact will depend on what happens with the government's travel restrictions and the pace of global recovery from the pandemic. International student numbers will still be significantly depressed in semester two. "My sense is that most universities will take a big hit in 2020 but it will not be terminal because they are taking strong finance measures ... but the impact will vary from university to university," says University of Queensland chancellor Peter Varghese, a former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. University of Queensland chancellor Peter Varghese says the impact will vary from university to university. Credit:Cameron Laird "I think if we find ourselves in 2021 with international students unable to enrol in Australian universities then we are in a completely different ballgame and completely different world of pain." Education Minister Dan Tehan won't be drawn on when travel restrictions might be eased for international students. He says reopening campuses for domestic students and international students already in Australia is the priority.

Loading "My hope is that we will hear sooner rather than later about a move back to campuses being reopened, with adherence to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee guidelines around social distancing. But campuses will be looking to reopen for semester two," he says. Institutions are also anxious to make sure international students currently in Australia, having lost work and facing barriers to returning home, are looked after. If they aren't, many won't be in a position to pay fees and there could be a long-term hit to Australia's reputation, especially as countries like Canada, Britain and New Zealand offer more generous support. Prime Minister Scott Morrison also shocked the sector by saying recently that it was "time to go home" for temporary visa holders, including students, if they couldn't support themselves. "I think it's the messaging and signalling that we need to make sure the government is getting right," says University of Sydney vice-chancellor Michael Spence. One senior academic figure sees an "overt hostility" towards universities in the government's restrained support for the sector so far. Tehan says Coalition politicians just want to ensure funding is "spent well, taxpayers are getting value for money and institutions are delivering on their core objectives". The government has also emphasised that no sector is immune from the economic ramifications of the pandemic.

Universities are hoping the crisis will convince people of the importance of research  with academics around the country part of critical efforts to tackle COVID-19. And the institutions are billing themselves as key to Australia's economic recovery as people seek to upskill or retrain. They are expecting a spike in demand because of a weak jobs market and Tehan has acknowledged that will need to be funded somehow. La Trobe University vice-chancellor John Dewar says the sector is ready to participate in preparing the nation's future workforce. Education Minister Dan Tehan says the sectors reliance on international education must be assessed. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "But it would be nice if government were to reciprocate and to understand just how important universities can be in that process," Dewar says. The high-stakes crisis has triggered a reappraisal of the business model that has prevailed in universities over recent decades. The growth of international education has been a shared endeavour with Labor and Coalition governments, who encouraged universities to diversify their revenue streams, taking the pressure off the public purse. The government accounted for around 85 per cent of university funding in 1990; today, it is 30 per cent.

"I think the business model was already being assessed in the lead up to COVID-19 although there is no doubt that the pandemic has led to more urgent thinking about the sectors reliance on international education," says Tehan. While noting the efforts to diversify source countries of students, he wants to see international education "rebounding strongly" after the crisis and argues Australia's success in dealing with COVID-19 will make it an attractive destination. The relentless growth of international education has seen it become Australia's third-largest export earner, behind only iron ore and coal. It has become a pillar of budgets  worth $39 billion last year. Among the elite Group of Eight universities, fee-paying overseas students account for 27 per cent of revenue, up from 6 per cent 20 years ago. Universities are quick to add this is not just about the money. They have talked up the infusion of multicultural talent on campuses and the goodwill towards Australia generated among hundreds of thousands alumni spread throughout Asia. Labor education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek says the university funding model needs to be scrutinised after the crisis. She thinks there is a "middle ground" to be found where governments provide more funding for education and research.

"Putting international education on a stronger and more sustainable footing will be part of that. Making sure there is adequate funding for education and research is a really important part of that. There must be a greater role for public funding," she says. "I think universities have been pretty conscious of the risks of over-dependence on one market," says Varghese. "Every university has been aware for some time of that and has strategies for diversifying their sources of international students. But the reality is that while Chinese demand remained very high, those diversification strategies didnt advance as easily as people might have hoped." Previously, the tumultuous political relationship between Beijing and Canberra was the more apparent risk in over-reliance on Chinese students. The political risk was underscored last week when Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye, criticising the Morrison government's pursuit of an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, warned of a potential boycott by Chinese parents who might reconsider "whether this is the best place to send their kids". People's thoughts on what should happen with international student numbers are one thing. But the inevitable reality is that enrolments, from China and elsewhere, could be suppressed long-term because of the COVID-19 shock. Up to now, international education revenue has cross-subsidised research, allowing Australian institutions to climb in global rankings, and allowed them to invest significantly in their campuses.

"The real issue here is if we lose the revenue from international students, what takes its place?" wonders Varghese. Is there any appetite whatsoever inside government for an increase in funding for universities? "I dont think that has been tested because while international student revenue has been flowing in, the government really hasnt had to face up to that question," he says. Dewar thinks international student revenue may take two to five years to recover and "that will sharpen the focus on what government can and will do for the sector". "I'm sure it will be the catalyst for some changes," he says.

"It is arguable that the current model is not fit for the long term post-COVID recovery and we need new ideas recognising that higher education is crucial to a knowledge economy and community resilience," says Glover, including a "need to consider the level of commonwealth investment and the relative private versus public contribution to the costs". While philanthropy and commercialisation can yield valuable revenue for Australian universities, there are only two sources of funding that can realistically underpin their budgets: government grants and student fees. Six years ago, the Coalition government tried to uncap fees for domestic students, which would have allowed universities to charge significantly more. The measure faced major political hostility and was ultimately withdrawn. Spence says philanthropy and commercialisation help but are not the main game. "It's student fees or government grants. So there has to be movement in one or the other," he warns. Plibersek is cold on the idea of revisiting deregulation of domestic fees. "Australians students already pay a larger share of their university education than most comparable countries. If people earn a high income because of their university education, they should pay more tax in our progressive tax system," she says. Tehan is not quite ready to engage with the difficult longer term questions about the sector and says the first priority is getting through the crisis.
By Fanny Potkin

SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Tokopedia, Indonesia's largest e-commerce platform, said on Saturday it was investigating claims that the details of millions of its users had been leaked online by a hacker.

"We found that there had been an attempt to steal data from Tokopedia users," a spokesman for the company said in a statement. "However, Tokopedia ensures that crucial information such as passwords remains successfully protected behind encryption."

"At this moment, we continue to investigate further into this matter and there is no additional information that we can share," the statement added.

Data breach monitoring service Under the Breach published a Twitter post on Saturday showing screenshots from an unnamed individual who claimed he had acquired the personal details of 15 million Tokopedia users during a March 2020 hack on the e-commerce site.

According to the screenshots, which show names, emails and birthdays, the hacker alleges he or she is in possession of a much bigger user database and asks for assistance to "crack" users' passwords.

Backed by $2 billion in funding from investors including SoftBank Group Corp's Vision Fund and Alibaba, Tokopedia, whose founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya is one of the country's most prominent tech entrepreneurs, claims more than 90 million monthly active users.

The spokesman declined to comment on details of the allegations in the screenshots. Under the Breach was not immediately reachable for comment. (Reporting by Fanny Potkin Editing by David Holmes)
Hagens Berman: George Washington University Sued in Class Action Seeking Repayment for Tuition and Other Costs Amid COVID-19

George Washington University has been named as a defendant by a class-action lawsuit seeking repayment of tuition, room and board and other expenses in light of the outbreak of COVID-19 that has cause campus closures and disrupted students' spring 2020 semesters, according to attorneys at Hagens Berman.

Attorneys say that college students have been forced to endure closed residence halls, cancelled events, online learning in place of in-class courses, and lack of access to labs, cafeterias and often their own belongings as dormitories shutdown in a rush response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

If you are paying for college tuition, and/or room and board at a college or university closed due to COVID-19, find out more about the lawsuit and your rights.

The latest lawsuit follows similar actions from Hagens Berman against Boston University, Brown University and Vanderbilt, in which students sued their universities. George Washington University has been sued by the parent of a student, filed May 1, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing the university of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and conversion.

"Millions of parents of college students are facing major setbacks, including unemployment, and now they're stuck having paid tens of thousands of dollars for a semester that has essentially been cancelled due to mandated shutdowns and shelter-in-place orders," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and attorney for students in the class action.

"While some colleges and univrsities have promised appropriate and/or proportional refunds, Defendant excludes itself from such other institutions treating students fairly, equitably and as required by the law," the suit states. "And for some students and families, Defendant does so based on outdated financial aid equations and collections, without taking into account disruptions to family income, a particular concern now where layoffs and furloughs are at record levels."







"GW touts its 'academic and residential amenities of a top notch university with the excitement and convenience of living in the heart of the city,' a severely different experience than students are currently afforded," Berman added.

The suit is brought by a Pennsylvania parent of a student who paid GW's tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester, for which GW charges between $25,875 and $29,275 (depending on when the student entered study) for undergraduate tuition. Student association fees are $3.00 per credit hour, dining plans range from $1,525 to $2,375, and residence hall rates range from $4,675 to $8,420 (depending on the residence hall).

"With GW's campus closure and transition to an online only educational experience, Plaintiff's daughter has suffered a decreased quality of experience, education and lost access to important university facilities and experiences that were bargained for by selecting in-person experiences," the complaint states, adding the plaintiff's daughter has noticed a shift in and loss of academic rigor.

Attorneys say plaintiff paid GW for an in-class experience that would enable his daughter to communicate directly with her professors, attend office hours, and work through issues in-person, such experiences are non-existent following the university's campus closure.

Other Affected Universities

Hagens Berman is investigating the rights of those who are currently paying for room and board, and/or tuition at colleges and universities that have been forced to close due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This may include parents, guardians or college students who are paying for their own costs of college.

Despite orders from colleges and universities sending home students and closing campuses, these institutions of higher learning continue to charge for tuition and room and board. Collectively, these institutions are continuing to receive millions from students despite their inability to continue school as normal, or occupy campus buildings and dorms.

Find out more about the class-action lawsuit against colleges and universities for tuition, room and board and other costs incurred during the outbreak of COVID-19.

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/20200501005544/en/
Wexford's asylum seekers have been putting their skills to great use and helping those on the front line during the Covid-19 crisis.

Seamstress Mariam Dudashvili has been living with her family in Courtown Hotel for some months now, and when she heard about refugees in Waterford making face masks, she thought it was something she could also do to lend a hand.

Mariam put her skills to the test and tried making a mask with a few bits of cloth and needle and thread.

It took her about five minutes and she was pleased with how it looked, so local friends at Places of Sanctuary Ireland put out an appeal for a sewing machine and materials.

Within a few days supporters had loaned two sewing machines, some good quality material and other essentials materials needed to produce some masks.

Meanwhile, Mariam researched how to make the safest possible masks, and enlisted the help of her friend Ekaterine Kirvalodze and her husband. They began by cutting material and quickly got to work.

Due to the demand, there is now a special bin set up outside the hotel where people in the locality can leave clean, dry material, whether that be bed sheets, clothing fabric or any elastic for the masks.

'When I see that more people like and need the masks, I want to do more and more. I'm happy,' said Mariam.

Social distancing is being practised throughout this process, and the masks are being donated to local nursing homes and vulnerable people.

One person of those who is very grateful to the asylum seekers at the Courtown Hotel is Sarah Kavanagh, Local Services Manager of Acquired Brain Injury Ireland.

Ms Kavanagh had been looking for good face masks for the team and residents and was delighted when a batch of 30 masks were donated to her.

'I would like to thank Mariam and Eka for their kind donation. At this challenging time we very much appreciate the time and effort that has gone into this and thank them for thinking of us in these very challenging times,' she said.

Tiffy Allen of Places of Sanctuary said that she is very encouraged by the actions of everyone involved.

'We're encouraged and heartened by these examples of sanctuary in action, people seeking safety reaching out to ensure the safety of others,' she said.

Mariam's team of residents at the Courtown Hotel are now producing up to seven masks a day, all to benefit carers and care homes in these difficult times.

Although Mariam and Ekaterine took a break to celebrate the Orthodox Easter, which falls a week later than Easter Sunday, but they are back hard at work sewing again for Wexford.

If you are in need of these type of masks, you can reach out to Tiffy Allen by email at tiffy@cityofsanctuary.org or contact John Kelly through Wexford Local Development.

The team are very grateful to the people of Courtown and Riverchapel for their generous donations.
Photo: (Photo : Instagram/evamendes)

Eva Mendes shared a selfie on Instagram yesterday, exposing that she is a "tired mama" for the preparation of her and Ryan Gosling's daughter's birthday. One fan commented, questioning Ryan Gosling's role as a husband, and Mendes responded maturely to her follower.

The former American actress posted a photo of her preparing for her daughter's birthday. She added a caption calling herself a "tired mama," then followed on to say that she stayed up late to make her baby's birthday extra special because she would not see her family.

Adding to that, she is sending her extra love to all the people celebrating "quarantine birthday" and to all the tired mamas. One fan replied, saying that she loves Mendes, but she is not happy about the actress' post because it seems that only the moms are busy with the kids based on the 46-year-old mom's post.

The commenter also said that Mendes should also give credit to husbands because it is not fair to exclude them in parenting. Finally, she said that with Mendes' post, it seems that Gosling is leaving the hard job to the actress without helping her.

Instead of getting angry with the fan, Eva Mendes replied in a lengthy comment with maturity. She started by thanking the fan for her honest opinion; then, she said that she would also be very honest with her reply.

The mother of two explained that she loves connecting with other mothers on her social media account, and that is the reason she created that page. She added that when she says that she is a "tired mama," she only wants to connect with the other "tired mamas," too but it does not mean that she is excluding all the fathers' effort.

Adding to that, she said that she does not like talking about Ryan Gosling's fathering and sharing them with the public because she wants to keep them to herself. She also said that she does not want to involve the actor or his parenting style because she does not want to cross the boundary that she has made for herself.

Then Mendes followed through, saying that she would only share what she is comfortable sharing with the public. She added another reply, saying that she appreciated the fan's question because she loves it when she could communicate with her fans through social media.

Eva Mendes shared how her two daughters, Amada, 4, and Esmeralda, 5, whom she calls "little maniacs" are upping their skills in creativity and independence because her daughters are showing their unique fashion and artistic tastes.

The actress said that her children have their own identity already as women, and she watches them grow up beautifully. She added that she feels like it is her job to protect them, but she also wants to let them be what they want to be.
Govt. to boost food production, alternative revenue channels By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

The government has tasked all key state agencies involved in food production to increase supply and reduce poverty in the provinces and create opportunities to boost revenues.

In this respect a new gazette was issued to initiate the Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation on April 22 with the aim of boosting exports and increasing local food production alongside kick-starting all local industries in the wake of the new pandemic situation that has resulted in a suspension of non-essential imports.

Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Prabash Subasinghe, who is a member of this task force, told the Business Times that they were to establish smaller groupings in a bid to come out with a plan of action.

This is aimed at kick-starting the economy, he said adding that currently they are much better than they were about a month back.

In terms of factory operations at least 60-70 per cent of the industries are back at work, he said.

This task force is aimed at aligning the national development programmes to the national building strategy planned out in the state policy vision Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour.

This also looks at reviving the SME sector and expanding access for finance through the financial institutions as appropriate for rural, estate and low income earning people to be directly linked to the local economic empowerment process as entrepreneurs.

In this respect, the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) and the EDB are to obtain maximum economic contribution and export through value addition in new technology utilisation for export plantation products, such as tea, rubber, coconut, cinnamon, pepper, to make quality tea, coconut oil and spices, the gazette stated.

SLTB Chairman Jayampathy Molligoda explained that they had already established a small group and were studying the different opportunities available for bringing in extra revenue to the plantations.

They were also looking at utilising uncultivable arable land for cultivation and ensure that the industry is able to increase revenue generation through other alternative sources on the plantations as well, he noted. In this regard, the state would be looking at providing enhanced financial services to these sectors, he said.

The gazette has stated that the traditional industries need to be modernized with new technologies and create new sources of income going beyond the traditional framework in the face of prevailing global economic conditions, and take steps to improve production sectors such as dairy, eggs, coconut, spices, dried fish and preserved food products, textile, face masks and sanitary products, furniture, ornaments and fertilizer targeting the export market.

Moreover, under the current circumstances the workforce is to be encouraged to work from home using systematic procedures adopted to ensure maximum economic productivity of such workforce.

In addition the rural folk are to enhance cultivation of food products and the supermarket networks to be engaged to collect all food to be sold direct to the consumer and thereby increase income levels of the rural population.

While the task force has met just once, there is no deadline set to come up with a work plan but the stakeholders will be asked to present from time to time their updates on the situation.

This task force is headed by the Presidents Special Envoy Basil Rajapaksa.

Agriculture should be Sri Lankas focus, agri expert group says The Sri Lanka Agripreneurs Forum, a representative group of growers, farmer organizations, agri value-addition enterprises and agri scientists among others, has praised the Presidents commitment to promote agriculture and recommended that a new image building campaign be launched to attract youth to the agriculture sector.

In a letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa proposing ways of transforming this sector, the group said that in this COVID-19 crisis period; immediate focus on some urgent actions in agriculture and implementing a medium/long term vision for agriculture and the country will bring security and prosperity for all Sri Lankans.

While stating that the agriculture sector employs over three million people, both directly and indirectly, throughout Sri Lanka who are highly vulnerable to economic shocks, the group proposed the following immediate measures and some urgent actions in agriculture and implementing a medium/long term vision to help the sector get back on its feet:1. Immediate establishment of a National Steering Committee for Agriculture comprising state officials and private sector representatives, where a minimum of 60 per cent representation is from the private sector covering diverse areas in agriculture (including livestock and fisheries), such as growers, farmer organisations, agri value-addition enterprises, agri professionals and academics, agri scientists, local and global marketers of agri produce, providers of agri inputs, and local agri investors.2. Implement a National Agri Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System, which will function as a holistic system for the entire Sri Lankan agricultural fraternity which will address the following, and shall directly come under the purview of the National Steering Committee for Agriculture;

a. National demand forecasting and crop/yield planning

b. Ensure minimum guaranteed price for the farmer

c. Be a conduit between the producers, local wholesale buyers, and exporters

d. Facilitate pre-bookings and online trade

facilitation (this will not omit the wholesalers)

e. Integrate agricultural-value-chain

f. Integrate and introduce performance and

contribution-based Farmer Pension Scheme

g. Channel existing loan schemes, grants, and subsidies (including fertilizer) through the

system to attract and influence farmers and embrace the change/system3. Upgrade existing storage facilities preferably near the economic centres, and convert them into cool rooms using available resources and utilise idle resources. Engage private sector cool room/cold chain operators to provide solutions for operating on lease/PPP terms to be the nucleus of a cold chain to overcome the wide fluctuations of supplies and prices. 4. Permit importing the best quality seeds available in the global market which would be a pre-requisite to reduce cost of production and increase yield. Efficient procedures for testing such new seed and plant varieties must be immediately adopted with all seed importers and commercial farmers being permitted to test new seeds and plant varieties at their own farms under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture. Local seed, plant propagation and tissue culture laboratories must be supported for long term sustainability and food security. 5. Establish a system of Guaranteed Minimum Price based on cost of production for agricultural produce which will ensure a satisfactory return for the risk and investment made by the farmer. Government establishments, large wholesalers and supermarkets must be compelled to make forward-contracts to buy the production of local farmers. 6. Implement higher tariffs as appropriate on imported food items to maintain food security and protect the domestic production and value-chain. 7. Allocate one compartment on trains of several railway lines for the transportation of agricultural produces, in order to reduce transportation cost.
Gurugram, May 2 : Gurugram has reported six more positive cases of COVID-19, taking the total count of such cases in the city to 63, a health official said on Saturday.

According to the health authorities, all six of them have contracted the infection, after they came in contact with relatives, friends and colleagues.

Three cases were reported in Dundehera village near Kapashera on Friday. Two persons associated with finance company came in contact with the virus-infected Delhi residents and another person, who was tested positive for the disease is an employee of Delhi health department. So far, 38 people have been discharged in the city.

"Following the reports, the areas where they reside were declared as containment zones and later sealed with additional deployment of police," said J.S. Punia, Civil Surgeon of Gurugram.
They say a crisis can bring out the best in us. Alas, it can also do the opposite. I can think of a couple of areas where, sadly, thats proven true. So this Sunday  as we await tomorrows partial relaxation of the lockdown even as it extends further  is perhaps an opportunity to reflect on the darker side of ourselves. If things get better  and I hope they will  well soon forget how horrid we can be. But, today, thats precisely what I want to write about. I know many of you will disagree and quite a few could be offended. So be it. Thats a risk Im willing to take. I hope you will continue reading, but if you dont I accept its your right not to.

Im deeply dismayed, actually disturbed and demoralised, by the shameless exhibition of anti-Muslim sentiment weve seen. I had not realised this prejudice lay just skin-deep in so many of us, and how easily it can surface. But when it exploded, there was no hiding or disguising it. We targeted and demonised Muslim vegetable vendors and milk sellers, vented our rage on Muslim patients in hospitals in Meerut and Ahmedabad, and even ranted at the majority population in the Gulf, forgetting we are guests in their countries. In normal times, people hide their dislikes. Theyre even embarrassed to admit them. But over the last 40 days, we brazenly displayed ours. Consequently, we made tens of millions of our fellow citizens feel hated and unwanted, just because they are Muslim.

I dont want to name names or point fingers because we all know who are among the guilty. It includes many who are powerful, several who are rich, a large number whose values or intelligence I once admired and, yes, a few who are dear to me. This hateful prejudice has cut across class, caste, creed, region and language. Its a bit like the virus in that respect. It infected many of us and we did not resist. While we fought the coronavirus disease valiantly, we allowed vile prejudice to vanquish us.

I blame the media for fanning this fire and I accuse the government of letting the flames burn. For the last 40 days, we were scared, and fear can make people behave erratically, even irresponsibly. Thats why the media has a duty to be wise and balanced. It wasnt. Instead, it scratched our scars and made stories of the bleeding. A few of our television anchors even made us feel our prejudice was justified. As far as Im concerned, they can never redeem themselves.

However, its the government I feel most let down by. In a crisis, you look to it for leadership. Thats why in wars or pandemics, we automatically rally around the flag. In return, we expect guidance. Thats not only what to do but, equally important, what must never be done. This is where our government failed us. It merely hinted. It did not advise and it certainly did not admonish. It let us behave abominably and gave me, at least, the impression it had no problem with that.

The other example of our wretchedness is the way weve treated doctors, nurses, and health workers. Frankly, this is inexplicable. They are the only people who can keep us safe and well, and yet, we turned on them like ungrateful curs because we feared they might infect us. Honestly, I dont know of any other country where the hand that keeps us alive has been bitten by the very people who might need it the most.

At least in this instance, our government did act, forcefully and with alacrity. But that only raises the disturbing question: Why did it choose not to similarly confront the anti-Muslim sentiment raging in our midst for weeks. Weeks, did I say? Months. You and I know thats the truth. And it only makes the question more pressing. It also makes the answer more necessary.

Karan Thapar is the author of Devils Advocate: The Untold Story

The views expressed are personal

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Karan Thapar Karan Thapar is a super-looking genius whos young, friendly, chatty and great fun to be with. Hes also very enjoyable to read. ...view detail
Spaniards took to the streets to jog, cycle and rollerskate for the first time following 48 days of confinement on Saturday as some European nations cautiously eased virus lockdowns while Russia reported a sudden surge in its infections.

As governments weigh how to lift virus restrictions to restart economies against the risk of new outbreaks, US authorities brought some hope by approving an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patients.

The decision was the latest step in a global push to find treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed the world economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The virus has now killed more than 240,000 people worldwide, according to an AFP tally of official figures, and infected 3.3 million since it first emerged in China late last year.

With signs the pandemic is slowing in the hardest-hit nations, European countries and some parts of the US have begun to lift restrictions to try to inject life into economies crippled by weeks of closure.

From Madrid to Mallorca, Spaniards flocked to the streets as they were allowed to exercise and walk freely outside after the government eased seven weeks of strict lockdown in a country with one of the highest number of fatalities at nearly 25,000.

"After so many weeks in confinement, I badly wanted to go out, run, see the world," said financial advisor Marcos Abeytua in Madrid's Chueca district. "Yesterday, I was like a child on Christmas Eve."

Near the city's Retiro park, residents were out running, sometimes in groups. Crowds of joggers also mingled with cyclists and skateboarders in Barcelona's seaside neighbourhood.

"This all seems a bit crazy to me. On the first day we get some freedom I don't see any safe distancing at all," said Christian, an Italian living in Barcelona.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez however said masks would be obligatory on public transport from Monday, and children and the elderly still face restrictions on when they can go outside.

Spain, Germany, Austria and Scandinavian nations are gradually easing lockdowns as the virus cases slow though they will keep social distancing measures, the use of masks and testing to try to track infections.

France, which will lift parts of its lockdown on May 11, on Saturday decided to extend a health emergency by two months until late July.

"We are going to have to perform a long-distance run," Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

After a two-month shutdown, Italians on Monday will be allowed to stroll in parks and visit relatives. Restaurants can open for takeaways and wholesale stores can resume business.

"We must maintain social distancing, maximum hygiene levels, and masks. We've done our bit to the best of our ability. From Monday, it's up to you," emergency response official Domenico Arcuri said at a news conference.

Italy -- with the second most fatalities after the United States -- on Saturday reported that its daily death toll had jumped by 474, the highest in nearly two weeks.

Italian media said the total included 282 previously unaccounted deaths outside hospitals.

But in Russia, authorities reported the largest spike in their coronavirus cases with the new infections rising by nearly 10,000 in a single day.

In Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, around two percent of the population is infected by COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, officials said.

"The threat is apparently on the rise," said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

- Treatment hopes -

More than 3.3 million cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 195 countries, including 1.5 million in Europe alone. That number is likely only a fraction of true cases as testing is still limited.

The United States has the most deaths with more than 65,000, followed by Italy with 28,236, the United Kingdom with 28,131, Spain with 25,100 deaths and France with 24,594 fatalities.

In New York City, an emergency field hospital erected in Central Park to treat COVID-19 patients is also set to close, the group running it said Saturday, as virus cases decline in the city.

Some dozen tents went up opposite Mount Sinai Hospital in March as New York boosted hospital capacity for the outbreak's peak.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that Remdesivir, an antiviral drug initially developed to treat Ebola, was given the green light for use after a major trial found that it boosted recovery in serious COVID-19 patients.

"It's really a very promising situation," Trump said on Friday at the White House.

The drug incorporates itself into the virus's genome, short-circuiting its replication process.

Its approval came as the US leaders struggled with growing pressure from citizens wearying of stay-at-home orders.

Trump is keen for a turnaround as the world's largest economy reels with tens of millions left jobless.

Texas became the largest US state yet to ease curbs, while anti-lockdown demonstrations were held in several states -- including California, where officials had re-closed beaches beginning Friday to avoid a repeat of last weekend when crowds flocked to the shoreline.

In Huntington Beach, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, several thousand people rallied to denounce the shutdown order.

"Open California!" chanted protesters near the closed beaches, carrying signs that read "All jobs are essential" or "Freedom is essential".

- Hong Kong shops opening -

In Asia, India announced that the lockdown on its 1.3 billion people -- the world's biggest -- would continue for two more weeks from May 4.

In Singapore, the government said Saturday that pet food stores and hair salons will be allowed to reopen on May 12.

Most of the city-state's infections have been detected at dormitories housing migrant workers, and their confinement was extended to June 1.

Hong Kong recorded zero confirmed case of coronavirus on Saturday, for the sixth day within a week.

The city's social distancing regulations including limits on gatherings of more than four people are due to expire on May 7. Authorities have not decided whether to extend them.

The city's chief executive has said that civil servants will return to work in the office starting from May 4.

During a long weekend with public holidays to celebrate Buddha's birthday and Labour Day, residents flocked to country parks and the city's outlying islands to get some fresh air.

Shops and restaurants started to resume business in normal opening hours with more consumers going out to streets and shopping malls.

May Day on Friday carried extra significance this year because of the staggering number of people put out of work by the pandemic with the global economy in a tailspin.

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A medical worker wearing protective equipment looks through the window at arriving ambulances at the Pokrovskaya hospital in St.Petersburg, Russia. (AP)

Moscow: Russia on Friday reported a record daily rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, a day after prime minister Mikhail Mishustin announced he had been diagnosed with the new virus and was temporarily stepping down to recover.

The nationwide case tally rose by 7,933 cases and now stands at 114,431, Russias coronavirus crisis response centre said.

It said 96 people diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, had died in the last 24 hours. That raised the official overall death toll to 1,169.

Mishustin told president Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with the virus and would self-isolate. First deputy prime minister Andrei Belousov will serve as acting prime minister in his absence.

Mishustin, who had been one of the main coordinators of Russias response to the new coronavirus, was the first high-ranking Russian official to publicly say they have the virus.

On Friday another member of the Russian Cabinet, construction minister Vladimir Yakushev, announced he had been diagnosed with the new virus and that he would be treated in hospital. Dmitry Volkov, one of his deputies, also tested positive for the coronavirus, the ministry said.

Russias outbreak got off to a slower start than many other countries. But cases began to sharply rise last month, and on Thursday surged past the 100,000 mark.

Although Russia is rising up the table of nations with the highest number of confirmed cases, it has so far recorded far fewer deaths than many of the hardest-hit countries.

Putin has warned the peak of the outbreak has yet to come, and authorities have said there could be a new spike in cases if the population flouts lockdown measures during long public holidays in early May.

The worlds largest country by territory, Russia has been on lockdown since Putin announced the closure of most public spaces in late March to limit the scope for the virus to spread.

Putin and the Cabinet have been holding remote meetings to avoid contact.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen urged government leaders to ban all kinds of gambling.

As a citizen, I urge our leaders to prohibit all forms of gambling, local or foreign. What they bring in terms of revenues is not worth the lives they destroy, the politics they infect, health risks and the values they instill. Protect our people, Leonen wrote in his Twitter account on Friday.

Leonens appeal came at a time when the government decided to allow Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) to partially reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said online gambling services are part of the business process outsourcing sector (BPO), which are allowed to open under the new quarantine rules.

But IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) clarified that POGOs cannot be considered as a part of BPO.

While BPOs and POGOs share one extraneous similarity, which is their offshoring nature, POGOs primarily do so because they are unable to practice their betting or gambling functions in their respective shores, IBPAP statement read.

In a separate virtual forum, Leonen said Presidential Decree 1602 punishes those who play cara y cruz on the streets. On the other hand, big gambling like casinos and POGOs are treated differently under our specific laws, he explained.

Yes, that kind of situation exists. You have PD 1602 for the poor but you have PAGCOR franchising bigger gamblers and owners of casinos. While there are laws that prevent a kind of addiction or vice, we fail to see how it differently impacts the poor and vulnerable vis a vis the rich, Leonen said.

One of the senior magistrates in the Supreme Court, Leonen pointed out the public should continue calling attention to these kinds of discrepancies.

We, in the judiciary, have no choice except to simply implement the laws. But it's something we should address to our political and economic situation.

Perhaps there will be a politician out there that can call a fact a fact. Is gambling really an addiction? Is gambling a vice? These are policy questions of course that I cannot answer and should be addressed to our policy makers, Leonen said.
Congress leader Patil defends Mekedatu padayatra: Omicron variant not as dangerous as last one

Apartments with over 3 Covid cases to be containment zones for 7 days: Check BBMP's full guidelines

Karnataka to write to Centre to drop Bengaluru rural district from COVID-19 red zone list

India

pti-PTI

Bengaluru, May 02: The Karnataka government has decided to appeal to the Centre to drop Bengaluru rural district from the list of COVID-19 red zones as there are no fresh cases of coronavirus infections there, Revenue minister R Ashoka said on Saturday.

"Presently there are no cases of COVID-19 in Bengaluru Rural districtf. So we will write to the centre not to incorporate the Bengaluru rural district in the list of red zones," Ashoka said at the end of a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Senior ministers, officials and deputy commissioners attended the meeting through video conferencing.

He said suggestions were made that Bengaluru urban district should be divided into various zones and wherever there are no COVID-19 cases, restrictions must be eased.

Ashoka said construction related activities will be allowed and shops dealing with trading construction materials such as sanitary ware, tiles, steel, plumbing and hardware will be allowed to operate.

Though malls and markets will not be opened, the sale of essential commodities such as vegetables will be permitted in the market, he added.

In the meeting, it was decided that the labourers should be allowed to undertake one-way trip to their home district by the state road transport bus. These labourers who travel to their districts should be quarantined.

Inter-district travel passes will be issued to the passengers stuck in other districts for travelling (one-way) to their districts. The government directed the district authorities to carry out economic activities as per the guidelines issued by the Centre.

Economic activities should be permitted in those areas which are out of the containment zone, the chief minister told deputy commissioners,the minister said.

A detailed discussion took place with the deputy commissioners of Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Mysuru, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada and Kalaburagi and a set of directions were given to them to contain COVID-19.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France  Sat, May 2, 2020 18:08 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd5891d5 2 Art & Culture virtual-reality,VR,arts,technology,switzerland,Spain,Hauser-and-Wirth Free

One of the world's biggest art world players claims to have invented the "gallery of the future", with a virtual reality show opening on Thursday featuring a galaxy of contemporary stars.

Hauser & Wirth is letting people visit a show in its huge new private gallery on the Spanish island of Menorca -- which will not physically open until next year -- on their computers and smartphones.

"Beside Itself" features one of French legend Louise Bourgeois' giant spiders as well as work by Jenny Holzer, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Charles Gaines, Ellen Gallagher, Mike Kelley and Lawrence Weiner, whose work inspired the name of the show.

The Swiss-based art giant said it had invested heavily in VR and modelling technology, setting up ArtLab in Los Angeles and drawing on 3D techniques used in architecture, construction and video-game design.

While museums across the world are offering virtual tours during the coronavirus lockdowns, Hauser & Wirth said their technology was of a different order.

Gallery founder Iwan Wirth told AFP that "like some of the best inventions, this one comes from necessity".

Read also: #MuseumAtHome brings Indonesian art museums, gallery to screens

"Our primary goal was to create technology that would help our artists visualize the spaces where their exhibitions would be presented," he said, enabling them to plan better and "reduce the amount of travel and transportation".

Wirth said they had speeded up development when the virus hit realizing many people would be stuck alone at home.

"We feel this new approach to virtual reality exhibitions is especially relevant and will engage as many people as possible," he added.

The exhibition can be visited through the gallery's website.

The bricks and mortar gallery on Menorca, designed by Paris designer Luis Laplace on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean, will open next April.
The Bachelor's Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards surprised fans on Saturday with the news they're expecting their first child.

Sharing a pregnancy photoshoot to their respective Instagram accounts, it wasn't long before their celebrity friends congratulated the pair in the comments section.

Former Australian politician Julie Bishop wrote underneath Anna's post: 'Wonderful news! Big hugs to you both.'

Sending their best! Celebrity friends of the original Bachelor couple Anna Heinrich and Tim Robards (both pictured), congratulated the pair on their baby announcement on Saturday

Rebecca Judd wrote: 'Congratulations - beautiful news x,' while Elyse Knowles posted: 'Cuteeeee congrats guys xx.'

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here winner! Richard Reid couldn't hide his joy for the pair, writing: 'You cheeky kids!! Over the moon for you both!'

Larry Emdur thought it was 'fantastic news' while Julia Morris said she's 'so happy'.

Tim's post also attracted many comments from their star pals including Beau Ryan, Sally Obermeder and Dr. Chris Brown.

Celebrity pals: Former Australian politician Julie Bishop (left) and Rebecca Judd (right) were just a few of the stars congratulating the pair

So much love: Jackie 'O' Henderson also wrote in the comments section of Anna's post: 'Congrats guys. So happy for you'

'Great news,' Beau wrote alongside two love hearts, while Sally posted: 'Congratulations!!'

The couple, who got married in 2018, couldn't hide their joy online, with Anna, 33, gushing in her Instagram post on Saturday: 'It's been so hard to keep this a secret, over the past few months, but I can now finally shout... I'M PREGNANT!!!'

'With everything that's going on in the world we feel incredibly lucky and grateful to be starting a family together, and we're so looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.'

How adorable! The couple posed for a cute maternity shoot to announce the good news

Tim, 37, echoed a similar sentiment on his own page, writing: 'We've been keeping busy in lockdown ... I can't wait to be a Dad!!!

'The giddy feelings in my stomach show there must be a few nerves, but I know Anna's going to be an absolutely amazing mother and I couldn't be more excited to start a family with her!'

They accompanied the joyous announcement with a cute maternity shoot.

Tim and Anna fell in love on the inaugural season of The Bachelor Australia in 2013.

'It's been so hard to keep this a secret, over the past few months, but I can now finally shout... I'M PREGNANT!!!' Anna, 33, gushed in a post

At the time, Tim was a hunky chiropractor working from his practice located in Bondi, while Anna had not long started her career as a defence attorney having graduated with degrees in law and gender studies.

Despite stiff competition from 24 other women vying for Tim's heart, Anna bowled him over with her 'beautiful looks, humility and self-assurance'.

The fitness fanatic presented Anna with the final rose in a moving ceremony filmed in Thailand, leaving runner-up Rochelle Emanuel-Smith broken hearted.

Tim, 37, echoed a similar sentiment on his own page, writing: 'We've been keeping busy in lockdown ... I can't wait to be a dad!!!

In an emotional exchange, Tim told Anna: 'It feels so good to finally be able to acknowledge what my heart is feeling, and you have my heart. I have fallen madly and deeply in love with you...

'I want to make you feel special every day. I can't wait to start the next part of our journey together.'

Anna, who had been open about never being a serious relationship, admitted on the show: 'This will be the first boyfriend, and the last'.

While Anna was happy to have found 'the one', she later admitted to Daily Mail Australia that she felt people at work often looked 'down their noses' at her.

True love: The couple found love on the inaugural season of The Bachelor Australia in 2013 when Tim fell in love with her 'beautiful looks, humility and self-assurance'. (Pictured)

'I do feel the affects in my work, but I chose to go on the show so Ive now got to live with the consequences,' she said in 2014.

'It's mostly all good and everyone is really positive and if they're not I think it reflects on them more so. I'm fine, but people do recognise me when I don't want them to.'

Tim and Anna took things slowly after filming wrapped, taking time to enjoy a normal relationship without the pressure of television cameras watching their every move.

What a rock! After almost four years of dating, they took to Instagram to announce their engagement in May 2017, with a picture of Anna showing off her massive diamond sparkler

After almost four years of dating, they took to Instagram to announce their engagement in May 2017, with a picture of Anna showing off her massive diamond sparkler.

Tim captioned his post: 'On the weekend in a little dinghy floating on a secluded river I asked this amazing woman to marry me she said YES!!! Woohoo!!'

Anna's engagement ring is worth an estimated $173,000 AUD.

The couple wed in a lavish ceremony at the Masseria Potenti hotel in Puglia, southern Italy, in June 2018.

The big day: The couple wed in a lavish ceremony at the Masseria Potenti hotel in Puglia, southern Italy, in June 2018

The stunning blonde wore a white beaded gown by Australian designer Steven Khalil, which she accessorised with a straight, flowing veil, diamond drop earrings and nude heels.

After the opulent ceremony, they set sail on a luxury yacht to spend a few weeks exploring the Mediterranean on their honeymoon.

They were the first couple from The Bachelor Australia franchise to wed legally.

Beautiful bride: The stunning blonde wore a white beaded gown by Australian designer Steven Khalil accessorised with a straight, flowing veil, diamond drop earrings and nude heels.

One month after their nuptials, Tim relocated to Melbourne after landing the role of Pierce Greyson on Neighbours, leaving Anna behind to hold down the fort in Sydney.

The couple are currently in a long-distant arrangement, with Tim still based in Melbourne, while lawyer Anna is in their marital home in Rose Bay, where she works as a criminal lawyer.

Tim told Who magazine in January that while they miss out on quality time together, they 'chat five times a day on FaceTime'.

The honeymoon: After the opulent ceremony, they set sail on a luxury yacht to spend a few weeks exploring the Mediterranean on their honeymoon

While Anna admitted that while starting a family had 'always been in the plan' the distance made it difficult.

'I'm 33 and we always wanted to have a family,' Anna admitted at the time, adding that Tim's acting career has been a barrier in their quest for children.

'When we have kids we definitely want to be in the same state,' Tim explained.

A-lister! The former chiropractor has made a huge splash on Neighbours and plans to continue his role 'well into 2020'

'So we'll just see how the start of this year pans out and go from there.'

Tim returned to the marital in March after production of Neighbours was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an Instagram post from March 29, Anna said she was having to put more effort into her appearance with Tim living at home at permanently.

Family: 'I'm 33 and we always wanted to have a family,' Anna admitted to WHO magazine in January, adding that Tim's acting career has been a barrier in their quest for children

'Have been living in my PJ's but Tim's home so I have to make an effort now,' she admitted.

Meanwhile, Tim recently said he was using his time at home for 'self-reflection'.

'It's a great time for some self-reflection, a time to check in with ourselves and reassess if we are living life to our own values,' he wrote on Instagram.

'Do we even know what they are? Why do we think, say and do certain things? And quite simply... what makes us happy and are we doing enough of it?'
No one can say precisely where and when a virus infects a human being. But Francene Bailey is convinced that she passed the novel coronavirus to her mother, Hazel L. Bailey, at the foot of the stairs in their two-family house in Hartford on the morning of March 31.

The day before, Francene had been tested for COVID-19.

She was home sick for a week with a cough and fever when an administrator at the Windsor nursing home that employs Francene as a certified nurses aide called to urge that she be tested. A resident of the home, Kimberly Hall North, was COVID-positive. The first of many, it would turn out.

Francene was tested at the drive-up site at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center on March 30, then returned to the emergency room the next day, fighting for breath. A chest X-ray showed pneumonia. They sent her home with a prescription.

Back in her second-floor flat, she couldnt seem to get enough air. Alone, she panicked and ran for the stairs. Her mother was downstairs, watching three grandchildren, one of them Francenes five-year-old daughter.

I dont know where I was going, she said Wednesday, softly chuckling. I didnt have my jacket. I just ran.

And tripped.

Francene isnt sure what kind of sound she made tumbling down the stairs, but it brought Hazel running from the kitchen. She found Francene wearing a surgical mask, unable to talk.

Take the mask off, Hazel said.

Francene complied.

Before she could react, the mother hugged the daughter. It was a big hug, one that held her up.

I was facing her while she gave me that bear hug, Francene said.

Francene thinks that was the moment. She is certain an invisible virus, SARS-CoV-2, passed from daughter to mother during that hug borne from maternal instinct. Francenes test came back the next day, April Fools. It was positive, one of 429 new cases confirmed that day.

The Baileys are from Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. They emigrated in 1983, when Francene was 15. Her voice still carries the faint lilt of the island.

Hazel worked as a housekeeper in a hotel. She retired in March 2017, not long after the family threw her a party for her 70th birthday. In retirement, she cared for three grandchildren.

Three generations of Baileys came to live in a white-sided, red-trimmed, two-family house on Chatham Street, down the hill from Blue Hills Avenue and up the hill from a small playground with a fire-truck playscape. It was built in 1928, porches fronting each apartment.

Francene took the upstairs apartment, three bedrooms. Hazel took the first-floor with another daughter, a postal worker, and her two children.

Francenes oldest son is 26, a construction worker out of the house and on his own. A daughter is a sophomore at Georgia State University, a teen-aged son still lives at home. Her youngest is five.

The daily workday routine for Francene was to bring her daughter downstairs, then drive to Kimberly Hall North, where shes worked for 25 years.

Just be careful at work today, Hazel started to say in March, once the schools closed and COVID-19 dominated the news. Just be careful.

On March 23, the day Francene started to feel ill, there had been only 415 confirmed cases throughout the state in the weeks since the virus was first detected in Connecticut. There had been only three cases in Windsor and none at the nursing home.

Masks were not yet widely available to nursing home staff.

One of the first three Windsor residents to test positive was the towns Democratic state representative, Jane Garibay, who called in Wednesday to Gov. Ned Lamonts daily briefing to reinforce his message of continuing social distancing, even as hospitalizations fell for the seventh consecutive day.

Garibay told reporters she was sick for 2 weeks, her fever peaking at 103.5. Garibay lives with her husband and their niece, who has Downs Syndrome. But she isolated herself, and neither became infected.

It was scary, she said, but I came out fine.

Hazel Bailey showed symptoms less than a week after Francene tested positive. On Monday, April 6, she didnt come out of her room, too tired to move. On Tuesday, the Baileys called an ambulance to take their mother to St. Francis.

Francene was still quarantined and didnt see her off. Her brother told her he had spoken to Hazel by phone, and she was worried about Francene, the youngest of her four children. By then, Hazel was either in ICU or on the way. Francene isnt sure.

Francene tried to call several times, finally getting through to a nurse.

I said, I know its hard for you to go into that room, because Im home with COVID. I know its hard. Im a frontline worker, just like you. guys. I said, Please, just let me speak to my mom. The nurse said, OK. 

Francene said she assured her mother that she was recovering.

Im going to be OK, so you just fight, so that when you get out of the hospital, we can take a long vacation and go home. She said, OK. And that was the last time I spoke to her.

Hazel Lee Bailey died on April 19. She was 73.

The same day, the state Department of Public Health reported 41 deaths associated with COVID-19, bringing the states toll above 1,000. Ten days later, the number of dead attributed to the pandemic had doubled to 2,168, and Kimberly Hall North emerged as the scene of one of the nations deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Baileys are planning to bury their mother on May 14.

Due to the pandemic, there was no wake, no funeral.

Members of Francenes union, the New England Health Care Employees Union District 1199 SEIU, dropped off care packages. She is grateful. Francene has exhausted her sick and vacation time and has applied for workers compensation while she recovers. She still has a wracking cough and tries to keep a distance from her young daughter.

Francene said there is no doubt she was infected on the job, then brought the virus home to her mother. She feels guilty, though everyone assures her she was blameless. If Hazel was infected while comforting her daughter at the staircase, it came from maternal love, Francene said. She can understand and find comfort in that.

The Baileys belong to the Faith Seventh Day Adventist Church, an imposing dark brick building across from the entrance to Keney Park. It once housed a synagogue, Temple Emanuel.

Church members arrived at the house last Saturday. Francene came to the window. Improvising in the age of the coronavirus, they found a way to acknowledge a death and celebrate a life.

They were praying. They were dancing. They were singing prayers to keep our spirits up. They did an awesome job, she said. My mom would have loved it. My mom loved to dance.
: For the second consecutive



day,Tamil Nadu reported a COVID-19 death and over 200 cases, the health department said on Saturday.

A 76-year-old woman from Chennai died at a city hospital taking the death toll to 29 in the State.

A total of 231 cases were reported on Saturday.

Chennai continued to contribute the major chunk of coronavirus cases at 174, a health department bulletin said.

The State reported one death due to coronavirus and 203 COVID-19 cases yesterday.

With the fresh cases,the total number of those infected stood at 2,757, the department said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, nurses still must go to work. But are the nurses in Houston seeing the proper protections to ensure their safety?

Serena Bumpus, director of practice at the Texas Nurses Association, said that most facilities are doing a good job streamlining the use of personal protective equipment, and have other precautions put in place such as showers set up for nurses to use before leaving their shift to prevent cross-contamination.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Pandemic a defining moment in healthcare, ER nurse says

Other benefits include a free seven-night stay at any local Hilton hotel for nurses who have concerns about bringing the virus home to their families.

Nurses have settled down a little bit from that perspective, Bumpus said about protections for nurses. Now, were being faced with hospital volumes being extremely low, and nurses concerned about getting their hours.

Because some other areas of hospitals have been shut down, Bumpus said, some nurses are being affected financially because they are not able to work as much. Some facilities are providing benefits for this, including 70% of base pay for hours not worked due to the pandemic. Some are also providing childcare stipends to help pay for childcare for children at home.

Our stance is that we would hope that everyone is following the lead of other organizations like that, Bumpus said. Paid time off is something nurses should be able to take even though their employers arent required to allow them to do that, but many have done that for them.

Texas hospitals havent necessarily been overwhelmed during the pandemic, she said, so nurses arent seeing benefits like hazard pay right now because the volume of patients diagnosed with coronavirus hasnt been large enough.

COVID-19 UPDATES: What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

There had been some nurses protesting HCA hospitals in early April due to a lack of preparation to keep nurses safe, a National Nurses United press release stated. Bumpus said HCA has been one of the more responsive organizations as far as taking care of their staff. She said it isnt a hospital organizations fault they dont have protective equipment, but that they are looking for government officials to help with the national stockpile.

Kim Mathes, the community engagement director with HCA Houston Healthcare, said HCA Houston Healthcare Tomballs goal has been to protect their front line clinicians and caregivers since the start of the pandemic so they are able to continue caring for their patients and the community.

The hospitals efforts to protect their colleagues while at work include a universal masking policy implemented in March, and a screening for all patients, visitors and staff before entering the facilities.

For colleagues with reduced hours due to the pandemic, Mathes said HCA Houston Healthcare instituted a pandemic pay program that continues to pay employees with reduced hours 70% of their pay for up to seven weeks.

HCA Houston Healthcare also provides cleaned hospital scrubs each shift for employees who care for patients with coronavirus to help prevent carrying the disease home on their clothing, and are working with major hotel chains to provide housing for those who care for COVID-19 patients and dont want to risk infecting their family members at home.

While our hospital currently has adequate supplies of PPE, we continue to provide safeguards that are consistent with CDC guidelines and help ensure the protection of our colleagues, not only today, but into the future as the pandemic continues to evolve, Mathes said

Vicki Brownewell, vice president and chief nursing officer at Houston Methodist West Hospital, said they expect all their employees to wear masks in public and patient care areas. Many employees have their own masks, but the hospital also provides them for those who dont.

Nurses get other protective equipment depending on their jobsome need a surgical mask or an N95, and oftentimes theyll need a face shield so that theres no splattering, Brownewell said. Theyll get gowns to protect themselves and gloves to protect themselves.

Patients have been cohorted into different units, some who need testing to see if they have the coronavirus and some who have tested positive for the virus. Those who have tested positive and need to stay longer are transferred to another campus where the nurses who watch them volunteered for the position.

All of those nurses, from the beginning we asked for volunteers, and theyve done an awesome job, Brownewell said.

The hospital also implemented a new policy called HR94, which Brownewell said is intended to keep their staff whole. For nurses who must have their hours cut back, they are offered into a labor pool of nurses that can be used by other departments. If those hours cannot be used in another department, then the hospital supplements those cut hours.

Were all a family here, she said. Theres 26,000 staff here and even at that size we consider everybody a family and we dont want anyone to suffer at all if we can.

Nurses have also been redeployed to other areas, she said. Some nurses were redeployed to the hospital in Sugarland where they needed intensive care unit nurses, and this has also been done at the Woodlands hospital.

Nurses are very flexible and have lots of different skills, so weve been able to redeploy them to different things, even being screeners as patients come into the ER, Brownewell said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbotts April 27 executive order eased some health care related restrictions and amended hospital capacity requirements. As more areas within hospitals begin reopening, Brownewell said many nurses who work in procedural areas and operating rooms would be coming back gradually as more people start returning to hospitals.

paul.wedding@hcnonline.com
Hyderabad, May 2 : With Hyderabad remaining a red zone, the Telangana health authorities are focusing their efforts on the state capital to check the spread of coronavirus.

Realising that containing the virus in Hyderabad is key to revival of economic activity in the state, top officials are busy working out a special strategy to flatten the curve.

Hyderabad and its surroundings, together referred to as Greater Hyderabad, remain a worry for state authorities as it continues to report positive cases even as the numbers have ebbed in the rest of the state.

The decline of daily positive cases to single digit since early this week came as a relief to the state, which had been witnessing the surge for over a month. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had even exuded confidence that the state would soon be free of Covid-19.

However, a sudden spike in cases on April 30 came as a blow to optimism. The state in a single day reported 22 positive cases and three deaths - all from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

Concerned over this, the chief minister alerted the health department and asked it to further tighten the containment norms in the hotspots in GHMC.

A special officer is likely to be appointed to intensify the efforts to check the spread of the virus. The government had recently appointed special officers for three districts and the strategy appeared to have yielded the results.

The GHMC, covering the city and surroundings with a total population of over one crore, accounts for 582 out of 1,044 Covid-19 cases reported in the state as on May 1.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender said with the situation under control in most of the districts, their entire focus is on GHMC. He, however, admitted that given the high population density, the task of containing the virus will be challenging.

As Greater Hyderabad is home to the information technology hub and majority of the industries, flattening the curve is considered key to revival of economic activity in the state.

Strict implementation of perimeter control in containment areas with door-to-door surveillance and tracing contacts of positive cases and sending them to quarantine is the strategy being adopted by the health department in coordination with GHMC and police.

The health authorities have succeeded in tracing those who had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation and their contacts and they constitute 90 per cent of all positive cases in the state.

That the task is yet to be fully achieved became clear on Thursday when they found that two men tested positive were also attendees of the Delhi meet. They spread the virus to three shop owners at Mahabub Gunj market in Malakpet in Hyderabad. The family members of the shop owners were also quarantined.

The authorities not only sealed the market but also formed containment zones in areas where the five persons were residing.

There are more than 200 containment zones in Hyderabad. With the recent spike in cases, the police and GHMC further tightened the curbs on the movement of people in these areas. "There are strict instructions that nobody from a containment zone should go out unless it is an emergency. We are providing vegetables and other essentials at the door steps," a GHMC official said.

According to the list released by the Centre on Friday, Ranga Reddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, Warangal Urban, Suryapet and Vikarabad besides Hyderabad are in red zones. The number of red zone districts has come down from eight to six. There are 18 districts in the orange zone and nine in the green zone.

Telangana, where the lockdown is ending on May 7, will decide on extending it further on May 5 when the state cabinet will have its crucial meeting. While the state is likely to follow the Centre in extending the lockdown, the cabinet will decide on the relaxations to be given in orange and green zones.
Two soldiers of the Indian Army, who were injured during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla district on Friday, have succumbed to their injuries, officials said on Saturday.

Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on 1 May 2020. Unfortunately, Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice, a defence spokesperson said.

They were among the three soldiers who were injured as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC on Friday afternoon.

On 01 May 2020, at about 1530 hours, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation (CFV) along the LoC in Rampur Sector, District Baramulla, defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said in a statement on Friday.

Indian Army is retaliating befittingly, he added.

Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation on April 30 by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in Poonch district.

A day before that, the neighbouring country had violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Mankote and Mendhar sectors of Poonch.

Pakistans army has violated the ceasefire more than 1,400 times this year. The total number of ceasefire violations by it stood at 3,168 in 2019 and 1,629 in 2018.
UK risks destroying aviation industry with no support - Heathrow boss FILE PHOTO: A woman wearing a mask is seen at Heathrow airport

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain risks destroying its aviation sector and smothering any broader economic recovery after it failed to follow the likes of the United States and France in propping up its airlines, the head of London Heathrow Airport warned on Friday.

Europe's biggest airport said trade had disappeared in April, with passenger numbers set to fall by 97%, leaving many airlines such as Britain's Virgin Atlantic close to collapse.

"It is disappointing that the UK government stands out globally as being one of the few countries not to be supporting its aviation sector," Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye told Reuters.

"I think it comes back to a lack of understanding perhaps of just how vital aviation is to the rest of the economy."

Global aviation has come to a near standstill as governments around the world lock down their economies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, forcing airlines to cut or suspend thousands of staff, park up planes and seek government bailouts.

Virgin Atlantic has said for weeks it is in talks with the British government about a bailout package and its largest owner, Richard Branson, has said it will go bust without one.

Pilots union BALPA responded to Friday's news that Ryanair <RYA.I> was cutting 3,000 jobs by saying the government needed to "stop daydreaming" and step in. In response, the government says it is providing support through tax breaks, furloughing salary schemes and offering loans.

"We have the third biggest aviation sector in the world and if we don't take the right action now we could lose it," Holland-Kaye said.

The airport is talking to major hubs around the world to agree a set of health standards similar to security checks for once restrictions lift. Passengers should expect temperature checks, more automation to reduce human contact and the wearing of masks on flights.

It believes the concept of social distancing would not work for airports and airlines. "Far fewer people would be able to fly. Many of the routes wouldn't be viable and that would lead to even more job losses in the aviation sector," he said.

"More fundamentally it would cut off the UK from its key trading markets. Passenger jets out of Heathrow carry 40% of the UK's imports and exports. If they won't have those passenger planes then we can't get the UK economy firing on all cylinders."

(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by William Schomberg and Mark Potter)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2, 2020 08:33 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd56f961 1 National mudik-ban,mudik,Jakarta-police,Idul-Fitri,National-Police,exodus Free

Travelers have played cat and mouse with law enforcement personnel as they insist on traveling home despite the governments ban on this year's Idul Fitri mudik (exodus).

Travelers across Java have tried to dodge the police at checkpoints, by hiding in truck containers or bus luggage compartments, avoiding toll roads with strict security and laying down passenger seats to escape monitoring.

The operational head of the National Police traffic corps Sr. Comr. Benyamin said travelers had used containers on the back of the trucks to transport themselves and their vehicles, knowing that officers prioritized monitoring of private vehicles, buses and minibuses.

As for freight trucks, they are allowed to operate so the economy can continue to run. These trucks were apparently used to transport travelers and their cars, Benyamin said on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The statement echoed Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowos previous claim, in which he said he had received reports and photographs showing travelers returning to their hometowns across the province, with their cars inside the truck containers.

Benjamin said that, in addition to trucks, there were also those who hid in bus trunks in order to evade law enforcement.

The buses were full of people, but they were not on seats, they were in the luggage compartment, he added.

He said the police had also gathered information that some travel agencies had offered services for those wishing to go back to their hometowns, riding though so-called jalan tikus (alleyways).

They were arrested by the Jakarta Police at the Cikarang Barat border, he said.

Since Monday, the number of vehicles on toll roads in Bekasi, West Java, and Tangerang, Banten, has decreased as travelers avoid security posts, but the number of vehicles intercepted on arterial roads has increased, Jakarta Police reported.

Read also: Explainer: Whats allowed and whats not in Indonesia's mudik ban

On an arterial road in Kedungwaringin, Bekasi, for example, traffic police officers recently discovered a group of travelers heading for Central Java by riding a bus with passenger seats laid back so as not to be seen from outside.

These passengers deliberately reclined their seats and turned off the lights to evade officers, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Yusri said the bus driver claimed not to be carrying any passengers when the bus was stopped for inspection at the Kedungwaringin integrated security post at 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The bus was a double-decker and all passengers were later found hiding on the upper deck, the police reported. In its inspection, the police found out that the passengers paid Rp 450,000 (US$30.40) per person to get on the ride.

Since April 24, a total of 171,000 police and military personnel and related agencies have been carrying out the so-called Operation Ketupat 2020 to oversee the mudik flow, which will end on May 31, the National Police reported.

As of the sixth day of the operation on Wednesday, we had asked some 15,239 motorists across Java to turn around, Benyamin told tempo.co on Thursday, adding that the Jakarta Police had recorded the majority with 5,834 motorists.

Despite being caught ignoring the mudik ban, the motorists were only reprimanded by officers with no legal punishment. Violators will be subject to the maximum punishment starting May 7.

After previously only advising residents against participating in mudik, President Joko Jokowi Widodo finally announced an outright ban on April 21, following a Transportation Ministry survey in which 24 respondents still insisted on traveling home during Ramadan. (syk)
Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) needs to improve its performance this year. There's just no way around that. The stock is down more than 65% in the first four months of 2020; it's performing much worse than the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (OTC:HMLSF), which has declined by just 28%.

The company needs a way to rally investors, and there's no better way to do so than by improving on its financials; the pot producer's recorded an operating loss in every one of its past 10 quarterly results. And with little -- if any -- sales growth expected next quarter, it'll need to be more aggressive on the cost-cutting side of things in order to do that. That could mean taking a page out of Canopy Growth's (NASDAQ:CGC) playbook and cutting back on its international operations.

Slashing costs is the only option this year

Canopy Growth is in a much better position than Aurora Cannabis. Not only does it have a key investor, Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ), at its disposal -- the beverage giant invested $4 billion in the company back in 2018 -- but the Ontario-based pot producer's also sitting on 1.6 billion Canadian dollars in cash and cash equivalents as of Dec. 31. In contrast, Aurora's failed to find a partner of its own, and as of March 31, it said its cash balance was CA$205 million.

But a big cash balance isn't sufficient for Canopy Growth's new CEO, David Klein, who's come over from Constellation Brands. The new boss is slashing costs left and right. This year, management has announced that it will be exiting some markets, scaling back operations in others, and continuing to lay off staff. In April, Canopy Growth announced 200 layoffs at locations in North America and the United Kingdom; in the previous month, it announced layoffs totaling 500 employees.

Aurora announced its own cuts in February, when it said it would cut 500 positions (revealing at the same time that its CEO, Terry Booth, would be retiring as well). But given that Aurora may only have a few months of cash flow left according to investment bank Ello Capital, deeper cuts are likely warranted. While cannabis sales in Canada have been strong during the coronavirus pandemic, it's not a trend that may be sustainable, especially as job losses continue to mount.

That's why in order for Aurora to improve its financials and give new investors a reason to invest in the company this year, it's going to need to be a lot leaner and more efficient. And that means scaling back on operations, especially those that aren't critical.

Why the company's international operations should be fair game for cutbacks

Aurora's prided itself on its large global footprint, and it does have a presence in more than two dozen countries. But markets outside Canada, its home, are just not that developed. Canada and Uruguay are still the only countries where recreational marijuana is legal at the federal level. Divesting and cutting back overhead and costs associated with its international operations could help the company simplify its operations while making strides in bringing its expenses down.

During the six-month period ending Dec. 31, Aurora generated CA$131.3 million in net revenue. Of that total, CA$122.4 million, or 93% of sales, came from Canada. The European market contributed just CA$8 million in revenue, while other markets added CA$0.9 million. While international markets may play a key role in the company's long-term growth and future, Aurora may not be around long enough to see that growth come to fruition if it continues to churn out losses and burn through cash flow along the way.

Why investors should care

Aurora announced in April that it would be looking to raise more capital in order to "provide further balance sheet strength and preserve flexibility." In short, this means investors can expect more shares issued and more dilution in the company's future. And that's going to send the stock even lower. Until Aurora makes deep cuts to its operations to help it generate positive cash flow, investors could be facing a lot more pain in 2020.

Following in the footsteps of rival pot stock Canopy Growth may not be such a bad idea. Making more aggressive moves could win back investors, because at this point, there's not a whole lot of reason to be bullish on Aurora.
Failure to vaccinate everyone will give rise to new variants, says UN chief

Faith vs safety in burials: COVID-19 remains in dead bodies for 9 days says Centre

India can conduct 1.25 lakh COVID-19 tests a day: ICMR

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, May 02: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) deputy director Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar on Saturday said the country has evolved a strong Covid-19 testing regime in the last three months and it is now in a position to conduct 1.25 lakh tests a day.

He said India has evolved a strong COVID-19 testing regime over the last three months. The country was now in a position to ramp up tests up to 1.25 lakh a day in the government sector.

"We have expanded the criteria of testing as much as we could. After starting from scratch three months back, the last test we have done was 72,000 today.

This is a significantly high number. We are in a position to ramp up testing up to 1.25 lakh a day," he added.

'Preemptive Prejudice', says China after ICMR tells states to stop using Chinese COVID-19 test kits

The interaction was an initiative by the state Health Department to explain the technical aspects of the widely- debated COVID-19 testing.

A high-level team of the state led by Health Minister K K Shailaja, Health Secretary Rajan Khobragade, Dr B Ekbal, who heads the expert panel that advises the government on prevention of the coronavirus and National Health Mission state director, Dr Rathan U Kelkar among others participated.

ICMR also lauded the containment strategy and the robust public healthcare system of Kerala and said it would "continue referring to the Kerala model" for testing and containment strategies. Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR, said.

He was responding to queries from mediapersons at an online interaction, which was streamed live on Facebook by Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, here.

"Kerala is offering one of the best containment strategies and it is unparalleled. So we will continue to refer to Kerala Model as far as testing and containment strategies are concerned,"Gangakhedkar said.
They have seen war and toured the world's "hot zones" tackling the kind of biological hazards that can threaten civilizations. But for these returned exiles the US coronavirus outbreak has in some ways been more painful. From New York and North Carolina to the Pacific Northwest, health care workers are making use of a skill set you can only master working with killer pathogens, sometimes in hostile terrain. Doctor and academic David Callaway is leading the COVID-19 response in his hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, and draws on his experiences in South Sudan, Haiti and Iraq. While he is better resourced than in crisis-hit countries and doesn't have to worry about security, the 46-year-old admits he found epidemics overseas easier to cope with in some ways. "Family and loved ones, you can put them in a box and you use them as a source of motivation and inspiration when things get rough, but you know they are safe," he told AFP. "A pandemic at home, you know that your family and your loved ones are still at risk, their lives hang on the line." Callaway -- a former navy doctor who is now chief medical officer for the disaster response charity Team Rubicon -- worries in particular about his elderly mother but is also concerned for his wife and daughters. "It's more emotionally testing to do it in your home community than it is overseas, even if it's at combat or you can be shot at," he said. - 'Blood from an orange' - "Hot zone" is a term virologists use for the center of an outbreak of a maximum Level Four Biological Hazard - a "hot agent" like weaponized anthrax, smallpox or Ebola. While SARS-CoV-2 has hit the elderly hard, its death rate pales compared with Ebola, which killed more than a third of the people it infected in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone in 2014. First identified in 1976 in what was then Zaire -- where the death rate was nine in ten -- it produces a hemorrhagic fever that in the worst cases causes patients to "crash and bleed out," their insides reduced to soup before they breathe their last. "The skills that I learned in West Africa were critical," said emergency medicine specialist Craig Spencer from New York, one of the only Americans to fall ill with Ebola after returning from a mission with Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Guinea. When he was hospitalized in 2014, a highly experienced nurse was so wary of his disease that she had trouble inserting a drip in his arm. The nurse "missed an IV on me. Two times and then the third time hit a nerve. I'm sure she could get blood from an orange. This woman's incredible but she was so scared," he recalled in an online chat organized by MSF. "We can drill -- we can do a bunch of... experiential discussions and debriefs -- but nothing is like the real thing," he said. His own case showed him that "we have so few people... that feel comfortable taking care of patients with a potentially deadly disease." Martha Phillips, a 40-year-old nurse, drew a different lesson from her experience with Ebola. "I know how to work for an extended period of time in cumbersome" personal protective equipment, or PPE, she said. "I also learned how to prioritize my own safety, and I have never compromised on that." Self-preservation has proven to be a key skill in a coronavirus pandemic that has seen its epicenter shift from China via Europe to the US, where there have been more than 63,000 deaths among a million registered cases. As a specialist in emergency care, she dealt with some of the first coronavirus cases in Washington before signing up for the nightshift in a New York hospital when the city became the main US hotspot. - Anger - Having arrived shortly after the infection rate hit its peak in the city, she said she has seen fewer deaths than in Sierra Leone. But this time she has been seized by a new emotion: anger. "I was absolutely expecting the United States to respond differently," she said. "I was expecting them to prioritize the safety of their staff, to pull out all the stops to acquire PPE and equipment needed for the care of these patients, and to offer unmitigated support to the front-line workers." "Basically none of those things happened until it was far too late." Officials in West Africa, where Phillips worked until last year for the International Medical Corps NGO, responded "to the best of their ability" to Ebola. The US, however, with all its infrastructural and technological advantages, chose to "stick their heads in the sand," she said. Whatever their state of mind, repatriated medical personnel say they are totally focused on the task at hand. "We take all the precautions. We believe it's our mission to care for people when they are sick," said Callaway. A team of doctors and nurses treat a coronavirus patient in Stamford, Connecticut, in April 2020 US doctor Craig Spencer leaving a New York hospital in 2014 after recovering from Ebola which he contracted in Guinea A medical aid worker being washed down upon leaving an Ebola treatement center run by Doctors Without Borders in Liberia in 2014
With Mother's Day just around the corner, Australians are being reminded they must still maintain social distancing measures.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said Australians are not allowed to hug their mum on Mother's Day, on May 10, unless she's a member of their 'immediate household'.

However, each state and territory has its own laws and restrictions on what can or can't be done on Mother's Day, which means the day can still be celebrated in some way.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said Australians must still maintain social distancing on Mother's Day (stock)

Victoria

Premier Daniel Andrews once again reiterated that he won't be easing restrictions before May 11.

He admitted that it would be difficult to celebrate the special day but there are ways to go about it.

'Lots of things that are very different and this Mother's Day will be very different to what it has ever been,' he told Herald Sun.

'We all want to be together, but the only way to get through this crisis is to work together.

'I know we all just want to give our mum a hug.'

'Catch up with your mum over a video call. Support a local business and send her flowers or some special goodies - that's what I'll be doing,' he said.

Premier Daniel Andrews once again reiterated that he won't be easing restrictions before May 11

Mr Andrews told VIctorians that this Mother's Day will be different but there are ways to get around it such as video calling (stock)

New South Wales

From Friday, people can have a maximum of two adults visit their homes as the state slowly eases restrictions.

'As you know, we've currently not allowed people to go and visit each other in their homes,' Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

'From May 1, on Friday, two adults will be able to go and visit anybody else in their home on the basis of care, on the basis of reducing social isolation and everybody's mental health.

'We know that for many people, they've been cooped up in their homes for a number of weeks, and with the exception of exercising, medical needs or buying what they need to or going to work, many people have been isolated in their homes.'

'As you know, we've currently not allowed people to go and visit each other in their homes,' Premier Gladys Berejiklian said

Queensland

From Saturday, citizens are allowed non-essential travel within 50km of their homes.

Parks and picnic grounds are expected to be among prime destinations for many who have endured weeks of lockdown.

Shopping is also allowed and even sitting on a park bench is permitted.

However, people must remain with members of their own household and those who are single are allowed to hang out with other person.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk commended Queenslanders for their efforts saying they should be proud for flattening the curve.

'Thank you so much for that great collective effort and we're all pitching in, we're all helping out, and of course this weekend is also really crucial,' she said.

'I really hope that everyone acts responsibly.'

A family are seen enjoying a picnic at Daisy Hill Forest Park in Brisbane on Saturday

Western Australia

The state has eased the total number of gatherings to a total of 10 people for weddings and funerals.

If you're looking to celebrate Mother's Day a bit differently you could go for a picnic or a hike as restrictions are eased.

'Our numbers may be low but we need to keep it that way,' Premier Mark McGowan told reporters.

Tasmania

Two people at a time are allowed to visit loved ones in Tasmania as long as each individual is healthy and social distancing is adhered to.

As they continue to push through the breakouts of the killer coronavirus, the state is vigilant on easing restrictions.

The northwest region saw an outbreak that started amongst healthcare workers and led to the closure of two hospitals.

South Australia

A group of 10 people are allowed to gather as long as the social distancing measure of 1.5m is adhered to.

'Our restrictions are actually not as severe in some respects as other states and territories,' Health Minister Stephen Wade said.

Australians are told to maintain social distancing when celebrating Mother's Day (stock)

Northern Territory

From Friday, gatherings of more than 10 people are allowed in the Northern Territory.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner stressed that the safety distance of 1.5m must still be followed.

'There is one important principle, and that is physical distancing. Failure to do so puts this plan at risk,' he said.

Australian Capital Territory

The ACT became the first jurisdiction to be declared free from coronavirus.

However there are still no plans on what restrictions to ease with ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr wanting to stay in line with NSW.

'Were we to reopen bars and restaurants, but they remained closed in NSW, then we would get quite an influx of people into the territory and that would lead to an increased risk,' he told ABC.

He suggested that public gatherings and groups of 10 may be the first restrictions to be eased.

Two people are allowed to visit a home at any time in time for Mother's Day.
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For Muslims in the United States, there is no other time more centered around gathering in congregation than the holy month of Ramadan. In every corner of the country, believers attend community iftar meals to break the fast and then pack neatly into tight rows for nightly prayers at the mosque. On weekends, especially, some may linger longer as they catch up, share in the pre-dawn suhoor meal and line up again for the fajr, dawn, prayers.

But this year, Ramadan falls during a global pandemic. In the US, with the worlds highest Covid-19 death toll, that means being forced to mark the month in different, more virtual and sometimes solitary ways.

As they re-imagine some of the spiritual and social rituals, many are relying on a mix of at-home worship and a myriad of online religious programming. Virtual iftar options have sprung up so the devout dont have to break their fast alone. But not all moments can be recreated on a screen. There will be dishes not shared, prayers not lifted together, hugs not given.

Around the country, Muslims are adapting to the unprecedented challenges.

HOUSTON: RICARDO RAMIREZ, 28

Ricardo Ramirez became a Muslim before a crowd of believers.

As soon as he uttered the shahada, the Islamic testimony of faith, the faithful broke into chants of Allahu Akbar. He was told that day that all of these brothers and sisters are your brothers and sisters.

Since then, he says, the community has been there for him. But Ramirez is experiencing a milestone in his faith journey  his first Ramadan as a Muslim  as the virus disrupts worship and mosques close.

Its going to be really difficult, he said before Ramadan started. I do have a lot of questions, and theres a lot I want to observe and ask about.

Born in Texas to parents of Mexican descent, Ramirez was baptized Catholic before converting. In the compulsory solitude, hes determined to find strength. The more I think about it, I think this is the path that Allah has set for me as a challenge ... to know that this religion is for me.

CHICAGO: JUMANA AZAM, 33

On Ramadans first day, respiratory therapist Jumana Azam slept through her alarm for suhoor. She had come home at 2 a.m. from an odd shift at the hospital. Still, when she woke up, she set her intention to fast, ignoring the doubts of whether shed be able to keep it throughout the day.

Then she changed back into scrubs and left to start another shift in the ICU of Rush University Medical Center.

As Chicago experienced a surge of Covid-19 patients in early April, Azams days quickly turned into 16-hour shifts, with barely a break to eat or make one of the five daily prayers.

Last year, Azam, like many other professional Muslims observing the month, decreased her working hours slightly to make the days more manageable. This year, she knows that wont be possible. Still, Azam is planning to wake up each morning to eat before dawn and try.

Im going to take it in stages and try to fast while Im at work, she says. But if I feel like Im getting light-headed, Im going to have to break it.

NEW YORK CITY: IMAM MUFTI MOHAMMED ISMAIL, 38

The An-Noor Cultural Center and masjid, or mosque, is located blocks from Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, where patients have been dying from Covid-19 at an alarming rate.

The immigrant-rich neighborhood has been deemed one of New York Citys hardest-hit areas. Imam Mufti Mohammed Ismail is the principal of the religious school at An-Noor.

A prayer of protection from diseases is printed in Arabic and English on a paper posted to the mosque wall, and Ismail says the Bangladeshi community has lost close to 150 people to Covid-19 across New York City.

As deaths rise, Imam Ismail is trying to serve community members suffering in other ways. With mosques shuttered as the city reels, volunteers from An-Noor Cultural Center are preparing food boxes for those who would have relied on the center for iftar every evening.

On this day, volunteers load food into a car and head off to begin deliveries. Imam Ismail says this gives the center the opportunity to fulfill one of Ramadans tenets  to serve those less fortunate, regardless of religion. Once we receive a call asking for help, we never question about the callers faith. Its just a family, he says. A human being. We are ready to serve them.

MINNEAPOLIS: IMAM SHARIF MOHAMED

For all the things Muslims are doing without this year, one community in Minneapolis has gained a new voice during the holy month: the call to prayer.

Throughout Ramadan, the azan, or adhan  which summons the faithful for prayers five times a day  will be broadcast over loudspeakers for the first time at the Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque.

Mayor Jacob Frey facilitated the noise permit after community leaders requested the service. For Muslims feeling isolated at home, the sound of the azan will offer connection, says Imam Sharif Mohamed.

Its calming and soothing for them, he says. The emotional and spiritual connection, I think, is beyond our imagination.

WHEELING, ILLINOIS: SHAHEEN KHAN, 54

Over the last six weeks, Shaheen Khan has gotten more comfortable sitting in front of the camera and conducting online Islamic lessons.

The 54-year-old mother of four teaches at the Hadi School, a Montessori Islamic school in Schaumburg, Illinois, that provides Islamic teachings according to the Shia tradition.

Khan arrived in the US from India in 1990 and has been teaching ever since. But in 30 years, shes never had to face the challenge of connecting with her students remotely day after day.

Of the time at home, she says this: Maybe this is Allahs way of resetting a button for us.
As part of its corporate social responsibility and helping the country to fight the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Zoomlion Ghana Limited has disinfected the Regional Maritime University, Nungua, Accra and the headquarters of Action Chapel International, Accra.



The exercise, which was carried out by Vectorpes Company Limited of Zoomlion, came off on May Day (Friday, May 1, 2020).

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the exercise on the campus of Regional Maritime University, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Elvis Anku, praised Zoomlion Ghana Limited for the initiative.



He intimated that Zoomlion Ghana Limited has helped to assuage the fears of his students in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.



In this regard, he gave an assurance that the university will ensure that all the students observe all the COVID-19 safety protocols when school re-opens.



Earlier, the company disinfected the headquarters of the Action Chapel International on the Spintex road, Accra. At the church, Zoomlion sprayed the youth block, childrens block, main auditorium, cafeteria among others.



Addressing a cross-section of journalists, Bishop Ebenezer Obodai of Action Chapel International said that in the wake of the pandemic, it was important that everybody takes precautions and put in the right practices to ensure the safety not only of our members but families as well.



He averred that the disinfection exercise will help make the church premises comfortable and safe for members.



Asked what measures the church would have in place if the ban on public gathering is lifted, Rev Obodai said even before the partial lockdown in parts of Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi, the church was seriously educating members on the need to wash their hands regularly, apply alcohol-based hand sanitisers, avoid handshakes and observe social/physical distancing, in addition to the wearing of masks to help limit the spread of the virus.



if you go round the church we have a whole lot of charts, Veronica buckets, hand sanitisers and even thermometers at every entrance of the church to check temperatures of members. And all these we put in place even before the lockdown to help fight the pandemic. So we are very conversant with what is going on and we will leave no stone unturned in terms of getting the place ready when the ban is lifted. he assured.



For her part, the Project Coordinator, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ZGL, Lola Asiseh Ashitey, disclosed that her outfit has completed the disinfection of all the public tertiary institutions across the country, with the Regional Maritime University being the last one.



She said the exercise, which was a collaboration with Citi TV, formed part of her companys CSR.



Against that backdrop, she urged corporate Ghana and other private institutions to take advantage of her companys 50% discount on its disinfection service.



Since the virus made its way into the country, Zoomlion has been in the forefront, helping with disinfection of state institutions and agencies, public tertiary institutions, churches among many others.

Source: Peacefmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A New York City nursing home recorded 98 deaths linked to the coronavirus, a staggering death toll that shocked public officials, as it was forced to order a freezer truck to store bodies.

Isabella Geriatric Center in Washington Heights, Manhattan, lost 46 residents confirmed to have COVID-19 and a further 52 residents who were not tested but are suspected to have died from the illness.

If confirmed, the death toll amounts to 14 percent of the residents in the 705-bed home and would make it the largest such coronavirus cluster in the state, according to NY1.

Black tarp was placed across the gates guarding the back of the home last week as a refrigerated truck was brought in to store the overwhelming number of bodies because funeral homes have been taking days to pick up the deceased.

Family members of residents have criticized the home for keeping them in the dark, with the Department of Health listing only 13 coronavirus deaths in the home as of April 30.

The Isabella Geriatric Center in Washington Heights where there have been 98 deaths linked to the coronavirus reported. The death toll amounts to 14 percent of the residents in the home

Black tarp was placed around the back gates of the Isabella Geriatric Center in New York City last week so that the freezer truck being used to the store bodies could not be seen

Residents were still able to capture footage of the freezer truck from the nursing home window

'It's absolutely horrifying,' Mayor Bill de Blasio said. 'It's inestimable loss, and it's just impossible to imagine so many people lost in one place.'

The massive death toll at the center was first reported by NY1 on Thursday which highlighted the discrepancy between the state figure for the home and the real number.

They reported that at least 98 residents of Isabella Geriatric Center have died since the pandemic started. Some died at the nursing home and some died after being treated at hospitals.

Isabella Geriatric Center said it 'could not speculate' as to why a state survey previously listed only 13 COVID-19 deaths at its facility.

It sent a lengthy statement to the Associated Press on Friday insisting it 'truthfully and accurately reported' its death toll to state officials.

The center also said it had been hampered in trying to prevent a wider outbreak by a lack of testing.

'Isabella, like all other nursing homes in New York City, initially had limited access to widespread and consistent in-house testing to quickly diagnose our residents and staff,' Audrey Waters, a spokeswoman for the nursing home, wrote in an email.

The Isabella Geriatric Center says nearly 100 of its residents have died from confirmed or suspected cases the novel coronavirus. It is among the hardest hit nursing homes in the state, with 46 confirmed fatalities and an additional 52 deaths of people suspected to have the virus

Staff pictured wearing face masks at the Isabella Geriatric Center in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic. The center said it encountered staffing shortages and early challenges securing personal protective equipment for employees when the outbreak started

'This hampered our ability to identify those who were infected and asymptomatic, despite our efforts to swiftly separate anyone who presented symptoms.'

Isabella also encountered staffing shortages, prompting it to hire from outside agencies and early challenges securing personal protective equipment for employees. Waters said the home finally is 'getting more access to testing' now.

City officials have called for change after Isabella becomes yet another case of large death rates in New York City nursing homes.

'The one thing we now know about the nursing homes is the status quo cannot continue to say the least,' Mayor de Blasio said.

'Something very different has to happen.'

City officials are 'trying to provide help in every way we can,' the mayor added, saying the city had delivered thousands of respirator masks to the Washington Heights facility.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat, accused Isabella of keeping the public and elected officials in the dark about the outbreak.

He sent a letter Friday to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James urging them to investigate the 'information sharing practices' of New York nursing homes.

'People deserve to know what's happening,' Espaillat said in an interview with AP.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat sent a letter to Gov. Cuomo Friday calling for an investigation into conditions in New York City nursing homes after another facility reports a large death rate from the coronavirus. Isabella Geriatric Center may have suffered as many as 100 deaths

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat's letter in which he expressed concern over the efforts to protect the elderly and those with underlying health conditions from the coronavirus in care homes

Isabella said it kept family members in the loop about changes in their loved ones' conditions despite the circumstances.

'When we believe their loved one is nearing death, we do reach out to a residents primary contact and ask if they would like to say goodbye in person or via phone or an app,' Waters said.

'In-person goodbye visits were never interrupted and continue to happen.'

But family members of residents have claimed they were kept in the dark about the extent of the outbreak at the home and were not provided with enough updates.

'I don't understand. They didn't reach out to us until the last minute to tell us she's not going to make it. How does that even happen? There was no communication. The nurses station, they wouldn't pick up the phone, so you had to call over and over again,' one anonymous family member told NY1.

'April 6 was just the worst day. It was the worst day.'

Xiomara Garcia-King, who lost her father Toribio Antonio Garcia who was a resident of the home, claimed they were not even told there was an outbreak.

'They did not inform us that COVID-19 was at the facility. We believe he deteriorated because of their lack of response,' she said.

'Again, as my brother Anthony said, so many phone calls I've had to make in just one day because my father would press his call button and no one would come and respond.'

Nursing homes have been known since the earliest days of the outbreak as a trouble spot.

They have been particularly hard hit in New York, which has had at least 3,065 nursing home deaths - by far the most in the nation - as of Thursday, according to an Associated Press count.

The state Department of Health said it has received 'outbreak reports' from 239 nursing homes, including at least six facilities with death tolls of 40 patients or more.

It is hard to say whether the spate of deaths at the Isabelle Geriatric Center is the worst nursing home outbreak yet in the U.S. because even within the city, facilities have chosen to report fatalities in different ways.

State officials said they are building an updated data set intended to offer a more detailed window into nursing home deaths.

Cuomo referred to a 'vagueness' in some reporting of suspected COVID-19 cases but warned nursing homes not to misrepresent their death tolls.

'They submit these numbers under penalty of perjury,' Cuomo told reporters. 'They can be prosecuted criminally for fraud on any of these reporting numbers.'
01.05.2020 LISTEN

Coronavirus has caused governments around the world to totally lockdown their various countries, businesses are closed; hospitals all around the globe are finding it difficult to cope with the situation while other sicknesses are killing people because all attentions are on Coronavirus, but, sadly, domestic abuses are on the increase.

Domestic violence against women and girls is alarming especially in Africa. Women have been abused daily because their abusers are living with them in their communities and homes due to the lockdown imposed by governments. The security forces are not paying attention to this inhuman treatment against women and girls, this is unacceptable. `

During this time of global disaster where human existence is being threatened by a common enemy called COVID-19, the increase of violence against women is unacceptable. This action has reached our attention and can no longer keep silent, recently, Police Minister Bheki Cele announced on AllAfrica online news that at least 2,230 gender-based violence cases were reported during the first week of the national lockdown in South Africa, similarly, the Musasa Project, an NGO and the member of the peace-building Network of Zimbabwe says it received 764 gender-based violence cases in the last two weeks during the lockdown.

With extreme anger and tears, I call on our male counterparts who are involved in this inhume act to stop this now. The World Health Organization (WHO) is yet to inform the world when the pandemic will end. There are new cases daily and the global lockdown therefore continues. This means millions of women and girls are still lockdown homes with their abusers, it is a possible case of them losing their pride to abusers, increase in teenage and unwanted pregnancies; and even lusting the ability to plan their families well in the future because the issues of unwanted pregnancies is a serious threat to girls' education and might result in an increase in child marriage.

Women have been abused daily with less attention from government around the globe mainly in Africa; hence, I want to call on the attention of World Leaders, International Development Organizations, and its donor partners that are fighting the coronavirus not to neglect these issues of domestic violence during this pandemic.

Let us all remember that we have seventeen (17) Stainable Development Goals to achieve by 2030 and if this issue of domestic violence against women and girls continues during this crisis, the world will have another pandemic to fight. The Pandemic of malnutrition, the pandemic of teenage pregnancies and it might not achieve its Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. The domestic violence during this pandemic is undemanding the efforts to end gender-based violence and to achieve quality education. Women and girls are the most affected victims; I, therefore, call for an end to domestic violence against women at this critical time of global health crisis. This pandemic is already popping a cataclysmic of the SDGs goals. It will be a further disaster if the violence against women continues during this lockdown.

Everyone is struggling to combat the virus. Scientists are struggling to get a vaccine, governments are losing revenues, and the world economies are crumbling  let us not lose our sight on domestic violence, because it is also a threat to the world.

Comrades and friends, like the Ebola epidemic, where three African countries (Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leon) were highly affected with approximate deaths of 11,310, I see a struggling world at pose coronavirus. The case of Ebola is a long-lasting excruciating that will not be forgotten. Judging Ebola, we need a united fight against the coronavirus not domestic violence against women.

As I conclude, this pandemic should not cause a million cases of domestic abuse against our women and girls around the world.

Women did not cause a global lockdown, let our male counterpart directs their attention to the virus, not women who are also victims of the virus. As we fight COVID-19, I am asking everyone to protect the rights of women and girls during this crisis.

Fight coronavirus NOT Women!

Joelyn Kou Gbusseh is a Liberia and a Human Right Advocate, before matriculation to the U.S; she attended the United Methodist University up to junior level reading Secondary Education major. For more information about my professional background please email me on [email protected] or Facebook|Linkedin|Twitter|Instagram
Labour Department keeps tabs on private establishments By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas private sector establishments affected by the COVID-19 crisis have been directed to submit a self assessment on the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the sustenance of institutions and employees.

Labour Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has directed the Commissioner General of Labour A. Wimalaweera to submit a report on the present status including financial and market share losses of those private companies.

He issued this directive at a recent meeting convened to discuss issues of employees affected by the coronavirus as it was revealed that no such updated data was available at the Labour Department, informed sources said.

In a rapidly changing economic situation, accurate and timely data is essential to assess the real-time impacts of COVID-19 on employment and businesses.

This information will be used to provide effective, targeted and well-designed responses by the government including necessary financial and other relief to affected private sector establishments, a senior Labour Ministry official told the Business Times.

The Labour Department is now conducting an e-survey on private sector establishments affected due to COVID-19 and had requested companies to complete the relevant questionnaire and submit it through website www.labourdept.gov.lk on or before May 3 (today).

The e-survey has asked employers about the extent of the impact on the business since the onset of COVID-19, including if and how the business is being continued, total number of employees at the end of February, the present number of employees, present situation of the establishment whether it is closed or in partial operation, reasons for closure, if it is closed is there any intention to reopen and reasons not to reopen.

Other questions revolved around details of retrenchment and layoffs of permanent, probationary, contract, part-time, casual employees during the crisis period and steps to pay the April salary for employees even if the business has been closed, if the business will remain closed for the coming few months how they expect to pay workers who were asked to stay at home.

However several trade union leaders told the Business Times companies cannot retrench the staff even during a recession without valid reasons as

Sri Lanka labour laws ensure job security.

This matter was already brought to the attention of the Labour Minister, they said adding that they will seek a clarification from the ministry towards this end.

The employers have also been asked to indicate as to whether private entities are in need of government assistance in the form of financial support  grant, loan with low interest, tax incentives, waving off EPF surcharge, terminate/layoff employees, allowing to pay percentage of salary for workers who have been made to stay at home, flexible working arrangements/patterns, allowing to work weekends and holidays to recover lost hours of work, 4 or 5-day work week arrangements and facilities relating to health.
Indore Police on Saturday found 18



people, most of them migrant workers, crammed inside a cement mixer-laden truck headed towards Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra, an official said.

All of them were sent to a shelter for medical examination and a bus was being organised for their further transit, he said.

A video of workers emerging from the small hole of the cement-mixer in the presence of police has gone viral on social media.

"During the routine check-up at Panth Piplai village, about 35 kms from Indore, we stopped a truck laden with a cement-mixer on suspicion. After opening the lid, we found 18 people inside," Traffic Police sub inspector Amit Kumar Yadav told PTI.

He said the 18 people included fourteen migrant labourers and four employees of the truck owner.

He said the labourers had been trying to reach their native state Uttar Pradesh from Maharashtra, as they found no work due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Yadav said the workers had boarded the truck on Friday.

"They all were sent to a shelter for medical examination. A bus is also being arranged to send them to Uttar Pradesh," he said.

An FIR has been registered against the truck driver under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Yadav added.

The Centre government recently allowed movement of stranded labourers, tourists and students from one state to another on permission of local authorities.

The Maharashtra government on Friday and Saturday ran two special trains carrying migrant workers to Bhopal and Lucknow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For more than three years, Michael Flynn waged a strange battle to clear his name after pleading guilty to lying to FBI agents and then declining a judges invitation to withdraw the plea. But there has always been something very wrong about the case, and weve learned more about it in recent weeks.

The retired army general, fleetingly President Trumps first national-security adviser, was investigated during the Trump transition by anti-Trump officials at the FBI and Obama Justice Department on nebulous grounds.

There was no criminal predicate for the probe: Flynns communications with Sergey Kislyak  then the Russian ambassador to the U.S.  during the transition, which set off the whole affair, were entirely proper. The idea that they violated the Logan Act forbidding private interference in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy was always absurd. The last indictment under the constitutionally dubious act was in 1852, and the statute wasnt meant to tie the hands of high-level officials of an incoming administration.

Former FBI director James Comey broke protocol by having agents interview Flynn at the White House on his first day on the job, a tactic Comey subsequently told a chortling New York City audience he wouldnt have gotten away with in a more organized administration. Though the agents had a recording of his conversation with the ambassador, they didnt play it for Flynn  instead simply grilling him.

The just-revealed notes of an FBI official prior to the interview ask whether the goal was to elicit Flynns admission that he talked with Kislyak about sanctions (the supposed Logan Act violation) or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired. The notes are open to interpretation, but its not clear what the FBI was doing besides hoping hed lie.

In a newly disclosed email, Lisa Page suggests slipping in as unobtrusively as possible a warning that lying to the FBI is a crime, so as not to put Flynn on his guard.

Story continues

Still, the agents who interviewed Flynn didnt think he lied. Even if he did, as our own Andrew C. McCarthy has noted, a false statement is not supposed to be actionable unless it is material to something properly under investigation.

This paper-thin case (at best) was apparently on the verge of being closed when top FBI officials intervened to keep that from happening. Then, the case got picked up by Special Counsel Muellers team. Muellers prosecutors pressured Flynn to plead guilty, hoping hed help make some sort of case against Trump.

That obviously came to nothing, but Flynn has been financially ruined and still faces jail time.

As for Flynns guilty plea, his counsel contends that new disclosures show it was elicited on the basis of threatening his son with prosecution. His sons alleged crime was failing to register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. Such a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act had almost never been charged by the Justice department prior to Muellers investigation, and its not even clear the act would apply to Flynns son.

None of this was revealed to the court until now.

It was highly convenient for the Mueller team to have the Flynn guilty plea as a high-profile scalp to wave around for the media, which did indeed take delight in it and use it to argue that the probe was closing in on Trump.

We were never fans of Michael Flynns appointment as national-security adviser. How he handled himself in this matter  and especially his work for the government of Turkey while advising Trump in 2016  shows poor judgment. But hes been treated unjustly.

The court, Attorney General Bill Barr, and President Trump should all consider remedies. This isnt how our justice system, or high politics, should work.

More from National Review
As Nigeria struggles to ramp up the number of COVID-19 tests, the country is now considering doing serological diagnosis within its general population to determine the total number of people infected with the virus.

Nigeria sits among countries with the least number of standard coronavirus tests conducted worldwide. As of April 30, 2020, Nigeria has only carried out 12,828 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, which translates to 62 tests in every 1 million Nigerians.

RT-PCR is the standard coronavirus test. It usually involves the use of a sterile swab inserted to the back of a persons nasal passage and throat to absorb secretions, which are then tested for the presence of SARS-CoV2 in a molecular laboratory. Nigeria has 15 molecular laboratories with an aggregate capacity to undertake 2,500 tests per day, President Muhammadu Buhari claimed.

However, last Sunday the director of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu, confessed that the country was in desperate need of test kits and gave specifications and preferred manufacturers

Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu  NCDC DG

Were desperately looking for more RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) extraction kits as we expand #COVID19 testing. Product: Total viral RNA extraction kits (preferably spin column and with a lysis buffer). Manufacturers: Qiagen, ThermoFischer, SeeGene, Inqaba, LifeRiver etc, he wrote on Twitter.

Though the NCDC announced an ambitious plan to test two million people in the coming months, it, however, admitted that the financial implication of this plan was going to be enormous.

Serological Diagnosis

Thus, in order to determine the extent of the spread of the virus in the country, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) in conjunction with the University College in London, said it planned to do a serological survey across Nigeria.

We are working with some of our colleagues in the PTF to do serological study, Babatunde Salako, the director-general of the NIMR, told PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone chat.

This study will look at the community and the development of antibodies against COVID-19 in the community so that we can determine how widespread the infection has been, how many people have come in contact with that virus since we are not testing anybody. That is the only test that can show us how widely spread is the disease within a particular community.

The one that we want to do is to assess in the general population how many people have such antibodies. That then means we would be able to project how many people within the population had come in contact with the virus.

A large majority of the virus people(carriers) are asymptomatic, so they dont know if they have the disease. Naturally, they develop antibodies, their bodies fight the virus and kill the virus because of the antibodies, and they can get well, and they dont know, he added.

Mr Salako, a professor, explained that because serological tests involved the use of conventional test equipment, it does not have the financial burden of the difficult-to-come-by test kits needed for RT-PCR tests.

What we are using is the gold standard for testing. In serological tests, you just take blood from the patient. You dont need that kind of serious equipment (used in RT-PCR tests), he said.

However, Mr Salako said despite the lower cost implications of serological tests, the plan might not take off if funds were not immediately earmarked for it. The professor said he was concerned that researches into possible understanding and remedies are not getting enough attention in the country.

Professor Babatunde Salako

He, however, said he was hopeful that in the coming days the Nigerian government and private institutions supporting efforts at controlling the spread of the disease would make funds available to support research endeavours.

Everybody both public and private are much more concern about case detection and case management and control of the disease than research. Whereas research is very key to the control and to the treatment of the disease. We are not seeing any clear-cut budget for research from the government.

No special fund for that now but I must quickly say, I am part of a meeting with the Federal Ministry of Health and we have recently been asked to put together our action plans and I imagine that through that action plan, they might be planning to give fund for research, he said.

WHO preaches caution

While serological tests may help countries such as Nigeria understand the spread of the virus in their population, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a brief released on April 24, 2020, warned that it should not be used as the basis for an immunity passport explaining that there is not enough evidence that people with antibodies are protected from being re-infected.

WHO continues to review the evidence on antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection.2-17 Most of these studies show that people who have recovered from infection have antibodies to the virus. However, some of these people have very low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood,4 suggesting that cellular immunity may also be critical for recovery. As of 24 April 2020, no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans, the brief read.

People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice. The use of such certificates may, therefore, increase the risks of continued transmission. As new evidence becomes available, WHO will update this scientific brief, the brief added.

Apart from NIMRs planned serological test, scientists around the country are working on several responses to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

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These responses include the development of a rapid diagnostics, the development of a vaccine, and at least two clinical trials of two potential herbal treatment of symptoms associated with the virus.

Development of a rapid test, vaccine

At the forefront of these efforts is the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), located at Redeemer University in Ede, Osun State.

The centre rose to national prominence during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak after it developed a five-minute diagnostics test for Ebola. Going forward the centre also developed a five-minute test for Lassa fever.

Keeping with its pacesetting tradition, ACEGID, in collaboration with researchers from other institutions, did the first genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2. Christian Happi, the coordinator of the centre told PREMIUM TIMES that the sequence was done within 48 hours, which he said was unprecedented globally.

Just like it did during the outbreak of Ebola, and with Lassa fever, Mr Happi, a professor, told PREMIUM TIMES that the centre is working on developing a rapid 10-minute diagnostics for coronavirus, which could help improve Nigerias abysmal testing numbers.

We are working on developing rapid diagnostics. We are working to produce a-10-minutes rapid diagnostics. The Ebola diagnostics is different, but we are using the same technology to develop something similar. We are not there yet. I just want people to know that we have the technology. And we have done the same thing for Lassa fever. And we want to believe we would do the same thing for COVID-19, he said.

Mr Happi, also added that his centre is working on the development of a vaccine in collaboration with the University of Cambridge. He explained this was possible because of the successful genomic sequence of a sample of virus collected from Nigerias index case, an Italian.

Because we were able to sequence the whole genome, we have the ability to see the virus and see the areas of strength and areas of weakness of the virus. So, we want to use the areas of weakness of the virus to develop and vaccine.

We are working quietly on it, but we are at the very early stage. We are working on a collaboration with the University of Cambridge. It has cost implications but what we are doing right now is to put together a technology that can drive the production of the vaccine. We need additional technology to do that and that is what we are doing, he said.

He explained that because the virus is easily mutable, his institution is working to develop a technology that does not only lead to the production of a vaccine but one that makes it possible to adapt to a new strain of the virus within days.

If you are reading the literature, there is almost 30 strains of the virus circulating now This virus has the ability to change very fast so we are working on a technology that will be agile. If we see a new strain within three or four days, we can adapt our technology for that strain. We need technology and innovation; we need creativity in order to fight this virus. It is not business as usual. We have to keep an open mind that accepts and embrace innovation, he said.

Clinical trial of repurposed drugs

Mr Salako, the director of the NIMR, also told PREMIUM TIMES that country isnt left out from the global experimentation of treating coronavirus patients with drugs which have been previously used to treat diseases such as HIV, Ebola and malaria. He said the study is being done in collaboration with foremost Nigerian tertiary medical institutions such as the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, Lagos University Teaching Hospitals and isolation centres across the country.

One of the drugs is Remdesivir which is used for Ebola virus and then there are other drugs for HIV virus and chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. These drugs have been used in several places since the advent of COVID-19. Reports from China and France and a few other places show that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine help the outcome of the disease. There are others that show that it didnt help, so there is no consensus about the use of chloroquine.

But we thought we should also look at chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and because this is a drug we have used for donkey years in Nigeria and so we are capable of knowing what side effect that can come from that drug and capable of managing those side effects, he said.

Herbal remedies

Scientists at the University of Ibadan and the Federal University Dutse (FUD) have also commenced the study of herbal remedies to treat some of the symptoms in critical cases of the virus.

University of Ibadan (UI)

At the University of Ibadan, researchers have started the clinical trial of a trial called Euphorbia Hirta to treat symptoms such as dry cough, fever and respiratory ailment associated with COVID-19.

When reached for comment about the study, Idayat Gbadamosi, a member of the team of researcher told PREMIUM TIMES that they decided to study the plant following ethnobotanical information and the experience of users.

She, however, refused to give details about the size of the population sample and preliminary results of the study.

We are conducting a clinical trial. We wont divulge information until we are doing with the research, she said.

Similarly, at FUD, scientists are at the early stages of studying plants to treat acute pneumonia, fever and other symptoms of COVID-19.

Salihu Ibrahim, the head of the research team, told PREMIUM TIMES that they are working in collaboration with traditional medicinal practitioners.

Eighty per cent of the population in Africa relies on traditional medicines because of accessibility and affordability. Traditional medical practitioners have vest knowledge of plants which they used to take care of diseases. The University is an institution for teaching, research and making policy.

He said the clinical trial will test those plants for toxicity and long-term side effects.

When asked if his team was working with local laboratories such as ACEGID, that has done the genomic sequence of the virus, Mr Ibrahim said, the research was in progress and it was too early to reveal details of what his team are exploring.

When the results are out, we shall call the press to tell them our findings, he said.
A former Bay Area venture capitalist and his companies will pay $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit by the state accusing him of sexually harassing an employee and repeatedly touching her without her consent.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing announced the settlement Friday with Lee William Bill McNutt III, the Silicon Valley Growth Syndicate, which he co-founded, and International Direct Mail Consultants, which he owns.

In a lawsuit in July, the department alleged that McNutt took the woman, the companies vice president for operations and communications, on trips in 2017 when he touched her under her clothes without her consent. On a company-mandated trip to La Jolla (San Diego County), the suit said, he took her to a nude beach, where he disrobed, and at their lodgings, he later gave her a massage, sliding his hands under her shorts.

The womans lawyer sent McNutt a complaint in March 2018 alleging violations of California laws and suggesting she be put on paid leave, but instead she was dismissed in June 2018, the suit said.

In addition to the $1.8 million, the settlement prohibits McNutt from videotaping or photographing women or girls unrelated to him, and from hiring students from Southern Methodist University, where the woman had been a student. McNutt also attended SMU, and the Dallas Morning News has reported that the university barred him from campus in 2009 after complaints from female students.

McNutt lives in Dallas, and the Silicon Valley Growth Syndicate, formerly based in San Francisco, is now in Little Rock, Ark., where it invests in startup businesses.

David Oates, a spokesman for McNutt, said McNutt and his companies consider the states lawsuit baseless.

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.

However, in light of the current gender discrimination environment, they ultimately opted to spare their family and friends from the ongoing stress that defending the suit brought and agreed to this settlement, Oates said.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
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By PTI

SINGAPORE: Action will be taken against a Singaporean man for allegedly "insulting Indians" on social media to deliberately stoke anger, unhappiness and racial tensions, a senior minister said on Saturday.

The man using @SharonLiew86 Twitter username posted tweets with derogatory terms to refer to people of South Asian descent, reported Channel News Asia. He tweeted that amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, those who sit too close to each other are Malays, Indians or foreigners, and not "true blue" Singaporeans, triggering an outrage in the city-state.

Reacting to the developments, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam wrote on Facebook that "police have investigated, found the person, a man, not a female named Sharon Liew, and the man is not Chinese".

ALSO READ| Indian in Singapore with COVID-19 died of injuries, not to due to infection: Report

Sharon Liew, who posted that Chinese women do not want to sit next to smelly Apuneneh is neither Chinese, nor female".

The minister said that "some weeks ago, there were nasty posts by one 'Sharon Liew@sharonliew86', insulting Indians, saying: COVID-19 is the 'apuneneh (considered derogatory term for people of Tamil origin) virus'; and how smart Chinese women do not want to sit next to 'smelly apuneneh' inside the MRT. Done deliberately to stoke anger, unhappiness, racial tensions. Action will be taken."

Sharon Liew, who posted that Chinese women do not want to sit next to smelly Apuneneh is neither Chinese, nor female.



Full post here https://t.co/Bo98RyCnoH pic.twitter.com/y8jBVnomuJ  K.Shanmugam SC (@kshanmugam) May 2, 2020

The police said that they were investigating a 34-year-old man for "promoting enmity between different racial groups". The police received a report about offensive content against Indian migrant workers on April 18.

Through investigations, CCTV footage and police cameras, the authorities identified the man on April 23. "Preliminary investigation revealed that the man is believed to be involved in two other cases involving offensive tweets," said the police.

If found guilty of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of race, the man could be jailed for up to three years, fined or both. "At a time when we need the nation to stand as one, acts that sow racial discord cannot be condoned.We will continue to take a tough stand against those who seek to stoke community tensions in multi-racial Singapore," said Julius Lim, assistant commissioner of police, commander of Bedok Police Division.

Migrant workers make up the bulk of COVID-19 cases in Singapore, with the outbreak affecting several foreign workers living in crammed dormitories.

ALSO READ| Singapore to let some businesses reopen May 12

Last month, Shanmugam spoke out against a forum letter published in Chinese daily questioning if foreign workers were to be blamed for the rise in cases in Singapore, pointing to their eating habits and alleged lack of personal hygiene.

According to media reports, the minister later said these sentiments showed "underlying racism".
SRINAGAR: A fresh gunbattle is currently underway between the security forces and a group of heavily-armed terrorists in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama, said reports on Saturday. The encounter is going on in Dangerpora are in Pulwama where 3-4 terrorists have been trapped by the security forces.

Indian Army's 55 Rashtriya Rifles (The Grenadiers), CRPF's 182 and 183 Battalions are said to be involved in the encounter. The entire area has been cordoned off by the security forces and additional reinforcement is being sent there.

The security forces had received a tip-off about the presence of some terrorists in the area after which a massive search and combing operation was launched in the area.

The gunbattle began after the terrorists refused to surrender and opened fire on the security personnel.

The Pulwama encounter comes a day after two Indian soldiers were killed in cross border shelling by the Pakistani Army after it violated the ceasefire in J&Ks Rampur sector along the LoC.

Two soldiers, who were injured during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Rampur sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla district on Friday, succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, a Defence spokesperson said.

Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on 1 May 2020. Unfortunately, Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice, a defence spokesperson said. They were among the three soldiers who were injured as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC on Friday afternoon.

On 01 May 2020, at about 1530 hours, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation (CFV) along the LoC in Rampur Sector, District Baramulla, Defence Spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said in a statement on Friday.

Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation on April 30.

Pakistans Army has violated the ceasefire more than 1,400 times this year. The total number of ceasefire violations by it stood at 3,168 in 2019 and 1,629 in 2018.
LATEST, May 2, 1:30 p.m. Yuba and Sutter counties are lifting their shelter-in-place orders on Monday, with several businesses slated to reopen.

Phuong Luu, the bi-county health officer who oversees the two jurisdictions, wrote an order Friday that authorizes the reopening of restaurants, personal care services, retailers, shopping malls and gyms so long as modifications are made to ensure social distancing of six feet physical distance between customers, and frequent sanitization of shared surfaces.

Bars, schools, theaters and large outdoor venues will remain closed, and social gatherings of more than 10 people are still prohibited. In addition, individuals over the age of 65 or ones with serious underlying conditions are ordered to remain at home and may only leave to "seek medical care or nutrition for themselves or family members, or perform work or recreational activities."

"The purpose of this Order is to continue to mitigate the spread of the virus to the greatest extent possible while addressing the need to gradually reopen the economy in order to ensure vital services are resumed in a safe manner," Luu writes.

The two counties have a combined 50 confirmed cases of the virus and a death toll of three.

Governor Gavin Newsom's statewide order still prohibits the opening of many of the businesses the two counties brought back online, but Newsom stated Friday he is "very close" to making "meaningful augmentations" to the order. Modoc County was the first county in the state to lift its shelter-in-place order.

May 2, 9:40 a.m. Bay Area counties announced new coronavirus cases on Saturday; as other counties report the latest numbers, the list below will be updated throughout the day.

 San Francisco County reported one new death and 20 new cases, bringing the death toll to 29 and the case total to 1,543.

 San Mateo County reported 36 new cases. The total number of cases is now 1,233 and the death toll remains 51.

 Alameda County reported one new death and 69 new cases. The total number of cases is 1,705 and the death toll is 63.

 Contra Costa County reported 27 new cases, bringing its total to 934. The death toll remains 28.

 Santa Clara County reported one new death and 26 new cases. The total of number of cases is 2,206, and the death toll is 114.

May 2, 8:45 a.m. The number of Bay Area residents hospitalized due to the coronavirus is continuing to trend downwards as the region moves to soften its shelter-in-place order beginning Monday.

Here are the previous seven days' worth of data reflecting the total number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in intensive care units across the nine counties that comprise the San Francisco Bay Area:

- Saturday, April 25: 606 (0.6 percent decrease from previous day)

- Sunday, April 26: 584 (3.6 percent decrease from previous day)

- Monday, April 27: 587 (0.5 percent increase from previous day)

- Tuesday, April 28: 578 (1.5 percent decrease from previous day)

- Wednesday, April 29: 585 (1.2 percent increase from previous day)

- Thursday, April 30: 532 (9.1 percent decrease from previous day)

- Friday, May 1: 540 (1.5 percent increase from previous day)

For reference, April 7 marked the day of the most reported total hospitalizations with 831, and data was first made available on April 1. The 9.1 percent decrease on April 30 marked the largest single-day percent decrease since April 16, a day that also saw hospitalizations plunge by 9.1 percent.

The number of patients in intensive care units  typically a stickier metric that rarely yields drastic single-day percent increases or decreases  has shown signs of an accelerated decline over the last week. Here are the previous seven days' worth of data:

- Saturday, April 25: 210 (1.0 percent increase from previous day)

- Sunday, April 26: 207 (1.4 percent decrease from previous day)

- Monday, April 27: 197 (4.8 percent decrease from previous day)

- Tuesday, April 28: 193 (2.0 percent decrease from previous day)

- Wednesday, April 29: 181 (6.2 percent decrease from previous day)

- Thursday, April 30: 172 (5 percent decrease from previous day)

- Friday, May 1: 168 (2.3 percent decrease from previous day)

For reference, April 7 was the day with the most intensive care hospitalizations in the region with 283.

May 2, 8:30 a.m. The City of San Francisco has launched a new data tracker that provides updates on the city's alternative housing program.

When using the tracker, one can see the number of hotel rooms procured for individuals that require housing and quarantine, as well as demographic breakdowns of the individuals staying at these sites.

"In terms of our homeless population, we've done more than any city in the country to move people into hotels & alternative housing sites during COVID-19," Mayor London Breed wrote in a tweet. "In total, we've secured over 2,700 rooms, with more than 1,000 people moved in. We're continuing to move more people in every day."

You can access the tracker here.

Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases):

ALAMEDA COUNTY: 1,749 confirmed cases, 63 deaths

For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 945 confirmed cases, 28 deaths

For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

LAKE COUNTY: 7 confirmed cases

For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 240 confirmed cases, 13 deaths

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

MONTEREY COUNTY: 222 confirmed cases, 5 deaths

For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 70 cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN BENITO COUNTY: 51 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 1,602 confirmed cases, 29 deaths

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY: 1,233 confirmed cases, 51 deaths

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 2,231 confirmed cases, 115 deaths

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 131 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 266 confirmed cases, 5 deaths

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 257 confirmed cases, 3 deaths

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 2,134 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 24,069 New Jersey 7,538 and Illinois 2,457.

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Cebu City (CNN Philippines, May 2) - Four more overseas Filipinos who returned home to Cebu have tested positive for COVID-19, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia confirmed on Saturday.

The new cases have raised the total number of infections among repatriated Filipinos in the island to 18.

The four were among 220 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who arrived in Cebu on April 27. They were allowed to travel back to the island after receiving negative results from rapid antibody tests in Manila on April 26.

Upon arrival at the Cebu Port, the OFWs were subjected to swab tests and required to spend the 14-day quarantine period at different hotels in Cebu City.

Local authorities assured that there was no interaction between the OFWs and Cebu residents because of the isolation procedures.

Excluding the 18 cases among the repatriated OFWs, Garcia announced 124 new COVID-19 infections in the province on Saturday, raising the total number of cases in Cebu to 968.

The bulk of the additional cases have been recorded in Cebu City, where at least 119 more people have been infected.

Cebu City now has a total of 877 confirmed cases, according to the Department of Health.

CNN Philippines' Stringer Dale Israel contributed to this report.
It looks like Amsterdam Commodities N.V. (AMS:ACOMO) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 2 days. You can purchase shares before the 5th of May in order to receive the dividend, which the company will pay on the 14th of May.

Amsterdam Commodities's upcoming dividend is 0.70 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of 1.10 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Amsterdam Commodities has a trailing yield of 5.6% on the current stock price of 19.64. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to investigate whether Amsterdam Commodities can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.

View our latest analysis for Amsterdam Commodities

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. It paid out 85% of its earnings as dividends last year, which is not unreasonable, but limits reinvestment in the business and leaves the dividend vulnerable to a business downturn. We'd be concerned if earnings began to decline. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Amsterdam Commodities generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It distributed 48% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

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

Click here to see how much of its profit Amsterdam Commodities paid out over the last 12 months.

ENXTAM:ACOMO Historical Dividend Yield May 2nd 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies that aren't growing their earnings can still be valuable, but it is even more important to assess the sustainability of the dividend if it looks like the company will struggle to grow. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. It's not encouraging to see that Amsterdam Commodities's earnings are effectively flat over the past five years. Better than seeing them fall off a cliff, for sure, but the best dividend stocks grow their earnings meaningfully over the long run.

Story continues

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the past ten years, Amsterdam Commodities has increased its dividend at approximately 11% a year on average.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Amsterdam Commodities? We're not enthused by the flat earnings per share, although at least the company's payout ratio is within reasonable bounds. Additionally, it paid out a lower percentage of its free cash flow, so at least it generated more cash than it spent on dividends. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Amsterdam Commodities from a dividend perspective.

If you're not too concerned about Amsterdam Commodities's ability to pay dividends, you should still be mindful of some of the other risks that this business faces. We've identified 2 warning signs with Amsterdam Commodities (at least 1 which is significant), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
HEALTH CARE

ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER

Dr. Stephanie B. Jones has joined Albany Med as chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. She succeeds Dr. Kevin Roberts, who, having served as chair since 1999, was one of the medical center's longest-serving chairs. Jones comes to Albany Med from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, where she was associate professor and vice chair for education and faculty development. She also was associate professor of anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School. Earlier in her career, she held faculty appointments and administrative leadership positions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

A practicing anesthesiologist for more than 20 years, Jones' clinical interests include the anesthetic implications for obese patients, including those having bariatric surgery.

She served as chief resident while completing her anesthesiology residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She interned at The Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, and attended medical school at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, after receiving a bachelor's degree with honors and distinction from Cornell University in Ithaca.

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

MOHAWK AMBULANCE SERVICE

Jovan Cruz has been named director of operations at Mohawk Ambulance Service. Cruz has worked in EMS since 2008 and began with Mohawk Ambulance in 2013 as an EMT.

David Gardner has been named director of field support and logistics for Mohawk Ambulance Service. Gardner has more than 24 years of experience in emergency services and has also served as a volunteer firefighter and law enforcement officer.
As journalists celebrate 2020 world freedom day, President Muhammadu Buhari has urged journalists to vigorously tackle fake news and hate speech.

Speaking via a statement by his special assistant, Femi Adesina, he saluted the media for their role in keeping the people informed.

We appreciate the cooperation we have enjoyed from the media in tackling the Coronavirus, and look forward to same, post COVID-19, when all hands must be on deck to repair the damages done to our economic and social lives, Buhari said.

We cannot overemphasize the role of the media in keeping people informed and educated on the pernicious virus, which has no friend or foe.

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Read Also: Buharis Enemy Is Not Nigerias Enemy: Omokri Tells Femi Adesina

It simply seeks to mow down anyone and everyone in its path, and public awareness is very important, lest we become like sitting ducks. The media are doing this quite effectively.

They dont mean well for us, and no country can afford to close its eyes to the evil disinformation can cause, he said.

In a plural polity like ours, it has the potential to rupture relationships, sow seeds of discord, and set on the path of destabilisation. When fake and hate news are added unabashedly, it can only signpost doom.

I urge the Press to use the occasion of World Press Freedom Day to see how this can be vigorously tackled..
A doctor at North Delhi Municipal Corporations Hindu Rao Hospital in Malka Ganj tested Covid-19 positive Saturday.

This is the third Covid-19 case from the hospital. The doctor was asymptomatic but tested positive on Saturday. His contact tracing is being done and he is already in home quarantine, the spokesperson of north corporation said.

Earlier, on April 25, a nurse at the hospital had also tested positive for Covid-19. As part of her contact tracing, samples of 78 people were collected. Till now, reports of 67 people have been released of which two were found positive. These two included one nurse, who had tested positive on April 30 and a doctor who tested positive on Saturday. The reports of the remaining 11 are yet to come, the spokesperson said.

Hindu Rao is largest hospital run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The 980-bed super specialty hospital had to be closed for a day after the first Covid-19 case was reported on April 25.

The north corporation had set up an inquiry after some hospital employees had alleged that the nurse who tested positive had informed hospital authorities about having a high fever a week before her tests came positive, but was still asked to report to duty daily.

Meanwhile, another gynaecology student at north corporations Kasturba Hospital near Jama Masjid tested positive on Friday. Prior to that, a gynaecology student from the same hospital had tested positive for Covid-19 on April 29.
Strictly Come Dancing bosses have reportedly secured some of their biggest names yet for the new series.

Show insiders claimed that many stars have finally said yes to appearing on the show after seeing their own work commitments cancelled by the coronavirus crisis.

It comes after Strictly It Takes Two host Zoe Ball said the show will be returning to screens this year despite concerns about COVID-19, as producers are considering options such as filming without a studio audience.

Huge stars: Strictly Come Dancing bosses have reportedly secured some of their biggest names yet for the new series (the 2019 cast are pictured above)

The insider told The Mirror: 'We've signed up people we've been after for absolutely ages, who have said they were keen but were always tied up with other work.

'Lots are saying yes who have said no before, simply because they've actually got the time to fit it in their schedules.'

Strictly bosses have continued preparations for the new series despite fears the show may not go ahead if government restrictions are kept in place.

Huge names: Show insiders claimed tmany stars have finally said yes after seeing their own work commitments cancelled by the COVID-19 crisis (Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse pictured)

The source added the bosses will consider pulling the show if there are still limitations on businesses such as the hairdresser or the dentist, as they believe such contact is on par with that of a dance routine.

They said: 'If we get to September and were not allowed to have a haircut or go to the dentist, then weve got a real problem.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Strictly Come Dancing for further comment.

Hopeful: On Thursday Strictly: It Takes Two host Zoe Ball said she's convinced the show will return later this year 'whatever happens'

On Thursday Strictly: It Takes Two host Zoe Ball said she's convinced the show will return later this year, with bosses currently considering options such as filming without a live audience.

The media personality told The Sun: 'Whatever happens with the situation I know that they are going to put that show on somehow. It might not have a studio audience, it might be slightly different.'

Earlier this week, BBC bosses also confirmed Strictly may go ahead this autumn without its usual studio audience.

Comparing the series to RuPaul's Drag Race during a virtual production meeting, BBC's director of content Charlotte Moore said: 'People think if it is a shiny floor it needs an audience and I don't think that's necessarily true.'

Earlier this month, insiders revealed to MailOnline that due to BBC executives 'not knowing what world we'll be in' when the show hits screens, they are keeping options open.

Vacant: Earlier this week, BBC bosses also confirmed Strictly may go ahead this autumn without its usual studio audience (the empty dancefloor is pictured)

Despite reports claiming one option was to keep the celebrity and dance professionals in isolation together, sources insisted this was not plausible due to family ties yet a shortened run is one option on the table.

Insiders told us: 'Bosses are looking at contingency plans but just don't know where there'll be at. They don't know what world we'll be in.

'The international versions are running. Germany has no audience and are isolating but not in any kind of Big Brother style. Isolating individually then rehearsing.

'Strictly are looking at options. At this stage, there's no chance they could isolate as individuals or couples. That would leave any married or parent dancers not seeing their families for up to three months.

'At the moment, it's not being considered. No one knows where we'll be in the world - if the series is a much shorter run, say. The isolation is not something that's currently on the table.'
The number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts now stands at 66,263 as health officials on Saturday announced 1,952 new cases of the virus.

Officials also confirmed 130 new deaths, bringing the statewide total to 3,846.

The number of hospitalizations continued to drop Saturday, dropping by 115, the steepest drop off since reporting began. There were 3,601 people hospitalized with COVID-19 reported on Saturday, down from the peak on April 21 of 3,965

Officials reported on Friday that a significant number of new tests were conducted, 13,989 which is the second-highest number reported in a single day since the outbreak began. Officials reported 9,358 new tests performed on Saturday.

Gov. Charlie Baker issued an order on Friday requiring that everyone wear a face covering in public. This includes anyone using public transportation and grocery shopping.

We view this as common sense, Baker said during Fridays press conference. The executive order takes effect on May 6. Before then, the administration had only recommended that residents wear a mask or face covering.

Here are the cases listed by county:

Barnstable County: 937

Berkshire County: 448

Bristol County: 3,916

Dukes County: 18

Essex County: 9,362

Franklin County: 263

Hampden County: 4,003

Hampshire County: 549

Middlesex County: 15,048

Nantucket County: 11

Norfolk County: 6,187

Plymouth County: 5,409

Suffolk County: 13,606

Worcester County: 6,129

Unknown location: 377

Coronavirus in Mass.: Cases, maps, charts and resources

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No new flights are expected from Moscow to Yerevan in the coming days, the Armenian Embassy reported on Facebook.

The diplomatic mission specified that flights would not be resumed until May 10.

At the same time, the embassy emphasized that work on the organization of new flights will continue, and as soon as there is clarity on this issue, they will inform.

As for the issues of reimbursing citizens for the costs of temporary residence, the embassy noted that any assistance is provided on the basis of existing opportunities. Now there are no such opportunities, Sputnik-Armenia reports.

The Armenian Embassy previously reported that free flights will no longer be organized, citizens will have to look for ways to return at their own expense.

The republics Foreign Ministry reported that in April, 1,500 citizens returned from Russia to Armenia. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, seven charter flights were organized.
Ranchi, May 2 : The 'Shramik Special Train' carrying migrant workers from Telangana to Jharkhand arrived at Hatia railway station here, officials said on Saturday.

Around 1200 migrant and stranded labourers of the native state were welcomed with rose petals, face masks, packaged food and water upon arrival.

Thermal screening and registration of all the workers who de-boarded the train were carried out at Hatia Railway station itself.

Workers, who were stranded in other states after the train services were halted after the nationwide lockdown came into force, are now rushing to their homes. Most of the labourers who reached Ranchi were from Garhwa district.

All the labourers were sent from Hatia station in sanitized buses to their home districts with full precaution.

These labourers were welcomed at Hatia station after de-boarding from train late night on Friday. State government officials gave them roses and arranged food for them. During the process, the rules of social distancing were followed.

Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi, Mahimapat Ray said, "They were first tested at the station. After that, they are sent homes by buses. They will also be investigated in their district. If anyone shows symptoms of coronavirus, they will be quarantined." Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren also welcomed the workers and tweeted: "Friends, today the first train from Telangana has reached Hatia station in Ranchi. Government officials, health workers and police personnel are helping all the people. Many congratulations to all the people of Jharkhand for this happy moment."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Nearly three weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's no-show at a key event sparked rumours he was seriously ill or even dead, state media published photos Saturday showing him in public.

Kim's conspicuous absence from the April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder, sparked feverish speculation over his health and who would replace him at the helm of the nuclear-armed country.

It is not the first time Kim has disappeared from public view. In 2014, he dropped out of sight for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. Days later, South Korea's spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle.

Here is a look at why Kim's health has been the subject of so much conjecture.

Who is his successor?

Kim has been in power for nearly a decade and his death would have left Pyongyang facing an unplanned succession for the first time in its history.

Leadership has always been a family affair in the isolated North, dominated by the members of the "Paektu bloodline"  a Northern term for the country's founder Kim Il Sung and his descendants.

Kim's three known children are still very young and there is no designated successor as far as the world is aware.

His younger sister Yo Jong  one of his closest advisers  is widely regarded as the top contender to succeed him but the North is a highly patriarchal society where seniority and gender both carry weight.

What happens to nuclear talks?

Kim is known in the North as the Supreme Leader and his authority spans the ruling Workers' Party and the military. All major decisions require his approval.

Kim's disappearance from public view came as Pyongyang's talks with Washington over the North's nuclear arsenal are at a standstill, despite three meetings between Kim and US President Donald Trump.

If Kim were incapacitated or dead, it would have increased uncertainty over the process.

Analysts also say it could have led to a chaotic power struggle and triggered an exodus of refugees into China  something the North's diplomatic backer and main trading partner Beijing has long feared.

"Kim's personal profile, family history, and the structure of the North Korean regime make his health a major variable for the country's stability and foreign policy," Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP.

Why so many rumours?

North Korea is an unusually opaque country, where even economic growth figures are treated as a state secret.

Observers and even diplomats in Pyongyang rely heavily on the closely controlled state media for hints of what is going on.

Secrecy is strictest of all around the leadership and the absence of information creates ample room for speculation to flourish unchecked.

Kim was last seen presiding over a ruling party meeting on April 11. But four days later he missed the celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather  the most important date in the North's political calendar  sparking questions over his whereabouts.

Daily NK, a South Korea-based outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, reported Kim had undergone a cardiovascular procedure and was recovering at a villa in North Pyongan province.

Soon after CNN reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery, quoting an anonymous US official.

A Japanese report even said he was in a "vegetative state".

But a top security adviser to South Korea's president later told the broadcaster Kim was "alive and well". Trump also downplayed reports of Kim's poor health and possible demise.

"This incident is a reminder of how vulnerable we remain to groundless rumours about North Korea," former US government North Korea analyst Rachel Lee told AFP.

"We need more experts who can analyse North Korea using solid tradecraft."

Analysts say Kim is likely to make another public appearance in the coming days that will be reported by state media.

But an official explanation for his absence is unlikely.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 16:40:33|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese religious circles have slammed the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom for smearing China's freedom of religious belief in the commission's recent report.

The annual report, which groundlessly blamed the freedom of religious belief in China and viciously slandered China's religious policies, was met with general revulsion and indignation among Chinese religious circles and numerous religious believers, said a statement issued by the secretariat of the joint conference of China's national religious groups.

"We express our strong condemnation," the statement said.

It is obvious to all that the Chinese government protects citizens' basic rights in accordance with the law, and religious believers enjoy full freedom of religious belief, the statement noted.

Chinese religious circles have made remarkable achievements in the development of theological theories, the construction of religious venues and the cultivation of talents, it said.

However, the United States has ignored the facts and piled unwarranted criticism on China's religious situation, exposing its arrogance and prejudice, the statement said, adding that the acts have interfered in China's internal affairs, smeared China's freedom of religious belief and hurt the feelings of Chinese religious believers.

"We urge the United States to stop using religious matters to interfere in other countries' internal affairs and stir up troubles," it said. Enditem
Bangkok, May 2 : Thailands royal household released photographs of the countrys King and Queen inspecting soldiers as they manufacture supplies for the COVID-19 crisis.

King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida appeared in the images, which were released on Friday to mark their first wedding anniversary, reports Efe news.

The royal couple were seen in matching blue tracksuits and wore masks in some of the undated pictures as they oversaw military personnel making supplies such as masks and head coverings at the First Infantry Regiment in Bangkok.

This regiment is dedicated exclusively to the protection of the King.

The 67-year-old monarch married his fourth wife, a 41-year-old former flight attendant, in a ceremony at Dusit Palace in Bangkok.

Three days later, Vajiralongkorn was crowned in a traditional ceremony followed by a procession in which the monarch was carried in a palanquin, or covered litter, through the streets of the capital city.

The king, who since his ascension to the throne has expanded his powers and control over the money and security of the royal household, has married four times and has seven children.

His father Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016, reigned over Thailand for seven decades and was venerated almost as a deity by a large part of the population who considered him a national father and a role model.
By Belen Carreno and Pamela Barbaglia

MADRID/LONDON (Reuters) - Spain's Telefonica SA <TEF.MC> is in talks with billionaire John Malone's Liberty Global Plc <LBTYA.O> to explore a merger of its British mobile operator O2 with Liberty's Virgin Media cable network company, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Telefonica has been weighing options for the mobile business since 2016 when a previous 10.3 billion pound deal takeover of O2 by Three UK, controlled by CK Hutchison Holdings <0001.HK>, was blocked by European antitrust regulators, banking sources said.

A combination of O2 and Virgin Media would reshape Britain's telecoms industry, leaving Hutchison and Vodafone <VOD.L> stranded without their own fixed-line consumer networks.

If successful, the deal would end uncertainty around the fate of one Britain's biggest mobile operators after it was repeatedly touted as a possible candidate for a sale or a stock listing in recent years.

It would also offer Telefonica a way to partially cash out from O2 while retaining a presence in Britain, which the company sees as one of its "core markets" along with Spain, Germany and Brazil.

Malone, who transformed the pay-TV sector in the United States, combined Liberty's Dutch operations with Vodafone's in 2016 in a joint venture deal which could offer the blueprint for a merger of O2 and Virgin Media, one of the sources said.

He added that discussions between Telefonica and Liberty were focusing on creating a joint venture equally owned by the two firms.

Shares in Liberty were up 8.75% at $21.12 on the news.

Telefonica's overriding goal to reduce its debt load - which stood at 37.74 billion euros at the end of last year - would likely shape the deal, Jefferies analysts wrote in a note after Bloomberg first reported news of the talks.

A cash acquisition would be within reach for Liberty, they said, but a joint venture structure could still satisfy Telefonica's pressing need to cut its leverage.

Story continues

DWINDLING PROFITS

Telefonica has been active in Britain since 2006 when it took control of O2 and made it the first British network to offer Apple's iPhone in 2007, a deal that attracted more high-value customers to the brand.

O2, led by boss Mark Evans, had 25.8 million contracts and pre-paid mobile subscribers at the end of 2019.

Telefonica's UK business, which includes O2, generated 7.11 billion euros in revenue in 2019, around 14.7% of the group's total, and had 34.5 mobile connections on its network.

But faced with dwindling profits, Telefonica announced in November a turnaround plan to bring in 2 billion euros a year in extra revenue by hiving off part of its Latin American business and focusing on its core markets including Britain.

At the time, Chief Executive Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete said the company was open to reviewing possible merger options.

Liberty Global, which has controlled Virgin Media since 2013, sold its cable networks in Germany and central Europe to Vodafone in a $22 billion deal which was finalised last year, reigniting talk among analysts of a deeper tie-up in Britain.

The firm is expected to plough the cash from the Vodafone sale into the O2 deal, said the source who commented on a possible blueprint for a merger, cautioning no final agreement had been reached.

Virgin Media competes with UK pay-TV market leader Sky, owned by Comcast <CMCSA.O>, in pay-TV, and with BT <BT.L>, Sky, TalkTalk and others in broadband. It had 6 million cable customers and 3.3 million mobile customers as of the end of 2019.

Despite its sizeable mobile business, Virgin Media has never owned its own wireless network. It instead pioneered the MVNO model, whereby an operator piggybacks on an existing network, 20 years ago with a partnership with the forerunner of BT's EE.

(Reporting by Belen Carreno in Madrid and Pamela Barbaglia in London; additional reporting by Paul Sandle, Nathan Allen and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Jane Merriman, Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 17:14:33|Editor: huaxia

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JUBA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's Ministry of Health confirmed 10 new cases of COVID-19 late Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 45.

Out of 138 samples tested, ten new cases were confirmed as positive, including two truck drivers at the Nimule border crossing and two domestic travelers. The other six cases are close contacts with previous infection cases in the country, according to a statement from South Sudan's coronavirus taskforce.

Angok Gordon Kuol, manager of the coronavirus outbreak at the Ministry of Health, said a total of 1,247 tests have been performed since the country reported its first infection case.

He said the Ministry of Health has intensified the tracing of individuals who had contact with COVID-19 patients.

"The government urges the public to strictly observe the rules of social distancing and other public health measures declared by the High-Level Taskforce. Report any suspected case to the nearest health facility or call the country's toll-free number 6666," he said.

He also said the young nation has no cases in intensive care, noting that there has been no recovered case yet, and no death reported.

South Sudan has closed all learning institutions, imposed a night curfew and introduced movement and transport restrictions as part of measures to contain the spread of the respiratory disease. Enditem
Cabinet approves borrowing of Rs. 31.7bn to kick start first stage of Central Expressway By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

The Highways Ministry and the Road Development Authority (RDA) have received Cabinet approval to borrow more than Rs 31.7bn from foreign or domestic sources to kick start the stalled construction of the first section of Central Expressway (CEP I).

Amidst the curfew, there are also negotiationssanctioned by the Cabinetwith handpicked parties canvassing for the third and fourth sections of the same expressway (CEP III and IV), the Ruwanpura Expressway from Kahathuduwa to Pelmadulla (via Ratnapura) and the Eastern Expressway from Mattala to Pottuvil.

Only selected Ministry and RDA officials are privy to the details or even know such discussions are ongoing. The hundreds of kilometres of new roadways will require heavy borrowing, both local and foreign. The majority of projects will be Chinese-funded, according to the relevant Cabinet paper which the Sunday Times obtained.

While the relevant Cabinet memo and approval say expressions of interest (EOIs) will be called for CEP III and the second section of the Ruwanpura Expressway, authoritative internal sources said this was just window dressing. The parties have already been identified.

Any projects that do go through the pipeline now will be based on feasibility studies that are either outdated or will be carried out at a time of global unpredictability when even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The Rs 31.7bn to be raised for CEP Ifrom Kadawatha to Mirigamais the mobilisation advance, without which that phase has been stuck. In 2015 and 2016, two contracts were awarded for this section to the M/s Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) Ltd. The agreement for a loan of more than US$ 990mn was signed with the Exim Bank of China in March last year. But the project was stalled as the Government could not raise the mobilisation funds.

The second section, CEP IIfrom Mirigama to Kurunegalais being built by four local construction consortiums comprising 15 companies. It is funded through the national budget and several local banks. Around 80 percent of physical progress has been completed at the cost of Rs 96.6bn.

However, a further Rs 40bn is required to complete the project by August this year. The RDA, in consultation with the Finance Ministry, is now looking to raise funds through bonds or debentures. And Cabinet approval has been granted to approach local banks to bridge any deficit.

The third section, CEP IIIfrom Pothuhera to Galagedarawas awarded to Japans M/s Taisei Corporation Ltd in 2018 on the understanding that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFJ) of Japan would lend 100bn Yen for it.

Talks between MUFJ, Nippon Investment and Export Insurance (NEXI) and the Sri Lanka Government started in 2015 but remained inconclusive as the Attorney Generals (AG) Department in Colombo and the Finance Ministrys External Resources Department (ERD) could not agree to certain clauses of the proposed agreement. For example, the AG did not clear the anti-corruption provisions, saying they were not compatible with Sri Lankan laws.

With its complicated terrain and land acquisition requirements, the 32.5 kilometre CEP III is tipped to be one of the most expensive road initiatives undertaken in recent times. More than 1,162.5 acres occupied by 2,069 households (8,465 people) in 97 villages will be hit, requiring permanent relocation for 857 of them.

Now, four other parties have shown interest. They are Roughton International Ltd, a consultancy firm registered in the UK but now owned by a Sri Lankan named Ranjith Gunaratne, the Managing Director of MG Consultants Pvt Ltd; M/s China Chemical Engineering Second Construction Corporation (CCESCC); M/S China National Aero Technology (AVID-ENG); and M/s Beijing Urban Construction Group Co Ltd (BUCG).

But Roughton has since agreed to shift its interest to CEP IV instead of III, official sources said, indicating that deals were being struck behind the scenes. The Cabinet paper also said, But later they offered this facility for Section 4 instead of Section 3.

Meanwhile, neither CCESCC or BUCG has submitted assurance of financing or term sheets. This leaves just CATIC or AVIC-ENG in the running and, the sources pointed out, It smacks of a fix.

Cabinet has now granted approval to cancel the agreements with Taisei and the financial negotiations with MUFJ/NEXI. It has authorised the Highways Ministry to call for EOIs from all prospective contractors with 100 percent financing for the total contract price of CEP III.

But no EOIs have yet been called for and internal sources said talks are ongoing with CATIC/AVIC-ENG. Local contractors also expressed fear that conditions will be tailored into a bidshould it be floatedto ensure that only a specific party will qualify.

The fourth sectionfrom Kurunegala to Dambullawas awarded in 2016 to Chinas Gazhouba Group International Engineering Co Ltd for a cost of Rs 161bn (excluding VAT). But there was no funding source.

Roughton International has submitted a preliminary proposal, pledging funding from UK Export Finance. They propose to entrust the entire construction works to local construction companies, the Cabinet paper says.

Additionally, CCESCC and CATIC (AVIC-ENG) submitted proposals but without financing or term sheets. The Cabinet has, therefore, agreed to the ERD evaluating Roughtons financial terms on the grounds that the Highways Ministry requests a detailed technical proposal from the company and evaluates it through a Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee and a Technical Evaluation Committee.

The Ruwanpura Expressway is currently divided into three sections. The Highways Ministry has proposed to start construction of the 52.5km from Kahathuduwa to Ratnapura via Ingiriya and the remainder based on funding availability.

In 2016, the Cabinet split the Ruwanpura Expressway into four and chose one Chinese party for each leg: China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC); CATIC-ENG; Hunan Construction Engineering Group Corporation (HCEGC); and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltc (CHEC). But a request for proposal was only invited from CNTIC, not for the other sections.

The Cabinet has now given approval for the Highways Ministry to request M/s CNTIC to 100 percent financing for the cost of Ruwanpura Section I; authorised the ERD to pursue funding for Section II; and sanctioned the Highways Ministry to invite competitive EOIs from all prospective contractors for 100 percent financing for the total price of Section II.

In terms of the Eastern Expressway (Mattala to Pottuvil), the ERD has been authorised by the Cabinet to pursue funding for feasibility study, preliminary and detailed designs, and construction, in consultation with the National Planning Department.

Attempts to contact Highways Minister Johnston Fernando and Highways Ministry Secretary R W R Pemasiri failed.
Deshapriya spells out plans to cope with pandemic-hit polls View(s):

The facemask he wore covered his pepper and salt beard. Yet, Mahinda Deshapriya who marks his 65th birthday next month, is an embodiment of seriousness, humour, and a stentorian roar  perhaps elements that have made him a successful polls chief.

Yet, the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic, amidst which he has to conduct the impending parliamentary election, is taking a toll on him. As chairman of the Election Commission, he declared elections on April 25, but called it off through a notification on March 21. That day, he did not give another date, raising queries from some sections in the political spectrum. On April 20, he declared another date  June 20 and has embarked on preparations.

An interview with the Sunday Times this week had its own humorous moments. The theme  he said a few times  was not to hurt anyone in the Commission through what he says. That the caution was triggered by his verbal brushes with colleague, Professor Rajan Hoole, is no secret.

Mr Deshapriya used examples from classics to describe a situation where a person had complained he had no transport. Three persons from different areas were walking in a desert. They were worn out when they arrived at a village. One said Ozun, the other Angur and the third Inab. The first was Parsi, the second Turkish and the third Arabic. All said they were hungry and wanted to eat something.

Like those three, Mr Deshapriya said, the Commission wishes are the same. We have different paths, but the goal is one, he said. This, he said, is why we do not fight with each other. I spoke about the vehicle because that is not my responsibility.

In terms of a circular from the Presidents Secretary, other than the members of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption, only an official vehicle is assigned to the Chairman. He said, others are getting a travelling allowance of around Rs 5,000.  If a person lives 400 kilometres away from Colombo, this allowance is doubled, he said.

Without naming who sought a vehicle, he added All our Commission members, if they cannot drive a vehicle, or if one is not in working order, a vehicle is provided for them to travel to the airport. Everyone thinks it is the responsibility of the Chairman to provide vehicles, he lamented.

The conversation turned to the recently held parliamentary elections in South Korea. Thirty percent cast their votes in advance. Hence, it is not a burden on election day, he said.

With a preference vote system, Mr Deshapriya said, that the count has to be taken. This time, we have to maintain a one metre distance. How do we issue postal votes? How do we issue ballot papers? How do we conduct election classes? We have to think of all these issues, he said.

Mr Deshapriya added: We have about 1,500 voters going through a polling booth. In some places it is about 1,800. This is about 200 votes every hour. A minimum of three voters will come every minute. For instance, in Ampara, the parties and independent groups can send 108 polling agents. Supposing 20 parties send their agents, there will be 40 of them. We will have a discussion with political parties to sort out many issues.

Polls chief loses email password The snag meant that Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya was not receiving his e-mail messages.

Needless to say, that the Inbox is regularly full of matters relating to the impending parliamentary elections.

The reason  it turned out that he has lost his password. Officials have still not been able to find it.

Bandas tryst with diplomacy

Dr Hastings Banda, a former Prime Minister and later President of Malawi (1964-1994), did not have a Sri Lankan ancestry despite his last name BANDA. Nor has the current President of the 193-member UN General Assembly who has a variation of BANDA in his double-barreled last name: Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, described as a diplomat, academic and political scientist from Nigeria.

But still, the name BANDA, and variations of it, remained prominent in both UN and Sri Lankan diplomatic circles in a bygone era. Dr Palitha TB Kohona, Sri Lankas former Permanent Representative and Chief of the UN Treaty Section, had TIKIRI BANDA as his middle names. So did Bernard AB Goonetilleke, a former acting Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN who was ANTON BANDARA.

Jayantha CB Dhanapala, a former UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs and one-time Sri Lankas Ambassador to the US, was a CUDA BANDARA. And then there was the late HKJR BANDARA, a senior diplomat at the Sri Lanka Mission to the UN, and later our Ambassador in Egypt and Indonesia and High Commissioner in Australia.

And it begs the question: What prompts BANDAs and BANDARAs to go places in Sri Lankan diplomacy?

Meanwhile, Lebanons current Permanent Representative to the UN does not have a Sri Lankan ancestry either even though her last name sounds like a shopkeeper from a remote village in Kuliyapitiya or Pelmadulla: Dr. Amal MUDALLALI, a former Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC.

Perhaps in Arab circles, her last name is pronounced as MUDALL- ALI. SLT gets its wires crossed

Thousands of Sri Lankans, confined to their homes for more than 50 days now, are finding it difficult to pay their telephones, water, electricity and other bills.

Contrary to the position taken up by the Government, the Sri Lanka Telecom in Nugegoda is calling its customers and telling them pay up or have your line disconnected.

A recipient who faces the threat of his land line disconnected is a decorated armed forces commander. He told the SLT caller if you are in such a hurry, tell me where to pay. Otherwise come with your receipt book and collect the money from my home.
Tamil filmmaker PK Raj Mohan reportedly passed away at the age of 47 due to cardiac arrest in Chennai. The director, who had made films like Kedayam and Azhaipithazh, was living alone in KK Nagar, Chennai. As per the report published in a leading portal, he was in the city preparing for his next project.

Well, the ongoing lockdown has affected the cinema artistes, directors and technicians as shootings has been halted due to the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. Due to lockdown, late PK Raj Mohan used to go to his friend's house for lunch. When he didn't turn up, his friend went to his place and found that the door was locked from inside, and was not getting a response.

Later, PK Raj Mohan's friend called the police who came and found him dead. It's said that he had died of sudden cardiac arrest, however, doctors have decided testing for COVID-19 before giving his body for final rites.

Also Read : Rishi Kapoor No More! Bollywood Expresses Shock Over Chintu Ji's Death

Raj Mohan's friend-director Keera and stunt choreographer Jaguar Thangam will take care of the final rites. PK Raj Mohan's Kedayam stars Vijay Raj and Sruthi in the lead roles. Released in 2014, the music of Kedayam is composed by Ragupathy.
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Linkedin Anita Lie (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya, East Java  Sat, May 2, 2020 08:52 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd5708bc 3 Opinion COVID-19,digital-divide,pandemic,Education,National-Education-Day,education-inequality Free

As we celebrate National Education Day, the abrupt disruption generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools to shift to online learning with no or little preparation in terms of internet access, teacher capacity and student-parent readiness.



For the past month, online learning has been implemented with varying levels of quality. At best, a few teachers have managed to execute online learning by engaging students in different learning management systems (LMS). Such teachers had used LMS as part of their blended learning even before the pandemic started.



Furthermore, they are used to designing project-based learning activities. Therefore, when the COVID-19 outbreak compelled all schools to close and students to learn from home, they hardly faced adjustment issue.



At worst, however, learning is simply not taking place for many students. Their teachers lack resources to engage in online learning and many students do not have access to internet connection and the necessary gadgets.



In between those two points, a majority of teachers in Indonesia are grappling with the challenges of delivering learning assignments to their students at home. Many of them resort to distributing weekly paper-based assignments to parents.



Recently, the Education and Culture Ministry has turned to use the national television broadcaster TVRI to deliver learning packages. This effort needs to be further expanded as there are still concerns about access and availability of all the learning materials across the Kindergarten to Grade 12 curricula.



All in all, the pandemic has shed a light on the widening digital divide that will lead to serious implications on the human capital development in Indonesia. On the other hand, this enforced learn-from-home situation can also be a window of opportunity for the ministry to spearhead a new education paradigm and movement that would overcome prevailing quality inequalities across Indonesia.



The crisis has brought awareness for the necessity of connectedness by means of technology. Teachers across Indonesia have varying degrees of professional development opportunities and hence Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The learn-from-home enforcement has served as a litmus paper revealing teachers diverse competence levels as well as unequal learning opportunities across the country.



First things first during this crisis, when the connection issues (internet or television-radio) can be resolved, this can further open doors to jumpstarting the impoverished schools particularly in remote regions.



One key issue in the quality disparity in Indonesian education is the distribution of qualified teachers. Despite the governments effort to build road infrastructure, it would take more years for development  particularly outside of Java  to catch up. Most teachers are reluctant to be assigned in underdeveloped regions and so the vicious cycle prevails.



It would be less expensive and more feasible to install technology infrastructure than to find committed teachers to be placed in remote areas. When the COVID-19 crisis is over, hopefully, as Education and Culture Ministry expert staffer Iwan Syahril has expressed, the anxiety for using technology will be reduced and the readiness level will increase.



The shortage of competent teachers in remote regions can be overcome with community-based education utilizing technology to deliver distance learning and engaging trained local tutors. This crisis may also be an opportunity to gather the learn-from-home best practices and develop a home-school learning partnership model. A childs education, after all, is the sole responsibility of parents.



The outsourcing of education by parents to schools needs to be revisited to return to the essence and goal of holistic education of a child. The formal education enterprise is certainly still needed but has to transform its role and strategies even after the pandemic is over.



The pandemics disruption is currently causing quick fixes and emergency actions in the education sector and domestic crises at home. A teacher in Kediri, East Java, Bambang Yulianto, describes the learn-from-home mode as sending a breeze in school into a tornado at home.



Turning this crisis into opportunities for growth requires concerted efforts by all parties.



What is urgently needed by teachers and students is free internet access so that online learning can be conducted optimally. The ministrys decision to allow school operational aid (BOS) to be used for internet connection costs should be highly appreciated.



It is time for telecommunication providers to bear their social responsibility during this crisis. They have given free internet charges to access certain education apps. This free access should be extended to other apps and LMS. Furthermore, they also need to expand their areas of service and include regions that cannot afford connectivity.



The ministry has launched platform guruberbagi.kemdikbud.go.id that allows teachers to share lesson plans, articles and tips for better teaching. This teacher-sharing platform serves as a springboard to develop a virtual community of practice among teachers and should be further promoted to a wider circle of teachers. To capitalize further on this platform, virtual modules for professional development can be uploaded there.



Finally, the ministry has stated that the focus of learning materials delivered on television was on literacy, numeracy and character education. In regard to the abrupt disruption and the lack of readiness, education stakeholders need to lower their expectations as far as content mastery is concerned.



Students may catch up on the mastery of content knowledge when the connectivity issues can be resolved later. Given the dire circumstances, now is really the time to reflect on what is the true essence of education.



Happy National Education Day.

***

Professor at Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Defying curbs and norms like



physical distancing, migrant workers on Saturday staged a flash protest here, demanding that the authorities send them to their home states like Jharkhand immediately, an official said.

The workers, housed at various facilities in the city converged at three different locations --Velachery, Pozhichallur and Guindy Industrial Estate-- demanding that they be sent home, he said.

The protests led to anxiety for a while, the official said, adding that police pacified the workers and sent them back to their respective locations of stay.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PNM Resources PNM reported first-quarter 2020 earnings of 18 cents per share, which were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line surged 63.6% from the year-ago quarters reported figure of 11 cents.



On a GAAP basis, the company incurred a loss of 19 cents per share against an earnings of 23 cents in the year-ago quarter.



Total Revenues



Electric Operating revenues amounted to $333.6 million in the first quarter, down 4.6% from $349.6 million in year-ago quarter.

PNM Resources, Inc. (Holding Co.) Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

PNM Resources, Inc. (Holding Co.) Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

PNM Resources, Inc. (Holding Co.) price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | PNM Resources, Inc. (Holding Co.) Quote

Highlights of the Release



Total operating expenses in the quarter under review amounted to $285.8 million, down 8.6% from expenses of $312.9 million in the year-ago quarter.



Operating income in the quarter under review was $47.7 million, up 30% from $36.7 million in 2018.



Total weather-normalized retail load inched up 1.1% year over year in March 2020 in the PNM segment. It is within the company's previously-projected range of 0.5-1.5%.



At TNMP, weather-normalized demand-based load increased 3.8% year over year in March 2020 and weather-normalized volumetric load increased 3.7% in March 2020 on a year-over-year basis,



In April, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approved its application for abandonment and securitization of the San Juan Generating Station.



Public Service Company of New Mexico announced that it will defer its general rate review planned for the second quarter of 2020 in respose to the COVID-19 crisis.



Guidance



The company reaffirmed its 2020 consolidated earnings per share guidance in the range of $2.16-$2.26, whose midpoint of $2.21 is higher the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.15.



Zacks Rank



PNM Resources carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Another Utility Release



NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported first-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of $2.38 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.21 by 7.7%.



FirstEnergy Corporation FE delivered first-quarter 2020 operating earnings of 66 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 64 cents by 3.13%.



DTE Energy Company DTE reported first-quarter 2020 operating earnings per share (EPS) of $1.66, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.78 by 6.7%.



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



FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) : Free Stock Analysis Report



DTE Energy Company (DTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report



NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) : Free Stock Analysis Report



PNM Resources, Inc. (Holding Co.) (PNM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
A firefighting helicopter on a rescue mission crashed Friday into Mount Jiri in southern South Korea, killing two mountain climbers.

The chopper crashed into the Cheonwangbong Peak of the mountain in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province, around 12:07 p.m., according to the fire authorities.

The crash occurred when the helicopter was flying low while carrying out a hoist rescue of a 65-year-old man who suffered heart failure while climbing.

The man fell down along with the chopper and his wife was struck by the helicopter's main blade as she assisted the rescue on the mountain.

The couple died after being transported to hospital.

The five rescue workers did not sustain serious injuries as the chopper was flying low for the mission.

Footage filmed by the fire service showed the chopper losing its balance and crashing after the rope connecting the stretcher and the helicopter appeared to become caught in an unknown object.

Fire authorities are investigating to determine the exact cause of the accident.(Yonhap)
Using mobile power or M-power to empower our citizens, says PM Modi

Fake ransom email that is prowling the Indian cyberspace

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: Country's central cybersecurity agency has alerted internet users against an ongoing "fake" email campaign that claims to have recorded personal video of a user which could be published if a ransom amount in cryptocurrency is not paid.

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in the latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.

"In email extortion campaign, the scammers have sent numerous emails to people stating that their computers were hacked, a video was taken using their webcam and that they know their passwords," the advisory, said.

These emails are fake, scams, and nothing to worry about, it added.

The CERT-In is the national technology arm to combat cyber attacks and guarding of the Indian cyber space.

The agency mentions the contents of a typical 'extortion' email in the advisory:

Firstly, the scammer would try to grab the recipient's attention by writing their old password in the mail.

After that, the scammer would craft a story containing computer jargons in order to convince the recipient that the scammer is a very skilled hacker.

The story would state that the hacker had placed a malware on a porn website and while the user was watching the video, his webcam and display screen was hacked breaching all his contacts from messenger, Facebook and email.

The advisory states that this could be the "final step" before seeking the ransom.

It adds that the scammer will then demand ransom in the form of Bitcoin (cryptocurrency).

"Now, the scammer or cyber criminal will give a deadline of 24 hours to comply and threaten to send videos to the relatives, co-workers etc of the user," it said.

The CERT-In said the user's secret pass code mentioned in the fake email could be "actual passwords used by the recipient of the email in the past, but the attacker does not know them by hacking their account, but rather through leaked data breaches shared online."

"Recipients should not send any payments to the scammers and if the passwords listed are in use or familiar, recipients are advised to change the password at any site that they are being used," it said.
By Tracy Rucinski and David Shepardson

(Reuters) - With the largest U.S. airlines now set to mandate - and provide - facial coverings for all passengers over the next two weeks, many are turning their focus to other measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus during air travel.

United Airlines Holdings Inc <UAL.O>, for example, told journalists on Friday that it has purchased hundreds of hospital-type electrostatic fogging machines that it will start using in June to decontaminate airplane cabin surfaces and crevices before every flight.

The measures are among the steps airlines are taking to help passengers feel more comfortable about flying in the midst of the pandemic, which has decimated travel demand.

The industry, through lobby Airlines for America, has also begun discussions with policymakers in Washington on measures such as virus testing and pre-boarding temperature checks, United Chief Communications Officer Josh Earnest said.

Southwest Airlines Co <LUV.N> and Alaska Airlines <ALK.N> on Friday joined other major airlines in imposing facial coverings.

JetBlue Airways Corp <JBLU.O> was the first to mandate such a policy, and on Thursday United, Delta Air Lines Inc <DAL.N> American Airlines Group Inc <AAL.O> and low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines, which is owned by private equity firm Indigo Partners LLC, followed suit.

The largest airlines provide masks for passengers who do not have their own facial covering. United noted that recent supply issues with masks have now eased.

The requirements are being made by airlines on an individual basis and will be included in the contracts of carriage and explained on their websites. They are not mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has said that it only has the authority to regulate matters that are directly tied to air safety.

Asked how airlines would enforce the policy, United's Earnest said: "We're gonna ask customers to comply with the requirement."

Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, applauded the airlines' "common-sense measure" on Friday while calling on the U.S. government to "provide clear and consistent policies that reflect the seriousness of this global pandemic."

Story continues

Airlines have also made face coverings mandatory for employees.

In Canada, regulators started requiring that passengers wear a non-medical mask or face covering during the boarding process and flights last month, and the European Commission has said that it is working on a set of rules for the safe reopening of air travel.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky)
MADRID, May 1 (Reuters) - International Consolidated Airlines Group's (IAG) Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling have secured 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) of government-backed loans to cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, IAG said on Friday.

Iberia, Spain's flagship airline, has borrowed 750 million euros and Vueling, a low-cost carrier, 260 million euros, IAG's Chief Financial Officer Stephen Gunning said in a statement.

The five-year loans will be channelled via a syndication of banks, he added.

"The agreement is part of the legal framework established by the Spanish government to mitigate the COVID-19 economic impact," Gunning said.

Europe's airlines have been forced to ground most of their planes as travel restrictions have been introduced across the region to tackle the pandemic.

IAG's competitors, such as Franco-Dutch Air France-KLM and Germany's Lufthansa, have secured billions of euros in government rescue packages.

IAG, long a critic of state support for airlines, has so far not sought a government rescue, but has announced thousands of job cuts at its main British Airways business and also said it would take up government furlough and loan schemes.

($1 = 0.9104 euros) (Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Mark Potter)
Before the coronavirus outbreak, Dr. Lindy Fox, a dermatologist in San Francisco, used to see four or five patients a year with chilblains  painful red or purple lesions that typically emerge on fingers or toes in the winter.

Over the past few weeks, she has seen dozens.

All of a sudden, we are inundated with toes, said Fox, who practices at the University of California, San Francisco. Ive got clinics filled with people coming in with new toe lesions. And its not people who had chilblains before  theyve never had anything like this.

Its also not the time of year for chilblains, which are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions. Usually, we see it in the dead of winter, Fox said.

Fox is not the only one deluged with cases. In Boston, Dr. Esther Freeman, director of global health dermatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, said her telemedicine clinic is also completely full of toes. I had to add extra clinical sessions, just to take care of toe consults. People are very concerned.

The lesions are emerging as yet another telltale symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. The most prominent signs are a dry cough and shortness of breath, but the virus has been linked to a string of unusual and diverse effects, like mental confusion and a diminished sense of smell.

Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called COVID toe should be sufficient grounds for testing. (COVID-19 is the name of the illness caused by the coronavirus.)

Several medical papers from Spain, Belgium and Italy described a surge in complaints about painful lesions on patients toes, Achilles' heels and soles of the feet; whether the patients were infected was not always clear, because they were otherwise healthy and testing was limited.

Most cases have been reported in children, teens and young adults, and some experts say they may reflect a healthy immune response to the virus.

The most important message to the public is not to panic  most of the patients we are seeing with these lesions are doing extremely well, Freeman said.

Theyre having what we call a benign clinical course. Theyre staying home, theyre getting better, the toe lesions are going away.

Scientists are just beginning to study the phenomenon, but so far chilblain-like lesions appear to signal, curiously enough, a mild or even asymptomatic infection. They may also develop several weeks after the acute phase of an infection is over.

Patients who develop swollen toes and red and purple lesions should consult their primary care doctor or a dermatologist to rule out other possible causes. But, experts said, they should not run to the emergency room, where they risk being exposed to the coronavirus or exposing others if they are infected.

The good news is that the chilblain-like lesions usually mean youre going to be fine, Fox said. Usually its a good sign your body has seen COVID and is making a good immune reaction to it.

Patients who get the painful lesions are often alarmed. They appear most frequently on the toes, often affecting several toes on one or both feet, and the sores can be extremely painful, causing a burning or itching sensation.

At first, the toes look swollen and take on a reddish tint; sometimes a part of the toe is swollen, and individual lesions or bumps can be seen. Over time, the lesions become purple in color.

Hannah Spitzer, 20, a sophomore at Lafayette College who is finishing the academic year remotely at her home in Westchester County, New York, has lesions on all 10 of her toes, so uncomfortable  painful during the day, and itchy at night  that she cant put anything on her feet, not even socks.

Walking is difficult, and she has trouble sleeping. At first I thought it was my shoes, but it got worse and worse, Spitzer said. Most of my toes are red, swollen, almost shiny. It looks like frostbite.

She has used hydrocortisone and Benadryl to alleviate the discomfort, and said ice is also helpful. Doctors say the lesions disappear on their own within a few weeks.

Adding to the mystery is that some teens and young adults with the lesions have tested negative for the coronavirus.

Spitzer had a test shortly after developing the lesions, and the result was negative, but she is convinced the toe lesions are a delayed response to an earlier infection that was so mild she barely noticed it.

Ive never had anything like this, she said. Its completely new.

A recent paper by doctors in Spain, published in the International Journal of Dermatology, described six cases of patients with toe lesions and included pictures of the chilblain-like bumps that patients had emailed to their physicians.

Most of the patients were teens or young adults, including one 15-year-old who found out he had COVID-19 pneumonia when he went to the emergency room seeking medical attention for his toes.

Another patient was a 91-year-old man who had been hospitalized with the coronavirus three weeks earlier, and had recovered and returned home.

While dermatologists say its not unusual for rashes to appear along with viral infections  like measles or chickenpox  the toe lesions surprised them.

Other problems like hives have also been linked to the coronavirus, but COVID toes have been the most common and striking skin manifestation.

Patients with viral infections often get a pink bumpy rash called morbilliform, or hives, Fox said, but added that the toe lesions were unexpected.

The toe cases make up half of all reports filed by skin doctors around the world to a new international registry started by the American Academy of Dermatology, which is tracking the complications.

No one knows exactly why the new coronavirus might cause chilblain-like lesions. One hypothesis is that they are caused by inflammation, a prominent feature of COVID-19. Inflammation also causes one of the most serious syndromes associated with the coronavirus, acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Other hypotheses are that the lesions are caused by inflammation in the walls of blood vessels, or by small micro clots in the blood. (Clotting has been another feature of the disease.)

The lesions seen in otherwise healthy people appear to be distinct from those that doctors are seeing in some critically ill COVID-19 patients in intensive care, who are prone to developing blood clots.

Some of these clots may be very small and can block the tiny vessels in the extremities, causing rashes on the toes, said Dr. Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist and critical care physician at the Cleveland Clinic.

Some experts now believe COVID toe should be recognized as sufficient grounds for testing, even in the absence of other symptoms.

This should be a criteria for testing, just like loss of smell, and shortness of breath and chest pain, Fox said.

Roni Caryn Rabin c.2020 The New York Times Company
From the perspective of a money manager, the panic created by the viral outbreak has been different from almost every economic and market challenge that preceded it.

Before the dot-com bubble burst, for instance, anyone paying attention would have noticed that Silicon Valley was swimming in companies that enjoyed outsize valuations but had yet to earn a dollar -- and had no pathway toward doing so.

[See: 7 of the Most Common Investing Mistakes.]

Similarly, in the runup to the financial crisis, many knew something was amiss with the lending practices of some of the nation's largest mortgage providers and that a wave of defaults was possible.

The crisis created by this health issue, on the other hand, was far more sudden and unpredictable. Going back a few months, very few could have forecast more than 50,000 American deaths, entire industries shutting down and millions of lost jobs.

It's fair to say that nearly everyone would like life to return to normal.

The problem is that not even health and medical professionals know for sure when that can happen.

Meantime, anyone investing during this era of illness-induced volatility must find ways to reduce their panic levels and try to arrive at a calm, clearheaded decision-making process.

In economic terms, the chances are that the viral outbreak will not create a permanent reduction in aggregate demand, and it's even possible that the most adverse effects will subside within the year, if not before.

China, which accounts for 17% of world gross domestic product and 32% of global growth, experienced its first-ever quarterly contraction, as its economy slowed by nearly 7% from January through March. That's the bad news. The good news is that as dire as that sounds, the slowdown was less severe than many analysts expected.

Still, it seems inevitable that global economies will experience pain over the next few months, including the United States. But since the economic impact is mostly due to our reaction to the outbreak, the evolving policy response should help to mitigate long-term health and financial problems.

Story continues

[See: Is Your Portfolio Too Complex?]

Some states, in fact, look like they may be on the brink of reopening. With better testing, tracing and containment capabilities, the hope is that many more will follow in the weeks to come.

Stocks to Watch

While plenty of sectors with significant long-term growth potential have suffered from the broad market sell-off, that has created opportunities to snatch up some bargains while they trade at discounted rates.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (ticker: NOC). The federal government recently allocated $738 billion for the Pentagon, reflecting the White House's continued commitment to defense spending.

Northrop will be a big beneficiary, thanks to its B-21 Raider, a stealth bomber that is currently in development. The Air Force intends to spend more than $10 billion over the next five years on procuring these planes, according to reports.

Amazon.com (AMZN). Most people fail to realize that U.S. e-commerce activity is still in the early stages, representing only 11% of total retail sales. That gives Amazon plenty of room to grow, which is underscored by the fact that it is on a hiring binge.

Meanwhile, cloud services are vital for many businesses, especially now that so many have shifted to a telecommuting model. Amazon Web Services' worldwide share of that market is more than 30% with the unit enjoying enormous margins.

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA). Visa and Mastercard, combined, process trillions in transactions worldwide each year, thanks mostly to controlling roughly 90% of the worldwide credit and debit market (American Express lags far behind).

These firms are well-positioned now but could become even more so were e-commerce activity to ramp up even more -- which is very likely as a growing number of consumers could opt to buy nearly all their goods and services online after having been forced to do so during the ongoing crisis.

Healthy Future

Although the headlines of the past month make it hard to believe, recent volatility will likely dissipate much faster than the doomsday reports have forecast.

Yes, the global fight against the outbreak will be a prolonged process, and there will be more tense moments, but in the long run the fundamental strength of the U.S. economy will hold up.

[See: 8 Great Tips to Shield Your Portfolio From Volatility.]

That gives investors a relatively brief window to put their money to work and capture strong growth potential.





More From US News & World Report


A man has been charged with larceny by trick after he was allegedly paid over $65,000 but fa
UPDATE: At the start of July, plans for "close contact" businesses to reopen were in at least the initial stages in all 50 states, with nail salons across the country slowly starting to invite customers back in. Now, two weeks later, officials have been forced to reevaluate reopening plans as the number of novel coronavirus cases in states like Florida, Texas, Alabama, and California continues to surge.

On July 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled back plans to reopen nail salons in several counties in California. While many other states' officials are considering following suit, as of now, California remains the only state to do so.

This story was originally published on May 15.

For weeks, the novel coronavirus pandemic has shuttered nail salons (among other service-oriented beauty stores) nationwide. Classified as both nonessential businesses and "close contact" services, the rapid, widespread closures have left employees without work and clients without access to routine nail maintenance. Now, things are slowly starting to reopen.

As of May 15 - after stay-at-home orders have expired in several states - more than half of the US will at least partially reopen within the next few days. For some, like Georgia and Alaska, nail salons have reopened in the earliest phases. Others will have to wait a bit longer. But no matter when your state gives the green light, strict hygiene procedures, reduced capacity, and social distancing measures should be expected. Many state officials are urging people to proceed with caution, too.

Curious when your local nail salon will be allowed to open its doors? Ahead, we've provided status updates - from openings to extended closures and beyond - for all 50 states.

Alabama

In Alabama, a stay-at-home order expired on April 30, and was replaced with a "safer-at-home" plan. Nail salons have started reopening on May 15, with the requirement that plexiglas must be installed between the nail technician and client.

Story continues

Alaska

Alaska eased its statewide restrictions on April 24. As a result, nail salons are now reopened, but are required to adhere to several requirements.

Arizona

Arizona's stay-at-home order expired May 15, and nail salons are allowed to reopen with safety measures in place.

Arkansas

Arkansas never saw a statewide stay-at-home order, but several restrictions have been enforced throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Cosmetology-related businesses, including nail salons, started reopening on May 6.

California

California was the first state in the nation to declare a formal stay-at-home order. Governor Gavin Newsom stated in a news briefing that the first California case of coronavirus started in a nail salon, and the state's reopening plans remain uncertain for now.

Colorado

Colorado's stay-home order expired on April 26. Adopting a "safer-at-home" approach instead, businesses will reopen in phases. Nail salons were free to resume business with social distancing precautions as of May 1.

Connecticut

Connecticut's stay-at-home order was put in place March 23 and was recently extended to May 20. Nail salons are currently closed.

Delaware

A shelter-in-place order has shut down Delaware's nonessential businesses since March 24. Currently set to expire May 31, nail salons remain closed until at least this date.

Florida

In Florida, a mandated stay-at-home order expired on May 4. During phase one of its reopening plan, nail salons can operate at 25-percent capacity.

Georgia

Georgia's statewide shelter-in-place order expired April 30, but nail salons have been back in business since April 24.

Hawaii

In Hawaii, a stay-at-home order has been in effect since March 25. As of now, this is set to expire May 31, with nail salons and other nonessential businesses remaining closed.

Idaho

Idaho's stay-at-home order expired April 30, replaced by a four-stage reopening plan. Hair salons can reopen in phase two (potentially mid-to-late May), although the status of nail salons specifically is unclear.

Illinois

The stay-at-home order in Illinois, effective since March 21, was recently extended to May 31. Select outdoor activities have since been reopened, but nail salons and other nonessential businesses will remain closed.

Indiana

Originally put in place March 24, Indiana's stay-at-home order was expected to expire May 1. Nail salons can reopen on May 11.

Iowa

One of a handful of states without a formal stay-at-home order, Iowa loosened restrictions in 77 of its 99 counties on May 1. Nail salons have been allowed to reopen with limitations as of May 15.

Kansas

The stay-at-home order in Kansas expired May 3, with a phased reopening beginning May 4. Nail salons are part of a later phase and will be allowed to open by appointment only starting May 18.

Kentucky

Kentucky has been restricted by a "healthy-at-home" order since March 26. Like many other states, a multiphase reopening will occur if declining numbers remain consistent. May 25 is the current target date for nail salons to resume business.

Louisiana

Louisiana's stay-at-home order expired on May 15. Governor John Bel Edwards green-lit gradual reopenings for May 16, including nail salons.

Maine

Maine's stay-at-home order, which expired April 30, was replaced by a four-stage reopening plan. Nail salons will be allowed to resume business June 1 with limitations.

Maryland

In effect since March 30, Maryland's stay-at-home order expired May 15. Nonessential businesses, including nail salons, are allowed to reopen with social-distancing requirements.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts extended its stay-at-home order to May 18. It is currently unclear when nail salons will reopen.

Michigan

Michigan's stay-at-home order, in effect since March 24, has been extended to May 28. Nail salons are currently closed.

Minnesota

The stay-at-home order in Minnesota is set to expire May 17, though select industries were allowed to welcome employees back on April 27. Bars, restaurants, and nail salons will remain closed until June.

Mississippi

Mississippi's shelter-in-place order expired on April 27. Following this, select restrictions were lifted, but nail salons and other personal-care businesses are still closed.

Missouri

Under a stay-at-home order since April 6, Missouri reopened May 4. Nail salons were among the businesses allowed to resume operations on this day.

Montana

The stay-at-home order in Montana expired April 26. Though the state is reopening in phases, nail salons were part of the first group to welcome customers back on April 27.

Nebraska

Nebraska never saw a statewide stay-at-home order, but like many states in a similar situation, nonessential businesses were restricted. On May 4, nail salons were allowed to begin reopening.

Nevada

Nevada's stay-at-home order expired on May 9. Nail salons were able to reopen with guidelines in place.

New Hampshire

In New Hampshire, a stay-at-home order is set to expire May 31, with a "state of emergency" declaration through at least May 15. Nail salons were allowed to begin reopening on May 11.

New Jersey

Effective since March 21, New Jersey's stay-at-home order is set to expire June 5. Nail salons will stay closed for the time being.

New Mexico

New Mexico's recently extended stay-at-home order is set to expire May 31. It's currently unclear when nail salons will be allowed to reopen.

New York

In New York, where US coronavirus cases are the highest, a stay-at-home order expired May 15. Low-risk businesses upstate may begin reopening around this time, but there are currently no specific plans for nail salons to reopen.

North Carolina

North Carolina's stay-at-home order has been extended to May 22. Nonessential and "close-contact" businesses will remain closed for now, including nail salons.

North Dakota

Following mass closures (but no statewide stay-at-home order), businesses in North Dakota were allowed to reopen May 1. This includes nail salons.

Ohio

Ohio's stay-at-home order expired May 1, but was replaced with a "Stay Safe Ohio Order," under which businesses are reopening in phases. Retail stores can reopen May 12, but nail salons and personal-care businesses will stay closed until a date is announced.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma, where a stay-at-home order was never issued, permitted nail salons to reopen statewide on April 24.

Oregon

Oregon's stay-at-home order lifted on May 15. Nail salons are part of phase one of reopenings, but strict restrictions will be in place.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, select counties in the northwestern and central parts of the state may begin reopening as soon as May 8. Nail salons were included in the early reopenings.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island's statewide stay-at-home expired on May 8. Its reopening plan will likely occur in phases, with nail salons welcoming customers back in late May, during phase two.

South Carolina

South Carolina was one of the last states to issue a stay-at-home order, and one of the first to begin reopening plans on April 20. Nail salons can begin reopening on May 18.

South Dakota

No stay-at-home order was issued in South Dakota, but nail salons continue to be shuttered. A "back to normal" plan has been announced, but no specific dates are set for reopening.

Tennessee

In Tennessee, a stay-at-home order expired April 30. Close contact services, including nail salons, started reopening on May 6 - however, a list of strict guidelines are in place.

Texas

The stay-at-home order in Texas expired April 30. Nail salons have been allowed to reopen with restrictions starting May 8.

Utah

Utah did not have a statewide stay-at-home order, but nail salons have been shuttered. As of May 1, they were allowed to reopen following safety and hygiene precautions.

Vermont

Vermont extended the state's emergency order to June 15, but the stay-at-home order was relaxed on May 15. Currently, there are no specific plans for reopening nail salons.

Virginia

Effective since March 30, Virginia's stay-at-home order will extend through June 10. Nail salons, however, can be open by appointment only and must abide by strict social-distancing measures.

Washington

In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee extended the stay-at-home order (effective since March 23) to the end of May, with no specific plans to reopen nail salons.

West Virginia

West Virginia began reopening after its stay-at-home order expired May 4. Nail salons were then allowed to begin reopening as part of the state's "safer-at-home" plan.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin's stay-at-home order was recently extended to May 26. Nail salons remain closed for now.

Wyoming

In Wyoming, statewide restrictions began to lift on May 1. As a result, nail salons were able to resume business at reduced capacity.

POPSUGAR aims to give you the most accurate and up-to-date information about the coronavirus, but details and recommendations about this pandemic may have changed since publication. For the latest information on COVID-19, please check out resources from the WHO, CDC, and local public health departments.
The Kogi state government has dismissed claims that it spent N7 billion naira to construct an isolation centre for COVID-19 cases.

A storm on Tuesday destroyed the isolation center which is located at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

In a statement on Saturday, Kingsley Fanwo, commissioner for information and communication, said the isolation centre was built for Lassa Fever patients and not for COVID-19 cases.

The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to misinformation doing the round that government allegedly spent 7 billion naira to put in place an Isolation Center at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja that was damaged by storm a few days ago, the statement read.

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The desperate rumor and falsehood peddlers even went further to attribute the statement to the Executive Governor of the State.

The Isolation Centre at the Federal Medical Center was built for Lassa Fever for the institution by the State Government. The Federal Medical Center approached the State Government to help them put in place an Isolation Centre where Lassa Fever patients could be kept before their transfer to Management Centres.

It was never meant for COVID-19 and it is unfortunate that some falsehood merchants are peddling ridiculous figures around as the cost of the centre. Can the rumor peddlers produce the contract papers or even the evidence of the Governors statement to that effect?

Fanwo said the state does not have such resources to expend on building an isolation centre but that it is prepared for any eventuality.

He added that the states isolation centres for COVID-19 are in Fareec Clinic, Lokoja; Confluence Diagnostic Centre, Lokoja, and a clinic donated to the state in Ankpa.

 China, the epicenter of the Virus didnt even spend that much to construct an Isolation Center. Not even Lagos, that is the epicenter of COVID-19 in Nigeria has spent such amount on Isolation Centres, Fanwo said.

Read Also: We Are Struggling With Bed Spaces In Lagos Isolation Centres: NCDC

Kogi doesnt have such resources and even if we do, they shall be expended on infrastructure and economic expansion program that have been the hallmarks of the Governor Yahaya Bello administration.

The State Government is committed to the health perspective of COVID-19 instead of the commercial angle.

We call on those sharing the falsehood to reevaluate their rationality and hearken to the need for all men and women of goodwill to come together at this critical time to defeat the virus.

He said the contractor who handled the project has been called to fix the damaged isolation centre.
A new domestic violence awareness campaign will launch on Sunday as the COVID-19 shutdown causes a surge in abuse and threats in households across the country.

The federal government's "Help is here" campaign will direct victims of family and sexual violence to counselling helpline 1800RESPECT. Men concerned about posing a risk to those around them will be directed to MensLine Australia.

Material from the government's "Help is here" domestic violence awareness campaign.

About 9 per cent of calls to 1800RESPECT have been related to the pandemic crisis since it began and contacts with the service are 11 per cent higher than at the same point last year, up to 23,665 from 19,699, according to figures provided by the government.

Over 15 per cent of calls to MensLine have been linked to the crisis and use of the organisation's online chat service is more than double what it was in 2019.
Loans to China's property sector continued to grow at a slower pace in the first quarter as the country maintains strict home-purchase rules, central bank data has shown.

China's outstanding property loans were up 13.9 percent from a year earlier at 46.16 trillion yuan (about 6.59 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of March, according to a report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The growth rate was 0.9 percentage points lower than that at the end of last year.

Outstanding individual mortgage lending grew 15.9 percent year on year to 31.15 trillion yuan by the end of the first quarter, down 0.8 percentage points from the end of December.

The proportion of property loans continued to fall, while lending to small- and micro-sized enterprises and advanced manufacturing maintained steady growth, said Zou Lan, an official with the PBOC.

China's policymakers have vowed to ensure the stable and healthy development of the property market, repeatedly emphasizing that homes are for living in, not for speculative investment.
By Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday asked the Senate to find any documents tied to an allegation he sexually assaulted a former aide in 1993, after personally denying the accusation publicly for the first time. 'No, it is not true

By Trevor Hunnicutt and John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday asked the Senate to find any documents tied to an allegation he sexually assaulted a former aide in 1993, after personally denying the accusation publicly for the first time.

"No, it is not true. I'm saying unequivocally it never, never happened," Biden told MSNBC in an interview when asked about the accusation, which his campaign had also previously denied.

A California woman named Tara Reade, who worked as a staff assistant in Biden's Senate office from December 1992 to August 1993, had accused Biden in media interviews of pinning her against a wall in 1993, reaching under her skirt and pushing his fingers inside her.

Biden, 77, who will be the Democratic nominee to face Republican President Donald Trump, 73, in the Nov. 3 U.S. election, had faced growing pressure from within and outside his party to directly address the accusation.

"This is an open book. There's nothing for me to hide," Biden said in the interview, conducted from his home in Delaware where he is self-isolating during the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter, Biden asked the Secretary of the Senate, Julie Adams, to locate and make public records containing any complaint or other documents relating to Reade's allegation, if they exist, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters.

During the interview Biden said personal papers from his Senate years, which were donated to the University of Delaware and have yet to be made available to the public, do not contain any personnel files.

He said he was unaware of any complaint against him by Reade, and he had never asked anyone to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He said he would not question Reade's motive and did not know why she had made the complaint.

In the past Biden has suggested that women making accusations of sexual assault should be given the benefit of the doubt, and on Friday he said he was not being hypocritical by rejecting Reade's charges.

"Women have a right to be heard and the press should rigorously investigate claims they make. I'll always uphold that principle," he said. "But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters."

Reuters has not been able to independently confirm Reade's accusation and also was unable to reach Reade or a representative for her comment.

"We appreciate Vice President Biden finally addressing Tara Reade's allegations," said Heather Drevna, the vice president of communications at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization. "These allegations deserve a rigorous investigation."

TRUMP ACCUSATIONS

Trump has been accused in recent years by more than a dozen women of making unwanted sexual advances. In all instances, they claimed the purported misconduct occurred years before he entered politics. Trump has denied the accusations, accusing rival Democrats and the media of a smear campaign.

In an interview on Friday with conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Trump said if the accusations were false, Biden should deny them.

"Just go out and fight it, it's one of those things," Trump said he would advise Biden. "I've been a total victim of this nonsense, false accusations."

Trump's re-election campaign accused Biden of exercising a double standard. "In a dramatic shift, Biden now says believe women doesnt actually mean 'believe women,'" said campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine.

"We do not know what, if anything, was done to Tara Reade, but there cannot be one set of rules for Joe Biden and another set for everyone else."

Several news outlets that have published Reade's account, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, have interviewed a friend who said Reade told her about the alleged assault at the time. Another friend told the Times that Reade told her in 2008 about a previous traumatic incident involving Biden. Reade's brother also confirmed parts of Reade's account to The Intercept and the Post.

On Monday, the Business Insider news website published an interview with a former neighbor who said Reade told her in the mid-1990s that Biden had put his fingers inside her.

Reade, 56, told media interviewers she complained at the time about sexual harassment, though not sexual assault, to three of Biden's Senate aides. The Biden campaign released a statement from one, Marianne Baker, who said she never received any report of inappropriate behavior in nearly 20 years of working for Biden.

The Post and Times interviewed the other two aides, both of whom told the newspapers they had no recollection of Reade's complaint.

Reade was one of eight women who last year came forward to say Biden had hugged, kissed or touched them in ways that made them uncomfortable, though none accused him of sexual assault. Reade publicly accused him of the assault on a podcast in March.

Some prominent Democratic women had stepped forward to defend Biden, who was President Barack Obama's vice president, and others had asked him to address the accusation.

"It can't appear that she's being ignored just because it's an inconvenient truth for certain people in the Democratic Party," said Nina Turner, who was national campaign co-chair for the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, who dropped out of the Democratic race and endorsed Biden.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York and John Whitesides in Washington; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A couple of hours after their friend introduced them via email, Dr. Schmaltz reached out to Ms. Lowenstein, which launched their daily chats by email, text, phone or video. In early February, Dr. Schmaltz went to New York to work with an N.Y.U. colleague, and meet Ms. Lowenstein.

She asked him to meet her at an Apple store on the Upper West Side, where she was heading to get a screen protector for her phone. He was already there when she walked in. I saw a 6 foot 5 thin reed of a man. He was leaning over people, she said. But he smiled, and I already knew that this was going to be something really important.

He was captivated by her too.

I saw a great smile and beautiful green eyes and long hair, he said. She was much shorter than me, but everyone is much shorter than me. (Shes 5 foot 4).

They then went to a nearby Shake Shack to grab dinner, and as they waited for their order at the counter Ms. Lowenstein began dancing to the loud music playing. He nonchalantly joined in.

It felt quite natural, he said. I wasnt thinking too much. I was enjoying myself, and later as she pointed out the downtown subway entrance at West 79th Street, she looked up at him, then got on tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss, as he, surprised, leaned down for it.
Singapore, May 2 : Starting from May 19, Singapore schools may start bringing students in small groups for face-to-face lessons as the coronavirus 'circuit breaker' measures slowly ease, a Minister said on Saturday.

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the task force tackling COVID-19, said they would focus on the graduating cohorts taking national examinations, reports The Straits Times.

Institutions of higher learning will also allow more students to return to campus for critical consultations and projects.

Wong said that priority will be given to those who need school facilities for coursework and practical sessions, as well as those who need additional support and mediation during school vacation periods.

"It's a small group," he said, adding that this will be done with safe distancing measures and that the students will be kept in separate groups within cohorts.

"We are not opening up the entire school system at all," he stressed.

Singapore has reported 17,548 COVID-19 cases, with 16 deaths.

Earlier on Saturday, the task force announced that the tightened circuit breaker measures will remain in place for another week.

Businesses like barbers, home-based bakers and laundry services will be allowed to resume operating on May 12, while some measures will also be adjusted next week.
More than 130 gamblers were held in police custody on Friday after they had been caught gambling at a den located at the border between three southern provinces.

Police in Dong Nai Province told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday they had broken up a large-scale gambling ring that was operating in an area that borders the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong.

At 5:00 pm on the same day, hundreds of Dong Nai police officers raided the illegal gambling den in Da Kai Commune, Duc Linh District in Binh Thuan Province.

Over 130 people were caught playing sic bo, a three-dice game where players bet that a certain condition will be satisfied by a roll of the dice.

Gamblers dispersed into the nearby woods upon being alerted to the police officers. However, all of their escape routes had been blocked.

Police seized more than VND130 million (US$5,660) worth of cash on gambling tables, and hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong in the possession of the gamblers, as well as their motorbikes, cars, and other exhibits. (VND1 million = $43.5)

The Dong Nai Police Department said the gambling den had been operational for a long time. It was purposely situated in the area bordering the three provinces to avoid detection.

Investigators found that the den was run by around 20 ring leaders, who stationed many of their members around the gambling area to keep a watch out for police officers.

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Members of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), during a video conference, discussed the opportunities and challenges that the Indian industry will face post the Covid-19 lockdown with Indian ambassador to Japan Sanjay Kumar Verma on Saturday.

They discussed the steps that can be taken by the government to invite foreign investment and how the industry can seize the opportunities that will arise in the internal market.

Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, CICU, said the ambassador asked the members to look for suppliers other than China and suggested that the Indian industry should plan joint ventures with Japanese companies post the lockdown.

Ahuja said they also discussed the opportunity for the local industry in the Japanese health sector as Japan was advanced in research, but the cost of production was higher there.

There is a great opportunity ahead but Indian companies will have to focus on quality, cost and management. The industry should work more professionally and a result-oriented approach should be adopted, said Ahuja.
Mismanagement was the order of the day again as hundreds of migrant labourers gathered outside a resort in Moti Nagar to collect ration being distributed by the police on Saturday.

The labourers had arrived at the venue after receiving appointments through 1905 helpline, with many saying they had returned empty handed several times in the past with inadequate ration for people summoned there.

Helpline number 1905 has been launched by the Punjab government to provide essential supplies to people in need amid the curfew imposed in the state since March 23.

Hundreds of migrant labourers, including women, lined up in serpentine queues unmindful of the need for social distancing.

The gate was guarded by some volunteers, who were allowing a few workers at a time to walk inside the resort to collect the ration. When a huge crowd tried to enter forcibly, the volunteers lathi-charged them to keep the queues in order.

Inspector Varunjit Singh, SHO, Moti Nagar station, said though the police were asking labourers to maintain adequate distance and avoid crowding, they were not heeding to the directions.

On the hand, labourers said their patience grew thin as they had been waiting for three hours already, and they were eager to get their hands on the supplies as every visit to the resort in the past had been unfruitful

Ajit of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh, who lives in Moti Nagar, said this was his fourth visit to the venue. I applied for ration on 1905 helpline number, and received a text message with the time, date and location to collect it. I was shocked to see the huge rush on arriving at the resort. On my each previous visit, the ration got over before my turn came, he added.

Another labourer Santosh of Banmankhi town in Bihar, said he worked in a small garment factory and his employer had not paid him since March 22, forcing his family to go without food. It is difficult to survive for so long without money and food. When we are invited to collect ration, we have to stand in queues for several hours, and even then many return empty handed. Worse, police even thrash us, he alleged.
Georgia health officials reported more than 1,000 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on the same day that state Governor Brian Kemp lifted its stay-at-home order for most residents.

Kemp, a Republican, lifted the state's stay-at-home order on Friday, but said elderly and medically-fragile residents should continue isolation through June 12. He had previously allowed some non-essential businesses to reopen starting April 24.

On Friday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Public Health revealed that 27,134 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in total - about 1,000 more cases than had been reported just 24 hours beforehand, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp lifted the stay-at-home order on Friday, but had previously allowed non-essential businesses to slowly reopen on April 24. Diners are seen at a Waffle House on April 27 in Atlanta

Among the non-essential businesses allowed to reopen were nail salons (pictured April 25), tattoo parlors and massage therapy practices

People walk through Atlanta's Inman Park on Friday, after the stay-at-home order was lifted

The health officials also reported 40 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, raising the state's virus death toll to at least 1,147.

Kemp has faced criticism for moving to reopen Georgia too quickly, while the number of coronavirus cases were still increasing.

The White House's coronavirus task force had advised that states could start reopening after seeing 14 days of declining coronavirus case reports and rates of people reporting virus symptoms.

Among the businesses Kemp allowed to open on April 24 were hair and nail salons, bowling alleys, gyms and massage-therapy centers. Restaurants and movie theaters were allowed to reopen on Monday.

All of these businesses were told they could reopen with 'minimum basic operations' and that they should deploy safety measures including checking staff for temperatures and respiratory illnesses, as well as increasing sanitation efforts, wearing masks and gloves and practicing social distancing in work stations, Business Insider reported.

Kemp encouraged Georgians to continue to stay at home if they're able to and to wear masks in stores and when near other people.

When the non-essential business ban was lifted, President Trump tweeted: 'I (or @VP) never gave Governor Brian Kemp an OK on those few businesses outside of the Guidelines. FAKE NEWS! Spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, & barber shops should take a little slower path, but I told the Governor to do what is right for the great people of Georgia (& USA)!'

Kemp has faced criticism for allowing the stay-at-home order to expire and reopening non-essential businesses, like barbershops (pictured April 25) to reopen for economic reasons

A diner is seen putting in his order at a Waffle House in Savannah, Georgia, on April 27

While saying that businesses could reopen, he also encouraged people to continue to practice social distancing and wearing of masks, among other safety measures. Staffers at a Waffle House are shown modeling their masks on April 27

Several days prior to Kemp's decision, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, had tweeted in part that 'I worry that our friends and neighbors in Georgia are going too fast too soon.'

Graham, a Republican, also tweeted: 'We respect Georgia's right to determine its own fate, but we are all in this together. What happens in Georgia will impact us in South Carolina.'

Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that lifting the stay-at-home order made sense for a number of reasons.

He said that the stay-at-home measures, which started April 3, 'worked' and had 'given us time to build our hospital infrastructure capacity, get ventilators and ramp up testing. Thats what really drove our decision.'

He also noted that coronavirus had impacted elderly state residents at a far higher number than younger, healthier ones, and that the impact of the stay-at-home and non-essential business bans was having too great an economic impact on the state.

'I felt like the negative effects of not having our economy starting to open up was beginning to have the same weight as the virus itself, especially if you werent in the medically fragile category or someone in a long-term care facility,' Kemp said. 'For most of the rest of Georgia, the effect has been minimal.'

The majority of coronavirus diagnoses - one in five - have been linked to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Those places were also associated with two in five deaths.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been outspoken about her disagreement with Kemp's decision to reopen the state so quickly.

In an op-ed for The Atlantic Wednesday, Bottoms wrote, 'Reopening the state and relaxing social-distancing measures now is irresponsible and could even be deadly.'

She noted that 'Our hospitals may not be stretched to capacity, but that does not mean we should work to fill the vacant beds. I strongly believe that our health-care system is not overwhelmed because we have been socially distancing.

'And while staying at home may be inconvenient for many people, there is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley during a pandemic. We need to continue to do whatever it takes to keep the number of cases from rising.'
ISTANBUL - A smartphone app in Turkey asked for Murat Bur's identity number, his father's name and information about his relatives. Did he have any underlying health conditions, the app wondered, presenting him a list of options. How was he feeling at the moment, it asked. It also requested permission to track his movements.

None of this felt intrusive to Bur, a 38-year old personal trainer. The app, which he had voluntarily downloaded, had helpfully warned him that his neighborhood was a coronavirus hot spot. "There are people in our country still having parties and picnics. I do not see the harm in people being followed," he said. "There is an extraordinary situation in the world."

To the feelings of fear, restlessness, insecurity and sorrow taking hold around the globe, the pandemic era has added another certainty: being watched.

In a matter of months, tens of millions of people in dozens of countries have been placed under surveillance. Governments, private companies and researchers observe the health, habits and movements of citizens, often without their consent. It is a massive effort, aimed at enforcing quarantine rules or tracing the spread of the coronavirus, that has sprung up pell-mell in country after country.

"This is a Manhattan Project-level problem, that is being addressed by people all over the place," said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, a research center at the University of Toronto.

He is among a group of researchers and privacy advocates who say there is not enough debate over the consequences and utility of the new surveillance tools, and no indication how long the scrutiny will last - even as the flood of prying apps are becoming a reality for millions of people, like solitude and face masks.

Because of the pandemic, surveillance is a "necessary evil," said Lee Yoon-young, a South Korean university student who was under strict, government-monitored quarantine after returning home from her studies overseas. "I am not disturbed since I understand that stronger quarantine control allows those not under stay-at-home order to continue on with their lives without a nationwide lockdown," she said.

At least 27 countries are using data from cellphone companies to track the movements of citizens, according to Edin Omanovic, the advocacy director for Privacy International, which is keeping a record of surveillance programs. At least 30 countries have developed smartphone apps for the public to download, he said.

The monitoring has raised fewer objections in countries that have been more successful at battling the virus, like Singapore, and provoked a much louder debate in Europe and the United States - a difference that is reflected in the numbers of people who voluntarily download tracking applications.

In South Korea, millions of people have signed up to use websites or apps that show how the virus is spreading. More than 2 million Australians quickly downloaded a coronavirus contact-tracing app that was released on Sunday. But 3 in 5 Americans say they are unwilling or unable to use an infection-alert system being developed by Google and Apple, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll has found.

Epidemiologists and government health officials have taken a central role in designing some of the coronavirus tracking programs. Privacy groups have been far more concerned when intelligence agencies have taken the lead, as they have in Pakistan and Israel, or when governments outsource tracing to private companies.

Infection-tracking software by NSO, an Israeli company, has attracted criticism before it has even launched. The company is best know for designing surveillance tools used by authoritarian governments to spy on dissidents, journalists and others. A person close to NSO said its new coronavirus tracking software, called Fleming, was being tested by more than two dozen governments around the world.

The pandemic has all but silenced the debate about encroachments on privacy by corporations, Scott-Railton said. "People are anxious. They are worried. They want to go back to normal, to handle doorknobs, to online date.

"We are looking to anyone who is pitching hope."

- - -

Turkey, which is wrestling with one of the worst outbreaks in the world, uses technology to track the spread of the virus in at least two ways. One is the app, called Life Fits in the Home, which solicits personal details to track infections and provides information, including the location of nearby hospitals and pharmacies.

The government has said that it is doing mandatory tracking of people 65 years or older, who are required to quarantine, and sending them cellphone messages when they venture out of their homes.

There has been little public backlash against the surveillance in Turkey, where people are accustomed to an intrusive and increasingly authoritarian central government. Any misgivings have also been tempered by a feeling the state should be taking stronger measures to control the outbreak.

Cigdem Sahin, an economics professor at Istanbul University, said she didn't think twice before downloading the tracking app, even though she is normally wary of government surveillance.

"I actually think it might be useful to surveil the spread of corona - if the system is used effectively and does not give an error," she said.

"I have no doubt that Turkey will use such apps as a vehicle for pressure and surveillance when need be," Sahin said.

But her primary concern was whether the app could work properly. It told her little she did not already know about her neighborhood, called Fatih, where there was a high concentration of infections. So she stopped using the app.

"We are being watched and our lives are being recorded, and one wonders how to deal with it," she said. "There is no escaping it."

One of the most critical questions is whether the programs actually yield reliable information about infection chains. Hasan Kasap, 73, a retired university professor, said he received a text message from the health ministry last month warning him to stay home, though he said he had not left his apartment in weeks.

"This approach made me lose my trust in this institution or this tracking system and even made me feel insulted," he said. "Location information is private. It should remain private." After the message, he turned off the option on his own phone that allowed it to be tracked, he said.

- - -

South Korea has never imposed a nationwide lockdown or travel restrictions in response to the coronavirus, only issuing strong advisories against nonessential travel as part of a national social distancing campaign. The country's coronavirus response, featuring widespread testing for infections, is often held up as a model around the world.

As part of that effort, South Korea's health authorities track the movement of people and then later retraces the steps of those diagnosed with the virus by using GPS phone tracking, credit card records, surveillance video and interviews with patients. The patient travel histories are published without names to help others identify whether they crossed paths with a virus carrier.

Another smartphone app monitors thousands of people under self-quarantine and reports their movements to the government.

Lee Yoon-young, the university student who has been under the remotely monitored quarantine, said she welcomed the geo-positioning app on her phone that allowed the government to pinpoint her location.

Lee returned to South Korea after her studies in the United Kingdom were disrupted by the pandemic. The contrast between the government response in the two countries was stark. In Brighton, where she studied, she had relied on patchy news reports to identify virus-prone locations to avoid. In South Korea, she has found it reassuring to be able to see online travel histories of virus carriers.

But the Korean travel data can be accessed not just by health-conscious residents but also voyeuristic onlookers, which was "concerning," she said, adding that personal information about infected people should be redacted.

Singapore also mobilized early to contain the epidemic by aggressively tracking chains of infection, imposing harsh penalties on patients who violated quarantine rules and mounting ubiquitous public awareness campaigns - while avoiding a full lockdown. Cellphone apps were developed to helped enforce self-quarantine rules and aid the contact-tracing effort by making use of Bluetooth technology.

Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, an author and journalist who lives in New York, saw how strictly quarantine rules were enforced when she flew to Singapore in late March and was forced to self-isolate in a hotel. Her location was monitored through her cellphone and twice a day, she was required to verify her whereabouts for the government, occasionally by sending a picture of her surroundings. Once, she got a video call from health officials, just to make sure she was where she said she was.

"They were very strict about it," she said. "As they should be."

Her experience in New York, with one of the world's deadliest outbreaks, made her more willing to accept government monitoring and less tolerant of people flouting quarantine and other distancing rules. "These are desperate times. I would have fought for my personal liberties on many levels before. Now I am the one trying to restrict the people around me. I am more of a scold," she said.

The intrusions were easier to accept because Singapore's government appeared to have citizens' welfare in mind, and no "ulterior motives," she said. But the number of intrusions was rising: one government app allowed people to report violations by their neighbors. More recently, some grocery stores had required people to provide their identity numbers to enter.

"It's worrying once you give up these liberties," she said. "Is this the way it's always going to be?"

- - -

The experience of countries hurriedly deploying apps and similar surveillance software highlights the limits of such technology and the challenge of wide-scale public buy-in even in places that are largely open to being watched.

Experts warn, for example, that apps relying on Bluetooth radios can provide inexact location data and falsely identify people as infected.

Jason Bay, the director of Singapore's contact tracing app, called TraceTogether, said in an online post last month, "If you ask me whether any Bluetooth contact tracing system deployed or under development, anywhere in the world, is ready to replace manual contact tracing, I will without qualification say that the answer is no."

John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab said the effectiveness of such apps was ultimately determined by "human social behavior and racial and age demographics."

Apps are of limited utility unless a large percentage of a country's population downloads them, and even then, the reach of the software is limited to people who own smartphones, which often excluded lower income people, racial minorities and people over 65, he said.

Some surveillance initiatives have also run into organized efforts to rein them in.

In Israel, a group of civil liberties groups went to court in March to block a far-reaching effort by Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, to track cellphones of covid-19 patients. The agency uses cellphone location signals of known coronavirus cases and its own vast trove of data to detect users who have been in proximity to an infected person - information health officials use to alert people to self-isolate.

On Sunday, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the government tracking would require parliamentary legislation to continue much past the end of April, when the emergency measure was due to expire.

Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, was one of the groups that filed a petition with the high court objecting to the government's reliance on emergency powers to expand the reach of its security apparatus. "Surveillance violates the constitutional right to privacy and there exist other tools to deal with the coronavirus," said Suhad Bishara, an attorney for Adalah.

While contact tracing is an important tool for isolating infected people, "extending the work of such an agency to do civil-related matters becomes very problematic," she said, adding that many Palestinians, subject to surveillance or interrogations by Israeli security services over decades, fear the agency would misuse health records and other data it has access to, she said.

Roxanne Halper, 60, who works in international development and leans toward the left end of Israel's political spectrum, said she would normally be wary of government surveillance, but not this time.

"I feel like I should have a problem with it and yet I don't," Halper said during a phone interview from her home on a small kibbutz between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Like many, she said health considerations now seem more pressing than privacy. She had even downloaded a voluntary government app and appreciated it every day when it told her she had had no contact with a known coronavirus case. (The app is separate from the Internal Security Agency's tracking efforts.)

"I take comfort from that," she said. "I can't be afraid of the [risk to privacy] right now. I'm much more afraid of corona and what it's doing to society," she said.

- - -

Kim reported from Seoul and Hendrix from Jerusalem. The Washington Post's Shibani Mahtani in Hong Kong, Zeynep Karatas in Istanbul and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

- - -

How countries use phones to fight the virus

Singapore's government launched the TraceTogether app in late March, saying it would speed up and simplify contact tracing. Downloading the app is voluntary. Users can choose whether to allow the health ministry to access data showing the phone owner's contacts. Roughly one in five people in Singapore have downloaded the app, which uses Bluetooth technology.

Israel's Internal Security Agency used its advanced cyber-tracking capabilities to keep tabs on people infected with the coronavirus as well as those they may have come in contact with. The health ministry used the information to order people into quarantine after coming in contact with someone infected. Civil liberties groups went to court to block the effort. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled last month that government tracking would require parliamentary legislation to continue.

South Korea's health authorities retrace the steps of people infected with the virus, using GPS phone tracking, credit card records, surveillance video and personal interviews with patients. The patients' travel histories are posted on a website without names to help others identify whether they crossed paths with a virus carrier.

- Kareem Fahim
Mass layoffs are pushing many Americans into an unfamiliar role: shopping for health insurance that isn't offered by an employer.

A swirl of confusing terms and options await inexperienced shoppers as they sort health insurance plans. And there's probably no one from human resources available to quickly answer questions.

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown 1 in 6 American workers out of a job. Navigators, brokers and others who help people find coverage say they are starting to see a wave of new customers looking for help either from the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces or the government-funded Medicaid program.

Here are some steps to take if you wind up on the market for new coverage.

Know the basics

People who lose health insurance through work might be able to avoid a big search by switching to a spouse's employer-sponsored plan.

If that's not possible, they might be able to choose the pricey option of continuing their coverage from work under the federal law known as COBRA. That would allow you to keep the doctors already covered in your insurer's network.

Laid-off workers also have a 60-day window in which they can shop the ACA marketplaces for coverage they might be able to buy with help from income-based tax credits.

That window doesn't apply to people who lost a job that didn't come with insurance. But several states are offering a separate enrollment period that may help them.

Some people also may qualify for the government's Medicaid program, which helps those with low incomes.

Prepare for sticker shock

Did you know that your employer probably paid as much as 70 percent of the insurance premium? If not, you will quickly realize that when choosing to continue coverage under COBRA.

In that case, the laid-off employee will pay the entire monthly bill for coverage plus an administrative fee. That could cost more than $1,000 for a family plan. Then there's the ACA marketplaces, where monthly premiums also can be several hundred dollars depending on the coverage.

But shoppers there can buy insurance with help from income-based tax credits. That's something many don't understand, according to Jeremy Smith, a West Virginia-based navigator who helps people find coverage in several states.

"If people have never had to worry about these programs, they've never put much thought into it," he said. "Most call us, and they automatically think that the insurance is going to be so outrageously expensive that they're not going to be able to touch it."

Consider help

After being laid off April 1, Dianne Waldorf spent about an hour and a half bouncing between websites and trying to figure out whether she qualified for Medicaid or if she should buy individual insurance. The 54-year-old Boca Raton, Florida, resident needed coverage to deal with some health problems, including a brain aneurysm that doctors are monitoring.

But she got so frustrated she wondered whether she should continue.

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

"There's so many different options available, and they ask you so many questions," she said. "You just get overwhelmed."

Then Waldorf found a number for HealthSherpa, a company that helps people find coverage in the marketplaces. She said a representative took about 15 minutes to guide her to a plan that cost about $80 a month with the tax credit.

Companies like HealthSherpa, as well as navigators and insurance agents, may be available to help find a plan. They also can assist shoppers in figuring out tax credits. Help from health insurance navigators is free, but they may be hard to find in some states. HealthSherpa also does not charge customer fees, but it receives a commission from some plans, as do many brokers or agents. Shoppers should ask about fees or commissions when seeking assistance.

Be patient

Callers to the federal government's health insurance enrollment helpline  800-318-2596  may have to wait depending on when they call. First thing in the morning is a good window to hit, said Joshua Peck, co-founder of the non-profit Get America Covered. Peck, who worked in the administration of former President Barack Obama, said call volume usually hits peak levels in mid- to late afternoon.

If you search online, avoid jumping at the first option Google produces. That might be a short-term coverage plan. Those can be cheaper than regular insurance, but they may have big limitations and might not cover conditions you had before enrolling.

For more complete coverage, visit healthcare.gov.

Expect delays, especially when dealing with Medicaid. Those applications can get held up by complications that might not surface when an employee picks work-based coverage, said enrollment expert Ben Geyerhahn. His company, BeneStream, helps people sign up for Medicaid and has been working more with customers who usually make $40,000 to $70,000 annually and have never used the system.

"I think that people have gotten used to high-quality, low-friction services," he said. "There's a lot of interesting and wild policy complexity built into the system that surprises people."
All returning Pakistan nationals would be screened as per international norms and existing provisions of the Government of India and only asymptomatic individuals would be allowed to return.

The Narendra Modi government has given a nod to 190 Pakistani nationals who have been stranded in India after the government sealed international borderline due to the novel coronavirus. These Pakistan nationals will return to their country via the Attari-Wagah crossing on May 5, said reports. Following the Centres directions, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has asked the state governments to facilitate their travel.

All strandard Pakistani have been asked to reach the Attari-Wagah border a few hours early as they will be allowed to travel after proper by immigration check and coronavirus testings.

An official said the government of India has agreed to send Pakistan nationals back after the Pakistan high commission requested Prime Ministers Office. The government has also asked state governments to ensure free and safe movement of strandard Pakistanis from different parts of the country.

Additional secretary at the external affairs ministry, Dammu Ravi, said it is requested that all returning Pakistan nationals would be screened as per international norms and existing provisions of the Government of India and only asymptomatic individuals would be allowed to return.

This will be the second occasion when Pakistani nationals will exit the country amid lockdown. The last group that returned to Pakistan in April was much smaller and comprised people staying in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

So far, more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus have been detected in India, claiming over 1200 lives. 26167 are active cases, while 9950 people have been cured.

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Two recovered Covid-19 patients in HCMC, a Brit and a Brazilian, have tested positive after being discharged, raising the citys total relapses to six and the nations to 14.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health confirmed Friday that the two relapsed patients are "Patient 124," a 52-year-old Brazilian man, and "Patient 235," a 25-year-old British man, linked to Buddha Bar & Grill in District 2, the citys largest coronavirus hotspot.

They were found positive for the novel coronavirus 15 days after being discharged from the citys Cu Chi field hospital.

The Brazilian man, who attended a party at the Buddha Bar on March 14, was confirmed positive on March 23. He was discharged on April 14 after three negative tests and asked to quarantine himself at home for another 14 days.

On April 29, he had his samples taken for testing for the last time before completing the 14-day home quarantine. However, the result came back positive.

The British man, who visited the Buddha Bar the same day, was confirmed positive on April 3 and discharged on April 15. He was also asked to be quarantined at home for another 14 days. On April 30, health officials took his samples for the final test and the results came back positive for the virus.

Both men are back at the Cu Chi hospital for treatment.

So far, the city has reported six relapses, five of them related to the Buddha Bar and the other a Vietnamese student returning from France.

The new relapses take the number of patients under treatment in Vietnam to 53. 217 others have been discharged.

In the wake of the relapses, HCMC health authorities announced Friday that they will keep recovered Covid-19 patients under health monitoring for 30 days instead of 14. During this period, the city will conduct a coronavirus test every day on the recovered patients.

In another move to prevent possible infections from relapsed patients, the Health Ministry last week suggested that patients eligible for discharge from hospitals spend the additionally mandated quarantine period of 14 days at the hospitals, instead of at home.

The ministry has also said that samples taken from five of the relapsed patients showed the virus was "inactive" in their bodies, which theoretically means the chances of them spreading the infection are "very low."

Covid-19 relapses are not uncommon worldwide as it has also been reported in China, Japan and South Korea.

In South Korea, where more than 270 people have tested positive for the virus after recovering, researchers at the country's center for disease control and prevention have said it is impossible for the virus to reactivate in human bodies and the relapse results were due to testing failures.
His pensive figure has become a familiar part of tributes to our war veterans, past and present.

The poignant 'Tommy' silhouette now symbolises not only First World War soldiers but those from all conflicts.

And to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day on Friday, people across Britain are being urged to place the image in their front window.

The Tommy In The Window campaign was launched by Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) and is supported by the former head of the British Army, General Lord Dannatt.

To mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day on Friday, people across Britain are being urged to place the poignant 'Tommy' silhouette in their front window. Welsh Guard Steve Hammond, 62, pictured above, sustained permanent injuries on the Sir Galahad when it was attacked by Argentine bombers during the Falklands War

He said: 'This is a good time to remember that the nation has been through difficult times before and has come through challenges by pulling together.

'Public mood is low, but we owe it to ourselves as a nation to recognise those who gave their lives in the Second World War, and also those who endured so much at home, to win us our freedom.

'One will reflect on the commitment of the previous generation by glancing at those Tommys on May 8 and thinking, "Yes, they did a good job all those years ago."'

Injured veterans are producing the 10in perspex figures in the RBLI's social enterprise factory in Kent.

On sale at rbli.co.uk/veday75 for 33, each comes with a special edition certificate signed by veterans, and a VE Day booklet in a presentation box.

Money raised goes to the RBLI's work providing employment, training and support to veterans and their families.

Injured veterans are producing the 10in perspex figures in the RBLI's social enterprise factory in Kent

The Tommy In The Window campaign was launched by Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) and is supported by the former head of the British Army, General Lord Dannatt (pictured)

The figure was originally designed in 2016 by artist Martin Barraud for his church in Penshurst, Kent.

He says its appeal lies in the humility of the anonymous Tommy. He adapted his figure from a photograph taken by Horace Nicholls, appointed as the Home Front official photographer in 1917  the same year he lost his eldest son on the Western Front.

Welsh Guard Steve Hammond, 62, pictured above, sustained permanent injuries on the Sir Galahad when it was attacked by Argentine bombers during the Falklands War.
We can all agree that Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridges children are absolutely adorable. Ever since their debuts outside St. Marys Hospital people have enjoyed seeing them out and about at events and stealing the spotlight at weddings and Trooping the Colour ceremonies.

The world has become fascinated with the little ones and now have questions about their future. Many are curious about the duke and duchess only daughter, Princess Charlotte, and when the young royal will be able to wear one a very regal accessory. Read to find out when Charlotte can start wearing a tiara and when royal women, including her mother, are banned from wearing them.

Princess Charlotte | UK Press Pool/UK Press via Getty Images

Rules Princess Charlotte must follow

As the daughter of the future king, Princess Charlotte will have a few rules and protocols to follow in her life.

Royal children cannot sit with their parents and other adults at the dinner table. Charlotte only gets bumped up to the same table as her mom and dad once she can carry on dinnertime conversations with others and has mastered the art of polite conversation.

The princess needs to learn how to curtsy properly as well. Shes likely already taking lessons on this as she will be expected to curtsy to her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, soon.

When she can wear a tiara

So what about royal rules for tiaras and when can we expect to see Charlotte donning one of those?

Princess Charlotte | Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Images

London jewelry expert Geoffrey Munn told Town & Country that it could be quite a while before we see Charlotte with a tiara on. Munn noted that per tradition, a woman must be a bride or already married to wear one.

The tiara has its roots in classical antiquity and was seen as an emblem of the loss of innocence to the crowning of love, he said.

However, former royal butler Grant Harrold revealed that the tradition doesnt apply to all.

Single ladies dont typically wear tiaras unless they are born into the royal family as a princess, Harrold said via Insider.

Since Charlotte is, she may decide to wear a tiara before she ties the knot just like Princess Margaret and Princess Anne did prior to walking down the aisle.

When Kate Middleton and other royals are banned from wearing them

Kate Middleton | John Stillwell  WPA Pool/Getty Images

Charlottes mother must follow a rule about tiaras herself. Kate cant just throw on a tiara whenever she pleases because the dazzling accessories are to be worn at specific times.

Besides their engagements rings, royal ladies arent dripping in diamonds when they are out in public or attending an event during the day and they never have on a tiara then. According to Marie Claire, thats because diamonds are banned during the day.

Before 6 p.m., youll see metallics, gemstones, pearls, sapphires. At night, youll see the diamonds come out, and thats in order to not come across as flashy in your appearance, royal etiquette expert Myka Meier explained.

The exception to this rule is that tiaras can be worn before 6 p.m. for royal weddings.

Read more: What Will Princess Charlottes Title Be When Prince William Becomes King?
The threat of COVID-19 brought upheaval to San Antonios economy, postponed Fiesta, suspended the Spurs season and halted normal ways of doing almost everything  school, work, getting groceries, nights out.

Through it all, buses kept running. But another likely victim on the uncertain road to recovery is a planned November ballot initiative that supporters had hoped would launch a mass transit makeover called VIA Reimagined.

Last week, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said aloud what many had assumed was inevitable. Addressing the proposed reallocation of a 1/8-cent sales tax from protection of the Edwards Aquifer to transportation, he told the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board there might not be enough bandwidth as a community to plan for a November campaign.

Backing off the election doesnt doom the prospect of an expanded VIA at some point, the proposals backers said. In November, tens of thousands of San Antonians still may be out of work, and the city even might face a rebound in coronavirus infections  hardly the time to ask voters to focus on anything but health and safety.

Cynics were blunter: We might lose the election. So lets delay the vote. The need for social distancing, or the recent memory of it, will make expanded bus travel a hard sell.

But the other side, said Jeffrey Arndt, CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit, is that VIA will be very important in the recovery of this city. And all those hotel and restaurant workers, the students, the service industry, they will need transportation when the economy starts returning. You read about people who now cant afford internet service. They need jobs. They will really need the bus.

Having spent some 40 years in transportation planning, Arndt oversaw the development of the VIA Reimagined plan, which envisions an enhanced system linking suburban destinations to busy central routes. Proponents say it would be more affordable and quicker to build than light rail.

Arndt said his board will listen to whatever Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff advise as the best strategy to get the measure passed.

Its not my call, not my wheelhouse, Arndt said. I want it to succeed. I trust their judgment.

San Antonio still will have a bus system in November, but its operations and finances have been hammered.

Since the pandemic hit, VIA has lost about half its ridership, in line with most other American urban transit systems.

Noose tightening

Arndt has predicted losses this year of $11 million in fares, $51 million in sales tax revenue  VIAs major funding source  and another $3 million in city funding. The agency faces a $12 million shortfall over the next five years in its employee pension fund contributions, he said.

VIA stopped collecting fares March 21. It has suspended 10 of its 92 routes and has shifted dozens of others into much-less-frequent Sunday schedules, resulting in waits of an hour or more for riders.

The agency added buses to a few busy routes so the vehicles can be limited to 16 masked passengers, about half their capacity.

The VIA bus drivers union is asking for 24 weeks of hazard pay for about 1,500 workers, a request in the ballpark of $7 million that Arndt suggested would be difficult to grant.

According to an economist it recently consulted, VIA might run up a deficit of about $130 million in five years.

On ExpressNews.com: VIA will enforce limit of 16 passengers per bus

Helping somewhat will be $93 million from the $25 billion Congress has allocated to public transportation in stimulus funds. Still, Arndt said it could be two years before VIA returns to anything normal financially.

The stimulus money may be used only to offset new expenses, such as wages to sustain staff, supplies and equipment, but not to buy new buses or open new routes.

All of which convinces veteran political strategist Christian Archer that the pandemic not only will force a delay of a VIA Reimagined vote beyond November  it also might force a reordering of the citys funding priorities.

There is a noose tightening around the citys neck in almost every possible way, said Archer, who has worked to pass several major city bond measures and has been an election strategist for Wolff and former Mayors Julian Castro and Phil Hardberger. I think that, post-COVID-19, they might have to reimagine San Antonio.

Before the pandemic, as the fate of the 1/8-cent sales tax was being debated by aquifer protection advocates and those who wanted the revenue for a more robust transit system, the city said the tax pulled in $40 million a year.

The COVID-19 economic downturn has cut into that figure. Archer said it could drop as low as $25 million (other estimates have been higher)  and every dollar might be needed for the citys immediate survival issues, he said.

There is no more water in the well, Archer said. This is why you might have to delay the transportation vote  maybe one year, maybe more. Its clearly heartbreaking, but our unemployment rate has skyrocketed. COVID-19 has done a lot of damage to our forward thinking for many, many years.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

I hate to be pessimistic, but I think its duct tape and bailing wire for VIA in the foreseeable future.

A VIA expansion also faces headwinds that predate the pandemic.

District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, who represents a largely Republican Northeast Side district, said that even in good times, he rarely saw a packed VIA bus or Park & Ride facility He called the VIA Reimagined budget a travesty and would like to see the entire project stopped in its tracks.

Perry said he had never been on a VIA bus as a paying customer  only special events, like Fiesta  and that as a fiscal conservative he could not think of any mass transit system he fully endorsed. But he spent 10 years in Germany and England with the Air Force and was very impressed with those countries passenger rail.

Do we need some mass transit? I suppose. Yes, Perry said. But people in Texas love their cars and their independence. If theres congestion, they dont mind leaving early for work. I talk extensively to people in my district and every year they tell me they have four priorities  police and fire protection, roads fixed and widened, and they want lower property taxes.

Ask Henry Cisneros if he knows what the total bill for VIA Reimagined and ConnectSA will really be. He doesnt know. Ive asked him.

Big plans

For the record, Cisneros, the former mayor and a leader of San Antonios civic and political establishment, does seem to know the budget for both VIA Reimagined and ConnectSA. He led the latter, a nonprofit transit study group and public relations campaign, for two years with Wolff and VIA board chair Hope Andrade.

But even Cisneros concedes that when speaking to the public, he sometimes discerns brand confusion. Initiated by Nirenberg, ConnectSA set out to gather community support for a $3.5 billion package of transportation projects, the largest of which would be roads, including more complete streets with bike lanes and calmer traffic.

Conspicuously absent was funding for light rail, which Nirenberg, Wolff and Cisneros, once vocal supporters, abandoned as an expensive idea whose time had passed.

What they offered instead  contained within the broader ConnectSA plan  was VIA Reimagined. The projected price tag was $878 million in capital spending up front and then $44 million annually for a decade.

Over five-and 10-year spans, nearly 130 new buses  some traditional models and some sleek rail-like versions  would be added to the VIA system on both existing streets and newly constructed dedicated lanes, promising such short wait times (seven to 10 minutes) that passengers hardly would need a schedule.

VIA Reimagined has been pitched as a flexible launching pad for more transformative future expansion, even if it doesnt immediately get vast legions of San Antonians to ditch their cars.

Its a pitch still firmly supported by Cisneros, who was mayor from 1981 to 1989 and later was secretary of housing and urban development in President Bill Clintons administration.

Listen, I think I have a pretty good feel for San Antonios possibilities and for San Antonios wallet, he said. We cant count on money we dont have.

Now 72 and a veteran of countless big civic projects, Cisneros is taking the likelihood of a delayed VIA Reimagined vote in stride.

Everything will just advance down the road for six, nine months, a year, and everything remains the same. Aquifer protection is still at the same stage of urgency.  No one gains an advantage just because we had to postpone this vote, he said.

Cisneros said the pandemic has exposed San Antonios income disparities  a reason for having mass transit in the first place. The people who keep buses running are essential workers, just like many of those who ride the buses, he said.

For those reasons, VIA Reimagined could be an important part of the citys recovery, the former mayor asserted.

We thought of essential workers as this elevated concept, but then realized many of them are very underpaid and they dont have the luxury of staying in their homes. Nurses, orderlies, bank tellers, the people who produce and ship our food  they all had to get to work somehow.

Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Bruce, become a subscriber. BSelcraig@express-news.net
A stem cell donor is urging people to sign-up after registration numbers drop by more than 50 per cent from this time last year.

Lockdown was the last thing on Sam Schmidts mind when he got the call to say that they had found a match and he was going to be the donor.

He had been expecting that call since his registration last year.

While most of us would have had second thoughts about going through with the process in the middle of a pandemic, the brave 24-year-old took the risk.

Sam Schmidt at the London clinic where he underwent the procedure / DKMS

Accompanied by his parents, Sam went to the London Clinic this week to undergo the live-saving procedure to donate his stem cells to an anonymous patient with blood cancer.

You could be someones only hope. That really hit home for me especially when I got the call.

"I thought that Im definitely going to do this now because If I dont, Im essentially sentencing someone to a far less chance of survival. If you are someones match then thats an actual individual relying on you.

He registered with the charity DKMS - known as We Delete Blood Cancer - after meeting Peter McCleave, a 42-year-old father of two who was diagnosed with the condition shortly after running an Ironman Triathlon.

Hes one of those people that you meet and youre like, how on earth is someone as fit and healthy has him got blood cancer?

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. 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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

"It doesnt discriminate is what you learn from him, Sam says.

Peter is still waiting to find a match but through his tireless campaigning and public speaking he has encouraged thousands to register.

COVID-19 has had a terrible impact on the number of stem cell donor registrations, says DKMS. Sign-ups are down by a staggering 56 per cent from 60,206 on the same date in 2019 to 25,973 last month.

In a new #BeALifesaver campaign, the charity is urging people to sign up from their sofas.

We are hugely concerned about the impact the pandemic is having on those who rely on a blood stem cell donor, says Jonathan Pearce, Chief Executive Officer at DKMS UK.

We still need many many more potential blood stem cell donors to come forward, and we know from our clinicians that once the world is free of COVID-19, there will be even more transplants needed.

The sign-up process is simple - you can sign up for a swab pack online, which will be delivered to your door in the daily post.

It can then be returned with the enclosed pre-paid envelope and dropped into any letterbox without breaking any of the rules on staying at home, self-isolating, social distancing or avoiding gatherings.

Since his donation, Sam has got back to working from home and says he would some day like to meet the person whose life he helped save.

In two years when Im allowed to find out, I would love to meet them and see that its worked.

People need to remember that just because Covid-19 is happening, it doesnt stop other diseases and other people needing help. And its all the more important that we come together and fight those other things as best as we can.

If youre 17  55 and in general good health you can register as a blood stem cell donor via the DKMS website at dkms.org.uk.
After being under strict lockdown for nearly two months, Italy has started easing down restrictions owing to a decline in Coronavirus cases. Amidst all this, countrys emergency response commissioner, Domenico Arcuri urged residents not to lower their guards. As of now, Italy has recorded 207,428 positive cases and 28,236 fatalities.

"On Monday, Phase Two begins. We have to be aware that it will be the start of an even bigger challenge," Arcuri said at a press briefing. Phase 2 would allow wholesale businesses to resume business and allow people to stroll in parks, visit relatives amidst others. However, Arcuri asserted that the relative freedom which would start could be again taken away if cases rose significantly.

"We must maintain social distancing, maximum hygiene levels, and masks. We've done our bit to the best of our ability. From Monday, it's up to you. I implore you, do not lower your guards", he added.

Takeaways to resume

From May 4, Italian restaurants and bars would be able to start their takeaway service as opposed to only home deliveries since the first coronavirus case was discovered in the country nearly seven weeks ago. However, people are allowed to consume their meal either at their homes or office.

Other services including salons, hairdressers, along with bars and restaurants are expected to be fully functional by June 1. The retail shops that would not be already opened will start their work by May 18 such as libraries and museums.

Read: Italy's Economy Suffers Steepest Quarterly Drop In 25 Years Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Read: Italy: Calabria To Begin Relaxation Of Lockdown Measures As Coronavirus Cases Drop

However, while listing these measures, Conte repeatedly stressed on the importance of social distancing that would be required by people to be followed for several months to come. He also added that the church services would remain banned and urged people to remain at least one metre away from each other to keep the curve of coronavirus infections low. According to the Italian PM, if the people do not respect precautions it would lead to an irreversible damage to the economy.

Read: Fitch Cuts Italy's Gov't Debt Grade, Auto Plants Reopening

Read: Misery Of Italy's Migrants Grows Not From Virus But Lockdown
MONTREAL - A multimillion-dollar family feud among heirs of Quebecor's founder that's lasted for two decades will continue after Pierre Karl and Erik have decided to appeal a court ruling favouring their sister Anne-Marie.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau makes a point as he speaks during public hearings at the CRTC in Gatineau, Quebec, Wednesday April 17, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

MONTREAL - A multimillion-dollar family feud among heirs of Quebecor's founder that's lasted for two decades will continue after Pierre Karl and Erik have decided to appeal a court ruling favouring their sister Anne-Marie.

In a news release Friday afternoon, the Peladeau brothers said they have no choice but to appeal the decision by Quebec Superior Court Justice Gerard Dugre because his reasons had "significant errors."

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The 80-page judgment rendered Thursday ordered Placements Peladeau Inc. (PPI), which controls the conglomerate, to pay $36 million, in addition to interest and court fees, to Ms. Peladeau, who has just celebrated her 55th birthday.

By turning to an appeal, the brothers rejected the appeal for reconciliation put forward by the judge, who said he hoped his decision will constitute the "last act" of a long, "unhappy and expensive" family and legal saga.

The daughter of the late Pierre Peladeau was claiming $88 million from her brothers in connection with an agreement dating back to 2000 relating to the purchase of her shares in order to settle an inheritance dispute of their father who died in 1997.

They proposed instead the payment of $51.6 million.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2020.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version referred to the purchase of Pierre Peladeau's shares or his shares.
Ukraine succeeds to repeat not Italian scenario of COVID-19 thanks to quarantine, says chief sanitary doctor

Ukraine managed to repeat not the Italian developments with coronavirus (COVID-19) due to the introduction of a two-month quarantine in a due time, chief sanitary doctor Viktor Liashko said.

"We tried to prevent a recurrence of the situation in Italy, when it was decided whom to give a medical care and whom not. And we succeeded. Two months of quarantine yielded results," Liashko wrote on Facebook.

He emphasized that the introduction of quarantine was necessary to ensure the health system's ability to respond to cases of coronavirus disease.

Liashko also noted that hospitals had the opportunity to provide medical care, including resuscitation, to everyone who needs it.

"People who come to hospitals with COVID-19 should know: everyone will be rendered aid," he wrote.
Dariga Nazarbayeva, daughter of Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev and country's Deputy Prime Minister, attends celebrations to mark Kazakhstan People's Unity Day in Almaty, Kazakhstan

ALMATY (Reuters) - The daughter of Kazakhstan's powerful former president has left her position as speaker of the Senate, a role that led some observers to tip her as a possible candidate for the presidency.

Dariga Nazarbayeva is the eldest daughter of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the 79-year-old former leader who retains sweeping powers in the oil-producing Central Asian nation as head of the security council and leader of the ruling Nur Otan party.

In a statement on Saturday, the office of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave no reason for the departure of Nazarbayeva, 56, from the speaker's post in the upper house of parliament. In a tweet, Tokayev thanked Nazarbayeva for her "active and fruitful" work in the job.

Nazarbayeva, who could not be reached for comment, was appointed as a senate deputy by Tokayev, who also nominated her for the speaker post. It was unclear when the chamber planned to elect a new speaker.

Under the Kazakh constitution, the senate speaker is first in line to take over the presidency in the event of the incumbent's resignation or death.

Nazarbayeva's election to the post led some observers to consider her a potential contender for the presidency.

Tokayev was Senate speaker until March 2019, when Nazarbayev abruptly resigned after almost three decades in power.

As well as maintaining significant influence, the veteran former president holds the official title of Yelbasy, or national leader.

Kazakhstan is due to hold a parliamentary election next year, and Tokayev has initiated reforms which could potentially allow some opposition figures to win seats in the legislature.

Few analysts doubt, however, that Nazarbayev's Nur Otan will retain majority in the tightly controlled political system.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Edmund Blair and Helen Popper)
Engineering giant Rolls-Royce is preparing to cut up to 8,000 jobs in its jet engine business.

An insider said the company's 52,000-strong global workforce will be pared back in a crisis restructuring to save around 750 million.

Cuts: An insider said the company's 52,000-strong global workforce will be pared back in a crisis restructuring to save around 750 million

Its jet engines division has been hit hard by the aviation crisis. Its two biggest customers  Boeing and Airbus  have cut production by 30 per cent since the start of the pandemic after airlines cancelled orders for new planes.

Most of the job cuts will fall in the UK, where Rolls-Royce employs 16,000 aerospace engineers. Around two-thirds are based at its Sinfin plant, in Derby.

The company will announce the final number of job cuts later this month, after working with the unions to save as many jobs as possible. Its UK defence and submarine businesses will be unaffected.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: 'We have taken swift action to strengthen our resilience in these exceptionally challenging times, but further action is needed.'
Two people have been arrested after a shop worker was injured during a robbery in Dublin last night.

The robbery and assault happened at a shop in the Shantalla Road area of Dublin 9.
With nearly 900 meatpacking workers at the Tyson Foods plant in Logansport, Indiana testing positive for COVID-19, workers in meatpacking and processing across the United States are expressing their opposition to Trumps executive order forcing the reopening of meat processing plants.

On Friday, 890 of 2,200 workers at the Tyson Foods pork plant in Logansport were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19. The staggering 40 percent infection rate represents an increase of more than 700 cases over the number reported by the local Cass County Health Department the previous week.

Despite the risk posed to the health of workers as well as their families and close contacts, Cass County Commissioner Ryan Browning told local news that he and Tyson are working on a plan to reopen the Logansport plant starting next week in compliance with Trumps order.

Trumps executive order was issued two days after Tyson launched a full-page newspaper ad campaign stoking fears of food shortages and pointing to potential food waste resulting from the temporary closure of some of its facilities. In essence, management was telling workers that they must face potential illness and death in the interest of making profits for the meatpacking executives.

Across the US, meatpacking plants have emerged as major incubators of the virus, fueling the spread of COVID-19 in less densely populated areas of the country. Sioux City, Iowa, home to 11 meatpacking plants, has one of the fastest growing COVID-19 infection rates in the US according to a report from Iowa Starting Line. A staggering 18 percent of all meatpacking workers in Iowa have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with the real infection rate likely much higher in the absence of universal testing and with some states refusing to release their data.

So far, at least 6,500 US meatpacking workers have been infected with COVID-19, and at least 25 have died from the disease.

President Trumps executive order Tuesday using the Defense Production Act to force meatpacking workers across the nation back to work has generated significant opposition in the working class. The executive order deemed meatpacking vital infrastructure. At the same time Trump moved to protect meat and poultry companies from facing any liability for their workers becoming ill or dying from COVID-19 as a result of being forced back to work.

In conjunction with Trumps order, the governors of Iowa, Oklahoma, and other states have blocked meatpacking workers who refuse to work on health grounds from unemployment benefits. With Iowa experiencing the highest rise in the COVID-19 infection rate among all US states, now standing at 75 percent, Governor Kim Reynolds has made clear that workers who refuse her return-to-work order will lose their unemployment benefits. Iowa Workforce Development officials have stated that refusal to return to work when ordered by employers would amount to a voluntary resignation and disqualify workers from state aid.

Despite the medias promotion of the small right-wing protests in several states against stay-at-home orders, Americans overwhelmingly support measures aimed at promoting social distancing to combat the spread of COVID-19. A Politico/Morning Consult poll last week found that 76 percent of respondents supported restrictive measures for as long as necessary, even if it harms the economy.

Trumps executive order and attempts by various US governors in collaboration with corporate officials to force workers to choose between losing their jobs and unemployment benefits or illness and death presents workers with an impossible choice. The end result will be the more rapid spread of the virus.

In tandem with the Trump administration, the Democratic Party-backed trade unions are doing their part to assist the push to keep meatpacking plants open. In a statement Tuesday issued following Trumps executive order announcement, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), representing approximately 250,000 industry workers, while offering pious platitudes about safety, made no pretense that it would do anything serious to mobilize workers against the joint company-government drive to force meatpacking workers back to work.

In relation to the executive order, UFCW president Marc Perrone declared, While we share the concern over the food supply, todays executive order to force meatpacking plants to stay open must put the safety of our countrys meatpacking workers first.

However, the moves by the administration and industry leaders to force a return to work have fueled intense opposition in the working class. On Wednesday CNN published a piece featuring interviews from Tysons plants in Iowa in response to the executive order where workers warned that they and their co-workers would not return to work.

Donald, a Tyson worker from the Waterloo, Iowa plant who is recovering from a COVID-19 infection, told CNN, "All I know is, this is crazy to me, because I can't see all these people going back into work. I'm still trying to figure out: What is he going to do, force them to stay open? Force people to go to work?" he asked.

In response to Trumps executive order, Sheila, a former Tyson worker, told the World Socialist Web Site, The safety of the workers needs to be the first priority. Obviously, these factories have had a high rate of COVID-19 cases for them to be shut down. I feel that people are going to be scared to go back and that they shouldn't be forced to do so.

She continued, In rushing these people back into the factories, will the companies be able to ensure that all the health and safety guidelines are met for their employees? From the beginning when they were tagged, 'essential workers, they have been excused from any of their fears and concerns and have been expected to be on the job. That led to outbreaks of the virus in their workplaces causing closures and now they are demanded to work!

And, if I'm not mistaken, if an employee goes to work as ordered and gets sick, the government will not allow that person to file a lawsuit against their employer? Nope, no way.

The situation confronting meatpacking workers indicates the real political line-up of forces in the United States. On the one hand, the White House, local government officials, corporate CEOs and their trade union front men; and on the other, the working class.

The conclusion that must be drawn is the necessity for the development of an independent political movement of the working class. The Socialist Equality Party calls for the formation of independent rank-and-file factory committees in every workplace to oversee health and safety. This must be combined with a political fight directed against the capitalist profit system and the subordination of the vital interests of society to the ruthless drive for private profit.
Borders are closed. Airlines are grounded. Overseas travel is banned. But travel agents and cruise lines are fielding inquiries and, in some cases, taking bookings from eager travellers.

Travel agent Barry Downs said customers were beginning to discuss future holiday plans instead of seeking refunds or postponing travel.

Lulu Morton is planning her gap year trip to Europe next year once travel restrictions are lifted. Credit:Eddie Jim

"Travellers fall into three categories," he said. "One: I'm out of here as soon as the restrictions are lifted. Two: I'll travel again, but only when [or] if there is a vaccine or global screening and testing. Three: unlikely to travel again."

Mr Downs said few Australians fell into the third category. "Australians travel further and for longer than any other nationality. We will travel again when the time is right."
In a vote ordered by Saskatchewans right-wing provincial government, locked-out Regina oil refinery workers have overwhelmingly rejected a concessions-filled final contract offer from Federated Cooperatives Limited (FCL). The 750 workers, who are members of the Unifor union, voted by 89 percent against the proposed deal.

FCL responded to the contract rejection with a terse and arrogant statement that it will continue with its massive government-backed scabbing operation, which has allowed the company to continue operating its Regina facility since the lockout began last December. It is our hope the union membership will soon understand that the only deal that balances their requirements and also achieves long-term certainty for (FCL) is our best and final offer, declared the company.

FCL applied last month to the provincial Labour Relations Board to force a vote to end the now nearly five-month-long dispute. The proposed agreement presented by FCL would have imposed a long list of sweeping concessions on pensions, jobs and working conditions.

Prior to this, the government-appointed mediator, Vince Ready, tabled non-binding recommendations in March for a resolution of the bitter dispute that has seen FCL deploy a large scab workforce, with the unstinting support of the right-wing Saskatchewan Party government, the capitalist courts, and the police. The complicity of government agencies with FCL was further driven home to workers when health and safety inspectors gave the crowded, transitory and rudimentary scab encampment a clean bill of health in the midst of the global COVID-19 outbreak.

Readys report granted virtually all of the companys initial concession demands. The union, which had previously proposed a series of increasingly draconian concessionary climb-downs, accepted the mediators recommendations and scheduled a vote advising the workers to accept the rotten deal. On the weekend prior to this vote, the union, signalling its surrender, withdrew its pickets from the refinery gates. Since then, the union has not organized any picketing of the facility.

Workers, starved out on the picket line and seeing no way forward, voted 98 percent to endorse the mediators recommendations. After the vote, local union President Kevin Bittman cynically told reporters that Readys report, which contained everything the workers had fought against for almost four months, was a reasonable compromise.

However, FCL then refused to accept the non-binding recommendations from mediator Vince Ready. The company cited the downturn in the oil industry due to the economic slowdown caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing collapse of stock and oil prices to demand even deeper cuts, in particular, to its pension program. FCL then cut its refining production by 30 percent. The lockout continued. Last week, FCL sent 124 layoff notices to locked-out workers effective upon any return to work.

Fearing that an endorsement of FCLs new, final offer under the hammer of a forced vote by the governments Labour Board would expose its complete inability to defend its own membership, the union called for FCLs offer to be rejected. However, it did so not as part of a struggle to mobilize the working class against all concessions and the right-wing provincial government, but rather to provide political cover for yet another sordid attempt to convince the provinces right-wing pro-corporate premier, Scott Moe, to intervene and end the dispute.

Following the massive no vote, Unifor president Jerry Dias pleaded with Moe to end the lockout on the basis of the Ready report. There is widespread popular outrage against FCLs use of the pandemic to further increase the bottom line of an already highly profitable company, but rather than mobilize this support, Dias continues to appeal to Moe and his ministers, claiming these inveterate right-wingers can be pressured into acting as neutral arbitrators.

The government, once again, rejected Unifors appeal, insisting that the dispute was a private matter that the company and the union must settle on their own. Of course, when it came to countenancing the use of a massive scab labour force, the courts and the police to maintain production, the Moe government showed no such impartiality.

For over a decade, the Saskatchewan Party government has mounted major attacks on workers rights and living standards, including restricting public sector workers right to strike through essential services legislation. Moes government green-lighted FCLs scabbing operation before the lockout began, publicly declaring that it would only intervene if the workers succeeded in crippling the refinerys output. In February, the premier personally exhorted the police to smash worker blockades of FCL operations.

Moes actions are a damning indictment of the perspective of Unifor and the union-backed New Democratic Party, which, while in power, refused to pass anti-scab legislation and does not endorse it even today. Since the outset of the lockout, Unifor has insisted that the dispute be viewed as an industrial relations matter that must not go beyond traditional state-designed, pro-employer collective bargaining mechanisms. But as FCL and the Saskatchewan government have proven, the fight has, from the beginning, been a political one with all the forces of the capitalist state marshalled against the workers.

The outbreak of the pandemic has further intensified this clash of irreconcilably opposed class forces. Like FCL, companies across Canada and internationally are seizing on the economic impact of the coronavirus to impose even deeper austerity and attacks on wages on working people. Having received hundreds of billions of dollars from their hirelings in government, Canadas corporate elite, in close collaboration with the trade unions, are preparing to reopen the economy as the pandemic continues to rage on the basis of a vast intensification of exploitation.

While Unifor begs Moe to enforce concessions on FCL workers, it is working hand-in-glove with the Big Three automakers in Ontario to open their plants as soon as possible, even though over a dozen autoworkers in the United States have died from the coronavirus.

But the dramatic changes in the economic and political situation produced by the pandemic also creates the conditions for FCL workers to mount a counter-offensive. All around the world, workers have launched strikes and protests against the criminal indifference of the ruling elite to their lives as the back-to-work campaign gathers pace. Amazon workers in the United States and Europe, transit workers in Canada and the US, postal workers, and meatpacking workers have all protested the lack of even the most basic safety measures in their workplaces as the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths grow.

FCL workers must unite their fight for job protection and the defence of their pension rights with this new upsurge of working class struggles. Doing so requires a decisive political and organizational break with the Unifor bureaucracy, which is leading the locked-out workers to certain defeat.

Instead of bowing and scraping at Moes feet, FCL workers should form independent action committees to fight for their entirely legitimate demands and make their anti-concessions struggle the spearhead of a broader working-class challenge to the assault on workers social rights.

The deepening capitalist crisis has laid bare the reality that even the most immediate needs of workers, including decent pay, pensions, and workplace safety measures, can only be achieved in a political struggle that rejects the profit system and all its defenders in the NDP and trade unions. FCL and other major corporations must be transformed into publicly-owned utilities under democratic workers control. Only in this way can the ill-gotten gains of the super-rich be deployed to tackle the crisis produced by decades of austerity and concessions-laden contracts, and the social and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Fighter jets will perform a fly-past over Rajpath and fly over the National Capital Region (NCR), and helicopters will shower petals over several hospitals in Delhi on Sunday morning as part of an elaborate military plan to show gratitude to the countrys Covid-19 warriors, the Indian Air Force said on Saturday.

The plan, announced by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Friday, involves several activities, such as illuminating warships and band performances outside coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hospitals across the country.

The fighter jets featuring in the fly-past, or what the IAF is calling an aerial salute, over Delhi-NCR, will be the Sukhoi-30s, MiG-29s and Jaguars. The fly-past is planned between 10am and 10.30am. The aircraft will be flying at a height of 500 to 1,000 metre and will be visible to the residents of Delhi from their rooftops, the spokesperson said.

Coronavirus outbreak: Full coverage

The fly-past by the fighter jets will be followed by the C-130J special operations aircraft flying over Delhi-NCR in formation.

The IAF spokesperson said helicopters will shower petals over the National Police Memorial and Delhi hospitals involved in providing relief to Covid-19 patients.

These include Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, GTB Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital and the Army Hospital (Research and Referral).

Wreaths will be laid at the police memorial on behalf of the three service chiefs.

Fighter jets and transport planes will carry out fly-pasts across the length and breadth of the country, from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Dibrugarh to Kutch, as reported by Hindustan Times on Sunday.

The Indian Navy will illuminate its warships at anchorage from 7.30pm to midnight at Mumbai, Porbandar, Karwar, Vizag, Chennai, Kochi and Port Blair, a navy spokesperson said. He added that naval helicopters will shower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Mumbai and Goa.

Also, 46 Indian Coast Guard ships will be lit up at 25 locations along the countrys eastern and western seaboards, the defence ministry said. Ten coast guard helicopters will shower flower petals over Covid-19 hospitals in Daman, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Port Blair.

The tributes being offered to Covid-19 warriors will see army bands perform outside several hospitals and locations across the country, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the Armys RR Hospital and the Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt, an army spokesperson said. Dal Lake in Srinagar is among the locations where army bands will perform to honour Covid-19 warriors.

The armed forces have always stood as a wall against all threats to the country and every time our citizens have come out in large numbers and showered their blessings and appreciation towards us. This time, it is our turn to applaud the sacrifice of our corona warriors, the army spokesperson said.

The militarys plan to honour front-line workers was finalised at a meeting chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday. The meeting was attended by the national security adviser, the CDS and the three service chiefs.
In the context of the spread of COVID-19, a number of left and progressive thinkers, scholars, and activists have deliberated upon the linkage between contemporary capitalism and epidemics. Many of them tend to argue that such epidemics originate due to tendencies inherent in the capitalist system of production. While these interventions present some useful critical analyses, they also tend to present a one-sided view of this relationship, founded on a deeper confusion regarding the humannature relationship under contemporary capitalism.

On 11 April 2020, the United States (US)the worlds most economically developed nation, with access to the most advanced scientific knowledge, including the field of medicinesuffered the misfortune of becoming the first country to record over 2,000 deaths in 24 hours. As a newspaper headline highlighted the dichotomy: COVID-19: US Healthcare System, One of the Best in World, under Deep Stress (PTI 2020). The news was sobering, coming as it did in the wake of the high death toll due to the disease in at least two European nations, Italy and Spain, or three, if France is included. The scale of the pandemic and the measures required to contain and manage it, as damaging in their impact on peoples lives as perhaps the disease itself, has

occasioned a great deal of commentary on the relationship between the global social and economic order, particularly in the developed world, and the origin and nature of epidemics in this globalised world.

Especially among left and progressive thinkers, scholars, and activists, the ongoing battle against the pandemic across the world has set alight a vigorous debate on the linkage between contemporary capitalism and global pandemics, particularly those, like COVID-19, caused by zoonotic diseases, that originate due to pathogens jumping species, from other animals or insects to humans. Active figures in this debate include David Harvey, John Bellamy Foster, Mike Davis, Rob Wallace, and Vijay Prashad, to name only a few prominent names among several others. Their writings clearly try to highlight the structural issues that underlie the origin and spread of the disease, and urge us to regard it as more than a unique emergency, which indeed it is.

These writings, between them, broadly argue for three distinct aspects of the linkage between capitalism and epidemics. First is the systematic degradation of the public health institutional framework in the neo-liberal phase of capitalism, particularly in the last half a century (Prashad and Denis 2020).1 The second aspect is the extreme levels of physical connectivity across the globe, made possible through advanced means of transport, following the needs of and the opportunities created by economic globalisation (liberalisation of finance and globalisation of trade).2 Third is the destruction of natural ecosystems, particularly forests, by capitalism, industrial agriculture (including livestock production) to be precise, in its relentless pursuit of profit.3

The first two aspects are concerned with the greater and faster spread of the disease due to the contemporary organisation of capitalistic production, and the systemic inability of capitalism to plan and prepare for risks and uncertainties that cannot be easily commoditised and, therefore, be made part of the circuit of capital. However, the third aspect tends to argue that diseases, like COVID-19, are fundamental to capitalism, as they originate due to tendencies inherent in the capitalist system of production. All these arguments seem to somehow draw from the notion of a metabolic rift, popularised by Marxist scholar John Bellamy Foster in his study of Marxs Theory of Metabolic Rift: Classical Foundations for Environmental Sociology (Foster 1999).

While these interventions present some useful and critical analyses of the mechanisms by which the contemporary economic, social and political order is related to the possibilities of the emergence of epidemics and pandemics, I argue that several of these writings also tend to present a one-sided view of this relationship, founded, as they appear to be, on a deeper confusion regarding the humannature relationship under contemporary capitalism.

Fundamental Contradictions

Capitalism as a system runs on the objective logic of profit. It is this logicmanifesting as contradiction between capital and labour, as well as competition among the class of capitaliststhat eventually leads to science, including the institutions and methods of science, becoming a productive force. Therein lies the source of an immense and never-ending development in scientific knowledge and technology. In other words, capitalism creates enormous potential for humans to intervene and shape the natural world external to their species, as well as their own

social worlds. However, the extent and nature of the eventual realisation of this potential that it engenders is, once again, significantly shaped and also undermined by the objective logic of profit. Capitalism creates the necessary capacities, which, however, might just remain idle in the absence of the requisite profit incentive. Capital, as Marx clarifies, is the real barrier of capitalist production (emphasis in original). Further, he states, the meansunconditional development of the productive forces of societycomes continually into conflict with the limited purpose, the self-expansion of the existing capital (Marx nd).

The contradiction between the scientific and technological potential and its actuality plays out starkly today against the background of COVID-19 in the advanced capitalist world, epitomised by the US. The US is the repository of the most advanced knowledge and technical capacities in all areas, including in the field of medical science, but was found completely unprepared to fight against the spread of COVID-19, despite an early warning (Lipton et al 2020). It lacked the material capacity to produce even the most basic medical supplies, like personal protective equipment, face masks, and test kits, to the extent the different states, local governments, and hospitals, were reported as competing with each other in order to acquire them. It even failed to place large-scale orders for medical equipment up until as late as early March. In one short week, announced a BBC report on 20 March, the US has gone from being the worlds superpower, to asking nurses to sew their own protective gowns and masks (Kay 2020).

In a recent article titled The Free Market Isnt Up to the Coronavirus Challenge, Leigh Phillips (2020) distinctly captures this deep chasm between the potential of scientific knowledge and

its realisation under capitalism, in the context of the research on prevention and cure of coronaviruses. He refers to the huge progress that had occurred into the function and structures of the

SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) coronavirus, including some research into vaccine development and evaluation on animal models. The research, however, he clarifies, could never reach culmination as there was no incentive to further develop SARSCoV vaccines, after the SARS outbreak subsided by 2005. Further, he clarifies, there was no money either for development of antivirals (for people who have already been infected by the virus). That is, there is no money to be made. The story of a grave neglect narrated by the article underlines the sordid fact that, in the absence of requisite profit incentive, the pharmaceutical industry has never been interested in developing medicines and vaccines for such infectious diseases.

A Conjunctural Crisis

While it is evident that the COVID-19 crisis has sharpened, amplified, and laid bare these contradictions within capitalism, it is, however, critical to appreciate that this is a conjunctural crisis, one that did not originate due to tendencies that are fundamental to capitalism.

Crises, whether cyclical or historical, are an ever-present but latent feature of the capitalist system of production. The possibility of a crisis emerges from the assertion or amplification of the various contradictions that are fundamental to capitalism. However, capitalism, like any other system, is also liable to conjunctural crises, contingent in nature. The latter is not an outcome of the assertion of the fundamental contradictions of capitalism; rather it leads to the sharpening of such contradictions. The COVID-19 outbreak falls into the latter category, and it has starkly highlighted the dichotomies of capitalism. As a matter of fact, as both supply and demand collapse, the whole ideological and policy apparatus of capitalism appears to be at a loss to understand and deal with the crisis. The capitalist ideologues seem to suggest that the pandemic will soon be over, following which the global economy will fall back to normalcy. They can, of course, afford to suggest, thus, in view of the fact that even a conjunctural crisis, such as the present one, operates through the existing socio-economic structures, implying thereby that it is the working classes that would eventually bear the real brunt of the crisis.

NatureHuman Dialectic

The origins of COVID-19 lie in contradictions that are foundational to human evolution. The human species has been consciously intervening in nature ever since it evolved to attain the capacity of applying conscious labour for material production. In fact, it can be argued that even before such an evolution, the pre-Homo sapiens, like every other animal species, would have been forced to

migrate to unexplored territories due to sudden calamities and catastrophes. Such migration and exploration of the unknown perhaps is a basic feature of the survival of life. This would naturally have implied an exploitation of a new ecosystem, disturbing the existing equilibrium therein. It would have also allowed various microorganisms to jump species and hijack the biological system of the newcomer. In fact, it is conceivable that, in many such cases, the in-migrating human communities, or animal groups, might have seriously taken to sickness. It is also quite possible that the contemporary empirical knowledge of healing might have been quite ineffective against a new disease spread. In such a scenario, one can argue that the mortality rates might have been significant. These are, of course, speculations and need evidence from history and archaeology; nonetheless, they are very well within the realm of logic.

What, however, changed with human evolution was the attainment of a degree of agency (we will come to the question of agency in a while), which has consistently expanded thereafter. While humans (or pre-humans), like all other animals, were initially compelled by various natural occurrences to interfere with other ecosystems with the newly acquired agency, they now also began to choose to migrate to unknown territories. As a matter of fact, this apparent agency and choice was also, in essence, driven by objective principles, the logic of the system of material production itself. Nonetheless, the drive for intervening in the unknown was now, more often than not, social in character, and did not originate only due to ecological circumstances.

Capitalism, driven solely by the logic of profit, undoubtedly enhances the rate of exploration of newer avenues and ecological spaces, and, therefore, their exploitation to levels that are unprecedented. In effect, therefore, capitalism greatly expands the pace of something that is very fundamental to the living world, and particularly so for a species that is defined by the use of conscious productive activity through the use of labour.

The question that then follows is: Why is it at all critical to appreciate this feature as more fundamental than capitalism itself? We live in a social system governed by its laws, and it appears natural to attribute characteristics that are foundational to our existence to the social system in which our lives operate. However, the failure to distinguish the features that are fundamental to us as a species from the characteristics that are foundational to capitalism, opens the gateway to the belief that such characteristics were, or would be, absent in any other system but capitalism. It, therefore, also opens the doors to the sentiment of romanticism with the pre-capitalist past, a past where it is assumed that the humannature relationship was all harmonious, and that the conflict began only with the advent of capitalism. The humannature contradictionwhere humans are both part of nature and apart from it, by virtue of them being capable of applying conscious labour for material productionis fundamental to human existence. Since we live under the capitalist system, it is perhaps natural for us to believe that the feature is unique to the system, but it is important to appreciate that such is not the case. The exploitation of the material world for survival, and particularly for production, is fundamental to our survival and the trajectory of evolution that we have followed since the beginning of human history. It is also important to emphasise that this contradiction will not automatically wither away in a post-capitalist society.

The Degree of Exploitation

Once we agree to the fact that the humannature contradiction is not unique to capitalism, and that its origins do not lie in the social system that defines contemporary human existence, it then leaves us to deal with the argument about quantity; that the pace and rate of exploitation of different ecosystems expands tremendously under capitalism, by way of increased commodification of the wild, and through the pursuit of a constant rise in productivity through promotion of genetic homogeneity over diversity.

These concerns emerging from the basic tendencies of capitalism are extremely important, but the argument in its explication invariably appears to become one-sided. It does not appreciate the fact that while capitalism has increasingly extracted natural resources in its relentless pursuit of profit, it has also played a significant role in reducing the rate of exploitation of such resources due to increased efficiency and productivity. For instance, it completely fails to recognise the significant gains made in terms of forest conservation due to the tremendous increase in agricultural productivity from the success of the much abused green-revolution technologies in the 20th century. While delivering the special 30th Anniversary Lecture, at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo, Norman Borlaug (2000) underlines that

During the 20th century, conventional breeding has producedand continues to producea vast number of varieties and hybrids that have contributed immensely to much higher grain yields, stability of harvests and farm incomes, while also sparing vast tracts of land for nature (wildlife habitats, forests, outdoor recreation).

He illustrates the point through a chart (reproduced as Annexure 1, p 31) that showed the land that was spared from being used for cereal production in the second half of the 20th century due to higher productivity attained through improved technology. He argues further:

There also have been important improvements in resistance to diseases and insects, and in tolerance to a range of abiotic stresses, especially soil toxicities, but we also must persist in efforts to raise maximum genetic potential, if we are to meet with the projected food demand challenges before us, without serious negative impacts on the environment.

The point being that growth in productivity, while arrived at solely due to the capitalist drive for profit, has played a crucial role in restraining further exploitation of the ecosystems like primary forests. It is also worth a mention that the need for higher agricultural productivity is to become even more critical in the face of changing land use patterns and growing urbanisation, as well as due to the yet unpredictable impacts of climate change. This nuance has somewhat escaped the analysis of a number of commentators and scholars from the international left and progressive sections. While criticising the agribusiness firms for the relentless destruction of natural ecosystems, particularly forests, they do not seem to appreciate the modern technologies that have developed under industrial agriculture, and the underlying potential therein. Their criticism appears to unequivocally target both, the technology and the question of its ownership.

In a similar vein, this line of argument also tends to ignore that as capitalism increases the pace of exploitation of nature, it also, in the process, generates the ideas and methods to deal with the ensuing disequilibrium. This is a feature unique to capitalism because, as earlier mentioned, it is under this system that science becomes a productive force itself. It must be appreciated that the idea of sustainability as a concept that accounts for intergenerational equity itself arose under capitalism. The remarkable achievements in healthcare and medicine in the last century give us the confidence that COVID-19 will not possibly be as severe and as long-lasting as the influenza of 1918, despite the almost complete dismantling of the public health institutions in the last 50 years. Capitalism in its trajectory of development regularly engenders criseseconomic well as environmentaldue to its incapacity to readily account for factors beyond profit. Nonetheless, in the process, it also ends up creating the knowledge and technology to fight against such crises, and often to pre-empt the threats against its existence; the contradiction, however, lies in its realisation in actuality.

In Conclusion

The article seeks to re-emphasise that as capitalism exploits society and nature for its own expanded reproduction, it cannot but revolutionise the productive forces, in terms of science and technology. On the other hand, however, it also creates fetters to the realisation of the potential that it creates, by making it a slave to the logic of profit.

The need, therefore, is to imagine a social and economic system that allows for science and technology to flourish without these fetters; a system that can promote and utilise the developments in science and technology without giving in to the notions of private ownership. The foremost step towards imagining such a social system is to clearly differentiate between science and technology on the one hand, and the question of its ownership under capitalism on the other, in our criticism of capitalism.

Such a social system, we argue, will also allow us to account for critical aspects like environmental sustainability and biosecurity as part of the development of science and technology, as it will not be driven by profit. At the same time, such a social system will not fall into the trap of imagining a romantic pre-capitalist phase with dismal levels of productivity. The latter, we must reiterate, will not be a pathway to sustainability.

Notes

1 See, for instance, the commentary by Mike Davis (2020). These arguments voice the urgent need to break the power of Big Pharma and for-profit healthcare. These writings have also highlighted the achievements of regions, like the Indian state of Kerala, in fighting the disease due to a strong public health infrastructure; see for instance Prashad and Denis (2020).

2 For instance, David Harvey (2020) argues, Earlier experience had shown that one of the downsides of increasing globalisation is how impossible it is to stop a rapid international diffusion of new diseases. We live in a highly connected world where almost everyone travels. The human networks for potential diffusion are vast and open. The danger (economic and demographic) was that the disruption would last a year or more.

3 See, for instance, Wallace (2020) or Foster and Chowdhury (2020).

Wallace, for instance, distinctly argues that the blame for disease outbreaks like the COVID-19, lay on industrial model of agriculture and, more specifically, livestock production. Further, he says, Capital is spearheading land grabs into the last of primary forest and smallholder-held farmland worldwide. These investments drive the deforestation and development leading to disease emergence. The functional diversity and complexity these huge tracts of land represent are being streamlined in such a way that previously boxed-in pathogens are spilling over into local livestock and human communities. In short, capital centers, places such as London, New York, and Hong Kong, should be considered our primary disease hotspots.

References

Borlaug, N (2000): The Green Revolution Revisited and the Road Ahead, Special 30 Anniversary Lecture, The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo, 8 September.

Davis, Mike (2020): The Coronavirus Crisis Is a Monster Fueled by Capitalism, https://inthesetimes.com/article/22394/coronavirus-crisis-capitalism-covid-19-monster-mike-davis.

Foster, John Bellamy (1999): Marxs Theory of Metabolic Rift: Classical Foundations for Environmental Sociology, American Journal of Sociology, Vol 105, No 2, September, pp 366405, DOI: 10.1086/210315.

 (2000): Marxs Ecology: Materialism and Nature, NYU Press.

Foster, J B and Farooque Chowdhury (2020): Catastrophe Capitalism: Climate Change, COVID-19, and Economic Crisis: An Interview of John Bellamy Foster, Monthly Review, https://mronline.org/2020/04/01/catastrophe-capitalism-climate-change-covid-19-and-economic-crisis/.

Harvey, David (2020): Anti-capitalist Politics in the Time of COVID-19, Jacobin, https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/david-harvey-coronavirus-political-economy-disruptions.

Kay, K (2020): Coronavirus: Has America Ever Been This Humbled?, BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51981627.

Lipton, E, David E Sanger, Maggie Haberman, Michael D Shear, Mark Mazzetti and Julian E Barnes (2020): He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trumps Failure on the Virus, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html#click=https://t.co/LVXXYOYBqQ.

Marx, Karl (nd): Chapter 15, Exposition of the Internal Contradictions of the Law, Section II, titled: Conflict Between Expansion of Production and Production of Surplus-Value, Capital Volume III, Part III, https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894-c3/ch15.htm.

Phillips, Leigh (2020): The Free Market Is Not Up to the Coronavirus Challenge, Jacobin, https: //jacobinmag.com/2020/02/coronavirus-outbreak-free-market-pharmaceutical-industry.

Prashad, Vijay and Subin Denis (2020): An Often Overlooked Region of India Is a Beacon to the World for Taking on the Coronavirus, https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/03/24/an-often-overlooked-region-of-india-is-a-beacon-to-the-world-for-taking-on-the-coronavirus/.

PTI (2020): COVID-19: US Healthcare System, One of the Best in World, Under Deep Stress, Economic Times, 30 March https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/covid-19-us-healthcare-system-one-of-the-best-in-world-under-deep-stress/articleshow/74887314.cms.

Wallace, Rob (2020): Who Should We Blame for Coronavirus?Rob Wallace Has Some Answers, Monthly Review, https://monthlyreview.org/press/who-should-we-blame-for-coronavirus-rob-wallace-has-some-answers/.
MARY Immaculate College has announced it is to run a series of virtual Questions and Answers sessions for potential applicants.

Given the current Covid-19 restrictions, the college is offering interested parties the chance to ask lecturers and other key members of the college community, anything they would like to know about MIC, and its degrees, via the social media platform Instagram.

Giving potential students an insight into what they can expect when they begin a programme of study at MIC is at the core of the MIC Taster Sessions. Even though the current situation precludes us from running them this year we wanted to ensure people still get the opportunity to engage with the College and have all their questions answered, said Dr Patrick Cosgrove, MIC Student Recruitment Officer.

The Q&A sessions will be of particular interest to current leaving certificate students in helping them make their final decision on what programmes to include on their CAO Application form and are open to guidance counsellors and parents.

For a full schedule and timetable see www. mic.ie or via miclimerick on Instagram.
A fresh encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Handwara area of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said that after several hours of siege in the area, the contact with terrorists has been established. The IGP Kashmir said that the exchange of fire is going on at the gunfight site.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police also informed that a gunfight broke out in the Chanjmullah village, taking to micro-blogging site Twitter. "Encounter has started at Chanjmullah area of Handwara. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow," the J&K Police tweeted.

Earlier in an encounter, two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dangerpora area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The operation, which was launched on specific information, turned into a gunfight when the hiding terrorists opened fire on the joint search parties of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army's 55 Rashtriya Rifles and 182 Battalion, 183 Battalion of CRPF.

When the forces were conducting searches in the area, the terrorists opened fire at them. An encounter ensued as the forces retaliated, a police official told PTI. The official added that two terrorists were killed during the gunfight.

Meanwhile, identities and group affiliation of the slain terrorists are currently being ascertained and a search operation has been launched to find out if more terrorists are holed up in the area. The Pulwama encounter comes a day after two Indian soldiers were killed in cross border shelling by the Pakistani Army after it violated the ceasefire in J&Ks Rampur sector along the LoC.

Two soldiers, who were injured during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Rampur sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla district on Friday, succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, a Defence spokesperson said.

Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on 1 May 2020. Unfortunately, Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice, a defence spokesperson said. They were among the three soldiers who were injured as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC on May 1 afternoon.

On 01 May 2020, at about 1530 hours, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation (CFV) along the LoC in Rampur Sector, District Baramulla, Defence Spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said in a statement on Friday. Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation on April 30.
Scientists in Senegal have been working on a $1 testing kit which could not only be cost-effective but also efficient in the fight against coronavirus. The west African country has reported at least 1,024 cases and nine deaths due to the virus

READ: EU To Help African Countries Secure Debt Relief Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Researchers work on a cheap vaccine

The laboratory developing the kit has used its experience in the fight against AIDS and Ebola to develop the kit.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that more than 70 types of vaccines are in the works across the world as the world races to find a cure to the disease.

Earlier, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the figures for Africa could be higher due to the challenges countries were facing in obtaining tests for the virus.

READ: WHO Report Sharp Increase In Virus Cases In Africa

According to Dr. Ghebreyesus, WHO is concerned about the increasing cases in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and some Asian countries, where he feels that cases and deaths are being underreported because of low testing capacity. "We are continuing to support these countries with technical assistance through our regional and country offices, and with supplies through Solidarity Flights. In the past week, we have delivered supplies to more than 40 countries in Africa, and more are planned," Tedros said.

READ: WHO Chief Says Coronavirus Pandemic 'far From Over', Worried About Children

Earlier, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said, "I urge all countries to not lose focus on their gains made in health as they adapt to tackle this new threat. We saw with the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa that we lost more people to malaria, for instance than, we lost to the Ebola outbreak. Let us not repeat that with COVID-19.

READ: WHO Urges Countries To Focus On Health Emergencies Like Malaria, Polio Along With COVID-19
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Less than a year ago, in June 2019, Richmond Heights Police Chief Thomas Wetzel stated the departments intention to raise $65,000 so that a K-9 officer could be added to the force.

As of the last week of April, that four-legged officer, Bolt, had been added to the RHPD and has begun patrolling the citys streets with his handler, six-year officer Jonathon Ross.

A German shepherd, Bolt was born Jan. 20, 2019, in the Czech Republic. Before Bolt was sworn in, he and Ross spent six weeks training and getting to know each other at Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, Pa. Ross and Bolt completed training and were certified as a working team on April 24.

According to Wetzel, the dog is trained in narcotics detection, tracing, article search and apprehension. Dogs make for valuable members of police departments, in that they can not only perform the duties for which they are trained, but are effective in calming unruly suspects, who often give themselves up upon seeing a dog ready to take action.

The animals also make for good public relations for a police department, attending community events where they frequently put on demonstrations.

Having a K-9 officer can cost a department a lot of money, though. There are costs to purchase, train and feed the dog, and to get required special equipment installed in the cruiser in which the dog will patrol. There are also medical costs.

Because of all these costs, Wetzel chose to raise funds for the addition of a K-9 officer, rather than ask the city for the money.

Of that $65,000 sought, Wetzel said nearly $40,000 has thus far been raised. Earlier this year, City Council voted to pay for what remained of the costs so that the dog could begin duty. Wetzel, however, is continuing his fundraising efforts to reach the initial goal, and beyond.

A couple of months ago, a fundraising community pancake breakfast was held.

A post on April 27 on the Richmond Heights Police Depatrment Facebook page. (Photo Courtesy of Richmond Heights Police Department)

It (the breakfast) was held on Feb. 29 at the Kiwanis Lodge and it raised $3,681. It was part of a grant effort that raised over $14,000 and included a matching grant of $5,000 from the National Association of Chiefs of Police, Wetzel stated in an email to cleveland.com.

(RHPD) Sgt. Todd Leisure helped secure that grant for us. The breakfast turned out to be a really enjoyable community event, so we hope to continue to have them to support the K-9 program. It was a nice chance to share time and fellowship with those we serve.

Wetzel said the fund was also given a big boost from a donation by the Samuel and Maria Miller Foundation.

As for bringing a dog onto the force in less than a year from the projects start, Wetzel said: "I wasnt sure what to totally expect, but believed that the support would be strong. It turned out to be really strong.

Our community really got behind it in a big way. Our first donor was Frank Erjavec, a longtime resident, whose father was retired RHPD Lt. Frank Erjavec. We affectionately refer to Frank as our police historian, and he was thrilled when we finally got Bolt.

"Also, our mayor (David Roche) and City Council got behind the idea right away and supported us. Were excited for all of them to meet Bolt once this health crisis is over.

Wetzel noted that the RHPD had another K-9 in the not-too-distant past.

This is an exciting time for our agency and community, he said. "The last K-9 team we had was officer Tim Casto and K-9 Kubo, and from what I learned, they were a fantastic team. Kubo was a full-service work dog and he won a big trophy for Top Dog, overall, at the Ohio Law Enforcement K-9 Associations first annual Top Dog competition on July 11, 2009.

"Kubo died on March 24, 2013. It has been over seven years since the RHPD has had a working K-9 team. We believe officer Ross and Bolt are going to carry the mantle forward for K-9 excellence. They have a big cheering section behind them. "

Read more from the Sun Messenger.
When Spring Break was extended in March due to the spread of COVID-19, I knew my children would not return to school this academic year.

Even though the initial closure was just for a week, and then extended for another two weeks, and then another month, the idea of returning to school as the novel coronavirus spread seemed like a nightmare/fantasy.

The fantasy being a return to school implies a return to normal and lives resumed. But the thought of resuming this ritual when thousands of Americans are dying, testing and tracing is inadequate, and there is neither a treatment nor a vaccine is a frightful exercise.

So, from this perspective, Gov. Greg Abbotts announcement that school campuses in Texas would remain closed this academic year, while news in the technical sense, felt like a formality. But the far more complicated and challenging questions are when and how traditional school resumes. Its not like there will be a vaccine for COVID-19 by August, and public health experts are prepping us for a likely second wave of infections in the fall.

Now Playing: The mayor met with the Express-News Editorial Board to discuss the reopening of San Antonio after Governor Abbott announced reopening Texas. You can watch the full video of the 1-hour session on https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/ Video: mySA

Nevertheless, we are all operating as if schools will reopen just as the summer light softens.

Even if traditional school resumes later this year, it wont be in a traditional way. Class sizes will have to be smaller. Teachers may wear masks. Cafeterias might be swapped for meals in classrooms.

When I asked Michael Villarreal, director of the Institute for Urban Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, to imagine how schools might reopen, he immediately described students attending in shifts.

So a school that had 600 students at any one time will now have 100 students, and they will enter the buildings through designated doors so they dont clump up, he said.

Temperatures would be checked. Small groups would attend school during different parts of the day, freeing up space and accommodating work schedules of parents, or even students who might be working to support unemployed parents. Traditional schooling will be blended with distance learning. Academic plans will be in place for when students, and parents, are infected with COVID-19 and have to be quarantined, or if campuses have to close again.

Sean A. Maika, superintendent of North East ISD (where my daughter joyfully attends kindergarten) told me the district plans to resume school in August. But officials are considering rotating school days: Some students might attend Monday but stay home Tuesday, when other students attend. Blending traditional classroom teaching with distance learning will be a staple.

Maika also said the district is considering additional schooling on Saturdays or after school next year, as well as extra help this summer, either in-person or digitally, to make up for time lost.

Its like building an airplane, but with no plans, he said.

Pedro Martinez, superintendent of San Antonio ISD, also plans to resume school in August and is considering a summer program to assist students who have fallen behind. He said the district is hoping to buy no-contact thermometers for every school.

The district is also studying space in its schools to see how to reduce class sizes while also keeping kids on campus where they can have guaranteed meals, an internet connection and a safe space  none of which are guaranteed at home in this pandemic.

One of the things that I worry about is there are a lot of families in my community that just dont have good conditions, he said. For me, I would like to leverage our school buildings to be able to use them as traditional classrooms as well as for virtual learning.

Martinez said SAISD will keep building on its distance learning program to serve families who keep their kids at home even after schools reopen or when a family member is sick with COVID-19. He sees blended learning as here to stay  long after this pandemic.

So, thats how school might look when it reopens, but not for every student.

Will parents even want their kids back in school? asked Maika, the NEISD superintendent.

This question points to the next school inequity. At a time when the value and importance of schools as life and community centers, not just places of learning, have never been greater or more obvious, some parents will understandably choose to keep their kids home until there is either a proven treatment or a vaccine.

But other parents wont have the luxury of such a choice. They will assume a greater risk of exposure and sickness, exacerbating our deep health and income disparities.

Through this lens, a return to school, as necessary as it will be, and as dynamic as teachers have been in this crisis, will likely mark a deepening of our familiar normal of inequity.

jbrodesky@express-news.net
A 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit near southern Puerto Rico on Saturday, jolting many from their beds on an island where some people still remain in shelters from previous quakes earlier this year.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit just off the coast of towns including Gunica and Guayanilla, where hundreds of homes were destroyed by a quake in early January that killed one person and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Reports of damage were still trickling in early Saturday morning, with at least one second-story balcony crashing in the southern city of Ponce, spokeswoman Ins Rivera told The Associated Press.

Meanwhile, cracks in homes were reported in Guayanilla.

Everything shook really hard, spokesman Danny Hernndez said by phone.

Gunica Mayor Santos Seda told the AP that no major damage has been reported so far.

Thank God everyone is OK, he said. The infrastructure is already weak. He said between five to 10 people remain in a shelter since the 6.4-magnitude quake that hit in January.

The quake on Saturday knocked out power to people in the area.

Several aftershocks hit the area, including a 4.6-magnitude one.

The earthquake came as Puerto Ricans remain home under a nearly two-month lockdown to help curb coronavirus cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with experts during his visit to the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, March 2, 2020. Yan Yan | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed more clearly than ever before the nature and relentlessness of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's ambition to place itself at the center of global power and influence. What once was an opaque policy, articulated by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, of "hide your strength, bide your time," has now morphed into the transparent, if still unstated, approach by President Xi Jinping of "seizing the Covid-19 moment"  before it closes. The virus first appeared to be a dramatic setback for China, given its role as the pathogen's source and epicenter in January and February. With China's likely emergence now as the first major world economy to end lockdowns and regain growth, Covid-19 now offers a once-in-a-century chance to accelerate the geopolitical shift in Beijing's favor through 2020 and far beyond. That said, Chinese leaders are moving at a pace that reveals not only their ambitions but also their apprehensions that this historic moment could close as quickly as it opened.

Military medics salute to the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 15, 2020. Xinhua News Agency

"The party's leaders believe they have a narrow window of strategic opportunity to strengthen their rule and revise the international order in their favor," writes Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, in his just-released book "Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World." He sees the party leadership moving at warp speed to "co-opt, coerce and conceal" at home and abroad "before China's economy sours, before the population grows old, before other countries realize that the party is pursing national rejuvenation at their expense, and before unanticipated events such as the coronavirus pandemic expose" their vulnerabilities. At the same time, Beijing is wrestling with the new burdens of global leadership: demands from debtor nations for relief, from developing nations for accountability, from Covid-19 victims for reparations and from the global human rights campaigners for less repression and more transparency. Here are just four fronts in this unfolding drama:

1. Calls for debt relief

The Financial Times reported Friday that Beijing "has received a wave of applications for debt relief from crisis-hit countries included in the 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI)." These will grow as the virus' full force bears down on emerging markets. Of the 138 countries signed up to BRI, the vast majority are developing countries, many with dodgy credit ratings that are now growing worse. What's positive is that China signed on to a G20 agreement last month to freeze bilateral loan repayments for poorer countries until year's end. Yet Chinese leaders remain far from forgiving principle or interest. As the G20's crucial July meeting in Jeddah approaches, more should be expected of China as the country that both morally and financially should be at the center of global fiscal stimulus and debt relief efforts.

2. U.S. tensions and calls for accountability

This week's market-moving story that U.S. officials are exploring punitive measures against China over Covid-19 is likely just the beginning of demands that Beijing should adhere to the Spiderman admonition that "with great power comes great responsibility." The notion may seem far-fetched  or even counterproductive to U.S. interests  that the White House and Congress might act to remove China's sovereign immunity so Beijing can be sued in U.S. courts for damages. Whatever happens on that front, Beijing can expect increasing calls from the U.S. and beyond to investigate more thoroughly the origins and response to Covid-19, if only to avoid a repeat performance.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the U.S. State Department Win McNamee | Getty Images

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's broadside this week on China for "classic Communist disinformation" on Covid-19 should be read alongside the drumbeat of increased, detailed reporting on what Wired Magazine  in its own rich, investigative report  called China's "coronavirus coverup."

3. China's play for Europe

This week's Europe-Chinese controversy was triggered by a leak to Politico Europe about an apparent decision by the European External Action Service, under pressure from Beijing, to remove references from a report on China's "global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image." Josep Borrell, the de facto European foreign minister, insisted, "We have not bowed to anyone," but he then added, "It's clear and evident that China expressed their concerns when they knew the document was leakedI'm not going to reveal how it was done because we don't explain this kind of diplomacy." No stage is more significant than Europe to track China's diplomatic offensive in providing Covid-19 assistance, to follow its growing investments in Europe, and to measure Europe's growing discomfort with Beijing's bullying and tech inroads. That said, Europeans are weighing new doubts about Chinese intentions against growing perceptions over the United States' diminished European commitment.

4. China's new global tech standards
Disappointing performance of the coronavirus-impacted first-quarter 2020 earnings season is still continuing. The pandemic-induced economic disaster has taken a significant toll on corporate earnings. However, the consumer staples sector has so far reported strong results and are likely to maintain the momentum for the rest of this earnings season.



Brief Review of First Quarter



U.S. GDP for first-quarter 2020 contracted 4.8% compared with an expansion of 2.1% in the previous quarter. This marks the first negative GDP quarter since the first-quarter 2014 and reflects the highest decline in GDP in any quarter since fourth-quarter 2008.



Notably, consumer spending, the largest component (67%) of the GDP plunged 7.6%. Durable goods spending plummeted 16.1% while expenditures on services declined 10.2%. Goods consumption dropped 1.3% while services shed 10.2%.



Several disappointing numbers including job data, industrial production, retail sales, manufacturing activities, home building and consumer confidence, revealed how badly the U.S. economy was hurt in the first quarter due to lockdowns, both domestic and international.



Disappointing First-Quarter Earnings Results So Far



As of Apr 29, 193 S&P 500 members reported first-quarter 2020 earnings results. Total earnings of these companies are down 17.1% from the same period last year on 0.6% higher revenues. Of the total, 64.8% surpassed EPS estimates and 60.6% outpaced revenue estimates. Overall, first-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 Index were projected to be down 15.5% year over year on 1.5% higher revenues. This is in sharp contrast to 4% earnings growth expected in early January. (Read More: The Coronavirus Pandemic and its Impact on Corporate Earnings)



Consumer Staples Sector is Doing Good



The consumer staples sector includes companies that provide necessities and products for daily use. This makes the sector defensive in nature. Therefore, this has always been a go-to place for investors, who want to play it safe during extreme market fluctuations. Adding stocks from the consumer staples basket lends more stability to portfolios during uncertain market conditions.



As of Apr 29, 66.3% of the sectors market cap in the S&P 500 companies has reported. Total earnings of these companies are up 8.4% from the same period last year on 4.7% higher revenues. Of the total, 75% have surpassed EPS estimates and 50% have outpaced revenue estimates. Notably, in the first quarter of 2020, the S&P 500 plunged more than 20%, while the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP), one of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index, declined 13%.



Our Top Picks



We have narrowed down our search to five consumer staples stocks. Each of these stocks carries either a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) and has a positive Earnings ESP. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



Our research shows that for stocks with the combination of a Zacks Rank #3 or better and a positive Earnings ESP, the chance of an earnings beat is as high as 70%. These stocks are expected to soar after earnings release. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.



The chart below shows the price performance of our five picks in the last quarter.

Story continues

The Clorox Co. CLX manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Cleaning, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The company has an Earnings ESP of +2.43% for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 (ending June 2020).



The Clorox has an expected earnings growth rate of 4.3% for the current year (ending June 2020). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 0.2% over the last 7 days. It has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 3.6%, on average. The company is set to release earnings results on May 1, before the opening bell.



Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. SFM provides fresh, natural, and organic food products in the United States. It offers fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat and seafood, baked goods, dairy products, frozen foods, beer and wine, natural body care and household items. The company has an Earnings ESP of +17.01%.



Sprouts Farmers Market has an expected earnings growth rate of 8.8% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 4.6% over the last 30 days. It has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 28.7%, on average. The company is set to release earnings results on May 5, after the closing bell.



The Hain Celestial Group Inc. HAIN manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells organic and natural products. It operates in seven segments: the United States, United Kingdom, Tilda, Ella's Kitchen UK, Canada, Europe and Hain Ventures. The company has an Earnings ESP of +9.24% for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 (ending June 2020).



The Hain Celestial Group has an expected earnings growth rate of 10.6% for the current year (ending June 2020). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 2.8% over the last 30 days. It has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 7%, on average. The company is set to release earnings results on May 7, before the opening bell.



Nomad Foods Ltd. NOMD produces, markets, and distributes frozen foods in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France, Norway, Austria, Spain, and rest of Europe. The company has an Earnings ESP of +5.32%. Nomad Foods has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 11.8%, on average. The company is set to release earnings results on May 7, before the opening bell.



Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. GO owns and operates a chain of grocery stores primarily in the United States. It offers products such as grocery, dairy and deli, produce, refrigerated and frozen, floral, beer and wine, general merchandise as well as fresh meat and seafood and natural, organic, specialty and healthy products. The company has an Earnings ESP of +33.33%.



Grocery Outlet has an expected earnings growth rate of 13.9% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has improved 1.1% over the last 30 days. It has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 31.1%, on average. The company is set to release earnings results on May 11, after the closing bell.



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However those numbers look compared with expectations, for doctors on the ground like Lieber, the mission was a success. Elmhurst is relatively small for being the only Level 1 trauma center in its area, with 550 beds to serve a catchment area of 1.7 million people in the largest and second-most populous borough in the city  and the most diverse county in the country. At the peak, Lieber said, they had twice as many patients as beds, and had to admit 100 patients into the emergency room because the intensive care unit was too full to take them, even after Liebers staff turned four other areas of the hospital into ICUs. In a bad flu season, for example, 35 people might get admitted to the ER.
Betty Johnson, one of Oregons most tireless and influential advocates for social services and health care reform, never stopped working for the causes she believed in.

Johnson, who had been in and out of hospice care several times over the last two years, died Wednesday morning in her Corvallis home at the age of 97. As recently as last Friday, friends reported, she was still going strong, using the videoconferencing program Zoom to chair a meeting.

Originally from Kansas City, Johnson moved to Corvallis in 1970 with her husband, Francis. In 1972 she became director the Area Agency on Aging for Linn, Benton and Lincoln counties and began building a remarkable legacy of service and accomplishment throughout the mid-valley and the state.

While she always worked in partnership with others, Johnson inevitably played a leadership role in every initiative she got involved in. During a 15-year career in senior services, she was instrumental in establishing such bedrock mid-valley social programs as Meals on Wheels, Dial-A-Bus and Benton Hospice Service (now known as Lumina). She also helped organize Interfaith caregivers, which provides support for seniors and people with disabilities, and spearheaded the construction of the nonprofit assisted living facility Corvallis Caring Place.

Johnson retired in 1987, but instead of slowing down she kicked off a long-running second act as a champion for single-payer health care.

In 1991 Johnson founded Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates, one of the first groups in the state to promote the goal of health insurance for all Oregonians. As one of the founders of Health Care for All-Oregon, Johnson helped lead the fight for Measure 23, a 2002 initiative that would have established a statewide single-payer plan. When the measure was voted down, Johnson regrouped and kept on fighting.

With her blazing blue eyes, crown of snow-white hair and calm yet commanding manner, Johnson had a way of inspiring people to join her. She became a fixture at the Oregon capitol in Salem, helping to shape health reform legislation and gently pressuring lawmakers to push for the bills she supported.

She was an absolute force, said state Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, adding that Johnson was a regular visitor to her office.

Shes been consistent and persistent and really, I think, inspired a lot of people, Gelser added. We still have a ways to go to achieve her vision, but shes a big reason why weve made it as far down the road as we have.

Mike Huntington, a retired radiation oncologist, recalled meeting Johnson in 1986, when she enlisted him and his partners in a campaign to end the practice of balance billing, which required patients to pay the difference between Medicare-covered services and the full cost of care. Within a year, all of the doctors in the Corvallis area had agreed to end the practice.

She was a good thinker, a long-term strategist, and she wouldnt let you off the hook, Huntington said. She would say something like, Im counting on you, and you couldnt say no to her.

When Huntington retired, Johnson was waiting to recruit him as a full-time health reform activist.

That was in 2006, he said, and basically Ive met with her at least once a month ever since.

While the movement will miss Johnsons leadership, Huntington said he believes it will continue to press forward  in part to honor her legacy.

We feel were all carrying around a good chunk of Betty in us now, he said. Shes trained us.

Johnsons dedication was legendary. In 2016, when she was honored for her lifetime of achievement by the Oregon Public Health Association, she missed the awards luncheon in Corvallis  because she was attending a meeting of health care reform activists in Portland.

Johnsons son Mark described his mother as a devout Catholic whose drive to serve others stemmed from her deep Christian faith.

She was always looking for how to make things better, he said. She would always apply this moral compass she seemed to have.

Phil and Jean Monaco got to know Johnson and her husband, Francis, in the late 1970s through St. Marys Catholic Church. The two couples became close friends as well as neighbors, and Jean Monaco remembered Johnsons kindness when her husband had to travel on business.

She would go out of her way to have me over for dinner, she recalled.

Phil Monaco marveled at Johnsons tireless dedication to health care reform and the other causes she worked for until the last week of her life.

Ninety-seven years old and she was leading a Zoom meeting, he said.

She was an incredible person who never gave up and never tired of doing what she thought was right.

Johnson is survived by her husband of 67 years, Francis; three sons, Mark Johnson of Seattle, Russ Johnson of Bend and David Johnson of Vale; a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Welch of Buhl, Idaho; 10 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

A private family funeral is planned, with a memorial service to be scheduled at a later date.

Reporter Bennett Hall can be contacted at bennett.hall@lee.net or 541-812-6111. Follow him on Twitter at @bennetthallgt.

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(Natural News) When you give it some thought, it makes sense that one of the worlds wealthiest couples would have a back-up plan in case the world went to heck in a hand basket, and it turns out they did.

Bill and Melinda Gates are preppers.

During a recent BBC Radio Live program, Melinda Gates, co-founder of the couples foundation, said that she and her hubby stored food in the basement of their home years ago in case the world was struck by a deadly pandemic.

Like now.

"We had prepared for years"@MelindaGates told @EmmaBarnett how her family had prepared for a pandemic and what they think about wearing masks. Listen live on @BBCSounds  https://t.co/4SnxX44AQs pic.twitter.com/SE9MlxrW44  BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) April 16, 2020

In terms of your own  again, just to talk about you and Bill for being so familiar with this  had you made any preparations? host Emma Barrett began. I was very struck by when I rewatched Bills talk from 2015, he rolled that barrel onto the stage and said, When I was growing up, nuclear was kind of the threat, everyone was very worried about bombs and all sorts of threats like that, and we had this barrel in our basement where wed have to go and eat out of it if we went in. Had you done preparation in your own lives?

We had done some preparation, yes, Melinda Gates responded.

A number of years ago, we talked about, What if there wasnt clean water? What if there wasnt enough food? Where might we go? What might we do as a family? So, I think we should leave those preparations to ourselves. We had prepared, and had some food in the basement in case needed, and now were all in the same situation, she continued, Breitbart News reported.

Well, not really the same situation; 99.999 percent of the worlds population are not multibillionaires.

And thats not to begrudge the Gates one penny. Whatever vaccine faults he may have, from the outset he began building equipment and technology that filled a need in society, and thats what capitalism is all about. So, good for him.

But the fact is, the Gates most probably a) have a lot of food and other resources in their Xanadu 2.0 home overlooking Lake Washington, in Medina, Wash. The home is 66,000 square feet and in 2009, at least, it was valued at nearly $150 million.

As the pestilence began or started to close in

Heres something else: Its known for the technology it incorporates. The couple broke ground on the home in December 1988, and it was finally opened in 2005, so its likely there are all kinds of prepper build-ins including bunkers, food storage, electricity generation plants, and, perhaps, even the ability to purify water.

Plus, the couple just purchased a $43 million home on oceanfront property in Del Mar, Calif., so theres that. (Related: Coronavirus is a dream come true for Bill Gates, who lives to vaccinate.)

The Gates probably also have an escape plan, so to speak, like many of the worlds uber-rich.

As Bloomberg News reported in September 2018, many of them have snagged property in New Zealand  so much so, in fact, that the countrys parliament was considering limiting land sales to foreigners because there wouldnt be any left for New Zealanders.

Silicon Valley multimillionaires and multibillionaires were having underground bunkers built in the U.S. and shipped to the tiny Pacific Island country, then buried several feet underground, the plan being the luxury bunkers would serve as redoubts where the rich would ride out pandemics or world war or nuclear holocaust.

As the pestilence began, or started to close in, the uber-rich plan to grab prepared baggage including clothing, supplies and weapons, then take prepared transportation to private planes at local airports, then meet up with similarly wealthy individuals at larger airports with larger jets  then escape.

No doubt that Bill and Melinda Gates have similar plans. And as she indicated in her BBC interview, we already know they are preppers.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 12:36:47|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to ban the import and use of certain electrical equipment, so as to "secure the country's bulk-power system."

"Foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system," Trump said in the order, and "the unrestricted foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."

The order bars U.S. purchases of overseas equipment that poses a national security risk, and according to the order, the equipment subject to possible restrictions includes reactors, capacitors, transformers, generators and others.

It also authorizes U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette to take appropriate actions to cease such pending and future transactions.

The U.S. Department of Energy welcomed the new order.

"This Executive Order will greatly diminish the ability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure," Brouillette said in a statement. "It is imperative the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats."

The order also establishes a new task force on federal energy infrastructure procurement policies to ensure national security considerations are fully integrated into government energy security and cyber-security policymaking.

The Trump administration has often cited national security concern to limit economic activities or cooperation, leading to criticism of protecionism. Enditem
With many convocations postponed or cancelled, the Star asked some prominent people receiving honorary degrees to give the speech they would have given in the current climate.

Today, Anne Innis Dagg is being honoured by U of T for her outstanding service for the public good as a trailblazing scientist and a passionate advocate for equity in academia.

I am delighted to be receiving this honorary degree from the University of Toronto. My ties to this university run deep. My father, Harold Innis, was chair of the economics department and had a college named after him. My mother, Mary Quayle Innis, was dean of women at University College for nine years, and my three siblings and I all obtained undergraduate degrees here. I also earned a masters degree in zoology at U of T and later obtained my PhD in biology from the University of Waterloo.

The world has changed drastically since I was first told I would receive this honour several months ago. I imagined a room of bright minds and proud family and friends. Im sure you are all still here in spirit, but from a distance, and its my pleasure to address you today.

The troubles we have been facing with COVID-19 remind me of when I was 11 and had contracted scarlet fever.

I was quarantined for a month in the Riverdale Isolation Hospital. On my 12th birthday, my family came to visit me but as they were not allowed in the building, I could only wave at them from inside my fourth-floor window.

All of my belongings and stuffed animals at home had been burned, as well as those belonging to my best friend and playmate, Mary Williamson, who lived in the house next door. My mother made and sent me three stuffed giraffe, which the nurses said would have to be burned when I went home. However, they secretly managed to save all of them, one of which rests beside me as I type today.

Growing up, all I ever wanted was to be a person who studied giraffe. I saw my first giraffe at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago and I was enthralled. I was four years old. I wanted to know everything about them and was shocked to find there were no books at that time about giraffe. Ever curious, I was determined to find out more; that early experience was the spark to a lifetime pursuing the worlds tallest mammal.

I graduated in 1955 from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in biology and continued on to earn a masters degree in genetics in 1956. I planned on doing my PhD in animal behaviour but realized there was no official study on giraffe, so I set out to do my own field research in Africa at the age of 23.

My path as a female scientist was far more challenging than it should have been  for me or any woman pursuing her passion. I was desperately searching for somewhere to study giraffe in the wild so I sent out many letters asking for a place to stay and work. Several letters were unanswered and the ones that were returned said that Africa during the Apartheid was no place for a young woman from Canada. When I realized my gender was an issue, I began signing my letters using my initials, instead of my full name.

I was able to gain the attention of a kind rancher in South Africa who offered me a place to stay and study the giraffe that populated his vast cattle and citrus farm. However, when I reached England on the way to this farm, there was a letter from him stating that since I was a woman, he would have to rescind his offer as his family was at the time in California.

I wrote to him begging him to reconsider, and immediately set sail for South Africa near Rhodes University, where there was a friend of a friend. I wrote to Mr. Matthew again from Grahamstown, begging to come to his farm, and he finally agreed that I could stay there after all, because I was so keen.

After returning from South Africa, marrying my boyfriend Ian Dagg in England on my way, I earned a PhD and was a part-time professor at various local universities. But I was desperate to get back to Africa. I applied for tenure at several universities so that I could afford to continue my study on the giraffe.

Wilfrid Laurier University hired a man with far fewer qualifications than mine. The University of Waterloo said that if my husband had a job, I need not even apply. The University of Guelph had a promotional committee that consisted entirely of men. They asserted that I didnt have a fully developed research program when, in truth, my work was published in some of the highest regarded academic journals in the world.

There was nowhere else to turn. I had a young family at home and although I had to give up hope of becoming a professor, I never gave up hope for giraffes.

I put my head down and got back to work. Along with my friend and colleague Bristol Foster, we wrote a book called The Giraffe: its Biology, Behavior, and Ecology. This book was considered the bible of giraffe study worldwide. I also went on to study camels in North Africa, and wrote many more books  some on feminism, some on animals. I taught part time at the University of Waterloo and raised three children.

For more than 30 years I was away from the world of giraffe until I wrote a memoir called Pursuing Giraffe that caught the attention of a small group of women giraffologists who worked in zoos. They invited me back into their fold, and later an amazing documentary called The Woman Who Loves Giraffes brought me global attention.

The notoriety of the documentary also caught the attention of the universities that had completely halted my career. The University of Guelph has issued an apology and created a scholarship in my name. The others have followed with similar reparations.

I believe that the documentary will stand as a testament to remind people of how women were treated in the past. In recognizing my work today, this is an effort by the University of Toronto to say that things have changed and, moving forward, the future will be better for women. I fervently hope so.

Our world now is similar to what it was like 75 years ago.

We are as frail as the next novel virus can make us out to be. Life is a struggle and all life is worth fighting to defend. I applaud the tenacious women and men in their quest to find a treatment for COVID-19 and prevent it in the future. Although there is much that is still unknown, we will find a way through this together. Just like we did with scarlet fever.

Take care of your friends and your family right now. Stay focused on your goals. And, of course, be kind to nature and the animals with whom we share this world. It is my everlasting hope that people in the future will treat animals and their environments with the same respect as we treat each other.
Other states send brigades to help fight Quintana Roo forest fires

Chetumal, Q.R.  The Quintana Roo government has received brigadiers from other states who have arrived to help battle wildfires. The arrival of the additional help was coordinated by la Comision Nacional Forestal (Conafor) who require assistance putting out the 11 fires currently burning.

More than 200 firemen tend to the daily task of trying to extinguish the fires of which some have been burning for more than a week. Elements from Civil Protection, Conafor, the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) and the National Defense (Sedena) along with volunteers, have been battling fires that continue to erupt in various parts of the state.

Director general of the Coordinacion Estatal de Proteccion Civil Adrian Martinez Ortega says that in most of cases, the fires have been caused by poachers, burning of agriculture and clandestine garbage dumps and negligence of smokers. Conafer reports of the 42 fires already this year, 11 of them have been in Othon P. Blanco, 1 in Jose Maria Morelos, 7 in Bacalar, 8 in Solidaridad, 2 in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, 5 in Benito Juarez, 6 in Lazaro Cardenas and 2 in Puerto Morelos. Tulum is the only region without fires.

Combat has been prioritized on 2,000 hectares in Ichkabal and 800 hectares in La Charra, both sites located in the municipality of Bacalar.

Forest fires continue to burn around the state of Quintana Roo

Gabriel Medina, director of Protection and Forest Development of Sema, says he is thankful for the flyover support received by the Federal Police helicopter, charged by Captain Leonardo Euclides Soto Perez, to help fight fires in that region.

Conafer says that already this year, they have seen a 380 percent increase in forest fire over the same period as last year.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Vice President Joe Biden in Washington on Dec. 13, 2016. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Team of Lawyers Who Vetted Biden in 08 Found No Sexual Assault Complaint

A team of lawyers commissioned by Barack Obama to investigate potential vice presidential candidates in 2008 turned up no hint of sexual assault allegations against then-Sen. Joe Biden.

Biden has been accused of sexual assault by Tara Reade, who worked for him in the 1990s.

He was thoroughly vetted in a process that certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate, David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama who helped the president run his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, wrote in an op-ed.

It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none.

While Axelrod wasnt involved directly with the vetting, he was briefed on their work.

Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it, he said.

If even one credible issue was raised during the search, Biden wouldnt have been chosen as the running mate, Axelrod said.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama with senior campaign adviser David Axelrod in Charlotte, N.C. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

William Jeffries, a lawyer, led the team that vetted Biden during the vice presidential search. They spent weeks looking through records and interviewing people about the possible running mate.

Reades name didnt come up, and the team didnt speak with her.

This kind of complaintnot just Tara Reade, but any kind of complaint about Senator Biden on sexual harassmentnever came up, Jeffries told the Washington Post. We just never had an occasion to interview anyone on an accusation like this because we found no such accusation.

Patti Solis Doyle, another senior adviser to Obamas campaign, said during an appearance on CNN that she would have been told if an allegation arose during the vetting.

If anything like a sexual assault or a sexual allegation had come up, certainly, I would have been given the heads up on it, said Doyle, who is now a CNN commentator, on May 2.

Reade hasnt responded to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.
There are rarely traffic jams in the small Adams County farming town of Ritzville, but there was one last week as people turned out in droves for 20 tons of free potatoes.

At times, the line of cars waiting for the drive-through giveaway stretched as far as the eye could see. Volunteers hustled to bring 15-pound bags of potatoes to each car and truck, asking drivers how much they needed.

The Oregonian in 1998 featured the Wollman Hutterite farm, below, in the Pulitzer Prize-winning French Fry Connection.

Some just wanted a bag or two. Others said they were picking up for family and neighbors and took several bags. A couple drove in from Kennewick to pick up bags for themselves, family and some of their neighbors. Another man drove in from Spokane with the same mission.

Some trucks and vans were loaded with dozens of bags destined for small town food banks. Perrie Robitaille asked for an entire pallet of potatoes to take to the town of Kahlotus and hand out to residents at the local post office.

Four MedStar vans came to pick up potatoes for local food banks. Driver Limetta Armstrong said her boss had the idea to send his drivers to deliver the food. She was picking up 40 bags for four food banks in Yakima.

Ritzville resident Laura Evans showed up looking for a bag for herself and a bag for her mother-in-law. She heard about the event on the Adams County Facebook page. Evans said she has several health conditions and hasnt been able to do her grocery shopping.

Its been two months since I went grocery shopping, she said. Its going to help a lot.

She had plans to preserve the potatoes before they spoiled.

Im going to go home and make hash browns and freeze it so I dont lose them, she said.

The Rev. Cade Clark of the Church of the Nazarene in Harrington was helping hand out potatoes, but he brought a truck with him.

Ill be taking some back to Harrington, he said. We have a food bank there.

The giveaway was organized by state Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, who is a member of the Washington State Food Policy Forum. She said potato farmers in particular are in trouble because 90% of their crop goes to restaurants, and orders are down sharply.

Weve had a pretty big disruption in the food supply chain, she said. Farmers here, theyre struggling.

Hutterite women take a break from cutting seed potato on the farm in this 1998 photo from "The French Fry Connection."LC- THE OREGONIAN

Some farmers didnt plant a crop this spring, which means there may be a shortage if demand returns to normal later this year or early next year, Dye said.

This is a big, dark storm, she said. Its going to take them a few years to make this up, if they can.

But right now theres a glut of potatoes, with 3 billion pounds in storage and no room for more. Dye said more potatoes will be given away in the next two to three weeks, including to food banks.

Potato farmer Marvin Wollman, who operates the Hutterian Farm near Warden, was there to watch the potatoes be handed out.

Theyre all from my farm, he said.

He found himself with tons of potatoes and no way to sell them.

Restaurants are shutting down, he said. The processors shut down. The contracts were canceled.

The potatoes originally were destined for the french fry market. But with no option to sell them, Wollman started considering what he could do.

We can either dump them or donate them, he said.

Donating them was an easy decision.

There are people going hungry, he said.

Potatoes have been one of Washingtons most lucrative crops, routinely valued as one of the top five agricultural commodities grown in the state.

In 2019, the states potato crop was supposed to be worth $845 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was before the pandemic cut demand.

The Hutterite community in Warden, Washington, must all do their part to make the 3,200 acre potato fields a success, including the children who pitch in to help after school. This photo is from a project that published in The Oregonian in 1998. THE OREGONIAN

The potatoes are mostly grown on more than 165,000 acres of irrigated crop circles in the Columbia basin. Those numbers make Washington the second leading potato producer behind Idaho.

Most of the approximately 10 billion pounds of potatoes grown in Washington are purchased by food companies to make french fries and other frozen products.

The future is uncertain for Wollman and his fellow potato farmers. Some didnt plant a new crop, and those who have are considering plowing it under so they dont waste money on growing a crop they may not be able to sell, he said.

Wollman already purchased his seed potatoes and planted some of them, but much less than he normally would. He said hes uncertain whether his farm, which has been in the family for generations, will survive.

The financial impact is huge, he said. The longer the economy is shut down, the worse it is. We are worried.
A total of 260 migrant



workers employed in handlooms of Shantipur in West Bengal's Nadia district have been sent to their homes in Coochbehar district in the northern part of the state in special buses amid the lockdown, Nadia Zilla Parishad president Rikta Kundu said on Saturday.

The district administration had started the service on Wednesday and so far, 10 buses with migrant handloom workers have left for Coochbehar, including two on Saturday. Only 26 people were seated in each bus to ensure social distancing, Kundu said.

While six buses had left for Coochbehar on Wednesday, two each left on Thursday and Saturday, she said.

"North Bengal Development Minister Rabindranath Ghosh, who is also involved in the process, has asked us to send the workers in smaller numbers. Around 750 more handloom workers from Coochbehar are waiting to return to their homes," Kundu said.

Fulia and Shantipur in Nadia district are two major centres of manufacture of saris. More than 90 per cent of the residents of these two areas are associated with the industry. However, most of the workers are from Coochbehar district, officials said.

The handlooms were shut following the imposition of the lockdown, rendering the workers jobless and restricted to their small rooms allocated by their owners, they said.

The migrant workers then appealed to their respective panchayat pradhan urging them to take up with district officials the matter of their return to their homes, the officials said.

Shantipur BDO Suman Debnath had received 885 applications from the stranded migrant workers. The district administration took up the matter with the state government, which gave a go-ahead for their transportation back to their homes in Coochbehar district, they added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Enugu based Civil Engineer has been shot and killed by suspected assassins in Enugu.

The police spokesperson in Enugu, Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident.

He said the police have commenced investigation with a view to arresting the perpetrators of the crime.

The deceased, who was identified as Okwudili Kingsley Uga, hailed from Imezi-Owa in Ezeagu local government area of Enugu State.

He was shot dead about two poles to his residence in the Trans Ekulu area of the state capital.

The incident happened around 8 p.m. Thursday near the Sani Abacha roundabout, Phase-6, Trans Ekulu.

According to a source, the deceased was allegedly trailed by his assailants who first shot at his tyres to demobilise him.

They later rained bullets on him and sped off as he lay in a pool of blood.

He was rushed to St Leo Hospital near NOWAS where the doctors referred them to Army 82 Division hospital.

He was confirmed dead at the hospital and his remains deposited in the mortuary.

He was a former supervisor for Works in the Enugu East Local Government Area.

The source described him as a very quiet young man who struggled in life as a labourer before he went to school to study Civil Engineering.

He did his NYSC in Bayelsa in 2011 and got married about five years ago.

He was said to be about 40 years old.
NEW UPDATE SUNDAY: N.J. says most of its websites, including unemployment, are experiencing outages Sunday

SATURDAY UPDATE: The Labor Department said the outage will affect some worker benefits and it issued new instructions for those who missed the certification window.

New Jersey workers who tried to certify their unemployment benefits on Saturday found the system was down, according to reports from readers and a message on the state Department of Labor website.

ATTENTION CUSTOMERS: Our application to certify for weekly benefits is not available at this time. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back at 4pm for updates, a pop-up on the website said.

The system wasnt working as early as 8 a.m., according to workers who said they were unable to certify their benefits.

During the morning, the website advised workers to check back after 11 a.m., but that time was changed to 4 p.m. sometime before noon.

The Department of Labor did not respond to several requests for comment late Friday and Saturday morning.

During his Saturday press briefing in Trenton, Gov. Phil Murphy said he had no insight into what happened to the website.

I dont blame people for being frustrated. We dont begrudge that for one second, Murphy said. This is an extraordinary crisis."

"But I would also say: We have chopped through ... an enormous amount of claims. Theyre trying to stay above water. These keep coming in at extraordinary levels.

On Friday morning, some readers said they were unable to certify their benefits. The labor department at the time said the problem was brief and it was corrected.

The outage lasted for three minutes at 10 a.m. Friday because of volume, spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi said early Friday afternoon.

Many people given the 10-11 window certified at 10 am on the dot, Delli-Santi said. It takes three minutes to reset the server.

Delli-Santi gave some advice for people certifying benefits.

I would advise claimants not to all certify at the top of the hour, she said. If some would wait till quarter or half-past or quarter-of, it would be a smoother process.

But others could not get in to certify benefits starting at around 3 p.m. Friday, based on reader reports to NJ Advance Media. The error message at that time said: The Unemployment Insurance Web application for claiming Weekly benefits is not available at this time. Please try again later.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

On Sunday, April 26, the certification system went out and the system for other applications also didnt work. The site went back up Monday morning, but some people still had trouble with the site on Monday night.

Workers affected from that outage were sent emails with new certification dates and times, the Labor Department said previously.

The agency has paid out $1.4 billion  $727 million from the state and $690 million in federal assistance  to 622,000 workers since the pandemic began. That leaves more than 200,000 people still waiting for benefits. That number is mostly made up of gig workers and the self-employed who were waiting for their benefits to be processed. That started last week, the state said previously.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at bamboozled@njadvancemedia.com.
In just six weeks, Boeing Co went from seeking government aid to announcing it no longer needed it. The company's $25-billion bond issue this week made all the difference. The upsized deal, this year's largest investment-grade bond issue and the sixth-largest on record, surpassed Boeing's expectations. It underscores how the Chicago-based company capitalised on US government support, even without having to accept taxpayer money as aid. On March 24, Boeing's Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told Reuters in an interview that the credit markets were "essentially ...
Eva Longoria box dyed her hair while quarantined at her Los Angeles home and filmed the entire process on her cellphone for her new L'Oreal Paris commercial.

The 45-year-old actress, who is a spokesperson for the brand, put her gray hair on display to demonstrate how to use L'Oreal Paris Excellence Creme to permanently cover up your roots at home.

'Look at these grays! So many grays,' she says at the start of the clip. 'Okay, I'll be honest. For a second I thought, okay grays, I'm ready to see you. I can handle this. But I'm not. I'm not ready for this much gray.'

Keeping it real: Eva Longoria box dyes her gray roots at home in her new L'Oreal Paris commercial that she filmed on her cellphone amid the coronavirus pandemic

Eva then whips out her box dye and adds: 'This is happening today.'

Before she gets started, she pulls her hair tight around her face to show the camera all of the gray hair while admitting she has 'never been this gray' in her life.

'I don't think there is ever going to be a better before and after,' she says.

Eva throws on a cape and wraps a towel over her shoulders to keep her clothes clean when it's time to apply the permanent hair dye.

She advises going from 'back to front' and massaging it in wherever it's needed.

Relatable: The 45-year-old actress, who is a spokesperson for the brand, put her gray hair on display to demonstrate how to use L'Oreal Paris Excellence Creme to dye your hair

Confident: 'I don't think there is ever going to be a better before and after,' she says in the clip

'Mine is everywhere,' she admits as she colors her entire head.

Eva lets the dye sit for 30 minutes before washing it out in the shower, but she's not done yet. She says her favorite part is rubbing the brand's conditioner through her wet hair because she loves 'the smell.'

While her grays are clearly covered, she goes the extra mile and dries her hair on camera.

'I'm not the best blow dryer,' she admits. 'But I think I did a pretty good job.'

At the end of the commercial, Eva proudly shows off her shiny brown locks in the camera while celebrating.

Steps: Eva applies the dye to her roots and lets it sit for 30 minutes before rinsing it out

'I am so happy': She then dries her hair on camera and proudly shows off her shiny dark hair

'No more grays,' she says. 'Oh my God, I am so happy.'

LOreal Paris said the spot is the industrys first-ever hair color TV commercial created at-home on a smartphone.

Not only did Eva film and star in the campaign, but she also directed it and was in charge of her own glam.

'When my LOreal family approached me to do this campaign, I was excited to direct this first of its kind commercial,' Eva said in a statement. 'Its a challenging time for everyone right now as we try and juggle all of our responsibilities and the needs of our loved ones, but its also important to remember to take care of ourselves.

'In this commercial, viewers can see how easy it is to get expert results and the confidence boost they deserve while at home. Self-care is self-worth and now, more than ever, we are all worth it!'
Illinois Dairy Farmers Unsaleable Milk Provided for Free to Hungry Suburban Families

The content is not available due to expiration.
At a slaughterhouse in the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, almost 300 workers have tested positive for COVID-19. The Romanian government appears to have been the first authority to break the news, since about 200 of the affected workers are Romanian nationals.

According to reports, the workers are not seasonally employed, but are fully legal employees in Germanys meat processing industry. They belong to a large, super-exploited group of Eastern European workers who are typically hired by sub-contractors, who contract the workers out to German companies where they are paid starvation wages and labour under appalling conditions.

The slaughterhouse, which is in Birkenfeld near Forzheim and operated by Muller Fleisch, has 1,100 employees, including around 500 workers from Romania. Other workers come from Hungary and Poland.

Following the recent death of a Romanian fruit picker, Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner described the authoritys response to COVID-19 cases among migrant workers as practical quarantine with a simultaneous opportunity to work. This appears to have been the approach taken at the slaughterhouse as well.

This approach would be more accurately summed up as highly dangerous forced labour.

As early as April 7, the Schwarzwalder Bote reported on the first indications of a coronavirus outbreak at the facility. According to the newspaper, a worker at the meat processing firm, who lived in communal accommodation, felt so bad that he called the police. He was immediately taken to hospital and received a positive test result for COVID-19 two days later.

Subsequent tests on fellow residents revealed that 10 other people were already infected. By this point at the latest, the local health agency, the police, the slaughterhouse operator, the sub-contractor, and the accommodation provider recognised that coronavirus was spreading unhindered at the facility. Nonetheless, the slaughterhouse was not shut down.

The only countermeasure taken was that those who had tested positive were transferred to a separate accommodation facility, which was described in reports as isolation. Over the past 14 days, tests were gradually carried out on all of the 1,100 workers. Full results are yet to be made public, but 270 workers have already tested positive.

At least five are in hospital, with one in intensive care who is struggling for his life on a ventilator.

The mayor of Hofen, a local town, explicitly complained about the meat processing firm. Company management failed even to provide information about where the affected workers were housed and where they were registered, he said. Many were allegedly not even officially registered with the authorities. It is hardly surprising that one infection triggered an avalanche, said the mayor.

The fact that the meat processing workers were not even officially registered is typical for the entire industry. The chains of subcontractors that bring these workers to Germany operate like the mafia. To evade taxes and charges, workers are not officially registered, and they hardly ever receive written contracts. Their wages are often far below the legal minimum wage. They are accommodated in run-down buildings, former hotels, or containers. They typically sleep four to one room, and the washing facilities are abysmal: perfect conditions for the spread of COVID-19.

The Muller Fleisch workers are accommodated in several communal facilities in small towns near Forzheim. The anger of the mayor of Hofen, where confirmed cases jumped rapidly from three to 26, reflects the outrage and concern among the broader population. Even so, the slaughterhouse is not being shut down.

On April 24, when it was already clear that at least 230 workers were infected, the local health agency decided that the Muller Fleisch facility could continue operating.

The Schwartzwalder Bote cited Bastian Rosenau, a local councillor, who claimed at a press conference on April 23, There is no increased risk for consumers. The plant has to continue operating, he added, because it would be impossible to send all 1,100 workers home or into quarantine overnight. Trying to do so would certainly cause the virus to spread uncontrollably, he added. By contrast, within the Muller firm, there is a closed system where all of the infection chains can be traced.

All of those infected must now be accommodated at a single location, the local councillor demanded. Therefore, the district authorities will remove all of those infected from their communal housing and accommodate them in a few locations together ... in serious cases halls may be used. The Schwarzwalder Bote concluded, One issue is the medical treatment, but the other is of course the ease of control.

In other words, the authorities are focused on isolating the impoverished workers from the rest of the population while allowing production to keep running. The two heads and owners of the company, Martin and Stefan Muller, stated in a telephone conference, according to Focus, that nothing about the quarantine would change whether Muller Fleisch continues to operate or not.

The two businessmen made clear the real economic reason for their stance, stating that the meat packing company has to fulfil contracts with its suppliers and purchase animals from farmers. What this means is that the economic position of the company takes priority over the health and wellbeing of its workforce.

With incredible cynicism, they added that the idea that the company could influence the way in which its workers are accommodated is horrifying and absolutely forbidden under the law. They arrogantly declared that the company is not obliged to bear the costs of quarantine, but added that out of a sense of moral duty they would make a contribution to the cost.

On April 28, the Romanian consul Radu Florea made a failed attempt to contact the Romanian workers and their supervisor at Muller Fleisch. Instead, Forzheims first mayor, Dirk Buscher (Christian Democrats), reassured him that the workers are being well looked after and there have been no complaints, reported the Forzheimer Curier.

The cold-heartedness with which politicians, businessmen, and journalists disregard the health and wellbeing of workers is breath-taking. It represents a grave threat to the working class, including those who have a German passport.

The idea that the pandemic can simply be set aside is an illusion.

This bitter truth is currently being experienced by Singapore. It is paying for this illusion with a powerful second wave of the virus. The government appeared to have instituted the World Health Organisations advice, test, trace contacts, and isolate for its own population to the letter. But it did nothing for the most oppressed layers, migrant workers, who live in communal housing shut off from the rest of society. The virus was left to run rampant there and is now spreading throughout society as a whole.

Similarly, in Germany the attempt to isolate meatpackers, fruit pickers, refugees and prisoners from the local population will not protect the general population from the virus.
By ANI

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: The Coronavirus epidemic has delivered an unexpected gift to Pakistani terror groups. Just about all of their operatives, who were in jail as a condition to keep Pakistan out of Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) blacklist, have now walked free in the name of stemming Coronavirus. These terrorists are living in their homes, including LeT chief Hafiz Saeed.

Last month, in a tweet, the Punjab province's chief minister informed that nearly 50 inmates in a Lahore jail were tested positive of coronavirus. Such situations gave Pakistan an alibi to set terrorists free- at a time when the international focus is on the deadly pathogen, which has claimed thousands of lives worldwide.

The FATF kept Pakistan in its grey list with a review due next month. But the country has already been concealing the ground realities and fudging numbers as the focus of the international community remains on the pandemic.

The recent spurt in terrorism-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir is proof that Pakistan not only hasn't focussed on the pandemic in its own land but has also been using the crisis to funnel terrorism into India.



ALSO READ: Pakistan summons senior Indian diplomat over alleged ceasefire violation

On April 18, three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed and three others injured in a terror attack in the Union Territory.

The terrorists attacked a joint party of the CRPF and police at a check post in Sopore town in the Baramulla district. It was a third such attack against the paramilitary in the Valley within a week.

Before that, a Special Police Officer, who was on patrol duty in Dachhan, was attacked with axes by suspected terrorists on April 13. A few days later, Dilbag Singh, the Jammu and Kashmir Police chief, had said that said when the world is fighting the novel coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan-backed terrorists are trying to disrupt peace in the Union Territory.

"What we have heard is that till now Pakistan used to export terrorists, now they will export Coronavirus positive persons to infect people in Kashmir," the DGP said referring to the recent spurt in terrorism-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir.

As terrorism is thwarted by Indian forces, Pakistan has scaled up ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Two security personnel, who were injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC in Rampur sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Friday, succumbed to their injuries earlier today.



ALSO READ: Pakistan registers highest single day spike

Earlier on April 30, Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in the Poonch district.

With security forces thwarting such attacks, Pakistan is using its age-old tool to try and disrupt peace in India. After the International community mounted pressure on Pakistan, it admitted to having hundreds of terrorists operating from its soil, assuring that strong action would be taken against terror operatives.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on April 20, Pakistan removed thousands of names from its terrorist watch list in an effort to meet obligations ahead of June assessment by a global anti-money-laundering watchdog.

"The so-called proscribed person list, which is maintained by Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority, or NACTA, is intended in part to help financial institutions avoid doing business with or processing transactions of suspected terrorists," the report stated.

Citing data by Castellum.AI, a New York-based regulatory technology company, the WSJ said that about 1,800 of the names have been removed since the beginning of March.

Analysts believe, in such a situation, it could well be a bit of challenge for the FATF to review in June the steps Pakistan took, using Covid-19 pandemic as a cover-up, to deal with terrorism and terror factories ever since it was put in the watchdog's grey list.
Seventy-five years ago, a sea of people gathered in Trafalgar Square under a banner on Nelson's Column which declared 'Victory Over Germany 1945'. The crowds thronged up The Mall to Buckingham Palace where King George VI and his family, including the young Princess Elizabeth, appeared on a balcony.

Alongside them was Prime Minister Winston Churchill, making his famous 'V for victory' sign to the cheering masses. Now these historic moments, first captured in black and white, have been brought to life to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day by being colourised as part of a special commemoration package being put together by the Royal Mail.

Ecstatic crowds celebrating VE Day in London's Piccadilly. From Royal Mail this is one of eight stamps to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War

One of the digital artists on the project  who worked on the Trafalgar Square photograph in the pack  was Stuart Humphryes, better known for breathing fresh life into old Doctor Who episodes for the BBC.

'It represents such an emotive time in recent history, of national celebration, and I love being able to bring an immediacy to the past and help people connect to it by adding colour,' he said.

'We tend to think of the past as being dull and lacking vibrancy because we always see it in black and white, and it wasn't like that at all of course.'

Stuart Humphryes: I've seen the first images of the new Royal Mail coin presentation packs to be released 8th May, for which I provided a colourisation of the VE Day celebrations

Jubilant nurses celebrate VE Day in Liverpool issued by Royal Mail is one of eight stamps to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War

One of the most challenging parts of the process involves meticulous research to find out what colour objects were in order to ensure historical accuracy. For example, he unearthed the colours used in the 'victory' sign on Nelson's Column in archival film footage.

Mr Humphryes, 50, then painstakingly filled in each individual colour by hand. Working under the name of BabelColour, he first started colourising historical photographs as a hobby before moving on to work on DVDs for BBC Worldwide, introducing a whole new generation of fans to the Time Lords who graced black and white TV screens in the 1960s.

The eight End Of The War stamps, worked on by a range of artists, are available in a presentation pack for 14.60 from Friday.
Venezuela Paying Iran 'In Gold' For Alleged Help To Revive Oil Industry

Radio Farda May 01, 2020

The U.S. Special manager for Venezuela on Thursday said in a desperate attempt to revive its oil industry, cash-strapped Venezuela is paying Iran with gold in return for Iranian assistance.

Since April 21 an air bridge has been opened between Iran and Venezuela with several flights by Mahan Air. The airline has been under U.S. sanctions since 2011 for allegedly transporting fighters and weapons to Iran's proxies and support of terrorism on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard.

On April 24 Associated Press (AP) reported that two flights by Iran's Mahan air had landed at a western Venezuelan town on April 23 and 24 to deliver key chemical components used for producing gasoline. A source told AP that 14 more flights were expected in the coming days, some of them carrying Iranian technicians.

"Our assumption is that those planes that come from Iran are bringing things for the oil industry, and they return full of gold as a form of payment," El Politico quoted Elliot Abrams, the U.S. Special manager for Venezuela as saying.

Informed sources have told Bloomberg that Venezuela has sent some 9 tons of gold  an amount equal to about $500 million  to Iran by Mahan Air this month for help in revival of its crippled gasoline refineries.

But Iranian help to revive Venezuela's oil industry is just an assumption at this point, and the gold transfer could have other reasons.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said Mahan Air flights had to stop and called on other countries to deny overflights to the sanctioned airline.

The BBC quoted a Western diplomatic source in February 2019 saying that Venezuela was exporting huge quantities of gold to Turkey, part of which was ending up in Iran. The source said that Turkey had been warned. However, Turkish President Recep Erdogan was a vocal supporter of the Venezuelan regime during the push last year by the United States to bring the opposition to power.

Opponents of Nicholas Maduro accuse the Venezuelan government of mining gold in illegal ways, using mafia networks to control small miners with use of violence.

The United States has urged other countries to deny overflight rights to Mahan Air in addition to the denial of landing rights already in place by some countries. "You've got one terrorist regime helping another terrorist regime," the U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said in an exclusive interview with Radio Farda on April 30.

"The [Iranian] regime regularly claims things that are false, including that they were helping Venezuela's oil industry. But I think we can probably safely assume it's not limited to that," he said.

Iran boosted its relations with Venezuela during the presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who made various agricultural, industrial, and financial agreements. Iran also undertook construction projects in Venezuela and built several factories including a car assembly factory. Venezuela, however, failed to pay for some of the services offered by Iranian companies and the level of economic relations has dropped since.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/venezuela- paying-iran-in-gold-in-return -for-help-to-revive-grounded -oil-industry/30587068.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Cork County Councils Mallow area water network crew hard at work in Burnfort village. This picture was taken on the crews 10th straight day at work.

While frontline healthcare workers are, quite rightly, being lauded as heroes for their efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic a veritable army of other people are working hard to ensure that essential services are maintained.

Among them are local authority workers who are out on a daily basis delivering a whole raft of vital services, from delivering books and musical instruments to people cocooned in their homes, to maintaining our roads and manning fire-fighting services.

The Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Ian Doyle, said the commitment of Cork County Council staff over recent weeks should be recognised.

"They have been magnificent. They have been instrumental in helping to keep Cork County running smoothly and ensure there has been minimal disruption to the essential services that many of us take for granted," said Cllr Doyle.

"As an authority, we have been working to maintain all of our services to as normal a level as possible, and the staff have been right behind us all the way. It is important that the hard work and commitment they have shown since the Coronavirus outbreak be recognised and praised," he added.

Among those out this week were Mallow area water network crew of Packie Donaghue, Denis O'Flynn, Tom Smyth, Mick Roche, Batt Doherty and Jerry Sheehan, who have been working to ensure a constant supply of water to households in Mallow town and its hinterlands.

At the time the attached picture was taken in Burnfort village, the crew had been working for 10 straight days on the bounce fixing water mains, putting their own health at risk for the public good in the fight against COVID-19.

Cllr Doyle said it was absolutely essential that local authority workers maintain water supplies for households, hospitals, nursing homes and other vulnerable groups.

"This is just one example of many how Cork County Council staff are going the extra mile to ensure that services are maintained," Cllr Doyle said.

"It is reassuring to know that these people are out there day after day in all weather working for the good of communities across the length and breadth of the county."
The CEO of China Lilang Limited (HKG:1234) is Liang Xing Wang. 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 - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

Check out our latest analysis for China Lilang

How Does Liang Xing Wang's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, China Lilang Limited has a market capitalization of HK$5.6b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth CN1.3m over the year to December 2019. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth CN1.3m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of CN2.8b to CN11b. The median total CEO compensation was CN3.6m.

Now let's take a look at the pay mix on an industry and company level to gain a better understanding of where China Lilang stands. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 87% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 13% of the pie. Investors will find it interesting that China Lilang pays the bulk of its rewards through a traditional salary, instead of non-salary benefits.

At first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Liang Xing Wang is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. While this is a good thing, you'll need to understand the business better before you can form an opinion. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at China Lilang has changed from year to year.

SEHK:1234 CEO Compensation April 20th 2020

Is China Lilang Limited Growing?

China Lilang Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move positively by an average of 16% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 15% over last year.

Story continues

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has China Lilang Limited Been A Good Investment?

China Lilang Limited has generated a total shareholder return of 9.4% over three years, so most shareholders wouldn't be too disappointed. But they probably don't want to see the CEO paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

It appears that China Lilang Limited remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies.

Considering the underlying business is growing earnings, this would suggest the pay is modest. While returns over the last few years haven't been top notch, there is nothing to suggest to us that Liang Xing Wang is overcompensated. It's great to see a company that pays its CEO reasonably, even while growing. But for me, it's even better if insiders are also buying shares with their own cold, hard, cash. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for China Lilang that investors should look into moving forward.

Important note: China Lilang may not be the best stock to buy. You might find something better in this list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
H undreds of protestors have swarmed the streets in Huntington Beach in California to demand an end to coronavirus lockdown rules.

People packed out the streets in the city south of Los Angeles, defying an order to close all of Orange County's beaches which was issued after "concerning" images emerged of large crowds of beachgoers.

The US now has more 1.1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and the death toll stands at 65,603.

Pictures show protesters waving American flags from their car windows and carrying signs reading "Open Cali now", backing up traffic for at least a mile.

Demonstrators gather at Huntington beach / AFP via Getty Images

Although the beach was officially closed by Mr Newsom's order, people continued to walk on the sand and on a popular bike trail in a park overlooking the shoreline.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, one protester, Andrew Norman, said: "I served in the Army and fought tyrants and dictators overseas and this has gone too far.

"I didnt do that to come back here and live under a tyrant in my own country."

Police officers on horses tower over the protesters / Getty Images

Police across the state appear to have taken a largely hands-off approach with protesters, despite the fact they were violating stay-at-home requirements and not following social distancing recommendations.

Mr Newsom said California had just passed the grim mark of 50,000 confirmed infections and 2,000 deaths but that hospitalisation numbers are heading in a better direction.

"We can screw all that up. We can set all that back by making bad decisions," he said. "All of that works because people have done an incredible job in their physical distancing."

It comes as Huntington Beach City Council voted to mount legal action against the order to close beaches.

Legal action was mounted by the city against the state order to close beaches / Getty Images

The city voted 5-2 in favor of directing the City Attorney to pursue any and all legal actions to challenge the beach closure.

Thousands have joined protests across the US, calling for the country to reopen despite its rising death toll.

Americans flouted social distancing advice as they protested against the decision to close beaches / Getty Images

Nurses defied one demonstration in Colorado, standing in front of cars carrying protesters urging Governor Jared Polis to lift the lockdown.

President Donald Trump announced that the federal government has not extended its social distancing guidelines after they expired on Thursday.

Hundreds joined the demonstration, waving flags / Getty Images

"We're heartened that the worst of the pain and suffering is going to be behind us," Mr Trump said as he led a roundtable with executives from companies like Hilton and Toyota.

The president laid out a vision of a return to pre-coronavirus normalcy - "with or without" a vaccine - with packed restaurants and filled stadiums.
Workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, and Shipt are joining together in a one-day strike on May 1, which is also International Workers Day. The majority of these workers will call out sick, while the remaining will partake in storefront demonstrations, Christian Smalls, a lead organizer for the strike told Newsweek.

Workers from at least 20 Amazon warehouses are expected to walk off the job in the U.S. and in 60 warehouses internationally, including buildings in Germany, Canada and Spain.

Workers from the four companies are hoping to act in conjunction with one another, Smalls said.

Smalls believes the one-day strike will be enough to garner a response from the company without jeopardizing the jobs of workers or other retaliation from Amazon.

"The reason behind incorporating all these other entities is because we're not going to stop mobilizing until we have our demands met," Smalls said. "We all have one common goal right now and that's to feel safe and protected at work."

Workers are demanding the mandatory shutdown of buildings with positive cases for a minimum of 14 days. The list of demands also includes more personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies, paid leave for employees waiting on COVID-19 tests, hazard pay for the duration of the pandemic, company transparency on the number of cases in facilities, unlimited unpaid time to be extended to June 1, and reinstatement of employees terminated for refusal to work during the pandemic.

"This is a matter of life or death, but companies like Amazon have not been transparent or honest with workers, the media, or the public about the number of cases in their facilities," organizers said in a press release.

The release also disputes Amazon's senior vice president Jay Carney's claims that Amazon is unaware of how many workers have tested positive for the virus. The group tabulates there are over 500 positive cases in over 135 warehouses across the United States.

According to Smalls, he was fired by Amazon after organizing a March 30 protest calling for Amazon to close warehouses where workers tested positive for COVID-19. Amazon said Smalls was fired for violating company-enforced quarantine and safety measures.Since his termination, Smalls said he has received many messages from frontline workers across America hoping to mobilize, including Faiza Osman, an Amazon-employee who staged a walkout on Sunday in Minnesota.

Newsweek reached out to the four companies targeted by the strike. Amazon and Whole Foods disputed the claim from the organizers that some demands, such as PPE, aren't being met.

"While we respect people's right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis," said Lisa Levandowsky, an Amazon spokesperson.

In the statement, Amazon listed masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off, and increased pay as among the measures being provided to their workers. But Smalls argues none of these actions would have taken place without his demonstration and subsequent firing, which drew scrutiny from New York officials and prompted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation into Smalls' dismissal.

According to a statement provided to Newsweek by Whole Foods, the company has implemented increased pay and benefits, as well as new cleaning and social distancing protocols for their workers. "Statements made by this group misrepresent the full extent of Whole Food Market's actions in response to this crisis and do not represent the collective voice of our more than 95,000 Team Members," said a Whole Foods Market spokesperson.

"Our team has been diligently working to offer new policies, guidelines, product features, resources, increased bonuses, and personal protective equipment to ensure the health and safety of shoppers during this critical time," Instacart said in a statement.

https://www.newsweek.com/essential-workers-plan-strike-against-amazon-shipt-whole-foods-instacart-1500946
SJB, JVP to boycott meeting called by PM View(s):

The Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) yesterday announced it would boycott tomorrows Temple Trees meeting called by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the Covid crisis with all members of the last Parliament.

Issuing a statement, SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara said the practical solution to the prevailing crisis was to reconvene the last Parliament under the leadership of former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. He argued that this was essential given that only Parliament has the authority to look into State finances and pass relevant legislation necessary to counter the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mr Madduma Bandara took issue with the response sent by Presidential Secretary P.B. Jayasundara to a joint letter sent by a group of party leaders to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on April 26. He pointed out that the joint letter gave a written assurance that if the President reconvened Parliament, opposition parties would offer unconditional support to the Governments efforts to eradicate COVID-19.

Earlier, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) also said it was not attending the meeting.
The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel is at its highest level in two decades after exceptional winter rainfall, but the beaches and major Christian sites along its banks are empty.

Tourism usually peaks in April, when Christians flock to the holy sites during the Easter season and Israelis descend on the beaches and nearby national parks to enjoy the spring weather and see the wildflowers bloom.

This year, that coincided with a lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

The borders have been closed and Israelis have been largely confined to their homes since mid-March.

Birds rest on as an empty tourist ship anchored in the Sea of Galilee (Ariel Schalit/AP)

While authorities have recently begun loosening the restrictions, they imposed a full lockdown over Independence Day last week, barring anyone from travelling more than 100 metres from home except in case of emergency.

That left the shores of the Sea of Galilee, locally known as Lake Kinneret, empty.

Chairs and umbrellas were stacked up on beaches that in previous years would have been packed with families enjoying outdoor meals and watching fireworks displays.

Its full of water and we are very excited, said Idan Greenbaum, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council.

Unfortunately, because of the virus, its empty.

Christians believe Jesus did much of his preaching on the shores of the freshwater lake and even walked on its waters.

Churches are built on the locations where he is believed to have miraculously multiplied loaves and fish, and where he delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

Empty tourist boats in the Sea of Galilee (Ariel Schalit/AP)

For Israelis, the lake provides some 25% of the countrys water and has long been seen as a gauge of national health, with newspapers posting regular updates on water levels.

The northeastern bank of the lake borders the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war and later annexed.

Access to the lake was a major sticking point in peace talks with Syria that collapsed in the 1990s.

The US recognised Israels annexation last year, breaking with an international consensus that it is occupied territory.

Story continues

The water level came close to its all-time low in April 2017, when the level dropped to 212.95 meters (698 feet) below sea level.

The current level is minus 208.92 metres (minus 685 feet).

Wildflowers bloom at an empty national park overlooking the Sea of Galilee (Ariel Schalit/AP)

That may not sound like much, but it has transformed the landscape. Islands that had appeared in recent years have vanished, and dry vegetation along the shore is now submerged.

Haim Statyahu, the general manager at Ein Gev tourism, laments that there are no visitors to see it, but he is optimistic about the future.

He says tour groups are already making bookings for autumn and winter.

We see light at the end of the tunnel, he said.

It wont be long, and we will see the pilgrims return.
Meghan Markle had to deal with a huge setback on the lawsuit she filed against the "Mail On Sunday." However, her lawyers said they will continue to seek justice for the Duchess of Sussex.

A Moving Argument

Meghan is suing the "Mail on Sunday" alongside its parent company "Associated Newspapers" for publishing confidential documents. The news outlet published a part of the letter she sent her father, Thomas Markle. She claimed that the letters were sent with a personal note and that have always been meant to be confidential.

The civil lawsuit that Meghan's lawyers filed on her behalf accused the newspaper of misuse of private information, copyright infringement, and violation of the U.K.'s data protection law.

Although her lawyers believe that her case has merit, the judge presiding over the case partially ruled in favor of the defendant. On Friday, the judge removed one of the arguments presented by the legal party of Markle.

Markle's camp claimed that the "Associated Newspapers" acted dishonestly in an attempt to create conflict between the Duchess and her father. Though the case is moving forward, this claim is no longer included in the overall decision that the judge will be making on the legal matter.

Meghan's legal team, however, was surprised at the move that the judge made.

"Whilst the Judge recognizes that there is a claim for breach of privacy and copyright, we are surprised to see that his ruling suggests that dishonest behavior is not relevant," Meghan's representative said.

Markle's rep also emphasized that the core of the case they are making lies on the value of integrity and honesty.

"We feel honesty and integrity are at the core of what matters; or as it relates to the Mail on Sunday and Associated Newspapers, their lack thereof," Meghan's rep added.

"Nonetheless, we respect the Judge's decision as the strong case against Associated will continue to focus on the issue of a private, intimate, and hand-written letter from a daughter to her father that was published by The Mail on Sunday. This gross violation of any person's right to privacy is obvious and unlawful, and The Mail on Sunday should be held to account for their actions."

The "Associated Newspapers" explicitly denied the allegations stated in Meghan's lawsuit. They particularly highlighted the claim that the letter was presented to the public to change the meaning from its original intent.

Fight For Privacy

The case opened last week in the United Kingdom's High Court via video conferencing due to the ongoing world health crisis. And while everyone is practicing social distancing to help flatten the curve of the coronavirus cases in the U.K., Meghan Markle continues to legally fight for her right to privacy.

Anthony White, the lawyer representing the "Mail on Sunday,'' told the judge that the lawyers representing Meghan have made "further assertions of improper, deliberate conduct". He added that they accused the publisher of "harassing, humiliating, manipulating, and exploiting" Thomas Markle, which he believed was a far stretch from what really happened.

Both Meghan and Prince Harry are expected to listen in to the part of the hearing last week conducted by her legal team. Her lawyers remain hopeful that the judge would see the true value of respect for privacy.

"Today's ruling makes very clear that the core elements of this case do not change and will continue to move forward. The Duchess' rights were violated; the legal boundaries around privacy were crossed. As part of this process, the extremes to which The Mail on Sunday used distortive, manipulative, and dishonest tactics to target The Duchess of Sussex have been put on full display," Meghan's camp said in a statement, via Fox News
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This is a story about four women from Lynwood but it's a story about all of us. It's about menudo, too.

There's one woman working out of a closet, a makeshift radio studio where she broadcasts from home as part of On Air With Ryan Seacrest.

There's another woman, a Lynwood school district employee, standing in a church parking lot wearing a mask and handing out grocery gift cards to needy families.

Another woman, an abuela, is in her kitchen having a panic attack because the son who she lives with and who supports her just lost his job.

Then there is Miriam Rojo, the abuela's 20-year-old granddaughter, who gets one of those gift cards and does something basic but brilliant, which is the magic tying this story together.

"My husband and father had both lost their jobs and my grandma was having a breakdown," Miriam told me on the phone.

"So I had this $100 gift card they gave me, and I was thinking about how I can turn it into more. So I told my grandma, 'Can you make your menudo? We can sell it.' And so she did, and everyone got involved. My husband does supply runs and I handle the orders. My dad does the deliveries."

The family's Sinaloa-style menudo has been selling out every weekend since they started making it.

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The business doesn't have an Instagram account or even a name. Right now, they're just taking phone orders coming on a government-provided cell phone (get your order in now: 424-366-2016). But business is blowing up from word-of-mouth alone. They've even started selling handmade flour tortillas, a specialty of Sinaloa ranchos.

A Sinaloa rancho is where this story starts for the Rojo family.

All of them are immigrants. Miriam, grandma Rojo and much of the family are undocumented, so they don't qualify for unemployment or government aid, like a stimulus check.

'PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE WHO KNOW PEOPLE'

For me, the story started with my good friend and frequent collaborator Patty Rodriguez, an on-air radio personality with KIIS FM and book publisher who raised nearly $10,000 on Instagram to buy groceries for families in her hometown of Lynwood.

There, you'll find families like the Rojos who have been decimated economically by the pandemic, and whom the government, which benefits greatly from their cheap labor and billions in tax revenue, has largely forgotten.

"I feel, as a Latina still navigating my way through life and career in this country, I have a responsibility to help," Patty told me, speaking from the closet she has turned into an office and radio studio. "That's why I do what I do. That's why I help. Because I am them and they are me."

When I spoke to her, Patty had been up since 5 a.m. working on the Ryan Seacrest radio show thinking about how she hadn't eaten anything all day. But she was also thinking about her "responsibility to help others."

"I have had incredible opportunities that do not happen to people that look like me," Patty said. "I want to live a life that I hope inspires others."

A few weeks ago, that sense of responsibility had moved Patty to call the city of Lynwood to see if she could help children and their families. She was worried her hometown school district would be forgotten. "Big donors help LAUSD. Smaller districts in L.A. County don't get the support. They are always forgotten," she recalled. "I just wanted to help the students and their families in Lynwood."

It just so happens Audrey Casas, a 20-year veteran of the Lynwood Unified School District, was already trying to independently raise money to do just that.

Through a mutual friend, Patty and Audrey, who is a school office manager, got connected. Patty sent Audrey $1,000, which bought 10 families groceries. Patty said she had wanted to help for a while but was unsure how. She had a suspicion many of her 100,000 Instagram followers would feel the same way.

"I have a platform and am grateful that I have been able to create a community with such a big heart," Patty said. "When I get behind a cause, this community steps up."

In the past her Instagram followers have stepped up to help raise money for migrant families and other causes close to Patty's heart. They came through again, contributing a total of $10,000.

That donation went to Audrey, who by this time -- in just a few weeks -- had created an organization that was raising thousands of dollars and feeding hundreds of families on a regular basis.

I called Audrey to see how she did this and from the moment she began speaking, I felt electrified by her energy. She spoke eloquently and passionately and pretty much non-stop for 20 minutes.

"A lot of our students were telling me their mom or dad lost their job," Audrey said. "Like, 'I don't even know what we're going to eat tomorrow.' I was losing sleep. I was like, 'I can't keep hearing these stories and not do anything.'"

Audrey posted a call for donations on her Instagram page. Like a spiderweb of generosity, she started connecting with people, such as Patty, who wanted to help and organizations that had money but no idea how to reach the people who needed it the most. Now, she has a small but effective network of charities and donors that are feeding thousands of people in Southeast L.A. County.

Audrey's group usually hands out gift cards at coordinated "social distance fairs," usually held in a Lynwood church parking lot or at one of the schools. They are having a huge event on May 6 at Cesar Chavez Middle School.

"It's amazing to see what we can do. It's like we are all connected. It's just people who know people who know people who know people -- coming together to help each other," Audrey said. "But it's not just about people being in need, it's also about how the community hustles."

HOW MENUDO SAVED THE DAY

At the same time those wheels were turning, the Rojos were looking at a bleak situation.

Miriam Rojo's family was broke. The family's providers were unemployed, her baby and toddler were hungry, and the landlord was asking for at least part of the rent.

Then, about four weeks ago, she saw a post on Instagram from Audrey at the school district, saying some local families could get food assistance, thanks to Patty's initial donation.

"I was embarrassed at first but I finally sent Audrey a message asking for help," Miriam recalled. "And she brought over a $100 gift card. Instead of spending it one time and not having money again later, I flipped it."

Flipped it into menudo ingredients, that is. That menudo -- and all the menudo that has followed -- is providing a small but steady income stream.

"And now, each week, we are saving a little more from sales," Miriam said.

I asked Miriam what it felt like to be able to support her family right now. I asked her if her grandma was proud that her menudo had saved her family from what felt like the end of the world.

She said they were both proud to be part of L.A.'s long tradition of hustle and survival.

"It feels good, honestly, to work really hard," she said. "We were low here. And it's been hard for a long while, honestly -- so hard. But it feels good that I was able to think of something. And I'm not saying we're doing great, but we're doing alright."

That's the truth for a lot of Los Angelenos right now, I think. It has been hard for a long time. But when I hear stories like these, I think maybe we are going to be alright someday soon. Cuz L.A.'s a town for hustlers like these four women. And menudo, too.

About the Mis Angeles column: Erick Galindo is chronicling life in Los Angeles for LAist. He took on this role after serving as our immigrant communities reporter. Erick came to us last year from LA Taco, where he was the managing editor.

MORE FROM ERICK GALINDO:
Charities are springing up everywhere around the world to help those suffering from the coronavirus and the lockdown measures taken to stop it from spreading.

Untold millions need such aid and many who are more fortunate really want to help.

The situations in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are no exception and there are charities in those countries that were quickly established to help funnel donations to those needing them.

But questions have emerged in Kazakhstan about the people running one particular fund, and in Uzbekistan there are questions about how much of a charity is voluntary and who, exactly, is receiving the aid.

The stories from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are sadly not unique in the world these days.

The number of coronavirus infections continues to rise, medical staff in many hospitals do not have the proper personal protective equipment, and government orders for quarantines and lockdowns have left large numbers of people out of work and without the means to provide for themselves or their families.

Friends And Relatives

On March 13, Kazakhstan reported its first cases of the coronavirus and on March 20, the countrys first president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, called on "those who want and are able, to help the country."

Nazarbaevs call was seen as directed at those who had become wealthy during the nearly three decades that Nazarbaev was president of Kazakhstan.

It was reported that on the same day Nazarbaev made his appeal, the Birgemiz (We Are Together) social fund was registered.

The managers of the fund were chosen at a March 24 session of the ruling Nur-Otan party, the political party formed and controlled by Nazarbaev.

The Peace Through Spirituality social fund and the Veterans Organization were chosen to lead the Birgemiz charity.

Deputy Prime Minister Eraly Tugzhanov, who assumed that post in February, was named to head Birgemiz and Ruslan Sakeev was named the fund's chairman of the board.

Tugzhanov was the governor of Kazakhstans western Mangistau Province from March 2017 until September 2019, and in August 2017 he named Sakeev to be his deputy.

The Peace Through Spirituality fund was founded in 2017. The head of the fund is Saule Mukhashova.

According to RFE/RLs Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq, Mukhashova is also the founder of Kazakhstans Mineral Resource Investment mining company and the Sayram-Merey and Sat-Astana social funds. None of those organizations pays taxes.

The current head of the State Control Department in Kazakhstans presidential administration is Nurlan Sauranbaev. He previously served as governor of Shymkent Province and before that as head of the organizing committee for EXPO-2017 that the Kazakh capital, then called Astana, hosted.

Sauranbaev is Mukhashovas son-in-law, though Mukhashova told Azattyq that fact had no influence on her organization being chosen to co-manage the Birgemiz fund.

Mukhashova noted that she had been involved in charity work for 15 years and, as this is the Year of the Volunteer in Kazakhstan, she had already in February been in contact with the presidents office about helping with charities.

The other co-manager of Birgemiz is the Veterans Organization, headed by Baktykozha Izmukhambetov.

A former governor of the West Kazakhstan and Atyrau provinces, Izmukhambetov served from March to June 2016 as chairman of the Mazhilis (Kazakh parliament) and, when he stepped down, was named head of the Veterans Organization.

As one would expect, the Veterans Organization provides assistance to war veterans. It was established in 1987 when Kazakhstan was a Soviet republic.

One interesting fact that Azattyq discovered about the Veterans Organization is that it has received 157.5 million tenge (some $369,250) from the state budget in the last four years and paid 48.43 million tenge in taxes during that same period.

Azattyq tried to contact Izmukhambetov to find out why nearly one-third of the money the Veterans Organization received from the state was paid back in taxes and to ask if the organization had other sources of income. But Izmukhambetov declined to comment.

Please Contribute, Or Else

In Uzbekistan, some business owners and state employees say authorities are forcing them to contribute to charity funds aimed at helping those who are facing hardships from the coronavirus crisis.

RFE/RLs Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, reported that teachers, bankers, state employees, and others are being forced to donate to the Generosity and Assistance (Sahovat va Komak) Fund that was established on April 22 under orders of President Shavkat Mirziyoev.

These workers are instructed to contribute part of their monthly salaries, anywhere from one day's to one week's worth of wages.

It is illegal to garnish wages or force someone to hand over part of their salary in Uzbekistan, but the people who contacted Ozodlik said authorities are giving them a form to sign saying the money is a voluntary contribution to the fund, donated without any pressure from anyone.

This practice is similar to methods used by authorities in Turkmenistan in 2017 when the government needed money to host the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

But even before the creation of the Generosity And Assistance Fund, Ozodlik was in contact with people in Uzbekistan who, speaking on the condition of anonymity, explained how they have been conscripted into charity.

A store owner in the Bukhara area said employees of the city administration came to see him in the middle of April and said they needed the owner to donate to charity.

When I refused to help, they hinted they could cause problems for me. No businessman wants his store closed, the store owner said.

He said he gave nearly two dozen sacks of flour, several sacks of rice and sugar, and a box of cooking oil to a charity distribution center.

A few days after that, the administration employees returned.

I am not against helping, but the authorities need to understand our situation, the owner said. Its hard for us, too. There is no business. The export of goods across borders has halted [under the coronavirus lockdowns].

A state employee in Jizzakh Province told Ozodlik that authorities are strongly urging state workers to contribute to charities.

"Theyre insisting we hand over seven days of our salary to needy citizens," the state employee said, adding: Most [government] workers are the sole breadwinner in the family.

But the state employee conceded, They are afraid to say anything to the leadership, worrying they would be fired.

In Uzbekistans eastern city of Andijon, a merchant said the mahalla, or neighborhood, chairman and several other people came to his house to ask him to contribute some money for the needy.

I have been giving to needy families for a long time, the merchant said. I explained to the mahalla chairman that I know who in our mahalla needs help and I deliver it to them with my own hands.

The chairman said during this time of quarantine that all aid and donations must be delivered to the distribution center, not in person, in order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The merchant told Ozodlik he doubts that all the aid being delivered to the distribution center is reaching those who need it.

Ozodlik contacted the Mahallas and Families Support Ministry. An official who also asked not to be named said all aid needs to be brought to the distribution center so it can be disinfected before being given to needy families.

He also insisted that all goods being brought to the centers is being donated voluntarily.

Rasul Jonuzakov, a blogger from the Samarkand area, questioned the charity distribution system.

Jonuzakov said, In a week, they gave help to some 20,000 families in Tashkent, [but] I did not hear that any of those in need in our mahalla received such help.

Many people would like to help during the difficult times caused by the coronavirus, but everyone wants to know that the money or goods they give to charity actually ends up in the hands of those for whom it was intended.

RFE/RL's Kazakh and Uzbek services contributed to this report
Toward the end of his weekly coronavirus town hall on Thursday night, Anderson Cooper broke some good news and offered a moment of reprieve from the ongoing pandemic: "I am a dad."

"I have a son, and I want you to meet him," the CNN anchor said.

Cooper, 52, announced on Thursday that a surrogate gave birth to Wyatt Morgan Cooper, who was born on Monday at 7.2 pounds.

The anchor, whose interviews during the pandemic have seen him clash with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and console a woman whose husband had died of covid-19, was emotional in announcing Wyatt's birth on a day in which the U.S. coronavirus death toll approached 63,000.

"It's been a difficult time in all of our lives, and there are certainly many hard days ahead," Cooper said. "It is, I think, especially important in these times of trouble to try to hold on to moments of joy and moments of happiness."

He added, "Even as we mourn the loss of loved ones, we're also blessed with new life and new love."

When he said on-air that he had become a father, Cooper was still processing the weight of the life event.

"I've never actually said that before, out loud, and it still kind of astonishes me," he said. "I am a dad."

In an Instagram post earlier in the day, Cooper, who included the first images of his newborn son, described Wyatt as "sweet, and soft, and healthy." Cooper credited the surrogate and doctors who helped along the way.

"As a gay kid, I never thought it would be possible to have a child, and I'm grateful for all those who have paved the way, and for the doctors and nurses and everyone involved in my son's birth," he said. "Most of all, I am eternally grateful to a remarkable surrogate who carried Wyatt, watched over him lovingly, tenderly, and gave birth to him. It's an extraordinary blessing which she and all surrogates give to families who can't have children."

In picking his son's name, the host looked to his family. Wyatt was the name of Cooper's father, a screenwriter and author who died of a heart attack when the CNN anchor was only 10 years old. His death at 50 affected Cooper "enormously," remembered his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, to New York magazine in 2005. (Vanderbilt, 95, died of stomach cancer last June.)

He mentioned his father last week while interviewing Katie Coelho, a 33-year-old widow whose 32-year-old husband, Jonathan, died of COVID-19 after a four-week stay at a Connecticut hospital.

"I can tell you my dad died when I was a little kid and I know he really tried not to die because he didn't want to leave my brother and I and not have us know him," the host said to Coelho last week, fighting through the tears.

On Thursday, Cooper explained that the baby's middle name, Morgan, came from a list his parents had made of possible names for him 52 years ago.

 The Washington Post

Alicia Keys to star in virtual fundraiser

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

AC Milan and Roc Nation have partnered to stage a virtual live event on Sunday headlined by Alicia Keys that will pay tribute to workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic in Italy and beyond.

Funds raised through the event will benefit global humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief and Milan's philanthropic foundation.

Viewers will be able to donate via the "From Milan with Love" fundraising site and AC Milan's Facebook page.

The hour-long tribute is scheduled for Sunday at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) and will be hosted by Grammy Award-winning producer DJ Khaled and Italian TV presenter Diletta Leotta.

Other performers will include Kelly Rowland, Robin Thicke, Gavin Rossdale and Chris Traynor of Bush, Jay Buchanan of Rival Sons, and Lola Ponce.

"This crisis has presented unprecedented challenges for all of us, but the contribution that these key workers have made is humbling, inspiring and will never be forgotten," Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis said. "The participation of such an amazing array of talent in this event will provide a fitting tribute to them and I hope will help to spread a message of hope and optimism during this difficult period."

Milan's last Serie A game was on March 8 before the league was suspended.

More than 27,000 people are known to have died from coronavirus in Italy. However, the number of daily new cases of COVID-19, as well as the fatalities, have steadily declined, and the country is set to ease lockdown measures on Monday, allowing individuals to practice sport outdoors.

 Associated Press
Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven addresses the nation about the coronavirus pandemic March 22 on Swedish national television. (Anders Wiklund / Associated Press )

Why is everybody talking about Sweden?

Lately, my country has caught the attention of the media in the United States for an unexpected reason. As the entire world struggles to manage the spread of the novel coronavirus, Swedens response to the pandemic has been singled out as radical, lax and controversial" because Sweden has not imposed a broad general lockdown, an approach taken by many other countries.

Sweden is known as a country with a strong welfare model, including public healthcare for all, and has among the worlds highest life expectancies. Some might find it difficult to reconcile this image with our approach to containing COVID-19. Its time to set the record straight on what is going on in Sweden.

Sweden shares the same goals as all other countries  to save lives and protect public health. We are also facing the same challenges as other countries; namely, the scale and speed of the virus spread and the pressure on the national health system. The objective is to reduce the pace of the coronavirus spread and to "flatten the curve" so that large numbers of people do not become ill at the same time.

Sweden is tackling the coronavirus pandemic through both legally enforced measures and recommendations. Like most other countries, we are promoting social distancing, protecting vulnerable people and at-risk groups, carrying out testing and strengthening our health system to cope with the pandemic.

The government has banned visits to care homes for the elderly and made changes to the social security system to make it easier for people with COVID-19 symptoms to take sick leave. Public gatherings of more than 50 people are banned. Secondary schools and university and college classes have moved to online instruction, and people are encouraged to work from home.

Swedens measures differ from other countries in a few significant ways. We are not shutting down schools for younger children or daycare facilities. We have no regulation that forces citizens to remain in their homes. And we have not ordered the closure of any businesses, though businesses like restaurants are required to operate with social distancing rules.

Story continues

Swedish laws on communicable diseases are mostly based on voluntary measures and on individual responsibility. Sweden's coronavirus strategy builds upon those principles. Its a strategy that makes sense for Sweden, but we are humble enough to admit that it may make less sense elsewhere, because all societies are different.

The key here is the high level of trust in Swedish society. According to the World Values Survey, there is a high level of interpersonal trust between Swedes, and there is also a high level of trust in public authorities. The authorities also have a high level of trust in citizens to heed their advice.

The use of recommendations in public health efforts  rather than mandates  is a common strategy in Sweden. One example of this is child immunizations. In contrast to the United States, where all 50 states mandate immunizations for children in order to enroll in school (although there are exemptions given), Swedens child vaccination program is based on recommendations from the authorities and is not a legal requirement. Yet more than 97% of Swedish children are vaccinated in accordance with the recommended immunization schedule.

It is too early to draw any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the measures taken in Sweden, but they are continuously reassessed by our public health experts.

It is deeply saddening that the virus has hit care homes for the elderly hard in Sweden. One of the main priorities now is to strengthen protections for those living in care homes. More personal protective equipment and online education for staff are being provided, testing has increased and more than 1,000 inspections will be carried out by the Health and Social Care Inspectorate.

It is also too early to compare infection rates and death tolls internationally, since countries differ in how they count coronavirus-related deaths. Countries differ in terms of population density, age structure and housing culture  and many other factors that affect the spread of the virus. Countries are also in different stages of the pandemic, and in different phases of maintaining or relaxing measures.

Eventually the world will need to agree on how to register COVID-19 deaths, how to detect unregistered cases and how to evaluate the general health effects of the coronavirus on the entire population. It will be important to learn from all of this to prepare ourselves for potential future outbreaks of similar viruses.

In the meantime, life is not carrying on as normal in Sweden. Most people are staying at home voluntarily. Domestic train travel, a major means of transportation, has fallen drastically, and almost all domestic flights have been canceled. Many businesses have closed. Unemployment is expected to rise dramatically. In response, the government has approved crisis packages to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic on Swedish businesses and workers.

The coronavirus is not a disease that can be stopped or eradicated completely, at least not until an effective vaccine has been produced. Swedens strategy may not provide all the answers, but we believe the combination of voluntary and mandated measures is not only more sustainable for Sweden than a lockdown strategy but will strengthen the resilience of Swedish society to fight this virus in the long run.

Karin Olofsdotter is Swedens ambassador to the United States.




Meghan Markle lost the first round of her legal battle with Mail on Sunday. According to top lawyers, she might find it hard to bounce back from this. At the very least, this is a huge humiliation for her, an insult to her and Prince Harry.

According to Mark Stephens, who is a partner at Howard Kennedy, the ruling of the court is already an absolute victory for the Mail on Sunday. The judge throwing out so many significant parts of the case and dismissing them as "irrelevant" is no small setback. It sent out the signal that most of Meghan Markle's complaints are not even substantial.

He said," For Meghan, this judgment is just like a train ploughing into a petrol tanker on a level crossing. It is a complete disaster." Stephens firmly believes that Markle is humiliated today because the judge has absolutely vindicated Associated Newspapers.

Stephens added that senior lawyers have already deemed the case over. It's over for Meghan Markle because she no longer has any chance of winning. They also claimed that she was either poorly advised or ignored the warning she was given just because she wanted "her day in court."

The legal expert claimed that definitely, Markle should be advised just to settle and allow the case to close. Otherwise, she'll find herself insulted and humiliated further if her rift with her father Thomas Markle is examined under oath. To be humiliated in person is a fate she would not want. "If she is going to be humiliated in person, there will be no worse outcome for her," Stephens said.

Stephen is not the only legal expert to have weighed in on Markle's case and claimed she's bound to lose. Legal experts claimed that Mr. Justice Warby is right for doing what he did because her case was simply "overblown."

According to Gavin Millar QC of Matrix Chambers, the case is quite simple. It merely revolves around a claim about a letter and five articles. However, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle somehow made it into a mini public inquiry about Associated Newspapers' reporting about them. The judge is right not to allow that to happen and push back against that.

The costs would be high if the judge did not push back. Public figures who are allowed to make a public spectacle out of reports or news about them can do considerable damage to the country's freedom of speech, Millar said.

Meghan Markle's lawyers have not lost heart, though. They promise a battle royale against the UK tabloid despite this significant loss.

The law firm Schillings, after Judge Mark Warby dismissed specific claims made by Markle, insisted that the Duchess' rights were violated, and the legal boundaries around her privacy were crossed.

The law firm claims that it will respect the judge's decision, but it is sure that the Mail on Sunday should still be held accountable for their actions. "Nonetheless, we respect the judge's decision as the strong case against Associated will continue to focus on the issue of a private, intimate, and hand-written letter from a daughter to her father that was published by The Mail on Sunday," Schillings asserted. "This gross violation of any person's right to privacy is obvious and unlawful, and The Mail on Sunday should be held to account for their actions."

Meanwhile, even before this happened, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle already severed ties with four major tabloids in UK. They wrote them to say that they now have a zero-engagement policy in relation to them.
01.05.2020 LISTEN

During which time the pilgrimage activities to Goka every last Friday of February was comparable to the Biblical Pentecostal Day, (the very day on which the Disciples of the Christ of the Bible spoke in different tongues and won many souls), the prayer Camp of the late renowned prophetess Maame Sarah was bursting with devout faithful.

The sea of pilgrims goes as far as one can see them - in their tens of thousands at one count.

Such mass migration of people to Goka to have a bond with their God also brought with it additional benefits of making the holy grounds a business hub, and bustling economic activities.

Amongst the pilgrims was a patriarch who came with him his entire family from a faraway land to settle in Goka. No one knew exactly what ailment or calamity that brought him, but everyone knew he lived beyond his welcome. His life too was at variance with the values and conventions of the Goka people. He was used to merrymaking at the expense of others' pockets and never cared whether his family ate or sheltered. His children were out of school. As an extortionist, if one looks at him with pity and grace him with money, he's known to spend it on partying and gambling.

It didn't take long, word reached him that his mother, the only survivor of his family, back home, is seriously ill, as the only son, he's needed home to nurse her bedridden mother.

Dissembling, or so it turned out later, this man started wailing for the poor soul of her only hope back home. Crying as the men who do so when they have no money at the time their in-laws die.

Notwithstanding his abhorred lifestyle, the Goka people were generous to him, they, in turn, donated cash and in-kind to his journey back home.

Having his pocket swelled with others' sweat, he directed the monies to a different use in debauchery in the city, without even stepping foot at where the mother laid dying.

The mother died. It was reported of poor shelter, loneliness, and hunger killed her.

This patriarch knowing what awaits him if he came back to Goka, was not heard about again till today.

Today, Ghana and Africa are bedridden with a global pandemic novel coronavirus Covid-19. Philanthropists, institutions, and individuals home and abroad are donating to the governments' Covid-19 Trust Fund.

Inasmuch as the *One Ghana Movement (1GhM)* congratulate every giver for having a human heart for the vulnerable African, we still enjoin governments to prioritise what's needful with the donations.

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, everyone knew Ghana had more than two million housing deficit, it's not the different case in most African countries. When the lockdown measures were imposed, many people couldn't get homes to enter.

We believe Kwame Nkrumah would first care for the shelter of the wandering souls in our streets who needs the commonly known medicine in a stay at home, social distancing, and regular handwashing, battling the Covid-19.

If it's about for photo opportunity that donations are called for to serve cooked foods as ameliorating the suffering of the Ghanaian or African, then, as the disgraced pilgrim to Goka, the leaders of today are making our once noble land an object of ridicule in the eyes of the world.

Written by: Charles Yeboah (Sir Lord)

The Founder Of One Ghana Movement (1GhM)
Melquiades Perez was reported as missing on Saturday, according to Columbia Borough Police.

He was last seen on April 22. Police said he could be driving a charcoal 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander with Pennsylvania tags LHD5964.

No additional information was provided.

Anyone who knows of his whereabouts or has seen his vehicle is asked to contact police at 717-648-7735 or submit a tip by texting LANCS to 847411.

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The US's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised emergency use of the Ebola drug remdesivir for treating the coronavirus.



The authorisation means the anti-viral drug can now be used on people who are hospitalised with severe Covid-19.



A recent clinical trial showed the drug helped shorten the recovery time for people who were seriously ill.



However, it did not significantly improve survival rates.



Experts have warned the drug - which was originally developed to treat Ebola, and is produced by Gilead pharmaceutical company in California - should not be seen as a "magic bullet" for coronavirus.



The drug interferes with the virus's genome, disrupting its ability to replicate.



During a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Gilead Chief Executive Daniel O'Day said the FDA authorisation was an important first step.



The company would donate 1.5 million vials of the drug, he said.



FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn also said at the meeting: "It's the first authorised therapy for Covid-19, so we're really proud to be part of it."



Emergency FDA authorisation is not the same as formal approval, which requires a higher level of review.



What do we know about remdesivir?



The drug did not cure Ebola, and Gilead says on its website: "Remdesivir is an experimental medicine that does not have established safety or efficacy for the treatment of any condition." Gilead also warns of possible serious side-effects.



However, President Trump has been a vocal supporter of remdesivir as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.



In its clinical trial, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) found that remdesivir cut the duration of symptoms from 15 days down to 11.



The trials involved 1,063 people at hospitals around the world - including the US, France, Italy, the UK, China and South Korea. Some patients were given the drug and others were given a placebo (dummy) treatment.



Dr Anthony Fauci who runs NIAID, said that remdesivir had "a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery".



However, although remdesivir may aid recovery - and possibly stop people having to be treated in intensive care - the trials did not give any clear indication whether it can prevent deaths from coronavirus.



As much remains uncertain about the treatment regime, Gilead suggests a 10-day dosing duration for patients on ventilators and five days for patients who are not.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Prof with an eye for temple art that captures the essence of Vesak By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

As Vesak, the birth, enlightenment and parinibbana of Buddha, the gentle philosopher who spread the message of maithriya draws close, many are the paintings down the ages which have captured this thrice-blessed day.

A medical professor, who in her free time, with camera slung on her shoulder treads the unbeaten path to remote areas to capture temple art, gives an insight into the intricacies of such paintings where Vesak has been portrayed in distinct styles in four different periods.

Sri Lanka has a long tradition of temple paintings spanning about 2,200 years starting from the 3rd century BC. Outside India, these are the oldest Buddhist visual drawings in South Asia. These paintings are a blend of aesthetic and religious overtures and despite being influenced by Indian art, have a style unique and indigenous to Sri Lanka, says Prof. Chandanie Wanigatunge.

Delving deep into the less well-explored aspects of the four distinct phases of temple art, she laughingly calls it an untutored, quasi-structured foray.

The four phases are: the Classical Period from the 3rd century BC-13th century AD; the Period of the migration of capital cities from the 13th-17th centuries; the Kandyan Era during the 18th &19th centuries which has the two distinct schools of Kandyan and Southern; and the Modern Era from the 20th century onwards.

Before riveting her gaze on each phase, she says that temple art with the simple intention of propagating the teachings of the Buddha is found on any available surface  from the rock surfaces in cave temples to brick walls, wooden doors and pillars and even cloth. The paintings usually depict the life events of the Buddha, his previous births and other important events. They also include the lifestyles of people during those times, with occasional evidence of social commentary.

In the Classical Period, the drawings are in the style of the Ajanta and Sigiriya paintings. It is through thin and thick lines that expressions have been brought forth, says Prof. Wanigatunge, pointing out that drawn on large expanses of walls they exude grace and artistry and can be seen in the small cave temple in Pulligoda (close to Dimbulagala) and, of course, at the Thivanka Pilima-ge in Polonnaruwa.This style almost disappeared with the Chola invasion of Kalinga Magha.

Journeying through history, she then refers to the period of migration of capital cities, where such paintings were few and far between, most probably giving way to the ravages of time and the suppression of Buddhism by Kalinga Magha, as he moved south from his northern kingdom and the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms had to remove their capitals to safer locations.

This period is referred to as Gampola & Kotte by eminent archaeologist Prof. Senaka Bandaranayake, with most temples such as the one in Hindagala seeing these paintings being damaged as they were in the occupied territories during colonial rule, she says.

Next was the Kandyan Era, once again when Ceylon was under colonial rule and Buddhism faced many vicissitudes, where it was only in the Kandyan Kingdom that there was freedom for the expression of Buddhist art but there was also the Southern School, with both styles having an overlap.

With monks unable to seek upasampada (the Buddhist rite of higher ordination) and Buddhism being relegated to the background, it had been gannin-nanses, married laymen living in temples, who would probably have engaged in temple art to draw people to these sacred places, she suggests, adding that there is no scientific basis for her beliefs.

Most of these paintings are in the Raja Maha Viharas, the temples built by the reigning kings. Both the Kandyan and Southern Schools seem to have given simple messages through drawings on the life of the Buddha and his previous births which form the Jathaka Katha, using theeru-theeru (little strips). The story in paint going in a narrow strip or panel along the entire length of the wall, unfolded from left to right and followed through on reaching a corner from right to left. A gap between two stories would be filled with the drawing of a small tree or flower, says Prof. Wanigatunge.

These strips of art had features unique to their location and were drawn by siththara parampara (clans of painters living in particular regions), it is understood, with the Kandyan School drawings not too crowded but in comparison, the Southern School work being packed with detail.

While examples of such work under the Kandyan School can be found in Kandy, Dambulla and Yapahuwa too, the Southern School paintings are seen along the coastal belt from KandeViharaya in Aluthgama onto Hambantota, with every city having a temple with these drawings.

Looking at the drawings closely, Prof. Wanigatunge says that both the Kandyan and Southern School portrayals are child-like giving a two-dimensional view. A painting on the full story of the birth of Siddhartha is depicted in this manner at Mirissas Samudragiri Raja Maha Viharaya.

Maara Paraajaya or Vanquishing of Maara who tried to dissuade Siddhartha just before he attained Enlightenment has also been a favourite topic of Buddhist artists and some of the best paintings on this are in the Dambulla cave temple.

A pointer that clans of painters in a region may have given of their labour of love to different temples could be the upper cave complex of the Budugehinna, a lesser known cave temple off Galewela. The walls of these tiny caves are covered with exquisite paintings of the Kandyan School, she says.

Moving to the Southern School style, Prof. Wanigatunge casts her eye on some of the best preserved murals of the Buddha Charithaya, Jathakas and hell scenes at the Kathaluwa Ranwelle PuranaViharaya where every inch of the walls and roof of the corridor around the inner sanctum are painted in amazing detail.

Meanwhile, in the Modern Period, the paintings of M. Sarlis, Somabandu Vidyapathi who drew amazing murals at the Bellanwila temple, Solias Mendis (Kelaniya) and George Keyt (Gothami temple at Borella) were more advanced than the earlier 2D portrayals in the Kandyan and Southern School style, she says.

These were more life-like with a Renaissance influence being evident, with the drawings full of colour and vivacity covering big panels.
In a heartwarming incident, a woman in Minnesota, US visited her grandmother at a health facility moments before her nuptials. Shauna Varner wanted her grandmother, Janice to attend her wedding scheduled for April 25. However, due to coronavirus crisis, the elderly woman couldnt leave Country Manor Campus which prompted Shauna and her to-be husband Travis to come with this idea.

According to reports, both of them visited Shauna's beloved grandmother moment before the bride walked down the aisle. A video of the whole event was shared by the healthcare facility- Country Manor Campus on Facebook. The short clip showed the grandmother waiting for Shauna eagerly. Upon arrival, both of them saw each other and talked for a brief amount of time. According to the social media post, Janice wanted to dress up well for the occasion and picked up a navy blue dress to meet Shauna.

Read: Maine Couple Marry At Bank Drive Through Window

Read: COVID-19: Man Pours Wine For His Neighbour From Window Amid Lockdown, Watch Video

Congratulations!

The post has tugged the strings of the heart of netizens and racked up over 105K views since posted. It has also been liked over 2.6K times. Many netizens took the opportunity to congratulate the couple.

Read: New York Couple Gets Hitched Amid COVID-19 Lockdown, Online Wedding Party Joins In On Zoom

Read: Grandmother's Reaction To Her 94th Birthday Leaves Netizens In Splits

In a similar incident, a woman in the US shared the news of her engagement with her quarantined grandfather through a glass window amid coronavirus crisis. Pictures of Carly Boyd, showing her engagement ring to her grandfather through a glass window have warmed the hearts of netizens. The picture, which was shared on Facebook by The Premier Living & Rehab Centre was flooded with likes and comments.

One of the pictures shared showed Boyd holding her right hand up to her grandfather's window at the Rehab Center in North Carolina in a bid to show her grandfather her engagement ring. Another picture shows the elderly gentleman placing his right hand on the window as his granddaughter held back tears.
The term 'gentleman' is the abounding description in the numerous condolences that have been paid following the passing last week of Sean Farrelly, a well-known and popular Bray Seafront resident.

Sean's journey to Bray began shortly after he was born on June 3, 1944 in Cavan. Sadly, his mother died within a few days of his birth and as his father couldn't care for him alone, Sean came to live on Bray Seafront with his aunt, Maureen Byrne, at 'Avera', Brennan's Terrace, where he was raised as Maureen's son and as a brother to Micheal, Carmel, Colette, and Breda.

Proudly educated at Presentation College, Sean went on to study hotel management and had a successful early career in hospitality. This included a period as manager in O'Connell Street's famous Metropole Hotel, where he met his future wife Phyl.

Married in July 1969 at Newman University Church on St Stephen's Green, the pair travelled to London and then Guernsey where Sean and Phyl worked together in hospitality. After a few years they returned to Ireland and Phyl's hometown of Callan, County Kilkenny to reopen Phyl's family business, Dunne's Bakery. It was now that Sean learnt his new craft, baking, for which he would become renowned throughout the rest of his life.

In 1976, Sean and Phyl moved to Bray where they jointly ran the Sidmonton Stores, operating a small bakery from the back of the shop. Shortly after they bought No.1 Brennan's Terrace on Bray Seafront, the house at the opposite end of the terrace from where Sean grew up. Here, they established the popular Avonree Bakery in one part of the basement, supplying hotels, restaurants and shops across Dublin and Wicklow, while running a restaurant in the other. For a time the couple also ran a grocery, The Punnet on the Vevay.

As their children Katrina and Jonathan grew, they too were inducted into the business, from making cheesecakes to assembling cake boxes.

Stories of Sean's generosity as a baker to people and organisations abound and are legendary. He regularly delivered trays of his trademark donuts or occasion cakes such as black forest gateaux to workers in other Bray businesses, especially at Christmas time, as a 'thank you' for their own service. He was an early supporter of Bray Cancer Support, now Purple House. From drivers in the nearby Albert Avenue bus depot to counter staff in the local Credit Union and countless more, many were recipients of Sean's generosity and giving spirit - so much so Phyl often joked that Sean gave away most of the profits.

Sean was proud to be one of the small group of individuals in Bray Chamber of Commerce who came together as Life Members to help secure the ownership of Chamber House on the Quinsboro Road for the organisation in the 1980s. This personal financial commitment by these Life Members, including Sean, helped provide the financial foundation for the Chamber in the years since, and right up to today.

Avonree Bakery closed in the early 1990s, and while Phyl embarked on a new career in retailing with Lace Lingerie, Sean took up a taxi licence. He loved chatting to people as he drove them around, hearing of their stories, and often foregoing fares if he felt sorry for anyone in need.

Sean's life, personal and professional, revolved around family, both his immediate family unit and his extended family on his and his wife's sides. His home was always open to every member of his extended family, and he was epitome of the ideal brother-in-law, uncle, and cousin, constantly providing guidance, help and selfless support to all.

Always smartly presented, Sean attended Mass regularly with his family at Holy Redeemer Church in Bray almost all his life. Sunday family dinners were joyously observed, and he was an exceptional and generous host at numerous gatherings of family and friends in Brennan's Terrace, and more recently in the new family home at the bottom of the Putland Road.

In latter years, Sean's greatest pride was in the happiness of Katrina and Jonathan as they embarked on their own careers and began their own families, and his greatest delight was to be with his four grandchildren.

Even as illness from dementia took hold, Sean always had a hug, a smile and a cheeky laugh for his granddaughters and grandson.

Sean died peacefully on April 21 in the loving care of Cairnhill Nursing Home Bray. He was laid to rest in Redford Cemetery after a private funeral mass in Queen of Peace Church. His final journey took him past his childhood and family homes on Brennan's Terrace and Putland Road, where friends and family safely gathered to bid Sean farewell.

Sean is survived by his devoted wife and best friend Phyl, his children Katrina and Jonathan, his son-in-law Jason and daughter-in-law Pamela, and his grandchildren Sophie, Zac, Abi and Zara.
In a symposium for charities on the front lines of the battle against Covid-19, three of the nations sagest visionaries will come together on May 17 to discuss how the pandemic will indelibly change the country and affect the daily life of every American.

The program is part of the Conversations on the Green series in the Greater New Milford area.

A trio of renowned panelists will participate: historian Douglas Brinkley, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a leading voice on devising national policies to battle the ongoing pandemic.

The forum, which will be moderated by former NBC correspondent and national talk show host Jane Whitney, is the opening event of COGs eighth season and will be interactive, allowing viewers to participate and pose questions for the panelists.

The discussion, Life After COVID-19: A Brave New World, is designed to sketch an outline of how the pandemics legacy will reverberate through time and grows out of the history of previous contagions.

The fall of the Roman empire is widely attributed to the Antonine Plague in the late 100s while Europes social order was upended by the Black Death in the mid-1300s.

More recently, even less deadly crises - such as The Great Depression, the fall of the Berlin Wall or the collapse of Lehman Brothers - sent shockwaves racing around the globe and provoked profound but previously unimaginable changes in the way we live and think.

COVID-19 is the latest in this long line of seismic shifts to shatter our preconceptions about our futures.

Just as it has destroyed lives, disrupted markets and exposed the incompetence of governments, it inevitably will reorder society and lead to permanent changes in political and economic power.

But the crisis concurrently presents unexpected opportunities: more sophisticated and flexible use of technology, a new commitment to battling climate change, a realignment of the global order, renewed appreciation of personal responsibility, a reduction in materialism as well as fresh gratitude for the joys of rural lifestyles and other simple pleasures.

The panelists will help make sense of these history shaping prospects.

Brinkley is an historian and author of more than a dozen best-selling books on myriad social and cultural trends.

A Rice University professor, he is a noted student of the presidency and international relations, a CNN commentator and a Vanity Fair contributing editor as well as a prominent spokesperson on conservation issues.

The winner of two Pulitzer prizes including one for his coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests, Kristof grew up on an Oregon sheep and cherry farm, covered economics and presidential politics for the paper and is renowned for giving, as the Pulitzer committee noted, voice to the voiceless.

Celebrated as a renaissance thinker, Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist, a leader in crafting national COVID-19 policy, a vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advocacy organization.

The symposium, which will begin at 3 p.m. and run 90 minutes, will be live streamed, allowing anyone with an internet-connected device to participate and ask questions.

Tickets are $25 and require advance registration at conversationsonthegreen.com, where participants can leave a question for the panelists.

On the day of the event, registrants will be sent a link to the live stream and a private password to the channel.

All net proceeds of the event support charities on the front lines of the battle against the pandemic, including the American Nurses Foundation Coronavirus Response Fund, which provides immediate assistance to those risking their lives during this crisis; Greenwoods Counseling Referrals Inc., which provides access to compassionate and high quality mental health care; Susan B. Anthony Project, which promotes safety, healing and growth for all survivors of domestic and sexual abuse; and New Milford Hospital, a provider of cutting edge medical care to the northwest Connecticut community.
(Bloomberg) -- Credit Karma Inc., a fintech company being acquired by Intuit Inc., cut the compensation of all its employees in response to the coronavirus pandemic and faltering economy, according to people familiar with the matter.

The startups workers will take pay cuts based on seniority, starting at 15% and rising to 50% for executives, said the people, who werent authorized to speak publicly about the changes. Management announced the decision during a virtual all-hands meeting Thursday morning.

Executives said Credit Karma would be moving to Oakland, California, from San Francisco once its offices reopen, some of the people said. They also announced a freeze on promotions. Employees who dont want to take the pay cut or work in Oakland are eligible for what executives on the call dubbed a getting off the bus buyout plan with six weeks salary, one of the people said.

In this challenging economic environment our priorities remain the same -- supporting our employees and supporting our members, a Credit Karma spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Credit Karma agreed in February to sell itself to Intuit for $7.1 billion in cash and stock. At the time, the companies said they expected the deal to close in the second half of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals. The termination fee for the deal is as much as $350 million, according to Intuit.

Read more: TurboTax Owners Credit Karma Buy Could Spark Antitrust Concern

Credit Karma has garnered more than 100 million users since it was founded in 2007 by providing free credit scores online. The startup offers other services, including the ability to apply for a credit card, find an auto loan and open a savings account.

Read more: Credit Karma Founder to Get Billion-Dollar Windfall From Sale

More than 30 million users log into Credit Karma every week, the company has said. These people dont pay the company for any of its services, and Credit Karma makes money through an affiliate fee it receives when someone successfully applies for a loan or credit card on its platform. Credit Karma generated almost $1 billion in unaudited revenue last year, up 20% from 2018, Intuit said earlier this year.

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Six more people were found infected with coronavirus in Chandigarh, taking the infection count to 94 in the union territory on Saturday.

The number of coronavirus cases in the city has gone up by over three times since April 25.

Of the new cases, five were reported from the Bapu Dham colony, the worst-affected area of the city and a containment zone, a health bulletin said.

A 14-year-old boy from the Bapu Dham colony also tested positive for the virus, the bulletin said.

A total of 1,462 samples have been tested in Chandigarh so far, of which 1,339 were declared negative while reports of 28 samples are awaited.

Nineteen coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals.

Meanwhile, the UT Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore expressed concern about the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, a government statement said.

He stressed the need for a continuous and extensive testing of all suspected cases.

He appealed to the residents to maintain proper social distancing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The pandemic that has upended much of the world has halted the tradition of many French Muslim immigrant families of repatriating bodies to their country of origin. And as most countries have closed their borders, it has also highlighted the challenging task of finding proper Muslim burial plots that are oriented toward Mecca.

Such plots are significantly lacking in French cemeteries, a concern that many families from Northwest and sub-Saharan Africa have raised for decades. But the pandemic has helped reveal the full extent of the shortage while underscoring the broader struggle over the integration of Muslims in France.

Covid-19 has, unfortunately, hit the Muslim community with full force, said Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris. This situation has been going on for years, and we are now paying a high price for it.

Every year, thousands of bodies are sent back to the Maghreb  Northwest Africa  and sub-Saharan Africa, an operation involving specialized funeral homes, charter flights and consular services. But the coronavirus put a stop to this well-functioning system.
YEREVAN.  The embassy of Armenia in Russia has received an application from 5,000 applicants, most of who have applied after April 18. Since March 22, the total number of applications has exceeded 8,500. Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia, told Armenpress about this.

"Since March 20, 1,200 Armenian citizens have been accommodated in hotels [in Russia]," she said, in particular. "Currently, there are 350 Armenian citizens in hotels, guesthouses, and temporary shelters provided by the embassy, and they are provided with food and basic necessities."

According to Naghdalyan, the embassy of Armenia in Russia maintains a permanent contact with two dozen Armenian citizens and medical staff in the Russian medical institutions and, if necessary, provides appropriate accessories.

"Assistance is also provided to eight Armenian citizens being treated at home with a diagnosis of coronavirus," she added. "A food basket is provided on a permanent basis for 45 [Armenian citizen] families that are at home in self-isolation and in a difficult financial situation."

As a result of seven charter flights organized in April, about 1,500 citizens returned to Armenia from Russia, and more than 1,300 of themon a free basis. Numerous works have been carried out in cooperation with benefactors and community organizations.
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The "pressing need" to trigger resumption of economic activities has been addressed in 'lockdown 3.0' in a manner that fits with the prevailing situation on the ground, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Saturday.

He also said that the announcement of extension of coronavirus-induced lockdown by two more weeks from May 4, with attendant relaxations driven by economic concerns, "marks a landmark" in the nation's collective fight against COVID-19.

"In my view, this decision puts the onus of taking forward the fight against the virus more in the hands of stakeholders, including the people, state governments and concerned agencies, commercial and industrial establishments," he said in a Facebook post.

The way all of us conduct during lockdown 3.0, Naidu opined, will lay the ground for further course of action aimed at returning to total pre-corona normalcy.

"This window of two weeks will decide the time frame for it. This is a kind of preliminary examination and as a nation, we need to pass in it. I have reasons to believe that we would, as we don't have the option to fail," he asserted.

So far, the central government has been at the forefront of formulating the battle strategy in consultation with the states with focus on lives of the people, he said.

"It has yielded positive results...," he said.

The modalities of' lockdown 3.0', Naidu said, are a clear acknowledgment of the need to balance the twin concerns of lives and livelihoods by kick-starting the economy.

"The pressing need to trigger resumption of economic activities has been addressed in a manner that fits with the prevailing situation on the ground," the vice president wrote.

The green zones to a large extent and the orange zones to some degree should hopefully witness the start of much needed economic revival.

This is where the people, state governments and other concerned stakeholders should put their best foot forward while seizing the opportunity, he opined.

At the same time, he asserted that people do not lower the guard in the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the disease while taking the economy out of freeze.

"The remarkable behavioral changes brought in during the first two lockdowns shall be persisted with for a long time to come and till the virus is put to rest," he said.

Wearing masks, maintaining social distance, avoiding gatherings will be the norm failing which the gains made so far may be brought to naught, he said.

India, Naidu said, has been at the forefront of fighting 'COVID' through commonality of vision, Intent and determination.

"Such a tool adopted by 130 crore people of our country living in diverse geographical, social and economic conditions, braving the hardships has surprised the world," he said.

The central and state governments, the people and the frontline warriors like doctors, paramedics, police, sanitation workers and other frontline warriors like farmers deserve admiration, he said.

"But the battle is still to be won and we need to persist it as the 'COVID disease' is forecast to live with the humans for a longer period," he cautioned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jeffrey Epstein had an office at Harvard University and visited that department dozens of times after he was released from prison, according to a review of the schools ties to the financier and convicted sex offender.

Epstein had a key card and passcode to the building housing Harvards Programme for Evolutionary Dynamics, where an office was set aside for his use, according to the review released Friday. Epstein used the space to meet with professors from Harvard and other institutions and visited the building more than 40 times between 2010 and 2018, typically accompanied by young women serving as his assistants. He furnished it with a rug and photographs, and it was known as Jeffreys office, according to the report.

The programmes website included material promoting Epstein as a science philanthropist in 2014, six years after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution of a minor. It was only removed after a group representing sexual assault victims complained.

Epsteins close association with influential scholars burnished his reputation, giving him a veneer of credibility even after his guilty plea. That plea generated controversy because it initially allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges that he molested girls.

Last July, Epstein was arrested on new federal charges of sexually abusing dozens of girls in the early 2000s, prompting renewed scrutiny of his ties with elite universities, including Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and some of their superstar scholars.

Epstein died in jail in August, after hanging himself, according to medical examiners. But even after his death, the new case spurred a national debate about the pressures researchers and administrators face to raise money, and the willingness of some schools to accept money from questionable benefactors.

In September, Harvard president Lawrence Bacow expressed regret about the universitys association with Epstein. An initial review found nearly $9m (7.1m) in gifts from Epstein, all before his 2008 conviction, and Bacow announced plans for a more extensive inquiry.

The review, led by Harvard University vice president and general counsel Diane E Lopez, encompassed hundreds of thousands of documents and interviews with dozens of officials.

Harvards former president, Drew Faust, who took office in 2007, determined that the university would not accept gifts from Epstein, and there is no evidence that it did after his 2008 conviction, according to the report. The gifts totalled nearly $9.2m (7.3m).

The largest gift from Epstein was a $6.5m (5.1m) donation in 2003 that established Harvards Programme for Evolutionary Dynamics led by Martin Nowak, a professor of biology and mathematics. Professor Nowak was placed on paid administrative leave while the Faculty of Arts and Sciences determines its response to the findings, Harvard dean Claudine Gay announced on Friday afternoon.

We do not take this step lightly, Ms Gay wrote to the campus, but the seriousness of the matter leads us to believe it is not appropriate for Professor Nowak to continue in his role, other than what he will be asked to do to complete the semester, while the FAS determines its response to the findings of the report.

The review found no evidence that Epstein had interactions with students at his meetings, though he attended an undergraduate math class taught by Professor Nowak. Professor Nowak did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Bacow previously announced changes to Harvards decentralised fundraising practices, requiring development officials in individual schools to report to a top administrator. Fridays report recommended additional changes, including more clarity on procedures for reviewing potentially controversial gifts and better communication of decisions not to accept gifts from certain donors.

The report issued today describes principled decision-making but also reveals institutional and individual shortcomings that must be addressed, he said in a statement. Not only for the sake of the university but also in recognition of the courageous individuals who sought to bring Epstein to justice.

Epsteins connections to the school were long-running. Harvard officials sought out Epstein as a potential donor as early as 1992, according to the report, and in 2005 he was accepted as a visiting fellow in the faculty of arts and sciences, a position often held by researchers with doctorates or similar qualifications. Epstein did not have an undergraduate degree.

His application was supported by Stephen Kosslyn, who was chair of Harvards psychology department at the time, and who had benefited from Epstein gifts to Harvard supporting his research.

An administrator recalled Epsteins appearing at registration accompanied by several women who appeared to be in their 20s, according to the report. The administrator also recalled that Epstein did not participate in any of the activities that Harvard organised for Visiting Fellows. Professor Kosslyn informed us that Epstein did little of the work his plan outlined. Epstein also was accepted as a visiting fellow the next year, 2006.

Kosslyn did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Harvards report recommended revisions to the procedure for evaluating visiting fellows.

In 2006, after criminal charges were brought, university officials spoke with Epstein, and he withdrew as a fellow. Between 2010 and 2015, the report found, donors Epstein had introduced to Nowak and Harvard Medical School professor George Church gave $7.5m (5.9m) to support Nowaks work and $2m (1.5m) to Churchs.

The donors denied that Epstein directed those gifts, according to the report, but development officials were aware that he had played some role.

Church, a renowned geneticist, has previously apologised for accepting about $500,000 (399,900) from Epstein between 2005 and 2007.

The Washington Post
Trade talks with Brussels will collapse within weeks unless EU nations get real about Britains stance, the UK has warned.

Despite hopes that EU lead negotiator Michel Barnier wants to do a deal by Christmas, the hardline mandate given to him by member states such as France on issues such as fishing means his hands are tied.

Britain is urging Brussels to adopt a more realistic approach to the negotiations and include more one-on-one political talks with the UKs lead negotiator David Frost.

Britain urges Brussels to adopt a realistic approach to negotiations and include more one-on-one political talks with UK lead negotiator David Frost (left), pictured with Michel Barnier

The UK side believe the EU is deluded if it thinks Britain is prepared to sign up to strict level playing field red-tape rules, and continue to allow EU boats unfettered access to our fishing waters.

A Government source said: The EU team are not used to the approach of the UK negotiating team, who will not put anything on the table just to keep talks going.

Were ready to talk but theres no point wasting time on proposals that dont match up to the political realities.

Secure talks held via Ciscos Webex video software last week included more than 40 sessions with 100 negotiators on each side.

EU lead negotiator Michel Barnier wants to do a deal by Christmas but his hands are tied by the hardline mandate given to him by member states such as France on issues like fishing

It has been claimed by some in the teams that this process is more efficient than face-to-face haggling, although both sides are looking at ways to have discreet off-the-record side chats remotely, as they would usually over a coffee or drink, to help break the deadlock.

A UK source close to the negotiations said: The EU think they are the reasonable side, yet it is them who are seeking a bespoke  albeit unambitious  agreement.

All the UK are seeking is an agreement based on precedent, which respects the sovereignty of both sides.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Service by Law Enforcement Officers, in particular of community protection is generally, seen as their daily task. However, with the deadly Corona-virus Pandemic raging one would agree that protection of self also goes for law enforcement officers themselves where the pandemic is concerned.

One would agree that from the onset Law Enforcement Officers have been carrying out their tasks with much commitment and dedication looking after the safety of the community at large.

With the deadly Corona-virus pandemic ranging, enforcement officers not only have been confronted with safeguarding the community but also themselves and their respective families from this deadly disease. Royal Dutch Maracheaussee and members of the Dutch marines are doing their utmost in assisting the Sint Maarten Police Force, to keep the entire community safe from the COVID 19 pandemic.

In the eyes of the members of the Sint Maarten Lions and Leo Clubs, this great humanitarian community assistance cannot go unnoticed and decided to express their appreciation. Lions Club President Oralie Boirard along with members of the Lions Club presented a Framed Certificate of Appreciation to the Police Chief Carl John on behalf of the Sint Maarten Lions and Leo Clubs. This took place at the Police Station in Philipsburg on Monday, April 27, 2020.

Police Chief Carl John thanked the Lions and Leo Clubs in the presence of all law enforcement personnel on duty at the time to witness the presentation. After the presentation, the Lions and Leos provided the law enforcement officers with refreshments and snack boxes.

The Lions and Leos also thanked the DIVICO Distributors and Cash and Carry and other businesses and persons who had contributed to this beautiful gesture.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

HULs resilient business model, low debt and healthy balance sheet would help steer the company through these tough times, investors are advised to hold this stock from a long-term perspective, Umesh Mehta, Head of Research, Samco Securities, said in an interview with Moneycontrols Kshitij Anand.

edited excerpts:

Q) A strong day to end the week! The Sensex is back above 33,000 while Nifty50 reclaimed 9,800. What is fuelling market rally on D-Street?

A) Indian markets cheered on hopes of another possible fiscal stimulus from the Indian government. Emerging markets like Thailand, Malaysia, and developed markets like the US have supplemented their economies with stimulus packages in the range of 10-15 percent of their GDP which has triggered markets and brought about the strong retracement from the lows. Hence, the current market rally in India is nothing more than a globally orchestrated rally.

Q) As we close the month of April on a positive note after a massacre in March  how is May likely to pan out for investors. There is a very popular Wall Street adage Sell in May and Go Away? Do you think we could hold onto gains if not why?

A) Given that Indian markets sentiment is largely driven by sentiments in the global markets, especially the US market, the month of May could be possibly driven by sentiments in the global economy.

One cannot ignore the fact that Indian market participants are dearly waiting for a big fiscal stimulus package 2.0 and given the limitations government have with its finances, not much is expected which can keep prices under pressure.

To add to it, once the lockdown ends, bourses might factor in the ground reality which isnt rosy.

A) Quarterly earnings of HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank were not as bad as the Street expected. And therefore, the rally which was witnessed in financials was an event-driven relief rally.

In addition to this, the management of Axis Bank stated that only 10-12 percent of the banks borrowers by number have opted for a moratorium and HDFC Bank too provided similar numbers; however, they are hopeful that if lockdown gets lifted quickly the ground level situation may start to normalise.

Moving on to the auto stocks, even before this lockdown, the auto industry was going through its worst phase, but nonetheless, it is expected that an adequate government stimulus might address this sectors difficulty.

Given the oversold levels with the slightest news of production approval at some factories, investors jumped right in to accumulate stocks at reasonable valuations.

A) Going head, the markets would largely take cues from any updates on the lifting of the extended lockdown, quantum and coverage of the possible stimulus package from our government as well as domestic mutual funds behaviour from the reported inflows and outflows for the month of April.

A) HULs quarterly show missed Street estimates on an overall front and the underlying volumes contracted by 7 percent as demand fell due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the highest decline since demonetisation quarter.

The profit declined 1.20 percent on a YoY basis to Rs 1,519 crore for the quarter ended March whereas revenue fell 9.4 percent to Rs 9,011 crore largely due to the disruption in supply in March.

However, HULs resilient business model, low debt and healthy balance sheet would help steer the company through these tough times, investors are advised to hold this stock from a long-term perspective.

Tech Mahindra disappointed investors with its quarterly numbers wherein profits fell around 30 percent and revenue declined 1.70 percent. During the year, the companys margins narrowed 450 basis points to 7.70 percent.

The pandemic and consequent lockdown in India and across the globe has disrupted the IT industry which will impact Tech Ms revenue too. It would be advisable to SELL Tech Mahindra as there are other large players which would provide better-investing opportunities going forward.

A) Since Reliance Industries is a conglomerate, certain business segments have performed and surpassed expectations while some have disappointed. Excellent performance by Reliance Jio with ARPU coming in at Rs 130.6 has further offset the poor performance of Petrochemicals and Retail.

But, on a whole, the result was largely in line with the markets views. However, the rights issue ratio of 1:15 at a price of Rs, 1257 per share is slightly overpriced which might cause a challenge to attract retail investors, and hence there can be a slight dip in its stock on Monday.

Investors holding it for a long term horizon of 3-5 years can remain invested as the efforts to reduce debt, digital growth, deal with Facebook, etc. are all positives for the company.

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.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has tweeted about releasing Shoojit Sircars long delayed film, Shoebite, on OTT platforms. The film, starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, has been stalled since 2010.

Just thought of this great film I was shown on the edit machine @ShoojitSircars SHOEBITE . Can in times like these @RonnieScrewvala @SrBachchan all of them not work together to release it somewhere online .. Please, he wrote in a tweet.

Just thought of this great film I was shown on the edit machine @ShoojitSircar s "SHOEBITE" . Can in times like these @RonnieScrewvala @SrBachchan all of them not work together to release it somewhere online .. Please ..  Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 2, 2020

Earlier last month, Ayushmann Khurrana had made a similar appeal. I have seen that film twice by the way in the edit and it is his best film till date. If it released, it is going to be Indias entry to Oscars or something like that. Its so beautiful. I think somebody should request and release it right now. This is the time, he said in an interview with Film Companion. I have seen it twice before Vicky Donor by the way. Once alone and once with Tahira. I was so inspired and happy, he said.

The film has been caught in a copyrights battle among two studios for years. Even Amitabh has made repeated requests over the years to release the film. Please please please .. its a great story, he wrote in a tweet last year.

The films script is based on an idea by Hollywood director M Night Shyamalan, who was making the same film with a Hollywood studio. The American studio had given us the green signal, so we made the film. Till now, they havent made it, so they have to sort it out, Shoojit had told Hindustan Times earlier.

I feel its an insult and disregard to creative people. You cant disrespect an artiste like Mr Bachchan, who worked for two years on the film. Nothing has happened till now, he had added.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
An Indian-American nonprofit has announced that it will provide over 20,000 meals to frontline health workers in under-resourced hospitals and local food kitchens in New York City, Bay Area, Boston and Chicago.

The American India Foundation (AIF) said it has tied up with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) for organising the meals.

"As the impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve, frontline healthcare workers in both the US and in India are serving an important role in the fight against the pandemic, requiring our support now more than ever," said AIF CEO Nishant Pandey.

This collaboration is the latest as part of the AIF's COVID-19 Response through which it is serving more than 1,00,000 vulnerable people -- including migrant workers in India -- from the economic and social fallout.

"AIF is happy to be teaming up with WCK to provide daily meals to hospitals, and long-term care facilities throughout New York City, Bay Area, Boston and Chicago. Through this initiative, we want to show our gratitude towards the frontline health workers in the US," he said.

This partnership will also help the local economy and jobs by supporting local kitchens and restaurants, Pandey said.

World Central Kitchen, an international not-for-profit organisation founded by chef Jos Andrs, provides food to communities in times of crisis.

"To provide meals for the tireless and brave medical professionals working on the front lines of this crisis, as well as to meal centers who need assistance more than ever, is truly an honour," said Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The NHS contact tracing app will ask users for personal details despite concerns about patients privacy.

The app has been devised by NHSX, the digital arm of the Health Service. If someone downloads it, Bluetooth technology is likely to track who they come within 6ft of for at least 15 minutes.

If a user develops symptoms they can inform the NHS, triggering an alert sent to other users they have come into contact with.

A coronavirus contact tracing app will ask users for the first half of their postcode and track people within 6ft for at least 15 minutes, despite privacy concerns (file image)

The news comes after more than 175 UK academics signed a letter voicing concerns about the app and claims that personal details could 'make people identifiable' (file image)

However, those who download the app will also be invited to enter the first half of their postcode, and later their gender and age bracket.

The news comes after more than 175 UK academics signed a letter voicing concerns about the app.

Dr Natalie Banner, from the group Understanding Patient Data, warned personal details could make people identifiable.

The NHS stressed that providing the data will be voluntary, adding it will be used only to identify virus hotspots and trends.

An NHSX spokesman said: Users will remain anonymous up to the point where they volunteer their own details, and there will be no database that allows the de-anonymisation of users.'
Joseph Badame spent more than 42 years of his life preparing for doomsday.

The former architect built a home on a three-acre compound in Medford with an electrified fence that could accommodate 120 of his closest friends and family and stocked it with more than a year of supplies.

He lost the home to foreclosure two years ago and now lives above a garage in a friends home. And he thinks the current coronavirus pandemic is worse than the doomsday for which he was preparing.

"This is much more severe than I even planned for, Badame, 77, said on a recent weekday afternoon. "When you combine the trigger of the coronavirus and then the reaction to it. Were right at the beginning of the collapse of the economic system. The world is in such bad shape financially. Every single country is in debt that cannot be repaid. Thats the beginning point.

Badame knows a little about the horrors of debt that cannot be repaid. Bankers seized his property in 2017. It was eventually sold in a sheriff sale for $150,000 after it failed to attract a buyer on the open market.

His downturn started after his wife Phyllis had a stroke in 2005. He went into debt in an effort to make the last eight years of her life special.

She was the love of his life, his former eighth-grade teacher. She was 16 years older than him. They married at the Vatican when he was 22 and spent the next 42 years together.

Joseph and the late Phyliss Badame in a picture from their wedding at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, where they met to wed while Badame was in the Peace Corps in Tunisia.

Badames life journey starts with boyhood in Camden and graduating in 1961 as the valedictorian of Woodrow Wilson High School. Then he spent two years in Tunisia in the Peace Corp before returning to Camden with his bride.

A few years later, during the middle of the oil crisis in the early 1970s, and after living through the racial unrest of the 1960s, Badame was driven to find a place he thought would help isolate him and his loved ones from a volatile world.

Ironically, one of the hazards it did not fortify him against was his own financial downturn years later.

Badame said he has a fraction of the supplies he once had packed into the 8,500 square-foot, partial-subterranean compound he built in 1976, and left in 2017.

Then, he had 4,200 rolls of toilet paper, barrels full of enough dry goods, such as rice and beans, to feed his flock for months. He later donated 15,000 pounds of that food to help with hurricane relief in Puerto Rico in 2017, when he lost the home.

He also had four underground storage tanks of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and heating oil. He had tons of coal piled outside and an automatic conveyor belt to feed a coal-powered furnace. He had a lead-lined bomb shelter complete with remote controls to start the heat or AC units. The home had multiple shower stalls and several washer-dryer units spread out to help accommodate up to 120 people. There were also outbuildings with more bunks, showers and other essentials for survival.

The electrified fence was designed to keep animals like deer away from crops that would need to be grown. He said the animals sensed the electric field and instinctively stayed away.

He estimates he and his late wife Phyllis sunk more than $1 million into preparing for survival on top of what it cost to build their own Xanadu.

Joseph Badame stands among barrels of food he collected in his Medford home to prepare for economic collapse or other end-of-the-world event.

One of the only things he was able to hold on to after everything else was lost was his faith. A devout Catholic, he remains an active part of the congregation of St. Mary of the Lakes church in Medford.

The apartment where he lives is in the home of one of his church members. He lived in a motorhome parked in their driveway for a year before moving inside.

Badame put 50 years of thought and action into planning and still finds himself in the same boat many others are now facing -- running from place to place for shortages of goods and services.

People are in a panic, he said. The time to prepare is before a crisis. Panic has already started.

So what to do? Heres his crash course list of must-have items.

Badame suggests having more than one month of supplies on hand at all times, including medical prescriptions. He also suggests replenishing canned goods like soup and tomato sauce as it is used to maintain a supply of nonperishable foods at all times.

Keeping a supply of cash on hand, including small bills is also a must, especially in a power blackout when automatic teller machines may be out. A gas-powered generator is also recommended in the event of power outages from storms or unexpected events. And that hot water tank in your house, which can hold up to 30 gallons, could also help in a pinch. He suggests occasionally draining the tank and refilling it to ensure water in the tank isnt rusted from pipes.

He also had one last piece of advice.

You have to scale back preparation, he said You dont have 40 years of preparation like I did. The best way to survive is to stay one step ahead of the crowd.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com.
Farmers plant saplings in a rice field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad

By Eileen Soreng

BENGALURU, April 30 (Reuters) - Rice prices in top exporter India hit a nine-month high this week, boosted by a pick-up in demand from African countries even as supplies remain constrained due to corovirus-led lockdowns, while droughts in Thailand supported rates in the absence of new deals.

India's 5% broken parboiled variety RI-INBKN5-P1 was quoted at $378-$383 per tonne this week, the highest since the first week of August, and up from $374-$379 per tonne quoted last week.

"Many exporters couldn't sign new deals due to the lockdown. They are facing logistical problems and it is keeping prices firm," said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Rice traders earlier this month resumed signing new export contracts, after a gap of nearly three weeks as the government adopted stiff restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

India extended the nationwide lockdown on its 1.3 billion people until at least May 3 to curb the outbreak, as the number of coronavirus cases exceeded 33,000.

In Thailand, traders said there are no new deals but the ongoing drought has limited rice supplies and kept rates elevated.

Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 prices were quoted a tad higher this week at $535-$557 from last week's $530-$556.

The ongoing drought in Thailand, which started last November, is likely to drag on until July. However, some rainy days in rice-growing provinces this month have lifted hopes the drought might end soon.

"The rain has eased worries, and it's possible that we'll have ample water for crops later in the year," said a Bangkok-based trader.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's summer rice crop this year is likely to edge up 0.51% to 19.5 million tonnes from a year earlier, despite concerns about a shortage of labour to harvest the crop amid a nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

"Farmers, although concerned about a labour shortage during harvest, believe this year's crop has benefited from favourable weather and no major pest or disease infestations," the federal agency said in a report on the country, released earlier this week.

Story continues

Labour, transportation, storage and processing costs are expected to rise due to the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, USDA said. Domestic rice prices are also at a two-year high as people resorted to panic buying.

Summer-sown rice crop, locally known as Boro, contributes more than half of Bangladesh's typical annual rice output of around 35 million tonnes.

Rates for Vietnam's 5% broken rice variety RI-VNBKN5-P1 were unavailable due to a public holiday.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
A special train carrying over 300 stranded labourers from Nashik in Maharashtra reached here on Saturday morning.

A district administration official said that the non- stop special train reached Misrod Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhopal.

"We have started screening these passengers brought here from Nashik in the special train. After that, they will be sent to their respective towns in different buses," the official said.

This is the first special train which reached Bhopal after the Centre's announcement to run such services to facilitate the stranded labourers and workers.

According to the district administration total 315 labourers were brought in this train. They are from Dewas, Indore, Jhabua, Khargone, Morena, Sheopur, Vidisha, Jabalpur, Seoni, Rewa, Sidhi, Singrauli, Satna, Shahdol, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Panna, Gwalior, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Bhind, Rajgarh, Datia, Khandwa, Barwani and Betul.

These labourers are being sent to their respective districts in 15 buses, the official said.

On Friday night, Divisional Railway Manager, Bhopal, Uday Borwankar had said that the non-stop special train carrying these labourers left Nashik at 9 pm on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had on Friday announced that one lakh labourers from the state stuck in various parts of the country will be brought back by special trains.

Chouhan had also said that the state government had brought back 40,000 workers from other states by buses so far.

"Now the state government will bring back about one lakh workers to Madhya Pradesh from different parts of the country by trains. A discussion has already been held in this regard with the Railway Minister," he had said in a statement.

The chief minister directed Additional Chief Secretary ICP Keshari to provide necessary information to the Ministry of Railways about the number of labourers from the state who are stranded in different parts of the country.

Keshari said over one lakh labourers from Madhya Pradesh are stranded in other states: 50,000 in Maharashtra, 30,000 in Gujarat, 8,000 in Tamil Nadu, 5,000 in Karnataka, 10,000 in Andhra Pradesh and 3,000 in Goa.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This localised disinformation has led to a seemingly paradoxical public reaction: Towards the end of January, when most major cities around China started to get anxious about the virus, Wuhan residents were generally still relaxed. During a late January online meeting with a UK-trained professor in Wuhan, he dismissed my concern over the epidemic as an over-reaction due to media speculations. A classic example of risk amplification, he exclaimed on the other side of the screen. Sure Wuhan had most of the 200 confirmed cases, but that was out of 11 million people in the city. He assured me that the actual situation was really not that serious. This professors reaction echoes a doggerel widely circulated on WeChat, Chinas leading social media app, just days preceding the lockdown: People in Hankou (the district where COVID-19 was first found) are happily doing their Spring Festival shopping, rushing to dinners and partiesThe whole world knows that Wuhan is cordoned off, only Wuhan doesnt know it yet. In fact, it was a Beijing newspaper rather than Wuhan media, that first questioned Wuhan authorities insistence on social harmony at the cost of public ignorance. With the headline, Wuhans calmness makes it impossible for the rest to remain calm, the article compared the authorities attempts of harmonising a virus into political compliance to the absurdity of running naked amid dangers. A couple of days after I spoke with the aforementioned professor, Wuhan went into lockdown.

I wonder in retrospect how many ordinary citizens in Wuhan felt they were misled into running naked before the lockdown when they went about the town with their daily routines. I also wonder, for those Wuhan bureaucrats, did they also feel they were running naked when they knew the data reported to them by hospitals and health authorities were airbrushed under their acquiescence if not direct support? When censorship is institutionalised, or rather effectively constitutionalised in a governing system, facts quickly become artefacts when passed on through multiple layers of censoring and self-censoring.

Censorship and Societal Resilience

A key difference between democratic and non-democratic states in the response to COVID-19 does not hinge on lockdowns, but on what has been discussed and done to mitigate the various knock-on effects of lockdowns. For example, in the days following the UKs lockdown in late March, discussion, and sometimes protests, on the welfare of different social groups filled mainstream news outlets: the impact of children with special needs, individuals in care homes, domestic violence, mental health and concerns for safety-nets for the self-employed. Of course many of these issues remain unresolved or only partially resolved, but this explosion of public expression of concerns made many underlying social issues visible from the start.

In contrast, few such (pre-emptive) discussions on the social consequences of lockdown could be found in Chinese media. If one types in domestic violence () and coronavirus pneumonia (, the common way for Chinese media to refer to the COVID-19 pandemic) onto Chinas search engine Baidu, the results are predominately news reports on the increase of domestic violence in the UK, US, Japan and other countries. Reports on domestic violence in China in the context of the pandemic were scarce. Of course, Baidu as the main Chinese search engine has long been criticised for manipulating research results, bowing to political and commercial pressure. Thus this might not be a fair representation of what has been discussed or done about domestic violence in China during the lockdown. But this perhaps further underlines my point. That is, social controversies within China are censored out of public sight, and thus out of public mind.

The true danger of political censorship, however, lies not simply in the absence of certain discussions, but in the nurturing of social acquiescence to this silence. For example, similar to other countries, medical staff were soon heralded as the contemporary heroes in China. Images of the medical profession on posters paying tribute to them were predominantly male, yet published lists of medical staff volunteering to join the front line were largely female. I wrote a post on Chinese social media questioning this aspect of gender inequality. The response was mixed. While some commented that this was an interesting point, others disapproved of my making a fuss. One such criticism came from my own cousin, who, along with his wife, were front-line doctors. He believed that everyone was or should be preoccupied with fighting the disease. So why should I distract this concentration with the trivial matter of gender equality? My cousins rationale echoes Chinas development strategy over the last 40 years. That is, China has been exceptionally good at identifying one goal (e.g. fighting coronavirus) and concentrating the whole nations resources into achieving that goal (e.g. speedy reallocation of financial and human resources into the health system). Wider social discussions are considered as but a distraction. In fact, there is almost a pragmatic argument for no discussion: even if issues were raised, given limited government resource and under-developed societal services, there is no capacity to address these problems anyway. So whats the point of discussion?

When censorship starts to impact scientists decisions on what types of questions could be asked, when they could be asked and what should be avoided, the resulting scientific compliance may be at the cost of a lost realm of knowledge.

But how can a civil society grow if the social issues it may address are not allowed to be made visible or to be articulated in public in the first place? Among the COVID-19 tragedies that made world news from China were a 17-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who died at home when he was left without a career after his relatives were put under quarantine and a 6-year-old boy who was locked in with his deceased grandfather for several days due to a gap in community support. If the disabled are no longer living as the invisible millions in China, and if civil society is free to examine and critique the shortfall of social support to left-behind children and the elderly, could things have resulted differently?

What COVID-19 exposed is not so much the weakness of Chinas civil society, but rather how important it is for China to encourage a strong civil society and public reflection so as to recognise and address its diverse needs. But when a society gets used to a norm in which certain facts mustnt be true, and certain discussions shouldnt be permitted, then silence may turn into indifference. The sinister side of censorship is that this shrinks social recognition of which community interests requires respect and which values are worth protecting. As such, it precludes a societys civil potential through a harmonious denial of community needs and their importance.

Censorship and (Global) Science

Global concerns over Chinas censorship of the pandemic have largely focused on its scientific consequences and can be grouped into two categories. They seem to be schizophrenic but are related: On the one hand, there is skepticism over accepting Chinas COVID-19 statistics for concerns that they are doctored to save face. On the other hand, the international community is simultaneously agonizing over the missed opportunities of engaging with Chinese data. That is, there are concerns that in a time when global research collaborationis most needed, China, the country that accounts for 36% of the worlds scientific papers in the life sciences, and has the largest volume of data on COVID-19, would turn into a secretive operation. This later worry seemed to be further confirmed by a 13 April CNN report, which exposed that China has tightened its censorship over the publication of coronavirus research. In short, these two seemingly paradoxical concerns can be summarized in one sentence: Do we really know what China knows?

These are legitimate concerns, although I have discussed elsewhere why, despite the perceived secrecy, the mainstream of Chinas scientific community are advocates of transparency and openness. This is also reflected by the fact that during the first 2 months of the outbreak, more than 60% of the research papers were contributed by Chinese labs. But there is a need to highlight another commonly overlooked but equally important question on the relationship between Chinas censorship and science: Does China really know what it needs to know?

Wuhan authorities initial decision to bypass the national reporting system, cited at the beginning of this piece, for fear of political admonishment on bringing up bad news is just one example of how China may be the primary victim of its censorship. Censorships potential curtailing effect on its research capacity can be seen in the afore-mentioned tightening of governmental scrutiny of COVID-related research. This new Ministry of Education directive reported by CNN includes three items which can be summarized as follows: 1) Any paper that traces the origin of the virus are subject to extra stringent regulation and can only be submitted to journals after acquiring approval from the Ministry; 2) Any other academic research related to the virus can be submitted for publication after its academic value, timing of the publication, and appropriateness for domestic or foreign journals have been agreed on by respective university academic committees; and 3) Research should adhere to biosecurity regulations and publication on vaccine research should be avoid exaggeration.

The nationalist considerations are blatant in this censorship directive. Amid the ongoing blame game between US and China on who should be responsible for the virus, the first item of the directive sends a strong signal to discourage the scientific community in China on conducting origin research. While there is an evident intention of quality control so as to avoid national embarrassment of the recent faulty mask and test-kit scandals, this directive also imposes political oversight which ensures scientific projects are in harmony with government narratives. But it is not far-fetched to say it has implications for domestic scientific trajectories. Given the necessity for ministerial level approval, to what extent will this divert competent researchers into politically less sensitive topics or at least ask politically less sensitive questions? To what extent will the additional bureaucracy and institutional responsibilities discourage provincial, municipal and university level support for COVID-19 research?

When censorship starts to impact scientists decisions on what types of questions could be asked, when they could be asked and what should be avoided, the resulting scientific compliance may be at the cost of a lost realm of knowledge.

Concluding Words

Censorship plays a key role in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the more profound damage of censorship perhaps lie not so much in what has been altered or removed, but what has been harmoniously denied of existence in the first place. That is, facts not acknowledged, risks not calculated, problems not discussed and questions not asked. By the term harmonious, I refer both to the original censorship incentive of managing a harmonious society and to more sinister effects of the collective mentality and the unconscious societal acquiescence to an authoritarian agenda.
South Africa: South Africa records 6 336 COVID-19 cases

South Africa has a total of 6 336 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with seven new deaths and 2 549 recoveries.

The total number of tests conducted to date is 230 686, of which 13 164 were done in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of tests done in a 24-hour cycle to date, Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said on Saturday.

The data also showed that there were also 2 549 recoveries.

The provincial breakdown for COVID-19 cases is as follows: Gauteng 1 598; Western Cape 2 700; Eastern Cape 732; Free State 121; KwaZulu-Natal 1 051; Limpopo 36; Mpumalanga 40; North West 35 and Northern Cape 23.

The seven COVID-19 related deaths emanated from the Western Cape and Free State, bringing the total number of deaths to 123.

We wish to express our condolences to the families of the deceased and salute the healthcare workers who treated the deceased patients, Mkhize said.

The Minister also reported the provincial breakdown of deaths and recoveries. The Western Cape had 56 deaths and 779 recoveries; Eastern Cape13 deaths and 275 recoveries, Free State had six deaths and 96 recoveries.

Gauteng reported 12 deaths and 948 recoveries; KwaZulu-Natal had 34 deaths and 375 recoveries; Limpopo had two deaths and 25 recoveries. Mpumalanga had no deaths and 18 recoveries; North West had no deaths and 20 recoveries, while the Northern Cape also had no deaths and 13 recoveries.

Men accounted for 71 (58%) of the deaths and females accounted for 52 (42%) of the deaths.

The Minister has urged South Africans, who are over 63 years of age and those who live with comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes, to take extra precaution as South Africa eases its lockdown.

We have looked at the data for patients who have been hospitalised and found that, consistent with evidence emerging worldwide, hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease are the three most common co-morbidities associated with serious illness from COVID-19.

He further called on all South Africans to continue to stay at home as far as possible, only venturing out to perform essential tasks.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-05-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
 Flash

Chinese religious circles have slammed the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom for smearing China's freedom of religious belief in the commission's recent report.



The annual report, which groundlessly blamed the freedom of religious belief in China and viciously slandered China's religious policies, was met with general revulsion and indignation among Chinese religious circles and numerous religious believers, said a statement issued by the secretariat of the joint conference of China's national religious groups.

"We express our strong condemnation," the statement said.

It is obvious to all that the Chinese government protects citizens' basic rights in accordance with the law, and religious believers enjoy full freedom of religious belief, the statement noted.

Chinese religious circles have made remarkable achievements in the development of theological theories, the construction of religious venues and the cultivation of talents, it said.

However, the United States has ignored the facts and piled unwarranted criticism on China's religious situation, exposing its arrogance and prejudice, the statement said, adding that the acts have interfered in China's internal affairs, smeared China's freedom of religious belief and hurt the feelings of Chinese religious believers.

"We urge the United States to stop using religious matters to interfere in other countries' internal affairs and stir up troubles," it said.




For all of us, the arrival of COVID-19  and the threat of its insidious spread  has upended daily life.

In hospitals, the upheaval is particularly pronounced, with extraordinary measures to protect patients and staff from the virus impacting all aspects of patient care.

Six weeks after Ontario declared a state of emergency, the Star checked in with three health workers on the front lines at Torontos Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: A surgical oncologist, who has postponed most of his patients surgeries, a nurse practitioner at the hospitals COVID-19 Assessment Centre and the emergency rooms supervisor of equipment and supplies who lies awake at night worrying about his stock of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Here, each tells us in their own words how their job has changed during the pandemic and describes the challenges and fears theyve faced at home and in the hospital.

Dr. Shady Ashamalla is a surgical oncologist and head of Sunnybrooks division of general surgery. An expert in minimally invasive colorectal surgery, Ashamalla usually performs between 20 and 25 colon and rectal cancer surgeries a month. Because of COVID-19, hes had to postpone most of his patients surgeries scheduled for the last half of March and for April and May. He says telling patients their surgeries are on hold were among the most challenging conversations of his career.

Every cancer patient has a journey, and surgery is only one part of the journey. Many of my patients need radiation and chemotherapy  with pauses in between treatments  to prepare for their cancer surgery. Patients who were scheduled for surgery in March, April or May likely found out six months ago they had cancer, and those months were spent preparing for a surgery that is now postponed.

On March 12, when the country pivoted to contain the virus, thats when our hospitals pandemic plans went into motion.

Normally, on any given day, Sunnybrook has up to eight operating rooms open, running simultaneously, for cancer surgeries. For our pandemic plan, that has decreased to one for cancer.

Now, every day, the hospitals oncology group meets virtually to review our entire list of cancer patients and we triage those that are at highest risk. Anyone who is at risk of their prognosis changing in two to four weeks, or if there is an immediate risk to their life should they not have surgery, is triaged to have their operation.

In March, everyones cancer surgery dates were postponed. I had that conversation with between 55 and 60 patients. I wanted to make sure they understood what was going on, to explain the process, and try my best to control their tension and anxiety.

These conversations were in parallel to the anxiety and fear all of us were already experiencing, just being a part of this pandemic. To layer cancer anxiety on top of what they were already feeling  having those conversations was both humbling and profound.

Youre never, ever ready to take away a curative operation that your patients have been planning for. Telling people we needed to postpone their cancer surgeries  that is the exact opposite of what Ive been trained to do.

As a cancer surgeon, dealing with COVID-19 has created multifactorial levels of anxiety. There is the anxiety for my family  hospitals are one of the epicentres of the disease  and I worry very much about bringing the virus home to my family. Then there is the anxiety of getting sick myself. And day to day, I have anxiety for my patients who cant right now have what they need to have. That is huge.

Initially, almost every patient was very afraid when I told them we had to postpone their surgery. Then as they listened to how we are changing their cancer pathway, and how we triage their care and what that structure would look like, they said: We trust you.

If you think about what a patient has to do to consent to surgery in the first place, they have to trust you to cause harm in order to cause good. That trust definitely came into play when we shifted gears in the pandemic. Everybody knew the gravity of what was happening around them and they accepted the situation. In the end, everybody kind of said the same thing: Thank you, doctor. Stay safe.

It was this very touching moment to think  despite everything they are going through  they are still thinking of me. For me, it really resonated the idea that we are all in this together.

In recent days, I am feeling hope and relief that we are increasing the number of operating rooms needed to safely treat our cancer patients, and that we are finding a new normal at Sunnybrook to keep all our cancer patients safe.

Daria Gefrerer is a nurse practitioner who helps oversee Sunnybrooks COVID-19 Assessment Centre. Up until March 16, Gefrerer was a nurse in the hospitals birthing unit, taking care of mothers and families during labour, delivery and their postpartum stay. Though she loved her nine years in the birthing unit, Gefrerer wanted to step up to the front lines during the pandemic and applied for a leadership position at the Assessment Centre. This marks the end of her seventh week in her new job.

I knew I was the right fit for this role. Many of my nursing colleagues have young families or older parents and theyd find it hard to be on the front lines of the virus. For me, I dont have those same ties. I live close to Sunnybrook, I have a supportive husband and I dont have children. To do this job, I wouldnt have to make the difficult decision to live apart from my family. I also thought of it as a challenge that I was ready to take on.

When we first started, all the staff at the assessment centre were a bit hesitant. We didnt know what to expect with the virus or how the screening process would look. It was all unfamiliar. But once the first flow of patients went through our clinic, it eased our worries. Now we feel safe; our small team has really come together to support one another.

When our clinic opens for the day, we often have a line of patients just outside our door. We screen them one at a time and we assume everyone who comes is COVID-positive. Each day, our team double checks we are on the same page for the current testing criteria so we know the patient population we should be swabbing.

At first, the testing criteria included someones travel history. Within weeks, it didnt matter that someone travelled; it was clear you could pick up the virus at the grocery store.

We have a fair number of people who come to us with typical COVID symptoms: fever, cough, breathlessness. But we also have people show up with just gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, and nothing respiratory in nature. Its been interesting to see all the symptoms presenting with the virus.

Every now and then we need to turn away someone from getting a swab. Its a hard thing to do. Its human nature to want to know if you have COVID-19.

Some people are very persistent in wanting a swab after we tell them they dont fall into the testing criteria. Having to tell them no is very challenging. A lot of education goes into those explanations, but its still hard to be the bearer of bad news and sometimes weve had to get security involved with people who really want a test and cant have it.

We do see patients who come to us that truly look unwell. I think it goes back to nursing intuition, that gut feeling a lot of nurses have, where someone comes into the clinic and you just know they dont look right.

Almost every day, we ask someone to go to Emerg. And there are times we physically put someone in a wheelchair because they are unstable and we accompany them to the emergency department ourselves. We just had to do that today with a woman who came in very short of breath. We didnt swab her because she needed more acute care then we could provide; we took her straight to the emergency department.

Its those times that I feel thankful for this opportunity. As a nurse, its ingrained in you to want to help people and thats what I think Im doing during this tumultuous time.

Ray Joseph is Supply and Equipment Supervisor for Sunnybrooks emergency department and trauma centre, the biggest in Canada. Joseph has worked in hospitals for 39 years and has been at Sunnybrook since 2000, working his way up to the supervisor role. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought extra pressures to his job of sourcing supplies and maintaining all the equipment in the emergency department. Since March 20, Joseph has been living in an Airbnb to ensure he doesnt bring the virus home to his wife of 30 years.

Our hospital has a contract for most of our supplies. But when we need big ticket items, or something specialized and outside the box, thats when it falls on me. Right now, its me against the world. Everything I want, the entire world wants it, too. And things I could normally get within a couple days, its now taking two or three weeks with no ETA.

Ive seen a lot in my career. I was working the day of the van attack on Yonge Street (that left 10 dead and 16 injured). I remember the Charge Nurse telling me after I came off break at 1:15 p.m. that she was going to activate a Code Orange  thats the code for an external disaster. The way she looked at me, I knew she wasnt kidding.

That day was the first time I saw all three trauma bays being used at the same time. My role was to get the clinicians the supplies they needed. But I dont really remember what I did; it was go-go-go, just non-stop. What I do remember from that day is how quickly we go through equipment and supplies when there is a major rush of patients.

The trauma team is always training for potential mass casualties. We actually had one of the surgeons who treated victims of the (2017) mass shooting in Las Vegas (that left 58 dead and hundreds wounded) come to the hospital for a town hall. He told us they were seeing patients every seven minutes in a constant, constant rush. He told us the biggest obstacle they ran into was supplies. He said they could keep up with the patient flow but were running out of supplies. That fact stuck with me. We learned from the Las Vegas surgeon to have extra disaster carts with equipment available in the Trauma Centre, ready for mass casualties.

In terms of COVID, my worst fear is not having enough of what the clinicians need to preserve a life, to do what they are trained to do.

Im always worried about PPE. We have enough right now. But you dont know whats going to happen in the future. Like, how many people are going to walk into our emergency room tonight? We are a trauma centre; on top of COVID, we are still getting traumas.

I went through SARS and going through that has helped me. Some of our nurses didnt go through SARS and for them, this is scary. I can see it in their eyes. I try to reassure them and say: Dont be afraid of not having PPE, we will have it for you. I tell them: You think about what youre trained to do and all the other stuff, that is for me to worry about.

My typical eight-hour days are turning into 10- or 11-hour days. Even when I go home, everyone here knows Im just a call away. If they need me, Ill come back. If there is a crush of patients, Ill come back.

Ive been living in an Airbnb since March 20. My wife has underlying health issues and our daughter, a nurse, is taking care of her. To keep her safe, I cant go home. I miss my family, dearly. Living apart is the worst thing about all of this. Im used to going home to a rowdy house full of family. Now, I go home to a quiet house.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
CARBONDALE  More than $4 million have been awarded in grants to 15 Southern Illinois housing authorities, according to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded the funds through the CARES Act Supplemental Public Housing Operating Funds to provide housing authorities financial resources for management, maintenance, and resident services in order to prevent and respond to potential coronavirus outbreaks in public housing.
Theyve been hailed as essential workers since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, ensuring stores continue running smoothly and people can stock up on chicken breasts, toilet paper and sanitizer.

But the grocery store employees during this crisis are not immune to the fear surrounding the virusthey too, worry about their safety and health, yet continue showing up to work day after day.

Every day I get to work and I do say a little prayer for myself, said Brandy Newman, a cashier at Bishops Supermarket in Whitehouse Station.

So it is a little scary to, you know, come here every day and worry that there is a chance that I might, it might happen, she said in an interview with NJ Advance Media last week as we sent more than three dozen journalists out in the field to chronicle 24 hours of the coronavirus crisis. I might get the coronavirus and then take it home to my family, you know?

Across the state, hundreds of grocery store employees face long hours, potentially unpleasant customers, and the threat of becoming infected with the virusall while attempting to maintain social distancing and use personal protective equipment.

However, following disease experts recommendations to stay six feet apart from other people is not always possible for these employees.

(We) are scared of this virus, but we all have to work, Joanne Sienkiewicz, a ShopRite cashier in Clark, said.

She praised the company for implementing efforts to increase employees safety, including limiting the number of customers in the store to roughly 30% capacity and supplying gloves. Still, theres only so much the store can do.

We are exposed to this deadly virus every day, every minute we are at work, everything we touch, she said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Kait Mazoh worked at the Kings Food Markets in Mendham until last month, but she said she saw people ignoring social distancing guidelines while working in the store.

Sometimes I feel like its still turning into a neighborhood gathering, while not maintaining social distancing, she told NJ Advance Media in early April. Ive seen people giving hugs, high fives, patting on the back.

But regardless of the conditions, these employees continue to show up to work, with at least one worker treating customers to performances of Grammy-winning songs.

ShopRite worker Leticia White performed a cover song of Dont Stand So Close To Me, by The Police for customers at the Bergen County grocery store earlier this month, as a way to lift spirits.

Positive feedback to her performancewhich was posted on Facebookand bubbly spirit has encouraged her in the work shes doing.

It makes me feel like coming to work is appreciated, she said. Im helping. Everybody sees it and its a good thing. Because thats what we need, I believe.

Are you a grocery store worker who wants to tell us what its like? Or, have you encountered a grocery store employee who goes above and beyond to brighten customers days? Tell us about it here.

Read more from our 24 hours in Crisis.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
Chikwe Ihekweazu, the director-general of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), says Nigeria and the rest of the world next year would not return to normalcy until 2021.

The NCDC DG said this while speaking at the 24th edition of The Platform, hosted by Poju Oyemades Covenant Nation.

According to Ihekweazu, when asked how soon Nigeria would return to normalcy  away from wearing masks and social distancing and the rest of the COVID-19 precautions, Ihekweazu said: for the next year.

We are faced with a difficult reality and we are not unique in this, every country is right now looking at the same challenge and how to get us back to some level of normalcy, but the reality is that we are going to live with COVID-19 for the next year at the very least, he said

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So we have to start thinking about how to live safely with COVID-19, and you know some of the changes we would have to make are actually good things to have forever.

The emphasis on handwashing, sanitisers, respiratory hygiene; my goal as the leader of the NCDC is that we continue this forever.

That we dont go back like we did post-Ebola to an era of not washing our hand, not only will they prevent COVID but they will prevent so many other diseases from spreading, ultimately leading us into a better future.

The thing about mass gathering, it will be a big challenge for us, but we have to try. Every business, every church every religious gathering of any form, social gatherings, weddings, we really have to rethink how we do this in the short term.

Read Also: We Are Struggling With Bed Spaces In Lagos Isolation Centres: NCDC

Its a sacrifice we would have to make as a people, as a country, to get over this. It will be a challenging time, but this is a sacrifice we would have to pay  we are not alone in this, even the countries we looked up to are facing the same challenges, there is no easy solution.

Now is a time to build our country despite limitations and find indigenous ways to solve this problem, and make our country recover quicker. To do that, we need this short term pain in order to gain the long term opportunity to return to normal socially rich life Nigerians are known for

If there is one great thing that would come out of this, it is that we reinforce our personal hygiene.

Nigeria has recorded 2170 cases of COVID-19, with 351 recoveries and 68 deaths as of Saturday morning.
President Donald Trump speaks on protecting Americas seniors from the COVID-19 pandemic in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 30, 2020.

The White House has moved to oust an inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services weeks after the official presented President Donald Trump with a report showing that hospitals responding to the coronavirus pandemic are lacking in necessary supplies.

In a press release sent Friday night after normal business hours, the White House announced that Jason Weida, an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston, would take over for Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm.

But a spokesperson for the HHS told NBC News in a statement that Weida's nomination does not mean that Grimm would leave the agency.

"The nomination of an IG isn't a replacement for Christi," the spokesperson said. "She has been in the number two position as Principal Deputy Inspector General since January 2020. In that position, she is performing the duties of the IG until that position is filled."

Weida's nomination comes weeks after Trump delivered swift backlash to Grimm over Twitter, challenging Grimm's credentials and accusing her of peddling "fake" information.

"Why didn't 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!" Trump tweeted on April 7.

Tweet

In order for Grimm's replacement to become official, the Senate, with its GOP majority, must confirm Weida to the position.

Grimm's report, released last month, showed that many hospitals lack crucial supplies needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic, including thermometers and surgical masks.

When reporters asked about the HHS report at an afternoon coronavirus briefing in April, Trump said, "It's just wrong," but did not provide any evidence to support his claim.

The White House declined to comment when CNBC asked whether Grimm's report was a catalyst for her replacement.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., decried the move in a statement, characterizing it as an act intended to "silence an independent government official."

"The President cannot be above oversight, no matter how he denies, attacks, and fights against it," Murray, the ranking members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said.

"His nominee must not get through the Senate without ironclad commitments to continue, without any political interference, the investigations that are currently underway. Anyone who demands less will be complicit in the President's clear pattern of retaliation against those who tell the truth."

The move to replace Grimm is the latest in a series of actions and statements by the president that reflect his growing frustration overall with independent inspectors general.

Trump is known to respond harshly to any perceived dissent or criticism of his administration. The president often views inspectors general, whose job it is to hold agencies accountable, as critics and roadblocks to achieving his policy and political goals.

The outbreak has spread to dozens of countries globally, with more than 3.3 million confirmed cases worldwide and over 239,090 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. There are at least 1.1 million cases in the United States and at least 65,068 deaths, according to the latest tallies.

-- CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a series of meetings with key ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and officials of economic ministries to firm up the second stimulus package for sectors impacted by lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus, sources said.

The prime minister held discussions with Shah and Sitharaman and would have follow up meetings with ministers of key economic ministries such as Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), sources said.

The finance ministry, which deferred release of monthly GST collection numbers on Friday, is also scheduled to make a detailed presentation to the prime minister later in the day on the state of economy and several initiatives that it plans to undertake to stimulate Indian economy.

The prime minister already had meetings with different ministries including civil aviation, labour and power on Friday. He had detailed deliberation with commerce and MSME ministries among others on Thursday with focus on attracting both domestic and overseas investment and revival of small businesses in the country so that the recovery process is hastened.

During these meetings both the home minister and the finance minister were present.

To mitigate hardships faced by the bottom of the pyramid, the government in late March had announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus package comprising free foodgrains and cooking gas to poor and cash doles to poor women and elderly.

Sources said the government is considering to announce a second dose of relief measures for the segment and a stimulus package for India Inc shortly.

The government had first imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning March 25 and later extended it till May 3.

The lockdown shut businesses, stopped air and rail travel and restricted movement of people and goods.

Beginning May 4, the government has decided to ease certain restrictions including opening of industries for green and orange districts which either have nil or low number of cases. The easing of restriction in specified districts is till May 17 with strict vigil by local administration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dr. Siobhan Clifford, Meelin, who graduated in Medicine from UCC on April 17th, in the Universitys first ever virtual conferring due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Dr. Siobhan Clifford, Meelin, who graduated in Medicine from UCC on April 17th, in the Universitys first ever virtual conferring due to Covid-19.

Banteer: Volunteers available to assist - Banteer Lyre and Districts Community Council and other community members are available to assist the elderly or vulnerable people during these turbulent times. This help is in the form of picking up shopping, picking up prescriptions etc. Also all neighbors in most areas are willing to help out when asked.

Contact numbers for volunteers are as follows-note other volunteers needed also in all areas and from other local community groups: Rory O'Driscoll 086 2557280; Rosie Healy/...Cronin 087 2227841; Denis Withers 087 2820001; Billy Murphy 087 9624858; Garda Katryn Canty/O Connor 087 4140531; Jack Cremin Duinch 087 4141058; Sheila O'Donoghue Knockatuder 086 6837249; John Buckley 087 3204882.

Murphys Gala shop

If any elderly people living in and around Banteer village who will miss Toms shop need anything delivered-Jeremy and I would be happy to help them out with anything they need or any other people that would need items delivered to them regards Irene at Murphys Gala shop 086 3848253. Please pass this info to any elderly neighbour who may need this service.

GArda message

Messsage from Muintir Na Tire, the Gardai and Banteer Lyre Nadd and Districts Community Council An Garda Siochana wish to get the message out to all communities that An Garda Siochana are there to assist any vulnerable person that may require assistance and thank Muintir Na Tire and the many community officers that are currently arranging new assistance for our communities. An Garda Siochana will be supporting the community support groups as required. Please don't hesitate to contact your local garda 029 20680 or any local community member if you need assistance.

Boherbue

GAA NOTES

As Pieta House are unable to organise their annual Darkness Into Light fundraiser this year, Boherbue GAA Club have stepped up to the mark to try and help by organising a walk/run which will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4.

This is a walk/run with a difference - participants are invited to walk or run 5k or 10k on their own at whatever location they choose. You can if you wish take a picture and it can be posted to the club website.

A gofundme page has been set up for donations and you can contact Steven or any committee member.

If you wish to take part please contact Stevan at 087 2795558 or Eileen at 087 9800102 and indicate what distance you wish to complete.

Entries in for today Thursday if possible please and more details will be announced ASAP.

This is a wonderful opportunity to do something worthwhile during these uncertain times. Please ask your family and friends to contribute to an organisation that is there to reach out at all times.

The club officers are as follows. Joint presidents: Charles Ankettell, Tom Lovett. Chair. : Eileen Casey O'Connor. Vice-chairman: Jack Murphy. Secretary: Stevan Lynch. Asst Sec/PRO: Liam O'Keeffe. Treasurer: Con Breen. Asst treasurer: Anne O'Sullivan. Registrar: Dan O'Rahilly. Your Officer: Bertie Buckley. Development Officer: Tina Dunstan. Irish Cultural Officer: Margaret Kiely. Duhallow Board Delegate: Aidan Buckley. County Board Rep: Tadgh Lovett. Field Co-ordinator: Alan Lynch.

CHURCH NOTES

The live streaming of daily Mass from the Church of the Immaculate Conception has been a huge success with a recent survey showing that it had been viewed in 53 countries worldwide.

It also shows that on average over 800 households tune in which means that especially at weekends approximately 3000 people watch the service.

Regarding the weekly envelopes which parishioners are asking what they should do - you are invited to drop them in the letter box at the Presbytery anby day before 7 p.m.

The Presbytery is monitored by CCTV at all times.

GAA QUIZ

The popular local club quiz continues on Friday and Sundays at 9 p.m. with big numbers participating.

Winners on Friday, April 24 were: 1, Liam O'Keeffe; 2, Donal Murphy; 3, Eileen Murphy; 4, Donal Aherne; 5, Norina Nagle.

Sunday, April 26: 1, Donal Murphy; 2, Kieran Leahy; 3, Orla Murphy; 4, Norina Nagle; 5, Jack Murphy.

A HELPING HAND

Boherbue GAA Club members and players have made themselves available to help out in any way during this Covid-19 trying time. Do you wast help or know of anyone needing assistance with shopping etc. They are at the ready.

Call any of these numbers as they will organise as best they can to help you where possible. Social distancing will be adhered to and all necessary guidelines will be followed as directed by the HSE.

Eileen Casey 087 9800102. Theresa Cremin 085 1100479. Andrew O'Connor 087 9609741. Roger Casey 086 8448989. Rena Murphy 087 2312192. Gerry O'Sullivan 087 4662684. Ann O'Sullivan 086 3716172. CJ O'Sullivan 087 6055922. Anne Hegarty Murphy 087 7424831. Tina Dunstan 087 6479031. Margaret O'Connor 087 7797425. Pat Casey 087 2600641.

Castlemagner

edel quinn Novena on webcam

Owing to Corona 19 Virus,The Annual Novena for the beatification of Venerable Edel Quinn will take place this year by webcam from Kanturk Parish Church as it is set up for this transmission from Monday next the 4th to 12th May at 7:30pm each night. Tune into http://iframe.dacast.com/b/841/c/455649 or 107.2 FM radio

Freemount

45 DRIVE

The weekly 45 Drive in Freemount Community Centre has been cancelled until further notice.

AROUND THE FIRESIDE

The next programme of Around the Fireside will be broadcast on C103 Local Radio on Monday night next May 4th at 10.06pm.. Next week Jimmy will look back over the past 30 years of Around The Fireside to produce a programme from the archives each week while the present restrictions continue. Make sure you tune in on Monday night next.

ST MICHAEL'S CHURCH

All Masses and Devotions in St. Michael's Church have been cancelled until further notice .

COMHALTAS

All music and singing classes in Freemount Heritage Centre have been cancelled until further notice. All meetings etc.have also been cancelled. The Heritage Centre will remain closed until further notice.

OLD PHOTOGRAPHS

Just a thought ,while you are confined to your home why don't you look up your supply of old photographs and send them to us with a caption .We can send them to the weekly paper or we can put them on our parish website for posterity . The e-mail address is freemountarchive@gmail.com. Start searching!

FILL A BUS WITH FOOD

Please support Penny Dinners as they try to fill a bus with food suitable to give out in hampers to those in need. The Bus will be parked in Newmarket and Kanturk on 9th of May. There are various collection points in Kanturk and Newmarket shops. if you need further details ,contact Freemount Development Assoc. 083-4589222,022-28662,086-0836042

COVID-19 COMMUNITY support

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues, as a community we need more than ever to come together and support each other. We need to support the most vulnerable in our community, in particular our elderly, people who are sick, isolated or those who may need to self-isolate in the days to come.

Freemount Community Development are asking people who need support to please get in touch and for others to identify people who may have limited local family or social support. Please encourage them to contact via a phone call or text to 083/4589222 or any of the below local volunteers who have kindly offered to help with shopping, collecting prescriptions or anything else needing doing. All requests for support will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality.

An Garda Siochana will be providing increased community support in particular for those most vulnerable in our society, particularly our elderly and isolated. Gardai are actively identifying those persons most at need, particularly those with limited local family or social support. In these cases, An Garda Siochana will assist. Any person with these concerns for themselves or for a neighbour should contact the 24hr line for An Gardai on 022/31450 covering Mallow and Charleville areas

Social Alarms: If you know someone who has a Senior Alert Alarm please remind them to wear their pendant in case of any emergency.

Some of our volunteers: Sinead O'Sullivan 086/8434753; Eilish Dunstan 087/2952488; Emer Healy 086/8604246; Michelle Green 086/3143952; Caroline O'Carroll 087/8240257; Margaret O'Mullane 086/0836042; Kate Keane 086/2320994; Breda Cuddihy 086/3137631; Fiona Roberts 086/3900801.

John Brennan 087/8218619; Sinead O'Sullivan 086/8434753; John O'Flynn 087/2479784; Derry and Colette Walsh 086/2587369; Cassie O'Connor 087/6775533; Teresa Lynes 087/7994313; Nicholas O'Connor 087/6309285;

If you wish to volunteer your services in the coming weeks, please contact Freemount Community Development on 083/4589222 or email freemountcd@gmail.com. Bi Curamach, and make that call we are here to help.

Our local shop

It's at times like this we appreciate the huge asset our local shop makes to our community . Mary ,Mike and their staff are working long hours to provide a local service second to none. At present their opening times are :-Monday to Friday 8am. To 7 pm. Saturday 8.30am. To 5pm.and Sunday 9am. To 1 pm. If you want to order your shopping prior to collecting or having it collected you can ring the shop in advance, the number to ring is (022) 28899.

This is surely a great service, so we say thank you all very sincerely, and hope our community will continue to avail of this excellent service.

HOME ALONE

As we continue to be confined to our homes ,we think of all our dedicated people out there who work on the front line putting their lives in danger to protect us .We think also of all those elderly people especially those living alone and who are confined to their homes 24/7. Wouldn't be nice at this time to bring back God into our lives who has been made redundant in recent times.

There was a time when our local Radio Station broadcast the Angelus twice daily,Mass on a Sunday morning followed by a presentation on God and nature by Monsignor O'Callaghan,but sadly not anymore.

Wouldn't it be appropriate, especially in these awful times if our local Radio Station C103 brought back The Angelus twice daily or the recitation of the Rosary. Such a move would be appreciated by all who are housebound and give them a break from the doom and gloom news meted out daily .

The Church On Freemount Hill

This poem is one of many penned by the late Denis Foley, Glounicommane Freemount.This one was written on November 21st, 1917. It is ironic that in these awful times, the Church on The Hill is a no go area.

The Church On Freemount Hill

There are lofty fanes in France and Spain,And in Australia's land;

With spacious aisles and rising towers,In noblest splendour stand.

Their glory, pride and grandeur great;With awe the heart may thrill;

I would but kneel and worship there-In the Church upon the Hill-

The noble domes of ancient Rome,Are priceless rare and rich;

Embellish'd works of sculptors famed,adorn every niche,

Thro grand facades in countless shades,so sheds his rays at will;

Yet I treasure in my heartThe Church on Freemount Hill.

'Tis but a simple, modest shrine-no splendour doth it own,

'Twas raised on high in years gone by,It boasts no lofty dome.

With belfry shaded by the trees,In notes so sweet and shrill,

On the Sabbath Day it bids us come and pray,To the Church upon the Hill'

Here was I cleansed from sin's foul stain,And here since boyhood days,

Have I, as humbly as I might,Poured out my need of Praise

To him my Maker and my Judge,And so might it be, until

He calls me to the Great Account,.Then in the Church upon the Hill

The Pastor, lov'd will ask the prayers Of those assembled there

For me, as for each one of his flock,And Michael's trumpet shrill

Resounds-may they ethereal bliss obtain

Who worship in the Church upon the Hill

YOUR NEWS

Items for these notes should be with the correspondent each Monday night before 8pm E-Mail osullivanpj38@gmail.com.
The pace of employment generation in the country is just going to accelerate. In a significant policy decision, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), headed by Honble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari, has done away with the role of District Level Task Force Committee (DLTFC), headed by the Distt. Collectors, in recommending the proposals under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), thereby simplifying the entire procedure.

As per the amended guidelines, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the nodal agency for implementing PMEGP scheme, after due diligence, will directly clear the proposals/applications of the prospective entrepreneurs and will forward it to the Banks for taking credit decisions. As of now, the proposals were scrutinised by the DLTFC, that often led to inordinate delays in sanctioning of the projects.

Chairman, KVIC, Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena said a major bottleneck has been removed with the discontinuation of the DLTFC in approving the projects under PMEGP. He thanked Union Minister Shri Gadkari for taking swift action in the interest of the country.

The governments move has come at a time when the employment sector has taken a hit due to nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Corona disease. The amendment in the policy would pave the way for swift implementation of projects and create new employment opportunities in rural and semi urban areas under the PMEGP scheme.

It was noticed that the district Collectors/Magistrates heading the DLTFC were often preoccupied with local administrative issues and hence works pertaining to the approval of PMEGP applications was not on their priority at all. Proposals under the scheme remained pending for several months as the District Collectors failed to convene monthly meetings on regular basis. Seeking to overcome this hurdle, the Chairman KVIC Shri Saxena wrote to the Honble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari in April 20 and requested for his immediate intervention.

We are grateful that the Honble Minister accepted our request and decided to discontinue the role of DLTFC. This will ensure swift and timely implementation of the projects. The governments decision will safeguard the interest of lakhs of people in the country seeking employment opportunities under PMEGP., Shri Saxena said.

A notification in this regard was issued by the Ministry of MSME on April 28, 2020, which said the the competent authority has decided that the role of the DLTFC as constituted under Clause 11.9 of the Scheme guidelines, may be discontinued for recommendation of proposals/applications to the financing banks.

Significantly, the Ministry has also ordered that all the PMEGP applications presently pending at DLTFCs level may also be withdrawn by the implementing agencies and forwarded to the banks immediately for taking credit decisions.

As per the new guidelines, the KVIC after receiving the applications will scrutinise and examine the proposals and the corrected applications will be forwarded to the banks for taking credit decisions. Under the PMEGP scheme, loans up to Rs 25 lakhs are given for manufacturing and service industries, in which 15 to 35% subsidy is provided by the KVIC depending upon the area.

The KVIC, in association with the Bankers Association of India, shall also develop a scoring sheet and upload the same on the PMEGP E-portal. The scoring sheet will also enable the applicants to judge their applications at their level and bringing transparency in the process.

It is pertinent to mention that KVIC is playing a pivotal role in creating employment opportunities across India. PMEGP, the flagship employment generation scheme of the Government of India, running under the aegis of Ministry of MSME, is spinning a new success story every day.

It is noteworthy that since its launch in 2008, the PMEGP scheme was receiving an average of 35,000 applications per year. However, KVIC in 2016 developed an in house, user-friendly PMEGP portal and launched it in July 2016 to receive online applications under the scheme. The online facility received massive public response and the number of online applications increased manifolds up to four lakh applications per year, which itself shows the popularity of the scheme.

With increased number of applications, the number of projects has seen a steep rise in the number of projects and the amount of subsidy disbursed by the KVIC in last three years. The number of projects under PMEGP has increased from 52,912 in 2016-17 to 73,427 projects established in 2018-19. The amount of subsidy during this period has also gone up from Rs 1281 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 2070 Crore in 2018-19. As many as 48,398 projects were established in the year 2017-18 while the KVIC released Rs 1312 crore for the same. The total employment generated has also increased from 4,07,840 persons in 2016-17 to 5,87,416 persons in 2018-19.

In the year 2019-20, the KVIC has released over Rs 1951 crore margin money subsidy and established 66,653 projects in the country. The KVIC had set a target of 77,000 projects at the disbursement of Rs 2400 crore in the year 2019-20, but fell marginally short of the target as three crucial months were lapsed due to imposition of the Model Code of Conduct between 10th March to 26th May 2019. Another month, i.e. March 2020, remained unproductive due to complete lockdown in the country due to Covid-19.

Year No. of projects MM released (Rs.in Crs.) Employment (Nos.) 2016-17 52,912 1281.00 4,07,840 2017-18 48,398 1312.00 3,87,192 2018-19 73,427 2070.00 5,87,416 2019-20 66,653 1951.00 2,57,816

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The Assam government is facing a



Himalayan challenge as it has to prepare for tackling the flood which generally occurs during the coming Monsoon season and the outbreak of the Japanese encephalitis, besides controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday.

In an interactive session with editors and senior journalists of the state called by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Sarma said the central and state governments apprehend that the number of coronavirus cases in the country will touch its peak on August 15, if the May 15 figure does not remain static or decrease.

"And that number will be in crores not thousands, not lakhs. The yardstick of measurement is that if on May 15 the number of Covid-19 patients becomes 65,000, the figure will cross one crore on August 15," he said.

If the number remains static at 65,000 or decreases, "we will be able to come out of the corona pandemic situation. If the lockdown was not there, we would have seen eight crore Covid patients by August 15," he stated.

On the mortality rate of Covid-19, Sarma said it is 7 per cent globally, 3.28 per cent in India and 2.38 per cent in Assam.

By August 15, Assam generally witnesses flood and Japanese encephalitis, and so, the state is facing a "Himalayan challenge", Sarma said.

The state government has decided to upscale certain areas to Red zone depending on the prevailing situation, as from May 4, many restrictions of Lockdown will be relaxed and most economic activities resume, he said.

Regarding the financial condition of the state, Sarma said presently Rs 4,900 crore is available in the state exchequer in spite of the economic slowdown.

The state government has decided to release the full salary of government employees for the month of June and continue with regular appointment in government departments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The European Union will set up an international medical programme to lead the global response to fighting coronavirus with an initial pledge of raising $8bn (6.3bn) to find a vaccine and treatment for the pandemic.

The virtual pledging conference, due to take place on Monday, was organised following Donald Trumps suspension of US contributions to the World Health Organisation (WHO) after accusing the organisation of colluding with the Chinese government in hiding the initial outbreak of the disease.

Heads of states and senior officials of the European Union, writing in The Independent, have declared their support for the WHO while unveiling the plan to work with scientists and international welfare organisations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, to counter the contagion.

The EU states will be joined by Norway in filling the immediate global funding shortfall estimated by the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB). Vaccines and treatments, say the leaders, will be made available throughout the world to developing nations with an emphasis on states in Africa.

The urgent need for international unity in the crisis, and the warning that no country can go it alone, is stressed in an article in The Independent signed by German chancellor Angela Merkel; French president Emmanuel Macron; Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte; Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg; European Council president Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

The article says: We are building on the commitment by G20 leaders to develop a massive and coordinated response to the virus. We are supporting the call to action that the World Health Organisation and other global health actors have made together.

For this reason, we have launched the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global cooperation platform to accelerate and scale-up research, development, access and equitable distribution of the vaccine and other life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics treatments.

This laid the foundation for a real international alliance to fight Covid-19. We are determined to work together, with all those who share our commitment to international cooperation. We are ready to lead and support the global response.

Mr Trump had initially welcomed a G20 meeting hosted in Saudi Arabia aimed at a concerted effort to fight the pandemic. But a lengthy communique due to be published at the summit in April was replaced by a short statement after the condemnation of China and the WHO by the US administration.

The presidents halting of American funding of the WHO, the largest contribution to the organisations budget, has been criticised by a number of Western states and the secretary-general of the United Nations.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been the second-largest funder of the WHO. Mr Gates said of the US presidents move: Halting funding for the [WHO] during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds. Their work is slowing the spread of Covid-19 and if that work is stopped no other organisation can replace them. The world needs WHO now more than ever.

Mr Trump has also invoked the USs Defence Production Act to restrict exports of key medical equipment and supplies meant for other countries, including allies. The restrictions have, however, been relaxed since then for some states, including the UK.

The article by European leaders and officials continues: None of us is immune to the pandemic and none of us can beat the virus alone. In fact, we will not truly be safe until all of us are safe  across every village, city, region and country ... In our interconnected world, the global health system is as strong as its weakest part. We will need to protect each other to protect ourselves.

This poses a unique and truly global challenge. And it makes it imperative that we give ourselves the best chance to defeat it. This means bringing together the worlds best  and most prepared  minds to find the vaccines, treatments and therapies we need to make our world healthy again, while strengthening the health systems that will make them available for all, with a particular attention to Africa.

If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be a unique global public good of the 21st century. Together with our partners, we commit to making it available, accessible and affordable to all.


South Korea reported six more cases of the new coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the nation's total infections to 10,780.

It marked the fourth day in a row for the new daily infections to stay in the single digits, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The figure peaked on Feb. 29 at 909.

Health authorities, however, are still calling for people to comply with social distancing guidelines during the holiday that runs through Tuesday.

Mass infections account for more than 80 percent of COVID-19 cases here.

The nation's death toll from the virus rose by two to 250.

In total, 9,123 people in South Korea have recovered from the virus, up 51 from a day earlier.



With clear signs of a slowdown in the number of people infected locally, South Korea is vigilant of imported cases. All newly added cases announced Saturday were imported, raising the country's total number of such cases to 1,081.

Daegu, the nation's worst virus-hit region located 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, added no new cases. The city accounts for 64 percent of the nation's total COVID-19 cases.

South Korea plans to loosen the country's social distancing mandate after the holidays if the numbers remain flat until Tuesday.

The country plans to announce on Sunday whether it will move on to what it calls "everyday life quarantine," meaning schools and workplaces can go back to normal routine with some precautionary measures attached.

Health authorities, however, say that even if the country decides to ease its social-distancing drive, it does not necessarily mean that South Korea has vanquished the COVID-19 pandemic.

A second wave of infections may hit the country hard again later this year, they added.

The country also plans to beef up efforts to protect vulnerable people from the virus, with measures including delaying crackdowns against undocumented foreign migrant workers. (Yonhap)
Chinese aircraft carrier formation returns after routine training

PLA Daily

Source: Xinhuanet

Editor: Yang Tao

2020-05-01 18:25:34

QINGDAO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- China's Liaoning aircraft carrier formation Thursday returned to a military port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, after nearly one month of trans-theater training in the far seas.

The training was a routine arrangement in the annual plan, featuring a long duration, many subjects, high intensity and complicated air and sea situations, said a military statement, noting that the formation's far seas training in real combat conditions has improved and its integrated combat capability has got tested.

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During a fly-on-the-wall TV documentary about life in the Foreign Office, the head of the Diplomatic Service, Sir Simon McDonald, made it clear that he relished his position of power.

'Diplomacy is the art of letting other people have your way,' he mischievously explained, adding that the aim was to make others 'feel they've been taken into your confidence, but, in the end, without actually telling them anything'.

One reviewer of the BBC series in 2018 described Sir Simon as 'oozing not just poise but considerable self-satisfaction'. However, that poise suddenly seems to have abandoned the career diplomat in charge of 14,000 public servants whose job it is to smooth Britain's passage through the world and to look after our citizens' interests.

For Sir Simon, 59, has become embroiled in controversy over the Government's failure to get justice for the parents of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn, who was killed in a road crash in Northamptonshire last summer.

Harry Dunn, 19, who died in a motorbike crash outside the RAF Croughton Airforce base in Northamptonshire on August 27th 2019

The other person involved was Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US intelligence official. She claimed diplomatic immunity from prosecution and returned to America despite later being charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Sir Simon is now accused of misleading Parliament. Last month he gave evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, saying that Foreign Office (FO) staff had told police investigating the 19-year-old's death that they could not arrest the American.

Two days later, he was forced to write to the committee saying no such instruction was given. But today a leaked email reveals that FO staff did inform police that they could not arrest her.

This hugely embarrassing U-turn was the latest twist in the tragedy about which The Mail on Sunday has broken a string of exclusive stories. These have suggested that Harry's family has been scandalously let down by the FO and they have also questioned the legitimacy of Mrs Sacoolas's claim to diplomatic immunity.

American Anne Sacoolas, pictured in Virginia where she and her family returned after she killed British teenager Harry Dunn near the American base Croughton, Northamptonshire

Sir Simon's humiliating volte-face happened after senior FO colleagues realised that his earlier statement contradicted evidence presented by them to the High Court in an upcoming legal challenge by Harry's family on the circumstances around Mrs Sacoolas's abscondment.

A legal source said: 'He nearly blew the whole defence - and might still have yet.' It also comes as The Mail on Sunday reveals that Harry's twin brother, Niall, has written to Boris Johnson imploring him to meet the family and take charge of the case. Niall says that watching his parents 'go through this torture is just awful'.

He adds that 'anyone can see that the Foreign Office has made a mess of this' and urges the Government to tell the truth. We can also reveal that an email sent by the FO to Northamptonshire Police six days after the fatal crash outside RAF Croughton last August seemingly contradicts Sir Simon's statement and explicitly stated that Mrs Sacoolas was above the law.

Niall's Letter to the PM Dear Prime Minister, I want to issue a direct plea to you. Please Mr Johnson, my parents are having a terrible time. They have asked to meet you a number of times and you have refused so far, saying you want Mr Raab to deal with it. But we worry he has lost control of this scandal. I love and miss Harry. I am sick and tired of seeing my mum and dad suffering. It was bad enough losing Harry. But watching them go through this torture is just awful. Its just cruel. Please get involved in our case. Anyone can see that the Foreign Office has made a mess of this. Please get a grip of Mr Raab and our case, come and tell us the truth and what you are going to do to fix things. We are not the dirt at the bottom of the Governments shoes. We are UK citizens and we have the right to know the truth. Please, I beg you. Niall Dunn Advertisement

Having received this advice, the police said they felt obliged to end their investigation into the status of the American mother-of-three. For their part, Harry's family complain about 'interference' in the case from the highest levels of Government and about confusion on whether Mrs Sacoolas had immunity.

This allowed her, they say, 'with the blessing of the Foreign Office, to get on the next flight out of Britain'. With the subsequent row having damaged relations between the British and US governments, it is clear that politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are desperate to reach a compromise.

That is why the clumsy behaviour of the head of the FO has not been at all helpful. Although the Prime Minister asked the White House for Mrs Sacoolas to return to Britain for questioning, US President Donald Trump has been intransigent.

He has simply said he would 'see what we can come up with, so there can be some healing'. No wonder Harry's parents described Mr Trump's attitude as 'oafish' and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab's handling of the case 'cold and strange'.

Throughout this whole story, there has been official obfuscation. The Mail on Sunday has discovered several details the authorities have been reluctant to admit. For example, US government officials were present at the only interview that Mrs Sacoolas had with police, the day after the fatal collision.

And that FO staff initially told their American counterparts that she did not have immunity from prosecution, only to change their mind after advice from 'US State Department lawyers'.

To make matters worse, the FO asked Northamptonshire Police to delay telling Harry's family that Mrs Sacoolas had absconded to America, so they could 'get their ducks in a row'.

Harry Dunn's mother, Charlotte at her home in Charleton near Banbury

What is now clear is that the FO told Detective Inspector Louise Hemingway in an email on September 2  six days after the crash  that Mrs Sacoolas, 43, had diplomatic immunity.

As a result, police felt hamstrung and didn't investigate her status further. The email came three days after Ministers were told during a phone call with the US Embassy 'that US State Department lawyers take the view' that Mrs Sacoolas had immunity.

Last night, Harry's father Tim said: 'We still do not have the full picture. But Sir Simon McDonald's evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee was not the truth. How can the country's leading diplomat mislead Parliament so badly?'

With little chance of Mrs Sacoolas ever returning to Britain, the family launched a crowd-funded judicial review into the handling of the case by both the FO and the police.

Ultimately, they hope to prove Mrs Sacoolas's claims of immunity to be unlawful. Undoubtedly, the review will look in detail at all the actions of FO staff immediately after the fatal crash.

What is not disputed is that Mrs Sacoolas, who had been in Britain for only three weeks, was driving her Volvo XC90 on the wrong side of the B4031 at 8.21pm on Tuesday, August 27 last year, and was involved in a head-on collision with Harry.

She admitted later being at fault. The teenager died from his injuries. Mrs Sacoolas passed a breathtest that evening and was allowed home. At noon the following day, Det Insp Hemingway visited Mrs Sacoolas and her husband at the couple's rented home, where she found them with a US Air Force lawyer and two officials from the US State Department.

During their conversation, Det Insp Hemingway noted that Mrs Sacoolas said she had no plans to leave Britain. Nor was there any mention of diplomatic immunity. However, later that day, Northamptonshire Police were in contact with Scotland Yard's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection squad and were told Mrs Sacoolas had 'diplomatic status'.

The convention of diplomatic immunity dates back centuries  there are about 23,000 people in the UK with the status under the 1961 Vienna Convention. It means foreign diplomats and their families cannot be prosecuted for a crime. But they are expected to obey their host country's laws and the FO can ask a foreign government to waive immunity if it is appropriate.

With regard RAF Croughton, there is an intriguing history concerning diplomatic immunity. In the 1990s, Washington requested permission  which was granted by London  for 200 of its agents and officials to be allowed diplomatic immunity while posted to the US listening station.

There was one caveat: the Americans would not be beyond British criminal liability for anything outside of their official duties. However, no mention was made of spouses  something, in respect of the Harry Dunn case, that Dominic Raab has called an 'anomaly'.

Against this background, two days after the crash, the FO told their American counterparts that they did not believe Mrs Sacoolas had immunity. Yet, on August 30, Ministers were told that while State Department lawyers believed there were limits to the immunity for workers at RAF Croughton, these did not extend to their dependants.

Understandably, Whitehall officials regarded this as against the spirit of the agreements and warned Mr Raab's office of 'unpalatable headlines' should Mrs Sacoolas leave the country.

Washington then sent a formal diplomatic note to London demanding that Mrs Sacoolas should not be arrested. Meanwhile, in Northamptonshire, Det Insp Hemingway received an email on September 2 from the FO Protocol Office.

It said: 'Following consultation with the US Embassy, we are going to proceed with a formal request to the US government to seek a waiver of the immunity held by Anne Sacoolas.' The note arrived just before the detective's first meeting with Harry's grieving family.

Despite Harry's mother Charlotte asking 'She [Mrs Sacoolas] won't be allowed to leave the country, will she?', the police officer made no mention of the diplomatic wrangling that had been going on between London and Washington.

There was only a vague reference to 'complications', as DI Hemingway told them: 'I have been to see the driver and there are no plans for her to leave the country.' But she also admitted that police were powerless to stop her if she tried.

Presciently, Harry's father commented: 'I am concerned that it is an American citizen.' He was right to be concerned. Officials from the US and UK governments met three days later.

On the British side, there was a belief that Mrs Sacoolas would face justice as the UK had never turned down a waiver request from America for the 13 Britons with diplomatic immunity who had been arrested in the US since 1999.

But according to documents seen by The Mail on Sunday, such optimism  or naivety  turned to 'disappointment'. On September 13, the British authorities were told that Washington would not waive Mrs Sacoolas's immunity.

A deeply embarrassed Mr Raab told MPs that Britain had 'objected in clear and strong terms' and sought a fresh waiver. But the veracity of that claim was challenged after The Mail on Sunday revealed that the FO's director of protocol, Neil Holland, sent a text message on September 14 to his US counterpart, saying: 'Now the decision has been taken not to waive, there's not much mileage in us asking you to keep the [Sacoolas] family here.

'It's obviously not us approving of their departure but I think you should feel able to put them on the next flight out.' The next day  unknown to Harry's family and Northamptonshire Police  the Sacoolas family left Britain on a commercial flight.

Twenty-four hours later, Det Insp Hemingway was told by the FO that the waiver request had been rejected, and, worse, the Sacoolas family were back in America. She was advised not to inform the family.

She says she was told this would help the FO 'get its ducks in a row'. She agreed as Harry's funeral was just hours away and she did not want to distress the family further.

A few days later, the FO expressed its 'grave disappointment' and Mr Raab called the US ambassador. But all this was too late. Shamefully, the family were not told that Mrs Sacoolas had left Britain until 11 days after she had fled.

Having felt abandoned by the FO, Harry's family looked for support from the media. Within a few weeks, they flew to Washington and met Mr Trump in the White House. It was claimed that, characteristically, he offered to write the family a cheque to drop their campaign for justice.

To make matters worse, the family felt 'ambushed' when Mr Trump told them that Mrs Sacoolas was in a neighbouring room and that he wanted them to meet her. Radd Seiger, the family's spokesman, says they refused.

'We were there to find a resolution and we only wanted to meet her on UK soil once she had been appeared in court.' Despite Mr Trump telling Harry's family he would 'take another look at the case', the US authorities rejected an extradition request.

In February, this newspaper revealed what might have been the reason: Mrs Sacoolas's career in the CIA. Harry's mother Charlotte said afterwards: 'I can't work out what is worse.

How the Foreign Office caved in to the US and let Anne Sacoolas leave, or how it continues to treat us by covering things up and not telling us the truth.' A FO spokesman told the MoS: 'We have done, and will continue to do, everything we properly can to ensure that justice is done.'

With the truth due to be disentangled in the High Court, this a very awkward time for Sir Simon McDonald. How ironic that during that TV documentary he said with just a little conceitedness: 'It's not difficult to interest a dinner party in what I am doing at work!'
If you've been catching up with friends and family on Zoom, chances are you've had a glass of wine in your hand. So why not take things one step further and do a virtual wine tasting? Tune into Wines Direct on Facebook on Fridays at 6pm, and you'll catch Gareth and Gavin Keogh talking through some of their wines and answering questions. They'll be announcing the wines to be featured on Tuesdays, so you can order the bottles in advance from winesdirect.ie.

I've mentioned before about Michelle Lawlor, who runs virtual wine tastings on Wednesdays and Fridays at 8.30pm on Nude Wine TV on Instagram. You can order the drink in a box of three wines for around 50, depending on what's featured, at thenudewineco.ie. Also doing wine tastings on Instagram Live is Sevgi Tuzel-Conghaile, the Turkish oenologist behind 'A Wine Idea' in Galway.

Taking a slightly different approach is Lynda Coogan of Wine Tasting Ireland, who has developed an online wine education programme. It's a series of stand-alone courses with easy-to-follow tutorials, delivered through a combination of e-books and videos. Each course is 29. She is also doing tutored wine tastings on two Saturdays, May 9 and 16, at 8pm, and the six-bottle case of featured wines is on offer for 145 (reduced from 180) by emailing info@classofwine.com quoting 'Independent'.

Master of Wine Harriet Tindal is hosting a 30-minute 'Lockdown Wine Time' on @searsonswine on Instagram Live each Thursday at 7pm. If you want to drink along while you learn, you can order the wines that will be featured from searsons.com. There's a six-bottle selection for 92, reduced from 108. Each week, Harriet will open two of the wines during each show, and special guests will be brought into the discussion weekly. These guests will remain a surprise until the week before.

Harriet has also made a number of videos for Instagram, featuring different wines, including Tignanello, much loved by Meghan Markle, which we have featured today. If you want to learn more about Meghan's favourite 'Tig', check out Emirates on YouTube which now has the onboard wine channel, with tutorials on this and other iconic wines which they serve in First Class. You may need your oxygen mask to drop down when you see the price, but it's certainly a cheaper way to get a taste of the high life from the comfort of your home.

For virtual tastings of whiskey, Seaneen Sullivan of L Mulligan Grocer will be hosting a 'Spey At Home' Speyside Whisky tasting and a Mistresses of Malt tasting on Instagram. And if you want to dive into the wonderful world of cider, @theciderologist has a world tasting on Instagram Live today at 8pm. For the best selection of Irish cider online, check out theapplefarm.com.

That should keep you busy while you sip and learn for the next few weeks, and for today's line-up I'm featuring some more unusual wines, so that you can try something different this bank holiday weekend.





Wine of the week

Greywacke Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2017

34.99, 14pc, from The Corkscrew, Clontarf Wines, Blackrock Cellar, Whelehan's, Mitchell's, 64 Wine, Dublin; Ely Wine Store, Maynooth; wineonline.ie; and O'Briens

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Yesterday was international Sauvignon Blanc day, and while you may think you know New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc inside out, with its bright flavours of lifted passionfruit, citrus and gooseberry, this one is worth trying for something different. With a distinctly flinty note, this wild yeast, barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc is beautifully precise and textural with flavours of apple, lime, chamomile and a touch of fennel. Made by Kevin Judd, the winemaker behind New Zealand's most famous wine, Cloudy Bay, this alternative style is intricate, with the use of old French barriques adding complexity without any oak flavours.





Jose Pariente Verdejo

17.40, 13pc, from winesdirect.ie

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If you like crisp white wines, its well worth exploring the whites of Rueda made from the Verdejo grape. Lively and mineral, this has flavours of green herbs with fresh citrus, grapefruit pith and a touch of pepper on the finish.





Meinklang Prosa Pinot Noir Rose Frizzante 2019

20, 10.5pc, from greenmanwines.ie, Nellys, Blackrock Cellar, The Wine Pair, Sheridans Dublin, Meath, and Galway

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From Austria, this lightly sparkling, biodynamic rose has a crown cap, and is a blend of Pinot Noir, Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch. Delicious flavours of strawberry and fresh red fruit make it the perfect summer aperiti





Goats do Roam 2018

12.95, reduced from 15.95, from OBriens and obrienswine.ie

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From the Fairview Estate in South Africa, this is similar to the blends youll find in southern France with Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, Cinsault, and Carignan. With bright flavours of blueberry, plums, black pepper and a touch of chocolate, it goes great with barbecued meat.





Tignanello 2016

115, 14pc from Searsons, Terroir, Gibneys, Corkscrew, and Higgins

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An iconic wine from Chianti for a really special occasion, and Meghan Markles favourite, Tignanello is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Cabernet Franc, bringing an intensity of red and black fruit with aromas of plums, cherries and crushed rocks.





Grapevine

Online offers include greenmanwines.ie's 'Six of the Best' case with tasting notes for 110. The Corkscrew Bank 'Holiday Lockdown' case is 135. They are also stocking the 'Wine Mason's Critics Case' which is also available from Blackrock Cellar. Wines Direct have a 'Not the Usual Suspects' case of six bottles for 130. Stationtostationwine.ie has a food-matching case of six for 115; and thenudewineco.ie has a 'Taste of Italy' six-bottle case for 128.
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Wipro Ltd has started benching employees in its Pune campus at the back of COVID-19 pandemic. These employees include those working in the travel and hospitality vertical of Wipros BPO arm.

Following this, the Maharashtra-based IT union, National Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has written to the Pune labour commissioner.

In the letter, NITES said, On behalf of NITES, Maharashtra we would like to bring to your notice that we have received complaints from employees of Wipro BPO Pune Phase 2 Hinjewadi regarding putting employees on bench to maintain profitability of business under COVID-19 pandemic.

The company has also notified the employees on April 23, 2020 that they are on bench with immediate effect. Because of this, pay and jobs of more than 300 employees are at risk, the letter added.

According to the letter, the move is a strict violation of Maharashtra governments rule that employees should not be impacted because of COVID-19.

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

Moneycontrol has seen the copy of the letter sent to the labour commissioner.

Most of the IT/ITeS firms during their FY20 Q4 results commented that they expect June quarter to take the worst hit and suspended guidance due to lack of growth visibility. Firms also hinted they expect pricing pressures, project deferrals and demand drops due to the virus outbreak. In a bit to cut costs, the companies have put a freeze on hiring and suspended promotions and wage hikes.

In an email response to Moneycontrol, Wipro said, The speculation related to the workforce is unfounded and has no basis. Wipro categorically denies these malicious rumors. Wipro reiterates that there are no retrenchment plans. Also, we request you not to misrepresent or misinterpret intra-company surveys that are undertaken from time to time on various topics. The company has well defined policies and people practices in place to take care of its employees.

At the same time, a senior employee, who spoke to Moneycontrol and was benched recently, said that he and his colleagues have been put on bench late April. They continue to receive their salaries. What they fear, the senior employee said, is what is likely to follow if they are unable to find projects.

"Once employees are on bench, they are given certain period of time to find projects. Unlike other times, number of projects are limited due to the virus outbreak and hence more challenging. It is unclear if they would be laid off in cases if they are not redeployed," said the employee

Wipro during its results announcement said that it expects pressure on margins. Jatin Dalal, CFO, Wipro said that this is worse than the 2008 global financial crisis due to its unpredictability. It also suspended revenue guidance due to lack of clarity and deferred promotions and wage hikes.

According to a CNBC-TV18 report after the companys Q4 results, the company is considering all options including sending staffs on furloughs and leaves as the company prepares for revenue hits due to the virus outbreak.

Saurabh Govil, Chief Human Resources Officer, Wipro said in the report that, "We will look at if people can go on furloughs and leaves. If sub-contractor costs can come down and if we can deploy people there. We will have to cut costs wherever possible. These are tough times and we may have to take tough decisions."

Apart from Wipro, reports state that Capgemini has asked its non-billable employees to go on leaves and seek billable opportunities. Capgemini employees confirmed to Moneycontrol that some of their non-billable colleagues were asked to go on leave.
It may be time to say goodbye to the Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus.

Malthus was an 18th century economist and statistician who circulated interesting (and eventually discredited) theories about poverty and population. Boiled down, Malthus thought poor people had too many children (whom they couldnt financially support) and that disease, famine, and viruses were natures (or Gods) way of killing the poor so that food production would again be sufficient to feed the more-deserving citizenry.

If nature/God didnt step in, Malthus thought the best way to alleviate poverty was for people to marry later (thus presumably shortening the fertile years), commit to celibacy. or the government needed to stop giving aid to poor families, starve them out, basically.

Harsh? Yes.

Effective? We will never know, but we are seeing part of his theory in action, as a terrible virus lands hardest on families living in poverty.

Before you think the rest of Malthus theories were resigned to the dustier pages of history, Charles Darwin was a fan, and some of the reverends ideas were encoded into Great Britains reformed poor laws in 1834, that were eventually adapted - with some modifications - into our own policies. There as in the U.S., the poor were divided into two categories - deserving and undeserving. Deserving poor included some widows and children.

Undeserving poor included everyone else, people whose bad judgment - or so the thinking went -- had landed them at the door of their local alms house. Those were the people on whom a deadly virus would be considered both disastrous and justified.

But what if we let this pandemic be our cue to approach family poverty differently?

There were always soup kitchens, and we always thought of that as being for the other, said Michael Williams, state Department of Children and Families deputy commissioner. We had this value system that led us to believe they must have done something to be in the condition they were in. Now weve come to realize, its not a consequence of being bad. Its not that. These things can happen to all of us.

Now we see that an invisible enemy, as Williams said, can destroy livelihoods and lives.

This is probably one of the first tragedies where blaming somebody for it is not going to work, said Williams. You cant blame black folks, immigrants, or poor people. Theres no one to blame for this tragedy.

While families in European countries - think Germany - are weathering the economic impact of the pandemic, so many families in the United States and Connecticut are teetering on the verge of financial ruin. So much of our culture was, as it turns out, built on sand, including our economic, child care, and health care systems.

Weve been here before. Prior to the Depression, the booming economy disguised the real poverty of many families. The Depression brought that poverty into sharp relief. Connecticut is heading into its sixth week of state-sanctioned quarantine. Our culture is like someone who has had too much to drink. All of our inhibitions/support systems are reduced or eliminated. This is precisely who weve been all along.

A large number of families who have not paid attention to some of the social structures and societal infrastructures that were there undergirding us and giving us supports, that just kind of eroded overnight, said Williams. Its caused people to stop and think: What if those dont come back?

Take, for example, SNAP benefits, which are meant to help provide healthy food to struggling families. As Emily Byrne, executive director at Connecticut Voices for Children, says, in this health-oriented crisis, we are rightfully obsessed with cleanliness and disinfectants. Guess what products families cannot use SNAP to buy? Cleaning products. Disinfectants. In addition, the states rent moratorium is a godsend - for April and May. But what about the months beyond?

The Rev. Malthus insisted on laying the fault of poverty at the feet of the most vulnerable. We need, instead, to look at poverty as a symptom of a cultural ill.

Weve had so many warnings and messages for us to change, and if we dont hear this one, God help us with what the next one will be, said Williams. Weve got to be different people in this country. Families have got to be treated differently in this country.

That means talking about infrastructure beyond bridges. That means talking about child care, and early education, and the folly of tying health insurance to employment. That means taking the future of Connecticuts families seriously.

If there was ever a moment to re-imagine the possible, said Bryne, now is the time.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

In Madrid's deserted streets with paying customers scarce, taxi drivers running doctors from house-to-house or taking the sick to hospital have become an essential service, their free rides helping frontline medics fight the virus.

Although their role has been largely anonymous, healthcare staff say it has been essential as Spain has battled the worst of an epidemic that has killed close to 25,000 people.

In Madrid, by far the worst-hit area, more than 500 taxi drivers signed up to volunteer through the PideTaxi app, and they have run more than 100,000 free trips.

"I work on the days when I can, then if they need any help and I'm the closest, the app pings and off I go," says Gaby Saez, 45, who has spent the past six weeks behind the wheel since Spain imposed a strict national lockdown on March 14.

Despite the risks, he says he's not afraid, just ultra-careful, wearing a mask and gloves and scrupulously disinfecting his taxi after every single trip.

"At times like these, we all have to do our bit, even if what we can do is very limited."

Anonymous but important role

With taxi services made freely available to staff at 266 medical centres across the region, medics have been able to visit patients at home, easing pressure on primary healthcare services.

"Health centres request a taxi so they can make home visits to the elderly, to those needing treatment or people with COVID," says PideTaxi president Andres Veiga.

The idea was to reduce the number of people going to health centres to stop them picking up the virus or passing on the infection to medical staff.

"A taxi might do 10 or 20 visits a day with healthcare staff. Instead of patients going into the health centres, the doctors or nurses go to see them," he told AFP.

"Being able to take a taxi has made a big difference in stopping the spread of the virus, helping contain it and preventing medical staff from becoming infected."

EU health chiefs at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control say measures to prevent transmission in healthcare facilities "are an immediate priority".

This is particularly true in Spain which has suffered more than 215,000 cases, around 19 percent involving healthcare workers, one of the highest reported percentages in the world.

'Absolutely essential'

Although epidemic peaked earlier this month, medics say the free taxis have made a huge difference.

"For me, it's been absolutely essential," says Sara del Carmen Vicente, a 23-year-old nurse at Madrid's October 12 hospital.

"They take you to people's homes, they wait outside then they take you to the next place. They're 100 percent available, they're always there with a smile and they never give you any grief," she told AFP.

"They're always asking how we're doing, how we're coping emotionally, if things are improving and how the patients are doing.

"It's as if they were part of your family."

Footage of doctors and nurses hailing the taxis for their work have been widely shared on social media, one showing a driver in tears when staff began clapping as he entered a health centre.

For Saez, whose wife is also a taxi driver, seeing medical staff break down was tough.

"For me, these doctors and nurses are pretty much heroes so you try and calm them and offer some sort of shoulder to cry on," he says.

'Gratitude the greatest reward'

Voluntary work aside, few of Spain's 100,000 drivers are managing to actually work with movement severely restricted and and regional authorities capping the number of taxis out every day.

"Billing is down between 80 and 90 percent," says Tito Alvarez of Elite Taxi Barcelona.

"When you do get the chance to work, you work well because there are hardly any taxis. But you don't cover you costs because you're only working five days a month."

Though money is tight, Saez says the worst thing is knowing that five colleagues have died of the virus.

"That really touches a nerve," he admits.

"But I feel very calm and I wouldn't even consider stopping volunteering or doing things like delivering masks or ventilator valves. Just seeing how grateful these people are is the greatest reward."

Explore further Nine doctors die from coronavirus in Philippines

 2020 AFP
China-US relations at a low ebb but decoupling not the answer

Global Times

By Dong Feng Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/1 15:44:08

The ever-growing nationalist tide in the US seems to have soured on China amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Chinese public's attitudes toward the US political system have continued to become less favorable. Two surveys released in one month have come to the same conclusion: There is not much "love" left between the US and China.

A Pew Research poll conducted by telephone from March 3 to 29 shows that the percentage of Americans with negative views of China rose to 66 percent, up from 47 percent in 2019, and the highest since the pollster began asking the question in 2005.

A survey conducted by the Eurasia Group Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on geopolitical issues and events, finds that since 2019, positive views of the US have decreased by nearly 20 percent while negative views increased by 11 percent among people in China.

When consumers around the world are still enjoying the purchase of smartphones through a global supply chain where the chipset and design might come from the US, the raw materials from Indonesia, and the assembly line based in China, some might be troubled by a question: Will the China-US decoupling take place despite the two countries' common interests or do these surveys hint at a changing geopolitical scenario?

The stake of common interests is extremely high - according to the US Trade Representative's Office, bilateral goods and services trade totaled an estimated $737 billion in 2018. In other words, the price of decoupling is far too high for many economies linked to that global supply chain.

Those US enterprises that are still earning revenue from China will need a good reason to move away.

The pandemic has exacerbated cultural separation among the peoples on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Within three months, China has gotten the COVID-19 epidemic under control. Instead of gaining insights from China's experience, some US citizens scoffed when seeing Asian students wearing face masks, while their own president was caught in a lie by CNN on April 24 when he claimed he was being "sarcastic" when he suggested doctors try injecting disinfectant as a possible treatment for COVID-19.

No matter if people in the US are aware of China's development over the past four decades or not, everyone is aware that huge cultural differences exist between the East and the West.

When all is said and done, if US President Donald Trump keeps himself busy by blaming China on Twitter instead of focusing on the pandemic, it may help his re-election campaign, but it will not help those people who have lost family members due to his administration's poor response to COVID-19.

Trump's Twitter account is always in the spotlight, and in some ways, it might help him brainwash Americans, but the pandemic is not going to go away on its own.

Since Trump took office, the US narrative concerning China has grown to become more negative than ever. From trade deficits to the pandemic, Trump's agenda is to blame China whenever he can.

If people in the US would take a step back and think about the China they knew before Trump took office, they might recall that there are many hard-working Chinese students and friendly tourists in the country. Here is some data to refresh everyone's memories.

Since 2005, the number of Chinese students studying in the US has increased exponentially.

Almost 370,000 Chinese students enrolled in the 2018-19 academic year, making China the largest source of international students in the US for a 10th consecutive year, according to data from the "Open Doors Report" released in November 2019 by the Institute of International Education.

Besides education, tourism is one of the many sectors in the US that benefits from China's development.

Nearly 3 million Chinese tourists visited the US in 2018. These Chinese tourists spent liberally according to the US Travel Association - an estimated average of $6,700 per person per trip, exceeding the average spending of international tourists by more than 50 percent.

China is an import market for US goods such as airplanes, agricultural produce, automobiles and integrated circuits. In 2017, China accounted for 57 percent of US soybean exports, 25 percent of Boeing aircraft, 20 percent of automobiles, 14 percent of integrated circuits and 17 percent of cotton.

Moreover, the US is a major source of foreign investment for China. By the end of 2017, there were approximately 68,000 US-funded enterprises in China with more than $83 billion in actualized investment, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

US firms have played an exemplary role in China for their Chinese peers in terms of technological innovation, marketing management and institutional innovation.

All these changes show that the two countries have changed a lot since the establishment of bilateral relations.

Is China really the threat? Americans need to think twice when they answer questions from the Pew Research Center.

Leaders in the US and China may have a bumpy road ahead then it comes to moving on from the trade war, and the $737 billion in trade and economic interdependence is a lot to weigh in.

The figure is too big to throw away just because of some personal preferences or biases. On the contrary, both countries should find every reason to rebuild relations for the sake of long-term economic growth.

The past 15 years since the polls began do not equate to the entirety of the two countries' interaction, nor will it set the tone for upcoming endeavors facilitated by the wisdom of future generations.

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While the therapists who give massages to Manitobans may have been surprised when the province told them they could resume seeing clients on Monday, the professionals who check eyes or help with range of motion weren't.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the therapists who give massages to Manitobans may have been surprised when the province told them they could resume seeing clients on Monday, the professionals who check eyes or help with range of motion weren't.

The same provincial announcement this week that, with restrictions, allows Manitobans to dine at an outdoor patio, get their hair cut, and shop for shoes starting Monday, is also allowing many health-care professionals to begin practising again.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Tricia Weidenbacher, executive director of the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba: "It wasn't something we were prepared for."

But massage therapists represented by the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba only learned on Wednesday  the same day it was publicly announced  their profession could begin giving treatment again. That's when Premier Brian Pallister listed various services and professions that could reopen as part of a graduated restarting of the province after all non-essential services had been closed for seven weeks to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

"We were shocked," Tricia Weidenbacher, executive director of the massage association, said Friday. The association represents about half of the estimated 1,800 massage therapists in the province.

"It wasn't something we were prepared for. We had been reaching out for information. A five-minute phone call would have been good."

Weidenbacher said it will take time for many massage therapists to get ready to follow the provincial guidelines that allow them to begin taking clients again, but still limit the spread of COVID-19. These include screening staff for the coronavirus before accepting appointments, having customers wait outside in their vehicle before their appointment or be physically distanced in the waiting room, sanitizing service areas between each client, and removing magazines from waiting areas.

As well, Weidenbacher said it may take time for many to get the gloves and masks they will need and, initially, not all types of therapy may be done.

"Sometimes we have to work right inside the cheek - we will not be offer that right now," she said.

"It won't be the majority (of massage therapists) coming back on Monday. Massage therapists in Saskatchewan are coming back on May 19, and we were planning for that date or later."

Weidenbacher said the issue shows once again why the massage therapy profession needs to be guided by a regulatory body under the Regulated Health Professions Act. It's something the organization has been working on, but the province said in 2018, the association was still in a three-to-five-years long line. Earlier this year, a provincial spokeswoman said six other professions, including psychology, physiotherapy, and licensed practical nursing, were still ahead of them in line.

Meanwhile, Tanya Dillon, president of the Manitoba Association of Optometrists, said her 185 members are ready and willing to open their doors on Monday for people wanting their eyes checked.

"We didn't know the exact date, but we have been in discussion with the government," Dillon said.

"We did know it was coming and we've been actively preparing for the possibility."

Dillon said her members already have supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) because, while they were restricted in seeing regular patients the last few weeks, they continued to see emergency patients.

"There were eye infections, retinal tears," she said. "Now we will be open for routine appointments.

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.

"But it will not be business as usual. There will be spacing of appointments, PPE being worn, and increased disinfection... but we're excited to get back to providing the services as needed."

Jim Hayes, executive director of the Manitoba Physiotherapy Association, said while their members are ready to go back to work to help Manitobans, they could be delayed in getting the personal protective equipment they need to do it safely for them as well as their clients.

"There is close proximity and we see people for longer than 10 minutes," Hayes said.

"We don't need N-95 masks, but we do need masks and gloves as well as cleaning and sanitizing equipment ... so it will be a slower opening for the non-emergent."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Passengers on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Brisbane last week have been told to seek health advice after a traveller on board tested positive for coronavirus.

Queensland health officials issued a public health alert on Saturday urging anyone who was on QF614 on Wednesday April 22, to contact authorities on 13 HEALTH.

The individual recently returned from overseas and is linked to a cruise ship carrying passengers who later tested for the virus, Health Minister Steven Miles said.

Not all of the passengers on that flight will be asked to go into quarantine, however they will be asked questions about their health and be given some advice.

A public health alert was issued on Saturday urging passengers who travelled on QF614 on Wednesday April 22, to contact authorities on 13 HEALTH (stock image)

Queensland has conducted 113,601 COVID-19 tests and has a total of 1,034 cases

The passenger was the only new case of COVID-19 confirmed in Queensland overnight, with health workers now having done 113,601 tests.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for comment.

It comes as fewer people are turning up to Queensland hospitals for sporting or car crash injuries, but paramedics are getting more mental health related calls amid the pandemic.

Health officials are now holding their breath to see whether allowing people to venture outside their homes will drive a wave of new virus cases.

'We have seen reduced presentations for things like road trauma and sporting injuries, that's been in part offset by an increase in mental health presentations,' Mr Miles said.

'Our ambulance service has seen a 12 to 15 per cent increase in mental health related calls - anxiety depression, suicidal ideation, that kind of thing.'

Queenslanders brushed aside freezing-cold temperatures and hit the streets as they slowly rediscovered their freedom as the first coronavirus restrictions were lifted (pictured, walkers enjoy a morning stroll at Burleigh Heads, along the Gold Coast)

Residents at Burleigh Heads, along the Gold Coast, took in the sun and drank coffee as they caught up with friends

Saturday is the first day of an experiment in easing some restrictions on people's everyday lives.

It will take two weeks before officials know whether they can successfully juggle suppressing the virus while allowing people to move around a little more freely.

'If we don't mess this up, we'll be able to get more of our freedoms back,' Mr Miles added.

Non-essential travel is allowed but there are still limits.

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

People are limited to spending time with members of their own family while those who are single can spend time with one other person.

Picnics, hikes and shopping for clothing and shoes are permitted, however, all Queenslanders must stay within 50 kilometres of their home.

'This is a test run,' Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a pre-recorded video message on Twitter on Saturday.

'How well we do this weekend determines what else we can do in the future.

'I know it's been hard, I know you're sick of it. Who isn't. Keep up the good work and have a great weekend.'

There were 63 active cases of the virus remaining on Saturday.

Ten patients are being treated for COVID-19 in hospital, with four of those in intensive care.

Just nine people have returned a positive test result in the past week, while the statewide tally remains at 1,034.

The number of new cases across other states have remained low this week however, there have been a reports of new 'clusters' across the country.

In Victoria, health authorities are investigating a new coronavirus outbreak at a meat processing plant where eight people have tested positive.

Three staff members at the facility are among the seven new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria since Friday, bringing the state total to 1,371.

It comes after a coronavirus cluster was identified at the Hawthorn Grange aged care home in Melbourne's east, with four residents and one staff member infected.

NSW recorded five new COVID-19 cases in the state over the last 24 hours, two from a Anglicare Newmarch aged care home.
Inside Hook

The fact that movie theaters across the country are temporarily closed has prompted a lot of speculation about what the future of movies and moviegoing might look like. No one is precisely sure what reopened movie theaters will look like: increased spacing between seats? Mandatory masks for the audience? Theres some evidence, though, that at least one aspect of the future of moviegoing will look a lot like an element of its past.

Which is to say that drive-in movie theaters might be ready to make a comeback. In some cases, they never left: depending on where you live, you might have a drive-in a short ride away. But the unique properties of drive-in theaters also makes them an ideal middle ground for people who both enjoy the communal experience of seeing a film and are worried about the spread of COVID-19.
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A handful of endangered wild elephants have stayed hale and hearty roaming freely in a sanctuary in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam.

Over the past several years, the 19,000-hectare Quang Nam Elephant Sanctuary, snugly nestled in the province's Nong Son District, has been a sweet home to endangered wild elephants.

The number of elephants across Vietnam, including in the Central Highlands  an elephant tourism hub  has dwindled to a worrying level in recent years.

Dozens are still kept in captivity, usually used for elephant rides  backbreaking work that has rendered most infertile today  while their wild counterparts do not fare any better and have shown little promise of boosting their numbers.

The country currently boasts around 100 endangered elephants living in the wild.

A herd of eight Asian elephants  an endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature  is the Quang Nam sanctuarys recent pride.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters accompanied park wardens on a recent visit to the dense forests enshrouding Cam La Village in Que Lam Commune to witness their conservation works.

Tracking wild elephants

Six wardens turned on their navigation devices and headed to the forest in search of the elusive elephants.

We split up and wade through vast forested expanses for any signs of intrusion for poaching and timber collection, and to keep track of the mammals as well, Nguyen Cao Cuong, one of the wardens, said, adding experts and villagers were overwhelmed by the latest addition of a baby elephant to the herd, raising the total to eight.

With the colony considered a prized gift from Mother Nature, a concerted effort has been made to ensure wellbeing for the worlds largest land mammals.

The team finally made it to Vung Thung, one of the herds favorite spots for food and baths. The area was riddled with their dung, footprints, and impressions left on tree trunks.

These telltale signs show that the animals were here for food. The area brims with rattan and Asian bamboos, their favorite staples, Do Dang Vu, another warden on the team, revealed.

The men, who spend up to 15 days each month in the forest, know the area like the back of their hands.

The forest is huge, so we dont stay put but go on patrols across the sub-zones in a clockwise direction to make sure no one can hurt them, Cuong added.

The hours-long forest crossing seemed fruitless, with the elusive animals nowhere to be spotted.

Sightings are rare even to the wardens as the elephants venture into the glade expanses only when they run out of food, Vu explained.

However, its best to avoid encounters with the animals. We sometimes just walk on without seeing them, assured that they are safe in the forest after hearing them trumpet in the distance, Vu added.

It may take days to track the animals down. Now that they are nursing a baby, they may turn aggressive, so its better not to intrude on their territory, Cuong noted, adding a group of experts who recently spent one month studying the sanctuarys biodiversity couldn't spot the herd until after several days into their stay.

An elephant is captured by a camera trap set up in the Quang Nam Elephant Sanctuary, located in the namesake province in central Vietnam, in this supplied photo.

Upbeat note

The sanctuary, founded in late 2017 with nearly 30 wardens and staff members, has been working hard on projects in forest ranging and preservation of biodiversity, with keeping the elephants safe a top priority, according to Mai Van Duong, the sanctuarys vice-director.

The animals have sustained minimal human impact since the establishment of the sanctuary. Their habitat and stability of food source are guaranteed, he said.

His facility has recently teamed up with conservation experts from the Green Truong Son project, developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), for research on its biological richness.

The month-long research yielded records and photos of eight elephants, including one adult male, one semi-mature male elephant, three mature female elephants, two semi-mature female elephants, and a one-year-old calf.

The calf is a positive sign to the sanctuarys long-existing colony and a reward to the staffs relentless efforts, he said, adding they are all set on protecting the jeopardized animals.

Fences of thorny lebbek trees have been erected along the 2.4-kilometer forest brim to keep the herd away from humans and their crops, Duong added.

Two wardens track down a herd of wild elephants in the Quang Nam Elephant Sanctuary, located in the namesake province in central Vietnam. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre

Joining hands

Local residents have also played a part in the conservation efforts.

Over the past dozen years, Cam La villagers, who are no stranger to the wild animals, have always born in mind the importance of avoiding human-elephant conflicts and potential harm to them.

No intruders can sneak into the forest without villagers knowing and any intrusion will be deterred following the locals' prompt tips-off to local authorities.

Among them is 67-year-old Nguyen Van Binh, who cannot remember how many times he has bumped into the elephants over the past 40 years.

He recalled feeling devastated at his ravaged crops and the trail of destruction left behind following the elephants visits to the village in search of bananas and corn several years ago.

The jumbos tantrums and havoc have ceased since the establishment of the sanctuary years ago, Binh noted.

Binh is tasked with snapping shots of the animals by the sanctuary management and was given a camera for this purpose.

I led the experts into the forest for survey one month ago, he said proudly, adding he also keeps a diary with meticulous records of time and locations of his elephant sightings.

A local resident makes noises to drive elephants away from their crops in the vicinity of the Quang Nam Elephant Sanctuary, located in the namesake province in central Vietnam. Photo: Le Trung / Tuoi Tre

According to Luong Quang Minh, a locally-elected head of Phuoc Hoi village, he and others have worked to raise conservation awareness among locals, particularly on avoiding conflicts with the elephants.

Despite their enormous size, the elephants are as meek as children. I once saw them relishing their baths in a spring. They do not mean us any harm and usually retreat into the forest upon spotting us, he shared.

Le Tri Thanh, chair of Quang Nam Province Peoples Committee, said the province is working with conservationists to relocate another herd of elephants from Bac Tra My District safely to the sanctuary, and seeking funding from the central government to further develop the establishment.

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Business Why Your Brand Needs Instagram Nano-Influencers Right Now? Alireza Kohany explains



02.05.2020 19:06:40 - And how they make a great addition to your overall marketing strategy! Well, I'll tell you the solution...



(live-PR.com) - The glamorous word  influencer  has become one of the worlds most desired professions. Did you know that influencers actually have different categories, based on the number of followers they have?

As a successful Instagram influencer and young entrepreneur, I share my experiences with you.

Im going to share with you about the smallest  nano-influencers  and why your brand - The glamorous word  influencer  has become one of the worlds most desired professions. Did you know that influencers actually have different categories, based on the number of followers they have?As a successful Instagram influencer and young entrepreneur, I share my experiences with you.Im going to share with you about the smallest  nano-influencers  and why your brand should work with them.

According to the definition, a nano-influencer is someone who has between 1,000 and 5,000 followers.

Many brands havent fully discovered the potential and advantages of working with nano-influencers, because today, it is still common to think that a big number of followers means there is an actual influence on people.

However, a word of a small influencer can be much more impactful than from someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers.

This may sound odd, but continue reading as I want to share with you why nano-influencers are impactful and that they can achieve great results for your brand.

Make success for yourself  Alireza Kohany

Why should your brand engage with nano-influencers? Alireza Kohany explains

Even though there might be many benefits of engaging with small influencers, Ill give you four main ones.

Nano-influencers are authentic

Nano-influencers are normal people who dont use their Instagram accounts as the main source of income. Therefore, their audiences relate to them much better. This group of influencers is also much more approachable.

Most of the nano-influencers will engage directly with their audiences, by replying to comments, promoting brands that they truly like and sharing genuine experiences with products they advertise.

Because of the authenticity and relatability, small influencers are trusted more. They are often considered as friends and when certain decisions need to be made, a study has shown that we tend to trust our friends more.

Nano-influencers, compared to other groups, tend to value their followers much more, as well. They would be very careful in choosing the products they want to endorse because they value the trust of their audiences and are afraid to lose them.

They occupy a very specific niche

Most of the nano-influencers make their content very niche-specific and targetting their audience only.

Contrary to other influencers, nano-influencers will have a very specific and well-targeted niche. For instance, food, travel, lifestyle, beauty  and their followers will be predominantly interested in that niche. Else, there is no point in following, right?

Thats why working with nano-influencers will expose you to a well-defined audience who will be interested in your product. You will be able to discover new groups of people who will actually be interested to see your product and eventually try it out.

Moreover, nano-influencers will have certain values they want to share with their audience. Maybe its environmental protection, sustainability or health  youll, therefore, have better control of audiences that share similar values to yours.

Their engagement rate is much higher

A recent report The State of Influencer Marketing 2019 by HypeAuditor has shown that the average engagement rate on nano-influencers content is much higher than any other influencer groups.



Compared to bigger profiles, nano-influencers are able to interact with their audiences more frequently via comments, questions/answers, likes, and other means. They are much quicker in communicating with their audience, which gives them a more authentic side.

Higher engagement rates also mean that your content will not be left to disappear into influencers feeds, it will be revisited and advocated for. This means that the content thats delivered is likely to be consumed for a longer period of time, which gives you a higher chance of getting new customers.

They are much easier to work with and also are more cost-effective

Most of the nano-influencers will be excited to work with brands. They will be much more agreeable to the terms set by the brand and will have fewer demands.

However, keep in mind that most of them will also have certain values and they should match your brands.

Mot of nano-influencers wont treat their social media accounts as primary income-generating platforms. They wont charge as much as professional influencers would. For most of the nano-influencers money is secondary  they want to share their beloved brands with their audiences.

From my experience, many nano-influencers would only want a product sample or a small remuneration in return. The low investment from the brands part would mean that the ROI on their marketing campaign would be much higher.



For example, a recent 2019 study has revealed that nano-influencers on Instagram can make on average $100 per post, $114 per video post and $43 for an Instagram Story. This is 5 times less than an Instagram post from someone who has over 30k followers.

These numbers would definitely differ based on the location and industry, however, they are a great indication of an initial investment.

"Success is only possible through effort"  Alireza Kohany

Who can benefit from nano-influencers? Alireza Kohany explains

All right, I'll explain; you may be thinking if engaging with nano-influencers will bring the desired results for you. Well, to answer this, you need to know where your target audience is present.

If they are active on social media, especially Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn, chances are high that engaging with nano-influencers will bring great results for your business.

By engaging with nano-influencers, youll be able to discover new audiences and introduce (or remind) them of your brand.

Therefore, search the social space for nano-influencers and see what your options are. Most likely, the initial investment will be pretty low, so any type of business will be able to afford it.

However, Id like to highlight several industries that are doing exceptionally well in terms of influencer marketing. They are in no particular order and Im sure that youve noticed (or even are following) some of the influencers who occupy one of these niches:

1. Fashion

2. Beauty

3. Travel and lifestyle

4. Food

5. Home and family

How can nano-influencers complement your overall marketing strategy? Alireza Kohany explains

Well, even though their following is lower, they occupy very well-defined niches. This means that your message and product will be displayed to people who are actually interested in seeing it.

Apart from all other marketing activities, the Nanos can help you expose your brand to new people. Given the low financial investment, youre able to choose several influencers to work with which will give you a greater advantage of broader exposure.

Nano-influencers can also become your brand ambassadors during the important events  such as Black Friday Sales or Singles Day Sales. They would have the capacity to mobilize their audiences more effectively and drive extra sales to your brand.



About Author:

Alireza Kohany is an Iranian Public Figure Artist; Fashion Model and Actor, Instagram Star, Entrepreneur and Influencer Also a Musician; Born 18 June 1993 in Tehran, Iran.

He has managed to attract many fans in social media; He has accumulated over 700 thousand followers on his AlirezaKohany Instagram account and other social media. His content that He write them about business is available on the internet, There is a lot of news about him or his content or his articles (business, entrepreneurship, digital influencer) on the Google News page.

He has also published some books on Amazon Store;

He played a role in some movies which are available on his page with his name (Alireza Kohany) on IMDB's website.

Also, His musics or remix is downloadable on Spotify and iTunes (Apple Music) or another music stores under his name.



* Alireza Kohany Also Known As Alireza Kohani -  

should work with them.According to the definition, a nano-influencer is someone who has between 1,000 and 5,000 followers.Many brands havent fully discovered the potential and advantages of working with nano-influencers, because today, it is still common to think that a big number of followers means there is an actual influence on people.However, a word of a small influencer can be much more impactful than from someone who has hundreds of thousands of followers.This may sound odd, but continue reading as I want to share with you why nano-influencers are impactful and that they can achieve great results for your brand.Make success for yourself  Alireza KohanyWhy should your brand engage with nano-influencers? Alireza Kohany explainsEven though there might be many benefits of engaging with small influencers, Ill give you four main ones.Nano-influencers are authenticNano-influencers are normal people who dont use their Instagram accounts as the main source of income. Therefore, their audiences relate to them much better. This group of influencers is also much more approachable.Most of the nano-influencers will engage directly with their audiences, by replying to comments, promoting brands that they truly like and sharing genuine experiences with products they advertise.Because of the authenticity and relatability, small influencers are trusted more. They are often considered as friends and when certain decisions need to be made, a study has shown that we tend to trust our friends more.Nano-influencers, compared to other groups, tend to value their followers much more, as well. They would be very careful in choosing the products they want to endorse because they value the trust of their audiences and are afraid to lose them.They occupy a very specific nicheMost of the nano-influencers make their content very niche-specific and targetting their audience only.Contrary to other influencers, nano-influencers will have a very specific and well-targeted niche. For instance, food, travel, lifestyle, beauty  and their followers will be predominantly interested in that niche. Else, there is no point in following, right?Thats why working with nano-influencers will expose you to a well-defined audience who will be interested in your product. You will be able to discover new groups of people who will actually be interested to see your product and eventually try it out.Moreover, nano-influencers will have certain values they want to share with their audience. Maybe its environmental protection, sustainability or health  youll, therefore, have better control of audiences that share similar values to yours.Their engagement rate is much higherA recent report The State of Influencer Marketing 2019 by HypeAuditor has shown that the average engagement rate on nano-influencers content is much higher than any other influencer groups.Compared to bigger profiles, nano-influencers are able to interact with their audiences more frequently via comments, questions/answers, likes, and other means. They are much quicker in communicating with their audience, which gives them a more authentic side.Higher engagement rates also mean that your content will not be left to disappear into influencers feeds, it will be revisited and advocated for. This means that the content thats delivered is likely to be consumed for a longer period of time, which gives you a higher chance of getting new customers.They are much easier to work with and also are more cost-effectiveMost of the nano-influencers will be excited to work with brands. They will be much more agreeable to the terms set by the brand and will have fewer demands.However, keep in mind that most of them will also have certain values and they should match your brands.Mot of nano-influencers wont treat their social media accounts as primary income-generating platforms. They wont charge as much as professional influencers would. For most of the nano-influencers money is secondary  they want to share their beloved brands with their audiences.From my experience, many nano-influencers would only want a product sample or a small remuneration in return. The low investment from the brands part would mean that the ROI on their marketing campaign would be much higher.For example, a recent 2019 study has revealed that nano-influencers on Instagram can make on average $100 per post, $114 per video post and $43 for an Instagram Story. This is 5 times less than an Instagram post from someone who has over 30k followers.These numbers would definitely differ based on the location and industry, however, they are a great indication of an initial investment."Success is only possible through effort"  Alireza KohanyWho can benefit from nano-influencers? Alireza Kohany explainsAll right, I'll explain; you may be thinking if engaging with nano-influencers will bring the desired results for you. Well, to answer this, you need to know where your target audience is present.If they are active on social media, especially Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn, chances are high that engaging with nano-influencers will bring great results for your business.By engaging with nano-influencers, youll be able to discover new audiences and introduce (or remind) them of your brand.Therefore, search the social space for nano-influencers and see what your options are. Most likely, the initial investment will be pretty low, so any type of business will be able to afford it.However, Id like to highlight several industries that are doing exceptionally well in terms of influencer marketing. They are in no particular order and Im sure that youve noticed (or even are following) some of the influencers who occupy one of these niches:1. Fashion2. Beauty3. Travel and lifestyle4. Food5. Home and familyHow can nano-influencers complement your overall marketing strategy? Alireza Kohany explainsWell, even though their following is lower, they occupy very well-defined niches. This means that your message and product will be displayed to people who are actually interested in seeing it.Apart from all other marketing activities, the Nanos can help you expose your brand to new people. Given the low financial investment, youre able to choose several influencers to work with which will give you a greater advantage of broader exposure.Nano-influencers can also become your brand ambassadors during the important events  such as Black Friday Sales or Singles Day Sales. They would have the capacity to mobilize their audiences more effectively and drive extra sales to your brand.About Author:Alireza Kohany is an Iranian Public Figure Artist; Fashion Model and Actor, Instagram Star, Entrepreneur and Influencer Also a Musician; Born 18 June 1993 in Tehran, Iran.He has managed to attract many fans in social media; He has accumulated over 700 thousand followers on his AlirezaKohany Instagram account and other social media. His content that He write them about business is available on the internet, There is a lot of news about him or his content or his articles (business, entrepreneurship, digital influencer) on the Google News page.He has also published some books on Amazon Store;He played a role in some movies which are available on his page with his name (Alireza Kohany) on IMDB's website.Also, His musics or remix is downloadable on Spotify and iTunes (Apple Music) or another music stores under his name.* Alireza Kohany Also Known As Alireza Kohani -   Press Information:

Alireza Kohany







Contact Person:

Alireza Kohany



eMail: eMail



Web: http://alirezakohany.com





02.05.2020 19:06:40 -

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.
Details added (first version posted on 16:11)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1

Trend:

The special quarantine regime has been extended in Azerbaijan until 00:00 (GMT+4) May 31, 2020, Trend reports citing the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers.

The regime has been extended taking into account the current sanitary and epidemiological situation in the country in connection with a new type of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), preventive measures which are used in other countries, as well as recommendations of the World Health Organization.

At the same time, given the rate of infection among the population and the dynamics of patients' recovery, a decision was made to mitigate a number of restrictions.

The restrictions are mitigated gradually in Baku city, Sumgayit city, Ganja city, Lankaran city, Absheron and other regions proceeding from the current sanitary and epidemiological situation, the number of patients and the rate of spread of infection.

The activity of a fixed number of employees of state institutions will be resumed (the number of employees of state institutions whose activity has been resumed will be determined upon the relevant resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Azerbaijan Republic) in Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja and Lankaran cities, and Absheron region from 00:00 (GMT+4) May 4.

DOST centers will resume the activity to render the targeted state social assistance and issue the bank cards in the social sphere.

The activity of legal entities and individuals that provide other business entities with work and render the services in various fields of activity in which restrictions are applied during the special quarantine regime will be resumed.

The activity of individual retail facilities in all spheres will be resumed.

The activity of hairdressers, beauty salons and cosmetic services will be also resumed.

The system of leaving the house upon SMS notification, registration on the www.icaze.e-gov.az website on the basis of an official certificate or a reference from the place of work will be eliminated in all other cities and districts of the country and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic from 00:00 on May 4, 2020, except for Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran and the Absheron region.

DOST centers rendering the services in certain territories will restore the work to render the targeted state social assistance and issue the bank cards in the social sphere.

The activity of employees of state structures will be fully restored.

The services will be rendered to the clients in restaurants, cafes and teahouses (except for the use of hookahs in public catering facilities).

Visits to boulevards, parks and recreation areas will not be restricted.

The intercity and interdistrict trips will be restored (except for passenger transportation services in public transport) in the mentioned territories.

The activity of legal entities and individuals rendering the services to other business entities or providing with work in different spheres and whose activity was limited during the special quarantine regime will be restored.

The activity of private retail facilities in all spheres will be restored.

The activity of hairdressers, beauty salons and cosmetic services will be restored.

More than 10 people are banned to gather in public places, boulevards, parks and catering facilities throughout the country during the special quarantine regime.

The suspension of the lessons in all educational institutions of the country will be extended until May 31, 2020.

The movement of people is allowed in Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Lankaran and Absheron district after the employer enters the information about the employee involved in the spheres in which the restrictions have been lifted (by using an electronic signature) into www.icaze.e-gov.az .

During the pandemic, the activity of relevant structures in the country, as well as trade and services sector, must be carried out in accordance with the rules of social behavior and sanitary and epidemiological rules indicated by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Once again, the Operational Headquarters urges everyone to observe the rules of personal hygiene, as well as medical and preventive measures, to leave the houses in case of necessity, to less contact with other people in public places, to support the measures being implemented by the state, to comply with the requirements and recommendations of the Operational Headquarters.

Depending on the sanitary-epidemiological situation, at the next stage, a decision will be made to remove other restrictions.

The sanitary and epidemiological situation associated with COVID-19 in the country is regularly analyzed and the relevant rules are applied. For this reason, taking into account the further dynamics of infection with COVID-19 virus and the situation in the country, the special quarantine regime may be re-announced in case of necessity.
The World Health Organization says it "didn't waste time" responding to the coronavirus after facing criticism for its handling of the outbreak.



Its head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the WHO's declaration of the virus as an international health emergency on 30 January gave "enough time for the rest of the world to respond".



At the time there were only 82 cases outside China and no deaths.



Today there are more than 3.2m cases and 234,000 deaths recorded worldwide.



US President Donald Trump has said the WHO "really blew" its response and accused it of bias towards China.



The US is the global health body's largest single funder and President Trump says he will halt funding.



Speaking at a news conference on Friday Dr Tedros offered a vigorous defence of how the organisation responded.



He insisted the WHO used the time before the declaration wisely, including visiting China to learn more about the virus at its origin.



Dr Tedros confirmed that the pandemic remained a "public health emergency of international concern", three months after it was declared one.



Such a declaration is made under an "extraordinary" event and requires a global response.



Dr Tedros described "grave" worries over the potential impact of the virus as it accelerates in countries with weaker health systems.



Officials said they had seen worrying increases in a number of these nations - including Haiti, Somalia and Sudan.



The WHO also urged caution among nations relaxing their social distancing measures, stressing the importance of monitoring for new jumps in infections as lockdowns are eased.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Doctors in the UK are to trial the use of blood plasma from coronavirus survivors as a potential treatment for patients seriously ill with Covid-19.

It is hoped antibodies built up by the recovered person can be transferred to others to help them defeat the virus.

The transfusion would, theoretically, boost the new patients struggling immune system by providing plasma rich in the antibodies needed to fight the virus.

Dr Manu Shankar-Hari, a critical care consultant at Londons Guys and St Thomas Hospital where the trials are being run, said: What we are doing is to give you instantaneous protection against the virus using an antibody that is developed by patients who recover from the virus.

So, the hope is that the viral clearance or the taking away of the virus in the body will be quicker by giving this treatment.

Now, after NHS Blood and Transplant began collecting blood from survivors last week, it is calling for more volunteers to donate.

Some 6,500 have already registered their interest. Researchers are also going through NHS data to find other people who have tested positive for coronavirus. They will be phoned to ask if they will volunteer.

And if the treatment, known as convalescent plasma, is shown to be a success, efforts to find more donors will be scaled up, it said. The aim would be to collect up to 10,000 units a week by the end of May.

Talking about the trials, health secretary Matt Hancock said thousands of patients could potentially benefit.

The UK has world-leading life sciences and research sectors and I have every hope this treatment will be a major milestone in our fight against this disease, he said.

Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Show all 18 1 /18 Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jack Dodsley, 79, with a carer in PPE at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jackie Wilson, a healthcare assistant, wearing PPE before going into rooms Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jack Dodsley, 79, speaks to a carer at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Carers working at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A care worker wearing PPE opens a drink carton Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jack Dodsley, 79, sits with a carer Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jack Dodsley, 79, with a carer in PPE Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A care staff member wearing PPE Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A staff member at Newfield Nursing Home looks after a resident SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A carer wearing PPE uses a speaker Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A carer helps Jack Dodsley, 79, from his chair Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A carer wearing PPE helps Jack Dodsley, 79 Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A staff member at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A carer brings food to a resident at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jack Dodsley, 79, with a carer in PPE Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A staff member puts on PPE at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside Jackie Wilson, a healthcare assistant, puts on PPE before she enters a room SWNS Care home hit by coronavirus: A rare glimpse of life inside A bench at Newfield Nursing Home Tom Maddick/SWNS

But not everyone is convinced it can be successful.

Dr Bharat Pankhania, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter, told Sky News that while he hoped it would work, he had some concerns.

This is a blood-borne product so we have got to be really careful about not causing any harm, he said. There are things that can go wrong, such as introducing an infection or an allergic reaction.

Similar trials are already underway around the world including in the US where a major project has already started involving more than 1,500 hospitals.

Along similar lines, the Hollywood actor Tom Hanks, who was diagnosed with coronavirus in March, has donated blood as part of the search for a possible vaccine.
The Congress has no suggestion to offer on the COVID-19 crisis and is merely interested in doing "ugly politics" on it, the BJP said on Saturday, while asserting the entire nation except the opposition party understands that the Narendra Modi government has extended the lockdown to save people's lives.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain accused the Congress of raising "irrelevant questions" over the issue of the pandemic.

"The Congress has no suggestion to offer and merely wants to do on coronavirus. It is doing ugly on the issue. The lockdown has been extended to save the lives of people. The entire country understands it, except the Congress," he said.

The Congress had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address citizens on the way to deal with the coronavirus crisis and economy reeling under it.

Asking when will the lockdown be finally lifted, the Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the prime minister must also lay out an exit strategy and spell out the goal in dealing with the issue.

Hussain wondered whether the Congress will say anything constructive or will it merely criticise every day what the government is doing.

He said the government has already taken a number of welfare measures, including giving ration to the poor and transferring money to the accounts of farmers and poor women among others.

Hussain noted that the government has cut down on all its expenses, and even salaries of the president, prime minister and MPs have been reduced by over 30 per cent. The government will spend whatever is necessary to take the country forward, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Philadelphias Federal Detention Center  one of the only corrections facilities in the region that had no known coronavirus infections after nearly two months  reported its first two cases to a judge Friday.

Government lawyers disclosed in court filings that two staff members have tested positive. The first had not been at the Center City facility in more than two weeks, they said. They did not provide details about the second, except to say that the person had limited inmate contact.

Administrators are conducting a contact investigation to notify those who may have come in direct contact with the staff member, lawyers with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Philadelphia wrote in a filing Friday.

The disclosures came as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed on behalf of three Federal Detention Center inmates who have asked U.S. District Judge Anita Brody to order their release due to their preexisting health conditions and the difficulties of effectively implementing social distancing guidelines and proper hygiene behind bars. They are seeking class-action status for their suit.

 READ MORE: One Philadelphia prison has yet to report a single case of the coronavirus. But it hasnt tested any inmates.

Earlier, prison officials had argued any intervention from the judge would be premature as there had been no reported coronavirus cases in their facility. However, they also disclosed at the time that they had not tested any of the inmates or staff, either.

 READ MORE: Montgomery Countys jail tested every inmate for COVID-19  and found 30 times more cases than previously known

Government lawyers acknowledged in court filings this past week that the facility had only 15 test kits available and planned to hold on to them in case anyone who lived or worked in the detention center began to show symptoms.

Brody has ordered the prison to continue to update her and the cases public docket on any additional positive test results.
The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said schools in the state may resume on July 15 despite rising cases of coronavirus.

The state has so far recorded 29 cases out of which 20 are active as of the time of filing this report.

Mr Makinde while speaking at the Secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State branch, in Agodi, Ibadan, during a special programme to mark this years Workers Day, disclosed the suspended second term will last for two more weeks in July while the third term will immediately kick off.

This is coming the same day that the Presidential Task Force on Coronavirus maintained that schools should remain shut down.

Mr Makinde said the government remains hopeful that it will be able to reopen schools by July 15, a drop-dead date.

I was having a discussion with private school owners and the schools are all closed. They rely on the school fees to pay the teachers they have employed. Now, the children are at home, they have to keep the teachers but there is no fund to pay.

My idea is, we need to let the parents know that this period that their children are at home, we take it as their long vacation. We have a drop-dead date of July 15th. We are hopeful that we will be able to open the schools by July 15th and if we do that, they will complete the two weeks of the second term and immediately start the third term.

This means there would not be any long holiday again and they will just flip around and start the next (term), he said.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) say students' mental health is being affected by pre-paid rents not being refunded.

The USI and local Students Unions called on individual colleges at the start of the pandemic to refund students who had moved out of university-operated student accommodation. Most colleges and universities agreed to provide refunds.

However, a number of private landlords and the University of Limerick have not given them money back for accommodation that was paid upfront, despite the majority of units lying empty since mid-March.

The USI has said that many students are worried they may not be able to afford college next year and are extremely stressed due to the lack of refunds for accommodation they now cannot use.

USI President, Lorna Fitzpatrick's calling on them to rethink the decision.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: "University-owned accommodation has issued refunds, all bar University of Limerick who haven't issued refunds to their students.

"But, I suppose this is an issue that is affecting students across the board, across the island really, because there are a lot of students living in private accommodation, in private purpose-built student accommodation in every town and city where there is an institution and a university."

She called for a national response to this and has said all students should be treated equally regardless of whether they were living in private or college-run accommodation or what third level institution they attend.

She said: You could have a family where one sibling goes to NUI Maynooth, while another is studying in UL, but are both back home caring for family members.

"In that case one will have gotten a full refund, while the UL student has had no refund.

"Its very unfair and we are calling for every student to be treated the same and every organisation that has been paid rent for accommodation that cannot now be used, to give full refunds.

Orla, a student in St Angelas College told USI: Having to pay over 1,000 for accommodation that I cant be in is very upsetting and challenging.

"Now I have to start paying a deposit for next years accommodation not knowing if Ill be able to afford it. My usual summer job doesnt look like it will be operating as normal and so Ill have no income.

"I dont qualify for the Covid payment as I was not working prior to the date in February. My parents pay has been cut  this time is a very big struggle financially and mentally.
One of the accused in the Palghar lynching case, who was locked-up at Wada police station, has tested positive for coronavirus.

The accused was first admitted in an isolation ward of Palghar rural hospital and is being shifted to a prisoner ward at JJ Hospital.

He is believed to have contracted the infection in a lock-up where nearly 20 other accused were reportedly lodged with him in a single cell.

The accused is one of the more than 100 suspects who have been arrested in the case including nine minors.

This comes after the Maharashtra Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said it had arrested five more accused including two senior citizens in the case on Thursday night.

So far a total of 115 people, including 9 minors who have been sent to the childrens remand home in Bhiwandi, have been nabbed in the case. Irrfan Shaikh, deputy superintendent of police, CID, said the accused were produced before the Dahanu court on Friday and have been remanded in CID custody till May 13.

Two sadhus - 70-year-old Kalpavriksha Giri Maharaj and 35-year-old Sushil Giri Maharaj of the Juna Akhara - and 30-year-old driver Nilesh Telgade were travelling in a car from Kandivli to Surat to attend the funeral of a senior Sadhu when near Gaddchinchale village a huge mob of 500 lynched them to death. The trio was attacked on the suspicion of being child-lifters.

The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department (CID) is probing the case on the orders of the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
VIENNA, May 2 (Reuters) - Austria's central bank expects economic output to shrink more than twice as much this year as it forecast just a month ago as the coronavirus lockdown lasts longer than anticipated, its Governor Robert Holzmann said in remarks published on Saturday.

Holzmann said the central bank now forecasts an 8% drop in Austria's gross domestic product (GDP). It had previously foreseen a 3.2% drop in a "moderate" pandemic scenario, estimating that each week of lockdown cuts annual GDP by more than $2 billion.

Although Austria's conservative-led government has said it was one of the fastest countries in Europe in reacting to the coronavirus threat, putting its lockdown in place seven weeks ago and being one of the first to start loosening it on April 14, Holzmann said the central bank still had to increase its estimate of the fallout.

"This (earlier) forecast was based on the then mild scenario of a five-week lockdown and a five-week step-by-step reopening phase. The conditions have changed in the meantime," Holzmann told the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper.

"Our current scenario predicts - assuming a 13-week lockdown and a 10-week loosening phase - a fall of eight percent in economic growth," Holzmann was quoted saying.

"We hope that the truth will be somewhere between these two scenarios and that the lockdown and the loosening phase will go by more quickly," he added.

If those phases are shorter, the economic impact will be smaller, he said. It was not clear what the central bank considers the start and end of the lockdown - in the past it has appeared to use an earlier start date than when the bulk of the restrictions took effect around March 16.

Illustrating the uncertainty in forecasting the pandemic's impact, economic think-tank Wifo, which compiles GDP data for the government, said last week GDP would fall 5.2% this year but added it could also fall around 7.5% in a more pessimistic scenario.

Story continues

Austria's coalition government of conservatives and Greens has announced an emergency aid package of up to 38 billion euros ($41.7 billion) to keep companies and the economy afloat while limiting the increase in unemployment.

It is now putting together an investment package to boost growth that would bring forward existing plans for tax cuts for low and middle incomes as well as spending on as-yet unspecified environmental measures.

"One should accelerate what was already planned," Holzmann said when asked about the stimulus plan. "That concerns measures relating to climate policy, alternative energy providers, public transport. One should push digitisation much harder." ($1 = 0.9105 euros) (Reporting by Francois Murphy Editing by David Holmes)
Delhi police on Saturday cautioned migrant labourers against a fake form being circulated through the social media after several of them reached police stations in Shahdara district to deposit the filled document thinking it would streamline the process for their travel to their home states.

The police urged the migrants to not believe in rumours and said no such form has been issued.

On Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said in an order issued to all states and union territories that buses shall be used to transport migrant workers, pilgrims, students and other people stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Police officials say the migrant labourers must have gotten confused and taken the fake form at face value.

"It came to our notice when several migrant labourers mostly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh reached police stations of Gandhi Nagar, Krishna Nagar and Geeta Colony to deposit filled forms. They started seeking details about transportation facility and urged us to inform them when the facility begins," a senior police official said.

Gandhi Nagar, Geeta Colony and Krishna Nagar police station falls under Shahdara district and most of the migrant workers living in these jurisdiction work in markets of Gandhi Nagar.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Gandhi Nagar) Siddharth Jain clarified in a video message that no such form has been issued by the administration.

The police said strict legal action will be taken against those spreading rumours through social media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Update: An Amber Alert issued Saturday for a 6-year-old girl abducted in west Alabama has been cancelled. According to Centreville police, MiyAngel was found safe just outside of Elizabethtown, Kentucky after being abducted from a Centreville residence. They said the suspect is in custody and expected to be brought back to Alabama to face kidnapping charges.

Earlier:

MiyAngel Lanee Crutchfield was last seen in Centreville, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Authorities believe she was taken about 9 a.m. Saturday 22-year-old Jasmine Denise Crutchfield. They may be traveling in a silver sedan with Ohio plates. they were last seen on Montgomery Highway in Centreville and believed to be heading to Ohio.

MiyAngel is 4-feet tall and weighs 90 pounds. She is missing her two front teeth and her hair is half braided. She was possibly wearing pink lounge pants and a white shirt.

Crutchfield is 22-years old, 5-feet, 9-inches and weighs 160 pounds. She has MKJS tattooed on her wrist.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Centreville Police Department at 205-926-3129.
Times of peace and times of crisis. We Christians must learn to manage both. Both. Some spiritual father said that the time of crisis is like going through fire in order to become strong. May the Lord send us the Holy Spirit so that we may know how to resist temptations in times of crisis, that we may know how to be faithful to the first words, with the hope afterwards of living times of peace.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis began this mornings Mass at Casa Santa Marta with a prayer dedicated to government leaders, urging them to overcome their differences in this time of crisis.

Let us pray for government leaders who have the responsibility of taking care of their peoples in such a time of crisis: heads of state, prime ministers, lawmakers, mayors, governors . . . That the Lord may help them and give them strength because their work is not easy. And when there are differences among them, may they understand that in times of crisis they must be very united for the good of their people because unity is greater than conflict.

In his homily, the pontiff reflected upon today's Gospel (Jn 6:60-69) when many disciples abandoned Jesus saying that his saying was hard, but Peter said that Jesus was the Son of God. For the pope, in times of crisis, one must be very firm in ones conviction of faith.

"This passage from the Gospel is the end of a whole sequel that began with the multiplication of the loaves, when the crowd wanted to make Jesus king, and Jesus went off to pray; they did not find him the next day, they looked for him, took him and Jesus scolded them for looking for him that he might give them food and not the words of eternal life . . . This whole story ended here. They said to him: 'Give us this bread', and Jesus explained that the bread he would give them was his own flesh and blood.

Jesus said that whoever did not eat his flesh and blood would not have eternal life. Jesus also said: If you eat my flesh and my blood, you shall be raised on the last day.' These are the things that Jesus said and 'this saying is hard; it is too hard. Something is not working here. This man has gone beyond limits. And this is a time of crisis. There were times of peace and times of crisis. Jesus knew that the disciples spoke about him: here we must distinguish disciples from the apostles. The disciples were those 72 or more, the apostles were the Twelve. In fact, Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him. For this reason, faced with this crisis, he reminded them: 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father allows it. He mentioned again the attraction of the Father: The Father attracts us to Jesus. This is how the crisis is resolved.

A time of crisis, Francis said, is a time when choices are made, it is a time that puts us in front of decisions that we have to make: everyone in life has had and will have times of crisis. Family crises, marital crises, social crises, employment crises, many crises ... This pandemic too is a time of social crisis.

"How to react in that time of crisis? At that time, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.' Jesus decided to question the apostles: He said to the Twelve, Do you also want to leave? Make up your mind. Peter made his second confession. Simon Peter answered him, Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.

On behalf of the Twelve, Peter confessed that Jesus was the Holy One of God, the Son of God. [In] The first confession [he said:] You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Immediately afterwards, when Jesus began to explain his upcoming passion, he stopped him: God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you. [Then] Jesus scolded him. But Peter had matured a bit and here he didnt scold. He did not understand what Jesus was saying, 'eat the flesh, drink the blood'; he did not understand. But he trusted the Master. He trusted. He made his second confession: Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

All This helps us, all of us, to live [through] the times of crisis. [. . .] In times of crisis there is perseverance, silence; [we] stay where we are, still. This is not the time to make changes. It is the time to be faithful, to be faithful to God, to be faithful to the things we took from before; it is also a time for conversion because such faithfulness will inspire us to make some changes for the good, not to move away from the good.

Times of peace and times of crisis. We Christians must learn to manage both. Both. Some spiritual father said that the time of crisis is like going through fire in order to become strong. May the Lord send us the Holy Spirit so that we may know how to resist temptations in times of crisis, that we may know how to be faithful to the first words, with the hope afterwards of living times of peace. Let us think about our crises: family crises, neighbourhood crises, employment crises, social crises in the world, in the country ... many crises, many crises. May the Lord give us the strength  in times of crisis - not to sell the faith.
Spaniards have been savouring their first taste of life after lockdown as adults were allowed out for exercise on Saturday for the first time in seven weeks.

Any form of sport or exercise is allowed as long as it is carried out individually under new rules for outdoor activity, and people must adhere to specific time slots based on their age groups.

Spains coronavirus lockdown measures have been among the strictest in the world. Locals are still expected to practice social distancing; anyone with Covid-19 symptoms, and residents of senior homes, are still not allowed to leave their homes.

Adults under the age of 70 who wish to walk, run, cycle, or do any other physical activity outdoors can now do so between 6am and 10am, or between 8pm and 11pm.

Children have been allowed outside with their adult guardians since last Sunday, but their outings must now take place between 12pm and 7pm, reported El Pais.

More vulnerable people with caregivers, and seniors over the age of 70, can go outside between 10am and 12pm, or between 7pm and 8pm.

The timetables aim is to avoid having people coincide on the street and to space out the activities, said epidemiologist Joan Ramon Vallalbi, a member of the Spanish Public Health and Health Administration Society.

Spain has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and its death toll officially stands at 25,100. However, the rate of fatalities has dropped, with the country reporting 268 deaths  its lowest figure since 20 March  on Thursday. At its peak, Spain reported 950 fatalities overnight on 2 April.

In Barcelona, Reuters reported runners and cyclists taking to the paths near the beach. Similar scenes were seen in Madrid, as cyclists and skateboarders rode along the boulevards.

Charlotte Fraser-Prynne, a British government affairs consultant, told Reuters on her 6am run: I have been looking forward to this for weeks. I was joking with my friends that I would be the first out in Madrid. I am very happy to be out after six weeks of yoga videos.

The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, said that the citys parks will remain closed until 9 May. People were seen running and riding on the pavements around them on Saturday.

Mr Martinez-Almeida said on Thursday: We are taking small steps forward, seeing the end of the tunnel, but we cannot let our guard down.

We are going to see what happens from 9 May, what situation the deescalation is in, in order to make a decision on parks.

Earlier last week, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced a four-phase plan to return the country to what he termed the new normality by the end of June and restart its economy.

Businesses that operate by appointment, including hairdressers, will be allowed to open on Monday, but bars and restaurants are to remain shut for at least another week.

Other rules drawn up in the four-phase plan include the use of masks on public transport, and allowing visits to second homes as long as they are in the same province. The first phase is due to begin on 10 May.
Worry about getting COVID-19 compelled her to stay put at UNL. She had hoped to visit other graduate schools this spring, such as Stanford and the University of California, Davis, but she didnt want to fly while the country was intensely affected by the virus.

I think the university is doing everything they can, said Zhang, who moved with some other international students into UNLs Eastside Suites residence hall when the crisis closed many dorms.

A UNL professor in civil engineering, Dave Admiraal, said Zhang has a passion for learning and the ability to pick up new things quickly. I have learned so much from them (international students) beyond what I would have learned had I only been exposed to students from the U.S., he said in an email.

Zhang plans to start working on a masters degree in water resource engineering this summer. As for trade tensions and other conflicts between the U.S. and China, she said they arent vital to her. Im just not that into politics, she said.
A riot erupted at a prison in central Venezuela on Friday, leaving about 20 casualties, including a National Guard officer who was wounded by an explosion and the warden, who suffered a knife wound, authorities said.

Officials indicated there were some deaths, but gave no figures.

The violence at the Llanos Penitentiary Center resulted in an armed confrontation between inmates and guards, lawmaker Mara Beatriz Martnez told The Associated Press.

It was unclear what sparked the violent unrest.

Martnez said she did not have exact figures on the dead and injured at the prison, which is in the city of Guanare, 450 kilometers (280 miles) south-west of the capital of Caracas.

The National Guard officer was injured by a grenade explosion, said Martnez, who had access to an early report prepared by the town's security forces.

Venezuela's minister of penitentiary services, Iris Varela, confirmed the riot, telling the local newspaper Ultimas Noticias that a group of inmates attacked officers standing guard outside the prison.

The warden was injured by at least one inmate wielding a knife, Varela said.

A once-wealthy oil nation, Venezuela is gripped by a deepening political and economic crisis.

Street violence is common in the nation that has had nearly 5 million residents flee in recent years as public services crumble.

Venezuela has roughly 30 prisons and 500 jails that can holds an estimated 110,000 inmates.

Human rights officials say the prisons are violent and badly overcrowded, with gangs that traffic weapons and drugs in control.

A similar riot occurred a year ago in a nearby jail also in the state of Portuguese, where 29 inmates died at a police jail that housed several hundred detainees. Violence broke out when armed inmates objected to officers entering the jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Hundreds of people gathered in a square in Berlin yesterday to mark May Day in defiance of a ban on public gatherings of more than 20.

The move has exposed deep frustrations with social distancing rules in place in Germany since mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Police blocked roads around the Kreuzberg district square - traditionally the centre of left-wing May Day protests that have turned violent in the past - to prevent more from joining what a spokesman said was an illegal gathering.

Leftist groups had called for the demonstration to denounce capitalism and urge more solidarity, especially with refugees seeking to reach Europe. They had urged participants to wear masks and stay at least 1.5 metres apart.

Hundreds of people gathered in a square in Berlin yesterday to mark May Day in defiance of a ban on public gatherings of more than 20. Pictured: Police swooped and arrested six

Police blocked roads around the square in Berlin's Kreuzberg district to prevent more people from joining what a police spokesman said was an illegal gathering (pictured)

Leftist groups had called for the demonstration to denounce capitalism and urge more solidarity, especially with refugees seeking to reach Europe. They had urged participants to wear masks (pictured) and stay at least 1.5 metres apart

Berlin police, which had deployed 5,000 officers in the capital, swooped on the square where many of the mainly young protesters wore masks and many others drank beer, smoked or pushed their bikes. One couple was seen kissing

'Saving lives is not a crime,' read a giant red banner dangled from a window, in a reference to the rescue ships saving refugees trying to reach Europe.

Berlin police, which had deployed 5,000 officers in the capital, swooped on the square where many of the mainly young protesters wore masks and many others drank beer, smoked or pushed their bikes.

It was a rare scene of normality after weeks where most streets were deserted because of the lockdown.

Most of those gathered appeared to be keeping a safe distance from one another. Riot police watched from a distance as a police helicopter circled overhead. Pictured: Police detaining one man

Several demonstrations approved by police had taken place earlier across the German capital. Police arrested six people after a group of youths attacked a camera crew of national broadcaster ZDF, the police spokesman said

A large police patrol stand guard and a dog sits by at the May Day demonstrations amid the novel coronavirus crisis yesterday

Germany has been slowly easing its way out of a six-week lockdown. Playgrounds, museums and churches will open from Monday to go with the small shops that reopened this week. Pictured: The May Day protest

Most of those gathered appeared to be keeping a safe distance from one another. Riot police watched from a distance as a police helicopter circled overhead.

'We have prevented the parade from growing bigger and are using loudspeakers to urge people to disperse,' the police spokesman said, adding that the situation remained largely peaceful.

Several demonstrations approved by police had taken place earlier across the German capital. Police arrested six people after a group of youths attacked a camera crew of national broadcaster ZDF, the police spokesman said.

An overwhelming majority of Germans back the lockdown enforced by the country's 16 states and backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite its heavy toll on the economy, which is expected to contract by a record of more than 6 per cent this year. Pictured: A poster dangling from a window reads: 'Solidarity despite Corona'

Germany has handled the pandemic more successfully than the United States, Britain and Italy, partly thanks to widespread virus testing, a strong healthcare system and strict lockdown measures introduced in mid-March. But people have hit back against the restrictions with protests in the capital (pictured)

One woman appears to meditate with her eyes closed in the square as police stand behind her and monitor the rest of the protest

Police detain a protester during the protest on May Day in the district Kreuzberg in Berlin, as the public voice their frustration at the lockdown

Germany has been slowly easing its way out of a six-week lockdown. Playgrounds, museums and churches will open from Monday to go with the small shops that reopened this week.

An overwhelming majority of Germans back the lockdown enforced by the country's 16 states and backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, despite its heavy toll on the economy, which is expected to contract by a record of more than 6 per cent this year.

Germany has handled the pandemic more successfully than the United States, Britain and Italy, partly thanks to widespread virus testing, a strong healthcare system and strict lockdown measures introduced in mid-March.
Viral: This Animated video released in 2020 looks exactly the sequence of PM security breach

As polls near, ISI-Khalistan combo looks to worsen situation in Punjab

Punjab: Cop dragged on car bonnet in Jalandhar

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Chandigarh, May 2: An assistant sub inspector of the Punjab Police was dragged on the bonnet of a car after he tried to stop the driver at a checkpoint in Jalandhar on Saturday amid the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.

ASI Mulkh Raj was dragged for some distance but escaped unhurt while the car driver, Anmol Mehmi (20) was nabbed by the police and public.

MHA objects to 'violation' of lockdown in West Bengal, writes to chief secy, DGP

Mehmi was asked to stop at a police check post near Milk Bar chowk but he tried to get away. The ASI was in front of the vehicle and had no choice but to jump on the bonnet to save his life, Jalandhar Police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said.

Police have booked Mehmi and his father (owner of the vehicle) under relevant sections including 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC, the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Disaster Management Act. They are residents of Nakodar road in Jalandhar.

Bhullar said there is zero tolerance policy towards such acts committed against government officials deputed on curfew duty. He also warned of stern action against any individual indulging in such crimes.

The incident comes close on the heels of the brutal attack on a policeman wherein his hand was chopped off by a group of Nihang Sikhs while enforcing coronavirus lockdown in Patiala.
Maharashtra is the worst affected state due to coronavirus as it has reported a total of 11,506 positive cases and 485 deaths as of May 2. The state reported a total of 9,915 positive cases whereas 432 people yesterday. 1,879 people have been cured or discharged so far, according to the Union Health Ministry website.

Of these 11,506 cases, Mumbai alone has reported 7,000 coronavirus cases since the outbreak. Maharashtra has the highest number of Red Zones across the country, according to the Health Ministry. All suburban areas of Mumbai have been classified as areas with a very high number of coronavirus cases.

Also read: India records sharpest jump of 2,293 coronavirus cases in 24 hours; total cases cross 37,000-mark

Maharashtra, however, plans to reopen in a phased manner and the state government has already mapped areas on the basis of Red, Orange and Green Zones. Economic activities will be allowed to resume in Green zones at a gradual pace whereas in Orange zones, commercial activities shall be allowed in all areas barring the affected places. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned the people of Maharashtra to not crowd in areas wherein relaxations are in place or else restrictions will have to be made more stringent.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: India split into Red, Orange, Green Zones; here's complete classification of areas

Thackeray further said that the lockdown cannot be lifted in the Red Zones that comprise the Mumbai-Pune belt, parts of Nagpur and other areas. Meanwhile, total novel coronavirus cases across the country stand at 37,336 whereas 1,218 people have died as of May 2. While 9,950 people have been cured or discharged, 1 patient has been migrated.

Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: 2,293 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, biggest jump after lockdown extension
BERLIN - Some have been cut off from active social lives. Others miss the checkout line conversations that were their only social outlet. They call to talk about the weather, or to ask how long the lockdown will continue, or sometimes just to cry.

Silbernetz, a Berlin-based hotline that offers to listen to and support seniors, has had a fivefold spike in calls during the novel coronavirus outbreak, which has brought new levels of social isolation. Volunteers answer about 120 calls a day.

"Loneliness is enveloping everyone," said Elke Schilling, 75, who started the hotline and takes calls herself. "They feel their walls are imploding in on them."

People may find some solidarity in their loneliness right now, with so many around the world obliged to stay home. But forced isolation has hit elderly populations especially hard. And the disparity may become even more pronounced as countries begin to send children back to school, and the young and healthy back to work, while debating whether to require or advise older, more vulnerable citizens to remain at home.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a recent interview that the elderly may have to remain largely isolated through the end of the year. "Without a vaccine, we have to limit as much as possible contact with the elderly," she told the Bild newspaper, adding: "Children and young people will enjoy more freedom of movement earlier than elderly people and those with preexisting medical conditions."

Top officials in Europe are struggling to balance competing concerns - figuring out how to protect those who are older and most susceptible to deadly cases of the coronavirus, without consigning them to endless months of isolation.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has indicated that as society reopens in Germany - a country with one of the world's oldest populations - she's against excluding the elderly as a group. She is leaning on a study by Germany's National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina, that warns against segregating specific groups for "their own protection" due to the psychological impacts of "infantilizing" them.

In Britain, older citizens have already been singled out. In March, before the country went into wider lockdown, the government asked people over 70 to stay home for four months. Advocacy groups are concerned that restrictions on the elderly will remain after most of Britain's lockdown has been lifted.

France, meanwhile, is trying to alleviate the isolation of its seniors by easing a ban on nursing home visits. But Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, laying out France's "deconfinement" plan this week, suggested that people over 65 may want to continue to limit their social contacts after measures for other citizens are lifted on May 11.

It may not matter to some seniors if their government has given them explicit orders or guidance to continue isolating. With greater susceptibility to the virus, older people may need longer to trust that it's OK to resume socializing in person.

Still, Mazda Adli, chief physician at Berlin's Fliedner Clinic, notes that loneliness also has "enormous health relevance."

Studies show it exacerbates a range of physical and mental health conditions. Social isolation in older adults has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia. Research also suggest that loneliness and social isolation may increase the likelihood of death as much as or more than other well-known risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol abuse and obesity.

Even before the current crisis, the Red Cross had described loneliness as a "hidden epidemic." For some of society's most isolated, coronavirus-related restrictions have erased the little social contact they had.

Efforts to slow the spread of the virus have shuttered social clubs, forced people to stay home and put up walls within families. At many homes for the elderly, residents are largely confined to their rooms, sometimes with meals left outside their doors.

Merkel said the plight for those in nursing homes has been a particular burden for her during the pandemic.

"That's where loneliness, even under normal circumstances, can be a problem," she said in an address to parliament. Now, she said, it is "cruel" that no one can be there for those nearing the end of their lives. "These 80- and 90-year-olds built our country."

Before the pandemic, 87-year-old Ursula Woydt's social life revolved around a club for seniors in Schmargendorf, in southern Berlin, on the edge of a forest that skirts the city. The club offered art and language classes, concerts and readings. She found it a lifeline after her husband died 25 years ago.

But these days, her life is confined to her four-room apartment, where she listens to music and reads. "It's not nice being totally alone," she said. She doesn't have access to the internet, cutting her off from one avenue that many have used to fight social isolation.

"I miss talking to people, interacting with them," she said. She doesn't want to get the virus, so she takes social distancing measures seriously. But no one is sure how long those measures will last - how long until a widely available vaccine or effective treatment makes distancing less necessary.

Gisela Telchow, 84, lives alone in an apartment in the Berlin neighborhood of Zehlendorf. She has six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren but has not seen them outside of WhatsApp since the coronavirus arrived. One of her daughters visits once a week, wearing a mask and keeping a distance.

Telchow said the isolation is bearable - for now.

"It's very difficult to be separated from people, but it also gives me strength to know that this is how it is for everyone in the world, not just me," Telchow said.

Telling only the elderly to stay home would be "outrageous," Telchow said. She said she feels lucky to have her health and a spacious apartment with a balcony, but she hasn't thought as far ahead as Christmas and can't imagine what she'd do if the restrictions last that long.

Schilling, of the Silbernetz hotline, said she would anticipate resistance to any restrictions that applied only or primarily to those over 70. She recounted a caller who had challenged age-based restrictions, saying that men are more likely to die of the virus than women, and asking why they're not being treated differently.

For those whose time is precious, it is a particularly cruel situation, Schilling said.

"In old age, you become very aware of the limited lifetime you have left," she said, adding that with no foreseeable end in sight, people are "doubly afraid."
Kyrgyzstan reported 13 new COVID-19 cases as of May 2 morning, bringing the total number to 769, head of the public health department of the Health Ministry Ainura Akmatova told Saturday, Trend reports citing Kabar.

Currently, 234 patients are in hospitals in Kyrgyzstan with coronavirus infection.

Akmatova said that 11 patients are in serious condition in hospitals, 5 of them are in intensive care.

She said that among the newly infected 2 are medical workers.

In total, 200 cases of coronavirus were registered among medical workers, 122 recovered, said Akmatova.

She also noted that 23 patients with a previously confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were discharged from hospitals per day.

In total 527 have been discharged from hospitals throughout the country. Eight have passed away.
A Himalayan black bear cub



rescued from the Lower Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh has been handed over to the authorities of Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation at Pakke Tiger Reserve in Seijosa, forest officials on Saturday.

The two-month-old cub was rescued by one Marmi Riba, a resident of Old Deka village in New Seren circle of Lower Siang district, from a forest area in the first week of April.

The cub was separated from the mother, Range Officer of Nari Forest Range Jumgo Geyi said.

The cub was handed over to the officials and veterinary doctors of the rehabilitation centre on Thursday, he added.

Geyi said the cub was too young to survive in the wild if released and hence it was handed over to the animal rehabilitation centre.

On receiving information about its rescue, we informed the authorities of Biological Park in Itanagar but due to the lockdown, the transportation of the cub was not possible. However, the cub was taken care of by the rescuer with telephonic guidance of the veterinary officer of the Biological Park, Geyi informed.

On pursuance of Pasighat Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tashi Mize, the officials of Rehabilitation Centre took custody of the bear, Geyi added.

The Asiatic bear rehabilitation project at Seijosa in East Kameng district was officially launched on March 15, 2002 after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked between the state forest department and Wildlife Trust of India.

Since then the centre is home to many rescued Asiatic black bear cubs of the region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karnataka will take only the usual one way fare from the migrant workers returning to the state who opt to travel by the state transport buses to reach their villages, even as the number of passengers in the vehicles will be half the usual numbers to maintain social distancing norms amid Covid-19 lockdown.

The decision was taken at a meeting that chief minister BS Yediyurappa held on Saturday with the district ministers, MPs, MLAs and district collectors of selected districts to review the current Covid-19 situation in the state, according to ANI.

In the meeting today, government has decided to take only one way fare from the migrant workers coming from outside and travelling by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses to reach their respective villages, said a statement from the chief ministers office.

The meeting was held through video conferencing.

In the meeting today, Government has decided to take only one way fare from the migrant workers coming from outside and travelling by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation in the state to reach their respective villages: Karnataka Chief Minister's Office https://t.co/dT4fWrc3Yc  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

A large number of people gathered at Bengalurus Majestic bus terminal on Saturday to board state run buses to different districts in the state, a day after the Yediyurappa government allowed a one-time movement of stranded persons in the state to their native places.

A KSRTC official said that they are planning to operate around 100 buses to ferry the migrant workers to their native places.

Today we are planning to operate around 100 buses depending upon migrant labourers coming to the bus station. Our passenger capacity is 55 but we are operating with 30 passengers only after health checkups, Central Traffic Manager, Operations, KSRTC, Bengaluru, told ANI.

On Friday, announcing the Cabinet decision to allow inter-state and inter-district movement of people, which came a day after the Centre issued guidelines for the process, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said this will be a one-time measure and the government would arrange buses for those in need but they should bear the expenses.

The opposition Congress had protested the government decision, saying the government should bear the travel cost.
On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced 24 counties  more than one-third of Pennsylvanias counties  will be lifted from the stay-at-home order related to the coronavirus pandemic on May 8. The counties are in northcentral and northwestern Pennsylvania.

Today, Saturday, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine will hold briefing with an update on the coronavirus across the state.

You can watch her online here or via Facebook Live starting at noon.

The health department announced Saturday morning that the state has had 48,305 coronavirus diagnoses and 2,418 related deaths.

Levine talked about a Patient Safety Authority in Pennsylvania that checks on hospitals as well as long-term-care facilities such as nursing homes. Most of the states deaths due to the coronavirus has been people from nursing or personal-care homes.

Our social distancing measures will continue to be so important. We not only have to protect our loved ones but we have to protect those who are taking care of our loved ones," Levine said.

Wolf has called for a three-phase plan to reopen regions: red, yellow and green. Right now, Pennsylvania remains in the red zone. The Wolf administration selected counties in northcentral and northwestern Pennsylvania to move into the yellow zone, starting on May 8.

Even in yellow status, however, barbershops and gyms will not be allowed to reopen, something some business owners have called unfair. Levine said the goal isnt to treat anyone unfairly but to prevent the virus spread.

The Wolf administration has established a key measure for reopening counties: fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over a period of 14 days. Some counties in southcentral Pennsylvania would meet that.

However, Levine has said other categories would be considered, including population density, the areas health care capabilities and the capacity for testing.

Asked about why the state was opening by region instead of individual county, Levine said the state is looking at both. Reopening will not stick to any specific schema, Levine said.

To prevent a resurgence of virus cases in reopening counties, the health secretary said social distancing needs to continue, including mask-wearing and no large gatherings.

Yellow means caution, Levine said, but this remains a very dangerous virus, and this virus remains throughout Pennsylvania.

No news conference on the coronavirus is planned for Sunday, but the state will release updated numbers on cases and deaths.

This is a developing story and has been updated.

More:

Why isnt your county on the list of 24 where Pa. is lifting some coronavirus restrictions May 8?

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf explains regional reopening from coronavirus shutdown

These counties will be the first in yellow as Pa. lifts some coronavirus restrictions
In a ruling on Monday, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sided with the tribal governments and issued a temporary injunction to stop funds from being sent to the corporations during the litigation. But on Friday, the Treasury Department wrote in a status report to the court that it has not yet arrived at a determination as to how to allocate the money, even as some tribes sought immediate distribution of the funds in a new lawsuit.

The outcome of the lawsuits will dictate how the stimulus funds and any future relief are distributed among the 574 federally recognized tribes, tribal leaders and advocates said. But it also all but guarantees that some of the aid will remain frozen, leaving tribal citizens without critical federal assistance even as the number of virus-related deaths on some reservations eclipses that of entire states.

I just honestly thought this was the kind of treatment we would still only read about in the history books, said Chuck Hoskin Jr., the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, in an interview. Its Indian Country unnecessarily having to move heaven and earth to defend itself and to keep from losing ground.

The lawsuits and delay in providing the tribal aid represent the latest struggle over allocating the trillions of dollars Congress approved as part of the stimulus package, a measure that was hastily negotiated over a period of days. In the aftermath, lawmakers, administration officials, companies and individuals have tangled over who is entitled to various funds  including a small-business loan program that helped several large, publicly traded companies  and how they should be parceled out.

Several lawmakers and aides involved in drafting the stimulus measure said that the intent was to allocate the money only to tribal governments, which were recognized in the Constitution and treaties that ultimately allowed the United States government to seize tribal land. In part because of the land-trust relationship with the federal government, tribes are unable to levy property taxes and rely predominantly on their businesses  which are now shuttered in order to slow the spread of the virus  for a small stream of revenue.
By Express News Service

With almost no assignments insight, it has been a difficult time for photographers, video and new media artists. In a bid to make things better, Serendipity Arts Foundation and Les Rencontres dArles have jointly announced the Serendipity Arles Grant, worth Rs 12,00,000.

Practitioners from South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, under 45, are eligible to apply. Sam Stourdze, Director of Rencontres dArles, said, Our festival would like to acknowledge that India and the South Asia region have become a breeding ground of creation. Each year, 10 young photographers and a winner will be selected, funded and their work exhibited, strengthening the ties between our countries and, especially, shining a spotlight on the artists. The 10 artists will receive a `70,000 grant and get to showcase their work at the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, in December.

Smriti Rajgarhia, Director of Serendipity Arts Foundation, says the grant doesnt mean to restrict the creativity of any artist, which is why there is no set theme. But under no circumstances the proposed project should have been publicly displayed; in whole or in part. Applicants have to submit their bio, portfolio, and a project proposal, which must mention the intent and scope of the project, its timeline, the budget required and a letter of recommendation. Also, the call is open to projects in progress and applicants must submit documents that outline the progress, she says.

Talking about the possibility of the festival taking place this year amid the outbreak, Rajgarhia says, These are strange times indeed, but one needs to be prepared and pragmatic. As humans, we have the great ability to adapt and make the most out of a situation.As of now, we intend to approach December for the festival in Goa as planned, while keeping an eye on the developments.The grant supported by Embassy of France in India Applications close on July 7.
Italys emergency response commissioner Domenico Arcuri begged Italians on Saturday not to lower their guards as the country prepares to ease the worlds longest coronavirus lockdown.

On Monday, Phase Two begins. We have to be aware that it will be the start of an even bigger challenge, Arcuri said.

After a two-month shut down to combat a virus that has killed over 28,000 people, Italians will be allowed to stroll in parks and visit relatives. Restaurants can open for takeout and wholesale stores can resume business.

Scientists will be closely monitoring the virus contagion rate as the lockdown lifts and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said it may be reintroduced in locally if the numbers begin to rise significantly again.

Arcuri confirmed the relative freedom Italians were about to win could be taken away again for health reasons.

We must maintain social distancing, maximum hygiene levels, and masks. Weve done our bit to the best of our ability. From Monday, its up to you, he said at a press conference.

I implore you, do not lower your guards.

Some 150,000 people will have their blood tested next week for the new coronavirus as authorities attempt to get a clearer picture of its spread as the lockdown eases. Those tests were expected to begin Monday.

Arcuri said the government had also bought over five million swabs to be distributed to the regions.

Masks costing just 50 cents due to a cap set by the government would go on sale in 50,000 shops, from pharmacies to tobacconists, starting Monday. That figure would rise to 100,000 shops by mid month.

Italy would be producing four million masks a day by mid June, 25 million by mid July and 35 million by mid August, Arcuri said.

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NSW health authorities are investigating possible breaches of infection control at a Sydney aged care facility at the centre of a coronavirus cluster.

Of the five new COVID-19 cases in the state over the last 24 hours, two were recorded at Anglicare Newmarch House.

There have been 61 cases and 13 deaths related to transmission at the western Sydney facility.

On Saturday, it was announced that two staff members had contracted the virus, and NSW health has deployed two infection control nurses to the facility to review its procedures.

NSW Health will be sending two infection control nurses to Anglicare's Newmarch House (pictured) after two staff tested positive to coronavirus

'We've clearly seen transmission that on the surface looks like there's been breaches in infection control amongst particularly the staff,' NSW chief medical officer Kerry Chant said.

'And that's obviously a concern. There have been some elements where consistent application of infection control practice has not occurred.'

Anglicare Sydney released a statement on Saturday where it promised to investigate the cause of the new cases and said it would work with NSW Public Health Unit.

'Additional positive cases associated with Newmarch House are very distressing for our staff, our residents, and their families,' it said.

There have been 61 cases and 13 deaths related to transmission at the western Sydney facility. Pictured are health officials in protective gear in Adelaide

Anglicare Sydney said in a statement they would be working with the NSW Public Health Unit to investigate to cause of the 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

'We are very appreciative of the support being provided by the Commonwealth and NSW Governments and by the Aged Care sector more broadly.'

Anglicare said it was relieved the outbreak at the Dorothy Henderson Lodge had been brought under control and hoped the same would happen at the Newmarch House.

NSW's coronavirus tally has now grown to 3031 with no new deaths recorded.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the new five cases came from 8809 tests - the second highest rate of testing recorded across NSW since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr Hazzard also said he had eased restrictions on people attending beauty salons to purchase retail products.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard (pictured) said the new five cases came from 8809 tests - the second highest rate of testing recorded across NSW since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis

After the 13th death was announced on Thursday Mr Hazzard urged all staff to stay home if they left unwell as they could infect vulnerable people.

'We have talked about this numerous times but now it appears that some staff are still going to work, even when they have symptoms,' he said.

The female worker was said to be 'mortified and distraught' that she had been the catalyst for the cluster, which spread quickly through the vulnerable residents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday discussed issues related to coronavirus pandemic with his Thailand counterpart Prayut Chan-o-Cha and said that New Delhi and Bangkok will work together to deal with the multifarious challenges posed by the current crisis.

"Discussed issues related to COVID-19 pandemic with good friend @prayutofficial. As neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural links, India and Thailand will work together to deal with the multifarious challenges posed by this present crisis," the Prime Minister tweeted.

With 2,293 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest number of cases in a single day, India's COVID-19 tally reached 37,336 on Saturday, including 1,218 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

On the other hand, Thailand has reported 2,966 coronavirus cases and 54 deaths so far.

-ANI

Also Read: Coronavirus: India confirms 37,336 cases; death toll reaches 1,218
Worcester officials announced more than 100 additional coronavirus cases Friday as hospital officials report seeing a continued rise in hospitalized patients with the virus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19.

Dr. Eric Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, said today was the worst day yet in the pandemic when considering the number of patients in intensive care unit beds and patients needing to be on a ventilator.

But, Dickson said, planning has allowed the hospitals to keep running without being overwhelmed.

We are really at the high-water mark. Right now, today is the worst day weve had, Dickson said. The citys doing fine. The health care systems are doing great because of the planning that went into the surge.

City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. on Friday announced an additional 119 cases of coronavirus, bringing the citys total to 2,190. The city has averaged 67 new cases per day since April 1.

As the pandemic continues, health officials continue to address outbreaks and analyze the prevalence of the disease in the community.

Were firefighters going around looking for the hotspots and making sure we put them out quickly so this disease doesnt spread, said Dickson.

Between Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester and the UMass Memorial Health Care system, there are 284 inpatients with coronavirus on Friday, 15 more than the day before, Augustus said. Of those patients, 107 are in the intensive care unit.

The two systems have seen 107 patients die from illness related to the virus, one additional death since Thursday. A total of 175 employees between the two systems have tested positive for the virus, Augustus said.

At the field hospital at the DCU Center, there were 20 patients on Friday, two more than the day before. The homeless shelter at the center had 21 positive individuals on Friday, Augustus said.

The Albion rooming house, which saw an outbreak this week, has 19 positive individuals, Augustus said, one more case than reported on Thursday.

Sixty more tests were conducted this week at the SMOC shelter, Augustus said, and only one positive result was detected. The city has conducted several rounds of testing at shelters for the homeless population through the pandemic.

I think that is a sign that we have really figured out how to protect folks and limit the number of new exposures, Augustus said.

The city manager also announced Friday that the number of Walmart employees who have tested positive for the virus has reached 61, with test results for 119 other employees pending.

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"We've rediscovered the neighbourhood, the importance of the immediate location  our street, our apartment block," says Mackay. "Even people who haven't known each other as neighbours have stepped up to be helpful, do a bit of shopping, or go to the chemist for a frail elderly person whose presence they previously might not have even registered." Mackay, 82, lives in a Canberra apartment block where some of the younger couples have offered to run errands for the older residents or take care of their shopping. It's a gesture he happily accepted once when he needed a book. "Our role as neighbours has come back into our consciousness and I don't think we'll want to let that go," Mackay says. More time for things that matter Inevitably, as the pace of life has slowed and most of us have ditched the daily commute to work from home, we have found ourselves with more spare time. It's not a thrill for everyone. Some are pulling their hair out with boredom, desperately awaiting the return of the work functions and the social events their lives revolved around. Some are feeling guilty for being lazy and unproductive.

But others are relishing the emptier schedule. Weekends that once involved herculean efforts to ferry children to sporting matches have been replaced by activities at home that actually foster bonds rather than break them down with stress and anxiety. Time once spent behind the wheel is now time spent on the phone, talking to loved ones or friends who had dropped off the radar. When prompted, 74 per cent of the Newgate respondents said they would "check in" with friends and family more often once the crisis is over, and 72 per cent said they would spend more time with family. Those convictions are showing up across all the firm's research, says Vercoe. On the move: people jogging along the Bay Run at Lilyfield. Credit:Kate Geraghty Some of the intentions expressed seem contradictory, or even mutually exclusive. We want to be more socially engaged but we also like staying at home, with 53 per cent saying they would stay home more and 59 per cent saying they would "minimise contact with others [and] maintain some level of social distancing" once the pandemic is behind us. 'We had a situation in which this pathogen kind of revealed the flaws in our social organisation.' Dr Bryan Mukandi

Different lifestyle choices The other big changes we want to make involve our health and lifestyle. Seventy per cent affirmed they want to eat more healthily, and 69 per cent said they wanted to cook at home more often (of course, some of us cannot wait for restaurants to reopen and have vowed to never enter a kitchen again). Two-thirds said they would take more regular exercise. Certainly, the lockdown has been bad for a lot of people's waistlines and health, with a lot less movement and a lot more snacking. But there are some aspects we'll surely want to keep. While the gym junkies restlessly wait to jump back on their machines, others have discovered the joy of exercising outdoors. Switching from the treadmill to the footpath is a great way to discover new parts of your suburb or city  and with more and more people pounding the pavement, your chances of running into a friend or colleague while out running or exercising have dramatically increased. Fitness has gone from a private chore to a collective experience. And while there were complaints about a lack of physical distancing on the popular Bay Run in Sydney's inner west  and threats from mayors about having to shut it down  the better view is surely to welcome the renaissance of our public spaces as a natural gymnasium.

More flexible working arrangements Much more divisive is the dramatic uptake of working from home. It's an option many essential workers don't have. For those who do, it can be a gift and a curse. Many of us cannot wait to get back to the daily grind, complete with its frustrating commutes, tiresome water-cooler conversations and petty corporate politics. For all those ills, at least it's something to do. And we're rapidly losing patience with shaky internet connections, tedious Zoom conferences and that one person who can never seem to negotiate the technology. But the experience has demonstrated that more flexible working arrangements are possible and potentially beneficial. It has proven you don't need to be in the office to be productive, and may have eroded the stigma that says "working from home" is just a euphemism for lounging around watching daytime television.

"I think that feeling of flexibility is likely to continue," says Mackay. "Now we've seen it working on a huge scale. People are more likely to say, 'I'll work from home tomorrow morning, because now we know we can do it, and I'll come in in the afternoon'." Mackay predicts hot-desking will come back into fashion, with companies using it as a way to cut down on floor space. But the demise of the office doesn't necessarily mean the end of workplace culture. "What we really miss is the kind of corridor conversations  the chit chat that isn't really about the work  that really oils the wheels of the organisation," Mackay says. "We've been finding ways even via email or Zoom or the phone to compensate for that. People are tending to write longer emails, including more personal stuff as well as the work." Avoid the commute: more flexible work arrangements may help alleviate the peak hour public transport crush. Credit:Peter Rae Compassion for the disadvantaged

As much as the lockdown has changed the way we work, it has also thrown a lot of people out of work and on to the dole queue. The government stepped in with numerous social security measures  doubling the jobseekers' allowance, and introducing a new payment, JobKeeper, to support workers who were stood down or were at risk of being stood down. These measures are supposed to be temporary, but the underlying sensibilities don't have to be. "I think the stigma that was kicking around about unemployment has vanished, has been washed away by all this, as it should be," says Mackay. "A change in attitudes to the unemployed is now going to occur, and I think we're going to be proud of ourselves for making that change." Dr Bryan Mukandi, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Queensland who specialises in public health and philosophy, says the pandemic is a timely reminder of the Kantian aphorism that "ought implies can". In order for people to have a moral obligation to do something, they must first have the means. "If we think that people ought to do a bunch of things, if we hope that people do a bunch of things, we need to make sure they have the ability and resources to do them," Mukandi says.

"I think there was a recognition on multiple levels that certain things need to be in place in order for people to be able to socially distance ... structural things need to be in place in order for people to maintain healthy behaviours." Most of us have a complex attitude to government. We want to rely on it when we need it; we want it out of the way when it annoys us. In a crisis, we always come crawling back. Mackay says we've seen "a conservative government acting like a socialist government", and we've responded positively to the compassion that entails. He believes we'll want this to continue, too. "There's going to be not a revolution but a shift in the direction of being more compassionate and expecting institutions like government and banks and the media to be more compassionate." Newfound resilience

Loading In an essay for The Critic last month, British journalist and author Ella Whelan said resilience had become "a dirty word these days". Prior to the pandemic, a "fetishisation of mental health" among Millennials had led people to pathologise the routine swings and roundabouts of life and celebrate vulnerability. "This cult of vulnerability  in which no one is allowed to be resilient for fear of offending those who aren't  is becoming the norm," Whelan wrote. Whether or not you accept that, it might be nice to hang on to a slither of the resilience this virus has fostered. Mackay certainly thinks so. He says it was evident in the generation that survived the Great Depression. "People said it really did clarify their values and their priorities, and that stayed with them," he says. "There's going to be a whole generation of young adults now whose resilience will be really [lifted] up by living through these months of the pandemic. Like [after] the Great Depression, I think it will not be a dramatic change but it will be a permanent change." Of course, the danger in this is that our best intentions come to nought and we regress to the way things were before. After all, all these things were possible before COVID-19. But as the economist Paul Samuelson showed, our "revealed preferences"  the ones we show through our behaviours and choices  often say a lot more than our stated preferences, the things we claim we want.
TDT | Manama

Institutions in the Kingdom are urged to develop their own online virtual training capabilities to meet the needs of jobseekers. Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan said there is a need for institutions to go hi-tech in the current scenarios where the Coronavirus infection is having a lasting effort on the social order.

The minister was receiving Chairman of Bahrain Society for Private Training Institutes Nawaf Mohammed Al-Jishi, in the presence of board members. He commended the role of training institutes and centres in developing vocational capabilities and skills of national cadres.

Government, the minister said, is keen on promoting vocational training and human resources to integrate job seekers in the labour market. The meeting focused on the efforts exerted by the Bahrain Society for Private Training Institutes to develop the sector and help private institutions tide over the current circumstances.

Al-Jishi commended the ministrys efforts and support to the association to overcome difficulties facing training institutes and centres. He further stressed keenness in delivering quality programmes to meet labour market needs and keep abreast of technological and scientific strides.
The Gurdwara Langar Sahib in Nanded had been shut on Friday after several pilgrims from Punjab, who returned to their state after visiting this shrine, tested coronavirus positive.

Aurangabad: Twenty persons currently residing in Gurdwara Langar Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra have tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Saturday.

Swabs of total 97 people residing in the gurudwara had been collected for testing. Of them 20 have tested positive for the infection, civil surgeon Dr Neelkanth Bhosikar said. "They have been admitted to NRI Bhawan COVID Care Centre in Nanded city," he said.

Their samples had been collected on 30 April and 1 May, he said. Twenty-five of them have tested negative, while the reports of 41 others are awaited. Reports of 11 others are undecided, Bhosikar said in a statement.

The Gurdwara Langar Sahib had been shut on Friday after several pilgrims from Punjab, who returned to their state after visiting this shrine, tested coronavirus positive, officials had said.

The Gurdwara Hazur Sahib located in the vicinity was also sealed by the local authorities on Friday. Hazur Sahib, also known as Takht Hazuri Sahib Sachkhand, is among the holiest Sikh shrines in the country.

As per the Punjab government figures, at least 115 of the over 3,500 pilgrims who returned from the Nanded gurdwara have tested positive for coronavirus. On 23 April, several pilgrims from Nanded had hired private vehicles to reach Punjab.

On the way back on 28 April, two drivers and their helper were stopped at Ardhapur on Nanded border. Their samples were taken, which confirmed that they are coronavirus positive. They are currently being treated at Vishnupuri in Nanded district, Bhosikar said.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Nanded district has reached 26, he added. "Two of them have died during treatment," he said.
Pentagon Awards Lockheed Martin $6 Billion Patriot Missile Interceptor Contract

Sputnik News

00:14 GMT 01.05.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Lockheed Martin has won more than $6 billion to produce interceptors and other equipment for the Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence system, the US Department of Defence said in a press release.

"Lockheed Martin Corporation of Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded a $6,068,344,959 firm-fixed-price contract ...to produce Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target Advanced Capability-3 missiles, missile segment enhancement configuration and associated ground support equipment and spares", the release said on Thursday.

The contract also includes incidental services, hardware, facilities, equipment, and all technical, manufacturing and testing efforts, missile segment enhancement configuration, and associated equipment, the Defence Department added.

Work on the contract will continue over the next seven years with an estimated completion date of 2027 in Huntsville, Alabama; Camden, Arkansas; Ocala, Florida; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Grand Prairie and Lufkin, Texas; and Archbald, Pennsylvania, the release said.

On 1 April, Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract worth more than $818 million to produce 790 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM).

A Sputnik

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:40:27|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Some postboxes, traditionally red in Britain, have been painted blue to thank National Health Service (NHS) workers for their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.

Five postboxes have been been painted the new color by the Royal Mail, bearing the message: Thank You NHS.

They are located close to St Thomas' Hospital in London, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was treated for COVID-19, Trafford General Hospital in Manchester, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, according to the London-based Evening Standard newspaper.

Royal Mail said the locations were chosen to represent all four nations of the United Kingdom, and to commemorate the Trafford General Hospital, the birthplace of the NHS, which was founded in July 1948.

Shane O'Riordain, managing director of marketing, regulation and corporate affairs at Royal Mail, said, "The special blue postboxes are a small token of our thanks for the exceptional service NHS workers are providing across all four UK nations."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that the country was "past the peak" of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the numbers of hospital admissions and intensive care cases both falling and the number of deaths also stabilizing. Enditem
By Guy Faulconbridge

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due next week to present a possible way out of the coronavirus lockdown to get the world's fifth largest economy back to work without triggering a second spike in cases.

The government is obliged to review the lockdown by May 7 and Johnson has said he would like to set out a roadmap and a menu of options for easing restrictions.

However, Johnson has also outlined five tests that must be met before the restrictions can be lifted in the country with the second-highest death toll in Europe after Italy.

TEST ONE

"The National Health Service (NHS) has sufficient capacity to provide critical care and specialist treatment right across the United Kingdom."

Government scientists say the number of infections is coming down. Hospital admissions are declining too, as is the number of patients in critical care. In London, there is clear decline in the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital but the decline is less marked in other regions such as Scotland, the North East of England and the East of England.

TEST TWO

"A sustained and consistent fall in daily deaths from coronavirus."

The worst days for deaths were April 21 when 1,172 deaths were reported and April 10 with 1,152. Since April 21, the daily toll went as low as 338 on April 27 and as high as 1,005 on April 24. On May 1, 739 deaths were reported. Government scientists say that while the daily death tolls show a downward trend they expect them to plateau for a while.

TEST THREE

"Reliable data to show that the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels across the board."

Johnson has said keeping the reproduction number - R0 or "R nought" - down is absolutely vital. That's the average number of people that one person with the coronavirus infects. Scientists say the R number is in a range of 0.6 to 0.9 whereas it was 3.0 in March. That means each infected person is now, on average, infecting less than one other person.

TEST FOUR

Story continues

"Operational challenges including testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) are in hand with supply able to meet future demand."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday that the United Kingdom has hit its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day. He said 122,347 tests were conducted in the 24 hours to 0800 GMT on Friday. There have been problems, however, in getting PPE to some front line health workers and care homes.

TEST FIVE

"Confident that any adjustments to the current measures will not risk a second peak of infections that overwhelms the NHS."

This is the hardest test to fathom and the most dangerous for Johnson. Scientists will be watching the R number very closely to ensure it does not rise above 1.0. There is no specific treatment for the new coronavirus nor is there a vaccine as yet.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by David Clarke)
Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, an author and journalist who lives in New York, saw how strictly quarantine rules were enforced when she flew to Singapore in late March and was forced to self-isolate in a hotel. Her location was monitored through her cellphone, and twice a day, she was required to verify her whereabouts for the government, occasionally by sending a picture of her surroundings. Once, she got a video call from health officials, just to make sure she was where she said she was.
Thirty of the 38 districts in Bihar have reported Covid-19 cases ahead of the planned return of tens of thousands of migrant workers from across the country in special trains, adding to the challenges being faced by the state government.

At the end of the first spell of the lockdown on April 14, only 12 districts had reported Covid-19 cases. By the end of the second spell of the lockdown, this figure increased to 30 districts even as the number of infections grew rapidly in the past 10 days.

The number of infections in Bihar was just 66 on April 14, and it increased to 475 on May 2, with 243 cases reported between April 25 and May 1.

This shows the challenging phase for the state may have just begun, with more and more people returning to their hometowns and we have to be prepared for it, said a senior state government official who declined to be named.

The state government has already curtailed all leave for doctors, health officials and contractual employees of the health department till May 31 in view of growing need for surveillance and screening. But officials admit the challenges for Bihar might grow.

Over the next few days, tens of thousands of migrant workers are expected to return to the state in special trains from different parts of the country.

Officials are also worried because many new infections reported during the second phase of the lockdown were those of migrant workers, who managed to reach Bihar and unknowingly took the Coronavirus to new areas as they were largely asymptomatic.

Also read| Injustice: CM Soren on Rs 50 extra charged per migrant on special trains

Districts in north Bihar such as Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Purnea had remained free of infections until the last week of April, but now they all have reported cases. Madhubani, with 13 cases reported on Friday alone, has emerged as the district in north Bihar with highest number of 18 cases.

Neighbouring Darbhanga has five cases, while Sitamarhi has six. East and West Champaran have five cases each, while Seemanchal region too has reported cases  one each in Purnea and Araria and two in Katihar. Madhubani and Darbhanga are both in the orange zone.

Madhubanis district magistrate Nilesh Ramchandra Deor, a doctor, said all 13 cases in the district were migrant workers who returned from Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow. Five earlier cases were traced to a woman who travelled by car from Delhi.

Due to her, another woman who also travelled in the car, and two children got infected, he said.

Also read: After CM declares state coronavirus-free, Tripura records two new Covid-19 cases

Madhubani shares a border with Nepal and the inflow of migrant workers from the neighbouring country too is likely to increase. This has led to greater concerns for officials of the district, famous for its exquisite paintings and rich cultural heritage, and surveillance, screening and quarantine facilities have been expanded.

There is lockdown in Nepal till May 7. People are not coming from that side and if anyone tries to sneak in, it is immediately detected due to heightened surveillance. All outsiders have to spend the required time in quarantine. The administration is on its toes, Deor said.

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Leaked Documents Show China Hid Info On Virus Human Transmission; Secret Social Monitoring Exposed

Leaked documents obtained by The Epoch Times show the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was aware the new coronavirus, the CCP Virus, was able to spread from human to human, yet it kept this information from the outside world for at least five days.

The regime officially confirmed human to human transmission on Jan. 5, yet the leaked documents from the regional health commission in northern Chinas Inner Mongolia show the Chinese regime was already aware of this, and was already developing prevention measures.

And a story is now emerging around the head of Jaroslav Kubera, head of the Czech Senate. His wife recently discovered documents showing that shortly before his death in January, he had received threats from the Chinese regime.

These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads.

Crossroads is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube.
New Delhi: Harish Salve, India's lead counsel on the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, on Saturday said that India might have to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to get direction for Pakistan to implement the court's judgement of the case. "We have reached the point that we may have to go to ICJ for consequential direction because Pakistan has not acted on the court's decision," said Salve, a former Solicitor General of India.

Pakistan alleged that Jadhav was a senior Indian intelligence officer who entered Pakistan illegally to carry out acts of sabotage when he was caught. A military court later sentenced him to death on charges of terrorism. India said he was not a spy and that he ran a business in an Iranian border region from where he was abducted and taken to Pakistan and forced to confess.

Salve further said, "We managed to get the hearing in a matter of weeks. Pakistan was politely told this is not a place for theatrics. We had to keep our case within the Vienna convention, which was a limitation. Pakistan told the world they won the case, good for them."

He added that the Indian government has written to Pakistan but no one knows how things progressing and so India might have to go to ICJ once again. "Pakistan has to keep him in good condition. We have asked for FIR of charge-sheet and judgement of the military court from Pakistan, but they refuse to give that to us. I know the current situation of Kulbhushan Jadhav. We have reached the point that we might have to go to ICJ for consequential direction. Things are not moving in Pakistan," stated Salve.

Salve said that he knows the current situation and India and Pakistan have had 7-8 exchanges. He said that India is hoping that "via backchannel, we will persuade Pakistan to let him go. Even if it is a humanitarian ground, we want him back. Because it has become a big ego problem in Pakistan".

India has written 4-5 letters but Pakistan keeps denying, he said. Confident that "someday we will have him back in India", Salve said, "We have to keep the case under the spotlight, under the global community's watch. ICJ President has called it an important case at the UN. We have kept the glare on the case, in the hope Pakistan that won't act worse.

In 2019, India got a major diplomatic victory at the ICJ with the world court asking Pakistan to "provide Indian consular officers access to him in accordance with Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations".

Pakistan gave one consular access after the ICJ order but since then things have not moved publically. The meeting happened in the presence of Pakistani govt officials and was recorded. A comprehensive report has been sent by the Indian mission in Islamabad to Ministry of External affairs on the meeting.

On a lighter note, Salve said, "The only challenge I faced during Kulbhushan Jadhav case was there are no good hotels in the Haque. I need a hotel with a gym."
Flagstaff community members rallied to raise $22,218 in nine hours to help a local veterinarian who was locked out of his workplace Thursday by his landlord amid the coronavirus eviction ban.

Don MacKenzie, a veterinarian who owns and operates Alpine Animal Clinic at 1066 W. Route 66, arrived at work Thursday to find the locks changed with many clients scheduled to bring their animals to his clinic that day. MacKenzie admitted he had failed to make his March and April payments on time.

Duane Weston, an attorney who spoke on behalf of the landlord, said his client hopes to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, but said that MacKenzies lease had ended the day of the lockout.

Through a GoFundMe posted by one of MacKenzies employees, the clinic was able to raise $27,750 through community donations as of Friday night. The clinics goal was originally set at $22,218 to pay for rent and late fees.

MacKenzie spoke with the Arizona Daily Sun about the situation, saying many people also donated equipment, offered to help the clinic move, and allowed him to use their space during the lockout. He said he is dedicated to using the money on his debts, or returning it to the community.

The fact that so many of my clients and other veterinarians in town and boarding kennels in town  with all this uncertainty  that they thought that somehow it was worth trying to help me and trying to help me save my business; Im blown away. I dont get it, MacKenzie said, audibly emotional.

The GoFundMe page was updated by organizer Samantha Page to reflect the goal already having been reached.

"In just nine hours, we have met our fundraising goal. You all are incredible," Page wrote. "There are no words to adequately describe how we feel right now, or what this means to us."

Legal questions

MacKenzie felt one unforeseen consequence of the GoFundMe was that many people have begun harassing the landlord and their family through phone calls. In MacKenzies mind, its a dispute between a renter and a landlord.

This person is making their decisions based on what they think is best for them. Do I agree? No. Does that mean I want to see them hounded? God, no. Thats just wrong, MacKenzie said. The whole mob mentality these days with the internet  folks, step back. Its not right.

The looming question is whether the landlord had the legal right to serve the lockout amid the statewide ban on evictions and notices to vacate commercial properties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MacKenzie said he was not given notice of the lockout before it occurred, and that his business had seen a 40% drop in during the pandemic impacting his ability to pay rent in April.

However, the landlords lawyers said the tenant had been consistently behind on his rent for more than a year, including his failed March payment that was due before the coronavirus social distancing orders were implemented in Arizona. Additionally, lawyers allege MacKenzie had not renewed his lease, and said the equipment cannot be removed from the premises before the debt is paid, citing the contract.

Sadly, this individual is using the tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic to disguise his poor business practices by alleging that this one-day lockout is in violation of the governors executive orders regarding landlords and tenants, Weston said in his statement.

MacKenzie said he was planning to move out of his building Friday, and the lockout prevented that. Both parties said the tenant and landlord had been in discussions about the ending five-year lease since October 2019.

MacKenzie said he wants to keep this out of the courts, but said the landlords lawyers have not responded to his lawyer's calls since the locks were changed.

I mean, this [money] has given me a chance. This I can do things with. We can settle things in a civilized manner I hope. I really hope thats how this is going to go, MacKenzie said.

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Police from Victoria and NSW lined the side of the road to salute their fallen colleague Constable Glen Humphris in an impromptu, solemn and emotional display of unity and respect, as he was driven past the border to his final resting place on Saturday.

Constable Humphris, not long out of the police academy, was one of four police officers killed in last month's truck crash on the Eastern Freeway, along with Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and Constable Josh Prestney.

Deputy Commissioner of Victoria Police Rick Nugent with Constable Glen Humphris police hat. Credit:Joe Armao

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent held Constable Humphris' police hat and a flag in front of the hearse, which was escorted from Melbourne by two police cars and police motorbikes on Saturday.

Police stood on the side of the road along Victorian freeways to salute their fallen colleague in a gesture that Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Graham Ashton, described as "humbling".
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Saturday denounced recent U.S. allegations that it was providing covert aid to help Venezuela overcome gas shortages as baseless without directly addressing them.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week said multiple aircraft belonging to Irans Mahan Air had transferred unknown support to Venezuelas government. He called for a halt to the flights and for other countries to bar overflights by Mahan Air.

The Associated Press reported last month that Mahan Air was delivering key chemical components used for producing gasoline to help revive an aging refinery in the South American country, which is in the grip of a severe economic crisis.

Venezuela has been suffering from widespread gasoline shortages despite having the worlds largest oil reserves.

Both Iran and Venezuela are under heavy U.S. sanctions, and have had close relations for the last two decades.

Irans Foreign Ministry tweeted that the baseless comments were made in order to prepare the ground for mounting U.S. pressure on the Venezuelan government.

Another statement said the U.S. intended to obstruct the Venezuelan governments plan for reviving the countrys refineries. The statements did not directly address the allegations or elaborate on the nature of the co-operation between the two countries.

The Trump administration is pursuing a maximum pressure campaign aimed at ousting Venezuelas socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, and considers opposition leader Juan Guaido as the nations legitimate leader. The U.S. and a coalition of nearly 60 nations say Maduro clings to power following a 2018 election that critics consider a sham because the most popular opposition politicians were banned from running.

The Trump administration imposed heavy sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
A medic arranges swab samples taken for a mass testing for the new coronavirus at Ha Vy wholesale market in Hanoi, April 18, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

Saturday morning was the eighth day in a row that Vietnam confirmed no new Covid-19 patient, keeping its total count at 270 since last Friday.

Of the 270, 219 have been discharged and 51 are undergoing treatment, including 12 relapsed patients.

Among the active ones, nine have tested negative once and seven twice.

Of the relapses, five are in Hanoi, four in Ho Chi Minh City, two in the northern province of Quang Ninh and one in the south central province of Binh Thuan.

In the wake of relapses, HCMC health authorities announced Friday that they will keep recovered Covid-19 patients under health monitoring for 30 days instead of 14, as has been done so far. During this period, the city will conduct the new coronavirus test every day on the recovered patients, instead of once a week as the nation's been doing thus far.

In another move to prevent possible infections from relapsed patients, the Health Ministry last week suggested that patients eligible for discharge from hospitals should stay on for another 14 days. So far, all patients have been allowed to leave hospitals after discharge and be monitored at home for 14 days.

Saturday morning also marks the 16th consecutive day that Vietnam has not reported any infection caused by community transmission.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread to 212 countries and territories, with almost 240,000 deaths reported so far.
Tracking an infectious disease isnat easy. Whether itas a smartphone, newspaper or television, facts and figures seem to leap from every surface one comes across.

Each bite of information illuminates a different aspect of the situation, but in pursuing a better view of the whole picture, some numbers might matter more than others.

The movement and trajectory of the contagion is best ascertained by measuring the increase in cases over a short period of time, possibly one or two weeks, said Koji Wada, professor of public health at the International University of Health and Welfare.

Wada is referring to the Rt, or the real-time effective reproductive ratio, where R is the actual transmission rate at a given time (t).

If R is around 1, it means an infected individual is transmitting the virus on average to one other person. If R dips below 1, the contagion will gradually subside. If it is over 1, the outbreak is growing.

R can vary based on location. It will likely be higher in confined spaces like an apartment building or cruise ship, and lower in rural villages with small populations.

In any case, the goal of every infected country at the moment is to bring R below 1 and keep it there.

Mathematical epidemiology is often lost on politicians, much less their constituents, due to vague or misleading verbiage. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, who holds a doctorate in physics, was praised for her acumen earlier this month when she explained what R actually means.

If the R in Germany reaches 1.2, Merkel explained, aout of five people, one infects two and the rest one.a

According to the governmentas expert panel, the R in Tokyo between March 21 and 30 was approximately 1.7.

At the time, the capital had started to experience an alarming increase in cases. While the trend continued to escalate well into the middle of April, the contagion seems to have lost momentum over the past week.

The health ministry announced Japanas R for March on April 1. But it did not release any of the data used to make the calculation or provide more recent estimates for Tokyo or anywhere else in the country.
Paul Gardiner Kehey (L) is rescued by border guards from the Saigon River, HCMC, May 2, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Thang.

An American man was rescued from the Saigon River Saturday by the municipal border guard force after residents alerted them to his plight.

At around 6 a.m. Saturday, border guards on patrol, alerted by local residents, rescued Paul Gardiner Kehey, 60, trapped under a pier at the Bach Dang Wharf.

Kehey told the official that he has been a Saigon resident for 15 years and that he worked as a lecturer at the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City.

On Friday night, after having a few drinks with his friends, Kehey was driving home on his motorbike when he was waylaid by three strangers who mugged him, took his passport, house keys, and a wallet with around VND3 million ($131) in cash. The robbery happened on Dong Khoi Street in District 1, Kehey told his rescuers.

Kehey also said he gave chase to the robbers until the Bach Dang Wharf from where they threw his passport into the Saigon River.

The American man jumped into the river in an attempt to retrieve his passport, but was trapped under the pier overnight, he said.

Kehey was given medical assistance and food before being admitted to the Cho Ray Hospital in District 5 for further monitoring. He is in stable health now, doctors said.

A police officer in District 1 told VnExpress that his unit has taken Kehey's testimony and is investigating the case further, collecting information from locals as well as cameras in surrounding areas to verify the Americans account.

HCMCs crime rate increased by 10 percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago, with authorities blaming it on the Covid-19 outbreak. Empty streets and the economic hardship caused by the pandemic have caused the surge in crime, especially robberies, the authorities said.
Amid the national crisis, realme Philippines stays true to its commitment to innovate ways to help Filipinos stay connected and safe in the comfort of their homes. Ever since the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the brand has been consistent in its efforts to engage its employees, fans and customers while staying safe.

Realme Philippines innovates livestream online selling for its employees for a secured livelihood during the pandemic

Livestream Selling

Maximizing the power of technology, realme Philippines pioneered its own live streaming sessions in partnership with dealer stores nationwide that cater to online orders and deliveries. These stream sessions provide realme employees a unique avenue not only to showcase realme products, but to engage with customers as well. This platform allows them to answer consumer queries, give purchasing decision suggestions or simply engage customers in small talks.

As a result, realme sellers saw increased traffic in the Facebook pages of realme and its dealer partners. The livestream selling allowed realme sales agents to generate more leads and complete sales while staying safe at home.

realme Content Series

To further encourage the youth to stay at home during the ECQ, realme Philippines deployed its online content series to keep its fans and followers engaged and informed. Hosted by content creator and realme Philippines Marketing Lead, Eason De Guzman Jr., the realme Squadcast is an interactive livestream series designed to entertain and educate the realme Squad community by featuring experts in different fields. On its first 10 episodes, the content series showcased tips and inspirational talk on how one can be more productive while staying at home. Furthermore, in an attempt to highlight the potential of photography through realmes own resident photographers, the realme MasterShot Series was also launched to inspire mobile photographers to maximize their smartphone cameras capabilities.

Realme Philippines has become an avenue for content that promotes positivitysomething that is needed especially in todays trying times. We are much delighted to see our audience actively engaging in the content we have rolled out for them. We are looking forward to curating more in the future as we spark hope in the eyes of the youththat there will be a better tomorrow. We will never stop innovating and inspiring our employees, fans and the rest of the Filipinos to spread positivity and remain optimistic, shares realme Philippines Vice President for Marketing Austine Huang.

More in store

Starting this May, realme will be showcasing content series about mobile gaming and moving to the rapidly growing social media platform TikTok. Users are encouraged to follow realme Philippines Tiktok accounts: @realmePH and @realmemePH to keep updated with the latest from realme Philippines.
NATOs US-led mission in Afghanistan is withholding key information about Taliban attacks, a US government watchdog said Friday, potentially making insights into the war harder just as the Pentagon slashes its troop presence.

The Resolute Support (RS) mission previously disclosed data on enemy-initiated attacks, one of the few remaining public metrics of the conflict and the strength of the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

In its quarterly report released Friday, the office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said RS had stopped providing numbers.

Instead, RS gave only a short statement noting the Taliban had stepped up attacks in March, immediately after the signing of a US-Taliban deal that was supposed to pave the way to peace talks.

Between March 1 and 31, the Taliban refrained from attacks against coalition forces; however they increased attacks against (Afghan forces) to levels above seasonal norms, RS said, according to the report.

Under the deal, US and other foreign forces will quit Afghanistan next year if the Taliban start peace talks with Kabul and stick to various security commitments.

In the week ahead of the February 29 deal signing in Doha, violence plummeted during a partial truce and US officials hoped attacks would stay low.

Instead, the Taliban immediately resumed assaults on Afghan forces.

During the deal negotiations, the Taliban had agreed to stop hitting foreign troops, but there was no such prohibition on targeting Afghan forces.

- Unacceptably high violence -

RS told SIGAR that it chose to restrict data because enemy attacks were now a critical part of discussions regarding ongoing political negotiations between the US and the Taliban.

SIGAR noted the Pentagon said it might release the information in the future.

A Pentagon spokesman justified the decision to withhold data, citing ongoing talks.

So the decision was that were working toward a better solution and a better place for Afghanistan and that the sharing of that information would not... move the ball forward, the spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, told reporters.

The level of violence by the Taliban is unacceptably high, he said, adding that it was not conducive to a diplomatic solution.

The move to withhold attack numbers follows a trend of diminishing insights into Americas longest war, which the US has given up ever winning and is instead trying to end through a political agreement that will provide face-saving cover to leave Afghanistan.

In 2018, RS stopped providing data on how much of the country the Taliban held or contested, amid criticism the war was at a stalemate.

That followed a decision by the Afghan government to classify data on how many of its soldiers and police were getting killed by the Taliban, after shocking figures showed several thousand were dying each year.

Data on enemy attacks was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan, the watchdog said.

The Pentagon is on course to cut its troop numbers from about 12,000 to 8,600 in the coming months.

In its report, SIGAR also warned that Afghanistan faces a brutal toll in its worsening coronavirus crisis.

Afghanistans numerous and, in some cases, unique vulnerabilities... make it likely the country will confront a health disaster in the coming months, SIGAR said.

Afghanistan officials have so far confirmed 2,171 cases of COVID-19, including 64 deaths.
A leading Canadian think tank has projected that the countrys economy is now in recession thanks to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Toronto-based C D Howe Institutes Business Cycle Council made this official even as it stated that the first quarter of 2020 was historic in the sense that the country recorded its highest ever drop in GDP, at a 2.6 per cent fall. Statistics Canada has estimated that Canadas GDP took a nine per cent hit in March alone, as the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis rattled the economy with several sectors being shut down. March also saw a 5.3 per cent drop in employment in the nation.

Click here for Covid-19 coverage

The Councils decision to declare a recession was based on preliminary data available on April 30 and it stated that while revisions to GDP figures will occur, they are extremely unlikely to be significant enough to alter the recession call.

This sobering announcement came as the country recorded over 55,000 Covid-19 cases with 3,391 deaths.

Already, nearly seven million Canadians, approximately a fifth of the countrys population, have availed of an emergency fund established by the Government to counter the adverse economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. A note published by the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated that total could increase by 20 per cent, to about 8.5 million using the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is scheduled to last four months, beginning with March.

Click here for Covid-19 updates

With a subsidy programme also being introduced to support businesses in retaining employees, the budget deficit will go over CA$ 252 billion. Decisions on how the Government will deal with the looming economic crisis have yet to be made, and Trudeau made it clear that facing the current challenges caused by Covid-19 will remain the priority for the short-term. Right now, he said during a media briefing after a session of Parliament, the focus is on getting through this together as a country.

There will be time after this is all done as we figure out how exactly this unfolds, where we will have to make next decisions on how that recovery looks, he said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 14:18:59|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. UN mission has gravely interfered with China's internal affairs by openly supporting Taiwan's participation in the United Nations, said a spokesperson of the permanent mission of China to the UN.

"In a tweet on May 1, the U.S. mission to the United Nations gave open support to the Taiwan region for participating in the UN. This is a serious violation of Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the three joint communiques between China and the United States and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely interferes with China's internal affairs and deeply hurts the feelings of the 1.4 billion Chinese people," said the spokesperson.

"The Chinese mission hereby expresses strong indignation and firm opposition," the spokesperson noted.

"There is only one China in the world. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The one-China principle enjoys popular support and meets the call of the times, and represents the consensus of the international community. Resolution 2758 of the UNGA has restored the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China at the UN and affirmed the one-China principle at the organization, which has been strictly observed across the UN system and widely respected by UN member states," the spokesperson added.

"The U.S. mission is in no position to speak for the Taiwan region under the excuse of the UN's welcome of diverse views. The United States has repeatedly used visa issuance to block or delay access of member states or civil society to UN activities. This points to the hypocrisy of the U.S. position," said the spokesperson.

"While the coronavirus is raging across the world, people of all countries are calling for international solidarity in fighting the pandemic. Political manipulation by the United States on an issue concerning China's core interests will poison the atmosphere for cooperation of Member States at a time when unity and solidarity is needed the most. The U.S. attempt to divert attention and shift blame is futile and cannot fool the international community," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson noted that the Chinese government is rock-solid in safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will never waver in its determination to uphold China's core interests.

"China strongly urges the United States to abide by the one-China principle, the three joint communiques between the two countries and UNGA Resolution 2758, and immediately stop backing the Taiwan region, politicizing, and undermining international response to the pandemic," he added. Enditem
In the Ironbound, purple smoke spells trouble.

The violet-colored plumes emanate in the iconic Newark neighborhood from an incinerator, officially called the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility.

Every day, the facility operated by Morristown-based Covanta burns 2,800 tons of waste from around Essex County and New York City, generating enough power for 45,000 homes. When the incinerator is running smoothly, emissions from the facilities stack are white or clear. Its only when iodine  a chemical element that doesnt belong in the incinerator  is burned that the purple cloud appears.

The facility built in 1990 has long been the target of the Ironbound Community Corporation and other advocacy groups, who have repeatedly raised concerns that the incinerator threatens local air quality in a community that already has a plethora of other pollution sources.

So when it looks like a Prince concert above Blanchard Street, near the Turnpike and the banks of the Passaic River, people notice  and worry.

When purple plumes have happened, weve gotten a big response from the community of fear, said Maria Lopez-Nunez, the ICCs deputy director of organizing and advocacy.

Thats why the ICC, represented by Earthjustice and the Vermont Law Schools Environmental Advocacy Clinic, sent a letter to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General on Tuesday asking the state to ensure that Covanta is following air pollution regulations.

If the state doesnt take action by June, the ICC warns it will have no choice but to sue.

But on Thursday, the state said that it has the situation under control, with the help of Covanta. And the DEP added that a longterm solution is coming.

Health concerns

Air pollution is a big deal in Newark, where one in every four children has asthma. Its a problem that is possibly more important now then ever before; a recent Harvard study found a link between long-term air pollution exposure and higher COVID-19 death rates.

While purple plumes may be alarming and are a violation of DEP standards, they are not a cause for increased health concern, according to DEP Chief of Staff Shawn LaTourette.

Even when the incinerator is running normally, it degrades the areas air quality. The facility is one of the largest single sources of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution  a key ingredient in smog  in Essex County.

Covanta said that while the facility is a major single source of emissions, it is dwarfed by pollution from vehicle emissions, which are the states largest source of air pollution.

It very well may be one of the largest stationary sources, said Covanta spokesperson James Regan, of the Newark incinerator. "But its not the largest source of emissions overall.

Investigating the purple

Purple discharge at the Newark incinerator have long been a point of tension.

A Covanta investigation of the April 7 purple plume concluded that the problem was caused when waste from the Troy Corporation, a chemical company with a facility in Newark that makes products containing iodine, was improperly burned by the incinerator.

Covanta went further in the report, attributing multiple purple plumes dating back to 2018 to waste from Troy.

Covantas report said that waste from Troy is no longer being accepted in the Ironbound, and is instead being sent to a Waste Management facility in Elizabeth, which is not an incinerator. The DEP said it is working to verify Covantas findings.

Were pleased that we believe we found the source, and we hope that these instances dont happen again, Regan said.

Troy did not respond to NJ Advance Medias request for comment.

DEP and Covanta both cautioned that while theyre optimistic that the source of the purple plumes has been dealt with, other sources could cause future incidents.

The ICC remains concerned not just with the occasional purple smoke, but with the incinerators contributions to local air pollution. In January, the DEP fined Covanta $65,600 for multiple air pollution permit violations during much of 2018.

The DEP said it is currently finalizing a compliance order to address the purple plumes and other air pollution violations that have occurred at the Newark incinerator dating back to May 2019. The order is expected to be issued to Covanta in coming weeks, LaTourette said.

We will ultimately end up in a place where we have a compliance order that integrates the plume avoidance mitigation efforts that were working out with Covanta, and to which the environmental justice community is contributing, LaTourette said.

Concerns in Newark come as the DEP has signaled for relaxed environmental enforcement during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the department issued new guidance that allows for grace periods, on a case-by-case basis, in reporting information for certain air quality monitoring requirements. LaTourette said such grace periods are meant to give facilities flexibility to operate under social distancing guidelines during the global crisis, and would be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Lopez-Nunez worries that with looser rules, the companies like Covanta will have the opportunity to keep the public in the dark about potential air pollution problems.

[The DEP] cant just be worried about [the facilities] being able to operate," Lopez-Nunez said. "They need to worry about who theyre impacting.

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Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com.
Kabul, May 2 : The US envoy for Afghanistans peace, Zalmay Khalilzad on Saturday said that civilians still suffer from the ongoing war in Afghanistan despite the fall in casualties.

ina series of tweets citing the UNAMA report for Afghanistan for January-March 2020, Khalilzad said: "Because of momentum created by the Reduction in Violence in late February, civilian casualties fell 29 per cent from the same period last year and are lower than any 1st quarter since 2012.

"But civilians still suffer from IEDs, targeted assassinations, and other consequences of the ongoing war. To protect them all sides must act now to end the violence.

"But the recent increase in the number and lethality of Taliban attacks endanger these gains," he said, adding that "this violence has generated a violent response from the ANDSF. The result is an escalatory cycle which is complex but inarguably a negative trend that must be reversed", reports TOLO News.

He also said that both the Taliban and the government need to accelerate efforts to release prisoners and lower violence, which is the fastest means to intra-Afghan negotiations and a comprehensive permanent ceasefire.

"Delay means more civilian losses from Afghans fighting each other when the real war should be Afghans united against COVID-19," he added.

Based on a presidential decree, at least 100 Taliban prisoners were expected to be released daily, but after 50 days, only 500 prisoners have been released.

The government said that it has been delayed due to "complications" in the process.

The office of the National Security Council says that based on a presidential decree, so far, more than 550 Taliban prisoners have been released and at least 1,000 more will also be freed.

"The prisoners release is a complicated process that is going forward based on the presidential decree... 950 other prisoners will be released so that we can fight the coronavirus and move the peace process forward," said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

The Taliban on Thursday said they released 52 prisoners, bringing the total of freed people to 112, TOLO News reported.

"There isn't any will and commitment for peace," said Sayed Akbar Agha, former Taliban commander.

"Americans have not stayed committed to their commitments... I don't think the intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon." The release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners was part of the peace agreement signed between the US and the Taliban in February.

The Taliban also committed in the agreement to release 1,000 members of the security forces under their custody.
The UK government will give companies guidance within days on returning to work safely once the coronavirus lockdown is eased, as it comes under pressure from business not to withdraw its financial support too soon.

Firms will get advice on different types of workplace activity, including operating outdoors or inside someone elses home, according to two people with knowledge of the governments plans. The guidance will also address whether employees need to wear protective equipment and how transport should be used, said the people, who asked not to be identified because ...
Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Counter terror ops in J-K increase in lockdown

The nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic did not affect counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir. The operations were rather intensified and resulted in the killing of the highest number of terrorists belonging to different Pakistan-based outfits in April. In fact, April has been the most successful month for security forces in the last year, according to official data.

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North Koreas Kim Jong Un makes first appearance in nearly three weeks

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance since speculation about his health began last month, cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory, KCNA reported Saturday.

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Delhi Minorities Commission chairman booked under sedition charges

The Delhi Polices special cell on Thursday booked Delhi Minorities Commission chairman Zafarul Islam Khan under sedition charges, two days after he allegedly made provocative remarks in his social media posts.

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Clothes ... And Other Things That Matter by Alexandra Shulman is published by Cassell, priced 16.99

It may seem bad timing to bring out a book about fashion, given the current lockdown situation and the fact many of us are working from home in leggings, old T-shirts, or even PJs.

But that is what former Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman has done, with her aptly titled new book, Clothes ... And Other Things That Matter - a part-memoir, part fashion history, exploring all manner of attire, from the bra to the bikini, the trainer to the trench coat.

And she isn't dressing down too much at home with her partner, Tatler journalist David Jenkins, and her son, Sam (25): "I like to be comfortable in my clothes, but I don't tend to loll around in trackies and pyjamas."

In the book, Shulman (62) delves into her own life and work to look at how clothes intersect with the larger world and explores what she wore with each phase of her life and what she still holds dear.

"Right now, I doubt that many of us are interested in trends, or feel the need to have something that is 'on trend', but that doesn't mean we don't want to have clothes that make us feel good."

The book begins with her doing a count of the clothes in her wardrobe in 2018: 556 pieces, including 34 jackets, 22 coats and five full-length evening gowns.

"It's impossible to say which is my favourite," she muses. "Favourites change. Sometimes it's something new and sometimes something that I have had for years. I have a pink satin coat by the Italian fashion house Marni that I love, because every time I wear it, I enjoy myself. It's not an everyday piece. It's special."

When Shulman was appointed British Vogue editor-in-chief in 1992, after stints at Tatler and GQ, there was some speculation that she might not be experienced enough for the job and didn't really look the part.

When the Vogue company chairman asked how much she spent on clothes a year, she said she thought it was about 4,000, which she admits was around triple what she normally spent.

Shulman later found out from an associate that the chairman had wondered if he'd hired the right person to edit the country's leading fashion magazine.

She was also a size 14 - something interviewers would continually reference over the years - and she points out that her successor, Edward Enninful, doesn't attract the same observations about his appearance, or weight.

In the 1990s, the magazine was criticised for photos of a waifish Kate Moss that were dubbed "heroin chic", part of a larger ongoing debate over whether fashion magazines contributed to eating disorders.

How does she feel she tackled body image during her tenure at the magazine?

"Vogue was always being called out as promoting eating disorders among young women, but the fact is that eating disorders come about through a huge number of factors," she says now.

"People vulnerable to them might have felt they couldn't measure up to images they could see in the magazine, which is why I always wanted to show many, many women and men who were celebrated for their talent and professionalism outside the spheres of how they looked."

While the anecdotes flow about how, during her career, she has mixed with artists, actors, poets, royalty and designers, along with her memories about what she wore for the occasion and what particular items of clothing mean to her, she also reveals that from the age of 20 she suffered panic attacks.

"I began to suffer panic attacks when I was 21 at university," Shulman recalls. "I didn't know what they were and neither did those around me, but eventually my doctor suggested this was what was causing heart palpitations, dizziness, etc."

She experienced the first one shortly after missing her flight when returning from holiday in Greece and ended up marooned in Athens for days, because of an air traffic controllers' strike.

Two weeks after returning home, she was staying at her family's rented holiday home in Herefordshire when she suddenly couldn't breathe.

"I couldn't swallow. I thought I was going to die. It was the first of the panic attacks that have beleaguered me on and off throughout my life.

"There have been periods when I have had them more frequently and others when for years they have gone underground."

Going into the cut-throat world of fashion must have surely put more pressure on her, but she dismisses the notion that she may have been entering a Devil Wears Prada environment.

"All big industries are very competitive and fashion is just the same as many others when there is a lot of money at stake and when people care about what they are doing. I loved The Devil Wears Prada, but I didn't recognise my own office in it.

"I still keep in touch with many of the people I worked with, which is lovely, and, of course, I still read the magazine. I don't miss the feeling that it is mine. It's not like a baby. Magazines can thrive with different parents."

Working at Vogue didn't make her lose her love of clothes, but the way she felt about how she dressed was different while she was there, she reflects.

"As with all jobs, there were certain demands on how one should appear and now it's rather lovely to always be able to wear what I feel like wearing, rather than what I should wear."

With more freedom since she left in 2017, she now wears trainers more often, although says she still wears heels because she likes how they make her feel.

"I have bought a lot of clothes since I left, but slightly more casual. I spend quite a lot of time surfing clothing sites and then have made a rule not to press buy at the first sight of something."

Since leaving Vogue, she says life has been interesting, as she has taken up collaborations with Boots and has been enjoying writing.

"But I have also enjoyed the fact I could be in my home more. Perhaps not ideally as much as I am right at the moment."

Shulman believes the fashion industry will survive in the wake of Covid-19, but maybe more responsibly.

"There will no doubt be changes in the way that some people operate. Some of the massive travel and expenditure on promotional events might get cut back and I think most people would regard that as good.

"But we need clothes, we need the creativity of fashion. The industry was already taking huge steps to consider their sustainability and this crisis will feed into that."

Clothes ... And Other Things That Matter by Alexandra Shulman is published by Cassell, priced 16.99
The police are harassing, beating and even killing people while enforcing COVID-19 lockdowns across the world.

Adil, 19, and his friend were riding their scooters in Brussels when they encountered police officers on patrol. The officers were monitoring compliance with a lockdown Belgium had imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Adils friend sped off in one direction, Adil in another. A police car called in as reinforcement collided with Adils scooter, killing him instantly.

Adil is sadly one of a growing number of people who have died, not from the coronavirus itself, but as a consequence of police enforcement of outbreak-related restrictions.

I have been tracking police abuses and the misuse of emergency powers during the pandemic as part of the online monitoring project COVID State Watch. As lockdowns ease in some parts of the world, this other coronavirus death toll demands greater attention.

Police officers have harassed, abused, beaten and killed people in their efforts to enforce coronavirus-related curfews and lockdowns on nearly every continent.

Almost three weeks into the lockdown in Nigeria, more people had died at the hands of police enforcing coronavirus restrictions than from the virus itself. Videos of Indian police officers forcing migrant workers to hop and crawl along a road and attacking street vendors went viral. In the US, a group of seven police officers violently dragged a man off a bus for failing to wear a face mask. In France, the police came under fire for tasering a man standing outside his home for allegedly violating harsh lockdown requirements.

The extent of police violence unleashed under the pandemic is so vast that it prompted a statement this week from UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, denouncing the use of excessive, and at times lethal, force to make people abide by lockdowns and curfews.

Shooting, detaining or abusing someone for breaking a curfew because they are desperately searching for food is clearly an unacceptable and unlawful response, she added.

Just like the virus itself, enforcement of coronavirus restrictions is hitting marginalised groups the hardest. In Greece, asylum seekers and refugees have been violently assaulted by police monitoring a coronavirus lockdown. In Australia, public health infringement notices have been disproportionately issued in areas of Sydney with large immigrant and Indigenous populations.

A similar pattern has emerged in areas of France with large immigrant populations. Bolivian soldiers violently pushed back a group of mostly poor and Indigenous Bolivians trying to re-enter the country from Chile, citing the need to contain the pandemic. In South Africa, low-income neighbourhoods and townships bear the brunt of police and army brutality.

Heavy-handed policing of marginalised groups in the name of containing the pandemic comes as no surprise. Those who are routinely over-policed are naturally the first victims of any expansion of police power. This pattern is reinforced by the nature of coronavirus restrictions.

Essential workers, day labourers, street vendors  those who cannot afford to confine themselves to their homes  or those who live in crowded housing are more likely to be outside and subject to police checks. They are also more likely to be poor, minority ethnic, Indigenous or of other marginalised backgrounds. Police powers that are broad and vaguely worded encourage officers to use their own discretion, only exacerbating this problem.

The deadly, and often discriminatory, impact of coronavirus policing is probably much greater than we currently think. Through the COVID State Watch project, we have encountered hundreds of cases of ill-treatment and misconduct by police enforcing coronavirus restrictions.

But journalists, activists and NGOs only succeed in documenting a small fraction of cases of police abuse, even in the absence of the difficulties presented by the lockdown. Very few victims make official complaints and formal channels of information-gathering, such as freedom of information requests, face delays and obstruction due to the lockdown.

We only know the tip of the iceberg when it comes to police brutality and misconduct during the pandemic  but even this is enough to demand a rethink of the law and order approach to dealing with public health emergencies.

Police and army officers do not become qualified health workers through the signing of an emergency decree. At a day-to-day level, policing of coronavirus restrictions has been characterised by a lack of social distancing by officers and confusion regarding the rules themselves. Those arrested for violating coronavirus rules are often detained in cramped and unsanitary conditions which only encourage the spread of the virus.

At a broader level, the experience of policing under the pandemic demonstrates the dangers of criminalisation and expanded police power as a response to crises. Criminalising an activity or behaviour does not stop it  it merely adds to the list of behaviours that warrant police intervention. Criminalisation is a common knee-jerk reaction to societal harms by politicians who lack the imagination or courage to explore alternatives.

Alternatives do exist. States could employ community health officials to monitor compliance with lockdowns and provide them with resources to help those who are outside because they are homeless or do not understand social distancing rules. Greater and earlier investment in public education about social distancing could lessen the need for enforcement.

Financial support to ensure no one is forced outside to work out of poverty or hunger is another crucial step. A low level of non-compliance may persist, but its impact on the spread of the pandemic must be weighed against the detrimental effects of over-zealous policing itself  both in terms of spreading the virus and the violence and ill-treatment suffered by already over-policed groups.

As incidents like the death of 19-year-old Adil demonstrate, giving police greater powers can have devastating and deadly consequences, above and beyond the terrible toll of the virus itself.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The daily death toll from coronavirus rose slightly in New York on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed at a press conference.

Friday's death toll was 299, up by 10 from 289 on Thursday, but otherwise the lowest daily death toll since March 30.

'The number that I watch everyday, which is the worst, is the number of deaths,' Cuomo said at a press conference on Saturday at an MTA facility in the Corona neighborhood of Queens. 'That number has remained obnoxiously and terrifyingly high. So that is bad news.'

Cuomo clarified: 'Corona, Queens was called Corona, Queens before the coronavirus, there is no connection.'

Meanwhile, Cuomo revealed that the state has expanded its random antibody testing program to 15,000 samples, giving the clearest picture yet as to how many people have been infected and recovered, many without displaying symptoms.

In New York state, 12.3 percent of the survey population tested positive for the presence of coronavirus antibodies, which only appear after a person has recovered from the infection -- implying that the infection has a case mortality rate of around 0.8 percent.

Governor Andrew Cuomo visits the MTA New York City Transit Corona Maintenance Facility to give a media update about the COVID-19 outbreak on Saturday

Cuomo revealed the latest antibody positive rates (above), giving the clearest picture yet as to how many people have been previously infected and are now recovered

In New York City, the antibody positive rate was 19.9 percent, with the boroughs ranging from 17.3 percent in Manhattan at the low end, to 27.6 percent in the Bronx at the high end.

Those numbers have dropped slightly as the size of the survey expanded, however they still imply that coronavirus has a case fatality rate of roughly 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent.

The case fatality rate is the percentage of all people who contract a disease that die from it -- meaning the higher the antibody positive rate is, the lower the mortality rate, all other things being equal.

In a typical flu season, influenza has a case fatality rate of around 0.1 percent.

For the vast majority of diseases, the presence of antibodies indicates some degree of immunity to future infection, however experts have not yet proven that is the case with COVID-19.

There were other positive signals in the numbers Cuomo released on Saturday.

The number of new hospitalizations, the most consistent method to measure the rate of infection in New York, decreased to 831 after hovering in the 900s in the last week.

The number of new hospitalizations, the most consistent method to measure the rate of infection in New York, decreased to 831 after hovering in the 900s

Cuomo said that the state was going to begin collecting detailed information on people who are hospitalized for the disease, including age, gender, occupation and method of travel.

The governor hopes this will shed light on how the virus is spreading, if, for example, people who ride the subway are disproportionately represented in new hospitalizations.

At the briefing, Cuomo sat next to MTA officials at the Corona transportation hub and reiterated his plan to subject every New York City subway car, station, and bus to a daily disinfecting protocol.

Starting on Wednesday, the city's subway, long famous for running 24-hours, will shut down daily from 1am to 5am to allow workers to disinfect every train.

Cuomo spoke at the MTA subway yard in Queens to highlight a new initiative to shut down the system daily from 1am to 5am and sanitize train cars

Cuomo tries out a spraying device which is part of a three-step disinfecting process of a New York City subway car at the Corona Maintenance Facility in Queens on Saturday

Cuomo called the step 'unprecedented' and said it was a labor-intensive process that involved hazmat suits and chemical disinfectant spray.

'We need people to know who are using the subways and buses, because they are still running, that they are safe,' Cuomo said.

The move is also intended to prevent homeless people from setting up camp inside subway cars, a growing problem in the city.

'You do not help the homeless by letting them stay in the subway car and letting them sleep in a subway car in the middle of the pandemic when they can expose themselves and others,' Cuomo said. 'We owe them more and we owe them better'
Amid the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are faced with a new problem as African Swine Fever (ASF) has been detected in pigs in both the states.

Samples from the two states sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) in Bhopal have tested positive for ASF virus, the institute said.

Following deaths of nearly 2,000 pigs in 6 districts of Assam last week, 17 samples were sent to the Bhopal institute for tests. Similarly 62 samples were sent from two districts in Arunachal Pradesh.

All 17 tissue samples from Assam were positive for ASFV genome by real time PCR and nucleotide sequencing analysis. Eleven out of 62 samples from Arunachal Pradesh were positive for ASFV genome, according to the NIHSAD test results.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, ASF is a severe viral disease affecting both domestic and wild pigs. It can spread by live or dead pigs and pork. The disease does not transmit from animals to humans.

Transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and objects such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives and other equipment, says World Organisation for Animal Health. Unlike Classical Swine Fever (CSF), there is no vaccine for ASF.

We were providing vaccine for CSF, but we have stopped giving that vaccine in those districts where ASF has now been detected. There is no vaccine or medicines available for ASF. The disease doesnt get transmitted to humans, Assam agriculture Atul Bora said on Saturday.

Bora said that there is no possibility of getting infected by ASF due to consumption of pork and pork products. He said that the state government would take measures to ensure that the disease doesnt spread to other areas.

Assam had earlier banned the sale of pigs and pork in the six affected districts where many pigs had died recently.

ASF, which is epizootic (epidemic) has reached northeast India. We need to be extra vigilant and follow bio-security, said Manoj Kumar Basumatary, president of North East Progressive Pig Farmers Association (NEPPFA).
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh



Tope announced that all citizens will be covered under the state government's health scheme, and Maharashtra will be the first state to provide free and cashless insurance protection to its people.

Speaking to reporters after a Maharashtra Day event in Jalna on Friday, Tope said 85 per cent of the state's population was covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) at present and the cover will be extended to the remining 15 per cent.

A memorandum was signed to include government, semi- government employees and white ration card holders in the scheme in a bid to prevent private hospitals from overcharging patients, he said.

"The government has signed a MoU with the General Insurance Public Sector Association (GIPSA) for treatment of COVID-19 patients at private hospitals in Pune and Mumbai," he said.

Similarly, different packages will be designed for all diseases, to standardise treatment fees at all hospitals, the minister said.

Earlier, 496 hospitals were covered in the scheme, but now over 1,000 hospitals will come under it, he said.

As per the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Act, the state government has capped the fees of COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals, the minister said.

Hospitals that don't have tie-ups with the GIPSA will also have to standardise their treatment fees, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Do high prices of some cancer medicines have a higher benefit than those drugs with lower prices? An international UZH study has concluded that, in general, there is no correlation between costs of a cancer drugs and their clinical benefit. The researchers are therefore calling for the clinical benefit of drugs to be better reflected in pricing.

A growing number of new cancer drugs have come on the market in recent years, yet the cost of therapies in Europe and the United States have risen. This is driving up healthcare costs, which poses a challenge not only for the Swiss social insurance system, but for patients all over the world. But are the high prices of cancer drugs justified? Does the cost correspond to the particular drug's effectiveness in combating the disease? An international research team from the University of Zurich and Harvard Medical School carried out a study to examine these questions.

Cost comparison of 65 cancer drugs

The scientists - led by Kerstin Noelle Vokinger, professor at UZH - analyzed the costs of cancer drugs in Switzerland, Germany, England, France and the United States. The prices of 65 new oncology drugs to treat solid tumors and various types of blood cancer were adjusted to calculate the monthly treatment costs for a standard patient.

In a second stage, the researchers investigated whether there is a link between monthly treatment costs and the clinical benefit of cancer drugs for solid tumors. The effectiveness of the drugs, which had been approved by the US and European licensing authorities (the FDA and EMA, respectively), was calculated using two well-established systems for evaluating the clinical benefit of cancer therapies: the American Society of Clinical Oncology Value Framework, and the European Society of Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale.

No correlation between cost and benefit

Our study clearly shows that, in general, for Switzerland, Germany, England and the United States, there is no association between clinical benefit of a cancer drugs and their prices." Kerstin Vokinger, lead author

Only for France a correlation could be found based on one of the clinical benefit assessment systems. "It's also clear that the prices of cancer drugs in the US are significantly higher than in the four European countries, with Americans paying on average approximately twice as much for the same drug." This is because drug pricing in the US is dictated by the free, unregulated market. In Europe, on the other hand, national authorities negotiate prices with manufacturers. From the European countries analyzed in the study, Switzerland has the second-highest prices after England, while the same drugs are cheaper in Germany and France. It must be kept in mind, however, that NHS England benefits from non-public discounts on certain drugs, so the actual prices may be lower than the official list prices.

Drug prices are not justified

"The pricing of cancer drugs is only partially justified. Drugs that are less effective should be cheaper than those with high efficacy," the UZH professor says. "National authorities should take greater account of the clinical benefits of drugs when negotiating prices, and therapies that provide high clinical benefit should be prioritized in price negotiations." Vokinger firmly believes that this is crucial in order to guarantee patients access to key cancer drugs since countries have only limited financial resources.
BARJO Recommends That Those With Substantial Losses in NCLH and INO Contact the Firm

WELLINGTON, Fla., May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barbuto & Johansson, P.A. (BARJO) informs investors of the pending class action lawsuits against Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (INO), as well as the upcoming deadlines to petition the court for lead plaintiff. The lawsuits allege that the Companies have violated federal securities laws.



NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES CLASS ACTION

U.S. District Court: Southern District of Florida

Class Action Period: February 20, 2020 through March 12, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 11, 2020

The class action lawsuit against Norwegian alleges that during the class period of February 20, 2020 and March 12, 2020, the Norwegian defendants failed to disclose material information to the investing public. At the end of the class period, news outlets reported that leaked emails from the Company revealed a broad scheme to pressure its sales people into misleading customers regarding the nature and extent of the COVID-19 virus in order to preserve cruise bookings. On this news, the price of Norwegians shares plummeted, damaging shareholders. Shareholders have until May 11, 2020 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff.

INOVIO CLASS ACTION

U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Class Action Period: February 14, 2020 through March 9, 2020

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 12, 2020

The class action lawsuit against Inovio alleges that during the class period of February 14, 2020 and March 9, 2020, the Inovio defendants capitalized on widespread COVID-19 fears by falsely claiming that Inovio had developed a vaccine for COVID-19. On the last day of the class period, when Citron Research exposed such misstatements, calling for an SEC investigation into the Companys claims, the stock price plummeted. Shareholders have until May 12, 2020 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff.

If you purchased shares of NCLH or INO during their respective class periods, you may contact attorney Anthony Barbuto, at no cost or obligation to you, to discuss your options as a class member and petitioning for lead appointment. Mr. Barbuto can be reached at: (888) 715-2520 or via email at anthony@barjolaw.com .

Barbuto & Johansson, P.A.

Anthony Barbuto, Esq.

12773 Forest Hill Blvd., 101

Wellington, FL 33414

Phone: 1-888-715-2520

Website: www.barjolaw.com
Over 90 years ago, Frank Gargiulo opened a business selling fruits and vegetables door to door.

Now Gargiulo Produce is based in a warehouse in Hillside, New Jersey, and in its fourth generation of family ownership. It sells food by the truckloads to companies all along the East Coast and to cruise ships that travel around the world.

That was before the coronavirus changed the economy. With many of the company's commercial accounts going on hiatus, Gargiulo needed to find a way to get its produce directly into the hands of hungry people in the New Jersey area.

The company turned to various Facebook groups to see if there was any interest in picking up fruits and vegetables straight from its warehouse. Gargiulo started posting menus on Facebook and taking old-fashioned phone orders. The response was overwhelming and Gargiulo is evolving to meet demand.

Check out this video to learn about other ways the company is adapting, and for firsthand experiences of how the process works.

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CHECK OUT: Why January is a particularly great time to invest your money via Grow with Acorns+CNBC.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.
Hundreds of villagers dragged out furniture from a ration dealers house and set those on fire outside the house in the Salar area of Bengals Murshidabad on Saturday morning, alleging irregularities in disbursement of free ration.

Indranil Mahanto, officer-in-charge of Salar police station, rushed to Punisha village as tensions simmered. Ration dealer Halim Sheikhs house was ransacked in the incident.

The villagers alleged that they were getting much less rice than what the government had promised.

Later, senior officers from the district administration also went there to restore order. They assured the villagers that action would be taken against Sheikh.

Rahim Sheikh, a villager, said, Taken together, all members of my family are entitled to get 17.5 kg flour and 35 kg rice a month but the dealer gave us only 3 kg rice and 7 kg flour. He is hoarding rations meant for poor people.

The villagers also alleged that Sheikh was giving them poor quality ration. Two days ago they staged an agitation.

The agitation started again on Saturday outside Sheikhs house.

Till Saturday action has been taken against 263 ration dealers in Bengal and many of them have been suspended. However it is the opposition that is instigating people to reap political benefit during this crisis. The arson at Salar in Murshidabad was planned by the Congress, said state food and supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick.

Bharatpur-II community block development officer Paritosh Majumder refused to comment on the incident. Other officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the process of suspending the ration dealer had started and he has been detained by the police.

Congress legislator from Bharatpur (the village is part of the constituency) Kamalesh Chatterjee said, People in this village were not getting adequate ration for a long time. They kept quiet fearing reprisal from local Trinamool Congress leaders. They flared up on Saturday.

In a similar incident, hundreds of villagers on Saturday staged agitation outside the local ration dealers home at Jashoitala village in the Lalgola police station area of Murshidabad. They alleged that Manowara Bibi and her husband Rabiul Hasan, the ration dealer, are giving poor quality food grain to villagers.

The ration dealer is giving very poor quality rice and that too in less quantity. He is also selling kerosene at a higher price, said Abdus Samad, a villager.

Officers from Lalgola police station reached the village and brought the situation under control.
Russia today suffered a record 9,623 rise in new coronavirus infections with 57 more deaths, say official statistics.

Moscow's Mayor Segei Sobyanin separately estimated that around two per cent of all Muscovites have been hit by Covid-19 with the capital city a hotspot compared to the rest of the country.

If correct this means around 253,800 people have contracted the virus in Moscow according to a calculation based on screening.

Russia has officially acknowledged some 214,800 people are under medical supervision across its 11 time zones suspected of having contracted the virus.

Pictured: Moscow Mayor Segei Sobyanin visits a specialist coronavirus hospital outside the capital in an image issued today

Pictured: A container waits outside a hospital in St Petersburg in this undated photo, waiting to store coronavirus patients after their deaths

The country also has 124,054 confirmed cases including Vladimir Putin's prime minister Mikhail Mishustin who is in hospital with a 'high fever'.

The official fatality rate is low in comparison to countries like Italy, Spain and the United States, however.

Fifty seven people died over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 1,222.

The majority of the new deaths - 37 out of 57 - were in Moscow where Sobyanin is urgently ramping up hospital provision using shopping malls amid fears that the health service could be overrun.

But he claimed the two per cent figure is good news.

'Judging by the health screening of various population groups, the actual number of those infected amounts to about two percent of Moscow's population,' he posted.

'It is the lowest level among major global cities hit by the pandemic,' he claimed.

'We have succeeded in preventing the infection from spreading through discipline and Muscovites' support for self-isolation measures.'

Russia has massively increased testing with 3,945,518 in total, and the most recent daily figure of 221,711.

The infections in Russia include 1,210 at an Arctic gas construction site amid claims that safety precautions were ignored.

There were 131 new cases at the Belokamenka site in far north Murmansk region.

Russia also claims it has no recurrent cases of infection to date.

The head of consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said: 'No repeat infection cases have been registered in Russia for the time being.'

But even if a sufferer feels that he has recovered, he still can be the disease carrier, she said.

The virus remains in the organism 'for a very long time'.

'This is true. And when an individual already feels that he is healthy, he may still spread this virus,' she said.

Temporary refrigerated morgues have started appearing at Russian hospitals amid fears of looming spike in coronavirus deaths.

A storage unit is pictured at city hospital no.2 in St Petersburg hospital, according to Fontanka news agency.

A medical staff worker in protective gear and a woman in a face mask in a wheelchair outside an ambulance car at the Novomoskovsky multipurpose medical centre for patients with suspected coronavirus infection, in Kommunarka, near Moscow yesterday

Eight such containers are in place in the city.

Russia has so far reported more than 114,000 cases of the coronavirus including 57,300 cases in Moscow, which is the epicentre of the contagion.

According to official statistics, Moscow has a population of 12.7 million people but the real figure is believed to be higher.

Sobyanin said Moscow has significantly ramped up testing capacity over the past few weeks, adding the city has managed to 'contain the spread of the infection' due to the enforcement of stay-at-home rules and other measures.

But he reiterated that the city was not yet past the peak of the outbreak.

'The threat is apparently on the rise,' he said.

Russia's official fatality rate, with 1,169 deaths as of Saturday morning, is low in comparison to countries like Italy, Spain and the United States.

The health ministry said on Friday that the number of infected children was on the rise.

Two children died from the coronavirus in the country, and 11 more were in a serious condition, the ministry said.
Both died of cancer, despite getting the best possible international treatment  Irrfan Khan in London and Rishi Kapoor in New York

It was the last day of what has been a truly terrible month in more ways than one. We lost two stupendous actors in under 48 hours: first to go was Irrfan Khan (53). Then came the news early on Thursday morning about Rishi (Chintu) Kapoor (67) succumbing. Both died of cancer, despite getting the best possible international treatment  Irrfan Khan in London and Rishi Kapoor in New York. The battles fought by the two men were well documented and it was indeed their respective courageous decision to share details of their fight against the Big-C with their millions of fans across the world, that provided responsible information in place of ugly rumours. An earlier generation of movie stars would have kept such news under wraps. Even though a decade separated these two actors, their remarkable spirit was the same. Till the very end, they entertained their admirers, Rishi Kapoor through his wildly popular, often acerbic, entirely politically incorrect tweets, and Irrfan through regular blogs which provided philosophical insights and accurate updates about his treatment. During the initial phase, Rishi Kapoors family chose to be discreet, when he left abruptly for America. Their statement said he had gone there for further investigations. Their need for privacy was respected by all and India prayed for his speedy recovery. It was a little different in Irrfans case. The moment his diagnosis came in, he shared the dire news openly with fans, without concealing any medical details about the rare neuroendocrinal tumor lodged in his brain. In a way, that bold declaration prepared everybody to expect the worst. It was only when he came back to India to bravely complete his last film -- Angrezi Medium -- that hopes went up and fans assumed he was on his way to full recovery.

In Rishi Kapoors case, his long absence (two years) became less painful when his doting wife Neetu started posting jaunty images of their rented apartment in New York, with her hosting Bollywood colleagues who were visiting the Big Apple. It was terrific to see the film fraternity standing by and making it a point to go across and cheer up the much-loved star as he recuperated. Kapoors medical updates were not as precise as those posted by Irrfan, but the happy pics of the Kapoor clan eating at posh restaurants in Manhattan (Rishi, like all the Kapoors, was a diehard foodie), brought a smile to many faces. And when Alia Bhatt (who is dating Ranbir Kapoor), was also photographed with the family, the happy parivar picture completed the story and in a way sealed the romance. Once both the stars (Irrfan and Rishi) came back to Mumbai, the film industry made much of them  and deservedly so. Not only because the two of them had earned the respect of their audiences over the years (close to 50, in Rishis case), through performances that were consistently top-notch, but their personal equations within the film fraternity were very strong. This is a great tribute to their individuality and immense goodwill, in an industry that is defined by jealousy, insecurity and competitiveness.

Both stars were taken by cancer. And heres my humble argument, while extending heartfelt sympathy to their grieving families. I just want all of us to understand that right here in India, we have world-class oncologists and the highly prestigious Tata Memorial Hospital sees patients from across the globe who come with enormous hope in their hearts to avail of the best cancer treatment possible. Some would say what our doctors offer cancer patients is not just comparable but often far superior to the treatment offered at cancer facilities overseas. I have been associated with two prominent cancer care associations for over 30 years. Though I have yet to visit the Devi Prasad Shetty: Narayana Medical Centre in Bengaluru, I have met patients who have travelled across continents to receive expert and very kind treatment there. Most of these success stories are so heart-warming! Particularly those involving senior citizens who have responded wonderfully well to the more personalised approach in our hospitals after other international clinics have given up on them and packed them home to die. Despondent and resigned to their fate, labelled as terminal cases who are unlikely to pull through, they go to desi hospitals as the last resort. And survive! What if they had gone there to start with? It is these stories we need to project to convince some of our high-profile, celebrity cancer patients. Those who take the first flight out, believing they stand a better chance in foreign hospitals. This is not always true! Some wealthy and fortunate families can afford to pay the astronomical costs involved in treating their loved ones at reputed global hospitals. To them I would say -- please do see the remarkable work being done by our superb surgeons right here in India. Have faith in their competence and skills. Give yourself the chance of being looked after by your own. See the difference it makes to your morale when you are treated like more than just a number on a bed. Unlike foreign doctors who strictly adhere to protocol, since they are so afraid of facing malpractice suits if things dont work out, our doctors are far more sensitive and think out of the box, often going beyond the rulebook, beyond the call of duty, to reassure patients and their anxious families. We really do have the best! And our more humanitarian approach frequently makes a life-altering difference to not just patients but their loving and worried family members, as well.

Irrfans lockdown funeral took place a few hours before Rishi Kapoor breathed his last. Rishis was attended by family members (his beloved daughter couldnt make it in time, due to lockdown travel restrictions) and close friends, all of them appropriately masked. Both men would have attracted a sea of mourners under normal circumstances. We live in strange and sad times indeed. Lonely and isolated in life lonelier and even more isolated in death. The virus affects us all and spares not a soul.

As India bids goodbye to these two astounding stalwarts, let us also include our close to 2,000 Covid-19 victims in our collective prayers.
Latinos are not only good at making hit songs that touch people from one generation to the other, but they are also good at immortalizing dance crazes. In the past decades, Latino music had been the base of every catchy and good dance craze, not only in Latin America but also in the United States of America and different parts of the world.

Here are some Latino dance crazes that will get you dancing to its incredible rhythm.



La Macarena by Los del Rio

Those who do not know the song Macarena needs to get a significant cultural education. In 1993, this Spanish hit was released for everybody to hear. Since then, it had been made history as one of the most unforgettable Spanish dance song.

La Macarena had been popularly included in many wedding parties. It makes everyone wants to jump out of their seats and dance. Even those who are not good at dancing can get the steps due to their repetitive nature.



Suavemente by Elvis Crespo

Suavemente is closely associated with the 90s. Once played on music players, it brings out a feeling of the best music of the 90s. This 90s classic song by Elvis Crespo had given everyone an excuse to show off their merengue skills. What are you waiting for? Get a partner to dance to this incredible 90s dance craze.



El Baile del Perrito by Wilfrido Vargas

El Baile del Perrito had been brought to the world of music by Wilfrido Vargas. The song was used to popularize the 'Puppy Dance.' This song had allowed people to make use of a dog's bark to create incredible and catchy dance movements.



Hong Kong Mambo by Tito Puente

Hong Kong Mambo is obviously made for dancing the mambo. Every abuela you know should have memories of this classic song. The album which the song had debuted on was called Dance Mania. It was included in the United States' National Recording Registry.



Asereje (The Ketchup Song) by Las Ketchup

Asereje is an unforgettable dance craze in the early 2000s. Even though not a lot of people understood the lyrics of the song, everyone enjoyed dancing to it. It was a good excuse for a song to allow you to enjoy swinging your hips, hair, and hands. Almost everyone was doing this dance craze in the 2000s. If social media were present during that time, people would be recording their dance covers of this upbeat, catchy dance craze song.



Check these out:



Lambada by Kaoma

Despite being a French Group, Kaoma released the Lambada in Portuguese to honor the dance style in Brazil. The song allows a fast swaying of the hips. This type of dance movement was highly popularized in the 90s when it was released.
Every day since April 15, David Wang's smartphone would buzz with a message from Bank of China. May contracts for Crude Oil Treasure, a structured financial product that gives the layperson an easy entry into the complex world of oil trading, was expiring in a week, and investors must close or roll over their positions, said the automated message.

Wang dismissed the warnings, and kept going long with 400,000 yuan (US$56,500) of his money at stake, believing that record-low oil prices offered him the chance of a lifetime to get into the market on the cheap.

On April 21, May contracts of West Texas Intermediate futures " the US benchmark for crude oil " plunged to an unprecedented minus US$40.32, as desperate traders jostled to unload their positions to avoid a rarely used, and little-noticed detail: anyone holding the contracts after their expiry on April 22 could be forced to take delivery of the crude oil in Cushing, Oklahoma. For Wang, living half a world away in central China, the chaos in Chicago's oil market was a rude shock when he awoke, with the value of his investment " tied to WTI futures " plummeting 280 per cent to minus 266.12 yuan per contract, from 147.47 yuan at the end of March.

"This is utterly disheartening and beyond any normal person's comprehension," Wang said in the Shaanxi provincial capital of Xi'an by telephone, rueing a 1.4 million yuan loss from just two weeks of holding the investment, plus margin credit from the bank.

Screenshot of a short message sent by Bank of China on Thursday, April 16, 2020, warning investors of its Crude Oil Treasure financial product of the impending expiry in futures contracts of the West Texas Intermediate. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT) alt=Screenshot of a short message sent by Bank of China on Thursday, April 16, 2020, warning investors of its Crude Oil Treasure financial product of the impending expiry in futures contracts of the West Texas Intermediate. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

Story continues

Crude Oil Treasure would ultimately burn holes in the pockets of Bank of China's customers, estimated to total 7 billion yuan (US$1 billion), according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. That would make China's oldest bank the biggest known victim of April's melee in the global oil market, surpassing the collapse of Singapore's Hin Leong oil-trading empire.

The brutal loss has far-reaching repercussions across China's banking industry, as several of the country's biggest state-owned lenders " Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Communication Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank " have all hit the pause button on variations of the same structured financial product for their retail customers. The episode exposes the deficiencies in China's 22.2 trillion yuan wealth management products offered by banks, where regulations and investor protection measures fail to keep up with an industry whose rapid growth had been amplified by technology.

"The incident has exposed the shortcomings of risk disclosures to retail clients and potentially insufficient or improper risk tolerance and products suitability assessments among Chinese banks," said Lance Yau Tat-cheung, a dealing department manager of China Xin Yongan Futures.

For China's banking industry, the fracas with oil futures is also its latest brush with risk in the nation's journey toward market liberalisation and financial reforms.

Two decades since becoming a World Trade Organisation member, Chinese households " with US$10 trillion in total savings " are still limited by a dearth of investible options, forcing many adventurous investors to pursue high-yielding speculations often without proper appreciation of the associated risks. Over the years, these have veered from real estate to fine art and Bordeaux wine, to speculations in such exotic products as Pu'er tea and even the hoarding of garlic.

As part of China's banking reforms, commercial lenders had been prodded and pushed to wean themselves off the fat margins between state-controlled lending and deposit rates that had sustained their growth and prosperity for decades.

A consequence of that reform was for banks to earn more income from fees and financial products. Over the past five years, China's banks have launched, and cancelled, futures and options on precious metals and rare metals, high-yield wealth management products disguised as insurance, and even flirted with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies before the People's Bank of China banned financial institutions from dealing in them.

Police vehicles outside the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the industry's watchdog agency on the Financial Street in Beijing's Fuchengmeng district on 6 August 2018. Speculators who lost money through peer-to-peer schemes were staging protests outside the regulator's office. Photo: Simon Song alt=Police vehicles outside the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the industry's watchdog agency on the Financial Street in Beijing's Fuchengmeng district on 6 August 2018. Speculators who lost money through peer-to-peer schemes were staging protests outside the regulator's office. Photo: Simon Song

The implosion of Crude Oil Treasure and products like it may even become a potential source of social unrest, as investors caught in get-rich-quick scams such as peer-to-peer lending platforms and Ponzi schemes around rare metal trading have tended to stage noisy petitions around bank and regulatory offices. More than 60,000 customers are estimated to have invested in Crude Oil Treasure alone, Caixin reported.

For China's government, the potential public grievance comes at a time when the nation is just emerging from three months of quarantines and work-at-home orders to contain the coronavirus outbreak. China's legislature is scheduled to commence its annual meetings on May 22, after postponing the proceedings in March. The Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square, where the pomp and splendour of the meetings typically go on full display, is a mere subway stop away from Bank of China's headquarters in Xidan.

Concerned about the public backlash, the Chinese bank regulator ordered Bank of China to negotiate with customers and respond to their concerns, strengthen its risk control and product management, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) would strengthen its scrutiny over such products, Xinhua said.

Bank of China's head office in Xidan in the Chinese capital on 14 August 2005. Photo: SCMP alt=Bank of China's head office in Xidan in the Chinese capital on 14 August 2005. Photo: SCMP

Launched in January 2018, Crude Oil Treasure allowed customers to hold either long or short positions in oil contracts denominated in US dollars or yuan, where they can bet that the prices of WTI or Brent International would go up or down, all through a simple savings account at the Bank of China.

To make investments more accessible, the product subdivided the 1,000 barrels of oil associated with every WTI futures contract into units of barrels.

Investors must close their open positions before their contracts expire by buying or selling the same amount of contracts they sold or bought earlier. Alternatively, they can roll their positions to the next month by letting the trading system conduct the rollover based on the month's settlement price.

The bank acts as the market maker, responsible for managing risks and generating prices based on factors including global oil prices, the renminbi's exchange rate and market liquidity, it said in a product introduction on its website.

The product is for individuals with "a certain understanding" of the oil market, and have a "commensurate" level of risk tolerance, Bank of China said. It warned investors that they should understand the volatility in oil prices, as well as risks arising from various political and economic factors and global events.

Employees closing a valve at a PetroChina refinery in Lanzhou in Gansu province on January 7, 2011. Photo: Reuters alt=Employees closing a valve at a PetroChina refinery in Lanzhou in Gansu province on January 7, 2011. Photo: Reuters

Still, the warnings and disclaimers were insufficient, Wang said in Xi'an, calling Crude Oil Treasure a "flawed product" with extremely high risks that was mislabelled as a medium-risk investment. Bank of China failed to notify investors that prices could turn negative, even after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where the WTI contracts are traded, warned on April 15 that energy futures contracts could trade at negative or zero, he said.

Bank of China is "deeply disturbed" by its customers' investment losses, according to an April 24 statement. Warnings about volatility and the impending expiry of contracts were sent every day since April 15 via text messages, phone calls, social media posts on WeChat and Weibo, the bank said.

SCMP Graphics alt=SCMP Graphics

The bank is reviewing the design of its financial products as well as its risk management process, and will shoulder its due responsibilities under Chinese law to protect clients' lawful interests the best it could, Bank of China said. The bank has barred customers from taking new positions on all financial products related to the price of crude oil, including those linked to Brent International " the benchmark used in the UK " from April 22.

"Had Bank of China acted faster, like one or two days before the WTI contract's expiry, the losses would not have ballooned to this magnitude," said Lin Boqiang, director of Xiamen University's Centre for China Energy Economics Research. "Other banks have not had the same degree of problem as they have forced settlement of the products earlier."

"Through products packaging and marketing, the futures nature of the underlying product has been downplayed," said Yau of China Xin Yongan.

Different from standard investment products where investors entrust their money with a professional manager to invest, the Crude Oil Treasure is actually a platform on which investors can make buy and sell orders on their own, said Yang Zhaoquan, partner of Beijing Weinuo Lawfirm, retained by nearly 100 customers of Crude Oil Treasure with 40 million yuan in combined losses to sue on their behalf.

"It's against the law for the Bank of China to issue a product like Crude Oil Treasure," said Yang, who has yet to file their suit.

Crude Oil Treasure is in fact a futures product even if it is being marketed as a tool for wealth management. Bank of China, despite being China's largest global bank, is not licensed to provide futures products, he said.

SCMP Graphics alt=SCMP Graphics

Ant Financial Services, the affiliate of this newspaper's owner Alibaba Group Holding, distributes a financial product on its Alipay platform by Southern Asset Management that tracks the price of crude oil and exchange-traded funds.

Customers applying to trade futures products at equity or futures brokerages would be subjected to more rigorous risk assessment questionnaires, and higher entry barriers, before they are allowed anywhere near their first transactions, said Yau of China Xin Yongan, the Hong Kong unit of mainland brokerage Yongan Futures.

May futures contracts settled on April 21 at negative US$37.63, the result of lower demand for fuel amid the economic recessions wrought by the global coronavirus pandemic, as well as a break down in talks between the world's largest oil producers to stem the industry's glut.

Wang has allied himself with a dozen investors in representing about 200 Crude Oil Treasure customers in Shaanxi province to seek compensation from Bank of China.

They have visited the provincial offices of the bank, as well as the banking regulator, to demand for a revaluation of their holdings based on the April 15 settlement price, when they believe the bank should have informed them about the potential risks. Bank of China said it "handled the May futures contracts according to previous agreements," in its statement.

Workers cleaning the logo of Bank of China in Beijing. Photo: AP alt=Workers cleaning the logo of Bank of China in Beijing. Photo: AP

"Given the nature of the market at the moment, it is clearly risky to leave it so close to the end, given some of the pretty well-flagged risk that storage capacities were approaching their limits globally," said Sanford Bernstein's senior oil and gas analyst Neil Beveridge. "Traders are squeezed when it approaches the contract's expiry date."

Emily Liu, a 35-year-old mechanical design engineer in Hangzhou, is among the hundreds of investors in Zhejiang province who are petitioning the regulators to bail out their losses. With 160,000 yuan in losses, Liu joined six chat groups on WeChat, each with about 200 members, with as much as 7 million yuan in individual losses.

For Wang, though, lessons have been learned the hard way.

"All hope is gone," Wang said. "I hadn't been able to sleep and I have no appetite to eat since this happened."

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.
Main opposition Chadema party wants Parliament suspended and all legislators, staff and their families tested.

Tanzanias leading opposition party has called for a suspension of Parliament after three legislators died of unknown causes in the past 11 days.

Freeman Mbowe, chairman of the opposition Chadema party, has repeatedly accused the government of covering up the true extent of the coronavirus pandemic and implied the MPs had died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the pathogen.

We regret to continue receiving the deaths of MPs and other Tanzanians caused by the COVID-19 infections, Mbowe said in a statement on Friday, calling on Parliament to suspend its business for at least 21 days and test all MPs, parliament staff and their families.

We believe more strict measures are needed to protect the lawmakers as well as the wider Tanzanians. As the authorities are yet to make decisions, we want our MPs to be safe by immediately isolating, he added.

Mbowe also asked his partys legislators to self-quarantine for at least two weeks and stop attending parliamentary sessions.

His comments came after it was announced that Augustine Mahiga, Tanzanias minister for constitution and legal affairs, had died earlier on Friday, with no official explanation for his death. The legislator was 74.

His death followed that of Gertrude Rwakatare on April 20 and Richard Ndassa on April 29.

The government has not commented on the cause of their deaths, issuing statements only to announce their passing and convey condolences.

Last month, Parliament announced that one MP had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

By Wednesday, Tanzania had confirmed 480 coronavirus cases and 16 deaths, the only update it has given in the past nine days.

Regular updates were being given until President John Magufuli on April 22 said the Ministry of Health was causing panic with their announcements of cases and deaths.

Tanzania is one of a few countries in Africa that has not taken drastic measures against COVID-19, and Magufuli is among a handful of world leaders still playing down the seriousness of the disease.

Schools and universities have been shut, but markets and other commercial activities are still going on, with Magufuli urging citizens to continue working hard and not stop going to church or mosques.

As the world is passing through trying times following the coronavirus outbreak, let us keep working hard. Coronavirus should not pull us back from serving Tanzanians. I believe God will make us move ahead, he said in a message to civil servants on May 1.

Mbowe on Wednesday said Magufuli was in a state of denial.
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More than 100 firefighters have battled for hours to contain a raging bushfire that burnt out of control and threatened residents and their homes in the small town of Lake Clifton in Perth's south.

Aerial support aided fire crews on the ground to fight the blaze, which began burning near an intersection on Newnham Road about 11.35am, with locals forced to shelter indoors to surive.

The bushfire was reported at 11.35am in southern parts of Lake Clifton, about 110km south of Perth.

The 600-odd residents of Lake Clifton, about 110km south of Perth, were devastated by a deliberately-lit bushfire in January 2011 that destroyed 10 homes.

DFES downgraded its alert level for the blaze to a Watch and Act at 4.13pm, and told residents the fire still posed a threat to lives and homes as conditions were changing.
She recently put on jeans for the first time in six weeks.

And on Friday, Chrissy Teigen gave her nearly 30 million Instagram followers a look at her preferred choice of clothing: robes.

The model, 34, showed off her extensive collection of robes saying 'I love robes, I really love them.'

Collector: Chrissy Teigen gave her nearly 30 million Instagram followers a look at her preferred choice of clothing: robes, and showed off her collection on Friday

She stood in her closet that was lined with racks of clothes, and has a gold and white geometrical pattern rug in the center.

While recording a video, she looked into a large mirror that also reflected the plush white seating chairs, and colorful glass side table with a white rose display.

'Oo loving this robe, a lot of you talk about my love of robes. This is Bernadette, one of my favorite robe brands,' she said.

For the video, Chrissy wore a black robe decorated with purple and green flowers and seemed go fresh faced, with her hair up in a ponytail.

Closet goals: While recording a video, she looked into a large mirror that also reflected the plush white seating chairs, and colorful glass side table with a white rose display

Brand favorite: 'Oo loving this robe, a lot of you talk about my love of robes. This is Bernadette, one of my favorite robe brands,' she said

'And this is my robe rack,' she said while turning to record a full rack of hanging robes.

'These are what I live in,' she said while flipping through the garments that included patterned, lace and solid color robes.

'I love robes,' she added. 'I really love them.'

Later on, she showed her kids having some fun in the family living room.

Dedicated rack: 'And this is my robe rack,' she said while turning to record a full rack of hanging robes

'These are what I live in,' she said while flipping through the garments that included patterned, lace and solid color robes

Chrissy shares daughter Luna, four, and son Miles, who will turn two on May 17, with husband John Legend, who she married in 2013.

Luna wore a pink fairy dress, with a tulle skirt while playing with a toy bow and arrow.

While Miles, declared himself 'Wonder Guy' hopped off the coffee table with a red sleeve wrapped around his arm.

Chrissy has been on living out the coronavirus pandemic at home, as Los Angeles remains on lockdown until May 15, with her husband, kids and her mom.

Fun times: Later on, she showed her kids having some fun in the family living room

Variety: These have included the 'first cast iron pizza' she has made herself in the house, as well as tom yum calamari (left) and a Thai holy basil pork stir fry (right)

The cookbook author has been spending time in the kitchen making her 'first cast iron pizza' she has made herself in the house, as well as tom yum calamari and a Thai holy basil pork stir fry.

One night earlier this month she tweeted: 'I have not slept yet, it's 5:21 in the morning and I am eating ramen alone in the kitchen downstairs.'

Late last month relatively early into the lockdown in Los Angeles she tweeted: 'every day I say my morning mantra: "tomorrow I will eat healthier."'
(CNN)  Assault-style weapons are banned in Canada effective immediately, the country's prime minister said Friday.

The move comes less than two weeks after Canada's deadliest rampage in modern history, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 22 people after a 12-hour reign of terror.

"You don't need an AR-15 to bring down a deer," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa. "So, effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country."

Police said the gunman had several semi-automatic handguns and at least two semi-automatic rifles, one of which was described by witnesses as a military-style assault weapon.

"These weapons were designed for one purpose, and one purpose only, to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time. There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada," Trudeau said.

The ban is effective immediately but disposal of the weapons will be subject to a two-year amnesty period. Trudeau said some form of compensation would also be put in place but the firearms can also be exported and sold after a proper export license is obtained.

Trudeau said that "thoughts and prayers" for mass shooting victims were no longer enough and that's why his government acted.

The Nova Scotia shooter used a replica police car and an RCMP uniform to impersonate a police officer as he killed both people he knew and strangers, police said. He was fatally shot by officers.

Of the 22 people killed, 13 were shot and nine died in house fires, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Tuesday.

RCMP said the gunman, Gabriel Wortman, 51, also killed or wounded animals and pets that he found at the homes.

Police believe Wortman acted alone in the shootings and arsons.

The gunman did not have a firearms license and that only one weapon was traced back to Canada, police said.

Last week, RCMP announced its officers had expanded their investigation into the US but would not elaborate on the nature of their leads. Police say they believe the gunman acquired at least some of his weapons in the US.

Legislation had been in the works for months after Trudeau promised during his reelection campaign in late 2019 to beef up gun control, especially for cities hard hit by gang violence.

Trudeau failed to make good on a 2015 election promise to restrict sales of assault weapons in Canada.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Canada bans assault-style weapons after its worst ever mass murder"
Lokpal member Justice (retired) Ajay Kumar Tripathi, who tested positive for COVID-19, died after suffering a cardiac arrest at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Trauma Centre in New Delhi on Saturday, official sources said.

Image used only for representation. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

Tripathi, 62, breathed his last around 9 pm.

A former chief justice of the Chhattisgarh high court, he had been in the AIIMS Trauma Centre, which has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital, since the first week of April.

"He was very sick. He was in the ICU and on ventilator for last three days," one of the sources said.

Tripathi is one of the four judicial members of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal.
A billboard depicting late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is seen on May 25, 2019 on the roof of the police station jail where prisoners were killed during clashes on the eve, in the town of Acarigua, in the Venezuelan state of Portugues. (Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images)

Venezuelan Prison Riot Leaves at Least 46 Dead, 60 Injured: Lawmaker, NGO

CARACASA prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.

Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary. The South American countrys prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.

The countrys prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuelas information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Relatives of prisoners killed on the eve during clashes at a police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in the Venezuelan state of Portuguesa, wait outside a hospitals morgue to be handed the bodies of their loved ones, on May 25, 2019. (Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images)

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot came after a ban on inmates family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The visitation restrictions are part of the countrys effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

Relatives of prisoners killed on the eve during clashes at a police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in the Venezuelan state of Portuguesa, wait outside a hospitals morgue to be handed the bodies of their loved ones, on May 25, 2019. (Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images)

Such restrictions have prompted riots in prisons in several countries, including Italy. In Argentina, prisoners rioted last month demanding some inmates be freed due to fears of infection.

By Deisy Buitrago and Vivian Sequera
Change in Netherlands' office name in Taiwan is "playing with fire," poses risk to ties with Chinese mainland: experts

Global Times

By Liu Caiyu Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/1 18:53:05

The Netherlands took down a video clip in which it changed the trade and investment in Taiwan to the Netherlands office Taipei a day after the video was released. Chinese experts warned that the country's move is "playing with fire" and poses a risk to ties with the Chi-nese mainland.

The Netherlands trade and investment office in Taiwan island confirmed on Thursday that it had taken down a video in which it announced the office's name being changed from the previous "Netherlands Trade and Investment Office" to the "Netherlands Office Taipei."

"By taking out the words 'trade and invest-ment,' we have become more inclusive of all the other areas we are collaborating with. So clearly, less here is much more," Guy Wittich, the head of the office, had said in the video.

However, the video was taken down one day after it was released. "The video was always meant to be available only for one day so it can be watched and serve its original pur-pose," the office was cited by Taipei-based CNA as saying.

Renaming the "Netherlands Trade and Invest-ment Office" may imply the country's intention to seek cooperation with the Taiwan island beyond "trade" to fields of "diplomacy" or "na-tional security," which is a provocative move to the Chinese mainland. The Netherlands, at the same time, lowered the recognition of Taiwan island to "Taipei" in this name changing game, experts noted.

Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times on Friday that "the Netherlands tries to please both the Chi-nese mainland and Taiwan island in this game, but it is playing with fire and puts relations with the Chinese mainland at risk."

Unlike the US, which frequently aggressively provokes the Taiwan question, the Nether-lands would not dare to have such a bold move of challenging the Chinese mainland. Their little trick is crystal clear for the Chinese mainland and should be condemned, Xin said, calling on the Netherlands to give an explana-tion.

Despite that the video clip that boasted the ties between the Taiwan island and the Neth-erlands was only available online for one day, the Taiwan authorities could not help showing their glee at this minor benefit offered by the Netherlands. The incident was also taken as a stunt by the Taiwan authorities to fool Taiwan people, which was only "self-deceive and hi-larious," Xin said.

Xin said Taiwan authorities only have to look for self-presence in the international commu-nity from this little wording game as its so-called diplomatic presence continues to shrink since Tsai Ing-wen became the leader.

Taiwan was left with "diplomatic ties" with only 15 countries around the world.

The Netherlands' move may trigger similar dangerous moves from other European coun-tries they may step into the grey area to chal-lenge the one-China principle, which is entire-ly unacceptable, Xin noted.

The Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands pre-viously requested clarification of the matter. The embassy stressed that the Taiwan ques-tion concerns China's core interests, and ad-hering to the one-China principle is the politi-cal foundation for developing China-Netherlands relations.

Chinese netizens irritated by the Netherlands' move called on the Chinese companies to immediately stop exporting medical supplies to the country, and appealed to others to boycott all Dutch products and cancel their travel plans to the country.

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39-year-old neurosurgeon Dr Nitin Mariwalla had been friends with a 58-year-old security guard, Chris Crowley, long before he treated him.



Late last year, Mariwalla was on his way out of St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York, to his home in Oyster bay, when he found out that Chris had fallen on his head near the hospital.

Christian Galan

The latter had previously had two brain surgeries and it was reportedly because of a change in medication that he lost consciousness. Mariwalla stepped up for his friend.

According to People, Crowley's forehead was significantly injured and he suffered from multiple lacerations that caused a lot of bleeding. He woke up to the news that his friend had saved his life.

I felt like I was in good hands and that everything was going to be alright. I love giving back after theyve done so much for me, the publication quoted him as saying.

GMSLLP

Crowley was more motivated than ever, to not give up and that resolve strengthened during the coronavirus pandemic.

As St. Francis became crowded with COVID-19 patients over the last month, Crowley has been giving back in ways he can. He patrols the hospital and grounds, makes sure everyone is safe and gets to where they need to be.

Representative Image/HEIDI DE MARCO/KHN

Mariwalla feels grateful to Chris too, I always felt like no matter how hard of a day that I was having, no matter how tired I was or stressed out I was, if Chris was around, he was really a symbol of steadfastness and integrity and hard work. And that's what I love the most about him. It could be nuclear winter and Chris would be out there, he said.

Chris on his part is taking all the precautions to be safe and help others at the same time.

This is yet another story of how it does not matter how different or alike you are, in the end, bonds are nurtured by love and compassion.
British institutions fighting Covid-19 have been subject to cyber attacks traced back to Russia and Iran, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Hackers linked to hostile states have targeted UK universities attempting to produce vaccines and testing kits as well as scientists and doctors studying the virus.

Spy bosses at the National Cyber Security Centre branded the attacks utterly reprehensible and confirmed they were working round the clock to battle the online menace.

Security and Whitehall figures have revealed a sustained attempt to target Britains efforts to fight the virus by accessing emails and servers in universities and scientific facilities. One said: It looks like theyre trying to steal or borrow information about our response to coronavirus.

A separate security source said: This problem  intellectual property theft and a blurred line between state and serious crime  has been around for a while but theres obviously now an increased need to ensure we protect UK PLC and its assets.

Hackers from Russia and Iran have been attempting to gain access to British universities that are developing vaccines for the coronavirus. Pictured: Stock image of a hacker

However, it is understood that so far no major attack has been successful  and there has been no attack on NHS computer systems, as happened in May 2017 with devastating effect.

The incidents mirror activity detected in the US last week. The director of Americas National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina, said the US government had warned all its medical research organisations of the threat.

He told the BBC: We have been working to ensure they are protecting all the research and data as best they can.

'We have every expectation foreign intelligence services, to include the Chinese Communist Party, will attempt to obtain what we are making here.

Britains security services and online crime fighters have passed a similar warning to UK researchers. Last night, Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Defence Committee, said Britain should not hesitate in retaliating appropriately. He added: The global distraction of Covid-19 provides the perfect fog of war to conduct cyber attacks. Especially when the prize of a vaccine is so huge.

The National Cyber Security Centre said: We have seen an increased proportion of cyber attacks related to coronavirus and our experts work around-the-clock to help organisations targeted.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gobind Singh Longowal on Saturday wrote a letter to Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh urging him to shift Nanded-returnees to gurdwara serais from temporary quarantine centres, including Radha Soami congregation centres.

Longowal and Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh had earlier made a similar appeal to the state government.

In his letter to CM, Longowal said they have already apprised the government that they have good arrangements for the pilgrims returning from Nanded and instead of quarantining them at any other place, they should be kept in the serais. However, our plea was not entertained, he added.

SAD SEEKS PROBE INTO MALTREATMENT OF RETURNEES

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has demanded a probe into the alleged maltreatment of Nanded-returnees at quarantine facilities in Punjab.

In a statement here, party spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said it is shocking that despite a hue and cry among people over the unhygienic conditions under which the pilgrims have been quarantined, chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has not deemed it fit to order an inquiry into the matter.
Actor Joe Pantoliano  best known for his role as mobster Ralph Cifaretto on The Sopranos  is recovering at his Wilton home after he was reportedly hit by a car Friday.

Pantoliano was on a walk around his neighborhood when a T-bone collision reportedly sent one of the cars sliding down the road, hitting Pantoliano, according to Variety.
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The new financial year started on a sour note for the beleaguered auto industry with zero sales reported in April. This was mainly because factories and dealerships were closed for business on account of the lockdown.

The bad news multiplied when the Centre announced a further two week extension of the lockdown. Companies believe that the 55 day suspension of business will cost them dear.

Our todays wrap of the week talks more about this. But first, here is a complete look at what else made news during the week.

Honda appoints new India head

Japanese auto major Honda Motor Co on May 1 said it has appointed Atsushi Ogata as new president, chief executive officer and managing director of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) with immediate effect.

Ogata replaces Minoru Kato, who after a three year stint at HMSI returns to Japan as the operating executive & chief officer life creation operation, Honda Motor Co.

Auto companies welcome FY21 with zero sales

Automotive companies have started FY21 on a luckless note, reporting zero sales in April as manufacturing facilities remained closed following full lockdown orders from the central government.

For the first time, over 100 factories of automotive companies that make scooters, motorcycles, cars, electric vehicles, trucks and buses did not produce even a single vehicle during the entire month of April.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

Order a Mercedes-Benz from home

Indias largest luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has rolled out Merc from Home, a fully digital car buying initiative that allows customers to book online and get the vehicle delivered to their doorstep.

This first-of-its kind initiative will ease the experience of purchasing a vehicle using digital tools to facilitate the entire process including online payment of products and services. The novel coronavirus-forced lockdown has made almost all carmakers sell cars through the online medium, keeping physical interaction to the bare minimum.

Hero Splendor leads race in 2W market

The close contest between two former friends Hero and Honda saw the Indian heavyweight take the lead last year when the Splendor snatched the top spot from Activa.

The Hero Splendor clocked sales of 2.63 million units in FY20 as against 2.59 million units clocked by Honda Activa during the same year. In FY19 it was the Activa that finished first followed by the Splendor.

Auto companies rush to raise capital

Five automotive companies have raised, or plan to raise, more than Rs 3,000 crore in two weeks in an effort to replenish working capital funds as the nation prepares to see-off the 40-day lockdown on May 3.

Non-convertible debentures (NCD) and convertible preference shares (CPS) have become the preferred method for the auto industry for raising capital at a time when efforts are being made to get the closed factories humming again.

Rupee slide puts pressure on luxury carmakers

The Indian Rupee has fallen by nearly 8 percent to the US Dollar (USD) since January, severely impacting the businesses of import-dependent automotive companies.

The Indian currency hit an all-time low of Rs 77 against the USD earlier this month, a fall from Rs 71.36 recorded in the first week of January. This was triggered by poor foreign investment inflows, strengthening dollar and crumbling stock markets.

Auto companies not enthused by lockdown extension

Industry captains who manage automotive companies which are impacted by the extension of the lockdown till May 17 appear displeased over the governments move.

The Centre has relaxed restrictions in Green, Orange and Red demarcated zones compared to the current norms. However, even if automotive companies are located outside of the Red zones and are permitted to start manufacturing a majority of 25,000-odd dealerships are based inside the Red zones and wont be allowed to reopen.

Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad which command a significant share in sales happen to be part of the 130-odd Red zones identified by the government.

Further factories of several companies such as Mahindra & Mahindra, Apollo Tyres, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors and MG Motor have received the permission to restart manufacturing in certain plants. There are though still lots of skepticism over maintaining continuous production.

Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director & CEO, Ashok Leyland, said, Auto companies are dependent on the ancillary sector. A smooth flow of the complete supply-chain is vital for production of vehicles. While the government has given the auto sector the permission to resume operations in a phased manner in certain geographies, with certain norms and conditions, it still remains a challenge for the industry to resume operations."

"This because, while the OEM production unit might be in the green zone, even if one ancillary unit that supplies a small part happens to be in the red zone, will make a component of the vehicle unavailable, thereby making the production process impossible," Sondhi said.

In a joint letter to Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA) and Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations of India (SIAM) wrote: "You would appreciate that the automotive value chain is highly complex, integrated and interdependent. A vehicle manufacturer cannot commence operations if any one of its suppliers is unable to undertake production. Further, production of a vehicle manufacturer would only amount to adding to inventory and thus blocking working capital in case dealers are unable to sell the vehicles. It is therefore pertinent to note that if any element in any segment does not commence operations the value chain will not be able to restart."

ACMA represents the component community while FADA presents the dealer and SIAM represents the vehicle manufacturers community.

But not everyone is in the same boat. Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra believes that the two week long extension should be used by auto companies to get back into the previous routine.

A tweet from Goenka said, I do not see this as an extension of lock down but a partial opening. Many activities now allowed in green zone and some even in red zone. Next two weeks should be used to get the rhythm back in the business cycle with partial activity, getting ready for May 18th."
Reade described the report after the AP discovered additional transcripts and notes from its interviews with Reade last year in which she says she chickened out after going to the Senate personnel office. The AP interviewed Reade in 2019 after she accused Biden of uncomfortable and inappropriate touching. She did not raise allegations of sexual assault against Biden until this year, around the time he became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Amid the nationwide lokdown, villages in the national capital have appealed to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for relief from paying electricity bills as they are devoid of any income.

Shahpur Jat village association, in its letter to Kejriwal dated April 30, demanded withdrawal of power bills of commercial establishments and announcement of additional subsidy for residential units in and around villages.

The village society said even though almost all commercial units in Delhi are shut, the electricity companies are sending provision bills to residents of Shahpur Jat, Munirka, Ber Sarai, Kishangarh, Mehrauli and others.

"How can the electricity companies be allowed to issue bills when there is no consumption of electricity for more than a month? It is a fact that these units have not been able to carry out any business and therefore they should not be compelled to pay any electricity charge for the lockdown period," the letter to the Chief Minister said.

"In view of the prevalent circumstances, we demand that for the residential units located in village areas (both urban and rural) of Delhi, the government should provide 50 per cent rebate on electricity bills during the lockdown period, over and above the current rebates/subsidy," it said.

Shahpur Jat Society has also demanded the power discoms to not issue bills during the lockdown period.

Speaking to IANS, Shahpur village RWA association executive member Aman Panwar said, "On the one hand the government is asking us to not seek rent and on the other we are receiving power bills for commercial and residential units through SMS."

He said that about 95 per cent of the people in the village are dependent on the rents from their commercial units or tenants. "And when the owner asks for rent from the tenants, police is being called, while in case of commercial units the people are receiving hefty bills as fixed charges despite shops being closed for last 40 days," he added.

Anil Gianchandani, the secretary of Delhi Gramin Samaj also backed the demands of the Shahpur Jat and said, "Since lockdown, income from residential units has depleted as the government has asked owners to refrain from seeking rent from tenants."

Gianchandani said his organisation 'Delhi Gramin Samaj' too has written to Kejriwal, seeking relief to inhabitants of nearly 380 villages (mostly urbanised) in the national capital.

"We have demanded from the government the withdrawal of commercial bills and 50 per cent rebate in billed amount for residential units during the lockdown period," he added.

The government has extended the lockdown for two more weeks till May 17.
One serviceman received a fragmentation wound when the illegal armed formations in Donbas used an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a grenade shot on May 2, a press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) reported.

"Today, on May 2, the Russia-led occupied forces in the east of Ukraine once again fired our defenders near the village of Hnutove. The enemy from a UAV dropped a VOG-17 shot above the positions of the Joint Forces. As a result of the explosion, one Ukrainian soldier received a shrapnel wound," the headquarters said in a statement on Facebook.

Thus, the warrior was promptly taken to a medical establishment, where he received a medical assistance.

It is noted that the units of the JFO using available firearms have given an adequate response to the militants. Losses of the opponent are specified.
A chargesheet has been filed against two Naxal commanders operating in the Bihar and Jharkhand region, and seven others on charges of money laundering, linked to alleged extortion and levy-collection crimes, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said.

The central agency, in a statement, said the prosecution complaint (chargesheet) was filed before a special court in Patna under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) early this week.

It has named Musafir Sahni and Anil Ram, area commanders of the Bihar-Jharkhand special area committee of the CPI (Maoist), and seven others.

The agency has sought confiscation of properties -- including 11 flats in Bihar's Vaishali district, five plots in Muzaffarpur district, bank balance, cash, a truck and a bike -- totalling Rs 54.14 lakh of the accused.

The agency alleged that the proceeds of crime in the case were generated through collection of levy, dacoity and extortion, and illegal funds were utilised for acquisition of assets in the name of family members of the accused "so that they can be projected as untainted".

"Accused utilised pseudo names to escape from law enforcement agencies and utilised the proceeds of crime to purchase assets in the name of other associates," it said.

The ED alleged that Sahni and Ram are "habitual offenders who have indulged in heinous offences like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity" and they have been booked for offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Arms Act.

"They obtained huge money through collection of levy and extortion in the name of their organisation CPI (Maoist)," the agency alleged.

Criminal charges under the PMLA were slapped against the accused on the basis of FIRs filed by the Bihar police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thomas TJ Hanna is no stranger to Bexar County Jail  the barren walls of a small cell, the sub-par food and the feeling of confinement for hours on end, often with nothing to do.

But recently, as the coronavirus outbreak in the jail worsened, Hanna grew increasingly panicked.

Mom, I dont want to die in here, he said in one recent phone call to his mother, Pat Goracy, who lives in Connecticut, 2,000 miles away.

Hannas recent stint in jail started in January when, while on parole, he was arrested on one count of evading arrest and five counts of drug possession, both nonviolent felonies.

He was 20 days shy of completing nearly three years of parole for a drug conviction.

Now, Hanna, 43, is in limbo, caught in a complicated, lengthy process involving three agencies that determine whether he will have to remain in jail.

About 460 inmates in the downtown lockup are in the same position, waiting to learn the outcome of their parole cases. They make up about 15 percent of the jail population.

Even before the coronavirus, inmates on parole hold had to wait months, if not years. Now the stakes are higher as scores of deputies, staffers and inmates have become infected.

On Thursday, Bexar County detention deputy Timothy De La Fuente, a 27-year veteran of the Sheriffs Office, died at his home after testing positive for COVID-19.

As officials try to stem the outbreak, in part by reducing the jail population, inmates, their families and criminal justice advocates have called for the release of more people held on parole violations.

They could release a lot of tension in the jail by hearing our cases or letting us make parole, Hanna said in a phone interview from the jail.

On ExpressNews.com: Detention deputy who tested positive for COVID-19 dies

Of the 460 inmates on parole hold, about 260 are charged with new crimes, including nonviolent offenses, such as drug possession.

The remaining 200 are locked up for breaking the rules of their parole  drinking alcohol, traveling without permission, or missing appointments with parole officers.

Inmates accused of such rule violations could be released on bond.

For parolees accused of new crimes, the process is less straightforward. They cant be freed until one of three agencies makes a move: the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which issues warrants for alleged parole violations; the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which hands down judgments about violations; or the Bexar County district attorneys office, which prosecutes criminal charges.

In interviews, officials with each agency passed responsibility on to the next, making the process seem almost mazelike.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice usually doesnt lift so-called parole holds until after the parole board issues its decision.

The parole board, meanwhile, typically doesnt render a judgment until after an inmates new charges are resolved by local prosecutors.

The Bexar County DAs office said the parole board could decide without a resolution of the criminal charges, since parole violations are administrative issues, not criminal.

The inmates stay in jail, waiting on each agency to do its part.

Its normally a notoriously slow process, said Laquita Garcia, a criminal justice advocate at the Texas Organizing Project, a statewide group that pushes for changes in the criminal justice system, among other issues. Ive heard dozens of stories over the years of people spending years in jail waiting for a parole violation to be handled.

There are alternatives.

For example, the parole board could move forward with hearings on parole violations, allowing the inmate to bond out on the new charges.

Unlike a criminal trial, the board makes its judgments based on a preponderance of evidence  a lower burden of proof than required to convict a defendant.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice could lift its hold on the persons warrant before the case is handled by the parole board.

On ExpressNews.com: At Bexar County jail, inmates complain of superficial cleanings, scarce soap and flimsy masks amid COVID outbreak

Raymond Estrada, a spokesman for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, defended the agency, saying board members are processing inmates in accordance with time frames established in Texas law.

He added that the board changed a number of practices in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, it suspended in-person interviews in prison and began using videoconferencing for some hearings, including those involving parole violations. However, it has said the parole revocation process will remain the same.

For those offenders that have also been charged with a new offense, the board is not required to render a final decision until the offense has been adjudicated in court, Estrada said in an email.

Jeremy Desel, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said that after a parolee is arrested, parole officers review each case to determine whether the person should be released from jail. While the agency can lift the parole hold before the parole board issues its decision, its not a common practice, Desel said.

We are not withdrawing warrants due solely to COVID-19 concerns, Desel said. We will always evaluate cases to ensure that maintaining a warrant is the best course of action.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said prosecutors review all new cases filed, including those involving parolees, to determine which could be dismissed and which could be handled through other means, perhaps a plea deal.

He said other key players  including judges and defense lawyers  also play a big role in getting cases resolved quickly.

We are well aware of the concerns of how long it can take for criminal charges to be resolved, especially right now, during the period of the pandemic, he said.

For Goracy, the situation at the jail has left her conflicted.

She makes no excuses for her sons actions. Over 30 years, starting when he was 14, Hanna has been arrested more than a dozen times, almost always for nonviolent drug offenses, court records show.

Hannas run-ins with the law and his chronic drug addiction have strained Goracys relationship with her son.

Goracy knows that what he did was wrong, and at times, she feels like jail is a good place for him. After he goes through the painful detox process, hes back to his usual chipper self. Goracy will hear from him more often. Hes kinder.

But now, as the coronavirus outbreak swells  as of Saturday, 201 inmates, 54 deputies and 11 others who worked at the jail have contracted COVID-19  Goracy doesnt know what to do. Hanna is her only son. She doesnt think he deserves to get sick or die because of drug addiction.

Making matters worse, Hanna has high blood pressure, which increases the risk of severe complications with COVID-19.

I go back and forth between being very angry with him, Goracy said. But I still worry about him. And I get frustrated about the parole board process. There certainly needs to be some changes.

Transfers on hold

Officials have said reducing the population in the jail  which can hold a maximum of 5,100 people  could help control the outbreak.

The jail population is transient, with hundreds of people being booked and released every day. The outbreak endangers not only deputies, staff and inmates, but all San Antonio residents.

Sheriff Javier Salazar, in coordination with Gonzales and local judges, started reducing the number of inmates in early March, primarily by releasing nonviolent misdemeanor offenders and sending felons to state prison.

At last count, the jail population is down by 850 inmates, to about 3,000.

In recent weeks, that effort has stalled, due in part to the Texas Department of Criminal Justices decision to no longer accept transfers of new inmates to state prisons. Salazar said more than 200 inmates have been convicted and are paper ready to be transferred.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has urged the state to take transfers again, and at one point questioned whether the county could take legal action against the state.

TDCJ Executive Director Bryan Collier, in a recent letter to Wolff, said the agency was setting up a process to accept healthy inmates as soon as possible.

One jail inmate awaiting transfer is Renee Rotge, 39.

In March, she said, she turned herself in at Bexar County Jail on a 2012 warrant that was issued by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Carlos Javier Sanchez /Contributor

According to Rotge, she violated the terms of her parole by leaving a halfway house, a transitional facility for inmates nearing release. Previously, she had served time in a state prison for a felony drug charge.

Rotge said she also stopped making payments required as a condition of her release and owed more than $600.

This year, at the urging of her children, she decided to turn her life around. She turned herself in March 14. She was aware of the coronavirus pandemic, but she didnt think it would reach the jail.

Rotge said the parole board heard her case rather quickly, perhaps because she was being held on a technical violation and didnt have new charges pending. The board sentenced her to 45 days in a treatment center run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Now, shes awaiting transfer.

Ive done wrong. I admit that, she said. But here I was trying to step up and do the right thing, and now my family is suffering because they are sitting at home worrying that Im going to catch the coronavirus. I didnt think I was going to be a waiting duck sitting in here.

Waiting for a hearing

For others, the process isnt so quick.

Trisha Behrens, a former Bexar County detention deputy, has called for the state to modify the parole hold procedures, especially in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

Her partner, John Garcia, has been held in Bexar County Jail on a parole hold since February after he was arrested for evading arrest and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, both nonviolent felonies.

Garcia, 29, also had a technical violation for leaving the halfway house where he was ordered to live after serving time on a robbery charge. At the time, he had a little more than three months left on parole.

Behrens, who stopped working at the jail in 2012, met Garcia in November through a mutual friend. Garcia recently had been released from prison and needed a place to stay. Behrens said he could stay with her  as long as he didnt get into trouble.

At first, their relationship was platonic. There were moments when there was a spark of romance, but the two put their feelings aside. One day, Garcia abruptly left Behrens apartment and she stopped hearing from him. She was hurt.

In February, Garcia reached out. He explained that he had started using heroin again and didnt want his drug use to affect her. He acknowledged that he had feelings for her and wanted to start a relationship and get clean.

Behrens, one to see the best in people, agreed to help. They decided they would move back in with each other and start a life together.

They may seem like an unlikely couple  a felon and a former law enforcement officer  but Behrens said Garcia is a good guy who suffers from a heroin addiction that started over 15 years ago.

When she was a detention deputy, she said she struggled to see inmates as merely that. They were people, too. They had moms, dads and other family members on the outside who cared about them.

Officials at the jail would tell me I needed to call them inmate, Behrens said. I didnt have the heart to treat them like a number.

In recent weeks, Behrens has called a number of public officials to bring attention to Garcias case. She has urged the parole board to handle his revocation hearing now, not later, so Garcia can bond out on the two new charges.

During such hearings, the board determines if the parolee violated the terms of community supervision, and if so, what the punishment should be. At that point, the inmate is sent back to prison, placed in a treatment facility or released from jail  sometimes with stricter conditions.

Behrens said that granting Garcias release would benefit not only her partner, who has hepatitis C and is at greater risk of severe complications if he contracts COVID-19, but the public in general.

If it breaks out really bad in the jail, then it becomes a major threat to our community, Behrens said. People get released from the jail every day. Its the same thing with officers. How many people will those people infect before they realize they are sick?

Concerns longstanding

Critics of the parole system, which originally was designed as an alternative to incarceration, say it always has been riddled with problems, and some have found it is a significant contributor to mass incarceration.

According to the Justice Lab at Columbia University in New York, which advocates for changes in the criminal justice system, nearly as many people are sent to prison for parole and probation violations as for new offenses.

I think its always been their job to funnel folks back into the system, Krishnaveni Gundu, co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, a state criminal justice reform group, said recently. They dont set people up for success in their re-entry.

A national advocacy group, Executives Transforming Probation and Parole, has called on probation and parole agencies to remodel their practices in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Too many people are placed under supervision who pose little public safety risk, the group said online. This would be concerning under any circumstances. But it is especially problematic with the current COVID-19 emergency.

About 50 parole and probation supervisors across the country have signed the groups petition, including a top executive in Harris County. No one from Bexar County has signed.

Some progress

For some inmates, there is some hope of being freed.

Becky Kalson has been on edge about her son, 31-year-old Justus Kalson. He was arrested in July on two felony charges, possession of a controlled substance and felon in possession of a firearm. At the time, he was a few months short of successfully completing parole.

Kalson had waited for months to find out whether the parole board would hear his case. Then, the coronavirus outbreak struck. Inmates began complaining about a host of problems at the jail, including infrequent cleanings, watered-down disinfectant, and temperature checks that occurred less than twice daily.

They also said meals were inconsistent and meager, and that they only were provided with one small, motel-size bar of soap a week.

Sheriff Salazar made a handful of changes after the problems emerged. He said masks are handed out daily, and soap is provided twice a week. All 1,000 deputies and staffers and 3,000 inmates are in line to be tested for COVID-19, but that could take weeks.

Salazar acknowledged the need for better food service and started supplementing meals with items from the commissary. Some inmates are receiving free packages with instant noodles, chips, soda and cookies.

Kalson said the changes were welcomed, but some problems persist, including access to disinfectant. The outbreak is taking a toll on everyone in the jail, he said.

They say they are afraid of catching the virus, he said. They stand in front of the TV for hours on end waiting for news updates.

A few days ago, Kalson finally received some good news: The parole board plans to hear his case, allowing him to bond out on the new charges. He was released Wednesday.

Hanna, who was charged with evading arrest and drug possession, learned in March that prosecutors dismissed four of the five drug charges. A few days ago, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice lifted the hold on his warrant, allowing him to bond out on the two remaining charges.

Hes still in jail, trying to gather the money necessary to make bail. His bond is set at $45,000.

Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Emilie, become a subscriber. eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Arogya Setu mobile application is a "sophisticated surveillance system" outsourced to a private operator, raising serious data security and privacy concerns.

Technology can help keep us safe, but fear must not be used to track citizens without their consent, he said. The mobile application helps users identify whether they are at risk of the COVID-19 infection. It also provides people with important information, including ways to avoid coronavirus and its symptoms.

"The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent," he said on Twitter.

The Arogya Setu app, is a sophisticated surveillance system, outsourced to a pvt operator, with no institutional oversight - raising serious data security & privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe; but fear must not be leveraged to track citizens without their consent.  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 2, 2020

The central government has made it compulsory for all its employees to download the app and urged private entitles to also ask their employees to use it. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that various experts have raised multiple issues of privacy regarding Aarogya Setu app.

ALSO READ| Rs 65,000 crore needed to feed poor; India needs to be smarter in lifting lockdown: Rajan tells Rahul

"We are looking at the privacy issues, as also the compulsory deduction of amount and hopefully within next 24 hours we will come with a more comprehensive and a calibrated response on the issue. But, these are areas of concern, we have noted," he said at a press conference.

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for calling 'Aarogya Setu' app a sophisticated surveillance system, the BJP on Saturday said the Congress leader spoke a "new lie" daily and retorted that those who indulged in surveillance all their lives won't know how technology can be leveraged for good.

Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is also communications, electronics and information technology minister, rejected Gandhi's charge that the app has been outsourced to a private operator and asserted that it has a robust data security architecture.

"Mr Gandhi, really high time that you stop outsourcing your tweets to your cronies who do not understand India," he tweeted, adding that the app, which the government says is a tool in fighting the coronavirus, is being appreciated globally.

Attacking Gandhi, Prasad said, "Daily a new lie. Aarogya Setu is a powerful companion which protects people. It has a robust data security architecture. Those who indulged in surveillance all their lives, won't know how tech can be leveraged for good!"

ALSO READ| PM must lay out exit plan on lockdown, fighting coronavirus, bringing back economy: Congress

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra took a swipe at Gandhi, saying he refuses to grow up. "He is not only ignorant about the Aarogya Setu App but is also being extremely irresponsible by trying to mislead the people through misinformation and falsities.

"The government on multiple occasions has allayed the fears of surveillance and that too scientifically. The said app is technical personal bodyguard to each one to fight COVID-19," Patra said.

Gandhi refuses to understand, he said, adding that the Congress's only aim in the times of pandemic appears to spread confusion and derail the nation's fight against the pandemic. "The Congress should refrain from using the pandemic as a political opportunity," he said.

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for calling 'Aarogya Setu' app a sophisticated surveillance system, the BJP on Saturday said the Congress leader spoke a "new lie" daily and retorted that those who indulged in surveillance all their lives won't know how technology can be leveraged for good.

Senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is also communications, electronics and information technology minister, rejected Gandhi's charge that the app has been outsourced to a private operator and asserted that it has a robust data security architecture.

"Mr Gandhi, really high time that you stop outsourcing your tweets to your cronies who do not understand India," he tweeted, adding that the app, which the government says is a tool in fighting the coronavirus, is being appreciated globally.

ALSO READ| Congress has no suggestion on COVID-19 crisis, is interested in doing ugly politics: BJP

Attacking Gandhi, Prasad said, "Daily a new lie. Aarogya Setu is a powerful companion which protects people. It has a robust data security architecture. Those who indulged in surveillance all their lives, won't know how tech can be leveraged for good!"

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra took a swipe at Gandhi, saying he refuses to grow up. "He is not only ignorant about the Aarogya Setu App but is also being extremely irresponsible by trying to mislead the people through misinformation and falsities.

"The government on multiple occasions has allayed the fears of surveillance and that too scientifically. The said app is technical personal bodyguard to each one to fight COVID-19," Patra said.

Gandhi refuses to understand, he said, adding that the Congress's only aim in the times of pandemic appears to spread confusion and derail the nation's fight against the pandemic. "The Congress should refrain from using the pandemic as a political opportunity," he said.
Connecticut recorded 41 fewer coronavirus-related hospitalizations Saturday, continuing the downward trend it saw over the last week.

But even as officials noted that certain numbers looked encouraging and anticipated the partial reopening that Gov. Ned Lamont has set for May 20, some municipal leaders have taken a cautious tone about moving forward.

Fatalities continue to climb, reaching 2,436  another 97 deaths since Friday, according to data from the state Department of Public Health, which indicated a total of 29,287 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the crisis began  up 523 from Friday.

As sunny weather arrived and more state residents headed outdoors  Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden was closed by 10:30 a.m. Saturday because it had reached capacity  both state and local officials emphasized the importance of continued social distancing.

Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, held a virtual press conference from Gillette Castle State Park reminding residents to continue to practice safe social distancing when visiting state parks, especially as more consistent nice weather arrives, according to a DEEP tweet.

Dykes Saturday conference was just the latest in the departments attempts to spread the message about social distancing.

When a park has closed to capacity, do not park elsewhere and walk in, the DEEP tweeted earlier in the day, also asking visitors to leave space on trails so that others can pass.

On Friday, the department asked park visitors to remain 6 feet apart from others and to carry masks, according to a release that also recommended exploring less-popular parks to avoid crowds.

If you do visit a state park or forest, its important to do so safely, the release said. Parks remain open for solitary recreation or recreating with members of your immediate household in groups no larger than five people. Picnics are not permitted at this time, and DEEP recommends that you keep your visits to state parks brief.

Municipal leaders shared their own messages about social distancing.

It is vital that you keep doing what you have been doing to prevent the spread of the virus  practicing social distancing, wearing cloth face coverings, and avoiding all gatherings, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in an email update Friday. We are not out of the woods. In fact, we have a long way to go and must be very careful and deliberate as we consider opening up.

Meanwhile, in Danbury, Mayor Mark Boughton took to social media, urging folks to follow the guidance. The city had lost another resident to the virus, he noted.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim again asked residents to please continue to stay safe and stay home in a video posted to his Twitter account.

And in the small town of North Branford, whose officials used Facebook to hold a press conference Friday, police chief Kevin Halloran suggested that recent rainy weather may have kept violations of social distancing guidelines at bay, noting that the town had not seen many issues with large gatherings.

While local leaders said data indicated the rate of increase of COVID-19 cases in town was slowing, they repeated the same message as the DEEP chief and city mayors: Dont stop social distancing.

As were seeing a flattening of the curve ... this not time for a victory lap, said James Buck, North Branfords emergency management director. Stay safe. Stay home.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1

By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:

President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has signed a decree on sending humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Trend reports with reference to State News Agency of Turkmenistan.

According to the presidents decree, The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan should donate food products to Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan should ensure the dispatch and transfer of donating products to Afghanistan. The relevant ministries of Turkmenistan should help the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country to prepare the dispatch of products.

Turkmenistan and Afghanistan cooperate in trade and economic, fuel and energy, transport and communication spheres. The construction of TurkmenistanAfghanistanPakistanIndia Pipeline (TAPI) pipeline, high-voltage power transmission line and fiber-optic communication along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route are some of the projects the countries collaborate on.

The countries also carry out transit and transport projects. One of the them is Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey transit and transport corridor that expends economic and trade ties between States of Central and South Asia and Europe.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva
If you are homebound and missing visits from your regular caregiver



"Isolation can have negative psychological effects, Wright says. Connection is critical for everyone, in particular older adults. Assuming your physical needs are being met, you'll now want to think about your emotional health.

TAKE CONTROL: The best way to overcome isolation is to become a caregiver for yourself, as best you can. Then turn your attention to others: Check in regularly with old friends through phone conversations, video chats, cards or letters, Walsh says. Refocusing your energies into concern for others can help you turn away from anxiety  and toward connection. And do the same for the caregivers who no longer can visit you. For instance, the group who brought meals to your door may not be able to do so anymore, but you can reach out to them to stay in close touch. Community faith leaders can also be a powerful resource for inspiration and suggestions on how to be of service to others.

If you are a caregiver, spouse or parent who is really struggling during this time

If you're used to relying on a network of friends, relatives and professionals to help you care for your vulnerable loved ones, you may now feel as if you're carrying the weight of the world on your own shoulders. In-home physical therapy appointments, bathing assistance, even just a reprieve so you can get out for a walk or to do some shopping  suddenly that help is gone, and it's on you, 24/7.

TAKE CONTROL: It's easy to fall into worst-case-scenario thinking, Wright says. Don't do it; it's ineffective. If you feel yourself sinking into negativity, try practicing controlled worry, she adds. Schedule a 30-minute period to sit alone and ruminate or write down your fears and worries. This simple practice has the power to help you contain your worries and free you to take action. Now, think challenge. Each day, review your schedule and all the tasks you need to accomplish. At the end of the day, congratulate yourself for meeting the challenge, then prep for tomorrow's. You can find guides for caregivers and the latest updates on safety recommendations at aarp.org/caregiving.

If you have peers, friends or family who are dying from the disease

Whether it's a friend, a family member or even a public figure who mattered to you, these losses are particularly scary, because it's natural to see yourself in this group, too. But what makes this situation especially difficult is that we're in a time when many funerals have been canceled or delayed indefinitely. That robs us of the time we need to mourn in order to gain closure and move on.

TAKE CONTROL: Some funerals are taking place online, and if you have the ability to watch the service on your computer, do so. Even if there's no formal ceremony, Lombardo says, It's also important to reach out to loved ones to have the same conversation  sharing fond memories of the person who's passed, telling jokes  that you'd actually have with them at a funeral. These things all allow you to process what's happened, honor their life and move on.
By David George Moore

Every so often a book crosses your radar that is something special. Mariner was one of those books for me. The author, Malcolm Guite, is a well-respected poet and the chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge. He also teaches in the faculty of divinity at Cambridge.

The following interview was conducted by David George Moore. Some of Daves teaching and video interviews can be accessed at www.mooreengaging.com.

Moore: Give us a bit of the back story and/or motivation behind writing this book.

Guite: Well, Ive had a lifelong love of Coleridges poetry, ever since my mother used to recite passages of the Ancient Mariner to me when I was a child. But in the last twenty years I have also become deeply interested in him as a philosopher and a thinker whose ideas seem increasingly relevant to our own concerns. When I came to write my book Faith, Hope and Poetry, published ten years ago, which is essentially a defense of the imagination as a truth-bearing faculty, I realized that I had cited Coleridge in every chapter and that the chapter on Coleridge himself was really the central chapter of the book. So I resolved that one day I would write a fuller book on Coleridge. The more immediate spur that got me going on the book was a growing frustration with the way that secular academia seemed to be airbrushing Coleridges faith and his radical theology right out of the picture, and I very much wanted to set the record straight!

Moore: Coleridge, like his buddy, Wordsworth, was a Romantic poet. To orient us, please provide a synopsis of what made one a Romantic poet.

Guite: There are lots of ways to answer that, but at the heart of it I would say that Coleridge and Wordsworth, as the founding figures of the Romantic movement, were reacting against the deadly combination of materialism in science, artifice and mere tasteful convention in poetry, and an over reliance on rationalism in philosophy which prevailed in the 18th Century. By contrast they wanted to write in direct, natural and intuitive ways, to delight in nature without needing to reduce or subdue it, and at all times to awaken the kind of intuitive and imaginative response to the world which allows us to explore how the outward and visible appearances of nature out there can give us a whole new language of imagery and experience with which to explore what is in here, the whole realm of our inner experience. In other words they didnt want to divorce the objective from the subjective but to see them as mutually flowing between and through one another in our actual lived human experience. In addition Coleridge in particular wanted to ground that experience of renewed beauty and meaning discovered through nature, in a clear theology of God offering us the cosmos, not as a puzzle to be decoded, but as a poem to be celebrated and to learn and grow from. So in Frost at Midnight Coleridge refers to the natural world as

The lovely shapes and sounds intelligible

Of that eternal language, which thy God

Utters, who from eternity doth teach

Himself in all, and all things in himself.

Great universal Teacher! he shall mould

Thy spirit, and by giving make it ask.

Moore: Most of us are familiar with two of Coleridges poems: Kubla Khan and the subject of your book, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. You brilliantly demonstrate that the latter is not just some detached piece of genius but depicts the spiritual voyage Coleridge was on in his own life. Would you share a few themes from the poem that reflect Coleridges own spiritual pilgrimage?

Guite: Well, Coleridge once called the imagination the sacred power of self-intuition and it is extraordinary how prescient his great poem was, not only in terms of the developing shape of his own life, after he composed it, but also the broad shape and development of our culture in the two centuries since. It is the story of a voyage out and back again, a voyage away from the familiar and into terrible crisis, encounter and transformation. When the ship is surrounded by ice floes with no way out the albatross appears as quite literally a savior, that magically splits the ice and guides them through, and as if it had been a Christian soul they hale it in Gods name. But then of course comes the terrible moment of fall and catastrophe in which the savior albatross is slain by the mariner and instead of the cross the albatross is hung around his neck. The Christian references are explicit throughout. Coleridge then depicts, with uncanny accuracy the modern experience of utter loneliness, and individualistic isolation living in a Godless and disenchanted world where even the human body has become something loathsome and corrupt. But then comes grace and a turning point. In the act of delighting in and blessing the other creatures of the sea, for their own sake, the mariner recovers the ability to pray and the process of redemption and homecoming begins. This reflected and anticipated Coleridges own nightmare voyage into both physical addiction and mental doubt and agony, and then a wonderful recovery of faith as sheer gift and grace, centered on Christ as the Logos who loves and sustains all creation, not just human beings, but it is also a prescient narrative of our own cultures fall into alienation and anomie, and the possible path of recovery we might take in renewed humility towards God and his good creation, learning, like the mariner that  he prayeth best who loveth best

Moore: The loss of the transcendent is the bitter fruit of living on this side of the Enlightenment. Our universe, sorry Flannery OConnor, no longer seems Christ-haunted. We live, as Charles Taylor and others say, in a disenchanted world. How does Coleridges work slow us down to reconsider the arrogant confidence in the demise of God in the modern world?

Guite: Reconsidering arrogance, and re-learning humility is right at the heart of the poems meaning. Coleridge was deeply and widely read in Enlightenment philosophy and science as it emerged in his own time and he sounded a warning note about where it might lead us if it wasnt accompanied by reverence, humility and an imaginative willingness to intuit Gods presence and meaning in the world, rather than just seeing the world as a dead mechanism with which we can tinker at will. The transformation scene in the Ancient Mariner, in which the mariner at first sees the water snakes as  a thousand thousand slimy things and then looks again, under the moonrise, and sees them as  Gods creatures of the great calm and is abled to appreciate them in their own right and bless them, is an object lesson in what it would mean to reconsider the arrogant confidence in the demise of God in the modern world.

Moore: I was struck on several occasions with Coleridges acute, observational skills. How do poets like Coleridge help us slow down and pay better attention to our surroundings?

Guite: Coleridge himself sets out his aim, together with Wordsworth, in a passage from the Biographia Literaria where he says that in The Lyrical Ballads they aimed at awakening the minds attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us; an inexhaustible treasure, but for which in consequence of the film of familiarity and selfish solicitude we have eyes, yet see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand. Poetry is able to do that because it is language slowed down, the opposite of skimming and speed-reading, it removes the film of familiarity and allows you to see into the depth of things.

Moore: What are two or three things you hope your readers gain from Mariner?

Guite: I hope that readers will be gripped by Coleridges own story and feel an empathy for him and for his ideas, and through that empathy I very much hope that they will sense how his individual story, and the story he tells in the Ancient Mariner, is also our story too: a story of fall, loss and loneliness, but also a story of hope, recovery and redemption. Especially I hope they will thrill to Coleridges central idea that when we perceive the world afresh, through a baptized and kindled imagination, we are perceiving it alongside the God who makes and loves it, we are partaking in our own way in what Coleridge called  the eternal act of creation in the infinite I AM. Perhaps the best way to summarize my hopes for the reader would be to leave you with the sonnet I wrote about my own response to Coleridge which is in my book The Singing Bowl, but also comes in at the conclusion of Mariner:

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

'Stop, Christian passer-by!Stop, child of God!'

You made your epitaph imperative,

And stopped this wedding guest! But I am glad

To stop with you and start again, to live

From that pure source, the all-renewing stream,

Whose living power is imagination,

And know myself a child of the I AM,

Open and loving to his whole creation.

Your glittering eye taught mine to pierce the veil,

To let his light transfigure all my seeing,

To serve the shaping Spirit whom I feel,

And make with him the poem of my being.

I follow where you sail towards our haven,

Your wide wake lit with glimmerings of heaven.

(From The Singing Bowl by Malcolm Guite)

Some of David George Moores teaching and interview videos can be found at www.mooreengaging.com. He can be reached at www.twocities.org.
The CBS hit drama, The Young and the Restless, is still riding a wave of success after nearly 50 years on the air. The show has seen its share of actors coming and going  some reprising their roles and others stepping in to take over existing characters. All appears well from the outside but after a few allegations and exits, there may be more to the story behind the scenes. Heres what we know.

Accusations of questionable behavior led to rumors about potential lawsuits

Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters) and Christel Khalil (Lily Ashby) | Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

Over the years, The Young and the Restless has maintained its dedicated fanbase through solid storytelling, interesting characters, and steamy romances on, and off, the set.

However, a 2016 scandal regarding former showrunner and head writer, Mal Young, and Sonys Steve Kent, unveiled how things may run behind the scenes.

According to multiple outlets, including IB Times, Young had an alleged history of bad behavior towards female cast and crew and could potentially be named in a lawsuit over verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

Some of those reports indicated the behavior resulted in several actresses in tears, and/or stepping away from their roles. Along with that, the return of co-executive producer, Josh Griffith, concerned some as his reputation is said to be similar to Youngs.

Fans have gone so far as to petition for his firing to save their beloved characters from his storytelling. In February 2020, more rumors swirled that Griffith might be replaced by The Bold and the Beautiful writer, Patrick Mulcahey, could take on the job.

Mulcahey took to Twitter to clear the air, leaving fans begging for him to come aboard.

I love everything about this rumor..not sure if he wants the job and all the responsibility sounds just like me! But Im obliged to say somebodys leading you on. No such discussion was had and no such offers been made, he shared.

Think about it. Y&R just got a multi-year renewal and a Writers Guild award all in the same week. I think they must be pretty happy with their writing staff, he added, later praising Griffiths work.

Suspicions mounted with changes in management

Griffith joined Y&R in 2006 as a consultant who worked his way up to replace Maria Arena Bell as head writer in 2012. In 2013, he left due to irreconcilable differences, and went to work on other daytime dramas. He returned to fill Youngs spot in December 2018.

All of this to say, theres been a lot of rumors floating around about whats going on within the Y&R cast and crew over the last few years.

There may be reasons for Eileen Davidsons departure, as well as Christel Khalil, and Mishael Morgan, that have little to do with contract negotiations or other opportunities. Reports surfaced that a female casting director endured terrible working conditions, and resigned, according to Soap Dirt.

Tommy Lightfoot Garrett of Highlight Hollywood said, A very respected, honorable woman who has worked for the show for years is on her way out. He added that shes emotionally traumatized by her treatment after enduring, sexual harassment as well as verbal abuse.

The Young and the Restless also experienced a dip in ratings and forced storylines

Under Youngs direction, CBS noticed a dip in ratings, according to Soap Opera Spy. This is likely due to the change in storyline, and histories were rewritten for longtime characters which didnt sit well with fans.

One storyline pointed out by the outlet is that of Ashley Abbott. Y&R alum, Davidsons exit didnt go the way many thought it should. Her character traits were altered to suit a new storyline, among other things.

Davidsons exit is just one suspicious incident. However, a former Y&R actor explained it was a part of ongoing drama.

Actor, Abhi Sinha, said actresses were treated like pieces of meat

To corroborate those claims, Y&R actor, Abhi Sinha, shared his experiences via social media, implicating the toxicity on-set is true. He said in his post hed rather, surround myself with human beings and not animals who treat women like pieces of meat.

While no one is named, he touched on the potential lawsuits involving the bad behaviors escribe above,

We all know from recent times that allegations and litigation can cancel shows and affect everyone on it, he said, noting the domino effect it could have from the top, down. Following his statement, Sinha used the hashtags #MeToo and #SexualHarassment to highlight the alleged behaviors.

In a tweet shared by a fan bringing attention to the drama, its noted that Abhi, is NOT one of the complainants filing a lawsuit; A former associate female writer is possibly filed suit in the future: Beth Milstein. Abhi confirms that one of the alleged abusers is MY himself. #YR the tweet said, alluding to Mal Youngs involvement.

Furthermore, the tweets updated to mention Daran Little taking over Milsteins writing position after she quit.

This is the same writer who knows absolutely nothing about the show and even joked about never watching 1 episode, the fan wrote.

The future direction of the show is unclear. However, fans hope their beloved characters and storylines are written in a way that honors nearly 50 years of Y&R standards.

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
Portugal's finance minister denied on Friday that Angola controlled too much of his country's banking sector, but said the economic straits of Portugal's former colony were a worry. The two countries retain close ties, including in the financial sector. Concerns raised by the European Central Bank about Portuguese banks' exposure to Angola led to the last-minute sale of an Angolan stake in Banco BPI this month. "There is a strong and in the last decade or so, a strong increase, in the economic relationship between Portugal and Angola. Many Portuguese workers are working there; Portuguese firms are also investing there and with this, of course, the economic problems in Angola are of concern for us, not only in the banking sector, but economy-wide," Portuguese Minister of Finance Mario Centeno told CNBC on Friday in Washington D.C.



The colonial history of Angola goes back to 1575, when Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda. Chad Henning | Gallo Images | Getty Images

The heavy exposure of Portuguese banks to Angola has raised increasing concern as the oil-exporting country in West Africa has struggled since the collapse in crude prices. This month, the International Monetary Fund confirmed it had received a formal request for financial aid from Angola. The country also beefed up capital controls this month in order to cope with a decline in foreign exchanges reserves, according to media reports.

"It (the Angolan risk) is manageable. It has been in the recent past, like in the last couple of months, managed," Centeno told CNBC on Friday, referring to the agreed sale of the 18.6 percent stake in Banco BPI controlled by Angola's Santoro Finance. Santoro Finance was founded by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the Angolan president. Spain's Caixabank has agreed to buy Santoro's stake in BPI. Centeno also addressed broader concerns surrounding the Portuguese banking sector. "We are looking very carefully to the banking sector. We know that there is something that we need to do to stabilize the banking system  it's very important for the Portuguese economy," he said.

"What we are looking at is to a solution that may reduce NPLs in the banking sector."
Aodh (Hugh) Kieran who died of COVID-19 in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

The niece of a 72-year-old Dundalk man who died after contracting COVID-19 has spoken out to say that her uncle was 'not just a statistic'.

Aodh (Hugh) Kieran died without any family by his bedside in the ICU at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on April 9.

'A nurse held the phone up to his ear so we could say goodbye and she told us she was holding his hand when he died,' Tereza Kieran told The Argus.

Aodh was very well known in Dundalk, where he had lived at Alma House, Clanbrassil Street, until moving into Dealgan House nursing home three years ago.

'He was a gentleman and friendly with everyone,' recalled Tereza. 'He loved music, Irish music mainly and was very well known through going to sessions in McManus and Marks Bar.'

In his younger days he had been a member of the FCA and had gone hillwalking with a group led by the late Ronald Roslyn.

Aodh attended DkIT as a mature student, doing a course in Cultural Studies, and had a keen interest in local history.

'He was very intelligent and had so much knowledge and loved taking part in quizzes.'

She said that when he first moved into Dealgan House, he missed the quizzes and his friends in Clanbrassil St but soon settled in.

'He absolutely loved it and was very very happy there. He loved all the staff and got on very well with them.'

Tereza said she last saw Aodh in mid-March and frequently spoke to him on the phone after that, until he fell ill at the end of March.

'He started shivering on a Friday and by Monday was very sick, so he was taken by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital,' she recalls. 'That night his condition worsened and the hospital ran to say he was being put on a ventilator.'

'He was on a ventilator for nine days. He put up a good fight.'

Neither Tereza or Aodh's brother Gerry, who lives in Cooley, were able to visit him to say goodbye.

'He was heavily sedated and the nurse told us that she would be there to hold his hand. She put the phone up to his ear so myself and Gerry could tell him we loved him and say goodbye.'

'It was very hard not being there, very upsetting for my uncle Gerry not being able to see him.'

Aodh died on Thursday April 9 and the family decided to have him cremated so that they can hold a celebration of his life at a later date.

'Quinns Furneral Home were brilliant,' said Tereza. 'Just two of my cousins attended the service and a priest said a few words.'

She said it was 'extremely strange' watching the service and cremation online.

'It's very hard on families at this time not to be able to have a funeral,' said Tereza. 'Funerals are very important to us in Ireland as they bring closure.'

Tereza is very grateful to all those who paid tribute to her uncle, especially Gerard McEvoy from McEvoy's who posted a notice in the Clanbrassil Street shop remembering their 'friend and neighbour - not just a statistic'.

'Gerry was a good friend of Aodh's and was always very helpful, as were the girls in DeliLites,' she recalled.
The possibility of the



drivers, who had ferried pilgrims from a gurdwara in Nanded in Maharashtra to Punjab in buses, spreading the coronavirus infection among them cannot be ruled out, Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan said on Saturday.

Chavan's statement came against the backdrop of several pilgrims from Punjab, who had stayed at the Gurdwara Langar Sahib in Nanded, testing coronavirus positive after reaching their home state.

Chavan also said that these drivers might have carried the infection to Nanded which had no COVID-19 cases a week ago. The number of cases has shot up to 26 now.

"The drivers who came from Punjab to ferry the stranded pilgrims in Nanded might have spread the infection here and during their return journey (to Punjab)," Chavan said in a Facebook live session.

Had the infection originated in Nanded then why not a



single coronavirus positive case was reporters here earlier?, the PWD Minister questionned.

An MLA from the district, Chavan is also the Guardian Minister of Nanded, which houses Gurdwara Langar Sahib and Gurdwara Hazur Sahib, also known as Takht Hazuri Sahib Sachkhand, which is among the holiest Sikh shrines in the country.

"The drivers from Punjab who came to Nanded and took the pilgrims back might have got infected during their journey. These drivers might have also carried the infection in gurdwara in Nanded and also amongst the pilgrims during the return journey," he said.

Chavan said a total of 78 buses with two drivers each had reached Nanded on April 26 and the drivers stayed here for two days.

"They ate food in 'langar' (community kitchen). There is a possibility that the infection spread then," he said.

Chavan also said that the drivers who had travelled to Punjab from Maharashtra on April 23 were found infected only after they made a return journey, which indicates that the source of the coronavirus infection was not Nanded but somewhere outside its boundary.

"Moreover, none of the pilgrims had complained about COVID-19 like symptoms earlier during their stay in gurdwara. Had any such complaint made treatment would have been provided to them immediately," he said, adding that the situation in Nanded is under control.

Twenty persons currently residing in Gurdwara Langar Sahib have tested coronavirus positive, an official said earlier in the day.

Swabs of total 97 people residing in the gurdwara had been collected for testing. Of them 20 have tested positive for the infection, Nanded civil surgeon Dr Neelkanth Bhosikar said.

Twenty-five of them have tested negative, while the reports of 41 others are awaited. Reports of 11 others are undecided, Bhosikar said in a statement.

The Gurdwara Hazur Sahib located in the vicinity was also sealed by the local authorities on Friday.

As per the Punjab government figures, at least 115 of the over 3,500 pilgrims who returned from the Nanded gurdwara have tested positive for coronavirus.

On April 23, several pilgrims from Nanded had hired private vehicles to reach Punjab.

On the way back on April 28, two drivers and their helper were stopped at Ardhapur on Nanded border. Their samples were taken, which confirmed that they are coronavirus positive. They are currently being treated at Vishnupuri in Nanded district, Bhosikar had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
J oggers, cyclists and surfers across Spain have emerged from their homes as adults were allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks.

The Government has started to ease strict coronavirus restrictions after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a four-phase plan to return the country to what he termed "the new normality" by the end of June.

To avoid overcrowding as people get outside, the Government has implemented a shift system, allocating different time slots to different age groups.

In Barcelona on Saturday, runners and cyclists crowded paths near the beach, while surfers and paddle-boarders were out enjoying the waves.

Joggers take to the streets in Madrid / Getty Images

Mar Visser, 45, who lost her job as an events organiser, was jogging along the path in Castelldefels, a town near Barcelona.

"I have been longing for this. It beats running in my house or doing yoga or Pilates inside," she said.

In Madrid, cyclists and skateboarders streamed along the city's wide boulevards, ducking under police tape set up to prevent people congregating in common areas

Hit by one of the world's worst Covid-19 outbreaks, Spain imposed a strict lockdown in March, confining most of the population to their homes for all but essential trips.

People exercising outdoors in Barcelona as coronavirus lockdown measures continue to be eased / Getty Images

Sports and recreational walks were banned as authorities scrambled to stop the disease from spreading and sought to ease the burden on the healthcare system.

The country has recorded a coronavirus death toll of 25,100, according to health ministry data on Saturday, and more than 216,582 cases.

Charlotte Fraser-Prynne, 41, a British government affairs consultant, was among the first to savour the new freedom to exercise and headed out for a run at 6am near Madrid's Retiro Park.

While the park remained closed, hundreds of people were running on the pavement around it.

The Prime Minister has called for caution as joggers and cyclists get back out onto the streets / Getty Images

"I have been looking forward to this for weeks. I was joking with my friends that I would be the first out in Madrid. I am very happy to be out after six weeks of yoga videos," she said.

Mr Sanchez called on people to follow guidelines on social distancing and to act with caution.

"Today we take a new step in the measures to ease the confinement but we must do it with prudence and responsibility. The virus is still there," he tweeted.

Spaniards are now allowed out to exercise after weeks in lockdown / Getty Images

As the rate of infection has fallen, Mr Sanchez's Government has shifted its focus towards reopening the country in a phased way and reviving a badly battered economy.

Businesses that operate by appointment, such as hairdressers, will be allowed to open from Monday, while bars and restaurants will remain closed for at least another week.

Residents are allowed to walk with family, and exercise outdoors from 6-10am and from 8-11pm, go out with children from 12-7pm, and elderly people will be allowed to go out from 10-12am and from 7-8pm.

The World Health Organization warned on Friday that countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while being ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back.
Ottawa, May 2 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a ban on some 1,500 makes and models of military-grade "assault-style" weapons in the country.

Starting Friday, licensed gun owners will no longer be allowed to sell, transport, import or use these sort of weapons in the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Effective immediately, it is no longer permitted to buy, sell, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country," Trudeau said at a press conference here on Friday with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Justice Minister David Lametti, and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.

Trudeau cited numerous mass shootings, from Ecole Polytechnique in 1989 to the killings in Nova Scotia last week, as the reasons for the ban.

Stricter controls on firearms were also a promise in the Liberals' election campaign platform last fall.

Trudeau also said there will be a two-year amnesty period for people who already own these firearms to comply with the ban. He promised to pass legislation in the coming months to provide "fair compensation" for people who own these firearms.

By April 2022, all Canadians must be in compliance with the law, Justice Minister Lametti said, adding that gun owners that have not disposed of their banned firearms could face criminal sanctions under the criminal code.

Firearms owners may return the firearms to the manufacturer or export them as part of a sale between now and 2022, he added.
The Shiv Sena has joined the



Congress in disapproving the Centre's decision to set up the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) in Gandhinagar.

Sena leader and Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai on Saturday said it was natural to have the IFSC in Mumbai, which is known globally for its "financial might".

"It is natural to have IFSC in Mumbai. Just giving a name does not make a financial capital. The world knows Mumbai and its financial might," Desai tweeted.

"Mumbai has BSE,NSE, RBI, SEBI, headquarters of banks and financial companies,offices of top international companies and Mumbai is an International Financial Centre," he said.

Mumbai South MP and Sena leader Arvind Sawant claimed that he had appealed to the Centre against setting up the IFSC to Gujarat, but his demand was "ignored".

State School Education Minister and Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad tweeted: ""Rest In Peace" IFSC (International financial services centre) dream of Mumbai...Mumbai is again robbed of its opportunity to become an IFSC destination due to special biased love of our Prime minister for Gujarat. PM is for the country or just for one state?"



The Sena and the Congress are ruling allies in Maharashtra, along with the NCP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Veteran oil prospector Algy Cluff is determined to remain 'optimistic' about the future for oil as demand slumps to its lowest levels for 25 years.

'Instead of bursting into tears, we've gone into action,' said the 80-year-old, who has struck the first deal for the oil company he set up last year with City grandee Michael Spencer.

Cluff Energy Africa, which focuses on the west of the continent, was last week awarded exploration licences for 15 offshore blocks in Sierra Leone, covering a combined 15,000 sq km.

Taking action: Cluff Energy Africa was awarded exploration licences for 15 offshore blocks in Sierra Leone

Cluff said the next step will be seismic studies to confirm the size of the reserves, before seeking further investment to drill via a shallow water jack-up rig or a barge. 'There are opportunities in Africa,' Cluff said.

'The pandemic, and the collapse in the oil price, are unwelcome. 'But as we move back into some sort of equilibrium, people and companies will need oil.'

Cluff owns 60 per cent of Cluff Energy Africa and Spencer, the billionaire founder of Nex Group, owns the remaining 40 per cent through his IPGL investment vehicle.

Cluff said: 'At the moment, the oil industry is in torment, but it will survive. 'I entirely accept that we are in a transition to a green world  but for a lot of the countries we deal with in the developing world, their sole income is oil.'
In the four-county Capital Region, at least four more people are dead from COVID-19, the counties reported on Saturday.

Two were in Albany County, a man and woman in their 60s who had underlying health conditions, County Executive Dan McCoy said. A total of 46 have died.

McCoy said there are now 1,185 confirmed positive cases, 34 in the hospital. To date, 2,386 people have completed quarantine, with 591 of them having tested positive and recovered.

In Rensselaer County, the 13th death has struck the Diamond Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, with the passing of an 80-year-old resident at the Schaghticoke site. Diamond Hill also has 27 residents and 13 employees infected.

On Friday, County Executive Steve McLaughlin again asked New York state for assistance with Diamond Hill, as private adult care facilities like Diamond Hill are under state supervision. McLaughlin asked the state to intervene and relocate residents from the facility if possible.

Seven new infections were reported countywide, people who are between the ages of 4-years-old to 57-years-old. It brings the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 327. Schenectady Countys 28th death was recorded, a woman over age 90.

Saratoga Countys report did not indicate any new deaths. There are 358 confirmed cases, 10 in the hospital. The county  which offers a town-by-town breakdown of cases that in some places shows zero  said it is important to note that there may be a false sense of security when looking at these numbers, because the virus is widespread through the county, and the numbers are deceiving due to the lack of testing.

Statewide

The total number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 is starting to incrementally drop in New York, along with new cases, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Saturday. But the number of deaths remains obnoxiously and terrifyingly high, Cuomo said during his daily pandemic briefing, this time from Queens.

There were 831 new cases Friday, after being flat at about 900 every day in recent days, Cuomo said. Deaths rose slightly. Earlier in the week it was in the 300s, and Thursday there were 289 deaths recorded, but by Friday that number went back up to 299.

Its still not dropping the way wed like to see it drop, Cuomo said.

The governor touted the states antibody survey, which he says has the largest sample size in the country at 15,000 people. The antibody tests indicate if a person has been infected and recovered from the virus.

When the survey was first conducted, it showed that 14 percent of people were infected. The most recent count shows 12 percent have been infected, the governor said.

Below is a regional breakdown from the governor's office of results of the state's completed antibody testing, with the percentage of the population who have COVID-19 antibodies. The survey developed a baseline infection rate by testing 15,000 people at grocery stores and community centers across the state over the past two weeks.

Of those tested, 11.5% of women and 13.1% of men showed positive.
Gun-carrying protesters have been a common sight at some demonstrations calling for coronavirus-related restrictions to be lifted. But an armed militias involvement in an angry protest in the Michigan statehouse Thursday marked an escalation that drew condemnation and shone a spotlight on the practice of bringing weapons to protest.

The American Patriot Rally started on the statehouse steps, where members of the Michigan Liberty Militia stood guard with weapons and tactical gear, their faces partially covered. They later moved inside the Capitol along with several hundred protesters, who demanded to be let onto the House floor, which is prohibited. Some protesters with guns  which are allowed in the statehouse  went to the Senate gallery, where a senator said some armed men shouted at her, and some senators wore bulletproof vests.

For some observers, the images of armed men in tactical gear at a state Capitol were an unsettling symbol of rising tensions in a nation grappling with crisis. Others saw evidence of racial bias in the way the protesters were treated by police.

For some politicians, there was fresh evidence of the risk of aligning with a movement with clear ties to far-right groups.

Prominent Michigan Republicans on Friday criticized the showing, with the GOP leader of the state Senate referring to some protesters as a bunch of jackasses who used intimidation and the threat of physical harm to stir up fear and feed rancor.

President Donald Trump, who has been criticized in the past for condoning extremist views, called the protesters very good people and urged Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to make a deal.

Michigan has been the epicenter of the political showdown over how to contain the spread of the deadly virus without decimating the economy. About a quarter of the states workforce has filed for unemployment and nearly 4,000 people have died.

Rally organizer Ryan Kelley said the event was intended to pressure Republicans to reject Whitmers plan to continue restrictions on work and travel. He called the protest a huge win, noting the Republican-controlled Senate refused to extend Whitmers coronavirus emergency declaration  though she said Friday her stay-at-home order remains in effect.

Kelley, a 38-year-old real estate broker, said he and other organizers are not part of a formal group but represent people who have been harmed by the stay-home order. He said he invited the Michigan Liberty Militia, which is listed as an anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to serve as security. He suggested anyone who had a problem with their presence should read the Constitution and live life without fear.

Gun-carrying protesters outside state capitols are a regular occurrence in many states, especially in Republican-leaning ones. But rarely do such protests converge at the same time around the country like they have during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Wisconsin, about a dozen men, several wearing camouflage, carried what appeared to be assault rifles and other long guns and stood around a makeshift guillotine at a protest attended by about 1,500 people. In Arizona, a group of men armed with rifles were among hundreds of protesters who demonstrated at the Capitol last month demanding Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lift his stay-home order. Many in the crowd also carried holstered pistols.

Gun groups have been involved in organizing several of these protests  which drew activists from a range of conservative causes. Gun rights advocates believe the restrictions on some businesses and closure of government offices are a threat to their right to own a gun, said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, a group that bills itself as the no compromise gun lobby.

Hammond said he routinely gets messages and emails from people around the country, complaining that authorities are making it impossible to exercise their Second Amendment rights. In some cases, that has meant orders closing gun shops or gun ranges or offices shutting down that process permits.

But Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, a gun-control group, considers these protests organized by the ultra-right and not necessarily reflective of most gun owners.

While its legal to openly carry firearms inside some state capitols, Watts called it dangerous to normalize this. Armed intimidation has no place in our political debate. She said those carrying guns at protests are almost always white men, and are a vocal minority of the country that opposes the stay-at-home orders.

An overwhelming majority of Americans support stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the virus, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The visual of heavily armed protesters, mostly white men, occupying a government building to a measured response by law enforcement is a particularly jarring one for many African Americans.

It draws a stark contrast to the images that emerged from Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, when crowds of unarmed, mostly black men, women and children took to the streets in protest after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. Police shot tear gas to disperse the crowds, further inflaming the tensions between predominantly black community and law enforcement. It worsened when members of an armed militia group called the Oath Keepers arrived, some of them armed and sitting on rooftops. Jon Belmar, who was then St. Louis Countys police chief, said at the time that the presence of the group, whose members wore camouflage, bulletproof vests and openly carried rifles and pistols, was unnecessary and inflammatory.

Systemically, blackness is treated like a more dangerous weapon than a white mans gun ever will, while whiteness is the greatest shield of safety, said Brittany Packnett, a prominent national activist who protested in Ferguson.

The Michigan demonstrators, she added, are what happens when people of racial privilege confuse oppression with inconvenience. No one is treading on their rights. Were all just trying to live.

Trump, meanwhile, suggested it was Whitmer who should be moved to action.

The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire, the president tweeted Friday. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect it was police, not National Guard, firing tear gas in Ferguson.

___

Associated Press reporters David Eggert and Mike Householder in Lansing, Michigan, Lisa Marie Pane in Boise, Idaho, Aaron Morrison in New York, Jim Salter in St. Louis, and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines contributed to this report.
A Labour spokesperson has warned that the British government must put pressure on the UN Security Council to ensure vital cross-border aid reaches millions of people in Syria amidst the coronavirus pandemic, or cause unimaginable damage.

The UN Security Council voted to renew the Syrian humanitarian mission last December, but halved the number of crossing points into the country from four to two, in order to avoid a veto by Russia.

It also limited renewing the humanitarian operation from a year, as it had done in the past, to six months.

As well privations from nine years of war, Syria has begun to suffer as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), fewer than two-thirds of the countrys hospitals are operational, and 70 per cent of healthcare workers have fled the country.

Two crossings from Turkey, to access people in North-West Syria, are currently open. But the situation is particularly hazardous for people trapped in Idlib and North -East Syria, where the last rebel held area is surrounded by Assad regime forces.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that testing for coronavirus in the area is hugely difficult, and physical distancing impossible in the vast displacement camps.

Anna McMorrin, Labours spokesperson for International Development, said conditions are deteriorating and becoming more perilous while two crossings, from Iraq and Jordan, remains closed and the UN deadline of 10 July for renewing the mission draws closer.

In a letter to Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of State for International Development, Ms McMorrin said: I am urging you to ensure the UK uses its global influence to push the UN Security Council to renew and expand the current resolution.

The omission of UN Security Council support for the renewal of two crossings at Al Yarubiyah and Al Ramtha, bordering Iraq and Jordan respectively, in north-east Syria is already significantly the ability of the UN, partners and humanitarian agencies to continue to provide aid to populations in need.

If the UN Security Council resolution is not renewed in July, and the UN, partners and humanitarian organisations are forced to stop the two border crossings into North West Syria, the damage to our humanitarian response would be catastrophic. Similarly, if the two border crossings into north-east Syria are not authorised, the humanitarian cost would be unimaginable.

The shadow minister said she also wanted to stress the urgent need to protect the vulnerable communities from the pandemic, pointing out: Currently the only way the international community can take action to prepare, prevent and respond to Covid-19 is through cross-border aid ... global leaders cannot allow the incubation of the virus, which threatens the lives of most vulnerable and may also jeopardise the health of citizens at home if a second wave stemming from low-income and fragile nations is the result of our inaction.

More than 2.7 million people in north-western Syria and 1.3 million in the north-east rely on aid from the cross-border operation, according to UN calculations. The Security Council approval is needed for it to take place as the Damascus regime has withheld consent for the deliveries.

During last vote, Karen Pearce, Britains ambassador to the UN, accused Russia of politicising the vote on behalf of its allies, the Syrian government.

She said: Syrian people have seen many sad days since 2011, but this day is potentially one of the saddest because it is the first time that a Security Council member has chosen to play politics with humanitarian assistance, Russia is playing dice with the lives of the Syrian people in the northeast.

But Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia insisted: All these cries about imminent catastrophe, disaster, which northeast faces if we close one cross-border point is totally irrelevant because humanitarian assistance to that region is coming from within Syria.
PHILIPSBURG:--- HNLMS Karel Doorman arrived in Curacao to deliver a number of necessary goods. They transported these goods in support of countering the corona crisis. Due to the strict quarantine measures of the country of Curacao, crew members were only allowed to disembark on the ship only shortly, to carry out operations such as unloading mooring lines and to ensure safety when operating a crane.

The defense will deploy the support ship HNLMS Karel Doorman in order to support the civilian authorities in the corona crisis when the situation demands it. Under the operation "Carib Support" the ship will sail in the coming period to transport military goods between the Windward and Leeward Islands. In addition, it is deployed for the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard to support the maintaining of maritime borders and the fight against illegal drug transports.
The new leadership of the United Kingdom's Labour party will likely stay away from Jeremy Corbyn's support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, which may impact the capacity of pro-whistleblower party activists to organize, Chris Williamson, a former Labour member of parliament for Derby North, who is seeking to set up a socialist grassroots movement, told Sputnik

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2020) The new leadership of the United Kingdom's Labour party will likely stay away from Jeremy Corbyn's support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, which may impact the capacity of pro-whistleblower party activists to organize, Chris Williamson, a former Labour member of parliament for Derby North, who is seeking to set up a socialist grassroots movement, told Sputnik.

Keir Starmer was elected as the new party leader on April 4, succeeding left-leaning Corbyn, who announced his plans to resign after his party suffered in December the worst election defeat since 1935. Starmer, who has a record of a "middle of the road social democrat," headed the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013. Under him, the UK insisted that Sweden keep its case against Assange open.

"I hope and pray that there will be some positive noises but given Starmer's appalling record in relation to Julian when he was a DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] I'm not holding out much hope. Given the way some of them were jumping on the smear bandwagon against Julian and calling for him to be extradited to Sweden on some nonsense, trumped up accusations which as you know just didn't stand up ... I'm very pessimistic about that," Williamson said.

He went on to note that even though Corbyn "did say something which was good and better than what we had in the past," he still could have said more as a leader to oppose Assange's potential extradition to the United States. The ex-lawmaker expressed hope that Corbyn would speak out more, as he is "now a bit freer.

"

"He's on the back benches now so he obviously still has a Parliamentary platform, [ex-Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer] John McDonnell has, to be fair, started to speak out as well which is good, but in terms of the actual official Shadow Cabinet saying much I think it's highly unlikely," he added.

Most Labour members are, meanwhile, sympathetic to Assange, and it is a "disgrace" that the party "hasn't done more to speak out in support of Julian and the principle of freedom of speech," according to Williamson.

"I mean don't we need people like Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning now? ... We absolutely need his voice. And not just his voice but that sense that freedom of speech is something we cherish. That people can speak truth to power without the consequences that Julian has had to experience," he explained.

There is a lot of support for Assange among Labour's grassroots, which is, however, not reflected in mainstream media, according to the politician.

"Where are the mainstream journalists? What are they doing? Why aren't they here with us? Why aren't they speaking out about this? It's appalling. I know probably why as their paymasters don't like it and they are fearful and they'll be implications for themselves etc but it's not good enough. Especially when some of the papers have used information (Wikileaks) has given them but now they've just abandoned him. Despicable behaviour," he argued.

Assange is currently awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to the US. If extradited, the whistleblower will face up to 175 years in prison.
In Australia, too, behavioural fatigue was used to justify delays in restrictions, with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying that whatever we did we needed to be able to do it for six months.

In Britain, Boris Johnsons government delayed lockdown measures arguing that behavioural fatigue would result in people resisting restrictions too early, undermining efforts to slow down the spread of the virus. This prompted more than 600 behavioural scientists to sign an open letter expressing their concern that there was insufficient evidence of the behavioural fatigue concept to support a risky approach to the pandemic. After the publication of this letter, and a crucial modelling report documented the devastating effects of delaying lockdown responses, the government quickly changed tack.

Behavioural fatigue has been much discussed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial behaviour change has been possible and effective in many countries around the world. But what happens as stringent measures drag out over months or even years? Do previously enthusiastic lockdowners tire of dramatic curbs on their lifestyle and push back against them?

This weekend Australia breathed a collective sigh of relief as some COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Australia is by no means out of the woods but signs are promising and we are in an enviable position internationally. This loosening of restrictions has occurred just in time with widespread reports of people feeling exhausted with lockdown measures.

So is "behavioural fatigue" real and is it what we are all feeling now? Intuitively, this idea seems to have merit  we have all felt overwhelmed trying to adapt to new ways of working and living, isolation is taking its toll on mental and physical health in many different ways, and the idea of these restrictions stretching out indefinitely is demoralising. But there is little evidence for the concept and, notably, when asked, the British government did not provide further evidence on it to justify its initial decisions.

What we do know is that maintaining any behaviour change is hard, though this is not necessarily the same thing as behavioural fatigue during a crisis situation. Whether it is eating less chocolate or doing more exercise  we have all experienced the challenge of trying to achieve and then maintain a change in behaviour. Such changes pale into insignificance if we think of the challenge presented by COVID-19. This global pandemic requires us to make more significant behavioural change than any event in our recent history (for most of us that is).

We also know that behaviour tends to "lapse" back to old habits after initiating new behaviours, but we can recover from these lapses and build new habits over time, especially if we have the right resources and environment to support the new behaviour rather than the old one.

So, in the face of an invisible and seemingly retreating threat, how do we maintain the life-saving behaviour changes we need to keep this pandemic at bay? And when the rules change how do we get the public to implement and stick to new rules?
New Delhi, May 2 : The investigative agencies sleuths have uncovered evidence of massive fund transfer in Tablighi Jamaat bank accounts by conspicuous foreign and domestic individuals carefully layered to conceal the origin and ultimate use of massive financing that secretly helped the Islamic missionary movement to expand its footprints in India.

Exclusive details accessed by IANS shows that at least 14 key players- some of them based abroad- routinely used financial system to mask the transactions using circuitous route.

The agencies, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Crime Branch of Delhi Police and Income Tax (IT), are examining the bank accounts operated by Jamaat's chief Maulana Saad and his aides to figure out whether these transactions made by key players violated the integrity of banking and financial system because in several cases money received in one account was transferred to another account within 24 hours.

"Such transfers raise doubts that Jamaat funds after entering the financial system were layered to isolate the money from the source and disguise the transfers. The hasty transfer of money from one account to another appears to be an effort to give it a legitimate appearance. We are also looking at Hawala transactions that could have been successfully processed or integrated in banking system," said a senior IPS officer.

The entire financial network of Markaz that is being examined for alleged money laundering by the ED and IT was working as well-oiled machinery.

The Key Players Although, all the key players are connected to Maulana Saad, their responsibility and contacts are carefully segregated without attracting too much attention on Markaz chief.

For instance, the probing agencies have uncovered the role of a person called Noor, an alleged Hawala agent for Jamaat.

However, his main contact is not Maulana Saad but a person called Abdul Alim, who allegedly looks after accounts and currency exchange for Jamaat.

Although, Noor operated as front for Maulana Saad, the existence of another contact concealed his direct involvement.

Subsequently, another key player Abdul Rahim is used in the chain by Abdul Alim to invest the money in different activities of Jamaat.

The officer said, Saad's sons and relatives, who looks after the activities and finances of Markaz found to be in touch with another suspect Rafatullah Shahid, who invested Markaz finances in different sectors while enhanced interaction has been noted with Wasim, suspected to be a travel agent, facilitating visa and passports for Jamaat's people.

Wasim is a single-point contact with Maulana Saad and the agencies suspect that transactions took place mostly in cash to elude detection, which have compounded investigators difficulty in tracking down formal money-transfers between the two key figures.

Nevertheless, the ED is seeking details of money transferred by one Mufti Rizvi into Jamaat accounts from Sri Lanka. Rizvi, based in the island country, is also a single-point contact and he is not linked to any other players in the Jamaat's financial network.

There is another person directly linked to Saad's family is Aslam, based in Canada, who allegedly runs several business ventures abroad.

The agencies have noticed transactions from Aslam to Saad's accounts and seeking more details to probe further links and to examine whether he is most important source of funds for Markaz activities in India.

In addition to generating finances through various sources to promote Markaz programmes, Jamaat chief allegedly invested some funds abroad.

According to officials, this money allegedly for personal gains, have been diverted for investment through a person known as Mursaleen.

The officials said Mursaleen is allegedly own and operate a string of business activities abroad.

Then there is a layered outflow of money which has come under the scanner.

One contact, the probing agencies officials said, is directly linked to Saad's family and primary investigation reveals that he takes care of visa and passports for people travelling from former Soviet bloc countries.

This person identified as Haroon, in agencies documents he has also Russian Passport, is connected to two other persons Inam and Mushtaq, who have been making frequent trips abroad for Markaz's activities.

One direct contact, the agencies have uncovered is Mufti Shehzad, who allegedly travelled to 42 countries in the last two years and suspected to be scouting new contacts and source of funding as well as working as a liaison and front man for Maulana Saad in those countries.

His links with another contact Jamshed is also being investigated by the ED investigators.

Accounts to be freeze So far, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police has directed to freeze Jamaat's Bank of India accounts in Lal Quan branch and examining all the transactions after suspecting that funds were allegedly laundered by using fronts.

"There are wheels within the wheel in entire financial networks which is generating money and further distributing it. We have sought details of all bank accounts, money that flowed in from abroad and within the country as well income tax returns, however, they are not forthcoming," said the officer.

He also stated that there is probably involvement of another 194 persons which is being examined but the complex layering is posing proverbial issue of finding needle in the haystack.

"We need to check both cash transactions as well as paper trail to track Jamaat's vast and secretive financial activities," the officer said.

What Tablighi Jamaat says? Tablighi Jamaat spokesperson, Shahid Ali said they have complete faith in due process of law. He said, "We respect all statutory as well as constitutional bodies and authorities. Whatever investigation are being conducted we are committed to cooperate with the probe. We welcome all kinds of probe because we believe that until and unless the probe in not conducted properly, impartially, truth will not come out." Ali, who is also an advocate, said "Truth should come out and people of India should know." On involvement of key players, he said that Tablighi Jamaat is not involved in any crime. "They are absolutely clean and clear. That is why we are welcoming all investigations. What we are seeking is fair and partial investigation. Tablighi Jamaat will come out clean, as clean as Ganga water," he pointed.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The last thing many taxpayers want now is a big expenditure by local government because of the economic disruption by the coronavirus and the coming drop in tax revenues. But if theres an exception to every rule, the board of directors of Drainage District 6 found it in their recent vote to spend more than $50 million to buy nearly 660 acres.

Thats a big move for any taxing entity, particularly a drainage district that gets far less attention than local city councils or county commissioners courts. But this decision is justified, as is almost any move by local governments to reduce the flood threat that so many residents and businesses deal with.

The district plans to create a detention pond on the 653-acre tract on the southeast corner of Texas 124 and Gaulding Road. In fact, it would be the first major regional detention pond in that area.

Its pretty expensive and its going to take some time to plan, said the districts new general manager, Joe Majdalani. After the purchase, well probably do the environmental survey. Whenever a grant becomes available, we can apply. Its a big project so its going to be some time before we start construction.

The only downside in this news is that the environmental study for a project of this size could take between six months and two years. The short end of that time frame would be acceptable, but the high end seems too long.

State and federal officials should not rush through any review of something like this, but these agencies should understand there is some urgency involved. A flood could threaten that area or almost any part of Southeast Texas at any time, and taxpayers will want all the protection they can get from it.

If this detention pond is approved and built, it will take runoff from watersheds up to 20,000 acres upstream. Because a detention pond slows runoff, that means it would also help protect areas downstream.

This pond would have helped immensely when Imeldas floodwaters surged through the region. We never know when a storm of that magnitude could strike again, but eventually something like that will occur. If that detention pond is ready when that happens, more homes and businesses will be saved. This is a big expenditure, but its worthwhile.
TROPHIES

Twenty-one small businesses in Easton have obtained loans ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to a program devised by the city, the Greater Easton Development Partnership and Easton Area Industrial Land Development. More than 30 businesses applied for the aid. A second round of lending is expected once additional funding is secured, Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said. Among those making funds available are Peoples Security Bank & Trust, Wells Fargo, Univest Bank and Trust Co., Post Road Management, BSI Corporate Benefits, Lafayette College, Merchants Bank, Fidelity Bank, Valor Insurance, M&T Bank, and Kressler, Wolff & Miller Insurance.

Other organizations and local governments are reaching out to help small businesses survive government-ordered shutdowns. The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce reported that its COVID-19 Relief Fund has given out $300,000 in grants, ranging from $1,000 to $1,500, which can be used for rent, payroll and other operating expenses. The chamber is also sponsoring a gift card promotion week May 3-9 and #OpenWeStandLV campaign on billboards and social media. Allentowns Department of Community and Economic Development is offering small-business grants of up to $5,000 as part of a $500,000 Small Business Stabilization Program. Bethlehem is offering loans through its Small Business Emergency Relief Fund.

Bells will be ringing at 7 p.m. Sunday throughout Pennsylvania, an expression of support and gratitude for front-line workers in the COVID-19 crisis. The Bells Across Pennsylvania initiative was conceived by the Pennsylvania State Mayors Association, encouraging houses of worship  and individuals with bells, too  to ring out in appreciation for three minutes. Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez noted that since the days of the American Revolution, the bell has served as an instrument for expressing communal gratitude, camaraderie and resolve and is a means well-suited for Pennsylvanians sheltering in place, to demonstrate such values.

Patrons and supporters of the Emmaus Theatre rallied behind an effort to keep the small, 100-year-old theater afloat. Co-owners Robert Audibert and Butch Rossetti set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $10,000, which was surpassed in three days. When nonessential businesses were ordered to close in March, the theater had to cancel its schedule of events, including live comedy shows and classic cult film screenings. The crowd-funding response made us realize how much we do mean to the community, Audibert said. I know everyones going through hard times  thats one reason I was hesitant to do it  but people really showed up. The Emmaus Theatre has joined with other small theaters around the country in a virtual cinema program, in which viewers can choose a film to watch for the price of a movie ticket, with half the proceeds going to the local theater.

TURKEYS

When Vice President Mike Pence was asked why he was the only person not wearing a mask during a tour of the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, he said he is tested regularly and doesnt have the coronavirus. His wife, Karen Pence, told Fox News that her husband wasnt aware of the requirement until the tour concluded. That wasnt the end of the story, however. Voice of America reporter Steve Herman tweeted that members of the news media accompanying the vice president were notified in advance by Pences staff of the clinics mandatory rule on mask-wearing. Pence demanded an apology from Herman, saying he had leaked classified information about the veeps schedule. Herman later told the Washington Post that he had been banned from traveling on Air Force Two, the vice presidents airplane. On Thursday Pence was seen wearing a mask during a tour of a General Motors plant in Indiana.
Jammu and Kashmir: Two security personnel, who were injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan at Rampur sector on Friday, have succumbed to their injuries.

At around 3.30 pm on Friday, the Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked firing in Rampur sector of the district injuring three soldiers. The Indian Army retaliated befittingly. It is the second such incident in a span of a few hours.

Earlier in the morning, India and Pakistan troops exchanged gunfire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Hajipeer sector of Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. According to an official, Pakistani forces violated the ceasefire and resorted to heavy shelling on Indian Army post in Uri after which the Indian Army gave a befitting reply.

Locals reports said that panic gripped in the area on Friday morning after heavy shelling took place between troops of both sides.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla, Abdul Qayoom also confirmed the shelling along LoC, saying no loss of life or injury was reported during shelling in the area.
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. David A. Grogan | CNBC

Warren Buffett made a lot of news at Berkshire Hathaway's first virtual annual meeting on Saturday, including revealing that he sold all his airline stocks and didn't see any value in any major acquisitions amid the coronavirus pullback in stocks. The 89-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" was joined at the meeting with Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations Greg Abel and was asked shareholder questions by CNBC's Becky Quick. Here's a full recap:

9:19 pm: Buffett takes question from actor Bill Murray

Murray asked via Quick: "This pandemic will graduate a new class of war veterans: Health care, food supply, deliveries, community services. So many owe so much to these few. How might this great country take our turn and care for all of them?" Buffett: "We won't be pay to pay, actually. It's like people that landed at Normandy...The poor, the disadvantaged... They suffer, there's an unimaginable suffering and at the same time they're doing all these things. They're working 24-hour days and we don't even know their names...If we go overboard on something, we ought to do things that can help those people. This country  I've said it a lot of times before  but the history of it. I mean we are a rich, rich, rich country and the people that are doing the kind of work that Bill talks about, they are contributing a whole lot more than some of the people that came out of the right womb. Or got lucky or know how to arbitrage bonds. And in large part, I'm one of those guys. So you really try to create a society that, under normal conditions, with more than $60,000 of GDP per capita, that anybody that works 40 hours a week can have a decent life without a second job and with a couple kids. They can't live like kings, I don't mean that. But nobody should be left behind." Murray and Buffett met up last year in Omaha over ice cream.  Franck

9:03 pm: Buffett on why he didn't buy more Berkshire stock

Buffett explained why he didn't repurchase more Berkshire Hathaway shares during the sell-off in the first quarter. The company only repurchased $1.7 billion of Berkshire shares even as it sits on a record $137 billion cash pile. "The price has not been at a level where it really feels way better to us than other things, including the option value of money, to step up in a big way," he said.  Franck

8:53 pm: Being against buybacks is now 'politically correct,' Buffett says

Buffett said the criticism towards buybacks is largely uncalled for. "It's very politically correct to be against buybacks now," he said. "There's a lot of crazy things being said about buybacks. Buybacks are so simple. It's a way of distributing cash to shareholders." Buffett noted share repurchase programs should be executed in a price and need-sensitive manner, but "when the conditions are right, it should also be obvious to repurchase shares and there shouldn't be the slightest taint to it anymore than there is to dividends."  Imbert

8:40 pm: Buffett says he's not breaking up the conglomerate

Buffett was asked whether he would consider breaking up Berkshire Hathaway. Here's his answer: "If you were to sell Berkshire's various subsidiaries you would incur a very significant amount of tax at the corporate level before anything was distributed to the shareholders...The interaction of being able to move capital around in terms of being able to do in insurance that we couldn't do unless there were the backup earnings and capital employed. And the other entities -- there's enormous advantages in capital deployment within the place. There is not a big discount to break up value embodied in Berkshire's price...It isn't going to happen. Now I will tell you everybody in the world will come around and propose something and say 'it's wonderful for shareholders and, by the way, it involves huge fees.'...My plan has been thought out and in place for a long time. And it not only ensures that the money that's been made at Berkshire all of it ends up going to various philanthropies staggered over time, but it also --- it will keep the wolves away." Abel added: "I think the comment on the capital allocation is critical. That we have the ability to move the capital among the --- be it the operating businesses or up to the insurance or down --- with really no consequences to our shareholders. That's the value driver, the unique structure of Berkshire and it creates immense value."  Franck

8:27 pm: Buffett says he and Charlie Munger are in good health

Warren Buffett said he and Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner, are in good health, adding the 96-year-old vice chairman will return to the annual meeting next year. The 89-year-old chairman and CEO said that Munger added Zoom Video to his repertoire and is having virtual meetings every day. Asked about future management who will allocate capital at Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett listed Greg Abel, vice chairman of non-insurance operations, Todd Combs, Ted Weschler, his two key investing deputies. "Charlie and I are around. We like capital allocation ourselves. We are not going any place voluntarily, but we probably will be going some places involuntarily before that long," Buffett said. "Charlie is in good health. I'm in good health."  Li

7:55 pm: Greg Abel doesn't see Berkshire's culture changing

Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations Greg Abel  one of the potential successors to Warren Buffett  said he doesn't see the company culture changing whenever the "Oracle of Omaha" and his right-hand man, Charlie Munger, leave. "A large part of that [culture] is having the business acumen to understand the transaction and economic prospects and the ability to act quickly," Abel said. "I really don't see that changing. There's no one better than Warren and Charlie, but equally we have a talented team at Berkshire."  Imbert

7:20 pm: Buffett says he's 'willing to do something very big,' but hasn't seen anything 'attractive'

Warren Buffett hasn't made a major acquisition in several years despite Berkshire Hathaway's record cash pile. Buffett said it is because there hasn't been anything "that attractive," "We have not done anything because we haven't seen anything that attractive," Buffett said. "We are not doing anything big obviously. We are willing to do something very big. I mean you could come to me on Monday morning with something that involved $30, or $40 billion or $50 billion. And if we really like what we are seeing, we would do it." Berkshire's quarterly earnings revealed that the conglomerate had a record $137 billion in cash and equivalent instruments on its balance sheet at the end of the first quarter.  Li

7:10 pm: Buffett says he sold his entire stake in airlines

Buffett reveals Berkshire dumped its entire airlines stake. "The world has changed for the airlines. And I don't know how it's changed and I hope it corrects itself in a reasonably prompt way," Buffett said. "I don't know if Americans have now changed their habits or will change their habits because of the extended period." But "I think there are certain industries, and unfortunately, I think that the airline industry, among others, that are really hurt by a forced shutdown by events that are far beyond our control," he added. Asked by CNBC's Quick to clarify if Berkshire had sold all of its airline holdings, Buffett answered "yes." The prior stake, worth a collective several billion dollars, included United, American, Southwest and Delta Airlines.  Franck

6:52 pm: Buffett now taking shareholder questions

CNBC's Becky Quick has been collecting shareholder questions and is now asking Buffett the questions via a video link.

6:42 pm: Buffett says he was 'wrong' about the airlines

Warren Buffett said he made an "understandable mistake" when valuing the airline stocks as a near-global halt in travel due to the coronavirus sent their prices sharply lower. "When we bought [airlines], we were getting an attractive amount for our money when investing across the airlines," he said. "It turned out I was wrong about that business because of something that was not in any way the fault of four excellent CEOs. Believe me. No joy of being a CEO of an airline." "I don't know that 3-4 years from now people will fly as many passenger miles as they did last year .... you've got too many planes."  Imbert, Quick

6:32 pm: Buffett thinks highly of Fed Chief Jerome Powell

"I've always had Paul Volcker up on a special place, a special pedestal in terms of Federal Reserve chairmen over the years... Jay Powell in my view, and the Fed board, belong up there on that pedestal with him because they acted in the middle of March. Probably somewhat instructed by what they'd seen in 2008 and 2009. They reacted in a huge way and essentially allowed what's happened since that time to play out the way it has. March, when the market had essentially frozen, a little after mid-month, ended up on March 23  it ended up being the largest month for corporate debt issuance, I believe, in history... Every one of those people that issued bonds in late March and April ought to send a thank you letter to the Fed because it wouldn't have happened if they hadn't operated with really unprecedented speed and determination."  Franck

6:22 pm: The best thing to do is buy into S&P 500 index fund, Buffett says

Warren Buffett believes average investors should buy the broad market for a long period of time instead of following stock-picking advice of others. "In my view, for most people, the best thing is to do is owning the S&P 500 index fund," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting. "There are huge amounts of money people pay for advice they really don't need. If you bet on America and sustain that position for decades, you'd do far better than buying Treasury securities, or far better than following people who tell you" what to invest, he added.  Li

6:11 pm: Buffett  don't use borrowed money to participate in markets

Legendary investor Warren Buffett still thinks America is the best bet out there but noted people should not borrow money to participate in market given the uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic. "When something like the current pandemic happens, it's hard to factor that in. That's why you never want to use borrowed money, at least in my view, into investments," Buffett said from Berkshire Hathaway's virtual shareholder's meeting. "There's no reason to use borrowed money to participate in the great American tailwind, but there's every other reason to do so."  Imbert

5:56 pm: Buffett says, 'be careful about how you bet.'

"Perhaps with a bias, I don't believe anyone knows what the market is going to do tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. I know America's going to move forward over time, but I don't know for sure and we learned this on Sept. 10, 2001. And we learned it a few months ago in terms of the virus. Anything can happen in terms of markets. And you can bet on America but you're going to have to be careful about how you bet. Simply because markets can do anything." Buffett has said that investors should never buy stocks on margin using borrowed money.  Franck

5:50 pm: Stock market has produced $100 for every $1 since Buffett finished college

For every $1 invested when Warren Buffett finished college in the 1950s, the stock market has produced $100, the "Oracle of Omaha" pointed out during his presentation at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.



"All you had to do was believe in America. You just had to believe that the American miracle that was intact," Buffett said. "You didn't have to read the Wall Street Journal. You didn't have to look at the price of your stock. You didn't have to pay a lot of money in fees than anybodyNothing can stop America when you get right down to it." There was a testing period after the stock market crash of 1929 where a lot of people "really lost faith," Buffett said. "In the end the answer is never bet against America."  Li

5:10 pm: Buffett: Economy faces 'extraordinary' range of outcomes, but nothing can stop America

Buffett struck a cautious tone when discussing the U.S. economy at the start of the meeting, warning that the possibilities "are still extraordinarily wide" given the coronavirus crisis. But he then went on to reiterate his longtime belief that America will overcome even the most daunting challenges, including the current global pandemic. "In 2008 and 2009 our economic train went off the tracks, and there were some reasons why the roadbed was weak in terms of the banks. This time we just pulled the train of the tracks and put it on a siding. And I don't really know of any parallel  in terms of a very, very well the most important country in the world, most productive, huge population  in effect sidelining its economy and its workforce." "But even facing that, I would like to talk to you about the economic future of the country. Because I remain convinced, as I have -- I was convinced of this in World War II, I was convinced of it during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 9/11, the Financial Crisis -- that nothing can basically stop America."  Franck

5:02 pm: Buffett says he owes a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Fauci

Warren Buffett thanked White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci for educating and informing him and the country of coronavirus developments, saying he owes a "huge debt of gratitude" to him. Buffett said the country is "very, very fortunate" to have Fauci who communicates in a "very straightforward manner" about the global health crisis. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the leading public health expert on President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force.  Li

4:45 pm: The meeting begins

Buffett begins talking with Abel at another table to his side. Buffett has his beloved Coca-Cola next to him in a glass.

4:45 pm: Greg Abel to take the stage with Warren Buffett

Alongside Buffett on the stage answering shareholders' questions will be Greg Abel, Berkshire's vice chairman of non-insurance operations. Abel, who joined the conglomerate in 1992, was promoted to his post in 2018. Prior to that, he served as Berkshire Hathaway Energy's chairman and CEO. Abel, now 57, is seen as a top contender to succeed Buffett, who is 89 years old. At Berkshire's annual meeting last year, Buffett hinted that Abel and Ajit Jain, who handles all insurance-related operations, could be possible successors. Both Abel and Ajit answered some shareholder questions last year.  Li

4:40 pm: Buffett has doubled the stock market's return

Despite short-term fluctuations, Warren Buffett's long-term track record is why this meeting is such a big annual event for investors. Berkshire Hathaway A shares have returned nearly 21% annually since 1976, more than double the return of the S&P 500's 10% return over the same time, according to FactSet. Over the last year, Berkshire has lost 15%, compared to the S&P 500's 1% loss. Berkshire's heavy investments in banking and insurance has hurt it during this dramatic economic slowdown.  Melloy

4:39 pm: What to expect from Berkshire's first virtual annual meeting

This year's Berkshire Hathaway shareholder's meeting, which will be held virtually for the first time, comes at a critical juncture for the conglomerate. Shareholders want more clarity on the company's leadership as Greg Abel shares the stage with Warren Buffett. They also want insight on Buffett's plans regarding the company's massive cash pile. Berkshire Hathaway has more than $137 billion in cash through the end of the first quarter and shareholders wonder if the "Oracle of Omaha" has found any attractive investments since the coronavirus pandemic sparked a global market sell-off. Imbert

4:28 pm: Berkshire reports net loss of $50 billion

Berkshire Hathaway reported a net loss of nearly $50 billion for the first quarter earlier Saturday as the conglomerate's stock investments took a massive hit amid the coronavirus outbreak. But this quarterly result is deceiving as Berkshire owns more stock investments than other companies that fluctuate. Accounting rules require the company to report unrealized losses in equities, so this loss is a reflection of the coronavirus stock market rout. Berkshire's operating earnings actually rose to $5.9 billion from $5.6 billion in the same period a year ago.  Imbert

4:00 pm: Buffett hunkering down?
Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed plans to carry out simultaneous terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir on May 11, according to an intelligence alert issued to security forces in the Union Territory.

The information is that these attacks could be suicide missions and target bases of the army and paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir, a top counter-terror official in Delhi told Hindustan Times on Saturday.

The planned terror strikes come against the backdrop of a spectacular performance by counter-terror teams in Jammu and Kashmir that eliminated 28 terrorists in April alone. The security action had prompted a sharp reaction from Islamabads foreign ministry recently, protesting the killing of what it had described as the killing of 29 innocents.

Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar, who has been reported to be terminally ill, has been out of action for several months. His younger brother, Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar has been running the show at the terror factory and is reported to have been personally involved in planning the multiple terror strikes, he said.

On Saturday, according to information available with Indian intelligence agencies, Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar also had a scheduled meeting with officials of Inter Services Intelligence at Rawalpindi on the outskirts of Pakistan capital Islamabad.

Watch: Pakistans terror tactic amid Covid-19 crisis explained

I would surmise that Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghars meeting with his handlers is about the May 11 terror strikes, a senior security official in Kashmir said.

He said the choice of May 11 for the strikes is designed to coincide with the 17th day of Ramadan when the Battle of Badr was fought and won by a few hundred soldiers in Saudi Arabia. In Islamic history, it is seen as a huge victory in the early days of Islam and a turning point.

Intelligence officials said the May 11 strike being planned by the Jaish was expected in view of a spike in infiltration attempts backed by the Pakistan army during the last one month. Many of them were blocked by soldiers of the Indian army and paramilitary forces. Some did succeed.

It is estimated that nearly 25-30 Jaish terrorists had managed to sneak into Kashmir valley with help from the Pakistan army.

Intelligence reports indicate that more than 70 Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists are likely to attempt infiltration over the next few weeks, many of them from the Leepa Valley.

Our analysis has indicated that there is often a correlation between spikes in cross-border firing and infiltration attempts at this time of the year, an army official said, adding that the number of ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army is expected to increase further.

Also Read: After proxy war in Kashmir, Pak launches cyber war against India and PM Modi

The officer said it was impossible that these infiltration attempts would not have the active support of the Pakistan army. For one, Pakistan too is in a lockdown mode and there are restrictions on movement due to Covid-19. Secondly, he said, the topography of the region was such that even terrorists would need a break when they reach the line of control before beginning the difficult journey into Kashmir. That is where the launch pads come in.

Mufti Asghar Kashmiri oversees infiltration

Intelligence officials said Jaishs de facto chief Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar has tasked Afghan war veteran Mufti Asghar Kashmiri to oversee the operational aspects of the infiltration from Leepa valley.

Kashmiri is also the chief commander of Jaishs Kashmir operations and is the so-called Amir of JeMs Askari (or military wing) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Kashmiri, joined Jaish from the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and is also responsible for the Jaishs terror camps in Afghanistan that also train recruits to fight in Kashmir.

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The Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOSAG) has appealed to President Akufo-Addo to ensure the restructuring of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to ensure the welfare of pensioners.

Following a revision of the Pensions Act for SSNIT to stop the payment of lump sum benefits to pensioners from January 2020 under PNDC Law 247, workers who turn 60 years will no longer receive lump-sum payments from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust. Such contributors will now have to turn to the fund managers of their second-tier contribution for lump sums.

Speaking at its closed-door 2020 May Day virtual celebration, the Executive Secretary of CLOGSAG, Isaac Bampoe-Addo said he believes a review of the scheme will improve the welfare of pensioners.

On this workers day, 1st May 2020, CLOSAG is appealing to his excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana to personally ensure that SSNIT is immediately restructured to assure workers of income security in retirement and to meet their commitments under the three-tier pension scheme.

On our part, the hedge pensions trust has developed systems that enable it to play a leading role within the pensions industry, it has achieved economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of the required services to the benefit of our cherished clients within the local government service, the civil service, the non-formal division of the ministry of education and other public services as well as the private sector. It is gratifying to note that during the first quarter of 2020 the hedge pensions trust has paid all the 214 pensioners who applied for tier-two benefits spanning from 1st January 2010 to time of retirement he added.

According to the Mr Isaac Bampoe-Addo, SSNIT was to reduce its administrative cost, high staff numbers and poor returns on investments per a recommendation given by a Presidential Commission on Pensions established by former President John Agyekum Kufuor in August 2004, but the Trust did not heed the recommendation.

The commission recommended that SSNIT, as an institution, should undergo an extensive restructuring which should involve an overhaul of its governance, management and administrative structure. Also, the proposed increase from one to three Deputy Director Generals ought to be re-examined by the SSNIT management,  he noted.

---citinewsroom
The true scale of the coronavirus crisis burning through care homes may never be known, according to one of the industrys most senior figures.

Professor Martin Green, the head of Care England, condemned the Governments pandemic strategy and said the sector could still be months from a peak in cases.

In a scathing attack, he said: There is no form of tracking mechanism and unless we have testing, it will not be clear who has died of Covid-19 and who hasnt.

Professor Martin Green says the full impact of COVID-19 on care homes may never be known

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick yesterday insisted that care homes were a particular focus, with half of deaths across Europe now in such locations.

And with care home deaths expected to soon exceed those in hospitals, one charity boss likened the virus battle to a war zone and raged: Its lions led by donkeys.

As exhausted care staff are forced to beg for funding, personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing, The Mail on Sunday can reveal:

Some doctors are refusing to enter care homes to certify deaths

There are persistent shortages of PPE and testing

Hundreds of homes face financial crisis, yet profiteers are hiking PPE prices by up to 500 per cent

The Governments additional 1.6 billion to councils for social care is not reaching the front line

Professor Green, whose organisation represents hundreds of independent care services providers, warned ominously that the peak in the community could be weeks or even months away.

While many NHS staff are going into care homes to treat patients, (above), some doctors are refusing to go into care homes and certify coronavirus deaths

Were a long way behind because despite what the Health Secretary says about us being regarded as a priority, clearly we werent, he said.

At the start of this pandemic, the only narrative was protect the NHS and what that manifested into was we had PPE supplies disrupted  we had primary care completely withdrawing from care homes.

He added that a genuine desire by Ministers to help had been stymied by numerous agencies and quangos incapable of making quick decisions. Local councils, which fund adult social care, have received an extra 1.6 billion, taking the total to 3.2 billion.

But some local authorities are only willing to spend it on subsidised poorer residents rather than the privately funded.

The head of Care England criticised the government's tracking mechanism of the virus

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Saturday that care homes are a 'particular' focus for the government

For years, local authorities have been leeching off the private payers, who are the people who pay the real cost of care, said Prof Green. When the moment of crisis comes they abandon them and say, Its nothing to do with us.

Dr Jennifer Dixon, of the Health Foundation charity, said deaths in care homes are rising at a higher rate than hospitals and if this trend continues, its possible that number of deaths per week in care homes could overtake hospitals.

Eileen Chubb, founder of whistleblowing charity Compassion in Care, described how staff were facing PPE shortages. Its like working in a war zone but having the most awful general on the planet in charge, she said. Its lions led by donkeys. Mike Smith, director of Trinity Homecare in Surrey, said trying to get urgent protective gear was like a treasure hunt where you get to the end and theres no treasure.

Mike Padgham, of the Independent Care Group (ICG), which represents 150 providers across North Yorkshire, said the price of face masks had soared from 17.5p each to 1. He said: Im fighting a war on two fronts. Theres the Covid war and then later there will be the battle for financial survival.

A third of British care homes have been hit by coronavirus with over 4,000 deaths recorded, leaving loved ones concerned about their elderly family members living

About 45 per cent of the homes in the ICG say they are in danger of going bust. Prof Green said this was representative of the national figure, meaning about 60,000 vulnerable residents at 1,500 homes are in jeopardy.

A third of Britains care homes have now been hit by Covid-19. Officially 4,343 residents have died, but Person Centred Software, which supplies clinical systems, estimates the real number is more than 17,500.

Steve Gibson, of Stainton Lodge Care Centre in Middlesbrough, has seen 17 residents die, but only two were tested for coronavirus. He said: Some GPs put pneumonia on the death certificates, some GPs are putting Covid-like symptoms.

Vivek Kotecha, of the Centre for Health and Public Interest, said: It will keep burning though care homes. The only way to reverse it would be to test and isolate rapidly but none of that is in place.

The Department of Health said last night it was working night and day to deliver PPE and testing was being ramped up.

A DHSC added: A new system for reporting data on coronavirus deaths in all settings where individuals have tested positive was introduced on Friday. It includes those who die in care homes, in their own home or the wider community.
Rapper, Strongman, has refused calls for a rap battle between him and hiplife artiste, Yaa Pono also known as Ponobiom.

According to the rapper, he has so much respect for Yaa Pono that he does not think it will be appropriate to face off with him.

Earlier this month, fans of both rappers took to social media to call for a rap battle between them.

While it is unclear why they would make such a call, both rappers have remained mute on the issue.

Reacting to the calls, Strongman told MzGee via Skype interview on TV3's New Day that it won't happen.

Yaa Pono is like a godfather to me so there wouldn't be any battle of the sought. I knew Yaa Pono two years before I even got to meet Sarkodie, the rapper revealed.

According to Strongman, he has a very healthy relationship with Yaa Pono and they talk a lot.

This game, respect is very necessary so for me I respect a whole lot of people in this game that is why when someone comes to disrespect me, I feel bad, Strongman said.

The rapper added that I respect people who came before meI will only choose to reply a beef in case someone throws a shot at me.

While he respects people, Strongman stressed that he was not afraid of any MC (rapper) in Ghana.
Japan's education ministry is set to release guidelines on how schools closed due to the coronavirus outbreak could resume classes in stages.

Education minister Hagiuda Koichi said on Friday that local education boards across Japan will be informed of the guidelines the same day.

Hagiuda said the coronavirus will require a long-term response, and it must go in tandem with efforts to guarantee education. He stressed the importance of resuming school activities in stages.

The guidelines propose staggered attendance by grade or class, with priority given to the first and final grades of elementary schools and seniors at junior high schools.

Another proposal is to divide a class into several groups and use vacant classrooms to ensure that students maintain proper distancing.

The school shutdown has led to calls by some, including prefectural governors and students, to change the start of the academic year from April to September.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide told reporters on Friday that such a change would have major social repercussions.

He said the government would like to first monitor efforts to resume education. He said schools are now pressing ahead with efforts to provide remote education through the Internet and other means. Suga added that the education ministry and others will study the school-year change, while closely watching the trends in infections.
I have been getting a lot of letters positing that Donald Trump is a very bad man so someone, somehow, has to do something about that. Here are a few of them.

Dear Doctor: Trump is so dangerous that the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution should be invoked.

This amendment allows for presidential succession, but the rules are so complicated and potentially partisan that even in the case of a madman like Trump, it just isnt going to happen. For example, you would need the principal officers of the executive departments (the Cabinet) to sign on. Does anyone really think that these Trump-appointed cowards would agree to that? Nope, not going to happen. Nor will the spineless wonders in the Republican-dominated Senate (especially Mitch McConnell) show the courage to agree to even temporary disqualification. Look, I know that people are frustrated, but just because youre unhappy doesnt mean the 25th Amendment can be invoked easily.

The only real way to get rid of Trump will be for him to lose the November election. That presupposes that there actually will BE a November election. If Trump has his way and knows that he will lose, I suspect he will try to cancel or postpone it. Thankfully, that would be hard to do since the Constitution is pretty specific on the matter. It is all laid out in the 12th Amendment.

OK, heres another.

Dear Doctor: Lets get rid of the Electoral College. Its antiquated and undemocratic.

Of course. Now go back and read the last section. Does anyone reading this really think that the feckless, cowardly Republicans in the Senate, apparently born with no backbones, will pass the required amendment to the Constitution in order to make that happen? Just because youd like it doesnt mean it will happen. It will not. If it did, you would have to figure out how to placate those little states that make out like bandits because of the Electoral College and the undue influence it gives to them. Dig out your high school and college textbooks and do some reading.

Dear Doctor: What if the President DID shoot someone on Fifth Avenue? Is it really true that the Justice Department would not indict him? What if he shot his wife? Would he really be above the law?

According to a memo somewhere in the Justice Department, a sitting president cannot be indicted while in office. Oh, come on! Thats absurd. If Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue, he should be arrested and sent to Rikers Island. After all, the states have criminal justice statutes. The Justice Department, under his hand-picked lackey, William Barr, would probably contest that arrest and bring it before the five gutless majority members on the Supreme Court. You can forget about the law then, even though Chief Justice John Roberts says there are no Republican or Democratic judges. Sure. This country is heading toward a sort of fascistic dictatorship, the same kind that his would-be dictator friends are doing in their countries. As my boy Jonas would say, That just aint right.

Then theres this one.

Dear Doctor: Why cant something be done about Trump?

I love this one. I often ask what that something might be. We have already gone down the impeachment road and the Mueller investigation road. Of course, you could try to impeach him again, but I doubt that the American people would stand for it unless something so spectacular was unearthed that it could not be ignored. If, however, the Democrats take the Senate and Trump is found to have committed a serious crime, and if he wins re-election, a second impeachment round might take place, though youd need a lot of Republicans to go along with a guilty verdict.

Sunday Freeman columnist Alan Chartock is a professor emeritus at the State University of New York, publisher of the Legislative Gazette and CEO of the WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network. Readers can email him at alan@wamc.org.
An additional 38 COVID-19 cases have been identified among employees of the Walmart store in Worcester, officials said Friday afternoon, after an outbreak led the city to shut down the store earlier this week.

A group of 258 employees was tested Thursday, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said during the citys daily press conference. Of those employees, 38 were found to have COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Those additional 38 cases bring the total number of Walmart employees who tested positive to 61, Augustus said.

Another 119 employees were tested Friday with the help of UMass Memorial and Worcester EMS, the city manager said.

On Wednesday, the city issued a cease-and-desist order, shutting down the Walmart location on Tobias Boland Way after officials learned that 23 employees of the store had tested positive. Two of those cases were identified at the beginning of the month and the other 21 cases were discovered more recently.

The store has undergone a professional, deep cleaning, officials said. All employees must be tested before they return to work, per the citys order.

Test results are still pending for the 119 employees tested Friday, and the store will not be able to open until all those results are in, Augustus said. Officials are hopeful those results will come in over the weekend.

In about 48 hours, a total of 377 employees were tested, Augustus said. Tests were run by a UMass Memorial EMS group.

Dr. Eric Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, said the testing at Walmart is a great opportunity to examine the prevalence of disease within a group. Its also a chance to test asymptomatic people, something that has not typically been possible.

Employees who test positive will have to be out of work for a minimum of seven days, Dickson said. Those who are negative will be able to go back to work but need to wear a mask and self-monitor, he added.

Walmart paid for its employees to be tested, Dickson said.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, a UMass Memorial physician and the medical director of Worcesters public health department, said people who have shopped at Walmart recently should not panic.

Hirsh said that it is unlikely a customer shopping at the store would have been within six feet of a COVID-positive employee who is shedding the virus for more than 15 minutes, which is considered long enough to contract. Though, Hirsh asked residents to be very focused on what your plan is when shopping and not wander around stores.

I dont think you need to spend a lot of time worrying about shopping at Walmart if you have no symptoms. Youre probably fine, Hirsh said.

If anyone who shopped there does start showing symptoms, they should contact their primary care physician, Hirsh said.

The city issued orders on April 13 and 16 requiring employees and patrons to wear masks or face coverings while at essential businesses.

On April 20, Walmart made it mandatory for all employees nationwide to wear face masks, a company spokesman said.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday issued an order making face masks mandatory in Massachusetts.

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SEATTLE - As the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spread across the United States in March, Bill Gates peppered his longtime friend Jeff Raikes with the science behind testing for the disease during dinner at his home in Medina, Washington.

The two men ate sushi - at an "appropriate" social distance, Raikes said - while Gates detailed the challenges of using nasopharyngeal swabs that reach deep into nasal passages to test for the novel coronavirus. Instead, Gates offered that self-testing with simpler, shorter swabs could be more effective and wouldn't require health-care workers to risk infection themselves, said Raikes, a former senior leader at Microsoft who went on to run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"He is in his element right now," said Raikes, who has worked closely with Gates for four decades.

As the virus has spread, killing more than 239,000 people globally, Gates has used his fame and wealth to push for science-based approaches to end the pandemic. Having studied infectious diseases for the past 20 years as part of his philanthropic work, Gates has warned about the potential for a pathogen-spread pandemic since 2015, in a TED Talk, lectures and medical journal articles. Since February, the foundation he runs with his wife has given away $250 million to expand testing for the coronavirus and find a cure for covid-19, the disease it causes.

But the coronavirus is unlike any global health challenge Gates has faced. He's spent years trying to address health threats vexing the developing world, such as malaria, polio and HIV. Those diseases have either vaccines or therapies, but the countries where they remain a major threat lack health systems to deliver them to people, something the Gates Foundation is trying to fix. When it comes to the coronavirus, though, there is neither a vaccine nor a therapy, and it's spread to both rich and poor countries.

With the coronavirus afflicting rich countries as well as developing ones, Gates also needs to navigate the thickets of U.S. politics. One new challenge for Gates: pressing messages that often run headlong into comments by President Donald Trump that lack scientific basis. In an interview, Gates noted past global health achievements by the United States, such as President George W. Bush's support for drugs to address the AIDS epidemic sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa nearly two decades ago.

"People are hoping for U.S. leadership. It's still an opportunity we haven't seized," Gates said. "The vacuum of waiting for the U.S. to step in and help out with that, there's still a huge opportunity there."

Gates hasn't directly criticized Trump, and he remains largely apolitical. But research he has cited has undermined some of the president's claims. The Gates Foundation, for example, is funding a clinical trial on hydroxychloroquine, the drug Trump that tweeted could, when combined with azithromycin, be "one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine." Gates, though, focused on the data, writing in an April 23 blog post that early indications from the trial suggest "the benefits will be modest at best."

Gates also took aim at the president's plans in April to suspend payments to the World Health Organization in response to the U.N. agency's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds," Gates tweeted on April 14, arguing that the no other organization is capable of replacing the agency. The Gates Foundation is the second-biggest donor to the WHO, after the U.S. government.

"Bill is a guy who believes in science and technology and the positive impact that can have in the world," Raikes said. "I think at least subconsciously, like many of us, he's been disturbed by the attack on science," though Raikes acknowledged that he hasn't talked specifically with Gates about the topic.

Despite politicians' calls to quickly reopen society that aren't backed by science, Gates is not likely to become more political now, said Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the former chief executive of the Gates Foundation. Gates' philanthropic work - addressing the vexing inequities in global health and U.S. education systems - requires the support of governments.

"You have to pick your spots," Desmond-Hellmann said. "Obviously, the WHO comment was of the magnitude that Bill and Melinda spoke out and said that the world needs the WHO."

Gates famously dropped out of Harvard University to found Microsoft with his high school buddy, Paul Allen. But he is a voracious reader, and over the past two decades of his charitable focus on global health, he's taught himself the science of infectious diseases.

"When I spend billions of dollars on something, I have a tendency to read a lot about it," Gates said.

As Gates began to move away from Microsoft in the early 2000s, he gave a fireside chat to senior leaders at its Redmond, Washington, conference center, discussing his foundation's efforts to address malaria. Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, in particular recalled Gates's "encyclopedic assessment" of mosquitoes, and how they behaved and transmitted the disease.

"I will always remember listening and thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, he can go just in deep in talking about mosquitoes, as he did in talking about software code,' " said Smith, who has worked closely with Gates for 26 years.

Since the coronavirus first emerged in China late last year, Gates has consumed medical journal articles about testing, treatments and vaccines for the virus. He's talked at length with immunologists, epidemiologists and social scientists about slowing the coronavirus' spread.

"When Bill takes on an issue, he doesn't seek to become just generally familiar with it," Smith said.

Gates has met with presidents from both parties, including Trump. He has made campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans. Even when the federal government sued Microsoft for violating antitrust laws in the late 1990s, Gates refrained from publicly attacking the Clinton administration, which brought the suit.

With a net worth of $105 billion, Gates is the world's second-wealthiest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, behind his Seattle neighbor Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post. Gates has poured much of his wealth into the foundation he runs with his wife. It has become one of the world's largest philanthropies, with an endowment of $46.8 billion as of 2018.

Over the past two decades, he has gradually shed his Microsoft responsibilities to focus on philanthropic work. In March, he gave up the last of his formal Microsoft titles, stepping down from the company's board, though he said he would continue to provide technology advice to its leadership.

A pillar of Gates' philanthropic thrust has been addressing the infectious diseases, such as malaria and polio, that continue to devastate the developing world. His foundation helped create a market for drugs for those diseases, which were often ignored by a pharmaceutical industry that has a financial incentive to develop medication for ailments common in the more lucrative markets of the developed world.

His knowledge of infectious diseases led him to the conclusion in 2015 that a pathogen-based pandemic could sweep over the globe, killing indiscriminately and destroying economies.

"If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it's most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war," Gates said in his TED Talk, which seems eerily prescient today.

He expressed concern that governments hadn't invested in systems to stop a pandemic in the same way they financed nuclear deterrents. He encouraged the development of strong health systems in poor countries where he expected the outbreak to first emerge. He pushed for stepped-up research into and development of vaccines and diagnostic testing apparatus. And he called for "germ games," akin to war games, to simulate a pandemic to help identify shortcomings.

"We need to get going, because time is not on our side," Gates said in the talk.

It's an issue he has regularly raised with government leaders around the world. That warning largely fell on deaf ears. The lack of response is something Gates laments as "unfortunate."

"I often think, 'Could I have been more persuasive?' " Gates said.

The foundation invested in efforts to prepare for a pandemic even before Gates' TED Talk. Leaders including Gates worried about the impact the Ebola outbreak in 2014 had on its global health work and spent hundreds of millions of dollars building scientific infrastructure that is now helping slow the spread of the disease.

In 2017, it gave $279 million to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, a group to which it had previously given funds. IHME has since developed a widely used forecasting model to predict the need hospital beds, ventilators and other medical equipment in every state and in countries around the globe.

The same year, the foundation committed nearly $100 million to help launch the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which has been financing experimental research into coronavirus vaccines.

The 18-month-old, Gates-funded Seattle Flu Study research project tracks the spread of infectious diseases such as influenza. As the coronavirus outbreak was beginning to hit the United States, researchers with the project tested for the coronavirus even though it wasn't what they were certified to do. They found one of the first U.S. cases in a teenager who tested positive for the virus.

The project's mission has evolved into the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, which is conducting coronavirus testing with self-swab sampling kits that won't expose health workers to the virus. That testing is now certified, and received approval for emergency use by the Washington State Department of Health.

As the coronavirus spread, Gates has taken to the talk-show circuit, making his case for science-backed approaches. He chatted remotely on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," lamenting the missed opportunities to have prepared for the pandemic. A few days earlier, he and his wife, Melinda, recorded a message aired during the One World: Together At Home global charity event expressing hope that a vaccine for the virus could emerge by the end of next year. That followed his video call with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show in which he discussed the criteria for a return to normalcy.

His foundation's global health efforts have allowed Gates to work with officials including Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. Gates said he's in frequent communication with both.

"I'm talking, actually quite a bit, to both Tony and Francis about what they're seeing, what we're seeing," Gates said.

"My primary value add is finding out who the innovators are in understanding the system of scaling delivery that is necessary, like testing and contact tracing, which some countries are doing very, very well," Gates said, bringing together scientists and researchers with whom the foundation is working and the government.

The Gates Foundation has faced past criticism for the outsize influence it wields in areas such as global health and public education. The massive sums that the foundation has put toward global health challenges has threatened to distort the way governments address those threats, encouraging them to adopt its priorities to receive its grants, according to research by Jeremy Youde, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and global health politics researcher at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Youde acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic is different. One reason: There's so much money being poured into the public health crisis-from other philanthropies as well as pharmaceutical giants-that the Gates Foundation alone won't determine the vaccine winners and losers. The pandemic illustrates "why it's important to have these international collaborations," Youde said.

There's one group with whom Gates isn't popular: the social media mob pushing conspiracy theories that the billionaire engineered the pandemic, and is mining it for profit and leveraging it for global surveillance and population control. His tweet about WHO funding cuts generated a flood of more than 75,000 comments, many questioning Gates' motives and patriotism. Protesters at rallies pushing to end government lockdowns have waved signs railing against Gates.

Some conspiracy theories are being amplified by the Russian government, which is spreading misinformation about the coronavirus through "state proxy websites," according to a State Department report. One article from early March on the website of the Zvezda television channel, a Russian state controlled network run by the ministry of defense, claims that Gates played a role in creating the virus

"I got a note of sympathy from George Soros, so it must be getting serious," Gates joked, referring to the liberal billionaire philanthropist who is a frequent target of conspiracy theories.

Gates, though, did have an early window into the spread of the virus. The foundation's operations in China experienced firsthand the impact of the virus' outbreak there, said Mark Suzman, the current chief executive. And it gathered information from the Seattle Flu Study's work regarding the U.S. spread.

"We got an early heads-up about that," Suzman said. That led to the recognition that "we should be cranking up as a foundation very rapidly to see what we can do to help support" efforts to combat the outbreak.

In February, the foundation committed $100 million to improve detection, isolation and treatment efforts; to accelerate the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics; and to protect at-risk populations in Africa and South Asia. On April 15, the foundation added an additional $150 million to that effort.

Gates recognizes the need to spend billions of dollars to develop facilities to develop and manufacture vaccines, many of which won't pan out. It makes most sense, Gates said, to waste money building for approaches that don't ultimately work so that the vaccine that ultimately proves successful can be made and distributed rapidly around the globe, and end the economic devastation of the pandemic.

There's a need to spend "billions to save trillions," Gates said

The foundation won't cover all of the cost of developing vaccines, Suzman said. But it can provide financing to quickly spin up manufacturing facilities.

"We're a distinctive kind of capital. We can be risk-taking. We can be catalytic. We should never be in there substituting for public or private money, which could be doing the job just as well," Suzman said.

While the foundation's scope is broad - from eradicating polio to boosting college completion rates - Gates is now spending the predominant amount of his time on the pandemic, Suzman said. Non-coronavirus efforts have shrunk to about 10 percent to 15 percent of the discussion at the foundation. Emails from Gates dive deep into technical details about epidemiological modeling, vaccine constructs and what the cost of production per unit might be, Suzman said.

"All of the deep learning and expertise over the last 20 years of the foundation going into global health is very applicable to the current moment," Suzman said.

And Gates doesn't believe the call for pandemic preparedness will go unheeded any longer.

"I think this time people will pay attention," Gates said.
Forty-nine Pakistani nationals who



were stranded in Nagpur in Maharashtra amid coronavirus outbreak for over a month are set to return to their country after getting necessary permissions from the Pakistan High Commission and the Indian Ministry of ExternalAffairs.

Over 190 members of the Hindu Sindhi community from Ghotki district in Sindh province of Pakistan arrived in India for pilgrimage on February 27, 2020, local officials said.

49 of them landed in Nagpur to visit Baba Hardas Ram Ghodi Dham in Jaripatka area.

Rajesh Jhambia, a local social worker who made arrangements for their stay here, said they were supposed to leave Nagpur on March 20 and cross the Attari border on March 22, but got stranded as lockdown to contain coronavirus was announced.

41 of them are staying at Baba Hardas Ram Ghodi Dham, Jaripatka, and eight are staying at their relatives' houses.

"We got the nod of the Pakistan High Commission on Friday evening and the pilgrims willleave for Amritsar late Saturday night by buses from where they will cross the border at Attari," he said.

Satyawan Chawla, one of the stranded pilgrims, told PTI that he was happy that finally he was returning to his country, and thanked the governments of both the countries.

Ashok Kumar, another pilgrim, said the local people helped them financially and also facilitated their return.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Californias push to get employers to treat workers like employees, not independent contractors, has backfired for some hybrid workers who were mostly self-employed last year but had a client or two that paid them like employees and reported their earnings on Form W-2.

When people apply for unemployment benefits, if they have enough W-2 earnings to get regular state unemployment insurance, they cant get the new federally funded pandemic unemployment assistance, which could be larger. This started dawning on people after the California Employment Development Department began processing applications for pandemic benefits, nicknamed PUA, on Tuesday.

It sounds unfair, but this is a rule of PUA under federal law. This is not something that California controls, California Labor Secretary Julie Su said in a Facebook conference Friday. I have been told by many people who are frustrated that they are going to seek a change in federal law. Until that happens, we have to comply with what the federal law says about PUA.

Elizabeth Windust, a Bay Area native who does makeup for TV commercials and fashion shoots in Los Angeles, had close to $50,000 in net business income last year, which included about $6,800 in W-2 wages.

Regular state unemployment is based on your highest-earning quarter over a 12-month period, which for Windust was just over $4,000. Using EDDs benefit calculator, she figures that she will be getting $177 a week in regular benefits. Had she received pandemic benefits based on her annual income, it would have been $450 a week. (These amounts exclude the extra $600 a week coming from the federal government in April through July.)

I was just unlucky and booked one or two jobs where clients had me sign up for payroll, she said.

This would have been a good thing, had pandemic benefits not come around.

When workers become employees, their employers pay a tax on their first $7,000 in wages each year, which goes into a state-run fund run that pays benefits if they get laid off. Employees get other mandated benefits, such as protection under wage and hour laws. Their gross wages are reported on a W-2 form. EDD also has access to their payroll records.

Self-employed people dont pay this tax. Their pay gets reported when clients file a form 1099-Misc or 1099-K.

Before this year, self-employed people could not get unemployment benefits unless they lost work as a result of a presidentially declared natural disaster, such as recent California wildfires.

Under the recently passed federal Cares Act, however, people who cant get regular state unemployment, including the self-employed, can get federally funded pandemic benefits for up to 39 weeks if they lost work as a direct result of the coronavirus.

In some ways, pandemic benefits are better than regular state benefits:

The minimum regular benefit is $40 a week in California. The minimum pandemic benefit is $167 a week, which is half of the average state benefit. The maximum benefit under both is $450 a week.

From April through July, the Cares Act is also providing $600 per week on top of both types of benefits, bringing the maximum regular and pandemic benefit to $1,050 a week, gratis Uncle Sam.

The maximum duration of regular state benefits is 26 weeks in California, but the Cares Act is also providing funding for an additional 13 weeks for a total of 39 weeks, same as pandemic benefits.

Because it took states a while to get their pandemic programs running, Congress said that when people apply, they will automatically get pandemic benefits retroactively to when they lost work, as far back as Feb. 2.

Regular benefits, on the other hand, begin when someone applies  not when they lost work. However, when people have a good reason why they didnt apply for benefits away, they can ask EDD to award them retroactively, and sometimes it will.

EDD has begun telling people receiving regular benefits to contact the EDD to request that the effective date for your claim be changed to the week when you became unemployed. Getting through to EDD is a full-time job in itself.

To get pandemic benefits out quickly, EDD will automatically award the minimum payment  $167 per week plus $600 for April through July  to anyone who applies and appears eligible.

The PUA payments will be made faster than unemployment insurance benefits, Su said. Itll come before the three-week time period that regular benefits are supposed to take. People who already have an EDD debit card have it loaded with benefits within 24 hours. Otherwise, it could take up to seven days.

Once we are able to complete further programming, we will be able to increase the benefit amount to a maximum of $450 per week if you earned more than $17,368 in 2019, EDD said on its website. In that case, it may ask for documentation such as a tax return or 1099s.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Alfred Tetzner does audio engineering for broadcasting and webcasting, mostly for media clients. His last job was on March 13. Over the next month, he had $40,000 to $50,000 worth of jobs just go away, he said.

Last year, his total net income was just over $100,000, but about $17,000 of that was reported on W-2s. So instead of getting $450 a week in base benefits, hes getting $362. I am upset and frustrated that I am paying taxes on over $100,000 of combined W-2 and 1099 income yet EDD is only allowing me to claim my W-2 income toward my weekly benefit, Tetzner said.

A petition on Change.org gives an extreme mixed-income example: If someone earned $80,000 a year in W-2 income alone, or $80,000 in 1099 income alone, the person would get $450 a week. But if the person had $75,000 in 1099 income and $5,000 in W-2 income from a side job, the weekly benefit would be only $52. (This assumes the $5,000 was spread evenly over quarters.)

Some attorneys who represent workers said that regular benefits are better than pandemic in some ways that are not immediately apparent.

For starters, you dont have to certify that you lost your job because of the coronavirus, like you must with pandemic benefits. The longer the situation drags out, the harder its going to be to show that person is unemployed as a direct result of COVID-19 versus other factors, like the recession, said Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project.

Second, regular benefits are based on your gross income. Pandemic benefits are based on your net income. Some self-employed people claim so many expenses that their net ends up being not that big, said Carole Vigne, an attorney with Legal Aid at Work.

EDD does not say on the application, or in its FAQs, how to calculate net income or where to find it. Vigne could only find an FAQ from the Department of Labor that says states should ask for net income reported on the tax return for a self-employed individual.

Richard Pon, a San Francisco CPA, said he would advise people to use Line 31 from Schedule C, the form sole proprietors attach to their tax return.

Finally, Vigne said she thinks the way the Cares Act was written, a person who exhausted 39 weeks of regular and extended benefits could then switch to pandemic benefits for 13 more weeks, but the opposite is not true. A person who exhausted 39 weeks of pandemic benefits would likely not be able to switch to regular unemployment.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender
It's time to send the current complex, irrational, unfair and ridiculously long system of state primaries and caucuses that nominate president
The UKs coronavirus death toll has risen to at least 27, 975 after 465 more people died in hospitals. The toll was updated after England recorded another 370 deaths in hospitals, Scotland another 40, Wales another 44 and Northern Ireland another 11, Metro reports.

As of yesterday, the total number of people who have died of Covid-19 in all settings stood at 27,510. The new number will rise even further later today, when deaths in care homes and the wider community are announced, Metro reports.

The UK now has the third-highest number of recorded deaths in the world, which critics have blamed on the governments slow response to the outbreak, including its testing strategy.
Two sides reach deescalation agreement after clashes erupt near provincial capital of Yemeni island.

Fighting on the Yemeni island of Socotra has come to a halt after an agreement was reached between the Saudi-backed government forces and UAE-backed southern separatists.

The deescalation agreement announced late on Friday came after an armed unit of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) fought to wrest control of Socotras provincial capital, Hadibo, from forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Earlier, Socotra Governor Ramzi Mahrous had said in brief comments broadcast on national television that his forces confronted the separatist militia and managed to stop their advance.

Former Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghar, in a post on his official Twitter page, had called for help and warned that the militia was trying to take control of the provincial capital using all types of heavy weapons.

The two sides were nominal allies in a military coalition formed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to battle Yemens Houthi rebel movement, which seized control of the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

The STC turned on Hadi in August last year and took control of Aden, the internationally-recognised governments temporary seat. The fighting stopped when the two groups reached a deal in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with the objective of forming a unity government.

But clashes continued in the ensuing months, and earlier this week the UAE-backed STC declared self-rule and a state of emergency in parts of the countrys south under its control.

Under Fridays agreement in Socotra, the coalition and government forces will secure the town and the local authorities facilities, while checkpoints and military vehicles belonging to both sides are expected to be removed.





The agreement also prohibits any military vehicle or any heavy weapon from leaving the island, except with an official permit issued by the governor and the coalitions leadership as an operational order.

Socotra governors Information Secretary Muhammad Abdullah al-Socotri told Anadolu Agency that in line with an agreement to end military tension in Socotra reached Friday, the force has started its duty for the citys security.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the coalition intervened in March 2015 against the Houthis, who control Sanaa and most big urban centres.

In recent weeks, they have not accepted a unilateral ceasefire declared by the coalition amid mounting concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The long-running war has killed more than 100,000 people, pushed millions to the verge of famine and devastated the countrys infrastructure.
Friday morning, Joe Biden sat down for an interview with Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Mika asked some hard-hitting questions about Tara Reade's allegation that Biden sexually assaulted her in 1993.

Biden looked unusually alert and tracked fairly well for most of the interview until he got tired and confused (at the 14-minute mark). More disturbing than that were the misrepresentations and elisions that made it appear as if he were answering the questions when, in fact, he wasn't. Most surprisingly, Biden insisted that it would be better for him if nobody could see his records before the election.

Biden began by doing what he had to, which was unequivocally denying that he assaulted Reade:

No, it is not true. I am saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn't. It never happened.

Immediately after that, he made a catastrophic misstep when Mika asked two questions in quick succession:

Do you remember her? Do you remember any  any types of complaints that she might have made?

Biden's answer is telling:

I don't remember any type of complaint she may have made. It was 27 years ago, and I don't remember, nor does anyone else that I'm aware of, and the fact is that I don't remember. I don't remember any complaint ever having been made.

As you can see, Biden ignored the first question. By doing so, Biden avoided having to comment about Reade, protecting himself from misstatements that could come back to haunt him. More importantly, his dismissing the first question reminds us what Reade said Biden told her after the assault: "You're nothing to me." Biden's failure to answer whether he remembered Reade points to that statement being true.

Biden also struggled to explain away his unquestioning faith in the truth of Christine Blasey Ford's vague, changeable, and uncorroborated allegations:

For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real ...

Biden repeatedly said that in 2018, he meant only that women's claims should not be dismissed out of hand but, instead, that "the press should rigorously investigate claims [women] make."

This is an especially bad defense because Biden was behind the Obama administration's push to strip all due process protections from men at colleges and universities who were accused of sexual wrongdoing. The standard on campuses became "guilty until proven innocent," although the men were routinely denied the chance to prove that innocence.

Biden also hurt himself with his emphatic statement that no one was going to be allowed into his University of Delaware records. He insisted that the only place to look for personnel records relating to Reade's allegations is the National Archives. This is false, and Biden, who was in the Senate for decades, and who has a staff struggling to clean up after him, knew or should have known this.

The Senate exempted itself from public records laws, probably because it would reveal just how abusive senators have been  abusive enough that taxpayers have paid $17 million in secret settlements. This Twitter thread explains Biden's dishonest insistence that the National Archives will prove his innocence:

Joe Biden said that Tara Reade's complaint could only be at the National Archives, at what was then called the Office of Fair Employment Practices. But, a National Archives spokesperson told me that they do not hold records from that office.  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

Instead, a Senate Historical Office staffer said the Fair Employment Practices records are governed by a Senate resolution mandating that "records containing personal privacy, information closed by statute, and records of executive nomination are closed for 50 years." pic.twitter.com/xUVyfnQP2H  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

That staffer said that rules for filing a complaint to the Office of Fair Employment Practices were complicated and that it was possible that a staffer attempting to do so without proper guidance may not have taken the necessary steps to get an investigation started.  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

According to congressional testimony from 1995, 479 people contacted the office between 1992 and 1995 seeking assistance. Of those, only 102 entered the office's five-step "dispute resolution" process, which included a formal complaint and hearing.  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

If Reade's complaint was filed to the Office of Fair Employment Practices, the record will remain closed until 2043  more than two decades from now.  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

It's also important to note that Reade isn't just looking for the complaint. She has other reasons for wanting the University of Delaware to unseal the records: pic.twitter.com/FUXdj3tUU2  Nicole Einbinder (@NicoleEinbinder) May 1, 2020

Perhaps the most amazing thing Biden said was that he would not release his University of Delaware records. When Mika suggested that someone just search through the documents for Reade's name, Biden visibly panicked and went utterly silent for several seconds. Then he said no one could look at the records because they would reveal information to voters about his political history. In other words, he wants to hide from the voters the information that is most useful to them.

Because, look, the fact is that there's a lot of things, of speeches I've made, positions I've taken, interviews that I did overseas with people, all of those things relating to my job, and the idea that they would all be made public in the fact while I was running for public office, they could be really taken out of context. They're papers or position papers, they are documents that existed and that ... when I met, for example, when I met with Putin or when I met with whomever, and all of that could be fodder in a campaign at this time.

The interview was also noteworthy for what Mika didn't address: the contemporaneous corroboration for Reade's account (her brother, a friend, her mother's phone call to Larry King, her neighbor, and a co-worker), and the eight other women who made complaints about Biden's chronic inappropriate touching. Mika merely managed to get on the record Biden's denial, his contention that women should be believed except when they shouldn't, and his insistence that people should look for information in a place in which such information can't possibly be found.

The fact that Joe Biden managed to stay alert for almost the entire 17 minutes he was on the hot seat should not comfort his supporters. He still hurt himself badly.
Customs is the sieve of international supply chains. And yet despite its critical role, clearing customs for freight brokers can be a slow and opaque process reliant on manual data entry and prone to errors.

Silicon Valley-based KlearNow has developed a platform that aims to bring customs clearance into the digital age. Now, with $16 million new funding, KlearNow aims to expand its geographic reach and improve its product to cover increasingly complex export-import verticals and time-sensitive shipments.

The company has certification to handle any import into the U.S., no matter what the commodity is. KlearNow is close to getting certified in Canada and the U.K., and plans to expand to Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Germany. KlearNow has about two dozen customers.

The Series A funding round was led by GreatPoint Ventures, with additional participation from Autotech Ventures, Argean Capital and Monta Vista Capital . Ashok Krishnamurthi, managing partner at GreatPoint Ventures, will join KlearNow's board. Daniel Hoffer from Autotech Ventures is joining as a board observer.

"This is a significant opportunity to transform an archaic industry that is key to global commerce," Krishnamurthi said in a statement.

The freight ecosystem is filled with different players from the factories and port authorities to the ship liners and the last-mile delivery companies. Each of them have their own systems.

"There's no one system that you can transmit the data to," KlearNow founder and CEO Sam Tyagi said in a recent interview. "So everybody dumps technology down to a PDF or a PNG or some sort of format that everybody can read. The broker gets those documents, and then they print it out  so now they become non-digital."

If you go to any customs brokers office they look like the old doctor's office where all those folders are there with nicely arranged, really organized but very manual process," he added. From here, Tyagi said, a broker will read off from those printed documents and type the information into another system that is communicated to Customs and Border Patrol's system.

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"It is very manual, it's very small, and they work in a siloed system," Tyagi said. "There is no visibility for the customer, or the importer, and it's very costly because of the manual intervention."

KlearNow developed a digital customs clearance platform that aims to be agnostic. This allows importers, customs brokers and freight forwarders to integrate with local customs authorities and conduct business on a single digital platform remotely and in real time. The platform automates this process to eliminate errors and reduces the time to clear customs. KlearNow says it can slash customs clearance times from hours to minutes.

The startup is also betting that its platform will find new customers in this remote work era that was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Custom brokers, who might normally travel into central offices and manage physical paperwork, are now faced with completing that task from home.

"Remote work is impossible for these people," because they often need to access large-format printers, Tyagi said.

The company said its digital platform can funnel new clients, like these newly remote workers, directly to brokers for global customs clearance.

Tyagi said the company has also added new capabilities in response to COVID-19, such as expediting their FDA module to clear much-needed medical supplies, and is temporarily offering free clearance for nonprofit organizations that are importing masks, hand sanitizers and ventilators.
The deadly epidemic of 1587 which changed the history of Sri Lanka By Dr. Ajith Amarasinghe View(s): View(s):

By 1587, King Rajasinghe of Seethavaka was the master of almost all of Sri Lanka, except Jaffanapattanum and Colombo fort. The Portuguese who had arrived in the island in 1505, after a series of humiliating military defeats at his hands,lost the kingdom of Kotte to him in 1565. Withdrawing from Kotte with their puppet King Dom Joao Dharmapala, the Portuguese were reduced to a bunch of sea pirates, stationed in the environs of Colombo fort. From here, they conducted sudden attacks on seaports and coastal villages, killing civilians, destroying temples, mosques and kovils, plundering the riches of merchants and holy places.

To drive away this menace forever, King Rajasinghe launched an unprecedented attack on Colombo fort in 1587. If not for a deadly epidemic which is scantly mentioned in history, he would have succeeded in overrunning the fort, and driving away a brutal enemy, making Sri Lanka a free country, within 82 years of its invasion by the Europeans.

As this period of Sri Lankan history is not well documented in Sinhala chronicles, one has to turn to the documents of historians of the Portuguese. Father Fernao De Queiroz writing of Rajasinghe says, he was a man so warlike and valiant that so far as his person was concerned he could be compared to Caesar at the same age, and to Alexander.

In April 1587,there were rumours that Rajasinghe was planning a massive attack on Colombo fort. In that era Colombo fort was confined to the current location of Fort, Colombo and surrounded by the Bairai Lake. Fortified with strong walls and bastions, there were about 60,000 people within the fort. Upon receiving information of the impending attack, Portuguese Captain Joao Correa who was in charge of the fort ordered its walls, watch towers and gun platforms to be repaired. They began to clear all the vegetation outside the fort, to have a better view of enemy movement. The island of Antonio de Mendoca (currently Slave Island)which was outside the city was made empty and all soldiers were withdrawn to the fort. The captain sent messages to the Portuguese garrisons in Mannar and Nagaputtanum, requesting them to send soldiers to save Colombo.

In May 1587, Rajasinghe began to march from Seethavaka with a 61,000 strong army divided among 187 captains. There were 1600 well trained gunmen, 10,000 ordinary gunmen and 400 bombardiers. They had 2200 bronze guns, big and small, 150 massive artillery guns, some of which were of 30 to 44 calibre and many more weapons. He also had a large amount of gunpowder, lead and cannonballs of different sizes. There were 150 war elephants and 2,080 ordinary elephants in his army and 4,000 oxen pulling carts. He also brought 600 blacksmiths to make arrow heads and 1000 carpenters for construction work. He brought along 10,000 levers, 2,000 pickaxes, 20,000 large knives and 6000 mattocks to make trenches and dig the walls of the fortress. His army consisted of many nationalities  Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malayalis, Javanese, Kaffirs and even some Portuguese defectors. To launch a seaborne attack from different ports of the island, he had 60 large and small ships and 200 small boats sail towards Colombo.

Rajasinghes massive army crossed the river Kelani and headed towards Colombo. Artillery guns began to fire at them from the fort but they took cover. On May 29, 1587, Rajasinghe encamped within the sight of the Colombo fort. Queiroz says they were so orderly, no commander in the world would have surpassed him.

Rajasinghe encamped at a higher point of land within the firing distance of the fort. The main obstacle for his army to get closer was the large body of water now known as Beira lake which was much wider at that time and deep enough for six ships. During a previous siege on Colombo these small ships caused immense losses to the Seethavaka armies. Thus Rajasinghe began to make a large ditch, strengthening it with two lines of mats and made a wall with junk. This ditch and the protective mound was about 3 km long. During its construction, the Portuguese were continuously firing from the ships and fort, killing many workers.

After making this temporary fortification Rajasinghe planned to drain the lake. He re-dug the previous canal he had made in his 1581 siege, which was nine metres deep and half a kilometre long and made another one kilometre long ditch. The canal was dug within 20 days, and the lake drained fast to the marshy lands around Colombo. The ships stranded in the middle of the lake were quickly brought towards the fort, where there was more water.

After fully draining the lake, Rajasinghe brought his men and material within six metres of the fort walls. He made stone walls, slanting walls, wooden barricades, trenches, small fortresses and rubble, which rendered the Portuguese cannon fire ineffective. A siege on the impenetrable Colombo fort began with most of Rajasinghes soldiers engaging in trench warfare.

In the smoke and noise of the bombardment of the fort with artillery and counter-fire by the Portuguese, the men could not see or hear each other. At times the Seethavaka soldiers climbing the walls of the fort were killed by gunfire, spikes and firepots thrown by the Portuguese and their local allies. War elephants attacking the walls with much ferocity and attempting to pull down the cannons too faced gunfire and fire pots and some turned on their masters. While the fighting was going on stone masons under cover of shields were attempting to dig the walls of the fort. Attacks and counter attacks continued for the next few months.

With limited food and water within the fort, soldiers and civilians began to eat anything available and sometimes resorted to cannibalism, eating the flesh of dead Seethavaka soldiers fallen close the walls of the fort. A few ships arrived with soldiers and provisions intermittently from Goa, the Portuguese capital of the East and other Portuguese strongholds but these meagre supplements could not turn the tide.

Realizing that the situation in Colombo was extremely precarious, the Viceroy of Goa decided that he should prepare the largest force that had taken part in any battle in the east, to be sent to Colombo. Manuoel de Souza, a former captain of Colombo who had encountered Rajasinghe in 1581,was made Captain- Major of the Sea of India and ordered to make preparations to land in Colombo. He sent messages to Melaka, Malaysia to send a large number of soldiers who were engaged in a war in Melakato Colombo and attack Rajasinghe along with the troops from India.

Turning the tide of the war, an unknown epidemic began to spread across the country in December 1587. By then a major drought had occurred  it had not rained for one year. In Portuguese historian Cuotos words there appeared a new and cruel sickness, which was general among the people of the country and it was so terrible, that on the account of the many that died, they thought that it was a poison that they (Portuguese) cast into their wells, wherefore all went about affrighted. The disease commenced in the feet with a swelling, which went ascending to the legs, and thence to the belly, and to the breast, there as soon as it touched the heart, it proved fatal, leaving those bodies deformed.

This disease had all the features of an epidemic of a severe and fatal viral infection, which caused liver failure within a short span of time. Influenza viruses are major causes of such viral infections. Cuoto says, As the sickness was new in that country and not known, nor had ever been seen by the natives, the physicians made an anatomy on one of those bodies to see if they could understand the disease in order to cure it, because it was going on increasingly greatly, and many were dying; and having viewed the intestines they found the livers apostemated (Pustule formation).

It was inferred that heat and humidity caused the illness. Many medications were given to victims, with no avail. At the end they made use of a fruit which they call gorsas (Goraka) which had some virtue, and with some other herbs; but as this also came to be exhausted, there did not fail to die many.

As the Seethavaka soldiers were from the countryside, living in close quarters and trenches, this disease would have spread like wildfire among them depleting their ranks. Portuguese historians do not say that it affected their soldiers  if so, it would have been definitely mentioned in their chronicles.

The effect it had on Rajasinghes camp is reflected by an incident in early January 1588, when a few ola leaves attached to arrows descended upon the fort. They carried a message from the King to the captain of the fort, requesting him to send an ambassador to discuss a peace treaty. In Rajasinghes military career spanning about four decades this is the only occasion he was agreeable to a truce. Knowing that he would receive help from Goa soon, the Portuguese captain decided to ignore the message. As the Portuguese were silent, the Seethavaka forces attacked the fort again on the 10th of January 1588. But subsequent attacks on the fort were weaker than before.

On the 18th of February Manuoel de Souza arrived in Colombo with 1,600 soldiers in great pomp and pageantry, saluting the city with cannon fire. Part of the armada which was sailing from Melaka was expected at any moment. On arrival, de Souza made preparations to attack the armies of Seethavaka, encamped just outside the fort walls.

Taking the Portuguese by surprise, on the night of 21st February around 9 p.m., a great fire was observed in the Seethavaka camp. Rajasinghe had decided to withdraw and had set fire to all the barricades, tents and trenches they had occupied for ten months. Burning was the main method of quelling disease spread in the medieval era and it is very likely Rajasinghe would have burned his entire camp to stop the deadly disease spreading.

The next few years were catastrophic for the king. His wife died the following year and there were a series of coups to assassinate him. In retaliation he mercilessly punished perpetrators, some of whom were Buddhist monks. This made him unpopular with his people. Finally, the kingdom of Kandy which was under him, was snatched by the joint forces of Kandyans and Portuguese. Returning from a battle in the Kandyan kingdom Rajasinghe died in March 1592, probably by poisoning of an inflicted wound.

Within two years his kingdom was captured by the Portuguese, who occupied the country extracting its riches, until they were expelled by another colonial power, the Dutch.

If not for the great epidemic of 1587, Rajasinghe would have captured Colombo, expelled the Portuguese, totally freeing the country from foreign domination.

(Dr. AjithAmarasinghe is a medical consultant and an independent researcher on history. He is a life

member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka)
A new weekly feature highlighting the artists and craftmakers who are working during the coronavirus crisis. If you would like to be featured, email margaretroddy@argus.ie

Artist Caroline Duffy is well used to working from the attic studio of her home in Medebawn, Avenue Road, but she's not used to having to work with her three young children at home.

She is, however, managing to combine her work as a textile designer with painting for pleasure.

'Usually I work when they are at school and for the first few days after the lockdown, I wasn't creating anything. Then, I just made myself do it and it was such a relief to be back at work.'

Caroline studied at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, where she fell in love with textiles and pattern.

She says she loved everything about it 'the colour, the feel of the fabric, how pattern flowed, the hand crafting, the digital manipulation, it was mesmerising and I was hooked.'

After graduating from college she spent ten years travelling and working for designers in New York, Sydney and London, working for some of the world's best loved brands including Oscar De La Renta, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Zara, Top Shop. She has designed for fashion, homeware and soft furnishing and her work has been showcased on the catwalk and in magazines.

Having spent most of her twenties living abroad, Caroline returned home to set up her own business, Caroline Duffy Designs.

Originally from Drogheda, she has settled in her husband Francis Martin's hometown and has no regrets.

'I love it here, I wouldn't go anywhere else!' she says.

She finds that there is a friendly and active arts scene in town and is a member of AXE (Art as Exchange) collective.

Working as a freelance textile designer, she collaborates with clients to create designs that 'follow trends, smash trends and set trends.'

She has found that her brief as changed since lockdown. With the fashion industry taking a major hit as shops have closed, she finds that her clients are looking to the future and commissioning designs which will be on trend when life returns to normal.

'I am actually lucky that I am still very busy.'

Her designs are inspired by the natural world around us, whether she's designing for homewares or fashion.

'My signature colourful pieces are inspired by nature - whether it's a floral print, the flow of water or texture of the sky.'

As she responds to the client's brief, she works in various styles, creating images which are digitally manipulated, pencil sketches, different paint and mark making techniques, drawing and photography to produce the desired effect on the design.

Alongside her freelance work, Caroline is using this time to create work for her own personal satisfaction.

'I'm setting aside an hour or so a day for painting,' she says. 'I'm an artist that is drawn to ebb and flow of nature and in particular, the spectacular variety of flowers.'

She paints in a variety of techniques using watercolour inks, acrylics and gouache paint, creating colourful floral paintings.

She has been posting images of her paintings on Instagram every day and is overwhelmed by the response. Much to her delight, most of her paintings have sold, with three of them destined to grace walls in the United States.

'I absolutely love what I do and am really privileged to be able to continue to work from home,' she says.

As she prepares to launch a new website, she has been working with local designers Gwen from 'The Digital Bakery', Gemma from 'Yarrow.ie' on photography, Michele from 'Vision Design' on creating a new logo.

To see more of her work, visit www.carolineduffydesigns.com
As part of efforts to support the Ghana Health Service in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in Ghana, the Western Regional Chapter of Mfantsipim Old Boys Association (MOBA-WR) has donated assorted items valued at 5,000 cedis to the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi.

Presenting the items which include, surgical gloves, face masks, sanitisers, tissue paper, detergents and Veronica buckets to the hospital, the Vice President of the Chapter, William Brown-Orleans said, the decision to equip the region's biggest health facility falls in line with the school's philosophy of "Dwen Hw Kan" which is a clarion call on Africans to be proactive by thinking and planning for the future.

He said Mfantsipim alumni in the region have also made cash contributions to the National COVID-19 Fund through their national association to complement the government's efforts in battling the pandemic.

The Medical Director at the hospital, Dr. Joseph Kojo Tambil lauded MOBA WR for the gesture and called on other organisations to assist the health sector through similar donations.

He described the donation as a timely intervention, noting that the facility faced a shortfall in stock of some of the personal protective equipment (PPE) provided.
WASHINGTON  Every evening from his kitchen table in southwestern Michigan, Representative Fred Upton, a moderate Republican running for his 18th term in office, posts a coronavirus dispatch for his constituents, highlighting his own efforts to respond to the crisis and the news from Washington, often with cameos from Democrats.

Absent from his Facebook updates are any mentions of President Trump, whose response to the pandemic has raised questions that threaten to drag down Republicans electoral prospects this fall, or of the presidents provocative news briefings, which have become a forum for partisan attacks on Democrats and dubious claims about the virus.

You have to sort of thread the needle, Mr. Upton said in an interview, explaining how he has tried to navigate Mr. Trumps performance during the crisis. Ive been careful. I said, Lets look to the future, versus Why didnt we do this a few months ago? Im not interested in pointing the finger of blame. I want to correct the issues.

It is a tricky task for lawmakers like Mr. Upton in centrist districts throughout the country, who understand that their re-election prospects  and any hope their party might have of taking back the House of Representatives  could rise or fall based on how they address the pandemic. Already considered a politically endangered species before the novel coronavirus began ravaging the United States, these moderates are now working to counter the risk that their electoral fates could become tied to Mr. Trumps response at a time when the independent voters whose support they need are increasingly unhappy with his performance.
Over a month after he was accused by a former staffer of sexual assault, Vice President Joe Biden has responded, denying the allegations.

"They arent true. This never happened," he said in a statement Friday.

Former Senate aide Tara Reade had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she worked in his office in 1993, when he was a senator from Delaware. She previously told the New York Times that Biden pinned her to a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing and penetrated her with his fingers. A friend of Reade's told the Times that she confided in them about the incident at the time that it happened, and another friend and a brother of Ms. Reades said she told them over the years about a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden. Earlier this week, Reade's former neighbor went on the record to say she recalled Reade telling her about the incident, telling Business Insider, "This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it."

"While the details of these allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated," Biden said in his statement. "One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and when they step forward they should be heard, not silenced. The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny. Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways."

In an interview with MSNBCs Morning Joe on Friday, Biden said of the allegations, "No, it is not true. Im saying unequivocally it never, never happened."

Joe Biden, asked on @Morning_Joe if he sexually assaulted Tara Reade:



No, it is not true. Im saying unequivocally it never, never happened. And it didnt. It never happened. pic.twitter.com/nXIAdGloG5  MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 1, 2020

Over the last few weeks, Biden has faced criticism for his slow response to the allegation, as well as calls for him to release his Senate papers, held at the University of Delaware.

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"The papers from my Senate years that I donated to the University of Delaware do not contain personnel files," he said in his statement.

RELATED: Hillary Clinton Officially Endorsed Joe Biden For President

In his statement, Biden emphasized his work on the Violence Against Women Act, and appeared to attempt to distinguish himself from President Donald Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault by at least 22 women.

"We have lived long enough with a President who doesnt think he is accountable to anyone, and takes responsibility for nothing. Thats not me," he wrote. "I believe being accountable means having the difficult conversations, even when they are uncomfortable. People need to hear the truth."
The Ector County Health Department website reported no new positive cases on Friday, the third straight day without any new cases. The total remains 78 cases, with three probable cases. ECHD reported that 58 people have recovered. There have been 1,300 tests taken, with 1,118 negative results and 104 pending results. ECHD has contacted 1,047 people during contact tracing.

With drive-thru testing, 129 people have called to be tested. The drive-thru testing has conducted 28 tests; all are pending.
The Government has criticised the EU for calling for post-Brexit customs plans around Northern Ireland border to be outlined. (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The Government has criticised the EU for calling for post-Brexit customs plans around Northern Ireland border to be outlined.

Downing Street said the European Commission (EC) had circulated a technical note without discussing it with London.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman added: "The EC has chosen to publish this technical note to set out its own views on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol.

"It was not shared at recent meetings with the UK, nor has it been agreed by the Government.

"Most strikingly, the note appears to miss the fundamental objective of the Northern Ireland protocol. There is no mention of the Belfast Agreement or the peace process anywhere.

"We are committed to compiling with our obligations under the protocol, just as we expect the EU to comply with theirs.

"We will continue to take forward discussions.

"It seems to be the EC's decision to publish this note, having not shared it at recent meetings with the UK, nor having agreed it with the Government."
On Wednesday morning, this states county elections administrators held a conference call with the Texas Secretary of States Office.

The subject of the call was what to do about the upcoming July 14 runoff elections.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (and social distancing restrictions that are only beginning to be lifted by the state), political watchers have questioned whether it will be safe for people to stand in line at polling sites  and whether nervousness about the safety issue will have a chilling effect on turnout.

As a result, the Texas Democratic Party has filed litigation in an effort to force the state to make mail-in ballots available to any eligible voters who apply for them. (The Texas Election Code restricts mail-in voting to those who are either 65 and over, disabled, out of the county or confined to jail.)

With that litigation tied up in the courts, elections administrators have been left to wonder how they should process mail-in applications.

On that Wednesday call, they got some clarity  or at least it seemed that way at first.

Their directive to us was that if we get an application and the voter just checked the disabled box, were not an investigative body; so we just have to take that, said Jacque Callanen, the Bexar County elections administrator.

But if we get an application where theyve written COVID-19 on it, we have to hold that one back, because if the (states legal) appeal goes through, then we send that person a rejection letter. And theres plenty of time to do that.

This was a reasonable, practical approach to a complicated legal situation: Temporarily set aside the applications that cite COVID-19 as the reason for mail-in voting, while accepting all disability claims.

Of course, this is Texas, where voting tends to be an obstacle course, so it didnt take long for Attorney General Ken Paxton to muddy up any newfound clarity.

On Friday afternoon, Paxton issued a letter of warning to county elections officials about accepting any mail-in applications that used disability as an excuse to cover COVID-19 anxiety.

Fear of contracting COVID-19 unaccompanied by a qualifying sickness or physical condition does not constitute a disability under the Texas Election Code for purposes of receiving a ballot by mail, Paxton said.

Accordingly, public officials shall not advise voters who lack a qualifying sickness or physical condition to vote by mail in response to COVID-19.

Paxtons warning was an obvious challenge to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who had announced Tuesday that Harris County will expand mail-in voting for both the July runoffs and the November general election.

Paxton made it clear hes willing to get punitive over this issue.

To the extent third parties advise voters to apply for a ballot by mail for reasons not authorized by the Election Code, Paxton wrote, such activity could subject those third parties to criminal sanctions.

It seems inevitable that well see an unusually high number of mail-in ballot applications in the coming months, given the public safety concerns created by the coronavirus. As Callanen points out, her elections department is not an investigative agency.

Paxton knows that, but as far as hes concerned, county elections officials have no discretion on the issue of what constitutes disability. How they are expected to enforce his directive, however, is anybodys guess.

District 23 hopeful hires Wolff staffer

Former Navy cryptologist Tony Gonzales has brought in Lauren Mandel, the former chief of staff to County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, to run his campaign in the 23rd Congressional District.

Gonzales faces Raul Reyes, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, in the Republican primary runoff.

Wolff, who is completing his third and final term on the Commissioners Court this year, gave his blessing to Mandels move.

With the upcoming election, its imperative Republicans pull together and help each other wherever possible, Wolff said in a statement. Ensuring a good man and patriot like Tony gets elected should be one of our top priorities.

During Laurens time in my office, she has been an outstanding leader as well as excelled in assisting me in running the day-to-day operations of the Precinct 3 office. She can and will bring the same level of expertise and dedication to Tonys campaign.

Gonzales also got a bit of encouraging news from a recent survey by Harper Polling, a GOP firm that conducts automated landline polls.

The survey of 300 Republican voters in District 23 was conducted from March 21-23, right around the time COVID-19 essentially shut down in-person campaigning for candidates across the state.

The survey had Gonzales at 56 percent to Reyes 13 percent, with a slightly larger margin (61 percent to 14 percent) among Republicans who voted in the March 3 primary.

Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Gilbert, become a subscriber. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
The history of the Met Gala can be divided into three eras: Eleanor Lambert's founding, the Diana Vreeland renaissance and the Anna Wintour empire.

Without these style icons, the Met Gala would merely be a fundraiser rather than the party of the year. One could even say that without these trailblazers, fashion wouldn't be included among the works of art that are currently displayed for the masses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, these timeless pieces would remain in the vaults of famous ateliers, collecting dust.

But Eleanor Lambert, among others, had a different vision for the ensembles designed by Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and designers across the world. As a fashion publicist, who founded the Council of Fashion Designers of America and New York Fashion Week, Eleanor believed that, contrary to popular belief, clothes and other garments hold as much value as the next Picasso or Michelangelo, thus earning a place among other historic items.

Of course, convincing the intellectuals of this idea took effort and a whole lot of money.

OMG Met Gala Looks of All-Time

But having earned her spot among the elites in New York had its advantages. For one, Lambert had access to the people with deep pockets. Secondly, her experience as a publicist gave her the know-how for garnering attention for a great cause.

With these two things in mind, invitations were sent out to New York's upper echelon and higher-ups from the fashion industry in 1948, welcoming them to an elegant dinner and reminding them to bring their checkbooksthey would need it.

In the early years, the dinner cost $50 to attend, equivalent to $550 in 2020, and was hosted at New York City hotspots like the Rainbow Room, Central Park or the Waldorf Astoria. It was a quaint, intimate soiree for the elite of the elite that would keep the Costume Institute afloat for the years to come.

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And though Lambert's dinner marked the opening of a new exhibit, as tradition dictates, themes weren't introduced until Vogue's former editor Diana Vreeland came into the picture in 1972.

Met Gala, Vogue 1974

Fresh off her role as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue, Vreeland was seeking a new position to fuel her lust for creativity and all-around extravagance. Her A-list entourage, which included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, knew of such desires and are rumored to have "raised enough money to fund her salary for the first two years," according to Architectural Digest.

With a salary financed, Diana was brought on as a consultant for the Costume Institute in 1972, thus bringing about a flurry of changes that altered the course of history. Gone were the drab dinners in the Waldorf Astoria and in its place were grandiose themed parties in the Met.

From that point on, the event would be recognized as the Met Ball, a name more fitting for a gathering of its stature. Although, informally it was dubbed the "Party of the Year" or the "Oscars of the East Coast," due to the rapidly growing guest list filled with entertainers, politicians and actors.

Met Gala, Jackie Onassis

Unlike her predecessor, Vreeland was open to entertaining all guests, even if they weren't considered New York's elite. It made no difference to her if Bianca Jagger and Diana Ross were mixing and mingling with politicians or socialites. Vreeland was more concerned with the small details, like the odor of the Met basement.

According to New York magazine, she once requested the scent of Opium be pumped into the room for a 1980 exhibit about China. On another occasion, she had Chanel Cuir de Russie spritzed about.

Such demands were unconventional for the time, but as one museum official told The New York Times Magazine in 1981, "Forget her lack of integrity to a period; she gives visibility to the Costume Institute no money could buy."

Diana acknowledged in the same piece that she was "difficult" to work with, but she wouldn't settle for anything less than beautiful. Like the 18th century women she adored, Vreeland believed, "Giving pleasure and being attractive was a duty."

Met Gala, Princess Diana

She continued to uphold these beliefs until the end of her life in 1989. Her final exhibit was The Age of Napoleon, although many say the Vreeland Years ended in 1994, a year before Anna Wintour would come in guns ablazing.

By 1995, the relationship between Vogue and the Met was firmly cemented, so it only made sense for the latest Editor-in-Chief to assume the role of chairwoman. By 2005, the Met Gala wasn't just "the party of the year," it was "Anna Wintour's party of the year."

Aesthetically, the editor changed nothing. The Met Ball was still as grand and over-the-top as Diana Vreeland had imagined it. What Anna Wintour brought, however, was an air of sophistication and exclusivity. Diana might've welcomed the star power, but Anna did so much more.

In the 2005 documentary, First Monday in May, it was revealed that Anna's influence went beyond seating arrangement. Though the documentary largely focused on the exhibit, Wintour was seen deciding which celebrities that each designer or brand would be allowed to invite, thus determining the appearance of the stars.

Met Gala, Andre Leon Talley, Anna Wintour

As a Hollywood Reporter source previously explained, "Vogue brings the designers' clothes up to the magazine. They lay it all out and then they pair celebrities with the designers and their gowns. The level of control is amazing. The invasion of Baghdad was nothing compared to this. If Michael Kors is coming, Anna is deciding which celebrity will wear Michael Kors and which Michael Kors outfit the celebrity will wear."

She and the Met team took it a step further when they stated on their 2014 invitations that "gentlemen are to be dressed in white tie" while women would be dressed in evening gowns. Additionally, they implemented a strict social media ban in 2015although the celebs found a loophole in this by taking a now-historic selfie in the museum bathroom.

Though they never gave a reason for this request, one can surmise it's because Anna found it necessary. In 2005, she told New York magazine that she felt the ball had "lost its glamour."

And while it's not strictly required to adhere to the theme, it's expected that attendees dress in appropriate fashion.

Such rules, spoken or otherwise, are what helped to elevate this gala and charity to a whole new level, not only in terms of popularity but in its ability to raise money. 2019 was a record-breaking year for the Costume Institute as the Notes on Camp ball raised $15 million.

In the future, planning the Met Gala will prove to be a challenge, as Wintour and her team try to top that of the years previous. But with the coronavirus leading to the 2020 Gala being postponed indefinitely, it seems the fashion world will have to patiently wait to see what magic they can pull off for the About Time exhibit.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The fate of seven Manipur Congress MLAs hangs in the balance as the Speakers tribunal will hear disqualification petitions against them on May 8.

The matter has been already listed.

Ostensibly to mount pressure on Speaker Y Khemchand, the opposition Congress on Saturday announced that it would file a disqualification petition in the Supreme Court against the seven MLAs who had sided with the BJP and are supporting the state's BJP-led coalition government.

The announcement was made by party MLA Keisham Meghachandra Singh.

Congress spokesman Ningombam Bupenda Meitei tweeted: "Time has come for the Speaker to uphold the integrity to protect our Constitution by honouring its 10th Schedule, both in spirit and action."

ALSO READ | Now, virus in carcasses from China said to be behind deaths of 2200 pigs in Assam

When the Speaker hears the petitions, what will be at the back of his mind is a recent judgment of the apex court. After hearing a disqualification petition filed by Congress MLAs Meghachandra and Fajur Rahim, the Supreme Court had in March this year stripped the state's Cabinet Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar Singh of his office and banned his entry into the Assembly. Subsequently, the Speaker had disqualified Shyamkumar as a member of the Assembly.

The Congress said in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh versus Manipur Assembly Speaker and others case, the SC gave a maximum period of three months for the Speaker to decide on all pending matters under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

But even if the seven MLAs are disqualified, the N Biren Singh government will not be reduced to a minority. In the 60-member Manipur House that now has an effective strength of 59, BJP and allies have 39 members and Congress 20.

The Congress is optimistic about forming the government with support from BJP's current allies. Ironically, the party could not retain power despite emerging as the single largest party with 28 MLAs in the 2017 elections. The BJP had won 21 seats but still managed to cobble up the numbers.


REGINA - Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says a rapidly spreading outbreak of COVID-19 in a northern community is concerning.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, speaks at a COVID-19 news update at the Legislative Building in Regina on Wednesday March 18, 2020. Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says a rapidly spreading outbreak of COVID-19 in a remote northern is concerning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell

REGINA - Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says a rapidly spreading outbreak of COVID-19 in a northern community is concerning.

Dr. Saqib Shahab says 19 of 26 new cases announced Friday come from in and around La Loche, a Dene village about 600 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, where the virus is spreading through community transmission after initially arriving from someone who had travelled from northern Alberta.

"While the number of cases is very alarming, we also have to recognize that this is a product of very aggressive contact tracing and very aggressive testing," he told a news conference.

"Teams are going door-to-door, house-to-house, screening, testing. And so you'll find more cases than you would have found otherwise."

Health officials noted there could be language barriers and some locals have partnered with clinical staff to help communicate.

Between 50 to 100 health authority staff are set to be in the community for added support after a call-out was issued earlier in the week.

Sending staff to homes is being done to try and control the spread of the virus, since testing and contact tracing aren't enough, said Shahab.

"People who are symptomatic need to isolate at home. And if that's not possible due to crowding or other challenges, they can be offered alternate accommodation."

Late Friday, the Saskatchewan Health Authority declared another COVID-19 outbreak in Beauval, a village about 215 kilometres south of La Loche.

Officials made the declaration citing an increasing number of cases.

A contact tracing investigation was underway but the number of people infected with the virus was not released.

"We are asking that anyone who may have travelled through the community of Beauval between April 12 and April 27 should self-monitor for any symptoms of COVID-19," the authority said in an email.

Despite outbreaks in the north and at two hospitals, Shahab said the rest of the province remains quiet on the COVID-19 front.

An outbreak was declared at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert after a patient admitted on April 21 tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. The patient initially tested negative before they went to the hospital.

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The CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority also said officials should have informed people sooner about an outbreak at the hospital in Lloydminster on the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary, where both staff and patients have been infected.

That outbreak was announced on Wednesday, with at least 13 of the cases tied to the hospital, although officials knew earlier.

"We've unknowingly and ... not purposefully have raised the anxiety in that community and we will do our very, very best in the future for this not to happen again," said Scott Livingstone, head of the health authority.

Saskatchewan has so far recorded 415 cases of COVID-19, with 297 people recovered. Six people have died.

The province is planning to lift some public health restrictions starting Monday that would see some services and business reopen after they were closed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 1, 2020.
United States District Judge Marcia G. Cooke, a federal judge in Miami, has ordered the release of most U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at three Florida facilities on Thursday, according to a recent article.

Cooke cited the ICE authorities' failure "to protect the safety and general well-being of the petitioners," "cruel and unusual punishment," and "deliberate indifference" to the conditions at these facilities amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

The federal judge also pointed out that social distancing in some of these facilities is not implemented.

"Further, ICE has failed to provide detainees in some detention centers with masks, soap and other cleaning supplies, and failed to ensure that all detainees housed at the three detention centers can practice social distancing," Cooke wrote.



Check these out!



Meanwhile, two guards at an immigration detention center in Louisiana have died after testing positive for COVID-19. Relatives of both Carl Lenard, 62, and Stanton Johnson, 51, claimed the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, had at one point told them not to wear masks as the virus spread through the facility.

Immigration rights activists claim many of the detention facilities are unhygienic and increase the chances of infecting their detainees.

Rebecca Sharpless, director of the University of Miami School of Law's Immigration Clinic, asserted that ICE would essentially find a loophole just to keep the detainees in its custody by moving some of them to other facilities.

In a media statement, Sharpless said that "judicial oversight is sorely needed" because these detainees live in "crowded conditions" where they eat and sleep "within less than six feet of one another."

It can be recalled that a few days ago, ICE lawyers told a federal court in Miami that it has "no basis" for any oversight of "ICE's administration of its sound policies."

"Such an order is unnecessarily broad, unduly burdensome and unwarranted," the agency said in a filing Friday. The Herald pointed out that it said: "a twice-weekly report would not yield more meaningful information than a report filed once every two weeks, or, at a minimum, once a week."

According to ICE, it has about 30,000 people detained and started testing its detainees. As of this writing, the agency said it has tested 705 detainees but expects to receive 2,000 tests a month from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ramp up testing.

As of this writing, the United States has already recorded 1.13 million COVID-19 cases nationwide, with 65,603 deaths.

According to an article by Latin Post, mass releasing of detainees, as requested by Cooke, will only be a mistake and may do more harm than good because they may endanger public safety, especially if it involves those with criminal records.

Furthermore, ICE lawyers insist that releasing the detainees may also increase their risk of getting infected with COVID-19.
When the Trump administrations $2 trillion coronavirus relief package passed, undocumented immigrants were excluded from the federal stimulus aid.

But millions of U.S. citizens also were not eligible for the stimulus checks  because theyre married to undocumented spouses. Families with citizen children also wont get aid if one parent is undocumented.

Its been a really hard time. Feeling completely left out of this, said Christina Segundo-Hernandez, a U.S. citizen and mother of four in Fort Worth, whose husband is undocumented. Im an American citizen. I was born here. My children were born here. But I feel like Im less of an American.

In the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, any American who filed income taxes jointly with someone who uses a taxpayer number, known as an ITIN, instead of a Social Security number is ineligible for a stimulus check. Most undocumented immigrants, who dont get Social Security numbers, use ITINs to open bank accounts and file taxes.

That makes families with an undocumented parent also ineligible for the bonus payments that come with having children.

Millions of American citizens  were denied thousands of their own taxpayer dollars when they needed economic relief most from their government, said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Leaving these families out to pass coronavirus legislation was a grave injustice.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

About 1.2 million citizens and 746,000 legal residents are married to undocumented immigrants, according to Migration Policy Institutes 2016 figures. And more than 3.2 million U.S. citizen children have at least one undocumented parent.

Suit against the feds

This week, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund sued the federal government, arguing that the CARES Act discriminates against mixed-status couples. Segundo-Hernandez is one of six plaintiffs in the case brought by the civil rights group, which was founded in San Antonio.

The Houses original version of the legislation included provisions for citizens in mixed-status families, but they were excluded in the Republican-majority Senate bill. Republican proponents of the final bill argued that it ensured that citizens were prioritized over immigrants who are living here illegally.

I would say this is a monumental injustice, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

We also must use it as a bridge. I think if the American people understood clearly the injustice of it all, they would see the other injustice in all kinds of lack of access, whether its health care and the rest, she said.

Democratic lawmakers and immigrant advocates say that under a staggering economic crisis, this is when Americans need the aid most  especially when many undocumented immigrants and their families work in jobs now deemed essential in the coronavirus pandemic, including truck drivers, health care workers and farmworkers.

On ExpressNews.com: Animals in the field: Texas farmworkers struggle without aid and coronavirus protection

U.S. citizen children, little children, who live in a household with an undocumented parent, are not receiving the critical financial support they need. That money could be their next meal, shirt on their back, so many other things they need, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York.

Pretty rough for family

Segundo-Hernandez, a UPS package handler, and her husband have seen their hours cut because of the pandemic. With four kids ages 5 to 11, including one with autism, Segundo-Hernandez said that its been pretty rough not having that extra bit of money that everybody else is getting.

We have a right as Americans to marry who we want to marry, she said. And have kids with who we want to have children with.

She said that if she received a stimulus check, shed spend it on the familys basic needs: Fill up my refrigerator, pay up my bills.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net | @silviaelenaff
Fingal Arts Office is continuing to support Fingal's professional artists through a range of initiatives.

In addition to offering ongoing one-to-one clinic with artists, the office is delighted to announce supports for both professional writers and visual artists.

In partnership with Graphic Studio Dublin, the Council is offering a fine art print residency for a professional artist at any stage of their career, working in any discipline, who is interested in exploring print processes. The two-week long residency will provide an ideal environment for the development of a creative project in printmaking working with a master printer. The closing date for this award is Thursday, April 30 2020 at 4pm.

To support our writers in the County, they have partnered with Words Ireland to offer a mentorship programme. The mentoring is open to emerging and published writers who want to develop their work and consists of four meetings with an experienced writer over a period of up to approximately six months. The closing date for this award is Monday, May 4 2020 at 12 noon.

Finally, the Council is pleased to announce the Loughshinny Boathouse Artists' Studio Open Call. The recently restored former boathouse is in the beautiful setting of Loughshinny, a coastal village that lies between Rush and Skerries.

The dramatic location of the boathouse on the water's edge and at one end of the harbour offers a unique fully subsidised workspace for professional artists. The studio, which is non-residential, is available for three months to one year from January 2021 and is open to Irish and international artists at all stages in their professional careers, working in all disciplines. The objective of the studio is to provide a working space for professional artists to develop their artistic practice within the rural context of Fingal. The closing date for this award is Friday, July 31 at 4pm.

Cllr Aaron O'Rourke, chair of the Community Development, Heritage, Culture and Creativity SPC said: 'Fingal County Council is a strong supporter of those who bring culture and the Arts to the fore and it is imperative to ensure that artists can avail of various options designed to help them achieve creative prospects during this unprecedented period. We send our solidarity to all artists and recognise their sacrifices at this time.'

Sarah O'Neill Deputy Arts Officer said: 'These are deeply worrying and challenging times for artists many of whom have lost their income. We are aware this very difficult situation and want to reassure artists that they can rely on our continued support through professional development opportunities.'

Director of Community & Housing Margaret Geraghty added: 'It is important now more than ever that Fingal County Council continue to work in supporting all those individuals and organisations that make a positive contribution to the cultural life of Fingal.'

For further information on any of the opportunities please log onto www.fingalarts.ie or www.fingal.ie/arts.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:25:53|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

PARIS -- The French government has decided to extend the state of health emergency until July 24 to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Minister of Health Olivier Vrran announced on Saturday.

The state of health emergency, installed since March 24, is to be extended because lifting it, as previously scheduled on May 23, "would be premature" as the risks of an epidemic resurgence are present, the minister told a press conference.

- - - -

BUCHAREST -- Moldovan Interior Minister Pavel Voicu announced Saturday on his social media account that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Voicu became the first senior official infected in the country.

"I want to confirm that following the testing procedure for the new virus infection, yesterday I was confirmed positively with a mild form of COVID-19," the minister wrote in a Facebook post.

- - - -

DHAKA -- Bangladesh has reported 552 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths in the last 24 hours.

The total number of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh now stands at 8,790 after the country recorded 552 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the figures from the Health Ministry showed on Saturday.

- - - -

MANILA -- The Philippines has released a total of 9,731 inmates in an apparent move to decongest jails as the country grapples with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, Associate Supreme Court Justice Mario Victor Leonen said on Saturday.

Leonen said the move followed a directive to lower courts to free those prisoners awaiting trial who can not afford bail.

- - - -

KAMPALA -- The Ugandan military has immediately suspended the rotation of its peacekeeping troops to Somalia and capacity building in Equatorial Guinea over COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson said Saturday.

Brig. Richard Karemire, Ugandan military spokesperson told Xinhua by telephone that Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) high command took a decision to protect thousands of troops in foreign missions.

- - - -

YINCHUAN -- Chinese medical experts returned home Saturday after completing their mission to help fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The medical team composed of eight experts, who were selected by the health commission of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Enditem
PATNA: Bihar reported its second Covid-19 death in as many days when a patient, suffering from lung cancer, died in Patna Saturday in what was the fourth reported fatality to the fast spreading contagion in the state.

A 45-year-old male from Sitamarhi, admitted at the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) on April 30, died on Saturday due to co-morbidity, said its superintendent Dr Nirmal Kumar Sinha.

His 40-year-old spouse, who also tested positive for the virus, is undergoing treatment at the NMCH, after being admitted there on April 30, said Dr Mukul Kumar Singh, NMCH epidemiologist.

The cancer patient deteriorated very fast. He became unconscious last night and we believe the patient suffered brain metastasis (development of secondary malignant growths). He did not show typical Covid-19 symptom of severe acute breathlessness either last night or before his death this morning, said Dr Sinha.

The cancer patient was undergoing treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai. Our doctors did not interfere with the TMH line of treatment for cancer, except for treating him for coronavirus, added Dr Sinha.

A case of terminal stage lung malignancy, the patient had returned from TMH, Mumbai, to Sitamarhi on April 28 and admitted at NMCH on April 30, said Bihars principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar in a tweet.

Bihar, with a case fatality rate of 0.84%, still fared better than the national average of 3.2%, which accounted for 65% male and 35% female till Thursday.

All the four Covid-19 deaths in Bihar are of male aged 38, 35, 54 and 45 from Munger, Vaishali, East Chamapran (Motihari) and Sitamarhi districts, respectively. All of them had co-morbidity, with two patients suffering from renal failure and two others from cancer of the oesophagus and lungs, said health officials.

Meanwhile, 15 new cases of coronavirus were reported Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 481 in the state so far.

Six cases were reported from Bhojpur, three from Kaimur, two each from Buxar and Katihar, and one each from Saran and Araria.

The 481 Covid-19 cases were spread across 30 of Bihars 38 districts, with Munger topping the list at 95. It was followed by Buxar (53), Rohtas (52), Patna (44), Nalanda (36), Siwan (30), Kaimur (27), Gopalganj, Madhubani, Bhojpur (18 each), Begusarai (11), Aurangabad (8), Saran (7), Gaya, Sitamarhi (6 each), Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, West Champaran, East Champaran (5 each), Lakhisarai, Arwal, Nawada, Jehanabad, Katihar (4 each), Banka, Vaishali (3 each), Madhepura, Araria (2 each), Purnea, Sheikhpura (1 each).

So far, 107 patients of coronavirus had been discharged after recovery from government facilities in the state.

Bihar, with a case recovery rate of 22% was marginally behind the national average of 25% on Thursday.

Of the 107 recoveries, the NMCH topped the list with 64. Our recovery rate of asymptomatic cases or those having mild symptoms of coronavirus, with no co-morbidity is almost 100%, said Dr Kumar.

Seven patients had recovered from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital in Bhagalpur, two from the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital in Gaya and one from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna. Besides these four dedicated Covid-19 medical college hospitals in the state, patients had also recovered were discharged from government facilities in Gopalganj, Chapra, Siwan, Nawada, Begusarai and Nalanda.

After its initial order of March 13, the state health department Saturday also extended its order cancelling leaves, other than study and maternity, of its healthcare personnel till May 31 in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government has been warned about privacy issues in its new contact-tracing app, as research suggests that Google technology used in other similar apps may lead to individuals being identified or being tracked for ads.

The Trinity College Dublin (TCD) report, from Professor Douglas Leith and Stephen Farrell, comes as pressure mounts on Health Minister Simon Harris and the HSE to disclose what technology will be used in Ireland's contact-tracing app.

Fears have arisen that the app may inadvertently allow agencies or companies to identify and track citizens.

Earlier this week, Mr Harris admitted that public take-up would be crucial.

"This will only work if the people of Ireland download it," he told the Dail on Thursday. "Otherwise, it won't make a blind bit of difference."

Experts say take-up of more than 60pc of smartphone users is needed.

The TCD report examined the role of privacy and Google in Singapore's OpenTrace app, often a focus for European governments exploring their own potential apps, as a case study.

It found that analytics owned by Google and used by the Singapore app make it possible for users to be identified.

It also quotes Google's own literature around its Firebase analytics, citing ad-tracking as a potential use.

The study recommends that Singapore remove the Google analytics from the contact-tracing app.

"There's an obvious potential conflict of interest," said Professor Leith.

"In this case, it's a company whose business model is collecting personal data for commercial use. It can be done inadvertently because of the rush to produce an app quickly and all of the pressure to do this."

Spokespeople for Google, the HSE and Nearform, the company designing Ireland's app, declined to comment.
Over the past week, Australias Liberal-National government has taken an increasingly provocative stand against China, lining up behind Washingtons desperate bid to falsely blame Beijing for the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government began the week by becoming the first, and initially only, country in the world to call for an international inquiry into origins and handling of the pandemic. While couched in neutral terms, the call was obviously directed against China, feeding into the Trump administrations unsubstantiated claims that the virus was let loose from a Wuhan laboratory.

Any genuine proposal for an inquiry would have required consultation with all the countries affected, including China, as well as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. Instead, it was launched unilaterally on Australian television by Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Washingtons hand was displayed a few days later when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised the call, urged all of our partners to support it, and accused China of applying economic coercion to Australia. Pompeos intervention came as Trump, backed by the US Democrats, stepped up Washingtons aggressive witch hunt against China, threatening massive trade and financial retaliation.

The Trump administrations accusations against China are clearly an attempt to deflect attention from its own criminally negligent response to the virus that has resulted in more than 60,000 deaths in the US so far. Reputable scientific studies have established that COVID-19 was not produced in laboratory but is a result of zoonotic transfer from animals to humans.

Equally, attempts to foist responsibility on Beijing for allegedly covering up the coronavirus fly in the face of the record. China informed the WHO of the previously unknown disease on January 3 and the US and international media began reporting on the disease, based on medical data rapidly supplied by China.

Canberras pro-US and anti-China stance has been so strident that it has brought to the surface sharp conflicts within the Australian ruling class, sections of which rely heavily on exports to China, or revenue from Chinese students and tourists. Two Western Australian billionaires, iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest and media mogul Kerry Stokes, have publicly opposed the governments provocative call for an international inquiry.

On Wednesday, Forrest invited a Chinese consul-general, Long Zhou, to address a media conference to announce that Forrest had used his extensive top-level Chinese connections to secure 10 million badly-needed COVID-19 testing kits for Australia. After being denounced and ridiculed by Morrison and other government leaders for doing so, Forrest published a media column today, saying he remained unapologetic to those who think racism or isolationism is a viable path for Australia.

On Thursday, Stokes used a front-page interview of the West Australian newspaper, which he controls, to denounce those who poke our biggest provider of income in the eye. He predicted the Australian dollar would plunge in value to US25 cents if China cut all trade with Australia.

Regardless of the pairs anxious warnings, however, the political establishment has escalated its offensive, taking to a new level its commitment to the US ruling elites determination to prevent China from challenging its post-World War II hegemony over the Indo-Pacific and internationally.

Payne and Morrison bluntly accused China of economic coercion after Beijings Australian ambassador Cheng Jingye told the Australian Financial Review on Monday that the governments pursuit of an inquiry could spark a Chinese consumer boycott of students and tourists visiting Australia, as well as beef and wine sales.

Chengs reference to students pointed to another aspect of the Morrison governments anti-China offensive. In a bid to end Australian universities reliance on foreign studentsespecially from Chinathe government has vindictively refused to assist these hundreds of thousands of students now facing the destruction of their part-time jobs, and instead told them to go home. As a result, over the next three years alone, the universities collectively face the loss of $19 billion in revenue.

Chengs comments also came after the Trump administration last week provocatively sent US warships, accompanied by an Australian Navy frigate, into the South China Sea near Malaysia, where China and Vietnam also have competing claims.

Throughout the week, the language of the government and sections of the media has become increasingly rabid in its nationalism and anti-Chinese demagogy. Sydney Morning Herald international and political editor Peter Hartcher ratcheted up his previous claims of a Chinese Communist Party conspiracy to take over Australia with the help of local rats, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows.

Borrowing a quote from Zack Cooper, a former Pentagon and White House official who is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington neoconservative think tank, Hartcher declared: Capitulation is Australias path to vassaldom.

Hartcher wrote: Australia has arrived at its moment of truth. Denouncing Forrest and Stokes as craven characters, he insisted: It is now presented with the explicit choice between sovereignty and money.

Hartcher turned reality on its head. He accused Beijing of publicly bullying Australian governments, as it had been doing previously behind closed doors. The historical record, including the sacking of the Whitlam government in 1975 and the removal of Kevin Rudd in 2010, shows that it is the US ruling elite that has intervened repeatedly to enforce its interests, utilising its military might and substantial financial investment in Australia.

The Australian has gone into overdrive, slavishly regurgitating Washingtons line that China is entirely responsible for the pandemic, and accusing Forrest and Stokes of disloyalty to the nation. Business must not dictate the nations foreign policy, its May 1 editorial stated. Citing warnings by a former Australian intelligence chief, it declared that Forrest is on dangerous ground in wading into the Australia-China relationship.

The opposition Labor Party, via its shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong, not only endorsed the governments inquiry call. Labor senator Kimberley Kitching said Stokes and Forrest could face legal action under the draconian foreign interference legislation pushed through in 2018. If Mr Stokes or Mr Forrest are going to advocate foreign policy positions that sound very similar to those pushed by foreign governments, they need to be mindful of the Foreign Influence Transparency laws, she warned.

A schism appeared in the Labor Party, however, with Western Australian (WA) Premier Mark McGowan aligning himself with Forrest and Stokes. He said economic recovery depended on good relations with China and other export markets. Our trade keeps the national income alive and our company tax revenues keep the federal budget alive, he asserted.

WA is the worlds biggest producer of iron ore, with BHP, Rio Tinto and Forrests Fortescue Metals Group exporting hundreds of millions of tonnes of ore to China each year. This underscores Australian capitalisms acute vulnerability to the escalating US-China confrontation.

Nonetheless, in the interests of the dominant financial elite, successive governmentsLiberal-National and Labor alikehave increasingly placed Australias population on the front line of a potentially catastrophic war that would be fought with nuclear weapons. This week marks a sharp intensification of that danger.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has said how it is essential to work on full implementation of Minsk Agreements, including ceasefire in the east of Ukraine.

"Followed closely yesterday's Normandy meeting of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia. Full EU support to implementation of measures agreed at Paris Summit on December 9, 2019," Borrell said.

"Essential to keep working on full implementation of Minsk agreements, including lasting & comprehensive ceasefire. Even more urgent given COVID-19," he said.
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Sonora, CA  A life-long resident, former mayor and Tuolumne County supervisor has passed.

Terzich & Wilson Funeral Home released official word Friday that Larry Rotelli died at his Sonora residence on Thursday at the age of 83. Born in Sonora on August 10, 1936, he spent decades serving the community as a business owner and local lawmaker. He also served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War for 13 months before returning join the family business.

According to Dixie, his wife of 58 years, Rotellis grandfather Fredrico, an Italian immigrant, founded Sonora Refuse with a wagon, a cow and a horse around 1920. The company passed down to his father, then to him, and although Larry sold the business in the 1980s, he continued driving garbage trucks for Cal Sierra until retiring.

While chairman of the Tuolumne County Supervisors, was featured on the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, who did a human interest piece on his political campaign, which highlighted his run for office as the Supervisor Garbage Man.

Dixie recalls, When he started school he could not speak English, he spoke Italian and got teased something fierce in school for that and because his Dad was a garbageman. He was a hard-working man and extremely proud that he got into politics. She laughs, remembering their shared sense of humor and one of his campaign slogans: He may be smelly but Vote Rotelli.

A Lifelong Love Of Community Service

Rotelli represented his district on the Tuolumne Board of Supervisors for many years, 14 years before that on the Sonora City Council. He was Sonoras mayor for two years and chairman of the Board of Supervisors for five. Dixie says her husband and she are happy that the 24-acre former burn dump property off Stockton Road was able to be repurposed as a place that helps those less fortunate, and help keeps them off the streets.

He was loved by his family and be me, I was absolutely crazy about him, she adds. Not that everything was perfect but we never went to bed without saying I love you, see you in the morninghe was just a good guy. I didnt know anybody who didnt like him. In addition to his wife, Larry is survived by his three children and six grandchildren.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 13:01:06|Editor: huaxia

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by Federico Grandesso

PRATO, Italy, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The way the Chinese community has responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 has exerted a positive influence on local citizens, Matteo Biffoni, mayor of central-northern Italian city Prato, has told Xinhua.

Recalling that at the beginning of the outbreak, many Italians thought the novel coronavirus was a distant issue, Biffoni said the fact that the Chinese community took the virus very seriously at the very early stage "had a positive impact on our citizens and therefore we were better prepared when the storm arrived here."

Now almost three months later, there has not been a single Chinese infection reported in Prato, about one eighth of whose total population is ethnic Chinese, according to data on the city's government website. The city is below the regional and national average in coronavirus infections.

"In January, the Chinese community closed their shops and factories ... Everybody started using masks. A food delivery service was put in place and the Chinese started going out less and less," Biffoni said.

"When the virus arrived in Europe ... Italians understood that the Chinese took all these measures because it was a very dangerous infection," he said.

"The Italians recognized a strong sense of responsibility from the Chinese community. It means that this Asian community showed strong attachment to our city. Also at the political level, everybody appreciated the attitude of the Chinese during this crisis," the mayor said.

Prato has received lots of personal protective equipment, including masks and hand sanitizers, from China, he said. "Some are still coming while the flux will continue also in the future."

Weathering the pandemic together is a valuable experience. "This will mark the relationship between our communities, which I imagine will be even closer," he said.

Prato, the capital of Prato Province, is a historically multicultural city.

A globalized world must not only focus on the interests of a few people, but on the interests of everybody, the mayor said.

Biffoni urged deeper global cooperation, noting that other than diplomatic ties, communication among people is also very important. "This is increasingly necessary because the message that has come to us is that we risk being fragile if we don't intervene (act) together."
Dateline What Does COVID-19 Mean for Myanmars Peace Process?

--

Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, the panel will participate in discussions from home via videoconferencing like we did on last weeks program. Well discuss the prospects for peace in Myanmar amid the COVID-19 pandemic and whether mutual understanding can be built between ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) themselves and between EAOs and the Tatmadaw [the Myanmar military]. Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Karen National Union (KNU) Padoh Mahn Nyein Maung has joined me from his home in Su Taung Pyae Village of [Ayeyarwady Regions] Pantanaw Township. Im The Irrawaddy Burmese editor Ye Ni.

Good morning, Sayar. Thank you for participating in The Irrawaddys Dateline program.

Padoh Mahn Nyein Maung: Thank you. Happy New Year!

YN: The Presidents Office issued a statement on Tuesday, forming a coordinating committee to work with EAOs to contain the spread of COVID-19 in ethnic areas. Clashes between the Tatmadaw and EAOs have decreased in most of the conflict zones except in Rakhine State. There has been no fighting in the Palaung area [in Shan State, also known as the Taang people] where fierce clashes took place recently and the fight against COVID-19 is taking priority. The government has adopted a no one left behind policy to fight COVID-19 everywhere in its territory, aiming to tackle the pandemic together with the EAOs.

My understanding is that the government has formed the coordinating committee to implement that policy. There are previous examples that show an understanding could be built during crisis and peace could be achieved after the crisis is over. In a recent example, the legacy of the tsunami brought peace between the Indonesian military and rebels in Aceh in 2004. Do you expect the cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 will boost the prospects for peace in Myanmar?

PMNM: Yes, I hope so. As we are distant from each other [in ideological foundations] and particularly as the peace process has been slow, I hope things will improve if [the Tatmadaw] cooperates based on mutual understanding with the EAOs in the COVID-19 response and there are more frequent communications.

YN: The coordinating committee led by Dr. Tin Myo Win [physician of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and vice-chairman of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC)] is tasked with handling migrants who return to Myanmar across the border, sharing information on containment of the coronavirus and providing technical assistance. Recently, over 3,000 people who returned from China were placed under quarantine in Mongla in eastern Shan State. The Union government has supplied rice and oil to feed them. Can these moves be interpreted as positive steps? What else do you think can be done?

PMNM: The forming of the coordinating committee is a move that we should welcome. This is a very good move. As we have regular contact with those leaders [regarding the peace process] and we know each other well, I believe the cooperation will be successful. It would be better if the Union government could provide material support on a wide scale for ethnic areas like it did for Mongla.

YN: Could you explain the policies and actions of the KNU in the areas it controls regarding the fight against COVID-19?

PMNM: As it is a disease that is harmful to the entire people of the nation and the country as a whole, it will not spare any ethnicity or any area. This must be understood and borne in mind. The KNU therefore is taking preventive measures against COVID-19 in its respective districts. Not only the KNU, but also the border guard force, the DKBA [Democratic Karen Benevolent Army] and the PC [KNU/KNLA Peace Council] are working in cooperation with the [Karen] state government. There has been success to a certain extent. The state government also has sent a letter of acknowledgement to us for our cooperation. We assume that there has been some progress and success in Karen State [in the fight against COVID-19].

YN: As the KNU is working together with other Karen ethnic armed organizations in Karen State, there is a large population of Karen people in Ayeyarwady Region where you live. What is your assessment of the Ayeyarwady regional governments actions against COVID-19 and have you seen Karen people showing awareness and participating in the COVID-9 response?

PMNM: Yes, I have seen and I am satisfied with their actions. Particularly, young Karen people have formed [community-based] teams to prevent the spread of the virus, helping with temperature screenings of passers-by and cooperating with township authorities. I am very satisfied with it. Also in large villages, they also carry out checks on people who enter or leave the village, and locals have been seeking the approval of relevant village authorities to travel from one place to another. It is fair to say that there is a fair degree of discipline. I am satisfied with that. I have seen that young Karen people are cooperating with authorities with awareness in every township and area [in Ayeyarwady Region].

YN: Didnt the National Peace and Reconciliation Center provide necessities and medicines to other areas like it did to Mongla? The government has said it would provide technical assistance and exchange information [with EAOs]. But was the government already cooperating with the KNU in its areas before the coordinating committee was formed on Tuesday?

PMNM: Yes, there had already been cooperation before the coordinating committee was formed. U Zaw Htay of the NRPC provided relief supplies to us and our KNU health department is distributing the supplies to different places.

As Ive said, COVID-19 is a disease that is harmful to the entire country and a disease for national concern. I honestly believe it is a must for all the people in the nation, organizations and leaders in this country to cooperate. As the government has formed the coordinating committee, Id like to suggest practical actions be taken swiftly.

YN: This question is not directly related to the KNU, but Id like to know your suggestions. Rakhine State is left out as the government has adopted a no one left behind policy. Everyone agrees that there is a need to stop the fighting in Rakhine in order to contain the coronavirus. As a CEC member of the KNU, what are your suggestions as to how to stop the fighting in Rakhine?

PMNM: The conflict in Rakhine State concerns the issue of national identity. We Karen people went through the same experiences for more than 70 years. The final result we got was that the entire [Karen] people were damaged. We didnt achieve a good result. Regarding the ethnic rights that ethnic groups are fighting for today, we Karen people have fought for them on the battlefield for more than 60 years, but we didnt achieve good results.

To achieve good results, given the current situation in Myanmar, we must engage in negotiations around a table. The views will not be the same because our country has just struggled its way out of over 60 years of internal conflicts. There are many difficulties for a society, a country that has just struggled out of conflicts.

Id like to suggest [the two sides in Rakhine] acknowledge this reality and meet face-to-face around a table. I make this suggestion based on the experiences of our Karen people. As conflicts have de-escalated a little in the Rakhine battlefield, Id like to suggest leaders from the AA and the Tatmadaw meet face-to-face, then there will be a solution. According to the example in Kachin State, under the previous government, whenever fighting took place, representatives of the Tatmadaw, the KIA [Kachin Independence Army] and the Kachin people met. Whenever there was a fighting, they met and tried to prevent the conflict from growing bigger. Based on this experience, I think there will be a good outcome if representatives of the Tatmadaw and the AA could meet at this point in time. If the two sides could hold a preliminary meeting on the rights and wishes of the Rakhine people, there would be improvements, I hope.

YN: Thank you for your contributions!

PMNM: Thanks a lot for being able to speak to me in my hometown.

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COVID-19 Under Control If Myanmar Keeps Current Measures: Health Minister

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Swedish police said they have identified a body found late last month in a river as that of missing Pakistani journalist Sajid Hussain.

Police in Uppsala, a university town around 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of Stockholm, said Friday that they had initially launched a murder investigation, but suspicions of foul play have weakened following an autopsy.

"But we're still waiting for a few more answers, police spokesman Jonas Eronen told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

Hussain, 39, went missing on March 2 and his body was found on April 23 in the Fyris river that runs through Uppsala.

A native of Pakistan's Balochistan province, Hussain was the editor and publisher of the online magazine Balochistan Times that he founded in 2015.

He fled Pakistan in 2012 after his reporting on corruption, forced disappearances and human rights violations in the region resulted in the police raiding his house and his receiving death threats.

Hussain had lived in Sweden since 2017 and was granted political asylum in the country a year later. Swedish public broadcaster SVT said he had been registered since January at the Uppsala University, the Nordic region's oldest university, studying Arabic language and acting as a lecturer.

Hussain was openly critical of the Pakistani government, and the Swedish chapter of Reporters Without Borders had raised concerns that his disappearance could have been due to his work.

In a statement published on Friday, the Balochistan Times said its staff was deeply saddened by the demise of our dear friend and the founder of this magazine.

As a journalist, he (Hussain) was compassionate and wrote extensively on the suffering of the Baloch people. His work often got him into trouble as the authorities did not like his reporting of Balochistan's forbidden stories, the reason he had to leave and live in exile, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
Ready to relax after a long week? Devindra Hardawar makes a strong case for Amazon Primes Upload as the TV series to binge this weekend. In an interview, its creator accurately represents the shows setting as something that isn't a dystopia, and it's not a utopia -- it's some kind of 'middle-topia.'

How relevant that is to your current situation may vary, but its equal parts intriguing and comedic. Between that, the Westworld season finale and Netflixs new flick The Half of It, your weekend viewing plans should be pretty much set.

-- Richard

The Engadget Podcast: Reviewing the Pixel Buds and Amazon's 'Upload'

And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

Engadget senior news editor (and resident audio expert) Billy Steele joined Cherlynn and Devindra to explain why he called Googles new Pixel buds a revelation compared to the previous model. Then, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss Amazons new show Upload, with snippets from a talk with creator Greg Daniels.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts or Stitcher.

Continue reading.

Diplo hosted live Major Lazer set in Fortnite's Party Royale mode

This is the new normal.

This week Fortnite added a new mode, Party Royale, and the first event to take advantage of it was a live DJ set on Friday night featuring Diplo that was hosted by the actor Jordan Fisher. The producer played Major Lazer tracks for about 20 minutes with his image beamed above the arena -- if you missed it live, its still viewable on Twitch, and there will be an in-game replay Saturday morning at 10 AM ET.

The event wasnt as thoroughly transformational as last weekends Travis Scott Astronomical experience. Still, iit appears Epic plans to push more performances this way over the coming weeks and months while the coronavirus pandemic prevents artists from going on their usual tours.

Continue reading.

The Apple Watch Series 5 is $100 off at Best Buy

The lowest price weve seen for Apples newest watch.

The Series 5 may be a good choice for those who have yet to jump on an Apple Watch, thanks to the company finally integrating an always-on screen, among other new features. Best Buy is currently selling the GPS-only versions of the gadget for $100 off, bringing the 40mm model down to $300 and the 44mm version to $330. Walmart has a more limited deal, with only the 40mm model in Space Gray on sale.

Continue reading.

Automatic to shut down and end support for its car diagnostics dongle

Its services will go offline after May 28th.

Automatic

Automatic introduced its first-generation device, Automatic Link, in 2013. The $100 dongle could track trips and fuel automatically, but the diagnostics were a bit limited. A couple years later, Automatic unveiled a second-generation adapter and launched an app store. Last year it announced it would turn off app support for some older devices, angering a number of existing customers. Now its shutting down, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted our business.

Continue reading.

Virgin Galactic's spaceship flies from its new home base for the first time

Spaceport America lives up to its name.

Virgin Galactic

The company has flown SpaceShipTwo from Spaceport America for the first time. It was just a glide test from 50,000 feet up, but the flight let the spaceport fulfill its intended purpose and gave pilots familiarity with the New Mexico airspace.

Continue reading.

But wait, theres more...

Pentagon officially releases 'UFO' footage

Evo 2020 is canceled, but organizers are planning an online event

Valve delays 'The International' LoL tournament to 2021

Engadget editors share their current YouTube obsessions

Infinity Ward removes, then brings back bounties in 'Call of Duty: Warzone'

You need a password manager, and here are the best ones

Apple makes it easier to skip Face ID if youre wearing a mask

Google Meet will soon be free for anyone with a Gmail account

'The Last of Us Part II' will be released on June 19th
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) London, United Kingdom  Sat, May 2, 2020 11:09 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd57ade8 2 People Meghan-Markle,trial,Britain,tabloid,privacy,privacy-violation,Prince-Harry Free

A London judge Friday struck out elements of the Duchess of Sussex's high profile claim against a tabloid newspaper group for publishing a letter she wrote to her estranged father.

The US one-time actress, who with her husband Prince Harry is waging an increasingly public war with some media outlets, is suing Associated Newspapers, which owns the weekly Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and MailOnline.

She is claiming the news group breached her privacy, her data protection rights and copyright when, in February 2019, it printed extracts of correspondence the previous year to her father, Thomas.

A preliminary hearing in the case, held remotely last Friday at the High Court of England and Wales because of coronavirus restrictions, saw lawyers for Associated Newspapers apply to strike out parts of her claim.

In a summary of his judgement on the application, which sought to reject three different bases for the claim, judge Mark Warby ruled in the paper's favor.

"The Court agrees that all three categories of allegation should be struck out," he wrote in his ruling.

Meghan alleged that reporters had acted "dishonestly and in bad faith", and "deliberately dug up or stirred conflict" between her and her dad, according to the judgement.

She claimed they had an "obvious agenda of publishing intrusive or offensive stories" which were "intended to portray her in a false and damaging light".

The duchess also argued that the only purpose of publication was "satisfying a curiosity" about her private life that the newspapers had generated.

Associated Newspapers denies wrongdoing, and maintains publication was in the public interest and on freedom of expression grounds.

Read also: UK royal Meghan's privacy action against tabloid goes to London High Court

They argued her specific claims were irrelevant in law or improperly argued and should be excluded.

Warby said Meghan's lawyers could later apply to make amendments to their case, as long as they complied with "the applicable law and principles".

No date has been set for any further hearing.

Meghan's lawyers Schillings said in a statement that "core elements" of her case had not changed despite the ruling.

"The duchess' rights were violated; the legal boundaries around privacy were crossed," it added.

Meghan's fraught relationship with her father made headlines in the run-up to her wedding to Queen Elizabeth II's grandson in May 2018.

Harry has accused sections of the media of waging a "ruthless campaign" against his wife, likening it to the treatment of his mother, Diana, princess of Wales, during her lifetime.

She was killed in a high-speed car crash in Paris in August 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi photographers.

Harry and Meghan, who have quit frontline royal duties and moved to North America, last week said they would no longer cooperate with four major UK newspapers, including the Daily Mail, accusing them of "distorted, false and invasive" reporting.

The prince has separately brought court action against another news organization for allegedly intercepting voice messages.
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is considering job cuts of as much as 15% of the workforce as the aviation industry contends with an unprecedented crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic, said a person familiar with the matter.

Senior executives at the maker of jet engines have yet to finalize reductions of that magnitude and talks with labor unions are continuing, said the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. A 15% cut would imply the loss of approximately 8,000 jobs, based on Rolls-Royces average total employment last year.

The London-based company is joining a rush to slash costs across airlines and aerospace manufacturers, which are shrinking operations as Covid-19 all but erases travel demand. Airbus SE and Boeing Co. have announced lower production rates for key jetliner programs, and the U.S. planemaker said this week that it would reduce staffing by 10%.

Rolls-Royce confirmed the likelihood of job cuts without quantifying their possible extent.

We have taken swift action to increase our liquidity, dramatically reduce our spending in 2020, and strengthen our resilience in these exceptionally challenging times, the company said in a statement Friday. But we will need to take further action.

Rolls-Royce said it has promised employees more details before the end of the month. The risk of a 15% cut of the companys workforce was reported earlier by the Financial Times, which said it would be the biggest reduction in more than 30 years.

Spirit AeroSystems Corp., a U.S. supplier of Boeing and Airbus, announced job losses of its own. The company said it would lay off 1,450 hourly and salaried employees at its site in Wichita, Kansas. Smaller reductions will occur later this month at other U.S. sites that supply commercial-jet programs.
Beijing, May 2 : People with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at greater risk of a poor outcome if they become infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) -- and in such situations, controlling blood sugar levels can lead to favourable outcomes, say researchers.

More than 500 million people around the world have T2D. While it was clear that people with this condition fare worse with COVID-19, the researchers wondered what role a person's blood glucose control might have on those outcomes.

"We were surprised to see such favourable outcomes in well-controlled blood glucose group among patients with COVID-19 and pre-existing type 2 diabetes," said study senior author Hongliang Li of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University in China.

"Considering that people with diabetes had a much higher risk for death and various complications, and there are no specific drugs for COVID-19, our findings indicate that controlling blood glucose well may act as an effective auxiliary approach to improve the prognosis of patients with COVID-19 and pre-existing diabetes," Li added.

For the results, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, the research team conducted a retrospective longitudinal multi-centre study including 7,337 confirmed COVID-19 cases enrolled among 19 hospitals in Hubei Province, China.

Of those, 952 people had T2D and the other 6,385 did not. Among those with diabetes, 282 had well-controlled blood glucose; the other 528 did not.

The data showed that people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and T2D required more medical interventions.

Despite those interventions, they also had significantly higher mortality (7.8 per cent vs. 2.7 per cent) as well as a greater incidence of multiple organ injury.

However, those with well-controlled blood sugar and COVID-19 were less likely to die than those whose blood glucose was poorly controlled, the researchers said.

Meanwhile, those with well-managed T2D also received less of other medical interventions including supplemental oxygen and/or ventilation and had fewer health complications.

The researchers said the new findings offer three main messages for people with diabetes: People with diabetes should take extra precautions to avoid becoming infected, they take extra care to keep their blood sugar under good control during the pandemic.

Once infected, patients with diabetes should have their blood glucose level controlled to maintain it in the right range, in addition to any other needed treatments.

The researchers said they will continue to study the relationship between T2D and COVID-19 outcomes. The hope is to learn more about the underlying biology that is leading to poorer outcomes for people with T2D and high blood sugar.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
We are honored to be among so many dedicated patriots and organizations across the nation working so diligently to end Veteran homelessnessone Starfish, one Veteran, one family at a time. Together, we are making a big difference.

Bill Poulos, creator of Premium Income Alert and co-founder of Profits Run Inc., recently awarded the Profits Run Starfish Award to Deborah Snyder. Snyder was revealed as the frontrunner for the award due to her exemplary work with Operation Renewed Hope Foundation, an organization which strives to end homelessness among veterans. Poulos presents the Profits Run Starfish Award to selfless individuals who strive to make a positive and lasting impact in the lives of others. Snyder responded to the honor by saying, On behalf of all of the Veterans and families we serve, thank you for this award. We are honored to be among so many dedicated patriots and organizations across the nation working so diligently to end Veteran homelessness one Starfish, one Veteran, one family at a time. Together, we are making a big difference.

Deborah Snyder is the president and CEO of Operation Renewed Hope Foundation (ORHP), which operates in the Washington DC metropolitan area. The foundation states that its mission is to provide quality housing and supportive services to our Nations homeless Veterans. ORHP works with landlords and rental agencies to secure housing for homeless veterans, and partners with other organizations to pick up donated furniture and household goods. The foundation provides transportation assistance to veterans, offering fares for public transportation and, whenever possible, donated vehicles. This transportation assistance allows veterans to seek and secure employment. In addition, ORHP helps veterans to find pro bono medical and dental care, as well as other services.

The Profits Run Starfish Award derives its name from a parable: After a storm on the ocean, countless starfish have been cast ashore, where they are dying. One man is walking along the shore and tossing individual starfish back into the water. A second man sees this, approaches the first, and skeptically asks, Why do you bother? Youre not saving enough to make a difference. The first man picks up a single starfish, throws it back into the water, and responds, I made a difference to that one. The Starfish Award is founded on the belief that individuals can do extraordinary things, and that those who work tirelessly to help others, often against all odds, deserve recognition. Even if an individual helps only one other personthrows one starfish back into the seaan immeasurable difference has been made. The award pays tribute to those who do extraordinary work on behalf of individuals, communities, and the world.

A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Snyder is a US Army Veteran who currently works in the Department of Defense. A decorated combat veteran, she retired in 2009 as a Lieutenant Colonel, after serving for 21 years as a helicopter pilot in the Aviation Branch. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from James Madison University. She is also a distinguished military graduate of JMUs Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Snyder holds a BS in Political Science and Criminal Justice, and an MA in Military Studies. She envisioned and founded Operation Renewed Hope Foundation in 2011, with the specific aim of helping homeless veterans.

The aid that Operation Renewed Hope Foundation provides is desperately needed. The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 40,000 veterans experienced homelessness on a given night in 2017. 1.4 million additional veterans are at risk of homelessness. Each year the ORHP assists more than 100 homeless veterans and their families. Since its founding, the foundation has helped more than 800 homeless veterans. At present, the foundation has more than 30 team members. The foundation operates with an extremely low overhead, and over 90% of donated funds go directly to helping veterans. ORHP is intent on continuing its work until all homeless veterans in the DC area have housing stability: We want our Veterans and their families to be at a place where they can rebuild their lives and where their children can have the stability they need before the school year begins. Together we can end Veteran homelessness in the DC metropolitan region.

Bill Poulos and his son, Gregory, founded Profits Run Inc. in 2001. The company's mission is to give individuals the tools they need to make better investments. Profits Run offers a variety of training programs and products to help investors maximize trading strategies. A longtime philanthropist and community advocate, Bill Poulos founded the Profits Run Starfish Award in 2019 alongside his son. The award reflects the Pouloss commitment to recognizing and supporting those who work tirelessly to make a difference in their community. Prior to founding Profits Run, Inc., Bill Poulos worked for General Motors for over three decades. He continues to be a committed author, investor, mentor, and philanthropist.

About Profits Run Inc.

Profits Run, Inc. was founded by Bill and Gregory Poulos in 2001. Profits Run is responsible for products like Premium Income Alert, Automatic Income Engine, 20/30 Wealth Trader, Earnings Profit Alert, and Real Wealth Alert. The name of the company is derived from the popular saying between traders, "Cut your losses and let your profits run." The companys goal is to give individuals the tools they need to make smarter investments utilizing proper risk management. Profits Run publishes products and training programs to help people become better traders. The company has given assistance to over 100,000 investors in more than 150 countries.
The British government agreed last year to the EU setting up an office in Northern Ireland, before changing its mind and acting like it had never done so, it has emerged.

The revelation is the latest twist in a row over whether there should be a European Commission presence in Belfast after the Brexit transition period ends.

The EU says it needs an office in the city to help monitor the UK's implementation of the withdrawal agreement  under which Boris Johnson agreed to impose unprecedented customs checks on trade between different parts of the UK.

But the UK government says an office is not necessary and "would in our view be divisive in political and community terms, according to a letter from minister Penny Mordaunt. The position is fuelling concerns in Brussels that the UK may not be serious about following through on the Irish agreement.

But now a letter seen by Irish public broadcaster RTE shows that the UK government agreed in writing to an EU office in the city on 11 February 2019.

The UK government supports the continued presence of EU offices in Edinburgh and Cardiff, alongside London and Belfast, given the longstanding relationship the EU has with all devolved nations," the letter from Sir Simon McDonald, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office said.

RTE says the UK government has been claiming behind the scenes the idea had not been discussed, in order to justify its rejection.

The letter was sent while Theresa May was prime minister, after her version of the withdrawal agreement was agreed but before it was rejected by MPs for the first time on 15 February.

As such EU oversight of customs procedures on the Irish sea would not have been discussed as part of the office's remit, because such controls were not included in the agreement on the table. However, the letter does show that there was written agreement in principle to a Commission presence in the city.

Sir Simon is the top civil servant at the FCO and remains in post under Boris Johnson  in fact he also wrote to the European Commission on 12 February 2020 to reject the establishment of an EU office.

The revelation is significant because it illustrates collapsing trust between the UK and EU over whether Boris Johnson will actually implement what was agreed with the EU in January on Northern Ireland.

The question of where the customs border would be was a major sticking point during talks, and Mr Johnson only managed to get a Brexit deal by capitulating on the question of checks with the rest of the UK, which Theresa May had previously said "no UK prime minister" could accept.

On Friday the EU said "urgent" actions were needed by the UK to make sure it would be standing by its part of the deal, including the "immediate" construction of the promised customs posts on goods within the UK.

The EU wanted the office to be up and running by summer 2020 so it could have time to recruit staff and prepare to monitor the new system.

Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Show all 37 1 /37 Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit supporters celebrating in Parliament Square, after the UK left the European Union on 31 January. Ending 47 years of membership PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Big Ben, shows the hands at eleven o'clock at night AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro Brexit supporters attend the Brexit Day Celebration Party hosted by Leave Means Leave Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage smiles on stage AFP/Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People celebrate in Parliament Square Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A Brexit supporter celebrates during a rally in Parliament square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Police form a line at Parliament Square to prevent a small group of anti-Brexit protestors from going through to the main Brexit rally PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Nigel Farage speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square JD Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin speaks as people wave flags Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage arrives Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters gather AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Ann Widdecombe speaks to pro-Brexit supporters PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Brexit supporters wave Union flags as they watch the big screen AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square People wave British Union Jack flags as they celebrate Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Pro-Brexit demonstrators celebrate on Parliament Square on Brexit day Reuters Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter jumps on an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AP Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A man waves Union flags from a small car as he drives past Brexit supporters gathering AFP via Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square A pro-Brexit supporter pours beer onto an EU flag PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square An EU flag lies trampled in the mud Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square Getty Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square PA Brexit celebrations in Parliament Square AFP via Getty

Several episodes during the general election where Mr Johnson falsely claimed that he had not signed up to border checks on the Irish sea also privately worried some officials in Brussels  though he was given the benefit of the doubt because of the campaign period.

A failure by the UK to implement the withdrawal agreement's Ireland protocol would likely cause the collapse in trade negotiations and see Britain crash out of the transition period at the end of the year without a trade deal.

Asked about the letters showing the UK had agreed to an office, a government spokesperson told The Independent: "The government's position is that theres no reason why the Commission should require a permanent presence in Belfast to monitor the implementation of the protocol."
Forest officials at Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar recovered a mutilated carcass of a hog deer from a field at a village in states West Champaran district on Friday late evening.

According to the officials, the carcass was recovered from a field of Nayagaon Rampur village which falls under Laukariya police station area of Bagaha subdivision in West Champaran district.

We have identified three accused so far and the search for them is on, said Awdesh Kumar Singh, range officer (in-charge) of Madanpur forest range of VTR.

The matter came to the fore after the forest officials acted on a tip-off and raided the village at around 9 pm on Friday. The officials seized the carcass lying in a pool of blood with its head and three legs chopped off. Prima facie, it appears that the animal was first caught and killed to extract the flesh. The head of the animal could not be traced, said the range officer, adding that the carcass has been sent for postmortem.

Also read: Patna with 44 Covid-19 cases among Bihars 5 districts in red zone

HK Rai, wildlife conservator and field director, VTR on Saturday confirmed the registration of a case against unidentified persons under the Wildlife Protection Act. He said hog deer, which has a population of about 600 in VTR, often live on the fringe of forests and spend sizeable time in the nearby fields along the Gandak river.

We have already formed a flying squad in some blocks to keep tab of the movement of animals from the forest areas. We are looking forward to forming more squad because of the rising number of animals in VTR, said Rai.

Spread over an area of 900 square kilometres, the VTR is broadly divided into two divisions which is home to a large number of wild animals namely tigers, leopards, bears and rhinoceros among reptiles and other animals. Forest officials believe tigers, leopards and bears are vulnerable to poaching, forcing them to tighten the security around.

We believe tigers, leopards, deer and bears are most vulnerable to poaching. However, taking nothing to the chance, we have pressed 40 home guard jawans, around 500 local personnel, five rangers to keep a tab on the activities in the forest area, besides this, 17 wireless stations have also been set up to raise alarm, if required, said a forest official.

Past incidents

On August 20 last year, a man with about five kilograms of deer flesh was held from Sirisiya Jarlahiya village in the Madanpur forest area of Valmiki Tiger Reserve.

On January 22 last year, the forest officials of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) rescued a wild bear from a trap and later released the animal in deep forests.

In 2018, a bear was found killed in the forests of Raghiya in VTR.

In 2014-15, two bears were poached in the forest of Haranatand forest areas of VTR.

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Fertility clinics can apply to reopen from May 11th (Getty Images)

The coronavirus lockdown has halted fertility treatment for women across the UK.

Now clinics - which were forced to suspend services on March 23rd - will soon be able to reopen.

It has been confirmed they can apply to resume seeing patients from May 11th.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has said clinics - either private sector or NHS - will need to ensure staff and patients remain safe.

Read more: Women with frozen eggs now able to extend storage for an extra two years due to pandemic

According to new guidance from the Department for Health and Social Care, they will be allowed to restart services if they can ensure social distancing in waiting rooms, use suitable Personal Protective Equipment where appropriate and carry out telephone appointments if suitable.

In a statement, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: "Now that we are past the peak, I am delighted to announce the restoration of fertility services.

"People who are relying on fertility treatment have been worried during these unprecedented times not knowing when they could continue their journey to start a family.

"We wanted to open these clinics as soon as it was safe to do so, and our strict guidelines will ensure staff and patients remain safe as we continue to tackle this virus."

Read more: Freezing your eggs - cost, process and everything else you need to know

Sally Cheshire, chair of the HFEA, said: "I am pleased that the HFEA has agreed fertility clinics can apply to reopen from May 11."

"I know that the closure of clinics has been extremely distressing for patients and this will be good news for those wanting to resume treatment and have the opportunity to try for their much longed for family."

It comes as those who have chosen to freeze their eggs, sperm and embryos now have the option to extend their storage for an additional two years.

New government guidelines state that people now have 12 - rather than 10 - years to decide whether they would like to use them for fertility treatment or have them destroyed.

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Read more: Nurse gives birth after funding IVF with share of a 1million family lottery win

The move was intended to help women, who had frozen their eggs and were coming towards the end of the storage limit, whose plans to start a family have been delayed due to the coronavirus.

A statement from the Department of Health and Social Care said: Anyone who has frozen their eggs, sperm and embryos will be able to extend their storage for an additional two years under new government plans to support those going through fertility treatment during the global coronavirus pandemic.

To support wider changes to the health service in responding to the pandemic, fertility treatment in the UK across the NHS and private sector was temporarily paused earlier this month.

In recognition of the potential impact this may have on those wishing to start a family, the government has confirmed that the current 10-year storage limit for embryos and gametes will be extended by two years to enable sufficient time for fertility treatment to resume.

Currently the storage period for embryos and gametes is limited to a maximum of 10 years, after which people must choose whether to undergo fertility treatment or have their frozen eggs, sperm and embryos destroyed.
An idyllic beach on a tiny island off the coast of Brazil has been named as the best in the world by Tripadvisor for the second year running. Baia do Sancho, on the island of Fernando de Noronha, claims the top prize in the Travellers' Choice Beach awards for 2020. The top-rated beach in the UK is mesmerising Luskentyre on the Isle of Harris in Scotland, which comes 13th in the world. The number one in the U.S. is Siesta Beach in Florida. Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands, meanwhile, comes out on top for Australia. Taking the crown for the best sandy coastline in Europe is the stunning Spiaggia dei Conigli - known for its colony of sea turtles - on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the middle of the Mediterranean. Tripadvisor announces the Travellers' Choice Beach awards every year. They are based on the quality and quantity of traveller reviews and ratings gathered over a 12-month period.
Pope Francis shakes hands with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Papal Almoner, as he arrives to bless a car donated to The Office of Papal Charities (Elemosineria Apostolica), in Vatican, February 6, 2019.

Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters

After struggling to make money during coronavirus lockdown, a group of transsexual street prostitutes contacted their local priest in a town near Rome for help with finding money buying food, Reuters reported.

When the priest realized the parish's resources were already overwhelmed by helping those affected by coronavirus, he contacted the head of Vatican charities, who wired the money.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the distributor of alms who is known as "the Pope's Robin Hood," told Reuters that though the distribution made headlines, it is "ordinary work for the Church, it's normal."

Krajewski earned his "Robin Hood" nickname from previous deeds in his charitable role like restoring electricity for hundreds of homeless people against officials' demands.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Lockdown policies aimed at stopping novel coronavirus outbreaks in cities and countries across the world have left many without work and reliant on donations and aid programs.

Among those struggling to keep up with costs during the pandemic was a group of transsexual street prostitutes who contacted a local priest in a beach town near Rome for help with finding money to buy food, Reuters reported.

Related Video: Inside London During COVID-19 Lockdown

When the priest realized the parish's resources had already been overwhelmed as the virus ravaged the country, Reuters reported that he contacted the head of Vatican charities, who wired the money.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the distributor of alms who is known as "the Pope's Robin Hood," told the outlet that despite the attention his helping the group of prostitutes sparked, it was just another day in the Church trying to help those affected in the health crisis.

"I don't understand why this is getting so much attention," Krajewski told Reuters by phone. "This is ordinary work for the Church, it's normal. This is how the Church is a field hospital."

The cardinal told the outlet that the transsexuals most likely were undocumented and unable to collect aid from Italian state welfare.

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"They are really in difficulty because sometimes their passports were taken away by the mafia pimps who control them," he said. "We follow the gospel."

This isn't the first time Krajewski has sparked attention with an act of goodwill that earned him the "Robin Hood" moniker since Pope Francis named him to head Vatican charity in 2013.

Last year, the cardinal went underground via manhole to restore electricity for at least 400 homeless people who were living in an unused state-owned building.

He was responding to Sister Adriana Domenici's request for help, she told Italian broadcaster RaiNews24, and left a note so when utility workers returned to disconnect power again, they left it running.

Insider
A popular theory about The Matrix and John Wick has been officially debunked because of coronavirus.

Ever since it was announced that the fourth instalments of each franchise would be released in cinemas on the same day, fans have been wondering whether this was an intentional move.

The theory goes that both The Matrix 4 and John Wick: Chapter 4 would serve as two parts of one story that reveals Keanu Reeves hitman has actually been Neo (also played by Reeves) the entire time, trapped in a Matrix-style simulation.

However, because of the many film delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, John Wick: Chapter 4's release date has moved from 21 May 2021 to 27 May 2022.

Director Chad Stahelski previously said: I mean, Matrix was only four weeks in when this all happened. So, Keanus gotta go finish his commitment up on The Matrix, which is a big deal and which I think will probably take him until the end of the year. Then we have to go into our prep mode and then well start.

As Stahelski mentioned, The Matrix 4 has also had its production shut down, but director Lana Wachowski is yet to comment on a change to its release scheduling.

Should the new John Wick film change release dates, it would certainly put an end to any high-concept theories relating to a crossover between the two films.

It seems like this particular theory was too good to be true, even if it seemed entirely plausible (read more on it here).

The 27 worst film sequels of all time Show all 27 1 /27 The 27 worst film sequels of all time The 27 worst film sequels of all time Zoolander 2 Like a reliable friend  or a movie franchise worth millions of dollars  Zoolander returned for another film. In place of a funny script and a decipherable plot, the sequel shoves in endless celebrity cameos. Skrillex, Susan Boyle and Justin Bieber are one of the 39 celebrities that appear in the film, but the force of star power fails to make Zoolander 2 enjoyable. Rex Features The 27 worst film sequels of all time I Still Know What You Did Last Summer An island getaway becomes the setting of predictable kills and lazy thrills in this sub-par slasher. Jennifer Love Hewitt, haunted by the events of the first film, leads a cast running for their lives. The implausibly gullible teen characters still scream, the red herrings are still obvious, and we still know how its all going to end. Columbia Pictures The 27 worst film sequels of all time Jaws 2 Jaws 2 sees the great white original reduced to a lukewarm b-movie filled with bad special effects and clumsy editing. The only positive thing about Jaws 2 is that all the characters are so annoying that its actually pretty satisfying watching them get eaten alive. See also Jaws 3, 4 and 5. Rex Features The 27 worst film sequels of all time American Psycho 2 He might have been a crazed narcissist, but Patrick Bateman deserved better than this sequel. Thankfully, no one actually remembers that American Psycho 2 exists, or that Mila Kunis is the lead, which is good because it ruins the ambiguous ending of the original film. No amount of peppermint sheet masks could ever clean this mess of a movie up. Rex Features The 27 worst film sequels of all time Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights Deciding to leave Baby in the corner, Havana Nights shares little with the original Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayzes simmering dance instructor becomes a charisma deprived pool boy. Our heroine has been replaced by an uptight WASP and worst of all theres no overhead lift. Your eyes will be left hungry for more. Lionsgate The 27 worst film sequels of all time Titanic II Even if you dont like James Camerons 1997 Oscar-winning behemoth, its hard to forget the iconic image of a ship and its passengers meeting their watery doom. The digital effects of Titanic II, however, look like a childs version of the originals visuals. The plot  about a boat literally named Titanic II that takes its maiden voyage 100 years after the first  is equally creaky. The Asylum The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Sting II Ten years after the original film, Mac Davis and Jackie Gleason fill in for Paul Newman and Robert Redford in this heist remake. Considering the movies clumsy mobster dialogue and slow-moving plot, the audience in 1983 might have felt like they were the ones who had really been hoodwinked. Universal The 27 worst film sequels of all time Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 The original Blair Witch changed the face of horror forever, inspiring hysteria with its cheap but innovative found-footage hook. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 has better production values, but manages to be far less clever. A group of students visiting the first films location find themselves in danger, and the plot unravels from there. Haxan Films The 27 worst film sequels of all time Rambo First Blood: Part 2 John Rambo is stripped of any the nuance he had in the first film, becoming an all-American macho cliche and increasing his body count through cartoonish violence. The ex-soldier tears through Vietnam to rescue American prisoners of war as a one man army, seemingly impervious to bullets or logic. If the absurd plot doesnt jar for you, the politics probably will. The 27 worst film sequels of all time Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Given the global recession that hung over this follow-up to the original 1987 Wall Street, director Oliver Stone could have made a far more interesting and timely film. A cast including Michael Sheen and Shia LaBeouf provide diminishing returns in a tale of greed that ultimately pulls its punches. Fox The 27 worst film sequels of all time Weekend at Bernie's 2 You may ask yourself how its possible to make a sequel to a film based on two friends pretending a corpse is still alive in order to party. The makers of Weekend at Bernies 2 were probably asking themselves the same thing in 1993. This tired comedy never crosses over from stupid into funny, despite many of the cast returning to try and recapture the dubious magic. Entertainment Film Distributors The 27 worst film sequels of all time S. Darko The sequel to Donnie Darko toys with the concept of time, by wasting yours. The dialogue is awful, the acting wooden, and you dont even get to see an angsty black haired Jake Gyllenhaal in all his blue-eyed glory. Director of the original, Richard Kelly, was so offended by S. Darko he described the experience of watching it as horribly violating. Fox The 27 worst film sequels of all time Little Fockers Robert De Niros reputation continued to devalue with the third installment of the Meet The Parents series. The title indicates how much effort was put into this family comedy, which relies on under-the-belt hits to wring any laughs out of its audience. The 27 worst film sequels of all time Now You See Me 2 This follow-up to the flashy 2013 film squanders the only reason it would have a sequel, and somehow is not named Now You See Me Now. The sleight-of-hand magic here is all style and no substance, and the endless overcomplicated reveals of characters tricking each other become very irritating. Rex The 27 worst film sequels of all time Mulan II Mulan is a gender-bending, brave heroine who refuses to conform to society's expectations of her. That is, until she reappears in the Disney sequel as a devoted wife who is more than willing to comply with her husbands demands. Now even her pet dragon Mushu doesnt like her. Sky The 27 worst film sequels of all time Son of the Mask Jim Carrey is replaced by Alan Cumming in this low-budget comedy sequel, which manages to be both frantic and boring at once. Director Lawrence Guterman tries to make up for the lack of Carreys signature comedic vim by adding a baby and a dog, but their antics cant distract from the ugly production design. Sky The 27 worst film sequels of all time Grease 2 Danny and Sandy flying off into the sunset should have been the end of Grease. But money-hungry film execs brought us back to Rydell High for sequel fans were hopelessly undevoted to. "I hated that film with a vengeance and could not believe how bad it was," said Sandy stand-in Michelle Pfieffer years later. "At the time I was young and didn't know any better." Paramount The 27 worst film sequels of all time Dumb and Dumber To Stupider even than its title, the Farrelly brothers sequel puts its stars (Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels) through an overlong retread of past material. The broad humour feels decades out of date, and the energy that propelled the original through its juvenile jokes is gone. Its hard to imagine who was the target audience for these gross-out sight gags. Hopper Stone, SMPSP The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Birds II: Lands End Hitchcocks 1963 film The Birds was a masterclass in suspense. The birds that menace Tippi Hedron and the other inhabitants of Bodega Bay become genuinely disturbing through a slow, atmospheric build of tension. This made-for-TV sequel has the same avian threat, and some of the same cast, but none of the classic thrills. MCA Home Video The 27 worst film sequels of all time Basic Instinct 2 Sharon Stone had bad instincts when she agreed to this film. Even a new take on her iconic leg-crossing interrogation scene couldnt save this sequel from one of the worst rotten tomato ratings on record. It managed to make less than $6m Stateside on a $70m budget. Rex Features The 27 worst film sequels of all time Cruel Intentions 2 Amy Adams tries her best to tear into her role as a sadistic, sex-obsessed bully but the script for Cruel Intentions 2  strictly speaking, a prequel, but sssh  is so bad that even she failed to save it. When her stepbrother Sebastian moves into her Mums Manhattan mansion, she barges into his shower and warns him, "no one is going to threaten my cushy life". What teenager would ever say "cushy life"? Columbia The 27 worst film sequels of all time Mean Girls 2 Did a Mean Girls sequel happen if Tina Fey wasnt around to write it? No, no it did not. A Plastics vs nerds turf war in the pits of the high school jungle just doesnt work without Feys tight one-liners. In Mean Girls 2 we hear none of the on Wednesdays we wear pink that's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets you cant sit with us zingers that made the original film so magical. Paramount The 27 worst film sequels of all time Blues Brothers 2000 Although the soundtrack had its fans, this film is essentially a remake of the 1980 original without one half of the titular Blues Brothers (John Belushi died in 1982). Bafflingly, he is replaced by a 10-year old child in sunglasses. Its half as funny and nowhere near as infectiously fun, but if you only care about the music, that might not matter. Sky The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Godfather Part III Infamous for ruining what would have been, in many critics eyes, a perfect trio of movies, The Godfather Part III delivers a slow anti-climax. The film has its defenders, but given the calibre of the first two Godfathers, this last instalment is the black sheep of the family. Paramount The 27 worst film sequels of all time The Next Karate Kid A young Hilary Swank stars in the fourth Karate Kid film, a precursor to the modern trend of rebooting ailing franchises with a female lead. Pat Morita as Mr Miyagi is charming as always, but the script is mostly recycled. There are a couple of interesting differences: Swank has a pet hawk, Buddhist monks dance to the Cranberries, and theres almost no fighting. But whats a Karate Kid sequel without the Kid or the karate? Columbia Pictures The 27 worst film sequels of all time Staying Alive It might be called Staying Alive, but you wont want to after watching this sequel. Six years after our hero Tony Manero made white polyester bell bottoms popular, we check back in on him as he auditions for a new Broadway musical called Satans Alley. There are far too many romantic subplots, oiled up chests and loincloths to make this film okay. Paramount Pictures The 27 worst film sequels of all time Speed 2 Keanu Reeves wisely didnt pick up the phone for this Razzie-winning action thriller. The speeding bus rigged by a bomber in the 1994 film is bizarrely replaced by a cruise ship here, making the action a lot slower and more boring. Poor Sandra Bullock is given nothing interesting to do, and surely must have been tempted to look for a lifeboat. Sky

Earlier this year, the worlds first glimpse at Reeve and Carrie-Ann Moss in character as Neo and Trinity since 2003s The Matrix Revolutions surfaced on the internet, showing a completely different look for Reeves character.
A disability care worker has been accused of physically abusing five vulnerable adults in his care and sexually abusing several children.

Police investigated suspected abuse of residents at a disability care home in the Mount Druitt, western Sydney in April.

They allege a 20-year-old Eastern Creek man filmed 'intimate' videos of residents in his care, which included physical and verbal abuse which occurred between June 2019 and April 2020.

Police further allege the man recorded sexually abusive videos of two children aged between four and 12-years-old who were not residents at the care home.

Police investigated suspected abuse of residents at a disability care home in the western Sydney suburb of Mount Druitt, NSW in April

The man was arrested at about 1pm on May 1 and his mobile phone was seized for forensic examination.

Police attained a search warrant for a home in Eastern Creek, where they allege to have seized items relevant to the investigation.

He was taken to Parramatta Police Station and charged with 11 counts of intentionally record intimate image without consent.

The care worker was also charged with produce child abuse material, possess child abuse material, intentionally sexually touch a child under 10 years and two counts of common assault.

He was refused bail to appear before Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.

The man has been stood down from his position at the care home.

They allege an Eastern Creek man filmed 'intimate' videos of residents in his care, which included physical and verbal abuse which occurred between June 2019 and April 2020
Scores of workers at Amazon, Target, Whole Foods and Instacart went on strike across New Jersey on Friday, protesting workplace conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic, as outbreaks hit more and more warehouses.

On International Workers Day, employees at Amazon, Target and Whole Foods across the country planned to call out sick or to walk out of work during lunch breaks in protest. Instacart shoppers were to decline any orders, as were drivers for Shipt, a delivery service owned by Target. Delivery drivers for Amazon were to halt any deliveries.

At the Elizabeth Amazon fulfillment center, a caravan of more than 15 cars lined up one after the other, honking their horns as they drove past the warehouse. As the drivers, many of them activists, donned masks, their cars had signs that read Cough up that hazard pay and Worker safety for all."

Organizers said the coordinated nationwide strike would be one of the largest of its kind and was in response to what employees see as poor conditions at their workplaces and paltry protections against the coronavirus that continues to spread.

In previous interviews, warehouse and delivery workers have told NJ Advance Media of a widespread lack of protective equipment and little to no transparency when it comes to positive cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

We are demanding as immediate demands, safe working conditions for all workers," said Eric Lerner, of Jobs and Equal Rights For All, one of the groups coming out in support of the strike. No work without personal protection equipment for all."

Workers and activists converge in Elizabeth circling the Elizabeth Detention Center. The protestors want safe working conditions for all and the freeing of all immigrant detainees and a 'Workers Way Forward' plan to combat the underlying conditions that led to the pandemic.Friday, May. 1, 2020. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Representatives from Whole Foods, Target and Amazon previously told NJ Advance Media of their efforts to protect both employees and customers during the coronavirus outbreak.

A spokesman from Amazon said the company has provided 100 million masks, 34 million gloves and 48 million ounces of hand sanitizer to its employees.

The fact is that today the overwhelming majority of our more than 840,000 employees around the world are at work as usual continuing to support getting people in their communities the items they need during these challenging times, the company said in a statement about the walkout. While there is tremendous media coverage of todays protests we see no measurable impact on operations. Health and safety is our top priority and we expect to spend more than $800 million in the first half of the year on COVID-19 safety measures.

Earlier this week a statement from Whole Foods echoed the sentiment that the protestors represent the minority of workers.

Our focus right now is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our team members, which remains our top priority, while continuing to serve our customers and communities," said a Whole Foods spokesperson. Statements made by this group misrepresent the full extent of Whole Foods Markets actions in response to this crisis and do not represent the collective voice of our more than 95,000 team members.

Jay Arena announces the start of the protest. Workers and activists converge in Elizabeth circling in front of Amazon's Flex warehouse and the Elizabeth Detention Center. The protestors want safe working conditions for all and the freeing of all immigrant detainees and a 'Workers Way Forward' plan to combat the underlying conditions that led to the pandemic.Friday, May. 1, 2020. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Workers and activists converge in Elizabeth circling in front of Amazon's Flex warehouse and the Elizabeth Detention Center. The protestors want safe working conditions for all and the freeing of all immigrant detainees and a 'Workers Way Forward' plan to combat the underlying conditions that led to the pandemic.Friday, May. 1, 2020. Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos Getty

SEOULWhatever the condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the momentand supposedly informed speculation ranges from dead, to comatose, to just chilling at his personal resort in Wonsanhis absence from public view for more than two weeks now is a reminder that his demise could plunge his country and the region, maybe even the world, into a huge new geopolitical crisis.

For now his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, looks like the understudy waiting in the wings to take the lead if her brother cannot function. Hes positioned her for that role, and groomed her for it. But if Kim Jong Un dies, its fair to say all hell could break loose.

Many analysts believe China would move swiftly to consolidate control over North Korea if Kim Jong Un is no longer able to govern effectively. Chinese concerns, like those of the U.S. and just about every other country with a stake in the region, focus not only on whos in charge of North Korea but more specifically on what happens to North Koreas nukes. If there is a chaotic battle for succession, who will secure them?

A Chinese medical team known to be in the North right now presumably is looking after Kim, and looking out for Beijings interests. If Kim is indeed in grave condition, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping will be the first to know.

And then what?

Im very sure the Chinese will send their army into North Korea, says defector Ken Eom, who served 10 years in Pyongyang's military and is now a prominent analyst in the South. They have already planned what they will do.

Chinese concern about Korea goes deep into history, and was never more evident than in the Korean War, when half a million Chinese died driving U.S. and South Korean troops out of North Korea after they reached the Yalu River border between Korea and China in the early months of the war in 1950.

Its not as though North Korea would threaten China, the source of all its oil and half its food, but the Chinese want to be sure the Americans dont get there first in the confusion of a power vacuum if Kim is no longer around, factions compete to succeed him, and the fate of his nuclear missile arsenal hangs in the balance.

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The results could be very bloody.

Choi Jin-wook, former director of the Korea Institute of National Unification, believes its very unlikely that North Korean authorities would invite the Chinese into their country as in the Korean War. That is very dangerous, he says. They will face a tough response from the North Korean side, probably an exchange of fire, he predicts, but if U.S. or South Korean troops enter North Korea, that is a different story.

Its been more than eight years since Kim Jong Un inherited the family dynasty, and North Koreas relations with China may never have been better since Kim first journeyed to Beijinghis first trip outside the country as North Koreas leaderin March of 2018.

With sister Yo Jong always hovering nearby, he spent three days seeing President Xi Jinping and other top officials on a mission that set the course for future close ties.

The encounter had much to do with Kim agreeing to see President Donald Trump for the first U.S.-North Korean summit in Singapore in June 2018. Xi hosted Kim again in May, a month before the summit, in the industrial port city of Dalian, agreeing to send him and his entourage to Singapore on a Chinese plane. And one week after the summit, as if reporting back to his patron, Kim again called on Xi in Beijing.

The presence of Kim Yo Jong, present for many of these encounters, would seem to guarantee continuity. She could pick up where her brother left off, but its likely that long-suppressed rivalries will explode if Kim Jong Un is not, in fact, on one of his yachts lying low during the COVID-19 pandemic, and really is at deaths door, or through it.

If factions face off, a vicious internal conflict is certain, and a civil war not unthinkable, writes Michael Auslin at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution in the journal Foreign Policy. With North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile sites potentially falling into the hands of whoever acts most quickly, Asia could face an unprecedented nuclear crisis.

Kim Yo Jong now owes her role as number two to him and to the authority that shes believed to exert over the Norths Organization and Guidance Department, the entity with life-or-death power over all aspects of North Korean society. Shes the de facto leader of the OGD as well as Bureau 39, the office that controls the Norths money, including counterfeit U.S. currency printed on a press imported from Switzerland.

Shes in charge, says Ken Eom, but that doesnt mean shell be in charge when her brother is no longer around.

Assuming Kim Yo Jong will face trouble from powerful men who just cant accept the notion of a woman dominating them, at least two other figures are to be reckoned with.

One is Kim Pyong Il, the much younger half brother of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. That makes him not only Yo Jong and Jong Uns uncle but also the son of Kim Il Sung, who founded the North Korean state after the Japanese surrender in 1945. At 65, hes still theoretically capable of carrying on the dynastys bloodline.

Kim Pyong Il faces, however, what may be insurmountable problems. He spent nearly 40 years in a kind of exile as ambassador to eastern European countries before he was summoned back to Pyongyang last November.

Nobody knows him, says Shim Jae-hoon, who writes about Korea for Yale Global. Hes been away too long. But he still could serve as figurehead leader over restive, quarreling subordinates. Its almost possible, says Ken Eom, but he might not last long.

And then theres the top non-family contender, Choe Ryong Hae, whose title as President of the Presidium of the Supreme Peoples Assembly makes him North Koreas titular head of state. Choe, who also is first vice chairman of the state affairs commission, through which Kim as chairman wields his power, has his own bloodlinehis father fought with Kim Il Sung against Japanese rule as a guerilla in Manchuria.

Choe, however, has had an up-and-down career, once having been forced out of the hierarchy for reeducation as a laborer for involvement in a scheme to sell scrap metala crime that sometimes merits execution. In his case, his fathers old-time bond with Kim Il Sung saved him.

On the plus side, Choes son is rumored to have been married to Kim Yo Jong.

Choe is next at the moment, says Choi Jin-wook, but he is not a Kim, though from a guerrilla family. But would that lineage do the trick?

I cannot find any alternative to this Stalinist dynasty, says Choi. This will lead to the end of the Kim dynasty. Enough is enough.There is no legitimate person, and it is going to be anybodys game. Maybe big chaos.

Xi Jinping would like to stand above the fray, pressuring competing factions to get along.

In that spirit Xi received Kim for the fourth time in extraordinary pomp and circumstance in Beijing in January last year, six weeks before Trumps second summit with Kim in Hanoi. Then, last June, after the failure of the Trump-Kim summit in February, Kim received Xi in Pyongyangthe first visit by a Chinese leader to the North Korean capital in 14 years.

All those displays of mutual good-will, however, may have been for naught if Kim Jong Un is no longer around. I do not think Kim is yet dead, says Ken Eom, but, I think hes got a serious problem.

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Linkedin (Reuters)  Sat, May 2, 2020 21:05 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd58d6ba 2 Entertainment Britain,comedian,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,virtual-quiz,fund-raising,pub Free

Some of Britain's top comedians are joining forces to raise money for pubs shut down by the coronavirus, by hosting an online virtual pub quiz with a plan to set a new world record.

Russell Howard, Nish Kumar, Jon Richardson, Joel Dommett, Marcus Brigstocke, Rachel Parris, Lucy Beaumont, Jenny Ryan and Suzi Ruffel will be among hosts of the quiz at "The Covid Arms", a virtual pub set up by "landlady" Kiri Pritchard-Mclean.

Trivia quiz contests in pubs are a national pastime in Britain, and online versions by video conference have become a popular activity during the coronavirus lockdown.

"The food and beverage industry has been greatly affected by this pandemic; so let's give back, share a drink and enjoy the company of our favorite pub owners, neighbors and friends in the safest way possible," organizers said in a press release.

Read also: Edinburgh comedy club goes online to beat lockdown

Friday evening's event aims to raise money for a charity helping pubs and restaurants survive the lockdown, get Guinness World Records to award a title in a new category of most participants in a virtual pub and keep the audience entertained.

"I've pulled in all the favors and burned every bridge I have, and now we've got this amazing line-up of fantastic comedians and it looks like it's going to be a really fun night and that we might well set a record, which is lovely," said Pritchard-Mclean.

"So come along. Have a pub quiz team. Support your local pub and raise a load of money for charity."
Each day, we are facing new challenges because of COVID-19  challenges that often present us with more questions than answers. Challenges like: how do we keep our government running, when we cant stand in a room together? And how do we ensure public access to our government, in these chaotic times?

Our state legislature passed new rules which allow each chamber to meet remotely instead of in the historic halls of Harrisburg. In the Senate, we see giant TVs, with the image of each senator not able to vote in person, up on a screen. We were able to hear senators verbally cast their votes. Watching a screen of faces instead of a room full of senators is strange, but it works and keeps the public informed.

Governor Wolf and his administration should be commended for their efforts to keep the public informed and safe in a time of so much uncertainty. From the daily press conferences to the constant updates on social media, Pennsylvanians have come to rely on our governor to provide reassurance and information. But we need more.

Emergency measures must prioritize transparency and public participation.

We are encouraged to see that our elected representatives are working to adapt to our new reality without ignoring the need to maintain transparency. But, again, there is more that should be done.

Gov. Wolf and his administration must provide clear answers to questions about how the waiver process for essential businesses was implemented following his Executive Order to close businesses. Frustration surrounding this process is evident.

Some businesses that applied for waivers reportedly failed to receive explanations as to why their application was rejected. Elected officials say theyre hearing from companies that didnt get waivers, but their competitors did.

While the waiver application process is closed, and information about it has been removed from the website, valid questions remain. A state agency is deciding which businesses can stay open, and which must close. How can the public trust such a critical process, if it is conducted entirely behind closed doors? Answer, they cant.

Despite repeated calls for transparency, the state still has not released lists of businesses that applied for waivers, received waivers or were rejected. Reporters have asked for the lists, which should be available under the states Right-to-Know law but havent received them.

The Pennsylvania House and Senate also have work to do to ensure that public access and transparency arent abridged. This is not the time to put partisanship ahead of the people. The General Assembly has made their best effort to continue their work during this unprecedented time, but these temporary rule changes should not serve as the new normal. This is not a time to lift your party platform, this is a time to lift Pennsylvanians. This is not a time to limit debate, this is a time talk through the changes affecting our daily lives and come together to keep Pennsylvania moving forward, not sliding back.

Many municipal governments across the state are working hard to find creative technology and other solutions to ensure that transparency and public participation standards can be preserved. However, again, there is more that should be done. To the extent possible, meetings should be live-streamed, not simply recorded and posted later. Opportunities for contemporaneous public participation should be preserved, or, at least, the agenda items should be made public in enough time for the public to submit comment.

We know everyone is doing his best right now in a fluid and unprecedented situation. But it is incumbent on elected officials at all levels of our government to take affirmative steps to ensure that the public has trust in their government.

As Pennsylvanians, we expect and deserve the ability to oversee and participate in our government. While it is crucial for everyone to follow the guidance of public health officials, it is also crucial for our public officials to ensure that government business conducted at this time must be as transparent as possible.

Public confidence in government is more important now than ever. We think Erik Arneson, executive director of the Office of Open Records said it best, Please remember that transparency builds trust, especially in times of crisis.

We couldnt agree more.

Suzanne Almeida is Interim Executive Director for Common Cause.
As governments use technology to track the spread of COVID-19, Al Jazeera looks at concerns about privacy.

Digital technologies have proven a popular tool for governments across Asia to monitor and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Medical authorities say tracking software has helped slow transmission, but critics say it has highlighted the power of governments to exploit peoples personal data.

Al Jazeeras Sarah Clarke reports from Hong Kong.
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Medical students are experiencing a number of unprecedented changes in how their education is delivered. Because of COVID-19, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and anatomy instruction are now virtual, and exams are being remotely proctored. Leadership at medical schools, following guidance from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), suspended clinical rotations as of March 17. Since then, medical students have been assisting with COVID-19 efforts by rerouting personal protective equipment to hospitals and clinics, providing childcare for health care workers, translating health material into dozens of languages, and serving patients via telehealth.

It is also the prime testing season for second and third-year medical students. Medical students have been suspended in exam preparation purgatory for the duration of this crisis. The Step exams are a series of 3 exams that are required for licensing by state medical boards and progression through medical education. Second-year students have lamented memorizing and rememorizing minutiae in the nearly 700-page Step 1 exam guide, all without having a clear idea of when they can sit the exam. Preparation for the exam is a 6-8 week full-time ordeal because it is a high-stakes exam used to screen applicants for residency selection, although there is a lack of correlation between exam scores and residency performance.

Due to testing site closures, students who began studying in January and February, or even earlier, are attempting to remain at their peak for months as they struggle to find spots at Prometric testing centers. Students and medical school leadership have been strung along by a series of communication gaffes on the part of the Step exam administators, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), and its exam proctor, Prometric. When Prometric suspended all exam proctoring until April 16, and then again until May 1st, the announcements appeared on their website first, without any coordination with the NBME. When Prometric announced it would suspend non-essential exams until May 31st, students began to cancel their May exams only to be told later by the NMBE that the Step exams were indeed essential.

But if the exams are considered essential, why were they suspended in the first place? For an organization with a mission of Protecting the Health of the Public through State of the Art Assessment, the NBME seems to hold a low bar for its commitment to public health. Students are rightfully concerned about sitting for the 8+ hour exam and potentially exposing themselves, their families, and Prometric employees to infection. Although Prometric requires students to wear a mask during testing, the feasibility of properly wearing the mask for the duration of these high stakes exams is unknown. Furthermore, the desperation of students with the financial means could mean students book hotels and travel to states with more lax social distancing guidelines without stay-at-home orders in place. This desperation is bound to increase now that Prometric is canceling 50 percent or more of scheduled testing appointments in order to limit capacity at their sites.

The answers to all of these issues have been clear to medical schools for some time. Medical school deans have advocated for remote proctoring of the exam. Initially, the NBME was adamant that remote proctoring would not be a solution during the pandemic. As of April 27, the NBME has stated they are considering remote proctoring as an option. However, they have committed to completing an analysis by June 30th, perhaps too late for students stuck in limbo. Another idea has been to expedite the transition of the Step 1 exam to a pass/fail format (currently slated to occur in 2022), but the NBME handwaved and stated, a move to P/F impacts many individuals and stakeholders. As students who are essentially being forced to endanger our health and the health of others to take this exam, we are left wondering who these stakeholders are and if they matter more than the publics health.

Another exam board that is making changes in light of the pandemic is the Association of American Medical Colleges, which has canceled nearly all May administrations of the MCAT, shortened the exam by removing experimental questions, and added additional times so students can take it at staggered times.

The cost of transitioning to remote proctoring would be a minuscule expense in the NBMEs operation budget. It is unconscionable that the NBME, an organization that reported 175.4 million dollars in revenue in 2018, continues to exploit students during a pandemic. Students are shelling out hundreds of dollars for practice exams and question banks, without a clear idea of when they can safely take their exam. The NBMEs executives take in a combined salary of 5.7 million dollars, while students straddled with debt pay thousands of dollars for each of their Step examinations.

The optics of stalling the licensure of medical students during a public health crisis are not great. The NBME is placing financial interests over the wellbeing of students and the public. Without clear guidelines about ensuring student safety that does not revolve around wearing a mask for 8 hours, exams should not be resumed. The most important stakeholders of the exam, medical students, should be prioritized by increasing safe testing opportunities such as remote proctoring, removing experimental questions from the exam, expediting scoring for students who must make residency decisions, and making sure all communication is transparent and timely.

Fatima M. Warsame is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Staff from Cork University Hospital taking delivery of PPE donated by UCC alumni living and working In China.

A Chinese University has cemented its ongoing collaboration with UCC by shipping 10,000 face masks to Cork for use by front-line healthcare workers.

The Minzu University of China (MZU) in Beijing, which has been partnered with UCC for a number of years, has organised the valuable shipment.

Separately, UCCs Beijing office has also organised an initiative offering alumni living and working in China to donate to a fund aimed at buying Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers back home.

The first shipment of face masks and gowns has already arrived at the Cork University Hospital, funded by the former students who have reached out to help their alma mater during the COVID-19 crisis.

Emma Connolly of UCCs International Office said the mutual support received from across the university community has come as a welcome "silver lining at this most uncertain of times."

She said that, since the end of January, after the first reports of devastating impact the Coronavirus was having in China, UCC has been sending message of support to the Chinese people.

"Little did we think at the time this would come full-circle, and we are now inundated by goodwill messages from China and offers from alumni to send us PPE," said Emma.

"This definite silver lining during the very strange times we find ourselves in, is a sign of the sheer strength of genuine mutual support felt by all involved in Sino-Irish relationships," she added.

Last month, UCC took the opportunity to make the delivery of parchments to recent graduates living in China that little bit more special.

The university's International and Beijing Offices arranged for each UCC graduate living in China to receive, in addition to their parchment, face masks and a specially-designed bookmark in honour of their graduation.

Upon receiving their packages, several of them took to social media to share photos of the special deliveries.

They also shared a glimpse into how they were marking the occasion during the lockdown period.

"Many of these graduates had been planning to return to Cork in February for their conferrings, but were forced to cancel their travel plans due to the pandemic," said Emma.
Police cordoned off Kulykovo Field, groups of only two people were allowed to approach the House of Trade Unions

Open source Ukraine commemorates the sixth anniversary of the tragic events of May 2, 2014 in Odesa Open source May 2, 2014 in Odesa

Today Ukraine commemorates the sixth anniversary of the tragic events of May 2, 2014, in Odesa, when 48 people were killed and more than 200 were injured during the riots. The order on the streets of the city is monitored by more than 1,500 law enforcement officers, the regional police press service informs.



It is reported that the main preventive measures are concentrated near Soborna Square, Kulykovo Field, and in the central part of the city.

May 2, 2014 in Odesa Open source



"Law enforcers conduct explanatory work with people and monitor compliance with applicable laws and quarantine requirements," the report said.



According to Dumska outlet, the police cordoned off Kulykovo Field, groups of only two people were allowed to approach the House of Trade Unions.

Related: Armed Forces test Vilkha missiles at training ground in Odesa region



According to the newspaper, law enforcement officers detained an elderly man who was aggressive and refused to wear a mask.



We recall, on May 2, 2014, during the riots, 48 people were killed and more than 250 were injured in Odesa. Most of the victims of the tragedy were killed in a fire in the House of Trade Unions. The investigation established that the riots were organized and deliberately planned.
Golden, CO, April 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Working with leading domestic solar companies, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds at the University of Washington, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Toledo have formed the U.S. Manufacturing of Advanced Perovskites Consortium (US-MAP), which will work to accelerate commercialization of perovskite technologies.

Perovskite solar cells are a type of thin-film solar cell that have proven to be highly efficient at harnessing sunlight to generate electricity. Perovskites have shown tremendous promise in a range of other technologies, including solid-state lighting, advanced radiation detection, dynamic sensing and actuation, photo-catalysis, and quantum information science. Early investments by the U.S. Department of Energys Solar Energy Technologies Office and its Office of Science into perovskite research have enabled the United States to engage at the forefront of many of these technology areas and fostered a vibrant community of domestic industrial leaders.

Perovskites have the potential to become a game-changer for solar and many other fields, said Martin Keller, director of NREL. By combining our research efforts, this new consortium will bring this technology to market sooner than if we were all operating alone.

While perovskite cells have shown promise in the lab, more work remains to be done to ensure that the technology is ready for commercial success. Manufacturing, durability, and sustainability remain challenges and will be the consortiums research focus. Members of US-MAP will share research and development, validation, and pilot manufacturing, which will reduce development costs and technology risks for potential investors.

US-MAP has six major U.S.-based industry players as founding members: BlueDot Photonics, Energy Materials Corporation, First Solar, Hunt Perovskites Technologies, Swift Solar, and Tandem PV. Representatives from each of these companies, as well as new U.S. startups and other established companies, will form an industry advisory board that will inform and guide the efforts performed at the research institutions. The founding organizers (NREL, Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, UNC-Chapel Hill, and the University of Toledo) will form the executive board that will oversee delivery on projects.

The organizers and members of US-MAP have already begun expanding this network to include the University of Colorado at Boulder and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

The founding organizers of the US-MAP consortium will explore funding from a variety of sources including industrial members and the federal government. Leadership of the consortium will be provided at NREL by Joseph J. Berry and Jao van de Lagemaat, who will work with the key points of contact of the other founding organizers and industrial advisory board.

Forming this collective will enable innovation in the U.S. that will strengthen our position in these important materials and associated technologies, said Berry, the consortium director, senior scientist, and perovskite team lead for NREL.

For more information about US-MAP, visit www.nrel.gov/research/us-map.html.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

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- Madagascar is using its own medicine to treat the coronavirus

- So far, 92 of Madagascar's 128 coronavirus patients have recovered, leaving 36 active cases and no death

- However, WHO has warned against the widespread use of untested remedies, saying there no proof of a cure for Covid-19

The world is facing one of the toughest times ever as it continues to battle an invisible enemy, COVID-19.

The virus has claimed over 200,000 lives since it first surfaced in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

READ ALSO: Firefighters to the rescue: New mom shares touching moment first responders helped deliver her baby

President Andry Rajoelina launched the herbal tea, named COVID-Organics, on Monday, April 20. Photo: Africa Facts Zone.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Baboon Josephine: Elgeyo Marakwet man abandoned by wife, children after adopting ape

According to the information on world meters, over three million people have been infected by the virus as at Thursday, April 30.

Despite the rising deaths in countries across the world, it appears Madagascar is doing something right.

The country has recorded 128 coronavirus cases, and 92 out of that number have recovered, leaving 36 active cases.

READ ALSO: Animal trainer uses dogs to cheer up frontline workers fighting COVID-19

Also, no death has been recorded in the country. Madagascar is said to be using its own medicine to treat the virus.

President Andry Rajoelina launched the herbal tea, named COVID-Organics (CVO), on Monday, April 20, claiming the concoction was curing COVID-19 patients.

All trials and tests have been conducted and its effectiveness in reducing the elimination of symptoms have been proven for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 ," Rajoelina said.

READ ALSO: Nairobi man forced to raise twins alone after wife dies during delivery

The herbal medicine developed by Malagasy Institute of Applied Research contains Artemisia- a plant on the Island used in the fight against malaria.

However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said there is no proof of a cure for Covid-19, warning against the widespread use of untested remedies.

Madagascar's national medical academy (Anamem) has also cast doubt on the efficacy Rajoelina's touted coronavirus remedy.

READ ALSO: Tanzania parliament suspended after second MP dies

The academy warned that no scientific evidence has been established that it works.

It said it had the potential to damage people's health as its scientific evidence had not been established.

The president's decision to use the concoction has divided public opinion in the island nation, some 400 kilometers off the coast of East Africa.

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Malian soldiers carried out more than 100 extrajudicial killings in the first three months of 2020, according to a report published this week by UN human rights monitors. In total, 589 violations of human rights were documented in Mail between 1 January and 31 March, said the UN mission in Mali (Minusma).

The highest number of extrajudicial killings carried out by Malian security forces occurred in the Niono Circle, a subdivision in Segou region, in the centre of Mali. 53 people were killed in the area as of 27 January.

The killings notably occurred after a jihadist attack on 26 January by those linked to the Nusrat al-Islam group that left some 20 gendarmes dead in Sokolo, in the same region.

The Malian army was responsible for 46 summary executions in Mondoro, in the Mopti region, near the border with Burkina Faso. There were 32 cases of torture, 32 forced disappearances, 101 executions and 116 arbitrary arrests attributed to the Malian forces, according to Minusma's rights monitors. An overall increase compared to the end of 2019.

Nevertheless, the Malian security forces were not the only ones responsible for rights abuses, according to the UN. Niger's security forces have been accused of 34 extrajudicial killings on Malian soil near the border with Niger.

An increase of the number of attacks by armed groups in the centre and north of Mali could perhaps explain the increase in rights violations, according to Guillaume Ngefa, head of Minusma's human rights division.

Reprisal attacks between ethnic Fulani and Dogon people have become more and more frequent, as well as the involvement of Malian security forces in extrajudicial killings and forced or involuntary disappearances, Ngefa told RFI's Service Afrique.

The G5 Sahel force of Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad was also responsible for 18 summary executions, according to Minusma.
ISLAMABAD  A Pakistani journalist forced into exile in Sweden after covering violence, crime and a simmering insurgency in his home country was found dead on Friday in a river north of Stockholm, the Swedish police said.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutors office said an autopsy did not point strongly to foul play in the death of the journalist, Sajid Hussain, 39, but journalism groups expressed skepticism and concern.

Reporters Without Borders suggested in a statement that Mr. Hussains death could have followed an abduction at the behest of a Pakistani intelligence agency. Taliban and Islamic State militants also operate in Mr. Hussains home province in Pakistan, as do criminal groups.

Pakistan has long been a dangerous country for journalists, who regularly face threats, intimidation and attacks from a vast array of forces, ranging from the countrys powerful intelligence agencies to its militant groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented more than 60 instances in which Pakistani journalists have been killed in direct relation to their work over the past three decades.
Pictures which appear to show slack safety standards at the Chinese laboratory at the centre of international suspicion over Covid-19 have been systematically deleted from its website  as Donald Trump continues to ramp up the pressure on Beijing over its potential role in the outbreak.

During the past month, Wuhan's Institute of Virology has removed photographs of scientists working in its laboratories and edited out references to visits by US diplomats who subsequently raised the alarm about the laboratory's work on bats.

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had seen intelligence that gave him a 'high degree of confidence' that the global crisis had its origins in the institute  a month after The Mail on Sunday first revealed that British Cabinet Ministers had received classified briefings raising the possibility of a leak from the institute.

Downing Street did not take issue with President Trump's remarks. 'There are clearly questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of the virus,' a spokesman for Boris Johnson said.

The emerging viruses group handling bats taken from archive photography

The edited material includes a page of the institute's website showing pictures of staff entering caves to take swabs from bats carrying coronaviruses  with the scientists wearing minimal protective equipment. And the institute appears to have also removed reference to a visit to the institute in March 2018 of Rick Switzer, a science and technology expert from the US embassy in Beijing.

As a result of Mr Switzer's visit, cables were sent to the US State Department from the embassy warning about the risks of the bat experiments. One read: 'During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they [the diplomats] noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory.'

Last month, The Mail on Sunday published alarming pictures from inside the institute showing a broken seal on the door of one of the refrigerators holding 1,500 different strains of virus. President Trump's remarks were misreported by some media outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian, as placing him at odds with US spy agencies, which said that the virus was not manmade or genetically engineered.

In fact, that has long been the working assumption within security sources on both sides of the Atlantic. Trump was referring to claims that the virus could have leaked by accident from the institute.

The emerging viruses group catching bats in the wild

When Trump was asked on Thursday whether he had 'seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus', he replied: 'Yes, I have. Yes, I have.' When pressed to explain what evidence he had seen, he responded.

'I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that.' The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, representing US spy agencies, issued a statement saying: 'The intelligence community will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.'

The Wuhan institute's website  which includes pictures of staff members beside a Communist flag  admits to the risks of the work, saying: 'Because the research object of the laboratory is highly pathogenic microorganisms, once the test tube for storing viruses is opened in the laboratory, it is like opening the Pandora's Box.

'These viruses come and go without a trace. There are various protective measures, but the experimental personnel still need to operate carefully to avoid danger due to operational errors.' Last night, a senior British security source said: 'Establishing where [Covid-19] originated is part of the work being done by a number of countries, including the UK and US, who are rightly looking at all possibilities.

The emerging viruses group pictured catching bats in a cave

'Given the global nature of this, some of this information is being shared in the usual way. Without the Chinese allowing access, which they're unlikely to do, or other substantive evidence emerging, a leak cannot be ruled out.'

This newspaper has disclosed that the institute undertook coronavirus experiments on bats captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan, funded by a 3million grant from the US government.

Sequencing of the Covid-19 genome has traced it to the bats found only in those caves. President Trump cancelled the funding following our report. Beijing insists the fact the country's primary virology institute is based in the city at the centre of the outbreak is a coincidence, dismissing links to the laboratory as 'baseless conspiracy theories'.

Inside the caves where Covid-19 began Stills from an internet documentary about research on bats from the researchers in Wuhan Concern about bat experiments has not been confined to the Wuhan institute: an internet video posted in December showed Tian Junhua, a researcher at the nearby Wuhan Centre for Disease Control, in which he is seen collecting samples from the caves and saying: 'We can easily get contact with the faeces of bats which contaminate everything. So it is highly risky here. I feel the fear. The fear of infections.' At the end of the film, stills from which are seen above, a caption declares: 'Nearly 2,000 types of viruses have been discovered by the Chinese CDC authorities over the past 12 years. Only 2,284 had been discovered over the 200 years prior.' Chinese media reports in 2017 described how Junhua 'forgot to take protective measures', while 'bat urine dripped from ... his head like raindrops'. Advertisement

Bat Woman scientist denies she's fled China over Covid

By IAN BIRRELL

A famous Chinese scientist known for her controversial work on bat-borne viruses has denied claims circulating on social media that she has defected to Europe with a secret dossier about the outbreak.

Global Times, a state-owned tabloid paper in Beijing, reported that virologist Shi Zhengli  known as Bat Woman after leading bat-hunting expeditions in dank caves  had rejected rumours of 'defecting with intelligence files'.

The paper, a mouthpiece for the Communist Party, said she posted a denial on the social media site WeChat. 'No matter how difficult things are, it [defecting] shall never happen,' the paper reported her saying.

Chinese researcher Shi Zhengli who has denied absconding from China and defecting from the regime

'We've done nothing wrong. With strong belief in science, we will see the day when the clouds disperse and the sun shines.' The rumours on social media alleged Shi had smuggled her family along with hundreds of confidential papers out of the country and was asking for sanctuary in the United States embassy in Paris.

The scientist, who works at Wuhan Institute of Virology, played a key role in linking both this novel coronavirus and the 2002 Sars epidemic to bats in southern China. But her work has been at the centre of suggestions the pandemic may be linked to the laboratory.

Two months ago, Shi went on WeChat to state: 'I promise with my life that the virus has nothing to do with the lab' after Indian scientists said the virus possibly originated in the high security Wuhan bio-laboratory.

She said the outbreak was 'a punishment by nature to humans' unsanitary life styles'. The virologist has also revealed she will be leading a major Chinese project to sample more viruses in bat caves.

'The mission must go on,' she told Scientific American magazine. 'What we have uncovered is just the tip of an iceberg.'

She previously told the respected journal of being summoned back to Wuhan to investigate the emerging virus and her relief that its genome sequences did not match virus samples in the lab.

The Mail on Sunday revealed last month that her unravelling of the new diseases's genetic composition  crucial for developing diagnostic tests and vaccines  was muzzled, fuelling the growing concerns over Chinese cover-ups.

A fridge inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Central China's Hubei province preserves more than 1,500 different strains of virus but has a faulty seal

China's 'Bat Woman' Shi Zhengli denies 'trying to defect with confidential files' as bombshell 'Five Eyes' Western intelligence dossier claims country lied about coronavirus transmission and refused to help other countries prepare a vaccine by Rachel Sharpand Jack Elsomand James Tapsfield For Mailonline China's infamous 'bat woman' coronavirus scientist has denied reports circulating on social media that she attempted to defect from the Chinese regime. Rumors had begun to spread across social media over the past 48 hours that Shi Zhengli had escaped from China, and brought hundreds of confidential documents to the U.S. embassy in Paris. Shi, a renowned researcher of bat-derived coronaviruses, wrote on WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, on Saturday that she and her family had never fled the country and had no intention to do so. This message was reposted by The Global Times, a paper published with approval from the Chinese Communist Party. Shi said: 'Everything is all right for my family and me, dear friends!' She also posted nine photos of her recent life. 'No matter how difficult things are, it (defecting) shall never happen. We've done nothing wrong. With strong belief in science, we will see the day when the clouds disperse and the sun shines.' Despite the The Global Times' ties to the ruling party, the story has now been republished by South China Morning Post, The Week, and International Business Times Shi is a renowned virologist, internationally known for her work with bat coronaviruses at her lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Rumors had previously claimed that Shi had been 'muzzled' by the government following the initial outbreak amidst the disappearance of other scientists working in Wuhan at the same time. The spotlight has fallen on Shi amid concerns that the virus had originated from the Wuhan lab where she worked. On February 2, Shi denied this saying: 'I promise with my life that the virus has nothing to do with the lab'. Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping (pictured) administration in a memo The news comes as a new intelligence document shows China lied about the human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, made whistle-blowers disappear and refused to help nations develop a vaccine, a leaked intelligence dossier reveals. The 15-page document drawn up by the Five Eyes security alliance brands Beijing's secrecy over the pandemic an 'assault on international transparency' and points to cover-up tactics deployed by the regime. It claims that the Chinese government silenced its most vocal critics and scrubbed any online scepticism about its handling of the health emergency from the internet. China has roundly come under fire for suppressing the scale of its early outbreak which did not afford other nations time to react before the disease hit their shores. Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping administration in a memo obtained by the Australian Saturday Telegraph. A leaked 15-page dossier from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance claims China's secrecy over the pandemic is an 'assault on international transparency'. The files show the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (above) The smoking gun file claims to have found evidence the virus spawned in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, close to the wet market China says it came from, and unearths 'risky' research on bat-related diseases stretching back years. It describes how Beijing was outwardly downplaying the outbreak on the world stage while secretly scrambling to bury all traces of the disease. This involved 'destroying' laboratory samples, bleaching wet market stalls, censoring the growing evidence of 'silent carriers' of the virus and stonewalling sample requests from other countries. The secrecy has fanned a clamour in Five Eyes nations for Western governments to come down hard on Beijing when the pandemic eventually passes. Tory MP Bob Seely told MailOnline that 'at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China'. In a damning portrayal of a mass cover-up, the bombshell report reveals: The Five Eyes dossier paints an alarming image of increasingly authoritarian powers used by Beijing to hide its disease to the wider world. One of the most critical aspects of the report is of China's lack of transparency over how the disease spreads. The file points to a 'deadly denial of human-to-human transmission' in the early stages of the the outbreak in Wuhan. Intelligence gathering reveals China had 'evidence of human-human transmission from early December,' but continued to deny it could spread this way until January 20. The World Health Organisation regurgitated Beijing's claims despite officials in neighbouring Taiwan and Hong Kong raising concerns, the report says. Evidence of asymptomatic cases, known as 'silent carriers', was also reportedly buried. But while the Chinese regime were downplaying the threat of the virus on the world stage, it was secretly scrambling to vanish all traces of the epidemic, the intelligence memo claims. On January 3, China's National Health Commission reportedly ordered virus samples be destroyed and issued a 'no-publication order' about the virus. As part of a mass 'suppression and destruction of evidence', the state ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed in laboratories while wet market was bleached to extinguish remnants of the disease. The report reveals China had started censoring news of the virus on search engines from December 31, deleting terms such as 'SARS variation, 'Wuhan Seafood market' and 'Wuhan Unknown Pneumonia.' Anecdotal reports from the time also suggested Beijing's hand in hiding evidence of the then unknown disease from the web. The document is also scathing of China's downplaying of the need for other countries to impose travel bans while Beijing officials were simultaneously quaranteeing Wuhan's 11 million citizens. Underscoring the regime's hypocrisy, the paper says: 'Millions of people leave Wuhan after the outbreak and before Beijing locks down the city on January 23,' according to The Telegraph. 'Thousands fly overseas. Throughout February, Beijing presses the US, Italy, India, Australia, Southeast Asian neighbors and others not to protect themselves via travel restrictions, even as the PRC imposes severe restrictions at home.' Dr. Shi Zhengli pictured in a lab in 2017. Her research into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses was cited a key concern by the intelligence, according to the dossier Doctors and scientists who tried to raise the alarm about the virus and China's handling of it have also vanished or been punished, according to the documents. Huang Yan Ling, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and thought to be patient zero for the global pandemic, mysteriously disappeared and her biography was deleted from the lab's website. The institute has denied she was so-called 'patient zero' and said she is alive but she has not been heard from since. Other whistleblowers including businessman Fang Bin, lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua are reportedly being held in extrajudicial detention centers for speaking out about China's response to the pandemic. The dossier shows some disagreement among the Five Eyes nations over whether the virus originated in the Wuhan lab or the wet market, the Telegraph reported. Human rights groups believe Mr Fang Bin (right)  along with lawyer Chen Qiushi and former state TV reporter Li Zehua (left)  are in extrajudicial detention centers It claims the nations were probing the possibility the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with several studies led by scientist Dr. Shi Zhengli being cited as concerns in the report. The dossier outlines that Dr Zhengli and her team have conducted research in the lab into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses, with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19. Donald Trump has been leading the Western backlash to China, while Downing Street yesterday said 'there are questions to be answered' of Covid-19's origins. This week, Trump said he had seen evidence that coronavirus may have been created in the Chinese lab. 'Yes I have. Yes I have,' Trump said when asked if he had seen proof the virus originated in the institute. He would not divulge what the evidence was that confirmed his suspicions. A Wuhan food market. Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab. Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph In Britain, Number 10 would not be drawn on the specifics of Mr Trump's comments but reiterated its desire for an international probe into the start of the outbreak. Asked if Boris Johnson agreed with Mr Trump, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: 'There are clearly questions that need to be answered about the origin and spread of the virus, not least so we can ensure that we are better prepared for future global pandemics. Conservative MP Bob Seely, who sits on the Commons foreign affairs select committee, told MailOnline: 'There is little doubt that China misled the world at a critical early phase of Covid-19. 'Its aggression and threats to others now  both to individuals and countries  is an attempt to hide that. 'It is really clear that we need a reappraisal of our relationship with China. We need to work with China now to solve Covid-19 for the good of our people and the world. 'But at the end of this when the dust settles it is also clear that there has to be a re-evaluation by the West of its relationship with China, both in terms of dependency but also because of the many treaties and agreements and rules that China broke by keeping silent over the true nature of the coronavirus, despite the fact that it was in its early days. 'That breach of trust has come at the cost of tens of thousands of lives in Europe and throughout the world, and a devastating impact on our economy and the lives of people in Britain but also in other Five Eyes and other free states.' However, Australia has maintained the virus most likely came from the Wuhan live animal market and said there was only a 5 percent chance it came from the lab. Australia's own connections with the lab were also documented in the dossier, according to The Telegraph. The Telegraph reported that the Australian government trained and funded key scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, as part of an ongoing partnership between the CSIRO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team members worked in the CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory where they carried out research into deadly pathogens in live bats. It was revealed in April that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had received a $3.7million grant from the US government, and had been carrying out research on bats. Advertisement

Wuhan biosafety expert admits widespread security and maintenance concerns at China's top-secret labs which carry out research on lethal diseases

By IAN BIRRELL

One of China's leading experts on biosafety has admitted there are widespread deficiencies in security and maintenance at his nation's most secretive laboratories working with lethal diseases.

Yuan Zhiming, a deputy director at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the head of its biosafety committee, highlighted serious concerns in an article published eight months ago.

'Most laboratories lack specialised biosafety managers and engineers,' he wrote in the Journal Of Biosafety And Biosecurity, confessing that this left part-time researchers to fill the work of 'skilled staff' in high-security laboratories.

'This makes it difficult to identify and mitigate potential safety hazards in facility and equipment operation early enough,' he added.

Professor Yuan, the most senior Communist Party official in the Wuhan laboratory, was used to hit back last week at 'malicious' claims that the pandemic originated in his institute. Yet he wrote 'the maintenance cost is generally neglected' in his article last September, adding that due to 'limited resources' supposedly secure laboratories 'run on extremely minimal operational costs  or in some cases, none at all'.

The astonishing admission  in an article headlined 'Current status and future challenges of high-level biosafety laboratories in China'  will heighten concerns the novel coronavirus could have leaked from one of two laboratories in Wuhan.

In a second article in the journal, which he co-authored with four colleagues in Wuhan, he accepted 'the biosafety system needs to be further improved and strengthened'.

Prof Yuan's laboratory, ten miles from the infamous wildlife market blamed as the source of the outbreak, was designed with French help. It was the first laboratory in China with level 4 status, which are meant to be the most secure in the world. Scientists at the institute discovered that the virus's genome was 96 per cent similar to one commonly found in bats.

Last month, The Mail on Sunday published a picture from the laboratory showing a broken seal on the door of one of the refrigerators used to hold 1,500 strains of virus.

A second laboratory in the city at the centre of the pandemic's outbreak late last year  the Wuhan Centre for Disease Control  is also thought to have carried out experiments on animals such as bats to examine transmission of coronaviruses, although it only has level 2 status.

Prof Yuan's article said 'several high-level BSLs [biosafety laboratories] have insufficient operational funds for routine yet vital processes'. Last week, the scientist, responding to Donald Trump's briefing that the US was investigating to see if Covid-19 originated in a Wuhan laboratory, claimed rumours were being 'pulled out of thin air'.

Wuhan biosafety expert admits widespread security and maintenance concerns at China's top-secret labs which carry out research on lethal diseases by Glen Owen for The Mail On Sunday International pressure was last night building on Beijing following the leak of a bombshell intelligence dossier which accuses China of having lied about the origins of Covid-19  and cites evidence that the virus was passed to humans via the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The dossier, which has been circulated between Western governments including Britain, also says China persecuted whistleblowers as part of the cover-up and obstructed efforts by other countries to develop a vaccine. The classified document, from the Five Eyes security alliance of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, risks shattering the fragile consensus which has held among the nations  with the exception of US President Donald Trump  to avoid direct accusations against the Chinese government over the pandemic. Chinese researcher Shi Zhengli has denied she absconded from China and defected from the regime in a social media post after rumours she had spread to Paris circulated It comes a month after The Mail on Sunday first reported that British Cabinet Ministers were being briefed that the virus could have first spread after leaking from the institute, and 48 hours after President Trump announced that he had seen intelligence which gave him a 'high degree of confidence' that the global crisis had its origins in the laboratory. Asked whether the UK was investigating whether China had not been fully open about the cause of the virus, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said yesterday: 'There will come a time when we will want to analyse the origins of the virus in detail and consider the actions of other countries.' The dossier, leaked to Australia's Saturday Telegraph, makes scathing criticism of the alleged cover-ups and persecution mounted by the Chinese since the outbreak, as also detailed by this newspaper. Trump's Five Eyes allies have been reluctant to join in with his criticisms of Beijing  despite having access to the same intelligence briefings  particularly when China is providing vital protective equipment and ventilators to countries such as the UK. Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei province, on February 23, 2017 It is also likely to increase calls for China to pay reparations to other countries if the claims are substantiated with Trump already demanding $1trillion. The dossier says China moved to cover up the seriousness of the outbreak from early December, saying: 'Despite evidence of humanhuman transmission from early December, PRC authorities deny it until January 20.' Describing Beijing's secrecy over the pandemic as an 'assault on international transparency', it points out that China imposed travel bans on people travelling throughout the nation but continued to tell the rest of the world that travel bans were unnecessary. Addressing the possibility that the virus had leaked from the Wuhan Institute, the report cites several studies led by scientist Dr Shi Zhengli as concerns. It highlights the fact that Dr Zhengli  dubbed Bat Woman  and her team have conducted research in the lab into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses  with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19. UK security sources said that they were 'checking out' the details in the report. Last night, Xiong Jun, from the Chinese Embassy in London, told The Mail on Sunday: 'The head of the Wuhan Institute of Virology stressed in an interview that the institute is run on a set of strict management rules. High-level bioresearch safety labs have sophisticated protective facilities and strict measures to ensure the safety of laboratory staff and protect the environment from contamination. 'There is zero infection within the institute. It is the established general opinion of [the World Health Organisation], and scientists and professionals in the field of public health in the vast majority of countries including the US that there is no evidence showing the virus came from a lab. As the pandemic is spreading, the international community should co-operate on fighting against the virus. 'This is the only way to defeat Covid-19. Rumour-mongering as well as slander and smear will only damage international solidarity.' Advertisement

Explosive dossier by five intelligence agencies exposes Chinas virus lies ... confirming what weve said for weeks

By GLEN OWEN

International pressure was last night building on Beijing following the leak of a bombshell intelligence dossier which accuses China of having lied about the origins of Covid-19  and cites evidence that the virus was passed to humans via the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The dossier, which has been circulated between Western governments including Britain, also says China persecuted whistleblowers as part of the cover-up and obstructed efforts by other countries to develop a vaccine.

The classified document, from the Five Eyes security alliance of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, risks shattering the fragile consensus which has held among the nations  with the exception of US President Donald Trump  to avoid direct accusations against the Chinese government over the pandemic.

It comes a month after The Mail on Sunday first reported that British Cabinet Ministers were being briefed that the virus could have first spread after leaking from the institute, and 48 hours after President Trump announced that he had seen intelligence which gave him a high degree of confidence that the global crisis had its origins in the laboratory.

Asked whether the UK was investigating whether China had not been fully open about the cause of the virus, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said yesterday: There will come a time when we will want to analyse the origins of the virus in detail and consider the actions of other countries.

The dossier, leaked to Australias Saturday Telegraph, makes scathing criticism of the alleged cover-ups and persecution mounted by the Chinese since the outbreak, as also detailed by this newspaper.

Trumps Five Eyes allies have been reluctant to join in with his criticisms of Beijing  despite having access to the same intelligence briefings  particularly when China is providing vital protective equipment and ventilators to countries such as the UK. It is also likely to increase calls for China to pay reparations to other countries if the claims are substantiated with Trump already demanding $1 trillion.

The dossier says China moved to cover up the seriousness of the outbreak from early December, saying: Despite evidence of human-human transmission from early December, PRC authorities deny it until January 20.

Describing Beijings secrecy over the pandemic as an assault on international transparency, it points out that China imposed travel bans on people travelling throughout the nation but continued to tell the rest of the world that travel bans were unnecessary.

Addressing the possibility that the virus had leaked from the Wuhan Institute, the report cites several studies led by scientist Dr Shi Zhengli as concerns. It highlights the fact that Dr Zhengli  dubbed Bat Woman  and her team have conducted research in the lab into deadly bat-derived coronaviruses  with at least one of the virus samples being a 96 per cent genetic match for Covid-19.

UK security sources said that they were checking out the details in the report. Last night, Xiong Jun, from the Chinese Embassy in London, told The Mail on Sunday: The head of the Wuhan Institute of Virology stressed in an interview that the institute is run on a set of strict management rules. High-level bioresearch safety labs have sophisticated protective facilities and strict measures to ensure the safety of laboratory staff and protect the environment from contamination.

There is zero infection within the institute. It is the established general opinion of [the World Health Organisation], and scientists and professionals in the field of public health in the vast majority of countries including the US that there is no evidence showing the virus came from a lab. As the pandemic is spreading, the international community should co-operate on fighting against the virus.

This is the only way to defeat Covid-19. Rumour-mongering as well as slander and smear will only damage international solidarity.
The government signed off on a 101-day plan to reopen the Irish society and economy after a lengthy cabinet meeting on Friday.

The meeting lasted for over two hours, but was not described as being overly contentious, sources said. While it was heavy on detail, it is understood that this was down to ministers seeking clarification on exactly what the road map to easing restrictions would entail.

Sources say that the meeting did not see a repeat of a disagreement at the cabinet table earlier this week, when the "civil liberty wing" of the government argued for an easing of restrictions on movements.

It is understood that while a slight majority of the cabinet was in favour of easing the restrictions before Friday, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) advice has been followed "nearly to the letter".

That "civil liberty wing" had made representations particularly on the impact the lockdown was having on older people and businesses like outdoor construction, where physical distancing is possible.

Both of those groups were given some easing of restrictions in the road map.

However, it is understood that these measures were broadly accepted as they had been approved by NPHET.

"All ministers contributed, but it was a very productive meeting," a source said.

"It was focused on detail, but it wasnt that people were looking to pick holes in the document, they just wanted to understand it a bit more clearly and contribute ideas where they felt they could."

In a rare move, ministers were not given the advice from the NPHET ahead of time, with priority given to ensuring that the exact details of the document didnt leak before the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar could give his address to the nation, which was not followed by questions from the media.

Cabinet will meet again on Saturday, with a particular focus on devising business supports, Mr Varadkar said.

"Getting people back to work and re-starting businesses will not be easy. I know that. It wont be possible for people to just pick up where they left off. Businesses are going to need help to get going again.

"So, tomorrow, Cabinet will meet again to agree further actions to help our businesses to restart, reconnect and rehire staff who have been laid off or furloughed. "

Mr Varadkar said that a "national protocol" for the reopening of businesses in a safe manner was also being created with input from trade unions, employers, the Health and Safety Authority and the HSE.

Cabinet also signed off on extending two social protection measures which were due to expire next week. The 350 Covid-19 illness benefit and the waiving of the three-day waiting period for those claiming Jobseekers Benefit have both been extended.

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A 60-year-old retired auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) in Odisha has donated her two months pension to the Chief Ministers Relief Fund and PM CARES Fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Kusumlata Sahu of Bhadrak district, one of the Covid-19 red zones in Odisha, on Thursday walked up to the tehsil office in Dhamnagar area to handover a cheque of Rs 50,000 as her donation to the chief ministers relief fund.

Sahu, who retired as an ANM worker in Ganjam district in March last year, gets Rs 25,000 as a pension.

PM Modi and CM Naveen Patnaik have been hailing our community as Corona warriors. But we too have some responsibilities. So, I thought of contributing something to the CM relief fund, said Sahu.

Click here for full Covid-19 updates

A few days ago, she had donated Rs 10,000 through online to the Prime Ministers Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund).

Sahu also plans to distribute dry ration packets with cooking oil, flour, flattened rice, potato, onion and biscuits to 150 poor families in her locality from Saturday.

While people like us have a pension to fall back upon, what do poor people have? So, I have decided to distribute the dry ration packets that would help them in the lockdown period, said Sahu.

The dry rations would cost her Rs 30,000.

Bhadrak is among the top four Covid-19 hotspots of Odisha with 19 cases. Till Friday evening, Odisha has reported 149 cases.

ANMs in rural and urban areas perform antenatal care and post-natal care, conduct immunisation sessions, counsel for family planning and delivery of contraception, follow-up visit for chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension and support special outreach camps.

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The US presidential candidate finally broke his silence after a month the allegation was raised by his former aide

Washington: US presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday emphatically denied sexually assaulting a former aide, saying the alleged incident 27 years ago "never happened."

The former vice president thus broke a month of silence on the most potentially damaging claims he has confronted since launching his White House bid a year ago.

Republicans have tried to use them to damage his prospects against president Donald Trump in November's election.

"They aren't true. This never happened," Biden said in a statement addressing the accusations made by Tara Reade, a former staffer in his Senate office.

The campaign of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee had forcefully denied the allegations, but Biden himself had yet to address them publicly until now.

Biden, 77, said Reade's then-supervisor and former senior staffers in his office "have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues."

Reade said on a podcast in March that then-senator Biden sexually assaulted her in a Capitol Hill corridor in 1993, when she was 29.

Reade, now 56, alleged that Biden pinned her against a wall when she brought him a gym bag, put his hands "down my skirt" and violated her.

Reade's public account evolved over time. In early 2019, when Biden was preparing his presidential bid, she was among multiple women who accused Biden of touching them inappropriately, or in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

She has since presented a more serious claim of assault to media outlets, and filed an incident report with the Washington police in early April in which she did not name Biden.

Biden went on a morning news show to publicly refute the claims.

"It is not true. I'm saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn't," Biden told MSNBC.

"I don't know why after 27 years all of this gets raised," Biden added. "But I'm not going to question her motive. I'm not going to attack her."

But he stressed that "I have a right to say, look at the facts. Check it out."

Trump, who faces Biden in a presidential election that has been turned on its head by the coronavirus pandemic, himself faced more than a dozen accusations of sexual harassment and assault before he became president.

He came out Friday on the side of Biden, telling a right-wing radio host: "I would just say to Joe Biden: Just go out and fight it. It's, you know, it's one of those things."

"I've been a total victim of this nonsense false accusations," he said.

- 'Nothing' to hide -

Reade has not produced a copy of the complaint that she allegedly filed in 1993.

Biden, calling for transparency, said he has asked officials to search the National Archives, where he says any such document would now be stored.

"There's nothing for me to hide," he said.

But Biden resisted the idea of calling for a search among his Senate papers.

Those documents "do not contain personnel files," he said.

During a Friday evening virtual fundraiser, Biden told donors he was heartened that journalists were investigating the matter: "It isn't enough just to simply take my word for it and to dismiss it out of hand. Frankly, that shouldn't be enough for anyone."

Biden, who has pledged to pick a woman to be his vice president, stressed that he has always worked to improve conditions for women, including authoring the Violence Against Women Act.

He was also asked by MSNBC about comments he made during the 2018 Supreme Court confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh, who had been accused of sexual assault.

Biden said at the time that when a woman comes forward with such accusations, "you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real."

Asked what made things different now, Biden said: "Women are to be believed, given the benefit of the doubt, if they come forward and say something happened to them."

"Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts," he added.

"The truth matters," he said. "These claims are not true."

Biden leads Trump in national polling ahead of November's elections by about five percentage points, according to a poll average compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Several women seen as candidates to be Biden's running mate, including Senator Kamala Harris and former Georgia state lawmaker Stacey Abrams, have expressed support for Biden regarding the allegations.

The top Democrat in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, endorsed Biden for president this week and said Thursday that she remains "satisfied" with his response to the allegations.

Biden, meanwhile, is carrying on with online events such as town halls and fundraisers during the coronavirus pandemic, locked down at his Delaware home where he built a makeshift studio in his basement for television appearances.
A 20-day-old infant died of Covid-19 in Jaipur on Saturday in the first instance in Rajasthan a newborn succumbing to the viral infection. Three other deaths were reported in the state, taking the total to 65, the Rajasthan health department said.

The baby girl was born in the Gangauri hospital in Jaipurs walled city last month and was suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting for the past few days. She was admitted to the JK Lon hospital on May 1, Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health, said.

Singh said no one in the childs family has Covid-19 neither does the family have a travel history. Doctors have put 10 members of the family in quarantine.

A 55-year-old man from Ramganj was brought dead on May 1 to SMS hospital while a 65-year-old man from Jodhpur passed away on April 30. He was admitted to the MG hospital on April 30 and was suffering from coronary artery disease, said Singh.

Meanwhile, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state rose to 2,720 with 54 new cases.

Singh said 30 of the cases were reported from Jodhpur, 17 from Jaipur, three from Ajmer, one each from Kota and Chittorgarh and two from Alwar.

Meanwhile, health minister Raghu Sharma said labourers returning home from other states will have to strictly abide by the quarantine protocol.

The chief minister has issued orders to collectors to ensure that all workers who are returning are screened and kept in home quarantine or at a government facility for 14 days otherwise there is danger of the infection spreading, he said.

Sharma said the health department has developed the capacity to carry out 10,000 tests per day. From March 2 when the first Covid-19 case was reported and we had no testing facility to May 2 when we are in a position to carry out 10,000 tests per day, our health department staff has worked hard to develop this capacity, he said.

He said the rising number of positive cases is not a worry as aggressive testing has helped to bring the real situation to the fore so the government can take measures to contain the spread of the virus.

He said in sampling too Rajasthan is among the top states in the country and has taken over 1 lakh samples so far.

The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients in the state is also very good, he said.
Californias nearly 500 cities had been hurting financially even before the COVID-19 pandemic clobbered the states economy and triggered a downward spiral of tax revenues.

Although their revenues had climbed sharply during the previous decade, cities had seen even sharper increases in spending for employee pensions and health care and an epidemic of homelessness.

With a pandemic-induced recession, Californias city officials are now hastily revising their budgets for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and drafting new plans for 2020-21 that anticipate severe drops in revenues.

The states largest city, Los Angeles, typifies the syndrome. Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed a $10.5 billion 2020-21 budget that slashes appropriations throughout city government and would furlough 16,000 workers.

Dan Walters: COVID-19s very unequal toll COVID-19's disparate effects are shown in the data of its death toll, columnist Dan Walters says. New York's death rate is 25 times as high as California's.

Los Angeles and the five other California cities with populations of more than 500,000 will get some relief from Washington. The $2 trillion CARES Act contains aid for large cities, but it must pay for COVID-19 costs, not offset lost revenues, and must be spent by Dec. 31.

Big city officials, therefore, are looking for creative ways to spend their windfalls that satisfy the law and still provide some fiscal relief.

Sacramento is the smallest of the six and Mayor Darrell Steinberg expects to receive $89.6 million from CARES, almost exactly the citys estimate of its projected shortfall from revenue losses related to COVID-19.

This $89,623,427 stimulus check from the federal government starts our economic recovery, Steinberg tweeted late last month. He intends to use the CARES money to jump-start economic enhancement and housing projects promised from a sales tax increase approved by city voters last year, thus freeing up the sales tax money to plug the states budget deficit.

Dan Walters: Newsoms unwieldy economic task force Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed an 80-member task force to guide California's economic recovery. We should not have high expectations, columnist Dan Walters says.

Five-hundred miles to the south, in San Diego, Mayor Kevin Faulconer is also seeking creative uses of the $249 million his city expects to receive from CARES, a sum that, as in Sacramento, almost exactly matches its projected budget shortfall.

We expect to hear more on that and how you can spend those dollars soon, Faulconer told the city council. They will likely be restricted to COVID-related costs, but there may be some flexibility in that. That is something my entire team has been working on.

While CARES may help big cities to avoid fiscal meltdowns, it does nothing for Californias other 400-plus municipal governments, which are coping with many of the same issues, especially big drops in sales tax from shutdowns of retail businesses.

Dan Walters: California water war re-ignited Federal and state politicians and water officials are headed for a showdown over who controls the state's water supply, re-igniting California water wars, columnist Dan Walters says.

Prior to COVID-19 rearing its ugly head, many cities, as well as counties and school districts, were planning to place tax increases on the November ballot. However, the surprisingly negative results of the March 3 election on local tax and bond measures have raised doubt about the political wisdom of such proposals.

When the elections ballots were finally tallied this month, just 96 of the 239 tax and bond measures had passed, Michael Coleman, who tracks local government finances in California, calculated.

Colemans detailed account includes results of post-election probing by Fairbank, Maslin,Maullin, Metz & Associates, a leading California polling firm, about why the measures fared so poorly. It ascribed the losses to several factors, including voter pessimism, tax fatigue, early reports of the COVID-19 pandemic, logistical problems in voting and a sharp drop in support for taxes outside major urban areas.

With the pandemic now in full bloom, erasing millions of jobs, asking Californians to pay higher taxes would be a fools errand. Cities will have to weather, as best they can, the perfect storm of rising demands for spending, plummeting revenues and hostility to new taxes.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

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With empty streets, closed shops and altered routines, the new cityscape amid the epidemic has thrown usual crime patterns in a disarray. While robberies and kidnappings are down by 100 percent in City Beautiful, petty thefts continue and smuggling of liquor is thriving even during the outbreak.

According to police crime statistics of April 2020, no incident of kidnapping, sexual harassment, stalking or robbery was reported. In April last year, 15 cases of kidnapping, six cases of sexual harassment and two cases of stalking and robbery were reported.

With people spending all their time at home, thieves are finding it hard to break into houses, said police, and are instead targeting vehicles parked outside houses or on streets.

Although theft of two-wheelers has gone down by 75 percent, some pockets in the city are reporting a few thefts. However, no cars, SUVs, jeeps and other four-wheelers or three wheelers were reported stolen this month.

Senior superintendent of police(SSP) Nilambari Jagadale said Crime will keep declining but we are anticipating a rise in motor-vehicle thefts as the movement of vehicles increases, following new orders. Parking spaces might become vulnerable so we are increasing patrolling around them.

Besides, other petty thefts, too, are down by 68 percent and burglaries at night have decreased by 45 percent in April as compared to last year. But police said they are still receiving complaint of petty thefts.

Snatching cases down by 75%

As per trend of the last three years, there has always been a spurt in snatching cases in March and April. But this year, only five cases were reported in April, as compared to last year when 20 cases were reported.

94 percent decline in rape

Only one case of rape was reported to the police in April this year, as compared to 17 last year, police said. Even dowry cases are down by 77 percent. Police say although few cases of domestic violence and dowry have been reported, these numbers could be artificially low as victims may not be able to report abuse in the presence of their abusers.

55% spike in liquor smuggling

As per police records, this April saw a surge in cases of liquor smuggling. As many as 17 FIRs were registered under the Excise Act alone, as compared to 11 last year in April. Locals said the business of liquor smuggling is thriving in Chandigarh with the patronage of local police. In our village, several people were selling illicit liquor despite the governments ban on its sale. No action was taken against them as they had full support of police, said a resident of Hallomajra, requesting anonymity.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, the Conroe Police Department dispatch center was likely one of the most eventful workplaces in Montgomery County. Dispatchers regularly connect those with emergencies to first responders.

Punching in to work guarantees no dull day is had at the dispatch center, found within the walls of Conroe PDs station, located at 2300 Plantation Dr. in Conroe.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: First responders cant social distance. Some are getting sick. And departments say it could strain responses

And it remains as busy as always. Since COVID-19 has spread throughout the county and people were under a stay-at-home order, the number of calls have not slowed, according to Heather Silvio, a dispatch supervisor.

Typically our call volume stayed about the same, Silvio said in interview between taking calls, noting the nature of the calls have changed some.

Surge in 911 calls

There has been a rise in domestic violence calls, Silvio said.

This is consistent with a 35-percent surge the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office cited at the end of March as impacting the county since isolation efforts to mitigate the virus began. The rise was compared to the numbers recorded during the same time in 2019.

THE LATEST: Computer glitch results in few new COVID-19 cases for Montgomery County

Also climbing up are calls on suspicious persons, according to Silvio. Once the stay-at-home order began, she said 911 calls started coming through about violations.

Everybodys go-to is 911. When they dont know who else to call, they call 911, Silvio said. But I wouldnt say that our call volume in that aspect went up any.

Violations to Gov. Greg Abbotts orders, which still prohibit businesses deemed nonessential from opening, can be reported to the non-emergency phone number, 936-522-3200.

Manning the phones

People calling from a landline or near a tower within Conroes city limits will have their calls routed to Conroe PDs dispatch center, which is made up of 22 dispatchers, four of them supervisors.

MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox

Within a two-week schedule, each dispatcher works six 12-hour shifts and answers about an average of 50 to 60 calls a day. The dispatch center takes between around 80,000 to 90,000 calls a year, not all requiring police response, Silvio explained.

Dispatchers forward medical emergency calls to the Montgomery County Hospital Districts dispatch center, which coordinates ambulance and EMS response.

The countys third dispatch center, which oversees all other emergency calls, is the Montgomery County Sheriffs Offices. It is where Silvio, 38, began her 20-year career as a dispatcher. She has been with Conroe PD for the last 17 years.

Ongoing protocol

Dispatchers are screening all callers for COVID-19 symptoms if they are in need of police presence . This will be an ongoing protocol for the foreseeable future, Silvio said, pointing to a Wednesday memo from Conroe PD Chief Jeff Christy that instructed as much.

Though dispatch has been largely unaffected by the so-called new normal of COVID-19, Conroe PDs station has had visits almost entirely barred. Come Monday, Silvio said department personnel who have been out as part of the stations COVID-19 mitigation efforts will be returning to work.

As of Wednesday, restrictions on entry by non-employees remained in place.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators on Friday allowed emergency use of the first drug that appears to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster, a milestone in the global search for effective therapies against the coronavirus.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this March 2020 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. Given through an IV, the medication is designed to interfere with an enzyme that reproduces viral genetic material. (Gilead Sciences via AP)

WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators on Friday allowed emergency use of the first drug that appears to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster, a milestone in the global search for effective therapies against the coronavirus.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared Gilead Sciences intravenous drug for hospitalized patients with severe disease, such as those experiencing breathing problems requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilators.

President Donald Trump announced the news at the White House alongside Gilead CEO Daniel ODay and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.

This was lightning speed in terms of getting something approved said Hahn, calling the drug an important clinical advance.

The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug, remdesivir, shortened the time to recovery by 31%, or about four days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Those given the drug were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average vs. 15 days for the comparison group. The drug may also help avert deaths, but that effect is not yet large enough for scientists to know for sure.

Dr. Sameer Khanijo, a critical care specialist, said he wants to see additional studies to clarify the drug's benefit.

I dont think this is a cure yet, but I think its starting to point us in the right direction, said Khanijo of North Shore University Hospital in New York. As a society its nice to have something that will help stem the tide of this disease.

The FDA said preliminary results from the government study warranted Friday's decision, though regulators acknowledged there is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir.

The drug's side effects include potential inflammation of the liver and problems related to its infusion, which could lead to nausea, vomiting, sweating and low blood pressure. Information about dosing and potential safety issues will be provided to physicians and patients, the FDA said.

The National Institutes of Healths Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday the drug would become a new standard of care for severely ill COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir, which blocks an enzyme the virus uses to copy its genetic material, has not been tested on people with milder illness.

The FDA authorized the drug under its emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs, tests and other medical products during public health crises.

In normal times the FDA requires substantial evidence of a drugs safety and effectiveness, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies the agency can waive those standards and require only that an experimental treatment's potential benefits outweigh its risks.

Gilead has said it will donate its currently available stock of the drug and is ramping up production to make more. It said the U.S. government would co-ordinate distribution of remdesivir to parts of the country that need it most.

No drugs are currently FDA-approved for treating the coronavirus, and remdesivir will still need formal approval.

The FDA can convert the drugs status to full approval if Gilead or other researchers provide additional data of remdesivirs safety and effectiveness.

This is a very, very early stage so you wouldnt expect to have any sort of full approval at this point, said Cathy Burgess, an attorney specializing in FDA issues. But obviously they want to get this out to patients as quickly as possible.

The FDA previously allowed narrow use of a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, for hospitalized patients who were unable to take part in ongoing studies of the medication. Trump repeatedly promoted it as a possible COVID-19 treatment, but no large high-quality studies have shown the drug works for that and it has significant safety concerns.

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The FDA warned doctors late last month against prescribing the drug outside of hospital or research settings, due to risks of sometimes fatal heart side effects. The agency made the announcements after receiving new reports of injury and death with the medication, which is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Two small studies published Friday add to concerns about hydroxychloroquine. Critically ill COVID-19 patients given the pill-based drug were prone to heart rhythm problems, and for many risks mounted when it was combined with an antibiotic, the studies found.

___

Marchione reported from Milwaukee. AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner contributed to this report from Chicago.

___

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.
More than 40% of New Mexicos COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a situation state officials are calling tragic and difficult to combat.

The state reported 52 COVID-19-positive deaths among those facilities, according to a breakdown provided Thursday by the New Mexico Department of Health.

That accounts for more than two out of every five New Mexico deaths linked to COVID-19 since New Mexico reported its first known cases in mid-March.

The state has recently started weekly testing in the facilities and on Friday announced it would put $42.6 million in new Medicaid payments toward the facilities to help with the fight.

Nursing homes are an incredible challenge in New Mexico and around the country, and it is an area I find incredibly disturbing because its all vulnerable populations, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a Thursday news conference.

Most of the facilities with cases are in the Albuquerque metro area or northwestern New Mexico.

Life Care Center in Farmington has emerged as the newest hot spot, with 26 deaths, most of them occurring in the past week. The state announced seven new deaths among Life Care Center residents on Thursday alone.

La Vida Llena, an upscale retirement community in Albuquerque, has had its own devastating outbreak, with 16 deaths to date in its nursing home unit.

At Genesis Uptown, 54 residents had tested positive and five had died as of Thursday.

Total statewide COVID-19 cases in those facilities reached 231 as of Thursday. Thats up from 99 the week prior. The numbers do not include staff members who tested positive, which some facilities have seen in large numbers.

Dr. David Scrase, secretary of New Mexicos Human Services Department, said that long-term care facilities worldwide have struggled to contain the virus and that asymptomatic spread is one of the problems. More than 11,000 COVID-19-related deaths have occurred at the countrys nursing homes and long-term care facilities, the Associated Press reported last week.

You could literally test every worker and every resident every hour, and you wouldnt know where to stop that surveillance, Scrase said.

Testing capacity has recently enabled the state to perform surveillance testing at all nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

At facilities with at least one case, we test all residents and staff weekly; in facilities with no cases, its 15% of residents and staff tested every week, DOH spokesman David Morgan told the Journal in an email.

Though the pandemic has slammed nursing homes nationwide, some locally have faced scrutiny for how they handled it.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas has launched an investigation into La Vida Llena, and a spokesman said others are also underway.

We are actively investigating other facilities to monitor safety practices across the state, Matt Baca, Balderas chief legal counsel, said in a written message to the Journal.

He did not respond to a question asking which other facilities are being probed.
UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has discussed options, including online voting, to conduct elections for five non-permanent members of the Security Council in June, as large in-person meetings at the world body stand postponed till at least end of June due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 193-member General Assembly is scheduled to hold elections in June for five non-permanent members of the Security Council, members of the Economic and Social Council, the president of the 75th session of the General Assembly and the vice presidents of the 75th session.

India is a candidate for a non-permanent seat in the UNSC elections this year and its victory is almost certain following the unanimous endorsement of its candidature by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan.

Muhammad-Bande on Thursday hosted a virtual meeting of the Chairs of the Regional Groups that featured a presentation by Under Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) Movses Abelian on the options for elections by the General Assembly in the coming weeks without plenary meetings.

The options prepared by the DGACM include elections requiring secret ballots where member states can cast their votes at a specific venue, taking into account requirements of social distancing or by electronic means, Muhammad-Bande spokesperson Reem Abaza told a virtual press briefing on Friday.

Elections for the five non-permanent members of the 15-nation Council for the 2021-22 term were scheduled for June 17.

Canada, Ireland and Norway are vying for two seats in the Western Europe and Other countries category, Mexico is the only candidate for the one Latin America and Caribbean seat and Kenya and Djibouti will contest the seat available for the African group.

Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members (out of 10 in total) for a two-year term.

The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis - five for African and Asian States; one for Eastern European States; two for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two for Western European and other States.

The election is held by secret ballot.

The General Assembly is not holding meetings in person as UN staff and diplomats telecommute due to the pandemic.

Resolutions are being adopted by the UN body through a silence procedure, under which if no member state raises any objections to the draft within a specified time period, the President of the General Assembly will circulate a letter confirming adoption of the text.

Abaza said Muhammad-Bande is consulting with member states on the possible mechanisms to hold elections and decisions on meetings to be held in June in the world body will be announced very soon.

On whether the high-level week of the UN General Assembly, which takes places annually in September, will proceed, Abaza said discussions are underway with the UN medical director and local authorities in this regard.

"But having these meetings depends on many elements. Some of them will be the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. And the other thing is the ability of the local authorities to receive all the high level delegations. So the discussions are ongoing," she said.

A note prepared by the UN Secretariat has provided possible options in which elections by the General Assembly could be held without plenary meetings.

It said that if the number of candidates is equal to or does not exceed the number of vacant seats, there would usually be no need to hold a secret ballot.

"In these instances, the General Assembly could elect the candidates without a secret ballot, namely through the silence procedure," the note said.

Under this procedure, the President of the General Assembly could circulate a letter to all member states and indicate the specific election and the names of candidates; propose that a secret ballot be dispensed with as the number of candidates is equal to or does not exceed the number of vacant seats; indicate that, if there is no objection until a specific date and time, those candidates would be considered elected; and indicate their terms of office and the date on which those terms begin in the event that they are elected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A young woman assaulted a paramedic moments after approaching police armed with a knife, a court has heard.

Cops from an armed response unit used a Taser on Chloe Tucker after a separate incident in which she threatened to stab anyone who tried to evict her from her home.

Appearing at Craigavon Magistrates Court via videolink from custody, the 19-year-old admitted common assault, possessing a weapon, resisting and assaulting police and making a threat to kill.

A prosecution lawyer said the defendant approached police while armed with a knife on December 30 last year.

While she did not threaten officers, a struggle broke out when they tried to disarm her, after which an armed response unit was called.

When she was being checked over by a paramedic, Tucker, from Portadown, struck him on the forehead.

Ten days later, after she was freed on bail, a Housing Executive employee went to the defendants home to tell her eviction proceedings were being brought against her.

Tucker, who was sat on a sofa but had a six or seven-inch knife and a claw hammer on her coffee table, then told the official: The first ones through that door I will stick this knife in them.

Fearing for his safety, the man left the property and called the police, after which eight officers, a number of them armed, arrived at the defendants home and were forced to use a Taser on her.

After she was moved to a police car to be taken into custody, Tucker continued to struggle, kicking out at and headbutting officers until she was restrained.

Defence counsel Conor Coulter said his client, from Ulsterville Grove, had been in custody since January over the second incident.

He added that despite the aggravating factors, it was a time-served case.

District Judge Amanda Brady ordered the destruction of the knife and hammer and sentenced the defendant to four months in prison.

However, because of time spent on remand, Tucker is now due to walk free.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported there were 48,305 confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in all 67 counties as of 12 p.m., May 2, 2020. There are at least 2,418 reported deaths from the virus.

Click the image to see a data page including an interactive maps for the state. (Please click the link in the previous sentence if you cant see the image)

Click here for a ZIP code breakdown of cases provided by the Pa. Department of Health.

The state is also providing detailed hospital and respirator data here for desktop users and here for mobile users.

PennLive is monitoring the new cases over a two-week period, part of the Wolf administrations criteria for reopening the state. A map and a database for these are below. If you cannot see either embed, please click here for the map and here for the database.

Below is a map of the current reopening status of Pennsylvania counties. Please click here if you cannot see that map.

Adams County

141 positive cases and 1,605 negative results with 4 deaths.

Allegheny County

1,333 positive cases and 16,646 negative results with 102 deaths.

Armstrong County

52 positive cases and 710 negative results with 2 deaths.

Beaver County

435 positive cases and 2,142 negative results with 68 deaths.

Bedford County

24 positive cases and 214 negative results with 1 death.

Berks County

2,810 positive cases and 5,786 negative results with 118 deaths.

Blair County

23 positive cases and 1,035 negative results.

Bradford County

35 positive cases and 698 negative results with 2 deaths.

Bucks County

3,182 positive cases and 8,881 negative results with 237 deaths.

Butler County

180 positive cases and 2,304 negative results with 6 deaths.

Cambria County

32 positive cases and 1,299 negative results with 1 death.

Cameron County

1 positive cases and 53 negative results.

Carbon County

182 positive cases and 1,096 negative results with 15 deaths.

Centre County

96 positive cases and 950 negative results with 1 death.

Chester County

1,469 positive cases and 5,609 negative results with 117 deaths.

Clarion County

23 positive cases and 493 negative results with 1 death.

Clearfield County

16 positive cases and 455 negative results.

Clinton County

34 positive cases and 252 negative results.

Columbia County

290 positive cases and 657 negative results with 13 deaths.

Crawford County

19 positive cases and 699 negative results.

Cumberland County

365 positive cases and 1,585 negative results with 17 deaths.

Dauphin County

617 positive cases and 3,783 negative results with 25 deaths.

Delaware County

3,999 positive cases and 9,391 negative results with 255 deaths.

Elk County

4 positive cases and 171 negative results.

Erie County

90 positive cases and 2,034 negative results with 2 deaths.

Fayette County

82 positive cases and 1,878 negative results with 4 deaths.

Forest County

7 positive cases and 30 negative results.

Franklin County

325 positive cases and 3,053 negative results with 8 deaths.

Fulton County

6 positive cases and 89 negative results.

Greene County

27 positive cases and 429 negative results.

Huntingdon County

48 positive cases and 307 negative results.

Indiana County

63 positive cases and 755 negative results with 4 deaths.

Jefferson County

6 positive cases and 322 negative results.

Juniata County

84 positive cases and 161 negative results with 1 death.

Lackawanna County

968 positive cases and 2,656 negative results with 83 deaths.

Lancaster County

1,904 positive cases and 8,148 negative results with 112 deaths.

The county is reporting 183 deaths as of 1:45 p.m. May 1. Those deaths are in the following municipalities

Christiana: 12 deaths

Columbia: 1 death

East Cocalico Township: 3 deaths

East Hempfield Township: 8 deaths

East Lampeter Township: 1 death

Ephrata Township: 1 death

City of Lancaster: 3 deaths

Lancaster Township: 94 deaths

Lititz: 7 deaths

Manheim Township: 34 deaths

New Holland: 2 deaths

Paradise Township: 1 death

Penn Township: 4 deaths

Providence Township: 1 death

Rapho Township: 5 deaths

Salisbury Township: 1 death

Warwick Township: 1 death

Three non-residents also passed away in Lancaster County.

Lawrence County

65 positive cases and 758 negative results with 6 deaths.

Lebanon County

710 positive cases and 2,724 negative results with 10 deaths.

Lehigh County

2,896 positive cases and 7,508 negative results with 83 deaths.

Luzerne County

2,211 positive cases and 5,229 negative results with 97 deaths.

Lycoming County

81 positive cases and 1,173 negative results with 1 death.

McKean County

6 positive cases and 175 negative results.

Mercer County

66 positive cases and 772 negative results with 1 death.

Mifflin County

38 positive cases and 700 negative results.

Monroe County

1,165 positive cases and 2,825 negative results with 55 deaths.

Montgomery County

4,487 positive cases and 17,930 negative results with 369 deaths.

Montour County

49 positive cases and 2,966 negative results.

Northampton County

2,182 positive cases and 6,548 negative results with 94 deaths.

Northumberland County

98 positive cases and 615 negative results.

Perry County

33 positive cases and 233 negative results with 1 death.

Philadelphia County

12,948 positive cases and 29,612 negative results with 422 deaths.

Pike County

394 positive cases and 1,294 negative results with 15 deaths.

Potter County

4 positive cases and 84 negative results.

Schuylkill County

104 positive cases and 544 negative results with 5 deaths.

Snyder County

33 positive cases and 204 negative results with 1 death.

Somerset County

29 positive cases and 621 negative results with 1 death.

Sullivan County

1 positive cases and 34 negative results.

Susquehanna County

84 positive cases and 302 negative results with 9 deaths.

Tioga County

16 positive cases and 256 negative results with 1 death.

Union County

38 positive cases and 570 negative results.

Venango County

7 positive cases and 256 negative results.

Warren County

1 positive cases and 180 negative results.

Washington County

118 positive cases and 2,195 negative results with 2 deaths.

Wayne County

104 positive cases and 544 negative results with 5 deaths.

Westmoreland County

396 positive cases and 4,749 negative results with 26 deaths.

Wyoming County

25 positive cases and 175 negative results with 2 deaths.

York County

664 positive cases and 7,327 negative results with 11 deaths.

This data is compiled from the Pa. Department of Health. The state will not be providing recovery data at this time.

Several counties have released their own data maps. Information reported at the county level may not be consistent with the state numbers. Those counties include:

Some medical systems have begun releasing discharge data. Those medical systems include:

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.
Arrangements have been put in place to receive the first migrants special train' carrying 1,150 people stranded during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, to Odisha from Kerala on Sunday morning, official sources said.

The train left Kerala's Ernakulam Railway Station on Friday evening and is expected to reach the Jagannathpur Railway Station in Odisha's Ganjam district on Sunday morning, Manoj Kumar Mishra, Commissioner, Rail Coordination said on Saturday.

He said the special train will have another stoppage at Khurda Road Junction, where it will finally terminate.

The Odisha government has named ferrying stranded natives to their home by trains as Operation Subh Yatra'.

Mishra said all the passengers underwent health screening before boarding the train in Kerala and were issued certification for the journey.

The travelers, who have already registered with the state government's portal, hail from 23 of the Odisha's 30 districts.

The highest (382) journey makers hail from Kandhamal district followed by 283 from Kendrapara and 130 from Ganjam districts. The officials of all the districts have been informed and the travelers will be received at the railway station and later taken to quarantine centres in the respective districts.

The Kerala government's model of sending the stranded Odia people is highly satisfactory and smooth, Mishra said.

He said neither any public nor media will be allowed to enter Jagannathpur and Khurda Road stations when the travelers reach there.

The officials will take care of them on arrival, he said. Similarly, arrangements have been made for carrying more people from Kerala and Gujarat to Odisha.

One more train will leave Kerala Saturday evening and two such trains will come from Gujarat. The train from Gujurat will run till Bhubaneswar, the official said.

All the trains will stop at stipulated stations from where the passengers will go to their villages along with the panchayat level officials, Mishra said, adding all returnees will undergo isolation for 14 days.

Meanwhile, the Ganjam district administration has already received some people from Gujurat by buses.

This apart, 114 students from Landmark City and Mahavir Nagar of Kota in Rajasthan reached Rourkela in four buses on Saturday morning.

Officials said all the students were initially screened in Kota and their health condition was reviewed by experts after their arrival in Rourkela on Saturday.

All of them will now undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine as per the state governments guidelines, the official said.

Official sources added that a group of students along with their teachers stuck in Puri due to lockdown left for Gujarat on Saturday by road.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We chatted briefly with Southern Connecticut State University police Lt. Richard Anderson, who is one of the few employees left on the universitys New Haven campus. The university has been closed since March 10, but university police, facilities and mail service staffs are considered essential and are still reporting to work.

Q: What is the atmosphere on campus?

A: Its obviously very, very quiet, you know, with no students and no faculty. Were starting to get a little busier right now, with faculty coming back to get the stuff that they need for the summer sessions. I believe a lot of people didnt think it was going to go this long, so there are a lot of employees that need to come back to get materials they need.

Q: What is the mood in the police department?

A: As far as the police department, weve kind of changed our game plan. Obviously, our call line has gone way down. We have had a couple of people affected by COVID-19, so weve had to pick up shifts and step up a little bit.

Q: How has social distancing affected your daily routine?

A: We dont do briefings like we used to. Briefings consist of you come in, grab your gear and the sergeant will talk. We dont have actual briefings. We stand away from each other and talk about whats going on on campus.

Q: So, some police officers have had COVID-19?

A: Yes, and there have been family members affected also. Obviously, a lot of people are out of jobs and, you know, several officers here have wives or husbands who currently arent working because of it.

Q: What does an average day look like for you now since the pandemic?

A: Day shift is really just allowing people into buildings and making sure people arent coming on campus that arent supposed to. We have the hospital set up here across the street that the National Guard set up. There was a lot to do with that as far as getting them access to it.

Q: What has been the most challenging part of being an essential worker during this crisis?

A: Its not knowing how far this is going and where were gonna end up. I mean, you know, obviously theyve canceled all the summer sessions. But we want the students to come back. Its a different place to work right now. The challenge is getting through a non-normal day, and people are stressed. People are concerned about whats going to happen, and I think its fear of the unknown.

Q: Is it strange not seeing thousands of students and faculty on a daily basis?

A: Very strange. Working through the summers you say, Oh, gosh, the summers are really slow. This makes the summers look busy, honestly. For instance, now the midnight shifts are almost the same thing every night. Its really just securing buildings and checking buildings all night long because there really are no people on campus. Very little traffic driving around.

Q: What safety precautions are you following to ensure your own safety?

A: Any time we deal with the public, we wear masks. So we all have masks, were all issued gloves. We have covers for our boots. Weve been issued PPE suits just in case we have to get into the hospital across the way and if we need to deal with someone who has COVID-19. We try to avoid contact with any outsiders unless its absolutely necessary. We do all of our meetings by phone and Zoom, which has become really popular.

Q: Whats the protocol you follow if someone may have been exposed to COVID-19?

A: Theres a protocol New Haven has put together, where AMR will actually go and handle all the medicals. We dont actually go in unless they call us in or they need us for an emergency.

Q: Looking forward, what do you expect to happen during the summer and fall?

A: As far as what I think will happen, obviously the summer will stay like this until the governor makes a decision. Were going to treat it like were going to open in the fall, but that doesnt mean its going to happen. Its up in the air until the governor makes the decision as to when and how well open  if we open.

Q: Do you expect things will resemble normalcy as we progress toward the fall?

A: I think because the area were in has been hit so hard, the tri-state area, I think its going to be a very slow progression. I think thats the proper way to go right now.

Kaitlyn Regan is a student at Southern Connecticut State University.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has thrown down the gauntlet to President Nana Akufo-Addo to compare track records of the previous administration and that of the incumbent government.



Addressing the nation in a digital conversation, former President Mahama lamented about failures of the Akufo-Addo government to address the health system in Ghana.



According to him, the President has abandoned a number of hospitals that he (Mahama) constructed while in office.



Ghanaians die when hospitals completed and ready with a combined capacity of 900 beds have been left standing idle. But for the deliberate slowdown of the operationalization of the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Bank hospital, the unacceptable no-bed syndrome would not have claimed these precious lives. Talking about the Bank hospital, a rather curious case of that hospital and the international Maritime hospital cannot escape attention. These are ultramodern world-class hospitals built with public funds and yet have either remained shut or under-utilized. Particularly worrying is the abandonment of some major health facilities that have reached an advanced stage of completion by the time we left office.



. . By early 2016, the Dodowa hospital had been completed and commissioned into use while those at Kumahu, Abetifi and Fomena had reached various advanced stages of construction by the time I left office in January 2017. Whatever the challenges with these projects, they should not have been left abandoned and left at the mercy of invading weeds and reptiles, and in some cases been affected by bushfires, he stated.



Making reference to the President's promise of 88 Regional and 6 district hospitals in the country, Mr. Mahama noted that the President has plagiarized his ideas and repackaged them to Ghanaians as new policies by his (Akufo-Addo) government.



In his last broadcast and indeed previous ones, the President echoed many of the ideas and policies I have previously outlined. It is gratifying to note that he is listening. Any addition to our health infrastructure is ordinarily welcome but it is regrettable that it had to take COVID-19 to jolt him into this civility about the importance of such critical investments in healthcare.



The Ex-President implicatively challenged President Nana Akufo-Addo to prove his achievements since coming into power.



The fundamental difference between our two respective positions is that I come to the table with an outstanding track record of actually delivering many of such projects with less resources than he has had in the last three and half years. Fellow Ghanaians, the NDC comes to the table with a clear plan of modernization of our healthcare system. This plan considers global best practices and will have features that guarantee equitable access to quality healthcare for all Ghanaians, Mr. Mahama stressed.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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New Delhi, May 2 : "In this crisis, there is a stage of impact to revival. Currently we are in the 'impact stage which we are working towards sustenance. By the second half of the year, we will be in a stage of revival and slowly move towards recovering business," states Sachin Jain, President of Forevermark India.

Jain, is a passionate business driver whose clarity of vision has carried various companies through rapid and abiding growth. With a career spanning 17 years at luxury goods and retail companies, he effortlessly juggles between multiple responsibilities whilst spearheading the business affairs of the brand.

IANSlife caught up with the "entrepreneur at heart" at STIMULUS 2020.

Read Excerpts: Q Luxury is said to be recession proof, do you think the economic slowdown will affect jewellery, especially the diamond segment?

Jain: We are currently in a very unique situation where different consumers are impacted in a variety of ways. There is a certain set of consumers who are not economically affected at all during this time. I don't believe luxury is recession proof, but since diamonds hold a meaningfulness of genuine love and promise, the jewellery sector may be at an advantage during this time. All sectors may take time to recover in this economic situation but with the strong value a diamond holds, jewellery will see a faster recovery.

Q. Forevermark has many different collections catering to different needs; do you think post the lockdown we will witness desperate buying like in China? Jain: In China the consumption patterns are very different. It is a high consumption market where saving is close to negative. Economically India is very different where there is no crazy consumption. For Indian consumers, saving is very important. This lockdown has taught people to be resilient just like a diamond. Post lockdown, consumers will be conservative in their spending patterns. I believe brands that are sustainable and who hold a true meaning in one's life will survive.

Q. The wedding season might be one of the worst hit, do you feel when it comes to jewellery for weddings in India people will continue to spend as they did pre-COVID-19? Jain: There are two segments of wedding shoppers, one the Bridal & Trousseau customers who will continue to purchase jewellery based on traditional sentiments but simplicity and classic products will be sought after which hold a feeling of gratitude. Opulence during this time will be avoided.

The second set of consumers in this category is the ones who purchase for celebratory reasons and may hold back due to the current situation.

Q. Prices for gold have seen an all time high, can we expect to see the curve flattening in this case too? Jain: Gold prices are a function of the global economic situation. In the past we have seen that in a fragile economy, gold tends to be much stronger.

Q. Most brands are focusing on digital marketing during this period of lockdown; does the brand plan to take forward any customer engagement initiatives? Jain: We believe in staying connected to our consumers through the digital space through simple messaging reflecting the current scenario. We also have taken some of our offline events like Diamond master classes online to our consumers through Instagram and other platforms which resulted in very positive responses from the participants.

Q. Forevermark retails through established jewellery partners, does this help cushion the impact of COVID-19 crisis on the brand, considering you don't have overheads like rentals and retail stores? Jain: We work very closely with our partners. While the business model may be different, we share our partner retailer costs. We have a deep rooted relationship with our partners and will help them bring back the customers once things settle.

Q. Brand ambassadors and social media influencers a thing of the past in the post COVID-19 era? Jain: The concept of brand ambassadors has been diluting over the years as influencers endorse various products. We, at Forevermark feel that the qualities of a diamond represent itself well enough and therefore is the true ambassador for its category.

Q. Lastly as a brand what measures will you be take to ensure things go back to normal, or will it be a new normal for Forevermark? Jain: In this crisis, there is a stage of impact to revival. Currently we are in the 'impact' stage which we are working towards sustenance. By the second half of the year, we will be in a stage of revival and slowly move towards recovering business.

STIMULUS 2020 was a one of kind webinar encompassing 70 speakers across 14 panel discussions. Organised by The Global Luxury Group, Crosshairs Communications (PR Partner) & WIN (Women Inspiring Network - Content Partner), it is designed to cut through the volume of rhetoric and despair surrounding the current COVID-19 scenario, which has declared the market slow-moving or outright stagnant. The aim being to connect with strategists, business owners and executives in order to canvas possibilities and new ideas in media, luxury, lifestyle, leadership and other industries.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
Chinese phone makers Xiaomi has been accused of recording its users private web and phone usage data, Forbes.com alleged in its recently published article. The report quotes a seasoned cybersecurity researcher Gabi Cirlig saying, Its a backdoor with phone functionality about his new Redmi Note 8 phone.

Cirlig found that most of his movement was being tracked, whilst different kinds of device data were also being stored.

The default browser was recording all the websites he visited even when he was on incognito mode. Also, the device was recording which folders he opened and which screens he swiped.

This left Cirlig spooked as his identity and private life was being snooped on by the Chinese company.

Forbes requested another cybersecurity researcher Andrew Tierney to investigate the allegations, which he found were true. The browsers shipped by Xiaomi on Google Play  Mi Browser Pro and the Mint Browser - were indeed collecting the same data.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi in a statement issued on May 2 said that it was was disappointed to read the article published by Forbes.

The statement further read: "We feel they have misunderstood what we communicated regarding our data privacy principles and policy. Our users privacy and internet security is of top priority at Xiaomi; we are confident that we strictly follow and are fully compliant with local laws and regulations. We have reached out to Forbes to offer clarity on this unfortunate misinterpretation.

These allegations could seriously affect the Chinese phone makers consumer market. Xiaomi is one of the top four smartphone makers in the world by market share, behind Apple, Samsung and Huawei.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 07:31:31|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Friday blocked Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert and central figure in the administration's response to the novel coronavirus, from testifying before Congress.

"While the [Donald] Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

"We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time," the statement added.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been invited by a House Appropriations subcommittee to testify next week, as part of the subcommittee's probe into the Trump administration's response to the pandemic.

An outspoken expert on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Fauci has repeatedly stressed the need to take strict measures, including extending the federal government's social distancing guidelines, to contain the spread of the virus, at times correcting Trump's false claims as the president tried to downplay the severity of the situation.

The 79-year-old has been generally viewed as a reliable source of information by American people amid the pandemic.

A study released Wednesday by the University of Southern California's Center for the Digital Future and the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that 45 percent of 1,000 adult Americans surveyed said they rely on Fauci for coronavirus information, leading all the other options. Enditem
The waiters wear plastic gloves and masks. The menus might be disposable, or even on customers' phones. Diners might not be allowed to sit with anyone who doesn't live in their household. Perhaps there's a faint whiff of bleach in the air, or dividers between booths. The dining rooms can look mostly empty, with six feet or more between tables and restaurants limited to as little as 25% of their capacity.

This is what's not normal about the dining scene this week in Georgia, Tennessee and Alaska, where restaurants were given the go-ahead to resume serving patrons in-house, weeks after the coronavirus shuttered eateries, from farm-to-table bistros to greasy-spoon diners.

But here's what is: patrons settling into tables and booths, ordering the "Summertime Setback" cocktail at Hugo's Oyster Bar in Roswell, Georgia, the chiles rellenos at Chapultepec in Tyrone, Georgia, or the burgers at Matanuska Brewing Co. in Anchorage. They're greeting servers they haven't seen in weeks.

"I kept saying 'I promise I'm smiling under this mask,'" says Mikaela Cupp, general manager at Hugo's, which began dinner service on Monday, the first day allowed under Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's order. "It's exciting to see so much support from the community, but it's strange not to interact with guests - I wanted to give them a hug, but I can't."

In these three states, governors have issued guidance to try to maintain the balance between jump-starting their economies and protecting the public from covid-19. In some cases, municipalities have issued even tougher restrictions, while restaurant associations have offered guidelines, too. Restaurant owners are working with no shortage of limitations.

In Alaska, where restaurants could open on April 24, some are bristling at the restrictions. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy's limitation of dine-in seating to 25% of capacity means owner Alla Gutsul can fill only five of the 16 tables at her Eastern European eatery Soba in Fairbanks, and she said that won't begin to pay her bills. "It's going to be really tough," she said.

Because of the restrictions, less than 5% of Alaska's 1,500 restaurants are expected to reopen, said Sarah Daulton Oates, president and chief executive of the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association. "It's just not feasible for most of our restaurants," she said.

In Georgia and Tennessee, many owners have also opted not to reopen or resume dine-in operations, saying that even if they adhere to the guidance, they can't yet ensure the health and safety of staff and customers.

Kemp's announcement, a week before the reopening date, might have come as a surprise to many restaurateurs. But others say they had long been developing plans to reopen with stricter safety measures and social distancing, eagerly awaiting the official nod.

That was the case for Ryan Zink, CEO of Good Times Restaurants, whose 39 locations of Bad Daddy's Burger Bar around the country include four in the Peachtree State and one in Tennessee that opened on Monday. He said his company had drawn up plans and checklists, making sure that they comported with official state orders as well as a 10-page best-practices brochure from the Georgia Restaurant Association.

"We had to bounce all these against each other," he says. " Some of what we had was consistent with Gov. Kemp's orders, but we're trying to go above and beyond that."

John Metz has been working on reopening plans "since the day we closed." He's the CEO, executive chef and co-founder of Marlow's Tavern, which has locations around Georgia. Three of those will welcome customers again this week, and diners will see such changes as plexiglass dividers between booths and taped-out distances on the floors. "It seems like we've had to rewrite the plan almost every single day," he says.

Still, even those who had been champing at the bit to reopen had to scramble to get ready. The Georgia executive order outlining required precautions for restaurants opening Monday was released the previous Thursday night.

Kasey Carpenter, who owns Oakwood Cafe and Cherokee Brewing + Pizza Co. in Dalton, Georgia, broke out a yardstick to measure out the distance between tables. At Hugo's, Cupp and her team rented out a storage unit over the weekend to stash the tables and furniture they had to take out of the dining room.

Even the well-prepared Zink was confronted with a logistical challenge: finding liquid hand sanitizer to offer customers, which is mandated by the governor's order. "It's hard to get," he said, in what might be the understatement of the pandemic. Luckily, some of his alcohol vendors, like many around the country, have been producing it.

Some restaurateurs are taking precautions beyond the mandated ones. Matt Tomter, managing partner of Matanuska Brewing Co. in Alaska, says he has installed air scrubbers in ventilation systems at all three locations. The scrubbers clean the air every hour, he says. The upgrades cost him $7,500, he said, but it's all part of the new normal of living and working in a pandemic.

"The real reason to open the restaurant up is, first of all, to see if you can do it safely," Tomter says. "Then it's just getting people used to being able to go out again. It's going to take time. . . . People are nervous. Some people are ecstatic, and some people won't come in for a year. There's both sides of the spectrum."

In Tennessee, where restaurants in all but the most populous counties were permitted to resume dine-in service as of Monday, Andy Marshall oversaw the reopening of six restaurants in his hospitality group, including several locations of Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant. He considered wiping down menus between uses, as mandated, but decided he had to do more to build up customers' confidence. So staff printed disposable paper menus, and in what has become popular with patrons, established a QR code customers can scan to pull up the menu on their phones. "That's probably going to stick around," he said, even after the virus's threat has passed.

Marshall hasn't had problems getting supplies yet, but his wholesalers - who themselves are only now ramping up again - are warning him shortages might come. " We're burning through the gloves," he said, with workers using up to a case in a single lunch service. Customers (who are not required to wear them themselves) have hand-sewn masks for workers, and the owner of the Nashville Predators has promised to send over more with the team's logo and colors.

Rehiring and training staff has been a challenge for some. Many laid-off workers have been receiving unemployment benefits that pay more than they might pull in serving fewer customers. Carpenter says he offered some furloughed staff less than 20 hours a week so they could still maintain some unemployment benefits.

Tomter at Matanuska Brewing says he has had to pay employees well above Anchorage's minimum wage of $10.19 to get them back to work. His cooks, he says, earn $20 an hour, and his front-of-the-house staff between $15 and $20 an hour, before tips. But Tomter did receive money from the controversial Paycheck Protection Program, which requires 75% of the funds to go toward payroll.

"We are paying people more, because we have to right now," Tomter says. "It's going to last until we run out of the PPP money" in a couple of months.

Getting the staff used to the new protocols requires some vigilance, too. "Restaurant people are pretty outgoing people," Carpenter says. "By nature they're social, and they're excited, because it's like the band's back together, but I have to remind them to break it up, and everybody go back to their corners."

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

Georgia Restaurant Association CEO Karen Bremer says that more than half of the some 19,000 restaurants in the state have remained open in some capacity, such as for delivery or takeout. She called the reopening to diners a "slow roll" that could take weeks or even months. Seeing the industry bounce back will take a lot, she says, and a recession could mean it won't, entirely. " People have got to trust leaving their house and going out in public," she says. "It's going to take people having more confidence in the information they're receiving."

Bremer felt confident enough herself to return on Monday night to one of her favorite spots, Chapultepec in Tyrone, where she had her favorites, including a skinny margarita and cheese dip with jalapenos.

Most restaurateurs interviewed said their return to serving diners shouldn't be read as a political statement. Some view it as almost an obligation to their community. Others see it as a business necessity, to try to hash out ways to deal with a pandemic with no end in sight.

"You're going to have to figure out how to live with that thing, because it's not going away, right?" Tomter says.

In Georgia, restaurateurs frame it as a personal choice, for customers and owners.

Metz called the governor's order an "opportunity" that everyone has to consider from their angle, even those who choose to stay closed. " They have the right to do that, and I'm excited for them to do that in their own best way," he says.

Carpenter offered a beach analogy: "It's like after a shark attack - some people don't want to get in the water ever, some are ready to jump in right away, and others want to wait a while and come back with precautions," Carpenter says. "We had a group of people who were ready. They know their risk tolerance."

Whether customers will return and whether revenue will be enough remain to be seen. Many owners plan to keep offering carryout and delivery - operations that might have kept them afloat - even as they resume serving diners in-house.

Marshall says he is seeing only 20 to 30% of his normal volume, even at half capacity, which is mandated by the state. He's counting on PPP loans to help until the restrictions are ultimately lifted. That, he says, will depend on restaurants making sure they're reopening safely, and convincing customers of it. " Making money is down the list of priorities," he said. "Right now, it's getting people back to work, and doing this right so there's not a setback. Most people in the hospitality business won't survive a second round of this."

At Soba in Fairbanks, owner Gutsul has been open for nearly a week. But in the first five days back in business, she says she had not filled more than four tables in an entire day. Part of the problem, she says, is the state's demand that all customers have a reservation. But part is just about diners getting comfortable again with social activity. "They have to develop this habit again of going out," she said.

At Hugo's, Cupp says that even if they aren't pulling in the revenue of pre-pandemic days, "opening at limited capacity means we'll be able to be at full force once we're back to the new normal."

And what would a "new normal" look like? For customers, getting used to a restaurant experience that looks far different might take time. While Zink says he found the masked and gloved servers a bit jarring himself at first, " I'm getting used to it, and I think customers will too," he said. "They might have to experience it a few times before it feels normal."

Aside from all the new protocols - sanitizing tables before and after use, wearing masks and gloves, assessing employee health daily - the hardest part of reopening may be the human element.

"People walk in the door, and you haven't seen them in a month and a half, and everybody just wants to give everybody a hug," says Tomter of Matanuska Brewing. "No one can right now. So they're giving hugs from 10 feet away."
KENT COUNTY, MI - Kent Countys COVID-19 cases reached 1,600 on Friday, May 1, with three new deaths.

The county recorded 121 new cases Friday, May 1, up from 84 the previous day. Fridays new cases represent the third-highest single-day total for the county.

Kent County now has 36 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

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The Kent County Health Department on Friday began including data about coronavirus cases per each zip code.

Related: Michigan tops 10,000 daily tests for first time, 77 new deaths reported

The county also is showing the number of recoveries. So far, 417 people are listed as recovered in Kent County.

A person with COVID-19 is deemed recovered if they are 30 days beyond onset of symptoms or illness.

COVID-19 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

Friday, May 1: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

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If youre in danger of foreclosure due to coronavirus, dont wait to seek help, Michigan treasurers say
Italy sees highest daily coronavirus recoveries, death toll at 27,967

Global Times

Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/5/1 9:18:02

Italy on Thursday recorded the highest daily number of coronavirus recoveries since the emergency started in late February, the country's Civil Protection Department said.

"Today we recorded the highest number of recoveries since the beginning of the emergency, with 4,693 new recoveries compared to yesterday, bringing the total to 75,945 recoveries," Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli told a televised press conference.

The death toll on Thursday was 285, bringing the total to 27,967 in the country. The new infections on the day were 1,872, bringing the total number of cases -- combining infections, fatalities and recoveries -- in Italy to 205,463.

Of those 101,551 now infected, 1,694 are in intensive care, down by 101 patients compared to Wednesday, and 18,149 are hospitalized in normal wards, down by 1,061. The rest, or 80 percent of those who tested positive, is in isolation at home.

Last press conference

Borrelli, who also serves as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency, announced that this would be the last such press conference since the country is heading towards a partial relaxation of the national lockdown beginning on May 4, and he took the opportunity to thank the foreign countries that stepped in to help Italy in its time of need.

"I wish to remember the great generosity of the European and non-European countries that have helped by sending doctors and medical equipment," Borrelli said. "I want to thank them all, because their support was decisive for us at a time when our country was experiencing objective difficulties."

Borrelli went on to praise the thousands of men and women who joined his Department as volunteers during the coronavirus emergency, peaking at 21,624 volunteers on April 24, as well as the hundreds of doctors and nurses who volunteered to be redeployed to Italy's most stricken regions.

"I also want to remember the generosity of the Italian people, who since the beginning of the emergency have donated over 142 million euros (156 million U.S. dollars) for the purchase of medical equipment and individual protection kits, plus over six million euros for the relatives of medical personnel who lost their lives in the frontlines of the battle against the virus," said Borrelli.

Also at the press conference was Dr. Luca Richeldi, who heads the Pulmonology Department at Rome's Policlinico Gemelli Hospital and who sits on the Technical and Scientific Committee advising the government on how to fight the pandemic.

"Today's data is very comforting," said Richeldi in reference to the drop in positive cases and the rise in recoveries.

"We have six regions reporting no COVID-19 deaths and nine regions with under 10 deaths," he added.

"This means we have a clear confirmation that the adopted measures have led to a drastic reduction of the extraordinary pressure on our national health service that we saw in the past," Richeldi said.

"Over the past 15 days under lockdown, we have halved the number of deaths and of ICU patients, we have doubled the recoveries, and we have significantly reduced the number of hospitalizations," he said.

"The spread of the virus has slowed down," Richeldi said.

Analyzing data

At a press conference earlier in the day, National Institute of Health (ISS, in its Italian acronym) President Silvio Brusaferro said that "the (epidemiological) curve continues to decrease, both in terms of numbers of symptomatic people and in terms of the number of cases, which are decreasing across all of (Italy's 20) regions."

The number of regions with limited cases is also growing, Brusaferro added.

"This confirms the positive impact of the (lockdown) measures and also the extent to which citizens have adhered to the measures," he said.

"But we are still in a phase of epidemy," he warned.

Brusaferro also said that there have been 6,395 confirmed cases of infection from the new coronavirus among immigrants in Italy.

He cited ISTAT national statistics institute data showing that as of Jan. 1, 2019, there were just over 5.25 million immigrants in Italy, making up 8.7 percent of the country's total population of about 60 million people.

"The epidemiological curve among foreign citizens is very similar to ours," Brusaferro said.

As far as the lethality of the virus, Brusaferro called Italy's death toll "a highly significant number of fatalities."

He confirmed that the new coronavirus is most dangerous for the elderly and for people affected by other diseases -- the average age of the deceased is 81 years and the average age of those infected is 62 years.

"A great portion of the deceased, or 63 percent, had three or more co-morbidities," said Brusaferro in reference to other diseases or chronic conditions.

Also present at the press conference was Stefano Merler, a researcher from the Bruno Kessler Foundation, a non-profit research institute.

He said that in the northern Lombardy region where the pandemic first broke out, studies have confirmed that it takes an average of 6.6 days for the symptoms from the new coronavirus infection to arise.

Merler also said that studies have shown that children under 15 years of age are 66 percent less susceptible to the infection than people aged 15-64, and that adults aged over 65 years are 47 percent more susceptible (meaning at higher risk of infection) than people in the 15-64 age group.

He also said that of the patients who end up in intensive care, 66.6 percent either die or recover within 10 days, while 33.3 percent remain in the ICU for 21 days on average before recovering.

Italy entered into a national lockdown on March 10 to contain the pandemic. The lockdown, expected to last until May 3, will be followed by a so-called "Phase Two," which involves the gradual resumption of social, economic and productive activities.

Beginning May 4, the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors can resume work. Following them are retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18, and bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1. All businesses will have to follow rigorous workplace safety protocols.

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The Delhi High Court has directed the competent authority to decide on the parole plea of Vishal Yadav, convicted for the murder of business executive Nitish Katara in 2002. Yadav is serving a life imprisonment sentence and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail. Delhis lieutenant governor (L-G) Anil Baijal has the power to grant parole to prisoners. The L-G may authorise any officer from the state governments home department to decide on granting or refusing parole.

Justice AK Chawla said that Yadavs plea seeking eight-week parole is to be treated as a representation and be disposed of within 15 days. Yadav, through his counsel Sanyam Khetarpal, had moved the court stating that he is at an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) since he has a history of tuberculosis.

In the considered view of the court, the subject matter requires to be considered by the competent authority in the first instance, Justice AK Chawla said.

On Friday, the counsel for the Delhi government, additional standing counsel (criminal) Rajesh Mahajan, told the court that the representation would be considered on its merits and will be disposed of within three weeks.

Yadav, along with his brother Vikas Yadav and another person, were found guilty of murdering Katara, a businessman, as they did not approve of his relationship with their sister. A Delhi court had convicted the trio in May 2008 and the sentence of life imprisonment was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2014.

The Tihar prison, which has around 18,000 inmates, is the most crowded prison complex across the country. As on Saturday afternoon, the prison had not reported a single case of Covid-19. As a measure to contain the spread of Covid-19 by decongesting the prison, around 3,000 prisoners were released last month. The prisoners lodged in open jail have also been told to avail the eight-week parole. Until the lockdown started, open jail prisoners would leave the prison complex in the morning to work outside and return in the evening. The jail administration has also cancelled the visits of all family members. Before this, every prisoner was entitled to meet his/her family member twice a week.
OTTAWA In late February Jerry Glubisz picked up a nasty bug going around in his Vancouver office. High fever, brutal cough and unrelenting fatigue.

Worst flu I ever had, said the 63-year-old. By the time a lab test confirmed COVID-19 on Mar. 19, Glubisz was already feeling 80 per cent better. He didnt have to be hospitalized or put on a ventilator. Now, more than a month after his symptoms eased, Glubisz feels on top of the world.

And his blood plasma just might be key to keeping someone else off a ventilator or preventing them from needing intubation.

Its called convalescent plasma  using a survivors blood that has antibodies to rev up the immune system of a sick patient  an old idea once used in the Spanish flu being applied to the novel coronavirus sweeping the world.

Canadas first national clinical trial to test that theory is about to get underway after Health Canada rushed to approve research that was co-ordinated by scientists and researchers on Zoom and late-night calls.

On Wednesday Glubisz became the first COVID-19 survivor to donate his hopefully antibody-rich plasma to the Canadian Blood Services new national COVID-19 convalescent plasma collection program.

It will be screened for any other viruses like Hepatitis B or HIV.

And within a week to 10 days, as the trial launches, potentially life-saving plasma could be used to jump-start the immune systems of patients in downtown Toronto and Montreal hospitals.

Its a national collaborative clinical trial, one of the largest  and swiftest to be mounted  in Canada, co-ordinated with the two public blood agencies. So far 50 hospitals have registered to participate, though they are at various stages of their own internal approvals. The CANCOR trial, as its called, was approved by the federal regulator on April 16.

Led by Dr. Donald Arnold, director of the McMaster Centre for Transfusion Research who teaches at McMasters medical school, the trial will enrol 1,200 patients, 800 of whom will receive antibody-rich plasma, while the other 400 will receive the standard of care now used in intensive-care units.

The plan is to focus on areas that have the highest demand immediately  the hardest-hit hospitals are in downtown Toronto and Montreal  and to roll it out across the country as soon as possible. With luck, he says, it will be able to hit its intended target of 1,200 patients over the next four months.

There is a contingency plan to look at the data halfway through the trial to examine whether there is an overwhelming effect here thats good enough for us to say, this works we should just open it up, Arnold said in an interview.

Its important to do this fast, he said. But its important to do it right, because if you dont do it right then we still never get to an answer of whether or not this works.

In the U.S. scientists and researchers are also mounting clinical trials, including one in New York with a planned enrolment of 500 hospitalized patients.

Arnold said as far as he knows, none of them as big and none in the same population or at least not as big in the population were doing. That is, hospitalized COVID-19 patients with respiratory illness, needing oxygen. Theyre not yet that sick, he said.

The point is for us to try to prevent them from getting that sick, and not needing the ICU or not needing the ventilator.

The Food and Drug Administration says although promising, convalescent plasma has not yet been shown to be safe and effective as a treatment for COVID-19.

However the FDA has approved ways for doctors to use it in individual cases before the results of scientifically rigorous clinical trials are available. And early observations of about 2,600 patients whove received convalescent plasma outside clinical trials are encouraging, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported earlier this week. It quoted Mayo Clinic researchers who are trying to keep tabs on those case-by-case treatments.

A report Thursday in the Journal of American Medicine cautioned, however, that globally there is a dearth of randomized controlled trials on the value of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients. The only reports in medical literature are from a handful of cases in China.

Canadas chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam refused to discuss any positive signals coming from the American efforts, or say when the treatment might be made more widely available in Canada, saying only that there are many treatments currently in trial and convalescent plasma is one.

Canadian Blood Services chief scientist Dr. Dana Devine says the public blood authority and its Quebec counterpart Hema-Quebec are now recruiting donors from among the more than 20,000 recovered patients in Canada.

The blood agencies are seeking male donors under 67, whove had a positive lab test for the coronavirus and have been symptom-free for four weeks. (Womens blood, especially if theyve been pregnant, often contains antibodies that complicate transfusions, she explained.)

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The Punjab government on Saturday decided to test all those returning from outside, saying it can't depend on the medical examination by other states in the wake a surge in the infection count.

It also decided to ramp up coronavirus testing, with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directing to increase the capacity to 6,000 tests a day by May-mid.

The states' coronavirus tally rose substantially in the past a few days due to a large number of Sikh pilgrims evacuated from Maharashtra's Nanded testing positive for the virus.

So far, 292 pilgrims have been found infected with the virus, a government statement said.

On Saturday, the state's coronavirus count soared to 772 with 187 new cases, of which 142 were pilgrims from the state.

The government is also facing a flak from the Opposition for the mismanagement of the evacuation process, under which over 3,500 Sikh pilgrims have returned to Punjab.

Pointing out the infection cases among the pilgrims, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a video conference with state ministers said it was clear that Punjab can't rely on the tests conducted on its people by other states.

He said the state will have to conduct its own tests rather than going by the tests done by other states.

He directed the Health Department to increase the testing capacity to 6,000 a day by May 15, instead of the earlier target of 5,800 a day by May-end.

In response to a suggestion by some ministers, the CM agreed to examine their proposal for home quarantine of the returnees in coordination with village sarpanches and panchayats.

Referring to the fact that several staffers at the Nanded gurdwara have also tested positive for the infection, the CM said with this the Shiromani Akali Dal's claim that there was no infection case there has been trashed.

He once again asked the Opposition not to indulge in petty politicking over the issue.

This was a crucial time in the state's fight against COVID-19, the CM said.

Directing the Health Department to come out with a plan to advance its schedule for increasing the testing capacity, the CM stressed the need to be prepared for the worst.

Singh said he had already asked the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the Centre to scale up the testing capacity to 20,000 a day to cope with the influx of migrants and others expected to return to the state over the next few weeks in the wake of the new directives of the Government of India.

The rapid testing also needs to be scaled up exponentially, to at least two lakh, once it resumes, the chief secretary said.

The CM said he has also asked the Baba Farid University vice chancellor to explore the feasibility of setting up a testing facility in Jalandhar, for which the government was ready to sanction an immediate grant of Rs 1 crore.

The CM told the cabinet that he had deputed officers to coordinate with each state for facilitating the return of Punjabis.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu assured the CM that all pending testing reports will be cleared in a day or two to ensure that there is no delay in identifying and addressing positive cases.

He said arrangements for increasing testing by roping in a private lab have also been finalised and 2,000 samples from across the state were sent to them on Saturday.

A proposal has been sent to the Centre to set up four new labs in Barnala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das (PTI)

In view of the lockdown extension and deterioration in overall economic situation, bankers have made their case for extension of some of the relaxations announced by the Reserve Bank of India in March to prevent a spike in bad loans and ensure credit outflow.

Banks have demanded possible extension of the loan moratorium facility to borrowers announced by the RBI in the wake of COVID-19. The RBI will look into these suggestions now.

Following banks reluctance to extend loan moratorium to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), the RBI had made it clear that banks are free to extend moratorium to these firms.

This was a general meeting to take a stock of the situation. The RBI asked about the progress in implementation of policies announced so far. Banks have apprised about the situation. Banks also sought the possibility of continuation of some of these relaxations, said a banking industry official.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and deputy governors attended the meeting with the managing directors and chief executive officers of major public and private sector banks in two separate sessions.

Since the lockdown announced on 24 March, the RBI has primarily announced two sets of measures to help banks and borrowers tide over the COVID-19 crisis.

In the first round, the central bank announced a 75 basis point rate cut, liquidity measures to the tune of Rs 3.74 lakh crore including a targeted long term repo operation (TLTRO) worth Rs 1 lakh crore, deferment of interest on working capital facilities and three month moratorium for all term loans extended by lending institutions.

In the second round, the central bank announced TLTRO 2.0 worth Rs 50,000 crore, specifically targeting small companies.

Banks were proactive in extending moratorium to all borrowers except NBFCs. Banks like SBI werent in favour of giving blanket moratorium to NBFCs while some other banks were inclined to do so.

As for TLTRO, in the first round banks received Rs 1 lakh crore from the central bank but much of this funds was lent to big companies with AAA rating. In the second round (TLTRO 2.0), while the RBI offered Rs25,000 crore in the first auction, banks subscribed only half of the amount. This was due to high risk aversion among banks.

Announcing the second round of measures, Das said RBI has been proactively watching the situation very closely especially with respect to the measures already taken. The central bank is of the view that the macroeconomic situation has worsened on account of the COVID-19 situation. India, though will suffer on the growth front this year, is expected to rebound sharply in FY2022, Das said, citing the IMF predictions. IMF had predicted a growth of 1.9 percent in the current fiscal year and 7.4 percent in the next fiscal.

On Saturday, the RBI sought the details of the progress of implementation of the measures announced earlier especially with respect to credit flows to different sectors, liquidity to Non-Banking Financial Companies, Micro finance institutions, Housing finance companies and mutual funds. Following Franklin Templeton fiasco, the RBI had opened a liquidity window for banks to lend to mutual funds. However, banks havent used this facility significantly.
By ANI

JHAJJAR: Tablighi Jamaat members, staying at isolation centre in Haryana's Jhajjar, have appealed to the countrymen to respect laws and work for humanity in country's fight against Covid-19.

The appeal was made by the people who, in March, attended the Tablighi congregation at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, which turned out to be a hotspot for highly contagious Coronavirus.

Some of the members, who recently tested negative for Covid-19, heaped praises on their doctors and medical professionals, saying the facility "felt like home."On the first day, I was panicking, wondering where I have come. But after a few days, when I interacted with the doctors here and got food, medicine and other facilities, we did not face any difficulty and felt at home. We were taken care of well," Arshad Ahmed, who hails from Amravati, told ANI.

Ahmed, who had attended the congregation organised at Nizamuddin Markaz on March 26, had earlier been tested positive on March 31.

He was then brought to Jhajjar for Covid-19 treatment after undergoing a checkup at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the national capital. Reports had emerged regarding misbehaviour and unfortunate treatment meted out to doctors and nurses allegedly by Tablighi Jamaat members.

Some reports had emerged saying Tablighi Jamaat members of misbehaving with doctors and nurses. Ahmed clarified.

"When people from Markaz were picked up and at that time, they were scared that they were being targeted. I think that is why they reacted in that way. But once the matter was cleared that it is being done for their benefit and safety, everyone cooperated," he said while responding to the allegations. Amid the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramzan, Ahmed appealed to fellow Muslims to follow the instructions set by the authorities, and continue to offer Namaz at home only.

"Whatever the government is saying or doing should be followed. What Prime Minister Narendra Modi is saying should be followed. We must cooperate. We should go beyond religion and caste. We have kept roza (fast) and if this lockdown continues, we have decided that we will be at home and offer namaz," he added.

Shabana Parveen termed social distancing as a key precautionary measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"We had very good facilities here. Food, medicine and accommodation were very good. Whenever we required anything, we were provided the same on time. I have learnt that what the government is saying should be followed. We should properly follow social distancing and masks should be used at all time," she added.

Both Parveen and Ahmed have volunteered to donate plasma if required, calling it a service to "humanity".

The Jhajjar isolation facility has around 300 rooms and a staff strength of 65 per day including helpers, ward boys and others.

Also, 21 foreign nationals mostly from Thailand, Malaysia and Fiji, who had attended the Markaz event, were also brought to the facility.

"One month ago, around 155 people, who were from Tablighi Jamaat, came to our centre. Out of these, around 120 people tested positive while around 35 people were negative. Now, many have tested negative and have been sent to a quarantine facility," informed Dr Ved Prakash Meena, a clinical consultant at the facility.

Presently, only nine Jamaatis are still positive and they are being treated, while nearly 120 patients, who tested negative were shifted out two days ago.
New defibrillators in firearms vehicles to help save lives across the region

This article is old - Published: Saturday, May 2nd, 2020

Armed Alliance officers have been given three brand new defibs thanks to partnership working with the Welsh Ambulance Service.

The heart-saving devices are used by police during near-fatal incidents they deal with, or are blue lighted to emergency cardiac scenes if they are the closest 999 response vehicle.

Officers equipped with defibrillators, who are available to respond, will be alerted to a potential cardiac arrest at the same time as ambulance crews, which means that if they reach the patient first, or are already on scene, they can begin providing life-saving treatment until a skilled clinician arrives.

These defibs mean the difference between life and death, because if someone is in cardiac arrest time is of the essence, said Sergeant Natasha Doran-Jones of the Joint Armed Alliance Unit.

We have always carried defibs in our vehicles. All armed officers have to have trauma training and our qualification is European Pre-Hospital Trauma Care. Trauma packs are also carried in our vehicles.

These brand new defibs will allow us to continue to provide enhanced medical aid if required when we are first on the scene of serious incidents.

We are delighted to be working with the Welsh Ambulance Service to help save lives across North Wales. Equipping officers with this essential life-saving equipment will enable the teams to respond to these critical life or death emergency calls.

Tomos Hughes, PADS Support Officer for the Welsh Ambulance Service said: We are proud to be working with the North Wales and Cheshire Allied Armed Response unit.

Having the response cars fitted with defibrillators is a great opportunity for trained officers to begin the chain of survival on scene.

For every minute that passes without defibrillation, a patients chance of surviving a cardiac arrest drops by 10%, so early intervention is key. We look forward to continued work with the unit in the future.
WESTPORT  Years of fighting wildfires has helped the Westport Fire Department to provide quick responses in a town once considered the epicenter of COVID-19 in the state, its officials said.

Deputy Fire Chief Mike Kronick said hes been fighting wildfires since 2001 and has been on 13 national and international wildfire assignments throughout the western United States and into Quebec.

I remember watching the fires of Yellowstone on the nightly news in 88, said Kronick, who admitted hes always been interested in fighting wildfires but wasnt able to do so until he joined Westport Fire. I was in high school at the time and it was something I was very interested in doing.

The link between wildfires and the pandemic has to do with incident management, he said. Kronick said a highly detailed system used to combat wildfires since the 70s presented a pattern for how to build a system to manage the impossible at a moments notice.

How to put the wildfire out is not the tool thats making it easier for the chief and I to do our job, he said. Its the machine of getting hundred if not thousands of people mobilized around the country, putting them in a remote location, supporting them with logistics and getting them highly organized in order to fight a fire.

Westport Fire Chief Robert Yost said Kronick got him involved in combating wildfires years before the pandemic arose. While taking an operations class for hazards in 2014, he said he noticed a wildfire committees grasp of incident management.

His suggestion was if you really want to learn it, you have to be experienced and really go out there, Yost recalled.

Yost joined Kronick for his first wildfire assignment in 2016.

When news of several attendees of a private party in town testing positive for the coronavirus broke, Yost said he immediately put his organization experience to work.

Mike and I both suggested to the first selectman that we need to start up an incident management team and deal with this just like we would do for a wildfire, which is a long-sustained, multi-operational, sometimes no-end-in-sight operation, he said.

The team was established with town officials and first responders collaborating to manage a pandemic whose long-lasting impact remains unclear.

This isnt a house fire that were going to put out in a few hours, Yost said. This is going to be a long, drawn-out battle and we have to prepare for what is essentially going to be a logistic war for getting the supplies and personnel to deal with this.

Kronick said in the past 20 years, his department has prepared four or five times for what was expected to be similar crises. Because of the preparation, the fire department did not face shortages of supplies when the pandemic hit, he said.

Over the last 20 years, weve always maintained a significant amount of equipment on hand just in case, Kronick said.

Similar to when any disaster unwinds, he said local government agencies could face new challenges including a lack of funding that could make it difficult to respond.

Theres been a lot of career-type events which are going to change the way we do business and they do and it ends up being another thing we have to do on a regular basis, Kronick said, but we dont get the support financially or manpower wise to deal with it in years to come.

For now, Kronick said, a collaborative effort across town has helped to slow the pandemics impact.

By getting everybody to work on the same page, weve been able to make a difference, he said.

dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:35:12|Editor: huaxia

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MADRID, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Senior Spanish chefs called on caution and solidarity in the catering industry amid the COVID-19 crisis, when they participated in a recent online event organized by the global award "Basque Culinary World Prize."

The restaurants in Spain have been closed since the government declared a state of emergency nationwide in mid-March and they are not allowed to resume dine-in services until the end of May.

Diego Guerrero, whose restaurant DSTAgE located in Madrid has garnered two Michelin stars, called on caution and unity among his peers during the online talk on Wednesday, as Spain was phasing out lockdowns and mulling plans to reopen its economy.

"We think it is going to be harder to open than to remain closed, because we will have to be more careful than ever," he said, adding that it is critical to take every precaution against the rebound of the virus.

It is possible that "the first places to open are the first that have to close," he warned, adding that "we have to understand this crisis affects everyone and that our personal safety is based on the collective safety."

"Either we all work together (to curb the disease), or this problem won't be resolved," he said.

Although the virus-enforced suspension has put the industry under great strain, Eneko Atxa, a senior chef who has a Michelin three-star restaurant in northern Spain and other restaurants around the world, remains optimistic that many restaurants will survive the crisis and have a bigger role in the future.

"I see gastronomy as a medicine which helps to strengthen our health, our spirit and also our economy and we have to be able to use our knowledge in this context to find solutions," Atxa said at the event.

As of Saturday morning, Spain has reported 213,435 cases, according to the latest update by Johns Hopkins University. Enditem
A second man was charged Thursday with helping steal cases containing 1,600 N95 respirator masks that Prudential Financial planned to donate to healthcare workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Stephen Milligan, 54, of South Amboy, was charged with conspiring with Kevin R. Brady, 49, of Point Pleasant Beach, to steal the respirator masks from the Iselin facility, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office and New Jersey State Police announced Friday in a joint statement.

Brady was charged with the theft on April 23 and like Brady, Milligan was charged with theft by unlawful taking and conspiracy to commit theft, both third-degree charges, the office said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Both men worked as on-site electrical contractors who had access to storage areas in the facility, police said.

Between March 27 and April 1, the pair stole seven to eight cases of masks, each containing 200 respirators that Prudential Financial had intended to donate to a local hospital.

The insurance giant stockpiled masks as part of the companys emergency preparations following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
North Korea's very own leader Kim Jong Un was recently spotted making his first appearance after two weeks of being on the down-low by attending a certain completion ceremony of a particular fertilizer plant. The plat was located in Suncheon, a central southeastern town of North Korea.

The whole appearance was reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap along with the North Korean state0run news agency known as KCNA.

North Korea and their nuclear plans

According to a researcher of East Asian nuclear proliferation named Margaret Croy in her statement with Newsweek, there is a recent study that suggests that these new fertilizer factories could be extracting uranium from certain phosphoric acids.

The dictator has put a lot of effort into accelerating North Korea's own nuclear efforts and at the same time emphasizing other economic infrastructure developments ever since becoming the dictator in 2011.

After two weeks of silence, Friday was his first appearance putting all the public speculation and rumors following his illness and death to rest. The rumors started to spread last April 20 by anonymous sources that were featured in the Daily NK, a South Korea-based media outlet.

The circulating rumors stated that he was in ill health after going through a recent heart surgery that took place on April 12.

Other speculations

There were two United States officials that told Newsweek last April 21 that they had no reason to even consider Kim as either suffering or even dead. This happened around the same time that Yonhap reported to a certain South Korean government official who also clarified and said that there were no reports that pointed to Kim being ill.

The speculations about the dictator's health started when he missed the Day of the Sun celebration that was a tradition held to honor his exalted grandfather. Kim Jong Un also missed another national holiday which honored the establishment of the anti-Japanese guerrilla units by the national founder.

Sometime April 26, there were a series of photos that showed the personal train of the dictator that was stationed near the country's very own eastern coast city of Wonsan, where he reportedly owns a villa.

Back on April 28, two experts on North Korean affairs along with other sources previously stated that the supreme leader could just be laying low to avoid the coronavirus.

Read Also: Video Suggesting Kim Jong Un's Funeral Went Viral Amid Claims The Dictator Isn't Dead and May be Trying to Avoid Coronavirus

The dead rumor

Now that Kim Jong Un has finally shown his face in public, all those rumors about his illness or death can finally be put to rest. The rumors have gone as far as predicting his sister Kim Yo Jong as the next dictator of North Korea.

These speculations have spread fast and despite their circulation, the supreme leader has remained silent until today. North Korea has shown much conviction towards their nuclear projects and the appearance of the supreme leader on a fertilizer plant that could potentially power up the country's nuclear resources is quite symbolic.

Read Also: Who is Kim Jong Un's Sister, Kim Yo Jong? A Ballerina Who Studied in Switzerland: More About the Mysterious Dictator's Sister
DMCC, the worlds flagship free zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, announced that it has signed a master service agreement with Dubai Insurance Company (DIC) to introduce a new employee protection insurance programme for all DMCC and member company employees.

The agreement was signed electronically by both representatives.

The Employee Protection Insurance programme will offer increased protection for member company employees in case their employer defaults on their salaries, end of service benefit or repatriation cost, said a statement from DMCC.

This is in line with DMCCs ongoing commitment to providing a first-class working environment, it stated.

The new scheme will be mandatory and rolled out across the entire DMCC business district within the month of May, replacing the current bank guarantee security deposit of Dh3,000 per employee.

As such, the scheme is set to further boost the ease of doing business in DMCC by significantly reducing the cost of hiring new employees while also allowing companies to access cashflow through refunds of the current security deposits upon renewing each employees residence visa.

This comes after DMCC announced a range of stimulus initiatives to support new and existing member companies navigate the current economic climate.

Executive Chairman and CEO Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: "For DMCC and all of our member companies, people are our greatest asset. We feel it is our responsibility to support those who contribute to our success by offering them an enhanced level of protection, particularly in these unprecedented times."

"Simultaneously, this new initiative reduces the cost of doing business for DMCC member companies, aiding the growth and success of all those who call DMCC home," he noted.

Dubai Insurance Company CEO Abdellatif Abuqurah said the company was delighted to partner with DMCC in supporting their 17,000 member companies whilst providing a higher amount of coverage for the 60,000 people that work in the business district.

"Through initiatives such as this, we are set to achieve Dubais vision of being the worlds best city to live and work," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
A fourth-grade teacher has sued a Catholic boys school where he worked in Princeton, claiming his supervisors discriminated against him and ultimately fired him over issues related to his traumatic brain injury.

William Cook of Trenton claims in court papers he suffered an injury to his brain in 2008, which left him with impairments that include light sensitivity, extreme fatigue and syncope, which is a medical term for fainting or passing out.

In July 2015, shortly after he was hired to teach math and science at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, he informed his supervisor of his disability, according to the suit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court of Mercer County.

Subsequently, during his employment at Princeton Academy, (Cook) was subjected to constant discriminatory treatment on the basis of his disability by (the supervisor), the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit claims the supervisor questioned whether Cook actually had a disability in both private and in public (conversations with) other faculty members at Princeton Academy.

In 2017 and 2018, Cook suffered fainting episodes that made him late or absent from work, the lawsuit states.

Supervisors treated the incidents as disciplinary problems, even though Cook provided the school with a form filled out by his doctor detailing his disability, the lawsuit claims.

In May 2018, Cook claims his supervisors refused to renew his contract and terminated him.

The suit states the employment contract was not renewed due to Cooks disability, in retaliation for Cook requesting reasonable accommodations and because he consulted with an attorney who contacted the school.

Princeton Academy is accused of violating the states law against discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and back pay.

School officials did not respond Friday to requests seeking comment.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com.
Immigrant groups say Massachusetts needs to do a better job circulating information about the coronavirus in multiple languages. Though much of the literature is translated into Spanish, that accounts for only about 40 percent of the states population that is not proficient in English. Gabeau said she has taken it upon herself to produce videos in Creole to help spread the truth about the virus for the Haitian community, which makes up a significant share of the states 1 million-plus foreign-born residents.
Three separate instances of attacks on Mumbai Police personnel, while implementing the lockdown, have been reported in the city on Thursday.

In the first case, 29-year-old vegetable vendor Sufiyan Shaikh has been booked for assaulting police sub-inspector (PSI) Ayub Shande, 33, on Thursday around 1pm in Bandra. Shande was patrolling at Behrampada slum area, a containment zone, when he spotted Shaikh loitering in the neighbourhood with his cart. When Shande asked him to go back home, he told Shande that he was distributing vegetables to residents. This lead to an altercation between the duo and later turned into a scuffle. Soon, the other residents intervened and sided with Shaikh, following which the latter had to resort to mild lathi charge.

Shashikant Bhandare, senior inspector of Nirmal Nagar police station, said, We have sent him for a Covid-19 test as he stays in a containment zone, and have not arrested him yet.

In the second incident, a Kurla resident was booked for manhandling a PSI from Kurla police station around 6.30pm. Kakasaheb Nagave, 35, and his team were conducting a march on Kurla pipe road. The accused, Rizwan Memon, a resident of Wafati Lane building, began shouting at the police. He asked us not to shut any shop on the pipe road and threatened to use his contacts in the National Investigation Agency against us. This led to an altercation, after which he manhandled the PSI and a constable. Some residents crowded the area and Memon managed to escape, said Dattarey Shinde, senior inspector, Kurla station.

In the third incident, constable Suhas Desai, 50, was allegedly assaulted by a 41-year-old autorickshaw driver, Yar Mohammad Kalim Shaha, when the latter was questioned for loitering around at Govandi, around 6.30pm. The accused had also pelted a stone at the police.

2 testing centres for mumbai police

On Friday, the Mumbai Police started two testing centres for its personnel. The centre inside JJ Hospital premises has been opened for personnel in south, central and eastern suburbs, while the one at Jogeshwari has been opened at a private school near the eastern side of the station for the police personnel at western and northern region. Until Friday, 297 police personnel have been screened at these two centres and 125 swab samples have been collected.

2 cops tested positive

On Thursday two constables, both aged 32, from Sahar traffic division have been tested positive for Covid-19. The two are Kalyan residents and have been admitted to Vedanta Hospital in Thane. Police said they were infected after they came in contact with a constable posted in the central region control room who stays on their floor. About 10 constables from Sahar traffic division, who were in touch with the duo, have been sent in home quarantine.

The Mumbai Police has lost three constables to the virus and has reported 142 cases among its force until Saturday morning. Meanwhile, 342 police personnel tested positive for Covid-19 in the Maharashtra Police department in which 49 recovered and 290 are under treatment.

FIRs dip in city as cases rise

With the number of Covid-19 cases in Mumbai witnessing a rise, the number of FIRs filed against violators is seeing a decline. On Friday, the police filed 64 against 99 people, of whom 39 have been arrested. Since March 20, the police have filed 5,665 FIRs against 10,683 people.

1 lakh booked in state

The Maharashtra Police have booked more than 1 lakh people, filed 89,383 first information reports (FIRs) and arrested 17,813 people across the state since March for flouting lockdown orders. Most of the FIRs are for crowding at one spot. The police had also collected fines worth of 3.14 crore.

A majority of FIRs (14,220) are from Pune city, followed by 10,490 FIRs in Mumbai.

(With inputs from Suraj Ojha, Faisal Tandel and Manish K Pathak)
A coronavirus sign is seen on the wall as a man passes on a bicycle as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Mexico City

By Miguel Gutierrez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico could force the closure of companies in non-essential sectors if they refuse to suspend operations during a state of emergency to curb spread of the coronavirus, a top health official said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after a group representing U.S. manufacturers told President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that an economic shutdown over the virus could weaken North America's response to the pandemic.

Mexico reported 448 new infections and 43 deaths, taking its tally to 5,847 cases and 449 deaths on Wednesday, although Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said last week as many as 26,500 people could be infected.

From April 3 until Tuesday, 15% of companies with non-essential activities had refused to stop work, Lopez-Gatell said on Wednesday, despite an emergency having been declared from March 30.

"All companies that refuse to suspend work will have an inspection certificate drawn up; the health authority will carry out the closure and the public ministry will investigate them," Lopez-Gatell said on his Twitter account.

The firms would be investigated over the possible crime of damage to health that could cost lives, he added.

The companies that refused to comply are located in 10 states and Mexico City, the capital, he said, adding that they operate in the automotive, lumber, textile, aerospace, tobacco and construction industries, among others.

The National Confederation of Industrial Chambers (Concamin) projects job losses of one million until mid-May if the suspension continues and no economic recovery program is adopted.

U.S. business lobbies have been pressuring Lopez Obrador to label certain industries "essential" so that health emergency measures to rein in the virus in Mexico do not halt key operations on both sides of the border.

Health officials also said on Wednesday that a two-year-old girl with Down Syndrome, who suffered from congenital heart disease has died of the virus, Mexico's first death of someone younger than 25.

Story continues

National oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said 83 of its workers had been infected with the virus.

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)

(Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Additional reporting by Sharay Angulo and Adriana Barrera; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Sandra Maler and Clarence Fernandez)
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website has recently launched a series of blog posts that explain how the car insurance industry was affected by the coronavirus epidemic and what policyholders should expect.

Most car insurance companies are returning billions of dollars to their customers. This happens because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistics show that travel dropped about 50% since shelter-in-place restriction began. Drivers can expect to receive relief anytime between now and June, depending on the insurer. The exact amount of money refunded varies on a case-by-case basis. While in some cases, the insurance company has decided to offer a fixed amount of money, other companies preferred to offer a certain percentage, thus the exact value depending on how much was the customer paying.

The following companies offered to help their clients and provide refunds:

State Farm , the country's largest auto insurer, said it would give policyholders an approximate 25% credit on premiums paid between March 20 and May 31; the credit from the country's largest auto insurer will return $2 billion to policyholders on 40 million vehicles.

Chubb Auto Insurance will offer a 35% premium reduction for April and May and will give out additional discounts over the subsequent months.

Allstate and Liberty Mutual are issuing 15% refunds on premiums, the companies announced last week.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'sGEICO said Tuesday it will give a 15% credit as policies come up for renewal between now and October, and American Family Insurance is issuing an onetime $50 refund per covered vehicle.

Farmers Insurance and its subsidiary, 21st Century Insurance , is giving drivers a 25% reduction in April premiums, the company said.

USAA , a bank, and insurer geared towards military members and their families, announced a 20% credit for auto policyholders on two months of premiums.

Progressive Insurance also unveiled a 20% credit on the April and May premiums.

Story continues

The easiest way for a driver to see if he qualifies for the refunds is simply to ask the insurer. Keep in mind that millions of drivers are doing the same thing and the customer support teams are working around the clock, but still, it will take some time to get an answer. Also, make sure to check the insurer's website for the latest updates.

Consumer advocates highlight the fact that now is the perfect time to see if consumers are treated fairly by their insurers. Customers who receive very little or no refund should think twice about renewing the contract with the current carrier. Consumers can remind their insurers about the refunds some competitors and also emphasize the fact they are driving much less. The number of claims has dropped and the risk of insuring a driver has also lowered. Drivers should also ask for an adjustment in the amount of mileage that's factored into a premium, These justify a lower premium. Drivers are recommended to check car insurance quotes online periodically and compare prices of the current provider with its direct competitors.

For more info and updates about the coronavirus pandemic and how to save car insurance money during these difficult times, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

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Showers, heat spread across island View(s):

Different regions of Sri Lanka are experiencing vastly contrasting weather conditions.

The Department of Meteorology claimed that temperatures reach up to 37.6 degrees Celsius in the North Central Province, while there could be heavy rains in some provinces.

Heavy showers are forecast for Central, Southern, Uva, Eastern, Sabaragamuwa, North-western and North-central provinces, but at the same time issued heat advisories for Mannar, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts.

Athula Karunanayake, director general of the Department of Meteorology, said the heat index calculates the temperature felt by the human body compared with the humidity combined with the air temperature.

He said there is high humidity in the humidity. The surface wind is not powerful enough to reduce the heat in the environment. If there is sufficient rain in the areas where the heat index is higher, it will reduce the heat.

As the island is expecting the Southwest monsoon, the situation might change.

Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Board urges households to reduce use.

CEB media spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardena said the current electricity use is about 36 GWH, above the daily average of 32.81 GWH.
When death is an everyday business, it takes on the ordinariness of just another job but COVID-19 has changed that equation and those working in crematoriums and graveyards say they are now compelled to confront their own mortality.

They thought they were inured to death, even the most tragic ones, but the job itself is edged with apprehension these days, said Pappu, who works at the Nigambodh crematorium.

The 39-year-old, who has been helping cremate bodies for 12 years, said he ran away when the first coronavirus patient was brought to him on March 13.

In the weeks since, he has overcome his fear but only to some extent.

In his years of work at the city's busiest crematorium, Pappu said he has disposed of countless bodies, some of those gravely ill, but never did he fear the dead.

The situation has dramatically changed after the pandemic and he is learning to live with all the precautions everyone, and he and his colleagues particularly, must take to ensure they don't get infected.

There is a risk in everything. But this is our job and we have to do it, Pappu, who goes by just one name, told PTI while sanitising the CNG crematorium block after a COVID-19 patient was cremated.

Pappu, who lives in Ghaziabad and has a son and two daughters, does not step inside the small block that houses the CNG crematorium units without wearing a PPE kit if there is a coronavirus body that has come for cremation.

It has become much better. In the early days of the pandemic, there was very little information and no set guidelines, and people were therefore more scared, he said.

According to the guidelines on disposal of bodies by the Health Ministry, the crematorium, burial ground staff should be sensitised and take care that COVID-19 does not pose any additional risk to them.

"The staff will practice standard precautions of hand hygiene, use of masks and gloves," the guidelines state.

Pappu's co-worker Harinder Prasad said he would earlier pick the body and keep it on on the rails that would take it inside the CNG incinerator.

But no more, he said, citing the risk of infection.

Now, no one even opens the protective sheet wrapped around the body. It is directly placed inside the incinerator, said the 36-year-old as he goes about his daily work.

Scenes of death always present a surreal picture. And more so these days.

Outside the CNG crematorium block, the staff from two hospitals with bodies of coronavirus patients are wearing PPE kits. Pappu and Prasad, who work with masks and gloves, put on the PPE robes whenever they come in contact with a body.

Doctors, paramedical staff are hailed as corona warriors. Pappu and Prasad are also part of the band of men and women who face the risk of infection but keep at their jobs because it is an essential service.

If we don't do this then who will. Someone has to do this job, said Prasad in a matter of fact tone.

Asked about the fear of dealing with the bodies of coronavirus patients, Prasad said, Of course, there is a risk of infection. But I fear living humans more than the dead. They are not going to get up and harm us if we take proper precautions.

A resident of Bawana, Prasad said he takes a bath twice. Once while leaving the crematorium and then after reaching home.

Pradeep, the supervisor of the CNG crematorium, agreed with Pappu and Prasad.

We have to keep doing our work. If we take proper precautions, I don't think there is anything to worry about, said Pradeep, who also goes by his first name.

Pradeep said patients who have died of COVID-19 are cremated in the CNG incinerator rather than placed on an open pyre in accordance with government guidelines.

Not far from Nigambodh Ghat is the Jadid Qabrastan Ahle Islam in ITO, one of the designated graveyards to bury Muslims who have died of the disease.

Mohammad Shamim, the caretaker, said 54 bodies related to the coronavirus have been buried in the 50-acre graveyard since the outbreak.

According to Shamim, even those who are not coronavirus positive but have shown COVID-19 symptoms are buried according to government guidelines.

Shamim, a third-generation care-taker of the graveyard, said the risk of infection is always there but the job has to be done.

Several precautions have been taken at the graveyard. There is a separate entry and exit for those coronavirus bodies' and a corner earmarked for burial.

There are usually four people who are involved in digging, helping place the body in the grave, and then cover it with earth. But for coronavirus cases, we don't ask out men to touch the bodies. Two family members and two people from the hospital with PPE kits do that.

Even the digging takes place with the help of the JCB, Unlike the normal cases where we dig a three-feet grave, in case of coronavirus, we dig a 10-feet pit, he says, pointing out to the graves marked with numbers.

Still, he said, overlooking the entire process is a risky affair. We keep sanitising ourselves and change our gloves at regular intervals.

Delhi reported 3,738 coronavirus cases and 61 fatalities till Saturday, according to the Union Health Ministry figures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health concerns are top of mind for most folks these days. But it seems more and more investors are putting the health of the planet and their communities at the forefront of their investment portfolios, too.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Health concerns are top of mind for most folks these days. But it seems more and more investors are putting the health of the planet and their communities at the forefront of their investment portfolios, too.

And this growing penchant for socially responsible investment  or SRI  is paying off, even during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Data from Bloomberg showed in March that equity funds using environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies only fell about half of the drop in value of the S&P 500, which is the benchmark for U.S. stock market performance.

"From a performance basis, definitely the fossil-fuel free funds are coming out on top right now," says Tim Nash, an SRI specialist, and founder of the Sustainable Economist blog and Good Investing, which provides guidance on do-it-yourself SRI portfolios.

Indeed that should come as no surprise, given the recent and unprecedented tumult with the price of oil  which shocked the world when the price for delivery of a barrel of oil in May briefly cost an owner about $40 US to sell (not buy!) due to falling demand and a lack of storage.

Consider the MSCI ACWI ex Fossil Fuels Index  which tracks the stock market performance of the largest companies in the world not involved in oil, gas or coal  had a -19.5 return year to date (April 27) compared with its fossil fuel counterpart the MSCI ACWI Index that fell -21.

Sure, the difference in performance is rather meagre.

But "at a very high level two-thirds of the ESG ETFs are out-performing the largest or most popular vanilla ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in their segment," says Lara Crigger, senior staff writer with ETF.com in New Orleans.

Whats more its not just fossil-free screens resulting in out-performance of traditional strategies. ESG screens generally are generally doing better because they tend to hold best in class companies that are committed to reducing exposure to environmental, social and governance risks.

In short, publicly traded companies embracing ESG tend to have better revenues than those that dont.

"During these times its more important than ever to focus on (responsible investment) principles: clean water, food production, sustainability and gender diversity," says certified financial planner MaryAnn Kokan-Nyhof with Desjardins Financial Security Investments Inc. in Winnipeg.

She points to the Quebec-based Desjardins as a pioneer in SRI, which encompasses ESG screens to select stocks and bonds.

Desjardins SocieTerra Balanced Portfolio A classa fund of SRI mutual fundsis a top-10 performer among similar investments for the last year (down about 2.5 per cent). Thats about 5 per cent better than ESG counterparts, and roughly 1.3 per cent superior to a benchmark balanced portfolio of Canadian stocks and bonds.

One explanation for the recent outperformance of SRI, which includes a variety of strategies including investing only in environmentally companies focused like renewables, is it has been increasingly popular among investors.

SRI "did very, very well leading up to the pandemic," Nash says.

"The first two months of this year, it was the talk of the town."

He points to many of the largest investment firms in the world focusing more on these principles, which adds momentum to investment in the segment. Nash further notes a recent missive by Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of Blackrock (iShares), the worlds largest investment management firm. In January, Fink wrote climate change  which is often a top SRI focus  was the top concern of investors.

Whats more he noted the industry is now poised for revolutionary change, in which environmental issues progressively dominate corporate strategies.

While progress is happening, Nash is concerned that similar to the Great Recession in 2008-09, in which SRI had been in high demand among investors prior to the meltdown, the Great Lockdown will again put environmentally focused strategies "on the backburner" during its recovery.

Then again, Nash is hopeful the relatively strong performance of renewable energy utilities like Brookfield Renewable Partners LP  traded on the TSX  indicate the tide is finally changing for good.

These more thematically focused SRI investments have been some of the best performers of late.

"Most of them are these thematic, global renewable energy ETFs," Crigger says.

Thats even despite the fact energy demand is down because the economy is on pause.

"Were seeing numbers out of Europe that show renewables provided 46 per cent of the power demand last month."

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Even in the U.S, renewables now account for more energy production than coal for the first time in history, she says.

And its not because utility companies "are tree huggers," Crigger says. Renewable energy projects have fixed costs, and long-term contracts that provide cost certainty even in uncertain times.

"You dont have to pay for the supply of sunshine or wind, whereas you do have to pay for coal."

Nevertheless we have a ways to go, particularly with getting more of the investing public on board, says Kokan-Nyhof, who began offering her clients SRI portfolios a few years ago.

"We are still finding that we are the ones who have to bring it up with our clients, but once the dialogue is started most people prefer (responsible investment) principles," she says.

"Most of our clients are definitely feeling better knowing that their investment principles are protecting their downside and protecting the planet."
By Trend

Turkeys Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Friday the latest figures related to the COVID-19 pandemic which has gripped Turkey since March. The total number of fatalities reached 3,258 with 84 new deaths while the total number of recoveries topped 53,808, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

Even though a sizable amount of coronavirus tests, over 41,400 were conducted, 2,188 cases were recorded in a single day, which marks a continuing decrease in daily cases. More than 4,900 patients recovered in a single day.

Turkey has also surpassed the 1 million mark in the number of COVID-19 tests conducted so far.

The country has recorded 3,258 deaths since the first diagnosed patient while the number of patients still in intensive care stands at 1,480.

Some 818 patients remain intubated.

Turkey has begun imposing a three-day curfew across 31 provinces starting 12:01 a.m. Friday in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Interior Ministry, bakeries, hospitals, pharmacies and workplaces producing health products and medical supplies will continue to operate.

Workers in sectors deemed as essential will be exempted from the curfew.

In order to dissuade citizens from giving in to the allure of the increasingly sunny weather and thereby undermining anti-COVID-19 measures, Turkey ordered a total curfew to be imposed across the country's largest cities for the first time on April 11-12.

Although Ankara has imposed a curfew on weekends since, this weekends period was extended to three days, as May 1 is already celebrated as an official holiday in the country.

Ankara previously declared a four-day curfew on April 23, combining the weekend curfew with the two-day Childrens Day and National Sovereignty Day holidays.

While President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca signaled a potential ease on restrictions in late May with the outbreak in control, both said the curfews would continue for the time being and would be only lifted after the countrys Coronavirus Science Board deemed it no longer necessary.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Breathe. We made it through another week. It doesnt feel like it lately, but theres still good news out there. So weve decided to end each week by sharing some of the stories that will put a smile on your face, including our Portraits of Hope (one of the photos is above). Some are about coronavirus and some arent, and some will just make you laugh. Want to see more of this type of news? Send a note to jmurray@syracuse.com and tell us what you think.

Nidaa Aljabbarin, 19, has won a Cooke Foundation scholarship to continue her education in hopes of becoming a geneticist.

Nidaa Aljabbarin emigrated with her family to the United States in 2016. She spoke no English, but that didnt stop her. Fast-forward to 2020, and the former Fowler and OCC student has won a Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, given annually to 50 students nationwide. (By Donna Ditota)

Darren Kwee, a physician assistant in Syracuse, spends his weekends treating COVID-19 patients at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.Photo courtesy of Darren Kwee

As he says goodbye to his wife and climbs into his 2011 Honda Accord, Darren Kwee wonders Why am I doing this? and When will all this be over? And then he heads to Manhattan by himself, where he will spend his third weekend treating COVID-19 patients at Bellevue Hospital Center. (By Charlie Miller)

Which Boeheim brother cries at sad movies? Which one is the most likely to get married first? Who has the weirdest phobia? For the answer to those questions, and many more, we went right to the source. Jimmy and Buddys sister, Jamie Boeheim. (By Mike Waters)

Khiem Pham as a young air force pilot in South Vietnam in 1974 kneels by the C-130 at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Saigon.Courtesy of Khiem Pham

In April of 1975, with the Vietnam War raging to a bloody end, South Vietnamese Air Force Lt. Khiem Quang Pham had one chance  one  to save his family and himself. What resulted remains an incredible combination of luck, faith and perhaps divine intervention  a once-in-a-million set of moves that allowed Pham and 52 family members to escape South Vietnam. (By Ngoc Huynh)

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The exacerbating COVID-19 pandemic is taking lives around the world. However, some U.S. politicians, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are cooperating with right-wing media outlets such as the Fox News to cover their incapability of pandemic response and shift blames to others.

They spread the rumor that the virus was manmade and escaped the Wuhan Institute of Virology, saying China covered up pandemic information. They even accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of delaying virus response.

It is reported that according to a Republican strategy memo, the party now sees attacking China as an opportunity to buoy their chances in the 2020 election. However, such political manipulation exactly revealed their vicious intentions.

The origin of the novel coronavirus is a serious and scientific issue that calls for meticulous and professional investigation from scientists. The patient zero of the 1918 influenza pandemic that originated in the U.S. is still not found today despite over a hundred years of searching.

So how can the U.S. politicians and right-wing media be so certain about the source of COVID-19?

As a matter of fact, their theory that the virus was manmade and leaked has encountered immediate and unanimous opposition from the science world, including American medical experts.

Authoritative academic journals such as The Lancet and Nature Medicine published articles underlining the natural origin of the virus, and a medical expert remarked that focusing on the origin of the virus rather than saving the people, is nothing different from murder. Those who attempt to only gain political benefits from disasters will only live in infamy.

Conspiracies cant exist under sunshine. U.S. independent news site The Grayzone published an article revealing how conservative journalists cooperated with the U.S. government, as well as the making and spread of their conspiracy theories.

Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University pointed out the lab leak theory is driven by politics and not science-based. Virologist Jason Kindrachuk from the Canadian University of Manitoba also said on Forbes that the escape theory lacks scientific supporting.

Shifting the blames to China isnt all that the American politicians have done, and now they are passing the buck to the WHO. Rather than having a look back on their disastrous response to the pandemic, they attributed the spread of the virus in the U.S. to the so-called delayed informing from China and the UN health body.

Its been recognized that China has always kept its information open and transparent, and the country has reported to the WHO and relevant U.S. organizations on Jan. 3. Besides, the WHO also released information to the world at the first opportunity, without any delay.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou all reported their first infection on Jan. 20, and that of the U.S. came only one day after. However, the virus developed in totally different ways in the two countries.

A joint letter was recently submitted to the White House by over 1,000 medical associations, charity organizations, pharmaceutical companies and experts around the world, saying the WHO and the Chinese government have always maintained close cooperation to make sure that they report public health data to the international society as early as possible.

China shared the genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus at the first opportunity, which laid a basic foundation for accelerating vaccine development.

Editor-in-chief of The Lancet Richard Horton told the truth. The inaction that followed the WHOs emergency declaration, he said, was down to member states and not to China, adding that the world should be grateful to the country for its warnings and containment efforts.

The U.S. is currently the most hit-hard region in the world where the response failures of the government have sparked strong dissatisfaction of the society. However, some U.S. politicians, attempting to diver the blames, resorted to red herring though the situation is clear enough for all. They bragged their so-called achievements to the U.S. citizens while spreading rumors to the world.

The 57-page strategy document distributed by the Senate Republican campaign arm focused on one thing  to pass the buck to China.

Global scientists are concerned, as the rampant virus is new to this world and it takes time before vaccines are developed and people can finally get rid of its impacts on lives and health. Only mutual assistance can help the world get through the hard time, and only cooperation and solidarity can enable the world to better cope with challenges.

While American leaders play the blame game, more lives are being endangered, said Singaporean newspaper The Straits Times. It is far more productive for the US and its allies to focus on saving lives and working together with China to find an effective vaccine, the newspaper added.

One of the most famous sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln is about deception: You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. But his words did not stop those American politicians from believing they can fool the world.

China deserves respect for its efforts and contribution, as it launched an all-out war against the virus, conducted unprecedented lockdown of cities, and tried to treat the patients at all cost. This is obvious to all and will never be changed by political manipulation.

This time the US must learn from others. Global cooperation and the sharing of best practices is our best hope to get out of this crisis alive and intact, said Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia University.

To react to disasters with hatred and stigmatization will not only do nothing to help the U.S. overcome the difficulties, but also place a shadow over the world. In fact, the spiking number of COVID-19 deaths is a result of the inaction and blame game.

The U.S. politicians shall understand that the ignorance of peoples lives is inhumane and that seeking temporary relief regardless of the consequences will finally lead to bad results. The blame game, not matter how disguised, is self-deception. They should place such practices with concrete pandemic response actions, as well as stop speculation and take more responsibilities. Besides, they should also halt instigation and admit their wrong doings. Only by this can they save lives and end the tragedy.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by Peoples Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony of a phosphatic fertiliser factory on Friday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

"All the participants broke into thunderous cheers of 'hurrah!' extending the greatest glory to the Supreme Leader who has brought about a new change" in the development of the fertiliser industry, Xinhua reported citing the KCNA.

Kim was joined by his sister Kim Yo Jong as well as other senior officials, it added.

A completion ceremony of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, which has been built as the production base of fertilizer, was splendidly held on May Day, the international holiday of the working people of the whole world, the report said.

This was the top leader's first public appearance in state media in more than 20 days.
PeopleImages/iStockBY: LEIGHTON SCHNEIDER

(NEW YORK)  Dr. Sujana Chandrashaker, a top ear, nose, and throat specialist in New York and northern New Jersey, started reading about COVID-19 in medical journals and began tracking the virus clinically in early March. She was shocked and scared by what she saw.

Dr. Chandrashaker spoke to ABCs Cheri Preston, the host of ABC News Perspective Podcast, about what shes experienced and says there is a fear in the city that is similar to the time after 9/11, but there is a major difference between the two.

After 9/11, we were all in it together. We were not a danger to each other, we werent going to bring 9/11 home to our families. With this I have to tell you, I was so anxious that today was going to be my last healthy day on Earth for the first two weeks of this, she said.

Governors across the country are beginning to re-open their states, allowing residents to go to places like restaurants, barbershops, and malls, despite warnings from health officials, who say they virus could spread further.

Dr. Chandrashaker says the battle between politics and medicine is hurting our society, but she understands why there is a push to re-open.

We can't keep our country and our world closed forever. People have to eat. People have to work. People need the mental health of getting away from their families for some amount of time during the day. Our kids need the mental health break of being with their friends of doing all the things that we used to do a month ago," she said.

She says we cant let our guard down as we go back to more normal activities.

As we start opening our world for commerce, we need to know that we still need to physically distance ourselves. We still need to be six feet from other people, and we still need to be wearing a mask. We still need to be wearing gloves even if we go shopping and we still need to wash our hands for 20 seconds, thats going to happen for a long time. Americans are not used to wearing masks in life and we have to get used to doing that," she said.

Eventually, offices and other workplaces will re-open as more restrictions are lifted. Dr. Chandrashaker says if workers are stressed, or have anxiety, about being close to co-workers then they shouldnt be forced to go back in.

I think if you don't have to go in and you've been working from home, why shouldn't you continue? If you are getting all the work of your company done and you don't have to be there, and you can be on a conference call and you can be on a Zoom call and you can be this and you can be that. I think we're actually going to see a difference in the way a significant percentage of businesses do business," she said.

In her world changes have already started with doctors seeing patients via telemedicine and she says even more changes will come.

We are all making our waiting rooms safer, our schedules lighter, so that we can, in fact, see fewer people. You don't have that stereotypical waiting room of a doctor's office where everyone's leafing through the same magazines and coughing on each other. That's not going to happen again," she said.

Even with the new set up, having patients come into an office might be the last resort for doctors.

I can see you by telemedicine and then say, you know what, I want to do this treatment. And if you're not feeling better when we meet again by telemedicine, I really do need you to come in and because you are elderly or have an underlying disease, you're gonna be the 8:00 patient. So you're going to get in, get out and leave," she said.

She already has a plan for her Wayne, New Jersey office if she needs to be in the room with a patient.

You're gonna wait in your car and we're gonna call you in your car and tell you when to come upstairs. You're even just going to like race through the waiting room and get right into the exam room and then race back out and do all the paperwork. All the front desk work can be done remotely. Frankly, I think we're going to go through a full cycle of this, which means we're going to go through essentially a year of this," she said.

All across the country, we see people having more empathy for their fellow citizens, whether its wearing a mask to protect someone on the street, or reaching out to someone alone and isolated. Dr. Chandrashaker thinks this needs to continue, especially for the healthcare workers fighting the virus.

I think we have to know that there's going to be a lot of recovery, whether it's physical recovery. I will tell you, I mean, the clapping for the healthcare workers, it's really wonderful. We will need help for a long time. None of us signed up for a constant flow of death and destruction. I think the fact that we are seeing such positive outpouring of affection from people is really helping the health care workers, the frontline workers," she said.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Friday, May 1, 2020 at 10:39PM

You might not be driving around as much these days, but that doesn't mean your trusty navigation apps aren't working on adding new features. One such app is getting a long-requested feature: lane guidance support. Google's Waze is reportedly getting lane guidance, and it will be testing out the feature first in Israel. We aren't sure which markets will be getting first dibs.

Lane guidance is particularly useful when you're driving down unknown areas where you aren't sure when to switch lanes to make your exit. Lane guidance appears on top of your navigation screen, with markings consistent with what you'd see on road signs. The lane you're supposed to be on will be highlighted on your app. This feature will appear on the screen around 500 meters before you turn on city roads or a kilometre before you exit on highways. Lane guidance will not show up for roundabouts, though.

Source: BGR
Tyler Cameron said his ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid 'is going to be an incredible mother.'

Gigi has confirmed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week that she is pregnant by her on-again boyfriend Zayn Malik of One Direction fame.

Now Tyler, 27, who rose to fame as a hunky Bachelorette contestant, heaped praise on his used-to-be while appearing on ESPN West Palm.

The way they were: Tyler Cameron said his ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid 'is going to be an incredible mother'; they are pictured last August during their relationship

Gigi has confirmed on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week that she is pregnant by her on-again boyfriend Zayn Malik of One Direction fame

'If anything, I'm excited for her. I'm happy for her. She's gonna be an incredible mother,' said the reality TV beefcake.

He also denied that the baby is his, saying: 'No, no, but she's going to be the most incredible mother. She's a caring sweet person and she's gonna be amazing.'

Tyler has previously put to bed wild rumors that he is actually the father of Gigi's unborn child.

It wasn't me: Tyler has shut down rumours that he is the father of Gigi's baby

Meanwhile on Wednesday, during an Instagram Live of the Bachelor Nation star working out, some of his followers began referencing the Gigi news with one comment reading: 'Congrats on becoming the father. Gigi is preg.'

Tyler, 27, was quick to hit back saying: 'Y'all are wrong in the comments. Y'all are terrible.'

Although neither of them officially confirmed they were a couple, Gigi and Cameron were reportedly together late last year, after his time on the reality show.

Talking to PEOPLE TV about their relationship in October last year, Tyler said: 'I took it as I met a great person, a great friend. It wasnt like a bad breakup or anything like that. It was just, were at different parts of our lives right now.'

Happy news: Zayn and Gigi, pictured above at the Met Gala in 2016, are expecting their first child together

Meanwhile, the supermodel is currently in lockdown with Zayn, her sister Bella and mom Yolanda Hadid at their family farm in Pennsylvania.

In February, Gigi talked about her desire to become a mother one day: 'I think that as I get older - well, one day I'll start a family and I don't know if I will always be modeling,' she told i-D magazine.

Adding: 'I love the creative side of fashion, it's so fulfilling. The people I work with make me so happy, I'm so lucky to be around them. But who knows? Maybe I'll take up full-time cooking!'

Lovebirds: Gigi Hadid is said to be five months pregnant with her and boyfriend Zayn Malik's first child; the duo pictured September 17, 2016 in London

Gigi and Zayn began dating November 2015 but announced their split March 13, 2018; however, they were seen kissing on April 29, 2018 and holding hands, sparking reconcilation rumors.

The stars were back on after they reconnected in April but split up for the second time in January 2019.

In August 2019, Gigi began a whirlwind romance with Bachelorette star Tyler Cameron but they split two months later in October.
Absent any other marker, nature indicates the passage of time. Daffodils and hyacinths give way to roses. Blossoms fall, new leaves bud, pink petals are gone from empty New York streets. Frozen figures in rumpled clothes may note some slight change in the canvas. Who knows where the time goes?

We met in the warm season. We met in the cold season. It becomes possible to imagine time reordered in such a way. Oh, yes, in the warm season, I remember the peonies. A friend tells me her marker of times passage in Paris has become the advancing decomposition of a dead rat in the bike lane on her circumscribed daily outing. Who knows where the time goes?

We are all in a box. A smaller or larger Zoom box, depending on the number of people in the conversation. A sidewalk box that sets appropriate social distancing. The box behind the new plastic panels in stores, the box of four too-familiar walls, a mental box of insistent yet unanswerable questions; and in those boxes we are all grieving.

Grieving for a loved one lost to the coronavirus, for lost cities, for lost worlds, for America lost. The virus has revealed a nation in decomposition, incapable of coherence, un-led, angry, disoriented, scattered.
The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 243,000 people worldwide.

Over 3.4 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the hardest-hit country, with more than 1.1 million diagnosed cases and at least 66,369 deaths.

Today's biggest developments:

US surpasses 65,000 deaths Mississippi extends stay-at-home order USNS Mercy no longer accepting patients

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.

10:54 p.m.: City drops mask requirement over fears of violence

The city of Stillwater, Oklahoma, has amended an emergency proclamation requiring people to wear face coverings in public after threats of violence.

In a statement, Stillwater City Manager Norman McNickle said that in three hours on May 1, while face coverings were mandatory inside stores in the city, employees were "threatened with physical violence" by people who "cite the mistaken belief the requirement is unconstitutional." One person even threatened an employee with a gun for asking them to wear a mask, according to McNickle.

"It is further distressing that these people, while exercising their believed rights, put others at risk," McNickle said in a statement. "As mentioned, there is clear medical evidence the face coverings prevent COVID-19 spread; they are recommended by both the CDC and the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The wearing of face coverings is little inconvenience to protect both the wearer and anyone with whom they have contact. And, an unprotected person who contracts the virus can infect their own loved ones and others."

Story continues

McNickle and Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce reversed the emergency proclamation late Friday. The city will still require store workers to wear masks, but with the amendment citizens are now just "strongly encouraged" to wear coverings, instead of requiring it.

Stillwater has a population of about 50,000, and is the location of Oklahoma State University. The university sent students home in mid-March and conducted classes online the rest of the semester.

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.

9 p.m.: Hotel group to give back loan money

The Ashford Group will return the millions of dollars in coronavirus small business loans its real estate and hotel companies received under the Paycheck Protection Program, the company announced Saturday.

Together, its publicly traded companies received more -- tens of millions of dollars -- from the small business relief program than any other applicant.

MORE: Luxury hotels benefited from PPP loans. So did the investment trusts that own them

As late as this week, they had resisted public pressure to return their funds. But on Saturday, said they would do so to comply with in new guidance from the Small Business Administration.

The group defended taking the loan even as it returned the money, "Some media and members of Congress have falsely implied that Ashford accessed 'loopholes' in the CARES Act to qualify for the PPP funds. In fact, Congress designed the PPP to specifically allow companies that own multiple hotel properties to obtain separate loans for each property as a means to prevent the economic collapse of the hospitality industry that is now occurring."

6:32 p.m.: US suffers deadliest days since outbreak began

America just confronted its deadliest two days in deaths since the country's first known novel coronavirus death in February.

April 30 and May 1 marked the deadliest 48 hours in the United States' fight against COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization.

A total of 4,978 people died, according to the WHO's situation reports, which detail the number of new and total COVID-19 cases and deaths worldwide.

The reports, posted on May 1 and May 2, detail data reported to the Geneva-based organization by 4 a.m. ET Saturday.

The death toll in the U.S. is more than 66,000.

6:05 p.m.: Chicago mayor rails against house parties

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a fiery press conference Saturday asking people to immediately stop holding large house parties.

"If you feel like having a dance party -- go on TikTok," she said. "You are risking your own health. ... You are bringing death to [your family's] doorstep."

The Chicago Police Department vowed to shut down any large gatherings and arrest those in attendance.

The CPD will "shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you and take you to jail, period. There should be nothing unambiguous about that."

PHOTO: Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, people took advantage of one of the warmest days so far this spring in the city by getting fresh air and exercise in Humboldt Park on May 2, 2020, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Lightfoot said she had to call todays presser because CPD has already broke up 50- and 150-person house parties, and they know more are planned tonight.

"For a silly party, you are risking first responders' lives," CPD Superintendent David Brown said, "all of our lives, including first responders."

5:08 p.m.: USNS Mercy no longer accepting new patients: FEMA

The USNS Mercy, which was docketed at the Port of Los Angeles to help assist medical professionals with treating COVID-19 patients, will not be accepting new patients, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Navy hospital ship has been stationed at the harbor since March 27 and has treated just over 70 non-coronavirus patients, according to The Associated Press. It currently has nine patients on board.

Mercy's sister ship, the USNS Comfort, was deployed in New York Harbor since April 1 and left on Thursday. USNS Comfort treated 182 patients.

5 p.m.: Number of Maryland COVID-19 patients continues to rapidly rise

Maryland's confirmed coronavirus cases have climbed sharply this week, bringing its total to 24,473 cases.

Since Monday, confirmed cases of the virus have risen by almost 5,000. From Monday to Tuesday, there were 626 new cases, but from Thursday to Friday 1,730 additional cases were confirmed.

From Friday until midday Saturday 1,001 new cases were confirmed.

As of Saturday, Maryland has 1,156 coronavirus-related deaths.

3:03 p.m.: Tyson Foods plant set to reopen next week

After almost half of the 1,900 workers at a Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Logansport, Indiana, tested positive for COVID-19, the pork plant is slated to reopen next week.

The plant was temporarily shut down on April 25 after the cases were confirmed, according to a statement from the Indiana Joint Information Center.

Team members were asked to self-isolate until their results returned. The company is working with local health officials on verification of test results and will communicate with team members prior to the restart date, while following CDC guidance on safely returning employees back to work.

"While the facility was idled, we added more workstation barriers, installed more hand sanitizer dispensers, and did additional deep cleaning and sanitation," said Todd Neff, senior vice president pork. "Were also now screening employees for additional symptoms and designating monitors to help enforce social distancing, while following the CDC and OSHAs guidance for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers."

Bonuses and health insurance coverage ha also increased for the workers.

Tyson Fresh Meats also temporarily halted operations at its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef plant for additional deep cleaning and sanitation. The group voluntarily idled its locations in Waterloo and Perry, Iowa, and Pasco, Washington, while team members undergo testing and plants complete deep cleanings of the facilities.

2:39 p.m.: Texas cases surpass 30,000

Texas confirmed on Saturday that the state now has 30,522 cases, including 1,293 new cases.

The majority, 6,551, are in Harris County, which includes Houston. While over 14,000 Texans have recovered from the virus, 847 have died and 1,725 patients were still hospitalized.

2:36 p.m.: California's death toll increases

California on Friday reported 98 more deaths, as cases increased about 3.5% to 52,197. The state has seen a total of 2,171 deaths.

The number of patients in hospitals, about 3,400, and intensive care units, about 1,100, decreased slightly, officials said.

1:38 p.m.: 20% of Florida deaths over last 5 days

The total number of deaths in Florida rose to 1,364 on Saturday, the state's health department reported.

Since Monday, there have been 276 new deaths, meaning 20% of all deaths in the state have occurred in the last five days.

There were also an additional 735 new positive cases, putting the state's total at 35,463.

PHOTO: American Medical Response health workers at the COVID-19 drive-through testing center at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale as the coronavirus pandemic continues on Thursday, April 30, 2020. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

12:19 p.m.: US intel believes China hid severity of epidemic while stockpiling supplies

U.S. intelligence officials believe that the Chinese government misled the rest of the world about the contagiousness of COVID-19, all the while taking dramatic action to collect the medical supplies needed for its own battle against the virus, according to an analysis obtained by ABC News.

The report from the Department of Homeland Security claims that "the Chinese government intentionally concealed the severity of COVID-19 from the international community in early January while it stockpiled medical supplies by both increasing imports and decreasing exports."

"China likely cut its exports of medical supplies prior to its January WHO notification that COVID-19 is a contagion," according to the report, which was shared with law enforcement and government agencies on Friday.

The analysis looked at official and media reporting of imports and exports, and it examined alternative theories that might explain the dramatic January shift in trade patterns connected with critical health care equipment. However, none of those alternatives seemed plausible to U.S. intelligence experts, who wrote in the report: "The Chinese government attempted to hide its actions by denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data."

PHOTO: Workers make face masks in a company in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province Monday, April 27, 2020. (Wang Haibin/ROPI via ZUMA Press)

Global trade data from February showed "a significant decline" in worldwide imports from China, according to the report. For example, imports of surgical gowns declined by 71%, surgical face masks by 48%, medical ventilators by 45% and intubation kits by 56%.

The February figures likely reflected a January reduction in exports from China because cargo typically takes at least 30 days to ship, according to the report.

The Department of Homeland Security said in the report it has "moderate confidence" in its overall assessment, according to analysis of the trade data. The document also notes that "in its communications, China intentionally concealed its trade activity by publicly denying it has ever imposed an export ban on masks and other medical supplies."

Analysts reported U.S. intel does not have enough global trade information to find early evidence of a contagion, but, did say that with China producing about 80% of the world's supply of maks a "stockpiling of face masks indicates a significant health concern."

11:59 a.m.: Fewer New Yorkers testing positive for antibodies

The rate of New Yorkers who tested positive for antibodies, meaning they had COVID-19 at some point, has decreased, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a briefing.

The percentage of residents who had antibodies was 12.3% as of May 1, down from 13.9% on April 22 and 14.9% on April 27, Cuomo said.

Around 15,000 people were tested in the survey, according to the governor, who touted it as the largest antibody survey in the country.

While he admitted that it was not a major decrease, it was "better than seeing it go up."

PHOTO: New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo visits the maintenance facility of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and speaks about Covid-19 pandemic in Queens, New York City, United States on May 2, 2020. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

More men than women tested positive for antibodies, the results showed, and New York City continued to have the highest reported positive tests at 19.9%. In the city, the Bronx and Brooklyn had the two highest positive antibody results.

Cuomo said health experts still are trying to determine where new cases are coming from and have asked hospitals to record from neighborhoods new patients arrive. He's also asked hospitals to help identify how many new cases are front-line workers or people with whom they live.

Ahead of the subway's scheduled closure from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., starting May 6, officials discussed the logistics of the plan.

Sarah Feinberg, interim president of the New York City Transit, said that around 10,000 to 11,000 thousand people ride the subway from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. She said transit officials know which subway stations those people use and they're going to ramp up bus services so fewer commuters see disruptions.

PHOTO: A commuter wears a mask while riding the New York City Subway as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in New York, April 30, 2020. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

10:53 a.m.: Tremendous' testing capacity for returning senators, Trump tweets

President Donald Trump said there is "tremendous" testing capacity for senators returning to Washington, D.C., next week. His comments came after it was reported that Capitol physician Brian Monahan said earlier in the week that his office did not have the capacity to screen all 100 senators.

"There is tremendous CoronaVirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday," Trump tweeted.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington, during an event about protecting America's seniors, Thursday, April 30, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux)

He also said that was "likewise" for the House, which he said should return but is not because of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The president said the five-minute Abbott test would be used. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced late Friday night on Twitter that the administration was sending Abbott tests to Congress.

"Good news: as the Senate reconvenes to do important work for the American people during this public health crisis, we have now received an initial request and are sending 3 Abbott point of care testing machines and 1,000 tests for their use," Azar tweeted.

Good news: as the Senate reconvenes to do important work for the American people during this public health crisis, we have now received an initial request and are sending 3 Abbott point of care testing machines and 1,000 tests for their use.  Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) May 2, 2020

10 a.m.: Fauci will testify before Senate

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci will testify before the GOP-led Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 12, a committee spokesperson said.

"Chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander looks forward to hearing from Dr. Fauci and other administration officials at the Senate health committee's second hearing back, which will be on Tuesday, May 12," the spokesperson said.

The news comes after the White House's efforts to block Fauci from appearing before the Democratic-led House committee next week. The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News for comment.

PHOTO: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to speak about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

6:45 a.m.: NCAA releases 'core principles' for restarting college sports

The NCAA released guidelines on Friday for how college sports will transition back campuses. Its plan closely follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Trump administration's Opening Up America Again strategy.

Once COVID-19 infection rates decrease for at least two weeks, the NCAA said "resocialization of sport may be possible." In its plan, put together by the COVID-19 Advisory Panel, there are nine "core principles" that are a part of three phases for college sports to come back.

"The core principles outlined below are offered as a premise for resuming practice and competition at the collegiate level," the NCAA said in a statement.

Some of the principles include that colleges must have a plan in place for students to come back, that there are adequate personal protective equipment and access to testing, there must be a surveillance program to trace and isolate new cases and more.

Phase one includes limiting gatherings to 10 people or less, keeping common areas like gyms and cafeterias closed and encouraging virtual-only meetings. Phase two includes a limit on gatherings of 50 people or more, but allows for nonessential travel to resume. After other safety benchmarks and coronavirus numbers are met, phase three allows vulnerable student-athlete to resume in-person activities, common areas open and most other restrictions are lifted.

The NCAA guidelines are all subject to federal, state and local regulations.

Since early March, all NCAA sports have been canceled, including the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament.

4:10 a.m.: Mississippi extends stay-at-home order after spike in deaths

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he was prepared to unveil the easing of state restrictions Friday. He said he knows the economy needs to be reopened and that residents of his state are ready to get back to work and see a normal way of life again. However, as he was set to announce those plans Friday during the state's task force briefing, the latest coronavirus data forced him to stop in his tracks.

Mississippi, he said, had just had its largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases and its largest increase in deaths.

"Every single day, I have come before you and been transparent. I was transparent when I made decisions that turned out to be right. And I believe I was transparent when I made decisions that turned out to be wrong," he said Friday.

"This thing is not over, we are not out of the woods yet. Things can change quickly. We have to stay flexible," Reeves said during Friday's briefing. "This was a large enough change to make me take a step back and I have come to the conclusion that I must hold on for now."

Reeves said he hopes to announce more reopenings soon, but the timing is not right. Meanwhile, the governor is in a battle with the state legislature over federal COVID-19 stimulus funding.

The legislature voted Friday to prevent Reeves' office from spending federal coronavirus money, saying the executive branch shouldn't be the sole decider on how to spend the CARES money in the state.

Reeves said that decision only delays getting much-needed funds to residents.

"Best case scenario, weeks from now, they start debating that budget. They over-estimate and we have to send a lot of your money back to the federal government when it goes unused," Reeves said in a statement Friday night. "Worst case scenario, they underestimate and people die because we can't get them what they need."

Mississippi has more than 7,200 diagnosed coronavirus cases and at least 281 deaths.

PHOTO: A funeral worker is assisted moving a deceased patient into a van at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, April 27, 2020, in Brooklyn. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

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

ABC News' Ben Siegel, Matt Foster, Ahmad Hemingway, Josh Hoyos, Greg Bradbury, Elizabeth Thomas and Scott Withers contributed to this report.

Coronavirus live updates: US intel believes China hid severity of epidemic while stockpiling supplies originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has paid an emotional tribute reminiscing the moments spent with veteran actor Rishi Kapoor during the filming of Umesh Shukla's 102 Not Out.

Kapoor died at the age of 67 on Thursday morning after a two year long battle with leukemia at H N Reliance hospital in Mumbai. Bachchan broke the news on Twitter, saying, Hes GONE .. ! Rishi Kapoor .. gone .. just passed away .. I am destroyed!" But he soon deleted the tweet.

In the moving tribute to his late co-star of many films, Amitabh shared a lyrical video clip from 102 Not Out. In the film, Rishi Kapoor and Big B recreated the classic song Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam from the 1959 film Kaagaz Ke Phool. Sharing the lyrical video of the song, which was sung by Amitabh in 102 Not Out, the 77-year-old actor wrote, "Waqt.. Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam .. Tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum." See his post here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amitabh Bachchan (@amitabhbachchan) on May 1, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

Earlier, on his blog, Bachchan recalled the time when he first saw Kapoor during a visit to his father, cinema icon Raj Kapoors house in Chembur.

Had seen him at his home Deonar Cottage, Chembur, a young energetic, bubbly, mischief in his eyes Chintu , on those rare moments when I was privileged to have been invited to an evening at Raj jis house.

The actor wrote about Kapoors extraordinary walking style that he said was similar to his late grandfather, legendary actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Kapoor.

He had a walk that was confident and determined a stride and style that was similar to that of his grandfather, the legendary Prithvi Raj ji.. a walk I had noticed in one of his earlier films.. that walk.. I never found it in any other.

Bachchan and Kapoor have worked in several films together such as Kabhie Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb and Coolie.

Talking about the experience of working with Kapoor, Bachchan said, When he spoke his lines, you believed every word of it there was never an alternative its genuineness was beyond question.

"And there has never been any other, that could lip sync a song as perfectly as he would never.
Gadchiroli : , May 2 (IANS) In a major achievement, Maharashtra security forces on Saturday gunned down a dreaded woman Maoist who was absconding for three decades and carried a reward of Rs 16 lakh on her head, an official said here.

The fierce gun-battle between the security forces and a gang of Maoists took place during an encounter in the thick forests of Sinbhatti in the jurisdiction of Jarawandi Police Station in the district.

"Following a tip-off of some conspiracy planned against the security forces, a team of the C-60 commandos was on a combing operation in the forest.

Suddenly, some Maoists hiding there opened fire on them. The commandos opened retaliatory fire in their direction and kept moving ahead," said an official.

After the guns of the rebels fell silent and they retreated into the deep forests, the security team searched out the vicinity and came upon the body of the woman Maoist Sujanakka, alias Jaini Chaitu Akkra, 48.

Impressed with the success, the Superintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawade has announced a cash reward for the commando team.

Giving details, the official said that she served as a DVC Commander with the Kasansur Dalam and carried a bounty of Rs 16 lakhs on her head for various heinous crimes.

"She had joined Maoist forces with the Bhamragad Dalam in 1988, and Gadchiroli Police have registered 144 offences of different kinds ranging from murder, attempt to murder and attacks on security forces. We have recovered an AK-47 rifle, besides Claymore mines and pressure cookers which were destroyed by the security forces at the site," said the official.
You can log May 1, 2020, as the day the coronavirus moved from the public health realm and much closer to matters political.

And, as the coronavirus response becomes political, pressure will intensify on Dr Tony Holohan to deliver messages of easing sanctions, something many people want to hear.

We are looking at another shift in that symbiotic relationship between expert advisers and political leaders.

Just cast your mind back less than a decade to the immediate fallout from the economic crash in 2008. For the ensuing five years, the nation hung on the pronouncements of economists, those gurus often dubbed the purveyors of the "dismal science".

From 2008-2013, the dismal scientists were almost 'hip' as they featured on radio, television and in the papers, telling us what we needed to do for economic redemption and whether such redemption was even possible.

Then things sloped back gradually to the realm of politics and the key politicians.

The same cycle is repeating itself now. Approaching coronavirus lockdown, it became clear the nation was in the hands of the public health experts.

Most people had never heard of Dr Holohan or many of his colleagues up to a few weeks ago. I mean, who knew Ireland had an Intensive Care Society headed by a woman with the reassuring name of Dr Catherine Motherway? Most of us know now.

The politicians were happy to get this expert back-up and they moved with alacrity to defer to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).

The Cabinet was grateful, notably Health Minister Simon Harris who would otherwise have been left with a high-wire act, watched by a group of party colleagues who did not envy him.

And credit where it is due, those experts - including Dr Holohan, Dr Motherway and the others - did well by Ireland as the politicians duly stood back, saying they would be led by the expert advice.

Most importantly, lives have been saved, our hospital system has not been overwhelmed, as was feared, and the spread of the virus has been curtailed.

But there has been a cost and our politicians at the coalface are being increasingly told about the other aspects of the coronavirus crisis.

The economic and social aspects are coming more and more to the fore.

While our hospital system is not overwhelmed, treatments and procedures are beginning to pile up. The healthcare system has, to a large degree, been diverted.

Our elected politicians are increasingly being asked about the loss of jobs and the prospects of people getting back to work any time soon.

There are mutterings about the mental health fallout - despite efforts by the authorities to address these issues with advice via media and public messaging.

The small, incremental changes unveiled yesterday - accompanied by the belated emergence of a roadmap for Ireland's way back to normality, along with an extension of the lockdown - put further strains on public good will and community buy-in.

These two public sentiments still remain central to making the battle against coronavirus work.

Dr Holohan and his public health experts can reasonably argue they must decide on the basis of the science alone. They can point to the continuing high instance of cases and coronavirus-related deaths.

But there was clear evidence this week the elected politicians are getting ready to assert their role as the ones who must answer to an increasingly restive people.

In the Dail, Labour leader Alan Kelly was the most vocal in challenging the level of transparency coming from the experts.

Some of Labour's comments can be discounted as part of its need to increase its profile as it risks being marginalised by not being part of coalition-making.

But that realpolitik does not exclude comments in a similar vein coming from Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail.

The echoes emerging from Cabinet, with some ministers expressing impatience for easing of restrictions, also tell us of pressure coming from the public on the need for change. There is a view the country cannot stay in lockdown forever.

Yet the politicians know they are in dangerous terrain. Premature changes could see a virulent second wave of the virus setting the people's sacrifices at naught.

There are also real questions about progress on adequate testing and tracing systems central to any easing of restrictions.

The Health Department has not achieved its targets here and that is an issue which will recur in public debate.

There are doubts about the supply of masks for health workers even as the Taoiseach speaks of "masks for all".
It's impossible to comprehend how terrifying coronavirus is  until it hits someone you care about. A month ago, this happened to me.

A friend Ive known for a decade developed telltale symptoms  a high temperature and hacking cough  almost overnight.

His wife called me, beside herself with worry. Home-testing wasnt an option, but he was clearly suffering from Covid-19.

My friend is a healthy, fit 40-year-old, so I assured his wife that hed probably be better in a few days. But then his condition took a frightening dip.

Dr Ellie Cannon tries out an oximeter, pictured, which works by clipping onto your fingertips and measuring the amount of oxygen in the blood

During our daily video calls I noticed he was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe and could barely speak at times.

Moving from his bed was near impossible thanks to an overwhelming, crushing fatigue.

But knowing the pressure on the health system  and their desire to protect their four children from ambulance sirens  I promised Id try to keep him at home.

I dont tend to lend medical equipment to friends and family. But this time I made an exception.

I left a box, containing a little black gadget, on their doorstep.

Im sure this device saved him from hospital admission  and it may even have saved his life.

Called a pulse oximeter or sats probe, it measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. GPs and hospitals use them all the time  and they can be bought for as little as 20 on the high street.

With Covid-19 sweeping the nation, I think there should be one in every home because monitoring our blood oxygen can help catch this unpredictable illness before it turns deadly.

Im not the only one who thinks so  last week experts at Cambridge University made the same plea. Professor Babak Javid, a consultant in infectious diseases, said the tool could help spot early warning signs of the virus, in the absence of face-to-face GP appointments.

Without enough oxygen, extreme exhaustion, headaches and dizziness, pictured, quickly ensue

And some GP surgeries and A&E departments have started distributing them to patients.

The oximeter is clipped to a fingertip and uses infrared light to measure the amount of oxygen attached to a protein in the blood called haemoglobin. It tells you how much oxygen is in the blood cells and therefore how much is being transported around the body.

Without enough oxygen, extreme exhaustion, headaches and dizziness quickly ensue. A reduction in blood oxygen levels can be an early warning sign that potentially fatal pneumonia has developed.

It can also happen without a worsening of symptoms, which is why monitoring is crucial.

I told my friend to take recordings throughout the day, every day, and if they were consistently below 96 per cent  and dropping  to call me. Anything from 96 to 99 per cent is considered normal.

His wife called after three days. My friends levels were hovering around 93 and not improving, so I prescribed a course of antibiotics that GPs are advised to give if they suspect early signs of pneumonia. Within two days, his readings shot up to 96 and his symptoms began to improve. In a week, he was almost back to normal.

Without the oximeter, his deteriorating condition may only have been picked up in hospital. By this point, the impact on the lungs can be so severe that patients may even need ventilation.

The device, pictured, tells you how much oxygen is in the blood cells and therefore how much is being transported around the body

Not everyone has a GP friend to interpret their oxygen readings. But it is relatively simple for you or a loved one to do it.

The most important thing is to take readings several times a day because youre looking for a trend, not a one-off.

If you measure below 92 more than once, this is seriously concerning and you should call 111 or 999.

If readings are repeatedly under 96, call your GP to discuss your results. Your GP will also look for a drop in levels after physical activity, so they might ask you to take a few steps and then measure again. This is another telltale sign of pneumonia.

Don't rely on mobile apps - they don't work Don't rely on a smartphone app to monitor blood oxygen levels. The technology supposedly takes readings using the phones camera. But according to research by Oxford University, these apps simply do not work. Instead, Id recommend buying an oximeter from your local high street chemist or online stores such as Amazon, for as little as 13. Argos also sells them for 20, but there are currently long delays for deliveries. As long as the product has the safety CE mark and measures at least 96 per cent on a healthy person, its safe and ready for use. Advertisement

Even if you dont have typical Covid-19 symptoms, but readings are consistently under 96 per cent, call your doctor.

Low blood oxygen is not specific to Covid, and can be a sign of other serious illnesses such as lung disease. Monitors bought from Boots are as reliable as those used in GP surgeries  provided you use them correctly. Wearing nail varnish, or having dirty nails or cold hands, can all affect accuracy, while bright light in the room can interfere with the in-built sensor.

Try pulling the blinds down and rubbing your hands to warm them first. Then, clip the device on to the tip of your first or middle finger. Keep it still, rested on a surface.

On most devices, you press a button to start recording  and it bleeps or flashes when it is finished. Some also record your pulse  the screen should tell you which is which.

People with blood disorders such as anaemia, common heart rhythm problems like atrial fibrillation and chronic lung conditions might be advised not to use one, as your normal level will be different.

Whatever your monitor says, if you feel your breathing is bad, seek urgent medical help.

The toughest thing about being a doctor right now is the sense of helplessness. Without any effective treatment, there is sadly so little we can do for those who are desperately sick. But an oximeter may at least catch it in the nick of time.
Animal Services modifies operations

The city of Midland Animal Services Facility has modified operations for the safety of staff and residents, according to a press release from the citys spokeswoman.

Phones will be answered 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays beginning Monday. The shelter will be open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday.

To minimize the number of people in the building and comply with social distancing requirements, there will be a ticket dispenser located near the shelter entrance doors. After taking a number, residents should wait in their vehicle until their number is displayed on the "Now Serving" sign. Once their ticket number is displayed, they will be allowed in the building.

If assistance is needed after hours, call 685-7420, press 1 and leave a message, or call the Midland Police Departments non-emergency number, 685-7110.

Public housing authorities receive funds

Public housing authorities and Section 8 voucher programs in Midland have received several federal grants to help with coronavirus-related improvements and maintenance to local public housing programs, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced Friday. The Midland County Housing Authority received $69,830, and the Housing Authority of Midland received $32,463, according to a press release from the senators office.

The funding comes through the Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the CARES Act.

Catholic churches not having Mass

The Catholic churches of the Diocese of San Angelo we will not be moving to Phase One of the return to public celebration of Mass this weekend, Bishop Michael Sis said in a statement. A few remaining points of the dioceses safety protocols are not yet finalized, he said.

We are making good progress, but there is still more preparatory work to be done, Sis said.

MCPL offers curbside pick-up service

Midland County Public Library patrons may pick up books, DVDs, audiobooks and other materials with curbside service, which is available 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the downtown branch.

Patrons may reserve materials using the library's online catalog, or by calling 688-4331 or 742-7410. Once an order is ready for pickup, the library will contact the patron via email or by phone. To pick up items, patrons must enter the parking lot from Missouri Avenue and follow the signs to the designated pickup area. Patrons will call a number posted at the curbside area, and staff will deliver the materials. Library employees will wear masks and gloves to deliver materials to patrons, according to a press release from the library.





Grocery store hours during coronavirus

--Albertsons Market

6 a.m.-11 p.m.

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

3317 N. Midland Drive

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday

--H-E-B

7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Customers 60+

Orders can be called in 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 833-397-0080. Groceries will be delivered by Favor Delivery.

For more information, go to newsroom.heb.com

--Market Street:

6 a.m.-midnight.

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

--Walmart:

7 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

7-8 a.m. curbside delivery pickup for first responders and customers 60+, with disabilities or at-risk
No drugs are currently FDA-approved for treating the coronavirus, and remdesivir will still need formal approval

Washington: US regulators on Friday allowed emergency use of the first drug that appears to help some COVID-19 patients recover faster, a milestone in the global search for effective therapies against the coronavirus.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared Gilead Sciences intravenous drug for hospitalized patients with severe disease, such as those experiencing breathing problems requiring supplemental oxygen or ventilators.

President Donald Trump announced the news at the White House alongside Gilead CEO Daniel ODay and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn.

This was lightning speed in terms of getting something approved said Hahn, calling the drug an important clinical advance.

The FDA acted after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug, remdesivir, shortened the time to recovery by 31%, or about four days on average, for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Those given the drug were able to leave the hospital in 11 days on average vs. 15 days for the comparison group. The drug may also help avert deaths, but that effect is not yet large enough for scientists to know for sure.

Dr Sameer Khanijo, a critical care specialist, said he wants to see additional studies to clarify the drugs benefit.

I dont think this is a cure yet, but I think its starting to point us in the right direction, said Khanijo of North Shore University Hospital in New York. As a society, its nice to have something that will help stem the tide of this disease.

The FDA said preliminary results from the government study warranted Fridays decision, though regulators acknowledged there is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir.

The drugs side effects include potential inflammation of the liver and problems related to its infusion, which could lead to nausea, vomiting, sweating and low blood pressure. Information about dosing and potential safety issues will be provided to physicians and patients, the FDA said.

The National Institutes of Healths Dr Anthony Fauci said Wednesday the drug would become a new standard of care for severely ill COVID-19 patients. Remdesivir, which blocks an enzyme the virus uses to copy its genetic material, has not been tested on people with milder illness.

The FDA authorized the drug under its emergency powers to quickly speed the availability of experimental drugs, tests and other medical products during public health crises.

In normal times the FDA requires substantial evidence of a drugs safety and effectiveness, usually through one or more large, rigorously controlled patient studies. But during public health emergencies, the agency can waive those standards and require only that an experimental treatments potential benefits outweigh its risks.

Gilead has said it will donate its currently available stock of the drug and is ramping up production to make more. It said the US government would coordinate distribution of remdesivir to parts of the country that need it most.

No drugs are currently FDA-approved for treating the coronavirus, and remdesivir will still need formal approval.

The FDA can convert the drugs status to full approval if Gilead or other researchers provide additional data of remdesivirs safety and effectiveness.

This is a very, very early stage so you wouldnt expect to have any sort of full approval at this point, said Cathy Burgess, an attorney specializing in FDA issues. But obviously they want to get this out to patients as quickly as possible.

The FDA previously allowed narrow use of a malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, for hospitalized patients who were unable to take part in ongoing studies of the medication. Trump repeatedly promoted it as a possible COVID-19 treatment, but no large high-quality studies have shown the drug works for that and it has significant safety concerns.

The FDA warned doctors late last month against prescribing the drug outside of hospital or research settings, due to risks of sometimes fatal heart side effects. The agency made the announcements after receiving new reports of injury and death with the medication, which is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Two small studies published Friday add to concerns about hydroxychloroquine. Critically ill COVID-19 patients given the pill-based drug were prone to heart rhythm problems, and for many risks mounted when it was combined with an antibiotic, the studies found.
Families across Europe are being urged to eat steak, chips and cheese to help clear excess produce.

Food producers and farmers are desperate to sell goods that were previously going to restaurants and hotels.

The French are being urged to do what you can for cheese while Belgians are being encouraged to eat an extra portion of chips each week to reduce a 750,000 ton potato surplus.

In Britain, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board has launched a steaknight social media campaign to try to reduce the glut of beef.
U.S. intelligence analysts concerned over Trump officials' pressure to link coronavirus with Chinese lab: media

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:12, May 01, 2020

WASHINGTON, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Some U.S. intelligence analysts have expressed concern that senior Trump administration officials' pressure to link the coronavirus with a Chinese lab will distort assessments about the virus and they could be used as a political weapon, The New York Times said in a report on Thursday.

Senior Trump administration officials pushed U.S. intelligence agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a lab in China's Wuhan was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, the report said, citing current and former U.S. officials.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, took the lead in pushing intelligence agencies for more information, according to the report.

"Most intelligence agencies remain skeptical that conclusive evidence of a link to a lab can be found, and scientists who have studied the genetics of the coronavirus say that the overwhelming probability is that it leapt from animal to human in a nonlaboratory setting, as was the case with HIV, Ebola and SARS," said the report.

As COVID-19 deaths continue to increase in the United States, the Trump administration and its allies in Congress have tried desperately to deflect criticisms about their blunders by blaming others.

As of Thursday noon, the United States reported more than 1,040,000 COVID-19 cases with over 61,000 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

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President Donald Trump on Friday revised his estimate of US fatalities from Covid-19 to hopefully less than 100,000, just days after expressing fears it could go up to 70,000. His initial estimate based on projections by his coronavirus task force was around 200,000 deaths.

Over the last 24 hours, the country reported 1,947 new fatalities and 34,037 new infections.

The American president, who once dismissed the Covid-19 outbreak as something that will disappear like a miracle, has in recent weeks used projections to take credit for taking action and preventing more deaths.

Through our aggressive response and the remarkable commitment and bravery of the American people, we have saved thousands and thousands of lives, Trump told reporters on Friday before heading out to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.

He said, People were thinking in terms of 1.5 million lives lost to 2.2 (million) without the mitigation. Hopefully, were going to come in below that... 100,000 lives lost, which is a horrible number nevertheless.

To apparently keep a tight control on its narrative about the handling of the outbreak, the White House has blocked Anthony Fauci, a top government epidemiologist and member of the US coronavirus task force, from testifying before a congressional committee next week. The Trump administration argued that making key officials who fight the outbreak appear at hearings will be counterproductive.

States such as California and Michigan are being very careful with their curbs and have tightened restrictions. Beaches and some public parks in California have been closed indefinitely, while Michigan has extended the lockdown to May 15.

In New York City, a nursing home on Friday reported the deaths of 98 inmates from Covid-19. Its absolutely horrifying, mayor Bill de Blasio said.
If this is you  Do not try to compensate for years of no hobbies. Check in with colleagues about how theyre managing and whats urgent. The halfway home-schooler Loading Got in quick by snapping up the following titles from Amazon: Easy Learning Numbers Ages 3-5, Telling the Time Ages 5-7, Spelling Ages 5-6, Problem Solving and Reasoning Ages 5-7. Has drawn up a timetable for three children aged three, six and seven, starting with home economics breakfast lesson at 6am and finishing with easy physics bath-time at 8pm. Aiming for four contact hours per child and four hours of her actual job a day, while catching up on work emails until 2am most nights. Weekends: violin and recorder practice, Skype call for mother-in-law to teach French, YouTube YogaBugs exercises  Has perfected turning on the kettle during work calls to drown out the sounds of children killing each other. (Sarah, can I call you back in a moment?) The downstairs toilet is her office  and where she cries for at least half an hour each day.

If this is you  Follow instructions from school. Forget about extra school work, let yourself off the hook. The creative reborn Loading All her working life, the Creative Reborn has been campaigning to work from home because research shows that productivity goes up, you have a better work-life balance, youre more creative and you have time for pilates and yoga. Signs up for online courses in Instagram marketing, coding and the Alexander technique. Implements ideas from Tim Ferrisss Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines and Habits of Billionaires, Icons and World-class Performers, including getting up at 5am to meditate, outsourcing all your work to a virtual assistant (VA) and expressing the authentic self by drinking green tea.

Downloads the MyFlo app (measuring hormone fluctuations) and becomes fixated with figuring out at which stage in her menstrual cycle she is most productive work-wise. Repeatedly forgets to reply to the bosss emails and calls. Wardrobe? Lululemon all the way. Catchphrase: Ill need to check that with my VA and my spirit guide. If this is you  Experiment judiciously with new ideas without trying to change everything about your life overnight. Have a favourite podcast you listen to at a certain time every day and stick with it, instead of constantly getting inspiration FOMO. The hardcore freelancer This is her moment. Shes been working from home for years and shes damned if shes going to let all these moaning slackers poison her system. Has a highly organised leisure wardrobe of velour jumpsuits and leggings bought on eBay, which look like pyjamas but are not actual pyjamas.

Loading Surprisingly more bereft than office workers that she cant leave the house  going out for a latte macchiato five times a day was pretty much the only thing keeping her going. Used to setting a schedule that involves pretending to use the Pomodoro method (working in 25-minute intervals), but is actually about avoiding the busiest times in the local cafe. Sends approximately 56 WhatsApp messages a day asking people she hasnt seen for a year, How are you? Orders a Nespresso machine after years of holding out. Finds herself drinking tequila before lunchtime because work is slow and no ones committing to anything. If this is you  Use this time to focus on jobs youve been putting off  accounting, planning, DIY 

and to keep in touch with contacts, even if its just to commiserate about these uncertain times.

The techno perfectionist As soon as the decree about working from home went out, she ordered a Herman Miller Aeron office chair because its ergonomic and on show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This is the chair they chose for God to sit in on The Simpsons and its probably tax-deductible, right? Loading Now its all about finding the best angle for video conferencing. Zoom? A bit 2019. Flock feels like the right way to go. Has spent the past two weeks rearranging her library (mostly motivational Simon Sinek and Austin Kleon) on the shelf behind the chair. Shes determined to co-ordinate the teams work using collaboration hub Slack so that she never has to talk to any of them on the phone (so analog!), despite the fact that several of her colleagues have left weepy voicemails. Wardrobe? Black polo neck and straight-fit stretch jeans. If it was good enough for Steve Jobs 
Pinto Deepak By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The lockdown seems to be having some positive effects on society. Domestic violence cases across Telangana during this period have come down drastically. An analysis of SOS calls of domestic violence to police control number 100 shows that the complaints have decreased by more than 50 per cent than the normal period. While an average of over 400 calls related to domestic violence are reported during normal times, the number has come down to around 150 calls per day during the lockdown.

IG, Women Safety, Swati Lakra says, most such calls are related to physical abuse by husbands. Prior to the lockdown period, most of the calls related to domestic violence were from women beaten up by their alcoholic husbands. Now that there is a strict ban on alcohol, these incidents have been minimised. Further, we have also roped in professional counsellors to address these distress calls from women. When a woman calls Dial 100, the person at the call centre after jotting down details will inquire if the caller requires expert guidance. Then the call is immediately transferred to a counsellor.

At present, there are 25 persons working round the clock, catering to women in Hyderabad. Soon the facility will be extended to the whole of Telangana with more counsellors to address womens issues, she said. Lakra adds that though the entire police force is on Covid duties, they have been instructed to give top priority to women-related issues. Any distress calls to 100 will be attended to promptly. Experts also opine that prior to the lockdown, domestic violence cases were high as men with extreme work stress and other external pressures vented on their spouses.
Harvard University president Larry Bacow has sent a memo to Harvard alumni and friends. The memo provides what Bacow says is an update on the full review of Jeffrey Epsteins connections to the University.

Bacows memo discusses only Epsteins financial contributions to Harvard. He states:

The report [by Harvards general counsel] confirms that the University received a total of $9.1 million in gifts from Epstein between 1998 and 2008 to support a variety of research and faculty activities, and that no gifts were received from Epstein following his conviction in 2008.

However, Epsteins connections to the University werent limited to financial contributions. He maintained connections with certain Harvard professors whom he visited on campus after his conviction for two related sex crimes  procuring an underage girl for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.

This topic is discussed briefly in a memo by Harvards general counsel that Bacow attached to his memo. The general counsel states:

Epstein maintained a relationship with the director of the PED [Program for Evolutionary Dynamics], Professor Martin Nowak, over the next 15 years, including after Epsteins release from prison. While we have not been able to determine the precise number of campus visits, we understand that Epstein visited the offices of PED in Harvard Square more than 40 times between 2010 and 2018. We did not find evidence that Epstein engaged with undergraduate students during these visits (or during his time as a Visiting Fellow). Instead, Epstein used these visits principally as opportunities to speak with prominent faculty from the Cambridge area, many of them Harvard faculty. While inviting Epstein to campus did not violate any Harvard policies, aspects of his relationship to the PED, such as his access to the programs offices, treatment on the PEDs website and interactions concerning one grant application, do implicate Harvard policies and our findings and recommendations address these issues.

But the general counsels memo appears to understate, if not conceal, findings in her underlying report. According to the general counsels report, Epstein had his own office at Harvard, along with a key card and passcode with which to enter the building housing the PED.

Epstein furnished his office with a rug and photographs. The space was known as Jeffreys office, according to the report. (See page 20)

As the general counsels memo says, Epstein visited campus more than 40 times after his release from custody (such as that custody was). The memo does not include the reports finding that when he visited Harvard, Epstein was accompanied by young women serving as his assistants.

Epsteins association with Harvard mattered. As the Washington Posts Susan Svrluga says:

Epsteins close association with influential scholars burnished his reputation, giving him a veneer of credibility even after his guilty plea. That plea generated controversy because it initially allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges that he molested girls.

Bacows memo seems like a scrubbed version of the the general counsels memo. And the general counsels memo seems like a scrubbed version of her report.
Two US Congressmen, including an Indian-American, have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ensure the United States leads the international efforts to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, Congressmen Ami Bera and Ted Yoho urged the US to join the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an international public-private partnership currently leading efforts to build an international vaccine cooperation mechanism.

The participation of the United States in CEPI, of which India is a member, would accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccine and give it a say in CEPI's vaccine cooperation efforts, the two Congressmen said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our public health and economy. Increased testing and contact tracing will allow states to begin slowly loosening restrictions, but only with a vaccine will Americans be able to truly return to normal, Bera said.

While I firmly believe that the US will be the first country to develop a vaccine, it's possible that others may do so first. That's why it's critical that the US lead on the international development, production, and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, including the creation of an international mechanism, to ensure that the vaccine reaches healthcare workers around the world first, he said.

Bera said in the absence of participation and leadership of the US, there is a risk that the rules may be dictated by other countries which could leave American healthcare workers without access to a vaccine when others receive it.

Yoho noted that the US and the rest of the world was caught ill prepared in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now is the time for the United States to show leadership and contribute to the funding necessary to support research and vaccine development for not only tackling COVID-19, but many other future diseases to come, he said.

The coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last, has claimed over 65,000 lives in the US and over 235,000 lives globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With Queen Elizabeth II already in her 90s, we'll soon be getting the news that the current head of the monarchy will step down and give the reign to her son.

Prince Charles is the longest-serving heir apparent in the history of the British royal family, while Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch.

But is everybody ready for Prince Charles to become king?

For the Brits, though Prince Charles is the obvious next in line to the throne, not everybody is happy about that.

As seen on several polls and surveys, most British people would rather see Prince Charles' son Prince William be the next king, skipping over his father.

In a 2019 poll by BMG Research, nearly half of the British population would want Prince Charles to give way for his eldest son.

Some people are not excited or don't believe that the Prince of Wales can still do it.

But are the royal family members ready for Prince Charles to be king?

According to the Daily Mail, Prince Charles wants to reduce the number of royals in the spotlight when he becomes king. It was only encouraged when his brother, Prince Andrew, had a disastrous interview about his scandal with Jeffrey Epstein.

According to Labor leader Jeremy Corbin, he also agrees that the royal family "is just too big."

"I do think the question of the size of the family and all that they do, but I do think the public as a whole would want to see those kinds of changes and the debate around the behavior of Prince Andrew has brought that to the fore."

When Prince Charles becomes king, and this is one of his first duties, to fire the other royal family members, what will become of those royal family members soon? What are they going to be doing, if not serve the crown?

As per reports, Prince Harry has always been part of his father's slimmed-down monarchy.

A source told People Magazine, "Charles has always envisioned working with both of his sons and their families in the future. The leaner monarchy that has been proposed by Charles for cost-cutting purposes included Harry and whoever he married."

In another report by the Daily Mail, the Prince of Wales would only want the number of royals to be just him, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their children.

His siblings, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, and Princess Anne, won't have as many royal duties.

This would also mean that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will be cut off from the core royal family.

As for Camilla Parker Bowles, the Brits wouldn't be happy if she ascended to the throne as Queen.

She had tried to repair her image after the public found out she was having an affair with Prince Charles while he was still married to Princess Diana. A representative for the Duchess of Cornwall told the Daily Star, "The intention is for the duchess to be known as princess consort when the prince accedes to the throne."

She also made it clear that once Prince Charles becomes king, she will not take the queen title.

READ MORE:Prince Harry Dominated: Meghan Markle Still Controls Husband in LA, Body Language Experts Say
Britons can now search the number of coronavirus deaths in their own neighbourhoods after an interactive map was posted online by the Office for National Statistics.

The chart shows how many fatalities have been linked to Covid-19 in every local authority area in England and Wales.

The London boroughs of Newham, Brent and Hackney are shown to be the three worst-hit areas, suffering 144, 142 and 127 deaths per 100,000, respectively.

Seven other neighbourhoods in the capital  Tower Hamlets, Haringey, Harrow, Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and Ealing  account for the full top 10 local authorities with the highest death rates, the report shows.

Numbers are also high in the West Midlands, Manchester and Liverpool.

Norwich and Hastings in East Sussex, have the lowest rates, suffering just five and six deaths per 100,000, respectively.

The findings  taken from deaths registered between 1 March and 17 April  appear to support what anecdotal evidence has long suggested: that the illness is not a great leveller as some have suggested.

Rather, residents living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales are dying at double the rate of those in the most affluent postcodes.

Taken together, the poorest regions have suffered an average 55 Covid-19-related deaths per 100,000 people, compared to a corresponding figure of just 25 in the wealthiest neighbourhoods.

Analysts say the divide is likely to be caused by multiple factors.

Those living in poverty tend to smoke and drink in a larger quantity, are more likely to be obese and tend to have greater numbers of chronic illnesses  all of which increase the likelihood of suffering more severely with the bug.

Crucially, too, those on lower incomes are more likely to use public transport and more likely to live in shared properties  driving up the chance of catching the virus in the first place. They are less likely to be able to work from home during the lockdown.

Read more: Which lockdown tier am I in? How to work out which tier your area falls under
When politics downplays pandemic View(s):

Last Sunday when this column looked at political developments  both local and foreign  against the backdrop of a global pandemic, it did not expect to come back to the subject so soon.

What prompted a quick return to it is a cluster (a commonly used word these days) of decisions and impending events that make another look singularly appropriate.

But to take a step back and place political statements in their context is not without merit for they impinge on what is happening right now. Sri Lankas Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi would remember that not too long ago she predicted that by April 19 the coronavirus epidemic in Sri Lanka would be under control. She has been proved wrong as recent data clearly shows.

There were others whose political punditry readily claimed that a parliamentary election could be held on April 25 without any let or hindrance by some temporarily passing virus.

Pavithra Wanniarachchi was not the only health minister around who spoke too soon. Here in the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock set a target of 100,000 tests a day which would include antigen tests that show whether people are currently suffering from Covid-19, as well as antibody tests to see whether people have had the infection and recovered. He promised it would be done by April 30th.

It was reported here that the Health Secretary had taken a 100 wager that it could be done by the target date. At 9am on Wednesday April 29th the figure was 52,429.

It might have reached something like 85,000 by the days end. It will take a day or two before we are told what the final figure was on the last day of April and whether Mr Hancocks 100 is safely tucked away in his wallet or it was another political promise that fell by the wayside.

Across the Atlantic the greatest president the American people have ever elected, (according to D for Disinfectant Trump that is), coronavirus was nothing to write an early morning tweet about and it will all be over in a short while and America will be great again.

Today more Americans have died since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the US than the number who died in the entire Vietnam War. Now we know why he calls himself the greatest president of all time! What America is passing through today is due largely to Trumpian antics and his ingrained tendency to blame everybody but himself for the tragedy that is the US today.

So April has proved the cruellest month for many open-mouthed politicians and it is surely not over yet.

The point is that these prognostications of politicians proudly made should be taken not with a pinch of sea salt but with a large dose of Epsom salt said to be a bowel cleanser.

Tomorrow, May 4, is a significant date. When opposition parties met the head of the Election Commission, Mahinda Deshapriya, the day after a new date for the election was announced they remonstrated against such a decision being announced prior to any discussions with them.

Deshapriya then reportedly said that June 20 was not final and the Commission would evaluate the situation once more on May 4 before a date is finalised. He was no doubt referring to an overall assessment of the situation on the ground and not only a medical evaluation of the progress made in controlling the coronovirus.

Deshapriya and his colleagues know that it takes an army of personnel and close contact between and among staffers in running an election efficiently and fairly. Social distancing as advised by the WHO and medical specialists would not be possible at every point of the election process.

There is more to the logistics involved in planning and holding a nationwide election than only a positive health report as Deshapriya told the media a few days back.

So tomorrow is going to be a critical day when we will know whether the election will be held on the day already picked or another postponement becomes inevitable.

An important question that is being asked and if not should be  is why an island-wide curfew was re-imposed on Thursday and would be lifted only tomorrow if the picture presented of better control over the health situation is an accurate assessment.

As I write, the official data show the number of infected had risen to 660 persons and would, one assumes, be more by Sunday when this column appears.

So, according to official statistics, the number of infected has been rising in the last week or two. Considering this fact along with another nationwide curfew clamped instead of in some districts only surely suggests that the government and its experts believe the infection could have spread far and wide.

The extended curfew was probably intended to track down those, especially the Navy personnel who left the base camp at Welisara and went home to their villages or wherever they live, possibly taking the infection with them and passing it on to their contacts.

Moreover there is much conjecture over some of the statistics released. For instance, the number of fatalities has stood at seven for several weeks or more.

While the mortality rate in several countries has been rising steadily except perhaps in South Korea and now Wuhan where no deaths have been reported, the plateaued figure in Sri Lanka has raised many an eyebrow in the country and elsewhere.

Either the medical treatment of infected patients has been exceptionally good and the earlier policy initiatives taken to control the infection have been highly successful or the calculations have gone askew for one reason or another.

My attention was drawn to this for two reasons. One was the questions being asked in the UK about the accuracy of the death toll. It was found that the official figures were based on patients who died in NHS hospitals and did not include deaths in care homes and at home which added together placed the toll much higher.

Then again there were reports on the Sri Lanka situation circulating that raised a very vital issue. Let me quote from a document I received authored by a group called Alliance of Independent Professionals.

That relevant paragraph read: The government has stated that there have been only seven fatalities to date from Covid-19. Health officials are widely agreed that this number is a gross underestimate, as they have been forbidden from conducting Covid-19 tests on any person suspected to have died from the virus. Several persons who have died from ailments ranging from respiratory illness to heart disease have been forcibly cremated without coroners or Judicial Medical Officers being permitted to conduct Covid-19 tests on the remains.

Differences of opinion between and among experts and knowledgeable persons in a variety of fields are bound to happen. In fact they are inevitable whether they be among experts or self-opinionated politicians.

Such controversies, especially when they raise questions over the violation of the law and trampling of the rule of law need to be nailed and the truth elicited.

This is why accountability is so very important. It is the call by the media, in the absence of a functioning parliament at the time, for accountability that forced the British Government to provide more accurate data on the total fatalities from Covid-19.

Without accountability and openness the public would be groping around like the blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that is not there, as my philosophy professor who taught logic used to say.
Four more patients died from coronavirus infection in Lagos State on Friday, the state Ministry of Health has announced.

The ministry on its Twitter handle on Saturday said the state has recorded four deaths from COVID-19.

The details of the deceased patients and accounts of how they died were not disclosed.

Giving COVID-19 update in Lagos for May 1, the ministry said 30 new cases were confirmed, increasing confirmed cases to 1,022 in the state.

30 new cases of #COVID19 Infection confirmed, total confirmed cases in Lagos now 1,022. 26 #COVID19 Lagos patients were discharged. Total Discharged now 225.

Unfortunately, 4 #COVID19 deaths were recorded. This brings total number of #COVID19 related deaths in Lagos to 25, the ministry wrote.

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in its May 1st update announced 2170 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria, while 351 patients have recovered from the infection, 68 patients have died as a result.

Lagos State is the state with the highest confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria, followed by Kano state with 311 cases and Abuja with 214 confirmed cases.

As of Saturday, Lagos has 1,022 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 754 active cases, 225 discharged cases, two evacuated cases, 16 transferred cases and 25 deaths.

Lagos residents are urged to call the Ministry of Health through the toll-free line; 08000CORONA, for any COVID-19 issues.
WHO Says Still Not Invited to Join China's Investigation Into Origins of COVID-19

Sputnik News

01:20 GMT 01.05.2020

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Chinese authorities refused to let the World Health Organisation (WHO) join the probe into causes of the COVID-19 outbreak, a WHO representative in China told the Sky News broadcaster.

According to Gauden Galea, it is highly important to study the origins of the virus to prevent such outbreaks in the future.

"We know that some national investigation is happening but at this stage we have not been invited to join", Galea said on Thursday.

According to the WHO official, the organization is not able to investigate documents from two virus laboratories in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. However, Galea stressed that the WHO had no doubts that the virus occurred in a natural way.

"From all available evidence, WHO colleagues in our three-level system are convinced that the origins are in Wuhan and that it is a naturally occurring, not a manufactured, virus", Galea added.

The new coronavirus was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei province, last December, later spreading to the rest of the world. On 11 March, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

To date, more than 3.2 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 233,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

 Sputnik

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Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the course of discharging his statutory and legislative obligations, on Tuesday, April 28, 2020, introduced an 82 section Bill Known as Infectious Diseases Bill, 2020 to the House of Representatives of Nigeria (Green Chambers).

The proposed Infectious Diseases Act is supposed to create a legal framework for the federal government to manage the special circumstances surrounding infectious disease outbreaks like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which at last count had claim 68 lives across Nigeria.

As reported by Sahara Reporters, what the Bill is supposed to do is to provide an updated legislative basis for the governments anti-pandemic efforts, replacing the National Quarantine Act of 2004, which many have identified as the cause of least some of the Federal Governments initial flat-footed response to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, on May 1st, 2020 the International Centre for Investigative Reporting reported with corroborations that the said proposed Infectious Diseases Act is over 90% plagiarised from Singapores law. What a legislative slap and embarrassment.

From a close survey, the Bill empowers the Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to order forceful vaccination of Nigerians against supposed infectious diseases amongst other powers. The Bill under section 52even go-ahead to criminalise non-compliance to forced vaccination by Nigerians. This is quite sad and worrisome.

Well, for the purposes of this work, I will limit my scope to the forced vaccination of Nigerians under the proposed Act. This does not, however, mean that other parts of the Bill may not be repulsive and unconstitutional. If need be, I will on a future date give the synopsis and forensic criticism of the entire Bill.

The phrase forced Vaccination is distilled from Sections 47 & 48 of the proposed Infectious Diseases Act. For clarity, I replicate the relevant sections as follows:

48.(1) In an outbreak or a suspected outbreak of any infectious disease in any area in Nigeria, the Director General may by order direct any person or class of persons not protected or vaccinated against the disease to undergo vaccination or other prophylaxis within such period as may be specified in the order.

48.  (3) Any order made under subsection (1) or (2) may specify the person by whom and the manner in which the vaccination or other prophylaxis is to be carried out.

48.  (4) Where any order is made under subsection (1) or (2), the Director General shall cause notice of the effect of the order to be given in such a manner as he thinks necessary for bringing it to the notice of all persons who in his opinion ought to have notice thereof.

It should be borne in mind that the word Order as used in the above sections is synonymous to dictate, command, mandate etc. It becomes more worrisome as section 52 of the Bill makes it an offence if citizens repel or do not comply with such orders. Why do you need to criminalise rejection of a particular treatment by a citizen? This is heart breaking! It is somewhat irritating and acerbic.

Section 52 states: Any person who contravenes any provision of this Part, or fails to comply with any notice given under section 47 or order made under section 48, shall be guilty of an offence.

From the commentaries we have read so far, it is obvious that the introduction of this Bill has a great nexus to curbing the outbreak of the deadly and dreaded COVID19 pandemic that is ravaging Nigeria and the entire globe at large.

But one wonders; how do you criminalise non-compliance to a (vaccination) treatment that is not yet in existence? Assuming there is even a global recommended and accepted vaccine by World Health Organisation, can you force citizens to take it?

THE LEGAL PERCEPTION

Ostensibly, the combine effect of sections 37 and 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended which provides for the right to private and family life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion has shielded the individuals right to accept or reject treatment of any kind, be it a vaccine or not. Put it differently, the right to either accept or reject a vaccine is founded on sections 37 and 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

For clarity, Section 38 (1) states: Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

From the above, it is unambiguous that an individual may at his own volition accept or reject any vaccine without any terrorisation, pressure or undue influence from any third party, be it a government agency or an individual as an exercise of his constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court in the case of MEDICAL AND DENTAL PRACTITIONERS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL V OKONKWO (2001) FWLR (Pt 44) 542, interpreted the above sections when Uwaifo J.S.C held:

I am completely satisfied that under normal circumstances, no medical doctor can forcibly proceed to apply treatment to a patient of full and sane faculty without the patients consent, particularly if that treatment is of radical nature ... So, the doctor must ensure that there is a valid consent and that he does nothing that will amount to the trespass to the patient. Secondly, he must exercise a duty of care to advise the patient of the risk involved in the contemplated treatment and the consequences of his refusal to give consent.

The court further held:

Once the patient has made his choice, the doctor or hospital cannot overrule such a choice the patients right to object to medical treatment is founded on the fundamental right to privacy and right to freedom of thought and religion. The sum total of these rights is that an individual should be left alone to choose a course of life...

From the foregoing analysis, it is apposite to say that sections 47,48 and 52 of the Bill is in clear contravention of sections 37 and 38 of the Constitution, thus making it void and unlawful. No medical expert can force a treatment on a patient. Please see the cases of MEDICAL AND DENTAL PRACTITIONERS DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL V EMEWULU & ANOR (2001) 3SCNJ 106; TEGA ESABUNOR & ANOR V. DR. TUNDE FAWEYA & ORS, LEPR [2019] SC.97/2009

In as much as we are not oblivious of the fact that the type of disease the Bill is seeking to regulate is infectious (which could endanger public safety), this does not however in any way mean a patient suffering from such disease should be forcefully vaccinated. Are there no other measures or better ways of controlling such spread, while the patient is treated the way he or she wants? Why then do we then have Infectious Diseases Hospitals and Isolation Centres all over the country?

The truth is: either from a subjective or objective examination of sections 47, 48 and 52 of the Bill, it is incurably bad and cannot pass the moral and legal refinement or test. Do you force people to treat against their wishes? What if the outcome is disastrous? This kind of practice should be abhorred at this time and age.

Beyond the above, the Infectious Diseases Bill is also contravenes the Patients Bill of Right which provides for Right to decline care, decline or consent to participate in medical research, experimental procedures or clinical trials.

What more? Should human decisions vis-a-vis health treatment not be respected as enshrined in the Constitution? If this Bill is passed into law tomorrow, does it mean anyone can be taken for vaccination or clinical trial against his or her wishes because it has been Ordered? Who does that in this 21stcentury?

Lest we forget, there are enough legislation (legal framework) in the country to help us fight this pandemic. If you must repeal the National Quarantine Act of 2004, please pigeonhole its loopholes that forms the basis for the repeal. This is beyond the fight against COVID19, it is about our legal system and democracy.

In a nutshell, sections 47, 48 and 52 of the proposed Infectious Diseases Act is a clear contravention of the Nigerian Constitution and other extant Health Legislation in the country and on the authority of Section 1(3) of the Constitution, null and void. Forced Vaccination is vindictive and barbaric.

Assuming without conceding that this Bill is really necessary, should it be at this time, when Nigerians are suffering and struggling to eat? Should the welfare of Nigerians not have priority over law making of this kind? Well, let the scale of preference play its role to the fullest.

This is not a time for legislative charred, neither is it time to play to the gallery nor a time to operate window dressing. Let it be known that Nigerians need good feeding mechanism during this catastrophe, maximum security, quality health care and humane treatment. There is time for everything.

With this article, I vehemently oppose the proposed idea of forced vaccination and its criminal elements, as it violates the patients Bill of Rights, Patients fundamental and constitutional Rights and international best medical practice. These sections should be expunged from the Bill or the Bill itself withdrawn.

Edikan Ekanem is an Abuja based Legal Practitioner and a Columnist and can be reached via 08130015006 or [email protected]
Fitchburg-based Promega Corp. is developing an antibody test for the new coronavirus and studying it in people who have had COVID-19.

Tests to confirm active infections of COVID-19 look for genetic fingerprints of the virus in nasal or throat swabs. Antibody tests are different, detecting immune system proteins in blood that indicate people were previously infected.

Antibody tests could be a helpful tool in reopening the economy because they could identify people who may have immunity against future infection, health officials have said.

But its not clear if antibodies against the new coronavirus protect against re-infection, or for how long. Many antibody tests on the market have high rates of false positives or false negatives, which could make antibody testing complicated. The World Health Organization warned against using antibody test results as immunity passports allowing people to return to work.

Still, officials in Wisconsin hope to use antibody testing, at least to get a better picture of how widespread COVID-19 is. Studies found 21% of people in New York City had antibodies to the new coronavirus, with fewer than 4% positive elsewhere in that state.

Dr. Ryan Westergaard, a medical officer for the state Department of Health Services, said last week that the state is looking into being able to do that in Wisconsin.

Promega is collecting blood from volunteers who have had confirmed cases of COVID-19 to evaluate its test, according to an announcement posted by Public Health Madison and Dane County.

Promega spokeswoman Karen Burkhartzmeyer confirmed the study but declined to provide more details.

Widespread deployment of this type of test would help us predict whether the infection rate will increase or decrease in a given area, based on the percentage of the population that is immune to the virus, Dr. Ashley Anderson, Promegas chief medical officer, wrote in a recent blog post.

Promega has also provided reagents and materials used in diagnostic testing for COVID-19 to Exact Sciences in Madison and other labs, helping to boost Wisconsins testing capacity.

A master mix by Promega is used in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions diagnostic test for COVID-19.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. An earlier version incorrectly described COVID-19 tests. Diagnostic tests look for genetic fingerprints of the virus in nasal or throat swabs, while antibody tests look for immune system proteins in blood.]

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West suffering because it failed to listen to China on COVID-19, says Lancet editor

China deserves gratitude, not criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the editor of The Lancet.

Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the prestigious medical magazine, told CGTN that while Chinese researchers were providing crucial information about the threat, governments in the West failed to listen or prepare for the coronavirus, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths.

At the end of January, The Lancet published five papers that "tell the story of what has unfolded in the Western world in the recent months," he said. They showed a deadly virus had emerged that had no treatment and could be passed between people.

"We knew all of this in the last week of January but most Western countries and the United States of America wasted the whole of February and early March before they acted. That is the human tragedy of COVID-19," he said. "Thanks to the work of Chinese doctors and scientists working in international collaborations, all of this info was known in January but for reasons that are difficult to understand, the world did not pay attention."

"Thousands died unnecessarily as a result" of these failings, Horton claimed.

He said attacks on China made by politicians were unwarranted.

"I want to be on the record and thank my friends and colleagues who work in medicine and medical science in China for what they have done. As I have said, I think we owe them a great deal... they do not deserve criticism, they deserve our gratitude," he noted.

U.S. president Donald Trump has described COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus," accused China of concealing information about the virus and even suggested, without proof, that it could have been released deliberately. All are accusations that China denies.

As well as praising China for sharing crucial information, Horton observed that investments in science and healthcare had allowed the country to respond effectively. He also praised innovations such as temporary "shelter hospitals," which took pressure off intensive care units and created a space to treat less serious cases before they deteriorated.

In the aftermath of the pandemic  Horton predicted a vaccine will be ready within 12 months  the world will need to choose between a model of cooperation and division, he said.
Also on Friday, DOC officials said they will be testing all staff and inmates  about 8,000 and 18,000, respectively  with saliva tests developed by Rutgers University.

In the three weeks since Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order that would allow some inmates to be released, only a handful of those eligible due to age or medical conditions have been allowed to leave. While officials said they are trying to keep family members informed, Santiago said the process is moving too slow, calls to state officials are going unanswered or without responses, and its a frustrating wait to find out whats going to happen to her son.

We all as a family have been trying to reach out to someone to try to help our son, Santiago said. Anyone I could speak to. No one can help me. No one knows what do to.

Jimenezs sisters, Kristal Jimenez, 26, and Ashley Martinez, 20, described him as outgoing, unique and loving.

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My brother loves to draw and listen to music, Martinez said. He enjoys spending time with his nieces and nephews. ... You wouldnt find someone like Hector. Hes somebody that youll always remember.
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The Royal Navy has joined the US Navy to do some cold water training in the Arctic - where the sea temperature is approximately four Celsius.

HMS Kent joined two US destroyers, a nuclear submarine, support ship and long-range maritime aircraft.

As well as the Duke Class Frigate, which is based in Portsmouth, the Royal Navy deployed a Merlin Helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron.

The Royal Navy joined the US Navy to do some cold water training in the Arctic. HMS Kent pictured as she conducts maritime security patrols in and around UK waters

314 Flight take part in a small arms firing at sea whilst on maritime security patrols in around around UK waters with HMS Kent

HMS Kent joined two US destroyers, a nuclear submarine, support ship and long-range maritime aircraft for the training. HMS Kent's ship's company pictured taking part in a practice replenishment at sea

Members of 314 Flight (pictured) took part in a vertical replenishment whilst on maritime security patrols in the North Sea

The training exercise also involved the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Donald Cook and USS Porter.

An unidentified US nuclear submarine also joined the exercise.

Commander Matt Sykes, Commanding Officer of HMS Kent said: 'I am delighted for HMS Kent to have this opportunity to work with our US allies. Conducting an exercise in the Arctic Circle is a new challenge for the ships company whose dedication and professionalism in preparing for this exercise have been impressive.

'The challenges of working in this extreme environment should not be underestimated but HMS Kents presence here continues to demonstrate the UKs commitment to the north Atlantic and high north.

Flight Crew from 314 Flight based at Royal Navy Air Station Culdrose, Cornwall, conducted a surface search whilst on maritime patrols in and around UK Waters with HMS Kent

US ships were pictured carrying out sailing manouevres whilst in the North Sea with HMS Kent

An unidentified US nuclear submarine also joined the exercise aimed at training and preparing crews for Arctic conditions

Commander Matt Sykes, Commanding Officer of HMS Kent said he was delighted for HMS Kent to have this opportunity to work with its US allies. HMS Kent crew took part in a replenishment exercise (pictured)

'Finally, I would like to thank the friends and families of HMS Kent for their unswerving support throughout this period.'

Lieutenant Georgia Harding, HMS Kents Principal Warfare Officer for underwater warfare, said: 'This exercise is the culmination of a high intensity period of anti-submarine warfare training that has seen a step change in HMS Kents readiness to conduct operations.

'Being able to work with US Navy ships, submarines and aircraft is an excellent opportunity to further hone our skills in a challenging environment.

'The waters are no warmer than 4 degrees Celsius; sea temperature, as well as salinity and various temperature layers play key roles in how effective sonar is.'
Just over 80% of Covid-19 patients in Northern Ireland have been discharged from hospital, Department of Health figures reveal.

The latest data shows 3,510 people here are no longer in hospital care.

There are 848 inpatients, the data shows.

The number of people discharged includes those who have died, which currently stands at 365, based on how the Department of Health records figures. The true figure, including most deaths outside hospitals, will be higher.

In total there have been 4,358 Covid-related admissions to Northern Ireland's 19 hospitals.

Seamus McGoran, the interim chief executive of South Eastern Trust, said the "vast majority" of patients were returning home.

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But he said the health system would be delivering Covid-related care for "some time" yet.

He said the trust was turning its attention from hospitals to community care just over two months since admitting its first Covid patient to Lagan Valley Hospital.

The trust has 177 inpatients, and has discharged 752.

He added: "Most of our early focus was on the huge pressures we were facing in our hospitals but that focus has now shifted into our community services and particularly into our care homes where we're trying to protect the most vulnerable in our community.

"We know that we're going to be delivering care within the context of Covid-19 for some time."

Across all trusts bed occupancy is at 70.30%.

Northern Trust has the highest number of inpatients as of midnight April 30 with 235 and 830 discharged, followed by Southern Trust which has 201 inpatients and has discharged 833.

Western Trust has 125 inpatients and discharged 733.

Belfast Trust has 110 inpatients, and has discharged 362.

There are 33 patients linked to Covid-19 being cared for in intensive care units in Northern Ireland.
Two NASA astronauts gearing up to ride SpaceXs new space taxi will now be on a mission planned to last more than a month, instead of a week, to help the short-handed crew aboard the International Space Station, the U.S. space agency said on Friday.

The launch is scheduled for May 27 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will arrive at the ISS the following day. The mission, SpaceXs first carrying humans, marks the companys climactic test before NASA can certify its Crew Dragon capsule for regular operational flights.

Space Shuttle veterans Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are set to be the first astronauts launched from American soil since the shuttle program was terminated in 2011.

The missions extension allows Hurley and Behnken to help swap out the stations batteries, a task that requires an outside spacewalk the current U.S. resident on the ISS, Chris Cassidy, could not do alone.

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The two astronauts embraced the mission extension, with Hurley saying it could last anywhere from one to four months.

I think that it being in the summertime, hopefully with a May 27 launch date, were hitting a good time so that my son will be able to follow the mission a little more closely than he would if he was in school, Behnken said.

SpaceX and Boeing Co BA.N. have been awarded a combined $7 billion to build separate crew transportation systems under the Commercial Crew Program, NASAs flagship campaign to use the private sector for ISS missions and curb its reliance on Russias Soyuz rocket.

We currently are supporting the station with the bare minimum, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Friday. Without the presence of Behnken and Hurley, we otherwise would likely defer such an operation until additional NASA crew members are available.

Kirk Shireman, NASAs ISS program manager, told reporters on Friday that the agency is basing the length of Hurley and Behnkens mission on how quickly SpaceX can finish preparations on its next capsule.

Delays with development of both SpaceX and Boeing vehicles have led NASA to extend its reliance on Russia, forcing the space agency to buy additional seats on the Soyuz rocket to ferry more astronauts to space.
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: Rajasthan reported death of a 20-day-old infant and five others due to COVID-19 on Saturday with the state recording 106 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 2,772. The 20-day-old child breathed his last at J K Lon hospital in Jaipur on Friday. With six more deaths, the fatality count has increased to 68 in the state.

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The confirmed cases in the country climbed to 35,365 while deaths reached 1,152 as the Centre extended the nationwide lockdown till 17 May.

India reported another surge of COVID-19 cases on Friday with a record 1,755 patients testing positive and 77 people dying from the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 2,33,000 lives and shattered global economies since it originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year.

#Chhattisgarh police conducting #Corona rapid test of all of its officials deployed in active duty. DGP DM Awasthi says directions given to conduct such test for safety of police officials & their family members.

Coronavirus rapid tests are being conducted on all the officials of Chhattisgarh Police deployed in active duty. "Such directions to conduct the tests were given for the safety of police officials and their family members," said DGP DM Awasthi.

"I think the biggest impact internationally has been in India where, of course, similar to all companies in India, we're now only fulfilling our essential goods such as grocery, so that's cut back a lot on our offering," Brian T Olsavsky, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Amazon saying during an earnings call.

Amazon said that it will resume its operations after getting the nod from the government.

Amazon has said that the COVID-19 pandemic had largely affected its business in India. The global e-commerce giant said that due to the nationwide lockdown it had to cut back on a lot of offerings in India and only deliver essential goods.

The meeting will take stock of implementation of several steps announced by the RBI, including moderation in interest rate and its transmission, as well as liquidity infusion measures to support the industry.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is expected to meet with bank chiefs on Saturday to take stock of the financial sector and deliberate on steps to be taken to boost industry amid the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.

A 68-year-old patient who had tested positive for COVID-19 had passed away in Pune. The cause of death is reported to be an acute respiratory failure due to ARDS with Myocarditis with COVID-19 infection. Total death toll in Pune district is now 100, said Pune Health officials, Maharashtra.

There have been 1,883 deaths due to the novel coronavirus disease in the US in the past 24 hours, according to the John Hopkins University tracker.

Besides, 22,367 vehicles and 32 boats have been detained from various parts of the state during this period.

In its daily report on the lockdown, the police said 1,690 cases have been registered for 2,532 incidents since the beginning of the restrictions. "A total of 3,673 people have been arrested for these cases and a collective fine of over Rs 1.62 core was collected from them for violating the lockdown norms," the statement said.

The Assam Police said on Friday that it has arrested 3,673 people across the state in the last 38 days for violating the lockdown order imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and collected over Rs 1.62 crore as fine.

At least 1,081 cases have been linked to international arrivals, but these cases have also declined in recent weeks as the government strengthened border controls, such as enforcing 14-day quarantines on all passengers coming from overseas.

Figures released by South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday brought national figures to 10,780 cases and 250 virus-related deaths.

South Korea has reported six fresh cases of the new coronavirus, continuing a month-long streak of below 100. Infections continue to wane in the hardest-hit city of Daegu, where no new cases were detected.

"There are reports that patients in need of regular critical care related to blood transfusion, dialysis, chemotherapy, owl, obstetric care, institutional deliveries, immunisation are facing hardship due to private hospitals and healthcare facilities either remaining non-functional or turning away patients out of fear of contracting COVID-19.

The West Bengal Health Department on Friday issued directives to private hospitals and healthcare facilities to resume normal services in a planned manner. Ensuring the safety, protection, and comfort of the medical staff engaged in such facilities needs the highest priority, it said.

Indias total COVID-19 confirmed cases rises to 37,336 out of which 26,167 cases are still active. 9,950 patients have been cured or discharged so far while the death toll has risen to 1,218 and one patient was moved out of the country.

2293 new cases, 71 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours in India. This is the highest number of cases reported in one day, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Four buses from Maharashtra brought back stranded students from Kota, Rajasthan, on Friday night. All students underwent health screening at Swar Gate bus stand in Pune and were advised home quarantine.

This is the first special train which reached Bhopal after the Centre's announcement to run such services to facilitate the stranded labourers and workers.

"We have started screening these passengers brought here from Nashik in the special train. After that, they will be sent to their respective towns in different buses," the official said.

A special train carrying over 300 stranded labourers from Nashik in Maharashtra reached on Saturday morning. A district administration official said that the non- stop special train reached Misrod Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhopal.

The total positive cases in this battalion have reached 122 and overall figure of COVID-19 cases in CRPF is 127, including 1 recovered and 1 death, said CRPF officials,

Test results of 68 jawans have shown them to be COVID-19 positive. All jawans are attached to a battalion camped in East Delhi, reports ANI.

12 new positive cases of COVID-19 and 3 deaths have been reported on Saturday in Rajasthan taking the total number of cases to 2,678 and 65 deaths. 1116 people have recovered while 714 have been discharged to date, according to Rajasthan Health Department.

Western Railways took to Twitter to clarify that the special trains being planned by state governments are registered and nominated persons only. "No person should to the railway stations for any reason. No individual train tickets will be given or any personal request will be accepted." the tweet read.

According to the statement, the USCIS will consider a Form I-290B received up to 60 calendar days from the date of the decision before it takes any action.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday said the 60-day grace period for responding to its requests will include requests for evidence; continuations to request evidence (N-14); notices of intent to deny; notices of intent to revoke; notices of intent to rescind and notices of intent to terminate regional investment centers; and filing date requirements for Form I-290B, Notice of Appeal or Motion.

The US government has given a grace period of 60 days to H-1B visa holders and Green Card applicants, who have been served notices for submission of various documents, in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Seven labourers who had arrived from Maharashtra via Jhansi in government buses to Basti, have tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, said DM Basti.

22 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Agra on Saturday, taking the total number of positive cases in the district to 501, DM Agra Prabhu N Singh told ANI.

With these new patients, the number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 45 in Jajpur district which emerged as a "new hotspot". "Contact-tracing and follow-up action is being done," they said. The officials said 55 people have been cured and the number of active cases now stands at 98 in the state.

They have been in a quarantine centre and were asymptomatic, the officials of the Information and Public Relations department said.

Five more persons, including two women, tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha's Jajpur district, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 154, officials said. The new patients have a travel history to West Bengal's Kolkata, they said.

"Their swabs were sent to a laboratory in Aurangabad, which confirmed that they are infected," he said. Two other patients had a travel history to Mumbai, Rathod said.

"The test reports of the five new patients, including three jawans of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), were received on Friday night," district civil surgeon Madhukar Rathod said. The three SRPF jawans, who are natives of Jalna, were posted at Malegaon, which has emerged as the COVID-19 hotspot in Nashik district.

Five persons, including three SRPF jawans, have tested coronavirus positive, taking the overall tally of such patients in Jalna district of Maharashtra to eight, an official said on Saturday. Two of the total eight patients have recovered from the infection so far, the official said.

Till now, there are a total of 113 COVID-19 positive cases, two deaths in Jharkhand, according to the State's Health Department reports ANI.

"In continuation of the measures taken in the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided that the cancellation of all passenger train services on Indian railways, that is mail/express, including premium trains, passenger trains, suburban trains and trains of metro railway Kolkata shall be extended till 14 May, 2020," an official statement by the ministry said.

Shramik special trains services that started on Friday will run as and when required by the state governments, following the guidelines issued by the home ministry,.

On Friday, it operated five trains from Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, and Rajasthan for transporting more than 7,000 people, including stranded labourers, pilgrims, tourists, and students.

"Zonal railways to run these trains as per the demand of state administrations. Local DMs and DRMs are coordinating. Specific details can be obtained from the zonal CPROs" the Indian Railways said in a statement.

In a relief to migrant labourers stuck in various places across the country, the Indian Railways on Friday started operating Shramik Special trains to move them to their home states.

Gujarat has the second-highest number of cases at 4,721 followed by Delhi's 3,738 cases. Gujarat has registered a total of 236 deaths and 735 have recovered from COVID-19.

Maharashtra continued to remain the most-affected Indian state with a total of 11,506 cases. The state registered 26 new deaths in the past 24 hours. Out of the total cases, 1,879 have recovered from the disease and a total of 485 have succumbed to it.

The samples had been collected on 30 April and 1 May, he said. Reports of 25 others have tested negative, while those of 41 others are awaited. Reports of 11 others are undecided, Bhosikar said in a statement. With this, the number of COVID-19 patients in Nanded has reached 26, he added.

Swabs of total 97 people residing in the gurdwara had been collected for testing. Of them 20 have tested positive for the infection, civil surgeon Dr Neelkanth Bhosikar said."They have been admitted to NRI Bhawan COVID Care Centre," he said.

Twenty persons currently residing in Gurdwara Langar Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra have tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Saturday.

The 284 districts in the orange zone  39 percent of the total districts  account for about 43 percent of the population. And the 319 districts in the green zone form 44 percent of the total districts, but account for only about a quarter of the population.

The 130 districts in the red zone form 17 percent of the total districts in the country, but account for about 33 percent of the population (2011 Census), according to The Indian Express.

Andhra Pradesh on Saturday reported 62 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1,525. The toll stands at 33, according to the Andhra Pradesh Health Department, reports ANI.

The Odisha government has described the stranded migrant workers as "guest workers". The state government has appointed nodal officers for different states to ensure that the people from other states reach their native places safely.

In a letter to all district collectors and municipal commissioners, Additional chief secretary-cum special relief commissioner (SRC) PK Jena forwarded the SOP to ensure smooth return of about 60,000 "guest workers" to their respective states.

With the Centre allowing movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students stranded due to the lockdown, the Odisha government has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for sending persons stuck in the state to their home states by road or rail.

Those with any symptoms of the virus would not be allowed to travel, he told reporters. This is the second train which would be leaving from the state with the workers. Around 1,100 migrant workers from Aluva in Kochi left for Bhubaneswar in Odisha on Friday night.

A train carrying around 1,200 stranded migrant workers from Kerala would leave from the state capital to Hatia in Jharkhand on Saturday. Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan said the train was expected to leave the central station here at around 2 pm.

Between 25 April and 1 May 1, this is the fifth COVID-19 positive case reported from AIIMS Rishikesh.

Her test report confirming that she was suffering from COVID-19 arrived late on Friday night, he said. The woman has no travel history, Uniyal said, adding the intern and people who had come in contact with her have been quarantined at the hospital.

She had first shown symptoms of the infection on 28 April and had been under the observation of experts since then, said Madhur Uniyal, nodal officer for coronavirus cases at the facility.

A 23-year-old woman intern at AIIMS Rishikesh has tested positive for COVID-19, taking the number of such cases in Uttarakhand to 58, reports PTI.

In Karnataka, 9 new COVID19 positive cases have been reported from 1 May, 5:00 pm to 2 May, 12:00 noon. The total number of positive cases in the state is now 598, according to the Government of Karnataka's latest bulletin reports ANI.

The chief secretary Friday evening issued directions to all the divisional commissioners, district magistrates, DIGs, senior superintendents of police, superintendents of police, and the police commissioners of Lucknow and Gautam Buddh Nagar in this regard.

Shops selling construction material, bricks, cement, sand, iron bars, hardware, and mobile repairing shops located outside coronavirus hotspots in rural areas will be allowed to do business while strictly adhering to the norms of social distancing and other guidelines issued by the Centre, Chief Secretary RK Tiwari said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has allowed the reopening of certain shops selling non-essential commodities outside the COVID-19 hotspots in rural areas of the state during the lockdown period.

Police have so far arrested 115 persons, including nine minors, in connection with the lynching of three men, including two seers, at Gadchinchale village in Palghar last month. The accused tested positive for the infection on Friday night, the official said. The health department is now trying to find out how he contracted the infection

One of the persons arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case, who was lodged in a police lock-up, has tested coronavirus positive, an official told PTI on Saturday.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar, commenting on the change in quality of life after coronavirus, said, "I think the worst is over. But till the time the disease is not completely contained, we should continue to follow all precautions and guidelines......Our management of COVID19 is much better than in other countries. The various zones are well defined. Following social distancing norms, 'do gaz ki doori' will be the new normal till the time a vaccine is not developed for COVID19:....There is tremendous opportunity for India now.We've to make efforts to seize opportunities.All big companies are welcome in India. In last 6 yrs, from 2 mobile factories, there are now 150 factories. We're even manufacturing PPEs, ventilators etc"

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Saturday clarified that barber shops and salons will be allowed to operate in green and orange zones during the third phase of the lockdown beginning May 4, besides sale of non-essential items by e-commerce platforms. The MHA on Friday, while extending the lockdown for two more weeks till May 17, lifted many restrictions in green and orange zones. The exemptions will be effective from May 4 when the third phase of the lockdown will begin.

Around 500 modern heavy duty Track Maintenance Machines along with track, signal & Overhead Equipment (OHE) maintainers have worked regularly for 10749 machine days to complete overdue track maintenance of 12270 km plain track & 5263 nos. of Turn outs. Ultrasonic flaw detection (USFD) of 30182 kms of track and 1,34,443 rail welds has been carried out with USFD machine, PIB reported.

Taking the coronavirus lockdown as a once in a lockdown opportunity, Indian Railways backend warriors of Indian Railways used the time to execute long pending major maintenance works of Bridges and Tracks besides Yard remodelling, Renewal of Scissors Crossover. Pending for several years, they confronted Indian Railways as bottlenecks in different zones across the country

The coronavirus death toll climbed to 65 after three more people, including a minor, succumbed to the infection in Rajasthan, which reported 54 fresh cases on Saturday. So far, 2,720 virus cases have been reported from the state. According to an official, two of the deaths were reported from the worst-hit Jaipur and one from Jodhpur

Pop diva Madonna has revealed that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 anitbodies. The singer shared the news in the 14th edition of her Quarantine Diary on Instagram TV. Took a test the other day and I found out that I have the antibodies. So tomorrow I'm just going to go for a long drive in the car, and I'm gonna roll down the window and I'm gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining, Madonna said.

Another Delhi Police constable has tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said on Saturday. He was posted at the Jahangirpuri Police Station in northwest Delhi, they said. "The constable used to live in a barrack at the police station. His reports of being positive for COVID-19 came on Friday. He has been admitted to a hospital here," a senior police officer said. Ten police personnel from the Jahangirpuri Police Station have so far been tested positive for COVID-19.

The Maharashtra government said on Saturday that in the cities with police commissionerates, a concerned deputy commissioner of police (DCP) will have the power to allow inter-state or inter-district journey. But the movement of people will not be allowed between the areas under Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority and other parts of the state during lockdown, it said.

Collector Priyanka Das said the five have been booked because they had misused medical permission to travel during the lockdown and had also sneaked in a COVID-19 patient into the district in the process.

Two people have been booked in Morena in Madhya Pradesh for obtaining a medical emergency pass during the coronavirus-induced lockdown by posing as patient and driver and then traveling in a private vehicle to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to get married, police said on Saturday. Three others, including the vehicle owner and his wife who tested positive for the coronavirus infection, have also been booked, a Kotwali police station official said.

MHA has allowed privates offices in Red Zone, leaving aside the containment zones, to open with up to 33 percent strength. It is also implied that in Orange and Green Zones, 100 percent strength is allowed. Government offices in the Red Zone will be allowed to operate at full strength for senior officers of the level of deputy secretary and above, with "remaining staff attending up to 33 percent as per requirement."

The government has made the use of Aarogya Setu app mandatory for all public and private sector employees while announcing another extension of the ongoing lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also made the app compulsory for people residing in COVID-19 Containment Zones to enable intensive surveillance and contact tracing in those areas.

The AIIMS has made it mandatory for patients to wear masks while visiting the emergency or other patient-care areas in the hospital and will provide one to anybody who does not have a mask. The decision was taken at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Director, AIIMS on Friday.

The administration asked the ANS/administrative in-charges of all patient-care areas in the hospital and all the centres to get the requisite quantity of triple-layer surgical masks issued from the store sections concerned and ensure its availability at all times.

Gujarat's capital city Ahmedabad recorded the highest single-day fatality count with 20 deaths, and a spike of 250 new cases. The city's total number of deaths have reached 185. With this, the number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat reached 5,054 after 333 cases were reported on Saturday

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Arogya Setu mobile application is a "sophisticated surveillance system" outsourced to a private operator, raising serious data security and privacy concerns. Technology can help keep us safe, but fear must not be used to track citizens without their consent, he said. The mobile application helps users identify whether they are at risk of the COVID-19 infection. It also provides people with important information, including ways to avoid coronavirus and its symptoms.

During trials, it has been found that Remdesivir helps reduce patients' hospital stay periods and prevent them from going to ventilators. However, mortality difference was not significant. It didn't show any severe reactions in patients, Dr Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, former Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told ANI.

384 new COVID-19 cases , 89 recoveries and three deaths were reported in Delhi today, according to a bulletin issued by the state government. With 1,256 recoveries and 64 deaths reported till date, the number of active cases stands at 2,802.

A 76-year old woman admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai died on Friday, becoming the latest victim to the contagion, taking the toll in the state to 29, a bulletin from the Health department said.

For the second consecutive day, Tamil Nadu reported a COVID-19 death and over 200 cases while a transgender tested positive, the first in the state, the Health department said on Saturday. A 14-day old girl baby and a four-year old boy were among the total of 231 coronavirus positive cases reported today with Chennai contributing the majority of 174.

106 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan on Saturday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 2,772. The toll rose to 68 as six persons succumbed to the disease, ANI quotes the Rajasthan Health Department as saying.

Pune district reported 97 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its COVID-19 count to 1,912, PTI quotes health officials as saying. The death toll reached 100 with four succumbing to the infection on Saturday, an official said. "Of the 97 cases, 95 are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, which now has 1,704 patients. The rest two are in Pimpri Chinchwad where the COVID-19 count now stands at 115. The number of cases in rural Pune and Cantonment continues to be 93," he added

"Kerala is offering one of the best containment strategies and it is unparalleled. So we will continue to refer to Kerala Model as far as testing and containment strategies are concerned," PTI quotes Gangakhedkar as saying.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) on Saturday lauded the containment strategy and the robust public healthcare system of Kerala and said it would "continue referring to the Kerala model" for testing and containment strategies. Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar, chief of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases at ICMR, saidIndia has evolved a strong COVID-19 testing regime over the last three months.

384 new positive #COVID19 cases and 3 deaths have been reported in Delhi today. Total active cases stand at 2802 now. 64 deaths have been reported in the national capital till date: Directorate General of Health Services, Delhi Govt. pic.twitter.com/Vu8EOedd2T

384 new COVID-19 cases , 89 recoveries and three deaths were reported in Delhi today, according to a bulletin issued by the state government. With 1,256 recoveries and 64 deaths reported till date, the number of active cases stands at 2,802.

The Govt. of Meghalaya will permit private vehicles to pick-up family members stranded in North East States. Citizens may register/apply by visiting: https://t.co/btbsjybR2i Kindly follow the guidelines in the order carefully. @MeghalayaPolice @PIBShillong @airnews_shi pic.twitter.com/cMsKN4jqZy

The Meghalaya government has allowed those stranded in other Northeastern states to return to Meghalaya with their own private vehicles. Persons desirous of doing so should apply for a vehicle trnasit pass at www.meghalayaonline.gov.in/ covid. Similarly, those who want to pick up family members stranded in other states should also apply for a pass at the website, said the Chief Minister's Office, with a caveat that only two persons, including the driver will be allowed to drive from Meghalaya.

"The ICMR has reached a per day testing level of about 70,000 and has conducted 10,40,000 tests till Saturday evening," an official said. The RT-PCR throat/nasal swab test is the best use for diagnosis of COVID-19.

The number of RT-PCR test for detection of COVID-19 conducted in India crossed the one million mark on Saturday, ICMR officials said, as the total novel coronavirus infections rose to 37,776. An ICMR official said that 10,40,000 tests have been conducted till Saturday evening, of which 73,709 were done since 9 am on Friday. According to the officials, testing for COVID-19 has been scaled up significantly over the last two months. Till March 31, as many as 47,852 samples were tested while till April 30, a total of 9,02,654 samples were tested for the novel coronavirus infection, an ICMR official said. From May 1 till evening on Saturday, total 1,37,346 tests were done.

Thane district in Maharashtra recorded 97 coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the count to 1,108, with Navi Mumbai accounting for 39 of the new cases, PTI quotes health officials as saying. Two people died of the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of deceased to 31, they said.

The Cabinet's approval of the ordinance comes a week after eight teenagers were beaten up by members of a local COVID-19 task force for defying the lockdown orders.

PTI quotes an official as saying. Officials said the ordinance seeks stringent punishment for lockdown violators but details are not yet available as the document is yet to be published.

The Cabinet of Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Saturday approved an ordinance that seeks exemplary punishment for those violating the lockdown,

Held a meeting to discuss subjects related to the financial world, including structural reforms that will give a boost to growth and public welfare. We reviewed strategies to support MSME sector and ensure liquidity & credit supply. https://t.co/8xDCS3xMRj

The prime minister also took to Twitter to say: "The Central Government is focused on ensuring welfare of workers, helping businesses overcome the difficulties arising in the wake of COVID-19, reforms in corporate governance, credit markets and the infra sector."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired a meeting to discuss strategies as well structural reforms in the financial sector in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. At the meeting attended by the Finance Minister, HOme Minister and senior officials, Modi discussed strategies and interventions to support MSMEs and farmers, enhance liquidity and strengthen credit flows, said a statement. "The Prime Minister also stressed on the need to strengthen major structural reforms undertaken in the past and new structural reforms in the areas of corporate governance, credit markets and infrastructure sectors were also discussed," it added.

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: Rajasthan reported death of a 20-day-old infant and five others due to COVID-19 on Saturday with the state recording 106 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 2,772. The 20-day-old child breathed his last at J K Lon hospital in Jaipur on Friday. With six more deaths, the fatality count has increased to 68 in the state.

384 new COVID-19 cases and three deaths were reported in Delhi today, according to the bulletin issued by the state government.

For the second consecutive day, Tamil Nadu reported a COVID-19 death and over 200 cases while a transgender tested positive, the first in the state, the Health department said on Saturday. A 14-day old girl baby and a four-year old boy were among the total of 231 coronavirus positive cases reported today with Chennai contributing the majority of 174.

With 73 people testing positive since previous night, 30 of them in Indore, the number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh rose to 2,788 on Saturday, PTI quotes health officials as saying.The death toll due to virus rose to 151 with six COVID-19 patients dying during the same period, they added.

Punjab on Saturday registered the steepest surge in Covid-19 patients till date with 187 more people, including 142 pilgrims returning from Nanded in Maharashtra, testing positive for coronavirus, taking the total count of infected persons in the state to 772.

Ahmedabad on Saturday reported 20 fatalities due to COVID-19, its highest single-day tally, and 250 new cases.

A 20-day-old infant died due to coronavirus at a hospital in Rajasthan's Jaipur, an official said on Saturday. The state reported two more deaths apart from that of the child from Jaipur and Jodhpur, he said, adding that with the three deaths the fatality count reached 65 in the state.

The number of COVID-positive personnel in a Delhi-based battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the country's largest paramilitary force, has risen to 135, officials said on Saturday.

With 127 more people testing positive for COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, the number of confirmed cases in the state rises to 2,455, officials said.

The coronavirus death toll climbed to 65 after three more people, including a minor, succumbed to the infection in Rajasthan, which reported 54 fresh cases on Saturday. So far, 2,720 virus cases have been reported from the state. According to an official, two of the deaths were reported from the worst-hit Jaipur and one from Jodhpur

Tripura, which was declared corona-free on 23 April, after last of its COVID-19 patient was cured and discharged, has again reported fresh outbreak. Two BSF jawans from Ambassa unit have been found positive, chief minister Biplab Deb informed via a tweet.

One of the persons arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case, who was lodged in a police lock-up, has tested coronavirus positive, an official told PTI on Saturday. The accused tested positive for the infection on Friday night, the official said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that there are a total of 3,738 COVID-19 positive cases in Delhi, of which 223 cases were reported on Friday. Meanwhile, in Karnataka, 9 new COVID19 positive cases have been reported from 1 May, 5:00 pm to 2 May, 12:00 noon.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that all citizens will be covered under the state government's health scheme, and Maharashtra will be the first state to provide free and cashless insurance protection to its people.

Andhra Pradesh on Saturday reported 62 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 1,525. The toll stands at 33, according to the Andhra Pradesh Health Department, reports ANI.

In a relief to migrant labourers stuck in various places across the country, the Indian Railways on Friday started operating 'Shramik Special' trains to move them to their home states. 'Zonal railways to run these trains as per the demand of state administrations. Local DMs and DRMs are coordinating. Specific details can be obtained from the zonal CPROs.' the Indian Railways said in a statement.

Seven labourers who had arrived from Maharashtra via Jhansi in government buses to Basti, have tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, said DM Basti. Meanwhile, 22 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Agra on Saturday, taking the total number of positive cases in the district to 501.

Test results of 68 jawans have shown them to be COVID-19 positive. All jawans are attached to a battalion camped in East Delhi, reports ANI. The total positive cases in this battalion have reached 122 and overall figure of COVID-19 cases in CRPF is 127, including 1 recovered and 1 death, said CRPF officials,

2293 new cases, 71 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours in India. This is the highest number of cases reported in one day, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

A 68-year-old patient who had tested positive for COVID-19 had passed away in Pune. The cause of death is reported to be an acute respiratory failure due to ARDS with Myocarditis with COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is expected to meet with bank chiefs on Saturday to take stock of the financial sector and deliberate on steps to be taken to boost industry amid the COVID-19 crisis, sources said.

India reported another surge of COVID-19 cases on Friday with a record 1,755 patients testing positive and 77 people dying from the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 2,33,000 lives and shattered global economies since it originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year.

The confirmed cases in the country climbed to 35,365 while deaths reached 1,152 as the Centre extended the nationwide lockdown till 17 May.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown from 25 March, which was later extended by two more weeks till 4 May to contain the virus spread.

On Friday, the Centre announced a third extension but this time, it provided some relaxations for various business activities and people's movement within areas with limited or no COVID-19 cases.

In fact, on Friday morning, the first train carrying around 1,200 people left Lingampally in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand by a 24-coach special train on a pilot basis, while another train carrying migrant workers stranded in Kerala left for Odisha's Bhubaneswar on Friday night.

Later in the day, the Centre announced that states and Union Territories will be able to avail "special train service" to bring stranded migrant workers, students and tourists home, provided they are willing to pay for it and both host and destination governments mutually agree to the movement of the people.

The government on Friday also announced that it has ramped up production of COVID-19 protective gear and medical equipment, giving a boost to its fight against COVID-19 and reducing it dependency on foreign countries for these items which are in high demand globally due to the pandemic.

The Centre on Friday said it has placed order for 2.22 crore personal protection equipment (PPE), of which around 1.43 crore will be procured from domestic manufacturers and the rest imported.

Separately, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat announced at a special press briefing, along with the three service chiefs, that the armed forces will express their gratitude to all "corona warriors" on Sunday by conducting fly-pasts, showering petals on hospitals treating COVID-19 patients and illuminating naval vessels.

Besides, the Army will conduct mountain band displays along some COVID-19 hospitals in almost every district.

Rawat also said it is not proper to conclude that the novel coronavirus outbreak is a result of biological warfare.

US president Donald Trump has often claimed that the deadly virus originated from a virology lab, but his comments undercut a rare public statement from his own intelligence community, which stated no such assessment has been made by them, whether the COVID-19 outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.

COVID-19 cases as of Friday

In its 5 pm update, the Health Ministry said the toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 1,152 with 77 fatalities reported since Thursday evening, while the number of cases saw a record jump of 1,755 to go up to 35,365 cases on Friday.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 25,148 while 9,064 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.

"Thus, around 25.63 percent patients have recovered so far," a health ministry official said.

The total number of cases include 111 foreign nationals.

A total of 77 deaths were reported since Thursday evening, of which 27 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 17 from Gujarat, 11 from West Bengal, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, three from Delhi, two from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and one from Karnataka.

Of the 1,152 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 459 fatalities. Mumbai on Friday recorded 751 new COVID-19 cases, the highest in a day, taking the number of coronavirus positive cases in the city to 7,625, civic officials said.

Gujarat reported 214 deaths, follwed by Madhya Pradesh at 137, Delhi at 59, Rajasthan at 58, Uttar Pradesh at 41 and West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at 33 each.

The death toll reached 27 in Tamil Nadu, 26 in Telangana, while Karantaka has reported 22 deaths.

Punjab has registered 19 fatalities so far. The disease has claimed eight lives in Jammu and Kashmir, four in Kerala while 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 ministry data.

According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 10,498 followed by Gujarat at 4,395, Delhi at 3,515, Madhya Pradesh at 2,719, Rajasthan at 2,584, Tamil Nadu at 2,323 and Uttar Pradesh at 2,281.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 1,463 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,039 in Telangana.

The number of cases has risen to 795 in West Bengal, 614 in Jammu and Kashmir, 576 in Karnataka, 497 in Kerala, 426 in Bihar and 357 in Punjab.

Haryana has reported 313 coronavirus infection cases, while Odisha has 143 cases. A total 111 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 57 in Uttarakhand.

Chandigarh has reported 56 cases, Assam has 42 while Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have registered 40 infections each so far.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands has 33 COVID-19 cases while Ladakh has reported 22 infections so far.

Meghalaya has reported 12 cases, Puducherry has eight cases while Goa has seven COVID-19 cases.

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 adding, " 393 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing."

States wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

Centre extends lockdown till 17 May, names 130 districts as red zones

While several countries including Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria and various states of the US have begun easing their respective lockdowns, the MHA on Friday announced that the nationwide lockdown will extended by another two weeks, starting from 4 May, a day after the second phase ends, till 17 May.

The MHA's announcement came after the Ministry of Health issued a new list of districts categorised into red, orange and green zones depending on the virus-load. The updated list shows 130 districts in red zone, 284 in orange zone and 319 in green zone.

This classification of districts is to be followed by states and UTs till 10 May and the will be revised on a weekly basis or earlier if required.

All major urban centres including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad have been designated as red zones in the new classification.

Announcing the guidelines to be followed for third phase of the lockdown, the MHA said that some activities such as air travel, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road, running of educational and training institutions, hospitality services, cinema halls, malls, gymnasiums and sports complexes, will remain prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone.

All social, political, cultural and other kinds of gatherings and religious places or places of worship for public will also remain shut, as per an order issued by the Union Home Ministry.

Outside the containment zone falling within red zones, certain more activities will be prohibited and these include plying of cycle rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, running of taxis and cab aggregators, intra-district and inter-district plying of buses, as also barber shops, spas and saloons.

Activities allowed in red zones with restrictions would include movement of individuals and vehicles for permitted activities, with a maximum of two persons (besides the driver) in four-wheelers and with no pillion rider in two-wheelers.

E-Commerce activities in red zones are permitted only for essential goods. Private offices can operate with up to 33 percent strength as per requirement, with the remaining persons working from home.

Commercial and private establishments allowed in red zones include print and electronic media, IT and IT enabled services, data and call centres, cold storage and warehousing services, private security and facility management services, and services provided by self-employed persons, except for barbers.

In orange zones, taxis and cab aggregators will also be permitted with one driver and one passenger only, while inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles will be allowed for permitted activities only. Four-wheeler vehicles will have maximum two passengers besides the driver and pillion riding will be allowed on two-wheelers.

In green zones, all activities are permitted except those prohibited throughout the country irrespective of the zone. However buses and bus depots can operate with maximum 50 percent capacity.

MHA allows movement of stranded migrants, students, pilgrims by special trains

On Friday, the MHA also announced that states will be able to use trains for ferrying people stranded due to the nationwide lockdown to their respective states.

Exercising the powers conferred under the Disaster Management Act, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places is allowed by special trains to be operated by the Ministry of Railways (MoR).

The MoR will designate nodal officers for coordinating with the states and Union territories for their movement, he added

"The MoR will issue detailed guidelines for sale of tickets, and for social distancing and other safety measures to be observed at train stations, platforms and within the trains," the home secretary said.

These trains will run provided "on request from both the Originating and Destination State Governments".

News agency PTI quoted railways officials as saying that state governments will be charged the fare of ferrying stranded people in special trains back to their native places.

Joint Secretary in the MHA Punya Salila Srivastava said that states and the Railway Board will make the necessary arrangements for the transportation of stranded people.

Underlining that some problems are cropping up in the movement of trucks and load carriers, Srivastava also said the MHA has again written to the states, reiterating that no separate pass is needed for trucks and load carriers, including the empty vehicles.

Centre orders 2.2 crore PPEs; 1.43 crore to be manufactured in India

The Centre on Friday said it has placed order for 2.22 crore personal protection equipment (PPE), of which around 1.43 crore will be procured from domestic manufacturers and the rest imported.

"Earlier, there was no domestic manufacturing of PPE in the country and almost all of them were imported. We now have 111 indigenous manufacturers," said PD Vaghela, the Secretary of the Department of Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of the Empowered Group-3, adding that the number of PPEs ordered is higher than the projected demand of two crore PPEs.

Vaghela also said about 19,398 ventilators are available in India and orders have been placed for 60,884 more, and of these 59,884 will be made by domestic manufacturers.

The Ministry of Health has indicated a projected demand of 75,000 ventilators till June, 2020.

"Against the same, the present availability is about 19,398. Out of the total orders placed, 59,884 ventilators have been ordered to domestic manufacturers and imports are to the tune of 1,000 ventilators," he said.

He said of the total 2.49 crore N-95/N-99 masks to be procured, 1.49 crore have been ordered from domestic manufacturers and about one crore N- 95 masks are being imported.

On production of drugs and other medical equipment, he said, "HCQ (hydroxychloroquine) production has increased from 12.23 crore to 30 crore (tablets) per month."

He further said that over four lakh oxygen cylinders are available which is "sufficient for today's requirements".

"Orders for more than 1 lakh oxygen cylinders have been placed and industrial oxygen is being converted into medical oxygen," he added.

He also informed that against a demand for 35 lakh combined RT-PCR testing kits, the ICMR has ordered more than 21 lakh and close to 14 lakh kits have already been received.

With inputs from agencies
Indians make up one in 10 of all foreign-born doctors in the UKs National Health Service (NHS) and therefore face a greater risk from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report published on Friday.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) study, in its report analysing the ethnic variables in the impact of coronavirus, also found that Indians are among the ethnic groups less likely to be impacted by the economic consequences of the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the deadly virus due to their employment in more secure sectors.

Indian men are particularly exposed to the virus due to their prevalence in healthcare roles, said the report titled Are some ethnic groups more vulnerable to Covid-19 than others? Indian men are 150 per cent more likely to work in health or social care roles than their white British counterparts. While the Indian ethnic group makes up 3 per cent of the working-age population of England and Wales, they account for 14 per cent of doctors, it said.

The IFS analysis found that among the UKs working age population, those working in health and social care may be at the greatest risk of infection, with Indians facing a high risk due to their sheer numbers.

While 37 per cent of the UKs doctors are foreign-born, nearly one in 10 are from India  all currently on the frontline of the coronavirus fightback in hospitals and other care settings.

In reference to its analysis of the economic impact of the pandemic on different ethnic groups, the study found that Pakistani and Bangladeshi households were more vulnerable among the South Asian cohort due to a higher proportion of them in sectors which are undergoing shutdown due to the social distancing rules.

Ethnic groups also vary substantially in their economic vulnerability under the restrictions currently in place Indian ethnic groups face lower economic risks and are more comparable to white British in this regard, according to the study.

Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups, by contrast, appear to be particularly at risk due to the high percentage of either group working in shutdown sectors and/or in self-employment, combined with the prevalence of single-earner households which reduces the potential for income buffers within the household, it added.

In its other findings, the IFS study concluded that coronavirus patients from black African backgrounds in England and Wales are dying at more than triple the rate of white Britons, followed by Pakistani men as the next highest category.

Black and South Asian ethnic groups have been found to have much higher rates of diabetes than the population as a whole, and older Pakistani men have been found to have particularly high levels of cardiovascular disease  all considered higher risk factors.

Besides, compared to white British households, minority ethnic groups also tend to be more likely to live in overcrowded accommodation, making social distancing more difficult.

The study concludes: In sum, there is clear evidence for disproportionality in COVID-19 mortalities thus far for a number of ethnic groups after accounting for their age profiles and places of residence.

While it is difficult to say definitively with the data that are currently available, the clustering of some minority groups in key worker occupations  and in health and care key worker roles in particular  alongside greater susceptibility to relevant long-term conditions, are likely to be contributing factors to the observed inequalities. The analysis focuses on a limited set of risk factors in terms of both infection risk and economic vulnerability in the short term and concludes that more research is required for a better understanding of the disparity in the impact of the pandemic among different ethnicities.

The UK government launched an official review, led by Public Health England, earlier this month as it emerged that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) are affected disproportionately by the deadly virus. PTI AK CPS
Bengaluru, May 2 : A group of 25 migrant labourers from Bihar and Jharkhand, taking refuge in two shipping containers in the city amid Covid lockdown, will be shifted to safe shelter, said an official on Saturday.

"We spoke to the contractor, Abdullah, who lives in Electronic City. He will shift them to a better place on Sunday," a Labour Department official told IANS.

On Sunday, the department officials will check the labourers at the Judicial Layout in Yelahanka, where they are spending the lockdown time in the containers, to check if the the contractor had shifted them.

All the 25 migrants were sharing the two containers in the summer heat, causing them great hardship.

Abdullah brought the labourers for work from northern states, who went jobless amid lockdown.

According to the official, the contractor has arranged for their food.

"The labour department is also ready to offer them food, but they prefer north Indian food," said the official.

They are cooking their own food near the containers.

Meanwhile, the department has provided the migrants with masks and soaps to protect themselves against the Covid pandemic.

A few social workers have also been helping the labourers.
Sections

This article can also be found in PDF format.

What is time

Time is relative

Measuring time and standards

Coordinating time

Time zones

DST

Time, a word that is entangled in everything in our lives, something were intimately familiar with. Keeping track of it is important for many activities we do.

Over millennia, weve developed different ways to calculate it. Most prominently, weve relied on the position the sun appears to be at in the sky, what is called apparent solar time.

Weve decided to split it as seasons pass, counting one full cycle of the 4 seasons as a year, a full rotation around the sun. Weve also divided the passing of light to the lack thereof as days, a rotation of the earth on itself. Moving on to more precise clock divisions such as seconds, minutes, and hours, units that meant different things at different points in history. Ultimately, as travel got faster, the different ways of counting time that evolved in multiple places had to converge. People had to agree on what it all meant.

In physics, time is the progression of events, without events theres no time. It is defined by its measurement, what changes at a specific interval can be considered a unit, though still infinitely divisible.

In physics there are two ways to view time. In classical physics, time is absolute, independent of the perceiver, synchronized for everyone. While in modern physics, we have Einsteins special and general relativity that applies, things depend on a frame of reference, time can dilate or contract with the effect of gravity, we talk of space-time.

In physics, equations work equally well in both ways, the math holds up, in the future and in the past. However, the arrow of time in our universe seems to go in a unique direction. Peculiarly, well see that time in computers, unlike in our universe, can actually go backward at specific events.

All of this to say that because of the importance of tracking time, weve created ultra-precise atomic clocks that have an error of 1 second every 30 million years. We can be categorically sure of the lapse that happens between two beats/oscillations, if theres an error then its outside the human life-span, and weve got many of them to correct errors. Those clocks are our sources of truth, they give us the definition of the standard unit of second, SI second.

We have, on one hand, the atomic clocks counting time regardless of events happening around, and on the other hand, we have a moving planet in space that is subject to forces, where weve chosen the fact that one full orbit around the sun equals a year and that one full (approximate) rotation on itself is a solar day, the space between two transit of the sun (maximum height in the sky). Both of those values ought to diverge and differ eventually.

The earth, because of its unevenness and current position in its orbit, could rotate around the sun or itself faster or slower, its speed changing how long days and years are.

What weve done is used this standard definition of the SI second as our anchor. A day is now not defined by the apparent sun position but as the average number of standard unit seconds that make up an average stellar day, somewhat around 86400.002 seconds. This actual uniform clock time is called the mean time. Mean solar time is the exact average mean time for a day in a year. That is the sum of all solar days over n days.

Thus, clocks that have a uniform fixed value, mean-time, will differ with the apparent sun time. This difference is called the equation of time (EOT) and it can vary as much as 15min (ahead 14 minutes near February 6, behind 16 minutes near November 3) but rebalances itself as the earth finishes its orbit around the sun. There are many simulations you can find online to understand this concept.

As for years, our calendars can only hold entire days but the actual number of days it takes to finish an orbit is fractional. And so we accumulate this fraction over multiple years and add an extra day to the year that follows making it a leap year, 366 days instead of 365. On a Julian calendar, a year is 365.25, however this is not precise, it is higher than the actual number of days it takes to form a year: 365.242199. The Gregorian calendar, which is the most common today, defines it more precisely as 365.2425, adding a leap year 97 out of 400 years.

But we still use 86400 seconds to define a day in our current lives, in our software, right? What about the rest of this complex system, how do we cope with these discrepancies, who chooses the mean time, how can we all sync on those values, whos in charge? Noon where you are might not be noon where I am.

The local time that shows on our clock is chosen by our local authorities, we call it civil time.

And because we all live on the same planet, instead of each syncing in our local community with what appears to us as the mean time, we can choose a fixed geographical spot, create a rigorous standard time there, and for the rest of the world, derive from it. Anything further away in longitude from this meridian can add a delta time difference. That way we can all sync and make less of a mess in this interconnected world.

The first major standard was set at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. The mean time recorded there was used as the one to derive your local civil time as an offset from, called Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT for short. However, it was not as precise as it could be and thus got replaced in 1967 by another standard called Universal Coordinated Time, UTC.

UTC is a version of the Universal Time standard. In this standard we also find UT1, that keeps track of Earth rotation angle using GPS satellites, it is the mean solar time at 0 degree longitude, its a better and more precise version of GMT.

UTC, instead of relying on the rotation of the earth, relies on the International Atomic Time (TAI), which is the time we talked about that defines precisely the SI second using 400 atomic clocks at multiple laboratories worldwide. Additionally, to keep count of the rotation of the Earth, and keeps in sync with UT1, the UTC authorities can add or remove a second in a day, a leap second. The difference between UTC and UT1 is DUT1, basically when DUT1 is one second we need a leap second.

So in UTC, a second is well known, but the number of seconds in a minute can vary between 59,60, or 61 if there was a leap second. Any unit bigger than the SI second reference can vary. Lets also note that UTC uses the Gregorian calendar as previously said.

As you couldve guessed, introducing a leap second isnt a decision we take instantaneously, its announced at least six months in advance in Bulletin C by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) which is one of the authority. Theres also involvement in the standard from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

With this, were set, we have a clean standard, now how should we divide the world such that civil local time keep in sync with the sun.

Time and longitude difference is what we need, we split the world into 24 meridians, each 15 degrees apart, each meridian zone represents one hour separation offset from UTC. Those are called time zones, they can go from UTC-12 to UTC+14, and can sometimes be referred to by their name, for example Western European Time, Central European Time, etc However, countries dont fall precisely on meridian, and thus local authorities can choose which section of the country follows which time zone as their civil local time, this difference doesnt even have to be an integer number of hours, it could be 15 or 30min for example.

Moreover, theres a practice called daylight saving time (DST), or summer time, which is used in civil time to advance forward the clock by one hour in spring and set it back one hour in autumn/fall. For example in winter the region could be on UTC+2 (EET) and in summer on UTC+3 (EEST). Creating a 23h day in late winter and a 25h day in autumn/fall. This practice is being reconsidered in the EU and planned to be removed by 2021.

So thats it were all in sync!

Now on computers, how do we write time, how do we represent it textually.

Representing time

locale

tzdata

The easiest way Ive found to test many formats is to use the date(1) command.

It can show the time both in human-readable format string and more machine-readable numeric formats.

Some formats include the timezone as numeric, others as the alphabetic time zone abbreviation. You can represent the date with or without the time zone, with it to make it more precise to the viewer.

Some formats prepend the time zone part with the Z character, which has origins in the GMT standard but that now stands for zone description of zero hours, also sometimes called Zulu time.

We can see that the date command automatically knows our time zone and how to display the time in a way we can read it. How do we set this format and where does it take it from. How to set the time zone.

Lets start with the formatting.

The date commands relies on locale , which is an internationalization mechanism used by Unix-like operating systems. Locale are configurations that can be used to set the language, money, and other representational values that can change by location. The libc on the system, and consequentially the coreutils, should be aware of those locale values.

The specific category of locale we are interested in is the LC_TIME , which is used for the formatting of time and date information, spelling of weekdays, months, format of display, time zone, 24 vs 12h format, etc.

To inspect specific values in LC_TIME you can do, see man locale(7) for info:

$ locale -ck date_fmt LC_TIME date_fmt = "%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y"

The available locale are usually found in:

/usr/share/locale

Locale can also be set on a user level in ~/.config/locale.conf , or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/locale.conf , or generally $HOME/.config/locale.conf .

All of this works because of the way profiles are loaded in the shell, you can take a look at /etc/profile.d/locale.sh .

Now regarding the time zone.

The time zone information database is distributed by the IANA, its referred to as the tz database. The Unix distribution downloads when updated and installs it in /usr/share/zoneinfo/ so that other libraries and programs can use it. In the tz data/zoneinfo db we can find all the information required to keep track of time in specific places. Its distributed in such a way to make it easier to choose time zone by choosing the city name or location instead of the exact drift/skew from UTC. That takes care of all the differences in civil time, all historic weirdness over time, daylight saving, and leap seconds.

To change the timezone globally we have to link /etc/localtime to an entry in /usr/share/zoneinfo/ . For instance:

ln -s /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime

Many Unix-like system provide helpers to not have to manually link it. Theres timedatectl(1) from systemd and /etc/timezone on Debian, for instance.

The TZ POSIX environment variable can also be used to specify the zone in human-readable format on the command line, and the TZDIR to specify the location of the tzdata. That means separate users on a single system can have different time zones.

Example:

TZ = 'America/Los_Angeles' date

The format of the tz database aka tzdata is explained in details in the man tzfile(5) . To create it you can use a textual format, and convert it using the command zic(1) (zone information compiler).

Example of creating your own tzdata:

> echo "Zone COOL +2:25 - COOL" > COOL.zone > mkdir ./zoneinfo > zic COOL.zone -d ./zoneinfo > TZDIR = zoneinfo TZ = COOL date # Should Output something similar to Sun 12 Apr 2020 11:44:00 AM COOL

So now programs that rely on the standard time.h header can be aware of the time zone info. You can also load your own dynamically using tzset(3) from the TZ env.

Where do we usually find time on Unix

POSIX time

Uptime

time(1)

Programming language and timestamp

File system atime, ctime, mtime, etc.

Cron

Time is used in so many places in our operating system. Were going to list some common places where it is found and then build on them to approach more complex topics in the following sections.

Lets start with the infamous POSIX time. POSIX time, or Unix time, or Epoch time, is the number of seconds that have elapsed since Epoch time, which is the 1st of January 1970 00:00:00 UTC, minus the leap seconds difference, so Unix time is the same everywhere. That means that in Unix time, each day is considered to be exactly 86400 SI seconds, which would mean it should skew away from real UTC, and thus drifts away from UT1 (mean time).

To answer this, when theres a leap second introduced in UTC, POSIX time will repeat the same second or omit one because its minute cannot go over 60 seconds unlike real UTC.

Some rare systems can use TAI (International Atomic Time) as a source instead of UTC but will need a table on the system with the leap seconds in it to know how to calibrate itself to civil time.

Because Unix time start in 1970, dates that are before this need to be represented as negative numbers. However, prior to this date we have to keep in mind that there might not have been the UTC standard yet and thus its better to rely on something else to represent the time and date accurately. Some real time operating systems (RTOS), that well see in a bit, like QNX choose to represent Unix time as an unsigned integer, which means it cannot represent time before 1970.

So is the Unix time a signed or an unsigned integer.

Historically, Unix time was a signed 32-bit integer that incremented at 60 Hz, the same rate as the system clock on the hardware of early Unix system, that is 60 times per second.

Epoch differed too, it was the 1st of January 1971 in the first edition of Unix Programmers Manual. However, at 1/60th of a second precision, the 32-bit integer would have used all its range in only 2.5 years. Thus, it was changed again to the Epoch of 1 January 1970 at the rate of 1Hz, an increment of 1 bit every second. This gave about 68 years after 1970 and 68 years before 1970 using a 32-bit signed integer.

When the concept was made there was no consideration of all the issues with leap seconds, time zones, leap years, weve mentioned previously. Its only in the 2001 edition of POSIX.1 that there was some rectification about the faulty leap year rule in the definition of Unix time.

So whats this Unix time used for?

Unix time is the value that Unix system look at to keep track of their system time. Its value is kept in a time_t type format, defined vaguely in POSIX.1 as previously mentioned, and that can be included via the time.h header. POSIX only mandates that it should be an integer, and doesnt say anything about if it should be signed or not, explaining why QNX chose an unsigned integer.

For more precise time manipulation, the time.h and times.h header also includes other types such as struct timeval , struct tms , and struct timespec .

However, usually it is a single signed number which size is defined per system. For example on mine, <time.h> redirects to <bits/timesize.h> as a 64 bits signed integer.

One issue called the Year 2038 problem, Y2038, or Y2k38, is when system that chose to represent Unix time as a signed 32 bit value reach the maximum range of 32-bit integers and overflows, creating an undefined behavior.

This issue is completely avoided using a 64-bit signed integer.

Lets move to another topic, uptime .

The uptime of a machine is a measure of how long the machine has been running since the last reboot, the current time minus the time it was booted at.

Some system may require high availability due to service level agreement and this is one of the measure that can be looked at. However, high uptime can be a sign of negligence and rebooting after a long time may lead to unexpected consequences as some changes may only happen on reboot.

Most Unix-like OS come with the BSD uptime(1) command which shows the current time, how long the system has been running, how many users are currently logged in, and the system load average for the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes (Though those values arent good metrics, see Brendan Greggs blog). Load average being the average number of processing running at that time. Its the same information one can find in the first line of the w(1) command.

On Linux the uptime can also be found in the /proc filesystem, as /proc/uptime , the file containing 2 values, the first one being the number of seconds elapsed since last reboot and the second how much time each core has spent idle in seconds, which are both indicator of system usage.

Another command that is common as a metric is time(1) . It is a simple command which reports the time a command has taken.

By default, it reports on real time, user time, and sys time. Real time means the wall-clock time, its the total time for everything to execute from start to finish. User time is the amount of cpu time spent in user mode, while sys time is the amount of time spent in kernel mode, system calls time and more. CPU time is calculated as how much each cpu uses, so if youre on a multicore system you may have two cores executing in 0.1s in parallel in user mode and have a total user cpu time of 0.2s. This shows that this has no direct relation with the actual time elapsed from start to finish without knowing which cores have executed, but this gives a small idea.

This article goes into the internals of time(1) GNU implementation.

Another related command is times(1) , which is part of POSIX and the equivalent of times(2) system call. It shows usage times of both the current process and the sum of its children in a two-line output.

In fact, there exists a panoply of commands that can be used for benchmarking processes and what they use, how much time they spend in which particular section of their code. Well keep it at that.

That said, we often have to take snapshots of time in our programs, timestamps, saying this has happened at this specific time, attaching a metadata. These timestamps can be stored in Unix time, or UTC time, or in the specific time zone. However, time-stamping records with local time isnt advised because of issues that could arise with daylight saving, its much easier to recalculate the offset from UTC. Though in certain cases, it would be valuable to know in which timezone the event happened, such as when timestamping pictures.

Examples of metadata timestamps are the Unix atime, ctime, mtime that are stored with files inodes on the file system.

Atime is the last access timestamp changed whenever the file is read or executed for instance, ctime is the last status change timestamp changed whenever the file is written to or its inode changes, mtime is the last modification timestamp changed whenever the file has data written to it, is created, truncated, etc.

An additional non-standard timestamp that we can find on some system is btime, the file creation/birth timestamp.

Additionally, some filesystems support flags related to those timestamps, usually for optimization to avoid disk load, such as ones that change the way atime is updated, remove access time from directories, etc.

This is the prevalent default on a lot of filesystems and thus gives a false sense of the definition of those timestamps.

To have more information about when those timestamps are actually updated have a look at man 7 inode , and check your file current values by calling the stat command or related system call on it. You can also use touch(1) to arbitrarily change the timestamps on files.

Lets end this section with timers and chronometers that trigger events at specified time, Unix alarm clocks if you want, clock daemons.

The de facto implementation of this is cron, which first appeared in Unix V6, a clock daemon tool written by Ken Thompson, in reference to the word Chronos which is the Greek word/prefix for time.

Cron specialized in scheduling the execution of programs periodically, at certain time events. It registers the events in a table.

It initializes its entries from directories containing the scripts: /etc/crontab or /etc/cron.*/ or /var/spool/cron , you can take a look at man 8 cron for more info on that.

It can also be managed from the command line, for instance:

crontab -e

Cron will by default execute the entries using sh, that means those are simple shell scripts, letting you set environment variables, and more.

In the crontab you have to specify at which time to repeat the execution of events using a special syntax composed of every minute, every hour, every day, every month, every week day.

Despite cron being the go-to solution for repeated scheduled execution, others have created new solutions. Namely, init systems and service managers have tried to re-implement cron their own way and integrate timers as a type of service. Centralizing the management of timers along with services.

Prominently, systemd implements this function using systemd.timers , which are systemd unit files and inherit all the facilities and security that systemd provides for them.

You can list current running timers on systemd using:

sudo systemctl list-timers --all

man 5 systemd.timer provides all the info you need about systemd timer units.

System time, hardware time, internal timers

Hardware time vs system/local time

Clock hardware sources and configurations

Tickers, timers, and their usages

Weve said previously that POSIX time was used by Unix-like OS to keep track of system time, but weve cut it short at that. Theres still a lot to add to this, like where does the system get its time to begin with, how does it store it when its not running, what in the OS triggers the count of seconds, etc.

In this section Ill limit myself to Linux and FreeBSD as examples but the concepts should apply to any other Unix-like OS. Ive chosen to do this because resources were scarce on this topic as most have chosen to not mention it and skip directly to the topic of NTP, Network Time Protocol, which well see in the next section.

There are two types of clocks on our machines, the first type goes by the name of RTC (Real Time clock)/CMOS Clock/BIOS Clock/Hardware clock, and the other by the name of system clock/kernel clock/software clock.

The system clock is the one weve mentioned before, that keeps track of time using a counter of seconds after the Epoch, and the hardware clock is one we havent mentioned that resides physically on the system and runs without any interaction.

Their usages differ, the system clock runs only when the system is on, and so is not aware of time when its off, and the hardware clock has the purpose of keeping time when the system is not running.

As you would have guessed, any two clocks are bound to drift apart eventually, those clocks will differ from each other and from the real time. However, there are many methods to keep them in sync and accurate without using external sources.

Hardware clocks are usually found on the PC motherboard and interfaced with using an IO bus. Because some of those are on standard architecture such as the ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), it can be easy to know how to query and modify them. However, its still hardware dependent and so can vary widely.

These clocks run independently of any control program and are even running when the machine is powered off, kept alive by their own power source, a small battery.

They are normally consulted only when the machine is turned on, to set the system time on boot. Unfortunately, they are known to be inaccurate, but weirdly inaccurate in a predictable way, gaining or losing the same amount of time each day, drifting monotonously, a systematic drift.

Hardware clocks dont have to store time as Unix time or UTC, and dont have to be limited in precision to seconds. Its up to the hardware implementation to decide what can be done and on the user to decide what to do with it. In theory these clocks have a frequency that varies between 2Hz and 8192Hz, from 0.5s to 0.1ms precision.

Lets also note that there can be more than one hardware clock on a system.

Linux and FreeBSD come with drivers to interact with RTC.

On Linux for example, the RTC clocks are mapped to special device files /dev/rtc* backed by the driver. The star denoting the number of the clock if there are many, and /dev/rtc being the default RTC clock.

As with anything hardware, there could possibly be issues with the driver of the RTC and the clocks might not be mapped properly, especially if not following the industry standard. Linux has fallback mechanisms for other systems it wants to support.

On the other side, the only time that matters is the one you see when the system is running, and that is the system time.

As we said, system time is the number of seconds since the Epoch that is stored and kept track of by the kernel, however internally it might be more precise than seconds, it could go up to the precision offered by the architecture. Well come back to this topic of high precision soon, just keep the simple concept in mind.

The system time, when displayed to us, refers to the timezone information and files weve previously mentioned. Its good to know that the Linux kernel also keeps its own timezone information for specific actions such as filesystem related activities, and this kernel timezone is updated at boot or via the utility hwclock(8) by issuing hwclock --systz .

When booting, the system clock is also initialized from the RTC that keeps running when the system is off. In some cases it can be initialized from external sources and not rely on the RTC.

Thus, when the system is running the hardware clock is pretty much useless, and we could do whatever we want with it. However, we have to beware of discrepancies on reboot.

The counter that the kernel uses to increment the system clock is usually based on a timer functionality offered by the Instruction Set Architecture of the CPU (ISA not to be confused with the other ISA we spoke about, the Industry Standard Architecture). In simple terms, that means that the CPU gets interrupted at known programmable intervals periodically, and when its interrupted it executes a timer service/event routine. The routine is responsible for incrementing/ticking the system time and do some housekeeping. Were going to discuss this later.

Lets note that the frequency of the interrupt can be configured for better precision.

To set the system time and date, we can rely on the date(1) command, which takes many formats via its --set option.

For example:

date --set "5 Aug 2012 12:54 IST"

We could also initialize the system time from a remote server using rdate(1) :

rdate -s time.nist.gov

Or even, on some system, rely on the service manager. The infamous timedatectl(1) of systemd comes to mind, which can set and give information about pretty much everything were mentioning in this section.

Example of output:

Local time : Fri 2020-04-17 12:40:00 EEST Universal time : Fri 2020-04-17 09:40:00 UTC RTC time : Fri 2020-04-17 09:40:01 Time zone: Asia/Beirut ( EEST, +0300 ) System clock synchronized: yes NTP service: active RTC in local TZ: no

Whats this line about RTC in local TZ, can the time on the hardware clock be stored with timezone info, and why would we do this? What is stored on this clock, is it UTC or local time?

The answer to this, like most things, is that it depends. The time on the RTC can be configured to be set to whatever the system wants it to be. Yet, storing it in UTC is the best choice as UTC doesnt change regardless of time zones and daylight saving. Having the RTC storing the local civil time means that it would need to be aware of all the complication that it implies, which most RTC clock wont. If in local time, and the system has been down for a while, RTC might differ with actual local time. And even with clocks that have the ability to do the daylight saving themselves, the feature is mostly unused.

So its preferable to store the time of the RTC in UTC but some systems still choose to not adhere to this. For instance, when dual-booting, the other operating system may expect the RTC to contain local time and update it accordingly. That creates a discrepancy, and the RTC has no way to indicate if it is storing local time or UTC, hence the OS has to keep track of this information internally.

This is the kind of scenario that gives rise to the rule of not letting more than one program change the time of the RTC.

On FreeBSD, this information is given via the /etc/wall_cmos_clock file: if the file exists it means that the hardware clock keeps local time, otherwise the hardware clock is in UTC.

On Linux, this information is passed to the kernel at boot time via the persistent_clock_is_local kernel parameter/stanza (see notes timekeeping.c ). The RTC can also be queried and set in localtime or UTC via the hwclock(8) options --localtime or --utc which indicate which timescale the hardware clock is set to, hwclock will store this info in /etc/adjtime .

Hence, we have to keep those clocks in sync. The best way to do this is to rely on the predictable inaccuracy/systematic drift/instrument bias of the hardware clock. We can measure its drift rate, and apply a correction factor in software.

On Linux there are two tools to perform this, hwclock(8) and adjtimex(8) , while on FreeBSD there is adjkerntz(8) .

hwclock(8) , and its predecessor clock(8) , let you query, calculate drift, and adjust the hardware clock and kernel/system clock in both direction. While with clock(8) you had to calculate the drift manually, hwclock(8) does it automatically.

It does it by keeping track, in an ASCII file called /etc/adjtime , of the historical information, the records of how the clock drifts over time, and if the hardware clock is in UTC or local time, as we said before.

Here are some example runs:

# adjust drift of RTC > hwclock --adjust # set RTC to the same time given by --date > hwclock --set --date = '19:30' # set the RTC from system clock # and update the drift at the same time > hwclock --systohc --update-drift

Thus, it would be a good idea to call hwclock(8) periodically in a cron job to keep the hardware time in sync and calibrate the drift.

On FreeBSD, the utility adjkerntz(8) is used similarly but only for local time RTC. Its called at system startup and shutdown with the -i option from the init system before any other daemon is started and sets the kernel clock from the RTC, managing the DST and timezone related configuration.

Taking a look at some hwclock(8) options gives us an idea about many RTC quirks.

We can select the clock device using these:

# if it's an ISA system --directisa # and maybe precise the device file explicitly --rtc = filename

We can set the Epoch as something other than 1970:

# get it --getepoch # set it --setepoch

However, this is only available on machines that support it.

We can specify if its a clock that has issues with years above 1999 (which I cant find in the man page on my machine though):

# indicate the clock can't support years # outside the 1994-1999 range --badyear

As for the adjtimex(8) tool, on Linux, it doesnt actually change the hardware clock at all but specializes in the nitty-gritty details of the system/kernel clock and its relation with hardware.

Its especially useful for manually readjusting the system clock based on the drift of the RTC and raw access to kernel settings related to system time.

For instance, it can be used to change the speed of the system clock, telling it how much to add to time whenever it receives an interrupt. For example if the system clock ticks faster than its supposed to be, it could be made to tick slower or it could be made such that each tick represents a smaller value to add to the time, both options are possible.

Those are done through the --frequency and --tick options respectively.

It can also be used to change the offset/drift, apply adjustment to the system time, and what affects the hardware clock.

Interesting options are the -c and -a which keep comparing the system time and hardware clock time every 10s and print the ticks and frequency offsets, which can be useful for estimating the systematic drift and then store it in /etc/adjtime , which -a actually does.

Example of a run:

--- current --- -- suggested -- cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq 1587136817 0.277212 1587136827 0.278389 117.7 10000 -1701056 1587136837 0.279261 87.2 10000 -1701056 9998 5690519 1587136847 0.280304 104.3 10000 -1701056 9998 4571769

So my system considers 10000 ticks to be equal to 10s, basically having 1K ticks a second, but its suggested that I use 9998 per 10s instead.

Note also the error_ppm , ppm (part per million), meaning that Ive gotten a delta error of around 103 ticks per million that I need slew forward.

The -p option prints the internal kernel parameters related to time ticking.

mode: 0 offset: -852985 frequency: -1701056 maxerror: 483000 esterror: 0 status: 8193 time_constant: 7 precision: 1 tolerance: 32768000 tick: 10000 raw time : 1587136914s 254051439us = 1587136914.254051439

The status is a bit mask that represents the following:

1 PLL updates enabled 2 PPS freq discipline enabled 4 PPS time discipline enabled 8 frequency-lock mode enabled 16 inserting leap second 32 deleting leap second 64 clock unsynchronized 128 holding frequency 256 PPS signal present 512 PPS signal jitter exceeded 1024 PPS signal wander exceeded 2048 PPS signal calibration error 4096 clock hardware fault 8192 Nanosecond resolution ( 0 is microsecon ) 16384 Mode is FLL instead of PLL 32768 Clock source is B instead of A

PPS standing for Pulse Per Second, PLL for Phase-lock loop, and FLL for Frequency-Locked Loop, which are different clock circuitries/feedback-loop, discipline, and slewing techniques, basically different methods of looping for time adjusting frequency and ticks to match real one, which are affected differently by the environment and have ups and downs.

What we can deduce is that my clock with status 8193 has PLL updates and a nanosecond precision.

That means that if 1000 ticks make up a second, a tick happens every millisecond. Cant we have more precise ticks, arent I supposed to get nanosecond precision. But wouldnt that clog the CPU altogether, can we get multiple timers too. Well see that with high resolution clocks later on, for now, again, lets keep those questions and concepts in mind.

An interesting line in the output of adjtimex catches our attention, bit 6, or 64 in decimal, clock unsynchronized what does it mean. Its similar to the System clock synchronized: yes line of systemds timedatectl output.

An inspection of the Linux kernel source code let us know that theres a mechanism in the kernel to automatically synchronize the hardware clock with the system clock. It goes under the name of NTP 11 minute mode because it adjusts it every 11 minutes.

Many other Unix-like operating systems choose to do this, have the kernel be the only program that syncs hardware time to system time. To not let other programs have to worry about all the drifting and calculation. In this case we dont need to create a cron job that adjusts the time, the kernel already does it for us. Sometimes however, the kernel wont record the drift time anywhere while in this mode.

So it is synchronized by default on my system.

On Linux, the only way to turn it off is to stop the NTP daemon (network time protocol daemon, which well see in the next section), call any program that sets the system clock from the hardware clock such as hwclock --hctosys or actually recompile the kernel without the related option: RTC_SYSTOHC .

The ntptime(1) command also shows the Linux kernel time_status value:

status 0x2001 ( PLL,NANO ) ,

Lets move to this high precision topic weve kept in mind.

So my system clock has nanosecond precision, are there ways to get higher precision from my system clock, what does that mean from the timer interrupt perspective. How much time should we spend on timer events handling instead of executing programs. How are they implemented in the instruction set, do I have a choice of clocks, are there other instructions to call. How do I check all that?

We said briefly that system time was kept track with using interrupts that were generated at predefined time or at specific periodic intervals. Whenever they happen, the kernel needs to handle time-based events such as the scheduling of processes, statistics calculation, time keeping (time of day), profiling, measurements, and more.

Different machines have different kinds of timer devices that can create this functionality. The job of the OS is to try to provide a system that unifies them abstractly to handle timer events for specific usages, using the best types of timer for the type of event its handling. It does it by programming them to act periodically or one-shot and keeping track of the event subscriptions that itll need to handle.

Which hardware is available depends on many factors, but the most important one is related to the CPU and thus the architecture of the platform and its instruction set. Lets see what sort of timers we can find in our systems today that we could possibly choose from as clock event device.

RTC - Real Time Clock

We could choose to actually rely on the RTC directly and not anything else. However, that comes with a cost because its quite slow, it ticks every 0.5s to 0.1ms, to stay energy efficient. So lets leave the RTC for boot time only and not timers.

TSC - Time Stamp Counter

The Time Stamp Counter is a 64 bit register called TSC present on all x86 processors since the Pentium. Its connected via a CLK input pin that also drives the CPU clock and thus ticks as the same frequency. For example a 2GHz CPU will make this register tick every 0.5 nanosecond. The TSC register can be queried by the rdtsc , read tsc, instruction. Its very useful as it ticks along with the CPU, it can help us calculate the time, for example, if we can know the frequency of the CPU, giving us precise measurements. However, its not so precise if the frequency can change over time.

PIT - Programmable Interrupt Timer

The Programmable Interrupt Timer is also part of an instruction set. The way it works is that it can be programmed to send global interrupts after a certain time has elapsed, one-shot or periodically. It has a 16 bit precision and variable frequency rates that can be configured.

APIC - Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller

Similar to PIT in such that it can issue one-shot or periodic interrupts. Its size is 32 bits. And the interrupt it sent to the specific processor that requested it instead of globally (which PIT would do). Its frequency is based on the bus clock signal and can also be controlled but less flexible than PIT.

ACPI_PM - ACPI Power Management Timer

ACPI Power Management Timer is part of the ACPI-based motherboards and have quite a low frequency of 3.58MHz, ticking every 279ns. It isnt nearly as accurate as other timers but has the advantage that it isnt affected by change based on power-management. It should be used as a last resort system clock.

HPET - High Precision Event Timer

The High Precision Event Timer is a chip integrated into the Southbridge. It provides multiple hardware timers, up to eight 32 or 64 bit independent counters, each having their own clock signal and a frequency of at least 10MHz, 100ns. It is less precise than the TSC but has the advantage that it is separated and has multiple clocks.

Its always good to keep in mind that all those numbers about precision are for the best case scenario and that we may have overheads. We still have to remember that, for example, when querying the TSC we have to first issue the rdtscp command which has to be interpreted. It doesnt mean that we have a machine ticking at 0.5ns that were going to be able to measure such intervals precisely.

Regarding TSC, we can only use it as a real time counter when it is stable. If it changes with CPU frequency we cant rely on it to calculate time properly as the distance between ticks will vary. TSC are categorized as constant, invariant, and non-stop, or none. Constant meaning TSC stops during C state transition, C state referring to the low power mode of the CPU. Invariant meaning frequency isnt affected by the CPU state. Non-stop meaning its both invariant and constant.

On Linux you can check the features your CPU supports by consulting the flags in /proc/cpuinfo .

Example:

flags : tsc constant_tsc nonstop_tsc tsc_scale

NB: tsc_scale is used for virtualisation.

Before checking for the availability of the hardware timers and what is currently set for what on your system, lets take a moment to understand where we can use these timers.

There are in general 3 uses for the timers weve seen: clock source, clock event, and clock scheduling.

The clock source is the one that provides the basic timeline, it should be a continuous, non-stop (ideally), monotonic, uniform timer that tells you where you are in time. Its used to provide the system time, the POSIX time counter. When issuing date this is what is going to be consulted.

So the clock source should have a high resolution and the frequency should be as stable and correct as possible, otherwise it may require an external source to sync it properly.

Clock events are the reverse of clock source, they take snapshots on the timeline and interrupts at certain point, providing a higher resolution. They could in theory use the same hardware as the clock source but are not limited to it. They could use all the other hardware that are specialized in sending interrupts after a programmed time to trigger the events on the system timeline. Its also interesting to have the events triggered per CPU to have them handled independently, so APIC is especially useful here.

The clock scheduling is about how time affects the scheduling of processes on the system, what timeslice should be used to run processes and then switch to another one. This can possibly be the same counter as the clock source, however usually it needs smaller intervals as it has to be very fast but doesnt have to be accurate.

The clock source keeps time as a counter we refer to as jiffies. Jiffies are used to keep the number of ticks that happened since the system has booted, it is incremented by 1 at each timer interrupt. The number of ticks/interrupts in a second is denoted by a constant defined at compile time or in a kernel parameter called HZ , for Hertz, its named this way in most Unix-like OS.

That means that there are HZ ticks in a second, thus there are HZ jiffies in a second. So that means HZ represents the precision of our clock source, and thus system time. For example, if HZ=1000 , that means the system time has a resolution of 1ms (1K/HZ seconds).

On Linux you can check that value using:

getconf CLK_TCK

However, it is deprecated and will always return 100 (10ms), regardless of the precision. The actual value has to be set as a kernel parameter in CONFIG_HZ .

CONFIG_HZ_300 = y CONFIG_HZ = 300

Nonetheless, it isnt such a good idea to go to higher precision HZ because if scheduling relies on jiffies it could affect performance.

Now lets check how we can see which devices we support and change the clocks.

On Linux, theres not many options regarding anything other than the clock source (system time). To check the ones available and the one currently in used you can rely on the /sys/ filesystem.

> cat /sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/available_clocksource tsc hpet acpi_pm > cat /sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/current_clocksource tsc

The clock source can be changed while the system is running by echoing the new clock to the same location:

> echo hpet > /sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/current_clocksource

For permanent changes you can recompile the kernel with different options or set the clock at boot by passing it as the clocksource option to the Linux kernel (kernel stanza) in grub or any other boot-manager.

linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root = UUID = 12345678-1234-1234-1234-12345678 rw quiet clocksource = acpi_pm hpet = enable

Additionally, you can enable or disable hpet to be used as the base time for events clock.

As of today here are the relevant configurations and different clock sources for multiple CPU architectures:

clocksource = Override the default clocksource Format: <string> Override the default clocksource and use the clocksource with the name specified. Some clocksource names to choose from, depending on the platform: [ all] jiffies ( this is the base, fallback clocksource ) [ ACPI] acpi_pm [ ARM] imx_timer1,OSTS,netx_timer,mpu_timer2, pxa_timer,timer3,32k_counter,timer0_1 [ X86-32] pit,hpet,tsc ; scx200_hrt on Geode ; cyclone on IBM x440 [ MIPS] MIPS [ PARISC] cr16 [ S390] tod [ SH] SuperH [ SPARC64] tick [ X86-64] hpet,tsc hpet = [ X86-32,HPET] option to control HPET usage Format: { enable ( default ) | disable | force | verbose } disable: disable HPET and use PIT instead force: allow force enabled of undocumented chips ( ICH4, VIA, nVidia ) verbose: show contents of HPET registers during setup

The process is quite similar on FreeBSD. By default, its aware of the timer available on the system, it automatically ranks and chooses the best possible ones.

It has three timekeeping, one it calls hardclock running at 1000HZ (1ms), which is the same as the clock source, one it calls statclock used for statistics and scheduler events with a frequency of 128HZ, and a last one called profclock which is a bit higher in precision, 0.125ms. Those obviously can be tuned to preference.

To see the list them via you can use sysctl :

> sysctl kern.eventtimer # or > sysctl -a | grep kern.eventtimer

This should return the list of possible timers in the kern.eventtimer.choice entry.

Example output:

kern.eventtimer.choice: HPET ( 550 ) LAPIC ( 400 ) i8254 ( 100 ) RTC ( 0 ) kern.eventtimer.et.LAPIC.flags: 15 kern.eventtimer.et.LAPIC.frequency: 0 kern.eventtimer.et.LAPIC.quality: 400 kern.eventtimer.et.i8254.flags: 1 kern.eventtimer.et.i8254.frequency: 1193182 kern.eventtimer.et.i8254.quality: 100 kern.eventtimer.et.RTC.flags: 17 kern.eventtimer.et.RTC.frequency: 32768 kern.eventtimer.et.RTC.quality: 0 kern.eventtimer.et.HPET.flags: 7 kern.eventtimer.et.HPET.frequency: 14318180 kern.eventtimer.et.HPET.quality: 550

The current time should be stored in the kern.eventtimer.timer entry.

The documentation about what the flag means can be found via the manpage eventtimers(4) , they are related to what the clock supports (periodic or not, per CPU or not). Those values can be changed in the /etc/sysctl.conf file or tunable via sysctl on the command line.

As with Linux, on FreeBSD hpet can be used for events if the driver is installed and enabled, its part of the acpi. FreeBSD offers some beautiful documentation about it in the hpet(4) manpage, discussing the configurations too. For instance if it can be used to support event timers functionality, and tune how many timers on the hpet per CPU can be used.

So now we should be all set, if we call POSIX functions part of <time.h> such as gettimeofday we can get the result in a structure that contains microseconds (0.001ms) if the precision allows it. And actually POSIX 1003.1b requires nanosecond precision.

There are also the POSIX clock_gettime() family of functions, which let you specify from which clock to get the time from, and clock_getres() which let you get the precision of the clocks available. The clock you can pass to those methods are predefined in the manpage and are useful for profiling. CLOCK_MONOTONIC being the best to calculate the time between two events in time.

There used to be a time when on Linux all the timers on the system were coupled to the jiffies, it isnt the case today. We have a decoupled clock event subsystem that gets delegated and manages interrupts, and the source device can be swapped without breaking everything. Linux also added a kernel configuration called CONFIG_HIGH_RES_TIMERS to allow high resolution time, which is enabled now everywhere.

This lead to the concept of dynamic ticks, having the clock for scheduling ticks at different speed while not affecting the clock source timeline, which can be used to save energy/power.

This furthermore lead to the idea of having tickless system, systems where the timeslice for scheduling is actually controlled by the scheduler instead of follow HZ . The CONFIG_NO_HZ option in the kernel can be set to allow this. It is also enabled on most desktops today.

# CONFIG_NO_HZ_FULL is not set CONFIG_NO_HZ = y

On Linux, all the information about timers and their statistics is propagated to user space in /proc for advanced debugging.

For instance, /proc/timer_list , gets us a list of the currently configured clocks and running timers. We can use it to check their precisions:

Example output:

HRTIMER_MAX_CLOCK_BASES: 2 now at 294115539550 nsecs cpu: 0 clock 0: .index: 0 .resolution: 1 nsecs .get_time: ktime_get_real .offset: 0 nsecs active timers: clock 1: .index: 1 .resolution: 1 nsecs .get_time: ktime_get .offset: 0 nsecs [ ...] event_handler: hrtimer_interrupt

We can see that the .resolution is 1 nsecs and that the event_handler is hrtimer_interrupt instead of tick_handle_periodic , which would be for lower resolution timers.

/proc/timer_stats is an advance debugging feature that can be enabled via the CONFIG_TIMER_STATS kernel configuration and that let us gather statistics about all the timers on the system, you turn it on and off whenever you want. It can tell us which routines in the kernel are using the timers and how frequently they are requesting them. The format is as follows:

<count>, <pid> < command > <start_func> ( <expire_func> )

Now lets move to syncing the system time using an external source.

Syncing time with external sources

Ways to update time

Why use external sources

A primer on precision calculation and terms

Discipline/slewing and smearing

Leap second propagation

List of external sources

NTP Protocol Tools/clients Pool and organization List of public servers

Other implementations

Security issues

PTP

Before starting this section Id like to point out three ways that time can be updated.

One is called stepping and it consists of making one discontinuous change to time, a sudden instant jump from one value to another that could be backward or forward in time. This happens when something triggers the system time to go to a specific value, external sources of time can possibly do this.

Another is called slewing or sometimes disciplining and it consists of making the clock frequency ticks faster or slower, or to change the value that ticks represent. It means that its adjusting it gradually over time. This is what weve seen in the previous section with tools such as adjtimex(8) for system time.

The last way to change time is actually a category of slewing called smearing or fudging and it consists of changing time by gradually adding parts of a larger chunk of time over a period. This leads to less breaking changes if, for example, we add 10s to our system time but split it across a whole day, it could be 0.1ms every second or even less. However, in fact, it can fit in the slewing category, but we usually talk about smearing when we are forced to add an expected change, such as a leap second.

We also have to keep in mind the time it takes to fetch the value of time from a source: for it to be transmitted and interpreted by our system. It wont be an instant transfer and sometimes may take such a long time that we are forced to take it in consideration when doing our calculations of adjustment. We call this the delay, the time it takes to do the round trip. As well see there are many factors to take in consideration too.

So why should we rely on an external source of time, why should we care about having precise time.

At human scale, on my watch I can rotate the hands of the clock a little and adjust it to whatever someone else has. Nothing horrible is going to happen because of it, right? The majority of people dont need precision higher than a couple of minutes.

However, computers are different, youre not the one monitoring time, and their errors accumulate pretty fast if you forget about them; clocks drift as weve repeatedly said.

So who needs millisecond accuracy or more? Who has a need for precise time?

And precise time according to what. Havent we said in the previous section that our system clocks already have a pretty good calibration mechanism in place.

However, even with all the accuracy we can get, were still going to drift, no matter what, and we still need to be aware of UTC changes such as leap seconds.

So what does accurate mean, do you need accuracy across your internal network of machines, each not drifting too far away from the other even though not in sync with UTC. Or do you need them all to be in sync with UTC or your time zone.

How much does the software you are running tolerate change in time. Does it expect monotonic time, can it handle jumps, is it an issue if it differs from real UTC time. Do you have to keep in sync with UTC because of the software itself or because of compliance with standards or because otherwise the meaning is lost.

Heres a list of systems that actually require accurate synchronization with UTC:

Security related software that verify certificates

Security related software to match timestamp with real life events such as CCTV

Similarly, intruder detection software

Similarly, any type of audit logs or timestamping based on real world events

Similarly, any network monitoring, measurement and control tool

Radio, Telecommunication, and TV programs

Any type of real time multimedia synchronization

Many types of distributed systems

Money related events, such as stock market

Aviation traffic control software

We have to add to this list all the machines with nasty system clocks that drift in unexpected ways. Such machines are better off syncing with an external source.

So, in which case should we not synchronize time with an external source then.

If the accuracy and adjustment that the system clock provides is enough

If we dont want to worry about managing another daemon on our system

If the system doesnt have access neither to the internet nor to any physical external source of time.

Now that we know if we need an external source of time or not, lets see how to calculate how precise and stable these sources are.

When using a clock as reference we want to make sure its stable and precise.

A clocks frequency stability is rated and measured by its ppm or ppb error, part per million errors or part per billion errors. The part can be either the number of ticks or the number of seconds that are drifting from the actual value (both can be used interchangeably). The smaller this ppm value is the more stable the clock is.

The reasons why a clock drifts are environmental variations such as temperature, aging of the material, G-force, change in voltage, etc.

What does this mean.

Lets take as an example an HPET clock with a frequency of 10MHz ( 10_000_000Hz ) in an environment between -40 to 80 degrees C. Add the fact that the clock manufacturer has specified that it has a stability that varies between -7.5 and +7.5 ppm.

For every 1 million ticks or 1 million seconds, there is a plus or minus 7.5 variation. Over a whole day the clock would drift by 0.648 seconds.

( 7.5/1M ) * 86400 = 0.648s

Atomic clocks have tremendously tiny error variations, those can be between 0.0001 and 0.000001 ppb (part per billion). They are drifting by a second every ~300k to 30M years, which confirms what weve explored in the first section of this article.

Temperature plays such a big role in the stability of our clock so to make them more stable we could either lock our machines in a controlled temperature environment or try to come up with a way to automatically compensate for how much the temperature is affecting the clock.

While the first option is possible in data centers, its not something that is possible for most of us.

However, we could devise an experiment in which we find a formula that calculates how much the temperature affects the clock frequency and slew our clock appropriately.

We could monitor the temperature, feed it, and use it to train the correction mechanism in whatever software or mean we use to handle setting time. Which all comes up to gathering points that fit the data temperature and how much the clock drifts, plotting them on a graph and finding an equation that passes by those points. This is simple math using polynomial interpolation.

Unfortunately, no solution is perfect and this could be overly optimistic. Correlation doesnt equate causation. Still, such mechanism are great to keep the clock stable within a certain temperature range. Some experiments have found that temperature compensation reduces deviation by 3.5 times. Our earlier drift of 0.648s would be reduced to 0.185, or 2.14 ppm instead of 7.5 ppm.

Lets now define some important terms we need in our inventory to understand everything that is coming next about external clocks.

Reference clock or ordinary clock, this means any machine that can be used to retrieve accurate time, usually in UTC so that it can be used by anyone. Those could range from cesium clock, to GPS, to terrestrial broadcast like radio clocks.

The time from the reference clock will be forwarded from one server to another until it reaches you. Thus, the reliability of the network, and how far you are from it, play a big role in how accurate the value from the reference clock will be.

Were using server that are connected to external time source and external time source themselves interchangeably here unless explicitly mentioned.

Delay, a word weve seen before that means the time it takes to do a round trip. Its normally calculated by timestamping on both ends and doing an estimate of the difference in transport and processing.

Offset or Phase, is the time difference/deviation between the clock on one end and the clock on another end, usually your clock and a reference clock. Phase referring to the oscillation rhythm difference, as in out of phase.

Jitter or Dispersion, is the successive time values difference after subsequent requests from remote servers or action. Its a great criterion to measure the stability of the network, how much delay changes, if it varies a lot the network isnt reliable. This term can be used as a measure of stability of any other repeatable action too.

clockhopping, the spreading of time, jumping from one server to another, which results in less and less accuracy.

Frequency error, this is how much the reference clock or our local clock drifts over time, measured in ppm and ppb, as weve seen before.

Stability, the generic term to refer to how much we can trust a clock. Its also a term used in control theory to refer to how far we are from a reaching a stable point (0).

Accuracy, also a generic term that means how far apart a machines time is away from UTC. The typical accuracy on the internet ranges from about 5ms to 100ms, varying with network delays.

PPS, or Pulse Per Second, a method of synchronizing two clocks based on a tick that happens every second.

Watchdog timer, is a timer that keeps the time since the last poll or update of time from the external source of time.

Fudge, I couldnt put my hand on the precise definition of this term other than that it refers to any special way in which you can configure an external clock.

Max Poll and Min Poll, throttling parameters which are the maximum and minimum number amount of time that should pass before the remote server allows you to query it again. This is usually expressed in powers of 2, for example 6 means 2^6 or 64 seconds.

Stiffness or Update Interval or Time Constant ( tau), how much the clock is allowed to change in a specified amount of time, and the time between the updates. A small time constant (update interval) means a clock that is less stiff and slews quickly. Its usually expressed like the max poll in powers of 2.

When all those values differ a lot, we cant allow an abrupt jump of time on our end, that would disrupt local processes. So what we do is slew time, but that would also mean having a slow calibration.

In an ideal world, all the reference clocks would be the same everywhere, however they arent. So what should we do if theres a big offset.

First off, if the offset is too big we dont trust it until we have the same offset from multiple time sources.

If its small enough we go on with our slewing.

If the offset is still big, we have to set the clock anew, step it.

However, on boot we have to sync from the hardware clock, like weve seen before, which might be off, so we have to either slew the system time which can take several hours or make the updates less stiff to quickly reduce the offset (in 5min usually with a less stiff PLL).

Moreover, we cant also believe any remote server or machine as a time source, so we ought to devise a mechanism, a sanity check, to filter which machines we trust and which ones we dont, maybe even combining multiple time sources in a quorum-like fashion.

We can evaluate remote machines for how stable they are by making them pass a statistical filter for their quality.

That also creates a trust issue on boot, so what can be done is to send multiple quick requests to multiple external time source servers to insure their reliability and get an estimate within 10 seconds at boot.

As time goes on, our system clock should become more stable, and we should be requesting the remote servers less frequently.

This is possible through different feedback mechanisms that learn to adjust the system time appropriately. In a way, this is similar to the mechanism that fixes the hardware clock drifting but for the system clock which we havent tackled before.

Different Unix-like OS and software provide different means of adjusting the system clock according to external time. There are 4 mechanisms or system calls that can be used to implement the adjustment of the system clock.

The first method is through settimeofday(2) , which is used to jump to a fixed place in time, to step it. This could be used for very big offsets.

The second method is through adjtime(2) which is used to slew the time by changing the frequency of the clock. You pass a delta to the function and if this is positive the clock will be sped up until it gains that delta and if negative the clock will slow down until it has lost this delta. This is intended to be used to make small adjustments to the system time and thus theres a limit to how big the delta can be (plus or minus 2145 seconds).

The third method is through the hardpps() function that is internal to the kernel and handles an interrupt service that listens to a constant pulse that happens every second. The RFC 2783 defines how this API should behave, basically syncing the transition between pulses with the system clock.

The fourth, and last method, is through the ntp_adjtime(2) function, that is an advanced mechanism to discipline the system clock. It is defined in RFC 1589 called A Kernel Model for Precision Timekeeping, also going under the name of kernel clock discipline. Initially created as a better version of adjtime(2) that can be called from the software handling external precision time source as it accumulates successive precise corrections (could be in the microsecond range).

This method of adjusting time is based on an algorithm that depends on multiple environmental factors and that can be tweaked as needed. From correcting frequency and offset, to enabling or disabling PPS events processing, to synchronization status, handling leap second, estimating error and frequency change tolerance, and more.

At the core of this kernel clock discipline algorithm lies a concept from the domain of control theory, a closed loop that accumulates successive corrections, an adaptive feedback loop mechanism that tries to minimize network overhead. Today, the algorithm uses two kinds of loops, one is a phase/offset locked loop (PLL), and the other is a frequency locked loop (FLL). Weve hinted at those previously when checking the status bit of the adjtimex -p and ntptime commands.

> adjtimex -p mode: 0 offset: -7431812 frequency: -1677305 maxerror: 2000 esterror: 0 status: 8193 time_constant: 7 precision: 1 tolerance: 32768000 tick: 10000 raw time : 1588007066s 608698606us = 1588007066.608698606

> ntptime ntp_gettime () returns code 0 ( OK ) time e2518f79.db34a44c Mon, Apr 27 2020 20:06:01.856, ( .856272195 ) , maximum error 49500 us, estimated error 0 us, TAI offset 0 ntp_adjtime () returns code 0 ( OK ) modes 0x0 () , offset -6172 .114 us, frequency -25 .594 ppm, interval 1 s, maximum error 49500 us, estimated error 0 us, status 0x2001 ( PLL,NANO ) , time constant 7, precision 0.001 us, tolerance 500 ppm,

Phase locked loop and frequency locked loops main difference is their predictor part that will output the value of their feedback loop. They both take as input the timestamp and compare it with local time but what happens afterwards, how they change either the phase/offset or the frequency depends on which one is chosen.

PLL is an offset discipline mode, its predictor is an integral of the offset over past updates and outputs the offset amortized over time in order to avoid setting the clock backward. It adjusts it gradually by small increments or decrements until the offset is gone. The time constant aka update interval is the rate at which it executes this update. The smaller the time constant, the less stiff it is, and the faster itll converge to an offset of 0 (stability in control theory).

FLL is a frequency based discipline mode, its predictor takes the offset and divides it by the time since the last update and adjusts the clock frequency such that at the next update the offset will be as small as possible.

In the most recent software, the two modes are used together and mixed. They are weighted according to the polling intervals, when it is bellow Allan intercepts, which is 2048s (this can be changed), then a phased-lock loop is used with more weight, and whenever the polling interval is higher, then a frequency-locked loop is heavier.

When not fetching the time from another machine that is connected to a reference clock but having it connected directly to us, well require some hardware driver to interface with it.

These physical source of time can implement their own clock discipline algorithm and synchronization protocol and thus we have to adapt appropriately. If they do provide such mechanism via their drivers, we let the external clock be in control and determine which discipline should be used, normally they will themselves call ntp_adjtime(2) with the parameters they know about. If it fails, we can fallback to the previous way of adjusting time. Keep in mind that when there is an external clock taking care of system time adjustment, no other software can be aware of the error statistics and parameters it maintains.

Before moving on to what those devices could possibly be, lets have a small note on leap second smearing.

There are two main ways to handle a leap second, we could either step, that is stopping the clock completely for a second (repeating a second) or skipping an entire second, or we could either slew the clock using the smooth kernel discipline weve seen.

This is what leap smearing is about, its a standard pushed by Google to smear, that is slew that second by running the clock 0.0014% slower over 24h, from noon before the leap second to noon after the leap second. This is such that the slewing happens linearly around the leap second.

The change for a small smear is about 11.6 ppm.

However, keep in mind that such standard only has weight if everyone adhere to it, otherwise during the leap second event multiple servers will have different time and the dispersion will be bigger. That is why we shouldnt mix smearing with non-smearing time servers.

Weve said we could connect to physical precise time source to become a reference clock, so what can those be? Well give as example the two most popular ones.

In the first category we have terrestrial broadcasts, radio stations that broadcast time.

The most well known are the CHU in Canada, WWV in Colorado, USA, and WWVH in Hawai, USA.

CHU broadcasts at 3.33MHz, 7.85MHz, 14.67MHz since 1923, and WWV broadcasts on 2.5MHz, 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, and 20MHz since 1945. They both get their time from other reliable sources such as atomic clocks and GPS.

As they are radio broadcasts, you need a radio receiver and a way to analyze the audio to be able to synchronize with them.

What they broadcast is some repetitive beep to sync on pulse per second and minute, some binary coded decimal, and literally someone talking from time to time to say in English, or French for the Canadian version, what time it currently is in UTC hour and minute. So they alternate beeps, ticks, and voice announcements.

You can give those a listen by searching their names on Wikipedia, Youtube, or actually turning on your radio on the right frequency.

Furthermore, there are also telephone numbers that you can call to get the time, similarly to the radio. One of them is provided by the same organization as the CHU, the NRC, National Research Council of Canada.

In the second category we have GPS, the Global Positioning System.

And lets be more explicit here, were talking about the American NAVSTAR GPS that is composed of multiple satellites at 20K km orbit, always having 4 satellites visible from any point on Earth.

To sync time with a GPS you need a GPS receiver, some of those also come with a pulse per second feature for accuracys sake. The receiver catches the civilian band frequency that the GPS continuously broadcasts and decodes the signal to get the messages in it. This message contains a multitude of information, but were only interested in what is time related.

The GPS satellites include atomic clocks that are accurate to the nanosecond. However, were loosing a bit of accuracy because of the delay between us and the satellite. So youd think that since they have atomic clocks they would follow TAI (International Atomic Time), however they follow their own special time format called GPST, the Global Positioning System Time.

The GPST is similar to TAI, as in it is constant and unaffected by the rotation of the Earth, but the difference is that its epoch, its 0h, was set on 6 January 1980. Consequentially, it includes all the leap seconds before that date but none of the ones afterwards so currently it differs from TAI by 19 seconds, and from UTC even more. That is why newer GPS units include in their messages a field of 8 bits that contain the time difference between GPST and UTC, the number of leap seconds it missed, so that you can easily get back UTC.

The format time that GPS store and broadcast doesnt use the year/month/day Gregorian calendar but express it as a week number and a seconds-into-week number. The week is a 10-bit field and thus rotates every 1024 weeks, which is approximately 19.6 years. The first rollover happened on August 21, 1999 and the second one on April 6, 2019.

So to determine the Gregorian date you need to know in which GPS epoch you are. Future GPS will update the standard to use a 13-bit field instead, rolling over every 157 years.

This phenomenon of week rollover has been deemed the Y2K of GPS because many device drivers didnt anticipate it and had hard-coded the GPS epoch.

A solution to this would be to derive the GPS epoch from the leap second data broadcasted by the GPS and a leap second table. Weirdly, a GPS vendor, has a patent on a similar technique so you cant use it exactly the same way. Sometimes shipped software is shipped software and nobody is going to touch nor update it, beware.

Apart from NAVSTAR, there are plenty of other space agencies that have launched GPS technology.

Beidou, Peoples Republic of Chinas

Galileo, European Union and other partner countries

GLONASS, Russia, peculiarly, its UTC is in Russia (BIH timezone)

NavIC, Indian Space Research Organisation

Michibiki, regional navigation system receivable in the Asia-Oceania regions

A last nota-bene, your position is derived from how far you are, the delay, from 4 satellites and calculating the intersection.

To link this to the previous ideas, if you have a driver that supports those external clocks hardware device receiver, it should implement the ntp_adjtime(2) or a custom discipline to take care of adjusting time itself. Be sure to check the list of drivers available for your solution.

Lets proceed from the abstract talk to the concrete: which protocols and standards can be used to implement time synchronization with external sources of time.

The most trivial protocol is the Time Protocol defined in rfc 868. Its a simple client-server protocol where the server when receiving a request directly replies the time in seconds since midnight 1st 1900 GMT as a 32 bit binary number.

The protocol runs on UDP and TCP on port 37, as /etc/services shows:

time 37/tcp time 37/udp

Because its based on a 32 bit value, its going to rollover at some point in 2036 which will deprecate it easily unless the value is upgraded to 64 bits.

While its simple, it doesnt take into consideration leap seconds, delays, is only precise to the second, and disregards all the stuffs about time weve previously mentioned.

You can give the time protocol a try by testing is using the rdate utility.

rdate - get the time via the network rdate connects to an RFC 868 time server over a TCP/IP network, printing the returned time and/or setting the system clock.

The evolution of the time protocol is the Network Time Protocol, or NTP. It takes into consideration multiple things the other did not including: leap seconds, broadcasting mechanism, active/passive modes, security and digest, a hierarchical level of accuracy, polling mechanisms, more precision, versioning, considerations of delays, categorizing known clocks by reference identification, and much more.

The current protocol stands at version 4, NTPv4, which is documented in rfc 5905 but has additional addendum for extensions. It is backward compatible with its previous version, NTPv3, in rfc 1305.

NTP runs on UDP and TCP on port 123, as /etc/services shows:

ntp 123/tcp ntp 123/udp

The timestamps that NTP sends and receives rely on UTC time, the timezone information is kept for local machines to decide. Additionally, NTP warns of any impending leap second adjustment.

Thus, in theory, all NTP servers should store the same UTC time up to a certain precision.

When an NTP client is running we have to choose what to do with the hardware clock, do we sync it with system time. Many implementations either save the drift to a file so that it can be used on the next boot and/or rely on the kernel 11 minute mode we talked about earlier. Moreover, if a network connection is available at boot time theres the possibility of using NTP right away. Like this we remove the burden of relying on RTC when the machine is offline.

NTP uses a hierarchy, a semi-layered division, to classify clocks that are available. It calls them strata.

The stratum, singular, is a measure of the synchronization distance to a reference clock. Remember a reference clock is an actual hardware that can be used to get precise time, like a GPS. The stratum is the number of servers we need to pass through to reach such reference clock. Unlike jitter (dispersion) and delay, the stratum is a static measure, you dont get further away from a reference clock.

So its preferable to use the closest (network distance) and lowest stratum possible NTP server.

The reference clock itself, the timekeeping device, is considered stratum 0 and the closest servers connected to it are at stratum 1. Thus, a server synchronized to a stratum n server will itself be considered stratum n+1 .

The upper limit for stratum is 15, in theory, above this the dispersion may grow too much for it to be reliable, though, in practice it doesnt go above 5.

The stratum hierarchy helps in spreading the load and avoid cyclical clock dependencies as its now in the shape of a tree. That means a small number of servers give time to a large number of clients, which in turn could be servers to others. That implies low stratum servers, such as stratum 1 servers, should be highly available and well maintained to support the rest of the hierarchy.

In addition, the NTP contains in its message a reference identifier, refId , which denotes which reference clock is used at stratum 0 on this path. So you can know youre getting your time from which source.

Lets also mention that NTP can be deployed locally, in a LAN. Its possible to create your own hierarchy by acquiring a timekeeping device, such as a GPS, to avoid network delays and get a better precision.

NTP is not limited to the usual client/server architecture, it includes horizontal peering mode and a broadcasting mechanism.

Horizontal peering is when multiple servers are coupled together in a group to synchronize time more accurately.

The broadcasting mode works by having a server sends the time to a broadcast address and have clients listen for NTP packets sent to that address. This mode is useful for leap second propagation instead of having it sent only when the client connects.

On that note, on the day of a leap second event, the leap second could be propagated either from a configuration file, a reference clock, or another NTP server. What then happens, how the leap second is applied, depends on the implementation. It could be a stop or skip mechanism or a leap second smearing. It is applied at the level of the server.

What does an NTP message look like.

In the early days of the NTP, the timestamp in the message used to have the same issue as the Time Protocol, a single 32 bit value, thus having rollover issue.

NTPv4 now uses a 128-bit date format that is split into 2 main parts, one is 64 bits for the seconds and the other 64 bits for fractional seconds.

The seconds part is again split into two others, the most significant 32 bits is the current era number (number of rollovers), and the least significant bits the number of seconds in this era. That removes all ambiguity and the 64 bit value for the fraction is enough for the time it takes a photon to pass an electron at the speed of light, so very precise.

An NTP message looks like this:

0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ |LI | VN |Mode | Stratum | Poll | Precision | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Root Delay | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Root Dispersion | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Reference ID | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Reference Timestamp ( 64 ) + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Origin Timestamp ( 64 ) + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Receive Timestamp ( 64 ) + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | + Transmit Timestamp ( 64 ) + | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | . . . Extension Field 1 ( variable ) . . . | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | . . . Extension Field 2 ( variable ) . . . | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Key Identifier | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | | | dgst ( 128 ) | | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Figure 8: Packet Header Format

As you can see NTP is much more advanced than the time protocol. For example, a minimal request would need the version and mode filled, client mode being 3, or 011 in binary. The usual unencrypted messages are 90 bytes long (76 bytes at the IP layer). A broadcast happens every 64 seconds while a client/server architecture requires 2 packets per transaction, initially once per minute and gets reduced to once every 17 minutes in normal conditions.

With such protocol, though requiring minimal bandwidth, but with an insane amount of clients, there needs to be throttling system. The polling interval of a client depends on many factors, including its current precision and the maximum and minimum polling interval allowed by the servers.

NTP servers are viewed as a public utility of sorts and thus need help from the public, especially the people that are knowledgeable and have access to static public IP addresses. The pool of public NTP servers needs to keep growing to serve the increase in clients.

You can view a list of public NTP servers here:

But why rely on publicly available NTP servers instead of building our own NTP server hierarchy on LAN, havent we said this would offer more precision.

Not only would it offer more precision because of the stability of the bandwidth and its network distance, it would also mean its under our control and thus not throttled, thus more available. That would also mean more security and trust as you could put the NTP server in a local demilitarized zone (DMZ) which is often required to pass security accreditations.

However, to do all this requires cost: the cost to acquire and maintain a timekeeping device such as a GPS, the cost of the setup fees, the cost of additional equipments, the cost of training the team. Its all a question of money.

But lets say you want to deploy your own NTP server, whats available out there for you to use, what are the implementations.

The NTP reference implementation of the protocol, the canonical open source implementation, is called ntpd. It has continuously been developed and maintained for over 25 years.

It comes with sensible default configuration to fetch time from a pool of NTP servers on the internet. Most Unix-like distros have packages that are easy to set up.

What you can configure range from the location of the drift file to control local clock, to the location of the leap second and how its applied, to the clock discipline related configurations like jitter rate, to security options, to log locations, and to hardware driver related configurations like when you are setting up a stratum 1 server.

The ntpq utility allows to manage the NTP server, be it local or remote, and query its status and configurations. Similar to openssl, it has an interactive mode and a command line arguments mode.

For instance, the ntpq -p output is quite interesting.

Example output:

remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter ============================================================================== * time-A.timefreq .ACTS. 1 u 152 1024 377 43.527 -11 .093 3.982 +clock.isc.org 127.0.0.1 2 u 230 1024 377 67.958 -7 .729 0.071 time-a.nist.gov .ACTS. 1 u 323 1024 377 58.705 994.866 999.084

It displays the server name in the first column along with its state, a + meaning its a candidate server and * meaning its a peer. The refid column is the reference identifier weve mentioned. The st column is the stratum level of the server. The when column shows the number of seconds since weve last polled that server. The poll column is the number of seconds we have to wait between polls. The reach column is an octal bitmap of the result of the last 8 polls (377 means success for the last 8 polls). The delay column shows the number of milliseconds for the round trip, which weve said varies according to network stability and distance. The offset column is another term weve seen, it is the difference in milliseconds between your clock and the host. Finally, the jitter or disp column is the dispersion in the milliseconds, the difference between different queries to the same server, a measure of stability.

Another tool to test remote NTP servers is ntpdate . It can be used to initiate syncing local clock but when used with the -d option it can query an NTP server without changing system time.

Heres a trace:

> ntpdate -d time-b.nist.gov 30 Apr 19:04:27 ntpdate[72016]: ntpdate 4.2.8p14@1.3728-o Wed Mar 18 13:44:46 UTC 2020 ( 1 ) Looking for host time-b.nist.gov and service ntp 129.6.15.29 reversed to time-b-g.nist.gov host found : time-b-g.nist.gov transmit ( 129.6.15.29 ) receive ( 129.6.15.29 ) transmit ( 129.6.15.29 ) receive ( 129.6.15.29 ) transmit ( 129.6.15.29 ) receive ( 129.6.15.29 ) transmit ( 129.6.15.29 ) receive ( 129.6.15.29 ) server 129.6.15.29, port 123 stratum 1, precision -29 , leap 00, trust 000 refid [ NIST], root delay 0.000244, root dispersion 0.000488 reference time : e2557598.00000000 Thu, Apr 30 2020 19:04:40.000 originate timestamp: e255759a.e0bb5ccd Thu, Apr 30 2020 19:04:42.877 transmit timestamp: e255759a.c79bb883 Thu, Apr 30 2020 19:04:42.779 filter delay: 0.20827 0.23691 0.20261 0.21184 ---- ---- ---- ---- filter offset: +0.006270 +0.003106 +0.010331 +0.005027 ---- ---- ---- ---- delay 0.20261, dispersion 0.00426, offset +0.010331 30 Apr 19:04:42 ntpdate[72016]: adjust time server 129.6.15.29 offset +0.010331 sec

By now you should be able to read the values and understand what they mean.

There are many other implementations of NTP servers other than the canonical ntpd. You can find multiple comparison tables online that show the differences between them. Heres a few things that often get mentioned:

The type of license

The programming language used

The size of the program

How well the codebase is cleaned up and maintained

The time sources supported and their numbers

What reference clocks drivers are supported

The NTP modes it supports

Which protocol versions it has implemented

If you can create clusters/pools

The way the clock discipline works and can be configured

If it supports temperature compensation

How it handles leap seconds correction and if it can be configurable

Security and authentication mechanisms

If it has rate limiting functionalities

The way it timestamps, is it kernel based or hardware based

If it has a way to manage the RTC or not

Monitoring related functionality

The canonical implementation, ntpd, fully supports the specs as its the reference implementation, has been ported to the biggest number of operating systems, has the largest number of drivers, and is probably the most stable.

Chrony is another software that implements NTPv4. It has been written from scratch and is known to be well maintained and secure.

Chronys biggest selling point is that it works remarkably well in environments where the external time source isnt regularly available, a machine that is frequently disconnected from the internet. Though this begs the question of why use Chrony instead of relying on the built-in OS mechanisms weve seen in the previous section. You can even explicitly tell the daemon that you are about to go offline. The other biggest advantage of Chrony is that after an audit of multiple NTP implementation, it came out as the most secure between them. Chrony is also thought to be easier to configure than ntpd.

Unfortunately, Chrony lacks in the driver, OS, and specifications support department.

systemds timesyncd is a network time protocol daemon that implements an SNTP client, Simple Network Time Protocol, defined in RFC 4330. SNTP is a simplified version of NTP that uses the same network packet format but with a different way to deal with synchronization. It doesnt bother with the full NTP complexity and only focuses on querying time and synchronizing the system clock.

Thus, theres no hardware driver support for systemds timesyncd, but its very simple.

The advantage of having the time synced using a service manager is that it can be hooked to automatically start whenever the network is operational, whenever theres connectivity.

The status of the clock can be requested using timedatectl status .

Example of output:

> timedatectl status Local time : Thu 2020-04-30 19:26:56 EEST Universal time : Thu 2020-04-30 16:26:56 UTC RTC time : Thu 2020-04-30 16:26:56 Time zone: Asia/Beirut ( EEST, +0300 ) System clock synchronized: no NTP service: inactive RTC in local TZ: no

The NTP synchronization status can also be checked using timedatectl timesync-status .

Example output:

> timedatectl timesync-status Server: 162.159.200.1 ( 1.arch.pool.ntp.org ) Poll interval: 34min 8s ( min: 32s ; max 34min 8s ) Leap: normal Version: 4 Stratum: 3 Reference: A960804 Precision: 1us ( -25 ) Root distance: 32.142ms ( max: 5s ) Offset: -9 .034ms Delay: 49.905ms Jitter: 21.188ms Packet count: 418 Frequency: -27 .105ppm

The client configuration can be found in /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf with a format defined in the timesyncd.conf(5) manpage and systemd-timesyncd.service .

> timedatectl show-timesync --all LinkNTPServers = SystemNTPServers = FallbackNTPServers = 0.arch.pool.ntp.org 1.arch.pool.ntp.org 2.arch.pool.ntp.org 3.arch.pool.ntp.org ServerName = 1.arch.pool.ntp.org ServerAddress = 162.159.200.1 RootDistanceMaxUSec = 5s PollIntervalMinUSec = 32s PollIntervalMaxUSec = 34min 8s PollIntervalUSec = 34min 8s NTPMessage ={ Leap = 0, Version = 4, Mode = 4, Stratum = 3, Precision = -25 , RootDelay = 62.911ms, RootDispersion = 366us, Reference = A960804, OriginateTimestamp = Mon 2020-04-20 17:42:43 EEST, ReceiveTimestamp = Mon 2020-04-20 17:42:43 EEST, TransmitTimestamp = Mon 2020-04-20 17:42:43 EEST, DestinationTimestamp = Mon 2020-04-20 17:42:43 EEST, Ignored = no PacketCount = 372, Jitter = 15.678ms } Frequency = -1003040

BusyBox also offers a compact built-in SNTP implementation. But beware that no driftfile is used.

clockspeed by D. J. Bernstein is an even simpler approach to SNTP that uses the TSC register to adjust the ticking speed.

Another protocol called Berkeley Algorithm works by polling the time from all the machines on a network and taking the average, all the other machines then syncs with this time.

Yet another interesting implementation is HTP, the HTTP Time protocol. HTP relies on the Date header of HTTP, defined in the HTTP/1.1 RFC 2616. It uses statistical analysis to arrive at the most accurate time possible. So if you can access a webpage then you can sync time. Though this protocol isnt the most accurate nor the most secure.

Hence, lets see whats up with security and NTP. We know that anything that is on the network should be secure and trusted.

If, for example, an attacker effectuate a man-in-the-middle attack they would be to be able to change the time source for your machine. The security implications would be that certificates and signatures that shouldnt be trusted because they expired would be. It would tamper and mess logs too.

Thats one reason why browsers today show errors whenever the system clock is out of sync.

The NTP specifications have been there for so long that weve had plenty of years to find security issues and fix them, the reference implementation being the testing ground for them. The codebase is constantly audited.

For example, the first version of NTP were all clear text and thus had no protection against MITM attacks. The specifications added the need for authentication, checksums, and even encryptions via symmetric and public/private keys in the latest addendum.

There has been a move by the IETF to create this encryption overlay called Network Time Security (NTS). CloudFlare currently implements it but not many others.

Another project called NTPSec forks the ntpd source, tries to remove complexity and clean the code. Finding vulnerabilities in it.

Audits are important, as weve said, Chrony came out as the most secure between multiple NTP implementations.

I quote:

A 2017 security audit of three NTP implementations, conducted on behalf of the Linux Foundations Core Infrastructure Initiative, by the security firm Cure53 suggested that both NTP reference implementation and NTPsec were more problematic than Chrony from a security standpoint.

On the other hand, there are other types of things we need to care about. Weve discussed the polling issues and the lack of public NTP servers in the pool, and so its important for them to be able to withstand heavy loads. One attack relies on computationally expensive operations to take down a public NTP server, a denial of service (DDoS) called the Kiss ODeath Packet. In this attack the client sends a very small query that gets amplified to a huge output content and overloads the server. This is similar to DNS amplification attacks.

Another security issue related to how much we rely on NTP as a public service, is about how some IoT devices have been found to hard-code the address of NTP servers. These kinds of assumptions are dangerous.

The last thing I want to address in this section is another protocol for syncing system time with an external time source called PTP, the Precision Time Protocol.

PTP is used for when NTP doesnt provide enough precision, for critical measurement and control systems such as financial transactions or mobile phone tower transmissions. It is specially crafted for the local network scenario where you have a machine that has a reference clock device connected to it.

PTP was originally defined by the IEEE in 2002 in the IEEE 1588-2002 standard, officially entitled Standard for a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems, then reviewed in IEEE 1588-2008, PTPv2, and again reviewed in 2019 in IEEE 1588-2019.

PTP is similar to NTP in the way that it synchronizes time between machines but the difference is that it adds accurate network latency information using hardware timestamping.

Hardware assisted timestamp is done at the very lowest levels of the network stack such as the MAC layer, the ethernet transceiver, right before sending the packet. The clock can also be associated with network equipments. When the message passes through devices, as it traverses them, the timestamp is updated by them accurately. It is all helped with kernel features for PTP such as the socket option SO_TIMESTAMPING for packet timestamping.

So the timestamp offset is accurate, the delay precise and predictable, and with low latency, thats why PTP can achieve less than microsecond accuracy.

PTP runs on port 319 and 320 using both TCP and UDP for different scenarios.

It uses the same epoch as the Unix time however, while Unix time is based on UTC and is subject to leap seconds, PTP is based on the International Atomic Time (TAI).

An ordinary clock, in NTP parlance a reference clock, is the source of time in PTP that distributes it to a grandmaster, which can then again relay it to boundary clocks that others sync with. It is an architecture that is integrated with the network segmentation.

Within a group the system is automatically able to decide on who to elect as a master clock, which is the clock which is deemed the most accurate.

Lets end by saying that when push comes to shove, you can always buy a machine that comes with everything integrated instead of setting it up yourself.

In the next section well see systems that rely on precise time in special ways.

What depends on time

Consequences of bad system clock

Distributed systems

RTOS and scheduling

Weve hinted and mentioned some examples of what could happen if there is misbehavior in system time. What else could happen.

We rely on system time for anything related to communication with other humans, it creates the context of what is happening. It is also useful for sampling, data collecting for statistical analysis.

With an out-of-whack system time, logs will be out of synchronization and events will be hard to debug. It will be hard to correlate things with real life.

Database queries that rely on the now() to get the current time and date will also write the wrong values.

Many backup scripts will be messed up because they dont expect time to move backward or weirdly.

Similarly, cron jobs that you would have expected to start at a specific time may start at another that isnt appropriate.

The make utility also relies on the timestamp to know which files need to be recompiled. Mishaps in system time may lead it to always recompile the same files.

Many concepts in security such as certificate verification, one time code, and protocols for authentication rely on system time to be synchronized.

Apart from the human perception issues there are the countless overflows and rollovers weve mentioned. All of them being issues related to the size of the data structure that isnt enough to store what is needed, leading to either a rollover or unpredictable behavior by overflowing.

There are the problems related to time zones and daylight saving events. That can happen during the transition when computers repeat an event for one more hour or one hour less than the expected duration. This is tricky when those computers handle machineries and medical devices, it could harm lives or drive businesses to the ground.

Those can also lead to miscommunication between places that have different time zones or dont apply the same daylight saving time.

Programs that are not anticipating changes may need upgrade, things like email programs and calendars.

To resolve most of those its better not to use time zones and DST in these cases but to rely on UTC and leave civil time for display only. But as you know, theres still the issue of leap seconds.

Some domains need more synchronization than others, lets discuss distributed systems and real-time operating systems as examples.

A distributed computer system consists of multiple software pieces running on different computers but that still try to act as a single system.

In a distributed system, it is important to keep clock synchronization, to ensure all the computers have the same notion of time so that the execution runs on the same timeline.

What we truly care about is event ordering, to know what happens before what, cause and consequences.

In general there are two ways to keep things in order, you either use wall clocks, which are all the timekeeping devices weve been mentioning thus far, or you use logical clocks which are simple monotonous counters all going in a single direction.

Example of logical clocks include Lamport clocks and vector clocks.

The complication in distributed systems is that system clocks on different machines will eventually drift and so its hard to keep a strict ordering. Thats not whats expected of a consistent monotonic clock.

That is why logical clocks are favored as they resolve the chain of events and conflicts.

However, Logical clocks are not always an option. Another one could be to have a strong coordinator for timestamp in the middle where messages always pass through it. But that solution adds a bottleneck to the architecture and limits the availability of the system.

Yet again you could go back to wall clocks but rely on atomic time along with an NTP server, it is not a perfect solution but it avoids time zone, lea
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:14:08|Editor: huaxia

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By Bambang Purwanto

JAKARTA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Following the fluctuating rupiah in the past several days, the Indonesian currency eventually reached its highest value in April 2020, when its rate was previously recorded in the range between 15,430 and 15,295 against U.S. dollar.

It turned out that rupiah could show its strength when it hit its highest rate of 15,000 to the greenback as recorded on Thursday's closing session of the Jakarta inter-bank market, not until the end of 2020 as expected by the Indonesian central bank's Governor Perry Warjiyo.

The Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia, was optimistic that rupiah would strengthen to 15,000 per U.S. dollar by the end of this year in line with the lender's policy on efforts to stabilize the value of rupiah against foreign currencies including the U.S. dollar, Warjiyo told journalists on April 7.

According to him, the central bank would continue to maintain and stabilize the value of rupiah at the current position or even higher by intervening in the spot market and buying state bonds on the secondary market.

He pointed out that some indicators showed the strengthening of the rupiah value including the high interests of domestic and foreign investors who buy state bonds on the market.

"The positive sentiment can be seen from the high number of bids on the state bonds which were valued at 44.4 trillion rupiahs (some 2.9 billion U.S. dollars)," he told the press recently.

The indicators also include the prediction of the current account deficit which could be below 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2020, or lower than that in the previous estimation of 2.5 percent to 3 percent of the GDP.

In addition to those internal indicators, the external signs also give positive sentiments to the Indonesian currency including the strengthening of the futures trading in the United States and Europe.

Likewise, Bank Indonesia, the Financial Service Authority, the Coordinating Ministry for Economy and the Finance Ministry have been communicating with global investors to make them confident in Indonesia which remains strong amid the current COVID-19 pandemic as the country has been taking various measures including the fiscal stimulus to improve its economy.

A number of observers from several companies in the country agreed with Bank Indonesia and the government that the Indonesian currency would remain to stay at 15,000 rupiahs against U.S. dollar or even stronger.

Among the observers is Director of a foreign exchange trading company PT TRFX Garuda Berjangka, Ibrahim Assuaibi, who said recently that the external positive sentiments on rupiah also include a question on the effectiveness of Gilead Sciences antivirus drug to cure the COVID-19.

However, he said, domestic sentiment is also able to make rupiah stronger against foreign currencies including the U.S. dollar.

According to him, the market has appreciated the government's policy on prohibiting people from return to their hometowns for celebrating the Muslims' post-fasting festivity Ied-al-Fitr.

"This gives fresh air to the Indonesian currency as the people abide by the policy. The homecoming for the Indonesian people, especially Muslims, is a transcendental importance," he said, adding that the mixed polices made by Bank Indonesia and the government have regained the trust from the market.

Showing the same opinion with Assuaibi, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), Rosan Roeslani, said recently the Indonesian currency would continue to be at 15,000 rupiahs against the greenback at least until the end of 2020, or even stronger.

"I agree with Bank Indonesia that rupiah will stay at 15,000 against the U.S. dollar or even stronger," he said.

However, he also called on Bank Indonesia and the government to take anticipatory measures on possible negative sentiment on rupiah as a number of companies still need foreign currencies.

Another factor comes from an international rating agency Fitch Ratings which has lowered the rate of 2020 Indonesian economic growth to 2.88 percent or lower than that in the previous year. Enditem
Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhis decision to place the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under his rule this week has riled the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF) - an alliance partner of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

Mukhi had placed the BTC, which covers four districts collectively called the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), under governors rule on Monday after the state election commission expressed inability to hold polls there due to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown. BTCs tenure expired on April 27.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, former BTC chief and president of BPF, Hagrama Mohilary, opposed the decision to impose governors rule in the BTC and informed that his party has filed a petition in the Gauhati High Court against Mukhis order.

Due to the Covid-19, the elections of the BTC have been postponed. In this time of emergency, people here need our government more. Mohilary tweeted.

But instead of extending the term, the Honourable Governor has given the charge of the BTAD to the Principal Secretary of Assam. We strongly oppose this decision and filed a petition in Gauhati High Court against this order, he added.

The BPF was in power in the BTC since 2003 when the BTAD was formed. Former rebel turned politician Mohilary was the chief of the BTC for the past 17 years. The party is part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Assam of which Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is also a part.

Though we are in an alliance with the BJP in the state, we are forced to reconsider our understanding. We are looking at other alternatives. I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah to look into the matter, Mohilary said in another tweet.

Elections to the BTC council were due on April 4, but the state election commission deferred it indefinitely on March 20 because of the Covid-19 crisis.

With the lockdown continuing, the state election commission informed Mukhi about its ability to conduct polls to the BTC general council while adhering to social distancing and other restrictions because of Covid-19.

The Governor appointed Rajesh Prasad, IAS, principal secretary to the Assam government as the administrator of the BTC areas.

The Governor decided to bring the BTC under his rule as per provisions of the 6th Schedule of the Constitution. It is for the BPF to decide whether they want to continue in the ruling alliance or take some other measures, said a senior BJP state office-bearer requesting anonymity.

Even if the BPF pulls out of the ruling alliance, it wont threaten the government. The BPF has 12 MLAs in the 126-member assembly while the BJP-AGP coalition has 74-well over the half-way mark of 64.

Elections to the Assam assembly is due in April next year.

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Gordon Ramsays neighbours are said to be furious with the TV chef for allegedly breaking coronavirus lockdown rules.

Ramsay is said to be out all the time despite the UK government enforcing strict guidelines in an attempt to stop the spread of the illness.

The chef lives in Cornwall, where he has three homes, but has reportedly been told off by the coastguard for ignoring the rules.

Weve seen him multiple times in several places, an insider told The Sun. We had no choice but to give a warning.

According to the report, Ramsay was told: Look, everybody knows who you are and this is ridiculous. You are not following the rules. You need to keep your head down and stay indoors.

A neighbour of the chefs said: Hes out all the time. Hell go to fishmongers and shops to get food for his barbecues. He doesnt abide by the rules.

Its also been claimed that Ramsey has visited his holiday home in Fowey  located 25 miles away from his residence  to visit his daughter, Holly, while the boyfriends of two others have allegedly been regularly dropping in to visit.

These claims come after Ramsay was branded a hypocrite for appearing in a cookery video that urged people to stay at home... to stop this dreadful virus.

The Independent has contacted Gordon Ramsay for comment.
The Abbey Theatre had its strangest ever opening night last Tuesday. A viewership of 4,000 assembled on YouTube to watch the premiere of Dear Ireland (Part 1) - a theatrical rapid response to the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic shutting down all our theatres. The whole event comprises 50 short monologue plays, premiered in four parts over four nights, created by 50 writers and self-taped by 50 performers.

The pieces all tackle the virus and its problems, some head on, others more obliquely. Though they are all essentially making YouTube art, these are artists trained in theatre, and the work has a pleasing, underlying theatrical identity. The theatre animal is there, lurking and hidden, but still vigorous.

Actor Marion O'Dwyer gives chippy life to a divorce lawyer in Iseult Golden's An Impossible Woman; she is a mother trying to reconnect with her estranged daughter during lockdown. It's the type of part in which comedienne O'Dwyer is rarely cast, but she is terrific in this straight role.

The riveting intensity of Patrick O'Kane's performance style gets a fine outing in Owen McCafferty's seaside-set Home, which deals with Covid-19 bereavement.

Tuesday night's offerings ends with Gina Moxley's pointed A Start; this confronts the issue of pandemic-related unemployment in the arts, drawing parallels between her current writing task and the building of roads as public relief works during the Famine. Timmy Creed's quirky performance reflects the angular and original instincts of Moxley's mind. This is filmed in west Kerry, Creed's place of isolation, an area plentiful with famine roads leading nowhere; a blackly comic metaphor for pointless effort.

A highlight of Wednesday night's line-up (Part 2) is Italian Andrea Molina's Beckettian percussion poem I Want the Things about the value and limitations of metaphor and symbol in the currently challenged theatre. Performed by musician and percussion artist David Moss, this virtuoso display adds a delightful element of inarticulacy to a sophisticated soundscape conjured from found percussive objects including a ping-pong ball, a light switch and a beer can. Writer Aoife Martyn's pleasingly unsentimental nurse in Night 4 is given meaningful life in a terse, crisis-ridden performance by Norma Sheahan; this vignette captures an old man determined to tell a joke, who finds a reluctant audience in a harried, distressed nurse. Sheahan's performance is outstanding, played against a background of stockpiled loo-roll. In Gorse, Michael West's university lecturer is conscious that he is colluding in his own extinction as he prepares his lecture for delivery online, his life in crisis. Actor Mark Doherty captures the chaotic mind of this troubled man, buffeted by professional worries, distressed at his wife's absence, struggling with a yearning to visit his mother.

Longing for mothers and fathers features often in these playlets. It is the seam of vulnerability and distress that runs through them. That is one of the major differences between Covid-19 and other more familiar illnesses; it has come for the old, not the young. We are hardwired to protect children, not parents - that strange social dissonance finds expression here.

The plays taken together capture a sense of overwhelming bewilderment. Many fine ideas could do with a dramaturgical tidy-up. The scanty production values make some of it feel "on the hoof" - though others are very well-presented. The most effective plays are those creating a strong character with meaningful emotional appeal. Less successful in this format are the more cerebral and meditative offerings. Like medieval strolling players, the Abbey has grabbed opportunity where it may; being denied a proper stage, they have effectively commandeered a slender ledge in cyberspace.
Seasoned diplomat T S Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, was on Wednesday appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

A 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Tirumurti succeeds Syed Akbaruddin who is credited with effectively presenting India's position on a range of crucial issues at the global body's headquarters in New York for last several years.

Akbaruddin, one of the most visible faced of Indian diplomacy, played a crucial role in pushing for designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" by the UN as well as in stalling China's efforts to raise the Kashmir issue at the world body.

Akbaruddin has been serving as India's Permanent Representative at the UN since January 2016. He is due for retirement shortly.

"Tirumurti has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York," the MEA said in a statement.

At present, he is holding the key position of Secretary, Economic Relations, at the MEA headquarters in Delhi.

As part of a diplomatic reshuffle, the government also appointed Jaideep Mazumdar as India's ambassador to Austria. At present, Mazumdar is serving as Indian envoy to the Philippines.

Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal was appointed as India's Ambassador to Qatar, a country considered important in the Gulf region. Mittal is currently serving as joint secretary in the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division of the ministry.

Another senior diplomat, Piyush Srivastava, has been named India's next Ambassador to Bahrain. At present, he is serving as Joint Secretary in the Nepal and Bhutan division of the ministry.

The government has also appointed senior diplomat Namrata S Kumar as India's next ambassador to Slovenia.
A Florida man who thought it was a tropical paradise to camp in Walt Disney World during the coronavirus is now banned from the companys properties, and faces trespassing charges.

Orange County authorities were called to Discovery Island on Thursday after a man was spotted on the property, which is closed to the public because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to ClickOrlando.

The news outlet reported that authorities searched by foot, boat and helicopter until they found 42-year-old Richard McGuire, whose attention they had to grab with a loudspeaker because he was sleeping inside one of the buildings.

Discovery Island opened to the public as Treasure Island in 1974, but closed in 1999. It hasnt been accessible for visits since then.

McGuire said he didnt known the property was closed=. He told authorities hed been there since Monday or Tuesday and planned on staying about a week, ClickOrlando reported.

Orange County authorities said the 42-year-old was arrested for trespassing on posted property and ordered not to return to any Walt Disney World properties.

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Government of Jaipur, Deshbandhu College, Delhi University is looking for experienced candidates to fill the vacant posts of Assistant Professor. If you have passed postgraduate degree in related subject and have experience then you can apply for this post by eligible and eligible candidates from 3-5-2020. This is the last date to apply. You should apply for this job as soon as possible. Eligible and interested candidates for the last date to apply, application fee, selection process for the job, age limit for the job, details of the posts, the names of the posts, educational qualifications for the job, total number of posts You can get very important information related to the job below.

Post Name - Assistant Professor

Total Posts - 10

Location- Delhi

Age limit:

The maximum age of the candidates will be valid as per the rules of the department and reserved category will be given age relaxation.

Salary:

The candidates who will be selected for these posts will be given a salary as per the rules of the department.

Qualification:

Candidates should have a masters degree in any subject related to any recognized institution and have experience in the teaching field.

Apply in this way:

Eligible and interested candidates apply on the prescribed format of the application form, along with education and other qualifications, date of birth and other necessary information and documents, along with self-restrictive copies and send it before the due date.

Millions of Indians face threat to jobs, Oman government enacted new law

Vacancy on the posts of vice president, know the application date

Job opening for 1070 specialist posts, salary Rs 1,10,000/-
The U.N. meteorological agency says depletion of the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation, briefly reached an unprecedented level over large swaths of the Arctic in March.

The World Meteorological Organization reported Friday that the spike stemmed from the lingering presence of man-made ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere and very cold temperatures in the stratosphere that prevented ozone from reaching the northern region.

WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis said conditions were back to normal again in April, describing the temporary depletion as not a cause for exceptional concern.

Nullis credited an international accord known as the Montreal Protocol, which has sharply curtailed production of substances like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that harm the ozone layer, for helping to limit the springtime depletion this year.

The World Meteorological Organization said that sunlight, wind fields, harmful chemicals and temperatures below -80 degrees Celsius (-112 F) drive the formation of ozone holes. Most ozone depletion in the Arctic occurs in the polar vortex, a region of fast-blowing circular winds, it said.

Arctic ozone loss tends to be far less severe than in the Antarctic.
Low-income families across the Roanoke Valley received deliveries this week of practical necessities they might not otherwise be able to afford during the coronavirus pandemic. These COVID-19 survival kits were distributed to more than 320 families by the United Way-funded Early Learners Collaborative, which includes more than a dozen local nonprofit agencies.

The kits include food boxes, activity kits, books, fresh produce, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies and other items, according to a news release. The Collaborative is led by the Child Health Investment Partnership of the Roanoke Valley, which is an early childhood home-visitation program that benefits low-income families.

Most of the young families served through CHIP before the pandemic hit were really struggling, and now we are learning that most have lost their jobs and cannot afford food, diapers and other essentials, CHIP CEO Robin Haldiman said in the release. It warms my heart to see our community coming together through this crisis to provide for so many in desperate need.

CHIP Director of Development Autumn Lavering said deliveries will continue in the coming weeks to replenish items.

The Early Learners Collaborative is a program that allows CHIPs partner agencies to provide families with additional services, Lavering said.

The program is in its second year, she said. That put the group in a good place to ramp up resources when the COVID-19 pandemic started to affect local families.

We were just able to pivot a little bit, she said.

Nonprofit partner agencies include Kids Soar, Boys and Girls Club, Kids Square, LEAP and Feeding America. They built and produced activity kits, STEAM kits and food boxes for the families, according to the release.

Central Church of the Brethren and Elevation Church provided in-kind donations.

This is one of the bright spots in the midst of this crisis  seeing neighbors joining together in support of our most vulnerable families, said United Way of Roanoke Valley President and CEO Abby Hamilton. People are answering the call for compassion, as our community has always done in times of crisis.

At its core, CHIP pairs young children, their guardians and pregnant moms with a community health nurse and a case manager to provide assistance to access medical services and prepare children for school.

CHIP also offers programs that target specific needs, such as mental health counseling, oral health and family strengthening services, according to its annual report.

Through the Early Learners Collaborative, CHIP has been able to offer supplementary services to its families, such as child care, after-school programs, job training and more, Lavering said.

The Collaborative aims to elevate 10,000 families to self-sufficiency by 2030, according to CHIPs annual report.

Families interested in enrolling in CHIP can call (540) 857-6993.

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Italys Kino Produzioni, which is in competition at Visions du Reel with Sicily-set Il Mio Corpo, has teamed up with Swedens Fasad on About the End, a timely apocalypse-themed doc.

Described in promotional materials as being about the apocalypses that we have survived, and those that we are still waiting for, this creative doc backed by the Sundance Institute is being prepped by Italian filmmaker and visual artist Cristina Picchi.

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Picchis previous docs have screened in Venice, Locarno and Nyon where her Cinetrain: Russian Winter won a Visions du Reel audience award in 2014.

Fasad, which originated the project, is the shingle behind The Raft which won Germanys Prix Europa for best doc last year.

Kino is now in talks for a top Italian broadcaster to come on board About the End for which the original plan was to start shooting late this summer, says Kino chief Giovanni Pompili. He added that due to the coronavirus outbreak he now needs to understand when cameras will be able to roll.

Prior to the pandemic, Picchi did research in Quebec, Indonesia, and Tuscany for the project that intertwines three narratives.

The basic idea behind About the End is to immersively explore the concept of apocalypse in its emotional, metaphorical, philosophical and socio-political manifestations, according to the synopsis, ultimately touching on themes such as human transiency and vulnerability.

In Quebec viewers will see a post-apocalyptic community of activists who are dismantling radar stations that had been installed in the Arctic region during the Cold War. The Indonesia shoot will look at how people live under the countrys most active volcano, Mount Merapi, their rituals to placate the gods and how they decide its time to evacuate. The Italy portion is set in an abandoned Tuscan monastery, the Bug Out Location chosen by an ascetic former nun named Teresa to prep for impending doom by praying, doing martial arts and wishing she had a gun.

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As a producer I always use narratives steeped in social reality as the starting point for my projects, says Pompili who also has another doc in the works, titled Abbiamo Vinto Noi (We Are The Winners). Its being helmed by veteran Italian documaker Giovanni Piperno who co-directed Le Cose Belle with Agostino Ferrente (Selfie).

We Are The Winners  on which Matteo Garrones Archimede is a minority co-producer  is set in youth centers on the impoverished outskirts of several Italian cities. It involves film laboratories held by Piperno with street kids who make shorts about life in their hoods. The ongoing black-and-white project has already spawned several prizewinning shorts shot in Romes Tor Sapienza quarter.

Meanwhile in the scripted feature film realm, Kino recently made Carlo Sironis Sole, the love story intertwined with baby trafficking thats been making an international splash after launching last year from Venice and Toronto (Sironi is among Varietys 10 European Directors to watch).

Kinos new narrative feature film projects include Delta by Michele Vannucci (Il Piu Grande Sogno) and La Bella Estate, a free-form adaptation of Cesare Paveses eponymous collection of short novels to be directed by Laura Luchetti whose drama Twin Flower is among Italys recent standout titles.

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Those on the COVID-19 front lines are at high risk of contracting the disease. A new effort by UCLA professors aims to monitor their health. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

In Las Vegas, an ER doctor infected by COVID-19 was critically ill and getting worse, and his chest X-ray gave him a fright.

I looked at it and thought, My God, Im gonna die.

But a call went out to a California pathologist, and soon a medical courier was driving from Santa Maria to Nevada with a container of frozen plasma packed in a cooler box.

Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 death toll rose, with first responders and healthcare workers among the victims, UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin was not about to wait around for government support for something she thought could help crack some of the mysteries of the coronavirus and save lives.

UCLA epidemiologist Anne Rimoin. (Jilly Wendell)

So she launched the effort on her own.

These two stories, one in Las Vegas and one in Los Angeles, are not directly related but theres an obvious connection.

Were in a scary, uncertain place at the moment, and may be for quite a while. But its comforting to know that when it comes to the science of developing vaccines, and valiant efforts to keep people alive in the meantime, the race to beat the virus is being waged on many fronts.

Let me start with the UCLA effort and then get back to the Las Vegas doctor who feared he might not pull through.

Before I spoke to Dr. Rimoin, The Times had reported that 3,100 healthcare workers in California had tested positive for COVID-19 in California. Ten of them had died.

Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 people tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work for their own safety last month in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

We have a moral duty to protect those workers, Rimoin said. The first thing about people on the front lines is that theyre terrified, theyre living in hotels, theyre making out wills, theyre living in garages not knowing about their status, and not wanting to expose loved ones, she added.

Rimoin, an infectious disease expert who developed a healthcare worker monitoring program in Democratic Republic of the Congo, told me she wanted to replicate that model here. Rather than write grant proposals and wait months to hear back, she went to a trusted colleague at UCLA  Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, a virology immunology expert who oversees 200 research labs in 18 countries  and together they started the UCLA COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative.

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Dr. Grace Aldrovandi, a virology immunology expert. (Handout)

The effort will try to determine how many workers test positive without symptoms, look for signs of pre-symptomatic infection, seek to better understand how the body builds immunity and how durable that protection is, examine the prevalence of reinfection, begin building a plasma bank to provide antibody serum to patients, and aid efforts to develop vaccines and other therapies.

The body sees a pathogen and rallies up an army. It makes antibodies that go and neutralize a virus, Aldrovandi said, and the research is about developing an arsenal of ammunition.

Rimoin and Aldrovandi tapped every resource we had between us for start-up money. Donations came from  among others  Hollywood A-listers Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, both of whom are COVID-19 survivors.

In its first phase, the program has already enrolled several hundred UCLA healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, medical aides and room attendants, for repeated viral screening that includes nasal swabs, saliva samples and blood draws.

They're hoping to increase that number to 4,000 workers, the doctors said. And then, if they can raise more money, theyd like to add 4,000 first responders to the study, along with 4,000 more healthcare workers from community hospitals.

Im a big fan of this and its going to give us some information we dont currently have, said Dr. Clayton Kazan, medical director of the L.A. County Fire Department, which is prepared to have a few thousand employees participate in the research as the UCLA effort ramps up.

The county fire department has already had 17 employees test positive, Kazan said. He said that despite strict personal protection requirements for paramedics and other employees, many firefighters consider themselves invincible, and he worries that, as time passes, they will start being more lax, on the theory that they have probably already been exposed, built immunity to COVID-19 and are now safe.

Regular screening, he said, will make it easier to quickly isolate infected employees, limit the spread of the virus and remind first responders they they can't relax self-protection protocols.

Let me get back now to the story of Dr. Garrett Emery, the ER physician who took ill in Las Vegas.

Dr. George Yu, a pulmonologist in Ventura County, recruited a convalescing COVID-19 patient to donate plasma that was given to two critical COVID-19 patients. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

I heard about Emery from Dr. George Yu, the Camarillo lung specialist I wrote about two weeks ago when he recruited a convalescing COVID-19 patient to donate plasma that was given to two critical COVID-19 patients. The first recipient died; the second, a Santa Maria resident, has come back from the brink of death but is still hospitalized.

I began feeling ill the first week of April, Dr. Emery told me by phone. Hes a traveling ER doctor but lives in Las Vegas.

I had difficulty breathing, a cough  some unusual sensations throughout my body and a burning in my chest. It almost felt like I could feel my lungs being damaged," said Emery, who also had a horrible metallic taste in his mouth.

A doctor prescribed hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug thats been in the news as a possible cure with potentially harmful side effects, and Zithromax, an antibiotic. Emery only got worse. He has an oximeter, the finger clip that measures the level of oxygen in the blood, and saw that he was in the low 80s.

Dr. Garrett Emery is an ER physician who became seriously ill with the coronavirus and thought he was going to die. (Handout)

It should be in the high 90s, Emery said. My respiratory rate increased, I was breathing very quickly and at that point I realized, I gotta go to the hospital."

That was on the morning of April 16. His lab work was not great and a chest X-ray showed moderate lung congestion. He wanted to go home and nurse himself, but kept getting worse, to the point he feared he might have to be intubated and put on a ventilator.

Doctors tried high-flow oxygen for a day, then took another chest X-ray.

It was one of the worst X-rays I have seen with this disease. Both my lungs were filled with gunk, Emery said.

He continued to deteriorate, and his doctors recommended an infusion of convalescent plasma. One of them called Marissa Li, a California-based pathologist with Vitalant, a nonprofit blood donation company thats accepting and distributing plasma donations. Li located some plasma that matched Emerys blood type at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria.

When Dr. Garrett Emery continued to deteriorate, his doctors recommended an infusion of convalescent plasma. (Handout)

A courier drove the plasma to Las Vegas on April 19 and the infusion began around midnight.

So the next day was the 20th and I was still bad, but in the afternoon things started to improve and I was requiring less oxygen, Emery said.

On the morning of the 21st, 36 hours after the infusion, I felt 30% to 40% better.  I had no fever for the first day in two weeks.  I got my taste back and was able to get the oxygen turned all the way off.

When someone recovers from COVID-19, its not clear why they improved, or whether they would have gotten better without medication. But Emery said he strongly believes the serum did the trick for him, and a phone conversation with Dr. Yu made him all the more certain.

Yu told me he studied Emerys lab work in collaboration with Emerys doctors in Nevada. He said Emery was in the midst of a cytokine storm, an often fatal condition in which the body attacks its own cells.

As a lung specialist and critical-care specialist, Ive never seen a turnaround like this, Yu said. Ive seen many cytokine storms, but Ive never seen one progress to this stage and then make a U-turn.

Emery went home a few days after receiving the infusion and told me he plans to return to work on Friday.

So heres hoping he continues to soldier on, that the UCLA researchers find ways to better understand what were up against, and that we continue to fight back with everything we have.

Steve.lopez@latimes.com
After spending part of March and all of April at home, many people are finding that their television queues are watched, their video games are won, and their chores are done (or avoided!). As they search for more creative ways to pass the time, hobbies like painting, embroidery, and jogging are making a resurgence.

Though finding fun and productive ways to pass time is important for wellbeing, Dr. Christine Rutter, a clinical assistant professor and emergency and critical care specialist at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says that pet owners should be cognizant of any hazards these new hobbies might introduce into their pets environment.

I'm seeing a very different variety of injuries at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Rutter said. I'm seeing a lot of pets eating a sewing needle because their mom is home and sewing, something that she wouldn't normally do, or I took the puppy fishing and now there's a fishhook in his paw.

If pet owners are learning a hobby like sewing, knitting, crocheting, fishing, or another activity that relies on sharp tools and supplies, it is important that they keep potentially dangerous equipment stored out-of-reach from their pet. Other craft supplies, like some paints, modeling clays, and glues, can also be dangerous if ingested.

Decrease opportunities for environmental injury, Rutter said, If youre trying out new hobbies or activities, make sure that youre keeping the things (tools, etc.) associated with those hobbies safely away from your pets.

Pet owners exploring more physical hobbies, such as jogging, should also be mindful of how a change in routine affects their animal.

Whenever you're starting a new exercise routine with your pet, you want to do the same thing that we would recommend for any human starting a new exercise program, Rutter said. Talk to your veterinarian; if your dog has co-morbidities  things like underlying chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, respiratory disease, chronic coughing, if they've had any changes in their bark or difficulty breathing, or if your pet has an orthopedic disease, a history of limping, history of joint issues or replacement  you really want to make sure that you start off slow.

As the weather warms up, it is also important that owners consider how the heat may affect their pet, especially during exercise.

In Texas, heat and humidity are a big deal, she said. You probably should not go out and exercise your dog a lot when it's very humid; with humidity over about 60 percent or temperatures over about 80 or 85, we start worrying about heatstroke. Also, keep exercise sessions short when you can't stay underneath those environmental restrictions.

Heatstroke is a very serious condition that requires emergency veterinary care.

If you suspect your pet has heat stress at any time, that is not a time to wait and see what happens. If your pet seems exhausted on a walk, has trouble breathing, is panting and can't stop, vomits, or seems dazed or can't stand up, those would be emergencies, Rutter said. You should not feel at all bad about going to your veterinarian's office immediately.

It can also be helpful to cool your pet down by wetting them, she said. However, you should not put them in ice water  just lukewarm water, wet their fur, and head to the closest veterinary hospital because heatstroke is a huge emergency, and dogs die of it every day.

Though it is important that pet owners are mindful of how changes in activity might affect their furry running partner, Rutter says that most dogs would benefit from being included in this new hobby.

I wouldn't want to dissuade people from exercising their pets or having a good walk, because they need ways to get out their frustration and their anxiety, she said. They need a way to get that out, and a walk is a really great way to provide them not just the physical exercise, but also that social structure.

A new hobby can be a healthy outlet and productive way to pass the time at home. There are plenty of activities owners might wish to pursue while sheltering in place, and many can be done with a cat in your lap or a dog by your side, provided owners make the correct adjustments to keep their furry friend safe.

Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk . Suggestions for future topics may be directed to editor@cvm.tamu.edu .
WATERLOO  A blue Subaru connected with an Arizona missing persons case is believed to be in the Waterloo area, according to investigators looking for Elissa Kaye Landry and her stepfather, David Nicholas Batten. On Friday, authorities recovered a car from a Waterloo lake, but it turned out the vehicle wasnt related to the disappearance of the two Chino Valley, Ariz., residents.

Police said they believe Landrys boyfriend, 24-year-old Mitchell Allen Mincks, formerly of Waterloo, drove the vehicle from Arizona to Iowa after the disappearance, possibly with Landrys two dogs onboard.

We dont see how Mitchell got to Iowa without that Subaru, Lt. Randy Chapman said Saturday.

The vehicle is a blue 2013 Subaru Forester with Arizona womens veteran plate WV1236  Landry had served in the military. Her dogs were also discovered loose in Waterloo in recent days, Chapman said.

The mystery started April 21, when Landry, Batten and Mincks were reported missing from Chino Valley. Arizona authorities say they located evidence at Battens home that leads them to believe Batten and Landry are dead.

The investigation led to Black Hawk County last week when Mincks was found at a Doris Lane home near Raymond. Mincks was detained on a supervised release violation warrant out of U.S. District Court in Arizona.

Landry, 28, and Batten, 45, and her Subaru remain unaccounted for, and Chino Valley investigators have been in the Waterloo area working with local agencies to gather evidence and pursue leads.

On Tuesday, investigators said they are classifying the disappearances as a homicide case.

Mincks has refused to cooperate in the investigation, according to Chino Valley police.

Last week, Landrys dogs were discovered roaming in a park in the Waterloo area, Chapman said. He said the dogs were captured, and a scan of their chips confirmed they were hers.

The dogs are in the care of a local shelter, police said.

On Friday, authorities sent a dive team with Cedar Valley Underwater Rescue and Recovery and a boat crew with Waterloo Fire Rescue to Harold Getty Lake at the Riverview Recreation Area  formerly known as the Mitchell Pits.

Divers found a car, which was pulled from the water. It turned out to be an Oldsmobile that had likely been underwater for years, and not linked to the Arizona case, authorities said.

Capt. Mark Herbst with the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office said there wasnt any specific information that led them to the lake. He said investigators searched the lake and other areas based on police experience of finding missing vehicles in the past.

Back in Arizona, police have searched numerous areas for signs of the missing pair, including spots were Batten, a firearms enthusiast, like to go for target practice. Batten and Landrys phones turned up in an April 26 ground and air search in the area of State Route 89 and Drake Road north of Chino Valley, police said.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered Mincks to be returned to Arizona for the supervision warrant after he waived his right to a hearing in Iowa. As of Saturday, Mincks remained in the Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids awaiting transport by the U.S. Marshal Service.

Batten is described as a 45-year-old white male, about 6 feet tall and weighing 255 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Landry is a 28-year-old white female, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing 155 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Chino Valley Police at 928-636-4223, the Yavapai County Sheriffs Office at (928) 771-3260 or local law enforcement.

Locally, they can call Black Hawk County Dispatch at 319-291-2515 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers at (855) 300-TIPS (8477). Tips may also be left at WWW.CVCRIMESTOP.COM Tips may also be sent with TipSubmit or by texting the word CEDAR plus the information to CRIMES (274637).







Arizona missing persons

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Its no secret that Kanye West has confidence. The billionaire rapper is in the process of turning a Wyoming ranch into a compound where people can come learn about his ideas and facilitate a paradigm shift for humanity. If he didnt believe his ideas were revolutionary, then he wouldnt be so excited about preaching them. From his Sunday services to his new gospel music, West is obsessed with spreading his ideas of art. And that, according to West, also makes him a superhero.

Kanye West uses art to communicate

West is involved in a lot of creative pursuits. He has his music, of course, but then there is also his fashion line and the architectural work hes doing on the ranch and in his California home. He seems to use art as a way of communicating his beliefs about life.

In fact, West considers words to be a lower form of communication. He prefers to use alternate means, such as art to express himself.

We got to make things that leave people speechless, West told GQ for their May cover story. We have to make things on the level where no one can say anything.

Although he uses art as communication, its not a perfect system. There are so many different ideas and concepts working themselves out in Wests head, that he says his art is never truly done. Its always evolving, but hes okay with that.

Art never fully explains itself, and art is never fully done, West said.

Kanye West claims his art makes him a superhero

Kanye West | Rich Fury/Getty Images

With all this creative output, its no surprise that West considers himself an artist. But what is slightly surprising is the way he views artists in general- as superheroes.

Me being normal- thats not even a true statement, West said. You know what is normal to me? An act. I can act normal, and thats me as Clark Kent. But artists are people who have embraced themselves as a superhero.

Obviously, West isnt saying that he can fly. But it shows how much he believes in the work that hes doing. And really, without artists, our world would be a dry place. So, maybe hes on to something.

Kanye West claims he used to be arrogant- but not anymore

Comparing himself to a superhero would make most people think that West has a very high regard for himself. He certainly has a lot of confidence, but West insists that it isnt arrogance. At least, not the work that hes doing now.

During his GQ interview, West explained that his work before he became a Christian could be called arrogant. Hes always pushed himself to be the best version of himself, his own brand of superhero. But before, he was doing it for the wrong reasons.

I think the arrogance could have come from the fact that I wasnt working for God, West said, but I was working for my ego, which is like working for the devil.

Now, West insists that hes not pushing his ideas on the world. Hes just being himself. And if other people see that, and like what they see, then so be it.

So look, he explained, Im not telling anybody who they should vote on, what they should wear, where they should live. Im doing me. If you just so happen to catch a photograph of me doing me, thats what I was doing! Im not doing nobody else in the photograph.

That attitude probably comes as a relief to the public. There are so many who dread those who preach their lifestyle to the rest of the world, especially someone who believes themselves a superhero, its nice to know West is just trying to be himself.
Today, on May 2, Ukrainian businessmen held a protest near the Presidents Office, during which they demanded authorities allow the summer terraces of cafes and restaurants to operate in lockdown. It is reported by Strana. During the protest, organizers brought and situated tables with a distance of 1.5 meters from each other. All those present were masked, and on each table there were two bottles of antiseptic.According to the businessman and organizer of the action, Dmytro Fedotenkov, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to a rally, but he did not join such a picnic.I dont know if he will attend. Today is a day off, but we set him a personal table closer to the exit from the administration, the businessman said.It is known that the action was supposed to start at 16:00, but a sudden downpour spoiled the plans of the organizers. The guests of the event were treated by pizza and lemonade, and all the funds from the sale of the dishes will be directed to help doctors.

As we reported, co-owner of the Tarantino family Dmytro Fedotenkov e

xplained that all the tables on the improvised summer terrace had already been booked, but nevertheless the organizers invited MP Mykola Tishchenko, whose restaurant, during quarantine, continued to receive distinguished guests, representatives of the Ministry of Health and would definitely allocate a table for Volodymyr Zelensky.

"Tomorrow, as planned, we open a summer terrace of an experimental type. On the square in front of the Presidential Office. Our application for a secular lunch is in the building of the Kyiv City State Administration. I hope that no surprises and difficulties will happen," Fedotenkov writes in social networks.

He explains that the event is scheduled to be peaceful, and the menu is delicious.

Let me remind you that all the tables will be located at a distance of more than one and a half meters. The waiters, they are couriers in masks and gloves, the guests have the same dress code. Those who do not have masks will be given out at the entrance. We will lubricate our hands with an antiseptic. Theres no more than two person. All tables have already been booked," the report said.

Also, additional tables promise to allocate for the press.

I want to emphasize that summer terraces are already working in Europe, and more precisely in Cherkassy, and no one is initiating criminal cases, and the business has got the opportunity to restore its activities. I hope that the same story will happen soon with us, wrote the co-owner of the restaurant.
ITV is hopeful of returning to Australia for Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (UK).

Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival via video link, the ITV boss Kevin Lygo confirmed it is likely to go ahead in Australia in December, but are looking for alternative programming if its not possible.

The Ant & Dec series normally films near Murwillumbah, NSW in November and draws big British audiences when it airs.

The Sun claims ITV is advertising for crew in Australia.

Meanwhile 10 is yet to formally renew the Australian production, which did well for 10 in January, but which films in South Africa.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on May 1 reportedly said he would like everyone to return to work amid coronavirus lockdown. Bolsonaro in a live video feed said he would like all the citizens to return to work, but added that it is not up to him to decide while putting the onus completely on governors and mayors. The right-wing leader has been demanding the reopening of the Brazilian economy and had earlier encouraged people to violate lockdown measures put in place by governors and mayors.

Read: Brazilian Court Orders Prez Bolsonaro To Release His COVID-19 Test Results Within 2 Days

Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the threat of coronavirus pandemic as he last month visited a market to make his case. Bolsonaro visited a market in Taguatinga, a suburb of Brasilia, and spoke to a man selling barbecued meat on skewers. The Brazilian president had also questioned the decision to shut down schools and transport in the country. Bolsonaro had also attacked the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, alleging that he is not a doctor.

Read: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro Tests Negative For Coronavirus For The Second Time

Bolsonaro on April 16 fired his health minister over disagreements in containing the coronavirus pandemic. Minutes after the development, Luiz Henrique Mandetta took to Twitter, where he said that he just heard about his dismissal from the President and wished success to his replacement. On March 29, micro-blogging platform Twitter had removed two of President Bolsonaro's post where he was apparently questing the quarantine measures.

Read: Brazil's Bolsonaro Fires Health Minister Mandetta After Dispute Over Coronavirus Response

Coronavirus in Brazil

According to data by worldometer, there are currently 47,751 active cases in Brazil, of which 8,318 remain under critical condition, while 38,039 have recovered fully. Brazil has logged in 92,202 coronavirus cases with 6,412 deaths since it first broke out in December last year. The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 2,39,000 lives so far with over 3.40 million people infected by the disease worldwide.

Read: Jair Bolsonaro Visits Market In Brazil To Downplay Threat Of Coronavirus Pandemic

(Image Credit: AP)


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  The government has distributed cash assistance to about 61% of the 18 million low-income families targeted under the social amelioration program, with six days to go before the deadline, the Interior Department reported on Saturday.

"Ang magandang balita po diyan, umabot na po kagabi ng 61% ang nabigyan na ng SAP doon sa 18 million families, [....] kasama na po diyan 'yung kasama sa 4Ps, hindi kasama sa Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), at mga drivers sa National Capital Region," DILG Spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a public briefing.

[Translation: The good news is that we have already reached out to 61% of the 18 million families, including the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and drivers in the National Capital Region.]

He highlighted that the department, with the help of the LGUs, may be able to achieve 70% completion of the assistance by tomorrow.

"So hinihikayat po ng DILG ang lahat ng ating mga [local] government units na seryosohin na po natin ito. Tuloy-tuloy na po natin itong ipamigay, kasi wala na pong ibibigay na extension si Secretary Eduardo Ano at si Secretary Ronnie Bautista. No more extension. You are given only up to May 7 to finish the distribution," Malaya emphasized.

[Translation: That's why the DILG is encouraging all our local government units to take this seriously. Ramp up the distribution, because (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano and (DSWD) Secretary Ronnie Bautista will no longer extend the deadline. No more extension. You are given only up to May 7 to finish the distribution.]

The DILG also warned barangay officials who are allegedly splitting up the cash aid "to provide for all families."

"Maliwanag po sa batas, sa Bayanihan Act, sa guidelines at joint memorandum circular, at sa omnibus guidelines na bawal pong hatiin ang SAP na ito. [....] 'Yan po ay pinagbabawal sa batas, at pwede silang (barangay officials) masuspinde at makulong pa," its spokesman said.

[Translation: It is clear in the law, in the Bayanihan Act, in the guidelines and joint memorandum circular, and in the omnibus guidelines that the SAP fund cannot be divided. That is against the law. They (barangay officials) may be suspended or sent to jail because of that.]

Malaya said concerned beneficiaries may directly report to the department, should they encounter such instances, or have evidence on the matter.

The DILG assured that the national government has provided additional funding for the local government units to help families who were left out of the social amelioration program.
BAY CITY, MI - Bay City born pop star Madonna has been active on social media during the pandemic, posting numerous videos for her fans, including quarantine logs.

In a video dubbed Quarantine Log 14 on Instagram, Madonna announced that she has coronavirus antibodies and that shes looking forward to taking a joyride to catch a fresh breath of COVID-19 air.

Took a test the other day and I found out that I have the antibodies, so tomorrow Im just going to go for a long drive in a car and Im going to roll down the window and Im going to breathe in. Im going to breathe in the COVID-19 air, she said in her Instagram video.

According to The New York Times, an antibody test looks for signs in the blood that a person has been exposed to the coronavirus.

Madonnas Instagram video features her pecking away at a typewriter, accompanied by spinning records, jazz, poetry, and even the occasional piece of paper catching on fire.

She said in the video, "I think its quite significant that the paper Im typing on just caught on fire.

Poetic musings from Madonna are included throughout the video including quotes about the importance of words.

The video ends as she calls a candle a naughty little candle after she burns her hand in a messy attempt at extinguishing it.

Heres the good news, tomorrows another day and Im going to wake up and Im going to feel differently, start all over again," she said.

The pop icon made positive waves in the Bay City community earlier this week when she posted a picture from her teenage days spent in Bay City on Facebook and Instagram.

Madonna was born Madonna Louise Ciccone on Aug. 16, 1958 at the former Mercy Hospital, 100 15th St., where the Bradley House now stands, according to MLive-Bay City Times records. She spent summers at her grandparents house on the citys West Side.

Related news:

Local music buff hosts Madonna presentation in hopes of correcting myths, garnering attention for Material Girls Bay City connection

Madonna: I was born in Bay City, not Detroit
By David Randall

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Some dividend fund managers are wading back into the shares of battered railroad stocks, energy companies and other economically sensitive, cyclical names, even as a host of companies have slashed their payouts.

Cyclical stocks were among the worst-hit S&P 500 sectors in March's sell-off, with the group losing as much as 33% from its highs amid fears that a coronavirus-fueled economic slowdown will deal an outsized blow to companies' businesses.

More than 15 companies in the benchmark S&P 500 - many of them cyclical names - have either suspended or cut their dividends in the last four weeks. On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell PLC cut its payout for the first time since World War Two as part of a plan to save $30 billion to help it weather an unprecedented decline in oil demand.

Yet some managers of divided funds - which seek to give their clients exposure to a steady stream of income - believe the beaten-down sector may hold companies that are likely to keep their dividends intact and see their share prices rise. The sector has rebounded 28.5% from its March lows, compared with 26.3% for the S&P 500.

"The initial moves were very emotionally based and now we're getting back to fundamentals," said Scott Davis, a senior portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments who oversees $24 billion in income strategies. "There is still going to be volatility but we think you can pick your spots."

Davis has recently added to positions such as Home Depot Inc , Chevron Corp and Union Pacific Corp that have attractive free cash flows despite being in industries that have been among the hardest-hit by the slowdown. Both companies offer a dividend yield of approximately 2.5%.

Companies like Walmart Inc and Home Depot that have free cash flow growth above 6% will likely be able to invest and grow their market shares during a recession, while those such as Macy's Inc could end up in bankruptcy, he said.

Story continues

"I have a feeling that some of those trends that were already in play will only get accelerated," said Davis.

U.K. and European companies will likely cut dividends more than their U.S. counterparts, which are more likely to reduce share buybacks first, said Mark Peden, investment manager, Equities, at Kames Capital.

Companies like cruise line operator Carnival Corp and British retailer Marks and Spencer Group PLC likely will not restore their dividends to previous levels, but other companies will want to increase theirs as early as possible to demonstrate their financial health, he said.

While dividend-paying stocks may provide the cushion of a payout, their dividends - and share prices - could be in jeopardy if a subsequent wave of the virus deals another blow to growth by forcing countries to reinstate or extend lockdown measures.

Analysts at BofA Global Research urged investors to focus on companies whose dividends are likely to be secure, rather than comparatively rich.

"The massive economic disruption brought on by COVID-19 questions the sustainability of dividends," the bank's analysts wrote.

At the same time, historically low borrowing costs have prompted many companies without strong balance sheets to initiate dividends since the end of the 2008 financial crisis, noted Linda Bakhshian, a portfolio manager at Federated Hermes.

While many of those companies will be forced to cut their dividends, cash-rich firms in growing sectors like healthcare and technology are the most likely to maintain or even increase their payouts through what could be a painful recession ahead, she said.

"You're going to see soon which companies are going to come out of this on the other side stronger," she said.

(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Megan Davies, Ira Iosebashvili and Dan Grebler)
The Iowa West Foundation awarded Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands a $25,000 grant to support COVID-19 pandemic response efforts at the Council Bluffs and Carter Lake Boys & Girls Clubs.

The grant will enable Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands to continue to meet the needs of underserved youth and their adult family members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds will support life-saving meals for both club members and their family members that need these basic-needs supports to get through this health crisis.

Funds will also be used to support weekly activity packets being sent home with club members to assist their parents with both educational and recreational activities for their children to complete while they are undergoing the quarantine at home.

We are very grateful to the Iowa West Foundation for this funding, said Ivan Gilreath, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands. This funding will allow us to continue to provide services to our members during these unprecedented times.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands are providing free, healthy meals and mobile technology devices to our Iowa club members, as well as providing telephonic mentoring and virtual programming, Gilreath said.

This funding by the Iowa West Foundation also allows us to keep our employees gainfully employed, which provides an important sense of stability for our club families in these otherwise uncertain times, he said. We are extremely grateful for the support of the SWI COVID-19 Relief Fund.
Of the two million active coronavirus patients worldwide, only about 51,000 (2 per cent) are in critical condition, data from Worldometer, an online tracker of coronavirus, as of Saturday afternoon show.

The U.S., which has about one-third of all critical cases, Brazil, France, Iran and Spain respectively account for the highest cases of patients under critical condition from the infection.

Africa has only 126 of such cases, representing 0.5 per cent of its over 25,000 active cases.

South Africa, the continents most hit, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon and Tanzania share among themselves over 100 of these cases. Nigeria has two critical cases.

Scramble

As COVID-19 cases inch toward 3.5 million globally, countries around the world, especially the worst hit, have been scrambling to expand their ICUs capacity as well as procure more ventilators to treat critically ill patients.

In March, U.S. president, Donald Trump, estimated that the country may need additional 100,000 ventilators in about 100 days, while urging manufacturers to ramp up production of ventilators.

READ ALSO:

France said it aims to produce 10,000 more respirators in addition to the 10,000 it already has, according to WHO. The UK, too, WHO said in April, was seeking 18,000 ventilators.

In Africa, cases, which have risen exponentially in recent days, are relatively low. Experts have, however, said a spike in cases may be fatal as the important medical equipment are scant across the continent.

Data from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) say that South Sudan has just four ventilators and 24 ICU beds for a population of 12 million people. That is one ventilator for every three million people.

Burkina Faso has 11 ventilators, Sierra Leone 13, and Central African Republic 3, according to the non-governmental organization. South Africa has about 1000 ICU beds while Malawi has 25 ICU beds for its 17 million people.

Nigeria has 350 ICUs for its 200 million population and, according to The Punch, less than 500 ventilators nationwide.

Our health system is not as strong as wed like it to be, the head of Nigerias Centre for Disease Control, said Chikwe Ihekweazu said. It is because we are a bit worried about our capacity to deal with a large outbreak that we are focused so intensively on prevention and early detection.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Labour Day 2020, is marked by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA) Richard Panneflek said on Friday.



As a nation, we are at an extremely difficult time in our national development. The labor force of the country is facing challenges never experienced in our period of history. In order to address the COVID-19 public health pandemic, the Government of Sint Maarten has taken many measures to halt the spread and protect the people and our most vulnerable in our communities. By staying at home, we are helping to save lives.



The public health measures at the same time impact our national economy and the labor force. They have disrupted business activity and jobs and have caused unimaginable inconvenience for the nation.

This is an unprecedented public health event, and the Government has established the Sint Maarten Stimulus and Relief Plan to help businesses that are severely affected and for those who are at risk of losing their jobs. Therefore, the creation of an additional social safety net is seen as an essential component in order to achieve a phased recovery of the national economy.



Minister Panneflek would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the workers of Sint Maarten for their contributions over the decades, for what we have been able to achieve in building the country Sint Maarten.



Prior to this pandemic, the rebuilding effort after the hurricanes of 2017 was well underway, but these efforts have been stalled due to COVID-19.



We are a resilient people. We have a resilient workforce, and we shall overcome this too. Minister Panneflek would like to express my gratitude on behalf of a grateful nation, to all our front-liners who are on the COVID-19 battlefront.



All our front liners are playing key roles, from the teachers assisting our children with homeschooling, to the volunteers who are helping the most vulnerable with the delivery of the essentials, to the police and marines and other law enforcement agencies that are providing security, to the workers at our ports of entry who ensure cargo shipments continue to come in, and to our healthcare professionals who are on the front lines; I say thank you on this labor day 2020 from a grateful nation.



On this labor day, we must remain unified, and in solidarity with one another, and as a resilient people and nation, we shall overcome, and we shall be better than ever. May you have a healthy labor day, stay safe, as we are Sint Maarten Strong together, thank you, Minister of the ministry VSA Richard Panneflek said on Friday in his labor day message.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Transit lovers rejoice!

Contrary to the belief of most Staten Island commuters, there are people out there who love mass transit. Theres even a dedicated Facebook group -- New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens -- featuring over 200,000 members worldwide.

Well, now those people, along with anyone else whos interested, can take a virtual tour through New York Citys mass transit history -- courtesy of the New York Transit Museum.

The New York Transit Museum, the largest museum in the country dedicated to urban public transportation, has announced a host of new digital programs to engage transit lovers of all ages, including online exhibits, weekly discussions and educational resources.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

The New York Transit Museum meets you where you are, said Concetta Bencivenga, museum director. While our doors are closed, were still here. Tune in to Transit Tots, chat with us in our series of digital discussions, take a deep dive into the history of mass transit with us! I couldnt be more thrilled and thankful to welcome everyone to the Transit Museum... virtually.

Available online exhibits include Grand by Design, exploring the history of Grand Central Terminal, and Bringing Back the City: Mass Transit Responds to Crises, examining the work of New York City transit workers in preparing for and responding to major crises, including 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy.

Transit enthusiasts can participate in the museums weekly slate of Digital Discussions, which feature a range of transit-based topics, including cartography, sustainability, immigration and the history of different modes of transportation, such as ferries, bridges, tunnels and electrified elevated train lines.

Young transit lovers are invited to participate in Transit Tots, a twice-weekly virtual program where children join museum educators to sing songs, read transit-themed books, do arts and crafts and participate in movement exercises. Transit Tots is available at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The museum has also released various remote learning resources, giving students an opportunity to learn about the citys transit history through videos, images and online workshops.

The New York Transit Museum will continue to offer new digital content in the coming months, with those interested urged to sign up for the museums weekly newsletter and follow the museum on social media.
Mahindra Alturas G4, the premium product offering from the utility car manufacturer is now BS6 compliant. The SUV is available in two variants  4x2 AT and 4x4 AT, priced at Rs 28.69 lakhs and Rs 31.69 lakhs, respectively. The Alturas G4 is available in five colour options, which includes  napoli black, regal blue, new pearl white, lake side brown and dsat silver.

Here is the variant-wise feature list for the BS6 Mahindra Alturas G4 

Alturas G4 4x2 AT

- Projection headlamps/ LED DRLS/ chrome front grille/ 18-inch diamond cut alloy wheels

- Chrome window surrounds/ body coloured door handles with chrome inserts/ LED tail lamps

- Rear spoiler with LED lamp/ LED illuminated rear license plate/ black and silver roof rails

- Door handle LED lamps for driver and co-driver/ black and grey quilted Nappa leather interior

- Black premium centre console with leather finish door trims

- Plush armrest with retractable cup holders/ eight-way adjustable powered driver seat

- Soft touch dashboard and door pads/ all-three row LED room lamps/ ventilated seats

- Dual zone fully automatic climate control/ Second row AC vents/ illuminated glove box

- Third row AC vents with blower controls/ tilt and telescopic steering/ foldable third row seats

- Heated ORVMs with LED turn indicators/ 60:40 split fold and tumble with recline second row seats

- Foldable flat luggage bay in third row/ front doors auto up and down, anti-pinch power window

- 12V power outlets/ Second row USB charger/ keyless entry/ coat hooks/ map pocket

- Second row entry grab handles/ large cup holders/ front smart power windows

- Tyre pressure monitoring system/ dual smart key system with start and stop button

- Headlamp escort function/ speed sensing front wiper/ front and rear parking assist

- Footwell lighting/ day and night IRVM/ cruise control/ steering mounted audio controls

- 3.5-inch monochromatic digital cluster with TFT-LCD trip with three modes computer

- Eight-inch touchscreen infotainment with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay/ six speakers

- Electronic parking brake with auto hold function/ speed sensing power steering

- Dual trip digital speedometer display/ intermittent rear wiper/ windshield de-icer function

- ABS with EBD/ dual front airbags/ ultra-rigid quad frame with high-strength steel

- Electronic stability program/ active rollover protection/ hill descent control

- Hill start assist/ brake assist system/ emergency stop signal/ traction control system

- ISOFIX mounts for child seats/ seat belt pretensioner and load limiter/ immobiliser

- Seat belt-warning driver and co-driver/ central door locking/ side impact beams

- Front crumple zones/ rear glass defogger

Alturas G4 4x4 AT (In addition to features from 4x2 AT)

- HID headlamps/ tan and black quilted Nappa leather interior

- Brown premium centre console with leather finish door trims/ easy access mode

- LED fog lamp with cornering lamp/ ambient mood lighting/ sunroof with anti-pinch

- Eight-way adjustable power driver seat with three position memory

- Illuminated front door scuff plate/ dashboard centre and inside front door handle lamps

- Auto tilting ORVMs when in reverse/ all windows auto up and down function with anti-pinch

- Front and rear smart power windows/ front rain sensing wipers/ auto headlamps

- Seven-inch monochromatic digital cluster with TFT-LCD trip with three modes computer

- 3D around view camera/ memory profile for driver seat and ORVM/ smart powered tailgate

- Nine airbags

Mahindra Alturas G4  28.85 Lakh Onwards

Mahindra | Mahindra Alturas G4 | Alturas G4
The 60-year-old victim was found stranded near Khanh Hoi seaport. (Photo: VNA)

The 60-year-old male victim was found stranded near Khanh Hoi seaport.

After receiving first aid, he was in stable condition and brought to Cho Ray hospital for further medical check-up.

The man is residing at Tan Dinh ward and teaching English at a university in HCM City.

Relevant forces are conducting necessary legal procedures to investigate the case.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Six months from Election Day, President Donald Trumps prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democrat Joe Biden.

Trumps standing has slumped as the nations focus on him has intensified during the coronavirus outbreak, revealing an erratic and often self-absorbed approach to the crisis. The result: Hes losing ground in some battleground states with key constituencies, including senior citizens and college-educated men - all without his Democratic challenger having devoted much energy or money to denting the president.

"Its Donald J. Trump versus the coronavirus and the recovery," said Scott Reed, the senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Biden is a sideshow."

For some Republicans, the prospect of an election that is almost wholly a referendum on Trump is unnerving. Though the presidents base remains loyal, a significant portion of GOP voters view him skeptically on a range of personal qualities. He pulled many of those voters to his side in the 2016 election by drawing an aggressive contrast with Democrat Hillary Clinton. He planned to do the same in 2020 with Biden, with the added tailwind of a surging American economy.

Now, that economy is crumbling around Trump. A staggering 30 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past six weeks as businesses have shuttered due to stay-at-home restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic. One of the presidents own economic advisers predicted nationwide unemployment could reach 20% by June.

When his back is against the wall, Trump often responds by lashing out at a political opponent, hoping to expose flaws that detract from his own. But with Americans consumed by the pandemic and economic uncertainty, Republicans close to the president and his campaign say Trumps team will struggle to break through with any attacks on Biden for some time. Instead, the publics focus remains squarely on Trump and his handling of the health and economic crises.

FILE - In this April 7, 2020, file photo voters line up at Riverside High School for Wisconsin's primary election in Milwaukee. Six months from Election Day, President Donald Trump's prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democratic Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

"Trump is completely dominating the publics attention, and its not helping him," said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who advised Sen. Marco Rubios 2016 presidential campaign.

In public polling, the presidents approval rating hasnt dropped significantly since the fast-moving virus swept through parts of the U.S. According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted in late April, 42% of Americans approved of Trumps job performance. That's about where its been for the past few months.

But both Democratic and Republican pollsters and strategists say they are seeing signs of weakness in critical states and demographic groups. Those findings are confirmed by some of the Trump campaigns own data. When briefed on campaign polling in recent days, Trump erupted in anger, according to several people with knowledge of the conversation.

Private polling shows Trump in a weaker position in several pivotal states, including Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin. Hes also sagging with senior citizens and college educated men, according to GOP operatives who have viewed recent polling. Some pollsters said theyve seen signs that lower-educated women are also drifting away from the president.

Independents are largely irrelevant, the operatives said, but only because they had already abandoned the president before the pandemic. A half-dozen operatives and pollsters spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private data.

Trumps campaign argues the dynamic will reset after the president and his team can unleash a full array of attacks on Biden, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee just as the pandemic began bearing down on the United States. Trump campaign aides say they see vulnerabilities in Bidens previous dealings with China and on his support for free trade agreements. The campaign is also eager to cast the 77-year-old Biden, who is four years older than Trump, as frail and past his prime.

"We have yet to begin to define him and we have six months to do that," said Tim Murtaugh, Trumps campaign spokesman.

Biden has played far more of a supporting role in the nations politics since the crisis, appearing in news interviews, virtual fundraisers and online town halls from a television studio in the basement of his home in Delaware. Most of the attention on him in recent days has focused on a nearly three-decade old sexual assault allegation brought forward by a former Senate staffer, a charge Biden has vigorously denied.

Given Bidens uneven performance as a campaigner throughout the Democratic primary, some in the party are content to have the former vice president keeping a lower profile for now, though they know its not a dynamic that can sustain itself as the Nov. 3 election nears.

"Its hard to break through right now when youre campaigning from your home," said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster. "But were at the end of April, not at the end of September and right now the focus rightfully is on Trump."

Biden advisers insist their slow, but steady strategy is working. They point to a boost in fundraising and increased visibility for the campaigns digital platforms, which has badly lagged Trumps operation. Biden campaign aides also say they are bullish on the prospects of winning states Trump carried in 2016, including Florida and Arizona, and see the current conditions in the country putting more states into play.

"I am certain that states will be battleground states that havent been battleground states before," Biden campaign manager Jen OMalley Dillon said during a fundraiser Friday night.

Yet some Democrats, who have been eagerly anticipating this election since the day after Trumps 2016 victory, are frustrated that their partys presumptive nominee isnt more of a constant presence during this moment of national crisis.

Yvette Simpson, the CEO of Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee, said she wondered why Biden wasnt more engaged in leading the discussions about what Democrats priorities should be in congressional rescue bills or what American health care coverage should look like at a time when many are losing employer-based insurance.

"Theres a great opportunity for our presumptive nominee and his team to step up and take the reins," Simpson said. "Hes supposed to be able to lead on day one. Day one is today."

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, "Ground Game."

FILE - In this March 2, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. Six months from Election Day, Trump's prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democratic Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - In this March 9, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Renaissance High School in Detroit. Given Biden's uneven performance as a campaigner throughout the Democratic primary, some in the party are content to have the former vice president keeping a lower profile for now, though they know it's not a dynamic that can sustain itself as Election Day draws closer. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 21, 2020, file photo a supporter of President Donald Trump holds up a sign during a Trump campaign rally in Las Vegas. Six months from Election Day, Trump's prospects for winning a second term have been jolted by a historic pandemic and a cratering economy, rattling some of his Republican allies and upending the playbook his campaign had hoped to be using by now against Democratic Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Hyderabad: In another setback to Tollywood actor Prabhas, the Telangana High Court has found fault with interim orders passed by a lower court which allowed him temporary possession of a property which the government says it owns.

The 2,083-square yard land parcel is located in Survey No. 5/3 at Raidurg Pan Maktha of Serlingampally in Ranga Reddy district. Prabhas said he bought the land years ago. He has a registered sale deed. He said the government had even accepted his application under a regularisation scheme in 2014.

Despite that, the land was seized and Prabhas approached the High Court in 2018 challenging the action.

The court ordered the government not to dismantle the building but rejected his plea to give him possession of the land. The title dispute was shifted to a trial court.

The trial court at Kukatpally granted interim injunction in favour of Prabhas till April 3. Due to the lockdown, all interim orders were extended till the first week of June.

Aggrieved with this, the revenue authorities filed a petition to vacate the order. When the plea was not heard, the government approached the High Court.

While dealing this plea, the division bench comprising chief justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and justice P. Naveen Rao observed that the order of the trial court was a mistake and possession of the property should not be with the actor.

The bench, however, directed the authorities not to demolish the property. It directed the trial court to immediately deal with the vacate application of the government and dispose of the case immediately on merits.
The Hubble Space Telescope recently celebrated its 30th year of scientific observations and remains the longest-running space-based astronomical observatory. This will be its last decade of operation before it burns up in Earths atmosphere, unless immediate plans are made to boost it to a higher orbit, a maneuver which was previously performed during servicing missions by the now-discontinued Space Shuttle program.

Astronomers have taken 1.4 million observations with the telescope and produced more than 17,000 peer-reviewed scientific publications. The data it has produced will fuel further research for many years after the telescope itself has ceased operations.

We are reposting the article initially published for Hubbles 25th anniversary. The text is unchanged while some of the imagery has been updated to reflect the ongoing science of the mission.

* * *

The Hubble Space Telescope as seen from space shuttle Discovery during its second servicing mission. Hubble, which orbits 600 kilometers above Earth, has been a keystone of astronomical investigations for the past twenty-five years.

Start slideshow

For the past 25 years, the Hubble Space Telescope has been one of the most fruitful and versatile astronomical platforms ever launched into space. For more than 9,000 days, the telescope has provided outstanding scientific data in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum on nebulae, globular clusters, galaxies, supernovae, exoplanets, black holes and our own solar system. For a generation, Hubble has inspired and spearheaded a new era of inquiry about the cosmos.

Hubble was launched on April 24, 1990 on board the space shuttle Discovery. It was the first of NASAs Great Observatories to be launched, a constellation of four space telescopes which also includes the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (de-orbited in 2000), the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Each was designed to observe different wavelengths, complementing the others and combining their views into a greater whole. The series has been one of NASAs most successful scientific programs. Every telescope launched (with the exception of Compton) remains in at least partial operation.

Six instruments are used to collect light focused by Hubbles mirrors: Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS), the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS). Data is then beamed down to Earth for processing, distribution and study.

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It is the largest and most massive galaxy of the Local Group, a collection of about 45 galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs. It contains an estimated one trillion stars.

Significantly, none of the instruments on the telescope are part of its original equipment. One of the main reasons for launching Hubble by space shuttle was that the instruments on board could be replaced as newer ones became available. Indeed, almost everything on Hubblescientific instruments, batteries, gyroscopes, solar panels, computershas been upgraded. Only the original mirrors and the substructure itself remain from the original launch. The final scheduled service mission was in 2009.

While it is a public relations boost for NASA, Hubbles true importance lies in its continued and vast contributions to astronomy. One of its initial goals was to observe a specific class of stars known as Cepheid variables, whose brightness can be determined, and then to measure their distance from Earth. This greatly increased the precision in measuring the expansion rate of the universe, reducing the margin of error from fifty percent to ten percent.

A follow-up study, this time observing supernovae in distant galaxies, found that the expansion rate of the universe is increasing, rather than decreasing as expected. Ground-based observations confirmed the existence of the poorly understood force driving the expansion, called dark energy. Its discovery was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for physics.

The Pillars of Creation, a part of the Eagle Nebula containing a large amount of gas, dust and newly born stars. The leftmost pillar is about four light years in length, approximately the distance from the Sun to its nearest stellar neighbor.

Hubbles high resolution also made possible the first direct studies of supermassive black holes. These objects were first identified as radio sources in distant galaxies but the source was unclear. Something extraordinarily powerful would have to be generating a great deal of energy to be seen from billions of light years away. After decades of work, it became clear in the 1960s that the only explanation for what astronomers were seeing was the energy emitted from an accretion disk of black holes millions and even billions of times the mass of our Sun.

Here, the Chandra observatory has played a key role in understanding these objects, working in tandem with Hubble to dig deeper into the underlying physics that drives these events. It was Chandra which first discovered that the nearby Andromeda galaxy most likely has two supermassive black holes instead of one. Combined efforts using Hubble, Chandra and other telescopes have since shown that supermassive black holes are common features of galactic nuclei.

Hubble also contributed substantially to our understanding of the mechanics by which giant clouds of gas and dust collapse to form new stars. Its stunning portrait of the Eagle Nebula in 1995 became a popular poster and screen background for millions worldwide. This image captured pillars of dense gas containing even denser cores becoming new stars, simultaneously being evaporated by the young and brilliant stars already formed. A recent image captures motions in the intervening 14 years, measuring a 200 kilometer per second growth of a jet associated with a young star.

The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field, taken in 2012 over twenty-three days. Except for a few stars, everything in this image is an entire galaxy, some of which are 13.2 billion years old.

Infrared images of the Eagle Nebula were taken by the Spitzer telescope in 2007 to see inside the clouds, complementing Hubbles observations. The most striking feature revealed is the abundance of hot dust, most likely warmed by a nearby supernova from 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. If so, the explosions blast wave would have toppled the three pillars 6,000 years ago. Since light takes 7,000 years to travel from the Eagle Nebula to Earth, we will see whether or not this prediction is true within a millennium.

Perhaps the most extraordinary science done by the observatory are the deep field images, the first of which was the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) taken in 1995. Focusing on an area of the sky less than 100 times the size of the Moon as viewed from Earth, where only a handful Milky Way stars can be seen, Hubble collected light for eleven days.

In that minute region of space, Hubble revealed to astronomers and the public alike just how large space is. About 3,000 distinct galaxies were observed in the images, each containing tens of billions of stars, with spiral, irregular and elliptical galaxies all present. The study provided the first in-depth look at the early universe, seeing galaxies as far as 12 billion light years away and thussince light takes time to travel through spacegalaxies as they were 12 billion years ago. Astronomers were astonished by the number and variety of young galaxies Hubble revealed.

The Lagoon Nebula is between 4,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and was first discovered in 1654. It contains a central structure known as the Hourglass Nebula, within which were the first direct observations of active star formation by accretion.

These images motivated a succession of subsequent deep field explorations, created with new generations of improved cameras aboard Hubble. In 2003-2004, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) was taken, focusing on 11 square arcminutes in the constellation Fornax and looking back in time 13 billion years to view 10,000 galaxies forming less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) was taken in 2012 focusing in on a region of the HUDF. The exposure was taken over twenty-three days, collecting data on galaxies that are ten billion times fainter than the human eye can see. Some of the 5,500 newly discovered galaxies are 13.2 billion years old, the oldest ever observed in visible light. Due in part to this work, astronomers estimate that the observable universe contains 200 billion galaxies.

The first proposal to use a rocket to put a telescope in space was published by the German physicist Hermann Oberth in 1923. In his work Die Rakete zu den Planetenraumen (The Rocket into Planetary Space), which was previously a doctoral dissertation rejected as utopian, he suggests that rockets could eventually lift telescopes into Earth orbit. His work, alongside that of Robert Goddard, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Oberths assistant Wernher von Braun founded modern rocketry and paved the way for every space telescope that has flown.

Hubbles origins date back to 1946, when the astronomer Lyman Spitzer published the paper Astronomical advantages of an extraterrestrial observatory, which first laid out the scientific justifications for putting an observatory above the atmosphere. Spitzer argued that if the best telescopes of the day could have been placed where there is no air, the lack of turbulence would increase the angular resolution of each by at least ten-fold. Moreover, they would also be able to observe infrared and ultraviolet light, which are largely blocked by Earths atmosphere.

The uncoated backup mirror for the Hubble Space Telescope produced by Kodak. When the aberration in Hubbles primary mirror was discovered, NASA realized that they had launched a flawed mirror while a perfect one remained on the ground. This mirror has never been used and currently resides at the Smithsonian Institution Aerospace Museum.

After a series of small-scale instruments designed to show that infrared and ultraviolet astronomy could in fact be successfully done in space, NASA approved the plans for a space-based 3-meter reflecting telescope in 1968. It was provisionally known as the Large Space Telescope (LST) and first slated to launch in 1979.

Though the astronomical community fully backed the creation of the instrument, NASA faced funding hurdles from a recalcitrant Congress and public spending cuts instigated by President Gerald Ford. Now that the geopolitical impetus for space exploration had vanishedafter the United States beat the Soviet Union to the Moonthere was little interest in providing money for spaceflight, especially for missions that had no military purpose, only scientific knowledge. Funding for the project was deleted in 1974. It was only after a Herculean effort by astronomers campaigning for the LST that funding was restored, and even then it was four years later at only half the original budget. As a result construction of the primary mirror and other instruments began the year the telescope was originally slated to launch.

Here, NASA ran up against the US military. The company commissioned to build the mirror, Perkin-Elmer, was well known to the US government for its development of the optics used on the Keyhole-9 HEXAGON spy satellites. Soon after it was announced that Perkin-Elmer would be producing the mirrors for LST, the US Air Force demanded that the experience, techniques and personnel involved in making the KH-9 satellites not be used in the development of the LST because those resources were classified. As a result, Perkin-Elmer was forced to develop the team and facilities to design the mirror from scratch, causing the scheduled launch date of 1983 to slip to 1986.

The spiral galaxy M100, imaged before and after Hubbles corrective optics were installed. The dramatic improvement in image quality has allowed the telescope to obtain images of both the formation of stars and the collisions of distant galaxies.

Further delays were caused by the Challenger disaster in 1986, which grounded the shuttle fleet. The newly renamed Hubble Space Telescope, designed to be carried into space by a shuttle, was forced to wait in a clean room purged with nitrogen until its launch could be rescheduled. The cost of the wait was approximately $6 million a month, but it did allow engineers to make improvements such as replacing a possibly failure-prone battery. It also allowed the computer experts to further develop the software needed to control Hubble, which was not ready in 1986 and only just completed when Hubble finally launched in 1990.

Almost immediately, a flaw potentially fatal for the scientific usefulness of Hubble was discovered. The first light images from the telescope were of drastically lower quality than expected. An investigation into the problem indicated that Perkin-Elmer had ground the mirror precisely, but 0.002 millimeters out of shape. This error had actually been caught during mirror development by one of the testing procedures. However, a second test did not show the spherical aberration and that measurement was adopted as the more valid as a cost-cutting management decision.

However, Hubble was designed to be repaired and to have instruments replaced during subsequent shuttle missions. A plan was drafted to bring a corrective mirror to the telescope during Service Mission 1 scheduled for December 1993. During five space walks, clocking in at 35 hours and 28 minutes, astronauts took out the High Speed Photometer and installed the COSTAR device, a robotic assembly of 5,300 parts which deployed six adjustable corrective mirrors in the optical paths of the other scientific instruments.

Astronauts also used the mission to replace wobbly solar arrays and defective gyros as well as install the second generation Wide Field Planetary Camera. On February 21, 1994, the newly repaired Hubble released the most detailed image yet of Pluto and its moon, Charon, beginning a career for which it has become internationally famous.

NGC 5257 and NGC 5258, two spiral galaxies in the constellation Virgo. Both are distorted by their mutual gravitational interaction and are connected by a thin bridge of matter shared between the two. This sort of imagery would have been impossible if Hubbles optics had not been corrected.

Despite the colossal success of Hubble, NASA has made plans to end the mission. As the shuttle program was close to ending, the 2009 service mission to the telescope included installing a ring on the outside of Hubble, allowing future missionsmanned or roboticto more easily capture the telescope. The intention is notas would be logicalto attach a rocket that would boost its orbit in an effort to combat the slow orbital decay caused by atmospheric drag. Instead, in what can only be described as an act of anti-scientific vandalism and a deliberate coup de grace, NASA plans to attach a rocket to guide Hubble towards the Earth, burning up the telescope during re-entry.

The justification for this is that the next generation James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be Hubbles successor. In any scientific sense, this is not true. The JWST will complement the Hubble space telescope, looking more towards infrared rather than ultraviolet light. This will allow a greater focus on objects more distant and colder than what Hubble is optimized to study. It is expected to be able to detect stars in the early universe 280 million years older than Hubble.

However, the launch of the JWST has been pushed back from an initial date sometime in 2011 to October 2018. Primary responsibility for this rests with the constant threats by congressional Republicans, particularly those on the House Appropriations Committee, to end the project. In fact, in 2011, they did fully cancel the project, though funding was later restored after an international scientific appeal. For its part, the Obama administration ensures that funding levels remain as low as feasible.

As such, there is no replacement for Hubble. At a cost of $10 billion (a pittance compared to what the US spends on wars abroad or surveillance at home), after two and a half decades of groundbreaking scientific discoveries and a generation of being the fuel for excitement of scientific discovery, Hubble is expected to be forcibly de-orbited in 2024 as its orbital decay brings to a close its scientific observations. JWST, which is not serviceable in orbit, is expected to live only another four years beyond that. No credible plans exist for a successor mission. One begun in earnest right now, developed at the same pace as JWST, would begin observations in 2037.
Theres a memory that sticks out in my mind of when I was young new immigrant in Canada.

I was seven. We had just arrived from Hong Kong. My parents, who didnt speak any English at the time, brought us to a new home. It was a little bungalow on a neat tree-lined street. It didnt look anything like our home in Hong Kong and I didnt look anything like our new neighbours. I remember staring out the window at the sisters who lived next door and knowing that things would be different here. That I would be different here.

And things were different. Everything was different. Like so many children who land on foreign soil, the learning curve was steep.

As I entered my first classrooms in this new country, I had another revelation. Everyone was different. My multicultural classrooms didnt resemble my homogenous class in Hong Kong. My friends had their family roots in Jamaica and Greece and India. We all ate from our North American Barbie lunch boxes, but those boxes were filled with the scents and recipes from our home countries.

When I look back, these classrooms reflected the best of what Canada can and should be. And while not everyones reality, my experience as a young student was that our differences were valued, and I came to feel strongly that I could celebrate both my Chinese heritage and my Canadian identity.

While our track record is not perfect, Canada has so much to be proud of. We work hard as a country and as Canadians to build a welcoming place for people from around the world who choose to call this place home.

But the current COVID-19 crisis reminds us that we are far from immune to racism and hate. As we mark the beginning of Asian Heritage Month  a time to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of Asian Canadians to our countrys culture and history  many of us do so with trepidation.

COVID-19 has brought a health and economic crisis of epic proportions. But its also unveiled something else  an insidious and underlying current of racism that cannot go unchecked.

Last week, an alarming study was released that revealed 14 per cent of Canadians believed that it was possible that all Chinese or Asian people carry COVID-19. It also showed that one in five Canadians do not think its safe to sit next to a Chinese Canadian person on the bus.

These stats are abhorrent. But theyre not unexpected.

Cities have seen an increase in hate crimes in recent weeks. Every day, more stories emerge about Asian Canadians targeted by racist slurs, harassment, and even violence in their own communities.

Recently, a young Chinese-Canadian professional has stopped going to their downtown grocer after far too many negative incidents. Instead, they make the trek to Chinese grocery stores in Markham to avoid unwelcoming glares.

In a Vancouver convenience store last month, a man hurled racist remarks related to COVID-19 at a 92-year-old man of Asian descent before attacking him and shoving him to the ground.

The people facing this hate-filled discrimination are our neighbours. They are our grandparents, doctors, nurses, business people, artists, teachers, and students who contribute to our society as we know it.

Weve seen racism in news stories, weve seen it in our communities, and weve unfortunately seen it from a member of Parliament who has resorted to racist attacks against Canadas top doctor, the formidable Dr. Theresa Tam.

This intolerant behaviour, especially from people who hold public office, gives unwarranted licence to others to do the same. It undermines everything we are working towards as a country and everything that is good about being a multicultural society  one filled with diverse people and cultures from around the world.

These are not new experiences for many Asian Canadians, but there is no question that COVID-19 has been used as a scapegoat and a poor excuse for racist behaviour against people of Asian descent in Canada and around the world.

A vaccine or medicine to treat the virus will take time.

But we can take action today by denouncing racism and discrimination in our own communities. In our collective frustration and fear about this pandemic and its consequences, we must all resist the urge to place blame where blame should not be placed, and to demonize people because of their race or heritage.

If we fail to speak up, the impacts of COVID-19 will extend beyond the health and economic future of our country.

For generations, millions of Asian Canadians have chosen to build their lives in Canada. Many of us did so because Canada is seen as the country that welcomed and celebrated the diversity and unique contributions of all of its citizens, no matter where you were born.

This is the promise of Canada.

We must defend the people who chose this country as their home, and we must always fight fiercely for the values of acceptance and compassion that distinguish us as Canadians.
New York, May 2 : Breaking weeks of silence, former Vice President Joe Biden has denied festering allegations that he had sexually assaulted a former staffer.

"I'm saying unequivocally it never, never happened," Biden said on Friday of the allegations made by Tara Reade, who was a staff assistant his senate office in 1993, when she alleged the assault took place.

The allegations against Biden, who is expected to be the Democratic presidential candidate, has put the party and the #MeToo movement in a bind because of their assertions in other cases, notably that of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, that women must be unequivocally be believed.

"Believing women means taking the woman's claim seriously. But in the end, in every case, the truth is what matters. And in this case, the truth is, the claims are false," he said.

Biden has received support from several women leaders of the Democratic Party.

Dismissing the accusation, Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Biden "a person of great integrity, great concern for the American people" and expressed support for him and his candidacy.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Party leader in the House of Representatives, accused Pelosi of being a "hypocrite" and said: "You can't say one thing about every other time she has commented about any accusation and now say it is OK." Reade alleged in March that in 1993 Biden pushed her against a wall and put his fingers under her clothes and penetrated her and that when she resisted his advances, her assignments in his office were changed and she was made to resign.

Biden made his denial in a programme on the MSNBC, a cable channel generally friendly to the Democrats, enabling him to avoid harsh cross-examination by the interviewer.

He said that he wanted the national archives to release any relevant material, but refused to allow the Delaware University to release documents from his archives saying that the did not contain personnel matter.

Biden has faced allegations in 2019 from several woman, including Reade, of improper physical contact, but not of assault.

He brushed off the allegations by saying: "I'm a tactile politician." "If I made anyone uncomfortable, I feel badly about that" but added, he said. "I'm not sorry for anything I have ever done. I've never been disrespectful intentionally, to a man or a woman." But as he goes into the election cycle, he faces a more serious allegation.

President Donald Trump, who has been accused of sex assault by several women, sort of came to Biden's defence on Thursday.

"It could be false accusations. I know all about false accusations. I've been falsely charged numerous times." But he immediately brought up the case of Kavanaugh which poses a challenge to the Democrats and the #MeToo movement.

"If you look at Brett Kavanaugh, there's an outstanding man. He was falsely charged. What happened with him was an absolute disgrace to our country." When Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court in 2018, Christine Blasey Ford accused him of assaulting her, though not of actual rape, when they were teenagers in high school.

Biden had said she should be trusted: "For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you've got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she's talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it's been made worse or better over time." Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by the Senate to the judgeship, despite strong opposition from the Democrats over the accusations by Ford and another woman, who initially said she was not sure who assaulted her, but later said it was Kavanaugh.

Now statements by Biden and others from the Kavanaugh case is being flung back at them.

But for Democrats - and many of those opposed to Trump - the allegations are unlikely to change their minds because they see Trump as the sole threat, and he has faced more serious allegations.

Biden's supporters point to some issues with Reade, including of lack of witnesses.

Though she had joined other women in alleging improper physical contact, Reade made the first public accusation of assault in a podcast interview with a left-wing commentator in March and filed a police complaint against Biden this month, although the statute of limitations - the time limit for prosecutions - had passed.

Reade had posted comments supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin but has deleted them.

But media has unearthed family members and friends to whom she had confided about the harassment around the time after the alleged assault took place.

A clip from 1993 has also surfaced of her mother calling TV personality Larry King and complaining about a senator harassing her daughter, though she did not explicitly say it was an assault.

There is a decades-long history of allegations of sexual improprieties against people in public life going back to Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas, who was accused during his confirmation hearings in 1991 of making sexually charged comments to a co-worker. He was confirmed.

Former President Bill Clinton was accused of rape or assault by several women.

He was impeached by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in 1998 on charges of lying under oath about a consensual sexual affair with a 22-year-old intern, but was acquitted by the Democrat-majority Senate the next year.

Comedian-turned-politician Al Franken, a Democrat, resigned from the Senate in 2018 after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis)
Every day, MySA.com compiles the latest headlines and helpful links on the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Antonio area.

Increase attributed to jail population: The San Antonio area saw another hefty increase in new COVID-19 cases Friday, pushing the total to 1,477  103 new cases, considerably higher than has been reported in recent weeks.
COVID-19 cases crossed the 600 mark in Karnataka on Saturday as 12 new cases were added, while two deaths took the total fatalities in the state to 25.

"Today 12 new confirmed cases and two deaths were reported in the state.

Total positive cases are 601, out of which 271 patients were discharged.

So the remaining active cases in Karnataka is 304," Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar told reporters.

Out of these active cases, 297 are in stable condition at designated hospitals whereas seven are in Intensive Care Units, the minister said.

Of the 12 new cases, four are from Bengaluru Urban, two each from Vijayapura and Tumakuru and one each from Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Belagavi and Bagalkot, Kumar said, adding that the two deaths were in Bidar and Bengaluru.

An 82-year-old patient with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) died in Bidar, while the second fatality was a 62-year-old man with a history of diabetes, hypertension, renal failture, the minister said, adding he was on chemotherapy, in Bengaluru.

Underlining the high recovery rate against the number of positive cases reported, the minister said since April 26, 101 COVID-19 cases were reported whereas 113 people had been discharged.

On Saturday 20 people were cured and discharged, he said.

These included six from Kalaburagi, eight from Belagavi, two from Bidar and two each from Dharwad and Bengaluru.

The Minister said 53 of the total of 76 positive cases reported from Nanjangud, a COVID-19 hostpot, have been cured and discharged.

Nanjangud has been declared a coronavirus hotspot after several cases linked to a pharmaceutical company there tested positive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Concho Resources (CXO) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.72 per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. This compares to earnings of $0.72 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

A quarter ago, it was expected that this independent oil and gas company would post earnings of $0.77 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.03, delivering a surprise of 33.77%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates just once.

Concho Resources, which belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States industry, posted revenues of $922 million for the quarter ended March 2020, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.46%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.10 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates three times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Concho Resources shares have lost about 32.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's decline of -9%.

What's Next for Concho Resources?

While Concho Resources has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Story continues

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Concho Resources was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.29 on $925.42 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.46 on $3.97 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States is currently in the bottom 47% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.



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Maryland is asking its attorney general to investigate a new company formed to buy and distribute protective gear after a $12.5 million shipment of face masks and ventilators for use in the novel coronavirus pandemic never arrived, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: First responders and health care workers have said they are dealing with massive shortages of critical supplies like face masks and personal protective equipment while responding to the pandemic.

Details: Maryland state officials ordered the medical supplies from Blue Flame Medical LLC, which was founded by Mike Gula, a former fundraiser for the Republican Party, WSJ reports.

Maryland officials said they waited over 30 days for the medical supplies.

said they waited over 30 days for the medical supplies. Gula told Maryland officials in a letter that the state's order had been seized by officials in China, and said he plans to deliver the materials soon after switching to a new supplier.

in a letter that the state's order had been seized by officials in China, and said he plans to deliver the materials soon after switching to a new supplier. Maryland has more than 24,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

What they're saying: We have determined that since it has been one month since the order was placed with no confirmation of shipment, we are in the process of canceling the order and have referred this matter to the Attorney General, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of General Services told the WSJ.

Go deeper: Hogan says National Guard is protecting coronavirus tests sent from South Korea
The demise of Rishi Kapoor is a huge loss to the Hindi film industry. This loss is being felt not just by fans and audiences, who got to watch him on screen, but also Rishi Kapoor's friends and colleagues in the industry, who valued his incredible presence.

In a recent interview, filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt said that there cannot be another copy of Rishi, and he was grateful to have met him in his life.

Speaking to SpotboyE, Mukesh said, "He was a man who like Bhatt saab (Mahesh Bhatt) and I, never minced words. He said things not to down people. He said things what he felt. But what's wrong with that? I have so many memories about him. And so many times, good memories tend to give you pain."

He also spoke about how Rishi encouraged people to live in the moment. "He always used to say, 'Arre yaar, leave it. Even this shall pass away. Maze le. Let's enjoy the moment'. I hope that we all start thinking like him. You can't make a xerox copy of Chintu. I am happy and lucky that I met him in my life. You know what? People whom you genuinely love never die for you. Rishi will live in my heart forever," he added.

Rishi Kapoor breathed his last on April 30, 2020 at 8:45 am. The veteran actor had been battling leukemia for two years and received treatment for it in New York City.

Rishi left in the presence of his wife Neetu Kapoor and son Ranbir Kapoor. His daughter Riddhima Kapoor was in New Delhi and therefore could not make it in time for his funeral. However, she shared that she is driving down from Delhi to Mumbai to mourn with her family.

ALSO READ: Hrithik Roshan Pays Touching Tribute To Rishi Kapoor: Your Love Had So Much Energy

ALSO READ: Driving Home Ma: Rishi Kapoor's Daughter Riddhima Kapoor En Route Mumbai To Mourn With Family


Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 13:14:37|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China's enterprise software and solutions provider Yonyou Network Technology Co., Ltd. has reported a 74.4-percent year-on-year growth in its cloud service business in the first quarter.

The company achieved a revenue of 219 million yuan (about 31 million U.S. dollars) in cloud services (excluding cloud for financial services) during the three-month period, while its total operating revenue was down 13.1 percent to 1.09 billion yuan in Q1.

The total number of corporate clients of Yonyou's cloud services has exceeded 5.66 million, the company said.

Yonyou has provided cloud service products to support corporates in telecommuting, human resources, finance, marketing and procurement during the COVID-19 epidemic, as well as the Red Cross Society of China and local hospitals in Wuhan, once the hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province.

Founded in 1988, the Beijing-headquartered company went public at the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2001 and has subsidiaries in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Weighed down by the COVID-19 epidemic, revenues of China's software sector declined in the first quarter.

The industry raked in a total of 1.4 trillion yuan in revenue, down 6.2 percent year on year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Enditem
Domestic flights resume with extra safety protocols

BANGKOK: Four airlines resumed domestic flights yesterday (May 1) with unprecedented public hygiene measures to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 transmission.

transportCOVID-19Coronavirus

By Bangkok Post

Saturday 2 May 2020, 10:30AM

Passengers are seen at Don Mueang airport on Friday (May 1) after domestic flights resume at the airport. Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya / Bangkok Post

Nok Air, AirAsia, Thai Lion Air and Thai Vietjet Air were allowed to reinstate flights between 14 provinces after a month-long suspension now that the number of COVID-19 infections was falling.

The 14 provincial airports are in Lampang, Taks Mae Sot, Phitsanulok, Buri Ram, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Roi Et, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Krabi, in addition to Don Mueang airport and Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok.

The airlines are required to comply with additional health and safety measures prescribed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT).

Perspex barriers have been installed to block contact between passengers and airport officials, according to Tawee Gasisam-ang, director-general of Department of Airports.

The department has also stipulated that disinfection chemicals must be applied to all contact points and surfaces as well as passengers luggage. Airport staff are required to wear face shields, masks and gloves, and all passengers will be required to pass through a thermal scanning area.

In order to maintain social distancing, the CAAT has reduced the number of passengers allowed on shuttle buses to 20 per trip instead of the usual 60.

Sumpun Kutranon, manager of Don Mueang airport, said flights from the airport yesterday had fewer passengers, partly because of limited operating hours due to the current curfew.
Grand Valley State University leaders say theyre planning for face-to-face learning this fall, but will not make a final decision until mid-June as uncertainty about the coronavirus crisis continues.

GVSU President Philomena V. Mantella discussed the fall options during a virtual town hall meeting Friday, May 1, with students and their parents.

GVSU later released a recap of the meeting.

Mantella said the plans are for face-to-face learning and living on campus. But she also said administrators have contingency plans.

RELATED: Michigan tops 10,000 daily tests for first time, 77 new deaths reported

We are planning for a Fall semester with multiple learning and living scenarios to be as flexible as possible and to accommodate all students safely, Mantella said.

Right now, three learning options are in the mix: fully online, a hybrid model, and face-to-face instruction.

GVSU leaders said they will use guidance from Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office and the scientific community on any final decision.

If social distancing is a requisite for in-person instruction, GVSU officials think the university is in a good position because the average class size is 26 people, smaller than other universities.

And, according to the dean of students, about 80 percent of housing beds in living centers and apartments offer private room and bathroom options.

Students are being encouraged to sign up for housing. The housing application deadline is now June 1, but GVSU will continue to accommodate students after the deadline if possible.

For more about GVSUs housing options, go to www.gvsu.edu/housing

COVID-19 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

Saturday, May 2: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan launches mental health crisis text line for support during coronavirus

Federal funds now available to isolate Michigan homeless with coronavirus in hotels

Michigans universities and colleges bleeding revenue amid coronavirus closures

Western Michigan University lays off 240 employees, enacts pay cuts for others
A video involving a doctor and her reaction to the welcome she received after returning home will tug at your heartstrings and for all the right reasons. Shared by BJP Karnatakas official Twitter account, the video is of a doctor who returned home after treating COVID-19 patients.

In the video, the neigbours give her a heros welcome she deserves by clapping and cheering for her. The sweet gesture makes the doctor burst into tears while sporting a big smile too. At one point, she also folds her hands to thank her neighbours for their gesture.

This is how the residents of an apartment in Namma Bengaluru honoured Dr Vijayashree who returned home after treating #COVID patients. Let us respect and appreciate the great services rendered by our Doctors, they tweeted. They also used the hashtags #ThankYouCoronaWarriors and #IndiaFightsCoronavirus.

This is how the residents of an Apartment in Namma Bengaluru honoured Dr Vijayashree who returned home after treating #COVID patients.



Let us respect and appreciate the great services rendered by Our Doctors.#ThankYouCoronaWarriors#IndiaFightsCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/7yEWlckO6v  BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 2, 2020

Though shared just a few minutes back, the video has already gathered over 1,000 views. While one Twitter user wrote that its awesome, another exclaimed that the video gave them goosebumps.

Just a day ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minsiter Piyush Goyal tweeted a video of another such corona hero. It shows a doctor who returned home after 20 days of COVID-19 duty and received a heros welcome from her family and neighbours.
WASHINGTONIs the United States participating in the Iran nuclear arms deal or not? This week, it appeared to be trying to have it both ways in maneuverings at the United Nations that could provoke significant international tension this fall.

President Donald Trump has made it unmistakably clear that he pulled his country out of the multilateral arms deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump signed an order formally withdrawing from it in May 2018, and continues to insist that cancelling a deal that never should have been made in the first place is one of his signature accomplishments.

But two years later, his administration is claiming to be a participant in the deal for the purposes of triggering a provision at the UN to either extend an arms embargo against Iran or reimpose harsh predeal international sanctions.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied this was fancy lawyering.

Pompeo explained that the UN resolutions language gives participants in the deal rights, even though it doesnt require them to be actually participating in the deal. Its just reading, he said.

On Thursday, U.S. State Department Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook explained the logic further: Participant has two meanings, and I think the people that sort of havent really stared at this long enough dont understand that there are two participant meanings.

Protesters make their point as Brian Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran, testifies at a U.S. House foreign affairs subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C. AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Hook told reporters that one meaning is participation in the deal itself. But in UN Resolution 2231, which outlines dispute-resolution mechanisms for the deals participants, he said the U.S. is defined as a participant by name.

And so, for the purposes of resolving issues, we are  we have certain rights that are clearly there, he said.

Thats very plain.

Whether thats plain reading or fancy lawyering, it is the argument Hook and the State Department have been making to the members of the UN Security Council at the same time as theyre suggesting a resolution extending a conventional arms embargo banning sales of weapons to or from Iran beyond its expiration in October.

It certainly looks like trying to be two things at once to many members of the international community. You can pick your metaphor: having cake and eating it, too; demanding work from a former employee after you fire them; Schrodingers treaty participant.

The U.S. is making this argument because, under the UN resolution giving force to the nuclear deal, a conventional arms embargo against Iran expires this fall. As Hook and Pompeo repeated this week, such a ban on weapons sales is needed in part because Iran often funnels those weapons to terrorist organizations. A U.N. Security Council resolution would be required to extend the embargo. Which is where it gets tricky: Russia and China  which are still active participants in the deal  are reportedly preparing to sell arms to Iran, and each has a veto over any security council motions.

Which is where that Resolution 2231 comes in. Under it, any of JCPOA participant states  who are named explicitly  can notify the security council of nonperformance of the treaty provisions by another state. This would trigger a mandatory extension of the arms embargo within 30 days  and if such an extension is not passed, then full predeal UN economic sanctions on Iran would automatically be reimposed.

Those sanctions are what drove Iran to negotiate the deal in the first place. In effect, all of the benefits to Iran of participating in the nuclear deal would be repealed. This extreme snapback option was considered a big victory when the Obama administration negotiated it specifically as insurance to override any Russian or Chinese veto of a U.S. attempt to enforce the deal. At the time, no one contemplated that the U.S. would have withdrawn from a deal it was still trying to enforce.

Hook suggested it shouldnt have to come to that. I know that there is a desire to try to jump right over our diplomatic efforts and go right to the possibilities of snap back, but thats not our focus, he said. Our focus is on engaging in thoughtful and measured diplomacy with all the relevant parties to successfully negotiate a renewal of the UN arms embargo.

Recently, Iran has scoffed at the U.S. manoeuvre  Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted Monday that Pompeo and his boss had withdrawn from the deal trying to bring Iran to its knees: Given that policys abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant. Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny.

Pompeo dismissed those comments on Fox News. Yeah, I dont pay much attention to the words of Foreign Minister Zarif, he said. He is a professional disinformation campaigner.

Harder to wave away might be objections from Russia and other members of the security council. Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov told the Russian newspaper Kommersant this week that his country has a negative attitude to extending the arms embargo, and characterized the U.S.s potential snap back triggering move as both cynical and ludicrous.

He said he didnt think the UN would allow the U.S. to succeed, but predicted stormy debates at the security council.

Everyone sees the absurdity of this formula, Ulyanov said.

Read more about:
Pakistan on Saturday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register a strong protest over alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in which a woman was killed.

The Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement claimed that the Indian forces violated ceasefire in Hajipir and Sankh Sectors on Friday.

The Indian forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-calibre mortars and automatic weapons, the FO said.

It claimed that in 2020, India has so far committed 940 ceasefire violations.

A 30-year-old woman was killed in Friday's "unprovoked firing" by the Indian forces, the FO claimed.

This is the second time this week that Pakistan has summoned an Indian diplomat.

Pakistan on Thursday summoned the Indian Charge d'Affaires here to protest against the alleged firing by the Indian troops across the Line of Control that resulted in the killing of a Pakistani soldier and two civilians.

The FO asked the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate this and other such incidents of "deliberate" ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was also asked to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United



Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions, according to the FO. India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With the State of Nebraska announcing new Directed Health Measures (DHM) in effect May 4-31, the East-Central District Health Department is rescinding its own DHMs on May 3 (they originally were set to expire later this month).

East-Central and the City of Columbus held a joint press conference Friday afternoon to review the new measures and update the community on the COVID-19 crisis.

One week ago when Mayor Bulkley gave this update, East-Central District Health Departments four counties had 31 cases of COVID-19, said Chuck Sepers, chief public health officer for ECDHC. Today, we have more than 200 cases in the health district. Most of these cases are in Colfax and Platte counties and recent investigations reveal community transmissions in both Columbus and Schuyler.

We must continue to slow the spread of this virus. Slowing the spread does not mean that people wont get COVID-19. It does mean that our health care system wont be able to keep up with the number of cases it can respond to at one time.

Sepers also confirmed that two individuals in East-Centrals district are currently hospitalized for COVID-19.

Although the states new measures will relax restrictions for one-on-one retail services and restaurants, Columbus Mayor Jim Bulkley expressed the importance of continuing to remain vigilant in precautions against the virus.

Regardless of these changes, we will still be doing some level of social distancing, at least (the) 6-foot rule, until we have a vaccine, Bulkley said. Just because we were able to relax some measures, that doesnt mean life returns to normal. We will continue to protect our health care systems so that Nebraskans can receive the care they need if they become infected with COVID-19. Remember, we must continue to practice. Stay home, social distance, shop alone  please do not take your family to the store with you, teach kids on social distancing, help seniors, exercise.

Bulkley reminded residents to adhere to the 10-person limit even with major events  such as Mothers Day, graduation and Cinco de Mayo  coming up.

The new DHMs, which will take effect Monday, will allow beauty/nail salons, barbershops, massage therapy services and tattoo parlors to operate. Both workers and patrons will be required to wear masks and the businesses will be subject to the 10-person rule.

Bulkley said he has heard questions regarding whether business employees are counted in the 10 person limit.

That does not include the staff, Bulkley said, further explaining that the guideline applies to patrons.

Restaurants will be allowed to serve dine-in customers if the following conditions are met: Seating is limited to 50% of the rated occupancy at all times, parties are seated at least 6 feet apart, dining parties are restricted to no more than six people (parties bigger than six people must sit at separate tables), patrons can only consume alcohol on-site if also consuming a meal and self-serve buffets and salad bars are prohibited. Bar seating will not be permitted and establishments that do not serve food will remain limited to carry-out and deliveries.

Churches and other places of worship will be allowed to in-person services as long as they ensure 6 feet of separation between households and prohibit the passing of items among worshippers. Guidelines will be provided to faith communities on how to comply with these updated measures.

The DHMs will also relax for childcare facilities; these facilities will now be permitted to have up to 15 children per room as compared to the previous 10. All other regulations still apply.

Other establishments including bars, gentlemens clubs, bottle clubs, indoor movie theaters, indoor playhouses/theaters will still be closed statewide until May 31.

But, not all of these businesses may feel ready to open, such as Kiara Ziemba. She owns Transcendence Salon and Spa in Columbus, but previously worked in the EMS field.

I have a little bit of an advantage knowing how infectious diseases spread, Ziemba said. We took major precautions even before they were ordered as far as separation and sanitation procedures.

I dont see how we can maintain those quarantine standards as it is right now.

Like many small businesses, Ziemba said she finds herself between a rock and a hard place when it comes to managing her salon during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our livelihood is us being able to go to work, Ziemba said. The unemployment response was an absolute disaster. I just received my unemployment payment last week and that was five weeks since weve been shut down. There are a lot of sleepless nights wondering how Im going to be paying my bills, not only for my home but as a business owner, my bills are still due. Those expenses run $1,500-$2,000 a month. How are you going to do that if you arent receiving help from the government?

Throughout the crisis, Ziemba has missed interacting with clients.

Its been devastating for stylists in our community, Ziemba said. Im not allowing anyone in the salon (yet), just so it can be clean and ready to go in case we do reopen.

Hannah Schrodt is the news editor of The Columbus Telegram. Reach her via email at hannah.schrodt@lee.net. Reporter Zach Roth contributed to this report.

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If anyone ever writes a book on 21st century Ohio political history, the author definitely should include a section on the Buckeye States 2020 primary election.

The primary turned out to be memorable not because of any rough-and-tumble campaigns involving candidates or races that went down to the wire on election night. Instead, the biggest story emerging from the 2020 Ohio primary involved a more unusual issue  how to conduct voting statewide in view of health and safety risks posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

That conundrum arose because the March 17 date for Ohios primary coincided with a time when the state launched intense efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Eight days before the primary, Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency as Ohio announced its first confirmed cases of novel coronavirus. On that same day, DeWine said that around 75 voting locations in nursing homes would be moved for the March 17 primary.

A day later, Democratic presidential rivals Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden both canceled rallies in Cleveland that were scheduled for March 10

Although March 16, the day before the primary, didnt feature the usual flurry of live campaign rallies involving president candidates, there was some last-minute election drama. In fact, when many Ohioans went to bed that night, they were still unsure if they would be going to the polls to vote on March 17.

At about 6:30 p.m. March 16, a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge rejected a lawsuit filed by an elderly woman to delay the primary.

However, about four hours later, DeWine announced that Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton would order the polls closed on March 17 as a health emergency because of risks posed to poll workers and voters by COVID-19 pandemic.

But the legal wrangling hadnt ended. In the early morning hours of March 17, the Ohio Supreme Court denied a Wood County judicial candidates complaint alleging that the delay of the primary violated election laws. At that point, it was official  Ohioans wouldnt be going to polling places to cast votes on March 17.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose initially said he hoped that the March 17 primary election could be moved to June 2. However, on March 25, the Ohio Legislature approved House Bill 197, a measure aimed at providing emergency relief to Ohioans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One section of H.B. 197 set April 28 as the final day for absentee voting by mail for Ohios primary election. The law created limited exceptions regarding in-person voting in the extended primary  for voters with disabilities and those who are homeless.

With mail-in voting being the principal method of casting a ballot in the primary, the Ohio Secretary of States Office, local boards of elections and the news media all played a pivotal role in informing the public about how to participate in the election.

For voters who had never before submitted an absentee ballot by mail, this was a new experience and required a little extra work. But COVID-19 was requiring people to do things differently in many aspects of their lives, so voting was just another item added to the list.

Even voters who procrastinated until the last minute werent excluded, as they had the opportunity on April 28 to deposit their ballots in drop-off boxes at boards of election until 7:30 p.m.

We credit the state of Ohio and local boards of elections for all of their efforts to help ensure voting took place in a primary election that was anything but ordinary.

At this point, its anybodys guess as to how voting will be conducted for the presidential election in November. A lot really depends on what government restrictions will be in place later this fall because of COVID-19.

But we believe whatever the method is chosen for casting ballots in November, Ohio voters will handle it willingly and effectively. After all, they got some good practice during Ohios 2020 primary.
Among the 1,364 deaths in Florida during the novel coronavirus pandemic, more than 400 have occurred inside long-term care facilities, according to data released by the state's health department on Friday.

Those deaths inside the facilities included both residents and staff, according to the data. In three separate facilities, there have been 14 deaths -- 13 residents and one staff member.

Florida health authorities also released data on how many positive COVID-19 cases there have been in the state's long-term care facilities. There were 1,429 positive residents as of May 1 across 424 facilities, the majority of whom later were transferred elsewhere. No information was provided as to where.

PHOTO: A patient is transported via ambulance from a nursing home. (Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire)

The data showed that as of Friday, 1,374 staff members had texted positive, as the state's total cases increased to 35,463, according to the health department.

The data, which they plan to update weekly, was released after multiple local outlets filed suit under the state's public records law seeking those numbers. The state had hesitated for weeks on releasing the figures. Even after the numbers were released, The Miami Herald, one of the outlets that filed suit, questioned its reliability.

The newspaper pointed out that more than a month ago, administrators at one facility in Fort Lauderdale confirmed that at least six residents had died of COVID-19. The chart released Friday includes only three resident deaths as "confirmed," while three remained "under investigation," the paper noted. The Herald noted other inconsistencies, including how four facilities that have reported at least one death weren't listed among those with positive cases.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health responded to the newspaper's inquiry on the matter, saying: "Questions received. We are looking into this." The state's health department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Story continues

PHOTO: Dennis D'Urso, a resident ER doctor at Holy Cross Hospital, arrives at work for the start of his shift amid an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., April 20, 2020. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

One of the hardest-hit facilities, one that's seen at least 14 deaths, the Braden River Rehabilitation Center LLC, said in a statement to ABC News that it had released similar information more than a week ago.

"As we have said, we believe this information is important to provide transparency so residents, their loved ones, and the community have an accurate picture of COVID-19's impact on our center and our extensive measures to limit its spread," Susan Kaar, a spokeswoman for Southern Healthcare Management, which manages the facility, said in a statement. "Our paramount priority is, and always has been, the health and well-being of our residents and staff, and we grieve the loss of those who have passed during the pandemic due to underlying health conditions that may have been complicated by COVID-19."

She added that the management company believes "the state's regular release of this information will show that our actions are being effective against this terrible virus."

The two other facilities with 14 deaths did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

More than 400 of Florida's COVID-19 deaths occurred in nursing homes originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
RABAT, Morocco - When Moroccan nurse Mofadal Ahyane lost his first patient to COVID-19, he had a recurring nightmare: His patient in agony slips from his body, which gradually transforms into Ahyanes own father, then brother, then friend.

The death of that man will never leave me as long as I live, Ahyane said, his voice cracking as he recalled the vain efforts of doctors and nurses at the hospital in the northern city of Tetouan to save the mans life.

The virus has upended life for Moroccos medical workers. They enjoy better medical facilities than in much of Africa but are often short of the equipment available in European hospitals, which also found themselves overwhelmed.

Medical professionals around this Muslim kingdom in North Africa spoke to The Associated Press, showing that the heartbreak and fears and the challenges of working safely are shared with Western counterparts, as is the devotion to saving lives.

Two Moroccan doctors have died after becoming infected, officials have said. Morocco, which is under a strict lockdown, currently has more than 4,500 confirmed cases and some 170 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University count.

Since early March, the Moroccan government has steadily introduced virus control measures that have gradually turned vibrant cities into near ghost towns. Health minister Khalid Ait Boutaleb says that if it werent for preventive measures, Morocco would now be facing 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

Still, the virus has wrought personal havoc for some health workers, temporarily tearing them apart their families as they self-isolate at the end of the day to keep their loved ones safe.

Radiology nurse Iman Benali at Casablancas Sidi Moumen Hospital has been away from her husband and 6-year-old child since early March. Some nurses working with Benali had to stop breastfeeding their infants when duty called, she said.

Her long days end in self-isolation at a hotel with 70 other medical professionals. The hotel housekeepers are also forced to exchange families for hotel rooms because of their contact with the health professionals.

Benali said the sacrifices shared with co-workers has created a special bond.

We watch out for each other out of compassion, but also out of fear for our own health, she said. If a hospital worker gets contaminated, it means the entire hospital workforce may be contaminated.

At Moulay Abdellah Hospital in Moroccos Atlantic coastal city of Sale, Dr. Youssef Dhabi said he believes the deaths of his colleagues are a driving force for caregivers.

If the deceased doctors were given a chance to return to work, they would take it instantly. Youd find them in their protective gear, treating patients, he said.

During his 12-hour shift, nurse Ahyane rarely eats because he fears contamination. You wonder, are your hands clean enough to eat? he says.

Dr. Houcine Benazouz doesnt even consider eating. Since early March, he has been running between departments at the Tetouan hospital. At night, he stays in a white, impersonal hotel room far from the comfort of his loved ones.

It has to be the hardest choice I made, leaving my wife and children behind me, he said.

Nabil Zouini, who works with a testing task force in his hometown of Meknes, hasnt been home in over a month, something his 3-year-old daughter cant understand.

She smiles at me every night and asks me: Dad, are you coming back home tomorrow? Zouini said of his video chats with his child. If I say no, she cries.

Zouini dons a new mask and gown at every encounter with suspected cases, but he is never certain hes safe.

The hardest part is taking the gown off. We have to do it in a way that we dont touch the outside of the suit, which is fully contaminated. We can only take off the suit from the inside out. He removes gowns at least 10 times a day.

Its now beginning to feel like the ancient ramparts of Meknes are closing in.

The psychological turmoil is incredibly hard, he said. Many of us will be scarred by what we see.

Zouini described an eerie emptiness in the streets of his city, an image that collides with the once-lively ambiance of Meknes, which in normal times draws tourists from around the world.

As I drive to homes of suspected cases, my eyes flash for a second and I see the cafes, the playgrounds buzzing with life ... before Im brought back to reality, he said.

Using a typical Moroccan expression that may speak to all the countrys health workers, Zouini added: I say to myself, we cant meet each other today, but we will hug tomorrow.

___

Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed.
Lalit Kumar, one of the producers of upcoming Tamil biggie Master, has clarified the team has no plans to release the Vijay starrer directly on any OTT platform. He confirmed the film will release in theatres after the lockdown.

Talking to a leading Tamil daily, Lalit refuted rumours about the release of Master on Amazon Prime this month. No, we dont have any plans of releasing Master directly on any OTT platform. The film will release in theatres after lockdown, he said.

Apparently, the makers of Master were offered a deal of Rs 125 crore to allow Master to release directly on Amazon Prime. These reports have been put to rest by Lalit.

Master, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, 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.

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: Anushka Sharma birthday: Did you know Aditya Chopra told her she was not the most good-looking before signing her?

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

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 03:05:23|Editor: huaxia

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Volunteers pack bottles of oil for later distribution in Damascus, capital of Syria, on April 29, 2020. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a group of young Syrian men and women have come together to prepare food parcels and distribute them to the poor families in the war-torn country. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a group of young Syrian men and women have come together to prepare food parcels and distribute them to the poor families in the war-torn country.

Calling themselves the Amerha Team, or Build It, the young volunteers, with a strong determination, are all university students or fresh graduates.

The protracted Syrian war has developed a special awareness among the new generation of the need to help and not being indifferent to the pains of others.

In the warehouse where these volunteers are working, around 20 of them, all wearing masks and gloves, were energetically packing up the food received from the retailers.

The Amerha Team, which gathers about 200 young people, distribute food parcels every year during Ramadan. For this year's Ramadan, the team aims to distribute 2,000 food parcels.

Muhammad Batha, one of the volunteers who is preparing for the master's degree , told Xinhua that he has been working with the team for two years.

"We aim to help people ... This humanitarian work is what motivates us to work and come together to help amid the heat and the coronavirus crisis," said Batha, calling their initiative during Ramadan the Month of Good.

This architectural engineer noted that the volunteer work teaches him how to give and help without taking anything in return.

Sedra al-Adas, a 20-year-old law school student, has been working with the team for a year and a half.

The young student said the Syrian youth have come to understand the importance of charity and volunteering as the long-running Syrian war and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak have left large numbers of households in need.

"It feels so good when you help someone and see the joy in their eyes," she explained.

Her friend, Marah al-Zain, a 21-year-old Arabic literature student, said the smile people give when receiving help inspires an unmatched sense of achievement.

"During these times, we are helping those who are really in need of help amid the month of Ramadan and the coronavirus curfew so that we can see the smile back on their faces," she said.

Muhammad Fatairy, one of the team's supervisors, told Xinhua that the growing need of the poor segments of the Syrian society, including children, is what motivates them to offer help.

"This week and next week, we plan to reach 1,000 Syrian families and during the rest of Ramadan to reach another 1,000," he said.
It is the kids who will be most disappointed at not getting back to school any time soon. It's been seven long weeks and any novelty has worn off. September is months away.

Secondary schools are due to close by the end of May anyway and the prospects of those reopening was considered slim, but with the primary year extending to the end of June, there was a hope that they could return, if only to reconnect and put a different kind of closure on a most extraordinary school year.

If you ask children and young people, they will tell you what they are missing their friends most. They miss their teachers too, and their teachers miss them.

Last week, Prof Anne Looney, Dean of Education at Dublin City University (DCU), said there was a "nation of children who want to return to the classroom".

For the many parents struggling to keep the learning going at home, while juggling the demands of the day job, last night's announcement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will have caused dismay.

For many children, the concerns go well beyond missing their pals. While all are losing the same amount of time in school, the impact is uneven and the disadvantaged, whether that is socio-economic or those with special educational needs, will be the biggest losers.

Adam Harris, of the autism advocacy group AsIAm, has warned that the loss of routine for children on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could make it difficult for them to return to school in the autumn, unless they get extra support over the summer.

In the ultra-conservative approach to reopening the country adopted by public health experts and the Government, schools are at the tail end. It is a long way from the signals given by Health Minister Simon Harris only in the past week or so that partial reopening was on the cards.

Now, what they are proposing is more cautious than in many other countries, which have set dates for gradual return this term.

Scientists differ about the level of Covid spread risk associated with children - it is too early to say who will be proved right, but Ireland has decided it is taking no chances. It will be another day before the longer-term effect on children can be gauged.

Leaving Cert students will be the only pupils it is hoped can return to school over the coming months, but last night Fianna Fail's education spokesperson Thomas Byrne said he believed the exams "should not take place".

Amid all the uncertainty about the risks and dangers involved of going back to school, primary principals and teachers had raised concerns about the need to work through the practicalities of a return to classroom.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) said there would be "very particular challenges" to reopening in May or June, even on a partial or phased basis. September allows for a lot more time.

In a social distancing world, the problems would start with the logistics of transporting thousands of pupils twice a day on school buses that are often pretty full.

The same social distancing considerations would be a headache from the minute pupils arrived at the school gate. Irish classrooms are the most crowded in Europe and it doesn't get any easier outside in the playground.

There would be issues around maintaining hygiene and ensuring everyone followed the advice. Aine Lynch, CEO of the National Parents Council Primary, said: "I know that parents are anxious for children to return to mix with their friends.

"If public health advice is that it is impossible to keep children safe, it leaves us little choice," she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 2)  Quezon City posted 1,312 COVID-19 infections as of Friday, including 13 more recoveries and one additional death, the city government said.

A total of 242 people got well, while 129 died.

The local government also reported 47 people who violated quarantine protocols.

It said 42,255 people residents were given cash aid.
Restrictions aimed at slowing the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia have forced chefs, musicians, actors, artists and designers to find new ways of engaging with their audiences and customers.

Dan Hong has shared his cooking secrets on his Isolation Cooking Series. Credit:Louie Douvis

Hospitality heavyweight chef Dan Hong might not be working his magic in Bridge Lane's Mr Wong's restaurant these days, but he's found a way to connect with diners from the comfort of his own kitchen.

Since the pandemic hit, Hong has been working just three days a week for Justin Hemmes' Merivale group, focusing on Mr Wong At Home dinner boxes for customers who are missing his cooking.

In his newfound spare time, the father-of-three has created an isolation cooking series on Instagram, which has gone viral.
After a meeting of the national cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared that his government, with the agreement of state and territory leaders, is bringing forward a review of lockdown measures introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Previously slated for May 11, the review will now occur at next Fridays national cabinet.

There is an increasingly frenzied campaign by the corporate and financial elite for social distancing measures to be abandoned, even though this will result in the further spread of COVID-19. The Murdoch-owned Australian newspaper summed up the line in a lead article this morning, hailing Morrison for outlining a seven day timetable to free a nation.

Like their counterparts internationally, the Australian ruling class and its governments are seeking to force workers back onto the job as quickly as possible, including in unsafe conditions, to ensure the resumed flow of corporate profits, even as fresh clusters emerge.

Morrison sought to present the review as being aimed at improving the quality of life of ordinary people. Australians deserve an early mark for the work that theyve done, Morrison declared. Despite infections nearing 7,000 and deaths reaching 95, he claimed: We cant keep Australia under the doona.

The prime minister pointed to the governments real concerns when he noted that its policies were being developed so that we can open up the economy. He said restarting the economy was as important as halting the virus.

Aside from providing an assurance to big business that its demands will be met, Morrisons statements were part of a push to convince the population that the pandemic has been contained. He said 11 of 15 unspecified conditions for reversing the lockdowns had been met. Over the past several weeks, phrases such as the curve has been flattened have taken on the character of an official mantra.

The dubious character of these assertions was summed up by Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy. Speaking alongside Morrison, he admitted that over the previous week federal authorities had only received sufficient data to track real rates of transmission from two of the countrys eight states and territories.

The government previously said it would introduce mass testing, including of asymptomatic individuals, while easing the lockdown. At yesterdays press conference, Murphy appeared to backtrack on this, stating only that samples would be taken from some asymptomatic nurses, aged-care workers and others in vulnerable occupations.

All the government measures are predicated on a recognition that lifting social distancing will result in a spike in coronavirus transmissions. Morrison last week made clear that his government, along with its Labor and Liberal state counterparts, had rejected calls for a strategy aimed at the effective elimination of community transmission.

Instead the governments are planning to manage the epidemic. The centrepiece of this program is a COVIDSafe mobile phone app, which will supposedly allow the authorities to undertake rapid contact tracing when cases emerge.

Morrison declared yesterday that the lifting of restrictions depended on millions more downloading the app. Since it was released last Sunday, the app has been downloaded 3.5 million times, indicating a maximum coverage of 14 percent of the population.

Government officials have given conflicting estimates of the take-up rate for it to provide any benefit, ranging from 20 to 40 percent, while some commentators have suggested a figure closer to 70 percent.

The effectiveness of the app is completely unknown. It works by logging the phone numbers of anyone with whom an individual comes into close contact for 15 minutes or longer. This would do nothing to detect transmissions of the highly infectious virus caused by fleeting contact between individuals in shopping centres and other public places.

The government has refused to publicly release the apps source code, meaning that its supposed privacy provisions are effectively a state secret. The data will be stored by Amazon, which has close ties to the US intelligence agencies, and may be subpoenaed by American law enforcement forces because the company is registered in that country.

Previous government claims that the data would be accessible only to state health officials were exposed this week. People who downloaded the app noted a provision that the information could be used to prosecute a breach of the law under draconian biosecurity legislation. This confirms that at least some of the data will be accessible to the police and state prosecutors.

The official declarations that the country is on the cusp of removing many social-distancing restrictions have coincided with indications that community transmission is more widespread than officially acknowledged.

In New South Wales, a new cluster emerged yesterday in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith, with at least four infections of unknown origin. Premier Gladys Berejiklian, whose government has lifted some restrictions on individuals visiting other peoples homes, openly stated that the worst days may be yet to come. Overnight, another five cases were confirmed, including two of unknown origin and one under investigation.

Victorian authorities revealed this morning that eight workers had tested positive for the coronavirus at a single meat processing facility in Melbourne. This underscores the possibility of a rapid spread of the virus in workplaces where employees are forced to be in close quarters.

State Labor Health Minister Jenny Mikakos refused to name the plant, in a transparent bid to ensure that its operations can continue unhindered despite a major COVID-19 outbreak. Labor and the unions have played the central role in ensuring that large sections of manufacturing have continued to function throughout the pandemic, including in non-essential sectors such as construction.

The Age reported yesterday that throughout Victoria, the origins of 17 clusters are still under investigation, indicating that the authorities do not know how widely transmission may have occurred. The clusters include aged-care homes, a psychiatric facility and hospitals.

Despite the dangers, the governments are pressing ahead with a so-called return to normal. All of them are seeking to force teachers to resume mass face-to-face teaching, as a precondition for herding the workforce as a whole back onto the job.

This is creating the conditions for a similar crisis to those which hit a number of countries that prematurely reversed lockdown measures. Singapore, for instance, was previously touted as a model to be emulated, but experienced a major new spike in cases last month after hastily withdrawing social-distancing measures on the basis of equally dubious claims as those put forward by the Australian governments.
City of Laredo officials have confirmed 17 additional cases of the novel coronavirus in their daily update Saturday, the highest jump since April 24. The additional cases bring the city's total of COVID-19 cases to 385. 22 individuals are hospitalized due to complications related to the virus.

From a period of a week, running from April 25 to May 1, city officials confirmed less than 10 cases daily.

Health department director Dr. Hector Gonzalez said the increase is due to the fact that the city has been able to test Laredoans quicker than before. He also made sure to point out that results aren't just from tests taken yesterday, but rather over time. Results take different times to return depending on who is performing the test.

Since we opened the drive thru at Park and Ride, we have tested 1,000 people and has given us a much better look at what is going on, Dr. Gonzalez said. "We are also testing more just at the health department over the last 2 weeks since the drive through and continue to test daily. Our EPI curve continues to go down."

Previously, Dr. Gonzalez has mentioned that some coronavirus tests can take up to three days to return.

Despite mentioning downward trend, Dr. Gonzalez continued to point out that that virus is far from being controlled.

The virus is not controlled at all, said Dr. Gonzalez. If we continue to relax our own safety precautions then there will we certainly a rise in the number of cases once again that will affect us all. This is still not over.

Dr. Gonzalez also focused on the process that the health department is taking to determine "recovered" persons and release them back into the public.

All persons who are positive have to be in quarantine for 14 days, which is the non-testing guideline; however, the testing guideline is mainly only for healthcare workers before they return to work in which they are tested twice, said Dr. Gonzalez.

Thus, the majority of people are not tested a second time to determine if they still have the virus or not before returning to the public. They are simply checked for their symptoms while being quarantined at home and checked two weeks later to see if they present any conditions related to coronavirus that might require more testing or continued quarantining.

On the legal front, City of Laredo Police Departments Manuel Diaz did not report any major activity in the past 24 hours leading to citations or arrests.

According to Diaz, 150 parks were checked as of yesterday and 351 businesses also were inspected while the police department received 52 calls with questions regarding if the curfew was still being implemented and if there are any more fines being imposed for the usage of facemasks.

548 service calls were given zero citations, which really shows how the people of Laredo have been doing a great job at following the rules and they should be praised for it, said Diaz.

Despite the removal of fines for not wearing a facial coverings, the local health department continues to recommend locals continue using face masks to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Although results seemed to show the city is on a downward curve, city officials continued to stress locals should not let their guard down.

2,589 individuals have been tested for COVID-19 in Laredo. 1,760 tests have returned negative. 120 recoveries have also been reported in Laredo.
A Monaco-based aviation tycoon worth 141million is suing the government over the Covid-19 lockdown describing it as 'draconian' and 'wrecking the economy'.

Simon Dolan, 50, who owns aircraft charter business Jota Aviation has put Health Secretary Matt Hancock on notice of his intention to sue the government, claiming the lockdown measures are breaching human rights.

The firm, which has a contract to deliver PPE to the NHS, is based at Southend Airport. As well as cargo flights, it does VIP transport and charters.

Simon Dolan, who is worth 141 million, is crowdfunding his legal case against the government

Millionaire aviation tycoon Simon Dolan, pictured in 2011 with his wife Sabrina Simon, has put the government on notice that he will seek a judicial review of the government's decision to impose the Covid-19 lockdown

The threatened judicial review claims the government's ongoing lockdown will kill more people than it will save by preventing the spread of Covid-19.

Mr Dolan has instructed Wedlake Bell to initiate the proceedings.

According to the 22-page legal letter sent to Matt Hancock: 'We represent Simon Dolan, an entrepreneur who owns fully or partially 10 UK businesses which combined employ a total of around 600 people.

'His company, Jota Aviation has in recent weeks made numerous flights to transport vital PPE equipment for NHS healthcare professionals and to repatriate British people stranded abroad, as well as flying daily for the Italian Post Office to help keep their goods moving.'

Mr Dolan told The Guardian: 'The lockdown is telling us to stop living to avoid dying. To imprison people in their homes is an extremely dramatic decision to make. It is unprecedented and it would have been a brave Boris to say "no, we are not going to do that", but it has gone on too long now, and we need to lift it or loosen it.

'Too many people are losing their jobs; people cant get cancer treatment, there is suicide, domestic violence. Why are we prevaricating? Its like the government is now keeping this going to justify their original decision, whereas what they should do is say we did this and now we are doing something different.'

Mr Dolan added: 'Its not storming the city halls with guns like in America, but British people have done their bit, made their sacrifices but life has to go on and its going to be really hard for years to come.'

The tycoon, who appears on the Sunday Times Rich List is seeking to crowd fund the cost of the legal action.

Initially, he is seeking 30,000 but will need 125,000 to bring the case to court.

So far, the crowdfunding effort has raised almost 28,000 of the 30,000 target from 815 pledges.

According to his letter on the crowd funding website, he said: 'My name is Simon, and together with a few other like-minded souls, we are launching a legal challenge against the UK Govt Lockdown.

'We believe that the Govt has acted illegally and disproportionately over the COVID 19 lockdown and we are taking action.

'By forcing people to stay at home, and forcing businesses to close, they are, we believe, in contravention of basic Human Rights offered under English Law, that of the right to enjoy your property peacefully.

'The lockdown has and will lead to devastating economic impact (massive unemployment, tax increases, closure of businesses, reduced tax receipts etc) It has, and will lead to far more deaths from suicide, undiagnosed conditions, untreated conditions - indeed far more than would have been potentially saved by the lockdown.

'What we wish to achieve in bringing this case, is simply the freedom of individuals - the freedom to visit friends, freedom to earn a living, to socialise, in essence, the freedom of choice. That, of course, includes the freedom to stay inside - should you choose.'

The Government has been told the legal case will proceed to the High Court if they do not respond before Thursday, May 7 with plans to loosen the lockdown

Dolan has told the government he will abandon the legal challenge if the government introduces less draconian restrictions.

Mr Dolan's company, Jota Aviation, lost 3.21 million in 2019 having made a 300,000 profit in 2018.

The tycoon, from Essex, left school at 16 and started doing people's accounts after putting an advert in a local paper.

He founded a motor racing team, Jota Sport, in 2008.

The Department of Health has until May 7 to respond to Mr Dolan's legal letter.

According to the legal letter: 'This short timetable is imposed because of the seriousness of the continued harms to lives and livelihoods through the continued disproportionate breaches of Convention rights of all individuals and the majority of businesses throughout England.

'Our client also requests that the Government disclose minutes of the meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) since the beginning of 2020. Failure to do so will result in an application for disclosure if proceedings have to be issued.'

He believes that the government should reopen schools and allow groups of up to 100 people to meet up.

He told The Sun: 'Boris Johnson has hinted at an exit strategy but he has offered no timeframe and given himself a get-out with the five tests. I want the government to explain and justify its decisions. I want to be assured that these measures are propotionate and lawful.

'It is vital that the frightening restrictions to our liberties are carefully thought through.Every life lost is a tragedy.

'But we have seen other nations deal with the pandemic effectively without such draconian measures.'

MailOnline has approached Mr Dolan and the Department of Health for a comment.
Two COVID-19 patients linked to Buddha bar in Ho Chi Minh City, who had previously been given the all-clear from the respiratory caused by the novel coronavirus, have tested positive again, a local health official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday night.

The two new relapse cases are a 52-year-old man from Brazil, who is identified as Vietnams patient No. 124, and a 25-year-old man from the UK  the country's patient No. 235.

Both were diagnosed with COVID-19 after going to Buddha bar in District 2 on March 14, when a Saint Patricks Day party was thrown there.

At least 19 people who could be traced back to the party have caught the disease, making the facility the biggest cluster of infections in southern Vietnam to date.

The latest additions bring the total number of relapse cases that can be traced to Buddha bar to five, out of the city's six total cases having retested positive for COVID-19 after making full recoveries.

According to a leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the two foreign men were declared recovered from the disease and released from the hospital on April 14.

However, they tested positive again after completing their 14-day quarantine period following the hospital discharges.

Earlier, three other recovered COVID-19 patients connected to Buddha bar  patients No. 151, 207 and 224  also retested positive for the virus.

Another relapse case in Ho Chi Minh City is patient No. 92, a 21-year-old overseas Vietnamese student returning from France, who had been discharged from the hospital on April 14 but tested positive again on Thursday.

A man guards the entrance to a sealed-off apartment building on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, May 1, 2020 after COVID-19 patient No.92, who lives there, suffered a relapse. Photo: Chau Tuan / Tuoi Tre

An apartment building on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1, where patient No. 92 lives, has been placed under lockdown while at least 92 people linked to the patient have been sampled for COVID-19 testing. All 92 results have returned negative for the virus.

All of the six relapse cases in the southern metropolis are currently being isolated and treated at a COVID-19 field hospital in Cu Chi District.

Apart from these six patients, only one patient  a 43-year-old British pilot who was the first infection detected at Buddha bar  remains under treatment in Ho Chi Minh City, out of the metropolis total infections of 54.

On Saturday morning, Vietnam announced no new COVID-19 case.

The national tally of infections has remained at 270 since April 24, when two imported cases from Japan were confirmed.

There have been no new infections among the community in Vietnam since April 16, while 217 patients have recovered.

Of the 53 active patients, 14 are relapse cases.

No death related to the disease has been reported in the country.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski on May 1, 2020. (MSNBC's Morning Joe via AP)

Biden Asks Senate Secretary to Look for Records of Tara Reade Complaint

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden officially asked the secretary of the U.S. Senate to search for a complaint allegedly filed by a woman who worked for Biden in 1993.

Tara Reade, 56, says she filed a complaint with a Senate office after Biden, 77, a senator at the time, sexually assaulted her at the U.S. Capitol.

I am writing to request your assistance in determining whether 27 years ago a staff member in my United States Senate office filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment, Biden wrote to Julie Adams, the secretary.

Biden said Friday morning that hed ask Adams to inquire with the National Archives about the complaint in question.

The National Archives told The Epoch Times in a statement, Any records of Senate personnel complaints from 1993 would have remained under the control of the Senate.

Biden noted the National Archives statement in his letter to Andrews.

Accordingly, I request that you take or direct whatever steps are necessary to establish the location of the records of this Office, and once they have been located, to direct a search for the alleged complaint and to make public the results of the search, Biden wrote.

The public release should also include any and all other documents that relate to the allegation, he added.

A spokeswoman for Adams office told The Epoch Times that legal counsel determined the Secretary has no discretion to disclose any such information as requested in Vice President Bidens letter of May 1.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) holds a press conference after a pro forma session where the Senate passed a nearly $500 billion package to further aid small businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 21, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Adams was elected to her position in 2015. She previously served on the staff of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and as spokeswoman for First Lady Laura Bush.

Reade said last year that Biden sexually harassed her, elevating the accusation to sexual assault in March, then filing a police report with District of Columbia police.

Biden has also been accused of inappropriately touching other women, including Lucy Flores, a former member of the Nevada State Assembly, and former congressional aide Amy Lappos.

While Biden is seeking records relating to Reade from the Senate, he refused to ask for the release of a large set of records relating to his time in the Senate. Biden represented Delaware from 1973 to 2009 before becoming vice president.

Look, theres one place that she could file the complaint and  all those records from that office are in the archives and theyre controlled by the Senate. Thats where personnel documents would be if they exist. Thats where the complaint would be if it exists, Biden said during a televised interview Friday.

The University of Delaware acquired the records, which include more than 1,850 boxes and extensive electronic data.

Biden repeatedly said a narrow search for only records relating to Reade shouldnt happen.

The university originally planned to release the records two years after Bidens last day in public office but in April 2019, just before Biden announced a bid for the presidency, it said the documents wont be released until the later date of Dec. 31, 2019, or two years after the donor retires from public life.

Andrea Boyle Tippett, a spokeswoman for the college, told The Epoch Times in an email that researchers are currently curating the collection.

As the curating process is not complete, the papers are not yet available to the public, she said.
New Delhi: With 2293 new cases of coronavirus infection and 71 fatalities, India recorded the highest single-day surge in COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India has risen to 37336 including 26167 active cases, 9950 cured/discharged/migrated and total 1218 fatalities, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

According to the figures provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 2293 new COVID-19 cases and 71 fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours, making it the highest single-day surge in coronavirus COVID-19 cases.

Out of the total number, 9,951 people have been cured/discharged/migrated, the Health Ministry said. Maharashtra still remains the worst affected state and the number of coronavirus positive cases has crossed the 10,000-mark with at least 485 deaths.

The positive cases in Maharashtra have reached 11,506, including 1,879 discharged cases. After Maharashtra, Gujarat has the most number of COVID-19 cases (4,721). The state has reported 236 deaths, while 735 people have been discharged.

Here's the state-wise breakup of COVID-19 cases in India

S. No. Name of State / UT Total Confirmed cases (Including 111 foreign Nationals) Cured/Discharged/

Migrated Death 1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 33 16 0 2 Andhra Pradesh 1463 403 33 3 Arunachal Pradesh 1 1 0 4 Assam 43 32 1 5 Bihar 471 98 3 6 Chandigarh 88 17 0 7 Chhattisgarh 43 36 0 8 Delhi 3738 1167 61 9 Goa 7 7 0 10 Gujarat 4721 735 236 11 Haryana 360 227 4 12 Himachal Pradesh 40 30 1 13 Jammu and Kashmir 639 247 8 14 Jharkhand 111 20 3 15 Karnataka 589 251 22 16 Kerala 497 392 4 17 Ladakh 22 17 0 18 Madhya Pradesh 2719 524 145 19 Maharashtra 11506 1879 485 20 Manipur 2 2 0 21 Meghalaya 12 0 1 22 Mizoram 1 0 0 23 Odisha 149 55 1 24 Puducherry 8 5 0 25 Punjab 480 90 19 26 Rajasthan 2666 1116 62 27 Tamil Nadu 2526 1312 28 28 Telengana 1039 441 26 29 Tripura 2 2 0 30 Uttarakhand 58 36 0 31 Uttar Pradesh 2328 654 42 32 West Bengal 795 139 33 Total number of confirmed cases in India 37336* 9951 1218 *179 cases are being assigned to states for contact tracing *States wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation *Our figures are being reconciled with ICMR

In order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (May 1) extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks. As per the latest notification, the third phase of lockdown will be enforced until May 17.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as lockdown 2.0 was coming to end on May 3.

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Union Home Ministry issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Friday to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued fresh guidelines, under which, all the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the MHA, will be prohibited.

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.

Notably, 733 districts in the country have been divided into Red, Orange, and Green Zones after witnessing the rising cases of coronavirus. Of these, 130 districts are in the Red Zone, 284 districts are in the Orange Zone, while 319 districts are in the Green Zone.

Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days.

Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback.

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone.
Unlike tempests, floods and fires, the virus is not a danger to Earths beauty. What it has done to the spirit though is of an altogether different dimension, its sinister characteristics a blow against what used to be normal for mankind. Also, in the times of the pandemic, when many a Citizen Joe has gone to his grave unsung, celebrities are among the numbers too in this deadly game. The departure of the more creative ones among them leaves an ache in us as we consider and even play back their vast contribution to the arts. John Prine, Lee Konitz, Ellis Marsallis are all in a long list of American musicians which seemed to suggest a surreal link between creativity and Covid-19.

Closer home, the loss of two legends of the silver screen on successive days brought on a wave of particular sadness. Sadly, Irrfan Khan might be considered collateral Covid-19 damage too as his plans to return to UK for continued treatment may have been stymied by the lockdown. He was a consummate actor who crossed continents to make greater name and fame. His restrained, almost understated elegance, may have suited Hollywood more and which is where he was to get significant roles as a thespian. Through the prism of his characters we lived through many different experiences.

At the other end of the spectrum, the scion of Indias first family of movies, Rishi Kapoor, was one who had sold Indian youth romantic dreams of going on to live happily ever after. With his on-screen ebullience and themes of love that were bold in more conservative times, this Kapoor wove the kind of magic that Bollywood and its song and dance became universally famous for.

Their backgrounds and career ascent may tell a tale of the stark contrasts of India but both Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor will remain stars in our hearts for showing us the power of cinema, which has captured Indias heart and soul, though its halls are sadly silent now in this hour of a global threat.
NEW YORK, May 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (ServiceMaster or the Company) (NYSE: SERV). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.



The investigation concerns whether ServiceMaster and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On October 22, 2019, ServiceMaster announced disappointing preliminary financial results for the third quarter of 2019, having missed both revenue and earnings estimates. ServiceMaster also gave downward adjusted EBITDA guidance of $415 to $425 million, down from $435 to $445 million. The Companys press release attributed the disappointing results partly to termite damage claims arising primarily from Formosan termite activity, primarily in Mobile, Alabama. ServiceMaster further stated that this had been a known issue, the Company has taken mitigating measures starting in 2018. Finally, ServiceMaster announced the sudden departure of Matthew J. Stevenson from his role as President of Terminix Residential.

On these announcements, ServiceMasters stock price fell $11.44 per share, or 20.38%, to close at $44.70 per share on October 22, 2019.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.
A 55-year-old accused, one of the 114 suspects, in the Palghar lynching case has tested positive for the coronavirus disease, Dr Dinkar Gavit, Medical Superintendent, Rural Hospital (RH), Palghar confirmed on Saturday.

The accused is a resident of Divshi-Wakipada in Dahanu town of Palghar district, Maharashtra. He was arrested by the Kasa police on April 17. He was lodged in the Wada police lockup along with 20 other accused in the murder case. He was produced before the Dahanu court and is remanded in police custody till May 14 along with other 114 accused. The other accused are lodged in the lockups at Wada, Dahanu, Kasa, Vikramgadh, Talasari and other police stations to avoid overcrowding due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The swab test of the accused was taken on April 28 which tested negative. On Saturday morning, another test was done which turned out positive for Covid-19, Dr Gavit said. He was admitted at RH, Palghar but after taking permission from higher authorities the patient is being transferred to the prison ward of JJ hospital, Mumbai, said Dr Gavit. The accused did not show any symptoms of the virus till now but we are not taking any chances, Dr Gavit said.

Meantime, around 43 people including 20 accused and 23 cops on escort duty for the accused, are being tested for the virus and samples have been taken.

Till now, Maharashtras Palghar district has reported 170 positive cases of coronavirus with 10 deaths including in Vasai-Virar corporation areas while 59 have been discharged after undergoing treatment. Till now, 2691 patients have tested negative and the reports of 188 patients are awaited said an official of the District Information Office (DIO), Palghar.
KAMPALA  All the 20 occupants of the Usenge Water Bus that capsized on Lake Victoria on Saturday May 2, have been rescued, Kenya Red Cross has confirmed.

The ferry capsized on Saturday evening owing to the high water levels in the lake at the moment and it was feared that the bad weather currently being witnessed in the area would have made the rescue operations difficult.

The occupants have, however, been rescued as confirmed by the Kenya Red Cross through a post on their Twitter handle.

All passengers aboard the ferry that capsized in Lake Victoria rescued, Kenya Red Cross tweeted.

Kenya former Prime Minister Raila Odinga took to Twitter to thank those who made the rescue operation a success.

He advised those who use the lake to be more cautious as the water level is rising dangerously.

I sincerely thank all those who acted swiftly and saved lives from the capsized ferry in Lake Victoria earlier today. God bless you all. Lake Victoria is not what we used to know as its water level is rising dangerously. Lets approach it with extreme caution,he wrote.

Related
Michigan residents can now text a hotline to receive mental health support as part of an initiative during the coronavirus pandemic, the state announced Saturday.

Texting RESTORE to 741741 will launch a confidential text conversation with a crisis counselor as part of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Stay Home, Stay Well initiative, according to a May 2 news release.

Counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help residents coping with any mental health crisis, including anxiety, financial stress, suicidal thoughts and domestic violence.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and related financial hardships, we know that, now more than ever, Michigan residents are coping with stress and anxiety that can result in a mental health crisis, Allen Jansen, a deputy director at MDHHS, said in a statement.

The hotline is available through Crisis Text Line, an international organization established in 2013, according to the release. Hotline users will be referred to local mental health resources.

Text messages are confidential but the state will receive trend data to understand the need for any additional services," according to the release. The state plans to continue the partnership after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other resources and hotlines available to residents in emotional distress include:

The Headspace website , which provides free, evidence-based guided meditations. It includes at-home workouts that guide people through mindful exercise (a type of meditation in which participants focus on being intensely aware of what they are sensing and feeling in the moment), sleep assistance and childrens content to help address rising stress and anxiety. The resource is free and available to the public through the Stay Home, Stay Well initiative.

The National Suicide Prevention hotline, which is available 24/7 at 800-273-8255.

The American Red Cross Disaster Distress Helpline, a hotline for anyone in distress during the coronavirus pandemic, is available continuously at 800-985-5990.

The statewide Warmline, a phone line for Michigan residents with persistent mental health conditions. It will connect callers 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 operates seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. at 888-PEER-753 (888-733-7753).

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:

Saturday, May 2: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Federal funds now available to isolate Michigan homeless with coronavirus in hotels

If youre in danger of foreclosure due to coronavirus, dont wait to seek help, Michigan treasurers say

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus
R obert Jenrick has announced a package of more than 76 million in new funding to support the most vulnerable in society.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 Downing Street press conference on Saturday, the Housing Secretary said the funding would support survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, vulnerable children, and victims of modern slavery.

It comes after domestic violence has seen a massive spike since the country went into lockdown.

Mr Jenrick also announced a national effort to help keep rough sleepers off the streets for good with "long-term" and "sustainable" housing, after around 5,400 have been moved into safe accommodation over the last month.

Speaking about the new funding for vulnerable people, Mr Jenrick said: This additional support will ensure more safe spaces and accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse and their children, and the recruitment of additional councillors for victims of sexual violence.

He added that the funding will also help frontline charities to offer virtual ways to assist those in need, including phone-based services.

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 Housing Secretary said: We know that some refuges have had to reduce, or even to cancel the services that they would want to provide during the pandemic.

This funding will help them to meet the challenges posed in this national emergency, and to continue to help those that desperately need support.

Mr Jenrick also said the Governments Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament last week, would create the first ever legal definition of domestic abuse.

He said that through the Bill, the Government would be ensuring that the victims of domestic violence get the priority need status that they need to access to local housing services much more easily.

The Housing Secretary took today's press conference / PA

He added: This is a fully-funded commitment which will mean that no victim of domestic violence has to make the unbearable choice between staying somewhere that they know is unsafe or becoming homeless.

He said the Government had already announced an extra 15 million to strengthen its support, with an extra 16 million going directly to refuge services.

Addressing the issue of domestic violence, Mr Jenrick added: As a father of three girls I cannot even imagine women and young children being put in this situation.

But they are. We must be alive to the reality of what is happening in all too many homes across the country.

I want us to defend the rights of those women and those children wherever we can and that is what were going to do.

Mr Jenrick said more than 5,400 rough sleepers known to councils have been offered safe accommodation in the past month, ensuring that some of the most vulnerable people can stay safe during the pandemic.

He said Dame Louise Casey, who is already spearheading the Governments response on rough sleeping, has been appointed to oversee the national effort on helping the homeless.

Empty streets in UK after pubs and restaurants close 1 /8 Empty streets in UK after pubs and restaurants close An empty Westfield Stratford City Getty Images The empty car park outside a cinema in Leicester, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs, restaurants, leisure centres and gyms across the country to close PA Westminster Bridge is quiet in London AFP via Getty Images A pedestrian walks past a closed pub in New Cross, south London PA Cyclists keep their distance in Richmond Park PA A sparse Odeon cinema in Leicester after the Government ordered leisure facilities to close PA

Mr Jenrick added: She will work hand-in-hand with councils and with other groups across the country to plan how we can ensure that as many people as possible can move into the long-term sustainable and safe accommodation that they deserve once the pandemic is over.

He said some groups of society were affected particularly seriously by the coronavirus outbreak.

In response to a question from a member of the public, which highlighted the increase in food parcel provision for those in need, Mr Jenrick said those being shielded had access to parcels delivered by Government.

More than 5,400 rough sleepers have been moved into safe accommodation / Getty Images

He said local councils, community groups, faith groups and volunteers were working to ensure that other vulnerable people, such as the elderly, can get food and medicine and essential supplies  even if they are not technically in the shielded category.

Mr Jenrick encouraged people to volunteer by contacting their local council or using the good samaritan app.

He also highlighted the Governments economic response to help people, including the job retention scheme and changes to welfare provision.
Loyd Shares Online Chapel Message April 29 April 29, 2020

Scot Loyd, assistant professor of communication studies and director of forensics and debate, shared OBUs weekly online chapel devotion Wednesday, April 29. The message streamed on Facebook Live on the OBU Facebook page. The chapel message was the sixth since the University moved to fully online learning for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester.

Loyd earned a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication and theater from Arkansas State University as well as a Master of Arts in communication studies with specific studies in media and health communication. Prior to coming to OBU, he served as an instructor of communication arts at Louisiana College, where he also served as the director of forensics.
Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings could cut up to 15% of its workforce

British aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings is considering cutting up to 15 per cent of its workforce, a source close to the company told Reuters.

It comes as customers cut production and airlines park planes amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the company being paid by airlines based on how many hours its engines fly.

The size of layoffs has been mentioned internally by senior management, but is by no means finalised and there is a lot of negotiation still to be done, the source added.

The company's engines power the Airbus A330, A340, A350, and A380, as well as the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner.

Rolls-Royce Holdings is considering cutting up to 15 per cent of its workforce, a source close to the company told Reuters (file photo of a Rolls-Royce Holdings aircraft engine)

The Financial Times earlier reported Rolls-Royce was preparing to lay off up to 8,000 of its 52,000-strong workforce.

An announcement on the final figure is not expected before the end of May, when the company will update employees, according to a report from the FT.

Last month, Rolls-Royce scrapped its targets and final dividend to shore up its finances to cope with the virus outbreak.

The company's Chief Executive Officer Warren East said in April Rolls-Royce would be looking at cutting cash expenditure, including salary costs across its global workforce by at least 10% this year.

Discussions with unions about the job cuts have just begun, the newspaper reported, citing sources.

The scale of job cuts is still likely to be larger than after 9/11 when the group cut 5,000 jobs and the vast majority of it is expected to hit the civil aerospace unit, the FT said.

The company's engines power the Airbus A330 (file photo, pictured), A340, A350, and A380, as well as the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner

While job losses are also expected in the unit's operations in Singapore and Germany, Britain's civil aerospace workforce is expected to bear the majority of the cuts, according to the report.

A Rolls-Royce spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented.

'We have taken swift action to increase our liquidity, dramatically reduce our spending in 2020, and strengthen our resilience in these exceptionally challenging times.

'But we will need to take further action. We have to do this right, which means we are working closely with our employee and trade union representatives and then we will consult with everyone affected.

'We have promised to give our people further details of the impact of the current situation on the size of our workforce before the end of this month.'
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Observer Team for the recount of Guyanas Regional and General Elections arrived in Guyana Friday afternoon.

The three-member Team is led by Ms. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and includes Mr. John Jarvis, Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission and Mr. Sylvester King, Deputy Supervisor of Elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They were met on arrival by the CARICOM Secretariats Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations Ambassador Colin Granderson.

Ms. Barrow-Giles was a member of the High-Level Team that came to Guyana last March to participate in a scheduled recount which had to be aborted. The other members of that Team are unavailable for the present mission. Both Mr. Jarvis and Mr. King participated in the CARICOM Electoral Observer Mission for the Elections held on 2 March 2020.

CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados, in a Statement issued on Friday ahead of the arrival of the team for the recount, said:

The Community calls on all concerned to ensure a credible and transparent recount process, in order to provide legitimacy to any government which would be sworn in as a result. This process must be completed without further delay.

PHOTO CAPTION: (from left) Ambassador Colin Granderson, CARICOM Secretariats Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations; Mr. Sylvester King, Deputy Supervisor of Elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Ms. Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI); and Mr. John Jarvis, Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission
New Delhi: Coronavirus infection is increasing rapidly in the country. Due to this virus, the lockdown has been increased once again in the country. Now the lockdown will continue till May 17. In the midst of this crisis, the Modi government of the Center is going to put another instalment of Rs 500 from Monday. This instalment will be given in the bank account of women Jan Dhan account holders.

The government had announced a grant of Rs 500 per month for three months from April to help the poor. This decision was taken in view of the corona epidemic. Giving this information, Financial Services Secretary Devashish Panda has said that a timetable has been issued to the beneficiaries to withdraw this money from the account. Accordingly, they can withdraw money by going to the bank brand or the Customer Service Center (CSP). This money can also be withdrawn through ATMs.

115 policemen test positive for corona in 24 hours

Devashish Panda said that there is no crowd gathering in bank branches, so this amount will be transferred in a period of five days. This will help in complying with the social distance guidelines. According to the fixed table, this money will be transferred to the accounts of women whose last digit of Jan Dhan account is zero and one. Those whose last digits are two and three, they can withdraw money from their accounts on 5 May.

Body of Baloch journalist found in Sweden, used to criticize Pakistan government

On May 6, this money will be inserted in the bank accounts of women beneficiaries with four and five last digits and on May 8, six and seven digits. On May 11, this money will come into the accounts of the account holders whose last digits are eight and nine. In an emergency, female account holders can withdraw this money immediately. After May 11, she can withdraw this money at any time according to her convenience.

After all, why did CM Ashok Gehlot appear happy?
Bunny, a three and a half year old mixed breed who came to the Humane Society of Southeast Texas from Beaumont Animal Control, who picked her up as a stray, got star treatment for her 1-year anniversary/birthday at the shelter.

Staff gathered round to celebrate her with a new collar and food bowl, stuffed toys, treats and lots of love.

A table was filled with her new gifts, and some of her favorite foods, including two cheeseburgers, peanut butter filled cookies and a homemade cake made of oats mixed with peanut butter, topped with crumbled bacon and set atop a bed of dog biscuits.

They blew soap bubbles, sang Happy Birthday, then watched as she played and enjoyed her treats.

Typically, such parties would be open to the public, but given crowd restrictions due to COVID-19, the party was limited to staff.

It is one of many changes that have taken place at the no-kill shelter since the virus made its way to the region.

Shelter manager Dee Dee Goode says those looking to adopt must now do so by appointment only. Only two household members are allowed inside for a meet and greet with their prospective new pet.

All the animals available for adoption are posted online, including photos and biographical information, and those looking to adopt can fill out an application online to begin proceedings, as well.

Goode says the shelter has seen an increase in adoptions since the beginning of the outbreak, as well as those looking to foster animals. More notably, she says, they have had several cancelations of appointments made by families to surrender their pets to the shelter.

I dont know if they just changed their mind since this all started, or if they now have more time to take care of their animals, she says. But it is a positive trend for the shelter.

They have also been undertaking additional deep clean days, sanitizing areas more frequently throughout the facility.

Before returning to work, staff joined in their own party treats, sharing a bit of their cupcake frosting with Bunny.

Rhonda Girard, a shelter worker who started there as a volunteer, was among those showering Bunny with attention, but looking forward to the day when her next party will be with a new family at her forever home.

Shes such a sweet dog, she and others say. She loves people. Bunny also loves to run and play, and though she may do best in a single-dog environment, she does get along well with calm dogs.
But real estate is not why I left New York, though its a convenient stand-in for all the city tedium that helped me board the plane out. Living there can make you feel like you never have enough  closet space, counter space, outdoor space, light, cool friends, books youve read, pizzas youve tried, status tote bags, money, time, money, time.

It made me feel that way, anyway. By the time I left, my ambitions had begun to feel small and pointless. The worst part was, they also seemed to be shared by roughly three to eight million other people, and none of us would ever feel as if we had really won.

Sheep Meadow was always going to be too crowded on a Saturday in May; there would always be a stupidly long wait at the new Thai place on Smith Street. The fantasy  having New York all to yourself, you and some friends and maybe a few low-key celebrities you wouldnt mind bumping into  was never going to come true, because all these other people kept getting in the way.

But now it is them I miss, the strangers of New York.

I miss taking pictures of unsuspecting pedestrians just because I thought they looked cool, and maybe Id copy their outfits later on. I miss the way, when your subway train dipped past another one coming out of the Union Square stop, the passengers on the other train would flicker in and out of view as if with the click of an old slide projector. I miss walking through Brooklyn Heights around 7 or 8 oclock, peering into other peoples brownstones just as everyone was getting home, their windows rectangles of aspiration.
(Bloomberg) --

In Germany, unions are pushing Amazon.com Inc. to prevent warehouse workers from congregating like bunches of grapes before their shifts. In Italy, where a Covid-19 outbreak hit Amazons main logistics depot, unions staged an 11-day strike that ended after the company granted employees an additional five-minute break to practice better personal hygiene. And in what amounts to the most significant pushback yet, a French appeals court on April 24 upheld an earlier ruling ordering Amazon to sell only essential products in the country to protect the safety of warehouse workers.At Seattle headquarters, some senior Amazon executives expressed concern that the original French court order would set a precedent, according to a person familiar with the discussions. They feared it would require expensive, manual curation of Amazons millions of product listings and prompt regulators and governments to impose similar restrictions on the company in an effort to keep essential goods flowing while protecting workers. That explains why Amazon took the unprecedented step of closing its French operations.

Amazon, which insists its warehouses are safe, said it made the decision to close local depots in part because the penalties for not adhering to the specifics of the order could total billions of euros. The decision was made by a local French court and only applies to the local situation in France, a spokesman said in an emailed statement. It is also specific to only one of our operations activities in Franceour fulfillment centers.

For years, Amazon has mostly prevented organized labor from penetrating its employee ranks, helping keep costs down even as the company offers faster service for its customers. So far Amazon has managed to keep its operations going in the U.S., despite protests at several of its warehouses. But in Europe, the companys handling of the outbreak has provided fresh ammunition for the continents powerful unions and activist regulators, raising the stakes for Amazon in its second-biggest market.

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The pandemic has made Amazon essential, while also increasing its vulnerability, says Uhsa Haley, the W. Frank Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business and Director of the Center for International Business Advancement at Wichita State University. I predict antitrust and worker-protection legislation of the kind that we saw at the turn of the last century.

Amazon began setting up shop in Europe in 1998, starting with the U.K. and Germany. Today it also operates dedicated web stores in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey. While the European Amazon retail business generates about 13% of the companys $280 billion in revenue  excluding third-party merchant sales and cloud-computing revenue  the continents importance to Amazon cannot be overstated. Some of the companys outposts around the world feature limited selections geared toward digital products that Amazon can sell without expensive physical infrastructure, but the European operations are much like those in the U.S.  with networks of fulfillment centers, legions of third-party merchants selling their wares on the site and full-fledged Prime memberships offering two-hour delivery in more than 20 European cities.

At home, Amazon faces much weaker unions than it does in Europe, where participation hovers close to 23% on average compared with about 10.3% in the U.S. While union membership has declined over the past couple of decades in France and Germany, worker groups can still disrupt or force companies into talks. The European Union and national labor regulation have enforced periodic negotiations on everything from wages to education. In Germany, the retail union Verdi has some 2.1 million members and has staged numerous strikes over the years. While it has found Amazon one of its toughest opponents, Verdi worked to have collective bargaining talks to boost wages for workers at the company and across the retail sector.

Now the continents unions believe fallout from the pandemic has given them new leverage to extract more concessions from the company. In March, French Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud said that it was important to preserve the supply of necessary goods, but Amazons worker safety standards were insufficient. Inspectors were sent to check on employee conditions. The company started temperature checks, increased space between workers, provided masks to employees and stepped up cleaning. But the union SUD Solidarites deemed the measures insufficient and asked a lower court to shut down the centers.

The French court ruled that Amazon must stop selling non-essential items during the lockdown. The company temporarily closed its French warehouses pending an appeal, and, after it lost, Amazon announced Monday it would keep its fulfillment centers closed until May 5 to evaluate the best way to operate in light of the Court of Appeals decision while avoiding fines. France is scheduled to end the lockdown on May 11.

This is our moment to make a global fight, says Sylvain Alias, a SUD Solidarites representative. The coronavirus will leave a lasting mark on Amazon and what they do for workers rights and health.

A group representing unionized Amazon workers in several countries put out a letter on Thursday demanding that Amazon permanently maintain a temporary pay increase that was given to employees who came in during the Covid-19 pandemic. Labor unions dont want Amazon to just focus on virus-related sanitation, CFDT labor union representative Julien Vincent said. They want the company to address broader health concerns that its workers have, including the toll that the physical labor takes on their bodies.

In the statement, the Amazon spokesman said the company has worked with employee groups to implement safety measures and says the dispute is not about safety but rather certain unions leveraging the process of formal procedural consultation with works councils for their own agenda. We are proud of the many changes weve made together to keep our teams safe while serving our customers in France and around the world.

Even in the U.S., where Amazon has taken a hard line with unions and employee activists, there are signs that regulators and workers are becoming emboldened. Amazon is being investigated by New Yorks attorney general over the firing of a worker who complained about working conditions at a Staten Island warehouse and led a walkout. The company has begun a push to reassure workers that coming to work is safe, spraying warehouses down with disinfectant.

Of course, one French court victory doesn't mean organized labor will prevail long-term. While the unions have attempted to join forces internationallylabor groups from the Europe and the U.S. met to discuss strategy in mid-Marchthey have so far failed to disrupt Amazons logistical operations, which were designed to have one distribution center take over if another one goes down.

With a background noise of antitrust concerns, most notably a probe by the European Union looking into Amazons use of data collected from third-party sellers, there may be more political appetite to pass laws that check the company. Frances government has repeatedly called on consumers stuck at home to buy from domestic e-commerce companies rather than the Silicon Valley giant. Dutch politician and former trade unionist Mei Li Vos said that governments will have to protect workers to restart their economies, which provides an opening to strengthen workers rights.

Europe is entering phase 2 with workers needing much more confidence and reassurance to go back to work, said MIT Sloan professor Thomas Kochan, who wrote Shaping the Future of Work. Governments and politicians will pay a lot of attention to the workforce demands, because they need workers to go come back.

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The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is moving to plug a loophole that allowed some customers to get immediate access to the website to order booze while other customers were locked out.

PennLive reported Thursday that a Google search for Pa wine and spirits turned up particular website link for the state-run stores that worked nearly 100-percent of the time on the first try versus the website link provided on the PLCB website that was nearly impossible to penetrate.

The official PLCB link uses a randomizer to equalize access to the website over the day. That helps the website from getting overwhelmed, but also means that customers often get a were currently unable to take your order message that stops them in their tracks. So they must try again, and again to place an order.

But some clever customers apparently found a magic link. The link has been shared by email in recent weeks among some friends and co-workers as a sure-fire way to order booze while stores are closed to foot traffic because of the novel coronavirus.

The spouse of a PennLive staffer stumbled upon the link Thursday during a Google search, and noticed it worked every time on the first try. Others tried it and reported equal success.

On Friday, a PLCB spokeswoman said they were taking steps to implement additional controls restoring and preserving randomization as quickly as possible.

When asked for further explanation of how the link came to exist and why it worked consistently on the first try, Elizabeth Brassell declined to provide specifics.

Well refrain from getting too technical so as to protect the integrity of the site and the additional controls well put in place, Brassell said. The long and short of it is that someone discovered a way to get around the randomizer, and were working to fix that.

On Friday afternoon, the special link still worked on the first try, at least for this PennLive reporter. So its unclear when the link will be shut down, or reduced to the same random tendencies of the stores official link.

The address, or URL, for the magic link contains the words: Special Access Landing, indicating that perhaps the link was intended to provide someone with special access. But Brassell on Friday denied that.

No, that link wasnt provided to anyone to provide preferential access, rather its part of the architecture we set up to try to preserve randomized access, she said. Theres nothing to read into the name of the URL. It was not created for preferential access, those are just the words an IT developer assigned to the page that presents to anyone granted access to shop.

Brassell said more customers have been able to successfully place orders in recent days because of expanded capacity with phone-in curbside orders. Some customers also may no longer be trying to order booze if they have successfully obtained it from the state stores or other sources.

We have seen site traffic decrease (and higher percentages of site visitors being granted shopping experiences) since we introduced curbside pickup, Brassell said.

Access to liquor statewide will expand again next week as 14 more stores will offer curbside pickup, bringing the total stores offering the service to 580. One hundred and twenty-one stores are fulfilling online orders.

When the online orders first launched in early April, more than three million customers tried to access the site more than 22 million times over two weeks, while actual successful transactions hovered around 1,800 each day.

On Thursday, more than 7,000 orders were placed online, Brassell said. The stores also have taken about 36,000 orders each day this week from the curbside program.

READ: How to get curbside booze in Pa.? One man called 214 times using 2 phones to break through

READ: Harrisburg police charge high school wrestler with homicide
Should China pay up for the coronavirus?

At least one inmate in South Carolina thinks so.

And 23-year-old Emerson Jimel Edwards isnt looking for a little payday. Nope, according to ABC News 15, Edwards is going for it all.

Hes trying to sue China for billions.

Thats right billions.

Heres the breakdown: Edwards wants a cool billion for pain and suffering, $1.6 billion for bills, $28 billion for brain damage, $500 billion for bone surgery and $800 million for him catching the disease that China spray round here in our world.

Edwards, who ABC 15 says is in Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia on multiple convictions including assault and battery and throwing bodily fluids on a correctional employee, claims he got coronavirus about two weeks ago and has trouble breathing.

Edwards claims in the lawsuit that he has bills and that his family needs him, the station reported.

-- Follow Brian Linder on Twitter, @SportsByBLinder

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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:16:20|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- There is "no scientific backing" for the two claims floated recently by some U.S. politicians and media outlets that COVID-19 could be human-made and have escaped from a laboratory, scientists have said.

"The origin of the novel coronavirus is a legitimate area of scientific inquiry, in which there are still open questions," said an article posted on April 22 on BuzzFeed News.

The piece, written by reporter Ryan Broderick and based on interviews with several scientists, is titled "Scientists Haven't Found Proof The Coronavirus Escaped From A Lab In Wuhan. Trump Supporters Are Spreading The Rumor Anyway."

Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, told BuzzFeed that he wasn't even comfortable calling the idea that the lab was the source of the outbreak a theory. "A theory is based on results," he said. "I think it's driven by politics, frankly."

"People who are saying it escaped from a lab have no idea what they're talking about," he said. "No human could ever design this virus."

Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, said there is currently no evidence that the coronavirus originated in a lab -- either as a deliberate creation or an accidental release.

"There was a very early cluster (of cases) in the (Wuhan seafood) market," he said, citing the assessment of virologist Trevor Bedford. "If the lab was the point of spillover, you wouldn't necessarily see the early clustering in the market."

On April 21, World Health Organization spokesperson Fadela Chaib told a news briefing that "all available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else." Enditem
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2, 2020 11:29 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd57c8e8 4 National Friday-prayer,COVID-19,coronavirus,South-Sulawesi,blasphemy,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,mosque,Parepare,Parepare-Police Free

The congregation body of the Ar-Rahmah mosque in Ujung district of Parepare city, South Sulawesi, reported district head Ulfa Lanto to the police for blasphemy after she had dispersed a Friday prayer gathering.

On April 17, Ulfa and a number of COVID-19 task force personnel as well as local authorities conducted checks on mosques in the district to ensure Muslims in the area did not congregate for Friday prayers, so as to abide by the government's appeal for physical distancing.

However, the residents reportedly thronged to the Ar-Rahmah mosque as usual, prompting Ulfa to ask the local figures to stop the mass prayer while the sermon was ongoing.

Makmur Raona, a lawyer representing the congregation body, confirmed on Thursday that they had reported Ulfa and another local figure, Anas Hindi, to the police on April 28.

He said many residents deemed the dismissal of Friday prayers intolerable and urged the police to take legal action over the incident.

This is not an attack against an individual but against a religion recognized in this country," Makmur said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Thursday.

Read also: Indonesian Muslims hold congregational Ramadan prayers despite COVID-19 warnings

Parepare Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Budi Susanto confirmed the report.

Were investigating the case. We have questioned five people [on Thursday], he said.

Friday prayer is obligatory for Muslim men and is accompanied by a mandatory sermon that can last up to 45 minutes.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, however, authorities and ulemas have called on Muslims to refrain from gathering in congregations and to pray from home instead, including for Friday prayers.

Last month, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa on compulsory Muslim prayers during the pandemic, advising Muslims in areas where COVID-19 had spread uncontrollably not to perform Friday prayers in those areas until the situation returns to normal. (aly)
Facing flak over alleged mismanagement at the quarantine centres established for pilgrims returning from Nanded, Maharashtra, the district administration has claimed that the pilgrims have expressed satisfaction over the facilities at these centres.

In a statement on Saturday, deputy commissioner (DC) Pradeep Agrawal said food, tea, fruits and other items were being provided to the pilgrims thrice a day. He said he was personally ensuring that the pilgrims were taken care of.

Agrawal said senior officials of the district administration had been made in-charges of the two quarantine centres to monitor the facilities there.

He claimed many pilgrims have thanked the Punjab government for facilitating their return back home.

Speaking about the situation in Ludhiana, Agrawal said the administration had made elaborate arrangements to arrest the spread of Covid-19 in the district. He added that in view of the extension in curfew announced by the state government, all curfew passes will remain valid till May 17.

Earlier on Saturday, Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) president Simarjeet Singh Bains had accused the Ludhiana administration of mismanagement at the quarantine centres and delay in screening the pilgrims upon their return from Nanded. Bains had alleged that pilgrims were even struggling for drinking water.
FILE PHOTO: Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Buffett and Vice Chairman Munger arrive to begin the company's annual meeting in Omaha

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc's <BRKa.N> annual meeting will be nothing like the extravaganzas of years past, but will give Warren Buffett a chance to show how resilient his cash-rich conglomerate may be to the coronavirus pandemic, and the investment opportunities it offers.

The meeting and surrounding festivities that Buffett calls "Woodstock for Capitalists" normally draw more than 40,000 people to Omaha, Nebraska to see and hear one of the world's richest people and most revered investors.

But Berkshire has scrapped most of this year's fun, and Buffett fans will need their computers and smartphones to watch the Saturday afternoon meeting, broadcast on Yahoo Finance.

Buffett, who is Berkshire's chairman and chief executive officer, has been notably quiet about the coronavirus, ever since calling the COVID-19 outbreak and plunging oil prices "a big one-two punch" in early March.

He has also eschewed the kind of splashy investments, such as in Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N>, he made during in the 2008 financial crisis.

Shareholders nonetheless said they expect Buffett to show Berkshire can successfully weather a deep recession.

"He's an optimist," said Paul Lountzis, president of Lountzis Asset Management LLC, who invests 11% of assets he oversees in Berkshire stock. "He will reflect on the country's resilience, and how we'll overcome this, as we have overcome so many other challenges. That's how he looks at the world."

ABEL TAKES STAGE

Buffett, 89, will be joined by Greg Abel, 57, a vice chairman overseeing Berkshire's non-insurance operating businesses, in answering shareholder questions at the meeting.

Abel and Ajit Jain, another vice chairman, have long been viewed as Buffett's likeliest successors as CEO.

Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 96, who normally answers shareholder questions with Buffett, and Jain, 68, will not be in attendance. Unlike Abel, both live far from Omaha.

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Berkshire is also likely on Saturday morning to report a huge first-quarter net loss, as investments such as American Express <AXP.N>, Bank of America <BAC.N> and the four largest U.S. airlines sank in value.

Many investors will focus on the quarterly performance of Berkshire's more than 90 operating businesses, which in 2019 posted an average $6 billion of quarterly profit.

The pandemic's impact may be evident in falling volumes at the BNSF railroad, premium waivers and lower accident claims at the Geico auto insurer, and store closures by retailers such as See's Candies and the Nebraska Furniture Mart.

"As goes Berkshire, so goes the economy," said Lawrence Cunningham, a George Washington University law professor who has published several books on Berkshire.

UNDERPERFORMANCE PERSISTS

Investors will also look for how far Berkshire dipped into its $128 billion year-end cash hoard, whether through investments in other stocks or repurchases of its own.

Munger told The Wall Street Journal two weeks ago that Berkshire's phone is not "ringing off the hook" with companies seeking support.

Bill Smead, chief executive of Smead Capital Management in Seattle, likened the environment to the 1974 bear market, when Buffett told Forbes magazine he felt like an "oversexed man in a harem" when looking for investment opportunities.

Berkshire, however, was then far smaller than the $461 billion behemoth it has become.

"You can't pour water from a barrel into a teacup," Smead said, while adding he wished Buffett would admit stockpiling cash was a mistake: "He needs to work for the benefit of those who, like him, have over 90% of their net worth in the company."

Through Wednesday, Berkshire's stock price was down 16% in 2020, versus a 9% drop in the Standard & Poor's 500 <.SPX>.

And last year, Berkshire lagged the index by 20.5 percentage points, including dividends.

Berkshire said Buffett and Abel will not be given shareholder questions in advance, and will not talk about specific Berkshire investments. That suggests that Berkshire's holdings in banks, airlines and Apple Inc <AAPL.O> may be off-limits.

Cunningham said it will be important for Abel to show how his core values align with Berkshire's, and to "convey a sense of himself."

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Megan Davies and Diane Craft)
File Photo

New Delhi: According to the Indian Meteorological Department, heavy rains, hailstorms and strong winds (30-40 kmph) are expected in all parts of western north India for the next three days from the evening of May 3.

PhotoThe IMD has issued a warning for most parts of north-west India between May 3 and 6. According to the Regional Weather Forecast Center, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and parts of Rajasthan are states where storms and dust storms have been warned.

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Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the Regional Meteorological Center, Delhi, said the western storm would intensify as it would form a low-pressure area and generate moisture from the Arabian Sea.

PhotoDue to this, cyclonic weather is likely to develop in western Rajasthan on the night of May 3.

Due to this, rains in the north-western region for the next three to four days are expected and strong winds may move at a speed of 40 to 50 kmph and snowfall in the upper regions of the western Himalayas.
Two mid-Ulster bars have secured financial support from Ulster Bank to assist them through the coronavirus crisis.

Dorman's, including Secrets Nightclub, and Mary's Bar and Restaurant - managed by Henry and Teresa McGlone - received a loan via the UK Government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

Mr and Mrs McGlone have operated in the local hospitality industry for more than 30 years.

Henry McGlone said: "Clearly, we have faced a complete stop to our trade due to social distancing measures. Without this support we would, quite simply, be out of business.

"Ulster Bank have always worked well with us, but it is at this time of crisis that they have really come to the fore to enable us to preserve our businesses for the future, something that is not only important for us, but for the town as a whole."

Damien Long, relationship director at Ulster Bank, said it is "strongly committed to supporting our customers in these times of significant challenge and we have worked closely with the owners and their advisors to put in place a package to appropriately assist the businesses at this time".

Mary's is a 7,000 sq ft bar and restaurant on Market Street in Magherafelt which dates back to 1876. It underwent substantial investment when it was purchased by Henry and Teresa McGlone in 2007, before reopening in 2008.

Dorman's on Queen Street was established in 1905 and remains in the Dorman family through current owners Henry and Teresa McGlone (nee Dorman). Previously Dorman's & The Opera, the 12,000 sq ft premises underwent a transformation in 2014 before reopening as Dorman's and Secrets Nightclub.

Ulster Bank recently announced it has supported more than 1,600 business customers during the coronavirus crisis to date and has approved 95% of requests.
A day after the Karnataka



government issued a show cause notice to him over his tweet about coronavirus-cured Tablighi Jamaat members donating plasma for treatment of other patients, IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin on Saturday said he will reply to the notice as per rules.

"Yes, I have got the notice and shortly I am giving reply as per the rules," the IAS officer told PTI.

Claiming that he had only shared a item of a private channel, Mohsin said he has no idea why there is so much outrage over the tweet.

"You can't please everyone all the time," the officer said in reply to a query whether he saw any conspiracy behind the row.

The officer was in the last year after the Election Commission suspended him for trying to inspect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter during his visit to Odisha in April. He was deployed as a poll observer.

"More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about? #Godi Media? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes," Mohsin said in a tweet on April 27.

A 1996 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre hailing from Bihar, Mohsin is currently serving as a secretary in the Backward Class Welfare Department.

The state government said the show cause notice has been issued to the officer in connection with his tweet.

"The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved," the notice, which was accessed by PTI, stated.

The government has sought a written explanation from the officer within five days for violating the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.

The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary group, shot into the limelight early this year after thousands of its members who attended a congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin in March tested positive for coronavirus.

After attending the event, the group's members travelled to various parts of the country, with many of them carrying the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Manila (Philippines): There were seven nurses in the Buendia family. One of them, Jhoanna Mariel Buendia, got a call from the Philippines on March 28, just before the start of her shift at an intensive care unit in a British hospital.

It was her father, with the news that her beloved aunt  an ICU nurse in Florida  had died of complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Buendia, 27, went to work. She suited up, strapping on her N95 mask, face shield, gown and apron and taping down her gloves, too numb to process the fact that her aunt had lost her life doing what she was about to do. It wasnt until a few hours later, as she tended to a patient suspected to have the virus, that it became real and she burst into tears.

Nurses from the Philippines and other developing countries have long made up for shortages in wealthier Western nations. They now find themselves risking their lives on the front lines of a pandemic, thousands of miles from home.

Buendias aunt, Araceli Buendia Ilagan, 63, was an associate supervisor in the cardiac surgical ICU at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She was remembered as a nurses nurse, turning down administrative promotions that would have taken her away from patients bedsides.

I guarantee you. She was in every single room helping every single nurse with every single patient, said Martha Baker, a registered nurse and president of Jackson Memorials union for doctors and nurses, who had known Ilagan since the 1980s.

That was probably her doom, Baker said. To be such a good leader and such a hands-on leader. She exposed herself, perhaps at that time to patients we didnt even know were COVID-positive.

According to the World Health Organization, the world has 6 million fewer nurses than it needs. One result is that nurses in places like the Philippines have long gravitated toward wealthier countries for higher-paying opportunities.

Almost 16% of nurses in the United States are immigrants, and nearly a third of those  the largest share  are Filipinos. Many also come from Nigeria, India, Jamaica and Mexico, among other places. In Britain, Buendia is one of about 18,600 Filipino nurses working for the National Health Service, its second-largest contingent of migrant nurses, after Indians.

Like other medical professionals, they are at high risk of exposure. At least seven Filipino employees of the NHS, including nurses, porters and a nurses assistant, have died from COVID-19, according to news reports. In the United States, the virus has claimed the lives of at least five nurses and a doctor from the Philippines.

The common denominator is that were all scared, Buendia said of herself and her three housemates, who are also Filipino nurses.

They all work at the same hospital in York and have been in England since September.

Howard Catton, chief executive of the International Council of Nurses, a federation of national nurse associations, said migrant nurses had been massively important in helping countries like Britain, Spain and Italy fight the virus.

But he said the crisis underscored the need for developed countries to train their own nurses rather than relying so heavily on migrants.

This month, the Philippines, which says it needs about 300,000 more health care workers than it has, barred them from leaving the country, citing the need to protect them from infection and to ensure they were available to fight the virus at home.

Migration is woven into the Philippines culture. As much as 10% of the population works overseas, sending money home, and nursing is one of the most popular options. On average, 13,000 nurses go abroad each year. Nursing recruitment agencies pave the way for visas and certifications so they can find jobs overseas.

Even some Filipino migrants who work in other fields have had training in nursing. Last month in Madrid, the Filipino chief nurse at Hospital Hestia, Edzel Lopez, posted an urgent call on Facebook asking her compatriots to apply for nursing jobs there. Much of the hospitals staff had been infected by the coronavirus, and bureaucratic obstacles to hiring new nurses were being swept away.

The Spanish hospital hired John Matthew Eusebio Villapol, a 26-year-old from the city of Tagaytay, who was working as an English teacher but had experience training Philippine army medics and working for private ambulance services.

It was a battlefield promotion, so to speak, Villapol said.

After a day of training, Villapol said, he was assigned half a floors worth of patients. He planned to report for work on his second day off, knowing they would be short-staffed however many people showed up.

Ill work if theyll have me, he said.

Buendias family, whose roots are in the northern Philippine city of Baguio, has sent nurses to hospitals in Florida, California, Britain and Saudi Arabia.

Buendia joined the profession to follow in her aunts footsteps. Ilagan helped her through college, sending money and guiding her through tough times in nursing school. She mentored Buendia from a distance as the young nurse began her career in Saudi Arabia, later moving to Britain.

Ilagan called Buendia late last month, as the gravity of the pandemic was becoming apparent in both of the countries where they worked. Coronavirus cases had begun turning up at their hospitals.

It was a conversation of familial concern, couched in the language of their shared profession. They chatted about basic infection protocol. Ilagan gave her niece tips, like how to disconnect patients from tubing in a way that would keep fluids from spattering her. They reassured each other that they were fine.

It was the last time they spoke. Soon afterward, Ilagan developed flu-like symptoms and began self-isolating at home. Four days later, her husband found her unconscious and struggling to breathe. He rushed her to the hospital, but she died before they could intubate her.

I was so shocked, Buendia said.

Since then, her uncle, a nurse in California, has tested positive for the virus and been hospitalized.

Buendias parents have been calling her from the Philippines every day, often in tears.

They cant sleep at night, she said. I reassure them that Im fine.

In truth, she is afraid. But she has no thoughts of giving up the work.

Thats the reason why Im here, to be a nurse, she said.

Aurora Almendral@c.2020 The New York Times Company
Istanbul  Turkey has the biggest coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East, with more than 117,000 confirmed infections. More than 3,000 people have died. But the government claims to have a lower fatality rate than the global average estimated by the World Health Organization at over 3%.

The Turkish government imposed weekend-only lockdowns and banned only those under the age of 20 and over 65 from leaving their homes during the week, in an effort to limit the economic impact of the pandemic.

Turkey's Ministry of Health says the relatively low death toll is thanks to treatment protocols in the country, which involve two existing drugs  the controversial anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine touted by President Trump, and Japanese antiviral favipiravir.

"Doctors prescribe hydroxychloroquine to everyone who is tested positive for coronavirus" Dr. Sema Turan, a member of the Turkish government's coronavirus advisory board, told CBS News. Hospitalized patients may be given favipiravir as well if they encounter breathing problems, she said.

Turan said the combination of drugs appeared to "delay or eliminate the need for intensive care for patients." But it's important to note that Turkey's use of the drug is not a clinically controlled trial; there's no control group of patients not given the medication to compare the results against.

Clinical trials have been underway in the U.S. and elsewhere, but the results aren't yet clear. Preliminary studies on hydroxychloroquine have yielded uninspiring results thus far.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus patients, but has warned it should only be used in clinical trials or under the close observation of doctors, citing an observed risk of heart complications.

Measuring mortality

Comparisons between countries' reported mortality rates, as offered by Turkey, are of limited use, as different nations tabulate the statistics used to determine those rates in different ways, and with varying reliability.

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TURKEY-HEALTH-VIRUS

Health workers help a woman who tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 28, 2019. BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images

Mortality is essentially a measure of the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who go on to die, so having an accurate picture of the number of infections is key.

Turkey has so far conducted about 948,000 COVID-19 tests, according to the data-gathering website worldmeters.info. That equates to a testing rate of about 11,200 people per million residents. By comparison, the U.S. has tested almost 19,000 people per million, and proactive Germany almost 25,000 per million.

While Turkey's relatively low test rate might suggest even more impressive mortality figures, there are also concerns that the official death toll for the country  the other half of the mortality equation  could be a significant underestimate.

The Turkish Medical Association, the country's largest doctors' union, has criticized the government for not using broader diagnostic criteria approved by the World Health Organization in its counting of COVID-19 deaths, saying it could be obscuring the "real dimensions of the problem."

Asked about those claims, an official at the Ministry of Health told CBS News that the broader WHO criteria are meant for countries with limited testing capacity and Turkey, the official said, has "extensive capacity to conduct tests" and "is acting in line with the international standards."

The problem of questionable statistics may well be universal. The global death toll from COVID-19 could be as much as 60% higher than currently stated, according to a recent investigation by the Financial Times that cites data from 14 countries.

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Ex-President John Dramani Mahama says he will establish six Regional hospitals in Ghana when elected during the December polls.



Mr Mahama noted that the country's healthcare system will be a top priority under his new regime.



Having a digital dialogue on Friday, May 1, 2020, the former President reminded Ghanaians of his track record pointing out some health facilities that his administration commenced before ousted from office in 2016.



Citing the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), Bank of Ghana hospital among other hospitals including Polyclinics, Mr Mahama noted that his government will do more to improve the health sector of the economy.



"Ghanaians die when hospitals completed and ready with a combined capacity of 900 beds have been left standing idle. But for the deliberate slowdown of the operationalization of the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Bank hospital, the unacceptable no-bed syndrome would not have claimed these precious lives. Talking about the Bank hospital, a rather curious case of that hospital and the international Maritime hospital cannot escape attention. These are ultramodern world-class hospitals built with public funds and yet have either remained shut or under-utilized. Particularly worrying is the abandonment of some major health facilities that have reached an advanced stage of completion by the time we left office."



Lamenting about the failures of the Akufo-Addo administration, he further accused President Akufo-Addo of neglecting the hospitals that were built under the erstwhile Mahama rule.



" . . By early 2016, the Dodowa hospital had been completed and commissioned into use while those at Kumawu, Abetifi and Fomena had reached various advanced stages of construction by the time I left office in January 2017. Whatever the challenges with these projects, they should not have been left abandoned and left at the mercy of invading weeds and reptiles, and in some cases been affected by bushfires."



In what seemed like a campaign message, Ex-President Mahama rehashed his promise to Ghanaians saying "if elected God willing in December 2020, I will establish a Regional hospital in each of the six newly created Regions. I also indicated that I will ensure the provision of a modern health facility in each district that currently does not have one. As part of my health-for-all agenda, all districts will receive a modern health facility. These facilities will range from Polyclinics to district hospitals. Proper planning requires that we take into consideration location, demography, population and health needs of the area before citing a health facility".







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.

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Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department say they found Richard McGuire, 42, camping out on Walt Disney World's abandoned Discovery Island on Thursday.

Discovery Island has been closed for 21 years, and it remains unclear how McGuire gained access to Walt Disney World, which has temporarily closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

McGuire told police that he was unaware he was trespassing, and called the island a "tropical paradise."

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Disney World's Discovery Island.

Wikimedia Commons

An Alabama man was found camping out on Walt Disney World's abandoned Discovery Island after the park closed during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the local sheriff's office says the man told deputies that he was "unaware" he was trespassing.

Richard McGuire, 42, was arrested on Thursday after security found him on the Disney-owned property. He was charged with one misdemeanor count of trespassing.

Related: Disney Hotel Serves Character-Themed Dim Sum

According to an arrest affidavit seen by Newsweek, McGuire told authorities that the island was a "tropical paradise."

It remains unclear how McGuire gained assess to the island, which sits in Florida's Bay Lake, on the property of Walt Disney World.

Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department said McGuire, from Mobile, Alabama, accessed the island on Monday or Tuesday, ignoring multiple "no trespassing" signs to make his way there. McGuire told officials that he had planned to camp for about a week.

Discovery Island closed to the public 21 years ago, but many abandoned buildings still remain. Before its closure, the island had been a wildlife park for 25 years.

According to Click Orlando, McGuire was sleeping in one of the island's abandoned buildings when police arrived.

McGuire has since been banned from Disney World properties.

Insider
Despite the continuing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout Europe and internationally, the German government is accelerating its policy of lifting the limited restrictions that were imposed to prevent the transmission of the virus. Following a conference call with Germanys 16 state minister presidents on Thursday afternoon, Chancellor Angela Merkel unveiled a further loosening of restrictions at a press conference. Religious services will once again be permitted, and museums, galleries, memorials, zoos and playgrounds will open provided they meet certain conditions.

Todays consultations are only an intermediate step, Merkel declared, before thanking all of those who are thinking about ... restarting economic and social life. Already on May 6, next Wednesday, a comprehensive package will be adopted. Among other things, the heads of government will discuss the proposal from the education ministers, which includes the general opening of all schools and kindergartens. Subsequently, they would also focus on providing a perspective for restaurants, tourism and other sectors, she said.

Similar to two weeks ago, when the government announced the initial lifting of some regulations, Merkel combined her statements with a warning about being careful and pledged to do everything to avoid a relapse. She justified the drive to reopen the economy by saying, We have managed to reduce the spread of the virus.

This is nothing more than propaganda. The reality is that the pandemic continues to spread worldwide, and the number of infections and deaths in Germany is still rising on a daily basis. On Friday, the death toll rose above 6,700 and total cases surpassed 164,000. This is the sixth highest total in the world, behind the United States, Spain, Italy, Britain and France.

A few hours prior to the governments press conference, the head of the governments own Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germanys federal agency for infectious diseases, admitted at a press conference that the number of deaths from the coronavirus was continuing to rise. We see that the fatality rate is rising in Germany, Lothar Wieler noted. The agency even assumes that more people have died from COVID-19 than have actually been reported.

The governments easing of regulations has nothing to do with being careful. The reality is that almost no other country is going so far and in such an organised manner than Germany. Schools and businesses are reopening, auto plants and industrial facilities are restarting production, and all other sectors of society are now to follow suit as soon as possible.

The ruling elite is thus all but provoking a situation like in Italy or the United States, where health care systems collapsed under the weight of the pandemic and tens of thousands have died under horrific conditions. The drive to reopen the economy is endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers and flies in the face of all scientific research on the coronavirus.

Already last week, the head of virology at Berlins Charite Hospital, Professor Christian Drosten, warned against gambling away the advantage that Germany has. He stated that the activity of the epidemic could suddenly return in a disproportionate way or with unexpected power if the reproduction rate goes above 1 again. Over recent days, he repeated his warning in interviews with the British and Belgian media.

On Thursday, Drosten and a team of researchers published a pre-print of a study that warned against an unlimited re-opening of schools and kindergartens in the present situation. New research and data suggest that viral loads in the very young do not differ significantly from those of adults. ... Children may be as infectious as adults.

The catastrophic consequences of a premature return to school and the factories are becoming ever clearer. At the beginning of the week, a high school in Dormagen in North Rhine-Westphalia was forced to close after just a few days when the mother of a student tested positive for COVID-19. In factories, where the hygienic conditions are no less appalling, the virus is running rampant. At the Amazon distribution centre in Winsen, at least 68 of 1,800 employees have been infected. At a slaughterhouse operated by the meat processing firm Muller Fleisch in Birkenfeld near Forzheim, 300 workers are infected.

Despite this, the grand coalition, with the support of all parties in parliament and the trade unions, is aggressively pursuing its back-to-work policy. In a previous comment, the World Socialist Web Site analysed the objective interests that are driving the ruling class and its organisations. Firstly, the hundreds of billions of euros in coronavirus bailout funds, which above all went to the major corporations, banks and super-rich, are now to be squeezed out of the working class.

A second factor is the geostrategic and economic interests of German imperialism, which views the crisis as an opportunity to strengthen its international position against its rivals. There are also geostrategic interests, noted an article in Der Spiegel in April. Under the headline The Path Out of the Lockdown: German Carmakers Prepare To Ramp Up Production, the article observed: Executives at companies in Europe want to strengthen the European market in order to establish it as a counterweight to the United States and China as economic powers 

The class character of the crisis is becoming increasingly apparent. While German capital is readying itself to boost corporate profits and preparing for trade war and military conflict among the major powers, millions of workers and their families face destitution. Yesterday, the Federal Labour Agency announced that German companies have applied for short-time work payments for 10.1 million employees. The number of unemployed workers rose by 308,000 in April to 2.6 million. Economy Minister Peter Altmeier projected on Wednesday a contraction of gross domestic product by 6.3 percent this year, which would be the deepest economic recession in Germany since the end of the Second World War.

All of these developments have revolutionary implications. The back-to-work campaign, which is being pursued in every country, has already provoked an explosive response in the working class. Recent days have seen spontaneous strikes in Mexico, Zimbabwe, Greece, Brazil and Britain. A centre of the strike movement is the United Statesthe global epicentre of the pandemicwhere there have been at least 140 strikes since the beginning of March. In Germany, a growing radicalisation of young people, students and workers is also taking place.

In spite of the official propagandawhich seeks to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic and claims, in a fascistic manner, that human life should be sacrificed for corporate profitsa plurality of Germans oppose current developments. According to a survey by polling agency Yougov, 49 percent of Germans think the lifting of restrictions is taking place much too quickly. Twenty-eight percent said they were satisfied with the pace of developments, while only 15 percent stated that the restrictions were being eased too slowly.

Workers must reject the false alternative they are being confronted with: either return to work and be exposed to the virus or be subjected to unemployment and poverty. They must unify their struggles internationally in order to counterpose their own socialist strategy to the deadly plans being pursued by the ruling elite. They must adopt a programme that places the big banks and corporations under democratic workers control and expropriates the vast wealth of the super-rich in order to deploy it to combat the pandemic and meet other urgent social needs.
Army Chaplain under fire for sharing John Piper's book 'Coronavirus and Christ'

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Twenty-two military chaplains are calling on a senior army chaplain to be disciplined and possibly court-martialed for sending nearly three-dozen other chaplains an email containing a copy of John Pipers new e-book, Coronavirus and Christ.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is being urged by a national legal organization to punish Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim, the command chaplain of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, the largest U.S. military installation outside of the United States.

In a letter sent this week, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation said Kim sent out an email using his official military email address to 35 other chaplains on Wednesday containing an unsolicited PDF copy of Pipers new e-book Coronavirus and Christ.

MRFF, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state within the U.S. military, is representing 22 clients all of whom are Christians from mostly mainline and progressive traditions and felt if they came forward publicly in opposition to Kims email they would face repercussions.

The clients, some of whom are from the LGBT community, do not subscribe to the ultra-conservative/Reformed/evangelical Christian theology of John Piper. Piper is the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minnesota and the founder of DesiringGod.Org.

The clients take issue with the fact that the famed preachers book says that some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions.

In Chapter 7 in a section titled Examples of Specific Judgements on Specific Sins, Piper wrote that one example is the sin of homosexual intercourse. Piper cited Romans 1:27 in which the Apostle Paul states that men committing shameless acts with men received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

That due penalty is the painful effect in themselves of their sin, Piper wrote. This due penalty is just one example of the judgment of God that we see in Romans 1:18, where it says, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Therefore, while not all suffering is a specific judgment for specific sins, some is.

The Christian Post reached out to Kim for comment about his email and the MRFF complaint. A response is pending.

A copy of Kims email that contained the PDF sent to the chaplains was reviewed by CP. In the body of the email, Kim wrote to fellow chaplains that he wanted to share the short booklet with them.

This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong, Kim wrote. Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families and others who you serve.

MRFF contends that the book was clearly meant as a full-fledged endorsement and validation of what the book espouses and proclaims.



Thus, in CLEAR effect, especially to the recipients of his shocking email, Chaplain (Colonel) Kim is likewise endorsing and validating the very same dictates as established by the author of this book, the letter written by MRFF Founder Mikey Weinstein to Esper reads.

Weinstein claims that the book pushes the belief that the coronavirus is Gods judgment.

The MRFF letter also took offense to Pipers "complementation views and argued that his belief in Predestination means that even something as deadly as coronavirus is sent from God.

The letter contends Kims email was sent to subordinate chaplains by a man in a position of substantial power and influence over them. MRFF argues that the email violated the Department of Defense and Army equal employment opportunity policies.

This shot through the Chaplains Corps when that thing went out, Weinstein, who identifies as Jewish but not very religious, told CP. It was like a 10-alarm fire. We dont go looking for this stuff. We have clients asking for help and we put them through a protocol. We had to take a hard look at this because they are keeping this within the chaplains area and is not going to anybody else.

We took a look at the book and we listened to what the chaplains said and how it made them feel, he added. What are you supposed to tell a couple that has a gay child who also has COVID? Well, this is your due penalty? Its just horrible and wrong from the perspective that it destroys good order, discipline and unit cohesion within the military.

Weinstein contended that the Supreme Courts 6-2 decision in Parker v. Levy found that the First Amendment can be applied differently in the military context.

The [ruling] stands for the fact that in the military, which includes chaplains, your First Amendment rights can be severely constrained compared to civilians because the compelling governmental interest in the military is to maximize the lethality of the military, which means maximizing good order, morale, and cohesion, Weinstein said.

Weinstein added that Kim has every right to believe the beliefs in Pipers book but not necessarily to use his government platform and rank to promote it.

CP also reached the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army. No responses were received by press time.

Although MRFFs letter does not specifically state which kind of disciplinary actions the legal group would like to see Kim subjected to, Weinstein told CP outright that he is calling for Kim to be subject to general court-martial as he is a full colonel who is in rarified air in the U.S. Military Chaplains Corps.

The entire world is being ravaged by COVID-19 and he has endorsed a booklet claiming that this is the punishment of God for people who have sinned, which includes gay people, Weinstein said. This not only in violation of the EEO provisions of the Department of Defense but a ton of other DoD and U.S. Army provisions.

Mike Berry, general counsel for the First Liberty Institute, an organization that defends the First Amendment rights of military members, told CP that Kim was within his rights to send the email.

The MRFF is not only going overboard, it is showing its true colors by asking the Pentagon to punish a chaplain for engaging in constitutionally protected activity, Berry said. Congress has recently and repeatedly taken actions to protect chaplains to share their religious beliefs.

The Constitution and federal law protect chaplains (and service members) who share their religious beliefs, he added. Our brave service members should be offended that Mikey Weinstein thinks they are so delicate and frail that they are incapable of hearing something with which they might disagree. Quite the contrary, the vast majority of service members with whom I served, whether senior or subordinate, were smart enough to decide for themselves.

Berry said that First Liberty Institute would be happy to provide Kim with a free legal representation if he is subject to disciplinary action.

First Liberty has won numerous cases similar to this before, and Im very confident we would win this one too, Berry stressed.

Although Weinstein said that 95% of MRFF clients are Christians, he said it's uncommon for MRFF to have an outpouring like this in which all clients coming forward on a certain case are all Christians.

We have not heard from any imams, rabbis or Hindu or any other chaplains, only Christian chaplains, a number of whom are evangelical Christian chaplains, Weinstein said. Usually, we have atheists, agnostics, secularists, and humanists who come to us.

One current U.S. military chaplain and one former active duty military chaplain who spoke with CP on the condition of anonymity after being connected through MRFF said that about 80% or more of the U.S. military chaplaincy subscribes to Calvinistic, conservative Christian theology.

The current chaplain said he has met Kim in the past and has never had any problems with him. However, he said that while chaplains are entitled to their views, they need to be careful not to put forth a view that whatever their religious background is is the established or preferred one.

It is a slippery slope and a place that we are better off not going, the current chaplain said. Now, if it were in the context of a sermon or a Bible study and you share that is your view, that is entirely appropriate.

The chaplain said that he had never seen anything like that from Kim in the past.

The former active-duty military chaplain said that he wasnt sure what Kims intentions were in sending the email so he couldnt state for sure whether he thought court-martial was an appropriate course of action.

I dont know the intent and the heart of chaplain Kim, the former chaplain said. He may have had the purest of intent motives that he read this book and it warmed his heart and he thought everybody in the world should read it. If that is the case that is extremely poor judgment considering his position and trust given to him by the Chaplain Corps. If his intent was to leave his stamp and push his theological perspective then he should be court-martialed.
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The president of the High Council for Freedom of Communication, Philippe Mvouo, Saturday urged the media to disseminate reliable information during periods of home confinement due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
Chase approved to fund about $29 billion to 239,000 businesses

JPMorgan Chase announced today that it has received approval for an additional 211,000 loans through Round Two of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), totaling about $15 billion to its small business customers. In total, the firm is expected to fund about $29 billion to over 239,000 businesses under the PPP since its inception a little over three weeks ago, helping to support 3 million employees.

More specifically about JPMorgan Chases lending through the PPP:

 The average loan amount is $123,000

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 About 50% of the loans went to companies with fewer than 5 employees

 Over 75% of the loans were for under $100,000

 Over 40% of the loans were for under $25,000

JPMorgan Chase is proud to have secured approval for loans to small businesses in all 50 states. For example, approximate loans by state include:

 Arizona: 10,500 businesses at an average loan size of $116,000 totaling $1.2 billion

 California: 46,800 businesses at an average loan size of $98,000 totaling $4.6 billion

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 Florida: 18,500 businesses at an average loan size of $81,000 totaling $1.5 billion

 Illinois: 19,500 businesses at an average loan size of $113,000 totaling $2.2 billion

 Michigan: 9,300 businesses at an average loan size of $151,000 totaling $1.4 billion

 New York: 50,800 businesses at an average loan size of $136,000 totaling $6.9 billion

 Ohio: 7,100 businesses at an average loan size of $159,000 totaling $1.1 billion

 Texas: 27,400 businesses at an average loan size of $120,000 totaling $3.3 billion

Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said today: Thousands of dedicated JPMorgan Chase technologists, bankers and others worked tirelessly over the past 30+ days to support the federal government in one of the largest and most ambitious emergency lending facilities in history.

Since this crisis began, the firms goal has been to help as many small business customers as possible. We know how important capital is to their business, and we are trying to do all we can to help. The firm will also continue to work with additional small businesses whose applications are actively being processed.

We know that small businesses across our country have been profoundly impacted by the crisis, and we are proud to play a role in providing much needed help  helping to secure $29 billion of loans to 239,000 businesses in need, said Jennifer Roberts, CEO of Chase Business Banking. In partnership with the government, weve followed their direction to deploy this relief as quickly as possible and agree with their tightening of eligibility requirements so that funding truly goes to those that need it most.

The vast majority of these loans went to some of Americas smaller businesses, including Community Wellness Ventures, a mental health services company that serves children and families in Washington D.C. Their PPP loan was approved this week and will help Dr. Charlayne Hayling-Williams and her husband Dr. Rod Williams continue to pay their counselors, social workers, psychologists and housing specialists.

I own two restaurants in New York City which have been completely shuttered, said Paula Vargas, proprietor of family-owned El Coyote Restaurant. I did not apply initially because my father and brother were in the hospital with the Coronavirus, battling for their lives. Chase not only helped me every step of the way with the application process, but did so at any time of the day or night. This loan will be able to put us back on the market and provide relief for our 60 employees and their families.

JPMorgan Chase will continue to help customers and communities during this crisis. The firm has provided payment deferrals and fee waivers on credit lines, loans, business credit cards and checking accounts to customers facing financial hardship.

To help those hit hard by the crisis, since March, JPMorgan Chase has made an initial $200 million global business and philanthropic commitment to support vulnerable and underrepresented communities, existing nonprofit partners and underserved small businesses. Additionally, just this week the firm is providing an additional $50 million in low-cost, long-term capital to a Community Development Financial Institution, Grow America Fund, so they can support small businesses in underserved communities that need capital to cover expenses such as rent and employee salaries. Finally, the firm does not intend to earn a profit from PPP and remains fully committed to supporting programs that help small businesses  especially minority-owned businesses and underserved communities that have been economically impacted by the pandemic.
David Simmons, 48, the owner of a soul food restaurant in Jonesboro, Ga., doesn't think it's safe open his restaurant to dine-in customers yet. (Jenny Jarvie / Los Angeles Times)

At the end of a nine-hour workday, David Simmons sprinkled a cloud of lemon-pepper over a pile of chicken wings, stepped up to his cash register and shook his head.

He had cooked three batches of wings for two customers, bringing in just $23.97  a fraction of the $300 he typically made each day at his small soul food joint.

I dont think its worth staying open, the 48-year-old business owner said as he scanned his empty NoToSo's restaurant in a strip mall in Jonesboro, a sprawling suburban town about 15 miles south of Atlanta. Im just hanging in here until I cant.

A week after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp plunged the state into the middle of a national social experiment  rolling back restrictions on businesses in an effort to restart the economy after a monthlong shutdown to halt the spread of COVID-19  many business owners and workers remain a long way from getting back to normal.

In small towns and big cities, many have ignored Kemps order lifting restrictions on gyms, barbershops, hair and nail salons, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys last Friday and allowing restaurants and movie theaters to open on Monday.

Most restaurants that have opened are proceeding cautiously, offering to-go service but keeping their dining rooms closed.

Im just not comfortable with customers dining in right now, Simmons said. Its too soon. I would love for businesses to be open and booming, but it could put more people at risk.

Across Georgia, mayors from towns as far apart geographically and socioeconomically as Atlanta, Albany and Tybee Island have joined public health experts in criticizing Kemp, arguing that reopening too early could lead to a spike in new infections. Even fellow Republicans  President Trump and Rep. Doug Collins  have piled on, condemning Kemp for moving too quickly and not consulting local leaders.

More than 27,000 Georgians have tested positive for the virus. Since noon on Monday, the number of deaths across the state has jumped from 942 to 1,162 as of Friday afternoon. While the state has ramped up testing in the last week, it continues to lag behind other states.

Story continues

Still, Kemp has pressed on, allowing the states shelter-in-place order to expire at midnight Thursday, while urging Georgians to practice social distancing and wear face coverings in grocery stores and when picking up food at restaurants.

As a string of other Republican-led states follow  Texas on Friday allowed restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters and malls to serve customers  many small-business owners and workers are still struggling to decide: Should they adopt a cautious approach to the health risks and remain closed? Or slowly get back to normal in an effort to salvage their livelihoods or pay the rent?

In Jonesboro  a once mostly white rural town where Margaret Mitchell set "Gone With The Wind," and that has in recent decades morphed into a predominantly black suburb of Atlanta  some restaurants were closed entirely. But the vast majority, from big chains such as McDonald's to the local Fireside Jamaican Restaurant, were taking only to-go orders.

On Tara Boulevard, a bustling highway lined with condominium complexes, strip malls, tire shops and auto dealers, Country Charm Buffet was shuttered, no longer serving oxtails, catfish, turkey wings and chitlins.

A Burger King restaurant nearby was open for dine-in customers. But every other table was marked off with blue masking tape and chairs were draped in clear plastic. No one was eating inside.

Its all drive-through customers, said Christiana Threats, an assistant manager, as a line of sedans and SUVs snaked around the building.

Taking an order for a tlayuda at the Taqueria La Oaxaquena, Jessica Sanchez, a 26-year-old server, said that her boss held a meeting with staff to discuss what they felt comfortable with. Everyone agreed they were not ready to let customers back into their dining area.

The decision was costing her money  she was making just $200 in tips a week compared to her usual $600  but she felt it was safer in the long run to avoid a rash of new infections.

But even restaurants that opened for dine-in service did not see a lot of customers.

At Breakers Korean BBQ in Duluth, a suburb about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta, Cristy Youn, a 19-year old server, said few people were choosing to dine inside the restaurant.

Youn, a psychology student at Georgia State University, was working fewer hours and struggling to make tips. Usually she made $100 to $130 in tips each day. On her last shift, she made just $25.

Its pretty slow, she said Thursday afternoon. I thought people would be tired of staying home, but no one has come in all day.

In his rush to reopen, Kemp appears to be moving ahead of public sentiment in Georgia. About 62% of voters here disapprove of his decision to ease restrictions, according to an online survey conducted last week by the University of Georgia. While there is a partisan divide in attitudes to reopening, about 52% of Republicans oppose doing so, compared with 73% of Democrats and 59% of independents.

If the virus subsides and Georgia is one of first states to get the economy restarted, we would be ahead of the curve, said M.V. Trey Hood III, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia. But it is a risk because people are really still anxious about this.

Restaurants that reopen to dine-in customers have to follow a long list of safety requirements. They cannot allow more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet inside the restaurant at a time, and must rearrange dining rooms to allow six feet between parties. They also must require all employees to wear face coverings and discontinue salad bars and buffet service.

Inside a Waffle House diner on Tara Boulevard, Kyla Spradling, 16, said she quit two weeks ago, and decided to come back to work only when her boss agreed customers could not eat inside.

As a server, I was at risk, and I didnt think they were handling it correctly, she said from behind the cash register.

Carlos Mckibben, 19, a Waffle House cook, said he was nervous about working in the diner as the company had taken few precautions to protect them from COVID-19. But he said he needed to earn money to pay his $420 a week in rent. (Jenny Jarvie/Los Angeles Times)

Still, she said, she needed to earn money. She and her co-worker Carlos Mckibben, 19, had propped black plastic crates on the floor against the counter to stop customers from getting too close.

As a cook, Mckibben made $10.60 an hour. Living in the American Inn & Suites behind the diner, he was struggling to pay $420 a week in rent.

Im barely making it, he said.

More than 266,000 Georgians filed initial unemployment claims last week, up about 19,000 from the previous week, according to the Georgia Department of Labor. That brings the total number of claims in the last six weeks to nearly 1.4 million  more than the last four years combined.

Many Georgians suspect Kemp is moving to get workers off the unemployment rolls and shift the burden onto small-business owners and workers.

The state Department of Labor has said that people who felt unsafe returning to the workplace would not necessarily continue to receive unemployment benefits  unless they were immune-compromised, diagnosed with or living with a family member diagnosed with COVID-19, or caring for someone in a high-risk category.

A stylist at a hair salon in Douglasville, Ga., who declined to give her name for privacy reasons, said she thought state leaders were more concerned about the money they were paying out than the health of Georgia residents.

This is going to be the trial run and we're pretty much like the test dummies, she said. Basically, it gives me no faith in the governing system at all. I think once they ran out of money  you know, they got the record highs in the unemployment applications  it's kind of like OK, send them back in. We can't afford to take care of these people.

In the small town of Cuthbert, about 150 miles southwest of Atlanta, Mayor Steve Whatley said most restaurants and other businesses were not picking up normal routines. The Dawg House on the historic town square reopened Monday to sell hot dogs and hamburgers, but only for curbside pickup. The Townhouse restaurant was offering its home-cooked meals to go.

People are a little bit apprehensive, Whatley said. Things are beginning to open slowly, but I think there is concern about another surge happening.

The rural community of about 3,400 residents has been hit hard by the virus, with 159 confirmed cases and 19 deaths after an outbreak at local nursing home.

Still, Whatley said he was cautiously optimistic that the town would slowly reopen.

If we dont begin to open back up, the impact on the economy is going to be devastating, he said.

In Jonesboro, David Simmons said he did not think NoToSos would survive without more customers. But even if he allowed people to dine in, he could likely only seat about eight to 10 people at a time if he followed the state's social distancing guidelines.

On Thursday, he called the landlord of his strip mall to tell him he couldnt pay his $935 rent on Friday. He hoped the leasing agent of his apartment complex would work with him: He only had about half of the $980 rent due for his two-bedroom apartment.

I trust God I will be able to make it through, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 00:39:43|Editor: huaxia

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(People enjoy their time at Kaivo Park amid COVID-19 pandemic in Helsinki, Finland, on May 1, 2020. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland has passed the 5,000 mark, said Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Friday. The total number of cases reached 5,051, after 56 new cases were recorded in the previous day. The death toll rose to 218, up seven from Thursday. (Xinhua/Zhu Haochen)

HELSINKI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland has passed the 5,000 mark, said Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Friday.

The total number of cases reached 5,051, after 56 new cases were recorded in the previous day. The death toll rose to 218, up seven from Thursday.

According to THL, the average age of those who have died is 84 years old, and more than 90 percent of the deceased have at least one chronic illness. Some 3,000 people have recovered from the disease.

The number of patients in hospital, meanwhile, has been falling steadily since April 7. According to THL, 185 patients are now in hospital, of which 48 are in intensive care.

As the peak of epidemic in the country has likely passed away with declined numbers both in the daily confirmed cases and in hospitalized patients, the government plans to re-evaluate its COVID-19 measures and adopt a hybrid strategy.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin told media earlier that the strategy would see Finland gradually scaling back the restrictive measures while further increasing testing.

The first step of the strategy is to reopen schools. Finland's public schools have switched to remote learning since March 18, when the government declared a state of emergency over COVID-19. On Wednesday, the government announced the move to reopen primary and lower secondary schools from May 14.

Marin said any decisions on extending current emergency measures would not be taken until May 3. This is also when the government will issue any further guidance on public gatherings.

As for the issue of reopening borders, the prime minister said that EU-level guidance was needed.
25 more people have died from Covid-19 it has been confirmed.

There have now been a total of 1,286 deaths in Ireland from Covid-19.

343 new cases were also confirmed today.

In total there are 21,176 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

This is according to new data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

As of 11am Saturday 2 May, HSPC data reveals:

58% are female and 42% are male

the median age of confirmed cases is 49 years

2,785 cases (13%) have been hospitalised

Of those hospitalised, 368 cases have been admitted to ICU

5,973 cases are associated with healthcare workers

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 10,277 (50% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,226 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,156 cases (6%)

Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 63%, close contact accounts for 34%, travel abroad accounts for 3%

In a statement today the HPSC said that "validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 4 deaths. The figure of 1,286 deaths reflects this."

Yesterday the total number of deaths from Covid-19 stood at 1,265.

Earlier today the Government announced a number of measures to assist business impaced by Covid-19.

A 6bn support package for farmers, small, medium and larger businesses has been agreed by Cabinet.

Commercial rates are to be waived for three months for business impacted and the shortfall of 260m on local authorities is to be funded by the Government.

The measures come as the Government mapped out a return to normality for the country as it exits the coronavirus lockdown.

Yesterday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the lockdown is to be lifted in five three-week phases from May 18.

From Tuesday, Ireland will begin to cautiously re-emerge from total lockdown but after two further weeks of tight restrictions, the five-phase lifting of restrictions will commence.
The Karnataka government has



decided to appeal to the Centre to drop Bengaluru rural district from the list of COVID-19 red zones as there are no fresh cases of coronavirus infections there, Revenue minister R Ashoka said on Saturday.

"Presently there are no cases of COVID-19 in Bengaluru Rural districtf.

So we will write to the centre not to incorporate the Bengaluru rural district in the list of red zones," Ashoka said at the end of a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on easing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

Senior ministers, officials and deputy commissioners attended the meeting through video conferencing.

He said suggestions were made that Bengaluru urban district should be divided into various zones and wherever there are no COVID-19 cases, restrictions must be eased.

Ashoka said construction related activities will be allowed and shops dealing with trading construction materials such as sanitary ware, tiles, steel, plumbing and hardware will be allowed to operate.

Though malls and markets will not be opened, the sale of essential commodities such as vegetables will be permitted in the market, he added.

In the meeting, it was decided that the labourers should be allowed to undertake one-way trip to their home district by the state road transport bus.

These labourers who travel to their districts should be quarantined.

Inter-district travel passes will be issued to the passengers stuck in other districts for travelling (one-way) to their districts.

The government directed the district authorities to carry out economic activities as per the guidelines issued by the Centre.

Economic activities should be permitted in those areas which are out of the containment zone, the chief minister told deputy commissioners,the minister said.

A detailed discussion took place with the deputy commissioners of Bengaluru urban, Bengaluru rural, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Mysuru, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada and Kalaburagi and a set of directions were given to them to contain COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Protesters marched in several cities across California on Friday demanding the easing of restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak and denouncing Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to shut down some beaches. The protests were taking place in at least 11 cities, including the capital Sacramento as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. Some of the demonstrators waved American flags and carried signs that read "Freedom is Essential," "Trump 2020," or "Gruesome Newsom," while voicing anger at stay-at-home rules put in place to slow the spread of the virus. Most of the protesters, many of them chanting "Open California" and "Freedom" or ringing cowbells, did not wear face coverings or follow social distancing guidelines. In Huntington Beach, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, several thousand people rallied to denounce Newsom's order to shut local beaches beginning Friday in order to avoid a repeat of last weekend when crowds flocked to the shoreline. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back," protester Monica Beilhard fumed, referring to the beach shutdown. "It was uncalled for, unnecessary and people out here are making that known," she added. "And we're also very much saying enough is enough, we have the right to work... and it's time for the governor to allow the healthy to be able to get back to business." - 'We're Americans' - Officials in Huntington Beach and nearby towns have vowed to fight the beach closure order by taking the matter to court. "We believe the governor's order is unconstitutional, vague and ambiguous," said Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates. "He doesn't have a rational basis for this. What he seeks is a remedy to something that wasn't a problem in the first place." But a judge in Orange County, where Huntington Beach is located, late Friday refused to issue a temporary restraining order against Newsom's decision and scheduled a hearing on the matter for May 11. In downtown Los Angeles, tensions flared as hundreds marched in front of City Hall to demand an end to the stay-at-home order as counter protesters waved signs that said "humanity first" while insisting the lockdown was necessary to save lives. "The virus is no worse than the flu," Janet Gibson told AFP. "The sick need to stay quarantined. They need to take care of themselves. But let the healthy work. Let the healthy go out and be social." Ali Taylor, another protester, said the lockdown went against what the United States stands for. "We're Americans, we're free, we know how to take care of ourselves," she said. "We want our beaches and parks opened up, we want to be able to live free lives, and he (Newsom) is keeping us at home." Newsom, who like other governors across the country is facing mounting pressure to lift restrictions, especially as the weather warms up, has vowed not to bow to pressure and insists that his actions are driven by public health concerns. He told journalists at his Friday news conference that he empathized with protesters but urged them to continue to obey the stay-at-home order. He also appealed to them to wear masks and practice social distancing while demonstrating. "This disease doesn't know if you're a protester -- Democrat, Republican or if you support the election of one candidate or the ouster of another," he said. "It just knows one thing, and that is its host. "Just protect yourself, protect your family... and the people you're protesting with." California has registered more than 50,000 cases of coronavirus so far with more than 2,100 deaths, a fatality rate deemed modest given it is the most populous state in the country with nearly 40 million people. Nationwide, the virus has killed more than 64,000 people. A policeman keeps watch as demonstrators protest near Los Angeles City Hall on May 1 to demand the end to the state's shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic Several thousand people rallied in Huntington Beach on May 1 Demonstrators in Huntington Beach protest against the state's stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic, on May 1
(Newser)  Nothing like having a 500-pound bomb land on your propertybut that's what someone experienced in Japan last year. A US Air Force F-16 fighter was flying a training mission in November when the pilot dropped a GBU-12 Paveway II bomb near Daughon Bombing Range in Aomori Prefecture, Popular Mechanics reports. Unable to see the target amid scattered clouds at night, the pilot asked another plane in his three-ship formation for coordinates, but somehow the pilot got confused and dropped it on the wrong place. Luckily the laser-guided bomb was inert, but Air Force Magazine reports that it still landed on private property 3.4 miles from the intended target.

story continues below

The Air Force blames the mishap on "channelized attention, changing weather, and targeting technical error." No damage or injuries were reported, but the pilot was grounded, disqualified, retrained, and told to inform all other Misawa Air Base pilots "on the sequence of events leading up to the mishap to prevent a similar incident." Such incidents do happen and can upset relations with local governments when they occur at overseas bases. In this case, Newsweek reported last year that Aomori province issued a "severe protest" over an apparent lack of official transparency. The central government in Tokyo said it "issued a severe protest against the US side" and denied any attempt at a cover-up. (Read more US Air Force stories.)
Growing Seeds Learning Community has cared for thousands of young children in Portland since it opened its doors in 2004. Earlier this year, Growing Seeds North, the child care centers largest outpost, was welcoming 160 students a day.

That changed on March 23 when Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a statewide stay home order in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Growing Seeds North was one of more than 2,000 emergency child care facilities in the state approved to stay open during the crisis to primarily serve families of essential workers. But the center, like child care facilities across the state, has seen enrollment plummet over the last month.

The center cared for only about 20 students a day in April and is expecting to care for about 40 students a day this month. Given the loss in enrollment and revenue, the center decided to lay off 40% of its staff.

Ive talked with so many colleagues in Portland and beyond that are just really stressed out about being able to survive this, said Allison Delorey, director of Growing Seeds North. There are programs that have closed completely. There are programs that feel like theyre going to have to close in the next month or so. Thinking about what that means for children and families is mortifying.

Child care centers throughout the state are concerned about their survival as they navigate low enrollment or remain indefinitely shuttered due to the COVID-19 crisis. The open emergency child care centers have the capacity to serve 32,000 children, but the Oregon Department of Educations Early Learning Division says that demand for care has remained low with 7,952 vacancies, as of Thursday.

We think that most people are following the governors order and staying home with their children if they dont have to work outside the home, said Melanie Mesaros, a spokeswoman for the Early Learning Division. The governors orders are that you really should stay home. The emergency child care facilities are to be used by people that absolutely have to work outside the home, those essential workers.

But that lack of enrollment has put child care facilities in a difficult situation, which could have lasting impacts for families throughout the state.

In a 2019 study prepared for the Oregon Early Learning Division, researchers at Oregon State University found that all 36 of the states counties were child care deserts for infants and toddlers up to age 2, while 25 counties were deserts for preschoolers. The study defined a child care desert as a community with more than three children for every regulated child care slot.

Jennifer Foglesong, owner and director of Sunshine Early Learning Childcare Center in Milwaukie, said her center usually cares for 98 children per day and has a waitlist of roughly 100.

But after being approved as an emergency child care facility, Foglesong cut enrollment in half to follow new guidelines laid out by the state. Those guidelines included limiting classroom size to stable groups of 10 or fewer children, prioritizing spaces for parents who have to work outside the home during the COVID-19 crisis and adhering to enhanced safety requirements.

We wanted to stay open to provide care for our families who needed it because we have a lot of first-responder parents, Foglesong said. We also knew that if we closed for an extended period of time, that would be really hard on a small, one location business. To reopen, I didnt even know what that would look like.

Foglesong said that the center has cared for about 35 children per day since the crisis began, despite having openings for a maximum of 50 children. Sunshine Early Learning was approved for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of $10,000, but that did little to change the financial outlook for the center, which has seen its revenue plummet by 75%.

Other centers closed indefinitely when Brown issued her stay at home order last month. KinderCare, the Portland-based operator of 1,500 daycare centers in 40 states, temporarily shut more than two-thirds of its centers because of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving just nine emergency centers open in Oregon. A spokesman for KinderCare Education said that the organization was prepared to welcome back teachers, staff and families when the state lifts restrictions.

But other smaller providers arent as certain about the future. Stephen Karmol, the executive director of Wild Lilac Childhood Development Community, a nonprofit center in Southeast Portland, said that he has been relying on donations from families to pay operational costs but still had to furlough all 25 of his teachers and staff.

In order to cover March payroll, as well as bare bones operating costs for April, we completely wiped out our financial reserves and went into debt with a business line of credit that we had opened for emergencies, said Karmol, during a media call last week organized by Family Forward Oregon, which advocates for policies that benefit families.

In April, Oregon received $38.6 million in Child Care and Development Block Grant funding through the federal governments CARES Act to support child care providers and parents who need support affording child care. This week, the Early Learning Division then announced that funding through the CARES Act would allow them to issue a one-time grant of between $900 and $18,000 to support currently open child care centers in Oregon. The application for the grant opened Friday.

Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, along with Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., also announced last week that they will push for the next coronavirus relief bill to include $50 billion for child care. But debates over what will go in the bill remain ongoing, leaving many child care providers in a precarious financial situation as they try to continue to weather the COVID-19 crisis.

Before this crisis happened, we didnt have enough child care centers, Foglesong said. If centers are forced to close, well definitely not have enough and well have a child care crisis.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Fraud squad detectives have launched a major money laundering investigation after they seized 66,440 (76,228) in cash and made two arrests as part of a major operation at Dublin Port.

Two suspects were arrested shortly after midnight yesterday and the money was found hidden in the car which the men were travelling in.

The arrested men are an Irish national from Cork aged 35 and a Lithuanian national aged in his late 40s, who also lives in Cork.

Neither were previously known to gardai for involvement in serious crime.

Question

"Gardai believe these men were laundering money for an organised crime gang with international dimensions," a senior source told the Herald last night.

"Obviously the money was coming into the country from the UK and it had been hidden in a panel of a car to avoid detection.

"The big question now is trying to establish who these men were working for - that is not yet known."

Gardai yesterday announced details of the operation.

"Just after midnight, members from the garda National Economic Crime Bureau, assisted by gardai from the Immigration Unit in Store Street and the Armed Support Unit, stopped a car as it arrived into Dublin Port at a Covid-19 checkpoint," a garda spokesman said.

"An initial search of the car uncovered cash hidden behind a panel. The car was seized for technical examination and more cash was discovered during a follow-up search. In total, 66,440 was seized.

"The occupants were arrested at the scene and are currently being detained at Store Street Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984."

Sources say that despite the coronavirus crisis, cash-strapped criminals are continuing to attempt to launder money both nationally and internationally.
Cooper Investors, an independently-owned investment firm, recently published its first-quarter Global Equities Fund (Hedged) commentary  a copy of which can be downloaded here. During the first quarter of 2020, the Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged) returned -18.98%, while the benchmark MSCI ACWI was down 19.97%.

In the said letter, Cooper Investors spoke about Ametek Inc (NYSE:AME) and Amphenol Corp (NYSE:APH) stocks. Ametek is a global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices based in Pennsylvania. Amphenol manufactures interconnect products. Here is what Cooper Investors said:

"High quality industrials Ametek and Amphenol were sold having traded on premium valuations relative to their history. The combination of a likely drop in revenues and premium valuation meant we swiftly sold but will continue to follow these companies closely and hope to be shareholders again one day."

In Q4 2019, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on AME stock decreased by about 3% from the previous quarter (see the chart here).

In Q4 2019, the number of bullish hedge fund positions on APH stock increased by about 9% from the previous quarter (see the chart here).

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-03 00:38:12|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a key meeting with agriculture experts to deliberate on the issues and reforms required in the agriculture sector, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A special emphasis was given on reforms in agriculture marketing, management of marketable surplus, access of farmers to institutional credit and freeing agriculture sector of various restrictions with appropriate backing of statute, said an official statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, Modi said that the use of technology in the agriculture sector was of "paramount importance" as it had the potential to unlock the entire value chain for the benefit of the farmers.

He also emphasised on the dissemination of technology till the last mile and making the country's farmers more competitive in the global value chain.

Those who attended the meeting decided to further strengthen the role of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to bring vibrancy in agrarian economy, transparency in agriculture trade and enable maximum benefits to the farmers. Overall emphasis was on revisiting the existing laws governing market for better price realization and freedom of choice to the farmers, said the official statement.

The focus was on making strategic interventions in the existing marketing eco-system and bringing appropriate reforms in the context of rapid agricultural development. Enditem
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned countries lifting lockdown restrictions to be careful and 'look out for a resugence' of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 spread.

The world body's top expert on emergencies, Dr. Mike Ryan in a press conference on Friday (May 1, 2020) said, "It`s really important that as countries ease those measures that they are constantly on the look out for a jump in infections and in particular are dealing with transmission in special settings."

He also urged the communities to still follow physical distancing and hygiene measures despite signs of the spread of virus decreasing and testing of suspect cases must continue.

Regarding the new coronavirus that first emerged in December 2019 in Chinese city of Wuhan, Ryan reiterated WHO's stand that the sequences of the virus, as examined by scientists, "is natural in origin".

While some countries have begun easing shutdown restrictions, several African and middle eastern countries are witnessing disturbing trends. Ryan cited Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Sierre Leone, Central African Republic, and a "serious cluster" in Kano, northern Nigeria, Ryan was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Meanwhile, more than 33 lakh cases of coronavirus infections have been reported worldwide and over 2.3 people have died due to COVID-19.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 23:42:54|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

- - - -

LONDON -- Another 621 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 28,131, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Saturday.

The figures include deaths in care homes and the community as well as those in hospitals.

- - - -

NAIROBI -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed 24 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 435.

Mercy Mwangangi, Chief Administrative Secretary said that the cases were discovered following tests carried out from 1,195 samples that have been done in the last 24 hours.

- - - -

ADDIS ABABA -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across Africa rose from 39,018 from Friday afternoon to 40,746 cases as of Saturday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in its latest situation update issued on Saturday.

The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 1,689 as of Saturday, said the Africa CDC.

- - - -

WARSAW -- Public and residential buildings in Poland flew the red and white national flag on Saturday as the country celebrated the National Flag Day amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the COVID-19 restrictions prompted the cancellation of formal public celebrations, Polish President Andrzej Duda urged Poles to fly the flag as a symbol of patriotism on social media.

- - - -

ACCRA -- Ghana Health Service (GHS) announced 95 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,169 in the country.

GHS said 88 percent of the confirmed cases have no clear travel history, adding that the country has recorded 229 recoveries, with 18 deaths.

- - - -

YINCHUAN -- Chinese medical experts returned home Saturday after completing their mission to help fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The medical team composed of eight experts, who were selected by the health commission of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

- - - -

PARIS -- The French government has decided to extend the state of health emergency until July 24 to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Minister of Health Olivier Vrran announced on Saturday.

The state of health emergency, installed since March 24, is to be extended because lifting it, as previously scheduled on May 23, "would be premature" as the risks of an epidemic resurgence are present, the minister told a press conference. Enditem
Vietnamese in the Ukrainian city of Odessa present 1,200 masks to Ovidiopol districts fire and health agencies (Photo: VNA)



The hospital's director Colonel Roman Kalchuk sent a letter to the association's chairman Nguyen Nhu Manh thanking the organisation for the donation and its support for improving the hospitals facilities for COVID-19 diagnoses and treatment.

Earlier, the Vietnamese Association in Odessa also donated 3,000 face masks to the citys department of public security on April 24th.

Garment workshops of overseas Vietnamese in the city also presented 1,200 masks to Ovidiopol districts fire and health agencies.

So far, overseas Vietnamese in Odessa have donated about 12,000 face masks to the Ukrainian city.

The local Vietnamese community has also taken measures to raise public awareness about the danger of the pandemic.

As of April 29th, Odessa had 261 cases of COVID-19, none of whom are Vietnamese./.
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Alicia Cruz, center, of Elk Grove, Calif., takes part in a protest at the state Capitol on Friday. She said she was there to protect civil liberties, her children's future and future livelihoods. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Raucous protests erupted around California this week as demonstrators demanded that Gov. Gavin Newson's stay-at-home order be lifted.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the closed state Capitol building in Sacramento on Friday. Scores more circled the block, protesting from their cars.

Horns blared. Cow bells rang. Nary a mask was in sight, though there was plenty of "Trump 2020" gear. Overhead a plane circled trailing a banner with Newsoms photo and the words, End His Tyranny.

In Southern California, more than 500 people crowded an intersection in Huntington Beach to protest beach closures and demand that stay-at-home orders be lifted. Similar demonstrations were held in downtown Los Angeles and in Hermosa Beach.

Sacramento

More than 1,500 people took part in a protest at the Capitol in Sacramento on Friday seeking a reopening of the California economy. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

California Highway Patrol officers take into custody a woman who refused to follow orders to move off the Capitol grounds during a protest Friday. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)

CHP officers wearing riot gear form a line around the California Capitol grounds after removing protesters. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Huntington Beach

Hundreds of protesters calling for beaches to be reopened rally Friday at the intersection of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, where they were met by a line of mounted police. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

A protester holds a U.S. flag outside his car during a rally in Huntington Beach calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen beaches and lift stay-at-home orders. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Protesters at Huntington Beach on Friday demand stay-at-home rules be lifted. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Tim)

A Huntington Beach police officer stands the the foreground while protesters at Huntington Beach demand stay-at-home rules be lifted. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles

A protester calling for the end of stay-at-home restrictions, left, argues with a counterprotester Friday outside L.A. City Hall. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Protesters call for the end of coronavirus stay-at-home orders outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

A supporter of President Trump protesting stay-at-home orders, right, argues with a counterprotester at L.A. City Hall. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds of people converged outside L.A. City Hall to call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to immediately lift stay-at-home orders, (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

Hermosa Beach

A protester walks into the water in Hermosa Beach following a rally against Gov. Gavin Newsom's beach closure order Friday. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
For instance, a survey of 1,260 small businesses released on April 22 by LendingTree, an online lending marketplace, found that just 5% of business owners had received a PPP loan, although 60% of those surveyed had applied for funding.

Matthew Freeman, owner of the Richmond consulting firm Dialectix, said the process of applying for Paycheck Protection Program funds has been super frustrating for him as a sole proprietor. His business, which mostly involves doing in-person employee training for clients, has declined by more than 90% because of the pandemic.

It would be nice to have this program that was intended for small businesses come through and help, he said, but as of Friday he had not heard from his banker, Truist Financial, as to whether he will be approved. Truist Financial was created late last year with the merger of BB&T Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc.

You are sitting and waiting with zero information and no human being to talk with about it, he said.

Steven Gooch, who owns two restaurants in Richmond  The Franklin Inn and The Stables  was not successful in getting a loan from the first round of funding. The two restaurants are still offering takeout, but Gooch has had to lay off 20 of his 25 employees.
As Brown began planning a rebellion wherein his forces would capture the weaponry stored at Harpers Ferry, to support a slave uprising, Kagi was named Browns Secretary of War. Early in 1859 Kagi was credited with aiding the escape of 11 slaves who may or may not have stopped at the Mayhew cabin before crossing the Missouri River to freedom in Iowa. That October, as the attack on Harpers Ferry began, Kagi was killed, at the age of 24, while attempting another escape as the groups plans quickly failed.

In 1938 (one report shows 1921) the construction of State Highway 2 necessitated moving the cabin north about 25 feet, west of 19th Street or 2012 Fourth Corso. About that time the cabin became a museum and the rumored cave recreated by Edward Bartling. It was also then that the name of John Brown was affixed to the house, cave and tunnel as stories about runaway slaves became the currency of the sites guides.
An event aimed at recognizing and showing appreciation to senior citizens in Tippah County is this week. The Senior Appreciation Day Drive-Thr
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Saturday claimed that the Rajasthan government was not able to get the lockdown followed properly in Jaipur and Jodhpur, districts with maximum coronavirus cases in the state, and not taking the help of central forces due to its "political compulsions".

"The state government should leave these compulsions and think about effective control and seek the help of central forces," the Jodhpur MP told reporters through video conference.

The state has reported a total of 2,720 coronavirus cases and 65 deaths so far.

Jaipur has the highest number of cases at 945, followed by 575 in Jodhpur.

On the Centre's decision to start special trains to ferry migrants to their native places, the minister said the prime minister had to operate the trains due to lack of proper arrangements of buses by the state government.

Shekhawat also expressed concern over the condition of quarantine facilities, shelter homes and hospitals in the state. He alleged that many people are suffering due to lack of proper food and other arrangements at these places.

The minister informed that Rajasthan has a fund of Rs 1,400 crore for Jal Jeevan mission. The central government has given Rs 2,870 crore rupees to the state under MGNREGA and Rs 450 crore has been transferred to the accounts of women in the state under the Ujjwala scheme, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NBC News treated the strange death of Gary Lenius by toxic fish tank cleaner as yet another opportunity to bash President Trump. With two reporters on the story, NBC News delivered Man dies after taking chloroquine in an attempt to prevent coronavirus. Wanda Lenius told NBC News shed watched televised briefings during which President Trump talked about the potential benefits of chloroquine, and President Trump had touted the potential therapeutic effects of hydroxychloroquine at his press briefings. Mr. Lenius died on March 22 after downing a lethal cocktail of soda and fish tank cleaner with chloroquine phosphate prepared by Mrs. Lenius.

Were they fools for Trump? The Washington Free Beacon assigned reporter Alana Goodman to look into the story. Alana Goodman first went behind the headlines of the original story in Woman Who Ingested Fish Tank Cleaner Is Prolific Donor to Democratic Causes. Subhead: Arizona woman who accidentally poisoned her husband donated to pro-science resistance PAC, among others.

This raised some questions about her claim that she was going, you know, was she acting on Trumps advice here, Alana said in a brief appearance on The Ingraham Angle this week (video below, via NewsBusters).

Alana added that friends described Mr. Leniuss ingestion of the fish tank cleaner as out of character for someone who was an engineer. There were also court records that showed his wife had been previously charged with domestic violence against him, Goodman said. A Mesa Police Department homicide detective gave Alana a call and asked her to send over her on-the-record interview with Mrs. Lenius.

Laura Ingrahams interest in the story was prompted by Alanas profile of Mr. Lenius in Man Who Died Ingesting Fish Tank Cleaner Remembered as Intelligent, Levelheaded Engineer and Alanas follow-up in Police Investigating Death of Arizona Man From Chloroquine Phosphate, after she received the phone call from the Mesa Police detective investigating the case.

Alana also makes a cameo appearance in the Inside Edition segment devoted to the story (video below).

NBC News then elicited a statement from Mesa Police spokesman Jason Flam asserting that Alanas report of a homicide investigation was inaccurate. Flam told NBC: This investigation is not being treated as a homicide. The death of Gary Lenius has not been ruled a homicide at this time. (Please note that Alana had not said Mr. Leniuss death had been ruled a homicide.) More: Flam said the departments homicide unit is involved because it investigates all reported deaths within the City of Mesa  from deaths related to car accidents to the elderly in hospice.

Its still an active, ongoing investigation, the Mesa PD spokesman said.

But wait! What did Alana get wrong? Alana reported that the Mesa Police homicide detective handling the case confirmed the existence of an investigation after requesting a recording of the Free Beacons interviews with Mrs. Lenius. Alana reported that Teresa Van Galder  the homicide detective who called to ask for her recording of the interview with Mrs. Lenius  confirmed that the investigation is ongoing but declined to provide additional details.

Alana quoted Van Galder herself: As this is an active investigation, I cannot go into any details at this time regarding the case. The Free Beacon sent Van Galder the recording of its interview with Mrs. Lenius last month. Alana didnt get anything wrong.

Perhaps NBC News got the essence of the story right the first time around. Alana Goodmans reporting nevertheless demonstrates that there is more to the story. It is certainly a sad story, but it is a sad story in more ways than one. The limitations of the reporting by NBC News provide something of a case study of the legacy media (as Laura Ingraham calls NBC News and its ilk) in the Trump era.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and Gov. Andrew Cuomo jabbed at each other Thursday amid a discussion about whether summer camps will be able to open this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But their argument, conducted through statements at their regularly scheduled press conferences with New Yorks media, is only slightly related to the issue of summer camps.

Cuomo turned the discussion topic into one about federal dollars for New York, which Stefanik described as political. There is still no clear guidance for summer camps. In the Adirondacks, many camps are cautiously still planning on opening, but wondering about the possibility of empty campsites this year.

Letter for camps

On Wednesday Stefanik sent a letter, co-signed by several state and county representatives, requesting state guidance on summer camp operations for local governments.

It is our understanding that to date, no official guidance has been provided and that many summer camps begin their preparations and early operations in May, the letter reads.

The North Country is home to many summer camps that attract families from afar and serve as economic drivers for our communities, Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, wrote in a press release.

In the North Country, summer camps are an important part of the visitor experience and the regional economy, state Assemblyman Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, wrote in a press release. Certainly, we must be cautious from a public health standpoint while also acknowledging the importance these camps have to our local businesses.

In this era of risk of viral spread, it is immensely important that we properly manage whether we can safely open and safely operate these camps, Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Gillilland, R-Willsboro, wrote in a press release. Children come from across the state, the country, and the globe to the Adirondacks for this experience, and it is imperative that guidance be clearly and expertly promulgated; the ramifications of a COVID-19 vector emanating from a youth camp situation would be devastating for the whole Adirondack summer camp reputation and tradition.

Cuomos response

At Cuomos daily press meeting Thursday, CBS 6s Anne McCloy asked about the letter and mentioned that summer camps can be vital for parents who are still working.

Cuomo addressed his answer to Stefanik and all our great Washington representatives. He said he would like to offer things like child care for essential workers or rental assistance for those who cant afford it, or summer camps.

You know what it takes? Cuomo said. Money.

He said the coronavirus funding bills Congress has passed has given the state zero, zilch, nada to do any of these things.

So when one of them (New Yorks congressional representatives) says, I have a great idea; why dont we do this for every person? I would suggest, maybe you say to them, Oh, are you providing any funding to do that? Because the state has a $13 billion deficit,' Cuomo said. Theyve provided us nothing. Nothing for police, nothing for firefighters, nothing for schools, nothing for teachers, nothing for rental assistance, nothing for the massive government oporation we have to put together with all of these things.

You can do a lot of good things, he added. But you need funding.

He then asked Robert Mujica, the state budget director, about summer camps. Mojica said he is looking at camps reopening on a limited basis as the state begins its phased recovery process.

Stefanik: inexcusable attack

Several hours later, Stefanik started her press call with a strong response to Cuomos response to her letter, calling it an inexcusable attack.

For someone who lectures New Yorkers day in and day out about not engaging in political attacks, the governor needs to take his own advice, Stefanik said. Rather than responding to a basic question about summer camps public health guidance, he instead chose to attack me by name.

The governor absolutely failed and was embarrassing in his political attack, Stefanik said. It is sad that something as apolitical as summer camp triggered a political attack from the governor.

Stefanik said Cuomos statements about the federal government not providing enough monetary assistance to the state were flat-out wrong. She said the state received $7.5 billion through the CARES Act.

Cuomos Senior Advisor Richard Azzopardi told the Enterprise in an email that Cuomo was speaking only about a lack of federal money for things like summer camps, schools and rental assistance.

Of course, thats exactly what were talking about, Azzopardi wrote. Been talking about it for weeks.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a series of meetings with key ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and officials of economic ministries to firm up the second stimulus package for sectors impacted by lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus, sources said.

The prime minister held discussions with Shah and Sitharaman and would have follow up meetings with ministers of key economic ministries such as Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), sources said.

The finance ministry, which deferred release of monthly GST collection numbers on Friday, is also scheduled to make a detailed presentation to the prime minister later in the day on the state of economy and several initiatives that it plans to undertake to stimulate Indian economy.

The prime minister already had meetings with different ministries including civil aviation, labour and power on Friday. He had detailed deliberation with commerce and MSME ministries among others on Thursday with focus on attracting both domestic and overseas investment and revival of small businesses in the country so that the recovery process is hastened.

During these meetings both the home minister and the finance minister were present.

To mitigate hardships faced by the bottom of the pyramid, the government in late March had announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus package comprising free foodgrains and cooking gas to poor and cash doles to poor women and elderly.

Sources said the government is considering to announce a second dose of relief measures for the segment and a stimulus package for India Inc shortly.

The government had first imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning March 25 and later extended it till May 3.

The lockdown shut businesses, stopped air and rail travel and restricted movement of people and goods.

Beginning May 4, the government has decided to ease certain restrictions including opening of industries for green and orange districts which either have nil or low number of cases. The easing of restriction in specified districts is till May 17 with strict vigil by local administration.
We didnt know what to expect at the beginning of the day, but we got slammed, said employee Andrew Perryman. Some people came in and stayed for hours just to hang out.

Co-workers Jeff Boone and Susan Hupp were among the afternoon crowd at Treys.

We saw on Facebook that Treys was going to be open, Hupp said. This is such a great time of year to get out, and I didnt realize how much we missed gathering together.

Boone said that like most people, he hasnt been away from his house except to get essential items in seven to eight weeks.

Its nice to talk to people and have a beer, he said. And not in the cul-de-sac with neighbors and kids. Thats OK, but its not the same.

As the evening approached, diners started to gather at the Polo Grill in Utica Square shopping center, some inside and some at sidewalk tables. Local musician Mark Bruner performed near the entrance.

This is the only job I have right now, Bruner said. Its good to see everyone again.

Molly and Bob Caston were among the first dinner guests to dine inside Polo Grill.
Two teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murdering an NHS worker in east London, police have said.

David Gomoh, a 24-year-old marketing graduate who worked for the NHS, was stabbed to death in Newham just days before the funeral of his father, who died of a coronavirus-related illness.

The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested a 19-year-old man in Stratford on Friday afternoon and a 17-year-old boy was subsequently arrested at a home in Telford, Shropshire, on Saturday morning.

Both teenagers remain in custody.

Police added that Mr Gomoh was attacked on Freemasons Road, Newham, at about 10.25pm on Sunday 26 April, just seconds after leaving his home.

A post-mortem examination found the cause of death was stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.

Detectives investigating the attack said they believed those involved left the scene in a stolen silver Dodge Caliber, which was found abandoned at about 10.30pm on Lincoln Road, Newham, just a few minutes drive away from Freemasons Road.

The car had been stolen in Dagenham on 16 April and was on cloned plates when it was found, police said.

Anyone who was in the area or anyone who remembers the car, before or after the attack, has been urged to contact the Met Police.

Detectives added that the evidence so far suggested Mr Gomoh was murdered in a totally unprovoked attack as there was nothing in his background which gave any reason for why he was singled out and assaulted.

Mr Gomoh was a keyworker helping to keep NHS staff supplied with essential equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.

His mother works as a nurse and his father had recently died unexpectedly from an illness related to Covid-19.

Davids family are going through unimaginable torment. Within days his mother has seen the death of her husband and son; his sister has lost her father and brother. Both are now heartbroken, Detective Inspector Tony Kirk, from the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said.

David was a young man who had worked hard to put himself through university and, like his mother, worked hard for the community in the NHS.

At this time we believe the only thing David did to be murdered was walk down a street. He was apparently approached by a group of men wearing masks and stabbed multiple times in a ferocious assault.

Mr Kirk added: David and his mother, who have done so much to help the community, now need the public to come forward and tell us what they know.

Anyone with information on the incident should contact police via 101 or via Twitter @MetCC, quoting CAD 8371/26APR, or contact the police incident room on 020 8345 3985.

Alternatively, anyone who wants to give information anonymously can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Additional reporting by PA
This week's season eight finale of Shahs of Sunset finds the cast returning to Los Angeles from their Hawaiian getaway.

But the drama didn't stay in the Aloha State, where Reza Farahan agreed to drop all charges against Mercedes 'MJ' Javid's husband Tommy.

Back home in LA, MJ and Tommy have lunch with her mom as they plan a sip-and-see (a baby shower after the baby is born) for their son Shams.

Sip-and-see: On this week's Shahs of Sunset, MJ and Tommy have lunch with her mom as they plan a sip-and-see (a baby shower after the baby is born) for their son Shams

She also updates her mom on the situation with Reza, saying she won't invite him to the sip-and-see until he goes through with dropping charges.

Meanwhile Reza and husband Adam go to a pottery class, where they discuss dropping the charges.

Although Adam doesn't want to pursue criminal charges, he doesn't feel safe dropping the restraining order.

The disagreement causes tension between the couple, as Reza appears torn between his husband and his best friend.

Not invited: She also updates her mom on the situation with Reza, saying she won't invite him to the sip-and-see until he goes through with dropping charges, which he said he would in Hawaii

Romantic outing: Meanwhile Reza and husband Adam go to a pottery class, where they discuss dropping the charges

Sense of safety: Although Adam doesn't want to pursue criminal charges, he doesn't feel safe dropping the restraining order

Tensions rise: The disagreement causes tension between the couple, as Reza appears torn between his husband and his best friend

Destiney Rose is seen taking her dog Frank Sinatra to shop for a present for the sip-and-see when she gets a FaceTime call from Mike Shouhed.

He reveals he's not attending, after his blowout with MJ in Hawaii, where she badmouthed him to his girlfriend Paulina: 'She made Paulina feel some kinda way.'

At the sip-and-see, Nema Vand arrives with his sister Mona, who admits she has a case of baby fever.

Nema reveals he never wants to have kids, 'because our parents f***ed us up so much.'

Sara Jeihooni was on-hand to offer some perspective, opening up about how she lost her dad in a car accident when she was 14.

Nema and Shervin Roohparvar then get the message that Mike isn't coming, as Destiney defends him: 'He has a right to feel this way. That's his woman.'

But with Reza and Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi not in attendance either, MJ is upset with her friends.

Baby fever: At the sip-and-see, Nema Vand arrives with his sister Mona, who admits she has a case of baby fever

Fatherhood material: Nema reveals he never wants to have kids, 'because our parents f***ed us up so much'

Some perspective: Sara Jeihooni was on-hand to offer some perspective, opening up about how she lost her dad in a car accident when she was 14

No-show: Nema and Shervin Roohparvar then get the message that Mike Shouhed isn't coming, as Destiney defends him: 'He has a right to feel this way. That's his woman'

Party pooper: But with Reza and Golnesa 'GG' Gharachedaghi not in attendance either, MJ is upset with her friends

Mother/daughter time: Meanwhile, GG is having some maternal struggles of her own, as she has her own mom over

Trying again: She reveals that she's giving IVF another shot, having previously suffered a miscarriage

Family dinner: Nema later joins Mona, their younger half-sister Sara and their dad for dinner, celebrating Sara's graduation

Father's son: He gets emotional when the topic of parenthood comes up, leaving the table as his father follows to try to fix their relationship

Meanwhile, GG is having some maternal struggles of her own, as she has her own mom over.

She reveals that she's giving IVF another shot, having previously suffered a miscarriage.

Nema later joins Mona, their younger half-sister Sara and their dad for dinner, celebrating Sara's graduation.

When the topic of parenthood comes up, Mona asks their dad if he thinks Nema should become a dad, which responded with an overwhelming yes.

'There's no way,' Nema responds before getting emotional and walking away from the table, his dad following.

After a flashback of a therapy session about how he's angry with his dad, Nema opens up.

He says in a confessional: 'We've not had a sincere moment of closeness in years. Neither of us has made the first move in our relationship. It's like a game of chicken between father and son.'

Father and son have a breakthrough, as dad promises to fix their relationship, and they agree to do family dinners more often.

Scene of the crime: Meanwhile, the gang prepares for an Independence Day party at Sara's, which was the scene of Reza and MJ's big blowout

Legal reasons: After the former besties greet each other with friendly formalities, Reza reveals to Nema that he and Adam didn't go to the sip-and-see because of their restraining order

Through the grapevine: Shortly after, Nema fills in MJ about Reza not dropping the restraining order, which results in another near blowout

Escalating quickly: Reza tries to reason with MJ about keeping the restraining order, arguing that instead of bringing a bat, Tommy could come to their house with a gun or knife the next time

Burn it down: MJ pleads with Reza, telling him: 'I will burn this house down if you don't lift everything'

Meanwhile, the gang prepares for an Independence Day party at Sara's, which was the scene of Reza and MJ's big blowout.

After the former besties greet each other with friendly formalities, Reza reveals to Nema that he and Adam didn't go to the sip-and-see because of their restraining order.

Reza says in a confessional: 'Adam wants me to take a stand for him and our marriage. I'm going to respect my husband's wishes. How could I not?'

Shortly after, Nema fills in MJ about Reza not dropping the restraining order, which results in another near blowout.

Reza tries to reason with MJ about keeping the restraining order, arguing that instead of bringing a bat, Tommy could come to their house with a gun or knife the next time.

MJ pleads with Reza, telling him: 'I will burn this house down if you don't lift everything.'

When he doesn't budge, MJ leaves, and Reza joins Adam and the rest of the gang for a group photo.

After driving away, MJ says in a confessional: 'I was open to fixing our friendship. But now my fear is how are ever going to get back there?'
Guwahati/Agartala, May 3 : The Assam government has decided to open its inter-state borders with other northeastern states except Sikkim from Sunday to allow return of stranded people to the state, while Tripura revamped its efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus after two BSF troopers tested positive for the highly infectious disease on Saturday.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati that the state government would open its inter-state borders with the neighbouring states except Sikkim from Sunday to facilitate the return of stranded people to the state.

He said that two Additional DGP rank officers would monitor the return of the stranded people and other related processes.

"Those who are keen to return to the state using private vehicles would be allowed to do so, but they have to obtain the necessary passes. Around 20 lakh people from Assam are stranded in different states across the country, including other northeastern states, Sarma told the media.

All the returnees would be screened at the inter-state borders for Covid-19 symptoms before they go to their homes or for institutional quarantine.

"After May 4, economic activities would resume in the green zone, so we are urging the people if their units, offices, establishments and engagements start, they should not rush to come to Assam," said Sarma, who also holds the finance portfolio.

Of the total 42 positive cases found so far in Assam, currently there are nine active cases while one person had died on April 10.

In Tripura, a week after the state was declared novel coronavirus free, two Border Security Force (BSF) jawans tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who also holds the health and home portfolios, said in a tweet: "Two persons from Ambassa (in northern Tripura's Dhalai district) BSF unit found COVID-19 positive. Total positive cases in Tripura stands at four (two already discharged, so active hospital cases two)." A senior BSF officer told IANS that one of the two infected persons belonged to Assam and he has been suffering from some ailments after he returned to Tripura from his hometown in Sivasagar district in Assam on March 11.

"The ailing head constable and his attending colleague have tested positive for coronavirus at the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Agartala," the officer said, refusing to be named.

While briefing the media, state's Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that swab samples of 68 people, who came in contact with the two BSF personnel, are being collected for testing.

With the recovery of the second patient, a 32-year-old Tripura State Rifles jawan and a resident of Uttar Pradesh, on April 25, the Tripura government had declared the northeastern state as novel coronavirus free.

The state's first patient, a 45-year-old woman who tested positive for the virus on April 6 after she returned from Assam by train, has already recovered and was discharged on April 15.

Tripura Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar, quoting the Union Health Ministry order, said that six of the eight districts of Tripura are categorised as green zones while the remaining two districts are classified as orange zones.

There is no restriction on the functioning of government offices in the two orange zones, the Chief Secretary said in his notification, adding that separate orders would be issued for the functioning of educational institutions later on.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
01 May 2020

Type Media Article



Research funded by TEAGASC and SFI into grassland management histories has led to the discovery of a number of new archaeological sites. Researcher Robert OHara tells us more



FIGURE 4: Settlement at Cloonastiallas, Co. Roscommon

The Irish countryside is dotted with tens of thousands of ancient sites and monuments, many of which are recorded in the archives of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI). Only a small number of these are in the ownership of the State; the vast majority are on privately held farmland and survive, as they have for centuries, through the awareness and careful stewardship of farmers. There are deeply held traditions respecting ancient monuments, and agri-environment schemes like the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) and Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme (GLAS) have given guidance to farmers on securing and preserving archaeological sites. Teagasc has collaborated with the ASI in the past to produce a guide for farmers to minimise damage to archaeological sites (Good Farming Practice and Archaeology  available on the Teagasc website). Nevertheless, modern farming methods can still pose a risk to unidentified sites, particularly during reseeding, hedge/scrub clearance, and land drainage.

Golden age of archaeological discoveries

New archaeological sites are being identified all the time through archaeological excavation, chance discoveries on farms, and by identifying new sites in online satellite imagery. Evidently, it is a golden age for new archaeological discoveries, with over 1,500 reports of new sites to the ASI during last year alone. This boom has been fuelled by online image archives, the growing use of drones, and the extensive drought conditions in 2018. Cropmarks are traces of a monument that no longer appear at the surface but may still be visible in aerial images through differential crop growth, and are particularly obvious during dry spells.

Chance discoveries

As part of an ongoing Teagasc/Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) VistaMilk project looking at grassland management histories, the Spatial Analysis Unit in Ashtown has been examining old photographic archives from Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) taken 15- 30 years ago (1995, 2000, 2005), as well as more recent Google Earth (GE) images from the last decade. In doing so, they have identified over a dozen new archaeological sites, including cropmarks and standing monuments. Evidence of these sites can be ephemeral, visible only for a short time or under very specific conditions. The standing monuments all had earthworks that were best seen in winter when a low sun angle cast long shadows. The newly identified archaeological sites are a mix of burial and settlement sites, possibly from the prehistoric or medieval periods, a selection of which are described here.

FIGURE 1: (a) Aerial view of Co. Kerry barrow (left); and, (b) LUCAS photo (right).

Burial site

Barrows were burial sites used from the Neolithic (approximately 2,500 BC) until the Christian period (about AD 500). One such barrow was identified in Co. Kerry, where a 16 m diameter bank surrounds a low mound (which likely covers cremated or inhumed remains). This site epitomises the proper stewardship of archaeological sites, where the farmer has avoided impact during farm operations and drainage. When discoveries are reported, official confirmation must await a site visit by an ASI archaeologist. In this instance, there was ready-to-go validation in data from the EU Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS). LUCAS is a pan-EU field survey to collect land-use and land-cover data at selected points. Fortuitously, the barrow was located on a LUCAS point, which was visited and photographed by a LUCAS surveyor in 2018. Figures 1a and 1b show the raised curving bank and low internal mound that are characteristic of this class of site. Larger enclosed sites are broadly classified as enclosures. These are enclosed areas of various shapes and sizes that possess no other diagnostic features (Figures 2a, 2b and 2c). They can date to any period from prehistory onwards, but on excavation many are dated to the early medieval period (AD 500-1,000).

FIGURE 3: Settlement in Kilcurly, Co. Limerick.

Two deserted medieval settlements were identified, which is fortuitous as Teagasc is currently supporting research into archaeological features like deserted medieval settlements and their role in agrotourism through Walsh Scholar Daniel OMahony (co-supervised by Tadhg OKeefe in UCD and Stuart Green in Teagasc). There are only about 300 deserted medieval settlements known in Ireland, so finding two in one week is unusual! Many rural settlements from this period developed into our modern towns and villages. Some were abandoned due to war or disease, while others succumbed to the impact of a changing climate, soil exhaustion, or changing agricultural practices. At Kilcurly, Co. Limerick, previously unidentified earthworks were identified over several hectares adjacent to a medieval church. In Figure 3, north of the farm access road, relict field boundaries, several circular enclosures, and rectangular building foundations are visible. South of the road is a substantial oval enclosure (190 m x 150 m) with internal subdivisions and structures. Records from the 17th century associated with this church mention dwellings and structures, some of which may relate to these earthworks. A second deserted settlement was identified at Cloonastiallas, Co. Roscommon (Figure 4), where several rectangular house plots flanked a 170 m long street. Behind these house plots larger fields covered an area of approximately 14 ha. All sites have been reported to the ASI and have been added to its database of sites and monuments. ASI records are updated continuously as new sites are discovered, so landowners should inform themselves of all sites on their land before carrying out works that may damage archaeological remains. Under the National Monuments Act 1930 (amended) there are severe penalties for unlawful interference with or damage to archaeological monuments.

FIGURE 2: Enclosures in Limerick, Mayo and Roscommon

Acknowledgments

All satellite images are courtesy of Google Earth:  Google/Maxar Technologies 2020. The Kerry barrow ground image is from the Eurostat LUCAS survey. These archaeological findings arose as a result of research funded by the Teagasc and SFI VistaMilk Research Centre.
Actor Sam Lloyd, who appeared in several television shows and portrayed lawyer Ted Buckland on the comedy Scrubs has died. He was 56.

Lloyds agent confirmed his death Friday night but did not provide further details. Variety reported that he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and cancer last year, and it spread to his lungs and spine. He found out he had cancer weeks after his wife, Vanessa, gave birth to their firstborn, the report said.

Over a span of two decades, Lloyds television career included roles in major television shows such as Desperate Housewives, Seinfeld, Modern Family, The West Wing, Cougar Town, and Malcolm in the Middle, according to his agent. He also appeared in the films Flubber and Galaxy Quest.

The couple set up a GoFundMe page at the time of Lloyds diagnosis after the actor began getting headaches and lost 10 pounds. When Lloyd went to the doctor and got a CT scan in January 2019, doctors diagnosed him with a brain tumor.

Unfortunately the tumor was too intertwined so the surgeons couldnt remove it, Lloyds GoFundMe page stated. Sam and [his wife] Vanessa were informed that the cancer in his brain had metastasized from his lungs. Further scans showed the cancer was also in his liver, spine, and jaw.

In the face of this devastating news, Sam and Vanessa have been incredibly strong and positive, the page said. Humor and laughter, which have been a huge part of Sams life, will undoubtedly help him with what lies ahead.

The GoFundMe page added: Sam is, simply put, a sweet, kind, and generous soul. Through his music and acting, and most of all his friendship, he has blessed all of our lives immeasurably.

Throughout his wonderful life, including his more than 30 years in Los Angeles, Sam has perfected the fine art of friendship. So many of those friends have reached out, wanting to know how they can help support him and his family during this difficult time.

Tributes Pour In

Some of the people hed worked with paid tribute to him Friday night.

Rest in peace to one of the funniest actors Ive ever had the joy of working with, actor Zach Braff tweeted.

Sam Lloyd made me crack up and break character every single time we did a scene together. He could not have been a kinder man. I will forever cherish the time I had with you, Sammy.

Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence described him as a kind, sweet guy who will be missed by many.

Spent the night watching clips of Sam (The songs! The greatest sweaty pratfall of all time!) Those who reached out, our Scrubs family appreciates it  he had the biggest heart of all of us. But now send all those good thoughts to his family. And to your own loved ones. #RIPTed  Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) May 2, 2020

Lloyd was also a musician. He sang in a cappella group The Blanks, and played bass guitar in a band called The Butties.

CNN Wire and Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
Invasion of Privacy: Watchdogs Concerned About Apps Tracking Covid-19 Patients

VANCOUVERPrivacy watchdogs are voicing concerns over proposals across the country to implement smartphone apps to help track COVID19.

New Brunswick, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan are among the provinces looking at or planning on creating smartphone apps that would track a users whereabouts.

Alberta is the first province to launch an app.

Known as contact tracing, the apps track those who the user comes in to contact with, commonly by monitoring a devices Bluetooth signal.

The use of the technology, and the information the apps gather, has become a subject of debate in Canada.

When we develop these sorts of tools or applications, were entering into a totally new class or form of surveillance, said Christopher Parsons, a senior research associate at Citizen Lab, part of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Policy. Weve never had that level of surveillance in this country.

Parsons, whose research focuses on data privacy and security, said governments may have good intentions but they need to be prepared for the longterm implications of collecting such data.

If the government doesnt communicate what government organizations can or cant collect with any kind of tracing application, it will almost certainly disenfranchise individuals, he said.

The reaction at various government levels to creating and implementing the apps has been mixed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government has received a number of proposals but understands that Canadians value their privacy and need certain assurances.

Alberta launched its app, called ABTraceTogether, on May 1. It uses Bluetooth signals to track users and if youre diagnosed with COVID19, it will contact those you may have come into contact with.

Australian government COVID-19 tracking App COVIDSafe is seen on April 26, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The province said no identifiable information is exchanged between the app users and geolocation data will not be collected.

A spokesman for New Brunswicks Ministry of Health said its app would allow those diagnosed with COVID19 to send an anonymous message to those they have come in contact with.

Other provinces are taking a waitandsee approach.

British Columbia is not looking at contact tracing apps at this time, while a spokesperson for Ontarios Health Ministry said no decision has been made.

Only Quebec has strongly pushed back against using contact tracing technology and apps.

Geolocation cannot replace the contact tracing actions carried out by the publichealth departments. In addition, it must not at any time make it possible to identify an individual, in particular, a person suffering from COVID19, the Quebec Health Ministry said in a statement.

The discussion prompted Canadas privacy commissioner to release a framework for governments. It says collected data should be destroyed when the pandemic ends and that measures must be sciencebased and necessary to achieve a specific identified purpose.

During a crisis, laws can be applied flexibly and contextually, but they must still apply. Our framework aims to focus on what we believe are the most relevant principles in context, without abandoning others, said commissioner Daniel Therrien.

Dr. Peter Phillips, an infectious disease expert at the University of British Columbia, said privacy rights arent the only issue and Canadians need to make sacrifices based on the benefit for public health.

Rather than just assuming this is an unacceptable intrusion on peoples privacy, there are potentially substantial benefits to be had by having public health response use technology, he said in an interview.

Phillips agreed that privacy issues must be handled carefully.

The rights of those people who are not yet infected with COVID need to be taken into account as well, because if we dont do everything that we can to contain this by way of public health, then people are going to get sick and some of them will die.

Other countries using such apps are promising to keep a close eye on how the data is used and shared.

Australia launched COVIDSafe and has promised to take only minimal data from its users. Italy has decreed that the information its app collects will remain anonymous and be destroyed by the end of the year.

The rise in popularity of the apps even prompted a joint effort from Google and Apple to allow programming interfaces to work together to share data. Those with Android or Apple smartphone products will both be able to better share data to allow developers to create tracing apps.

The plan, the companies said, is to launch Bluetooth tracing software in the coming months.

In Canada, there are concerns about oversight and guidelines on how the information will be shared.

It really is an extraordinary invasion of privacy for a democratic state to request, said Brenda McPhail, the director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Associations privacy, technology and surveillance project.

She said there would need to be an equally extraordinary level of oversight.

Geoffrey Rotstein, CEO of Toronto company EQ Works, said hes aware of the concerns.

His company is developing an app that would track a smartphones Bluetooth technology but would keep a users data stored on their phone, not a server.

We believe we could develop something that becomes a very proactive notification tool, he said. So, we can proactively identify people in places at risk and help protect peoples lives and help get life back to normal faster.

Canadas chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said this week that in addition to privacy concerns, the technology itself remains unproven and will need to be refined to ensure false positives and other issues do not emerge.

By Nick Wells
By Nigam Prusty and Rajendra Jadhav

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India said on Friday it would extend its nationwide coronavirus lockdown for another two weeks after May 4, but would allow "considerable relaxations" in lower-risk districts marked as green and orange zones.

Some activities will remain prohibited throughout the country, regardless of the zone, the ministry of home affairs said in a statement.

Those include travel by air, rail and metro and inter-state movement of people by road; and schools and colleges, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, cinema halls and places of worship will remain closed.

There will be no restriction on movement of goods between states and on the manufacturing and distribution of essential items, the ministry said.

Authorities are trying to chart a path out of the world's biggest lockdown, which they credit with preventing an exponential surge in infections and which Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed on March 25.

Authorities have mapped the country into red, orange and green zones, depending on the severity of the outbreak. Health Secretary Preeti Sudan detailed the plan in a letter to regional officials that was seen by Reuters.

The biggest and most economically-important cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad, would all be classed as red zones, infection hotspots, and kept under strict lockdown.

To qualify as a green zone, eligible for quicker lifting of restrictions, an area would have had to report no new infections for three weeks. The classifications would be "dynamic" and updated at least weekly as conditions change, Sudan wrote.

India has reported more than 35,000 cases and 1,147 confirmed deaths from the virus. The true extent of infection may be higher in a country where millions of people do not have access to sufficient healthcare.

The shutdown has pummelled India's economy, depriving millions of day labourers of income and stranding rural migrants in cities where they can no longer afford rent or food.

The government issued an order on Friday to provide special trains for stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students to return home.

(Additional reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Asif Shahzad and Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad; Gopal Sharma in Kathmandu.; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Euan Rocha and Frances Kerry)
There is a slight increase in casualties in militant attacks in Pakistan in April, even as the number of such assaults remained the same as compared to March, according to a new study.

Militants appear to be trying to get back some territory in North Waziristan tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where most of these violent activities were recorded in April, the Dawn reported on Saturday citing the study released by Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

Ninety per cent of the casualties in violent incidents during the month of April took place in North Waziristan district.

A slight increase is also observed in activities of Pakistani security forces against militants.

According to the statistics released by PICSS, the number of casualties in militant activities across Pakistan increased by 6 per cent in April as compared to March.

PICSS recorded a total of nine militant attacks during April in which 18 people died 10 security personnel and eight militants while six security forces personnel got injured.

Tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed the highest number of violent militant activities, where six out of total nine attacks took place.

Eight security personnel lost their lives in the tribal districts of KP, while eight militants were also killed. Four security personnel were also injured. Apart from eight militants killed during retaliatory actions by security forces, 21 more militants were killed in KP in actions initiated by security forces, the study said.

Two militant attacks were reported in Balochistan and one in Sindh all of them of minor nature with two casualties in Balochistan.

No militant activity was recorded in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistani security forces carried out a total of 16 actions against militants in areas of Balochistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh.

Pakistani forces arrested 12 suspects involved in different terror and anti-state activities, including eight from Sindh and four from KP. Four members of Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent were also arrested in Karachi.

According to the report, an assistant sub-inspector of police was arrested for his alleged ties with Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 10 members of the paramilitary unit also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces were killed.

At least 10 members of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces have been killed in a coordinated attack carried out by the ISIL (ISIS) group in Iraqs Salahaddin province.

According to Hashd and Iraqi state media early on Saturday, clashes erupted between the paramilitary unit, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, and ISIL on several fronts in the town of Mekeeshfa and the city of Balad.

The Popular mobilisation forces and security forces have killed and wounded a number of ISIL fighters after being exposed to significant attacks on Balad and Mekeeshfah south of Tikrit, the Hashd said in a statement later on Saturday.

The Hashd also lost 10 members, while several others were wounded in clashes between the two sides, it said, adding that its forces had managed to push back ISIL after the arrival of air and land reinforcements in the area.

According to the Hashd statement, nine members of the Tigris Regiment were killed in Mekeeshfah and two others were wounded, while one member of Brigade 41 was killed in Tal al-Dahab area.

In a statement published by local media, Iraqs Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi paid tribute to families of those who were killed.

It is with great sadness, we received news of the martyrdom of a group heroes from among the Hashd al-Shaabi who died defending their homeland in the face of ISIL attacks in the Mekeeshfah and Balad areas north of Baghdad.

He also took the opportunity to call on Iraqs political factions to agree on a new government ahead of his looming 30-day deadline to form a new cabinet by May 9.

This attack reflects a desperate attempt to capitalise on the state of political rivalry which has impeded the formation of a new government that will work to protect and secure its citizens.

Al-Kadhimi had announced on Wednesday that he sent his proposed government programme to Parliament in Baghdad, adding that names of candidates for various ministerial posts would be submitted soon. Reports circulated on Friday night of the list of nominees for the majority of the posts.

After two other candidates failed to form a government since Adel Abdul Mahdi stepped down in December last year, Iraqi President Barham Salih tasked al-Kadhimi, the former head of Iraqs intelligence, with the job on April 9.





ISIL strengthening?

The coordinated assault is believed to be one of the largest ISIL attacks since the armed group was defeated in December 2017.

This was a well organised attack, something of this scale hasnt been seen at all for two years, independent Iraqi analyst Sajad Jiyad told Al Jazeera.

The Hashd al-Shaabi, founded as a loose network of Shia-majority factions, played a crucial role in defeating ISIL, which occupied a large swath of territory in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017.

ISIL attacks in Iraq have been on the rise since April compared with previous months this year.

According to Jiyad, the attacks significance lay in its proximity to Baghdad, its involvement of a large number of ISIL fighters and the sophisticated nature of the attack which used varied methods.

Its worrying for Iraq that so many of the Iraqi security forces including PMF fighters were killed. It is a reminder that Iraq needs constant counter terrorism efforts and support from the coalition in terms of surveillance and logistical or air support, said Jiyad.

If that will no longer be there, then the Iraqi government needs to find a way to replace this in kind through other partners or it needs to step up its own capabilities otherwise ISIL will continue with these attacks, he added.

The US-led coalition forces in Iraq have withdrawn from several military bases across the country over the past months in line with a plan to consolidate forces in Baghdad and at Ain al-Assad in western Iraq.

According to Zeidon al-Kinani, the attack pointed towards ISIL taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and curfew [in place], the long deadlock of forming a cabinetand the increasing divisions within the PMF.

Last week, four Iraqi militant groups affiliated with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shia authority in Iraq, announced their withdrawal from the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in a move that signified a deepening divide within the group.

According to Kinani, the threat of ISIL may continue.

The existing protest movement and their preparation to revolt again following the COVID-19 pandemic gives ISIL an opportunity as the government will be facing two fronts: the protesters in the capital and southern provinces and ISIL around the western and northern fronts, he told Al Jazeera.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday asked officials to ensure migrants returning from other states are quarantined either at their home or government health centres.

He said nearly 14 lakh migrants have registered to return to their home states.

Chairing a review meeting, the chief minister asked officials to make sure the lockdown is being followed properly.

Chief Secretary DB Gupta said state authorities are in touch with other states for the transportation of migrants.

He informed that the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and West Bengal have not given their nod to allow migrants, except labourers living in relief camps, to enter their states.

"Therefore, the state government is facing problems in sending all migrants to these states and talks with the state governments are on to resolve the matter," he said.

Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agrawal said so far 57,521 migrants have arrived in the state and 45,287 left Rajasthan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

Ann-Casey Hughes likes to know what shes talking about.

The 25-year-old was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama  a liberal in the south, as she describes herself, who was always asked to defend what I believe.

A Democrat now based in Boulder, Colorado, the young voter says she is paying close attention to the 2020 presidential campaign despite her life having been upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

Hughes was a waitress at a newly opened restaurant in Boulder before much of the country was forced to undergo various forms of stay-at-home orders. She says she worked for about a week at the restaurant before it closed to the public, leaving her without a job.

Fortunately for her, she was able to start working last week in a (temporarily remote) research position at Colorado State University. Hughes, who is passionate about climate activism, among other key issues, says she will probably be working on climate modelling, though her exact research project currently remains unclear.

The young voter says she is paying close attention to the 2020 campaign (Ann-Casey Hughes) (Photo courtesy Ann-Casey Hughes)

Also unclear is the fate of the 2020 election  one of the most crucial presidential elections in American history, arriving in the middle of a global viral outbreak.

It brings me anxiety to think about it, Hughes says about the upcoming vote.

But Hughes doesnt have to worry about choosing a candidate, as she says the choice has effectively already been made for her.

A former volunteer for Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warrens presidential campaign, Hughes says she will be voting for Joe Biden, the former vice president, come November.

I was a huge Warren fan, Im still a huge Warren fan, but Im definitely going to be voting for Joe Biden, she says, adding: I have mixed feelings on that.

Dont get her wrong  Hughes says she doesnt mind Biden as a politician. However, he isnt her top choice for the Democratic nomination. Still, she says: As a Democrat, I think we should rally behind him and take the man down.

That man being Donald Trump  a man Hughes calls a monster compared to the former vice president. But perhaps her biggest issue with Biden is the way he has handled sexual assault allegations from former Senate staffer Tara Reade, saying he needs to do a better job of addressing them head-on.

My issue with him is that he wasnt addressing the sexual assault allegations. I think in this day and age its toxic to not address something like that right upfront, Hughes says. We spoke just after learning that Biden would address the allegations the following morning on MSNBC.

In an interview with the Morning Joe show, the presumptive nominee claimed the allegations were baseless and called for the National Archives to release any documentation about a possible complaint Reade said she filed against Biden.

Hes got to take it head-on, if you dont speak about it and give some validation to her, or hes going to lose votes from the women he needs to win, Hughes said.

Click here to read more of The Independents series, Polarized: Voices From Across America

Hes not some monster who said grab them by the p***y. Hes not that guy, she adds. Donald Trump is a monster with way more allegations, and we know at least the majority of them are true. The president denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.

When it comes to the policies, Hughes says that Biden has easily the most progressive presidential platform out of any Democratic nominee in history, citing progressive measures he adopted into his campaign following announcements from Warren and Bernie Sanders that they would no longer seek the nomination.

Hughes says she appreciates the former vice presidents attempts to woo progressive voters, saying: Hes done what he had to do, at least for me. I know there are some others who dont necessarily agree.

Having been raised in a solid red state, Hughes says its especially important for her to know all the facts behind what motivates her politics. And while she appreciates the former vice presidents virtual updates about the pandemic and policy proposals the campaign has been promoting in recent weeks, she fears hes being drowned out by Trumps briefings and an inability to campaign.

I do have this fear its going to negatively impact him since hes not having those major unity rallies with former candidates, and these Zoom calls just dont have the same effect, she says. Theres nobody there to be hooting and hollering ... it lacks that intense, call-to-action aspect.

On the other hand, she says the pandemic  and Trumps seemingly slow response to the outbreak  may in fact hurt the incumbent president far more than his opponent.

Number 45 has really been screwing it up out there, talking crazy, and I think that might be hurting him enough that it helps Joe Biden, she says. We are in the middle of a crisis and he looks like a damn fool.

I think moderates and even centrist Republicans are becoming frustrated and are willing to potentially go another way, she concludes. They want someone who can potentially provide some presence and comfort.
New Delhi, May 2 : With 17 employees testing positive for the COVID-19 virus at the control room for Centralised Accident & Trauma Services (CATS) ambulance services, in Laxmi Nagar since April 23 when the first such case was reported, the increased working hours and compulsion to report to office has left the other staff worried.

The employees claim that fear of losing their job has forced them to report daily to work, but it is the fear for their lives and the safety of their families is why they are trying hard to convince the authorities to end the reporting to office.

"Our job is to make calls and operate computers which cannot be done with masks and gloves. The management is not paying heed to our concerns, rather our shift hours have been increased to 12 hours per day from earlier 8 hour shifts ," an employee of the control room told IANS.

When asked if the employees have written to the authorities to allow them to work from home, the employee said, "I have a family to feed, what if they take action over me and sack me from my job? How will I feed my family during this lockdown?" He claimed that despite the fear of losing their jobs, many have communicated their concerns to the authorities through unofficial channels.

"We have verbally requested the authorities to work from home, but they suggested that disinfecting the building was sufficient," the employee said.

The control room is situated near Laxmi Nagar metro station and is currently operating in three shifts with about 20 personnel reporting to work on each shift, the employee claimed.

Another employee who interacted with IANS on call claimed that the workforce here fears there may be more employees in the office who are asymptomatic.

"We are not shaking hands and also making sure that social distancing is observed but still you have seen employees being tested positive. Who will guarantee that there are no more infected employees coming to work," another employee said requesting anonymity.

Repeated calls to connect to the Special Secretary Health, Delhi government, Satyendra Singh Dursawat, went unanswered by the time the story was uploaded.

Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) is an autonomous body of the Government of Delhi, providing free ambulance services to victims of accidents and trauma on 24x7 basis since 1991.

CATS Control room functions 24x7, calls of accidents and medical emergencies are received through telephones and wireless network connected to Delhi Police, Delhi fire Services, Delhi Disaster Management Authority, government hospitals and Delhi Secretariat.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Primary schools could re-open on June 1, with students from Years 10 and 12 becoming the first in a wave of secondary pupils flocking to classes.

Boris Johnson is hoping to put teachers on three weeks' notice to re-open primary schools in England to all pupils as soon as next month.

Whitehall sources have claimed the earliest possible return of primary schoolchildren is intended to help parents to return to work.

It will also prevent damage being done to 'early years development' about which Gavin Williamson has warned, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

Ofsted's top chief has today backed a move to get younger children back into schools, saying there is a 'great deal of logic' in such a move.

But bosses of one teaching union say talks of a June reopening are 'premature'.

Primary schools will re-open on June 1, with students from Years 10 and 12 becoming the first in a wave of secondary pupils flocking to classes (pictured, St Mary's Primary in Chippenham)

Officials looking at the proposals are understood to be contemplating limiting the size of classes temporarily, while the question of when to re-open nurseries is an open one.

According to reports, primary schools will open first, with pupils from Years 10 and 12 being the first students to return to secondary schools, provided ministers were satisfied the transmission rate will not cause a 'second peak'.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman says there is a 'great deal of logic' in targeting younger children to return to the classroom

Meanwhile arts students could be the last to return to universities, after students of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science in the autumn.

Thirty-three universities with medical schools, including Oxford and Cambridge, are backing a contingency plan to fast-track undergraduates studying key science subjects back to campus for classes, according to The Sunday Times.

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman today backed the plans, saying there is a 'great deal of logic' in targeting younger children to return to the classroom.

Britons will be allowed to drive to the countryside for walks and picnics in the first stage of relaxing lockdown Ministers are preparing to lift restrictions on outdoor activities such as picnics as the first stage in relaxing the lockdown rules. The Mail on Sunday understands the plans  likely to be introduced later this month if coronavirus infection rates continue to fall  will mean people can exercise several times each day and drive to the countryside and other outdoor spaces for walks and picnics. However, they will only be allowed to do so with members of their household and must stay at least two metres (6ft 6in) away from other groups. The change, which will end the sight of police officers moving on solitary sunbathers in parks, follows new scientific advice to ministers that the risk of transmitting the disease outside is substantially lower than indoors. But people will still be barred from areas such as playgrounds and beaches where crowds congregate and the two-metre rule becomes harder to observe. Advertisement

Speaking on Sky News this morning, she said 'normality' for younger children is important, saying that the younger they are 'the more they need routine'.

From parents' point of view it is logical for younger pupils to be in school she added, as they tend to need more 'care and oversight'.

'Ms Spielman also suggested that there could be a 'mixed economy' for 'some while' with some youngsters in school and others still learning at home.

The move is being considered as data show that younger children are potentially less likely to transmit Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

One source said it was 'crucial for economic reasons' to 'get things moving, but also for educational reasons', adding 'early years development is very important'.

Secondary school pupils 'can do a lot more at home and online', they told The Sunday Telegraph, and are 'not as pressing as primary schoolchildren'.

But it has sparked concern from union chiefs, including Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the, National Education Union - the biggest education union in the UK.

Mr Courtney, whose union has more than 460,000 members, said: 'While we all want to see a return to some sort of normality the National Education Union believes its really premature to talk about a June return date.

'Instead the government should be providing evidence about how this can be safe, how many more fatalities would we expect to see amongst school staff and parents and how these can be prevented or minimised.'

Schools in Wales could reopen at the beginning of June, says First Minister Schools in Wales could be allowed to reopen their doors next month in a phased approach, the first minister has said. Mark Drakeford said the earliest point schools could resume would be the beginning of June, with a minimum of three weeks needed to prepare from the time it was decided it is safe for pupils and teachers. Some groups could return earlier than others, he said, using examples of year-six children who are due to move up to secondary school, and Welsh medium pupils who may not have had opportunities to use the language at home during lockdown. Mr Drakeford also said work was under way to make sure social distancing guidance was followed and to persuade parents, teachers and pupils that the school environment was safe, saying "you certainly can't have schools reopen as they did before". Advertisement

He urged the government not to 'rush its decision' and warned that if the government proceeds with its current path it will 'fail to get the confidence of heads, staff and parents'.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department for Education said: 'Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has not set a date for schools reopening.

'Schools will remain closed, except for children of critical workers and vulnerable children, until the scientific advice indicates it is the right time to reopen and the five tests set out by Government to beat this virus have been met.'

Meanwhile, First Minister Mark Drakeford has said schools in Wales could reopen at the beginning of next month.

Speaking today on BBC's Andew Marr Show, he said: 'Our advice from the trade unions and from the local education authorities is that you will need three weeks as a minimum from the point that we decide to do that, to when schools can reopen, so we are talking about the beginning of June.'

Mr Drakeford said some groups could return earlier than others.

He used the examples of year-six children who are due to move up to secondary school, and Welsh medium pupils who may not have had opportunities to use the language at home during lockdown.

Boris Johnson (pictured chairing his first digital Cabinet since being admitted to hospital and the birth of his son) is hoping to put teachers on notice to re-open primary schools in England

The talks comes amid another raft of coronavirus developments yesterday:

The UK death toll rose by 621 to 28,131, but the Government said it had again reached its target of 100,000 daily tests;

Headteachers are being asked about how to phase in a return to school, starting with about 20 per cent of pupils attending from June;

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Sun on Sunday 'you don't want coronavirus' as he spoke openly about his personal battle with Covid-19

Donations to the Mail Force campaign to deliver safety equipment to NHS and care home staff passed 5 million;

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced a 76 million package to help charities tackle domestic abuse, help vulnerable children and fight modern slavery;

Care homes warned of a deepening crisis and said the true death toll inside them may never be known;

The Government accused the BBC of bias in some of its Covid-19 coverage;

A new intelligence dossier circulated among Western governments accused Beijing of lying about the origins of the virus and persecuting whistleblowers;

Universities have been targeted by Russian and Iranian hackers hunting secrets about coronavirus treatment research;

A survey by the Mail on Sunday found lockdown had made couples less likely to split up;

The discussions also come after Mr Williams told the education select committee this week that schools would not reopen opening during the summer holidays as a way of helping pupils who have missed out on education to catch up.

Boris Johnson promises new 'road map' to get the country out of coronavirus lockdown Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised a new road map to get Britain out of coronavirus lockdown. Addressing the public from behind the podium for the first time in five weeks, after his own personal battle with Covid-19, Mr Johnson said he did not want to 'protract' the lockdown any further and the government is working on 'ingenious' solutions to get the economy running. Mr Johnson said: 'What you are going to get next week is really a road map, a menu of options - the dates and times of each individual measure will be very much driven by where we are in the epidemic.' The Government is also expected to issue formal guidance next week advising that face masks should be worn to work. Government officials had previously suggested a 'traffic light' system, which would give schools, clothes shops and garden centres the 'green light' to open soon, followed by a second 'amber' stage later in the summer, which would see more of the economy revived. On red are pubs, bars and sporting events, while the over-70s could face restrictions for many months more, the government has suggested. Advertisement

The education secretary also suggested a phased return to schools, saying it was 'not realistic or practical' for all school children to return in one day.

He said scientists were looking at other countries for best practice and that a special team of the Scientific Group for Emergencies (SAGE) had been set up to focus solely on schools reopening.

Last month, Mr Williams praised parents for dealing with home-schooling children during the lockdown.

Speaking in a press conference, he said: 'I recognise all the challenges that families will be facing at the moment.

'We are determined to support parents who are helping their children learn from home.

'I think we all know how difficult that can be.'

The praise came after a study found only two in five parents felt confident about teaching their children at home.

As reported in the Metro, a poll by education charity, Sutton Trust, showed 47 per cent of middle-class parents say they feel confident homeschooling, and just 37 per cent of working-class parents say they feel the same way.

Last month it was announced that frazzled parents struggling to home-school their children during the coronarvirus pandemic are to be offered support through a new national helpline.

Named 'StarLine', the service will offer advice to families on how to educate their children at homes while schools are closed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

The service, launched by a coalition of academy trusts and parenting groups, including Star Academies and Mumsnet, will also provide advice to parents on how to deal with difficult behaviour.

Named 'StarLine', the service will offer advice to families on how to educate their children at homes while schools are closed due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Pictured: a child being educated at home (stock image)

Mr Williamson praised the project, which will be entirely self-funded as an 'inspiring example of teachers and education experts working together to share their knowledge, resources and expertise'.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, who in the Sun today described his battle with coronavirus as a 'tough old moment', is expected to review the lockdown on Thursday.

'Discriminatory' lockdown should be eased for the healthy elderly, say senior doctors Senior doctors have warned Boris Johnson the lockdown should be eased for over-70s that are considered healthy, due to the damage keeping them inside is doing to their mental health. Both the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association (BMA) weighed in to say that age alone should not be the determining factor when the government establishes who can return to their daily lives as the lockdown is eased, potentially in the coming weeks and months. Around 1.8 million people classed as 'clinically vulnerable' were told to stay indoors for 12 weeks when the lockdown began as they were considered to be the most at-risk people in the UK from Covid-19. Some ministers have even suggested that such groups could have to stay at home until a vaccine has been developed, which could well take a year or more. Advertisement

The Prime Minister, who also warned Britons 'you don't wait it (coronavirus)' during the interview, is also likely to unveil the Government's so-called 'exit strategy' next weekend.

It is understood the plans will include easing curtailments on outdoor activities such as picnics, though the public will have to follow social distancing rules.

The move towards normality will be accompanied by harsher enforcement of the remaining rules, with fines for repeat offenders rising to 3,000.

However, the review is not expected to lead to more substantial changes until June, when public transport is likely to return to normal levels.

Non-food retailers, factories, warehouses and more construction sites will be encouraged to open, while offices expected to instruct most of their staff to continue working from home where it is possible.

Pubs and restaurants are likely to remain closed for weeks or even months longer.

Asked about relaxing restrictions on outdoor activities in Britain, a senior Government source said: 'Thanks to the huge efforts of the British public we are past the peak of the virus without the NHS having been overwhelmed.

'Now we can start to look at which elements of the social distancing rules can be adjusted while keeping the rate of transmission down, so we are looking at how to lift everyone's spirits by allowing the public to get into the great outdoors.'

While relaxing some measures, ministers plan to 'come down hard' on 'hotspots' where infection rates rise.

Fines for breaching coronavirus rules are expected to be increased to 100 and keep on double for any repeat offence up to a maximum 3,200 for serial offenders, who could also face arrest.
DC and Marvel will be throwing a lot of Multiverse your way on the page and screen

The Multiverse is all the rage at Marvel and DC ... and Marvel Studios and Warner Bros.
In its message for Ramadan, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue notes that the declaration on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together views Every attempt to attack places of worship or threaten them by violent assaults, bombings or destruction, as a deviation from the teachings of religions as well as a clear violation of international law.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued a message for Muslims on the occasion of Ramadan, which began on 23 April and will end with the feast of 'Id al-Fitr.

In it, the Council expresses hope that mutual respect and cooperation" between Christians and Muslims can strengthen bonds of sincere friendship, and thus enable our communities to safeguard the places of worship to assure for coming generations the fundamental freedom to profess one's own beliefs.

Titled Christians and Muslims: Protecting together the places of worship, the message is signed by Card Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Mgr Indunil Kodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage, the Councils secretary.

As we all know, the places of worship occupy an important place in Christianity and Islam, and in other religions as well. For both Christians and Muslims, churches and mosques are spaces reserved for prayer, personal and communitarian alike. They are constructed and furnished in a way that favours silence, reflection and meditation. They are spaces where one can go deep in himself/herself, so favouring for God-experience in silence. A place of worship of any religion therefore is a house of prayer (Isaiah, 56: 7).

Places of worship are also spaces for spiritual hospitality, where believers of other religions also join for some special ceremonies like weddings, funerals, feasts of the community etc.

In the context of recent attacks on churches, mosques and synagogues by wicked persons who seem to perceive the places of worship as a privileged target for their blind and senseless violence, it is worth noting what the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, in Abu Dhabi, on 4 February 2019, said: The protection of places of worship  synagogues, churches and mosques  is a duty guaranteed by religions, human values, laws and international agreements. Every attempt to attack places of worship or threaten them by violent assaults, bombings or destruction, is a deviation from the teachings of religions as well as a clear violation of international law.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda



Sonowal on Saturday held an interactive session with editors and senior journalists of 47 media houses in the state to seek their views and suggestions on the prevailing situation in the state during the lockdown.

He welcomed suggestions like non-conversion of schools into relief camps for flood-hit people during the forthcoming monsoon as students have already missed classes due to the lockdown.

He also appreciated suggestions like the closure of rural roads in bordering districts often taken by people of other states to sneak into Assam and testing of police personnel engaged in frontline work.

Sonowal thanked the participants for their suggestions which he said would help the state government chart its future course of action.

Terming the media as conscience keepers and opinion moulders of the society, Sonowal said the media's conscientious decisions will determine the direction the society will take.

He appreciated the role played by the media during the lockdown by disseminating correct information and generating awareness, besides acting as a bridge between the government and the people.

Sonowal, however, called on the media outlets to exercise utmost restraint while reporting about the administrative machinery engaged in the fight against COVID-19 as incorrect could de-motivate frontline workers.

Noting that he had travelled to the districts to motive the officials, Sonowal said that constantly reviewing the preparedness helped in ironing out several issues faced by different district administrations.

Due to high work ethics and a planned approach, Assam performed considerably well in containing COVID-19. The roles played by health, food and civil supplies, police, public health engineering, power and transport departments during the crisis must be appreciated, he said.

Sonowal said a guarded approach has been taken to allow certain economic activities to bring the state's economy back on track after COVID-19 is contained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE ESSENTIALS: SINGIN IN THE RAIN (1952) 8 p.m. on TCM. The new season of this long-running show pairs the host Ben Mankiewicz with Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter of the animated films The Incredibles and Ratatouille, as the guest. Together they have chosen a list of must-see classic movies, which will air every Saturday at 8 p.m. through the end of January 2021. The lineup begins with Gene Kelly and Stanley Donens musical, Singin in the Rain. Among the other titles are Casablanca, A Hard Days Night and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

NICKELODEONS KIDS CHOICE AWARDS 2020: CELEBRATE TOGETHER 8 p.m. on Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon postponed its annual awards show, set to take place in March in Los Angeles, because of the coronavirus. With in-person events still on hold, the network decided the show must go on. This virtual ceremony, hosted by the actress Victoria Justice, features appearances by Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande, Kristen Bell and more. Slime is promised, as is a musical performance by the former child actor Asher Angel. Nickelodeon will also announce a $1 million donation to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign supporting food-insecure children across the country.
Working hours during this week will be from 8 am till 4 pm for the licensing of all types of vehicles

All traffic departments nationwide in Egypt will be opened for one week, from 3 to 7 May, to allow the issuing of vehicle licences, the interior ministry said in a statement.

"Working hours during this week will be from 8 am till 4 pm for the licensing of all types of vehicles," the ministry said.

Unlike this week, the ministry's traffic departments were re-opened last week for the first time since mid-March, but only for licensing brand-new cars.

In the statement, the ministry called on all citizens who visit traffic units to abide by all preventative measures.

"Wearing facemasks is a prerequisite for those entering traffic departments to get licenses," the statement said.

Last week, the government said it will gradually ease restrictions to take steps to return to normal life after the Eid Al-Fitr religious holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has urged citizens to continue abiding by restrictive measures and social distancing for as long as the pandemic continues, even if restrictions are lifted.

According to a law passed by parliament last week, health authorities now have the power to make it obligatory for citizens to wear facemasks and follow other preventative measures while outside their homes.

Violators can be fined between EGP 300 and EGP 5,000 under the legislation.

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In Georgia, law enforcement officials opened a criminal case after an incident in the village of Musevani in the Bolnisi region (Kvemo-Kartli) during the hospitalization of patients with confirmed coronavirus infection. The press service of the Georgian Interior Ministry said that on Friday evening, Georgian doctors arrived in Musevani to take ten people with coronavirus to the hospital. Local residents began to protest against the arrival of doctors, saying that they had no infection in the village and all people were healthy. Doctors had to call the police. Upon arrival of law enforcement officers, the situation in the village escalated even more.
Trump Says Intelligence Points to COVID-19's Origins in Chinese Lab

By Steve Herman, Jeff Seldin May 01, 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has a "high degree of confidence" the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory, going beyond a rare, public assessment issued hours earlier by his top intelligence agency.

Asked late Thursday if he has seen evidence from U.S. intelligence officials that COVID-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the president replied, "Yes, yes I have," though he declined to share any details.

"I'm not allowed to tell you that," he added.

While most scientists agree the coronavirus pandemic originated in Wuhan, China, there has been endless speculation about how the virus jumped from animals to humans, with many conspiracy theorists clinging to the theory that COVID-19 was engineered on purpose.

U.S. intelligence officials earlier Thursday, however, said they have ruled out that scenario.

The U.S. intelligence community "concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said.

Nonetheless, the statement left open the possibility the outbreak could still have ties to Chinese researchers.

"The IC [intelligence community] will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan," it said.

The Chinese government-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology has denied allegations it was the source of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and many experts have said the virus most likely made the jump from animals to people in a nearby wildlife market.

Trump, though, has repeatedly cast doubt on China's denials, accusing both Beijing and the World Health Organization of misleading the rest of the world on how and when the pandemic started.

"There's a lot of theories," Trump said Thursday, adding Chinese officials need to stop withholding key details.

"So far, I think China is trying to be somewhat transparent with us," he added.

Other top U.S. officials, like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also have questioned China's willingness to come forward with key information.

But during an interview with a local radio station in Iowa, Pompeo declined to go as far as the president in his assessment of the virus's origins.

"We don't know if it came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. We don't know if it emanated from the wet market or yet some other place," he said. "We don't know those answers."

Yet whether any conclusive evidence has emerged, Thursday's statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence would appear to indicate U.S. intelligence officials have at least come to a better understanding.

Two weeks ago, a U.S. intelligence official told VOA that while agencies were "actively and vigorously tracking down every piece of information," the community had "not collectively agreed on any one theory."

Some former U.S. intelligence officials, though, are viewing Thursday's statement with a degree of suspicion, pointing to what they see as the president's ongoing efforts to politicize the U.S. intelligence apparatus.

"It certainly is unusual, and reflects the politically charged nature of the topic as the Trump administration tries hard to deflect attention from its own performance during the pandemic," said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA officer who has been critical of the administration.

"The statement appears to be a compromise that makes the IC [intelligence community] appear to be working objectively without pouring cold water on the White House's favorite rhetorical line about Chinese malfeasance," said Pillar, now with Georgetown University.

Others, however, see the statement as a smart move, given the onslaught of disinformation that has surrounded the pandemic.

"[It's] doubtful that this was spin or U.S. disinformation," said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff and former senior director of the White House Situation Room, who like Pillar has been critical of the White House's handling of intelligence matters. "I give the ODNI credit for stepping up to the plate to add some clarity to the situation."

The statement may also portend a greater public role for U.S. intelligence agencies going forward.

"These are trying times," said Daniel Hoffman, a retired senior CIA officer. "There's a lot of disinformation, misinformation and ignorance."

That informational fog, according to Hoffman, has only compounded by China's refusal to quickly and transparently come forward with all of the information it has on the origins of the virus.

"We're relying on out intelligence community to fill in the gaps in what we know," he said.

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Not just bigwigs like Zydus and Serum but even mid-rung indigenous players across the country have joined the race for a coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine. The move comes at a time when Chinese research firms are entering phase II of clinical trials in a global race to find a vaccine for Covid-19.

India, too, is gearing up to develop its indigenous variant soon. With vaccines of some firms already in animal trial phase, developers say that if all goes well, India could have a vaccine by next year. So far, Indian companies that are in the race to make a vaccine include big ...
By Trend

Kazakhstans Aviation Administration (AAK) will take a year to make changes to BusinessOptixs Digital Regulator system and adapt it to needs of Kazakh aviation industry, a representative of AAK told Trend.

In Apr. of this year AAK and BusinessOptix, a US & UK based software company, signed a partnership agreement to deliver a framework for digital aviation regulation to Kazakhstan.

BusinessOptix is to support the creation of its Digital Regulator to drive strategies around Enterprise Risk and Compliance and enable AAK to design and deliver its optimal future operational state.

The AAK official said that the trial period has already started as of Mar. 12, 2020 and will take one year with subsequent extension of the license code. AAK is currently planning to purchase a license for the source code of the software.

The BusinessOptix platform enables organizations to design and deliver their 'digital twin' for a variety of business needs, which, in this case, includes the rollout of a full Enterprise Risk and Performance database that has been specifically designed to support the growing needs of the AAK.

"The digitization project already started through the electronic government (Egov), which issues some of the certification. This has to be improved to cover all aspects of approvals and licenses. It is expected that the digital twin (a digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity) will build the necessary integration into Egov to make it an effective tool for managing the many licenses and approvals overseen by AAK," the official said.

The official said that steps of the cooperation process include full control over the current application development by AAK's internal resources, integration with other strategic projects of AAK. Control of all aspects of data security to meet the requirements of the legislation of Kazakhstan.

"What we are looking to improve is speed of decision making based on historical files and digital information, ultimately we will also look to see if we can get companies online with us as well so that we can improve interchange of data and printing of official documents. This improvement of service will result in a more cost effective and timely system," the official said.

He went on to add that BusinessOptix allows AAK to generate and publish electronic documents, process flows and work instructions quickly.

"These publications can also be in several languages, as required. The second part of it is in the case that we need to change the system, we are first able to manage the scenario and test it in different ways prior to its implementation," the official said.

Following successful completion of the BusinessOptix concept verification, AAK will purchase a license for the software source code.

"Purchasing the source code also includes training staff to use the software. The BusinessOptix and technical support team will be available to assist AAK with managing software solutions for an additional fee," the official said.

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A new mother who went through the heartbreak of losing five babies in her desperate journey to become a mum finally has reason to smile - after she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Danielle Wilson, 24, from Peterborough, was left battling depression after she suffered five devastating miscarriages as she desperately tried to fulfil her dream of becoming a mum.

When the mortgage underwriter fell pregnant for a sixth time, she and her partner Edward Painter, 32, prepared themselves for more heartbreak.

But she was overjoyed when she gave birth to daughter Georgia on March 16, saying: 'If I hadn't gone through all that, I wouldn't have had her today so it was all worth it.'

Danielle Wilson, 24, from Peterborough, has revealed her joy after welcoming a baby girl after suffering five miscarriages (pictured, at her baby shower with her partner Edward Painter, 32,)

The new mother battled depression after suffering five miscarriages (pictured, a baby grow for 'rainbow baby' Georgia

Danielle had her first miscarriage in March 2016, at almost six weeks and says the doctors weren't alarmed as it was only her first one.

Sadly, a few months later, in October 2016, she experienced the second one and although she was devastated she still didn't have any medical explanation.

Danielle fell pregnant again but in July 2018 she had another miscarriage- it was then when she started getting worried and decided to look more into it.

Danielle said: 'The first time I was only about six weeks when I started bleeding- the doctors weren't worried because it was my first miscarriage.

Georgia revealed how she was left overjoyed after giving birth to baby Georgia in March of this year

Danielle said her daughter is now 'doing great' and described the little girl as 'very sassy and clingy'

'I had only known for about a week when I had the pregnancy test so it was quite a wild ride from being happy to 'this has happened' - It was very hard for me.'

Danielle explained: 'The second time it was the same scenario again, I got all happy when I had the pregnancy test, I didn't really learn from my past mistake and I told all my family because I didn't think it was going to happen again.'

But she was left devastated and disappointed by the reaction of medical professionals.

She said: 'Doctors don't run any tests until you have three miscarriages- I was just told "It's common, one of those things".

Danielle and Ed dreamed of becoming parents together, but were left devastated by five miscarriages

The couple were left feeling lost after Danielle suffered five miscarriages in a matter of a few years, and were desperate for answers

'At that point I started to notice a pattern and I was apprehensive - apparently it's quite common to happen the first time but surely not common to happen again and again.

'The next time I took the pregnancy test at four weeks and at six I miscarried again so I knew there was a problem with me.

'My miscarriages made me feel like a complete failure as a woman, like I could not do what I should be able to do.

'Especially as Ed has two lovely little girls from a previous relationship, although he knew what I had been through as we had been friends for years, it still devastated me that I may not be able to give him what another woman could.'

Danielle ended up taking over 20 pregnancy tests after falling pregnant for a sixth time, and said she was terrified of miscarrying again

Danielle was amazed when she fell pregnant again, but said she started to feel more calm when they found out they were having a girl

Danielle revealed how she relaxed as she passed the six week mark and her pregnancy continued

Danielle asked her GP to refer her to the miscarriage clinic at her local hospital but she says it was 'disappointing' and got told she is young and 'it's just one of those things'.

She said: 'The doctor asked me some questions and followed up with "You're young and healthy, there's no reason to believe there is anything wrong, it's probably just one of those things-you may not have even been pregnant, they could have been false positives"- I just sat there, mortified.

'The miscarriage clinic was in the maternity ward so I was surrounded by pregnant women as well, which was awful.

'I felt so lost, I thought we were going to get the answers we so desperately wanted.

Danielle revealed how it 'finally hit her' that she was pregnant as she reached the 35 weeks mark (pictured, nearing the end of her pregnancy as her bump grew)

'In a way I was hoping something was wrong with me so they could fix it, it was frustrating seeing all the results coming back fine. '

After a long research she ended up booking her first appointment, at Tommy's National Centre for Miscarriage Research at Birmingham Women's Hospital a charity that helps people who have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth - meanwhile she has had yet another miscarriage in October 2018.

Danielle and Ed had their first appointment in December 2018 and after several tests, scans and participation in trial research, they were prescribed progesterone and Danielle got pregnant- unfortunately it resulted in the fifth miscarriage in February 2019.

A few months later after more scans, progesterone from a positive ovulation test was what actually worked.

WHAT IS PROGESTERONE? Progesterone is a hormone that is secreted by the corpus luteum, a temporary endocrine gland that the female body produces after ovulation. It prepares the body for the possibility of pregnancy after ovulation. It causes a thickening of the uterus lining to allow for an egg to embed into the wall. After a woman's cycle is completed and they are not pregnant the gland breaks down and the menstrual cycle begins. If a woman does become pregnant the chemical continues to be produced to maintain the layer and provide oxygen to the developing fetus. Said to be 'oestrogen's cousin' or the 'relaxing hormone', is thought to help to maintain pregnancy. It is not typically prescribed on the NHS in the UK unless a woman has three or more miscarriages in a row. If progesterone levels are too low with regard to estrogen levels, a woman will experience sleep disturbances, irritability, anxiety, weight gain, breast swelling, breast tenderness, and itching, bloating, sweating, loss of memory, and loss of libido. Despite its widespread use in pregnancy the hormone has also been shown to promote nerve, blood vessel, and bone tissue repair. This has therefore brought around applications in tissue regeneration. Advertisement

The couple was hesitant to believe they were going to become parents after a positive pregnancy test in July 2019.

Danielle added: 'Dr Craciunas was amazing, he was determined to find out what was going on with me and he did.

'The first weekend in July, Ed and I had a wonderful mini break in London of which Ed proposed and for a while everything else that had been going on didn't matter, we were in our own little bubble.

'That bubble was popped when I got a positive pregnancy test a few days later We were just waiting for bad news again.'

She said: 'We were past being excited when we saw those two lines, all we now felt was heartache of what could happen again'

Danielle said she felt an 'overhwelming feeling of love' as soon as her daughter was placed on her chest (pictured, with Ed)

'When we went for a scan and we heard a heartbeat, we knew she was there.'

She explained: 'I started feeling more calm after the 20 week scan when we found out she is a girl. When I got to 35 weeks I think it hit me, it was finally happening.'

But amazingly, little Georgia entered the world on March 16, weighing 7lb 10oz.

Danielle said: 'The overwhelming feeling of love when she was placed on my chest is something I simply cannot describe, it's a feeling like no other.

Danielle said she had never expected to experience welcoming a baby after suffering five miscarriages (pictured, Georgia in hospital)

Danielle continued: 'It's something I never knew if I would get to experience. It was quite nerve-wrecking because when I got to six weeks I was expecting something to go wrong.

'And even my family couldn't get excited anymore because of all the miscarriages before.

'It's a horrible feeling when you take a pregnancy test and as much as you want a baby, are dreading what's coming because you end up thinking it might happen again - the paranoia never leaves you.

'We are just so happy that we finally have our little family.'

Danielle said she was so proud of herself after giving birth following her five tragic miscarriages

She revealed how her daughter already 'loves cuddles' and is a 'sassy, clingy' baby (pictured, Ed with his daughter in hospital)

Three days later, Danielle and Ed welcomed their new baby home to join their family.

Danielle said: 'I can't describe the feeling when I saw her for the first time, I had this overwhelming feeling of love.

'I was so proud of myself especially after everything we've been through.'

'Taking her home was amazing, putting her in the car seat just didn't seem real, I was so happy.

Danielle revealed how her daughter 'loves food' and is 'doing great', with the new mother saying she's happier than ever

'She is doing great now, she is very sassy and clingy but I don't mind because that means I get more cuddles.

'She is over 9 lbs now, she loves her food.'

She added: 'My advice to other couples struggling would be to make sure you speak about it and don't give up hope- there is always someone who will help you, I was lucky to find that someone.'
Protesters said costs for non-profits would rise and freedom of expression be at risk if a for-profit company were in charge of dot-org.

Dot-org is one of the original domains created in the mid-1980s.

New York: After widespread opposition, the organisation overseeing internet domain names has voted against the USD 1.1 billion sale of the dot-org online registry to an investment firm.

The board of the Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers voted late Thursday not to allow the sale to Ethos Capital of the website suffix that is widely used by non-profits and community groups.

Activists, politicians and hundreds of organisations had protested that costs for non-profits would rise and freedom of expression would be at risk if a for-profit company were in charge of dot-org, one of the original domains created in the mid-1980s.

Vetoing the sale is reasonable, and the right thing to do, said ICANN's chair, Maarten Botterman, in a blog post.

Botterman noted the fundamental public interest nature of the organisation that currently oversees dot-org. That would have been transferred to one bound to serve the interests of its corporate stakeholders had the sale gone through, he said.

He also expressed concern over what the debt involved in the transaction would mean for those dot-org users, which include public radio broadcaster NPR, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and medical humanitarian group Doctors without Borders.

Ethos Capital and the Internet Society, the non-profit founded by many of the internet's early engineers and scientists that currently runs the registry, had said concerns were misplaced. Ethos had offered concessions including capping price hikes.

The investment firm said in a statement that the decision will suffocate innovation and deter future investment in the domain industry and that it is evaluating its options. The Internet Society said it is disappointed that ICANN has acted as a regulatory body it was never meant to be.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had campaigned against the sale, said ICANN's decision was a stunning victory for nonprofits and NGOs around the world working in the public interest.
Help India!

Amid the ongoing lockdown in Inda, non-institutional deliveries have been frequently reported. Dr. Ahmed sheds light on the need to prevent these by strengthening institutional measures and ensuring accessibility.

By Dr. Ahmed Raza

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With the imposition of nationwide lockdown in India, there have been a number of incidences of hardships associated with the individual life and their survival, particularly for migrant workers, daily wagers and poor. Though, incidences of such hardship continually hit the national media with breaking headlines which stir the governments for introspection, improvement and quick actions.

Meanwhile, the agony of pregnant women and childbirth have been another hardship of nationwide lockdown which have been overlooked even after passing of more than one month as a number of incidences of delivering babies on road-side, outside the hospital or en-route are still continuing to rise.

Though, police and other emergencies care remain intact extending their full support by providing vehicles and ambulances to the pregnant women during their labour pain. But, no appropriate measure could be explored from such type of incidences except finding a space in news coverage.

Hence, more than one month of nationwide lockdown has been an eyewitness of such incidences where women have delivered babies at the roadside, police vehicles or en-route to hospitals. The incidences of giving births outside hospitals kept on rising as 24-hour emergency phone helpline for medical emergencies, provided by the government, has seen a massive spike in the number of daily calls ever since the lockdown began on 24 March. Unfortunately, institutional measures for preventing such incidents or sufferings of pregnant women during the ongoing lockdown could not be prioritized by any government.

Therefore, this article focuses on major risks on non-institutional deliveries during the ongoing lockdown and how individuals, police and NGOs interventions evolved as a lending a hand to the pregnant women during their emergencies hours?

Non-institutional deliveries during lockdown and major risks

Hypothermia, hypoglycemia and infections etc would be the major risks for the newly born babies if delivering babies without health care facilities continue to rise due to lockdown, barricades, non-availabilities of public transport etc. The expected mothers always need immediate accessibility to the hospital during labour pain which must be on top priority for the government during this ongoing lockdown.

A number of incidences of delay in accessing hospitals, leading to delivering babies at the street, home or en-route are occurring throughout India. As per media reports published in several parts of India since the beginning of nationwide lockdown, 25-30 women all over India have delivered their babies at street or en-route to the hospital including in Delhi.

Frequent occurrences of such kind of sufferings of pregnant women put the entire society disappointed and disheartened. Therefore, ensuring institutional deliveries must be a prior responsibility of every government amid lockdown as there are already huge anxieties among the expected mothers due to the spread of COVID-19.

The expecting mothers and their family members are already going through unprecedented trauma on account of the spread of COVID-19, and delay inaccessibility to health care facilities during childbirth may jeopardize other psychological traumas and anxieties of labour pain.

The childbirths in an unhygienic environment would be more vulnerable with three health concerns; infections, lack of aseptic precautions while cutting umbilical cord and interventions cannot be taken if the baby does not cry at birth. On the one hand, the imposition of nationwide lockdown happened to be a matter of compulsion for the government to fight against COVID-19, on the other hand, safe and institutional deliveries have been marred by the travel restrictions resulting in the numbers of unfortunate incidences where pregnant mothers are compelled to walk, reached the hospital by motorcycle, delivered babies at street or police vehicles due to delay in ambulance facilities, non-availability of specializing in health care etc.

At the same time, the police and other health staffs deserve to be applauded as they always acted as an angel for pregnant mothers by taking them to hospitals immediately so as to ensure childbirth safe and secured.

Individual intervention did not turn up any institutional measure for pregnant women

Initiatives taken by many more politicians towards facilitating the pregnant women during their emergency situation amid nationwide lockdown have set a precedent of humanity and respect to the motherhood, but such kind of help could not be evolved as any policy measures for preventing such incidences.

Likewise, the sincerity of the police also surfaced in the news as a number of pregnant women could deliver babies following the timely travelling accessibility from the patrolling police. Despite these direct interventions of the politicians and other agencies towards the emergency hours of pregnant women during the ongoing lockdown, a uniform measure is still awaited from the government side, which may tempt question on silent-mode of government.

Though, passing an order by Delhi high court while disposing of a petition by charitable trust claiming denial of delivery/childbirth services to pregnant women, asking the centre and the Delhi government to ensure that pregnant women in Covid-19 hotspots face no barriers during the lockdown, amounts to be the first institutional measure for childbirth amid lockdown. And, there are also strict guidelines of the court for government to widen any mechanism to deal with emergencies and it must be circulated widely through media, social media and other modes so as to avail the facilities from all levels of the society.

CSOs lend a hand to pregnant women

The civil society organizations (CSO), NGOs and other non-profit organizations have also come forward as helping hand for pregnant women by introducing online helpline numbers, virtual consultation and mobile apps etc which remain engaged to deal with any emergencies during the ongoing lockdown.

Though, such initiatives themselves lack empirical validity at all India level as their coverage is restricted only to metropolitan cities namely Mumbai, Delhi etc. One of the non-profit organizations, namely ARMMAN which operates from Mumbai with 50 specialist doctors remain engaged to take around 250 calls of expected mothers from all over India during the ongoing lockdown, has proved itself an example of respecting humanity and the motherhood.

Now, it is very high time for all including governments to work together and collaborate with NGOs and CSOs to fight against Covid-19 provided that pregnant women face no hardship during their emergency hour.

To conclude it may be urged that India, which registers 51 births each minute, has already been experiencing a lot of hardship in institutional deliveries and travel restrictions due to nationwide lockdown may increase the non-institutional deliveries. Therefore, institutional measures and support for emergency hours during childbirths need to be brought immediately with the provisions of easy accessibility to downtrodden society as the majority of people belonging to rural population are unaware and ignorant of accessing online support or other emergency facilities available to them during the lockdown.

Concrete planning with wide publicities all over India to deal with emergencies related to labour pain and childbirth must be on the priority of all governments before announcing a nationwide lockdown as the uncertainty of transport and admissions in hospitals has put immense stress on expected mothers.

(Dr. Ahmed Raza is Assistant Professor, Author and Political commentator at Department of Public Administration MANUU, Hyderabad)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that his administration is banning assault-style weapons, effective immediately, according to multiple reports.

The prohibition covers some 1,500 models and variants of the assault-style guns, according to NBC, and comes less than two weeks after the countrys deadliest shooting, when a gunman killed at least 22 people in Nova Scotia. The attacks took place between April 18 and 19.

"Canadians deserve more than thoughts and prayers, Trudeau said during a press conference, according to NBC.

That order affects the sale, transport, import or use military-grade assault weapons in this country, Trudeau added, according to CNN.

Canadian legislators had been working on gun control legislations for months after Trudeau made promises during his re-election campaign late last year to get gun violence under control in larger cities, CNN reports.
SEOUL  After weeks of intense speculation about the health of Kim Jong Un, state news agency KCNA said on Saturday the North Korean leader attended the completion of a fertilizer plant north of Pyongyang, the first report of his appearance since April 11.

Reuters could not independently verify the KCNA report.

KCNA said Kim cut a ribbon at the ceremony on Friday and those attending the event burst into thunderous cheers of hurrah! for the Supreme Leader who is commanding the all-people general march for accomplishing the great cause of prosperity.

Kim was seen in photographs smiling and talking to aides at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and also touring the plant.

The authenticity of the photos, published on the website of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, could not be verified.

Asked about the KCNA report, U.S. President Donald Trump said: Id rather not comment on it yet.

Well have something to say about it at the appropriate time, he told reporters at the White House.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the completion of a fertilizer plant, together with his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, in a region north of the capital, Pyongyang, in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 2, 2020. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

Speculation about Kims health has been rife after he missed the birth anniversary celebrations of state founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

The day is a major holiday in North Korea and Kim as leader usually pays a visit to the mausoleum where his grandfather lies in state.

He last made a public appearance on April 11 attending a meeting of the ruling Workers Party politburo.

Following his absence from the anniversary, a South Korean news outlet specializing on the North reported that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure.

A flurry of other unconfirmed reports about his condition and his whereabouts followed.

Officials in South Korea and the United States expressed skepticism about the reports, however.

The former top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, said the pieces of the puzzle of Kims disappearance would take time to assemble.

His reappearance showed that authoritative information about the well-being and whereabouts of a North Korean leader was very closely guarded, and rumors about him needed to be regarded with considerable skepticism, Russel said.

The rumors had, however, served to focus attention on North Koreas succession plan, he added.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks as he takes part in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 11, 2020. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

Earlier, a source familiar with U.S. intelligence analyses and reporting said that U.S. agencies believed that Kim Jong Un was not ill and remained very much in power.

We think hes still in charge, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The source could not immediately confirm the KCNA report.

The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

South Korean Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul, who oversees engagement with Pyongyang, said it was plausible Kim was absent as a precaution over the coronavirus pandemic, in view of the stringent steps taken to head off an outbreak in the country.

In his appearance at the fertilizer factory, Kim expressed satisfaction about the production system and said the plant made a significant contribution to the progress of the countrys chemical industry and food production, KCNA said.

Kim was accompanied by several senior North Korean officials, including his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, KCNA said.
Cardiff University has apologised after some students returned to their halls of residence to find their possessions had been thrown away.

Students at Cardiff's Talybont South halls said they were shocked to find many of their kitchen items had been put in the bin.

They claimed the university assured them their possessions would be 'stored safely' if they chose to live elsewhere during the coronavirus pandemic.

Students said they received an email from the university stating that staff would be cleaning communal areas. This included removing rubbish, food, dirty kitchen items and packing away items that it said could be stored safely.

However, on returning to collect items from Talybont South, students said they found some of their possessions had instead been put in the bin.

When some Cardiff University students returned to their Talybont South halls of residence they found some of their possessions had been thrown into bins during their absence (pictured)

Meg Bridges, a first year journalism student from Tenby, returned to her room to collect some essential items and found her belongings had been put into bin bags.

She said she was 'shocked' and 'disappointed' as she had informed the university she would be returning for her items.

'We were asked to fill in a survey asking whether we had left things and whether we would be returning. They said that if they needed to use our rooms for NHS staff or anything like that they would let us know first,' said Meg.

'When I got to my room all of my stuff was in loads of bin bags on my bed. Posters, pictures and cards had been ripped off the walls and my clothes had been put in bags too.

'A plant had also been tipped in there and so there was soil on everything. We were told that if our rooms needed to be used that we would be informed and our stuff would be stored away safely.

'I'm just really shocked and disappointed that they would treat people's belongings like that.'

Meg said they had been made aware that dirty items would be thrown away but claimed all of their possessions left in the kitchens had gone.

'It's such a waste. It was clear it wasn't just dirty things being thrown. The bins were filled with kitchen stuff which looked brand new.'

Students said they received an email from the university stating that staff would be cleaning communal areas. This included removing rubbish, food, dirty kitchen items and packing away items that it said could be stored safely

But when students returned, they found that a number of their kitchen items had been thrown in bins, rather than stored safely

First year medical student Upha Barcley, from Devon, claimed that around 400 worth of her kitchen items have been thrown away by the university.

'I am just completely disappointed. I went into the kitchen of my flat and everything had been cleared out,' she said.

'We were assured that all of our things would be safe so to see everything in the bin is just such a waste.

'I tried finding some of my stuff in the bin but didn't have much luck. It's not just the monetary value or waste, it's the sentimental value of some things.'

A Cardiff University spokesperson said: 'Further to our statement regarding student property in halls of residences, we want to apologise to all students that have been affected and acknowledge there have been shortcomings in our actions and our response.

'We would like to reassure students that we are not planning on entering bedrooms where students have advised they have left belongings to clean the room. We know that your belongings are important to you and we would also prefer you to pack and collect these items yourself when this is possible.

'It is clear that some procedures have not been followed and in a small number of cases, has resulted in some personal possessions being mistakenly disposed of from the shared kitchens.

Meg Bridges, a first year journalism student from Tenby said: 'I'm just really shocked and disappointed that they would treat people's belongings like that'

'Any students affected by our actions will be compensated for any losses incurred and will try to contact students directly where this is the case.

'Whilst we review our procedures, we have put a complete stop on any cleaning of kitchens, and no student belongings of any kind will be moved. We hope that this will ease the concerns of those students who still have belongings within our residences.

'In addition to the above, we will inform students of our plans on how your belongings can be collected once the lockdown is lifted to give maximum clarity and transparency on our future actions.'

The university added: 'To comply with the government travel restrictions and ensure the safety of students still living in residences, it is important that you do not come to collect any items until we advise you.

'Once again, we apologise for our handling of this situation and hope these new actions put in place will demonstrate our commitment to rectifying the concerns caused.'
When J. K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in 1990, she probably didnt expect it to become the worldwide phenomenon that it is. Now, 30 years later, fans around the globe are still pulling out their wands to celebrate the franchise on International Harry Potter Day.

Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe | Dominic Lipinski/PA Images via Getty Images

What is International Harry Potter Day?

Every year, on May 2, people all over the world honor Rowlings book series by celebrating International Harry Potter Day. The tradition began in 2012 when British Prime Minister David Cameron officially designated the day.

There is no doubt in anyones mind that Ms. Rowlings work has had a huge and undeniable impact on the literary world as we know it, Cameron said in his 2012 statement. In order to fully commemorate and immortalize her work, we have to decided to officially declare May 2nd as an official international holiday, in honor of the date that protagonist Harry Potter conquered the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. We hope that children and adults alike will be reminded of Harry Potters strong and courageous character on this day, as well as of the true credit that Ms. Rowling has made to society.

As Cameron revealed in his statement, May 2 was chosen because it is the date the Battle of Hogwarts takes place in the Harry Potter series. It was on this day that Harry and his friends finally defeated Lord Voldemort. In the books, it was the day the world was finally able to go back to normal.

What you can do to mark the day

Theres no official way to celebrate International Harry Potter Day, but many people mark the day by rewatching all eight Harry Potter films back-to-back. Some also spend the day to rereading their favorite book in the series.

Throughout the world, book stores and schools put together magical festivals and activities to commemorate. But this year, with all the COVID-19 safety measures in place, that may not be possible.

Today is:

INTERNATIONAL HARRY POTTER DAY 

Yet another excuse for a glass of wine #dogsduringlockdown #HarryPotter #dogsoftwitter pic.twitter.com/6W4nOphCSB  TwoWoofsUk (@twowoofsuk) May 2, 2020

However, there are still other fun activities available online. On Rowlings new Harry Potter Hub, which is being launched on WizardingWorld.com, fans can find Harry Potter and Fantastic Beast-themed activities and reading materials. The site features resources from a variety of providers including Audible, Pottermore Publishing, and Overdrive.

Welcome to the Harry Potter At Home hub where youll find all the latest magical treats to keep you occupied, the website reads. The site also offers special contributions from Bloomsbury and Scholastic, nifty magical craft videos (teach your friends how to draw a Niffler!), fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world.

How some fans are celebrating International Harry Potter Day this year

As May 2 arrived, fans began observing International Harry Potter Day by reliving the magical story. Damn its International Harry Potter Day??, one fan wrote on Twitter. Well I guess I know what Im watching today.

Today is the 2nd of May. The anniver of the Battle of Hogwarts. Raise your wands to the brave witches and wizards who have fallen /*#22YearsBattleOfHogwarts pic.twitter.com/OJPiNdc8OU  (@liegilimens) May 2, 2020

A bookshop in Ireland is commemorating the day by hosting a virtual activity on YouTube. This Saturday the 2nd of May is international Harry Potter Day and we here in Tertulia will be doing a Harry Potter special on Youtube Tertulia TV, the book shops account tweeted. As we have a Harry Potter corner in our bookshop and that i worked on the movies we couldnt let it pass!

Many other fans took to social media to honor the Battle of Hogwarts. Happy International Harry Potter Day, a fan shared on Twitter. On this day, in 1998, The Battle of Hogwarts was fought and Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort! Mischief Managed!

Dear @jk_rowling its been 22 Years since the legendary BATTLE OF HOGWARTS, another fan tweeted. On this day we also lost our dearest Fred, Remus, and Tonks. So wishing you a happy International Harry Potter Day.


The Nigerian Youth Congress have urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to focus her attention on massive industrialisation of the economy for the purpose of creating more jobs for the teeming youths in the country.

The President of the Nigerian Youth Congress, Blessing Akinlosotu, made the call in Abuja in a press release he personally signed and released to the media.

He said the effect of the Novel CoronaVirus Pandemic (COVID 19) will soon start surfacing because of the believe that many organisations will sack their employees due to the challenges that has affected the world economy in general.

Akinlosotu believes that only massive industrialisation of the economy will save the country from the looming economic recession that will soon begin as a result of the impact of the deadly pandemic that has rampaged the entire globe.

He also challenged the Federal Government to redirect her focus on Agriculture to save the country from food crisis after the pandemic.

He used the opportunity to appreciate the Labour Union, Workers and the team of Health practitioners that have been working very hard to combat the deadly disease.

He advised the Federal Government to try and make sure that she looks into the issue of job loss during and after the pandemic, in a bid to save the nation from any emerging unemployment crisis.

He further admonished the citizens to still take all the precaution measures listed by the health workers and the Federal Ministry of Health seriously until the pandemic is over.

"We should make sure that all the necessary efforts should continue until this deadly disease is over in our land."
Pakistani actor Adnan Siddiqui, who has worked with Sridevi and Irrfan Khan in Bollywood films, recently found himself in an uncomfortable situation. During an appearing on a television show its host cracked a distasteful joke about the death of two late actors. The Mom actor distanced himself from the controversy and released a statement about his reaction to the incident on Twitter.

The statement read, So I dont know how to explain what Im feeling right now or what to say. But this needs to go out. I was invited on the live chat show Jeewey Pakistan yesterday when this unfortunate incident happened. The anchor Amir Liaquat Sahab joked about something extremely sensitive. Not only were they both close to me but also as a human it was wrong on so many levels. I cannot even call it hitting below the belt.

He added, It was an extremely callous act to joke about the deceased. This is in very bad taste, not only does it show him and me but also the entire country in bad light. I want to apologise to the families of Sridevi Sahiba and lrrfan Khan Sahab, their loved ones and fans. If you see my body language I was extremely uncomfortable with what he said but I didnt want to stoop to that level. I regret being on the show. Ive learnt my lesson and I promise I will not tolerate such an act in future. I was hoping this bit wouldnt become public but unfortunately it has. Im sorry. Thank you. He shared a folded hands emoji at the end of the post.

Also read: Neetu Kapoor raises toast to Rishi Kapoor in one last post, says its the end of our story. See here

Host Amir had joked about how the actors Adnan worked with are no more. He also made fun of him refusing Rani Mukerjis Mardaani 2 which saved the lives of the films star cast.

Adnan had played the role of Sridevis husband Anand in the 2017 film, Mom. It was the Bollywood stars last film before her untimely death in Dubai. He was also a part of 2007 English language film A Mighty Heart which had Irrfan in the role of Karachi police chief. The film was produced by Brad Pitt and starred Angelina Jolie as the female lead.

While Sridevi died on February 24, 2018, Irrfan died on Wednesday after a two-year battle with neuroendocrine tumour.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Photo credit: Samir Hussein - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

Royal photographer Samir Hussein revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are fans of the gorgeous, rainy snapshot he took of them.

Hussein's photo showcased the Duke and Duchess of Sussex beaming under an umbrella at one of their last public engagements as working royals in March.

"The picture that I took of Harry and Meghan in the rain recently, Ive never had a reaction to a picture like that one," said Hussein.

Thanks to royal family photographer Samir Hussein, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may have a new favorite photo.

In a new interview with Us Weekly, Hussein shares that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were "really happy" with the now-iconic snapshot the photographer captured of the royal couple back in March. The photo in question was from the 2020 Endeavour Fund Awards in Londonone of the last public appearances from the couple as active working royals where Hussein captured the pair beaming at each other whilst under an umbrella as they arrived to the event.

Photo credit: Max Mumby/Indigo - Getty Images

"The picture that I took of Harry and Meghan in the rain recently, Ive never had a reaction to a picture like that one. In terms of the reaction Ive had from people, thats got to be the most iconic from that point of view," Hussein told Us Weekly. "I spoke to some of their team and they were really happy about it and talking about it."

The photographerwho had spent time photographing the couple all around the world over the past few years, including locations such as Australia, Fiji and Africaexpressed how he'll miss being able to capture images of the pair due to their recent relocation to Los Angeles this spring.

"Im really disappointed that I wont get to photograph them so much anymore," admitted Hussein. "I hope to get to photograph them [again]."

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The Chattanooga Area Leadership Prayer Breakfast will host a virtual event Tuesday.

To access the virtual gathering click here on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m

The 30 minute virtual gathering will be "A Moment for Prayer for Our Community, Nation and World".

Those participating include Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke,

Dave Worland (a member of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee's staff), retired Judge Clarence Shattuck, Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, Prayer Breakfast Task Force member Wanda Officer and others.

The Prayer Breakfast is usually the first Tuesday in May. The Prayer Breakfast was scheduled for next Tuesday, May 5, with Governor Bill Lee as the keynote speaker. Due to the COVID-19 situation the in person Prayer Breakfast has been moved to Tuesday, Sept. 1 with the same format.


As a new coronavirus swept the globe like a tsunami, each country along its unforgiving path knew what could happen.

Despite seeing a few cases in China quickly escalate to a full-blown epidemic, in Italy some politicians urged people not to change their habits. By the time Covid-19 hit Britain, the country had been watched events unfold in Europe, yet it opted for a half-hearted lockdown and then marvelled at the speed at which beds were filling up in the capital.

When it touches you personally, thats when you change your behaviour, Giovanni Carrosio, a sociology lecturer at the University of Trieste tells The Independent.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has slashed the salaries of senior political appointees by 50 per cent.

Makinde, who disclosed this on Friday during the Workers Day celebration held at the Labour House in Ibadan, said this was to ensure the economic safety of other workers in the state.

The governor also said that he had already secured the cooperation of the legislators to take a 30 per cent cut off their monthly allocations.

He commended the workers for their understanding in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.



The governor said that it was not only the health workers leading the charge on COVID-19, but volunteers from other sectors working to curtail the virus in the state.

The next couple of months are going to be difficult but we are working hard to mitigate the shocks to our economy.

We must on this day appreciate the efforts of those who have taken pay cuts so that others may be catered for and I am happy that under this administration, the wellbeing of the common man takes precedence.

We will continue to put in the work needed to ensure that you are never paid with bear-with-us at the end of any month.

We salute the workers who have sacrificed their earnings at this time; those whose businesses have been affected by the partial lockdown in Oyo State,Makinde said.

He said COVID-19 had struck and it was now the responsibility of all stakeholders to build something out of this pandemic that would make generations to come out proud.

After COVID-19, we will be left with an economy which must be grown and sustained. I will make the tough decisions so that our economy can thrive.

We want to get our economy back on track and this is why we have started opening up the system while keeping an eye on the reports from the Oyo State COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre.

We have partially opened up the State Secretariat. We are picking up infrastructural projects that we have had to hold off.

Already, some projects were approved last week. We are injecting funds to kick-start our economic recovery,Makinde said.

Makinde promised that the state government would keep paying the new minimum wage on the 25th of every month.

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File Photo

New Delhi: The Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) on Friday (May 1) issued a notice stating that the remaining board examinations for 10th (ICSE 2020) and 12th (ISC 2020) have not been cancelled.

File Photo The rest of the exams will be held in 6 to 8 days, the board said. The exam will also be held on Saturdays and Sundays.

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It is pertinent to mention here that due to the lockdown, papers of Geography, HCG Paper 2, Biology, Economics Group 3 Elective, Hindi and Art Paper 4 are left of Class X (ICSE 2020).

PhotoWhile talking about the papers remaining of Class 12th (ISC 2020), then Biology Paper 1, Business Studies, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Home Science Paper 1, Elective English and Art Paper are left.

All schools will get exam datesheets through CISCE Career Portal. In addition, CISCE will send the revised datesheet to all schools by email.
The Edo State Government has screened over 40,000 persons in the state for coronavirus (COVID-19), leveraging a strategic partnership with private hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, which complement the screening exercise ongoing across designated government hospitals.

The governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, a press statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday stated.

According to him, the state government has adopted a robust and scientific approach to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak, embarking on massive screening and testing of residents as a strategy to get a clearer picture of the spread of the pandemic in the state.

He noted that the screenings are conducted in designated Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in the states 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs); mobile post screening centres that move across the 192 wards, as well as private medical facilities.

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Speaking on efforts to ensure that more persons are screened and tested in the state, the governor said, We have made tremendous progress, especially in the areas of screening, testing and improved awareness of our citizens. Working closely with private hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, we have been able to screen over 40,000 and tested over 350 persons.

Our improved efforts at screening and testing is the reason why the number of cases is rising. As we aggressively push to screen our minimum target of 500,000 people and test 15,000 individuals in the next few weeks, we may record an astronomic rise in the number of cases.

We advise everyone to get screened at the numerous screening centres across the state. Our screening centres also offer free medical check-up, free multivitamins and facemasks. I am confident that we can beat this virus in Edo State if we take the necessary precautionary measures, the statement quoted him as saying.

He said evidence from its epidemiologists suggest that COVID-19 cases will continue to rise until it peaks late in June, noting, We can reduce the spread of the virus by enforcing existing social distancing rules, maintaining good hand washing hygiene and wearing masks in public places. This evidence has undoubtedly informed the decision by the Federal Government to impose a nationwide curfew.
Ryanair will cut up to 3,000 jobs and Aer Lingus will axe 900 in a devastating blow to Ireland's aviation industry.

The bulk of the job losses will be among pilots and cabin crew.

Aer Lingus currently employs 4,500 people, while Ryanair employs nearly 17,000 across the group, which also includes Austrian airline Lauda.

Ryanair said its restructuring plans will involve job losses, unpaid leave and pay cuts of up to 20pc.

A number of its bases across Europe will close until passenger traffic demand recovers.

Ryanair chief executive Mich- ael O'Leary will continue to work on 50pc pay for the remainder of the year.

Aer Lingus, part of the IAG group which also owns British Airways, declined to expand on its plans, but said it is continuing to communicate with staff and engage with their representative bodies.

Trade union Forsa said it will be seeking early engagement with Ryanair and will make no public comment until management has formally outlined a detailed position to the union.

Forsa has called on the Government to act swiftly to ensure Ireland has an aviation industry after the Covid-19 pandemic has passed.

The union, which represents workers in all Irish-based airlines, airports and airport authorities, said there was a danger the industry would be so weakened over the coming months it would be unrecognisable by the end of the year.

It said regional airports were particularly vulnerable.

Ryanair said that for the current financial year, which ends next March, it expects to carry fewer than 100 million passengers. That is 35pc below its original target of 135 million, it said.

It is also in talks with Boeing and jet lessors for its Lauda fleet to cut the number of planned aircraft deliveries over the next two years to reflect a "slower and more distorted EU air travel market in a post-Covid-19 world".

aid

"When Ryanair returns to meaningful flying from July, the competitive landscape in Europe will be distorted by unprecedented volumes of state aid from some EU governments and their 'national' airlines," claimed Ryanair.

It said the aid planned for rivals now tops 30bn.

"All this state aid is in breach of EU rules and will distort Europe's level playing field in airline competition for many years," it added.

"Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and Alitalia can now fund many years of below-cost selling."

Ryanair confirmed it expects traffic on reduced flight schedules will be stimulated by "significant price discounting" and what it said will be "below-cost selling from flag carriers with huge state aid war chests".

In a broadside at airports and governments, Ryanair warned they will have to provide additional incentives to airlines.

"These lower fares will require aggressive airport price incentives to encourage passengers to travel, and Ryanair continues to call on EU governments to cut passenger taxes, airport taxes and departure taxes on an industry-wide basis as a better alternative to selective state aid 'doping' for flag carriers," the low-cost carrier said.
Your daily look at nonvirus stories in the news:

1. BIDEN DENIES EX-STAFFERS SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION  In his first public comment on the allegation, Biden said the accusation isnt true. This never happened.

2. EVERYONES WATCHING To see who will be Joe Bidens running mate, with Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Gretchen Whitmer and Stacey Abrams believed to be potential picks.

3. WATCHDOG: US NIXES TALIBAN ATTACKS DATA Washington is eager for the U.S.-Taliban agreement to be viewed as successful so that Trump can meet his commitments on pulling troops out of Afghanistan.

4. VIRGIN GALACTIC COMPLETES FIRST GLIDE FLIGHT Virgin Galactics spaceship VSS Unity lands in the New Mexico desert.

5. LAB REPORT Labrador retrievers remain the nations most popular purebreds for a record-extending 29th year, according to American Kennel Club rankings.
Srinagar, May 2 : Two of the three Indian soldiers who were injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri, have died, the army said in a statement on Saturday.

"Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on Friday. Unfortunately, two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice," the statement added.

Friday's ceasefire violation came a day after a civilian was killed in Pakistani shelling in the Mankote sector of Poonch.

On Thursday, 16-year-old Gulfaraz was killed, while another 35-year-old civilian was injured.

There has been a spike in ceasefire violations by Pakistan at the LoC. Pakistan has been targeting defence positions and civilian areas at the LoC in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region.
Shekhar Iyer By

A phone call from Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have prompted the Centre to adopt a politically prudent course in the matter of the formers continuation in office as he remained unelected as an MLA or MLC with a six-month deadline breathing down his neck.

A political crisis in the thick of a health-driven crisis in the state is hardly a time for the top BJP leadership to think of getting back at Thackeray for dumping the party soon after the Assembly polls last November and joining hands with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Congress to become Maharashtras chief minister.

Thackeray was faced with the expiry of a six-month-deadline on May 28, before which he must become a member of the state legislature to stay on as chief minister. He had taken oath as CM on November 28, 2019.Thackerays efforts to become an MLC under the nominated category were stymied by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who insisted on sticking to the convention involved in nominating people of eminence to the Upper House.

Alarm bells began to ring after he refused to go by the recommendation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (the coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress) twice in this regardonce on April 9 and on April 28urging him to clear Thackerays nomination from the Governors quota. In the meantime, the Bombay High Court also refused to interfere, observing that the Governor is expected to consider the legal validity of the recommendation.

Before Covid-19 struck Maharashtra, Thackeray had counted on an early regular election to the state Legislative Council to fill nine vacancies. However, the Election Commission decided to postpone these elections indefinitely. It was then that Thackeray realised that the Governor can, under Article 171 of the Constitution, nominate members having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

Thackeray thought that he was a well-known wildlife photographer with several exhibitions to his credit and hence stood qualified to be considered under this category. Besides, there were two vacancies in the Governors quota due to resignations by two NCP legislators who had joined the BJP before the Assembly polls.

Governor Koshyaris stand was that the term of these two seats were to end in June. He relied on the observation of the Election Commission previously that there was no need for filling up vacancies if their tenure was less than six months. He had rejected two names of NCP leaders recommended by the state government against these vacancies earlier this year on similar grounds.

Can a sitting CM be made a nominated member just to obviate the demand of the six-month deadline to become an MLA or MLC? Thackeray sought to rely on a 1961 Supreme Court ruling, upholding the appointment of Chandrabhan Gupta as Uttar Pradesh CM and his nomination by the Governor to the Legislative Council. In Guptas case, the top court accepted the argument that he had taken active part in politics for several years, which amounted to having experience of social service. So he was qualified to be nominated to the Legislative Council. Koshyari remained unconvinced that he would be acting rightly if he nominated Thackeray for a seat with a one-month validity to enable him to remain as CM till a regular election.

However, beyond the realpolitik, Modi saw Maharashtra as one of the worst-affected states in India due to the coronavirus scourge. After Thackeray sought Modis intervention, the Centre is understood to have decided against any confrontation between the Governor and the Maha Vikas Aghadi. But the Centre agreed with the stand taken by the Governor that nominating Thackeray as CM to the Upper House to enable him to save his post was not a constitutionally appropriate course.

Instead, the Governor could ask the Election Commission to hasten the holding of the regular elections to fill the nine MLC vacancies. Accordingly, Governor Koshyari was counselled specifically to request the poll panel to hold the elections to end the uncertainty in the state because Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray is not a member of either house of the state Legislature, (and) he needs to get elected to the Council before May 27.

The Election Commission responded with a go-ahead, making it clear that the elections should be completed on May 21, six days before the May 27 deadline for Thackeray to enter the Legislative Council and retain the chief ministership.

This is certainly a big relief for Thackeray. But once he is elected, he has to remain on guard. There is growing criticism that his government has not handled the coronavirus crisis well. There is deep disquiet in the Shiv Sena too. Maharashtra BJP leaders are also unlikely to give up an opportunity to reverse the events of last year when Devendra Fadnaviss efforts to retain power with the help of NCP leader Ajit Pawar did not fructify.

Shekhar Iyer

The writer is a senior journalist
A gunman kills 22 people in Nova Scotia in Canadas worst mass shooting and 12 days later the federal government bans a range of military-style firearms.

On its own, this could be seen as decisive and speedy action.

But, as we know all too well, this massacre doesnt stand on its own. It is Canadas deadliest mass shooting but its far from an isolated incident.

A ban on these awful weapons designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time is long overdue. Thats beyond obvious when the list of 1,500 models, now banned by regulation, includes the Ruger Mini-14. Thats the firearm used by the gunman in the 1989 mass murder of 14 women at Montreals Ecole Polytechnique.

That was 31 long years ago. Between then and now, tragically, there have been plenty of other reasons and opportunities to ban these weapons. And even now, the Trudeau government is only doing a partial job of it.

Theres a two-year grace period during which owners will get to keep (but not use) these banned firearms while the government figures out the details of, and passes legislation for, a buy-back program to compensate them. But the government also intends to provide a grandfathering option where existing owners will be allowed to keep them.

It makes little sense, except as a way to reduce the cost of the compensation program, and it could reduce the effectiveness of the ban. Leaving these firearms in the community simply raises the potential that they could fall into the wrong hands and be used in the next massacre.

But the most glaring problem with what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday is that it entirely ignores the most deadly weapons in Canada: handguns.

Trudeau says the government is intending to work with provinces to give individual municipalities the ability to restrict or ban handguns within their own borders.

Thats an abdication of Ottawas responsibility. Worse still, its completely unworkable.

Toronto, the city hardest hit by gun violence, would dearly love to see a handgun ban. But it would need permission from the Ford government, which has said its against any such ban.

Trudeau rightly sees that you dont need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.

Well, you dont use a handgun to shoot one either. Nor does a farmer need a handgun to kill pests.

But every year handguns are used in hundreds of shooting incidents in communities across the country. In Toronto alone, there were 44 deaths last year because of gun violence on city streets. Just last Sunday a 15-year-old was shot dead.

In announcing the ban on many military-style firearms, Trudeau said shooting tragedies shape our identity, they stain our conscience, they make adults out of children, and the heartbreaking truth is theyre happening more often than they once did.

Thats just as true, if not even more so, when it comes to the handgun-fuelled violence in our cities.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said he appreciates that some people may feel the assault rifles the government is banning have recreational value but public safety must always be our first priority.

Its long past time we took that same view on handguns.

And, yes, as critics are always quick to point out, a ban on legal guns doesnt magically rid us of the illegal ones. But it does reduce the overall number that can fall into the wrong hands by accident, theft or intent, though straw purchases.

Banning a range of military-style firearms is an important first step for Canada. But our biggest gun problem remains handguns and without banning those Trudeaus Liberals arent doing enough to truly limit gun violence and death in this country.

Every single Canadian wants to see less gun violence and safer communities, Trudeau said.

Hes right. We do. But it will take more than this to make that happen.

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Waiting is absolutely no fun, but God seems to delay us quite regularly, and he always has a plan, so what is he up to with our waits?

To even be considered as a lifeguard, you must take a prerequisite test. While some of the requirements may vary depending on where you apply, they are usually a continuous 300 yards swim (for uninitiated, thats 12 lengths of the pool). You are also required to tread water for two minutes without using your hands.

Two minutes of treading water, that doesnt sound so baduntil you have to do it, especially with your hands tucked into your armpits.

Suddenly, your torso feels like a trunk of lead; your feet just cant seem to move fast enough, and the stopwatch is crawling with the leisure of an older sibling eating the last ice cream bar right in front of you, smirking at your impotent glares.

Those two minutes will take their sweet time, thank you very much.

Waiting is not usually a fun experience, but its an incredibly common one, so at least were in good company. In the Bible, Gods people were generally waiting for him to fulfill a promise hed made to them or to deliver them from a bad situation.

Waiting is full of this peculiar tension when we know what Gods said about our future or his own nature as a redeemer, but we dont see evidence for these things yet. Theres a reason why the Psalms combine waiting with courage. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14, ESV).

In the Pool on the Brink of Summer

In a sermon, Gary Wilkerson meditated on the passage where Jesus tells his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. He could have sent the Spirit right away, but instead his followers had to linger in expectation of God moving.

This is true for a lot of Christians I know, Gary pointed out. They sense their life isnt going quite according to Gods design. Theyre dissatisfied, wanting more in their marriage, their work, their walk with Christ, their witness for him. Jesus is promising them, God desires those changes for you. But such things only happen through the power of the Spirit. Until he comes, things will remain the same. Luke wrote this scene in his gospel, and he repeats it in the Book of Acts.

Jesus message in both passages is clear: Wait on the Spirit! Dont rush, clamor or panic. You cant will your way to accomplishing the works of the kingdom. Wait in faith, and youll be endued with power from on high.

Today, a lot of us show ourselves before Gods appointed time. We end up spinning our wheels, tiring ourselves, becoming weary in doing Gods work. Friend, the only power well ever have for Gods work will come from time spent in prayer.

So, what does it look like to wait on God?

For many of us, any kind of waiting is a terrible experience; it speaks of boredom, mental torture, moaning and sighing. Scripture paints a different picture of the disciples waiting period. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God (Luke 24:51-53, ESV).

Waiting for God gives us the opportunity to delve deeper into his character through the Bible. Waiting makes space for us to pray passionately about an issue. Looking forward to Gods promises should temper our wild and anxious hearts with patience.

In the silence and anticipation, we find our best auditorium for praise of a holy Father who loves us enough to give us such good things.

Keeping Our Heads Above Angry Water

What about when were waiting not for divine gift but rather freedom from strangling sin or agonizing circumstances?

What if we dont have an explicit promise of deliverance from God? What if there are no verses or words from heaven to specifically address the agonizing situation that were enduring?

What if weve been waiting years for the resolution of an issue completely outside of our control but that also seems to be increasingly grim and impossible? What if were afraid that we may be struggling through painful circumstances that are the consequences of a poor choice or a past lifestyle steeped in sin?

Author of The Scars That Have Shaped Me, Vaneetha Rendall Risner freely acknowledges, Waiting can be agonizing.

Its hardest to wait when I am uncertain about the outcome. When Im trusting God for the best, while at the same time preparing for the worst. It would be much easier if I had a guaranteed good outcome. Or at least a promise from God to hold on to. I have read and reread Psalm 13:12, How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

O Lord, how long? I have asked that question many times.

As I study Genesis, I see that while Abraham was waiting, God was working. Molding his character. Teaching him patience. Building their friendship. It was in that 25-year wait that Abraham got to know God intimately. It was in those seemingly wasted years that God transformed him.

Risner concludes that the years of depending on Gods faithfulness gradually moved Abrahams trust away from the practical solutions he could see and toward the power of God to create an answer however he saw fit.

This was how Abraham was able to put Isaac onto an altar decades later. The waiting had made him trust that God could easily solve this impossible situation.

God had brought a baby out of a womb that, by every law of nature, shouldnt have been able to bear children, and God could bring a young man back from the dead, if he so chose. Abraham the coward, who offered his wife to other men to save his own skin, had shriveled away. Abraham the man of enduring faith had been forged in the waiting years God had given him.

Important Questions When Treading Water

Waiting, whether its for a much-anticipated promise or much-needed deliverance, exposes our hearts inclinations as well as those of people in our lives.

What lies have we unwittingly begun to believe about God? What idols have taken up residence in our lives? How well have we built up the disciplines of prayer, praise and waiting on the Lord?

Do certain friends and family members start to avoid us when the solution stays out of sight, sometimes for years? Do they become impatient with repeat prayer requests and the ongoing struggle? Or do they hunker down beside us and unveil true compassion that volunteers to anticipate Gods movement over and over and over again?

Nothing will expose the answers to these questions faster than a painful wait.

This kind of limbo is a chance to learn important truths about ourselves and the relationships we have. Its an opportunity to draw into the presence of God in unique ways. It often brings up chances to minister to others in similar situations.

As Dr. Paul Tripp, seminary lecturer and faculty member of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, wrote in a wonderful sermon, Waiting is not just about what I get at the end of the wait, but about who I become as I wait.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 21:46:18|Editor: huaxia

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MACAO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Macao's gaming industry revenue plunged by 96.8 percent year-on-year in April 2020, the special administrative region (SAR)'s gaming industry watchdog said here on Saturday.

Macao's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said in its latest report that the gaming revenue was only 754 million patacas (about 95 million U.S. dollars) in April this year, a drastic decline of 96.8 percent from April 2019.

The accumulated revenue in the first four months of 2020 reached 31.24 billion patacas (about 3.92 billion dollars), also down by 68.7 percent year-on-year.

The current COVID-19 epidemic has aggravated the subdued performance of the gaming industry, as the SAR government had tightened the visitor entry policy to curb the spread of the epidemic since late January this year.

Macao's monthly gaming revenue had kept a year-on-year growth for 29 consecutive months since August 2016. But the trend was ended as it recorded a decrease of 5 percent year-on-year in January 2019. Enditem
Highlights

Hero Motors and Hero Cycles are not looking for government support

Pankaj Munjal among few big businesses tycoon not seeking government support

Hero Motors is leading auto component manufacturer with customers like BMW, Ducati, Harley Davidson

Hero Cycles, however, demanded cut in GST on cycles to 5% from 12% to spur sales volume

While a vast majority of Indian businesses hanker for incentives, government support and economic stimulus, cycle giant Hero Cycles plans to tide over the coronavirus-induced crisis without any financial aid from the government.

"We are not looking at any support. We are a net debt free company," Hero Cycles Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj Munjal told BusinessToday.In.

"Hero Cycles and Hero Motors do not require support. We need to execute well. We have shortages in our international markets. BMW line, Ducati line, Harley line, so many other lines are starved because of this (lockdown and supply disruptions). So we have to really ramp up," he adds.

Hero Motors is among the country's leading auto component manufacturer and has some of the marquee brands like BMW, Ducati, Harley Davidson, Arctic Cat as its customers.

Munjal is in minority among businessmen ready to take on the coronavirus challenge without government support and restart after 40-days' lockdown.

Munjal, however, expects the government to lower goods and services tax (GST) on cycles to 5% from 12% now. He argues that e-bikes attract a GST of 5% but cycles are levied higher tax even though they are used by nearly 500 million common people across the country.

"GST should come down to 5%. If the rate is reduced and volumes go up, SMEs (small and medium enterprises) will fly. This (lower GST) should come for 500 million common people. That is what is required at this stage. SMEs are backbone of this country," Munjal said.

He added that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) needed helping hand from the government as they were under tremendous stress due to lockdown. Hero Cycles and Hero Motors are extending support to vendors and suppliers, he said.

The two group companies are in touch with as many as 160 SMEs which supply to them and have offered to provide advance for re-starting production. Small suppliers typically supply to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) without advance payment.

While Munjal maintained that his group firms could do without government support, he pointed out the delay in relief to the industry as a whole.

"In Germany and England we have already got support. Here, people are still talking about giving support (stimulus). There (UK and Germany) we have got cheques of the salaries of the people. So, Europe and all will bounce back better, in more organised fashion," he said.

On the three-month moratorium provided by banks following the RBI directive, Munjal said it would be very helpful. The move would provide liquidity support to companies which needed to pay their debt, he said.

Hero Cycles made its foray into the premium cycles market in 2015 by acquiring a majority stake in UK-based Avocet. The company's recent acquisition of HNF gave it entry into the specialised electric cycles in Germany.

Also read: Sebi directs mutual funds to share data on holdings in unlisted bonds

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: Govt reconstitutes 11 empowered groups on COVID-19
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday sought a report from the Maharashtra government on the ongoing investigation in the Palghar incident in which two sadhus and their driver were allegedly lynched by a mob on the night of April 16.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Sanjiv Khanna sought the report while hearing a plea, through video-conferencing, which has alleged that the incident was a failure on the part of the police as a mob had gathered there in violation of the lockdown rules.

The apex court, which refused to stay the investigation in the case, asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the plea to standing counsel for Maharashtra and said that state would file a probe report within four weeks.

The plea, filed through his counsel Rashi Bansal, has sought a direction to the authorities to constitute an apex court monitored SIT or a judicial commission headed by a retired top court judge to deal with the case.

It has also sought CBI investigation into the matter and registration of FIR against concerned police officials for their failure to prevent the incident.

The three victims from Kandivali in Mumbai were travelling in a car to attend a funeral in Surat in Gujarat amid the lockdown when they were attacked and killed by a mob in Gadchinchile village on the night of April 16 in the presence of a police team.

The victims were identified as Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70), Sushil Giri Maharaj (35) and the driver Nilesh Telgade (30).

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for petitioner Shashank Shekhar Jha referred to the media reports and claimed that police was complicit in the incident as they did not use force to prevent it.

"This happened despite of the fact that whole country is under Lockdown since March 25 and that no person is allowed to be out of their house and everyone has been asked to follow social distancing which raises a huge suspicion on part of local police," the plea said.

"During this whole incident, Police did not take any concrete step to protect these innocent men which could be proved by the fact that they did not use any force to disperse the crowd and one of the video even shows that one of the police official actually pushed saints to the crowd when they were asking for the protection," it claimed.

The plea has alleged that the whole incident was "pre-planned and there could be police involvement as well".

It has also sought transfer of trial in the case from Palghar to a fast track court in Delhi.

The police has arrested as many as 110 persons in connection with the case. Nine of the accused are minors and have been sent to juvenile home.
Former councillor Sean Doyle with the purple and gold scarf he knitted while cocooning at his home

The man who would have created history this year by becoming the first Grand Marshal of the Enniscorthy St Patrick's Day parade has appealed to people to adhere to cocooning guidelines as laid down by the Government and health authorities

Sean Og Doyle was selected as the Grand Marshal to this year's parade but sadly that didn't materialise as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, speaking to this newspaper Sean, who is a former healthcare worker, is urging everyone over 70-years-of-age to keep on cocooning.

He was part of the team in St Senan's Hospital for many years and spent 40 years involved in local politics, having been first elected to Enniscorthy Town Council in 1973.

Sean was the Cathaoirleach of the local authority on seven occasions, including during the 1798 bicentennial, and he also served for many years on Wexford County Council.

Sean is very well known and respected in Enniscorthy and across the county and has played leading roles in community organisations such as the Enniscorthy Tidy Towns Committee and the Strawberry Festival, in addition to being a lifelong member of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann.

He served as treasurer on the local committees that staged the All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Enniscorthy on three occasions: 1967, 1999 and 2000.

While he is originally from Rathnure, he is synonymous with Enniscorthy and was President of the committee that commemorated the centenary of the Easter Rising in 1916.

Speaking to this newspaper he said it's important that people adhere to the guidelines.

'It's important for everyone's safety and people just need to be responsible,' he said.

He said he's been using his cocooning time in a very productive way.

Seans father taught him to knit from when he was six-years-old and he has it's a craft he's pursued all his life.

During his current 'down time' he's increased his output and has crafted hats, scarves and other items including a large scarf in the Wexford county colours.

Because of his own association with the health services he said he is 'very proud' of those who are putting themselves in the 'bearna baol' while caring for those who are affected.

'I am urging those of my generation to bear in mind that a little sacrifice on the part of older people can deliver a great result at a time when Ireland faces a major challenge,' said Sean.

'It's hard for people my age, especially where we miss being out in the community,' he added.

However, he also said that what is being asked of his generation is in some ways 'very simple'.

'There is a public health emergency and it is for ours - and society's - good that we remain at home while it continues,' he said.

Wexford County Council, in association with the South East Community Healthcare and other agencies, have a Community Response Forums helpline in place that anyone can access through 053 9196000 if they need help of any kind.

Meanwhile, Sean is looking forward to when life gets back some semblance of normality.

'I look forward to the other side of this, when we can all get out and around our local areas,' he said. 'After we all have played our part in ensuring public safety the meantime.'
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson on Saturday morning said that he was angered members of his staff were put at risk during an altercation Friday between correctional officers and detainees that left a detention center facility uninhabitable.

The sheriff also criticized Congressman Joe Kennedy III, who has called for an independent investigation of the incident. Hodgson during a press conference said that the congressman has not reached out to him to find out what happened.

Hodgson said that 10 detainees of the B wing in the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth reported to medical personnel that they felt multiple symptoms of COVID-19.

The detainees refused to go to the medical unit for testing, according to Hodgson, who said the detainees rushed violently" at him and corrections officers, barricading themselves inside the facility, ripping washing machines and pipes off the wall and breaking windows.

These are the same people who have been calling their attorneys, advocate groups, saying that they need to be released because theyre going to get contaminated and its dangerous in here," Hodgson said during the live-streamed press conference.

Hodgson said the detainees acted out as a tactic and were encouraged by advocacy groups.

My staff, who leave their homes every day and put themselves at risk, taking care of very difficult populations in this institution, are put in a situation where theyre going to be at a higher risk of having harm done to them and also the detainees and that inmates that were charged with protecting," he said.

However, advocates and attorneys have described another scene, in which terrified detainees were attacked.

Organizers from the Fang Collective wrote in a statement that the detainees in the B wing were assaulted and pepper-sprayed after requesting to remain in their own unit to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The sheriff said that he was in the facility asking the detainees to go and get tested at the medical center. One person who had reported symptoms was on the phone did not respond to calls to go get tested. Hodgson said he reached out to grab the phone and that the detainee, who he described as a con man, started to yell, stop hitting me, stop touching me.

Thats when chaos ensued, according to the sheriff. Special response team members and the K-9 unit responded to the center.

Hodgson said that the testing needed to happen in the detention center in line with CDC and state department of public health guidelines.

Three detainees were taken to the hospital, one for symptoms of a panic attack, one for a pre-existing medical condition and one for another medical incident after being removed from the ICE wing. All three are expected to be fine, the sheriffs office said. No Bristol County personnel were injured during the incident.

What really troubles me more than anything is not just the fact that these advocates and these attorneys are pushing for these people to go back out into the community, but weve got judges that are encouraging these people to be released, Hodgson said.

Kennedy has called for an independent investigation into the incident and has asked for public release of any surveillance footage. The congressman is also demanding that detainees in the unit during the incident receive immediate access to counsel.

Given the conflicting reports coming from all involved, there needs to be an immediate, independent investigation into what occurred last night at the Bristol County House of Corrections," Kennedy said in a statement Saturday. All people held at this facility deserve to be treated with humanity and dignity. We need an independent investigation and the release of surveillance footage to ascertain exactly what happened and ensure accountability.

Hodgson said he thought Kennedy ought to be ashamed of himself.

The only investigation that ought to be done right now is of people like Joe Kennedy and these members of Congress whove actually encouraged these people and supported them to come into the country illegally and then defended them as though they have a right to walk around our neighborhoods when they know that theyve committed crimes against innocent people, Hodgson said.

Hodgson said Kennedy did not call him to ask about what happened at the facility and encouraged Kennedy, who is running for Senate, to reach out.

Attorney Ira Alkalay said he was on the phone with a client during the incident.

While on his first phone call, Alkalay said his client seemed pretty panicked and started crying out like he was in pain.

Other clients also called Alkalay and several said things like, theyre gonna kill us, according to the attorney. Alkalay said his clients sounded terrified.

From my perspective, Alkalay said, the sheriff directs these overreactions and provokes a situation where he can make it look like they have a reason to go in there and start pepper spraying everybody.

Alkalay said the unit is one enclosed room.

Its mindboggling to me that the sheriff needs to go in there and start pepper spraying people during a global pandemic," Alkalay said, adding that one of his clients in the unit has a medical issue with his heart, and others in the unit have asthma.

Alkalay said his message for the sheriff is to stop taking these situations and trying to escalate them into something that feeds his narrative that these people are a danger."

We just got a declaration from the sister of someone inside Bristol about the call she got. Declaration is in Spanish, which we have translated to English. #FreeThemAll pic.twitter.com/9h8Me3rf18  Immigrant Bail Fund (@migrantbailfund) May 2, 2020

In the meantime, the sheriffs office said it has moved detainees to single cells in the special housing unit, pending disciplinary action, COVID-19 testing and criminal charges.

Alkalay said he feels that decision risks the further spread of coronavirus.

It will just mean more people moving around and interacting more and thats not the wisest course of action right now, Alkalay said.

Its unclear if the COVID-19 testing has happened yet.

Hodgson said hes never had a problem at the detention center before and said the incident unnecessarily tied up three ambulances.

We commend the Bristol County Sheriffs Office staff who responded rapidly and professionally to de-escalate a volatile situation, limiting injuries and further damage to the facility and restoring order," said Todd M. Lyons, the acting field office director, enforcement and removal operations, of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Boston.

We thank the BCSO staff for quickly restoring order at risk to their own safety and for protecting other detainees and correctional staff whose safety was put at risk by the hostile actions of this small group of detainees, Lyons continued. We continue to maintain our strong confidence in the professionalism of the Bristol County Sheriffs Office staff, a vital partner in our effort to keep the community safe.

Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, has also called for an independent investigation.

Matters like these require transparency in order to ensure trust in government during a pandemic. That is particularly true where the leader of that institution has been accused of personal misconduct during the incident," Rose said in a statement. "The ACLU of Massachusetts also calls on Governor Baker to use his executive powers to establish safe, humane, and transparent protocols to make universal testing available for all jails, prisons, and ICE detention facilities throughout the state. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has an obligation to ensure basic human rights of people it holds in detention. During this time of pandemic infection, the state should allow people to safely self-isolate by releasing them or arranging for home confinement.

A federal judge hearing a class action lawsuit has ordered some detainees of the unit to be released amid the pandemic. Other detainees have been voluntarily released by ICE.

So far, 48 detainees have been released, according to Lawyers for Civil Rights, which represents detainees involved in the suit.

Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has long deployed inhumane tactics at [the Bristol County House of Correction], provoking frequent conflicts with inmates, lawsuits, and investigations, far more so than other jails in the Massachusetts Department of Correction system, Lawyers for Civil Rights said in a statement Saturday. His volatile leadership has once again created jeopardy for detainees and staff at BCHOC.

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New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways announced on Saturday (May 1) that its passenger train operations will continue to remain suspended till May 17 in line with the extension of the nationwide lockdown by the Centre. However, special Shramik trains will be run to ferry migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places, as required by state governments, it stated.

"Extended cancellation of passenger train Services. This is to clarify that cancellation of all regular passenger trains including suburban trains is extended till 17th May 2020. No one should visit any Railway Station for the purpose of booking tickets or performing train journey," a post shared by official Twitter handle of Indian Railways tweeted

Extended cancellation of passenger train Services This is to clarify that cancellation of all regular passenger trains including suburban trains is extended till 17th May 2020 No one should visit any Railway Station for the purpose of booking tickets or performing train journey pic.twitter.com/PpzEnrElgF  Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 2, 2020

Freight and Parcel train operations shall continue, as at present.

Earlier, the Railways Ministry said, as per the guideline issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, it has been decided to run 'Shramik Special' trains from today, to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to lockdown.

"These special trains will be run from point to point on the request of both the concerned State Governments as per the standard protocols for sending and receiving such stranded persons. The Railways and state governments shall appoint senior officials as nodal officers for coordination and smooth operation of these Shramik Specials," the ministry stated.

On May 1, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.
Opposition Leader Liza Harvey has criticised the state government's handling of the scandal-prone City of Perth, accusing it of parachuting in a new chief executive without input from elected councillors.

Ms Harvey said the move risked a return to the problems and instability that had plagued the council for years and sparked the ongoing inquiry.

WA Opposition Leader Liza Harvey. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola

City of Perth commissioners appointed Rottnest Island boss Michelle Reynolds as the council's new chief executive during a special council meeting on Friday last week.

Ms Reynolds, a former chief executive at WorkCover WA with more than two decades' experience as a senior public servant, was appointed by to the Rottnest Island Authority in 2018 amid revelations staff at the authority had been subject to bullying and discrimination.
San Antonio Express-News journalists are researching answers to readers questions about the novel coronavirus. To submit a question, go to ExpressNews.com/assignmentdesk.

Legally speaking, it appears you would be fine to attempt a drive from South Carolina to Texas.

Of the five states you mentioned, four have reopened or are in the process of reopening. Louisiana has not reopened for business, but the borders remain open. You should not be hassled for driving through the state.

The question is how much personal risk you feel comfortable taking on such a journey. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that extensive travel will increase the chances of contracting or spreading the novel coronavirus.

Each time you stop for gas, to eat or to use the restroom, you risk contact with a surface that has been contaminated by others. If you must travel, the CDC recommends washing hands often, keeping at least 6 feet away from others and wearing a face mask while in public.

Likewise, hotel rooms can be a hot bed of germs. If you can disinfect surfaces in your room with wipes or sanitizer or even soap and water, that would increase safety. Dont forget the remote control, which some studies have shown to be the most germ-ridden item in a typical hotel room.

Though Myrtle Beach sounds nice, you clearly dont want to stay there forever. You should not run into legal problems driving back. It is only a matter of how safe you feel on the way.

Until this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott required travelers entering the state from Louisiana to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. That is no longer a requirement. However if you can voluntarily quarantine once you return to San Antonio, it would help stop the spread of any contagion you might have picked up en route.

As we move to reopen the economy, I have heard no mention of day care centers and when they are expected to start opening. If the state is expecting workers to return to their jobs, parents will need options for child care. Has there been any information about in which phase day cares will be allowed to open?

This question has come up more than once since Abbott allowed his original stay-at-home order to expire this week.

Day cares remain open only to children of workers deemed essential  health care workers, grocery store employees, bank and government employees, for example.

Under Phase 1 of Abbotts Open Texas plan, which began Friday, some restaurant and retail employees will be forced to return to work without child care.

There has been no indication when day care centers would be allowed to return to normal operations. Phase 2 of Abbotts reopening plan  scheduled to begin May 18, barring an upsurge in infections  includes barber shops, hair salons and gyms but does not mention day cares.

Abbott has already announced public schools will remain closed until the fall. It is possible day care facilities could follow a similar timeline.

That would create a strain on working families.

Under the states current guidelines, some workers could be ineligible to collect unemployment insurance payments if they are unable to return to work due to lack of child care. The Texas Workforce Commission, citing extraordinary circumstances, is considering waivers on a case-by-case basis that would allow some people to continue to receive benefits even if they opt not to return to work at a business cleared to reopen.

Since restaurants are opening, the sale of alcoholic beverages will still be allowed in drive-thrus. So drinking and driving seems to be OK? I really dont get how it is going to be controlled.

Based on the governors public statements, it is true the state is not apt to reinstate the ban on alcohol-to-sales any time soon.

Abbott has explicitly declared restaurants may continue to sell alcoholic beverages for takeout and via drive-thrus even after dining rooms were declared open Friday.

From what I hear from Texans, Abbott posted to Twitter earlier this week, we may just let this keep on going forever.

Make no mistake, however. Drinking and driving remains a crime, and a serious one at that. Dont do it.

In order to comply with Texas open container laws, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission says alcohol purchased curbside at a restaurant or in a drive-thru must come in the original manufacturer-sealed container.

If you break the seal while in your vehicle, you are breaking the law.

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN
Gov. Phil Murphy will hold his daily briefing Saturday in Trenton to provide updates on the coronavirus pandemic that has surpassed 120,000 confirmed cases in New Jersey.

The 1 p.m. press conference at the Trenton War Memorials George Washington Ballroom will be streamed lived on the governors YouTube channel.

Murphy will be joined by state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, health communicable disease service medical director Dr. Edward Lifshitz and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

State officials reported 121,190 total positive COVID-19 tests as of Saturday morning, with 7,538 deaths related to the virus since the first case in New Jersey was reported March 4.

Gov. Phil Murphy at Fridays briefing said the rate of infection continues to slow and hospitalizations are dropping across the state, one of the nations coronavirus hotspots.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
But it turns out Waverley Council did not actually vote to restrict ocean access to locals. Council minutes reveal the resolutions establishing Swim & Go and Surf & Go set out measures such as the hours of operation and how the queuing system would work - but not who could use it. Liberal councillor Will Nemesh said the suggestion public land should be restricted to locals was "outrageous and disingenuous" and was never part of the discussion at the council meeting. "It can't be open to some and closed to others," Nemesh said. "We are not living in the Greater Republic of Waverley." Labor's Masselos concedes this point, saying she was only urging common sense. "We're not going to be asking people to see their driver's licence, nor do we have the power to do that," she said. She said the new system had been successful so far. It was initially planned to be week days only, but on Friday the general manager decided to extend it to the weekend.

Loading The NSW public health order, which expires at the end of June, says people must stay at home but can leave the house for various reasons such as exercise. It does not specify whether you can travel for exercise. Some people have interpreted that to mean you should exercise within walking distance of home, while others believe it is reasonable to drive to an exercise location such as a beach, national park or cycleway. Last week Premier Gladys Berejikian came down on the side of lenience. "You can drive in a car to go shopping, you can drive in a car to go somewhere and do exercise," she said. Historian Caroline Ford, author of Sydney Beaches: A History, said while people had genuine fears about the virus, the pandemic was also fuelling a dynamic that stretched back more than a century.

"There's a long history of tensions between people who consider themselves locals to the beach and people who come in from other suburbs of Sydney to go to the beach," Ford said. The NSW government purchased Bondi Beach from a private owner in the late 19th century and opened up beach bathing during daylight hours a few decades later. Believing beach recreation to be inherently healthy, governments of all political stripes invested in public transport, vetoed commercial proposals such as a Luna Park at Bondi, and explicitly positioned beaches as public resources "for the people". "There's a passion and possessiveness that people have for the beaches," Ford said. "There's a fiercely protective response against any challenges and any perceived threats to free access to the beaches." During the Second World War, Sydneysiders climbed barbed wire fences to swim in the ocean, while in the late 1980s, 100,000 people joined protests against sewage pollution at Bondi.

But tensions between locals and outsiders are not new. As early as the 1910s, residents of Freshwater were complaining about wharfies and labourers coming in from suburbs like Pyrmont, Erskineville and Marrickville to camp on the beaches. In the 1960s, Bronte locals derided visitors as "Leichhardt sand throwers", while Puberty Blues, set in 1970s Cronulla, describes the locals banding against "Bankies" from Bankstown or "anywhere uncool". In the 1990s, Bondi residents successfully campaigned against the extension of the eastern suburbs train line to Bondi beach, with some using the argument it would "bring crime from the Westies" and affect property prices. Nick Carroll, a surfer from Newport, said the pandemic is an excuse for localism to rear its head. Credit:Kate Geraghty

Infamously, at Cronulla Beach in 2005, conflict between mostly white locals and ethnically diverse beach users from other parts of Sydney turned into violent riots. Loading And in 2020 on the northern beaches, some residents have put up signs marking out their turf, such as one at Avalon that said "if you don't live here, don't surf here" and warned: "If you decide to come out anyway, it'll be a short surf". Newport's Nick Carroll has been surfing for 50 years and grew up in a culture of "localism" - where young men would aggressively defend their surf breaks from interlopers and bully younger surfers. He said this attitude abated from the 1980s when women and girls took up surfing but never disappeared. "I think the pandemic is an excuse for a bit of localism to rear its head again," Carroll said.
Top officials from Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently held discussions focused on prospects for cooperating to support the privatization of state-owned enterprises in the Caspian country. As Caspian News reports, EBRD President Sumantra Chakrabarti said the bank wants to start discussing the commercialization and privatization of Azerbaijans state-owned enterprises in the medium term starting the next week and month.

This can be done through a public investment holding. We are already working with the government [of Azerbaijan] on the formula of public-private partnerships in the field of legislation. We would really like to help shift to the commercialization and privatization of state-owned enterprises, Chakrabarti said in a virtual meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday, according to the official website of Azerbaijan's President.

We are also working to establish a new Development Corporation of Azerbaijan. We are doing our best to ensure the recovery after the crisis in Azerbaijan and other countries, and as soon as possible We must intensify the efforts of the government and the private sector to make this happen in Azerbaijan.

Privatization support is the EBRD's latest project in Azerbaijan, which follows 168 other projects that the bank has implemented in the country since mutual cooperation began over 28 years ago. The main scope of the EBRD's activity in Azerbaijan covers developing the countrys non-oil sector, strengthening local lenders and boosting investment in the green economy. The cumulative amount of EBRD investments in what is the South Caucasus regions largest economy accounts for 3.35 billion ($3.64 billion). The private sector accounts for 23 percent of the EBRD's portfolio in Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, President Aliyev said the process should start with identifying the first steps of the commercialization, partial privatization, which should be negotiated.

In fact, we are ready for it. There is also the issue of corporate governance. At the moment  we are discussing the idea of a parent organization for more coordination, Aliyev said, adding that state companies in Azerbaijan lack coordination. Even in the transport sector, which is now one of the most promising sectors, we see that the corporate interests of companies outweigh the state interests.

The Azerbaijani President revealed that the government considers creating an additional working group that will be tasked to deal with all issues related to the process.

Privatization process of the state-owned properties in Azerbaijan began in the 1990s following the former President Heydar Aliyevs rise to power shortly after the country regained independence following the dissolution of the USSR. However, the state in Azerbaijan has significant control over companies of strategic importance, such as SOCAR, Azerbaijan Airlines, Aztelecom, Azerenergy, Azercosmos, Baku Metro, and others. The State Committee for Property Issues holds regular auctions for privatizing some less significant public assets. Ninety-eight state properties, including 32 small-sized enterprises were put up for auction in May 2019.

First Vice-President of EBRD, Jurgen Rigterink has earlier said that amidst the current situation the international financial entity could render both technical and financial support to the privatization of Azerbaijans state-owned properties, as well as directly participate in the capital of the privatized companies.

Privatization does not mean that it is necessary to hold an IPO [initial public offering] immediately, in which the government will sell 99 percent of its shares. Usually, we help prepare the company for privatization, and it takes some time, Rigterink said. There are several ways to do this. One of them is to improve corporate governance. Sometimes this is accompanied by our direct participation in financial support of projects, and sometimes in the form of small investments in capital.
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For dividend-hungry investors, these are challenging times. As companies continue to contend with the havoc that the coronavirus has wreaked, many management teams are electing to cut -- or even suspend -- their dividends in a bid to better secure their businesses' finances. While this may be a prudent course of action for some individual companies, it's a negative for investors who rely on dividends for the income they generate in their portfolios.

Does this mean that investors should simply forsake dividend-paying stocks? Of course not. There are still plenty of compelling opportunities to be found.

And these aren't nominal yields, either. For example, investors can turn to companies like ALLETE (NYSE:ALE), Brookfield Renewable Partners LP (NYSE:BEP), and Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE:HASI) for dividends yielding more than 4% at the moment.

Powering the upper Midwest helps to charge investors' portfolios

In addition to operating utilities that provide power and other services to customers in Minnesota and Wisconsin, ALLETE is an energy company that also owns and maintains electric-transmission assets in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. But that's not all. Through ALLETE Clean Energy, the company develops and operates renewable-energy projects.

Currently, ALLETE Clean Energy owns and operates a portfolio of clean-energy assets representing about 660 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Management has its eyes on announcing 500 MW of new projects in 2020 with a longer-range goal of building its portfolio out to 2,000 MW of capacity in 2024.

Without interruption, ALLETE has rewarded shareholders through the payment of a dividend since 1948. Currently, the stock provides a forward dividend yield of 4.1% -- which seems particularly attractive considering the Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF currently offers investors a dividend yield of 3.25%. In 2019, ALLETE returned $2.35 per share to investors with its dividend, representing a 5% increase over what it paid out in 2018. If the company achieves the midpoint of its guidance in 2020, it will raise the annual dividend payment per share to $2.47, indicating another 5% year-over-year increase.

Lest investors worry that the company's payment of a dividend is jeopardizing its financial health, ALLETE has averaged a payout ratio of 69.2% over the past 10 years. And with the company's regulated operations business accounting for 90% of the company's revenue, investors can be assured that the company has a steady flow of predictable income that can be used to fund growth projects and safely sustain the dividend.

A dividend powered by the sun, wind, and water

Providing a pure-play investment opportunity in renewable energy, Brookfield Renewable Partners is a limited partnership that operates a portfolio that includes solar, wind, distributed generation, and storage assets. However, its hydroelectric-power assets account for the majority of the company's revenue -- 68% in 2019.

With a current dividend yield of 4.2%, Brookfield Renewable Partners now seems especially alluring, considering the fact that a few months ago, the stock was reaching all-time highs. Since the recent market downturn, however, shares have become more attractively priced and are now trading at 6.8 times operating cash flow -- only slightly above their five-year average multiple of 6.6.

The company's board of directors recently approved the 2020 distribution, which represents an annual amount per unit of $2.17, a year-over-year increase of 5%. This steady growth in the distribution is familiar to those who know the company. Since its initial public offering in 1999, in fact, Brookfield Renewable Partners has grown its distribution at an annual rate of 6%.

Management, moreover, aspires to maintain a similar growth trajectory, as it has identified a target of 5% to 9% annual distribution growth. And it doesn't want to forsake the company's financial health just to keep that distribution growth coming, for it's identified a long-term payout ratio of 70% from its funds from operations (FFO). While this ratio was about 90% in 2019, investors can monitor to see if this decreases in line with the company's forecast that FFO will grow at an annual clip of 6% to 9% as it develops projects in its pipeline and benefits from its acquisitions of TerraForm Power.

Providing the green for green energy projects

Proclaiming itself as "the first U.S. public company solely dedicated to investments in climate change solutions, providing capital to leading companies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable infrastructure markets," Hannon Armstrong is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that offers investors a unique approach to the renewable-energy industry. Essentially, Hannon Armstrong acts as a specialized financier providing capital for the development of green energy projects such as solar and wind farms to ecological restoration to stormwater infrastructure.

With more than 180 projects in the company's well-diversified portfolio, Hannon Armstrong is not overly reliant on any one market for its cash flow generation. And with a weighted 15-year weighted average life on the investments in its portfolio, management has a good sense of future cash flows which helps it to safely plan for dividend raises. It recently announced a 1.5% raise to its quarterly dividend, which now stands at $0.34 per share, while the stock currently offers investors a 4.87% forward dividend yield.

Last words about these dividend darlings

Investors in search of stocks that offer dividend yields of more than 4% need look no further than ALLETE, Brookfield Renewable Partners, and Hannon Armstrong. While these three companies all operate in slightly different niches of the energy sectors, they all generate strong reliable cash flows which should reassure dividend-hungry investors that the related distributions are sustainable.
The controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI is in negotiations with several unnamed federal agencies and three US states to provide contact tracing services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Company founder and CEO Hoan Ton-That confirmed the negotiations were ongoing but declined to specify which agencies or states are considering the company's services.

Ton-That said the company has seen growing demand for technical solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and considers it a good opportunity to expand its business.

Controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI is negotiating with three states and several federal agencies to develop contact tracing tools to track the spread of COVID-19

'What we understand now is we're in the stage where if we are to open up the economy in a way that's safe for everybody, that we need to be able to test quickly and also trace the people who have been infected and find out who they've been in contact with,' Ton-That told NBC News.

Clearview has provided access to its facial recognition software to more than 2,220 different government and law enforcement agencies around the country, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New York Police Department, the US Secret Service, the Drug Enforcement Agency and more.

It pulls photos and personal data from a wide range of online sources, including social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, which it uses to create individual profiles of people.

Clearview's app uses these profiles to identify individuals in photos that their clients upload.

According to Ton-That, Clearview's facial recognition software could give it an advantage over other contact tracing methods, including smartphone apps that use Bluetooth signals log of interactions.

According to CEO and founder Hoan Ton-That, there was an growing demand for technical solutions to help local governments as they plan to loosen lockdown restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic

'A lot of retail spaces and gyms, they already have cameras," Ton-That said. 'And there is the expectation that you're in a public area, so there's not necessarily an expectation of privacy.'

'The cameras are already there in case crime happens. They can now already be repurposed to help track anyone else who has had the virus.'

Many have been suspicious of the company's technology, including Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, who sent a letter to the Clearview asking it to disclose which states and agencies it's in discussions with, along with sharing specific details of its proposed contact tracing programs.

'Clearview has failed to demonstrate that it can be trusted to protect Americans' privacy," Markey told NBC News in a statement.

'I'm concerned that if this company becomes involved in our nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, its invasive technology will become normalized, and that could spell the end of our ability to move anonymously and freely in public.'

Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts has expressed concern about Clearview's potential to violate privacy rights and sent a letter asking the company to name the states and agencies it's negotiating with, as well as outline its plans for contact tracing

Clearview is funded in part by Peter Thiel, the conservative venture capitalist who helped found the data analytics company Palantir, which has worked with the FBI, CIA, Marine Corps, and Department of Homeland Security.

Palantir is also reportedly pitching its services to the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a COVID-19 database.

Previous reporting from The Huffington Post has revealed links between Clearview and several inflammatory conservative figures, including Charles C. Johnson, Jason Miller, Mike Cernovich, and Pax Dickinson.

In 2016, Ton-That posed for a photo alongside Johnson making the 'OK' sign, a common hand signal used among white supremacists and listed as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019.

One former employee, Marko Jukic, who was reportedly responsible for pitching the company's services to government agencies, pseudonymously published a number of blog posts using racist language.

'[I]f you spend a few hours letting your disenchanted friends and family know that it's OK to use the [N-word and] point out that democracy is a miserable failure, you will have accomplished far more concrete good in the world than you would have by spending a few hours doing almost anything else,' he reportedly wrote.

Clearview says it was unaware of Jukic's posts and fired him after they learned of his publishing history.

Despite these associations, Ton-That has rejected the idea he is a white supremacist or that the company is sympathetic to the goals of white supremacy.

'I am a proud American of Vietnamese and Australian descent,' he told Business Insider.

'I am an immigrant to this country, which I support and dearly love, in large part because of its diversity and acceptance of people regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

'I am not a white supremacist or an anti-semite, nor am I sympathetic to any of those views. They are abhorrent and I reject them wholly and without reservation.'
WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump intends to nominate Keith Dayton to be the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the White House said on Friday, a year after Trump removed the previous envoy.

Dayton, a retired Army lieutenant general, currently serves as the senior U.S. defense adviser to Ukraine and director of the George C. Marshall Center in Germany.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dayton would replace Marie Yovanovitch, a career diplomat who was recalled in May 2019.

In November, Yovanovitch told a House of Representatives impeachment inquiry of Trump that she was ousted from her post after coming under attack from the presidents personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Trump was impeached by the House in December on charges of pressuring Ukraine into investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens son and obstruction of Congress. Trump was acquitted by the Senate in February.

Russian troops seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and annexed it after a referendum that Kiev and its Western allies say was illegal.

The Ukrainian government has also been embroiled in a conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since 2014 that has killed more than 13,000 people.

By Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham
A special train bringing 845 stranded migrant workers back to Uttar Pradesh will arrive here on Sunday from Nashik in Maharashtra.

The special train with 845 migrant workers from Maharashtra started from Nashik this morning and it will arrive in the state capital via Jhansi and Kanpur on Sunday, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.

This will be the first special train to arrive in Uttar Pradesh with stranded migrant workers.

On Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's directives, talks are going on with officials of Maharashtra and Gujarat for running more special trains to bring back the labourers and workers of UP, he said.

Awasthi, however, reiterated that the condition for bringing migrant workers back is that respective states provide lists with details of stranded workers along with a certificate that the workers boarding the trains have been properly screened and are healthy.

The chief minister, who has asked to stop all kinds of illegal inter-district and inter-state movements, has directed to enlist details of names, addresses, mobile numbers and job skills of workers returning to the state.

Earlier on Friday, about 5,000 labourers from Madhya Pradesh arrived in 155 buses and some 1,341 labourers belonging to MP and living here in quarantine centres were sent back in 50 buses.

The migrant workers stranded in Uttarakhand (1500) and Rajasthan (6500) are also returning to the state.

Adityanath has already written a letter to his counterparts in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Rajasthan, asking for the details of migrant workers stranded due to the lockdown imposed across the country to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Around four lakh stranded migrant workers have already arrived from Delhi and 12,000 from Haryana.

The chief minister has asked nodal officers to remain available on phone round-the-clock to ensure smooth return of migrant workers to the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kansas City Life Insurance Company is honoring its 125th year of continuous operation on May 1, 2020.

Kansas City Life has grown into a Kansas City, Mo., staple since its inception in 1895. Originally founded as Bankers Life Association, the Companys first operating office was located at Ninth and Main Streets in what is commonly referred to as the Sheidley Building. The Company was renamed Kansas City Life Insurance Company in 1900. The Company built its current Home Office, one of the most architecturally distinguished and historic buildings in Kansas City in the midtown area, in 1924. It is located at 35th and Broadway.

Today, Kansas City Life has close to 500 associates, thousands of agents, hundreds of thousands of active policies and over $50 billion of insurance in force within the Kansas City Life Group of Companies.

While this pandemic has caused the Company to focus on the task at hand as an essential business, it still plans to unfurl banners down the facade of the historic building and is continuing to donate $125,000 to various community causes to commemorate the milestone of 125 years.

Kansas City Life Insurance Company (OTCQX: KCLI) was established in 1895 and is based in Kansas City, Mo. The Companys primary business is providing financial protection through the same of life insurance and annuities. The Company operates in 49 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit www.kclife.com.

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Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 2nd May 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

PTF Release Guidelines To Implement Gradual Easing Of Lockdown

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has released the guidelines for the implementation of the phased and gradual easing of the lockdown.

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Rivers Relaxes Lockdown. Enforce Facemask In Public Places

The Rivers state government on Friday announced the relaxation of lockdown of the stare and equally declares the use of face mask in public places mandatory.

Nigeria Will Do Anything For Ventilators  Donald Trump

The President of the United States, Donald Trump has revealed that Nigeria will do anything to have ventilators needed in the worlds fight against the novel coronavirus disease.

House Of Reps Insists Of Two-Month Of Free Electricity For Nigerian

The house of representatives has maintained that poor Nigerians should not be denied free electricity during the lockdown period because the rich who are the minority would profit from it.

Prepare For The Aftermath Of Pandemic  APC Tells Nigeria

The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) has issued a statement to celebrate the international workers day by calling on Nigerian workforce to use the opportunity of lockdown to learn some new skills so as to fit into global changing working environments.

Employers Must Obtain Clearance From FG To Layoff Workers  Ngige

The federal government has advised employers against sacking workers without obtaining clearance.

Obiano Orders Compulsory Use Of Face Masks As Workers Resume On Monday

Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, has ordered civil and public servants in the state, including primary and secondary school teachers to resume work on Monday, May 4th, 2020.

We Are Struggling With Bed Spaces In Lagos Isolation Centers  NCDC

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) says it is struggling for bed spaces to treat COVID-19 patients in Lagos state.

Palliatives: We Cant Publish Names Of Beneficiaries  Minister

Sadiya Umar-Farouk, the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, says names of beneficiaries of government interventions cant be published.

Discontinue Lockdown  Ayade Urges FG

Governor of River State, Benedict Ayade has called on the Federal Government to allow healthy Nigerians work and move freely amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump has slammed reports that Congress has been slow to reopen because members cannot get tested for coronavirus - blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the delay.

'There is tremendous coronavirus testing capacity in Washington for the Senators returning to Capital Hill on Monday. Likewise the House, which should return but isn't because of Crazy Nancy P,' Trump tweeted on Saturday from Camp David.

'The 5 minute Abbott Test will be used. Please inform Dr. Brian P. Monahan,' he added.

Monahan, the Capitol's attending physician, told top Republican officials in a conference call Thursday that there is not sufficient testing capacity for senators, two people familiar with the matter told Politico.

President Donald Trump has slammed reports that Senators and Congressmen cannot get testing for coronavirus, hampering legislation in the pandemic

Earlier this week, House Democrats abandoned plans to return on May 4, citing Monahan's advice that it was too much of a health risk. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pictured

Abbott Labs last month introduced a portable test kit that delivers positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.

Dr. Brian Monahan, the Capitol's attending physician, reportedly said there was not enough testing for Congress members

It was not immediately clear why Monahan would not be aware if the Abbott test was being used in Congress, as Trump insisted was the case.

Earlier this week, House Democrats abandoned plans to return on May 4, citing Monahan's advice that it was too much of a health risk for members to return to Washington DC.

'We had no choice. The Capitol physician recommends that we not come back and we have to take that guidance in consideration for the safety of those who have to be here: press, staff, members of Congress, members' staff in addition to our own staff,' Pelosi said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 78, is calling the Senate back into session Monday May 4, even though Democrats claim he did not consult with the Capitol physician to make sure conditions were safe enough to reconvene.

Sixty-seven of the 100 senators currently serving are 60 or older, and another large subset are approaching their 60s. California Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley are the oldest sitting senators at 86-years-old  and four other are in their 80s.

Abbott Labs last month introduced a portable test kit (above) that delivers positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes

Some senators have suggested they might not return next week, especially if the upper chamber is not taking up any coronavirus relief legislation.

'I don't begrudge a senator expressing their personal concerns, but that shouldn't mean that the entire Senate ceases to function,' Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said Thursday. 'We're going to try really very hard to make sure everybody is safe. And not exposed.'

The Politico article contrasted the Capitol's testing capabilities starkly with the White House, where anyone meeting with the president or Vice President Mike Pence are administered a rapid test, where results are available within minutes.

Even members of the press have received testing before being allowed in the same room as Trump and Pence for briefings.

As the Senate prepares to reconvene, Republican chiefs of staff were briefed Thursday by Monahan, McConnell's Chief of Staff Sharon Soderstrom and Rules Committee Staff Director Fitzhugh Elder.

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wearing a mask to protect herself and others from COVID-19, known as coronavirus, arrives at a press conference on Thursday

All senators and their staff are asked to wear masks at all times, unless senators are delivering speeches on  and officers were told to encourage aides to telework when possible and to screen staffers who do come to the Hill to work.

President Trump had a different take after the House cancellation was announced Tuesday, telling reporters that Democrats are 'enjoying their vacation.'

'Yeah, I think they are, I think they are,' Trump said. 'Look at Nancy Pelosi eating ice cream on late night television, yeah I think they probably are having a good time.'

In a subsequent tweet on Saturday, Trump touted his approval rating among Republicans.

'96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you! Also, just out, highest ever Approval Rating overall in the new Gallup Poll, and shows 'Trump beating Sleepy Joe Biden,'' the president tweeted.

The latest Gallup poll showed Trump's overall job approval rating at 93 percent among Republicans.

Gallup has not publicly released a poll in recent days showing Trump beating Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

The latest IBD/TIFF poll showed Biden and Trump in a dead heat for the election.
Bala Chauhan By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The state government has issued a show-cause notice to senior IAS officer and Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare Department, Mohammed Mohsin, to explain his tweet on April 27 stating, More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only? What about? #Godi Media? They will not show the works of Humanity done by these Heroes.

The Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms (DPAR) while issuing the show-cause notice to the IAS officer on April 30 by order and in the name of the Governor of Karnataka has stated that the adverse coverage the tweet has got in the media has been taken note seriously by the Government given the serious nature of the COVID-19 issue and the sensitivities involved.

The government has directed Mohsin to explain in writing within five days as to why this should not be constituted as a violation of Rule 7 of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 and why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him under the provisions of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969.

If you do not submit your explanation/reply on or before the time limit specified above, it will be presumed that you have no defence to offer and further action will be taken as per the All India Services (D&A) Rules, the notice stated.

Mohsin was placed under suspension last year for checking Prime Minister Modis chopper in Odisha during his rally ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Shady Habash dies in Cairos Tora Prison, say lawyers, after two years in detention for directing video mocking el-Sisi.

An Egyptian filmmaker imprisoned without trial for more than two years for making a music video that mocked President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has died at a maximum-security prison complex, two rights lawyers said.

Shady Habash died in Cairos Tora Prison complex, his lawyer Ahmed el-Khwaga said on Saturday. He said the cause of death was not immediately clear.

His health had been deteriorating for several days  He was hospitalised, then returned to the prison yesterday evening where he died in the night, el-Khwaga told the AFP news agency, without giving further details.

There was no immediate comment from the interior ministry, which oversees Egypts prison system.

Police forces arrested the 24-year-old filmmaker in March 2018 after he directed a music video by Ramy Essam, an Egyptian musician exiled in Sweden.

The video featured a song that mocked the general-turned-president, comparing him to a fruit date and condemning alleged government corruption.

The songs lyrics lambast Balaha  the name given to el-Sisi by his detractors in reference to a character in an Egyptian film known for being a notorious liar. The video has had more than five million views on YouTube.

In a Facebook post, Essam said: Shady Habash has died. Shady was the kindest and bravest of people. He never hurt anyone. May God have mercy on him.

Essam, along with others among Habashs friends, published a letter that Habash had written from prison in October in which he spoke of his despair.

Prison doesnt kill, loneliness does, he wrote, describing what he called his struggle to stop yourself from going mad or dying slowly because youve been thrown in a room two years ago and forgotten.

His psychological state was very bad, el-Khwaga said of Habash when he saw him for the last time two months ago.

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Egyptian human rights activist Abdelrahman Ayyash said on Twitter: Shadi got very sick in his prison cell, his [fellow] inmates cried for help for some time, but guards and officers had not intervened until his last breath.

According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Habash died as a result of negligence and lack of justice, it said on Twitter.

Khaled Ali, a rights lawyer, said Habash should have been released two months ago after serving the maximum jail time during pending investigations.

Galal el-Behairy, who wrote the song performed in the video, was also arrested in 2018 after the video provoked the ire of the government when it went viral on social media.

El-Behairy was sentenced by an Egyptian military court to three years in prison after his conviction on charges of insulting security forces and disseminating false news.

Egyptian prisons

Habashs death again trained a spotlight on the dangers of Egyptian prisons as el-Sisi escalates a crackdown on dissent. Many inmates are serving time for crimes they insist they did not commit, or have not been charged at all. According to rights groups, thousands are held in Egypts jails awaiting trial.

The death also comes during the coronavirus pandemic, and overcrowded prison cells could be breeding grounds for the spread of the virus, which causes the illness COVID-19. Egypt has approximately 6,200 confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths.

Earlier this year, a US citizen who had gone on a hunger strike as part of a six-year battle against what he insisted was wrongful imprisonment, died in prison of heart failure.

Egyptian authorities said at the time that they would investigate the death of Mustafa Kassem, 54, an Egyptian-born auto parts dealer from Long Island, New York.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Many have claimed the Justinianic Plague (c. 541-750 CE) killed half of the population of Roman Empire. Now, historical research and mathematical modeling challenge the death rate and severity of this first plague pandemic.

Researchers Lauren White, PhD and Lee Mordechai, PhD, of the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), examined the impacts of the Justinianic Plague with mathematical modeling. Using modern plague research as their basis, the two developed novel mathematical models to re-examine primary sources from the time of the Justinianic Plague outbreak. From the modeling, they found that it was unlikely that any transmission route of the plague would have had both the mortality rate and duration described in the primary sources. Their findings appear in a paper titled "Modeling the Justinianic Plague: Comparing hypothesized transmission routes" in PLOS ONE.

"This is the first time, to our knowledge, that a robust mathematical modeling approach has been used to investigate the Justinianic Plague," said lead author Lauren White, PhD, a quantitative disease ecologist and postdoctoral fellow at SESYNC. "Given that there is very little quantitative information in the primary sources for the Justinianic Plague, this was an exciting opportunity to think creatively about how we could combine present-day knowledge of plague's etiology with descriptions from the historical texts."

White and Mordechai focused their efforts on the city of Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire, which had a comparatively well-described outbreak in 542 CE. Some primary sources claim plague killed up to 300,000 people in the city, which had a population of some 500,000 people at the time. Other sources suggest the plague killed half the empire's population. Until recently, many scholars accepted this image of mass death. By comparing bubonic, pneumonic, and combined transmission routes, the authors showed that no single transmission route precisely mimicked the outbreak dynamics described in these primary sources.

Existing literature often assumes that the Justinianic Plague affected all areas of the Mediterranean in the same way. The new findings from this paper suggest that given the variation in ecological and social patterns across the region (e.g., climate, population density), it is unlikely that a plague outbreak would have impacted all corners of the diverse empire equally.

"Our results strongly suggest that the effects of the Justinianic Plague varied considerably between different urban areas in late antiquity," said co-author Lee Mordechai, an environmental historian and a postdoctoral fellow at SESYNC when he wrote the paper. He is now a senior lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-lead of Princeton's Climate Change and History Research Initiative (CCHRI). He said, "This paper is part of a series of publications in recent years that casts doubt on the traditional interpretation of plague using new methodologies. It's an exciting time to do this kind of interdisciplinary research!"

Using an approach called global sensitivity analysis, White and Mordechai were able to explore the importance of any given model parameter in dictating simulated disease outcomes. They found that several understudied parameters are also very important in determining model results. White explained, "One example was the transmission rate from fleas to humans. Although the analysis described this as an important parameter, there hasn't been enough research to validate a plausible range for that parameter."

These high importance variables with minimal information also point to future directions for empirical data collection. "Working with mathematical models of disease was an insightful process for me as a historian," reflected Mordechai. "It allowed us to examine traditional historical arguments with a powerful new lens."

Together, with other recent work from Mordechai, this study is another call to examine the primary sources and narratives surrounding the Justinianic Plague more critically.

###

White, L.A. & Mordechai, L. (2020). Modeling the Justinianic Plague: Comparing hypothesized transmission routes. PLOS ONE. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231256

About SESYNC: The University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Annapolis brings together the science of the natural world with the science of human behavior and decision making to find solutions to complex environmental problems. SESYNC is funded by an award to the University of Maryland from the National Science Foundation. For more information on SESYNC and its activities, please visit http://www.sesync.org.
Voters in the heart of Portlands westside and eastside neighborhoods will see two options on the May ballot for candidates seeking a four-year term representing the Metro Councils fifth district.

The long-overlooked Metro Council represents the tri-county area and plays a significant role in growth, land use planning and transportation blueprints for decades. With a major homeless services project on the ballot, affordable housing bond in the rear-view mirror and a mega $7 billion transportation package expected to go to votes in November, its an important time for the agency and its governing council.

Bob Stacey, a Portland native and longtime political insider and environment attorney and land use expert, is seeking a third term on the council.

The 70-year-old has been in Portland politics for decades and worked in city, congressional and public transit settings as well as a lengthy stint leading the nonprofit land use planning agency 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Stacey faces one challenger. Leigha LaFleur, 45, moved to the region in 2001 and has worked as a paralegal in the intellectual property law world for years before shifting to working as a patent agent in 2012. LaFleur, a single parent of an 11-year-old, is a newcomer to political life. She cited Bernie Sanders as a key factor in her interest in politics.

As of Wednesday, Stacey had raised $86,160 since last summer. Some prominent donors include $5,000 from Raimore Construction, which is the general contractor on TriMets Division Transit Project, and $250 from Mary Nolan a candidate for Metros 5th district.

LaFleur has reported $24,635, bolstered by $22,000 in personal loans.

The Oregonian/OregonLive posed five questions to the candidates. Here are their responses, edited lightly for clarity.

What specifically in your track record would you point to that makes you the best candidate to represent this district and its diverse geographic area and interests on the Metro Council.

Stacey: I know the neighborhoods, people and businesses of District 6 because Ive lived here my entire adult life. As chief of staff to Commissioner Earl Blumenauer, Portlands planning director from 1987 to 1993 and as executive director for policy and planning for TriMet, I worked with many neighborhood, community and business leaders in East, Southeast and Southwest Portland. In my first two terms on the Metro Council, I co-chaired the intergovernmental steering committees for the Division Transit Project and the Southwest Corridor light rail project. The public engagement processes for those two studies involved nearly all of the diverse communities in my district.

LaFleur: Residents in Metro District 6 voted overwhelmingly for Bernie Sanders for president in the 2016 Oregon Primary. To me, this says that the residents of this district are strongly progressive and want progressive leadership. As a long-time Sanders supporter, I bring the progressive values and vision of Senator Sanders to this regional government role.

The Metro regional government is expected to send a $7 billion transportation package to tri-county voters in November. Some argue the package lacks a bold vision to transform the region. Others argue its too much of a financial burden during calamitous economic times and a global pandemic. What do you think?

Stacey: Ive helped the council focus this measure on outcomesclimate, safety and equitynot just projects. Theres a $42 billion list of projects and programs in our regional transportation plan. We must carefully choose what to focus on first. I support the 14 corridors we have selected. The projects along them will make streets safer, not wider; will move buses, cars and bikes more efficiently; and will bring MAX to Barbur, Tigard and Tualatin, 30 years after the line was first proposed. The measure will create 35,000 family-wage construction jobs. Its the right next step for our growing region.

LaFleur: I would call the measure ambitious. In some ways it bites off more than it can chew, creating a variety of projects with only partial funding. I think that its always the right time for new infrastructure projects, particularly ones that will put people to work immediately in family wage jobs. Im glad the project emphasizes safety hot spots, particularly on streets with inter-jurisdictional issues, like Southeast Powell Boulevard, U.S. 26 and Northeast and Southeast 82nd Avenue and Oregon 213, and does so through an equity lens.

How do you get to and from work, and why?

Stacey: My family does our share of driving. But my daily commute is ordinarily by bike or bus. For me, it makes sense. I live three miles from downtown and from Metro. It would cost me more to park all day than to take the bus. Getting to Metro by bike takes me 20 minutes. The bus, with a transfer, takes 35. Not everybody can do this. But if those of us who can leave the car at home do so, it will make the commute for everyone else that much safer and saner.

LaFleur: I have been working from home since 2013. My commute is easy and has a very low carbon impact. In my work as a Metro councilor, I will continue to telecommute as much as possible, for the variety of benefits it confers. Currently, the shortest trip from my house to the Metro Council chambers is 40 minutes by TriMet or 15 minutes in my fairly fuel efficient, late model Mazda. Depending on what is expected of me on any day after working at the Council office, I will prioritize trips on public transportation when practical.

The Rose Quarter Freeway project is right adjacent to your district. This has been a contentious fight for the past year. Do you believe this project will help the meet its regions climate goals, and if not, is it still a valid project because of its statewide importance?

Stacey: When our region finally implements congestion pricing, the Rose Quarter and other freeway expansion projects will be unnecessaryespecially if we use the tolling revenue to fund better transit and other ways to get around safely and efficiently. Congestion will go down because enough drivers will change their travel times or routes, or switch to other modes, to avoid the peak period tolling on the freeway. Unfortunately, the legislature has directed ODOT to use tolling to fund the $1 billion cost of the Rose Quarter expansion project. That means that motorists will likely see tolls at the Rose Quarter all daynot just during peak periods; and the money will be used to build an unnecessary and ineffective freeway expansion, instead of helping commuters choose alternatives to driving at rush hour.

LaFleur: While it may help improve safety, I dont think that the Rose Quarter Freeway project will help meet the regions climate goals. I think we need to be shifting away from projects that increase our carbon footprint, especially with the transportation sector being such a large source of carbon pollution.

Do you believe in induced demand? Meaning, if you add traffic lanes to a road, highway or freeway, it will invariable lead more people to drive?

Stacey: Induced demand is not a belief; its a description of normal human behavior. All of us want to take the fastest, easiest route to our destination. And now we have Waze and Google Maps to take the guesswork out of finding it. If Rose Quarter widening speeds up traffic on I-5, more people will take it until Rose Quarter is a bottleneck again. Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston and many other cities have tried to build our way out of congestion for decades (Houstons Katy Freeway has now reached 20 lanes in width), with only temporary effect. Rose Quarter, if widened, will prove the point once more.

LaFleur: Induced demand seems to be supported by evidence. When I think of places that have added to their roadway systems to combat traffic (like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles), these are places that also have the worst congestion. Increasing highway capacity also increases traffic related pollution, so there are multiple good reasons to not build more highways.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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The President, People With Conviction of Principle Association (PWCOP) Seth Birikorang has said that Ghanaians can only progress and develop if we return to our traditional ways life and governance. He said if some of our traditional ways of governance style are inculcated into our modern ways of doing things, things would be better than it is today.

He wondered why during the partial Lockdown where security personnel were deployed to ensure we all complied with the directives in order to safeguard our lives, but still, people were disrespecting the rules and behaving otherwise. "In my view, all these happened because we have denigrated our traditional system of governance and as such most Ghanaians don't respect authority as it was in the olden days".

Mr Seth Birikorang was speaking to D. C. Kwame Kwakye on GBC Radio Central's weekend morning show dubbed "Wnfr Yie" today Saturday 2nd May 2020 on the topic "Is Ghana a Traditional Country"?

When asked why does he think that, relegating our traditional system of government to the background has done us more harm than good, Mr Birikorang said, we have been practising Christianity and Islam for several years since its introduction, but lies, greed, corruption, selfishness and open disregard and disrespect for the elderly has increased. He further added that, in Ghana, 30% of all structures are churches and also church activities are held in almost all public schools across the country during weekends. "How has that helped us". He continued that Ghanaians are a very religious people of which 70% are Christians but still there is indiscipline among us as compared to Europe and America.

He averred that if all politicians are made to swear by the "Gods" of our land before occupying public office, all "these corruption allegations that are always made against politicians and political parties would subside and be weeded out of our system. People are afraid of our traditional system and same must be brought back into our modern government system".

"There are lesser "Gods" which we normally call them "Abosom". They were created but God Almighty not to be worshipped but controlled to help us to progress. There are "Gods" that are in charge of all sectors of our life and the one in charge of our economy when invoked to protect our financial resources would deal with corrupt officials who steal our money".

"God in his infinite wisdom created us as Africans and gave us our way of worship and how we do our things. If we go by that, we shall progress but where majority of us are Christians and have no fear in us, then we have a long way to go" Mr Birikorang added.

The PWCOP president said, "In recent past, who are you to disregard an invitation from a Chief? The Chiefs were our traditional leaders and we revered and worship them and as such there was discipline and order". But, unfortunately, today, the reverse is the case.

He further explained that Christianity and Islam in its current form fit the cultural milieu of their places of origin, hence they have used same to develop their economies. How come we cannot use same to develop our own?

Responding to what can be done now that we have closed our borders, PWCOP president said, government should consider resourcing our local industries to able to produce most of our basic needs in order to help revamp our economy and create jobs for the teaming unemployed youth. This should serve as a wake call to all of us to buy, use, and eat made in Ghana post-Covid-19.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has written a piece on Irrfan Khan, who died in a Mumbai hospital earlier this week after being diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour. The two actors have worked together in critically acclaimed films including Vishal Bhardwajs Maqbool and 7 Khoon Maaf.

Naseeruddin wrote for The Hindu, I never detected an iota of self doubt in the man, either as an actor or as a person and his willingness to repose trust in people, not to mention the intelligence that shone through in every thing he did, coupled with an almost feral magnetism gave his persona a tenderness, a quiet menace and a unique enigma that was the envy of many less hard-working actors who attribute success to Gods benevolence or inborn talent or good luck, none of which in my opinion made Irrfan what he was.

Also read: When Irrfan Khan was moved to tears by Nawazuddin Siddiquis performance, introduced him to Danny Boyle

The laid-back comfort in front of the camera for which he is acclaimed certainly didnt come easily. Not only were there years of thought and practice behind it, but also an uncanny understanding of what communicates in performance, and how and to what degree. I feel absolutely no embarrassment, in confessing that I greatly envied his acting chops. And after witnessing something he had done often wished I could turn back the clock, and go over some of my old performances with the benefit of the hindsight and the understanding of acting that was his gift to all us lesser actors. Watching him, I could not hold back an untrammeled admiration, that at his age he seemed to have fully grasped the technique of acting, yet stayed hungry to learn more. This admiration of course, would turn to wonder at the way he kept his work process so totally invisible, that it was impossible to understand exactly how he did, what he did, he added.

Irrfan has often said that one of his toughest roles was the one that he played in American TV series In Treatment. He essayed the role of a widowed man struggling to come to terms with his loss of his wife. In his biography of Irrfan, journalist Aseem Chhabra had quoted Naseeruddin Shah as saying, Irrfan called and said, Mere char-char page ke dialogues hain (in In Treatment). Kaise memorize karoonga? Aap kaise yaad karte ho? Maine kaha, Bhaiya time kitna hai aapke pass? He said, Ek raat hai. Phir to yeh raat to gayee tumharee. Sona wona bhool jao. Raat bhar baith kar yaad karo. Koi aur tareeka nahi hai. Koi jadoo ki pudiya nahi hai mere pass. Main hazaar dafa padhta hoon tab yaad hota hai. Is raat jitni baar padh sako padh lo. (Irrfan called and said, I have 4 pages of dialogues. How do I memorise them? How do you memorise such long dialogues? I asked him, How much time do you have? He said, Only one night. Then this night is gone. Forget about going to sleep. Sit up the whole night and memorise it. There is no other way. I dont have any magic trick. I read dialogues one thousand times, only then I am able to memorise them. So tonight try and read the dialogues as many times as you can.) And he delivered. Hes very good in the show.

In d year 2000 a film directed by #IrrfanKhan named ALVIDA starred me & I ws lucky 2 hv my mentor as my co-star in many films.

No 1 wil evr b able 2 fill his space in d entire world of cinema.

Never thot in d worst of my dreams, dat wil hv 2 say "ALVIDA" so soon RIP #IrrfanKhan  Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) April 29, 2020

About Irrfan, The Lunchbox co-star Nawazuddin Siddiqui also tweeted, In d year 2000 a film directed by #IrrfanKhan named ALVIDA starred me & I ws lucky 2 hv my mentor as my co-star in many films. No 1 wil evr b able 2 fill his space in d entire world of cinema. Never thot in d worst of my dreams, dat wil hv 2 say ALVIDA so soon RIP #IrrfanKhan.

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NEW YORK - The U.S. government was slow to understand how much coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the nation, a top health official said Friday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020, file photo, Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, as President Donald Trump stands behind her. The U.S. government was slow to understand how much the new coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks in the U.S., a top health official said Friday, May 1. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

NEW YORK - The U.S. government was slow to understand how much coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the nation, a top health official said Friday.

Limited testing and delayed travel alerts for areas outside China contributed to the jump in U.S. cases starting in late February, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the No. 2 official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We clearly didnt recognize the full importations that were happening," Schuchat told The Associated Press.

The coronavirus was first reported late last year in China, the initial epicenter of the global pandemic. But the U.S. has since become the hardest-hit nation, with about a third of the world's reported cases and more than a quarter of the deaths.

The CDC on Friday published an article, authored by Schuchat, that looked back on the U.S. response, recapping some of the major decisions and events of the last few months. It suggests the nations top public health agency missed opportunities to slow the spread. Some public health experts saw it as important assessment by one of the nation's most respected public health doctors.

The CDC is responsible for the recognition, tracking and prevention of just such a disease. But the agency has had a low profile during this pandemic, with White House officials controlling communications and leading most press briefings.

"The degree to which CDCs public presence has been so diminished ... is one of the most striking and frankly puzzling aspects of the federal governments response," said Jason Schwartz, assistant professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly celebrated a federal decision, announced on Jan. 31, to stop entry into the U.S. of any foreign nationals who had travelled to China in the previous 14 days. That took effect Feb. 2. China had imposed its own travel restrictions earlier, and travel out of its outbreak areas did indeed drop dramatically.

But in her article, Schuchat noted that nearly 2 million travellers arrived in the U.S. from Italy and other European countries during February. The U.S. government didn't block travel from there until March 11.

"The extensive travel from Europe, once Europe was having outbreaks, really accelerated our importations and the rapid spread," she told the AP. "I think the timing of our travel alerts should have been earlier."

She also noted in the article that more than 100 people who had been on nine separate Nile River cruises during February and early March had come to the U.S. and tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling the number of known U.S. cases at that time.

The article is carefully worded, but Schwartz saw it as a notable departure from the White House narrative.

"This report seems to challenge the idea that the China travel ban in late January was instrumental in changing the trajectory of this pandemic in the United States," he said.

In the article, Schuchat also noted the explosive effect of some late February mass gatherings, including a scientific meeting in Boston, the Mardis Gras celebration in New Orleans and a funeral in Albany, Georgia. The gatherings spawned many cases, and led to decisions in mid-March to restrict crowds.

Asked about that during the interview, Schuchat said: "I think in retrospect, taking action earlier could have delayed further amplification (of the U.S. outbreak), or delayed the speed of it."

But she also noted there was an evolving public understanding of just how bad things were, as well as a change in what kind of measures  including stay-at-home orders  people were willing to accept.

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"I think that people's willingness to accept the mitigation is unfortunately greater once they see the harm the virus can do," she said. "There will be debates about should we have started much sooner, or did we go too far too fast."

Schuchats article still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, said Dr. Howard Markel, a public health historian at the University of Michigan.

It doesnt reveal what kind of proposals were made, and perhaps ignored, during the critical period before U.S. cases began to take off in late February, he said.

"I want to know ... the conversations, the memos the presidential edicts," said Markel, who's written history books on past pandemics. "Because I still believe this did not need to be as bad as it turned out."

___

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.
Noelle Leigh Rascatti, 32, was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior while in the presence of a minor and booked at the Lake County Jail on April 22

A Florida mother has been detained in connection to a salacious video call with her inmate boyfriend while her young child was in the room.

Noelle Leigh Rascatti, 32, was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior while in the presence of a minor and booked at the Lake County Jail on April 22.

She has since been released after paying a $2,000 bond, according to jail records.

Rascatti was detained after a warrant for her arrest was issued by the Clermont Police Department.

The department was contacted by the Wildwood Police Department after they were contacted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office.

A detective had reviewed jail phone calls and came across one involving Tathan Fields, Rascatti's boyfriend, according to the Clermont affidavit obtained by the Smoking Gun.

The 26-year-old is currently serving a 15-year sentence for burglary and grand theft charges. He has two cases pending in connecting to masturbating in front of a female instructor while incarcerated and mailing a fake anthrax hoax.

A detective from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office had reviewed jail phone calls and came across one involving Tathan Fields, Rascatti's boyfriend, according to the Clermont affidavit

The various law agencies all reviewed a copy of the jail call video sent from the Sheriff's Office, which showed the two communicating via Telmate.

While Fields was listed under his name in the chat, which was done on computers, Rascatti had used the name 'Gabby Groff', the affidavit states.

The 26-year-old is currently serving a 15-year sentence for burglary and grand theft charges. He has two cases pending in connecting to masturbating in front of a female instructor while incarcerated and mailing a fake anthrax hoax.

Detectives from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office deduced the woman's identity by reviewing the account associated to the name Gabby Groff. A number an email found were discovered to have been tied to Rascatti.

Rascatti is listed as Field's girlfriend in the office's Master Index for Inmates.

The video call took place on March 25, at approximately 8.12am.

According to the affidavit, the video call showed Fields sitting in his jail cell while wearing an orange jumpsuit while Rascatti appeared to be wearing a pink robe. Police believe she was sitting in her bedroom.

Detectives noted that it was blotchy and hard to see at various points.

The affidavit states that as Rascatti readjusts her camera so Fields can get a better visual, the youngster comes into the view 'wearing a blue shirt standing directly right against her bed.'

Rascatti is said to have exposed her body from the robe while the child was in the room. Police note that she comments that the child woke up before her on that day.

The mother then goes to her closet and retrieves a pink box.

The affidavit states that Rascatti was then 'was completely nude on the bed and used various 'sexual Apparatus' while masturbating, as the young child was just feet away watching.'

The child could be seen talking and walking in the background throughout the clip, according to the affidavit.

The Wildwood Police Department was initially given the case as Rascatti was listed as living at an address in the area

The video call 'also displayed the view of Mr Fields also masturbating,' the affidavit says, which was in view of the child.

The Wildwood Police Department was initially given the case as Rascatti was listed as living at an address in the area.

At the address, police spoke with a man who identified the woman as being his ex-girlfriend. Authorities had the ex look over the footage and he was able to also identify the child, according to the affidavit.

The ex then informed police of Rascatti's new address, which was how the case was handed off to the Clermont Police Department.

Clermont Police drove by Rascatti's home on April 9 and found a white Nissan that was registered to the woman. It was then that they issued the charges against her.

Rascatti's next court date is scheduled for May 18.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens during the daily CCP virus briefing at the White House on April 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Fauci Will Not Testify Before House Panel Next Week on CCP Virus Response: White House

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top public health official, will not be testifying next week to a House panel probing the Trump administrations response to the CCP virus pandemic, the White House said on Friday.

While the Trump administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time, he added.

The statement came after The Washington Post first reported on Friday afternoon that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, would not testify as a witness for a subcommittee hearing on May 6.

The paper quoted House Appropriations Committee spokesman Evan Hollander who said that the White House was not allowing Fauci to appear. Hollander said that the House panel was told by an administration official that Faucis testimony was blocked by the White House.

The subcommittee is now set to hear testimony from Thomas Frieden, who led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration, Hollander said, according to the paper.

Fauci is a key member in the White House task force that coordinates the government-wide response to the outbreak of the CCP virus. He last testified before the House Oversight Committee regarding the CCP virus on March 11 and 12.

Fauci is set to appear next week at a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, its spokesperson said, according to The Associated Press. The hearing is scheduled for May 12.

In recent days, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have urged investigations into the Trump administrations response to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged from China.

In the United States, deaths attributed to the CCP virus have reached at least 65,000, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

President Donald Trump suggested on April 30 that he could impose new tariffs on the Chinese regime as a way to punish it for mishandling the CCP virus pandemic. He also said the administration was focused on investigating the origins of the CCP virus and Beijings role in its spread.

Trump told Reuters on the same day that the Chinese regime will do anything they can to make him lose his reelection bid in November, adding that Beijing was eager for Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden to win, in order to ease pressure on trade and other issues. Trump also said he believed the Chinese regime should have acted sooner to let the world know about the CCP virus.

A growing number of countries have stepped up calls for more transparency from the regime and for an investigation into its handling of the pandemic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Islamic State attacks Shia Militia Group in Iraq, 10 dead: Iraqi Security Service

Beirut, May 2 (Sputnik) Militants from the Islamic State (terrorist group, banned in Russia) have attacked positions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a Shia armed militia operating in Iraq, in the province of Saladin, and killed 10 militants, the Iraqi security service said on Saturday.

"Six fighters have been gunned down by militants from the IS during a late-night attack on a position of the Popular Mobilization Forces' 35th brigade in the Mukeshefah district in the Saladin province," the security service said in a statement.

Another three fighters were killed and four injured in a car explosion, on their way to the assaulted position. One more militant was shot by terrorists in a village in the nearby Samarra district.
B oris Johnson wants people in the UK to be back at work by the end of May if coronavirus cases are low enough, it has been reported.

According to the Sun, the Prime Minister and other officials hope some shops, offices and factories can reopen on May 26, the Tuesday after the bank holiday.

But this plan is only the "best hope", and could change if the current slowdown in coronavirus cases picks back up again.

A Downing Street source told the newspaper that the plan is "very much a live conversation".

A man wearing a face mask walks past Finsbury Park station / AFP via Getty Images

Speaking at the daily press conference on Thursday, Mr Johnson said: "Weve come under what could have been a vast peak, as though weve going through some huge Alpine tunnel

But he warned of the risk of a second wave of Covid-19.

The Prime Minister added: "It is vital we do not now lose control and run slap into a second and even bigger mountain."

Businesses will be told to put in distancing measures, like screens at shop checkouts and gaps between desks - while commuters could have their temperature taken before travelling, according to the Times.

A woman wears a mask in London / AP

Britons are worried about lockdown being lifted after more than a month of being told to stay home to save lives, a survey revealed.

The study, by Ipsos Mori, found that more than 60 percent of Brits would be uncomfortable doing regular activities like going to bars or restaurants.

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This shows the Government's plea to respect the lockdown has been "slightly too successful", Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

And a Cabinet source told the Sun: We will need to do a massive confidence-building job as everyone is still terrified. We have to persuade people its safe to go back.

Its all well and good central Government saying, do this now if the public dont want to. The truth is, in terms of timing the public are as big agents in this as we are.

A Londoner wearing a mask / REUTERS

The Government will set out detailed instructions next week on how businesses in different sectors should end the lockdown, with Business Secretary Alok Sharma to produce nine specific papers.

Pubs, bars and restaurants are still expected to remain closed for months to come despite other businesses opening.

Schools are also not expected to be told to re-open until June.

The Standard has contacted Downing Street for comment.
May 02 : Veteran actor Farida Jalal gets overwhelmed with the demise of veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, says she is in shock and needs time to process the news.

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor has passed away, he was hospitalised on Wednesday morning after complaining that he was not feeling well. He was admitted to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. Wife Neetu Kapoor was at his side.

Farida Jalal who has worked with Rishi Kapoor in numerous films, including his debut movie, Bobby, broke down over phone.

She said, What are you saying? Oh my god, what the hell is happening? Yesterday Irrfan Khan passed away and today Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) has passed away, oh my god, what the hell is happening? I am really shocked, I dont know what to say, I was very close to Chintu. I did his first film, Bobby with him. God have mercy, I dont know what to say, please give me some time, I need to process this, I cannot talk right now

In 2018, Rishi Kapoor was diagnosed with cancer for the first time, following which the actor was in New York for nearly a year to undergo treatment. He returned to India in September 2019 after recovering.

Post return to India, his health has frequently been in focus. The actor was admitted to hospital in quick succession in February. Amid speculations about his health, he had been hospitalised in New Delhi in early February, while on a visit to New Delhi.
In a series of tweets, Elon Musk said some things that may not have gone down well with investors resulting in a loss of $14 billion in value for Tesla. Tesla stock price too high, imo Musk tweeted adding that he wanted to sell all his possessions including his house. Musk also said that there was one condition to a sale. The house formerly owned by actor and producer, Gene Wilder was also going up for sale, but cannot be torn down. Trying to get some clarification from the Tesla founder, the Wall Street Journal asked if the tweet was a joke, to which Musk replied, No. The electric carmakers market cap is currently around $130 billion and it last traded for $701.32 (closing market price May 1).

Xiaomi reportedly recorded data of millions of its users and sent it to remote servers hosted by another Chinese firm, Alibaba. Cybersecurity researcher Gabi Cirlig told Forbes that the default Xiaomi Mi browser recorded all the websites that were visited on the device. Furthermore, the device tracked his activities even when he was supposedly using the incognito mode  a setting that prevents browsing history or cache from being stored. Xiaomi India responded saying the report is 'absolutely inaccurate'. "As an internet company, Xiaomi takes user privacy extremely seriously. Mi Browser follows similar protocols are any other leading browser in the world. It does not collect any user data that the user has explicitly given permission and consent to." The company further added that Mi Browser will never know what you browse in incognito mode as the user data is encrypted and anonymised. 'Lastly, all Mi browser and Mi Cloud data of Indian users is stored locally in AWS servers in India," the company further stated.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Samsung has confirmed to launch new Galaxy Note and foldable smartphones in H2 2020. The company typically launches its Galaxy Note series in August at the Unpacked event. This means we could possibly see the Galaxy Note 20 series sometime during the second half of 2020. The other confirmed news is a new foldable phone. Rumours of the Galaxy Fold 2 launch have been floating on the internet. Samsung was previously rumoured to launch the Galaxy Fold 2 in Q2 2020. However, the launch date must have been pushed forward due to the global crisis.

Apple and Google have rolled out the first set of COVID-19 contact tracing tools to developers. The coronavirus exposure notification API in a new beta update of iOS 13.5. For Android, Google has rolled out a new beta of its Google Play Services with the exposure notification API and an accompanying SDK to select developers. Both companies have also released the first seeds of the exposure notification API to public health authority developers to collect feedback on how to improve the API ahead of its slated release in mid-May. Apple and Google will share additional information with these developers, which will also include a sample code for developers to understand how the exposure notification system will work.

Xiaomi has globally unveiled the Mi Note 10 Lite and Redmi Note 9. The Mi Note 10 Lite is a toned-down version of the Mi Note 10 and features 6.47-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch for the 32MP front camera, a Snapdragon 730G processor with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and a 5,260 mAh battery with 30W wired fast charging support. There is a 64MP + 8MP ultrawide + 2MP macro+ 2MP depth sensor setup for photos and videos. Mi Note 10 Lite comes in two storage options and starts at EUR 349 (roughly Rs. 28,400). Redmi Note 9 specifications include a 6.53-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD, a MediaTek Helio G85 processor with up to 4GB RAM and 128GB storage, and a 5,020 mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. There is a 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP camera setup on the Redmi Note 9. For selfies, you get a 13MP front camera. Redmi Note 9 starts at USD 199 (roughly Rs 14,900).

Search engine giant Google has released a data set that reveals the difference in mobility trends in certain types of areas before and after the lockdown. The Google COVID-19 Community Mobility report until April 26 suggests that places that fall under the retail and recreation category witnessed a decline of 86 percent in terms of footfall. Among the worst-hit were public transport services, which saw a 66 percent decline in footfall between March 15 and April 26 across India. As many people are working from home, while the remaining stay isolated indoors, Google reported a surge of 22 percent in residential spaces. Surprisingly, Google recorded a 51 percent drop in areas like grocery markets, food warehouses, farmers markets, speciality food shops, drug stores, and pharmacies. These places have been allowed to remain open for providing essential items while following social distancing.
The Minority is requesting the Electoral Commission (EC) to brief Parliament on its preparedness for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.



The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, told Parliament yesterday that it was important that the House summoned the EC to present their road map to MPs as the country battles with Covid-19.



The independent EC, created under Article 45 of the Constitution, owes members of this House and Ghanaians a duty, hence they must be summoned to appear before the House to give their road map as to their preparedness in view of COVID-19.



Our democracy has evolved and our democracy will survive COVID-19, he said, saying that if we cannot get them to come and brief the Committee of the Whole at least they must come to the Special Budget Committee.



Voters register



The EC suspended its plans to compile a new voters register which was scheduled to begin on April 18, due to COVID-19.



The EC had said it was collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favourable date depending on the prevalence rate of the Novel Coronavirus.



Majority Leader



Responding to the concerns of the Minority, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the EC would come to brief the House or the Special Budget Committee on their state of preparedness for this years presidential and parliamentary elections.



We hope to God that the situation in the country will not deteriorate or degenerate and we hope to God that we shall witness some improvement in the system, he stated.



He said the President would not stay beyond the constitutional mandate given to him to administer the affairs of the country if the EC was unable to conduct the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections due to the outbreak of COVID-19.



The President does not intend to stay one day beyond the constitutional mandate given to him up to the midnight of January 6, 2020 and has strongly urged that whatever must be done in the current circumstances must be done, he stated.



Constitutional ambivalence



Responding, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said whatever the challenge the EC might encounter, the President had already assured Ghanaians of his readiness not to stay beyond his constitutional mandate.



So Mr Speaker, we all have to look up to the EC to put in the required measures for the conduct of the elections, he said.



Because the Constitution, we all do recognise, is a bit ambivalent beyond January 7, 2020 when elections cannot be conducted, he said, claiming that the Constitution was also not clear who should be the President in times of unforeseen circumstances.



There is a bit of ambivalence and some lacuna except to say that for Parliament in the event of any emergency, provision is made expressly under the Constitution to have the life of Parliament extended by one year and in any event not more than four years.



In the 12 months, who becomes the head of state? Is it Speaker in the absence of the President or the Vice-President? That is a bit troubling to us as a nation, he said.



He pointed out that in any event, the Constitution provided that when the Speaker acted as the President in the absence of a President or a Vice-President, elections must be conducted within three months to elect a President.



So, there is a bit of a conflicting situation in the Constitution. Mr Speaker, until all of us agree on something else nothing to the contrary could be done and we hope to God that the appropriate thing will be done, he prayed.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Russia and Pakistan reported their biggest one-day jumps in new coronavirus infections as some other countries and U.S. states where case numbers are stabilizing allowed businesses and public activities to reopen.

China, where the pandemic began in December, reported a single new infection Saturday, extending a steady decline in confirmed cases.

South Korea reported six new cases on Saturday, none of them in the hard-hit city of Daegu in the southeast. Both countries are easing anti-virus controls and reviving economic activity.

Russia reported 7,933 new cases on Friday, raising its total to 114,431. The true number is believed to be higher because not everyone is tested and Russian tests are reported to be only 70% to 80% accurate.

At least five Russian regions reported a surge of pneumonia cases. In Moscow, which accounts for half of all virus cases, all respiratory infections are likely to be caused by the coronavirus, according to the public health agency.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced Thursday he tested positive and would temporarily stop running the Cabinet. The construction minister and his deputy also have tested positive.

Pakistan announced 1,297 new cases, raising the total in the country of 220 million people to 18,114.

The increase coincides with increased testing. The government said more than 9,000 were conducted in the previous 24 hours. Prime Minister Imran Khan has set a goal of 20,000 per day.

Photos in newspapers showed large numbers of the faithful at Pakistani mosques and only some following social distancing rules. Khan's government said it might ease controls, but doctors have pleaded for stricter lockdowns, warning an explosion of infections would overwhelm hospitals that have only 3,000 intensive care beds nationwide.

Also Friday, the first drug shown to help fight the disease received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a study, remdesivir shortened patients' recovery time from 15 days to 11 on average and may have reduced deaths.

The virus has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide, including more than 64,000 in the United States and more than 20,000 each in Italy, Britain, France and Spain. Health experts warn a second wave of infections could hit unless testing is expanded dramatically.

President Donald Trump said Friday he hopes the total number of U.S. deaths will be below 100,000, which he acknowledged is a horrible number.

Models released by the White House coronavirus task force on March 29 projected deaths of 100,000 to 240,000 Americans, assuming efforts such as social distancing and staying home as much as possible were in effect. The task force director said the worst-case scenario was 1.5 million to 2.2 million US deaths without those measures.

As the crisis stabilizes in some European countries and American states, governments are easing the shutdown of businesses that plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.

France, Spain, Germany and other governments plan to allow factories, offices, other businesses, churches and some other public facilities to reopen gradually and under strict controls.

China has lifted blanket restrictions that kept 800 million people at home but kept in place extensive fever-checks and other monitoring.

On Friday, the former imperial palace in the Chinese capital, Beijing, reopened after a 2 1/2-month shutdown, but the number of daily visitors was limited to 5,000, down from the usual 80,000. Photos on social media showed palace visitors wearing masks and being escorted by police.

China has reported 82,875 confirmed virus cases and 4,633 deaths.

The country's ceremonial legislature is due to hold its annual session May 22, postponed from March.

Trump, who is running for reelection in the midst of a US economic slump that has wiped out more than 10 million jobs, is pressing state governors to lift anti-disease controls despite warnings by some health experts that might lead to a spike in infections.

On Friday, more than a dozen US states including Texas and South Carolina allowed restaurants, stores and other businesses to reopen in the biggest one-day push yet to revive their economies.

Other governors including Andrew Cuomo of New York, the hardest-hit American state, and J B Pritzker of Illinois say they won't relax controls until conditions are safer.

Also Friday, a New York City nursing home reported 98 deaths of residents believed to have had the coronavirus. Mayor Bill De Blasio called the toll horrifying.

The governor of Washington, where the first US virus case was confirmed in January, extended a stay-at-home order through at least May 31. The governor of Michigan said a similar order there is in effect through May 15 despite the state legislature's refusal to extend her emergency declaration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Correction: This story was originally published based on wire copy from Press Association news agency.

It has since transpired that the article written by Sir Michael Palin in Idler magazine was intended as a spoof of his time spent recovering from heart surgery and the events detailed in the story did not actually take place.

The kitchen on fire story is a complete work of fiction, written by me for a regular comic column I contribute to the Idler magazine, said Palin via a representative.

The original story appears below.

Sir Michael Palin attends the National Television Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on January 28, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Sir Michael Palin has shared how his life was saved by an elderly neighbour after he inadvertently set his own house on fire while recovering from heart surgery.

It came as the Monty Python star was told by doctors to rest at home after undergoing open-heart surgery in September.

The 76-year-old ran into trouble when doing breathing exercises to aid his recovery as he accidentally sent kitchen roll into a flame before things escalated when he attempted to extinguish the fire.

Read more: Amanda Holden releases song for the NHS

I leapt up and grasped a hand towel, which briefly smothered the flames before itself catching alight," Palin wrote in Idler magazine.

In some alarm now, as flames licked up towards the ceiling, I dialled the emergency services  but the moment we connected, the smoke alarm went off and I couldnt hear a word they were saying.

English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter Michael Palin poses during a photocall at the MIPCOM 2015 (International Film and Programme Market for Tv, Video,Cable and Satellite) in Cannes, southeastern France, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau )

Just caught something about washing my hands which made me realise that, without my glasses on, Id rung 111 instead of 999. But I washed my hands anyway, and by a fantastic stroke of luck, the loose tap that we never had fixed finally came apart, dousing the ceiling and partially extinguishing the fire.

Thankfully, the travel documentary star was then "pulled to safety" through a window by an 86-year-old neighbour who himself had undergone heart surgery the week prior, with Palin noting his luck that the man had been on rest and was able to come to his rescue.

Palin's reveal of his blaze battle comes in the same week Britney Spears divulged that she'd ended up burning down her home gym.

The pop star said it was several months ago that she had two candles burning before "one thing led to another" and it was burned down.
Jetmaker Embraer focuses on future after Boeing divorce 'pain' FILE PHOTO: Embraer's commercial aviation chief John Slattery talks to Reuters during the IATA meeting in Cancun

By Tim Hepher and Marcelo Rochabrun

PARIS/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The head of Embraer's <EMBR3.SA> commercial aircraft unit defended the benefits of a $4.2 billion tie-up abandoned by Boeing Co <BA.N> last week, but said the Brazilian aerospace group was focusing on its future as a re-united company.

Commercial Aviation Chief Executive John Slattery said Embraer had incurred pain and costs in separating jetliners from defence and business-jet activities in preparation for the merger, including a loss of deliveries in January.

He declined to comment on an arbitration process Embraer launched after Boeing abruptly cancelled the deal on Saturday.

Speaking in a webinar hosted by Aviation Week, Slattery said he was convinced the commercial aerospace partnership with Boeing would have provided "extraordinary benefits" to airline customers who had expressed disappointment at its collapse.

Boeing has said Embraer failed to meet conditions for closing the deal.

Slattery said Embraer was burning cash but had capacity to raise more if needed. "I am not concerned about liquidity."

It was the first public appearance by the company's commercial boss since the deal collapsed in acrimony.

The breakdown, first reported by Reuters, has captured the attention of an industry already facing its worst crisis over the drop in travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with 2,000 people tuning into the previously arranged webinar.

Slattery quipped that the audience was dominated by lawyers from each side as the two companies head for what is widely expected to be a bitter divorce case.

Embraer carved out its commercial unit and shut activities for 40 days in preparation for folding it into a new venture to be 80% owned by Boeing.

It also invested $30 million on a new headquarters for the remaining core of the Brazilian aerospace champion.

Slattery said the carve-out had resulted in some duplication between core Embraer and its commercial spin-off, but that the world's third largest plane-maker would rebound as "one Embraer".

ARBITRATION ROW

Story continues

The arbitration is expected to involve fierce debate over Brazilian claims that a tie-up cost Embraer spin-off costs and lost sales for its E2 against the Airbus A220, a Canadian-designed jet acquired from Embraer's historic rival, Bombardier.

Analysts say Boeing is expected to argue that Embraer needed to carry out reorganisation to prepare for potential alliances and that it failed to invest enough in the commercial arm.

Neither company agreed to comment on the case.

Slattery played up future demand for the E2, a regional jet sitting below the Boeing 737 MAX, as airlines turn post-crisis to smaller, less financially risky models.

Southeast Asia, one of the top markets for giants Boeing and Airbus, could see a move to such jets, he said.

Top aircraft buyers had backed the Boeing tie-up, saying Embraer lacked deep enough pockets to compete alone with Airbus, which can discount other jets to win A220 sales.

Brazil's government, which used to own Embraer and is its top military client, has suggested China could be a potential new partner for Embraer, even though several senior Brazilian government figures have attacked Beijing over the pandemic.

Slattery said Embraer had not initiated talks with anyone, but that he could not "legislate for the inbound calls that could come". The board will study next moves "in a very thoughtful way," he added.

Tentative plans for a new regional turboprop to compete with Europe's ATR <AIR.PA><LDOF.MI>, half-owned by Airbus, are no longer a priority because of the current crisis, Slattery said.

While the airliner's business case looked strong, he said, "it is hard to consider a new programme in this environment".

The prop plane joins other planemaker projects on the back-burner as the health crisis dents balance sheets.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Marcelo Rochabrun; editing by Alison Williams, Jan Harvey and Barbara Lewis)
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump moved to replace the top watchdog at the Department of Health and Human Services after her office released a report on the shortages in testing and personal protective gear at hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Friday night announcement, the White House nominated a permanent inspector general to take the reins from Christi Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general who has run the office since January.

The White House nominated Jason Weida, an assistant United States attorney in Boston, as permanent inspector general. The announcement said Weida was chosen because he has overseen "numerous complex investigations in health care and other sectors." He must be confirmed by the Senate.

Grimm's removal follows a purge of high-profile federal officials and inspectors general whose work has been critical of the president. Inspectors general at large agencies serve at the pleasure of the president, but they are considered independent monitors for waste, fraud and abuse.

Trump laced into Grimm at a news conference in April, after her staff report found "severe shortages" of testing kits, delays in getting coronavirus results and "widespread shortages" of masks and other equipment at U.S. hospitals.

The president demanded to know who wrote the report, calling the findings "wrong." He then accused reporters of having withheld that Grimm had worked in the Obama administration.

"Where did he come from, the inspector general? What's his name? No, what's his name? What's his name?" Trump responded on April 6, when asked about the report, which he said was politically biased. He then attacked Grimm on Twitter, writing, "Why didn't 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."

Grimm is a career investigator and auditor who joined the inspector general's office, one of the federal government's largest, in 1999 when Bill Clinton was president. She has served in Republican and Democratic administrations and is not a political appointee.

She took over the inspector general's office in an acting capacity in January from another acting official, who retired.

A spokeswoman for the IG's office said Grimm will remain in her current role as principal deputy inspector general.

"HHS OIG has for more than 40 years held a deep commitment to serving taxpayers and the beneficiaries of HHS programs," Tesia Williams said in a statement. "Our professionals have risen to a variety of challenges, including our groundbreaking work fighting the opioid epidemic and health care fraud, as well as oversight of the planning, response, and funding for COVID-19. We will continue to serve the American people by ensuring that their health and welfare are protected."

A White House spokesman, citing personnel decisions, declined to comment.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, criticized the president's decision. "We all know the President hasn't told people the truth about this virus or his Administration's response, and late last night, he moved to silence an independent government official who did," she said in a statement. "The President cannot be above oversight, no matter how he denies, attacks, and fights against it."

Grimm's report came as Trump was facing widespread criticism for his administration's response to the pandemic. Its findings were based on a survey of 343 hospitals in 46 states. Auditors did their research during five days at the end of March.

The report said its findings were "not a review of HHS response to the covid-19 pandemic" but were intended "as an aid to HHS as it continues to lead efforts to address the public health emergency."

But the auditors' conclusions amounted to the first official critique by the federal government of the health care system's capacity to cope with the flood of infected patients. And by substantiating complaints about inadequate equipment, the report called into question Trump's claims that hospitals and state officials were making inaccurate claims about their needs, or being greedy.

In the past few weeks, Trump has fired a prominent inspector general who pushed to investigate a whistleblower complaint that led to his impeachment on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in the controversy over aid to Ukraine.

He nominated a White House lawyer to oversee the massive spending Congress authorized to jump-start the economy during the pandemic, a decision critics have called a conflict of interest. The president also moved to block a prominent inspector general from assuming the leadership of a panel of federal watchdogs overseeing pandemic spending.

Trump has cleared out other officials he believed were not loyal to him in the months since his impeachment trial ended in an acquittal by the Senate, largely among party lines. Among other nominations the White House announced on Friday was a replacement for Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine. Yovanovitch was forced out a year ago, viewed as an obstacle to White House aides as they tried to pressure the Ukraine government to investigate Trump's Democratic political rivals.

Keith Dayton, Trump's nominee to replace Yovanovitch, serves as director of the George Marshall Center in Germany and as a senior U.S. defense adviser to Ukraine. After serving 40 years in the U.S. Army, Dayton retired in 2010 with the rank of Lt. General before accepting his latest assignments.
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In this excerpt, Biden is holding a virtual rope line campaign event and trying, unsuccessfully, to speak with a voter named Maureen:

EMCEE: Were going to take a question now from Maureen Jenkins. Maureen, um, you are unmuted. [Silence] BIDEN: Maureen, are you there? [Silence]

Another voter, Marie Perkins, then goes on to ask Biden, memorably, a few questions about animal rights:

MARIE: And will you prohibit animals from being hunted and brought into this country for trophies? BIDEN: Yes and yes. MARIE: Oh I love you.

Here, the raw tape from Bidens interaction with a voter brings to life his political predicament  campaigning for president from home  in a visceral, tangible and charming way.

Landing the perfect tape to convey the main ideas of our shows often takes hours of work. For every clip that makes it into an episode, our producers dig up dozens of dusty audio gems that dont get used.

For example, on Mondays show about the oil industry, the producers Michael Simon Johnson and Alexandra Leigh Young envisioned a tape-rich historical dive into the 1970s fuel shortage, an era described by our guest, Cliff Krauss, as a national trauma. Stella Tan, another Times producer, recalled that that idea sent her on a six-hour hunt through the warm color tones and careful enunciation of 1970s video footage.

Stella said she still is clinging to a piece of tape from that era that didnt make it into the episode: a clip of President Nixon pleading with Americans to lower their heat thermostats. It will be essential for all of us to live and work in lower temperatures. We must ask everyone to lower the thermostat in your home by at least 6 degrees, so that we can achieve a national daytime average of 68 degrees, Nixon said in a presidential address. Incidentally, my doctor tells me that in a temperature of 66 to 68 degrees, you are really more healthy than when it is 75 to 78, if that is any comfort.

For each show, producers uncover universes of sound. But sometimes, it only takes one bit of tape to get the job done.
A day after the Centre on Friday allowed the sale of liquor in standalone liquor stores as well as the sale of paan/gutkha and other tobacco products across the country from May 4 except in Covid-19 containment zones, stores are gearing up to resume business with social distancing norms and other guidelines in place.

The government has categorised all 733 districts across the country in three zones: red (hotspots); orange (having a limited number of Covid-19 cases); and green (no cases).

There are, however, strict social distancing norms in place. People going to such stores will have to maintain at least six feet distance between themselves and store owners will have to ensure that no more than five people are present at a shop at any given time. Spitting in public places remains punishable.

Liquor and paan shops inside malls or marketplaces are not allowed to operate yet. Neither are such stores in containment zones. Containment zones are those areas in red and orange zones that have been sealed due to a high number of Covid-19 infections. Only essential activities are permitted in these areas.

The government order on lockdown on Friday stated that any person violating the lockdown measures or directives could be prosecuted under the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The government had prohibited the sale of liquor and paan/gutkha since March 24, when the first phase of lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Since then, several states ,including Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab, repeatedly urged the central government to lift the ban on sale of liquor citing depletion of state revenues. Liquor is one of the major contributors to states coffers.

The International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), which has Diageo India, Pernod Ricard, Beam Suntory, Bacardi and others as members, had asked the union consumer affairs ministry to allow shops to sell alcoholic beverages for some hours during the day.

Another body, the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverages Companies (CIABC), had also asked the government to allow the sale of liquor, citing huge losses.

ISWAI chairman, Amrit Kiran Singh, said, We have committed to the government that social distancing will be maintained at the liquor vends. As soon as the latest guidelines come into force, we will begin a programme called Safe Shield, under which signs will be put outside all shops about social distancing. Sanitisers will be placed outside shops. There will be contactless sales through trays kept at the counter.

Singh added that the aim of the second phase of Safe Shield is to use services of online delivery platforms, such as Swiggy and Zomato, for delivery of bottles for which, he said, ISWAI is trying to convince the state governments. This will release the load from the retail stores.

The load on retail stores being released through online delivery will happen as soon as state governments allow it. It should happen immediately, Singh said.

As much as 75% percent of Indias liquor market is in retail while 25% is in bar sales, which stands prohibited. Last year, liquor sales brought in Rs 2.84 lakh crore revenue to state governments, according to Singh.

Covid-19 is going to stay for some time so we have to institutionalise Safe Shield and home delivery measures into liquor retail sales. If we do this properly, 75% of revenue to states can come back, he added.

A senior home ministry official, who didnt want to be named, explained on Friday that the decision to reopen standalone liquor stores across all three zones has been taken as part of resuming economic activity, which is directly linked to the revenues of the states. The state governments are free to decide where they want to open the liquor stores/paan shops.
The government has been accused of misleading the public over the number of people being tested for coronavirus, amid claims that ministers have massaged figures to make it look like targets have been met.

On Friday, the health secretary claimed that he had met his target of testing 100,000 people a day before the end of April, but significant discrepancies have emerged in the figures.

Matt Hancock had said 122,347 tests were performed in the 24 hours up to 9am on Friday, but a closer look at the figures revealed that many of the claimed tests counted had in fact not actually been completed yet.

The government had counted the posting of 27,497 home testing kits to households around the deadline as tests being carried out in the total, as well as 12,872 testing kits delivered to satellite locations  boosting its final day total by more than 40,000.

The change partly explains why the government claimed the 100,000 tests target had been met on the final day despite only 52,000 tests a day being carried out as of Tuesday and making very slow progress in the course of the month.

Just 39,573 tests were completed on the final day at NHS and Public Health England laboratories, with another 39,153 completed at drive-through sites.

The Health Service Journal reported concerns from a senior source close to the testing programme that the massive one-day boost in sending out tests, which were largely distributed by Amazon and Royal Mail, will prove to be unsustainable in terms of continuing to meet the target in the days ahead.

There are also concerns that home testing kits could prove to be inaccurate, with a high failure rate.

Angela Rayner, Labours deputy leader, said: If you cannot meet your target then the response should be we are doing our best and testing has significantly increased it should not be to fudge the figures. Unbelievable. and risks undermining confidence in the minister and government.

In another tweet Ms Rayner said Mr Hancock had misled the public.

Acting co-leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, also criticised ministers for playing fast and loose with the truth, adding: The health secretarys arbitrary target of 100,000 tests by the end of April was always a hostage to fortune, and the truth is, he missed it. Its extremely disappointing the government have decided to massage the metrics rather than admit they fell short, as this will only undermine public confidence.

He said that the British public wont be so easily fooled by manipulation and that the UK was still miles off the large-scale testing programme that will be an essential part of any plan to ease out of lockdown through a test, trace and isolate approach.

Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Show all 30 1 /30 Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Shoppers observe a minute's silence in Tescos in Shoreham Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Firefighters outside Godstone fire station PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute's silence at University College Hospital in London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A school children's poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A man holds a placard that reads "People's health before profit" outside St Thomas hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus University College Hospital, London Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute's silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London An NHS worker observes a minute's silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London AFP via Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Belfast, Northern Ireland NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Plymouth NHS workers hold a minute's silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Mater Infirmorum Hospital People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Waterloo Station, London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy's Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Royal Derby Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Leicester, NHS workers during a minute's silence outside Glenfield Hospital Getty

Professor John Newton, the governments testing tsar, defended ministers approach to counting.

All the tests are only counted once, and you can count tests when they go out or when they come back in, and whichever way you do it we still meet the target, he said.

He added that the use of home testing kids was very satisfactory despite concern that results from the self-swab kits may not be as accurate.

Professor Newton had previously stated: For any tests which go outside of the control of the programme, they are counted as soon as they leave the programme. Thats for the tests that go out to people home and in satellite centres.
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Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has written to the Governor of UP, Anandiben Patel, to seek intervention for the detention of Dr Kafeel Khan.

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IUML official statement mentions that Dr Khan has been kept under prolonged detention in the Mathura Jail despite his bail by a district court of Aligarh. The letter recounted that he was arrested on January 29 but was granted bail on February 10, but was then forcefully booked under the National Security Act (NSA) three days after his bail, on February 13.

IUML President Kader Mohideen has called Dr Khans arrest as arbitrary, calling him a savior who all through the stressful night at Gorakhpur Hospital kept arranging for oxygen at the BRD Hospital. He reminded in the statement that the Allahabad High Court had ordered his bail as there was no material on record, which may establish medical negligence against the applicant individually.

The official letter to UP government has underlined that it is the most horrid example of arbitrary state pervading all principles of fairness and justice that despite the bail, Dr Khan has not been released from the Mathura Jail. It brings to light that Mathura Jail had earlier refused release citing the order hadnt been issued through proper channels, to which CJM Aligarh had signed two orders of release and sent copies to Mathura soon. However, Dr Khan was not released even after the official order from Aligarh district court.

Informing the UP Governor that Dr Khan has been in continuous touch with his admirers by writing to them of ways to protect themselves from Coronavirus, IUML chief Mohideen, on behalf of the League, has demanded his immediate release. Dr Khans constant communication with his people even in difficult times shows his dedication towards his profession, IUML stated.

IUML highlighted that Khan has also offered his service in his own capacity in the present fight against the pandemic. In this regard, the League has urged UP government to intervene in the situation and expedite the release of Khan, stating that There would be no time to ensure justice for him, than the present, when realize the great help and service offered by the medical profession to humanity.
A Houston police officer was killed and another was critically injured when a helicopter crashed early Saturday morning into a Greenspoint apartment complex in north Houston.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo identified the fallen officer as Jason Knox, 35, the son of retired officer and Houston City Councilman Mike Knox. The eight-year veteran of the force has a wife and two children.

Council member Knox issued a statement on behalf of the family: "My wife, Helen, and I and Jasons wife, Keira, are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support from our Houston community. We celebrate all Jason embodied as a committed HPD officer and pilot who fully embraced his job and we celebrate Jason as he was outside of his work - a devoted husband, a loving father and our only son whom we cherished every day. Where there is great love, there is great loss. We love Jason with all of our hearts, as we always have, and we will keep all that he is alive for his children. As believers, we know Jason is in the loving arms of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We appreciate the privacy you have given us and continue to provide as we walk this road we would never wish for anyone, but that we now accept as ours."

Acevedo said Knox "always got back up" when he was knocked down.

"Our hearts are broken after the loss of an amazing officer. He was a great husband, father, son & friend," Acevedo said Saturday morning on Twitter. "Above all else, he was a kind, gentle, generous, & honorable American. Our hearts go out to his family & all that knew & loved him. We pray for God's comfort."

Knox, a tactical flight officer, and the helicopter's pilot, Chase Cormier were responding to reports of bodies in the bayou just before 2 a.m. in the 17000 block of Imperial Valley near Benmar when their aircraft careened into the apartment clubhouse. A medical examiner unit working a nearby homicide saw the helicopter go down "out of rotation," Acevedo said.

Residents of the apartment building waved down crews arriving on scene, and the officers were extracted from what Acevedo called the "very mangled wreckage." They were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where the pilot is in critical condition after undergoing surgery. The chief said that officer is "very banged up, some significant injuries, but we're hopeful he will survive." Police picked up the officers' families and brought them to the hospital shortly after the crash.

"The pilot and the co-pilot were trapped in the wreckage for a certain period of time," Acevedo said. "HFD assets responded to the scene and worked feverishly to cut the pilots out of the wreckage ...We need prayers for these officers."

Officials said it was a miracle that the pilot was able to avoid hitting buildings.

"There was a lot of fuel that was spilled on the scene, and as you can imagine, that fuel is very flammable," Acevedo said. "They put their lives on the line, as far as I'm concerned, they earned the medal of valor tonight when they were in that environment."

Acevedo said that the Cormier who was listed in critical condition is now conscious with severe injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash of the MD 369E chopper, though it is not traveling to the scene at this time. Acevedo said multiple gunshots were reported as police and fire crews worked the crash, and six people were taken into custody.

"The police department will actually approach this, from our investigative standpoint, as a homicide investigation because we've lost one of our own, and we know that we don't leave no stone unturned," Acevedo said. "So we will look at it from a criminal standpoint, again, to make sure there was no criminal activity that led to this tragic incident."

Mayor Sylvester Turner asked the city to lift up the Knox family.

"This is a sad morning," Turner tweeted. "I ask our city to pray, uplift, and bring comfort to them during this time. "

Knox was sworn in as an officer in June 2012. He was also a cop car aficionado and history buff. He ran the Instagram account VintageHPD for sharing old photos of Houston police officers on the job. His last post  about two hours before the crash  was to show off his Oilers-blue 1996 Chevrolet Caprice that he patched up in 2018 to resemble how the Houston patrol cars of his childhood used to look. His father used to drive him to school in similar, but older models.

Months after completing his Caprice project, Knox spoke to the Houston Chronicle about his penchant for restoring old police cruisers. He had plans to remake more cars, he said. For the Caprice, he scavenged old emergency light bars, computer consoles and other car parts to build his ride. He even found a unique paint code under the hood of a chopped-up police car near Hobby Airport to have his vehicle match the Oilers football uniforms.

At the time of the interview, Knox was part of HPDs Public Affairs Division. Even then, he gushed at the prospect of transferring to their helicopter unit. In January 2019, he got the job.

"If you ever saw Jason driving around in one of his restored Houston PD cruisers, you could see his pride in being an HPD officer," the Houston Police Officers' Union said. "Officer Jason Knox is the best of who we are and we will miss him dearly. Jason watched over us, from above, and we know he will continue to do so."

A Houston police lieutenant said on Twitter the sound of 75 FOX, as the helicopter was known, "arriving on a scene is one of the most calming sounds an officer can hear. They are the eyes in the sky & do amazing work. Today our hearts are heavy. Prayers to these officers & their families."

Last year, Knox was among two officers involved in a hard landing at Hobby Airport. The helicopter tipped over on Knox's side, but both officers escaped without serious injuries.

This morning, HPD escorted the fallen officer from Memorial Hermann Hospital.

This is a developing story.

alison.medley@chron.com
In the Royal Archives of the ancient Goka palace, it's recorded that students of Kingdom Builders were mandated to read the vilest story about a Prince whose toils to build the best of kingdoms for his kinsmen ended his blossoming life in a cruel murder.

The sad ending of the Prince's life is also a cautionary one to all royals when they're handed a sword to lead their people, and that they should be careful not to ever repeat it in their kingdom.

About that sad story of the Prince, it's written he walked the length and breadth of all the four corners of the world to seek knowledge that would build a Paradise-status kingdom for his people, one comparable to the future heaven written about in the Christian Bible.

Where he heard about a renowned teacher, the Prince pursued to tap knowledge from him.

The Prince was welcomed home after his sojourns, armed enough to embark on the noble duty of building a befitting kingdom for his people vis-a-vis their vast resources.

On assumption of his duties, he had realised that the merchants who came to trade their merchandise to his people had comatosed their ingenuity. To eat or cloth, the merchants dictated the best for his people.

Knowing from his studies that: 'when a man controls your food, he controls your mind', he, as was with magic wand awakened the creativity of his people. Their inventions now rendered the wares of the merchants not patronised anymore.

Seeing the Prince as using his acquired knowledge to enlighten his kinsmen, the merchants fiendishly made friends with the people. Unsuspectingly, the people were deceived by the merchants to kill the Prince and erect a statue to immortalise him if they indeed love him and appreciate his exploits for them. To win their innocent hearts, the devilish merchants quoted from their religious books about a Christ who was celebrated more after being hanged on a Cross. Adding that: heroes are made when they're killed for good deeds.

The people were won over, but not until agreeing with the merchants that the foreigners should do the killing, as they can't look at the noble face of the Prince and cause his murder.

Indeed, the Prince was injected with a poisonous substance, and his health deteriorated by the day. He later died of cancer. The merchants did the killing. His statues were mounted at every joint of the kingdom he'd built to celebrate him as their hero.

It didn't take long, the merchants sold to the people again what they'd not long ago produced on their own led by the Prince, this time, at an exorbitant cost.

They regretted and wept for listening to the poisonous counsel of the merchants. But the seas of tears couldn't inject life into the Prince's statue to get him down walking from the pedestal he's mounted on.

Today, all over Africa, Ghana included, we're hearing of Africans inventing ventilators, nosemansks, Veronica Buckets and many other scientific equipments that stems the infection and spread of the global pandemic coronavirus Covid-19.

In adversity, two lessons are learnt. That of sorrow, and other of wisdom.

In Kwame Nkrumah's Africa Must Unite, he writes that: "When I came to power, I realised that what our schools are reading would forever make us slaves to those we not long ago freed ourselves from. To be true independent and self-sufficient, we have to change the syllabus of our schools and teach our children what will build a true African state" (sic).

Covid-19 is teaching us today that the African can use his creative mind to produce his needs. If what we consumed had been dictated by outsiders for far too long, and the closure of all the world's borders means: 'eat what you produce, and produce what you eat', then it's high time we don't only celebrate the statue of our good old Prince, Kwame Nkrumah.

His ideas still lives. They're intertwined with those of the *One Ghana Movement (1GhM).* And looking at the side of the silver lining in the Covid-19 clouds, we hope this pandemic change our education system for better. The theoretical rote learning of our education system should give way to revisit the days at the dawn of Africa's independence when our forebears practically built what we needed.

*Written by: Charles Yeboah (Sir Lord)*

*The Founder Of One Ghana Movement (1GhM)*

*Email: [email protected]*
If you are looking for a stock that has a solid history of beating earnings estimates and is in a good position to maintain the trend in its next quarterly report, you should consider Copa Holdings (CPA). This company, which is in the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry, shows potential for another earnings beat.

This holding company for Panama's national airline has seen a nice streak of beating earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports. The average surprise for the last two quarters was 7.83%.

For the most recent quarter, Copa Holdings was expected to post earnings of $1.98 per share, but it reported $2.17 per share instead, representing a surprise of 9.60%. For the previous quarter, the consensus estimate was $2.31 per share, while it actually produced $2.45 per share, a surprise of 6.06%.

Price and EPS Surprise

With this earnings history in mind, recent estimates have been moving higher for Copa Holdings. In fact, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) for the company is positive, which is a great sign of an earnings beat, especially when you combine this metric with its nice Zacks Rank.

Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. In other words, if you have 10 stocks with this combination, the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Copa Holdings has an Earnings ESP of +7.17% at the moment, suggesting that analysts have grown bullish on its near-term earnings potential. When you combine this positive Earnings ESP with the stock's Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), it shows that another beat is possibly around the corner. The company's next earnings report is expected to be released on May 6, 2020.

Story continues

When the Earnings ESP comes up negative, investors should note that this will reduce the predictive power of the metric. But, a negative value is not indicative of a stock's earnings miss.

Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate, but that may not be the sole basis for their stocks moving higher. On the other hand, some stocks may hold their ground even if they end up missing the consensus estimate.

Because of this, it's really important to check a company's Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.



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HALIFAX - Former Canadian Armed Forces officers say it appears a naval Cyclone helicopter struck the waters off Greece with sudden and massive force, and investigators may face challenges determining what caused the tragedy without recovering the aircraft.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 2/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A memorial pays respect to the victims of a military helicopter crash, at 12 Wing Shearwater in Dartmouth, N.S., home of 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, on Friday, May 1, 2020. A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter flying from the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Fredericton crashed off the coast of Greece while taking part in a NATO exercise as in the Mediterranean. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - Former Canadian Armed Forces officers say it appears a naval Cyclone helicopter struck the waters off Greece with sudden and massive force, and investigators may face challenges determining what caused the tragedy without recovering the aircraft.

The crash took the lives of six military personnel when it went down Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea as it was returning to the Halifax-based frigate, HMCS Fredericton.

The Canadian Forces members have been identified as Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald of New Glasgow, N.S.; Capt. Kevin Hagen of Nanaimo, B.C.; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin of Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke of Truro, N.S.; Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins of Guelph, Ont.; and Sub-Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough, originally from Toronto.

Retired Colonel Larry McWha the former commanding officer of 423 Squadron, which flies CH-148 choppers out of the helicopter base in Shearwater, N.S., says images from the area show the debris field of the crash is not large and the oil slick isn't widely spread out, suggesting a high-speed and violent crash that caused some portions to break off immediately.

He says it's the ocean equivalent of an aircraft crash onto land that leaves "a smoking, black hole" at the point of impact.

Ken Hansen, a Halifax-based independent defence analyst and former naval officer, said the crash is puzzling, as sparse details released to date don't give any indicators the crew was aware of a potential problem.

He said sources at 12 Wing Shearwater, the downed helicopter's home base, have told him that the crew was "a star crew, top-notch people," and he says the chances of pilot error are very low.

In addition, Hansen said he was also told that the aircraft's maintenance had recently been "completely redone" before the deployment.

"It's something that would have been done normally for an aircraft going out on a six-month deployment. It was in top condition," he said.

Crew members aboard HMCS Fredericton pay their respects to the fallen during the vigil for the deceased members of the CH-148 Cyclone accident, in the Mediterranean Sea on May 1, 2020 in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Canadian Armed Forces, Able Seaman Madison Cross *MANDATORY CREDIT*

The Cyclone has a self-diagnostic maintenance system and Hansen said this can warn operators of issues long before they can be discovered through direct observation.

Like McWha, he said the known debris field indicates the Cyclone hit the water with great force.

"That means a major event took place, something catastrophic," said Hansen.

McWha said from what he knows of the crash, it could prove crucial to recover as much of the helicopter as possible  a challenging task given the depth of the water in the area.

He notes the aircraft, except for a door and some small pieces, disappeared below the surface and has not been located.

He said he suspects it may have landed on a sloped ocean bottom and gravity may carry it into very deep waters.

McWha says while a flight data recorder and voice recordings may tell investigators some details, they often need portions of the aircraft to discover the causes  particularly if there was a mechanical failure  in order to examine the broken part.

For example, when a civilian counterpart of the CH-148 Cyclone crashed off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2009, resulting in 17 deaths, investigators from the Transportation Safety Board were able to find broken titanium studs to indicate the gearbox oil filter assembly had broken off.

Rear Admiral Craig Baines, the commander of the navy's maritime command, told reporters on Friday that no conclusions can be drawn yet as the military flight investigators haven't yet examined the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder or interviewed HMCS Fredericton crew.

Among the few details revealed, he estimated the crash occurred "within two miles" of the frigate, but he didn't indicate how close the helicopter was to ship or how many eye witnesses there were.

The twin-engine Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is the military variant of the commercially used Sikorsky S-92.

Hansen, a military analyst, said his sources have told him, "the aircrew were absolutely thrilled to fly the thing, it was a huge success until this recent setback."

However, McWha notes that Canada is still awaiting the final delivery of 10 of the 28 Cyclones, which were already years behind schedule due to the federal government requiring changes prior to accepting the aircraft.

"That's because they're still upgrading issues that had to be rectified," said McWha.

After scouring the seascape with its NATO allies, the Canadian Forces warship formally ended its search for survivors Friday.

The ship was to dock at an Italian port during the weekend.

"Repatriation efforts are still being discussed with the families, as they are of course the priority," a Canadian Forces spokeswoman said in an email.

"As you can appreciate, the investigation team are busy with their very important work and it would be too soon to discuss details."

"The commander of HMCS Fredericton is also mourning his team, helping the crew through this extremely difficult time, and of course managing the ongoing deployment efforts."

Baines has said Fredericton's crew would remain in Italy for several days before returning to resume its role in the NATO mission.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2020.

 With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version of the story said there were 18 helicopters still to be delivered, when in fact there are 10.
With Covid-19 cases on a sharp rise in Tanzania, there is now widespread speculation that three of its lawmakers who died in a space of 11 days might have contracted the virus. Its a concern which has prompted the countrys leading opposition party Chadema to call for a suspension of parliament.



Chadema told its MPs to self-isolate for two weeks and stay away from parliamentary buildings in the capital Dodoma and main commercial city of Dar es Salaam. Members of the Chadema Party should immediately stop attending parliament sessions and should not go anywhere near parliament offices, Chairman of the party Freeman Mbowe said in a statement on Friday.



Justice minister Augustine Mahiga died on Friday morning it follows the death of lawmaker Richard Ndassa on April 29 and Gertrude Rwakatare, who died on April 20.



But despite these high-profile sudden deaths, the Tanzanian government and the political establishment have been vague as to whether the politicians contracted the virus or not.



Adding to the uncertainty and speculation around these cases is the fact Tanzanias leadership had taken a more relaxed approach to prepare for the possibility of an outbreak than neighbouring countries.



Ever since the virus found its way into the continent, most African countries have imposed strict measures such as banning public gatherings including closing down churches and mosques to contain the virus. However, Tanzanias President John Magufuli, who is a Christian, has allowed all places of worship to remain open in the country despite the government at the same time promoting physical distancing.



Magufuli has described Covid-19 as a demon (shetani), and declared all places of worship to be open because this is where God and true healing (uponyaji wa kweli in Kiswahili) are found. However, this has only led to a lot of criticism from public health experts who see it as downplaying a dangerous pandemic and that it will only perpetuate the virus problem in the country. Some commentators have described Magufulis stance as a failure to adequately address the pandemic.



Tanzania is set to hold general elections later this year to elect the president and the National Assembly, and Magufuli is likely to be the nominee again for the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi. However, his handling of the pandemic might only end up creating a window of opportunity for the opposition even though they have never won an election before.



The Tanzanian government has been heavily criticized on social media on the failure to give daily updates about the situation. This lack of updates led to speculations that the authorities were concealing the true number of cases. Official numbers are that there are now 480 confirmed cases with 16 deaths.



African politicians and public officials have been vulnerable to the disease like its been the case in Europe with examples including British prime minister Boris Johnson.



This week, Guinea-Bissaus health ministry revealed its prime minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam tested positive for the novel coronavirus along with three of his fellow cabinet members. Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari lost his closest aide to the virus, Abba Kyari, often called the second most powerful person in Africas most populous nation.





Source: Yahoo









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No other crisis has changed the IT sector as much as COVID-19. Not even 2008 global financial crisis. Starting from changing its working model to re-purposing service lines, IT sector is undergoing a transition, all in the matter of few weeks.

Both during financial crisis and Y2K, the sector witnessed financial setback and job losses, which lasted for couple of years.

However with COVID-19, it is different for one reason. None has brought the behavioral changes, which is likely to last, like the coronavirus pandemic did.

It started with moving from on premise work culture to WFH with TCS obviously taking the lead saying the model would be permanent.

IT/ITeS players managed to enable WFH in 2-3 weeks for close to 80-90 percent of its workforce. Firms are working with other companies to get permission to let the rest of them WFH.

Of course, the transition was not without any hitches. Productivity dipped initially before it increased. Keshav R Murugesh, global CEO, WNS Global Services, a business process management firm, said after initial hiccups, the company is operating at 80 percent of clients required capacity and is ramping up every day.

This is more or less going to be the new normal.

R Srikrishna, CEO, Hexaware Technologies said, In the medium term, at least for a year till vaccine is found, WFH will continue. At any point we will have 50 percent of the workforce WFH. Again, all these are subjected to regulatory approvals.

That is just one aspect. There are visible changes in terms of real estate, businesses, employee engagement and campus life for instance.

Re-looking its business portfolio

Sridhar Vembu, CEO, Zoho, Chennai-based Software-as-a-Service firm, said in a recent media interaction that companies should re-look their business models at the back of the crisis.

For most tech businesses, US and other overseas countries account for majority of the business. According to Vembu, this should change. For in the emerging world, this would just not work.

"So the 90-10 pattern we have right now cannot continue. So it will be either 70-30 (70 being overseas) or 50-50," he added. The company will now have an increased domestic focus, he added.

For IT firms, cloud is one of the key focus areas as enterprises are now looking to migrate for business continuity. Hexaware too has now shifted its focus to touchless tech, automation and cloud.

Changing work spaces, digital engagements

In terms of commercial real estate, it is dead for now, commented another executive. If WFH becomes a norm, commercial real estate expense would come down for the IT sector and of course not to mention less congested roads.

However this also means the IT campuses would be missing its usual buzz.

When Wipro opened its Kochi campus to welcome 120 employees on April 27, it was a very different work space. There were security guards in protective gears and sanitisers to welcome the employees. Within the campus too, things had changed dramatically to follow social distancing.

For instance, in food courts, one table can seat only two in place of four or six earlier. Lifts can accommodate only two in place of five or six before.

With social distancing being the buzz word, employee engagements will have to move online. Srikrishna said, In terms of employee experience, we are trying to bring in the same buzz of campus through digital world.

We are having town hall every weekend now. We are getting celebrity chef teaching our employees to cook certain dishes. A celebrity DJ for a live show. So our employees are more motivated than before, he added.

But will this work on long term?

This cannot be sustained, admits Srikrishna. While digital engagement work, a purely digital engagement will not be sustainable for either employees or clients. Everyone wants to get back to normalcy, he added. However, like Srikrishna pointed out, it does give a company room to discover new ways of engaging employees.

Even for client meetings, technology alone will not be enough and personal touch will be needed. Rajesh Ganesan, Vice President, ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corp, said that not having face-to-face meetings have put additional stress on the sales team.

While travel will be out of question for now, the company had stepped up its local sales team across India and overseas locations such as Europe, China and Australia.
Dilemmas of development post COVID-19 By Sheran Fernando Features View(s): View(s):

The purpose of this article is to raise some issues that face the Government, in an attempt to generate public awareness and discussion of these issues.

The main issues raised, segment into two broad categories. One category is regarding welfare and how the Government will treat the social welfare and the corporate welfare burdens it carries. The next area of concern is with its policy regarding nationalism or globalism. These conflicts face not only Sri Lanka, but all other nations with similar economic constraints, in the face of COVID-19.

This article does not focus on suggesting solutions but instead raising questions.

Government and welfare

The Government was quick to introduce policies to encourage corporates to pay wages to their employees. They were also quick to send out relief foodstuffs to daily wage earners. The Government was supported by private initiatives as well.

Dr. Wasanthi Wickremasinghe of the Gamini Corea Foundation has estimated that the total employed population is around eight million, and around three million could be self-employed. A further 4.7 million are employed in agriculture, industry or service sectors. From this number, there could be a further one million that could lose their livelihood or at least a part of their income. Garments and tourism workers will be challenged in the short and medium term. Dr. Wickeremasinghe also estimates the cost of feeding a family at Rs. 17,600 per month. This data gives some indication of the financial magnitude of the problem.

Three questions arise:

1 In the case of employees, should the Government support them directly, or through the companies they are employed by?

2 Can the Government afford this expenditure?

3 Is this welfare the responsibility of the Government or should other segments of society also contribute to this burden?

Pertinent to the first question, Sri Lankan-born tech-entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya, partner of Social Capital Partnership which is a VC (venture capital) fund with an asset base of over US$1 billion, in a recent interview with CNBC argued aggressively that governments routing welfare payments direct to the people was more efficient than offering the same support to corporations.

In terms of second and third questions, in an interview with Americas National Public Radio (NPR), Ray Dalio, the founder of the worlds largest hedge fund, states that the world has had a huge wealth gap that capitalism has not been able to fill. His theory is that, in the wake of the pandemic at both global and national level, purchasing power will have to be given back to the people. The picture he paints is an unprecedented transfer of wealth, which he argues will both increase the size of the pie and distribute it in a more equitable and sustainable manner.

In India, a group of entrepreneurs led by Amit Chandra of Bain Capital enabled a fund of US$ 100 million to help corporates in India recover from the virus. Since these leaders were administrating an investment fund, they could take entrepreneurial decisions and lend based on cash-flows or intuitive probability of entrepreneurial success.

Nationalism and globalisation

The global pandemic disrupted international supply chains. This led to an insecurity that in turn provoked countries entertaining nationalist policies. Many nations are looking at food self-sufficiency. Japan has announced that the Government will support corporates to invest in alternate supply chains that offset the risk of being dependent on China.

Within this global context, the following three areas warrant discussion in Sri Lanka:

Banning of imports and import substitution initiatives

State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and international synergies

Foreign grants and bilateral trade

Banning of imports, import substitution initiatives

The President at an interview with his Senior Advisor, articulated his vision to develop the national economy and the national productive base. An analysis of the Sri Lankan import and export statistics reveals that we are importing a large quantum of goods that we can easily omit. Towards this end, a list of goods that may no longer be imported has been legislated.

With regulations come the possibility of circumvention and a lack of transparency. The question of how imports are to be controlled needs careful examination and implementation.

A further question is how the efficiency of the National Production Drive can be ensured. National production and food security are areas that every country is looking at in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock. There are some products that Sri Lanka will not be able to produce at global efficiency norms, if we are to supply our local market. Take for example motor vehicles with Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs). India and China, because of the scale of their local markets will always have a cost benefit in production. Hence, it is more efficient for Sri Lanka to import vehicles and levy an import duty rather than opt for manufacture. This would not be the case if we were contemplating the manufacture (or assembly) of Electric Vehicles, as the components are homogenous and economies of scale are less significant when compared with ICEs.

National production is a complex problem that would need to be studied by economists that specialise in this field. Nationalism should be balanced with efficiency.

SOEs and international synergies

SriLankan Airlines and its predicament is an example of the complexity of the issue of SOEs. The airline is a perennially money-losing business that has resisted reform. Their predictions publicly articulated envisage a loss of Rs.30 billion ($160 million) in the next six months. Given the catastrophic effect of the pandemic on air travel, this estimate may be optimistic. Can the government lose this cash and risk an even greater loss?

Will the Government have the political courage to restructure the airline?

Should we look at making temporary arrangements with other carriers to provide short haul and long haul capacity from Colombo in a post-COVID era whilst arriving at a feasible strategy for the airline?

If this strategy entails the sale of profitable related businesses, like ground handling and catering, how can it ensure that these transactions are carried out transparently at fair market value?

Similar strategies could be adopted to a host of SOEs some that will ease the Government of funding pressure and others that will realise significant capital inflows.

Foreign grants and bilateral trade

The grant of $488 million by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an example of a foreign grant that has national benefit yet, has been attracting political dissention.

Sri Lanka stands to lose this grant if we dont sign the MCC agreement within the next few months. No one has raised objection to the benefits of the areas to be covered under the grant. Passionate objections have been raised questioning the motivation of the lenders and the clauses of the agreement. However, Sri Lanka has been signing similar agreements with similar clauses under USAID for decades. Given COVID-19 and the pressure against the LKR, and also given Sri Lankas lack of fiscal space, this and all such grants are invaluable at this time. Would the Government look at the MCC and all such grants this afresh, without politically-coloured lenses?

Labour laws, access to finance

Sri Lankan labour laws have been cited as an area of concern and an impediment to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This could be an opportune time to address this issue.

The NDB and DFCC have turned into banks, leaving a vacuum in the market for developmental finance. Sri Lankan corporates will need assistance to stay in business. Further, they will need funding to reorient themselves to take advantage of post COVID-19 opportunities. The corporate assistance package announced by the Government entails the banks to take the credit risk in the lending. Will this lead to the banks limiting lending to companies whose balance sheets are not strong enough or dont have adequate collateral? Will companies with strong cash-flows get left out?

The Government has a significant stake in NDB and DFCC. Would amalgamating them and reconstituting them as development finance institutions provide more funding for Sri Lankan companies to thrive?

The penultimate question is whether the Sri Lankan legal framework relating to commercial law is robust enough to support modern commercial disputes and to pose the question if our legal system is an impediment on increased FDI.

If COVID-19 could enable Sri Lanka to negotiate significant debt moratoriums this alone would be a significant benefit. Beyond this, the post coronavirus commercial world could present opportunities for Sri Lanka. The final question is will Sri Lanka grab this opportunity?

(The writer is a Co-Founder of Innosolve Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd,

a start-up dedicated to introducing sustainable mobility solutions in Sri Lanka).
The Florida grasshopper sparrow is a living symbol of the unique grassland called the Florida prairie defining it by its song and presence, and it is part of the states avian culture. It sits at the baseline of the balance of nature, eating insects and grasshoppers  hence its name  and in turn being consumed by a variety of predators.
By Leonard "Guzz" Brophy

Although there has been some grumbling online about the severe stay-at-home orders in Santa Monica, so far there has been no organized (or even disorganized) protesting on the city streets. That has not been true elsewhere throughout the country, with protests of varying sizes taking place in at least 11 states. This includes portions of California outside Santa Monica.

The four protests large enough to get media attention in California have happened in Huntington Beach on Friday, San Diego and Encinitas on Saturday, and in front of the state capitol in Sacramento on Monday. The Huntington Beach event triggered some laughter with people holding signs comparing this situation to civil rights and freedom issues of the past (think George Washington, Rosa Parks). And there was a woman who held the sign saying "Social Distancing = Communism," with a photo of it widely shared on social media.

"I think it's really important during this time [to show] that Americans are tired of this lockdown, shutdown... We've complied long enough. Let's open up the country," protester Lisa Collins told ABC 7.

A Costa Mesa resident was arrested at the protest for allegedly threatening a television news cameraman, but there was no actual violence reported. The Huntington Beach Police Department acknowledged the peacefulness of the event.

"Although this event was peaceful, we do not encourage our residents to loosen their social distancing practices just yet," a department statement said. "It is still not OK to gather in groups."

The Monday protest in Sacramento that attracted what the media are saying was "hundreds" of people really got the California Highway Patrol's attention. The state police force said it will no longer allow gatherings in front of the capitol building because the event that was only supposed to be a parade of cars became much more than that.

"Permits are issued to provide safe environments for demonstrators to express their views," the CHP said in a statement. "In this case, the permit for the convoy was issued with the understanding that the protest would be conducted in a manner consistent with the state's public health guidance. That is not what occurred, and CHP will take this experience into account when considering permits for this or any other group."

Finding out "who is behind these protests" is now a mission of various journalists. The answer is more complicated than "it's a bunch of Trumpers." According to various sources, the first organized protest in this country took place in Michigan last week. Organized by a group called Operation Gridlock that was formed by two conservative groups-Michigan Freedom Fund and the Michigan Conservative Coalition-the leaders encouraged people to stay in their vehicles and practice social distancing guidelines, but many among the thousands who came to the rally did not listen to this recommendation.

"Many ignored the demand [to stay in the cars], wrote Allan Smith from an NBC affiliate in Michigan. "Demonstrators, on foot, were seen waving American, 'Don't Tread on Me,' and Trump campaign flags. At least two Confederate flags were spotted."

Chants of "lock her up" (referring to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, not Hillary Clinton) could also be heard, according to Smith. "Open up Michigan" was another rallying cry.

We do not know if these people highlighted by the NBC reporter represented a majority of those at the rally, or if they were just the easy pickings for a good story. The Observer was not invited to the event to get the first-hand experience. Based on posts on the organizers' Facebook page, there were plenty of people who although they want the state to reopen quickly, they do not like that the attention went to the more extreme members of their group.

"The guys on the steps of the Capitol are putting this protest backwards," one person wrote. "Now, we are going to be portrayed as far-right extremists. Thanks a lot jerks...Stay in your damn car and put the freaking rifles away...You're going to ruin this for everyone!"

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Last year, Google made the final push to enable RCS on Android-powered devices across the world. After enabling RCS in the US, UK, Mexico, and France using Googles own servers via the Android Messages SMS app, the RCS-based Chat service is now going live for Android users in Italy and Singapore.

Google Chat is an RCS-based platform that enabled the next-generation of SMS messaging  one that allows for sending of full-resolution videos and photos (with a limit of 100MB), shows when the recipient(s) is (are) typing, and supports read receipts, even across borders. Although there are many other instant-messaging apps available, RCS is important because it requires minimal setup and works out of the box.

In H1 of last year, US carriers announced they were working on a cross-carrier app that would enable RCS across the States, and Google wasnt having it. It wasnt long after that announcement that Google fast-tracked the nationwide rollout of its Chat platform. The platform began its US nationwide rollout back in November.





When you start a chat window with one or more recipients with Googles Chat enabled, youll see Chat message in the input field. If the message will send as an SMS, it will say Text message instead.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 21:57:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A commentary to be carried by the Sunday edition of the People's Daily slams some U.S. politicians for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic, stigmatizing China, and pursuing the so-called recrimination and retribution through frivolous litigations.

Such acts posed an open challenge to international rules and laws, said the commentary under the byline of Zhong Sheng.

The pandemic outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, also "a force majeure" in law, the article noted.

Facts have shown that China's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are not the cause of the explosive virus outbreak in the United States, said the article.

Being the first country to report the pandemic does not make China the origin of the novel coronavirus, the commentary underscored, highlighting that the origin of the virus, a serious scientific matter, should only be the subject of study for scientists and medical experts.

"The couclusion should not be drawn on the basis of the lunatic imagination of some U.S. politicians," said the article.

Citing views of Tom Ginsburg, a professor of international law at the University of Chicago, the article noted that talk of filing lawsuits against China is a political move by Republican leaders facing an election in November.

The commentary also raised the following questions:

The 1918 flu pandemic starting from the United States resulted in a huge humanitarian disaster across the world, has the United States been held accountable?

AIDS was first reported in the United States and then swept across the world, should the United States compensate 75 million HIV carriers and 35 million AIDS-related dead victims?

The 2008 financial turmoil triggered by Wall Street turned into a global financial crisis, and when will the United States repay the trillions of U.S. dollars lost globally?

People should have the right to ask why the CT images of patients in the outbreak of Electronic-Cigarette-Associated Acute Lipoid Pneumonia in August last year in the United States are so similar to those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What had happened in Fort Detrick in Maryland?

Patients without travel records to China died of COVID-19 in the United States as early as Feb. 6. What time on earth did the United States discover the novel coronavirus for the first time?

Certain U.S. politicians should not play dumb in the face of such questions. They must give answers to these questions, the article stressed.
One of the persons arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case, who was lodged in a police lock-up, has tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Saturday.

Palghar: One of the persons arrested in connection with the Palghar lynching case, who was lodged in a police lock-up, has tested coronavirus positive, an official said on Saturday.

Police have so far arrested 115 persons, including nine minors, in connection with the lynching of three men, including two seers, at Gadchinchale village in Palghar last month. The accused tested positive for the infection on Friday night, the official said.

"He was kept in a police lock-up at Wada in the district along with 20 others. After testing positive, he was admitted to a government hospital in Palghar," district civil surgeon Dr Kanchan Wanere said.

"Twenty others kept in lock-up with him have been quarantined along with around 23 police personnel, who came had come in contact with him," she said. The health department is now trying to find out how he contracted the infection, Wanere said.

According to sources, on 18 April, a test was conducted on all the accused arrested in the case till then to know whether they were infected. However, all of them had tested negative at that time.

The second test was conducted on Friday and the result came at night, in which the accused was found COVID-19 positive, the sources said.

The accused had been presented before a local court on 30 April along with other accused, they said, adding that his family members will be quarantined now.

The state police's Crime Investigation Department (CID) had on Friday arrested five more persons in connection with the incident of lynching, which took the number of accused held to 115.

The incident took place on 16 April, when the two seers were heading towards Surat from Mumbai in a car with a driver to attend a funeral. A mob of villagers stopped them and beat them to death on suspicion that they were thieves, even as a few police personnel had reached the spot.
The Assam government on Saturday allowed reopening of liquor outlets across the state with immediate effect, an Excise Department official said.

All shops selling foreign and country-made liquor across the state are allowed to operate with immediate effect, Additional Commissioner of Excise, S K Medhi said in an order.

Transportation of liquor consignments is also allowed as per the provisions of the Assam Excise Rules, 2016, the order stated.

The licensees were directed to comply with the social distancing norms and other guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard.

The Assam government had earlier allowed the sale of liquor from April 12 but had to stop it after three days following a directive from the Centre.

Medhi had ordered all liquor outlets, wholesale warehouses, bottling plants, distilleries and breweries across Assam to open for seven hours every day but had to issue another order on April 15 asking the deputy commissioners to close the establishments till further orders.

He had stated that the revised order was issued by the state government "in view of the consolidated revised guidelines and national directives issued by the Centre for COVID-19 management".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Air travel to Israel has come to a near standstill due to coronavirus restrictions, but one type of voyage still endures: the final journey of Jews wishing to be buried in Israel.

For centuries, Jews have sought to be interred in the Holy Land, going to great lengths to secure their final resting place in the land of their biblical forefathers. Today, not even a once-in-a-century pandemic is halting this ancient last wish.

The Land of Israel is a very special place for Jewish people to be buried, said Rabbi Michoel Fletcher, who facilitates purchases of burial plots in Israel for Jews from abroad. The flights have been reduced heavily, but there are cargo flights. So it may take a bit longer, but we are getting people coming in.

Despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus, families, the aviation industry and health workers are finding ways to keep the deceased flying in  chartering private planes, adding cargo flights and striking deals with handling companies. Israel's Foreign Ministry said 300 bodies, including many COVID-19 victims, have been flown in for burial since February.

During that time, Israels typically bustling Ben-Gurion International airport has become a ghost town, with only a few hundred passengers arriving on a handful of flights each week.

Jews have long aspired to be buried in the Holy Land. The biblical forefather Jacob and his son Joseph both requested to be buried in the Promised Land after having died in Egypt. Some Jews believe that being buried in the Holy Land grants atonement for sins or will make resurrection easier when the Messiah comes.

Israel has managed to keep the coronavirus crisis largely in check, and though it has reported 225 deaths out of more than 16,100 cases, it has not seen hospitals or morgues overwhelmed. More than half of the reported cases in Israel have recovered.

The virus causes mild to moderate flu-like symptoms in most patients, who recover within a few weeks. But it is highly contagious and can cause severe illness or death, particularly in older patients or those with underlying health problems.

Story continues

Bringing in bodies is complex and costly, even under ordinary circumstances. Purchasing a plot can cost anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the location. Many choose to spend hefty sums for a prime spot in Jerusalems Mount of Olives cemetery, which overlooks the storied Old City and its important Jewish sites. Additional costs include flights and transport from the airport to the cemetery.

Those who choose to be buried in Israel must also navigate a web of bureaucracy, starting with handling companies at their departure point to their local Israeli consulate or embassy as well as the Israeli Health Ministry.

The coronavirus crisis has complicated an already onerous process. While families typically fly in from abroad to escort the body and attend the funeral, thats not possible under current travel restrictions, which require a two-week quarantine for anyone entering from abroad.

Extra measures are required to prevent contagion, including additional wrapping material and a separate ritual purification process. In hard-hit New York, which has a large Jewish community, some handling companies have refused to deal with the bodies of those who have died of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Last month, Dan Leshems father Amnon died from the coronavirus in Belgium, his home for the last 20 years. The bureaucracy and high costs were not a deterrent to bringing his father for burial in Israel, where Leshem lives.

His last wish was to be buried in Israel, said Leshem, who streamed the funeral to relatives and friends abroad. It was clear that we must bring him.

An Israeli aviation official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the process of transporting bodies with the media, said a cargo flight that comes from Belgium five times a week brings in about 20 bodies a flight  an exceptional amount.

Most come from France, which has a large Jewish community and a severe outbreak, the official said. He said a weekly cargo flight from New York also brings in bodies but often cant meet families' needs, as Jewish custom requires burying the dead promptly.

Fletcher, the burial facilitator, said many in New York have opted to bury their dead in the U.S., intending to exhume the bodies once flights to Israel resume.

But solutions are being found even now. The aviation official said that even if a cargo flight is full, room will be made for the caskets. We will not delay bodies because there is no space, he said. Additional cargo flights are expected to be added in Europe, he said.

Wealthier families have hired private planes, which have been shipping in bodies about every other day from Europe and the U.S. In a photo released by ZAKA, an Israeli medical service, the sleek, slim interior of a private jet that had recently touched down was packed with four wooden caskets.

Israeli airline El Al struck a deal last week with a handling company in New York prepared to process the bodies of people who have died of the coronavirus.

Yossi Landau, a ZAKA official who has been assisting families with burials during the outbreak, said dignity for the dead, and the bereaved, was a main driver behind getting the bodies to Israel.

Behind every person who dies there is also a family, people who are living," said Landau. "They must be respected.
The Japanese cultural scene supported by secondhand bookstores, movie theaters and the like is in a quagmire due to business suspension requests that have arisen from the spread of the new coronavirus.

It has been nearly one month since the government declared a state of emergency in seven prefectures, including Tokyo, and some businesses in these fields are facing increasing difficulties.

They are not categorized as directly supporting people's lives, as medical care and some retail categories are. A person in the field expressed concern, saying, "If this situation continues for a long time, people [working in the relevant businesses] will be in pieces, and the culture will decline."

Closed for Golden Week

Tokyo's Jimbocho district, where about 150 secondhand bookstores can be found, is usually crowded with students and enthusiasts. But now one of the nation's most popular book districts is nothing but streets of shuttered stores.

The Tokyo metropolitan government has asked secondhand bookstores to close while excluding general bookstores from the list of industry categories subject to temporary business suspensions. Stores with a floor space of 100 square meters or less are allowed to stay open, but with many customers being elderly, 90% of such bookstores in the district have closed voluntarily.

"It's true that secondhand bookstores are deemed nonessential and nonurgent businesses, so I understand why we were asked to close," said Tetsuya Yaguchi, 56, chairman of the Kanda Koshoten Renmei (Secondhand bookstores association), expressing his understanding of the metropolitan government's policy.

His store is not subject to the closure request, but to ensure customers' safety, it will be closed through May 6, the last day of the Golden Week holiday period, which normally draws many customers from across the nation. "I think some owners will have to close down their businesses for good in the future," he said.

According to Takayuki Kono, 70, managing director of the Japanese Association of Dealers in Old Books, secondhand bookstores usually purchase stock separately before bringing them to exchange meetings so that booksellers can expand their distinctive lineups and help one other earn money.

Many secondhand bookstore owners across the country often participate in such meetings in Tokyo, but there is no prospect of holding the next one as major venues are subject to the closure request.

"It's a big blow that we can't hold exchange meetings, which are a lifeline for stores. To maintain secondhand book culture, I hope the pandemic will be contained soon," Kono said.

Doing whatever they can

Movie theaters are being asked by local governments to close because they are likely to create the so-called Three Cs - closed spaces, crowded places and close contact. In particular, many mini theaters that screen niche films are usually small businesses, so suspension has a significant impact on them.

Hotoriza, a mini theater in central Toyama, has been closed since April 6. The 20-seat venue was popular among young people for its music and talk events, but it is empty now. Although its new building with a capacity of 90 seats was scheduled to open on April 25, it has been postponed for a month.

Rent and personnel costs among other expenses total about 1 million yen a month. "It's possible I'll have to close our theater for good if the temporary closure becomes prolonged," said Kazuhiro Tanabe, 41, president of the company that manages Hotoriza.

Uplink, Ltd., which operates several mini theaters with a total capacity of 440 seats in Tokyo's Shibuya district and other locations, closed all of its theaters on April 8. As a result, the company's sales have plunged to zero.

Against this backdrop, the company is looking ahead to the post-coronavirus period by making such efforts as selling prepaid tickets that include soft drinks and come with a tote bag.

"The situation is very severe. But still, I want to support film culture while doing what I can," said Takashi Asai, 65, who heads Uplink.

Nonfiction writer Kunio Yanagida commented on the situation, saying, "In contrast to Germany and France, which are eager to provide economic assistance for the cultural and artistic fields, Japan as a nation has revealed its disregard for such fields.

"Culture and art, which inspire and soothe people, are indispensable. In times like this, we need to share awareness of cultural protection throughout society," the critic added.
The analysts might have been a bit too bullish on Taseko Mines Limited (TSE:TKO), given that the company fell short of expectations when it released its quarterly results last week. Statutory earnings fell substantially short of expectations, with revenues of CA$62m missing forecasts by 23%. Losses exploded, with a per-share loss of CA$0.20 some 186% below prior forecasts. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

See our latest analysis for Taseko Mines

TSX:TKO Past and Future Earnings May 2nd 2020

Following the recent earnings report, the consensus from six analysts covering Taseko Mines is for revenues of CA$295.8m in 2020, implying a noticeable 7.8% decline in sales compared to the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 32% to CA$0.26. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CA$325.7m and losses of CA$0.23 per share in 2020. So it's pretty clear the analysts have mixed opinions on Taseko Mines after this update; revenues were downgraded and per-share losses expected to increase.

The average price target was broadly unchanged at CA$0.85, perhaps implicitly signalling that the weaker earnings outlook is not expected to have a long-term impact on the valuation. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Taseko Mines, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at CA$1.50 and the most bearish at CA$0.25 per share. With such a wide range in price targets, analysts are almost certainly betting on widely divergent outcomes in the underlying business. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

Story continues

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that sales are expected to reverse, with the forecast 7.8% revenue decline a notable change from historical growth of 5.4% over the last five years. Compare this with our data, which suggests that other companies in the same industry are, in aggregate, expected to see their revenue grow 7.8% next year. It's pretty clear that Taseko Mines' revenues are expected to perform substantially worse than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts increased their loss per share estimates for next year. Unfortunately, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates revenues are expected to perform worse than the wider industry. Even so, earnings per share are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that 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 Taseko Mines going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Taseko Mines that you should be aware of.

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.
California could be forced to go to the November ballot or the state Supreme Court for help in response to the federal Census Bureaus call for a coronavirus-prompted four-month delay in providing its 2020 population numbers to the states, a state senator says.

Those new deadlines, which still must be approved by Congress, mean the California Citizens Redistricting Commission might not get the demographic information it needs to draw new lines for state Assembly, Senate and congressional districts until July 31, 2021, instead of Dec. 31, as now required.

But the commissions constitutional deadline for completing the new district maps is Aug. 15, 2021.

If those census numbers dont arrive until July 2021, its not possible to comply with the laws that currently exist and still meet the deadline two weeks later, said state Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana (Orange County). Either by litigation or by the ballot, were going to have to get that date changed, which means we either go to the (state) Supreme Court or the people.

Its not just a matter of plugging the population numbers into a computer and having it shoot out the maps, said Umberg, head of the state Senate Elections Committee and co-chairman of the Senates select committee on the census. The commission is required to hold public hearings across the state on the new lines.

The Census Bureaus delay is a real problem for California on several different levels, Umberg said.

Legislators met Thursday to discuss options for dealing with the redistricting deadlines, he added. Decisions will have to be made quickly, since the deadline for putting an initiative on the November ballot is late June.

The Census Bureau, which shut down all its field offices in March in response to coronavirus concerns, has asked Congress to push its Dec. 31 deadline for total population counts to April 30 of next year and its date for more targeted state redistricting numbers to July 31, 2021.

The first group of raw population numbers is used to decide the number of Congress members each state will have for the next decade. The later figures, which show where in each state those people actually live, determine how the local lines are drawn.

The extra time is needed to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the 2020 census, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in an April 13 statement.

There are plenty of reasons for the current August 2021 deadline for completing the new maps, said Justin Levitt, an elections law expert at Loyola Marymount Universitys Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Census count While the official census count day was April 1, there's still time to turn in census information online, by phone or by mail. Details are available from the Census Bureau: https://2020census.gov See More Collapse

The date is set so that all legal challenges to the lines can be dealt with before the filing date for the 2022 elections, he said. And there will be legal challenges in every state except those that have only one congressman, where their district is the entire state.

If the state cant meet the deadline for completing the 2022 redistricting, the courts could step in and draw the maps themselves, as they did in California in 1971 and 1991, when Republican governors vetoed maps approved by the Democratic Legislature. The voter-approved redistricting commission took over the job in 2010.

Courts can draw the maps, but its the last resort, Levitt said. I expect the courts would agree to extend the deadlines.

The census is desperately important to California, which already has put up $187 million to ensure that every resident is counted. Not only could the state lose one of its 53 congressional seats, but the census numbers also are used in a variety of ways to determine how much federal money the state is due.

The coronavirus already has disrupted the count and state officials, along with community groups, are worried that far too many people could be missed.

The state and other groups have invested a huge amount of money, but we have a whole different challenge this year, Umberg said, with the coronavirus taking a huge toll on the state, its people and the economy.

People are losing their jobs, moving out of their homes and maybe living with friends, Umberg said. We dont have those addresses.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
Its staggering to think that 10 years ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was yet to assemble any Avengers.

Now, 24 films later  and with the epic conclusion reached in Endgame, which is celebrating its first anniversary  the film series has introduced 27 world-saving characters.

After the introduction of the originals  including Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow  it seemed unlikely that characters introduced in future films would rank alongside them.

It turns out that assumption was wildly incorrect  thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and the MCUs first female-led film Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson, those originals have been given a run for their money.

Below, we rank every single Avenger (NB: weve omitted SHIELD agents Nick Fury, Phil Coulson and Maria Hill).

Scroll through the gallery to see our picks.

Avengers characters - ranked Show all 27 1 /27 Avengers characters - ranked Avengers characters - ranked 27. War Machine Played by: Don Cheadle Don Cheadle Imagine Iron Man but without a backstory or humour. That's War Machine. Terrence Howard saw that the character would be underwritten and dropped out after filming the first Iron Man. Still, it's hard to dislike Don Cheadle, even when he's shortchanged. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 26. Mantis Played by: Pom Klementieff Pom Klementieff The forgettable Mantis is purely there to make up the numbers. It doesn't help that she was introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, one of the MCU's weakest films to date, as the servant to Kurt Russell's tedious villain, Ego. In a crowded ensemble, Mantis is drowned out by the larger personalities. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 25. Hawkeye Played by: Jeremy Renner Jeremy Renner "Oh no! It's a man with no superpowers and a bow and arrow! I, an alien with futuristic technology who has travelled through the galaxy to invade Earth, am terrified!"  Thanos's army of Outriders, probably. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 24. Doctor Strange Played by: Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch Oh, Doctor Strange. Perhaps there's a good character there, but Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't the man to play him. He's probably the least likeable presence in the MCU, even if a few kick-ass moments in Avengers: Endgame almost pull him back from the brink. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 23. Gamora Played by: Zoe Saldana Zoe Saldana Although the father-daughter relationship between Gamora and Thanos is interesting, it's completely overshadowed by the dynamic between her half-sister Nebula and the Mad Titan. And now she's AWOL. Perhaps. No one really knows. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 22. Star-Lord Played by: Chris Pratt Chris Pratt Star-Lord  the half-man, half-Celestial  remains one of the funniest Marvel characters to date. Yet, the Avengers would have saved the universe the first time around if it weren't for his (quite understandable) temper tantrum over the death of Gamora in Infinity War. For that, the leader of Guardian of the Galaxy falls many places. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 21. Nebula Played by: Karen Gillan Karen Gillan Nebula has all the makings of being a vintage Marvel character, but the feeling that she's been slightly short-changed by her appearances to date cannot be escaped. Going forward, she'll undoubtedly have an elevated role in the MCU, so here's hoping she's handed the justice she deserves. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 20. The Winter Soldier Played by: Sebastian Stan Sebastian Stan Sebastian Stan's Bucky was a bit of a non-entity in the otherwise underrated Captain America: The First Avenger, which is why his do-over as the villainous Winter Soldier in the sequel three years later injected the character with some much-needed intrigue. His shift back to being a good guy, though, has dampened the interest around him once again. Still, that teased romance with Shuri (Letitia Wright) is sure to do him some favours. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 19. Vision Played by: Paul Bettany Paul Bettany Vision is the purple embodiment of Tony Stark's AI butler JARVIS, brought to life by the Mind Stone. One of the only other characters capable of wielding Thor's hammer (oi oi, Cap!), Vision is overpowered to the point of being boring. Still, he doesn't know his paprika from his cayenne. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 18. The Wasp Played by: Evangeline Lilly Evangeline Lilly Sidelined during the first Ant-Man, The Wasp finally became a headline name in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Not only is she smarter, quicker and a better fighter than Ant-Man, she can also fly thanks to a set of wings. Fingers crossed we'll be getting more Wasp post-Endgame. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 17. Falcon Played by: Anthony Mackie Anthony Mackie There's no two ways about it: if Falcon wasn't played by Anthony Mackie, he'd be far lower down this list. His character remains memorable solely due to the vibrancy the ever-entertaining actor brings to the role. Falcon might be a lesser Avenger, but no appearance since his debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier has left fans wanting more. For that, Falcon should be celebrated. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 16. Captain Marvel Played by: Brie Larson Brie Larson There's no doubt that Captain Marvel could become one of the best characters in the MCU. Fresh off her billion dollar-grossing debut  the series's first female-led superhero film  the character returned to save the day (well, help the crew out) in Avengers: Endgame. Now her origin story is out of the way, the sky's the limit for her; it'll be exciting to see which planets her story scales next. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 15. Groot Played by: Vin Diesel Vin Diesel To be quite honest, it's hard to screw up a character who is literally a tree that's able to speak just one word (his name). There's no denying that Vin Diesel's Groot was one of the best things about the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, and his camaraderie with Rocket Raccoon a highlight. Sadly, being turned into a baby for the entirety of the sequel made his character slightly more annoying. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 14. Valkyrie Played by: Tessa Thompson Tessa Thompson Introduced in Thor: Ragnarok, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie has the swagger of Han Solo and the powers of Wonder Woman. The result is probably the coolest and smoothest Avenger yet, and someone we very much look forward to seeing again in Thor: Love and Thunder. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 13. Hulk Played by: Mark Ruffalo Mark Ruffalo The Hulk was originally played by Edward Norton, but Mark Ruffalo took over for the Avengers films. The actor brought out a manic unpredictability to the character, who remains a skittish presence in every film. Since the first Avengers outing, though, Bruce Banner/Hulk has been less integral to the team. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 12. Black Widow Played by: Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Johansson Black Widow has had a rough ride. Introduced during Iron Man 2, Scarlett Johansson's agent was a fierce fighter with an intriguing back story. However, this has rarely been explored since, with the Avengers films focusing on the lads rather than the one female character in the team. Almost 20 Marvel films on and the character is finally getting a solo film  but it's a prequel film arriving after her death in Endgame that's been delayed because of coronavirus. Ouch. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 11. Shuri Played by: Letitia Wright Letitia Wright One of Black Panther's biggest revelations was Shuri, T'Challa's kid sister who might just be the cleverest character in the entire MCU. She's brought to life by British actor Letitia Wright, who capitalised on the several opportunities she had to steal the film from under her co-stars' noses. Great, another broken white boy for us to fix," she says as Martin Freeman's Everett Ross is carted into her workshop  and thus, a star was born. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 10. Scarlet Witch Played by: Elizabeth Olsen Elizabeth Olsen Scarlet Witch doesn't really do much save for wave her hands around while looking concerned about the well-being of her love, Vision (Paul Bettany)  but it doesn't matter considered she's played by the the extremely talented Elizabeth Olsen who, as ever, gives it an admirable stab. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 9. Captain America Played by: Chris Evans Chris Evans On paper, Captain America should be the most boring Avenger. Yet, with Chris Evans at the wheel, the patriotic super-strong OAP who fought in the Second World War has been enjoyable company in every film he's been in, his righteous values never being too overbearing. Captain America, with his pure heart, really is one of the ultimate superheroes. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 8. Iron Man Played by: Robert Downey Jr Robert Downey Jr The leader of the MCU used to be its greatest character. But with the influx of newer additions, Tony Stark has been pushed down that list  which isn't to say he isn't still a reason why the series has been such a success. No Marvel actor has thrown themselves into a role more than Robert Downey Jr, whose larger-than-life personality made him the only candidate to have brought the billionaire industrialist and former playboy to screen. Among the big-budget explosions, he's a breath of fresh air and without him, the MCU would have run out of steam long ago. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 7. Ant-Man Played by: Paul Rudd Paul Rudd A man who presses a button and takes on the powers of an ant: not exactly a thrilling premise for a superhero. Thankfully, Marvel accepted that Ant-Man's power are a bit of a joke and cast the ever-delightful comic actor Paul Rudd as the mini-hero. And despite his stature, Ant-Man stole the show in Captain America: Civil War when he reversed his powers and became Giant Man. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 6. Rocket Played by: Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper In many ways, the success of Guardians of the Galaxy  Marvel's first true move away from the cleaner cut Avengers (see: Captan America, Thor)  rested on the shoulders of Rocket Raccoon. Many questioned whether it'd work, but thanks to impressive effects, Bradley Cooper's terrific voice work  and not to mention James Gunn's knockout screenplay  Rocket found himself with more range than most characters on this list. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 5. Black Panther Played by: Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Boseman Few characters have had the cultural impact of Boseman's Black Panther. First appearing in Captain America: Civil War, T'Challa's measured demeanour was a counter to the quip-making norm of the other Avengers. Come the character's solo film, the noble leader finally accepted his role as King of Wakanda and, in the process, unleashed the inner Panther. It's no wonder that the film became a box-office sensation, even out-grossing Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in the United States. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 4. Drax Played by: Dave Bautista Dave Bautista Drax is proof that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. His burly appearance suggests he should be fighting for the bad guys, but the opposite couldn't be truer  thanks to Dave Bautista, the character is given a cuddly sheen that belies his full name (Drax the Destroyer). The only thing Drax, who first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy, truly destroys is your rib cage  he's one of the MCU's funniest characters. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 3. Spider-Man Played by: Tom Holland Tom Holland Spider-Man's back. Again again. Where Tobey Maguire's webslinger was an out-and-out dork, and Andrew Garfield's version was arguably too slick to really be Peter Parker, Tom Holland has found the perfect middle ground: still obsessed with making Star Wars references yet also capable of talking coherently with members of the opposite sex. It's a miracle that Marvel Studios managed to bring Spider-Man into their cinematic universe  and a miracle they managed to make him feel this fresh third time around. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 2. Okoye Played by: Danai Gurira Danai Gurira Black Panther was a landmark moment for cinema, let alone Marvel. It was a film filled with selling points  the lustrous visuals of Wakanda; a villain you actually cared about  but sitting at the top of the heap was Okoye. The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira swapped the katana for a vibranium spear and showed audiences that not only was she more than just television character Michonne, she could translate a comic book character into one of the very best characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Avengers characters - ranked 1. Thor Played by: Chris Hemsworth Chris Hemsworth Thor was not a great film. Thor: The Dark World was even worse. Yet, against all odds, the God of Thunder has established himself as the greatest Avenger. How? It's namely thanks to Taika Waititi's revisioning of the character in Thor: Ragnarok. Rather than making Hemsworth deliver sub-par Shakespearean prose, the filmmaker enthused Thor with a sense of humour  something that played to Hemsworth's strength as an actor. The result was a charismatic, short-haired, smouldering superhero who was finally able to charm Marvel fans. If only Thor had been this way all along. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Avengers: Endgame is available to watch on NOW TV and Disney+.
Ports Chief wants container backlog cleared, warns of fine from May 7 View(s):

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Daya Ratnayake has urged importers to clear their containers at the port to facilitate operations.

He said that as many as 12,000 containers, including 1,500 that were brought on a shared basis, were still in the port and they need to be cleared to accommodate new containers coming in.

Lt Gen (Retired) Ratnayake said the problem had been aggravated because to clear the shared containers all consignees should be present.

The Ports four yards have reached their full capacity due to the delay in clearing them, he added.

The chairman said that due to the Covid-19 crisis, consignees were given some concession but if they failed to clear the cargo, they would be imposed a fine from May 7.

He said he would not allow businesses to use the ports facility as the warehouses of businesses.

Explaining the current operation in the ports, he said about 600 to 1,800 containers were cleared daily by the Customs, while about 600 containers were brought to the port with export goods.

He said that about 5,000 vehicles still remain to be cleared at the Hambantota Port and about 500 at the Colombo Port.

Some 2,500 port employees from a work force of 10,000 report to work on a daily basis despite the lockdown.

He said the ability to keep the Port operational despite the pandemic had improved the image of the Port.
Ahmedabad on Saturday reported 20 coronavirus deaths, highest in one day so far, taking the death toll in the district due to the pandemic to 184, the state health department said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the district also went up to 3,543 with 250 new cases being detected



Twelve of the coronavirus patients who died on Saturday suffered from co-morbid conditions with seven having multiple co-morbidity including HIV infection and diseases of kidney, lungs, hypertension, diabetes and mental ailments among others, the health department said.

Fifteen patients died in the city's civil hospital, four at SVP Hospital and one at the private Sterling Hospital, as per the official release.

Number of recovered patients also rose to 462 after 63 patients were discharged from hospitals on Saturday.

The authorities are worried that they might run out of hospital beds due to the increasing number of patients, officials said.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation announced that it has arranged 300 additional beds at three hospitals.

A 100-bed COVID-19 centre at the trust-run Al Amin Garib Nawaz Hospital will provide free treatment to patients, while 100 beds have been put up at Infectious Diseases Hospital in the city's south zone, said Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra.

A similar arrangement was also made at Chhipa Welfare General Hospital for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, he added.

The city has 2,659 active cases, of which 808 patients are being treated at the civil hospital and 541 at SVP Hospital, Nehra said.

Both hospitals have reserved 1,200 and 1,000 beds, respectively, for coronavirus cases, the civic chief said, adding that 856 asymptomatic patients were admitted to Samras Hostel, which has 1,200 beds.

Several patients were also being treated at private hospitals in the city.

The local administration has also roped in five-star hotels to accommodate asymptomatic patients, where some charges are recovered.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
05/01/2020

Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu





LOWELL, Mass.  A UMass Lowell researcher investigating how to identify damage in wind turbines before they fail has received $1.4 million to develop a solution.





Murat Inalpolat, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has devised a way to assess the integrity of wind turbine blades by using sound. The new grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will support these efforts.





Wind power is projected to become a more than $170 billion industry over the next four years, according to a study by Global Market Insights Inc. There are nearly 60,000 wind turbines in the country and more than 341,000 around the world, according to figures from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Global Wind Energy Council.





Commercial wind turbine blades, which are made of fiberglass composite, can measure 200 feet or more in length and weigh many tons. Given their exposure to the elements, blades can split, crack or develop holes along their edges. Currently, this damage cannot be detected until after a blade has failed, according to Inalpolat.





There is no other technology in todays market that can monitor the condition and safety of turbine blades while they are operating, said Inalpolat, a Merrimack, N.H., resident. Our proposed system is low-cost, reliable, robust and it can be installed on both new and existing wind turbines.





His invention uses wireless microphones mounted inside blades, wireless speakers inside the turbines cavity and a microphone placed near the structure to monitor the sounds emanating from inside of it. Any changes in audio frequencies would signal blade damage, according to Inalpolat.





In addition to the grant from the DOE, Inalpolat has received support for his research from the National Science Foundation and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, along with UMass Lowells WindSTAR research center and other areas of the university.





Conducting research alongside Inalpolat are UMass Lowell Ph.D. candidates Jaclyn Solimine from Haverhill and Caleb Traylor from Beeville, Texas. They are analyzing acoustic data they collect from full-size wind turbine blades being tested at the state Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown to determine which characteristics of sounds will be most useful in detecting damage, Solimine said.




"More morphine!" Malak's mother cried, her 20-year-old daughter hospitalised after a marital dispute left her severely burned -- the latest victim of domestic violence exacerbated by confinement in Iraq.

The nationwide lockdown since mid-March is meant to keep coronavirus cases down in the country, but it has led to a spike in another sad statistic: domestic violence.

The head of Iraq's community police, Brigadier General Ghalib Atiyah, told AFP that its log of domestic violence cases has increased by an average of 30 percent since the curfew came into force -- with some areas seeing as high as a 50-percent spike.

In a single week, the United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) reported: "The rape of a woman with special needs, spousal abuse, immolation and self-immolation as well as self-inflicted injuries due to spousal abuse, sexual harassment of minors, and suicide due to domestic abuse among other crimes."

In the southern province of Wasit, a 58-year-old doctor killed his wife after she refused to let him sell land that she owned, according to human rights lawyer Sajjad Hussein.

To the north in Samarra, footage surfaced of a 10-year-old girl in tears, her arms apparently broken.

"I don't want to see my dad any more, he hits me every day," says the child, identified as Saba.

"He tells us it's to 'educate us,'" her mother, who is divorced, is heard saying.

But Malak al-Zubeidi's case made waves.

Eight months ago, the young woman in the shrine city of Najaf married a policeman who physically abused her and barred her from seeing her family, Malak's mother told Human Rights Watch (HRW).

On April 8, he beat Malak so badly she doused herself in gasoline and set herself on fire, her mother said, burning for several minutes before her father-in-law put out the flames.

Footage of her swollen, burned face and pained wails in the hospital went viral, but public support could not save her: the young woman died 10 days later.

"All Malak wanted was to be able to see her family," said Hana Edwar, a longtime women's rights advocate in Baghdad.

Her NGO, Amal (hope in Arabic), has documented a "dramatic" rise in domestic violence cases during the curfew, she told AFP.

"Everyone is spending long periods of time together inside the house. The most insignificant thing can turn into a controversy that eventually leads to violence," she said.

Extended families often live together in one household in Iraq, swathes of which still hold on to conservative religious and tribal customs.

In those areas, many girls are married at a young age and subject to domestic violence.

According to the UN, 46 percent of married women in Iraq have survived some form of abuse at home, of which a third report physical and sexual assault.

They have few pathways to seek help.

A recent survey by the International Organisation for Migration found that 85 percent of men in Iraq would bar female relatives from filing a police report.

And 75 percent of female respondents admitted they would not feel comfortable reporting to the police, likely fearing possible additional abuse and the cultural stigma in Iraq surrounding women entering stations alone.

The community police has work to do to erase that taboo but cannot reach out to communities through its usual town halls because of the curfew, Atiyah told AFP.

There are also few shelters available for victims and legal accountability seems far-fetched.

Article 41 of Iraq's penal code gives men the right to "punish" their wives and children "within the limits of law and customs", a clause frequently used to dismiss cases brought against relatives.

Many abuse cases are "resolved" in tribal courts, which have their own legal framework that includes settlements to aggrieved families outside of official tribunals.

And "honour killings", or violence meted out extrajudicially against someone who broke a social norm, are usually met with light sentences by Iraqi courts.

After the public outcry over Malak, three of her male relatives were slapped with six-month jail sentences for "failing to assist someone in danger".

Activists have long pushed Iraq's parliament to adopt a more robust domestic violence law that would better protect victims and deter possible abusers.

"Every time, MPs bring up religion's role or pretend they're worried such cases would clog the courts," said advocate Afrah al-Qaisi.

"It's a total impasse," she told AFP.

Now, the UN and HRW have seized on the wave of abuse under lockdown to point a spotlight at the issue.

Iraq's parliament should quickly revise, pass and enforce a domestic violence law in line with international standards, the New York-based HRW said.

"It should not take a global pandemic for Iraqi legislators to address the other deadly pandemic of domestic violence, but failure to do so will cost more lives," HRW's Belkis Wille said.

bur-ak/mjg/hc

TOTAL
On May 3, the Indian armed forces are going to conduct fly-pasts, play military bands, light up ships at sea and shower flower petals on hospitals treating coronavirus patients. This, to express gratitude to corona warriors like doctors, paramedics, policemen, street vendors, other workers who are the essential forces in the fight against COVID-19.



On May 1, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Bipin Rawat, accompanied by Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, held a press conference to provide the information about the same.

Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat announces plans for May3 to express gratitude to #CoronaWarriors.

Air Force to carry out fly past across length & breath of the country

Navy will display formations

Army to conduct mounted band displays#coronavirus #COVID19 #lockdown pic.twitter.com/BVEEXPp9gu  Geeta Mohan     (@Geeta_Mohan) May 1, 2020

CDS Gen Bipin Rawat said in the press conference, "These corona warriors be it the doctors, nurses, hygiene and sanitation staff, police personnel or media personnel, they have ensured that India keeps on fighting this pandemic. We salute these warriors and their efforts and wish them the best of health. We are grateful for their sacrifice and their efforts in fighting Covid-19, knowing fully well the dangers that they face.

Representative Image/AP

Something similar was announced in the US where President Trump said that Thunderbirds and Blue Angels will do flypasts to honor the medical workers.

However, some people on Twitter would rather have the Indian army put their forces to other uses. People took to social media platform to suggest what the armed forces could be/should be doing, instead of showering petals. Here are a few suggestions:

Can the IAF planes airdrop testing kits & personal protective equipment across the country during the nationwide fly-past on Sunday?



At least thatd justify this otherwise utterly pointless exercise.  Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) May 1, 2020

Govt couldnt arrange a single airforce plane for the aged parents to attend last rites of Army Officer who died of cancer. They travelled 2000 Km by road. But Govt got Airforce to deploy Aircrafts for Fly Past and helicopters to shower petals on Hospitals as a show.  Joy (@Joydas) May 1, 2020

Plz drop some food pkts as well.Or grocery pkts.  M (@Miss_Trust_Ful) May 1, 2020

Food packets to moving migrants would be better.  Upright (@GATHOBIAS) May 1, 2020

Y waste fuel & flowers, instead donate money to frontline #CovidWarriors & needy....who gives such ideas    (@s_ac_hi_n) May 1, 2020

Why????

Feeding poor and packages to small industries are more important.

Sorry.... Forgot... This is TASK time in the house of Big Boss...  Mohammed Dalvi -   (@dalvimohammed) May 1, 2020

Why????

Feeding poor and packages to small industries are more important.

Sorry.... Forgot... This is TASK time in the house of Big Boss...  Mohammed Dalvi -   (@dalvimohammed) May 1, 2020

Lockdown Aircraft are bound to be damaged without flying for long time . Story behind the drama.  True or False (@posttokilukkam) May 2, 2020





If that money is used for doing more tests, to feed few more people or to help health staff with adequate PPE kits...  V.R. . . (@rvelichapat) May 1, 2020

Can they drop food packets for ppl stranded just like they do during other natural calamities. I am sure they can, but would the ppl in power ask them to.  Navneet (@Understand_me) May 1, 2020

Meanwhile number of coronavirus cases in India have crossed the 37,000 mark of which 10,000 have recovered.
More businesses in the country continue to complain about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their operations.

The latest to openly complain about their challenges is the Ghana Association of Microfinance Companies which says its operations in terms of patronage and other related activities are grinding to a halt as a result of the pandemic.

Among the many challenges, the group says persons who have contracted loans from them are unable to payback thereby leaving them in severe problems.

In an interview with Citi News, President of the association, Lambert Osei Kofi said governments intervention is needed to save their businesses.

Our business is typically a cash-type of business. We are microfinance companies mostly into deposit-taking and granting of loans. These things we do by cash. With the virus and its associated lockdown effect, we are unable to give loans because our customers are virtually not available. The loans we have given too we are finding it difficult to recover them. Sometimes when you go and people are crying to you, you are unable to recover your loans. Our revenues have been badly affected. We are unable to call our staff back so there are also job losses, he said.

The financial implications led to some staff losing their jobs with others forced to take salary cuts.

This is because the announcement of the partial restriction saw many businesses in the formal sector close down some of their branches and reducing their operation hours.

Some companies have already laid-off casual workers and are preparing to cut down on the number of permanent staff.

According to them, it was no longer prudent to continue operations when the numbers have dropped drastically; while they still pay salaries, bills and taxes.

With the announcement of the ease of the restrictions however, some formal businesses started opening closed branches.

---citinewsroom
Princess Diana once tried to salvage her marriage with Prince Charles, but she soon realized it would never happen.

The late Princess of Wales never thought that her "Wedding of the Century" would be followed by years of heartbreaks due to her husband's infidelity and unkind words.

Despite all her efforts to save their then-dying marriage for the sake of their two sons Princes William and Harry, Princess Diana realized that everything between them was over during a walk along the Dorset coast.

Royal author Andrew Morton narrated in his 1992 book titled "Diana: Her True Story" the moment when the Princess of Wales knew that "hopes for reconciliation with her husband were over" and when her realization became a reality.

"It was time for the princess to take stock. She remembers the occasion well, driving out of the claustrophobia of Kensington Palace with its spy cameras, watchful courtiers, and prison walls to her favourite stretch of beach on the Dorset coast," Morton wrote.

As the royal princess walked through the coastline, she was aware that it was already time to give up her marriage with the heir to the throne.

The royal author went on and claimed that Prince Charles' hostile indifference made Princess Diana's thoughts of starting anew wholly impossible.

Before she came up with the decision to split with Prince Charles, she still tried to fulfill and satisfy everything that he wanted -- even to the point of copying the behavior and attitude of Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles' wife. However, that particular move did not work out and was an "unmitigated disaster" instead.

It broke Diana's heart how the 1981 "fairytale wedding," which was supported by over 750 million audiences and watchers all over the globe, would end up in divorce.

Even Princess Diana's sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Baroness Jane Fellowes, were said to be "envious" since she married the U.K. monarchy's heir to the throne.

Diana's Heartbreak

Even though Prince Charles was never on her side, Princess Diana still tried to save their relationship by talking to her husband numerous times and to Camilla during her sister's birthday party.

For the last time, Princess Diana tried to change Charles' mind before she finally gave up.

In Ingrid Seward's book "The Queen and Di: The Untold Story," the writer mentioned that the two met in Kensington Palace where Princess Diana allegedly asked Prince Charles, "Why did this have to happen?"

She fought for their relationship until they finalized their divorce in 1996.

Right after they finalized their separation, the royal princess shared with her personal trainer and confidant, Jenni Rivett, that she only wanted to breathe for a while and not to divorce. However, Queen Elizabeth II urged the two to finally do it in order to prevent further damages.

"She loved Charles. She wasn't the one who wanted to separate or divorce. She was sad about it," Rivett told Yahoo's The Royal Box. "She wanted to be a loving wife."
Adrianna Kruyt, a Canadian in the first year of graduate studies in Manhattan at the New School, didnt have plans for Thanksgiving in 2016. So her parents arranged for her to spend the long weekend celebrating the American holiday with friends in Bedford Hills, N.Y.

Isaac Wasserman had also received an invitation to spend the weekend at the home where Ms. Kruyt would be staying. He was then a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and intended to spend the weekend studying.

The younger visitors ended up staying up late together.

Ms. Kruyt, who is now 29 and an account manager in Manhattan for Antidote Technologies, a British digital health company, was up so that she might find a happy medium between her own time zone and that of her younger sister, who was in Hong Kong.

Thats when I was really hooked,  said Dr. Wasserman, 28. This woman seemed different from all the other women I had met.
Expressing deep concern over the



long-term economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said that all political parties should stop playing communal politics in future and instead work towards bringing the economy back on track.

The party said the talks held between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently over the impact of the COVID-19 shows how grave the crisis is for the economy. It said time has now come to grow wiser.

"Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held talks with economist Raghuram Rajan through digital medium. Rajan said that the government needs to spend Rs 65000 crore to help the poor facing hardships due to the coronavirus lockdown. He said the entire country will have to face the economic consequences of lockdown," the Sena said.

"Rajan said the government's present definition of the poor will change after lockdown. Middle class and upper middle class will also become poor and start demanding certificate of economic backwardness. Even a developed nation like the US is staring at a grave problem of unemployment.

"In the US, there is system of unemployment allowance, which India doesn't have. Rajan's observation is that 10 crore people in India will become jobless, which is a matter of concern," the party said.

Through their talks, one thing became clear that continuing lockdown for indefinte period will prove costly for the economy. The government will have to work beyond the set norms. Power and authority to take decisions cannot remain limited with only a couple of people, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

As far as Maharashtra is concerned, the 2019-20 revenue income is Rs 3.15 lakh crore, while the expenditure is Rs 3.35 lakh crore. But due to lockdown the revenue deficit will grow and it would become difficult to run the state, it added.

"The central government will have to take everyone along. It will have to take into account others' views and chart out the road ahead," it said.

"In India, all political parties should work towards bringing the economy back on track, instead of playing politics of India-Pakistan, religion and caste. The prime minister should take a lead and the entire country will stand behind him," it said.

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

Coronavirus infection in the "orange zone" is more dangerous, Ibrahim Mammadov, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers, said.

Mammadov made the remark in Baku at the briefing of the Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers, Trend reports.

Therefore, the system of obtaining permissions in this zone will remain in accordance with the previous system, the spokesman said.

The permission system in the Azerbaijani districts has been canceled, Mammadov said. Citizens do not need to get permission to leave the houses.

The number of employees of the state agencies coming to work will gradually increase, the spokesman said. But some restrictions will remain in force.

The "orange zone" includes Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja and Lankaran cities and Absheron region.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A criminal gang which kidnapped three students of the University of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT), on 7 April, gang-raped the female am...





A criminal gang which kidnapped three students of the University of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT), on 7 April, gang-raped the female among them.





They then went further to butcher her to death, as well as kill the other two students.





The female student was identified as Joy Adoki. The other students were Nelson Nwafor and Fortune Obemba.





Police put all the three bodies in bags and later deposited them in the mortuary.





The police were able to crack the kidnapping after the arrest on 30 April of the chief suspect, called Friday Akpan.





He led them to the arrest of two other suspects.





Early on 1 May, he also took the operatives of the anti-kidnapping unit of the Rivers State Police Command to a forest at Eteo in Eleme Local Government Area.





There they found the bodies of the missing students.





It was learnt that the three undergraduates were kidnapped around Choba Campus of the University and driven to the forest.





Their abductors demanded ransom.





When the ransom did not come, they descended on Joy Adoki and the two other students.





According to DSP Nnamdi Omoni, the Police Public Relations Officer, the exhibits recovered from the suspects were an AK47 rifle, three magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition.





The Commissioner of Police, Joseph G Mukan assured the families of the deceased students that justice will be brought to bear on their killers.




A secret military operation to overthrow Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro Moros was simple, but perilous.

Some 300 heavily armed volunteers would sneak into Venezuela from the northern tip of South America. Along the way, they would raid military bases in the socialist country and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in President Nicolas Maduro's arrest.

What could go wrong? As it turns out, pretty much everything.

The ringleader of the plot is now jailed in the US on narcotics charges. Authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of his muscular American adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau.

And dozens of desperate combatants who flocked to secret training camps in Colombia said they have been left to fend for themselves amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A secret military operation led by an ex-Green Beret and funded by US billionaires to ouster Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro Moros has failed while still in the planning stages

After the operation fell apart, authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of a muscular American adviser, former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau (center)

The failed attempt to start an uprising collapsed under the collective weight of skimpy planning, feuding among opposition politicians and a poorly trained force that stood little chance of beating the Venezuelan military.

'You're not going to take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men,' said Ephraim Mattos, a former US Navy SEAL who trained some of the would-be combatants in tactical medicine.

This bizarre, untold story of a call to arms that crashed before it launched is drawn from interviews with more than 30 Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters who were directly involved in or familiar with its planning. Most spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.

When hints of the conspiracy surfaced last month, the Maduro-controlled state media portrayed it as an invasion ginned up by the CIA, like the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco of 1961. An Associated Press investigation found no evidence of US government involvement in the plot. Nevertheless, interviews revealed that leaders of Venezuela's US-backed opposition knew of the covert force, even if they dismissed its prospects.

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019 barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement, Juan Guaido, the opposition leader recognized by the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader.

Contrary to US expectations at the time, key Maduro aides never joined with the opposition and the government quickly quashed the uprising.

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019 barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement, Juan Guaido, the opposition leader (pictured) recognized by the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader

A few weeks later, some soldiers and politicians involved in the failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia. The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles.

For this occasion, conference rooms were reserved for what one participant described as the 'Star Wars summit of anti-Maduro goofballs'  military deserters accused of drug trafficking, shady financiers and former Maduro officials seeking redemption.

Among those angling in the open lobby was Goudreau, an American citizen and three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special forces, according to five people who met with the former soldier.

Soldiers and politicians involved in a failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia (pictured). The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles

Goudreau, a three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special forces, was among those who showed up at the hotel

Those he interacted with in the US and Colombia described him in interviews alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head.

Two former special forces colleagues said Goudreau was always at the top of his class: a cell leader with a superb intellect for handling sources, an amazing shot and a devoted mixed martial arts fighter who still cut his hair high and tight.

At the end of an otherwise distinguished military career, the Canadian-born Goudreau was investigated in 2013 for allegedly defrauding the Army of $62,000 in housing stipends.

Those Goudreauy interacted with in the US and Colombia described him alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head. He is pictured posing with a World War II veteran in an image from Instagram

Goudreau said the investigation was closed with no charges.

After retiring in 2016, he worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. In 2018, he set up Silvercorp USA, a private security firm, near his home on Florida's Space Coast to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers.

The company's website features photos and videos of Goudreau firing machine guns in battle, running shirtless up a pyramid, flying on a private jet and sporting a military backpack with a rolled-up American flag.

Silvercorp's website touts operations in more than 50 countries, with an advisory team made up of former diplomats, experienced military strategists and heads of multinational corporations -- none of them named. It claims to have 'led international security teams' for the president of the United States.

After retiring in 2016, Goudreau worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. In 2018, he set up Silvercorp USA (pictured), a private security firm, near his home in Florida to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers

An image of Goudreau leading a training exercise for his company, Silvercorp USA

Goudreau, 43, declined to be interviewed.

In a written statement, he said that 'Silvercorp cannot disclose the identities of its network of sources, assets and advisors due to the nature of our work' and, more generally, 'would never confirm nor deny any activities in any operational realm. No inference should be drawn from this response.'

'Controling chaos'

Goudreau's focus on Venezuela started in February 2019, when he worked security at a concert in support of Guaido organized by British billionaire Richard Branson on the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

'Controlling chaos on the Venezuela border where a dictator looks on with apprehension,' he wrote in a photo of himself on the concert stage posted to his Instagram account.

Goudreau's focus on Venezuela began in February 2019, when he worked security at a concert in support of Guaido. Goudreau is seen working the concert in a picture posted on Instagram

'Controlling chaos on the Venezuela border where a dictator looks on with apprehension,' wrote Goudreau in an Instagram post of the concert (pictured), dubbed 'Venezuelan Aid Live'

The concert in support of Guaido was organized by British billionaire Richard Branson on the Venezuelan-Colombian border. Branson is pictured at the Feb. 22, 2019 event

'He was always chasing the golden BB,' said Drew White, a former business partner at Silvercorp, using military slang for a one-in-a-million shot. White said he broke with his former special forces comrade last fall when Goudreau asked for help raising money to fund his regime change initiative.

'As supportive as you want to be as a friend, his head wasn't in the world of reality,' said White. 'Nothing he said lined up.'

According to White, Goudreau came back from the concert looking to capitalize on the Trump administration's growing interest in toppling Maduro.

He had been introduced to Keith Schiller, President Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard, through someone who worked in private security. Schiller attended a March 2019 event at the University Club in Washington for potential donors with activist Lester Toledo, then Guaido's coordinator for the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Goudreau came back from the concert looking to capitalize on the Trump administration's growing interest in toppling Maduro. Through a friend who works in private security, Goudreau was introduced to Keith Schiller (left), President Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard

Schiller attended a March 2019 event at the University Club in Washington D.C. for potential donors with activist Lester Toledo (center), then Guaido's coordinator for the delivery of humanitarian aid

Last May, Goudreau accompanied Schiller to a meeting in Miami with representatives of Guaido. There was a lively discussion with Schiller about the need to beef up security for Guaido and his growing team of advisers inside Venezuela and across the world, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Schiller thought Goudreau was naive and in over his head. He cut off all contact following the meeting, said a person close to the former White House official.

In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau to a rebellious former Venezuelan military officer the American would come to trust above all others  Cliver Alcala, ringleader of the Venezuelan military deserters.

Alcala, a retired major general in Venezuela's army, seemed an unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland. In 2011, he was sanctioned by the US for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in Colombia with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine. And last month, Alcala was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro as one of the architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy that allegedly sent 250 metric tons of cocaine every year to the US.

Alcala is now in federal custody in New York awaiting trial. But before his surrender in Colombia, where he had been living since 2018, he had emerged as a forceful opponent of Maduro, not shy about urging military force.

In Bogota, it was Toledo who introduced Goudreau to a rebellious former Venezuelan military officer the American would come to trust above all others  Cliver Alcala (pictured), ringleader of the Venezuelan military deserters

Alcala, a retired major general in Venezuela's army, seemed an unlikely hero to restore democracy to his homeland. In 2011, he was sanctioned by the US for allegedly supplying FARC guerrillas in Colombia with surface-to-air missiles in exchange for cocaine

Alcala was indicted by US prosecutors alongside Maduro as one of the architects of a narcoterrorist conspiracy that allegedly sent 250 metric tons of cocaine every year to the US. Alcala is now in federal custody in New York awaiting trial. Pictured is Alcala's wanted poster

Over two days of meetings with Goudreau and Toledo at the JW Marriott, Alcala explained how he had selected 300 combatants from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers who abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia in the early days of Guaido's uprising, said three people who participated in the meeting and insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.

Alcala said several dozen men were already living in three camps he maintained in and around the desert-like La Guajira peninsula that Colombia shares with Venezuela, the three said. Among the combatants in the camps was an exiled national guardsman accused of participating in a 2018 drone attack on Maduro.

Alcala selected 300 combatants from among the throngs of low-ranking soldiers who abandoned Maduro and fled to Colombia in the early days of Guaido's uprising. Alcala said several dozen men in camps were already living on La Guajira peninsula Venezuela (pictured)

Goudreau told Alcala his company could prepare the men for battle, according to the three sources. The two sides discussed weapons and equipment for the volunteer army, with Goudreau estimating a budget of around $1.5 million for a rapid strike operation.

Goudreau told participants at the meeting that he had high-level contacts in the Trump administration who could assist the effort, although he offered few details, the three people said. Over time, many of the people involved in the plan to overthrow Maduro would come to doubt his word.

From the outset, the audacious plan split an opposition coalition already sharply divided by egos and strategy. There were concerns that Alcala, with a murky past and ties to the regime through a brother who was Maduro's ambassador to Iran, couldn't be trusted. Others worried about going behind the backs of their Colombian allies and the US government.

But Goudreau didn't share the concerns about Alcala, according to two people close to the former American soldier. Over time, he would come to share Alcala's mistrust of the opposition, whose talk of restoring democracy was belied by what he saw as festering corruption and closed-door deal making with the regime, they said.

More importantly to Goudreau, Alcala retained influence in the armed forces that Maduro's opponents, mostly civilian elites, lacked. He also knew the terrain, having served as the top commander along the border.

'We needed someone who knew the monster from the inside,' recalled one exiled former officer who joined the plot.

Guaido's envoys, including Toledo, ended contact with Goudreau after the Bogota meeting because they believed it was a suicide mission, according to three people close to the opposition leader.

Undeterred, Goudreau returned to Colombia with four associates, all of them US combat veterans, and began working directly with Alcala.

Alcala and Goudreau revealed little about their military plans when they toured the camps.

Some of the would-be combatants were told by the two men that the rag-tag army would cross the border in a heavily armed convoy and sweep into Caracas within 96 hours, according to multiple soldiers at the camps. Goudreau told the volunteers that  once challenged in battle  Maduro's food-deprived, demoralized military would collapse like dominoes, several of the soldiers said.

No chance to succeed

Many saw the plan as foolhardy and there appears to have been no serious attempt to seek US military support.

'There was no chance they were going to succeed without direct US military intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos, the former Navy SEAL who spent two weeks in September training the volunteers in basic tactical medicine on behalf of his non-profit, Stronghold Rescue & Relief, which works in combat zones.

'There was no chance they were going to succeed without direct US military intervention,' said Ephraim Mattos, a former Navy SEAL (pictured) who spent two weeks in September training Goudreau's volunteers in basic tactical medicine

Mattos visited the camps after hearing about them from a friend working in Colombia. He said he never met Goudreau.

Mattos said he was surprised by the barren conditions. There was no running water and men were sleeping on the floors, skipping meals and training with sawed-off broomsticks in place of assault rifles. Five Belgian shepherds trained to sniff out explosives were as poorly fed as their handlers and had to be given away.

Mattos said he grew wary as the men recalled how Goudreau had boasted to them of having protected Trump and told them he was readying a shipment of weapons and arranging aerial support for an eventual assault of Maduro's compound.

The volunteers also shared with Mattos a three-page document listing supplies needed for a three-week operation, which he provided to AP. Items included 320 M4 assault rifles, an anti-tank rocket launcher, Zodiac boats, $1 million in cash and state-of-the-art night vision goggles. The document's metadata indicates it was created by Goudreau on June 16.

'Unfortunately, there's a lot of cowboys in this business who try to peddle their military credentials into a big pay day,' said Mattos.

Mattos (pictured) visited the camps after hearing about them from a friend working in Colombia. He said he never met Goudreau

AP found no indication US officials sponsored Goudreau's actions nor that Trump has authorized covert operations against Maduro, something that requires congressional notification.

But Colombian authorities were aware of his movements, as were prominent opposition politicians in Venezuela and exiles in Bogota, some of whom shared their findings with US officials, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

True to his reputation as a self-absorbed loose cannon, Alcala openly touted his plans for an incursion in a June meeting with Colombia's National Intelligence Directorate and appealed for their support, said a former Colombian official familiar with the conversation. Alcala also boasted about his relationship with Goudreau, describing him as a former CIA agent.

When the Colombians checked with their CIA counterparts in Bogota, they were told that the former Green Beret was never an agent. Alcala was then told by his hosts to stop talking about an invasion or face expulsion, the former Colombian official said.

It's unclear where Alcala and Goudreau got their backing, and whatever money was collected for the initiative appears to have been meager. One person who allegedly promised support was Roen Kraft, an eccentric descendant of the cheese-making family who  along with former Trump bodyguard Schiller  was among those meeting with opposition envoys in Miami and Washington.

It's unclear where Alcala and Goudreau (pictured) got their backing, and whatever money was collected for the initiative appears to have been meager

At some point, Kraft started raising money among his own circle of fellow trust-fund friends for what he described as a 'private coup' to be carried out by Silvercorp, according to two businessmen who he asked for money.

Kraft allegedly lured prospective donors with the promise of preferential access to negotiate deals in the energy and mining sectors with an eventual Guaido government, said one of the businessmen. He provided AP a two-page, unsigned draft memorandum for a six-figure commitment he said was sent by Kraft in October in which he represents himself as the 'prime contractor' of Venezuela.

But it was never clear if Kraft really had the inside track with the Venezuelans.

In a phone interview with AP, Kraft acknowledged meeting with Goudreau three times last year. But he said the two never did any business together and only discussed the delivery of humanitarian aid for Venezuela. He said Goudreau broke off all communications with him on Oct. 14, when it seemed he was intent on a military action.

'I never gave him any money,' said Kraft.

'We knew everything'

Back in Colombia, more recruits were arriving to the three camps  even if the promised money didn't. Goudreau tried to bring a semblance of order. Uniforms were provided, daily exercise routines intensified and Silvercorp instructed the would-be warriors in close quarter combat.

Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,' said Hernan Aleman, a lawmaker from western Zulia state and one of a few politicians to openly embrace the clandestine mission.

Aleman said in an interview that neither the US nor the Colombian governments were involved in the plot to overthrow Maduro. He claims he tried to speak several times to Guaido about the plan but said the opposition leader showed little interest.

Goudreau is 'more of a Venezuelan patriot than many Venezuelans,' said Hernan Aleman (pictured), a lawmaker from western Zulia state and one of a few politicians to openly embrace the clandestine mission.

'Lots of people knew about it, but they didn't support us,' he said. 'They were too afraid.'

The plot quickly crumbled in early March when one of the volunteer combatants was arrested after sneaking across the border into Venezuela from Colombia.

Shortly after, Colombian police stopped a truck transporting a cache of brand new weapons and tactical equipment worth around $150,000, including spotting scopes, night vision goggles, two-way radios and 26 American-made assault rifles with the serial numbers rubbed off. Fifteen brown-colored helmets were manufactured by High-End Defense Solutions, a Miami-based military equipment vendor owned by a Venezuelan immigrant family.

High-End Defense Solutions is the same company that Goudreau visited in November and December, allegedly to source weapons, according to two former Venezuelan soldiers who claim to have helped the American select the gear but later had a bitter falling out with Goudreau amid accusations that they were moles for Maduro.

Company owner Mark Von Reitzenstein did not respond to repeated email and phone requests seeking comment.

Alcala claimed ownership of the weapons shortly before surrendering to face the US drug charges, saying they belonged to the 'Venezuelan people.' He also lashed out against Guaido, accusing him of betraying a contract signed between his 'American advisers' and J.J. Rendon, a political strategist in Miami appointed by Guaido to help force Maduro from power.

'We had everything ready,' lamented Alcala in a video published on social media. 'But circumstances that have plagued us throughout this fight against the regime generated leaks from the very heart of the opposition, the part that wants to coexist with Maduro.'

Through a spokesman, Guaido stood by comments made to Colombian media that he never signed any contract of the kind described by Alcala, who he said he doesn't know. Rendon said his work for Guaido is confidential and he would be required to deny any contract, whether or not it exists.

Meanwhile, Alcala has offered no evidence and the alleged contract has yet to emerge, though AP repeatedly asked Goudreau for a copy.

In the aftermath of Alcala's arrest, the would-be insurrection appears to have disbanded. As the coronavirus spreads, several of the remaining combatants have fled the camps and fanned out across Colombia, reconnecting with loved ones and figuring out their next steps. Most are broke, facing investigation by Colombian police and frustrated with Goudreau, who they blame for leading them astray.

Meanwhile, the socialist leadership in Caracas couldn't help but gloat.

Diosdado Cabello, the No. 2 most powerful person in the country and eminence grise of Venezuela's vast intelligence network, insisted that the government had infiltrated the plot for months.

'We knew everything,' said Cabello. 'Some of their meetings we had to pay for. That's how infiltrated they were.'
That the print media industry has been under tremendous pressure due to the COVID-19 crisis and the resultant nationwide lockdown would be an understatement. Even before the lockdown, people had been terminating their subscription of newspapers due to fear of the paper carrying the Coronavirus and hence, bringing the infection inside peoples homes. Newspaper organisations addressed this with a slew of campaigns affirming that the newspaper was safe and also highlighting the high level of hygiene maintained during the production process.

The initial days of the lockdown resulted in cessation of delivery of newspapers across the country, which was later resumed in phases.

Also read:

COVID-19 times for print media  The rarely good, the bad & the ugly

COVID-19 impact: Print media battling on many fronts

The hit on ad revenues can be gauged with the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) sending out a circular to all the ad agencies, cautioning them that payments received against Print bills should be paid to Publications and not diverted to other media like Radio and TV.

INS asked all ad agencies to upload MRV/01-2020 details as per practice, that is, from April 11 to 15, 2020. Please note that whatever payments are made, should be paid to all Publications on pro rata basis against all bills, INS stated.

Also read:

INS asks ad agencies not to divert print revenues to radio and TV

In April this year, INS also wrote to the Government of India, seeking its support to deal with the surmounting challenges faced by print media with the COVID-19 crisis at hand. Print media is under assault from all directions with distribution bottlenecks due to COVID-19, high cost of importing newsprint and shrinking advertiser support.

In the letter addressed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Shailesh Gupta, President, INS and promoter of Dainik Jagran, urged the Minister to remove the 5 per cent import duty on newsprint to ease the burden on the print media players.

In its latest communique, INS has reiterated its demand for a strong stimulus package, stating that the countrys newspaper industry is faced with a loss of almost Rs 4,500 crore in just two months since COVID-19 cases surfaced in India.

With tremendous pressure on the economy and business operations almost at a standstill during the lockdown period, it is a long road to recovery even as the severe restrictions are being lifted from large areas of the country under the Green Zones from May 4, 2020. The INS communique further state that there is not much scope for advertising activity to pick up any time soon and hence, newspaper industry losses would continue over the next 6-7 months. According to INS, the industry was staring at a loss of Rs 12,000-15,000 crore, unless the industry received a stimulus package on an urgent basis.
KYODO NEWS - May 2, 2020 - 21:12 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Japan took steps Saturday to fast-track its approval of the anti-viral drug remdesivir for the treatment of new coronavirus patients, as the domestic death toll topped 500 including cases from a cruise ship.

The government revised a Cabinet order so it can drastically simplify steps to authorize medicines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, on condition such drugs have been approved in the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany and France.

The move by the Japanese government came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has authorized the emergency use of the drug for those hospitalized with severe illness caused by the virus.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters Saturday he has directed government officials to give the green light to an application by U.S. firm Gilead Sciences Inc., the developer of remdesivir, for approval in "about a week."

Kato added the company is expected to apply for authorization in Japan "within the next few days." If approved, it will be the first recognized coronavirus treatment in the country.

Over 15,000 COVID-19 cases have so far been confirmed in Japan, including about 700 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo in February, with more than 500 fatalities including 13 ship passengers, according to a tally by Kyodo News.

Remdesivir was developed by Gilead Sciences as a possible treatment for Ebola, but it has not been licensed or approved anywhere globally. Side effects such as deterioration in liver and kidney functions are feared.

In announcing the emergency use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a statement, "While there is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19, the investigational drug was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some patients."

Clinical trials have been under way to confirm the effectiveness and safety of its use for COVID-19 patients around the world, including Japan.

Under the U.S. emergency use authorization, the drug will be administered intravenously for patients with low blood oxygen levels as well as those needing oxygen therapy or more intensive breathing support such as a mechanical ventilator.

According to a study recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine, the drug demonstrated effectiveness in nearly 70 percent of 53 coronavirus patients with severe symptoms, while it caused serious side effects, such as deterioration of kidney and liver functions, in a quarter of them.

Moves to develop therapeutic drug and vaccines have been accelerating worldwide.

In Japan, the anti-influenza drug Avigan is also going through clinical tests on COVID-19 patients, which will last through June. A scientific study in China has shown its effectiveness in treating the disease.

Related coverage:

U.S. allows emergency use of the drug remdesivir for virus treatment

Medical workers face severe equipment shortages amid virus spread

Online vegan cooking classes getting pandemic cut-through
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 03:04:52|Editor: huaxia

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NICOSIA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Cypriot trade unions and parties canceled traditional Labor Day parades and celebrations on Friday, as coronavirus restrictions are two days from being eased.

However, parties and trade unions issued declarations commending the contribution of frontline health professionals and the workers in general in managing to contain the spread of COVID-19.

They also mentioned that workers were the most affected by the lockdown imposed more than one month ago and demanded action to alleviate their losses.

Cypriot Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance Zeta Emilianidou, who had announced grants for people out of work due to the restrictions, said the government's aim is to ensure no one loses his job.

"With the support schemes we have announced both for employees and businesses, our aim is that no one gets fired, spreading a blanket of protection over everyone who finds themselves in a difficult position today," she added.

Emilianidou said that though Labor Day was marked in unprecedented conditions, it highlighted the need and duty to protect workers and their rights.

Despite making it mandatory for businesses not to fire workers to be entitled to government financial assistance, unemployment went considerably up in March, when containment measures began to be widely introduced.

This was mainly due to the prolongation of the unemployment status of people working in the tourist business.

According to Eurostat statistics published on Thursday, unemployment in Cyprus increased to 6.7 percent, up from 5.8 percent in February.

For Cyprus, May 1 also marked the anniversary of its accession to the European Union 16 years ago, which was hailed in statements by pro-European parties as a historic event.

A statement by the Foreign Ministry said the accession in 2004 was a watershed event for Cypriot history. Enditem
Confusion over the personal tax implications of the $130 billion JobKeeper scheme has left some workers worried they will see far less than the $1500-a-fortnight wage subsidy promised by the government in their bank accounts.

Employees who normally earn high incomes are in some cases finding themselves taxed at their normal rates even after their incomes plummeted to the pre-tax $1500 they are entitled to under JobKeeper. Once tax has been withheld, that has left some earning less than those on the dole.

Some employers have been left unclear about how much tax is payable under JobKeeper. Credit:Louie Douvis

One stood-down worker, who declined to be named for fear of jeopardising his employment, showed The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald his pay slip, which revealed he was being taxed at almost 40 per cent on his JobKeeper payment.

"We're grateful for anything, but $450 per week doesn't cover the mortgage and car loans, so there's nothing left for food or any utility costs," he said.
Kabul, May 2 : Former Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah has reported progress in the political negotiations with President Ashraf Ghani, saying said there have been agreements in principle and that work wa underway to finalize the details of the agreement between the two sides.

"Glad to assure the people of Afghanistan that efforts by respected national personalities to resolve the political crisis have borne fruit. We have made progress in negotiations and reached tentative agreement on a range of principles," TOLO News quoted Abdullah as saying on Friday.

"Work on details is underway to finalize the agreement," he added.

The political tension ramped up between the two rivals after the results of the September 2019 presidential election were announced, which declared Ghani as the winner.

The two sides have held many talks since then.

Abdullah said in a statement on his Facebook account that the talks were underway between the two sides - with the mediation of national figures.

"We hope to finalize the political agreement at the earliest so that we can pay undivided attention to tackling COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring a just, dignified & lasting peace, & confronting the security & economic challenges in a spirit of national unity & solidarity," he added.
Gardai investigating organised crime in Dublin have arrested a man after seizing what they have described as "a substantial quantity of cannabis". yesterday.

Officers helped by the Special Crime Task Force of the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau stopped a vehicle on the Tonlagee Road in Raheny at around 6.15pm yesterday evening.
Game of Thrones star Hafor Julius Bjornsson has broken the world deadlift record at an event held in Iceland.

Incredible footage shows the 31-year-old actor lifting a whopping 1,104 pounds (501 kg) off the ground inside Thor's Power Gym in Reykjavik on Saturday.

Bjornsson - who is best known for playing Ser Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane on the hit HBO series - has now smashed a record previously set by Briton Eddie Hall.

Back in 2016, Hall made international headlines after he lifted 1,102 pounds (500 kg).

Game of Thrones star Hafor Julius Bjornsson has broken the world deadlift record at an event held in Iceland. He is pictured playing Ser Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane on the hit HBO series

Bjornsson's deadlift was streamed live on ESPN Saturday, with footage showing him lifting a barbell that was bending and straining under the massive amount of weights.

The star held the barbell for two seconds before letting go and roaring in delight.

The event took place without a crowd, due to current restrictions on large gatherings that have been put in place due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In Iceland, no more than 20 people can currently gather in one place.

Bjornsson only completed the deadlift in the company of his doctor, referee and film crew.

Bjornsson's deadlift was streamed live on ESPN Saturday, with footage showing him lifting a barbell that was bending and straining under the massive amount of weights

The star held the barbell for two seconds before letting go and roaring in delight

Afterward he told ESPN: 'I'm obviously speechless..'I'm over the moon.'

Bjornsson even bragged that he could possibly lift even more weight if he had a crowd.

He previously told the New York Post that he performs 'maybe 10 percent better in a competition  the crowd gives you that adrenaline rush that you need'.

But the strongman was simply happy to take the world record.

He stated on Saturday: 'I'm standing here, tall, feeling good, no injuries. I'm healthy as well. I believe today I could have done more, but what's the point? I'm happy with this.'

Bjornsson, who is six feet and nine inches tall, won the World's Strongest Man competition in 2018.

He played 'The Mountain' - a famous knight loyal to the Lannisters - on Game of Thrones between seasons four and eight. His character was killed in the penultimate episode of the series.
Garda Mary Gardiner getting a bucket of water thrown over her during the filming of the viral Amarillo clip. Photo by Domnick Walsh.

Tralee Garda Mary Gardiner has been the talk of not just Kerry, but the internet, this past week as footage of her brilliant 'performance' of the Tony Christie classic 'Amarillo' has spread far and wide.

The video, which impressively only took two takes to get right, has so far received close to one million views at the time of going to print.

For those who haven't seen it yet, the clip features Mary, a much-loved community Garda, being joined by residents from Tonevane in re-enacting the 'Amarillo' music video made famous by Peter Kay.

And while it's safe to say that Mary played a blinder in her role, there was one person not present who was at the heart of the routine - one-year-old Dan Donoher from Ballybrittas, County Laois who was born with a genetic neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type One and Scoliosis. A ground-breaking treatment called Zolgensma is currently only available in USA and costs $2.1million for a once-off infusion.

The fundraising campaign 'Do It For Dan' has been trending all over Ireland for the past few weeks, and the 'Amarillo' clip by Mary and co was their own way of contributing to the fundraising campaign.

Speaking to The Kerryman, Mary said that whole thing was all just a bit of fun and the most important thing is that it was all done with baby Dan in mind.

"People are delighted with the video and it all seems to be very positive, what people are commenting. We obviously did the Mamma Mia thing last week, and then we said we'd try and do something for the Today FM 'Formal Friday', which was last Friday, and this was to raise funds for those on the frontline," said Mary.

"We really wanted to do something for baby Dan as well, and we decided that we'd put the two together, and there you go!

"I love the Peter Kay Amarillo comic relief video he did a few years ago, so that's what we decided on. It was so funny making it, and I must give a shout out to one John Paul Jones for his epic timing throwing a bucket of water on me," she laughed.

"It was great fun, and I'd do it all again, and what's most important is that a small child is after getting his money. You'd throw anything on yourself if you thought it was going to help him or someone else," said Mary.
Evidence is mounting that China is heavily complicit in the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people worldwide, including more than 3,000 Canadians.

Chinese government officials in Beijing and in Wuhan  epicentre of the first outbreak of the novel coronavirus  appear to have spent a precious three weeks covering up the severity of the Wuhan outbreak, insisting that it appeared not to be contagious among humans and that they had the outbreak under control.

None of those things were true.

Absent candour from China, the world was unprepared for a rapidly spreading pandemic whose death toll might yet reach into the millions once it infects less-developed economies and refugee camps.

If it is true that the Communist Party of China (CPC) put its reputation for competence ahead of the safety of the world, it has committed the crime of the century.

COVID-19 has, of course, also required that much of the world economy be shut down. The Canadian economy is forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to shrink by 6.2 per cent this year, and the global economy by 3 per cent.

That is the worst collapse in annual GDP since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Already, doubts about Chinas conduct around COVID-19 have triggered a spike in anti-Asian racism worldwide. The truth, not obvious to all, is that Canadians of Asian ethnicity are blameless in the crisis, are among the front-line health workers fighting the virus, and are just as vulnerable to its health and economic harms as anyone.

That trifecta of COVID-19-related deaths, economic disruption, and heightened racism, is an unprecedented catastrophe for which the responsible  make that irresponsible  parties must be held to account.

Or so runs the argument presented here. But its a view not widely held.

Asked about Chinas alleged complicity in the pandemic, Justin Trudeau has brushed off any talk of locating blame among Chinas CPC leadership or anyone else.

Echoing Trudeau, Britain, France and Germany are focused exclusively on the health crisis and have had little to say on its political origins.

Among the few trying to hold China to account is Canadas House of Commons health committee. It has been stonewalled in its efforts to hear testimony from a top official of the World Health Organization (WHO) about accusations that the WHO parroted Chinas false assurances early in the COVID-19 crisis.

On Thursday, the committee voted unanimously to demand that WHO adviser Bruce Aylward, a Geneva-based Canadian national who has praised Chinas handling of the Wuhan outbreak in the global media, appear before the committee.

But the WHO, itself in need of root-and-branch reform over its obsequious regard for its developing world member countries, has refused to make Aylward available to testify to the Canadian Parliament.

Meanwhile, Australia is alone in urging WHO member countries to back an international inquiry into the origin and spread of COVID-19.

Wed like the world to be safer when it comes to viruses, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week. I would hope that any other nation, be it China or anyone else, would share that objective.

Beijing fiercely opposes an inquiry into its handling of COVID-19. Its response to the initiative of Australia, which counts China as its largest trading partner, has been to threaten Canberra with trade sanctions and to label Australia a puppet of a U.S.-led anti-China conspiracy.

That is how China usually responds to criticism on major issues. It tries to threaten and discredit the critic, as Canada well knows, and is usually successful in doing so.

That, in turn, is due to a misguided Western doctrine that says that in tandem with its rising prosperity, China will eventually become a genuine member of the community of nations, respecting international norms and laws.

But it has been four decades since Chinas landmark economic liberalizations began. And still there is no sign that Beijing is interested in playing by any rules but its own.

If Trudeau has yet to do so, Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland drew her own line in the sand in a 2018 speech in Washington.

China, whose economic success in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty is one of the great accomplishments of recent times, stands as a rebuke to our belief in the inevitability of liberal democracy, Canadas then-foreign minister said.

The theme of Freelands speech was that authoritarianism is on the march  and it is time for liberal democracy to fight back.

But China has yet to be held to account for its human-rights abuses, its rampant theft of intellectual property, its dumping of its underpriced steel in Canada and other countries, its currency manipulation that puts Canada and other countries at unfair competitive disadvantage, and its widening ambit of commercial and political imperialism in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The bill of indictment is lengthy, abbreviated here.

Canadas current acquiescence to Chinas rogue-state ways is unsustainable.

Hobbled by mounting labour shortages and an estimated 500 worker disputes per day, mostly over low pay, China is becoming an ever less reliable supplier.

Weve seen early evidence of that trend in the COVID-19 crisis, when Canada and several European counties took delivery of Chinese medical supplies that turned out to be faulty.

The argument is made that Chinas supply chains are so extensive that the world cant help relying on them.

Against that defeatism, the COVID-19 crisis has seen Canada put itself on a path to self-sufficiency in medical-supply production, a model that can be applied more widely.

Putting aside whether Ottawa decides to back the COVID-19 inquiry proposed by Australia, which has stood with Canada in demanding that China release Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, innocent Canadians incarcerated by China for more than a year, the following steps merit urgent consideration.

Because we cannot rely on China as a long-term supplier, we need to start resourcing the $80 billion in goods we buy from China each year. We need to import more heavily from Malaysia, Vietnam, Chile, Peru and Canadas other partners in the new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). With Japan and Australia on board, the CPTPP is a $19-trillion (combined GDPs) counterweight to Chinas economic-superpower influence.

Chinese takeovers of Canadian enterprises should be banned, since all Chinese firms are required, by Chinese law, to do Beijings bidding if asked. Existing Chinese ownership of Canadian businesses should be unwound.

Canadas immense capital pools, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Ontario Teachers, should be discouraged from Chinese investments. The Canadian retirees money they safeguard should not be exposed to Chinas disrespect of Western legal norms.

Partnerships between Chinese entities and Canadian universities and other R&D centres at work on artificial intelligence and other technologies with national-security implications should be suspended. Often diverted to the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), that technology, gathered in Canada and elsewhere, has been used in the brutal suppression of Chinas ethnic minorities.

And the participation of Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in the development of Canadas 5G telecommunications networks, which this space has previously advocated due to Huaweis technological leadership, is now a political impossibility.

For now, we have to live with a China that allows a deadly virus to be unleashed on the world without warning. But those living arrangements can and must change.

David Olive is a business and current affairs columnist at the Toronto Star.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 08:23:03|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural Development Bank of China, one of the country's three policy banks, will issue up to 50 billion yuan (about 7.14 billion U.S. dollars) worth of loans to Hubei Province this year to support its epidemic response and economic recovery.

The bank said it will also provide other preferential loan policies to Hubei, the hardest-hit province, such as lower loan rates and differentiated credit policy.

Hubei's gross domestic product contracted 39.2 percent year on year during the first quarter as the epidemic brought business activity to a standstill and cooped up residents at home.

Weighed down by the epidemic, China's economic growth fell 6.8 percent year on year in the first quarter. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:02:53|Editor: huaxia

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NUR-SULTAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Saturday signed a decree that terminates the power of Dariga Nazarbayeva as the speaker of the upper house of parliament, the presidential office said in a brief statement.

"I express my gratitude to Nazarbayeva for her active and fruitful work," Tokayev tweeted.

Nazarbayeva was appointed in March 2019 as the senate speaker, a position second in line to the head of the state.

Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan's first president Nursultan Nazarbayev, was born in 1963 and studied at Moscow State University.

Nazarbayeva had served as president of major Kazakh media outlet Khabar TV, the country's deputy prime minister and vice speaker of the lower house of parliament, before becoming a member of the upper house of parliament in 2016. Enditem
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Friday denied that he sexually assaulted a former Senate aide, delivering his first public comments about an allegation that has prompted a collision between the presidential race and the #MeToo movement and forced a difficult reckoning in a party determined to unseat President Donald Trump in November.

In a lengthy written statement and later a television interview, Biden said unequivocally that former Senate aide Tara Reade's claims that he reached up her skirt and penetrated her in 1993 were untrue.

"This never happened," said Biden, who also insisted that women like Reade deserve to be treated with respect. Speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," he repeated himself: "It was 27 years ago, this never happened, and when she first made the claim, we made it clear that it never happened, and that's as simple as that."

The allegation has pushed the topic of sexual assault to the forefront of the campaign after a primary cycle that featured a field with multiple female candidates and Biden's pledge to name a woman as his running mate. Though Biden has prided himself on a long record of promoting women, his campaign also has been marked by struggles as the longtime politician has tried to keep up with cultural shifts reflected within his party.

His emphatic denial calmed some allies, but Biden left open questions of whether records exist that could shed more light on Reade's nine-month employment in his Senate office. He said relevant documents would not be found in his Senate papers, which are closed to the public.

Any complaint that Reade filed would be held at the National Archives, Biden said. (Reade has said she filed a report on an earlier allegation of harassment but not sexual assault. She said she cannot recall the office to which she filed it and does not have a copy.)

But a spokesperson for the Archives said it had no control over the release of such records and that any documents "would have remained under the control of the Senate." A Senate resolution requires such personnel records to remain out of public view for 50 years.

Washington Post photo by Carolyn Van Houten

On Friday evening, Biden's campaign released a letter addressed to the secretary of the Senate asking for help determining whether Reade filed a complaint. "I would ask that the public release include not only a complaint if one exists, but any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation," Biden wrote.

Democrats were split Friday on whether Biden's remarks represented a turning point, even as they and women's groups unified on a central theme: that the nation's alternative in November was worse than Biden. More than 20 women have accused the president of sexual misconduct over the years; he has denied every accusation even as he was caught on a 2005 video bragging in vulgar terms about grabbing women between the legs.

NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily's List, which raises money for female candidates who favor abortion rights, issued a joint statement that only partly defended Biden as it reflected the complicated nuance for a party seeking to support women who make misconduct allegations as well as its presumptive nominee.

"We now need him to lead us forward to create the sort of systems where survivors' claims are taken seriously and justice and healing are possible," the groups said of Biden. "This debate is about the next election, the most critical of our lifetime," the statement said, adding, "Trump presents a threat to our communities, our freedoms, and our most cherished institutions and has never addressed the multiple credible allegations of sexual assault against him."

Biden's comments came after a week of immense strain for him and his campaign as they confronted the biggest test yet of his bid for the white house. Until Friday, Biden's campaign had denied Reade's accusation, but the candidate himself had not addressed it. Reade did not reply to requests for comment Friday and gave no immediate public response.

Biden appeared to carefully consider his words to avoid inflaming concerns that he was slighting Reade. "Women have a right to be heard," he said but added that "in the end in every case, the truth is what matters."

Biden said he had not tried to contact Reade and declined to offer a theory for what he contended was a false claim. "I'm not going to question her motive," Biden said of Reade, adding, "I don't understand it."

Trump, however, weighed in on the allegation against Biden for the second straight day. Speaking on "The Dan Bongino Show," a podcast hosted by a Trump ally, the president said he found Reade "very credible" and compared her positively to women who had accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of misdeeds. As he did Thursday, he also raised the possibility that Reade's account could be false.

Biden's decision to address the allegation came amid a growing political problem: Democratic pressure on Biden to speak up began to eclipse in recent days the ideas and themes he was trying to promote.

Some of Biden's top allies and some campaign aides have been frustrated at Biden's slowness in responding to Reade's allegation. Other campaign advisers, however, have suggested that the topic was not breaking through to voters.

By day's end, Biden allies said it was not clear what would happen next.

"He's now on the record, that had to happen," said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as Hillary Clinton's communications director in 2016. "I also know it's not going to get resolved in day."

Biden's MSNBC interview, held from his makeshift home television studio in his Delaware home, featured occasionally tense exchanges with co-host Mika Brzezinski.

In one, Biden repeatedly resisted the idea of releasing his Senate papers, which are held by the University of Delaware. The papers were to have been released two years after Biden left office in 2017 but are being kept private until two years after his public life ends, a more distant standard.

The former vice president told Brzezinski that there was nothing about Reade in his papers because they do not contain personnel records.

"Why not just do a search for Tara Reade's name?" Brzezinski asked.

"Who does that search?" Biden replied. Brzezinski suggested that the university or a commission could conduct it. Biden disagreed.

Reade has said that she filed a complaint with a congressional human resources or personnel office but did not remember the exact name. The Washington Post could find no record of a complaint.

"I don't remember any type of complaint she may have made," Biden said in the MSNBC interview when asked whether he remembered Reade or the complaint. (An aide later said that Biden did not remember Reade.) "It was 27 years ago, and I don't remember. Nor does anyone else that I'm aware of."

Biden said that his papers contained "confidential conversations" with the president and heads of state and that he did not want them to be made public while he was actively pursuing public office.

Republicans seized on the topic, accusing Biden of shielding unflattering records from public view, even as Trump has gone to historic lengths to block efforts to prevent the release of documents pertaining to his taxes, health records and business dealings.

For Democrats, the more significant matter was how the party and its presumptive nominee would navigate defending him while acting as champions for women who are willing to come forward with credible allegations against powerful men.

The uncomfortable struggle prompted shifting responses from some Democrats. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said in an interview with WNYC on Wednesday that the allegation against Biden should be "investigated seriously" after host Brian Lehrer asked whether there should be a probe into the accusations.

Asked to clarify his comments Friday, Jeffries did not repeat his call for an investigation and sent the following statement: "Vice President Biden has addressed the allegations, vigorously denied them and agreed to publicly release any document connected to this matter. It is now in the hands of the voters."

Some groups said that Biden's decision to name former senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., this week to the committee that will help him select his running mate raised fresh concerns about Biden's commitment to combating sexual harassment. Dodd, in the 1980s, allegedly behaved inappropriately with a waitress at La Brasserie in Washington, according to a GQ article that described an encounter involving Sen. Edward Kennedy in graphic terms. Neither Dodd nor a spokeswoman responded to requests for comment.

Biden received some praise for his comments - the hashtag #IBelieveJoe trended on Twitter - but also heard calls for further action. Several advocacy groups have pushed the Biden campaign to give an address on the importance of combating sexual harassment and sexual violence, according to a person familiar with the effort.

"I am pleased that the Vice President directly addressed these allegations and by how he addressed them," former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams said in a statement. Abrams is seen in the party as a possible vice presidential nominee. Other potential running mates were silent.

Former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat supporting Biden, tweeted some of the strongest notes of support for him. "The story has been heard and vetted. No staffer remembers it. No complaint found. Move on," she wrote.

Tina Tchen, president and chief executive of Time's Up Now, a group that aims to combat harassment and discrimination, released a statement saying Biden "sat down and directly addressed the allegation against him with the seriousness it deserves, something that the current president has never done."

William Jeffress, a lawyer who headed the vetting of Biden during Barack Obama's vice presidential search, said he oversaw a team of nearly 10 lawyers who spent nearly two months digging through records and interviewing dozens of people about Biden. He said Reade's name never came up, so they never spoke with her.

"This kind of complaint - not just Tara Reade, but any kind of complaint about Senator Biden on sexual harassment - never came up," he said. "We just never had an occasion to interview anyone on an accusation like this because we found no such accusation."

Reade's sexual assault accusation was the first made against Biden, although several women said last year that he had made them feel uncomfortable with his close contact.

Reade said last year in interviews with The Post and with other news outlets that Biden had put his hands on her shoulders and neck when she was working in his Senate office. She said she had complained about it to senior aides in the office, but those aides told The Post that they had no recollection of Reade's claim.

Last month, in a podcast interview, she alleged that the then-senator had assaulted her after pushing her against a wall somewhere on Capitol Hill.

The Post published a detailed examination of her account two weeks ago in which one of her friends confirmed that Reade had told her of an incident shortly after she said it had occurred. Reade's brother, Collin Moulton, also told The Post that she had told him in 1993 that Biden had touched her neck and shoulders. Several days after the interview, he said in a text message to The Post that he recalled her telling him that Biden had put his hand "under her clothes."

In an interview published by Business Insider on Monday, Lynda LaCasse, a former acquaintance of Reade's said that Reade told her of an alleged assault in the mid-1990s, when they lived in the same California housing complex. LaCasse on Wednesday confirmed those details to The Post.

Lorraine Sanchez, who worked with Reade in California after Reade's tenure in Washington, told Business Insider that Reade had told her she "had been sexually harassed by her former boss while she was in DC and as a result of her voicing her concerns to her supervisors, she was let go, fired." Reade has given various reasons for her departure.

Several days before those comments, a 1993 call to Larry King's CNN talk resurfaced in which a woman whom Reade identified as her now-deceased mother called to discuss unspecified "problems" her daughter was having with her employer, whom she called "a prominent senator."

- - -

The Washington Post's Alice Crites, Mike DeBonis and John Wagner contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 1)  The government's COVID-19 task force has allowed Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs to resume partial operations, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed on Friday.

Roque said online gambling services are part of the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, which are allowed to open under the new quarantine rules. A skeleton workforce, or only 30 percent of the total number of employees, are allowed to report for work.

"Ang BPOs po ay ina-allow. Ang POGO po talaga ay BPO," he said in a media briefing.

[Translation: BPOs are allowed to operate. POGOs are part of the BPO (sector).]

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairperson Andrea Domingo lobbied with government officials to allow POGOs to reopen, arguing that revenues from POGOs can be a significant source of funds for the governments COVID-19 response.

"Essential ito kasi we need revenues. Revenue-generating. Employment-generating. But with no threat in spreading COVID-19," she said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

[Translation: This is essential because we need revenues. POGOs generate revenues and employment, minus the threat of spreading the virus.]

"Lahat ng proceeds na kikitain ng BPOs na galing sa POGO ay lahat ilalaan, 100 percent, dito sa gastusin related sa COVID-19, " Roque added.

[Translation: All taxes from POGOs will be used, 100 percent, to fund the COVID-19 response.]

President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman clarified only compliant POGOs are allowed to go back to business. He said PAGCOR and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) are tasked to verify if they have complied with their tax requirements before giving them permits to operate once again.

Domingo said PAGCOR and the BIR will be stringent with this crucial step.

"Kaya nga kami hindi namin papayagan mag-resume ng operation sinuman na hindi cinertify ng BIR na paid up lahat ng taxes nila as of March 2020 at sila ay registered sa BIR. So we are coordinating with BIR very closely. That is included in our requirements, Domingo said.

[Translation: We will not allow the resumption of those businesses without BIR certification.]

The gaming sector has faced several issues in the past few months.

The BIR earlier revealed that over 27-billion worth of tax liabilities remain uncollected from the POGO sector.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council also said POGOs generate only 7 billion in net inflows, a value the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee said only translates to a "negligible" 0.04 percent of the domestic economy. The committee has also opened inquiries into POGO-related crimes in the Philippines, including sex trafficking and the controversial money laundering scheme.

In March, PAGCOR admitted there are over 100 unlicensed POGO outlets under investigation.

Lawmakers against decision to reopen POGOs

Several lawmakers criticized the government's decision to ease the quarantine rules in favor of POGOs, despite their many violations.

Senate Labor Committee Chairman Joel Villanueva said there is no reasonable explanation for allowing POGOs to return to business.

"I don't see the logic for allowing POGO to operate. Even prior to the pandemic, we said that this industry has no positive net benefit to Filipino society. With the pandemic, they might just contribute to further spreading the disease," he said in a statement.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who recently signed a resolution blocking POGOs from returning in the country, said the government is undermining its efforts to curb the virus by allowing these workers to gather in their offices.

"Hindi na nga nagbabayad ng buwis, dawit pa sa mga kaso ng kurapsyon at money laundering, at sangkot pa sa sex at human trafficking. The resumption of POGO means mobility for at least 120,000 POGO workers, most of them in the NCR, the epicenter of the COVID-19 transmission," she tweeted.

[Translation: They are not paying taxes, they are involved in corrupt practices, in money laundering, and sex and human trafficking.]

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said authorities will likely encounter problems in ensuring that POGOs comply with social distancing rules as they restart operations. Citing news reports of police raids in cramped POGO offices and housing, he said authorities might have to go the extra mile in making sure that the new normal rules meant to prevent further infections are followed by these companies.

All POGO workers, including the 31,600 Filipinos employed by these companies, need to undergo COVID-19 swab or rapid testing before they can report back to work.
A 72-year-old British man has claimed a double world record after becoming the oldest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Graham Walters, from Leicester, England, arrived in Antigua on Wednesday, three months after departing from Gran Canaria island in Spain in a plywood boat he built in his front yard.

Walters is also the oldest person to row across an ocean more than once. The gruelling 3,000-mile (5,000 km) challenge was his fifth Atlantic crossing -- and his last, he says.

This trip really is about the boat which I built 22 years ago. That boat has been with me three times across the Atlantic before this, so its getting old, like me. I thought, why not be the oldest person to row the Atlantic with an old boat? he said.

Escorted in by local Coast Guard boats to the sound of blaring horns in honor of his achievement, Walters stumbled as he took his first shaky steps on land after more than 90 days at sea.

And despite being keen to be reunited with wife Jean, whom he had married just a month before his departure, Walters will have to remain in Antigua until travel restrictions are lifted. All commercial flights in and out of the Caribbean island have been suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Walters visited a gym daily to get fit for the journey. He rowed a punishing two hours on, two hours off each day.

After three months of surviving on boil-in-the-bag meals -- plus a stash of chocolate he took with him as treats -- Walters said he couldnt wait to tuck into an English staple, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, with a glass of red wine.

Walters feat has raised more than $3,000 for Help for Heroes, which assists British servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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He warned Zimbabweans to take the lockdown seriously and said the Corona figures in the UK started off slowly just as is happening in Zimbabwe but they suddenly exploded and mushroomed in the third week. He said he survived the infection because of the grace of God and the fact that he is a nurse and he had all the medical equipment he needed at home.
PHILIPSBURG(DCOMM):--- Last week Friday at exactly 7.00 pm the residents of Ebenezer took a few minutes to clap and cheer for every essential worker who has to work to help keep us safe.



This includes every grocery store packer, cleaners, and security guards.



The residents of Ebenezer wanted to recognize them for their dedication during these uncertain times and thank them.



We are asking every resident whether you live on the Northern or Southern side of our sweet St. Maarten to clap, knock pots and pans, and if you are in your cars honk.



However, you choose to show your appreciation, please join us in this salute to our essential workers, the Ebenezer Community Council said in a statement.
Minister of Health Hala Zayed said the recent rise in the number of coronavirus cases is still within the predicted norms, adding that the cases detected on Friday were the result of more than 6,000 PCR tests.

Egypt reported on Friday 358 new coronavirus cases, marking the highest single-day toll and bringing the number of cases to 5,895, the health ministry said.

Zayed told MBC Masr satellite channel on Friday that the situation in Egypt is still safe as long as the weeks numbers are not double those of the previous week.

She said the death toll recorded on Wednesday -- the highest daily toll with 22 fatalities -- had seen 12 cases die before their PCR tests results were out.

She added that according to statistics, 27-30 percent of the fatalities die before reaching isolation hospitals, and 31 percent die within the first four days at the hospital.

She attributed the recent increase in the number of cases to peoples habits outside curfew hours, especially during the two weeks that preceded Ramadan.

According to the minister, the movement of people to markets decreased by 40 percent when the crisis had started. However, during the two weeks preceding Ramadan, people frequented markets only 11 percent less than normal, which means that people are going out more.

The minister said people have to adapt to the presence of coronavirus until a vaccine is found. People can go out but they should maintain social distancing, she added.

It doesnt matter when the curfew starts, what matters is our habits outside its hours, the minister said.

During the coming period the world will be gradually restoring normalcy while applying precautionary measures, she added, what will matter is people's behaviour."

Zayed said that people should develop new norms and lifestyles during what she called a transitional period until a vaccine is found.

What will also matter is not the daily infection and death tolls, rather the preventive measures adopted on the macro and micro levels, she stated.

Zayed warned that many children who contracted the virus are in isolation hospitals because their parents allowed them to go out and socialise.

She said the ministry will be bringing back waiting lists and health initiatives like "100 Million Health" and the womens health programme upon the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Life will not stop because of the coronavirus, all healthcare services should resume, she said.

She asserted that Egypts healthcare system has the flexibility to accommodate the coronavirus cases and provide other health services.

She said that only 17 out of the 30 isolation hospitals prepared for the second phase of the pandemic are occupied.

Two weeks ago, the ministry started preparing 81 fever and pulmonology hospitals to not only receive, test and redirect cases, but to also isolate and treat them, the minister stated, noting that in 45 days 30 of these will also be prepared to isolate and treat patients.

The minister noted that the newly applied system of placing mild cases in quarantine facilities (hotels, hostels and dorms) has proven successful, as it alleviated the burden on hospitals, and many of the cases admitted there have recovered.

Regarding the plasma therapy trials announced by the health ministry on Thursday, Zayed said that two cases have responded to the medication.

Zayed added that five weeks ago Egypt requested the antiviral drug Remdesivir which Trump announced on Friday the US Food and Drug Administration had authorised for emergency use.

On Friday, the ministry reported 14 new fatalities, bringing the total number of deaths to 406.



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The search for a missing 66-year-old Coodanup man will continue today, with Water Police and dozens of volunteers deployed to search the banks of the Serpentine River.

The clothes Peter Henry Woods was wearing when he went missing on Monday evening.

This follows an extensive overnight search by Mandurah police, Department of Fire and Emergency Services volunteers, Water Police, canine units and Police Air Wing.

Peter Henry Woods has not been seen or contacted his family since leaving his home late on Monday evening and concerns are held for his welfare.

Mr Woods left his residence, about 70km south of Perth, around 9.30pm on April 27.
This is the moment a Ford Focus driver, who has been jailed for over two years, drags a woman along a road and tired to knock over her boyfriend.

Daniel Walmsley, 29, was sentenced to two years and one month for causing actual bodily harm and dangerous driving for dragging a woman along a road and then ploughing into her boyfriend in Newcastle.

Video played at Newcastle Crown Court shows a woman arguing with Walmsley before he reverses and tries to drive away, throwing the woman on the ground, and accelerates towards her boyfriend.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Phil Hoggins said: 'Walmsley's actions were dangerous, reckless and put the lives of innocent people who were enjoying their evening at risk.

'Using your vehicle as a weapon can have serious consequences and both victims in this case were extremely lucky not to suffer any serious injuries.'

The footage, which was shared thousands of time on social media shows a Ford Focus driver arguing with a woman before he quickly reverses and tries to drive away.

Shocking CCTV footage went viral showing Ford Focus Driver Daniel Walmsley dragging a woman along a road before trying to run over her boyfriend and hurling him into a lamppost in Newcastle (pictured)

The woman gets thrown onto the floor and dragged along the road as her boyfriend tries to stop Walmsley.

But Walmsley accelerates towards the protesting boyfriend hurling him acorss the street into a lamppost before he speeds away from the scene.

The man and woman were unharmed and did not want to be involved with the police investigation.

Daniel Walmsley (pictured), 29, was sentenced to two years and one month in jail for causing actual bodily harm

Northumbria Police carried out their inquiries without them, reviewing CCTV, and found evidence of an argument prior to the incident and that the woman had been pushed to the ground by the driver.

After officers identified the driver as Walmsley he admitted causing actual bodily harm and dangerous driving in January.

As well as his jail sentence he is not allowed to drive for five years and two months.
(Newser)  Paul Cary, a grandfather of four who'd served as a paramedic and firefighter in Aurora, Colo., for more than 30 years, knew he wanted to help the people of New York City as they battled the coronavirus. And so, NBC New York reports, at the end of March, the 66-year-old drove an ambulance across the country to go help out in the Big Apple, arriving for his first day of service on April 1. Cary, stationed out of the Bronx Zoo, helped FEMA transport patients across the city. But sometime between April 19 and April 20, he started exhibiting virus symptoms himself, and he was soon after admitted to the Bronx's Montefiore Medical Center, per NBC News and CBS New York. He was eventually put on a ventilator, and on Thursday, his family made a sad announcement.

story continues below

"We were devastated to learn that our father and grandfather, Paul Cary, became the latest victim to die of COVID-19," they said in a statement, per KKTV. "He risked his own health and safety to protect others and left this world a better place. We are at peace knowing that Paul did what he loved and what he believed in, right up until the very end." The Aurora fire department put up a tweet noting Cary's passing, calling it "heartbreaking news," and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio honored the "heroic" Cary at a Friday press conference, per CBS New York. "We have lost someone who came to our aid, to our defense," the mayor said. "There's something particularly painful when someone does the right thing, a fellow American comes from across the country to try and help the people of New York City, and while working to save lives here gives his own life." (Read more paramedics stories.)
The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, on Saturday said it would be very difficult to assess medium or long-term impact on the banking sector at the moment in the wake of the ongoing nationwide lockdown as this will continue to evolve in the emerging situation.

The bank is looking at the short term now - the next two or three quarters, a senior SBI official said on condition of anonymity.

The impact of the lockdown over the next one to two years will be difficult to assess at the moment, he pointed out.

"In the next one to two years, we will have to navigate very carefully and SBI is sure of a turnaround as India is young country and a growing economy," the senior official of the lender said.

He said the bank was the first to come out with the response by providing working capital as "emergency COVID credit line to the extent of ten per cent".

This was extended to all the customers with "standard assets", he said, adding that other banks then followed the suit.

Regarding the three-month moratorium on repayment of loans, announced by the Reserve Bank of India in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, he said, nearly 20-25 per cent of SBI's corporate borrowers had availed of it.

"Availing of the moratorium has an inherent interest cost," the official said.

He said the RBI's LTRO (Long-Term Repo Operations) facility to banks has also helped in getting liquidity.

"SBI took around 20-25 per cent of this liquidity facility provided by RBI," he said.

The bank is reaching out to customers who are having an impaired cash-flow so that they can be helped further, he said.

According to an analysis, the aviation, hospitality, travel and tourism sectors were the most affected in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, he said, adding power and steel were also adversely impacted as demand falls.

The sectors that could benefit from the pandemic are the pharmaceutical industry and medical equipment manufacturing, the official said.

According to him, the banks have been allowed to reassess working capital limits of the companies, in case they are affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Normally, reassessment of working capital is equivalent to restructuring and has to be shown as non- performing assets, he said.

The SBI official also said the Indian Banks Association (IBA) is also evaluating measures, which can be taken by the banks in this situation, and weighing further supports that can be sought from the regulator.

India could derive an advantage from the COVID-19 outbreak as number of companies overseas have shown interest to shift their base to the country, he said.

For exporters, he said, charges and fees had already been lowered prior to the present crisis, and the bank is willing to look at liquidity and other supports that can be given, whenever needed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Deaths related to COVID-19 have claimed 111 residents of Lehigh County and 107 residents of Northampton County, county officials said Friday.

The total of 218 deaths is higher than the two counties combined death toll of 174 reported Friday by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which has been working to reconcile its data with that of county coroners and other medical sources.

Warren County says that as of Friday, 84 COVID-19 related deaths were reported to its health department, in line with the 83 deaths reported by New Jersey officials.

(Note: The above chart lists where Lehigh and Northampton counties COVID-19 victims lived. Click here if its not displaying.)

Northampton County reports 84 of its residents died from COVID-19 related causes, and another 23 died in Lehigh County. In addition, 11 non-county residents died within Northampton County of COVID-19 related causes; the non-residents hometowns break down as follows: Allentown (1); Astoria, New York (1); Bronx, New York (1); Lopatcong Township (1); Millersburg, Pennsylvania (1); Monroe County (3); Phillipsburg (1); Upper Macungie Township (1) and Washington, Warren County (1).

We are reporting more than data here," Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said in a statement. "We are reporting the loss of our fellow citizens and we grieve that loss with their loved ones and friends.

The deaths demonstrate "that we are not yet done experiencing the devastation of COVID-19 in Northampton County," McClure stated.

Northampton County offers a data dashboard with additional details at northampton.maps.arcgis.com.

Lehigh County officials say the average age of its 111 residents who died was 80.28, and that 77% of those who died tested positive for the coronavirus illness while the rest are presumed to have been infected. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the countys residents who died lived in long-term care facilities.

As the pandemic continues its grip on the Lehigh Valley and beyond, Lehigh County Coroner Eric Minnich said Friday that death investigations increased by more than 55% last month compared to April 2019.

"We wish our most sincere condolences to the families affected, as well as thoughts of strength and healing to our entire Lehigh County community," Minnich said in a statement.

Warren County says that of its toll related to COVID-19, 65 of the 84 deaths are associated with long-term facilities. Visit co.warren.nj.us for additional data about the coronavirus impact.

Statewide, Pennsylvania has 46,971 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 2,354 deaths. New Jersey has at least 121,190 cases and 7,538 deaths.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.

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.
Ah, the empty skies! Climate campaigners may celebrate the 41pc decline in air traffic since the onset of the coronavirus - the air is purer, the birdies are singing louder - but it's sad all the same. We may reflect that many of us have probably lived through a golden age of air travel, ever since Dublin Airport was opened 80 years ago, in January 1940. Some may even recall that it was once called 'Collinstown' and that children were taken to the airport for their special First Communion treat, just to watch planes take off. I was brought to Shannon, aged about 10, as a special treat, and I thought it was the most exciting place in the world. I resolved there and then to be an air hostess, deviating from my previous aspiration to be a prima ballerina.

Ireland's geographical position made it a natural for the development of aviation: Alcock and Brown's famed first transatlantic flight came to land at Clifden in 1919, and the sight of the islands off the west coast of Ireland from their open cockpit was a signal that they had made the perilous journey. Charles Lindbergh said that to glimpse Ireland coming into view from the air was an epiphany confirming success in flight.

James Fitzmaurice, a noted air ace and a Clongowes boy, pioneered the first East-West Atlantic flight (along with a German co-pilot) from Baldonnell in 1928. Fitzmaurice subsequently became involved in the development of Aer Lingus, which was established in 1936.

By 2020, Ireland was a key hub for aviation, and a lead nation in the financing and leasing of the global aviation business. Ireland had very high rates of flights per capita - more than twice that of America, three times that of Canada - and it was expected to grow exponentially this year. Alas for predictions.

Aer Lingus was important in the development of Irish aviation because it was the national flag carrier and a visible symbol of Ireland's identity and status. But it was Tony Ryan - born in a modest Limerick cottage - who started the airline-leasing business and, of course, subsequently launched Ryanair. This became the leading European budget carrier, and the fifth-biggest airline on the planet. Quite an achievement.

Norwegian airlines carry portraits of famous Scandinavians on the tail fins - Ibsen, Alfred Nobel, Kirsten Flagstad - but Aer Lingus aircraft have long been named after Irish saints. The aviation historian Eamon Power, who has an archival memory of Aer Lingus's story, has furnished me with an impressive list of the saints honoured by Boeing, Viking, Fokker, Saab, Airbus, etc. Many saints were honoured twice or thrice as one airplane replaced another. Obviously, St Brendan the Navigator is popular; Patrick has always made an appearance, but Brigid, Ciara, Columba, Columbanus, Conleth, Colman, Finnian, Finbar, Fintan, Jarlath, Eithne, Malachy, Fergus, Davnet and Maeve are among the extended roll call.

Maeve? According to Padraig O Riain's A Dictionary of Irish Saints, there is no St Maeve! Ah well, I'm sure there have been saintly Maeves, so let's stretch a point.

Aer Lingus also launched with a ceremony blessing the aircraft - the first blessing of the fleet, Eamon Power notes, took place on July 23, 1947, performed by the Rev W Kenry, from Swords. Hundreds of people sometimes attended aircraft blessing ceremonies (RTE has some fine footage of these events), which was another great day out at the airport. The practice ended in 1967, not because anyone thought it was sectarian - people accepted it as a national ceremonial - but because there were too many aircraft on the runways. There is still an annual, and ecumenical, general fleet blessing at Christmas.

Times continually change and air travel evolved from a luxurious and glamorous pursuit by an elite to mass travel for millions. Granted, it became less enjoyable, especially after September 11, 2001, when draconian security measures had to be implemented to deter air terrorism. But though the security measures are vexatious - the endless queues, the intrusive body searches - air travel also became increasingly safe, helped by computerised science and precision engineering.

Irish aviation was also driven by brilliant, modernising, dynamic personalities - Jeremiah Dempsey, Tim O'Driscoll, Michael Dargan - who came from small beginnings (and big families!) where you had to strive to self-improve. Sean Lemass, Taoiseach from 1959 to 1966, was always a huge supporter of developing Irish aviation. Like Jerry Dempsey, and Tony Ryan, he was a CBS alumnus. Fair play to (Clongowes-educated) Michael O'Leary, who had that same burning, entrepreneurial energy - as well as to Peter Sutherland (Gonzaga), who opened up the skies to fair competition via the EU. I only mention schools as they can be the key to motivational achievement.

Yes, I look up at the empty skies ruefully. With the greatest respect to our friends in the climate change lobby, I hope it won't be too long before we hear that "fasten your seatbelts" announcement again. It has been our pleasure flying with you, ladies and gentlemen of the aviation industry, and it should be our national duty to support the return of the big bird of the skies.
NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry on Friday split 733 districts across India into red, orange and green zones, pulling out all metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad into the 'no activity' or red zone.

According to the list, there are 130 red zones, 284 orange zones and 319 green zones in India. Besides, two hundred and seven districts have been marked as non-hotspot zones. Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback.

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone. Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days.

Stringent restrictions will be enforced in red zone areas till the lockdown, which was extended till May 17, ends, said the Health Ministry. There will be partial easing in orange zones and liberal easing in green zones.

Among all states, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have the maximum number of red zones at 19 and 14 respectively, followed by Tamil Nadu at 12 and all of Delhi's 11 districts have been marked as 'no activity' zones.

Among Mumbai's suburbs, Thane, Palghar and Mumbai suburban have been designated as red zones. Other districts in Maharashtra in this category are Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Satara, Dhule, Akola, Jalgaon and Raigad.

In Uttar Pradesh, Delhi's NCR region, Gautam Buddha Nagar, has been marked as red zone, while Ghaziabad is in the orange category. Other regions include the state capital of Lucknow, Agra, Saharanpur, Kanpur Nagar, Moradabad, Firozabad, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Rae Bareli, Varanasi, Bijnor, Amroha, Sant Kabir Nagar, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, Mathura and Bareilly.

Delhi's other NCR, Gurgaon  which comes under Haryana  has been marked in orange zone.

Tamil Nadu, which has 12 red zones, 24, Orange and 1 green Zone, has witnessed a significant rise in coronavirus cases from the first week of April. Despite a recovery rate of 54%, the state has seen a daily spike of over 100 cases in the last three days. On Tuesday, the state has 121 cases, 104 on Wednesday, and 161 on Thursday.

Till Friday, the state has recorded 386 new cases, of which over 80% are from Chennai alone. The state has so far recorded 2323 coronavirus positive cases and has seen 1258 recoveries and 27 deaths.

Meanwhile, three districts of Karnataka - Bengaluru urban, Mysuru and Bengaluru rural- figure in the red zone, according to the list released by the Centre. In Karnataka, out of the total 30 districts, 3 districts are in the red zone, 13 in orange, and 14 in green.

Red Zone: Bengaluru Urban, Mysuru, Bengaluru Rural. Orange Zone: Belagavi, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Bagalkote, Mandya, Ballari, Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, Uttara Kannada, Tumakuru. Green Zone: Davangere, Udupi, Chamarajanagara, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Hassan, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Koppa, Raichur, Shivamogga, Ramanagara and Yadgir.

Here's the state-wise list of red, orange and green zones:

In order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (May 1) extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks. As per the latest notification, the third phase of lockdown will be enforced until May 17.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as lockdown 2.0 was coming to end on May 3.

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Union Home Ministry issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Friday to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued fresh guidelines, under which, all the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the MHA, will be prohibited.

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.
Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj on Saturday wrote to the Union human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, demanding the inclusion of the lessons leant from Indias fight against Covid-19 pandemic in the school curriculum. The state cabinet minister said that doing so will teach the children how to fight such a pandemic and become a Covid warrior.

Maharaj said he sent the request to Pokhriyal on Saturday morning and hopes that his request is accepted.

I decided to write to the Union minister, as in my opinion, adding lessons on the fight against the pandemic in the curriculum will help the children understand what sort of measures were taken to contain the spread of the deadly virus in a country of a billion-plus people, said Maharaj.

He added that the lessons for the children in the junior classes may be interactive in nature, teaching them the benefits of social distancing, face masks and sanitisers. This is necessary, because such precautionary measures will become a part of our regular life in the future due to this pandemic, Maharaj said.

He added that the students of higher classes could be given a case study on the containment efforts.

For Coronavirus Live Updates

Debates could also be organised on the issue so that students can understand the pandemic in a much better way, and learn how a country of Indias size fought it while setting an example for the world, Maharaj said.

Maharaj feels this initiative, if approved, will educate the coming generations about the pandemic and prepare them for any such threat in the future.

If the fight against this pandemic is added to the school curriculum, then, I think India would be the first country to do so in the world, he added.

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Gang War at least 6 dead

Thursday around 5:00 p.m on 4th Avenue Bolosse, was the scene of violent clashes between the Gang of "Grand-Ravine" and that of "Baz Pilat". At least 6 members of his two gangs were reportedly killed in the shootings.



50 million Gourdes for accredited private vocational schools

the Secretary of State for Training, Maguy Durce announced that private vocational schools accredited by the National Institute of Professional Training (INFP) will benefit from financial support from the Government, from an envelope of 50 million Gourdes.



May 1 messages

President Jovenel Moise :

"On this first May 2020, we have a special thought for the Jacmelians. Respect the barrier gestures during the patronal feast. The opportunity to celebrate together, without any constraints, will soon be there. We all live, especially employers and workers, a difficult May 1st. COVID-19 give a terrible blow to the world of work. But, if we follow the instructions, we will return, safe and sound, to work soon."



USAID-Haiti :

"May 1 is the celebration of agriculture and work in Haiti. Although the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow the organization of traditional agricultural fairs, it is still necessary to mark recent achievements in this sector. Over the past year, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-Haiti) has provided technical assistance to more than 7,600 farmers involved in the plantain, rice and cocoa value chains, increasing the agricultural productivity and sales in the Nord and Nord-Est departments."



Ministry of National Education :

"Respect to education workers on May 1st !"



Town Hall of Port-au-Prince :

"On this day dedicated to work and agriculture, the Town Hall of Port-au-Prince takes this opportunity to salute the courage of all the workers and farmers who continue to behave like heroes, bearing the responsibility of producing for a community, providing appropriate assistance and services so that daily life can be delicious [...]"



Ministry of Tourism :

"In these difficult times marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Haiti needs every worker, especially those in the tourism sector which constitutes one of the pillars of the Haitian economy. On the occasion of the Agriculture and Labor Day, the Ministry of Tourism, while being aware of the difficulties you are going through, salutes you patrioticly and wishes to reassure you of its commitment to each of you. Haiti needs each of you to raise the Haitian tourism industry after this health crisis..



HL/ HaitiLibre


















MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI  The number of coronavirus cases continue to inch up in Muskegon County, as we enter the month when health officials predicted the area will hit its peak.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 12 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Muskegon County on Friday, May 1, bringing the total number of cases to 288.

The death toll remains at 17 with no new deaths reported Friday.

Of all the tests conducted in Muskegon County, 14.7 percent of them have come back positive for the virus.

Muskegon County Public Health Officer Kathy Moore previously told MLive the peak of the pandemic is expected around mid-May.

Cases rose steadily throughout the month of April, nearly doubling every week as the county increased testing.

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Black residents continue to make up more positive cases in Muskegon County, with 38 percent of cases, compared to 25 percent of cases being white residents. But deaths among black and white residents are equal, at 41 percent each.

Residents ages 50-59 have been impacted the most by COVID-19, making up about 22 percent of cases.

Meanwhile, the number of cases among residents ages 20-29 is on the rise, currently making up about 18 percent of cases countywide.

Although county health officials expected elderly residents to be hit the hardest by the virus, residents ages 80-89 only make up about seven percent of all coronavirus cases in the county.

However, senior citizens make up the majority of deaths in the county, with about half of the 17 reported deaths being residents over the age of 80.

Meanwhile, residents ages 50-59 have been impacted the most by COVID-19, making up about 22 percent of cases. The number of cases among residents ages 20-29 is on the rise, currently making up about 18 percent of cases countywide.

Fifty percent of all cases countywide are distributed equally among the cities of Muskegon and Muskegon Heights, according to the most recent data posted by county health officials.

Norton Shores has the third highest case count, with 16 percent of the countys cases.

According to data listed on the Mercy Health website, there are currently 16 patients that have tested positive for COVID-19 in Muskegon hospitals, Mercy and Hackley, while one patients is under investigation for coronavirus symptoms.

Statewide, there have been 42,356 cases reported in Michigan, after state health officials reported 977 new cases on Friday. The number of deaths rose by 77 to 3,866, according to MDHHS.

Ottawa County cases jumped up by 18 on Friday, bringing the countywide total to 254. Two more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 11.

Kent County hit 1,600 cases Friday after health officials reported 121 new positive cases. The county has reported 36 deaths with COVID-19 total.

In Newaygo County, there have been 24 confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths. In Oceana County, there have been 11 confirmed cases and one death.

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

More on MLive:

Friday, May 1: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan tops 10,000 daily tests for first time, 77 new deaths reported

Michigans closure of bars, gyms, casinos extended to May 28
The day in 2015 when C Pam Zhang was laid off from her first job out of college, she celebrated with friends, then promptly made plans to move to Bangkok.

She had been working at a tech start-up in San Francisco for several years, she says, kind of stress-testing this question of whether I could be happy doing something that was not writing. But the layoff felt liberating, so she decided to live off savings for a while and give writing a real shot.

C. Pam Zhang wanted to write a great American epic in which people like her were reflected. Credit:Cayce Clifford

Ive been complaining all this time about not having the time to write. Will I actually write when I have the time, or am I just a big fake?

Over seven months in Thailand, she wrote more than a dozen short stories, in the process landing on the sort of work she wanted to do: speculative fiction that dealt with themes such as death, migration and loneliness.
TDT | Manama

Bahrain yesterday joined workers all over the world in celebrating an unusual Labour Day were traditional May Day demos and gatherings were scaled back with Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns in place all around.

Essam Khalaf, the Minister of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning, extended congratulations to all the frontline workers here saying, the Kingdom has tremendous respect for them, who are a key part of the nation-building process.

Celebrating this occasion underscores the Bahraini governments respect to workers in all sectors, said Essam Khalaf adding that the ministry is keen on ensuring all preemptive measures to ensure workplace safety amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The minister extended heartfelt congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

He said the world is observing the occasion amidst exceptional circumstances, noting that the Ministry has taken all preemptive measures in line with the recommendations of the national task force.

On the eve of International Workers Day on May 1, the United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned that half of all workers worldwide  amounting to 1.5 billion people - are in danger of having their livelihoods destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.

There were arrests in the Philippines, Russia and Turkey, a riot in Indonesia and pepper spray in Hong Kong as some broke confinement rules to hold public assemblies.

May Day carries extra significance this year after the epidemic sent the global economy into a tailspin, put unprecedented numbers of people out of work, and cast some of the worlds lower-paid workers -- nurses, garbage collectors, shop tellers and delivery drivers -- in the role of modern-day heroes.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Export of grains and legumes from Turkey to Turkmenistan increased by almost 46.2 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, making up over $6.9 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

Turkeys export of grains and legumes to Turkmenistan amounted to $2.5 million in March 2020, which is 30.2 percent more compared to March 2019.

From January through March 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $1.8 billion to world markets, which is 5.8 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

According to the ministry, Turkey's export of these products made up 4.2 percent of the countrys total export in the 1st quarter of 2020.

In March 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $633.4 million to world markets, which is 7.9 percent more than in the same month of 2019.

Turkeys export of grains and legumes in March 2020 made up 4.7 percent of the countrys total export.

Over the last 12 months, i.e. from March 2019 through March 2020, Turkey exported grains and legumes worth $6.8 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Technavio has been monitoring the CBD oil market and it is poised to grow by USD 3.52 bn during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 32% 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/20200501005040/en/

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CBD Oil Market Trends

CBD Oil Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies growing legalization of cannabis-based products as one of the prime reasons driving the CBD oil market growth during the next few years.

CBD Oil Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the CBD Oil Market, including some of the vendors such as Aurora Cannabis Inc., Canopy Growth Corp., CBD American Shaman LLC, CV Sciences Inc., Elixinol Global Ltd., ENDOCA BV, Gaia Botanicals LLC, Isodiol International Inc., Medical Marijuana Inc., and NuLeaf Naturals LLC. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the CBD Oil Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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CBD Oil Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024

Detailed information on factors that will assist CBD oil market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the CBD oil market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the CBD oil market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of CBD oil 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 2019

Market size and forecast 2019-2024

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Marijuana-derived CBD oil Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Hemp-derived CBD oil Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024

APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024

MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Growing legalization of cannabis-based products

Exponential online retail growth

Increasing frequency of mergers and acquisitions

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

Competitive scenario

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Canopy Growth Corp.

CBD American Shaman LLC

CV Sciences Inc.

Elixinol Global Ltd.

ENDOCA BV

Gaia Botanicals LLC

Isodiol International Inc.

Medical Marijuana, Inc.

NuLeaf Naturals LLC

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

Definition of market positioning of vendors

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200501005040/en/

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It's probably not news to any adult industry member who's come out publicly as having had sex on camera that "polite society" isn't exactly welcomingbut guess what? If you're an adult performer and transgender, you're lucky to get a seat even in the back of the societal bus.

The Trump administration has made it pretty clear that the president considers all LGBTQ citizens to be second class, but he's had a particular hard-on (sorry) for trans people. Ever since Trump tweeted in July of 2017 that "The United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," there's been plenty of dissension in the ranks, with more than 56 retired generals and admirals, as well as prominent Members of Congress both Democrat and Republican condemning the order, and although various federal courts ruled that the ban could not take effect, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted those injunctions in January of 2019, and the ban began taking effect just over one year ago.

But that's hardly the only problem transgender people have faced from government and conservative special interest groups. Before the coronavirus shut all public schools down, there were many battles being fought to allow trans students to use the bathroom that aligned with their gender identityand in fact, there's a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court right now that will decide whether when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, it meant to include LGBTQ citizens when it banned discrimination "on the basis of sex"a ban that legislatures in several states passed and which are currently in effect, preventing gays and trans people from being able to rent housing in certain areas, and denying them job security by allowing employers to fire them at will.

But now, with the coronavirus impacting every sector of society, transgenders face additional problems, which the National Center for Transgender Equality spelled out in a recent email to supporters.

According to the NCTE, legislation being passed to help relieve the problems caused by the pandemic should:

 Prohibit discrimination in emergency response, health care and relief programs.

 Expand unemployment, paid leave and food assistance for all who need them.

 Protect everyone, no matter their immigration status or where they work.

 Quickly move vulnerable people from crowded prisons, jails, shelters and ICE detention to safe housing.

 Use every means available for rapid production of life-saving medical supplies.

Anyone who's followed the emails and notices from right-wing religious groups knows how big a problem this is. These groups are pushing for legislation that allows doctors and other medical personnel to refuse care to transgender people, that allows psychologists and other therapists to try to convince TG teens that they really aren't TG, and that supports the power of landlords and real estate agents not to provide assistance to trans people seeking housing. There's also been a problem with how law enforcement handles transgender criminals, often refusing to put them in prisons that coincide with their gender identity.

"I think its ridiculous that discrimination is so prevalent in todays society, especially when it comes to passing new laws," trans adult actress Casey Kisses told AVN. "To fail to make a law that would protect LGBT people from being discriminated against while receiving emergency care and medical aid is so hateful in my opinion. I dont think anyone should be discriminated against when it comes to receiving medical attention, especially just because you identify a certain way or have a sexual preference other than straight. I hope that straight as well as cis people can help in our fight for better medical, employment and equal rights, as we trans people are a small community compared to the rest of the population. We are all humans and deserving of living with the same rights as everyone else."

Heck, even the Pope thinks so!

It's a massive problem, and one the NCTE feels can be partially alleviated by recognizing trans rights in the next CARES Act relief package.

A petition to urge Congress to include such clauses in upcoming relief bills may be found here.

Pictured: 2018 San Diego transgender rights protest/Wikimedia Commons
Country artists join in to help donate thousands of meals to healthcare workers

LEBANON, Tenn., May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cracker Barrel Old Country Store  continues Theres Comfort in Giving, a program to donate meals and pay-it-forward to healthcare professionals fighting on the frontlines of COVID-19. This week, additional country artists donated meals to hospitals in Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee to give thanks to our healthcare heroes.

Participating Triple 8 Management artists Scotty McCreery , Eli Young Band , and Pat Green along with Red Light Management duo Maddie & Tae donated hundreds of homestyle meals from Cracker Barrel to their hospital of choice to not only give thanks to healthcare workers but also provide the comforts of home during this time of uncertainty. Donations made this week as part of the program include:

Scotty McCreery donated to Duke University - Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in Durham, North Carolina

Eli Young Band donated to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas

Pat Green donated to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas

Maddie & Tae donated locally to Nashvilles Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Cracker Barrel Hospital Delivery Photos

Being married to a nurse, I know firsthand how incredibly hard our amazing healthcare professionals work every day, whether its an average week or a long-term pandemic, said Scotty McCreery. These doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, researchers, specialists, and medical staffs are our heroes that always rise to the challenges put in front of them. Im proud to contribute a Gratitune to entertain and spotlight these amazing people while at the same time teaming up with the great folks at Cracker Barrel in providing them a tasty and comforting meal. I appreciate Cracker Barrel donating meals to our health care professionals, and I encourage everyone to share your love for our medical heroes.

Story continues

Guests and fans have the opportunity to join Cracker Barrel in paying it forward by giving the virtual gift of a homestyle meal to someone they love. Now through May 12, Cracker Barrel will donate one additional meal to a frontline worker with purchase of every $10 in Cracker Barrel Old Country Store e-gift cards via crackerbarrel.com (up to 10,000 meals).

For more information about Cracker Barrels Theres Comfort in Giving program and to purchase an e-gift card, visit www.crackerbarrel.com/comfort .

About Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) shares warm welcomes and friendly service while offering guests quality homestyle food and unique shopping  all at a fair price. By creating a world filled with hospitality and charm through an experience that combines dining and shopping, guests are cared for like family. Established in 1969 in Lebanon, Tenn. Cracker Barrel and its affiliates operate 664 company-owned Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations in 45 states and own the breakfast and lunch focused fast-casual Maple Street Biscuit Company restaurants. For more information about the company, visit crackerbarrel.com .

###

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Brittany Rashkin

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brittany.rashkin@flytevu.com


Brothers Phillip and Anthony Reed experienced a totally different NYC when they shot their recent short film. It was slightly surreal and sobering to see the city so quiet, there was a sense of witnessing history unfolding in front of us, Phillip said. Watch the video to see a haunting yet beautiful portrait of New York City.

Music by Good Weather For An Airstrike.
- Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams came out to make a public apology to the president and the people of South Africa

- President Cyril Ramaphosa had put the communications minister on special leave for two months

- The minister is said to have been punished for breaking the rules of a countrywide lockdown

- This was after a photo of her having lunch with a former official at his residence went viral on the internet

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa put the communications minister on special leave for two months, one of which will be unpaid,

The minister is said to have been punished for breaking the rules of a countrywide lockdown and having lunch with a former official at his residence.

READ ALSO: Baboon Josephine: Elgeyo Marakwet man abandoned by wife, children after adopting ape

Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams came out later to make a public apology to the president and the people of South Africa.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: 8 creative inventions by Kenyans seeking cheaper, effective masks

Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams came out later to ake a public apology to the president and the people of South Africa following the punishment.

I would like to convey an apology to President Cyril Ramaphosa ... (and) society at large for breaching lockdown rules put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, she said.

I regret the incident and am deeply sorry," she added.

READ ALSO: Nairobi hairdressers invent new spiky style resembling coronavirus to create awareness

Ramaphosa acted after a picture of Stella at the lunch emerged on social media, angering South Africans confined to their homes during the 21-day lockdown to rein in the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the rules, people are only allowed to leave their homes for essential tasks like buying food or seeking medical help.

The president strongly believes that no one, including the minister, is above the law, Ramaphosas spokeswoman, Khusela Diko, said.

READ ALSO: Madagascar using own medicine to treat COVID-19, has no recorded death

He says none of us should undermine our national effort to save lives in this very serious situation,'" she added

The countrys largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, had called on Ramaphosa to fire Ndabeni-Abrahams and lay a criminal complaint against her over the lockdown lunch

She is not the first government minister to break lockdown rules.

READ ALSO: 125k birthdays cards: War veteran who raised billions for COVID-19 pandemic celebrates 100th birthday in style

New Zealand Health Minister David Clark drove his family to the beach in the early stages of the lockdown there.

Scotlands chief medical officer stood down after breaching the lockdown by visiting her second home.

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
Yemen has reported three new coronavirus cases, two in the city of Aden and one in Taiz province, the national emergency coronavirus committee has said, bringing the total number of infections to 10 with two deaths.

The United Nations says it fears that COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, could be spreading undetected among an acutely malnourished population with inadequate testing capabilities.

The virus has been diagnosed in three provinces in the vulnerable country which has been mired in conflict for more than five years.

The new case in Taiz had been in contact with the southwestern provinces first infection which was announced on Friday, the emergency coronavirus committee said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

The governor of Taiz on Saturday announced that he was closing the provinces borders for two weeks, with the exception of supplies of food and other essential goods, in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

Yemen recorded its first case of COVID-19 in southern Hadramut province on April 10. On Wednesday, it announced five infections in Aden, with two deaths.

The country is already grappling with what the UN describes the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, the result of a conflict between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebel group which drove the government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

The World Health Organization has said it fears that COVID-19 will severely affect Yemen, as the population has some of the lowest levels of immunity to disease compared with other countries.

Approximately 80 percent of the population, about 24 million people, rely on humanitarian aid and 10 million are at risk of starvation.
When baton-wielding SSP left many surprised in Burail

Its rare to find a senior superintendent of police (SSP) patrolling the streets with a baton or a stick. The Covid-19 pandemic led Chandigarh SSP Nilambari Jagadale to do a reality check and patrol the congested areas in town. Last week, SP, city, Vineet Kumar accompanied her as she went around asking people about their curfew passes at Burail village. Her presence sure surprised many a resident as they are used to engaging with beat officials and PCR staff on a daily basis but not a senior IPS officer.

Covid confusion for namesakes in Kharar

Their common name has led to many a confusion but the other day it triggered a fight over none other than humanitys biggest enemy: Covid-19. Kuldeep Kaur, 65, and her namesake cousin daughter-in-law, 56, returned from Takht Hazur Sahib, Nanded, last week. Both residents of Choti Nagli village in Kharar were put up in a quarantine centre and their samples were taken to check for coronavirus infection. The 65-year-old tested positive but refused to accept the result, claiming she was hale and hearty. An argument ensued when she expressed the doubt that the result may have been that of the younger Kuldeep Kaur. The drama went on till health officials intervened and admitted the 65-year-old to a hospital though she still didnt believe them.

SHO becomes talking point among cops after encounter

On arresting four men wanted for attempt to murder after an encounter in Panchkula recently, the station house officer of Phase 8, Rajnish Chaudhary, who led the team, became a talking point in his department. Police personnel posted in Mohali say encounters are Chaudharys passion. They say he keeps a bullet-proof jacket handy in his vehicle because safety always comes first. Though no cop opened fire in this incident, constable Rashpreet Singh was shot in the left leg by a gangster before his accomplices and he were caught.

Health dept fighting Covid-19 info leak

The health department in Chandigarh is dealing with new kind of challenge: Information leak. As the citys corona count climbed through the week, the department found that the information was being broken on social media even before the reports reached the top brass. Director health services, Chandigarh, Dr G Dewan said that the administration has taken serious note. A senior doctor on the operational front at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, admitted that over the past few days, he had been receiving official confirmation after the news was all over social media.

Repairmen caught off guard

The list of repairmen drafted by the Chandigarh administration wasnt made after consulting them. For instance, an air conditioner serviceman in zone 3 said that his name was given in the final list without informing him. My father died recently and I wont be back on duty for at least a week. Now Im redirecting the calls.

PEC director takes online class

Dheeraj Sanghi, the director of Punjab Engineering College (PEC), ensures the faculty feels like family. While all teachers are busy preparing online modules for students to make sure the academic year is not wasted, Sanghi joined in and prepared an online lecture, too. Thats motivation and supervision at the same time.

Contributed by Hillary Victor, Shailee Dogra, Amanjeet Singh, Rajanbir Singh, Shub Karman Dhaliwal and Srishti Jaswal
The confidential health information of nearly 2,000 heart patients of Houston Methodist Hospital is at risk following the mid-February theft of portable storage devices containing clinical data.

Notification letters were mailed to the patients last month apprising them their name, gender, date of birth, procedural images and code number, medical record number and doctors name were contained in external hard drives removed from hospital premises, then stolen from a vendors car.

We deeply regret any concerns you might have as a result of this breach, the letter said. We want to assure you we have extensive safeguards in place to protect the privacy and security of our patients health information and we continually review and update our security safeguards.

The hard drives were removed, in violation of established protocol, by a vendor representative who operated 3D imaging technology in Methodists cardiac catheterization lab. The representative, who believed the designated storage room was locked due to the late hour of the day, left the hard drives in his vehicle, which was later broken into.

The letter, which went to 1987 patients, did not give the name of the vendor.

Police were unable to recover the hard drives, and a private investigator hired by Methodist could not find any relevant video footage.

The letter said the vendor representative has been removed from the premises following a Methodist internal investigation that determined he failed to follow hospital policies, training, technical safeguards and contractual obligations as well as the controls of his medical device manufacturer employer. It added that alternative controls are being implemented.

None of the patients financial information is contained on the hard drives, the letter said. It also said the procedural images are only viewable through the proprietary imaging technology.

The letter added that Methodist nevertheless recommends patients dont respond to unsolicited questions they receive related to their care or financial status. It said patients might also consider notifying your health plan of this incident and monitoring your explanation of benefits statements.

Despite noting financial information wasnt compromised, the letter also advised the patients they can learn more about identity theft and how to protect personal information at the Federal Trade Commissions website. It also suggested the patients go to Web Watcher, an identity monitoring service that monitors targeted internet sites for use of personal identity information.

Hospitals are required by state, federal and international law to provide notice of such breaches of patient information.

todd.ackerman@chron.com
Irrfan Khan was a huge admirer of Naseeruddin Shah, his senior in the theatre and cinema world, and aspired to have an acting career like him. His colleagues at the National School of Drama often saw Naseeruddin in his performances.

The admiration eventually became mutual, as is evident from the tribute the senior actor has penned for Irrfan. Naseeruddin has recalled his first meeting with Irrfan, as well as the qualities that defined him as a fine actor.

"One day on returning home I saw Ratna (Pathak Shah) sitting in my drawing room with a very slight, very mild looking person who was rehearsing with her for a TV film they were to act in together. If not for those eyes I might have taken no notice of the man, never having seen him perform but something in his quiet assurance as he rose to greet me that day stayed with me...," Naseeruddin wrote for The Hindu.

Naseeruddin also recalled Irrfan's days of struggle, when he did small roles in TV and movies before the world recognised him for his talents.

"His early stint which saw him making do with walkon parts in movies or more prominent ones in forgotten TV serials - a path that didn't seem to be leading anywhere - was for him, I believe, an apprenticeship to hone the craft on display in the work he was to subsequently astonish us all with. It was as if nature recognised what he was capable of and was preparing him to do justice to it," he added.

Read: The Silent Star of Bollywood: Here's How Young Irrfan Khan Began Dreaming of Becoming an Actor
V: Oh sweetie, dont leave me.

Magdalena: I have to go home now. But on Monday, I can bring you the Coca-Cola you asked me for.

V: Im not interested in the soda. Youre whats interesting, someone to talk to. I dont want to be left alone. Give me your hand; dont go just yet.

They had told me about Virginia many times. It wasnt until my sixth month in the shelter (in Lima, Peru) that I met her. The first day that I saw her and spoke with her was in the first aid station. I saw how her look would go vacant while she was waiting. Though maybe now my memory deceives me about what was my first encounter with Virginia, I seem to remember that, after a little while, a woman went up to her and hugged her, with affection. I would learn later that, for Virginia, this was Doris, her mom, who was a nurse working in the shelter where I did my doctoral research and where Virginia had been living for five years now. I would also learn later that Virginia was schizophrenic and that, as I had been told, this was part of her delirium.

The first impression that I had of Virginia made me want to get to know her better and so I dedicated more time to speaking with her. One day, when we were sitting on the courtyard benches, she told me that she wanted to search for her father. Virginia did not seem that old, but because of her schizophrenia, staff could not track her life history and were unsure about her age. Maybe she was around 60 or 70, so it was not impossible that her father was still alive with 80 or 90 years old. She took out a piece of paper from the plastic bag in which she carried around her valuables and showed me a phone number written on it. She told me it was her fathers number and asked if we could call him. I said yes and dialed the numbers. The operators voice answered, however, and told us that this number did not exist. For a fraction of a second, I didnt understand how this could be, if Virginia had it written down.

Just a moment later, everything made sense: this number did not exist and, most likely, one of the staff members had written it down in the hopes of calming Virginia down in the face of her impatient demands to get in touch with her family. I understood that, in the institution, this was one of the mechanisms that were used to soothe the residents who talked about being abandoned and had a certain degree of deterioration. They gave out non-existent numbers that generated great expectations among those who were looking to reconnect with their loved ones. I suppose that the hope to once again see the face and feel a hug of a loved one never totally disappeared.



Virginia told me many times that the loneliness in which she lived made her go crazy, and that not having what she called vida afectiva with the residents or her family  a bond of friendship, the possibility of a friendly conversation, care, the support of someone  caused her pain and contributed to making her illness worse. When I asked her about Doris, Virginia lamented that, with months, she had grown distant and explained to me that her plans to recover her affection were unsuccessful.

In the current context of COVID-19, all of us, without exception, are experiencing firsthand the difficulties of social distancing. Thinking about how this new order will govern our subjectivity and our affect causes worry and desperation. We are used to the closeness of other bodies and the sweetness of skin on skin; this new situation presents an undeniable challenge for our species. But what happens when the possibility of having closeness, intimacy, affective bonds, or company does not exist? The quotidian life of Virginia is the perfect example of what it is like to live perennially in social isolation, deprived of meaningful relationships, abandoned. I think that these uncertain times could be key moments for understanding the reality that many elderly people live all over the world. In getting near to their stories, we could think about the new ways in which they, so often invisible, can inhabit the world in a more satisfactory way.

In the midst of her loss, the life of Virginia is one of a vulnerable older woman who does not give up waiting, who resists temporality, who is resilient. The perennial lack of affection does not make her give up on life. To the contrary, evils afflict her day after day, her nerves take power over her, but, despite it all, she remains firm in the midst of an institution in which she, as a person, means very little. This doesnt matter. Virginia weaves with her actions a universe in which her fight for care, her ambition to permanence, and her eagerness to be recognized as a person of moral worth speak of a human desire that I still cannot categorize through words. It is a desire that has no end, a longing that isnt extinguished, a hope that isnt exhausted. Virginias struggle is a fight to exist in a broken world. And her vitality points towards existing surrounded by love.

Acknowledgements:

This piece was made possible by financial assistance from the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund, a program of The Reed Foundation. I also want to thank Amelia Frank Vitale for her feedback on earlier visions of this piece and to the many older adults at the institution where I worked who kindly shared their stories with me.

Magdalena Zegarra Chiappori is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan. She is writing her dissertation on how precarious care, family and social abandonment, and forced intimacy shape the lives of the vulnerable elderly in a shelter for abandoned older adults in Lima, Peru.

The Age of COVID-19 is a series being cross-posted at Somatosphere and the Association for Anthropology, Gerontology and the Life Course (AAGE) blog and is edited by Celeste Pang, Cristina Douglas, Janelle Taylor and Narelle Warren.

Photo by the author.

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Linkedin (Kyodo News) Washington, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 13:45 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd582ca1 2 World US,COVID-19,treatment,remdesivir Free

US regulators said Friday that they have authorized the emergency use of the experimental anti-viral drug remdesivir for treating coronavirus patients, saying that clinical trials have showed "promising results."

"While there is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19, the investigational drug was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some patients," the US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

The move, which will enable the drug to be used for those hospitalized with severe illness caused by the new coronavirus, is a "significant step" forward in battling the pandemic, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in a statement.

The company said it aims to produce at least 500,000 treatment courses by October, 1 million treatment courses by December and millions more in 2021, if required.

Remdesivir was developed by US biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences as a possible treatment for Ebola, but it has not been licensed or approved anywhere globally.

Clinical trials have been under way to confirm the effectiveness and safety of its use for coronavirus patients around the world, including Japan.

The Japanese government is looking to fast-track its approval. The drug is expected to be available in Japan as early as this month, a government official said.

Under the emergency use authorization, remdesivir will be distributed in the United States and administered intravenously by health care providers for patients with low blood oxygen levels as well as those needing oxygen therapy or more intensive breathing support such as a mechanical ventilator.

More than 1 million people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus, with the country's death toll exceeding 64,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Globally, there have been more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, and more than 230,000 deaths.
Description

"Bay Street Theater is providing on-camera acting training for teens and adults! In this fast -paced course, actors ages 13-99 will learn the difference between acting on stage and acting for the camera. They will also focus on commercial copy and audition material from the world of television and film!



ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR



Allen OReilly

Director of Education and Community Outreach Bay Street Theater

Allen OReilly has been an educator and professional actor for over thirty years. He has served as Artistic Director at Young Audiences of Atlanta, Education Director at Georgia Shakespeare and most recently Education Programs Manager at Cleveland Play House. While at Georgia Shakespeare, Allen directed touring productions of: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Nights Dream. In addition, for Georgia Shakespeares Childrens Theater Allen directed Jungle Book, The Frog Prince, The Emperor and The Nightingale and Mighty Myths and Legends! In 2005, Allen directed and co-wrote a bi-lingual elementary tour in Spanish entitled Miguels Shakespearean Adventure! At Cleveland Play House, Allen directed Kicked! An anti-bullying piece that toured Northeast Ohio; Allen was also instrumental in the establishment of CPH Academy, an acting academy for youth and adults while at Cleveland Play House. Allen has acted at Cleveland Play House, Geva Theatre. Clarence Brown and the Alliance Theatre and was an associate artist at Georgia Shakespeare for twenty-four seasons. TV/film credits include: Sleepy Hollow, TURN: Washingtons Spies, Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius, The Assassins Code and The Enormity of Life."



Register for this online course here
A grieving mother has told how her 22-year-old Loughborough University son committed suicide after he was 'overwhelmed' by the lockdown.

Ben Brown, from Gloucester, killed himself on Monday after writing his mother Helen Hartery-Brown a letter about his mental health.

The night before his death, Ms Hartery-Brown, 54, said that engineering student Ben - who was living with friends in Leicestershire - had concealed his anguish.

Ben Brown (pictured), 22, from Gloucester, killed himself on Monday after writing his mother Helen Hartery-Brown a letter about his mental health

However, he spoke of the 'overwhelming' impact that the lockdown was having on him in a letter that his mother found after he died.

Ben, who was going to train with the British Army in September, spoke of needing to be 'busy all the time' so he was not 'alone with his thoughts'.

Ms Hartery-Brown said: 'We video called him at 6pm the night before he took his life.

'Ben was very close to his Mum. My last words to him were, "I love you millions". His last words to me were, "I love you too mum".'

She continued: 'The lockdown had a massive impact on him. Ben had not spoken to anyone about how he was feeling. He found it all too overwhelming.

'He was always so busy and packed a lot into his short life. Ben was an intelligent and loving man who left a lasting impression with many people.'

Born in Gloucester, Ben and his family moved away for a spell before returning back to the city when he was in Year 6 at primary school.

The night before his death, his mother Helen Hartery-Brown (left), 54, said that engineering student Ben - who was living with friends in Leicestershire - had concealed his anguish

He was a pupil at Barnwood Church of England Primary School before starting secondary school at The Crypt School in Podsmead.

Ben then went to Welbeck College in Leicestershire where he completed A-levels across the sciences before starting university in 2016.

His mother said: 'My son lived life to the full.

'He took himself off travelling to Thailand and Vietnam and even went to Madagascar where he volunteered with building projects there.

'I am so proud of him and all that he achieved.

'Some messages I have been sent from people he had only known for a night from his travels, but he had made a real lasting good impression on them.

'Ben, my son lived life to the full.'

In the weeks before he passed, Ben donated to the charity Papyrus, which aspires to prevent people from taking their own lives.

He is survived by his mother, father Chris Brown, 51, older brother Alex, stepmother Neelam Brown, stepfather Mark Hartery, 52, and five step and half siblings.

For support call the Samaritans on 116123 or go to www.samaritans.org.
The Demonstration School for the Deaf (DEMODEAF) at Mampong Akuapem in the Eastern Region will need to expand its facilities in order to take more students when school re-opens.



It said due to inadequate space, the school occasionally had to turn back prospective students.



Our school is the first school for the deaf and so the school is well known and parents try to bring their children here. Unfortunately, we dont have enough space and so every term or every academic year, we send between 20 to 30 per cent of children away to other schools because of the lack of space, the outgoing headmaster of the school, Mr Abraham Yemoson, told the Daily Graphic recently during a fumigation exercise by Zoomlion Ghana Limited.



Population



The Demonstration School for the Deaf which has 460 students offers programmes such as leather works, hairdressing, sewing and beads making at the vocational level.



It has a kindergarten, primary, junior high school and vocational programmes.



Mr Yemoson said projects were being undertaken that were yet to be completed.



Moreover, he noted that the classrooms too were smaller with large numbers of students, thereby making teaching difficult since most of the children would not be able to see the teaching using sign language.



Class size



He said the ideal number of students that should be in a class should be about 10 or maximum 15 so that you can teach them well because if you dont see them and they dont see you, teaching will be difficult because of the use of signs.



In some classes, he said, for instance, the number of students was 24, 26 and 36, too large because of the special situation of the students.



Mr Yemoson said the school had secured some flat screens which would be used to project the lessons for the students to attract their attention and for the teachers to sign less, adding that had been done at the junior high school block and would be extended to the primary block.



Parents



The headmaster advised parents who had their children in the school to take their studies seriously since anytime school re-opened it took some of them (parents) over a month to send their children to school.



He said the children were special since some of them ended up at the college of education, universities, and came back to teach in the school.



Such teachers, he said, served as role models and so parents needed to take the education of the children very seriously.



Mr Yemoson said before the students were sent away due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, they and the staff were taken through the safety protocols, including the washing of hands under running water, the use of hand sanitiser, maintaining social distance and coughing into the elbow.



That, he said, would be repeated once the students returned when the COVID-19 issue had been addressed.

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
CODY, Wyo.  The Wyoming Game and Fish Department asks anglers fishing the North Fork of the Shoshone River and Buffalo Bill Reservoir west of Cody to report tagged trout.

Recently, Game and Fish captured, tagged and released trout in the North Fork of the Shoshone River in an effort to better understand seasonal distribution of trout in the North Fork and Buffalo Bill Reservoir and to help generate an estimate of angler catch and harvest rate.

By reporting tagged fish anglers play a crucial part in local research that will help fisheries biologists better understand the migratory nature of trout in this unique fishery and better evaluate the effectiveness of current regulations in place to protect migrating fish.

The more people who report tagged fish, the better quality our data will be and the more information we will get out of this important study, said Fisheries supervisor Sam Hochhalter. To take the time to call in and report tagged fish is a huge ask of anglers, but this is important information that will ultimately benefit this cherished fishery.
Public-health researchers work in their laboratory at an airport in Qingdao, Shandong province, August 11, 2014.

Reuters/China Daily

A fringe theory suggests that the new coronavirus leaked by accident from a lab in Wuhan.

Researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) study infectious diseases, including coronaviruses, and did before the pandemic started. So as questions about how the pandemic started continue to go unanswered, the lab has drawn scrutiny.

Matthew Pottinger, Trump'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.

There's a reason for that, according to Jonna Mazet, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Davis, who has worked with and trained WIV researchers in the past.

"I know that we worked together to develop very stringent safety protocol, and it's highly unlikely this was a lab accident," she told Business Insider. Here are four reasons why.

Reason 1: The lab's samples don't match the new coronavirus

The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China's Hubei province, April 17, 2020.

HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images

The WIV houses China's only Biosafety-level-4 laboratory. Scientists study the most dangerous and infectious microbes known to humankind in these types of facilities. Some of the institute's researchers, including virologist Shi Zhengli, have collected, sampled, and studied coronaviruses that circulate Chinese bats. In 2013, Shi and her collaborators pinpointed the bat population most likely responsible for spreading SARS, in the Shitou Cave near Kunming.

Story continues

After her team sequenced the COVID-19 virus, Shi told Scientific American that she quickly checked her laboratory's record from the past few years to check for accidents, especially during disposal. Then she cross-referenced the new coronavirus' genome with the genetic information of other bat coronaviruses her team had collected. They didn't match.

"That really took a load off my mind," Shi said told Scientific American, adding, "I had not slept a wink for days."

Mazet has met and worked with Shi through PREDICT, a pandemic early-warning program started by the US Agency for International Development. The program has trained staff and funded labs in 30 countries, including the WIV, but President Donald Trump shut down PREDICT last fall.

"I've spoken to her recently," Mazet said of Shi. "She is absolutely positive that she had never identified this virus prior to the outbreak happening."

Mazet added that Shi set up a secure, shared database into which PREDICT members could upload their work for public release.

Reason 2: The lab implements rigorous safety protocols

In 2018, US officials raised concerns about safety issues at WIV, according to diplomatic cables obtained by The Washington Post. But Mazet said Shi's work in the lab and in the field was above reproach.

"In the field, they wear extreme personal protective equipment, including multiple layers of gloves, eye protection, full body suits, and masks," she said. (She noted, however, that she has not personally visited the WIV and couldn't speak to all the research done there.) Samples collected from bats, Mazet added, get immediately split between some vials that contain chemicals that deactivate the virus, and other containers that leave the virus alive.

A laboratory technician working on samples from people to be tested for the new coronavirus at "Fire Eye" laboratory in Wuhan in China's Hubei province.

Getty

All samples are then dunked into liquid nitrogen on the spot, which freezes them, then the vials are disinfected and transported to the lab. There, scientists wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) unload them into a freezer set to minus 80 degrees Celsius.

When the samples are studied later, researchers only use the deactivated, non-infectious ones, Mazet said, adding that the vials with viable virus are locked down in a special area.

Reason 3: The coronavirus is the latest in a long line of zoonotic disease outbreaks

Rather than a leak, the coronavirus is more likely the latest disease to have jumped from an animal host to humans, experts say.

This type of cross-species hop, called a spillover event, also led to outbreaks of Ebola and SARS. Both of those viruses originated in bats, and genetic research has all but confirmed the same for the new coronavirus  a study published in February found that it shares 96% of its genetic code with coronaviruses circulating in Chinese bat populations.

Three out of every four emerging infectious diseases come to us from other species; these pathogens are known as zoonotic diseases. The coronavirus is the seventh zoonotic virus to have spilled over into people in the last century.

A greater horseshoe bat, a relative of the Rhinolophis sinicus bat species from China that was the original host of the SARS virus.

De Agostini/Getty

The 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic  swine flu  started in pigs then killed nearly 300,000 people. People have caught bird flus via direct contact with infected poultry. Other pandemic influenza strains, including the 1957 "Asian flu" and the 1968 Hong Kong pandemic, likely started in birds, too.

And in the last 45 years, at least four epidemics have been traced back to bats.

Reason 4: Everyday people are more likely to get infected than researchers who wear protection

The caves and wild habitats in which samples get collected from bats are dangerous places for people, since humans can be exposed to the live viruses circulating in the animals, Mazet said.

Shi's researchers navigate those caves in full PPE; but tourists, hunters, poachers, and other people who rely on animals in some capacity for food or trade wander into such places less protected.

The mouth of a cave off of the Li River in Guilin-Yangshuo, China, May 2017.

Shankar S./Flickr

Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance (which managed PREDICT's relationship with the WIV), told NPR last week that his colleagues are "finding 1 to 7 million people exposed" to zoonotic viruses in Southeast Asia each year.

"That's the pathway. It's just so obvious to all of us working in the field," he said.

A study published in March 2019 even predicted that bats would be the source of a new coronavirus outbreak in China. That's because the majority of coronaviruses  those that affect humans and animals  can be found in China, and many bats "live near humans in China, potentially transmitting viruses to humans and livestock," the authors said.

Spillovers will keep happening

The frequency of spillover events will increase as humans encroach further into wild habitats that house disease-carrying species we haven't interacted with before, Mazet said. Researching how past spillovers happened and which habitats present the greatest risk for such events helps scientists make predictions about the next pandemic.

A researcher with a protective face mask holds a bat.

Benjamin P. Y H. Lee/BMC Ecology Image Competition

Since 2014, Shi's group at the WIV has received nearly $600,000 from a multi-million dollar, five-year grant funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to research the spillover of bat coronaviruses. The grant, which is managed by EcoHealth Alliance, was renewed for another five years in 2019.

However, after being questioned about that funding at a White House briefing on April 17, President Trump said his administration would "end that grant very quickly."

A week later, the National Institutes of Health canceled it.

Eroding confidence between US and Chinese researchers

Yuan Zhiming, director of the WIV's biosafety laboratory, told Reuters that "malicious" claims about the lab had been "pulled out of thin air" and contradicted all available evidence.

The persistent circulation of the lab-leak theory could impact future scientific cooperation and information sharing between the US and China, according to Mazet.

"What's happening sociologically right now is our biggest risk who's going to want to work on this if they're the ones put under a microscope?" Mazet said. "I think the real danger of what's going on now is that experts like Shi and myself may not be able to keep collaborating to identify these viruses because of government pressures." Mazet said.

That would make it harder to discover where the COVID-19 virus came from, as well as to forecast and prepare for the next spillover.

A German scientist works on research related to a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

Reuters

Mazet added that she worries a blame game could even put lives at risk in the short term.

"If we point fingers at other nations that have best opportunity to develop a vaccine, why would we expect them to freely share that with us?" Mazet said. "Collaboration is key right now, otherwise you have countries developing things in parallel, and you can't assume the US is the best at everything."

Read the original article on Business Insider
DALLAS, May 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ashford Group of Companies announced today that all of its companies, including Ashford Inc. (NYSE American: AINC), Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. (NYSE: AHT) ("Ashford Trust"), and Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: BHR) ("Braemar"), will return all funds provided by the Small Business Administration's ("SBA") Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") due to the agency's recently changed rules and inconsistent federal guidance that put the companies at compliance risk.

Federal Government assistance is required to repair the most significant damage in history to U.S. hotels and hospitality businesses caused by government-ordered shutdowns and restrictions on travel and public gatherings. Industry-wide revenue is down approximately 80-90% as a result of the government orders, resulting in the immediate loss of 3.9 million jobs, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Some media and members of Congress have falsely implied that Ashford accessed "loopholes" in the CARES Act to qualify for the PPP funds. In fact, Congress designed the PPP to specifically allow companies that own multiple hotel properties to obtain separate loans for each property as a means to prevent the economic collapse of the hospitality industry that is now occurring. This is why Congress wrote the CARES Act to waive the SBA's standard affiliation rules for hotels and restaurants, as follows:

[A]ny business concern that employs not more than 500 employees per physical location of the business concern and that is assigned a North American Industry Classification System code beginning with 72 at the time of disbursal shall be eligible to receive a covered loan.

This specific provision of the law was referenced in the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQ") published on April 13, 2020:

Question 24: How do the $10 million cap and affiliation rules work for hotels and restaurants (and any business assigned a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code beginning with 72)?

Answer: Under the CARES Act, any single business entity that is assigned a NAICS code beginning with 72 (including hotels and restaurants) and that employs not more than 500 employees per physical location is eligible to receive a PPP loan.

Ashford relied on the statute as passed by Congress and the guidance provided by the SBA to apply for PPP loans in good faith. Ashford also relied on the SBA's view that its affiliation rules do not apply to any business entity that is assigned a NAICS code beginning with 72 and that employs not more than a total of 500 employees. Under these rules, qualified hotels and restaurants that are owned by a parent business are permitted to apply for separate PPP loans, provided that each property maintains a unique EIN. The $10 million maximum loan amount under the PPP applies to every eligible business entity.

Ashford applied for PPP loans for each qualified hotel property in full compliance with this guidance, and in the belief it was our obligation to protect our employees, vendors, communities, lenders and shareholders from unfair economic damage.

Since we submitted our loan applications, the rules have changed almost daily. In fact, the SBA has issued numerous Interim Final Rules and at least 12 separate FAQs. For example, the SBA added the following new guidance relating to public companies on April 23, 2020 (weeks after we submitted our PPP applications):

31. Question: Do businesses owned by large companies with adequate sources of liquidity to support the business's ongoing operations qualify for a PPP loan?

Answer: In additionborrowers should review carefully the required certification that "[c]urrent economic uncertainty makes this loan request necessary to support the ongoing operations of the Applicant." Borrowers must make this certification in good faith, taking into account their current business activity and their ability to access other sources of liquidity sufficient to support their ongoing operations in a manner that is not significantly detrimental to the business. For example, it is unlikely that a public company with substantial market value and access to capital markets will be able to make the required certification in good faith, and such a company should be prepared to demonstrate to SBA, upon request, the basis for its certification.

Ashford companies do not have "substantial market value" compared to the majority of other publicly-traded companies or even Ashford's own market values before the government shutdown actions. We also now have limited access to the capital markets across our companies.

More recently, the SBA issued a Fifth Interim Final Rule on April 30, 2020, with the following addition:

Can a single corporate group receive unlimited PPP loans?

No. To preserve the limited resources available to the PPP program, and in light of the previous lapse of PPP appropriations and the high demand for PPP loans, businesses that are part of a single corporate group shall in no event receive more than $20,000,000 of PPP loans in the aggregate. For purposes of this limit, businesses are part of a single corporate group if they are majority owned, directly or indirectly, by a common parent. This limitation shall be immediately effective with respect to any loan that has not yet been fully disbursed as of April 30, 2020. Businesses are subject to this limitation even if the businesses are eligible for the waiver of affiliation provision under the CARES Act or are otherwise not considered to be affiliates under SBA's affiliation rules.

While we believed then and continue to believe today that we qualify for PPP loans based on the legislation and rule-making in place at the time our applications were submitted, continuous SBA rule changes and evolving opinions by Administration officials have led us to conclude that we may no longer qualify. As a result, the Ashford Group of Companies will return all PPP funds on or before May 7, 2020, in accordance with SBA's previously announced safe harbor.

Ashford management had no intention of crowding out any business from gaining equal access to the PPP funds, and could not have known that congressional appropriations for the program would be insufficient to cover the needs of all other businesses in the nation that have suffered similar harm. Congress and the Administration should have known but chose to restrict funding when the CARES Act was passed on March 27, only to provide additional funding later. In fact, Congress did not make any changes to the rules under which Ashford had already applied for and received funds when it passed its second version of the CARES Act nearly a month later on April 23. In the face of continuing confusion, the need for immediate government action to fix the PPP program and repair economic damage is acute and growing.

"The hotel industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting National Emergency," commented Monty J. Bennett, Ashford Inc.'s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the Board of Ashford Trust and Braemar. "Hotel industry executives met with the Administration at the White House on March 17, 2020 to plead for help for our industry. We are disappointed that, in an abundance of caution to avoid any risk of non-compliance with the changed PPP rules, our actions mean that our employees, vendors, communities and others in need will not benefit from the PPP as Congress intended. We call on Congress, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to provide assistance to the hotel industry to protect jobs and asset values that have been severely impaired as a result of the pandemic and the government's actions that have followed."

Ashford Inc. provides global asset management, investment management and related services to the real estate and hospitality sectors.

Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing predominantly in upper upscale, full-service hotels.

Braemar Hotels & Resorts is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing in luxury hotels and resorts.

Ashford has created an Ashford App for the hospitality REIT investor community. The Ashford App is available for free download at Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store by searching "Ashford."

Certain statements and assumptions in this press release contain or are based upon "forward-looking" information and are being made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements about Ashford's strategy and future plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. When we use the words "will likely result," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "should," "expect," "believe," "intend," or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside the registrant's control.

These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including, without limitation: the impact of the novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) on our business; the ability of Ashford Trust to meet the NYSE continued listing standards; our ability to repay, refinance or restructure our debt and the debt of certain of our subsidiaries; general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of our common stock and preferred stock; changes in our business or investment strategy; availability, terms and deployment of capital; availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and the market in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and the degree and nature of our competition. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in the registrant's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We will not publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise except to the extent required by law.

SOURCE Ashford Inc.
K im Jong Un has reportedly made his first public appearance in 20 days amid speculation about the North Korean leaders health.

The state news agency KCNA released pictures showing Mr Kim cutting a ribbon at the opening of a fertiliser factory in Sunchon with other senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong.

KCNA said the event took place on Friday and that workers at the factory broke into thunderous cheers for Mr Kim.

The state news agency said Mr Kim is guiding the nation in a struggle to build a self-reliant economy in the face of head wind by hostile forces.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the completion of a fertiliser plant / via REUTERS

It was Mr Kims first reported public appearance since April 11, when he presided over a ruling Workers Party meeting to discuss the coronavirus.

Questions erupted over Mr Kims whereabouts after he failed to attend public celebrations to mark the birthday of his late grandfather and the countrys founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15.

Kim Jong Un - In pictures 1 /52 Kim Jong Un - In pictures REUTERS North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the defence detachment on Jangjae Islet and the Hero Defence Detachment on Mu Islet located in the southernmost part of the waters off the southwest fron Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong UN has been pressuring US President Donald Trump for new concessions in a bid to salvage stalled nuclear talks AP North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (front L) and former NBA star Dennis Rodman speaking at a basketball game in Pyongyang, North Korea KCNA/AFP/Getty Images North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands over the military demarcation line upon meeting for the Inter-Korean Summit on April 27, 2018 in Panmunjom, South Korea Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) looks through a periscope of a submarine during his inspection of the Korean People's Army (KPA) Naval Unit 167 Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides the 3rd Meeting of Activists of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in the Movement for Winning the Title of O Jung Hup-led 7th Regiment KCNA/Reuters Pegagus creates unveils his new street art of North Korean leader Kim Jong @pegasusart North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watching the ground jet test of a Korean-style high-thrust engine newly developed by the Academy of the National Defence Science KCNA/Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to Pyongyang Orphans' Primary School Reuters Schoolchildren stand beside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he arrives to attend "We Are the Happiest in the World", a performance of schoolchildren to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) KCNA/Reuters A balloon thrown by a North Korean defector containing a colored liquid bursts on a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a rally protesting North Korea Ahn Young-joon/AP North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sits in an airplane as he guides a flight drill for the inspection of airmen of the Korean People's Army (KPA) Air and Anti-Air Force KCNA/Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiles during a visit to the Chonji Lubricant Factory Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sits on a ski lift during a visit to a newly built ski resort in the Masik Pass region Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un meeting with children at a baby home and orphanage as he visits the Taesongsan General Hospital in Pyongyang AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a flight drill of pursuit airwomen of the KPA Air and Anti-Air Force at an undisclosed location in North Korea AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) surrounded by fighter pilots during a visit to Unit 447 of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force in Pyongyang, North Korea EPA North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to the Jangchon Vegetable Co-op Farm in Sadong District, Pyongyang City Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides field guidance to the newly built Pyongyang Corn Processing Factory Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks at a rocket warhead tip after a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile at an unidentified location Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives guidance during his visit to Samjiyon County Reuters Kim Jong Un visits Samjiyon County Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a sub-unit under KPA Unit 233 Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (L) visiting a pig farm at Taechon Air Base of the Korean People's Arm AFP/Getty Images Kim Jong-Un inspecting the newly-built Pyongyang bag factory AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting tree nursery No. 122 of the Korean People's Army AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to Farm No. 1116 under the Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 810 Reuters Kim Jong-un visiting the November 2 Factory of the North Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea EPA North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surrounded by soldiers of a women's artillery unit in North Korea's southeastern province of Kangwon EPA North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his wife Ri Sol-Ju attend the opening ceremony of the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground on Rungna Islet along the Taedong River in Pyongyang Reuters North Korean leader Kim Jong-un learning to fly an airplane at the North Korean Air Force unit 447 EPA Leader Kim Jong-un aboard submarine No.748 during an inspection of one of his nations naval units AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory, a model and icon of the nation's kimchi factories in Pyongyang AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) aboard a newly manufactured subway train at Kaeson Station in Pyongyang, North Korea EPA North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un riding a horse as he inspects the training ground of a horse riding company under the Korean People's Army (KPA) Unit 534 at undisclosed place in North Korea AFP/Getty Images North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his wife Ri Sol Ju, right, riding on white horse during his visit to Mount Paektu, North Korea AP Kim Jong Un waving before boarding his train at Vietnam's Dong Dang railway station in 2019 Vietnam News Agency/AFP via Getty Images Kim Jong-un AP

Rumours swiftly emerged that the 36-year-old dictator was recovering from heart surgery, with US media suggesting he was in grave danger".

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Trump declined to comment about Mr Kims reappearance but said he would have something to say about it at the appropriate time.

State media reported Mr Kim was carrying out routine activities outside public view, such as sending greetings to the leaders of Syria, Cuba and South Africa and expressing gratitude to workers building tourist facilities in the coastal town of Wonsan, where some speculated he was staying.

South Koreas Government has repeatedly downplayed speculation that Mr Kim, believed to be 36, was in poor health following surgery.

It was not immediately clear what caused Mr Kims absence in recent weeks.

In 2014, Mr Kim vanished from the public eye for nearly six weeks and then reappeared with a cane. South Koreas spy agency said he had a cyst removed from his ankle.
Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union (EU), on occasion of World Press Freedom Day, observed annually on 3 May, Saturday paid tribute to the essential role of journalism in upholding online and offline freedom of expression in democratic societies and fostering transparency and accountability
The Irish Government has outlined its road map for reopening society and businesses across the country.

It will reopen the economy and society in a slow and phased way, beginning on May 18.

The plan sets out five stages for unlocking restrictions, at three week intervals.

As the restrictions are eased, the rate of the virus in the community will be monitored by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and the Government.

There are five phases in the road map to ease restrictions.

Phase 1 begins on May 18.

 Allow outdoor meetings between people from different households

 Open up childcare for healthcare workers

 Phased return of outdoor workers

 Open retailers which are primarily outdoor or those which were open during the first level of restriction (eg opticians)

 Open certain outdoor public amenities

Phase 2

 Allow visits to households

 Develop plans and supports to open up business with consideration for safety of staff and customers

 Open small retail outlets and marts where social distancing can be observed

 Open public libraries

Expand Close Libraries will be opened in phase three of the plan (Ben Birchall/PA) PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Libraries will be opened in phase three of the plan (Ben Birchall/PA)

Phase 3

 Allow small social gatherings-

 Open creches, childminders and pre-schools for children of essential workers in phased manner

 Return to work for those with low levels of interaction

 Open non-essential retail outlets with street level entrance and exit

 Open playgrounds

Phase 4

 Open creches, childminders and pre-schools for children of all other workers on a gradually increasing basis

 Return to work for those who cannot work from home

 Gradual easing of restrictions for higher risk services (eg hairdressers)

 Open museums, galleries, places of worship

Phase 5

 Allow larger social gatherings

 Return to work across all sectors

 On a phased basis, commencing at the beginning of the academic year 2020/2021, opening of primary and secondary schools and 3rd level institutions

 Further easing of restrictions on high risk retail services
The phrase "the land of the free and the home of the brave" is as American as any one-liner in our history.





by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano





When Francis Scott Key wrote the words "the land of the free and the home of the brave" in 1814, he did so in a poem called "The Defense of Fort McHenry." The battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore was a decisive one in which Americans truly demonstrated bravery and fought for freedom.













This was the War of 1812, the origins of which are lost to history. The British government claimed that President James Madison had designs on the British king's lands in Canada, and so it attacked the U.S. The Americans argued that the British government's stated reason for its attack was a pretense, as its real goal was to re-capture what many Britons still considered to be their colonies.





They thought this even though the Treaty of Paris, signed by the United States and Great Britain in 1783, unambiguously recognized the United States of America as a free, independent and sovereign nation.





Notwithstanding its origins, the War of 1812 brought Americans perilously close to being British subjects again. Both the U.S. Capitol and the White House were burned and severely damaged, with President and Mrs. Madison narrowly escaping.





After the British tired of the war and went home, Key's poem was set to the tune of a drinking song, popular among British soldiers and sailors. It was re-named "The Star-Spangled Banner," and it became a popular patriotic piece meant to commemorate American freedom and the bravery of those who fought to preserve it. A century later, it became our national anthem.





The phrase "the land of the free and the home of the brave" is as American as any one-liner in our history. Could it be we have repeated it so often that we have lost sight of its meaning? Is the United States today the land of the free and the home of the brave?





This is a painful question to ask and answer in these trying times. The government has persuaded nearly all of us, with its selective employment of scientific data, that we are suffering from an unavoidable viral pandemic that originated in China.





It probably did originate there, but the Trump administration declined to take it seriously for nearly three months. Drop by drop, the intelligence data is being released or leaked, and it shows an administration indifferent to the plight of folks from China traveling west, gullibly accepting the deceptions of the government of China, arrogantly self-confident that it can't happen here, ignorant of the ease with which a virus passes among the heedless, and unwilling to grasp the dangers making their way here.





Once the virus arrived here  like a tidal wave  the government's response has been to treat the freedoms for which brave men and women have fought and died as if they are not the inalienable personal rights Madison and Thomas Jefferson and all the founders and framers and the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution called them but rather privileges subject to government permission slips.





The Constitution openly and directly prohibits all governments from interfering with personal liberties like speech, press, travel, assembly, religion and commercial intercourse. And it prescribes the means for the government to follow if it can show that the freedom of some  like a bank robber  needs to be curtailed.





A bank robber gets a fair jury trial before losing his basic freedoms. Today, the government threatens and punishes us without trial for exercising basic freedoms.





And all this do-as-I-say-today-or-face-newly-crafted-government-punishment nonsense, which is enforced by reluctant police who would rather chase a bank robber than a jogger in a government-owned park, is not the result of legislation enacted after a broad national debate, nor is it authorized in the Constitution. Rather, we have been silenced and immobilized and humiliated by the commands of 50 state governors  some more in-your-face than others  all profoundly offensive to the personal freedoms that the Constitution purports to guarantee.





Is the United States today the land of the free and the home of the brave?





To ask that question is to answer it. We have little freedom remaining because of our timidity. Most folks are content with an overbearing government acting as if we work for it and trampling our liberty in the name of public safety.





History shows that it takes a determined minority to seek and to preserve freedom. Harvard Professor Bernard Bailyn, the country's foremost scholar on the colonists at the eve of Revolution, has concluded that barely one-third of them favored violent secession from Britain.





Today, polls show a smaller percentage of present-day Americans as outraged at the loss of freedom as were those prepared to fight the Revolution against the king.





Is the United States today the land of the free and the home of the brave?





Let's answer rationally, not emotionally. We have lost liberty without a shot being fired because most Americans prefer the comfort of safety to the battles for liberty. We have allowed elected officials to do to us what our forebears shed blood in wartime to prevent foreign governments from doing to us.





All elected state governors in power today have nullified the freedom-protecting clauses of the Constitution. If those clauses can be nullified, then of what value are they? By supinely accepting all this, today we are neither free nor brave. Today, we are the land of the fearful and the home of the confined.





Does the government work for us, or do we work for the government?




TriggerPhoto/iStockBy BENJAMIN SIEGEL, ABC NEWS

(WASHINGTON) -- The White House has blocked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the government's coronavirus task force, from testifying before House lawmakers next week, according to a Democratic spokesman for the House Appropriations Committee.



White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement to ABC News it would be "counter-productive" to the administration's COVID-19 response for Fauci and other top officials to appear before lawmakers to discuss the government's actions in relation to the pandemic.



"While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings. We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time," he said.



The White House's efforts to block Fauci's testimony were first reported by The Washington Post.



While the House is not in session next week, the House Committee on Appropriations has a subcommittee that supervises the Department of Health and Human Services that will meet Wednesday morning for a hearing scheduled on the coronavirus response.



"The Appropriations Committee sought Dr. Anthony Fauci as a witness at next weeks Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee hearing on COVID-19 response," Evan Hollander, the panel's spokesman, told ABC News. "We have been informed by an administration official that the White House has blocked Dr. Fauci from testifying."



The panel is responsible for crafting spending legislation, and has played a key role in the coronavirus response efforts on Capitol Hill.



House Appropriations Committee Chair Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the chair of the subcommittee that requested Fauci's testimony, said the American people and Congress "deserve a clear-eyed view of the path forward for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic."



"The people of this country deserve a federal government that is up-to-date, modernized, and prepared to protect lives," the two representatives wrote.



Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden will testify before the panel next Wednesday.



Fauci and other top health officials appeared before the House Oversight Committee for a coronavirus response hearing on March 11 and 12, when the United States had roughly 1,000 reported coronavirus cases. That number has ballooned to over 1 million cases and at least 64,000 deaths as of May 1.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Coronavirus has hit the Indian aviation industry hard due to the travel ban and a lot of air carriers has reached to the government to support them in this crisis. PM Narendra Modi held a meeting between officials from Indian aviation industry, the Home Minister, the Finance Minister, and other senior officials of the Government of India for a comprehensive review of the strategies that could help in making Indias Civil Aviation sector more efficient.

It was decided in the meeting that the Indian Air Space should be effectively used in such a manner that the flying time is reduced benefitting the traveling public and also helping the airlines to save costs in close co-operation with the Department of Military Affairs.

This essentially means that passenger aircrafts in India can now fly over prohibited zones designated by military due to their sensitive nature to cut short the journey from one city to another. This will save both fuel and time for the flights, making them more cost effective.

This move comes after the Indian aviation industry is struggling from impact of coronavirus. To implement social distancing norms, many air carriers might not book the middle seats, hence reducing their earnings. However, the move to shorten flying time can save considerable amount of money in fuel savings and turnaround time.

For reference, Delhi-Mumbai flying time is 2.20 hr. If a more direct route is taken, the flight time can be reduced by at least 30 minutes, bringing the flight time to less than 2 hrs. This essentially means a saving of at least 1000 litre of fuel one way, which is a huge amount for the air carriers.

For generation of more revenue as well as to bring in more efficiency at the airports, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been asked to expedite the process of handing over of 6 more airports on PPP basis, by commencing the tender process within three months.

The e-DGCA project was also reviewed. This project would bring in more transparency in the DGCAs office and help all stakeholders by reducing the processing time for various licenses/permissions.
Nursing teams across the country have been battling the COVID-19 crisis and working tirelessly to keep their patients safe and healthy. To support these nurses, Tipton Health recently held a free webinar series designed to guide nurse leaders through this global crisis.

Due to popular demand, Tipton has extended this series with two more sessions on May 5 and May 12. For more information and to register, please visit https://tiptonhealth.com/webinars.

S.O.S. Response: Solid Operational Strategies to Help Your Nurses Manage Traumatic Stress.

May 5, 12:30  1 p.m. EDT

Medical traumatologist Dr. Chrys Parker, Ed.D., J.D., ECA-LM, explains the biology of traumatic stress and outlines fast-track strategies for its effective management. Nurses are heroic caregivers but are also vulnerable to traumatic stressors and the toll they take on operational and clinical effectiveness. Dr. Parker is a fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, president of the American Board for Certification of Clinical Education and Training, assistant professor adjunct at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and is certified in Illness (Medical) Trauma and Forensic Traumatology.

Leading from the Front Lines  Nurse Executives Discuss the Challenges of Managing the COVID Crisis.

May 12, 12:30  1:15 p.m. EDT

Hear firsthand from a panel of senior nurse executives from across the country who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis. They will give insight into the leadership strategies theyve relied on during this time and share the challenges faced, lessons learned and adjustments made to continue pushing forward with nurses and patients in mind.

Panelists include: Jill Case-Wirth, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive at Wellstar Health; Brad Lukas, Chief Nursing Officer at Beaumont Grosse Pointe; Susan Knoepffler, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President for Nursing at Huntington Hospital; and Kimberly Guesman, Chief Nursing Officer at Beaumont Farmington Hills.

For more information on these webinar sessions and the consultants conducting them, to register and to view recordings of our past sessions, visit https://tiptonhealth.com/webinars.

Additional webinars are under consideration.

About Tipton Health Communications

Tipton Health is a leading provider of executive nurse consulting and mentoring; nursing excellence program development; and Magnet, Pathway to Excellence and Practice Transition Accreditation Program consulting support to the nations hospital and healthcare systems. In addition, Tipton Health supports clients nationwide with award-winning communications services, including employee communications, human resources communications, public relations, marketing communications, intranet and Internet design, graphic design, and strategic communications. For more information, please visit http://www.tiptonhealth.com.

Tipton Health Communications products and services are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the ANCC. ANCC Magnet Recognition, ANCC National Magnet Conference, Institute for Credentialing Innovation, Magnet, Magnet Recognition Program, The Magnet Prize and Pathway to Excellence Program are registered trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Journey to Magnet Excellence and Pathway to Excellence in Long Term Care are trademarks of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Every weekday morning, Jennifer Bruno prepares her first-grade daughter Ariana Laboy for remote learning -- planning out what assignments she will need to complete by the end of the day, while fitting in time for playtime and exercise.

Her daughter, a student at PS 60 in Bulls Head, has eight Google Classrooms, consisting of primary subjects of English language arts and math, and cluster classes that include dance, social studies and science.

It was very stressful and hard in the beginning because my daughter is an A student. Loves school, does not like remote learning. Ive been explaining to her its all new to all of us. The faster you get it done, you can play. I also let her know that the teachers are monitoring her progress and watching her, explained Bruno.

In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), remote learning for New York City public school students began on March 23 -- some private and Catholic schools began using their distance learning model even earlier.

And on Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that all New York schools, colleges and universities will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

Some Staten Island parents are struggling to help their children with schoolwork, while others say remote learning has been a positive experience for their family.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Some days, the work is overwhelming, Bruno explained.

Theyre only 6 years old, and its due the same day, she said. Then they give them games and other projects to do and reading. I hate to get behind. It gets me nervous.

STRONG SUPPORT

But for some -- remote learning has been running smoothly.

Jennifer Kain, a parent of a seventh- and a eighth-grader at Barnes Intermediate School (I.S. 24), in Great Kills, said there have been just a few bumps in the road -- like missing assignments at the beginning of the process while still learning how to navigate the new remote learning model.

Most of the teachers have started to have Google Meets with the kids, Kain said. This is very helpful, and it gives them the chance to communicate with each other. My [son] Aiden has a teacher -- Ms. Legate -- who has been going above and beyond to help him with his math. She has personal calls or Google Meets with him to help him understand the new concepts being introduced.

Kain added that the school community is lucky to have a strong administration and teachers that support students.

The support and ability to navigate the programs is definitely getting easier each week, she said

JUGGLING A JOB AND SCHOOL

Rebecca Rosario, a parent of a sixth-grader at Holy Rosary School, South Beach, said it has been stressful to move to remote learning.

She is juggling helping her daughter Gianna Favorito with schoolwork, taking care of her 2-year-old son LJ, and taking online nursing classes.

Gianna, a sixth-grader at Holy Rosary School, South Beach, works on her schoolwork while her brother, 2-year-old LJ Favorito, sits on her lap. (Courtesy/Rebecca Rosario)

It has been frustrating because one, I dont know the curriculum, and two, shes behind a computer for hours. And its hard to see her so stressed out, Rosario said, adding that she has stayed up late watching YouTube videos to help Gianna with school lessons.

While she encourages her daughter to try to do most of her work on her own, Rosario said shell help her or video call a tutor. Gianna has also been video calling her friends to work on some lessons together.

ITS GOING AS BEST AS IT CAN'

A parent of a second-grader at a Staten Island school on the South Shore, Denise Zollo, said she has been stressed trying to help her daughter while also working full-time from home.

Its going as best as it can -- given the situation, said Zollo. Every parent -- Ive been talking to my friends and family who have children -- everyones having a different experience.

She added: Its a challenge when you dont have an education background. Regardless of what education I have or degrees, its not an education background -- so thats a challenge of actually trying to get the kids to learn it."

And Zollo said she is worried that her daughter isnt being challenged enough by the schoolwork she is getting remotely -- wondering if her daughter is getting the most out of online learning.

And shes not. Shes not being challenged enough. Shes not getting enough material, shes not being pushed hard enoughShe learns it, she understands it, shes moving forward -- but its not really pushing her to where she should be, she said.

And amid the online schoolwork, Zollo is juggling her full-time job -- leading to at least 12-hour days during the week.

Its trying to multi-task and manage the time required with working from home and home-schooling, she said. I can tell you Im at the table between work and school probably 12 hours a day at minimum trying to get it done -- and still not being as productive as I was.

Zollo has been planning out schoolwork each Monday when her daughters teacher posts the assignments for the entire week.

Im lucky. At the end of the day, Im still working," she said. "The only stress is time management and being able to manage it all. And I still find it very stressful.

FINDING A ROUTINE

Every morning, Bruno preps her daughter for the school day and writes out all of her assignments using a schedule and a routine. In an effort to bring a sense of normalcy, Bruno and Ariana start each day with saying the date and the Pledge of Allegiance before moving on to her assignments.

We have an area in the house where everything is set up like a school, and thank God shes been doing much better every day -- and weve been getting it done faster and faster, Bruno said.

Rosario said she bought her daughter a loft bed with a desk below to provide an area to do schoolwork in a dedicated and quiet space.

Were getting into a routine, she said. Took 56 days. But its going. Remote learning has been a struggle. But its keeping them safe. Its an adjustment for sure.

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Mayor Jim Kenney on Friday said his administration made truly painful decisions to propose tax hikes, layoffs, and service reductions and fill Philadelphias $649 million budget hole, but acknowledged the uphill climb he faces in winning support from City Council and the community.

This is not what I want for my residents, and I understand if this leaves many of you angry, he said in a video address. "Frankly, Im angry and disappointed, too. But after that anger fades, we must remember exactly what we are dealing with. What we have is both a global pandemic and an economic catastrophe.

Kenney responded to criticism by saying the plan is not tax heavy, with the new or increased taxes only generating about $50 million in revenue. Simply trimming expenses and looking to make city government more efficient would not be enough to fill the massive shortfall, he said.

If anyone thinks there are $650 million in efficiencies, they really dont know what theyre talking about, he said at a news conference Friday.

Kenney said the city learned from the Great Recession  when firehouses were closed and debate flared about closing libraries  that public safety and neighborhood facilities must remain open. His budget calls for reducing hours and programming at libraries and rec centers, and he vowed no layoffs in the Fire or Police Departments, and that the firehouses that reopened last year will stay that way.

 READ MORE: Tax hikes, layoffs, and no swimming pools: Mayor Jim Kenneys coronavirus budget isnt pretty

But the size of the citys budget hole in 2009 was $108 million, Kenney noted. It is now facing a potential deficit five times as large.

Council President Darrell L. Clarke expressed concern Friday about Kenneys proposal to increase property taxes. Councilmembers, who will hold hearings on Kenneys proposal in the coming weeks in order to pass the budget by July 1, have clashed with the administration over property assessment increases in the last two years that resulted in significant tax hikes for many homeowners.

Clarke acknowledged that some tax increases may be necessary. Kenneys $4.9 billion spending plan, which replaces a more ambitious $5.2 billion budget proposed in March, also includes increases in the parking tax and the wage tax for suburban commuters, and freezes in planned reductions to business taxes and the wage tax rate for residents.

 READ MORE: Do you still have to pay the Philly wage tax if youre working from home in suburbs due to coronavirus?

I like to say that the last thing we as elected [officials] and policymakers should do is stick our hand in the taxpayers pocket, Clarke said, but there are times that we have to do that.

Hundreds of city employees will lose their jobs, with some reductions occurring by June; more would follow in August. The city has more than 25,000 full-time employees.

The hardest part of this budget is having to tell people that theyre going to have to be laid off, Kenney said. Its very heartbreaking, and its very difficult.

Nonunion city employees who make more than $35,000 per year will also receive pay cuts  including Kenney, whose pay will be cut 7%, from $224,183 to $208,490.

Councilmembers may have their own ideas about ways to trim the citys expenses. They could also add initiatives that would cost the city more money. Councilmembers Helen Gym, Kendra Brooks, and Jamie Gauthier introduced a package of bills on Friday aimed at protecting renters from eviction and rent increases during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work, and life? Ask our reporters.

The bills would prohibit rent increases during the pandemic and for a year afterward  essentially implementing temporary rent control in the city  as well as expand protections against evictions, prevent landlords from charging late fees, and create an eviction diversion program.

Not investing in those programs could also cost the city money, the councilmembers said, as more Philadelphians become homeless and need other services.

 READ MORE: Some tenants are calling for a Philly-wide rent strike on May 1. Landlords are holding their breath.

Its going to be a discussion, Gym said. We believe these opportunities are worth the investment.

The mayors budget plan contains many other proposed cuts to city departments. Some include:

Eliminating the Office of Special Events, the Office of the City Representative, the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, and the Office of Workforce Development. Some of the work done by those offices will be shifted to other departments.

Reducing city funding to Mural Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Two more persons on Saturday tested



positive for COVID-19 in Deoghar district, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in Jharkhand to 115, health officials said.

Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Nancy Sahay said swabs of two persons from Sarwan block were found positive for the virus.

Jharkhand has reporteedd three deaths due to coronavirus so far.

The first case of the pandemic was reported from Hindpiri on March 31, when a 22-year-old Malaysian woman, who had been to Delhi's Tablighi Jamaat congregation, tested positive.

She has since been discharged after being recorded from the dreaded disease.

So far 22 infected persons have been discharged from hopitals, the officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Runa Jha, a senior doctor from Nepal, was on Saturday named amongst the United Nation's list of top five women to have stood on the front lines in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a statement issued by the world body said.

Jha, who is the chief pathologist and director of Kathmandu-based National Public Health Laboratory, along with her team is testing roughly 70 samples a day, which arrive at irregular intervals and make for around-the-clock work.

With a title of Leading coronavirus testing efforts in Nepal', the UN Women has also included a brief description on her introduction and duties she has been carrying out.

"Dr Runa Jha is the chief pathologist and director of the only laboratory authorised to conduct COVID-19 testing in Nepal, UN Women, the global body's entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, mentioned on its website.

The deadly coronavirus, which broke out in China's Hubei province, has so far infected 3,366,714 people worldwide and claimed the lives of 239,345, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.

Nepal is among the nations that has the least cases of coronavirus and has so far reported only 59 confirmed infections.

Jha said staying late at the lab has become the norm.

"Staying late at the lab has become the norm. In addition to the technical work, I also have to manage logistics, such as arranging transportation and food for my team," Dr Jha was quoted as saying by the UN Women website.

Jha said taking care of her team is currently a high priority.

It all began in mid-February when her group was the first to enter a quarantine facility accommodating 175 Nepali



students brought home from Wuhan, China.

"My team did not hesitate to volunteer to take samples all of them were ready. We worked the whole night and produced 175 reports the following day, she told the UN Women.

Jha said she does her best to support the workers and boost their morale.

Other women included in the list include Dina Smailova, a leader of the NeMolchi movement from Kazakhstan, Yan Shenglian, a volunteer at a checkpoint in her rural village of Xiaoyao, in China's northwestern Qinghai Province who checks people's body temperature and records their vehicle information.

Ryancia Henry, director of housekeeping in California, USA, who shares helpful messages on social media, and exchanges best practices with others and Amal Al Mahayrah and Hadeel Dabaibeh, UN Women field assistants in Jordan, who provide life-saving services for vulnerable Jordanian women and Syrian refugees were also in the list.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/01/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.
In this article TNP

Donated food and supplies from TSA workers for airport workers who are on reduced hours and/or paychecks, April 30, 2020. Source: TSA

The steep decline in air travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered layoffs, furloughs and shortened work hours for airport employees and contract workers ranging from wheelchair attendants and baggage handlers to janitorial crews and concessions staff. In a growing number of cities their co-workers from the Transportation Security Administration, who continue to receive paychecks, are stepping up to help, by hosting temporary food pantries in airports around the nation, providing free lunches and dinners to their struggling colleagues or donating their time to make masks and other essential items for communities in need. Unite Here, a union representing hospitality workers, estimates that 42,000 of its members in the airport industry are currently out of work. Most of those lost jobs are in airport concessions and airline catering, where wages range from $9 to $16 an hour. "These are just Unite Here members," said spokeswoman Meghan Cohorst, "If you take all airport workers nationwide the numbers are much higher." The Airport Restaurant and Retail Association (ARRA) estimates 120,000 to 125,000 airport employees are currently out of work. Some of those workers may eventually get called back. But for now, their incomes are disrupted, and many could use some help.

Food pantries provide some relief

As a thank-you for the support they received while working without paychecks during the 2018/2019 partial government shutdown, TSA officers at Denver International Airport on April 30 hosted a food pantry in support of airport and air carrier colleagues working with reduced hours or partial paychecks. "Our team rallied to collect thousands of non-perishable items for the pantry," said Larry Nau, TSA Federal Security Director for Colorado, "133 airport employees shopped the pantry and took home items for a total of 538 family members fed." On April 24, Transportation Security Administration employees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) opened a free food and toiletries pantry to assist airport employees laid off or working with reduced hours or paychecks. The pantry is open a few hours each weekday in space provided by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. TSA officers are donating cash, products and gift cards to keep the pantry stocked with items such as cereal, evaporated milk, soup, pasta, toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent, feminine products, diapers and deodorant. And in early April, TSA employees at Dulles International Airport (IAD) opened a free pantry for affected airport community members that is stocked with everything from donated dried and canned goods and toiletries to toys for employees who have kids at home. The airport is providing the space, shelving and cleaning services for the pantry, which is open eight hours each day. "The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and vendors at the airport purchased meals for TSA officers during [the government shutdown.] Now we've seen hundreds of layoffs taking place in the airport community and we figured we would do what we could to give back and help," said Eric Chin, TSA's Assistant Federal Security Director for Screening at Dulles. Tweet TSA officers have also set up a food pantry at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

Pizza and boxed lunch

Twice in early April, TSA officers at Rhode Island's T.F. Green Airport (PVD) chipped in to buy and deliver pizza dinners for fellow airport workers, including airline employees, wheelchair attendants and housekeeping staff. "Providence is a small airport and the employees who work here are like family," Christopher Primiano, TSA stakeholder liaison at PVD Airport, told CNBC, "We know this could go on for some time so we're looking into what else we can do, from donations and food drives to bake sales. We want to help and give back as much as we can." Giving back is also on the minds of TSA workers around the country who remember how airport communities rallied to provide food, diapers, gift cards, supplies and services to TSA officers who were expected to work without paychecks during the partial government shutdown in 2019. "So when this pandemic started affecting our airport family, we decided that this was our unique opportunity to be able to repay all of their kindness and take care of those in need," said Francesca Baker, a TSA program specialist at Oregon's Portland International Airport (PDX). On April 10, TSA employees at PDX bought pre-made lunches for around 300 airport employees. They did it again on April 21, partnering with local employees from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to donate lunch and supplies to an equal number of airport workers. Tweet As part of its "TSA Gives Back" program, early last month TSA officers at Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB) in Wisconsin chipped in to buy and deliver pizza, dessert and balloons to airline and car rental employees at the airport who are experiencing shrinking paychecks. Tweet And, at McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Tennessee, TSOs are collecting donations and arranged for Second Harvest, the community food bank, to supply food boxes to about 300 airport employees.

Helping the homeless
Hoy a las 8:30 pm, a traves de las imagenes transmitidas por @tvperupe, tomemonos unos minutos para saludar y reconocer a los profesionales que luchan dia a dia desde la primera linea defensa contra el COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/3aeuDFzqdR
The United States has expressed concern about what it sees as China's heavy hand in Hong Kong. As the U.S warns china on erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms, it is stated that a law requires the State Department to certify that Hong Kong retains enough autonomy to justify the favorable U.S trading terms that have helped it maintain its position as a world financial center.

The U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated during a news briefing Wednesday.

"We continue to monitor with growing concern Beijing's increasing efforts to interfere with Hong Kong's governance. The erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms is inconsistent with the promises that the Chinese Communist Party itself made under 'one country, two systems. "

"Any effort to impose draconian national security legislation on Hong Kong would be inconsistent with Beijing's promises and would impact American interests there."

Pompeo's remarks came as the State Department was due to submit a report to Congress on the U.S. assessment of Hong Kong's autonomous status.

"Hong Kong's affair is purely China's domestic affair," said Geng Shuang, a spokesperson at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Tuesday, a group of Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers said the U.S. "must take a leadership role in addressing Beijing's threats to Hong Kong's autonomy."

Because of the pandemic issue, The United States and China have been trading sharp accusations.

"We still haven't gained access. The world hasn't gained access to the WIV, Wuhan Institute of Virology," said Pompeo, adding that other nations should understand how the coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China while questioning the safety of other Chinese labs over risks.

"There are multiple labs that are continuing to conduct work, we think, on contagious pathogens inside China today," the U.S. secretary of state said. "We don't know if they are operating at a level of security to prevent this from happening again."
More than 500 children under the age of six have been referred to the government's counterextremism scheme aimed at stopping vulnerable people being lured into extremism.

Between April 2015 and April 2018, 532 children under six and 1,181 aged between six and nine were brought to Prevent's attention, The Times found.

The government-led programme challenges extremist ideologies and helps those deemed to be at risk of radicalisation.

Between April 2015 and April 2018, 532 children under six and 1,181 aged between six and nine were referred to Prevent which aims to help those deemed at risk of radicalisation

Since 2015 public bodies, such as nurseries and schools, have had to report fears of radicalisation to Prevent and the most serious cases have been sent to Channel, which arranges ideological mentoring.

Last year there were talks of scrapping the controversial anti-radicalisation scheme which was set up in the wake of the July 7 bombings in 2005.

An independent review was launched to look into the delivery of the programme and make recommendations for the future following concerns it had become a Big Brother spying operation.

Lord Carlile, a former Liberal Democrat MP who was the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation from 2001 to 2011, was appointed by the Government in July 2019 to conduct the review but the crossbench peer stood down from his role in December following a legal challenge over his appointment.

MP Conor McGinn (left) said it was difficult to see how the review, due to be conducted by Lord Carlile (right) before he stood down after a legal challenge over his appointment, would be reported to government by August

The report was expected to be shared with Parliament by August 2020 but the government has come under fire for only just advertising for Lord Carlile's replacement fourth months after he left.

Labour MP Conor McGinn, the shadow security minister, said it was difficult to see how an effective review could be presented to Parliament by August, reported The Times.

He said: 'After over a year of dithering ministers should urgently outline the status of this important and legally-enshrined review. '

The Muslim Council of Britain, which welcomed the review when it began, raised concerns yesterday that some schools may have been referring children to the scheme because they feared being criticised by Ofsted.

Human rights campaign group Liberty suggested the government's lack of clarity when defining extremism has made child referrals inevitable.
Italians and other Europeans are eager for Germany to take responsibility for the EU and share their financial burden. Even if it could, it wouldnt. The timing is certainly awkward. The year 2020 was supposed to be the moment for Germany to show leadership, as it takes over, on July 1, the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, analogous to an upper house in the EUs legislature. But now a virus has come along and thrown the world and the EU into chaos. As other European nations ask it to take charge and show solidarity, Germany appears to be balking. As Bloomberg writes, the Covid-19 pandemic is thus a tragic rerun of last decades euro crisis. Back then, it was above all the Greeks who were angry at the tightwad Germans, even drawing Hitler mustaches on posters of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Today, its primarily Italians and Spaniards who are livid.

The Germans, for their part, are once again nonplussed about why others are so upset. During the euro crisis, Germany participated in rescue programs even though the EU treaties prohibit bailouts. That made Germans feel generous. Now they are again helping the EU to send bags of money to the countries most ravaged by SARS-CoV-2. Its also true that Germany is today saying no to coronabonds  a form of mutualized European debt  exactly as it rejected euro bonds back then. But as the largest paymaster of the EUs other institutions, German cash is still going where its needed, and Germans feel they ought to get credit.

This mutual miscommunication is a potential time bomb that could one day blow up the European project. It reflects both a design flaw in the EU and a deficit in German political consciousness. Thats because the EU is an inchoate bloc. To keep working, it needs a benign leader, or hegemon. And only one country is economically and politically (though not militarily) powerful enough to play that role.

In Germany itself, this hegemony debate began in 2012 with an essay by a German professor, Christoph Schoenberger. In international relations, a hegemon isnt a power that dominates others with brute force. Instead, its a country that uses its power to preserve a larger system, even at a cost to its more narrowly defined national interests  by being a lender of last resort, for example. Britain was the hegemon during the gold standard era of the 19th century. The U.S. was hegemon in the Bretton Woods system after World War II.

In the same way, Germany should accept that its the hegemon of the euro area and the EU, goes one argument. But theres a problem. European integration began in the 1950s, just after a barbaric German war of aggression. From the start, European institutions were built so that no country, especially not Germany, could ever dominate the others. So, for example, Berlin contributes 21.44% of the capital of the European Central Bank, but has only marginally more clout on its Governing Council than Malta, with 0.09%. In the European Stability Mechanism, the EUs rescue fund, Germany has enough weight to block decisions but not to make them. And so on.

The practical workaround during much of the past six decades has been a sort of joint hegemony by Germany and France, sometimes called the European tandem or engine. France, in this partnership, was meant to keep the southern members happy, Germany the northern and eastern ones, so the EU as a whole could move forward. This Franco-German division of labor has all but broken down. Thats in part because the two countries have different interests. But France also has too little financial firepower to be co-hegemon.

So the search for a European leader again points to Germany. The problem is that the countrys public is dead set against this role. On the political left, Germans cite their dark history and argue that Germany must subordinate itself to its community of neighbors rather than be seen to steer them. They often quote the writer Thomas Mann, who feared a German Europe and hoped for a European Germany. It doesnt help that the German word for leader is Fuehrer.

On the political right, Germans worry about the design flaws in the EU institutions I mentioned above. These make the Germans financially liable without giving them corresponding and proportionate control or supervision. Hence their obsession with moral hazard, lest Italians spend money guaranteed by Germans, while Germans have no sway over Italian policy. The nightmare of conservative Germans is a transfer union in which their tax euros keep disappearing in the bottomless pit of the south, sapping Germanys industrial vigor.

A solution to this dilemma would be to give the euro area and the EU a proper government, with its own tax revenues and budget powers. Germany would then be just the largest contingent in a new entity, a bit like Virginia in the nascent U.S. Such a bold step might have been conceivable under a europhile chancellor like Helmut Kohl. But that was another era. Nobody today, in Germany or in the 26 other EU countries, is ready for such a leap.

And so the German establishment keeps up its rhetorical acrobatics, vaguely calling for more Europe without defining what that means or providing the money to make it happen. In practice, the Germans are the same as the fiscally hawkish Dutch and Austrians, except slightly more diplomatic because they know everyones watching them. As in the euro crisis, Germany will keep doing just enough to prevent the single currencys outright dissolution, but never enough to cure its maladies.

This week I gave Schoenberger a call, to hear his thoughts eight years after he launched the hegemony debate. Whats changed since 2012, he told me, is that today the tensions are greater and the resources scarcer, so that somebody must lead: Either the Germans do it, or nobody does it, and then the structure collapses.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui On Alleged Rivalry With Irrfan Khan, Says He Recommended Him For Films: How Can I Be His Competitor?
LAKE PLACID  Ujwalla Ananda Tate is dreaming of Mumbai. It is summer there now, hot and humid with sunshine for days on end.

It is home, and she hasnt seen it in over a year. Instead, she is thousands of miles away in Lake Placid, waiting for her countrys borders to open. The date continues to be pushed, while the world assesses what to do as the coronavirus pandemic plays out.

Her colleague, Aleksandar Andric, is also waiting to get home to Serbia.

Hes from a different country, and I am from a different country, but we are united, Tate said. We are united in the United States right now.

They are not alone.

Hundreds of international students, who come to work in New York through an internship program, have found themselves stuck in a foreign country, unable to work, unable to get home and relying on the kindness of new acquaintances and strangers for food and housing.

They are part of the J-1 student exchange program, an international partnership that allows students to conduct paid internships in other countries. Thousands come to the United States to gain work experience, sharpen their English and do some traveling, and the Adirondack Park is one of the hot spots. The students fill a much-needed seasonal gap in the workforce, especially for rural areas.

Art Lussi, president of the Lake Placid Vacation Corp., is housing about a dozen of them, including Tate and Andric, while he waits to see not only what the state and federal government will do, but what nearly a dozen other countries will do.

He and hundreds of Adirondack-region business managers who rely on international student workers are also waiting to see what will happen this summer. Students overseas are waiting, too. So much is uncertain while the state figures out its economic reopening plans, and while leaders all across the globe adapt to the pandemic.

Its a lot of unknowns this year, said Gary Thornquist, general manager of the Lake George RV Park. He typically hires eight international students for the summer. Ive been in this business over 40 years, and never seen anything near to what this is.

Stuck

The J-1 student exchange program is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which is under the U.S. Department of State. It is therefore separate from U.S. Customs and Immigration and its policies.

Schools work with private agencies that connect students to businesses, like Lussis Crowne Plaza Hotel or Thornquists RV park. In 2019, more than 1,300 students worked in Lake Placid, Old Forge, Lake George, Bolton Landing, Diamond Point, Keene Valley and Warrensburg. Lake George and Lake Placid saw the most international student workers, with 555 and 422, respectively, in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of State.

While its not clear how many are in the Adirondacks at this moment, a spokesperson with the Department of State said it is working to ensure that all foreign nationals currently in the United States have access to accurate and timely information to ensure they are able to return to their home countries, if they so choose. 

Under the federal governments Exchange Visitor Program website, regular updates are posted for schools, sponsors and travelers, including advisories and visa extension information.

Indias borders are currently closed until at least early May, though Tate has watched her home country push that date a couple of times already. She is anxious to get home to her parents. She arrived in the United States in February 2019, and it is the longest and farthest she has been away from home.

Her father has health complications, unrelated to the coronavirus, but as the sole breadwinner for the family, the 26-year-old worries about him.

My parents are waiting for me, and thats my priority since I came here, Tate said. Whatever I did, its all for them. Im right now fulfilling my dads dream.

The money that Tate is saving from her jobs is intended to help rebuild a home her parents own. The house is old and needs work. It doesnt have a bathroom. Shes hoping that rebuild can start and her father can see it finished.

For now, she is waiting in the Adirondacks, spending her days inside, getting out for the occasional walk. Her work ended on March 30, but Lussi allowed her and her colleagues to stay in their dormitories until they can get home.

Tate is also getting help from the Indian Consulate and the North American Association of Indian Students, a nonprofit organization. Both the association and Lussi make sure she has food.

I have never seen such a down-to-earth person ever in my entire international journey of my life, Tate said of Lussi. Everyone gives so much love and care. I dont know, I cant express it in my words.

Andric, too, is grateful to Lussi. He has also been in Lake Placid for about year, working with his girlfriend. They were supposed to leave for Germany on March 18 to visit relatives, then head back to Serbia.

On March 19, the Serbian border closed.

The government, however, is sending over planes to pick up Serbian citizens. Andric and his girlfriend are hoping to catch one of them soon. He said there were about 860 Serbian citizens in the United States waiting for a flight, though a few planes have already brought some of those people back home.

Were in kind of the best situation, Andric said about being in Lake Placid. My personal opinion, I think this is right now one of the safest places, I have to say, for this kind of situation. Not so many affected, and were not going out. Were just going for a walk around the lake and maybe for some small hiking and thats it.

Summer

Day-to-day the state and federal government make changes and updates to policies around the coronavirus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced plans for reopening the state regionally, and the North Country would likely lead based on its low hospitalization rate and transmission rate, so far.

But the governor is not keen on opening tourist attractions or allowing events that could create large gatherings of people, even in upstate New York, so businesses in the Adirondacks are left waiting.

If they are allowed to open, the question will be whether or not businesses can get enough staffing, and whether international students will be available.

The situation regarding COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly, said a Department of State spokesperson. The health, safety, and welfare of exchange participants, and of the Americans with whom they interact, remains the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) highest priority.

The bureau is strongly recommending that sponsors of these exchange programs postpone program start dates 60 days after March 12, the spokesperson added. That nearly coincides with New Yorks tentative ending of its shutdown, though again, that could always change.

Most businesses getting assistance from the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in the Adirondacks are waiting for the middle of May to make decisions.

Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce, said employers like The Sagamore in Bolton, Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center in Lake George, the Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George and Six Flags Great Escape Resort in Queensbury rely on international student workers.

Six Flags, for example, has 1,500 employees but about 200 of them are international students, said a spokesperson. So far, the resort has temporarily suspended operations until mid-May, or as soon as possible thereafter.

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

Obviously these are very atypical conditions and once we reopen, we will take guidance from the U.S. Department of State, which oversees the program, a spokesperson added in an email about working with J-1 visa students. We will continue to closely monitor this evolving situation, and follow the most current guidance from federal, state, and local officials.

Thornquist said the agency he works with to hire international students has now pushed their earliest arrival to Lake George to June 15. Thornquist has already pushed his own opening date from May 8 to May 18.

James McKenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, said theres a lot of uncertainty, too, about whether people will be willing to travel even if everything opens back up this summer. The office is already doing projections on summer tourism, and is anticipating June will be, at best, 25% of last years visitation levels and July and August will be about 60%.

In Lake Placid, Lussi is still waiting to hear about summer workers, too. Typically he employs between 40 and 50 international students.

Tricky economics and policy

If international students can make it over here, local, state and federal officials, especially in the public health sector, are also assessing how to keep them and the public safe.

Ginelle Jones, public health director for Warren County, said theres currently no way for the health department to know who is in the county, and who is not, and no way to contact all international students.

Jones is working on meeting with the agencies that get students here and businesses to come up with some sort of uniform credentialing, including a notification protocol in case of an emergency. She is also looking to implement stricter immunization requirements, especially after a measles outbreak struck a couple of years ago. Many of the international students were not vaccinated against it, Jones said, and she had no way of contacting them all.

And what are the issues if international students cannot come over in the numbers needed to staff them this summer?

Considering the number of furloughs and layoffs during the pandemic, one might think the local workforce could fill the need. But Mintzer worries about whether thats practical.

Right now, if youve been furloughed or are on unemployment, now youve got an extra $600 a week until July 31, Mintzer said. You cant make that same amount of money working front-line positions necessary in our area.

Adrian Masters, chair of the Economics Department at the University at Albany, said theres always a trade-off when it comes to policies during times of crisis.

The way those policies are written, theyre focused mainly on getting money out to people, even if it means interfering with the usual market mechanism that would be channeling workers in, Masters said. Whenever theres a recession, these kinds of things happen.

Masters suggested college or high school students may be able to take the positions, if businesses are willing to take their chances on inexperienced workers. Typically, international students who work in the hospitality industry are looking to go into the business. Andric, for example, hopes to own his own restaurant someday.

He has friends in the exchange program, waiting to hear about this summer, too.

Theyre kind of still on hold, and they think its going to happen, but I dont think its going to happen, to be honest, Andric said. Its just, in this small town, coming every year, 300 students, its going to be a huge, bad impact if someone arrives and is carrying the virus.

For now, the waiting game continues.

Despite being stuck, Tate and Andric reflected fondly on their work experience in Lake Placid. Tate hopes to come back again, after she has checked on her parents in person.

These are really great people, Tate said of those helping her and the people she has worked with. These are the real heroes helping me right now.

Gwendolyn Craig covers environmental policy for the Adirondack Explorer magazine. Reach her at gwen@adirondackexplorer.org. Follow her on Twitter @gwendolynn1.
The Palestinian governments in the West Bank (Fatah) and Gaza (Hamas) are undergoing increasing pressure from aid donors to eliminate Palestinians payments to imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead terrorists. Up to half of the foreign aid received by the West Bank goes to these payments and Fatah has refused to end the system. The current covid19 virus has spread to the West Bank and Gaza and the Palestinians are asking for more foreign aid to deal with it. Donors are reluctant because the Palestinian governments have consistently diverted portions of any foreign aid to maintain the Martyrs Fund which regularly pays imprisoned, wounded or families of dead terrorists.

Palestinian leaders sense that the Martyrs Fund is more popular locally than covid19 is feared. Thats because as of late April only two Palestinians had died of covid19. This is not a miracle but the reality of how covid19 actually works. Covid19 is similar to the annual appearance of influenza but tends to kill only those who are already ill and vulnerable to breathing problems. This is especially true of the elderly. For healthy adults and children, nearly 90 percent of them will resist the virus and about ten percent will actually be infected but show no symptoms. There are some efforts to deal with covid19, but only because many Palestinian leaders are elderly and some are weakened by illness. For most Palestinians, whose welfare is invoked when Fatah or Hams appeal for covid19 aid, not much will be done to test or treat covid19 if aid is received, but the Martyrs Fund will get a share one way or another.

This is not a new attitude but it has become more visible to the outside world as more details about the Martyrs Fund are printed in the non-Arabic media. Particularly damning is how the Martyrs Fund encourages terrorism against Israel. For example, in 2019 Fatah threatened to cause an economic catastrophe by refusing partial payments from Israel and donor nations unless everyone stopped deducting the money Fatah spends on supporting and encouraging terrorist activity. This has become more of an issue since 2018 when Israel passed a law to deduct from the $130 million a month (it collects in taxes and fees for the Palestinians in the West Bank) the amount (over $20 million) Fatah pays out to Palestinian terrorists in prison or to their families for deceased terrorists. The U.S. had already enacted a similar law and was deducting a similar amount from the $300 million it currently gives to the West Bank Palestinians each year. Other foreign donors have taken similar measures.

Fatah complains that the U.S., Israel and other donors are being unfair. Yet it is no secret that many Palestinians become terrorists because they are attracted by the financial rewards, which are considerable for many young residents of the West Bank impoverished by Fatah corruption and incompetence. Palestinians who are jailed, injured or killed (martyred) while trying to kill Israelis receive large payments from Fatah. For example families of dead terrorists get an immediate payment of $1,700 from Fatah plus monthly payments for the life of the immediate family. These monthly payments ($400 to over $1,000 depending on the number of wives and children) can make a family relatively affluent and open new opportunities, like saving enough cash to afford a people smuggler who can get one or more family members to the West. There is also a bonus ($86 a month) if you are a legal resident of Israel and a similar monthly bonus if you were a resident of Jerusalem. Fatah is currently paying about $200 million a year to the families of over 26,000 martyrs (dead terrorists) as well as smaller payments to 6,000 badly injured while trying to kill Israelis. Monthly payments to jailed Palestinians vary according to how long they have been in jail, how many dependents they have and so on. There are also bonuses for how many Israelis the prisoner killed or injured. Some of these convicts get over $50,000 a year. Fatah currently spends about $160 million a year to reward over 6,000 jailed terrorists. Fatah considers this payment program a success even though hundreds of Palestinians have died in the latest Fatah-promoted violence, the knife terrorism: a campaign that began in 2015 and after a year was attracting far fewer potential martyrs. These attacks also left a few Israelis dead and for Fatah that is political gold as far as Arab language media is concerned. But Fatah continues to praise the martyrs and encourage children to seriously consider it as a career choice.

Fatah and Hamas together spend over $400 million a year to make murder economically attractive to many young Palestinians. Most of it comes from Fatah although Hamas is trying to make more payments to Palestinians in the West Bank who support Hamas and attack Israelis in the name of Hamas. The Arab language media throughout the Middle East take for granted that these payments are just and necessary for the war against Israel. In response to the current American and Israeli efforts to penalize Fatah for what is spent to encourage terror attacks, Fatah made it clear it would not halt payments. Instead, it cut pay to Palestinians who worked for the West Bank government. But by refusing money still being offered, Fatah will cause widespread shortages of food and other necessities in the West Bank. The ensuing Palestinian outrage and resulting damage would be blamed on the efforts to halt the pay for slay terrorism program. Fatah is pleading with Russia and Arab oil states to help them out. Russia is broke and prefers to be on good terms with Israel. The Arab oil states are fed up with the Palestinian preference for self-destructive behavior.

The Martyrs Fund is not unique in the Arab world because it is not just terrorist organizations that use it. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, the Sunni minority that ruled Iraq had to depend on the Shia majority to fight and die to keep the Saddam Hussein government in power. The wealthy Sunni oil states provided $47 billion in aid to Iraq, plus billions more in loans. It was understood that several billion would be spent on generous death befits to the families of Iraqi Shia soldiers who died fighting the Iranians and even more on providing adequate medical care to the many more wounded Shia soldiers. This played a role in keeping the Shia soldiers loyal during the war even though before, and after the war, Saddam persecuted the Shia majority. These payments built on the fear all Arabs had of being conquered by the Iranians, who were Indo-European and not Semites. Iran has an Arab Shia minority that they have always treated badly and this was known to the Iraqi Shia. But the large death benefits made a crucial difference. These payments played a role in the Iraqi decision to invade Kuwait in 1990s. The Kuwaitis were pressing Iraq to pay back $10 billion in loans and Saddam declared this disgraceful after so many Iraqis had died keeping the Iranians out of Kuwait and the rest of Arabia.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Investment bankers will have to find something new to gossip about. The perpetual Will they? Wont they? of European telecommunications dealmaking is finally happening.

Billionaire John Malones Liberty Global Plc has found a potential match for its U.K. broadband unit Virgin Media and is negotiating to merge it with Telefonica SAs local wireless provider O2, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The combined company would become only the second provider in the U.K. offering both fixed-line and mobile service next to former national carrier BT Group Plc.

The logic of the deal is sound from a corporate perspective. The ability to offer broadband and wireless service in one offering lets operators not only cross-sell products more effectively, it also makes customers less likely to jump to a competitor. Its harder to change your mobile, broadband and television provider all at once than it is just one of those services. If managed effectively, the combination could also reduce costs. The U.S. and most of Western Europe already have several so-called converged operators. That the U.K. has just one makes it all but unique. And it fits Libertys strategy of finding a partner for its cable operations in Europe: Its already done so in Germany, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe, though efforts in Switzerland have been stymied.

Virgin Media has long been the favorite deal-target gossip topic of European telecom bankers, with O2 and Britains Vodafone Group Plc considered the likely suitors. Liberty Chief Executive Officer Mike Fries has done little to downplay the speculation, saying as recently as February that it was continuing to explore strategic options in the market. The proposed deal, which could be announced as soon as next week, would leave Vodafone out in the cold  but the company has restricted capacity for takeovers right now anyway, having completed the acquisition of Libertys cable operations in Germany and Eastern Europe for 19 billion euros ($21 billion) last year. Telefonica, having already set O2 up as a standalone unit in anticipation of an initial public offering that was ultimately called off, is better prepared for a merger.

Story continues

The model for the combination might nonetheless be another Vodafone-Liberty transaction. The two firms combined their fixed and wireless businesses in the Netherlands back in 2016 to form VodafoneZiggo Group BV. They targeted synergies of 210 million euros, of which 85% have so far been realized, and which represented a healthy 8.6% of 2016 revenue. If even half that proportion of savings are feasible in merging O2 and Virgin Media, then it would represent a lot of value creation, based on the two firms combined 2019 revenue of $14 billion.

Thats surely an attractive proposition for Telefonica, whose chief executive officer Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete started a drastic refashioning of the Spanish firm last year following a steep stock decline. That might also mean that he needs the deal more. Nonetheless, Liberty may have to put some money into the transaction if its to be a joint venture. While Virgin Media is more profitable on an operating basis, it has higher capital expenditures. Goldman Sachs analysts give O2 an enterprise value of 12.4 billion pounds ($15.5 billion) and Virgin a valuation of 12.3 billion pounds on the same basis.

The timing is opportune, given the impending deployment of 5G networks. It means the combined firm can plan the rollout of its fiber network efficiently, to ensure it feeds the antenna needed for the 5G. Whats more, Britains departure from the European Union means its no longer subject to the intervention of pesky Brussels regulators, who have historically been wary about telecommunications mergers which might lift consumer prices.

Its a combination thats long overdue, but its coming just in time.

(Updates analyst valuations of Virgin Media and O2 in sixth paragraph.)

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Alex Webb is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Europe's technology, media and communications industries. He previously covered Apple and other technology companies for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

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2020 Bloomberg L.P.
A man who is believed to have taken tablets from a batch of fake Xanax has become the third confirmed person to die after ingesting the drugs which had been sourced from the dark web.

Aaron Ging (23), originally from Portlaoise, lost his battle for life at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore on Thursday night where he had been in a critical condition since he was found unresponsive at the Clonamore House hostel in the Co Offaly town on Monday morning.

Gardai announced details of the latest fatality yesterday morning and also revealed that armed and drug squad officers were involved in searches in Tullamore as well as in Portarlington, Co Laois, targeting criminals who are suspected of sourcing illegal drugs from the internet and then selling them on to drug users.

Mr Ging's death is possibly the fourth linked to the bad batch and the third from the same homeless hostel after Angela Kelly (44), who died in Clonamore House on Sunday, and Amy Mannix (19), who passed away at the hostel on Monday morning.

Amy's boyfriend John O'Brien (32) has been released from medical care after being admitted to hospital earlier this week as well.

Gardai are investigating if another man - Leigh Shortall (30) from Tullamore - died after taking the deadly pills on Wednesday of last week.

Earlier this week, a resident at the hostel described the horrific scenes that unfolded when emergency services were called on Sunday when Ms Kelly was taken ill.

"The whole thing was terrible," they said.

"I don't know what to make of it at all. Nobody can believe what has happened.

Shocking

"On Sunday at 2.30pm the ambulance arrived and a doctor just a minute later.

"They all came rushing in, but she was dead unfortunately at that stage, the older lady [Angela Kelly].

"The guards arrived then shortly after that, so we knew something bad had happened.

"Then the hearse arrived about an hour later."

Tragedy then struck again when Ms Mannix was found unresponsive. The resident added: "The next day at around 8.30am on Monday morning the ambulance arrived again and then the hearse. It was shocking.

"She was a very young girl, it was terrible.

"Then a little while later another ambulance arrived and picked up the two boys and raced off. At that point, you were kind of thinking when is this going to end.

"We didn't know what was going on. On Monday they were all very young people and it was absolutely shocking."

Earlier this week, the Irish Independent revealed that gardai believe a criminal who was arrested and questioned last June about a murder sourced the deadly drugs on the dark web which were responsible for the deaths.

It is understood he has claimed that he sourced the drugs from a halting site in the midlands and that this was one of the properties which was raided by gardai yesterday.

The criminal who is suspected of sourcing the deadly batch was previously quizzed about the murder last year of William Delaney - a 56-year-old whose body has never been found despite major searches at the Rock of Dunamase in Portlaoise last June.

This week, gardai said they were very concerned about the risk online purchases of illegal drugs pose as there is no guarantee people are getting what they think when they buy drugs on the internet.
The last few days have been really heartbreaking for the Indian film industry. We lost two gems- Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor in a span of 24 hours. The two actors have left a great legacy behind and the kind of stories that people are sharing about them, only testifies this fact.

Right after Rishi Kapoor's demise, a picture from D-Day started going viral on the internet. The picture was special for several reasons.

Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan

Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan shared the frame and were seen sitting in a car.

Now, recalling how shooting for D-day was for Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani spoke to Mumbai Mirror and narrated an incident that he will remember forever.

Twitter

Advani thanks Irrfan for the scene from D-Day that people are recalling today. He says,

Irrfan Khan/Twitter

Today, a scene from my 2013 film, D-Day, flashes through my mind. Irrfan (Khan) looking at Chintuji, and laughing, amazed that they had finally managed to capture this much-wanted terrorist, despite their plans have failed. I remember Irrfan urging me to let the camera continue to roll and what emerged was this moment of delicious irony.

He further added how complicated shooting in Kutch desert was.

YouTube

We were shooting in the desert and while Irrfan and a lot of team bunked out in tents, Chintuji would drive two hours back to the hotel. He was averse to early morning shoots but there was this sunrise shot we had to shoot with him and he was refusing to comply, saying, Im an actor, not a doodhwala.

Advani also recalled how Irrfan bribed Rishi with chicken jungli and alcohol so that they could stay back at the desert. It was a near-impossible feat in Kutch, but he delivered on his promise and I got my shot., continued Advani.

D-Day Poster

It's a moment of absolute nostalgia for fans to see both the actors share the frame in their only film that they shot together. Irrfan passed away on Wednesday, and a day later, Rishi too passed away in Mumbai.

Remember to open a bottle of black label today and sing out loudly my friend. They will definitely be doing that up in the heavens.  #RIPLegend #RishiKapoor #IrrfanKhan  Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) April 30, 2020

Advani condoled Rishi Kapoor's death on Twitter. In an emotional note, he wrote:

No one treated me with the respect an actor gives a director more than you did, that too being who you were. You were my friend sir. Im sitting, remembering and just chuckling, laughing. Waiting for your booming voice to say boy... make me one more drink! #RishiKapoor #RIP  Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) April 30, 2020

No one treated me with the respect an actor gives a director more than you did, that too being who you were. You were my friend sir. Im sitting, remembering, and just chuckling, laughing. Waiting for your booming voice to say boy... make me one more drink!

He also shared a screengrab of a scene from D-Day,

At least one thing is for sure. There will be jashan in the heavens tonight. #RIPLegend #RishiKapoor #IrfanKhan pic.twitter.com/V4qXyWjeqp  Nikkhil Advani (@nikkhiladvani) April 30, 2020

At least one thing is for sure. There will be jashan in the heavens tonight.

Well, even when people leave, it's only the memories that stay and everyone who has ever worked with Irrfan and Rishi will never mind holding on to these forever.


A map showing the location of the May 2, 2020, 5.5 magnitude earthquake just off the coast of Puerto Rico. (USGS)

Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake Hits Near Puerto Rico, Damage Reported

SAN JUANA 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit near southern Puerto Rico on Saturday, briefly knocking out power and jolting many from their beds on an island where some people still remain in shelters from previous quakes earlier this year. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit at a shallow depth of 5.6 miles (nine kilometers) near the city of Ponce and the towns of Guanica and Guayanilla, where hundreds of homes were destroyed by a quake in early January that killed one person and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Prelim M5.5 Earthquake Puerto Rico region May-02 11:13 UTC, updates https://t.co/ckjFTYTGRe  USGS Big Quakes (@USGSBigQuakes) May 2, 2020

Reports of damage were still trickling in on Saturday, with at least one second-story balcony crashing in the southern city of Ponce, spokeswoman Ines Rivera told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, cracks in homes were reported in Guayanilla.

Everything shook really hard, spokesman Danny Hernandez said by phone.

Meanwhile, in Guanica, Mayor Santos Seda told the AP that no major damage has been reported so far, but noted that between five to 10 people remain in a shelter since the 6.4-magnitude quake that hit in January.

Thank God everyone is OK, he said. The infrastructure is already weak.

Several aftershocks hit Puerto Ricos southern region, including a 4.9-magnitude one.

Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Ricos Seismic Network, said in a phone interview that while its understandable many people are afraid and surprised by the most recent earthquake, its not unusual given the seismic activity that began in the region in late December.

Cars are crushed under a home that collapsed after an earthquake hit Guanica, Puerto Rico, on Jan. 6, 2020. (Carlos Giusti/AP Photo)

In the long run, its decreasing, but you can have peaks, he said, adding that he expects strong aftershocks to continue.

The earthquake struck as Puerto Ricans are ordered to remain home as part of a two-month lockdown to help curb the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus cases. Gov. Wanda Vazquez tweeted that rescue crews were fanning out across the area and that she would shortly be traveling there to meet with those affected in person.

If your infrastructure is damaged, you must leave with your face mask on and your emergency backpack, she said as she urged people to remain calm.

But nerves are already frayed in many parts of the island as Puerto Rico continues to recover from Hurricane Maria, a string of strong earthquakes and the CCP virus. Silvestre Alicea, a 67-year-old man who moved back to Puerto Rico from New York upon retiring, lost his home in Januarys earthquake and is still living with his sister in Guanica.

This is unreal, he said, adding that some neighbors have left the area to stay with relatives elsewhere and that many, including a security guard who worked all night, are now sitting nervously in their balconies. He hasnt slept.

Alicea, however, said he decided to knock down a couple of breadfruits from a nearby tree as the aftershocks continue: Im taking it easy. Theres nothing else you can do.

By Danica Coto
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 20:06:26|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fishery Ministry's officers have nabbed three men for their involvement in a blast fishing practice on the waters off North Sulawesi province that has destructed the environment and the ecosystem, a senior official said on Saturday.

The officers seized two assembled bombs, fish, a boat and other goods during the arrest on Thursday.

"Fishing with bombs with any reason is prohibited, because it can damage the environment and the ecosystem," said TB Haeru Rahayu, the ministry's Director General for the Marine Resources and Fishery Surveillance.

For their violation against the law, Rahayu said, all the three men will undergo a legal process.

"We will persistently take stern actions against the perpetrators of blast fishing even during the novel coronavirus pandemic," the director general was quoted by local media as saying.

Another senior official of the ministry Eko Rudianto revealed that there was an indication of escalating number of blast fishing practices recently.

"Therefore, we prepare our personnel in response to that," he said.

Thursday's arrest raises the number of perpetrators of blast fishing nabbed in the country to 29 for the last two months, according to the ministry.

Blast fishing could destroy coral reefs in 500 square meters and damaged the ecosystem. Enditem
Jonathan Novak wanted to be a stealth fighter pilot. Aaron Brooks was fascinated with space ever since he was six years old. And Katie Scheibner just knew she wanted to serve her country in some way.

After four years at the U.S. Air Force Academy, these three second lieutenants walked out onto campus grounds for graduation earlier this month, donning platinum sashes around their waists to distinguish them from their fellow cadets, who wore traditional gold ones. The platinum ribbon represented a transformation: they, alongside 83 other cadets, now make up the first officers to commission directly into the U.S. Space Force, the military's newest branch, devoted solely to space operations.

"This was just an opportunity I couldn't pass up," said Scheibner, a cyberspace operations officer. Scheibner, Novak and Brooks recently spoke with Military.com about their reasons for pursuing the Space Force, their thoughts on helping to craft its culture, and their thoughts on what the final frontier means to them.

Related: Space Force Is About to Start Collecting Applications from Airmen Looking to Transfer

Scheibner, who grew up in Minnesota, is one of four officers who decided to switch from the Air Force into the Space Force this year upon graduation, a coveted position as there are few cyber slots open within the newest military branch. Her work will involve the defense of space equipment and satellites. "We were all really excited and grateful to receive one of those few spots," she said.

Like Scheibner, Novak, a developmental engineer, saw the Space Force as a gateway toward flourishing opportunities -- enough to let go of his coveted pilot slot.

Ever since he saw the Air Force's Thunderbirds flight demonstration team freshman year, flying high-end fighters like F-22 Raptors or F-35 Lightning IIs was his ultimate goal. But then something changed in January, when he heard about the chance to enter the Space Force straight from the academy.

"It all changed at the last second for me. I turned that over my head and then eventually went for it," Novak said.

A Career-Changing Email

Through his chain of command, Novak reached out to Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations and head of U.S. Space Command, about his interest in the Space Force, telling Raymond he was ready to make the switch.

"I will always remember this email, it was just five words," Novak said. "It was an email directly from General Raymond that said, 'I will make that happen.'"

"He's a really down-to-Earth leader ... no pun intended," he added.

Novak was mostly influenced by his studies, particularly his astronautics classes, and the time he spent as a space systems operator for the FalconSAT program, an Air Force Academy project under which cadets manage and maintain an actual satellite.

Brooks also participated in FalconSAT; he eventually became an instructor within the program.

"Ever since that four degree-year experience, I not only fell in love with the space career field ... but also found a lot of mentors there, and that was something that really helped drive me in my choice towards going into the Space Force," said Brooks, who said he was inspired to pursue military service by his late grandfather, a Marine pilot who flew in Korea. Brooks studied military strategy and astronautical engineering, and had the opportunity to present his research from his capstone class to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Steve Kitay at the Pentagon.

Brooks, a Michigan native, knows he may not have the same breadth of experience as service members already executing space operations, but believes the brand-new lieutenants have something to offer: "bright and big imaginations."

Cadets with the class of 2020 graduate at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., April 18, 2020. Cadets seen here with silver sashes will be heading to the Space Force. (U.S. Air Force)

Novak, who also hails from a military family and a Maryland native, said he believes Space Force can eventually expand its mission beyond protecting earthbound warfighters by watching over assets like communications and GPS. Some day, he suggested, Space Force can defend human space flights. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett in December hinted at the same possibility.

"I think the mission is genuinely important," Novak said. "We're going to get to work with cutting-edge technologies; there's a lot of people [who] are talented and enthusiastic about what they're going to do, and that's like the ultimate prerequisite to achieving great things in space."

Creating a Culture

The lieutenants are also keeping the service's developing culture in mind. Over the course of the next few weeks, officials say they'll announce what Space Force troops will be called and reveal uniform designs and service insignia. President Donald Trump unveiled in the official Space Force seal in a tweet in January.

Brooks, Scheibner and Novak all said they're looking forward to announcements on these matters, but haven't been preoccupied with questions.

"I've discussed it with cadets informally," Brooks said, though he declined to share any naming ideas that had surfaced.

At one point, Novak looked to help the service's crowdsourcing initiative, begun in February, by sifting through Greek and Latin root words for a name to call Space Force professionals -- but made no big discoveries.

On the uniform side, though, Brooks has high expectations.

"All the services have very distinctive uniforms that send [a message about] their own identities, whether it be the Army pinks and greens or the Marine Corps dress blues. From a cultural perspective, we're all very aware that [our uniform is] going to send a message -- whatever it is," Brooks said.

"We are eager to ... have something to call our own, to distinguish the Space Force and to really bind us together," Scheibner added.

A New Military Reality

The lieutenants agreed one thing is certain: Space Force is not just a concept anymore. And some of them are struggling to convey that to their friends.

"I think space is often so romanticized, right?" Scheibner said. "When you're a little kid, space is an opportunity to just be creative and imaginative, because it's something that [as you] stand here on Earth and look up ... it's hard to like touch and feel or understand. But in reality, it's one of the most cooperative and competitive domains simultaneously ... it's so complex and it's actually quite dynamic."

"The new 'Space Force' show with Steve Carell, I think, is a perfect example of how a lot of my friends might think about it," added Brooks. "And then I go and explain to them the history of what we've done in space, how the first Persian Gulf War was actually referred to as the first space war by [Air Force] General [Merrill] McPeak because of the advantages that space assets gave terrestrial forces. And when I explain it from that perspective ... it starts to change."

"Now that it's actually happening, I think that's what almost seems surreal," Novak said. "There's another [element] to this conversation, and that's that there are people who are really in tune with what's going on in space and understand the space domain."

The three new lieutenants' paths won't cross right away: Novak will start his assignment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before transferring to MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, which partners with Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts to conduct research in space systems and technology. Scheibner was awarded the Marshall Scholarship to attend the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom to study international security studies before transitioning to a cybersecurity-oriented program. Brooks next heads to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin his undergraduate base training.

"I truthfully don't know what the future is gonna hold for me or for [Space Force]," Brooks said.

"But I do know I'm very excited to go in and learn from the people who are there, and then work side-by-side with everyone to help make this a reality."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify how Novak reached out to Raymond.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.

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About Ford

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on worldwide vehicle sales, following Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen. Based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands sold in the US and elsewhere, Ford's international brands also include Volvo of Sweden; and Ford owns a one-third controlling interest in Mazda of Japan, and a small holding in former subsidiary Aston Martin of England. Ford's former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata Motors of India in March 2008.

In 2007, Ford became the third-ranked automaker in US sales, after General Motors and Toyota, falling from the second-ranked automaker position for the first time in the previous 56 years. Globally, Ford fell to the fourth-ranked spot after Volkswagen based on 2007 sales. Ford is the overall seventh-ranked American-based company in the 2007 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2007 of $172.5 billion. In 2007 Ford produced 6.553 million automobiles and employed about 245,000 employees at around 100 plants and facilities worldwide. Also in 2007, Ford received more initial quality survey awards from J. D. Power and Associates than any other automaker, with five vehicles ranking at the top of their categories, and fourteen vehicles ranked in the top three.

Ford introduced methods for large-scale manufacturing of cars and large-scale management of an industrial workforce, using elaborately engineered manufacturing sequences typified by moving assembly lines. Henry Ford's methods came to be known around the world as Fordism by 1914.
Workers of the world scaled back their traditional May Day demos Friday with coronavirus lockdowns forcing many to rally online while a determined few hit the streets in face masks. There were arrests in the Philippines, Russia, Chile and Turkey, a riot in Indonesia and pepper spray in Hong Kong as some broke confinement rules to hold public assemblies. But from Havana to Helsinki and beyond, most gatherings on this unusual Labor Day were small and without incident. Cuba's celebrations were muted after the ruling Communist Party urged people to celebrate at home. Around a million workers and their families normally take part in the annual May Day march, but on Friday, the iconic image of Che Guevara gazed down on an eerily silent Revolution Square in Havana. Elsewhere in Latin America, labor unions in Honduras called for an end to the country's "monstrous corruption" and workers carrying a banner reading "No Quarantine with Hunger" marched on government buildings in Buenos Aires. In Chile, police arrested dozens after protesters assembled in Santiago's Plaza Italia in defiance of a prohibition on public gatherings of more than 50 people. With strict social distancing rules in most countries, many union leaders opted to delay gatherings or move events online because of the COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 233,000 people worldwide. May Day carried extra significance this year after the epidemic sent the global economy into a tailspin, put unprecedented numbers of people out of work, and cast some of the world's lower-paid workers -- nurses, garbage collectors, shop tellers and delivery drivers -- in the role of modern-day heroes. "It is thanks to the labor we celebrate on this day that the nation perseveres," said President Emmanuel Macron of France, where workers celebrated the popular holiday by banging pots, singing, displaying banners from their balconies and taking part in online demonstrations. - Covered mouths have a voice - In Turkey, some two dozen mask-wearing protesters including a senior union leader were arrested for taking part in a small march in Istanbul in violation of lockdown measures, an AFP photographer witnessed. Hundreds of Greek workers rallied outside parliament, wearing red scarves over their faces or masks bearing messages of solidarity with health workers. "Covered mouths still have a voice," read some. In the Philippines, police detained at least three people as small groups of protesters banged on empty pots and held up placards demanding government aid and safe working conditions, in defiance of a ban on public gatherings. Some 23 million people -- nearly a quarter of the population -- faced hunger due to "no work, no pay" provisions in their employment contracts, Jerome Adonis of the May First Movement labor movement told AFP. A riot broke out in Indonesia's North Maluku province when employees of a nickel processing plant were barred from entering the compound to stage a protest demanding better working conditions, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. The company's canteen building was set on fire as hundreds of workers clashed with security guards. - 'We've had to get creative' - In Finland, traditional communal picnics were replaced by restaurants offering livestreams of wine tastings or cocktail-making lessons, and serving up traditional May Day food for home delivery. "We've had to get creative and try and find new ways that we can still interact and create togetherness," Helsinki restaurateur Filippo Phoumsavanh told AFP. Italians too greeted May Day in unusual fashion. A traditional concert on Rome's San Giovanni Square was replaced with a virtual performance broadcast live on public television for four hours until midnight. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, riot police deployed with rubber bullets and tear gas after democracy activists threatened to defy a ban on gatherings to hold pro-democracy protests. The streets remained largely empty, but hundreds did gather in a shopping mall in the town of Shatin, chanting slogans and waving protest flags. Riot police used pepper spray to disperse them. Police also deployed in large numbers in Germany to enforce a prohibition on gatherings of more than 20 people. Zaragoza in northern Spain was the scene of an unusual rally -- May Day demonstrators formed up in a long line of cars, each with a single occupant sporting gloves and a mask. In Vienna, a few hundred people standing one meter (a little over three feet) apart gathered at the chancellery to demand an end to the coronavirus lockdown, bearing signs reading: "We don't want dictatorship." Three far-right activists were arrested on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow where they tried to mount a protest, according to the Left Front movement, critical of President Vladimir Putin. Several hundred people gathered on Martyrs' Square in Beirut, Lebanon, where economic hardship has fueled public anger at the government. "I came because I am hungry, I am tired of this life," said Mohamed Ali, 25, who lost his job and said he has not a cent to his name.
Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday defended the Central governments move to set up International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) headquarters at Gandhinagar and said it was unfair to blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this. He was referring to allegation by state revenue minister and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat that the move was undertaken to reduce the importance of Mumbai as the financial capital of the country.

Fadnavis also claimed that the previous state government, during his tenure, had submitted a proposal to the Centre to allow functioning of two IFSCs in the country  in Mumbai and Gujarat  and added that it was still under consideration.

In his tweet, Fadnavis recalled the history of IFSC saying it was the then Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government which is to be blamed for this as it did not consider the option when it first came up in 2007. A high-powered committee of the Central government submitted a report in February 2007, recommending creation of IFSC. Neither did the government of Maharashtra submit any official proposal, nor did the Centre consider it, said Fadnavis. He further credited PM Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, for offering Ahmedabad for setting up IFSC in 2007, following which work for the same started in 2012.

The headquarters is announced at Gandhinagar because it is the only functional IFSC. Those who are beating the chest now were in power from 2007 to 2014 and did nothing for Mumbai IFSC, he said. Fadnavis said Mumbai has a natural ecosystem and can still become an IFSC if the state government so desired.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, It is not a secret that PM Modi has always wanted to bring Gujarat ahead of all other states and that he does not look at all states equally. But, the Fadnavis government also mislead people for five years by claiming that an IFSC would be built in Mumbai.

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Until very recently, Andrew Yang thought that the need for a universal basic income would be a big issue in the 2024 election, as many of the trends that I campaigned on were going to become completely clear to more and more Americans over the next four years. He was arguing, for example, that between now and then, 30 percent of our stores and malls were going to close because of Amazon.

After more than a month of coronavirus lockdowns, Yangs prediction looks quaintly optimistic. That obviously happened not in four years, it happened in four weeks, he told me. And it wasnt 30 percent, it was virtually 100 percent.

Many of those stores will come back  some have already  but analysts predict that thousands wont. Jobs lost to automation during this time  in warehouses and supermarkets, among other places  are especially unlikely to return. Americans, increasingly desperate in lockdown, are going to emerge from this period into a transformed and blighted world.

Yang used to believe that we were five or 10 years away from seeing some version of his signature policy enacted. Now I believe this is very immediate and could happen this year, he said. Representative Justin Amash, whos exploring running for president as a libertarian, is calling for a U.B.I. for the next three months. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, recently said a guaranteed minimum income is perhaps worthy of attention. Last month Pope Francis spoke warmly of the idea.
DIFFICULT TO CONTROL: People gather in front of the Living Water Community on Frederick Street, Port of Spain, yesterday where hampers were being given out to the needy. The distribution was suspended as police confirmed a lack of social distancing as it was getting too difficult to control people. Photo: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK
New Delhi: PPE kit replaced bridal outfit, gloves replaced bangles and surgical tapes took over her wedding veil - This is a story of a corona warrior Sharmila, who postponed matrimony due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown that has been imposed to combat the spread COVID-19 outbreak in India.

Sharmila, a resident of Bilaspur, is a nurse in Chandigarh. She postponed her marriage that was scheduled for May 1, 2020, to help the country fight the coronavirus, as in her words, "She can marry after the lockdown ends, but being on duty at the moment is more important."

Since April 7, Sharmila in her PPE kit has screened more than thousands of people at the entry point of Chandigarh's vegetable and grain market.

"My marriage was supposed to take place in Bilaspur on May 1, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 curfew in Chandigarh and the current situation in the country, I decided to stay on duty. I took the decision as marriage can happen after the lockdown ends; however, to be present on the duty at this moment is important," she said in her conversation with Zee News.

Sharmila was engaged on February 9, and the date of marriage was also fixed on the same day.

Sharmila said that everyone in her family and in-laws agreed with her decision. Sharmila added, "No one knew that this lockdown would go so far and as soon as the wedding date was finalised in February, my family had started preparations for the wedding. We had also gone shopping but could not buy everything as the nation-wide lockdown was imposed."

She also appealed to people through Zee News that every corona warrior is doing his/her duty by sacrificing some or the other thing, so people should also cooperate with the front-line workers.

"Those who throw stones at front-line workers should understand that they are performing their jobs and the people should also stay at home and perform their duties," added corona warrior Sharmila.

Sharmila may have to wait a little longer for her wedding but she remains positive. She believes that even as the medical gear replaced her wedding dress and jewelleries, the present situation doesn't allow her to vacate the duty.
I think it would be extremely irresponsible of us and it would send a terrible message to the world if the first thing we do is start allowing boob and butt jobs to happen again, Mr. Mirisch told the Council.

Since then, he said Friday, he has gotten an earful, both from constituents concerned about the viruss potential spread and from medical offices reporting landlords who are using the vote to subtly pressure them to reopen.

This is having unintended consequences, Mr. Mirisch said. No one needs Botox in a pandemic.

He cited a direct message he had just received on Instagram from an employee in a plastic surgery office who was worried about becoming infected if she returns to her workplace.

Thank you for your insight and for voting what is right and safe, she wrote, decorating her note with moneybags and face-palm emojis. You wouldnt believe the number of people calling to make injection appointments right now.

Steven Teitelbaum, the former president of the California Society of Plastic Surgeons, said patients at his practice in nearby Santa Monica have continued to call throughout the states shutdown, hoping to schedule cosmetic procedures. But, he added, the Beverly Hills vote doesnt change anything.

No mainstream surgeon I know sees this as any green light, Dr. Teitelbaum said. Were still bound legally and ethically by the directives of the governor and the ethics of the profession. And, he noted, even Mr. Newsom specified when he unveiled his plan for the states economy to reopen that cosmetic surgery was not approved in the early phases.

My office is shut, and Im going to stay shut until the stay-at-home order is lifted, he said, adding that his practice, except for emergencies, is mostly telemedicine for the moment, and that most of his Beverly Hills colleagues have the same plan.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned countries against the hasty lifting of restrictions as the coronavirus pandemic may worsen.

Some countries have commenced the gradual lifting of their lockdowns so as to reopen their economies after weeks of restrictions aimed at stalling the spread of the deadly virus which has killed over 230,000 across the globe.

Red alert

The WHO Executive Director on Health Emergencies Programme, Michael Ryan, said even if the ease in such lockdowns are eventually effected, there is the need to continue observing physical distancing and hygiene measures.

Its really important that as countries ease those measures that they are constantly on the look out for a jump in infections and in particular are dealing with transmission in special settings, Mr Ryan told reportes on Friday.

He solicited more protection for vulnerable people in institutions like prisons, long-term care facilities and migrant dormitories.

As the pandemic rages unabated, some countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America have started opening some segments of their social and economic activities.

Spain, India, China, Italy, Nigeria, Ghana, others have started easing the restrictions to cushion the impact of the pandemic on their economies.

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As of May 2, the U.S, Spain, and Italy account for over 50 per cent of the world total recorded cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, over 3.4 million cases and a little above 230,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide.

Worry

We are very anxious that we can move to a situation where the disease can be kept under control with less severe measures, the WHO official said. But at the same time we want to avoid a situation where we release measures too easily and then we bounce back into intense transmission and we have to do it all over again.

After lifting its lockdown, Ghana witnessed almost double of its initial recorded cases of COVID-19 before the decision.

As of the time it lifted the restriction, a total of 1,043 cases have been confirmed in Ghana with its capital, Accra, and Kumasi topping the chart.

In less than two weeks after the restriction was lifted, the country recorded cases jumped to 2,074 cases. Ghana is closely behind Nigeria on the chart of African countries with highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Christina Ray Stanton who served Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City for the past ten years as the short-term mission's director, shared her story of battling coronavirus on the Gospel Coalition.

Stanton who is also an author of her book, "Out of the Shadow of 9/11: An Inspiring Tale of Escape and Transformation explained how those two moments of nearly experiencing death turned out so different as she fought back the coronavirus with "faith in God".

However, it doesn't mean that her symptoms were light, and the process of discharge was easy.

It was just right after she came back from Florida from a week of spring break that Christina spent in New York. A week full of Broadway shows and sightseeing and then symptoms of the sickness. Christina felt general malaise feelings: headache, fever, body aches. Her eyes stung and reddened. She lost all sense of taste and smell having insatiable thirst. After multiple symptoms including terrible diarrhea and frightening fainting spell and 102 degrees of temperature, she and her husband, Brian visited the hospital.

"The rest of the family, including my nieces, were starting to show symptoms as well, although not nearly as extreme as mine. Luckily, no one else in the family was hospitalized. I prayed, 'Please restore their health, Lord! Please don't let them suffer with a heavy case of this!'" She reflected in her writing.

After being discharged from the hospital, she had to continue to fight the virus at home as the hospital is only for life-threatening situation. However, she had to visit the hospital again after the painful chaos of vomit, diarrhea, and other symptoms so severe. "I was sure it was going to be my last night on earth. I felt hopeless and terrified. This virus wasn't letting go." She added.

Finally, when she got an answer from her doctor that the chances of survival is about 50/50, she found it eerily familiar to September 11, 2001.

"On that fateful day, Brian and I were on the balcony of our 24th-floor apartment, six blocks from the World Trade Center. We were standing there, staring at the black smoke and destruction caused by the first plane, when out of nowhere the second plane came roaring overhead and struck Tower 2 just 500 feet above us," she noted in the article.

They had escaped to New Jersey by boarding a boat but couldn't go back to their apartment for months. They grappled with unemployment, PTSD, and ongoing health issues including "9/11 lungs" effected by inhaled toxic dust.

However, that time of suffering led her to a different dimension of faith when she came to the possibility of death. "When Brian and I were in Battery Park as the towers fell, I had asked him if he thought we were going to survive," "These might be my last moments on earth, I realized. I didn't know where I was going if I did die. I became painfully aware that I didn't possess a relationship with God, that I'd only ever lived for myself," She reflected.

That moment brought her to the decision to "explore a deeper connection with God." She said she never wanted to feel that alone again. After getting help from monetary assistance of Redeemer church, the couple became members and took jobs with the church. They experienced incredible spiritual growth through personal study, community groups, and various church activities.

Remembering the experience nearly 20 years ago, she found the grateful fact in bed prayer in hospital room. "Although I was entirely alone, unlike in Battery Park, I never felt alone during my illness. I knew the Holy Spirit was with me. A deeper relationship with Christ gave me the courage to navigate the scary days of the virus in a way I could have never done on September 11."

"At the same time, gratitude overwhelmed me when I realized I had weathered this storm with God as my Rock and my center, as opposed to suffering through the terror of 9/11 when he was not. And it made all the difference," She testified God's sovereignty and goodness.

You can see her entire story through the Gospel Coalition website and her 9/11 story is at her website.
Ever staggered into a KFC after a heavy night and fought over a lemon-scented wipe with the star of Poldark? No? Nor us.

But it isn't beyond the realms of possibility, as Eleanor Tomlinson, 27, who played flame-haired Demelza in the BBC drama, has revealed it's her late-night choice of takeaway, rating it superior to one high-street rival.

'Nando's is so over-rated,' says Eleanor. 'Chicken, chips, overpriced. I hate the whole system as well. You go in and then you have to go up to the bar to order. It's just stressful. I do like KFC though, but that's like hangover or 3am food.'

Eleanor Tomlinson, pictured left, who played flame-haired Demelza in the BBC drama Poldark, has revealed KFC, pictured right, is her late-night choice of takeaway

Sorry Captain Poldark, your girl now has eyes for Colonel Sanders.

Her father may be at the controls of one of the world's biggest media giants, but Elisabeth Murdoch's lack of technological know-how has been cruelly exposed during the lockdown.

Elisabeth, 51, daughter of News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, was rumbled by her 19-year-old daughter Charlotte, who gleefully informed her Instagram followers: 'My mum's been trying to get on a conference call for ten minutes and can't figure it out.'

New Bake Off host Matt Lucas isn't exactly ingratiating himself with foodies by pouring scorn on salted caramel!

The comic, 46, says: 'I have never had a caramel and thought, 'Oh I wish there was more salt.' I have never put salt on anything and thought, 'This needs caramel.' '

But he does have some ideas for other unusual taste combinations: 'I tell you what hasn't been done  onion ice lollies.' Yes, Matt, there's a reason for that
US power grid will not include any equipment manufactured by foreign states for security reasons, this states the executive order signed by President Trump.

This week President Trump signed an executive order that prohibits operators of US power grids to buy and install electrical equipment that has been manufactured outside the US.

I further find that the unrestricted acquisition or use in the United States of bulk-power system electric equipment designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries augments the ability of foreign adversaries to create and exploit vulnerabilities in bulk-power system electric equipment, with potentially catastrophic effects. reads the order.

President Trump is aware of the efforts of foreign adversaries that are increasingly targeting US power grid by creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the US bulk-power system. The power grid provides electricity that supports national critical infrastructure, for this reason, foreign threat actors are increasingly targeting them.

Successful attacks against the US power grid would present significant risks to our economy, human health and safety, and would render the United States less capable of acting in defense of itself and its allies.

According to the White House, electrical equipment designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by foreign states could be manipulated by foreign adversaries to include vulnerabilities that could be later exploited by nation-state actors.

The order also tasks the Secretary of Energy to identify current electrical equipment manufactured outside the US and to develop, along with heads of other agencies, to design or negotiate security measures to mitigate the risk of attacks.

As soon as practicable, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the heads of such other agencies as the Secretary considers appropriate, shall develop recommendations on ways to identify, isolate, monitor, or replace such items as soon as practicable, taking into consideration overall risk to the bulk-power system. continues the order.

The US Department of Energy welcomed the new executive order.

Today, President Trump demonstrated bold leadership to protect Americas bulk-power system and ensure the safety and prosperity of all Americans, said Secretary Brouillette. It is imperative the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats. This Executive Order will greatly diminish the ability of foreign adversaries to target our critical electric infrastructure.

In May 2019, the Department of Energy confirmed that on March 2019, between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., a cyber event disrupted energy grid operations in California, Wyoming, and Utah.

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Animal activists heed starving dogs SOS View(s):

Several animal rights organisations have joined in solidarity to feed stray dogs that are going hungry during the lockdown period.

Around 200 activists across the country have teamed up to feed the starving animals.

In normal times, dogs in city areas feed on food refuse from offices, eateries and households but with all offices closed and restaurants shut down, the dogs in the city and its suburbs have run out of food.

Among the organisations that have joined hands are Adopt a Dog Sri Lanka, (ADSL) the Dharma Voice for the Animals and Justice for Animals Sri Lanka. They are supported by a number of independent dog lovers and groups.

Shoba Wijekoon of ADSL said a volunteer chain has been formed to coordinate feeding operations across areas of high stray dog populations.

A team led by Ms Wijekoon covers the stretch along the Colombo road from Kandy to Peradeniya and Sigiriya. The team cooks food and takes it to sites where there are concentrations of dogs.

Curfew passes have been obtained from the police to move around during the lockdown period.

The dogs are fed once a day, and although at the beginning it was difficult to get rations for cooking, several donors have come forward and offered dry rations.

Ms Wijekoon said the police have been very understanding in granting permission to move around during curfew.

Another group covers Battaramulla, Thalawatugoda and Rajagiriya.

Rescue Animal Sri Lanka covers the stretch along the Pettah, Fort and Maradana areas. One of its members, Anusha David, said she had encountered problems in obtaining curfew passes from police.

They were nasty and a higher officer even suggested the dogs should be shot dead, she said.

Finding rice for cooking has been difficult but we make good with bakery bread, buns and biscuits, Ms David said.

She noted that the Meetotamulla garbage dump has become a haven for stray dogs, counting more than 250 animals gathered there to forage for scraps.

For dogs in villages, life goes on uninterrupted as the villagers continue to feed them.

A further group of volunteers has begun sterilising stray dogs, which are multiplying rapidly.

Animal activist Dr. Chamith Nanayakkara and his team began a 10-day free sterilisation in the Anuradhapura area last Wednesday. The team has been neutering dogs at the Tantrimale Rajamaha Vihare. It then moved to Mihintale and will finish up in Anuradhapura town.

Stray dogs are brought in, sterilised, and allowed to go on their way. Dog-owning households are also being encouraged to take their dogs along for sterilisation.

Dr. Nanayakkara, who is also the Director of the Association of Veterinarians for Humane Management of Animal Population, pointed out that no sterilisation work on dogs by any agency had occurred during the initial six weeks of lockdown.

He said the animals multiply fast and if their numbers were not curbed in time, the problem of strays would be difficult to manage.

There are around 3 million dogs in the country, of which 30 per cent are community dogs or strays, according to Health Ministry statistics.
Some of Britain's biggest holiday lettings firms have been reported to the competition regulator after an investigation raised concerns they could be using unfair contract terms to deny customers refunds for coronavirus cancellations.

They have been reported to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by Which? after frustrated customers of companies such as Sykes Holiday Cottages and Hoseasons got in touch with the consumer champion about problems in securing a refund for holidays cancelled as a result of the UK lockdown.

Which? says some complained about terms and conditions that make the refund claims process difficult, if not impossible.

Some of Britain's biggest holiday lettings firms have been reported to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by Which? over concerns they could be using unfair contract terms to deny customers refunds for coronavirus cancellations

Others describe being unable to contact the company they booked through or being passed between the company and property owner as neither accepts responsibility.

Which? says it checked the terms and conditions of five of the UKs biggest holiday letting companies  Sykes Holiday Cottages, Holidaycottages.co.uk, Hoseasons, Cottages.com and English Country Cottages  to understand consumers entitlement to a refund for cancellations under these circumstances, and found terms that could potentially be challenged as unfair under the Consumer Rights Act.

The consumer champion says that in four of the five contracts, the terms set out how owners of properties rented through the sites are allowed to cancel the holiday if circumstances outside of their control prevent them from being able to provide the property, but do not explain what the consumers right to a refund would be in these circumstances.

Which? says it is concerned that if the right to a refund isnt provided by additional terms between the property owner and the customer, property owners have too much leeway to keep a customers money if a booking is cancelled  making it potentially unfair according to the law.

The Holidaycottages.co.uk contract was the only one not to contain this potentially unfair cancellation clause.

Hoseasons, Cottages.com and English Country Cottages also tell customers that bookings are subject to the additional terms and conditions of the property owner and that these are 'available from the suppliers if you ask'.

While the booking terms say other information may be provided to the consumer during the booking process, if this doesnt include these additional terms and they are only available on request, Which? believes this could also potentially be challenged as legally unfair.

One consumer who complained to Which?, Jessica Tappin, says she has been waiting for over a month for a full refund from Sykes Holiday Cottages, after receiving a partial refund and being told the remaining balance would be credited to her account.

Which? says some customers with holiday cottage bookings have complained about terms and conditions that make the refund claims process difficult, if not impossible (stock image)

When she still had not received the outstanding sum and heard of other customers getting full refunds, she tried sending a letter from a solicitor  but she told Which? that she has still not received the remaining payment.

Meanwhile, Adam Kemp is also waiting for a refund from Hoseasons, who told him he could not claim a refund without cancellation insurance, despite not cancelling the holiday himself. The company sent him a voucher for the value of the holiday instead.

Adam told Which? that Hoseasons pointed him to its terms and conditions about compensation in the event of circumstances beyond its control, which state that the company doesnt cover additional losses.

But Hoseasons did not point to any terms around refunds for cancellations made by the owner of the property.

Which? says that this week, the CMA has launched an investigation into unfair terms and bad practice in the UK holiday lettings sector.

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: 'With the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc on holiday plans, its extremely concerning to hear of so many people being refused refunds from some of the UKs biggest players in the holiday lettings market.

'The CMA must investigate, and where terms are unfair, take action to ensure that companies act fairly so that holidaymakers are not left out of pocket for their cancelled holidays.'

Which? claims that some customers describe being unable to contact the company they booked through or being passed between the company and property owner as neither accepts responsibility for refunds

A spokesperson for Hoseasons, cottages.com and English Country Cottages, said: 'We are doing all we can to help customers and homeowners during these exceptional times. This includes offering price-matched breaks for the same or equivalent date in 2021, as well as refunds in appropriate circumstances.

'We have responded and adapted to the evolving issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as we have received new guidelines from the government. Following the statement from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday we have now expanded the options available to support any customers who were due to travel with us during government-imposed travel restrictions and who prefer not to accept one of our vouchers.'

A spokesperson for Sykes Holiday Cottages said: 'We are doing everything we can to support our customers, property owners and employees during this difficult time.

'Where customers have been due to travel on or before May 7, 2020, and we have received owners consent, we have issued thousands of customers with all funds returned to us by the owner of the property, paid directly to customers original payment methods.

'If that refund does not match the price originally paid, as a goodwill gesture we have applied an ex-gratia credit to customers Sykes Holiday Cottages accounts to represent the fees we have been paid by owners for facilitating these bookings. These can be used on any holidays departing within 24 months.

'Due to the volume of bookings affected, we are working with owners to process these refunds as quickly as possible and we would like to thank our customers for their patience.'
I saw a free the pier idiot while I was out earlier. Im tired

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It's exhausting

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LMAO when he's just lurking behind her, wielding his scythe.

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Honestly impressed with the detail of his costume.

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lmao my fav part

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Internet, please make it a meme. I am in tears.

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Lol I just saw this on twitter.



Some people are pathetic not wanting to stay home and just have to go the beach.



I wanna go too but Im not risking myself and others.

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Yeah. I mean, a part of me gets it. I am obsessed with the ocean. I was supposed to go to the beach for my birthday. But unless the earth is fixing to explode, the beaches will always be there! Until then, people ought to buy an ocean tapestry for their wall and listen to ocean noises on the internet, as I have done. Gawd.

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what could possiblie go wrong @ those crowds @ Huntington Beach





its going to be super nice tomorrow, so I'm going to avoid public spaces but I AM going to go help a friend garden.



Edited at 2020-05-02 12:02 am (UTC)

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Im gardening this weekend too lol. I've definitely overdone it with flower planting this spring but idgaf my garden is the only outdoor space i can enjoy.

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OC is trash the people are just like any non progressive dumb as stick midwestern part of America(excluding the ethnic enclaves, they got bomb food)

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Lol ty for mentioning the enclaves. Little Saigon & Koreatown do not want to be associated with this HB bs

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haha phuc loc tho was my second home in college.





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Many of you have asked if I am willing to travel around Florida wearing Grim Reaper attire to the beaches and other areas of the state opening up prematurely. The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state. Please retweet and spread the word. pic.twitter.com/UO7QKg161n  Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) April 22, 2020 I am making this photo my icon for summer:

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I would fight for him.

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to be fair hes wearing a mask and gloves

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Cackling

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i worry ppl would go to beaches to see him in person lol

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LOL I want an icon of that too!

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amazing icon choice



i need an edit of my icon of sam with a scythe now that you mention it...



Edited at 2020-05-02 12:38 am (UTC)

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Finally, some good fucking Florida representation!

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Wait he was at Miramar ! I hope he comes here next! Hes close!

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Not the hero we wanted but....

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are we not just taking what we get at this point?

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CACKLING

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She looks like her name is Faith Graham

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that's a damn good cosplay! ugh, fucking the OC, the Ft. Lauderdale of southern california. the chicken to our sea.

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.@ARobbinsTV politely asked this woman to stay 6 feet away. She didnt. pic.twitter.com/nyAEhQMZCP  Laura Hancock (@laurahancock) May 1, 2020



I felt so bad for that reporter. Meanwhile here in my town, some idiot (and according to a former coworker of hers, an antivax moron) put on this super classy display at their dumb statehouse protests today:I felt so bad for that reporter.

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Pot meet kettle. Bitch, you're scaring America (this shaking lady atm) by not covering your face & standing back. GO HOME & STAY THERE, WITCH!

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fuck this ho.

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Come on Rona. Do your job.

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GOOD!



Also I'm SICK of Florida being blanketed as a whole as a problem state when really it's just WHITE PEOPLE AND THEIR ENTITLEMENT which is in every state

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Agreed. Sorry Florida but until you have burly white wife beaters with AK47s trying to kill the governor, Michigan is winning.

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yeah, tbf South Florida seems to be taking this seriously and is doing their own thing

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The Delhi High Court has directed the "competent authority", which under the prison rules is the Lt Governor, to treat the parole plea of Vishal Yadav, who is serving life term for killing business executive Nitish Katara in 2002, as a representation and dispose it within 15 days.

Yadav had petitioned the court for an eight-week parole on the ground that he was at an increased risk of contracting the coronavirus in jail as he has a history of tuberculosis illness.

"In the considered view of the court, the subject matter requires to be considered by the competent authority in the first instance," the court of Justice A K Chawla said, following which the convict's lawyer suggested that the plea be treated as a representation and be disposed in a time-bound manner.

The Delhi government, represented by its additional standing counsel (criminal) Rajesh Mahajan, assured the court that the representation would be considered on its merits and will be disposed within three weeks.

Subsequently, the court directed the competent authority to treat the instant writ petition as a representation and dispose it within 15 days from May 1.

"The decision taken shall be communicated to the petitioner forthwith. Writ petition stands disposed of in the foregoing terms," it said.

The government had told the court that there is no risk of coronavirus infection to the convict in the prison.

It had also said the prison records indicated the convict's medical condition to be stable and not suffering from TB.

It had said under the prison rules grant of eight weeks 'emergency' parole amounts to a remission of sentence.

While sending Yadav to jail in February 2015, the high court had said that he be not considered for any remission till he completes 25 years of actual imprisonment.

"Consequently, he would not be entitled to grant of emergency parole as it amounts to grant of remission," the Delhi government said.

Yadav has contended in his plea that due to his prolonged TB infection, his immune system is weak and coupled with the poor sanitation facilities in prison, he would be vulnerable to the virus.

On October 3, 2016, the Supreme Court awarded a 25-year jail term without any remission to Vishal and his cousin Vikas Yadav for kidnapping Katara from a marriage party in February 2002 and then killing him for his alleged affair with Bharti Yadav, the sister of Vikas Yadav.

Another convict in the sensational case, Sukhdev Pehalwan, was handed down a 20-year jail term.

Bharti is the daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav who is in jail in connection with another murder case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The latest:

Hospitals in New York will now ask patients specific demographic questions to try and figure out where new coronavirus cases are coming from, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Saturday.

He said there has been about 900 new infections a day across the state.

"If you find a specific place or pattern that is generating infections, then you can attack it, but you have to find it first," Cuomo said.

He said hospital workers will ask new patients about what community they live in within the boroughs, as well as their occupation and how they travel.

"Are these infections that are being spread in the home? Or are they front line workers, which means they're getting up every day, they're getting on public transit, they're going to work and maybe they're getting it on public transit, maybe they're getting it at the work place," Cuomo said.

The governor said this data will be collected over the next few days.



First weekend of loosened restrictions under way in many states



For the first time in weeks, residents in some states across the country will be able to return to weekend routines after governors began easing restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus.

That might mean going to a movie in Georgia, working out with a personal trainer in Colorado or dropping by a dispensary in Nevada.

More than 30 states have begun easing social distancing restrictions  some doing away with stay-at-home orders altogether while others loosen measures to allow some businesses to reopen.

And more measures will be wiped out starting Monday. Gyms and fitness centers will reopen in Arkansas on May 4, while hair salons will follow May 6. In Northern California's Yuba and Sutter counties, restaurants, tattoo parlors and shopping malls will all be allowed to open Monday, which will also be the first workday for many offices in Colorado, with operations limited to 50% capacity.

In Montana, bars and breweries will also be allowed to provide some in-establishment services starting Monday.

The changes come even as experts warned Friday that prematurely lifting measures could be deadly.

"You're making a big mistake. It's going to cost lives," Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and disaster preparedness specialist at Columbia University Medical Center, told CNN Friday.

In a report, Redlener and Joseph Fair, a senior fellow in pandemic policy at Texas A&M University, said no city or state should begin to reduce restrictions until coronavirus infections have been steadily decreasing for 10 days to two weeks, and not until enough tests are available to track just how many people really are infected.

"We implore you to do everything in your power to make sure we have the testing and contact tracing we need to move forward safely. Until we get there, it is inappropriate and dangerous to reopen local businesses," Redlener wrote in a letter accompanying the report.

But the country continues to lag behind in testing and, months since the beginning of the outbreak, is still unable to perform the millions of tests that economists and public heath experts said last month will be required before measures can be safely lifted.

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CDC: Summer will be critical in fight against virus

How the country fares in the next few months will be "critical" in the fight against coronavirus and how it will evolve in the fall, Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

"The more we intensify the testing and expand the public health capacity and assure that our hospital capacity and material to support the hospitals is adequate or has excess, the better we're going to be in the fall," Schuchat said in an interview with JAMA Network.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease doctor, said this week that he believes a second round of the virus is "inevitable" and how deadly that round is will be determined by how prepared the U.S. is.

"If by that time we have put into place all of the countermeasures that you need to address this, we should do reasonably well," he said. "If we don't do that successfully, we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter."

Fauci has also warned that lifting measures prematurely could lead to a rebound of the virus that could put the U.S. in the "same boat that we were a few weeks ago."

Protest over orders leads to more than two dozen arrests

Many governors have faced resistance in the recent weeks from residents who want lockdown measures lifted and businesses reopened.

In California, more than 30 people were arrested Friday during a demonstration at the state capitol building to protest Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, CNN affiliate KCRA reported.

More than 1,000 people had gathered, some waving American flags and signs against the order.

"This disease doesn't know if you're a protester, a Democrat, a Republican," the governor said Friday. "Protect yourself, protect your family, your kids, your parents, your grandparents, your neighbors."

"I appreciate expression, points of view," Newsom said, "but we're interested in evidence, and the evidence shows some good things, but some yellow flags of caution."

Newsom said the state is "days, not weeks" away from beginning to lift restrictions.

"I just want folks to know that we are getting very close to making really meaningful augmentations to that stay-at-home order," the governor said in his daily coronavirus briefing.

Up to 3,000 people also gathered in Huntington Beach Friday to protest Newsom's order this week to close all Orange County beaches.

The governor issued the order after scolding beachgoers that packed some shores in the state during scorching temperatures last weekend.

FDA approves remdesivir

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration approved the experimental drug remdesivir as treatment for hospitalized patients with severe coronavirus, the agency said Friday.

This is the first authorized therapy for the virus in the country, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said.

"This is an important clinical advance that showed a statistically significant reduction in time to recovery for patients with COVID-19 and is the first authorized therapy for COVID-19." Hahn said.

The drug was approved just days after researchers said it might help patients recover more quickly from the infection.

In an emergency-use authorization Friday, the agency said the benefits of using the drug outweighed the risks.

W2lmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZDJjbXZicTdzeHgzM2ouY2xvdWRmcm9udC5uZXQvZW1haWwvcHJvZF9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1c19pZnJhbWVfYXJ0aWNsZS5odG1sIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQxNCIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOjEwMCU7Ym9yZGVyOm5vbmU7b3ZlcmZsb3c6aGlkZGVuIiBzY3JvbGxpbmc9Im5vIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3dUcmFuc3BhcmVuY3k9InRydWUiXVsvaWZyYW1lXQ==
Even in our hospitals, there is hope that the worst is over. But as one frontline NHS doctor reveals in her latest diary, the heartache and tragedy go on

MONDAY

He just wants to go home to die

Since the crisis began, Ive been drinking too much coffee to try to stay alert. Ive suffered heart palpitations as a result, so Im going to try detox this week  or at least thats what Im telling myself.

The peak in the hospital seems to have been a couple of weeks ago, and we are starting to see an influx of regular patients. We still have Covid to contend with  its just that we arent overwhelmed.

This morning Im asked to see a man in his 60s in a side-room on the regular ward. He has bladder cancer and has defied the odds for the past couple of years  he was originally told he had only months to live. But a routine check-up scan has shown that the cancer is much more widespread. To add insult to injury, the scan has shown likely Covid in his lungs.

His time is now very limited and he understandably wants to go home to die. Where he dies is the one thing he has control over.

Since the crisis began, Ive been drinking too much coffee to try to stay alert. Ive suffered heart palpitations as a result, so Im going to try detox this week  or at least thats what Im telling myself. Pictured: Staff at Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, during an overnight ICU shift

He has no family and lives alone. There is an issue with discharging patients who are contagious and in need of support from hospice carers, but it seems inappropriate to keep him here while cancer and Covid work together to topple him.

Sending him home is the only right course of action. We need to make arrangements for the carers  who are the great unsung heroes of this crisis  to treat him. They will ensure hes as comfortable as possible in his final days.

But he is concerned about having people come into his home. It isnt unusual for people to be wary of carers  usually its because they are embarrassed about their place being a mess. He eventually agrees.

Cancer patients are going to be one of the biggest sufferers from this crisis. Its one thing for the Government to call on patients to return to hospitals  but arranging cancer care is not straightforward. It takes time, planning and a great deal of care. I only hope that many wont die as a result of staying away.

TUESDAY

An alcoholic nearly blows us up

The weather has taken a bad turn  its amazing how rain can instantly darken moods. The Tube seems busier  is normal life returning?

On my journey, I read a news story about a New York doctor who has killed herself from the pressures of Covid-19. Its all very jarring. The pressures have been horrendous for medics. Its easy to blank it all out and forget just how bad it was a few weeks ago.

One of my patients, a lady in her 70s, died overnight. She was battling coronavirus while suffering various underlying health issues  so we established her ceiling of care (the level at which we stop medical treatment) last week. Her family saw her yesterday to say goodbye  thats something at least.

At 11am, there was a minutes silence for the frontline staff who have died since this crisis began  but Im so busy rushing around treating severely ill patients that it isnt until close to midday that I realise Ive missed it. A sinking, depressive feeling washes over me at the notion Ive missed my chance to pay my respects to those colleagues whove made the ultimate sacrifice in trying to save others.

At 11am, there was a minutes silence for the frontline staff who have died since this crisis began  but Im so busy rushing around treating severely ill patients that it isnt until close to midday that I realise Ive missed it

In the afternoon, there is a panic when a man in his 40s with alcohol issues tries to light a cigarette on the Covid ward. Often alcoholics get confused when they go cold turkey. Hes quickly stopped, but its a hair-raising moment. With the amount of oxygen in the room, he could have blown the whole place up. Hes given some nicotine patches to calm down.

Later, a man in his 70s in the Covid ward is desperate to leave. Hes taken his oxygen mask off and is half-dressed when a nurse apprehends him. Im paged to come and calm the situation down. By the time I get there hes at the wards entrance, coat half-draped over him, with his wife  who he had called to pick him up  loitering nearby trying to calm him down. Ive had enough, he says, panting as he struggles to breathe.

Its the last thing I need. Please, sir, if you dont go back and put an oxygen mask back on you could be dead shortly, I say, trying to sound caring and authoritative at the same time. Please, darling, his wife chimes in from a distance. Think of the grandkids.

He eventually agrees to go back. As annoying as he is, I dont blame him for wanting to leave. I would feel the same.

In the afternoon, there is a panic when a man in his 40s with alcohol issues tries to light a cigarette on the Covid ward. Often alcoholics get confused when they go cold turkey. Hes quickly stopped, but its a hair-raising moment. Pictured: Staff work through the night at an ICU at Hairmyres Hospital

WEDNESDAY

I refuse to let my parents visit

Ive got a rare day off. We are being encouraged to start using up annual leave as soon as possible. I suspect its the fear of the second wave that is driving it, so people dont take time off if the proverbial hits the fan again.

The summer is usually a quieter time for hospitals  winter is when it goes crazy. But I suspect we are in for one the busiest summers weve ever had.

I wish I could lie in to catch up on all the lost hours of sleep but body clocks always put an end to such aspirations  and anyway I need to do some shopping.

Even with the earlier NHS opening hours, shopping is a depressing spectacle  its hard to follow social distancing guidelines. I suspect everyone feels the same.

The summer is usually a quieter time for hospitals  winter is when it goes crazy. But I suspect we are in for one the busiest summers weve ever had. Pictured: A lab technician at the Corona Test Centre, Hammersmith, processes results

After shopping, I go for a long run through the empty streets of Central London. Every bus stop seems to have a Thank you to our amazing NHS staff advertisement or one calling on people to Stay at home, save lives. God, what I would give right now to see a normal perfume advert.

Later on, I call my grandfather who is in a home with mild Alzheimers. The ONS figures this week regarding care home deaths are horrendous. The thought of our old people dying from Covid-19 alone and without any support is almost too much to bear. When this is all over we really should examine how we have ended up with such an appalling social care situation.

Hes confused by everything but seems fairly bright otherwise. If lockdown continues, God only knows when I will next see him

My parents want to drop some things off in the evening and have a conversation from the end of the drive  but I cant bear the thought of them coming anywhere near me. Ive seen too many people their age to know they must stay away, as painful as that is. I can hear the disappointment in my mothers voice when I refuse to back down.

THURSDAY

Did patients catch COVID in hospital?

There is increasing concern among staff at the sheer volume of regular patients coming in  it is going to take a long time to clear the backlog.

One of the big problems is keeping the hospital clean, because Covid appears to be in the air. This is despite the excellent efforts of the cleaning team. They have been working flat-out, putting themselves at grave risk, doing a job few of us would want to do for a basic hourly rate. When people clap on Thursday nights for the NHS, these are the heroes who should be at the forefront of their minds.

Late morning, an elderly lady is moved to the Covid ward despite originally coming in following a bad fall several days ago. Yesterday her breathing became laboured and her swab has come back positive. Worryingly, she most likely caught it here.

There is increasing concern among staff at the sheer volume of regular patients coming in  it is going to take a long time to clear the backlog. Pictured: A member of Hairmyres Hospital ICU in PPE

In the afternoon, I treat a patient in her late 20s with serious learning difficulties. She was in hospital last week with abdominal pain and was discharged fairly quickly. She has come back in today with a high fever. We are treating her with oxygen while we wait for a swab result, but it looks like she has Covid.

Just like the elderly lady, did she catch it when she was last here?

Her mother is distressed on the phone  I try to reassure her as best as I can. It is made worse by the fact that she cant visit her. We are not meant to be allowing visitors because of the PPE shortage  unless it is to say goodbye, and even then it is being rationed.

Im left feeling empty. If the boot was on the other foot, I am not sure how I would cope.

FRIDAY

A negative swab but I don't believe it

This morning I tend to a man in his 50s who came in suffering from confusion. It is a symptom we have seen among Covid-19 sufferers so we are keeping him in an isolated room. His swab has come back negative, but it seems almost certain he has Covid-19  the tests are simply not reliable. We re-swab him and treat him as if hes positive.

The alcoholic who tried to light a cigarette in the ward earlier this week dies. Hes only in his 40s but with the amount of damage hes done to himself, he couldnt be salvaged once Covid-19 struck.

In the afternoon, I discover that weve run out of the forms we use to inform colleagues that a patient is not to be resuscitated. We have none on the ward, so I am forced to go on a wild goose chase around the hospital to find one. There have been so many of these forms used since the crisis began that, just like body bags, we were always going to start running dangerously low.

In the afternoon, I discover that weve run out of the forms we use to inform colleagues that a patient is not to be resuscitated. Pictured: Members of the Ambulance Service watch on Westminster Bridge on April 23

In the afternoon, one of my previous Covid patients is readmitted. An elderly man, he was first hospitalised here in March for a broken hip but was discharged to another hospital for rehab where he developed Covid-19 symptoms. He tested positive and was subsequently returned here. Earlier this month he was discharged to his nursing home after he appeared to get better. In the past week, however, he has stopped eating and drinking.

He shouldnt have been brought back here, but we need to treat him as best as we can. Well give him 24 hours to see if he improves.

I try to get hold of his sons to let them know their father is likely approaching the end of life  but neither answers the phone. I leave messages, but I dont hear anything. I only hope we get hold of them before it is too late
The Indian government on Saturday permitted 88 doctors and healthcare professionals to travel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to support efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic even as the West Asian state sent a plane with seven tonnes of medical supplies to New Delhi.

The foreign ministers of several West Asian countries had raised the issue of the return of Indian doctors employed in their healthcare facilities during recent telephone conversations with external affairs minister S Jaishankar. They had also sought medicines such as hydroxychloroquine from India.

A statement from the UAE embassy said Indian authorities had allowed the first batch of 88 specialists, doctors and nurses to travel to the UAE within a short period to support efforts to fight Covid-19. It did not say when the batch would leave for the UAE.

People familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity that the batch included healthcare professionals employed in the UAE who were at home on leave when Covid-19-related travel restrictions were put in place, and those were recently recruited by the emirates to bolster efforts to counter the pandemic.

The batch is expected to fly out of India after the completion of certain formalities as the matter had been cleared by the external affairs ministry, the people said.

In a separate development, the UAE sent a special flight carrying seven tonnes of medical supplies to India to bolster efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19. The aid will assist approximately 7,000 medical professionals as they work to combat the virus, said a statement from the UAE embassy.

UAE ambassador Ahmed Al Banna said: The UAE is committed to extending critical support to nations seeking to bolster their fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The UAE assistance to India comes in recognition of the profound and brotherly ties our two countries have shared throughout the years.

The UAE has provided more than 348 tonnes of aid to nearly 35 countries, supporting nearly 348,000 professionals.

The Indian consulate in Dubai thanked the UAE for the aid in a tweet and said: We are also happy that we have been able to send medicines to UAE to fight Covid-19 and more medical personnel should come to UAE soon.

India has earlier deployed a medical rapid response team to Kuwait for two weeks to provide technical expertise and train that countrys medical personnel.

The UAE is home to more than 3 million Indian expatriates, and tens of thousands of them work in the healthcare sector. The people cited above said nearly 30,000 Indians had so far registered with the missions in the UAE to return home once travel restrictions are eased.

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The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, on Friday gave a contradictory report on the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state.

While the NCDC in its daily update said the state recorded six cases, Mr Makinde announced 10 via his official Twitter handle. The governors chief press secretary, Taiwo Adisa, maintained Mr Makindes figure when contacted on Saturday.

He said two tests came back positive on Thursday, April 30 while another eight tests came back positive on Friday, May 1.

We have started receiving results of pending COVID-19 confirmation tests. Two tests came back positive late last night (Thursday). One from a UCH doctor who returned from Kano and another is a worker with the State Security Service.

Another eight tests came back positive today. Of the eight newly confirmed cases, six are Togolese nationals and the remaining two are Oyo State residents in Ogbomoso.

In addition to the case recorded in Lagos which was announced yesterday, another confirmed case recorded in Kano is also being managed in Oyo State. This brings the number of active cases in Oyo State to twenty, his tweet read around 11:39p.m yesterday.

Clarification

PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday contacted Governor Makindes CPS, Mr Adisa who clarified the contradiction.

You know we have a testing centre in Ibadan here before they are taken to Lagos. Some of the results announced by the governor were not taken yet to Lagos. So, the governor wrapped up everything (samples in Lagos and samples already transferred to Lagos) to have 10.

Two of the cases had earlier been reported in Kano and Lagos before they escaped to Oyo. So, the governor added all of these together. So, it is possible some data havent gotten to the NCDC.

Mr Adisa also confirmed that there are 20 active cases in the state, a figure in accordance with what was reported by NCDC.
A NYPD lieutenant saved a homeless man from committing suicide in a subway station after he heard the man whisper 'Im going to throw myself in front of the train.'

The scary incident happened around 1am on Thursday when a group of officers were standing on the A train platform of 207th St. station.

Authorities were there as part of the department's Homeless Outreach Unit, which looks to assist vulnerable residents who've bunkered down in subway stations amid the pandemic.

Among them was Lt. Ryan Murphy, who noticed a nearby man was visibly upset and bothered.

NYPD Lt. Ryan Murphy's bodycam camera captured the moment he saved a homeless man jumping in front of a subway car

Bodycam footage from the scene shows Lt.Murphy inside the station when the homeless man approaches the platform edge.

'Good morning, sir. Watch out!' Lt.Murphy said, as the homeless man neared the platform edge.

At that moment the A Train pulled into the station.

'I (heard) him mutter, "Im just going to throw in myself in front of the train,'" Lt. Murphy told the New York Daily News.

'He had a gym bag over his shoulder. He turned straight even with the edge of the platform and went to drop the bag to the ground...You can see, you can feel that he was going for it.'

Lt. Murphy said he heard the man say 'Im just going to throw in myself in front of the train' before he lunged to grab him

Luckily, Lt. Murphy quickly intervened and grabbed the man before he could jump off the platform's edge in front of the train.

'But I closed the distance and I was able to grab him, spin him and pull him back,' Lt. Murphy said.

According to Officer Serbay Gobelek, a member of the NYPDs Homeless Outreach Unit, said the man had previously shared suicidal thoughts with NYPD nurses at the station who ran to get help.

He was later admitted to the Harlem Hospital. Gobelek said the man was hearing voices in his head that told him to take his own life.

Lt. Murphy (pictured) was at 207th St. station with a group of officers in the Homeless Outreach Unit

'He was talking to himself. He said he was going to do it. He was acting in a strange manner,' said Gobelek.

Officer Fidias Peralta, who was also at the subway station when the incident happened, said the NYPD's Homeless Outreach Unit is meant to help homeless residents.

'Im not an expert,' said Peralta. 'But you talk to them like any person, tell them to calm down and tell them youre going to get help.'

Although the specific details surrounding the man's suicide attempt have not been disclosed, a catalyst may have involved overcrowding at a local homeless shelter amid the pandemic.

New York Daily News reports the man had spoke to a television reporter just moments before the incident about his uncertain living situation.

He said he'd left a crowded city shelter on Ward's Island to live in the subway because he thought he'd be less likely to catch COVID-19 there.

But as New York City officials attempt to remove squatting homeless residents from subway stations, the man said he had nowhere to go.

'Where do they want me to go?' The weather has not yet broken, and we are scared to go to the shelter because of the pandemic,' he said.

The streets of New York City have emptied since the COVID-19 lockdown was implemented in March, but staffers with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said many homeless residents have settled onto subway trains.

City officials said they're working to resolve the influx of homeless residents still on the subway.

Many homeless residents have relocated to New York City's subway system after ridership dropped amid the outbreak

They announced this week that subway stations will be closed overnight to allow for cleaning and disinfection.

It is the first time scheduled overnight service has ever been halted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

'Weve never been here before,' said Gov. Andrew Cuomo of the decision to halt service.

'This is going to be one of the most aggressive, creative, challenging undertakings that the M.T.A. has done.'

Additionally, crime spiked in the subway this week despite a 90 percent decrease in ridership.

There have complaints of nudity, sexual activity, human waste and even arson.

Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed the city will implement 230 new 'safe haven' beds for homeless residents.

MTA workers said they're concerned COVID-19 will keep spreading if the subway is not cleared out each night

He said: 'These are the kinds of beds and facilities that help us get people immediately off the street, who have reached that point where theyre ready to finally come in and accept shelter and change their lives and, hopefully, never, ever go back to the streets.'

But MTA workers want a more dire plan from city officials.

'I think they should shut down at least from like midnight to 5 and clean up the trains, clean up the areas where the employees are. Get it all fresh and ready for the next day of essential workers,' said Hicks.

MTA said subway trains are cleaned daily and the entirety of their fleet are cleaned every 72 hours.

Coalition for the Homeless reports that there were 62,679 homeless people as of January 2020, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the number was closer to 78,604 in a 2019 report.

More than 340 homeless New Yorkers have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Some local restaurants arent ready to bite on Winnipegs new temporary patio option, over concerns the short-term chance at new business may not be worth the cost.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some local restaurants arent ready to bite on Winnipegs new temporary patio option, over concerns the short-term chance at new business may not be worth the cost.

The city released a list of rules for restaurants to apply for the short-term patios late Friday afternoon. Winnipeg officials will aim to ensure applications submitted by 3 p.m. Sunday will be processed in time to allow any approved patios to open on Monday.

"We know that it typically takes many, many weeks to comply with the city rules to open patios. We know a lot of businesses simply dont have that amount of time to wait, so were being as adaptive and flexible as we can, keeping in mind theres a number of considerations that we have to be mindful of, everything from accessibility to safety," said Mayor Brian Bowman. "We want to do everything we can to speed things up, to help them out."

Those granted approvals could begin to operate the temporary spaces on Monday, when the province will ease some COVID-19 restrictions to allow restaurant patios to operate under strict social-distancing rules.

The temporary patios must also meet many Winnipeg guidelines, which require them to use open-air construction, allow room for sidewalks and end service by 11 p.m. to avoid noise complaints, among several other restrictions.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Scot McTaggart owner of Fusion Grill: Whats the point of opening up a patio if nobodys going to go?

Those approved will be able to keep the temporary patios open until May 31, unless the city extends that deadline, a press release notes.

Scot McTaggart, owner of Fusion Grill, said he welcomes the citys effort to help restaurants. However, he said the logistical challenge of adding a temporary dining space during a pandemic will keep him from seeking one, at least in the immediate future.

For example, McTaggart said hes concerned patio diners would need access to indoor washrooms, adding to potential health risks and cleaning requirements.

"That takes them into the building, that increases the risk, that is not something I want to take on right now," he said.

McTaggart said hes concerned the change would also require extra staff, while theres no guarantee as to how many Winnipeggers will feel safe enough to dine out during the pandemic.

"Whats the point of opening up a patio if nobodys going to go?" he asked.

Shaun Jeffrey, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said a few restaurants told him the citys decision to only guarantee the short-term patios until May 31 will prevent them from applying for one.

"It really comes down to a cost analysis whether a restaurant wants to do the investments to get (less than a month) of unpredictable business, with the (realization) that after that is up, they will no longer be able to use it," said Jeffrey.

He said a lengthier timeline might attract more interest.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES King's Head owner Chris Graves says his restaurant's patio will open Monday.

A restaurant owner who is now set to reopen his existing patio seemed more optimistic.

Chris Graves, owner of the Kings Head Pub, said his long-approved patio will open up Monday.

"At this point, its a massive advantage, theres no doubt about it. Id be hard-pressed right now if we were in this business and didnt have access to a patio. Were still very limited to capacity but were able to at least start some sort of a semblance of normal life again," said Graves.

He said a bartender and door person will ensure any lineups to use washrooms adhere to social-distancing rules that patrons remain at least two metres apart, while staff will also carry out plenty of extra cleaning.

"Were very comfortable right now with what were going to be able to offer," said Graves.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

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More than 2.2 million Americans, through no fault of their own, lack access to the clean running water and basic indoor plumbing the rest of us take for granted. Every state is home to entire communities facing this virus without being even able to wash their hands, but the federal government has yet to form an emergency response that addresses their safety.

Its no accident that these places tend to be communities of color. Decades ago, they were bypassed by government initiatives to build water infrastructure, and federal funding for water projects is now just a tiny fraction of what it once was. Today, race is the single strongest predictor of whether you have access to a tap or a toilet in your home. Nationwide, Indigenous households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack access to complete plumbing, while African-American and Latinx households are nearly twice as likely.

It is too soon to say what impact the lack of clean running water has had on the spread of the coronavirus in most of these communities. But in the Navajo Nation, more than 27,000 square miles in the four-corners region of the Southwest, more than a third of homes lack running water, and there are more Covid-19 cases per capita than in any state other than New York and New Jersey.

In parts of Californias Central Valley, where tap water is too tainted by agricultural chemicals and other contaminants to drink, mothers have formed water-sharing groups on Facebook to get around the bottled water purchasing limits at many stores. Remote communities in Alaska rely on washeterias  shared laundry and shower facilities  that typically provide two washers and two dryers for an entire village. That makes social distancing difficult, to say the least. And across the country, the more than 500,000 Americans experiencing homelessness face some of the most difficult barriers to water access.

These conditions are making the virus more powerful than it should be, endangering all of us. But this is not an intractable challenge. We can close Americas water access gap.
The two Toyota pickups manufactured in San Antonio, the Tundra and Tacoma, saw plummeting sales in April  but they easily outperformed the rest of the Japanese automakers vehicle lineup.

Toyota and other major auto manufacturing are experiencing the pain: With the national economy reeling from travel and stay-at-home restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, few drivers are in the market for a new vehicle.

Nearly 7,150 Tundras were sold in the U.S. last month and 14,187 Tacomas, down 19.4 percent and 30.4 percent, respectively, from April 2019.

Toyotas overall vehicle sales dropped 53.9 percent in April from a year earlier. Toyotas full-size sedan models were the hardest hit: Camry sales declined 63.7 percent last month while Avalon sales fell 74.7 percent.

Another Toyota vehicle that saw severe sales drops was the Sequoia, an SUV. Its sales declined 56.1 percent. Only 260 were sold in the U.S. in April.

Production of the Sequoia is scheduled to shift to Toyotas San Antonio plant after Toyota moves all production of the Tacoma to Mexico, a move expected to happen in late 2021. That would leave the Tundra, the automakers full-size pickup, as the star of the South Side facility in terms of sales.

With sales of around 120,000 in 2019, the Tundra has a fraction of the buyers of trucks such as Ford-150 and the Chevy Silverado.

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In April, however, the Tundra posted the smallest percentage drop of any of the more than a dozen vehicles sold by Toyota in the U.S. Analysts attribute the smaller decline to the Tundras use as a work vehicle in construction, ranching and farming.

The Tundra is less of a discretionary buy, said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at the automotive website Edmunds.com

She said the Tacoma is also used for work, which helped reduce sales declines.

The April sales are impressive given that many dealerships were closed, she said of both vehicles.

Toyota officials attempted to put a positive spin on the overall April numbers, saying 84,696 vehicles were sold in the U.S. in April was better than the 50,000 theyd expected to sell because of the pandemic.

Weve hit bottom, said Bob Carter, Toyotas head of U.S. Sales, in a statement. It was a much better month (across the industry) than we anticipated.

Overall, the auto industry in the U.S. saw around a 55 percent decline in sales in April from April 2019.

Analysts said a problem for Toyota is that it has continued to manufacture sedans, which are losing favor with consumers, while their American automaker have largely focused on SUVs and pickups.

Vehicle sales are expected to increase as stay-at-home orders are lifted, but the question is by how much.

The problem is that we dont expect a huge rebound in sales in either May or June, despite some extremely generous incentives being offered by dealers in an attempt to move inventories, which have become extremely bloated, said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA.

Toyota sales could also be affected by the companys late arrival to competitive financing deals on its vehicles. It lags major American manufacturers, said Mark Schirmer, a spokesman for Cox Automotive.

Our team did a quick look at Toyota incentives and does appear that Toyota did not move into widely into zero percent until early April, when many of the Detroit brands had done so in mid-March,  he said.

Schirmer said Toyota initially offered financing at zero percent for 48 months before shifting to zero percent for 60 months. Many of its competitors were offering zero percent for 84 months.

This put Toyota at a disadvantage, as we know the zero percent offers were hot last month, he said.

Toyota is scheduled to reopen its South Side San Antonio factory and 12 others in the U.S. and Canada on May 11 in what has turned into a seven-week shutdown. Originally, the plants were supposed to close for just two days for deep cleaning, but worker health and safety issues related to the pandemic and declining sales increased the length of the shutdown.

Randy Diamond covers aviation, energy and manufacturing in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Randy, become a subscriber. randy.diamond@express-news.net
By Lena Masri

(Reuters) - The first person in Sadad Dakhare's two-bedroom apartment in Oslo, Norway, to show symptoms was his 4-year-old niece. Next, his mother, his sister and he himself fell ill. Then, about a week after his niece became sick, Dakhare heard his 76-year-old father coughing heavily.

He found his father lying in bed, gasping for air. "Just call an ambulance," the father told Dakhare.

At an Oslo hospital, Dakhare's father tested positive for COVID-19 and was treated for a few days before he was discharged to finish his recovery at home.

The Dakhare family's story is a familiar one among Somalis in Norway and other Nordic countries, where the pandemic is taking a disproportionate toll on some immigrant groups. Governments in Sweden, Norway and Finland are taking extra steps to try to slow the spread of the disease in these communities.

Across Europe, little is known about who is affected by the virus because governments are releasing limited demographic information about the sick and those who die. But a Reuters examination of government data in three Nordic countries where more details are available shows that some immigrant groups are among those affected at higher rates than the general populace.

"WORRYING" DISPARITY

In Norway, where 15% of residents were born abroad, 25% who had tested positive for COVID-19 by April 19 were foreign-born. Somalis, with 425 confirmed cases, are the largest immigrant group testing positive, accounting for 6% of all confirmed cases -- more than 10 times their share of the population.

Somalis are the most overrepresented immigrant group among Sweden's confirmed cases, as well. Their 283 positive tests account for about 5% of the nearly 6,000 cases documented between March 13 and April 7. That's seven times their share of the population. Iraqis, Syrians and Turks also made up disproportionately large shares of positive cases.

In Finland's capital city of Helsinki, the mayor said it was "worrying" that almost 200 Somalis had tested positive by mid-April. They accounted for about 17% of positive cases -- 10 times their share of the city's population.

Story continues

More than 100,000 Somalia-born live in the three countries, mostly in Sweden and Norway, one of the largest Somali diasporas in the world. Many arrived as refugees of war in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Several factors place them more at risk of getting sick, public health officials and researchers say.

VIRUS OUTPACES RESPONSE

It is common in all three countries for multiple generations of Somalis to live, like the Dakhares do, in crowded apartments, making it easier for the virus to spread from one family member to the next. They also tend to work in high-contact jobs -- healthcare workers, drivers and cleaners, for example -- with a higher risk for exposure.

Language barriers also are at play, and some have criticized governments in Sweden and Norway for failing to move fast enough in communicating about the virus to immigrant groups.

"By the time information translated to different languages was spread sufficiently, the infection rate among minority groups was already very high," said Linda Noor, a social anthropologist who is managing director of Minotenk, a think tank focused on minority-related politics in Norway. She said a lot of information in Norway was distributed through national health authorities' websites that are unfamiliar to many people in immigrant communities.

Public health officials in both Norway and Sweden pointed to COVID-19 information they published in multiple languages, including Somali, in early to mid-March. But they acknowledged that they did not reach some immigrants fast enough.

GETTING THE WORD OUT

"I think it is clear from the epidemiological situation, especially looking at the high proportion of Somalis with COVID-19, that we did not reach this group in time," said Hilde Klvstad, department director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Once the virus started to spread, officials realized they needed to be more focused in their outreach, she said, adding that the spread of the virus among immigrant communities is slowing.

In Oslo, officials contacted leaders in immigrant communities, who helped them get the word out via social media, word of mouth, posters and online videos targeting Somalis, said Hanne Gjrtz, head of communications for the city. Health alerts in Somali aired on the radio, and text messages with translated information were sent to Somali residents.

"We saw that this led to increased traffic on our websites," she said.

"But we are constantly learning," she added. "It would definitely have been an advantage to have videos and posters in place earlier in this crisis. This has been and still is a crisis of great speed, and it took some time for us to find the right ways to reach different groups."

HITTING THE STREETS

In Rinkeby-Kista and Spanga-Tensta, two Stockholm boroughs where immigrants and their children make up most of the population, rates of infection are more than two times higher than in the city overall. Trying to slow the spread of the virus in these areas, where Somalis are the biggest minority group, the government is offering temporary furnished rental apartments to at-risk-groups, such as elderly people who live in multi-generational housing, said Benjamin Dousa, chairman of the Rinkeby-Kista district council.

Government workers who speak a variety of languages, including Somali, have hit the streets in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods -- near libraries, religious buildings, municipal offices, metro stations and grocery stores -- to warn people about COVID-19, said officials from government body Region Stockholm.

In a statement to Reuters, Region Stockholm said it could have been faster in distributing multilingual information before the virus began spreading disproportionately among immigrant groups.

"However, we are working in the middle of a situation which is before unseen," the statement said. "Therefore, it is difficult to be as fast as is needed and to foresee all needs."

The statement added that the infection rate is slowing in Spanga-Tensta and Rinkeby-Kista.

"SITUATION DEMANDS TEAMWORK"

Helsinki is gearing up for similar outreach.

"The situation demands enhanced teamwork, continued development of multilingual services and effective targeted communications," said Mayor Jan Vapaavuori. "We have entered into discussions with the Finnish Somali League about new measures to improve the situation."

Somalis themselves also are trying to spread the word about how to stay safe.

Ayan Abdulle posted an informational video on Facebook, but she found she wasn't reaching the people who needed the information most.

Abdulle, 29, who was born in Somalia and came to Norway at age 9, heads a non-governmental organization in the city of Bergen called Arawelo, which usually focuses on helping young immigrants apply for jobs and find friends. After the coronavirus outbreak, Abdulle started to focus on the elderly as well, helping them with grocery shopping. When she spoke with elderly Somali women out shopping last month, she learned they were not getting enough information about the coronavirus because they weren't using social media and not all of them understood Norwegian.

"In Somali culture, most information is spread by word of mouth," Abdulle said. "Now we are going from door to door and hanging posters informing people about the symptoms and how dangerous the disease can be."

(Reporting by Lena Masri in London. Editing by Janet Roberts and Ryan McNeill.)
HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE:TGH) ("Textainer" or the "Company"), one of the world's largest lessors of intermodal containers, announced today the date for the release of its first quarter 2020 financial results and its participation in an upcoming investor conference.

First Quarter 2020 Results

Textainer will release first quarter 2020 financial results after the close of regular market trading on Monday, May 4, 2020. A conference call to discuss its results will follow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time that same day.

The conference call dial-in number is 1-855-327-6837 (U.S. & Canada) or 1-631-891-4304 (International). A live webcast of the conference call as well as the press release disclosing the Company's results will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://investor.textainer.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available through May 11, 2020. To access the replay, please dial 1-844-512-2921 (U.S. & Canada) or 1-412-317-6671 (International) and enter confirmation code 10009345. A web-based archive of the conference call will also be available at the above website for thirty days after the call.

Upcoming Investor Conference

On Wednesday, May 6, 2020, management will participate in the Wells Fargo Industrials Conference.

About Textainer Group Holdings Limited

Textainer has operated since 1979 and is one of the world's largest lessors of intermodal containers with approximately 3.5 million TEU in our owned and managed fleet. We lease containers to approximately 250 customers, including all of the world's leading international shipping lines, and other lessees. Our fleet consists of standard dry freight, refrigerated intermodal containers, and dry freight specials. We also lease tank containers through our relationship with Trifleet Leasing and are a supplier of containers to the U.S. Military. Textainer is one of the largest and most reliable suppliers of new and used containers. In addition to selling older containers from our lease fleet, we buy older containers from our shipping line customers for trading and resale. We sold an average of almost 140,000 containers per year for the last five years to more than 1,500 customers making us one of the largest sellers of used containers. Textainer operates via a network of 14 offices and approximately 500 independent depots worldwide. Textainer has a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: TGH) and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE: TXT). Visit www.textainer.com for additional information about Textainer.

Contact Information

Investor Relations

+1 415-658-8333

[email protected]

SOURCE Textainer Group Holdings Limited

Related Links

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Dot-org, or .org, is one of the oldest and largest domains on the Internet  a digital home for more than 10.5 million websites, many of them nonprofits.

The group that operates this massive registry is itself a Pennsylvania charitable organization  Public Interest Registry  and has been up for sale for months to a private equity firm.

Hundreds of groups, including several Pennsylvania nonprofits, opposed the deal through a petition called SaveDotOrg, saying they were alarmed about the possibilities of increased prices and other ways the new owners could seek to turn a profit.

On Thursday night those groups got their way. The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the domain name system, rejected the $1.1 billion proposal.

ICANNs board said Public Interest Registry has enjoyed a close and responsible relationship with its community for nearly 20 years, and that the board could not allow it to be sold to an untested private equity firm.

Under the proposed sale to Ethos Capital, Public Interest Registry would have been converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit corporation and taken on $360 million in debt. ICANNs board said there was too much uncertainty about whether the registry could repay that amount, potentially jeopardizing its long-term financial stability.

Californias Attorney General, the board noted, also said the debt burden and other aspects of the sale raised serious concerns for the nonprofit community and had asked ICANN to block the proposal.

Oversight by Pennsylvanias attorney general, which has jurisdiction over state charities, was another factor in the boards decision. To become a for-profit, Public Interest Registry would need to get approval from the Pennsylvania Orphans Court, and the office of state AG Josh Shapiro has the power to review and weigh in on such a request.

ICANNs board had a May 4 deadline to make its own decision, and said the Pennsylvania process wouldnt be finished by then  so it still does not know Shapiros view on the matter, or whether the court will authorize the change.

The lack of approval from the Pennsylvania authorities has remained an area of concern for the board, according to its decision.

Shapiros office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Ethos Capital, in a statement, said the decision by ICANN sets a dangerous precedent, and opens the door for the organization to unilaterally reject future transfer requests based on agenda-driven pressure by outside parties.

The firm is evaluating its options at this time, the statement said.

Public Interest Registry called the decision disappointing, but said the organization is committed as ever to its mission of running the dot-org registry. While the nonprofit is incorporated in Pennsylvania, it operates out of headquarters in Reston, Virginia.

Groups such as the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light, and the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, which has more than 1,000 members, had signed the SaveDotOrg petition, along with Girl Scouts of the USA, the YMCA, and the American Red Cross.



Catherine Dunn of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote this story.

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A special flight with 271 Russian nationals on board departed from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi. They flew home by the flight en route Delhi-Saint-Petersburg-Moscow with the assistance of the Russian Embassy in India.

Over the last one month, the Russian Embassy has provided their countrymen living in India with all necessary support, including financial. More than 130 people were provided with free accommodation, meals and medical care.

Financial assistance was also provided by commercial entities like Gazprombank, Sberbank, VTB, Rostec, RSK MiG, Russian Railways and Rosatom.

The Embassy organised food distribution at the airport offering dishes of traditional Russian cuisine. All departing passengers were examined by the Embassy doctor.

After regular international passenger flights were suspended on March 22, a total of 2,282 people have left India with the Embassy's assistance. 1,065 of them departed from Delhi and 1,217 from Goa. Another 3,609 people remain stranded in India and are awaiting further special flights.
Delhi recorded a massive spike of 384 Covid-19 cases  the highest so far in a single day - as the national capitals tally went past the 4,000 mark on Saturday, the state health department said.

Delhis tally of Covid-19 cases on Saturday night stood at 4,122 while three more deaths took the number of casualties to 64.

The previous single-day high of 356 new cases was recorded on April 13.

There are 2,802 active cases of Covid-19 while 1,256 have recovered.

Delhi became the third state after Maharashtra and Gujarat with more than 4,000 cases.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Union Health Ministry put Indias Covid-19 cases at 37,776 while the death toll rose to 1,223.

For the third straight day on Saturday, the Delhi health department did not release any data on testing.

On Friday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a digital address to the media said the number of Covid-19 cases in the city was high because his government has scaled up testing for the disease.

He said the government was conducting 2,300 Covid-19 tests per million population, which is higher than the national average of around 500 tests per million.

Over 50,000 tests have been conducted in the city and about 7,000 of them were in the containment zones.
SPRINGFIELD  State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, told an appeals court Thursday to undo a judges order releasing him from Illinois stay-at-home restriction.

His attorney, Thomas DeVore, said in an interview Friday that newly-uncovered information strengthens their allegation that Gov. J.B. Pritzker overstepped his authority.

DeVore said there are bigger fish to fry right now than my client being the only one in the state not under this order. He would not disclose the nature of that documentation, which he characterized as a game changer.

Instead, DeVore said he wants it to speak for itself and be presented to the public in a way that would prevent Pritzkers office from bastardizing it into something that its not.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Wednesday asked the Fifth District Appellate Court based in Mount Vernon to reverse Clay County Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaneys order that Bailey not be subject to any of Pritzkers stay-at-home restrictions.

Instead of fighting that request, Bailey voluntarily conceded so the case is kicked back to McHaneys courtroom. There, he can ask to file an amended lawsuit and include the new document.

The temporary restraining order doesnt matter. It doesnt matter because we have this new information that says it doesnt matter, DeVore said he advised Bailey. Since we have that new information, we have a more and full and complete picture of what we want to present to the public. Lets quit making this restraining order a distraction.

That document, DeVore said, is public information not disclosed to Illinoisans by the states government and doesnt support the attorney generals position in the case.

This new information offers a more complete picture and brings to light additional problems in regard to the procedural and substantive shortcomings of the governors office and the board of healths safeguarding of the civil rights of the citizens of the state, Bailey said in a statement.

DeVore concluded his call with Capitol News Illinois on Friday by asking residents to consider: Have you ever heard  the Department of Public Health or the governors office say to the public that you have rights of due process? And when you see the document, you ask yourself, is this due process?
Had you asked Ken Hanvey a year ago to download a data-gathering app because the federal government insisted on it, he'd have thought you quite mad.

Ken Hanvey with daughters Joanne (L) and Michelle. Ken has downloaded COVIDSafe hoping it hastens his ability to see his grandchildren. Credit:Zach Hope

But in the age of coronavirus, this 61-year-old "dyed-in-the-wool libertarian" pounced at the opportunity to click yes to COVIDSafe.

"I was probably the second person to sign up," he said yesterday from Brunswick, where he was enjoying a rare, socially-distanced takeaway coffee with his daughters, Joanne and Michelle.

"The reason being is that these are my daughters. I'm also a grandfather. That isolation, not being able to see people, is hard. If (the app) is a transition to these restrictions being lifted, then I'm for it."
Queries over Health Ministry purchase of 300 air-purification systems By Kumudini Hettiarachchi & Ruqyyaha Deane View(s): View(s):

Controversy surrounds an alleged deal by the Health Ministry to purchase 300 air-purification systems for state hospital ICUs.

These 300 air-purification systems/air sterilizers said to cost in total over Rs. 300 million are part of a list of items due to be bought through World Bank funding and procured by UNICEF for the Health Ministry, the Sunday Times understands.

The total funding being extended by the World Bank for such purchases including the air-purification systems under the project Sri Lankas COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness implemented by the Health Ministry, amounts to US$ 128 million.

Sources alleged that the tender for these air-purification systems has already been floated and it was only after that, the ministry was trying to drum up requests from state hospitals to gather the numbers.

Documents in the possession of the Sunday Times reveal that bids for 10 items including the air-purification systems have been invited by UNICEF under the number LITB-2020-9157571 dated April 14, 2020.

The sources alleged that usually specifications for such items should be given by the relevant technical people but in this instance the specifications had been targeted and no technical input sought.

The usual procedure is also for the state hospitals to send their requirements and for the ministry to compile a full list, check out dire necessity and the funding available, seek technical evaluation and then call the tender, the sources explained. But in this case nothing like that happened, they added.

They also stressed that this purification system has been tried out in South Korea but had failed to make an impact on COVID-prevention.

When the Sunday Times contacted Health Ministry Secretary, Bhadrani Jayawardena, on her mobile on Friday seeking an interview to get clarification, a person who answered her mobile requested that an email be sent. Even though the email was sent there was no response up to yesterday.

When the Sunday Times contacted the Project Director of Sri Lankas COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Dr. Jayasundara Bandara, he said that a preliminary request had been made to the Health Ministry (for air-purification systems) by various groups of consultants and this request was then handed over to him.

He said that the request was then looked over and forwarded to UNICEF to check the availability of the equipment. That has been given over for evaluation and after that we (his team) have written to the Health Ministry Secretary and the Director-General who will review it through a technical expert committee and select which equipment is needed.

Whatever procurements that have been made between January 1 and April 2 related to COVID by the Health Ministry will be reimbursed through the project, Dr. Bandara said, adding that the project includes both the immediate emergency response and health system preparedness.

When asked about the technical aspects, he said that he could not comment because I am not a specialist on that. All I can say is that there is a request and I am facilitating their purchase and bringing down those things. We are planning to import 300 air purification systems to be distributed and placed in hospitals where there are any patients being managed at secondary and tertiary care.

Dr. Bandara could not say from where they would be imported because it is still in the evaluating stage and there are many offers.

So probably next week we may be able to say which purification system that we will want to select, added Dr. Bandara.

Many health officials who declined to be identified expressed ignorance about the tender and insisted that it has not been finalized yet.

It is a long process and no decision has been taken yet with regard to the list, one said, giving the different sections of the ministry which are involved in the process as including the Medical Supplies Division, the Bio-Medical Service, the Medical Service, etc.

The official also explained the processes of setting up Technical Evaluation Committees.

When asked specifically whether a request has gone from the ministry to state hospitals that these air-purification systems are available and to seek them for their institutions, the official rejected it, saying it would be unethical.

Contacted by the Sunday Times whether they had been asked for technical input by the ministry with regard to the air-purification systems, the College of Microbiologists declined to comment. It is this college which has to give its technical expertise with regard to this purification system.
MSU Extension of Midland County and cooperating parent educators sponsor the Parent's Corner. Send submissions to Midland County MSU Extension Educator, Lisa Treiber, 220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640.

Food = Healthy Kids

Looking for a training for your childcare center or home? Michigan State University Extension is hosting several online sessions with education credits. Learn what the best practices are for food safety to help keep kids safe. Topics include cleaning and sanitizing, cooking, storing food, common allergens and personal hygiene. The workshop can count towards annual training hours for licensed childcare providers. This is also an approved training of Great Start to Quality. Dates classes will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon May 13, and 1 to 4 p.m. May 27, 1-4:00 PM. To select a date and register visit https://events.anr.msu.eduSFHKMarch2020 or email treiber@msu.edu. There is no charge to participate in these sessions.

Food Safety Q & A

MSU Extension will be hosting weekly live chats online at 10 a.m. each Monday discussing current trending information. Join us on May 4 to discuss Solving the Mystery of Food Product Dating. Learn the difference between "Sell By," "Use By," "Best if Used By" and what date marking of food products really means. Participants are encouraged to ask their questions during the Q & A portion of the event. Food Safety Educators will be available for this session and will provide the most up-to-date research-based information. To register for this informative session visit: https://www.canr.msu.edu/events/food-safety-q-a-solving-the-mystery-of-food-dating There is no charge to attend this session. For more information contact Kellie Jordan, jorda136@msu.edu.

Online Food Preservation Class

MSU Extension will be offering an online Food Preservation class about Steam canning from 1 to 2 p.m. May 7. Learn how to use a steam canner for food preservation. This class will provide resources to reference when preserving food. Participants will be able to ask Food Safety Educators during the Q & A portion of the workshop. There is no charge to attend. To register for this informative session visit: https://events.anr.msu.edu/FoodPreservation05072020online/ For more information contact Lisa Treiber, treiber@msu.edu.

Walking Paths at Chippewa Nature Center

Chippewa Nature Center, 400 S. Badour Road, Midland, has 19 miles of trails open dawn-to-dark open daily for walking. CNC is committed to providing an opportunity for healthy outdoor recreation, solace seeking, restorative time in nature and exploration for all ages during this challenging time. Currently all CNC trails remain open. CNC is asking everyone to maintain a 6-foot distance from people outside your household while enjoying the trails. In an effort to aid in protecting the public and reduce the spread of COVID-19, all the buildings are closed until further notice. CNC encourages you to explore the Resources for Home Learning web page www.chippewanaturecenter.org and Facebook www.Facebook.com/cncmidland for resources outdoor and connection.
He sexually assaulted two women within minutes of each other and then quoted scripture to defend his actions when he testified before a jury.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Law Courts building in downtown Winnipeg. (Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press files)

He sexually assaulted two women within minutes of each other and then quoted scripture to defend his actions when he testified before a jury.

Convicted of his crimes and now facing a lengthy prison sentence, a more contrite James Stewart offered words of apology to a Winnipeg court Wednesday.

"I have a weakness and my weakness is alcohol," said Stewart, 49. "I own up to the wrongs I have done and stop pretending I have it all together, because I dont. From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry for the pain I have caused."

Prosecutors are recommending Stewart be sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting the two victims, who lived next door to each other.

According to a pre-sentence report prepared for court, Stewart expressed shock that he was convicted of the July 2018 assaults and likened his actions to adultery.

"Frankly, to suggest what happened to these two women was something akin to cheating is repugnant," Crown attorney Carolyn Reimer told Queens Bench Justice Ken Champagne. "This is not about cheating, its about two vulnerable women being completely sexually violated against their will."

Jurors heard testimony at trial that Stewart assaulted the first woman as she lay passed out in her bed before he was forced out of the house by the womans sister, only to break into the house next door, where he sexually assaulted a second woman as she slept in bed with her partner and two young children.

The first victim testified Stewart, who she had met a dozen times or so around the neighbourhood, arrived uninvited late in the evening as she and her sister hosted a backyard get-together.

The woman said she felt uncomfortable by Stewarts presence, but "didnt want to be rude" and let him stay.

The woman said she passed out in bed fully clothed with a male friend around 1 a.m. and remembered nothing more until waking up the next morning naked from the waist down.

After the woman expressed concern "something happen(ed) to (her) last night," the womans sister told her she had interrupted Stewart sexually assaulting her as she slept.

The womans sister testified she had just returned from the vendor to pick up more beer, when she looked into her sisters bedroom to see a man crouching naked on the bed sexually assaulting her sister as the woman's friend lay passed out beside her.

"I yelled, What are you doing? Thats when he looked at me and I saw who he was," the woman said.

In the commotion that followed, the passed-out male woke up and ran out of the house, leaving the victims sister to force Stewart off the bed and out of the house.

"He was fumbling around looking for his clothes and I was yelling at him to get out," she said. "He kept apologizing, said he loved her. I pretty much had to push him every step of the way (out of the house)."

But Stewart didnt go home, jurors heard, and instead broke into the house next door, where he stripped down and sexually assaulted a woman as she slept in bed with her partner and two young children.

Hearing a noise, the womans partner woke up and turned on a light, exposing the intruder. The woman called 911 as her partner held Stewart and beat him about the head and body.

Police arrived 10 minutes later to find Stewart still in the bedroom, naked and injured.

At trial, Stewart quoted from the Bible and claimed he had been invited to enter the first house by the 18-year-old victim, who he described as a "harlot."

In a victim impact statement provided to court, the now 21-year-old woman said she no longer feels safe when she is alone and has since bought "a big ass scary dog" for protection.

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"The smallest thing will make me panic," she said. "I dont think I will ever be the same."

Stewart was raised by adoptive parents in the U.S. and was damaged by years spent in a Baptist boarding school in Misssissippi, said defence lawyer Cam Pauls, who likened the school to a Canadian residential school.

Stewarts time at the Mississippi school "has permanently affected how he views the world," Pauls said.

Stewart became addicted to alcohol, had several run-ins with the law and was ultimately deported to Canada in 1994.

Champagne will sentence Stewart next week.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
The Week In Russia: Image And Influence Abroad, Coronavirus In The Cabinet

By Steve Gutterman May 01, 2020

The official number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia rose above 100,000, with deaths exceeding 1,000, and the prime minister tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin's Syria "headache" persisted and a bitter dispute with the Czech Republic took a dramatic turn.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

Prague Spring Chill

Russia has problems in the Middle East and Central Europe. The problems are vastly different in the two regions and from country to country, in terms of both nature and scale.

In Syria, for instance, Moscow is struggling with what may be the inability to exert substantial influence over a leader it has strongly and unflinchingly supported in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

In the Czech Republic, Russia has watched its image worsen amid bitter disputes over a statue in an out-of-the-way park and the name of the leafy square outside its sprawling embassy complex in Prague.

Arguably, though, these problems share a common root: President Vladimir Putin's drive to increase Moscow's influence on the global stage after its clout contracted substantially when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Aleksandr Baunov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center and editor in chief of its website, argued that the desire to boost Russia's role  and ensure that any gains made over his 20-plus years in power do not slip away  were a major factor in Putin's decision to give himself the option of seeking to stay in the Kremlin until 2036.

"In our opinion, one of the main reasons that prompted him to take this step was his fear of repeating the mistakes of perestroika, the fear of perestroika-2 that reigns among those in the Russian elite who consider the geopolitical defeat of Russia to be the main result of the change in the 1980s-'90s," Baunov wrote in an editorial published on April 29.

Putin "sees the global status of Russia as his primary area of responsibility, and its restoration as his highest achievement," he wrote.

Lately, though, those efforts have suffered setbacks.

In the Czech Republic, Putin's perceived thirst for the restoration of Russia's influence in the present and future seems to have run up against Moscow's demands that Prague pay homage to the Soviet role in Nazi Germany's World War II defeat  and against the Kremlin's own reluctance to reckon with the fact that many people in the Czech Republic, and the wider region, see the postwar decades through a different, darker prism.

A bronze statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev was removed from its pedestal in a small park far from the heart of Prague on April 3, months after the local district assembly voted to take it down.

Troops under Konev's command retook most of Czechoslovakia from Nazi forces and entered Prague on May 9, 1945, after it had been at least partly liberated by resistance and anti-Soviet forces. He also commanded the troops that crushed the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary and helped build the Berlin Wall, and some historians say he helped plan the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia that crushed the Prague Spring in 1968.

Many Czechs view him a symbol of the decades of Soviet dominance after the war. Putin has at times acknowledged that millions of people in the former Warsaw Pact countries see the Soviet Union more as an occupier than as a liberator.

But in recent years and particularly ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat, he and other officials in Moscow have seemed determined not to let that bull  or elephant, as the Russian phrase has it  into the china shop of their narrative of the war and its aftermath.

Following the monument's removal, masked assailants threw smoke bombs at the Czech Embassy in Moscow and Russia took or threatened symbolic reciprocal moves, opening a criminal case that has no force outside Russia and mulling naming a southern Moscow subway station after Konev instead of Prague.

Narratives And Nemtsov

Russia argues that dismantling the statue  erected in 1980, when Soviet dominance over Eastern Europe seemed fairly secure  violates a 1993 friendship treaty between Russia and the Czech Republic. As recently as April 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is awaiting a response from the Czech government on a proposal to begin a "dialogue" about the matter.

But the tension goes beyond the fate of a 40-year-old monument. On February 27, authorities in the same Prague district where the Konev monument stood renamed the square outside the Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, the vocal Putin foe and former Russian first deputy prime minister who was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin on that date in 2015.

That raised the Kremlin's ire and resulted in some geographical gymnastics by the embassy, which shifted its main address to a building far from the stately entrance on Boris Nemtsov Square  a gate with a display case featuring portraits of Putin, Lavrov, and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

And the story of the countries' suddenly more sour relationship took a dramatic turn when the Czech weekly Respekt reported that Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib and the district mayor who backed dismantling the Konev statue, Ondrej Kolar, had been singled out by Russian intelligence for poisoning with a deadly toxin.

Respekt cited security sources it did not identify as saying a suspected Russian intelligence officer had arrived in the Czech capital three weeks earlier on a diplomatic passport and with a suitcase containing ricin.

Russian officials have repeatedly ridiculed the report and dismissed it-- but have done so in ways that seem to fall short of a direct denial.

Lavrov, for example, described the overall thrust of the claim set out in the Respekt report, but added details that it did not include, and then asked: "Who in their right mind would agree and believe all these inventions?"

The answer to the question of who would believe the Respekt report might be different if not for incidents such as the fatal radioactive-polonium poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksandr Litvinenko in London in 2006 and the nerve-agent poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England in 2018.

Putin's Assad Problem

In the Middle East, Putin has raised Russia's profile in recent years by pursuing warmer ties with Saudi Arabia and providing powerful diplomatic and military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in the nine-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and forced millions from their homes.

But Russia jeopardized the relationship with Riyadh in early March when it rejected a Saudi proposal for top oil producers in the OPEC+ group to cut output in a bid to push crude prices higher.

Putin then blamed Riyadh on the failure to agree, drawing a reprimand from the Saudi foreign minister, who said his statement was "fully devoid of truth" -- possibly the first time a senior official or diplomat from a non-Western country has publicly accused Putin of lying.

Russia's military intervention in Syria, where it launched a campaign of air strikes against Assad's foes in 2015 and stepped up its presence on the ground, helping avert what might have been the Syrian president's ouster, has doubtless made Moscow more of a force to be reckoned with the region.

But that clout has been clouded by persistent questions of how much influence Russia holds over Assad and whether it will ever be able  if it is willing  to push him into a political settlement.

Doing so would be a big win for Putin, easing strains the military campaign has put on the Russian budget and showing the world and the West that Russia can be what it has claimed to be in several wars: a peacemaker.

An April 28 report from Bloomberg News emphasized what one Russia analyst of Mideast affairs called the Kremlin's Syria "headache."

Citing several reports in Kremlin-linked publications that featured criticism of Assad, the Bloomberg article said that Putin was showing his impatience with a Syrian president "who isn't proving as grateful for being kept in power by Russian intervention in his country's brutal civil war as the Kremlin leader needs him to be."

"Consumed at home by the twin shocks of collapsing oil prices and the coronavirus epidemic, and eager to wrap up his Syrian military adventure by declaring victory, Putin is insisting that Assad show more flexibility in talks with the Syrian opposition on a political settlement to end the nearly decade-long conflict," it said.

The article cited four unnamed people it said were "familiar with Kremlin deliberations on the matter."

"The Kremlin needs to get rid of the Syrian headache," it quoted Aleksandr Shumilin, a former Russian diplomat who runs the Europe-Middle East Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences, as saying. "The problem is with one person -- Assad -- and his entourage."

COVID In The Cabinet

One way that Putin may have hoped to raise Moscow's global profile was to avoid severe consequences from the coronavirus pandemic: As it spread around the world and hard in countries such as Spain and Italy, there were signs that the Kremlin may have believed Russia would largely be spared.

That did not work out, and a pair of developments that occurred on April 30 seemed to drive that fact home.

In the morning, when Russia updates its COVID-19 tallies, the official number of confirmed cases pushed past 100,000 and deaths from the disease exceeded 1,000  even as questions about the accuracy of the state's figures persist.

On that evening, Prime Minister Mishustin announced that he had tested positive and would self-isolate. A spokesman said he would be hospitalized.

Worldwide, Mishustin, 54, is one of the highest officials to contract COVID-19. In Russia, his positive test is a reminder of the big plans that Putin had for this spring  and that have been put on hold by the coronavirus.

Putin appointed Mishustin to replace longtime Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, whom he dismissed hours after a January 15 state-of-the-nation speech in which he announced plans for constitutional amendments changing the power structure in Russia. The timing means that Mishustin's name, not widely known until that day, is associated with those plans.

On March 10, eight days after Russia recorded its first coronavirus case and nine days before the first reported death, Putin gave his backing to a newly revealed proposed amendment that would allow him to run for president in 2024 and again in 2030, potentially extending his time in office until 2036.

The constitutional amendments were to have been given a seal of public approval in a nationwide vote on April 22. But that vote  and a May 9 military parade in Red Square  have been postponed due to COVID-19.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/the-week -in-russia-image-and- influence-abroad-coronavirus -in-the-cabinet/30587509.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Nicole Trunfio has credited using a waist trainer with helping her snap back into shape just two months after giving birth to her third child.

And the Australian-born model, who is based in the US, explained how they worked for her and why she launched her own maternity line.

The 34-year-old shared two photos of herself showcasing the waist trainer on her slim post-baby body on Instagram.

Her secret weapon! Nicole Trunfio, 34, (pictured) showcased the waist trainer from her maternity wear in an Instagram post on Saturday. She credits it with her 'easiest and most successful bounce back yet' after giving birth to her third child

She explained that she used waist trainers after each of her births to help get back into shape, 'feel grounded', 'for support during breastfeeding', and to 'feel together' again.

'I have always thought the waist trainers I have used in the past have been "aggressive" and don't serve me for what I need it for,' she said, which is why she developed her own.

The mother-of-three launched Bumpsuit, while pregnant with her third child, which is a line of chic and 'comfortable' body suits and shape wear for women to wear through pregnancy.

'Comfortable and supportive': The mother-of-three launched Bumpsuit, while pregnant with her third child, which is a line of chic and 'comfortable' body suits and shape wear for women to wear through pregnancy

She continued in her caption that she and her team developed 'the most comfortable and supportive waist trainer on the market,' which she had been road testing since giving birth.

'It's incredible, it's has been my easiest and most successful bounce back yet,' and added that 'great' for postpartum or C section recovery, or even as slimming shapewear.

'It's made for any and every woman. It's great for day to day, postpartum recovery, C section recovery or just to be used as slimming shapewear under clothes,' she said, adding that she even sleeps in it.

Adding to their brood: Nicole and her musician husband Gary Clark Jr. welcomed baby Ella Wolf on February 21

Nicole and her musician husband Gary Clark Jr. welcomed baby Ella Wolf on February 21.

At the time, she shared a sweet photo of her little hand, along with the caption: 'Your mummy and daddy and brother and sister love you so, so, so, so much already. You are MAGIC.'

The couple, who tied the knot back in 2016, are also parents to five-year-old son Zion, and two-year-old daughter Gia. They live on their ranch in Texas, in the US.
Almost 1.5 million university students should be back on campus by July after federal Education Minister Dan Tehan declared he wanted to see the sector return to face-to-face teaching for second semester.

Mr Tehan also warned the shock from COVID-19 had triggered an "urgent" look at the international education business model at universities. Vice-chancellors, joined by Labor, are calling for a major rethink of Australia's higher education funding system as a potentially sustained drop in full-fee-paying overseas student enrolments threatens to shrink the sector.

Education Minister Dan Tehan wants university students back on campus by semester two. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Universities were forced to close campuses and move to online learning upon the introduction of strict social distancing measures, adapting rapidly as they also weather the loss of billions in lost international student revenue. Onshore numbers of overseas students are down 30 per cent on last year's levels.

"The first step has to be our campuses reopened here for domestic students and those international students who are onshore. That's the first priority of the government," Mr Tehan told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age.
Laqshya Media Group, after setting up sanitising stations in select police stations in Mumbai, decided to take more steps in helping the Mumbai police by giving them several 5 litre-bottles of hand sanitizers and unique foot-operated sanitizer dispensing apparatus. The marketing communications group is widely known for its impeccable contribution in the Out-of-Home space across India.

Atul Shrivastava, CEO, Laqshya media group shared, It is so important to come together and help everyone during these times. At this point, police need our assistance the most as they are out most of the time. Looking at the ongoing crisis, we decided to provide our dear policemen with hand sanitizers. They can use it every time they enter the station or leave. We are ready to provide any kind of assistance within our capacity.

The Laqshya team has already provided sanitizers to:

Office of Additional Commissioner of Police, Byculla

Worli Police Station

Dadar Police Station

In addition to the units, spare sanitizer liquid has been handed over to respective police stations. The manufacturing of these units was done at Malad and utmost care was taken while processing them.

Along with the sanitizers, the team has provided foot-operated sanitizer dispensing units as well that prevent contamination of the dispensers. With the stand, it gets easier because the policemen do not need to touch the bottle anymore and can dispense sanitizers with their feet. The company is looking forward to fulfilling many more such requests from the police.

The hand sanitizer units and the sanitising liquid aim to provide safety to the policemen and help them keep the infection at bay. The company believes that with sanitizing stations and hand sanitizers, the policemen would be able to keep themselves protected to a large extent.
Vessel being sent to Tulum as first sargassum arrives at Akumal

Tulum, Q.R.  Tulums mayor says the municipality will see the arrival of a sargassum vessel now that the seaweed has begun to make an appearance.

Although the amounts of sargassum arriving on state shores is minimal, Victor Mas Tah says the vessel will guarantee clean beaches for when tourism is relaunched and visitors begin arriving. The announcement of a vessel for Tulum was made via a video conference with Secretary of the Navy, Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran.

The video conference also included other mayors along with state governor Carlos Joaquin Gonzalez who confirmed follow-up of agreements due to the arrival of sargassum since, once tourism is relaunched, Tulum will be ready to receive tourists.

During the conference, we learned about the scope that the Secretariat of the Navy has achieved in preparing the sargassum vessels that will soon be in our state helping us to combat the atypical arrival of seaweed. I also expressed as municipal president, the agreements we have in the way of personnel support that corresponds to the preparation of a site for the transfer of sargassum in our municipality, explained Mas Tah.

According to the Sargasso Monitoring and Forecast Program in the Caribbean Sea, the dynamics of the Eastern Caribbean have favored the movement of large sargassum conglomerates to countries of the Greater Antilles. The algal coverage entering the Mexican Caribbean continues to be low, however, the region is being continually monitored.

Small amounts of the seaweed have begun to arrive on some state shores including Mahahual, Akumal, Punta Allen, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Riviera Cancun, Cancun and Costa Mujeres.
A man walks past graffiti in support of NHS staff battling the coronavirus outbreak, in the loyalist Sandy Row area of Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

A further 11 people have died after contracting coronavirus in Northern Ireland, bringing the death toll to 376.

New figures from the Department of Health show that six of the 11 deaths occurred in the last 24 hours, with five people passing away outside of this period but only being recorded now.

A further 66 people have test positive for the virus and 32 intensive care beds are currently occupied by patients with Covid-19.

A total of 3,689 people have tested positive for coronavirus, with 24,429 tested overall.

Follow Saturday's coverage here:
Demand for emergency food has risen to record levels, according to the nations biggest provider, with temporary workers and international students in the most desperate need.

Foodbank Australia chief executive Brianna Casey  whose organisation distributes food to 2400 charities and 2000 schools  said demand for food had gone through the roof since the pandemic.

Theres an unprecedented spike in demand for food relief, Ms Casey said.

It is confronting. People have had such an economic shock ... they are really struggling at the moment and looking for the most basic of human needs, food and groceries.
WASHINGTON  Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the tight-lipped doctor who attends to Congress, sent up on Thursday what some have construed as a warning: His office, he told senior Republican officials on a private conference call, cannot screen all 100 senators for the coronavirus when they return to work on Monday.

Two miles down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, the story is very different. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are tested frequently, aides who come into close contact with them are tested weekly and the list of people who need to be tested daily keeps expanding, according to officials familiar with the process.

The stark contrast between the testing haves at the White House and the have-nots on Capitol Hill, first reported in Politico, makes clear that Mr. Trumps pronouncement that anybody that wants a test can get a test, as he said on March 6 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is far from true. Although the rich and powerful are clearly favored, not even all the powerful have equal access.

And beyond whether people can be tested, there are questions about the tests available. At the White House, the medical unit is using a rapid-testing kit developed by Abbott, which yields results in about five minutes. But Dr. Monahan told the Republican aides on Thursday that he lacked such equipment, and that it would take at least two days to get test results.
(Follow live updates of Berkshire's annual meeting here.)

Warren Buffett said Saturday he is optimistic that the U.S. economy will re-emerge even after being dealt a body blow by the coronavirus pandemic.

"Nothing can basically stop America," said Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, from the conglomerate's first virtual shareholder's meeting from Omaha, Nebraska. "The American miracle, the American magic has always prevailed and it will do so again."

"In World War II, I was convinced of this," he said. "I was convinced of this during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 9/11, the financial crisis."

More than 1 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. The outbreak has led to states shutting down their economies, which has resulted in unprecedented job losses.

The Labor Department said Thursday that 3.84 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 25. That brings the six-week total to more than 30 million.

The outbreak also sent overall economic activity spiraling lower during the first quarter, with a 4.8% GDP. contraction. That was the biggest U.S. economic downturn since the financial crisis.

Buffett himself said the economy still faces an extraordinary range of outcomes. He also highlighted how different this downturn is compared to the one more than a decade ago.

"In 2008 and 2009 our economic train went off the tracks, and there were some reasons why the roadbed was weak in terms of the banks," Buffett said. "This time we just pulled the train of the tracks and put it on a siding. And I don't really know of any parallel  in terms of a very, very well the most important country in the world, most productive, huge population  in effect sidelining its economy and its workforce."

But Buffett thinks better days lie ahead for the U.S. economy.

"If you had to pick one time to be born and one place to be born ... you would not pick 1720; you would not pick 1820; you would not pick 1920," Buffett said. "You'd pick today and you would pick America. Ever since America was organized... people have wanted to come here."

Still, the legendary investor urged others to be judicious when betting on America. "You can bet on America but you have to be careful about how you bet," he said. "Markets can do anything."

"In my view, for most people, the best thing is to do is owning the S&P 500 index fund. There are huge amounts of money people pay for advice they really don't need. If you bet on America and sustain that position for decades, you'd do far better than buying treasury securities."

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The Police Command in Nasarawa on Saturday confirmed the abduction of Abdullahi Magaji, the Aron Akye of Ugah, a Second-Class traditional ruler in the state.

Bola Longe, Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, who confirmed the development to journalists in Lafia said the command had mobilised personnel to the area to rescue the monarch.

We have deployed officers to area and they are searching everywhere, he will be rescued and by the grace of God the kidnappers will be arrested and prosecuted.

We are, therefore, appealing to members of the public, especially those in that area to furnish the police with revenant information that will lead to the rescue of the victim and arrest of the kidnappers, Longe said.

Meanwhile, a family source who preferred anonimity told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the victim was abducted from his residence in Ugah village near Lafia at about 7.30 p.m. on Thursday.

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According to the source, the gunmen in large number, stormed the house bearing sophisticated weapons and whisked the monarch away to an unknown destination.

He explained that the traditional ruler was taken away on a motorcycle by his abductors.

He also said that the kidnappers contacted the family on Saturday on phone to demand for N50 million ransom after allowing the monarch to speak with family members.

(NAN)
Rome, May 2 : The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 28,236 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities, and recoveries to 207,428, latest data from the country's Civil Protection Department showed on Friday.

Some 269 new fatalities were registered over the past 24 hours. There were also 2,304 new recoveries compared to Thursday, pushing to 78,249 the total number of recoveries since the pandemic broke out in the northern Lombardy region on February 21, Xinhua reported.

The number of active infections dropped by 608 cases to a total of 100,943, according to the bulletin of the Civil Protection Department.

Of all those actively infected, some 1,578 patients are in intensive care -- a decrease of 116 compared to Thursday, and 17,569 are hospitalized with symptoms -- down by 580.

"Some 81,796 people, equal to 81 percent of all those infected, are in isolation (at home) without symptoms or with mild symptoms," the Civil Protection Department noted.

The latest data came as the country is preparing to ease the national lockdown put in place since March 10 and until May 3.

The so-called "Phase Two" of the state of emergency will see the manufacturing, construction, and wholesale sectors resume their productive activities on May 4.

The government's plan of gradual reopening would continue with retailers, museums, galleries, and libraries on May 18, and then bars, restaurants, hairdressers and beauty salons on June 1.

Any of these businesses will be allowed to restart only on condition that they are able to respect workplace safety protocols, which were outlined by the government, trade unions, and business groups together earlier this month.

Such a schedule would be subject to change in case new outbreaks occur across the country. In this perspective, the Health Ministry issued late on Thursday a decree containing the specific rules and criteria for assessing the situation in "Phase Two." "In the absence of a vaccine or an effective drug treatment, and due to the still low level of immunity among the population, a rapid and robust resumption of the virus transmission is still possible," it stated.

The Health Ministry was therefore tasked with monitoring the epidemiological situation together with each regional government and Italy's National Health Institute (ISS).

On the base of daily data, they would evaluate whether any region (or smaller area, such a province) shows signs of an "uncontrolled and unmanageable" resurgence of COVID-19, and therefore needs to fall again under stricter containment measures.

This risk evaluation would be based on two key criteria, according to the Health Ministry.

The first aimed at "maintaining a stable number of new infections, or having a limited increase of infections that can be investigated adequately and contained with local control measures." The second criterion was to "maintain or reduce the number of transmission cases within nursing facilities hosting vulnerable people (including hospital clusters), and to avoid any signal of overloading of the health services," the decree said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Two months ago, life was finally looking up for 33-year-old Mousab, a Syrian refugee living in Tunisias second-largest city, Sfax. He had recently used his savings to open a kebab restaurant and was looking forward to earning enough to marry his sweetheart. Then, in early March, COVID-19 struck.

The lockdown that followed has contained the spread of the virus, with less than 1,000 confirmed cases reported across the country. But the financial impact has been hard on Tunisians and refugees like Mousab.

I have no income because I opened the restaurant about a month before the crisis, explained Mousab, whose restaurant is now shuttered and his dreams of marrying on hold.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has sought to cushion the blow by providing 500 Tunisian Dinars (US$173) in emergency assistance, but Mousab is fearful of what will happen if the crisis drags on.

My biggest fear if the crisis persists is accumulating debts I cannot pay."

My biggest fear if the crisis persists is accumulating debts I cannot pay, such as rent for my house and restaurant. Honestly, it scares me a lot just thinking about it.

Global economic growth is likely to be halved by disruptions due to COVID-19, plunging 40-60 million more people into extreme poverty worldwide, according to OECD and World Bank projections. Worst affected will be those already living on the margins in low- and middle-income countries, where more than 85 per cent of the worlds refugees currently reside.

This harsh reality is already playing out across the Middle East and North Africa region, which along with Turkey is home to more than six million refugees and over 10 million internally displaced people fleeing violence in Syria, Yemen and beyond.

In many of the region's major refugee host countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, large numbers of refugees report having lost their main source of income. In Jordan, the impact on refugee women is profound, with almost all who were working saying they had seen their income source disrupted.

For Syrian refugee Naeem, who has lived with his family in the Jordanian capital Amman since fleeing Damascus in 2014, the current crisis could not have come at a worse time.

Working as a roof tiler on construction sites, he relies on earning enough during the warmer months when jobs are plentiful to see them through the rest of the year. Jordans lockdown has meant he has been unable to work for more than a month.

Weve been in Jordan six years and I never had to ask for help, Naeem explained. But at a time when I should be working the most, there is no work.

"At a time when I should be working the most, there is no work.

His biggest worry is what will happen if he cannot pay the 200 Jordanian Dinars (US$282) in rent he owes by the end of the month.

I know many Syrians who havent been able to pay their rent and their landlords have no choice but to accept it, but our landlord has said thats not possible, Naeem said. If we are not able to pay the rent this month we will have to look for a cheaper place to live.

An increase in evictions or the threat of eviction have been similarly reported by refugees in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia.

In Lebanon, which was already suffering from an economic crisis before the virus brought further disruption, more than half of refugees surveyed in late April reported having lost livelihoods such as daily labour, with 70 per cent saying they have reduced food consumption due to a lack of funds.

We have been living on vegetables for a while now, said Hasna Harbi, a single mother from Homs in Syria living in a tented settlement in Lebanons Bekaa Valley. They rely on the wages of her two eldest sons, aged 20 and 16, to survive, but their earnings have dwindled to almost nothing since the lockdown began in March.

The situation got worse in the last month, Hasna added. I cook smaller portions. We buy less, eat less. I buy bread on credit from the shop.

I cook smaller portions. We buy less, eat less. I buy bread on credit from the shop.

UNHCR is doing what it can to offset the worst of the impact by providing emergency cash grants to those most in need. In certain countries, this includes members of the host communities who find themselves in similarly difficult circumstances.

While refugees that are able to find work are often among the more fortunate, their sudden loss of earnings and associated spending will have a knock-on effect on the wider refugee population and local communities that they help to support.

It will also increase dependence on already overstretched humanitarian resources such as cash assistance, requiring increased donor funding in support of refugees as well as vulnerable host countries.

Mona, a 33-year-old Somali refugee living in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, was forced to close her small beauty salon last month in the run-up to the busy wedding season. With her son and five other relatives relying on her regular daily income of 3,000 to 6,000 Yemeni Rials (US$6-12) to cover their basic needs, the loss of earnings threatens to leave them destitute.

Because of coronavirus we lost our source of income which has made us dependent on others, Mona said. There is nothing like having your own business to make you feel self-reliant and strong. The salon is my familys only hope.

Sudanese refugee Mohammed looks for recyclables at a waste landfill in southern Tripoli, Libya.  Courtesy of Mohammed

Archive photo of Syrian refugee Hasna in her tent in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, in March 2014.  UNHCR/Lynsey Addario

Syrian refugees wait to receive financial aid at a UNHCR centre in at Bardarash camp in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq.  UNHCR/Rasheed Hussein Rasheed

Employees, including Syrian refugees, pack tissues at Al Khamael factory in the Sahab suburb of Amman, Jordan.  UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle

Formerly displaced father Rabih, 45, holds his newborn baby, Mustafa, at their home in Aleppo, Syria.  UNHCR/Hameed Maarouf

Syrian refugee Mousab, 33, had to close his kebab shop in Sfax, Tunisia, amid restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19.  TAMSS/Ghassen Gacem

Inside Syria, where almost 6.1 million people are internally displaced and 11 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, the loss of income and rising cost of food triggered by the current health crisis are exacerbating an already desperate situation.

Rabih, 45, and his family were displaced multiple times after their home in East Aleppo was destroyed in 2012. In 2016, after finally settling in another neighbourhood, Rabih resumed work in the citys textile industry. But with the factory closed since early March, he is fast running out of money and options.

When I go down to the market, I stand there in a panic not knowing what to buy, Rabih said. With so little money and the prices skyrocketing, I buy one vegetable at a time, and [affording] meat is just unthinkable for now.

Those working in the informal economy are among the most exposed as fragile sources of income collapse. This week the International Labour Organization estimated that almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers have suffered massive damage to their capacity to earn a living.

See also: Displaced people urgently need aid and access to social safety nets as coronavirus causes severe hardship

Among them is former engineering student Mohammed, who fled conflict in Sudans Darfur region in 2016 and now lives on a landfill site in the Libyan capital Tripoli, where he and a group of friends earn US$2-5 a day collecting recyclable waste.

Unable to take what they collect for sale due to a city-wide lockdown, Mohammed feels he has no choice but to seek a perilous route out of Libya.

Prices of food and rent went up. Sometimes, we are not even able to go to the market as we are looked upon as carriers of the disease for being foreigners, he said

I will try to cross once again to Europe. I tried to cross twice in the past and failed. I ended up in detention centres every time. But I hope that this time I will make it.

A steady flow of remittances from abroad has also helped to keep families across the region afloat, but given the global nature of the current crisis, even those are now drying up.

"This curfew has negatively affected all of us, and now I cannot go outside the camp for work.

For others, there is little option but to wait and hope that the restrictions can soon be eased. Syrian refugee Farhad lives with his family in Bardarash Refugee Camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Before the crisis, he used to leave the camp each morning to work on construction sites for up to US$18 a day.

I like to work and depend on myself. This curfew has negatively affected all of us, and now I cannot go outside the camp for work, Farhad said.

He and others in the camp have received cash grants from UNHCR to help cover their basic needs during the lockdown, but refugees are also doing what they can to help each other out.

Those who have saved their money in their bright days are now spending it and supporting those in need, Farhad explained. They will get their money back when life becomes normal and the curfew is lifted. This is how it works here: like brothers and sisters, refugees support each other.

Reporting by Chiara Maria Cavalcanti in Tunis, Lilly Carlisle in Amman, Warda Aljawahiry in Beirut, Mona Alhajj in Sanaa, Hameed Maarouf in Damascus, Tarek Argaz in Tripoli and Rasheed Hussein Rasheed in Bardarash Refugee Camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Writing by Charlie Dunmore.
A prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.

Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates' rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary. The South American country's prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.

The country's prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuela's information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot followed came after a ban on inmates' family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The visitation restrictions are part of the country's effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

Such restrictions have prompted riots in prisons in several countries, including Italy. In Argentina, prisoners rioted last month demanding some inmates be freed due to fears of infection.
Laois County Council, An Garda Siochana and the HSE are appealing to everyone in Laois this bank holiday to continue their efforts to contain Covid-19.

As Ireland enters a further phase in the fight against the virus, the three principal response agencies that make up the North East Regional Steering Group (An Garda Siochana, the HSE and the local authorities) have thanked people for their work in reducing the spread of Covid-19.

Agencies in Laois are part of this steering group. Representatives urged continued compliance.

In an effort to deter people from travelling more than five kilometres from home, local authorities have closed playgrounds and car parks at many amenities and attractions.

John Mulholland, Chief Executive of Laois County Council has urged people not to allow everyones hard work to be undermined and to #Stay Safe and, where possible, #Stay at Home.

Joe Ruane, HSE Midland Louth Meath Community Healthcare, acknowledged the collective actions of communities in the region are making a difference but it is crucial that everyone keeps up those efforts.

We know its hard, especially in terms of being apart from families and friends but it is helping to protect and keep our communities - especially vulnerable people and healthcare workers - safe. I want to particularly appeal to young people - we in the healthcare community need you to keep that effort going for another while, he said in a statement.

John Scanlon, Garda Chief Superintendent for the Laois, Offaly, Kildare area, said there will be a very visible Garda presence across the counties of Laois and Offaly.

Our members will operate an extensive network of checkpoints across both counties this weekend, checking public compliance with the travel restrictions in place as part of Covid-19 public health guidelines. There has been very good compliance with the travel restrictions and we want to thank the public for this.

"However, it is vital that this continues over the coming days and weeks. It will save lives. In particular, we would ask people who are thinking of travelling to parks, tourist locations or holiday homes outside of the five kilometre limit this weekend not to do so. If you are stopped at a checkpoint, you will be turned back, he said.

The Midlands Regional Steering Group urges everyone to please play their part and #Stay Safe, # Stop the Spread this May Bank Holiday weekend.

The Community Response Helplines continue to be available to people over the weekend. These helplines involve many community organisations and volunteers and can assist people who need additional support to adhere to the cocooning guidelines. The help line in Laois is 1800 832 010 from 8AM to 8PM each day.

As outlined at www.hse.ie/coronavirus, there are simple but very effective steps we all must take each and every day. They include:

 Staying at home as much as possible.

 Washing your hands properly and often.

 Reducing the number of people you met and interact with each day.

 Avoiding large groups or crowded areas and do not travel more than two kilometres from home.

 Maintaining a distance of two metres with other people.

 Working at home.

The symptoms of this virus are a cough (this can be any kind of cough), shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, fever, high temperature or chills. If you develop symptoms you will need to self-isolate and contact your GP. The people in your household will need to restrict their movements.

Go to www.hse.ie/coronavirus for information about self-isolation and restricting movement.

If you develop symptoms of coronavirus phone your GP. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

The GP will assess you over the phone and give you the right advice.
Forty-four people living in the same building in Delhi's Kapashera have reportedly been tested positive for coronavirus. The 44 people diagnosed with coronavirus were tested nearly 10 days ago. According to the government officials, the residents may have been infected by a person tested positive for coronavirus on April 18. The local authorities had sealed the area and collected samples of nearly 175 people from the locality on April 20 and 21.The 67 results that arrived today showed 44 of them are coronavirus positive.

Delhi is among the most affected states across the country with over 3,700 cases. All 11 districts in the national capital have been categorised as red zones.

The Haryana government recently sealed the Delhi-Gurgaon border to restrict entry of people from outside the district. The border will remain shut till further orders. The restriction will be reviewed on a periodic basis.

The total count of confirmed coronavirus cases in India jumped to 37,336 on Saturday while the death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 1,218, according to the latest update by the Union Health Ministry. The country recorded 2,293 cases and 71 deaths in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra is the worst-hit with highest tally at 11,506 followed by Gujarat and Delhi.

Meanwhile, the central government on Friday extended the nationwide lockdown by 2 weeks till May 17 amid rising coronavirus cases in India. The lockdown 3.0 will be effective from May 4. The Union Home Ministry has permitted different sets of relaxations in red, orange and green zones in its new guidelines, which are aimed at steering India out of lockdown in a staggered manner while reopening the economy.

Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Lockdown in red zones! Liquor sale in standalone shops allowed; cases-37,336

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: Donald Trump hints at imposing new tariff on China for mishandling virus outbreak
The first case of coronavirus was registered in Tsovazard village of Gegharkunik Province of Armenia. Aramayis Yengoyan, the mayor of this rural community, informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this.

"The infected person is a 34-year-old man," said the mayor. He attended a funeral in Ddmashen village, from where he became infected. His condition is good, four members of his family are isolated."

Yengoyan added that there are COVID-19 cases in Ddmashen village, too.

He noted that the circle of contact of this man is not largejust several neighbors, and have isolated themselves.
Rio De Janeiro: Rarely have two words ignited such a firestorm of controversy.

"So what?" said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday when a journalist asked him about the fact that more than 5,000 Brazilians had died of the coronavirus.

The far-right leader's off-the-cuff comment has been sparking anger ever since, with governors, politicians, healthcare professionals and media figures all weighing in to express their outrage at his lack of empathy.

Bolsonaro is no stranger to controversy. But his latest remark sparked such a fury because Brazil is facing a seemingly uncontrollable outbreak of the disease and is still several weeks away from the peak of the pandemic, with a death toll that threatens to surpass even the most dire predictions.

There have been more than 91,000 officially confirmed cases so far but scientists warn the real figure could be 15 to 20 times higher.

With a death toll that has already topped 6,300, the giant South American country is facing as grim a scenario as Italy or the United States.

"So what? I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?" Bolsonaro said Tuesday when questioned about his country passing the 5,000-death mark, more than China. He joked that even though his middle name is Messias, or Messiah, "I don't do miracles."

Wilson Witzel, the governor of Rio de Janeiro state, called the president's remarks "absolutely unacceptable."

With his own state on the verge of a public health meltdown, Witzel slammed the president for "being ironic about the deaths" rather than "being a leader at such a moment."

"Do your job," he said on Twitter Wednesday, the day when the pro-gun president was training at a target range, far from the woes of Brazil's 210 million citizens.

'Brasilia Bubble'

Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo state which is also on the frontlines of the battle against the coronavirus with more than 2,500 deaths already, replied furiously to Bolsonaro in the capital Brasilia.

"Get out of your Brasilia bubble," he retorted, urging Bolsonaro to visit hospitals "in this country which is crying for its dead and infected."

Unlike many other heads of state, the Brazilian leader has not been seen in any hospitals nor has he expressed much solidarity with victims of the disease, bereaved families or healthcare staff who have condemned the lack of ventilators or beds.

The head of the doctors' union in Sao Paulo, Eder Gatti, called on television for "a more serious attitude from the president of the republic."

Bolsonaro "shows very little sensitivity to the tragedies that the families of those directly affected by the pandemic are going through," said Lucio Renno, director of the Institute of Political Science at Brasilia University.

"His style is the iron fist, to be hard rather than to show solidarity or empathy," he told AFP.

It is a style that inevitably draws comparison with Bolsonaro's own role model, US President Donald Trump.

That type of reaction is "shocking for a large part of the population" and "reinforces the idea for a good part of the elites and for the Brazilian people that he is not fit to govern," Renno said.

Miriam Leitao, an op-ed writer at the daily O Globo, wrote on Thursday that with his "So what?" Bolsonaro had "renounced the presidency."

"Anyone who shows such contempt for his own people can no longer be president," she wrote.

'Judged by History'

In a tactic he has honed since becoming president, Bolsonaro quickly went on the offensive in the face of criticism from the governors and mayors, whom the Supreme Court has granted the power to call the shots in the fight against the pandemic.

"Ask Joao Doria or (Bruno) Covas [the mayor of Sao Paulo] why people continue to die even when they have taken such restrictive measures," said the president.

"They are the ones who should have the answers, you can't pin that on me."

Nevertheless, the press on Friday blamed the spike in infections and death on Bolsonaro, who has encouraged people to go out to work to prevent an economic crash and whose most fervent supporters have taken to the streets to protest against lockdown orders.

Bolsonaro's "So what?" has "underscored how little importance he has attached to the situation," said political analyst Andre Pereira Cesar.

"If the president does not assume a wartime leadership stance against the virus he will be judged harshly  by history and by voters," he warned.
Smriti Pant never imagined showing up to work under protective layers of a hazmat suit and high-grade respirator mask. Years ago, she was inspired to care for others and use her personable nature to help people most in need of both, and now the Saginaw Valley State University educator and alumna is on the front lines of fighting a global pandemic.

"It's not something you expect you'll be doing one day," said Pant, a family nurse practitioner who was among the first health care professionals in the region to test patients suspected of carrying the COVID-19 virus.

A member of the staff at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, Pant and her colleagues since March 24 have collected nasal swab samples from people at a drive-through sampling site built in the parking lot of the Great Lakes Bay Health Centers downtown Saginaw headquarters at 501 Lapeer. There, for six hours each day, Mondays through Fridays, they interact directly with people fearful they carry a virus that already has killed more than 82,000 people - and counting - across the globe.

It is both an emotionally- and physically-taxing job for Pant. Her commitment to providing a comforting, human touch to each interaction is made more challenging because of strict safety measures and layers of equipment meant to prevent her from becoming infected during her job.

For the danger she faces while helping others, some might call her a "hero." She doesn't share that sentiment.

"I'm just fulfilling my role as a primary care provider, helping people the best way possible," said Pant, 33.

"I'm a little part in this bigger puzzle of people who are working to fight COVID-19. Not just the health care workers; I'm talking about the first responders, the grocery store workers, the gas station attendants, and all personnel willing to sacrifice their time, talent and resources to keep communities safe."

Helping those in need is an instinct Pant followed since she pursued an education in nursing at SVSU.

It's an instinct reinforced later when she was returned to health by the same organization she works for today.

Raised in her native Kathmandu, Nepal, Pant and her family relocated to the United States 14 years ago. In 2006, at the age of 19, Pant moved to Saginaw to pursue a career in medicine by enrolling in SVSU's nursing program. Her desire to practice nursing, though, became more focused more than two years later when she fell severely ill.

"I did not have health insurance and I did not want to go to the ER because I knew it could be costly," Pant said, "and I could not afford to drop out of school."

Desperate for help, Pant during a Google search discovered the organization known today as Great Lakes Bay Health Centers. Originally called Health Delivery Inc., the organization began as a Saginaw-based mobile migrant health clinic in 1968. Since then, the federally-qualified health center has expanded to 30 clinics across 16 Michigan counties. Serving more than 54,000 patients, Great Lakes Health Centers provides medical, dental, behavioral, maternal and infant care services to patients including those considered underserved, underinsured or uninsured.

The health center offers service costs on a sliding scale based on a patient's income or household size.

"I was fascinated by that system," she said, "and I thought to myself, 'When I graduate, I want to work here.'"

Before she fulfilled that desire, Pant continued her extensive education at SVSU, which provided her both with practical skills in medicine and a strong sense of commitment to bettering the community.

"This moment of service and serving the community at large would not have been possible without SVSU," said Pant, who works as an adjunct faculty member in nursing at the university when she isn't working at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers.

"All the opportunities and support the university, staff, faculty members provided me over the years have truly enabled me to be in a position to do the work I do every day."

From SVSU, Pant earned her bachelor's degree in nursing in May 2011, her master's degree in nursing in August 2015, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a post-master's certificate in nursing education in December 2016.

After earning her first degree, Pant served as a registered nurse at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw from 2011-16. Only months before receiving her most recent credentials at SVSU, she was hired as a board-certified family nurse practitioner at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers in August 2016.

Prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in Michigan, her work involved serving as a primary care provider at many of Great Lakes Bay Health Centers' clinics across the state. She cared for patients ranging from infants to the elderly. Often, a college student would walk into her office and remind Pant of her origins at the organization.

"When I see them, and I listen to the stories and challenges they face, it reminds me often of the struggles I faced when I was in their position," she said.

COVID-19, though, was unlike anything Pant or her patients ever faced before.

While Pant read about the global wrath of the coronavirus earlier in the year, she was first confronted with her potential role in fighting the pandemic during a March 12 meeting at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers. An infectious disease expert provided the staff with an educational session on the COVID-19 virus, which at that point already devastated thousands of lives across Asia and Europe. With a strong foothold on both American coasts, it became apparent the virus soon would grip the Midwest.

The first two cases were confirmed in Michigan only two days earlier.

By March 19, the Saginaw County Health Department informed regional health care providers of the urgent need for sample testing, a measure seen as critical for stopping the spread of infection. Five days later, Great Lakes Bay Health Centers became the first organization to answer the call when it opened the drive-through sampling site in Saginaw.

The drive-through concept was the design of the organization's COVID-19 task force led by Paula Peters, who now serves as the sampling site's manager; and it was supported by Dr. Brenda Coughlin, the president and CEO of Great Lakes Bay Health Centers.

The plan required volunteers to perform the tests. Pant stepped up, joining a team featuring a the site manager, a registered nurse, two optometrists, two medical assistants, and maintenance staff.

"Many people were hesitant to join because it is scary," she said. "After all, you don't want to catch this virus that is so contagious and you don't want to take it home with you to your family, which is understandable."

On the first day of sampling, the team tested 10 patients. Since then, Great Lakes Bay Health Centers opened a sampling site at its Huron County location and at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers-Bayside location at 3884 Monitor in Bay City. The site will operate Mondays through Fridays, from noon to 4 p.m.

To be tested at any of the sites, a patient must bring a referral from a medical provider. Those who lack such documentation are scheduled for "telehealth" sessions with staff from Great Lakes Bay Health Centers.

"We don't turn anyone away," Pant said.

She also engages with patients in the telehealth sessions, a practice that allows her to use communications technology - such as smart phones or tablets - to assess patients without being in the same room with them. The practice eliminates the danger of transmitting the virus.

The more challenging of the two responsibilities, Pant said, remains the testing. The process involves suiting up in a full-body yellow hazmat suit and an N-95 mask for up to three hours daily, Mondays through Fridays.

"It was intimidating at first," Pant said of slipping into the suit.

"Folks who suffer from claustrophobia or certain chronic health issues would find it difficult to wear for a long period of time. The mask seals tight on your face to prevent any air leaks. Sometimes you can feel very foggy, but it's what's necessary to stay safe."

The discomfort of wearing the equipment likely pales in comparison to the emotional and physical distress experienced by the people seeking tests, Pant said.

"People are scared," she said. "There's this big fear of the unknown, because we know so little about COVID-19."

When the patients see Pant, they often ask "really tough questions," she said. When can I see my grandkids again? When can I go back to work to provide for my family? Will my chronic health condition be addressed like it was before?

"We do the best we can to provide reassurance and information on how they can follow safety protocols," she said.

When Pant finishes each shift, she follows her own safety protocols and guidelines - provided by local health departments and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control - to ensure she remains healthy. Each worn hazmat suit is destroyed. When she arrives home, she changes out of her work clothing in her garage before entering the house.

While such precautions ensure the virus doesn't follow her home, COVID-19 remains a part of her life even after work.

She communicates regularly with others working in the health care industry across the nation. Some of her closest friends work in metro Detroit and New York City hospitals, two virus hotspots where thousands have died from COVID-19 - including health care workers exposed to the virus on the job.

"I have friends who work in intensive care units and ERs who have faced much harder scenes than I have faced," Pant said. "It's incredibly heartbreaking to hear what they are experiencing. They're risking their lives to save lives."

In her Saginaw Township home, Pant plays the role of daughter, caring for her 71-year-old mother. With the virus proving especially deadly for older populations, Pant said she is helping to ensure her mother requires little - if any - contact with people outside of their home.

"Thankfully, she's a very healthy woman," Pant said. "We are going to minimize risk as much as possible."

Despite her day-and-night schedule revolving around COVID-19, Pant said she is maintaining her own mental health.

"I can't let myself live in worry," she said.

"I'm human, just like everybody else, so this seems scary at times. Being well informed and doing our part to ensure safety is important. We just have to tackle this challenge and take care of each other like we would any other time."

To learn more about Great Lakes Bay Health Centers services relating to COVID-19, visit greatlakesbayhealthcenters.org. The webpage includes locations and hours of operations for COVID-19 testing sites across the state, information about how to identify symptoms of COVID-19, and how Great Lakes Bay Health Centers can support individuals who suspect they carry COVID-19.

Midland County:

MidMichigan Urgent Care - Midland

3009 N Saginaw Rd, Midland, MI 48640

Phone: 888-591-0500

Patients should contact the Virtual Health Clinic for a virtual visit at 888-591-0500 first to set up a time to be screened virtually, Monday-Friday, 8am - 5pm. If deemed necessary by a provider on the line, patients are then given an appointment at the local Ambulatory Testing Center.

Isabella County

Isabella Citizens for Health

2790 Health Pkwy, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858

Phone: 989-953-5320

Providing drive-up Covid-19 testing for the community. Individuals must call first to be pre-screened to determine if they meet current testing criteria.

McLaren Central Michigan Hospital

1221 South Drive, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858

Phone: 989-772-6747

Source: https://www.mclaren.org/central-michigan/mclaren-central-michigan-home

If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms and have a doctor's order for a test, please call the emergency department first at 989-772-6747. This way you can be directed by a nursing professional where to arrive at the hospital for a curbside test.

McLaren Central ReadyCare Walk-in Clinic

1523 S. Mission Street, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858

Phone: 989-773-1166

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ambulatory-care-settings.html

Call 989-773-1166 upon your arrival to ensure a screening is completed prior to entering the facility. If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, we are able to complete the screening via McLarenNow web based portal or through our office locations. If possible please call the office upon your arrival to ensure a screening has been completed prior to entry into the facility.

Bay County

Great Lakes Bay Health Centers - Bayside

3884 Monitor Rd., Bay City, MI 48706

Phone: 989-280-0725

Bay County COVID -19 Drive-thru Hotline: 989-280-0725. Testing Site: Monday-Friday 12-4PM or until supplies run out each day: (1) Must have a paper lab order from your doctor or health care provider for "COVID -19 testing.

Occupational Health & Convenient Care Center - McLaren Bay Region

4 Columbus Ave, Bay City, MI 48708

Phone: 989-393-2850

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ambulatory-care-settings.html

Call upon your arrival to ensure a screening is completed prior to entering the facility. If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, we are able to complete the screening via McLarenNow web based portal or through our office locations. If possible please call the office upon your arrival to ensure a screening has been completed prior to entry into the facility.

Saginaw County

Ascension St. Mary's Hospital

800 South Washington Ave, Saginaw, MI 48601

Phone: 989-907-8000

If you have a fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms, call 833-981-0738 prior to visiting one of our Ascension facilities, so you can be screened by a nursing professional. You will then be instructed as to next steps including guidance on a testing location if appropriate. Ascension Michigan locations have established COVID-19 triage areas near all emergency departments. No insurance required.

Covenant Healthcare

500 S. Hamilton, Saginaw, MI 48602

Phone: 989-583-3135

Screening available via hotline 989-583-3135 (6am-10pm, 7 days a week) Drive-thru Covenant Sampling Center is located in north parking lot at Covenant Visiting Nurse Association building. A doctor's order from the screening hotline or from the individuals doctor is required.

Great Lakes Bay Health Center - David R. Gamez

501 Lapeer Ave, Saginaw, MI 48607

Phone: 989-293-3492

Saginaw County COVID -19 Drive-thru Hotline: 989- 293-3492. Testing Site: Monday/Wednesday/Friday 10am-12pm or until supplies run out each day: (1) Must have a paper lab order from your doctor or health care provider for "COVID -19 testing.

Rite Aid - Saginaw

4598 State Street, Saginaw, MI 48603

Go to RiteAid's website (www.riteaid.com) and follow the link fill out the survey on projectbaseline.com to determine if you are eligible for testing. If so, an appointment will be scheduled for you to go to get tested.Please do not call the store, information about testing will be provided at the end of the online survey.
As reports of child abuse have dropped in Texas since the coronavirus pandemic, advocates fear more victims may be suffering in silence.

There is a concern that we dont have the same mandated reporters of abuse, like teachers and medical professions, reporting abuse to the state, said Andy Homer, chief public policy officer for Texas CASA, which advocates for foster youth.

Reports of child abuse to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services were down 4 percent in March  the month schools closed campuses due to COVID-19  compared to the same time period in 2019.

The number of reports has gone down substantially since the beginning of March, said Homer.

In Houston, 264 calls were received by the states hotline on March 2. On March 23, there were 203 calls, according to Texas Child Protective Services.

Tiffani Butler, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said there is usually a decrease in reports of abuse during breaks from school.

DO NO HARM: Doctors trained to spot child abuse can save lives  or tear families apart

More Information By the numbers Child abuse hotline calls: March 2019 - 28,700 March 2020 - 27,400 Source: Texas Department of of Family and Protective Services See More Collapse

Its the same decrease we see every summer, and yes, typically because their teachers are who see them the most, said Butler. The calls increase every year once kids are back in school.

Homer said that while there is usually a drop during spring break, the numbers come back up after a week.

We do normally see a little fallout over spring break, and then it goes back up once kids are back in school, he said. But its not going back up right now. There is definitely a fear that we dont know about everything going on out there.

Due to concerns about spreading the virus, CPS said not all abuse investigations are being conducted in person. Caseworkers will only visit homes under certain circumstances, such as complaints about the condition of the home or the age of the children, Butler said. Otherwise, caseworkers are conducting them virtually for now.

Children who dont have access to computers or WiFi dont have as many opportunities to connect with resources or to get help if they need it, according to advocates.

The troubling thing is that poverty is highly associated with abuse and neglect, and these are also the families most distanced by the digital divide, Homer said.

Studies of natural disasters around the world show that in the months following, added stressors increase the risk of family violence.

There is a concern that when we get to the other side of this, there may be raising rates of abuse, said Homer. Stressors involved with isolation and economic fallout does fall more heavily on poor families.

The sudden economic downturn will likely cause a host of new stressors for families, including poverty and substance addiction. Many instances of domestic violence intersect with substance abuse, he added.

The leading reason children are removed from their homes is neglect, which represents 62 percent of CPS cases. The second most common reason, or 36 percent of cases, is parental drug abuse. Other reasons include caretaker inability to cope (14 percent), physical abuse (12 percent) and inadequate housing (10 percent).

As an expected wave of new cases may loom in the future, Texas court systems would be backlogged and overburdened, said Homer.

CPS encourages anyone who believes a child is being abused or neglected to call 1-800-252-5400 or to report it online at txabusehotline.org

hannah.dellinger@chron.com
Veteran actor Rishi Kapoors sad demise on Thursday sent shockwaves across the industry. The actor had been battling health issues for quite some time and was recently admitted to the hospital. His wife, Neetu Kapoor recently shared a picture of the actor on her social media.

ALSO READ | 'Rishi Kapoor The Husband Was Better Than The Boyfriend', Neetu Kapoor Once Said

Neetu Kapoor bids goodbye to Rishi Kapoor

Neetu Kapoor recently took to social media to share a picture of her late husband, Rishi Kapoor. The actor shared a picture of Rishi Kapoor staring into the camera as he gave his candid smile. Neetu Kapoor captioned the picture as, End of our story.

Check out Neetu Kapoors post here:

(Image Source: Neetu Kapoor Instagram)

ALSO READ | Rishi Kapoor's Death: When Neetu Kapoor Opened Up About Her Husband's Treatment

Rishi Kapoor had been diagnosed with cancer in 2018. The actor was then in New York for more than a year for his treatment. Rishi Kapoor had returned to India last year in September after his recovery. Rishi Kapoors brother Randhir Kapoor had shared yesterday that he had been admitted to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.

ALSO READ | Neetu Kapoor Shares A Snip Of Conversation Between God And Devil In Times Of Coronavirus

Shortly after the news broke out, Rishi Kapoors family shared a statement with his fans confirming the news that read: Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45 am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukaemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.

He remained jovial and determined to live to the fullest right through two years of treatment across two continents. Family, friends, food and films remained his focus and everyone who met him during this time was amazed at how he did not let his illness get the better of him.

He was grateful for the love of his fans that poured in from the world over. In his passing, they would all understand that he would like to be remembered with a smile and not with tears.

In this hour of personal loss, we also recognise the world is going through a very difficult and troubled time. There are numerous restrictions around movement and gathering in public. We would like to request all his fans and well-wishers and friends of the family to please respect the laws that are in force.

He would not have it any other way.

ALSO READ | Rishi Kapoor's Demise: Rakesh Roshan Reveals Ranbir Kapoor Comforted Him On The Phone

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.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are settling into their new life in Los Angeles, California. The ex-royals are no longer working for the queen, which means theyll need to find another way to keep up their lavish lifestyle. Meghan recently made money for narrating a Disney movie, and the two have been paid for appearances in the United States since they left the family. But one royal expert claims theyre now looking into starting their own production company.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Chris Jackson/Pool/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markles royal duties officially ended in March

Back in January, Harry and Meghan made the shocking decision to step down from their royal duties. Royal life hadnt been easy for them; Meghan had a difficult time dealing with the press, which led her to have an even more difficult time winning over the public. And Harry stood by her side, but it meant that he was losing public approval, too. Eventually, it got to the point where the two felt they had no choice but to leave the family.

Harry and Meghan left the United Kingdom for Canada in January, but they returned in early March to finish out their final royal engagements. On March 31, the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially closed.

The two are currently searching for their dream home in L.A.

After spending a few months in Canada, Harry and Meghan relocated to Los Angeles. Meghan was born and raised in L.A., and her mother still lives there, which made it the perfect place for them to settle down.

Though their move doesnt come as a surprise, there have still been plenty of rumors about the couple despite that theyve done their best to stay out of the spotlight. Royal sources have said that Harry feels overwhelmed with guilt for moving and that he and Meghan havent settled in as well as theyd hoped.

Meghan and Harry might start a production company

Royal expert Rob Shuter recently appeared on Good Day New York to discuss the couple with host Rosanna Scotto. Shuter, who starred on the celebrity news show Naughty But Nice With Rob, revealed that his royal sources have said Harry and Meghan are in talks to start their own production company.

Theyre thinking about jobs, Shuter said. insiders tell me theyre thinking about starting up their own production company [Harry] is quite camera shy but would be an amazing producer. Shuter then said that Harry was the one who negotiated Meghans first post-royal job with Disneys Elephant  Meghan narrated the film. He also noted that Meghan would star in some of the productions while Harry would likely remain behind the scenes.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly looking into launching a production company | Phil Noble/Pool/Getty Images

The two are currently living with the help of Prince Charles

Meghan and Harry will eventually need to figure out a plan for making their own money. Theyre reportedly receiving about $2.5 million from Prince Charles to help with security costs, suggesting its not an expense they can pay for entirely on their own.

When the two left the family, they noted that they wanted to achieve financial independence. With so many connections and Meghans long career in show business, a production company might be just the ticket.
Lets not waste this pandemic. Lets further criminal justice reform by accelerating the closure of County Jail 4 (at the Hall of Justice) and reject any plan to transfer San Francisco inmates to the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, a decision awaiting consideration at the Board of Supervisors.

Sending inmates away is more than just the high cost of housing and transportation to a jail renowned for unsafe practices and the risk of inmate harm, its an abdication of San Franciscos responsibility to reintegrate inmates back into their families and communities, thereby reducing recidivism.

The advent of COVID-19 provides impetus to thin out the jail population for the health of both staff and inmates. As an adviser to county governments and plaintiff attorneys, Ive submitted declarations in support of vetted inmates in politically disparate localities who are housed in dangerous conditions, or who merit early release to access re-entry programs and treatment that are unavailable in jail. By cutting San Franciscos jail population by 30%, the district attorney and public defender have shown the nation how to take some of the inequity out of incarceration and not exacerbate crime. Compared to many counties, San Francisco is leading the way in treating mental illness instead of criminalizing it, but our public health services are stressed, and court-sanctioned diversion programs labor to manage the growing need.

Since leaving office as sheriff in 2016, Ive become familiar with jail systems throughout the state and country, investigating suspicious and preventable in-custody deaths. Its troubling that approximately 35% of fatal police shootings and custody deaths in California involve someone who suffers with mental illness and/or a co-occurring disorder, primarily members of minority communities. In 2019, the Public Policy Institute of California released its report, Key Factors in Arrest Trends and Differences in Californias Counties, illustrating that per capita, San Francisco leads the state in eight times the arrests of African Americans compared with the arrests of white people. The state average disparity is three times the arrests of African Americans to whites.

Because of COVID-19 releases and lower crime rates, these statistics are improving.

However, because of an absence of state and local regulatory enforcement, its the courts that primarily provide jail oversight. Facing big litigation bills, a number of cities grappling with avoidable death-in-custody cases and shootings are weighing options to institute an independent regulatory model over municipal law enforcement including sheriffs and jails. One instructive example is the creation of the Office of Inspector General in Los Angeles.

San Francisco would do well to reform its current oversight structure and pursue an independent regulatory model that encompasses not just one department, but both the Police and Sheriffs departments.

As sheriff, I remember the quiet jubilance when we permanently shut down County Jail 3 because of coordinated efforts to lower the jail population without a corresponding uptick in crime. In 2014, we hosted tours of Jail 4 for elected officials and civic leaders to fully display the horrifying conditions unknown to most San Franciscans. In trying to shutter Jail 4, we faced stiff opposition in pursuing legislative strategies to reduce the incarcerated pretrial and low-risk inmate count to under 1,000. If these efforts had been successful, they would obviate the need for a new jail or to transfer inmates out of county.

Jail 4 is more than just an old jail in the Hall of Justice facing demolition, its an artifact of criminal justice obsolescence and decay.

As the pandemic ebbs, targeted de-incarceration and public-safety improvement must flow. This is a commitment that must be matched in dollars, and the savings can be realized through accessible mental health and substance-disorder treatment, especially for the poor and chronically homeless. The cost to keep many people out of jail and in treatment is cheaper than the approximate $200,000 per year per San Francisco inmate.

Rebuilding lives is certainly more cost-effective.

Ross Mirkarimi served as San Francisco sheriff and on the Board of Supervisors.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 19:33:25|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun warned on Saturday against a "conspiracy" by some political parties aiming to topple the new government and hinder its work by turning protests into violent ones, LBCI local TV channel reported.

"Despite all this, we will not prevent people from protesting peacefully because they have rightful demands but we will also not allow further deterioration to the security situation in the country," Aoun said.

Aoun said that he understands people's demands but the failing policies adopted by successive governments in the past 30 years cannot be fixed in only a few days.

Thousands of Lebanese resumed protests in the past few days against the policies adopted by the government and the central bank amid tough restrictions by banks preventing people from withdrawing their money freely.

Lebanese protesters also demanded employment opportunities and the fight against corruption. Enditem
03.05.2020 LISTEN

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to unearth some uncomfortable truths about our country Ghana, as the inequalities that too often live below the surface are bubbling up for all to see. The widely marginalisation and exclusion of persons with disabilities (PwDs) in COVID-19 emergency response need to be immediately addressed.

Persons with disabilities are among the most endangered by COVID-19, as their conditions or chronic illnesses may leave them at greater physical risk of suffering the virus' devastating effects. As pertains with general access to healthcare, PwDs are less likely to receive appropriate care and treatment for COVID-19. This situation potentially undermines ongoing efforts to flatten the curve and leaves many of the estimated 3% of Ghanas population with disabilities, [1] to fend for themselves.

The situation of PwDs in Ghana in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic goes against the countrys obligations, having signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) [2] in 2012. In Article 11, the Convention requires State parties to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and natural hazard events. [3] This makes it imperative on the part of the government to engage the disability community in any COVID-19 emergency response and recovery actions to help mitigate the crisis.

With a specific focus on the situation of PwDs in light of COVID-19, interview sessions with Mawunyo - a person with down syndrome, Ama - a mother with a child with cerebral palsy and Inclusion Ghana-the peak network organisation advocating for the rights and full inclusion of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ghana, established that PwDs are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Mawunyo shared her difficulty in implementing basic hygiene measures, particularly hand-washing. She has difficulty accessing hand basins, sinks or water pumps as well as difficulty rubbing her hands together thoroughly. Moreover, Mawunyo neither had information regarding social distancing or other COVID-19 protocols. Ama, a mother with a child with cerebral palsy indicated how she struggled to feed her children during the lock down, as well as difficulty in accessing healthcare and physiotherapy services for her son Thomas due to the shift in focus and health resources to the COVID-19 fight. Other issues detailed by Thomas mother are barriers to accessing public health information on COVID-19 in accessible formats such as easy-read versions, the difficulty practicing social distancing due to Thomas support needs, thus putting him at risk of infection.

Mawunyos experience and that of the family of Ama reflect the broader issues or situation of persons with disabilities regarding COVID-19 response and action in Ghana. With regards to emergency response and recovery actions, measures put in place by the government of Ghana include partial lock-downs in the Accra-Tema-Kasoa and Kumasi Metropolitan areas; closure of borders by land, sea and air to passenger traffic; prohibition of mass gatherings; closure of schools; increased public education on the need for improved hygiene and social distancing; distribution of food; free electricity and water supply; and instituting a Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) focused on protecting against job losses, protecting livelihoods, and financially supporting small businesses.

However, the above measures have largely not taken into consideration the situation and needs of PwDs such as Mawunyo and Thomas. In an interview with a Programme Officer at Inclusion Ghana, he noted that Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPWDs) were not engaged or consulted regarding governments COVID-19 emergency response measures. In addition, he indicated that the absence of disaggregated data on PwDs has resulted in their marginalisation in coronavirus response measures such as distribution of food and other relief items. Moreover, public education efforts on the coronavirus through television, radio and information vans, although extensive, has largely not been made available in accessible formats such as braille, and easy-reads to enable PwDs access information on COVID-19 protocols. As a result, the vulnerability situation of PwDs such as Mawunyo and that of Thomas and her family is exacerbated in the face of COVID-19.

Again because of the partial lockdown, PwDs requiring individual and community support and other health services were unable to access such services. In the case of Thomas, the enforcement of the partial lockdown meant that he could not access weekly physiotherapy services. Finally, PwDs are less likely to gain financial support for small businesses through the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) due to the limited opportunities to gain skills training to enable them set up businesses to support independent living.

The limitations regarding governments emergency response to COVID-19, with particular emphasis on the marginalisation of PwDs calls for the adoption of an inclusive approach geared towards mainstreaming. Such an approach should engage PwDs, OPWDs, and duty bearers particularly in the area of health and social protection to map out the specific needs of PwDs and their families to minimize their risk of contracting the virus, and provide support to enable them maintain individual and household livelihood. Overall, an inclusive approach is fundamental towards flatting the curve and subsequently rising above the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Writer is Auberon Jeleel Odoom, a graduate student at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. Telephone: +233302243291 / +233208151523; Email: [email protected]

[1] Ghana Statistical Service (2014). 2010 population and housing census report Ghana Statistical Service.

[2] Adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly A/RES/61/106 on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008.

[3] Art 11 CRPD.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged universities to use technology more proactively to make up for the academic losses due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia held a review meeting with vice-chancellors of the universities under the Delhi government through video-conferencing.

They inquired about the admission status of the new session and the effect of coronavirus outbreak on the placement of students.

In the review meeting, the plans of the universities to complete the pending examinations which could not take place due to the outbreak of COVID-19 were discussed, a statement said.

There was a discussion on how the universities are planning the admission process of the upcoming academic session. The action plan of the universities to conduct the pending examinations and how they will conduct the next academic session was discussed.

The vice chancellors raised the issue of final year students who have got placement but some of their exams are pending.

If the students do not get any degree certificate from the universities then they will face difficulties in joining new companies.

The possibility of universities providing a provisional degree certificate to these students so that they do not face any problem in joining their companies was discussed in meeting.

The VCs apprised the chief minister that they are planning to conduct the remaining examinations online.

The government will provide all possible help to the universities in this extraordinary time. In this situation, the universities should use the technology more proactively in the academics to recover the academic losses due to the pandemic, Kejriwal said.

Social distancing is the key to fight this pandemic, therefore, every university should plan the academic sessions and running of the universities keeping in mind the social distancing norms, he said.

Sisodia said many universities have a business faculty and department. These universities should suggest the Delhi government what steps should be taken to revive Delhis economy in the post-COVID-19 lockdown phase, he said.

The meeting was attended by the vice-chancellors of Indraprastha University, Delhi Technological University, Netaji Subhas University of Technology and Ambedkar University, and the director of IIIT Delhi, etc.
Four ram-headed sphinxes were transported Friday night to their new permanent exhibition at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo following months of restoration.

The sphinxes were originally located at the first courtyard behind Karnak Temples first pylon in Luxor. The courtyard was lined with 30 pairs of sphinxes.

Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said two ram-headed sphinxes were already installed on their bases beside the recently restored and erected obelisk in Tahrir Square as part of its development project.

He added that work will continue overnight to install the other two sphinxes before covering the four sphinxes with wooden boxes until the opening of the Tahrir Square development project.

The obelisk was transported to the square in pieces a few months ago from San Al-Hagar archaeological site in Sharqiya governorate. It was then restored, assembled and erected at the square.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities in coordination with Cairo governorate and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities as part of the plan to showcase Egypts civilisation.



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The Lower Axim Traditional Authority in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region has donated Seven Thousand (7000) pieces of nose masks to indigenes of Axim.

The beneficiaries include market women, fisherfolks, taxi drivers, fishmongers, etc.

The exercise which was led by the Paramount Chief of Lower Axim Traditional Area, Awulae Attibrukusu III, and supported by some chiefs was aimed at helping curb the COVID-19 menace.

The gesture was part of the traditional authorities' contribution and commitment towards helping the government's campaign against the spread of the disease.

Speaking to the media on Saturday morning on Ankobra Fm, Awulae Attibrukusu III, paramount Chief of Lower Axim Traditional Area urged his citizens to adhere to all the basic precautionary measures seriously to enable them to stay safe and alive.

He encouraged them always endeavour to wash their hands under running water with soap, avoid overcrowding, handshakes, etc.

The former Vice President of the National House Chiefs also expressed worry about the noncompliance regarding the basic preventative measures by some market women in the area and advised them to be mindful of the lives.

"Our lives must be very important to us as citizens, since without we staying healthy and alive; there will not be any society for us to live in; so we appeal to all to adhere to the laid down rules". Awulae Attibrukusu stressed.

On his part, Nana Awuza III, Divisional Chief of Lower Axim Utopai urged parents to teach their children on the basic precautionary measures to avoid contracting the disease.

"We know our children are vulnerable and fall easy target in terms of contracting the disease and it is in this regard that parents must pay attention to their wards"

He urged all especially fishmongers to keep their surroundings clean in their daily endeavours.
Give us work to do and we'll do it.

That is the plea of one Early Years education provider in Ballintogher amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

John Davey closed the doors of Ballintogher Playschool and Afterschool on March 12th last after An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar instructed the closure of schools, pre-schools and further and higher education settings.

Davey and his wife Lucy run the preschool and employ one other Early Years educator.

"On March 12th we found out we were to close that evening via the news."

The owners signed on to the Government's Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme, entitling them to 350 each, and they continue to pay their other staff member her full wage as directed by the Government.

Mr Davey told The Sligo Champion he, his wife and other childcare professionals and Early Years educators want to help out by providing childcare to the people who need it most right now, - frontline workers.

"We've had no information about providing childcare for frontline workers. Leo [Varadkar] said on RTE's Prime Time there is some kind of agreement being set up, we haven't heard a thing."

On Prime Time last week the Taoiseach was pushed on the matter of 'pushing the button' on plans to provide childcare for frontline staff to which he said he was acutely aware of the reality of the situation.

Since then it seems the Government are going down the line of providing paid leave for some partners of healthcare workers to assist with childcare issues in the home.

The Taoiseach said that a proposal was considered by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) on childcare for frontline workers.

The first proposal is providing paid leave to the partners of healthcare workers and would apply to partners who work in the public sector.

However, those who are lone parents or whose partners do not work in public sector may have to wait until May 5th for support.

Mr Davey says he and others would much prefer to be working and helping out and getting paid for that work.

"Everyone wants to help. If they maintained our funding we'd have done everything they'd [Government] have asked, but they cut our funding."

He said all frontline staff should be provided with childcare options during this incredibly challenging time, including supermarket staff, cleaners and everyone who continues to work so that the public can still access healthcare and food.

"We need certainty in our sector, let us know, let us have a wage."

He added, "Give us work to do and we'll do it as we don't want to be on social welfare or unemployment payments."

Another Sligo childcare provider told The Sligo Champion that though she and her staff would like to help struggling frontline workers with childcare, she said it could only be facilitated following correct guidelines.

"It was the way it was communicated by Government that we would go into the homes of frontline workers.

"My staff said they would not be comfortable with this, they have a mandate for child protection.

"They do not know what they could see within the family home, and if they did see something, who would they report this to?"

The pre school owner said once her staff entered the home of a frontline worker she would no longer be their employer and questioned what supports and guidelines would they have?

"They wouldn't be insured, there would be no CCTV. Who would be insuring them to go into people's homes. If childcare was facilitated in the normal setting of the childcare facility then we would be happy to help," she added.

Speaking of the closure of childcare facilities, Mr Davey said it highlighted the sector's weaknesses.

Just over a month previous to the closures, 30,000 Early Years Teachers marched through Dublin to protest the treatment of workers in the sector.

"On that day, the politicians listened. On that day we felt, and they feared, the power of an organised body of workers."

Three days later the General Election was held and Mr Davey said the result was unambiguous.

"The status quo defeated, Children's Minister Zappone dethroned. We looked forward to a new future. One in which Early Years teachers were respected and listened to.

Mr Davey said the sector was told by Minister Zappone (who lost her seat at the last election) that the sector would have its funding preserved, and Mr Davey said this has not been the case.

"Then we were told to keep paying our staff and 100% their wages would be covered."

A 300 payment to providers under the Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme has now been introduced by Government.

The payment is seen as integral to help keep providers operational to be ready to open when it is safe to do so.

"Revenue has been brilliant throughout all of this", Mr Davey said.

"Once we've made payments to staff it has been reimbursed in our account on the Monday, but we're being told nothing really from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs."

Mr Davey said he was told last week that the best providers could hope for was that ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme) 'might survive the outbreak'.

"Has anyone even suggested that primary, secondary or tertiary education might be cut as a result of the virus?

"Of course not. Why not? Because those sectors are unionised," Mr Davey claimed.

He said it is unfair that this is the case for his sector.

"We, the entire Early Years sector, continue to be treated with no regard, no respect and with a total lack of understanding.

"Worse we are being emotionally and financially abused and exploited."

In terms of the future of the childcare and Early Years sector, Mr Davey said it was integral for all services within the sector to come together in order to have one voice to negotiate with Government.

"The 1941 Trade Union Act requires anyone that wishes to negotiate wages or other conditions to have a Negotiating Licence.

"This is the first key fact which explains why everyone needs to join the Big Start campaign."

Mr Davey points out that the Association of Childhood Professionals, Early Childhood Ireland or Early Years Together have such a licence and adds that SIPTU does.

"I have the utmost respect for all those organisations but without a negotiation licence all they can do is represent our views, inform the public as to the facts and lobby politicians.

"They may influence policy direction, but they can not enforce it, or attempt to enforce it through a legal industrial dispute."

He adds, "We are currently engaged in a protracted industrial dispute regarding our terms and conditions with our de facto employer, the Minister of Children and Youth Affairs."

Mr Davey said though the Minister says she is not the employer of the sector, he believes otherwise.

"We deliver a Government determined curriculum, Aistear, and framework, Siolta.

"We are paid approximately 80% of our income from Government funded schemes, ECCE (Free Pre-school year) CCS (Subvention) and the National Childcare Scheme. Most services receive only 20% from parents/families, many much less."

Mr Davey said the sector is told what is acceptable and unacceptable to charge for deposits and additional extras - what a National School might call a "voluntary contribution", a Secondary School a "book rental scheme" or a Third Level College a "student contribution".

"We are inspected regularly by Government Departments. TUSLA inspect the quality of our premises and Care, Department of Education inspect the quality of our education, Pobal inspects the quality of our record keeping, Environmental Health even inspect the quality of our cooking."

Along with being instructed to close during the pandemic the sector was instructed not to charge parents, 20% of the provider's income.

"We were instructed to continue to pay staff full wages or 410, whichever is greater and instructed self-employed sole-traders to sign on to Social Welfare, thereby receiving 60 per week less than the staff we continue to pay."

Mr Davey remained critical of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs regarding the future for the rest of the ongoing pandemic and in relation to providing care for the children of essential workers.
Sister & 'Confidante' Yo-jong Most Likely to Succeed Kim Jong-un, US Congressional Report Says

Sputnik News

06:56 GMT 01.05.2020(updated 07:03 GMT 01.05.2020)

Kim Jong-un's younger sister, who is currently first vice-department director of the DPRK Workers' Party is believed to be the number two in the country's leadership and the most trusted person in Kim Jong-un's inner circle, as she was seen by her brother's side at key state meetings.

Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a prominent Workers' Party member, is among the most likely candidates to succeed him should he die or be unable to run the country, according to a US Congressional Research Service report, cited by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The document came out amid widespread speculation about Kim Jong-un's whereabouts and well-being and essentially underpins recent media reports about the likelihood of Kim Yo-jong succeeding her brother should anything grave happen.

"The 36-year-old Kim, obese and a heavy smoker, is believed to have suffered from various health problems over the years", says the updated report on US-North Korea relations.

It goes on to detail some of Kim's family aspects, saying the politician, who is now missing from international radars could have three children aged under 10, but "no obvious heir".

"If he dies or becomes incapacitated, it is uncertain who would succeed him", the document says pondering the high probability of "sister and confidante" Kim Yo-jong taking over power in such an event.

Kim Yo-jong, who has been progressing quickly through the ruling party ranks over the past few years, played a prominent role in her brother's diplomacy being by his side at key state meetings, such as his summits with President Donald Trump in Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam last year. However, analysts wonder whether a woman could take up the reins of the country, especially without being explicitly blessed by her brother, the report says.

The CRS goes further to note that any power struggle may have major implications for the United States, including on such burning issues as North Korea's nuclear arsenal and the possibility of a confrontation with China that could "alter the fundamental security structure of the region" etc.

Meanwhile, things still look calm from the economic perspective, the report says noting North Korea has shown "few signs of severe economic distress that could trigger a systemic collapse".

It cites experts doubting North Korea's official statistics of no confirmed cases of COVID-19, despite the country sharing a border with China, where the outbreak is believed to have officially started. Whatever the case, the country's health system does not appear to have become overwhelmed, purportedly due to its border closures and other strict measures.

In the latest possible explanation for the North Korean leader's 20-day (so far) absence from public life, South Korean and US officials assumed Kim Jong-un is not at all ill and could be sheltering from the coronavirus crisis. For instance, South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul suggested that the situation may indeed have something to do with the raging coronavirus crisis, and the leader's absence is thus hardly unusual, while President Trump earlier stressed that all the reports about Kim's poor health are yet unproven.

It has been suggested that one of Kim's possible whereabouts is Wonsan, the elite historic resort on North Korea's east coast, where satellite imagery has reportedly witnessed movements of luxury boats commonly used by Kim Jong-un and his personal train.

Kim dropped out of the public eye on 11 April, but it wasn't until several days later that a myriad of rumours emerged about his well-being when he missed the landmark celebration of the Day of the Sun on 15 April, honouring Kim's grandfather and DPRK founder Kim Il Sung.

Rumours have since been amassing about Kim being anything from slightly unwell to lingering "in a vegetative state" unable to walk unassisted after a reported operation. None of them have been confirmed by any of the country's authorities or the international community.

A Sputnik

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Planes of Vietnam Airlines at Van Don International Airport in Quang Ninh province (Illustrative photo: VNA)

They included many under 18, elderly people, those with illnesses, tourists who had been stuck and students who did not have accommodation due to school closures. The Vietnamese Embassy in Ottawa had also sent staff to Toronto to directly support the citizens at the airport.

Upon arriving at Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh, all the passengers and flight crew underwent health checks and were put in quarantine in line with Vietnams regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control.

Previously, Vietnamese agencies and the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam worked together to bring some Canadian nationals back home on the flight to the North American country.

Based on citizens wishes, the local quarantine capacity, as well as the pandemics developments, authorities and airlines will continue to conduct commercial flights to repatriate more Vietnamese citizens in the time ahead.
Jammu: In the latest development, local residents at Dangerpora in Jammu and Kashmir resorted to pelting stones at Indian forces after two terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in the area on Saturday (May 2) afternoon. According to reports, few more terrorists could be hiding in the area and locals began pelting stones at the forces so as to give safe passage to them.

Two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Dangerpora area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district today. The operation, which was launched on specific information, turned into a gunfight when the hiding terrorists opened fire on the joint search parties of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Army's 55 Rashtriya Rifles and 182 Battalion, 183 Battalion of CRPF.

When the forces were conducting searches in the area, the terrorists opened fire at them. An encounter ensued as the forces retaliated, a police official told PTI.

Identities and group affiliation of the slain terrorists are currently being ascertained and a search operation has been launched to find out if more terrorists are holed up in the area.

The Pulwama encounter comes a day after two Indian soldiers were killed in cross border shelling by the Pakistani Army after it violated the ceasefire in J&Ks Rampur sector along the LoC.

Two soldiers, who were injured during the ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Rampur sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Baramulla district on Friday, succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, a Defence spokesperson said.

Unprovoked CFV (ceasefire violation) by Pakistan in Rampur sector on 1 May 2020. Unfortunately, Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries. Army salutes their supreme sacrifice, a defence spokesperson said. They were among the three soldiers who were injured as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC on Friday afternoon.

On 01 May 2020, at about 1530 hours, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation (CFV) along the LoC in Rampur Sector, District Baramulla, Defence Spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia had said in a statement on Friday.

Pakistan had initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation on April 30. Pakistan's Army has violated the ceasefire more than 1,400 times this year. The total number of ceasefire violations by it stood at 3,168 in 2019 and 1,629 in 2018.
Reopening universities this month an invitation for disaster View(s):

Unions representing university lecturers and students said authorities will be inviting disaster if they went ahead with opening universities this month.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had earlier announced that universities around the island will be opened in three stages from May 4. Accordingly, universities will be opened for academic and non-academic staff from May 4 while they will be opened for final year students on May 11 and all other students from May 18.

However, unions said they dont expect authorities to follow through with this schedule given that it could lead to a devastating spread of COVID-19 within the university system.

Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) President Prof Shyama Banneheka told the Education Times some academic and non-academic staff of certain universities in districts where curfew had been lifted, had been reporting to work from last week on roster basis. Some protective measures, such as disinfection of university premises and hostels had also been carried out.

Prof Banneheka however, said the present situation still made it impossible for universities to reopen.

The UGC announced that universities will be opened in stages from May 4. Though nothing official has so far been said, I dont believe it will happen as reopening universities in this situation will be a disaster, he said.

Students also feel the same way, said Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) Convener Ven. Rathkarawwe Jinarathana Thera. He accused the Government of trying to create a false sense of normalcy to move ahead with the parliamentary election.

They are willing to risk the safety of the university students and staff to that end, the Thera said. The IUSF Convener said 3/4 of university students dont have hostel facilities and are staying in boarding houses as the university hostels are heavily overcrowded.

Can you imagine what a disaster there will be if even one person in a university is infected? We are already seeing what might happen by the way security forces personnel who have become infected have turned into unwitting carriers of the disease all over the country, the Thera said.

Attempts to contact UGC Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunge proved futile.

- SJ
In this article TSN

A farmer checks on young female pigs at a hog farm in Smithville, Ohio, U.S., on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Dane Rhys | Bloomberg | Getty Images

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts supply chains across the country, farmers are being forced to destroy their crops, dump milk and throw out perishable items that can't be stored. With restaurants and schools shuttered during national lockdown, prices and demand for essential agricultural products has fallen. Farmers who have already endured a slew of financial hardships over the past few years  from the U.S.-China trade war that sent scores of farms out of business to floods that wiped out entire harvests  are now left with an abundance of food that they can't sell. President Donald Trump recently announced a $19 billion relief program, called the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, that will provide $16 billion in payments to farmers and ranchers and $3 billion in purchases of fresh produce, dairy products and meat to be distributed at food banks. The program follows a different aid package that the Department of Agriculture implemented for farmers hit by trade war tariffs. The president also signed an executive order this week requiring American meatpacking plants to stay open during the pandemic. The order was aimed at preventing a breakdown in the nation's food supply chain, which is under severe stress at the moment.

Surplus potatoes

Farmers in Washington state are facing a surplus of one billion pounds of potatoes due to restaurant and school closures, according to the Washington Potato Commission.

Potatoes sit in a storage facility at Friehe Farms in Moses Lake, Washington on Thursday, April 30, 2020. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A farmer holds a seed piece from a clearwater russet potato in a recently planted potato field at Friehe Farms in Moses Lake, Washington, on Thursday, April 30, 2020. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Russet Burbank potatoes sit in a storage facility at Friehe Farms in Moses Lake, Washington, on Thursday, April 30, 2020. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Fresh produce rotting as demand dries up

Fresh produce is going to waste during the virus outbreak as supply chains crumble and farmers have trouble selling food. At least $5 billion of fresh fruits and vegetables have already been wasted, according to estimates from the Produce Marketing Association, as many farmers plow ripe crops back into the soil.

Farmers harvest romaine lettuce in Greenfield, California. Brent Stirton | Getty Images

There has been a drastic reduction in activity in the food service industry as restrictions are implemented to slow the spread of coronavirus. Many fields like this are being plowed under because of the expense of harvesting and the lack of profit.

A tractor plows under what would have been spring mix, a popular and widely distributed salad mix, on April 28, 2020 in Greenfield, California. Brent Stirton | Getty Images

Farm laborers practice social distancing, and use masks, gloves, hair nets and aprons.

Farm laborers from Fresh Harvest arrive early in the morning to begin harvesting on April 28, 2020 in Greenfield, California. They practice social distancing, and use masks, gloves, hair nets and aprons. Fresh Harvest is the one of the largest employers of people using the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa for labor, harvesting and staffing in the United States. Brent Stirton | Getty Images

Farm laborers with Fresh Harvest wash their hands before work.

A field washing station in Greenfield, California. Brent Stirton | Getty Images

The pickle-variety cucumbers were being given to a local cattle rancher as feed. Long & Scott Farms cucumbers are normally destined for restaurants but a large percentage of them are now being discarded or are rotting in fields.

A container of cucumbers is dumped onto a trailer at the Long & Scott Farms on April 30, 2020 in Mount Dora, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Hank Scott, president of Long & Scott Farms, stands in a field of rotting cucumbers that he was unable to harvest due to lack of demand on April 30, 2020 in Mount Dora, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Many South Florida farmers are saying that the coronavirus pandemic has caused them to have to throw crops away due to less demand for produce in stores and restaurants.

An aerial drone view from a drone shows farm workers as they fill up bins in the back of a truck with zucchini on the Sam Accursio & Son's Farm on April 1, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

A pile of zucchini and squash is seen after it was discarded by a farmer on April 1, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Essential farm workers harvest zucchini on the Sam Accursio & Son's Farm on April 1, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

An aerial view from a drone shows John Duffy planting corn on a farm he farms with his father on April 23, 2020 near Dwight, Illinois. Mild, dry weather has farmers in the state scrambling to get their fields planted. Scott Olson | Getty Images

Pork in Smithville, Ohio

Virus outbreaks in pork-processing plants have caused several plants to shut down, leading to overcrowding of pigs in barns and discussions over euthanizing thousands of hogs in order to deal with capacity. John Tyson, chairman of Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, has warned that plant closures due to the pandemic will result in the loss of millions of animals like chickens, pigs and cattle.

A Tyson Fresh Meats plant employee leaves the plant on Thursday, April 23, 2020, in Logansport, Indiana. Darron Cummings | AP

The Agriculture Department will establish a "coordination center" to help livestock and poultry producers hurt by coronavirus-induced meatpacking plant closures.

Young female pigs stand in a pen at a hog farm in Smithville, Ohio on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Dane Rhys | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A farmer checks on young female pigs at a hog farm in Smithville, Ohio on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Dane Rhys | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Dairy farms face weak demand

Dairy farmers grappling with low prices and a sudden drop in demand from the pandemic lockdown are dumping out as many as 3.7 million gallons of milk every day, according to estimates from Dairy Farmers of America, the country's largest dairy cooperative.

Dairy cows stand in a pen at a cattle farm in West Canaan, Ohio on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Dane Rhys | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The herd manager at Stone-Front Farm looks over dairy cows in a barn in Lancaster, Wisconsin.

Dairy cows in Lancaster, Wisconsin on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Alfred Brandt milks his Holstein cows on the dairy farm, which has been in his family since 1840 and has been affected by the industry's supply chain disruptions created by Covid-19, in Linn, Missouri.

A dairy farm operation in Linn, Missouri, April 28, 2020. Whitney Curtis | Reuters

Lima Ranch owner Jack Hamm looks over his dairy cows as they feed in Lodi, California.

A dairy farm in Lodi, California on Thursday, April 9, 2020. Jessica Christian | San Francisco Chronicle | Getty Images

Pictured below is a cheese creamery in Gallipolis, Ohio. The Trump administration would like to make purchases of milk and meat products as part of a $15.5 billion initial aid package to farmers rattled by the coronavirus, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

Empty chicken houses

Chicken processors dealing with staffing problems related to the coronavirus have been forced to euthanize chickens because of the reduced capacity in processing plants. In Albany, Minnesota, Kerry and Barb Mergen stand outside their now-empty chicken house with a straggler who managed to elude the crew that came in just before Easter to euthanize the other 61,000 laying hens in their flock. The Mergens were contract chicken farmers until demand plummeted and the owner of their chickens, Daybreak Foods, decided to cut their losses and euthanize the flock.

Poultry farmers Kerry and Barb Mergen outside their now empty chicken house in Albany, Minnesota. Jeff Wheeler | Star Tribune | Getty Images

The lucky 15 hens who somehow managed to elude the crew that came in to euthanize the other 61,000 laying hens in Mergen's flock in Albany, Minnesota. Jeff Wheeler | Star Tribune | Getty Images

Chickens arrive by truck at the Wayne Farms processing plant in Albertville, Alabama.

Chickens arrive by truck at the Wayne Farms Inc. processing plant in Albertville, Alabama on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Maranie Staab | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Empty poultry shelves at a Whole Foods Market in Vauxville, New Jersey.

Mushroom farm loses restaurant revenue

In Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania, mushroom farmer Matt Sicher is adapting to changes in his business as a result of coronavirus. He has lost lucrative revenue from restaurants in New York City that have closed. As a result, mushroom farmers are shifting from selling to restaurants, to retail, selling to individuals.

Matt Sicher, co-owner of Primordia Mushrooms, holds some Pioppino mushrooms at his farm in Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania. Ben Hasty | Reading Eagle | Getty Images

Sicher displays yellow oyster mushrooms at Primorida Mushroom farm. Ben Hasty | Reading Eagle | Getty Images

Beef supply hit by slaughterhouse closures

Many Americans are bracing for a meat shortage after the virus shut down some of the country's largest slaughterhouses. Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to keep meat-processing plants operating during the pandemic even though many have become virus hotspots.

Rancher Martin Davis checks on his Red Angus cows and calves after feeding on April 21, 2020 in Paradise Valley near Livingston, Montana. William Campbell | Getty Images

Beef ribeye steaks sit in a stack in the meat department of a supermarket in Princeton, Illinois on Thursday, April 16, 2020. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Police have lined the side of the road and saluted Constable Glen Humphris (pictured), as his body was escorted from Victoria to his final resting place

Police have lined the side of the road and saluted Constable Glen Humphris, as his body was escorted from Victoria to his final resting place.

He was one of the four police officers killed in a truck crash on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway last month, along with Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King and Constable Josh Prestney.

Victorian police escorted Const Humphris' body on Saturday to the border of NSW at Albury-Wodonga, where their interstate colleagues continued the journey to the officer's final resting place in Newcastle.

Victorian police escorted Const Humphris' body on Saturday to the border of NSW at Albury-Wodonga, where their interstate colleagues continued the journey to the officer's final resting place in Newcastle

As the hearse made its way north from Melbourne, police stood on the side of the road and saluted the fallen constable

As the hearse made its way north from Melbourne, police stood on the side of the road and saluted the fallen constable.

'I've never seen anything like it before,' Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told reporters.

'At practically every juncture there were officers lining the freeway, saluting as the hearse went past.'

'It was not something that was requested. The members decided to do that of their own imitative and it was very humbling to see.'

Officers also lined the road as Const Humphris' body left Victorian soil for NSW, a day after his funeral.

The procession was expected to pass through the NSW Police Academy at Goulburn, where a moment's silence will be observed.

'Glen had only recently left the police academy and the police training environment. So the Goulburn academy is a very fitting place, I think, to have a small ceremony,' Commissioner Ashton said.

'I've never seen anything like it before,' Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told reporters

Todd Robinson (r) the partner of Glen Humphris watches on at the repatriation ceremony

Police chiefs salute each other at Constable Humphris' reparation ceremony

It comes after Const Humphris' grieving partner, Todd Robinson, farewelled his 'bubbly, outgoing and loving' soulmate at a small ceremony in Melbourne on Friday.

The officer had been with the force for less than a year when he, along with three fellow officers, was hit by a truck while helping impound a Porsche in the emergency lane of Melbourne's Eastern Freeway on April 22.

Funerals have also been held in line with coronavirus restrictions for senior constables Taylor and King.

He was one of the four police officers killed in a truck crash on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway last month, along with Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor (second from right), Senior Constable Kevin King (pictured, far left) and Constable Josh Prestney (far right)

The police car that arrived at the scene was crushed by a refrigeration truck

Const Prestney is set to be farewelled at Xavier College, where he went to school, on Monday.

A state memorial service will be held when coronavirus measures including a 10-person funeral limit, are lifted.

The man accused of being behind the wheel of the truck that hit the officers, Mohinder Singh, and the Porsche driver Richard Pusey, who allegedly fled the crash, have both been charged in relation to the officers' deaths.
In the critically-acclaimed comedy, Meet the Parents, the hero essayed by Ben Stiller is an object of ridicule in the eyes of his prospective father-in-law played by a taciturn Robert de Niro on account of Stiller being a male nurse. The word nurse is spoken of with disbelief and contempt, as it is not seen as a job for men. This attitude is evident in India where the ratio of male to female nurses is 20:80.

At a time when health workers are being lauded, we need to look at why it is seen as such an unattractive profession. The reason men stay away from nursing, apart from the social opprobrium, is that it is so poorly paid. Salaries for nurses range from Rs 13,000 to Rs 35,000. The private sector is niggardly about revising salaries for nurses, the average yearly increase is around 2%.

That nursing does not attract enough people is seen from the poor ratio of 1.7 nurses and auxiliary medical staff to 1,000 people in India, 43% less than prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO). This includes nurses, midwives, health visitors and auxiliary nurse midwives. Ironically, WHO has declared 2020 as dedicated to the nurse and midwife. The nurse-patient ratio in India is 1:20 against the international norm of 1:4.

A lesson to learn from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crisis is that the working conditions and remuneration for nurses should be drastically revised. They work long hours and get little by way of perks and pay.

Some time ago, while in hospital after a surgery, I got talking one night to one of the many nurses in the private hospital I was in. She was from the north of Kerala  of the 2 million registered nurses in India, according to the Indian Nursing Council, 1.8 million are from Kerala. She told me she felt a sense of safety that night as she was in a room with a woman. She told me of how nurses are harassed by male patients and even their attendants when they do their nightly rounds. Most of all, she spoke of the culture of silence in which the authorities did not want to offend patients for fear of loss of profits. The nurses live on small salaries, in largely vegetarian hostels provided by the hospital, and their only form of relaxation was to visit a relative and, hopefully, she told me, eat non-vegetarian food.

During the Covid-19 crisis, there were reports of how they were given lesser accommodation in far-off places as part of their self-isolation and made to take crowded transport to their places of work, defeating the very concept of isolation. Many nurses work in these trying circumstances to gain enough experience to get an infinitely better paying job abroad. As European societies age, more opportunities have opened up for health caregivers from India, something Kerala has had the foresight to anticipate. The state has opened several nursing courses dedicated entirely to geriatric care.

With substantial unemployment, this should be a career option for more men and women. But it isnt. Men dont consider it a job which can bring in enough money and it is also seen as a demeaning job not suited to men.

The virus has highlighted the short-sightedness of these issues. The presence of male nurses in hospitals will make the environment safer for women, and may even improve salary structures. The trying circumstances under which nurses work was brought home when the final words of a nurse who died from the nipah virus in Kerala were made public. She looked after patients and in the process became infected. I dont think I can meet you again, sorry, she said from isolation to her husband and child. Today, nurses on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19 have tested positive. Hopefully, all of them will recover. But this is the right time to look at the profession with a view to making it more attractive, safe, respected and gender-neutral.

lalita.panicker@hindustantimes.com

The views expressed are personal

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lalita Panicker Lalita Panicker leads the opinion section at Hindustan Times. Over a 33-year career, she has specialised in gender issues, reproductive health, child rights, politics and social engineering. ...view detail
What Does 'Transfiguration' Mean?

A transfiguration is when something changes in a very notable way, usually from a lowly state into a much greater state. Of the passages that discuss the Transfiguration event, two of them (Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2) use the Koine Greek word metamorphoo which means to change from one form into another. It is where we get the English word metamorphosis.

To give you an idea of how complete the change is, this is the word that scientists use to describe the process that turns a caterpillar into a butterfly. The other two instances of this word in the New Testament both normally translate it as transform.

Everything about this event would have been startling. The complete change, the obvious power emanating from Jesus, the meeting with Moses and Elijah, and the voice from heaven declaring the Fathers love for his son, Jesus. This was an absolutely supernatural event with no other possible origin than God.

Understanding the Biblical context is difficult without certain cultural norms. All of the versions share that this event began when Jesus took his closest disciples up on a mountain to pray. Then he transfigured and they saw Moses and Elijah conversing with him. Randal Niles observes that the cultural cues are leaning toward the moment where Moses comes down from the mountain after receiving the ten commandments. Moses had been in such intense contact with Gods presence that he was radiating light (Exodus 34:29-35).

Peters response gives us a clue to this. He tells Jesus that they should build tabernacles, one for each figure that they had seen. One of the things that Moses received instructions for in his time with God was how to build the Tabernacle, a tent for the worship of Yahweh as the Hebrew people traveled in the wilderness. Peter was just trying to respond in a way that he thought was appropriate for the moment, and his only frame of reference for an entity emanating holy light would have been the story of Moses coming down the mountain.

So, did this arise from a Greek or Hebrew background? There were other religions at and before the time of Jesus that claimed transfiguring moments for their founding figure. Because of the specific language included in the Biblical event, Jewish readers would have instead focused on the clear parallels between Jesus transfiguration and the similar event that happened to Moses. At that time, when he met with God, people became afraid because his face was radiating light (Exodus 34:29-35).

In this case, it originated in the Hebrew culture long before, but found an understanding audience in the Greco-Roman culture that had existing transfiguring heroes from other religions.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Suzanne D Williams
Jsimple LLC, a US-based company in Artificial Intelligence HR space, announces the appointment of Karnika Bansal as its Business Head for its global operations. JSIMPLE envisions expanding the rollout of attrition prediction add-ons to the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) in India and internationally.

Karnika will be responsible for overseeing operations of the company, building strategic partnerships and relationships to drive growth & profitability, cultivating a high-performing and agile team culture and branding of the company in India and the US. She brings positive energy and unique experience to the company with sound decision-making, marketing & communication skills, operational effectiveness, and acumen for driving swift business growth. Karnika will be working directly with the CEO, Jag Singh, and will have offices in North Haven, Connecticut, US, and Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Jag Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Jsimple, said: Im thrilled to appoint Karnika to this important role as we advance our efforts in using artificial intelligence to predict employee attrition and other HR analytics initiatives of our advanced technologies to companies around the world.

Karnika did International MBA from IE Business School, Spain, specializing in marketing & strategy. Formerly, she has had diverse experience as a co-founder and CMO of an ed-tech startup in India, and as a Project leader at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

I am very excited to work for a company that is digitally transforming the HR industry. JSimples product HRonTips uses artificial intelligence to predict the flight risks in a company, which would help organizations save huge sums annually, stated Karnika. It is a pleasure to join Jag and the Jsimple team in its efforts to offer simple and user-friendly solutions to complex challenges.
According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in San Antonio are hovering around $825. But how does the low-end pricing on a San Antonio rental look these days  and what might you get for your money?

We took a look at local listings for studios and one-bedroom apartments from Zumper and Apartment Guide to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find.

Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

905 W. Lynwood Ave.

Listed at $550/month, this 476-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located at 905 W. Lynwood Ave. in Beacon Hill, is 33.3 percent less than the median rent for a one bedroom in San Antonio, which is currently estimated at around $825/month.

When it comes to building amenities, expect garage parking. The apartment also features air conditioning. Neither cats nor dogs are welcome. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

Per Walk Score ratings, the area around this address is very walkable, is bikeable and has some transit options.

(See the complete listing here.)

8722 Cinnamon Creek Drive

Photo: Zumper

Next, here's a studio apartment at 8722 Cinnamon Creek Drive, which, at 372 square feet, is going for $590/month.

Building amenities include on-site laundry. Also, look for a fireplace, a dishwasher, a walk-in closet and hardwood flooring in the residence. If you've got a pet, you'll be happy to learn that cats and dogs are welcome.

According to Walk Score, the area around this address isn't very walkable, has minimal bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options.

(See the full listing here.)

3270 Nacogdoches Road

Then, here's a 748-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located at 3270 Nacogdoches Road and listed for $626/month.

The building features a swimming pool and on-site laundry. In the unit, look for a fireplace, a dishwasher and a balcony. Animals are not welcome.

According to Walk Score's assessment, this location is car-dependent, has some bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options.

(Here's the listing.)

4900 USAA Blvd.

Finally, here's a 655-square-foot apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at 4900 USAA Blvd., listed at $760/month.

Look for a dishwasher, a fireplace, hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet in the apartment. For those with furry friends in tow, know that cats and dogs are welcome on this property.

According to Walk Score's assessment, the area around this address requires a car for most errands, has minimal bike infrastructure and has a few nearby public transportation options.

(See the listing here.)

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, get free local real estate marketing ideas and tools for agents, brokers and more.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
The Antioch City Council has ousted a planning commissioner who came under fire for a Facebook post suggesting that coronavirus deaths could have benefits for society.

Planning Commission Chair Ken Turnage II refused to leave his position after calling for an end to shelter-in-place orders in a controversial screed that suggested we as a species need to move forward with our place on Earth by reopening society and accepting that the coronavirus will run its course, killing the older and weak. He added that the deaths would reduce burdens on Social Security, health care, jobs and housing.

Turnage lobbied to keep his seat during a special council meeting on Zoom on Friday.

After many years of service to the city, in both the private and public sectors, it is disheartening that you are considering removing me from the Planning Commission due to a personal opinion that I posted on my personal Facebook page, he said.

He went on to accuse the council of conflating his Facebook comments with his role on the commission to advance a political agenda. And he doubled down on claims that the coronavirus should be allowed to run its course in a reopened society.

Ninety-two Antioch residents submitted emailed comments, largely saying that Turnages political future is not a free-speech issue but a question of leadership and accountability. Many were incensed by the commissioners statements, saying he had shaken their confidence in local government.

In Antioch, the City Council appoints planning commissioners and expects them to reflect the citys image and values.

The public comments represented a small slice of the response to Turnages post, news of which went viral and prompted calls from all over the nation, said Mayor Pro Tem Joyann Motts. She began fielding calls for Turnages resignation when news of the post began snowballing Thursday.

Councilman Lamar Thorpe made the motion to remove Turnage, saying he was dismayed that the commissioner had not expressed remorse for his comments.

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.

Im not even going to get into some of the nonsense arguments that were being spewed, because they have no place here, Thorpe said. What were talking about here is life and death  whether or not we as a community are committed to that.

Mayor Sean Wright, who ordered the special meeting and recommended ejecting Turnage, tried to restore some of the publics trust in an emotional speech.

When our words as public servants undermine the citys overall position and cause the citizens to lose confidence in us, especially during a pandemic when people are losing their lives and families are victim to illness, it is something that must be examined, he said. As the mayor of the city of Antioch, I want to say to every single citizen that you matter ... your life, your job, and your business are important to us.

The council approved his recommendation in a 5-0 vote.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
SCHENECTADY  Mayor Gary McCarthy said unless the city receives federal aid - which has vaporized because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic - it could run out of cash by late November or early December.

That sobering revelation Friday came hours after the Democrat told Fire Chief Ray Senecal that the department needs to pare down its budget by $2 million - which translates into layoffs of about 33 firefighters. The directive comes a day after the mayor directed Police Chief Eric Clifford to trim the police budget by $3 million, meaning about 40 officers could lose their jobs.

And thats only part of the estimated $9 million hole that the city needs to plug, said the mayor. He said the anticipated shortfall could increase to $11 million depending on how much state aid Schenectady is awarded.

Councilwoman Leesa Perazzo is vehemently opposed to any cuts to the police and fire department, especially now.

"Now is not the time to be cutting services when people are already feeling vulnerable and nervous," said Perazzo. "We're in unchartered waters and we need our first responders intact."

She suggested the city should instead look at tapping into its "healthy" fund balance, review police overtime for possible savings, and consider furloughing nonessential city workers, who could then apply for unemployment benefits.

"I think people need to be reassured that they are safe, that we are not stretched too thin when it comes to the things that are most important to them," she said. The police union has said losing so many officers from the 160-member force all at once could wipe out the gains the department has made in lessening violent crime.

The matter is expected to be discussed at Monday's Council Committee teleconference meeting.

McCarthy said when you factor in expected retirements those target numbers for both the police and fire departments could go down slightly, but would still have a devastating impact on public safety.

If we had to cut police and fire at that level, theres a dramatic impact to the quality of life, he said. If you look at garbage collection, if you look at filling pot holes and the other services that we provide, theyre just are going to be decimated.

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

Compounding matters even more, McCarthy said projected sales tax revenue for the rest of 2020 shows the city would collect about $2 million less than it did the previous year.

Asked about a property tax increase, the mayor said hes not acknowledging that at this point as an option.

I expect the leadership in Washington to step up to the plate and understand the magnitude that not only Schenectady is dealing with but other communities within New York state and across the country, McCarthy said. We need the federal government and even our partners in the state government to be full and fair partner in dealing with this pandemic.

He said hell instead continue to work the phones with top politicians such as U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and the U. S. Conference of Mayors as he lobbies for money.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- A union has called off an effort backed by former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to represent nearly 100 warehouse workers at Syracuses TCGplayer, one of the nations largest distributors of Magic: The Gathering and other trading cards.

An organizing committee of Service Employees International Union Local 200United on Monday canceled a vote by employees of the companys warehouse in downtown Syracuse on whether to have the union bargain for them on pay, benefits and working conditions. The mail-in vote was scheduled for Thursday.

We still believe that a union is a good idea for our company, but it is now clear to all that a fair number of people, both inside and outside of the bargaining unit, do not, the committee said in a statement Friday.

Suspension of the vote followed a company campaign to talk workers out of voting to join the union. The campaign included a pledge by the company to expand its employee stock option plan and by the end of the year raise minimum wage at the warehouse to $15 an hour, with opportunities to earn up to $17.50 an hour based on experience and productivity levels.

According to the union, workers in the warehouse are paid a little more than the state minimum wage, which is currently $11.80 in Upstate New York and is scheduled to go to $12.50 at the end of 2020. So, the raises the company has promised represent an increase of more than $3 an hour.

We are thankful that our TCGplayer fulfillment center coworkers have decisively brought this chapter in our history to a swift conclusion, the company said Friday in a statement released by founder and CEO Chedy Hampson. Our recent announcement of wage increases up to $17.50 reinforce our continued push to be a leader in compensation and the growth of our employee stock option plan ensures that every team member, no matter the role at TCGplayer, has ownership in the company.

Sen. Sanders, D-Vermont, tweeted his support for the unionization drive on April 16.

I support @seiu200united and TCGplayer warehouse workers work to organize a union, Sanders said in the tweet, which included a photo of the union organizing committee at TCGplayer. Now more than ever, workers need a union contract to protect their wages, benefits, and safety on the job.

I support @seiu200united and TCGPlayer warehouse workers work to organize a union. Now more than ever, workers need a union contract to protect their wages, benefits, and safety on the job. https://t.co/N3FUldba2r  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 16, 2020

Union officials said more than 70% of the 96 workers in the warehouse signed cards in March asking the company to voluntarily recognize the union. The company refused, which set up a formal vote to be supervised by the National Labor Relations Board.

However, the companys anti-union campaign, which included frequent meetings with workers, substantially reduced support for the union, organizers said.

It is illegal during a unionization campaign for a company to promise benefits to employees to discourage their union support. However, the practice is not uncommon and the SEIU said it did not plan to file a complaint with the NLRB.

We are proud that as a result of the efforts of this campaign, upper management has taken notice of the concerns of fulfillment workers, the organizing committee said. We have seen a substantial increase in wages and greater equity in the company in the form of stock options  the former of which was a major goal of ours."

The unionization drive was sparked by the companys decision in September to more than double what workers pay for health insurance and then, in October, to abruptly lay off 15% of its warehouse workers, according to an open letter to management signed by 53 TCGplayer employees. Until the layoffs, TCGplayer was one of the fastest growing companies in the city.

They also said the company has steadily increased productivity requirements in the warehouse, leading to workers experiencing health problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Friends and coworkers, already physically and mentally buckling under productivity demands, fear demotion or termination if they do not exceed those demands, they said.

TCGplayer operates an online marketplace that matches up buyers and sellers of trading cards for games such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon.

It also buys trading cards from comic book and gaming stores and sells them directly to customers. Workers in its warehouse sort and ship cards for that part of the business.

The effort was the most recent attempt to unionize U.S. gaming industry workers and, according to the SEIU, possibly the first at a tabletop gaming company. Earlier this year, the Communications Workers of America launched a campaign to organize workers in the technology and game industries, which it said have a long history of forcing employees to work unreasonably long hours, especially during crunch time leading up to product releases.

While the companys online marketplace remains open, its direct sales operation, known as TCGplayer Direct, has been suspended and its workers furloughed through June 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it has paid the workers stipends and is providing full health and dental coverage while they are on unemployment.

TCGplayer moved into its new headquarters in the Galleries of Syracuse in January 2019. Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com

The company moved 200 employees into its new 44,000-square-foot headquarters in the Galleries of Syracuse in early 2019. The office is decorated to look like the Millennium Falcon ship of Star Wars fame, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry of the Harry Potter movies, a pirate ship and Mario Bros. games.

The Syracuse Industrial Development Agency gave the company a $104,000 exemption from sales taxes on construction materials and furnishings for the headquarters. In addition, Gov. Andrew Cuomos office announced in 2018 that the company was eligible for up to $2.4 million in tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program and up to $550,000 through a Central New York Regional Council Capital Grant, tied to job creation commitments.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not stay one day beyond the constitutional mandate given him to administer affairs of the country if the Electoral Commission (EC) is unable to conduct the 2020 presidential and parliament elections due to the outbreak of COVID-19.



The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who stated this, said the President had himself, at various fora, expressed such commitment to end his term in office by midnight of January 6, 2020.



The President does not intend to stay one day beyond the constitutional mandate given to him up to the midnight of January 6, 2020 and has strongly urged that whatever must be done in the current circumstances must be done, he said.



Level of preparedness



Addressing Parliament after presenting the business statement, Mr KyeiMensah-Bonsu expressed the belief that the EC would come to brief the House or the Special Budget Committee on their state of preparedness for this years presidential and parliamentary elections.



We hope to God that the situation in the country will not deteriorate or degenerate and we hope to God that we shall witness some improvement in the system, he said.



Minority Leaders concerns



The Majority Leader stated this in response to concerns raised by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu who told Parliament that the EC must be summoned to appear and apprise the legislative body on their roadmap and level of preparedness to conduct the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.



He said that the Constitution provided that presidential and parliamentary elections should be held this year even as the country struggled with COVID-19.



The independent EC, created under Article 45 of the Constitution, owes members of this House and Ghanaians a duty, hence they must be summoned to appear before the House to give their roadmap as to their preparedness in view of COVID-19.



Our democracy has evolved and our democracy will survive COVID-19, he said, saying that if we cannot get them to come and brief the Committee of the Whole at least they must come to the Special Budget Committee, he said.



Constitutional ambivalence



Responding, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said whatever the challenge the EC might encounter, the President had already assured Ghanaians of his readiness not to stay beyond his constitutional mandate.



So Mr Speaker, we all have to look up to the Electoral Commission to put in the required measures for the conduct of the elections, he said.



Because the Constitution we all do recognise is a bit ambivalent beyond January 7, 2020 when elections cannot be conducted, he said, claiming that the Constitution was also not clear who should be the President in times of unforeseen circumstances.



There is a bit of ambivalence and some lacuna except to say that for Parliament in the event of any emergency, provision is made expressly under the Constitution to have the life of Parliament extended by one year and in any event not more than four years.



In the 12 months, who becomes the head of state? Is it Speaker in the absence of the President or the Vice President? That is a bit troubling to us as a nation, he said.



He pointed out that in any event, the Constitution provided that when the Speaker acted as the President in the absence of a President or a Vice President, elections must be conducted within three months to elect a President.



So there is a bit of a conflicting situation in the Constitution. So Mr Speaker, until all of us agree on something else nothing to the contrary could be done and we hope to God that the appropriate thing will be done, he prayed.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Bhubaneswar, May 2 : One person was killed and another was injured when a bus carrying migrant workers from Surat in Gujarat to Odisha met with an accident in Phulbani district on Saturday, the police said.

While crossing the Kalinga Ghati on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border, the vehicle hit a roadside guard wall, the police said. The injured has been admitted to a nearby hospital. The bus was carrying about 70 workers from Surat to Ganjam.

After getting the information, police and fire service personnel reached the spot and carried out the rescue operation. DIG (Southern Range) Satyabrata Bhoi informed that one person was killed while another was critically injured in the incident.
Arif Wazir, a leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) in Pakistan, died on Saturday in an Islamabad hospital after being attacked by unidentified gunmen outside his home in Wana of Waziristan.

The attack comes after Pakistani Police arrested Arif Wazir on April 17 for an alleged anti-Pakistan speech during his recent visit to Afghanistan. He was released on bail three days ago. Mohsin Dawar, a member of Pakistan's Parliament and member of the PTM, accused state-sponsored terrorists of carrying out the attack.

Rights group Amnesty International in a statement said that the Pakistani authorities must carry out an independent and effective investigation into the attack on Wazir on May 1, adding that the suspected perpetrators must be held accountable.

PTM has campaigned for civil rights for Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic minority, since 2018 and held many rallies recently against the involvement of Pakistan Army for killing of thousands of Pashtun civilians and forced millions more to abandon their homes. The PTM has insisted on an end to the practice of extrajudicial killings and unlawful detentions of Pashtun people.

It is with the heavy heart I report that our comrade Arif Wazir has succumbed to his injuries. Wazirs father and brother were killed by terrorists years ago. Our struggle against their masters will continue," said Mohin Dawar, a member of Pakistans parliament.

Pakistan based journalist and Balooch origin Sajid Hussain living in Sweden in exile has been found dead in Uppsala about 60 kilometres from Stockholm, Sweden. His body was found on April 23 in the Fyris river outside Uppsala city. A Balochi by origin, Hussain was working as a part-time professor in Uppsala when he went missing since the first week of March.

His sudden disappearance is raised many questions as many believed that at a time when the world needs attention to deal with the coronavirus COVID-19, the Pakistani Army and Pakistan's Intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is busy in silencing critics of Pakistan.

Hussain fled to Sweden in 2012 when Pakistan agencies started to search his residence and questioned his family members after his report highlighting human right abuses in the Balochistan by Pakistan Army. Hussain first moved to Gulf countries then after some time he finally settled in Sweden.

When a new wave of the kill and dump policy came about, and the issue of enforced disappearances once again engulfed Pakistans restive province of Balochistan, Hussain had to flee the country in 2012. For many years after that, he lived like a nomad, a refugee, spending some time in one country and then moving to another. It was not an easy decision, leaving behind his friends and family back home  his wife, 9-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old son, whom he loved dearly," says Shah Meer Balooch in an article written in The Diplomat.

Sajid Hussain is not alone. There has been a spate of attacks of Pakistani journalists and activists known for criticizing Pakistan. A Pakistani blogger Ahmad Waqas was assaulted by two men outside his home in Rotterdam in Europe in February.

Criticism of the Pak Army and ISI is not allowed in Pakistan and unprecedented crackdown at press has forced many to seek refugee abroad.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) latest report observed that Pakistans human rights record in 2019 is greatly worrisome and ongoing global pandemic was likely to cast a long shadow on prospects for human rights. HRCP in his report also noted of police extortion, refusal to register first information reports (FIR), and custodial torture emerged in all provinces.

A report of USA Freedom Network on Press freedom reveals that since 2000 a total of 133 Pakistani journalists have been killed. The legal proceedings in all the 33 incidents of journalists killings that took place from 2013 to 2019 have been documented and the finding is 100 per cent impunity for the killers, zero per cent justice for the 33 murdered journalists.

A Pakistani-British journalist Gul Bukhari known for a critic of Pakistani Army was abducted in June 2018 from Lahore and held for several hours by Pakistani Army. Later they denied their involvement in the abduction of Bukhari. She was asked to appear before authorities for questioning. She left Pakistan and now has settled in the United Kingdom.

Pakistan has become one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. In the past few years, dozens of prominent journalists have been forced to left their organization or they are not allowed to write articles against the Pakistani Army.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 19:33:56|Editor: huaxia

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PRATO, Italy, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Facing such a rampant pandemic like the novel coronavirus disease, less infection means more lives are saved and a bigger chance of winning by the human side.

While mourning every loss of life, people also need to draw lessons from the less infected regions, in order to know ways of better protection and to see through deceptive claims.

A successful story much reported recently comes from Prato, Italy. According to many European media such as Reuters, Politico Europe, and la Repubblica, it is a town densely populated with ethnic Chinese, many of whom returned from China in the early days of the pandemic, but maintaining zero infection in the local Chinese community so far.

Renzo Berti, a key local health official, as reported by Reuters, credited the ethnic Chinese with "bringing down the entire town's infection rate to almost half the Italian average."

They "had a positive impact also on our citizens and therefore we were better prepared when the storm arrived here," Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni said in an interview with Xinhua.

Looking back at what happened there since the outset of the outbreak, one can not only discover the prompt preparations made by the Chinese, but also debunk some deceptive claims attacking China's response to the epidemic.

The accusation that China intentionally hid the epidemic from the rest of the world is an utter lie as China was the first to report the COVID-19 outbreak to the World Health Organization and other countries, and invited foreign experts to have field studies in Wuhan.

Shortly after China put Wuhan, a central Chinese city with over 10 million population, on lockdown on Jan. 23, strict measures of social distancing and mask-wearing soon followed nationwide.

The preparation against the spread of the epidemic made by Chinese residents in Prato was based on the news out of Wuhan and the broader China. One difference worth noting is that they put their knowledge into action faster than most other ethnic groups. Thus it is hypocritical and ridiculous to blame China for not issuing an alarm.

The second accusation that the figures released about the infections and casualties in Wuhan were vague, letting Chinese people irresponsibly spread the coronavirus to places less guarded for the virus attack, is also groundless if one knows anything about the Chinese people's strict self-discipline and determination to defeat the virus.

Since the first confirmed cases were detected, China started its daily updates about the epidemic situation to the WHO and sharing important information with scientists across the world, including those in the United States and Europe. Meanwhile, Chinese governments at all levels repeatedly cautioned citizens about personal protection measures.

In the case of Prato, which is about 232 km away from Milan, one of the hardest-hit metropolises in Europe, though hundreds of Chinese returned from China between the end of January and February, no infection was reported in the community.

"Many important measures, that we learned later, were implemented (in the Chinese community), like isolation, protection and use of the masks. This is the reason why Prato was less affected by the virus if we compare with other places," Berti told Xinhua.

Describing the Chinese community as "auto-controled" when there were no national guidelines in Italy, Berti said, "I had the feeling there was a sort of auto-surveillance, so if a Chinese citizen was coming back from China, the first to tell him to be in quarantine were his compatriots."

Many Italians in Prato shared similar views that the behavior of ethnic Chinese was anything but irresponsible and was even considered overreacting at that time. What they have achieved clearly demonstrates the corelation between proper precautions and infection prevention.

Moreover, their unselfish assistance to the local community has also pierced the lie that masks in Prato were depleted by the Chinese.

There was no secrecy that overseas Chinese sent personal protective equipment back to the Chinese mainland at its most testing moments and their affection for their beloved ones in their motherland is widely understood by most of the international community.

Mayor Biffoni told Xinhua, "I was aware about that because we received a communication from them about that. I understand that at the early stage our Chinese community felt the need to send the medical equipment."

Nevertheless, the ethnic Chinese' love for the places where they live should not be erased.

As Biffoni said, "On the other side, the Chinese community brought here hundreds of thousands of masks, hand sanitizers, and other things. All these medical materials are still coming and the flux will continue also in the future."

Helping others will usually help oneself. This piece of ancient Chinese wisdom is what the Chinese people believe and follow.

"As of Apr. 20, China had provided the U.S. with over 2.46 billion masks, meaning 7 masks for each in the U.S.," according to a tweet by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunyin. Meanwhile, Chinese customs data showed that China exported 3.86 billion masks between March 1 and April 4.

Last but not least, the solidarity among different communities in Prato helped the city emerge from the pandemic stronger. As the battle against the coronavirus continues, more stories about the Chinese community in Prato will gain it better notice and admiration. Enditem
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has unveiled new details about the states response to COVID-19 and plans to reopen businesses shuttered by the pandemic.

Among the plans: a game changer partnership with Oregon Health & Science University to monitor 100,000 Oregonians for coronavirus symptoms over a year.

The state also disclosed an agreement among six hospital systems to coordinate test and lab capacity to ensure adequate testing in areas with unmet needs.

Brown said some rural counties or regions could begin reopening as soon as May 15, although the timeline for the Portland metro area is unclear.

Here are more developments to know this weekend:

REOPENING: Anti-government protesters are planing to stage a rally in Salem Saturday to press the governor to lift statewide coronavirus restrictions, calling them unconstitutional.

ENVIRONMENT: Amid the coronavirus shutdown, some types of air pollution have fallen by as much as 60% in Portland. Still, long-term environmental issues remain.

CARE: Caesar the No Drama Llama visited a care facility in Keizer, to wave hello to the residents and health care workers inside.

CASES: State health officials said one more Oregonian has died from COVID-19, and nearly 2,600 have contracted the virus.

EDUCATION: Instead of celebrating the next phase of their lives, many high school seniors are stuck in a holding pattern, mulling options and debating their futures as college campuses remain closed and society staggers through a virtual lockdown.

RESPONSE: The Portland Police Bureau is now checking all staff for fevers before allowing them to start the shifts. Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau has been doing temperature screens for the past month.

JOBS: Job cuts from the coronavirus outbreak now extend far beyond restaurants, hotels and health care organizations. McMinnville polymer manufacturer Meggitt plans to lay off 118 workers.

CANCELED: St. Paul pulled the reins on its 85th annual rodeo, making it the latest high-profile Fourth of July event to fall off summer calendars.

#TEAMOREGON:

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-- The Oregonian/OregonLive

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PITTSBURGH, May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) today announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has registered more than 70,500 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling $14 billion for PNC small business customers. These small businesses are estimated to employ more than 1 million people.

"The dedicated efforts of PNC employees, including thousands of personnel who volunteered to take on new assignments to review, document and close PPP loans, has allowed us to proudly support small businesses across the communities we serve," said PNC Chairman, President and CEO William S. Demchak. "This has been a massive and sustained effort by PNC, including many team members working tirelessly and through the night to deliver for our customers, who are critically important to us, the communities they serve and the broader U.S. economy."

Of the loans for PNC customers processed and registered with the SBA, 85% were from PNC's Business Banking segment, which services businesses, including non-profits, sole proprietors and independent contractors, with less than $5 million in annual revenues. Further, approximately 79% of the registered loans were for amounts of $150,000 or less, with an additional 17% for amounts between $150,000 and $1 million. The average loan size was less than $200,000.

PNC also took special care to ensure that non-profits and businesses operating in low- or moderate-income (LMI) geographies were not left behind. More than 14,500 of loans registered by the SBA are for borrowers located in LMI census tracts, and more than 4,500 of the registered loans are for non-profit organizations.

"The demand for PPP loans both at PNC and across the nation, has been extraordinary and unprecedented," said Demchak. "We took our obligations with respect to each one very seriously, working as quickly as possible to fully process every, single one."

In addition, to further support small businesses that may lack access to traditional financial institutions, PNC has committed more than $45 million to eight community development financial institutions (CDFIs) since March 2020 to support their own origination of PPP loans in potentially underserved geographies and sectors.

"We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on small businesses throughout the nation and that these have been extremely trying and stressful times for our customers," said Demchak. "Given the scope of the PPP program and the speed with which all participants have had to act, we are aware that the process has not been seamless, but we thank our customers for their patience as we have continued to work with the SBA to assist them in maintaining their payroll and operations in these unprecedented times."

PNC is helping customers experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 impacts in other ways as well, including granting thousands of requests for extensions, deferrals and forbearance. Through April 30, PNC has completed more than 156,000 consumer requests on loans totaling $9.3 billion; granted more than $2.6 million in emergency personal loans; and waived more than $8.1 million in deposit fees.

PNC also continues upholding its longstanding commitment to supporting the communities it serves, with more than $30 million allocated in 2020 in support of coronavirus relief efforts across its markets.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

CONTACTS:

MEDIA:

Marcey Zwiebel

(412) 762-4550

[email protected]

INVESTORS:

Bryan Gill

(412) 768-4143

[email protected]

SOURCE The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
They met in 1997 at a summer program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where they were partners in a pre-med anatomy class. Both were 21 and neither thought much of the other at the time. Four years later, while each was in graduate school, they bumped into one anther in an elevator at a conference for the Student National Medical Association in Houston. They instantly recognized each other, started talking and exchanged phone numbers.

She took the initiative and called him several weeks later. She was going to Maryland to visit a friend, and asked if he would he like to have dinner. They met at the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Baltimore. I was eating fries and he poured ketchup on my plate, she said. It was really sweet and attentive.

A friendship soon started which, over the years, slowly grew into a relationship. We liked each other, but we werent exclusive, she said. We were too busy with med school and residencies. Things changed in 2006 when the couple vacationed in Hawaii for Dr. Collier Nickless 30th birthday. We were talking about our future, she said. He was smart and challenged me. I loved being with him more than anyone else. I realized I could spend the rest of my life with him. Two months later Dr. Nickles proposed at the Mandarin Oriental, New York. They were married a year later.

Sheltering in Place

Like so many roommates, partners, spouses and families, the couple and their children have been staying at home because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dr. Collier Nickles We both have administrative and clinical roles. Right now Im working from home two days a week. The kids are virtual schooling. Three weeks ago my anxiety was really high because Leroy was in a moon suit and intubating people, and Ive been treating people and was exposed. Since neither of us are sick Im less anxious.


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The Delhi Police on Saturday came to the rescue of a woman who was unable to feed her eight cats due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

Tahseen Khan, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, has eight cats, including kittens.

She was unable to feed the animals as their food was over, police said.

She had placed an order with a pet shop at New Friends Colony in South Delhi, but due to the restrictions the shop owner was unable to deliver the food.

Thereafter, the woman contacted Shaheen Bagh SHO Vijay Pal Singh, they said.

The SHO contacted the owner of the shop, collected the pet food and delivered it to Khan, police added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  Joe Pantoliano nearly got taken out, and no wiseguys were involved. The beloved Sopranos actor was out for a walk with his family Friday when a Porsche slammed into him and inflicted serious damage, his wife Nancy Sheppard tells TMZ; she says another car T-boned the Porsche right into him. Pantoliano was rushed to a Connecticut hospital, looked over, and eventually allowed to return home, where he's said to have chest trauma and a severe head injury. But the TMZ report is upbeat and shows an Instagram photo of Pantoliano smiling and giving a thumbs up as he shows off his head gash.

story continues below

"Thank you for all the well wishes and positive vibes," the photo caption reads. "Keep them coming! We'll be reading them to him to help him get better!" The New Jersey-born actor had just posted a touching video of a rainbow near his home before the accident, Fox News reports. "Look at that rainbow," Pantoliano says in the clip. "How do you like that beauty. And all my little rainbows ahead of me," he adds, panning over to his family. In case you don't know him well, Pantoliano's IMDB page includes credits in everything from Risky Business to Midnight Run to The Matrix and the Bad Boys movies. (Read more car accident stories.)
By Trend

The law on tourism was amended in Azerbaijan in relation to the issuance of electronic visas to tourists, Trend reports on May 1.

This issue was discussed at the meeting of Azerbaijans Parliament.

The current legislation states that the application for the issuance of an electronic visa is considered within three days, in the case of an application for accelerated receipt of it - within three hours, and if there is no reason to refuse, then the visa is issued and sent to the email address of the applicant.

Information is also sent to the applicants email in case of refusal to issue a visa.

The proposed amendment states that the application for obtaining a single or multiple-entry electronic visa is considered within three working days, in the case of applying for expedited obtaining a single-use electronic visa - within three hours, and when applying for a single-use electronic visa at international airports in Azerbaijan - in real time.

If there is no reason for refusal to issue a visa, then it will be issued in the manner prescribed by the relevant executive authority.

Amendments to the law proceed from the requirements of the regulation on the ASAN Visa system, approved by the decree of Azerbaijans President on October 20, 2016.

After discussions, the amendments were adopted on first reading.
Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno (pictured in mugshot) is accused of exposing himself at a parole resource center

A sex offender released from jail early due to the COVID-19 crisis was rearrested after allegedly exposing himself at a parole center.

Another man was arrested three times in 12 hours in California, authorities said.

Some have pointed to California's new 'zero bail' policy, which allows some prisoners to be released in an effort to cope with coronavirus outbreaks in jail, as a reason for the troubling premature releases.

It was implemented by the Judicial Council of California last month.

In Santa Ana, Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno, 39, was taken back into police custody on Thursday for allegedly exposing himself to parole center staffers and failing to charge his GPS monitor.

Magdaleno, a 'high-risk registered sex offender', was initially granted release from jail after a court order on April 13.

He served just 71 days of a 180-day minimum sentence, Fox 11 reports.

Magdaleno's most recent stint in jail was for a parole violation after he did not charge his GPS monitor.

He, as well as six other sex offenders, was released from the local jail as officials and public health experts fear significant outbreaks in detention centers.

Three days after his release, Magdaleno's GPS monitor stopped tracking him after he reportedly did not charge it.

One day later, authorities dispatched to a California parole resource center over a report that Magdaleno exposed himself to parole center workers before fleeing the scene.

A warrant was soon after issued for his arrest and he was taken into police custody.

Magdaleno's crimes included child molestation, battery, indecent exposure, assault, criminal threats and inflicting injury on an elder adult.

Pictured: An Iowa Sheriff's deputy overlooks a man being booked into the San Diego County Jail last week aa officials work to lower jail populations

Orange County Sheriff Barnes: 'I oppose efforts that excuse criminal behavior and jeopardize the safety of our community'

He violated his parole five times since 2017.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer suggested Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Joe Dane released the sex offenders to help lower inmate population as ordered by the Judicial Council of California.

Additionally, Sheriff Don Barnes clarified on Twitter the sex offenders release was not organized by the police department and 'not connected to the measures I've taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the Orange County jail.'

He shouldered blame on a court order and suggested that there was no good reason the sex offenders were released from jail because of measures taken by authorities.

'We have responsibly created the capacity needed in the jail to house sex offenders and other dangerous criminals. I oppose efforts that excuse criminal behavior and jeopardize the safety of our community,' he said.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office announced the seven sex offenders were released as part of the state's effort to lower jail populations amid the pandemic.

Pictured: Inmates and Sheriff's deputies at the prison are practicing COVID-19 measures including wearing masks, staying keeping a safe distance and doing more frequent cleaning at the facility.

Concerned public health experts warned the prisons could become 'petri dishes' for COVID-19 if measures to curb the spread weren't implemented.

Dijon Landrum, 24, was repeatedly released from police custody on Wednesday.

Landrum was arrested three times in 12 hours for stealing resident's cars and other property, but was ultimately released with a citations because of the zero-bail policy.

He was first arrested on Wednesday after authorities found him driving a stolen car while in possession of illegal drugs and other swiped property.

Dijon Landrum (pictured in mugshot) was arrested three times in 12 hours

Landrum had reportedly tried to break into vehicles along South Grand Avenue and had driven off with someone's car before police arrived.

ABC 7 reports Landrum was given a citation and released from police custody because authorities could not detain him.

One hour later, he was arrested after witnesses saw Landrum walking around a neighborhood with a box.

He was reportedly picking up items from residents' front yards and stealing them.

Landrum's third arrest was later that night before 9pm. Authorities dispatched to reports that a vehicle had been stolen from a parking lot on South Grand Avenue.

Authorities eventually found the car traveling westbound on the 10 Freeway in La Puente.

A car chase ensued that ended up with authorities finding Landrum inside the car and arresting him once again.

He faced possession of a stolen vehicle and evading officers charges, but California's zero-bail policy allowed Landrum to walk free with just another citation.

The California Judicial Council, made mostly of judges, unanimously passed the zero-bail policy in early April.

Gov. Gavin Newsom had previously given them temporary power to take drastic steps and suspend laws to improve public health.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (pictured) allowed the the California Judicial Council take needed precautions to fight the corornavirus pandemic

The zero-bail policy automatically sets bail at $0 for the majority of misdemeanor and low-level offenses.

It applies to those waiting in jail or those facing charges in the future.

Justice Marsha G. Slough told The Appeal: 'The courts can assist by permitting more persons accused of misdemeanors and other lower-level offenses to be released from jail custody prior to arraignment...'

'Which in turn will reduce the immediate burden on the courts to conduct arraignments and preliminary examinations within compact timeframes.'

Certain violent crimes will remain on the current bail.

At least 9,437 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 130 have died.

It was revealed that more than 70 percent if federal inmates tested positive for coronavirus.
Arms race amid Covid war: China & India ranked worlds biggest military spenders trailing US By Thalif Deen View(s): View(s):

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)  China and India, which went to war back in 1962 largely over a disputed Himalayan border and continue a longstanding battle for military supremacy in Asia have set a new record in arms spending.

For the first time, the worlds two most populous nations, accounting for a total of over 2.7 billion people, are now among the top three military spenders, ranking behind the United States.

In its latest report on global military expenditures, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says the five largest spenders in 2019, accounting for 62 percent of expenditures, were the United States, China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia, in descending order.

Chinas military expenditure reached $261 billion in 2019, a 5.1 percent increase compared with 2018, while Indias grew by 6.8 percent to $71.1 billion.

Total global military expenditure rose to $1.9 trillion in 2019, representing an increase of 3.6 percent from 2018 and the largest annual growth in spending since 2010.

These numbers would be staggering in any context, but in the middle of a global pandemic we have even more reason to be alarmed, said Tori Bateman, Policy Advocacy Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee.

Instead of spending trillions on preparing for destructive wars, the United States and other countries across the globe should be protecting and providing for their people by investing in public health, he noted.

Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Full Professor with the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS military spending by China and India likely reflects both their mutual rivalry within the region and their individual quests for power in the global context.

The two countries also faced a border standoff in 2017.

She pointed out that the SIPRI data indicate the extent to which many countries, especially the United States, have profoundly misplaced budget priorities.

Unfortunately, many national leaders seem to see military spending as an indicator of national prestige, said Dr Goldring, who is a Visiting Professor of the Practice in Duke Universitys Washington DC program and also represents the Acronym Institute at the United Nations on conventional weapons and arms trade issues.

From the perspective of those of us who support decreasing military spending, heads of state bragging about their countries military prowess often reflects toxic masculinity.

President Trump is a prominent example of this phenomenon, she declared.

Asked about the record spending by the two Asian giants, Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRIs Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, told IPS: The main reasons are: perception or even reality of threats.

China, he pointed out, looks with suspicion and worry at its surroundings and its interests further away (including resources on which China is dependent from the Middle East and Africa; markets and protection of export transport lines on which it is also dependent).

This includes a worry about US power and intentions.

India, at war with Pakistan, has internal conflicts and fears a big and growing China hovering at the contested Chinese-Indian border, he noted.

China, being allied with Pakistan, friendly with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, also sees Indias unhealthy interest in the Indian Ocean, said Wezeman.

They both think of themselves as major powers, and China even as a superpower.

And both seem to believe that any major or superpower status is partly based on military might, he noted.

So, both are building up significant military forces not only for home defence but also for potential operations away from the homeland, armed with high-tech weapons from an expanding local arms industry  all expensive, said Wezeman.

Certainly for China, he argued, the military and the Peoples Armed Police, (which we count as enough military-trained and equipped to be included in our estimate of Chinas military spending) are a cornerstone of government control over the population.

According to SIPRI, the United States once again dominates the rest of the world in its military spending, accounting for 38 percent of global military spending in 2019, more than the next nine countries combined.

Reacting to the latest SIPRI report, 39 U.S.-based think-tanks, non-profits, and faith-based organizations released a statement calling on the U.S. government to reduce military spending, according to the American Friends Service Committee.

Meanwhile, China accounted for 14 percent of the global total military expenditures in 2019. India (3.7 percent), Russia (3.4 percent), and Saudi Arabia (estimated at 3.2 percent) were closely bunched in third, fourth, and fifth places.

Global military expenditure was 7.2 permcent higher in 2019 than it was in 2010, showing a trend that military spending growth has accelerated in recent years, said Dr Nan Tian, SIPRI Researcher.

This is the highest level of spending since the 2008 global financial crisis and probably represents a peak in expenditure.

Asked about the negative impact of the coronavirus crisis on future military spending, Dr Goldring told IPS no one knows what the full consequences of the coronavirus will be.

She said economists warn of the prospect of a global depression, while also arguing that many countries are already experiencing recession.

The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently warned that the coronavirus is likely to return in the fall, and that it may be even more difficult to manage than is currently the case.

Its time for countries to reevaluate their priorities. Otherwise, although military spending and arms transfers may decrease as a result of the economic effects of the coronavirus, these decreases are likely to only be temporary.

The coronavirus tests countries willingness to put their peoples needs first. Unfortunately, well only be able to determine in retrospect whether that has happened, as we examine the extent to which countries reallocate funds from military spending to meet peoples critical needs, including their needs for food, water, shelter, health care, and physical safety.

This is no time for business as usual, said Dr Goldring

Wezeman said: We dont like to predict the future. Everyone agrees now that the covid-19 crisis will result in a severe economic crisis already this year.

He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects gross domestic product (GDP) to go down in many states or at least grow much less than expected just a few months ago.

This will impact on government income and on spending priorities  while health care, social spending, investments to get the economy going again are probably in many states going to be a higher priority than defence.

That is what happened, he said, in recent economic crises such as in 2008-2009 and the late-1990. In some states, cuts have already been made (e.g. Thailand, Malaysia).

However, military spending does not only depend on the economy  other issues are part of the decision on how much to spend, especially threat perceptions, that may be found in some states are more important than other government spending posts, he noted.

While some funds in military spending are more flexible (mainly on acquisitions of equipment) that can be cut fast, mostly spending is quite fixed (salaries and pensions make up a very large part of military spending in most states) and thus the cuts or reduced growth in military spending can only be implemented over a few years, Wezeman declared.

(Thalif Deen is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services (DMS);

a Senior Defense Analyst at Forecast International; and military editor Middle East/Africa at Janes Information Group.)
If this is true, and there is no investigation, his candidacy or his presidency could implode over it  and, she noted, could take #MeToo down with it.

Selectively interested in #MeToo

In a statement to The Times late Friday, Anita Hill, whose 1991 testimony in the confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas was overseen by Mr. Biden, echoed that call for a neutral investigation.

Joe Biden has denied Tara Reades sexual assault allegations, but that should not be the end of the inquiry, said Ms. Hill, a professor of law at Brandeis University. Given the significance of this moment, she said, the allegations against both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump should be investigated, with results that are made available to the public.

Without these essential elements, uncertainty about who to believe and whether it matters will continue, she said. How we proceed comes down to whether we take allegations of sexual violations seriously enough to insist that public institutions have fair procedures in place that protect individuals rights to come forward, and the rights of those who are accused to defend themselves.

As many conservatives have noted, the response to Ms. Reade has appeared in stark contrast to the way that Democrats rallied around Christine Blasey Ford during the 2018 confirmation hearings of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, with Mr. Biden himself saying he believed that Dr. Blasey should be given the benefit of the doubt. The 2017 push for Al Franken to resign in the wake of sexual harassment allegations  an effort that divided Democrats  makes the moment even more fraught.

Can we be anti-Kavanaugh and anti-Franken and then turn our heads? said Samantha Ettus, co-founder of the Los Angeles Womens Collective, which supports women running for office. (She said she was not speaking on behalf of her organization.) I dont think we can be selectively interested in #MeToo.

Ms. Flores said the complex situation that womens rights groups are facing today should ultimately lead to progress. I do think that this will force an expanded conversation on what it means to believe women given that the hypocrisy of that stance by Democratic and even some feminist leaders is on full display, she added. This is a good thing, she said, because it should have never been a catch phrase and, instead, been a full conversation of what it means to be a woman living in a fully male-dominated society.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-03 03:36:21|Editor: huaxia

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Passengers wearing face masks are seen at Heathrow Airport in London, Britain, on May 1, 2020. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua)

-- UK COVID-19 deaths top 28,000;

-- Italy sees new COVID-19 cases falling, ICU patients keep decreasing;

-- French government extends state of health emergency until July 24;

-- Spanish PM to ask for State of Alarm extension for fourth time.

BRUSSELS, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries.

LONDON -- Another 621 COVID-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 28,131, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said Saturday.

The figures include deaths in hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

Chairing Saturday's Downing Street briefing, Jenrick said 182,260 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Britain.

Workers disinfect a closed restaurant in Rome, Italy, April 30, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

ROME -- Italy saw 1,900 new COVID-19 infections and 1,665 new recoveries in the last 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 209,328 and 79,914, respectively, according to the latest numbers released by the Civil Protection Department on Saturday.

New fatalities reported on Saturday were 474, bringing the toll to 28,710 since the pandemic first broke out in the country's northern Lombardy region on Feb. 21.

Residents watch a film screened on the wall at the rue Daubenton in Paris, France, May 1, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

PARIS -- The French government has decided to extend the state of health emergency until July 24 to fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Minister of Health Olivier Veran announced on Saturday.

The state of health emergency, installed since March 24, is to be extended because lifting it, as previously scheduled on May 23, "would be premature" as the risks of an epidemic resurgence are present, the minister told a press conference.

A bill on the extension of the state of health emergency will be debated next week in the Senate before being sent to the National Assembly, said government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye at the press conference.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso (2nd L F), president of the Madrid Region, Mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martinez Almeida (2nd R) and staff members applaud during the closing ceremony of a field hospital built to treat COVID-19 patients in Madrid, Spain, May 1, 2020. (Madrid Region Government/Handout via Xinhua)

MADRID -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday that he will ask the parliament next week to extend the State of Alarm that was imposed since March 15 for a further 15 days when it expires on May 9.

If the request was granted by the Congress, the lower chamber of Spanish Parliament, it would be the fourth extension.

"The State of Alarm has worked in Spain... so we will ask the Congress for another extension for a further 15 days," said Sanchez in a televised speech given on the same day when the majority of Spaniards were allowed outdoors to take exercise for the first time after seven weeks of virtual lockdown.
Trump decided last month to delay a decision by his campaign leadership to run ads attacking Bidens policy toward China, after multiple advisers urged him to focus on selling his leadership as president during the pandemic first. As a result, the campaign has said it will spend more than $1 million over the next week on advertising across the country promoting Trumps pandemic response, a move that Democrats have dismissed as a cosmetic move to please the president, who is consumed by what he watches on cable television.
CenterLink  the Community of LGBTQ+ Centers. CenterLink works to assist new LGBTQ+ centers and strengthen existing ones around the world, including in Canada, the USA, China, and Australia. Lowell hosted the entire four-and-a-half hour reunion special with support from Peter Paige (Emmett Honeycutt).



Other cast members who appeared to reminise about the landmark series included:



Hal Sparks (Michael Novotny)



Robert Gant (Ben Bruckner)



Harris Allan (James 'Hunter' Montgomery)



Michelle Clunie (Melanie Marcus)



Sharon Gless (Debbie Novotny)



Randy Harrison (Justin Taylor)



Jack Wetherall (Vic Grassi)



Fab Filippo (Ethan Gold)



Makyla Smith (Daphne Chanders)



Sherry Miller (Jennifer Taylor)



Peter MacNeill (Carl Horvath)



Rosie O'Donnell (Loretta Pye)



and many others







In the end, they raised over $20,000 from the broadcast alone for CenterLink and there are currently a number of special items connected to the show being

The reunion also included conversations with the writers, producers, hair & make-up crew (one of the highlights), and even a quick visit from Russell T. Davies himself, the creator of the original UK version!In the end, they raised over $20,000 from the broadcast alone for CenterLink and there are currently a number of special items connected to the show being auctioned on CenterLink's site. A second auction will go up on Monday and will include items that cast and crew spontanesouly decided to donate during the reunion (including a bunch of Debbie's t-shirts!). Donations are still being accepted here



I loved every single moment of this entire reunion and made sure I donated. Also, Randy Harrison hasn't aged a day and still looks incredibly gorgeous (plus, he was fantastic in Cabaret a few years back)! For anyone else who watched the reunion, what were some of your favourite moments? And what were some of your favourite moments from the series itself?

Scott Lowell (Ted Schmidt) organised a 20th anniversary online reunion for the US version ofin support of
Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Members of the Nigerien government have donated 58,705,000 CFA francs to the national coronavirus (Covid-19) committee to fight the pandemic, an official source told PANA here Saturday
Indian industry need to undertake technological upgradation and import substitution to attract investments from global businesses that look to exit China due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday.

The minister has been exhorting the industry to capitalise on growing "hatred" against China amid coronavirus pandemic.

Interacting with members of the Ficci Ladies Organization in a webinar, the minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways said recommendations for "another big package" have been shared with the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, and said he was "hopeful of a declaration soon".

Gadkari also expressed confidence that 25 lakh MSMEs will be restructured by the end of the year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the restructuring of debt schemesbeyond the deadline of March 31, 2020,to December 31, 2020.

Observing that big industries from nations including Japan, the US, Germany and other European nations do not want to deal with China anymore and want to shift their businesses out of the country, the minister termed it a "golden opportunity" for Indian industry and entrepreneurs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aalto Bio Reagents Ltd. (Dublin, Ireland), a supplier of critical raw materials and reagents for diagnostic tests, has launched its first RNA lysis buffer reagent for the pre-treatment of COVID 19 samples prior to testing.This essential RNA Lysis buffer was produced by Aalto Bio due to the unavailability of similar reagents from other manufacturers in Europe. The volume of PCR tests being carried out for COVID-19 in Ireland as well as across the world is such that manufacturers simply cannot produce the volume of reagents required. In March 2020, Aalto Bio was contacted by Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) to see if the company could refocus its manufacturing and development capabilities to provide a RNA lysis buffer which would be used by hospitals and laboratories for COVID-19 testing. Within four weeks of being contacted, the first bulk order was shipped to the National Virus Reference Laboratory in UCD where most of Ireland's testing is being carried out.At Aalto Bio, we were happy to assist the HSE by producing this critical reagent to help alleviate some of the pressure that has been brought on the system by COVID-19. As the HSE continues to expand on its testing capabilities we expect the demand for critical raw material such as ours to grow, and we are prepared to offer our services when needed. As a wholly-owned Irish diagnostics company we are proud to be able to contribute towards the testing regime of COVID-19, said Philip Noone, CEO, Aalto Bio Reagents.
Anne McClelland got the phone call she had been dreading.

Her brother Geoffrey McKillop (56) was on a ventilator in intensive care at Causeway Hospital. The doctors had exhausted all treatment.

Geoffrey, a well-known businessman in Bushmills, Co Antrim, had a matter of hours to live. The next phone call was likely to be confirming his battle to beat Covid-19 had been lost.

"I spent the night waiting for the call that he was gone," said Anne, a staff nurse at the Coleraine hospital who knew only too well the fight he had on his hands.

"We were helpless at that stage. There seemed nothing more anyone could do."

All the more reason why the family is celebrating today.

And not only did the miracle happen, Geoffrey also recovered to the news that while he lay in intensive care on a ventilator, his first grandson had been born.

From imminent death to the joy of new life, the family have experienced every emotion possible in the last few weeks.

And as Geoffrey starts his slow road to recovery, there is going to be a real celebration when he finally gets to hug the grandson he was so looking forward to meeting.

The good news is long overdue for the family, who have endured several tragedies in the past.

Geoffrey's daughter Heather passed away on April 22 last year.

The family had a brother, Nigel, die from silent pneumonia at just three years old.

And two sisters, Carol and Heather McKillop, lost their lives in a fatal car crash in 1980.

"Geoffrey had been at ill home with his partner for 10 days," his sister Anne told the Belfast Telegraph.

"When he developed a cough we started to worry and his breathing became laboured.

"He eventually had to go to hospital on Sunday, April 5. His oxygen level was only at 50% and he went straight into intensive care.

"His condition got worse and he went on to ventilation and it was on the Sunday night, a week later, that we were told they had exhausted all possible treatments.

"I was waiting by the phone for the news that he had gone.

"But what happened next was a miracle, he slowly started to improve.

"He finally came off ventilation on Saturday, April 25 and was then moved out of intensive care. It's going to be a long, slow recovery but he now has the joy of holding his first grandson to look forward to."

Alexander Geoffrey Aaron McKillop was born on Tuesday, April 19 in Antrim Area Hospital to Geoffrey's son Mark and his girlfriend Emma.

"It's the news he was waiting for," said Anne. "I was able to send a photo of Alexander to his phone and a nurse whispered the news to him. He opened his eyes to see the photo.

"Now we can't wait to have everyone together again. We just didn't think it would happen. We'd lost him, but he came back to us."

The whole of Bushmills came out of their homes to celebrate on their doorsteps when news of Geoffrey's remarkable recovery reached the village.

"Geoffrey's so well-known in the town. Everyone was rooting for him," said Anne.

Geoffrey owns the Hip Chip and the Codsway restaurants in Bushmills and both had been forced to close during the lockdown.

He is also well-known for a badminton career which saw him play for Ulster and Ireland.

"We had messages from New Zealand and Canada. Everyone's delighted to see him pull through and we feel blessed to still have him with us," said Anne.

Geoffrey's brother Stephen said it was an emotional moment as he watched staff line the hospital corridor to applaud as he left the ICU.

"Our family have had trials in the past. In short, losing Geoffrey would have been too much for us all to bear," he said.

"We can't find words to express our gratitude for the determination and dedication to the staff. The care Geoffrey received was wonderful. A big thank-you must go to our NHS and specifically to the Causeway Hospital medical staff.

"We were extremely touched that the whole town clapped for Geoffrey on Wednesday night as our family, including our 81-year-old mum Lily and dad James (83), gathered together at the Hip Chip to show Geoffrey our love."

And nurse Anne was full of praise for her co-workers at Causeway Hospital.

"We are all totally in awe of the devotion, dedication and care of the nurses and doctors in helping Geoffrey win his fight," she said.

"I've always been proud to work there, but today I'm even more proud to say that I'm one of the staff of the hospital.

"I haven't been working for the past few weeks because of Geoffrey's situation, but when I went in to leave a few things for him this earlier this week it was wonderful to see the smiles on the faces.

"And there's a special word of praise for the anaesthetist who had to call to let me know Geoffrey was struggling to survive that Sunday night.

"That's such a difficult job for anyone to have to do. Words are not enough to say thank you."
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 09:54:30|Editor: huaxia

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Anthony Fauci (front), director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), attends a press conference on the COVID-19 at the White House in Washington D.C. March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

A White House statement said "it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings," though 79-year-old Fauci has been generally viewed as a reliable source of information by American people amid the pandemic.

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Friday blocked Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert and central figure in the administration's response to the novel coronavirus, from testifying before Congress.

"While the [Donald] Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counter-productive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at Congressional hearings," White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.

"We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time," the statement added.

People wearing masks walk near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 26, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been invited by a House Appropriations subcommittee to testify next week, as part of the subcommittee's probe into the Trump administration's response to the pandemic.

An outspoken expert on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Fauci has repeatedly stressed the need to take strict measures, including extending the federal government's social distancing guidelines, to contain the spread of the virus, at times correcting Trump's false claims as the president tried to downplay the severity of the situation.

The White House is seen in Washington D.C., the United States, April 19, 2020. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

The 79-year-old has been generally viewed as a reliable source of information by American people amid the pandemic.

A study released Wednesday by the University of Southern California's Center for the Digital Future and the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that 45 percent of 1,000 adult Americans surveyed said they rely on Fauci for coronavirus information, leading all the other options. 
Alberta chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw updates media on the COVID-19 situation in Edmonton on Friday March 20, 2020. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

Alberta Launches Canadas First Contact Tracing App as Economy Slowly Reopens

WINNIPEGAlberta launched the countrys first phone app on Friday to trace contacts of people infected with the COVID-19, as the country slowly restarts its economy.

Increased testing and contact tracing are key parts of plans to reopen economies that have largely closed to slow the pandemics spread, with no proven vaccine or treatment available.

Currently, contact tracing is done manually, by asking infected patients to recall with whom they have interacted.

Albertas voluntary app, called ABTraceTogether, uses Bluetooth wireless technology to identify phones, which also have the app installed, that have come into 2-metre contact with an infected person for at least 15 minutes within a 24-hour period.

Once a person with the app becomes infected, Alberta Health Services will ask the person to upload encrypted data that will allow tracing workers to reach others who have been in close contact.

No geo-location data is collected, and data about encounters are stored encrypted on phones.

The faster Alberta Health Services contact tracers can inform exposed people who were close contacts, the quicker we will be able to prevent potential outbreaks, Albertas chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said.

Alberta became the latest province this week to announce a phased plan to reopen services and businesses.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said it would be important to ensure privacy and data security are balanced with the need for more information on the virus spread. He said there are multiple proposals in development that might apply to Canada.

Privacy advocates in Britain have urged the government to prevent a soon-to-be-launched app from turning into a form of state surveillance.

Alberta has the third-highest case count in Canada  10% of the national total  and one of Canadas most aggressive testing programs. Many of its cases are due to outbreaks in meat plants and nursing homes.

Ontario, the most populous province, is looking at options for apps, provincial Health Minister Christine Elliot told reporters.

Canadas death toll rose less than 5% on Friday to 3,223 deaths, while cases climbed to nearly 54,000, as daily numbers continue to flatten.

The province of Quebec, the countrys virus epicenter, said it has started ramping up testing ahead of a plan to begin reopening businesses and schools this month. Testing will prioritize hospital patients with symptoms, health-care workers, nursing home staff and residents, Quebec public health director Horacio Arruda said.

The more we test, the more we find, he told reporters.

By Rod Nickel
C Shivakumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Though the lockdown measures are being relaxed, real estate developers are a worried lot as they face a manpower crisis since migrant workers who will play a key role in kickstarting the economy want to go home.

Being locked down in construction sites and without work, many have been urging the labour contractors to send them home and have even launched protests.

While developers say they have been taking care of the construction workers by providing them with food and shelter, most of the workers claim they want to return home rather than avail food or money.

Workers at Fomra Infrastructure and a construction site in Ayanambakkam have taken to the streets urging the authorities to send them back home. "We are not able to send money to our homes as we were not getting salaries on time. I could not even send back Rs 5,000 a month as most is spent here," says 25-year-old Chandrabhan working in a site in Ayanambakkam. On Saturday, he participated in a protest by workers demanding their salaries for March.

Protests also took place at the Guindy Industrial Estate with migrant workers taking to the streets highlighting their poor living conditions and lack of support from a prestigious developer. Duleshwar Majhi, a tribal belonging to Odisha, told The New Indian Express that the living conditions during the lockdown have been absymal. "A couple of workers fell ill. They conducted tests but did not give the report," he said.

The workers are a harried lot when it comes to food. "They give 10 kg of rice for 10 people a week. This means 10 people survive on only one 1 kg rice which comes to food for only one time. We want to go back but they have not paid us salaries for two months," says Duleshwar.

S Sridharan, chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, Tamil Nadu, told Express that the construction sector is now in a catch-22 situation. "Once the work starts, many of the workers may think twice about returning but if they go, it will take months for them to come back," he said.

"The protest is happening as they see trains and buses being allowed to take them back home. They are already in anxiety as they are waiting in their room and idling. Once the work starts, we leave it to contractors and workers to decide. Many may work and for the rest it is their freedom to choose," said Sridharan.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government is going to launch a portal for migrant workers and people stranded in the state due to the nationwide lockdown.

Officials told Express that once the portal comes into being, standard operating procedures will be worked out for the movement of stranded workers, students, tourists and pilgrims to different parts of the country. It is learnt that the state is keen to retain migrant workers who are willing to work after the lockdown ends to ensure there is no labour crisis. "Those willing to go will be given permission," sources added.

Workers at the construction sites, who have been depressed without work, may be allowed to work from Monday provided the state government gives its nod. There are four lakh people from other states stranded in Tamil Nadu including migrant workers, pilgrims, students and those doing petty jobs or businesses.

It is learnt that the initial focus of the state will be to facilitate the travel of patients from other states who have been caught here. While many migrant workers have expressed their keenness to return home, industries, which are dependent on these workers, feel they are key in restarting the work after the lockdown is eased.
Amid the lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic when people are restricted to visit the public recreational premises, a zoo in San Diego, California, took an initiative to introduce the penguins with the primates. In the clip that the San Diego zoo posted on Facebook, the endangered penguin Dot can be seen exploring the Zoo and interacting with primate Ellie to keep itself and the animals engaged in times of isolation. The 35-second clip captured the attention of Facebook users as they lauded the zoos efforts to keep the inmates entertained in difficult times.

With over 66k reactions and nearly 2k engagement, the clip is earning recognition for the zoo members for exhibiting the animals to life outside the cages. While the world is confined at homes, the penguin was seen wandering freely meeting with the new friends in excitement.

Read: Lazy Dog Sparky Takes The Internet By Storm, Netizens Hail His Adorable Indolence. Watch

Read: Dog Filled With Excitement After Meeting Its Best Friend After A Month; Watch

Internet appreciates the gesture

Now they will start planning their escape. Be sure and count the spoons, that's what they'll start digging with! I think I saw a documentary about it, wrote a user jokingly. Love it, thank you all, for taking great care of all the animals. We Miss all the animals and all the awesome employees, wrote another. I think one of the nicest things the zoo is doing is allowing the animals to visit each other. They probably hear and smell each other, but when do they ever SEE each other? It's a different zoo experience. Thank you, wrote the third.

The zoo explained that the video was also aimed to encourage conservation program for the endangered species of the penguin in the zoo. It wrote, The African penguin population has declined by 60% in the last 28 years. We're proud to participate in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan (SSP) program for these endangered aquatic birds and to partner with SANCCOB saves seabirds, to help facilitate conservation programs in South Africa.

Read: German Zoo May Have To Feed Animals To Each Other Due To COVID-19 Lockdown

Read: COVID-19: Animals, Birds Roam Freely On Streets Amid Lockdown

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The Ambala Railway Division earned Rs 255 crore in April this year amid the lockdown, which is 20% more revenue than the same month last year. The railways has discontinued its passenger services since the announcement of lockdown in March, extending it to May 17 but the freight services are still operating.

The division has recorded a total earning of Rs 255 crore (which is also highest ever freight earning in a month) in April this year. Last year, it had earned Rs 211 crore, of which Rs 57 crore came passenger trains and Rs 146 crore from freight earning while Rs 8 crore was categorised as miscellaneous earnings.

Ambala division railway manager GM Singh said, To boost the morale of division, the general manager of Northern Railways has announced a cash award. The division has also dispatched 62 long-haul trains in April, highest ever, out of which 59 were of food grains (Annapurna trains). It has all been possible due to the concerted efforts of our section controllers, station masters, guards, loco pilots and staff of commercial supervisors who are engaged in the smooth operation of freight services.

The division has also managed to load the highest-ever wagons of food grains and fertilisers maintaining the continuity in the supply chain during lockdown across the country.

Senior divisional commercial manager, Hari Mohan said The division is committed to ensure uninterrupted supply of essentials across the country and unloading/loading at terminals despite the shortage of labour/trucks despite restrictions on movements.
"If they are hoping to have committee meetings, how do people participate in that? How is there an audience in a small committee room when we cant have gatherings of 10 or more in a closed space? So those are complicated, and I just dont know what the legislature will want to do in that regard.
The challenges are likely to continue to be a factor as the pandemic continues to unfold. Mulcahy, the RAND researcher, said the viability of the medical supply chain will be especially important if a vaccine is first developed overseas. He said government officials ought to be thinking now about how supplies of a vaccine or ingredients to make enough in the United States will be secured.
Mumbai, May 2 : Actress and social activist Celina Jaitly recently appeared in a short film titled "Seasons Greetings: A Tribute To Rituparno Ghosh". She said that although on one hand the educated society -- especially the younger generation -- is becoming acceptive towards the LGBTQ+ community, such societal change is tough to happen unless the sheer ignorance about the community goes away.

The short film addresses the issue of social acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and the film is a tribute to National award-winning director, late Rituparno Ghosh.

Being a United Nations Equality Champions, Celina told IANS: "There is still a lack of understanding about the LGBT community. The biggest block is that in India society is not ready to educate themselves about homosexuality and its acceptance on any level. Reasons could be anything from religious to sheer ignorance." She added: "(Even though times are changing and we are becoming more accepting of gays and lesbians), homophobia and negativity are still part of our cultural fibre. Even if people don't think they're homophobic, or even if they have gay friends, they still grew up with all the messages and stereotypes about gays and lesbians. Overall the fact of the matter is India is way behind in all levels when it comes to "acceptance" of sexual minorities." The short is directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and it features Shree Ghatak, Lillette Dubey, and Azhar Khan among others.

Celina belives: " 'Season's Greetings' definitely has the ability to stir a need for those difficult but necessary conversations in its own subtle way. Our film is also the first Indian film to cast a transgender actor in a mainstream film/role." The actress has been actively participating in creating awareness about the community through various UN programme since 2013.

Asked if general attitude has changed since then, Celina said: "Changing attitudes is never easy but it has happened on other issues and it is happening already in many parts of the world on this one. It begins with often difficult conversations. I am convinced that the best way to have this difficult conversation is through a medium most relatable to people. I truly believe there is nothing more powerful than the medium of cinema. Many heroes would still remain unsung if their story hadn't been told through cinema." "Season's Greetings" is streaming on the OTT platform ZEE5.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
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The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Telengana state has sent Ramadan greetings to the Muslim community, titled Christians and Muslims: Protecting together the places of worship.

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President of the Council, Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso, has addressed Muslims globally in his goodwill message, explaining that it is a time to reflect on the theme respect other than protecting places of worship.

Speaking on both the Christian and Muslim communities special reverence for places of worship, Ayuso regrets that the pandemic has made them devoid of the propitious time to further strengthen relationships by sharing an iftar or meeting but he is glad to remind what Pope Francis had said in his visit to the Heydar Aliyey mosque in Azerbaijan in 2016 where he promoted unity and greeting one another as a powerful sign. He further discussed instances of Christian priests visiting mosques for interfaith sermons, highlighting that this friendship is one that shows the harmony which religions can build together, based on personal relations and on the good will of those responsible.

He further expressed solidarity with the Coronavirus-affected in the world at the moment, conveying his prayers for the afflicted and healing for all. With regard to recent attacks on places of worship, Ayuso has appreciated the efforts done by the international community at different levels for the protection of the places of worship worldwide, maintaining that a mutual respect and cooperation boosted by interfaith dialogues would strengthen the bonds of sincere friendship.

In a beautiful mark of humility and humanity, Ayuso reminded Muslims that interfaith understanding and bonding in future would safeguard the places of worship for coming generations and grant the fundamental freedom to profess ones own beliefs.
Stuttgart car manufacturer Daimler is using the coronavirus crisis to expand and accelerate mass layoffs. The reduction of 10,000 jobs announced months ago is to be extended and accelerated. Finance daily Handelsblatt now reports of 15,000 planned layoffs.

To suppress the expected resistance of the workforce, department heads and other managers are being trained to put pressure on individual workers to sign a termination agreement oras it is officially calledto implement the job cuts as smoothly as possible.

The Stuttgarter Nachrichten reports on an internal Daimler letter, which calls on executives to make the separation intentions unmistakably clear and leave no room for negotiations. Exit interviews should be completed within 15 minutes, at the latest within 30 minutes, the company writes.

In special training sessions, Daimler managers are being prepared for the possible reactions of those employees affected. In the past, management had demagogically invoked the Daimler family at works meetings, declaring We are all Daimler, Now, its management cadre is being trained to implement mass dismissals in an ice-cold manner.

WSWS Autoworker Newsletter being distributed at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen

Any kind of sympathy, pity or solidarity is to be suppressed from the outset. The Stuttgarter Nachrichten quote from the letter, which provides the supporting argumentation and prepares executives for dramatic scenes. As examples, objections are listed, such as: My wife/husband is seriously ill, You have always had it in for me. Now I am supposed to take the blame for what the management has screwed up and Are you crazy? Right now? In these uncertain times?

As a precautionary measure, the company has also announced layoffs in management, so every manager knows that only those who are prepared to implement job cuts with all their rigour and brutality will keep their positions.

Daimler had the guidelines for the exit interviews drawn up by the Dusseldorf-based personnel consultancy Von Rundstedt & Partner, which specializes in this type of consulting for mass dismissals.

Exit interviews should be conducted in person and not via online means, they stipulate. At the beginning, the necessity and inevitability of job cuts should be discussed. The situation is very critical throughout the company, is one of the talking points. The coronavirus crisis is hitting Daimler in a phase in which we are facing economic challenges anyway, writes Chairman of the Board Ola Kallenius in the introduction to the preparatory seminars.

Those who are being screened out should be prevented from applying for other positions in the company. The guidelines recommend the following wording for this: I therefore recommend that you concentrate your search on a new position outside the company. Or, Before a decision was made on the separation, we checked out possibilities to employ you further. Unfortunately, the situation throughout the company is extremely critical right now.

According to the guide, managers must refrain from small talk and pronounce the bad news in the first three sentences, choosing clear words such as termination or separation.

If in the exit interview the employee says that his or her existence is threatened, the manager should answer, That is why we would like to assure you with a severance payment for a transitional period and support you in your search for a new job.

The guidelines also advise managers to have individual, well-considered reasons prepared this is a key factor for the success of the interview. Possible reasons could be that the employees skills do not meet future requirements. Low performance is also allowed as an argument, but only if documented!

In theory, an employee can also refuse to sign a termination agreement. In this case, the guide recommends hidden threats. For example, in that case, everything could change for you. Then you would have to see in the future how to deal with this uncertainty in your professional life.

This threat of bullying is not unfounded, writes Manager Magazin. During earlier waves of layoffs, stubborn employees were often placed in individual offices and were not given any more work to do. Many had to fight in court for their right to work.

A statement by the works council declares such a threatening scenario to be unacceptable. The head of the general works council, Michael Brecht, complains that the internal training paper contradicts the companys social partnership responsibility and was commissioned behind the works councils back.

This is just a cover story. For many years, Daimler management, and all other major car plants, have not taken a single decision regarding employees without first discussing it in detail with the works council, the IG Metall union and the employee representatives on the companys supervisory board. As a rule, the union and the works council draw up the dismissal plans themselves and propose them to the management. Even protest actions, which are then often organised by the union representatives, are agreed in advance with management.

The IG Metall and the works council have expressly supported all rationalisation measures. Cost reductions, increased competitiveness, building synergy, optimisation and efficiency increases are the terms with which works councils have been justifying cuts and job losses for years to maximise profits.

Since the announcement of 10,000 redundancies last autumn, the anger of the workers about the collaboration of the IG Metall with management has been growing rapidly. In January, works council leader Brecht warned management, We have a mood between anger and disappointment in the workforce. People want orientation and clarity.

He called for a clear forward strategy to maximise profits and increase the dividend for investors and assured management that the IG Metall would cooperate fully. He said it was now the task of the board of directors to make the corporate strategy more visible.

This is exactly what is happening now. The company strategy is to use the exceptional situation created by the coronavirus crisis to implement all of its rationalisation plans at top speed.

While on the one hand, production is being ramped up again despite the renewed rise in infection figures, and employees are being forced to risk their health and lives, on the other hand, job cuts are being accelerated.

Daimler and all other car companies are reorganizing production at the expense of the workforce and are prepared to walk over dead bodies. Corporate management knows only one goal: profit and economic dominance of the world market. It is using the coronavirus crisis to be at the forefront of the global race for sales markets and dominance.

Works council Chairman Brecht also supports this. At the end of January, he warned against Chinese competition. He told finance daily Handelsblatt at the time, We are making ourselves dangerously dependent upon manufacturers in China and Korea. CATL or LG Chem [leading Chinese and South Korean battery manufacturers] form powerful oligopolies; they can control the availability and prices of the [battery] cells.

Brecht demanded, We must ensure that the oligopolies do not abuse their power. European policy must help European companies stay in control. We should encourage cell manufacturers to build plants in Europe.

The whole interview was a nationalist attack on Asian workers and a call to the German government and the European Union for trade war and protectionism.

It could hardly be clearer that the IG Metall and the works council stand unreservedly on the side of management and the German government.

It is time to oppose this reactionary nationalist policy. Workers at Daimler and all other car plants must free themselves from the straitjacket of the trade unions and form independent action committees. It is necessary to combine the struggle against the re-start of production with the struggle against dismissals and to organise joint resistance.

This requires an international socialist perspective. May Day is a good opportunity to begin this work. The International Committee of the Fourth International, and all its sister Socialist Equality Parties, is organising a worldwide online event May 2. This is an important step in the preparation for the great class struggles that are now beginning.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein visited Harvard University's campus more than 40 times after his 2008 sex crimes conviction and was given his own office and unfettered access to a research centre he helped establish, according to a review of his ties to the school.

The review, completed at the request of Harvard's president, also found that the university accepted more than $US9 million ($14 million) from Epstein during the decade leading up to his conviction but barred him from making further donations after that point.

A police officer stands by an entrance to Harvard Yard on the closed Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The university is returning unspent funds donated by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Credit:Bloomberg

About $US200,000 of that funding remains unspent, the school said, and will be given to groups that support victims of sexual violence.

The report found that while Harvard's top leaders cut ties with Epstein in 2008, he maintained close ties with Martin Nowak, a mathematics professor and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, a research centre created in 2003 with $US6.5 million from Epstein.
Ten Iraqi paramilitaries were killed in Islamic State group attacks north of Baghdad overnight, security forces said Saturday, the deadliest operation by jihadist sleeper cells in months.

Iraq declared IS defeated in late 2017 but remnants of the group still wage hit-and-run attacks on security forces in remote areas of the north and west.

Early Saturday, the jihadists attacked fighters of Iraqs Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force stationed outside a town about 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, according to a statement by Iraqs security forces.

Six fighters were killed. As another unit was dispatched to reinforce them, an explosive device detonated on that convoy and killed three fighters, the statement said.

A 10th fighter was killed in a separate IS attack on nearby unit from the Hashed, a network of armed groups incorporated into the regular army chain of command.

A security source in Salahaddin province, where the attack took place, told AFP that the first IS ambush took place just before midnight.

All the Iraqi security forces manning the checkpoint were killed. F16 planes are flying overhead to search for the IS fighters, the source said.

The attack was ISs deadliest in several months and appeared to cap a period of more numerous and aggressive operations.

Last week, the jihadists claimed a suicide attack that wounded four outside an intelligence headquarters in the northern province of Kirkuk.

The groups attacks have seemingly grown bolder over the past month or so, as its increasingly launched direct assaults on Iraqi security forces and carried out some daytime attacks, Sam Heller, an independent analyst focused on IS and Iraq, told AFP.

Last nights attack, if it was in fact coordinated between several IS units, would mark a new escalation by the group, he added.

IS overran around a third of Iraq in 2014, triggering the creation of both a US-led coalition to defeat the jihadists and the Hashed, comprised mostly of Shiite units with ties to Iran -- Iraqs neighbour but a foe to Washington.

The two forces are at odds in Iraq, as the US blames hardline Hashed factions for deadly rocket attacks on its troops while the Hashed and allied politicians have demanded US troops leave the country.

In recent months, the coalition has pulled back from five bases where it had been deployed to help track down IS sleeper cells, saying the Iraqi military could largely finish the fight on their own.

The coalition is still backing Iraqi troops with air strikes, intelligence and surveillance.

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Juul is preparing to leave five European countries within the year, according to BuzzFeed News. The e-cigarette maker is reportedly planning to pull out of Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Spain in July followed by France at the end of the year. Unlike all the shutdowns and layoffs reported over the past months, BuzzFeeds source says the decision didnt have anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic.

Austrias, Belgiums and Portugals markets are apparently too small in the first place. Juul enjoys relatively high sales in Spain and France compared to the rest of the continent, but not high enough to justify the costs of running a business there and the trouble of dealing with regulators. The European Union has stringent requirements when it comes to e-cigarette products, as the publication notes, requiring companies to stick to a nicotine limit of 20 milligrams per milliliter of fluid. Meanwhile, a single Juul pod can contain up to 59 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter in the US.

Juuls exit in those markets means hundreds of employees will lose their jobs. According to an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal, the company will lay off around 800 to 950 employees as part of a restructuring plan. Its just unclear if that number already includes the employees losing their jobs due to the European closures.
Over the past year, there has not been significant progress in the investigation or the lawsuits. Regarding deaths in the city center, neither the investigation nor the lawsuits have moved forward since May 2, 2019. We also see a lack of progress in the investigation of deaths on Kulykovo Field. We also didnt see significant progress in the criminal proceedings against police officers accused of inadequate response to clashes and riots," said Bogner."I urge the Ukrainian authorities to ensure accountability for perpetrators of violence on May 2. The Office of the Attorney General must ensure an effective, thorough and impartial investigation of killings and violent deaths. Court presidents should give priority to criminal proceedings in unfinished cases. Families of victims have the right to truth and justice for the death of their loved ones, "she summed up.We recall, on May 2, 2014, during the riots 48 people were killed and more than 250 were injured in Odesa. Most of the victims of the tragedy were killed in a fire in the House of Trade Unions. The investigation established that the riots in Odesa were organized and deliberately planned.
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Linkedin Alice Philipson (Agence France-Presse) Hong Kong, China  Sat, May 2, 2020 09:09 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd5757f5 2 Books Vietnam,author,books,Women,history,Literature,Nguyen-Phan-Que-Mai Free

Women bore much of the burden of the Vietnam War but their voices have long been absent from the trove of literature on the topic, says acclaimed author Nguyen Phan Que Mai.

Speaking to AFP ahead of the 45th anniversary of the fall of Saigon Thursday, Que Mai says her new novel The Mountains Sing -- written in English -- aims to shine a light on the stories of women who not only endured and survived conflict, but had to rebuild shattered lives time and again.

This handout picture taken on April 27, 2020 and released to AFP on April 29 by Vietnamese author Nguyen Phan Que Mai shows the writer posing for a photograph with copies of her novel 'The Mountains Sing' in Pfaffenhofen, Germany. (AFP/Handout /Mai Farnhammer )

"I've read a lot of Vietnam war fiction in English and most of it is written in the voices of men," adds the poet and writer.

"I grew up with incredible women around me," she says, adding that while many sons and fathers lost their lives in combat, it was women who had to deal with the heartache and the consequences.

"My childhood was full of images of women who were waiting for the return of their loved ones from the war. My village was basically empty of men and the women later had to carry on, had to raise the kids and survive," she explains.

The Mountains Sing is written from the perspective of a Vietnamese grandmother and her granddaughter. It tells the story of four generations of their family through much of the 20th century, spanning the French colonial period, the rise of communism, the war with America, to present day.

Novels such as The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien and Graham Greene's The Quiet American have become classics but offer few details of the female experience.

And Vietnam's most celebrated novels on the topic, Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize winner The Sympathizer and Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War were written by men.

Read also: Female authors lead International Booker Prizes 2020 shortlist

'Invaders'

The 46-year-old wanted to take a fresh approach.

"I wanted to show the Vietnam war and Vietnamese history from another angle, from the angle of Vietnamese women," she says, adding: "I could see that women are the people who bear the burden of the war."

She believes it is vital to help people see there's more to the country than the war, hailing it as a place full of complexity, colors, culture.

Born in 1973, Que Mai spent most of her childhood in the south in the post-war years after her father, a teacher, was relocated from the north.

They moved to the tip of the Mekong Delta in 1979, where the land was lush and fertile, but bullet shells had to be removed in order to plant rice, she recalls.

Like many people at the time in Vietnam -- which was under a US embargo -- they were dirt poor and her family rarely had enough to eat.

She rose every day at 4:30 am to catch shrimps in nearby rice fields before heading to school. After class, she would sell water spinach and cigarettes on the street.

Despite reunification on April 30, 1975, division between the north and south was as tangible as ever, she says, recounting a terrifying first night in her new home.

"I was eating dinner and I heard a 'boom' -- someone had thrown a rock at our house," Que Mai says. "The southern people considered us invaders."

Four decades on, many of these old wounds have yet to be healed.

For those who fought in the brutal conflict with the US and for the family members left behind, there is still unresolved trauma, she insists.

Read also: Books and bricks: Building cities with literature

Humanizing the enemy

"I have a friend who fought in the war and he cannot sleep with a ceiling fan in the room because he still thinks of American helicopters chasing and shooting him," Que Mai says.

"And for many people the war still hasn't ended because their loved ones haven't returned home."

Decades on, there is still a tendency on both sides to dehumanize the enemy, said Que Mai, who left Vietnam on a scholarship to Australia. She later returned, before moving to Bangladesh and Jakarta -- her current home -- with her German husband.

But the residual pain from the war was never far behind, she insists, describing how she refused initially to visit the memorial in Washington DC.

"'I will not go in there and honor the Americans who had trampled on my country,'" she remembers telling her husband.

Que Mai later relented and cried as she stood in the memorial.

"It was the first time I felt humanity... because I was brought up to consider American soldiers as killers, as inhuman."

The dehumanization goes both ways -- an American veteran had told her that on the plane to Vietnam, troops were told not to worry about killing the Vietnamese because "they don't love their families the way we do".

Her novel -- which is not currently available in Vietnamese -- is not autobiographical. But her influences are clear, as she dedicates the book to her grandmother who died in the 1940s famine, her grandfather who passed away during the land reform policy of 1955, and her uncle, a war veteran.

She says: "I wanted to write this book for healing and for peace and for reconciliation."
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Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2, 2020 12:37 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd57e325 1 Business PLN,electricity-supply,Jokowi,COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,electricity-price,small-business,social-aid,UMKM Free

State-owned electricity firm P LN has announced its intention to supply small-scale businesses and industries on 450-volt ampere (VA) contracts with six months of free electricity as part of the governments latest expansion of social aid.

PLN president director Zulkifli Zaini said the company had started gathering data of around 500,000 pre-paid customers from small businesses and industries eligible to receive the aid.

We will prepare the technicalities as soon as possible, so that this policy can be implemented immediately, Zulkifli said in a media statement on Friday, while expressing hope that all tokens could be generated by Sunday.

Since April, the government has granted free access to electricity for around 24 million 450 VA customers and provided a 50 percent discount for around 7 million 900 VA customers for three months.

Read also: Small businesses get subsidies, loan relief

During a meeting on Wednesday, President Joko Jokowi Widodo announced several schemes to ensure small and medium businesses were included in the government programs, including the free electricity supply.

We must ensure they are included as recipients of social aid programs, such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), staple food distribution, cash aid program, village cash assistance as well as free or discounted electricity, Jokowi said.

Zulkifli applauded the Presidents decision, saying it reflected great commitment and concrete and continuous efforts to protect the people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

PLN is enthusiastic and has the full responsibility to carry out the commitment and translate the governments concern in assisting small businesses and industries, Zulkifli added.
Shares in Ryanair and IAG, which owns Aer Lingus, tumbled on news of up to 4,000 jobs across the two airlines potentially being lost as part of the continued fallout from the Covid-19 disruption.

Ryanair shares plummeted by over 6% after it said it may lay off up to 3,000 employees and not see a return to normal passenger demand and pricing levels until the summer of 2022 at least.

The airline said it will shortly notify trade unions about a restructuring and job loss programme, which it plans to commence in July. It said the programme may result in the loss of up to 3,000 mainly pilot and cabin crew jobs, unpaid leave, and pay cuts of up to 20%, and the closure of a number of aircraft bases across Europe until traffic recovers. The job losses would see a mix of temporary and permanent lay-offs.

Aer Lingus said it was in talks with its employees and their unions with up to 900 jobs  20% of its 4,500 strong workforce  at risk due to its grounded schedules.

Aer Lingus owner IAG also said it secured new loan funding worth 750m for its Iberia subsidiary and another 260m for Vueling, its Spanish low-fares carrier. IAG shares were down by over 3%.

Ryanair said less than 1% of its scheduled flights will take off during the current quarter of this calendar year and that while some flights may return between July and September  the second quarter of its financial year  it will still likely see a fall in passenger numbers of more than 35% for the full year.

That means that it will carry less than 100 million passengers over the 12 months to the end of next March, compared to an initial target of 154 million people.

Ryanair said it will review its growth plans and aircraft orders and slammed state aid support for some airlines across Europe.

Earlier this week IAG warned it may cut up to 12,000 jobs at British Airways after reporting an operating loss before exceptional items of 535m and warning it may take several years for air travel demand to return to normal levels.

As the pandemic fallout continues to severely hit the airline industry, the British government has reportedly hired Morgan Stanley for advice on a package of measures to keep its airlines in business during the crisis.

The investment bank, originally drafted in to handle a possible bailout of Virgin Atlantic, has apparently been awarded a broader mandate to examine ways to support the entire airline sector in Britain.

The move follows the boss of Londons Heathrow Airport warning that Britain risks destroying its aviation sector by not propping up airlines as countries such as the US and France have done.

Elsewhere, planemaker Boeing raised $25bn (29bn) in debt, to help it avoid taking State aid.

Lufthansas chief executive warned against government interference in the airlines management as it seeks a 9bn state bailout  which could see the German government take a 25% stake in the airline - as a way to survive the corona pandemic.

The fate of Norwegian Air remains uncertain after bondholders turned down a proposed debt-to-equity swap, seen as vital to the airline's survival.

-Additional reporting Reuters
The Himachal Pradesh government will send a fleet of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses to evacuate around 1,000 students stranded in Chandigarh amid the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

In a notification issued late night on Friday, the government said the Himachal government has pressed sanitised HRTC buses into service in order to evacuate students and those without a means of transport stranded in Chandigarh and adjoining areas. The buses will ply from Sector 28D.

STRANDED PEOPLE MUST REGISTER THEMSELVES ONLINE

The Himachal Pradesh government has launched an online portal for people stranded outside the state who do not have a conveyance. The data will be used to devise a comprehensive plan to ensure interstate movement of stranded students.

Those stranded people can register themselves on covid19epass.hp.govt.in.

Of the stranded students 184 are from Kangra, 50 from Chamba, 41 from Una, 88 from Hamirpur, 58 from Bilaspur, 184 from Mandi, 36 from Kullu, 128 from Shimla, 36 from Solan, 22 from Sirmaur and 13 are from Kinnaur.

The government has also launched a special campaign to medically examine people entering Himachal Pradesh from other states.

Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the campaign will be launched on analogy of the active case finding campaign launched to ascertain the health status of people residing in both rural and urban areas.

The chief minister directed all officers to ensure strict compliance of guidelines issued by the Union ministry of home affairs and to make arrangements to bring people back Himachal Pradesh residents stranded in other states.

The CM said the state government had appointed an adequate number of supporting officers with the nodal authority to coordinate movement of the migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons both within and outside the state.

He urged representatives of panchayats and urban local bodies to keep an eye on people who had returned from other states and persuade them to strictly follow home quarantine norms. He said Himachal Pradesh was in a comfortable position till now and it must be ensured that this situation is maintained.

RESTART ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN GREEN ZONES: THAKUR

Jai Ram Thakur said that efforts should be made to start economic activities particularly in the green zones. He said that special thrust must be laid on providing smooth movement of essential commodities and farming equipment.

He said people should also wear face masks and face covers as this could check spread coronavirus.
This weekend Jos Verstappen stressed the need for Formula 1 and its race stables to get back to work as soon as possible, because if the economy remains stagnant, teams will fall over. In the interview Jos also discusses the benefits for Max Verstappen of the current plans to start the 2020 season in Austria.

"There's definitely gonna be some racing. I'm convinced of that. A year without it is impossible", Verstappen informed sr. in conversation with De Telegraaf. Max his father sees that it is financially necessary to start the pinnacle of motorsport. "Otherwise teams will really fall down and people will lose their jobs. There are so many contracts at stake."

Using common sense

The former Formula 1 driver calls health 'of course the most important thing', but he stresses that the current situation can't last much longer. "Shutting down the whole economy for months on end is not an option either. Everyone has to use their common sense. You notice now that people are starting to resist", he sees.

For now the plan of Formula 1 is to start in the first weekend of July in Austria. There will be a race on the Red Bull Ring and also a week later there should be a Grand Prix in Spielberg. Is that good for Red Bull Racing and Verstappen? "You can indeed look at it that way, but maybe there will be two Grand Prixs in Silverstone after that and Mercedes won the last couple of years", Jos puts into perspective.

Read more Documentary: The first season of Max Verstappen in F1

Jos sees an advantage for Verstappen

Races without spectators are inevitable, but according to the man who participated in 107 Grands Prix that is of minor importance. Even journalists will not be welcome on the circuit to guarantee the safety of everyone. "That also has one advantage for Max: he won't have to give so many interviews, haha."
Miami-Dade County Public Schools, for instance, sent home about 110,000 tablets and other mobile devices, and more than 8,000 smartphones that double as Wi-Fi hot spots. Many broadband providers are also adding capacity, lifting caps on data and offering extended free trial periods. In South Carolina, many of the same buses that take breakfasts and lunches to families stick around to beam out Wi-Fi from routers on board. By contrast, some districts had been bolstering their use of online learning for several years, including Lindsay Unified in Californias Central Valley, known as a pioneer in digital-learning circles. In Lindsay, a low-income, rural district, all students have access to home internet thanks to a community Wi-Fi network, and they can get lessons and track their progress via an online portal. Having that digital backbone made the switch to distance learning nearly seamless  academically, at least.
Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic have welcomed their first child together.

Their newborn daughter Harper May was born at North Shore Private Hospital on Friday.

The Today show presenter, 45, made sure Jasmine, 36, was as comfortable as possible in a luxurious maternity suite.

Comfort: A look inside Jasmine Yarbrough's VERY glamorous maternity suite at the North Shore Private Hospital

'I am in awe': Karl and Jasmine welcomed baby daughter Harper May (pictured) on Friday

The spacious private suite appears more like a modern hotel than a hospital room, with a plush couch for Karl and other visitors to relax and meet baby Harper.

The modern grey-toned colour palette provides a calming atmosphere with warm light emanating from well-placed lamps, a stark contrast to the harsh fluorescent lights usually found in hospitals.

When Jasmine is ready, she will be transferred from the the single hospital bed to a larger, comfortable double bed.

The bathroom looks a world away from the cramped spaces most hospital patients have come to expect, with a waterfall shower head, large bath and wood inspired finishings.

Spacious: Their newborn daughter Harper May was born at North Shore Private Hospital on Friday. The Today show presenter, 45, made sure Jasmine was as comfortable as possible in a luxurious maternity suite

Stunning: When Jasmine is ready, she will be transferred from the the single hospital bed to a larger, comfortable double bed

On arrival, Karl and Jasmine were treated to Voss mineral water and a gift box of treats and snacks, likely different to the usual hospital food selection.

The newly renovated suites were launched in February last year.

Karl and Jasmine's happy news was announced on the Today show on Saturday by Karl's colleague and close friend, Richard Wilkins.

Looks like a hotel! The bathroom looks a world away from the cramped spaces most hospital patients have come to expect, with a large waterfall shower head, large bath and wood-look finishings

Outside: The North Shore Private Hospital

Richard confirmed that Harper weighs 2.9kg and was born on Friday, just after midday.

Speaking to Today, Karl said: 'Harper and Jasmine are doing well and dad had a great night's sleep.

He added: 'I am in awe. Harper is absolutely perfect.'
by Biju Veticad

The lockdown was set to end on 4 May, but Indias central government extended it by another two weeks. The Kerala government has prepared ships as well as military and commercial planes for repatriation. Many migrant workers in the Gulf are suffering from the economic crisis that followed the collapse of oil prices. Returnees will be quarantined at government facilities.

Thiruvananthapuram (AsiaNews)  More than 350,000 Keralites are waiting to come home as soon as Indias central government lifts its lockdown. The latter was imposed on the whole country on 24 March and was set to end on 4 May, but the authorities extended it for two more weeks with regional variations according to colour-coded  red, orange and green  zones.

Under the lockdown all domestic flights were cancelled; international flights had already been suspended on 22 March. Since then, the Kerala state government has implemented a successful containment plan, and set out to draft a strategy for repatriating its citizens from abroad, especially from the Persian Gulf. Within 72 hours, the government portal recorded 353,000 applications worldwide for resettlement.

The governments plan involves a major operation, with Navy ships as well as military and commercial planes, designed to evacuate thousands of Indians stranded in the Gulf area and other regions of the world.

The authorities have already reached out to states to make the necessary arrangements for people when they arrive home. Hotels and other facilities are being equipped to accommodate returnees for a 14-day quarantine period. Not everyone will be able to be in quarantine at home.

Priority will be given to pregnant women, people with diseases other than COVID-19, students, those whose work or tourist visas have expired, and those who have lost their jobs and no longer have any money to support themselves after more than a month of lockdown.

Of all Indian states, Kerala has the largest number of migrants abroad. The Department of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs (NORKA) has launched registration drive for those who want to come home.

As of Thursday, some 353,000 Keralites in 203 nations have registered, including 153,660 in the Emirates and 50,000 in Saudi Arabia.

Once home, their problems will not be over. At least, 56,114 have lost their job and they will not have many job opportunities in the post-lockdown period.

It is estimated that out of 4 million Keralites who live abroad, at least 500,000 will opt to return in the coming months. To these must be added 94,000 people - including many students - who want to return to Kerala from other Indian states.

At least 28 million Indians live abroad; 8 million live in the Gulf states. The latter have been affected not only by the coronavirus crisis, but also by the economic crisis resulting from the slump in oil prices.

Repatriation will begin as soon as the lockdown is lifted. Government sources told AsiaNews that Gulf migrants are the top priority, followed by those in Europe and then the rest of the world.

A few days ago, some lawmakers held a sit-in in order to push the government to speed up the repatriation of Keralites (picture 2).

So far India has reported 26,167 coronavirus cases with 1,218 deaths. Some 9,950 people have recovered.
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A total of 100 hospitals, 50 industries, 50 million square feet of buildings and data centres, 25 airports and metros, and 25 pharmaceutical companies. It took consumer durables firm Voltas about 1,500 plus technicians and engineers to keep essential services running across 260 sites.

When the Indian government announced a lockdown from March 25 (now extended till May 17) to help contain the Coronavirus (or COVID-19) pandemic, essential services like banks, hospitals, technical operations as well as power, water supply units were given an exemption.

However, considering the load of work and extreme heat-related conditions during this time of the year, it was a given that service requirements for air-conditioner brands like Voltas would pile up.

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

In response to a query by Moneycontrol, the Voltas spokesperson said that one of the most common challenges faced during the lockdown would be that of transportation, especially since movement has been restricted at this 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

The spokesperson added that due to this, safe travel of the engineers and technicians proved to be a challenge.

However, our teams were very swift in securing special permissions from essential service customers, local police authorities and worked cohesively with the third-party logistics partner to help meet each service request, said the spokesperson.

Voltas, the countrys largest AC brand and Tata Group company had Rs 1,492.51 crore of revenue from operations in Q3FY20. Here, its revenue from unitary cooling products (ACs, air coolers among others) rose 14 percent year-on-year to Rs 601 crore.

What was the common service request?

The March to June period is the time when extreme heat condition also lead to breakdown in devices. With essential units like hospitals, data centres and other industries facing issues, Voltas spokesperson said that the most common customer service request was the necessity of operational manpower for the essential sites and emergency breakdown calls for rectification.

Further, with the rise in COVID-19 cases there was also a need to convert regular wards to isolation centres within hospitals. These isolation units need special ventilation for infection control.

Our team of engineers have been relentlessly working across different hospital sites to convert standard wards into COVID-19 isolation wards using smart ventilation solutions. AIIMS, Bhatinda, and Guwahati Medical College and Hospital are few such examples, said the spokesperson.

Also Read: India state-wise tally May 2

The extreme heat and non-availability of equipment in stores in India could also be a concern for hospitals. The Voltas spokesperson said that the company has been involved in the maintenance of chillers in hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that make life-saving drugs.

For medical service upgradation, Voltas is conducting sanitisation, duct cleaning, retrofit with UVC (ultra violet) lamp solutions and ventilation modifications as per COVID-19 design guidelines.

Across India, there is a rise in isolation wards being set up in hospitals because there is a view that home isolation may not be effective.

India has seen a total of 37,336 COVID-19 cases and 1,218 deaths so far as per data from the Ministry of Healthy and Family Welfare.

What were the customer sites?

Voltas spokesperson told Moneycontrol that the company has catered to 260 customer sites in India.

These customer sites include 100 hospitals where the company addressed 50,000 TR (ton of refrigeration or heat extraction capacity) of air conditioning and serving 25,000 beds.

It is also servicing 50 million square feet of buildings, data centers and IT Infrastructure. These buildings are part of essential services and help the back-end operations of services like banking, power and water supply among others.

Further, the company said that the company is handling 25 airports and metros wherein Voltas manages 80,000 TR of air conditioning. Also, Voltas is working with 25 pharmaceutical companies to help manufacture life savings medicines where the temperature needs to be controlled within the units.

Among the 50 industries, these include across metals, manufacturing and refineries. Even if there is a lockdown these industries require some personnel and essential staff to run operations as the equipment is not suitable to be shut down completely.

How is the staff being rewarded and safeguarded?

Voltas spokesperson said that personnel working extra hours are given overtime charges and are giving recognition in their internal platforms.

The spokesperson also added that specialised training and protective equipment has been given to the staff.

As part of the Tata Group, we have always placed utmost priority to the health and safety of our employees. We have been reaching out to our vast community of field engineers and technicians via the mobile learning app Handy Train to sensitise them regarding health and safety by sharing Covid-19 awareness videos, safety measures and use of personal protective equipment, said the spokesperson here.

Through the Handy Train application, the company is also creating technical content for the users, resolving queries and troubleshooting, as well as conducting assessment and certifications for its technicians in a streamlined manner. This has been extended to over 28000 plus workforce that include contract and last mile workers.

To prevent disruptions, the company has also trained its personnel digitally handle breakdown calls and preventive service schedules.

Voltas provides heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions to retail and commercial units. Hence the company's over six decades of experience in the country came handy during the COVID-19 crisis.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
Industry in Punjab fears "exodus" of migrant workers from the state after the Centre allowed stranded labourers to move back to their respective places.

Industry representatives are concerned over resumption of units if labourers go back to their native places.

"We are sad to hear that the government has allowed migrant labour to go back to their homes. If the government wants us to restart our units, how can this be possible without the workforce, United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association president D S Chawla said on Saturday.

He said whatever migrant labour was available in the state would return to their natives places as the government has started special train services to ferry them.

"When migrant labourers will learn that trains have started to take them, even those ones who have not planned to go back will surely move out of the state, leaving the industry in lurch," said Chawla.

Industry leaders said if the government had to allow migrant labourers to go back then why industry was being asked to restart their operations.

In the past several days, many units in different industry verticals in the state have come forward to restart their operations in non-containment zones in linewith the guidelines of the ministry of Home Affairs.

On Wednesday, the Centre had allowed migrant workers, tourists, students and other people stranded in different parts of the country to move to their respective destinations with certain conditions.

Punjab has around 10 lakh migrant workers including 7 lakh in Ludhiana alone. Majority of migrant labourers are from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, the Ludhiana's textile segment was of the view that they did not have problem if migrant workers go back to their homes, saying their units were shut on account of lack of orders.

Our summer orders are stuck due to the lockdown. The winter apparel orders have not been finalised yet. Then how can we start our factories and for whom should we make, said Ajit Lakra, president Ludhiana Knitwear Association.

We do not have order and money. Majority of Ludhiana textile industry is not in a position to start their units. Most of the textile and apparel makers are happy that they (migrant labourers) return. If they go back, our financial burden will also ease to some extent. They can come back after the situation turns normal,' said Lakra.

Punjab's industry especially micro, small and medium enterprises sought a financial package from the government. They also wanted waiver in interest on loan, moratorium on loan instalments to enable them to revive their units.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In 2010, Spains emeritus king Juan Carlos I was in Geneva to hand nearly $1.9 million (1.7 million)  a gift he had allegedly received from the king of Bahrain  to Arturo Fasana, the manager of his Swiss bank account at the private lender Maribaud, according to the latters statements to Genevas chief prosecutor Yves Bertossa, to which EL PAIS has had access.

The Swiss justice system is investigating a Panama-based foundation named Lucum where Spains former monarch was named as its first beneficiary.

Bertossa sent a request for judicial cooperation to Judge Manual Garcia Castellon of Spains High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, providing information about a $100 million donation by Saudi Arabia to a Swiss account held by Juan Carlos and explaining that at the time of this deposit, made on April 7, 2010, there was a further deposit made worth $1,895,250 (1.7 million), which was allegedly a gift from the ruler of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa. The Swiss bank account was held in the name of the Panamanian entity Lucum.

King Felipe VI recently announced he is relinquishing any inheritance from his father, after news emerged that he himself was a beneficiary of Lucum and another foundation named in the investigation.

Juan Carlos showed up at Fasanas private home with a suitcase allegedly containing the money

Bahrain, a tiny country covering 712 square kilometers with a population of around 1.2 million and per capita GDP that is nearly twice that of Spain, lies between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Juan Carlos visited Bahrain in 2014 together with three Spanish ministers and a delegation of 15 business leaders, as part of a tour of the six nations that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council. The goal of the trip was to attract investment and contracts for Spain. In April 2016, Juan Carlos attended the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, and met with King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa.

In October 2018 the Swiss prosecutor took statements from the fund manager Arturo Fasana, who was being investigated for alleged money laundering. Fasana was asked about the origin of the money, and the reasons why Juan Carlos received $1.9 million on April 7, 2010 from the ruler of Bahrain. The fund manager replied that Juan Carlos is highly esteemed in the Gulf countries, and that during a return trip from Abu Dhabi, the Spanish monarch stopped by Fasanas home in Geneva for lunch. He told me he had received $1.9 million from the sultan of Bahrain, who had offered him this money, he testified. Fasana said he asked Mirabaud bank if the money could be deposited and received an affirmative answer, after which Juan Carlos showed up at Fasanas private home with a suitcase allegedly containing the cash.

Bertossa has also questioned one of Mirabaud banks top managers regarding the reason behind this donation, and the answer was: I dont know the reason. Javier Sanchez-Junco, the lawyer representing Juan Carlos, has declined to comment.

Arturo Fasana told prosecutors that Juan Carlos is highly esteemed in the Gulf countries

As part of the investigation, several weeks ago prosecutors also took statements from Yves de Mirabaud, who was the lenders president at the time, and who explained that Fasana had a close relationship with the bank. This meant that the lenders compliance department accepted the hefty deposits. The bank itself is currently under investigation in addition to Fasana, the lawyer Dante Canonica and Corinna Larsen, a longtime friend of the Spanish king.

Fasana also told prosecutors about the $100 million deposit made on August 8, 2008 to Juan Carlos name by the royal house of Saudi Arabia. This money, he said, was a donation, and 65 million from this amount was later transferred to an account held by Corinna Larsen.

Larsen, a Monaco-based businesswoman described as a close friend of Juan Carlos, has told investigators that the money was a donation from the former Spanish monarch. In Spain, High Court Judge Manuel Garcia Castellon and anti-corruption prosecutors are also investigating these alleged payments.

The Swiss prosecutor Bertossa is investigating alleged money laundering in connection with alleged commissions for the contract to build the high-speed rail line to Mecca, which was awarded to Spanish companies. Everyone under investigation has denied receiving commissions.

English version by Susana Urra.


Researchers have used high technology methods to learn secrets about a famous painting by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.

The painting is called Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer is considered one of the masters of his art. He worked during the Dutch Golden Age of painting in the sixteen hundreds.

The researchers tests have not discovered the identity of the mysterious woman in the painting. But, they have revealed important information about how Vermeer did the painting, which is sometimes called the Dutch Mona Lisa.

In an online presentation this week, Martine Gosselink, Director of the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, described some recent research findings.

Sadly we didnt find out who this young lady was and if she ever really existed. But we did get a little closer to her, she said.

Researchers and museum workers placed the painting in a special glass room in early 2018 so visitors to the museum could watch as researchers studied the work.

A careful examination of very small pieces of paint showed where some of the paintings pigments came from.

The white that helps form the earring comes from lead from the Peak District in northern England.

The blue is made from a valuable stone found in Afghanistan.

The red is made from insects that live on cactus plants in Mexico and South America.

Abbie Vandivere was leader of the research project. She expressed surprise that Vermeer used so much blue in the painting, noting: This blue pigment was more valuable than gold in the 17th century.

Vermeer, however, did not have to travel the world to get his materials. He most likely bought them in his hometown of Delft.



The research findings do not just show details about Vermeers materials, but also tell us about Dutch and world trade in the 17th century, Vandivere said.

The research also uncovered the order in which Vermeer painted the girl on a piece of cloth.

Infrared imaging showed that Vermeer began making the work using brown and black paint. He then drew the girls outline in black lines before working from the green background to the foreground.

The girl has, sadly, not revealed her identity, but we have got to know her better, Gosselink said.

A statement on the museums website describes the woman as imaginary. The painting is not a portrait, but a tronie  a painting of an imaginary figure, the website says.

But, the public will have to wait until they can see the painting in real life. The Mauritshuis is currently closed, along with all other Dutch museums and galleries,

These closures are because of restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

Im John Russell.

Mike Corder reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

presentation  n. an activity in which someone shows, describes, or explains something to a group of people

museum  n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public

pigment  n. a substance that gives color to something else

infrared -- n. technical: producing or using rays of light that cannot be seen and that are longer than rays that produce red light

reveal -- v. to make (something) known; to show (something) plainly or clearly : to make (something that was hidden) able to be seen

imaginary  adj. not real : existing only in your mind or imagination

portait  n. a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person's head and shoulders

figure  n. a drawing or representation of a person

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Looking straight into the camera from his Wuhan coronavirus-19 bunker, Democratic president nominee wannabe Joe Biden firmly stated, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" Whoops! Wrong Democrat! So many male Democrat political figures have been accused of unwanted sexual advances that it is so easy to confuse who said what denial. President Bill Clinton stated that  and, after some fuss, continued with his presidency.

What Biden did reply to Mika Brzezinski's questioning about Tara Reade's allegations against him on Friday morning was, "No, it is not true. I am saying unequivocally it never, never happened, and it didn't. It never happened.

Brezezinski continued, and Biden again firmly replied

It was 27 years ago. I don't remember, nor does anyone else that I'm aware of[.] ... And the fact is that I don't remember  I don't remember any complaint ever having been made."

That is the sum of the 18-minute interview. To her credit, Brezezinski persistently questioned Biden, bringing up Reade's allegations, asking about the Biden archives at University of Delaware  and Biden consistently responding it never happened, I don't remember.

I believe him. Not that "it never happened." Reade's allegations and proof are certainly more solid than those of, say, Christine Blasey Ford, whom Biden was willing to give "the benefit of the doubt." Or Anita Hill  Biden initially claimed she was lying but later believed all women.

But Biden, as a senator and vice president, is a man of power. He most likely thinks his hands-on behavior, for which he is notorious, is one of the perks of his job. Indeed, he probably thinks women enjoy it. Expect it. And so he does what he does automatically. As naturally as breathing. And doesn't remember that some women night object. Or that he did it.

That is why he cluelessly nominated his old Democratic pal from the Senate, Chris Dodd (Conn.) to be part of his vice presidential vetting team. Yes, that Dodd, who with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) squeezed a petite waitress between them for a senatorial sandwich.

It all leaves Tarana Burke, one of the founders of the #MeToo movement, confused.

Those defending Joe Biden by saying that hes a good guy and therefore could never harm anyone are instead harming survivors and this movement. Relying on him being the only hope against Trump wouldnt excuse his behavior either.  Tarana (@TaranaBurke) May 1, 2020

Whom to believe? What to believe? What to do? You too?
Emma Thompson flew to her second home in Scotland for the lockdown just four days after her and husband Greg Wise were declared citizens of Italy.

Emma Thompson and her husband planned to live in their house in Venice after they were given Italian citizenship on February 28 instead they moved to their Scotland house on March 3 where they have stayed for the lockdown.

The Love Actually actress had said that moving to Venice was a 'dream she had cherished for years' after Brexit spurred her on to leave the UK.

Emma Thompson and her husband Greg Wise left Venice fours days after getting their citizenship to isolate in their holiday home on the banks of Loch Eck in Argyll, Scotland

Pictured: Emma Thompson (front right) and her husband (back right) registering their Italian citizenship at the municipal office in Venice in front of municipal councillor Simone Venturin (left)

Emma Thompson said she felt European and called the UK a 'tiny little cloud-bolted, rainy corner of sort-of Europe, a cake-filled misery-laden grey old island'.

But the Telegraph reported that Emma Thompson left Venice to isolate with her husband, daughter and mother in their holiday home on the banks of Loch Eck in Argyll, Scotland.

Pictured: A view of Argyll, Scotland where Emma Thompson's holiday home is that she is isolating with her husband, daughter and mother

Italy is one of Europe's worst-hit by coronavirus that saw Venice's surrounding towns under strict lockdown rules early in the crisis.

Italy has 207,428 confirmed cases and 28,236 deaths after it was under one of Europe's strictest lockdowns for almost eight weeks.

Pictured: cological operator disinfects a marble on the Rialto bridge on March 11, 2020 in Venice, Italy. Italy has 207,428 confirmed cases and 28,236 deaths after it was under one of Europe's strictest lockdowns for almost eight weeks

Emma Thompson told the BBC that she was at her mother's house in Scotland in an interview promoting a film about Extinction Rebellion where she responded to criticism for flying to London for the environmental protests.

She accepted being called a hypocrite and said she would fly cleanly if she could.

Speaking about her connection to the holiday home she said: I've played on its banks, picnicked on its beaches, swum in its chilly, unsalted depths, cycled round it, drunk it, got drunk near it, kissed in boats on it, got married near it and never wearied of it.'

The UK government banned people from moving to second homes on March 22 after the Scottish government blasted people for non-essential travel to houses in the highlands.
Date: 26th April, 2020

In The Interest Of The Working Class, Protect Workers And Lift The Lock Down With Precautions

Demands from Trade Unions, Peopleas Organizations and NGOs in West Bengal

It has been agreed by experts that large scale transmission in the case of the coronavirus epidemic is inevitable. Complete lockdown can only give us time to prepare for this inevitable eventuality and can also give us some control over the manner in which it spreads geographically. However, the lockdown has come at a huge cost for 93% of our workers and their families who are in the unorganised sector and have neither permanent jobs, nor savings and a social security net to protect them. The conflict now is between livelihoods of the poor, the loss of which is leading to death and suffering by hunger or the loss of lives taken by the coronavirus. Lock down was the time for preparation by Governments and the public health system, and should have been used for data collection on the spread of the disease, surveillance by household visits and preparation of quarantine and treatment facilities. There are conflicting views about how much of this has happened in our state and in the country in general, due to the non-transparency of our Governments. However, there is no doubt that the mass of people in our state can no longer accept blanket lockdown.

The meeting of the PM with the CMs on 27th April 2020 will be discussing these issues and the discussions subsequent to the 27th will also decide the future of the lockdown. In these circumstances, we place the following demands before the PM and our CMs for their consideration in their meeting on the 27th and after that:

1. Instead of complete blanket lockdown after 3rd May, instead adopt strategies to vigorously identify, trace, test, isolate, treat in places where outbreaks can or have occurred.

2. Lock down is not enough, we need testing and quarantine along with it to reduce the epicenter peak and mortality significantly. In particular, data for local preparedness must be generated by testing in districts with and without reported cases. Decisions on relaxation of lock down should be done with other measures in mind - if local data shows over 40% reduction in areas which were earlier hotspots, only after an assessment of the trend of infection through house to house surveillance should lock down be lifted. Lockdown must be lifted only when there is surveillance preparedness, clinical preparedness and quarantine preparedness.

3. In areas where lockdown is continued, a plan to prepare for continuing care with biweekly contact, ensuring supply of food and essentials for all people and quarantine and identification of symptomatic cases must be done.

4. Wherever lockdown is relaxed or lifted, adherence to sanitary habits maintaining personal distancing in workplace as far as practicable should be ensured. Monitoring of these to be done jointly by the trade union bodies and government approved/ appointed bodies.

5. Universal coverage in PDS of all people residing in India , irrespective of where their original place of residence is and whether they have ration cards or not; providing free rations for all for the next six months of 14 kgs food grains per person per month, 1.5 kgs of pulses and 800 gms of cooking oil , along with easy access to vegetables, milk etc. Special provisions should be made for milk for children. Supply of food supplements to people with special needs through PDS.

6. Immediate help to all migrant workers to return to their home states and villages, with proper screening and testing before they return to their villages/home towns. All cases found positive should be quarantined and treated and for the rest, compulsory isolation for 14-21 days should be there in local schools and empty Government buildings. Crowding to be avoided in such facilities and workers should be given food for these 14-21 days by Government.

7. West Bengal Government has declared a onetime aid for workers of Rs.1000 per worker under the Prochesta. This is highly insufficient and most workers are being kept out of this scheme by the manner in which the benefit is being implemented. Instead, we demand announcement of Rs.7000 per household per month for the months of May and June for 80% of households. Such households would include vulnerable and socially discriminated groups like sex workers. The total amount required for this one-time emergency aid is about Rs.26,880 crores (2.4 % of State GDP). Thus, only 14% of the State Governmentas total projected budget for 2020-21 could be used for the benefit of 80% of the stateas population. Calculations are given in the box below.

8. Ensure payment of wages for lockdown period for all workers irrespective of the type of work they do and the type of contract that they have. Provide wage subsidy to small and medium scale industries/enterprises to pay such wages.

9. Immediate and huge increase in NREGA works for people returning to rural areas and a similar scheme for urban areas, with regular and prompt payment of wages; gradual reduction in these as and when workers stop demanding work and shift to other occupations when the economy picks up.

10. Since institutional care facilities are now inaccessible, especially for the poor from rural areas, such provision should be made for all people, and especially for those with special needs by the Government.

Endorsements:

1. AIUTUC

2. Aiyni Sahayata-O-Sramik Krishak Kalyan Kendra

3. Association of Bengal Collaborators for Development

4. Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha

5. Basirhat Thana Itbhata Sramik Karmachari Union

6. Durbar Disha Mahila Grihasramik Samanway Sangothon

7. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee

8. Gitaldaha Bikas Samiti

9. Hosiery Workeras Unity Centre

10. Hridaypur Srija

11. Human Life Development & Research Center

12. Human Rights Law Network

13. Islampur Ramkrishnapally Rural Welfare Society

14. Joint Platform of Health

15. Maheswarpur Nabarun Club

16. Malda Sahayogita Samiti

17. Mukto Kantho Mahila Samity

18. Narayan Integrated Development Society

19. Nari o Shishu Kalyan Kendra

20. NTUI

21. Ossonghothitho Khetra Sramik Sangrami Mancha (Struggle Forum for Informal Sector Workers)

22. Pally Samaj Gram Unnayan Samity

23. Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity

24. Project Affected Peopleas Association

25. Sampurna Nari Kalyan Samity

26. Samsia Rural Health and Economic Development Society

27. SEWA Bharat

28. Shripur Mahila-O-Khadi Unnayan Samity

29. South Kolkata Sannidhya

30. Sramajibi Mahila Samity

31. Sramajibi Samanway Committee

32. Sutanutir Sakhya

33. Swayam

34. TUCI

35. Udayani Social Action Forum

36. Uttar Bangal Chai Mazdoor Adhikar Manch

37. Uttar Dinajpur Sangrami Biri Sramik Union
By PTI

PESHAWAR: Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor's ancestral home, dubbed as the 'Kapoor Haveli', here cannot be converted into a museum as promised by the Pakistan government due to financial constraints, sources said on Saturday.

In 2018, the Pakistan government decided to convert the 'Kapoor Haveli' in Qissa Khwani Bazar in Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province into a museum, heeding to a request by Rishi Kapoor who died this week at a hospital in Mumbai.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had assured Rishi Kapoor that the Pakistan government will convert the actor's house into a museum.

The sources in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Heritage Department told PTI that the department prepared a comprehensive plan under which the haveli's front would be preserved and its inner portion will be repaired and renovated.

However, the plan did not go ahead due to lack of financial resources, they said.

Somebody sent this. Picture showing Randhir and me outside the Kapoor Haveli, Peshawar.Warmly greeted as seen in pic pic.twitter.com/TjfugQ9daw  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) January 27, 2016

Federal Minister Shaheryar Afridi had promised to give the status of museum to the 'Kapoor Haveli' soon after the present government of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf party came into power in July 2018.

However, the announcement to this effect could not be materialised despite a lapse of around two years.

The haveli is presently the property of a private person who made three/four attempts in the past to demolish the building but could not do it as FIRs were registered against him by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa heritage department.

The owner has now assured the government that he would not dismantle the building.

However, due to frequent rains, hailstorms and earthquakes, the condition of the building has deteriorated from inside.

The 'Kapoor Haveli' was built by Basheswarnath Kapoor, the father of Bollywood icon Prithviraj Kapoor. The Kapoor family, originally from Peshawar in Pakistan, migrated to India after the partition in 1947.

In 1990, Rishi Kapoor along with brother Randhir Kapoor visited their ancestral home where his grandfather, Prithviraj and his father Raj Kapoor, were born.

The news of Rishi Kapoor's death sent a wave of sadness and grief among people in Peshawar.

A lot of people visited the 'Kapoor Haveli' to express their grief and condolence over his demise.

"We had no relation with Rishi Kapoor, but had a liking for him because of watching him as a film hero from childhood and due to his connection with a place which is also a birth place of me," said Pervaiz Ahmad, a city dweller.

"Rishi's death has saddened me a lot", Pervaiz added.

"Perhaps the feeling expressed by Pervaiz portrays sentiments of all the dwellers of Peshawar over sad demise of Rishi," said Ibrahim Zia, a historian who wrote a book titled 'Peshawar ki Funkar' (Artists of Peshawar).
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR FORECAST: AUD/USD & AUD/JPY PIVOT LOWER ON RENEWED US-CHINA TRADE WAR TENSION AMID CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

The Australian Dollar recorded an impressive rally over the last few weeks. Australian Dollar strength since its March low was exerted against anti-risk currencies, like the US Dollar and Japanese Yen, in particular.

This mirrored a broad improvement in market sentiment, which came on the back of unparalleled liquidity and fiscal stimulus measures from major central banks and governments, as well as an influx of virus optimism. Recent Australian Dollar upside has also corresponded with the retracement in currency volatility.

Although, considering a coronavirus recession is likely unavoidable, and materially threatens the pro-risk Australian Dollar, can the recent advance by AUD/USD and AUD/JPY extend higher? Or is the Australian Dollar gearing up for a larger reversal?

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR PRICE OUTLOOK IMPROVED AS VOLATILITY FADED, CORONAVIRUS RECESSION STILL THREATENS TO REKINDLE RISK AVERSION

Chart created by @RichDvorakFX with TradingView

Closely correlated to the S&P 500 VIX Index, and trader sentiment in general, the Australian Dollar remains vulnerable to a broader reversal, and could follow the return of volatility. This bearish scenario for AUD price action appears increasingly likely as complacency builds and market participants refuse to acknowledge progressively woeful economic data.

If FX volatility ebbs again, however, the Australian Dollar might continue its recent ascent. Though this seems unlikely for now in light of the latest China tariff threat from Trump, and renewed Sino-American trade war tensions. Australia GDP is closely tied to its largest trading partner - China - the second largest economy in the world. In turn, growing US-China trade war tension could pressure the Australian Dollar lower. Furthermore, the technical backdrop for AUD/USD and AUD/JPY paint bleak pictures for Australian Dollar outlook.

Read More - Trade War History: Impact on Global Trade and Financial Markets

AUD/USD PRICE CHART: WEEKLY TIME FRAME (OCTOBER 2017 TO APRIL 2020)

The Australian Dollar faces a pivotal inflection point as AUD/USD price action rallies into a huge area of resistance. This technical barrier, which threatens to send AUD/USD recoiling back lower, is highlighted by a confluence of its 20-week moving average and 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level of the January 2018 to March 2020 trading range.

AUD/USD PRICE CHART: DAILY TIME FRAME (DECEMBER 2019 TO APRIL 2020)

Zooming in on a daily AUD/USD chart shows the Australian Dollar is already starting to edge lower with a bearish reaction to its upper Bollinger Band near the 0.6500 price level. Technical support, underpinned by the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of its year-to-date trading range, may provide AUD/USD a degree of buoyancy. Although, Australian Dollar selling pressure could accelerate if spot AUD/USD price action invalidates its short-term bullish trend noted by the recent series of higher lows.

AUD/JPY PRICE CHART: DAILY TIME FRAME (DECEMBER 2019 TO APRIL 2020)

A daily AUD/JPY chart also reveals how the Australian Dollar could come under pressure after rejecting the 70.000 handle  a massive zone of confluent resistance noted by the 100-day exponential moving average, March 08 gap lower, 61.8% Fib, as well as the top barrier of its rising wedge pattern. Yet, AUD/JPY might keep marching higher, perhaps toward the 74.000 price mark, if trader risk appetite remains upbeat and volatility compression bolsters the currency carry trade.

Nevertheless, the path of least resistance seems lower and risk appears tilted to the downside. A breakdown below the positively-sloped support trendline, extended through the recent string of higher highs and higher lows, could exacerbate Australian Dollar weakness against the Yen. If this materializes, it may prompt Aussie bears to make a push for a retest of the March 18 swing low, which is a scenario that may warrant additional credence amid a violent return of risk aversion.

-- Written by Rich Dvorak, Analyst for DailyFX.com

Connect with @RichDvorakFX on Twitter for real-time market insight
Harshil Mathur

The 21-day lockdown triggered by the spread of the coronavirus has entered into the last 10 days and entrepreneurs, the original hustlers, have had to make a plenty of changes to their daily routine to adapt to working from home (WFH). Their daily schedules have been disrupted and their long drawn out usual meetings have been replaced by video calls. Not to mention the stress of a looming economic slowdown and pressure from investors.

Moneycontrol looks at how a scrum of business leaders is dealing with these fast changing times. In todays edition of Virtual Leaders Pratik Bhakta spoke to interviews Harshil Mathur, the chief executive officer of payment gateway startup Razorpay.

You can read other editions of Virtual Leaders here.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Q: What does your average day look like now given your normal routine must have been disrupted by the 21days lockdown?

A: One of the core benefits of working from home is saving commute time and not being stuck in traffic for long hours - youll agree with me if you stay in Bangalore. While this freed-up time allows me to start my work a little later than usual, it unintentionally runs much longer than the regular working hours. Mostly work-life boundaries between weekdays and weekends are blurred due to self-isolation and knowing that theres no rush or urgency to finish work in order to get home in time.

Q: How do you manage your office teams now? How are you keeping your staff motivated? Could you share some unique experiences that you have had during these 10 days of the lockdown while dealing with your teams/colleagues or investors.

A: Managing work and teams has not been a challenge for us yet, being a new age company, it's easier for us to work from home and ensure business continuity as well. Most of our interactions are virtually conducted via Zoom, Google Hangouts, phone calls and emails.

I think the only motivation that can help employees in this current scenario (beyond the usual engagement activities that everyone does) is to connect with employees and communicate openly. Everyone is gripped by the truth that were all going through a global pandemic. Everyone knows that a slowdown in parts of the global economy and increased uncertainty can also impact our company and their jobs as well.

We assured our employees even though theres a possible economic crisis that can hit India, we are well capitalised and dont foresee ourselves lacking funds to operate at scale in the next 12-14 months.

During an economic crisis, the path to layoff seems like the most effective and shorter one. With many leading Indian startups announcing layoffs, we wanted to assure our employees that there wont be any job cuts or layoffs but hiring will instead continue as planned and so will appraisals. This announcement was made at our first virtual All Hands and I was overwhelmed to see the kind of response, even direct texts and emails we received from employees knowing that their jobs and families were secure in times like these.

And just to show our support to our colleagues to help them work better from their remote locations, we extended a small remote working allowance towards their salaries every month. This allowance can be used for needs which can make working from home easier and comfortable.

Q: Have you found some means to e-socialise with your teams outside work, given all of your colleagues might be remote?

A: Yeah, among other activities we have launched some effective ideas with Curefit to help employees stay active, regulate motions and manage stress in these difficult times. This has worked well, we connect virtually post office hours everyday, de-stress ourselves and stay motivated together. In addition to this the team has been doing poker nights, slack quizzes, game nights along with netflix parties to ensure that none of us feel lonely.

Q: Now that you are working from home, how much time are you spending with family/kids? Any specific activity that you undertake regularly with your family members, which you thoroughly enjoy?

A: My parents are based out of Jaipur and the lockdown has indeed helped me to spend time with them more often nowadays.

Q: Have you always had a separate workstation at home or did you set that up because of the lockdown? Can you share with us how have you set it up?

A: Actually Razorpays first office was the penthouse where I live now and this lockdown takes me back to old days where it all began. Most of the founding team members used to work at the penthouse till we set up our new office in Koramangala.

While I had my own work space, the lockdown has got me to set up a home workstation which helps me avoid muscle strain, headaches and sore eyes. My workstation faces the window for better ventilation, with an ergonomic chair which helps me maintain a proper posture during long meetings. While I spend most of my day at my desk, I keep an essential oil diffuser to create a happy and vibrant atmosphere while working.

Q: Was there a hobby that you had given up because of work pressure but you have been able to resume now over the last two weeks?

A: Ive always wanted to try my hands on cooking but never found enough time. The lockdown has been an opportunity for me to try out new recipes that I wouldn't have normally cooked. It has also helped relieve stress and stay active.

Q: Did you manage to catch up with any old friend or a relative in this time period, someone who has not been in touch with you for a long time?

A: While I didn't have enough time to visit my childhood friends earlier, Ive been using this time catching up with school, college friends and relatives a lot more through zoom. Sometimes in these times of anxiousness connecting with my younger self has helped me reframe these difficult times and spread positivity.

This lockdown might actually lead to the start of a massive cultural change towards how we connect with our near and loved ones.

Q: What is that one major piece of management learning that you have gained during this forced lockdown and planning to carry on even after we all come back to normalcy?

A: It might not be the ideal management lesson but something that I truly live by - always and always focus on the most important asset you have  employees, their safety first and then worry about business profit and loss.
'La Festa dei lavoratori', or Labour Day, on May 1, has a special significance in Italy. A highly industrialised country that dragged itself up after World War II to establish a reputation for design and manufacturing, the rights of workers are robustly defended. This is a country where strikes and picket lines are a fact of daily life.

Yesterday was therefore an occasion for reflection rather than celebration as Italy's workers prepare for phase two of the government's coronavirus strategy. On Monday, Italy will begin to lift the restrictions that have kept people at home and out of work for the last two months.

The move is prompted by positive news from the Civil Protection Department. After weeks of a horrifying wave of deaths due to Covid-19, the curve has been effectively flattened. Thursday saw a record drop in the number of people infected, falling to 101,551, down 3,106 in 24 hours. Some 28,000 people have died.

As of Monday, a loosening of restrictions will allow people to do outdoor exercise, travel within their region, buy takeaway food, visit relatives, attend funerals (up to 15 people) and go to the park. Crucially, factories can reopen. The decree is operative until May 18, when it is hoped that further opening up of society can be permitted.

In reality this is good news and should be touted as a victory for the Italian people and for Giuseppe Conte. However, the prime minister is feeling the squeeze on all sides to relax restrictions even further.

Italy has devolved power to regional governments who can decide for themselves. Until now regional officials have been fully supportive of the government's coronavirus strategy, but with the economic realities hitting home, Italy's GDP fell by 4.7pc for Q1 officially tipping the country into recession, most are calling for a complete return to work sooner rather than later.

Calabria in the south allowed bars and restaurants with outside tables to open to the public on Thursday. The northern region of Veneto, one of the first to be hit with the virus, allowed takeaways, pizzerias and some shops to open on Monday. The regions south of Rome have suffered relatively few deaths from Covid-19.

"We cannot allow the efforts made to be in vain because of rashness at this delicate stage. Moving from the policy of 'let's close everything' to 'let's reopen everything', would risk irreversibly compromising these efforts," Conte told parliament on Thursday. "Initiatives involving less restrictive measures are contrary to national rules, and are therefore to all intents and purposes illegitimate."

Conte remains resolute in determination to keep a tight rein on restrictions and to be guided by science rather than emotion. In a speech to parliament he referenced Greek philosophy and the principle of 'doxa', knowledge based on a feeling, versus 'epistemology', or knowledge founded in scientific fact. Conte said that 150,000 tests will be carried out in May to trace the development of antibodies. A full lockdown remains on the table and can be affected at any moment should the number of infected start to increase. Currently the virus reproduction number is between 0.5 and 0.7. Should it rise to 1.0, intensive care units would again be overwhelmed.

While his approval rating is high, for an incumbent Italian prime minister, politically, Conte may well end up as the sacrificial lamb as dissent foments in parliament. The populist opposition leaders are beating that drum with all their might. Not to much effect, but that could change. In Italy, governments fall easily and often, and Conte has already enjoyed an unusually long spell at the helm.

It puts Conte in a different position to Leo Varadkar in Dublin, who with the paint barely dry on a fresh election result and a grand coalition in the works, you would think the Taoiseach had a more secure platform on which to act.

Ireland differs from Italy too, in that before the virus it had a thriving economy with high employment. Over 10 million Italians are facing severe poverty with little hope of an economic recovery any time soon.

Just as in Ireland, the people in Italy are weary of the lockdown, although the measures have been much more severe here. People are desperate to return to work, to gather, to congregate or go to Mass.

Italy's fractured social and political landscape risks undoing Conte's unifying work. The political circus will soon begin to roll on and life will, hopefully, gradually begin to return to normal.

It should be remembered though that, for a brief time, the whole country was united against a common enemy, led by Italy's exceptional frontline healthcare workers. The lockdown has saved countless lives and that was achieved by ordinary Italians staying at home and observing physical distancing. It will be up to ordinary people to continue that fight, just as it will in Ireland. If politicians are determined to divide public opinion, it is up to ordinary people to take the lead.

At the beginning of the crisis Conte quoted German sociologist Norbert Elias, saying: "Let's remain distant today so we can embrace with more warmth and run faster tomorrow."

Just not yet.
Ranchi, May 2 : As a special train from Telengana trundled in at a Jharkhand railway station on Saturday, the 1,200 stuck migrant labourers on board were visibly relieved and happy to be back to their native state, with one of them saying that he would never ever again leave his home for greener pastures in other states.

As the train stopped at the Hatia railway station, these migrants deboarded to be further taken to their respective districts on 60 buses arranged by the Jhakhand government, where they would be quarantined as per the protocol.

Aziz Ansari, a resident of Sasang village in Latehar village, said that he would never leave his state again to earn his livelihood in view of the ordeal he went through due to the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"I don't want to recall those bad days. Come what may, I will not leave my state again. If the government provides us means of livelihood in our own state, who will wish to leave his home, family, village for earning money?" he remarked.

One migrant worker, who was coming out of the railway station holding a flower and food packet, said he was happy to be back in Jharkhand. He thanked the central and the state government for making arrangements for their return to the state.

He said that though he got food and shelter in Telangana, he felt homesick during the lockdown.

Another migrant, Anwar, said that the migrants were sure that the central and state governments will make arrangements for their return home.

He said that he too missed his family amid the lockdown, adding that board and lodging in Telengana was not up to the mark.

Latehar district's Gova village resident Nagender Oraon said he was employed as a JCB operator in Telangana.

He told IANS on phone that the stuck labourers survived on rice and lentils given to them during the lockdown. He said he was happy to be home, pointing out that though he could find a job in his home state, the money offered was lesser.
Kriti Kharbanada and Pulkit Samrat are in a relationship since quite some time now and are now expected to be part of a wedding, at least in Salman Khans upcoming production. The two will play a couple in the film titled Bulbul Marriage Hall, which will also have Sunil Grover and Daisy Shah among the star cast. It was to go on the floors in April but is now delayed due to lockdown amid coronavirus outbreak.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, a source close to the development of the film has revealed the film will be set in Lucknow and will revolve around an Indian wedding. Talking about Sunils role, who worked with Salman in Bharat, the source said, His character has comic undertones, with plenty of humorous one-liners. He plays a brother to Pulkit in the film. The film will reportedly be directed by Rohit Nayyar with dialogues by Raaj Shaandilyaa, who is expected to bring the local flavour of Uttar Pradesh.

Kriti and Pulkit are living in during lockdown. Last month, Kriti had taken to Instagram to share a video where she can be seen enjoying a champi (oil massage on the head) by Pulkit. She also jokingly claimed that her new motto in life is to make Pulkit give her a champi!

The actor captioned: First I made him look like Champak, then made him give me a champi! @pulkitsamrat heya! Thanks ya! #quarantinememories #yelocozyolo (this is officially my new motto in life)

Also read: Aamir Khan shows off his lockdown look with grey hair as he suits up for movie night with Ira and Kiran

Fans loved the video and comments like cute couple and favourite couple followed. In an earlier interview with IANS, Kriti had spoken about her chemistry with Pulkit and shared: We look so hot together. We have such great chemistry and look so cute together. Pulkit is very special to me and will always be so.

The two had last featured as an onscreen couple in Anees Bazmees 2019 comedy film Pagalpanti. It however failed to impress the audience or the critics.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
China in Focus (May 1): Armed Police Patrol 24/7 in Chinese City

Parts of China see increased security presence: armed police patrolling 24 hours a day. Many wonder why.

Chinas official unemployment figure is raising doubts as the economy is hit hard by the pandemic. A new analysis in China says the figure should be three times higher.

The World Health Organizations representative in China says the Chinese regime is refusing to allow them to investigate the origins of the virus.

A Chinese student that fell for the Communist Partys propaganda flew home to avoid the virus outbreak. What happened later devastated him.

The pandemic has also highlighted Americas reliance on China for medical supplies. Today we look back at the turning point when China became the manufacturing hub it is today.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel for more first-hand news from China

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter
MILFORD  Bryan Anderson, Democratic candidate for state representative in the 119th District, wants Milford to be at the table, in talks about the future of the Waterbury Rail Line.

Anderson said in a release that the action by the State Bond Commission on April 16 to withdraw bond funding on new rail cars is a a new opportunity, for that to happen and to take into account Milfords interests.

North Milford, including Baldwin Station, Great River, and Wheelers Farms, as well as Orange, are traversed by trains running on the rail line that hugs the Housatonic River, Anderson said in the release. Yet in all of the planning that has taken place, Milford has not been part of the discussion. Im calling for that to change.

The 119th District includes north Milford, a majority of the citys 5th District and a small portion of Orange near Peck Lane.

Anderson said he believes commuter and freight rail are keys to Connecticuts long-term economic future .

He said if elected, we would work as state representative to forge new alliances with elected leaders, employers, workers, and nonprofit groups and most importantly, I will insure that Milford residents and taxpayers are represented.

Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled the transportation initiative dubbed CT2030 in 2019. State legislators, municipal leaders and businesses formed an advocacy group and legislative caucus to promote a faster timeframe for rail upgrades and new rail cars to spur economic development and job creation among Naugatuck Valley communities, according to Anderson.

Anderson said Devon Station, located near Naugatuck Avenue, has been used as a Metro-North stop during times of need and should be explored as a permanent boarding platform for the Waterbury Rail Line.

The Waterbury Line serves Derby, Shelton, Ansonia, Seymour, Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, and Waterbury, with future expansion to Thomaston and Torrington. He said bond funding has support from a bipartisan group of mayors and first selectmen, state legislators, business leaders, and important nonprofits, such as the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, Chamber of Commerce, TEAM, Inc. and others.

Anderson is a former longtime 5th District alderman.
Vehicle owners in Vietnam may soon be able to pick their own license plate number instead of having one randomly assigned to them, according to a draft of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety proposed by the Ministry of Public Security.

The draft law, submitted by the Ministry of Public Security to the government last month, included some new clauses that address the issuing of license plate numbers for motor vehicles.

Currently, all license plate numbers in Vietnam are picked randomly via the vehicle registration agencys system when the owner registers their new vehicle.

In the proposed bill, however, apart from this existing choice, vehicle owners also have the option to choose a preferred license plate number based on their own liking for a certain fee.

They can even bid for a good license plate number in auctions held for in-demand numbers.

In some popular Vietnamese beliefs, there are good numbers that can bring health and wealth to the owner such as 8, 6, 86, 68, and more.

Many vehicle owners are willing to pay a fortune for lucky license plates containing such numbers.

To facilitate these new proposed rules, the Ministry of Public Security suggested setting up an online auction panel to handle the process of issuing automobiles registration plates.

Those who successfully bid for a license plate number will be exempt from registration fees related to the issuing of that plate.

The new draft law also listed situations when someone can be refused vehicle registration, one of which is when the owner fails to produce adequate legal documents relating to both the owner and the vehicle.

The authority can refuse to register or issue a license plate if the vehicles VIN (vehicle identification number) and/or engine number has been destroyed or damaged.

Vehicles with license plate areas that are not easily visible will also be denied registration, according to the draft law.

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An activist has been arrested after 5G conspiracy theorists carried out a group hug near the Met Police's headquarters while holding signs with slogans such as my body my choice.

The group were spotted outside New Scotland Yard in Westminster, London, this afternoon, chanting 'hug someone, save lives' in defiance of the government's coronavirus lockdown laws.

Others in the group, including children, were seen holding up signs protesting 5G and vaccines.

Meanwhile, video has also emerged of one protester, dressed in a florescent jacket, being arrested as he repeatedly shouts phrases like 'I do not consent' and 'police brutality'.

Police have arrested a number of anti-lockdown protesters taking part in a group hug outside the Met Police's headquarters while holding signs with slogans such as my body my choice. Pictured: One protester is arrested by police

The group were spotted outside New Scotland Yard in Westminster, London, this afternoon, chanting 'hug someone, save lives' in defiance of the government's coronavirus lockdown laws. Pictured: The man is carried away by a number of officers

Video shows one protester, dressed in a florescent jacket, being arrested as he repeatedly shouts phrases like 'I do not consent' and 'police brutality'. Pictured: The man is put into a police van

The man is later cuffed by officers after dragging himself to the floor before six officers carry him by his arms and legs into the back of a police van.

Around 20 people appeared to be in the crowd, breaching the government's 'no gathering' rules.

The group, which included young children, held up signs which included the slogans 'my body, my choice', 'we do not consent' and 'no more lockdown'.

Other signs targeted 5G internet, which has been the subject of conspiracy theories, including that it helps spread coronavirus and can cause cancer.

Such stories have previously been debunked by experts, who say 5G phones are completely safe to use.

Chancellor Michael Gove last month described such theories as 'dangerous nonsense'.

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: 'Police are aware of a small number of protesters that gathered near New Scotland Yard at 11.30am on Saturday.

'Officers attended and engaged with the protesters and encouraged them to go home. The group subsequently dispersed.

'One man was arrested for failing to comply with the direction of a police constable and assault on police. He has been taken into custody.'

The lockdown laws were put in place in March following the outbreak of coronavirus.

The group held up signs which included slogans protesting a number of their concerns, including 5G internet and vaccines

Children in the group also held up signs, including one which claimed 5G radiation is a 'killer causing Covid-19 symptoms'. Conspiracy theories around 5G have been debunked and experts say 5G phones are completely safe to use

The group also held up signs which included the slogans 'my body, my choice', 'we do not consent' and 'no more lockdown'

The lockdown laws were put in place in March following the outbreak of coronavirus. Pictured: A protester holds up a sign with the slogan 'my body, my choice'

Dozens of police were at the scene of the protest, which took place outside New Scotland Yard in Westminster

So far, 27,880 people have died from Covid-19, while there have been more than 177,000 confirmed cases.

Despite today's protest, a poll last month found that the vast majority of Britons back the lockdown rules being used to tackle the virus.

A YouGov poll of more than 2,000 Britons last month found 48 per cent of the country backs the Government's lockdown measures.

A staggering 92 per cent said they agreed with the statement: 'I will probably follow the advice of the Government even if I don't agree with it or find it pointless.'

Another YouGov survey found 44 per cent are in favour of extending social distancing measures beyond April 19.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 12:53:30|Editor: huaxia

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SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday called for fighting discrimination and hate amid the COVID-19 pandemic at the opening of Asia-Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month of the city.

"As I have said, time after time, we have to stand together to fight this virus based on the science, facts and data. There is no place for discrimination and hate in our city or our country," Breed said in a video speech for the virtual celebration of the APA Heritage Month opening.

"During this global pandemic, the APA communities are facing unfair treatment, prejudice, and threats simply because of who they are," she added. "We celebrate our cultural heritage because it's a part of who we are as a city."

The month of May is celebrated as APA Heritage Month for the past 15 years in San Francisco, which has a tradition of kicking off the celebration with APA heritage awards event followed by a festive reception at the city hall.

Last year, the celebration committee of the event presented the award to a project led by Stanford Professor Gordon Chang for delving into the history of the Chinese railroad workers' contribution to completing the first transcontinental railroad across the United States in the 19th century.

Because of the pandemic, this year's celebration and all the other cultural events throughout the month cannot take place as usual.

"We must shelter in and be safe. However, the recognition and celebration of APA Heritage Month must continue," Said Claudine Cheng, founder of the San Francisco APA Heritage Celebration Committee and the non-profit APA Heritage Foundation.

"Because we are living through an extraordinary time when Asian Pacific Americans are facing the challenges not only of the pandemic but also the rising tide of anti-Asian hate and violence," Cheng explained.

She noted that APA Heritage Month offers a unique and timely opportunity for the diverse community to "come together, to connect, to share stories, and be proud of who we are."

"We invite everyone to join us in this virtual celebration to enjoy all the online programs that showcase the rich and diverse cultures of the Asian and Pacific Islanders," Cheng said. Enditem
Chennai, May 2 : Migrant workers housed in a relief camp in a city suburb held a protest demanding they be sent back home.

The migrant workers have been housed in relief camps in several localities in the city and suburbs.

With the news of one train taking migrant workers from Telangana to Jharkhand, a large number of migrant workers in Pallavaram camp protested in that locality demanding train for them to their home state.

The police later pacified the protesters.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Forty-one people from the same building, which was sealed on April 19, in Delhis Kapashera area have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Coivd-19), news agency ANI reported citing the district magistrates office.

The building is in Theke Wali Gali near the district collectors office in Kapashera and was sealed after one person contracted the respiratory disease.

Three officials in the district magistrate (DM)s office had tested positive for Sars-Cov-2, the infection that causes Covid-19 on April 29.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

As soon as a place reports three positive cases, our officials declare the identified area as a containment zone, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had said during his daily media briefing on Wednesday.

An area has to be declared a containment zone if three or more Covid-19 cases are reported from there, according to the Delhi governments rules.

Rahul Singh, South Wests district magistrate, had put himself in home quarantine as a precautionary measure. Seventeen others, who were in close contact with the first official who tested positive, were kept under observation at the Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Ayurvedic Hospital, which is a dedicated Covid-19 health centre.

Delhi now has 96 containment zones after one more residential complex in east Delhis Patparganj area was taken out of the list on Friday evening.

The three localities were de-contained on Friday, the day revised guidelines for the third phase of national lockdown were issued by the Union ministry of home affairs, which also notified strict protocol for containment zones.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

The number of containment zones in Delhi had reached 100 a couple of days ago before the de-containment of a few areas again brought it under the 100-mark.

There were 223 new cases of Covid-19 in the national capital on Friday including two deaths. It has taken Delhis tally to 3738 and toll to 61, a health bulletin issued by the Delhi health department said on Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the role of the Nigerian media in keeping people informed and educated on the pernicious Coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The president gave the commendation in a statement by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Saturday, to mark this years World Press Freedom Day.

He said: We cannot overemphasize the role of the media in keeping people informed and educated on the pernicious virus, which has no friend or foe.

It simply seeks to mow down anyone and everyone in its path, and public awareness is very important, lest we become like sitting ducks.The media are doing this quite effectively.

He further charged the media to continue with their good work, till we get to safe harbour, when the world, and our country are finally free of this greatest health challenge in recent history.

While reflecting on the theme of World Press Freedom Day 2020, Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation, President Buhari opined that Nigeria has a very unhealthy dose of disinformation, fake news, hate news, purveyed by people who use media platforms, particularly the digital variant.

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They dont mean well for us, and no country can afford to close its eyes to the evil disinformation can cause. In a plural polity like ours, it has the potential to rupture relationships, sow seeds of discord, and set on the path of destabilisation.

When fake and hate news are added unabashedly, it can only signpost doom. I urge the Press to use the occasion of World Press Freedom Day to see how this can be vigorously tackled, he added.

On the part of government, the president pledged a recommitment to the ideals of freedom of the press, noting that democracy thrives better in an atmosphere of transparency, as opposed to opacity.

We appreciate the cooperation we have enjoyed from the media in tackling the Coronavirus, and look forward to same, post COVID-19, when all hands must be on deck to repair the damages done to our economic and social lives, the president affirmed.

(NAN)
Scott started his own practice in 1983, and the next year was commissioned as an ensign into the U.S. Naval Reserve. He remained a part of the Naval Reserve until retiring 22 years later as a commander. On his campaign website, Scott notes that he was recalled to active duty due to conflict with Kuwait, and that he was also recalled after 9/11 when he he became a Naval Criminal Investigative Service Agent. Scott is a member of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a member of the Montana Trial Lawyers, the American Bar Association and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. Scott is also a American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers fellow and is a certified family law arbitrator in Montana. He has also been on the Montana State Bar's Professionalism Committee for more than 15 years and has contributed award winning articles to the publication Montana Lawyer.
Spaniards were allowed out of their homes to exercise and walk freely after 48 days of confinement on Saturday as some European nations began cautiously easing virus lockdowns while others like Russia faced a spike in new infections. As governments across the globe balance lifting restrictions to restart economies against the risk of new infections, US authorities brought some hope by approving an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patients. The measure was the latest step in a global push to find viable treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown, hammered the world economy and caused more than 3.3 million confirmed infections. The virus has killed nearly 239,000 people since it emerged in China late last year. With signs the pandemic in their hardest-hit nations is slowing, European countries and some parts of the US have begun to lift restrictions and to try to inject life into economies battered by weeks of closure. In Madrid and Barcelona, Spaniards took to the streets to exercise and walk freely as the government eased seven weeks of strict lockdown in a country with one of the highest number of fatalities at nearly 25,000. "After so many weeks in confinement, I badly wanted to go out, run, see the world," said financial advisor Marcos Abeytua in Madrid's Chueca district who got up a 7am to enjoy some time outside. "Yesterday, I was like a child on Christmas Eve." In the city's Retiro park, many residents were out to running, sometimes in groups, as a policeman used a loudspeaker to urge them to keep out of deserted avenue and on the pavement. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez however said masks would be obligatory on public transport from Monday. Spain, Germany, Austria and Scandinavian nations are all slowly easing lockdowns as the virus cases slow though they will keep in place social distancing measures, demand the use of masks or increase testing to try to track infections. France on Saturday decided it would extend a health emergency, in place since March 24, by two months until July 24, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced after a cabinet meeting. Italy is preparing to ease restrictions in coming days while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who spent time in intensive care with the virus, said Britain had past the peak of its outbreak. Ireland extended its lockdown by two weeks to May 18, with Prime Minister Leo Varadkar saying the nation will reopen "in a slow, phased, staged way" after that. In Russia, though, authorities reported the largest increase in coronavirus cases with the new infections rising by nearly 10,000 in a single day. In Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, around 2 percent of the population is infected by COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, officials said. "The threat is apparently on the rise," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, said on his blog earlier Saturday. - Treatment hopes - More than 3.3 million cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 195 countries, including 1.5 million in Europe alone. That number is likely only a fraction of true cases as testing is still limited. The United States has the most deaths with more than 65,000, followed by Italy with 28,236, the United Kingdom with 27,510, Spain with 25,100 deaths and France with 24,594 fatalities. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that Remdesivir, an antiviral drug initially developed to treat Ebola, was given the green light for use after a major trial found that it boosted recovery in serious COVID-19 patients. "It's really a very promising situation," Trump said on Friday at the White House. The drug incorporates itself into the virus's genome, short-circuiting its replication process. Its approval came as the US leaders struggled with growing pressure from citizens wearying of stay-at-home orders. Trump is keen for a turnaround as the world's largest economy reels with tens of millions left jobless. Texas became the largest US state yet to ease curbs, while anti-lockdown demonstrations were held in several states -- including California, where officials had re-closed beaches beginning Friday to avoid a repeat of last weekend when crowds flocked to the shoreline. In Huntington Beach, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, several thousand people rallied to denounce Governor Gavin Newsom's beach shutdown order. "Open California!" chanted protesters near the closed beaches, carrying signs that read "All jobs are essential" or "Freedom is essential". - Hong Kong shops opening - In Asia, India announced that the lockdown on its 1.3 billion people -- the world's biggest -- would continue for two more weeks from May 4. And in Singapore, the government said Saturday that pet food stores and hair salons will be allowed to reopen on May 12. Most of the city-state's infections have been detected at dormitories housing migrant workers, and their confinement was extended to June 1. Hong Kong recorded zero confirmed case of coronavirus on Saturday, the sixth day within a week. The city's social distancing regulations including limits on gathering of more than four people are due to expire on May 7, but authorities have not decided whether to extend them. The city's chief executive has said that civil servants will return to work in the office starting from May 4. During the long weekend with public holidays to celebrate Buddha's birthday and Labour Day, residents flocked to country parks and the city's outlying islands to get some fresh air. Shops and restaurants started to resume business in normal opening hours with more consumers going out to streets and shopping malls. The virus restrictions put a damper on May Day celebrations worldwide on Friday as many labour unions delayed their rallies and some held online events, while a determined few hit the streets in face masks. May Day carried extra significance this year because of the staggering number of people put out of work by the pandemic, with the global economy in a tailspin and facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression. Stock markets tumbled again on Friday after Trump's unproven allegation that the virus may have come from a lab in Wuhan -- the central Chinese city where the disease first emerged. burs-qan/gle/pma/ach
A local member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education has been named to a 20-person task force that will study how to reopen North Carolina public schools for the 2020-21 school year.

N.C. Superintendent Mark Johnson announced the bipartisan Schools Reopening Task Force at the State Board of Educations meeting on Thursday. The group includes Dana Caudill Jones, a Republican from Kernersville, who is in her second term on the local school board.

Made up of state legislators, superintendents and representatives from the offices of Gov. Roy Cooper and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest among others, the task force has drawn criticism from some quarters for lack of representation.

Mark Jewell, the president of N.C. Association of Educators, said in a statement that he was disappointed that the task force includes just one active teacher.

Not one cafeteria worker, school counselor, janitor, school psychologist, or teacher assistant is included. If Superintendent Johnson wants to fashion a plan to deal with the real-world impacts of COVID-19 on public education, he should include an adequate representation of educators who are actually facing those problems right now, Jewell said in a statement.
The prayers will only be attended by the mosques imam and two mosque workers, and will be broadcasted on Al-Quran Al-Kareem radio station

Egypts religious endowments ministry said it will start on Sunday radio broadcasting evening prayers and communal Taraweeh prayers from Cairos famous Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As, a statement by the ministry read.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said the prayers will only be attended by the mosques imam and two mosque workers, and will be broadcasted on Al-Quran Al-Kareem radio station.

Egypt has banned communal prayers in mosques and churches over the coronavirus outbreak, and the prayers at Amr Ibn Al-'As Mosque will not be broadcast through an external loudspeaker to avoid any gatherings outside the mosque.

Amr Ibn Al-As Mosque was the first mosque built in Egypt and all of Africa.

Egypt is seeing an unprecedented Ramadan this year as restrictions to contain the pandemic, including an extended overnight curfew in place since March, continue to take a toll on the cherished rituals of Islams holiest month.

The government has banned all public religious gatherings during Ramadan, including public iftars  fast-breaking meals  and the communal Taraweeh prayers.

The ban also includes the itikaf ritual in which believers seclude themselves in mosques for an extended period.

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David Platt weighs in on how Christians should engage government in Secret Church simulcast

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McLean Bible Church Lead Pastor David Platt weighed in on how Christians should engage the government from a biblical perspective, emphasizing that while it's not an easy task, it's vital.

The pastor began by recounting in a Secret Church simulcast titled "God, Government, and the Gospel" how it all unfolded in June 2019 when, as he was nearing the end of a service and about to take communion, his staff informed him that President Trump was about arrive and had requested prayer.

Mindful of the scriptures related to the responsibility of Christians to pray for their leaders and those in positions of authority, Platt told his church that what unites them is not their politics or ethnicity  over 100 ethnicities attend McLean Bible Church  but the Gospel and God's Word. Platt then brought the president on stage and prayed for him.

"I immediately knew though that what happened would be received and perceived in different ways by everyone from press to members of our church," he said.

Such expectations were confirmed soon after as Platt was scrutinized by the national mainstream media for praying with the president. He immediately wrote a letter to members of McLean Bible Church explaining what had happened and how he intended to continue approaching ministry.

Platt said he soon found himself in the middle of a "social media firestorm" as accusations and derision began swirling. He reflected on how he managed to make nearly everyone, no matter their politics, unhappy with him within a short period of time.

His experience of praying for the president led him to think about how he and Christians around the world relate to governments, including Christians who live in nations where it is illegal to gather and worship.

Government affects so much, is extremely complex, and contains a breadth of issues to consider where sincere Christians disagree, he said. A particular challenge is the language that surrounds government regarding political orientation and identity. When the matter arises as to whether the United States is a "Christian nation," he said, it necessitates asking what people mean when they say that.

"If you mean that, 'Did many of the founders of the United States generally believe the Bible?' the answer is yes. That doesn't mean they were all Christians by any means. Or maybe you mean that Christian beliefs provide the foundation for many of the cultural values still held by many of the citizens of the United States today. The answer to that question could be yes or it could be no."

He continued: "Without question, the founders wrote that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. But the white men who drafted those words didn't apply them to hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst, or women for that matter. Which doesn't sound very Christian."

"Or if you mean, does the United States government promote Christianity as the national religion, and does a person have to profess Christian faith in order to become a citizen and to have the rights of a citizen of the United States? The answer to that question is no. Or are a majority of people in the United States Bible-believing, Gospel-embracing Christians? The answer to that question is no. Is belief in Christian values the dominant perspective promoted by the government, the media, and universities in the United States today? I'd say the answer to that question is a resounding no."

God is ultimately sovereign over who leads any country, he stressed, but that is a different matter entirely as to whether He personally endorses every person as leaders of a nation.

"Does God personally endorse Kim Jong Un as leader of North Korea? I think there is a sense in which we would all say no," he said.

"When we say things, as Christians, about this or that leader being God's man or God's woman, other people  including a world of non-Christians  hear all kinds of things, many of which are very unhelpful and very unbiblical. When we're attaching the name of God to someone [or] something, we need to be really, really careful."

Christians need sustained dialogue about these issues, not sound bites, he emphasized.

The McLean Bible Church pastor went on to explain the nature of God's covenants throughout the Old and New Testaments, both those that are general and apply broadly and those that are specific to Israel. And God's covenants still apply to all humanity, he said, relating why His covenants matter to governance today.

"God gives grace to all people, not just some people. He gives life and breath and skills and resources by His grace to all people, even to people who hate or deny Him," Platt said.

A scripture that many Christians often use when praying about politics is from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads: "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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land."

But this was part of God's covenant that was specific to ancient Israel, not a general one, Platt said. American Christians in the 21st century cannot pray that specific verse, for example, with the expectation for God to heal the land of COVID-19, he added.

"That promise hasn't been given to any nation today. God's covenants with Israel do not still apply in the same way to all people or to any nation," Platt said.

"Unless an Old Testament commandment is somehow restated or reinforced in the New Testament, it is no longer binding for Christians."

He went on to say that theological liberalism is an affront to the Gospel. When the primary doctrines of the faith are distorted to fit with increasingly secularized times and framed as "progressive," sincere Christians must reject it, he said.

The Bible isn't written to speak to every specific political situation and it's not a handbook to address contemporary America or any other nation on issues that are complex like tax rates and tariffs, immigration restrictions, or gun control, he said.

The Bible is written to reveal who God is and who we are and how we can be redeemed by God's grace through God's Son for God's glory.



"Avoiding politics is disobedient to God, unloving toward others, and impossible in the world," he concluded.
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Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds do not intend to make their newborn a 'public figure', despite growing up in the flat above 11 Downing Street.

Ms Symonds is understood to have chosen a picture that deliberately did not show the baby's face and will shun the path taken by some previous Prime Ministers who had babies while in office.

Both David Cameron and Tony Blair regularly posed for photographs in and around No10 with their newborns Florence and Leo.

However Gordon Brown maintained strict rules against photographing his young sons when he lived in Downing Street, with the world only ever seeing the boys when they accompanied the departing premier on his last day in office.

An insider said last night: 'I would expect Boris and Carrie to be more Gordon than Tony.'

The Prime Minister and his fiancee revealed the blond boy's full name to be Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in part a tribute to two leading NHS doctors who 'saved Boris' life last month' following his touch-and-go battle with Covid-19.

Ms Symonds also said that 'my heart is full' in the caption accompanying the only picture of the pair's first child.

She added: 'Thank you so, so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH that looked after us so well. I couldn't be happier.'

Mr Johnson is understood to have told friends he is 'utterly thrilled' with the arrival of his new son, who is believed to be his sixth child.

Ms Symonds, 32, gave birth at University College London Hospital in London at 9am on Wednesday with the PM at her side, just days after his own release from hospital after the coronavirus had landed him in intensive care.

Carrie Symonds has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son is Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the beaming parents shared the first photograph of the baby boy on Instagram

A heart-warming caption revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with Lawrie a reference to Ms Symond's grandfather and Nicholas a tribute to the two doctors that 'saved Boris' life'

Carrie Symonds (pictured on March 9) has revealed the name of her and Boris Johnson's newborn son as Wilfred, after the Prime Minister's grandfather, as the proud parents shared the first photograph of their baby boy with the world

The couple revealed the boy's full name as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, with the first name a tribute to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal (pictured)

Boris Johnson's grandfather, Wilfred, is pictured standing with his wife Irene, his eldest son Peter (left), his eldest daughter Hilary (right), his youngest daughter Gillian (kneeling) and his son Stanley (Boris' own father)

The new mum called the team at UCLH's Elizabeth Garrett Anderson maternity wing, named after a pioneering doctor and women's rights campaigner, 'incredible'.

UCLH chief executive Professor Marcel Levi last night congratulated the couple saying: 'We wish them every happiness at this special time. I would like to thank the teams who cared for Carrie and her baby.

'They are an incredibly skilled, dedicated and compassionate group of professionals.'

Until last night's picture, showing Ms Symonds in what appeared to be a 225 Poets Road dress by Justine Tabak, a London fashion label she is known to support, the couple had been reluctant to reveal any details of Wilfred's birth.

Touching tribute to two hero doctors and two grandads By Harry Cole, Stephen Adams and Katie Hind for the Mail on Sunday Just weeks ago, Boris Johnson was fighting for his life, with real fears he might never meet his unborn child. After that emotional rollercoaster for the Prime Minister and his then heavily pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds, the birth of the couple's first son has a special poignancy reflected in each of his names. Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson is a tribute to not only the boy's heritage - but to the doctors whose skills meant he was able to meet his father. The first name is a nod to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Wilfred Johnson, and Lawrie is a reference to Ms Symonds' maternal grandfather, Lewis Laurence, another doctor. Wilfred was not always the Prime Minister's grandfather's first name. He was born Osman Wilfred Kemal but his Turkish surname was changed during the First World War to that of his maternal grandmother, Margaret Johnson. According to Mr Johnson on the BBC ancestry show Who Do You Think You Are in 2008, his grandfather stopped using Osman as his name to avoid becoming a target at school in Britain. Wilfred was the son of Ali Kemal, who, like his great-grandson Boris, was a journalist turned politician. He was kidnapped from a barber's shop in Istanbul in November 1922, and later lynched by a mob. Wilfred, who never spoke about his father's death, later married Irene Johnson, nee Williams, who Boris and his siblings knew affectionately as Granny Butter. When he left hospital last month, Mr Johnson said: 'I want to pay my own thanks to the utterly brilliant doctors, leaders in their fields, men and women, but several of them for some reason called Nick.' Today they can be revealed as Dr Nick Price and Professor Nick Hart - both leading figures at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust. Prof Nick Hart is one of the country's top lung doctors. Besides being the head of Guy's and St Thomas' Lane Fox Respiratory Service and the trust's director of research and development, he is also joint editor-in-chief of the medical journal Thorax. In 2015, he was chairman of an NHS England task force for the discharge of complex respiratory tracheostomy ventilated patients, meaning he is one of the best-qualified doctors in Britain for dealing with seriously ill Covid-19 patients, and he is likely to have been deeply involved in NHS planning to cope with the epidemic. He has talked on Twitter of Covid19 being 'this generation's polio' and warned that many patients will have long-term 'physical, cognitive and psychological' problems. On April 12, he re-tweeted a message by the Prime Minister in which Mr Johnson wrote: 'It is hard to find the words to express my debt to the NHS for saving my life.' An ardent Chelsea fan, Prof Hart also enjoys watching Love Island with his three children. Dr Price is a consultant in infectious diseases and a specialist in tuberculosis. He is director of infection at Guy's and St Thomas'. Like Prof Hart, he will have been involved in planning for the coronavirus outbreak, as he is also the director of airborne high consequence infectious diseases for NHS England. Dr Price is also interested in tropical medicine, an area of expertise which includes infectious diseases. He studied medicine at Birmingham University but has worked in London for most of his career. Last night the pair said: 'Our warm congratulations go to the Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds on the happy arrival of their beautiful son Wilfred. 'We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy's and St Thomas' and who ensure every patient receives the best care.' Advertisement

The new arrival has significantly lightened the mood in No10 after a dark month in which the PM almost lost his life.

When it became clear that Mr Johnson's new baby would arrive at the end of his convalescence from coronavirus, his 'inner inner circle' were confronted with the ultimate diary clash.

A secret plan to bluff the Westminster grapevine was hatched in Downing Street.

Only a tiny handful of core aides and friends knew how far advanced Ms Symonds' pregnancy was, and were determined to fulfil the couple's wishes to avoid the media storm that would have inevitably followed had the news of the baby's impending birth leaked out.

A source said: 'As a first-time mum, Carrie was rightly determined to do this her way and wanted as much privacy as she could possibly get.'

On Tuesday, the core team were told that Ms Symonds would be admitted to hospital shortly before Mr Johnson was due to make his Commons return at Prime Ministers Questions.

No10 officials allowed journalists to speculate that Mr Johnson had not confirmed his attendance because of lingering health concerns. After all, he had only been back in Downing Street from his convalescence at Chequers for two days.

Several social media users were also left red-faced after claiming Mr Johnson was 'frit' and 'a coward' too scared to face down new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the Dispatch Box.

Ministers left in the dark were also passing dark mutterings to journalists about the PM's ill health, speculating whether he had returned to work too fast.

In fact, the couple slipped out of Downing Street in the early hours of Wednesday, being sure not to be snapped by photographers.

Mr Johnson was by Ms Symonds side for the birth but, despite leaving PMQs to Foreign Secretary and caretaker Prime Minister Dominic Raab, he was back at his desk in Downing Street by 1pm on Wednesday for a video call with Sir Keir.

Strict Covid-19 rules applying to all new dads meant Mr Johnson could not stay in the hospital with Ms Symonds and their son, but they remained in contact via Facetime until she returned to Downing Street later in the week, again managing to avoid photographers and even most of the staff.

For all the misinformation about Mr Johnson's health - and concerns provoked by his breathless return to the daily coronavirus press conference on Thursday - in reality, staff at No10 had been struck by how buoyant the PM has seemed.

'He is firing on all cylinders,' said one. Although he is still on the mend from his debilitating three-day intensive care stay, sources insist that he is reinvigorated.

'In some ways, certainly in mood, he is in better shape than when he left,' said one. 'The illness finally forced him to take some proper rest.'

Another friend of Mr Johnson's added: 'He hasn't stopped since this time last year. First there was the stress of when the leadership contest would be, then the battle itself, then straight into Brexit hell and straight into a General Election, swiftly followed by the biggest crisis to face a PM since the war. No wonder he needed some sleep.'

Meanwhile, the private circumstances of the birth have put Ministers in a quandary: do they send presents to the PM, or would that look too 'suck-uppy', as one put it.

In the end, the consensus was to send gifts, but with restraint. 'No one wants to look like teacher's pet, except maybe Michael Gove  he will no doubt lead the whip-round,' one Cabinet rival quipped.

Ms Symonds gave birth in London on Wednesday morning with the Prime Minister at her side, days after he himself had been released from medical care following a lengthy battle with coronavirus.

Among the first to send their wellwishes following today's announcement were Dr Nick Price and Prof Nick Hart, who said they were 'honoured and humbled' to serve as the inspiration for the newborn's middle name Nicholas.

They said in a statement: 'Our warm congratulations go to the Prime Minister and Carrie Symonds on the happy arrival of their beautiful son Wilfred.

'We are honoured and humbled to have been recognised in this way, and we give our thanks to the incredible team of professionals who we work with at Guy's at St Thomas' and who ensure every patient receives the best care.

'We wish the new family every health and happiness.'

There was also a message of congraulations from the University College Hospital, where Wilfred was born.

UCLH chief executive Professor Marcel Levi said: 'Congratulations to Carrie Symonds and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the birth of their son. We wish them every happiness at this special time.

'I would like to thank the teams who cared for Carrie and her baby. They are an incredibly skilled, dedicated and compassionate group of professionals who put patients at the heart of everything they do.

'I am very proud of them and all our staff at UCLH who are working extremely hard in very difficult circumstances at the moment.'

Downing Street said the Prime Minister, who is back leading the country in its fight against the Covid-19 crisis, would plough on with his duties and take a 'short period' of paternity leave later in the year.

The new family are planning to live in their Downing Street flat along with their dog Dilyn, the Number 10 spokesman confirmed earlier this week.

The couple got engaged while holidaying on the exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique over the new year and announced they would marry and were having a baby on February 29, days after the PM's divorce from Marina Wheeler was confirmed.

The birth came after an extraordinary month for the couple, who were self-isolating separately, first because of Carrie's pregnancy and then when Boris fell ill.

Osman Wilfred Kemal: Boris's half-Turkish grandfather who gave his family the name Johnson Osman Wilfred Kemal, Boris's grandfather, who later changed his name to Wilfred Johnson The baby's first name is a tribute to Mr Johnson's paternal grandfather, Osman Wilfred Kemal. Mr Kemal was the father of Stanley Johnson, whose former wife Charlotte gave birth to Boris in 1964. It is through Wilfred Kemal, who changed the family name to Johnson, that Boris gets his Turkish heritage. Johnson had been his maternal grandmother's maiden name. Mr Kemal's own father, Ali Kemal, was an interior minister of the Ottoman Empire. He was lynched and stoned to death by a mob during the 1922 Turkish War of Independence. Both his son and daughter moved to southern England, where Osman would drop his first name in favour of his second name, Wilfred. Wilfred Johnson later married Irene Williams, who according to an episode of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? was the constant subject of jokes from the family due to her grandiose claims of an aristocratic French background. On the show, it was revealed through Wilfred's birth certificate that his mother had died during childbirth. Advertisement

Mr Johnson then spent a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, and Miss Symonds was also briefly bedridden with symptoms of Covid-19, but made a full recovery.

They were only reunited last week at Chequers before she went into labour.

It is also just over two weeks since the PM was discharged from intensive care where he had been battling coronavirus. Miss Symonds also suffered symptoms of the disease.

Miss Symonds has been back living with Mr Johnson at Number 11 Downing Street as the Prime Minister leads the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

She had previously been self-isolating in Camberwell, South London, with the couple's dog Dilyn, after suffering from symptoms of coronavirus.

The 32-year-old former government adviser then joined Mr Johnson at the PM's country home of Chequers in Buckinghamshire while he recovered from the virus.

Mr Johnson returned to work on Monday after being photographed back at Downing Street on Sunday evening.

If it was a full-term pregnancy of 40 weeks, conception would have taken place last July, around the time Mr Johnson took over from Theresa May as prime minister.

Boris already has four children with second wife Marina, Lara Lettice, 26, Milo Arthur, 24, Cassia Peaches, 22, and Theodore Apollo, 20. He also has a fifth child, Stephanie Macintyre, 11, after an affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre with a sixth child from another affair also rumoured.

The acrimonious split with Marina has caused tension between Mr Johnson and his children, who he asked to meet in person in February to tell them he was engaged to Carrie and they were having a baby.

But not all of his children reportedly turned up for their father's announcement and are said to be 'furious' because they believe Carrie and Boris got together after an affair.

Lara reportedly branded her father a 'selfish b******' after his split with her mother.

Mr Johnson, 55, and Ms Symonds announced in late February that they were expecting a baby in 'early summer', and that they had become engaged at the end of last year.

Carrie and Boris first met in 2012 when he was Mayor of London and she worked for the Tory party.

Mr Johnson, like his newborn son, was born with a full head of hair. Wilfred was born just over two weeks after Mr Johnson was discharged from intensive care

While Mr Johnson, already a father of five, and Miss Symonds will no doubt want to put their own stamp on parenting as a Prime Minister, there are certainly lessons that can be learned from their predecessors. Pictured, the couple outside Downing Street in December 2019

There were whispers of a close relationship in 2018 after they were seen speaking flirtatiously outside a Tory party ball. Later that year Boris was thrown out by his wife Marina and said in a statement they were divorcing and had 'separated some time ago'.

Six months later their relationship was confirmed after they were seen holidaying together in Italy.

Carrie's tribute to NHS heroes who 'saved Boris's life' Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds have named their son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas Johnson, in a tribute to their grandfathers and the doctors who helped save the Prime Minister's life. The third name is a reference to Dr Nick Price and Dr Nick Hart, who Ms Symonds referred to as 'the two doctors that saved Boris' life last month'. Nicholas Price graduated from University of Birmingham's medical school in 1991. He has specialist training in infectious diseases, general medicine tuberculosis, tropical medicine and infection prevention and control. He was previously awarded a MRC Clinical Training Fellowship for research into tuberculosis at The Hammersmith Hospital. Dr Price became a consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' in 2005. In 2009, he was promoted to the Trust's Director of Infection and joint Director of Infection Prevention and Control. Nicholas Hart graduated from University of London's medical school in 1993. His area of expertise include weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation in patients with chronic respiratory failure. He has been awarded nine Local Clinical Excellence Award points. Dr Hart became the director of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service, the largest rehabilitation and home ventilation service in the UK, in 2012. He is also a Professor at King's College London and Director of Research and Development Delivery at Guy's and St Thomas'. Source: NHS Advertisement

When Mr Johnson and former Tory Party head of press Miss Symonds fell in love, many were sceptical that it could last.

The cynics appeared to have been proved right when they were overheard having a spectacular domestic spat in their London house early in their relationship that saw the police called.

Their well-publicised plate-smashing row was recorded by neighbours who claimed she yelled 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat' in Camberwell, south London last year.

But they have proved the doubters wrong. Despite not being married, they negotiated tricky moments like visiting the Queen at Balmoral as an unmarried couple, with great dignity.

Miss Symonds proved a great asset to Mr Johnson in the election campaign. She curbed her love of the limelight and made sure he was the centre of attention.

Within weeks of becoming Prime Minister she became pregnant. Mr Johnson was heavily criticised soon into his premiership when many parts of Britain were badly flooded and he failed to visit them.

At the time he was staying with Miss Symonds at the Foreign Secretary's official residence, Chevening in Kent, while repairs were being carried out at Chequers.

Mr Johnson fell in love with Chequers in his days as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May's government.

But Mr Johnson's political rivals lined up to brand the engagement announcement a distraction ploy as Britain suffered severe floods.

The birth of their first child comes after a rollercoaster month where Boris almost died from coronavirus and his fiancee also started showing symptoms.

On March 27 - the day Boris tested positive for coronavirus - Carrie shared a photograph of herself self-isolating with their dog Dilyn at the 1.3million Camberwell house she bought with Mr Johnson last year.

On April 5, Mr Johnson, 55, was rushed into ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in central London with breathing difficulties and his partner was not allowed to be by his side because of her pregnancy and a blanket ban on visitors.

They have been together since he was discharged.

Carrie was brought up by her mother Josephine, who is now 71, in East Sheen, South-West London and attended the private 20,000-a-year Godolphin & Latymer School.

Her father Matthew, a founder of the Independent newspaper, lived in a large property not far away in Twickenham with his wife, Alison, with whom he has three children.

Matthew had an affair with Josephine, who was a lawyer on the paper  and Carrie is the product of that affair, born in 1988.
Less than a month after issuing a rapid response call for scientific research proposals for fast-tracked studies of the effects of COVID-19 on the body's cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems, the American Heart Association has awarded $1.2 million in grants to teams at 12 institutions across the U.S. to begin this unprecedented work. Additional funding for special research projects within each of the four new Health Technologies & Innovations Strategically Focused Research Centers brings the Association's COVID-19 related scientific research funding to $2 million.

The COVID-19 and Its Cardiovascular Impact Rapid Response Grant initiative received an overwhelming response, with more than 750 proposals submitted, marking it as one of the Association's largest submissions to a single topic request for applications.

We were just blown away and so impressed to see this level of interest and commitment from the teams submitting such thorough proposals so quickly -- our submission deadline was less than two weeks. Once those responses started coming in, we were yet again amazed as over 150 of our volunteers stepped up immediately to offer to review these proposals and got those reviews completed in less than 10 days. What a testament to our researcher community being so ready to activate in these extraordinary times, it's just very gratifying and humbling." Robert A. Harrington, M.D., FAHA, Arthur L. Bloomfield Professor of Medicine and chair of the department of medicine at Stanford University, American Heart Association president

Cleveland Clinic was selected to serve as the initiative's COVID-19 Coordinating Center. A team from this center, led by Mina K. Chung, M.D, Professor of Medicine, will collect results from the research projects and coordinate the dissemination of all study findings.

The research projects include:

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, led by Sanjum S. Sethi, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Medicine -- A Comprehensive Assessment of Arterial and Venous Thrombotic Complications in Patients with COVID-19: Working with New York-Presbyterian and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, this team will evaluate the clotting complications of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, develop a risk score to aid in bedside decision-making and conduct a clinical trial to determine optimal medical treatment to prevent clotting complications in future COVID-19 patients.

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, led by Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D., Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine -- Repurposing Drugs for Treatment of Cardiomyopathy Caused by Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2): Working with the Center for Complex Network Research of Northeastern University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory at Boston University, this team will look at repurposing already approved drugs for faster applications in treating COVID-19 patients.

Kaiser Permanente Southern California, led by Jaejin An, Ph.D., Research Scientist I -- Risk of Severe Morbidity and Mortality of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Among Patients Taking Antihypertensive Medications: This team will evaluate antihypertensive medication treatment in patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection and high blood pressure and their results could have an immediate impact on clinical guidance for patient care.

Massachusetts General Hospital, led by Michael T. Lu, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Radiology -- Deep learning using chest radiographs to predict COVID-19 cardiopulmonary risk: Working with the Mass General Brigham hospitals, this team will use deep learning techniques and the initial chest x-ray of patients admitted for treatment to develop a new way to predict COVID-19 cardiopulmonary collapse and death.

Mayo Clinic, led by Ognjen Gajic, M.D., Professor of Medicine -- Cardiovascular Outcomes and Biomarker Titrated Corticosteroid Dosing for SARS COV-2 (COVID-19): A Randomized Controlled Trial: This team will expand its current SMART randomized clinical trial to add the evaluation of biomarker-titrated corticosteroids dosing compared to usual care for treating COVID-19 patients.

Stanford University, led by Paul Heidenreich, M.D., Professor of Medicine -- Outcomes for Patients with Hypertension, Diabetes and Heart Disease in the Coronavirus Pandemic: Impact of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers Treatment: Working with the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Stanford Health Care and Northern California Kaiser, this team will study the use of ACE and ARBs on patients with high blood pressure or diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic to determine trends in the rates of COVID-19 infection, influenza, medication adherence, hospitalizations and deaths to improve patient management practices.

University of California, Los Angeles, led by Tzung K. Hsiai, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering -- Rapid COVID-19-on-A-Chip to Screen Competitive Targets for SARS-CoV-2 Spike Binding Sites: Working with the UCLA Cancer Virology Program, California Nanosystems Institute, Statistics and Epidemiology, Data Science, Behavioral Sciences, UCLA Medical Center and West Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, this team will set out to develop the first-of-its-kind COVID-19-on-a-chip, targeting the heart for now, but adaptable to other organ systems impacted by the infection, including the lung, gut, kidney and brain.

University of California, San Francisco, led by Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Medicine -- COVID-19 Infection, African-American Women and Cardiovascular Health: Working with the UCSF NURTURE Center and the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, this team will use the Black Women's Health Study cohort to understand the experiences and cardiovascular effects of COVID-19 on African-American women, a population historically at the intersection of the worst health and economic disparities in the United States.

University of Colorado, led by Michael R. Bristow, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine, Cardiology -- Myocardial Virus and Gene Expression in SARS CoV-2 Positive Patients with Clinically Important Myocardial Dysfunction: This team will study the specific mechanisms for how COVID-19 impacts the cardiovascular system either due to a robust inflammatory response and direct myocardial injury because that distinction can define therapeutic treatment. University of Massachusetts, led by Jane E. Freedman, M.D., Professor of Medicine -- The Role of the Platelet in Mediating Cardiovascular Disease in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: This team will study the mechanisms of the platelet-mediated immune response of the COVID-19 virus on the cardiovascular system collecting fundamental molecular knowledge about the disease course of infection that will enable development of novel tools and strategies for clinical management that will lead to improved outcomes.

University of Nebraska Medical Center, led by Rebekah L. Gundry, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Cellular and Integrative Physiology -- Harnessing Glycomics to Understand Myocardial Injury in COVID-19: This group will be exploring specific pathways and biomarkers to identify those most at risk for COVID-19 infection and cardiovascular complications from the virus, and ultimately will look to develop the means for personalized medicine and future genomic testing and treatment.

"Several of these studies focus on disparity and underserved populations and many with pre-existing conditions and that's critical because we're seeing these people coming in sicker and getting sicker faster from the complications of COVID-19 and we need to understand what's causing that and how we can help them," Harrington said. "There's so much we don't know about this unique coronavirus and we continue to see emerging complications affecting both heart and brain health for which we desperately need answers and we need them quickly."

The research projects are considered fast-tracked to report results as quickly as possible to address the COVID-19 crisis. Research will get underway as early as June 1, with findings expected in less than six to nine months for most of the studies. Several researchers aim to have actionable outcomes before a new anticipated wave of COVID-19 strikes in the winter.

Along with these new rapid response research grants, the American Heart Association is also funding $800,000 in supplemental, short-term special projects for the four centers in its new Health Technologies & Innovation Strategically Focused Research Network. This funding is in addition to their original grants announced earlier this month and will focus on rapid technology solutions to address the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Those projects include:
The Town of Cicero has been on this center to get its act together, to follow the directives to minimize the spread of the virus including requiring staff to wear full PPE protections, Cicero Town President Larry Dominick said in a statement.
Los Angeles

Josh Gad had a notion about what might soothe the kid in him during a scary time and maybe do the same for others. The actor got to work organizing an online reunion of the cast and creators of the 1985 movie "The Goonies," which quickly tallied a million-plus views.

Gad's YouTube effort isn't alone in providing a screen version of comfort food for the housebound. With an uncertain future defined by coronavirus and its fallout, old movies, TV reruns and favorite characters offer a way to briefly swap current woes for familiar happy endings.

"It is the absolute right place, right time" to revisit "The Goonies," said Gad, the "Frozen" star who was a preschooler when he first saw the movie that left an indelible impression of joy. "I think nostalgia is so important right now because we all want to go back to simpler times. We all are hoping for something we can connect with that reminds of us better days."

"The Goonies" video, featuring cast members including Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan and Kerri Green and producer Steven Spielberg, is raising money for those affected by the pandemic.

There are other COVID-19-related fundraising reunions, including an online virtual get-together of "Melrose Place" cast members held earlier this week.

Networks are surveying the emotional climate and responding.

Throughout May, CBS is bringing back its Sunday movie showcase, a longtime fixture that ended nearly 14 years ago. "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" is the lead-off film, followed by "Forrest Gump"; "Mission: Impossible"; "Titanic" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" ("Titanic" airs 7-11 p.m., all others 8-11 p.m.).

To heighten the nostalgia, the network released a "CBS Sunday Night Movies" promotional spot done in an old-school style, as well as original trailers for the films.

"These are the new five big iconic films that we felt our audience would really enjoy," said Michael Benson, CBS president and chief marketing officer. The network had a bonanza to pick from: another reunion, the 2019 merger that brought CBS Corp. and Viacom back together, gave the network full access to Viacom's Paramount Pictures film library.

Asked why viewers who could choose to watch popular old movies on streaming or premium cable would tolerate a network's commercial breaks, Benson had a ready answer.

"The idea of a live communal event that you can actually talk about with your friends immediately after it happens" is the draw, he said, and less of an option with on-demand movies. CBS is using social media to build "excitement about what we're doing" and encourage viewers to arrange family or virtual viewing parties, Benson said.

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The overall rise in viewing with people stuck at home has included a ratings boost for the MeTV channel, with "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Flintstones" on its slate of classic shows. According to Nielsen, the channel's prime-time viewership rose 5 percent from February to March.

That reflects a need for comfort, said Neal Sabin, executive vice president of Weigel Broadcasting Co., owner of MeTV and sibling channels including Decades.

"None of us know what's going to happen in the next six months. But we all know what happens on 'I Love Lucy' when she switches jobs with Ricky," Sabin said. "It makes us feel like we're in control a little bit."

A fondly recalled series can draw a crowd, crisis or not, said Schur.

"TV has always functioned, especially comedy, as a sort of sustaining comfort food, where you can visit the people in the world over and over and over and over again," he said.

Carl Reiner, the 98-year-old creator and co-star of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," said his 1960s sitcom is an enduring celebration of a family that faces the world together.

"It's not accidental" that people are watching, Reiner said.
Gardai have released four people arrested as part of an ongoing operation targeting the sale and supply of illegal drugs and anti-social behaviour in Ballymun without charge pending further investigation.

Drugs and motorbikes were also seized as part of the operation.

Four arrests as drugs and motorbikes seized in Dublin search

Four people have been arrested, while drugs and motorbikes have been seized by gardai in Dublin.

Three properties were searched today as part of an ongoing operation targeting the sale and supply of illegal drugs and anti-social behaviour in the Ballymun area.

Gardai said that the searches were carried out by members of the DMR North Divisional Crime Task Force assisted by members from Ballymun, the Armed Support Unit and Public Order Unit.

In a statement, gardai said that three residential properties in the St Josephs Way area were searched as part of this operation.

They said that around 1,000 worth of cannabis - pending analysis - was discovered and seized along with drug paraphernalia and a burner phone.

Four motorbikes were also seized from all three premises.

Gardai said: They are suspected as being used in transportation for the sale and supply of drugs in the Ballymun area.

A Taser disguised as a mobile phone was also seized form one of the properties.

Gardai said one woman in her late 50s, and three men - two in their 20s and one in his 50s - were arrested. They are all detained at Ballymun Garda Station.

Gardai added: A fourth man, aged in his 20s, was dealt with by way of court summons after being found to be in a possession of a small quantity of cannabis (pending analysis).

They said that investigations are continuing.
An American high school student has named the first helicopter to be sent to Mars.

Ingenuity was the name chosen by the U.S. space agency NASA in a competition involving thousands of students across America. The name was suggested by Vaneeza Rupani, a junior at Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.

The Merriam-Webster Learners Dictionary defines ingenuity as skills that permit someone to solve problems, invent things.

Rupanis entry was one of 28,000 from students of all ages from all 50 states, NASA said in a statement. The names had already been sent in as part of a naming competition that ended in March for NASAs new Mars explorer. Perseverance was the winning name chosen by a Virginia student for the new six-wheeled robotic explorer.

NASA said that with so many good suggestions for the explorer, it decided to also choose a name from the same entries for the helicopter, which will travel to Mars attached to Perseverance.

In her entry, Rupani explained her name choice. She wrote that ingenuity is what permits us to accomplish amazing things and expand our horizons to the edges of the universe."

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Ingenuity represents the values that our helicopter tech demo will showcase.

Rupani told The Associated Press, It was really cool I got to be a part of something like this.

NASA says the explorer, which weighs about 1,043 kilograms, will collect samples from Mars for eventual return to Earth. It will also look for signs of past life and gather climate and geology data.

The explorer and helicopter are currently going through final building steps and inspection at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two are targeted to launch in July or August. After a long trip, Perseverance is expected to land at Jezero Crater on Mars on February 18, 2021.

After arriving on the red planet, the helicopter will remain under a covering to protect it until the timing is right for the aircraft to be deployed. Ingenuity will then have a 31-day flight window to prove that powered flights can be successful on Mars, NASA said.

The planned launch of Perseverance is part of a program that also includes missions to the moon to prepare for possible human exploration of Mars.

NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the moon by 2024. After that, it will seek to establish what it calls a Lunar Gateway, a small spaceship that would remain in orbit around the moon. It would be designed as a base from which astronauts could make trips to the moon and possibly Mars.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press and NASA. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

perseverance  n. the quality that allows someone to continue to do something even though it is difficult

accomplish  v. to succeed in doing something good

expand your horizons  phr. increase the number of things that you know about, have experienced, or can do

showcase  v. to present, exhibit or display

geology  n. the rocks, land, processes of land formation, etc., of a particular area

mission  n. a task or job that someone is given to do

junior  n. a student in the third of four years in a high school or college

demo  n. a shortened version of the word demonstration

eventual  adj. coming or happening at a later time
The Democrat Union of Africa (DUA), a coalition of center-right political parties in Africa observes with grave concern, the raging scourge of COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and across the globe and by this statement extend solidarity, hope and calm to our members, partners, institutions, foundations and organizations at this moment of global emergency.



DUA observes that COVID-19 has stoked seeming uncertainty, panic and fear not only in Africa but in the entire globe given it biological complexity, contagion and the fruitless effort to find immediate cure. In the midst of the disquiet, lives lost and the global efforts being made, the union offers its solidarity and sympathy to:



1. Members of DUA

2. Members of International Democrat Union (IDU)

3. International Young Democrat Union (IYDU)

4. Conservative Party/Westminster Foundation for Democracy (CP/WFD)

5. Christian Democrat Union (CDU)

6. Union of Parties in Latin America (UPLA)

7. Konrad-Adenaeur Stiftung (KAS)

8. All Center-Right political parties

9. Partners, Institutions, Foundations (Tink Tanks) Organizations and

10. Governments and people of the world.



DUA believes that there has not been a critical urgency for international co-operation among governments, institutions and organizations in recent times as is needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In our opinion, the global community ought to coalesce, share ideas, outline approaches, processes and protocols to contain the pandemic to relief humanity of the COVID 19 scourge. Isolationist and



protectionist tendencies in what is clearly a global problem will not only be disastrous but counter-productive.

Within the framework of international conventions and protocols as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), DUA calls for compliance, co-operation and adoption of strategies by members and partners to secure lives, economies and inspire hope in this period of struggle. We also call on the international community to demonstrate solidarity by sharing human and material resources that are crucial to augment the capacities and preparedness of less endowed economies around the world. Similarly, the union also calls on the international community to assist WHO to leverage science and technology to fight the COVID 19 pandemic.

DUA commends all frontline workers in Africa, governments, institutions and organization whose efforts and commitment have given hope that contracting COVID 19 is not a death warrant, but that, there is a higher possibility of recovery while observing safety protocols can break the spread of the virus. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deserves mention for their proactiveness in putting measures in place through financial packages to revive economies and to enable governments to implement relief interventions for the poor and vulnerable in society. The union urges our members and partners to diligently observe safety and social protocols to avoid contracting the virus in order to stop the spread and contain the pandemic.



In the spirit of our common humanity, DUA admonishes the adoption of approaches that will put human lives first and preserve human dignity. Also in the midst of a global emergency of such magnitude, lets eschew politicization, discrimination against minorities and abuse of power as demonstrated by its Patron, the President of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. As a human centered union which espouses democratic governance, human rights and free market principles and ideologies, we urge governments not to exploit the exigencies of the time to achieve political ends, this we again commend the Ghanaian President (Patron of DUA), H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for showing leadership in this regard.



DUA wishes our members and partners well, believing that together, we shall certainly contain COVID 19. Lets share ideas and resources. Lets co-operate and not isolate. Lets spread hope and calm, not fear and panic.

As much as possible, lets stay safe.



Emmanuel Attafuah-Danso

DUA Secretariat

Accra-Ghana

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:07:06|Editor: huaxia

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DAKAR, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese Ministry of Health and Social Action on Saturday reported 91 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 1,115 cases in the country.

Among a record of 1,190 virological examinations carried out during the past 24 hours, 91 returned positive, Senegalese minister of Health and Social Action Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr announced during the daily briefing.

According to him, 87 are follow-up contact cases and four community transmission.

Twelve patients have been declared negative and cured, bringing the total number of cured patients to 368, he said, adding that four serious cases are under intensive care in two hospitals in Dakar.

Talking about the evolution of COVID-19 in the past month, Sarr said "the epidemic is not slowing down" with an increase of community transmission cases.

He affirmed the anti-COVID-19 measures and strategies taken by the Senegalese government have made it possible to keep the situation under control while 11 regions out of 14 are affected.

On Friday, authorities of Dakar, epicenter of the pandemic in Senegal, announced new measures to regulate the opening hours of business.

Stores selling food are allowed to open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while others shops are allowed to carry out activities on Tuesday and Thursday only. All markets should be shut down on Saturday and Sunday.

Senegal has isolated since March 20 with the suspension of all its international flights, while its state of emergency and curfew has been extended to May 4.

So far, Senegal has reported 1,115 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including nine deaths and 368 cured, since March 2. Among the confirmed cases in the country, 913 are follow-up contact cases, 86 are imported cases and 116 are community transmission cases. Enditem
President Donald Trump holds a CCP virus response meeting with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on April 30, 2020. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Trump Announces He Will Attend Fireworks at Mount Rushmore on July 3

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will travel to South Dakota and attend a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore on July 3 to be held in honor of Independence Day.

Were getting them [the fireworks] at the great monument, were getting them, I got fireworks  it hasnt been allowed for environmental reasons, you believe that one, its all stone, Trump said on The Dan Bongino Show. Wheres the environmental reason? I got it approved so Im going to go there on July 3, and theyre going to have the big fireworks.

News of Trumps attendance comes after the National Park Service (NPS) determined on Tuesday after an environmental assessment that the fireworks would not constitute an impairment of the resources or values of Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, on April 23, 2020. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images)

Fourth of July celebration fireworks have not been held at Mount Rushmore since 2009 after the NPS under the Obama administration discontinued the event due to concerns related to the pine beetle infestation in the Black Hills National Forest and wildfire risks.

Since that time, the forest has gained strength and advancements in pyrotechnics to allow for a safe fireworks display, read a South Dakota news release in May 2019.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and the U.S. Department of the Interior had been working on logistics for the fireworks event since 2019.

This year, after more than a year of diligent efforts, were finally bringing fireworks back to Mount Rushmore, Noem said in a release on Friday.

Theres truly no better place to celebrate Americas birthday, she added. Were excited that President Trump is coming to enjoy the show with us. He and the Department of Interior have been great partners in bringing this celebration back to our great state and the entire nation.

Noem first raised the idea of fireworks with Trump in December 2018. On May 7, 2019, Noem announced an agreement with the Department of Interior to bring back fireworks, and Trump wrote on Twitter on the same day expressing his excitement.

I am pleased to inform you that THE BIG FIREWORKS, after many years of not having any, are coming back to beautiful Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, he wrote.

Mount Rushmore remains open to the public from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, however its Information Center is closed, and its educational programs have been suspended until further notice.

The massive granite sculpture, which attracts over 2 million visitors each year, was completed in 1941 and depicts former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
As neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural links, India and Thailand will work together to deal with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

Modi said he spoke with "good friend" Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and discussed issues related to the pandemic.

"As neighbours with deep-rooted historical and cultural links, India and Thailand will work together to deal with the multifarious challenges posed by this present crisis," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

A government statement said during the conversation, Modi spoke about the importance of regional and global cooperation to effectively fight the pandemic.

He assured the Thai Prime Minister of India's commitment to support the pharmaceutical requirements of Thailand, the statement 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

The leaders agreed on the desirability of greater collaboration between researchers, scientists and innovators of the two countries.

They appreciated the facilitation being provided to their citizens present in each other's territory, and promised to continue such support.

During the conversation, Modi recalled his visit to Bangkok in November 2019 to attend the ASEAN and related summits, and conveyed his greetings to the members of the Royal Family of Thailand as well as the Thai people.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
The Health Ministry confirmed no new coronavirus cases Saturday evening, marking the 16th consecutive day Vietnam has gone without community transmission.

Of the 270 patients recorded so far, 217 have been discharged and 53 are undergoing treatment, including 14 relapsed patients. Among the active ones,12 have tested negative once and nine twice.

Of the relapses, five are in Hanoi and six in Ho Chi Minh City including the latest two cases confirmed Saturday. The northern province of Quang Ninh has reported two relapsed patients and the south central province of Binh Thuan one.

So far, Vietnam has gone eight days without new infections. The latest patients, announced last Friday evening, were both students studying in Japan who returned to the Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh on April 22. They were quarantined on arrival and are now under treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

Nearly 30,000 people are quarantined in the country  244 in hospitals specialized for Covid-19 treatment, over 5,500 at centralized facilities and the rest at home.

The health ministry also said Saturday that three critically-ill Covid-19 patients in Vietnam have overcome "the most difficult stage."

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread to 212 countries and territories, with almost 240,000 deaths reported so far.
Liaoning aircraft carrier task group wraps up South China Sea exercises

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/1 19:17:39

The Liaoning aircraft carrier task group of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Thursday wrapped up its deep sea cross-regional mobilization exercises featuring comprehensive back-to-back attack-defense mock battles in the South China Sea, which enhanced the carrier group's systematic combat capabilities, media reported on Friday.

After completing the nearly month-long exercises, the Liaoning aircraft carrier task group returned on Thursday to a naval port in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

The exercises were a regular arrangement in the annual training schedule and featured many intensive training subjects involving complicated air and sea situations.

Through this training, the PLA Navy further enhanced its real combat-oriented training capabilities in the deep seas and tested the Liaoning aircraft carrier task group's systematic combat capabilities, Xinhua said.

Gao Xiucheng, a PLA Navy spokesperson, on April 13 announced that the Navy organized the aircraft carrier group in a cross-regional mobilization, which saw the flotilla led by the aircraft carrier crossing through the Miyako Strait, Bashi Channel and entering the South China Sea for exercises.

According to a statement the Japanese Defense Ministry released on April 12, a Chinese flotilla, consisting of the Liaoning aircraft carrier, two Type 052D guided missile destroyers, two Type 054A guided missile frigates and one Type 901 auxiliary supply ship, was spotted by the Japanese when crossing the Miyako Strait on April 10.

While the Xinhua report did not detail the training subjects of the aircraft carrier group, a report by the PLA Daily on April 23 revealed that it held comprehensive back-to-back attack-defense mock battles in the South China Sea.

The exercises came at a time when the US has been sending warships and aircraft into the South China Sea with increasing frequency, even as the US Navy has been struggling to deal with multiple COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Chinese military will continue to conduct training activities in related seas and airspaces in accordance with the law, said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian at a regular press conference on Thursday when asked about the Liaoning's training activities.

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Russia has reported its highest one-day jump in new coronavirus cases as some other countries relax lockdown restrictions.

China, where the pandemic began in December, reported a single new infection on Saturday, extending a steady decline in confirmed cases.

The country has allowed factories and some other businesses to resume work, along with some tourist spots for this weekends May Day holiday.

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Russias government reported 7,933 new cases on Friday, raising its total to 114,431. The true number is believed to be higher because not everyone is tested and Russian tests are reported to be only 70% to 80% accurate.

At least five Russian regions reported a surge of pneumonia cases. In Moscow, which accounts for half of all virus cases, all respiratory infections are likely to be caused by coronavirus, according to the public health agency.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced he tested positive and would temporarily stop running the cabinet. The construction minister and his deputy have also tested positive.

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Also on Friday, the first drug shown to help fight the disease received emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. In a study, remdesivir shortened patients recovery time from 15 days to 11 on average and may have reduced deaths.

The virus has killed more than 230,000 people worldwide, including more than 64,000 in the United States and more than 20,000 each in Italy, the UK, France and Spain. Health experts warn a second wave of infections could hit unless testing is expanded dramatically.

President Donald Trump said he hopes the total number of US deaths will be below 100,000, which he acknowledged is a horrible number.

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Models released by the White House coronavirus task force on March 29 projected deaths of 100,000 to 240,000 Americans, assuming efforts such as social distancing and staying at home as much as possible were in effect. The task force director said the worst case scenario was 1.5 million to 2.2 million US deaths without those measures.

As the crisis stabilises in some European countries and American states, governments are easing the shutdown of businesses that plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s and wiped out millions of jobs.

France, Spain, Germany and other governments plan to allow factories, offices, other businesses, churches and some other public facilities to reopen gradually and under strict controls.

China has lifted blanket restrictions that kept 800 million people at home but kept in place extensive temperature checks and other monitoring.

On Friday, the former imperial palace in the Chinese capital, Beijing, reopened after a two-and-a-half-month shutdown, but the number of daily visitors was limited to 5,000, down from the usual 80,000. Photos on social media showed palace visitors wearing masks and being escorted by police.

China has reported 82,875 confirmed virus cases and 4,633 deaths.
EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler on Saturday added his voice to those calling for a regional approach to restarting Illinois commerce.

Prenzler sent a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker requesting a regional approach to re-opening the state.

Statewide, debate has focused on moving Illinois through the coronavirus pandemic. Proponents of restarting businesses cite the current economic losses, while opponents fear secondary COVID-19 surges if activities resume too quickly.

On Wednesday, several mayors participating in a RiverBend Growth Association teleconference advocated a regional view. State Rep. Monica Bristow, D-Alton, also said state lawmakers have been asking the governor to take a look at regionalism.

The following day, members of an Opening Up Madison County Again Committee organized by Prenzler said small business owners are anxious to reopen or ramp up operations when the coronavirus pandemic starts winding down. During his Friday briefing, Pritzker said he is open to the possibility that some regions of the state could reopen before the current stay-at-home order ends May 30, depending on the local infection rate and the local capacity to provide hospital beds, intensive care unit beds and ventilators in the event of a surge.

Prenzler Saturday letter thanked Pritzker for his hard work and leadership and cited comments the governor had made about possibly shifting from a state to a regional approach regarding re-opening the economy. Prenzler asked that Madison County be allowed to proceed to reopen business in a safe, phased, phased way.

The letter noted that Madison County is the largest county, by population, south of Will County and its economy is closely tied to Missouri.

Our economic problems are increasing by the day, Prenzlers letter stated. Just yesterday, our county employment office received a WARN layoff notice for 737 union and management jobs at the US Steel Granite City works.

More Information Text of Prenzler's letter to Gov. JB Pritzker Dear Gov. Pritzker, First, I want to thank you for your hard work and leadership in leading the Illinois response to the COVID-19 health crisis. This past week you said that you would consider shifting from a "state" to a "regional" approach regarding re-opening the economy. The purpose of this letter is to ask you to allow Madison County to proceed, as a county, to re-open businesses in a safe, phased way. Our county health department has been complying with IDPH regulations and mandates, and that will not change. Madison County is the largest county, by population, south of Will County. Our economy is closely tied to Missouri, which is allowing counties greater decision-making. Our economic problems are increasing by the day. Just yesterday, our county employment office received a WARN layoff notice for 737 union and management jobs at the US Steel Granite City works. The decline of gasoline demand has impacted the refinery in Roxana, which is the largest in the Midwest. Closed small businesses don't get headlines, but the job losses are just as real. You have mentioned hospital capacity as a factor influencing your decision making. Hospitals in the St. Louis metro area acted decisively by cancelling elective surgeries. Now area hospitals have excess capacity, are losing millions, laying off thousands of employees, and are trying to convince the public that it's safe to re-schedule elective surgery. We are no different than counties across the country, in that our COVID cases and deaths have been largely concentrated in nursing homes. The shutdown of "non-essential" businesses has led to unintended consequences. Small retailers labeled non-essential look out their front window to see the parking lot in front of Target full with cars and shoppers. Restaurants without drive-through lanes watch their customers buying lunch at Jimmy Johns and McDonalds, while they remain closed. Florists are approaching Mother's Day watching their customers go into Walmart and local supermarkets to buy flowers. We believe that we, as a county, can responsibly help these small businesses to re-open. Over the past several weeks, we have collected dozens of one-page plans from small businesses and churches, with their plans to re-open. A review of these plans showed that our small businesses want to do the right thing, and can be trusted to re-open their operations in a safe, phased way. We are responsible citizens facing economic ruin. We can be trusted to re-open our economy in a responsible and informed way. But we need your help before it is too late. Your prompt response to our local economic problems is required and appreciated. See More Collapse

The decline of gasoline demand has impacted the refinery in Roxana, which is the largest in the Midwest, the letter states. Closed small businesses dont get headlines, but the job losses are just as real.

Prenzler also noted Pritzkers mention of hospital capacity. Prenzler said St. Louis metro area hospitals canceled elective surgeries as part of COVID-19 precautions, and now those hospitals are losing millions, laying off thousands of employees, and are trying to convince the public that its safe to re-schedule elective surgery.

The letter states that, like in many other areas of the country, local COVID-19 cases and deaths have been largely concentrated in nursing homes. The shut down of nonessential businesses has led to unintended consequences, it states.

Small retailers labeled non-essential look out their front window to see the parking lot in front of Target full with cars and shoppers, Prenzler says in his letter. Restaurants without drive-through lanes watch their customers buying lunch at Jimmy Johns and McDonalds, while they remain closed. Florists are approaching Mothers Day watching their customers go into Walmart and local supermarkets to buy flowers.

Prenzler said he believes Madison County can be responsible and help small businesses reopen. He cited the collection of dozens of one-page plans from small businesses and churches, adding those plans showed that our small businesses want to do the right thing.

We are responsible citizens facing economic ruin, Prenzler states in his letter. We can be trusted to re-open our economy in a responsible and informed way. But we need your help before it is too late.

In a telephone interview, Prenzler noted nothing suggested in his letter would be inconsistent with advice from the Madison County Health Department, the countys lead agency in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The idea is to reopen in a safe and healthy way, a phased way, Prenzler said. We can discover how creative businesses can be. They have a great incentive to do it responsibly. Otherwise their customer base will not like it.
Karl Stefanovic, 45, and wife Jasmine Yarbrough, 36, welcomed their first child, daughter Harper May, at Sydney's North Shore Private Hospital on Friday.

And on Saturday, the Today host's new manager, Mark Morrissey, welcomed the newborn as their 'newest client' in a sweet Instagram post.

Alongside a photo of Harper wrapped in a blanket, Mark hilariously wrote: 'Available for all media, network and radio opportunities'.

'Available for all media, network and radio opportunities': Karl Stefanovic's new manager welcomed the Today host's baby girl Harper May (pictured) as their 'newest client' in a sweet Instagram post on Saturday

'Morrissey Management announces and welcomes their newest client - Harper May Stefanovic,' the caption began.

'Harper is now available for all media, network and radio opportunities.

'Please contact her manager Mark Morrissey direct at Morrissey Management for all future enquires.'

Karl was quick to comment, writing a simple 'haha' response.

Too cute: 'Morrissey Management announces and welcomes their newest client - Harper May Stefanovic,' the caption began. 'Harper is now available for all media, network and radio opportunities. Please contact her manager Mark Morrissey'

The breakfast TV host recently parted ways with long-standing manager Sharon Finnigan of SF Celebrity Management, inking a deal with Chris Hemsworth's Melbourne-based agent, Mark Morrissey.

The Today show first announced Harper's birth, sharing the same photo to their official Instagram page on Saturday morning.

In a statement to Nine breakfast program, Karl said: 'Harper and Jasmine are doing well and dad had a great night's sleep.

'Harper is absolutely perfect': Karl, 45, and Jasmine, 36, (both pictured) welcomed the baby girl on Friday, just after midday. In a statement, Karl said he was 'in awe' of his new little girl

He added: 'I am in awe. Harper is absolutely perfect.'

The happy news was also announced on Weekend Today on Saturday, by Karl's colleague and close friend, Richard Wilkins.

Richard confirmed that Harper weighs 2.9kg and was born on Friday, just after midday.

'Mum and bub are both doing very well,' he said proudly.

'Mum and bub are both doing very well': The happy news was also announced on the Today show on Saturday morning by Karl's colleague and close friend, Richard Wilkins (far left)

'To Karl and Jas, you guys are really going to love this special time in your life. They deserve all the happiness that's coming their way,' he added.

Karl told Daily Mail Australia last month that he was looking forward to becoming a father again.

'We're slowly getting a nursery together,' he said. 'I've had a fair few boxes arrive at the door and I've had to get the allen keys out.

'I've helped build the cot, they've got this breast-feeding chair thing that I've put together. This is not easy stuff for a guy like me. But we are all ready to roll now.'

Counting down: Jasmine last shared a photo of herself to Instagram on Tuesday. She posed in a black dress while cradling her baby bump alongside the caption: 'Countdown is on'

The couple began dating in late 2016, five months after he had separated from his first wife, Cassandra Thorburn, following 21 years of marriage.

The former couple share three children: Jackson, 20, River, 12, and Ava, 15.

In December, Karl and Jasmine celebrated their one-year anniversary after tying the knot at Mexico's five-star One&Only Palmilla resort in late 2018.
Paris, France (PANA) - Amnesty International Saturday welcomed the decision by the Chadian authorities to abolish the death penalty for terrorist acts, official sources said here
The Catholic Church of Indonesia launched the Marian month of May with a live-streamed concelebrated Mass on May 1.

By Robin Gomes

Catholics throughout Indonesia are intensifying prayer for our common home, the earth, during the Marian month of May, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta, President of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI), kicked off the month of Mary on Friday with a concelebrated Mass. It was, live-streamed on YouTube from the Cathedral of the Assumption in Jakarta.

Ahead of the Mass, the Rosary, highlighting Pope Francis Encyclical Laudato si, was prayed with the carrying the statue of Our Lady of All Ethnicities in procession.

Laudato si'

In the Encyclical, dated May 24, 2015, the Pope called for swift action on climate change, among other issues. The Mass on May 1 both introduces the month of May and looks forward to Laudato si Week which runs from 16-24 May.

We highlight the Popes Encyclical for the Rosary prayer as we want to welcome Laudato si Week, Father Matius Harry Sulistyo, Chairman of Jakarta Archdioceses Commission for Social Communications, told UCA News.

Laudato si Week commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Popes Encyclical. Sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The week is meant to encourage Catholic communities to take bolder actions for creation during the week-long initiative.

The theme of the week is everything is connected.

Pope Francis released a video message in March for the "Laudato si Week" initiative, inviting everyone to respond to the ecological crisis. He said that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor can no longer wait.

Father Sulistyo said that during the Marian month, all the bishops will take turns to lead the Rosary prayer every evening. He said the Rosary is a powerful prayer against the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the start of May, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Indonesia stood at 10,551 with 800 deaths. (Source: UCANEWS)
Bismah Malik By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: E-commerce giant Amazon said that among all its global operations, its businesses in India have been the most severely impacted. There has been a drastic cut in Amazons offerings in India, where the e-tailer is currently selling only groceries, due to the government advisory prohibiting online marketplaces from selling non-essential goods.

I think the biggest impact internationally has been in India where, of course, similar to all companies in the country, we are now only delivering essential goods such as grocery.

"So that has cut back a lot on our offerings and we will further expand when the Indian government announces that we are allowed to resume operations. Hence, we are in a bit of a holding pattern except for grocery in India, Brian T Olsavsky, senior vice-president and chief financial officer, Amazon, told investors during an earnings call.

ALSO READ | Amazon profit tumbles despite rise in sales amid lockdown, here's why

According to Forrester Research, online retail sales in India stood at $35 billion in 2019, with non-essential categories including consumer electronics, fashion, smartphones and large appliances comprising a chunk of the sales.

The share of groceries in the overall online retail in India during 2019 stood at just $2 billion.

With the government permitting the brick-and-mortar stores to sell non-essential goods in selected areas, sources said that stakeholders in Indias e-commerce industry have approached the authorities seeking permission for sale of goods other than groceries.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc posted 29 per cent drop in profits during the first quarter of 2020 on account of increased costs to fulfill the surging consumer demand.

The Seattle-based e-tailer also plans to spend at least $4 billion in Q2 in order to overhaul its operations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This also includes hiring 1,75,000 people globally. However, sources said that Amazon is not currently hiring in India in any department. The e-tailer also said it is expecting its first quarterly loss in Q2FY21 on account of expenses related to the pandemic.

Non-essential category sold for $35bn last year

According to Forrester Research, online retail sales in India stood at $35 billion in 2019, with non-essential categories including consumer electronics, fashion and smartphones comprising a chunk of the sales.
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Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 2 2020

The government has added the power-generation industry to a list of industries eligible for cheap gas, a nonfiscal incentive intended to improve the competitiveness of the countrys key industries.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued on April 6 Regulation No. 10/2020, which stipulates that state electricity firm PLN and independent power producers (IPPs) can buy gas at US$6 per million British thermal unit (mmbtu), below the market average of $8 per mmbtu.

The incentive, which has also been given to nearly 200 companies engaged in key industries, is subject to ministerial approval on a case-by-case basis.

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Linkedin Colm Fulton (Reuters) Stockholm, Sweden  Sat, May 2, 2020 08:05 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd56f824 2 Health Sweden,Lund,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,physical-distancing Free

A town in southern Sweden has turned to a traditional source to try to prevent the coronavirus spreading during an annual festive event on Thursday: chicken manure.

The university town of Lund began spreading chicken droppings in its central park to put off would-be revelers who would usually come on April 30 to celebrate Walpurgis Night.

The occasion, marking the shift away from dark, chilly winter days towards brighter spring and summer days, is typically celebrated with picnics, parties and bonfires across the country, and regularly attracts thousands of students.

"This is a park where usually 30,000 people gather, but with COVID-19 this is now unthinkable," the town's mayor, Philip Sandberg, told Reuters. "We don't want Lund to become an epicenter for the spread of the disease."

Read also: Hello, social distancing. Goodbye, handshakes?

Sweden has taken a softer approach than many other countries to preventing the spread of the respiratory disease that the coronavirus can cause, asking rather than ordering people to maintain social distancing.

In line with this policy, authorities have requested people avoid gathering for this year's Walpurgis Night, but have not banned festivities.

The authorities fear young people, especially students, will still want to enjoy a picnic and drink in the park.

"Most students in Lund and other parts of Sweden respect the recommendations ... although even a small number of people still going to the park can become a big risk," Sandberg said.
LAKE VICTORIA  A ferry with an unknown number of passengers has on Saturday evening capsized in on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria.

The boat identified as Water Bus is said to have been plying the Mageta IslandUsenge beach route in Siaya County in Kenya when the incident occurred.

The Citizen TV, quoting sources, reports the boat could have been hit by strong winds and high tides partly attributed to the swelling water levels of Lake Victoria.

The Citizen TV quoting authorities adds that a rescue mission is currently underway, coordinated by local administration and beach management units.

Water levels have been on the rise in Lake Victoria over the last four months

On Friday, Uganda issued an alert over Lake Victorias water levels that have surged to their highest level in more than half a century after about eight months of relentless downpours.

According to Reuters, sections of waterfront properties such as luxury hotels including one belonging to a unit of Nairobi-listed Tourism Promotion Services and a Protea Hotel which is part of Marriott International, became submerged in the last few weeks.

Ugandas water and environment minister Sam Cheptoris further warned that the situation could pose a threat to Ugandas hydropower plants.

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US Indicts Two Iran Operatives For Sanctions Violations

Radio Farda 01 May 2020

Criminal charges have been filed Friday against two Iranian nationals for circumventing U.S. Iran sanctions, money laundering and breaking export laws by purchasing an oil tanker from a U.S. seller.

"Amir Dianat, 55, and Kamran Lajmiri, 42, both Iranian nationals, were charged with violating U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia", a statement by U.S. attorneys said.

The whereabouts of the two individuals is not mentioned in the statement.

The United States also imposed sanctions Dianat, an Iranian-Iraqi businessman and his mining company, accusing him of involvement in efforts by Iran's elite Qods (Quds) Force to generate revenue illegally and smuggle weapons abroad, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a separate statement.

Amir Dianat has supported Qods Force smuggling operations for years, including efforts aimed at shipping weapons such as missiles and smuggling shipments from Iran to Yemen, the department said.

The sanctions freeze any U.S.-held assets of Dianat or his company Taif Mining Services, which the U.S. Treasury Department alleged was a front company for the Qods Force, and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

"The Iranian regime and its supporters continue to prioritize the funding of international terrorist organizations over the health and well-being of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement.

A related complaint was also filed alleging that $12 million is subject to forfeiture as funds involved in the crimes and as assets of a foreign terrorist organization.

The forfeiture action marks the largest ever seizure of Qods Force-related funds, it said.

The complaint alleges that Dianat and Lajmiri in 2019 conspired to purchase a petroleum tanker in a scheme involving the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company and the Quds Force, all blacklisted by the United States.

If convicted of the criminal charges, Dianat and Lajmiri would face a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.

"These defendants purchased a crude oil tanker valued at over $10 million by illegally using the U.S. financial system, defiantly violating U.S. sanctions," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in the statement.

Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/us-indicts- two-iran-operatives-for-sanctions -violations/30587965.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Business groups have welcomed the Government's new suite of measures to help businesses get back on their feet following the Covid-19 crisis.

A 6bn support package for farmers, small, medium and larger businesses has also been agreed by Cabinet today.

The measures include a 10,000 "restart" grant and a three-month waiver on commercial rates.

A 4bn recovery fund and credit guarantee scheme is also included in the plan.

However large parts of the support package cannot be introduced before a new government is formed.

Fergal O'Brien Director of Policy at business advocacy group IBEC says the grant is particularly welcome.

He says: "We have been saying from the outlet for lots of companies more debt is not going to be the solution.

"Single grants rolled out in particular that are going to be helping companies in the reopen phase and to get that coordination around the roadmap for the reopening is really important."

The move comes as almost a quarter of businesses in Ireland shut down temporarily due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, new figures revealed.

With the country on lockdown, the construction and tourism industries have almost come to a standstill while many restaurants are only operating a takeaway service for customers.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office revealed that over a one-month period from mid-March to mid-April, 23% of businesses ceased trading while almost three-quarters reported that their turnover was negatively affected by the outbreak.
Action will be taken against a Singaporean man for allegedly insulting Indians on social media to deliberately stoke anger, unhappiness and racial tensions, a senior minister said on Saturday.

The man using @SharonLiew86 Twitter username posted tweets with derogatory terms to refer to people of South Asian descent, reported Channel Asia.

He tweeted that amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, those who sit too close to each other are Malays, Indians or foreigners, and not true blue Singaporeans, triggering an outrage in the city-state.

Reacting to the developments, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam wrote on Facebook that police have investigated, found the person, a man, not a female named Sharon Liew, and the man is not Chinese.

Sharon Liew, who posted that Chinese women do not want to sit next to smelly Apuneneh is neither Chinese, nor female.

The minister said that some weeks ago, there were nasty posts by one Sharon Liew@sharonliew86, insulting Indians, saying: COVID-19 is the apuneneh (considered derogatory term for people of Tamil origin) virus; and how smart Chinese women do not want to sit next to smelly apuneneh inside the MRT.

Done deliberately to stoke anger, unhappiness, racial tensions. Action will be taken.

The police said that they were investigating a 34-year-old man for promoting enmity between different racial groups.

The police received a report about offensive content against Indian migrant workers on April 18. Through investigations, CCTV footage and police cameras, the authorities identified the man on April 23.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the man is believed to be involved in two other cases involving offensive tweets, said the police.

If found guilty of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of race, the man could be jailed for up to three years, fined or both.

At a time when we need the nation to stand as one, acts that sow racial discord cannot be condoned, said Julius Lim, assistant commissioner of police, commander of Bedok Police Division.

We will continue to take a tough stand against those who seek to stoke community tensions in multi-racial Singapore.

Migrant workers make up the bulk of COVID-19 cases in Singapore, with the outbreak affecting several foreign workers living in crammed dormitories.

Last month, Shanmugam spoke out against a forum letter published in Chinese daily questioning if foreign workers were to be blamed for the rise in cases in Singapore, pointing to their eating habits and alleged lack of personal hygiene.

According to media reports, the minister later said these sentiments showed "underlying racism".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
West Bengal Health and Family Welfare departments principal secretary Vivek Kumars letter to Union health secretary Preeti Sudan dated April 30 has stoked a fresh row, as it cited the states total coronavirus positive (Covid-19) case count at 931, which is at odds with the state governments tally of 816.

The controversy comes amid the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government battling charges of fudging Covid-19 data, as alleged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Left parties.

The state government skipped its daily press briefing on Covid-19 updates on Friday and Saturday, as the discrepancy in the data snowballed into a raging political controversy. Fridays daily bulletin, too, wasnt published. Even on Saturday, there was no bulletin till 7:45pm.

Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha, who largely briefed the media on Covid-19 related issues since mid-March, did not respond to questions about the reason behind the discrepancy in the data.

Other senior state government officials remained tight-lipped as well, as CM Banerjee herself holds the health portfolio. Health secretary Kumar also remained incommunicado.

Kumar had cited in his letter to Sudan regarding the categorisation of districts as red, orange, and green zones and also gave a district-wise break-up list of the number of patients, who had tested Covid-19 positive till April 30.

His list showed that four districts in the state figured in the red zone. Kolkata topped the list with 489 Covid-19 positive cases, followed by Howrah (176), North 24 Parganas (122) and East Midnapore (34).

Altogether, 11 districts were categorised as orange zones and accounted for another 110 Covid-19 positive cases.

Kumars data is in sharp contrast to the figures shared by the state government officials with media persons.

According to the state governments health bulletin dated April 30, there were 572 active Covid-19 positive cases, while 139 had recovered. Another 105 people had died, of which the Bengal government attributed 33 to Covid-19 related deaths and another 72 to co-morbidity.

Its evident now that the state government is suppressing facts related to the extent of the spread of Covid-19 in Bengal. Initially, they differentiated between the deaths to show a lesser toll and now theyre suppressing the cases altogether, said Sujan Chakraborty, the leader of Left parties in Bengal assembly.

Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, too, took to social media, urging the state government to maintain transparency. Give up Covid-19 data cover-up operation @MamataOfficial and share it transparently, Dhankhar tweeted on Saturday.

The BJP has alleged gross mismanagement. The government has been trying to suppress the real extent of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state from the outset and has been consistently showing a lesser number of Covid-19 positive cases and fewer deaths to claim the credit. The administration has degenerated into utter chaos and mismanagement, as it has been trying to give political colour to the pandemic, alleged Subhas Sarkar, a member of the Lok Sabha and a doctor himself.

Bengal is the only state, where an expert panel of doctors is determining the cause of death among Covid-19 patients. The state authorities started sharing the data related to Covid-19 deaths attributed to co-morbidity after a visiting inter-ministerial central team (ICMT) wrote a letter to the Bengal government on April 22.

No senior Trinamool Congress leader spoke on the record, deflecting it to the state administration.

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As attempts to poach wild animals,



illegal tree felling and other crimes related to wildlife continue to take place during the lockdown, the forest department in Nagpur has increased patrolling to keep a hawk's eye on the offenders.

The officials said that the employees of the department are also going out of their way to provide essential commodities and food packets to the people dwelling in the forest interiors in a bid to mitigate their hardships.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Nagpur, Prabhu Shukla, said the department staffers have been fighting as "silent warriors" for the protection and conservation of wildlife and forest during these testing times.

"Recently, we foiled two attempts of poaching of wild animals and arrested seven persons. In the last two months, 15 incidents of forest fires were reported. The department is patrolling the forest areas round-the-clock to thwart any attempt of illicit tree felling and similar offences," he said.

"The Nagpur transit treatment centre annually admits around 600 injured animals. But during the lockdown period alone, as many as 100 injured animals were rescued. They are undergoing treatment at the centre," Shukla said.

The department staffers have also been cleaning water holes for animals, monitoring the movement of tigers and taking regular steps to avoid man-animal conflict in the highly vulnerable areas, he said.

He also informed that the employees of the Nagpur forest department are going beyond their designated work and providing essential commodities and food packets to the people residing in remote forest areas.

"More than 5,000 ration kits and food packets were distributed in Umred, Hingna, Seminary hill ranges and other area. Masks and sanitisers were also distributed in Khapa, Hingna and other forest ranges for the safety of people," Shukla said.

"We are also raising awareness about issues like social distancing and hygiene through public announcement systems in 400 remote villages," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The enemy is not one another, the enemy is this virus

The virus is the enemy and not one another.

The COVID-19 broadcasts

Last Sunday night, Ghanaians were subjected to yet another national broadcast on COVID-19. If the quotes above give off a whiff of plagiarism, the question that should naturally follow is: Who is doing the plagiarising? Elementary, my dear Dr. Watson! No marks for getting the correct answer. The answer has been trending on social media.

Mr. Cathedral

Mr. Cathedral rode into office after Election 2016 boasting to deliver on all sorts of goodies promised during his campaign period. But instead, even before he had settled in to appreciate the enormity of the office he had taken over, he had drawn a proselytizing sword, like some Middle Ages crusader, to push through his agenda of Christianising the entire multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-faith secular state that has defined Ghana since independence. This defining character was entrenched three years after independence when Ghana became a Republic on July 1, 1960, doing away with Queen Elizabeth II who as Head of the Church of England, was no longer our Head of State and therefore any vestiges of Eurocentric theocracy was severed once and for allIt has served us very well and fostered the peaceful coexistence of the different faiths in Ghana. But Mr. Cathedral now never misses an opportunity to poke the eyes of other faiths with his constant bleat of Ghana being a Christian state. Actually, it is NOT!

Mr. Cathedral made the building of a national cathedral the signature project of his mandate, but last Sunday, he more or less, confessed to the folly of this hubris. Covid-19 had brought him down to earth with the reality that the priority of priorities is the construction of hospitals, clinics, health centers and related facilities, as wisely pursued by his predecessor, not cathedrals!

As so often happens, when a self-deluding politician has blundered, it is not contrition he resorts to, but hyperbole, as his face-saver. In this case, Mr. Cathedral announced that he would build 88 hospitals across the country, but why did he squander four years refusing to continue or even publicly acknowledge the hospitals and clinics started by the man he took over from? Some of them were near completion, some were completed but never put to their intended use.

Why 88?

88 hospitals! That is a very tall order. According to those who know such things, the maths simply does not add up. This is how one such savant summarised it: President Akufo-Addo says he wants to build 88 hospitals. Find attached the 2020 budget as approved by Parliament and captured in the appropriations act [Not included in this commentary]. The approved amount for health infrastructure is 44,396,929 million cedis. Divide the total figure by 88 hospitals and you will realize the president intends spending about 500,000 to build just one of his 'ultramodern hospitals' within the said 8 months. What standard is that going to be? The king is naked Again!!!!

But perhaps a way can be found. It is possible they can see in COVID-19 a true Act of God and for which reason they will scrap the cathedral and utilize the funds earmarked  US$100 million-plus  as seed capital for the hospitals. God would most definitely bless such a moral and ethical use of His exalted Name. It is now left to be seen whether they can rise to this higher calling and do the right thing, for as we all know, cosmetic expressions of sanctimonious piety hardly find favour with the Lord.

All the Great Holy Books are unanimous on that one. 88 itself is such an unfortunate number and I wonder why they decided on that figure. (Internet Fact Check: Neo-Nazis use the number 88 as an abbreviation for the Nazi salute Heil Hitler. The letter H is eighth in the alphabet, whereby 88 becomes HH. Often, this number is associated with the number 14, e.g. 14/88, 14-88, or 1488; this number symbolizes the Fourteen Words coined by David Lane, a prominent white supremacist).

Insincerity

It is not for me to provide any interpretation here. All that I can say is that this does not look like an auspicious beginning to Mr. Cathedral's hospitals! Another thing: I am finding it very difficult to shake off a deep-seated gut feeling of insincerity regarding Mr. Cathedral's handling of this COVID-19 thing. As I said, it is a gut feeling, but he has come across to me as someone milking and massaging it for partisan political gain. A fertile imagination? Perhaps. But I am almost certain that some action may be taken in the coming week or two to downgrade Covid-19 to get Mrs. Jean Mensa and Dr. Ken Attafuah to roll out their Election 2020 masterplan of winning the election for Mr. Cathedral even before a single vote has been castA gut feeling  yes, but already: 1) Contempt is shown by the EC against the injunction placed on its activities and subsequent publication of a timetable to commence its controversial new voters register, 2) The government's shamefaced Sankofa to Mahama era health projects with claims that they had not been abandoned and 3) Election 2020 even right now may already have been compromised through NIA Ghana Card registration. If the EC in its febrile preparation towards a new register is allowed to get away with it, the outcome would be the icing on the poisonous cake baked by the NIA.

Insomnia

I am worried. Nana Kofi Coomson sounded the alarm a few years ago about Mr. Cathedral and honestly, my insomnia is increasing by the day. It is now universally accepted that one of the leading causes of violent breakdown in many a developing country is election-related. Can't Jean Mensa and Ken Attafuah see the precipice they are leading us to with their acquiescence to a blatant cheating strategy? As we pray for COVID-19 to leave us alone, we must also pray constantly for the EC and the NIA to do the right thing and save Ghana from the trauma of election Armageddon.

---citinewsroom
Trinity Lutheran School will soon be able to potentially produce hundreds of face masks for health-care providers and others in need in the Fremont community thanks to a $1,923 grant.

The school began using its two 3-D printing machines in early April to produce face masks for the Fremont Area United Way. Those masks would then be given to Three Rivers Public Health Department, who were then able to distribute the masks to providers who need them.

STEM Coordinator Brett Meyer printed 65 face masks for Three Rivers using the two machines before they broke down, forcing him to cease production.

He was forced to shut down production for two weeks. Thanks to a grant approved by the Fremont Area Community Foundation, however, Meyer was able to purchase three new printing machines to help the school ramp up production.

I thought to reach out to Fremont Area Community Foundation to give them a proposal about what we would like to do to give back to the community, Meyers said. I wanted to look to see how we could give back to the community.

Fremont Area Community Foundation Executive Director Melissa Diers said the grant will go a long way in helping Meyer get his operation moving again.

He definitely wanted to do what he could to help fulfill the need, she said. It also turned out to be a wonderful learning experience. Several Trinity and [Archbishop Bergan] students have been assisting him to make improvements and modifications to the template.

By Wednesday, Meyer said all five printers should be ready to print again. He estimated that each printer will be able to produce 10 face shields per day. Additionally, Meyer is getting some help from his neighbors to produce the masks.

I had 65 face shields with just two machines in a week and that was just me, he said. Theres not a lot going into it once you have a model. With five printers, we can stagger it so we have a good rotation.

Meyer said with the extra workforce it would be possible to print for longer without having to stop.

You can print for 14 to 15 hours a day now and we can go non-stop, he said.

When Meyer was producing the masks on his own, he would often have to leave the school to focus on work or his family at home.

Its balancing a job and children at home, its not something that I can just sit here for 12 or 13 hours and just keep printing, he said. Its not easy.

The new batch of masks will continue to go to the Fremont Area United Way once production kicks off again next week. Meyer added that hes received requests from local dentists for face shields that he intends to produce.

Some of these dental offices will receive some, some will continue to go to the United Way and anybody who reaches out for a request, he said. Well do what we can.

More than anything, Meyer said hes ready to get back to work after a two-week hiatus.

Im very excited to get going, he said. Again, you feel like you can help the community. When youre not printing you feel helpless.

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Its barely 8 a.m. on Saturday and more than two dozen vehicles, many of them minivans, are snaking their way through the giant parking lot in Mississauga.

Theyve been lining up at the citys drive-thru food bank, at the Islamic Society of North America high school and mosque, since about 4:30 a.m. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, some people like to be first, says ISNA Canadas volunteer treasurer, Nabeel Mirza.

But the food bank, has only been operating as a drive-thru since April, when the crisis really took hold.

We were really apprehensive. We didnt want to come across as violating protocols and the physical distancing that government has been putting in place, but we also knew the demand is increasing, said Faisal Shaheen, food bank co-chair, who waved in visitors on Saturday. An estimated 600 families were served.

The ISNA food bank started about 12 years ago, delivering food to 13 families. This past March, the centres food bank served about 400 families  demand has ramped up since COVID-19, with between 500 and 700 families now served a month. About 60 per cent of clients are from Peel Region, while others come from as far away as Ajax, Vaughan, Kitchener-Waterloo and Hamilton, on the first Saturday of each month between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Volunteers at the non-profit, charitable agency take each vehicle occupants name and information to a table where another volunteer hands over a white envelope, which is then relayed back to the car and passed through the window. Inside each envelope is a grocery store gift card.

All the volunteers wore masks, many were in full protective, opaque face shields, everyone taking care to stay two metres apart and, as much as possible, back from the cars.

A lot of our clients are from immigrant, refugee communities, marginalized, racialized. There are a lot of barriers for them to actually access other social services and perhaps other food banks in the GTA. We felt compelled that we have to stay open, said Shaheen.

Many people from those communities are part-time labourers and casual workers with few employment benefits, he said.

We know from studies they are vulnerable to high rents and the expense which suffers in their families is whats put on the table, Shaheen added.

Normally clients receive a food basket that includes staples like lentils and rice. But the pandemic has prompted a re-think of the food banks offerings. Now users get a grocery gift card valued at between $25 to $60, depending on the size of their family.

The organizers stress that anyone, regardless of religion or city of residence, is welcome and while its a drive-thru model, those who take the bus or walk to the centre will also be served.

The food bank operates on more than $300,000 a year raised through the community. But this year will be more difficult, said Mirza, the volunteer treasurer. More people will lose their jobs and the need will become higher.

But, he added, COVID-19 has brought the humanity out in us.

Despite the close of the mosque, people are still donating, although the numbers are slightly lower, said Mirza. There are lots of great humans out there opening up their wallets.
01.05.2020 LISTEN

1. Christianity focuses on making disciples. Churchianity, on the other hand, is preoccupied with church membership i.e. the Megachurch culture

"My dear children for whom I prevail in prayer that Christ may be formed in you." Galatians 4:19

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter it. But small is the is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14

2. Christianity focuses on building and moulding the individual to become a functional member of society. Churchianity on the other hand invests resources in building projects like auditoriums and temples.

"Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you would worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." John 4:21,23

3. Christianity exists to challenge the status quo. Churchianity, on the other hand, embraces, supports, and actively supports the status quo so long as there is something to gain from it.

"....they rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: These men who have turned their world upside down have now come here." Acts 17:5b-6

4. In Christianity, Christ is the object of our worship and affection. In Churchianity on the other hand, it is the clergy that are objects of worship and affection. In other words, a loyalty which is reserved for God has been indirectly usurped by the clergy.

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." John 3:14

5. One of the fundamental building blocks of Christianity is service to God and service to mankind. Churchianity, on the other hand, promotes the culture of self-indulgence.

"For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves." Luke 22:27

6. In Christianity, the individual is the temple in which God dwells. In Churchianity, on the other hand, the auditorium built with human hands is where God dwells.

"Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your iwn; you were bought with a price. Therefore honour God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

7. Christianity exudes love. Love is selfless. Churchianity on the other hand exudes pride. Pride is selfish.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

8. Christianity promotes justification through faith in the finished work of Christ. Churchianity promotes justification by works e.g. living a holy life, good works etc.

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." Romans 3:28

"Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this Grace in which now we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1

9. In Christianity there is no stratification i.e. there is neither slave nor free, rich or poor, Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised. Whereas Churchianity supports and promotes a stratified system based on one's status and position in life.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, , male or female, you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26-28

10. Whereas Christianity teaches about gaining through suffering and tribulation i.e. denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus, Churchianity preaches a gospel of material blessings, wealth, happiness, and bliss.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33; Matthew 16:24-26

Conclusion

Christianity is not the same as Churchianity. Any belief system within the church system that seeks to undermine what Christ stands for must be exposed.

"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation We share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men (false doctrines) whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." Jude 3-4

Be inspired. PKP
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Nigeria has expressed interest to be part of the global solidarity trial of the vaccines being developed to tackle COVID-19 pandemic and efforts are underway to start the process in the country.

The Officer in charge, WHO Nigeria and member of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Dr. Fiona Braka, said this on Friday in Abuja, at the 24th joint national briefing of the committee.

She also said that 89 vaccines are being developed globally, including seven in clinical evaluation and several therapeutics in clinical trials to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, Nigeria has also expressed interest to be part of this solidarity trial and efforts are underway to start the process in Nigeria too.

According to her, on the subject of vaccines and clinical trials for Covid-19, research and development is an important aspect of the response and researchers around the world are working hard on accelerating the development of vaccines and therapeutics for Covid-19.

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Five Navasota residents were arrested Thursday after warrants were served in connection to an aggravated robbery investigation.

According to Navasota police Chief Shawn Myatt, the department has been investigation an April 8 robbery during which one person was shot. Navasota officers were also working with College Station police on cases of theft and burglary that have taken place in both counties.

Around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Navasota officers arrived at a housing complex in the 500 block of Laredo Street and executed several warrant connected to the April 8 shooting. Police arrested Latrance Washington, 35; Michael Oaks, 19; Rubin Ethel, 17; Davonte Oaks, 21; and Dekeimus Jessie, 18. A press release notes that Washingtons home contained more than five ounces of marijuana, bottles of liquid codeine, a gun, stolen property and $50,000 in cash. Some items found during the arrests are believed to be connected to cases investigated by Navasota and College Station police, authorities said.

Jessie is charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. Michael Oaks, Davonte Oaks and Ethel are charged with two counts of robbery, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Washington is charged with unlawful carrying of a firearm and possession of more than four ounces of marijuana, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail. Myatt said additional charges against Washington are pending.
A second deployed Navy warship was sidelined this week after the coronavirus spread among its crew members, but the service has it won't be giving anymore ship-specific updates on how many people have caught the illness.

Pentagon leaders want to break the pattern of providing the public with what one official called "minor changes" when it comes to the number of COVID-19 cases on ships.

"We believe that we've moved past the point where the daily updates are providing useful information for public conversation," Jonathan Rath Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday.

The service's Thursday COVID-19 update from the Navy Office of Information stated that only significant changes on the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, destroyer Kidd and other deployed vessels would be released.

Related: Coronavirus Lessons from USS Roosevelt Outbreak Helped USS Kidd

Hoffman said leaders made the decision after the full crews were tested for the virus, moved off the ship and the vessels were disinfected.

The Roosevelt has been in Guam since late March. The ship has been in the media spotlight since the former commanding officer wrote a candid letter about the growing health crisis on the carrier. He was ultimately fired after the was leaked and published in the San Francisco Chronicle. As of Thursday, there were 1,102 active COVID-19 cases among that crew.

A sailor assigned to the Roosevelt died of the illness last month.

The Kidd arrived in San Diego on Tuesday after 78 cases of COVID-19 broke out among the crew. At least two Kidd crew members had to be medically evacuated from the ship during its transit back to the U.S.

The ship was conducting counter-narcotics operations in the Pacific when one of the crew members began showing symptoms for the virus.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered unit and base commanders in March to stop publicly announcing new coronavirus cases over concerns that adversaries could use the information to spot potential areas of weakness.

When the coronavirus cases broke out on the Roosevelt and the Kidd, Hoffman said it was the department's initial stance not to release the numbers for operational reasons.

"We've made exceptions in a couple places that had a lot of public scrutiny, understandable and reasonable public scrutiny with the TR and the Kidd," he said. "But we've now reached a point with both of those ships, particularly with the TR, where ... the entire crew has been moved off, the entire crew has been tested, we have the results, the ship has been cleaned, the crew is now returning."

Barring big spikes of cases on those ships or outbreaks on other deployed vessels, Hoffman said people shouldn't expect case numbers to be updated.

"Everyone is well aware that there was a large outbreak on the ships," he said. "... Now we've reached a point where we're starting to move back into the normal operations, so providing the tracker, it has been determined, is just not necessary at this point."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read More: Trump Authorizes Activation of More Troops to Fight Drug Trafficking
Unhappy News for Goonies Event, Fourth of July on N. Oregon Coast

Published 04/30/2020 at 6:24 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Astoria, Oregon)  COVID-19 has claimed some other victims on the Oregon coast: two much-loved events. Fourth of July wont be happening in Seaside, and the region's Goonies celebration has been canceled for live visits, but moved to a virtual environment.

Seaside has officially canceled its Fourth of July celebration. The news was relayed earlier this week about the same time Vancouver, Washington, cut out its fireworks show, with officials saying it wasnt possible to ensure the safety of attendees in the midst of such enormous crowds during the pandemic.

The north Oregon coast town has the largest celebration on the entire Oregon coast, bringing in some 50,000 people.

Other coastal towns currently have no listings for their Fourth of July events, although no official word has come down that others are canceled. However, given that Oregon will still be in its early phases of opening back up  which include crowd restrictions  its unlikely any such Independence Day fireworks show will make the cut.

Farther up the Oregon coast, the big bummer for many is that the Goonies fest has been canceled. The Goonies 35th Anniversary Celebration, scheduled for June 4-7, 2020, in Astoria, Oregon will not go ahead as planned  but it is going digital.

The city of Astoria is inviting people to join in a virtual celebration.

The decision was not reached lightly, and we know it will be a difficult one for many, said Regina Willkie, with the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. We have spent the recent weeks listening to our partners in the event production industry, government agencies, healthcare professionals, residents and guests who helped us reach this point. Bottom line, the health of our vendors, volunteers, contractors, and attendees must come first. The uncertainty of the future and how our many aspects of planning and production will be impacted, simply makes putting on a celebration of this magnitude insurmountable at this time.

However, Willkie said they cannot let the Annual Goonies Day go by completely unnoticed. This time around the whoop-de-doo happens from the safety of your home.

We are creating a virtual event that could include online presentations, fan contests, a shopping portal and other activities you can do from home whether the travel restrictions are lifted or not, she said. If you have ideas, let us know.

Willkie said that even if restrictions are eased and people can come together on that weekend, they do not anticipate that venues, shops, lodgings, or restaurants will be ready to handle thousands of participants coming to the Astoria community that weekend.

We encourage you to visit our area when you are able later this year, she said. We are restructuring our interactive One Eyed Willys Treasure Hunt with long-term installation so that it can be done throughout the rest of the year. Oregons North Coast is ripe with adventure any time of year with historic attractions, outdoor recreation, and magnificent scenery.

You can join in on the groups Facebook or see the website on following along with ideas of ways to celebrate. Exclusive 35th Anniversary merchandise will be available in their online shop soon.





















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The $2 trillion CARES Act, which created the program, specifies that small businesses  generally those with fewer than 500 employees  can use the loan money to pay employees, but also for rent, utilities or interest payments. The loans will be forgiven if they are spent on those expenses within eight weeks and the business keeps paying the same number of employees, at the same rate, as it did before the pandemic.

The Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration, which is running the program, added a restriction: For a loan to be forgivable, businesses have to spend at least 75 percent of it on payroll. Otherwise, the rules say, the borrower will pay interest of 1 percent on any portion of the loan that is not forgiven.

But whats unclear is what happens if borrowers keep all the money as a loan to be used later or if they must spend the entire sum within eight weeks, with an economic turnaround still months away.

Take Jodi Burns, the owner of Blazing Fresh Donuts in Guilford, Conn. Ms. Burns could use the loan she got  an amount under $50,000  to hire back her eight employees, but she would be paying most of them to stay home, since the bakery is open only 12 hours a week these days. She would prefer to hold on to the cash beyond eight weeks; her hope is that it becomes a low-interest loan she can use for payroll and rent when her shop is open longer.

Ms. Burns doesnt know whether she can do that. She has called her local S.B.A. office, small-business advisory organizations, a law firm and her lender to ask for guidance, but no one has given her any assurances. Moreover, having signed documents requiring her to use the funds for purposes allowed under the paycheck programs rules, Ms. Burns is nervous about misusing them.

I dont accidentally want to commit bank fraud, she said.
Eton is in talks with the Department of Education to invest 100million into teaching disadvantaged children in East Anglia, the Midlands and northern England.

Eton's headmaster, Simon Henderson, thinks the coronavirus pandemic would 'trigger a profound change' like the two world wars did and Eton wants to 'be on the right side of history' by sponsoring underprivileged sixth-forms.

Mr Henderson said: 'Every institution will be judged by what they did during the pandemic.

'That's particularly true in education where there's no doubt that inequality is widening.'

Headmaster Simon Henderson (pictured) wants Eton to invest 100million into educating disadvantaged sixth-form children in East Anglia, the Midlands and northern England

The elite private school's headmaster said that fight against inequality in education needs to be widened to outside of London where most of Eton and other private schools have partnered with state schools.

Mr Henderson is looking for state and private sector partners to join the five-year project currently funded by Eton's charitable endowment and fundraising.

He told the Times: 'We want to create a wider network with as many as 50 schools and youth clubs, particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Mr Henderson wants this project to help change people's association of Eton, which has educated 20 prime ministers including Boris Johnson, with elitism.

General secretary of the head teachers' union ASCL, Geoff Barton, said: 'We support any initiative which creates excellent educational provision but we would urge Eton  and the government  to ensure that any state-funded selective sixth form college does not simply cream off the most able students from existing institutions.'
Joel McHale has expressed surprise over the backlash he received for one of his questions on Netflixs Tiger King special.

The comedian hosted The Tiger King and I, a bonus episode of the hugely popular documentary about the feud between cat trader Joe Exotic and animal rights activist Carole Baskin.

Many fans criticised McHale for suggesting Exotic should be in jail. Exotic is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot and numerous animal abuse charges.

People gave me such s*** for asking if Joe Exotic should be in jail, and I was like, that doesnt seem like a hard-hitting geyser question, McHale told Conan OBrien. They were like, How dare you. and I was like, 19 felonies? Animal abuses?

He added: It was a weird thing because I think people see [Tiger King subjects] as characters and not necessarily human beings.

Tiger King, which was released on Netflix in March, was described by viewers as absolutely bonkers.

For more documentaries to watch if you liked Tiger King, check out our list.
Medical doctors from McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) reported that a three-week-old infant survived a severe COVID-19 after timely intervention from the medical team. The case was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 22. (Photo : Pexels)

Medical doctors from McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) reported that a three-week-old infant survived a severe COVID-19 after timely intervention from the medical team. The case was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 22.

This case also debunked the original belief that babies are spared from COVID-19.

Alvaro Coronado Munoz, a medical doctor and assistant professor of pediatric critical care medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth warned that children can get critically ill from the COVID-19 virus. "It's important for parents to understand that they should not delay seeking care for their children if there's any presence of fever or trouble breathing," added Coronado.

The 3-week-old patient was admitted at a local hospital with nasal congestion, rapid breathing, and decreased appetite. The temperature was recorded at 97.0 degrees with a high pulse rate and low oxygen saturation. The baby also had low blood pressure and hypothermia, rapid heart rate, and breathing. This alerted Coronado and his medical team, and the child was immediately transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. Lung X-rays revealed that the baby also has pneumonia.

At the time of admission, test results from nasal swab are expected after a week. However, the physicians did not wait for the result before taking the COVID-19 action plan for the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

According to Coronado, their team was called to admit the baby in PICU. After they saw the X-ray, they were already suspicious that it could be the coronavirus.

"We took early precautions to protect our team and avoid the spread of health care providers," the doctor added.

As a precaution that this case may be COVID-19, the infant was transferred to a negative-pressure room in the PICU and was intubated and placed on a mechanical ventilator for five days. The standard PICU protocol, the article noted, calls for non-invasive mechanical ventilation. Doctors chose to intubate earlier however, as the patient was in severe respiratory failure and COVID-19 was suspected. The patient was also given a five-day course of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.

Protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 such as avoiding aerosolized treatment and providing safe intubation intervention measures sooner than the usual were adapted by the PICU, Coronado said.

After day five, the medical team reported that the patient was discharged from PICU. On the ninth day, the baby has recovered, the supplemental oxygen was taken off the baby and was sent home.

Coronado said that this case may be limited to one single patient but it demonstrates that children can have severe COVID-19 cases, although it can also be successfully managed.

More cases of babies recovering from COVID-19

In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that a 16-day old baby survived COVID-19. "Our frontliners at the National Children's Hospital tirelessly took care of the neonate for 11 days and successfully nursed him back to health," the DOH posted on its official Twitter page. The health department also reported that 25 babies tested positive for COVID-19 in the country. DOH spokesperson Rosario Vergeire reported in a virtual press conference that two of these infants have died, "possibly due to their immature immune system."

In Izmir, Turkey, Syrian baby Aziz has recovered from COVID-19 after a month of treatment. Baby Aziz was taken in an intensive care unit for newborns five days after birth as he had difficulty breathing. A tube was inserted into his stomach for medical treatment. The baby responded well to the treatment and was discharged from the hospital after a month of treatment.
ROCHELLE, Ill., May 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rochelle Foods, LLC announced that it will reopen as scheduled Monday, May 4, following a 14-day voluntary closure. The facility, which makes grocery, foodservice and specially-formulated cancer nutrition products, completed testing of its team members last week with the vast majority of them testing negative. Of those who tested positive, numerous people had no noticeable symptoms. During the pause in operations, additional enhanced safety procedures were implemented including deep cleaning of high-touch areas, reconfiguration of common areas and workstations, revised shift scheduling, new guidelines on carpooling and more extensive social distancing measures. Rochelle Foods will be moving forward with a reopening plan that exceeds CDC and OSHA guidelines, outlines procedures for continued team member safety and raises the bar on best practices in the food industry. Rochelle Foods is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL), a global branded food company.

Bill Rice, Rochelle Foods plant manager said, "We have been a proud member of Ogle County and Rochelle for decades and we know that this current COVID-19 pandemic has been a very difficult situation for our team members, their families, our friends and neighbors, our community and our nation. We want to thank the community for the outpouring of support as we navigate this pandemic's impact and those who helped us execute our pilot testing program. Everyone who has reached out to us and our team members understands this pandemic is occurring everywhere and we are not alone in our efforts to protect our team members and this community. We have put the safety of our team members first throughout this pandemic and will continue to do so. As a leading employer in the area, and one with our core priority on the health and safety of our employees, we are certainly eager to get back to doing what we love and that's making great food."

Rochelle Foods also knows that the community has been hit hard by layoffs and furloughs, and that food insecurity is at an all-time high in the community. Therefore, the company and its team members will donate 10,000 meals to Feeding America and the local food bank. This is in addition to more than $10,000 already donated to support the community hunger programs during the COVID-19 crisis. This donation is to thank those members of the community who have demonstrated overwhelming support to the company and team members during this temporary pause in production.

On Monday, the company finalized its detailed plan, developed in conjunction with third-party health and safety experts, outlining all the steps it had taken and will continue to take as it reopens its food facility. This document will serve as a blueprint for ongoing operations. The KEEP COVID OUT! initiative will serve as an ongoing initiative throughout the pandemic to ensure a focus on safety in the workplace and outside of work in the community and at home.

Safety First is the company's core cultural belief, and since the beginning of the COVID-19 situation, the company has taken significant steps to prevent community spread from entering its facility and impacting its team members. These robust steps include temperature screening for all who enter the plant, masks and personal protective equipment, social distancing enhancements and continued education on COVID-19.

The company has been working closely with external health experts, including those at Mayo Clinic, as well as following and exceeding all CDC guidelines since the very early days of COVID-19 in the United States.

"As these national health experts have told us, we understand that with more testing, we will see more positives," Rice added. "We are focused on the health and safety of our team members and these test results will help us ensure people understand their current status. In some cases, it is possible that there are individuals who have COVID-19 and are asymptomatic and others who may not have realized they had symptoms."

During this global pandemic, Rochelle Foods, along with other essential manufacturers in the food industry, was designated as an essential business and stayed open because it was asked to step up and ensure Americans had food available during this unprecedented crisis. Many manufacturing facilities from many different industries are facing similar challenges given the community spread of COVID-19, including in the state of Illinois where cases are among the most significant.

"Rochelle Foods, and our parent company, Hormel Foods, have a tremendous relationship with our regulatory partners at the local, state and federal level, including the USDA and FDA. As a global company, we understand the importance of ensuring people and food safety. We will continue to put team members' safety first at Rochelle Foods as we look forward to reopening on Monday," said Richard Carlson, vice president of quality assurance at Hormel Foods.

About Rochelle Foods

Rochelle Foods produces a variety of products for foodservice and retail customers and consumers, including microwaveable and precooked bacon, foodservice and retail bacon, deli hams and Hormel Compleats microwaveable meals. More than 800 team members work at the 400,000-square-foot production facility. Rochelle Foods is located in Rochelle, Ill., and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation.

Contact: Media Relations, [email protected]

SOURCE Rochelle Foods
The government has announced measures to support the most vulnerable in society during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, including rough sleepers and domestic abuse survivors.

Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, said a 76m package would support more safe spaces and accommodation for those who had gone through domestic abuse, as well as their children.

The package would also help recruit counsellors to help victims of sexual violence and to keep charity helplines funded, while he pledged that victims would get priority need status for local housing.

You are not alone, you do not have to stay at home, you can and should leave the home if youre in danger, Mr Jenrick said in a message to abuse victims. Our outstanding police will be there for you, they will help you.

The new cash comes after a national helpline last month reported a 120 per cent increase in people seeking help during the lockdown.

The government has made clear that people experiencing abuse are allowed to leave their homes to get to safety or help.

As a father of three girls, I cannot even imagine women and young children being put in this situation, Mr Jenrick added.

But they are. We must be alive to the reality of what is happening in all too many homes across the country.

I want us to defend the rights of those women and those children wherever we can, and that is what were going to do.

The minister, who was speaking at a daily press briefing about coronavirus, also said more than 5,400 rough sleepers had been offered safe accommodation by councils in the last month.

Government adviser Dame Louise Casey, who is already leading on the governments rough sleeping strategy, will also head up a new taskforce to tackle the issue during the pandemic, Mr Jenrick announced.

The minister said the policy was ensuring that some of the most vulnerable people can stay safe during the pandemic.

Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Show all 30 1 /30 Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Shoppers observe a minute's silence in Tescos in Shoreham Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Firefighters outside Godstone fire station PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute's silence at University College Hospital in London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A school children's poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A man holds a placard that reads "People's health before profit" outside St Thomas hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus University College Hospital, London Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute's silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London An NHS worker observes a minute's silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London AFP via Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Belfast, Northern Ireland NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Plymouth NHS workers hold a minute's silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Mater Infirmorum Hospital People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Waterloo Station, London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy's Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Royal Derby Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Leicester, NHS workers during a minute's silence outside Glenfield Hospital Getty

During the press conference Mr Jenrick announced that the number of people who had died in hospitals, care homes, and the community at large after testing positive for Covid-19 had risen by 621 people, up to 28,131.

The death toll is now even closer to that of Italy, which has the highest in Europe with 28,236 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Additionally, the number of tests for the virus conducted and sent out in the post to homes fell to 105,937, down from a claimed 122,347 the day before.

But that figure itself was fraught with controversy as the government was accused of massaging the figures to meet targets by including tests that had not yet been conducted and might not be reliable.
Willie J. Coonan (July 1943  April 2020) was born and raised in Larine, Maynooth, Co Kildare and completed his schooling in Castleknock College.

He went on to become a Fellow of the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI).

The Coonan practice in Maynooth was originally founded by Edward A Coonan in 1892 and taken over by his son Billy (Willies father) in 1935.

Upon Billys early passing in 1948 his wife Eileen Coonan took over the business as the first female auctioneer.

Eileen ran the firm successfully with the help of Dick Brophy for many years.

Joins the business

It was after his Leaving Certificate in 1961 that Willie joined the business at the young age of 18.

After taking charge in 1978, due to Willies hard work and dedication soon led to the firm becoming a leading agency in Ireland.

Willies son Will has headed the company in recent years with business partner Philip Byrne but Willie remained very involved on a day to day basis as a consultant.

Willie was regarded as an expert in the area of stud farm valuations and handling the sale of all types of equestrian properties.

Throughout his illustrious career he was involved in the sale of over 60 Stud Farms and prestigious properties.

Business was central to Willies life and it was no surprise he was the first agent to achieve in excess of a million pounds for a farm in the late 1970s.

It's only money

Willie was famously quoted after the auction about one of the reasons for its strong price.

He quipped: Its only money, but we are giving you land and they stopped making the stuff a long time ago!

Mr Coonan sold the 373-acre tillage farm at Castledermot for IR1,183,000.

The Irish Independent reported the record-breaking event and noted that Frank Goodwin purchased the farm from the Farringtons of Naas.

The paper added that Goodwin was a progressive farmer who married into the wealthy land-owning Greene family in the Athy area.

The under bidder was Jim Reilly of Castledermot.

The auction, which took place in the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, was stalled at IR900,000 for a time but then bidding took off quickly again.

The newspaper report said: It was similar to hearing that Roger Bannister had run a mile in less than four miutes.

It added: For Willie Coonan, who is the fourth generation of his family in the auctioneering business, it was a great personal triumph.

His brilliance was in taking the 1m bid in his stride and fighting for every last penny for the remaining 183,000.

The paper described the farm as a well-organised tillage holding that would be difficult to assemble today.

The joint selling agents at the time were George W Warren Estates, Gorey, Co Wexford.

A list of the renowned properties Willie was involved with are as follows: Ballymacol Stud, Dunboyne; Loughtown Stud, Donadea, Naas; Dollys Grove, Dunboyne; Castlesize, Sallins; Carton House Hotel, Maynooth; Ballymaglassan Stud, Batterstown; Ballysheehan Stud, Cashel; Baroda Stud, Newbridge; Greenmount, Limerick (now Limerick Raceourse) and Humewood Castle, Wicklow.

Others included: Ballygoran Stud, Maynooth; Pickering Forest, Maynooth and Derrinstown Stud, Maynooth.

Other notable properties were: Oldtown Demesne, Naas; Blackhall Stud, Clane; Corbally Stud, Maynooth; Pichfordstown Stud, Kilcock; Ferrans Stud, Kilcock; Grangecon, Dunlavin; Huma Stud, Maynooth; Rose Lawn, Celbridge; Newtown Stud, Naas and Leinster Stud, Maynooth.

Willie is survived by his wife Mary and their children Will, Sally and Lisa, sons and daughters in law, seven grandchildren and brother and sister.

While private family funeral arrangements have been made in conjunction with Covid 19 lockdown rulings, a more public celebration of his life will be announced when the crisis has ended.

The business that Mr Coonan help build up is now thriving today.

ABOUT COONAN AUCTIONEERS

E.A. Coonan & Son was founded in 1885 by Edward A. Coonan at Rathcoffey.

The business was transferred to Maynooth in 1938 and a second branch was opened in Celbridge in 1999 with a third branch opening in Naas in 2019.

The firm has been a long-standing member of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute now the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and have played an active part in both organisations over the years of its membership.

In addition to our specialist and historical knowledge of the agricultural sector  the firm has developed an acknowledged expertise in the commercial sector.

It also has expertise in the new homes and residential letting sectors due to the considerable urban growth in its catchment area in the last twenty years.

This includes development land, new and second hand homes, industrial and retail together with valuations whilst continuing with traditional areas of sales of farm land, stud farms and country property.

With expert local knowledge of the catchment area, the firm assists clients with their decision making regarding the management of their assets.

Oover the years, it has advised and assisted many multinational, institutional, private firms and others in this regard.

In the early 1980s the focus changed for Coonan to the sale of Stud Farms as this became a focal part of Estate Agency in Counties Kildare and Meath during that period and the firm became leading agents in this area.

Around the turn of the century with the spread of Dublin to the commuter towns in north Kildare the firm changed its focus to Development Land and New Homes though continuing with its part in the Stud Farm and Agricultural sector.

As Dublin continues to expand there is still a strong demand for Coonan Property services and the firm has adopted its service to become the leading New Home specialists in the Greater Dublin Area, presently marketing 14 schemes with sales in all ongoing.
Being successful in anything you do is never a cakewalk. Lives of the successful might look bright and beautiful but even they were once at a stage wherein fame and goals were a far game for them. Rejections are just a milestone of reaching to the top of the hill. Many acclaimed Bollywood actors were also once rejected but their consistency and hard-work led them to where-ever they are today. Here is a list of Bollywood actors who were rejected at the beginning of their career but won us over with consistency:

1. Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh was once rejected for having average looks and we wonder what that means. Hes the countrys heartthrob today and has given many Bollywood blockbusters to his audience to hold onto for a lifetime. Also, his fan base proves that we all love him and cant get enough of him.

2. Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma was initially rejected for not having the Bollywood looks. However, with her work and the choice of her films, she proved how she is meant to be in the industry. The actress also started her own production house and is continuing to do great work in Bollywood.

3. Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has impressed us all by his stellar performances in Bollywood but he too was rejected several times for having common man looks. During his initial years in Bollywood, he struggled around stepping a firm foot in the industry and getting the recognition that he deserved.

4. Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan created his own niche in the country. His fans skipped a beat as soon as the news of his demise went public. In the early years of his career he was rejected by many directors for just his looks. He is the only actor who has been able to make it big in both Hollywood and Bollywood and has given us some amazing movies to re-watch.

5. Amitabh Bachchan

The Bollywood megastar was once rejected by All India Radio for his voice. During his initial years, he was also asked to play the role of a man who couldnt speak. And today, he is famous for that wonderful authority in his voice and we can't imagine the industry without him.


Over 190 Pakistan nationals stranded in India set to leave India

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, May 02: Over 190 Pakistani nationals stranded in India due to the lockdown in 10 different states have been allowed to exit the country.

They will exit India via the Attari-Wagah border next week. The Ministry of External Affairs has told the respective state police chiefs to facilitate the travel. The Pakistani nationals would reach the border by early Tuesday, following which the formalities for their return would take place.

Full list of what is allowed and not allowed during lockdown 3.0

The decision was taken after the Pakistan High Commission had requested India to help facilitate movement of their nationals from different parts of the country. It may be recalled that in April a smaller group had left Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, but the group was much smaller.

The states from where the Pakistani nationals would leave this time are from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.

In his communication to the state governments, Dammu Ravi, the additional secretary at the External Affairs Ministry said that it is requested that all returning Pakistan nationals may be screened as per international norms and existing provisions of the Government of India and only asymptomatic individuals may be allowed to return.
02.05.2020 LISTEN

The Ashaiman District Court, presided over by Mr Charles Boateng, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the founder of Heavens Life Global Church, Bishop Eric Borngreat Aboagye, for flouting President Akufo-Addo's ban on social gathering.

Bishop Borngreat Aboagye was said to have organised a church service attended by over 50 people at Lebanon School Junction at Ashaiman last Wednesday.

He escaped and fled from the church premises on sighting a joint police and taskforce team from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (AshMA) who were moving in to enforce the law.

Members of the taskforce, however, managed to arrest some of the congregants who were handed over to the police who arraigned them before the Ashaiman District Court last Thursday.

Prayer service

Police Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Akwasi Ahenkorah Afrifa, informed the court that on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 at about 1:30 p.m, a joint police and taskforce team from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, had information that there was a prayer service in a church around Lebanon School Junction at Ashaiman.

The police gathered from the information that about 50 members of the church had gathered to pray contrary to the ban on all religious, social and public gatherings which has been in force since March 15, as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Arrest

ASP Ahenkorah Afrifa said following the information, the taskforce rushed to the church to apprehend the culprits.

However, the head pastor of the church, Bishop Aboagye, on seeing the members of the task force approaching, abandoned his pulpit and took to his heels.

The congregants also attempted to escape after seeing their leader dash out, but 22 of them, including seven males and 15 females, including a juvenile were arrested.

The culprits were sent to the Tsuibleo Police Station where they were charged and placed before the Ashaiman District Court. The court granted bail in the sum of GH10,000 with two sureties to each of the adult accused persons.

The juvenile was granted bail of the same amount but with surety.

The court ordered the suspects to report to the police on Tuesday to be re-arraigned because the area district court lacked jurisdiction to handle the matter.

---graphic.com.gh
An ice rink featuring a frozen waterfall in Beijings Changping district has become a popular destination among climbing enthusiasts and newcomers to ice sports. Located in the Huyu Natural Scenic Area, the rink consists of a 40-meter-high climbing area. With the approach to the Beijing Winter Olympics, ice and snow activities are attracting fans across the country. The China Tourism Academy estimated that 305 million people will visit such venues nationwide this season

Jan 18, 2022 05:36 PM
New Delhi: The nation lost two of its greatest actors - Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor in less than 24 hours. The demise of these two actors of Indian cinema not only sent shockwaves across the country but also globally, with condolences pouring from all corners of the world.

Amul, the giant dairy cooperative of India, is known for its interesting and intelligent topicals. This time, Amul paid tribute to Irrfan and Rishi in the most heart-touching ad-topical ever. Take a look:

#Amul Topical: He was a great and very popular star over many decades! pic.twitter.com/1W3Anwj0Ww  Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) May 1, 2020

Irrfan Khan, 53, breathed his last on Wednesday morning, April 29, 2020. He was rushed to Kokilaben hospital due to colon infection a day before. The actor par excellence battled a rare form of cancer - Neuroendocrine Tumour for two long years and had shared the news of his illness first on social media.

As soon as the unfortunate news of his demise broke online, celebs, fans and well-wishers thronged social media to offer their condolences.

Another blow came when the next morning nation woke up to the news of veteran actor Rishi Kapoor's demise. Rishi Kapoor left this material world for his heavenly abode on Thursday, April 30, 2020, at 8.45 am. He was admitted to Mumbai's Sri HN Reliance Foundation hospital on Wednesday night.

The thespian was battling Leukemia for the last two years and underwent treatment for it in New York where he stayed for almost a year. He is survived by wife and actress Neetu Kapoor, children Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and actor Ranbir Kapoor.
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have ramped up their media strategies in a pandemic era that has left their respective chambers essentially closed for almost six weeks.

One solidified her role as the face of the Democratic Party, as the other, almost never seen yet always heard, has become the voice of the Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Each leader has increasingly leaned on TV and radio appearances to shape the ongoing debate over the implementation of the $2.7 trillion in rescue funding already approved and the looming debate on next steps.

For Pelosi, it's a chance to be repetitive, literally, on the key issue of medical science driving the response to the health crisis and reopening the economy.

"So, science, science, science. Again, we have to have a calibration. It has to be factually based, scientifically, evidence-based as to what the prospect is of opening up certain businesses and the rest," Pelosi said Wednesday morning on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" show.

At almost the exact same time, McConnell called in to Fox Radio to tout his demand that next legislative steps include protections for businesses from lawsuits, likening members of Congress to health-care responders and grocery store clerks who are at their "duty stations" as essential workers.

"It's essential for senators to carefully man ours and support those folks who are out there on the front lines," he said.

All told, over the past two weeks, Pelosi has appeared on 15 nationally broadcast news shows, according to her office. Including news conferences in the Capitol and conference calls with the media, Pelosi has put herself into the news cycle every day but once since April 19.

McConnell has made six national TV and radio appearances, with another nine hits on radio shows back in Kentucky, where he faces reelection in November, according to his aides. Add in Capitol Hill news conferences and speeches from the Senate floor, and McConnell got to air his views at least nine days in that same timespan.

These appearances fit the personalities of Pelosi, 80, whose sense of imagery turned her many clashes with President Donald Trump into viral social media moments, and McConnell, 78, who has mastered the technique of only speaking when he wants to, regularly walking past the congressional press corps as if he cannot hear questions shouted at him.

Pelosi has almost always chosen televised appearances. She has sometimes used basic video hookups to beam in from different parts of her San Francisco home, while her Washington appearances always happen from a media setup in the Russell Senate Office Building.

McConnell, on the other hand, simply lets his words do the talking.

He always calls in on the phone, usually from his Capitol Hill townhouse, where he has hunkered down for most of the past two months. He has not visually appeared on a TV news interview since early March.

Each side believes the other has committed its share of mistakes.

Democrats note that McConnell is talking to a limited audience - every national appearance he did in April came on a Fox outfit or some other conservative radio show. They believe he committed a grave political mistake on April 22 when he told a radio host that state and local governments might have to file for bankruptcy.

Republicans hammered away at Pelosi after an April 14 appearance on "The Late Late Show with James Corden," when she tried to be funny for the CBS show. In front of two massive refrigerators, she showed how much chocolate ice cream she stored in her refrigerator - in a way GOP activists said backed up their critique of her as an out of touch wealthy liberal.

But advisers to Pelosi and McConnell believe the increased media exposure has been worth those hits, part of their plan to fill a void as Congress has been mostly shuttered since late March.

Pelosi has spoken on a regular basis with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, according to her advisers. She coordinates both her policy ideas and messaging strategy with the former vice president, who has been stuck in his Delaware basement doing social media appearances but very few TV interviews.

In this regard, Pelosi has served as the lead Democrat attacking Trump's handling of the crises, while Biden sticks to the higher ground of talk about unity.

"The president is asking people to inject Lysol into their lungs and Mitch is saying that states should go bankrupt," Pelosi said at an April 23 news conference in the Capitol.

She also used a Thursday morning CNN appearance to forcefully defend Biden from the allegation that he sexually assaulted a Senate aide in 1993, an accusation he has denied. "He's the personification of hope and optimism for our country. And I was proud to endorse him," Pelosi said, adding that she believed his aides' denial of knowing about the allegation.

McConnell uses his appearances to point the direction for other Senate Republicans - as well as Trump and some of his senior advisers.

The GOP leader took grief for his comments about state and local funding, but that began the morning after the Senate passed a $484 billion rescue plan. The president was already talking about another big bill including funds for those nonfederal governments and a massive infrastructure plan.

Over the next seven days McConnell did four appearances on Fox News or Fox radio. "Before we make that decision, we're going to weigh the impact of what we've already added to the national debt," he told Fox News on April 22.

In recent days Trump has drawn closer to McConnell's thinking on the next bill.

Masks, gloves and staggered voting mark House debate in a time of pandemic

And Monday, as the District of Columbia remains under a stay-at-home order, McConnell is reconvening the Senate, returning to an office he has worked from less than a handful of days since late March, aides said.

He and Pelosi issued a rare joint statement Saturday declining the Trump administration's offer of new rapid tests for preemptively testing lawmakers, saying the tests should be for workers on the front line of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Pelosi has delayed the House's return because health experts worry about the impact of gathering the current 429 members, forcing them to travel back and forth across the country.

Yet Pelosi can't get enough of the Capitol. She spent four days in her office this past week, a short trip from the Russell building for TV appearances.

She flew home to San Francisco on Thursday night, her fifth cross-country flight since mid-March. Pelosi is expected back in the Capitol this coming week, likely to continue her media campaign against Trump.

"This president has presided over the worst disaster in our country's history, an assault on the lives and the livelihoods of the American people," she told MSNBC on Tuesday.
B Anbuselvan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Ending over a months ordeal for migrant labourers stranded in Chennai, the authorities have decided to operate special trains to transport around 2,500 labourers back to their home towns in North and North-Eastern states in the next few days.

In the backdrop of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) nod for inter-state migration of workers, the Greater Chennai Corporation held a meeting with the migrant labourers, who are at present lodged at various shelters run by the corporation in the city.

Almost all workers and their family members expressed desire to leave Chennai. So we have prepared the list and handed it over to the government for arranging special trains, a corporation official said.

On March 22 and 23, a large number of labourers, while returning to their home towns from Kerala, got stranded in Chennai due to the sudden declaration of lockdown and subsequent cancellation of trains. Most of the labourers hail from West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The very next day, all labourers gathered in-front of the Central Station and demanded operation of special trains to take them home. As the Railway couldnt sanction the operation, the labourers were lodged at shelters.

As per the MHA guidelines, thermal scanning will be conducted on workers before their journey. No other medical test is scheduled and all asymptotic persons will be sent, added the official.

It may take a few more days to finalise the total number people who desire to leave the State and accordingly a request will be made to the Southern Railway for transportation, said officers privy to the developments, adding that assessment of travel demands from across the State is underway with the help of labour and revenue departments staff. When contacted, Southern Railway officials maintained that they will operate special trains based on the request from the State government.
In this article:

Easy A, Fast & Furious 8, Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride.

Kiwi-westerns, politically-charged moral quandaries and historical romances are all on telly today as TopFilmTip brings you the best films on TV for Saturday, 2 May.

Some films may require a Sky subscription.

Helen Mirren stars as the monarch suddenly despised by media and public alike before finding redemption in a metaphorical stag. Majestic drama in The Queen 12:55pm ITV 3

Raised as royal brothers, siblings' close bond breaks as one realises his true origins and must lead his people to freedom in biblical musical The Prince of Egypt 13:00pm Sky 1

Gigantified by wedding day meteor, woman joins BOB and cockroach to battle extraterrestrials in robot fighting fun Monsters vs Aliens 2:15pm BBC One

Heart warming tale of an inner city girl who discovers a talent for spelling in moving family drama Akeelah and the Bee 2:35pm Film 4

Nervous groom makes grave error of proposing to maggot-eyed murder victim in gothic, necrotic love triangle Tim Burton's Corpse Bride 3:20pm ITV2

Read more: Top-rated TV on offer

Time-slipped boy awakens years after disappearing to inventive engaging alien adventure in mercurial mystery Flight of the Navigator 4:00pm SyFy Universal

Battle Of Britain, poster, British poster art, 1969. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Outnumbered and outgunned, 600 brave pilots hold the British skies against the nazi hordes. Magnificent true story Battle of Britain 4:00pm ITV4

Helicopter piloting, face punching, tsunami sailing emergency responder abandons all his duties to rescue wife and daughter from cataclysmic earthquake in San Andreas 6:45pm ITV2

Boer War veteran faces clash between his duty and conscience after capturing accused and innocent Maori man in grizzled Kiw-estern Tracker 6:55pm Sony Movies Action

Struggling writer finds focus and desire when gathering emotive material for new book from nazi surviving channel islanders in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 8:30pm BBC Two

French-Scot and Scottish-Spanish-Egyptian immortals battle mangle-headed priest-licker for Queen-scored power of oneness in sword-slaying decap-athlon Highlander 8:00pm Horror Channel

Story continues

Troublesome boy and his mourning mother face wrath of grievous ghoul in charismatic, chilling, psychological creepfest as emotional allegory The Babadook 9:00pm SyFy Universal

Railroaded into cyber criminal crew, criminal betrays his crew of criminals in traffic raining submarine jumper Fast & Furious 8 9:00pm ITV2

Head-blasting, groin-kicking, pram-chasing prohibition perfection as four cops teach Al Capone 'The Chicago Way in The Untouchables 9:00pm ITV4

Humiliated by compulsory waxing, teen toxophilite vents her hormonal frustrations via child murder and insect abuse in The Hunger Games 9:00pm 5 Star

John Hughes referencing redheads rumour-riding rebellion doesnt go to plan in Emma Stones high school set Scarlet Letter Easy A 9:30pm Comedy Central

Miniature loud-mouthed Black Hammer tries to impress GF's Bro Ice Cube who does not have A Good Day in 126-ing cop comedy Ride Along 10:35pm ITV1

American actors Damon Wayans and Bruce Willis on the set of The Last Boy Scout, directed by Tony Scott. (Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Quip-lashing PI goes to Hallenback foiling eccentric sportsing conspiracy in Tony Scotts hyperbolic death rampage The Last Boy Scout 11:20pm ITV4

Dogged frontiersmen mount rescue of wife from cave dwelling troglodyte cannibals in gruesome gore splattered western Bone Tomahawk 11:25pm Film 4

Divinely devilish dialogue as lawyer's greedy foray entices unexpected evils in eloquent, car sexing drug drama The Counsellor 11:35pm Channel 4

Reporter's access to FBI's most wanted criminal/political activist precipitates morally murky quandaries and questions in star filled high brow thriller The Company You Keep 11:50pm BBC One

Honey-trapped teens face homophobic horror amidst federal gun-raid on rapturous church-cult in Kevin Smith's visceral Red State 00:55am Horror Channel

1975: Actors Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon in scene from movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" directed by Jim Sharman. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Ordinary couple find Frankensteins place, do time warp and play with gender roles in Singing camp fest The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1:00am Talking Pictures TV

Juxtaposed morally flexible cops Nic Cage and Elijah Wood plan heist of crooks treasure trove in angst inducing thriller The Trust 1:45am Sony Movies

Nick Cave provides meditative, psychoanalytical insight into his creative process in dreamlike autobiodoc 20,000 Days on Earth 2:00am Film 4

Follow TopFilmTip on Twitter for daily film recommendations.

Everything new on streaming in May:

Netflix UK: Mays new releases

NOW TV: Mays new releases

Amazon Prime Video UK: May's new releases

Disney+ UK: May's new releases
Two unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, while another anti-militancy operation is underway in Kupwara, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Dangerpora area of the south Kashmir district in the wee hours of Saturday following specific information about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

He said as the forces were conducting searches in the area, militants fired upon them.

The forces retaliated, ensuing an encounter in which two militants were killed, the official said.

He said identity and group affiliation of the slain ultras was being ascertained.

Meanwhile, another encounter broke out in Handwara area of north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Saturday, the official said.

He said the security forces launched a search operation in Chanjmulla area of Handwara on Friday.

However, contact with militants was established on Saturday evening, the official said, adding that the area was under cordon and the operation was underway.
President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Maihaja.

No reason was given for the sack which was announced in a statement by Willie Bassey, the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

Mr Bassey also announced the appointment of Muhammadu Muhammed as the new NEMA chief.

Mr Muhammed is a retired air vice marshal.

Read Mr Basseys full statement below.

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERTION

SGF.50/S.13/VO/51

2nd May 2020

PRESS RELEASE

APPOINTMENT OF AVM MUHAMMADU ALHAJI MUHAMMED (Rtd.) AS NEW DG OF NEMA

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of AVM Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed (Rtd.) as the new Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

2.This appointment took effect from Thursday, 30th April, 2020, for an initial period of 4 years in accordance with Section 3 of the National Emergency Management Agency Act.

3.The erstwhile Director General, Engr. Mustapha Y. Maihaja has been directed to handover all official matters to AVM Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed (Rtd.) immediately.

4.The President thanked the out-gone Director-General for his services and charged the new appointee to serve with diligence and commitment.

Willie Bassey

Director, Information

Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
(Reuters) - More than 3.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 237,137 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Saturday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

** For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

**For a U.S.-focused tracker with state-by-state and county map, open https://tmsnrt.rs/2w7hX9T in an external browser.

EUROPE

**Joggers, cyclists and surfers across Spain emerged from their homes, with adults allowed out for exercise for the first time in seven weeks as the government began easing tough coronavirus restrictions.

**The United Kingdom's COVID-19 death toll rose 621 to 28,131 as of May 1, just short of Italy which has so far had the world's second most deadly outbreak of the disease after the United States.

**Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds have named their newborn son Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas, partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they said had saved the British leader's life as he battled COVID-19 last month.

**Travellers to France, including French citizens returning home, will face a compulsory two-week quarantine and possible isolation when they arrive in the country to help slow the spread of coronavirus, the health minister said.

**Russia reported 9,623 new cases of coronavirus, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total to 124,054, mostly in the capital Moscow.

**Austrians flocked to newly reopened hairdressers, beauticians and electronics shops, relishing the loosening of a seven-week lockdown.

AMERICAS

**New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed back against what he called premature demands that he reopen the state, saying he knew people were struggling without jobs but that more understanding of the coronavirus was needed.

**Top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci will not testify next week to a congressional committee examining the Trump administration's response to the pandemic, the White House said on Friday, calling it "counterproductive" to have individuals involved in the response testify.

Story continues

**Imported by the Brazilian elite vacationing in Europe, the new coronavirus is now ravaging the country's poor, ripping through tightly-packed neighborhoods where the disease is harder to control.

ASIA-PACIFIC

**India has ordered all public and private sector employees to use a government-backed contact tracing app and maintain social distancing in offices as it begins easing some of its lockdown measures in districts less affected by the coronavirus.

**A northeastern Chinese city of 10 million people struggling with currently the country's biggest coronavirus cluster shut dine-in services, as the rest of China eases restrictions.

**China has published a short animation titled "Once Upon a Virus" mocking the U.S. response to the new coronavirus, using Lego-like figures to represent the two countries.

**Malaysian authorities defended plans to ease lockdown measures next week even as the number of new infections jumped to a two-week high.

**Singapore will start easing some curbs over the next few weeks, authorities said.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

**Yemen reported the first case of the coronavirus in a third province late on Friday, raising the number of diagnosed infections to seven with two deaths in one of the world's most vulnerable countries.

**Iran's death toll from the coronavirus increased by 65 in the past 24 hours to 6,156, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

**Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> is being hit hard by the pandemic, posting a record quarterly net loss of nearly $50 billion and saying performance is suffering in several major operating businesses.

**Austria's central bank expects economic output to shrink more than twice as much this year as it forecast just a month ago as the coronavirus lockdown lasts longer than anticipated, its Governor Robert Holzmann said.

**Ireland will allow firms impacted by the coronavirus crisis to warehouse tax liabilities for 12 months, offering a "lifeline" as part of an additional package of business supports that could reach 6.5 billion euros, the government announced.

**Corporations are warning on hits to their financial results as the pandemic disrupts supply chains and business activity.

(Compiled by Frances Kerry)
As workers worldwide observe the 1st of May, as the day set aside to honour the contribution of workers to nation-building; leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Central Region, salutes all Workers and appreciate the collective as well as the enormous contribution to helping build a Better Ghana even in the face of COVID-19 pandemic.

In spite of the many challenges that continue to confront us as a Nation under the leadership of the non-performing NPP Govt; workers from all facets of the workforce remain relentless and undaunted, and we say a big Ayekoo to all workers particularly our fisherfolks, farmers, traders, drivers, staff of our public universities who have been or are being victimized as a result of the attack on academic freedom by this Govt, public servants, private-sector workers who are most affected by this pandemic, our miners, our security personnel and all workers.

We in CR-NDC share the deep concern embedded in the recent call by Labour to the Government to pay close attention to the creeping unacceptable practice of some employers deliberately keeping workers as casual employees and therefore denying them the stable mindset to operate at the workplace and solemnly call on workers to continue having faith with us because the NDC Govt of John Mahama will never shy away from the genuine and legitimate concerns of Labour.

However, we call on the Government not to shirk its responsibilities towards Labour hence the need for a swift response to the concerns of Labour especially during these harsh economic times occasioned by the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Ayekoo once again to all Workers on this special day, and there is no gainsaying the fact that the NDC remains stoically committed to broadening and deepening the frontiers of Labour in Ghana.

Ghana is the only country we have: and we must all put our shoulders to the wheel and strive continuously towards building a Better Ghana.

May God continues to hold us together as a Nation; and may we never waiver from our civic duties particularly workers at the independent constitutional bodies.

Cde Kwesi Dawood,

(Regional Comm Officer).
More than six years in captivity at the hands of Colombian guerrillas provided a crash course in confinement that former politician Ingrid Betancourt says has steeled her for life under lockdown. The former Colombian senator and presidential candidate says she can tap into that hard-won experience now that she is confined to a house alone in Oxford, England, where she is studying for a PhD in theology. Betancourt spent six and a half years deep in the Colombian jungle, a prisoner of FARC rebels, following her kidnap in 2002. "I spent years isolated from my colleagues during the kidnapping so let's say this is something I already know." The 58-year-old has quickly established a routine under lockdown in England, getting up, starting work, and taking breaks, including going for a run, at the same time every day. "That format balances me a lot because I can feel what I'm doing is productive. I do not feel alone." Key to it all is what she calls "space management." "When I was in captivity, I had my neck tied to a tree. When you are tied up, the space you have available to move around is very limited." - Changing places - "What I did is that I compartmentalized it, so I had a space where I used to eat, I moved with the chain to another space to do a physical exercise routine, I moved to another space just to read and think. I always changed places. And that helped me feel freer because I could choose where I was. That is something I do at the moment." Having a clear mind is important in the current crisis, she says. "Betting that things are going to turn out in the best way... That does not exempt one from having terrible moments, but despite the pain, when time passes and one looks back, one realizes that very positive things remain." Betancourt's father died during her years of captivity, exposing her to a similar situation to people who are now unable to say a final goodbye to their relatives because of fears over the spread of the coronavirus. "When I learned in the jungle that my father had died, I practically went crazy but you have to breathe. You learn to continue living, to breathe, to eat, to walk... to continue existing." Difficult as it may seem, there are benefits to the pandemic, says Betancourt, and lessons to be learned. "When they return to normal life, people are going to have the feeling that there are things in this life of confinement that they are not going to want to lose. "They can get out of the urgency of always running after things. Suddenly everything stops and you start to think 'Is all this so necessary?'" "Do I have to be running up and down or can I find a formula where I can manage to be the owner of my own life?" French-Colombian politician and former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt speaking at a conference in Bogota, Colombia in May 2016 Former Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt in June 2018 during a presentation in Botoga by the coalition for peace
It needs to be said. Again.

This is not the time for voluntary stupidity.

If you have something to say about the coronavirus that is not supported by proven truths presented by experts, you should really, really just keep it to yourself. People are dying and you are almost certainly not an epidemiologist. Be quiet and listen.

Yet there exists a sub-sect of well-meaning dopes on social media, who over the last two months have shared their belief that theyre pretty sure they contracted COVID-19 in early February or January or even in 2019, before anyone was testing for it in the U.S.

And because there was no testing and they got over it, theres no proof they ever had it. But because the symptoms, many of which are synonymous with the flu and other more common viruses, were akin to COVID-19, thats what it must have been. They are survivors, plain and simple.

Like Belleville Mayor Michael Melham, who claims he caught the dangerous disease in November at a convention in Atlantic City  months before New Jerseys first confirmed case. His doctor diagnosed him with a bad case of the flu. He had no respiratory symptoms and never tested positive for the coronavirus, but a recent blood test revealed he had coronavirus antibodies, which suggest but do not confirm he may have had the virus at some point.

Guys. Please stop. New Jersey is in crisis. There is no room for conjecture right now, especially from public officials, who should be keeping all our little panic planes grounded in fact.

And lets be real: Even if you say youre spouting speculation with the best of intentions  my fear is that there are many who dismissed a potentially positive coronavirus diagnosis as a bad flu, Melham told NJ Advance Media Thursday  theres an air of self-serving superiority to such proclamations.

But the coronavirus is not like seeing Bruce Springsteen perform in 1971 and later bragging about how you knew about the thing before everyone else knew about the thing.

In the unlikely event that you did get coronavirus before anyone knew about it and fended it off without issue, you are not cool  you are lucky. More than 7,500 New Jerseyans didnt have the same fortune.

Back to Melham: Imagine being one of the people he interacted with at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City. Your mind must be racing. Wait, did I get sick afterward, too? What if I was asymptomatic like thousands of New Jerseyans and passed it onto someone else? Whens the last time I saw my grandparents?

Thats a whole lot of panic at the hands of one man, who, again, cannot say for certain if the illness he suffered in November and the antibodies test results he received five months later are related.

There has been some speculation that the coronavirus did come to America sooner than widely believed, with a rash of deaths in California in February and March adding fuel to that fire. One doctor in that state went as far as to suggest that it may have been around back in December. But Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says its plausible but not likely that the disease was here in November and December.

Dont we have enough uncertainties already? We dont know when public places will reopen, we dont know when well safely be able to visit elderly loved ones again, we dont know (and may never know) the full scope of the coronavirus in New Jersey.

And guess what: you dont know anything either. Stay safe, listen to the experts and unless you have something in writing, do not so willingly add yourself to the statistics that will define a generation.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com.
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials claimed on Saturday that 135 of its troopers from the 31st battalion have tested positive for coronavirus which is worrying for the paramilitary force.

Four hundred and eighty troopers of the battalion have been quarantined. The test results of 22 more troopers are awaited while the rest have been cleared.

The high numbers of troopers getting infected has alarm bells ringing at the ministry of home affairs (MHA) which oversees all internal security and law and order duties in the country.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

According to an official, the ministry has sought a reply from the paramilitary force on how the disease has spread to such a level.

Troopers of the CRPF battalion are currently admitted at a Delhi government isolation facility in Mandoli after their colleague - a Sub Inspector from Assam, died on Tuesday at Safdarjung hospital due to the infection. It is suspected that the deceased jawan and others in the battalion got infected through a nursing assistant.

The CRPF faced the brunt of the virus due to an order issued by the medical wing of the battalion saying that asymptomatic officers can join the work in five days. This was in violation of government mandated 14- day quarantine period for everyone.

The test results are gradually coming. So far, in almost 10-12 days, 135 personnel have been tested positive. However, most of them are asymptotic, said an official who didnt wish to be named.
Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Iranian Nationals for Violating Money Laundering & Sanctions Laws by Procuring Petroleum Tanker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 1, 2020

Related Forfeiture Complaint Filed for Approximately $12.3 Million in Funds Is Largest Ever Seizure of IRGC-QF Related Funds

Amir Dianat, 55, and Kamran Lajmiri, 42, both Iranian nationals, were charged with violating U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

A two-count criminal complaint returned today charges Dianat and Lajmiri with conspiracy to provide U.S. financial services to Iranian entities and their front companies attempting to purchase a petroleum tanker, the Nautic, in September 2019. The complaint alleges that the defendants concealed from the seller, financial institutions that clear U.S. dollar transactions, and the U.S. government that the sale of this vessel was destined for Iran, all as part of a scheme to enrich the defendants and other conspirators, and to evade the regulations, prohibitions, and licensing requirements of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR).

A related verified civil forfeiture complaint was filed against $12,338,941.91. These funds were allegedly involved in this scheme to launder funds into the United States to illicitly procure the Nautic. The civil forfeiture complaint alleges that this scheme involved the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and the IRGC-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), all specially designated nationals. The IRGC has also been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization. This forfeiture action represents the largest ever seizure of IRGC-QF related funds. All funds of terrorist organizations are subject to forfeiture.

"These defendants purchased a crude oil tanker valued at over $10 million by illegally using the U.S. financial system, defiantly violating U.S. sanctions," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. "This is yet another example of Iran brazenly using front companies and false documentation in an attempt to hide the illegal transactions that the Iranian regime desperately needs to fund its malign activities. The enforcement of U.S. sanctions and related financial criminal laws is a major component of the National Security Division's commitment to protecting the national security of the United States. I commend the efforts of the prosecutors, agents, and analysts who uncovered this illegal scheme and whose work resulted in the largest ever forfeiture action involving IRGC-QF."

"Employing civil forfeiture authorities specifically available to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia, we will continue to aggressively prosecute those who abuse our financial system to support sanctioned entities," said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea for the District of Columbia. "We will use every measure available under the law, to include civil forfeiture to recover funds for the victims of terrorism. These laws exist and serve to prevent hostile countries from illicitly generating revenue, such as through the sale of oil, to fund their weapons proliferation programs. Today's charges are another example of the dedicated and unrelenting efforts of our office, the FBI, and HSI."

"Today's complaint demonstrates that those who use the U.S. financial system to benefit the Iranian oil industry will be investigated by the FBI and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge Rainer Drolshagen. "Iran's petrochemical and petroleum sectors are primary sources of funding for the Iranian regime, and the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue those who illegally use the U.S. financial system for their benefit."

"Protecting our homeland encompasses many missions, including safeguarding our nation's exports and currency," said Steven W. Cagen, HSI Colorado Special Agent in Charge. "These criminals thought they could enrich themselves while aiding Iran, a country that continues to pose a serious threat to our nation's security. They will now face the consequences of their actions."

A concurrent action was filed by the Department of the Treasury, sanctioning Dianat and his related front company, Taif Mining.

According to the pleadings, beginning around May 2019 through December 2019, Dianat and Lajmiri conspired to purchase the Nautic via a complex web of front companies, including Taif Mining. After sending the final wire payment to the seller, Taif Mining took possession of the Nautic. It quickly changed its name and began making trips to Iran to load Iranian petroleum. Because a U.S. bank froze the funds related to the sale of the vessel, the seller never received payment. As a result, the seller instituted a civil action in the U.A.E. to recover the vessel.

On March 15, 1995, the President, pursuant to IEEPA, issued Executive Order No. 12957, finding that "the actions and policies of the Government of Iran constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" and declaring "a national emergency to deal with the threat." In subsequent Executive Orders, the President imposed economic sanctions, including a trade embargo, on Iran. The Executive Orders and the ITSR prohibit the exportation, re-exportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, to Iran of any goods, technology, or services from the United States or by a United States person without prior authorization or license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, located in Washington, D.C. The conspirators utilized the U.S. correspondent banking system to process illicit transactions in U.S. Dollars, and at no time were U.S. financial institutions alerted that they were financing the purchase of a tanker for Iranian entities.

If convicted, Dianat and Lajmiri would face a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.

The investigation was conducted by special agents from the FBI Minneapolis Field Office and HSI Colorado Springs.

The details contained in the pleadings are mere allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, and the burden to prove forfeitability in a civil forfeiture proceeding is upon the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zia M. Faruqui and Brian Hudak, National Security Division Trial Attorney David C. Recker, and Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Elizabeth Swienc and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, are representing the government.

Attachment(s):

Download filed_civil_complaint.pdf

Download signed-20mj72_affidavit.pdf

Topic(s):

Counterintelligence and Export Control

National Security

Component(s):

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - District of Columbia

Press Release Number: 20-415

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When Lionel Buckett was battling a raging bushfire at Berambing in the Blue Mountains last summer, his partner Kooryn took refuge in a fire shelter hed built among his wilderness cabins.

One problem, though, was the bunker for 20 people was not yet air-tight and it lacked a latch to secure the door.

"If it had had the seals, thats where youd want to be," Mr Buckett said. "I was still working on it."

Berambing resident Lionel Buckett with his fire bunker for 20 people that was nearly finished when the bushfires hit his region of the Blue Mountains this past summer. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Kooryn Sheaves and a friend were forced to hold grimly to the door to prevent more of the oxygen being sucked out and the furnace-hot air and smoke getting in. "She could feel the heat of the door," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 16:50:23|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A signed Chinese article slammed a recent report released by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), urging it to stop using religious matters to smear China.

The USCIRF never runs short of political bias against China and has published one report after another to smear China's religious policies over the years, said the article.

The report, based on lies and prejudice, ignored the basic fact that the Chinese government protects its citizens' freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law, said the article.

China currently has nearly 200 million religious believers, more than 380,000 clerical personnel, some 5,500 religious organizations, 144,000 venues for religious activities registered according to law, and 92 religious institutes, according to the article.

The legitimate rights and interests of religious circles in China are safeguarded, and religious activities of believers are protected by law and carried out in a normal and orderly manner in the country, the article noted.

"China, like other countries, will never allow anyone to engage in criminal activities, spread religious extremism and carry out violent terrorist activities under the pretense of religion," it said, adding that the report maliciously smeared and attacked the Chinese government's policies of governing Xinjiang and Tibet.

For more than two millennia, various religions in China have integrated with the inclusive cultural tradition of the Chinese nation, forming a harmonious coexistence of different religions, said the article.

Today, China's religious groups have established friendly relations with religious organizations from over 80 countries and actively participated in international conferences and activities involving different civilizations, beliefs and religions, it added.

"Only by being objective, rational, inclusive and cooperative can we prevail over the paranoid, fanatical, zero-sum and confrontational mentality, thus contributing to the development of China-U.S. relations," the article said. Enditem
First, the good news.

Flying does have a future, and it involves the mother of all sales.

We saw it after the financial crisis, when Ryanair sold flights for as little as 99c.

And we're going to see it when planes take to the skies after this pandemic, when airlines swoop to give newly-infrequent flyers irresistible incentives to spread their wings again.

That could mean flights from Dublin to Faro or Malaga from 9.99.

Or less.

We almost dont care, as Michael OLeary has said. Our critical thing in the short term isn't to make money, it will be to get our pilots and cabin crew back flying and the aircraft back in the air."

So when will they be back in the air, exactly?

Thats the $64,000 question, and all post-Covid-19 predictions clearly come with an Airbus A380-sized health warning.

News that thousands of jobs are under threat at Ryanair, Aer Lingus and BA has thrown the scale of the task ahead into sharp focus.

Expand Close Southwest Airlines tests a new cleaning process during the Coronavirus outbreak. // Stephen M. Keller, 2020 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Southwest Airlines tests a new cleaning process during the Coronavirus outbreak. // Stephen M. Keller, 2020

There will be no V- or even U-shaped recovery - no letter of the alphabet can map out what's coming.

2019 is increasingly looking like a modern-day peak for mass travel.

It will be summer 2022 at the earliest before those levels of demand return, Ryanair says.

May and June are certainly write-offs.

July could see things start to pick-up, with some 40-50pc of schedules taking off on reduced load factors - enforced or otherwise - as summer unfolds.

That's presuming Covid-19 doesnt flare up again, of course.

Some travel agents see August, September and October as the new summer. Overseas tourism has been mooted for the Canary Islands by October, for example  a destination beloved of Irish holidaymakers and one dealing with relatively low caseloads of Covid-19.

Others arent as optimistic. And winter is coming.

If the glass is half-full  if borders reopen, restrictions ease, destinations begin to unlock and sales prompt us to pack our cases again - what then?

First up, well be packing differently.

Passengers on Emirates flights (few as they are) are already being told to wear masks and gloves throughout their journey, for example.

American Airlines says it will this month start distributing "sanitising wipes or gels and face masks" to customers.

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Definitely masks, Ryanair has told me.

On board, cash and coins will be replaced by contactless payments. The rule will be run over cabin baggage. In-flight services will change, eliminating touch points like in-flight magazines and raffle tickets and shaking up meals and drinks  could they be pre-ordered, left on seats, or will we want them at all?

Middle seats may be left empty as airlines initially struggle to fill planes, but the physical distancing benefits are debatable.

Seats are typically just 17-18 inches wide.

Flying planes half-empty is also, to put it mildly, uneconomical.

Enhanced cleaning and touch points will become part of our new travel vocabulary. Modern planes are relatively clean vessels for travel, with HEPA air-filtration systems and fewer passengers than, for instance, a busy bus or crowded commuter train carriages. But nervous customers are going to want to hear about hospital-grade disinfections and see spotless seatbacks, belts and tray tables. they will accept nothing less.

In the US, Southwest has spoken of super-charged cleaning where electrostatic sprayers apply a fine mist of disinfection agent and antimicrobial cleaner like a super primer to all surfaces.

It feels a long way from gripes over seat selection and baggage fees.

I certainly hope airlines come up with a smartly sequenced way of boarding the plane (window seats first?). I really dont want to meet the guy who climbs up the front steps and muscles his way, coughing and wheezing with wheelie case held aloft, down the crowded aisle to 27A.

And airports?

Theyre likely to be a lot less crowded in the near future, but we may need to leave just as much time to get to the gates - thanks to possible thermal screenings, tests, medical questionnaires and new physical-distancing measures at check-in, security, immigration and boarding stations.

In fact, its likely the heavy lifting in any new hygiene regime will have to be done in our airport terminals. And preferably before we take off, rather than after we land.

Will we need to flash a new immunity passport alongside our regular one?

Will we have to take an antibody test?

Were used to self-service bag drops, but you can expect automation to go up another level in the near future, too - from self-service check-ins to contactless store checkouts, from restaurants-by-appointment to new protocols around crowded luggage carousels.

Oh, and careful you dont trip over that new sanitising robot!

Well get used to it.

After 9/11, we huffed and puffed about 100ml liquid rules and removing shoes, but did it anyway. Increased security and healths are a bother, but they also reassure us.

Thats the crucial bit.

Many of us want to travel. We miss it. But right now, were scared. As restrictions ease, if countries unlock and Covid-19 is contained (touch wood), we need to see protocols that make us feel safe about flying with our families again.

We need to see them, not just from airlines and airports, but from governments, aviation and health agencies, the EU and the rest.

One word will dominate travel from here: Trust.

And the bad news?

Those mega-sales are unlikely to last.

Apart from making no business sense, if airlines are failing, leaving seats empty, trimming schedules and letting staff go, once demand recovers, prices can only go north.

By then, however, that may be a good problem to have.

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Like what you're reading? Subscribe now to our free travel newsletter. 'Travel Insider' is written by our award-winning Travel Editor, Pol O Conghaile.
The clarification came after reports that Mi Browser collects unnecessary info while browsing and sends the user data to other countries.

Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain said the company does not collect any user data that the user has not explicitly given permission or consent to.

New Delhi: Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi on Saturday said it takes user privacy "extremely seriously" and its browser does not collect any data that the user has not explicitly given consent to.

The clarification came after reports that its Mi Browser collects unnecessary information while browsing and sends the user data to other countries.

"This is incorrect and not true ... as an internet company, Xiaomi takes user privacy extremely seriously. Mi Browser follows similar protocols as any other leading browser in the world," Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain said.

He added that the company does not collect any user data that the user has not explicitly given permission or consent to.

Jain said in the browser's incognito mode, all user data is completely encrypted and anonymised.

"Mi Browser will never know what you browse in incognito mode and can't identify you (on the) basis (of) incognito browsing," he explained.

Jain pointed out that all Mi Browser and Mi Cloud data of Indian users is stored locally in AWS (Amazon Web Services) servers in India.

"...using Mi Browser or any Mi internet product is perfectly safe and we don't collect any information that the user has not given explicit consent to," Jain added.
AFP

With the gradual increase in relaxations for people who have been under rigorous lockdown measures for more than 45 days now, there's some hope of returning to the new "normalcy" in the coming days. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) Drone Surveillance, Sanitisation But Sub-Standard Screening: Indore Resident Finds Loopholes

(Representative Image: Reuters)

On April 18, Indore authorities announced rigorous screening of all the residents of the city. By that time, Indore had witnessed a steep rise in coronavirus positive cases and an attack on health workers who were carrying out the screening process in parts of the city and spreading awareness. Read more

2) Madhya Pradesh: Ex-Minister Makes His Son Clean Roadside Garbage After He Misbehaves With Cops

Twitter

An ex-minister in Madhya Pradesh, made his son make amends by making him remove garbage from roadside along with other municipal workers, as a punishment for threatening COVID-19 duty cops. Read more

3) Chennai Ambulance Drivers Hailed As Heroes After Travelling 3,000 KM To Take Body To Mizoram

Representational Image

Two Chennai ambulance drivers have been hailed as true heroes after taking a long journey to the hilly Model Veng in Aizawl, the capital of of Mizoram, carrying the body of a 28-year-old-man. Read more

4) Kashmir Is Having An Eerily Quiet Ramadan As Coronavirus Forces Change In The Normal

representative pic

It is very hard for 21-year old Noman to accept the reality - that the holy month of Ramadan has arrived and he is not offering Tarawih (additional ritualistic evening prayers) at Jamia Masjid mosque in Srinagar. Read more

5) Adopt Cobra For Rs 3,500, Bengal Tiger For Rs 1 Lakh, Leopard For Rs 35,000 At Bengaluru Zoo

Indiatimes

Bengaluru's Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) has come out with a programme during the lockdown period for those looking for an opportunity to conserve wildlife and adopt animals at the zoo. Read more
New Delhi, May 2 : Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi on Saturday refuted a news report that accused the company of infringing on the privacy of its phone users by recording their "private" web and phone use habits.

Quoting cybersecurity researchers, Forbes reported this week that one researcher Gabi Cirlig found that his Redmi Note 8 smartphone was watching almost everything that he was doing on the phone.

Forbes asked another cybersecurity researcher, Andrew Tierney, to investigate the issues further, who allegedly found that browsers shipped by Xiaomi on Google Play -- Mi Browser Pro and the Mint Browser -- were recording the same data.

"A news report claims that Mi Browser collects unnecessary information while browsing and sends the user data to other countries. This is incorrect and not true," Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, said in a statement.

Xiaomi said that its users' privacy and security are of top priority.

"We strictly follow and are fully compliant with user privacy protection laws and regulations in the countries and regions we operate in," the company stressed.

While collecting user data is not unusual for Internet companies, they are supposed to do so with the permission of users in order to offer them better services. But the data is supposed to remain anonymised so that the identity of the user remains hidden.

In a separate blog post, Xiaomi said all collected usage data is based on permission and consent given explicitly by our users.

"Additionally, we ensure the whole process is anonymous and encrypted. The collection of aggregated usage statistics data is used for internal analysis, and we do not link any personally identifiable information to any of this data," said the company.

Xiaomi said it hosts information on a public cloud infrastructure that is common and well known in the industry.

"All information from our overseas services and users is stored on servers in various overseas markets where local user privacy protection laws and regulations are strictly followed and with which we fully comply," it explained.

Jain said that using Mi Browser or any Mi Internet product is perfectly safe and "we do not collect any information that the user has not given explicit consent to".

"All Mi Browser and Mi Cloud data of Indian users is stored locally in AWS servers in India," he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
KABUL, Afghanistan  The foreign ministry of Afghanistan on Saturday said it was investigating claims that dozens of Afghan migrants detained in Iran were tortured by that countrys border guards and thrown into a river, where many of them drowned.

Afghan news media reported that about 50 migrants being illegally smuggled into Iran  a frequent destination for Afghans escaping the war to seek work  were caught by Iranian border guards, beaten and thrown into a river that flows between the two countries.

Those reports included grainy cellphone footage showing a half-dozen corpses. Details were conflicting, but several reports suggested that as many as half the men had drowned or were unaccounted for.

They kept hitting us with pipes and saying, Dont come back to our country, and kept pushing us into the river, one of the survivors, Abdul Wahed, 20, said in a phone interview.
HANGZHOU, China and ATLANTA, May 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc. ("Venus Medtech" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", stock code: 2500), the leading Chinese transcatheter heart valve company and Opus Medical Therapies, LLC, a medical device company focused on developing transcatheter mitral and tricuspid valve replacement products for patients undergoing mitral and tricuspid valve disease, today announced a partnership agreement to develop, manufacture and sell these TMVR and TTVR products in Greater China.

This agreement, covering the whole Greater China market, will allow physicians and patients in this region to benefit from transcatheter mitral and tricuspid valve replacement. The combination is unavailable in any other market or from any other company.

"It is utmost importance to us that our devices can save more patients and improve their quality of life. The cooperation with Opus Medical Therapies will enable Venus Medtech to achieve full coverage from functional mitral regurgitation to degenerative regurgitation on the basis of its own product line, and will greatly accelerate the clinical use of tricuspid valve replacement technology. No other company offers this all-valves solution in China and Asia," said Eric Zi, CEO of Venus Medtech.

Mitral Regurgitation (MR) is the most common heart valve disease, which is caused by organic or functional changes to the mitral valve apparatus, including the mitral valve leaflets, valve annulus, papillary muscles and chordae tendinae. In China, the prevalence of MR above the age of 60 is 13.4%, and the number of patients requiring treatment (MR grade 3) is 10 million. At present, for patients with significant mitral regurgitation, cardiac surgery is still the mainstream way of treatment, but the number of mitral valve surgeries in our country is not much more than 40,000 cases per year. In fact, at least 50% of the patients with mitral valve regurgitation are high risk because of advanced age, low ejection fraction, or because of other factors. Sadly, the vast majority of these patients do not receive treatment, and continue to suffer. In recent years, transcatheter mitral therapies have developed rapidly around the world, but due to the complexity of the mitral valve apparatus and the complexity of mitral valve lesions, the current products available in the international market are few and expensive, and they have significant limitations in clinical application. Because the research and development of transcatheter mitral valve therapies is technically challenging and requires large investments, development of mitral valve technology in China is seriously restricted.

Also limited is the development of therapies for tricuspid regurgitation (TR), even though moderate or greater tricuspid regurgitation is not uncommon in the population. Although patients with mild to moderate regurgitation might have few symptoms, patients with severe regurgitation can suffer from debilitating symptoms, and have a higher risk of dying. Indeed, although the tricuspid valve has long been the "forgotten valve", several long-term registries have shown that tricuspid regurgitation significantly impacts patients' survival and quality of life. Other registries have shown that these risks decrease with treatment, sometimes even in patients who have moderate TR complicated by significant annular dilatation. Despite these benefits, risks of surgery are high; patients undergoing surgical therapy can have an peri-operative mortality rate of up to 10%, with up to 25% mortality rate during follow-up at 32 months after surgery, and even as high as 35% and 56% during follow-up at 3 and 5 years, respectively, after treatment. Therefore, transcatheter therapy is desperately needed as a new option for patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation who are at high risk and not suitable for surgery.

"Venus has established a dominant position in the China TAVR market with its exceptionally safe and effective platform. Because of my co-founders, Jaime Sarabia and Yen Liao, and the rest of the Opus team, we have extensive pre-clinical and clinical experience in the TMVR and TTVR space. With the depth of our experience and Venus's support, we believe that this partnership will result in furtherance of Venus's pipelines, which have great potential market size globally," said Dr. Vivek Rajagopal, founder and CEO, Opus Medical Therapies. "This partnership also provides us the opportunity to make an impact in the fast growing structural heart space in an extraordinarily important geographic market. With Venus as our partner, we also hope to make an impact in the rest of the world."

This impact will greatly ease the burden for the millions of patients with MR and TR who are too sick, too frail, or too old to undergo surgery safely. As physicians and others advance innovative technologies around the world, Venus MedTech will continue to lead the way in China as it continues its extensive basic, translational, and clinical research in transcatheter valvular therapies. Now, with the successful signing of the cooperation agreement with Opus Medical Therapies, Venus will lead China to the front and center stage of the world's TMVR and TTVR research field.

About Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc.

Venus Medtech is the leading transcatheter heart valve medical device player in China in terms of implantation volume in 2018. The Company focuses on the design, development and commercialization of transcatheter heart valve products. According to Frost & Sullivan, the Company had a 79.3% market share in China by implantation volume of TAVR products in 2018. The Company's self-developed product, VenusA-Valve, is the first TAVR product approved by the NMPA and commercialized in China. As the pioneer in the transcatheter heart valve industry in China, the Company enjoys first mover advantages. The Company believes that its first mover advantages, together with its comprehensive product pipeline covering all four heart valves, robust intellectual property portfolio with 193 issued patents and 196 patent applications as of November 18, 2019, and visionary management team, will serve as high entry barriers and differentiate the Company from its peers.

For more information, please visit: www.venusmedtech.com

SOURCE Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc.

Related Links

http://www.venusmedtech.com


LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots, made by Xenex Disinfection Services and costing about $100,000 each, emit broad-spectrum ultraviolet light to destroy viruses and bacteria within minutes. Theyve been used for infection control in hundreds of hospitals for several years. Now the hospitality industry is showing interest. Read more

The coronavirus crisis has not only sent the hotel industry reeling by cratering occupancy rates. Its forcing hotels to ramp up their cleaning protocols and hygiene  things that will be more of a priority for consumers in a post-pandemic world, where safe is the new sexy.

"What would have been in the back of customers minds is now front and center," said Phil Cordell, Hiltons global head of new brand development.

Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt have all announced plans for updated cleaning standards and other steps aimed at protecting the health of guests and staff at thousands of properties around the world. Home-rental companies such as Airbnb have made similar moves.

Demand for hotel rooms has tanked during the pandemic. Among the U.S. hotels that are still open, about three-quarter of rooms are vacant, according to data released Thursday by the hospitality research company STR.

When people start staying in hotels again, theyll notice some changes as new hygiene measures get rolled out in the coming weeks and months.

Expect less furniture in lobbies and other public areas to create room for social distancing. Hand sanitizing stations will be highly visible. So will housekeepers, whose role moves from behind-the-scenes to center stage as they frequently and conspicuously wipe down railings, elevator buttons, and door handles with hospital-grade disinfectants.

"You cant just tell people youre cleaning, you have to let them see people cleaning," said Jonathon Day, associate professor at Purdue Universitys School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in West Lafayette, Ind. "These companies need to be transparent about what theyre doing and demonstrate it, so we have a sense of comfort. Its only when I feel safe about going back to hotels that Im going to let my guard down enough to leave my house."

Some housekeeping teams will have high-tech tools at their disposal, such as germ-zapping robots and electrostatic sprayers to rapidly disinfect guest rooms and fitness centers. The latter is part of Marriotts plan, which also involves testing ultraviolet light technology to sanitize guests key cards.

The Westin Houston Medical Center hotel started using its pair of LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots in March. Made by Xenex Disinfection Services and costing about $100,000 each, the machines emit broad-spectrum ultraviolet light to destroy viruses and bacteria within minutes. Theyve been used for infection control in hundreds of hospitals for several years. Now the hospitality industry is showing interest.

"Weve been contacted by dozens and dozens of hotels in Europe, the Middle East, here in the U.S.," said company spokesperson Melinda Hart. "Theyre all trying to find a way for travelers to feel safe again."

Hilton is working with health experts at the Mayo Clinic and the makers of Lysol for its new "CleanStay" program at the companys 6,100-plus properties spread over 18 brands, including Waldorf Astoria, Embassy Suites, and Hampton hotels.

The new measures mandate extra disinfection of the 10 most-often-touched parts of a hotel room  light switches, TV remotes, thermostats, toilet handles  and putting a seal on room doors to let guests know theyre the first to enter their freshly cleaned quarters.

"I remember as a kid wed travel on vacation, check into a motel, and theres a seal around the toilet seat," Cordell said. "It harkens back to that. Its a confidence builder for guests."

Hilton is ditching some traditional guest room staples such notepads, pens, and directories full of well-thumbed pages. Fitness centers will close periodically throughout the day for additional cleaning, and the number of guests exercising one time will be limited. Breakfasts will likely entail more grab-and-go options. Buffets, where they still exist, will have enhanced sanitation and be less hands-on.

"Some of this is the new normal and some of it will vary over time," Cordell said. "The visibility of housekeeping, the cleaning products ... that may be forever. Other elements like the distancing of tables in the restaurants, that will probably start to wane a bit at some point."

Marriott recently created a Global Cleanliness Council that has outlined multiple measures to reduce the spread of disease. Disinfecting wipes will be put in all guest rooms throughout the companys 7,300 properties. In nearly half of these hotels, guests can use their phone to check in, access their room with a digital key, and order a meal that will be packaged and deposited outside the door.

Over at Hyatt, a new initiative requires that each of its 900-some properties has at least one specially trained hygiene manager by September. Hyatt also is the first hospitality brand to commit to getting all of its hotels accredited by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a division of the cleaning industry trade association ISSA.

The new GBAC STAR certification is meant to ensure that a hotel  or restaurant, arena, or convention center  has the proper chemicals, equipment, and procedures to remove harmful pathogens. The concept of GBAC STAR certification predates the coronavirus crisis, but the pandemic fast-tracked the launch of the program, which starts accepting applications May 7.

"We had to hasten the development because the demand in the marketplace is mind-boggling," ISSA executive director John Barrett said. "People need this assurance, so we hustled to get it built."

The heightened emphasis on hygiene is happening across the lodging spectrum, from budget hotels and luxury resorts to vacation rental homes.

Housekeepers at the Red Roof chain now sanitize corridors, elevators, the front desk, and other high-traffic areas up to four times a day with coronavirus-killing products approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cloth towels have been replaced by disposables in the public restrooms of the high-end Kempinski Hotels, where employees have donned white gloves and designer face masks.

When the Langham hotels in the United States start accepting new reservations, the luxury properties will be taking guests and employees temperatures. If they have a too-high fever, a security officer wearing personal protective equipment will escort them to a room set aside for quarantine so they can contact their doctor for guidance.

"If they cannot reach a doctor, we will find one for them," Langham spokesperson Louise OBrien responded in an email.

 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.

Home-rental companies Airbnb and Turnkey Vacation Rentals also are enhancing their cleaning protocols in light of COVID-19.

Turnkey will soon debut a training and certification program for its new cleanliness and safety standards for all of its housekeepers, who will use an app to photo-validate their use of coronavirus-fighting products. To guard against the spread of disease through airborne particles, the vacation rental management company is requiring a 24-hour buffer between guest stays, lasting through June at the earliest.

Airbnb worked with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to craft guidelines that call for cleaners to wear masks and use certain disinfectants. Hosts also are supposed to wait at least 24 hours between check out and the arrival of the next guests.

Airbnb hosts are being encouraged, not required, to follow the new protocols. But customers will be able to see which ones do and which dont.
Representative image

Retailers are awaiting guidelines from the respective states for reopening stores after the central government relaxed guidelines for the two week lockdown extension.

Central government has set up the process now it is up to the States to come up with clarification with specific details. So, we are awaiting States to come up with specific details and then we can go ahead and plan for the opening of shops. Nothing can open until States come up with their provision, said Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Retailers Association of India told Moneycontrol.

RAI represents 13,667 member establishments representing 5 lakh stores and employing 43 million people.

The government said on May 1 that it will extend its lockdown for another two weeks, but with relaxations in several areas that will potentially spring back to life economic activity.

The government will continue the strict measures it has enforced in places classified as red zones  such as New Delhi and Mumbai  and orange zones, which show no abatement in the number of people affected by the coronavirus.

In green zones or low risk areas, some movement of people and economic activities will be allowed, said a statement issued by the Union home ministry.

MHA has also issued new guidelines to regulate different activities in this period, based on the risk profiling of the districts of the country into Red (hotspot), Green and Orange Zones. The guidelines have permitted considerable relaxations in the districts falling in the Green and Orange Zones.

For instance, liquor shops are allowed to remain open in Assam.

On April 30, the Union Health Ministry had designated all major metropolitan citiesDelhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad under red zone after the lockdown ends on May 3, and asked states and local bodies to demarcate containment areas and buffer zones for strict monitoring of movement.

As a part of its action plan to effectively lift lockdown in the country, the ministry has released an exhaustive list which splits the 733 districts into red, orange and green zones based on the severity of the disease in each of these areas.

According to the list, there are 130 red zones, where more poignant restrictions will be enforced after May 3. Meanwhile, there will be partial easing in orange zones (284) and liberal easing in the green zones (319).

Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of red zones at 19 followed by Maharashtra (14), Tamil Nadu (12) and Delhi (11).

Among Mumbai's suburbs, Thane, Palghar and Mumbai suburban have been designated as red zones. Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Solapur, Yavatmal, Aurangabad, Satara, Dhule, Akola, Jalgaon and Raigad are other districts in the no-activity zone.
With most Americans now weeks into social isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have been left with a makeshift work space in our house or apartment.

Maybe youre making phone calls and joining meetings from the couch or dining room table. Perhaps youre writing reports or crunching numbers from the basement or the corner of the kitchen or a spare bedroom.

Whether youve been sitting in that ancient, uncomfortable chair for far too long, or you are just looking to spruce up your home-office space a bit, here are 16 items ranging from furniture to tech products that can do just that. These items can help create a more comfortable work environment, and maybe boost your productivity in the process.

Genie mid-back mesh task chair

Genie mid-back mesh task chair, $82.99: Stay productive and comfortable in this swiveling chair that features a padded seat, adjustable seat height, mesh back rest, lumbar support, tilt lock and back angle adjustment. Available in black or red (gray is out of stock at the moment), its rated for heavy usage of up to eight hours at a time. Customer reviews give it 4.4 stars out of a 5-star rating system. Multiple reviews say the chair is both easy to assemble and comfortable.

Lowndes gaming chair

Lowndes ergonomic genuine leather gaming chair, $119.99: Regularly priced at $232, the chair is currently on sale at 48% off and has more than 800 5-star reviews. With its racecar-like design, this chair is durable and flexible enough to use for either gaming or working. Features include leather, high back, swivel, lumbar support, seat height adjustment, tilt and tilt lock, plus padded armrests that flip up. Choose from several colors.

Samsung Chromebook 4

Samsung Chromebook 4 11.6-inch (64GB Storage, 6GB RAM), $279.99: In the market for a laptop? Heres one with 64 gigs of storage at less than $300. Lightweight but built to withstand drops, this chromebook also will deliver up to 10 hours of battery life on a full charge.

Samsung 27-inch SR75 WQHD LED Space Monitor

Samsung 27 SR75 WQHD LED Space Monitor, $329.99: Maximize your desk space with this 27-inch computer monitor featuring a clamp and arm stand that allow for easy adjusting. When youre not using it, simply push the monitor to sit flush against the back wall to reclaim your entire desk space.

Dell 24-inch LED monitor

Dell 24 LED Monitor, Black (E2420H), $135.99: Coming in at a much more affordable price point, this Dell monitor provides full HD resolution at 1920x1080, with 16.7 million colors and an HDMI port.

Natural Almanzar desk

Natural Almanzar Desk, $73.99: This inexpensive desk could be ideal for laptop users or for writers using pen and paper. It has a steel base and manufactured wood top for a simple, modern design. Dimensions are 43 inches wide, nearly 18 inches deep and 29.5 inches high. Wayfair reviewers give it an average of 4.7 stars.

Camila desk

Camila desk, $236.99: Right now, this desk is on sale for 41% off of the regular price of $399.99. Despite its classic look, the Camila writing desk also comes with a key modern amenity: a wireless charging pad right on top of the desk. Stow papers and supplies in the two drawers adorned with gold ring pulls. Dimensions are 41.65 inches wide, 19.69 inches deep and 30.91 inches tall.

Keystone 19-inch desk lamp

Keystone 19-inch desk lamp, $35.99: With its industrial, simple style, this lamp will brighten up your space. It works with standard bulbs (not included) and comes in four finishes: matte black, chrome, white and rose gold (prices vary based on finish). Normally $49.99, it is currently on sale for 28% off. And perhaps best of all, this lamp gets more than 3,700 5-star reviews from Wayfair customers for an overall rating of 4.8.

Cardwell LED dimmable 18-inch desk lamp

Cardwell LED dimmable 18-inch desk lamp, $89.99: This LED lamp has four modes depending on how much light you need and allows for easy adjustment of both height and angle. Use the touch settings to switch between reading mode, study mode, relax mode and sleep mode. Available in black or white, the lamp also has a built-in USB charger for added convenience while you work. It gets a 5-star rating on 67 of 72 reviews.

Victoria wood bluetooth FM/AM radio

Victoria wood bluetooth FM/AM radio with rotary dial, $74.99: This compact unit has the classic, retro look of an old radio, but with the modern convenience of bluetooth technology. With FM, AM and bluetooth modes, tune into a local radio station, or stream music from your device.

Black Vavra 4-panel room divider

Black Vavra 4-panel room divider, $85.99: Only have part of a room to use as your workspace? Define the space and create a more productive environment with this room divider. Measuring nearly 6 feet tall and wide, this divider can close off your work area and also is portable. The panels are made of pine wood, with rice paper, while the hinged panels easily unfold and collapse. Normally priced at $150.05, the divider is now on sale at 43% off. Available in black, cherry and natural finishes.

Cuisinart 12-cup programmable coffeemaker

Black Cuisinart Coffee Plus 12-cup programmable coffeemaker, $74.95: Stay caffeinated with this coffeemaker, now on sale at 34% off the price of $113.99. It gets 4.6 stars overall, with more than 600 5-star reviews.

Brother INKvestment Tank all-in-one wireless color inkjet printer

Brother INKvestment Tank all-in-one wireless color inkjet printer, MFC-J995DW, $179.99: This all-in-one is a color printer, copier, scanner and fax machine. Print up to 10 color pages per minute, and do so wirelessly, plus save paper with two-sided printing. Rated 4.6 stars on average, with more than 500 5-star reviews on Office Depots website.

AKG N60 noise-canceling headphones

AKG N60 noise-canceling headphones, black, $99.00: An Amazons Choice product, these headphones deliver great sound while also blocking out distracting noises that could disrupt your experience. Plug in with the 1/8-inch stereo mini-jack, or ditch the cord and listen wirelessly with bluetooth mode.

Samsung SmartThings Wifi 3-pack

Samsung SmartThings Wifi 3-pack, $279.99: Eliminate dead zones with this pack of Wi-Fi routers. Each can cover up to 1,500 square feet of space. It also can be used as a SmartThings hub to control home devices such as lights, cameras and doorbells through an app. Single pack available for $119.99.

Countertop outdoor-rated mini fridge

Countertop outdoor-rated mini fridge, $45.99: This handsome, compact and portable fridge will hold up to six 12-ounce cans, or four pint-sized bottles. Its currently 54% off the regular price of $99.99, and its available in four colors (prices vary by color): red, matte black, navy blue and white.
Brazils far-right president has falsely accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of encouraging young children to masturbate, in an apparent attempt to justify ignoring its advice about the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Facebook post, which was soon deleted but seen by Brazilian news outlets, Jair Bolsonaro said, without providing evidence, the WHO was encouraging same-sex relationships in four-year-olds, sexual experiences for nine-year-olds, and masturbation in children from birth.

This is the World Health Organization that many say I must follow in the case of coronavirus, Mr Bolsonaro wrote in Portuguese.

The post came a day after he shrugged off concerns about Brazils rising confirmed death toll  it neared 6,000 by Friday  by telling a reporter: So what? Im sorry. What do you want me to do?

Though Mr Bolsonaros post provided no source for his claims, it appeared to have been inspired by a 2010 guide, published by the WHOs European office, which provided a framework for teaching sex education in schools.

The authors describe the importance of children developing a responsible attitude towards sexual health, and outline how they learn about their bodies and develop a curiosity about sexuality.

At no point, however, do they encourage masturbation, homosexuality or sexual experiences for children.

Pressure has increased on the authorities in recent weeks, as Brazil increasingly emerges as Latin Americas coronavirus epicentre.

Amid the pandemic, and lockdowns across much of the giant country, Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly egged on Brazilians who are calling for revolt and has scoffed at both the virus and stay-at-home policies.

Mr Bolsonaro first staked out his argument that the economy needs to get back to work in a national address at the end of March, when he referred to the coronavirus as a little flu and said his history as an athlete would protect him.

Since then, he has doubled down time and again, saying only high-risk Brazilians need to be isolated, even as the official count of cases rockets past 85,000.

Experts disagree and consider Brazils figures to be significant undercounts due to a lack of widespread testing.
Luxury Hotel CEO Steps Down Amid Coronavirus Relief Loan Pushback But Controversy Lingers

The president and CEO of Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust is stepping down after the company received pushback over the $30 million it received from the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief fund passed in March.

Tens of thousands of small businesses are still waiting to receive funds. Companies like Shake Shack and Ruths Chris Steak House received, and later promised to return, PPP loans.

But despite the departure of CEO Douglas Kessler and the controversy, Ashford Hospitality leaders maintain the company and two related companies qualified for the program and will keep the money. The particulars of Kesslers resignation are still not clear.

Kessler will remain with the company until May 14, when Ashford Chief Strategy Officer J. Robison Hays takes over as president and CEO.

I would like to thank Douglas for his invaluable leadership and contributions to Ashford Trust during his considerable tenure, Ashford Hospitality Trust Chairman of the Board Monty Bennett said in a statement. He has been an extraordinary colleague and instrumental in the growth of Ashford Trust since its IPO in 2003. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

Get the Latest on Coronavirus and the Travel Industry on Skifts Liveblog

The executive shift still addresses only one of three companies tied to Bennett that are under pressure over their benefit from a program aimed at assisting small businesses during coronavirus.

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Braemar Hotels & Resorts  where Bennett is chairman of the board of directors  and Ashford Inc.  where Bennett is CEO and chairman of the board  collectively received nearly $59 million in PPP loans, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The companies issued a joint statement saying they would not return the money to the Small Business Administration.

Since the middle of March, the companies have furloughed or laid off 90 percent of their workforce due to coronavirus hindering business. The Small Business Administration has not publicly released a list of PPP loan recipients, but Ashford claims the hotel industry received less than 3 percent of the initial $350 billion round of PPP loans.

Story continues

Our companies have not crowded out smaller businesses from receiving funds, as some media reports have suggested, the statement continued. The PPP program was specifically intended for companies like ours.

After the initial round of PPP funding ran out, the U.S. government injected an additional $310 billion earlier this month. Industry advocates and politicians are calling for more oversight to make sure the latest round of money gets to small businesses.

Travel industry groups like the U.S. Travel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Association Thursday called for the government to discourage unaffected businesses from applying for PPP loans. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier this week the government will perform a full audit on any company taking out more than $2 million in the small business loan program.

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NewsBytes (run by Elysium Labs Private Limited), an AI-driven digital media company, has successfully closed the first tranche of its Series A round, led by North Base Media, a global venture capital firm specialized in media.The company will deploy the fresh funds in augmenting its technology.

Founded by Romesh Khaddar, Shikha Chaudhry and Sumedh Chaudhry, NewsBytes received its early funding by Mumbai Angels Network in 2017 & 18.

With this capital, we are better positioned to expand our fast-growing audience and develop new technologies that will allow us to serve new clients.the participation by NBM, which has extensive media and media-tech experience globally, together with new investor JITO Angels and the companys existing investor, Powerhouse Ventures, gives NewsBytes stability at a crucial time. says Sumedh Chaudhry, Co-Founder, NewsBytes.

We are very pleased that our portfolio company NewsBytes has closed the first tranche of their Series A and we continue to back them up strongly as they go ahead, says Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Promoter and CEO, Mumbai Angels Network.

NewsBytes has developed Indias first and the only AI-driven content engine, YANTRA, which can write factual stories without any human intervention. Notably, the engine has multilingual capabilities and can tackle a wide array of categories from consumer technology to financial markets. NewsBytes is licensing its engine to other companies looking to automate their content creation process. The company has already onboarded several clients including overseas media companies.
Two tigers attacked six people, injuring three of them, on Friday in two separate areas in Uttar Pradeshs Pilibhit district, officials said on Saturday.

Ram Bahadur, Ujagar Singh and Lalta Prasad were attacked and injured by a tiger in Lalpur village of the district, which is under the Mala Range of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

Villagers recorded the video of the attack which went viral on social media. In the video, the tiger can be seen climbing the forest departments tractor and trying to attack the people.

Three persons have suffered injuries in the attack. The tiger was spotted sitting near our house in the morning and while people were passing by the tiger attacked them. The police came here after we informed them about the incident but the forest department officials came after four hours, Milap Singh, Lalpur villages head, said.

Singh and police officials who reached the site of the incident sent the injured villagers to the district hospital and informed the forest department.

When the team of the forest department team reached the spot to capture the big cat by tracing his location, the angry tiger climbed on its tractor and attacked the officials. No one was injured.

The tiger came down from the tractor as it saw the crowd and ran towards the forest. Top officials of the forest department are trying to track the animal in a bid to capture it.

The forest officials did not pay heed to our request and left. No fences has been constructed to confine carnivores within national parks and therefore the wild animals enter in the residential areas and attack people, Singh said.

Its risky for the children and labourers working in the field. The forest officials are not working in this direction of constructing fences, he added.

Reports said Gurpreet Singh and Hardeep Singh, both brothers and resident of Zari Village in Gajraula, were also attacked by a tiger. They were on a motorcycle when a tiger lurking in the nearby field lunged at them on the link road near Shiv Nagar Marg.

The two, however, escaped unhurt.

Before this, three attacks were reported in the Kheri region which houses the Dudhwa National Park in April.

Officials of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve say the sugarcane, wheat and rice fields happen to serve as breeding territories and are stocked with livestock and deer which make tigers venture out into the fields for an easy kill.

Humans also enter the tiger reserve to gather fodder and fuelwood, they said making them vulnerable to such attacks.

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is among the wildlife habitats in India that has reported the highest number of human casualties. Twenty-seven people have been killed by tigers since November 2016 in and around the 730 square kilometre reserve, home to up to 70 tigers.

The tiger population inside the horseshoe-shaped reserve is at the saturation level, prompting 10 of the big cats to make their home in the sugarcane fields in the vicinity.

The PTR has now mooted a proposal, which is awaiting the governments nod, to relocate 10 tigers that have made the sugarcane fields outside the reserve their home.

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Royal Bank of Scotland has set aside 802million to prepare for the coronavirus slump  taking provisions earmarked by the big five banks to cover bad loans to 6.9billion this week.

RBS, which is changing its name to Natwest later this year, said the loss provisions dragged profit down by almost 50 per cent to 519million in the first three months of 2020.

However, the bank set aside less than some of its rivals to deal with borrowers who are expected to become unable to repay their loans due to coronavirus.

RBS, which is changing its name to Natwest later this year, said the loss provisions dragged profit down by almost 50pc to 519m in the first three months of 2020

Barclays earlier this week siphoned off 2.1billion, while Lloyds pencilled in 1.4billion.

Alison Rose, RBS's chief executive, said this was partly due to the fact that the bank has fewer unsecured loans on its book, such as credit card lending and personal loans.

But the bank's economic outlook is also slightly more optimistic than Lloyds', as RBS said it was predicting a 4.3 per cent contraction in the economy this year rather than 5 per cent.

RBS has been the most prolific lender to smaller businesses under the Government's Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), designed to give desperate firms a lifeline during the pandemic. It has handed out 1.6billion to 8,292 businesses, or around 40 per cent of the total value.

Rose said she realised the importance of CBILS in helping businesses, and was quick to shift 100 extra staff over to work on processing applications.

Many lenders have been slow to put CBILS into action due to fears too many borrowers will go bust during the pandemic, leaving the banks on the hook for 20 per cent of all losses.

She said: 'There's a huge amount of uncertainty and we've already taken an impairment. But we're lending to existing customers, and within our risk appetite.'
12 Christians killed, couple kidnapped from church during wedding in Nigeria

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Muslim Fulani herdsmen in northwest Nigeria killed 12 Christians and kidnapped a couple from their church wedding ceremony in attacks this month, sources said.

In Tegina Kabata village in Niger state's Shiroro County, herdsmen attacked a church site where a wedding was taking place on April 12, abducting the couple and some church members, area resident Danjuma Iliya told Morning Star News.

"As the pastor was officiating during the wedding solemnization, the herdsmen stormed the church and took away everyone who was unable to escape from the church building, including the bride and groom," Iliya said. "In that village, five Christians were killed in the series of attacks carried out by the herdsmen."

Two other Christians were killed by herdsmen in Niger state's Gidigori village, Kusherki District, in Rafi County, on April 20, area resident James Ayuba said. They were two of seven Christians killed in three herdsmen attacks over five days in Rafi County, he said.

Others were injured in herdsmen attacks in the county's Madaka and Sabon Gari villages on April 20-21, he said.

Church Elder Abducted

Also in Niger state, five missionaries kidnapped on March 2 were released on April 22, sources said. In a short statement on April 22 that gave no details, leaders of Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) expressed joy that their missionaries had just been released.

"Please rejoice with us as the remaining five of our missionaries kidnapped in Kamuku Field, Niger state 52 days ago are now safely back to freedom," the statement read.

The missionaries were abducted when armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen on March 2 raided a school in Maruba, Shiroro County, run by CAPRO.

The announcement came the same day that a church elder in north-central Nigeria's Kaduna state had been kidnapped. Armed Fulani herdsmen abducted Emmanuel Iliya Agiya, elder and treasurer of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Atang village, Jema'a County on April 22, area resident Aku Joshua Shai told Morning Star News by phone.

After shooting into the air to send villagers scampering into the bushes, the herdsmen broke into Iliya's house that night and took him away at gunpoint, he said.

"The armed herdsmen first tried to forcefully gain entry into the house of the brother of the victim but were unsuccessful," Shai said. "They then proceeded to the next house, the victim's house, dragged him out, and then took him away at gunpoint."

Iliya is son of community leader Chief Iliya Agiya, Shai added.

Christian killed

Also in Kaduna state's Jema'a County, armed Fulani herdsmen on April 14 attacked Zakkan village, killing one Christian and wounding two others, Shai said.

Abel Danjuma, 40, was killed, and his two brothers, 45-year-old Henry Tuta, 50-year-old Chairman Tuta were injured. Henry Tuta was treated and discharged from Kafanchan General Hospital, while Chairman Tuta's serious injuries required that he be transferred to Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Shai said.

"The three victims are members of the Catholic Church at Zakkan village," he said. "The herdsmen, too, blocked the Abuja-Jos route at Zakkan village and kidnapped two young girls who were traveling from Abuja to Taraba state. The girls were later rescued and set free by Christians from Zakkan village who went in pursuit of the herdsmen and rescued the girls."

On Jan. 30 Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to "a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as 'infidels' by Islamist militants in the country's north and middle belt regions.'"

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors' 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.

This piece was originally published at Christian Today
A mother who was trapped inside her car as a monster truck pushed her along a wet and busy highway has spoken out about the terrifying ordeal.

Melbourne mum Kelly Bubeck, 41, was driving to work on the Western Ring Road on Friday when the truck hit her from behind.

The truck driver appeared oblivious to what was happening and continued to push Ms Bubeck's car down the highway for 750m.

Melbourne mum Kelly Bubeck was driving to work on the Western Ring Road when the truck hit her from behind

'All I'm thinking of is my daughter and my husband,' she told Nine News.

'I'm thinking: ''I'm not dying today. This isn't it''.'

The aged care worker feared her car was going to go under the truck as she desperately tried to grab her steering wheel to activate the voice control.

She shouted out 'triple zero' but the voice control was unable to understand Ms Bubeck.

Other motorists alerted the truck driver to what was happening and he finally stopped his vehicle.

Ms Bubeck feared that her car would just go under the truck as she desperately tried to grab her steering wheel and activated the voice control

'When I stopped the car and opened the door and got out, I'm yelling at him ''You nearly wiped me off'',' she said.

'He turned around and looked at me and ''oh, for f**k's sake!'' They're the only words he said.'

The truck driver wasn't charged and no further police action will be taking following the incident.

Luckily, Ms Bubeck did not suffer any injuries but is now struggling to claim her $18,000 for her car insurance.

A GoFundMe page was launched to help the Ms Bubeck purchase a new car.
As a few states and jurisdictions have begun to relax stay-home-orders and non-essential-businesses shutdowns, the shape of restaurant dining post-lockdown is beginning to become visible.

Not surprisingly, social distancing is a central operating constraint in this new world of dining. Restaurants are having to limit the number of patrons they allow in their dining spaces; in Texas, for instance, state guidelines require that eating establishments allow no more than 25% of their rated seating capacity be occupied at any one time.

Most mandates associated with reopening are requiring servers to wear masks and use gloves; and single-use, throwaway menus are also the norm.

Patrons may themselves also be required to mask, at least not while actually eating, and the size of dining parties is usually limited to no more than four or six, depending on the set of guidelines in force.

Self-service buffets, food displays, and condiment tables are not being permitted, and extensive pre- and post-usage sanitization of dining tables is becoming the new normal.

Traditional at-the-bar service and consumption of cocktails and beverages is also a no-no.

Of course, the big unknown in this process of restaurants opening for on-premises dining is consumer acceptance, and preliminary data on customer sentiment is contradictory.

In Germany, where lockdown restrictions were eased in late April, the public has proven hesitant to re-engage with on-premises dining and retail.

However, here in the U.S. restaurant chain executives, in reporting on their particular brand's experiences in early-reopening states, have described dine-in business as being "better than anticipated."

Side dishes

Two of the restaurant industry's major media outlets, "Nation's Restaurant News" and "Restaurant Hospitality," have partnered to establish a digital community they are calling Restaurants Rise.

Conceptualized as a resource to help restaurants reset and re-imagine the ways that they do business in the face of new realities, Restaurants Rise will serve as an on-demand center that will bring together information designed to help food service operators cope with the disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused in the industry.

The May online debut of Restaurants Rise will be followed, in early June, by Restaurants Rise LIVE!, a four-day virtual event featuring webinars and online educational experiences focusing on issues of menu, marketing, and operations during the restaurant industry's reemergence and recovery.

The web address for Restaurants Rise is restaurantsrise.com.

Bistro Les Gras in Northampton has reopened its kitchen and is now offering "Family Menu Meals" for Thursday and Friday evening pickup.

The menus for these meals feature the French-inspired, often-adventurous cookery that has been a hallmark of Bistro Les Gras dining.

Available assembled to serve between two and six at-home diners, the Family Meal menu for May 7 offers pork schnitzel with an arugula and parmesan salad and a side of German potato salad. The Bistro's version of mac & cheese is an alternative choice; it's made interesting with ramps and wild mushrooms. Both menus include an hors d'oeuvre component.

The Family Meals must be pre-ordered at bistrolesgras.com between 5 p.m. on Sunday and 7 p.m. on Thursday, with meal pickup hours set for Thursday and Friday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

A "For the Home" option complements the Family Meals, providing an opportunity to stock up on house-made pickles, preserves, condiments, cured fish, sauces, soups, and more. The selection ranges from marinated olives and aioli to country pork pate, marinara sauce, and smoked pastrami salmon.

Meals and condiments must be ordered on line; Bistro Les Gras also answers at (413) 320-4666.

The MAX Restaurant Group, having closed all its restaurants as of March 31, has been gradually returning to the marketplace, offering Family Share Packs at several of the Groups Connecticut locations.

Items on the rather extensive Family Share menus are sized to serve two or three at-home diners. Choices at Maxs Oyster Bar in Glastonbury, for instance, include New England clam chowder, lobster pot pie, and Maxs Paella.

Dessert and wine are also available.

Advance ordering is required, and service is currently limited to Friday and Saturday evenings.

Max Burger in Longmeadow has also reopened, offering delivery by third-party services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats as well as curbside pickup at the restaurant of orders placed online.

A Chicago-area restaurant, Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, IL, has come up with a social-distancing hack of the traditional dinner date.

Diners that want to enjoy the company of a special someone during dinner can take advantage of the Cafe's Friday evening "Date Night Dinner Packages."

For those who wish to dine and socialize, whether it be with a sheltering-in-place friend or a new love interest, Prairie Grass Cafe's dinner and wine package provides two separately packaged meals that can be paid for together but picked up separately.

The safely-distanced socializing couple can then, as the Cafe puts it in its promotional materials, "...dim the lights, light a candle, Zoom in, and enjoy."

The restaurant is also promoting a "Kids Make Your Own Pizza Night" kit that includes cut raw veggies with dip; pizza dough, sauce, and toppings; and cookie dough to be baked at home.

Prairie Grass Cafe maintains its web presence at prairegrasscafe.com.

LongHorn Steakhouse locations are promoting their LongHorn Steak Shop program. Offering ready-to-cook filet, ribeye, sirloin, and NY strip steaks as well as the chain's special recipe seasoning and honey wheat bread, the program also includes sides as well as beer and wine to-go.

The restaurant chain's regular menu is available for curbside pickup; they are also putting together a selection of family meals for four. More details are available at longhornsteakhouse.com.

There are LongHorn Steakhouse locations on Riverdale Street in West Springfield and on Phoenix Avenue in Enfield.

Villa Napoletana in East Longmeadow is offering a selection of Mother's Day Family Bundles.

Available for curbside pickup or delivery, each package incorporates choices of entree, salad, vegetable, starch and dessert. Main course possibilities include baked chicken cordon blue, Gorgonzola crusted beef, stuffed jumbo shrimp and more.

The bundles are available in "serves four" and "serves eight" forms with a free rose for Mom included.

Bundles must be ordered at least 48 hours in advance; beer and wine are also available to complement the Family Bundles.

Contact Villa Napoletana at (413) 732-9300 for more information on Family bundles as well as the restaurant's other takeout options

Not all restaurants and chains have been taking a financial hit during the pandemic. In a recent conference call with Wall Street, the Ann Arbor, IL-base Domino's Pizza Inc. reported that it had experienced a more than 7% growth in sales during April.

Both delivery and carryout have been strong at Domino's, with business during lunch and dinner increasing disproportionately to late-night orders.

The chain's management credits Domino's Pizza's fully-developed online ordering system and its contactless delivery option as major reasons for its recent success.

Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community Colleges hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 45 years of restaurant and educational experience. Robert can be reached online at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com
INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Carnival Corporation & Plc and Encourages Investors with Losses of $100,000 to Contact the Firm

The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Carnival Corporation & Plc ("Carnival" or "the Company") (NYSE: CCL) for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors.

If you are ashareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.







We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200501005543/en/
Laurence Wheeler, 32, was jailed for six years (Picture: Police)

A paedophile who used a hidden camera to film women and young girls changing at swimming pools has been jailed.

Laurence Wheeler, 32, was also prosecuted after inciting a young girl to carry out indecent acts with him.

He admitted to possessing more than 500 indecent images of children, five counts of voyeurism and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity over a three-year period.

Wheeler was given a six-year sentence with an extended licence supervision period of a further two years when he appeared by video link at Hove Crown Court on Thursday.

Wheeler appeared by video link at Hove Crown Court (Picture: Getty)

Sussex Police first arrested Wheeler at a property in New Addington, Croydon, in May last year after intelligence about indecent images of children was obtained by officers.

They found the hundreds of child abuse images, plus videos filmed with a phone hidden in a bathroom at an address in Hove in 2017 showing three women.

Videos of children filmed under the partition in changing rooms at a swimming pool in London were also found.

Officers also obtained messages from Wheeler to a young girl with two videos showing indecent acts, which were filmed in 2018.

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Detective Constable Matt Digweed of the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: "Wheeler had taken advantage of his access to physically abuse a trusting small girl and had also systematically planned to invade the privacy of the women and the other young children, all for his own sexual gratification.

"When confronted with the outcome of our detailed investigation he had little option but to plead guilty, which then had to reduce the length of the sentence he received.

Mr Digweed added: "As one of the victim impact statements read out in court showed, his offending has had a devastating impact on the young girl and her family.

Story continues

"However he is now safely away from potential victims, and we now have systems in place to monitor and help control his behaviour when he is eventually released."

Wheeler will not be eligible for parole until he has served two-thirds of a six-year sentence, and whenever he is released, he will be on licence until April 2028.

He will be a registered sex offender for life and was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for life.

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Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) is in talks with the state transport department to arrange for buses to ferry stranded cancer patients to their neighbouring hometowns in Maharashtra.

We have initiated a conversation with the state transport department to give us the permission to send these patients back home and also in arrangements, said Humayun Jafri, head public relation officer of the hospital.

The bus facility will be available only for inter-district transportations, not for other states. We will take these patients in buses through several trips with proper precautions. But the final decision is yet to be taken, he added.

As HT reported earlier, hundreds of cancer patients are stranded in Mumbai. Cancer patients are most vulnerable to acquiring the infection due to their low immunity. Many of them have taken shelters in crowded dharamshalas or lodges. Now, as the government has provided some relaxations in transportation, TMH, the biggest cancer hospital in India is trying to send these patients back home.

The hospital has already provided alternative accommodation to several patients and their kin in the city. Around 18 patients along with their relatives have been shifted to Zaid International Hotel in Marol. The hospital has also made arrangements for food for them. We have also organised BEST bus services for patients to ferry them to hospital for treatment, he said.
Students at the University of Montana who are struggling to pay bills or buy essential school supplies have a growing number of options available for emergency relief funding. In addition to federal funding for student relief, at least two additional funds have been built to help students meet their basic needs.

The most recent fund to pop up is one started by the faculty union, which has raised $20,000 to fund small grants to students that can be deployed quickly and with few requirements.

The University Faculty Association spokesperson and sociology professor Daisy Rooks said within the first week of announcing the fund, the union had already received 201 applications from students, and the board overseeing the fund, composed of retired faculty, would begin sorting out the first round of grants Friday, May 1.

As faculty, we interact with students so much, and we hear about their emergency needs, even before this pandemic, and were thrilled to be able to do something positive and proactive for our students during this difficult time in their lives, Rooks said. Theyre the reason why the university exists, so were doing what we can to support them as best we can.

The grants, part of a national movement for faculty to help their students, are called Faculty and Students Together, or FAST grants, and only require the students to be enrolled at UM and to show a need for the funding. Students cant use the funding toward tuition or school fees, but are able to apply for rent, internet access, food, transportation, healthcare and child care funding needs.

Rooks said the process of starting the program began when she heard about it at a conference in Philadelphia last year, well before the pandemic began, on the challenges modern students face. It came to fruition though only after the UFA received a $5,000 grant from Believe in Students, the organization that started the FAST program, to begin building a COVID-19 relief fund.

The grant was subsequently matched by the UFA itself, the Presidents Office, and the Montana Federation of Professional Employees union. The fund is complementary to other new emergency funds on campus that have sprung up, with the agreement being that faculty and retired faculty should donate to the FAST fund, and all others should donate to the fund started by the UM Foundation.

Cindy Williams, the UM Foundation CEO, said the nonprofit supporting UM and its students had raised $52,114 by Friday, including contributions from 450 donors. One $10,000 donation came from the Alice Lee Lund Charitable Trust as part of a challenge for donors, which called on at least 200 people to donate in order to unlock the grant.

Despite so many people struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic, Williams said she was inspired by the way people came together for students.

"It's so encouraging to see how people united to support students who can't afford essential needs like rent, food, and medical needs,and there are still additional students waiting to get support," Williams said. "I encourage anyone who's interested to go to our website."

The funds come in addition to money set aside for direct funding for students in the federal CARES Act. UM initially received $7,652,275, with at least half mandated to be awarded as emergency financial aid grants to students.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester's office announced Friday that UM would receive an additional $377,984 from the CARES Act designated for universities who enroll a high number of low-income students.

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It's one of the biggest milestones in a child's life.

And first-time parent Andy Cohen shared his joy with fans on Saturday, as he took his first ever stroll with son Ben, one, who has just learnt to walk.

The Bravo TV personality, 51, posted a photo of himself and his son holding hands as they explored the neighborhood.

'The weather broke in NYC and we got a little stroll around the neighborhood for his first time. It was the purest joy,' he wrote in the caption.

Cheering: Andy Cohen took his adorable son Ben along to participate in what has become a highlight of the day for many New Yorkers in quarantine and isolation  the 7pm clap and cheer

Milestone: Andy also shared a loving blown-up photo of Ben holding his hand during what turned out to be their first stroll together through their neighborhood

It came after Andy and Ben were seen Friday evening outside of Lenox Health Greenwich Village on 13th Street and 7th Avenue in New York City, cheering hospital workers as they exited the building after their shift.

Andy showed off his love of the Grateful Dead with a masked covered in the band's Steal Your Face logos, amongst a similarly masked crowd that was a little spread out on the street during the balmy spring evening.

He also wore a blue T-shirt and gray chinos with nifty mustard-colored Adidas sneakers with blue stripes on the sides.

Cohen's one-year-old tot sat atop his father's shoulders, dressed in dark tones and light blue baby shoes.

Hooting and hollering: The Bravo TV personality was seen Friday outside of Lenox Health Greenwich Village in New York City to cheer hospital workers as they exited after their shift

Close up: Cohen, who himself is a survivor of Covid-19, took to his Instagram Story during the cheering session

Shortly afterward, Andy posted a blown-up photo of Ben's tiny hand gripping his own to inaugurate his son's first walk through the city.

Andy's son celebrated his first birthday back in February. At the time of his birth in 2019, Andy could barely contain his emotions.

'I'm in love. And speechless. And eternally grateful to an incredible surrogate. And I'm a dad. Wow,' he wrote at the time.

The 7PM 'clap because we care' moment of cheering and noisemaking has become somewhat of a ritual for New York to show its appreciation for frontline workers and first responders in this new age of an ongoing pandemic, and it has been adopted in other cities as well.

While some have taken to coming down near an actual hospital at the known time of change of shifts, many NYC residents have also taken to leaning out of their windows or simply opening them, as they clap, holler and clang pots and pans together in appreciation.

From Andy's perspective: While some have taken to coming down near an actual hospital, many NYC residents have also taken to leaning out of their windows, as they clap, holler and clang pots and pans in appreciation

Those who have balconies or fire escapes come out at 7pm as well, as seen with Andy's fellow New York-based celebrity Sarah Silverman.

Cohen, who himself is a survivor of Covid-19 and was forced to quarantine away from his son for the duration of his illness in March, took to his Instagram Story during the cheering session, as well as after the fact.

He turned the camera on himself and Ben, still sitting on his shoulders, to share how moved he was by the show of support for those who have been at the forefront of dealing with this unprecedented health crisis.

Calling it 'very touching,' Andy also urged others who are able to join in the nightly ritual, either from their windows or from the street.

Previously, the Watch What Happens Live host told his fans and followers that the 7pm clap and cheer is a highlight of the day for Ben, who runs to the window at that time in joyful expectation of all the noise.

Confessional: Andy turned the camera on himself and Ben, still sitting on his shoulders, to share how moved he was by the show of support
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday appealed to migrant workers in the state not to leave and start working in industrial units that have been allowed to resume operations amid lockdown according to the Centre's guidelines.

He, however, said if anyone still wants to leave, the state government will make arrangements for their return.

Relaxations have been given to industries in the state as per the Centre's guidelines to resume operations during lockdown, Khattar said in a televised address to the people of Haryana.

"You may not have visited your homes in one or two years, you maybe homesick or under pressure from your families to go back. But during this time of crisis, we will not let you face any difficulty and ensure your jobs remain secure as you resume work in these units which are now restarting," he said.

"If anyone, including tourists or pilgrims who had come to the state and got stranded, still wants to go back, we will collect their details and make arrangements for them. We will also safely bring back Haryana residents who are stranded in other states," he said.

The Haryana government has also launched a web page where migrant workers in the state who want to return to their native places can register themselves.

The move is aimed at facilitating the interstate movement of migrant workers who have been stranded away from there homes due to the nationwide lockdown.

Web page https://edisha.gov.in/eForms/MigrantService has been launched for online registration of migrant workers who wish to return to their home states, an official statement said.

In order to file a request for interstate movement to and from Haryana, the migrants have to register themselves on the web page, it said.

Registration can also be done on 'Jan Sahayak Helpme' app which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, it added.

The statement said if any migrant worker in Haryana can register on neither the web page nor the app, he may seek assistance from the district administration by calling on helpline 1950 or call center number 1100.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Space is the place: This illustration made available by Nasa depicts Artemis astronauts on the Moon. Photo: NASA/AP

Nasa has chosen Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin to develop technology to take humans to the Moon.

The US government space agency said the two companies, as well as aerospace veteran Dynetics, would each develop their own systems in parallel, in preparation for humanity's first return to the moon since 1972.

Challenged by US President Donald Trump to complete a lunar mission by 2024, the agency picked the three companies out of a wider field which included beleaguered rival Boeing.

The combined $967m (880m) contracts will see each of the three companies develop their own moon landers, with a full payout dependent on the companies hitting various milestones over a 10-month period.

"This is the last piece that we need in order to get to the moon" by 2024, said Nasa administrator Jim Brindestine.

Over the next 10 months, each company will refine its concept and Nasa will decide which lander to test first.

Mr Bridenstine said Nasa will go with the company that has the highest probability of success by 2024.

Elon Musk's SpaceX put forward the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy launcher, its largest rocket which is designed to take humans to Mars or farther.

Mr Bezos's company will develop its Integrated Lander Vehicle and New Glenn rocket, also its largest.

The two other companies, Boeing and Vivace, put in bids but were eliminated early on, leaving the three awarded contracts. Blue Origin got more than half the total amount - $579m - more than four times more than SpaceX's $135m. Dynetics was in between, with $253m.

SpaceX's proposed Starship lander is so tall that astronauts will use an elevator to get to and from the lunar surface. Blue Origin's version comes with a big ladder, according to artistic renderings.

The Dynetics lander is so low to the ground that only a few steps are needed, like a front porch, a feature that Nasa gave high marks for safety and efficiency.

SpaceX is using its own Starship spacecraft - still under development in Texas - and its own rockets. Blue Origin and Dynetics are partnering with numerous subcontractors, including commercial launch companies.

Going commercial, Mr Bridenstine said, will drive down costs while increasing access. It builds off of Nasa's commercial cargo and crew programmes for the International Space Station. Just last November, SpaceX and Blue Origin were among the companies that won contracts to make cargo deliveries to the moon. SpaceX is due to launch its first crewed flight next month, when it takes two astronauts to the International Space Station.

Nasa wants the new Artemis moon-landing programme to be sustainable, unlike Apollo, with multiple missions and multiple locations on the lunar surface. While only one company will carry the first woman and next man to the lunar surface, all three will participate over the long haul, officials noted.

By learning how to live and work on the moon, Nasa will be better equipped to eventually send astronauts to Mars, Mr Bridenstine said.
A total of eight employees at a meat processing facility in Melbourne have tested positive to COVID-19 after three additional workers were confirmed to have the coronavirus on Saturday.

The three new workers with the virus took the daily total of new cases in Victoria to seven, with one of those people being held in hotel quarantine, Victorias Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos said.

The others are obviously required to be isolating at home, Ms Mikakos told reporters on Saturday morning.

Victorian Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos addressed media on Saturday morning. Source: Nine News

Testing of all other staff at the meat processing facility is being conducted as is contact tracing of those confirmed to have the virus.

The business has now been closed and is being thoroughly cleaned, she said, assuring the public there were no contamination concerns associated with the facility.

Ms Mikakos withheld the name of the business as authorities were confident they had been able to inform everyone necessary about the outbreak so they could be tested.

The daily total was the highest recorded for the state all week, taking cases to 1371.

The fact that we've had seven new cases overnight does demonstrate that the situation is still incredibly fragile, Ms Mikakos said.

All but 71 patients who contracted the virus in Victoria have recovered. More than 140 of the total cases indicate community transmission, which means patients have not been overseas or in contact with another confirmed case.

A woman wearing a face mask in Melbourne on Friday. Source: Getty Images

Harsh restrictions on social gatherings and movement are beginning to ease across some states. But Victoria is not expected to relax its measures to curb the spread of coronavirus before May 11.

It comes as Victoria Police doled out 30 fines in the past 24 hours, including seven people who gathered for a birthday party and others busted for drug offences.

With AAP

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.
Bhubaneswar, May 2 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, here on Saturday, took up the safe return of Odia migrants with B.S. Yediyurappa and Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, his counterparts in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, respectively.

Patnaik interacted with them separately through video link. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended it from New Delhi.

While thanking them for taking care of Odia migrants, the Chief Minister requested their cooperation for their safe return.

Pradhan requested the Karnataka and the Andhra Pradesh governments to ensure that those wanted to return registered with online portal developed by the Odisha government.

Yediyurappa and Jaganmohan Reddy said all steps would be initiated to take care of the Odia migrant labourers.

The Odisha government is expecting return of around 5 lakh migrants from other states.

Odisha's Covid-19 cases increased to 156 as seven people with recent travel history to West Bengal tested positive on Saturday.

IANS cd/pcj

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
A Russian ship capable of laying pipe is approaching Danish waters, raising speculation it may seek to complete an $11 billion natural-gas pipeline whose construction was halted by U.S. sanctions last year.

The Admiral Chersky, which left Russias Far East port of Nakhodka in February -- two months after U.S. sanctions forced Western-owned ships to stop work on Nord Stream 2 -- is about to reach Danish waters after passing through the English Channel, Russia media reported.

Nord Stream 2 consists of two parallel lines each stretching 1,230 kilometers along the Baltic Sea from Russia to northern Germany. The pipeline has a capacity to export 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.

The project is more than 90 percent complete with about 160 kilometers of pipeline remaining to be laid along the Baltic Sea near Denmark.

Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said the Admiral Chersky was one of the options to complete the project.

The Admiral Chersky has meandered over the past two months, often changing course, leading some analysts to suspect it is seeking to hide its final destination less the U.S. block is passage through straits.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year during a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he expected Nord Stream 2 to be completed by the beginning of 2021 at the latest.

The United States passed a bill in December that allowed Washington to impose sanctions on any vessel that helps Russia complete the pipeline, forcing Swiss-based Allseas to bow out and Russia to search for a substitute.

The United States opposes Nord Stream 2 because it claims the project strengthens Russias hold on Western Europes energy market and allows the Kremlin to avoid exports through Ukraine, depriving Kyiv of much needed transit revenue.

Russia claims the United States is seeking to block the project to export more U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe.

Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas), who initiated the sanctions bill against Nord Stream 2, met in March with the head of Ukraines state-owned gas company to discuss additional measures to halt the project's completion.

Ukraine has lobbied the U.S. government for the Nord Stream 2 sanctions.

With reporting by RBC and TASS
Supreme Chef Returns with a Brand New Season to Showcase Culinary Arts and Cooking Skills of Sri Lanka View(s):

Off the back of its 2019 success, Supreme Chef with its judges Chef Ben Fernando and WimalWimalagoonaratna, is moving to a brand new kitchen which will accommodate a group of amateur cooks all hoping to be the next champion and Supreme Chef 2020. The show, featuring head-to-head cooking demonstrations and fun challenges, will hit the four districts of Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa.

Designed by the Skills for Inclusive Growth (S4IG) program, Supreme Chef is an initiative of the Australian Governments aid program implemented jointly with the Ministry of Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations.

S4IG, as an integrated skills development program, aims to empower and showcase the emerging tourism sector in the Polonnaruwa and Eastern region through Supreme Chef. It also supports and contributes toward S4IGs flagship program, Gateway to the East and is a fantastic opportunity for all home chefs to hone their cooking skills and increase their chances at a career path in hospitality. In Sri Lanka, work in the hospitality industry is viewed as subservient, low paid and a no-go for women, especially in the rural areas. Supreme Chef directly challenges this negative perception by showcasing and supporting inclusive employment, sustainable job creation and income improvement for marginalised and disadvantaged individuals, particularly women and persons with disabilities in remote districts.

The program has commissioned MTV to produce the second season of Supreme Chef as 30-minute TV episodes with a one-hour grand finale episode. Kicking off the action, Chef Ben and Wimal along with Master Chef Australia 2019 contestants Dhayanie (Dee) Williams and Top 5 finalist Nicole Scott will audition amateur chefs chosen from over 500 applicants.

Over the course of the auditions, 24 best contestants will be chosen to don the Supreme Chef apron and be awarded the opportunity to undergo a 7 months kitchen skills training including the completion of an NVQ Level 4 course with additional modules making it a more internationally recognized cooking training program. The course has been developed by S4IG with the support of the Chef Guild of Sri Lanka. All lucky 24 contestants across the series, will be faced with ambitious challenges and tests, designed to develop their culinary skills, and test their limits, and viewers will be able to follow them through their journey until one contestant claims the title of Supreme Chef 2020.

Supreme Chef is influenced and inspired by Australias successful Master Chef format and the competitions lucky winner and two runners up will get the opportunity to complete work-based skilled training placements in Australia with top Chefs to further develop skills and knowledge. The reality show is a holistic approach to recruiting, training and career building for people that want to cook and will be of interest to industry employers looking out for new talent.

Season 1 was a hit with over 200,000 television viewers and in the new season viewers will get to see a fun competition that celebrates Sri Lankan cooking styles using local ingredients, but will also get to see and experience lesser known districts through a combination of food challenges linked with places of interest. The show again feature many celebrities, both local and international, throughout the series to keep viewers entertained. This season is proudly supported by the World Food Program that is supporting the use of ingredients that improve nutrition and through the preparation of healthy meal options that will become available through the Supreme Chef website.

S4IG Team Leader, David Ablett, said: This season will be much more compact and exciting than Season 1 and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with a group of new home cooks, give our viewers a chance to engage with them, and follow them throughout the series. The program celebrates the close cooperation between Sri Lanka and Australia and be a cooking competition with a truly international flavour.

The show will also contribute towards supporting the tourism recovery and will promote local activities, experiences and food that are unique and only available in Polonnaruwa and the Eastern region of Sri Lanka. Visitors will be encouraged to come across and experience the authentic and unique activities and assets that are only available in these 4 districts. Supreme Chef 2 will be aired from May 2020 onwards and promises to be an enjoyable and immersive audience experience for all ages.
When Margarita Collazo saw a sign at the entrance to her building with the City of Newarks seal that said This building is high risk due to the coronavirus, she was unsure what it meant.

I was scared, said Collazo, who is in her 50s and has been living at Heritage Estates Apartments on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark for 12 years. Im at high risk because I have asthma.

City spokeswoman Sondra Roberts said Heritage Estates Apartments was deemed high risk by Newark officials because people there tested positive for the virus. Any building with more than three cases now gets a high-risk sign posted on the building by the city.

There were 12 people at Heritage Estates as of Thursday who had gotten the coronavirus and the first case was reported on March 27, according to city officials. There were eight active cases as of Wednesday since it was reported to the state that two people recovered and two others had died, the city said.

The signage is part of work from a new task force created by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in the wake of COVID-19. It monitors senior housing, nursing homes and high-risk residential buildings. It is led by the citys recreation and senior services department director, Patrick Council.

Heritage Estates Apartments is located on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark and sits across the street from Weequahic Park.Rebecca Panico | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Apartment buildings, which are more common in urban areas like Newark, pose a unique challenge in the combat against the virus since residents live close to each other.

You have to understand, 75% of our city, again, are renters, said Baraka on Thursday during a virtual town hall. You want to know why our cases are growing and why they look like that? Its not just because people are doing what they want to do. Its because when people get infected they have no safe place to social distance.

There were at least 5,401 cases of coronavirus in Newark as of Thursday and 409 deaths.

Collazo said the buildings management never told her how many cases of the virus were in her tower. She said management put up signs inside the building April 17, about three days before the citys notice went up, that said no visitors were allowed since there were a number of cases of COVID-19 in the building.

The management company for Heritage Estates Apartments, 555 Elizabeth Ave. LLC, did not respond to requests for comment. Its unclear who owns the building since the management company lists a shell agency  Vcorp  as its registered agent, state business records show.

Both signs from the city and the management company said the building was on lockdown. However, both notices specify residents are allowed to leave for essential purposes like grocery shopping or medical appointments.

The managements sign said no visitors would be allowed into the building and that we will be closely monitoring the cameras. Collazo said security has not stopped her to ask who she is or where she is going.

This sign was posted inside Heritage Estates Apartments by the building's management. It says the building is on "lockdown" due to COVID-19 and no visitors are allowed inside.Margarita Collazo

Two signs posted inside Heritage Estates Apartments in Newark show new restrictions that were put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.Margarita Collazo

The no visitor policy comes from the Newarks new task force, the city said.

The building is required by the city to be sanitized three times a day and a sanitation station is supposed to be available in the lobby, but Collazo said she hasnt seen that happen. Some residents wear masks when they leave to do laundry in the building, while others dont.

Collazo said she found the information about the cases at the complex concerning.

We dont know what floors they are on and we dont know if these people are coming out."

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Ties up with over 20 city administrations to fight COVID-19 with smart solutions

To install fever detection thermal cameras at public places in Mumbai

Drone surveillance to manage crowds in various cities

AI-powered system to track vehicle owners driving beyond restricted areas

COVID Contact Centres, Command & Control Centers and City Operations Centers in smart cities

Larsen & Toubro, the largest engineering technology company in the country, has tied up with over 20 city administrations to offer smart solutions to help fight against the spread of the coronavirus.

L&T, which has been helping many city administration for crowd management with smart solutions, has started trials with fever detection thermal cameras in Mumbai. These cameras will map the body temperature of people and will alert authorities about people having high fever. The thermal cameras will be installed soon at various key crowded centers in various parts of the city, besides extensive drone surveillance for crowd management.

Smart technology solutions from L&T are helping city administrations like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Prayagraj, Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and others in tracking patients, containing the spread of the virus, monitoring quarantined people, controlling crowding by police personnel, rescue efforts of the administration, spreading COVID-19 related messages to populace and in law and order maintenance, said SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & managing director, Larsen & Toubro. "These include setting up and running of Command & Control Centers and City Operations Centers for many city administrations to help the country escape from this pandemic", he said.

For example in Visakhapatnam, where L&T is executing a smart city project and operating a 'City Grievance Cell', has now been converted into a 24X7 COVID Contact Centre. The centre now has 20 plus operators and is engaged in tracking the details of all individuals who recently returned abroad. Each such individual is being reached out every day for 14 days to monitor whether they are showing any symptoms for COVID-19. In case anyone manifests the symptoms, the information is passed on to the chief medical officer of the municipality on a real-time basis.

Further, L&T's m-governance app developed for Vizag Smart City is used by municipal officials for their day to day operations. The app has now been customised for health workers to carry out house surveys every three hours and record health parameters of self-isolated people and neighborhoods of COVID-19 positive cases. Also, about 40,000 people in greater Visakhapatnam use a 'Citizen app' developed by L&T and now has been equipped with the COVID-19 SOS button for citizens to notify any medical emergency, besides options to check for COVID-19 symptoms. The app can check whether he or she has developed any symptom, based on a survey to assess mild/moderate/critical categorization. If found critical, an emergency SOP shall be triggered and for non-critical cases, operators connect concerned zonal doctors through telemedicine for further counselling and advise. The App's geo-fencing technology also enables the Contact Center to monitor any unwanted movement of citizens marked for self-isolation. The app also records the health parameters of isolated people - mandatory daily updation for international travelers and voluntary updation for self-isolated citizens.

Further, 50 public address systems (PAS) installed on smart poles by L&T in Visakhapatnam for relaying official messages on the lockdown, crowd restrictions, and precautionary measures, besides Ten variable message display (VMD) boards for awareness and communication on COVID-19.

In Hyderabad, the city dwellers are not allowed to drive beyond 3 kilometers from their residences even for buying essential goods and L&T devised an innovation to help police track the violators. Machine Learning based Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system monitors vehicle locations continuously and once a vehicle crosses the 3-km limit, an automated alert is being sent out to the police. Additionally, through the integration of the Regional Transport Authority's (RTA) database, vehicle owners are identified to issue a warning. More than 200 cameras are deployed across the city with deep learning-based crowd formation analytics triggering real-time alerts at the police command center. The Hyderabad police have so far received 1000+ alerts and officials were successful in dispersing the crowd through field officers. Besides, public address systems, 40 Variable Message Display (VMD) boards have been set up for traffic management at arterial locations and awareness across Hyderabad.

At Prayagraj smart city in Uttar Pradesh, where L&T had implemented extensive smart solutions to manage crowds for the Kumbhamela, the city operations center is monitoring crowd formation through 1000 plus CCTV cameras deployed throughout the city. The 1920 helpline number is currently used to handle COVID-19 related calls, including 'doctor-on-call', and 14 variable message display (VMD) boards are being used for precautionary measures on COVID-19. L&T, with the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has been implementing an advanced metering infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh. It had developed a consumer mobile app now used by one million people and it is now leveraged to relay official COVID-19 information.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: HUL expects pandemic to speed up technology adoption in distribution

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown 3.0: MFIs, NBFCs gear up to restart operations in safer zones
Promising "never" to lie and saying she prays for coronavirus victims, new White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany hit a strikingly sunny tone on Friday in her debut press conference.

The White House briefing room has symbolized the tempestuous, often outright hostile relationship between the media and President Donald Trump, who has broken with convention to act as his own spokesman -- and lead a relentless campaign of insults against the media.

Things got off to a bad start right after Trump was sworn in, when then-chief spokesman Sean Spicer made the laughably false boast that the president attracted the "largest audience to ever witness an inauguration."

Things didn't get better with the next two press secretaries. Briefings -- a daily tradition under previous presidents -- ended altogether more than a year ago, leaving the famous briefing room a forlorn, abandoned place.

So McEnany made instant headlines when she declared from the podium to reporters: "I will never lie to you, you have my word on that."

"We do plan to continue these," McEnany, 31, said of the briefings.

Trump's staff argue that press secretary briefings have not been important because the president himself gives unprecedented access to reporters.

It's true that he has set records for the number of press conferences, interviews on friendly outlets, and impromptu gatherings with journalists.

However these sessions are often chaotic -- such as when staged next to his noisy, idling helicopter -- and marked by intensely combative exchanges.

Ironically, the coronavirus pandemic this year breathed new life into the briefing room, with Trump and senior officials holding daily updates there until last week.

But that also ended amid concern that the president was irking Americans with his highly politicized performances.

His image suffered a self-inflicted wound last Thursday when he made the bizarre statement -- in the briefing room -- that coronavirus patients could be injected with disinfectants.

McEnany stood out Friday for her steady politeness on the podium, avoiding the kind of insults that her boss regularly uses, like "fake news," or calling reporters "dishonest" and "disgraceful" on live national television.

A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, McEnany won attention for fierce defense of Trump while a paid commentator on CNN, which is often critical of the president. She also made frequent guest appearances on Trump-friendly Fox News.

She then joined the Republican National Committee communications team and became the Trump 2020 reelection campaign spokeswoman.

McEnany has been criticized over past comments including support for Trump's long-held conspiracy theory that former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States -- a fabrication seen by many as racist.

Now she comes in as an effective and battle-hardened operator when Trump is trying to overcome widespread disapproval for his handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In contrast to Trump, who is criticized by some for showing insufficient sympathy to the sick, she told reporters: "I pray regularly for those affected by the coronavirus."

Whether McEnany fares better than her predecessors and whether the more upbeat atmosphere lasts remains to be seen in a White House known for drama.

But she sought to stamp her authority on the position, underlining her closeness to Trump.

"I'm normally with the president in the Oval Office, so I'm consistently with him, absorbing his thinking," she said. "It's my mission to bring you the mindset of the president."

Then she signed off with a call to watch Trump's appearance on Fox News on Sunday -- and a reminder to reporters that she is also human.

"I'm going to cut this short and go see my little five month old."
- The hairstyle was made by twisting and wrapping each of the parted hair with thick black thread

- This was to enable the hair to stand out straight in defiance of gravity and the resulting tresses resemble the spike proteins on a coronavirus membrane

- The spiky new look labelled the coronavirus was priced averagely at KSh 100

- Pre-outbreak, a good day brought in KSh 3,000 but now, it is a quarter of that

People are taking their role in the COVID-19 crisis seriously and are continuously rolling out new measures to not only raise awareness about the virus but also fight the pandemic.

Much like brands that have been pitching in to help their employees or their communities, local citizens also stepped up in different ways and some stylists in Kibera slums are among them.

READ ALSO: Firefighters to the rescue: New mom shares touching moment first responders helped deliver her baby

The hair is supposed to stand out straight in defiance of gravity and the resulting tresses resemble the coronavirus membrane. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Baboon Josephine: Elgeyo Marakwet man abandoned by wife, children after adopting ape

The hairdressers in Kenyas largest slum created a new style designed to emulate the prickly appearance of the coronavirus under a microscope, Citizen TV reported.

It is just simple and very cheap for every person to do it, one of the stylist said.

This was the latest example of service industry workers finding ways to create awareness and earn a living as stay-at-home rules and collapsing incomes reduced customer numbers.

READ ALSO: Animal trainer uses dogs to cheer up frontline workers fighting COVID-19

The spiky new look labelled the coronavirus was priced averagely at KSh 100. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

While the spiky new look labelled the coronavirus was still too new to appear on any of the common saloon posters, it is priced averagely at KSh 100 - set with the depleted budgets in mind.

It is a hard life. We need to hustle every day so we can get food on our tables. We are still suffering because demand is very low, another stylist said.

Pre-outbreak, a good day brought in KSh 3,000. Now, it is a quarter of that, salon owner Leunita Abwala said. But she hopes the new style will boost business.

READ ALSO: Nairobi man forced to raise twins alone after wife dies during delivery

The hairstyle was made by twisting and wrapping each of the parted hair with thick black thread. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

To do the hairstyle, the three braiders at the Mama Brayo Beauty Salon start by parting their clients hair into about a dozen sections.

They then twist and wrap each one with thick black thread, so it can stand out straight in defiance of gravity.

The resulting tresses resemble the spike proteins on a coronavirus membrane.

READ ALSO: Tanzania parliament suspended after second MP dies

Nairobi hairdressers invent new spiky style resembling coronavirus to create awareness

Source: UGC

Hair salons can stay open under restrictions imposed the government as a measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 and closing voluntarily was out of the question

Coronavirus has infected 411 and killed 21 in Kenya and wreaked havoc on the economy, especially for informal and low-wage workers.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said Kenya was not out of the woods yet as far as containment efforts were concerned singling out Mandera county as a major concern due to its proximity to Somalia.

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
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Linkedin Ivan Couronne (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Sat, May 2, 2020 15:07 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd585de6 2 Science & Tech NASA,SpaceX,space,spaceflight,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,Elon-Musk,united-states,aerospace Free

NASA and SpaceX said Friday they were pressing ahead with plans to launch astronauts to space from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade later on this month, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, both veterans of the Space Shuttle program that was shuttered in 2011, will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 27.

Should the mission succeed, the US will have achieved its goal of no longer having to buy seats on Russian Soyuz rockets to give its astronauts rides to the International Space Station (ISS).

It is also an important stage in NASA's new economic model: the space agency has spent billions on contracts with both SpaceX and Boeing to develop spaceships that will each have to make six round trips to the ISS.

The model is supposed to save taxpayers from financial black holes of past programs, as well as some still to come -- notably the giant Space Launch System rocket that is supposed to take NASA back to the Moon but is plagued by cost overrun and scheduling delays.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters that the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will be only the fifth class of US spacecraft to take humans into orbit, after the storied Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

"If you look globally, this will be the ninth time in history when we put humans on a brand new spacecraft," said Bridenstine.

"We're going to do it here in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. I'm going to tell you this is a high priority mission for the United States of America," he added.

Behnken and Hurley, who have been training for the "Demo-2" mission for years, will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) and remain there for between one to four months, depending on when the next mission takes place, said NASA's Steve Stich.

Crew Dragon is able to remain in orbit for around four months (119 days).

Hurley, who was the pilot on the last Space Shuttle mission, admitted it was "disappointing" that the launch won't be a public affair, with crowds discouraged from gathering at Cape Canaveral to witness the spectacle.

"We won't have the luxury of our family and friends being there at Kennedy to watch the launch but it's obviously, the right thing to do in the current environment," he said.

Read also: NASA sets launch date for SpaceX US manned mission to space station

Win for SpaceX

The mission is a major milestone for SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, who also leads and founded Tesla.

His firm, which was started in 2002, has now overtaken aerospace behemoth Boeing, which failed in the uncrewed demonstration mission of its Starliner spacecraft last year and will have to start over.

SpaceX, which has received billions of dollars from NASA since the late 2000s, has been supplying cargo to the ISS since 2012, and has established itself as the leader in the private space sector thanks to its reusable rocket, the Falcon 9.

"I'll feel a little relief when they're in orbit, I'll feel more relief when they get to the station and then obviously, I will start sleeping again when they're back safely on the planet Earth," said Gwynne Shotwell, the company's chief operating officer.

The pandemic has, naturally, impacted the program, but Shotwell said all precautions were being taken to protect the astronauts.

"We are ensuring that only essential personnel are near them. They're wearing masks and gloves. We're cleaning the training facility twice daily.

"I think we're really doing a great job to ensure that we are not impacting the safety or the health of the astronauts' lives."

Half of SpaceX's engineers have been teleworking, and on the day of the launch, NASA personnel in the mission control room will be spaced six feet (two meters) apart.

Takeoff is scheduled for 4:42 pm (2042 GMT) on May 27, with space station docking scheduled about 19 hours later, on May 28.
It is not hyperbole to say that we are in unprecedented times and that public education is being restructured as a result. Estimates indicate that millions of families may not be sending their children back to brick and mortar schools due to COVID-19. Some states and school districts are talking about closing for the rest of the year. Consequently, new budgeting factors must be considered as we go forward if we expect to fulfill the mission of educating all of our children.

Though the HCDE has not made the details of its latest proposed school board budget public, we do know that it is suggesting a $4 million or 1 percent, reduction from last year. However, we should all be aware that:

 Tennessee is looking at $1 billion revenue shortfall for this fiscal year.

 The next budget, beginning July 1, will have significant cuts  and education likely will not be spared.

 Hamilton County will be looking at a multi-million dollar, likely tens of millions, revenue shortfall.

 The burden on the local school budget is going to be dramatic.

Lets consider the above-noted likely scenarios and take action now so that we can successfully navigate the stormy waters in which we are sailing. Lets talk about this in terms of what people often experience when justifying a business plan to a banks loan committee. Suppose a bank loan committee is talking to one of its customers facing a financial crisis. It would expect much more than a 1 percent cut in expenses. The school board is in effect the communitys loan committee, with the schools as its most important customer. The goal is to truly look at ensuring that education is funded in a way that accomplishes its primary goal while making the most efficient use of its resources.

A crisis like we are experiencing requires that an organization look hard at its own structure and all non-essential expenses. The school board should ask the administration to bring it a budget with a 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent decrease in expenses. Last year the budget was $420 million and included the hiring of 188 non-teacher personnel. Lets begin with considering that $12 million expense, representing 3 percent. Now lets look at the central office and the enormous efforts related to data collection. It is my understanding that the US Department of Education will be relaxing data collection requirements. This will be a great opportunity to identify the cost of data collection and act accordingly. Further, the administration should present a budget that pushes responsibility to the school principals and the school level, those closest to our children. A bank committee would request the customer use this time to cut non-essential costs now, and so should the HCDE.

It is clear county, state and federal governments will be forced to significantly reduce funding. Give us a scenario that cuts the budget 10, 15 and 20 percent. Lets be smart, bold and get ahead of the coming revenue short fall now.

Tom Decosimo

Candidate for Hamilton County School Board

District Two
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein visited Harvard University's campus more than 40 times after his 2008 sex crimes conviction and was given his own office and unfettered access to a research center he helped establish, according to a review of his ties to the school.

The review, completed at the request of Harvard's president, also found that the university accepted more than USD 9 million from Epstein during the decade leading up to his conviction but barred him from making further donations after that point.

About USD 200,000 of that funding remains unspent, the school said, and will be given to groups that support victims of sexual violence.

The report found that while Harvard's top leaders cut ties with Epstein in 2008, he maintained close ties with Martin Nowak, a math professor and director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, a research center created in 2003 with USD 6.5 million from Epstein.

Nowak gave Epstein an office at the program's building in Harvard Square, the review found, and circumvented campus security rules to grant the financier a key card and unlimited access to the facility.

Epstein frequently visited Office 610, which was known as Jeffrey's Office, and met with scholars to hear about their work, the review found.

He brought his own rug and hung his own photos on the wall. Nowak argued that the office was Epstein's in name only, the report says, but others in the building said it was commonly known to be reserved for the financier.

Harvard announced Friday that Nowak had been placed on paid administrative leave while officials review allegations of misconduct detailed in the report.

A message seeking comment was left with Nowak.

We do not take this step lightly, but the seriousness of the matter leads us to believe it is not appropriate for Professor Nowak to continue in his role, wrote Claudine Gay, dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Epstein killed himself in his New York City prison cell in August after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.

He had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s. In lawsuits, women say the abuse spanned decades.

Among other allegations against Nowak, the report alleged that he allowed his program's website to be used to burnish Epstein's reputation after his 2008 conviction.

In 2013, at the request of Epstein's publicist, Nowak agreed to post links to the financier's websites, which had flattering descriptions of Epstein and made false claims about his level of giving to Harvard, the review found.

Nowak is also accused of devoting a page on the program's website to Epstein, also at the request of the financier's publicist.

There's no evidence that Harvard's top officials knew about the postings, the report says.

Epstein's page on the website was removed in 2014 after Harvard received complaints from a sexual assault survivor's group.

The report concludes that Harvard's senior leaders acted appropriately in their dealings with Epstein.

Former President Drew Faust decided to bar donations from Epstein after his conviction, the review says, and a university dean rejected a 2013 request from some faculty to reconsider the decision, saying it would be inconsistent with Harvard's values.

Some professors beyond Nowak appear to have enjoyed close ties with Epstein, the review found. The report says a number of faculty members visited Epstein at his homes in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

Some said they visited him in jail or took trips on his planes. The visits were done in a personal capacity, the report said, and do not appear to violate Harvard rules.

In total, Epstein made more than 20 donations to Harvard, the largest of which was the USD 6.5 million to Nowak's research group. Smaller shares supported faculty research in psychology, economics, art and

Although his gifts were blocked after 2008, the report found that Harvard accepted USD 736,000 between his arrest and conviction.

Most went to Harvard's medical school, while $150,000 went to its Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Harvard President Lawrence Bacow called for the review in September 2019 amid public outcry over the university's relationship with Epstein.

Other schools have faced similar scrutiny, including nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which revealed in January that Epstein donated USD 750,000 and visited the campus at least nine times after his conviction.

The former director of MIT's famed Media Lab, Joi Ito, resigned last year amid uproar over his ties to Epstein. He issued a public apology and vowed to raise money for victims of trafficking.

Harvard's report urges the university to develop clearer procedures for reviewing potentially controversial gifts, and for enforcing bans on certain donors. Bacow said he has instructed top officials to implement the suggestions as soon as possible.

We will always do our best to improve, Bacow said in a campus message on Friday.

"The report issued today describes principled decision-making but also reveals institutional and individual shortcomings that must be addressed not only for the sake of the university but also in recognition of the courageous individuals who sought to bring Epstein to justice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Containing the coronavirus and reviving the economy View(s):

Economies cannot function normally until COVID-19 is contained, nor can people survive without the economy functioning. This is the paradoxical predicament the world is in. Sri Lanka too is very much in this predicament.

International view

There is a growing view internationally that countries must focus on reviving their economies. Many countries have come to realise there is a trade off between policies that contain the virus and the need to get their economies moving. Many nations are relaxing their economic shutdowns.

China is gradually getting her industries functioning. Vietnam that has managed to contain the virus in a cost effective manner has also got her wheels of the economy moving.

Virus spreading

However, some countries that relaxed their economic shutdown too early to revive their economies have paid the price of COVID-19 spreading. Singapores unfortunate experience is a warning to be cautious in relaxing restrictions to get the economy moving.

Caution

COVID-19 is still spreading rapidly. It has infected over 2 million people all over the world. It has infected more than a million in the United States alone.

While recognising the need to get economies moving, governments must be mindful of the advice of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for countries to be cautious about lifting restrictions introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19 as it was taking hold of more countries. WHO advised countries not to rush into relaxing restrictions that prevent the spread of the virus.

Focus on economy

There is a growing view in Sri Lanka too that the time has come when the Government must focus on reviving the economy, while containing the spreading of COVID-19 that has infected nearly 700Sri Lankans.

Therefore the revival of the economy must be carefully planned to not lead to the spreading of the virus. The revival of economic activities must be without compromising the control of COVID-19. Sri Lankas relaxation of the curfew to enable the revival of the economy must be carefully planned to not lead to a spread of the virus.

The control of the virus globally is a prerequisite to an economic upturn. At present there is inadequate evidence of either the containment of the pandemic or a global economic recovery.

Challenging tasks

Containing COVID-19 as well as reviving the Sri Lankan economy are challenging tasks. Doing both at the same time is enormously difficult. Nonetheless the time has come when reviving the economy is also important as containing the corona virus. However, a significant Sri Lankan economic recovery is possible only after the containment of the virus globally and in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile some economic enterprises could be revived to sustain the economy and livelihoods of people.

Cautious relaxation

The balancing of the relaxation of the restrictions for economic revival and the containment of COVID-19 has to be implemented with much care. Quite rightly the Government is cautiously allowing some vital economic activities to function, while maintaining vigil over the spread of the virus.

Limitation

Some economic enterprises have begun functioning at least to a limited extent. However the Sri Lankan economy is about 35 percent tradedependent. Therefore only a limited Sri Lankan economic recovery is possible as long as the global economy is not functioning. This is especially so in export manufactures that are dependent on international demand and imported raw materials.

New opportunities

Nevertheless it is important to seize new opportunities to revive exports and enhance domestic production. It is also essential to adjust consumption to cope with the changed economic conditions.The readjustment of manufactures in response to international demand and supply conditions is essential to avert a crash in manufacturing. This applies to the countrys main industrial exporter, the apparel industry that is adversely affected by reduced demand from Western countries. Garment manufacturers would have to explore manufacturing new products to cope with the global recession.

Rubber exports

The prospects for Sri Lankas exports of heavy duty tyres have diminished owing to limited air and heavy truck transport around the world. This is a serious setback to one of the notable successes in the countrys export manufacturing.

In contrast, there is a potential to increase exports of surgical, medical and protective gloves. The country may be able to earn as much as US$ 700 to 800 million owing to the huge demand for such rubber products. There should be adequate production of natural rubber and availability of other raw materials to enable an increase in these rubber products for export.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the least disrupted economic activity that could contribute much towards an economic recovery. Food and tree crops have fared well. Although tea production fell in the first quarter of the year compared to that of last year, it was due to draught rather than any setbacks on the estates and small holdings. Nevertheless there are labour problems and delayed payments for green leaf that must be resolved.

Availability of fertiliser, seed and planting material for food and tree crops is crucial for maximising agricultural production. Furthermore, there have been disruptions in transport and marketing of agricultural produce. Good weather and the availability of fertiliser in the coming months could enhance agricultural output.

Blueprint

All nine Deans of Agriculture of Sri Lankan universities presented a memorandum to His Excellency the President outlining the policies that should be adopted to increase agricultural production. These are a sound framework of policies, but implementing them and ensuring an effective institutional capacity has been the weakness in agricultural policies since independence.

Summary

A cautious relaxation of the curfew would enable the economy to revive somewhat. However the containment of the virus globally and in the country are prerequisites for the countrys economic recovery. Priority should be given to those economic activities that can perform with least disruption. Agriculture is foremost among them.

Garments, the countrys main manufactured export is severely affected by low international demand and disruption of raw materials. Other similar industries would have to explore adaptation of their production to the changed demand and supply conditions. Such an adaptation is especially possible in rubber manufactures where the demand for solid tyres have fallen, while the demand for surgical and other gloves has increased.

It is important that all agricultural crops perform at their optimum level. Food crops could contribute towards the countrys food security. Increased rubber production could boost rubber manufactures. Tea may have a strong demand, though lower oil incomes may temper demand in Middle Eastern markets that matter.

Conclusion

The Sri Lankan economy cannot function fully until COVID-19 is contained globally and in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless people cannot survive without the economy functioning. A balance between the opening up of the economy and containing COVID-19 has to be carefully planned and effectively implemented.
The U.S. Corps of Engineers towboat, M/V Sanderford, seen here in stock photo, sank on April 21 after a Corps dredge hit the U.S. 190 Bridge in Baton Rouge. The towboat remained in the Mississippi River on Friday, May 1, 2020. The Corps of Engineers is working on a plan to raise the towboat.
Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home. (PHOTO: Facebook/Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home)

SINGAPORE  Singapore will prioritise COVID-19 testing for residents and staff at all homes serving the elderly, in order to ensure that any infections are detected as early as possible.

In a joint media release on Saturday (2 May), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that such homes  which include nursing homes, welfare homes, sheltered homes and adult disability homes  serve highly vulnerable and frail seniors, who are at higher risk of developing serious health complications if infected with COVID-19.

The (multi-ministry) taskforce recognises the need to support these homes to strengthen the safety of their environment, the ministries said in the media release.

MOH and MSF will therefore prioritise testing for residents and staff in all homes serving the elderly. This will ensure that any COVID-19 infections in the Homes are detected as early as possible for treatment, as well as to limit transmission.

MOH has already began COVID-19 testing at the homes from Wednesday (29 April), and target to complete the test by next week. Meanwhile, MSF commenced their testing from Thursday, and will complete them by Saturday.

The broad-based testing will complement existing measures on safe distancing and movement restrictions within the homes. The two ministries are providing full funding support for the costs of all tests, and all follow-up treatment that is required.

On-site or hotel lodging for staff who interact with residents

The ministries are also working with the various homes to provide on-site or hotel lodging for staff who interact frequently with the residents, so as to reduce their exposure to the community during the COVID-19 circuit breaker period until 1 June.

For staff who have to move into hotels, the ministries will provide funding for the accommodation, and for the homes to provide meals, dedicated transport and daily necessities for the staff. MOH will also provide support for nursing homes to enhance on-site accommodation spaces to improve safe distancing, where necessary.

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A $500 allowance will also be provided to affected staff to assist them with the transition for the current measures.

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Asian giant hornets have been spotted in the United States and Canada for the first time - sparking panic among members of the scientific community .

The large insects - nicknamed 'murder hornets' - are native to temperate and tropical climates in East Asia, where they kill around 50 people are year.

But since November 2019, there have been several sightings of the hornets on the west coast of North America. It's unclear how they arrived.

Asian giant hornets are more than double the size of honeybees, and have a wingspan measuring more than three inches.

Asian giant hornets have been spotted in the United States and Canada for the first time - sparking panic among members of the scientific community

Asian giant hornets are more than double the size of honeybees, and have a wingspan measuring more than three inches

The insects also have a large stinger filled with venom that contains neurotoxin, which is capable of causing both cardiac arrest and anaphylactic shock.

Beekeeper Conrad Berube told The New York Times he was recently attacked by a swarm of the 'murder hornets' on Vancouver Island.

'It was like having red-hot thumbtacks being driven into my flesh,' Berube stated, adding that he was left bleeding from the attack.

Berube was stung seven times and was lucky to be alive.

But while the hornets can be deadly to humans, entomologists are more concerned that they could kill of bee populations in North America.

The insects are ferocious and can decimate entire beehives in just hours.

While the hornets can be deadly to humans, entomologists are more concerned that they could kill of bee populations in North America

Last November, a beekeeper in Washington state found 'thousands and thousands' of his honeybees with their heads torn off.

'I couldn't wrap my head around what could have done that,' the keeper stated.

Asian giant hornets nest in the ground for most of the year, but are most active between July and November.

Now, entomologists are 'embarking on a full-scale hunt for the hornets', before they breed and become widely established in North America.

'This is our window, Chris Looney, an entomologist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told The Times.

While he has set out in the woods of Washington to trap the hornets, he says the task will be difficult, given the hornets can fly more than 20 miles an hour.

'If we can't do it in the next couple of years, it probably can't be done,' he stated.
Evidence of the economic devastation in the U.S. oil patch continued to grow Friday as a large drilling rig operator posted a multimillion-dollar loss and the number of operating rigs hit a historic low.

Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne said Friday that it decommissioned 37 rigs and laid off nearly 3,000 workers in its second quarter as the oil crash added to its toll. The company closed its fiscal quarter, January to March, with a $420.5 million loss  nearly a half-billion dollar swing from the $60.9 million the company made a year earlier. Revenue declined 12 percent to $633.6 million from $720.9 million during the same period a year earlier.

Executives attributed the loss to reducing the value of $563 million in assets, including the 37 decommissioned rigs. During a Friday morning investors call, Chief Financial Officer Mark Smith said removing those rigs from service also meant laying off 2,800 people and that more job cuts could be coming.

Weve seen 115 rig release notifications since early March, Smith said. We expected to end the third quarter below 70 rigs.

Helmerich & Payne started the year with 299 drilling rigs in the U.S. and 8,500 employees around the world.

The drilling rig reductions and layoffs are a result of the monthslong oil crisis that has seen demand destroyed by the coronavirus and a glut of oil worsened by a short-lived production war. Oil, which in January, was priced around $60, settled Friday at just under $20.

The crude oil overhang has created a dilemma for exploration and production companies, Helmerich & Payne John Lindsay said. Some are shutting in production. Others are deferring completions and drilling.

Most producers have slashed spending during oils record price collapse, laying off thousands and halting operations in the oil patch as theyve posted billions of dollars in losses.

The results for operations in oil producing areas across the country can be tallied each week with the Baker Hughes Rig Count. The number of operating rigs in the U.S. declined for the eighth consecutive week, Baker Hughes said Friday, plunging to levels not seen since the bottom of the previous oil bust.

The number of operating rigs fell by 57 to 408, according to the Houston oil field services company, a level slightly above the lowest point of the 2014-16 oil bust. The rig count during that collapse bottomed out at 404 in May 2016.

Energy companies have pulled rigs from U.S. oil fields at rapid clip since the middle of March, when oil prices began plummeting. The rig count has plunged by nearly 400 since then; its fallen by more than 50 percent from a year ago, when nearly 1,000 drilling rigs were in operation.

The number of operating rigs in Texas fell by 30 this week to 201, down from 484 a year ago. Companies pulled 27 rigs out of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico. The Permian rig count has declined to 219 from 459 a year ago.
Jerusalem: A cousin of Bashar al-Assad has issued a grovelling and unprecedented appeal to the Syrian dictator for help in paying off a multimillion-dollar debt, in the latest sign of a bitter feud in the ruling family.

Rami Makhlouf, one of Syria's wealthiest businessmen, published the direct video appeal on Facebook after being saddled with huge debts and fines by the regime, which is struggling to reimburse its key ally Russia for military and economic support.

Rami Makhlouf is a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and one of that country's wealthiest businessmen. Credit:AP

It is the first time a regime loyalist has made such a public plea to the President, and suggests Makhlouf has been frozen out of the inner circle since being accused of tax evasion and ordered to pay around 130 billion Syrian pounds ($393 million) in fines. The US also suspects Makhlouf was involved in a plot to smuggle oil into Syria, in breach of international sanctions.

In the video, Makhlouf denies tax evasion, and suggests he is struggling to keep his businesses afloat as a result of the fines. "We are ready to pay, but don't have the cash ready to go, so we ask you, the state, to find a proper mechanism for us to pay without damaging the company," he says. Syrian analysts speculated that the move was likely to anger Assad, and may lead to Makhlouf - who at one point was estimated to control 60 per cent of the country's wealth but is now under house arrest in Syria - disappearing. It also exposes the regime's dire economic state as it struggles to pay off huge debts to Russia, estimated at around $US3 billion ($4.6 billion).
South Carolina will see changes on Monday with Gov. Henry McMaster lifting some key crackdowns meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Here is the latest information about what's allowed, what's still banned and why S.C. leaders are moving forward with reopening the state.

What restrictions have been lifted?

The following bans end Monday:

Stay-at-home order will no longer be enforced

Restaurants can seat diners outdoors

The governor has already lifted bans on:

Public boat ramps

Public beach/waterfront accesses

Retailers including furniture, jewelry, shoe, book and department stores, florists and flea markets

Hotel and short-term rentals by residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut as well as 14-day quarantine for visitors from those states

Also state parks have reopened.

What bans remain in place?

Indoor dining at restaurants

Gatherings of three or more that threaten public health

Close-contact businesses including gyms, hair stylists and nail salons

Stadiums, auditoriums, movie theaters, tourist attractions, playgrounds and bowling alleys

Gatherings of 50 or more at publicly owned sites

Nonessential state employees going into work

Also schools and colleges are closed for the academic year.

When will South Carolina lift the other restrictions?

McMaster has not given any dates but says he will do it as soon as possible.

Why do South Carolina leaders believe it is OK to reopen business in the state?

The governor says more South Carolinians are following restrictions and social distancing rules based on reports from law enforcement and state traffic data. His office has said the governor mainly eased bans that can be controlled by businesses. McMaster wants to restart an economy after more than 400,000 South Carolinians have filed jobless claims in the past six weeks.

Forecasts from the University of Washington that indicate the state has passed the peak of the outbreak. But case numbers have been plateaued in recent days.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Health has said social distancing helped curb the virus. But the agency's forecasts have case numbers rising slightly in coming weeks because of increased testing.

What are the rules for outdoor dining?

There are no state-mandated rules. The state's restaurant association developed guidelines for best practices. They include:

Tables separated by 8 feet

No more than eight people at a table

Deep cleaning of tables after each use

Staff wearing gloves but masks are optional
Ali Amin-Javaheri grew up in the chemicals business.

His father had worked for Iran's state-owned chemical company and when the family fled the country in the nineteen eighties during the Iran-Iraq war, they first settled in Houston where employers welcomed the senior Amin-Jahaveri's experience.

Houston in the 80s was dominated by the petrochemicals industry and by the time the family later relocated to Washington State, Amin-Jahaveri was already deeply steeped in a world of covalent bonds, chemical cracking, and the molecular coupling and decoupling of matter.

For the former Texas chemical kid, moving to tech-heavy, rain-soaked Washington, dominated at the time by Microsoft, was a bit of a shock, the founder recalled. But it was the 2000s and everyone was in tech so Amin-Jahaveri figured that'd be his path too.

Those two worlds collided for the young University of Washington graduate in his very first job -- his only job before launching his first startup -- as a programmer and developer at Chempoint.

"Completely through happenstance I was walking around a certain part of Seattle and I walked by this building and it had all these logos outside the office. I saw this logo for a company called Chempoint and I was instantly intrigued," Amin-Jahaveri said. "I walked up to the receptionist and asked what they were doing."

In the summer of 2001, Amazon was an online bookseller a little over seven years old, the dot-com boom hadn't gone completely bust quite yet and business-to-business marketplaces were a hot investment.

"It was a startup with just a handful of folks," said Amin-Jahaveri. "There wasn't a business model in place, but the intent was to build a marketplace for chemicals... The dot-com boom was happening and everything was moving on line and the chemicals industry likely will as well."

Fifteen years later, Chempoint is one of the last remaining companies in a market that once boasted at least fifteen competitors -- and the chemicals industry still doesn't have a true online marketplace. Until (potentially) now, with the launch of Amin-Jahaveri's first startup -- Knowde.

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A volumetric flask, used during the process of determining phosphorus content in crude edible oil, sits in a laboratory of the quality assurance department at the Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. edible oil refinery plant in Patalganga, India, on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg via Getty Images

For the vast majority of Americans, the chemicals industry remains a ubiquitous abstraction. Consumers have a direct relationship with the energy business through the movements of prices at the pump, but the ways in which barrels of oil get converted into the plastics, coatings, films, flavors, fillings, soaps, toothpastes, enamels and unguents that touch everyone's daily life are a little bit less obvious.

It's a massive industry. The U.S. accounted for 17% of the global chemicals market in 2017 and that percentage amounted to a staggering $765 billion in sales. Worldwide there are thousands of chemicals companies selling hundreds of different specialty chemicals each and all contributing to a total market worth trillions of dollars.

"The market is $5 trillion," said Amin-Jahaveri. "Just to be super clear about that.. Its $5 trillion worth of transactions happening every year."

It's no secret that venture capitalists love marketplaces. Replacing physical middlemen with electronic ones offers efficiencies and economies of scale that have a cold logic and avoid the messiness of human contact. For the past twenty years, different entrepreneurs have cropped to tackle creating systems that could connect buyers on one side with sellers on another -- and the chemicals industry has been investors' holy grail since Chempoint made its pitch to the market in 2001.

"The chemicals industry is the most interesting of all of them. Its the biggest. Its also the most fragmented," said Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire. "There were three companies in the world that all did about $90 billion in sales and none of those three companies did more than 1.6% of sales of the entire industry."

Those kinds of numbers would make any investor's jaw drop. And several firms tried to make a pitch for the hotly contested financing round for Knowde. Maguire first heard that there was a company looking for funds to pursue the creation of the first true marketplace business for the chemicals industry through a finance associate at Sequoia, Spencer Hemphill.

Hemphill knew an early Knowde investor named Ian Rountree at Cantos Ventures and had heard Rountree talk about the new company. He flagged the potential deal to Maguire and another Sequoia partner. It only took one hour for Maguire to be blown away by Amin-Jahaveri's pedigree in the industry and his vision for Knowde.

From that initial meeting in September to the close of the company's $14 million Series A round on March 11 (the day the markets suffered their worst COVID-19-related losses), Maguire was tracking the company's progress. Other firms in the running for the Knowde deal included big names like General Catalyst, according to people with knowledge of the process.

Sequoia wound up leading the Series A deal for Knowde, which also included previous investors Refactor Capital, Bee Partners, and Cantos Ventures.*

The tipping point for Maguire was the rapid adoption and buy-in from the industry when Knowde flipped the switch on sales in early January.

An employee of International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) picks up perfume components on December 8, 2016 at the company's laboratory in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris. / AFP / PATRICK KOVARIK (Photo credit should read PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP via Getty Images)

For at least the past fifty years, the modern chemicals industry has been defined -- and in some ways constrained -- by its sales pitches. There are specialty manufacturers who have hundreds of chemicals that they've made, but the knowledge of what those chemicals can do is often locked inside research labs. The companies rely on distributors, middlemen, and internal sales teams to get the word out, according to Maguire and Amin-Jahaveri.

"The way that things are done is still through field sales teams and product catalogs and brochures and face to face meetings and all that stuff," said Amin-Jahaveri. "This industry has not evolved as quickly as the rest of the world And we always knew that something has got to give."

One selling point for Knowde is that it breaks that logjam, according to investors like Maguire.

"One of the references said that they had a bunch of legacy flavors from the seventies," Maguire said. "It was a Madagascar Vanilla that none of their sales people had tried to sell for 25 years... By putting them on Knowde the sales numbers had gone up over 1,000%... That company does over $5 billion a year in sales through flavors."

The change happened as the old guard of executives began aging out of the business, according to Amin-Jahaveri. "Between 2002 and 2012 nothing happened.. There was no VC money thrown at any type chemical company and then it started changing a little bit," he said. "The first domino was the changing age demographic these consumer product companies kept getting younger."

Amin-Jahaveri's previous company grew to $400 million in revenue selling technology and services to the chemicals industry. It was back-end software and customer relationship tools that the industry had never had and needed if it were to begin the process of joining the digital world. Knowde, according to Amin-Jahaveri, is the next phase of that transition.

"Our plan is to connect the chemical producers directly with the buyers," Amin-Jahaveri said. "And provide all the plumbing and storefronts necessary to manage these things themselves."

All that Knowde needed to do was collate the disparate data about what chemicals small manufacturers were making and had in stock and begin listing that information online. That transparency of information used to be more difficult to capture, since companies viewed their product catalog as an extension of their intellectual property -- almost a trade secret, according to Amin-Jahaveri.

Once companies began listing products online, Amin-Jahaveri and his team could go to work creating a single, searchable taxonomy that would allow outsiders to find the materials they needed without having to worry about differences in descriptions.

Knowde has broken down the chemicals industry into ten different verticals including: food, pharmaceuticals, personal care, houseware goods, industrial chemicals. The company currently operates in three different verticals and plans to extend into all ten within the year.

Amin-Jahaveri knows that he's not going to get a meaningful chunk of business from the huge chemical manufacturers like BASF or Dow Chemical that pump out thousands of tons of commodity chemicals, those deals only represent $2 trillion of the total addressable market.

That means another $3 trillion in sales are up for grabs for the company Amin-Jahaveri founded with his partner Wojciech Krupa.

While the opportunity is huge, the company -- like every other new business launching in 2020 -- is still trying to do business in the middle of the worst economic collapse in American history. However, Amin-Jahaveri thinks the new economic reality could actually work in Knowde's favor.

"It's going to be one more trigger event for these chemical companies that they have to go online," he said. The personal relationships that drove much of the sales for the chemicals business before have dried up. No more conferences and events means no more opportunities to glad-hand, backslap, and chat over drinks at the hotel bar. So these companies need to find a new way to sell.

Maguire sees another benefit to the movement of chemical catalogs into an online marketplace, and that's internal transparency within chemical companies.

"Even the biggest companies in the world do not have an internal search feature even for their own chemicals," said Maguire. "I talked to two of the biggest companies in the world. In the case of one chemist who is a friend of mine. If you are trying to formulate some new concoction how do you find what chemicals you have in the company? If its in my division its pretty easy.. If I need chemicals from another division theres no way to search it right now."

*This article has been updated to indicate that Bee Partners, a previous investor in Knowde, participated in the company's Series A round. 8VC, another seed investor, did not.
Bengaluru, May 3 : Karnataka has urged Maharashtra to release water from its reservoirs to Krishna and Bhima rivers to meet the drinking needs of its people in the state's northern region, an official said on Saturday.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yedyiurappa has written to his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray to release 3 tmc (thousand million cubic) feet of water from Koyna and Warna reservoirs into Krishna river and 3 tmc from Ujjani dam to Bhima river that flow into Karnataka from the neighbouring state," the official told IANS, citing the letter.

With the onset of summer, Bagalakot, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadigiri districts face acute shortage of drinking water as they are in the country's second most arid region in the Deccan Plateau after Rajasthan.

"Maharashtra has been generous to release water from its reservoirs to meet the drinking needs in our drought-prone northern districts," recalled Yediyurappa in the letter.

As one of the largest dams in the neighbouring state's south-west region, Koyana reservoir is located across its river at Mahabaleshwar in Satara district, while Warna dam is situated in the catchment areas of Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri districts.

Ujjani dam is located across Bhima, a tributary of Krishna river in Solapur district of Maharashtra.
The plan was simple, but perilous. Some 300 heavily armed volunteers would sneak into Venezuela from the northern tip of South America.

Along the way, they would raid military bases in the socialist country and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in President Nicols Maduro's arrest.

What could go wrong? As it turns out, pretty much everything. The ringleader of the plot is now jailed in the US on narcotics charges.

Authorities in the US and Colombia are asking questions about the role of his muscular American adviser, a former Green Beret.

And dozens of desperate combatants who flocked to secret training camps in Colombia said they have been left to fend for themselves amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The failed attempt to start an uprising collapsed under the collective weight of skimpy planning, feuding among opposition politicians and a poorly trained force that stood little chance of beating the Venezuelan military.

"You're not going to take out Maduro with 300 hungry, untrained men," said Ephraim Mattos, a former US Navy SEAL who trained some of the would-be combatants in first aid.

This bizarre, untold story of a call to arms that crashed before it launched is drawn from interviews with more than 30 Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters who were directly involved in or familiar with its planning. Most spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.

When hints of the conspiracy surfaced last month, the Maduro-controlled state media portrayed it as an invasion ginned up by the CIA, like the Cuban Bay of Pigs fiasco of 1961.

An Associated Press investigation found no evidence of US government involvement in the plot.

Nevertheless, interviews revealed that leaders of Venezuela's US-backed opposition knew of the covert force, even if they dismissed its prospects.

Planning for the incursion began after an April 30, 2019, barracks revolt by a cadre of soldiers who swore loyalty to Maduro's would-be replacement, Juan Guaid, the opposition leader recognised by the US and some 60 other nations as Venezuela's rightful leader.

Contrary to US expectations at the time, key Maduro aides never joined with the opposition and the government quickly quashed the uprising.

A few weeks later, some soldiers and politicians involved in the failed rebellion retreated to the JW Marriott in Bogota, Colombia.

The hotel was a center of intrigue among Venezuelan exiles. For this occasion, conference rooms were reserved for what one participant described as the Star Wars summit of anti-Maduro goofballs military deserters accused of drug trafficking, shady financiers and former Maduro officials seeking redemption.

Among those angling in the open lobby was Jordan Goudreau, an American citizen and three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he served as a medic in US Army special forces, according to five people who met with the former soldier.

Those he interacted with in the U.S. and Colombia described him in interviews alternately as a freedom-loving patriot, a mercenary and a gifted warrior scarred by battle and in way over his head.

Two former special forces colleagues said Goudreau was always at the top of his class: a cell leader with a superb intellect for handling sources, an amazing shot and a devoted mixed martial arts fighter who still cut his hair high and tight.

At the end of an otherwise distinguished military career, the Canadian-born Goudreau was investigated in 2013 for allegedly defrauding the Army of USD 62,000 in housing stipends. Goudreau said the investigation was closed with no charges.

After retiring in 2016, he worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

In 2018, he set up Silvercorp USA, a private security firm, near his home on Florida's Space Coast to embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers.

The company's website features photos and videos of Goudreau firing machine guns in battle, running shirtless up a pyramid, flying on a private jet and sporting a military backpack with a rolled-up American flag.

Silvercorp's website touts operations in more than 50 countries, with an advisory team made up of former diplomats, experienced military strategists and heads of multinational corporations -- none of them named.

It claims to have led international security teams for the president of the United States.

Goudreau, 43, declined to be interviewed. In a written statement, he said that Silvercorp cannot disclose the identities of its network of sources, assets and advisors due to the nature of our work and, more generally, would never confirm nor deny any activities in any operational realm. No inference should be drawn from this response.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers.

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In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days.

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Georgia Jet recently announced they have been awarded a Part 145 Repair Station certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the business name GJAM, LLC. GJAM, LLC. will operate out of the Lawrenceville, GA airport (KLZU). The FAA certification was finalized on April 29, 2020.

This certification is a great achievement and a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our entire Georgia Jet Team said GJAM President Lea Williams. Being awarded this FAA certification as a Part 145 Repair Station adds an important new dimension to the services we provide in support of business aviation.

Georgia Jet is a Wyvern Wingman certified, full-service private aircraft charter, management, and maintenance company licensed to provide professional aviation services worldwide. Georgia Jet is headquartered at the Gwinnett County Airport, Lawrenceville GA. The new maintenance facility specializes in airframe maintenance for Hawker, King Air, Beechjet, and Citation Aircraft. To learn more, or to schedule service, please email Greg Hartsell at ghartsell@gajet.com or call (770) 513-0180.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 10:26:24|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday welcomed the news that there are no more hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China, praising its people's "tireless efforts" to combat the pandemic.

After more than three months of arduous fight, Wuhan, the central Chinese city once hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, cleared all COVID-19 cases in hospitals on Sunday.

"That's very very welcome news to hear that there are no more severe cases, no more patients in Wuhan," said Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program at a virtual press briefing here.

"So congratulations on this achievement," she said.

Dr. van Kerkhove appreciated the "tireless efforts" of the people in Wuhan -- "not just the healthcare workers but the individuals who stayed in their homes, who adhered to the public health measures."

"We take our hats off to you, and we thank you for your commitment and your service, and for sharing with us in the world what you've been able to do," she said.

As one of the China-WHO joint experts who visited China in February for a field study, Dr. van Kerkhove said "China has worked very hard to bring the outbreak under control."

"I was there for two weeks and working directly with ministry officials, and officials from all different sectors, from hospitals, through communities, to really see what was put in place to bring those numbers down," she recalled.

The doctor also asked the Wuhan people to "remain vigilant," should new cases appear.

"The world has learned from China," Dr. van Kerkhove said, "and we need to continue to learn from Wuhan on how they are lifting those measures, how they are bringing society back to normal, or a new normal, in terms of how we're going to live with this virus going forward." Enditem
Chiranjeevi's 152nd film, Acharya has been in news since its announcement. A couple of days ago, we had reported that Kajal Aggarwal, who is playing the female lead opposite Chiru, has quit the film due to date issues. However, the latest information suggests that she is still a part of the film.

Kajal Aggarwal's manager has recently rubbished the reports of her leaving Acharya. Film Critic Jalapathy Gudelli shared statement of Kajal's manager on Twitter. In a tweet, Jalapathy Gudelli wrote, "#KajalAggarwal's manager rubbishes the rumors that she has walked out of Megastar Chiranjeevi's #Acharya She's already taken an advance amount of her remuneration and will join the film when the shooting resumes post-lockdown."

#KajalAggarwal s manager rubbishes the rumors that she has walked out of Megastar Chiranjeevis #Acharya



Shes already taken an advance amount of her remuneration and will join the film when the shooting resumes post-lockdown.  Jalapathy Gudelli (@JalapathyG) May 2, 2020

In April, makers had announced that Kajal Aggarwal will be a part of Acharya. But Tollywood.net report stated that Singham actress has signed a Tamil film, hence, the dates are clashing with Chiru 152. The makers had not made any official announcement about her exit.

Directed by Koratala Siva, Acharya has been in the news for its leading lady. Earlier, Trisha Krishnan was signed to play the female lead opposite Megastar Chiranjeevi, however, due to creative difference with the makers, she walked out of the film. Later, Kajal Aggarwal replaced her, but due to the lockdown, she couldn't begin shooting for the same.

Megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer Acharya also stars Ram Charan, who will be seen in a cameo appearance. Earlier, Mahesh Babu was reportedly to be playing the part, but due to his high remuneration, the makers preferred to rope in Charan for the film.

Also Read : Acharya: After Trisha Krishnan, Kajal Aggarwal Quits Chiranjeevi Starrer?

On a related note, Acharya also has Regina Cassandra for a special dancer number with Chiranjeevi. The film will showcase the Megastar as a Naxalite-turned-social reformer. Mani Sharma will compose the music of the film, which is scheduled to be released on August 14, 2020.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Saturday appreciated the banks for ensuring normal to near normal operations during coronavirus lockdown and also reviewed the current economic situation. The RBI Governor held meetings with the heads of the major public and private sector banks earlier today in two separate sessions through video conference, the central bank said in a statement. The meetings were attended by deputy governors and other senior officers of RBI. Apart from reviewing the economy, the meeting saw discussion on credit flows to different sectors of the economy, including liquidity to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), micro finance institutions (MFIs), housing finance companies (HFCs), mutual funds, among others.

The RBI Governor also discussed with bank chiefs the post lockdown credit flows including provision of working capital, with special focus on credit flows to MSMEs. The implementation of three months moratorium on repayment of loan instalments announced by the RBI and monitoring of overseas branches of banks amid slowdown in global economies were the other issues discussed in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the RBI has taken several steps over the weeks to assuage the pressure faced by borrowers, lenders, and other entities such as mutual funds and assured to take more measures to deal with the developing situation. Since the February 2020 monetary policy meeting, the central bank has injected 3.2 per cent of GDP into the economy to tackle the liquidity crisis.

Meanwhile, the central government announced the extension of lockdown by 2 more weeks beginning from May 4 but with several relaxations in the green zones.

Also read: Coronavirus India Live Updates: Lockdown in red zones! Liquor sale in standalone shops allowed; cases-37,336

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: Donald Trump hints at imposing new tariff on China for mishandling virus outbreak
AskMen Selects: GrowlerWerks uKeg

Your Solution to Fresh, Cold Brews All Summer Long Is Here

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Everybody needs to believe in something. I believe Ill have another beer, joked comedian and writer W.C. Fields  and while we may believe in many things, we also happen to believe in the power of another beer. Theres just something inherently satisfying about cracking open a cold can of a good brew after a long day.

RELATED: Beers You'll Be Drinking All Summer Long

But what if we told you theres a way to enhance your at-home drinks? Now that summer is around the corner, its not uncommon to pick up a cooler or an ice bucket to ensure every brew stays freezer cold, even in the hot sun but weve found a way to keep your beer cold, crisp, and flowing almost like everyones favorite tailgate essential: the keg.

Thats where the uKeg Go comes in. The most convenient go anywhere carbonated growler on the market, this handy little growler takes everything you love about the traditional keg and downsizes it into a convenient, everyday keg party thats upgraded to suit your grown-up taste.

While the growler itself is super sleek and stylish, its whats inside that counts. The uKeg Go actually allows you to enjoy up to 64 ounces (or about six cans) of ice-cold, fresh, and sharply carbonated brews wherever you happen to be  whether thats in the backyard while grilling burgers or while hiking through the mountain ranges.

About GrowlerWerks

The company, GrowlerWerks, aims to optimize how people enjoy a beer on the go  especially premium craft beer thats often limited edition, hard to find, or not even sold in bottles. Its guiding ethos has always been to figure out how the nation enjoys their beer and to optimize the overall experience.

Created by local Portlanders who love craft beer, GrowlerWerks was born out of necessity when founder Shawn Huff was trying to impress his girlfriend's parents with some of Oregons finest IPA  unfortunately, he had to pour most it down the drain when it had gone flat and stale in the glass growler it came in.

GrowlerWerks was born to deliver cold, fresh (and delicious) draft beverages at-home or on-the-go. It all began with a flat beerat the absolute worst time and place, Huff explained in a statement on the website. And on that fateful day, our mission was born. Make a growler that actually worked. You see, craft beer was (and is) too expensive, and rare, and delicious to see it poured down the drain.

Since then, GrowlerWerks range of microbrew-focused products has been helping beer drinkers across the U.S. enjoy their craft brews exactly how the brewmaster intended.

Who Its For

The uKeg Go is ideal for pretty much anyone looking for a better way to enjoy their craft beer. While the line of growlers available from GrowlerWerks ranges in need, the 64-ounce uKeg is a great option for anyone looking to sip and savor a brew with a friend or two. If youre planning for a dinner party, we recommend sizing up and opting for the uKeg Go 128.

Why We Love It

Here at AskMen, we love a cold craft beer above all else  so the idea of being able to keep our microbrews carbonated and fresh from the brewery was extremely appealing. However, we conducted this review by pouring five craft bottles into the uKeg and enjoying them over the course of a weekend  and we were impressed. The uKeg Go kept the brews fresh and bubbly from the first sip to the very last few drops of beer.

We love that the brand places emphasis on the quality of its growlers. In fact, we didnt experience drippage or leaking once during the entire duration of the test. It could easily be thrown in a backpack during a hike thanks to its locked, unlocked, and pour positions.

The brand also takes into account the aesthetics of each and every growler  no matter your style, theres a colorway to suit your preference, including chili red, gray, and more attention-grabbing shades like plated copper and stainless steel.

With all that in mind, were still most impressed by the uKegs ability to keep brews chilled to the perfect temperature. Even in the hot spring sun, the double-wall stainless steel vacuum insulation made every sip taste as if it was straight from the fridge.

RELATED: Best Tailgating Kegs

The Drawbacks

While we love the cool and thoughtful aesthetic of each GrowlerWerks product, we did find it to be slightly difficult to clean the sticky beer remnants out of. You really have to get into every nook and cranny with a sponge but the small opening at the top makes it difficult to clean with regular kitchen gear.

Happily, GrowlerWerks does sell a line of maintenance and cleaning products separately. This ranges from replacement regulator caps and pressure gauges all the way down to custom-made cleaning brushes and uKeg-specific cleaning tablets. While the cleaning supplies are priced at a premium, theyre well worth it if you want to keep your growler clean between refills.

Where to Buy It

The entire GrowlerWerks growler line is available to purchase at GrowlerWerks.com. Prices range from $99 for the 64-ounce powder-coated uKeg Go growler all the way to $239 for the 128-ounce copper-plated uKeg Go pressurized growler.

The GrowlerWerks uKeg product lineup is also available on Amazon and Huckberry.

You Might Also Dig:

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.
Stockholm: A Pakistan journalist who had been living in exile in Sweden and was missing since March has been found dead, police said Friday. Sajid Hussain had fled Pakistan in 2012 after getting death threats and was granted political asylum in Sweden.

"His body was found on April 23 in the Fyris river outside Uppsala," police spokesman Jonas Eronen told news agency AFP. He had gone missing on March 2.

"The autopsy has dispelled some of the suspicion that he was the victim of a crime," Eronen said.

The police spokesman added Hussain's death could have been the result of an accident or a suicide though homicide has not be completely ruled out.

Sajid Hussain belonged from the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan, he was the chief editor of the Baluchistan Times, an online magazine he had set up. He wrote about drug trafficking, forced disappearances, organised crime racket and long-running insurgency in the region.

In Sweden, he worked as a part-time professor in Uppsala, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Stockholm. Hussain came to Sweden in 2017 and was given political asylum in the year 2019.

"As long as a crime cannot be excluded, there remains the risk that his death is linked to his work as a journalist," Erik Halkjaer, head of the Swedish branch of Reporters without Borders (RSF).

According to the RSF, Hussain was last seen getting onto a train for Uppsala in Stockholm.

Meanwhile, Hussain`s wife, Shehnaz said that her husband had sensed he was being followed before he fled to Sweden, she told Pakistan newspaper Dawn.

(With inputs from agencies)
The special task force (STF) of Punjab Police has recovered around 9 kg heroin with the arrest of three persons in two separate operations carried out near India-Pakistan border in the district.

The first operation was launched with the help of the Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday in which 6.7 kg heroin was seized, which was kept hidden in a field across the barbed fence at the border.

In the second operation, the STF recovered 2kg heroin from the possession of two drug smugglers, who were arrested on Friday night after an encounter in which one of the accused received a bullet injury.

Addressing a press conference, assistant inspector general (AIG) of STF, border range, Rashpal Singh, said, We had a tip-off that a consignment of heroin was smuggled from Pakistan recently, which was kept hidden in a field situated across the barbed fence at Shahpur village. A case in this regard was registered on Thursday and deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vavinder Mahajan started probing the case. The DSP found that one Karam Singh, alias Golu, of Karimpura village was roped in to clear the consignment.

He said Golu was arrested on Friday and at his instance, 6.7 kg heroin was recovered from across the fence. The heroin was kept hidden in a tractors drawbar.

Giving details about the second operation, the AGI said, We had another tip-off that Gurinder Singh of Jajeani village in Majitha subdivision and Sandeep Singh of Kot Dharam Chand village of Tarn Taran were on their way to smuggle heroin in Ajnala on a Mohindra Scorpio. Immediately, a police team set up a naka at Gujjarpura village.

He said, The accused came after some time, broke the naka and fled. Our team chased the accused and opened fire to deflate the SUVs tyres. After a 25-minute chase, the accused were arrested near Chak Mishri Khan village. One of them received a bullet injury on his leg during the firing. During the SUVs search, 2 kg heroin was seized.

The AIG said the further investigation was on to track down the other accomplices of the accused arrested in the two operations.
So far, much of the research and development has been supported by governments and foundations. And much remains to be worked out when it comes to patents and what national governments will claim in return for their support and pledges of quick regulatory approval.

Given the stakes, it is no surprise that while scientists and doctors talk about finding a global vaccine, national leaders emphasize immunizing their own populations first. Mr. Trump said he was personally in charge of Operation Warp Speed to get 300 million doses into American arms by January.

Already, the administration has identified 14 vaccine projects it intends to focus on, a senior administration official said, with the idea of further narrowing the group to a handful that could go on, with government financial help and accelerated regulatory review, to meet Mr. Trumps goal. The winnowing of the projects to 14 was reported Friday by NBC News.

But other countries are also signaling their intention to nationalize their approaches. The most promising clinical trial in China is financed by the government. And in India, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India  the worlds largest producer of vaccine doses  said that most of its vaccine would have to go to our countrymen before it goes abroad.

George Q. Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, said thinking in country-by-country rather than global terms would be foolhardy since it would involve squandering the early doses of vaccine on a large number of individuals at low risk, rather than covering as many high-risk individuals globally  health care workers and older adults  to stop the spread around the world.

Given the proliferation of vaccine projects, the best outcome may be none of them emerging as a clear winner.

Lets say we get one vaccine quickly but we can only get two million doses of it at the end of next year, said Anita Zaidi, who directs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations vaccine development program. And another vaccine, just as effective, comes three months later but we can make a billion doses. Who won that race?
In 2018, this board advocated strongly for a vigorous inquiry into accusations of sexual misconduct raised against Brett Kavanaugh when he was nominated to a seat on the Supreme Court. Mr. Bidens pursuit of the presidency requires no less. His campaign, and his party, have a duty to assure the public that the accusations are being taken seriously. The Democratic National Committee should move to investigate the matter swiftly and thoroughly, with the full cooperation of the Biden campaign.

Opinion Debate Will the Democrats face a midterm wipeout? Mark Penn and Andrew Stein write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond.

write that "only a broader course correction to the center will give Democrats a fighting chance in 2022" and beyond. Matthew Continetti writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party.

writes that time and again, the biggest obstacle to a red wave hasnt been the Democratic Party. Its been the Republican Party. Ezra Klein speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging.

speaks to David Shor, who discusses his fear that Democrats face electoral catastrophe unless they shift their messaging. Michelle Cottle examines two primary contests that will shake the parties well beyond the states in play.

Ms. Reades account has some apparent inconsistencies. Last year, she was one of several women who came forward with complaints of Mr. Biden hugging or touching them in ways that made them uncomfortable, but she did not raise the assault accusation until this March. She says she tried to share her story with the media earlier, only to get shut down.

Members of Mr. Bidens staff from that period have denied that Ms. Reade expressed any complaints about Mr. Biden, and they reject the idea that the office tolerated any harassment.

Ms. Reade says that she filed a formal harassment complaint with a congressional personnel office in 1993. (She says the report did not mention the assault.) Although she kept some of her employment records from that time, she says she does not have a copy of that complaint. In his statement, Mr. Biden said that if such a document existed, there would be a copy of it in the National Archives, which retains records from what was then the Office of Fair Employment Practices. He called on the archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. Later on Friday, after the National Archives said it did not have personnel documents, Mr. Biden asked the secretary of the Senate to direct a more extensive search, also asking for any and all other documents in the records that relate to the allegation.

This is a start, but it does not go far enough. Any serious inquiry must include the trove of records from Mr. Bidens Senate career that he donated to the University of Delaware in 2012. Currently, those files are set to remain sealed until after Mr. Biden retires from public life  a common arrangement. There are growing calls for Mr. Biden to make those records available to see if they contain any mention of Ms. Reade or perhaps others who raised similar complaints about his behavior.
By Express News Service

KRISHNAGIRI: Nearly 55 days after first COVID-19 positive case was reported in Tamil Nadu, Krishnagiri, the state's only green zone district, has reported its first positive case on Saturday. A 67-year-old man from Veppanahalli, who returned from Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, was tested positive for the coronavirus.

Confirming this, Krishnagiri district collector S Prabhakar told The New Indian Express, A 67-year-old man near Veppanahalli along with four persons went to Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh and returned on April 25. All were screened at the border check post and asked to remain under home quarantine. In this situation, sample was taken from sexagenarian on April 29 and sent it to the Institute of Vector Control and Zoonoses, Hosur, which announced test result as positive on Saturday.

Seconding him, Deputy Director of Health Services V Govindan said after the sexagenarian was tested positive samples of eight of his family members were taken on Friday night and sent it to Hosur for testing.

Among the four other members, who accompanied the infected persons, three are from Krishnagiri town and one from Kaveripattinam. Now, all these three areas are brought under the containment zone - which will now be sealed and disinfected.

The five-member team returned to Krishnagiri from Andhra Pradesh, after getting vehicle pass from the authorities in Puttaparthi. They had started their pilgrimage before the 21-day national lockdown was declared by the Prime Minister. The other four members, however, tested negative.
Expressing deep concern over the long-term economic repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said that all political parties should stop playing communal politics in future and instead work towards bringing the economy back on track.

The party said the talks held between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently over the impact of the COVID-19 shows how grave the crisis is for the economy. It said time has now come to grow wiser.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held talks with economist Raghuram Rajan through digital medium. Rajan said that the government needs to spend Rs 65000 crore to help the poor facing hardships due to the coronavirus lockdown. He said the entire country will have to face the economic consequences of lockdown, the Sena said.

Rajan said the governments present definition of the poor will change after lockdown. Middle class and upper middle class will also become poor and start demanding certificate of economic backwardness. Even a developed nation like the US is staring at a grave problem of unemployment.

In the US, there is system of unemployment allowance, which India doesnt have. Rajans observation is that 10 crore people in India will become jobless, which is a matter of concern, the party said.

Through their talks, one thing became clear that continuing lockdown for indefinte period will prove costly for the economy. The government will have to work beyond the set norms. Power and authority to take decisions cannot remain limited with only a couple of people, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said.

As far as Maharashtra is concerned, the 2019-20 revenue income is Rs 3.15 lakh crore, while the expenditure is Rs 3.35 lakh crore. But due to lockdown the revenue deficit will grow and it would become difficult to run the state, it added.

The central government will have to take everyone along. It will have to take into account others views and chart out the road ahead, it said.

In India, all political parties should work towards bringing the economy back on track, instead of playing politics of India-Pakistan, religion and caste. The prime minister should take a lead and the entire country will stand behind him, it said.
Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital Nurse Sarah Scheaffer became a nurse to help people who are going through difficult times. With health care professionals around greater Houston working on the front lines to usher COVID-19 patients into recovery, nurses like Scheaffer are needed more than ever.

National Nurses Day on May 6 marks the start of National Nurses Week, an annual recognition of nurses vital contributions to their communities.

Scheaffer discussed her own experience as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic and how she and her fellow nurses and doctors have been collaborating to help patients in need.

What is your position with the hospital and what are your usual duties?

Scheaffer: I am a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department. I am a staff nurse, charge nurse and preceptor within the department. My work consists of direct patient care, facilitating patient flow through the department and helping my team members whenever I can.

Why did you become a nurse/enter the healthcare industry?

Scheaffer: I became a nurse to help others during their hardest times. I love that I get to be a small part of saving someones life.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Texas is open, but what does that mean?

How have you personally been handling the pandemic?

Scheaffer: I have been handling the pandemic just like any other day I would handle the Emergency Room. I go with the flow and deal with whatever is given to me in the best way possible. I am still going to work like normal so the only thing that has changed for me is that I have taken up online shopping a bit more on my days off from work.

How often have you been working?

Scheaffer: I have been working my normal schedule which includes 3 twelve-hour shifts per week.

How have you and the staff been working together during this time?

Scheaffer: We collaborate as a team during each shift and have always done that prior to Covid-19 as well. We are very fortunate to have an amazing group of nurses and leadership that give us the best resources to provide exceptional patient care.

How could the public help you do your job? What do you need?

Scheaffer: The public can help by continuing to follow their specific state and county guidelines. I always tell all my patients to wash their hands and do what keeps them safe!

What kind of help do you need personally?

Scheaffer: Personally, I feel thankful to have a job and healthy family that I love and that is all I can ask for during this pandemic.

chevall.pryce@chron.com
A man who has committed thefts in eight European cities has been jailed for a series of stealth attacks on cash machines which caused nearly 13,000 in damage.

Damien Ionut (34) was part of a group of men who targeted ATMs in counties Louth, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Westmeath and Dublin. The men used a technique known as "transaction reversal fraud", which occurs when requested cash isn't properly dispensed.

Thieves then use an implement to retrieve the cash, thus damaging and shutting down the ATM. The bank account is not debited because the thieves "trick" the ATM into deciding the customer has walked off.

Ionut, of Rayners Lane, Harrow, London, appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday and affirmed 25 signed pleas, made at a district court hearing last November.

The charges included 20 of criminal damage to cash machines and 15 of theft from AIB.

The thefts took place on dates in October and November last.

Garda Emmet Cooke told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, the total amount taken by Ionut in the five-week period was 5,980. Some of the attacks did not succeed but the total amount of damage caused was 12,881.

A statement from AIB said these crimes render cash machines unavailable and affects its customers and the ATM operations team.

Ionut has 30 previous convictions for similar offending.

These offences took place in London, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Brussels as well as in cities in Italy, the Czech Republic and Romania.

Judge Martin Nolan backdated a three-year prison sentence to November 5 last when Ionut went into custody. He noted that a custodial sentence will be harder on the Romanian national because of his foreign nationality.
NASA and SpaceX on Friday urged spectators to stay home for the first home launch of astronauts in nearly a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Top officials warned the public against travelling to Florida for the May 27 launch of two NASA astronauts aboard a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station.

It will be the first launch of astronauts from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in nine years  ever since the last space shuttle flight in 2011. It also will be the first attempt by a private company to fly astronauts to orbit.

For space space shuttle launches, hundreds of thousands of spectators would descend on Kennedy Space Center and nearby beaches, said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

The challenge that were up against right now is we want to keep everybody safe," he said. "And so were asking people not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center, and I will tell you that makes me sad to even say it. Boy, I wish we could make this into something really spectacular.

Bridenstine urged the public to watch the launch online or on TV from home.

We don't want an outbreak, of COVID-19, he told reporters during a remote news conference.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell agreed its a shame more people wont be able to enjoy the launch from Florida. But she encouraged people to be there for the ride with us.

We'll be together in spirit more so than in physical space," she said.

Local officials are still mulling whether to allow people on beaches, parks and roadways on launch day.

NASA and SpaceX already are limiting the number of employees near astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Anyone coming close must wear masks and gloves, and their temperatures are checked. The astronauts also are staying away from all but the most important training events.

Hurley said the two are disappointed their families and friends will have to miss the launch in person, but Obviously, its the right thing to do in the current environment." Both astronauts said they have already been in quarantine for weeks along with their wives and young sons, so those few family members can join them at Kennedy for the launch.

The pair will go into full quarantine two weeks before liftoff, first at Johnson Space Center in Houston and then at Kennedy.

In both the NASA and SpaceX flight control rooms, staff will be spaced at least 6 feet (2 meters) apart on launch day and throughout the mission, and plenty of hand sanitizer, masks and gloves will be available.

NASA turned to private companies in the wake of the space shuttle program to get cargo to the space station. Next up are the crew deliveries. Russian Soyuz capsules, meanwhile, have been the sole means of crew transportation to the orbiting lab.

Boeing also is working to launch astronauts under NASAs commercial crew program; its first crew flight is still months  if not a year  away.
Parents searching for an activity to keep their children occupied which doesn't involve a screen and might even count as home schooling, should look at the lovely e-colouring book highlighting our county's heritage which can be downloaded from Louth County Council's website.

The book, which is available in both English and Irish versions, features attractive drawings of landmarks and well known locations to colour in.

It takes the young artists on a virtual tour of the county, from the Boyne Viaduct and Mellifont Abbey in the south to Roche Castle, Proleek Dolmen and Slieve Foy. Each illulstration is accompanied by information about the location as well as local history and legends.

The booklet was produced by the Heritage Office of Louth County Council with funding from the Heritage Council. It features illustrations by DoodleMooseDesigns and text by Louth's Heritage Officer Brendan McSherry.

Separately, a colouring competition organised by the Heritage Council, with prizes sponsored by Dundalk BIDS helped to showcase Dundalk's wonderful built heritage.

The competition, one of a number being promoted by the Heritage Council around the country, invited young artists to colour drawings by local artist Miriam Fox, who recently had a solo exhibition in the County Library.

Miriam was asked by Alison Harvey of the Heritage Council to produce a four cartoon style drawings of Dundalk landmarks for the Ireland's Town Centres colouring competition for kids.

She supplied drawings of the Green Church, the Town Hall, Kelly's Monument and the Maid of Eireann, with the winners receiving prizes from the BIDS office.
Michael Dorsey of West Philadelphia, stands in line during a testing drive at the Mt. Airy Church of God in Philadelphia organized by a physician working to improve access to both testing and ongoing health care in communities of color. Read more

With great anticipation we await the benchmarks for testing and contact tracing which are being designed to allow a safe reopening of society without incurring another COVID-19 outbreak.

But from the testing that already has been done, disturbing facts have emerged.

In Pennsylvania, African Americans comprise 22% of all COVID-19 deaths, yet represent just 12% of the population.

In Philadelphia, 54% of the COVID-19 deaths are among African Americans, well beyond their share of the citys population.

Overrepresentation as front line workers  not only in health care but also retail, transportation and other services  and greater prevalence of preexisting conditions such as diabetes and hypertension have already been implicated as reasons.

Underlying all that however, are the social challenges and economic inequities well documented more than 100 years ago by W.E.B. DuBois in his landmark sociological study, The Philadelphia Negro. After a full year living in the old seventh ward and conducting more than 5,000 interviews, DuBois came to conclusions that still are all too applicable about the impact of racism and poverty on even a culturally rich and vibrant community.

As policymakers consider the path forward to containing COVID-19 and reopening parts of the economy, diagnostic testing and contact tracing are the most vital means to that end. However, when it comes to testing, we are falling short. In Pennsylvania, the testing rate is less than half that of New York, Massachusetts, and Louisiana and 33% less than New Jersey. This is no surprise since Pennsylvania ranks 44th in public health spending compared to other states according to the United Health Foundation. And beyond our inadequate test numbers, we need to look at who has access to testing. We need a targeted strategy focused on high-risk communities before more lives are lost.

Pennsylvania cannot accomplish this goal of widespread testing on its own, considering the multiple private companies, research institutions, and medical centers which share this space, the supplies required to conduct the testing, and the absence of a robust national public health infrastructure to strategize and implement interventions. Clearly, 1.2 million tests per week  the number performed last week in the United States  is not enough, given the many millions of individuals at risk

What the U.S. needs to ramp up testing is a well-coordinated federal effort. Without federal help, individual states, and Pennsylvania in particular, will suffer immeasurable consequences.

So, how can we change the status quo? First of all, testing volume has to significantly increase in order to begin to better contain the virus through identifying infected individuals, at least to levels achieved in New York and New Jersey. In the absence of national efforts to coordinate testing, regional testing should be considered, shifting resources as needs evolve. Once these two requirements are in place, additional steps are needed, using an equity lens as a filter:

Facilitated access to testing, considering individuals with high-risk jobs and chronic conditions as an initial focus and associated resources for contact tracing; Implementation of culturally appropriate messaging regarding the need for testing; Engaging trusted community partners to amplify efforts; Ensuring there is follow up with primary care providers for continuous care for chronic conditions.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

If businesses, public transit and other facilities reopen before these recommendations are in process, another wave of cases is likely.

If anything positive can come from this pandemic, it could be that it forces society to address the structural inequities described a century ago. Lives and livelihoods are at stake.

Eve J. Higginbotham is vice dean for diversity and inclusion and a professor of ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.
An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale has shaken Puerto Rico.

The tremor struck early on Saturday, rattling the city of Ponce, and damaging some buildings. There are no immediate reports of casualties.

The epicentre was in the sea off the southern coast, but no tsunami advisory has been issued.

A number of aftershocks were also recorded in the 90 minutes following the initial event according to the US Geological Survey.

Also shaken were the towns of Guanica and Guayanilla, where hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed in January's 6.4 magnitude earthquake, which killed one person.

The quake comes as Puerto Rico nears the two month mark of its lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Governor Wanda Vazquez tweeted that rescue crews were fanning out across the area and that she would shortly be travelling there to meet with those affected in person.

If your infrastructure is damaged, you must leave with your face mask on and your emergency backpack, she said, urging people to remain calm.

The mayor of Ponce, Maria Melendez, posted pictures of the damage to her city and asked people to "avoid going to the city centre until we make sure everyone is safe."

Victor Huerfano, director of Puerto Ricos Seismic Network, told the Associated Press that while its understandable many people are afraid and surprised by the most recent earthquake, its not unusual given the seismic activity that began in the region in late December.

In the long run, its decreasing, but you can have peaks, he said, adding that he expects strong aftershocks to continue.
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The country is left to wonder, as the year begins, if the Government of the day and particul
Its a waiting game for the nurses caring for coronavirus patients at Midland Memorial Hospital.

They started running drills to prepare  for an influx of patients, for multiple patients needing to be intubated at once, for any scenarios they could think of  before the first positive was confirmed in Midland County.

It took nearly two months for the virus to spread from other parts of the country to the Permian Basin. By the time the first case was reported in Midland on March 19, Gov. Greg Abbott had already declared a statewide emergency and President Donald Trump had declared a national one.

Within a week of the initial positive, hospital staff lost their first patient from coronavirus complications. That same day, the U.S. became the world leader in confirmed COVID-19 infections, and nurses in New York City were photographed wearing trash bags in lieu of hospital gowns.

The nurses at Midland Memorial watched as news broadcasts turned to 24-hour coverage of the worst-hit cities, wondering if their city was next.

Now, with 84 confirmed positives in Midland County as of Saturday, and restaurants and stores celebrating the go-ahead to reopen, the nurses wait to see if the worst is nearly over. Or, they wonder, is a second wave imminent?

***

When you have a patient pass away, in previous situations, you would have the family at their bedside gathered around. In this instance, youre the only other person in that room.

Erin Cardona

There were times during the weeks Erin Cardona was assigned to the COVID-19 unit when she would walk to her car at the end of her shift and cry. She worried about bringing the virus home, exposing her husband and 12-year-old daughter. She debated staying at a hotel to protect them.

That was the hardest part, having that fear that you were going to take something home to your loved ones, even though you were trying to do your best to help others, Cardona said. My heart is to help others, but I also didnt want to put my family at risk.

Even after she was moved last week as elective surgeries resumed, Cardona has kept up precautions to shield her family from exposure.

She keeps her work shoes in a container in her trunk, wearing sandals when she leaves her house every day. At the end of each shift, she changes from her hospital scrubs to her home scrubs and washes her hands. Before she gets into her car, she sprays her shoes with disinfectant and puts them in a plastic tub. She wipes down her glasses, bag and phone and leaves them in the trunk.

When she gets home, she takes her clothes off in the mudroom and goes straight to the shower.

Its really just trying to slow down and think about it, Cardona said. You never really realize how much you touch every day until you really start thinking about it.

Slowing down and going step-by-step was something Cardona reminded herself to do before she entered any COVID-19 patients room, she said. To limit possible exposures, nurses are responsible for the majority of these patients care.

Being nearly the only people allowed in the room means nurses account for almost all a COVID-19 patients interactions while theyre in the hospital. When one of Cardonas patients died, she said, There was a lot of weight on my shoulders.

It didnt hit me as hard, I think, until that day. Yeah, the whole COVID-19 experience hit me the hardest on that day, she said.

Cardona said she couldnt imagine what the family went through, being able to communicate only with her and not their loved one who was dying.

Its also frustrating to know that people are dying from a preventable disease, Cardona said. The patient was a resident at Midland Medical Lodge, the source of an outbreak where more than 40 residents and employees have been infected.

It could have been prevented  if people were just really taking all the CDC recommendations seriously, maybe staying at home or staying away from those who are more at risk, like the elderly, she said. Im not saying that patient could have been saved, but I just feel like everyone really needs to pay close attention and try to help out those who are the most vulnerable.

***

Every day is the front lines for a nurse, not just during a pandemic.

Grace Mints

Grace Mints graduated from nursing school one year ago this week.

I thought I learned a lot in nursing school, but I only scratched the surface, she said. Its been a whirlwind. Its been fast. I kind of didnt expect to be taking care of a pandemic in my first year of nursing.

Its been surreal, watching the disease and its fallout unfold on the news and realizing youre a part of history, she said. But its also just another day working in the critical care unit, which Mints has been assigned to since she graduated.

In ICU, we see very serious illnesses every day, and this is just another one that we have to buckle down and take care of patients the best we can, she said.

She said her mom -- because moms are protective -- worries about her caring for coronavirus patients. For Mints, its what she signed up for.

The parallels drawn between nurses and superheroes feels weird for her, she said.

My brother is a captain in the Army  hes actually served in Afghanistan, and now I understand what he means when he says he doesnt like when people thank him, Mints said. Because thats his job and he loves his job.

But there are some differences between the everyday of working in critical care and caring for critical patients in a pandemic. Its quieter, for one, because the patients are quarantined in their rooms and no ones visiting them.

The no-visitor policy has been challenging for Mints, especially with her patients being in dire health. She recalled having a patient who was very ill and unable to speak, and the pain she imagined the patients family experienced.

I can just picture that being my mom or dad, or being my husband in the bed, and not being able to hold their hand to help them through a really hard time, she said. I couldnt do much more than putting a speakerphone up next to them and letting the family talk to them.

Now that the hospital has received a donation of iPads patients can use to video chat with their loved ones, Mints said she thinks patients are in better spirits. She used the tablets twice on Thursday to connect families.

I think one of my patients actually got some rest afterward, she said. Im sure that helped her anxiety of being in the room all by herself.

***

Its just constantly preparing, and it was like a waiting game of when is this going to hit? Is this the calm before the storm? Or is this how its going to be from now on?

Abby Villa

A certified trauma nurse, Abby Villa has been assigned to the emergency department for nine years. Her career as a charge nurse has spanned a train accident, a mass shooting, and now, a pandemic.

Its not something that we expected, or we knew was coming, because we didnt know this was coming,, she said. But we chose to be nurses and we chose to be front-line. And thats what were gonna do.

Villa said Midland Memorial has been preparing since day one. There are daily drills involving nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists and surgeons running through every scenario they can think of, she said.

Fighting a disease so new means constantly having to readapt to the latest research and guidelines.

On a daily basis, were getting new information, new changes from the CDC, Villa said. You have to keep yourself updated. Our directors do daily huddles with us, going over new changes that were made the day before or even hours before.

They want us to be adaptable and flexible and be like, OK this is something new, todays gonna be a new change, just go with it, she said.

A weighty change for Villa was emergency staff being required to screen everyone who comes to the hospital. With the emergency room entrance the only one available to those seeking treatment, they ask every patient if they have a fever, a cough, shortness of breath, or if theyve been in contact with someone whos positive or theyve traveled  originally outside of the U.S., but thats been expanded to include areas such as New York or New Orleans.

The hospitals census has been cut in half because officials urge residents to stay home if theyre sick and follow-up with a primary care doctor instead. The emergency department went from seeing 200 patients a day to maybe 60 or 80 patients a day, Villa said.

It was actually the opposite of what we thought was going to happen, she said. We thought we were going to see this high influx of patients.

Rather than assuming that means Midland lucked out and wont be hit as hard as other areas, Villa said hospital staff continue to prepare for the worst.

As businesses reopen this weekend, she said she cant help worrying it might be too soon, but all they can do is wait and plan accordingly.

Were still waiting to see, is it going to continue? Is it going to worsen? she said. Were still prepared. Were still going to continue doing our mock drills for an influx of COVID patients, because we dont know when its going to be the end.
Government degree, diploma and engineering colleges in Tripura will hold final examinations in July end if the situation remains normal, said state education minister Ratan Lal Nath.

The decision was made following a meeting between vice chancellors and registrars of Maharaja Bir Bikram University (MBB), only state government-run university of the state, and Tripura (Central) University on Friday.

We have decided to conduct the examinations for the 2nd, 4th and 6th semesters in government-run degree and diploma engineering colleges and 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th semesters for degree engineering colleges in July end. The decision on the new schedule was taken in accordance with the UGC guidelines. The examinations will be conducted if the situation is normal like now, Nath told the reporters at states civil secretariat on Friday late evening.

Besides, an integrated master degree course in commerce and chemistry would be introduced in the MBB University. Introduction of other courses, like a diploma course in retail, social management, GST and Spanish language is also in consideration.

There are 22 general degree colleges and seven technical institutes under the higher education department.

Online classes for these degree and technical colleges including MBB University have already started.
People are excited to be able to come pick up their items they want right away rather than me having to ship it to them or waiting until we can be open, Gentile said Friday. She said there had been a steady stream of customers pulling up to the table she set up outside the Frankfort shop.
A woman who had an abortion at 23 weeks is launching a legal bid to force clinics to tell their patients that a foetus may feel pain during terminations.

Ana-Maria Tudor, 32, claims she was never informed that her unborn baby might suffer during the abortion procedure.

She says this means she could not have given her fully informed consent.

Ana Maria-Tudor, 32, is launching a legal complaint against clinics after she was not told her unborn baby would feel pain when she opted to undergo an abortion after 23 weeks

Official guidelines make no mention of the possibility that the foetus might feel pain because they are based on the premise that it is incapable of feeling pain before 24 weeks gestation.

Clinics are not instructed to give pain relief to the foetus but Ms Tudors lawyers say evidence now shows it is highly likely that the unborn child can feel pain from 18 weeks onwards.

They say abortion guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are out of date and need revising.

Ms Tudor, from Newcastle, said: I did not find out a baby at 23 weeks might be able to feel pain until afterwards. It made me feel awful and I now deeply regret my decision.

Ms Tudors' lawyers claim evidence proves it is highly likely for unborn babies to feel pain during an abortion after 18 weeks

Women should be able to decide what they want to do, but they must be told the truth of what is involved.

Her solicitor Paul Conrathe, of Sinclairslaw, said: The failure to provide this information to my client meant she went ahead and aborted her baby at 23 weeks, a decision she profoundly regrets.

Ms Tudor said she was in two minds before having the abortion at a BPAS clinic in Richmond, Surrey, in April 2017.

The pregnancy had been a surprise because she had gynaecological problems which doctors said would prevent her from conceiving. As a result, she only had a pregnancy test when five months pregnant.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, along with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are adamant that it is impossible for a baby to feel pain before 24 weeks

She decided to have a termination and the NHS arranged for an abortion. Ms Tudor had some doubts after speaking to a pro-life activist but decided to proceed.

The absence of any mention of foetal pain in NICEs guidelines follows a study in 2010 by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) which concluded that the foetus cannot experience pain in any sense before 24 weeks.

However, research has since called that into question.

NICE said its guidelines were regularly checked and updated, adding: As this case may be subject to legal proceedings we will not be making a specific comment on it.'

RCOG and BPAS maintain that pain before 24 weeks is impossible.
Evening Standard

Boris Johnson may have to resign if he is found to have lied to Parliament over the partygate scandal, a minister has suggested. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab refused to be drawn into a hypothetical situation of the Prime Minister finding himself in such a position. Mr Raabs comments came after the bombshell accusation by Mr Johnsons former top adviser, Dominic Cummings, that the Prime Minister lied to the Commons over the bring-your-own-booze gathering on May 20, 2020, in the garden of No10 when the UK was in lockdown.
IN MEMORIAM: Rafiqul Alam Khan

The Executive Secretariat of the Group of 77 is mourning the passing of its staff member Rafiqul Alam Khan, who died on Wednesday, 29 April 2020, from health complications related to the COVID-19 disease.

Rafiqul Alam Khan served in the G-77 secretariat as Administrative and Research Officer, where he began working in 1989 with great dedication, devotion, professionalism and commitment. Prior to joining the G-77 secretariat, he served in the Foreign Service of his native Bangladesh with assignments at Bangladesh's Embassy in Moscow and at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York.

"Hadj Rafik", as he was affectionately known among his colleagues and friends who respected him, and even more for his human qualities and kindness, will be dearly missed; but his long and distinguished service to the Group of 77 will not be forgotten.

While appreciating deeply the messages of condolences, sympathy and support received, the Executive Secretary and his staff extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to Rafiqul Alam Khan's immediate family - his wife and three sons, as well as to his relatives and many close friends and colleagues.
The Emir of Rano, Tafida Abubakar Illa, is dead.

He was aged 74.

The secretary, Rano Emirate council, Sank Haruna, told PREMIUM TIMES, that he received the news about the emirs death few minutes to 5 p.m.

Im now on my way to the hospital, the emir is dead, he said.

The late emir was on Friday admitted at Mallam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital over an undisclosed ailment.

He was later referred to the Nassarawa Specialist Hospital for further medical attention, where he died on Saturday.

The Rano Emirate is one of the newly created four emirates by governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Background

The Kano State government on Friday said preliminary investigations into the recent unexplained deaths recorded in the state showed many victims died from malaria and Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).

Many of the victims also had underlying medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, among others illnesses, the official added.

READ ALSO:

Salihu Yakasai, spokesperson to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, said many of the victims could not get adequate medical attention before they passed on.

Kanos rising coronavirus infections

The result announced by NCDC) on Friday showed Kano leading the table for the second straight day ahead of Abuja and Lagos.

While Kano reported 92 new infections Abuja followed with 36 while Lagos fell to the third for the first time with 30 cases.

In all, Lagos remains the Nigerias epicentre of the disease with 1,006 cases, followed by Kano with 311 and Abuja with 214.
Eli, a 5-year-old golden retriever, is not big on barking. He is one of the quiet yet playful dogs that allows everyone to pet him on his walks. But the Coronavirus pandemic, which has caused all of us to change our lifestyles, has brought about some changes in his behaviour too. Eli isnt one to bark but he has now become more aware of the lack of ambient noise. And so, he now barks at the slightest rustle, says dog trainer and canine behaviourist, Mitali Parekh, who warns others of a heightened sensitivity in their dogs during this time.

With the empty roads and quieter sidewalks, Parekh says that Eli misses people. So now when he sees people on walks, he is more eager to run up to them. He is a therapy dog and is missing his work, which was two or three times a week, adds the 40-year-old Navi Mumbai resident.

Pets and pet parents may have to deal with a drastic change during this unusual time. For instance, Parekh points out, Eli also had to get used to people wearing masks and roaming on roads. At first, he barked at them. But then I wore a mask around the house and normalised it by kissing him and talking to him through the mask. So, what when the lockdown is lifted? What should pet parents watch out for?

Back to basic (routines)

Rajvi Mariwala, 39, has seven cats, whom she adopted from the street - Chom Chom, Goofy, Pibby, Namak, Gauri, TK and Buggy. She points out that multi-cat households may face overplay or competing for ones attention. Oddly enough, the attention-seeking behaviours may include - learning to trick you into adding more food into their bowl or even cat-bombing you during your video conference calls.

Rajvi Mariwala has eight years of feline behavioural training and seven cats

Cats are creatures of habit. So, changes in our routines may severely disrupt their behaviours as well, says the dog trainer and feline behaviourist and adds, Stick to a feeding routine that you had before lockdown and do not unwittingly reward unwanted behaviour that demands your attention.

While all pet parents suggest reverting to their pre-corona habits, when it comes to the overly sleepy or lethargic behaviour of pet dogs, Parekh, who actively shares tips and tricks to pet parents via her social media accounts, suggests that it may have to do with the weather. The lockdown has coincided with the height of summer. Pet owners may also constantly keep feeding their pets as they indulge in round-the-clock snacking. Its best if they could maintain pre-corona lockdown feeding habits, she adds.

Mitali Parekh gets creative with Elis feeding habits

Another Mumbai-based trainer and canine behaviourist, Tanya Patel, suggests that the lazy behaviour of dogs maybe just a passing phase. She explains, This might be your dogs way of coping with a difficult situation.

Patel, who has four dogs - Biggie, Chamko, Sheru and Lily, began her dog training back in 2012. Speaking from experience, she says, The most common behaviour problem when it comes to dogs during the quarantine is concerning toilet training - peeing in the wrong places or at odd hours. Some of them might be doing this due to stress and confusion and I advise pet parents to be patient during these times and not to scold them for any kind of potty-training mistakes.

Patel is another to endorse the back to basic routine logic. If you do change the area/surface where theyre supposed to relieve themselves, then changing it back after quarantine will take some time to get him used to it again. Try and stick to their regular timings as much as possible so that there is less disruption after things are back to normal.

Separation

As and when the lockdown ends, and your presence around the house starts to fade, experts foretell a surge in separation anxiety among pets. Youre around 24/7 during the lockdown. So, once the lockdown is lifted it might be difficult for them to readjust to your old timings, Mariwala says. Patel adds, One can avoid separation anxiety in pets by spending some time away from them every day. Spend some time in a separate room for a couple of hours without your dog to get them used to some time apart. Spending all this time at home with them might also lead to attention-seeking behaviours.

Tanya Patel suggests spending time away, in another room perhaps, from pets during the lockdown

With eight years of experience in the field, Mariwala points out signs to watch out for in cats posts the lockdown such as - excessive grooming, litter box habits changing, loss of appetite, grumpy behaviour or even aggression towards other cats in the home. She lists, The change in routine - with you not being around all the time - may affect some cats. So, keep their feeding routines the same, ensure the one on one playtime continues, leave interactive toys behind for your cat, ensure access to a window so the cat can see the world going by.

While teaching Eli new tricks to help him cope with the changing routines and surroundings, Parekh says, Post the lockdown, dogs may have a sensory overload due to noise. However, pet owners will have to wait and see how the lockdown will be lifted - whether it will be phase-wise or not, to know how to deal with their dogs behaviours. She also suggests that this is a good time to get the full family involved in dog training. She adds, Due to the lockdown, many pet parents will face a lack of routine or lack of exercise. This may bring out destructive behaviours in some dogs, that can be worked out with a trainer using online solutions. Some dogs are forced to live with new family members, other dogs or in new spaces, as families come together in isolation. This could rise to issues such as aggression or nervousness. Please reach out to a professional promptly -- dont wait for the lockdown to end.
Disney fans are ready to go the distance  again. According to one article, the studio is creating a live-action version of Hercules. Almost instantly, fans took to social media, sharing their thoughts on who should portray the iconic gospel-singing Muses. Heres what Twitter users are saying about these characters.

Disney is reportedly making a live-action adaptation of Hercules

Sure, theres already a Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin remake, in addition to a live-action version of Mulan, which is on the way. Theres a new Disney live-action adaptation of the works, and according to the Disinsider, fans should get ready to go the distance. The gospel truth? Disney is creating a rebooted version of their animated classic, titled Hercules.

According to the Disinsider, The film is expected to be a theatrical release, not a Disney+ original, like Lady and the Tramp, as well as Robin Hood and Lilo & Stitch both in pre-production. Unfortunately, the Walt Disney Company has not confirmed much regarding the upcoming film.

One potential director for this adaptation could be Jon Favreau, formerly of the photo-real adaptations of The Lion King and The Jungle Book. The writer also had a hand in creating the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, although the article proposes a few other directors for the Hercules reboot.

Fans are already casting the Muses for Disneys live-action version

There are main characters like Meg, Hercules, and Phil. However, the characters who really move the story forward are the muses, who sing their narration throughout the animated movie. Some Disney fans took to social media, sharing their suggestions of who should portray the iconic characters. The actresses most often mentioned include Lizzo and Amber Riley.

[I] heard Hercules is getting a live-action remake and thought Id drop the only fan cast I care about. The Muses. Kelly Rowland, Jennifer Hudson, Keke Palmer, Coco Jones, and Amber Riley. We want dark-skinned sisters playing the roles of the Muses, one Twitter user said.

Imma say it. If Disney picks Lizzo (who I like) as a muse over someone like Amber Riley I might actually rage. There are multiple black curvy women who can sing. Please dont be basic, another Twitter user wrote.

Im going to need Beyonce, Brandy, Jennifer, Amber Riley, Lizzo, Anika, Kelly, Kierra Sheard, or some equally good Gospel Artiste. Everyone who is a Muse MUST HAVE STAMINA AND RANGE, another Twitter user said.

Lizzo accepts Entertainer of the Year award onstage during the 51st NAACP Image Awards | Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images for BET

Lizzo previously expressed wanting to appear in a Disney live-action film

Its unclear who will have a role in this upcoming live-action reboot. However, some of the actresses mentioned by fans already expressed interest in working with Disney. Lizzo posted a video of herself dressed as Ursula, singing Poor Unfortunate Souls.

This was prior to the announcement that Melissa McCarthy would portray the character in the upcoming version of The Little Mermaid. For the Disney Singalong, Ariana Grande performed Megs I Wont Say Im in Love, dressed as the character in light purple.

Presumably, more information regarding the live-action adaptation of Hercules will be announced in the coming weeks. Until then, fans can watch the animated version of the film on Disneys streaming platform, Disney+.
Actor Lilwin has refused to respond to new allegations levelled against him by comedian Funny Face, after going live on Instagram Wednesday evening.

He left many of his followers disappointed by ignoring their calls on him to address Funny Face's issue.

On Tuesday, the Cow & Chicken actor and producer threw some verbal punches at Lilwin, Kalybos and Bismark The Joke, tagging them as ungrateful.

In a viral video, Funny Face alleged that they have been spreading lies about him and dared them to deny or he would reveal all their dirty secrets.

Funny Face you've been destroyed for too long. Come out Lil Win, Kalybos, Bismark The Joke. What have I done to you? he asked in the video and cursed one of the three friends in other subsequent videos.

Funny Face also asked the three comedians to utter the word 'FIM' if they are real men, and he would tell the world their dirty secrets.

On Wednesday when Lilwin announced he was going live on Instagram at 5:00pm, many of his followers had thought that he was going to call Funny Face's bluff and say 'FIM'.

But surprisingly and very uncharacteristic of him, he could not utter a word about Funny Face.

His talk started 20 minutes past the publicized time of 5:00pm. It had about 3K social media users watching the live feed at the time. He rather shared call credits to his fans and thanked the fans, who he said have been supportive of his career.

He pledged not to do anything that would make him disappoint his fans, adding that nobody can bring him down except God who has the sole right. But regardless of what he said, some of the fans were left disappointed and others happy.Some lashed out at the comic actor for wasting their data and time, while others expressed their excitement at what they call maturity at how he (Lilwin) handled the issue by not addressing it.

---Daily Guide
Mumbai, May 2 : Actress Soha Ali Khan has asked people to join her in providing rations to 50,000 migrant workers without income and food during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown.

"Covid 19 has struck Dharavi, Asia's largest slum in Mumbai. The only way to stop it spreading is if people stay home. Please support us to provide rations to 50,000 migrant workers without income and food during the lockdown. Click on the link to donate," she tweeted on Saturday.

On the personal front, Soha recently said the lockdown has brought her closer to her family than ever.

The actress asserted that she tries to do interesting activities with husband, actor Kunal Kemmu, and daughter Inaaya.

"Family to me always comes first! In the times of lockdown, your family is what is going to keep you together by supporting you and making you laugh or be your partners in fun. The lockdown has brought us closer than ever. Kunal and I make sure that we engage ourselves with some or the other interesting activity," she said.

"We try to indulge Inaaya in various activities such as drawing, puzzles, colouring, learning the alphabet or numbers, and sometimes we gaze out of windows and play the 'I spot' game from the balcony," she added.
From COVID-19s toll in long-term-care homes to loved ones meeting at the Canada-U.S. border, weve selected some of the best long reads of the week from across the Stars newsrooms.

Want to dive into more long features? Sign up for the Weekend Long Reads newsletter to get them delivered straight to your inbox every Saturday morning.

1. Sanitary issues. Staff abuse. Seniors home at centre of Ontarios COVID-19 crisis has long history of violations

Orchard Villa long-term-care home in Pickering has faced a litany of citations for non-compliance with regulations and previous ministry orders, including those around ensuring living areas are kept clean and sanitary; protecting residents from staff abuse; meeting residents continence and toileting needs; and preventing falls. To date, more than 200 residents and staff of the 233-bed Orchard Villa have been infected with COVID-19, while 52 residents have died.

2. After seven weeks, one of Ontarios first COVID-19 patients to be intubated leaves the ICU, to applause

Doctors at Mackenzie Health believe Linda Lam is one of the first patients in Ontario with COVID-19 to be intubated. She is also among the few people worldwide to have received an experimental drug, remdesivir, which is being tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19. And in this ICU, Lam is  so far  the only patient with COVID-19 to leave the unit alive.

3. Coronavirus closed the border. They wont let that keep them apart

Some B.C. and Washington State residents have recently started stealing away to unguarded stretches of the border  spots separated by nothing more than a rusting guardrail or patches of grass  to meet with their significant others, close friends and family. They come armed with lawn chairs or blankets, and some will even go for a quick smooch or hug when police or border officers arent looking.

4. Theres no wide-scale post-mortem COVID-19 testing in Ontario. Why experts say this is a national embarrassment

The absence of a co-ordinated post-mortem testing strategy prevents a more complete scientific and demographic understanding of how the virus works, who it kills, why it kills and what underlying medical conditions put people at greater risk, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.

How are we going to say we understand this disease if we dont do this kind of measurement?

Furness said post-mortem sampling would also detect missed virus-related deaths.

Every government is undercounting the dead, Furness said. Everyone is doing it.

5. The race is on to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Heres what you need to know

Back in January, before COVID-19 even had a name, Chinese scientists were able to quickly sequence the genetic code of the virus, thanks to leaps forward in science. That gave the world a big head start.

Researchers are also trying to make some of the usual steps of a clinical trial happen in parallel, she said.

6. COVID-19s silent spread: Evidence mounting that many infections are going undetected

In Iceland, nearly half of people with COVID-19 had no symptoms when they were swabbed for a scientific study. In the United States, preliminary results from a new antibody survey suggests as many as one in five New Yorkers may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus. And in the waters off the coast of Guam, more than 850 sailors on a navy warship have been infected in a massive outbreak  with roughly half reporting no symptoms when they were tested.

7. Can Canada move its manufacturing back from China? Its complicated

Though some of the products Canada consumes could be repatriated to the country for manufacturing, it isnt as simple as it sounds, said Jean-Francois Letarte, a partner at consulting firm KPMG, who specializes in supply chains.

Letarte said that traditionally, Canadian industry has done well when clusters of manufacturing in some subsectors, for example the automotive industry, allow companies and suppliers to supply and feed off each other. Today there are some clusters in the automotive, aerospace and food processing sectors, but otherwise these would take time to develop elsewhere.

8. Testing the limits: How Torontos common areas might work when COVID-19 restrictions start to loosen

In offices, shared amenities  the lunch room, the bathrooms, other high-traffic areas  will pose the largest challenge, as those who dont normally work from home start to return to their regular locations.

There will be certain places where you dont want people sitting because youre going to have a lot of people passing by them.

Offices might adopt decals  similar to those now used by grocery stores  that lay out pathways with social distancing marks and block off some areas.

9. The trauma will change you forever. COVID-19 has exposed problems in long-term care. Will the response fix it?

Cheryl Robinson could tell the man was dying.

The registered practical nurse called the mans son, who was still hopeful, and suggested he come to Peel Manor in Brampton, where 10 residents with COVID-19 were isolated in the space that was once the adult day program on the ground floor.

When the son appeared on the other side of the glass, she opened the bedside window, allowing his voice to flow in with the breeze. Just a screen separated father and son. The resident could no longer speak, but Robinson believes hearing is the last sense to go. After his son left, she told the man he was loved.

10. How the Cypress Hills Massacre of 1873  likely Canadas first mass shooting  helped create the RCMP

It was early summer in 1873 when illegal whisky and a spat over stolen horses spurred a late-night massacre of a group of Nakoda camped in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Although the Cypress Hills Massacre has faded from modern memory, its still remembered every spring with a gathering of the descendants of the men, women and children who were killed.

Its also the reason why the North West Mounted Police  which eventually became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police  were finally marched out to the Prairies, to try to bring order to what was seen as the lawless west.
After more than two weeks of disappearing from the public eye, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un made his first appearance in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of a fertilizer factory, May 2.

The leader of the rogue nation, was present during the event in Sunchon, near the country's capital Pyongyang. His appearance came after weeks of speculations surrounding his health and possible death spread due to his sudden disappearance.

Jong-un's last appearance was on April 11, when he presided over a meeting of the Workers' Party. The day after which, state media reported that the dictator inspected fighter jets.

During the event on May 2, Korean Central news agency (KCNA) reported that the participants broke into thunderous cheers as the Supreme Leader appeared. Moreover, it was stated that Jong-un inspected the facility and was briefed about the processes of production.

In addition, the reports also said that the dictator emotionally expressed that both his grandfather and father, Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il, respectively would be happy to hear about the modern phosphatic fertilizer factory in the country.

Aside from Jong-un, other senior officials were also in attendance at the event. His sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong, who was previously reported to replace him in case of his demise, was also present.

Rumors of Death and Ill-health

Talks about the dictators deteriorating health started due to his absence during the celebration of his grandfather's birthday, which is the most important holiday in the nation, dubbed as the Day of the Sun.

His failure to make an appearance started a lot of unconfirmed reports and rumors about his condition. The possible death or grave illness of the dictator ignited global fears of the nation's nuclear arsenal and who would take over leadership in the North if Jong-un was indisposed.

Read also: North Korea Hunting Leaker of Kim Jong-Un's Fake Death Video That Circulated Online

In addition, there were also reports that Jong-un's absence was due to a heart procedure that has gone awry, resulting in complications on the dictator's health. The news also cited that sources within the North said that Jong-un needed the treatment as a result of his heavy smoking, over-fatigue, and obesity.

On top of this, other reports claimed that the dictator was injured in an accident after a missile testing activity . the reports said that shrapnels from the missile wounded Jong-un.

However, despite the talks about the condition of Jong-un, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in remained firm that the North Korean leader was alive and well. US President Donald Trump also said that he can confirm that the dictator is alive, just earlier this week.

The speculations about Jong-un's sudden disappearance arose since the country has a history of being secretive about its leadership. It can be recalled that Jong-un's predecessor and father has died two days before anyone outside the regime's circle found out.

Jong-un's re-appearance after several weeks has calmed his nation which has been in unrest amidst his sudden absence.

Related article: Kim Jong-Un Whereabouts Still in Question as Satellite Images Show His Luxury Boats

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Hanging over the need to conduct oversight and process legislative business are the health concerns of not only lawmakers but the thousands who answer their phones, clean their offices and cook their food. Multiple cases of covid-19 have been confirmed among police officers and construction workers employed on the Capitol campus, and Pelosi and other Democrats have invoked the possibility of increased transmission as a reason to keep lawmakers away from the Washington region, which is under stay-at-home orders through at least May 15.
The parents of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl on Saturday filed an appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Sindh High Court verdict that overturned convictions of four men in their son's kidnapping and murder case.

Pearl, the 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the alleged links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.

On April 2, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench overturned the death sentence of British-born 46-year-old al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in the abduction and murder of Pearl in 2002. He has been in jail for the past 18 years.

The court also acquitted his three aides - Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil- serving life sentences in the case. The bench announced the verdict on the appeals filed by the four convicts 18 years ago.

Two criminal petitions have been filed by renowned lawyer Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the parents - Ruth Pearl and Judie Pearl - against the acquittal and release of the four accused, the Express Tribune reported on Saturday.

"The decision by the Sindh High Court to free the men in the murder of Daniel Pearl is a complete miscarriage of justice. It is a defining case for the Pakistani state and its judicial system, involving freedom of the press, the sanctity of every life, freedom from terror and the manifestation of a welcoming and safe Pakistan to the world. Rarely has any court case embodied and risked such fundamental values, the lawyer said.

According to the petition, the Sindh High Court has failed to note that this was a brutal murder as a result of international terrorism and the principle of the standard of proof, as well as the benefit of doubt in cases of international terrorism, has to be applied keeping in the context that the nature and type of evidence available in such terrorism cases cannot be equated with cases involving non-terrorism crimes.

"Therefore, it is obvious and apparent that the impugned judgment is clearly erroneous because it is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of law and misreading of the entire record of Special Case No.26 of 2002, the petition stated, and added that the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside.

The petition stated that the court further erred in failing to take into consideration that Sheikh has a history of involvement in international terrorism.

The petition further states that keeping in mind the arguments, the judgment is fundamentally based on a misinterpretation of the law and on a misreading and selective reading of the entire record of the case.

Siddiqi further added in the petition submitted that the provincial high courts judgment, has itself held that the present case is a very sensitive case where a foreign journalist was murdered in the most brutal circumstances that would have spread terror amongst other foreigners in Pakistan and the journalist community as a whole.

"Therefore, in light of its own finding and the strong incriminating evidence establishing the case for kidnapping for ransom of the deceased person, Sindh High Court has erred in giving the aforementioned findings, said the petition.

Two days after the Sindh High Court overturned Sheikh's conviction on April 2, the Sindh government invoked the Maintenance of Public Order to keep the convicts in jail.

Pearl's murder took place three years after Sheikh, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, was released by India in 1999 and given safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for the nearly 150 passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. He was serving prison term in India for kidnappings of Western tourists in the country.

The Sindh government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court decision on April 22, and on April 28 asked for an early hearing.

"The matter is of great urgency, therefore, the application for the suspension of April 2 Sindh High Court judgement be heard as early as possible," it said in its application.
MANZINI  The workforce has been warned to be ready for a real COVID-19 war (in form of retrenchments), which is yet to come to the workplace.



This warning comes from the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and is contained in the workers federation 2020 Workers Day statement which was released by the secretariat yesterday. The secretariat includes Acting Secretary General Mduduzi Gina and Deputy Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga.



Strategies



The federation said this years May Day should present the workforce an opportunity to rethink their strategies to intensify the workers rights defence models. It said they need more innovative ways as most employers, for a prolonged period, would want to justify exploitation using the effects of the virus as a shield.



In fact, its argument was that the projection of 20 million job losses to be recorded in Africa as a consequence of the virus includes Eswatini. On that regard, it said this means that the trade union movement would be negatively affected. It said negative effects would not only be because of reduced membership, but its bargaining power would be weaker due to a frail economy.

Therefore, the federation said in order for them to meet the obvious challenges of the future, they needed to consolidate their unity.



Instability



It said said their collective power was the only available tried and tested tool to fight the socio-economic instability ahead of them.

It further warned the workers that the layoffs, which were currently obtaining in various industries, were an indication that retrenchments were upon them. On that note, it said as they go for possible retrenchment package negotiations, they should not give in to being hoodwinked into accepting less favourable settlements.



According to its analysis, the COVID-19 pandemic was a general battle for survival and a real war for workers was yet to come at their workplaces as they defend their rights from being taken away in the name of the virus.



We need to fight that war with all our might and zeal as employers might want to recover their lost profits by engaging in all sorts of unfair labour practices, the secretariat said in the statement. As it analysed the situation, it said the employers would want to engage the workers in precarious employment contracts, force them to work in excess of their usual working hours and all sorts of habits that would be designed to circumvent the generally accepted workers rights and freedoms.



On that regard, the federation warned the workers to resist that. It said they should oppose all initiatives that would seek to suggest that their rights at work should be secondary to the employers profits.



Guidelines



However, it is worth noting that at the moment, the Guidelines on Employment Contingency Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic General Notice 22 of 2020 says there should be no retrenchments based on the pandemic.

In fact, it says an employer shall not retrench any employee within the declared period of partial lockdown.

It also says, provided that an employer was ordinarily planning on retrenchments during the period of the declared state of national emergency on the basis of prior arranged or on-going standard restructuring process, the employer shall fully comply with the provisions of Section 40 of the Employment Act No. 5 of 1980.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

CLAIM: Photo shows a woman at a California protest against stay-at-home orders holding a sign that says: Barack 6 Hussein 7 Obama 5 COVID = 19 OPEN YOUR EYES.

The CDC explains on its site exactly how COVID-19 got its name. https://t.co/5FODjDhlLt  snopes.com (@snopes) April 27, 2020

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing an altered photo of a woman holding a sign at a protest against California stay-at-home orders earlier this month. The actual sign said: Give me liberty or give me death, a famous quote from Patrick Henrys speech at the Virginia convention in 1775.

The images are identical except for the sign carried by the woman, who is wearing an American flag tank top, hat and sunglasses. In the manipulated photo the womans sign spells out the full name of former President Barack Obama, placing a tally of the number of letters contained in each part of his name. An online conspiracy theory movement called QAnon often uses numbers associated with significant dates or the numbers of letters corresponding to a persons name to promote baseless claims of an attempted coup against President Donald Trumps presidency.

In this case, social media users falsely claimed the woman was some linking the letters in Obamas name to COVID-19, although the number of letters in his name only equals 18. Social media users posted the doctored image with comments mocking the woman for the math error.

The original photo was taken during a protest in Huntington Beach, California, by Jeff Gritchen, a staff photographer for the Orange County Register. In an email, Gritchen confirmed the image had been edited and said he had seen the altered photo getting a lot of traction online.
Commuters could be asked to take their temperatures before travelling under plans to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission on public transport.

The measure is one of a number reportedly being considered by the government to ease lockdown measures when the time comes.

A body temperature of over 37.8C is one of the two main symptoms of Covid-19 infection other than a dry, persistent cough.

Downing Street is expected to set out a road map detailing how restrictions can be eased this Thursday.

Another measure under consideration is thought to be the relaxation of the two-metre rule stipulating that people stand apart from one another.

Ministers have asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to probe whether the measure is an effective and proportionate tool for controlling the spread of the virus, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The government is looking for ways to reopen parts of the economy while still keeping the so-called R value below one  which would mean that any person with the virus would transmit it to less than one person.

Changes to advice and rules are expected to be partly geared around boosting public confidence to go outside where safe. Recent polling shows a significant proportion of the population said they would not be comfortable if lockdown measures were lifted too soon.

A survey by Ipsos Mori found just 21 per cent said they would be comfortable using public transport in the same way as before if lockdown measures were lifted in the next month, with 61 per cent saying they would not be.

Forty-one per cent said they would be comfortable sending their child to school while 48 per cent said they would not. More than a third (39 per cent) expressed discomfort about shopping in supermarkets in the same way as they did pre-pandemic.

The findings show ministers will have to raise public confidence that certain lockdown measures are no longer necessary if they want to successfully reopen shuttered schools and workplaces.

Discussions are understood to be ongoing over whether schools should reopen before the summer holidays or remain closed until September.

Some epidemiologists have suggested that closing schools may not be a proportionate or necessary measure in fighting the virus because of the low susceptibility of children to Covid-19. Questions remain, however, about the extent to which they could act as carriers to transmit the illness to more vulnerable people.

The business department is expected to publish recommendations for workplaces next week, but the Financial Times reported that offices may be told to keep their staff working from home for several months where possible  in part to keep public transport from being overwhelmed.

Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Show all 30 1 /30 Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute's silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak. PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Shoppers observe a minute's silence in Tescos in Shoreham Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Firefighters outside Godstone fire station PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Salford Royal Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute's silence at University College Hospital in London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A school children's poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A man holds a placard that reads "People's health before profit" outside St Thomas hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute's silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus University College Hospital, London Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute's silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London An NHS worker observes a minute's silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London AFP via Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Belfast, Northern Ireland NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Plymouth NHS workers hold a minute's silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute's silence Getty Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Mater Infirmorum Hospital People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Waterloo Station, London AP Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew's House in Edinburgh to observe a minute's silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus London Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy's Hospital Reuters Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Royal Derby Hospital PA Silence for key workers who lost lives to coronavirus Leicester, NHS workers during a minute's silence outside Glenfield Hospital Getty

Even where offices do reopen, it has been suggested that they could operate at half capacity on an alternating weekly basis, with half the workforce at home at any one time. Social areas at work like canteens could be kept closed or asked to operate on a socially distanced basis.

Other businesses may also face new guidelines or rules as they reopen: with wider walkways on building sites to help social distancing and increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in some factories.

What you are going to get next week is really a road map, a menu of options. The dates and times of each individual measure will be very much driven by where we are in the epidemic, what the data is really saying and we are getting in a lot more data every day now and in the course of the next few days, Boris Johnson said on Thursday at a regular Downing Street press conference.

Asked about the public transport plan, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: Experts are constantly looking at best practice around the world, and the government would carry on being guided by the scientific evidence that is available.
T he number of people who have died in UK hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus has jumped by 621, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference on Saturday, Mr Jenrick said that a total of 28,131 people who tested positive for the virus have now died.

This is up from 27,510 the day before.

Earlier NHS England separately announced 370 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing England's total hospital deaths to 20,853.

Meanwhile, Wales announced a further 44 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 969.

Northern Ireland announced 11 further deaths, bringing the total fatalities in the region to 376.

In Scotland, a total of 1,559 patients who tested positive for coronavirus have now died - an increase of 44 from Friday.

The death tolls provided by individual NHS boards and the Government differ, as the official toll announced by the Department of Health now includes care home and community deaths.

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

Of the 370 new deaths announced in England today, 75 occurred on May 1, 149 occurred on April 30, and 52 occurred on April 29.

The figures also show 85 of the new deaths took place between April 1 and April 28 while the remaining nine deaths occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on March 13.

Of the 20,853 confirmed reported deaths so far in hospitals in England of people who tested positive for Covid-19, 52 per cent have been people aged 80 and over while 39 per cent were 60-79.

A further 8 per cent were aged 40-59, with 1 per cent aged 20-39 and 0.05 per cent aged 0-19, according to NHS England.

The number of deaths announced so far by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has reached 767 - the highest number for any trust in England.

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust has announced 512 deaths.

Two trusts have announced between 400 and 500 deaths - the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust with 446 and Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with 428.

A further seven trusts have announced between 300 and 400 deaths.

Figures from the Scottish Government released on Saturday evening show the number of people who have tested positive for the virus is at 11,927, a rise of 273 from the previous day.

There are 1,674 patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 in Scottish hospitals, 135 fewer than Friday's statistics.

Patients in intensive care with confirmed or suspected coronavirus dropped by two to 108.
A majority of government doctors



in Manipur started treating patients on Saturday wearing black badges, protesting against the state's decision to scrap an allowance from their pay.

At a press conference, All Manipur Health Services Doctors Association (AMHSDA) president Potsangbam Radheshyam Singh said if the Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) is not restored within a week, the doctors will go on "cease work" the next day.

The doctors feel demoralised because of the reduction in pay due to the scrapping of the allowance while they continue to work on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19, he said.

Singh said the AMHSDA will be holding discussions with the state health minister over the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COVID-19-related stigmatization a dangerous "political virus"

People's Daily Online

By Zhong Sheng (People's Daily) 18:08, May 01, 2020

The latest statistics released by Johns Hopkins University revealed that the U.S. is the most-affected country by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. The situation strikes a chord with the Chinese people half a world away as they can feel the misery currently being felt by the Americans.

They expressed their willing to offer as much help as possible on the internet, saying the world is a "small village" where insecurity for one is insecurity for all. Such warmth reflects the genuine bond that binds people together.

However, some U.S. politicians are acting on the opposite side, which angers many. Life is invaluable, but they never see the urgency to address the health crisis, even with people crying, body bags being transferred in trucks, and people dying at home. What they are interested in is to shift their due responsibilities through political games.

U.S. media commented that some U.S. politicians focused on two things when the virus was rampant  blaming media and blaming China. Boston Globe said they have "blood" on their hands.

The stigmatization of China damages international justice. China has made open and arduous efforts in the fight against the epidemic, which is obvious to all and will never be denied by the few who smear the country's contribution.

Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres expressed his gratitude to all the people in China who are sacrificing many aspects of their normal lives to prevent the virus from spreading to others. Chief of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also hailed that the high speed and massive scale of China's moves are rarely seen in the world. The quick containment of COVID-19 in China is impressive and "sets an encouraging example for other countries," said The Lancet in a recent editorial.

China's efforts at all costs have successfully curbed the spread of the virus and saved numerous lives. However, such efforts are slandered by irresponsible politicians who only shift blames. Where is the justice?

The stigmatization of China won't save lives. The novel coronavirus challenges people's right to life and health. At present, it's crystal clear that saving lives is more important than shifting responsibilities, and cooperation remains more significant than groundless accusation. However, it is not what happens with the U.S. politicians who believe making incantations like wizards can help people survive, rather than proper treatment.

The Atlantic said in an article that the White House did not take forceful containment measures at the beginning, which was a major reason for the current explosive spread.

"China did a lot of things right at the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "It's sad that even the US, where you would expect to do this well, did this poorly," he added.

The stigmatization of China impedes global efforts to contain the pandemic. As the world's top power of economy and science, the U.S. boasts abundant economic resources, strong R&D capability and leading medical science. It should have taken more international responsibilities and helped vulnerable countries and regions while taking effective control measures at home. However, the awkward practices of some U.S. politicians would only destroy the global efforts to fight the pandemic, the consensus of building a community with a shared future, and mutual assistance.

China has always adhered to the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, offering assistance for other countries within its capability. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that China has set a good example for the international community by lending a helping hand to other epidemic-hit countries in a timely manner.

What lies behind the stigmatizing tricks is vicious political manipulation, and this is conspicuous for both the U.S. and the international community. New York Times said that in the U.S., the response to the coronavirus is "heavily overlaid with political calculations."

Jim O'neill, the chair of U.K. think tank Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs recently published an article titled Blaming China Is a Dangerous Distraction. "For many governments, naming and shaming China appears to be a ploy to divert attention from their own lack of preparedness. At a time when the top global priority should be to organize a comprehensive coordinated response to the dual health and economic crises unleashed by the coronavirus, this blame game is not just unhelpful but dangerous."

The dangerous "political virus" also needs to be defeated with joint efforts from the world. United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes warned that COVID-19 is not just a health issue, and it can also be a virus that exacerbates xenophobia, hate and exclusion. This point is well proved by the insults and even assaults on the Asians wearing masks in the West.

"It's clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs  for example, on their health and livelihoods," Science journal Nature also echoed such point in an editorial.

The virus tests human beings' morality and conscience for history, lives and future as the latter make choices between provocation and solidarity. It's unquestionable that if the "political virus" keeps impacting international justice and the U.S. politicians continue taking the virus as a political weapon, the world will suffer immeasurable losses and pain, which will also leave a very dark page on human history.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)

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With the CDC reversing their guidelines and now recommending that the general public wear masks, many states are quickly requiring them. While wearing a mask is something tangible that people can do to feel safe and makes for a nice post on Instagram, they will, unfortunately, do little, if anything, to stop this pandemic. In fact, this crisis will only worsen as people begin taking non-essential trips, with the false belief that they are safe because they are wearing a mask.

We have already seen the public struggle to use protective equipment as simple as gloves. Now a fashionable item at grocery stores, they do not provide much protection to the wearer when the same dirty pair that was used to push their cart is also used to touch their phone, their face, and eat a snack. The Cleveland Clinic, which is recommending against wearing gloves in public, recognized another glaring issue; most people cannot safely remove them without contaminating themselves.

Masks pose an even larger problem. Anyone who has worked in an emergency department has had to tell a sick patient that their mask needs to cover their nose as well as their mouth. We have all seen unfitted N95s worn over beards or with incorrect strap placement.

Considering the public cannot use manufactured equipment correctly, one must ask how the fundamentally inferior homemade masks will compare. Without additional filters, cotton masks are only 4.5 percent to 56 percent as effective at protecting the wearer as surgical masks, which are themselves inferior to N95s. Although widely unavailable, N95 masks remain the CDC recommendation when caring for unmasked COVID-19 patients. While homemade masks may perform better as source control, the CDC admits that they lack evidence as to their efficacy at preventing transmission to others.

Although new data shows promising results with some fabrics, the CDCs vague recommendation of cotton fabric or bandanas means many people will be wearing masks that are effectively equivalent to no mask at all.

Even with better instructions for materials selection, few know how to properly don and doff a mask, perform hand hygiene, or have heard of sanitizer contact times. Not only is this a risk to the wearer, but a recent study also found more contamination on the outside of masks worn by COVID-19 patients than the inside. As a result, the same mask meant to prevent disease could become another vector for transmission.

The most dangerous aspect of masks is psychological, allowing people to enter a fantasy of normality even when we are far from it. While we may be past our current peak and have some additional testing capability, fundamentally, nothing has changed. This outbreak spread from only a few people, so with no vaccine, herd immunity, or effective treatment, there is nothing preventing a second wave of infection in which thousands more could die.

And it is not just the public falling into this trap, but politicians such as New Yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo. Although he has been praised for his COVID-19 response, he repeatedly spoke out against closing public transit, issuing shutdowns, and initially prevented New York City from doing so, claiming, Fear is as or more contagious as the virus. In New York City, where 2 of every 1000 residents have died of COVID-19, Bill De Blasio similarly fought to keep the schools open as the crisis loomed. It is these same politicians who are now beginning to lift restrictions in New York and already discussing a more broad reopening.

The economic impact on business has created a huge pressure on governments to reopen, and some politicians are willing to blatantly risk the lives of their constituents to do so. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman offered Las Vegas as a control group for reopening and proposed a free-market solution to public health, saying that if business opens and people get sick, competition will destroy that. Texass Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick recently justified reopening by saying, there are more important things than living.

Masks will only worsen this trend as they give other politicians the political and moral cover to follow the same path, under the fantasy that they are protecting their constituents with public mask use and social distancing.

In theory, social distancing sounds possible, as the CDC says the public should be safe even without effective PPE, as long as they keep 6 feet away from those around them. However, even when ignoring a recent study that showed COVID-19 might be able to travel through the air as far as 13 feet, the public does not seem to grasp the concept of social distancing.

While stores are requesting patrons keep 6 feet apart from those in line, many people still stand shoulder to shoulder between check stands or in narrow store isles. They continue to crowd onto mass transit and are beginning to pack parks and beaches. Many see the 6-foot rule as a game, looking for loopholes to exploit rather than trying to protect themselves, something that will only be worsened with the perceived safety of masks.

As health care workers, we have to do a better job to publicly counter this narrative that we can safely reopen, and I dont just mean on social media. While masks may help reduce transmission, the takeaway message for the public must be that masks will not keep them safe, they will only lower their risk.

What we need to promote is personal responsibility. Every time that someone leaves their house, goes to the store, or orders take-out, they are taking a risk that may get themselves or loved ones sick. And we need to ask ourselves if that trip to the beach is worth that risk.

We all want to return to our jobs, our friends, and share a new #COVID19 post. But we are at war, and this is one of those times when people need to be asked to sacrifice for their country. Today what that means is to stay at home, wash your hands, and be patient.

Daniel Berger is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
In this March 12, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Associated Press

Some prominent Democrats are calling for the country to move past a sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, even though the candidate himself is calling for an investigation.

On Friday morning, Biden appeared on nation TV and vehemently denied Tara Reade's allegations that he harassed and assaulted her in 1993, but the presumptive Democratic nominee called for an investigation into Reade's claims.

"They should be heard and then it should be investigated," Biden said of women who make sexual misconduct allegations.

Even after Biden called for Reade's personnel file to be released, prominent Democrats continued to push Americans to "move on" from the allegations, citing Biden's moral character and a lack of evidence to prove Reade's claims.

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Many prominent Democrats are calling for the country to move past a sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, even though the candidate himself is calling for an investigation of the matter.

On Friday morning, Biden appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and vehemently denied Tara Reade's allegations that Biden sexually harassed and assaulted her when she worked in his Senate office in 1993. But Biden said he believes all allegations should be investigated.

"They should be heard and then it should be investigated," Biden said of women who make sexual misconduct allegations.

Biden called for the National Archives to release any records that might shed light on whether a complaint was ever filed against him for sexual misconduct. (The National Archives told Insider on Friday that it doesn't have the records, which instead are controlled by the Senate. But Senate rules bar the release of personnel files for 50 years after they're created.)

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Even after Biden called for Reade's personnel file to be released, prominent Democrats continued to push Americans to "move on" from the allegations, citing Biden's moral character and a lack of evidence to prove Reade's claims.

Leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a leader in the fight against sexual misconduct in Washington, said they believe Biden's denials and didn't call for any further investigation of the matter.

"I have complete respect for the whole #MeToo movement," Pelosi said. "There's also due process and the fact that Joe Biden is Joe Biden."

Biden's campaign previously circulated talking points that falsely claimed that The New York Times' April investigation of Reade's allegations found her claims weren't credible. This point was regurgitated by some of Biden's allies, including Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate who's lobbying to be Biden's vice presidential running mate.

"I believe that women deserve to be heard and I believe they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources," Abrams told CNN on Tuesday. "The New York Times did a deep investigation and they found that the accusation was not credible. I believe Joe Biden."

The Times pushed back on the campaign, pointing out that its report didn't come to a conclusion about the credibility of the allegations.

Even after Biden's call for an investigation on Friday, some Democrats are still misleadingly arguing that Reade's allegations have been discredited and pushing for the country to "move on."

"I believe @JoeBiden. Anyone who knows him knows this allegation is antithetical to his character, to the culture in his office, to his soul," Jennifer Granholm, a former Democratic governor of Michigan, tweeted on Friday. "He has never been that kind of guy. Ever. The story has been heard and vetted. No staffer remembers it. No complaint found. Move on."

Gillibrand, who was the first Senate Democrat to call on former Sen. Al Franken to resign amid several sexual misconduct accusations, unequivocally defended Biden during a Tuesday conference call.

"I stand by Vice President Biden," Gillibrand said. "He's devoted his life to supporting women and he has vehemently denied this allegation."

Influential women's rights groups reportedly urged Biden to publicly address Reade's allegations for weeks, after drafting their own public letter.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the organization, called on Biden to advance the national conversation on sexual misconduct by putting foward "policy solutions" and taking "personal responsibility." The group didn't call for an investigation into Reade's allegations.

"We are glad to see Vice President Biden take a needed first step in addressing this issue head on. We now look to Biden to continue to push this conversation, and our country, forward," the group said on Friday. "We need, and expect, someone who wants to hold the highest office in the land to push our country to have a real reckoning on sexual violence and assault  one that both includes personal responsibility, and gives survivors the hope of real solutions so that they never have to experience this trauma again."

Kayla Epstein contributed to this report.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-02 22:31:39|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across Africa rose from 39,018 from Friday afternoon to 40,746 cases as of Saturday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said in its latest situation update issued on Saturday.

The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent reached 1,689 as of Saturday, said the Africa CDC.

Figures from the Africa CDC also showed that amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly COVID-19 affected African countries include Egypt, South Africa, Morocco as well as Algeria.

The Africa CDC disclosed that the Northern African region is the most affected area across the continent both in terms of positive COVID-19 cases, as well as the number of deaths.

Earlier this week, the Africa CDC received the third round of medical equipment and supplies donated by China's Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation in support of the African continent's fight against the spread of COVID-19. Enditem
AccuWeather forecasters are warning chances of snow and other wintry weather to break out across portions of the eastern United States, just after a winter storm spent the weekend making a mess of places from the Tennessee Valley through the Southeast and up the Eastern Seaboard into New England.
Bangladesh plans to extend the nationwide shutdown until May 15 as the novel coronavirus claimed five more lives in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country to 175.

"The Prime Minister's Office is considering a proposal for an extended shutdown, a PMO spokesman told PTI on Saturday, hours after junior minister for public administration Forhad Hossain said his office suggested the extension until May 15 to prevent further spread of the virus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier ordered a comprehensive anti-COVID-19 campaign, amid steady rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

The government initially declared a general holiday on March 26 for 10 days. Later, that was gradually extended till April 25 as the country kept seeing a rise in the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19. Bangladesh later extended the nationwide shutdown until May 5.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the tally of infections has risen to 8,790 after 552 more people tested positive from 5,827 samples in the last 24 hours - the highest number of tests in a single day.

DGHS Additional Director General Professor Nasima Sultana said that Bangladesh was witnessing a rapid rise of coronavirus cases since March 24 as 8,784 people tested positive for the virus since then. The number of infection was only 6 until March 23.

She said the COVID-19 cases were found in 63 out of the country's 64 administrative districts, Bangladesh confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first three cases.

"Among the COVID-19-infected cases, nearly 75 per cent patients are taking treatment from their homes, and many of them are being cured every day after receiving treatment," Sultana said.

As of May 2, of the total fatalities, 95 deaths were recorded in Dhaka city and 39 in Narayanganj, the river port town on the outskirts of the capital.

Dhaka is the worst-affected area with 54.73 per cent of COVID-19 cases.

Sultana said the massive spread of the virus has prompted authorities to expand testing facilities across the country, engaging non-government organizations, universities, state-run research institutes and private hospitals.

Despite experts' warnings, Bangladesh has reopened hundreds of its garment factories this week after nearly one month of closures. The factory owners said they were operating with fewer workers than usual and following safety guidelines.

A spokesman of the Bangladesh Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that some 850 among nearly 4,000 factories were reopened maintaining cautions, engaging a limited number of workers who live nearby.

BGMEA Secretary Mohammad Abdur Razzak claimed that the factories were complying with the health guidelines while the decision followed a government directive allowing companies which were under buyers' pressures to resume production.

A BGMEA business analyst said the factories were opened fearing that they might lose business to competitors like Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and India.

But a health ministry official preferring anonymity said the factories should have taken some more days for safety preparedness for their workers, who are at worst risk of infections.

There are nearly 4.1 million garment workers in the country.

Global lockdowns led the international apparel brands and retailers, who rely on the cheap labour that Bangladesh provides, to cancel or suspend an estimated USD 3.17 billion worth of orders in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One of Joe Bidens main talking points during his interview today with Mika Brzezinski about Tara Reades sexual assault claim was that he has asked the National Archives to search his Senate personnel files for any record of a complaint by Reade. Biden insisted that such a complaint would be in personnel files and that such files are at the Archives, not among Bidens Senate papers housed at the University of Delaware  papers to which Biden wont grant access.

According to this report, however, the Archives says that personnel files from Bidens Senate days arent kept there. If this is true, and it makes sense to me, then Bidens request that the Archives search for Reades complaint looks like misdirection by the former vice president.

Its possible Biden didnt know that his Senate personnel records arent housed at the Archives. However, if Biden were serious about making a good faith effort to determine whether Reade filed a formal complaint, I think he would have checked with the Archives before asking it to conduct a search. If, on the other hand, Biden just wanted a talking point to get him through the interview with Brzezinski, he probably wouldnt have checked first, as appears to be the case.

Where would Bidens ancient Senate personnel files be housed? Its not clear.

Senate rules require all noncurrent records to be transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA) at the end of each Congress. Perhaps Reades formal complaint, if she lodged one, is there.

However, documents from the Senates Office of Fair Employment Practices, which I believe is the shop that would have handled a sexual misconduct complaint, reportedly are governed by a Senate resolution that bars their release for 50 years. Perhaps, though, such documents can be released with the consent of the ex-Senator and the complaining party.

We probably wont find out before the election whether Tara Reade formally complained about Joe Bidens alleged conduct. However, the evidence strongly suggests that she complained about it to family members and friends.

It doesnt matter much whether Reade filed a formal complaint. It doesnt even matter that much whether she complained at all. A complaint isnt the be-all-end-all in these cases. A person can make a false complaint. It happens a lot. And a person can keep an incident like this to herself.

However, Biden has focused the inquiry on the issue of whether Reade filed a formal complaint. If one somehow pops up, or if someone credible remembers such a complaint, it will be a blow to Biden. But he seems determined to make sure this doesnt happen.
Quarantine and self isolation need not be monotonous and stifling. They can be the gateway to work, be it in the arts or the sciences, that define the history of the world.

Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, John Milton and Lord Byron used such time to add to their formidable body of work in science and literature. It was not called lockdown in their time, but they spent long spells in isolation, when medicine was not as developed as it is now.

The University of Cambridge, where all four studied, delved into its archives to collate their activities during such periods of isolation centuries ago. It has also asked its alumni to send accounts of how they are spending time in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

Isaac Newton (Trinity College): Considered Trinitys most accomplished alumni, he exemplified productivity during a pandemic. Like many in Cambridge during the Great Plague of 1665-56, he retreated to the countryside to escape the disease-ridden city and spent two extended periods at his family home, Woolsthorpe Manor, in rural Lincolnshire.

Newton thrived in isolation, and later described it as one of the most productive times in his life, finding the space to reflect on and develop his theories on optics, calculus, and the laws of motion and gravity. It was during this time that he conducted his famous prism experiment.

Probably to his parents displeasure, he bored a hole through his window shutters to produce a single, thin beam of light to pass through two prisms, proving for the first time that prisms did not create colours, but merely separated colours that were already there, the universitys researcher, Alisha Matthewson-Grand, wrote.

Indeed, Newton was so intellectually transformed by his period of isolation that later commentators have referred to his time away from Cambridge as his annus mirabilis, or his year of wonders.

Charles Darwin (Christs College): Darwins experience with isolation was not the result of a pandemic but his own chronic ill health. He suffered from a myriad of unexplained symptoms, including vertigo, vomiting, cramps, fatigue, anxiety and visual disturbances.

He noted in his autobiography of 1876 that few persons can have lived a more retired life than we [Darwin and his wife Emma] have done. Besides short visits to the houses of relations, and occasionally to the seaside or elsewhere, we have gone nowhere.

Darwin believed that periods of isolation and ill health helped his career. At home, he was free from the demands placed on other scientists (teaching, administrative work), and thus able to devote himself entirely to research; he wrote: Ill-health, though it has annihilated several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society and amusement.

Lord Byron (Trinity College): In 1811, Lord Byron was forced to quarantine in Malta after returning from a cholera-ravaged Greece. He was furious at the prospect of spending 40 days in lockdown, a measure he considered to be draconian and unnecessary.

While confined, he wrote Farewell to Malta, a satirical poem attacking the island for (among other things) ts smoky towns and cloudy sky and its cursed street of stairs. He references his quarantine explicitly in the first verse Adieu, thou damnedst quarantine / That gave me fever, and the spleen!.

John Milton (Christs College): The author of Paradise Lost and Aeropagitica spent some time away from Cambridge as a first year undergraduate in 1626, when the town was hit by bubonic plague. He was home in London when he wrote Elegia Prima, his first Latin elegy. The work is an early example of his aptitude for verse composition, as well as his impressive flair for comedy.

A letter in verse form, the elegy was written for his closest friend, Charles Diodati, and narrates how Milton was enjoying his unexpected period away from Cambridge while also anticipating his return to the reedy fens of the Cam and the hum of the noisy school.

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Three persons, including a local



Trinamool Congress leader, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly violating lockdown norms by blocking a highway at Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, police said.

Barrackpore Police Commissioner Manoj K Verma said three persons were arrested for blocking the B T Road with supporters and violating lockdown norms and all the three were sent to judicial custody.

The arrests were made by police after it filed an FIR suo motu against the three.

A senior TMC leader said the three along with some supporters blocked B T Road near Sodepur Traffic More in the morning in protest against an alleged bombing incident near a local TMC office by unidentified miscreants on Friday midnight.

The arrested persons included former Panihati Municipality councillor Jayanta Das, the leader said.

Local BJP sources said Das and his followers ransacked the residence of a local businessman following some arguments and mobilised his supporters to block the nearby highway. The allegation of the bombing was baseless.

The TMC leader said arrests were unfair as the police did not listen to the pleas of its activists while lifting the blockade and didn't take any action to find those involved in the bombing incident.

Police said the allegations of both the TMC and BJP were being probed.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police said it has arrested 130 persons and warned 283 others for fake and objectionable posts on social media in April.

The Kolkata Police said it arrested 762 people during the day for defying the "total safety restrictions", not wearing masks and also for spitting in the public.

A senior officer said 19 vehicles were seized in the city for violations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Srinagar, May 2 : Two terrorists were killed in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Pulwama in south Kashmir on Saturday.

IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar told IANS that the bodies of both the terrorists were recovered after the debris was cleared.

Earlier, based on a specific intelligence input, a cordon and search operation (CASO) was launched at Dangerpora in Pulwama by a joint team of the police and the army.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding, the militants fired upon them, which triggered the encounter. The firefight continued for a few hours. The house in which the terrorists were hiding was blasted.

Meanwhile, internet services have been snapped in the area as a precautionary measure.
Morgan Stanley removed banking stocks from its model portfolio when it slashed its weighting on the sector by 500 basis points. Several foreign brokerages, such as UBS, JP Morgan, and Credit Suisse, of late, have also become less optimistic about banking stocks.

Recent move by Christopher Woods, global head, equity strategy, Jefferies, to remove HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank from the brokerages Asia ex-Japan thematic equity portfolio, after retaining them for almost a decade, came as a shock.

Ridham Desai, managing director, Morgan Stanley, turning neutral on banking stocks on Tuesday was another big blow.

Such moves are an indication of how big money is behaving.

Morgan Stanley removed banking stocks from its model portfolio when it slashed its weighting on the sector by 500 basis points.

Financials was Morgan Stanleys favourite sector, having an overweight position and accounting for 25 per cent of its model portfolio.

Since the summer of 2013, following the taper tantrum sell-off, financials led the ensuing bull market, Desai and Sheela Rathi mention in their note.

Given this starting point and emerging issues around Covid-19, it appears that the breath of performance in the sector could narrow considerably and be concentrated in top two or three names, they add.

Morgan Stanley and Jefferies are not alone in turning negative on the sector.

Several foreign brokerages, such as UBS, JP Morgan, and Credit Suisse, of late, have also become less optimistic about banking stocks.

While the reasons for turning pessimistic on the stocks are widely known - a likely steep fall in the loan growth rate and potential asset quality issues, which may play out in the next six12 months - the question for analysts is whether they would reverse their stance soon.

Quite unlikely, many feel, given the extent of pain ahead is yet to be sized up.

The investment case for Indian financials at this point looks weak given dislocations and the second-order impact on growth and asset quality, analysts at JP Morgan warn.

For one, unlike in the earlier instances of asset quality issues, the current round of pain may be widespread, affecting various loan categories, which were key growth pillars for banks in the last three-four years, especially private lenders.

Analysts at UBS spell out that commercial vehicle (CV) loans, unsecured retail loans (personal and credit cards), microfinance loans, vehicle loans, and loans to small and medium businesses are most likely to be under pressure.

National-service risk (need for interest holidays and bailouts) is also rising for the sector, in general, Vishal Goyal of UBS adds.

Most analysts concur with Goyals views.

Consequently, the sector is now faced with earnings cut of 3080 per cent across banks for FY21.

Investors should expect these numbers to be revised (mostly downwards) once the Street has a better sense of how the March 2020 quarter panned out.

For instance, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Axis Bank, which have published Q4 numbers so far, have seen another wave of earnings cut by 1025 per cent for FY21 after the downgrades.

Given the quantum of uncertainties ahead, regaining the Streets confidence may take at least two years, say analysts.

A pick-up in FY22 earnings will be largely dependent on the government and the stimulus from the Reserve Bank of India in the coming months and a consequent recovery post the lockdown period, says Suresh Ganapathy of Macquarie Capital.

Their ability to conserve/ raise capital will also have a bearing of sentiment.

While IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank remain comfortable on capital position post Q4 results, Axis Bank (which was more conservative in estimating the Covid-19-related pain) saw its capital adequacy dipping to 17.53 per cent, from 18.2 per cent in Q3.

For investors, the recent uptick in stock prices or the correction from their years highs shouldnt lure them into banking stocks.

When large fund houses and brokerages have turned negative, its a good cue for retail investors, too, said a fund manager.
NJ Cannabis Insider and Advance 360 will be hosting a webinar Cannabis and COVID-19: Where Does America Go From Here? presented by Duane Morris on May 13, featuring heavies in the cannabis space to discuss national and regional cannabis policy.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who recently introduced legislation that would make cannabis businesses eligible for Small Business Administration COVID-19 relief programs, will be joining us as the keynote speaker.

As Congress seeks to provide relief to small businesses across America, chief among those being left out are state-legal cannabis businesses that are essential to communities and have met the demands of this crisis, Blumenauer told NJ Cannabis Insider. We should include state-legal cannabis in federal COVID-19 response efforts. Without providing these businesses the relief needed to carry out the recommended public health and worker-focused measures, we are putting these hard-working people  and ourselves  at risk.

Blumenauer represents Oregons 3rd Congressional District and is a leading advocate for cannabis policy reform in the House of Representatives, and the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. Along with the congressman, several industry power players will be taking part in the two-hour panel discussions, they are:

Karen OKeefe

Karen OKeefe is the director of state policies for Marijuana Policy Project. In her current role, she managess MPPs grassroots and direct lobbying efforts in many state legislatures. OKeefe has played a significant role in passing more than a dozen major cannabis policy reforms, including managing MPPs state legislative department during the legalization campaigns in Vermont and Illinois.

Chris Melillo

Chris Melillo, senior vice president of retail operations for Curaleaf, is currently tasked with spearheading the companys dispensary expansion rollout and establishing a consistent customer experience for retail stores across the U.S. He previously served as senior director of stores in North America for Nike, and as vice president of stores for DTLR/Villa, a leading footwear and apparel retailer.

Katie Neer

Katie Neer, the director of government affairs for Acreage Holdings, a multi-state cannabis operator. Neer focuses on state regulatory and legislative issues facing the cannabis industry. Prior to her role with Acreage Holdings, Neer practiced law and formerly served as the assistant secretary for general government and financial services in the New York State Governors Office.

Paul Josephson

Paul Josephson of Duane Morris is a constitutional and regulatory litigator who advises CEOs, elected officials, and agency heads on a broad spectrum of matters involving significant public interests or highly regulated by government agencies. He currently represents the alternative treatment center, GTI-NJ, as well as the Gateway Program Development Corporation on the $13 billion Hudson Rail Tunnel project.

Justin Zaremba, an NJ Cannabis Insider editor and a longtime news reporter for NJ.com, will moderate the discussion.

The focused conversation will revolve around medical marijuana, legalization and the hemp and CBD industries during the coronavirus pandemic  while looking ahead at the Nov. 3 national elections.

Audience members will be able to post questions in advance of the May 13 webinar, which starts 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST). After the live event, attendees will have an opportunity to continue the discussion and network in a closed forum, moderated by journalists covering marijuana and hemp industries.

To reserve tickets, go to advance360.com/cannabis-insider-live.

NJ Cannabis Insider, a local sponsor, is a weekly subscriber-based trade journal produced by NJ Advance Media, which has also produced several live events in the past two years. For this event, it has has partnered with Advance Local sister media groups across the country, including Staten Island Advance, Advance Media New York, PennLive, LehighValleyLive, MassLive, MLive, Advance Ohio and Oregonian Media Group.

For more information, you may reach us via email here.
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Linkedin Kyle Springer (The Jakarta Post) -  Sat, May 2, 2020 13:21 626 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd580e03 3 Opinion infrastructure-development,The-Conversation,Indonesia,COVID-19,pandemic Free

The Indonesian economy is plagued by a range of infrastructure gaps, places where much-needed physical and digital infrastructure is either substandard or absent, mostly due to under-investment.

For example, many hospitals and clinics in remote provinces lack 24-hour access to clean water and electricity. Due to Indonesias rapid growth, industrialization and urbanization in the past 20 years, its infrastructure needs have soared.

Successive Indonesian governments at all levels have struggled to build infrastructure at the pace required. The result has constrained its domestic economic performance and its trade integration with the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Estimating the investment required to close these gaps is challenging. A widely accepted figure is a World Bank estimate that Indonesia needs to invest US$500 billion in basic facilities over the next five years to support continued growth.

Indonesias decision to build a new national capital in the province of East Kalimantan adds an estimated US$33 billion to the bill.

Finding a budget to fill the gap will get harder as Indonesias economy and finances come under pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic. This will in turn affect infrastructure development.

This years national infrastructure budget stands at about US$29 billion. The government will directly fund a fraction of the total of US$412 billion in investments from 2020 to 2024 to build infrastructure projects, providing 40 percent of the total budget, or about $US164.8 billion. The remaining funds will come from state-owned enterprises (25 percent) and the private sector (35 percent).

The pandemic will force the government to reallocate funds, while other sources of money will dry up in the ensuing recession.

Challenges facing infrastructure development

The Perth USAsia Centre has developed the Indonesia Infrastructure Map to help visualize the countrys infrastructural challenges. The map identifies Indonesias major projects by sector. It contains 206 infrastructure projects and will continue to be updated.

The map highlights that Indonesia has unique connectivity challenges unlike other countries of its economic status and population. One challenge is inherent to its archipelagic geography: the countrys 17,000 islands suffer from a lack of connectivity with each other.

You can see this reflected in the spread of projects on the map. Most are focused in the densely populated west, on the islands of Sumatra and Java. According to the National Strategic Projects pipeline, Java and Sumatra have 154 projects planned compared to 79 elsewhere.

By contrast, eastern Indonesia remains sparsely serviced by new infrastructure projects. And in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, they are non-existent.

On its larger islands, even major economic centers are not well-connected. For example, there is not yet a major railway connecting the two most populated cities of Jakarta and Surabaya.

The lack of essential infrastructure can also be blamed on policies like the fuel subsidy. It eats up much-needed cash, about US$9 billion a year, from the national budget. The subsidy also distorts markets, leaves Indonesias currency vulnerable and incentivizes reliance on motor transport.

The proposed capital in East Kalimantan can be viewed as an effort to spur a new hub of economic activity off Sumatra and Java. Around this new site there are also few existing infrastructure projects. The Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road is nearing completion and Jokowi himself said it will be connected to the new capital.

If geography wasnt challenging enough, Indonesia now has to contend with the vexing financial and economic costs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governments fiscal response has consisted of initial packages worth US$2 billion followed by a major stimulus of US$26 billion. It can finance some of this by reallocating funds from existing programs, but resources will become scarcer as government revenue takes a hit from the sluggish economy. The government has raised its deficit cap to 5 percent in order to borrow more funds for emergency measures.

Foreign lending will also begin to dry up. A broader question hangs over how sustainable foreign loans have been, including those from China. The clouds of a credit market crisis are already gathering.

Indonesia is especially vulnerable to increased borrowing costs. The Indonesian rupiah has declined precipitously, increasing the repayment burden of its foreign-denominated debts.

Getting harder to fill

As the full force of the economic crisis due to the pandemic takes hold, it is likely Indonesia will need a lot more cash for stimulus measures. This will eat into Indonesias ability to pay for its own infrastructure projects.

However, Indonesia should view infrastructure development as part of its recovery, as it provides employment, opens up new markets and creates efficiencies.

A deft move for Jokowi would be to take advantage of collapsing oil prices by cutting remaining fuel subsidies and redirecting the funds to economic recovery and infrastructure.

Indonesia will need to draw more on the resources of the range of infrastructure and connectivity (I&C) initiatives that have been launched by governments in the Asia-Pacific since 2010. These include Chinas Belt and Road, Japans PQI and the recently established Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to name but a few. These initiatives collectively offer over US$1 trillion. Participating in these also means managing the geopolitics involved.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesia will need to carefully consider the role infrastructure plays in its economic recovery.

***

Kyle Springer is Senior Analyst at the Perth USAsia Centre, University of Western Australia.

This article was first published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Our unruly neighbour has launched a vicious propaganda on the social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, using fake identities. People who are running this hate machinery are using Arab, Christian and Hindu names to target PM Modi.

The hate campaign against the prime minister is being run in Gulf countries and Middle East through fake accounts being operated in Pakistan. Muslim countries in the recent past have honoured Prime Minister Modi and have endorsed his policies. The hate mongering is at its peak since the day PM Modi-led government announced its decision to scrap J&Ks special status and divided it into the two union territories.

Our neigbouring country knocked the doors of every nation, including the Gulf countries, against the Indias decision but it got a very cold response. None of the countries endorsed Pakistans stand and refused to intervene. Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, used the stage of United Nations to spew venom against India and its leadership and launched personal attacks on PM Modi and the RSS to drive home his point.

He even threatened about nuclear war breaking out between the two countries, but he failed to get any support. After facing dejection at every forum Pakistan surrendered at all diplomatic fronts and acknowledged that world is not even ready to listen to its argument on Kashmir.

After getting no response from anywhere, Pakistan launched a full-fledged war against India and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on social media. Hundreds of fake accounts were activated in the neighbouring country with fake names to create hatred against the Indian leadership and to create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims in India by projecting ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as anti-Muslim.

Every attempt was made to project Citizenship Amendment Act as a move to eliminate Muslims from India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to come on record many times to clear the air and tell his countrymen that the CAA wont snatch anyones citizenship and it has got nothing to do with the Indian Muslims.

Riots in New Delhi were the eventual fall out of the provocation and the misinformation which was spread by the people with vested interests. Pakistans spy agency ISI running social media accounts to create hate is nothing new.

Whenever, investigations have been conducted it has come to fore that many social media accounts having Hindu names spread venom against Muslims and make every possible attempt to instigate Muslims against Hindus.We as Indians need to understand that entire hate machinery is being run from the neighbouring country and we cannot afford to fall prey to this false propaganda which is aimed at creating rift and dividing our country on the basis of religion.

The Prime Minister on many occasions has reiterated that India is all about inclusiveness and its unity lies in its diversity. During his recent Maan-Ki-Baat programme on All India Radio, he exuded hope that the COVID-19 pandemic would end by Eid-ul-Fitr. He put it on record that Muslims are facing immense hardships during the holy month of Ramadan due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. Our adversary is unable to digest that PM Modi is reaching out to all the communities and he is making it explicitly clear that in India there is no discrimination between the members of the majority and minority community. All are equal.

The anti-India and anti-Modi campaign, which has been started by Pakistan is an attempt to create a notion that Muslims are facing immense hardships in India and the present dispensation led by BJP is out to throw Muslims out of the country.

This propaganda is based on blatant lies and has no takers.The opposition parties in India wittingly or unwittingly are playing into the hands of Pakistan by issuing provocative statements which are later used by the social media activists in the neighboring country to build their argument against India. The Opposition has to act responsibly and its leaders should understand that the national interests are supreme and cannot be compromised with.

Entire world at present is lauding the leadership qualities of Prime Minister Modi, who gauged the situation before the COVID-19 could spread its tentacles in India. His decision to go for a lockdown helped in saving many lives across the country. He didnt wait like other COVID-19 hit countries. He took a quick decision and prevented India from witnessing a human catastrophe. Adversaries of the Indian State are finding it hard to deal with the leader like PM Modis caliber. Its after a longtime India has got a strong leader, who is capable of changing the destinies of the people.

(Sheikh Khalid is a member of BJP, former journalist and fellow of International Peace and Strategic Studies. Views expressed are personal.)
By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 23 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian armed forces were using sniper rifles and mortars of different calibers.

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.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

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Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The president-elect arrived in Washington under a cloud manufactured in Moscow and St Petersburg. Less than a month after Donald Trump took office, the national security adviser Michael Flynn was ousted for lying to the vice-president about a conversation with Russias ambassador. All that, however, was a prelude to the firing of the FBI director James Comey and years of resulting turmoil. The Kremlin had succeeded beyond its wildest dreams.

Related: In Deep review: Trump v intelligence  and Obama v the people

Under the subtitle The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare, Thomas Rid helps remind us how we reached this morass, one with antecedents reaching back to Czarist Russia and the Bolshevik revolution. To be sure, the US can use all the help it can get as it navigates the current election cycle and the lies, rumours and uncertainty that shroud the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rid was born in West Germany amid the cold war. The Berlin Wall fell when he was a teenager. He is now a professor at Johns Hopkins.

So what are active measures? Previously, Rid testified they were semi-covert or covert intelligence operations to shape an adversarys political decisions.

Almost always, he explained, active measures conceal or falsify the source.

The special counsels report framed them more narrowly as operations conducted by Russian security services aimed at influencing the course of international affairs. Add in technology and hacking, and an image of modern asymmetric warfare emerges.

Rid travels back to the early years of communist Russia, recounting the efforts of the government to discredit the remnants of the ancien regime and squash attempts to restore the monarchy. The Cheka, the secret police, hatched a plot that involved forged correspondence, a fictitious organization, a fake counter-revolutionary council and a government-approved travelogue.

Words and narratives morphed into readily transportable munitions. The emigre community was declawed and the multi-pronged combination deemed wildly successful. The project also served as an inspiration for future active measures. A template had been set.

Story continues

Fast forward to the cold war and the aftermath of the US supreme courts landmark school desegregation case. The tension between reality and the text and aspirations of the Declaration of Independence was in the open again. Lunch-counter sit-ins and demands for the vote filled newspapers and TV screens. The fault lines were plainly visible  and the Soviet Union pounced.

In 1960, the KGB embarked on a series of race-baiting disinformation operations that included mailing Ku Klux Klan leaflets to African and Asian delegations to the United Nations on the eve of a debate on colonialism. At the same time, Russian operators posed as an African American organization agitating against the KKK.

More than a half-century later, Russia ran an updated version of the play. Twitter came to host the fake accounts of both John Davis, ostensibly a gun-toting Texas Christian and family man, and @BlacktoLive, along with hundreds of others.

The Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian troll factory, organized pro-Confederate flag rallies. As detailed by Robert Mueller, the IRA also claimed that the civil war was not about slavery and instead was all about money, a false trope that continues to gain resonance among Trump supporters and proponents of the liberate the states movement. According to Brian Westrate, treasurer of the Wisconsin Republican party, the Confederacy was more about states rights than slavery.

Depicting West Germany as Hitlers heir was another aim. At the time, some aging former Nazis still held positions of influence, Rid writes. In the late 1960s, encouraging anti-German tendencies in the West was very much a priority.

In 1964, with Russian assistance, Czech intelligence mounted Operation Neptun, sinking Nazi wartime documents to the bottom of the ominous sounding Black Lake, near the German border. The cache was then discovered  media pandemonium ensued. Four years later the mastermind of the scheme, Ladislav Bittman, defected to the US.

Prior to 2016, Russias most notable active measure using the US as a foil was the lie that Aids was made in the USA. In retaliation for US reports of Soviet use of chemical weapons in Afghanistan, the KGB unfurled Operation Denver, a multi-platformed campaign that falsely claimed Aids was an American biological weapon developed at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Central to the effort was the earlier publication of an anonymous letter with a New York byline by an Indian newspaper. The forged missive claimed Aids may invade India: mystery disease caused by US lab experiments.

A picture taken in 1990 shows Soviet police officers standing in front of the KGB building in Moscow, now the headquarters of the FSB. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Rid writes that the letter was a masterfully executed disinformation operation, an amalgam of 20% forgery and 80% fact. The reality was that the Pentagon and the CIA had tested new types of biological weapons in densely populated areas of the US and Canada, and conducted research on disease and psychotropic drugs on an array of human guinea pigs.

Related: Front Row at the Trump Show review: Jonathan Karl's pre-pandemic warning

The KGB doubled down and published a reworked version of the story in an English-language Soviet publication. At the same time and without any apparent nexus to the Soviet campaign, the Amsterdam News, a paper with a readership base in New Yorks African American community, opined that Aids was a likely result of US bacteria warfare. Once again, social mistrust helped weaponize a concocted narrative.

To be clear, Russian active measures did not tip the 2016 election to the Republicans. On that score, the FBI and Comey had a greater impact. Instead, the Russians caused the US to stare into a mirror, red and blue Americans each seeing what they expected.

Nor is an end in sight. According to the Senate intelligence committee, Russian disinformation efforts may be focused on gathering information and data points in support of an active measures campaign targeted at the 2020 US presidential election, with an emphasis upon gathering personal information from US-based audiences sympathetic to Russian disinformation topics.

America remains mired in a cold civil war. Active Measures is another book for such troubled times.
One of the biggest pain points, when you move to a new city for a job or education, is to be able to find and rent a room which not only makes you feel comfortable but also gives you a feeling of home away from your own home!

So, if you don't want to end up in a dingy corner of the city, you can choose to check out some managed accommodation spaces like Stanza Living which are safe places that promise to be just like home.

At the end of the day, wherever you go, you must consider some important tips to find you the right place to rent:

1. Location, Location, Location:

The first and foremost factor for anyone who is looking for a second home is the location of the property. Factors such as a good neighborhood and proximity to amenities (like grocery shopping, metro connectivity), etc. should be on top of your list. If you are a student/working professional, a property/room situated in the middle of an education hub or closer to an office hub should work best for you. For instance, if you are searching for a PG in Hyderabad, managed accommodation companies like Stanza Living have their residences located in the hottest spots in town - Kondapur, Kukatpally, Nizampet, and Q City, offering fully-furnished rooms with all the facilities and amenities that you won't get in any ordinary PG for boys and girls.

2. Security and Safety are a Must:

Security is something that everyone should take seriously when viewing a property. Therefore, it's important to ask your landlord if there's a burglar alarm system (bonus!) and check that the doors are adequately secured  particularly that the main door to the building has secured entry. If you're worried about security, mention this to your landlord in the first meeting. Needless to say, important precautions such as working fire alarms, extinguishers, emergency exits, and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems should be checked in advance. For instance, if you are looking for a professionally managed accommodations in Hyderabad with security protocols and amenities in place, visit stanzaliving.com and kiss those worries goodbye.

Of course, it's always a plus point, if you know the area well which will help in making a well-informed decision. In case you don't, do research on the area. For example Houses on well-lit main roads are often the most secure. Quiet areas may appeal to some students and working professionals owing to the privacy factor, but they can be vulnerable to crimes.

3. Discover your Options:

While looking for a room to rent, you also need to consider that these might not be the privately rented-accommodations and a majority of the time, it will involve you living with more than one roommate. So before you go ahead, first ask yourself how many roommates are too many for you? Once you get a number in your head, it will make your search easier. These days co-living and fully managed student accommodations such as stanzaliving.com are gaining immense popularity among the millennial generation as these are organized facilities at affordable prices and equipped with services and amenities.

4. Food Rules All

What will you do with a good place to live if there is no proper food arrangement food which wins over all essential needs. You can, of course, choose to cook on your own or get help, but this can often get tedious to manage  from shopping groceries, finding utensils to ensuring cleanliness. As a student or a working professional, youd rather focus on your academic or professional needs instead of taking on the stress of managing multiple meals every day. So, make sure you choose a setting where at least three meals a day are included along with the rented room. If possible, do check out the reviews of the place and the food either online or from previous/current tenants. Goes a long way in making the right decision. With online reviews becoming popular, you should check out the 'food reviews' for some of the managed PGs in Hyderabad that are delighting residents.

5. Iron-clad Lease Agreements:

Lastly, once you decide on a place and have fixed monthly rental, review your lease agreement with the landlord carefully. Ensure the smallest and biggest of details are included. Things - mode of payment, payment date, amenities you will get, facilities to identify current or potential problems, are all listed in the agreement before signing in. Transparent methods of payment (online payment) should be preferred to avoid discrepancies.

So do your research and go find that dream second home!
TDT | Manama

The first high criminal court has sentenced a man, an Arab by nationality, to one year in jail for mugging another, an Asian national, in Juffair, earlier this year. The court, however, suspended the execution of the verdict for three years.

Court files say the Public Prosecution charged the Arab national with assault and robbery on January 11 this year for attacking and robbing the victim of more than 2,400 Bahraini dinars.

According to Police records, the incident leading to the case occurred when the victim, a health centre employee, was returning from a bank after cashing a cheque of BD2,419 for the centre he was working.

While on his way back, he was confronted by the suspect who suddenly splashed some liquid on to his face, impairing his vision temporarily. He then attacked the man by hitting on his head with a container carrying the liquid, before fleeing the scene with the cash.

The victim sustained several injuries from the attack. Police reached the scene shortly and rushed the victim to the hospital. The victim told investigators that he lost his vision after getting sprayed by the liquid.

A witness at the scene of the crime told police officers that he saw a man running away when he came to the rescue of the victim, whom he found was exhausted and struggling to catch up with the attacker.

The witness also told the police that the victim eye were all bloodshot and was struggling with his vision. A probe led to identifying the suspect and his arrest.
$1.6 million (over Rs 12 crore) can buy you a lot of things - from a luxury car to a huge house. If you have that kind of money, you do not have to think about working ever again. However, when Larry Connor made that sum in a span of just eight days of coronavirus volatility in the stock market, instead of using the profit to get something for himself, he decided to give it to his employees.

Connor is the owner and founder of The Connor Group, that is an Ohio-based real estate investment firm. He received the gratitude of his employees when he made the video announcement of the bonuses.

Twitter/CNN

The company has about 400 associates and it has continued to keep its luxury apartment communities open as an essential business during the Covid-19 outbreak.

"These are challenging times, but the way our people have responded has been nothing short of heroic. Our No. 1 core value is 'Do the right thing.' So when I think about how I made the money compared to what our associates do on every day, to me, (paying the bonuses) was the right thing to do, Connor reportedly said in a company news release.

This CEO made $1.6 million in the stock market in just 8 days. He's giving it all to his 400 employees. https://t.co/mVG5fxfxRG pic.twitter.com/jR5XS3wpb2  CNN International (@cnni) May 2, 2020

Bonuses that range from $2,000 to $9,000 will be paid by the company to all non-highly compensated associates.

"Family comes first. I love that about this company. That's what keeps me here. They've always made me feel that they care not only about me, but about my family's health and well-being. They're always there to help." CNN quoted Memo Alba, a partner and a senior maintenance technician who is nearing his 13th year at The Connor Group.

Dayton Daily News

Beyond the bonuses, The Connor Group also committed to paying unexpected childcare expenses for all employees and expand its associate loan program. At a time when other companies and firms are firing employees/cutting salaries, this gesture means a lot. It would have been easy to have kept the money, spend it on something extravagant or save for a rainy day, but Connor's response was empathetic and heartwarming, to say the least.
Deer cross Main Street in Alturas, Calif., on Dec. 4, 2019. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

In the far northeast corner of California, "the new normal" began to take shape.

Tiny Modoc County on Friday began to reopen, with restaurants again serving food and other retailers swinging their doors open for customers.

Modoc County  which has recorded no coronavirus cases  was the first California county to reopen even as Gov. Gavin Newsom said his stay-at-home order remains in effect. He said Friday to expect changes within days but stressed that social distancing is still necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The Modoc County reopening came with health rules. Restaurants and bars were allowed to host diners, but only at half the businesses capacity. People 65 and older and residents with underlying health conditions were still required to stay home except to conduct essential business, and large gatherings where people cannot stay six feet apart will still be banned.

After being closed for weeks, Gates Gallery and Trading Post in Alturas made its first sale on Friday. Owner Gerry Gates told Action News Now it felt good.

We are all trying to stay safe as possible, Gates told the TV station. All the businesses that are open have on their front have a COVID-19 precaution statement and we are all trying to stay safe.

At the Wagon Wheel restaurant, regulars rejoiced about enjoying a meal there again.

"Every Sunday we're here. This is our Sunday breakfast since it's opened," Sharon Crabtree told KRCR-TV. "It's wonderful, it's great to be able to get out and visit with my sister here, and it's actually nice to sit down and have a meal together."

Referring to the customers, Wagon Wheel manager Rick Malcolm told the station, "I call them my brothers. We're just all kind of a family."

Just because the county has started to reopen doesnt mean its back to business as usual, though.

We encourage you all to continue to practice social distancing, good hand hygiene and to comply with the other recommendations of our public health department and with the reopening letter that Modoc County has issued, as well, Modoc Medical Center Chief Executive Kevin Kramer said in a video statement Friday. If you are elderly or immuno-compromised, please stay at home as much as possible.

Story continues

Not every institution that could reopen plans to do so, though. Schools remained closed, for one thing.

Its an unsure thing, said Ken Entwistle, senior pastor of GracePoint Church of the Nazarene in Alturas. We, of course, want to open things back up but, at the same point, its that unknown.

Entwistle said the stance of the Nazarene denomination is to follow the states order  which means hell continue streaming services and devotionals via Facebook Live.

We need to pay attention to the prompting of the spirit and we need to look toward our authorities for some answers or some OKs, he said. For us, Jesus Christ is the absolute authority.
Taking a dig at Centre's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, the Congress named the plight of migrant workers across India and the lack of PPEs for doctors at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle as some of the costs 'India has to bear' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'dream to live in a new house and address MPs from a new Parliament building'

The Congress on Friday urged the Centre to scrap its ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project while accusing the BJP government of fast-tracking it to avoid scrutiny by the Supreme Court.

Taking a dig at Centre, the Congress said the plight of migrant workers across India and the lack of Personal Protective Equipment for doctors at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle were some of the costs "India has to bear" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "dream to live in a new house and address MPs from a new Parliament building."

The Congress made the remarks via its official Twitter handle:

Millions of workers are left without food & work, doctors are without PPE and we are falling short of testing kits: a few costs India has to bear for PM Modi's dream to live in a new house & address MPs from a new parliament building. https://t.co/Lgfs1Nx9V3  Congress (@INCIndia) May 1, 2020

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi urged the apex court to give precedence to petitions against the project and asked the government to keep the Rs 20,000-crore redevelopment plan last on their priority list as the entire nation is reeling under the coronavirus crisis.

One should not be misled by the government's claim on the project, as modernisation of every building within two kilometres  North Block, South Block, Udyog Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan and the parliament  to glittering new efficient models would cost less than Rs 500 crore, Singhvi said.

The redevelopment project of Central Vista  the nation's power corridor  envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one, common Central Secretariat and revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath  from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.

A new Parliament House will come up on a 9.5-acre land near the existing building. According to sources, prime minister's residence and office are likely to be shifted near the South Block and vice-president's new house will be in the vicinity of the North Block.

"This Rs 20,000 crore project is somebody's hobby horse. It is not only for a Modi Mahal, which includes a new prime minister's house, it is the intention to leave somehow in a personal manner, your own stamp by littering the whole of the green verdant landscape of Rajpath with new buildings, in the name of offices, in the name of convenience and modernisation. A more horrible attack on the heart and psyche of Delhi cannot be imagined," Singhvi said.

The Congress leader urged the apex courts to hear the matter on a priority basis. "We would earnestly request the Supreme Court to pay immediate attention to this. We would request it to clarify that if the government seeks to continue (with the project) on its own steam, then they put a fair notice... at least subject to the outcome notice and a warning should be given," he said. "We should warn the government that this should be the last priority. For the court, it should be the first priority to hear this kind of matter," Singhvi noted.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh too opposed the project in a letter to Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu. Sharing the letter on Twitter, Ramesh urged Naidu to stop the project. "Salaries and allowances of MP have been cut. MPLADs has been frozen for two years as has DA for govt employees till mid-2021. Drastic cut in defence expenditure. Yet, Central Vista redevelopment project continues. Please stop this," he tweeted.

Respected Chairman-garu @MVenkaiahNaidu Salaries & allowances of MP have been cut. MPLADs has been frozen for 2 years as has DA for govt employees till mid-2021. Drastic cut in defence expenditure. Yet, Central Vista redevelopment project continues. Please stop this. pic.twitter.com/xPNEpwGb2J  Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 1, 2020

In another tweet, Ramesh asked how could India afford to spend "this extravaganza in this time of crisis".

Why can't the Prime Minister shelve the Central Vista project for a few years? How can India afford this extravaganza in this time of crisis? We have repeatedly asked the govt to put it on hold. The many 'Modi Mahals' can and must wait! India and Indians first. https://t.co/ykTATBbnxg  Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 1, 2020

Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan too slammed the government alleging that the govt is prioritising the Central Vista project over welfare of migrants affected by the coronavirus lockdown. He tweeted:

No money with govt to pay wages to migrant workers made jobless & destitute by lockdown. But 20,000Cr Central Vista project including a new house for PM must go on during the crisis! Priorities of the Govt! https://t.co/wmeGltEm1Z  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) May 1, 2020

The Supreme Court had on Thursday refused to entertain a plea against the Central Vista project. A bench, comprising Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justice Aniruddha Bose, did not agree to the submission that the project in Lutyens' Delhi needed to be stayed as the government bodies were to approach the authorities concerned for clearance and other formalities.

The Congress leader said when the entire nation is fighting the novel coronavirus, it is quite astonishing that the government is holding meetings on the Central Vista Project.

"It just shows the warped, distorted, completely absurd priorities of this government. Bang in the middle of coronavirus crisis, they are fast-tracking, hot-footing this project... The entire budget for infrastructure strengthening of the Government of India is Rs 15,000 crore," he said.

Singhvi said at this stage when the future in terms of economic recovery and activity looks bleak "the government should have shown magnanimity and guts to announce scrapping of this project.".

"If you are too egotistic, you can at least announce the postponement of this project. Instead, you are doing just opposite; you are clearly attempting to render the Supreme Court's scrutiny of this infructuous. You are, as I said earlier, hot-footing it, and fast-tracking it. The figures make us hang our head in shame," he said.

Singhvi said the government could have purchased thousands of ventilators with this amount in its fight against COVID-19, or even spent a little amount out of this to send migrant workers back home.

With inputs from PT--I
Two months after his unexplained disappearance, a Pakistani journalist who had been critically reporting on the separatist insurgency and Pakistani military counterinsurgency operations in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan has been found dead in Sweden.

In a statement updated on May 1, Swedish police said they have identified a body found in a river in the city of Uppsala as Sajid Hussain, who disappeared in early March.

The police said that an autopsy has been conducted and investigators are now waiting for certain answers from the analysis. "The autopsy has led to the conclusion that suspicion of a crime has decreased, but still some police investigation actions will be taken, the statement noted.

In Stockholm, Hussains friend Taj Baloch confirmed that his body had been discovered by police in the city of Uppsala.

The body is in polices possession. We do not know much about the physical circumstances of the body, he said. Police will hand over the body after postmortem. That may take a week or more. The process is likely to start on Monday [May 4].

Balochistan Times, the website Hussain edited, also announced his death on May 1. The website covers the two-decade-long separatist conflict in his native Balochistan. Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced by in the region due to separatist attacks, sectarian violence, and operations by Pakistani security forces.

Hussain disappeared on March 2 and was last seen at a gas station in Uppsala city, police had said earlier.

Abdullah Abbas, a human right activist and family friend of the deceased, said the police had discovered an unidentified dead body from a river in Uppsala on April 23.

After a week of investigation, they confirmed to the family on Thursday [April 30] evening, that it was Sajids body, Abbas said. We do not know anything so far, and cause of his death remains unknown to us. We also do not know when he actually died.

Hussains family and Pakistani and global rights watchdogs had demanded Swedish authorities investigate his mysterious disappearance. They are now demanding that authorities investigate his death.

As long as a crime is not excluded, there is still a risk that his death could be related to his job as a journalist and editor-in-chief for the Balochistan Times said Erik Halkjaer, president of Reporters Without Borders Sweden, on May 1.

Hussains family had said previously that he left Pakistan in 2012 after facing death threats because of his reporting. After living in the Middle East and Africa for years, Hussain arrived in Sweden in September 2017 to seek asylum.

His reporting was mainly concentrated on the continued unrest in Balochistan. He documented human rights abuses, including forced disappearances.

Kiyya Baloch, a freelance journalist, reports on the insurgency, politics, militancy, and sectarian violence in Balochistan.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story had an error in translating a Swedish police statement. It has been updated with the accurate translation.
China Inflicts Ever Tighter Information Controls Over Tibet, Long Off-Limits to Foreign Press

2020-05-01 -- Chinese authorities in Tibet have further tightened controls over information flows in the region, arresting Tibetans last year for sharing news and opinions on social media and for contacting relatives living in exile, according to rights groups and other experts.

Particular targets of censors and police were images of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama shared on mobile phones and calls for the preservation of the Tibetan language, now under threat from government orders to establish Chinese as the main language of instruction in Tibetan schools.

Cedric AlvianiEast Asia Bureau Chief of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told RFA's Tibetan Service that freedom of expression in Tibetan areas of China, already heavily restricted, "has not improved due to the censorship and surveillance set up by the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party."

"It is still extremely difficult and dangerous for Tibetans to investigate and smuggle information outside Tibet," he said, adding that Beijing's refusal to allow foreign journalists free access to Tibet has made it even harder for the outside world to assess conditions there.

RSF ranked China 177th out of 180 countries in an annual global press freedom index earlier this month.

"It's much more dangerous [for Tibetans] to speak to foreign journalists or to overseas media like Radio Free Asia than it is for other Chinese people," said Sarah Cook, Senior Research Analyst for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"People there are subject to heavier reprisals than in other parts of China," Cook said.

Increasingly tight curbs

International press freedom groups have highlighted China's increasingly tight curbs on media workers across the country ahead of World Press Freedom Day Sunday.

Some of those sentenced to long prison terms last year in Tibetan areas had sought to draw attention to corrupt officials or environmental concerns, while others had simply voiced support for use of the Tibetan language or had shared images of the Dalai Lama, regarded by Chinese leaders as a dangerous separatist.

On Dec. 6, 2019, Anya Sengdra, a resident of Kyangche township in Qinghai's Gade (in Chinese, Gande) county, was given a seven-year term after being arrested on charges of disturbing social order after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining, and the hunting of protected wildlife.

Meanwhile, Sonam Palden, a 22-year-old Tibetan monk, disappeared after being arrested on Sept. 19 in Sichuan's Ngaba (Aba) county after posting online comments criticizing Beijing's policies in the region, and a Tibetan man named Lhadar, 36, was detained in October in Tibet's Nagchu (Naqu) county and also vanished in custody.

"It is assumed he was arrested for 'leaking state secrets,'" a local source told RFA in an earlier report, citing a charge often used to stop the spread of news of protests against Beijing's rule in Tibetan areas or other information considered politically sensitive by authorities.

And on Feb. 20, 2019, Tsering Dorje, a 45-year-old resident of Peleb village in the Tashi Dzom township of Shigatse's Dingri (Tingri) county in Tibet, was taken into custody only hours after speaking with his brother in exile about the importance of teaching the Tibetan language to their children.

'Suspicious conversations'

"In the free world, people exchange information [like this] on a routine daily basis," Karma ChoyingSecretary to the International Relations Department of Tibet's India-based exile government, the Central Tibetan Administrationtold RFA in a recent interview.

"[But] these types of conversations are observed suspiciously by the Chinese government," he said.

China's restrictions on free speech and the sharing of information in Tibet violate China's own laws, said James Tager, Director for Free Expression Research and Policy for the writers' group PEN America.

"We should recall that China's own constitutional system guarantees freedom of speech and the press, and that the Constitution as well as the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law contains significant protections for the rights of ethnic minorities within China," Tager said.

"So when the international community asks the Chinese government to guarantee press freedom and free speech, including for those who speak or write or report in the Tibetan language and on Tibetan concerns, we are not making a radical demand," he said

"Instead, we are holding the Chinese government to its own words."

Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Tashi Wangchuk. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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 May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has advocated for years to modernize the states voting procedures to no avail. Now, a worldwide pandemic might finally be the impetus for change in Connecticut, the land of steady habits.

Connecticuts strict rules about absentee voting which are codified not only in state statute but in the states founding documents are creating a short term problem in the midst of a pandemic  how to allow Connecticut voters, especially those in vulnerable populations, to exercise their fundamental right to vote while maintaining adequate social distance  and reigniting a long term conversation about modernizing the way we vote.
Eighteen people were found travelling inside the tank of a concrete mixer truck by the police in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh, news agency ANI reported citing local officials, even as the Centre has allowed stranded people to go back to their homes.

The agency tweeted a 41-second video showing the men coming out of the tank one after the other as police officials looked on.

They were travelling from Maharashtra to Lucknow. The truck has been sent to a police station and an FIR has been registered, Umakant Chaudhary, the deputy superintendent of police, was quoted as saying by ANI.

#WATCH 18 people found travelling in the mixer tank of a concrete mixer truck by police in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. DSP Umakant Chaudhary says, "They were travelling from Maharashtra to Lucknow. The truck has been sent to a police station & an FIR has been registered". pic.twitter.com/SfsvS0EOCW  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020

The Union ministry of home affairs had on April 29 issued fresh guidelines for interstate movement to allow stranded migrant labourers, tourists and students to return to their homes.

However, the movement of migrants, tourists and students will be restricted to non-containment zones.

MHA had said the new guidelines will come into effect from May 4, which shall give considerable relaxation to many districts. The guidelines said all stranded people can go back home after undergoing strict medical screening both at the source and destination cities.

States must also organise thermal testing units and quarantine facilities for all those who are stranded, in order to clear asymptomatic cases, before sending them back. They must also arrange for sanitised buses for transportation, it said.

Reports of people travelling on foot and cycles, boats and ambulances have poured in from across the country since March when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the nation-wide lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19. It has been extended twice and till May 17 now.

Many have even died while travelling long distances.
Shareholders of Angang Steel Company Limited (HKG:347) will be pleased this week, given that the stock price is up 10% to HK$2.11 following its latest first-quarter results. Revenues were CN20b, approximately in line with whatthe analysts expected, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) crushed expectations, coming in at CN0.031, an impressive 210% ahead of estimates. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. We've gathered the most recent statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their earnings models, following these results.

View our latest analysis for Angang Steel

SEHK:347 Past and Future Earnings May 1st 2020

Following last week's earnings report, Angang Steel's 16 analysts are forecasting 2020 revenues to be CN103.4b, approximately in line with the last 12 months. Statutory per-share earnings are expected to be CN0.18, roughly flat on the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CN97.7b and earnings per share (EPS) of CN0.17 in 2020. So there seems to have been a moderate uplift in sentiment following the latest results, given the upgrades to both revenue and earnings per share forecasts for next year.

Despite these upgrades,the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of CN2.54, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Angang Steel at CN3.74 per share, while the most bearish prices it at CN1.55. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Story continues

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Angang Steel's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Angang Steel's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues next year expected to grow 2.0%, compared to a historical growth rate of 16% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 5.3% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Angang Steel is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Angang Steel following these results. They also upgraded their revenue estimates for next year, even though sales are expected to grow slower than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that 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 Angang Steel going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here..

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Angang Steel that you should be aware of.

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.
Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's heart surgery at a London hospital has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic as he is a "high-risk" patient, his daughter said.

Sharif, 70, has been in the UK since November last after Lahore High Court granted him bail for four weeks on medical grounds and allowed him to travel abroad for treatment.

The three-time premier is now undergoing treatment in London for coronary artery disease.

"The surgery of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif has been postponed because of coronavirus. Doctors say Sharif is a high-risk patient and all precautions have to be observed in the wake of Covid-19. His treatment continues and he needs your prayers, his daughter Maryam Nawaz tweeted.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb told PTI on Saturday that Sharif has been at his home in London since the outbreak of the pandemic.

"The three-time premier will go ahead with his heart procedure once the COVID-19 issue is settled," she said.

Earlier, Sharif's physician Adnan Khan said in a tweet: "As a high-risk patient, former PM #NawazSharif's Cardiac Catheterization/Coronary Intervention was postponed to be rescheduled at a later date amidst COVID19 Pandemic, as Public/Private Hospitals limited their admissions/procedures. Presently managed on aggressive medical therapy"



Last week, Pakistan's anti-graft body -- the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) - issued arrest warrants for Sharif for not joining investigations after he was summoned time and again to record his statement in a land case involving Jang Group's Editor-in-Chief Mir Shakilur Rehman.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials, Sharif illegally leased the land to the Jang Group editor-in-chief in 1986, when the three-time premier was the chief minister of Punjab province.

Rehman is in NAB custody on judicial remand.

The Lahore High Court in October last year granted bail to Sharif on medical grounds for four weeks, allowing the Punjab government to extend it further in the light of his medical reports.

The Islamabad High Court had also granted bail to Sharif in the Al Azizia Mills corruption case, in which the former prime minister was serving a seven-year jail term, clearing his way to travel abroad for medical treatment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chennai, May 2 : As many as 231 more persons, including a 14-day-old baby in Kancheepuram district and a transgender, tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu in the last 24-hours, taking the state's total cases to 2,757 on Saturday, the Health Department said.

The department said a 76-year-old woman patient died of Covid-19, taking the state's death toll to 29.

Of the new infections, Chennai topped with 174 cases. According to the Health Department, the 231 new patients included 158 males, 72 females and 1 transgender.

The total corona positive cases (2,757) in Tamil Nadu include 159 children in the age group 0-12.

As many as 29 patients were discharged from the hospitals, taking the total cured patients in Tamil Nadu to 1,341. Now, the state has 1,384 active cases in hospitals.

The total samples tested touched 10,127 during the period under review.

The only district free of Covid-19 all these days -- Krishnagiri -- reported its first patient on Saturday, turning it from Green zone to Orange zone category.

The number of coronavirus patients in Ariyalur went up by 18 to 26 on Saturday as many of them working in the Koyambedu market in Chennai returned home.

Similarly, Perambalur, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts too saw a sudden spike in corona infections as people from Koyambedu market returned home.

The government had banned retail sale of vegetables, fruits and flowers at the Koyambedu market and allowed only wholesale trade for a stipulated time period.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa on election day, March 3. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

California's 2020 presidential primary officially entered the history books Friday, as state officials certified a final tally and a rate of voter turnout that, while one of the highest in recent elections, still saw fewer than half of the state's registered voters cast a ballot.

In all, 46.89% of registered voters cast ballots in the March 3 primary, which was moved up from June with hopes that turnout would be high and presidential candidates would be forced to address issues mattering most to Californians. Turnout was noticeably lower in Los Angeles County, where 38% of voters showed up. It was one of three counties tied for the second-lowest turnout in the state.

While both the 2016 and 2008 primaries saw a higher percentage of registered voters participate, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla focused on the almost 9.7 million ballots cast, only behind the total number in 2008.

"If we look at the participation, it was the second-highest in almost 40 years," he said. "I think we continue to see the impact from several of the voting reforms weve championed."

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential primary statewide with 36% support, followed by former Vice President Joe Biden at 27.9%. But most of the Democratic Party's delegates were awarded by congressional district, with Biden and Sanders winning support in each of the state's 53 districts. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren won delegate votes in nine districts, while former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg won votes in seven districts.

The early primary may not earn a place in the history books for voter enthusiasm, but it might be remembered as California's last major civic event of the pre-coronavirus era. The likelihood that the pandemic lingers well into the fall has convinced a wide swath of elections experts that California must mail a ballot to each of the state's 20.6 million voters for the November general election.

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In short, they want to encourage voters to show up by staying home.

"There is no way that any Californians should have to risk their health and possibly their life to exercise the right to vote," Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) said.

Berman has introduced legislation to require counties to mail every registered voter a ballot for the Nov. 3 election, a one-time change in response to public health guidelines for physical distancing. Lawmakers, who will reconvene in Sacramento next week on a limited work schedule, will consider the proposal later this month.

Fourteen counties already mail a ballot to every voter under provisions of a 2016 law that swaps new "vote centers" for traditional neighborhood polling places. L.A. County, which was allowed this year to join that system without mailing all voters a ballot, is now poised to do so for November after the March election saw widespread problems including long lines at in-person vote centers that are now being investigated by auditors.

But millions more still prefer voting on election day, despite an almost two-decades-old state law that allows anyone to become a permanent absentee voter for any reason. And because voter turnout is traditionally higher in general elections, a temporary shift to all-mail voting could create significant work for elections officials and voting rights groups.

"Given the COVID-19 pandemic, I absolutely believe we should mail every voter a ballot in California," Padilla said Friday. "We have six months to educate the public."

Potential disagreements are already developing between local and state elections officials over the extent to which absentee voting should be the only option. The California Assn. of Clerks and Election Officials wrote to Gov. Gavin Newsom last month to request changes to sharply limit in-person voting and to give new discretion to counties on how it would be handled.

"Finding suitable voting locations that will allow for proper social distancing and space for line queuing, issuing, voting and receiving ballots will be extremely challenging. The safety and health of the voters, poll workers and county employees are of the utmost importance," Joseph Holland, the registrar of voters in Santa Barbara County and the association's president, wrote in the April 13 letter.

But Padilla said Friday that options must be available.

"Its important to maintain, and Im committed to maintaining, as many in-person voting locations as possible," he said in an interview.

A shift to sending every voter a ballot to be cast remotely  and expecting it will be  could also put enormous pressure on vote counting. A variety of California laws have allowed voters as much leeway as possible for returning ballots at the last minute. Millions more of these late votes, cast by citizens who aren't sure of their choices until the final hours, could prove problematic.

"The COVID-19 infection curve is not the only curve we need to flatten. We need to flatten the voting curve," said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. "We need to encourage people to stagger their return of those ballots."

The influx of 11th-hour ballots could be unprecedented. Rob Pyers, the research director of the nonpartisan California Target Book, pointed out last month in a social media posting that historical data from previous November elections suggest some 6 million ballots could remain uncounted on election day. In their letter to Newsom, elections officials asked him to extend the number of days they have to count ballots, similar to the extension he ordered for the March election.

Whether turnout for the March election met the expectations of those who championed an early presidential primary is unclear. A slightly larger share of the state's registered voters participated in the 2016 primary, many showing up for that year's race between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Sanders. The highest turnout for a presidential primary in the last quarter of a century was in February 2008 when Clinton beat then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic primary and Sen. John McCain won the Republican contest.

The 2008 primary was unique, though, in that both major political parties had competitive primaries. Not so this time, Alexander said.

"The March primary wasnt for everyone," she said. "Theres a question as to how much you can expect turnout will increase when theres only one partisan primary at stake."

But Alexander pointed out that even interested voters could have been left out in numbers large enough to make a difference. Unaffiliated voters, who are registered with "no party preference," had to take special action to be able to cast a ballot in the Democratic primary and were excluded from the GOP contest. But not all of those voters realized the need for an additional step until the end, when some communities  not just in Los Angeles  experienced long lines in the hours just before the polls closed on March 3.

"Its not a surprise people are going to be deterred by all of that," she said.

Key to the efforts to move most, or close to all, voters to participating remotely in November is the cost.

Counties, whose leaders have long criticized state leaders for imposing election mandates without also providing enough funding, are under enormous fiscal pressures from public health efforts to lessen the spread of the coronavirus. Sending more ballots by mail incurs costs related to postage  including the state law requiring prepaid return postage  and means possible delays by the U.S. Postal Service could further affect the need for elections workers to count those ballots long after election day.

"Its now my job to advocate for as much funding as possible," said Berman, whose legislation to make the change has not yet been reviewed for potential costs. "Thats going to be very difficult."
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

A.Y. writes: I have received a letter from Lowell Portfolio, claiming an alleged debt of 599 which it says I owe to PayPal.

With the letter was a further letter from PayPal, saying it had transferred the debt to Lowell.

I rang PayPal and was told that in fact no money is owed on my account, for which I have only ever used a debit card anyway.

Mix-up: The debtor had the same name and birthday but lived in the Shetlands

You told me that you had never used any form of credit with PayPal, so it was impossible for you to be in debt.

However, as a precaution, you decided to close your account and PayPal allowed this, which it would not have done if you had owed any money.

What made you particularly concerned was that Lowell was able to supply a letter on PayPal's notepaper, showing your name and address, and claiming that PayPal had already contacted you about your outstanding balance.

Lowell had also been in touch with you quite recently, chasing debts due to Shop Direct and the JD Williams catalogue company. It turned out that there is someone who shares your name and your date of birth.

The big difference is that the real debtor lives in the Shetlands, more than 800 miles from your own address. Lowell accepted this and dropped its pursuit of you, only to start the ball rolling again, after it took over PayPal's 599 claim.

So, I asked PayPal to let me see any of its records that would show how the debt arose, and why its letter was addressed to you and not to your Shetlands namesake. Not surprisingly, PayPal had no such records.

It told me: 'We will be contacting Mr Y to apologise and to say we will not be pursuing this matter.' Lowell was more forthcoming. It buys bad debts at a discount from firms like PayPal, and then tries to collect what it can.

All your details were supplied by PayPal, but Lowell accepts that it had been down this road before and had chased you for payments that were due from the other Mr Y.

In view of this, Lowell has sent you an apology and 150. You have told me you are donating this to charities that are responding to the coronavirus crisis.

Lowell has also made one more point. It says that information held by credit reference agencies has also mixed your real records in with those of the debtor.

It would be a good idea to ask all these agencies for a copy of your file, spring-clean it, and add a warning that you and the other Mr Y are two very different people.

Zara's a tricky customer for refund

Ms I.T. writes: I was asked to provide fashion company Zara with my bank details to receive a refund of 69.

After three months, Zara insists I have been repaid, but I have received nothing.

It seems Zara credited an unknown account, but I am fobbed off with replies saying my refund has been processed.

A bad sign: Ms I.T. ound that contacting Zara on its chat message board was frustrating

You found that contacting Zara on its chat message board was frustrating, and my own experience was little better.

Staff in London told me I had to contact the group's bosses in Spain. I did, but they failed to reply. When I warned that I was going to publish your complaint, they asked a London public relations firm to tell me there was confusion because you had changed your bank  something you deny.

The PR firm gave me a statement from Zara: 'Last June, we issued the refund, but the payment was unfortunately rejected by the customer's bank.

'We asked the customer to verify her bank details and have since resent the amount to her.'

I asked Zara where it sent the original payment but it flatly refused to tell me, 'because of privacy concerns'.

As you had signed a consent form allowing Zara to deal openly with me, I do wonder whose privacy they were concerned about. I am pleased that you have finally received the refund, but Zara has proved not to be an easy company to deal with.

Wine scam: Fraudster Freddie Achom with the Duchess of Cornwall

WE'RE WATCHING YOU There is disastrous news for investors in the collapsed Bordeaux Wine Company (BWC), who have been told by the Administrator that they are likely to recover less than a penny for every 1 they poured into what were supposed to be profitable wines. Insolvency Practitioner Umang Patel, who was appointed Administrator by the High Court last September, has written to the company's clients to say he has received claims totalling more than 1 0million, and he expects this figure to rise as many investors have not yet filed a claim. Investigations at a bonded warehouse used by the company have shown a massive shortfall of cases of wine which investors had paid for, but which BWC had not actually bought from vineyards. One investor said: 'The end result is that unsecured creditors are likely to get 0.6p in the pound.' As a result, this investor only stands to get about 340 in place of 57,000 he invested. Even this figure is only likely because the Administrator found that last July and August, BWC sold much of the wine it had stored but banked payments of 584,380 in the account of a completely different company, controlled by BWC's director Boington Grant. The Administrator won a court order to freeze the account, and has seized 52,538, and is pursuing the balance. Last year, I recovered 27,000 for one investor but warned that the company was likely to collapse very soon. And I named its behind-the-scenes controller as Freddie Achom, a convicted fraudster with a history of wine scams who had reinvented himself as a successful businessman, being pictured at official receptions hosted by then Prime Minister David Cameron and the Duchess of Cornwall.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Stock market to reopen soon View(s):

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is expected to open sometime this month. It was unclear on Friday whether the Colombo district curfew due to end on Monday May 4 morning would be extended.

If it ends on Monday, the market is likely to resume trading on the same day.

The buzz of restarting operations at the stock market came about after a proposal in that regard was put forward to the Economic Revival Task Force last week. Industry sources noted that it will be taken up at the next meeting.

Concerns that certain stockbrokers had, like the settlement issues amidst curfew will be addressed, industry sources said.

Meanwhile issues of large foreign-exchange outflow and takeover of companies owing to their low share prices by investors and certain stronger companies are still lurking in the air.

Stock market analysts say that initially there will be a huge sell-out by both local and foreign investors when the market opens but that is to be expected as displayed in foreign markets. While some investors will be driven by fear, others will be driven by greed.

There will be a big liquidity crunch, but if the market does not open early, it will be in a worse place than where it left off when it eventually restarts operations, an analyst pointed out.

So it is better to open the market as early as possible, one analyst said.

Examples of emerging markets which have bounced back in the midst of the pandemic are Vietnam and South Korea.

In Vietnam, the benchmark VN Index rebounded 15 per cent in April, becoming the worlds best performer, data show. The South Korean benchmark Kospi stock index surged from March lows last week.

Both these markets show that foreign investors were leading the recovery ride.

The pandemic eventually will run its course and world stock markets and economies, will resume their growth trajectory. So, analysts point out, its better that Sri Lanka has a head start without pandering to the whims and fancies of certain stakeholders. (DEC)
A shot of Vietnams famous Golden Bridge held up by two giant hands in Da Nang is Agoras worlds best architecture photo of 2020.

The aerial shot won the most votes from users of Agora, the worlds biggest free-to-use photo app Agora, giving Vietnamese photographer Tran Tuan Viet the $1,000 top prize.

Viets image was chosen from over 10,000 entries submitted for the contest organized by Agora, a global photography social network, the organizing board announced Friday.

The shot of Golden Bridge on Ba Na Hills in Da Nang wins most votes from users of Agora, the worlds biggest free-to use photo app. Photo by Tran Tuan Viet.

The photographer, a Ha Tinh Province native, gave details of his subject: "The Golden Bridge on Ba Na Hills in the central city of Da Nang has been built at around 1,400 meters above sea level. It is divided into eight spans (the longest one 20 m), with a total length of 148.6 m."

The impressive work of architecture has the unique characteristic of being held up by two giant concrete hands, representing the Mountain Gods hands," Viet said.

Other Vietnamese photographs selected as finalists in the competition, launched March 10, included shots of a low-income apartment in Hanoi's Hoang Mai District taken by photographer Nguyen Huu Thanh Hai, a floating restaurant on the iconic Huong (Perfume) River in the central town of Hue taken by Pham Huy Trung, and an aerial shot of Saigon by Cao Ky Nhan.

An aerial shot of Saigon's buildings reflected across water, taken by Cao Ky Nhan, was chosen among 50 finalists of the contest.

Designed by Vu Viet Anh, design principal at TA Landscape Architecture, the Golden Bridge opened to tourists in June 2018 and quickly grabbed the worlds attention, becoming one of the most popular subjects on Instagram, the world's top photo sharing network.

It was featured among the world's best travel photos of 2018 (CNN), the World's 100 Greatest Places (Time) and Pictures of the year 2018 (Reuters).
The reports of 27 samples of coronavirus suspects from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh turned out to be negative, an official said on Saturday.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati expressed satisfaction and urged people to observe social distancing as the threat of coronavirus infection was not yet over.

All people should fight jointly to beat the threat of this deadly virus. People should concentrate on enhancing their immunity and come out of houses only if it is very urgent as only safety can save us. People should download the Aarogya Setu app to remain vigilant at public places, the DC said.

He said farmers should follow social distancing while harvesting. All block development officers (BDOs) have been asked to ensure social distancing and other precautions among the farming community.

Farmers can continue with their farming activities throughout the day but should frequently wash their hands and wear face masks. Senior citizens and patients are being supplied prescribed medicines through home delivery at their doorsteps. No pass is required during medical emergencies, he said.

The deputy commissioner said it was essential for owners of groceries and vegetable shops to display rate lists to avoid overcharging. All shopkeepers have been asked to ensure social distancing.

The Food and Civil Supplies department has been asked to inspect rate lists regularly. He said that supply of rations, vegetables, fruits, other essential items including LPG refills and fuel was being maintained on a regular basis. There is no dearth of rations and other items in the district, Prajapati added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid coronavirus-induced lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday deliberated on ways to reform the agriculture sector with emphasis on agriculture marketing, access of farmers to institutional credit and freeing the sector of various restrictions with appropriate backing of laws.

Agriculture accounts for 15 per cent of India's gross domestic product and is a source of livelihood for more than half of the country's 1.3 billion population.

The government has maintained that the country's farm sector is functioning smoothly despite the COVID-19 lockdown and there will not be much impact on its growth in the current fiscal, unlike other sectors.

The pros and cons of bio-technological developments in crops or enhancement of productivity and reduction in input costs was also deliberated, an official statement said.

The meeting also focused on making strategic interventions in the existing marketing eco-system and bringing appropriate reforms in the context of rapid agricultural development.

Concessional credit flow to strengthen agriculture infrastructure, special Kisan Credit Card saturation drive for PM-Kisan beneficiaries and facilitating inter and intra-state trade of agriculture produce to ensure fairest return to farmers were some of the other important areas covered, the statement said.

Developing eNAM or the National Agriculture Market into a "platform of platforms" to enable e-commerce was one of the important topics of discussion on Saturday.

Discussion also emanated on the possibilities of a uniform statutory framework in the country to facilitate new ways for farming which will infuse capital and technology in the agrarian economy.

The challenges of the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016 and how to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers was discussed in detail.

Ways to make the Essential Commodities Act compatible with present times so that large-scale private investment in post-production agriculture infrastructure is incentivised, and how it has a positive effect on commodity derivative markets, was also discussed.

Developing Brand India', creation of commodity specific boards/councils and promotion of agri-clusters or contract farming are some of the interventions that were deliberated to boost agriculture commodity export.

The use of technology in the agriculture sector is of paramount importance as it has the potential to unlock the entire value chain for the benefit of farmers.

PM Modi emphasised on the dissemination of technology till the last mile and making farmers more competitive in the global value chain.

It was decided to further strengthen the role of Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) to bring vibrancy in agrarian economy, transparency in agriculture trade and enable maximum benefits to the farmers.

Overall emphasis was on revisiting the existing laws governing market for better price realisation and freedom of choice to the farmers, the statement said.

Agriculture and allied sector's growth stood at 3.7 per cent during the 2019-20 fiscal.

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

The draft contracts, which will be signed with Saudi Arabias ACWA Power and the UAE's Masdar companies, have been prepared, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy.

The discussions are underway with the corresponding structures in connection with these documents, the message said. The third meeting of the commission created upon the Azerbaijani presidents order dated December 5, 2019 #1673 on measures to implement pilot projects in the field of the use of renewable energy sources was held. The issues related to the implementation of pilot projects were discussed at the meeting chaired by Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov.

"The use of renewable energy sources was determined by the president as one of the priority spheres for the development of the energy industry. The president focuses on the implementation of pilot projects for the construction of wind power plants with a capacity of 240 Megawatts and solar power plants with a capacity of 200 Megawatts in accordance with the agreements signed with ACWA Power and Masdar companies on January 9, 2020, Shahbazov said at the meeting.

Despite the difficult conditions which are observed at the global level, heads of ACWA Power and Masdar companies have recently reiterated their commitment to the signed documents, which testifies again to the confidence in Azerbaijan and President Aliyev," Shahbazov stressed.

According to the ministry, a report on the work conducted by the working groups created to fulfill the tasks set for the commission was heard at the meeting.

Much work on the allocation of the corresponding land plots has already been carried out for the implementation of the projects, the message said. The need for the speedy completion of the remaining work was emphasized.

The discussions were held with the companies to strengthen the network and integration into the network, technical specifications and schemes were considered, the message said. The need was expressed to continue discussions on a number of issues.

The information on the conducted work on legal and institutional issues was also provided, said the ministry. Together with the consulting companies, the draft contracts that will be signed with ACWA Power and Masdar companies, have been prepared. The discussions are underway with the relevant structures.

A decision was made during the meeting to complete this work as soon as possible, to submit draft contracts to the investors and start discussing these contracts with them, the message said. The need for studying the international experience in connection with the guarantees which are given to the investors was also touched upon and a proposal was made to use the services of a consulting company.

The views on upcoming tasks and other upcoming work were exchanged, and a decision was made to hold more often the meetings of working groups with consulting companies and the companies that will implement the project, the ministry added.

Seven working groups, consisting of representatives of the structures such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Justice, the Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, the State Service on Property Issues, the State Tax Service, Central Bank, Azerenergy OJSC, Azerishig OJSC and other agencies, are operating to implement the presidents order.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Nicaragua Coronavirus Update - Coronavirus cases climb to 14, Total Deaths reaches to 3 on 02-May-2020

In Nicaragua total confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) have increased to 14, while 3 people died due to the growing infection in the country.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) update from around the world:

Gujarat, 02-May-2020: Gujarat reported 333 new COVID-19 positive cases in the past 24 hours raising the total positive cases count to 5,054 in the state. While 262 deaths are reported so far as per Gujarat Health Department.

Tamil Nadu, 02-May-2020: Tamil Nadu government eases the restrictions in non-containment areas as per the Center's fresh guidelines on Covid-19 ongoing lockdown. Tamil Nadu government will allow the resumption of construction activity, road works, opening of SEZs, and some other from May 4 in non-containment areas in the state.

Mumbai, 02-May-2020: Mumbai reported 547 Covid-19 cases and 27 deaths today, raising the total cases of 8,172 and deaths to 322. Over 137 patients have been discharged today which increased the cured patient count to 1704. Public Health Department, Mumbai report provided the details of the patients in the state.

France: France is reporting higher number of deaths but but slightly fewer people with severe conditions were admitted into ICU in past fourth day. France reported 315 deaths last day as compared to 345 deaths the day earlier. In France 133,670 confirmed cases and 14,412 deaths reported so far.

Here are the latest cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in Nicaragua:

Sr. No. Date Total Cases New Cases Total Deaths Deaths 1. 27-Apr-2020 13 0 3 0 2. 28-Apr-2020 13 0 3 0 3. 29-Apr-2020 13 0 3 0 4. 30-Apr-2020 14 1 3 0 5. 01-May-2020 14 0 3 0 6. 02-May-2020 14 0 3 0

TOP 10 Deaths by country due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:



1. Europe (137,429)

2. North America (71,920)

3. USA (65,776)

4. Italy (28,236)

5. UK (27,510)

6. Spain (24,824)

7. France (24,594)

8. Asia (18,966)

9. South America (9,486)

10. Belgium (7,703)

Total Deaths Worldwide (239,625)

Globally till now over 239,625 people died due to the outbreak of deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19). The new infection and death cases are increasing fast. Authorities in the Nicaragua and other countries are taking proper measures to contain the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19).

As of now Europe is the worst affected country in the world with over 137,429 deaths and 1,399,726 confirmed cases.

Check latest update: Coronaviurs Covid-19 cases around the world
Michigans animal agriculture leaders responded Saturday to state and national news of processor shutdowns that some fear will create food shortages around the country. Industry leaders said that Michigan is working quickly to help ensure grocery stores are able continue to offer ample supplies of pork and beef.

Michigans animal agriculture industries, like every business and every industry around the country, are making adjustments to their businesses to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Gary McDowell, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

While this could lead to some near-term speedbumps, everyone should recognize these changes will deliver long-term supply chain strength and, most importantly, improved safety for workers throughout the agricultural industries.

Leaders from the Michigan beef and pork industries said processing in Michigan has slowed and occasionally stopped briefly in recent weeks as they install new safety measures for employees.

Worker safety is job one, said George Quackenbush, executive director of the Michigan Beef Industry Commission. A safe and healthy workforce is the key to bringing us back to full production. And we know its important that we get this right, so we dont have to do it twice.

Mary Kelpinski, chief executive officer of the Michigan Pork Producers Association, urged shoppers to resist panic buying of meat products in the weeks ahead.

We have determined that with production facilities continuing to function and plenty of meat in cold storage around the state, consumers should expect to continue to see meat products in grocery stores, she said. The only way we could encounter a problem is if consumers start panic-buying. We want everyone to know that production in Michigan remains strong. Dont buy more than you need.

The two industries issued this formal statement to consumers:

COVID-19 has changed everything about how people come together. The meat industry, like everyone, has been adapting to these new challenges.

Michigans farmers are among the most productive in the United States. Together, beef and pork farmers feed millions of Michiganders and Americans. Our processors lead the industry in food safety. We are committed to supplying wholesome meat products consumers rely upon.

The impact of this pandemic has not been easy, and it is not over. While Michigans meat supply chain may experience occasional and temporary suspensions of operations, these breaks are necessary to implement new worker safety measures.

We are focused on prevention protocols to keep the food supply moving and ensure the health and welfare of employees and animals. We applaud the extraordinary steps the industry is taking to ensure worker safety, including COVID-19 testing, temperature checks, use of personal protective equipment and social distancing of employees.

One thing we can all do to help each other during this time is avoid panic-buying. Buying only what you need will ensure families across the U.S. can continue to enjoy the safe and nutritious protein they know and love.

The meat and livestock community is committed to delivering safe and high-quality products to consumers and is working diligently to return to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible.
If there were no increased transmission, the third phase would compare that less restrictive setting with a full, unrestricted reopening.

In the best-case scenario  no increased transmission  all schools could open after three to six weeks.

Dr. Kalager and Dr. Bretthauer add that the study would minimize harm because only those randomized to the increasingly lax restrictions and those they came in contact with would be at risk.

The same trial design could, in theory, be applied to places like gyms and office buildings.

Epidemiologists and medical researchers in the United States say the idea is worth considering, although it is not clear how practical it would be to carry out.

The general idea is a good one, said Jon Zelner, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan. The data that will emerge from the reopenings that are starting now will be analyzed, he said, but its not clear how useful that data will be because the reopenings are being done in a very ad hoc, not rigorous way. Although he questions the details of how a randomized study could be designed, or whether a randomized trial is the best way of answering these questions, he said, just the contribution of the idea to the discussion is valuable.

Dr. Robert Aronowitz, a professor of the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, added that a rigorous study might be more convincing to a skittish public than data from observations of a variety of reopenings.

But, Dr. Kalager and Dr. Bretthauer said in a Zoom interview, it is not always in politicians interest to get data from randomized controlled studies. Those who called for quickly shutting schools down would face blowback if it turned out that the closings had virtually no effect on the spread of the epidemic.
Midland added two confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday, May 2, bringing the total number of cases to 62 in the county. The number of coronavirus deaths remains at six.

Bay County added eight new cases for a total of 158 cases and six deaths and Isabella County added just one case for a total of 61 cases, now just one lower than Midland. However, Isabella County has seven confirmed deaths.

Saturdays state report shows two less confirmed cases for Gladwin County, down to 14 from 16 on Friday. The Michigan/gov website states corrections to county cases are made as public health investigations of individual cases continue.

Saginaw County now has a total of 700 confirmed cases and 66 deaths, increasing by 16 cases from Friday, and an additional three deaths.

In the entire state, there are now 43,207 confirmed cases after 851 new cases were confirmed Saturday, and there is now a total of 4,020 deaths in Michigan, an increase of 154 from Friday.

However, as of Friday, May 1, 15,659 of the people with confirmed cases have recovered. Statewide the fatality rate is 9%, based on confirmed cases.

Of those whove died, 54% were male, however 53% of all the confirmed cases are female. The median age of those who have died is 74.8 years, though people as young as 5 and as old as 107 have died.

In addition, the state website recently began including information from hospitals and nursing homes around the state.

MidMichigan Health, which covers 23 counties including Midland, reported having 23 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, three patients in ICU and a 37% bed occupancy rate. This data, according to the website, reflects the status in health systems and hospitals 48 hours prior to the time that it was posted to the state page, which was April 30.

The state also is reporting no COVID-19 positive residents at four of Midland Countys long-term care facilities, Brittany Manor, Medilodge of Midland, Midland Kings Daughters Home and Stratford Pines as of April 28. Gladwin Nursing & Rehab Community and Gladwin Pines Nursing Homes also are reporting no COVID-19 positive residents.

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.

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 e-mail 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.
The NIA on Saturday arrested an absconding property manager of the outlawed terrorist outfit CPI (Maoist) here for his alleged involvement in an arms case of Jharkhand, an official said.

Manoj Choudhary (48), a resident of Jharkhand's Giridih district, was arrested in the early hours from West Bengal's Hooghly and several incriminating documents showing immovable properties related transactions were seized from his possession, the official said.

He was produced before a Special NIA Court in Ranchi which sent him to five days of custody, the premier investigation agency said.

Chaudhary, an active member of the banned terrorist outfit CPI (Maoist), was instrumental in the investment of proceeds of terrorism (extortion/levy amount collected by senior Maoists cadres) into real estate, the NIA official said.

He was in contact with senior CPI (Maoist) cadres since 2008, channelising their ill-gotten wealth into the acquisition of immovable properties at prime locations in Giridih. He had been evading arrest for more than three years, the NIA said.

The case pertains to the seizure of a huge cache of arms and ammunition at Akbakitand village in Giridih, leading to the arrest of 15 operatives of CPI (Maoists) including squad area committee member Sunil Manjhi, it said.

A case was registered in March, 2018 at Dumri Police Station in Giridih under relevant sections of the IPC, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, Criminal Law Amendment Act and UA(P) Act. Subsequently, the NIA re-registered the case in May, 2018.

During investigation, more arms and ammunition and a huge quantity of explosives were recovered from Lugu Pahad in Bokaro, the NIA said.

The NIA has so far submitted two charge-sheets against a total of 17 accused including Chaudhary.

Further investigation in the case is underway, the NIA added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amsterdam is usually one of the easiest, and most pleasurable, city break destinations imaginable. The Dutch capital is just a stone's throw from the UK, accessible by plane (1hr 5m), train (3h 41m), or boat (9h 40m on an overnight sleeper ferry and metro via the hook of Holland). While currently cut off from the city's charms - from its famed canals and gabled houses to its smorgasbord of museums and galleries - those craving a slice of the Netherlands can still get their kicks, albeit remotely.

Here's the ultimate armchair travellers' guide to Amsterdam.

What to do

Anne Frank House

The famous Secret Annex where Anne Frank hid and wrote her diary during the Nazi occupation usually attracts 1.3 million visitors a year.

Even though it's closed its doors temporarily, the museum is giving people all over the world the chance to get an idea of what life must have been like for Anne and her family by releasing a series of videos that reimagine the teen diarist as a modern-day vlogger. The daily films retell Anne's story for the YouTube generation 75 years after the liberation of Holland. Visit youtube.com/annefrank or search Anne Frank House on YouTube.

Rijksmuseum

Stuffed with masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, the Rijksmuseum is one of Amsterdam's most popular attractions. It's closed until at least June, but has just launched a new interactive experience, Rijksmuseum From Home, that allows you to virtually visit the home of Rembrandt's The Nightwatch and Vermeer's The Milkmaid.

In a collaboration with Google, there's also the chance to explore 11 "exhibits", where you're able to interact with various works from the museum, read about their history and see close-ups of the pieces. Visit rijksmuseum.nl/en/masterpieces-up-close.

Boat tour

Hopping on a canal cruise to explore Amsterdam's famous waterways is one of the city's most popular activities. Take a virtual tour with Starboard (starboardboats.nl/virtual-cruise), which has put together 360-degree photos from its cruises, allowing you to "travel" along the canals. To give the true touring experience, there are also information points to click on that tell you more about the landmarks along the way, from the creation of the Prinsengracht 70 Street art to the history of the Westerkerk church in the trendy Jordaan neighbourhood.

Eye Film Museum

Amsterdam's futuristic-looking film museum and archive preserves and presents Dutch and international films. Experience it from home by accessing the latest arthouse movies and award-winning documentaries that would have been screened in the museum's onsite cinema (eyefilm.nl/en/themes/picl).

The huge selection includes Oscar-winner Parasite, Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You and Bafta-winning documentary For Sama; 48-hour access to the library costs 8.50 (approx 7.40).

Local flavours

Featuring 35 different restaurants from the Dutch capital, the Amsterdam Cook Book (Meze Publishing, 14.95) compiles recipes from local favourites and beloved chains.

As well as the recipes themselves, the book also tells the stories of the local chefs and eateries, and pays homage to the neighbourhoods they call home. Featured restaurants include The Chippy, the Bao Buns Amsterdam pop-up, Blauw, The Butcher Social Club and zero food waste concept Instock.

If drinking is more your tipple, Bols Amsterdam, the classic Dutch genever brand, has published a whopping 70 cocktail recipes on its website, from the Woo Woo-inspired Amsterdammertje to the lethal sounding Flying Dutchman.

Setting the scene

If you want to combine a visit to Amsterdam with a good cry, look no further than Young Adult smash hit The Fault in Our Stars. The book - and film adaptation - sees two teenagers with terminal illnesses fall for each other, with their feelings coming to fruition on a trip to Amsterdam. They even share a first kiss in the Anne Frank House.

Jessie Burton's best-seller The Miniaturist is set in 17th-century Amsterdam - the perfect way to immerse yourself from afar. The BBC TV adaptation also perfectly captures the city during the Dutch Golden Age; the series is currently available to purchase on Amazon Prime.

Given what a gorgeous city it is, it's surprising Amsterdam hasn't been used more frequently as a backdrop in cinema. But there are still options: pick your poison, heist or spy flick? Ocean's Twelve and Bond classic Diamonds are Forever both feature the Dutch capital.

Bring it home

You can't get much more Amsterdam than watch brand Vondel, whose designs all feature a vertical line of three "x"s in a subtle nod to the city's coat of arms. Other than that, the timepieces are the epitome of Dutch design: simple, contemporary and chic. You can buy online, with watches starting from around 80. If you have a craving for Dutch cuisine, Netherlands producer of fine cheeses Henri Willig has an online shop for all your Gouda, fig bread and honey mustard needs.

For classic Dutch homeware, look no further than FEST Amsterdam, which nails modern interior design with its range of furniture, accessories and lighting collections. Geometric-print candle holders, smooth pastel ceramics and made-to-order corner sofas: since we're spending so much time at home, now could be the ideal time to invest in your nest.

Anything else?

Amsterdam is all about the bike culture. To truly embrace the city at a distance, hop on two wheels for your mandated daily exercise - whether it's a Santander cycle, a Jump electric-powered number, or your very own tweewieler (bicycle).
Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is representing ICE detainees at a Bristol County detention center in a federal class action lawsuit, said Saturday that a parallel civil litigation could be filed after an incident on Friday led to damage at the facility.

There are conflicting stories about what happened at the B wing in the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth on Friday. The office of Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has said that detainees refused to be tested for COVID-19, violently rushed at the sheriff and correctional officers and destroyed the unit.

However, attorneys and advocates say that detainees were requesting to be tested in their unit for fear of being brought to a different facility and potentially being exposed to the virus, as well as fear of being placed in solitary confinement. They said detainees reached out in fearful phone calls and said they were attacked with gas and pepper spray.

At no moment did my husband tell me that the prisoners had attacked the guards, said Fatima Nohemy Chavez Vasquez through a Spanish translator during a press conference Saturday afternoon that was organized by Congressman Joe Kennedy III. He sounded very fearful about what was going on.

Vasquez said her husband reported being attacked with tear gas, seeing other detainees being hit and that he was coughing a lot during their phone call around 6:20 p.m. Friday.

Kennedy has called for an independent investigation into the incident, has asked for public release of any surveillance footage and is also demanding that detainees in the unit during the incident receive immediate access to counsel.

During the press conference, Kennedy said he believes a number of institutions would be able to conduct an investigation as the incident involved federal detainees and a local sheriff.

Attorney Ira Alkalay, who represents four clients in the facility, said he was on the phone with one client when the incident unfolded.

During a press conference earlier Saturday, Hodgson said he approached a detainee who was on the phone and asked him to leave the facility for COVID-19 testing. Hodgson said he reached out to grab the phone and that the detainee, who he described as a con man, started to yell, stop hitting me, stop touching me.

Alkalay said on his end of the phone, he suddenly heard his client cry out in pain, saying, dont hit me, dont hurt me.' Then, Alkalay said he heard muffled sounds for at least five minutes.

Other clients and detainees spoke to Alkalay on the phone during the incident and reported the first detainee being shoved by the sheriff, Alkalay said.

Alkalay said he spoke to a family member of a detainee who indicated that correctional officers and the sheriff had caused the damage to the unit.

I wasnt hearing aggression from the detainees and again I spoke to four of them, the attorney said. I was hearing a lot of fear, I was hearing terror.

The detainees were afraid of contracting the virus and of being put into isolation, Alkalay said, adding that the detainees also believed they were being retaliated against because of the class action lawsuit and complaints about the lack of cleanliness in the facility.

Rev. Annie Gonzalez said during the press conference that she had spoken to one of the detainees that had spoken to Alkalay and heard the same story.

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, the executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said that conditions at the facility are unconstitutional and thats why the federal court has released some detainees.

So far, 48 detainees have been released, said Espinoza-Madrigal, adding that options moving forward may be a parallel civil lawsuit if detainees suffered injuries in the incident.

Hodgson during his press conference said ICE will investigate the incident. He also said that he had not heard from Kennedy.

On Saturday afternoon, Kennedy said he had reached out to the sheriff but had not connected with him yet.

Three detainees were taken to the hospital, one for symptoms of a panic attack, one for a pre-existing medical condition and one for another medical incident after being removed from the ICE wing. All three are expected to be fine, the sheriffs office said. No Bristol County personnel were injured during the incident.

The sheriffs office said it has moved detainees to single cells in the special housing unit, pending disciplinary action, COVID-19 testing and criminal charges.

Related Content:
A huge mobile phone antenna smashed into the roof of a Coles supermarket overnight as parts of Australia battle wild weather from an Antarctic cold front.

The Optus phone tower plummeted into the fruit and vegetable section of Coles in the Park Holme shopping centre in Adelaide at 11.30pm on Friday.

Gale force winds of up to 57km/h hammered the area, which ultimately caused the tower to become loose and fall.

The South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service and State Emergency Services crews quickly arrived to stop the store from flooding as parts of Adelaide have been soaked in up to 30mm of rain in the last 24 hours alone.

The Optus phone tower plummeted into the fruit and vegetable section of Coles in the Park Holme shopping centre (pictured) in Adelaide at 11:30pm on Friday night

A man braces for ocean splatter from strong winds in Mordialloc harbour in Melbourne. The city had its wettest start to the year on record on Friday, with 408.8mm of rain from January to the first day of May - beating a previous record set in 1924

A Coles spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that none of the night fill workers were injured by the falling antenna.

Coles supermarket workers have been turning away customers on Saturday as crane operators worked to remove the debris and construction workers fix the roof.

The supermarket will be closed for the day but it is too early to tell when it will be reopened, according to the Coles spokesman.

An Optus spokesman said: 'We are currently investigating an incident which occurred at a tower we lease form a third party.'

Adelaide can expect more showers today before easing off into lighter winds on Sunday with a minimum of 10C and a maximum of 17C as the Antarctic cold front passes over the city.

The icy snap is currently passing through south east Australia, which is causing strong wind and rain in capital cities and blizzards in mountainous regions.

'At the moment, we have a very cold outbreak across the south east from well south of the country from the Antarctic,' the Bureau of Meteorology's Dean Narramore told Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

'It's one of those cases where all of the ingredients are coming together for a very cold outbreak.'

Mentone Iceburgers braved the elements to have a swim at the beach with their dog. Melburnians are currently shivering through a weekend with a minimum temperature of 9C and a maximum of 14C, with showers expected to ease next week

The Victorian capital just missed out on recording its coldest start to May as the temperature reached 13C - exceeding the 12.2C record set on May 1, 1962. (Pictured: woman rugged up in Melbourne as temperatures dip)

Melbourne had its wettest start to the year on record on Friday, with 408.8mm of rain from January to the first day of May - beating a previous record set in 1924.

Melbourne had its wettest start to the year on record on Friday, with 408.8mm of rain from January to the first day of May - beating a previous record set in 1924.

The Victorian capital just missed out on recording its coldest start to May as the temperature reached 13C - exceeding the 12.2C record set on May 1, 1962.

Melburnians are currently shivering through a weekend with a minimum temperature of 9C and a maximum of 14C, with showers expected to ease next week.

Blizzards have been painting Victoria's Alpine regions white. Mount Buller recorded the lowest temperature at -2.6C on Saturday with more snow showers expected.

Mount Hotham is also experiencing snow showers and hovering around -1.9C with a 'feels like' temperature of just -4.2C.

Meanwhile in Sydney, gale force winds of up to 67km per hour are causing the 'feels like' temperature to be more than 10C colder than the actual temperature.

For example, Sydney Airport is currently 18.4C but feels like just 8C due to winds of 63km per hour at midday on Saturday.

From Sunday, the actual temperature is forecasted to slightly increase but a return to sunshine and no wind will likely make the 'feels like' temperature appear normal.

A woman takes her dog for a walk in Mount Hotham, which is currently experiencing snow showers and temperatures as low as -2C

A man goes for a run during cold at windy conditions at Mordialloc Harbour in Melbourne. An icy snap from Antarctica is currently passing through south east Australia, which is causing strong wind and rain in capital cities and blizzards in mountainous regions

It's a similar situation in Canberra, where the maximum temperature if 10C but the 'feels like' temperature is just 1.1C.

But from Sunday, the weather is set to warm up to a maximum of 18C and a minimum of 8C by Friday.

The cold weather has even had an impact in Queensland with some towns even dropping below zero on Saturday.

Oakey dropped to -0.4C to mark a cold start to the weekend while Kingaroy got down to -0.1C.

In Brisbane, the temperature dropped by 5C from Thursday to Friday with a minimum of 14C and max of 24C.

On Saturday, the cold weather continued with a minimum of just 10C and a maximum of 24C thanks to the sunny weather.

By Wednesday, the minimum will have crept back up to 14C while the maximum of forecasted to be 25C with continued sunny skies expected.

'Northern Queensland and the Top End are still hot but they will be 2-6C below average over the coming days as this front moves further up,' Mr Neale told Daily Mail Australia.

Melbourne residents were seen wearing beanies and scarves at the beginning of the last month of Autumn as temperatures dip to extreme levels

The Northern Territory started its dry season on Friday and looks to have fairly consistently sunny weather throughout the week.

Darwin's maximum temperature will remain at a 35C during the week while lows between 22C and 25C are also expected.

After the cold front passed through Perth earlier last week, the WA capital is currently bouncing back with a maximum of 27C.

But things are set to cool down once the weekend is over with clouds on Sunday and rain from Monday to Wednesday.

The lowest point will come on Wednesday, with a maximum of 19C and a low of 12C.

Lastly, Tasmania is also experiencing some peculiar weather patterns. Hobart is currently experiencing 10mm of rain on Saturday with a maximum of just 12C.

Cloudiness and showers will persist throughout the week but the maximum will reach 17C by Tuesday.

The coldest part of the island state, Mount Wellington, is 2C as of Saturday but extreme winds of up to 117km per hour have made the 'feels like' temperature -10.9C.
Update May 1: Southwest, Alaska Airlines, United, Frontier, American and Delta all fell into line and announced this week that masks will be mandatory for both passengers and staff. Rules go into effect on May 4 for Alaska, United and Delta, May 8 for Frontier, and May 11 for American and Southwest.

If you are flying out of San Francisco or Oakland International airports, it does not really matter if your airline requires a mask or not. That's because everyone entering the airport must now don a mask according to new health orders. That includes wearing masks during TSA screening, with the TSA issuing new guidance on that as you can see in the tweet below. (UPDATE: Mineta San Jose International now requires masks, too.)

Violators of the mask ordinance at SFO could face a fine of up to $1,000, or even imprisonment, according to San Mateo County, which is responsible for enforcement. However, an airport spokesperson say that its efforts will focus on education and information for passengers.

"As an essential business, all airport employees, travelers, and visitors entering the terminal building are now required to wear a face covering. In support of the new order, Oakland International Airport (OAK) is incorporating visual signage and audio messaging throughout its terminals and the exterior of all public entry points, with guidance and reminders for compliance," the airport said in a statement.

DON'T MISS: Airlines taking a gun to the coronavirus

Currently, there are a scant 100,000-or-so passengers boarding flights in the US these days, but those numbers are on the rise. As air travel continues to crawl out of the hole it's been in during April, these new mask rules (and more) will likely remain in effect as part of the new normal for flying.

Flight attendant and pilot unions are urging airlines to adopt rules requiring masks for every person onboard, but currently, the Federal Aviation Administration has not made it compulsory.

Wearing a face covering isnt about protecting yourself its about protecting those around you, said Joanna Geraghty, president and chief operating officer of JetBlue. This is the new flying etiquette. Onboard, cabin air is well circulated and cleaned through filters every few minutes but this is a shared space where we have to be considerate of others. We are also asking our customers to follow these CDC guidelines in the airport as well.

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

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Hotspot Chennai remains shut as Tamil Nadu eases restrictions in non-containment areas

India

pti-PTI

Chennai, May 02: Following the Centre's fresh guidelines on COVID-19 lockdown, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday eased restrictions in non-containment areas and allowed resumption of construction activity, road works, opening of SEZs ,among others, from May 4.

The cabinet gave its nod to the extension of the lockdown till May 17 and issued new guidelines to be followed during the third phase. While ruling out any relaxation in rules in the coronavirus containment zones, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Palanisamy said it permitted certain activities in the non-containment zones.

They include: Resumption of construction activity, road works, opening of SEZs, export units with minimum of 20 employees or 25 per cent of staff strength. IT or ITES firms can function with minimum of 20 employees or 10 per cent staff strength, the new guidelines said. Also, grocery shops selling essential commodities can function between 6 am and 5 pm and restaurants (only for takeaways) between 6 am and 9 pm.

The functioning of saloons or beauty parlours is prohibited while service providers such as plumbers, electricians, AC mechanics and tailors can work. These come with a rider - all these activities are permitted in areas outside the containment zones. Regarding non-containment zones in rest of Tamil Nadu, in the zones falling under municipal corporations and municipalities, the Cabinet has permitted re-opening of all factories including textile mills with 50 per cent of staff strength (minimum of 20 employees). In town panchayats with over 15,000 population, the textile mills can function with 50 per cent staff strength after obtaining clearance from the district Collectors. SEZ, EOU, industrial estates / clusters in rural and urban areas can work with 50 per cent staff strength.

No permission has been granted to textile mills located in industrial estates ofurban areas. Collectors have been authorised to decide on re-opening of export units in urban areas with 50 per cent staff strength and units of designing and production of samples for exporting garment and leather products with 30 per cent staff strength.

The Cabinet permitted re-opening of hardware manufacturing firms with 50 per cent staff strength besides spinning mills in rural areas with an equal staff strength. Shops, selling materials for infrastructure industry and repair shops for mobile phones and computers, can be kept open from 9 am to 5 pm.

The first phase lockdown in India was from March 25 to April 14. The second phase commenced on April 15 and would end tomorrow. The third phase lockdown is from May 4 to 17. Chennai is among the Red Zones owing to the high number of COVID-19 cases and tight restrictions are in place.

Chennai has 1,081 cases (till Friday) and the state accounts for about 198 containment zones and 5 clusters have also been identified in the city.
While most people are staying home, a reminder of the glory days of Manitobas aviation history is rising up.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 1/5/2020 (627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is moving to 2088 Wellington Ave., in the main transportation loop at the Richardson International Airport, and is expected to open in fall 2021.

While most people are staying home, a reminder of the glory days of Manitobas aviation history is rising up.

Although airspace over Winnipeg has been relatively quiet in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, ground is breaking on a new, long-awaited, $45-million aviation museum at the city airport. Construction was expected to get underway Friday  the next step toward inspiring a new generation of Manitobans to look for jobs in aviation, the industry hopes.

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is moving to 2088 Wellington Ave., in the main transportation loop at the Richardson International Airport. The museum took possession of the site Friday, and plans to build an 86,000-square-foot museum, with a 56-year lease on the property from the Winnipeg Airports Authority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?rel=0&wmode=transparent" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

The new facility is expected to open in fall 2021, and hopes to raise an additional $7.5 million by that time. The project is being funded largely by private contributions (about $17.5 million), as well as $10 million each from the federal and provincial governments.

Terry Slobodian, museum president and chief executive officer, said he hopes the new location will mean more arriving and departing passengers will stop in for a visit, even on layovers.

Manitobas aviation industry is growing  before COVID-19 hit, there were expected to be 2,000 new jobs over the next five years, joining an industry workforce that is already 8,000-strong, Slobodian said.

"It is a key element of our economic growth in Manitoba, and there is going to be thousands of new jobs coming up over the next few years, and it's going to be difficult to fill those jobs," he said.

"The industry doesn't just need pilots. The industry doesn't just need engineers; it doesn't just need mechanical repair people. They also need all of the support elements," such as accountants and purchasing agents, he added.

Slobodian said the museum hopes to boost the industry by inspiring children and post-secondary students to join the field and linking them with professionals.

The aviation attraction was founded 46 years ago, and a vision for a new space has been floating for more than a decade. It stopped operating out of a hangar on Ferry Road in October 2018, after its lease expired at that location, and waited for federal funds to kick in before construction could start. Those funds were announced in July.

When the museum reopens, its collection of aircraft on display is set to include four models that cant be viewed anywhere else in the world, Slobodian said:

 Fairchild Super 71: one of the first mail planes, which set a global speed record for delivering airmail;

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 Fokker Super Universal: the only surviving example of what was the most common plane in Canada in the 1920s;

 Canadas first helicopter: the Froebe, built with spare parts by three brothers on a farm in rural Manitoba;

 Junkers JU-52 replica: the largest plane in North America in 1931, designed according to Winnipeg businessman James A. Richardson Sr.s specifications.

"The whole story of aviation is probably the best-kept secret in Manitoba. I don't think people have had the opportunity to really understand and be proud of the legacy that is before them, so we're excited about sharing those stories," Slobodian said.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Lauding Vietnam as one of the countries with the highest economic growth in the world, standing at 7.02 percent last year, the article noted it has enjoyed an export surplus for four consecutive years in the context of falling trade in many countries.

Forbes said Vietnam has made much progress in improving its business environment and restructuring its economy over the past decade. The Global Competitiveness Index 2019 revealed the country had jumped ten places since 2018 to 67th, making it the most improved country.

In Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)



The World Banks 2020 Doing Business report, meanwhile, ranked Vietnam 70th out of 190 economies based on two main factors: improved access to credit information through data distribution from retailers and upgraded information technology infrastructure that makes paying taxes easier for most businesses.

Its improved business environment has also helped it attract more foreign investment. Pledged FDI surpassed 38 billion USD last year; a ten-year high and representing a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent.

According to the article, Vietnam has signed 12 free trade agreements to date, including new-generation deals with broader commitments. Impressively, the EU signed a landmark free trade agreement with the country in June 2019 - the first of its kind with a developing country in Asia and paving the way for tariff reductions on 99 percent of all goods shipped between the bloc and Vietnam.

Vietnam is also a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), it noted.

Lauding Vietnams achievements in terms of how the country dealt with the coronavirus outbreak, Forbes quoted the Financial Times as saying that Vietnam has proved a model in containing the disease in a country with limited resources but determined leadership.

Vietnam shares a 1,100-km-long border with China but had reported only 270 infections and no fatalities as at April 25, it said, adding that succeeding in containing the COVID-19 pandemic domestically allows Vietnam to have more room to play its key role in regional and international diplomatic forums.

Last year, with 192 out of 193 votes, Vietnam was officially elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. This is the second time it has held the post, demonstrating its desire to contribute to global security and peace and proving it is a responsible member of the UN. Vietnam is also Chair of ASEAN in 2020 - the first time it has held the two positions at the same time. This presents an opportunity for it to take advantage of bilateral relations with other countries and create new momentum for enhancing its role and profile.

Vietnam was among the first in the world to reopen its economy following the COVID-19 outbreak, on April 23. It has maintained socioeconomic stability in recent decades and its favourable business environment and free trade agreements are expected to help increase foreign investment in the future.

International investors should consider investing in Vietnam, Forbes added, as many other countries are now struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of economic recession./.
The government will open its borders with other northeastern states from Sunday to allow stranded people to return to their homes, Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

However, residents stranded in Sikkim will not be allowed to enter the state as they will have to come through West Bengal, Sarma told reporters on Saturday.

"The opening of the borders is only for inward journey and outward movement will depend on other state governments," he said.

All people from stranded in the six other northeastern states can return to their homes in their own vehicles and no passes will be required for this purpose, Sarma said.



"We have informed the governments of the other states in the northeast that we will open our borders from Sunday. People can come and no passes are required," he said.

The returnees will be screened at the borders and the doctors present there will decide whether to home quarantine them or to send them to hospitals, Sarma said.

The minister urged the people to reach their destinations by 6 pm as "in Assam, we are considering not to allow movement from 6 pm to 6 am".

The Assam government will also send state-run buses to the capitals of other northeastern states after a few days as they are now being used to ferry people stranded within Assam, he said.



The state government has allowed the movement of people stranded in different districts initially for three days from April 25, later extending it till April 30 and then till May 4.

The Assam State Transport Corporation will begin its regular services from Monday with half its capacity, Sarma said.

A total of 42 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Assam so far, of which 32 patients have been cured of the disease and one person has died. Nine people are still infected with the disease.
The Indian Railways has decided to charge for tickets for operating special trains for stranded migrant workers amid coronavirus lockdown. The fare includes the price of regular sleeper class tickets plus superfast charges of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20.

This includes meals and drinking water for long-distance trains. State governments will coordinate and can pay on passengers behalf,  the ministry clarified.

The Centre on Friday gave its nod for migrant workers, students and others stranded in different parts of the country to return home by special trains that will be run by the Indian Railways, expanding the scope of an earlier order that said such transportation can happen only by buses.

On the occasion of Labour Day on May 1, the government decided to run Shramik Special trains to transport migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and others stuck across the country due to the lockdown triggered by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, the ministry said.

The ministry will designate nodal officers to coordinate with states and Union territories, the Home Ministry said. Soon after, the railways ministry released detailed guidelines on social-distancing norms to be followed at stations and inside the trains. The guidelines on the sale of tickets are expected soon.

The railways said six special trains had been scheduled to run on Friday as per the demands received from various state governments. The scheduled trains on Friday are Lingampally, Telangana to Hatia, Jharkhand; Aluva, Kerala to Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Nasik, Maharashtra to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia.

State officials in Kota, Rajasthan issued an instruction that said that students needed to carry identity cards and seats will be allotted on a first-come-first-serve basis. Messages from the district magistrate allowing travel will be considered as a valid ticket.

Please clarify to the public that these special trains are planned for nominated people identified and registered by state governments. No one under any circumstance should come to Railway Stations looking for trains. We will not issue any tickets to any individual or entertain any request from any group or individual. We will allow only those passengers to board whom state government officials bring to the railway stations, the railway ministry clarified.

Students from all 24 districts of Jharkhand who are in Rajasthan were to be accommodated in two special trains leaving Kota and Jaipur around 9 pm on Friday.

The Centre has been under pressure from states for operating special trains to rescue stranded migrants and students. States including Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Kerala had asked the Centre to run special trains. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar on Thursday appealed to the Centre for special trains to bring back migrants, the stand was reiterated by National Democratic Alliance government ally JDU as well.

Thousands of migrants were stranded in places across the country since the nationwide lockdown was enforced on March 25. On Wednesday, the MHA allowed states to ferry their migrants back in buses, even as many chief ministers requested that special trains be allowed to run. States have also reached out to the Centre to seek monetary support for operating buses.

The decision that incidentally comes on Labour Day, was taken following a meeting held Thursday by senior officials from the home ministry, including the secretary, with the railway board and officials from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), officials said. The home ministry issued an official order on Friday evening allowing movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons, stranded at different places by the railway ministry.
Amid the prevailing gloom across the nation due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Armed has decided to salute and show solidarity to the corona warriors in India on Sunday. As of 11.45 pm (IST) on May 2, the total number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases reached 37,776 with death toll mounting to 1,223 across the country.

On May 1, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, in a brief with the tri-services chiefs, announced that the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force (IAF), and the Indian Navy will organise multiple events that will highlight the nation's support towards the warriors.

WATCH: Indian Army, Navy, IAF, Coast Guards all set to salute corona warriors, show solidarity on May 3 pic.twitter.com/Prmn5NwIEM  Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) May 2, 2020

The corona warriors include those who have been fighting the deadly pandemic in a bid to keep the citizens of India safe. They include the healthcare fraternity, hygiene and sanitation staff, medical staff, police personnel, and media personnel.

Events like flypast by fighter and transport aircraft of the IAF from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kutch in Gujarat will take place on Sunday. The helicopters from IAF and Navy will shower flower petals on the hospitals treating coronavirus COVID-19 patients.

The Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will move ships in formations at sea at select locations while Army bands shall visit COVID-19 hospitals and play tunes outside the hospitals in an expression of gratitude to the corona warriors.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the Indian Coast Guard is preparing to illuminate their ships on Saturday and Sunday. At 10 am on Sunday, IAF helicopter will shower flower petals over two hospitals. In Gujarat, the South Western Air Command (SWAC) has planned two flower petal drop sorties over two hospitals in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar between 9 am to 10 am.

The Navy at Porbandar has planned illumination of ships from 7.30 pm to 11.59 pm on both days. In Kolkata, a band has been planned at Victoria memorial for both Saturday and Sunday. The Army Uttar Maharashtra and Gujrat (UMANG) Sub Area HQs Nagpur has planned wreath-laying at Police Memorial for Sunday morning, followed by presenting of sweets to doctors and healthcare staff at two locations--Govt Medical College and Indira Gandhi Medical College.

On Sunday morning, the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) will be visiting designated COVID-19 hospital at Visakhapatnam and felicitate the medical fraternity for their efforts. This will be followed by a naval helicopter from INS Dega showering flower petals on the hospital treating COVID-19 patients at Visakhapatnam. Two Indian Navy ships will also be illuminating at anchorage from 7.30 pm to midnight on Sunday at Visakhapatnam coast to pay homage to these COVID-19 warriors.

The band display on Saturday at Army Base Hospital will take place. The petal showering by the IAF at the Command Hospital and KGMU in Lucknow will be held on Sunday. A few other details are still being finalised.

The Eastern Air Command is also making full preparations to salute the COVID-19 warriors. A Sukhoi Su-30MKI flypast over Assam assembly will take place around 10.30 am. The showering of flower petals at COVID-19 hospitals in Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Kolkata (West Bengal) will be done at 10.30 am. In Kolkata, the shower will take place at the IDCBG hospital, a COVID-19 hospital, between 10 am to 11 am. The band display of the IAF will take place in Guwahati and the flypast is subject to weather conditions.

A programme will be held by the Navy at Mumbai and Goa saluting the corona warriors. Five Naval ships have been planned by Western Naval Command (WNC) for illumination from 7.30 pm to 11.59 pm off the Gateway of India, Mumbai. They would prominently display banners "India Salutes Corona Warriors". They will sound the ship's siren and fire a flare at 7.30 at anchorage.

Additionally, the Naval Air stations at Goa would display human chain messages, "India Salutes Corona Warriors", on the runway to honour the corona warriors. Aerial photography for the same would also be undertaken. However, social distancing norms will be ensured during the activity.

The Indian Navy aviation assets would undertake showering of petals by helicopters on COVID-19 hospitals--Mumbai's Kasturba Gandhi Hospital and INHS Asvini, Colaba. The activity is tentatively planned to be undertaken between 10 am-10.30 am.

On May 1, CDS General Rawat, accompanied by Army Chief General MM Naravane, Chief of Navy Admiral Karambir Singh, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria decided to acknowledge the efforts of the corona warriors and vowed to continue the support of front-line warriors to them in the coming days.

He said the corona warriors risked and are still risking their lives every day to ensure that basic amenities such as electricity and water are delivered to everyone, that the streets are clean, that basic food items are available, that no patient is returned untreated, that law and order is maintained and that Indian citizens stranded abroad are brought back and cared for.

"These warriors have ensured that India keeps on fighting this pandemic. We salute these warriors and their efforts and wish them the best of health. We are grateful for their sacrifice and their efforts in fighting COVID-19, knowing fully well the dangers that they face," he said.
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has announced the relaxation of the lockdown order imposed on the state by President Muhammadu President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Ganduje, Mondays and Thursdays would be lockdown-free days from 10am to 4pm.

Also Read: Fani-Kayode To Ganduje: Did Christians Ask For Relaxation Of Lockdown During Easter?

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The governor noted that no markets will be allowed to open unless supermarkets.

He said, the list of the supermarkets would be announced on local radio stations.

Ganduje added that only Yankaba Market where perishable items are sold and Yan Lemo Market would be allowed to operate on Mondays and Thursdays 10am to 4pm.
BANGKOKWhen the coronavirus struck, desperate chefs in Bangkoks fine-dining scene began offering sea urchin on toast and Wagyu katsu sandwiches for delivery since eating in was banned.

Deepanker Khosla kept cooking, too, but he has eschewed the foams, emulsions and other flourishes of molecular gastronomy that normally flavour his cuisine. Instead, his kitchen, staffed largely by migrants from Myanmar, is turning out hundreds of banana-leaf packets of rice and vegetables spiced with ginger and turmeric to enhance immunity.

Every day, hundreds of Khoslas rice bundles are delivered to Bangkok residents who are out of work and, sometimes, out of food.

This isnt the time for caviar and champagne, he said. People are struggling to survive.

Across the world, the devastation of the coronavirus is felt not only in intensive-care units but also among vulnerable populations that have been propelled below the poverty line by the pandemic.

While many in the restaurant business have been impoverished by forced closures, some high-end chefs have capitalized on their celebrity to bring food to those who need it. In the United States, Jose Andres, whose non-profit helped feed people in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, is trying to sustain American children who depended on school lunches that are no longer being served because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Like many other chefs, Khosla, who was born and raised in India, depends on migrant workers to peel potatoes, wash fish knives and apportion servings of duck mousse with cumin leaf at his high-end restaurant, Haoma.

In mid-January, Thailand was the first country to confirm a case of the coronavirus outside China  a tourist from Wuhan, the city where the outbreak is thought to have begun. When a lockdown began two months later amid an uptick of cases imported from Europe, Japan and the United States, Thailands tourism sector, responsible for more than 10 per cent of the countrys gross domestic product, was devastated.

The first to be let go from restaurants, bars and hotels were migrants, who have no protection from social safety nets and can be fired more easily. In the food and beverage industry, many of these foreign labourers are from the Nepali ethnic minority in neighbouring Myanmar.

Khosla set up an online campaign for donations and switched from serving neo-Indian cuisine at his restaurant to the next day churning out meals for out-of-work migrants and, later, poor Thais as well.

Today, the restaurant, in a leafy warren of lanes in residential Bangkok, looks more like a food-distribution station at a refugee camp than the native habitat of concasses and sabayons. Chilies dry on a tabletop, while bags of rice are stacked up near the entrance to the urban farm where Khosla nourishes herbs and salad greenery with recycled rainwater.

Food is food, said Vishvas Sidana, director of food and beverage at Haoma, who trained as a sommelier. We cook whats needed.

Restaurants famously operate with unforgiving profit margins. But Khosla said an understanding landlord, who waived his rent, and generous customers, who donated to his online campaign, have shielded him from having to fire any of his staff of 32.

Each banana-leaf meal from his kitchen costs around 60 cents to make and distribute. To guard against the tropical heat, the food contains chilies and other aromatics that act as natural preservatives, he said. He avoids meat, which spoils easily.

Khosla, 30, grew up in the multifaith city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, in north India, where his family found shelter after having fled what is now Pakistan during the tumult of the partition of South Asia in the late 1940s.

I grew up with stories of refugees, he said. Were all migrants.

His mother fed him well, as mothers often do. After graduating from high school, Khosla planned to join the armed forces, but his knocked knees foiled him. He went to culinary school instead.

Being a chef is a low-grade job in India, he said. Theres no dignity.

Moving to Bangkok, Khosla worked as an executive chef at a modern South Asian restaurant with sleek lighting and fancy kebabs. Then he started a food truck, driving around Indochina offering fish tikka tacos and lamb biryani quesadillas. He got a lot of tattoos, mostly of Hindu gods.

Haoma, his restaurant, opened two years ago, and Khosla embraced the sustainable farm-to-table movement in a city where concrete and tropical vines do battle, with nature often prevailing.

Thailand had the widest wealth gap among 40 major economies surveyed by Credit Suisse, and its poverty rate was climbing even before the coronavirus hit. About four million foreign migrants fill some of the lowest-paying jobs, toiling in construction, the seafood industry and domestic work.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis from Myanmar, many of whose forebears migrated there during the colonial era as soldiers or labourers for the East India Company, work in the food and beverage sector in Bangkok. Most lack citizenship in Myanmar and subsist in a stateless netherworld where they lack rights both at home and in their foreign workplace.

Khosla employs 12 Nepalis, and he can communicate easily with them because of the linguistic similarities between Hindi and Nepali. Overnight, the lockdown in Bangkok left many in the migrant community without jobs.

Lachu Man, who has worked in Khoslas kitchens for seven years, said that his father, who had a job as a kitchen hand, and his wife, employed as a nanny, both are now jobless in Bangkok.

We are in big trouble, Man said.

Khosla said his initial attempt to encourage others to join his meal charity, in a WhatsApp chat group for top Bangkok chefs, created barely a ripple.

Just one Oh, thats a great idea, he said. And then a big, fat silence from the rest.

A few other high-end restaurants in Bangkok have now joined the initiative, called No One Hungry, and each day a local charity partner delivers around 400 meals to slums, orphanages and other places in need.

On a recent afternoon, Khosla, wearing a face mask that was soon saturated by sweat from the heat, handed out banana-leaf bundles to a packed line of children whose migrant parents are in prison. The children brought their palms together and raised them to their foreheads in the prayerful Thai way. They took the packets. A few peeked inside.

Its good, Khosla said. It nourishes the soul.
A policeman died and four other security personnel suffered minor injuries when their van overturned in Ramgarh district while they were escorting a bus carrying migrant workers from Hatia to Chatra in the wee hours of Saturday, police said.

Ramgarh Superintendent of Police, Prabhat Kumar, told PTI that another escort van was immediately provided as the bus continued its onward journey.

The accident occurred on NH-33 under Ramgarh town police station, killing one policeman, who was identified as Dinesh Kumar, on the spot, he said.

He added the injured policemen were given first aid at the Sadar hospital before being discharged.

The police van was escorting the bus carrying migrant labourers after they reached Hatia railway station, on outskirts of Ranchi, by a special train from Telangana late Friday night.

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New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio says he is ordering 1,000 cops into the city's parks this weekend to fine anyone gathering in groups in defiance of coronavirus social-distancing restrictions.

With temperatures rising to 70 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, the mayor expects New Yorkers will be venturing out to enjoy the weather, and that there will likely be people not wearing masks and gathering in crowds in public spaces.

'The nice weather is very much a threat to us,' de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.

New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio, pictured at his coronavirus hearing Friday, says he is ordering 1,000 cops into the city's parks this weekend to fine anyone gathering in groups in defiance of coronavirus social-distancing restrictions

With temperatures rising to 70 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, the mayor expects New Yorkers will be venturing out to enjoy the weather, and that there will likely be people not wearing masks and gathering in crowds in public spaces, including Central Park (pictured)

Crowds showed up to Central Park on Monday to enjoy the spring weather

'There's nothing wrong with going out and getting some exercise and getting back home,' he added. 'Go out for a little bit, but don't go out for too much. Don't gather, don't try and do the things we would normally do on a beautiful spring day.'

The mayor considers good weather a 'threat' to the city, which has had 172,784 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and at least 12,571 deaths.

There have been 308,314 confirmed cases in New York state of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 18,610 deaths. Across the US there have been 1,131,876 confirmed cases and 65,708 deaths.

The NYPD will enforce what de Blasio described as a 'no tolerance for gatherings' policy.

'We're going straight to summons,' he said, adding that anyone who resists the fine may face arrest.

Police will be out on bikes and mounted on horses to make sure people are properly spaced apart according to social-distancing guidelines. Organized sports, parties and other gatherings will not be tolerated, said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the Daily News reports.

Police will be out on bikes and mounted on horses to make sure people are properly spaced apart according to social-distancing guidelines. Organized sports, parties and other gatherings will not be tolerated, said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan

'The days of warnings are over,' Monahan said.

Even with progress made in slowing the spread of the outbreak, a full reopening of the city is 'obviously' months, the mayor says.

De Blasio gave the estimate while speaking with a Brooklyn bar owner who called into WNYC's 'The Brian Lehrer Show' to ask what the city was doing for small businesses during the restrictions.

'I'll have more to say on that soon, on other ways we can help small businesses to get through to the point where we can really start at reopening, which obviously is a few months away at minimum,' de Blasio told Ivy Mix, owner of Leyenda.

New York is working to start to 'normalize,' de Blasio said, which might include limiting space at bars or requiring outdoor-only seating at restaurants.

New York is working to start to 'normalize,' de Blasio said, which might include limiting space at bars or requiring outdoor-only seating at restaurants

'There's a lot of ideas out there we're working on right now,' he said.

De Blasio's plan relies heavily on increasing the city's coronavirus testing capacity. Only 13,000 tests are currently conducted on a daily basis, when the mayor says as many as hundreds of thousands more may be needed.

A 'test and trace' plan to gradually ease the restrictions would need as many people tested as possible, provide for isolating and treating anyone who is infected and quickly track those who may have come in contact with the sick.

De Blasio earlier this week instructed police to arrest mourners at funerals and anyone gathering in large groups after he witnessed hundreds gathered in Brooklyn.

The mayor showed up at an Orthodox Jewish funeral in Williamsburg Tuesday night and threatened mourners with arrest for ignoring social distancing rules.

De Blasio traveled to personally shut down the gathering after images surfaced on social media of a massive funeral for a rabbi who died from coronavirus.

The mayor showed up at an Orthodox Jewish funeral in Williamsburg Tuesday night and threatened mourners with arrest for ignoring social distancing rules.

Shocking photos revealed hundreds of people gathered in the streets to pay their respects to Rabbi Chaim Mertz.

The mourners were seen crammed in together much closer than the six feet recommended under social distancing guidelines and many people were not wearing face masks.
S Godson Wisely Dass By

Express News Service

THOOTHUKUDI: Being granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag on Thursday, the Kovilpatti groundnut candy (kadalamittai) has become the first traditional product from the district and 34th from the State to receive the coveted status.

Albeit the process to get the GI tag for the candy was initiated by then Kovilpatti sub-collector K Vijaykarthikeyan in 2014, it soon gained traction after the Kovilpatti Kadalamittai Manufacturers and Retailers Association approached the Intellectual Property India (IPI) in November 2019.

Century-old manufacturing process

Deputy Registrar of Geographical Indications Chinnaraja G Naidu told TNIE that the candy was granted the status for its customary taste, traditional value and unique manufacturing process. The locally-sourced groundnut, grown in the surrounding rain-fed tracts of the black-soil region, and the unique manufacturing process of the roasted nuts and sugar jaggery add to the candy's fabulous taste, he said. The weather conditions of the region also have an influence over the quality of the raw materials, he added.

According to the documents submitted to the IPI, the manufacturing process is at least 100 years old. It is one Ponnambalam Nadar of Kovilpatti who had initially begun substituting sugar jaggery for its traditional ingredient -- palm jaggery. The sugar jaggery was initially outsourced from Maraiyur in Kerala, stated the documents validated by the IPI.

'Not peanut candy'

Chinnaraja said that 'groundnut candy' was the right name, instead of the generic peanut candy, as the nuts used were a native variety called 'Ver kadalai' in the southern districts. The candy is rich in protein, carbohydrates and several saccharides, making it tasty and healthy.

Kovilpatti Kadalamittai Manufacturers and Retailers Association Secretary K Kannan told TNIE that in the district at least 100 companies have been involved in the manufacturing process, with over 10,000 families involved, both directly and indirectly. "The product has a high demand in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka Telangana, Mumbai, and Delhi. It also has a good market in countries like Saudi, Malaysia, Singapore, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, he said. The groundnut is sourced from Kovilpatti, Kazhugumalai, Sankarankovil, Ettayapuram and Kayathar, whereas the sugar jaggery is procured from Sriviliputhur, Theni, and Salem. Over 20,000 kg groundnut candy is being manufactured every day, he added.

The status has brought recognition for the product, said Kannan, extending his gratitude to then Kovilpatti sub-collector for his efforts.

Karupatti, Macaroons in line

The district is also the home to Udangudi karupatti and macaroons, which are well on their way to receive the same status. The process for granting the GI tag to macaroons is pending before the department regarding proof for its historical connections, while the Udangudi karupatti is still in the initial stage of the process.
Ministers tonight unveiled a 76million package for domestic violence victims as they admitted the coronavirus lockdown is making it harder for people to seek help.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced the funding as he took the daily Downing Street press briefing, saying the government would not ignore the 'reality' of what many vulnerable individuals face during the crisis.

He said victims of domestic abuse will get priority access to local housing, and money will be channelled to charities.

Declaring there would be 76million of 'new funding' for victims of domestic violence, Mr Jenrick said: 'For some in our society these measures involve sacrifices that none of us would wish anyone to bear.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced the funding as he took the daily Downing Street press briefing, saying the government would not ignore the 'reality' of what many vulnerable individuals face during the crisis

'For victims of domestic abuse it means being trapped in a nightmare.

'The true evil of domestic abuse is that it leaves vulnerable people including children living in fear in the very place where they should feel most safe and secure: inside their own home.'

Mr Jenrick said the Government's Domestic Abuse Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament last week, would create 'the first ever legal definition of domestic abuse'.

He said that through the Bill, the Government would 'be ensuring that the victims of domestic violence get the priority need status that they need to access to local housing services much more easily'.

He added: 'This is a fully-funded commitment which will mean that no victim of domestic violence has to make the unbearable choice between staying somewhere that they know is unsafe or becoming homeless.'

He said the Government had already announced an extra 15million to strengthen its support, with an extra 16million going directly to refuge services.

'This additional support will ensure more safe spaces and accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse and their children, and the recruitment of additional councillors for victims of sexual violence.'

He added that the funding will also help frontline charities to offer virtual ways to assist those in need, including phone-based services.

Mr Jenrick said: 'We know that some refuges have had to reduce, or even to cancel the services that they would want to provide during the pandemic.

'This funding will help them to meet the challenges posed in this national emergency, and to continue to help those that desperately need support.'
Over the past two weeks, EPFL computer scientists have been testing and refining the smartphone-based system developed by the international Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project (DP3T), with the help of the Swiss Army. Their goal: to optimize the app's ability to alert users after they've been in contact with someone contagious with COVID-19, while building trust around the open system.

DP3T is an approach to decentralized, privacy-preserving contact tracing that aims to provide a digital means for humans to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. The project was initially launched by researchers from EPFL and ETH Zurich, and is now being developed in collaboration with a number of other leading European institutions, as well as software developers Ubique and PocketCampus.

Mathias Payer, head of the HexHive lab in EPFL's School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC), explains that recent tests carried out on the EPFL campus were designed to compare the DP3T system's proximity measurements with data on Swiss Army soldiers' physical positions. The soldiers were asked to mimic daily activities like shopping or sitting on a train, while their positions were captured and analyzed using specialized cameras from EPFL's Computer Vision Laboratory (CVLab), led by Pascal Fua.

On April 30th, just a week after the EPFL tests, Payer led a 24-hour field test at a military facility with about 100 soldiers. This time, the soldiers performed routine tasks while the app ran on their phones, and took note of each time they came into contact - defined as "less than two meters for more than five minutes" - with another person.

"We wanted to establish a baseline for how people actually act in different situations," Payer explains. He adds that an additional challenge was to calibrate the system to work regardless of whether a user's smartphone was in their hand, in their backpack, etc. "We tested different parameters, such as signal strength and frequency, to ensure that the system generates good information without too many false positives, and without draining your phone battery."

This signaling system is at the core of the DP3T technology: it uses Bluetooth signals to continuously broadcast random and impossible-to-guess strings of characters between smartphones. All sent signals, as well as those received from nearby devices, are stored on users' phones for a maximum of 14 days. If a user is diagnosed with COVID-19, their unique character sequences will be added to a hospital list, which other users' phones will check regularly to see if they 'recognize' any of them. If a match is found that indicates a user was near a COVID-19 patient long enough to risk infection, the app will display an alert, asking the user to self-isolate and enabling him or her to get tested as soon as possible.

"Privacy by design"

The idea of using smartphones for proximity tracing has raised concerns over data privacy, as critics argue that such a system could create new opportunities for personal information to be abused, even after the pandemic eases. But the DP3T team is working to ensure that even if a hacker could get their hands on the signal data - which will be stored only on users' smartphones, rather than a centralized server - it would be useless to them.

This is privacy by design: we wanted to create a system that respects the need of citizens, which is not just to stop the coronavirus, but also to preserve freedom. So, we are building an app that cannot be used for anything other than contact tracing - it cannot be used to know location, identities, or activities." Carmela Troncoso, head of EPFL's Security and Privacy Engineering Lab (SPRING)

She adds that the system is also designed to dismantle itself organically as soon as the app is uninstalled from a smartphone, which will delete all stored signal data, thus placing control of the system in the hands of users.

Looking ahead

As the parameter tests of the DP3T system are completed, all results will be published online to encourage continuous feedback and refinement. A beta version of the DP3T app is anticipated by mid-May; however, the researchers emphasize that the rollout of the app for use by citizens is ultimately within the purview of the Swiss government.

In the meantime, the DP3T team is working to ensure that the system will be ready to welcome a forthcoming application program interface (API) from Apple and Google, which is still under development.
Some Tyson employees fear for their health, too, she said.

Dawson County currently has the fourth highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nebraska, with 505 cases as of 9:20 p.m. The countys second COVID-19 death was reported Friday by the Two Rivers Public Health Department.

The concern is going to work and getting sick, or not going to work and worrying about how to pay for needed items, Jeffs said.

She said many Lexington residents seem reluctant at first to seek help.

We know a lot of food industry people who have not been paid. Were hoping they dont fall through the cracks, she said.

Housing shortage

Jeffs said Lexingtons ministerial association and the Salvation Army are assisting. Community Action Partnership has interpreters who can help the sizable population who does not speak English.

But the housing availability is so poor in Lexington many generations of families have to live together to simply have a roof over their heads, she said. If someone contracts, COVID-19, those in the house could get it, too.
A Pittsfield man is being held after he was arrested by the FBI earlier this week and charged with allegedly trying to entice a minor into meeting for sex.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Grant Jaquith said Bryan P. Krynicki, 56, of Pittsfield, was arrested by federal authorities Wednesday as he arrived for a meeting in Nassau, New York where he expected to meet a 14-year-old boy.

Prosecutors said Krynicki had been exchanging text messages with someone he assumed was a 14-year-old New York boy for nearly three months, and during that time Krynicki was explicit about his desire to have sex with the boy. Finally, the two arranged a meeting in Nassau. When he was met by FBI agents at the arranged meeting place, Krynicki found out the boy was an undercover investigator.

Krynicki appeared in U.S. District Court in Albany where he entered a not guilty plea to a single charge of traveling across state lines with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel ordered Krynicki held pending further hearings.

The charge brought by prosecutors carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and a minimum of five years of supervised release.
Houston, Texas is tracking the spread of coronavirus through wastewater. Numerous studies have suggested that traces of the coronavirus can be found in human feces.

Tracking COVID-19 through poop

Houston health officials teamed up with scientists at Rice University to test the wastewater in the city since clinical testing is still lacking, officials wanted to find a way to help stop the spread of the virus in the city. Health officials and scientists are hoping to find COVID-19 hot spots within the city and get a clearer map of how many people have been infected and in which area.

The federal government might follow the lead of Houston's health officials, according to Politico. It has been doing its own ways of responding to the pandemic, but coronavirus testing remains limited across the country. This is the reason why they may soon be using wastewater to trace the spread of the virus.

However, health officials warned that this unconventional method is still a work in progress. According to Dr. David Persse, using wastewater to trace the virus in the city is something that no one has ever done before.

Health experts have never really tracked an illness across a massive community like the fourth-largest city in the nation using only testing of individuals but at the same time, testing the wastewater.

Also Read: Asthma Drug May Help Dial Back Severe Effects of COVID-19

Public works employees will be collecting wastewater samples during a single 24-hour period every week. There are 39 water treatment plants in the city, but only 33 have the necessary equipment to participate in the bold new experiment. In Harris County, Houston, 122 people have died from coronavirus, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins.

Cases jump as state reopens

On April 29, Texas reported 50 coronavirus deaths. It is the most Texans to die in one day since the first confirmed coronavirus death in mid-March. It is part of the deadliest three-day stretch that Texas has counted yet, with a combined death toll of 119, according to the Associated Press.

Another 1,033 new coronavirus cases were confirmed on April 29, which is the largest daily count in Texas since April 10, and the third-highest daily total overall. The governor of Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, defended his decision to allow businesses to reopen. He said that the state's infection rate and hospitalization rate have shown downward trends since a peak during the first two weeks of April.

However, Catherine Troisi, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas, said that the state has not tested for coronavirus widely enough to be confident about reopening businesses. The recorded infection rate is also not accurate as more tests need to be done.

Texas has performed 330,300 coronavirus tests so far, with a population of 30 million, it is one of the states with the fewer tests per capita. Gov. Abbott said that he is aiming to get Texas to a point of performing at least 25,000 tests every day.

On May 1, businesses like restaurants, retail shops, malls, and cinemas were reopened at 25% occupancy. There were guidelines added but a lot of businesses have announced that they are opting out and will remain closed. Restaurants will offer takeout and delivery services only.

Related Article: 'COVID Toes' and Other Peculiar Skin Conditions May Be Symptoms of Coronavirus

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Caterpillar (CAT) fell short of Q1 fiscal 2020 estimates on Tuesday, as the coronavirus takes its toll on the economy and big purchases. Plus, the construction and mining equipment powerhouse had already pulled its 2020 financial outlook in late March.

CATs Recent Results & COVID Worries

Caterpillar faces a rough near-term outlook because the coronavirus has caused companies to delay making big purchases, given the nearly unprecedented economic uncertainty brought on by the pandemic. The companys Q1 revenue dropped 21% from the year-ago period, which came in below our Zacks estimate.

Meanwhile, CATs adjusted first quarter earnings tumbled 46% from the prior-year quarter to hit $1.60 a share. This also missed our estimate by roughly 9%. More importantly, the Deerfield, Illinois-based firm didnt provide any updated earnings guidance after it withdrew its previous outlook on March 26.

Investors should also note that Caterpillars operating profit margin dipped to 13.2% in the first quarter, down from 16.4% in Q1 FY19. In order to bolster its balance sheet during the global economic downturn, CAT announced that in April it raised $2.0 billion of incremental cash by issuing new 10- and 30-year bonds and arranged $8.0 billion of additional back-up facilities to supplement the companys liquidity position.

Meanwhile, Caterpillar wrote in its first quarter release that it has suspended operations temporarily at certain facilities during the last several weeks due to supply chain issues, weak customer demand or government regulations. As of mid-April 2020, globally and across the three primary segments, approximately 75% of the companys primary production facilities continue to operate. Some facilities that were temporarily closed have reopened.

Outlook

Before we look ahead, it is worth noting that CATs estimates are likely to change in the coming days as more analysts update their outlooks based on its recently-reported results. That said, our current Zacks estimates call for CATs adjusted Q2 earnings to plummet 67% on 32.6% lower revenue.

Story continues

Overall, CATs fiscal 2020 revenue is projected to fall 22%, with its earnings expected to tank 43.8%. The nearby graphic helps show just how far Caterpillars overall fiscal 2020 and 2021 earnings estimates have fallen recently33.9% and 29.5%, respectively.

Bottom Line

CAT stock is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) based on its recent earnings revision activity. Caterpillar is also part of an industry that rests in the bottom 6% of our more than 250 Zacks industries and includes Terex Corporation (TEX) and H&E Equipment Services (HEES).

Caterpillar is currently exposed to the broad economic uncertainty, and now might be a time to stay away until we see more signs of a coronavirus recovery.

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Business owners are keen to get shops and bars open, but the pace of lifting restrictions is infuriating many.

Turin, Italy  As Italy prepares to take the first step on Monday to lift the lockdown imposed nearly two months ago to stem the coronavirus pandemic, tensions are mounting.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has opted for a nationwide reopening, rather than lifting restrictions region by region, taking into account the distribution of infection clusters. And its a plan that is not without its critics.

Thanks to the sacrifices done until today we have managed to contain the spread of the epidemic. This is a great result, Conte said on Sunday.

We are about to enter the phase of coexistence with the virus, and we need to be aware that during this phase the contagion curve could climb back in some areas. We need to speak honestly. This risk exists, but we need to face it with strategy and rigour.





Italy was among the first European countries to impose strict restrictions, shutting down much of normal life on March 10. The countrys total death toll has climbed to over 28,000  the second highest in the world after the United States  with more than 200,000 cases confirmed so far.

But come May 4, some 4.5 million workers will return to work, and many of them in the areas hardest hit by the pandemic.

Reopening schedule

Manufacturing, construction companies and some wholesalers will resume operations on Monday, but movement between regions remains forbidden, leaving it up to each territory to monitor changes and trends in infection rates. Parks will reopen across cities, with individual exercise allowed. Takeaway businesses will also be firing up their kitchens once more.

Limited family visits will be permitted, though religious ceremonies remain suspended  with the exception of funerals, which can only be performed with 15 people or fewer in attendance. Meanwhile, citizens will still be discouraged from travelling freely, with everyone being asked to carry a formal declaration giving the reasons for their being outdoors in order to avoid sanctions.

Shops, museums and libraries will reopen on May 18. Restaurants and bars will be allowed to start trading early in June. Schools will remain shut until September.

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Although the burden on hospitals  particularly intensive care units  has steadily decreased, the numbers of infections and deaths fail to meet the criteria for reopening recommended by the European Commission, said Italys Group for Evidence-based Medicine, known as GIMBE, its acronym in Italian.

Eighty percent of new cases and deaths recorded between April 22 and 29 were in five northern regions, according to the National Health Institute. Those regions are also Italys most industrialised areas and the engines of the countrys economy. They have been the areas hardest hit by the outbreak.

It is clear that those who risk more here are those regions that have a number of cases and a percentage growth which are still not sufficiently under control, Nino Cartabellotta, a public health expert and president of GIMBE, told Al Jazeera.

From a scientific point of view, he said, it would have been much more logical to open the country based on the different geographic areas.

The researcher says the governments decision was most likely the result of a political compromise.





Northern regions have pushed and are pushing for the opening to reignite their production engines, on the other hand, southern regions did not, and dont want interregional mobility to spread contagion. This is the result of a political approach instead of a scientific one, Cartabellotta said. Less pressure on hospitals and ICUs is crucial in being able to face possible new surges in the contagion, he added.

We didnt have a choice

Facing a calamitous economic perspective, Italys wealthy north has been desperate to restart production.

According to the International Monetary Fund, eurozone economies will contract by 7.5 percent in 2020, with Italy suffering a fall in GDP (gross domestic product) of 9.1 percent. Fitch Ratings have, meanwhile, downgraded Italys credit rating by a notch to BBB-, just one level above non-investment grade, also known as junk.

Entrepreneurs in the north have been preparing to ready their business premises for the reopening, while some resumed operations last week after being granted formal permission.

We had to reopen, we didnt have a choice. I closed the activity having plenty of orders, said the owner of one engineering factory who asked to remain anonymous. In Piedmonts Alessandria, home to his factory, the case rate is still growing by 13.7 percent on a weekly basis. If those orders [arent fulfilled by] me, the owner said, my clients would go somewhere else.

Around 80 people are employed in the factory, which was fully sanitised before its reopening. All machines and equipment are cleaned thoroughly at the end of each shift. All health protocols and guidelines provided by the government, in addition to further safety measures, have been implemented.

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We take the workers temperature at the entrance of the premises and have put signs all over the area to indicate the distance workers must stick to, the owner says. We also give gloves and masks at the entrance and implement staggered entries and exits for the workers.

Posters showing the correct health and safety measures to be adopted dot the premises walls. Drivers must have a certification of good health and cannot leave their vehicles. And if they must, they have to remain close to their trucks.

Next week, we will also start serological tests among the workforce in order to isolate possible infections and refer people to the local health authorities, the owner continued. I was afraid workers would not come to work amid fears of the contagion. But everyone was there and no one complained. It shows Italy wants to restart its engines.

Reopenings on a scientific basis

Small businesses and shop owners across Italy have been chomping at the bit in recent days for a possible reopening, especially in those central and southern regions where limited numbers of infections have been recorded.

Thousands of bars and restaurants across the country took part in a coordinated protest on Tuesday, symbolically opening their doors at 9pm, turning on their lights and laying tables, showing their readiness to reopen and highlighting the huge economic losses they continue to face during the ongoing lockdown.

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While the southern regions have on the whole not been pushing for an immediate return to business as usual, some challenges to the governments softly-softly approach are popping up.

The governor of the southern region of Calabria, where some 1,100 cases have been recorded, has announced bars and restaurants would be allowed to reopen outdoor areas as of April 30. But the move received a lukewarm response among local mayors.

Conte, meanwhile, declared such moves entirely illegitimate.

Further reopenings will be considered in the next few hours but always on a strictly scientific basis, not on the basis of sudden initiatives taken by local authorities, Conte told Parliament on Thursday. He went on to acknowledge the vast economic damages the lockdown was bringing to many sectors, but still declared that both retail and recreational activities would only restart when scientific analysis would allow.

Structured roadmap

Meanwhile, some of the worst-hit cities continue to prepare for the reopening on Monday.

The office of the mayor of Cremona, one of the epicentres of the crisis in the Lombardy region, with some 6,000 infections of a population of 70,000, told Al Jazeera they were working on a structured road map to be able to reopen in a manner to guarantee citizens safety.

Lombardy has borne the brunt of Italys contagion, with more than 13,500 deaths due to coronavirus.

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Cremona plans to reopen a local street market, with staggered entrances and exits to avoid a concentration of people, and stalls placed a safe distance apart.

But local authorities want more measures implemented at national and regional levels to stem the risk of contagion.

Scorched by the impact of the epidemic across their territories, mayors of the region wrote to regional and national officials on Thursday, asking for clarification on the availability of serological and swab tests and contact tracing methods to help prevent contagion and swiftly isolate new cases.

Conte said 150,000 serological tests would be made available by the government in the coming weeks to obtain a more complete picture of the epidemics spread in the country. A tracing app, which wont retain users personal data, will soon be introduced, he added.

Although the reopening poses higher risks in certain regions, which can still be considered in the first phase of the epidemic, the government has still opted for a cautious choice, Cartabellotta, the public health expert, said. The next steps will be taken in two weeks. By that time, we will know about a possible new surge in contagion. I would have reopened new activities after three weeks, but it was probably impossible to do so from a political and economic perspective.

Protective measures

Scientists in Italy agree this first phase should see the compulsory use of protective masks for all, especially considering that the role played by asymptomatic carriers in spreading the infection is now clear.





Conte said his government would make face masks available and cap prices at 50 euro cents ($0.55), although retailers have complained that did not mirror their market price.

New safety measures to protect workers during their commutes are being planned. Alternative transportation such as bicycles are being promoted, with cities adapting roads for an increased number of cyclists and increasing space to allow pedestrians to maintain social distancing.

How to maintain safe distancing on trains and buses, and more frequent routes, are under discussion. Vending machines selling masks and hand sanitiser are due to be installed at bus stops and train stations, authorities said.

Some of these measures have also a symbolic value, Giulio Mattioli, a research fellow with TU Dortmund University, told Al Jazeera.

Asking people on public transport to maintain a one-metre distance between each other is something [which is] challenging to stick to at all times, said Mattioli. Still, such norms could [be of] value as a collective perception measure. In this way people would at least tell each other to keep at some distance.
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When Raul Silva saw the need for nurses in New York, he dropped everything to serve in the epicenter of U.S. coronavirus cases.

The decision was voluntary  he had to resign from his position as a nurse at HCA Kingwood and put his college career on hold to work at a hospital in Brooklyn.

Silva, a University of Houston-Sugarland student, found a Facebook page where he could post his qualifications. Within 30 minutes, he had seven or eight offers from different agencies. He picked the best one, with a healthy supply of protective equipment being his top priority.

FIRST RESPONDERS: From the front lines: Lake Houston area first responders implement new strategies to limit coronavirus exposure

Now in the third week of his eight-week contract, Silva works 48-60 hours a week at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn in the rehabilitation unit when he is not staying in a hotel room.

The situation is dire in New York. As of May 1, The New York City Department of Health has reported more than 164,000, cases, 42,000 hospitalizations and over 13,000 deaths.

Working in New York, Silva said he now takes precautions constantly. In Kingwood, Silva said he didnt have a reason to dress in full PPE gear  gown, shoe coverings, face mask and face shield  because he was often dealing with something as simple as a sprain.

In a coronavirus hotspot like New York, he always has to take precautions.

What we started seeing was that some of these COVID patients, they would be asymptomatic, you know, have no symptoms at all coming in with stomach pain. And then later we would find out after being tested for COVID that they were positive, Silva said. And here in New York, we treat everyone like they have COVID.

Although he is working with patients who are on the recovery side of the fight against the coronavirus, Silva has not been completely spared from seeing the emotional damage this can do to patients. One of the men he was taking care of lost his father and his uncle to the virus.

Now hes worried because hes ill. So you know, the recovery side has its stressful moments because theres that tension, that fear in them as well, Silva said. Being away from their families so long, and in the case of this patient where, you know, his family members  like a complete family dying while hes trying to recover from it. So it has its stressful moments, emotionally as well.

REOPENING STATES: Fauci warns states rushing to reopen: 'You're making a really significant risk'

This was Silvas first time in New York, but he has noticed the heightened sense of concern and precaution.

People are wearing face masks, paying attention to what they touch and washing their hands because of the ongoing crisis, Silva said. He believes the precautions people are taking are helping him stay safe, in addition to the proper PPE the hospital is providing. The hospital also takes their temperature at the door, makes sure they do not have any symptoms and then provides them with scrubs, so that at the end of the day they do not have to take the scrubs home.

Just arriving to New York, I mean you definitely notice, you feel the tension, Silva said. ...You just definitely sense that extra precaution in the people as well.

Silva said when the patients and employees he works with find out he came all the way from Texas, they are thankful for his help.

Ever since Ive arrived and Ive worked here, Im letting them know, hey Im from Texas Ive come a long way from home. Theyve all been very grateful about this situation, Silva said. Just being a part of the morale, like hey you know theres people out there coming in just to specifically help here. So theyve been very grateful.

Andrea Brooks, clinical assistant professor and track manager of the UH-Sugarland registered nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, said she helps students prepare students for real-life experiences in nursing through simulations.

A student like Silva is a good example of a real-life situation.

Raul is one example of why I am so honored and humbled to be a part of this amazing profession, Brooks said in a statement from the University of Houston. His desire to assist those in need, while placing his own goals on hold, is so noble. This sacrifice is also occurring everywhere within our profession, as nurses are rendering healing and caring to our most vulnerable.

The medical magnet program at Homer Hanna Early College High School in Brownsville, where he graduated in 2011, was Silvas first experience with nursing. Students were exposed to a broad spectrum of healthcare careers through the program. When they started going to clinicals in hospitals Silva experienced what it was like to work in the ER, something he describes as an organized mess where everyone knows what they were doing but it looked like chaos.

I fell in love with it, Silva said. ...I was actually between physical therapy and registered nursing, but the minute I saw ER I was like Wow, this is what I want to do.

Silva received his associates degree to become a registered nurse from Texas Southmost College in Brownsville in 2017. Going to New York was the next challenge in Silvas goals and career, he said. When he looks back, he can say he helped in the fight against the virus.

Its my nursing instinct that brought me here. Ive been a nurse for six years already and since you become a nurse, you learn to always go toward the danger, try to help as best as you can rather than running away from it, Silva said. So as Im seeing this crisis and Im seeing hey, theres shortages of nurses, theres so many people in need, Im thinking like hey, I can do something about this ... Even if I helped that one patient recuperate, thatll make this whole trip worth it.

BUSINESS: Montgomery County judge says nonessential businesses still closed per AG

Marcia Callarman, Lone Star College-Kingwood Professor of Nursing, is preparing students to obtain their ADN by August who will then go to work in the field. Although she is unsure what the effects of the coronavirus might look like by August, not one student has backed away from the program.

The career of nursing is a selfless career, Callarman said. I mean, Ive been a nurse for 32 years and I have not stepped back, stepped down, stepped away from any challenge that was before me in my job ever. So I think its a frame of mind. We know what we need to do to protect ourselves and we know what we need to do to take care of the patients, so we just balance that and think smart about the whole situation.

Silva would have completed his BSN in December of 2020, but now with his voluntary decision to work in New York his graduation date is more likely to be in the Spring or Summer of 2021. He plans to come back to the Kingwood area to work in the emergency room and pick up where he left off in his school work when his time in New York is over.

Silva said it was an alarming breaking point for him to see patients in their 20s greatly affected by the coronavirus, so as the state of Texas opens back up he recommends taking precautions against the highly-contagious virus.

The situation there in my opinion is, you know, I understand people have been stressed and just bored, and you know, I know its a public opinion but the risk is still out there, Silva said. ...Theres a lot of people that are just very blind to this thinking this is some government conspiracy, but no. I mean, this is very real, Ive seen it first hand by people being affected by this.

savannah.mehrtens@chron.com
The State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) plans to receive the second tranche of the loan under state guarantees in June 2020.

"We depend on construction plans, but the next tranche will be in June," Ukravtodor Head Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a comment to Ukrinform.

He also noted that on April 30, Ukravtodor received the first tranche of the loan under state guarantees. JSC Ukreximbank redeemed five-year bonds of Ukravtodor in the total amount of UAH 5.782 billion.

According to Kubrakov, the Agency will invest the funds raised through loans in projects that are already under construction (Zaporizhzhia bridge, Dnipro-Reshetylivka highway, M-09 and M-19 highways), and projects the work on which has not yet begun.

As Ukrinform reported, on April 30, JSC Ukreximbank and the State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) signed an agreement on financing of road construction in the amount of more than UAH 5.7 billion. Funds are provided under state guarantees. In total, Ukravtodor will be able to attract UAH 19.3 billion under state guarantees this year.

In 2020, Ukravtodor plans to spend UAH 90.2 billion on the repair and construction of more than 4,000 kilometers of principal roads.

ish
Sharing a document of Pakistan's ministry of religious affairs and interfaith harmony, a Pakistani journalist on Saturday said that persecution of minorities in the country is being done under the watch of the state. In the document that she shared on Twitter, Muslim minorities Ahmadiyas were not included in the National Commission of Minorities (NCM) citing that their issue is 'religiously & historically sensitive'. There have been multiple reports of persecution of minorities in Pakistan including the Muslim minority Ahmadiyas, whom the state fails to recognize as a sect amongst Muslims.

Everyone, except Ahmadis! Pakistan's National Commission for Minorities: No representative from the Ahmadi community included in the Commission given "religious and historical sensitivity of the issue." The persecution continues under state patronage. pic.twitter.com/3JiSeVOGt2  Naila Inayat   (@nailainayat) May 2, 2020

Report gives Pakistan failing grade on human rights

Imran Khan tested negative

On April 22, Imran Khan's Covid test result arrived and he tested negative for the novel coronavirus. This came a day after it emerged that Faisal Edhi with whom Khan had interacted on April 15 had been confirmed as a positive COVID-19 patient. However, on Thursday, Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser tested positive of the novel coronavirus. This brought Khan under Covid scare again as he met Qaiser on April 24. However, Khan's office said that he was wearing protective gears and social distancing was maintained.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tests negative for the novel Coronavirus

Covid in Pakistan

Pakistan on Friday reported 882 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of infections in the country to 17,699 with 408 deaths, the health ministry said. The Ministry of National Health Services said 23 deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 408.

Punjab reported 6,340 cases, Sindh 6,675, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 2,799, Balochistan 1,136, Islamabad 343, Gilgit-Baltistan 340 and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir reported 66 cases, according to the latest data released by the ministry. Among the high profile politicians tested positive for the deadly virus include Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, apart from Governor of Pakistan's southern Sindh province Imran Ismail, a very close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan

The health ministry said that so far 182,131 tests had been conducted, including 7,971 on April 30. "There were 3,706 patients admitted in 717 hospitals with COVID-19 facilities across the country. The rest of the patients were isolated at homes," according to the ministry.

Imran Khan in Covid scare again as Pakistan Speaker tests positive; met PM on April 24

Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza said that either the end of May or middle of June could be the peak period for coronavirus in the country. "But it can be different also as we are not sure and monitoring the situation closely, Mirza had told media on Thursday. The health ministry said that infection was taking toll on the health professionals, as 191 more healthcare providers had tested positive.

Earlier data shared on April 23 showed that 253 healthcare workers were infected, while the new figure showed that the number increased to 444, registering 75 per cent jump. Those infected include 216 doctors, 67 nurses and 161 other healthcare staff. So far 94 patients have recovered from the virus.



Pakistan min Fawad Chaudhry gutted as Imran Khan aide and Sindh Guv tests Covid positive
Flyer advertising that CalFresh Food benefits can now be used to purchase groceries online at select retailers. Photo of a man in his kitchen holding bread and a knife, making a sandwich.

Californians with disabilities now can use SNAP to eat safely while other states leave people with disabilities at risk

Californians with disabilities and other recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) no longer have to choose between risking exposure to COVID-19 or getting food from the grocery store.

As of April 28, Californias SNAP program, CalFresh, covers online grocery delivery. This benefits approximately 1.1 million Californians with disabilities who depend on SNAP benefits.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a simple action like going to the grocery store to put food on the table means potentially risking exposure to the coronavirus. This is especially the case for those who are blind or use wheelchairs or other mobility devices, for whom maintaining six feet of distance may be impossible. The answer for many American households has been to turn to online grocery deliveries.

Matan Koch, a Los Angeles-based wheelchair user and Director of RespectAbility California, has been collaborating with civic and nonprofit leaders in Los Angeles to obtain food and other resources for people with disabilities.

Related: Download The Mighty app to connect in real time with people who can relate to what you're going through.

This is an urgent need in the disability community, said Koch. In virtual gatherings weve hosted for Californians with disabilities, as well as with other groups of people with disabilities across the country, we constantly hear this concern. People with disabilities who use SNAP and who are especially at risk during this pandemic need to be able to eat. We have reached out to every state on this issue, encouraging SNAP directors to urgently enable people to use SNAP for online groceries and delivery. We are grateful for Californias attentiveness to this issue.

Koch noted that the number of people  with and without disabilities  relying on SNAP will rise due to the job loss and service disruption of the pandemic.

Story continues

Added Koch, While it remains a concern that SNAP will not cover delivery fees, this is a lifesaving victory for Californians with disabilities and we hope more states will join this effort.

Related: What Professional Rugby Has Taught Me About My Mental Health During COVID-19

A National Issue

The CDC reports that approximately 90 percent of people hospitalized with COVID-19 have underlying conditions. This means that in addition to the higher risk of exposure mentioned above, people with disabilities and other historically marginalized communities, the groups most likely to have these conditions, are among the most at risk for severe complications from the coronavirus if they catch it.

Map of the United States color coded by status of Online SNAP in each state + DC. Approved for Online SNAP in Early 2020: NY, WA, AL, IA, OR, NE. (6 states)  dark green Approved for Online SNAP in April 2020: AZ, CA, DC, FL, ID, KY, MO, NC, TX, WV, VT (10 states plus the district)  light green Pending Application: AR, CO, CT, DE, HI, LA, MD, MA, MN, NJ, OK, TN, UT, WY. (14 states)  yellow No Action on Online SNAP: AK, GA, IL, IN, KS, ME, MI, MS, MT, NH, NV, NM, ND, OH, PA, RI, SC, SD, VA, WI  red

Related: 3 Tips for Dealing With Trichotillomania and Dermatillomania During COVID-19

In 2014, the USDA launched a pilot program to allow SNAP beneficiaries in six states  Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington state  to order groceries online to be delivered to their door. Working with Amazon Fresh and Walmart, the pilot program rolled out earlier this year.

In response to the unprecedented needs created by the pandemic, 11 more jurisdictions joined the pilot program in April: Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. An additional 14 states have applied to join the pilot: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming.

This victory for people with disabilities is directly attributable to the advocacy of hunger organizations and disability rights groups, including the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), RespectAbility, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and others. These organizations collaborated to release public advocacy letters to Congress, distribute advocacy materials to federal leaders, and educate state leaders about taking action on this life-or-death issue.

Philip Kahn-Pauli, Policy and Practices Director for RespectAbility, has been encouraging state SNAP leaders around the country to apply for approval to join the pilot. The SNAP program represents a 45-year commitment to the idea that no one should go hungry in the richest country on earth, Kahn-Pauli said. Allowing online grocery delivery is a critical step to help keep people with disabilities safe and healthy through the current crisis.

To take advantage of online food delivery, Californians can visit GetCalFresh.org or call 1-877-847-3663. Los Angeles residents can also call 888-863-7411 for food delivery.

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While North County School District students have been out of the classroom for more than a month due to the coronavirus pandemic, school employees are carrying on with distance learning and meal delivery. A brief snapshot of their efforts was provided at the April school board meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Jeff Levy said hes been impressed by the amount of food being served and the efficient way its been made available.

Were super excited about the amount of food were serving, its been impressive, were trying to reach a lot of our community, he said. All the praise to (Assistant Superintendent) Jason Samples and his team. The first two weeks when we were cancelled, we didnt rush to put homework out, we took our time and asked, what are they really going to need? We looked at Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, and safety and security is right at the top, so we started with food.

Samples said the school district has been really blessed.

The state very quickly let public schools apply for the summer food program early and extended the timeline indefinitely with the closures, he said. Any child aged 0-18 can eat, whether theyre enrolled in the district or not, and its free  whether its free or reduced lunch, it doesnt matter what their economic status is, well be reimbursed as a district.

Once the state gave Missouri districts the green light to continue providing meals, the challenge became how to transition from a fixed service point to a field delivery system.

Food service is a lot of work. I tell my son, youre going to work at a restaurant someday, I think everyone should, because the restaurant business is tough on every level, said Samples, who worked at both Hardees and Roseners Restaurant in his younger years. We have had to, in a very abbreviated amount of time, completely revamp our food program to meet the need of our students.

And theyre meeting a lot of need. So much need, that it was recently announced by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that the Missouri National Guard would help North County  along with 10 other districts around the state  with delivery for the next few weeks, beginning Thursday.

Feeding students is one of the many essential supports that our local schools and their staff members are continuing to provide during this period of distance learning, said Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven. We cannot thank our partners with the National Guard enough for coming alongside our local leaders to support our schools and Missouri families.

Other Southeast Missouri school districts receiving National Guard assistance include Cape Girardeau 63, KIPP in St. Louis and Portageville.

Samples said the number of meals has increased from the beginning, when more than 300 students were being served.

Were serving over 850 children 7,000 meals a week, and our food service people and our bus drivers have been awesome, he said. We have 10 distribution points throughout the district, so people dont have to travel far. We have rural delivery and some limited delivery if they just really cant make it to one of the pickup points.

North County School District covers 137 square miles, according to information on DESEs website.

Samples said two drivers team up for each distribution point. Eagle Estates, Lake Timberline, Lakeside General Store, and Goose Creek General Store is one route.

I have to acknowledge, the general stores have been awesome to work with, letting us use their parking lots, and they even have overhangs, which, since its often cold and rainy, we really appreciate being a little sheltered from the weather, Samples said.

Another route is the Terre Du Lac utilities office, Bonneville Motel and Red Cedar Lodge Motel. And then theres North County Primary and Bonne Terre City Park, both of which are the biggest pickup points.

Bonne Terre Park, we serve maybe 200 children each day, Samples said. In Desloge, we do North County Intermediate and North County Parkside. So weve got both ends of town covered for the Desloge and Bonne Terre routes.

North County, like all other schools, has been working hard to implement distance learning on short notice, often using things like Google Classroom and other programs. The good news, Samples said, is that about 87% of North County students have internet service.

But that means 13% of our kids dont have service, which means weve had to create paper learning packets that the bus drivers have also been great about delivering, he said. Well send out the assignments digitally on Mondays, we print them out on Tuesdays, organize them on Wednesdays, and we distribute them on Thursdays.

In the beginning, Samples said, they delivered five days a week, which had been great to have face-to-face contact, but as it ramped up, we were advised by (county health center director) Amber Elliott that it might be wise to increase social distancing, so we cut it back to two days a week.

Now, on Mondays, the district serves three breakfasts and three lunches in a bag. Students get a hot lunch and breakfast for the first day, then a cold breakfast and lunch they can put in the fridge or freezer for Tuesday, and they receive packaged meals for Wednesday such as canned soup. On Thursday, the district provides hot lunch and breakfast for that day, then two cold meals for Friday.

Our food service has figured it out to where they can fit it all into bags. And Save A Lot has donated bags, Walmart has, and were able to fit it all in there so the parents or kids can carry it easily, Samples said. We have one family and they pick up food for 11 children, thats our biggest one, they have a lot of foster kids.

One girl with a scooter picks up four meal bags for four children. One of our drivers has helped her out, because its hard balancing four bags on a scooter, so hell box them up and help her with them if he can.

Samples said while the pandemics chaotic effect on the school year has taken it by surprise, its also resulted in testing the districts ability to respond in an emergency, and has proven its flexibility in meeting the challenges presented.

At the beginning of this school year, it certainly wasnt what I was expecting to be doing, standing at Bonne Terre Park, helping serve food to students at the end of March, he said. But the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, the teachers  everyones been awesome, and even if we have to maintain social distance, its been good to see so many people in the district weve been serving.

Sarah Haas is the assistant editor for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at 573-518-3617 or at shaas@dailyjournalonline.com.

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On a mild Friday morning with a blue sky overhead, Isaac and Amy Freeborn and their daughter Charlotte were taking advantage of the freshly relaxed coronavirus precautions to enjoy breakfast at The Toasted Yolk in Beaumont.

The Houston family decided to stop by after visiting Amys relatives in Lake Charles and decided to sit outside so Charlotte could play without worry. Isaac said he wasnt exactly worried to be out in public again, but it was important to remember their safety was in their own hands.

It is what it is, he said. Universal precautions are paramount everyday. There are different models and everyone has an opinion about what we should do, but the fact is we still dont have enough data about the coronavirus.

The family had enjoyed their sunny day out, but Amy said their time in self-isolation has also had its advantages. The time away from work and outside distractions has meant the family has had a lot more time for the things in life that can be swept away by the daily grind, including each other.

Kevin Picard, a regular at The Toasted Yolk, was also in to enjoy a mid-morning breakfast with his daughter Kamryn.

He said he was happy the business could open again for the sake of the workers there and he was glad to get a bit of normality after weeks of pandemic-related precautions.

Im just glad to drink coffee out of a mug again, he said.

By about 10 a.m., franchise owner Bret Baumgartner said there had already been about 40 patrons since the brunch spot opened at 7 a.m., but their busiest period was still about an hour away.

Excluding its outside tables, The Toasted Yolk was able to seat about 45 people while abiding by the social distancing policies and group restrictions still in place for indoor dining.

For the near future at least, Baumgartner said there will probably be a split between carryout orders and people dining inside, but there seemed to be growing enthusiasm to come back to the eatery.

Weve been very fortunate, I think, he said. The pandemic halted us in a very high time for our business, but we didnt plan on being a fad. We wanted our guests to know we were concerned for them.

However, Toasted Yolk is not the only business taking advantage of the partial reopening of Texas. Twin Peaks Restaurant, a bar and grill, opened at 11 a.m. after being temporarily closed for about a month.

Twin Peaks manager Eric Moore and the staff had only four days to set up all the measures necessary to safely open up to 25% capacity. Twin Peaks added sanitizer dispensers throughout the establishment, ordered one-use paper menus and adjusted seating to maintain social distancing measures.

The bar and grill also added a temperature checker position to prevent any patron from entering the dining room if they have a temperature over 100 degrees. If the customer reads a temperature under 100 degrees, they will get a green sticker to indicate they passed the temperature check.

Moore said that even workers will have their temperature checked every day before their shift and any vendor will also have their temperature checked.

If a vendor comes in and doesnt temp, then we cant accept their product, Moore said. Its just one of the things that corporate decided to implement these precautions.

In addition to the temperature checker, Twin Peaks supplemented the extra sanitation modifications with a permanent sanitation worker, who is constantly sanitizing and wiping down surfaces to maintain cleanliness.

Seana Norman, a Twin Peaks bartender, said shes excited and glad the restaurant is taking the extra precautions.

I was excited about (Gov. Abbotts) announcement. I was tired of sitting at home, but I was a little nervous because I didnt know what to expect  its a bit of mixed emotions, Norman said. The extra precautions (are) making me feel comfortable coming into work knowing we are safe.

Twin Peak regulars already have stopped by for lunch. Norman said theyre all excited for some normality.

On Friday we have a lot of regulars, and I just had some regulars wanting to bring some clients in, Norman said. We get a lot of refinery workers, and people were really excited to see us open up.

Some large box stores and grocery stores outlined plans for reopening or expanded hours if they were already operating as an essential business, but others have decided to focus on improving their curbside service that has served them through the last several weeks.

Tammy Wilturner, manager at the Best Buy store in Beaumont, said her location still planned to operate through curbside service until further notice, as the process has been working out well for the company as it has improved the experience.

Weve been doing it from the beginning over a month ago now and weve received a lot of positive feedback, she said. Our business has been consistent because customers still have a need.

Wilturner said customers order online or wait in line at the store to give their phone number so a salesperson can call them in their car and walk them through their purchase. She said the latter choice had been popular as some customers either werent used to using online options or were uncomfortable using their financial information over the web.

At Beaumonts Stein Mart, shoppers were taking advantage of the lifted restrictions to check out their favorite store.

Sally Richards, who is sometimes called Miss Stein Mart by employees and friends who spot her there often, said she was happy to be back and filling her cart again.

Lillian Walton, another regular who said she shops their every weekend, said it was a relief to be able to return to public life again.

I was about to die with this store not open, she said.

Some of Beaumonts small businesses also saw the first signs of shoppers on Friday after the quick turnaround between Abbotts Monday announcement and the big day.

Jamie Scott, an owner of the ELLA + SCOTT boutique on Calder Avenue, said her crew had to scramble to adjust from their online-only processes to preparing their store for a Friday open, but they were excited to do so.

I didnt hesitate at all to reopen, she said. Theres always a small worry, but we are a small shop and we rarely get really heavy traffic where the shop is packed. And I have employees who need to get back to work, and we need it for the economy.

The shop will be on reduced hours for the time being  from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday  until they get back up to speed, but Scott said Saturdays might be out of the question for the time being.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/jdickjournalism
The Agricultural University of Turkmenistan hosted a founding meeting of Turkmen Alabai Association. The event brought together heads and representatives of a number of ministries, public associations, faculty of the agricultural university, dog experts and other specialists.

The meeting discussed organizational issues, including the establishment of the association, approval of its charter, election of the head of the association, members of the administration and audit commission. Speaking at the meeting, the participants noted that the newly established professional association would contribute to the development of the best traditions of the national school of dog breeding, Alabai breeding in a systemic manner, using the national selection methods and modern scientific achievements.

The meeting adopted documents on the establishment of Turkmen Alabai Association. Serdar Berdimuhamedov was nominated and unanimously elected the Head of the Association. Following the vote, the floor was given to the newly elected Head of the Association, who expressed appreciation for the confidence placed in him and shared his vision of the work of the new association, its goals and plans.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
* Price falls to a new all-time low

* Sale tenders dominate the market

* Floating cargoes build up in Europe

By Ekaterina Kravtsova

LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell this week with some deals done at record lows, as demand was depressed globally amid coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The average LNG price for June delivery into northeast Asia <LNG-AS> was estimated at a new record low of around $1.85 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Friday, $0.10 per mmBtu lower than the estimate last week.

As lockdown restrictions reduced industrial demand and prompted buyers to reschedule long-term LNG deliveries, sellers were left with excess volumes, flooding the market with offers in the past several weeks.

This week, Inpex Corp sold a cargo from Australia's Ichthys plant for loading in May at $1.70-$1.75 per mmBtu on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis, which traders said was a record low price.

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co (KUFPEC) offered a spot cargo from the Wheatstone plant in Australia for June 21 to 26 loading.

The tender was awarded to BP at around $1.70 per mmBtu on an free-on-board (FOB) basis, two sources said.

Papua New Guinea LNG export plant offered a cargo for loading on June 3 if bought on a free-on-board (FOB) basis or for delivery on June 12-15 to Japan, Korea, Taiwan or China if purchased on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis.

The project also sold a June cargo, via bilateral talks, to BP at around $1.85-$1.90 per mmBtu, a market source said.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) awarded a tender for two June cargoes to U.S. producer Cheniere and German's Uniper, three sources said. The prices were between $1.10 and $1.50 per mmBtu on an FOB basis, they added.

Russia's Sakhalin 2 plant awarded its tender for six cargoes loading between June 2020 and February 2021.

Some cargoes were sold at a premium to the S&P Global Platts Japan Korea Marker (JKM), market sources said.

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The plant also offered a cargo for June loading this week, one of them said.

Offers also came from Argentine oil company YPF SA which offered a cargo for loading in May and Angola's LNG project which was selling a cargo for delivery in May.

DEMAND

Global demand for LNG remains low, with only few buyers seeking cargoes, trade sources said.

Mexican state power utility CFE was seeking a cargo for delivery in May to the Manzanillo LNG terminal on Mexico's west coast.

Colombia's Calamari LNG import project was looking for a partial cargo for delivery in the first half of May.

Europe has become this week an epicentre of vessels used as floating storage as the coronavirus pandemic has severely disrupted gas demand, leading to delays in tanker discharges, analysts said.

Up to 11 tankers out of 15 floating with cargoes on board globally were piling up off the shores of Europe or were expected to deliver cargoes there, data intelligence firm Kpler said. (Reporting by Ekaterina Kravtsova; editing by Nina Chestney)
At the start of January, the same month the world marked the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica, scientists on snowmobiles were zipping across its diamantine ice, dragging a rig of metal detectors in their wake. Researchers were hoping to discover a hypothesized cache of iron-rich meteorites, the remnants of ancient asteroids and would-be planets, under the frozen wastes.

But the unexpected roughness of the ice caused the rig to shake itself to pieces. Components were being shorn off, and the electronic circuitry quickly became unstable, with multiple points of failure. On the 18th day in Antarcticas Outer Recovery Ice Fields, the device collapsed. All the backup metal detectors had been used in earlier repairs. No more repair jobs could resuscitate the unit.

It was death-by-vibration, but also death by a thousand cuts, said Wouter van Verre, an electrical engineer from the University of Manchester in England who helped build the system.

This is no isolated tale. The history of the scientific exploration of Antarctica is riddled with tales of woe, most often loss of life for the continents earlier explorers. And while major technological advancements and vastly improved safety regulations mean that the risk to Antarctic adventurers has been greatly reduced, equipment malfunctions that freeze scientific discovery persist there, said Daniella McCahey, a historian of Antarctica at the University of Idaho.
Understanding simple phrases such as You need a test and The doctor recommends... could be impossible without an interpreter for many hospital patients. (Nathalie Cruz for Yahoo Life)

All across the country, people are calling out and paying tribute to health care heroes  medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis who have been going above and beyond, putting themselves at risk to help save lives. But among the doctors and nurses and aides and technicians and hospital maintenance workers, theres one vital group of health care professionals that can often go unnoticed: foreign-language interpreters. And now, especially, those who work remotely via video or phone.

They are critical, now more than ever, says Kristin Quinlan, CEO of Certified Languages International, a national interpreter company with more than 2,000 remote interpreters speaking a total of 233 languages. Imagine you speak Korean and you go to the ER, she says. Youre terrified to begin with, but on top of that, you have no idea what theyre saying to you.

A reported 20 percent of the U.S. population is in that position, she says, which adds up to many people being marginalized. Our mission is to eliminate the barrier of language access, says Quinlan. Her company is a part of a huge outsourced language industry, the global market for which reached $49.6 billion in 2019, according to a study by CSA Research. I like to say its the biggest little industry nobodys ever heard of  bigger than the global music industry, Quinlan says, noting that about 65 percent of their interpreters work in the health care sector (along with a range of others, including insurance agencies, schools and Homeland Security).

Being hospitalized with COVID-19 is scary enough  and even more so if you cant understand what doctors are saying to you. (Getty Images)

Any good doctor is only as good as how they are understood by the patient, Natalya Mytareva, executive director of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters, one of the national certifying bodies for medical interpreters (including CLI), told Time recently. If the doctor is basing the diagnosis on the wrong information because they didnt have an interpreter, then what good is that doctor?

Still, that article pointed out, the social distancing measures of the pandemic have been upending the in-person interpreter industry, with one solution being third-party companies, particularly those that are used to working remotely.

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CLI, having always used all-remote technology, was able to seamlessly enter into the current situation. And this is an incredibly crazy time, Quinlan adds, with roughly 30,000 calls a day. The company has also seen a 70 percent increase in interpreters inquiring how to work for the company, according to Time.

Among the stable of CLI interpreters, the most in-demand have been those who speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Somali, Russian and Chinese Mandarin, in that order  although the huge range of offered languages varies from Korean and Swahili and Cape Verdean Creole to Ukrainian and Malay and Gujarati. The way it works is that a hospital or other company will maintain an account with CLI, and then the doctor or other professional go-between will ring into the 24/7 on-demand system, request the language and be connected to the interpreter, for a call thats billed by the minute.

Now, with the increased demand of the coronavirus pandemic, interpreters are facing an increased challenge when it comes to perfecting an interpreters already delicate balance  offering strict interpretation with a tone of compassion, without crossing the line into consoling.

I found that during this [pandemic] its become much more important to deliver the information in a calm voice with a supportive tone, in a way that can sort of help bring comfort, Helen Sweeney, a Russian CLI interpreter, tells Yahoo Life. Because some are elderly, and they are terrified and alone.

As a medical interpreter, she adds, I often deal with the entire spectrum of human emotion within each day: from the exhilaration of childbirth to the relief of successful surgery to the sorrow in the passing of a loved one  and everything in between. Shes also highly aware of the huge responsibility that comes with her job, noting, A medical interpreter can truly make a difference in a life-or-death situation.

Right now, says Sweeney, who is based in Arizona and was drawn to her field, in part, after seeing her husband struggle to understand doctors when he wound up in the hospital while on vacation years ago, all hospital patients are affected by the coronavirus, because of restricted visitor policies. People who can normally have someone there for emotional support, for decision making, to explain things, they dont have that. So, patients are alone, theyre scared, theyre uncertain, and on top of it all, you have the language barrier, she says, adding that the element of crisis management has been pervasive.

The majority of calls are becoming heavy in nature, she says. Just yesterday I had a hospital patient  she was 87, partially paralyzed and in quarantine, and shes unable to have any visitors. Shes terrified, all alone, she was crying. It was hard to be able to really connect with her and help her know shes not alone.

Another client shes worked with recently, Sweeney says, had come to the U.S. to visit his daughter, only to encounter major health issues and wind up in the hospital, where hes been for two months, and where his daughter is not allowed to visit. His visa is running out, hes been struggling through major surgeries, and hes difficult to understand because he has tubes all over, Sweeney says. Luckily, she adds, he usually calls in for interpreter support at around the same time of day, during her shift. Ive been able to get him quite a bit at the same time ... so Im becoming that familiar face for him. I feel like its more important more now than ever.

Marisol Varela, a Spanish interpreter and CLI quality assurance specialist based in Oregon, says shes been particularly grateful for the video technology, and that shes found it to be an important tool for conveying nonverbal expressions as well. I experienced a situation where the patient on the other end was a little bit confused about why they were deciding to intubate her ... and she didnt say, Wait, Im confused, but you could tell from the tone of the conversation, she says. Varela, who was drawn to this field after being an interpreter for her parents, immigrants from Mexico, in all sorts of situations while growing up, was able to convey that confusion, leading to a supportive comment from the doctor: Dont worry, were here for you.

Such rewards are huge, say translators like Giancarlos, a Spanish interpreter (who asked that his last name not be used, for privacy), who recently dealt with an elderly woman, alone at the ER and unable to breathe.

While she was trying to explain to the doctor her symptoms, she couldnt stop crying. This woman was begging for help, and the doctors did an amazing job comforting her, he tells Yahoo Life. They included me as part of the team, and all of us together helped her. Right before the call ended, the woman only said, Thank you, and God bless you, son ... the best reward we can receive from someone who is sick and desperate for help.

And, as Varela notes, there are stories of joy too, particularly when interpreters get to communicate COVID-negative test results or hospital discharge instructions.

When Spanish interpreter Melody (who also requested her last name not be used) received a call recently, she says she hadnt realized it was COVID-19-related until she told the patient he would be going home and he started crying. He said, Thank you, thank you, I cant believe Im going to see my daughters again. Thank you to you, doctor, to the hospital, thank you, medicine. You saved my life. And every time the doctor said something, hed say, Thank you, forever grateful or Thank you a million times. It was the second call I got that day, and it brightened up my whole week!

Such a positive experience is really highlighted, Varela says, because you see the heaviness of everything  so a positive story stays with you.

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.
Medics have deployed a robot in a Tunisian hospital caring for coronavirus victims to limit contact between staff and infected patients, in a first for the North African country. The tall, single-limbed machine is mounted on wheels and is capable of taking pulses and checking temperatures and blood oxygen levels. It enables nurses, doctors and patients' relatives to make virtual bedside visits. "It allows a reduction in contact with the sick and therefore the risk of contaminating personnel," said Nawel Besbes Chaouch, a doctor leading the pulmonary department at the Abderrahmane Memmi hospital in Ariana, near the capital Tunis. A screen mounted at the top of the robot enables audiovisual communication with patients, who in turn can see and recognise the faces of those caring for them -- an impossibility when medics otherwise have to use full protective gear. A website allows families to reserve a time slot for a virtual visit, where the robot is remote-controlled into the patient's room to allow a video conversation. The robot was designed and made in Tunisia, by Enova, a start-up based in Sousse. The robot helps medics and relatives maintain virtual contact with patients and avoids the risk of infection
Dennis Conkin hasnt showered since the pandemic started.

To be sure, the 67-year-old does his best to stay clean. He uses the sink in his room to bathe himself. He scrubs his hands and sanitizes packages of food with rubbing alcohol.

But boosting himself from his wheelchair, trudging down the hall and stepping into a shower used by others proved too risky for a man who suffers from heart disease, lung disease and congenital spine issues.

I stopped because I was afraid, said Conkin, an artist who has lived in the Civic Center Residence, a single-room-occupancy hotel in the Tenderloin, for 32 years. I was afraid of contagion.

Conkins age and chronic health issues make him more likely to be seriously ill if he gets COVID-19, and, at the same time, his living situation makes him more likely to get it. Roughly 19,000 San Franciscans live in the citys 500 SRO hotels. Many are seniors, monolingual immigrants or families verging on homelessness.

For them, social distancing guidelines clash with the reality of life, forcing them to make difficult decisions, like forgoing showers, or navigate dangerous situations in crowded bathrooms and kitchens.

We know that that is not OK, said Doug Gary, director of Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing, which operates eight supportive housing properties in San Francisco for formerly homeless people. Because someone is poor is not a reason they should be more exposed to the virus.

Reported cases at San Francisco SROs have tripled since three weeks ago when city officials first reported the numbers. By Thursday, there were 76 cases at 37 residential hotels, according to the Department of Public Health.

Many of those are linked to an outbreak at Casa Quezada, an SRO in the Mission District, that infected two dozen. Community advocates and residents are fearful that the potentially deadly disease could infiltrate another SRO and spread quickly.

Were terrified that there are other hotels like that, said Matthias Mormino, director of policy for Chinatown Community Development Center, referring to Casa Quezada. Many residents there were asymptomatic.

City leaders have repeatedly stressed that vulnerable populations, including people living in SROs, are a high priority. Health officials have provided guidance for residents and building management to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at SROs, and a March 10 health order outlines minimum cleaning standards. City officials had moved 68 residents from SROs into isolation and quarantine hotel rooms by Friday.

The City continues to be concerned about people who live and work in congregate settings, including single-room occupancy (SRO) and permanent supportive housing buildings with shared facilities like kitchens and bathrooms, public health officials said in a statement.

Still, some community advocates say SROs are a blind spot in the citys pandemic response. They are frustrated by the fumbled response to some cases, hesitance to conduct mass testing and haphazard protocols.

Mormino said he knows people who tested positive but returned to self-isolate at their SRO at the direction of public health officials, risking viral spread.

This is just something that people have overlooked, Mormino said. Were all terrified, because I dont think weve seen the level of promptness and urgency that is needed.

At Casa Quezada, staff had to seek testing for residents from a local health clinic because public health officials declined to test other residents after the first case was confirmed, said Laura Valdez, executive director of Dolores Street Community Services, which runs the SRO. By the time city officials conducted mass testing, the disease had already spread.

Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle

Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the Department of Public Health, disputed the accusation from Valdez last week, saying the departments investigation was as timely and as responsive as our testing systems allowed.

I understand that the situation is very complicated, Valdez said. Why have we moved so slowly on the testing? Why have we moved so slowly in securing isolation and quarantine rooms? To me thats the frustrating part.

Testing shortages across the Bay Area, California and the nation have hindered public health officials for months. San Francisco announced mandatory testing at nursing homes on Friday, a step toward the citys goal of providing universal testing.

San Francisco health officials said in a statement that anytime a resident of a congregate setting tests positive, the department conducts contact tracing and targeted testing and it might recommend mass testing or isolation or a move to another setting.

In a situation similar to Casa Quezadas, public health officials did not conduct testing at the Auburn Hotel for veterans in SoMa after a positive case was confirmed. Instead, Gary arranged testing for staff through Kaiser and for residents through Veterans Affairs.

Gary said he thinks the citys public health and homelessness and supportive housing departments are working as quickly and responsibly as they can.

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 many ways our challenge in supportive housing is to continue to support our city partners so testing can happen quickly and thoroughly, so that those of us who have eyes on the ground can help the city understand what level of risk were looking at, Gary said.

The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. oversees more than 1,200 SRO residents, including those at the building where Conkin lives. Conkin said the nonprofit is stepping up to the plate with enhanced cleanings, food deliveries and enforced social distancing.

There are three confirmed cases among the nonprofits residents, said Don Falk, CEO of the organization. He declined to name the facilities with cases.

Falk said he would like to see more robust testing to identify asymptomatic cases and ease the anxiety of staff members who are asking to be tested, but he said he understands there are nationwide testing shortages.

The challenge of testing is much bigger than whats within the control of the city and county of San Francisco, Falk said.

Not all SROs are backed by nonprofit organizations that can advocate for them. One landlord was cited with a misdemeanor last week after housing inspectors said management repeatedly failed to clean bathrooms.

Tina Yu has lived in a privately owned Chinatown SRO for three years with her husband and two young daughters. The older girl completes online school lessons, and both play in the hallway with kids from other families in the 20-unit building.

Yu takes her daughters to shower in the afternoons to avoid the long line that forms outside the buildings one shower room. The landlord only recently provided soap in bathrooms, which are cleaned twice a week, she said.

Yu worries that her husband, who works as an overnight janitor, could become infected with the coronavirus and bring it back to the building.

Were not sure what to do if there is a confirmed case in the building, Yu said through an interpreter. Because its impossible for us to isolate and quarantine.

Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2